Summary: The shit has hit the fan and now the transgenic can only train and wait for the oncoming attack they know is coming. Life goes on for the younger transgenics, however; love abounds between some while other relationships are torn to shreds. Meanwhile, Ames White returns to the transgenic scene and finds that he has a whole new deck of cards to play when he meets Colonel Briggs.
The Siege
by
Brin
"Hope is for losers. It's a con job people trip behind till they finally get a grip on the cold, hard truth." –Max
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Chapter 7: Blah Blah Meow MeowThat night Max and Alec spent pouring liquid down Eddie's throat and trying to revive the almost comatose girl. They had started out trying to feed her some saltine crackers, but in the end she only vomited it all back up. So (after changing Alec's soiled shirt) they moved on to water. She seemed to take that pretty well, but it obviously wasn't enough. Gathering up their bottle cap money, they had bought some fruit and mixed the juices—guava, lemon, apple, and orange. It was actually good and by morning, Eddie was showing signs of waking up.
"You want something to eat?" asked Max, touching Eddie's hand. They were sitting in the living room. Alec had just gotten home from getting their daily rations.
Eddie shook her head.
"Don't think you can take it?"
"Mm-mm," mumbled the anomaly.
Max smiled. "Hey! A little sound. We're getting somewhere."
Alec took a seat next to his lover and checked Eddie's head wound. "It's healing nicely."
"It must've been some fight if he hit her that hard," commented Max with a sigh. "They were such a good couple… I wonder what happened."
"You mentioned you wanted me to talk to him… I should go do that before she totally wakes up," he said, standing up again. He kissed her on the forehead. "Back in few."
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Alec found Pick holed up in an apartment inside the X Hotel as it had come to be called. He knocked on the door and, when he got no answer, shrugged and just kicked it in.
Pick was lying on the couch, staring up at the ceiling. He had some stubble poking out from his chin and was in dire need of sleep.
"You. Explain. Now," Alec instructed, pulling up a chair and sitting down.
"What the hell do you want?" moaned Pick, rolling over onto his stomach.
"Your girlfriend had seizures strong enough to kill her and now she's in an almost comatose state and you don't even care if she's okay? There's something not right there," said Alec, leaning back in the chair. "Because you two obviously love each other and I don't know what could be serious enough to tear you apart. True love is a hard thing to find."
"True love? Is that what you call it now? I thought it was called cruel and unusual punishment!" snapped the X6.
Alec winced. "Ow, now you see that hurts because I know I love Max, and it's true love, but I don't consider it cruel and unusual punishment. Believe me, Pick, when you're old enough… having a girl with you 24/7 is a good thing, if you know what I mean."
Pick glared at him. "Look, I don't know what you were told, but Eddie and I are over and that's it. It's finished. Finito."
"That's kind of sudden, you know… come on, tell Alec allll about your problems. After all, I spent more than my share of time in psy-ops… maybe I can help."
"Screw you."
Alec laughed and patted Pick on the head. "Wonderful. You're getting out your anger. Now, let's see where the base of our problem is. What were you fighting over?"
"She's a bitch."
"I… see… well, can you elaborate on that?"
Pick squirmed a bit. "She's just a bitch."
"Aah… I understand… you don't even know what you were fighting over?"
"Of course I do!"
"Then…?"
Pick sat up and continued to glare at Alec. "Well, she was trying to get me to tell her what I was thinking and I was ignoring her so she got a little annoyed… She started becoming more incessant and I was getting mad. I yelled something about her being a nosy bitch who didn't know when to stop… then I said she was just a stupid anomaly. She told me I was being a jerk and I wasn't thinking straight; that I was acting childish." He suddenly dropped the glare and pinned his eyes to the floor. "I didn't mean to hit her. It was instinct… I mean, my arm almost moved by itself! I didn't know what was happening until she slapped me and ran off crying."
Alec nodded. "I see… I see…" He scratched the back of his head. "The only way you two are gonna get through this fight is by getting rid of those harsh feelings. So, that in mind, tell me the circumstances under which you and Eddie met."
