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Artwork courtesy of Valjean & |
By Valjean
ARCHIVE: No
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Artwork courtesy of Valjean & |
*****
“I thought you said that if you went back to Seattle the military would snatch you up?” Sam yawned from the passenger seat of the Impala.
“So, I’ll be careful,” Alec said defensively.
“Why’d you change your mind?”
The X5 remained silent, watching the shadowy, predawn road ahead as he headed north toward the main freeway.
“Turn on the headlights,” Sam said.
Alec reached down and pulled the knob that brought on the beams. Sometimes he forgot that not everyone could see in the dark like he could ...
“Come on, Dean. I’m in this too. This side trip of yours doesn’t have anything to do with Dad, does it? This is personal. Right?”
“Yeah,” Alec finally breathed. “It’s personal. There’s someone there who might be in danger ‘cause of me.”
“Someone you care about,” Sam guessed. “As in a girlfriend? You’re afraid that what happened to Jess might happen to her?”
“Yeah.”
“Care to elaborate, bro? I mean, are we talkin’ the love of your life here? ‘Cause I don’t think the Forces of Evil or whatever the hell they are would care much about one of your one-night-stands.”
“She’s more than a one-night-stand,” Alec said quietly. He then glanced over at his brother, took a deep breath, and added, “Her name’s Max.”
Recognition dawned in the younger man. “The Manticore girl who called you ‘Alec’ as in ‘smart alec’? An apt name I might add. You really do get full of yourself sometimes.”
Alec nodded. “That’s the one.”
Sam grinned. “So, I’m guessing the two of you kissed and made up after all at some point?”
“That we did,” Alec said smiling to himself at the memories.
“So,” Sam pressed. “Why’d you leave her? ‘Cause Dad showed up and needed your help?”
The smile faded as pain rose in hazel-green eyes. Then Alec swallowed hard and simply said, “I told Max I loved her. She told me she was in love with someone else. Then she told me to get out of her life. End of story.”
Sam’s face took on a look of quiet sympathy. “But you still have feelings for her? And that’s why you think she might be in danger? ‘Cause this thing strikes at the people in our lives that we care most about?”
“On the nose, little brother,” Alec said softly as he steered the Impala onto the freeway ramp past the sign that read “Seattle -- 423 miles.”
*****
Having left strict orders for Sam to wait in the car (which he’d parked several blocks over from Terminal City after artfully conning his way through the Sector checkpoints), Alec walked through familiar streets to the front gate of Freak Nation. As he approached, his eyes went to the Art Mall that still stood in all its gaudily painted glory just outside the entrance, its red, purple, and day-glo green facade just one of Joshua’s many creative manifestations. There were a few customers going in and out of the main doors, a fact that set some of Alec’s fears to rest. At least the city hadn’t made good on their one-time threat to close the place down. However, he didn’t see anyone he knew. Even the guard on the watchtower above the TC gates was a stranger.
Or was he? Alec’s focus zoomed in on the face of the young blond man holding an old rifle in the crook of his arm. Then the X5 grinned, and jauntily walked up to the gate. “Hey, Dalton! How’s it hangin’?” Damn, he thought to himself as the boy stared a moment before recognition dawned and his face brightened. That kid’s grown.
Using a hand-signal to indicate Dalton should remain silent about his arrival, Alec slipped through the entrance and headed for the command center. Hopefully, she’d be there.
The newcomer stood in the doorway, arms crossed and shoulder propping up the frame, for almost 30 seconds before Mole noticed him. The sight of the lizard man’s jaw dropping open when he finally spotted him was almost enough in itself to make the trip to Seattle worth it for Alec. “God damn!” Mole uttered, at the same time crossing the room in long strides. “Shit, where the hell have you been?” he continued as he threw strong arms around his long-missing buddy. Alec returned the embrace, closing his eyes briefly as his cheek was pressed into the lizard-man’s old Army jacket, more moved than he expected. “We thought you were dead,” his friend said gruffly in his ear. “We all thought you were dead ...”
“Not likely,” Alec said, his own voice also hoarse with emotion. Then he looked up to see Joshua staring at him from the other side of the room, blue eyes wide and astonished.
