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Photo courtesy of Jensen Ackles Museum

This is a stand-alone story following the events of Max Allan Collins' DARK ANGEL novels SKIN GAME and AFTER THE DARK, and incorporating information revealed in D.A. Stern's THE EYES ONLY DOSSIER. There is a prequel story to this one, titled "Confession," that's available in the SKIN GAME section of this site. -- author's note

Artwork courtesy of Jensen Ackles Museum

*****

"Rise and shine sleepy head."

Alec forced his eyes open with a grumble, reluctant to leave the warm nest of blankets and pillows he shared with Max ... reluctant to leave her. He always slept soundly when she was snuggled smooth and naked in his arms, her heart beating in synch with his, and last night had been no exception.

She was looking at him now, her dark brown eyes wide awake and alarmingly enthusiastic. "Come on," she said, giving his shoulder a little shake. "I know you need your beauty sleep, but it's nearly seven o'clock lover boy, and people are gonna start to talk if we don't show up on time. Besides, I need to take a shower."

"Let 'em talk," Alec groused, pulling her back down into his arms. His fingers cupped a breast, teasing a nipple, then traveled lower, ruffling pubic hair and finding moisture ...

"We're late!" Max exclaimed, grabbing hold of his wrist. But then her expression softened. "Is that all you think about? Getting laid?"

"Yes," Alec said honestly and without hesitation. "At least that's all I think about when I'm with you."

"Oh well," Max said in mock weariness. She wriggled around in his arms, pushed him back down on the pillows, and sighed heavily. "If that's what it takes to get your sorry ass in gear, then let's get this over with." Kicking covers out of the way, Max threw one leg over his hips, straddling her sexy beast, and smiled wickedly.

"Oh, God, thank you," Alec groaned as his morning hardness sank into hot tight depths and Max proceeded to wake him up in the most wonderful way possible.

*****

"Now I really need a shower," Max said ten minutes later, the words slightly breathless after that delightful exertion. She sat up, still astride her mate but eying him speculatively as she wrinkled her nose. "And so do you." Dismounting -- anxious to get on with her day now that Alec was "taken care of" -- she grabbed a blanket and wrapped it around herself as her feet touched the floor.

"Not eager for a cold one," Alec said as he, too, finally rolled out of bed. Standing, he stretched in the chill morning air of Max's unheated apartment, the sinews of his back, legs and arms cording tightly. Glancing at his sex partner over a well-muscled shoulder he said wryly, "That was one nice thing about Logan's place, the hot water. He really had it all dialed in, and he used to let me take a shower there once in awhile."

"I remember the hot baths," Max said wistfully. "Too bad TC's generator doesn't have more capacity."

"Maybe someday," Alec said with a shrug. "Come on," he added, nodding toward Max's small bathroom. "We'll keep each other warm."

The two X5s really did make quick work of their shower, the icy cold water not inviting them to linger. Drying each other off with big soft terry cloth towels though was fun, a morning ritual they both enjoyed. Laughing because Alec had been tickling her, Max finally gave up and threw her arms around him in a big hug, the naked heat of his revved up transgenic physique warming her goose-pimpled skin. Snuggling in his embrace, she closed her eyes and smiled like the cat that had eaten the proverbial canary.

"Hey, Max," Alec said, his voice a bit odd as his hand rested lightly on her belly. "Are you puttin' on a little weight?"

"Not really," she murmured coyly against his chest. Her tongue found one of his cold hardened nipples and she licked him. "I'm just pregnant." She looked up at him then ... into those incredible hazel-green eyes. "I wondered how long it would be before you noticed."

Alec could be difficult to read sometimes, his expressions inscrutable -- like now. As she watched his face, Max honestly couldn't tell how he felt about her news.

Seconds passed, and he remained silent.

She started to back away from him, a sudden uncharacteristic fear piercing her heart. What if he didn't want the baby? What if he was mad at her? He was looking at her so strangely ...

"Alec?" She said his name quietly ... plaintively. And then tears were pricking her eyes because he was still just standing there, naked, water glistening on his skin, staring at her, the towel in his hand forgotten.

But slowly his full lips turned up in a genuine smile (not one of his smirks), and a warm bright light filled his hazel eyes. "I love you, Max," Alec said, his voice deep and husky with emotion. He shook his head, long strands of wet dark blond hair falling into his eyes as a single tear slid down his unshaven cheek. "Damn, I love you so much it's killin' me."

"Then you really want our baby?" Max whispered, clutching her own towel tightly around herself as she faced the father of her child. "You don't mind that I'm ...?"

"Of course I want our baby," Alec practically sobbed as he enveloped her in a huge hug. He kissed the top of her head. "Why on Earth would you think I wouldn't?"

"Because you don't want to be tied down in a permanent relationship with responsibilities?" Max ventured.

Alec drew back so he could see her face. "Yeah, right," he said. "Which is why I've followed you around doin' your bidding for the past two years like one of Charlie's frickin' Angels -- my fervent desire to not be tied down." He shook his head as if he couldn't believe her foolishness.

Max started to ask him something, but hesitated, for a second absurdly caught up envisioning Alec, Mole, and Joshua as "Charlie's Angels" and herself as John Forsythe. The analogy was ludicrous, but in a way not far off the mark. And, as usual, Alec's keen wit had managed to lighten the moment and make her feel better.

"So, my Angel," she said softly, "does this mean you're ready to be called 'daddy'?"

"So long as you're the mommy, Charlie," Alec said, kissing her on the lips this time.

*****

"Hey, Pretty Boy, you gonna enter the big contest?" Mole emphasized the invitation with a hard slap on Alec's back that made the X5 cough.

Standing behind a seated Max in TC's control room, his hands lightly kneading the tense muscles of her neck, Alec turned around and shook his head. "What're you talkin' about? What contest?"

"Some of the Xs decided we needed to have a little fun and hone our fighting skills," Mole said, patting his pockets for his lighter so he could do something about the cold cigar stub in his mouth. "It's gonna be series against series. You know, X5 against X5, X6 against X6, Nomalie against Nomalie ... Then the winners of each group will face off against one another until a TC champion is decided."

Alec shook his head. "I get beat up enough in my real life job," he said with a meaningful look at Max. "'Sides, my cage fightin' days are behind me -- part of my callow youth so to speak."

"Callow youth my ass," Mole growled. "You're still just a sweet young thing." The lizard man looked around the control room. "How 'bout it? Who's got the balls to be TC's champion? Let's see some hands in the air!"

Two X4s who were monitoring the security system obediently volunteered, as did an X3 in the corner and a transhuman feline-featured female who was attempting to fix one of the overhead lights. Mole glared at Dix, who held hands up in adamant denial, and Luke scurried out of the way behind a desk, his head bowed, hoping to not be noticed.

Glowering like a dragon, Mole viciously chewed his still cold cigar as his gaze swept the room looking for more volunteers, his eyes coming to rest once more on Alec. Then he strode up, grabbed the X5's arm, and pulled it into the air. "There," he spat. "You're volunteered."

