Well, here we are, on the home straight. It's been a ride, I can tell you. This is the longest story I've ever written and if nothing else, I've proved to myself that I can at least write something of novel length, although I suppose its merit is for you readers to judge. It gives me hope that one of these days I'll be able to finish an original novel, and after that, who knows? Publishing contract, fame and fortune, a job where I can sit in my flat with my laptop wearing my pyjamas and drinking tea all day (much as I'm doing right now)...

Thanks to everyone who has read, reviewed, alerted and all the rest. I'm so grateful to all of you.

The story so far:

972 is dead. Corrigan is under arrest and Senator Winstone has promised to do his best to help the transgenics achieve freedom. Max and Alec are waiting for news, but neither of them is renowned for patience...

#

Chapter Eleven: tc dot com

"Max?"

"Logan. Hi." She was surprised to hear his voice through the phone, though she supposed she shouldn't have been.

He cleared this throat awkwardly. "How are you?"

"Ok. You?" It was strange to be talking to him again. It felt like it had been a lot longer than it had. So much was going on, she realised she'd barely given a thought to him.

"I've been watching the news. I just wanted to say good job."

"Oh. Thanks."

"So Corrigan's behind bars. You must be feeling pretty good."

"Yeah. We're relieved. One enemy down, you know."

"Yeah. I'm glad. I...I guess I'll sleep a little easier knowing he's out of the picture. So, I just wanted to say thanks."

"Yeah. He won't be coming for you again. Or 972."

"I saw. Killed in action, they said."

Max frowned. That was a strangely dignified and official way of putting it. Put down like the vicious psychopath that he was, more like. "Yeah," was all she said.

"Who killed him?" Logan asked, failing to sound casual, so that when Max answered she raised her chin defiantly, even though he couldn't see it.

"I did." She guessed old habits died hard. She'd always been so aware of her difference around him, worried he'd see her as less than human if he saw what she was truly capable of. And she found that even now part of her still cared what he thought of her. She wondered if that would ever change.

"Oh. You ok?"

He didn't sound judging. She let out a sigh.

"Yeah, I'm fine."

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Not really, and if I wanted to I've got-"

"Yeah, you've got Alec now."

Max nodded, but didn't say anything, even though she knew he couldn't see her response.

"I had to do it," she replied. "It's not like I'm jumping up and down about that, but I know it was the right thing to do."

"I know you wouldn't have done it unless you had to."

"Yeah." She decided to take him at his word. She was done obsessing about every little exchange with Logan.

"So everyone's ok?"

"Mostly just cuts and bruises; nothing serious."

"I saw Alec there with you. Good to see him back on his feet."

"Yeah. I tried to make him stay behind, but that was always gonna be a tall order."

"He wanted to back you up."

"Wanted to give me a heart attack, more like."

Logan laughed, and suddenly they were a little more relaxed.

"So what's next?"

"We're just waiting to hear really. Sort of out of our hands."

"Well, it looks like a pretty impressive reversal of fortune. You're being hailed as heroes for rescuing the senator. Did you see his interview?"

"Weird, huh? No one was interested about how many lives my guys saved when they were with Manticore. Now we save one guy and they're all over it. Journalists are weird."

Logan snorted, "Yeah, no telling what we're gonna care about."

Max became serious. "We didn't call the press, Logan. I don't know how they got wind of it. We were hoping to stay under the radar in case it all went to crap."

"I wasn't calling about that," he reassured.

"Good. I just...you know, whatever went on between us and wherever we are now, you're still the journalist I'd call."

"Thanks Max, that means a lot."

"So, you gonna cover it?"

"Nah, I think the networks have it covered. Unless you've got an exclusive for me?"

"No, I'm just worried they'll cover it to death and everyone'll be so sick of us they'll go back to wanting to lynch us."

"Ha. So are the little kids ok? The ones you found locked up?"

"Yeah. We're putting them with the families. It'll take some time for them to settle in I guess, but transgenics are pretty adaptable."

The moment she hung up, there was a knock on the door.

"Damn girl! You sure know how to make a splash," Cindy exclaimed.

"Hey Cindy."

"Been seein' you and your boy on the news, flavour of the month."

"They're covering it wall to wall. I was so preoccupied I didn't even see any cameras there."

"I figured that."

"How come?"

"You knew you were getting yo' picture taken, you'd have combed your hair."

"What? Cindy, I'd been kickin' ass!" she justified.

"Umm hmm," Cindy replied suppressing a grin.

"I had a split lip and a bloody nose. You think I was worried about my hair."

"Honey, I know you weren't worried about your hair... I'm kidding. Apart from the bruises and the blood and the torn shirt and all of that, you looked totally hot."

"I looked a mess." Max shook her head in annoyance. Cindy was right, if she'd have known, she'd have tried to do something about her appearance. Now she was worrying that she'd looked like a thug on TV, and that's what people would remember.

"Lucky that ain't what anyone cares about right now. You looked like a hero, boo. An' I was just stoppin' by to say good for you."

"Yeah? You think it's going down ok on TV?"

"Yeah. I think you're well on your way."

"To what?"

"Not having to hide anymore. To not having to keep such a close eye on everyone all the time. To hookin' up with your girl Cindy every once in a while. I miss you girl. We don't see enough of each other."

"I miss you too. This isn't the only thing though. Corrigan's out of the picture, but I've still got White out there somewhere. Who knows what he's up to."

"You'll figure it out. One thing at a time. And this is gonna make things a lot harder for him, right?"

"Yeah I hope so. How's Hope doing?"

"She's ok. Wishing she'd got a photo of her leg all weird shaped to show me. Girl's got some funny ideas."

"She's still on the morphine, huh?"

"Yeah. Your medics sure know how to get their hands on the good stuff. She's still flyin'. And Alec's ok? Wouldn't have thought you'd be letting him anywhere near folks with guns for a while."

"Yeah, well, you know Alec. Trouble finds him. Might as well have him close by so's I can make sure he's ok."

"He handled the fight ok?"

"Ok might be overstating it. He walked out of there instead of being carried out. I'm gonna look at that as a win."

"Sounds like one to me. And you know Hope told me all about what happened, so I'm happy he was there to keep your pretty face from getting all smashed up on the ground."

"Yeah. Except he's using that to justify not hanging back like he was supposed to. And I can't argue, 'cos if he hadn't I'd be too dead to argue. I don't have a leg to stand on, and I don't like bein' put in that position. Damn 327. If he hadn't come over all apologetic, I'd be throwin' him off a damn balcony."

"That's the spirit. Blame the poor hypnotised fool."

"Damn straight. That and love. If it wasn't for stupid old love, I could trade Alec in for someone boring and sensible."

"You don't want boring and sensible. You want hot and heroic, just like all of us." Cindy checked her watch.

"You wanna get back to your hot, heroic girl, huh?"

"I've got a minute. But yeah, gotta keep her out of trouble. I know what you mean, boo. Not easy having a hero for a honey. Usually I'm worried my shorties gonna take off with all my savings. Now I got one I gotta worry about getting herself killed fighting evil."

"It's a job of work."

"That it is. So, your senator been in touch? He gonna come through for you?"

"Waiting to hear."

"You think he's on the up an' up?"

"Yeah, I think so. Says he's got a meeting with the president."

"What? The president? The actual president president? The president of all of us?"

"That's the one. Well, I guess it is. He didn't specify. Jeez, for all I know, his pet hamster could be called President."

"Well, fingers crossed his hamster's got some game. I'm headed back." She gave Max a quick hug. "Love you, girl."

"Love you too."

#

"Hi, Max? It's Charlie Winstone." She'd spent an anxious morning waiting for news and it was almost lunchtime before he called.

"Oh, hey Charlie, what's the what?" It felt a little strange being on first name terms with a senator, but he seemed to prefer the informality. She did her best to sound casual, like their whole future wasn't riding on what came out of his mouth next.

"Pretty good. Everyone ok there? The kids who got injured, Hope and Dalton?"

"Yeah, we heal pretty fast. They'll be back on their feet soon." It was touching that he remembered their names so Max didn't mention the anxious pacing she'd occupied herself with after Cindy had left and Alec had dropped off on the sofa, claiming he was tired out from watching her agitated movements. She didn't want to harry the senator, but if he'd been in the room, she probably couldn't have kept herself from shaking the news out of him.

"Well, down to business, I guess. I've got some news."

Max pressed the speaker phone button as she nudged Alec awake with the toe of her boot to his shin.

"Yeah, news?"

Alec grinned at her suddenly squeaky voice, but he was wide awake and practically standing to attention within a split second of her making contact.

"Ok, you're going to need to have a little patience, because things happen slowly when they get put in the hands of the bureaucrats, but I'm going to do my best to keep things moving."

"Uh huh," she replied, trying to keep the tension out of her voice. Alec took her hand and squeezed and she breathed out slowly, grounding herself with his touch.

"A statement's being released by the joint session to the effect that, while the Federal Government accepts that the jurisdiction for local security issues and therefore the final decision belongs to the military protectorate of Seattle, we recommend that the siege be lifted with all due haste. Basically we can't order it officially, but it would be very unusual for a recommendation not to be accepted. I can't guarantee how long it will take, but I'm hopeful that the weight of public opinion will be enough to make the Seattle authorities take notice."

"Ok, so we wait to see how Seattle reacts." It wasn't the unequivocal answer she'd been hoping for, but she guessed that was a bit much to expect anyway and there was hope. "Well, thanks for your help, Charlie, we really appreciate you standing up for us." She tried to keep any disappointment out of her voice. It wasn't his fault that the daydreams of freedom she'd been allowing herself to indulge weren't in her grasp yet. He'd done his best.

"I'll keep up the pressure and I think that the citizenship issue will force their hands anyway." He replied.

"Citizenship?"