“Alec!” Joshua cried out, rushing toward him. “You’ve come home!”
This time the crushing arms were enough to make the X5 gasp. “Easy there, big guy,” Alec grunted, certain he’d just heard his ribs creak as his feet slightly left the ground during the enthusiastic embrace. Joshua quickly put him down and stepped back. “And before you get all misty-eyed,” Alec added, straightening his dark grey leather jacket, “I’m fine. Not dead ... not even a scratch on me.”
“Where the hell have you been?” Mole demanded, at the same time trying to re-light the stub of a cigar that was hanging between his lips. “We heard some noise about an X5 killed by cops out in Phoenix two years ago and ever since we’ve wondered if it might have been you.”
“Not me,” Alec said, shaking his head. “You know me, Mole. Since when was I ever one to risk my hide?”
“Since always,” his friend snickered. Then the lizard-man sobered. “You seen Max yet?”
Alec’s hazel-green eyes locked with reptilian amber ones. “No. She’s still here then?”
Mole snorted. “Where the hell else would her highness be? I mean, this,” his arms opened wide as he indicated Terminal City around them, “is pretty much her life.”
Alec looked to Joshua, knowing the dogman would give him a true answer about Max.
“Max is fine,” Joshua assured him. “At least most of the time. But she misses Logan.”
Alec’s heart turned over in his chest, and the fact that it did annoyed the hell out of him. “Why?” he asked, his mouth suddenly dry. “What happened to Logan? Wait, wait ... Don’t tell me ... She got him killed?” He didn’t mean that last to sound hopeful, but rather concerned. It was something he’d often warned Max about -- how transgenics were a danger to humans. But then I’m one to talk. Look at me and Dad and Sammy ...
“They broke up,” Mole said. “When he found out about the--” Joshua suddenly poked Mole hard in the ribs and the lizard man choked on his cigar.
“Found out about what?” Alec asked, his stomach starting to hurt because he had a feeling he knew what had happened ... that once again he’d managed to mess up Max’s life. If Logan had found out about that night they’d spent together ...
“You need to talk to Max,” Joshua said soberly.
“Is she gonna kick my ass?” Alec asked, only half joking.
“She’ll be glad you’re not dead,” Joshua assured him.
“Okay,” Alec said slowly. “Then tell me where she--”
“Right here,” a new voice said from a doorway on the other side of the room. “I’m here, Alec. And, by the way, where the hell have you been for the past three years?”
*****
Alec had had no idea what to expect from Max when they finally met again -- a scolding ... an ass kicking ... maybe even cold hatred. They’d left things so awkward between them when they’d parted it was hard to imagine her not at least being ticked. Then again, she was the one who’d told him to leave. It wasn’t as if he’d abandoned her.
“Coffee?” she said, nodding toward the small kitchenette of her TC apartment -- a far cry from the fancy digs she’d been sharing with Logan when he left.
“Yeah,” Alec said. “Sure.” He scratched his head, taking in the austere furnishings of the place enhanced here and there by touches that were pure Max -- a rock band poster on the wall ... some beads adorning a lamp ... a bright red silk spread on the bed in the corner ... her black leather jacket draped over the back of a threadbare overstuffed chair ... The place smelled like her (and only her) which he somehow found comforting.
“You look good,” she said from the kitchen as the coffee brewed. A small smiled played on her beautiful features as she gave him the head-to-foot once over. “I guess I’d have to say you’re maturing well. A bit scruffier than the pretty boy I remember, but all-in-all not too shabby. So, what’s your story? Why are you back?”
I’m back because I was worried sick about you. However, as Alec self-consciously rubbed at his beard-stubbled chin and wondered about that “scruffy” remark, he simply said, “You look real good too, Maxie. But why shouldn’t I come back?” He shrugged. “Part of my family’s here.”
“Part of?”
“Yeah,” he said, this time running fingers back through his short-cropped dark blond hair. He turned and looked out a window that gave a view of TC’s main street with the command center visible two blocks away, then glanced back over his shoulder at Max. “Did you ever find your mother?”
“No,” she said simply. “Lydecker’s information got me part way there, but she was long gone and the trail cold. We’re still looking though.”
