"Collette will be here in an hour, Alex. Did you walk Cain yet?"

Two months. Dana had been awake for two months and she was already bossing him around. Alex sighed and shook his head.

"Can't Cain walk himself?" he grumbled back, and Dana materialized in the open doorway as if summoned by his less-than-enthusiastic response.

"Cain is a dog, Alex. So no; no he cannot walk himself." She fixed him with the Stare of Disapproval and Alex felt his resolve crumble. He could deny her nothing, and she knew it. "Now hurry up! I want to have time to get you out of that hoodie and into something respectable before she gets here."

Alex pretended not to have heard the second half of that statement as he prodded Cain towards the door with the side of his foot, watching the puppy scrabble in excitement once it realized where he was being taken.

As he followed Cain's hyperactive jaunt towards the small patch of grass Alex had claimed for this purpose, he couldn't help but be a bit worried about Dana's new 'friend.' Alex had never met her, obviously, but apparently 'Collette' was a nurse at the hospital where Dana had undergone her physical therapy, and they had become immediate friends.

Dana had claimed it was a 'girl thing' and Alex 'shouldn't try to use his feeble male brain to understand the particulars of it.'

He had acknowledge the wisdom in the statement, and not prodded further.

But now he was supposed to play nice with Dana's new friend and her family, and if there was one thing Alex Mercer was not good at, it was playing nice. When he brought Cain back inside, Dana was already standing ready and took him by the jacket as she dragged him inside.

He didn't dare resist her, more out of fear of her hurting herself than any obligation to obey his younger sibling. Or, if he wanted to be morosely technical about it, his older sibling.

By twenty three years.

With a sigh, he stood stiffly in the living room as Dana tore through 'his' room like a whirlwind. He still had trouble thinking of it as his room, since he hadn't really spent more than ten collective minutes in there in the past year. She emerged looking disgruntled and he glanced at her in time to find her standing with hands on hips, both eyebrows raised expectantly.

"Alex?"

"…yes, Dana?"

"Where the hell are all your clothes?"

Alex glanced at his jacket. "I'm wearing them." Well, that wasn't strictly accurate. His clothing was simply another layer of biomass shifted to resemble clothing. He'd never taken it off.

"Really, Alex? Really?" Dana threw her hands up in exasperation. "Fine. Fine. Wear your damn hoodie for all I care. Not like she doesn't already think we're a family of Neanderthals."

Alex shifted uneasily, pulling his hood lower over his face. Dana had the unique ability to make him feel embarrassed about absolutely anything. This included, apparently, his habit of staying in his 'default' outfit when he wore his… Alex skin.

He looked up at his sister, who was digging through the kitchen for something. Alex made sure to keep the fridge stocked with anything and everything he thought she might like; it was a pain in the ass hauling groceries and scavenged goods over rooftops from the yet-to-be-pillaged Red Zone, but it was worth it to see her with her mouth full of ice cream or her face covered in chocolate.

"…what should I be wearing?" he asked quietly, and was rewarded by Dana turning, cheeks puffed out and probably full of cookies. He had learned early on that his little sister had a serious sweet tooth, and if he didn't cater to it often enough, she'd attempt to verbally disembowel him.

She looked him up and down. "Pretty much anything that isn't that," she pointed out helpfully, going back to the fridge and dismissing him from her List of Immediate Concerns.

Alex looked down at himself, spreading his arms, brows furrowing. With a flick of thought he watched his biomass rearrange itself into the blue tee and jeans his latest victim had been wearing. He looked back at Dana, who still had her back to him. "Is this better?"

Dana turned, one brow cocked, and then her eyes bugged out and she dropped whatever it was she'd been holding. "Where the hell did you get those?" she demanded, sounding indignant.

"I…" Alex hesitated, and was saved from having to make up some kind of excuse when the doorbell rang. Dana squealed and brushed past him, hurrying towards the door and fussing with her hair on the way.

"How do I look?" she asked him quickly, and then without letting him reply pulled the door open. "Collette! I'm so glad you could make it!" Alex listened as she made a strange noise that he chose to equate with happiness. "And is this Amaya?"

Amaya? Alex bristled, agitated. He hadn't known there was going to be more of Dana's friends coming. Great. Another chance for him to mess something up and make Dana cry.

"Hi miss Dana," came a small voice, and Alex hesitated, frowning. He stepped around the corner, peering at the visitors, and frowned harder. 'Amaya' was very small. And short.

