Call Off the Dogs

Summary: Max and Alec are already worried about the kids, when a trip outside TC raises the stakes. Loose the Hounds series. MA.

It's that time of year again. Time for a good, old fashioned DA Christmas story. I started an actual story-story, but that's not going to get done in time, so I decided on this for my Christmas offering. In our last story in this series, Max and Alec had been through a tumultuous pregnancy, but she'd finally given birth to healthy twins.

Here's the whole series in order:

Loose the Hounds

Dogs of War

Dog Will Have His Day

Off the Leash

Leash Laws

New Dog Old Tricks

Guard Dogs

Now on we go…


Alec had some serious mixed feelings about the infirmary. He'd spent his horrific childhood being poked and prodded by any doctor who took a notion, after all. Terminal City's infirmary was nothing like that, but still… it made a bit of a chill run down his spine.

For one thing, this place held terrible memories. Images flashed through his mind of Max after so many injuries, so many disasters. Some of those wounds would remain on his conscience until the day he died. Other memories were of his own injuries: bullet wounds, burns, breaks. All of these paled in comparison to the months and months when he'd practically lived in the infirmary while Max was pregnant.

It had been a difficult pregnancy, and they'd lost one of the triplets early on. The remaining babies had drawn on every last reserve Max and the doctors could provide, and eventually Max had fallen into a hibernation-like coma. When one of the babies had shown signs of distress, the doctors had quickly stepped in and delivered them by cesarean. Max hadn't even been awake to greet their children's birth. She'd missed their daughter's first cry and she hadn't been awake to see their son struggle to take his first breath. Alec had been forced to live through that particular nightmare alone.

In short, the infirmary was a raft of awful memories, punctuated by the occasional moment of joy or relief. Yet, here he was again sitting in the infirmary, this time of his own free will. Their veterinarian/physician in residence, Dr. Peterson, had scheduled the children for a checkup. Just being here with his kids was nearly enough to give him hives. Or it would if a transgenic got that sort of thing.

The twins were five years old now, and healthy as horses as far as Alec could tell. That didn't stop the doc from wanting to do his periodic checks. Alec tried not to think of it like Manticore ordering them to present their kids for inspection. It worked. Mostly.

Max was out in the main open area of the infirmary with the two children. She was smiling indulgently while Kit and Merry ran around like the two wild rabbits they were. There was never a dull moment in their household these days.

There were quiet moments, though.

Max looked up, seeming to sense his mood. She and Dr. Peterson left the children to their play, and walked back to the exam room where Alec was still sitting.

Alec smiled, clapping his hands together, and stuffing his worries back down. "What's the word, Doc? Everything look good?"

Dr. Peterson nodded. He was still just as scruffy and exhausted looking as the day he'd come to TC. His lab coat was a bit rumpled, his prematurely graying hair was disheveled, and he had a permanent case of five o'clock shadow, no doubt all thanks to being on call 24/7 for a bunch of injury prone crazy people. He was still just as friendly though, and he cared about them. He'd spent years now looking after them all, despite the dangers of dealing with TC and tantrum-prone transgenics at their worst.

"The labs all look good," Dr. Peterson said. "I've given them the immunizations that are required by law if they're going to leave TC. It's unnecessary, but it is what it is. Their immune systems compared to a normal humans… well, it's a bit like an 18-wheeler compared to a toy truck. Still, we're all trying to be legal."

Max and Alec just nodded. It didn't hurt, and following rules like this made the ordinaries happy. Things had changed a lot in the past few years, but that didn't mean they didn't need to be careful. They always kept in mind they were just one bad news story away from protesters showing up at their gates again.

"Other than that," the doctor continued, "you're good to go. We'll see you next check-up." He gave them a rueful smile. "Or the next time one of you gets in trouble."

"Hey," Alec said, mock offended, "we haven't ended up in here in…"

"Yes, a whole month," Peterson shot back. "We're so proud of you both. The infirmary staff was actually able to take a little vacation."

"Max, we should have found a veterinarian who wasn't so sarcastic," Alec said in a stage whisper.

"You were dying and he offered," Max replied at the same volume. "We weren't exactly in a position to be picky."

"So this is my fault?"

She just shrugged as if to say, isn't everything?

He gave an answering twist of his lips in response. Fair enough.

"And I see we've finally arrived at the comedy portion of our visit, complete with you two having entire conversations without me." Dr. Peterson shook his head. "I think that about wraps up this appointment."

Max held out her hand to take Alec's, but paused when she saw his expression change. "What?" she asked.

"Kit…" Alec cleared his throat from a sudden constriction. He'd been holding off on asking. Well, asking again. "He's still not talking."

The veterinarian nodded, switching back into serious mode. "I know, Alec. As we've discussed before, there doesn't seem to be any physical reason. We've run every test we can think of."

All Alec could see was Kit's birth. He hadn't been breathing. The doctors had spent what felt like forever working on his newborn son to get him started. He loved his little boy with everything he had, and worried that his unfortunate start had caused brain damage, no matter how many times Peterson assured him the little boy was hale and hearty.

Either that or his DNA mixed with Max's had caused some sort of weirdness, and Kit was suffering from the results. They had animal DNA. Animals didn't talk. Maybe Kit…

"No, Alec." Dr. Peterson stepped forward and put a hand on his shoulder. "We've talked about this, too. Kit's fine. He'll talk when he wants to."

Max put her arm through his, probably as much for her own reassurance as for his. Their kids were five years old now, about to be six on Christmas Eve. Their daughter, Merry, was as bright and cheerful as her name would lead people to believe. She talked enough for both her and her brother. Although TC's resident psy-ops alumni had assured them there was no mental component, the twins seemed to know exactly what the other was up to, or needed, and Merry was the designated spokesperson.

Kit seemed happy enough, although far more serious than his sister. His eyes were always watching, scanning, learning. Manticore probably would have loved him, but it just made Max and Alec worry.

"He gets it from his mom," Alec said, trying for cheerful. "She's been giving me the silent treatment off and on for years."

Without missing a beat, Max said, "That's because you've been an idiot off and on for years."

"Mommy?" Merry appeared at the door to the exam room, her dark, dark hair all askew from running around. Her fair-haired brother stood silently beside her, nearly at attention.

"Hmm?"

"Can we go outside? Uncle Mole promised we could help with the tree."

Alec glanced past his daughter to the windows across the infirmary, and sure enough, there was a giant lizard standing with his face pressed to the glass waving for the kids to come outside. The cantankerous, cigar-chomping transhuman was one of the kids' favorite uncles and they were practically bouncing at the idea of going outside to help. They'd spent days working on plans for the Christmas tree they were setting up in the center of Terminal City.