“I’m sorry,” Alec said, meaning it because he really did know how she felt.
This time it was Max who shrugged. “You gonna tell me what you want?”
That hurt, and Alec flinched. But of course she’d think he was back for self-centered reasons. Selfishness was, after all, X5-494’s nature ... or at least it had been ...
“I’m sorry you didn’t find your family,” Alec repeated. He took a deep breath. “But I found mine.”
That caught Max’s attention. She stopped pouring coffee and stared at him.
“I never told you this,” the X5 continued, “but I always did know who my biological parents were. Heck, I was even allowed to spend time with them while I was growin’ up -- in between brainwashing and training sessions at Manticore. My Dad was a guard at Manticore so he got special privileges where I was concerned -- visitation and such.”
“You never said anything,” Max breathed. “In all the time we were together here you never told me you knew who your real parents were.”
Alec shrugged again. “It wasn’t relevant back then,” he said, slipping into soldier-speak without even realizing it. “It had no bearing on our current mission.”
“But if I’d known--”
“--what?” he said. “If you’d known you’d have what? Nagged me until I tracked my family down and had a sweet reunion? Max, you know the kind of danger we brought to ordinaries just by our very existence. Hell, we still do. I no more wanted to put my Dad and brother in danger than you wanted to put Logan in danger.”
“Your brother?” Max said, eyebrows rising and the coffee cups completely forgotten as she came around the end of the kitchen counter to stand in front of him. “You mean you have a biological brother out there somewhere?”
“Actually,” Alec said sheepishly, “Sammy’s waitin’ in the car a few blocks over. I didn’t wanna just bring him right in until I checked out the biohazard situation.”
Max’s mouth dropped open.
“Dad showed up right after you and I had our last little talk,” Alec explained. “He needed my help and I went with him. Sam was in college at the time. That’s where I’ve been the past three years, Max. Helpin’ my father with his ... business. But now Dad’s in trouble ... missing ... and I’ve hooked back up with Sam so we can find him.”
“What exactly is your father’s ‘business’?” Max asked, brown eyes narrowing with suspicion.
“It’s complicated,” Alec said, realizing this conversation was running away with him. He really wasn’t ready to tell Max about the “hunting trips.” She’d think he was nuts.
“So explain it to me!” she demanded in typical Max style.
“I will,” Alec assured her. “But first you explain to me what your situation is.”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“You and Logan. You two still together?”
“No.”
“’cause of me?”
“Don’t flatter yourself,” Max said haughtily, hands on hips now. “We broke up for a lot of reasons. Mainly ... it just wasn’t working.”
“Do you still love him?” Alec asked bluntly, his eyes colliding with hers.
“I’ll always love him,” she declared.
His heart sank. So much for that pipe dream ...
“Okay,” Alec said, swallowing thickly. “Guess that answers my main question.”
“Why?” Max demanded. “Don’t tell me you came back here after all this time because of me? I told you back then that--”
Alec held up one hand, silencing her. “I know what you told me,” he said quietly. “You don’t need to say it again. I’ll just tell you what I’ve got to then I’ll be gone again.”
“Tell me what?”
“Tell you that you could be in super bad danger ‘cause of me,” Alec said tiredly, finally allowing himself to drop into that overstuffed chair because for some stupid reasons his knees were shaking.
*****
It took the better part of an hour -- and three cups of coffee -- for Alec to get through the whole story about his mother’s death 20 years ago, his father’s obsession with finding the thing that had killed her, the hunting trips, and how he and his brother were currently trying to track down the old man who might or might not be dead. When he was done Max just sat staring at him as if he’d gone insane -- and the X5 didn’t blame her.
“Ghosts?” she finally said, her voice shaking although whether from nervousness or laughter Alec couldn’t tell. “As in ‘Who you gonna call? Ghostbusters’? And here I thought our lives at Manticore were weird.”
“You think I’m nuts?”
“I’ve always thought you were slightly nuts,” Max said. “But this is unbelievable ... even for you.”
