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CHAPTER EIGHT
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JONDY "ID's and passports to get you across the border to Canada." Max said as she handed some papers to the kids. "Are we ever gonna see you again?" An X6, now known as Zero, said to Max.

A whole group of us were standing along a road leading through the woods. Zero, Bullet, Fixit, Bugler and Ralph were standing a few metres away with Max, while me and Alec were leaning on his convertible, watching them as they said their goodbyes. Some guy ( Logan, I think - he was the one who got the passports and IDs ) was standing with his car and Max's Ninja.

"Promise." Max replied. She had grown fond of those Manticore kids, and had made it her responsibility to help them out. Especially since they saved her ass from some transgenic hunter.

Only yesterday, Max had been captured and locked up in a cage by some guys from Manticore. Well, at least we thought they were from Manticore anyway. But the X's, Alec and me went to get her out of there, and Max managed to get Alec to reprogram the computer running the laser - so instead of sending out a signal for the transgenics to regroup, it send out a signal telling them to scatter and go to ground. Now the transgenics weren't at risk of being rounded up and killed by the hundreds. Max would be able to sleep better now that she knew they'd be alright - for now anyway. "Now I'm going to drop a little wisdom on you grunts, so pay attention. First time I got out in the world, I lost track of all the kids I escaped with. Spent the next ten years trying to find them. Don't let that happen to you. Stay together. You're family." Max glanced up at me, and I gave her a reassuring smile. I was so proud of my baby sister. She'd done a really good thing by giving those kids a future. Suddenly my cell phone rang in my pocket, the shrill sound cutting through the silence of the woods. As I went to answer it, Alec shook his head and wagged his finger at me accusingly, making a 'tsk tsk' noise. "Naughty, naughty girl, Jondy." I glared at him. "It's not like we're in church or anything." Alec shrugged. "They don't have church at Manticore." I smiled sympathetically at him. I'd grown quite fond of Alec, actually. He drove Max absolutely crazy and she hated his guts, but for some reason he reminded me of somebody. I felt safe around him. Only God knows why - I mean, I hardly knew the guy and he was pretty much a self-centred play boy. He definitely wasn't someone you'd run to when you were scared or needed support. But I saw some good in him, despite what Max thought. "Hello?" I said into the phone. "Hey sis." It was Krit. Probably checking up on me. This was pretty convenient because I was planning on calling later to see how Corey was going. "Hi Krit." "Krit?" Alec echoed, making a face. "What an unfortunate name." I elbowed him in the stomach and motioned for him to shut up. "Whose that?" Krit asked. "Uh-" I began to reply. "Defending your lover boy, are ya?" Alec teased. "Oh, grow up." I snapped, letting out an exasperated sigh. Maybe I should've taken back what I had said about seeing some good in him. "He's my brother." "That explains it." Alec nodded knowingly. "Jondy's a weird name too. Must run in the family." I smacked his head before he could get away. "Stop it, go away!" I hissed at him, annoyed.

He held his hand up to his head, a wounded look in his eyes. "Yeah, well, I gotta go before the waterworks start anyway." He nodded towards Max and the kids, who were saying their goodbyes.

I quickly dismissed him with my hand and walked away from the group so I could talk with Krit.

"Jondy?" Krit said hesitantly.

"Yes, yes, I'm here. Sorry." I apologized. "What's the matter?"

"I, uh....I have some good news and some bad news." Krit replied slowly.

I stopped dead in my tracks. "What do you mean, bad news?"

He sighed and there was a pause. I bit my lip. This didn't sound good. My brother was usually happy and hyperactive. Something must have really gone wrong for him to sound this anxious. "There's good news too," he added, trying his hardest to sound positive, but failing miserably.

"Alright, give me the bad news." I took a deep breath and braced myself for the worst. I remember Lydecker telling us once that a soldier should always assume the worst. And that it was our mission to manipulate the situation so that things would turn out our way.

"Shit Jondy, I don't know how to say this," he said softly and regretfully. The last time Krit was like this was when he had told me that Max was dead and that Zack was missing. It had to be that bad - or worse. "Someone's taken Corey."

