The Waking Hours

Chapter One

Going Home

Alec shoved his hands deep into his coat pockets. He set off down the road, trying to order the chaos in his mind. There was no point in dwelling on these thoughts and questions that had been whirling through him. Whatever else Max may have said or done, she'd made it abundantly clear that Logan was her choice. First and foremost. Alec, her friend, her partner-in-crime and Terminal City associate just didn't enter into the equation.

As he walked, part of his mind dealt with the ins and outs of maneuvering through crowded areas to not draw attention to himself. It was automatic, as most of his training was. The fact that his life could very well depend on such training was accepted and now ignored. It was like he was on autopilot. If he thought too heavily on blending in, then he'd trip himself up and give something away. He knew that to everyone else, he was wearing the same mask of affected disinterest. But his wasn't disinterest for the world at large. Rather, it was disinterest in himself. He couldn't afford, and more than that, didn't want to take the time to dissect the emotions and feelings that were a swirling vortex, centered on his aching heart.

He was almost halfway back to TC when a tiny voice broke that vortex. 'Alec!' His teeth gnashed together. He could hear her, calling for him. He shook his head clear, continuing on his path. He could still hear the desperation in her voice as she had panicked. And it had been him that she'd been calling out for. Her voice, so tired and brimming with pain. And he had eventually walked away. He heard it again, a little louder this time and he stumbled slightly, though no one noticed, or if they did, cared. He rested a hand on the building closest to him, little caring if people were to stare at him right now. His head bowed, he tried to thrust away the memory of Max, burrowed in his arms, tears spilling hotly over his chest.

'Alec?' He grunted, low in his throat. Damn! He had just left Logan's place. Was he going to be tormented like this from now on? Her voice in his mind every second, every moment of every day for the rest of his life? He was not prepared for the hand that grabbed at his arm. But even as he swung around, his body tensing to throw off whatever attack was coming his way. His mind, still on autopilot in the mode of Manticore soldier told him to strike first. His eyes took in the form that had slipped up behind him, surprising him even as his hand came up.

And stopped mid-swing.

"It's about time," a smooth voice chuckled. "Didn't you hear me calling you?"

"Max!" he gasped. She grinned up at him, apparently pleased with herself for actually being able to sneak up on him. She glanced at his hand, still in the air and Alec let it drop, full of awkward embarrassment. "What are you doing here?" he demanded, though he regretted the tone. The slight twinge of embarrassment colored his words, as was the swelling concern for her.

Max gestured at him to keep walking. Alec didn't want to, but the soldier inside realized that they were drawing too much attention. So he turned and shortened the length of his stride so that she could keep up. It was something he did regularly, something so habitual that he barely recognized the action anymore. It was just another subtle slide he made to accommodate her. Another way he tried to keep her by his side.

"You're supposed to be resting," he tried again. And even though he knew that that had been what the doctor had ordered, he couldn't help but feel a small amount of relief that she was here now. Things weren't so very far gone between them that the last few hours were insurmountable. 'As friends' he stiffly reminded himself. Nothing more than that.

"I can do that just as well at TC," she countered, gingerly shrugging her shoulder.

"You shouldn't be moving around," Alec argued, wincing inwardly at how pale her face was. Enough so that the bandage that should have been stark white against her complexion looked barely there. "The doc said you needed to rest for a few days. That was a nasty fall you took."

"Believe me I know," Max spoke sarcastically, but to Alec's hypersensitive ear, it didn't hold the rancor that usually threaded her voice. "I'm the one who took it, remember?"

"Yeah, I know that Max," he smiled wistfully. Their friendship was being rapidly re-established, at least to his mind. Although it seemed softened somehow. There was something missing. And it wasn't the anger in her voice. Maybe it was the way that her eyes held his for longer than just the prerequisite moment. Maybe it was the fact that she wasn't holding herself so stiffly. And while Alec catalogued all these physical interpretations of the things that stressed her out, he wondered at the change. Had this accident been something that could be beneficial to her in the long run? Had she finally taken the broad hint life threw at her that she needed to slow down a little and relax. Take things as they came?

"Look," Max finally sighed. "I could have stayed at Logan's. But I didn't want to. So I figured it'd be easier to get back into TC if I had someone on the outside to... to help me." She didn't quite avert her face in time and Alec was stunned to hear the admission and see the slight tinge of red to her cheeks. Was she actually admitting that she needed help? That she wanted it. He couldn't help the rueful grin that spread over his lips.

"You know we would have arranged something Maxie," he chuckled. And they would have. Whoever would be on guard duty could have had her inside the perimeter fence in minutes with a little warning.

"I know," she replied easily. "But I figured why bother everyone else when you were already out here."

Alec knew that he should have let it rest. But her actions all day, from reluctantly heading out to Logan's, to almost turning back from the supposed love of her life. All the way up to her waking and panicked reaction, the comfort she'd taken from him and not her former boyfriend and her being here now. None of it made sense to him. And like a sore tooth, he just kept probing at it. Thinking that maybe if he pushed hard enough, something would shake loose and he could hopefully return to the mundaneness of his life. Where he didn't think these all-consuming thoughts of Max.

"What about Original Cindy?" he demanded. "Logan was going to call her to help take care of you. She's gonna be disappointed that she didn't get the chance to see you."

"I know," Max admitted softly. Another surprise. Usually, if one were to criticize Max's actions, she rounded vehemently on that person, with either words or deed. "But hopefully I'll get the chance to see her sooner rather than later."

Alec frowned at this attitude. Max knew they were on the verge of war, right? Or was she still slightly caught up in the dream that Dr. Carr had said she'd had. He wondered if he should remind her of where they were here and now, but before he could, she was speaking again.

"Alec, can I ask you something?" She spoke so hesitantly that Alec was again caught off guard.

"Uh, I think you just did," he muttered cheekily, and then flinched slightly, expecting her arm to shoot out and connect on the nearest body part of his. And a second later when he glanced down at her, she was just rolling her eyes at him.

"Smart ass," she chuckled. Well, that was odd, but pleasant. It had him reeling.

"So ask," he prompted.

"Did Carr tell you about... after?" she spoke slowly, apparently trying to gauge just how much Alec knew. He nodded easily.

'You mean about you being caught up in a dream and being confused at first when you woke up?" Max nodded and Alec shrugged. "What about it?"

"W-well," she began, stammering slightly, "I just wanted to explain... you know... my reaction. I mean, it wasn't really me, I know. But I don't want you to think... well..."