"The Supreme Court Chief Justice sent a statement into the session to the effect that there is no constitutional justification for denying citizenship to transgenics. Their position is that when you take into consideration the fact that any human being is 50% genetically identical to a banana and 90% identical to a cat, it's ludicrous to suggest that the negligible DNA tinkering of Manticore constitutes transgenics as an entirely separate species, therefore it would be like denying constitutional rights to any group solely due to their ethnic background. The government is required to issue every person born in this country with a birth certificate and social security number and to treat all citizens equally under the law."

"They're going to recognise us?" Max's voice had gone squeaky again.

"Again, it's a recommendation. There was no case put before the Supreme Court, so it's not a binding judgement, but the court's opinion holds a lot of sway. The justices are the top constitutional lawyers in the country, so it would be difficult to go against the recommendation, and if they did, you'd have a pretty airtight case to bring. The session was adjourned, but it looks good that there'll be a vote scheduled in the next week or so and that it'll go in your favour."

"So what do we do now?" Alec asked.

"I wish I could tell you to throw open the doors now but it's a bit more complicated than that. There'll be some back room dealing over fine print and there's always a whole raft of amendments tied to any bill, but I'm pretty confident."

"You realise that telling Max to be patient is like trying to hold back the ocean with a teaspoon?" Alec remarked.

"Well you guys didn't get where you are by lying down and taking it." Winstone responded.

Max huffed a laugh. "Any suggestions about what we can usefully do until all this kicks in?"

"Keep doing what you're doing. You're national heroes, and not only that, you're decent people. Pretty soon everyone's going to have to acknowledge that."

The senator's tone was forceful and heartfelt and Max saw how he got people to vote for him. She and Alec both cleared their throats awkwardly at the praise.

"Thanks Charlie," Alec managed, but Max was afraid her voice would betray her and allowed his comment to stand for her too.

"It's me that owes you the thanks."

"Well I think you've paid us back," Max replied, trying hard to keep her voice level.

"Look Max, not to be crass, but this is working for me too. It's politically sensitive yes, and it could have blown up in my face, but the fact is, being associated with a popular civil rights campaign doesn't exactly hurt my career at this point. My campaign guy's talking about boldness and integrity scoring high with all sorts of groups. He's trying to persuade me to throw my hat in for President next time around."

"Well, you'd have my vote. Once I get the right to vote, obviously." Max said, her tone light but serious.

"Well that right there's my incentive. You might be the vote that swings it for me," he replied and they could hear the smile in his voice.

The call ended shortly after that with an exhortation from the senator to hang in there, and they sat side by side on sofa.

"So."

"Yeah."

"Kinda thought we'd have something a bit more definitive," Alec said after a while.

"Hmm. Not that I'm not grateful," Max replied, agreeing.

"Right. Yeah, he's really gone out of his way for us. Still."

"Yeah, still. It all moves kind of slow. So, what do you think? Do we tell the others? Even though there's nothing really to tell yet? And there's still a chance we might be getting our hopes up for nothing. Not like it's a done deal."

"Not really for us to decide what's best for them to know though, right?"

"Yeah. They're grown ups. Well, some of them are. We should tell them. It's kind of progress, I guess."

"So, what? Call a pow wow then?"

#

The meeting didn't last long. Max explained the current situation, how there might be progress, but she wasn't sure what it would look like exactly, or when things might start to change. There wasn't really that much to say that hadn't already been passed around by those who read the political news blogs.

"So just keep doing what we're doing." Mole summed up gruffly.

"Pretty much," Max nodded. "Look, I know it doesn't sound like anything concrete, but I think Senator Winstone's on the level. I think he'll do what he says and keep pushing it."

"And with a wing and a prayer, things might work out," Luke summed up.

"Yeah," she replied, feeling kind of lame. It sounded even less certain when she repeated it all aloud to a room full of expectant faces.

"Hmm."

"Right."

"Ok then."

The non-committal reactions around the room reflected Alec and Max's right after she'd hung up the phone and for a moment she considered repeating what the senator had said about thinking they were decent people, but on reflection she wasn't sure she could get the words out without blushing and stammering, and what had meant a lot to her and to Alec might sound even lamer than the rest of it to her audience. The others didn't really know Charlie and they were only going to be interested in results.

Everyone began filing out and Max sighed and put her head down, feeling deflated. Consoling hands squeezed her upper arms gently and she looked up to see Alec and Joshua each reaching out a hand to comfort her.

"They're disappointed. I'm giving them nothing." She sighed.

"Not nothing, Little Fella," Joshua reassured. "They know Max tries everything. They can be patient, wait it out with us."

"I wanted to be able to tell them we were free," she said, surprised when her voice broke and she realised she was really close to crying. She tried to turn away to get some control, but neither of them would let her hide her feelings from them.

"Maxie," Alec whispered moving his hand from her arm to cup her cheek and use his thumb to catch a tear that spilled from her eye.

"I'm sorry," she whispered back, ashamed to be so emotional, falling apart over what could be construed as a small piece of good news that was the likely precursor to a big piece of good news.

"I thought we had a rule about saying sorry," Alec smiled.

"We had a rule about you saying sorry," Max returned his smile with a watery one of her own.

"Well, consider it reciprocal."

"Ok," she nodded, sniffing and blinking her tears back.

"They know how close," Joshua said, reiterating his reassurance. "Transgenics thinking it through. Getting used to next steps." He patted her arm almost gently, only slightly throwing her off balance, enough to make them all grin and give Alec the in to pull her into a hug.

Joshua met Alec's eyes and smiled as Max closed her eyes and buried her face into Alec's chest, sighing at the comfort and safety she found there. He patted Alec's arm, gently enough not to throw either of them off balance this time and gave a quick wave, "Joshua has things to take care of."

"Alec?"

"Hmm?"

"Can we just stay like this forever?"

Alec huffed quietly and moved one hand to her head, stroking her hair. "Can't think of any place I'd rather be."

#

So they waited.

Alec had another session with Callie and slept a full eight hours without hearing the screaming, without even his typical pre-torture nightmares . Max watched him sleep and the peace in his expression allowed her to relax more than she could remember in forever, it was better than a massage for untying knots. He woke refreshed and feeling stronger than he could remember for months.

Jin, who seemed to have become the TC news hub when it came to romance, told them that Cam and Gem had hooked up and Soda and Nila had decided to take things to the next level and move in together.

Disappointingly, White seemed to have gone to ground again. Following their successful mission to take down the remnants of Manticore, and in lieu of more news from Winstone, Max was spoiling for a fight and a win, another tangible result she could give to the others in return for their faith in her leadership.

So, like Charlie had suggested, they ticked along, waiting to see what would happen next. Max was on edge, expecting news every minute and disappointed when things continued to move as slowly as Charlie had warned.

Alec was preoccupied too, but not about politics.

#

"Everything's been so intense up until now, you know?" Alec explained handing Joshua a cup of coffee and dropping down onto the sofa.

"Yeah. Intense. No time to catch breath." Joshua had dropped by to hang out with Alec before his art class and had found him in a pensive mood.

"Right."

"Get back to normal now?"

"Trouble is, I'm not sure what normal is now."

"You mean normal with Max?"

"Yeah. We've dealt with all this huge stuff, you know, life and death, trying to face the past, but we've never even been on a date."

"So, need to go on date!" Joshua exclaimed.

"Yeah. How're we gonna do that? I don't have any money. Even if I did, it's not like I can take Max out to a flashy restaurant in the city while things are so up in the air. So what, I whip up some canned goods in our apartment? Max deserves better than that."

"Problem," Joshua nodded sagely.

"Yeah, problem."

Joshua grinned suddenly and smacked Alec on the shoulder, hard.

"Alec relax. Joshua has plan."

"Really? Not feeling relaxed here, man," Alec replied, attempting to rub life back into his dead shoulder.

"Joshua has under control. Alec ask Max out tonight. Tell her put on best outfit."

"You're serious."

"Serious, yes! Joshua knows romance. Won't let Alec down. Brothers! Tell Max: be ready, seven o'clock."

"Ok... Thanks man." He agreed faintly. Alec knew Joshua had their best interests at heart, but he couldn't deny his sinking dread at the thought of what the evening might bring. He'd been to Joshua's dinner parties before, and frankly he'd consider them lucky if they escaped with nothing worse than mini hotdogs. He swallowed nervously, thankful that Max already loved him, because he sure couldn't count on making a good impression tonight.

#

Max was nervous. She was excited. It was definitely one of the two, but she wasn't sure which. Her palms were sweaty, her hands were trembling, her stomach was fluttering and her heart was pounding at about the speed she generally reached when she was getting ready to take down someone pointing a gun at her. She was going on a date with Alec. She needed to look her best by seven and it was already well past noon. She needed reinforcements.

"What the hell am I gonna wear?" Cindy found Max kneeling in the middle of her bed surrounded by the entire contents of her wardrobe, which admittedly wasn't that extensive, given she'd entered TC with nothing but the clothes she'd been wearing, and looking good hadn't really been a priority the past few months.

"Honey, we got hours to figure this out."

"Cindy, I've worn nothing but fatigues for months. I am so out of practice," she explained, holding up a sparkly red halter neck she'd borrowed from Fran for inspection. "I don't even know what's in style anymore."

"Well, that ain't, girl!" Cindy turned her nose up and pulled the top out of Max's hand between thumb and forefinger, casting it in the direction of the wastepaper basket. "You were right to call in the cavalry."

"See! I have no idea what I'm doing! And it's already," she gestured at the clock, "Two fifteen? Oh man!"

"Max, get a hold of yourself girl!"

"Get a hold of yourself, she says! Look at this stuff! I'm doomed!"

"Listen, boo, you need to relax and take a step back. Who d'you think you're trying to impress? Some shallow pretty boy only thinking about getting in yo' pants? That ain't even someone you'd wanna impress. This is your boy Alec, who fell in love with you wearing them fatigues. Who's seen you bruised and bloody, covered in dirt and hair all over everywhere. You think he really cares what you're gonna be wearing? He just wants you to feel special."