Max, who'd been watching the show, snorted with laughter. "Oh, please," she said. "Alec? A champion fighter?" She turned in the chair and looked up at her lover. "And just how many times have I kicked your ass?"

Alec, hands on hips now, glanced up at the ceiling a moment, teeth on his lower lip, thinking. Then his eyes, and a little smile, went to Max. "None really," he said evenly. "Except the times I held back and let you win."

"Oh?" Max said primly. "So that's your excuse now? You held back?"

Alec nodded. "Every time."

"Why?"

"Why do you think?" he said easily, as if the answer was obvious. "You're a girl."

Max considered that a moment, then gave a little nod. "Point taken, Mr. Chivalrous" she said. "Although I still say I won fair and square."

"You won in the ring by cheating," Alec said. He held up a hand before she could deny it. "And the first time we fought, at Logan's, neither of us won. It ended when he picked up a gun. I had no desire to get shot on that mission. A good soldier knows when to stand down."

"Excuses, excuses," Max tisked. She glanced up at Mole, then back to Alec. "But I've got to admit, my love, so long as you're not fighting with a bullet hole in your oh-so-fine body, you're pretty formidable. I was there at the final Familiar battle. Remember? I saw how well you handled yourself when we were in deep shit. Mole's right.You should give it a try. Who knows? You might surprise everyone and even win."

"You just wanna see me get beat up," Alec groused, but he nodded at Mole indicating he was in. "But no matter what," he added, "I'm not fightin' Joshua." He gingerly felt his neck. "I'm fond of my head right where it is, as in on my shoulders."

"Joshua's not trained in martial arts," Mole said. "He doesn't know how to restrain himself. Plus, he's a pacifist at heart. I didn't even bother askin' him. The lizard man turned to Max. "Now, about the lady's category--"

Dix's voice interrupted them before Max could start sputtering excuses. "Hey guys!" the monocled mutant said excitedly. "Look what I just did!"

"What?" Mole said, striding across the control room to where Dix was working with a videotape machine and one of the computers. Alec was right behind him.

"Remember the tape of Marly's attack we could never quite clear up enough to make out?"

"Yeah," Mole growled. "So what about it?"

Everyone in the room knew that Marly had been Mole's lady friend -- a powerful transhuman with feline DNA -- someone he'd been raised with and cared deeply about. After escaping from Manticore the two of them had traveled to Seattle together, but Marly had been killed in the sewers soon after they arrived in Terminal City. To this day, the circumstances of her death remained a mystery -- one that bothered the lizard man greatly.

"This new program I just hacked into is making that segment watchable. I think we finally may be able to see who killed her," Dix explained.

"What videotape?" Max asked, standing and moving to the bank of monitors.

"Ever since we moved into Terminal City, we've been upgrading our surveillance system," the pale skinned mutant said as he helped Luke fiddle with the contrast on the screen. "Even in the beginning, we had some cameras in place at strategic locations both above and below ground, fortifying our stronghold the way we'd been taught at Manticore, although the quality of the pictures left something to be desired." He nodded at the murky looking image.

"You had cameras in the sewers?" Alec said, coming up behind Max . He cocked his head slightly, not completely understanding. "Why?"

"Just testing various security methods," Mole growled. "Plus, at the time, a lot of our people kind of liked the sewers, so it made sense to monitor 'em."

"Yeah," Luke said. "But the trouble was, our cameras didn't have very good infrared, and then the one time we really needed to see ... when Marly got iced ... the tape was useless."

"Until now," Dix said triumphantly as the image on the screen in front of them brightened to reveal two shadowy figures in one of the sewer rooms."

"That doesn't show much," Alec said, gesturing at the still-unwatchable picture. "Just silhouettes." He was breathing a bit faster than normal, Max's hand on his arm as much a warning as a comfort. Maybe they won't be able to make an I.D. he thought. Maybe the picture will be too dark. But oh, God, if they find out ...

Max knew ...knew that he'd killed Marly two years ago while trying to collect transgenic bar codes for Ames White in order to save his own life. He'd confessed to her several months back because it bothered him so much that he'd done something so despicable -- albeit inadvertently -- to Mole, his friend. Max had told him to keep his mouth shut, that it would serve no purpose for the lizard man to find out. But if Dix got that picture cleaned up, all bets were off.

The screen now clearly showed someone approaching Marly, talking to her ... taunting her -- and then the cat woman charged, and the man (it was obviously a male) caught her with a vicious side kick. They grappled, the transhuman actually overpowering her attacker until he pulled out a knife and buried it in her side. But still, the face of the murderer was too dark to make out.

Off to one side Mole was staring at the footage, for once no cigar in his mouth. "Damn it," he said in a low vicious voice. "She suffered for almost a day with that gut wound, but she couldn't give a clear description. I always figured it was one of White's guys." The lizard man gave Alec a knowing look. "Bastard cut off her bar code -- some kind of trophy I suppose."

Alec felt like he was going to be sick on his stomach. These people in Terminal City were now his staunchest friends ... his family ... and he'd killed one of them. It was a dirty secret he'd hoped no one would ever find out. But Dix was looking at him in an odd way, even as he worked to clear the picture up even more.

"Let's try and lighten up his face," the little gray mutant said. "You know," he added as he twiddled with the controls, "there's something really familiar about that guy."

Mole stepped closer. "You're right. Somethin' about the way he moves, and that build. He looks more like an X series ... a five ... rather than one of them Famies." He caught Max's eye. "But why would one of us kill our own? I mean, that wouldn't happen, would it?"

Alec had a sudden, nearly overwhelming urge to flee -- an inbred instinct to survive he supposed. But where would he run to? He didn't want to leave his home, and he couldn't ever leave Max, especially not when she was going to have his child.

The video was brighter now, and Dix zoomed in on the face of the man with the knife.

Alec squared his shoulders, the leather of his jacket creaking in the utter silence that had fallen over TC's control center as the identity of Marly's murderer was at long last revealed. Everyone was staring at him now, even Max. "You want me to say it?" he said calmly into the stillness. "All right. I did it. I killed Marly."

"Alec--" Max said, her hand going once again to his arm, but he pulled away. He didn't want her involved in this. It was his bad ... his battle. Not hers.

Mole's scaly mouth was working but no words were coming out. Blinking his eyes rapidly, the lizard man seemed caught somewhere between stunned and unbelievably furious. "Why?" he finally grated. "Why the fuck did you do it?"

"Because it was her life or mine," Alec said, his voice devoid of emotion. He shrugged. "At least that's what I thought at the time."

"That wasn't self defense," Luke piped from the corner. "You went after her, Alec. You were the aggressor."

"He sure as fuck was," Mole growled.

No one really saw where the knife came from. One second Mole's hand was clenched in a fist, and the next shiny steel was flashing. Only Alec's transgenic reflexes saved him from being gutted by that first swipe, the blade slicing the skin of his stomach as he blurred out of the way.