"It's okay Max," he grinned. Seeing her flustered was kind of cute. But as soon as that thought crossed his mind, he immediately shut it down. He couldn't continue thinking of her in this vein. That was surely the way to madness. And he'd most definitely had enough of that misery after Rachel. His mouth moved quickly to take his mind away from that path of pain as well. "So what was your dream about? If you don't mind me asking."

She glanced up at him and he was surprised to see that faint blush again. He glanced away sure now that she'd been dreaming something that he really wanted no part of. Probably as he'd first thought, about Logan. The man was, after all, a very large part of Max's life. Before Alec had known her and after he'd become entwined in her life. But a little voice in the back of his mind insisted that he'd actually known Max, or at least of her for a lot longer than Logan. And the possessive part of him that he tried to ignore laid claim on that fact alone. Max was his own kind, not Logan's. And at least he had the satisfaction that in truth; nothing could ever change that fact.

"Never mind," he sighed, picking up the pace a little. And then bit of a muffled curse when he glanced back at her. He felt like kicking himself as her features tightened slightly, her lips pressing together. It wouldn't have bothered him, but for the slight movement of her hand stealing up to her face, stopped abruptly. Of course he shouldn't be hurrying her along, no matter what the need to reach safety was. She'd trusted him to get her back into TC in one whole piece. Exhausting her along the way wouldn't help accomplish that. Alec wondered if she would be open to letting herself lean on him for a little while, but he dismissed that thought quickly.

"Funny, huh?" Max fought off a yawn as she caught up the few steps that he'd gained on her.

"What is?" Alec muttered. He could see nothing entertaining about their current position. Especially when he caught sight of the group of sector cops across the street. Carefully, he caught her elbow, as if he were simply being a gentleman and with a short squeeze, brought them to Max's attention as well. She nodded and continued to walk slowly.

"It's just that I slept for so long," she continued on the thread of conversation she'd started. "And I'm still tired."

"All the more reason to get home, huh?" Alec half-smiled. Suddenly he was feeling as tired as she had claimed to be. He just wanted to get back to TC and gnaw over all the things he couldn't do or have and then try and drink himself into a stupor. With any luck, he'd be back to his old self by morning. He glanced around, recognizing the street they were on immediately. His mind quickly mapped the possible escapes and he closed his eyes in regret.

"What is it?" Max asked, concern in her voice. Apparently, she was paying a lot more attention to the clues and hints his body was giving off than she used to.

"We're going to have to take the sewers," he ground out. It was no secret that he hated taking that route.

"Well," Max shrugged one shoulder, then winced at the action. "I was hoping to get a bath tonight. May as well give myself a really good reason." Alec glared at her a moment. When had their positions gotten so reversed? He was grumpy and she was shrugging off that crud that surrounded them. Alec just scoffed at his musings. He glanced around and then led the way through an alley. There was a sector checkpoint just down the street from where they had been. And that route wasn't open to them. So if they couldn't go through, they'd go under. And the alley, which had once been a true street, offered the same amenity of the streets, complete with sewer manhole.

After a quick glance around and Max acting as lookout, Alec cleared the cover and pulled it off the hole. Aromas, conflicting and nauseating drifted up to them and both transgenics recoiled slightly. "Can you manage?" he asked carefully. Again, this was wary ground between them. Max didn't take kindly to pity. But she simply bit at her lower lip, her eyes dark.

"Normally, yeah," she murmured. "But Dr. Carr warned me to be careful about jarring myself right now. So jumping is out."

"Well, I can lower you down," Alec mused, gauging the distance. Which looked to be about ten feet from the hole to the bottom. "Or I can call for back-up."

"Don't want to wait," Max decided softly. She lowered herself to a sitting position, her legs already in the hole. She held her hands up to Alec who was surprised, yet again, that she was so quick to fall in with one of his plans. He hurried to the other side, opposite her and lay down on the ground. He took her forearms in his outstretched hands, careful of her other injuries. Bracing himself, he nodded to give her the go ahead. Max scooted forward until she slid off the edge and straightened into a downward drop into the sewer.

Alec inched his own body further after taking another glance around the deserted street. No one was watching. He swiftly had his upper torso into the hole, but it wasn't quite enough. "Max," he warned, "you just might have to drop the last bit."

"Uh uh," her voice floated up to him. "Swing me forward, there's a ledge." Alec complied and in seconds he had her secure along a half foot wide ledge. He grinned down at her, then pulled back to check the street again. Still nothing. Their luck was holding. And now for himself. He knew he'd have to time it perfectly. With care, he eased himself in and hung there, his left hand the only one available, since he had the manhole cover in the other. He pulled it, from right to left until there were scant inches left open for his hand.

With a small grunt, he yanked the cover into place from underneath as he pulled his left hand free. He dropped down, landing with characteristic grace. He stared up at the grate; pleased to see that his calculations were correct and the grate was sitting comfortably in it's required groove.

"Nice," Max scoffed.

"Thanks," he chuckled. Was she actually complimenting him about something?

"Not that," she muttered. "You splashed crap all over my pants." Alec shrugged, his mood suddenly elevated. They were back on familiar territory. At least personality wise.

"Well you knew you were gonna have to get in it sooner or later," he argued affably. "I was just facilitating a mild induction."

"True," Max sighed. "Just be glad that you didn't splash my face with it. Then I'd really have to..."

"Kick my ass," he finished for her tiredly. "Yeah yeah, I know."

"That's not what I was gonna say," she protested. "Really," she asserted when he raised a single eyebrow in her direction.

"So then what would you have to do?" he demanded, crossing his arms over his chest. He grew instantly wary when he caught the slightly malicious glint in her eyes.

"This!" It was all the warning that he received as Max stomped her foot in the muck, angling her foot in such a way that it splashed like a mini-tidal wave all over his jeans. Alec stared at her in mild horror as she giggled at him.

"Thanks," he muttered. "Thanks a lot."

"Just returning the favor," she returned impishly as she set off ahead of him. Alec almost gaped at her but returned to himself with a shake of his head and hurried to catch up. He didn't know quite what to say, which was unusual for him. Any cheeky comment he might dare could really upset the balance Max was creating between them. And as unsettling as the sudden change was for him, he couldn't fault the outcome of a relaxed, smiling Max. He wondered what had happened between the time he'd left the spare room at Logan's house and when she'd caught up to him. And then realized what it probably was that had cheered her so immensely. She and Logan, together, bonding, making a connection that just didn't exist between the two transgenics. Alec grimaced and ducked his head, trying to concentrate on not stepping in too deep an area of sludge.