"Sure thing," Max said. "We're done here anyway."

Kit nodded as if he'd been given orders to complete, while Merry squealed happily and grabbed her brother by the hand. She dragged him behind her and they both shot toward the doors to the infirmary.


Max shut the water off and dried her hands, tossing the cloth back toward the kitchen sink. If anyone had told her a few years ago she'd spend a good amount of her time cooking, cleaning, and chasing after two little moving disasters, she'd never have believed it. If anyone had told her she'd be happy about it, she'd have told them they were nuts.

In some ways, she supposed motherhood had softened her. She had different concerns, different priorities. First and foremost, she wanted to make sure her kids had a childhood that, if not normal since they were who they were, then was as different from her own as possible. Her kids might have some seriously un-childlike skills and instincts, but no one was going to ask them to hunt down a criminal in the woods, or send them on missions.

In other ways, however, motherhood had amped up her primitive instincts to dangerous levels. If anyone so much as looked at her kids wrong, or dared to cross her in her attempts to protect them, they weren't just in trouble, their days, maybe minutes, were numbered. If she was out on TC business, and things went sideways, her only thought was that she had to get back to her children, and anyone who got in the way of that better have some serious health insurance. Alec said it was a good thing she didn't carry a gun. She'd have a hair trigger.

Alec walked into the kitchen, his steps as cat-like as ever. Max had heard him coming anyway, probably because he wanted her to. He wrapped his arms around her from behind and set his chin on her shoulder. "You going to be ok?" he asked.

Max turned in his embrace, wrapping her arms around his neck. She cocked her head to the side, and gave him a glare. "You saying I can't handle these two without you?" she asked.

"I'm pretty sure you'll survive." He grimaced. "I just worry the apartment might burn down while I'm gone."

A few weeks earlier, the twins had decided they were hot and wanted the ceiling fan to go faster. Ten unsupervised minutes later, they'd managed to create a makeshift ladder, and taped a bunch of leftover fireworks to the fan's paddles. Once they were lit, the ceiling fan definitely went faster, but it also created a blackened circle on the ceiling which was still smoking when Max found them. The couch has been smoldering as well.

"They have promised that their entire fireworks stash is now gone."

Alec just shook his head. "I have no doubt one of their aunts or uncles has taught them how to make more. It's what happens when everyone you know has munitions training."

Max let her head fall forward to rest on his chest. "How did any of us survive our childhoods?" she asked.

"We're miracles of science?" he replied, and she enjoyed hearing the rumble of his voice as it reverberated in his chest.

"So they tell us."

She felt rather than saw Alec shake his head. "Unfortunately, I'm pretty sure only Merry made that promise about the fireworks. Kit… not so much." She could practically see the frown on his face.

Max pursed her lips. "He nodded. He's so serious, it's probably more binding than all of Merry's promises and crying."

"For the sake of our new sofa, I hope so." Alec hugged her close and pressed a kiss to the top of her head. "I need to get going. Slick's got the team prepped."

"I still don't like this job. Something was off with this guy, Hockersmith." Their company, affectionately known as Freak, Inc., had made a lot of friends in the past few years, but just as many enemies, maybe more. They were good at what they did, and some people really didn't like their secrets coming to light. Something about this guy said he was trouble.

"You're not wrong. But everything checks out so far, and he paid half up front."

"We don't need the money." Max shrugged, still enjoying the feeling of Alec's arms wrapped around her. "We can call it off."

"No way to run a business, turning away paying clients."

"I'm not turning away a paying client. I'm turning away a weasely guy who's up to no good."

"Pretty sure that describes ninety percent of our clients… and me." He paused in thought and Max shifted so she could look up at him. "Nah. Probably not any weasel DNA. I like to think I'm a bit squirrely."

Max snorted. "You always did like stashing things away for a rainy day."

"Here I thought you'd make a joke about nuts."

She grinned. "Not nuts. Just an idiot."

"And that's my cue to leave." He gave her an answering smile and dropped a kiss to her lips.

"Kit! Merry!" Max called loudly, not that it was necessary. The twins could hear as well as all the transgenics. "Your dad has to go. You better come say goodbye!"

A loud scrabbling, followed by tromping came from the back of the apartment before two five year old whirlwinds barreled into the kitchen. Merry leapt up and Alec's transgenic reflexes just managed to catch her as she latched on like a spider monkey.

"Are you sure you have to go, Daddy?"

"Well… I have it on good authority that a little girl and boy I know have a birthday coming up. I'd better get on it, or there won't be any presents."

Merry looked aghast. "But it's our birthday! You have to!"

Alec nodded. "I know! And Christmas too!"

"Uncle Joshua says I should ask for more paint. He says I can be an artist!"

"Oh, he does?" Alec asked, wide-eyed.

"And Uncle Mole says I need more copper wire."

Max's eyes narrowed. "For what?"

"It's a surprise!"

"I'll just bet."

"Uncle Slick says to ask for money, but that's no fun." Merry scrunched up her nose. "Uncle Sig says I need a .40 caliber. He says I'm strong enough and the peashooter I have is useless in a fight."

"Whoa, whoa." Alec set his daughter back on her feet. "What's the rule?"

Merry immediately looked chastened. "No gun talk at home."

"That's right."

"Mommy doesn't like them."

"Uh huh." He nodded his approval.

"Uncle Sig says it's okay because Mommy can break arms like they're twigs and she's scary mean and nobody gets past her anyway."

At this point, Max was pretty sure she was close to having an aneurism. Alec just looked up at her with that smug little quirk of his lips, and if he laughed, she was going to prove Sig right. "Remind me to have a chat with Uncle Sig."

Alec let out a puff of air, not quite a laugh. "Oh, I have a feeling you'll remember just fine."

She and Alec had had more than one talk about the impromptu training sessions the others were giving the children. With all of the guns in TC, as much as she hated them, firearm safety had been a necessary lesson. It still didn't sit right with her, though. Max didn't want the kids raised like she and Alec were. Their lives, however, necessitated some compromises. She and Alec were still working on finding a balance. Sig loved to push the limits.

Alec dropped down on one knee in front of Kit who had been standing quietly to one side while his sister did all the talking.

"Kit?" Their beautiful, sandy-haired little boy sidled closer. "Did you decide what you want for your birthday? Or Christmas? We only have a few more days."

Kit shrugged and shoved his hands in his jeans pockets, but said nothing. "You know you can tell me," Alec coaxed. "Or… or you can draw it for me."

Max set her hand on Kit's shoulder. "Maybe we'll work on that while you're on your trip. Sound good, Kit?"

Her son looked up at her and nodded. Max knew they wouldn't have any trouble deciphering what Kit wanted. His drawings were detailed and to scale, nearly like blueprints.

