It turned out that Lena returned before Alec woke up. I straightened in my chair as she walked in. She carried a large crate and appeared to be straining slightly under the weight. She set the box down soon after she entered and stretched her back. She looked over and saw me next to Alec.

“I see you’re finally awake.” she said, emphasis on the finally.

I wasn’t sure if she was disdainful or just teasing. I shrugged in reply.

“Needed time to recuperate, I guess.”

She didn’t continue the conversation, simply turning, opening the lid on the crate, and beginning to put away the contents. I got to my feet and limped towards her.

“Is there anything I can do to help?” I asked.

“You asked for it.” Lena said, and began piling things into my arms.

The pile grew almost as high as my head before Lena motioned for me to follow her. I struggled to keep my limp to a minimum so that I wouldn’t jostle the pile. Finally, Lena began to remove the supplies in my arms and place them into cabinets and drawers.

“Round two.” Lena quipped, heading back to the crate.

I followed. It would take eight rounds to empty the crate. By five my leg was starting to hurt, but I pressed on until the job was done. As soon as the crate was empty, I returned to my chair and collapsed in it. I was frustrated by the wound more than anything at this point. I just wanted it to hurry up and heal. At least this leg wound wouldn’t take as much time to heal as the one Alec had dealt me.

“Here.” Lena threw me a roll of gauze and some cotton, “You can change it this time.”

I pulled my leg up and rested it on the edge of Alec’s bed. Pulling up my pant leg, I saw that I did in fact need a fresh bandage. I pulled off the old dressing and inspected the wound. It was a rather small wound for all the pain it caused. I probably shouldn’t have been feeling it so much. But I’d done a number on my right leg once before. It probably couldn’t handle the injury as well as it should.

I began to press a fresh piece of cotton over the wound, but Lena stopped me.

“Wait. You should put some of this on, too.” she said, coming over and handing me a small spray bottle, “It’ll keep it from getting infected.”

I nodded and sprayed my leg with the liquid. I inhaled sharply at the pain the antibiotic caused, but that pain quickly faded. Within moments, my bandage was on. I put my leg back down and noticed that Alec’s eyes were open and he was watching me.

“Pretty bullet wound. Bet mine’s better.” he commented, smiling.

“You will be wishing we could trade when you try and get up.” I predicted.

“Get up? Do I look like a masochist? I’m going to stay right here for as long as I can and enjoy myself.” he crossed his arms behind his head, wincing slightly as he contracted his stomach muscles to lift his head, “It’ll be fun. Especially if Max feels guilty.”

“You know, she’s right. You are a jackass.” I commented.

“What can I say? So, how’d you get that beauty anyway? I was half-expecting you to try and follow me.”

I blinked in surprise.

“That is actually what I was planning to do. But I got sidetracked. Max needed my help to save two X-5’s who got caught in the middle of a mob in a tangle with the cops. White showed up before we could split and tried to take me out. He’s a better shot than I thought.” I explained.

Alec frowned, his eyes sparking with hatred at the mention of White.

“One more reason for me to kill him.” he said darkly.

“Hate to interrupt your assassination plans, but I’ve got to have a look at your own little scratch.” Lena said dryly, returning to Alec’s bedside.

She took the spray bottle, cotton, and wrapping from me and placed it next to Alec where she could easily reach it. She then began to undue Alec’s bandage.

“This is going to hurt.” she warned before jostling him to get the bandage out from under him.

Alec made no sound throughout the process of changing his bandages, but his face got rather pale and his hands were clenched in fists so tight that his knuckles were white.

“All done.” Lena announced finally.

“You’re lucky I like it rough, doc.” Alec joked, his voice a little scratchy.

She gave him a patronizing smile and went to check on the pregnant woman who was now awake and relatively calm.

“You okay?” I asked.

“Me? Always. It takes more than a bullet and a busted rib to take me down.” he boasted cockily.

I smiled, figuring if he felt good enough to be cocky, he was fine.

