The Only Way Out: Does It Really Matter?
Keela13
Part One
This is a complete make-over of "It Matters, or Does It?"
Summary: Max and crew have to find a way to get Logan, Sketchy and Original Cindy out of
Terminal City, and the transgenics have to find ways to keep themselves occupied while the siege
creeps slowly along.
Note: Post Freak Nation, Alec does not yet know what Max told Logan to push him away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So slow down your horses
Stop dragging me around
And if crying is the only way into your heart
Then leaving is the only way out
--Shania Twain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well you can count me out," Luke said, rising from the table and moving on to some less risky
business.
"He's right, this is ridiculous," Mole agreed shoving out his chair and standing. "No, this is
ludicrous!" he fumed and stormed away.
"Oh, come on Mole!" Alec called after him. "Since when do you back down from a challenge?"
"Since now!" Mole called back to him.
"Since now . . ." Jay, an X6 who sat at the table with the group, mused. "Sounds like a good
enough . . . uh, excuse." He got up hastily and ran off.
"So," Logan said, turning to Alec. "What's it gonna be?"
"There's no way you've got it as good as you would have us believe. You're not fooling me. I'll
call you," Alec responded, eyeing Logan's cards warily. Not to mention the massive pile of cash
that covered the table, threatening to spill off. Some of it had, already. Luke, Mole and Jay's
cards had been thrown in there as well. "Come on, don't be such a drama queen. Let's see
what ya got."
Logan moved to show his cards, a sly grin slowly forming on his face.
Alec leaned over the pile to get a good look. . . .
And felt himself get pushed face first onto the table, sending money and cards flying everywhere.
"Game's over boys," Max informed them. "Meeting time."
"But Max!" Logan complained. "I'm about to clean him out!"
Max snatched his cards and Alec's, then put them together and tossed them carelessly about the
room. She grabbed Alec by the hair and peeled him off of the table, several bills joining him as he
scooped them into his arms on the way. "Nuh uh," Max said, and grabbed both of his arms,
twisting them behind his back together. "Not today."
Alec struggled vainly and Logan shot her a look of disbelief. "Up," Max ordered. Logan stood.
"Follow." She turned Alec toward HQ and shoved him. He stumbled dazedly and barely avoided
falling flat on his face on the floor. The three of the filed neatly out of the crowded room with
several grumbling complaints, curses, and pleading questions from Alec.
As soon as they were gone, every single body in the room lunged toward the table, faster than
human eyes could clearly see.
********
When they reached HQ, Alec was still grumbling. "I can't believe I let you drag me away from all
that money," he muttered.
"Awww," Max drawled, knowing full well Logan could hear every word she was about to say,
"save ya energy baayyy-by. Yo' gonna need it latah!" She gave him the once-over and licked her
lips.
Alec's eyes widened in a combination of surprise and fear. He shook his head and wiped the look
off his face. He raised his eyebrow at her. "What's with the voice? You didn't get hillbilly in your
cocktail, did you?"
"Ah reckon ah did mate," Max drawled.
Alec shuddered. "Was that wild wild west or wild wild down under?"
"Does it really matter?" Max asked, winking at him.
Alec stared at her blankly. Max rolled her eyes and sat down, ready to begin the meeting.
Alec slumped into a chair nearby, and sat there waiting.
"Okay, people, what's on the agenda today?" Max asked as soon as everyone was present and
seated. She looked around at everyone who sat at the table. Logan, Dix, Luke, Alec, Mole,
Ryss, who was a female X5, and the self appointed resident medic of Terminal City, Sketchy,
Original Cindy, Jen, who was a male X6; sort of a representative for the Xs, Joshua, and Gary,
lion anomaly, straight from 'The Wizard of Oz'; a representative for the anomalies.
Mole was the first to speak. "Cigars," he grumbled.
Max arched a perfect eyebrow at him. "Okaaay, but seriously now."
Sketchy raised his hand. Max's eyebrow shot further into her hairline. "Yes, Sketchy."
"Uhh, not to sound all . . . I don't feel too good."
"That's what Rick is here for," Logan grinned.
"Ryss," the now slightly pissed off red-haired X5 hissed.
Alec chuckled, but immediately sobered up when his thoughts returned to the matter at hand.
