DISCLAIMER: All DARK ANGEL characters belong to James Cameron and Charles Eglee (Cameron Eglee Productions) and DARK ANGEL itself belongs to FOX.

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Photo courtesy of JensenAckles.org

"Max, there's someone at the front gate," Dix said.

Max looked up at the monitor hanging above the little mutant's head, and narrowed her eyes.

"Who is it?" Mole asked, chewing hard on his cigar to emphasize the question as he came closer.

"Just some ordinary," Luke replied as they watched a man speaking to the front gate guard, an X4 named "Samuel" who's speciality was surveillance.

A second later the base's transceiver crackled and Samuel's voice came through. "Got a guy here who says he wants to see Max," he said.

"Is there a name?" Max asked, speaking into the mic as Dix held the button down.

They saw the X4 talk to their visitor, then he came back to them. "Robert Berrisford. Says he knows where someone called 'Simon' is, and that he needs our help."

"Simon?" Mole said, looking at Max. "The only Simon I know is an X3 who's been workin' on the water system. But he wouldn't be on the outside."

However, Max was still hung up on the name "Robert Berrisford." Why the hell would the former CEO of Mercidyne be knocking at their front door apparently saying one of theirs needed help? The only connection he had to transgenics was through Alec. Which is when her heart leaped into her throat.

She pressed the mic button. "Let him in," she commanded.

*****

"You can't stay here for long," Max warned as Berrisford sat down in a dilapidated folding chair in the room she used as an office. "This is a biohazard area. We're immune, but you're not. What do you want, and who's this Simon?"

"Your man is in trouble," Berrisford said. "Manticore is closing in on him, and he's going to die if he doesn't get expert medical attention soon."

Max had never met Robert Berrisford in person before, only seen his picture in news clippings with regards to the bombing in 2017 that had ultimately resulted in the death of his daughter. He looked a great deal older than the photo -- his hair now completely grey, and age lines crosshatching his face. Even though he was dressed in a leather flight jacket and khakis instead of a business suit, he still had a boardroom demeanor to him ... a man who was used to being obeyed. But why he was here ... now ... she still couldn't fathom.

"Who's Simon?" Max tried again. "Is he an X5."

"X5-494," Berrisford said, his voice now tinged with exasperation. "Your second in command here. He's in big trouble and needs your help."

"You mean Alec?" Max clarified. "Alec's here?"

"I always think of him as Simon," Berrisford said. "Simon Lehane ... the name he used when he--" He stopped.

"His alias," Max said gently, recognizing the emotion behind the man's words. "His real name's Alec ... Alec McDowell."

"Whatever he chooses to call himself, your X5 cohort is currently hiding at my mansion."

"The place in Sector 12 where you used to live?" Max said.

Berrisford nodded. Then he looked toward the door. "Do you have a good doctor here?"

"We have medics," Max said. "Why? Is Alec hurt?"

"In a manner of speaking," Berrisford said. "He's been poisoned, and he's only got a day or so left to live if he doesn't get an antidote. He didn't want to come here because Manticore is after him. We lost the electronic tracker they'd put in him, but it would be too easy for Donald Lydecker to pick him off attempting to come back to Terminal City."

Max closed her eyes, her joy at apparently locating Alec -- and so close to home -- overshadowed now by fear. What if she'd found him again only to see him die? When she opened them again, though, she knew exactly what she was going to do. Turning to Dix, she said, "Call Sam Carr. Tell him it's an emergency and that he should meet me at Robert Berrisford's place in Sector 12." Then she turned to her guest. "Take me to him," she said. "Take me to Alec."