"Ok." Alec stood. "You two be good. Take good care of Mommy."

Kit again nodded solemnly while Merry laughed and mimicked firing a gun, then blowing the smoke from the imaginary barrel.

Max just shook her head. Sometimes she thought their kids had inherited the best from them. Other times, she was terrified they were bloodthirsty clones. Because of the work she and the others did at Freak, Inc., the kids were constantly around while they were setting up the details of all kinds of bodyguard jobs or retrieval jobs, etc. They were children, but sometimes their genetic predatory instincts definitely showed.

"Stop worrying," Alec whispered. "Manticore trained us and we turned out all right. These two are going to turn out even better. Now…" Alec pressed another quick kiss to Max's lips. He waggled his eyebrows. "There's more where that came from. Just wait 'til I get back."

Max gave him a playful shove toward the door. "Be careful. Hockersmith is up to something."

Alec gave her a mock salute. He then leaned down and placed a light kiss on each child's head, ruffling Kit's hair for good measure. He grabbed his jacket from the stand near the door and headed out, with a quick, "See you in a few days."

Max hoped that was true, but her gut was telling her this job was trouble. Maybe she was being paranoid. Either way she would trust that her husband was as determined as always to come home to her and the children.


Mole stood glaring at the monitors in front of him. Max preferred to pace. It didn't really help, but she always seemed to feel better when she could move.

"Still no word?" Luke asked, returning to Command after a few hours' rest.

"No," Max said through clenched teeth. Alec's team had lost contact with him early the day before, but they'd been hoping he was up to something or if he'd got into trouble he would get back out. He'd missed two check-ins before his phone had gone dead and they couldn't trace it. Ever since, his team's second in command, Slick, was getting more and more frantic. They'd stopped trying to track Alec, and started hunting Hockersmith, who wasn't answering any of their calls. He might not be the real bad guy. He might just be a paid go-between, but it was all they had to go on.

Max had known the guy was up to no good and he'd proven her right. Now it was just a matter of finding him and ripping his lungs out for messing with them.

The job hadn't been that difficult, just a quick retrieval job, supposedly. Alec's team didn't even have to leave Seattle. They were hired to track down a missing scientist. Hockersmith's company was afraid their employee had either been kidnapped, or more likely been sweet-talked into working for the competition. Alec's team had been tapped in case it really was a kidnapping and things got rough.

Two hours after leaving TC, however, a scouting mission had resulted in a missing team leader. They still had no clue how or why. They couldn't find any video from any drones they'd hacked. That wasn't completely unexpected. Alec would have been instinctively avoiding the drones, but it meant they were fumbling in the dark for a starting place.

It could be that someone, either their quarry or a random person, had taken the opportunity to take out a transgenic. An old enemy could have taken advantage of Alec wandering the city alone. It could be a ransom situation, but no one had contacted them, or made any demands. Freak, Inc. was making money hand over fist, and it was commonly rumored that the infamous transgenics of Terminal City were rolling in dough. Someone might have nabbed Alec for any number of reasons, but money was always one of the top guesses. That didn't feel right for this situation, though.

With no word, no clues, and no demands, the prognosis was growing dimmer by the hour. No one wanted to say it, but Alec could be dead. Wouldn't that just be a very merry Christmas for the twins.

Max could feel her heart beginning to race just at the thought. She clenched her hands into fists, and told herself she had to keep it together. She was the boss. No one liked it when the boss lost it. They looked to her for steadfast leadership, not emotional breakdowns.

Still… There had been far too many close calls: poisonings, shootings, brainwashing, torture, bombings, burns. It never seemed to end. But that was the problem. Alec had gone missing without a trace. This could be the end.

A tiny hand wrapped around hers and she stopped in her frantic pacing. She looked down and saw that Kit had somehow snuck into Command. He held her hand and looked up at her with his big, green eyes, so like his father's. He didn't say anything. He simply stared up at her, his face etched with his usual serious lines, an added frown line between his little brows.

Max glanced around, but saw no sign of Merry. "Where's your sister?"

Kit shrugged, then pointed toward the door. That could mean anything from his sister was waiting outside, to back at the apartment, to she'd headed for California. One never knew with these two.

"Weren't you with your Aunt Gem?" Since the op had gone wrong, Gem had offered to babysit the twins the night before.

Kit nodded, then glanced at the bank of screens where everyone was working to bring Alec home. His eyes focused with laser-like intensity and she knew he was taking it all in, parsing through the data for information that no one was willing to tell a five year old, no matter how smart or serious he was.

Another hand slipped into hers on her other side, and she looked down to see Merry had also managed to sneak away from their babysitter. She too began to study the screens.

"We heard Daddy was in trouble," she said. She looked angry and like she was prepared to march out into the city and do something about it. Max would say it was cute, if she didn't know her children were capable of real damage. She certainly had been at their age.

"Uncle Slick is doing everything he can," Max said, trying for reassurance.

"I don't like it when Daddy gets hurt," Merry said solemnly, for once just as serious as her brother. Kit nodded his agreement.

"I don't either," Max said, trying to keep a quiver out of her voice. What kind of horrible parents were they that their small children already knew about such ugliness?

Kit brought up his other hand and patted hers where he still held it. He looked up at her, and nodded as if to tell her it was ok, or he understood, or they were in this together… or… something. If he would only talk to her. She didn't expect Shakespeare or anything, but a "Hi, Mommy," would be nice.

"They have him!" Mole called.

Max surged forward. The twins released her hands, but as soon as she stopped, they latched on again, each wrapping an arm around one of her legs. They were getting too tall for it, but they were worried and old habits died hard. She put a hand on each of their heads.

"How is he?"

"Don't know," Dix said. "They're close. Should be here pretty soon."

Max grabbed a headset. They had enough money now their tech was state of the art, or as state of the art as post-pulse America could manage. Pulse or no pulse, rich people still got all the best toys.

"Slick? Update," she ordered.

"We're almost there. Meet you in the infirmary," Slick said.

"Talk to me, Slick." Even though she was wearing the headset, she knew the twins could hear as well. She wasn't sure it was a bright idea, but she needed to know.

"He's got a pretty nasty head wound. Somebody wanted to make sure he stayed down."

"We know who?"

"Whoever it was, Alec got away from them himself. He walked right up to us and collapsed."

Max just shook her head. Leave it to Alec to make a dramatic entrance.

"Right. We'll tell Peterson he has a patient incoming."


Max sat in the infirmary waiting room. She hated the waiting room. She hated sitting. She hated the infirmary in general. It was a necessary evil at this point.