"Mole!" Max screamed. "Stop it!"

"He dies!" Mole hollered right back. "Damn it, he dies now for what he did!"

Alec, his breath coming in gasps, looked down at his belly. His black t-shirt was wet with his own blood, his fingers stained red. Then Mole charged again, the knife raised high. The young X5 stepped to the left, deflected the strike with his right hand knocking the blade across the room, and caught the lizard man hard on the side of the neck with a karate chop. Stepping behind his stunned attacker, Alec then brought that same hand up and beneath Mole's chin, pulling him backwards by the head and off his feet. Before the transhuman could even blink the X5 was on top of him, straddling his chest, pinning his arms with his knees, his strong fingers digging into the scales of that lizard throat.

"I'm sorry," Alec said through gritted teeth as he held the struggling mutant down. "I'm really, really sorry. If I'd known then what I know now-- But I thought it was her or me. I had to bring White the barcodes or else I was a dead man."

"You could have left," Mole hissed. "You could have gotten away. It's not like White had a gun to your head!"

Alec smiled ironically. "Oh, but he did have a gun to my head, bro." He glanced up at Max who'd been standing by during the entire scuffle, ready to assist if he'd needed it.

"White had implanted a mini-explosive device on Alec's brain stem," she said, her voice shaky but calm. "He had twenty-four hours to bring in three transgenic barcodes or it would detonate, killing him instantly."

Letting go of Mole's neck, Alec jumped to his feet and backed away. His side was starting to really hurt, and he pressed a hand to the wound, but he never took his eyes off of the lizard man. "Playtime's over Mole," he said, swallowing hard. He then held up a finger in warning. "If you ever come at me again like that, I'll do more'n spank you."

Staggering up, the lizard man hissed again, his reptilian eyes narrow. "You think I'm just gonna walk away from this, Alec? Someone's gotta pay for Marly's death. An eye for an eye." He looked at Max. "Maybe I should just kill your lady friend. Think about that, Pretty Boy."

"Hey!" Max shouted. "That's enough! We've got ways to settle disputes here in TC. Rules we've put into place. You say Alec murdered Marly for no good reason. He says he did it because he was forced to, that it was his life or hers. Sounds to me like this would be a good case for our tribunal."

The transgenics had realized early on in their occupation of Terminal City that they needed their own justice system. "Ordinaries" couldn't be trusted to rule fairly where the Freaks were concerned, and so it made sense to appoint a committee -- a "tribunal" as Max called it -- that sat down weekly to settle arguments within their community and met out punishments (usually monetary fines or work details) if necessary. At the moment, the council consisted of Dix, Luke, Joshua, Gem, and an X4 who went by the name of "Curly."

"Fine," Mole growled. "We show 'em the tape, and we let 'em decide if your main fuck is a murderin' snake in the grass or not." He turned to Max. "But I want one promise. No matter what their judgement -- even if they say he dies -- you don't interfere. No passionate speeches or pleas for your boy's life. No last minute daring jail breaks or rescues. No she-bitch heroics." He looked disdainfully at Alec and sniffed loudly. "I don't care how much you love this son of a bitch, or how good he is in bed. He's a liar and a psychopath, just like his brother was. And I say he deserves to suffer same as Marly."

"I promise," Max said, controlling herself carefully. "I won't interfere with the tribunal's decision."

"And I promise to abide by it," Alec said with a faint smile and meeting Mole's hate-filled gaze with more courage than he actually felt.

What Alec was really thinking was that he needed to get out of there -- out of Terminal City and away from Seattle. He could then hook up with Max later on and together the two of them could start life over someplace else. It wasn't as if Max was all that fond of TC any more. She'd never wanted to be the mayor ... the leader. Oftentimes she longed from her freedom. Maybe this was the best way after all, the two of them (soon to be three) striking out on their own.

But his brothers knew "Smart Alec" too well ...

"You lie so well it's frightening sometimes," Mole said disgustedly. Then, to the others, "He's gonna run."

"Yep," Dix agreed.

The big lizard man and the smaller mutant fanned out, blocking the steel door, effectively penning the X5 in. "Afraid we're gonna hafta restrain you, bro," Dix said, his voice surprisingly apologetic considering what he'd just seen on that tape. "Make certain you don't jump us."

Alec had instinctively fallen into a sparring stance, his gaze sweeping back and forth between the two transgenics.

"Alec," Dix continued, his voice soothing. "Come on, man. Don't make this so hard on yourself ... on Max. Just cooperate and--"

"--sit real still while you put a bullet in my brain or a needleful of poison in my neck," Alec finished for him. "No thanks." A grim smile. "This ain't Manticore. I'm not your prisoner. If I wanna leave, I'm gonna leave and God help anyone who stands in my way."

"What if it's me?"

Alec stared at Max, his gut clenching, hurting even more than the wound. "Max," he said softly. "Get out of my way."

"So, you really are gonna run?" she said, arms crossed in front of her chest and tapping a foot on the concrete floor. "Your solution to everything? In spite of what you told me his morning?"

"Max ..." Alec pleaded. "Come on. Let me go. If you love me, let me go."

Max looked around at the others in the room. They were watching her closely, to see what their leader was going to do ... to see if her personal feelings came before the good of her people.

"Alec!" Max said sharply. "Stand down. There's no way out of this mess except facing it head on. I'll testify in your behalf. So will Joshua and I bet a lot of others. There were mitigating circumstances. Maybe--"

"I'm sorry," Alec whispered. And then he blurred, going right through Dix and knocking the small mutant halfway across the room into one of the control panels. There was the sound of a small explosion as sparks flew everywhere and half the computer banks went dark.

"Stop him!" Mole shouted, grabbing for a gun off one of the tables.

Alec practically flew through the garage area outside, breaking for daylight. He knew TC like the back of his hand, including all the holes in Luke's security system. At the entrance to the main building, he stopped and looked back. Max was standing in the doorway of the control center. Unbidden, his vision zoomed in on her face. She was crying. He'd done it again ... let her down ... betrayed her ...

All the more reason to leave.

Whirling, he leaped for the street -- and crashed headfirst into a huge flannel-shirted chest.

Joshua was far stronger than an X5 ... or any other transgenic for that matter. Clasped tightly against the big guy's ribcage by a pair of long sinewy arms, Alec couldn't so much as breath let alone get free.

"Hold him!" someone screamed. "Joshua, don't let him go!"

"Joshua," Alec managed to get out. "Please let me--" And then he saw the look in his big friend's eyes, and realized it wasn't any use. Joshua knew what he'd done. He must have been watching the goings on in the control room from the monitoring station over at the mall. The security systems were tied together for practical reasons so that Max and her "inner circle" could see what was happening inside TC without actually being there.

"Alec, why?" the dog man whimpered as he shifted his grip.

"You know why," Alec said through gritted teeth. "You were there."

Mole arrived, sawed off shotgun in hand, followed by Dix who was brandishing a small pistol. Even Luke had his derringer.