Max took a shuddering breath and tried to follow Cindy's instructions.

"I wanna look good for him. And you know he's gonna look awesome."

"The boy does have the beauty, I'll give him that. If I swung that way you might have some competition. It's the cheekbones I think. Or maybe those big green eyes and the long lashes. And, man his ass is fine. Where is Alec, anyway?"

"Cindy! Not helping!"

"Right. I'm here. Look, here's what we're gonna do. You're gonna go take a long, relaxing bath. Listen to some music, deal with all your feminine what have yous. And me," Cindy gestured to the mess all over the bed, "I'm gonna talk to your girl Fixit about salvaging somethin' from this horror movie you call a wardrobe."

"Right. Bath. Good idea. Wait, Fixit?"

"Yeah, you seen these kickin' t-shirts she makes?" Cindy lifted her sweater to show the Terminal City flag emblazoned on her t-shirt. "Dalton supplied me a few and I been sellin' 'em in Jam Pony. Even Normal bought one!"

"You're kidding me?"

"Ain't even. Gave 'im a deep discount on account of he helped Gem with the baby an' all and cos a tight-fisted man don't change overnight, but Girl Scout's Honour, I have seen him wear it."

"Huh," Was all Max could think to say. Ordinaries were wearing their flag? Normal was wearing their flag?

"But it ain't just t-shirts you know. Her stitching is so tiny and beautiful. Hope was wearing one of her dresses the other night, and let me tell you, she sure didn't keep it on long."

"I didn't know she made dresses. I've got one of the t-shirts and, look, she did this for me," Max pulled the patched hoodie out from the pile of clothes.

"See? She's who we need. Now go get in the bath. Shoo!"

#

Fixit brought Ralph, Fran, Callie and Gem with her and then Hope showed up looking for Cindy, so by three thirty, Max had something between an army unit and a teenage slumber party working to fix her date night wardrobe problem.

"Hey, is that my shirt in the garbage?" Fran demanded.

"Trust me, Fran, you do not want that shirt back," Callie deadpanned.

"Damn straight," Cindy chuckled, high-fiving Callie.

Cindy took on a managerial role, setting Fran to work on nails, Ralph on hair, Gem on makeup and Callie and Hope cutting up pieces of Max's clothes for Fixit to transform into what she promised would be an ensemble fit for Cinderella's ball.

Max sat in the middle of the chaos too stunned to feel nervous for a moment. She was surrounded by friends, helping her get ready for a date with the totally hot guy she was head over heels in love with. This was what being a normal girl felt like. It was what she'd always wanted and she'd managed to achieve it right here in TC, a place they'd taken because no one else wanted it, and defended from enemies on all sides. Right now the siege felt a long way away.

They primped and pampered and teased and giggled about nothing, until finally, at ten before seven, she was ready. Cindy positioned a full length mirror so Max could see the full effect.

#

Alec had asked Max on their date and then made himself scarce to give her some space so he could pick her up at seven and make it special. Or so he'd told her.

He'd asked while his courage was up, or before the madness lifted, before he could think better of it, and then cleared out so he could find out what Joshua had planned in case he needed time to organise Plan B or at least some damage control.

And to figure out what the hell he was going to wear for his first date with the totally hot woman of his dreams. Max had seemed kind of distracted, so he had hopes that she hadn't noticed that he'd stuffed all of his clothes and toiletries into his backpack on the way out.

"Alec! Joshua's casa, Alec's casa!" Joshua was letting him hang out there for the afternoon. "Joshua going out."

"Wait. Where're you going so soon?"

"Lots to do. Plans!"

"Right. Plans. What'cha got planned, Big Fella?"

"Surprise. More fun that way."

"Right. Fun. It's gonna be fun." He took a shaky breath.

"Faith!" Joshua grinned and then bounded past him, slamming the door as he went.

"Faith. Yeah." Alec sighed to the empty room.

#

Unable to face the uninspiring contents of his backpack just yet, Alec started by searching the apartment for clues, but for a guy who was incapable of doing anything quietly, Joshua sure had stealth mode when it came to plans.

He'd have to look further afield. He figured Joshua's art studio was a reasonable place to start, but while it was full of paintings and sculptures by Joshua and his students, it was empty of people. He was about to leave when a drawing pinned to the wall caught his eye. It was a simple sketch of Max in pencil, but it was so true to life it took his breath away. Her eyes shone with passion and she was smiling slightly, not happy, but hopeful. It was really beautiful. It was signed in the corner by Joshua, and Alec made a mental note to ask Joshua if he'd be willing to part with it. They had an empty wall in their apartment it was just perfect for.

Out of curiosity he took a moment to look around the rest of the art works. Some of them were obviously by the little kids, and some were pretty amateurish. Alec knew he didn't know much about art, and he'd never got to grips with Joshua's abstract stuff, other than that one of him that was all black in the centre and had freaked him out in its accuracy, but even he could tell there was some real talent in that room.

He checked his watch. He needed to be making tracks. Where next? He checked out Command, but Joshua wasn't there, hadn't been there all day according to Zero, who Alec was sure was keeping him talking deliberately. He extricated himself and headed for the mess hall.

God, he really hoped Joshua wasn't planning on sending them there. It was run down with peeling walls, rough wooden trestle tables and mismatched plastic chairs. And it smelled of mass catering, corned beef and over cooked cabbage. Anywhere but there.

As he got within sight of the mess building, Dix appeared out of nowhere.

"Hey man, what's up?"

"Looking for Josh. You seen him?"

"Nope. Not today." If he didn't know better, Alec would have suspected Dix was barring his way.

"Thought he might be in the mess."

"Just came from there. He's not there." Dix was definitely fibbing.

"Right. What're you doing?"

"Going to command. Taking over from Zero. Hear you and Max've got a hot date tonight."

"Thought you said you hadn't seen Joshua."

Dix was either telling the truth or covering his slip like a pro, "Didn't hear it from Josh. Everyone knows."

"Well, that's just fantastic." He threw himself on Dix's mercy. "Listen man, you don't know what Josh has planned, do you? He wanted me to leave it all to him, and I love the guy, but he's not exactly Mr Suave, you know? I really need this to go well."

Dix looked torn for a moment, and Alec perked up with hope until he shook his head, "Sorry man, haven't got a clue."

Dix hurried off, with the distinct manner of a man who did not want to be followed. Alec almost went after him, but clearly Joshua had people on side already, and short of beating it out of Dix and Zero and whoever else, he wasn't going to get any useful intel from his so-called friends.

Mole caught him sneaking around the back of the mess hall, which was utterly humiliating. He was so off his game it wasn't even funny. This whole date thing had him in knots.

"Listen man, trust to fate." Mole drawled, totally unmoved by his agitation.

"What are you, a friggin' Zen master now?" Alec snapped, as far from chilled out as he'd ever been in his life.

"What the hell's up your ass?" Mole snapped back, closer to his usual abrasive tone.

"Max? First date? Ringing a bell? Everyone knows, Josh has it all planned, but I don't know what the hell's supposed to happen and I'm about to make a total fool of myself in front of the love of my life! That's what's UP MY ASS!"

Mole blinked, unruffled by Alec's outburst. "You're sounding a little hysterical, man. You need me to slap you in the face?"

Alec growled in frustration and Mole patted his cheek in an infuriatingly patronising gesture that sent his blood pressure soaring to stroke-risk heights.

Alec took a breath, attempting a different tack. Wheedling. "Dude, have a heart? At least tell me it's not gonna suck!"

Mole shook his head in amazement. "You know what? I have never seen you this stressed out. Calm down before you pop an aneurism. Josh has it all under control. He's not gonna let you make a fool of yourself."

"You're sure?" His blood pressure dropped a fraction.

"Of course. I'm not gonna let you make a fool of yourself either. Josh just wants you to have fun, no stress. He thinks you and Max deserve it. Who the hell knows why."

Alec sighed, "I'm being really ungrateful, aren't I?"

Mole raised an eyebrow; he really didn't need to answer.

"I've never done this before," Alec confessed.

"Done what before?"

"This dating thing."

"I thought you were s'posed to be Mr Lothario back in the day?"

"Manticore trained me how to sweet talk a woman into bed for the purposes of gaining intelligence. I'm really good at that. I have no training on how to take the woman I love out on a date." Oh, this was gonna be a disaster.

"Dude, at the risk of sounding like a Zen master again, chill out, relax, be yourself."

"Oh, that simple, huh?"

"Worked for me."

"Really? With Callie?"

"Turns out women don't really like it when you try too hard with the flattery and the charm. Too cheesy. After you tell 'em you like their dress, they just want a conversation."

"Conversation. About what?"

"Jeez, I don't know! Start with the food and go from there."

Alec had another vision of over-boiled hotdogs on a bed of flaccid macaroni that was almost physically painful. And the idea of taking romantic advice from Mole was so surreal, he wondered if he was in the middle of a psychotic break. He took a deep breath and reminded himself to be grateful for his friends and to trust in fate. Faith! Like Joshua said.

"So there's gonna be food?"

"There's gonna be food." Mole confirmed. He paused and sniffed, "I'll kick your ass if you tell Josh I told you that much."

#

Alec slouched his way back to Joshua's apartment. It was possible he was overreacting. There was an outside chance he was focusing on everything that could go wrong with the arrangements so he wouldn't think about messing it up by himself.

Maybe Mole was right, he was over thinking it all. He used to be comfortable hanging out with Max. They used to have fun together. Before the whole Manticore torture debacle they used to sit in their office pretending to work while shooting the breeze about nothing and throwing peanuts at each other. In fact, that was one of the memories that got him through it all.

It seemed a long time ago now.

And, yeah, they were so much closer now than they had been then, so close that sometimes he didn't know how to walk out of any room she was in, but the circumstances had made it so intense, and he knew that it wouldn't always be like that. When things were less pressurised, he wanted them to be able to retain their intimacy because it was based on more than just surviving horrors together.