This seemed to spark some feeling in Pick, as his eyes seemed to light up. "The night of the escape was total chaos. Everyone was either running from their barracks or being dragged out 'em. I am the oldest X6 to date, and I was leading a group of X8s from the facility along with some X5s. As I reached the perimeter fence, I saw something lying in the grass…"
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~~~ (flashback)
X6-901 helped an especially young X8 climb over the fence, then turned around to make sure that there were no more left behind. Movement in the corner of his eye caught his attention and he turned to see something wriggling around in the grass. He ran over, thinking it was an X, only to find a cat-faced anomaly crouched down, attempting to walk. His first instinct caused him to cower back from the creature, then she looked up at him with almond-shaped doe eyes.
"Help me! My leg's broken!" she cried desperately, her fangs gleaming in the moonlight as she spoke.
901 took a few steps backwards, then shook the fear from his head and grabbed her extended hand, pulling her to her feet. He tossed her over his shoulder and climbed the perimeter fence, dropping her on the ground as he reached the other side. "You take it from here," he said before running off into the darkness.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~~~ (end flashback)
"And I didn't see her for two more months. Everything had settled down and we were just settling in to our new lifestyle. I was called to San Francisco by one of my old friends. So I took off on my stolen motorcycle, sneaking through sector checkpoints with a fake I.D. I was driving through the woods late one afternoon when she jumped out of the trees, knocked me off my bike, stole my money, and ran off. Naturally, I followed her…"
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~~~ (flashback)
"Hey!" yelled 901 as he ran through the woods after the thief who had stolen the $400 cash from his wallet. "Get back here!" He could see the thief ahead of him, moving like a cheetah through the brush.
They ran like this for a few minutes before 901 suddenly lost sight of the person. He stopped and listened. Nothing moved. There was no sound. He took another step forward, then was suddenly pulled into the air by his ankle.
"Fuck! Fuck, fuck, fuck!" he yelled, furious with his undignified position, hanging ten feet off the ground.
"Bad word," said a distinctly female voice from behind him.
901 twisted his body around to see an anomaly sitting on the tree branch he was hanging from. "You!"
"And you!" responded the anomaly, equally surprised. "You're the one who left me outside Manticore like nothing more than a bag of rotten post-Pulse potatoes."
901 saw bad things coming. Her tone indicated anger and her face… well, if looks could kill… "I was preoccupied. I had X8s to think about."
"Oh really?" snapped the anomaly. She pulled a knife from her pocket and cut the rope, causing Pick to fly headfirst into the ground. "I guess they forgot to give you some cat DNA to cure that horrible falling business."
901 raised his head and glared at her. "That was quite painful." He spat leaves. "And most X6s had a blast of canine DNA, anyway…"
"Well that's a load of bullshit for me, 'cause I'm an X6 too," said the anomaly, wiggling her pointed ears and swishing her tail to prove her point.
"That's impossible," replied 901 as he struggled to stand up. "You're a 'nomlie."
"No, it's not. What, do you think Manticore created anomalies on purpose? We're all Xs, we just… came out a bit different."
"You can say that again."
"We're all Xs, we just came out a bit different," repeated the anomaly with a smirk. She jumped onto the ground and put him in a headlock. "Now, I know you want your money back but I'm not gonna give it to you. So you can either walk away now or I'll make sure you regret ever 'saving' me."
901 thrust his body forward, loosening the headlock and causing the anomaly to stumble a bit. He punched her on the back and attempted to kick her feet out from under her, but she flipped backwards and kicked him in the face with both feet. 901 staggered back, his nose broken, and glared at his opponent. "That's it!" he yelled, running forward. He punched the anomaly across the face, then kicked her in the stomach. She ducked his next kick and punched him in the neck. 901 fell back, gasping for air.
"Oh… is the wittle X6 hurt?" cooed the anomaly mockingly.
"B…bitch!" choked 901, running forward despite his lack of breath.
This turned out to be a mistake, since his movements were slowed by the lack of oxygen and his anomaly opponent took full advantage of that. She punched him in the face a few times, shoved him backwards, then, seemingly as an afterthought, kneed him in the groin.
901 fell to the ground moaning.
The anomaly patted him on the head. "You poor thing. Don't worry, I probably didn't cause any… permanent damage." She blew him a kiss. "Hope you don't mind if I fence your bike," she added before running off in the direction of the road.