"I surrender," Alec said quietly, relaxing in Joshua's arms. He pinned Mole with his eyes. "But then why not save yourselves a lot of trouble and get the execution over with now." He nodded at the shotgun. "Everyone's already decided I'm guilty."

"There won't be any execution," Max said coldly.

"That remains to be seen," Mole spat, his lizard features curling in a vicious snarl.

She came up to Alec then, her brown eyes full of hurt and disappointment. "You gigantic ass," she said softly.

Alec shrugged, or at least he tried to, Joshua's iron grip not giving him much leeway, and swallowed back the hot tears in his throat.

Max closed her eyes as if gathering strength, then opened them and turned around. "Put him in the cell we used for Lydecker," she said to the others. And then, with a hard look at Mole, she added, "And if anyone hurts him ... anyone at all ... know that I'll kill them. Alec's innocent until proven guilty, and I'll not allow vigilante justice. He gets a fair hearing ... and a fair judgement. Understood?"

Everyone nodded, even Joshua.

"Let him go," Max instructed the dog man.

Alec felt those big arms loosen, and his feet touched the floor. I'm sorry, Max, he thought as he tensed to make another leap for freedom.

But his mate truly did know him too well. The shock wand she pulled from beneath her black leather vest hit him square in the chest, the electricity surging through his body like an agonizing bolt of lightening from hell. A taste of my eternal punishment to come? Alec wondered in that fraction of a second before his eyes rolled back in his head, his body spasmed, and he collapsed twitching and unconscious on the oil stained cement floor.

*****

He woke up in Max's arms, and for a brief moment Alec thought it had all just been one of his nightmares. But then his eyes focused and he saw the bars of the cell, and knew this was no dream.

Lying on the narrow bunk, his head cradled in her lap, he looked up into a pair of very worried dark brown eyes.

"Are you all right?" she whispered.

"I don't know," Alec said honestly as that last horrible memory of Max turning on him came crashing back. "Am I?"

She looked away. "I patched up your side."

He could feel the bandage wrapped around his ribcage. The cut from Mole's blade still hurt, but not as badly as before. Sitting up, he pushed her hands aside as she tried to hold onto him. "I'm sorry," he said. "I know you're disappointed in me, but you also know how I am about things like this."

"No shortcuts this time, Alec," Max said quietly, leaning back against the cement wall. The cell was in the basement of one of the old genetics labs. Originally a secure storage area, the transgenics had converted it to use as a jail when Colonel Donald Lydecker had been their "guest" after the Breeding Cult take down the previous December.

"Get out of here," he said tonelessly.

"I want to help you, you asshole."

"You've helped enough already, Max." Alec didn't mean to sound bitter, but truth of the matter -- he was. Although why he should be surprised Max had chosen the well being of her people over her lover's he didn't know. She always had been ... always would be ... first and foremost a leader, setting an example, going by her impossibly high moral standards and rules even when she longed to break them.

Unfortunately for both of them, he wasn't that strong ... or dedicated.

There were two X4s sitting outside the cell cradling guns in their laps. Alec smirked. "When's the trial?"

"Tonight," Max said.

"And what?" he snickered. "I'm supposed to swear on a Bible to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothin' but the fuckin' truth?"

"That would be kind of pointless," Max agreed. "Everyone knows you're--" She didn't finish the sentence, but Alec did.

"A liar, dishonest, not to be trusted, sly, self-centered ..." His hazel-green eyes slid to hers. "You trusted me, Maxie," he said softly. "You trusted me a lot."

"And I still do," she said. "Just ... This is too important, Alec. If I simply let this go, let you off Scott free, then it will undermine everything we've all been trying to build here. We claim we want to be our own community, with rules suited to our people. Well what kind of leader am I if I don't enforce the very rules I helped make?"

"I don't know about your 'leader' status," Alec said. "But what kind of woman will you be if you let them kill the man you say you love? And, for a so-called crime you've known about for over a year?" He sat up straighter. "Max, we were taught from childhood at Manticore to think of the Nomalies as things ... creatures to be feared. They were the bogeymen in the basement. Marly, to me, was a monster, something that might have soon been killin' children instead of just dogs. I figured no harm, no foul if I bagged her barcode for White. I'd be doin' the world a favor while at the same time savin' my own ass. I didn't think of the Nomalies as one of my own kind, Max. Not back then." He regarded her even more intently, his voice dropping lower. "But then someone showed me different ... you and Joshua. You know how I feel about the Big Fella, Max. And Hell, Mole's the best Unit mate I've ever had. And Luke and Dix ... I can't count the times those two little grey geeks have patched me up, actin' like mother hens."

"You're preaching to the choir, Alec," Max said. "It's not me you need to convince. I know. I've watched how you've changed ... grown ... over the past two years." She smiled a little. "You're still a self-centered jerk sometimes, but you've also got potential. You sympathize with people, Alec. You have compassion. You care, even though Manticore did its best to kill that in you. Truth be told, that's why I fell for you in spite of trying so hard not to."

"But that won't matter, will it?" he said, his eyes glittering slightly as he watched the two X4 guards. "Mole's gonna demand justice. Bottom line is, I killed one of our own, and I imagine there's a pretty strict punishment for that crime. Am I right?"

Max looked at the floor. "Murderers are put to death by our laws, Alec." She whispered, taking a deep breath, emotion flooding her brown eyes along with the tears.

She scooted over on the cot and rested her head on his shoulder, their hands first just touching, and then his fingers clasping hers -- neither saying it aloud, but both terrified that the next few hours might be the last time they'd ever spend together.

*****

The tribunal seemed strangely primitive to Alec's eyes. On a raised dais at the back of the huge parking garage that served as TC's meeting hall, Dix, Joshua, Luke, Gem and the X4 Curly -- his judges -- sat on straight-backed chairs behind a long wooden table. The only light was provided by two dozen flickering torches that had been mounted here and there on the cracked concrete pillars holding up the cement slab ceiling (energy from the compound's single gas-powered generator wasn't to be wasted). Shadows flickered eerily, the eyes of dozens of curious watchers reflecting animalistic green as smoke filled the enclosed space and the sputtering flames warmed the crowd.

"Sheesh," Alec said to the two guards who'd escorted him in handcuffs from his cell. "This looks like a frickin' 'Buffy the Vampire Slayer' set."

"Shut up," Max said in a low voice. She'd accompanied him, of course, and he knew she was going to stay by his side until the end -- whatever that might be.

He was rather forcibly placed in the single chair that sat to the right of the long table, his two guards taking up places behind on either side. Alec's eyes narrowed at the rough treatment, but he kept his mouth closed.

The murmuring crowd grew quiet as two X3s approached with some kind of apparatus sprouting wires and electrode patches.

