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Logan was in his apartment alone for a very long time that night, seated at his desk, sipping a Scotch, and staring at the blank computer screen. Max was spending the rest of the night in the infirmary. His lips twitched in a sarcastic smile. And it's not like she's alone.

Although she'd once used Alec as a pretend boyfriend, Max had since then vehemently denied having any deep feelings for the X5 male. In fact, she often seemed to go out of her way to belittle and criticize Alec, to the point Logan sometimes felt truly sorry for the poor guy. It was as if there was something about Alec that drove her crazy ... pushed all her buttons ... even though he wasn't doing anything intentional. Maybe it was because Alec had been Ben's twin brother; or because he was a product of pure Manticore training, an assassin, and she felt she couldn't trust him. Alec had, afterall, betrayed her badly, not just once, but twice, although admittedly that had been before she'd had become "family."

Methinks the lady doth protest too much. The phrase kept repeating itself in Logan's mind, along with there's a fine line between love and hate.

At one time Max had come close to hating Alec, blaming him for almost everything that was wrong with her life, including the virus. She'd even come within a hair's breadth of turning Alec over to Ames White, which would have been a death sentence for the young transgenic. It used to be she didn't trust Alec at all, and his mere presence was enough to make her mood turn ugly.

But then Freak Nation had been born -- and, for the first time in his life, Alec had found a cause more worthy than himself, landing like a cat on his feet right in the middle of Max's grand plan to gain equality for all of the Manticore people whether they be transgenic, transhuman, or nomalie.

A valuable part of Max's inner circle, in charge of Terminal City's budding art and antique trade as well as its supply line, city council representative for the Freaks, their elected leader ... Alec, along with Joshua, had really been the one to track down Kelpy, the serial killer who's apprehension had ultimately led to the transgenics' freedom. And Alec had been right there at Max's side, fighting shoulder-to-shoulder with her, when the final battle with the Familiars went down.

Hell, Logan thought. He might as well face it. Alec was a damn hero, even with all his many flaws. If he could see that, then certainly Max could too.

He tried to remember if he'd ever seen Max and Alec acting suspiciously together -- but except for tonight in the infirmary, he honestly couldn't recall anything more intimate between the two than a brief hug or the touch of a hand. Although, admittedly, Max worried herself sick when Alec was in danger, and would go to great lengths to protect him. But that was just because Alec was part of her family, wasn't it? She'd do the same for Joshua, or Dix, or even Mole.

And Max had seemed so happy recently, Logan mused, ever since they'd discovered the virus was gone and they could finally be a couple. Max said she loved him, Logan, more than anyone else in the world. And she'd been going to have his baby ...

The baby. Logan remembered a rainy night nearly a month ago when Max had stormed out a party, angry because he'd criticized her behavior. He'd called Alec ... asked him to find Max. Eventually, Max had returned on her own, alone, to climb into his bed. He'd made love to her, trying to make up for the things he'd said earlier. She'd seemed content ...

Three weeks plus a few days ... That's how far along Max's pregnancy had been. Three weeks plus a few days since that rainy night ...

Sighing heavily, Logan looked at the time. It was well past midnight. Taking off his glasses and rubbing his face tiredly, he knew there was only one way to settle the nagging suspicions in his mind. Dr. Carr had just run a detailed DNA analysis on the fetus. The results of those tests would tell him what he needed to know -- whether Max was sleeping with Alec behind his back.

*****

An hour later Logan stood in the dark in Dr. Carr's downtown office, holding a flashlight and reading Max's file. It had been relatively simple for him to break into the building and find the transcripts. Eyes Only was, afterall, an "investigative" reporter well used to utilizing slightly less than legal means to gather information when necessary.

There was a great deal of scientific/medical jargon that he didn't understand in the baby's test results. He couldn't tell from just reading who the child's biological father was. However, one thing about the file was odd -- there were records on not just three DNA analysis (his, Max's, and the baby's), but on four.

The double helixes had been printed on photographic paper. Three were labeled -- Logan Cale, Max Guavera, and Baby Cale. The fourth, however, had a blank space at the top where the name should be.

Logan scrutinized the data on that fourth DNA strand, then compared it to his and to Max's. There was no doubt about it. This sample had come from another X5 -- one very similar to Max in encoding.

He had a sudden thought, and went back to the filing cabinet. It took less than a minute to pull the records on "Alec McDowell." Sure enough, inside the folder was a photograph of a DNA strand. Logan took out the picture and compared it to the mystery one in Max's file.

He wasn't surprised when they matched.

Going back to the baby's DNA analysis, Logan went down the rows of numbers again until he came to the "conclusion" box at the end of the study. His lower lip began to tremble. There weren't any names listed, but the evidence was undeniable. The child had been pure X5.