"Yeah, we'd better get the three of them out of here, and soon," he stated, gesturing to Sketchy,
Original Cindy and Logan.
"I feel fine!" Logan protested.
Alec rolled his eyes and began to hum some nameless tune, deciding he no longer felt the need to
pay attention, having put his two cents in and not wanting to listen to Logan's whiney voice.
There was only so much whining he could listen to and put up with, and Logan did a *lot* of
whining. There were some days when Alec wished for nothing more than a needle and thread to
sew the guy's mouth shut, but for now, he'd have to settle for humming. For now.
Mole glared at Logan, sending daggers in his direction. "Transgenic blood in you or not, you're
not gonna feel that way much longer. They," he gestured to Cindy and Sketchy, "have to get out
now, and we're not taking two trips."
"But-"
"He's right," Max interrupted. "Luke, you've been around here awhile, do you think you can find
a discreet way out?"
"Sure," he replied. "I'd be happy to help."
"Okay, great. Take a group and get on it." Luke nodded.
"We need to get the infirmary up and running, and we need supplies and medical equipment,"
Ryss reminded them.
Alec's attention returned momentarily to the matter at hand. "And for that, we're gonna need
money," he added, still sore at being dragged away from the table. Money was a very pleasurable
commodity, that he enjoyed in great amounts. Being dragged away from it didn't exactly rub him
the right way. Damn, he had forgotten how his tune had gone. Humming was not a very good
distraction if it kept getting interrupted. He started a new tune.
"Well, I guess there's not much chance that table's still holding, we'll try to get that back, and
maybe a few donations from everyone around who has money," Max suggested, taking a moment
to glare at Alec, who didn't even notice. She willed him to shut the hell up. He did not. "Jen and
Gary, you guys can take care of that?"
"Yeah," the both of them replied.
"We're gonna need a whole lot more than that," Dix observed.
"We can sell paintings," Joshua suggested, sounding hopeful at the prospect of distributing his
work.
Max nodded. "The woman you dealt with before, do you think she'd buy any?"
"I- I think . . . yes," Joshua replied.
"Great," Max said. "But we'll probably still need more money, we need a lot of stuff. Alec, can
you organize a few raids and heists?"
"What?" Alec asked, not knowing what the hell they were talking about.
"Can you organize a few raids and heists?"
"Oh, of course," Alec responded, grinning. At least something was gonna be interesting.
"Be discreet, lay low, and don't let anyone know who's hitting them," Max cautioned.
Alec rolled his eyes at her, who did she think he was? Well okay, him, but this was serious. He
nodded anyway. Back to the humming.
"We need food supplies," Luke said.
"Confer with our resident musician when he starts to *pay attention*," Max hissed angrily in
Alec's direction. He didn't notice. The song that pig thing and the rat thing sang, from the movie
about the lions and hyenas floated from his throat. When the hell had Alec seen 'The Lion King'?
And leave it to Alec to chose *that* song. If he didn't shut up, Max was gonna give him a few
'worries' in a minute. "How's it going with the runes, Dix?" Max sighed.
"No different, still working on it," Dix replied. "I think we've got all the basics, what Logan told
you, we just gotta clear it up a little."
Max nodded. Alec's incessant humming was seriously grating on her nerves. She fought the urge
to visibly shudder, when he switched to 'I Just Can't Wait to Be King.' She was the leader of
TC, sorta like a queen, and . . . ugh. "What else?" she hissed.
"Weapons," Mole, of course, spoke up.
"Work with Alec on the raids, make sure you get what you need. Ryss, you confer with them. I
want details on all raids, I wanna know who goes where when and doing what." Max tried to
look each of them in the eye in turn, but of course, Alec wasn't even looking. "Is that all?"
"One more thing," Jen said, looking at Gary, who was grinning slightly at Alec. Obviously, he
had somehow seen the movie as well. And also obviously, he and Jen had discussed this last
matter beforehand. "We're all bored," Jen said plainly.
"Everyone's going stir crazy," Gary added.
"Uhh . . . well," Max said. Unlike all the others, this issue had left her stumped. "Ideas?"
"We could search the city for sports equipment and start a gym," Jen suggested.
Most people looked happy at the suggestion. "Good idea," Max complemented.