This place held horrible memories. Images of Alec after so many injuries flashed through her mind, so many disasters. Yes, her children were born here, but it had been after months and months of constant time in the infirmary, and then adding insult to injury, she'd been unconscious for the birth. She tried not to think about that, but it was still something she could never get back. That loss wasn't technically anything she could blame on the infirmary, but the emotions, fears, memories and non-memories were all connected to this place in her brain.

Max fought the urge to get up and pace. She knew the kids were already worried, and she didn't want to make it worse by looking like she was ready to jump out of her skin. They were currently sitting on the floor playing pick-up sticks. She was pretty sure one of their aunts or uncles was encouraging the game as an agility and dexterity exercise. It might be Fred or Barney. She'd caught her usual bodyguards playing the game with the kids a few days earlier. More likely, it was Slick. He was sneaky like that.

Normally, Alec's friend and the team's second in command would be waiting here with her, but Slick had been dirty and exhausted, not to mention bloody, since he'd been the one carrying Alec, and a head wound was always a mess. Max had ordered him and the rest of the team to get cleaned up and rest. They'd been going flat out since Alec disappeared, and not everyone had shark DNA like she did. They could see Alec after they'd had some sleep.

Joshua would have been there as well on any normal day, but he was out of town. A gallery in L.A. had asked to show his paintings, and despite the security nightmare it had caused, Big Fella was there for the opening. Max had sent Fred and Barney, her personal and most trusted guards, along with a sizeable security contingent with him. She was happy as she could be for her friend, but that didn't make it any easier when she was sitting here alone, waiting for word on her disaster-prone husband.

Dr. Peterson opened the swinging infirmary doors. "Max?"

Max jumped to her feet and the twins immediately abandoned their game and came running. "How is he?" she asked.

"He's going to be fine," Peterson said. "He's just a little uncomfortable right now. With the way you heal, he'll be good to go in a few days."

"He'll be sick on Christmas?" Merry asked, frowning. "You have to fix him before then!"

The veterinarian bent down so he was more on her level. "I'm doing my best, honey, but this one's up to your daddy." Peterson looked up at Max. "Don't worry. He has a very hard head."

"Don't I know it," Max muttered.

Dr. Peterson led the way back into the infirmary to one of the open triage rooms. Alec was sitting up on the hospital bed. His bloody shirt had been changed for a scrub shirt, but he was still wearing his dirty jeans. She decided that was a good sign. It meant this was an outpatient event. If they were going to keep him overnight, they'd have changed him completely out of his clothes.

"Daddy!" Merry blurred toward the gurney before Max could catch her. She launched herself at her father, who thankfully was conscious and aware enough to catch his daughter. Their little girl definitely lived her life in high gear.

"Oof!" Alec made an exaggerated sound, as if she had actually knocked the air out of him. Merry wrapped her little arms around him and latched on. "You'd think you hadn't seen me in weeks," he said with a laugh.

Max studied her husband. Merry hadn't knocked the wind out of him, but she was hurting him. In addition to the head wound, his ribs were damaged. She could see it from the lines around his eyes, and the way he was holding himself.

"Merry, why don't you sit back so Daddy can breathe?" Max suggested gently.

Merry reluctantly pulled back some and planted herself at her father's side. He grasped her hand and gave her an encouraging smile. "Good to see you, too, Sweetpea."

Merry wrinkled her nose in disgust at the pet name. Their little girl was very determined to be as tough as her aunts and uncles and she didn't particularly like her father's endearments. Alec did, however, and kept at it.

Max moved closer, Kit still waiting patiently at her side. As she did, she saw the large bandage at the back of Alec's head. He caught her looking and gave her an embarrassed grimace. "Someone got the drop on me."

She seriously doubted it was as simple as that. "How?"

"I… uh… I was window shopping?" he said, glancing at the kids to let her know anything more would have to wait for later.

"Manticore's finest, huh?"

His lips quirked to one side. "Christmastime… you know me. I get distracted by shiny things."

Max crossed her arms. "Tell me something you're not distracted by."

Alec huffed, affronted, then shrugged and accepted it. "Worst part is, Peterson had to shave my hair. That's going to look great in the Christmas pictures."

"You keep it so short these days, it'll grow back in no time."

He grunted, still annoyed. "Only benefit of a military cut, I guess."

Max gave up trying to be nonchalant. She closed the distance and gently put an arm around him, far more carefully than their eager daughter had. "I'm just glad you're all right." She kissed him, and then pressed her forehead to his, unwilling to let him go. "You are, aren't you?" she asked quietly. "All right?"

"Always," he answered, giving her the smile he saved just for her.

Max stayed where she was for another few seconds, drinking in the feeling of having him in her arms again. She'd spent two days with growing dread that he was really gone this time. With each hour that passed, she'd feared he was dead in some alley or abandoned factory and they'd never even find the body. She let the tension flow out of her now that she could see and feel him. Yes, he was hurt, but he was ok.

Max took a deep, calming breath and stepped back. It let Alec see behind her, and his expression softened. "Hey, buddy."

Kit remained where he was, solemnly watching his father. Alec waved for him to come closer and patted the bed at his side, opposite where Merry was perched. That was apparently what Kit had been waiting for. He hopped up just as nimbly as his sister, although far more cautiously. Max had a suspicion he'd noticed his father's wince when Merry had thrown herself at him. Kit was always so careful, so concerned about… everything.

Sometimes, she wondered if Kit didn't talk for fear of saying the wrong thing. She just didn't know how to help him move past that, or if it was even possible. It could be anything. They were genetic oddities. Max and Alec had been meticulously designed to optimize their individual DNA. With the twins, it was just a combination. There was no telling which genes were dominant, which were junk, and what the combination of the animal DNA could have produced. There was no telling what could really be going on with their brains. TC had genetic experts, but even after all this time, they were still far behind what Manticore knew.

Alec put his arm around Kit's shoulders and drew the little boy to him. Kit raised his free hand and gently set it against Alec's chest, and then settled down with his head resting over his father's heart. As often happened, Max wished she had a camera, but instead settled for the warm feeling settling in her own chest of Alec holding their children close.

"Did you two stay out of trouble while I was gone?"

Kit immediately nodded, while Merry said, "We were good."

"Then I guess Christmas is still on!" Alec said, obviously trying for reassuring, and giving them a squeeze for good measure. He always was better than her at distracting the kids from worrying about them. "I was afraid we'd have to take your presents back."

"You wouldn't do that!" Merry shouted.

"Sweetpea, if you set anything else on fire, or shoot out any more windows, Christmas is definitely in danger."

Merry huffed, while Kit snickered. He actually snickered.