~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~^~~~~ (end flashback)
Pick grinned at the memory. "Later, she told me that she got 10-grand on that baby. Pretty good money nowadays."
Alec was obviously impressed. "10-grand you say? Must've been some bike."
"Nah. I think it was just her smooth-talking that got her the cash. You know, she could always talk her way out of anything…" Pick ran his fingers through his hair. "But I wouldn't listen last night. I hit her. I mean, I injured the one girl that I mean to spend the rest of my life with, no matter how miserable that life may be…"
"Pick, I'm gonna be straight with you on this one: hitting your girl is just about the worst thing you can do in a relationship. It's gonna be hard to patch this up and you'll get frustrated with her; you're gonna wanna give up… but, in the end, it'll work out. Trust me here. No one 'cept Max has ever heard me talking like a sentimental fool, so I suggest you take my advice and use it." He stood up. "Now, if you don't mind, we should go see how our women are doing."
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Max shouted triumphantly as she pulled a battery-powered CD-player from the closet. "I am sooo good," she declared, turning around and grinning at Eddie. "How about a little musaac to lighten things up?"
Eddie stared at her for a moment, then nodded her head.
"I'm not gonna play it until you use those vocal cords again."
"Y…yes," croaked the girl in a hoarse voice.
Max sighed. "You poor girl… I wish I could help you." Eddie gave her a weak smile. "Okay, so what'll it be? So far I've managed to scrounge up only pre-Pulse bands. I got Incubus, Missy Elliot, Jay Z, Staind, Ja Rule, Linkin Park, Simple Plan, and… Eminem. Whaddya think?"
Eddie pointed at the Linkin Park CD and shrugged.
"Alright. Let's try this." Max put the CD in and pressed play. The volume had been left all the way up and Max almost fell over in surprise. She quickly turned it down and staggered over to sit next to Eddie, feigning exhaustion. "I'm getting old, Ed. I'm TWENTY! Not nineteen anymore… TWENTY. I'm not a teenager anymore… What are you, fifteen? I forget."
Eddie frowned and held up six fingers.
"Oh… sorry… sixteen. I knew that. Silly me." She chuckled and slumped down into the couch cushions with a sigh. "Gosh, I think I might actually need some sleep later."
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Alec and Pick walked down the grimy hallway of the apartment building in which he and Max were staying. They weren't quite sure what was coming, but Pick was convinced that Eddie was gonna attack him as soon as he stepped in the door.
"If you're this worried, then maybe I should go in first," suggested Alec, hopping over a fallen beam.
"Yeah, that would be best… but then again, she might jump up and bite your face off, thinking it was me…"
Alec laughed and smacked Pick on the back. "Calm down. The worst she can do is kill you."
"No, the worst she can do is not forgive me, then let me live," replied Pick.
They came to the apartment door and Alec turned to face Pick. "Ready, bro?"
Pick listened for a moment to make sure that Eddie wasn't standing right inside the door with a butcher knife, then shrugged. "I guess so."
Alec reached for the doorknob, then paused. "Wait? Do you hear that?" He looked up at the ceiling.
"Yeah… it sounds like… giggling. From inside."
"No shit, Einstein. But do you hear something else?"
Pick concentrated on picking up any sound. It took him a few minutes, but he finally heard it… and it was getting louder. "Helicopters."
"Ten of 'em… headed this way." Alec threw the door open. "Max, helicopters!"
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Ames White watched the helicopters flying over his head towards Terminal City and sighed, shaking his head. "S1W assholes," he mumbled, pulling out his cell phone and dialing a number.
"Speak," commanded the icy voice of the Familiar elder priestess.
"This place is worse than back at the hostage situation," White yelled over the chanting of the crowd. "We've got anti-transgenic and a few pro-transgenic mobs running around burning things. It's just a matter of time before they bust down those barricades and kill the transgenics themselves."
"The Conclave has requested that you stay down there, or at least have someone posted there, at all times. Our big break could come at any time, and we would be most disappointed if we missed it. This is your once chance to redeem yourself, White. Fail and your life is up for negotiation."
White frowned as the line ended. "Great." He turned to Otto. "I want men here, mingled with the crowd 24/7. Got that?"