Conversation. That's what he needed. Yeah, no problem. It wasn't like he'd spent the past several months being tortured, being shot, being unconscious or flat on his back recovering from all of the above. He wasn't sure he even knew who was president anymore.

Start with the food and go from there. What could possibly go wrong?

Next problem: what to wear.

#

Alec switched off the shower and tucked a towel around his waist. He shaved extra carefully. Like Max said, there was going to be plenty of kissing in their future...If he didn't mess tonight up. His hair was still pretty short, so styling options were narrow.

He emptied his bag and sighed. Not a lot of choice. Maybe that was a good thing. At least he couldn't spend hours agonising since all he really had were fatigues, jeans and one pair of dark pants for stealth missions. Max was going to be dressing up so he couldn't wear jeans. Dark pants it was then.

And he needed a shirt. He'd lost one t-shirt and a leather jacket to a cop's bullet at the Jam Pony siege. He'd lost a second to the first away mission when he was testing his body temperature theory and didn't quite avoid a bullet graze to the side. He'd lost another to Manticore. Apparently he'd been found there naked, which he really didn't like to think about. One to Logan's bullets, and a hoodie to Max. She was right, it did look better on her but he was left with a pretty sparse selection.

He had the TC flag t-shirt Max had given him in recompense for the sweater. It was really cool, not least because it was a gift from Max, but it wasn't really date wear. He had a couple of khaki t-shirts and a couple of black ones, again for stealth missions. All seasoned veterans of the Seattle sewer system and definitely not fit for fine dining. One olive green short sleeved shirt. Really? That was all he had? He wasn't really vain about clothes, but that was ridiculous.

Well, he had what he had and at twenty to six he didn't really have time to come up with anything else. He'd regained some weight at least, so he was hopeful they'd almost fit.

He ironed his clothes to within an inch of their lives and then spent twenty minutes buffing his boots to a high military shine. Max was going to look awesome, and if all he had were questionable pants and a non-descript green shirt, the least he could do was show up polished and unwrinkled.

He was pacing the room by twenty before seven and it was only at a quarter to that he realised he had no idea if he was supposed to wait here or go and meet Max at their apartment. Just as he was about to work himself into a state of panic again, Dix sauntered in.

"Oh great, you're ready. I'm your chauffeur tonight."

"Chauffeur? Where are we going?"

"Not far, but it adds a sense of occasion, I think." Dix held a box out to him.

"What's this?"

"It won't bite. Open it."

Alec gingerly eased the lid off. Inside was a single perfect crimson tulip.

"It's for you to give to Max."

"Wow, Dix. Where the hell d'you get this?"

"Grow 'em."

"What about the toxins? I mean, I know you guys cleaned things up, but enough for this?"

"Well, yeah, the soil's still kind of sucky here. Hydroponics, man. It's the future. I'm growing vegetables too."

"Josh asked you for this?"

"Yeah. I grow some stuff for him to use in his studio. Still life, you know. I planted the tulips back near the beginning, but they take a while to grow. Lucky they're ready."

"Yeah. Like fate, huh?"

Alec felt like crap for worrying that Joshua didn't know what he was doing. He'd been so preoccupied that it hadn't even occurred to him to track down flowers for Max. He vowed to do his best to just go with the flow for the rest of the night.

"You ready, man?"

"Dix, thanks for this. I really appreciate it."

"It's nothing, man."

It wasn't nothing, but Dix looked embarrassed, so Alec let it go for now. He had a feeling he was going to owe a lot of favours by the end of the night.

#

It had been so long since she'd had any reason not to dress like a soldier that Max barely recognised herself in the mirror. Her girls had outdone themselves. Her hair was shiny, curled and piled on top of her head, with artfully wispy tendrils escaping to casually frame her face. Her makeup was natural and subtle, but made her eyes look huge and her lips look sultry. Her nails were shaped and painted clear and shiny.

And her dress. She'd been watching, but she still had no idea how Fixit had done it with the fabrics and the time available, but she'd worked a miracle. A row of tiny beads was stitched around the top of the sleeveless black bodice and the skirt tapered a little and then flipped out in a fluted edge at the knee, with another row of beads at the hem.

Fixit knelt beside her, fussing at the hem a little and then rose, arranging a matching black pashmina style shawl over her arms at the elbow.

Cindy produced a pair of strappy black sandals from her bag, which Max slipped on feeling exactly like Cinderella.

Max didn't have much jewellery, so Fran took off the tiny silver pendant she was wearing and fastened the chain around Max's neck. "Zero made it for me. It was my birthday last week."

"He made it? Fran, I can't borrow this."

"Yeah you can. Call it a mark of gratitude for saving me from the red sequinned halter top of social death."

"Hey, I was gonna wear it! That's down to Cindy."

"Well then, I owe you reparations for almost sending you out to meet Alec in that thing."

Max fingered the delicate chain, "Thanks. All of you. I can't tell you how much I appreciate this."

Cindy put her arm around Max and regarded her in the mirror, "Not bad even if I do say so myself."

"Hey! Team effort!" Gem protested, patting Fixit's shoulder.

"Yep, Team OC! Great job ladies." Cindy turned and pinched Max's cheek, "Our little girl's all grown up."

"Max, you look really stunning," Gem told her, eliciting enthusiastic agreement from the others.

The knock at the door at seven precisely raised a collective gasp, followed by a collective giggle of excitement. It was like Manticore military training had never happened. Max wasn't sure why there was so much riding on tonight, or how she'd managed to get everyone whipped up into the same frenzy of nerves she was in, but it was undeniable. They all seemed to be just as invested as she was.

Max started for the door, but was held back by Cindy, who seemed convinced there couldn't be enough pomp and ceremony this evening. She manhandled Max out of the chaos of the bedroom to stand a few feet back from the front door and once she was satisfied, nodded to Hope to open it.

#

Alec cleared his throat nervously as Ralph appeared in the doorway and he suddenly wasn't convinced he'd knocked on the right door.

"Hey, Alec, come on in," she gestured, smiling.

"Uh, thanks." He glanced down to check he wasn't accidentally crushing the flower in his hand and then stepped forward into the room and finally caught sight of Max.

"Wow." He'd known she was planning on making an effort, but holy crap. Again, he felt the inadequacy of his own efforts to scrub up for the evening. "Max, you are so beautiful."

She smiled shyly and his heart contracted with his desire to keep her safe.

"You too," she replied. Seeing him standing tall and handsome, looking stylish and groomed she realised how far he'd come since they'd found him almost beaten and starved to death in that lab. Had it really been less than two months? He was almost his old self again.

His shy smile brought out the protector in her.

He stepped closer and held out the flower, and as she took it, her fingers brushed his, passing a jolt of electricity between them.

"Thank you," she said softly, raising her eyes to his and sending a second electrical charge through his body. "It's lovely."

"Here," Cindy spoke, gesturing for the flower and Max handed it over. Cindy snipped the stem short and angled Max's head so she could fasten the tulip into her hair. "Now you look just right."

"Shall we go?" Alec asked and they turned to the door, only be held back once more as Gem insisted they pose for a photo.

"Now you can go," Gem smiled as she handed the digital camera around to the girls for examination.

"I'm so grateful, guys, for everything. You've been amazing," Max thanked them.

"Go on and have a great time," Cindy replied, shooing her off.

Max grinned and took Alec's proffered hand.

There was something strangely magical in the atmosphere. Alec wasn't exactly sure where it had come from but he somehow he knew that whatever happened, tonight was going to be perfect.

#

The car Dix had brought was actually pretty nice. Stolen, obviously, but with very few bullet holes and scratches. It had once belonged to a Familiar, and was in better condition than most of the taxi cabs in Seattle.

As Dix pulled up outside the less than auspicious looking mess hall, Alec stamped down the sudden flare of nerves. Josh had done him proud so far, he wasn't going to lose faith now.

They headed for the door and were greeted by the strange and wondrous sight of a besuited Joshua.

"Welcome!" He greeted them.

"Hey Josh. Look at you!" Max exclaimed. "You look great."

"Hey man. Thanks for all this. It's great, we're really excited." Alec added, finally unearthing the gracious reaction he'd been searching for all day.

Joshua snuffled an embarrassed laugh at their praise. "Max and Alec, very beautiful couple. Evening of glamour and fun. Come in, come in!"

Any lingering doubts Alec had were chased away as they walked in. Joshua had obviously been incredibly busy all day, and had definitely brought in help because the mess had been transformed.

The peeling walls had been sanded down, whitewashed, and hung with some of the best large canvasses from Joshua's art class. The trestle tables and broken down chairs had been cleared out and the floor polished. The cavernous room had been divided into areas by large painted boards, hung with more paintings.

"Joshua, this is amazing!" Alec said, now managing to add enthusiasm to graciousness.

"Looks good, huh? Elegant."

"Awesome," Max confirmed.

"Over here," Joshua said, ushering them to a corner where a bar had been constructed from off cuts of wood, but sanded and varnished to an impressive finish. Soda stood behind it, looking endearingly self-conscious for once.

"Cocktails!" Joshua announced as they settled themselves on stools. "Soda experienced bartender. Advised on best cocktails. Bellini very chic."

They clinked drinks and smiled at each other, wondering how much more bizarre the evening could get. They were answered by the sound of musical instruments being tuned and they turned on their stools to see Bugler accompanied by three young companions from the Manticore band on string instruments, launching into Mozart.

"TC string quartet!" Joshua introduced, and then scampered off to check arrangements for whatever was coming next.

"They're really good," Max observed.

"Can you believe this?" Alec asked. "Josh wouldn't tell me anything he had planned. Man's come a long way from mini hotdog dinner parties."

"He planned everything?"

"Yeah. Even your flower." Alec reached a hand out to touch her hair.

"Wow."