“So.” he said, pulling a cell phone out of his jeans, “Want to see if we get room service?”

I watched, amused, as Alec quickly dialed a number.

“Maxie? Yeah, I’m okay, I guess. It hurts really bad to move. I almost fainted when doc changed my bandage. And poor Jess can barely walk. Don’t worry about it, Max. It’s not your fault we’re bullet ridden. No. Actually, we’re kind of hungry. Starving, in fact. Do you think you could bring us something? Your the best, Maxie. See you when you get here.” Alec hung up the phone with a huge grin on his face.

“You’re horrible. Despicable.”

“A genius?”

I smiled at him.

“Well, I am starving.”

“Just remember to look pitiful when she gets here.”

“I’ll try.” I promised.

“So, do I look as bad as I think I do?” Alec asked, attempting to comb his hair with his fingers.

“Not too bad. A drowned rat comes to mind.” I teased.

Alec made a face.

“Hey, you’re not one to talk. When’s the last time you saw a brush, huh?” Alec retorted.

“At least my clothes are clean.”

“I’m only half-dressed anyway. I don’t need to change.”

“You smell.”

“So do you.”

“I’m glad you’re okay.”

“You have no idea.”

“Would I hurt you if I gave you a hug?”

“It’d be worth it.”

He smiled and I hugged him as gently as I could. I tried not to notice that he wasn’t wearing a shirt, but the thought wouldn’t be pushed aside. I pulled away, feeling slightly disgusted with myself. Here he was, hurt and in pain, and I was checking him out. I should be thinking only of his welfare right now.

“Let’s not get shot again.” Alec suggested.

“Sounds like a plan.” I replied, but I was no longer focused on the conversation.

“Hello? Earth to Jess. You even here?” Alec asked, immediately noticing my distance.

“Sorry. Just a little distracted.”

Alec looked at me curiously for a moment, then changed the subject.

“So, what about those two X-5’s you brought in? Anyone I’d know?”

“Actually, they’re from Max’s old unit. Apparently, two of the escapees. Their names are Krit and Syl.” I said.

“I’ve heard about them. They helped blow the genetics lab. Max must be thrilled.”

“Yeah, I think she is. I know I’d be excited if some of my unit showed up.”

I thought sadly about the X-5’s I had spent most of my life with.

“I was pretty excited when I ran into Biggs.” Alec nodded.

His face scrunched up in pain for a moment and I was fairly certain that it had nothing to do with his bullet wound. I remembered that he had mentioned something about a friend of his being killed not too long ago by a gang. He covered his lapse quickly by raising an eyebrow and looking curious.

“So, is Syl hot?”

I shook my head and laughed a little.

“I wouldn’t know.” I replied, then quickly decided to add, “But Krit’s not too bad.”

Alec pouted at me and looked about to say something when Max entered, trailed by the two transgenics we had just been talking about.

“Hey, she is pretty hot.” Alec muttered before putting on a pained look and groaning softly.

I glared at him quickly before looking down, trying to look pathetic.

“Chow time!” Max announced, holding up a pizza, “We brought plenty. Figured Lena and Spaz might be hungry, too.”

She set down the pizza on an empty bed and came closer, a concerned look appearing on her face once again.

“How are you doing?” she asked Alec.

“Hurts.” Alec said in a small voice, like he was in a lot of pain, but was trying to be brave, “But I’ll be fine. It’s enough to know the rest of my team’s okay.”

I saw Krit and Syl exchange glances behind Max’s back and knew that Alec hadn’t fooled them any. Lucky for him, they both seemed rather amused and didn’t look like they were about to clue in Max. Apparently, Alec noticed, too, because when Max turned to get out a piece of pizza he winked at them. I caught Syl stifle a snicker.

“Here. Have some pizza. That ought to help cope with the injustice of it all.” Max held out a piece to Alec, looking concerned.

Alec reached weakly for the pizza, but before he could take it Max sprang forward and smeared it in his face.

