They'd gotten in late from checking out the last basement, returning with the personnel and therapy files of everyone who had gone missing. They'd both just climbed into bed after hiding the files. Despite Alec's argument, Max refused to sleep naked.

She couldn't sleep so she just faked it. She spent most of the time thinking about the files and what might be in them. They'd agreed that since they had a rather light day tomorrow (which technically, Max supposed was now today) and their therapy sessions ended before two in the afternoon, they'd use their free time to ride back to Seattle and get the files to Logan to see what he could find.

So while Alec slept beside her, she plotted ways to drive him crazy and to be an excellent wife all at the same time. As the sun rose and the minutes flicked by, she had a pretty good plan figured out.
Alec had rolled a little while sleeping, and was now a foot away from her, but was facing her after his last roll. So she pushed herself backwards until she was right up against him.

Max was surprised at the way he automatically curled around her, his body moulding against hers. Of course, she nearly had a heart attack when he pressed his morning boner up against her butt. She forced herself to slow down her breathing to its regular state and thought about it. Its morning, its completely natural.

He rolled again, slinging an arm over her waist and burying his face into her hair. He sighed contentedly and whispered "Max" in his sleep. She felt the need to kick his ass for pawing at her like this, but this was just instinct. They'd been around each other for long enough that their bodies would subconsciously recognize each other, that was all.

Alec had been awake since the second Max moved over to him but had been far too curious to see what she was going to do. He'd thought that sniffing her hair would be a little much, but he she'd seemed to buy it. He hadn't even meant to say her name; it just kind of slipped out because she smelt damn good. Of course, when she started to move against him he nearly blew his cover, among other things.

Max slowly started rotating her hips so that her ass grinded against his morning hard on, rolling back against Alec. She wasn't sure how long she could get away with this before he woke up, but she was hoping long enough so that he'd be on edge for the rest of the day. She felt an odd rush of power, knowing full well what she was doing. His grip on her seemed to tighten and he was moving against her. He was probably in the middle of some sex dream about whatever bimbo he'd been hooking up with.

Alec was freaking out. His mind was screaming 'what the hell is she doing?' but his body was enjoying this way too much to give this up...at least for another minute or so.

Max gulped surprised at how much this seemed to be affecting her as well. Sure, the rush of power was explainable, but the increased heart and breathing rates, the surge of lust and desire to roll over and wake him up to finish this took her by surprise. She started to slow herself down to try and get herself under control when Alec suddenly rolled on top of her, pinning her arms under her head, straddling her body.

"What's the matter, Maxie?" His voice was deep, throaty and he was breathing hard. He pushed his hips down against hers, and she had to bite down on a groan that wanted to wrench its way past her lips. It's just because you haven't had sex in forever, Max. You'd react like this to Sketchy, for god's sake. "Didn't you want to finish what you started?"

She tried to slow her breathing, and closed her eyes to help. When she opened them, he was hovering over her, their noses nearly touching, and his eyes were intensely dark. Her breath got caught in her throat and she just stayed there for a moment, her eyes locked on his.

Suddenly she snapped back to her senses. She wiggled one hand free and hit him over the head. "Get the hell off me, Alec."

"I figured," he smirked. He rolled off her, stalking into the bathroom and closing the door. She grumbled, realizing she had just lost round one of their little game. Running a hand through her hair, she stood up and walked over to the dresser and pulled out some clothes for the day, pulling them on while thinking hard about the moment that passed before she'd pushed him off of her. Luckily, they had group therapy and then individual therapy today, so she didn't have to spend her time stuck in some weird tense place between the two of them as she tried to figure it out.

She stalked off and left for group before he got out of the shower, hoping to clear her head.

Alec walked out of the bathroom and scratched his head. He looked around and saw that Max had left already. He rolled his eyes. Typical Max, can't even take a joke. He slammed his fist against the wall. He should've known that he'd been pushing Max too far.

He sighed and glanced at the clock. He'd get dressed and go to group. They'd slept through breakfast and his stomach rumbled, but for once he didn't care.
-x-
Alec's group was small today; there was only five of them. Him, Mr. Moose, Mrs. Doe (a new addition, her and her husband had arrived two days ago), Mr. Monkey and Mrs. Frog. Apparently, everyone in the circle had been cheated on, or was a cheater themselves, and the idea was for everybody to share their experience so everyone could get a better idea of how this affected their partner.

Max's group, oddly, was all women. Her, Moose, Monkey, Koala, Duck, one of the Giraffe women and a handful of others she had totally forgotten were sitting in a circle. Maggie was leading the group trying to get all the women opening up about how they try to create co-dependencies in their marriages and show their partners that they need them.

