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This is a true stand-alone story that occurs four years after "Freak Nation." -- author's note

"Hey, Max."

Max nearly jumped out of her skin at the quiet words. Looking up from the papers she'd been absorbed in reading, she stared at him, standing there filling her office doorway, looking mighty fine in khakis, grey t-shirt, and black leather jacket. The others in the office building that now served as Transgenic Headquarters had all gone home long ago. It was, afterall, well past sunset -- the windows lit only by streetlights and the corridors dark. She was chagrined that he'd been able to sneak up on her like that, materializing out of the shadows -- but then why should she be surprised? He was, afterall, pure Manticore.

"Alec," she said softly, drinking in his appearance, her eyes raking his lean, hard body and the angular planes of his handsome face. He hadn't changed much at all over the years since they'd parted. If anything, X5-494 at age 26 was even better looking than he'd been at 22, the air of maturity in his stance, and the unspoken authority in those big hazel-green eyes making her heart pound with uncharacteristic rapidness.

"You cut your hair," she said when he remained silent, commenting, for lack of better words, on the short well-styled haircut he was sporting. It looked good on him ... that cut ... reminded her of when they'd first met back at Manticore ...

Alec shrugged. And there it was -- that slow, gorgeous smile of his she remembered so well. "'Jacked some fancy new military ordinance off a German base last week for a middle eastern buyer," he said matter-of-factly. He then ducked his head a little, and self-consciously raked fingers back through his moussed brown hair. "Needed to blend in soldier-wise." He was watching her closely. "Jondy likes it too," he added, testing the waters as he leaned harder on the doorframe and stuffed hands a bit defensively in his jacket pockets.

"How is Jondy?" Max asked, being careful to keep her tone of voice as neutral as his.

"She's doin' great," Alec said. "She likes livin' in Ireland. Says the climate's good for her skin, although personally all that humidity makes me sneeze."

"I heard you guys have a really big place out on some island."

Again the shrug. "Actually, it's a dump," Alec said, the grin surfacing again and a tiredness showing in his eyes that hadn't been there before. "A half ruined castle that was supposedly built by some Irish royalty guy about seven hundred years ago.You've heard of fixer-uppers? Well, that's about all I do in between cat burglar jobs -- fix things up. But at least it's secluded, quiet, and it would be pretty hard for Lydecker or the Breeding Cult to sneak up on us. I won it in a poker game of all things ..." His voice trailed off.

"Does Joshua like it -- in Ireland I mean?"

"The Big Fella's doin' great," Alec said, his eyes sparkling a little bit again. "The money his paintings bring in has kept us in pretzels and beer more'n once when we've hit a lean spell. They especially love him in Paris. There's a little gallery down in the Old Marais District that can't keep enough 'Joshuas' in stock."

"Isn't he lonely?" Max had to ask, for some reason needing to hear that Joshua at least missed her.

"Not really," Alec replied, looking her straight in the eye. "The kids and his painting keep him pretty busy. Who'd ever have pictured Josh as the nanny-type. Huh? Go figure."

"You have children?" The question came out as a squeak. She cleared her throat.

Alec's brows drew together. "I thought you knew. Didn't Logan tell you? Guess he didn't show you all my Emails. Sean's three, and Eliza's four months." He reached for his wallet. "I've got pictures."

"What Emails?"

Alec held out two photos, a "proud Dad" look on his face that was so natural to him it took Max's breath away. She studied the pictures, not studio portraits but ones obviously taken with a regular camera at home, informal and adorable. Sean had sandy hair and his father's eyes; Eliza was dark brunette, her eyes brown like her mother's, her skin porcelain. Both children were beautiful -- pure X5 -- and appeared to be perfectly healthy. Max swallowed the lump of jealousy in her throat.

"I've tried to keep in touch over the years, lettin' you guys know where I was ... how things were goin'," Alec said quietly as he carefully put the pictures away, treating them as the precious objects they were. "I told you when I left that I'd always be here for you, Max. I never intended to just disappear." He frowned. "Guess Logan didn't think you wanted to know everything we were up to -- me and Jondy." He eyed her a bit strangely. "Until now, that is. Why am I here, Max? Why'd you leave that message for me? Are you in trouble?"

"Alec," Max began. She stopped and cleared her throat again. "I was really angry at you for taking off like that."

"That's puttin' it mildly," Alec said, his smile wry this time. "You were furious when me and Jondy, your precious long lost sister, hit it off so well. Hell, that night you walked into my room -- without knockin' I might add -- and found us together ... I honestly thought you were gonna kill us both. And then when the two of us decided to head out to make a life of our own, you acted like we were traitors."

"I'd had no idea the two of you were ... dating," Max said.