'So you wanted to know what my dream was about?" Max announced calmly. Alec's head snapped up. She was only a few feet ahead of him but her words could have been shouted in his ear for the effect they had on him. At this point, he was quite certain that he did not want to know.

"You don't have to tell me," he ground out. "I wasn't trying to pry. I mean, I just assumed that you'd remember it all." Oh please let her not remember. "Sometimes there's just too much and you were asleep a long time. And you know, people just don't dream continuously through the night. I mean, I think I read somewhere that people dream like anywhere up to five or six different scenarios on a good night." Max had stopped and turned to stare at him, her lip twitching and Alec realized belatedly that he was babbling.

"I remember," she stated in low tones, her eyes softening. More than that, a strange miasma of pain seemed to fill her face and Alec felt a twinge of remorse for ever having introduced the topic in the first place. "It was just one dream. I remember it all." He was puzzled when she winced and her hand strayed to hover over her abdomen. Her face looked peaked and Alec stepped forward, at a loss of what to do beyond that.

"Bad?" he asked gently. Max, whose eyes hadn't adjusted to his movement forward, tilted her head back so that she didn't seem to be looking through him anymore. A sad smile crossed her features and her hand dropped to the side.

"No, not really," she sighed. "It was just one of those dreams where..."

"Everything was too good to be true?" he asked, his voice barely a whisper. He knew all about dreams like that.

"Yeah," she nodded. Then turned to continue walking. Alec fell into step beside her. At least she wasn't sharing the painful details. He didn't think he could stretch his masochistic tendencies that far to actively listen about her fantasies about Logan. "But at the same time, it wasn't."

"What do you mean?" he asked carefully, hoping she'd continue in the vein of generalizations.

"Well, it made me think," Max admitted as she chewed at her lower lip. "You know, things that could happen. Things that might actually be possible." She must have caught the sudden arching of his eyebrows, as she gave a rueful chuckle. "It wasn't all bad. And at the same time it wasn't all good. Crap was still happening. But I don't know. It felt like I was in a better place in the end, despite that crap."

"The future according to Maxie, huh?" Alec teased. He smiled down at her, pleased to see the slight turning up of the corners of her mouth.

"I guess," she sighed. They stopped again, for different reasons. Max turned completely so that she was facing him. Alec watched her warily. "Do you ever have dreams like that Alec?" Her face, her tone, her stance was so gentle, so supportive right from the get-go that Alec felt his body reacting instinctively to the promise that her voice held. If he'd just let go, take a chance to admit what he really wanted. But the instant he felt his tongue press against his teeth to start forming the words, he recoiled. He just couldn't afford to let himself open up.

So as he quickly mentally backpedaled and thought up some smart ass remark, he opened his mouth. But her hand reached out swiftly to settle on his forearm. "And don't try to foist that tired old 'living the American dream, booze, women, cars and sex garbage off on me. I know there's got to be more than that." He gaped at her. How could she have known? That those words had popped into his head. That it was simply a cover-up. She stared up at him intently and then smiled, squeezing his arm softly. "It's okay Alec," she reassured gently. "You're allowed to want more. You've got that right, same as everybody else. God knows I want more from this life than what I've currently got."

He weighed those words. Somehow, in this dank, darkened sewer an avenue of opportunity was presenting itself to him. He knew then, that their friendship was progressing further. Certainly, he was sure that there would be some remnants left of the stand-offs they created for the sheer fun of their verbal and sometimes physical sparring. And Alec realized that Max was definitely one woman who knew how to keep secrets. She had even gone so far to admit her own to him. He could trust her to reciprocate and hold his own in her heart.

"Yeah Max,' he finally admitted, unable to meet her eyes. Instead, he stared at the exit point above them. "Sometimes I want more."

"Tell me," she urged quietly, her thumb stroking comfortingly over his wrist, bare beneath his jacket.

He sighed heavily, still unable to look at her. "I want... a place." Once he'd admitted that, it seemed to him as if a dam broke inside him, all the hopes and dreams pouring out of him. "I want someplace where we can walk around free. Where we don't have to worry about people trying to kill us or being blamed for everything Manticore put us through because we had no choices. I want people to see that there's more to us than just our genetics. And I want a family someday. One that's defined by more than just sharing a crappy childhood home that didn't give a damn about us. I want to see if I'd ever be good at something other than assassination and scamming and lying to people. I want more." His eyes finally fell to hers, ridiculously pleased to see that his words had affected her, if the unshed tears glimmering in her eyes were any indication. But his teeth snapped down on the last words his mind churned forth. 'I want you.'

Instead, he gestured upwards. "We're here." Her hand stilled on his wrist and he glanced down at it. Her gaze followed his and with one last squeeze, she let him loose. "I'll head up and get a ladder, okay?" She nodded and folded her arms criss cross over her stomach.

Alec steeled himself up for the last part of the mini-mission and jumped upwards, catching at the grate that covered one of their fiercely guarded exit points. He saw the guards a short distance away and let loose the call signal even as his feet scrambled for purchase in the crumbling shallow shelf just to the side of the grate. The guards moved swiftly to return the proper whistle, the code giving each other the all clear signs.

As they moved to remove the grate and one of them caught at Alec's hands; he heard Max's voice whisper up to him. "I promise Alec, right here and now. I'm gonna do everything in my power to make those dreams of yours come true." And it wasn't the words; the promise she'd sworn that captivated him. It was the sheer determined strength in her voice.

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Chapter 2: Alive And Well

Title: The Waking Hours

Author: Restive Nature (aka Bavite)

Rated: up to NC-17

Disclaimer: All characters within this fiction are the property of Cameron/ Eglee. I just like to play with them.

Timeline: Sequel to Dream Within. Fiction starts about six weeks after FN.

Pairing M/A

Summary: Dreams don't often come true for Manticore-bred soldiers. So when the chance comes along for Alec, he's not quite sure how to take it.

A/N- My apologies to everyone that this has taken so long to come out. I won't bore you with excuses as to why. But I hope you enjoy. And may the next chapter be more swift in it's coming.

Chapter Two

Alive And Well

"Here ya go Alec," one of the perimeter guards smiled as he pulled forth an old, rickety wooden ladder. Alec had no idea where he'd come up with the piece of junk. But his mind didn't have to wander too far. There were all sorts of bits and pieces left lying around Terminal City that the new inhabitants thought might come in handy. Alec would have preferred a nice, solid, new aluminum ladder. But Max wanted out of the sewer with a vengeance. And after smelling the mixture of crud-like aromas emanating from his jeans, he really didn't blame her.

