Disclaimer: See Part 1

A/N: Pleeeease visit my new web page for The Siege at: http://brin734.tripod.com/terminal_city/ I will love you forever!

Summary: Just as Max and Alec begin to believe that the siege will soon wear itself out, the once-dormant threat of Manticore makes itself known in the form of an ambush with dire consequences. The casualties hit dangerously close to home, and Max realizes that it's up to her to stop the potential genocide situation quickly approaching.

The Siege

by

Brin

"You make a decision and you take charge of your life. You don't need a higher power to help you. You don't need a sponsor. What you need is a strength of mind, willpower, and character." –Lydecker

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Chapter 5: Heaven Shattered

Rain dribbled down the cracked window that was outlined with fraying off-white curtains. The sky was dark and the city quiet as the blanket of night settled in until the sun rose once again. It was surprisingly silent in the middle of Terminal City and it seemed that all the troubles of the outside world were beginning to fade… for the moment, at least.

Max lay underneath the window with off-white curtains, staring at the sleeping form next to her. She pulled the soft woolen covers tighter around her and snuggled closer to him, his light breaths tickling her neck. Alec looked so peaceful when he was sleeping. He slept with one hand tucked underneath his head, the other resting lazily in the middle of his bare chest. His face was content and relaxed with a smile pulling at his lips. It seemed like he didn't have a care in the world…

Thunder rumbled and Max glanced outside the dark window at the seemingly quiet Terminal City. She picked up Alec's watch. 9:00 P.M. Hadn't Syl asked her to come to some kind of special party at 9:30 earlier? She sat up and quietly scooted towards the end of the bed, but a hand reached up, grabbed her arm, and pulled her back into place.

"I don't think so," mumbled Alec sleepily, rolling over so that she was pinned underneath him. He wrapped his arms around her bare shoulders. "Where do you think you're going?"

Max smiled up at him and gave him a little kiss on the nose. "Syl said that there was a party down at Tolerance Hall. I thought it would be nice to go and see what they have planned. I mean, they don't exactly have the best resources in the world…"

Alec brushed her lips with his. "Hmm… party… stay here… party… stay here…" He sighed and rolled off of her. "Well, I can tell you that staying here definitely wins the popular vote, but I see that you want to hang out with your siblings… which are totally scary, by the way."

Max watched as he stood up and searched for his clothes. "How are they scary?"

"Well, I was busily minding my own business when I was aware of transgenic eyes watching me," he explained, picking up his jacket and soggy shirt. "Where did you throw my boxers?"

"Umm…" Max bit her lip and looked around. "Aha!" She crawled to the edge of the bed and pulled his boxers out from underneath.

"How did those get under there? Wait… don't answer that." Alec put them on and flinched. "Cold boxers. Wet boxers. I need to get a change of clothes."

Max laughed and started searching for her own clothes. "You have enough time to stop by the clothes storage and get a change…" She sniffed. "I need a shower."

Alec shrugged and put on his shirt. "Well, anyway, your brothers were watching me and when I went over to see what their problem was, they went all psycho on me. I felt like I was in some pre-Pulse mafia movie or something." He handed Max her pants. "It was freaky. Do they treat all your boyfriends like that?"

Max kissed him. "No. They drove Andy to insanity, convinced Eric he was a skitzo, and tried to kill Logan."

"Oh right. I forgot," Alec replied with a laugh as she slipped on her shirt. "So… I'm going to stop by the clothes storage and you are going to go take a shower… right?"

"Right."

"Where do you want to meet? I mean… it wouldn't do for us to be searching for each other the entire night…"

Max smiled. "Tell you what. Since Joshua is like eight feet tall, we'll just find Joshua, okay?"

Alec winked and pulled her close to him, "Whatever you say." He kissed her deeply, then released his hold on her waist and backed up towards the door, opening it and then holding it open for max. "If we don't go now we'll never get out of here."

"I agree," Max said as she hurried out of the room.

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Max put her long hair up into a ponytail as she exited Terminal City's shower house. She silently thanked the brilliant transgenics who came up with the idea of collecting rainwater, filtering it, and using it for showers. Of course, she would've preferred a warm bath, but a girl can't have everything.

The night air was crisp and cold, making Max wish she still had Alec's leather jacket to keep herself warm. She rubbed her arms as she walked towards Tolerance Hall.

"Hey! Max!"

Max stopped walking and turned around to see Eddie and Pick coming down the street towards her. "Hey, guys. Where're you headed?"