"We weren't dating. We were fucking."

Max took a deep calming breath and continued. "That you guys were like that. That it was so serious ..."

"I love her, Max," Alec said, his hazel-green eyes as intense as she'd ever seen them. "With all my heart and with all my soul. I know you're bent out of shape about that, and I'm sorry you can't seem to find it in yourself to wish me the same happiness you and Logan found. But that's the way things stand."

"I want you to be happy, Alec!" Max protested. "I just wanted you to be happy here ... with--"

"With you?" Alec's nostrils flared, and he sniffed loudly. "You just expected me to hang around watchin' while you and Logan lived the dream? You didn't think I needed to have a life of my own?" He glanced behind him, at the empty hallway, then stepped into the office and shut the door even though the privacy was hardly necessary at this hour of the night. Then he strode over, and planted his hands firmly on top of her desk, leaning forward so his face was only inches from hers. "I worshipped the ground you walked on, Max," he said, his voice disturbingly bitter. "Hell, I didn't realize it then, but I was so in love with you I would have gladly died for you. Do you realize how awful it was for me to be near you every day, but never able tell you -- or even admit to myself -- how I felt because you were in love with another man?"

"Alec," Max protested, unable to think of anything to say. "I swear, I didn't know. I never meant--"

"To keep me a prisoner?"

"You weren't a prisoner, Alec," she said sharply. "You stayed because you owed me for saving your life all those times ... or at least that's why I thought you stayed at first. And then you stayed because we were friends ... family. When you said you were leaving with Jondy ... I'm sorry, but I felt as if you were betraying me. And you took Joshua away, too! Alec, I freed you from Manticore, damn it!"

"And Jondy freed me from you !" he shouted right back in her face, his golden-green eyes flashing fire. "My heart was breaking, Max. You were destroying me." He took a deep shuddering breath, and then, very deliberately, turned his back on her. "What do you want, Max?" he said to the wall. "Why'd I just fly halfway around the world for you?"

"You have beautiful children," Max said, steering the conversation back to what she hoped was safer territory.

"Thank you."

"And they're really healthy?"

"As healthy as an X5 can be," Alec said, looking back at her over his shoulder. "But they still need Tryptophan."

"No genetic abnormalities."

"Just pure X5 encoding, according to the specialist we had look them over -- a former Manticore lab guy I tracked down in Italy." Alec, relaxing a little, dropped into one of the room's armchairs.

"Has Lydecker bothered you?"

"A year ago he tried to capture me in Monaco," Alec said quietly. "I kicked his ass and got away, but it was real close. He doesn't know about Jondy and the kids -- at least I hope he doesn't."

"Logan and I don't have any children."

Eyebrows rose as Alec glanced up at her. "You're afraid of what the X5/human cross might produce." It wasn't a question.

"With good reason," Max said, swallowing with difficulty. She studied her hands. "I've had two miscarriages. Both fetuses were ... deformed ... had genetic abnormalities. The last one was in the seventh month ..."

"I'm sorry."

"Alec, I want to have a child, a healthy child." She looked up, her eyes collided with his, and there it was ...

Alec drew in a single sharp breath. "No."

His voice had dropped an octave, like it did when he was really, really angry -- a warning. Max knew she had to be extremely careful here.

"Alec, you were assigned to be my breeding partner back at Manticore. They must have done a genetic match on us. You and I were apparently the most compatible with each other."

"No."

"You've already had two healthy children with another X5 female ... with Jondy, my sister."

"She's not your sister."

"You know what I mean. You and I could have a healthy baby, Alec. We wouldn't have to -- you know. It could be in-vitro fertilization or I could even use a turkey baster." She tried to smile at her own little joke, but couldn't. "Let me talk to Jondy. She'll understand. She's a mother. She knows what I'm going through."

He was staring at her in stone cold silence now.

"Or we could do it the old fashioned way," Max tried desperately. "I love Logan and you love Jondy, but that doesn't mean we couldn't be together if we wanted to. They wouldn't have to know. You once wanted that, remember? To have sex with me? The success rate of fertilization is much higher with natural copulation anyway and--" Suddenly Max stopped, her hand flying to her mouth as she realized how horrible what she was proposing must sound to the other X5.

However, to his credit, Alec didn't tear into her. "No, Max," he said again firmly and quietly. And with those words, he stood, and walked to the door. However, with his hand on the knob, he turned back to her, the look in his tear-filled green eyes one of pure pity. "I'm sorry, Max," he whispered huskily. "I really am. For everything. But this time it's not my fault. You had your chance with me."

And then he was gone, vanishing in the darkness, back to his happy life ... the life that could have been hers.

THE END