And young. And holding a well-loved pink rabbit by the ears.

Shit. A kid? What do I do with a kid? Alex panicked. What was he supposed to say? Damn… now they were staring at him. He was probably supposed to introduce himself. Or was that Dana's job?

Dana must have seen the internal argument written on his face, because she smoothly stepped back to Alex's side and grabbed his arm, pulling him forward. Or, she tugged on his wrist and he took a step forward to save her the effort of attempting to move him.

"This is my brother, Alex. Alex, this is Collette and Amaya. Say hello, Alex," she murmured in an aside, and Alex looked up at the visitors.

"Hey," he managed, struggling to make his voice sound more human than it was. Collette offered him a polite smile, but Amaya had no such compunctions and studied him openly.

Dana rolled her eyes and hurried to Collette again. "Come in, come in! Will James be meeting us here, or should we go ahead and go?"

Alex growled low, and Dana sent him a warning glare. Collette didn't seem to have heard it, but Amaya's eyes bugged out further. James? How many damn people had Dana invited out? And why was she dragging him along?

"He'll be here shortly, I'm sure," Collette agreed amiably, following Dana deeper into the house and leaving Alex alone with the kid.

Great.

"You're tall," Amaya informed him, and Alex looked down at her.

"I know."

"Daddy's tall, too," she smiled wide, as if this was some great accomplishment, and Alex didn't bother trying to smile back. Dana had told him that his smile tended to creep her out. The statement had made him frown. "Are you a army man, too?"

Alex bristled. "No. I'm not."

Amaya pouted. "Oh. Well that's okay. Daddy says he's a army man so no one else has to be."

Alex hesitated. That was actually a pretty nice sentiment. Much nicer than the reason most of Blackwatch gave for their involvement in the Infection. "That's nice," he offered lamely. He wasn't very social on the best of days, and he'd never had to entertain a kid before. He hoped he was doing okay. "So… your name's Amaya?"

Amaya made a face. "Call me Maya. It's nicer." She pointed at Alex. "You're miss Dana's big brother. 'Lex."

"Alex," he corrected.

"'Lex," she repeated, face set in serious lines.

"Ah-lex," he said again, enunciating it carefully.

"'Lex," came her equally enunciated response, and Alex sighed.

"Close enough," he grudgingly allowed, and Amaya beamed in response. Alex glanced further into the house, where he could faintly hear Dana and Collette speaking softly in a back room. Probably the kitchen. He resisted the urge to yell for her and ask when they could leave, knowing it would get him nothing but a choice four-letter word and angry shouting.

"Mr. 'Lex?" came that small voice, accompanied by a tugging at his leg. He looked down and saw her pulling on his 'jeans,' brow furrowed. "Are you sick?" She pointed at his face, which Alex was sure was nice and pallid. This was why he wore hoods.

He wasn't sure how to answer that. "Yes," he finally admitted. He was pretty sure being a living virus counted as being sick.

Amaya frowned. "Is it the bad sick? Mommy says I'm not supposed to talk to people with the bad sick."

Alex hesitated, looking back into the house. "It's… no. It's different." Maya graced him with a wide smile.

"Good! Daddy would be mad if I was talking to the bad sick." She frowned thoughtfully up at him, and Alex mused that he'd rarely seen such a serious expression even on adults. Finally she held up the pink rabbit she was holding in her fist and proffered it towards him. "Mr. Hoppy will make you feel better." She lowered her voice to a whisper, shielding her mouth with her other hand. "He's magic. But don't tell Daddy."

Alex felt something tighten in his chest where his heart should be and furrowed his brow at the sensation. It hadn't been… pain… exactly, since he didn't feel pain anymore, but it was distinctly odd and he decided he didn't like it. But, she was still holding the rabbit out to him, and Alex trusted his control over himself enough to not shred the thing simply by holding it. He crouched down and took the rabbit in as gentle a grip as he could manage, not daring to close his fingers around it, and held it in both palms like something incredibly precious. Maya deposited the animal in his waiting hands with a beaming smile, and Alex felt his lip twitching into a smile of his own. Since she didn't run away screaming, he assumed he'd managed to not be a 'seriously creepy-ass dude' as Dana had called him once.

"Thank you," Alex muttered, feeling uneasy, and Maya nodded affably.

"He'll make you better, 'Lex," she informed him, nodding again. Then she fixed him with a pointed stare. "Take good care of him. I want him back later."