"The party," replied Eddie, slowing to a halt and jumping off her skateboard, Pick following. "You too?"

"Of course." She looked the young anomaly up and down. "Where did you get those clothes? And those skateboards?"

Eddie was wearing not-so-tight black pants, a white tank top proudly stating GIRLS KICK ASS, a silver bracelet, and black sneakers.

Pick was wearing jeans and a black shirt with a white skull and crossbones across the front. A chain hung from his pocket and his once black, flat-soled shoes were faded and gray.

 "We were helping Mole and Dix look around for 'items of use' and we found an apartment that still had all its furniture and clothes left inside," answered Eddie with a shrug. "Then we found two skateboards in the attic and they have proved to be a lot more fun than walking everywhere."

Max looked them over a few times and whistled appreciatively. "It's a good look for the both of you."

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Eddie did a crooked grind across a railing and a 360-degree spin as she jumped back onto the ground, coming to a slow halt in front of Tolerance Hall.

"Show-off," growled Pick as he caught up with her.

The young anomaly stuck her tongue out at him and picked up her board. "Where's Max?"

Pick half-heartedly jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "Back there somewhere."

"On the contrary!" Max called.

The two teens looked up. Max was on the second floor of Tolerance Hall looking down at them with a smirk.

"Where've you been? I was beginning to think you'd never show!" the X5 continued with a laugh. She jumped down to the ground. "Where did you two learn to skateboard, anyway?"

"I took a Common Teen Pass Times class for one of my missions," replied Pick. He glared at Eddie. "She's just a fast learner."

Eddie smirked. "Yes, well, you're just jealous." And with a flip of her tail, she went inside.

Max laughed at the expression on Pick's face. She patted him on the shoulder as she followed Eddie. "Get used to it, buddy. She's a cat. She's gonna be sassy for forever and a day."

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Meanwhile… Outside the Perimeter

Briggs walked up and down his row of fourteen transgenics, inspecting them with carefully trained eyes.

"I need you to think long and hard about this," he said. "Whomever I send into enemy grounds may not return. In fact, I have a high belief that they will not return."

"Sir! Permission to speak, Sir!" said one of them.

"875, permission to speak granted," said Briggs, stopping in front of the addressed teenager.

"Sir! I believe I can take the transgenics, Sir!" declared 875. "I will even sacrifice myself, Sir!"

Briggs nodded. "Alright. Get yourself wired with a mic and earpiece. You're going in."

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Eddie and Pick were quickly swept away from Max's side and over to Axle, Hank, and Junky as soon as they got inside.

Max took the sight before her, impressed. What someone had done was hang curtains and blankets around a perimeter, creating a makeshift room. They had set up about long five tables against one of the 'walls' to give the effect of a bar, and there were several other round tables set in random places. Music blared from unseen speakers (she made a mental note to check that out later) and hundreds of transgenics stood around with, of all things, drinks in their hands (she also needed to check that out).

"Hey! Max! Max! Little fella!" called Joshua from the bar.

"What's up, Big Fella?" replied Max as she approached him.

"Joshua wanted to introduce Max to new friend. New friend named, named uh… Pandora," proclaimed the dog-anomaly proudly. He waved his hand towards another doggish anomaly, this one distinctly female. "Pandora is special—first."

"I thought you were first, Josh," Max said with a laugh as she shook hands with Pandora.

"Yeah, but, but Pandora first female," declared Joshua proudly.

Max chuckled and kissed him on the forehead. "Glad you've found a friend, Big Fella! Have you seen Alec around?"

Joshua nodded. "Uh huh. Medium Fella said… 'Give Max message' and, uh, 'knock yourself out.'"

"What was the message?"

"Umm… eh…" Joshua scratched his head a moment, then pulled a piece of paper from his pocket. "This—this Alec's message."

Max accepted the crumpled letter and rose. "Thanks, Josh." She moved a few seats down for a little privacy and opened the letter.

Hey Maxie,

Tell ya what: If you can find me within this group of several hundred transgenics I'll give you a present and a kiss. If not… well then I'll still give you the present and kiss… but I'll be in the doghouse either way for making you come look for me, won't I?

Love always,

Alec

Max closed the letter and shook her head amusedly. "Oh yeah, you're in the doghouse." She headed off to find him when she bumped into someone.

"Watch where you're going!"

"Holy shit!" cried Max, jumping back. Standing there in front of her was a fully-grown leopard. Not an anomaly, no! A leopard! A regular old, nearly-extinct leopard! "What the hell?"