Alec's eyes met Max's and she saw he'd noticed too. Getting any sort of light-hearted reaction from Kit was a rare gift.

"Are you ready to get out of here?" Dr. Peterson asked. Max had almost forgotten he was there.

Alec's grin was tired. "Absolutely."

"You know the drill," Peterson said. "I won't keep you here, but you have to let me know if anything comes up. And take it easy." He gave Alec a very ineffective glare. "I mean it."

"I always take it easy," Alec said offhandedly. "Max, tell him I take it easy. I must have butterfly DNA. I'm so laid back, I just go where the breeze takes me."

Max just pursed her lips. She'd spent two days thinking he was most likely dead. She wasn't in the mood for flippant. "I'll watch him," she promised.

Alec gave each of the kids a pat. "Off the bed, monkeys. Time to go. I've had a rough couple of days and I want to prop my feet up at home."

"Go pick up your things in the waiting room," she told the twins.

Alec waited for the children to hop down, then far more carefully, turned and set his feet on the floor. He paused for a second and then stood, waiting for his equilibrium to settle. He kept one hand on the bed, and Max took his other in hers.

Once Peterson was sure his patient wasn't going to topple over, he followed the children as well. He was always good that way. He knew they didn't like showing weakness in front of others. He couldn't always allow it, but when he could he tried.

Alec closed his eyes, and she could tell he was using a breathing exercise to control the pain and dizziness.

"Clocked you good, I take it," she said under her breath.

"Nearly took my head off," he said at the same volume.

"Hockersmith?"

"Not personally." He opened his eyes and glanced toward the kids. They were already headed toward the main infirmary door, and probably out of earshot given how much noise they were making and how Merry was chattering away to Peterson. "This guy was trying to kill me," Alec said plainly, "or at least knock me down so hard I wasn't going to get up for a good while. He almost managed it. I got away, but I was a mess and spent most of the last two days unconscious. I think my body had to heal enough for me to wake up and find Slick and the team."

"Who was he?"

"Never seen him before."

"He dead?"

Alec nodded, then thought better of it when it obviously made him dizzy. "I think there was someone with him, but I was seeing double by then. Didn't get a good look."

Max just sighed and put her arm around him. "Come on. Let's get you home."

Alec let her take some of his weight, and together they slowly made their way toward the door and their waiting children.


Merry whooped in triumph as they walked into the restaurant, Seattle's one and only eatery owned by a card-carrying "freak." Kit simply stood inside the doorway and took in his surroundings.

This trip was a first for several reasons. One, the twins were outside of Terminal City. Granted, they were still within sight of the main gates, but for them this was a red letter day. Things had come a long way in the past few years, but until now there had never really been a reason to take them out. TC was its own little self-contained city with everything the kids needed and plenty of space to roam and explore.

Second, Max and Alec were also outside TC, but no one was dying. There was no disaster to manage. It was just a pleasant family outing, which was technically against the rules, since Max and Alec weren't supposed to be outside the city at the same time for security reasons, but it was a special occasion.

Which was the third reason. One of the transhumans, aptly named Chef, with the help of Freak, Inc. had bought a derelict building just outside TC to open a restaurant that would cater to the transgenics and to the public at large. It was all part of their on-going efforts to bring TC and Seattle together for something other than rioting, shouting, or threats.

The area surrounding TC had become decidedly gentrified since the transgenics first took up residence. The toxic areas had been cleaned, and TC itself had been rebuilt into a home and business they could be proud of. Seattle's business owners had taken advantage and started moving to the surrounding area. Some catered to the needs of TC, others to those who just wanted to see what they could see. In essence, the transgenics were the closest thing Seattle had to a tourist attraction since the Pulse killed everything else.

So far, the buzz around the restaurant's opening had been positive, and Chef had been a busy, busy lady, feeding all the curious patrons hoping to get a glimpse of the infamous mutants who made up Freak, Inc.

Tonight, however, the restaurant was hosting a very special, very exclusive party. It was Christmas Eve, and the restaurant had closed after the lunch crowd left. There were no more gawking Ordinaries. Chef had invited Max, Alec and the twins for a very special night out to thank them for helping her open her dream restaurant. Giving the kids a treat for their birthday was an added bonus.

Max and Alec had been nervous about taking the children outside of TC. Yes, relations with the rest of Seattle were better, but risking their children was more than either of them wanted to gamble, especially after what had happened with Alec on the Hockersmith job. They'd sent a good portion of their security people with Joshua to L.A., but half the cameras in TC were pointed their way right now, and there were guards at the gates leading into TC, easily within seconds of them.

It wasn't really necessary though. There were few people out in the city. It was Christmas Eve after all. Most of the businesses were already closed, and everyone was snug at home, waiting on Santa to show.

Just in case, Alec locked the restaurant's front door behind them to keep anyone from trying to come in for dinner despite the "closed" sign. A night out like this was a rare gift, and they didn't want to be interrupted.

"Aunt Chef!" Merry shouted.

After a few seconds and some clattering from the kitchen in back, a Transhuman woman who bore a remarkable resemblance to a pig bustled through the door. She was wearing an apron that had definitely seen some hard use during the day. She was pulling it off as she came through the swinging door, and it was a good thing. Merry ran toward the woman who laughed and scooped her up. She held the little girl high, and swung her around.

"What a pretty dress!" Chef said, her odd teeth causing a bit of a lisp. She gave an exaggerated fluff to Merry's plaid skirt with its lacy petticoat.

"It's for Christmas!" Merry said. "Daddy got it for me!"

"Oh, he did?" Chef put Merry back on the ground and turned toward Kit. She bent down a bit to the little boy, dressed very smartly in a shirt and plaid tie, and held out her hand for him to shake. "You're looking very handsome tonight yourself, young man." Kit just smiled and shook her hand.

The transhumans had practically adopted the twins. Ever since the geneticists had given the most hybridized of them the ugly news that children would never be possible, they'd taken it upon themselves to be the best aunts and uncles that ever existed. Max and Alec had never, not even for a second, lacked for any bit of help while raising their children. A scraped knee quickly turned into a military level operation to get them to the infirmary. A politician making a derogatory remark about TC's leaders and their mutant children had nearly turned into a hit squad being sent. They'd settled for simply ruining the jerk, personally, politically, and financially. Truth be told, dead might have been kinder.

"Come along," Chef ordered. "I've got you all set up."

She led the way to a cozy table not too far from the large front windows, but not too close either, and to one side of the room. They placed the children in the chairs against the wall. That gave Max and Alec the less secure positions, but it offered the twins better protection.

"The place looks great," Max said. Alec had seen it before, especially since he'd been helping with supplies and everything else needed to get the business up and running, but Max didn't leave TC that often. This was a treat for her as much as for the kids.