Otto nodded. "I'll get right on it."
As Otto walked away, White noticed the military humvee sitting inside the barricades. Standing next to the humvee were thirteen teenagers of about 17 to 20, dressed for full combat and holding automatics. A man in his mid-thirties wearing in expensive clothing was saying something to them. He closed his cell and walked past the barricades, flashing the police his badge. As he neared the group, one of them broke off and blocked his way.
"Excuse me, Sir, do you have clearance?" asked the teen, who looked to be about 18.
Ames looked the young man in the eye and held up his badge. "Special Agent In-Charge White. I would like to speak to your superior."
The young man turned and walked back to the older man and whispered in his ear. After a few moments, the superior said something back and walked up to White.
"Special Agent In-Charge White," said the man, looking White up and down over his sunglasses. "I'm Colonel Briggs. To what do I owe this pleasure?"
"Who do you work for?" asked White, ignoring Briggs' cockiness.
"I don't think I have to tell you that," Briggs replied, crossing his arms over his chest.
"Look, I know those kids are Manticore. Why else would they be here?"
Briggs removed his sunglasses and narrowed his eyes at White. "Let's have a little chat inside."
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Four hundred armed transgenics hid behind debris and inside windows as ten black helicopters touched down in a recently-cleared street.
Max, who had made sure to get a bullet-proof vest from the supply room, was the only one to show herself. She waited until the helicopter turned off before approaching it.
There were people—not soldiers, but normal people dressed in normal clothes—sitting inside one of the open choppers, and they jumped out as soon as the helicopter touched down. Only one of them had a familiar face, and of all people it had to be—
"Asha," said Max, shaking her head as she walked up to the blonde woman. "What are you doing here and where the hell did you get a bunch of military helicopters?!"
Asha grinned and held out her hand. "Good to see you alive, too, Max."
Max shook Asha's hand with a sigh. "Yeah, yeah. Now what are you doing here? I hope you don't think we're gonna house and protect a bunch of your people. We take care of our own and you should, too. And goddamn it, how did you get these helicopters?"
"And if you really want to know… these choppers were about to be scrapped so S1W bought them and several mechanics and pilots were able to fix 'em up real nice. S1W then saw what you were doing here and decided to help out. We've got enough food to feed an army of a thousand for two weeks, clothing and blankets, and enough bullets and ammo to arm every transgenic in this God-forsaken place."
"You're kidding, right?" asked Max, looking at the helicopters. "You fit all that in those?"
"Took out a few things and had no co-pilot in a few of the birds… but we managed," Asha replied. "Happy to see me now?"
Max, shocked beyond words, stepped forward and hugged Asha.
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"Alright, what's your deal?" demanded Briggs.
White leaned back in his chair, lacing his hands behind his head. "That depends. Can you keep a secret?"
"I work for Manticore, Mr. Smart-ass. It's my job."
"Okay," Ames leaned forward. "What would you say if I told you I had my own army of genetically-enhanced super-soldiers? More than Manticore could ever create."
"I'd say 'What are you smoking, because I want some of that shit.'"
"I'm serious. I can give you ten extra super-soldiers to work with. And you don't even have to pay me or deal with all that government bullshit," said White, raising his eyebrows. "All I need you to do is go in there and kill every single transgenic you find. But the one in particular is this one." He placed a picture of Sam on the table. "Kill her, and I will pay you."
Briggs looked at the picture closely. "X5-452. Blew up the Seattle facility. Leader of the transgenics. There's a big bounty on that pretty little head."
"You'll get the bounty, plus what I'm willing to give you. Just you. No taxes, no sharing it with government cockroaches. Just 1's and 0's, Colonel," said Ames with a confident grin. He drew a 1 with six 0s behind it on a piece of paper. "And all you have to do is kill an X5." He held out his hand.
Colonel Briggs stared at White for a long while, then shook his hand. "You've got yourself a deal. Now get me your soldiers."
"They'll be here within three days."
"Three days?!" shouted Briggs. "We don't have that much time."
"Don't worry. Three days won't hurt a bit."