“It’s true,” Alec said quietly. “Every word of it. There’s stuff out there. Evil stuff that you don’t even wanna imagine. For some reason me and my Dad and Sammy can sometimes defeat it. I don’t wanna call it a gift, but it’s at least something. We’ve saved a lot of lives over the years, Max.”
“Or at least you think you have,” she said quietly. She reached out and put her hand on top of his. “Alec,” she said gently. “I couldn’t help Ben. But let me help you. There’s medicine for this ... and doctors who can help you and--”
He didn’t have time for this. “Look,” Alec said vehemently, pulling his hand out of hers. “Whether you think I’m insane or not is beside the point! What matters is that I think you’re in danger.”
“Because you still love me?”
“Yeah. Because, Logan issues aside, I still love you. And if this thing that killed my Mom and Sam’s girlfriend realizes it, it might come after you too.”
Max was looking at him with pity now, and Alec knew it was no use. “All right,” he said softly, getting to his feet. “I’ll leave you alone.” It had grown dark outside, but to their transgenic cat-eyes that didn’t make any difference and Max hadn’t turned on a light. They could see each other just fine. “Just ... be careful, Maxie.” He spotted a pad of paper on the counter and reached for the pencil beside it. “But I’m gonna leave you my cell phone number just in--”
The lamp on the table beside the chair suddenly came on, glowed briefly, went off, on, and off again -- as if it had a short circuit. “Generator must be actin’ up again,” Max said, her pretty brows drawing down in a frown. Then she looked up at him again. “Alec, please. Let me call Dr. Carr and see if there’s--”
“I’m not nuts!” Alec snapped. “I’m not like Ben. I could have you talk to Sam but it wouldn’t be any use.”
“Sam ... your brother Sam,” Max said gently, her tone of voice indicating how she thought he was making up a fictitious family as well as a fictitious ghost-hunting life. “Alec, it’s called paranoid schizophrenia. You’re living in a dream world but don’t realize it. There’s medicine that can get your brain chemistry straightened out. Please, I’m begging you. Let me help you. You could become dangerous, to yourself, but also to others. Alec, you’re an X5 ... a trained killer ... Think about it. Think what damage you could do if--”
“Max, I’m not insane!”
“Ben didn’t think he was either!” she shouted. “But he killed eleven innocent people in cold blood!”
The light flickered bizarrely again and both transgenics looked at it. Then suddenly Alec felt the hair on the back of his neck begin to prickle, right along his bar code, and he knew. “We need to get out of here,” he said, his voice deep and commanding as he grabbed hold of Max’s wrist.
“Let go of me!” she yelled, jerking away. “Alec, don’t make me--”
A shadow moved in the far corner of the room ... a shadow that hadn’t been there seconds before.
“Alec?”
“I know,” he said quietly, taking hold of Max’s hand. (This time she didn’t pull away.) “I see it too.” Without thinking, his other hand curled around the amulet he always wore around his neck, fingers tightening as he called on its magic protective powers, hoping it could help both of them because if he was right it was the only defense they had. “Can’t you feel it?” he breathed. “The cold.”
“Yeah,” Max said in a shaky voice. “But what--?”
“Shhh,” Alec said, drawing her toward the apartment door. The lamp flared brightly again, illuminating that dark corner and revealing the black shape of a hooded creature that couldn’t possibly really be there.
“Alec,” Max whimpered. “Something’s pulling me.” Which is when her body suddenly jerked so violently her hand would have been pulled from his if he hadn’t been hanging on so tightly. At the same time the light bulb flashed and broke with a loud bang. Then a faint crackle reached their ears and the black figure in the corner began to glow with surreal orange flames, licking at both its indefinable margins and the peeling wallpaper of the apartment -- the fire’s origin seemingly on two planes of existence: earthly and unearthly.
“Run!” Alec yelled, whirling and bolting for the door while keeping a firm hold on Max’s hand. His X5 sister didn’t need to be told twice. As their feet hit the hallway the room behind them erupted into white heat and a maniacal sound of laughter filled their ears. Bolting down the stairway, the two transgenics were barely able to keep ahead of the following inferno, the fire so close and intense Alec could feel his skin burning. Together, they reached the bottom of the stairs and burst through the outer door just as the explosion erupted behind them, boiling out into the street. Instinctively, Alec shoved Max to the ground and threw himself on top of her, for a long second certain that they were both going to be incinerated. But Hell -- at least that night -- had limits. The tongues of flame that curled above them couldn’t quite reach its victims, and the laughter turned to a howl of anger as it faded away.