Alex cracked a grin at that, and Maya grinned back. He pressed one of his hands over his chest where his heart used to be and affected a solemn expression. "I will protect him as if he were my own."

"Good," Maya agreed seriously. Her eyes flicked over his shoulder where he was crouched and she smiled politely. "Are you sick too, miss Dana?"

Alex stood abruptly, feeling awkward, and swiveled on his heel to find Dana and Collette staring at him as if he'd grown a second head. He cleared his throat nervously, still holding the pink rabbit carefully in his hands, and met Dana's incredulous stare with a challenging one of his own.

"What?" he demanded, and his voice was enough to break the spell and Collette just smiled wide, approvingly, while Dana stared at him like she was trying to figure him out. He fidgeted beneath her scrutinizing stare, and glanced down at Maya out of the corner of his eye, turning slightly to face her. "Er… Maya? Could you hold onto Mr. Hoppy for me? I don't want to get him… dirty."

Maya nodded twice and he passed her back the rabbit. Once it was out of his hands, Dana seemed able to recognize him again and smiled.

"James called a few minutes ago; he'll meet us downstairs." She pinned Alex with a Look. "Downstairs, Alex."

Alex bristled, but he understood her meaning. No windows, no rooftops, no sprinting or climbing up ninety degree angles… he deflated, hunching his shoulders like a scolded puppy as Dana smirked in triumph. He could see the logic in not letting her new friends know that her big brother was the personification of the Blacklight virus, but that didn't mean he had to enjoy it.

"I'll head down, then," Alex mumbled, already forgotten by the women who had begun to fuss over Maya while Dana made sure Cain had food and water. Alex shrugged and slipped out the door, heading for the stairs. He'd rather not brave the elevator. The combined force of his total mass was probably over the load limit, regardless of any memories he'd rather leave forgotten.

He pushed open the main doors of the rather abandoned apartment building he'd claimed for Dana and himself, and almost ran into the back of a rather large man that was hanging around outside.

Must be James. Alex coughed into his fist, more out of habit than any real need to cough, and the man turned expectantly. Alex's eyes dropped to the combat knife strapped to the man's boot and the pistol at his hip, and decided this man was not quite as stupid as the majority of people walking around New York Zero. Alex himself didn't need to carry weapons, since he was a weapon, but from the appraising look the large man staring him down had on his face, Alex was not meeting expectations.

"You must be Dana's brother," 'James' finally said, breaking the silence, and Alex nodded stiffly.

"Alex," he introduced himself shortly. "Collette and Maya are still up with Dana," Alex replied in as friendly a voice as he could manage. He didn't do very well, if the man's expression and slight tensing was any indication. Well this relationship was off to an excellent start. Alex fumbled for a topic, knowing Dana would want him to at least come off as moderately approachable and human. "Your daughter is very…" he searched for the right word desperately, finally settling on "friendly."

He felt like an idiot for just saying it aloud, and the man obviously thought the same, since he didn't smile or reply to that. Alex coughed again and leaned against the wall by the door, averting his gaze.

"So what do you do, Alex?"

Alex bristled, flicking silver-blue eyes at the walking mountain currently interrogating him. He resisted the urge to form claws or armor and make some smart-ass remark about being the city's glorified pest-control service. "I—was a geneticist. Before the Outbreak," he growled out, daring James with his eyes to probe further.

"Ah," James said, as if he understood. "One of those science-y types, huh?"

Alex felt his lip twitch into a grin, and noticed with amusement that unlike his daughter, James didn't find comfort in the expression. "Yes… you could say that."

He was saved from a potentially fatal conversation by Dana's appearance at the door with Collette and Maya in tow. Dana took one look at Alex leaning against the wall, arms folded, expression hard, and immediately slipped between the two men to diffuse the tension.

"It's good to see you again, James," Dana smiled easily, and Alex noted that James' smile was only a little bit forced as opposed to the one Alex had gotten. "I see you met Alex. Cheerful, isn't he?"

"You could say that," James parroted back, eyes on Alex before he looked down at Collette, who had taken his arm. He looked even bigger next to her slim frame, and like a giant beside Maya. Alex briefly toyed with the idea that the man was a super-soldier out of his armor. "Ready to go?"

"Dana was telling us about this restaurant in the Yellow Zone; it sounded wonderful," Collette smiled, and James gave her a genuine one in return.