*****

Rage battled with despair inside Logan as he made his way home. He and Max had survived so much together, waited so long, remained faithful to one another until at last they could be happy. A mere six weeks ago Max had told him she would never love anyone else -- and, after discovering she was pregnant, had agreed to become his wife.

What had gone wrong? When had she turned to him? And more importantly -- why? Had she found her human boyfriend "lacking" in some way?

Logan blushed at the thought he might not be satisfying Max in bed. But surely their relationship ran deeper than just sex. Admittedly, Alec was a handsome young stud, but that had never turned Max's head in the slightest before. To her, the X5's gorgeous looks weren't anything special.

How did the two of them ever get together long enough to even talk civilly, let alone make a baby?

Unless, of course, Alec had forced her ...

Logan sat up straighter in his chair, exploring that idea. Max was practically invincible when it came to fighting humans ... ordinaries. But Alec was her equal in every way, and even surpassed her powers when it came down to sheer strength. What if Alec had found Max that rainy night in an isolated location. She'd been horribly upset ... vulnerable ... What if he'd taken advantage of Max's moment of weakness, perhaps deciding that he had nothing to lose. Hell, Max already thought the worst about Alec most of the time, why not add rape to the list? And she had been his designated breeding partner ...

But then Logan remembered the scene in the infirmary ... Max sobbing in Alec's arms ... the look of loss on his face ...

Alec had known that the baby was his. Max had told him what she hadn't told the man she was supposed to love, the man who was supposedly the child's father. And that realization, more than any other he'd had that night, cut Logan to the bone.

Alec hadn't raped Max. That baby had been conceived in love.

His heart shriveling with hate, Logan made his decision. Pulling open a desk drawer, he took out a Browning automatic pistol and a box of shells. He knew a lot about the transgenics ... how they'd been created ... how they'd been trained ... what they were capable of, their strengths and weaknesses ...

With the knowledge he had, it shouldn't be hard at all to kill an X5.

*****

Dawn had come and gone, and Logan was still fondling the pistol and making plans, when she returned.

"Logan!" Max called. "Are you here?"

Quickly putting the gun away and hiding the DNA reports under a stack of magazines, he plastered on a caring smile as he turned to greet her. "Why didn't you call me?" he said. "If I'd known you were out of the clinic I'd have come down to get you."

"I'm fine, Logan," Max replied tiredly, slipping out of her jacket and laying it over the back of the couch before sitting down. "Joshua and Alec walked me to the tunnel."

Logan stiffened at mention of the X5's name. "You know," he said carefully, "I never thought of Alec as being so emotional -- how upset he was about you losing the baby."

Max glanced at him, obviously uncomfortable. "Alec cares," she said simply. "When I'm upset, he gets upset -- sort of an empathy thing going on between siblings I guess."

Logan marveled that Max actually thought he'd buy bull shit like that. But then she didn't know he wasn't blind to her feelings for Alec any more. "Alec sympathetic with someone besides himself ," he said. "Who'd have ever thought it?"

"Like I said," Max repeated. "He cares ... sometimes at least." She looked toward the bedroom, and in an obvious attempt to change the subject said, "I'm beat. Rosie told me I should rest for a day or two if I could, give my body a chance to get back to normal and for the bleeding to stop." She stood and stretched, weariness written all over her face. "I know we can't ... you know," she added, "but I'd sure like a cuddle."

A short time ago ... yesterday even ... Logan Cale would have gladly melted into Max's arms and held her forever, worshiping the beauty of her face as she slept. But that was before he'd found out she'd been doing some "worshiping" of her own with another man. Once again, Logan wondered what Alec had that he didn't -- if it was the physical attributes alone that had made Max stray.

"You go on," Logan said. "I've got some things to take care of today -- a little business that I probably should have finished up a long time ago."

Max smiled at him. "Could you bring back some take-out when you come home?" she said. "I haven't had Chinese in forever."

"Your wish is my command," Logan said. The whir of the exoskeleton sounded louder than usual in the small apartment as he moved across the room. Gently, he kissed her on the lips, and told himself it wasn't his imagination that she wasn't kissing him back.

"Later," she promised as she shut the bedroom door.

Logan swallowed the bitter taste in his mouth and wiped away a single tear. She'd soon be all his again, he vowed. And it would be as if he had never existed. He went out into the hallway to make the call.

"Alec," he said into the cell phone, speaking to the younger man's voice mail. "I need you to do something for me. It's an Eyes Only case. If you can, meet me in the alley back of Tavern Row down at the waterfront in an hour."

Clicking the "end" button on his phone, he then went back into the apartment and retrieved the loaded Browning from the desk, plus one other item that he thought might come in handy.

Alec might be an X5 supersoldier. But he's still flesh and blood. If caught by surprise, he really won't be that hard to kill.