*****
*****
Fifteen minutes later Sam Winchester sat holding a bag of ice to his bloody lip and glaring at Joshua who’d been the one to finally pin the boy’s arms to his sides and bodily remove him from the fray before anyone got seriously hurt. “Who are these ... people?” Sam sputtered at his brother came down the cement stairs into the parking garage where he was being held.
“My other family,” Alec said tersely. “And this is Max,” he added, holding out a hand to his companion. “Max ... meet Sammy, my human brother.”
“It’s ‘Sam’, not “Sammy’,” Sam said. “And what do you mean human? I need to be defined? Human as opposed to what?”
“As opposed to my transgenic brothers and sisters,” Alec explained. “Don't worry. I’m not dissin’ you. Just a fact.”
“I think I’m still insulted,” Sam said dryly as he wiped his bloody lip on the back of his hand. Then he looked more closely at Max. “Is this the lady?”
“Yeah,” Alec drawled.
“Well,” Sam said. “Any girl who’s intelligent enough to peg you as a smart ass at first glance is all right by me. God knows I’ve known that about you my whole life, bro.”
“Very funny,” Alec said. Then he sobered. “You saw the fire?”
“I saw. That’s why I’m here. I was afraid that you’d--”
“I’m fine,” Alec said quickly. “And so’s Max. But we were right. It did come after her.”
“But not until you were actually with her,” Sam pointed out. “Which I think is significant. Whatever it is, it wants to hurt us in person, not from a distance. It wants to watch while we suffer.”
“What exactly is it?” Max asked, shaking her head.
“That’s the sixty-four million dollar question,” Alec said softly. “All we know is that it’s evil, and it’s got a real hard-on for the Winchester family and everyone we love. Which reminds me ...” Alec reached into the pocket of his jacket and brought out a piece of jewelry -- a silver pentagram on a chain. “Here,” he said, placing the talisman around Max’s neck. “Promise me that you won’t ever take it off -- not even when you shower or sleep or ... whatever.”
“What is it?” Max asked, fingering the five-pointed star.
“A pentagram,” Sam said. “A powerful symbol of good that can ward off evil spirits.”
“Great,” Max said. “Just ... great.” But then she suddenly realized something. Looking up at Alec, her eyes narrowed with worry. “You’re leaving again, aren’t you?” she said.
“I have to,” the X5 replied, at the same time glancing over at Sam. “You’re in a lot of danger if I stay. Look at what just happened. But at least this way you know what we’re up against and can protect yourself.”
“When will you be back?”
Alec honestly didn’t know. “When the danger’s over,” he said simply. “When we find our Dad.”
Max licked her lips and shifted her eyes away, which is when Mole spoke up. “Max, you’ve gotta tell him. And if you don’t, I will.”
“Tell me what?” Alec said, looking from Max to the lizard man and back again.
“I suppose you’d have found out sooner or later anyway,” Max said quietly.
“What?” Alec demanded, sensing ... something.
“Found out this,” a familiar woman’s voice said from the far side of the garage. O.C. stepped out into the light -- and in her arms she was holding a little boy. Blond with hazel-green eyes, the toddler’s resemblance to his father was uncanny.
Alec caught his breath, and Sam actually gasped.
“I lied to you about why Logan and I broke up,” Max said, taking her son from O.C. and cuddling him to her shoulder. The little boy yawned sleepily. “You got me pregnant that night, Alec. I tried to tell myself that Logan might be the father, but I knew that was pretty much impossible. Still ... I wasn’t going to tell him. I was going to let him think this was his son, even though I knew it was wrong. Then Dr. Carr insisted I have genetic testing done ... amniocentesis ... because human/X5 crosses so often end up damaged. Logan wanted to know that our child would be all right, so I let Dr. Carr do the test.” She looked down at the floor. “The results showed that Brac’s father was a pureblood X5. Of course that meant he was fine DNA-wise, but it also meant Logan wasn’t his sire.” A single tear slid down her cheek as she suddenly threw her head up and looked Alec definantly in the eye. “It wasn’t much of a leap for Logan to figure out who I’d been with. He left the same night.” A small smile. “He told me to go find my ‘breeding partner’ if I wanted my son to have a father. But I didn’t know how to find you, Alec. Hell, word on the street was that you were most likely dead.”