#

At the climax of the music, Joshua returned and led them around one of the screens to find a big comfy sofa set up next to a projector.

"Movie, then dinner." Joshua explained.

"What are we seeing?" Max asked.

"Wait and see. Classic. Very appropriate. Sit, sit!"

They did as they were told and Joshua handed them a bowl of popcorn and moved away to dim the lights.

"Appropriate?" Max whispered. "What is it, Frankenstein?"

"Or Mad Max?" Alec suggested.

"Shut up!" Max laughed, flicking his ear.

The lights went down and the projector whirred into life, casting the picture onto the white wall in front of them.

When the titles came up they snorted in unison. Ah yes, that well known romantic date movie:

Steven Seagal.

Tommy Lee Jones.

Under Siege.

Max took a handful of popcorn and snuggled close to Alec and they settled in to watch, giggling at the clunky fight scenes and the ludicrous dialogue, ewwing as one at the conclusion of the climactic knife fight, ewwing again at the romantic climax and thoroughly enjoying the unashamed cheesiness of the movie.

The credits rolled and they stretched, readying themselves for whatever Joshua had up his sleeve next.

"It's a classic all right," Alec remarked.

"He's in a gunfight right now, I'm gonna have to take a message. I am so using that line!" Max giggled in return.

"You like movie?" Joshua asked, turning the lights back on and switching off the projector.

"Perfect choice," Max assured him.

"Hungry now?"

"Starving," Alec confirmed.

"Your table is ready." Joshua told them managing to maintain a sober tone, in spite of his obvious excitement.

#

The table was behind another partition, and looked like something outside a restaurant in a Venetian piazza. Or an idealised travel brochure photo of it. Intricate wrought iron chairs, white table cloth, candle already lit, and in the centre a glass bowl of red tulips, matching the one Max wore in her hair.

"Josh, this is amazing! Where d'you get all this?" Alec asked, mystified at how he'd achieved so much in a few short hours.

"Lots of help," he replied enigmatically as he pressed play on the iPod dock he'd set up nearby. "Consensus says live quartet uncomfortable when only two having dinner. Also, musicians young. Bedtime."

"Good call, Big Fella," Max replied.

"Ah, waiter!" Joshua announced.

"Good evening," Nila greeted them, carrying a basket of bread and a bottle of wine.

"Nila trained in Silver Service at Manticore. Stealth ninja waiter. And no need to worry, Joshua ideas man only, Artist! Luke is chef. Now, Joshua leave Max and Alec. Enjoy."

Alec shook his head in amazement. Was there anyone Joshua hadn't roped into helping?

#

The starters came out and were delicious. Seared scallops with salsa verde.

"Did they knock off another Government truck?" Max wondered.

Nila collected the empty plates and left them alone. They sipped their wine and in the sudden silence, Alec's nerves got the better of him and he was stumped for anything to say. Oh god, it was exactly as he'd feared. Josh had pulled out all the stops for them and now he was going to be the one to mess it up.

Max savoured the flavours of the scallops and the wine and let the music wash over her. It was a few moments before she realised she wasn't sure what to talk about next.

They were rescued by the arrival of the main course: fillet steak in red wine and thyme jus with dauphinoise potatoes and asparagus. Alec dug in, trying to think of something to say.

Food. Mole had said talk about the food and go from there.

"Steak's great." Wow. Wicked smooth.

"Yeah. Delicious."

They were quiet again and Alec searched for a follow up to 'steak's great'. Damn Corrigan. Before his reintroduction to the delights of Manticore Alec had been gregarious, never at a loss for words. Corrigan had put a serious crimp in his conversation skills for a while, but he was over that now. Talking, joking, nearly cured of the nightmares. Why couldn't he think of anything to talk about with Max?

He opened his mouth and hoped for the best. "I guess Seattle's lucky the first thing I came across outside Manticore was the humble ham salad sandwich. Otherwise I'd have had to up my game in the larceny stakes to keep myself in fillet steak."

"Yeah. Remember that champagne we got in the truck that time? If I'd tasted that after our escape, you'd have had to set up your one man crime wave in another city because I'd have fleeced this one dry by the time you got out of Manticore. God, these potatoes are fantastic. Luke hasn't wasted his time in this siege, huh."

"Looks like a lot of the guys have been busy with something or other."

"Getting on with life, I guess. Didn't stop just because the world wanted us to disappear. Cindy told me she sold Normal one of Fixit's t-shirts and he's actually wearing it."

"No way."

"No word of a lie. And Ralph's started a blog. She and some of the others are writing the entries. Apparently there's people all over the world reading it."

"I heard about that one. And there's the art group." Alec gestured at the canvas hanging next to them. "And Zero's into metalwork. He found a furnace in one of the buildings and there's tonnes of raw material just lying around the place. You know, I bet he made these chairs."

"He made this necklace, for Fran," she held it up for him to see.

"For Fran, huh?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah."

"I can see that." He said thoughtfully. Lots of them were pairing up, creating families within the wider transgenic family, settling down and trusting that there would be a future, or if there wasn't deciding it was better to live the life they had as well as they could than fall back on training; escape and evade, run and hide and maybe survive longer, but spend that time alone.

"When we first set up here I was so frustrated that everyone was still acting like soldiers."

"I remember. You kept tying yourself in knots trying to order them not to follow orders." Alec grinned.

Max laughed at that picture of herself. "It was tough for me. You know how I like to boss people around."

"You like looking out for people." Alec countered and Max blushed.

"You think we're all still soldiers?" She asked. "I mean, the other day when we took down Corrigan. We were still totally tight. And I'm glad we could do that, but it still makes me kind of sad, you know?"

"We've been doing that stuff since we could walk. You don't forget training that deep. I think we'll always have that in us, but we've proved we're more than that. Look what everyone's doing now. Dix is growing tulips."

"What if we do get our freedom? You think people will want to stay here?" Max sounded wistful.

"You don't want to leave," Alec said, and it wasn't a question. Max shook her head.

"This feels like home now."

"It is for me too." Alec replied. "I think it is for a lot of us. I think some people'll go, but most won't. I think we have something special here."

"Yeah, me too." She took his hand, and it was clear she wasn't talking anymore about Terminal City and the other transgenics.

Pretty soon the plates were cleared and Nila had brought dessert; a creamy, velvety pannacotta with raspberry coulis. The conversation lulled, not because they couldn't fill the silence, but because this was a dessert you really needed to concentrate on. As Max scraped the plate with her spoon, she was seriously tempted to lift the plate to do a more thorough job and lick the plate clean.

"Oh my god, that was awesome," she sighed, checking Alec's plate and smiling hopefully at him that he'd spare a little of what he had left.

Alec grinned, "I love you Max, but not enough to hand over a dessert this good."

"You'd die for me but you wouldn't give me your dessert?" She wheedled.

"I might as well die if I don't get to finish this." He asserted, slowly savouring another mouthful.

"You're obviously full. That's why you're eating so slowly. Clearly I have room for more," she pressed, gesturing at her empty plate, scraped almost clean.

"Not my fault you're greedy and you have no patience." He turned his plate around as though deciding which side to attack next, drawing it out deliberately to tease her now. "You should've made yours last."

He moaned quietly as he sucked another morsel off the spoon, playing it up shamelessly. "My god, Luke can cook," he said, enjoying her misery.

"You're mean," she pouted.

"And you're the grasshopper who sang all summer."

"What the hell are you talking about?" She demanded, suppressing her grin.

"You had the same amount as me, which if you think about it isn't fair anyway, since I'm taller and therefore need more sustenance. You wolfed it all down without a thought for the future. I on the other hand thought ahead and made it last." He shook his head sadly at her, "And now you want me to enable your thoughtless and reckless dessert eating habits, not to mention sacrifice my own well being to your rapacious appetites. Can't do it Max, I'd be doing you a disservice."

Max twisted her mouth trying not to laugh at the ridiculous smug look on his face. This was war.

As he went to take his last spoonful she blurred underneath with her own spoon and had the last of the dessert in her mouth before he could even protest. Alec's mouth dropped open in shock.

"I can't believe you just did that!"

She grinned at him eyebrow raised, challenging him to do something about it. She felt a little guilty, but not that guilty.

"I want my dessert back, Max," he warned, as she poked her tongue out, the creamy spoonful balanced on the tip as though telling him to come and get it. This was the upside of having an entire restaurant to themselves. No one to be disgusted by their table manners. Alec blurred to her side and pulled her to her feet, wrapping his arms around her and sharing the last of the dessert with her in a creamy, sweet vanilla flavoured kiss.

Alec drew back, high on sugar and Max's lips, "The trust is broken, Max." He whispered mock seriously. "Next time you go for my dessert, you lose a hand."

"Next time you won't let your guard down. Or taunt me like that. I taught you a valuable lesson. You should be grateful."

"You're a pirate."

"You're a tease."

"Everything ok?" They both started and jumped apart. They'd been so preoccupied with each other that they hadn't heard Joshua's approach.

"That was fantastic."

"Amazing."

They spoke together, clearing their throats and feeling a little embarrassed, wondering how much Joshua had seen. He was either oblivious or choosing to appear so, and they both took their seats again, waiting for him to let them know what was next.

"Coffee, brandy, petit fours," he announced, picking up the plates to give Nila room to place the items with a flourish.

They drew away, leaving Max and Alec alone again, facing each other across the plate of petit fours, each raising their left eyebrows, each trying to hid a smirk.

"Even number," Max observed.

"Yet, but as I pointed out, I'm taller. Plus, you stole my dessert."

"You took most of it back. And haven't you ever heard the saying size doesn't matter?"

"You're banking on that, huh? Me still loving you when we need a crane to take you out on a day trip."

"You're shallow!"

"And you're a glutton!"

They each took a chocolate and popped it in their mouths, and then Max clasped Alec's hands across the table.

"There, now neither of us can pinch the other's ration."

"This isn't exactly ration food."

