"Alec!", Maggie sat bolt upright.  sweat soaked
 her entire body and her sleeping bag was  entangled around her.  
Her breathing was quick and ragged as she
 wiped her  forehead with the back of her hand.  Looking
 around, she found that everyone else was still asleep. 
 She slipped  quietly out of her sleeping bag and moved
 to sit next to the smoldering pile of  wood nearby, 
 hugging her knees tightly to her chest. 


      
          "Maggie?  Are you okay?" 


      
          She spun around to find Alec behind her, an
 anxious expression on his face.  


     "I'll be  fine.  Just a bad dream."  Alec sat next
 to her,"Do you wanna talk about it?" 


      
          Maggie turned away from him, "No...it just
 shook me up a little is all." 


      
          "I don't know, you seem to be shaking quite a
 bit to me.", Alec said. 


      
          Maggie glanced at him, a baffled expression on
 her face.  He grasped her wrist in his hand and held her
 own hand  out in front of her.  When he let go, her hand
 was trembling like a leaf. She lowered her hand, as well
 as her eyes, "It's chilly.", she murmured. 


      
          "I see.", Alec said in a hushed tone.  The two
 of them sat in silence for a few minutes before Maggie
 finally spoke. 


      
          "How did it happen?", she inquired lightly, her
 eyes focused intently on her hands, which were now in
 her lap. 


      
          "What?"
 

      
          "How did you...", she couldn't bring herself to finish 
the sentence, the word she wanted to say refused to leave her throat. 


      
		Alec understood what she was trying
 to say,"Typhonus had Colleen cornered when I came into
 the comm. room.  I had to help her somehow, so I fired
 at him.  He turned on me, and  threw me up against a
 wall; banged up my frame pretty bad, but he wasn't done. 
  He caved the sides if my frame in, I was stuck. 
 Colleen got him, but it was too late;   the damage was
 done.  I  guess the rest you already know." he saw
 Maggie wipe the tears from her face, "Maggie?"
 

      
          Her eyes met his as she spoke, "I had dreams...about how 
you...you died.", she choked. 

 "Terrible, painful deaths.  I still had them, after you
 came back.  I just wondered what really  happened." 


      
          "Is that what woke you up?", Alec asked. 


      
          Maggie nodded, closing her eyes.  Tears still
 streamed down her cheeks.  After a moments hesitation,
 Alec put his arms around her and pulled her closer to
 him.  Maggie couldn't take it  anymore.  She buried her
 face in Alec's chest and surrendered to her tears, 
uncontrollable sobs  racking through her. 


      
          They sat that way for nearly five minutes
 before Maggie's sobs died down and she pulled  away from
 Alec, lifting her eyes to look at him.  He gazed back at
 her, his blue eyes filled with concern.  She did her
 best to give him a weak smile. 


      
          Alec reached out and tentatively brushed the
 tears from Maggie's face.  "I thought...that  I'd never
 see you again.", Alec said solemnly, "knowing I was
 going to die was nothing compared to that." 


      
          Maggie caught the hint of pain that reflected
 in his eyes, and immediately averted her  own so that he
 couldn't see the fresh tears that fell from them.  She
 cursed herself for crying.   She'd been through too
 much, done too much crying already.  Alec was here now 
and that was what mattered.  She was going to tell him
 how she felt if it was the last thing she did. 


      
          Her thoughts were interrupted when she felt a
 hand on her shoulder.  She instinctively  spun around,
 reaching for her blaster, but remembered that she
 didn't have it.

 
      
          "Lt. Weston, there is an incoming message for
 you from Lt. O'Reilly...it sounds quite urgent." 


      
          "Marsala!  You scared me half to death!",
 Maggie chided him. 


      
          " I am sorry.  It was not my intention to
 frighten you.", the Neosapien apologized. 

 
      
          It's okay.", Maggie stood and headed for her
 e-frame, Alec following her.  "If she's calling at 3am,
 it had better be good.  Yeah, what is it Colleen?", she
 questioned the waiting woman. 


      
          "Maggie, we need you...communications and
 security...~bzzt~...", Colleen O'Reilly's frantic voice
 came over the speaker.


     
      
          "Colleen!?  What's happening!?" 


      
          "Livia es...need tech exp...systems
 working...", the sound of blasters being fired drowned
 out her words.  "Kodi!", the line crackled and then went
 dead. 


      
          Alec and Maggie glanced at each other.  "I've
 gotta go back.", Maggie  announced, leaning over into
 her frame.  She emerged with a transmitter in her hand. 
 She gave it to Alec, who presented her with a bewildered
 look. 


      
          "It's a sensory jammer.", she explained, "If
 the equipment's messed up, no one will be  able to tell
 where you are, but take it just in case.", Alec's
 eyebrows rose and the corners of his mouth turned up in
 a smirk.  "What?  Alec, why are you looking at me like
 that?" 


      
          "Flying into lord-knows-what, and her first
 concern is the rest of us getting caught.", she scowled
 at him in mock anger and turned to her frame, "Besides,
 I'm not letting you go alone." 


      
          She turned back to look at him, "Pardon?",she
 quipped indignantly. 


      
         " I'm going with you.", Alec declared.
 

      
          "The hell you are!", Maggie exclaimed, shocking
 herself as well as Alec. 


      
          "Maggie, you have no idea what you're walking
 into.  Going alone isn't a very good idea.", he
 reasoned.  


      
          "I can take care of myself.", she muttered. 


      
          "Don't get cocky, Maggie.", she turned to look
 at him.  Her very own words.  


     She realized he was right.  She could very well be
 walking into a war zone, just as he had on the moon. 
 "Tell Marsala what's going on; I'll get my things and we
 can go." 


      
          Alec went to find Marsala and Maggie grabbed
 her stuff, slipping on her headpiece and chestplate. 
 She found Alec already in his frame when she got back.

 
      
          "That was fast." 



      
          "I wanted to make sure you didn't leave without
 me." Alec said. 


        
         "Are you ready?", Maggie asked. 


      
          "As ready as I'll ever be.", Alec said dryly.
 

      
          "Let's go." 


     _______________________________________________________ ___________ 
      
          "C'mon, let's go!", Bronski urged Kaz. 


      
          "I'm goin, I'm goin!  Don't spaz!" 


      
          "I'll show you spaz if ya don't get yer butt
 movin!", Rita threatened. 


      
          Kaz climbed into his fighter, "Okay, are ya
 happy now?" 


      
          "Oh, don't be such a grump.", Jade said as she
 practically jumped into her frame. 


      
          "Thank you, Little Miss Sunshine.", Kaz teased. 


      
          She flashed him a malicious grin through the
 clear glass of her e-frame's windshield. 


      
          Kaz shook his head and laughed. 


      
      
          "They went where!?", J.T.'s voice came from a
 few  yards away. 


      
          "Lt. O'Reilly sounded quite distraught; they
 didn't want to waste time waiting until morning.",
 Marsala explained.
 

      
          "Did she say what was happening?", J.T. sounded
 troubled. 


      
          "No, she didn't say."Well, if they need us they
 know where to find us.", he stepped into his e-frame,
 "We don't have time to worry about it anyway, we've got 
to get going." 


      
          "What about Maggie?  If someone tracks us,
 we're busted.", Kaz said. 


      
          "If comm. and security are down, no one's going
 to track us.", J.T. said.  "Now can we please go?"  

 
      
          "And you thought I was grumpy.", Kaz said to
 Jade.   


      
          She smiled at him and shrugged, "He's
stressed." 

      
          "I guess.", Kaz agreed. 


      
          Ten minutes later, they finally left. 

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