"Cut it the language lady," replied the big cat in a scratchy voice. "What? You never seen a leopard before?"

"No… not a… talking one…"

The leopard laughed and stood up on its back legs, looking  Max up and down. "I know you! You're 452, that hot X everyone's been talking about." He held out his paw. "The name's Leo. Leo the leopard. Laugh all you want."

Max couldn't help but chuckle as she shook his paw. "What… what are you, exactly?"

Leo got back on all fours and sat down. "Well, I was designed to the companion of some prime minister in South America and report back to Manticore about the information I gathered. But I never got sent out, so I guess you could call me Manticore's big, universal joke." He licked his paw and slicked back his fur. "Handsome, don't you think?"

"Yeah, really handsome," Max replied with a laugh. "It was very nice to meet you, Leo the leopard, but I must be off to find my wayward boyfriend."

"Hmm… you mean Alec?"

"Yeah, you know him?"

"Know him?! He's my idol, lady!" exclaimed Leo, suddenly growing excited.

"Your… idol?" Max raised an eyebrow. "Alec?"

"The guy moves like an antelope with a lion on his tail! Fights like a water buffalo surrounded by hyenas!" He laughed sheepishly. "He never failed a mission—with the minor exception of that Berrisford case—and never lost a fight back at Manticore," said the leopard, making a face that Max assumed was a smile. He stood up again. "It's sad that he doesn't box anymore. The guy was said to be Manticore's finest."

"Manticore's finest? But I kicked his ass," declared Max, crossing her arms over her chest. "And the Familiars totally kicked him around."

Leo licked his whiskers. "I heard the story of what happened from Gem. She said he was shot. Could you very well if you were shot?"

"Well…no…"

"I rest my case. And, anyway, the guy wouldn't dare use his full power on anyone. It's really scary. He gets into this fighting mood when he uses his full strength and goes totally AWOL. One time he killed a guy because the trainers couldn't pull him off in time to stop him. It's a treat to watch him fight with all he's got, though…" And with that, he got back on all fours and lumbered off.

Max furrowed her brows in thought.

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875 cleared the perimeter fence on a dark, quiet side of Terminal City with ease, landing with nothing more than a soft tap. He sniffed the air a few times and looked around for any indication of life. Finding none, he ducked low and crept deep into enemy territory, his automatic held ready…

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It wasn't long after her run-in with Leo that Max ran into her partying lover, who was standing next to a stereo smiling.

"Hello, Maxie," he said softly, planting a kiss on her cheek. "You found me."

Max, pushing Leo's words to the back of her mind, smirked and put her hands on her hips. "What's up with this scavenger hunt you've sent me on?"

Alec bit his lip and shrugged. "Josh's little friend was scaring me… and besides, the guy needs a little time alone once in awhile." He slung an arm around her shoulders. "I had an interesting little chat with some other Xs."

"Did you now?"

"Yep. I found out a few interesting things…"

"Like what?"

"For instance," he began, "the wine and other alcoholic beverages provided here at this lovely little party were discovered buried under a three-story building. Dix and Leg contacted Mole about the find who contacted some psy-ops who contacted a few X7s who contacted a menagerie of X5s who planned this entire thing. They call it a 'social get-together.' And besides, we have more than enough water. Why not let people enjoy themselves?"

Max laughed. "Really? Have you been gossiping, Alec?"

"The most sacred sport known to woman-kind?! I think not," Alec replied, eyes twinkling mischievously.

"You really are a smart-Alec, huh?"

"Always."

Max kissed him briefly on the lips and smiled. "Good. Just remember… It could've been Dick."

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"I have infiltrated the main sentry lines," 875 whispered into his mic. "This is very disappointing. Their sentries are armed with handguns and no armor. Their patterns were not varied and easy to counter. I expected more."

"Keep your head in the game, 875," Briggs' voice said through 875's earpiece. "The number one rule is not to underestimate them. A group of several hundred transgenics are not to be taken lightly. Watch your back."

"Yes, Sir!" replied 875. He pulled his goggles down over his eyes as he neared the main building of Terminal City—a crumbling old parking garage.

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"So tell me about the music. How can we afford this much power?" Max asked.

Alec pulled her to a stop and wrapped her up in his arms. "Well, one of the psy-ops kids developed a solar-power collector and solar-powered generator. So far we've collected enough power to light up the entire city for a day. How do you like them apples?"

Max laughed and rested her head on his chest as they began to sway to the music. "I've never heard this before. What is it?"