"I think this might be the best dinner I've ever had," Max said.

"It's definitely the best I've had, by a long way. I can't believe how bad I was freaking out this afternoon. I was snapping at everyone, and poor Josh, I think I maligned his character to almost everyone."

"What happened to Mr I'm Always All Right?"

"He refused to get mixed up in that whole crazy Jam Pony siege thing and lit out for a life on the open road, no strings attached. That guy's not coming back here and we're just gonna have to deal with it."

"I can deal with that. He was such an idiot. I like the guy who stayed way more."

"Even if he is totally neurotic?"

"I find that endearing. Means I don't have to worry about hiding the fact that I'm totally neurotic too."

"You were nervous about tonight?"

"My dating track record isn't exactly...you know, I'm not sure I actually have a dating track record. I think this is the first time I ever even got through the main course before bolting 'cause I just remembered something totally more important I was supposed to be doing anywhere but here." She smiled confidingly, "When Cindy arrived I was practically hyperventilating because I had nothing to wear. This was like a military operation. I had seven women helping me get ready."

Alec's eyes glazed over, "Sounds like one of those old movies where the scantily clad ladies in waiting help the beautiful but lonely princess get almost dressed for her clandestine tryst with her cruel husband's poor but sexy valet."

Max snorted, "Yeah, except everyone but me and Cindy was wearing fatigues, and this isn't clandestine. I think Josh took out an ad in the paper."

"Yeah. I'm trying not to think about all the significant looks we'll be getting tomorrow."

"And Josh asking in front of everyone if Max and Alec got busy last night!"

"That open road's sounding pretty good about now, huh?"

"I don't know. I like the idea of playing the princess and the sexy valet later," Max blushed at her own forwardness but pleased by the wide grin that she'd put on Alec's face.

"Fixit made this dress for me out of anything they could find in my wardrobe that was black. I'm pretty sure this is my only remaining outfit for stealth missions."

"Hate to break it to you Maxie, but that is not a stealth dress. That is a dress that'll turn heads."

"You really like it?"

"I think you should wear it every day. It'll add some glamour to the command meetings. Although I'm not sure I'll be able to concentrate on anything else."

"Do you usually listen in those meetings anyway? I'm ok with you being distracted by me instead of whatever's out the window." Max paused, "I guess it was kind of over the top to get a dress specially made for tonight."

"I took every item of clothing I own to Josh's and it turned out this was the only thing I had that was even halfway appropriate," Alec confessed.

"It's a lot more than halfway appropriate. You look really good."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. That shirt matches your eyes." Max paused. "All your clothes? I didn't see your bag in the car."

"I left it at Josh's."

"So you're gonna have to do a walk of shame from your own apartment in the morning? That's pathetic!" Max sniggered.

Alec tipped his head in agreement. "I guess I was nervous really 'cause, you know, I wondered if we could do normal," he confessed.

Max nodded. "We're doing everything back to front. First date when we've already been through the flames together."

"I figured going on a date'd be the first normal thing we've done since we hooked up."

Max leaned closer to whisper conspiratorially, "Alec, I don't think this is a normal date. This is well above average. But I get it. You want us to still be us when all the drama's over. Me too."

"And I created plenty of drama today. I mean, now we're here it's fine, no, it's perfect, but there was a moment this afternoon when I actually thought my head was gonna explode."

"We'll be a lot calmer next time," she reassured.

"So you're gonna let me take you on a second date?"

"Maybe I'll take you on the next one."

They both fell silent, then Alec said quietly, almost shyly, "I just want you to still be glad you chose me."

Max smiled gently, her protective instincts surging within her, "I don't think I even have words to say how glad I am I had the chance to choose you."

#

When they were done with coffee, Joshua came out once more.

"All good?"

"That was awesome, Josh. Thanks man, I can't believe you went to so much trouble for us." Alec said, feeling humbled by the scope of Joshua's efforts.

"Lots of help."

"Was there anyone you didn't rope in to help?" Max asked.

Joshua scratched his head. "Can't think of anyone. Everyone grateful to Max and Alec for making possible to catch Corrigan and good news on TV. Plus maybe senator coming through for us. Want to do something nice."

Both Max and Alec blushed and Joshua rolled his eyes. "Never used to be so easily embarrassed." He observed, grinning. He held his arms wide and slapped them both on their shoulders knocking them in to each other.

"Shoo now. Date over. Home, home, time to get busy!"

"Josh!" They both exclaimed, pretending to be scandalised.

#

They stepped out in to the fresh air. For once it wasn't raining and they joined hands and looked up at the stars.

"I was in the desert once," Alec said, his voice wistful. "There were so many stars."

"Yeah, I've never been to the desert, but I've been to places like that. No light pollution. I've never seen this many stars in the city."

"We grew up thinking Manticore controlled everything, you know. But they couldn't control that. They couldn't show us the stars when the city lights drowned them out and they couldn't hide them from us in all that vastness."

Max nodded and they were silent for a moment, just watching.

"Tonight feels magical," Max said.

"It is magical. Thanks to Josh."

"Man knows how to throw a shindig."

"I wasn't very gracious at first."

"You were having mini-hotdog flashbacks."

"I should have more faith in him."

"You will next time."

"Next time I'll do something for him."

"Yeah. We will."

They walked towards home, strolling as though they were in that picturesque Italian piazza rather than the semi derelict streets of Terminal City.

They were back at the door to their building and Alec pulled it open in a theatrically chivalrous gesture.

"Why thank you kind sir," Max joked as he followed her up the stairs.

She opened the door to their apartment and flicked on the light. "See? All back to front. We're already living together."

"Weird idea, this first date thing. Whose idea was this?"

Again they were feeling strangely nervous. Until they spotted the coffee table where a bottle of champagne on ice stood flanked by two flutes.

"Josh thinks of everything."

They poured champagne and then clinked glasses and sipped the cold bubbles.

"Mmm," Max breathed. "I could get used to being spoiled like this."

"We should make the most of it. We're not always gonna be flavour of the month."

Max nodded in agreement. "Let's have some music," She suggested, moving over to the tiny iPod dock on the shelf. Joshua had thought of that too. As the backlight came on to show the Date Night! Playlist, she grinned and pressed play. Joshua's date night music choices were a lot more traditional than his movie choice, Max reflected as the strains of Beethoven's Moonlight Sonata filled the room.

"Pretty," she said, and then sighed happily as Alec moved in behind her and slid his hands around her waist.

"Dance with me?" His voice vibrated low in her ear and his warm breath on her neck sent a wave of desire through her. She turned to face him and slid her hands up his arms until they joined behind his neck and stroked the short soft hairs at his nape. They moved to the music, swaying rather than dancing. Though they would have been embarrassed by such a sentimental display normally, something about the mood of the evening, the stars, the magic Joshua had created allowed them to shake off their self-consciousness and for the length of the song just live in the moment, in the feel of their arms around each other.

Max laid her head on Alec's chest and floated on the lulling music and the sound of his breathing and his heartbeat. His arms around her waist held her close and she felt protected and absolutely safe and secure, somehow both content and thrilled at the same time.

Alec bent his head down and kissed her hair. "When I think of how things were before we hooked up, all this feels like a dream."

"A good dream, I hope?" Max teased.

"Yeah, like Callie put it in my head to crowd out the bad ones. I don't wanna wake up from it."

"If this is a dream, make sure you remember every detail so we can recreate it when you do wake up."

The music changed, and Sinead O'Connor started singing, a song about love, about an angel struggling to see his own worth. Joshua had obviously seen a resemblance. Max tightened her arms around Alec.

As the music faded, and a new song came on, they moved into the bedroom and undressed each other slowly, taking pleasure in gradually revealing bare skin to each other's sight and touch.

Max held Alec's eyes as they lay side by side and he stroked her hair back, drawing a lock between his fingers all the way to its tip. Max rested her hand on his hip, her fingertips following the hard edge of his pelvic bone under the soft skin.

Max was hypnotised by the repetitive motion of his touch in her hair and she committed the exact colour of his eyes to memory.

They didn't speak, just allowed their hands to explore each other's bodies thoroughly and unhurriedly, their eyes locked and open to confidences.

Max was aware of every nerve ending, alive with sensation and yearning to be touched. Her body longed to be joined with Alec, to feel him inside her, yet longed for this slow languorous seduction to go on forever, drawing out pleasure, deepening intimacy.

She felt the heat travel from each point of contact to converge within her, and she swelled and pulsed with need, feeling Alec's body responding in the same way.

Every nerve ending fizzed as his fingertips passed feather light over her triangle of hair and settled, stroking gently back and forth over her clitoris so that she gasped with pleasure. She was so close. She bit her lip on a smile and his expression reflected hers.

"Max," he whispered, her name drawn from deep down inside him, a request, a promise and a caress all in one word.

She reached for him then, her body opening to him until he filled her.

Alec rolled on top of her and she wrapped her legs around his waist, arching so that she rubbed against his hard pubic bone and she cried out his name. She fought the urge to throw her head back, not wanting to give up the eye contact they had maintained throughout. He moved back and forth, drawing himself out slowly and pushing in again, tantalisingly slow and her body was so aroused that the slightest movement of him inside her sent electricity to her centre. He could see how close she was and he kept it slow and gentle, the touch of his fingers light as butterfly wings, extending the anticipation, deepening the pleasure until it was a gorgeous ache she could no longer bear. "Oh god, Alec, please," she whispered and he laughed low and quiet and even the vibration of sound sent a delicious crackle of electricity through her.

Her hands came to his face and she swept his hair, damp now with sweat, away from his forehead. She clenched her muscles tight around his penis. They were almost there, they were so close, but he stopped, held absolutely still, watching her, no smile on his face now, absolutely serious.

"I love you," he whispered.

"I love you," she returned.