“You dumbass. Did you really think you could play me?” she had her hands on her hips and was trying to look angry, but was failing due to the smile on her face.

Alec pealed the pizza off his face and I couldn’t help but laugh at the sight of him. His face was covered with pizza sauce and there was a pepperoni stuck to his cheek. He glared at Max.

“Picking on the wounded, Maxie. That’s low.” he accused.

Max rolled her eyes at him, turning and taking some pizza to the pregnant woman, apparently Spaz, and Lena. Syl and Krit took out some pieces, as well. Krit brought a piece to me.

“Jess, right?” he asked as he handed it to me.

I nodded, taking a large bite of the pizza. I really was starving. I hadn’t eaten since the day before when I’d been trying to keep my mind off of worrying about what could happen to Alec.

“What?” I asked around my food, noticing the way Krit was looking at me.

He had a slightly amused look on his face and his head was cocked to one side as he looked at me.

“Hungry?” he ventured.

“Starving.” I confirmed.

“You’re X-5?”

“613.”

“How’s it been since Manticore burned down?”

“Actually, I escaped.”

“Really?” Krit sounded surprised.

He took a quick bite of his pizza and sat down on my bed, looking at me with interest.

“She took off on a mission with her partner.” Alec interjected, “She’s been out about a year.”

He sounded a little upset. I glanced at him, wondering what was wrong, but he was busy wiping his face off on a towel Syl handed him.

“Why’d you split?” Krit asked.

“Lots of reasons. Just couldn’t take it anymore.” I said simply.

It was too complicated to get into right now. But surprisingly, Krit seemed to understand anyway. I took another bite of my pizza and chewed thoughtfully. I found myself distracted by Syl talking to Alec.

“It’s funny. I mean, you look like him, of course, but you’re nothing like him. Maxie told us you were his twin, you know, to prepare us and I thought you’d be more...Ben-like.” she said.

“Nah, I’m one hundred percent, genuine Alec.” Alec replied.

“So, how’d...” Krit began, drawing my attention back to him.

“I’ve got to go, guys.” Max interrupted both conversations, “I’ve got so much to do right now. We have to be ready for when White comes. Krit, Syl, are you guys coming?”

“I’m still kind of hungry. I think I’ll hang here for a little bit.” Krit said without taking his eyes from me.

I looked away, feeling like I was being scrutinized.

“Yeah, me, too.” Syl agreed, taking a bite of pizza for emphasis, “We’ll catch you later, Maxie.”

Max nodded and left, glancing at her “siblings” before she disappeared outside. My eyes then fell upon Syl sitting on the edge of Alec’s bed and leaning forward to wipe a piece of sauce of his face that he had missed. A strange feeling welled up inside me. I felt angry at Syl. I didn’t even know her, but I didn’t like her.

“Anyway, how did you end up here in sunny Seattle?” Krit asked.

“Just moving around. I never heard about Manticore. Kira and I stayed on the road too much to hear much news. I thought we still had a government agency tracking us. It was a coincidence that we ended up here and ran into Alec.” I said, choosing to ignore Syl and Alec.

“Wow. It’s hard to believe you didn’t hear about that.” Krit said.

I shrugged. I couldn’t believe we hadn’t heard about it either.

“How long have you been here?”

“Not long. This is only my fourth day.”

“Four days and you’ve already been shot? This is worse than LA.” he joked.

I glanced over at Alec and saw him looking at me. He quickly turned back to Syl, raising an eyebrow at her. She smiled easily in return and flipped her hair over her shoulder. I couldn’t stand this anymore.

“Would you help me outside? I need some air.” I said quickly to Krit.

“Sure.” he jumped to his feet and offered me his hand.

I took it, glancing once more at Alec. He was flashing his grin at Syl. I clenched my free hand in a fist and limped towards the door a little faster, forgetting my hunger. I couldn’t help but feel betrayed.

I turned to Krit, resolving myself that two could play Alec’s game.