"The X6s have been pillaging houses for pre-Pulse CDs. I think this one is called…" He chewed his lip as he thought about it. "Oh yeah, Zero told me that he found this disc. It's by some singer called… Shania Twain or something like that. Ring a bell?"

Max shook her head. "Must've been pretty far back."

"Yeah. I'd say about 1999-2000ish."

"Hmm… I like it, though."

You got a way it seems You gave faith to find my dreams

You'll never know what that means

Can't you see, you got a way with me?

Alec leaned down and kissed the base of her neck. "Love you, Maxie."

"Love you, too."

It's in the way you want me, it's in the way you hold me

The way you show me just what love's made of

It's in the way we make love

"Hey, Max?"

"Yeah?" Max closed her eyes, relishing in the feel of his strong arms around her.

"If we ever get out of this… I mean, when we get out of this… I was wondering if… ya know, you'd ever think about… settling down?"

Max stopped dancing and looked right into Alec's eyes. "Settle down…? Alec, I…"

You got a way with words

You kept me smiling even when it hurt

There's no way to measure what your love is worth

I can't believe the way you get through to me

"Just say yes, Max," he whispered. "I'm not asking for any kind of commitment right now."

"Yes," Max replied almost reflexively. "Yes, I have some ideas of settling down."

Alec smiled and kissed her.

Oh, how I adore you like no one before you

I love you just way you are

It's in the way you want me, it's in the way you hold me

The way you show me just what love's made of

It's in the way we make love

It's just the way you are…

The song ended, and so did the kiss. Max, seemingly in a trance, fell slack into Alec's embrace.

"You want to go home?" he asked, rubbing her back.

"Home," Max repeated groggily. "Home… I have a home. A real home." Her warm brown eyes wandered around the room. It was like heaven.

Zack was dancing with Jondy, holding her as close as possible as he whispered things in her ear and kissed her on the neck. Every now and then Jondy would start laughing and lean her head against his shoulder while he just smiled and continued to dance.

Syl was with Krit. They each danced with one hand on Syl's rounded stomach, smiling at each other and talking in hushed tones. There was a priceless sparkle in their eyes as they looked at each other, giggling and making faces like love-struck schoolchildren.

Pick stood behind Eddie with his head on her shoulder, arms draped around her waist as they gently swayed to the music; not exactly dancing. Contrary to the first two couples, the young teens were had there eyes closed and were totally silent, seemingly mesmerized by the other's presence.

Even Joshua had his girl, who was nearly as tall as him, and he was looking especially happy as he blabbered on. She just smiled at him.

"This place is good for us, Alec. We don't have to worry about secrets, about hiding, about running… we're almost free spirits here," Max commented, raising her head to look at Alec. "I mean, besides the mob that wants to kill us at the gates."

Alec laughed. "You're right, Maxie. Being stuck with all these transgenics is really… how would you put it? Enlightening. I mean, some of them are pretty interesting." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "But there's this one… damn, she gets to me."

Max smiled and kissed him. "Mm… same here. I mean, this one just drives me crazy. He's called Mole and he annoys me."

"Ha, ha," grumbled Alec. "Very funny."

"Yeah, I thought so," Max replied, her smile widening. "You know—" She suddenly froze as a sudden sense of dread washed over her. "Alec… Alec, do you…"

Alec gulped and nodded. "Someone's watching." He looked up and his heart dropped to his feet. "Hey! Hey you!"

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875 saw one of the transgenics spot him, then, almost instantaneously, the rest lifted their heads and started freaking out. "I have been spotted! I repeated, I have been spotted! Order to attack requested!"

"Order granted. Take them out."

Grinning devilishly, 875 emptied his gun into the crowd.

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"Everyone! Get down! Get the kids outta here!" Alec shouted over the mass chaos that erupted as bullets started flying. He heard a loud, cattish scream and looked over to see a leopard lying on the floor, riddled with bullets. "Leo!"

Max held back a cry as she saw her fellow transgenics get mowed down, screams of pain and anguish filling the air. When she turned to grab Alec, he was gone… The bullets stopped, but the sound of intense battle followed. "ALEC!"

The attacker was hanging from the second floor of the parking garage by two ropes and Alec had already succeeded in cutting him down using a pocket knife. Now they walked around on the ground in circles, sizing each other up. The attacker was about six-foot-six with well-defined muscles and overly large hands.

"Where the hell did you come from? Did Mr. And Mrs. Bigfoot's child grow up and come to kill us poor transgenics?" Alec growled. "You fucking ass."

