"Zack said there was something going on with getting Bryn
back and asked me to come up here but he didn't say you were here!" Jhondie
said, blinking back tears. She had been
closest to Max at Manticore and missed her more than anyone else. She hugged Max again. "I can't believe that you're really here."
Max was teary too. The only escapee she'd seen besides Zack was Bryn, and that had only
been for a few minutes. Zack had been
determined to keep them all separated, and had done an excellent job of it. She'd missed them all so much. She wanted to know everything that was going
on in Jhondie's life. Especially if the
diamond on her left hand meant what Max thought it did.
"We can catch up later," Zack said. "Right now there's a mission to accomplish."
Max and Jhondie grinned at each other. Same old Zack. They were ready to chat for hours about everything after he'd
casually reunited them, and all he wanted was to get to the mission.
"So, what's going on?" Jhondie asked. Zack had told her a few months before the
circumstances around Bryn's capture, but she had no clue on how they had
discovered how to rescue her. Between
Max and Zack they managed to get out about stage three and Bryn's role in it. Max noticed that Zack didn't mention the
control child or his part in creating it.
"So this X-6 just told you everything?" Jhondie asked
suspiciously. She knew Zack was far too
careful to just believe in something someone told him, especially someone fresh
from Manticore. Jhondie looked over and
saw the blonde at the table still looking over some plans, making marks on the
paper. Alicia was sitting, and Jhondie
couldn't see that she was pregnant. She
was far too engrossed in what she was doing to notice them anyways.
"She was going to stop them from doing this to Bryn and got
locked up. She's the X-6 that helped me
with the Red Disposables, and knew I'd get Bryn out when she escaped," Zack
answered. Max glared at him for a
second. Jhondie was going to notice
that Alicia was pregnant. Why was he evading
the truth? Maybe that was just
Zack. Who was Justin anyways?
"You believe her?" Jhondie asked Max. Max nodded.
"She's telling the truth," Max said.
Jhondie took a deep breath. If Max and Zack believed her, then she was just going to have to trust
that they were right. Even if the
person was fresh from Manticore. A
disgusting, robotic, slaving, killing, Manticore solider. She shuddered. She'd spent years hiding from the very thing that was right in
front of her now.
"So, whose place is this?" Jhondie asked Max as they
approached the table. A time wasting
question Zack would say, but she wanted to know.
"Logan's," Max replied with a little smile that let Jhondie
know that Logan was someone special. "He'll be out in a few. You can
meet him then."
"So, who's Justin?" Max asked as they sat down.
Jhondie held up her hand. "My fiancée," she replied. "We're getting married in like six months, and oh my God, you can come
now." She almost squealed out the last
part of the sentence. It suddenly hit
her who she was saying this in front of. "If…if you're even in the country then," she finished.
"I have absolutely no desire to talk to Don Lydecker for the
rest of my life, so chill," Alicia said absently, not even looking up from the
diagram. She flipped to a map of the
surrounding area, frowning. "I take it
your boyfriend is all healed now?" she continued, staring at the map.
"You know Justin?" Jhondie asked sharply, glaring at
Zack. Why did he tell her about Justin?
Alicia finally looked up. "It is the same Justin that I decided not to leave for the Reds to make
mincemeat out of, right?" she asked Zack.
"Wait a second!" Max almost yelled. "You knew the Reds were after Jhondie, and
you didn't tell me?"
"They weren't after Jhondie," Alicia answered for Zack. "They were after me, remember? It was just coincidence there was a X-5
running around the city. We were
supposed to think that she was there so that I'd get put out in the open. Hepburn didn't know he was actually
right." She went back to the map.
"You haven't seen any other Reds around?" Zack asked. He was constantly concerned that the Reds
would come back. They all noticed the
little grin on Alicia's face when he asked that. She looked up again as they all stared at her.
"I said I've been down the last two months," she said. "I was rather busy before then. I wouldn't worry about any Reds."
"They can make more in a second," Max snapped. "As many as they want."
"Not without implants."
"You went after them?" Zack asked angrily. Alicia knew why he'd be angry.
"I didn't know then," she replied, looking at him. "Besides, most of their forces were down,
and all we had to do was take out facilities. We're really good at that. It'll
be hard for dead scientists to make implants with facilities whose shrapnel is
spread over about a mile."