"Thanks Mack," he nodded, taking the ladder from one of the two sentry guards on post at this sector of their home. Carefully they lowered the weather swollen wooden implement into the hole. Alec could see that Max had backed up a little bit to allow them room to maneuver the wieldy ladder into position for her. Alec was grateful that when he'd made the request that Mack and Graham hadn't asked questions. Unfortunately, if you looked at it from certain quarters, they'd just blithely followed orders. But he shut down that errant thought for the moment. Time enough to think on it later. They had a damsel in distress to rescue.

A grin lit his face, thinking how Max would respond to that. Well, at least the old Max. She'd hit him, verbally castigate him and then hit him again for good measure. The new Max, well, there was no telling how she would handle his attitude. And he wasn't quite sure that he wanted to test that out. Mack and Graham held the ladder steady as Alec glanced around the area, looking out for any bystanders who definitely did not need to discover this bolt hole into Terminal City.

"Thanks guys," Max muttered as she ascended the last few steps. Alec turned back to see her taking Graham's hand as she found footing on solid ground. But she let him go just as swiftly and Alec found himself watching her as she straightened her clothes to the best of her ability. 'Just to make sure she's not dizzy or anything,' he assured himself. But as his eyes followed the trail her hand made in soothing down her long, slightly tangled hair, he had to forcibly shake himself out the state he was finding himself in. Not quite catatonic, more like Max-atonic. He smirked slightly as that registered. Whatever state it was, he really couldn't afford to let himself be in it too awful much.

"So have you guys perfected your scenario for incoming wounded?" Max asked of the two soldiers. Mack and Graham were both nodding. It was something that had been addressed weeks ago. And finally, after many ideas were thrown out, each member of the security team were given the clearance to deal with each incoming on a case by case basis. The only determination after transgenics and transhumans made it to Terminal City after the siege started, was to ensure a debriefing with the command center. Even if the trannies knew each other from before, that was no guarantee that the person coming in was the correct one.

Alec tuned out their explanations to Max, seeing how he had helped a good majority of the Sec. Teams come up with their plans and had laid in supplies as each needed. "Sorry guys," he interrupted. "We need to get going. Max, you can interrogate them later." He winced inwardly as he said it, certainly not meaning to sound so short tempered. But she let it slide with a small nod.

"Thanks again Mack," she grinned and then turned to his partner. "You too Graham." Alec was stunned for more reason than one. First of all, he wasn't sure when Max had met either of the transgenics, let alone know their names. But that was explainable. She had access to all the security information. And she might have heard he himself use Mack's name when he came up top. But not all the transgenics were listed by the names they had given themselves. Some, like Graham, were still designation only while they tried on appellations until they found one they were comfortable with Graham as one such as that.

Secondly, since when did the approval of a rogue '09er become so important to those that had been left behind. Alec stared, almost incredulous as both men gleamed under Max's attention. A surge of jealousy began to roil in his stomach, until Alec forced himself to look away. It was attention such as he'd always wanted for himself from her. Just a moment where there was no rancor, just friendly give and take. But as his eyes focused on the only woman present at the moment, he realized too that Max was lost in thought. And the other men had lost the little attention she'd paid them. That seemed a little more normal.

"So we'll stop by command," Max began to say as they walked towards the internal part of the community.

"Uh no," Alec shook his head. "I don't think so. Doctor Carr said you needed to rest. So that's what you're going to do," Alec decided.

"Yeah," Max agreed quickly. "That's fine. But after I go to command."

Alec sighed. He could see that she was after something, although what he had no idea. But after the scare she had given him, all of them, he was bound and determined to follow Doctor's orders. Even as the rational part of his mind assured him that he wasn't the only one to always be getting into scrapes and that it was no guarantee that he'd keep her safe always. He could pretend, at least for a little while.

"It's not a big deal Alec," she continued softly. "I swear, I just need to stop by command, check on one or two minor things and then I will hightail it right to my apartment and put my butt in bed."

"You promise?" Alec queried with another sigh. He figured that it would be simple enough to watch her for signs of fatigue. At the first hint that she was lagging, well, lagging more than she already was, he'd find some excuse to whisk her off to bed. He immediately felt the slight blush creep up as his cheeks as he mentally chastised himself. No, he would escort her to her domicile and ensure that she engaged in the rest she needed. There, that sounded much more professional.

As they walked, Alec kept a running internal monologue of things that needed attention in the immediate future so as not to continue thinking about the unbidden images of Max lounging across his bed. Or her bed. Or any damn soft, flat surface that he could think of. The only trouble was that those blasted geniuses at Manticore had certainly seen to it that the X series was certainly capable of multi-tasking.

But soon enough they had arrived at their headquarters. And only then did Alec realize that he had been uncharacteristically silent during the whole quick trip. He drew his eyebrows together once he realized that and caught on to the fact that Max was giving him another one of those mysteriously feminine assessing gazes. His mind whirled desperately as he strove to come up with some inane quip to throw her off the scent. But he knew he was caught when she grinned suddenly and tossed her hair over her shoulder.

"Finished with the daydreaming?" she asked bemusedly as she pulled open the slightly heavy steel door that led into the building.

"What makes you think I was daydreaming?" he demanded, slightly cross at how slow his mental reaction time to her seemed to be getting. She was one, or more steps ahead of him this whole jaunt back to Terminal City and it was one of the most uncomfortable sensations, asides from Psy-ops that he'd ever endured.

Of course, all she gave him for a hint was that enigmatic smile and the slight drop of her eyes downwards. Alec froze as her eyes came quickly back up to meet his and her smile grew wider. "The body never lies Alec," she chuckled and then ducked away from him. Reflexively, he glanced down, horrified at what he might possibly see. But to his relief and puzzlement, everything was normal. Of course he would have noticed that sense of discomfort. He knew it well enough the past few months after his head was full of thoughts of her. But this time he hadn't, which meant his body hadn't, but she'd made him think it had.

"Bitch!" His mouth snapped shut on the word, wincing as he knew that her transgenic hearing would have picked it up. He certainly hadn't been quiet in saying it.

"Your eyes were unfocused, your shoulders tense and you were shuffling your feet!" she called back to him. "Plus you were way too quiet, even for serious transgenic thought." There was a small pause. "And I heard that! Brat!"

Despite his nanosecond of ire with her, Alec was ridiculously pleased. Since when did Max ever pay enough attention to him to be able to catalogue the physical symptoms of a state he was so very rarely in? With his mood again on the upward swing of things, he chased after her, catching up as she entered the nexus of their daily lives.

"Hey Mole!" he heard her call out as she wove her way through the area. She was nodding to various people, once again puzzling him as she seemed to know everyone. "Lexan, how's it going?"