"W-we could paint," Joshua said. "M-more to sell."
"And we could put a few on display, this place could use something to brighten it up," Dix added.
"You could have card tournaments," Logan suggested.
Mole chuckled. "No, how about chess? Or maybe jump rope? What's the point of playing cards
when you can't gamble because you have to donate all your money to your people's survival?"
"Just a thought," Logan grumbled.
Silence ensued as everyone was lost in thoughts of what to do. Even Alec was silent. Max was
both overjoyed and surprised. He actually had been listening, and now was trying to help think up
a plan!
Sadly, such thoughts were nothing but wishful thinking. BAM! Everyone at the table jumped as
Alec began pounding out a drum solo on the table, apparently having dropped the movie tunes.
Ryss, being the closest female to him, reached around Mole and smacked him in the back of the
head.
"What the-"
As she was struck with inspiration, Ryss smacked him again, cutting him off. "Alec, you're a
genius!" she said.
Max's jaw dropped. "Since when?"
Ryss apparently didn't hear her. "We can start a band!"
Alec chuckled. "Who's gonna sing? Me? Oh, and Mole's gonna be a drummer. . . ." He
visualized it, and chuckled some more.
Ryss smacked him again. "Auditions, idiot. And it seems you're the drummer here."
"Okay," Max agreed. "So when we've got everything else taken care of, Jen, Gary, Joshua and
Alec can take care of that. Ryss, you can help too if you're not busy with medical."
Several variations of 'Great idea, Ryss' passed around the table, but Max didn't join in. Instead,
she muttered, "Genius, no. Idiot, yes."
Alec gave her an angry look and crinkled his nose at her.
********
After the meeting had broken up and everyone had gone their separate ways, Luke quickly
organized a team of Xs and anomalies to transport the ordinaries out of Terminal City. The team
and their charges held a small meeting of their own in HQ.
Logan, Sketchy, and Original Cindy had been given the bullet proof Phalanx uniforms to wear on
the way, so they wouldn't be killed immediately if someone pulled a gun on them. Original Cindy
grumbled as she put on the helmet, "Nothing worse than helmet hair, nothing worse than helmet
hair. . . ." The transgenics had a good laugh at her.
Luke turned to Dim, a mouse anomaly who had been named because of his size, he was quite
diminutive, and Sally, a feline anomaly. Despite their genetic make-up, the two of them were very
close. "You two scout the perimeter, check for a 'back door' we can slip out of. Stick together,
don't let each other our of your sight," Luke instructed.
They nodded, and left quickly. "What do we do?" Logan asked.
Surprisingly, Luke bothered to respond to the idiotic question. "We wait."
"Where're we going?" Sketchy asked.
Luke shot him a sympathetic look. "You really don't wanna know."
Sketchy gulped.
Twenty minutes later, Dim and Sally returned, successful in finding a way out. Luke flipped out a
cell phone from his pocket, quickly dialing a number and holding it to his ear. "Here are the
coordinates," he said, handing the phone temporarily to Sally, who rattled off a street address.
Luke put the phone back to his own ear. "You ready for them?" he asked. "We're on our way."
He hung up and turned his attention back to the group. "Let's move out," Luke ordered. They
left.
In under five minutes, the group came upon a manhole in the middle of a deserted street. "The
sewers?!" Logan exclaimed.
"Suck it up Wheels," Sketchy told him, lowering himself in, with the help of an X6. Original
Cindy quickly followed.
Logan stared skeptically at the hole as the X6 jumped in. Soon only he and Luke were left on the
surface. "Is this really-" Logan began, but was cut off as Luke shoved him toward the manhole.
He all but fell in, managing to land on his feet at the bottom, thanks to his trusty exoskeleton. As
soon as he moved out of the way, Luke climbed in after him, closing the manhole behind himself.
The tunnel was filled with darkness.
Three of the transgenics each took an ordinary by the arm, since they didn't have the gift of
enhanced sight. They began to trudge though the muck, reaching their destination in a rather
small amount of time.
Nicole, the X6, who had shoulder length curly black hair and a light complexion, lifted the
manhole cover with ease and carefully poked her head out. Dim crept further along the tunnel
and stuck his head around the bend to make sure there would be no surprise visits from that
direction. Both of them reported the area clear.