"You've gotta be kidding!" Alec exclaimed as they proceeded to lift up his t-shirt and wrap a diode-equipped leather strap around his chest. The electrodes were placed on his skull, one on each temple, another set on the pulse points of his throat, and three on the bare skin of his stomach. As a final touch, a thin wire ending in a galvanized ring was slipped over the forefinger of his left hand.

"Ow!" Alec said as his interrogators ripped off one of the stomach patches and repositioned it. "It's called body hair, bud!" His indignant eyes went to Max seeking sympathy.

"It's the only way to determine if you're telling the truth," Max said, unable to meet his gaze, speaking the words to her hands instead. She nervously twisted a strand of her long hair. "Like you said, what good would it do to have you swear on a Bible?"

Alec felt like tearing the wires off of his body and fighting his way out of the the garage. But then he looked at Max's face, at the fear there, and swallowed hard, relaxing. He was in this all the way now, no matter what. He wasn't going to run away from his home and family ... from her and their baby.

"This tribunal is called to order!" Dix said loudly, banging a wooden gavel down. The crowd grew quiet.

It only took a few minutes to show the enhanced videotape, the footage of Marly's death. Plain as day the everyone could see 494, Alec, entering the underground room, challenging the panther woman, defending himself when she charged, then stabbing her as she held him pinned against the sloping concrete wall.

The tape also showed him then kneeling beside her and, without hesitation, slicing off her white-on-black bar code then ghoulishly wiping bloody hands on his jeans.

I could be Ben, Alec thought as he forced himself to watch. I bet my brother had that same soulless look in his eyes when he yanked out his victims' teeth.

He knew Mole was staring at him. The lizard man was standing in the front of the rest of the crowd, his scaly face as cold and vicious as Alec had ever seen it. This morning he was one of my closest friends. Now, he wants to see me dead.

Luke then flipped on the lie detector equipment, and the panel of judges looked at him expectantly. "You get to tell your side of the story now," Dix said quietly. He nodded at the machine. "Just, don't try to lie your way out of it, Alec. Even you're not that good.

"Wanna bet," Alec said low under his breath. But he wasn't going to -- lie that is. Why should he?

He took a deep breath. "Ames White caught me. I'd been doin' some cage fightin' to make a few bucks and he and his men jumped me in the locker room. They used a stun rod. When I woke up I was penned. He hadn't killed me outright 'cause he wanted to know if I knew where Max was. He'd seen the Manticore records, read that we were breeding partners, and thought we might have stayed in touch." He glanced over at Max then. He had to. She was sitting on a cement ledge, feet dangling, hands clasped nervously in her lap.

"I didn't rat her out," Alec continued. "I said I didn't know where she was even though I did." He held Max with his eyes now as he talked. "White ordered me killed, told his men to take a DNA sample before disposing of my body. I knew I only had seconds to live, and I had to say something ... to make myself useful to them, or at least make them think I was useful." He smiled a little bit. "It's somethin' I learned at Manticore -- make yourself necessary, indispensable, irreplaceable if possible. You'll live a lot longer that way ... maybe not disappear."

Several heads nodded in the crowd, as did Luke and Dix's. They could sympathize.

Alec took another deep breath, and looked up at the ceiling of the garage, collecting his thoughts. He knew he was tiptoeing through a mine field here. He had to be very, very careful. So far, the needles on the lie detector had remained rock steady, and he wanted them to stay that way. "So," he continued, "I offered White a deal I thought he couldn't refuse. He said he wanted all of our kind dead. I told him he had to find 'em first, and who better to hunt transgenics than another transgenic." He swallowed hard. "White didn't believe I'd turn against my own kind. But I told him to try me." Alec turned and looked directly at the judges, willing his heart to stay calm even though the memory of that moment was one of the most shameful in his life. "I agreed to hunt down and kill transgenics for him so he'd let me go."

"Why didn't you just get out of town once White set you free?" Luke asked. But Joshua was nodding sagely. He already knew why.

A wry smile, and Alec said, "Because, as always with White, there was a catch. He knew damn well I'd simply run off -- not keep my word." His eyes flickered to the lie detector. "They shot a mini-explosive device into the back of my neck, lodging it against my brain stem. It was set on a timer. I had twenty-four hours to find and kill three transgenics and bring White their bar codes as proof. If not ..." Alec's voice dropped. "He said I'd never know what hit me."

"Why didn't you ask for help, Alec?" The question came from Joshua, and the suddenness of it startled the X5. The needle on the lie detector bounced, and the machine gave a small, but quite audible, beep.

"I didn't think anyone could," Alec said. The machine beeped several times, and his brow furrowed.

"Alec ..." Joshua warned.

"Okay," Alec said. "I admit I knew where Max was ... or at least how to find her. But I didn't want her involved. For all I knew White was havin' me tailed and I would have led him right to her."

Again the machine sounded off.

"Ah, for cryin' out loud!" Alec said. "Gimme a break!"

"We're trying to," Dix replied from behind the table. "Why didn't you go to Max for help?"

Max was staring at him. Alec's eyes touched hers, then slid away. "Because I didn't want her to know how badly I'd messed up," he said. "I didn't want her to think I couldn't look after myself. I was ashamed of the mess I'd gotten myself into."

"Macho pride," Dix said, the two words clipped as he nodded his head knowingly.

Alec shrugged. The machine remained silent.

"But you did go to Max," Joshua pointed out. "Just not for the right reason."

"I figured she might know where some Manticore alum were," Alec said. He swallowed again. "I knew it would be a lot easier to kill a transhuman ... like you, Joshua ... than someone more human looking. No harm, no foul."

Joshua growled. Alec knew the dog man probably couldn't help it. Hell, he'd growl too.

"There had been reports in the news about a dog man breaking into houses and scarin' people," Alec continued. "Max thought it might be you." (He was speaking directly to his friend now. Somehow that made the confession easier.) "She was goin' to Terminal City to look for you. She'd heard some of the transgenics might be hangin' there. I offered to go along, to help."

"But instead of Joshua, you found Marly," Dix said.

Alec nodded. "Max and me split up. I didn't want her taggin' along 'cause I knew what I was gonna do. I didn't find Joshua, of course. But I found what I thought was another monster -- a panther woman who looked like somethin' right out of 'The Island of Dr. Moreau.' You guys saw what happened." He nodded at the videotape machine.

"So," Luke said, his voice sounding more important than it usually did. "You admit you deliberately went looking for a transgenic to kill?"

"Yeah," Alec said with another shrug. "I did." He leaned forward in the chair, talking straight to all the judges now. "But in my defense, I was taught at Manticore that the Nomalies -- the non human looking transgenics -- were monsters, things to be feared. I'd convinced myself I was doin' the world a favor by killin' some of the bad guys."

"Bad guys?" Curly, the X4 said, speaking up for the first time. Taller than Alec, but not nearly as well built, he wore his long red hair tied back in a pony tail. Now, his pale blue eyes were riveted on the X5 ... his more physically and mentally successful "brother."