Alex, however, was frowning. The Yellow Zone? What was Dana thinking? He took her arm and pulled her a few feet away, ignoring for the moment that he had wanted to be careful with her, and lowered his voice. "The Yellow Zone?" he muttered, and Dana made a face up at him.

"Jeez, Alex. Have a little faith. I know better than to pick somewhere with…" she flicked her eyes to the others, who were watching them curiously. "…you know what."

Alex grunted, not convinced, but released her and Dana gave him another Look before joining the others. She smoothly slipped up to join her friends with an indulgent smile on her face.

"Alex is just overprotective; he doesn't want me anywhere near the Infected."

Collette smiled at that, and James seemed to relax a little. "That's perfectly understandable," Collette nodded. She had, after all, been one of the only ones Ragland had told the truth about Dana's coma.

Alex sighed as he followed them a few paces behind, not really wanting to fake smiles and 'play nice' with these people. All he wanted to do was grab Dana, throw her over his shoulder, and take her back to the safe house where he could keep an eye on her. Greene may have been long dead, but he didn't like the idea of the Infected catching wind that she was awake again. Just in case.

After about a block, he felt something wrap around his fingers and looked down curiously, raising a brow when he saw Maya smiling up at him, her small hand holding his while Mr. Hoppy dangled helplessly from her other hand.

"You looked lonely," she whispered, glancing back up at the adults walking ahead of them.

"I…" Alex faltered, shaking his head and nodding at her. "I was. Thank you."

She beamed back at him, squeezing his fingers, but he didn't dare squeeze them back. He had a tendency to break everything he touched, even things he sought to protect. James looked back at them, noticed Maya holding his hand, and narrowed his eyes at Alex but said nothing. There weren't going to be any immediate friendships forming there, Alex mused.

Dana had just launched into a rather ribald story about her college days when Alex heard it.

Howling. He froze in place, Maya coming a stop beside him and looking up at him curiously. Alex felt his skin crawl with the need to reform into claws and blades and he held it back through force of will alone.

"Dana," he said plainly, eyes flicking around them as he searched for the source. Dana stopped and turned, took one look at his rigid posture and the inhuman look in his eyes, and she immediately took James' arm.

"Infected," she hissed to him, and to his credit James didn't question her, simply pulled his pistol from his hip as Collette glued herself to his side.

Alex closed his eyes and listened, feeling Maya tugging on his hand.

"'Lex?" she whispered, understanding the tension even if she didn't know the cause. He didn't reply, instead snapping his eyes open as the howl sounded again, close enough for the humans to have heard it. Alex looked down at her, and then took a quick step forward, meaning to hand her over to the others when it happened.

He jerked his head up and saw the Hunter barreling towards them from the top of the nearest building. Without pause, he took Maya by the waist and leapt back, narrowly avoiding being crushed by the falling Infected. The Hunter turned to 'stare' at him, and Alex locked gazes with it, not moving.

Hunters had a personal vendetta against him. They always had. Alex slowly slid one foot back in preparation to run. He couldn't fight the Hunter without endangering Maya, who he was holding with one arm and who had grabbed his shoulder in fright when the Hunter had appeared. The Hunter growled low, taking a step towards him, and Alex heard James' gun unloading into the Hunter's side. Bullets were nothing but irritants to a Hunter, and the thing didn't even turn to acknowledge it was being attacked. Alex saw the tense in its shoulders and kicked off with his leg, sprinting back down the road, hearing the Hunter roar as it gave chase, easily keeping pace with him.

Alex cursed under his breath as Maya began to cry in his arms, and he glanced back in time to see her drop Mr. Hoppy. With another heartfelt curse, he skidded to a stop, bolted back, grabbed the animal, and vaulted over the Hunter in a leap that any gymnast would have been jealous of. He sprinted back to the others, who were watching him with varying levels of shock, not stopping as he locked eyes with James. The man quickly holstered the weapon and Alex didn't break stride as he passed Maya into his arms, immediately swerving to the side to dodge the Hunter's enraged pounce. True to form, it ignored the humans in favor of chasing after him, and Alex growled in irritation.

He could hear gunfire, and assumed James was still shooting at the Hunter, but Alex was focused on how he was expected to kill this thing without further blowing his cover. He had hesitated for a split second as he debated grabbing that mailbox and beating the Hunter into the ground with it, when the Infected put on a burst of speed and slammed into his back, sending him crashing into a wall and buckling the stone with his impact. He lay, dazed, for a few seconds before he heard screaming and jerked upright again. The Hunter had abandoned him once he'd gone through the wall and was barreling back towards the others.