And like a ship breaking the waves, people made way for her, only to stare after her disconsolately as she moved past them with small hints of the sudden change in her attitude rippling amongst them. Alec watched her, scrutinizing what it was that was so different this time than every other time she had walked into this building.

Well there was one major clue in what he'd just asked himself. Walked, was the operative word. Normally she pounded through HQ, her stride determined and forceful. She never had time to stop and smell the roses. Or as normals called it, chit-chat. But now, she was winding her way leisurely through the small throng. A word for everyone present on her lips. And her smile. Astonishing in the fact that there was one present on her face. Usually she was scowling, or frowning, or yelling.

"Endorphins," Alec whispered to himself. That had to be it. Her body was producing adrenalin to help her cope with her injury and she was riding a natural high with it. And as soon as they began to wear off, she'd come crashing down and be back to her normal self. It made sense to him. But even so, he was resolved to get her out of there before that inevitable fall happened and she took it out on someone other than her typical punching bag.

She had stopped then, nearby at Luke's desk. Luke, Dix and another transhuman were clustered around the computer, while a transgenic, X-5 or X-6 by the look of him, waited rather impatiently as they input some data. All of this registered on Alec's mind as he ambled over towards them. The transgenic must have been a newbie. In the final stage of clearance. Max reached them before he did though.

"Hey Dix, Luke, Trey," she greeted each transhuman in turn and then looked straight at the newbie. "Jiminy, nice to see ya. How's it goin'?"

Alec would have thought that Max knew the guy. Perhaps they'd been in the same unit before some of them ran. For Jiminy certainly wasn't one of her brothers names, and he knew all those. That would have been his initial assessment, but for the fact that Max drew in a breath so quickly, it looked as if she might choke on it. Her eyes went slightly wide as she stared at the newbie. But the young man was just as puzzled as she was.

"Huh?" was the eloquent reply to her greeting. The young man glanced around at the others and seemed to note Alec making his way over. "What was that?"

"Oh," Max stumbled over her words and bit at her lower lip, her eyebrows coming together. "Sorry, thought you were somebody else," she stammered out. The moment passed as the transgenic turned back to what they were doing.

"Name?" Luke asked of the newbie as Alec came up to Max's side. She didn't acknowledge him, but instead watched as Luke continued to input data, his fingers flying over the keyboard.

"Don't have one yet," the transgenic answered with an apologetic shrug. This was nothing knew. Not all of the aliases that they'd worked under felt comfortable, some of them didn't want to be reminded of the work they'd done while under those pseudonyms.

"Let us know when you do," Dix instructed genially, "so we can update our records please." The new transgenic glanced at Max, who was watching him now in a curious manner.

"I suppose Jiminy would work as well as anything else," he threw out cautiously, then turned to Max. "If you don't mind, that is," he tacked on, rather deferentially.

"No, not at all," she replied after a momentary pause. "Jiminy was a nickname for another guy I knew. Jim!" she blurted out. "His name was Jim. But everyone called him Jiminy. But that was a long time ago. Long time. Go ahead and use it. If you want."

Alec knew that his eyebrow's were furrowing. The more she babbled, the deeper the lines on his forehead grew. Max only ever babbled when she was nervous about something, or had a secret to hide. Was it possible that she knew this guy and didn't want anyone to realize it? But as he pondered what possible motivation she could possibly have for that, he also realized that there was an awkward silence permeating the group.

"I don't know Max," he drawled with a trace of a grin on his face. "He doesn't look like a cricket to me." Four of the five pairs of eyes that swung towards him were completely puzzled. But more than understanding what he was referring to, Max was also smiling in kind. Was she relieved that he had just helped her smooth over an awkward moment? Maybe so, because she took the new topic and ran with it.

"God Alec," she scoffed. "How much useless television and movie trivia do you have jammed in that head of yours? " She turned to the others. "If I didn't know better, I'd swear that Manticore had a useless pop culture 101 class to make it more effective for the soldiers to pass among the norms." She glanced around and then rolled her eyes. "Oh please, tell me they didn't."

"What?" Jiminy frowned, then seemed to quickly think her logic through. Obviously she was assuming information based on their lack of answer. "Oh no," he shook his head. "Not that I knew of anyway. We studied human history and whatnot. Any pop culture had to come from exposure during missions."

"And Alec here was quite the sponge, huh?" Max grinned, poking Alec in his ribs. He flinched back and grabbed her finger before she could poke him again.

"What can I say Maxie?" he asked irreverently. "I've always had an agile mind." He glanced at the other fellas. "And an agile body and an agile-!"

"Don't even go there," Max cried out, even as Trey grinned wickedly. Ale closed his mouth and winked at the other males. They all knew, Max included, just what he could have been referring to.

"So are we done here?" he demanded of Max, seeing that she was beginning to flag, just a little again. But she shook her head determinedly.

"One more thing," she assured him. "I need to find Joshua." Alec held her glance for a moment, trying to impart just how important this was to her. If he had had his way, he would have had her in bed moments after they'd entered TC and summoned Joshua to her apartment. But no, she was stubborn enough to still want to coddle the big dog man and would always end up seeking him out.

"All right," he conceded. He addressed Dix, though his eyes didn't leave hers. "Where's Joshua at right now?"

"Ah," Dix quickly glanced through the papers scattered amongst the desk. "I think he said he was going to be over at the commissary for a while, before he headed back to his apartment."

"Can somebody get him?" Alec asked, then tacked on, "please?"

"No need," Mole announced in his deep, loud voice. Alec and the rest of the group glanced up at the lizard-like transgenic. But Mole just calmly gestured to the main door with his cigar laden hand. Their heads swung around to see Joshua coming through the hall. Alec turned immediately to Max, to remind her of her promise to head off to bed, now that she had seen Joshua. But she was already moving towards her friend. Well, almost running, as quickly as she was moving.

"Hey little fella!" Joshua greeted her excitedly. His hands were full of brown paper bags, which he was juggling about with caution. "Took supper to Mack and Graham. Said Max had come home."

"Yeah, I did Joshua," Max nodded, waiting while he laid his packages down on the nearest desk. "I'm home," she repeated the word, so softly it was almost a sigh. But her words carried through the silent room.

"Little fella good?" Joshua asked, with a modicum of concern in his voice. Everyone at TC had known within the hour about Max's accident. Most weren't too concerned right away, but for the people she was closest to. But as time went on and things looked slightly more bleak, then the rest of their small nation had begun to take notice. And Joshua's nervous roaming and pitiful whimpering while he waited for word of his fallen friend had been quite the sight.