Alec smirked. "X5s were taught from birth to think of ourselves as the most superior soldiers on Earth," he said, stating what to him was a simple fact. "We were brainwashed into bein' egotistical bastards, and to look down our noses at anything with a lower series number. And, like I said before, to consider the Nomalies nothin' more than mistakes."

"But of course that doesn't explain the X6's death, does it?" Curly said, his own smile thin and unpleasant.

The machine beeped loudly as Alec's heart turned over in his chest. How the fuck do they know about that?

"What X6?"

The question didn't come from the panel of judges. It came from Max.

Dix pounded a small wooden gavel. "Silence!" he ordered. "The tribunal will ask the questions."

"What X6?" Alec echoed Max, playing innocent.

The machine went wild, the beeping so loud Dix had to reach over and turn down the volume. Shaking his shaggy head mournfully, Joshua regarded his X5 buddy with huge sad blue eyes.

"All right!" Alec snapped. "I found the kid hidin' out in Terminal City. He knew I was a superior officer and he followed me without question." In a lower voice ... "I was runnin' out of time. I needed two more bar codes for White."

"So you did kill one of your own," Dix said coldly.

"No!" Alec shouted. "I knocked him out, sliced off his bar code, bandaged his neck, and dropped him off at County General Hospital's ER. It was White who killed him. He got wind the boy was there, and sent his men." Alec was puzzled. "How'd you know about the kid?" he asked. "No one saw."

"We didn't know," Luke replied coldly. "Until now. All we knew was that someone saw an X6 bein' mugged in an alley the same day Marly was stabbed, and that the boy then disappeared."

Alec closed his eyes in exasperation, cursing himself for being a fool. His only saving grace was that the lie detector was now silent again. But then he was telling the truth. He hadn't killed that kid -- in fact, he'd tried to save him, at least after a fashion.

Better get the rest over with..

"I reported back to White with the two bar codes," Alec continued in a monotone, "and to ask for more time. That's when he showed me the kid's body. At first, he wasn't gonna let it count since I hadn't made the kill, but then he decided he would. He gave me one last chance. With only three hours left, I knew I had to find another transgenic fast."

And here was where it got really, really difficult for Alec. "So," he said softly, "I went to find Max again."

"The one transgenic you knew you could get to in a hurry," Dix clarified.

Alec nodded.

"Were you going to kill her?"

Alec hesitated just a fraction. "Yeah, I was. But then she got wind of where Joshua might be and I figured I could bag him instead."

"Better a monster than a beautiful girl?" Joshua offered, his canine expression unreadable.

"Yeah, big guy," Alec said, his hazel-green eyes incredibly sad. "Sorry. But that was then. Now--"

"What happened?" Luke interrupted.

"I used a shock prod White had given me on both Joshua and Max," Alec said, keeping his voice steady with difficulty. "But when I went to check for Joshua's bar code, he didn't have one."

"I was first," Joshua said with a little smile. "Special."

"Special," Alec repeated, agreeing wholeheartedly. Then he looked directly at Max. "So, I had no other choice. I was almost out of time. I took my knife, and was gonna kill Max--"

"But you couldn't do it," Max spoke from the crowd. "You couldn't do it." She held up her hand when Dix raised the gavel. "It's my turn," she said. "To testify." She nodded at the lie detector gear. "Unhook him," she said. "And plug me in. This is where the story gets really interesting."

*****

"I thought you were going to kill me," Max said in a surprisingly steady voice as she looked directly at Alec. "But then you didn't. You buried the knife blade in the dirt and ... surrendered ... gave up. You made the choice to die, to let that pop gun on your brain stem go off, rather than take my life."

Max smiled at him, then turned boldly to the panel of judges. "When it came right down to the end, Alec wasn't the killer Manticore had bred and trained him to be. A true assassin would have plunged that blade into my heart without a second thought." She took a breath, calming herself, and her eyes returned to Alec. "Afterwards, he told me what White had done to him. Luckily, I knew a Manticore scientist, one who'd been working on a cure for the virus for me. Between the two of us we had enough money to pay the guy and he took the explosive out of Alec's neck." Her voice dropped lower. "We were barely in time. It went off in the air seconds after it was removed."

"Alec told you about Marly?" Dix said. "What he'd done?"

"Not right away," Max admitted. "But later he did. I never knew about the X6 though, not that it's an issue here because Alec wasn't the one who killed him. That was White."

"If you knew about Marly's death and didn't report it, you could be considered an accessory to the crime," Curly pointed out.

"I guess I could be at that," Max said smartly. "So now you're gonna charge me with murder too?"

Dix pounded the gavel. "Another time," he barked. "We're here to decide Alec's fate." He looked around at his fellow judges. "Do we need to adjourn to deliberate?"

Four heads shook no, even Joshua's. "The facts are clear," Luke said sadly. "Alec killed one of our own, he admits it."

"There were extenuating circumstances!" Max argued. For the first time the lie detector sounded off. Angrily, she brought a fist down on the box, smashing the machine. "Damn it!" she shouted. "Look what Alec's done for Terminal City over the past year! Consider how many lives he's saved, and how much money he's helped us bring in! Weigh his worth against a crime that was committed before any of you knew him, and one he'd never repeat. He's sorry! He knows he did wrong! We've all killed at one time or another! We were forced to by Manticore, just like White forced Alec!"

"Step down, Max," Dix said. The room grew quiet as Max viciously ripped off the diodes attached to her skin and moved to Alec's side. "Alec McDowell," his judge continued, "you've been found guilty of murder in the first degree. There are no options regarding sentencing. Our laws are clear. At midnight tonight, you will be put to death." The gavel banged down. "We're adjourned."

*****

"Max, it's all right," Alec said as he stood with wrists cuffed behind him and his back against the blank brick wall of a basement room in the Medtronic's building, the place chosen for his "execution." He gave her a little smile. "I don't mind. In a way, it's sort of a relief, like what I've been waitin' for all my life."

"Death?" Max asked bitterly. "You've been waiting all your life for death?"

"Haven't we all?" Alec asked, for some reason in a philosophical mood. He shrugged. "Sooner or later it was gonna happen. At least this way I'll die at the hands of my friends and family instead of bein' tortured or cut to pieces in some government medical facility or foreign lab."

Max, her eyes suddenly glistening with tears, wrapped arms around his neck and rested her cheek against the soft material of his black t-shirt, drinking in his warm alive scent. "They could give you morphine," she whispered huskily against his hard chest. "It would be quick and painless. One needle prick ... Luke offered."

Alec shook his head. "I prefer a bullet," he said. "I'm a soldier, Max. I'd rather die like one."

"Alec," she said desperately, thowing her principles to the wind. "I can still get you out. We can still run, be together, make a life somewhere ..."

"No," Alec said gently but firmly even as he kissed the top of her head. He wished he could return her hug. Max needed that, to feel his strength one last time ... his love ...

The tribunal filed into the room, their faces grim, their eyes cold -- all except Joshua who was crying. Mole was there too, carrying a Glock 65 in his hand.

