Hey guys, just letting you know I won't be updating again until next Tuesday, please don't hate me. Thanks for reading!

K is for Killer

Mole grumbled as he waded through the knee-deep water.

The southern Seattle warehouse had been a genetics laboratory at one point, and had since become a swamp. When Max had heard about transgenics holing up in here, she'd refused to back down from investigating.

Naturally, Max had wanted to go alone, less chance of being spotted. Alec had argued with her, Jade had backed him up, and Max had huffed and stormed off.

Stormed right to the warehouse that she had wanted to search all by herself anyway.

Mole wondered sometimes if Manticore really had slipped chump into their cocktails. Max and Alec had barely spoken to each other for weeks, for whatever stupid-ass reason. The second that perimeter watch had called Alec to let him know Max was slipping out, though, he'd raised the alarm. And he was ticked. Even Jade hadn't been able to calm him down before they left. Alec had been the first one out the door, like a good little soldier boy.

Then again, Jade liked that soldier part of him. Mole shuddered. When Alec turned soldier... it gave him chills. He'd asked Jade once why she liked him that way. Shrugging, Jade had said simply, "It's what he was made to be." Mole hadn't bothered to correct her about how Manticore wasn't around anymore, they could make their own lives, blah, blah, blah. Most of them had let go of Manticore ideals, but Jade...Jade was still a killer inside, Mole could feel it. Though, as long as she kept Alec happy, Mole could just not like her from a distance.

Mole swore though, the other girl that controlled Alec's happiness (and by default everyone around Alec), Mole was kicking her ass.

As soon as they found her.

Alec's voice crackled over the headset. "Jade. Anything?"

Jade's voice came back a moment later. "No."

"Mole?"

"Nada." He sighed. "We've only been in here for about a minute, Pretty Boy."

"It's too quiet," Alec growled back. "Heading up to the second level."

Mole almost sighed. The boy was totally whipped, and it was ruining everyone's lives! He took another step, then froze, and listened. Sure enough, water splashed in the room to his west. "I got movement."

Jade's voice came back softly. "Me too." A beat, then her voice, louder. "I got incoming!" Her mike cut off and in the distance Mole could hear the distinctive sounds of fighting.

He cursed. "Alec, you compromised?"

Only silence answered him.

Mole tightened his grip on the shotgun. "Okay, kids, bring it."

There was a moment of silence, then the wall nearest him exploded outward, a figure bursting through it. Mole turned, swinging his shotgun up to block the initial blow, then rolled, taking his attacker down with him. They wrestled in the water in the water until they hit another wall. Mole took advantage of the wall to slam his attacker up and into the wall, knocking the guy momentarily off off him, and off of his own feet. Mole jumped up and stared. "Hey, who are you?"

The young boy, probably X-7, stared at him, hands balled into fists. "What are you?"

"Transhuman, Manticore."

The boy shook his head. "I never saw anything like you in Manticore."

Mole grinned. "Where you been? Media's been flashing us monsters all over the place."

"Don't watch tv." The boy hesitated. "We're not going back to Manticore."

Mole stares. "Go back? Boy, there's nothing to go back to. Manticore burned up."

"I escaped the fire, reptile. It doesn't mean Manticore's dead."

"Where you been since the fire?"

He shifted. "Around. Met up with some others in Canada. We're trying to make our way south."

"What brought you to Seattle?"

"Just on our way through, when the snow hit. Decided to wait it out. Set up our perimeter." The boy frowned, still wary. "We'll kill anyone Manticore sends for us."

Mole felt a sudden sinking sensation. "An X-5 came in, maybe three hours ago. Brunette, calls herself Max."

The boy nodded. "X-5498 has been interrogating her as to her true mission. She claimed to have no ulterior motive, but 498 intends to pull the truth from her."

"Yeah," Mole muttered, and checked his shotgun for damage. "Well, 498 better hope I get to him before Alec does."

"Why?" The boy tensed for a fight. "Who's Alec?'

"Depending on the shape Max is in, he could be 498's killer. Come on, we may still be able to save your unit."

It was the second part that made the boy move, and he led them towards the stairs. As they got closer, Mole could hear the sounds of a fight above them.

Jade appeared, her gun drawn on the boy, and glanced at Mole. "He clean?"

"He's a kid," Mole muttered.

"He's Manticore," Jade said hotly. "Nobody's a kid that been Manticore."

"True but we're not Manticore anymore," Mole muttered, impatient to get upstairs.

Jade hesitated, then lowered her gun. "We'll always be Manticore," she said softly, as the boy passed her.

"Some of us more than others, sweetheart," Mole said just as softly.

They took the stairs quickly, and then all froze at the sight before them.

Alec was fighting another transgenic, and Mole had never seen him move so fast, or look so determined, or look so pissed. Beyond the fighting transgenics, Mole could see two unmoving figures, and beyond them, chained to wall, Max, also unmoving. Mole kept to the walls, half-watching the fight as he made his way to her.

He knelt down beside her and his eyes swept over her, calculating. Unconscious, labored breathing, bruises already forming on one side of her face. "Jade, get her loose," he barked.

When Jade didn't respond he looked up to find she had her rifle off her shoulder and aimed at the fight. "Jade, getting Max out is our priority."