Alec, even from the distance he was behind her, could see the tension flowing from Max's body, now that she was back in the safety of what he was starting to understand, her true home. And he was relieved. To a degree. If only she could relax around all of them like that, some of the tensions present among the various Manticore groups would begin to dissolve. Again, he pushed the thought away, to think on for another time. He watched with interest now, like the rest of the room's occupants, as Max reached up a trembling hand, to stroke at Joshua's cheek. And then she threw her arms around the larger figure and hugged him tightly, her face buried in his chest. But even muffled, Alec heard her words clearly.

"I'm good," she affirmed. "Everything's all right again."

Back to index

Chapter 3: Look Both Ways

Title: The Waking Hours

Author: Restive Nature (aka Bavite)

Rated: up to NC-17

Disclaimer: All characters within this fiction are the property of Cameron/ Eglee. I just like to play with them.

Timeline: Sequel to Dream Within. Fiction starts about six weeks after FN.

Pairing M/A

Summary: Dreams don't often come true for Manticore-bred soldiers. So when the chance comes along for Alec, he's not quite sure how to take it.

Chapter Three

Look Both Ways

When Alec woke the next morning, his mind was strangely still. Usually he woke with thoughts already scurrying around, filled with notations of what needed to be done. Both for TC and for himself. Ways of how to handle the inevitable situations between transgenic and transhumans that were bound to come up. But this morning, he felt content. With a wry smile, he stretched his body out to the maximum, rolling his eyes when he heard the bones in his feet crackling just slightly.

He wiggled his toes, enjoying the looseness in his muscles that finally a full eight hours of sleep had provided. With a small sigh, as he realized that no matter how much he might want to, he couldn't remain in bed much longer, he sat up and pushed the covers aside. He stood and snagged the pair of jeans that at some point had been draped across the foot of his bed. He pulled them on, not bothering to snap them shut. With a small yawn and unconscious scratching at his right shoulder, he ambled from his bedroom, wondering if he had any coffee left.

Not that what he had was any good. Most mornings it was comparable with sludge. Which was not the coffee's fault. It was a grade A coffee. But Terminal City's water supply was so full of minerals and various other detriments that he really didn't want to think of so early, that after the first cup, there was kind of a slickness to it. Usually the first cup was good, but after that, it certainly wasn't anything to write home about.

It was halfway through the first pot percolating, as Alec mused on why he didn't just brew one cup at a time to prevent the sludginess, that he remembered Max. His eyes widened and he rubbed at the sensitive spot just between and slightly above his eyes. A groan escaped his mouth as he realized that she, unlike him, probably hadn't gotten a full night's sleep. In fact, she rarely slept. So he could just imagine how frustrated she was at this point of the morning.

True, he had brought into her room every single book and distraction he could find. Anything to prevent her from getting up and ignoring Dr. Carr's orders to remain in bed a few days. And before he'd left for the evening, he'd extracted another promise that she wouldn't be foolish and compromise her health. Not that she'd been overeager to go out and do something foolish like take on the Sector Cops lining the perimeter all by herself. In fact, she was being unusually cautious after her accident. But that was well before potential boredom could have set in. He was willing to bet that if she wasn't climbing the walls by this point, she soon would be.

But the aroma of the coffee was too great an allure. 'I can have one cup,' Alec promised himself. 'Just a quick cup and then I'll go and check on her.' But he was only fooling himself. While the coffee finished brewing, he hurried to find a halfway decently clean shirt and socks. As he was tying up his sneakers, he heard the percolator give off its final hiss. Rummaging through his cupboard, he withdrew two chipped and slightly stained mugs. He poured and slid the carafe back into its slot. Picking up both mugs, he took an appreciative sip from one before heading down the short distance that separated their apartments.

He was barely five feet from her door, when he heard the muffled grunts and a vehement curse under her breath. Judging from the noise, Alec judged her to be in her kitchen. Which was an odd occurrence. Not his knowing where she was in the apartment. He knew the layout of her apartment well enough to be able to pinpoint the noise to within a few feet. No, what was unusual was that Max was using her kitchen. She rarely, if ever cooked. And like him, didn't enjoy the coffee that was produced by their complexes share of the water run-off.

Usually Max hightailed it over to the commissary for her morning coffee. The only thing that he could think of was that she was trying to keep her promise that she'd stay put, manipulating the vagueness of the promise to make it seem as if her entire apartment was 'right here', and not her bed as Alec had meant. He shook his head. There was no point standing in the hallway making up excuses for her. He'd hear them as soon as he walked in. Shifting his mug from his right hand to join Max's in his left, he reached for the doorknob. The door swung easily open as another small crash resounded through the relatively small room.

"Am I going to have to find a length of rope and tie you to the bed?" he demanded loudly, with a teasing grin on his face as he rounded the corner into the kitchen. Only to be completely taken aback by the sight that awaited him.

"Well you could, but I always heard you were a handcuffs kind of guy," the female teased back, recovering from his unexpected entrance quickly.

Alec gasped out some air, sloshing a tiny bit of the warm coffee over the back of his hand. "Gem!" he exclaimed, then glanced around the room, as if ascertaining that he was in the correct apartment. "What are you doing here?" His mouth was still slightly agape. Of all the things he'd been expecting of Max, this was certainly nowhere near being on his list.

To her credit, Gem seemed completely relaxed to be in another woman's apartment at seven in the morning. She took the two coffee mugs from his hand and set them on the counter, before turning back to the stove. Alec moved to see what she was doing and understood immediately where the crash had come from. Apparently Gem was so comfortable, she was cooking, or at least attempting to salvage some eggs. "It was the weirdest thing," she muttered with a half shrug as she stirred the food. She glanced back at Alec, merriment twinkling in her eyes. "Max called me about an hour ago and asked me if the donuts were ready."

"Donuts?" Alec repeated. He would have said more, but he was stuck on that one thing. His mouth hung open as he tried to think his way through where Max's mind was coming from.

Gem laughed. "Yeah, that was about my reaction too. Then she apologized really quickly, for waking me up."

"She did?" he asked softly. It was enough that her behavior the day before had unbalanced most everybody they'd run into. It was worrisome to a degree if it were to continue.

"No, actually she didn't," Gem continued in reply. Alec snapped his attention back to the other woman. Something was very wrong here since firstly Max hadn't been making much sense the last few days, and now the epidemic was spreading to Gem. "Wake me up," she stressed with a shake of her head. With a wry grin, she plucked Alec's mug off the counter and pressed it into his hand. "Drink," she commanded. "You obviously need to wake up."

