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Alec waited until late in the day, when most of Dr. Carr's patients had already been seen, before quietly dropping by the office. Shedding his leather jacket, and pushing up the sleeve of his sweater, he took a seat at the nurse's station as ordered, and waited for someone to come draw the blood. He had no idea what Max had told Carr, and frankly, he didn't want to know. His life was complicated enough already, and, doctor/patient confidentiality or not, he really didn't want to talk to Dr. Carr about any of this. All Max needed was for a rumor to get started in TC about the baby not being Logan's, and her reputation would be ruined. The best thing he could do for Max right now was to keep his mouth shut.

He looked up when he heard a door open down the hallway, eyebrows rising at the site of the doctor himself headed his way.

"My receptionist told me a male X5 was here," Carr said. "I had a feeling it was probably you."

"Nice to see ya again, doc," Alec drawled, greeting the man with a deliberately friendly smile. "Oh, and thanks again for your help with my little Tryptophan problem awhile back."

"You're welcome," Carr said. He was reading a chart that he'd brought with him. "And you're here for--?"

"Some blood work," Alec said cautiously.

"Oh," the doctor replied, his eyes going to the chart again.

"Max told me to come," Alec added, clenching his jaw slightly and hoping he wouldn't have to explain any more.

"I understand, Alec." He pulled out a syringe from his white lab coat pocket and a piece of rubber tubing.

Alec hated needles ... hated anything medical-related at all in fact, thanks to his years spent at Manticore as a lab rat soldier. Doctors had hurt him there, and now anyone wearing a white coat made his hackles rise.

"Relax, son," Carr said as he tied the tube and tapped for a vein on the inside of Alec's elbow. The needle prick wasn't bad, and found its target on the first try. Releasing the tourniquet, Alec watched with a slightly queasy feeling as his rich red blood filled the syringe. When it was done, Carr withdrew the needle and slapped a bandaid on the tiny puncture wound.

Alec flexed his arm and pulled down his sleeve. That hadn't been so bad. He'd picked up his jacket and was about to leave when Carr said, "If you have time, I'd like to show you something."

He really didn't want to linger around this place, but something in the doctor's tone of voice gave Alec pause. "Medical?" he asked.

"In a manner of speaking," Carr said. "It's some new information I have that I think you should see."

Alec was game. Anything new regarding X5 physiology could only be a help to his kind.

Carr told his receptionist to lock the front door of the office as she was leaving, then led Alec to a laboratory in the back of the building. Turning off the light, he flipped on an overhead projector that was apparently hooked to a computer.

"I just thought you might like to see what you really are," Carr said.

"What do you mean?" Alec asked, not understanding.

"The last time I drew blood from you, I had an analysis of your chromosomal structure done ... Max's too ... thinking it might come in handy someday. I just got the results back last week, and considering the way the two of you are currently ... involved ... I thought the data pertinent."

Alec recognized what he was looking at on the view screen, a swirling green double-helix DNA strand complete with all its chromosomal structures.

"This is your DNA," Carr said. He tapped the keyboard, and a number of the green markers turned red. "And these are the splices Manticore did to you -- the places where animal DNA was either substituted for your human DNA, or actually added to the strand.

He tapped more keys and a second green double-helix spun on the screen. "Here's Max," Carr said. Another command, and her strand, too, lit up with red.

Alec was fascinated in spite of himself. He'd never been keen on science, but knowing that what he was seeing were essentially the elements of his own creation -- the invisible "stitches" on Frankenstein's monster -- was something he couldn't look away from.

"Whoever paired you with Max back at Manticore knew what they were doing," Carr said. He picked up a pointer and indicated some of the red splices. "Here, here, and here -- at major junctures -- your DNA is identical to hers. I'm assuming this is probably the X5 sequencing -- the feline DNA. As for the rest," he swept the pointer across the screen. "At least 80 percent of the remaining tampered DNA is identical to Max's as well, although it's spread out and, of course, matched to your being a male versus her being a female. For example, you don't experience 'heat' cycles the way Max does. You're not wired for it because you don't have female organs. Then again, Max's aggression level is probably a step or two lower than yours due to the testosterone factor in your make-up. There are bone and muscle mass differences as well."

"What about Max's no-junk DNA?" Alec asked after spending a moment just staring at what was actually a rather beautiful, if bizarre, sight.

Carr went back to the keyboard, and a number of points on Max's helix turned blue. "We still don't know how Sandeman accomplished this," the doctor said. "Some of it is for storage of the antigen information he thought the world would need. However, that would account for only a small part. As for the rest?" He shrugged. "Anybody's guess."