"I can kill him if I get a shot. He could kill Alec." Her voice was cold.

Mole frowned. "So could you. You take that shot, though, I'll kill you myself." He turned. "Kid, get over here!" The boy approached warily. "That 498?" The boy nodded. "You know where the key to these chains is?"

The kid rushed to his unit member's sides, fumbling in their pockets for the key to Max's chains. After a moment of perfect stillness, Jade lowered her rifle, and lunged at the chains, using the key. They lowered her gently to the ground. Mole pulled her shirt up to just below her bra line. Sure enough, he could tell she'd been beaten not only around the face.

There was a cry of pain and they all looked over to see Alec standing over 498, his rifle pressed to 498's head.

"Is she alive?" Alec asked, his voice totally void of emotion.

"Yes," Jade said softly.

Alec nodded and his body seemed to relax slightly. "Who's the kid?"

"I just named him Wall," Mole grumbled. "Jade go find something we can use to splint her leg, we'll have to set it before we move her. Wall, find me something to use as a backboard." They ran out, and Mole looked to Alec. "You need to tell Doc to be ready. It's going to be bad."

Alec nodded and stepped back after being sure Mole had 498 covered, his fingers already flying over his phone. "Dix, we're coming in hurt. We'll need medics to meet us, and Doc may need to be ready for internal bleeding. No, not a gunshot." Alec listened for a moment, then said softly, "Dix, it's Max." Then he hung up.

He stood there a moment, not looking at any of them. "Get up," he said quietly.

498 hesitated, and Alec's voice filled with rage. "Now!" 498 was up before Alec finished yelling. Alec began to speak in a monotone. "You will take your unit, and you'll be out of here by nightfall. You don't came back to Seattle, and you pray you never come face-to-face with me again."

"No," Jade said suddenly, entering the room. "You have to kill him. He's still a threat."

Alec frowned at 498, ignoring Jade. "You have a name now. It's Exile, and when you meet others of our kind, and they ask how you got that name, you tell them 494 gave it to you. No, tell them Alec McDowell gave it to you. Understand?"

"He almost killed her," Jade said slowly. "She could still die!"

"Then help Mole save her!" Alec yelled, then pointed at Exile. "You remember I'm not a killer, and be grateful. Be grateful to Max."

Jade held Max as Mole set her leg. Max's body jerked, but her eyes didn't even flutter. Wall ran in with a door over his head.

Mole took it, then hesitated. "Let's do this," Alec said, taking position at Max's head. As one, they lifted Max and slid her onto the door. They left Exile and Wall standing in the room, staring after them.

Doc and her medics met them outside the medical center, and as they took Max into the trauma center, Mole stopped. Despite protests, Alec followed them, never glancing back.

The hall began to fill with people. Luke, Dix, and several others from HQ had been waiting on them. Gem and Dalton arrived just moments later. The doors had been shut barely a moment before Joshua burst in, yelling. "Where's Little Fella?"

Gem calmed him down, and bit by bit, others drifted in.

Mole spent what felt like an eternity answering questions. When he got to the point he was growling before answering, the questioners switched to Jade. Jade answered without emotion, and eventually people stopped asking, and they all just waited.

It had been night for hours before Alec emerged, Doc just behind him. Both looked exhausted, and both reeked of blood though there wasn't a drop on with of them. Alec had been given scrubs to wear. Doc sighed. "She's stable. I think she's going to make it."

Mole glanced at Alec, who nodded confirmation. Then Jade stepped forward, and Mole wished she'd just gone home. "You should have killed him," she said evenly, not caring about the eyes or ears around them.

"Not now, Jade," Alec said staring at the door he'd just come out of.

"We should kill them, Alec, for what they did. Why didn't you?"

There was a chorus of murmurs as people watched them.

"I'm not a killer," Alec said coldly, glaring at Jade now. "Not anymore."

"What if he'd killed Max? If you lost Max...?"

The entire building went silent.

"Enough," Alec said loudly, then took a deep breath, calming himself. "Enough."

Jade seemed to agree and walked out without another word.

Mole stayed as everyone else drifted away, then approached Alec slowly. "Well?"

Alec didn't look at Mole. "Four broken ribs, broken collarbone. Right lung collapsed. Spleen ruptured. Her right leg broken in two spots. She'll limp for weeks. Should I have killed him?"

"Would Max want him dead?"

Alec smirked. "Would she ever?" He sighed. "I'm gonna bunk down here, see if Doc has a bed she'll loan me."

Mole nodded. "Get some rest." Then he left, still too full of adrenaline to go home, and too unfocused to go to HQ. His feet seemed to lead him of his own accord to the apartment building Jade lived in. He sighed, and climbed the stairs, and almost ran into her halfway up. He blinked at her. Come to think of it, he was tired after all.

She was dressed for winter travel, and had her backpack on, no doubt full of supplies. She regarded him coldly. "Well?"

"You runnin'?"

"Guess so." She shook her head. "I don't belong here, I don't think I'll ever fit in."

Mole didn't argue. "You gonna tell Alec?"

"He'll figure it out."

Mole almost laughed."Aren't you gonna miss him?"

Jade looked him in the eye. "Can't miss what I never had. So long, Mole."

Mole sighed. "So long, killer."

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