Then he pushed in and ground his groin against hers and she was riding the wave, gasping for breath, her heart pounding with his and his soft green irises became an infinite kaleidoscope of colour that swirled and pixelated and broke over her and his name was the song in her pounding heart and she pulled him in hard, as close as she could get as she felt his tremor inside her and he was gasping too, sharing her air, and their bodies were slick with sweat against each other and sparks flew across her skin, tickling and delighting every inch of her, and she broke against him, wave after wave as though it would never stop and she'd ride the pleasure forever and ever and ever.

Finally, just as she thought she might die from the intensity of it, the waves calmed and she raised a shaking hand to catch a bead of sweat on his temple. Alec's chest heaved against hers and he was flushed and shaking too. He relaxed against her and they rolled to their sides. She held him close, keeping her legs wrapped around him. "Stay inside me," she whispered.

Alec's head was spinning and it wasn't the spinning he'd got used to living with when he was struggling to take a full breath. When he'd been 494, making eye contact had been a tactical decision. Eye contact with a trainer had been an act of aggression. But they'd also been trained to lie while looking a person in the eye. After Manticore, he hadn't made eye contact with anyone for a long time. He'd been able to lie without it. He'd been able to get women without it. Somehow telling a lie with his lips didn't bother him as much as telling it with his eyes. And the women had been happy enough to look at his face, his body, and hadn't really looked beyond that, hadn't seen him.

Max was looking at him. Max saw him and it both terrified and delighted him. With her it wasn't just physical. It was barely physical. The joining of their bodies had become just a way for him to join with her. To lose himself in her eyes even as she lost herself in his. She held him inside her and surrounded him with her arms, with her legs, with her scent and above all, with her devotion. He was utterly defenceless and absolutely safe.

Not that the physical was to be underestimated. Max's hands stroking every inch of him had brought him to a fever of sensation even before she invited him in. He'd used every ounce of willpower to draw it out and bring her to that summit with him. Now he looked at her tangled hair, her flushed cheeks and her dazed stare and he couldn't keep from smiling. His whole body was smiling, his soul was smiling and somehow he felt that dark centre Joshua had painted all those months ago didn't have to be a shadow over his future anymore.

#

"Tell me something nobody else knows about you."

They'd slept for a while and then Alec had woken to Max tracing her fingertips over his eyebrow in a familiar gesture that had comforted him when he'd been sick but was now loaded with so much more, with sensuality and possession.

"What d'you want to know?" He replied, his voice husky. He'd tell her anything.

"Something that means something to you. Something important I can keep safe for you." Her voice was low, her gaze earnest. "Tell me why you hate the cold."

Alec was taken aback. "How did you know about that?"

"I notice things about you," She said, as though it should be obvious. "Back at the start of the siege, when you were practicing running cold. I could tell you hated it."

Alec looked confused, "But that was before..."

"Before?"

"Before you warmed up to me." He punned, tacking a lopsided smile onto his face, trying to look rakish, but actually looking part hopeful, part suspicious.

"I was warm to you then," she replied.

"Really? I seem to remember you being pissed at me for being late back from that mission. You shoved me." He reminded her.

She shook her head in exasperation, "Drama queen! I wasn't pissed, you idiot. I was worried."

"Really? Because you looked pissed. You sounded pissed and you sure felt pissed." He was half smiling again now.

"Ok, I was a little pissed, 'cause for a split second I wondered if you'd ditched us. But mostly I was worried something happened to you. And then you came back hurt and I didn't know how to react because I cared about you but we weren't like that."

"I was like that," he said quietly.

"Yeah," she agreed. She knew now that she had been too.

Alec didn't want to waste time wondering how things would have been if they'd figured things out and declared themselves earlier. They loved each other, and they had for a long time, but the past wasn't so important anymore, except that it contained their shared history and the events that had shaped them and made them perfect for each other.

Max had noticed that he didn't like the cold.

"It's because of the tests," he said, and it took her a second to catch up and realise he was answering her question.

"When we were kids," she clarified and he nodded.

When he started talking his voice was quiet but it wasn't like when he'd told her about the torture, like he was giving a report. He was allowing emotion into his voice.

"They put us in separate cages and then watched to see how long we'd last. I felt like I'd never be warm again and there was no way out and no way of telling which of us was gonna make it and who'd fall asleep and just never wake up. Maybe it was because of how young we were, but I couldn't think about anything else but the cold."

"That's why Corrigan had that room like a freezer when we found you."

Alec nodded and tried to suppress his shudder as he relived that intense, bone aching cold. Max snuggled closer with her warmth.

"When we escaped it was snowing." She said. "Cold feels like freedom for me. Loneliness because we had to split up, but freedom too."

She swallowed as she allowed her own memories to flood her. "For me it was holding our breath underwater."

"Yeah," he acknowledged. "You saw kids drown."

She nodded. "If the guards didn't think we'd tried hard enough, they'd cuff us to a bolt at the bottom of the pool. When Dora drowned I nearly did too, I was crying and it was so hard to keep from breathing in the water."

"Yeah." He wished he could take that memory from her, but all he could do was listen and offer comfort with his presence.

"You went through that one too?" She asked and he nodded. "But it didn't freak you out like the cold?"

He shrugged, "I guess because I knew it'd be over faster, and I'd know when it was gonna happen."

Max recognised that feeling of acceptance that they might be tested beyond their limits and understanding that one day the kid that got dragged dead from the pool could have been her or Alec. The thought made her shudder. "If we'd..." she couldn't finish, but she wanted to grab him and cling on because the idea of never having held him in her arms made her panic.

"It's over now," he said and she nodded.

"Yeah. It's over now."

They were quiet for a time, each soberly considering how unlikely it was that they could have ended up together. So many of them had died as children. So much had happened that should have kept them apart. It was enough to paralyse them with fear and grief. But they were both alive. They were young and strong and they had their lives in front of them. And they were so much in love. They had the rest of the night ahead of them and they were naked in each others' arms and neither of them could hold onto gloomy thoughts for long.

Max found her attention focusing on the warmth of Alec's fingertips drifting lazily up and down the forearm she had draped across his chest and his attention concentrated on the warm tickle of her breaths over his collarbone. Then they were kissing and their hands were urgent and all they could think about was the ecstasy of joining together again.

###

Alec woke first. They' been awake until just before dawn and the sun was already high in the sky so that it had warmed the room through the thin cotton blind. Max was snuffling gently, a smile playing on her lips that made him wish he could share her dream. His limbs were languid with last night's exertions and his thoughts floated in no particular direction, taking in impressions. The corner of the blind splashed yellow with sunlight. The tulip he'd taken from Max's hair on the nightstand, still vibrant crimson, but a little wilted. Max had said she was going to lay it under something heavy so it would dry out and she could keep it as a memento. Music from Joshua's playlist still drifted in through the open bedroom door; some old power ballad now.

Alec smiled; how many hours worth of songs had Joshua collected for their date night? It had been a perfect night. He shouldn't have been surprised at how resourceful the transgenics were, but he still couldn't get over how many of them had chipped in to make it special.

It was all because of Max. She'd worked so hard to show them that they were more than soldiers, that they could be anything they wanted, and last night they'd proved to her how far they'd come. He was so proud to be a part of that. He was so proud of Max.

She snorted softly as she woke, sliding against him in a feline stretch that roused his ardour once more. She giggled delightedly as he peppered her body with kisses and invited him to revisit the delights of the night before.

###

It was dusk again before they rose in search of something to eat. They relaxed together on the sofa, sharing the eclectic contents of the fridge. An apple, a slice of cold pizza and half a jar of peanut butter. It wasn't the fine dining they'd sampled the night before, but had it been, they couldn't have enjoyed it more.

"I've been thinking," Alec mused.

"Oh crap!" Max teased, "Everyone assume crash positions."

Alec crossed his eyes and grimaced comically. "I'm serious. I have an idea."

"Go on then, lay it on me," she smiled. She was only teasing. Sometimes Alec's ideas were boneheaded. Like when he got himself taken prisoner and tortured, or let himself get shot. Those tended to be his heat of the moment ideas though. His "I've been thinking" ideas tended to result in semi trucks full of canapés and champagne snuck in through a horde of soldiers and a murderous crowd, or meditation techniques that allowed them to pass for ordinaries. Sometimes his ideas bordered on genius.

"We're not soldiers anymore."

"Go on."

"We're bloggers and seamstresses and chefs and furniture makers."

She smiled and took up his list, "We're artists and cocktail waiters and computer programmers."

We're friggin' market gardeners. We're businesses. We should be getting paid."

"Well, yeah, but how're we gonna do that? We're still waiting on Charlie to come up with the goods."

"That's my point though. We're not waiting. People are reading the blog. Normal's wearing Fixit's t-shirt. We're already out there. We can make this happen now and the law can catch us up."

Max winced and Alec shook his head.

"Not in a Thelma & Louise way," he clarified. "In a good way. We can market ourselves."

"You don't think it's too risky?"

"We can test the waters; let people come to us. Those that want our services. The blog could be a way to start. We expand it into a website we can sell through. TCdotcom."

"Huh."

"What'd you think?"

Max thought through the possibilities and a slow smile spread over her face. They had the seeds of what could take them that final step from the TC ghetto to just another part of the city. They just needed the push to take things larger.

"I think you might have something there," she replied.

She glanced at the window and then met his eyes. It was practically dark now. They'd have to wait until the morning to share the plan. She had Alec to herself until then.

###

"Well, what do you think?" Alec looked around at the sea of faces. Usually Max made the big speeches but she'd refused this time, insisting it was his idea, so he should tell everyone. He was strangely nervous.

"So all these businesses are gonna be joined up?" Mole asked.

"Yeah, through the website. It'll be a co-operative. Some parts of this are gonna take off quicker than others, and there'll be stuff that needs to go on in the background to make it all happen and keep this place ticking over, but everyone's gonna be making a contribution, so everyone deserves a fair share of the profits."