Jhondie was a little confused at that by-play. There was definitely something else going
on. She'd find out later what it
was. So this was the person that saved
Justin. Zack had told her that the Reds
thought Justin was working with the X-6, and had no idea she was really in
LA. Well, she wasn't in LA at the time,
but that was another story. All she
knew was that there weren't going to be any solo assignments for Eye's Only
anymore. Every time she and Justin
separated for a story, something had happened. This time he'd almost gotten killed.
"Okay, I got the satellite images that you needed of
Antelope Island, but there's nothing like what you're talking about," Logan
said, emerging from the computer room. He was looking at some papers Alicia had asked for. Logan was thoroughly confused at how an
island in the middle of the Salt Lake could have strategic value, but she
seemed to know what she was talking about.
Jhondie turned to see who the new speaker was. "Logan, meet my sister Jhondie," Max said
brightly. She'd told him a thousand
times about Jhondie. Why was he looking
at her like that?
Jhondie knew him. There was something very, very familiar about him. They'd never met, but still, there was
something familiar. She didn't think
they'd met, but there was something in his voice, and his…no…no way…there was
no way he was who he sounded like. A
regular person would be fooled by the way his voice was slightly distorted
during broadcasts, but they didn't have her hearing. She could pick up on the undertones of the voice. It was him.
They never used their names when communicating. He'd never been told about her past. No wonder he was looking at her like he was
going to scream or laugh.
"Eyes," she greeted with a smirk.
"LA," he returned with the same smirk.
Jhondie glanced at Zack. "Please don't tell me you knew," she said. He didn't say anything. It was enough of an answer.
"You're part of the Informant Net?" Max asked her sister,
furious at Logan. How dare he not tell
her that he knew Jhondie.
"I didn't know her name," Logan said to Max quickly. He knew her well enough to see what was
brewing in her mind. "I don't check all
of my operative's necks you know. My
guy in LA said he had a partner, and then they started turning out real
results. I didn't think to ask if his
new partner was genetically enhanced. It's not something you normally have to ask."
He looked at Jhondie and held out his hand. "Logan Cale," he introduced. He might as well. It wasn't like she could expose him.
"Jhondie Harris," she replied, shaking his hand firmly. Justin would die if he knew she was getting
to meet his idol. He had wanted to come
with her so bad, but she'd made him stay in LA.
"How long has this been going on?" Max asked, still angry.
Jhondie looked back at her with an embarrassed little
smile. "Almost three years," she
said. "Justin was already working for
him, and I accidentally got involved with Justin and then Eye's Only, and just
never got un-involved." She glared at
Zack. "And you knew and didn't tell
me!"
"You didn't need to know," he replied coolly.
"I didn't need to know!" she exploded. "I didn't need to know that my boss was
hooked up with my sister? You know…"
Alicia cut her off her tirade.
"Ladies and gentlemen," she said firmly, rising to make an
emphasis. Jhondie realized she was
pregnant and had to sit down in shock. "This is all touching, but I don't really care. All it's doing is wasting time that Bryn
does not have. I am going to the
bathroom. When I come back all of you
better be ready to listen closely so you can rescue her. Any questions?" There was something in her tone that made them all shut up and
not want to ask questions. She calmly
left the table and headed towards the bathroom.
Jhondie's mind quickly put together a few facts. Zack had shown up a couple of weeks after
Justin got hurt. He had been really
bummed about something. He even
listened to her about leaving Manticore behind. He acted rather human. Plus he was wearing a weird necklace that was definitely not his style. He'd been working with a female X-6. One who now was very much pregnant. And she caught how his eyes followed Alicia
as she moved.
"Zack?" she questioned, feeling slightly nauseous. He nodded. "Zack!"
"Just drop it," he ordered in his best CO voice. "It's my concern." He paused. It's also why
she can't go back to Manticore ever. They
locked her up and were going to take him from her."
She looked at Max who shrugged. "All of you are crazy," Jhondie finally said.
"You going to stay or blaze?" Max asked.
Jhondie thought about heading for the door for the briefest of seconds. Anyone else and she would have. "I'm still in," she said firmly. "Ruining Lydecker's hopes and dreams is always a good way to spend the weekend. Least in my opinion."