I gulped, fighting the panic rising in my chest. "I don't think I heard you right. I thought you just said someone's taken Corey."

"You heard me perfectly, Jondy."

I clamped my hand over my mouth silently, letting this sink in. Someone's taken Corey. Probably Manticore. Manticore took my baby!

When I didn't say anything Krit blurted, "Jondy, I'm sorry. It happened so fast and we didn't know what was going on-"

"Stop, Krit, ok? Just stop." I choked back a sob. Tears stung my eyes. I shouldn't have left him, I thought. I should've known something like this would happen. "Who took him? Who?! I'm gonna kill 'em-"

"I...we don't know. I don't know what the hell's going on. But I think Zane does."

I nearly dropped the phone in shock. What was he on about? I hadn't even found Zane yet, and as the seconds ticked by I began to doubt more and more that I'd ever see him again. "What does this have to do with Zane?" I asked weakly. Then I had a sudden realization. Maybe it WAS Zane! Maybe Manticore had reindoctrinated him and he was doing their dirty work. I would die if that were true.

"It has everything to do with Zane." Krit informed me. "He was the one who was supposed to take Corey in the first place. But he couldn't bring himself to do it."

My heart sank. So it was true. But Krit had said that he couldn't bring himself to do it. That had to be a good sign. "But...then how'd Corey get taken?"

"That's the weird part. We all just...passed out. And when we woke up Corey was gone." Then he proceeded to tell me exactly what happened. He said that Zane had come over with a girl, who apparently looked exactly like me ( my clone from Manticore or something ). She posed as me, pretending that she had found Zane wandering around the outskirts of Manticore, and Krit and Syl had been completely fooled. "And their cover kinda got blown. I walked in just as Zane was beating the crap outta that..." He paused, not really knowing what to call her. "Your clone. And that's when we figured out something weird was going on." Krit was obviously distressed. He was probably blaming himself for all this. "He was gonna kidnap Corey."

"It wasn't your fault Krit." I whispered. "How were you supposed to know?"

"I should've been able to tell the difference between you and her. You're my sister, and she's a complete stranger!" Krit muttered angrily. Then, completely changing the subject, he said dejectedly, "He lied to our faces."

"Do you think he's been reindoctrinated?" I asked, dreading the answer.

"Surprisingly, I don't think he has. But it still doesn't make sense. If he's not working for Manticore, then who's he working for? Syl's interrogating him over there."

"Y-you mean, he's there, at your house?"

"Yeeeaaahh." He deadpanned, as if it were the most stupid question he had ever heard.

"Well what am I waiting for; I'm getting over there right now!" I yelled, leaping up. Me and Zane needed to have a serious talk. Sure, he had attempted to kidnap our son - for whatever reason that was - and he could've been reindoctrinated, but I still wanted to see him. He was my husband, after all, and I loved him.

"No!" Krit exclaimed urgently.

"Why not?" I snapped.

"I know this is a long shot, but according to Zane it's too dangerous for you."

"For me?" I frowned. What did this have to do with me?

"Yeah. He says that the people who are looking for Corey want to kill you as well. I don't know whether we can still trust him, but we better not take chances, alright? From the way Zane described 'em, these guys must be pretty good."

I was thoroughly confused, but I knew better than to question my brother at a time like this. So I agreed and told him to meet me at Maxie's apartment in Seattle. He got mad at me when I mentioned Maxie - I had forgotten that he thought she was dead and hastily explained everything to him.

When I hung up, I leant back against a tree with a worried sigh. I couldn't comprehend why Zane would do something like this. Corey was his SON. The Zane I knew would have done anything to protect him. This wasn't like him at all. And yet Krit believed that he hadn't been reindoctrinated. I didn't know whether to be furious at him or feel sorry for him. I hadn't heard his side of the story, after all. I didn't know what was going to happen when I met up with him in Seattle. Would he lie to me the way he lied to Krit and Syl?

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Max's apartment was dead silent as I sat leaning against the wall, staring out the window. Max had let me stay at her apartment last night, and being the good sister that she is, said that I could stay as long as I wanted as long as I didn't hang my lingerie on her motorcycle. Apparently her old room mate used to do that all the time. I told her that I didn't have any lingerie to hang on her motorcycle, but if I did, I would hang it there anyway just to piss her off.