Briggs looked unsure, but didn't push the subject further.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max convinced everyone that the S1W only wanted to help and, soon, they had unloaded the hundreds of crates of food and ammunition. The S1W had gone way out of their league by transporting nine X-series into the city along with the supplies. They even left behind a black hawk, two little birds, and three apaches—each equipped with missiles and machine guns.
"Thanks, Asha," said Max, giving the blonde woman another hug before she left.
"Didn't expect me, of all people, to do this, huh?"
"Nope."
Asha laughed and hopped onto a little bird. "That's okay. See you later, Max."
Max jogged over to shelter from the debris kicked up by the helicopters and watched with a smile on her face as they flew away. "Now that was a surprise."
"Guess there are some good-hearted Ordinaries out there after all," said Jondy, putting her hand on Max's shoulder. "Dix and Leg are supervising the supply storage. We've got to go; Lydecker wants to see us. It's the first day of training."
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Lydecker tossed a set of military fatigues to each of the Xs in-training—Max, Zack, Krit, Jondy, Zane, and Brin. Syl, after a lot of arguing and harsh words of reality, had been convinced to just watch the training. Alec was there to oversee Lydecker's behavior and demonstrate some of the more complicated things.
"Put these on. The S1Ws were smart—supplied us with military clothes. It'll be easier for you to learn in these outfits," said the colonel. The X5s didn't move. "What is this? Put those clothes on, now! Move!"
Reluctantly, the X5s began removing their civilian clothes right in the middle of their training warehouse in exchange for the gray t-shirts and camo pants. Max, who was standing in-between Zack and Jondy, couldn't help but notice the looks of embarrassment they gave each other. She glanced at Zack and suddenly realized why. Zack's back was covered in fresh red scratch-marks that went all the way from his shoulders to his waist.
"Oh my," said Brin, laughing as Zack quickly pulled the t-shirt over his head. "I think someone's been a little busy lately."
Jondy and Zack turned bright red, but said nothing.
"That's enough," barked Lydecker, causing the X5s to reflexively snap to attention. "Now, I want you all to concentrate. We don't have all the time in the world. The Centurion attack could come at any time. Realize this and use it to your advantage. Now, let's begin." He looked at Alec, who stepped forward and handed him an empty liquor bottle. "See this? It's made out of crystal. Nasty stuff cuts through skin like a knife." He threw the bottle onto the ground, causing it to shatter. "Now, 494, demonstrate."
Alec removed his shoes and, taking a deep breath, stepped onto the glass shards. He jumped up and down a few times, then slid himself back and forth. The other X5s cringed.
"Lift your feet," commanded Lydecker.
Alec did as he was told.
"See? Not a scratch," said the colonel, grabbing Alec's ankle and pulling it up a little farther so that the other X5s could see. "The skin on your feet is very, very tough. Tough enough, in fact, for you to walk on hydrochloric acid and feel nothing. You wouldn't have noticed this because I would guess none of you have ever walked barefoot on acid before."
"Why would we need this if we had our boots?" asked Zane.
Lydecker whirled around and pointed at Zane angrily. "That's it! That's exactly what you cannot do at this time! We are in war here, 205, and I am your colonel; your superior. You do not speak without my permission. Do you understand me??
"Sir, yes, Sir!" yelled Zane, though his eyes gave away his reluctance at saying this.
"Good. But your question was sensible, and the answer is that boots cannot withstand certain acids. They melt and leave rubber prints behind. This is unacceptable. So you remove your boots and leave no trace of your presence behind. Are we clear on that?"
It took about half a second, but the X5s in training finally accepted that they were now under Lydecker's command again and their answer echoed through the warehouse loud and clear.
"Sir, yes, Sir!"
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"Okay, so you're on the ground with a foot, an arm, and elbow—something pressed into your neck. They tell you to give up. Do you? This situation is hopeless, right? You've been beaten, right? Wrong," Lydecker declared. "471 and 494, please demonstrate."
Alec lay on the floor and Krit placed his foot right on Alec's Adam's apple, holding him down.
"See, if 494 tries to get up he'll choke himself to death. If he uses his arms then 471 will break his neck. But there's something he can do to remove 471 in one swift, generally surprising movement. 494… please demonstrate."