Alec was looking at "himself" more closely. "And I have the junk DNA, like a regular human?"

"Yes. And ..." Another command. "Here's the baby's genetic make-up.

A third double-helix appeared on the screen between the first two with the non-human DNA lit in red. It wasn't identical to either of the other helixes -- but it was awfully close -- and definitely not human.

Alec turned to the doctor. "If you don't mind, I'd like to have a copy of this information to take back to Terminal City. Our science guys might find it useful."

"No problem," Dr. Carr said and he popped a blank disc into his computer.

While they waited for the data to encode, Alec wandered around the lab, his hands stuffed in his pockets, deliberately remaining silent.

"Is she going to tell him?" Dr. Carr asked in a low voice.

"Who?" Alec said, turning around. "Logan? About the baby bein' pure X5?"

"Yes. I know if I were in his shoes I'd feel extremely deceived if the woman I loved tried to pass a baby off as mine when it had really been fathered by another man."

"That's up to Max," Alec said, the words a bit sharp. "I've got nothin' to do with it."

"Oh, there you're wrong," Dr. Carr said, his voice almost sad as he handed Alec the copy of the disc. "You've got everything to do with the situation Logan and Max are now in. The question is -- what are you going to do about it?"

Alec didn't answer the doctor, because he couldn't -- not when he didn't know himself.

*****

Max knew she had to tell Logan the truth tonight, because if she didn't he'd find out tomorrow from Dr. Carr when they went back for the baby's further DNA analysis, and that would be too cruel.

But how do I tell the love of my life that, in a moment of insane weakness and pity, I had sex with Alec, and that the baby I'm carrying is his?

She hardly touched the steak dinner Logan prepared, pushing the food around her plate with a fork so he hopefully wouldn't notice.

"A touch of morning sickness, Max?" Logan asked when he cleared the dishes and saw she'd hardly eaten anything at all.

There was nothing but concern in his voice, and Max felt like she was going to cry. She and Logan had survived so much together. Could they survive this? Her betrayal?

"Logan," she began, and bit her lower lip.

"What is it, Max?"

"I'm ... going to take a bath. Hot water is still a luxury in Terminal City and it would feel really good to soak awhile."

"Knock yourself out," Logan said good naturedly. "I'll take care of the dishes."

She'd almost drifted off to sleep in the tub when she felt the first faint twinge in her abdomen. It's just cramps, Max thought sleepily. But then she remembered she shouldn't be having her cycle. Forcing herself to remain calm, Max got out of the tub and dried off. It was probably nothing. However, when she looked down at the towel she saw blood.

Logan wanted to take her to County General, but the Terminal City infirmary was a lot closer. He helped her through the tunnel and down the street to the main building that housed not only the media center and lab, but also the make-shift hospital. Staffed in alternating shifts by four field medics, the transgenics had learned to make do with what they had when it came to medical treatment.

An X4 named Rosie helped her onto an examining table, then shooed Logan away. Joshua had seen them coming down the street, and now he hovered outside the door as well, worried sick about his "Little Fella."

Max didn't need an ultrasound to know that she was losing the baby. It doesn't matter, she told herself. I've only known I was pregnant for a couple of days. This child's better off not being born anyway.

Max managed to keep her composure through the next few hours while she miscarried. Logan held her hand most of the time, a wan smile on his face trying to assure her that everything would be all right -- that they could try again soon if she wanted.

"This child just wasn't meant to be, Max," Logan said when it was all over. "It's probably for the better."

"I know," Max said, keeping her face impassive. "I'll be fine. Don't worry about me."

There was a light knock on the infirmary door. Max glanced up at a clock on the wall. It was 3 o'clock in the morning. There must be an emergency of some kind.

But it was Alec standing there, filling the opening of the doorway, looking as worried as Max had ever seen him. "Joshua told me," he said quietly in answer to her silent question. He smiled a little. "The big guy's beside himself, wonderin' what's wrong with you. I told him I'd come up and make sure you were all right."

Max motioned Alec over to the bed, and even though Logan was watching, she took the X5's hand in her own. Giving his fingers a squeeze, she whispered, "I lost the baby, Alec. I'm sorry."

Alec's eyes filled with emotion, his handsome face a mask of despair. Sitting down on the edge of the bed he reached out and embraced Max in a huge hug. "Max," he whispered low in her ear. "I'm sorry."

Which is when Max began to sob, the tears she'd hidden from Logan falling for Alec. Clutching the young transgenic close, her fingers buried in the brown leather of his jacket, she cried and cried and cried -- until Logan, not understanding at all, finally gave up trying to comfort her, and left the two X5s alone together.