Luke, Nicole, Logan, Cindy, and Sketchy climbed out quickly and quietly, keeping all senses on
alert in case anyone decided to show up. Dim and Sally remained in the sewers, ready to provide
backup if needed. Luke and Nicole hustled the others to a sheltered doorway in a nearby
building.
Within a few minutes of tense anticipation, they saw a vehicle, familiar to some, pull onto the
street. Logan's Aztec. "What the hell?" Logan wondered as the vehicle braked in the middle of
the street.
"No time," Luke told him. He stuck his head out from the doorway, looking in both directions to
make sure they were still alone. They were, so he shoved Logan toward the vehicle. The three
ordinaries piled into the back, and the Aztec drove quickly out of the street.
Luke and Nicole quickly jumped back down the manhole, and the four transgenics headed back to
TC.
Logan, Sketchy, and Original Cindy stared open mouth at the current driver of Logan's vehicle.
Some idiot driver ahead of them braked in the middle of the road. The driver yelled angrily,
"Your bed's at home! Hurry the hell up and drive to it, and get outta the way! The road is not a
country club! Bip bip bip!"
********
"Every one? Are you sure, Josh?" Alec asked, the full support and concern he felt written all over
his face.
"Every one," Joshua replied. He was allowing them to sell every single painting in his house. "I
want them to see her. She was special."
Alec patted his friend on the shoulder. "You're damn right she was special. Even after she knew
who you are, even after what I made you do, she still accepted you. I'm sorry, you know that
right?" There was not a hint of insincerity on Alec's face or in his voice.
"I know, Medium Fella. You were just doing what you thought was best." Joshua looked down
at his feet, a low whimper escaping his throat. Alec was thankful that he had decided to discuss
Joshua's paintings in private.
"I was wrong," Alec whispered.
"Alec, why did she have to . . ."
"Leave?"
"Die."
Alec cringed at the hurt that came through with Joshua's simple statement. Why *did* Annie
have to die? It wasn't like Joshua had done something wrong, he didn't deserve all this hurt. He
was the kindest, sweetest, most understanding person he knew. Why did Joshua have to suffer
the same fate as himself? Alec, the biggest screw up on the planet, cold blooded murderer, who
didn't give a damn about anyone but himself. Why were the two of them in the same boat every
time they thought of the word love? "I . . . I don't know Joshua . . ." Alec finally answered, his
voice cracking slightly as he did so. His eyes stung with unshed tears.
As Joshua looked up and their eyes met, Alec saw that his didn't. Joshua's tears flowed freely.
"I'm sorry too, Alec," Joshua said.
Alec felt a tear slip, and a surge of anger, anger at his own weakness, filled him. He swiped it
away roughly. Joshua was young, in all ways that mattered. He was new to this world, new to
hurt. It was natural for him to give in to useless emotions. Alec, X5-494, was stronger than that,
more wise in the ways of the world. He knew hurt. His time to be over it had come a long time
ago. He had moved on. Emotions were a weakness. Let yourself feel happy, let yourself feel
love, and all you got was hurt.
Alec composed his self, locking his tears back in. "I'll go get them. These should make us loads
of cash. Terminal City thanks you Josh." He saluted, smiling lightly, and left the room.
Joshua stared at his back until he was out of sight. He reached up to wipe his tears in his sleeve,
and imitated Alec. He dried his face, sniffed, and plastered a smile over the hurt. He tried to lock
his feelings away, appearing happy to all the world. If Alec did it so much, then it must be the
right thing to do. Joshua smiled widely and left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After much slaving and editing, here it is. Tell me what you think. Are you glad that I'm fixing up
"It Matters, or Does It?"? I am. I think I can do a lot with that plot line, it deserves to be
presented much better than it was.
And I just thought I'd let you know, I'll be doing some major work with original characters in this
story. (Not the original characters I've presented so far, as much as the ones I've already written
detailed sketches on. I'm doing my best to have them very well developed, and know them inside
out, and I can't wait until I get to the point where they're introduced in this story.)
BTW, I don't remember the name of the girl who Joshua sold his paintings to, so unless someone
knows and tells me, I'm gonna call her Lisa Dowell.