Mrs. Frog was talking about how she'd felt when her partner cheated on her. "It was like a giant sign saying 'you're not wanted' and everybody could see it hanging over my head. He didn't want me, he wanted her, and she was young and perfect and amazing and I was old and boring and washed up. I'm around to take care of our daughter. We used to be partners and it was like a huge slap in the face, like he'd found somebody else he'd rather be partners with. Like I stopped being his wife and was just the mother now. And it hurt. I don't feel sexy or wanted or even loved anymore. He's tried to start sex but it feels like he's just trying to placate me, not like he wants me. And how do I know that he's not just seeing her when we're together, or thinking about her and wishing it was her instead of me? I just don't know how to feel secure in our marriage anymore."

"It's so hard to try and share myself with Eddie," Monkey started. "I've been taking care of myself for so long. I've been beat up and let down and people always leave. They pack up and they ditch you to take care of themselves. So I took care of myself, because nobody else was going to. And so the idea of letting him help me is really scary. Because what if he leaves like everybody else? And what if I forget how to take care of myself because I let him do it for a while? I guess that's insecure of me to just assume he'll leave, but it's what I've come to expect from people. I don't know how to just let him take care of me."

"Marianne and I were on the rocks; have been for two years. And we weren't having sex, and it felt like we barely spoke to each other. I met the other woman at work and she smiled at me. I couldn't remember the last time Marianne did even that. It felt good just to be desired."

"I guess I found it pretty easy from the beginning to open up and rely on Jack. I work for a trauma survivor's group and a lot of the time when I get home, I'm depressed and tired. Jack... he picked up on it. He never asked or pushed but he'd make dinner and hold me and just let me cry and do everything in my own time. And I just started relying on him more and more to be there when I needed him. I know that I can pick up the phone and he'll come running. I just trust him completely."

"So, Alec, why don't you tell us about your experience?" Greg asked. Alec nodded and gulped.
He'd been listening carefully to the others, but he hadn't been able to get this morning off his mind. So he let his training take over and he used it.

"With Max, it's not a physical thing. I mean, you guys have seen her," he smirked as Monkey nodded and Moose laughed. "She's gorgeous and totally sexy, for god's sake the woman rides a motorcycle."

"So what was the problem, Alec?" Greg pushed, trying to get him to move on. Too bad, Alec rather liked talking about Max's body.

"Max gets really weird about sex. We waited forever before we had our first time and a lot of the time we start to get into it and she just shuts off. Just pushes me off and walks away, lost in her own little world. And I don't have a clue why. I can't get her to explain it to me. After a while I got really frustrated. I went to a bar to drink it out of my system and this woman just approached me and I was drunk and, yeah. I wasn't trying to hurt Max, it just sort of happened." He was surprised how remorseful he seemed to sound, as even the ones who had been cheated on were looking at him with sympathy and sadness in their eyes.

Max was up. She was supposed to talk about how she was letting Alec in, or shutting him out.

"I don't know what to say." Wow, she'd gotten so good at this honesty thing.

"Well Max, do you talk to Alec about your problems more often or not?" Maggie asked, tilting her head to the side.

"I guess not." She shrugged.

Maggie continued to push. "Well, why not?"

Because we've known each other for a year during which time all we do is fight, commit crime or try to kill each other. "I guess because Alec's not a serious guy. He's goofy, he likes to joke around and have a good time. He tends to deflect if you ask about him, just shrugs it off and goes 'I'm always alright'". She let her voice drop as she mimicked him. "And I guess it's hard to open up to somebody who doesn't open up to you."

"Okay Max, but what if he's thinking the same thing?"

"Then I guess we're screwed." Max crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back in her chair. She couldn't wait to get out of this stupid place.

-x-
Today, individual therapy meant being grilled by both Maggie and Greg as a combo so they could share their notes with you about your progress so far and talk about how to keep going.

"Alec, we're pleased with your efforts to improve your sex life." Maggie started, smiling at him.

Alec smirked. "Well doc, I like to get up and go." He wiggled his eyebrows.

"However, we want you to focus more on your emotional bonds with Max. You two don't seem to sit down and talk very often." Greg flipped through his notes and crossed his legs so one ankle was resting over his other knee, his foot stopping just beside the small television and video player in the room. "You both have lost the ability to talk openly about your feelings and when that comes, I suspect your sex life will just snap into place."

Maggie was nodding her agreement. "What you need to do for now is twofold. You need to show Max that she can feel safe opening up to you by opening up to her. Start with something little – like what you felt about your therapy today. If you hate me and Greg-"

"I don't hate-" Alec tried to interrupt.