Shooting Krit an apologetic look, Alec folded himself up like an open book being shut, his feet almost able to touch his face, and kicked Krit in the back of the knees, causing his legs to buckle and his entire body to come crashing down.
"Now, you're probably thinking 'what was so special about that?'" said Lydecker, nodding his approval to Alec. "But I want you to try it. It's not as easy as it looks."
So they paired off and got down on the floor, attempting to do what Alec had just done. Attempt was the key word there. None of them could get their feet far back enough to kick their adversary in the back of the knees.
"Alright, that's enough." Lydecker chuckled at their frustrated faces. "The definition of insanity, people, is doing the same thing over and over expecting different results. You all are, by definition, insane. Now, watch again." He looked at Alec, who had resumed his position on the floor.
Alec folded himself up again, this time touching his toes to his forehead. "The trick is the extra vertebrae at the bottom of your spine. If you know how to do it, you can actually unhinge this bone and the three above it without causing yourself pain. X5s have extra muscles in their backs that will do this for you. Concentrate on the muscles of your back and you should be able to find the correct combination of muscle contractions," he explained.
"Try again," ordered Lydecker.
So, again, the X5s got down on the floor to practice this new 'power' they had discovered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Thirty minutes, four sore backs, and several angry comments later, they had all gotten the back trick down to an art.
Lydecker seemed amused with their struggle, but continued the training without commenting on it. "Alright, third lesson. This one involves more mind power than super power. 494 can't demonstrate this, but it will require you to spar with each other." He began pacing back and forth in front of the line of X5s. "When you're fighting someone, hand-to-hand or with guns three hundred yards away, the only way you can tell what's coming is if you suddenly receive supernatural, mind-reading powers, right? Wrong.
"The X series are trained at age 15 in psychological warfare, a term not commonly used. When you fight someone, you must be aware of three things: 1) their eyes; where are they looking 2) the air around them; what direction is it shifting and 3) how they hold themselves; are they tilted in one direction. All these things are essential. 494, tell them why these things are important."
Alec stepped forward and began, "The mind works in simple ways. Usually, when you're thinking about something or someone, you look at that something or someone. Using this, when your opponent's eyes focus left, they are probably planning on attacking your right side. This, however, cannot be applied when the opponent's eyes to do not focus. It has been proven that people look certain directions when making up lies and when telling the truth. So, therefore, if your opponent is simply glancing in another direction… they're not necessarily gonna move that way.
"For the second one, it's all about breathing. If you concentrate, you can feel the air moving as they breathe. That's one of the things about Xs that earns them the right to be called genetically empowered. Thing is that when fighting, people will tilt their heads in the direction they're gonna move. If you can sense the way their breathing patterns are affecting the air waves, you can predict their next move.
"And on the subject of how they hold themselves, that can tell you what kind of fighting they specialize in. For instance, there is the boxing stance, the several different karate stances, and even a few wrestling stances. The way they attack is essential to the counter-attack. We were all taught mainly martial arts, so therefore our enemies can use counter-attacks to block all martial art attacks. Understand?"
The X5s nodded, a bit taken back by this claim to power and Alec's knowledge of it.
"I didn't hear your response, soldiers!" shouted Lydecker.
"Sir, yes, Sir!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jondy blocked Max's fist and shoved her back, kicking her across the face. Max dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way to avoid getting kicked again, jumping to her feet. She ducked a reckless punch and tackled Jondy around the waist, knocking them both to the floor. They slid a few feet then began to wrestle, rolling across the floor as they did. Max managed to pin Jondy down by putting both knees on her elbows (which Jondy soon learned was quite painful) and sitting on her chest.
"Give?" panted Max.
Jondy used the back trick and kicked Max off of her, then rolled to her feet. She allowed Max to stand and they began circling each other warily.
Max put all the aspects of her new training together and stared into Jondy's eyes, watched the way she held herself, and concentrated on the air around her. Jondy's pupils were concentrated on her left shoulder blade. She held herself in a strong stance, as if ready to charge. Her head was tilted to the right. Jondy seemed to be doing the same thing, and they ended up circling each other for a small eternity before one of them finally made a move.
"Yaaah!" shouted Jondy, running forward so quickly that she was merely a blur heading towards Max.