Keela13
Part One
This is a complete make-over of "It Matters, or Does It?"
Summary: Max and crew have to find a way to get Logan, Sketchy and Original Cindy out of
Terminal City, and the transgenics have to find ways to keep themselves occupied while the siege
creeps slowly along.
Note: Post Freak Nation, Alec does not yet know what Max told Logan to push him away.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
So slow down your horses
Stop dragging me around
And if crying is the only way into your heart
Then leaving is the only way out
--Shania Twain
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Well you can count me out," Luke said, rising from the table and moving on to some less risky
business.
"He's right, this is ridiculous," Mole agreed shoving out his chair and standing. "No, this is
ludicrous!" he fumed and stormed away.
"Oh, come on Mole!" Alec called after him. "Since when do you back down from a challenge?"
"Since now!" Mole called back to him.
"Since now . . ." Jay, an X6 who sat at the table with the group, mused. "Sounds like a good
enough . . . uh, excuse." He got up hastily and ran off.
"So," Logan said, turning to Alec. "What's it gonna be?"
"There's no way you've got it as good as you would have us believe. You're not fooling me. I'll
call you," Alec responded, eyeing Logan's cards warily. Not to mention the massive pile of cash
that covered the table, threatening to spill off. Some of it had, already. Luke, Mole and Jay's
cards had been thrown in there as well. "Come on, don't be such a drama queen. Let's see
what ya got."
Logan moved to show his cards, a sly grin slowly forming on his face.
Alec leaned over the pile to get a good look. . . .
And felt himself get pushed face first onto the table, sending money and cards flying everywhere.
"Game's over boys," Max informed them. "Meeting time."
"But Max!" Logan complained. "I'm about to clean him out!"
Max snatched his cards and Alec's, then put them together and tossed them carelessly about the
room. She grabbed Alec by the hair and peeled him off of the table, several bills joining him as he
scooped them into his arms on the way. "Nuh uh," Max said, and grabbed both of his arms,
twisting them behind his back together. "Not today."
Alec struggled vainly and Logan shot her a look of disbelief. "Up," Max ordered. Logan stood.
"Follow." She turned Alec toward HQ and shoved him. He stumbled dazedly and barely avoided
falling flat on his face on the floor. The three of the filed neatly out of the crowded room with
several grumbling complaints, curses, and pleading questions from Alec.
As soon as they were gone, every single body in the room lunged toward the table, faster than
human eyes could clearly see.
********
When they reached HQ, Alec was still grumbling. "I can't believe I let you drag me away from all
that money," he muttered.
"Awww," Max drawled, knowing full well Logan could hear every word she was about to say,
"save ya energy baayyy-by. Yo' gonna need it latah!" She gave him the once-over and licked her
lips.
Alec's eyes widened in a combination of surprise and fear. He shook his head and wiped the look
off his face. He raised his eyebrow at her. "What's with the voice? You didn't get hillbilly in your
cocktail, did you?"
"Ah reckon ah did mate," Max drawled.
Alec shuddered. "Was that wild wild west or wild wild down under?"
"Does it really matter?" Max asked, winking at him.
Alec stared at her blankly. Max rolled her eyes and sat down, ready to begin the meeting.
Alec slumped into a chair nearby, and sat there waiting.
"Okay, people, what's on the agenda today?" Max asked as soon as everyone was present and
seated. She looked around at everyone who sat at the table. Logan, Dix, Luke, Alec, Mole,
Ryss, who was a female X5, and the self appointed resident medic of Terminal City, Sketchy,
Original Cindy, Jen, who was a male X6; sort of a representative for the Xs, Joshua, and Gary,
lion anomaly, straight from 'The Wizard of Oz'; a representative for the anomalies.
Mole was the first to speak. "Cigars," he grumbled.
Max arched a perfect eyebrow at him. "Okaaay, but seriously now."
Sketchy raised his hand. Max's eyebrow shot further into her hairline. "Yes, Sketchy."
"Uhh, not to sound all . . . I don't feel too good."
"That's what Rick is here for," Logan grinned.
"Ryss," the now slightly pissed off red-haired X5 hissed.
Alec chuckled, but immediately sobered up when his thoughts returned to the matter at hand.