"Yeah, that's obviously it," Alec grunted. He drank slowly, so as not to burn his tongue and to give himself a moment to recover. He decided that the easiest thing would be to start over and ease into a normal conversation with the woman. "So Max called you this morning, asked about donuts and you decided to come over?" he queried.

"That's pretty much it," Gem agreed, watching the eggs carefully.

"But donuts?" he smirked. Gem glanced over her shoulder at him, unable to resist smiling back.

"Yeah, I'm not too clear on that part of it," she sighed. "After Max apologized and hung up, I wondered if she was okay. So I thought I'd come over and check on her."

"And she was okay?" Alec was mildly surprised that Gem had been that concerned about a woman she barely knew. Naturally the incident at Jam Pony wasn't really the opportune time to stage a get to know ya conversation and afterwards, Gem's time had been taken up with caring for her newborn daughter. Not that Max had been clambering after the woman for some female bonding.

"She was fine," Gem grinned. "Apparently she'd just had a weird dream and mistakenly called me."

"Humph," Alec grunted. "There's a lot of that going on lately." He saw the questioning gleam in the young mother's eyes and spoke again hurriedly to head that off before it began. "So where's Angie?" he asked, referring to the infant that was almost religiously attached to the X-5 mother.

"In the bedroom with Max," Gem answered, though she gave him a look that clearly told him that she wasn't fooled by his attempts at derailment. "She fell back asleep after we got here. I offered to make Max breakfast and she's keeping an eye on her for me."

"Oh, really?" Alec was slightly stunned. He'd never imagined that Max would be the type to care for an infant. Older kids, yeah, he could see that. Especially after watching her with Bugler, the X-8 of the pack of Manticore kids they'd rescued from the clutches of White.

"Of course, I'm right here if either of them needs me," Gem smiled. "It's no big deal Alec," she tried to reassure him.

"I didn't mean anything," he shrugged apologetically. Certainly he hadn't meant for his musing to imply that Gem was being careless with her child. Or that Max was untrustworthy around kids. In fact, she seemed to go out of her way to take care of them. Which, while it was an admirable habit, also seemed to cause her the most trouble. "I'm just uh, surprised that Max volunteered."

"I kind of was too," Gem offered quietly. "But hey, a break is a break," she laughed softly. "Even if it is just for fifteen minutes." She began to stir more quickly as the eggs were setting. Just then, both noticed the slightly burnt smell and small stream of smoke rising from the appliance on the counter. Gem tried to reach for the toast that was apparently burning, but her sleeve caught at the pan. She recovered quickly, catching the frying pan before it could fall. Alec moved forward to take care of the toast. It certainly wouldn't do to burn down Max's apartment. And even though he wasn't the instigator of this little scheme, he was sure that Max would no doubt find some way of blaming him.

Unfortunately, the noise they created in the process woke up the sleeping infant. Gem cringed slightly as she heard the piercing shriek ring through the apartment. She continued to stir furiously as she turned her back to Alec. He quickly rummaged through Max's mostly bare cupboards, finding a plate. He set it near the stove and laid the slightly crisp pieces of toast on it. Angie's cries continued, but had softened somewhat to a pitiful whimper.

"Alec could you go get her for me please, while I finish these?" Gem asked hurriedly. Alec was about to offer to take over the eggs. Babies were less his forte than the X-5 females that bore them. He was about to make a quip to that effect, but Gem glanced over her shoulder to give him a pleading look. "Please?"

Alec could have sworn she was blushing. Wondering why on earth she would be embarrassed, he shrugged genially and turned towards the room the noise was emanating from. Figuring that it wouldn't be too difficult to just carry the kid out, he nonetheless knocked at the closed door. Surely Max wouldn't be able to sleep through that racket. And to his unsurprise, she wasn't. What did take him aback though, was that she was cradling the baby against her shoulder, sitting up in the bed, rubbing a soothing hand over the infant.

"Shh sweetie," she calmed. "Mama will be here soon."

Alec was stunned by the sweet sentimentality of the picture the two of them made. Somehow, Max looked completely natural and at ease with the infant in her arms. There was a soft, wistful smile on her face, even as Angie had caught some of her hair in her tiny fist and was yanking at it as she squirmed. Unknowingly, a similar smile began to grace his face. It was a rare and beautiful sight that he had been given the privilege to see.

"Hey Alec," Max greeted after a moment. She was still bouncing Angie in her arms, unable to provide what the infant wanted. "I thought I heard your dulcet tones earlier."

Alec waited a moment, then entered her bedroom. "Yup, that was me. I was bringing you coffee," he smirked at the quick grimace on her face that disappeared quickly. "But then I got roped into the saving the toast plan of action."

"Uh huh," Max muttered, her attention divided between him and the infant. Well, centered more on the baby, with a peripheral of him. Alec was mildly startled to discover that he was slightly jealous of the attention Angie was receiving over him. "Pass me the diaper bag, would you?" Alec's eyes widened as Max eased Angie away from her slightly. Either one or both of them were sweaty, or Angie had decided being hungry wasn't enough. Max's t-shirt was clinging to her side, obviously moist, delineating her curves. Alec shook his head before she could notice and consequently scold him. Glancing down, he caught sight of an old duffel bag which didn't look familiar. Taking a chance, he hefted it onto the bed, sliding it towards Max. She said nothing as she reached for it, but Angie decided to squirm again.

"Need a hand?" Alec asked teasingly. Max returned his grin and nodded.

"Can you get out a diaper and another sleeper?" she asked quickly. Alec opened his mouth to ask what a sleeper was, but noticed that Max had laid Angie down and was divesting her of the one piece outfit the baby girl was wearing. He found the requested items on top and laid them on the bed in front of him before settling the bag back on the floor.

"Here we go," Max murmured as she finally eased the clothing off, along with an old set of plastic underpants. Angie, now free of the clinging wetness of her clothing settled down a little more, having taken the hunger matter into her own chubby hands, sucking at her fingers. She kicked idly while Max tickled at her knee.

"Have you ever changed a diaper before, Max?" Alec scoffed. He was almost holding his breath, not from the unique smell of baby business, but from the puzzlement as he watched her assured manner of dealing with the infant.

"Can't say that I have," she chuckled. "But it's not rocket science."

"I'm not too sure of that," he retorted, picking up and turning the cloth diaper about as he tried to figure out what went where."

"Don't unfold that," Max warned harshly and Alec glanced up guiltily. How had she known that that was exactly what he'd been about to do? "Gem has the diapers folded ahead of time so that Angie doesn't have an accident while waiting for someone to get it right," she explained quickly. Alec wondered when the women had time to share that little tidbit. "Pass it here." Wordlessly, he handed over the scrap of soft cotton.