"That's great Alec. But if you did, we'd want you to talk about it with Max. If you're annoyed at something, tell her. How often did you talk to Max about your jealousy?"

"You mean Logan? I didn't. Max is a big girl. She's going to do what she wants." He crossed his arms over his chest.

"Do you feel possessive of Max?"

"I don't think possessive is the right word. She's my wife; that doesn't make her mine. I'm protective of her, I guess."

"Okay, well what goes through your head when I show you this?" Greg grabbed the remote off the table and clicked it on. The television was fuzzy with white noise for a moment, and then snapped into focus. It showed Max talking to one of the male employees at the camp. They were standing close together and he saw Max laughing. There was no sound, just like they'd promised at the beginning, but he knew what Max laughing looked like. Then she flipped her hair over her shoulder.

Max was flirting. Max was flirting.

That didn't seem right.

Max didn't flirt. Maybe with Logan, but not with random guys who Alec didn't recognize. There wasn't even anything special about this guy. He wasn't ugly but he wasn't like, transgenic attractive either. Hell, Logan was better looking. Maybe.

Alec felt the odd urge to growl. He instantly flashed back to the last time he'd felt that, when X5-683 had been talking to one of the guards and it made Alec uneasy.

So that's what that was. It was just his protective instincts. He and Max had spent enough time together; he must subconsciously recognize her as part of his unit. It was just protective, that was all. The shrinks didn't know what they were talking about.

"Alec?" Maggie called and he snapped his eyes up to her. "You were thinking pretty hard there," she said, smiling softly like he'd proved their point.

"Yeah, I guess."

"Well Alec, what we'd like you to do today is write a letter to Max. Sometimes the hardest part is actually looking at the person you're talking to, so we're going to start small. You can say anything you like, no one except Max will read it. We're going to ask her to write as well. Just be completely honest about how you feel, about anything. You can tell her that you want to make your marriage work or that Logan drives you crazy or that you wish she'd feel more comfortable around you or anything that's on your mind, okay?"

Alec nodded, ideas running through his mind of possible things to say to Max. "Yeah, sure."

"Great! There's pens and paper in the desk in your cabin. Bring your letter with you to tomorrow's session."
-x-

Max sat on the couch forcing herself not to glare at the two therapists sitting in front of her. They were both staring at her intently.

"You were very closed off today during group, Max." Greg started, softly.

"I guess I wasn't feeling very chatty," she snarked.

"Well, I have another theory." Maggie said. She nodded to Greg, who hit a button on his remote. The camera view of their cabin popped up and as the video started, she could see herself pinned under Alec, the two of them staring at each other.

Now this was exactly the moment in her life she wanted to relive.

The therapists said nothing; they just watched the tape as Max pushed Alec away and left.

"What happened there, Max? Everything was going great, you're both clearly into it... why'd you push him away?" Maggie leaned forward while Greg stopped the tape.

Max bit down on her tongue to keep from biting back an insult at the therapists about being peeping toms. To be honest, the same question had been rolling around in her head since she walked out on him this morning. Well, less of why she stopped and more as to why she let it go on so far in the first place.

Greg's eyebrows wrinkled and he leaned forward. "You don't have an answer, do you?" His voice was soft and he sounded almost sympathetic to her confusion.

"No, I don't," she whispered, letting the truth come out.

"That's okay, Max. You're allowed to not have all the answers." Maggie's voice also dropped into the soft tone that Greg had used.

And in that moment, something in Max snapped when she met his eyes.

She felt the urge to cry, just from those words, that it was okay to be lost and not know where you're going. Between trying to save the world with Logan, trying to save the transgenics (with and including Alec), trying to find a cure so she and her not-like-that sort-of boyfriend could touch without him dying and trying to earn enough money to eat, parts of herself seemed to fall by the wayside. It was just so much trying.

"The only problem is that you don't tell Alec. You shut him out – that's what you did this morning and that's what you've been doing ever since you found out about the affair. But the more you shut him out, the more damage you do to your marriage. And sooner or later, Max, you're going to find that there's too much to fix."

-x-

Max stomped back to their cabin, glowering at the sign on the door that read "Mr. And Mrs. Raccoon." She ripped it off and slammed the door behind her when she entered the stupid shack, throwing the sign on the floor angrily.

Alec was there, waiting for her so they could drive back to the city and talk to Logan. He sat up and looked at her with concern when she kicked the sign even further away from her.

"What's wrong?" No jokes, no teasing; just straight up.

"Congratulations. Apparently, I'm sabotaging our marriage." She grumbled. Alec's frown deepened a little and then he let it go, assuming Max didn't want to talk about it.

"You ready to get out of here?"

"Oh god, yes."