"Every day I'd come home and there'd be lacy underwear and bras hanging from my baby," Max recalled as she showed me around her apartment. "And I'd tell Kendra, 'The purpose of the motorcycle is to go fast, real fast, not to hang lingerie all over the damn thing,' but she'd never listen to me."

She'd introduced me to her current room mate, Original Cindy, as well. Maybe it was just me, but I couldn't help noticing how OC kept looking at my ass when I first met her. I didn't want to go up and ask her straight out whether or not she was a lesbian. I didn't want to insult her; after all, she was letting me stay in her apartment.

"A sista of Max's is a sista of mine." OC said cheerfully.

They were both at work now, and I was here by myself. I didn't feel like moving. I was too worried about Corey to sleep. I hated myself for not knowing where he was. I hated myself for just leaving him while I went to look for Zane, who apparently seemed to have found his own way to safety. Now Corey was out there in a world that was full of corrupt police, drug lords and just plain old crazy homicidal murderers - and that was a very dangerous place to be for a defenseless three year old boy. For all I knew, he could've been dead by now.

I sniffed a little and squeezed my eyes shut tightly, to stop the tears from coming. My poor little baby boy. All the shit he had to put up with because of what me and Zane were. Ok, so it wasn't Manticore that had kidnapped Corey. But of course someone else had to come along to bite us in the ass! You know, last night, for the first time since I had Corey, I had regretted having kids. And now I wondered whether or not I was a bad mom for saying that. I mean, I didn't say it because Corey was a spoilt little brat who threw temper tantrums in the middle of the street every two seconds. And if he WAS then I guess I would regret having children from time to time. But Corey was nothing like that. He was a little angel, stubborn sometimes, like me, and very cheeky, like Zane, but I loved him all the same. He was so sweet, and he cared about me and Zane a lot. I didn't want him to have a messed up child-hood, like the one that me and my siblings had. I didn't want him to be haunted with nightmares for the rest of his life. I didn't want him to grow up and think that life wasn't worth living anymore.

Last year everything had been perfect. No Lydecker. No running. We were off Manticore's radar, and we'd lived in the same place for over three years. It was almost like your average, everyday family - just me, Zane and Corey. Me and Zane had normal jobs. We took turns looking after Corey, who would sit there and play with his little trucks and building blocks, like a normal boy. He wasn't born with a barcode, and he didn't have any abnormalities, not to mention he didn't show any signs of having X5 traits. If we had lived in a cottage with a veggie patch and a rose garden, it would almost have been like a fairytale. But I wouldn't have been able to take care of a veggie patch or a rose garden to save my life, ( I was more of a car thief sorta girl ) so of course, we didn't have a veggie patch.

But my worst crime was thinking that everything would be alright. 'Coz look what happened next. There's no such thing as happily ever after if you're from Manticore. Having Corey was one of the best things that had ever happened to me, but was it really all worth it? All I was ever going to do was hurt Corey. It would have been kinder for me and Zane not to bring him into the world, so we'd save him from all the pain he'd feel from now on and for the rest of his life.

I shook my head in disbelief. I hadn't been this depressed in a while. Not since I was a teenager. Max had tried to get me to talk last night, but I didn't want to. I wanted Zane. I missed the feeling of having his arms around me. He always had a way of making me feel better. Yes, he was the one who had gotten Corey kidnapped in the first place, but I still wanted him here. I didn't even know where he was anymore, or even WHO he was.

A sound at the door made me sit up. Someone was trying to pick the lock. At first I thought that maybe Max had forgotten the keys and was just trying to get in, but then again if she had done that she'd probably just call my name. I couldn't be too careful.

I prowled over towards the side of the door like a cat, and flattened myself against the wall, ready the attack the intruder....

The door clicked open and Zane walked in. I don't know why, but as soon as I saw him, I saw red. I wanted to kill him. The reasonable part of me that told me listen to his side of the story had disappeared, and all that was left was a very angry, upset mother. Unable to control myself, I flew at him punching and kicking at him with all my might.