Max, at the last moment, ducked and thrust her foot out, dodging Jondy's fist and tripping her sister. Jondy slid across the floor and into the wall, where she lay still.
"Jon? Jondy!" cried Max, running over to see if she was seriously hurt. She turned her sister over to find that Jondy was laughing so hard her face was turning red.
"That was… sooo… good, Max," panted the older X5, her feet kicking up and down as she laughed. "That was almost as good as sex…"
Max smiled and helped her sister to her feet. "Nice moves."
Jondy nodded and stumbled over to Zack, who had been watching the entire thing since he had long since kicked Krit's ass. "Zack, baby, did you see that? That was great!"
Zack grinned and hugged her. "Calm down, Jon, you're gonna hyperventilate." He helped her sit down to try and slow her breathing, and she eventually stopped laughing and caught her breath once again.
"Are you done, soldier?" asked Lydecker, looking down at Jondy disapprovingly.
Jondy nodded and got to her feet, holding back a smile.
"Get back in your lines, soldiers," ordered the colonel, and the X5s quickly complied. "I have one more thing to teach you for today, then you can leave. You're obviously not up to get back into harsh training." He looked at Alec, who was nearly asleep leaning against a wooden crate. "494," he barked, "come here."
Reluctantly, Alec pushed himself off the crate and came over.
Lydecker turned to the other X5s. "You've been shot. The enemy thinks you're dead, but they want to check for a pulse first. You can't just sit there and wait for them to find out you're alive. What do you do? 494, show them."
Alec sighed and lay back down on the floor. He closed his eyes and, for the most part, didn't appear to be doing anything.
"Now, 210, check for his pulse. See if he's breathing."
Jondy knelt next to Alec and felt his neck. After a minute, she shook her head and moved her fingers a bit. A shocked look appeared on her face. "He… he's got no pulse!" She waved her hand over his mouth. "He's not breathing!"
Lydecker grinned. "This is one of the most complicated X5 tricks in the book. Slow your heart down so that you can't even detect a pulse and stop breathing completely. You can wake up now, 494."
Alec opened his eyes and took a deep breath.
"Now, you try."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It took four hours for them to nail the pulse trick. Zack was the first to master it, then Krit, then Brin, then Zane, then Max, and finally Jondy. Lydecker let them get back to their lives as soon as he was sure they knew how to perform this trick at a moment's notice, and they were glad to leave.
Alec and Max came up the stairs in their apartment building when they saw Pick standing outside their apartment door, gently tapping on it. They froze, turned around, and went back down the stairs. Pick and Eddie needed a little privacy.
Eddie opened the door a bit and, when she saw who was standing there, slammed it shut again.
Pick sighed and leaned his head against the door. "Aw, come on, baby. Just hear me out."
"I can hear you," said the voice from inside, though the words were clipped and slow. "So talk."
"Please, just open the door. I wanna see your face."
"You gonna hit me again?"
"Look, I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me."
"That was really, really lame. What, did you get that from a soap opera?"
"Just open the door."
There was a long, long silence, then the door slowly opened and Eddie moved from the doorway to the couch, where she plopped down with her back to him.
"Are you… are you okay? Heard you had a seizure," Pick said, closing the door.
"The government is full of corrupt assholes forcing communism on the American people while calling it democracy, we're sitting ducks in a city surrounded by hundreds of thousands of angry Ordinaries out for our blood, and I have only just rediscovered by ability to speak. No, Pick, I'm not okay all," she snapped. "But I'm guessing that you're just hunky dory, huh?"
Pick looked down at the floor guiltily. "Look, Eddie, last night I was torn up. I didn't know what to do. Everyone was crying and saying how we're gonna strike back and everything… and, for the first time in my life, I was scared. There's something out there that can kill or wound over fifty transgenics before being taken down. I was scared shitless and my instincts must've been acting up or something 'cause I had all this pent-up aggression. When you called me a jerk and all that, I just snapped. Did I hurt you?"
"You could've killed me," said Eddie, turning around and pointing to the bandage on her temple. "Then, I had a Grand Mal seizure and you didn't even want to know if I was okay? I wasn't able to speak for twelve hours. Yeah, that sounds like a real accident, Pick." She turned back around.