"Yeah, we'd better get the three of them out of here, and soon," he stated, gesturing to Sketchy,
Original Cindy and Logan.
"I feel fine!" Logan protested.
Alec rolled his eyes and began to hum some nameless tune, deciding he no longer felt the need to
pay attention, having put his two cents in and not wanting to listen to Logan's whiney voice.
There was only so much whining he could listen to and put up with, and Logan did a *lot* of
whining. There were some days when Alec wished for nothing more than a needle and thread to
sew the guy's mouth shut, but for now, he'd have to settle for humming. For now.
Mole glared at Logan, sending daggers in his direction. "Transgenic blood in you or not, you're
not gonna feel that way much longer. They," he gestured to Cindy and Sketchy, "have to get out
now, and we're not taking two trips."
"But-"
"He's right," Max interrupted. "Luke, you've been around here awhile, do you think you can find
a discreet way out?"
"Sure," he replied. "I'd be happy to help."
"Okay, great. Take a group and get on it." Luke nodded.
"We need to get the infirmary up and running, and we need supplies and medical equipment,"
Ryss reminded them.
Alec's attention returned momentarily to the matter at hand. "And for that, we're gonna need
money," he added, still sore at being dragged away from the table. Money was a very pleasurable
commodity, that he enjoyed in great amounts. Being dragged away from it didn't exactly rub him
the right way. Damn, he had forgotten how his tune had gone. Humming was not a very good
distraction if it kept getting interrupted. He started a new tune.
"Well, I guess there's not much chance that table's still holding, we'll try to get that back, and
maybe a few donations from everyone around who has money," Max suggested, taking a moment
to glare at Alec, who didn't even notice. She willed him to shut the hell up. He did not. "Jen and
Gary, you guys can take care of that?"
"Yeah," the both of them replied.
"We're gonna need a whole lot more than that," Dix observed.
"We can sell paintings," Joshua suggested, sounding hopeful at the prospect of distributing his
work.
Max nodded. "The woman you dealt with before, do you think she'd buy any?"
"I- I think . . . yes," Joshua replied.
"Great," Max said. "But we'll probably still need more money, we need a lot of stuff. Alec, can
you organize a few raids and heists?"
"What?" Alec asked, not knowing what the hell they were talking about.
"Can you organize a few raids and heists?"
"Oh, of course," Alec responded, grinning. At least something was gonna be interesting.
"Be discreet, lay low, and don't let anyone know who's hitting them," Max cautioned.
Alec rolled his eyes at her, who did she think he was? Well okay, him, but this was serious. He
nodded anyway. Back to the humming.
"We need food supplies," Luke said.
"Confer with our resident musician when he starts to *pay attention*," Max hissed angrily in
Alec's direction. He didn't notice. The song that pig thing and the rat thing sang, from the movie
about the lions and hyenas floated from his throat. When the hell had Alec seen 'The Lion King'?
And leave it to Alec to chose *that* song. If he didn't shut up, Max was gonna give him a few
'worries' in a minute. "How's it going with the runes, Dix?" Max sighed.
"No different, still working on it," Dix replied. "I think we've got all the basics, what Logan told
you, we just gotta clear it up a little."
Max nodded. Alec's incessant humming was seriously grating on her nerves. She fought the urge
to visibly shudder, when he switched to 'I Just Can't Wait to Be King.' She was the leader of
TC, sorta like a queen, and . . . ugh. "What else?" she hissed.
"Weapons," Mole, of course, spoke up.
"Work with Alec on the raids, make sure you get what you need. Ryss, you confer with them. I
want details on all raids, I wanna know who goes where when and doing what." Max tried to
look each of them in the eye in turn, but of course, Alec wasn't even looking. "Is that all?"
"One more thing," Jen said, looking at Gary, who was grinning slightly at Alec. Obviously, he
had somehow seen the movie as well. And also obviously, he and Jen had discussed this last
matter beforehand. "We're all bored," Jen said plainly.
"Everyone's going stir crazy," Gary added.
"Uhh . . . well," Max said. Unlike all the others, this issue had left her stumped. "Ideas?"
"We could search the city for sports equipment and start a gym," Jen suggested.
Most people looked happy at the suggestion. "Good idea," Max complemented.