"I HATE YOU!" I yelled furiously, slapping his face. "I hate you so much! Why'd you let them take him? For fuck's sake, HE'S YOUR SON! You're supposed to keep him safe and now he could be dead and it's all your fault!"

Zane just stood there. He said nothing and did nothing. He didn't even try to defend himself - he just let me abuse him. That just made me even madder. It was like he thought he deserved this.

Eventually Zane tried to restrain me, despite my protests. He grabbed both my wrists and held them behind me, so that my body pushed against his. Our faces were about an inch apart, but I turned my head away so that I didn't have to look at him. I hadn't been this close to him in four months. A familiar feeling of warm and security washed over me, and for a moment I just felt like curling up against him and going to sleep. But I shook the feeling away hastily, remembering that I was mad at him. There was no way he was getting away with this unscathed. No. Just because he had these amazingly beautiful green eyes that made me turn to mush inside didn't mean he could get away with everything.

I struggled against his grip half-heartedly, not really wanting to be apart from him. "Let me go!" I growled fiercely. I knew that I could've easily kneed him easily in the gut to make a quick escape, but for some reason I didn't. "Bastard. Get your hands off me."

"No." Zane said simply, speaking for the first time.

"You're one of them now," I said angrily, ignoring him, "How could you do something like this? What did they do to you?"

"I'm not one of them." Zane insisted. His voice was calm and soothing, as if to make me settle down a little. How could he be calm at a time like this?

"LIAR!" I cried passionately. I felt like I was dying inside. Zane was gone, how was I going to get him back? And there in front of me stood a man that looked exactly like him, claiming to be him. It was almost cruel and mocking. "Zane wouldn't do something like that! Zane's good, he's loves Corey. You don't, you're not Zane!"

Suddenly I lashed out and kicked him hard in the shin. I backed away as fast as I could, but I didn't miss the hurt look that crossed over his face. And I knew that it wasn't because I had kicked him.

Zane shoved his hands in his pockets, his expression now unreadable. It wasn't the steely, unemotional look of a soldier, it was almost...sad. I stared at him warily, wondering whether this guy who stood in front of me was Zane or 205?

"It's me, Zane." He said quietly, as if he had heard my thoughts. "And I DO love Corey, I-"

"You sure have a strange way of showing it." I replied darkly.

"You don't believe me, do you?" He sighed, scratching his head, unsure of what to do next.

"Why should I?" I demanded harshly. "You lied to Krit and Syl. They're your best friends. And you lead Corey to believe that that girl was me. Why should you treat me any different?"

Zane started walking slowly towards me. I didn't know what he was going to do, but I stood my ground stubbornly. He stopped within arms-length of me and reached out tentatively to touch my face. I jerked back violently. Only Zane was allowed to touch me. I didn't know who this man was - so therefore, he wasn't allowed to touch me. With a tormented look on his face, he drew his hand back and began talking again.

"It was a completely different circumstance, alright?" he said, desperately trying to explain. "I made a deal with him. I had to do it. But I was Zane then, and I'm Zane now." He sounded so sure of this that I almost believed him. All my senses were screaming at me, telling me to give in. Telling me to throw myself into his arms and cry away all the tears that had been threatening to fall for the past four months. But I still had a lingering doubt.

"You made a DEAL with him?" I shot back disgustedly, even though I wasn't exactly sure who "him" was. "Is that all Corey is to you? A DEAL? Well that just figures doesn't it? Corey was more than just a 'deal' to Zane, ok? So- "

I didn't get to finish my sentence. Before I knew what was happening, Zane grabbed my shoulders and kissed me. The kiss was warm, soft, sweet. I surprised myself by kissing him back passionately. This has to be Zane, I thought as he wrapped his arms around me. No one else kissed me like this.

I pulled back and rested my forehead against his. "Zane?" I whispered uncertainly, almost afraid to say his name.

"I'm here baby." He said gently. That was all the reassurance I needed. I didn't know why it had taken me so long to see that this was Zane, the man I was in love with, not just another heartless soldier.

I gave him another heated kiss and then hugged him fiercely, burying my face into his chest and sliding my hands under his jacket. Zane seemed a little surprised - considering how angry I had been with him just a few seconds ago- but he wrapped his arms around me anyway, pulling me as close to him as he could. I inhaled deeply, breathing in his familiar smell, and only just realising how much I missed him.