"Never been called that before," replied the armored attacker. He lashed out at Alec with staggering speed, managing to punch the X5 right in the face. Alec went flying back into Zack and Krit, who were coming to join the fight. "But you may called me CO 875, your superior."

Max finished clearing the other transgenics from the room and ran over, helping Alec to his feet. "Are you alright?"

875 pulled out his machine gun and aimed it at Max's head. "You don't understand, missy. I've come here to kill you all… there is no time to speak."

Before he could pull the trigger, however, he was tackled from the side by a small flash of color.

"Brin!" Zack yelled, jumping up as 875 and Brin slid across the floor, wrestling all the way. He looked at Krit, who nodded at back. They launched themselves into the fight, pulling 875 off a thoroughly beaten Brin and shoving him into the wall, each holding down one of his arms. "Don't move!" instructed Zack, pulling out his gun and placing it at 875's head. "Or I swear I will blow your brains out."

875 laughed. "Think you're that fast? Or that strong?" He threw his body backwards, causing the gun to go off. Zack and Krit flew off of him, landing near their unconscious sister. But as soon as they were gone, they were replaced by Max, Alec, and Jondy, who threw themselves into 875 with all their might. He ducked Jondy, clipping her on the feet as she flew over his head so that she went crashing headfirst into the wall; then he kicked Max as soon as she was within range.

Alec, however, was a different story. With blinding speed, Alec punched 875 across the face then kicked him in the stomach.

875 fell back, surprised. He put a hand to his busted lip and smiled. "No one's ever drawn my blood before."

"Yeah, well get used to it. There's a lot more where that came from," Alec said, running towards him again.

He struck high, but 875 caught his wrist and kicked him in the stomach. Blood spilled from Alec's mouth from the force of the blow and, almost reflexively, he jumped forward and kicked 875 in the chest, knocking them both to the ground. 875 twisted Alec's arm behind his back and punched him. Alec smashed his head into his opponents and they separated, quickly getting to their feet.

Meanwhile, the other X5s helped each other up. "We can't just let him fight! We've got to do something!" Max cried.

Zack cocked his gun, aimed, and fired.

875 fell to the ground to avoid the bullet and, while he was down, kicked Alec's feet out from under him.

Max watched, frozen with terror, as 875 jumped to his feet and started kicking the living daylights out of her lover. Zack, Krit, and Jondy jumped into action, but she remained where she was, her body like lead. Other transgenics started coming back to join the fight carrying the guns they had run to fetch.

As they neared, 875 pulled out another gun and pointed it at the three advancing X5s. Krit and Zack ducked out of the way, but Jondy got a bullet in a shoulder and went down.

"Hold your fire!" shouted Jondy to the other transgenics as she struggled to sit up. "Wait until he's subdued! You don't want to hit the others!"

By now, Brin had regained consciousness and staggered over. She looked at the line of waiting transgenics and something clicked in her brain. She took over.

"Everyone! Line up! Get ready to overwhelm by numbers!" Brin shouted, fighting back the blinding pain shooting through her body.

875 threw Krit across the room, then got punched across the cheek by Zack. He stumbled backwards, but quickly gained his footing. "Nice shot," 875 said with a smirk. "Now feel this." He darted up to Zack and punched him so hard in the chest that the X5 went flying through a wall and kept going until he hit another wall about fifty feet away. He then turned to the opposing transgenics. "Any more takers?"

"Fire!" yelled Brin.

The transgenics pulled their triggers, but before the bullets could even leave their guns… their target was gone.

Brin's eyes widened in shock. "Hold your fire!" She looked around for him, but then she felt cold hard steel pressing into the back of her neck.

"Let's see if barcodes are bullet proof…" 875 said.

Another trigger cocked and 875 suddenly became still.

"How about we see if whatever the hell you are can survive with a bullet lodged inside their brain?" growled Alec, pressing the barrel of his gun into 875's temple.

"I can shoot her at any moment. I suggest you lower your weapon. I'm not afraid to die… and I'm not afraid to kill. You're not afraid to kill. So why don't you kill me?" 875 pressed, the smirk never leaving his face.

"Don't think you're safe just yet," Alec growled. He shoved him to the floor and pressed his foot into his neck.

875 smiled up at him. "Think this'll stop me?" Grabbing Alec's leg, he threw him onto the floor and jumped up.

"Bad move," Alec said with a smirk of his own.

Before 875 could realize what Alec meant, something ripped through his chest. He looked down to see the blood dribbling down his body. Turning around, the air was suddenly filled with the sound of guns firing.

875 fell to the ground… dead.

TBC…