"You gonna be in charge of divvying up the shares?" Dalton's teasing voice rose from the crowd and everyone laughed.

Alec grinned is most piratical grin, suddenly feeling on firmer ground, "You don't trust me with your money? That hurts! No, I was thinking Bugler could be our accountant. Kid's a math genius. You know he can recite Pi to over 250,000 places? Made me listen while I was recuperating."

"How do you know he said it right?" asked Zero, who was holding Bugler in a headlock so the praise wouldn't go to his head.

"I don't, but the kid's got an honest face, don't you think?"

"How're we gonna move stuff? We're still technically on lockdown," Fran asked.

Max had her hand in Alec's and her body was reacting to the excitement she could feel coming from him. These were questions they'd only be asking if they were in. Was this really going to happen? How were they going to get their goods and services out into the world?

"I have an idea about that." Alec cleared his throat and Max braced herself. Of course he had an idea.

"Normal. Apparently he's loosened up about all us transgenics since he helped Gem deliver her baby. Plus the man loves a guaranteed income. We contract with Jam Pony for logistics."

"You think he'll go for that?"

"I'll talk to him," Alec shrugged. "He'll want in just so we don't go to some other courier service."

"Plus he'll be missing his Golden Boy," Max teased.

"I'm not above using that." Alec reminded her with grin.

"We gotta wait for the Senator to push all that paperwork through?" asked Hope.

"No. We're thinking we can force their hands. We have a right to make a living." Max said.

"So. Co-operative, huh?" Mole repeated, looking at Alec with one eyebrow raised. "You came up with this idea?"

"Yeah," Alec answered warily.

"So we've got the anti-transgenic activists off our backs just in time for Mr Capitalism here to get us branded as the new Red Threat!"

Mole's teasing aside, everyone was fired up by the idea and suggestions for the website businesses came thick and fast so that by the next day it was already designed in beta. They had to be reined in from making it live before the boring stuff like business licences and such had been investigated.

Max and Alec headed out together to make their proposition to Normal.

###

"Well, well, if it isn't the two genetically engineered ne'er do wells," Normal greeted from behind his counter.

"Missed you too, Normal," Max snarked back. She rested her forearms on the countertop and stuck her hip out in a familiar pose. She was amused at her feelings of nostalgia for the old place.

"You looking for your old jobs back?"

"You offering?" Max asked in surprise, as she detected a hint of hopefulness in his tone.

Normal shrugged, "You transgenics might have been slackers and shirkers of the first order, but when you put your minds to it, you weren't the worst messengers in the city. That speed and resilience to being hit by cars is sadly missing in this younger generation." Normal sounded pained as he looked around the office.

It looked pretty much the same as it always had. Young men and women in baggy pants and colourful head gear sitting around shooting the breeze, playing cards or performing tricks on their bikes.

One keen looking girl on a red bike rode in.

"Hey, new girl!" Normal yelled, throwing a box wrapped in brown paper in her direction, "Hot run, sector six. Bip!"

He glanced back at Max and Alec, "Started yesterday. These reprobates haven't drained the work ethic out of her yet."

"Normal, I'm only saying this on account of I don't work here anymore, but the hourly rate's your problem. Gotta switch to a per run per mile model. That'll get 'em moving," Max offered.

"Not a bad idea, missy miss," Normal replied, regarding her with a mixture of shock and suspicion.

Alec's expression was not far off matching Normal's. "I thought I was the shameless capitalist," he accused.

"Normal agrees to our proposition, and it's gonna be our stuff languishing behind that desk while those good for nothin's sit around on our dime." She pointed out, recalling her own less than stellar efforts as a bike messenger in a whole new light.

Normal's ears pricked up. "Proposition?"

Normal had seen the news broadcasts lately and seemed satisfied that the potential profit was worth what he considered a relatively small risk in being known to do business with transgenics. And after all, as he pointed out in a characteristically callous tone, he was behind the desk. It was his riders who'd be on the front line.

It was Max and Alec's turn to cast pained looks at the lollygagging workforce and pretty much telepathically they agreed there'd be a discreet transgenic protection detail for the Jam Pony couriers until they were satisfied things would play out ok.

###

Things moved fast after that. Transgenics on a mission were nothing if not single-minded. The only drawback, and it wasn't insignificant, was that until things were settled legally, they weren't able to hold a business licence.

Hope came up with a solution that kept ruffled feathers to a minimum. It was only for the short term, but Cindy would hold the business licence until the transgenics' status was regularised. It was testament to how much she'd become a member of the Terminal City family that some of the newer arrivals hadn't realised that Cindy wasn't a transgenic, and even the prickliest and most defensive of them were pissed with the situation and those who'd created it, rather than with Cindy for having rights they still didn't.

As it turned out, it was barely necessary. They launched the site on Monday morning and on Thursday afternoon, Senator Winstone called to let them know that the bill had been passed. It was possibly the quickest Washington had ever moved outside of wartime. Winstone was sending a team to process paperwork first thing in the morning. By close of business next Tuesday, they would all have social security numbers, driver's licenses and passports. The business could be legally owned by the transgenic cooperative.

As the man who'd brought the senator into their lives, and been the means of legally reconciling the transgenic community with their country of birth, Alec suffered a sudden dip in popularity, ironically exacerbated by the startling success of the first week of their new enterprise.

"Great idea, dumbass," Mole groused when he heard the news.

As full citizens, and business owners, for the first time they'd all be expected to pay taxes.

###

Orders started coming in from all over, for all different parts of the business. Furniture, clothing, computer wizardry. They'd been asked to act as body guards, but they'd also been hired to provide catering and flowers for a society wedding.

They knew it was the novelty factor right now but they were hopeful that once people saw the quality of their work, they'd build a reputation and start to see steady business and repeat customers.

###

A few weeks later, Max was approached by a journalist wanting to do a piece on their new enterprise. Max turned the guy down. If anyone deserved the story, she knew who it should be.

"Hey Logan." She felt more relaxed than she ever had in his presence. She knew who she was now, and where she belonged. The past was in the past and she could meet him on equal, friendly terms.

"Thanks for inviting me over. It was a nice surprise," he replied.

"You remember back when you wanted to do that documentary from TC?" She asked.

As though that was something he'd forget. He'd pushed the idea pretty much every time they'd talked for months.

"Yeah," he said warily. Too much to hope that she'd changed her mind, finally.

"I don't wanna be in it, but if you talk to the others and they agree, I won't stand in your way."

She and Alec had talked about it the night before. A positive profile on the transgenics and how they were now contributing to society in a non-violent way might be just the thing to allay some of the residual fears they knew still existed outside Terminal City. They knew they couldn't win everybody over but the more ordinaries to whom they could demonstrate their good intentions, the harder it would be for White and his network to spread lies about them.

The more support they'd be able to hope for when White inevitably tried to move against them.

Max vetoed the idea of including any of the children in the documentary, but quite a few adult members of the community decided to take part, foremost among them, Soda and Nila who had dreams of taking their breathtaking physical beauty out into the wider world, maybe into acting or modelling. Possibly just being reality TV stars and then personalities making a living being photographed walking into and staggering out of hard to get into clubs.

Max and Alec watched the circus that followed with bemusement. After a lifetime of hiding in the shadows, of doing their absolute level best not to be noticed, the transgenic appetite for the spotlight was astonishing to them.

They both refused to appear on film, not wanting to have to be so self conscious going about their daily business, but they did finally agree to be interviewed for the voiceover.

Logan led them through the story of the siege and how they'd managed to bring about what appeared to the outside world to be such a sudden reversal of fortune.

They spoke with pride about the sense of community they'd built, about the camaraderie and the sense of purpose they'd carved out for themselves while they'd been trapped within the walls of a toxic dump. About the work they'd done to make Terminal City safe for themselves and any ordinary visitors who might take the notion to stop by.

Some of the questions were hard to answer. Max's heart pounded when she had to talk about their losses and especially their encounters with Corrigan. Her throat closed up and she clung hard to Alec's hand when he recounted the bare bones of the time he'd spent at Manticore.

Still, overall, Max started to understand the reasons why so many of them had wanted to take part. She found it surprisingly liberating to tell her story, to know that people would hear what they'd been through and to trust that the judgements and shame would be for others to shoulder.

Logan brought the interview to a close with a final question.

"A couple of years ago, almost nobody knew you even existed. Nobody who did know would have predicted anything but a life of forced military service for the transgenic soldiers. Now you've given everyone in Terminal City equal status with the rest of the people of this country, and finally the opportunity to discover their true vocations. What I think the viewers will want to know is: what's next for Terminal City's leaders? What do the two of you want to do with the rest of your lives?"

Logan so wished they'd agreed to be filmed, because Max and Alec exchanged matching expressions of utter bafflement.

They'd been so busy taking care of everyone else that it honestly hadn't occurred to either one of them that they had given themselves the same opportunity to discover their talents and follow their dreams as they had to every other transgenic in Terminal City.

"Well now that's something to think on," Max replied with a beaming smile.

###

The end.

###

I hope you'll forgive the shamelessly soppy happy ending. I really thought I'd made them suffer enough!

Another thank you for following me all the way to the end, because I really can't say it enough. Thank you so much to those of you who've made this story a favourite or added me to your story or author alerts and most of all for the reviews, which are so exciting to receive. I can't tell you how grateful I am, and how much they have bolstered my confidence and ambitions as a writer.

It's been such a great experience to write something like this, and even though I've been rubbish at updating in a timely manner, I really have spent vast amounts of time thinking about this story and writing it in my head even when I haven't been as disciplined as I should have about chaining myself to my laptop.

I've got hazy plans for other Dark Angel stories. I'd really like to take a crack at Max's runes and some sort of resolution for the White situation. I felt like they were too big to deal with in this story, and I like the idea of reintroducing that threat to the folks in TC when they're settled and somewhat integrated in Seattle society. Basically, when their guard is down. So, if you're interested, watch this space.