"Max," Alec said. She tilted her face up and he kissed her warm full lips for the very last time. "Go. I don't want you to see this."

Dix came up behind her, put his hand on her shoulder. "Max," the monocled mutant said. "It's time. Say goodbye to Alec."

She tensed at the touch, then whirled around, her body shielding her lover's, protecting him. "Then kill me too!" she shouted. "I covered up for him! If Alec's guilty, then so am I! If you ungrateful bastards can kill someone as wonderful as this man in cold blood for a crime he's so sorry he committed, then just take my life too because I don't want to be a part of this world ... your world ... any more!"

Alec raised his eyes ... and nodded.

The blow was quick and decisive, Joshua's fist connecting with Max's jaw in a knock-out punch that dropped her to the floor. Sobbing openly, the dog man knelt and gently scooped her light limp form into his arms.

"Take care of her," Alec said, his own eyes locking with his friend's as the transhuman stood. "Don't let her do somethin' stupid ... after ..."

"Alec--" Joshua said gruffly, the word thick with tears. "I'm sorry. I--"

"Hey, big guy," Alec said with the faintest of smiles. "You did what ya had to do. So did the others. No hard feelings on my part."

"Alec!" the dog man wailed, the sound more of a howl than a word.

"Joshua!" Mole said harshly. "It's time. Get outta the way!"

Luke gently led Joshua to one side, out of the line of fire, as Mole stepped forward with the Glock in his hand. Gem, who'd been standing silently on the sidelines, couldn't look at Alec. Curly, the X4, was holding up the far wall with his shoulder, arms crossed, his gaze unreadable, nothing but a witness to the proceedings now (and obviously not wanting to be anything more).

"Any last words," Dix asked Alec. "A blindfold maybe?"

Alec shot him a wry look, as if an X5 soldier would ever need a blindfold. As for last words ...

"I'm sorry I killed her, Mole," Alec said truthfully. "But I can't bring her back or undo what I did. As for the rest of you guys ..." He smirked (for what would be the last time). "Stay strong in the fight. And don't do anything I wouldn't do." Then he raised his chin, squared his shoulders, and backed up against the brick wall, his eyes focusing beyond and behind his friends who were about to witness his death, concentrating on Max who was still cradled in Joshua's arms, the sight of her the last thing he'd ever see.

Without a word, Mole stepped forward to within five feet of Alec and raised the pistol, pointing it directly at the X5's heart. "This is for you, Marly," he muttered as his finger tightened on the trigger.

Alec held his breath, involuntarily tensing, resisting the urge to close his eyes, and waited for the pain ... the blackness ... the nothingness ...

Seconds passed, and the X5 wondered if he was already dead, that he'd somehow missed the event itself. But his back was starting to itch and the handcuffs were chafing his wrists. A trickle of sweat dripped off his brow into one eye and he blinked. Finally, he turned his gaze to Mole, a huge question in their hazel-green depths. Well?

"Shit!" Mole spat, lowering the pistol. He gave Alec a sour look, then turned to the council. "This ain't right. He might be a murderer, but he deserves to go down fighting, not just be slaughtered like an animal." Mole's reptilian gaze raked his comrades. "I invoke the combat rule," he said. "Me and Alec, to the death."

"What?" Alec said, shaking his head and feeling kind of dizzy. "What combat rule? What the hell are you talkin' about?"

"Don't argue," Luke said, already unfastening Alec's handcuffs. "And realize you just used up one of those nine lives of yours, buddy."

"What's goin' on?" Alec argued even as he shook his partially numb hands to get the circulation back. He cocked his head to one side. "Am I sensin' a loophole here?"

"You and Mole are gonna fight," Dix explained. "Tonight, before the regular tournament competition. What it means is that you've now got a chance, Alec. If you win, you go free."

"I never read that in the rule book," the X5 protested. He and Max had gone over the written charter for the transgenic's court before the trial (all 86 pages), trying to find a way out for him. There hadn't been one. "Where the hell does it say that?"

"Appendix B," Luke said cheerfully. "Paragraph 8. Guess you and Max didn't have the amended version. Besides, none of us ever thought Mole would give you a chance like this."

"Great," was all Alec could think to say as he let himself be led back to his cell. He was shaking now with adrenaline overload and tension, his knees weak. This was too bizarre. He'd been so ready for death ... for it to be over. And now -- everything was starting up again. Somewhere, he thought, the gods have to be laughing.

*****

There was no doubt whatsoever in Alec's mind that he could take Mole -- anytime, anywhere, any way. The transhuman might be physically stronger than an X5, but it wasn't as if the lizard man had the near supernatural strength of Joshua. And as for training -- the DAC desert soldiers had been given basic combat hand-to-hand and that was pretty much it. Alec had spent years studying martial arts, as well as being tutored on the side by Max (painfully at times) in the fine art of dirty fighting.

The thing that bothered Alec wasn't whether or not he could win. Rather, it was the fact Mole had to know he'd be outmatched. Why the hell had the guy played the mortal combat card, Alec wondered, when he was so sure to lose? But then again, maybe Mole simply wanted a chance to kill Marly's murderer with his bare hands -- a primitively satisfying punishment.

The X5 told his guards to keep Max away during the hours he waited in his cell for the match the next evening. No way could he go through another emotional parting with her. They'd said their goodbyes, and enough was enough. But still, half an hour before the bell, he glanced up and there she was, standing on the other side of the bars.

Alec ran a hand back through his hair and glanced up at her from where he was seated on the hard bunk, deliberately not standing. "Go away," he said in a low voice.

"Don't lose," she said. "I know you've got it in your head you need to be punished for Marly's death, but now you have a chance. Just, don't lose."

Alec had to smile a little. "You seem to be more worried about my life than I am."

"Somebody has to care," Max replied, gripping the bars with her hands.

"Funny you ended up with that role," Alec had to say. "After all the fussin' and fightin' that's gone down between us." He sighed heavily. "Max, I'm not gonna kill Mole, which means the end of this is pretty much a foregone conclusion."

"You have to kill him," Max said coldly. "You have to live."

The X5 looked at her quizzically. "Why?"

"Because I need you," Max said. "And because your child ... your son ... needs you."

Alec stared at her intently. "My son?"

"I wasn't going to tell you," Max said in a rush. "Not when you were certain to die." She shrugged. "I didn't see the point in giving you something so precious only for you to lose it again, but Dr. Carr ran a DNA test on the baby, to make certain there weren't any anomalies with the pregnancy. It's a boy ... a male X5."

"Thanks for the concern," Alec murmured, his brows drawing down in a confused frown. "I think. But--"

"This kid needs a father, Alec. If for no other reason than that, you've got to win tonight and get yourself free."

"It's time!" Luke called from the doorway down the hall. "The match starts in ten minutes."

And Alec, his head buzzing with confusion and uncertainty, got to his feet.