Dana. Alex felt his world narrow, and he cast aside his disguise with an inhuman rumble, feeling his familiar hood and jacket form over his skin as claws spread from his arms. He kicked off from the wall and ran full-tilt towards the Hunter, overtaking it moments before it reached Dana and the others. He noticed James standing between them, and admired the man for his bravery before he leapt, claws outstretched, and time slowed to a crawl.

He saw James' eyes widen as he caught sight of Alex bearing down on the Hunter, claws flashing, eyes glowing beneath his hood. He saw Dana's eyes widen too in remembered terror, and Alex slammed into the Hunter's back and bore it to the ground, slinging around its front mid-slide and jerking them into a roll where they tumbled off to the side, safely away from Dana. And her friends.

The Hunter grappled with him briefly, enraged, but his rage was nothing compared to that of ZEUS. Alex felt the Infected bite into his shoulder, but shrugged off the discomfort of what should have been a fatal blow as he rammed claws through the thing's throat and rolled them again, crouching on the Hunter's underside as he tore the thing apart in his fury. It had dared go after Dana?

Alex felt his vision flicker and snap into oranges and yellows as he entered Infected Vision, connecting him to the Hive Mind as he screamed at the Hunter beneath him.

"MINE," he yelled through the Hive Mind, and the Hunter quailed beneath him, still alive despite its shredded throat, and Alex felt the rest of the Infected he was connected to shrink back in fear. They were right to fear him. He took the offending Hunter by the neck and tore its head free with a feral roar, and the thing went limp beneath him.

Alex stepped off, bloodied claws flexing, and glared through orange-tinted eyes at the other Infected that had approached, attracted by the sound. The ones he made eye-contact with backed away, and the Hunters that had arrived bowed their heads like cowering dogs before they retreated into corners and onto the rooftops. He waited until he couldn't sense any Infected before dismissing his Vision and his claws, letting his posture relax.

He turned and headed back to the others, and James stepped between them, his gun still raised and aimed at Alex's head. A bullet to the head would do little more than inconvenience him for a moment, but Alex paused regardless, bristling.

Alex growled low, eyes flashing beneath his hood. "Get out of my way," he warned.

"Alex!" Dana dashed out from behind James, throwing her arms around him. Alex held her tight, checking himself before he hurt her, and stepped back, holding her at arms-length and looking her over.

"Are you all right?" he asked, worried. He'd gotten the Hunter that had gone after her, but there could have been others.

Dana smiled reassuringly up at him. "We're fine, Alex. The others didn't dare come close after they watched you beat the crap out of that damn Hunter."

Alex hardened his expression. "I'm taking you home. I knew it wasn't safe for you out here."

Dana scowled and pulled back, hands on her hips. "No, Alex. I am not spending the rest of my life in a glass box like some kind of fragile flower. I am going to dinner, and you are going to like it."

Alex bristled, keeping his eyes locked on hers, before he slumped in defeat, and Dana grinned in triumph. "But Dana…"

"No buts," she interrupted, holding up a hand. "If you're not comfortable, you can go home. But I've been looking forward to this for weeks, and one measly Hunter attack isn't going to dissuade me."

Alex looked up and saw James still holding his gun, but it wasn't pointed at his head anymore. Collette was holding an unharmed, if a bit shaken, Maya, with Mr. Hoppy securely in her hands. He locked gazes with James. "Are we going to have a problem?"

James tensed, scowling. "Dammit. No. Not if you keep your freaky Infected shit away from my family."

That 'freaky Infected shit' just saved your asses, Alex growled to himself. He nodded outwardly, once, and James hesitantly holstered his weapon again, eyeing him distrustfully. Collette caught his eye and mouthed "thank you," to which Alex nodded, expression softening. Dana rolled her eyes and took his arm, pulling him along.

Alex kept one eye on the Infected keeping their distance from the great ZEUS and one on James' back as they walked.

He was going to have to watch that one.

A/N: Holy cameos, batman. Obviously AU here, since Collette is still alive and James isn't an Evolved. Was also surprised when this one-shot turned out to be almost four times longer than all the other ones, but OH WELL.

Wow. I tend to have a lot of characters named "James" in my stories...