"We have to find Corey." I said, stating the obvious. We were having a nice little reunion, but it meant nothing without Corey. And the longer we waited to look for him, the less likely it was that we'd see him again. We had to leave husband-wife bonding for later and get down to business. We had to let the soldiers take over.

"I know," he murmured into my hair. "But how?"

"For starters," I began, feeling anger bubbling up inside me. "You can tell me exactly who it was who kidnapped our son. I swear, when I get my hands on him I'll rip his throat out. And if he's done anything to hurt Corey I'm gonna-"

Zane, who was always the rational one out of the two of us, said, "It's not gonna be that easy, Jondy."

"Then maybe you should tell me who we're dealing with." He had been gone for four months. Lots of stuff must have happened in that time.

Zane took a deep breath and told me everything. It took him quite a while to get all of this out. It was a lot to tell, and he really wasn't enjoying it. I didn't blame him. He'd probably much rather forget some of these events.

Wordlessly, I stared at him in awe. For the first time since he arrived I took a good look at him. He looked worn out. His face was etched with sadness and guilt and all I wanted to do was hold him and kiss it better and make all the hurt go away. He had been through so much. I couldn't imagine what it would be like, having to make a decision like that. At first I had hated him for putting Corey in danger but now I knew that he really hadn't had a choice.

"Well, SAY something." Zane pleaded softly. He could hardly look me in the eye. Maybe he had mistaken my silence for something else.

I threw my arms around him and pulled him into a warm hug. "You poor thing..." I whispered.

Zane pulled back and stared at me, surprised. "Did I just hear you right?"

I gave him a coy smile. "Well, considering that you have enhanced hearing I'd be extremely worried if you didn't."

"I thought you'd get mad at me again, 'cause I let Corey get taken." He looked down at the floor.

"Aw, honey," I ran one hand through his hair and then let it rest on his cheek. "You tried your best. There was nothing that you could've done. Sometimes...shit happens." I kissed his mouth lightly. It was my way of telling him that no matter how long he spent regretting what he had done, it wouldn't bring Corey back.

"I'm sorry." Zane said quietly. "I really am."

I gazed into his eyes and something tugged at my heart when I saw how worried and upset he was. All I could do was wrap him up in my arms and hope that it would make him feel a little better - even though I already knew that he would only feel better when Corey was with us, where he belonged. Zane buried his face into my neck. He was so warm. I didn't feel like moving.

After a few minutes of silence, I finally said, "Why did they take him?" The question had been on the tip of my tongue for a while now, but I hadn't been able to say it.

"What?" Zane looked startled.

"Why'd they take him?" My eyes started to mist up. "It's not fair! He's never done anything wrong. He's just a baby. He still sucks his thumb sometimes!" I cried passionately.

Zane didn't answer me.

Something was really bothering him. I could tell. At first I thought that it was the fact that Corey had been kidnapped. But he was taking an awfully long time to answer. If he didn't know why they had taken Corey, then why didn't he just say so?

"Zane?" I wasn't even sure if he was still on the same planet as me.

Zane fidgeted a bit and then turned to face me. He seemed to be thinking very hard about what he was about to say. What could possibly be so horrible about what he was going to tell me? He looked positively miserable. I waited expectantly as he started to say something, but lost his nerve.

"Does the name Ames White mean anything to you?" he blurted out finally.

All the colour drained from my face when I heard that name. Did he know what had happened? I hadn't told anyone - not even Max or Syl. How did he know? I forced myself to calm down. It had to be a coincidence. Maybe it was someone else with the same name. But then again, who in their right mind would call their son Ames White?

"Why?" I asked, carefully keeping my voice devoid of any emotion or recognition. Not that I thought Zane was stupid or anything, but I hoped that he hadn't noticed that I didn't really answer the question.

"'Cause HE'S the one that took Corey!" Zane practically yelled, sounding half angry, half agonized. "And do you know WHY he took Corey? Because for some strange reason he thinks that Corey's his son!"