"Name one thing I could do to get your forgiveness." Pick placed his hands lightly on her shoulders.
Eddie refused to look at him, but didn't shrug off his hands. "I don't know. I mean, it's not the fact that you hit me so much as it's the fact that you had no reason to hit me that makes me angry. You know that if you had just quietly told me that you wanted to be left alone I would've left. But instead you yelled and screamed and threw punches. That's what scares me. I don't want to live my life with someone who's gonna hurt me—emotionally or physically."
"Is that what you think? That I'll do it again?"
"Yes, that's what I think."
Pick stood there, a little taken back, for what seemed like an eternity before he spoke again, "I would sooner kill myself than ever, ever hurt you again. I love you, and that's how it's always gonna be."
Eddie didn't reply, but her shoulders were shaking.
At first, Pick thought maybe she was having another seizure, but then he realized that she was sobbing. "Are you alright?"
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied, pawing at her eyes. "I'll be fine."
Pick kissed the top of her head and, when she didn't flinch or pull away, moved his lips down to kiss her neck. "Forgive me yet?"
Eddie turned around and placed her hands on his arms. "Maybe." She tilted her head and touched his face. "You still haven't kissed me. To make this a proper Kodak moment, you have to seal it with a long, passionate, Soap Opera-worthy kiss."
"I do, huh?"
"Yep. We've stood here pouring out hearts out like an episode of a really bad Soap and now you are going to kiss me or I'm going to strangle you." She smiled sweetly and over-dramatically batted her eyelashes.
"Sounds good to me," Pick replied, then kissed her.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Alec, are you listening to them?!" shouted Max, jumping onto Alec's back and hitting him on the head.
"Hey, hey, hey! It's not my fault!" he yelled as he fell to the ground.
"Thanks for breaking my fall," Max said, sitting on his back.
"You're evil."
"You were the one eavesdropping on Eddie and Pick."
"What's the point of having enhanced hearing if you can't use it?" he pointed out, reaching back and grabbing her legs. "You better get off or I'll tickle you."
"Don't you dare," growled Max, quickly jumping up.
Alec brushed himself off as he stood. "On second thought… how about I tickle you anyway?" He jumped forward and grabbed Max around the waist knocking them both to the ground again. He pinned her down. "Say uncle and I'll let you go."
Max struggled. "Never!!"
"Alright, but you brought this upon yourself." Alec pulled her wrists above her head with one hand and mercilessly ran his free hand's fingers up and down her sides. "Give up?"
"Stop! Stop, Alec!! Aaaah!" shouted Max, laughing uncontrollably. "No tickling! I hate tickling!"
"Say uncle!"
"NO!!"
"Say it!!"
"UNCLE!"
Alec let go of Max's hands and tapped her on the face. "Good girl."
Max kicked him in the back, causing him to fly forward over her head. "Bad! Bad, bad Alec!"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eddie pulled back (though she couldn't go very far since Pick's hand was holding her head in place) from the kiss and stroked Pick's face with her thumb. "You need to shave."
Pick felt his upper lip. "It's not that bad."
"I think I got carpet burn on my lip," she said.
"Ha, ha, funny," growled Pick. He picked her up and tossed her over his shoulder. "That's it, you're coming with me. I'm afraid we're going to have to take care of this stubble problem in a more private area."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Ames White finished negotiations with Colonel Briggs and exited the humvee. One of the kids, a tall one with blonde hair and blue eyes, watched him with suspicious eyes as he walked away.
"Damn transgenics," mumbled White. He pulled out his cell phone and dialed the elder priestess' number.
"Speak," she said on the other side of the line.
"Feno's tol," said Ames. "I got a VIP ticket to victory, along with backstage passes."
"Speak clearly, Ames," said the priestess, irritated.
"Don't worry about a thing, priestess. I have it all under control. I will, however, be needing ten warriors to help me."
"Of course. Whatever it takes to kill 452. She nearly took out the Phalynx."
"Good. They'll be here in three days?"
"Yes."
"Alright. Feno's tol."
"Feno's tol." Click.
Ames chuckled to himself as he closed his cell and looked at the still-chanting crowd. "Let's see you get yourself out of this one, Max."
TBC…
