An Emergency Change of Command, 14
by pari106

pari106@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/pari106/damain.html

Disclaimer: See part 1; Code: M/Z, Logan/Syl; Zane, Krit, All; Rating: PG-13


An Emergency Change of Command, 14
by pari106


Max stared at the Jeep, then at Zack, then at the approaching Jeep.

Zack had to smile.

"Zane's surprise," he told her, with a nod at the vehicle.

Max smiled. "Well, I knew Jondy was supposed to be coming. But me and Syl figured,
since she hadn't shown up yet…"

But the look on Zack's face made her stop.

"What?"

"Not Jondy," Zack told her. "The surprise is who she's got with her."

Max's smile slowly began to spread.

"Who's she got with her?"

Zack just gave her a sort of drawn out shrug, making Max's eyebrow lift, and Zack
laughed at the look she sent him.

"Don't make me force the information out of you, soldier," she threatened playfully.

And Zack's eyes changed just a little as she said that. He leaned in closer to her, and his
smile became teasing.

"That sounds promising," he told her, startling her just a little.

Max blinked. Was that…sexual innuendo? From Zack?

Suddenly that jeep and its passengers had been delegated to the back of Max's mind. She
swallowed, but not being the skittish type, she didn't lose her smile. Even if it had
become shaky all of a sudden.

"Really?" she said, attempting an attitude. She was failing miserably, but neither of them
cared.

"I've got to tell you though," he said, leaning in that last inch. She could feel his breath
on her cheek as he spoke and it made Max shiver. "You might have to work me over for
a while. X5s have amazing stamina, you know."

Then he kissed her before she could think too much about that.

This kiss was brief, and when Zack pulled back, he grabbed Max by the hand.

"This can wait," he promised her, brushing her lips with his one last time before he
tugged on her hand, leading her off the porch.

Max blinked. Then she smiled, squeezing Zack's hand. "Right," she said. Then she
followed him down.

It was goddamned hard being with Max, talking with her like they had been, kissing her
like he had, and then just walking away. Zack wanted to talk some more, which was
down right scary for him. But it was true. He wanted to hear her say she loved him
again, and this time he wanted to be able to say it back. He wanted to tell her that he'd
decided to move to Seattle with her, if that's what she wanted. He wanted to tell her
everything.

And afterwards he wanted to do a whole hell of a lot of things that didn't require talking.

But that would have to wait. This was a big day – and not just because they were finally
together. Max, Syl, and Krit still had to meet their surprise.

As they walked down the porch, Zack had to pride himself in the fact that Max looked
just as reluctant to postpone their time together as he was. But this "surprise" wasn't just
for Max, Syl, and Krit. It had been a long time since he'd since this side of his family, as
well. And he'd die a losing battle before he admitted it, but he actually felt excited about
seeing them now.

As the jeep pulled up, Zack saw that same excitement in Max's eyes.

The jeep rolled to a stop, and Jondy was out the door almost before it stopped, with this
huge grin on her lovely face.

"Jondy!"

"Max!"

That grin spread from one sister to the other, and Zack squirmed, but yeah, he was
smiling, too.

Max felt amazing. It was spectacular – first Zane, and now Jondy. She was breathless
and she felt like she had a dozen things to say all at the same time. The two sisters
caught each other in a hug the second Jondy was around the jeep.

"Wow, baby sister, you look just like I thought you would," Jondy said, eyes shining with
an affectation that couldn't be erased by time or distance. She loved her little sister just
as much now as she had ten years ago. It was a feeling all the X5s shared for one
another.

Max just laughed, because she couldn't say the same. Jondy looked…basically the same.
Same facial features. She was taller than her other sisters, and very slender. But her
hair…

No Manticore laboratory could have produced that hair.

Jondy sensed her thoughts and laughed, picking up one long, fire-red spiral between two
fingers.

"I know. It did this around the time I turned fifteen, I guess. I was strawberry blonde till
then." She grinned, time having made the thought of their past more of a fact and less of
a painful memory. "Good thing we got out when we did, huh? Lydecker would have had
the whole genetic engineering department shut down."

Yeah, good thing. Ten years ago…wow. They had a lot of catching up to do.

But, first, Jondy turned to Zack, her eyes taking on a knowing glint. Unlike the others,
she'd known what this little "emergency meeting" of the X5s was all about – Zane had
told her. It had surprised her at first. At first, she'd thought Zane was just pulling her
leg. Then she thought Zack must just be fooling around.

But then she saw Max and Zack on the porch together. Then she'd seen them walk up to
her, hand in hand.

Now she smiled at her big brother with true tenderness; true happiness.

Looks like the fearless CO's heart of stone had finally crumbled.

If Jondy had tear ducks she'd be weeping right now.

"Hey, brother," she greeted, giving Zack a hug.

Now Zack can hug. But, like with all things sentimental, did he hug when given the
choice? Usually not. Unless the huggee in question, as it were, was Max. For apparent
reasons. But he can hug. It just makes him a little uncomfortable. And that look Jondy
kept giving him wasn't helping him any.

"Hey, Jond," he said in return, anyhow. He *was* happy to see her. But his eyes
threatened death and dismemberment if she said one word, just *one* word, of what he
could see was on her mind.

Jondy just pulled back, still smiling, with a raise of the eyebrows that said 'Message
received.'

Max gave them both a strange look, but she was too happy to see her sister to linger on
the thought very long.

"So…what's this big "surprise" I keep hearing about?" she asked.

Jondy's smile widened again. Oh, this was going to be good.

She opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of a car door opening cut her off.

Max, Jondy, and Zack turned to the Jeep as one…

And saw Jace climbing out of the vehicle, grinning just like the rest of her present family,
holding a tiny little dark-haired bundle in her arms. Brin climbed out right behind her.

At last, their family was complete.