It was an interesting process to watch. Max was certainly adept enough at unpinning the old diaper. It was cute the way she caught Angie's legs and hoisted her bottom end into the air. Alec winced slightly for the baby, but Angie made nary a protest, indicating that it was a process the baby was used to. Max moved the diaper aside and then held her full hand out towards him.

"What?" he demanded, knowing full well what she wanted.

"There should be a bag to put the soiled ones in," she instructed, a wicked glint in her eyes.

"Oh no," he shook his head. "I'm not touching that thing."

"Take it Alec," she muttered simply," or I'll throw it at your head."

With a slight gagging noise, Alec bent down to retrieve a plastic bag from the duffel. As gingerly as he could, he held it open for Max to deposit the soiled laundry in.

"You know, you are such a wimp," Max teased.

"Just because I don't enjoy the smells that one most naturally associates with the reminiscent scents of the underground, namely the sewers, does not mean I'm a wimp," Alec protested eloquently. Max just smirked at him. She glanced down at Angie.

"He's a wimp," she cooed. Alec could have sworn that Angie smiled back in that conspiratorial manner that females shared. After reaching into the duffel bag for a wet cloth, the process went quickly. And just as Max was snapping up a slightly threadbare sleeping outfit almost identical to the one Angie had worn before, the door opened.

"Oh Max," Gem protested mildly, having caught on quickly as to what was going on, "you didn't have to do that."

"It's okay," Max smiled generously as she hoisted Angie up again. "I didn't see the point in making her suffer." The baby, now that she was upright and not being fed, began to cry again. Without a word, Max held the child out to her mother.

Gem shoved the tray towards Alec, who caught it before it fell. He glanced around for a place to set it and noticed Max nodding for him to set it on her dresser. He did and was about to protest as she climbed out of bed. But she held her hands up and wiggled them.

"We're gonna go wash our hands," she explained to Gem who glanced up from her daughter. Alec swore that something silent and necessary passed through the women. Gem just nodded, but he noticed her lower lip quiver just a moment.

"Okay," Gem nodded. And then so quietly, he almost didn't catch it, "thanks."

Deciding that washing her hands was not monumental, and since she'd just been changing a messy kid, Alec didn't protest. But he did wonder at the amount of time it took her to do it. It seemed as if she were determined to scour every inch of skin on her hands, all the way up to her elbows.

"If I didn't know better Max," he drawled, "I'd swear you were preparing for surgery."

"Oh you're a laugh a minute Alec," Max smiled at his reflection in the bathroom mirror as she rinsed off. Alec handed her the towel and as she dried, she stepped back to offer the sink to him. Alec didn't give the matter much thought as he stepped forward for his turn. "For your information," she continued as she laid the towel beside the sink, "we're giving Gem a minute."

"And why are we doing that?" he asked, glancing now at her reflection. Max rolled her eyes, then her head cocked to the side.

"I take it that Manticore never offered much more than a basic sex ed. course?" she asked, as delicately as she could. Alec's eyes widened. How on earth did they make the jump from politeness to sex? He shook his head, indicating no. Max nodded broodingly.

"Just basically what went where, who had what and why," he shrugged, glancing away.

"What I meant was that they probably had no reason to get into the stuff about when women had babies," Max steered the conversation to where she wanted it to be. "After all, they had surrogates for that. And any soldiers having a kid," she paused and Alec got the distinct impression that something else was on her mind then. "Well, they wouldn't really have had to deal with taking care of a baby." He nodded, indicating his agreement.

"So what does that have to do with this?" he demanded softly, drying off his hands. He turned to face her, noting that she looked slightly uncomfortable to be sharing this with him, but it was not enough to deter her.

"You noticed that Gem had changed her shirt?" she questioned. Again, her leaps in conversation had no sense of logic to him, but he realized that she would get to the point, bringing it together for him. So he simply nodded again. "Well, she heard Angie crying. And for nursing mothers, it's a natural reaction to start making milk to feed the kid."

Alec lifted a single eyebrow, amused as he made the connection quickly. "You mean she was...?"

"Yeah," Max grinned. "And it probably embarrassed her," she concluded. Alec thought on that a moment.

"Why would it?" he asked. "It's a natural reaction."

"Because as soldiers," Max began softly, "you guys, we all were never given any privacy. Such a thing didn't exist." Alec realized that he was leaning forward, intrigued now despite himself. It wasn't often that they compared their lives within Manticore. They were so extreme from each other because of the escape Max's unit had made. "And now that Gem is out in the real world, she's learning that there are different rules. Things are happening to her for the first time ever, and no one is really there for her to give her the expected parameters of what's going on." She paused and glanced up at him, from under lowered lashes.

"Go on," he encouraged quietly. She sucked her lower lip inv for a moment.

"She doesn't have a unit leader or commander, or an officer or even Renfro to give her direction anymore," Max murmured slowly. "And while I don't think many of them are complaining, no one else does either. When I let them out, I kind of threw them to the wind. So what we have here is a people trying to establish what is right now and acceptable now, to what had been acceptable before."

"They've got a different sense of freedom now," Alec added, starting to understand. He hadn't given too much thought to how the others were building their lives. He himself had taken to certain parts of life naturally, while other parts of the outside world had baffled him.

"And it's not only the outside world," Max added. "It's also what they think and feel inside."

"So what do we do about it?" Alec asked. Max gave him another contemplative look."

"The best we can," she laughed suddenly, her face taking on impish proportions. Alec smiled back reflexively. Max moved out of the bathroom. "Now, I'm hungry."

"Oh by all means," Alec chuckled as he followed after her. "Let's go stuff your face." He saw Max shaking her head ahead of him. When he followed her back into her room, he saw that Gem had finally taken matters with Angie in her own hand. The contented sounds of the child nursing from underneath a light blanket that covered the child and part of the woman, echoed through the room. Alec noticed that just as Max predicted, Gem looked a little uncomfortable, and for the life of him, he couldn't ever remember seeing her nursing Angie in public. Perhaps there was more to what Max had said than he'd given her credit for.

He picked up the tray from her dresser and brought it over to her. He waited a moment until she was comfortably under the covers, then leaned down to place it across her lap. "When the hell did you become so sensitive to others?"

"I always have been Alec," she answered back quietly. Alec was startled to realize that he'd said the last thought out loud. He stared at her as she regarded him evenly. "Just remember though, it's a two way street."

...h.o.m.e...