"W-we could paint," Joshua said. "M-more to sell."
"And we could put a few on display, this place could use something to brighten it up," Dix added.
"You could have card tournaments," Logan suggested.
Mole chuckled. "No, how about chess? Or maybe jump rope? What's the point of playing cards
when you can't gamble because you have to donate all your money to your people's survival?"
"Just a thought," Logan grumbled.
Silence ensued as everyone was lost in thoughts of what to do. Even Alec was silent. Max was
both overjoyed and surprised. He actually had been listening, and now was trying to help think up
a plan!
Sadly, such thoughts were nothing but wishful thinking. BAM! Everyone at the table jumped as
Alec began pounding out a drum solo on the table, apparently having dropped the movie tunes.
Ryss, being the closest female to him, reached around Mole and smacked him in the back of the
head.
"What the-"
As she was struck with inspiration, Ryss smacked him again, cutting him off. "Alec, you're a
genius!" she said.
Max's jaw dropped. "Since when?"
Ryss apparently didn't hear her. "We can start a band!"
Alec chuckled. "Who's gonna sing? Me? Oh, and Mole's gonna be a drummer. . . ." He
visualized it, and chuckled some more.
Ryss smacked him again. "Auditions, idiot. And it seems you're the drummer here."
"Okay," Max agreed. "So when we've got everything else taken care of, Jen, Gary, Joshua and
Alec can take care of that. Ryss, you can help too if you're not busy with medical."
Several variations of 'Great idea, Ryss' passed around the table, but Max didn't join in. Instead,
she muttered, "Genius, no. Idiot, yes."
Alec gave her an angry look and crinkled his nose at her.
********
After the meeting had broken up and everyone had gone their separate ways, Luke quickly
organized a team of Xs and anomalies to transport the ordinaries out of Terminal City. The team
and their charges held a small meeting of their own in HQ.
Logan, Sketchy, and Original Cindy had been given the bullet proof Phalanx uniforms to wear on
the way, so they wouldn't be killed immediately if someone pulled a gun on them. Original Cindy
grumbled as she put on the helmet, "Nothing worse than helmet hair, nothing worse than helmet
hair. . . ." The transgenics had a good laugh at her.
Luke turned to Dim, a mouse anomaly who had been named because of his size, he was quite
diminutive, and Sally, a feline anomaly. Despite their genetic make-up, the two of them were very
close. "You two scout the perimeter, check for a 'back door' we can slip out of. Stick together,
don't let each other our of your sight," Luke instructed.
They nodded, and left quickly. "What do we do?" Logan asked.
Surprisingly, Luke bothered to respond to the idiotic question. "We wait."
"Where're we going?" Sketchy asked.
Luke shot him a sympathetic look. "You really don't wanna know."
Sketchy gulped.
Twenty minutes later, Dim and Sally returned, successful in finding a way out. Luke flipped out a
cell phone from his pocket, quickly dialing a number and holding it to his ear. "Here are the
coordinates," he said, handing the phone temporarily to Sally, who rattled off a street address.
Luke put the phone back to his own ear. "You ready for them?" he asked. "We're on our way."
He hung up and turned his attention back to the group. "Let's move out," Luke ordered. They
left.
In under five minutes, the group came upon a manhole in the middle of a deserted street. "The
sewers?!" Logan exclaimed.
"Suck it up Wheels," Sketchy told him, lowering himself in, with the help of an X6. Original
Cindy quickly followed.
Logan stared skeptically at the hole as the X6 jumped in. Soon only he and Luke were left on the
surface. "Is this really-" Logan began, but was cut off as Luke shoved him toward the manhole.
He all but fell in, managing to land on his feet at the bottom, thanks to his trusty exoskeleton. As
soon as he moved out of the way, Luke climbed in after him, closing the manhole behind himself.
The tunnel was filled with darkness.
Three of the transgenics each took an ordinary by the arm, since they didn't have the gift of
enhanced sight. They began to trudge though the muck, reaching their destination in a rather
small amount of time.
Nicole, the X6, who had shoulder length curly black hair and a light complexion, lifted the
manhole cover with ease and carefully poked her head out. Dim crept further along the tunnel
and stuck his head around the bend to make sure there would be no surprise visits from that
direction. Both of them reported the area clear.