"Thank you," Chef said proudly. "It's been a lot of work, but it's been great, too."

The restaurant was wide, but had been broken up into smaller partitioned areas, so it still felt cozy. The tables were covered in white tablecloths and each had a small Christmas themed centerpiece. The walls were covered in pictures, all painted by Joshua, some of which people could tell what they were, some only gave a feeling. Interspersed with those were large photos of the inhabitants of TC, some laughing, some posing, some taken during the clean-up efforts when TC was still a toxic trash heap.

"You four just relax and I'll start bringing things out," Chef said happily. "Give me a few minutes, though. I've got something special to whip up."

"I hope you're going to join us?" Max asked.

"Oh, no! This is my gift to you." She shifted from foot to foot, suddenly more serious. "I'm happy to do something for you guys for once. I never dreamed..." She had what suspiciously looked like tears in her eyes. "Back at Manticore... and now to have a place like this... You don't know..."

"We know," Alec said, wearing one of his rare kind smiles. "We get it. It's why we worked so hard to make this happen."

Chef let out a watery half-laugh. "Yeah. I know. It's just..." She sniffed, brushing a sleeve over her cheeks. "Anyway! Tonight is for you. My treat. You two have done so much for us."

Max looked down, embarrassed. Helping her fellow transgenics had always just been, kind of... built into her DNA. It always felt weird to be thanked.

"Ha! Who knew our tough girl could blush. Wait 'til I tell the others!" Chef clapped her hands and bustled away toward the kitchen. Almost immediately they heard the whir of some sort of kitchen appliance, and Max could barely wait to see what she was making.

"Awwww..." Alec bumped her shoulder with his. "You softie."

Max bumped him back a little harder than she needed to, and it jostled his still healing ribs. He yelped, and Max grinned broadly. "Now who's soft?"

"I said softie, Max. Not soft. Geez. We all know you could break us in half."

Merry nodded in agreement. "Uncle Sig says-"

"Why don't we talk about something else?" Alec quickly suggested. "We don't want Uncle Sig to have an unfortunate accident right before Christmas."

A quiet "snikt" and the tinkle of broken glass were the only warning.

The first shot took Alec through the shoulder, then buried itself in the table. The second, barely a breath behind the first, ricocheted off a metal lamp and hit Max in the leg. Blood immediately began to gush from the wound, but she ignored it. Alec grabbed Kit, and she grabbed Merry. Together they all fell to the floor in a jumble.

"Where'd it come from?" Alec demanded. He tried to tip the table over as cover from the now broken front window. His shoulder was damaged, though, and Merry and Kit hurried to help him.

"Not sure. Must've been silenced. Didn't hear anything," Max answered through gritted teeth.

Alec moved closer to her, took one look at her leg, and grimaced. The blood was trying to spurt in time with her heart. "Sorry, Maxie." He jammed his thumb into her leg wound and squeezed harder than any tourniquet could manage to put as much pressure on the damaged artery as he could. She would bleed out otherwise.

"Where are the guards who were at the gate?" he demanded. "They should be here by now." Despite the shoulder wound, he put his free hand directly on Kit's head and shoved him back down. He'd been trying to peek over the edge of the table.

"They must have bigger problems." Max didn't what would have drawn them away from the gates, but it wasn't good.

"Or they're already down," Merry said grimly.

Max and Alec just looked at the little girl. Her dour expression was made even more stark because of her blood-stained dress from when Max had grabbed her and pulled her to the floor. She was five. Well… six now, but still. She shouldn't have to know about things like that. Their lives though… they didn't live like Ordinaries. The twins' upbringing, it wasn't like the way the transgenics had been raised at Manticore, nothing that brutal, but it was still a different way of life. Granted, since the Pulse, even the Ordinaries' children had to be tougher.

Max shook the thoughts away. Now was definitely not the time.

"Kit!" Alec called, and Max turned to see the little boy sneaking toward the door, staying low.

"Kit, get back here!" Max snapped.

"I'll go," Merry said, and was crawling after him before either of their parents could say a word.

Alec looked to the children, and then down at Max's leg where he was keeping pressure on the punctured artery.

"No guards," Merry whispered, just loud enough they could hear. "No one at the gate."

"Merry, Kit, you two get to the kitchen," Max ordered. "Aunt Chef probably can't hear because of her equipment. Tell her what's going on and stay back there with her. You understand?"

Merry nodded and started to move, but Kit reached out and grabbed her arm, keeping her in place.

"What is it?" she asked.

Kit pointed through the doors. Max couldn't see what it was, but she could guess. "Get away from the doors!"

Rather than obey like good little children, her two disobedient operatives-in-training moved to either side of the door and went stock still, ready for action.

"Alec, do something," she hissed. She had been afraid before. She'd been terrified more times than she wanted to think about, but nothing like this. Nothing had prepared her for seeing her children in danger.

"Max, I've got one thumb in your artery and my other arm is now completely numb. Reach into my pocket and get my phone."

Max was getting light-headed. She'd lost too much blood already, but she made herself focus long enough to grab the cell phone out of his pants pocket. It buzzed before she could even dial.

Mole cleared his throat. "Sorry to mess up your date, Princess, but-"

"Get here now," Max demanded. "We've got a shooter and we're both hurt."

All Max heard was swearing before the connection was closed. "Help's coming," she said.

She and Alec both turned when the front door was kicked open. Two men with automatic weapons entered, looking far too professional. Merry was on the side with the door opened, listing drunkenly on its hinges in front of her. She no longer had a clear view, but she remained immobile. Kit, too, remained perfectly still on the other side of the door, back pressed to the wall. Max surreptitiously signaled for him to stay put.

"Don't move," the lead gunman said. They were both in black combat gear, with ski masks covering their faces.

"Right," Alec said. "Not moving."

"I meant her." He motioned with his gun toward Max. "You," he poked the barrel toward Alec, "stand up."

"See, the thing is, you shot her, and I've got my finger in the dam, so to speak, so… that's not going to happen."

The gunman fired, the bullet whizzing past Alec's head by inches. "I said… Get. Up."

Alec grabbed Max's hand. "Max, you have to put your hand here. I mean it. You have to press on the wound. You hear me?"

Max tried to focus. She really did. She tried to make her hand do what he wanted.

Alec fumbled to pull his belt off to make a tourniquet, but his injured arm was nearly useless, and he refused to move the hand pressing on her wound. "Maxie, you gotta help me out here."

"Just shoot her," the second gunman said. "We don't need her. Just him."

"No."

It was so quiet, Max barely heard it, but it was so startling, it cleared some of the fog away.

Alec's head snapped up and he too zeroed in on the source of that one little word.

