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The conference was long, and, to Max, incredibly boring. She spent four captive hours in the morning (and six hours that afternoon) crossing and uncrossing her legs and yanking on her tight skirt while perched in an uncomfortable stadium seat in the Mercer Building's amphitheater. Forced to listen to speaker after speaker drone on about DNA theories, all she could do was stretch, yawn, and massage her cramped back while her charge sitting next to her listened with rapt fascination.

Alec, at least, got to roam the building. Clad in black jeans, t-shirt, and leather -- looking very much the secret agent man -- his job was to keep an eye on the scientists who were constantly coming and going, watching for anything suspicious through a pair of expensive Ray Ban sunglasses that Max seriously doubted he'd paid for. (Then again, in Alec's defense, those shades did look an awful lot like ones Mole had been using as ante in TC's weekly poker game the other night.)

Savannah, as key note speaker, had the honor of being last on the program. When the girl was finally called on stage, Max expected another eyelid drooping monotone speech, but instead found herself surprisingly interested in what the teenage genius had to say about animal/human recombinant DNA techniques. The test subjects for the experiment had been feline, and, even though it wasn't stated as such, it was obvious Savannah had used X5 physiology as a prototype for her work. However, when charts were put up on the overhead projector showing the failure rate of the DNA strands -- how they almost inevitably eventually disintegrated with the bonds not holding or else produced horribly deformed lab animals -- Max began to squirm again. She didn't need to hear this, not when--

"How's the speech goin'?" Alec asked cheerfully as he dropped into the empty seat next to her, the one Savannah had vacated.

"A real snoozer," Max said grumpily. "I'll really be glad when this assignment's over, and not because of the danger." She looked at her man. "I swear, this is the most boring day I've spent in I don't know how long. If I hear the word 'chromosome' one more time I'm going to vomit."

"Yeah," Alec agreed, propping a foot up on the back of the seat in front of him and ignoring the angry stare from its occupant. "I'm bored too. I've been up and down those stairs fifty times, checkin' hallways and balconies, the gift shop and restaurant. Not a suspicious person anywhere to be found." He sounded vaguely disappointed. "I'm beat too," he added. "My feet are killin' me."

"I hope they don't hurt too much," Max said.

Alec looked at her quizzically.

"Remember the party tonight? Your promised Savannah you'd dance with her?"

"Oh, God," Alec said. "I forgot. Do we hafta go?"

"She's counting on it," Max said. He still looked reluctant. "Come on. It's a big deal to her. Sort of like Prince Charming taking Cinderella to the ball."

Alec smirked. "Just so long as she knows this Prince Charming already has a princess," he said. "Wouldn't want the kid to get a crush on me or anything."

"Don't worry," Max said wryly. "You're an X5. According to Savannah, your lifespan is limited which makes anything more than a one-night-stand problematic."

"Don't remind me," Alec said. "She makes me feel like I've got an expiration date on that bar code of mine."

"I know what you mean," Max murmured.

The patron in front of them suddenly turned around, making a shushing motion with his hand. Rolling his eyes, Alec slid out of the seat and headed back to the lobby to wait for the conference to be over, and Max once more tried to concentrate on the scientific jargon the young girl was spouting about animal/human hybrids.

*****

Alec, always the gentleman, really did save a dance for Savannah at the party that evening. The event was formal. Lydecker, stickler for protocol that he was, had provided a tuxedo and evening gown for his pair of bodyguards (in Max's case a blue silk number with bows that didn't quite fit either her form or her taste), and a hotel room where they could change. Savannah, however, emerged from her own reserved room in a black Versace dress that made Max's eyes widen with envy. How on earth could a 16-year-old girl afford clothes like that?

"I hope you don't mind," Savannah said with a twinkle in her blue eyes as she snagged Alec's hand as soon as they entered the party room and dragged him to the dance floor.

"Be my guest," Max said to the empty air.

*****

"You love her, don't you?" Savannah said to Alec as they swayed together in rhythm to the orchestra's slow music.

"Yeah," Alec said, not even asking who she was talking about. "I love her."

"Does she love you?"

"I think so," Alec said truthfully.

"You sound doubtful."