Luke, Nicole, Logan, Cindy, and Sketchy climbed out quickly and quietly, keeping all senses on
alert in case anyone decided to show up. Dim and Sally remained in the sewers, ready to provide
backup if needed. Luke and Nicole hustled the others to a sheltered doorway in a nearby
building.
Within a few minutes of tense anticipation, they saw a vehicle, familiar to some, pull onto the
street. Logan's Aztec. "What the hell?" Logan wondered as the vehicle braked in the middle of
the street.
"No time," Luke told him. He stuck his head out from the doorway, looking in both directions to
make sure they were still alone. They were, so he shoved Logan toward the vehicle. The three
ordinaries piled into the back, and the Aztec drove quickly out of the street.
Luke and Nicole quickly jumped back down the manhole, and the four transgenics headed back to
TC.
Logan, Sketchy, and Original Cindy stared open mouth at the current driver of Logan's vehicle.
Some idiot driver ahead of them braked in the middle of the road. The driver yelled angrily,
"Your bed's at home! Hurry the hell up and drive to it, and get outta the way! The road is not a
country club! Bip bip bip!"
********
"Every one? Are you sure, Josh?" Alec asked, the full support and concern he felt written all over
his face.
"Every one," Joshua replied. He was allowing them to sell every single painting in his house. "I
want them to see her. She was special."
Alec patted his friend on the shoulder. "You're damn right she was special. Even after she knew
who you are, even after what I made you do, she still accepted you. I'm sorry, you know that
right?" There was not a hint of insincerity on Alec's face or in his voice.
"I know, Medium Fella. You were just doing what you thought was best." Joshua looked down
at his feet, a low whimper escaping his throat. Alec was thankful that he had decided to discuss
Joshua's paintings in private.
"I was wrong," Alec whispered.
"Alec, why did she have to . . ."
"Leave?"
"Die."
Alec cringed at the hurt that came through with Joshua's simple statement. Why *did* Annie
have to die? It wasn't like Joshua had done something wrong, he didn't deserve all this hurt. He
was the kindest, sweetest, most understanding person he knew. Why did Joshua have to suffer
the same fate as himself? Alec, the biggest screw up on the planet, cold blooded murderer, who
didn't give a damn about anyone but himself. Why were the two of them in the same boat every
time they thought of the word love? "I . . . I don't know Joshua . . ." Alec finally answered, his
voice cracking slightly as he did so. His eyes stung with unshed tears.
As Joshua looked up and their eyes met, Alec saw that his didn't. Joshua's tears flowed freely.
"I'm sorry too, Alec," Joshua said.
Alec felt a tear slip, and a surge of anger, anger at his own weakness, filled him. He swiped it
away roughly. Joshua was young, in all ways that mattered. He was new to this world, new to
hurt. It was natural for him to give in to useless emotions. Alec, X5-494, was stronger than that,
more wise in the ways of the world. He knew hurt. His time to be over it had come a long time
ago. He had moved on. Emotions were a weakness. Let yourself feel happy, let yourself feel
love, and all you got was hurt.
Alec composed his self, locking his tears back in. "I'll go get them. These should make us loads
of cash. Terminal City thanks you Josh." He saluted, smiling lightly, and left the room.
Joshua stared at his back until he was out of sight. He reached up to wipe his tears in his sleeve,
and imitated Alec. He dried his face, sniffed, and plastered a smile over the hurt. He tried to lock
his feelings away, appearing happy to all the world. If Alec did it so much, then it must be the
right thing to do. Joshua smiled widely and left the room.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After much slaving and editing, here it is. Tell me what you think. Are you glad that I'm fixing up
"It Matters, or Does It?"? I am. I think I can do a lot with that plot line, it deserves to be
presented much better than it was.
And I just thought I'd let you know, I'll be doing some major work with original characters in this
story. (Not the original characters I've presented so far, as much as the ones I've already written
detailed sketches on. I'm doing my best to have them very well developed, and know them inside
out, and I can't wait until I get to the point where they're introduced in this story.)
BTW, I don't remember the name of the girl who Joshua sold his paintings to, so unless someone
knows and tells me, I'm gonna call her Lisa Dowell.