"Get up!" the first gunman shouted again.

If Max hadn't been watching, she wouldn't have seen it, let alone believed it .

It happened so fast…

"No," Kit said again.

He and Merry moved away from their spots on either side of the door in perfect synchronization.

Merry, who was closer to the second gunman, kicked him in the knee, and Max heard the joint give way. He dropped his gun and she knocked it away while he fell to the ground, face first. A second later, she had his arm twisted behind him, immobilized.

Kit did the same trick as his sister. He kicked the lead gunman in the knee, which gave with an audible crack. His quarry didn't fall forward, however. The man began to crumple, but twisted in an attempt to face his attacker. Kit was smaller than he expected, shorter, so the blind shot the man fired went over Kit's head.

Kit obviously didn't appreciate that. The man had fallen to an awkward sit, and Kit punched him in the nose, not once but twice. The man fell back to the floor, moaning as his nose turned into a fountain of blood. Kit quickly disarmed him, removing the AR clipped to his vest, as well the silenced rifle he'd slung over his shoulder on a strap. To remove that, Kit had to flip the guy. He twisted the man's arm to force him to turn over, and then wrenched it up so hard, Kit was only a whisper from dislocating the guy's shoulder.

The man cried out in pain. "Get him off me!" he screamed. "Get him off! Call off your freak kid!"

"Merry?" Kit asked quietly.

"This one has zip ties. The kind that are actual cuffs." She threw one to him. "Must've planned on tying Dad up."

Kit caught the plastic cuffs one handed. In a sequence of agile moves no ordinary child could manage, he first cuffed the wrist on the arm he had wrenched upward, then twisted it back so it was in a more natural position as he cuffed the other to it.

Merry cuffed her own prisoner, kneeling on his back so that her knee was digging into his spine. "You ruined my new dress," she said with an angry frown.

"Get off me, you freak! You broke my leg!" the gunman screeched in response.

Kit stood over the downed gunman he'd finished trussing up. He reared back and kicked the man in the ribs. "You do not hurt my family."

Max felt the fog descending. Her children were safe. That was all that mattered.

Distantly, she heard the reinforcements arrive from TC. She heard Chef come through the door from the kitchen and immediately drop the plates she was carrying.

Merry started toward them, but Alec shook his head. "Go to your aunt, Sweetpea, while I take care of Mommy."

Merry paused for only a second, then for once in her life, behaved like a typical child would. "Aunt Chef!" she sobbed and flew toward the woman who knelt and hugged her.

Kit, however, stood guard beside his prisoner until Mole stepped up to him. "You did good, kid. I've got it from here," Mole said, giving his shoulder a squeeze of approval.

Kit nodded and walked to Max's side. He dropped to his knees and took her hand. "It's ok, Mommy. Help's here."


As often happened, Max's hearing came back first.

"Did you get any sleep?" Mole asked. For a second, she thought he was talking to her, but then Alec answered.

"Not much," her husband said. He sounded exhausted. "Peterson patched me up, but it took most of the night to get Max stabilized."

"I saw the twins out there."

Max wasn't sure what "out there" meant. They could be outside, or in the main area of the infirmary, or in the waiting room.

"Yeah." Alec laughed tiredly. "Gem came and took them home last night, but they snuck out this morning and showed up here."

"Determined little critters." Mole definitely sounded proud.

"Don't I know it. Did you find Hockersmith?" Alec asked.

"The real one." Mole grunted in annoyance. "The guy posing as him to hire us is long gone. It was a set up, and a really impressive one."

"How did we miss that he was an imposter?" Alec sounded calm, but she could tell he was angry.

"Because whoever set up the identity for this guy wasn't an amateur. We're putting new protocols in place so we don't miss something like this again. I already ripped the research team a new one anyway, just for fun."

"You do love yelling at people."

She heard Mole chomp on his cigar. "Everybody's got to have a hobby."

"Where were the guards last night?" Alec asked, and she could tell this was the real question. She definitely wanted to know too. This was the first time the kids had stepped foot outside TC and their backup should have been within sight.

"Somebody rammed a truck into one of the buildings two blocks from the main gates. It was close enough the guards went to look and it kept them busy while you guys were attacked. We'd turned the cameras to see what was going on there too in case it was an attempt to breech the defenses."

"Driver?"

"Homeless guy they paid to do it."

Alec shifted and she realized he was holding her hand. "What did you get from the gunmen?" he asked.

"This whole setup was just to get you outside TC and alone. After they screwed up the first time, they figured last night at the restaurant was as alone as they were going to get you. Supposed to kidnap you. They weren't interested in Max."

"I kinda gathered that much."

"They panicked the first time when you fought them. They'd been warned you were dangerous and hit you over the head to drag you into a car. They weren't trying to kill you."

"Almost did anyway," Alec muttered. "I saw two guys and took out one during the first attack. Must've been a third one in their little squad I didn't see the first time, or he hired new help."

"Three man squad from the sound of it."

Alec sighed. "Do we know why?"

"Your freakish DNA."

"What about it?"

"Someone found info from when that doctor had you and your team and infected you all with the virus."

Alec groaned. "That was years ago."

"Files on us have a life of their own. People find 'em squirreled away. Apparently something in your DNA caught their interest. They wanted to make sure they had a captive lab rat to keep working. These guys were hired guns. We're looking in to the little they know about who hired 'em."

"Anything yet?"

"Some. We'll give you a full rundown when you're not dead on your feet. These Apes are toast. They just don't know it yet."

"What is it with these people?" Alec huffed in annoyance. "We get rid of Manticore, we take down every weird Frankenstein doctor we can find, and more of them pop up."

"Not to mention they're always trying to kill you."

"That's not true." Alec sounded incensed. "Apparently, some of them just want me for my body." She could hear the suggestive leer in his tone and she started to smile. "Ahhhh, I thought so." Alec laughed. "There she is. You finally decide to join us there, Maxie?"

Max took another second or two to force her eyes open. They were heavy, but she finally managed it. "You ok?" she asked, her voice a bit gravelly.

Alec stood up from where he'd been sitting beside her infirmary bed. He let go of her hand, picked up a bottle from her bedside and brought the straw to her lips.

"I'm fine," he said. "All patched up." Alec was in a scrub shirt. His shoulder was bandaged up, his arm was in a sling, and he looked beyond worn out, but otherwise fine.

"Can you move your fingers?" He wiggled them a bit to show her, and grimaced. "Idiot," she said affectionately.

"Yeah, yeah." Alec rolled his eyes. "How's the leg?"

Max had been trying very, very hard to ignore the growing awareness that it felt like her leg was on fire. She glanced down and saw the outline of heavy bandaging underneath the covers.