I stared at him, not knowing what to say. It was like Zane had hit me really hard over the head with a baseball bat. I had never once contemplated that Ames White would come looking for Corey. I didn't even know that he knew Corey existed, so how in the world did he manage to come to the conclusion that Corey was his son? That bastard had some nerve to just take Corey away without any evidence! Ok, maybe there was that little incident in 2019 when I was in heat, but still....I thought that after that day, I would never see or hear from him again. It was a mistake. I never thought it would come to this. And what was I going to say to Zane? I couldn't just deny it. Ames White probably would've told him what happened.

Corey was in danger. Because of me. It was my fault. Not Zane's, not Manticore's. Mine.

"Why does he think that Corey's his son, Jondy?" Zane voice had softened a bit, but he still sounded distressed.

I didn't answer. I didn't WANT to answer. I didn't want to see the look on his face when I told him that I'd cheated on him. But I couldn't lie either. He deserved the truth.

"Because...we...." I stopped and looked up at him. His eyes were pleading with me, begging me to tell him that I had nothing to do with Ames White and that it was all a mistake. "We kinda..." I struggled on.

"You kinda what?"

"We had sex ok?" I blurted out finally. "But I was in heat and you had gone with Zack somewhere and I just couldn't control myself. It didn't mean anything; it was just a one time thing I swear!"

I'd never forget the hurt look in his eyes at that moment. I might as well have ripped out his heart and stomped on it. I now understood that I should've told him earlier. Waiting had only made it worse.

Zane nodded, not looking at me. I didn't think he had even heard my explanation. "Yeah." His voice was barely audible. "He told me. He was the one that told me to kidnap Corey. So I kinda knew already. I just needed closure I guess." He walked over to the window and stared at something down below.

He seemed so far away now. In reality it was only two metres or so, but that will still too far. "Zane..." I whispered apologetically.

"Why didn't you tell me? You tell me everything." He interrupted before I could say anything more.

I so don't deserve him, I thought. He was actually giving me a chance to explain. I didn't give HIM a chance to explain. I had hit him and punched him and told him that he was a bastard. He had every right to do that to me now, but he didn't. I almost wanted him to.

"We were gonna get married and we were really happy....I didn't want anything to get between us." It was now my turn to be ashamed. And believe me, I was.

Zane whirled around. "It WOULDN'T have gotten between us Jondy! I'm an X5 too; I understand what it's like when you're in heat. You said yourself that it didn't mean anything. You should've told me."

"I know." I said quietly, reaching out for him. "I'm sorry."

Zane shook his head and folded his arms, indicating to me that he didn't want to be touched. "Too late now that we've found out that Corey is White's son."

"Don't say that!" I exclaimed. "That's disgusting."

Zane shrugged. "It's true isn't it?"

I stared at him, shocked. Did he really believe that? Hearing such negative words coming from his mouth brought tears to my eyes. But I guess I couldn't blame him. I'd die if I found out that Corey wasn't my son. I couldn't even imagine what it would like for him. I wanted to comfort him and tell him that everything would be alright, but he didn't want me near him. What I wouldn't give to have back that nice moment that we'd had before.

My mouth was dry. "The odds are really slim. It was only once-"

"The odds are MORE than slim. They're huge, actually. You're most likely to get pregnant when you're in heat. That's the whole purpose of it."

I swallowed thickly. He was right. And that weird writing on Corey's back...that had to be something to do with the breeding cult.

"-And what are we gonna do if Corey IS his son huh?" He continued.

I couldn't bring myself to say anything. I was paralysed. What WERE we going to do if Corey was White's son? The thought of it made me sick. There was no way I was giving Corey up.

"I'm going for a walk." Zane said suddenly.

"Zane-" I objected. That wasn't a good idea. The last time we had had a fight and he went out for a walk, he had almost been killed by the Familiars and he had been taken back to Manticore.

"No!" Zane snapped, raising his voice for the first time. "I just wanna be alone for a bit, ok?"

I watched him as he walked out of Maxie's apartment and shut the door quietly. I didn't follow him. What the hell had I done?

We were so pathetic. We always seemed to have a fight just when we needed each other the most.

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A/N: If you want me to tell you when the next chapter has been posted, you can leave me your email in a review or you can email me.