Alec looked down at the teenager and gently tightened his grip on her waist. She was quite a bit shorter than him. He could actually have rested his chin on top of her strawberry locks if he wanted to -- but he didn't. "Max doesn't show her feelings easily," he said. "Neither do I. It's sort of a Manticore thing. They frowned on emotions."

"You guys were tortured," Savannah said, her words amazingly blunt. "Brainwashed."

Alec looked down into her blue eyes and was equally candid. "Yeah, we were, Savannah. We were also forced to kill people."

"It must have been awful."

"It was hell," Alec said. "And the worst thing is, we didn't even know how bad we were bein' treated because we'd never known anything else."

"You have beautiful eyes," Savannah said, abruptly changing the subject. "They're all green and gold, like a fairy tale forest." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "It's too bad you and Max have to die. You're both so beautiful ... I wish I'd been the one who created you. I'd have done a better job. I'd have made sure you didn't have seizures."

"Hey," Alec said, catching hold of her chin with his thumb and forefinger and forcing her to look up at him. "We've got the seizure thing under control most of the time. Don't worry about us. Hell, for all we know we have genetics that'll let us live to be two hundred."

Alec was actually referring to Sandeman and the Breeding Cult who's senior members were rumored to be as old as Methuselah. If he and his fellow transgenics did indeed have the elderly scientist's DNA as part of their make-up, then such a long lifespan was certainly a possibility, and far better to think about than to dwell on Savannah's dire predictions.

Max suddenly appeared at their side and tapped on Savannah's shoulder. "Can I cut in?" she asked.

The girl grinned at Alec, and bowed out gracefully. "He's a good dancer," she said to Max. "Appreciate him."

"He's more than just a good dancer," Max said under her breath but knowing Alec would hear.

It was a rare evening for both of the X5s ... their first formal party as a couple ... their first dance ... and later that night, when their bodyguard gig was completed and their charge safely home, they celebrated those firsts with a night of hot animalistic sex that left no doubt about the "feline" on those DNA strands their young genius was so fascinated with.

*****

Max's cell phone once again awakened Alec from a sound sleep. The sun was just peeking over the horizon, and both he and and his partner were exhausted from the night's sexual antics. With a curse, Alec answered. "What?" he demanded, his voice husky.

"Savannah Stevenson's been kidnapped," Lydecker's clipped words informed him.

"When?" Alec asked, sitting up in bed, instantly soldier awake.

"What's wrong?" Max asked sleepily.

"Savannah's been snatched," Alec said to her, one hand covering the receiver.

"Last night after you left her at home," Lydecker said in his ear. "Both of her regular guards were killed. Whoever did it set off every alarm on the estate but apparently didn't give a shit who heard."

"Do we know who has her?" Alec asked as Max hopped out of bed.

"Maybe the South Africans," Lydecker replied. "Maybe the Chinese. Both are extremely anxious to breed supersoldiers of Manticore caliber, and, so far as we know, neither has had any luck acquiring current prototypes. Going for one of the world's leading geneticists would be the next logical move."

"You got any leads at all," Max asked, grabbing the cell away from Alec.

"One or two," Lydecker said.

"You want us on it I presume.?"

"That's an affirmative," the colonel said. "Stand by and wait for orders. Chances are you'll be sent out by this evening if our sources pan out."

"That poor girl," Max said as she dropped back into bed and huddled in Alec's arms. Together, they watched the sun rise through the window of Max's TC apartment. Outside the sounds of a waking community could be heard -- Luke starting up the truck to go on a supply run; Mole opening the main gate to let him through; a brief squeal of a siren as the Sector Police shift that constantly monitored the Freak community changed.

"They won't hurt her," Alec assured Max, giving her a big hug. "So long as she cooperates she'll be kept safe. Afterall, she's no good to them dead."

"We have to get her back, Alec," Max said. "I can't stand to think of her ... you know ... all frightened and alone."

Alec smiled gently, his hazel-green eyes sad and sincere as he peered through long strands of uncombed dark blond hair. "Don't worry," he said, his voice deep. I'll be a knight in shining armor swoopin' in to rescue the damsel in distress."

"And I'll be right beside you ready to save your shining swooping ass," Max chided him gently. And then she kissed him, and together they sank back down into the bed. Tonight there would be danger, fear ... maybe death. But now, this minute, they were alive and in love, and no one could take that from them.