She shrugged. "Not too bad. I'm alive."

Her mind began to scan through images of the last thing she remembered. The restaurant… their dinner that never happened…

"Max?"

The gunmen… Merry and Kit breaking cover… Merry and Kit taking down two armed men…

"Maxie, you gotta breathe for me."

A bullet passing just over Kit's head…

"Baby, I'm serious here. You have to breathe. Mole, get the doctor!"

"On it."

Her children, the most precious things in her life... inches... just inches from a bullet taking them away from her...

"Mommy?"

Max's eyes popped open. Kit was standing in the doorway, staring at her wide-eyed. She gasped, and her starving lungs began to work again, taking in heaving breaths.

Kit walked forward warily, clearly wanting to be nearer to her. Alec bent down, and despite his still tender ribs and now injured shoulder, used his good arm to pick Kit up. He situated their little boy on his hip. "Mommy's leg is hurt. We don't want to bump her. Ok, buddy?"

"Ok," the child said meekly.

He was talking. Kit. Her Kit was talking.

Alec grinned at her, thinking the exact same thing she was. They shared a glance of pure parental pride, joy, relief… all of it. She didn't dare mention it though for fear of making Kit self-conscious.

"It's fine, honey. I'm just a little sore," she said. "Are you ok? And your sister?"

Kit nodded. "Uncle Sig said we did a good job."

Alec set Kit on the floor. "Why don't you go play with your sister in the waiting room, ok?"

Kit frowned and looked from Alec back to her, as if he wasn't sure she'd be in safe hands if he left. Her son had definitely inherited that expression from his father.

"Go ahead. Your Aunt Gem is going to come get you two in a minute and take you home."

Kit finally nodded. He headed out with a last look and a little wave for her as he left.

Once he was gone, Max turned back to Alec. "He's talking."

Alec grinned. "I know. You should have seen Sig when he talked to him. I thought that jerk bulldog was going to cry he was so happy."

"Sig," she nearly snarled. The memory of the bullet zinging over Kit's head washed away the joy from hearing her little boy's voice. "This is his fault. I'm going to kill him and then every last one of the others. Mole, Slick… Fred and Barney too… all of them. Our kids are not recruits in baby boot camp. I don't want-"

"Max," Alec said in warning, "watch your blood pressure."

"I'm a freak of nature," she said through gritted teeth. "My blood pressure is perfect."

Alec got in her face, and she could see he was serious. "You've got a barely patched blow out in your leg, Max. You can kill Sig and the others in a couple of days, but right now you need to stay calm."

Max blinked, and suddenly she could see the worry on Alec's face. She could see how scared he'd been. She'd been bleeding out, and he'd been ordered to get up and leave her.

"I'm calm." He gave her a look. "I am. I'm just… I don't want this place to be… Manticore-light. I want them to be kids."

"Max, I nearly had a heart attack last night when Merry and Kit broke cover, but if our kids hadn't stepped in, if they hadn't had any training, you might not have made it. It was that close." Alec took her hand again. "We're not normal people, Maxie, and neither are our kids."

She shook her head. "You think I don't know that?"

"You heard why they were trying to nab me?" He waited for her to nod. "You know who else has my DNA?"

It took Max a second to realize what he was saying. "They might try to take the kids next time."

"I want them to know how to protect themselves." He sighed. "Even setting that aside… Max, they've got our genes and our tendencies, our animal instincts too. They need to be taught to control them or they could accidentally hurt an Ordinary."

She knew it was true. She knew he was right. She hated it, but he was right. Last night, she'd been down, and Alec had been badly compromised. He was still a mess, although he was putting on a brave face because she was more injured than he was.

"So we're training them how to hurt them on purpose?" she asked.

"Only in a restaurant shoot out?" he replied innocently, eyebrows raised.

Dr. Peterson jogged into the room, and slid to a halt when he realized the crisis seemed to have passed. "Everything all right in here?"

"We're good," Alec answered.

Mole appeared right behind the doctor. "She quit freaking out?"

"I'm fine," she bit out.

Alec, as usual, was quick to play peacemaker. "Mole? You want to go watch the twins in the waiting room until Gem gets here? Last time, they tried to deconstruct the electric heater to see how it worked."

"Fine. I'll keep 'em busy," Mole said grumpily, but he was smiling as he walked out of sight.

Peterson stepped closer to the bed, looking over the readouts on the machines. When he was satisfied, he looked her over as well. "You seem to be breathing all right. Little panic attack?" he asked.

"They shot at my son," Max said. "The bullet went right over his head." She squeezed Alec's hand and felt him do the same.

Peterson nodded. "I heard. He's fine, Max. So is Merry. Sometimes small children are much calmer in a disaster than their parents. They don't quite realize the seriousness of the situation, or the consequences."

"I already had a stern talk with the pair of them about doing what we say during a combat situation."

"Alec," Max warned.

"I know, Max. I know," he said. "They're not soldiers in training. But our lives are what they are. When something like this happens, they have to follow orders."

She cocked her head to the side. "You mean like you do?"

His lips twitched trying not to smile. "I've had years and years of training. I know when to obey orders, and when the orders are… flexible."

"Uh huh." Not thinking, Max shifted her leg and a bolt of fire shot through her at the movement. She gasped, and held very still.

"Careful, Maxie," he said. Alec was still holding her hand and he brought it up and pressed a kiss against her heated skin.

"I can give you something for the pain," Peterson said. "It won't last long, but it'll take the edge off. Just let me go-"

"Wait!" Max said, and he stopped. "Kit. He's talking. Do we know why?"

Peterson smiled. "I guess he decided it was time." He gave them a happy nod, and hurried out of the room.

"The way I see it, it was bound to happen," Alec said. "It being Christmas Eve and all."

Max had completely forgotten that it was now Christmas day. Those jerks had managed to steal Christmas morning from them. The kids had presents waiting for them, and she was laid up in this stupid bed. She'd had her first Christmas with the twins stolen from her. She did not appreciate it happening again.

"What does Christmas Eve have to do with it?"

Alec just grinned. "Not big on your Christmas legends, Max?"

She just looked at him blankly.

"All part of the glory of the holiday." He kissed the back of her hand again. "Animals can talk on Christmas Eve, Maxie."

Max shook her head, but she felt herself grinning at her idiot husband. In all likelihood, the dire circumstances had overcome whatever barrier had been holding Kit back. It was a nice thought though… a little Christmas miracle of their own. Another one really, since the children themselves were the first she and Alec had been given.

"Merry Christmas, Alec."

"Merry Christmas, Max."


And a merry Christmas to all of you. Hope you enjoyed it. Thanks for reading!