*****

Barefoot and bare chested, wearing nothing more than sweatpants, Alec warily circled his opponent in the caged ring, a cat on the prowl, very much at home and in his element. Seated on tiers around the two fighters, TC residents watched with baited breath, their allegiances unknown. Some were on Mole's side, wanting revenge for the death of one of their own. Other's however -- the X series especially -- were sympathetic to Alec, not to mention grateful to the X5 for all the good he'd done in Terminal City over the past year.

And then there were the ones who truly loved the condemned man -- Max, Joshua, even Dix and Luke. More than anything they wanted Alec to win and live -- but not at the expense of another of of their own.

Mole struck first, a huge fist swinging at Alec's head. Easily blurring out of the way, the X5 danced back and around, delivering a crippling kick to the lizard man's leg that took him to the mat.

Part of the crowd cheered, and part of it booed. Alec, although he could have taken advantage of Mole's fallen position, instead moved back, giving his opponent a chance to regain his feet.

"Since when did you fight fair?" Mole hissed.

"Who says I fight fair?" Alec countered, at the same time delivering a high spinning crescent kick that caught Mole on the side of the head. For the second time the transhuman hit the mat -- and for the second time Alec refused to press the advantage.

"I'm not gonna kill you," Alec said in a low voice.

"Then you're dead!" Mole spat. This time he didn't bother standing, instead lunging forward to grab Alec's ankles, yanking the X5 off his feet. The young transgenic hit the floor hard -- and then Mole was on top of him, his steely fingers around Alec's throat.

Alec couldn't breathe. Only the incredible strength of his animal DNA-enhanced muscles kept his neck from being snapped as he tried to pry those hands away from his windpipe. But just when Mole probably thought he was about to win, the X5 switched tactics, bringing a leg up and hooking it around his attacker's neck. Twisting, he literally threw Mole off himself and bounced to his feet.

The onlookers cheered.

"An old fighter's trick," Mole spat. "Shoulda known you'd use that."

"Whatever works," Alec declared as he gingerly felt his bruised throat.

Mole charged yet again, and this time Alec was ready. Blurring to one side, the X5 caught the transhuman in an ungodly tight grip, his arm snaking around to cut off the lizard man's air. Gasping, wheezing, Mole's struggles became weaker.

"Five, four, three, two, one," Alec counted down. His opponent went limp, but still he kept up the pressure. Around them, the crowd had grown silent. At last, after nearly a full minute had passed, the X5 released his former friend, not so much as glancing down as the lifeless body fell to the mat. Standing tall, he looked at his judges.

Dix came into the cage and knelt beside Mole, checking for a pulse. "He's dead," he declared. "X5-494 ... Alec McDowell ... you're free."

"I'm free?" Alec said the words, wanting to be absolutely certain the nightmare was over.

"As a bird," Dix added.

"In which case," Alec said as he, too, knelt beside the defeated transhuman, "give me a hand here."

"A hand with what?" Luke asked from the sidelines.

"CPR dumb ass," Alec cracked as he turned Mole over onto his back. "This guy can be brought back. I didn't do any real damage, just cut off his air. Desert Units can go a good eight minutes without oxygen."

Luke and Dix looked at each other.

"Move it!" Alec roared, taking charge of the situation.

And move it they did.

*****

He was sitting on the parapet of the Terminal City Artworks building, feet dangling over the edge, watching the world ... his world ... go by seven stories below. Alec liked it up here, much as Max liked her Space Needle perch. It was a place he could come to be alone, to think, and to reflect on what had become his purpose in life -- his friends, family, business, and the city he was helping to build. Tonight, however, he had company. X5-452's warm body leaning against him chased away the chill of the evening air, her presence and companionable silence more of a comfort to him than he'd ever admit.

The footstep behind the two transgenics was light, but both heard. "Did ya come up here to finish the job?" Alec drawled without turning around. "Maybe put a bullet in me after all?"

"You won, fair and square," Mole said. "You beat me. Although why you didn't off me I'll never know."

"You're my friend, Mole," Alec said, still without bothering to turn around. For all he knew the lizard man had that Glock aimed at his back, but oddly he didn't feel at all threatened. "You know," he said, rapping his dangling feet against the brick facade of the building, "I really am sorry I killed your lady friend. If I had it to do over again, that would never have happened."

Max's hand squeezed his, and for the first time she spoke. "If you had it to do over again, you idiot," she said softly, "you'd have come to me in the first place for help and a lot of bad stuff would have been avoided."

"I know," Alec said softly. "I screwed up bad." For the first time he looked back at the transhuman (who wasn't holding a gun after all, but who was chewing his trademark stogie). "But if it's any consolation, I know how you feel, Mole. Marly isn't the only innocent death I'm responsible for. There was once someone I-- Someone I cared for deeply, and I got her killed. Nothin' I can ever do will make up for Marly ... or her ... or the ones Manticore ordered me to assassinate. Even if I spend the rest of my life sayin' I'm sorry, I'm still goin' to hell when I die. I know that. So, ya see, I didn't really win after all. I just postponed my punishment a little bit."

"Cut the drama, Alec," Max said dryly. "You're not going to hell. Or, if you do, then a lot of us will be keeping you company. Every one of us in here has sinned pretty bad, right Mole?"

"Oh, we're all sinners, pretty boy," Mole said softly, chewing on his cigar. "And maybe you more than some of the others."

"Why didn't you just shoot me?" Alec had to ask. "You had the right, and God knows I deserve it."

Mole was looking at Max. "Maybe because I decided killin' a brother wasn't gonna solve anything, least of all bring Marly back." He cocked his reptilian head to one side. "Or maybe ... maybe a certain someone came to me and begged for your life ... a certain someone who said she didn't wanna hafta raise your kid by herself, without a father."

Before Alec could round on Max, Mole continued. "Another generation of us shouldn't hafta suffer, Alec. Plus, killin' you would hurt everyone in Terminal City -- not just now, but in the future. Without your help, we wouldn't be anywhere near as well off as we are." He tipped his head at Max. "No offense, Max."

"None taken," she said softly. "You're right. Alec's important to all of us."

"I wasn't gonna hurt everyone just to get revenge," the lizard man added. "So, I used the only loophole I could to get you out of the death sentence."

"And it worked, too," Alec said, his hazel-green eyes wide and grateful as he realized the full extent of Mole's charity toward him. He wrapped Max in a hug. "But how'd you know I wouldn't just kill you in the ring? You were no match for me"

"I didn't," Mole said. He paused to relight the cold cigar. Puffing a few times, he gazed out at Terminal City lying below them. "In fact, I figured you probably would kill me. But what the hell, who wants to live forever anyway?"

"Mole," Max said, shifting around in Alec's arms. "Thank you. Thank you for giving him back to me." She glanced down at her flat stomach. "...To us."

"Consider it an early baby gift," the lizard man groused, turning to leave.

"Hey!" Alec called out. "Are we all right now, buddy?"

"No," Mole said quietly, his back to them. He blew a long plume of smoke up at the stars. "But I imagine we will be someday."

THE END