Five Years Later
"Mommy, Mommy, wake up," Eva called.
"Shhh, shh, Don't wake daddy up." Max responded and silently slipped out of bed. She put on her robe and knelt down to the girl.
"What's wrong?"
"Mommy, I had a bad dream,"
"Okay. Let's talk about in the living room," Max said and hurried the five-year old out the bedroom.
They settled down on the couch.
"So. Tell me about the dream." Max said softly.
"Well," Eva reached out to her mother. Max groaned.
"Uh, Okay," She picked up Eva and laid her on her chest.
"As I saying… It was really scary."
"Tell me from the beginning."
"Okay… I was in this room and it was dark and smoky. In front of me was a boy. He was pounding on the door really, really hard. Then he stopped and turned to me. He walked toward me and laid over me. He was really heavy."
Max laughed. Only Eva.
"Mom. It's not funny." Eva stated sternly.
"I know. I'm sorry. Continue."
Eva took a dramatic breath.
"I was saying… Then, the woman with a blue dress just appeared in front of me. She had a little girl with her who was almost bald. She picked up the boy and then they all smiled at me and disappeared. And the boy looked a lot like me. It was like they were all ghosts." Eva ended and looked up at her mother who was crying.
"Mom, why are you crying?" the girl asked. Max wiped her tears with her hand.
"Something got in my eye. Everything's fine now, Eva. All those people in your dream care about you."
"How?" she asked curiously.
"They all smiled at you. They didn't try to hurt you. It's okay, just go to bed now. You'll be fine."
"Can I…"
"Bed. Now. Go." Max said firmly, but nicely. Eva jumped off of Max and run to her room.
"Love ya, Mommy. Night."
"Love ya too." she replied, but Eva was already out of view. Max just laid back on the couch.
"I guess you do exist." She said to the air. They protected my baby. The Blue Lady. My sister, the original Eva. Brandon, I hope you're happy and you better look out for your sister. She's bound to get into trouble.
Max stayed up the whole night contemplating about everything in her life. She didn't worry about Lydecker anymore. An X-7 had killed him two years ago, actually. They did the one thing the X-5's were afraid to do as kids. They thought Manticore was a hindrance to their survival, but they didn't see any purpose for themselves without it. So they blow Manticore up… along with themselves. All the X-5 respected them to a certain extent, but it was just sad overall. I guess the perfect soldiers only defect was that they was perfect. When Max found out, she thought she would be happy, but she wasn't. Brandon was avenged, but it didn't help the hole in her heart. Now with what Eva told her, she could look at Brandon's death in a new and brighter light.
"Hey." Logan called from behind her and kissed her neck.
"What are you doing up so early?" he asked. Max took his arm and led him around the couch so he could sit.
"I found out how Brandon died," she stated. Logan stiffed up a bit. Brandon was still a sore spot for him. Yes, he had forgiven Max, but he never forgot. Even after all these years it still hurt.
"I thought he was killed by Lydecker," he choked out.
"In a way. But Brandon was stronger Eva. He out of the both of them should have survived," she looked down and then put her eyes up again.
"But he laid across her body in the barn when it was burned. So he inhaled more smoke than her. He protected her," Tears started to came down her cheeks. She had a ghost of a smile on her face.
"Logan. Our son died a hero."
Logan took Max and held her. As he looked over her shoulder, he saw a ghost of a little boy.
"Hi daddy." It mouthed. Logan was in shock for a moment and then he realized who it was.
"Hi, Brandon" Logan mouthed back. Then the ghost smiled and pointed to something. Logan followed the direction he was pointing and saw Eva in the hallway. He looked back and the ghost was gone. He stifled a bit and then focus on his daughter.
"Hey, you. Get over here." He called and Eva ran to her parents. They stayed in a big group hug for a minute. Logan thought of how the two people he was hugging had caused the most problems in his life… and probably still will. And they were still somewhat dark and mysterious to him, but their love always shone through.
Dark Lights, he thought. Then he heard collective stomachs grumbling. Max and Eva pouted and looked at him expectantly.
He sighed, "Just let me get up."