“Max,” Alec said softly as his eyes took in the sight of his son, “I had no idea. If I had I’d have--”
“Rushed back to play house with me?” she asked with a bitter laugh. “Oh, don’t worry. Brac and I are just fine. We live with O.C. most of the time, even though I was fixing up that apartment. I figure he’s safer from Manticore on the outside than in here where we always feel like sitting ducks.
“Maybe I wouldn’t have stayed,” Alec said. “But at least I could have been here for you.”
“Dean,” Sam said, regret evident in his voice. “I know this is hard for you, but we need to go before it comes back. You being here with them is putting them in danger.”
“I know,” Alec said. “But--” He looked wistfully down at Max and his son.
“Come with me,” Max said, handing Brac back to O.C. Then, to Sam, “Your brother and I need to talk.”
*****
Talk wasn’t all Max had in mind. They made love on an old mattress in the corner of her Art Mall office -- a parting gift -- their copulation all the more sweet for its rush. Alec had been far from celibate over the past three years (and Max’s body was certainly changed ... softer and more curved from her pregnancy), but when he released with a grunt of pleasure inside his true love the names and faces of those other females were swept from his mind as if they’d never existed.
Afterwards, as they lay holding one another and watching the sun rise through the office’s single tiny window, knowing they had only a precious few minutes together left, he said, “Brac means ‘free’ in Celtic, doesn’t it?”
“I’m impressed,” Max chuckled. “You approve?”
“I approve,” her mate said. But then he had to ask. “What did you put on his birth certificate? For his father’s name I mean?”
“I haven’t turned the paperwork in yet,” Max said, eying him a bit warily. “Why? What do you want it to say.”
“Put down my real name,” Alec replied without hesitation. “Dean Winchester. Which makes his name Brac Winchester.”
“I don’t think I can call you ‘Dean’,” she said.
“You don’t have to,” Alec replied. “I’ll always be ‘Alec’ when I’m here ... with you guys. Besides, lots of people have nicknames and such.”
“Good,” Max said, snuggling against his bare shoulder as she fingered the pentagram necklace. “But I don’t suppose there’s any way around calling your brother ‘Uncle Sam’?”
Alec smirked as visions of a tall white-bearded man wearing stars and stripes came to mind. It was ironic in a way since “Uncle Sam” -- as in the United States -- was the one who’d technically made the transgenics. “Let’s just stick with ‘Sammy’,” he said.
“When will you be back?” she repeated.
“I don’t know. When it’s safe I guess.”
“When you’ve found your father and killed this ... thing ... that’s haunting your family?”
“Yeah.”
Max sighed, then kissed him hard on the lips. “Okay, smart ass,” she said huskily. “I’ll let you go again. But only because it’s dangerous for you here too. Lydecker’s protecting me and a few of the others, but he once told me that the new head of Manticore has a real hard-on about recovering X5-494. It seems alpha transgenic breeding males are few and far between right now and you’d be a real catch. However, at the moment they think you’re probably dead -- just like the rest of us thought -- and it’s safer for you if you stay that way.” She smiled impishly. “But you can’t go until you make love to me one more time, and make it good ‘cause it’s probably gonna have to last me awhile.”
“I'm always good,”Alec, his voice deep and sexy as he obliged.
The sun was fully above the horizon when the X5 finally rejoined his impatiently waiting younger brother outside the gates of Terminal City. Then he kissed his son lightly on top of the head as Max held the little boy in her arms -- memorizing Brac’s scent forever -- before hugging them tightly and whispering in her ear. “I love you ... both of you.”
“I love you, too,” Max said, looking up at him. “And Alec ...”
“What?”
“Hurry.”
THE END
