Outside
By Be Boring
Chapter 15: How Not To Run A Search Party
Kay slammed her fist into the wall yet again. She'd been doing that a lot over the last couple of weeks. Ever since that night with Ben, everything had gone wrong. Ben got a whole bunch of morning after regrets, Zack found out and blew up, and Wendy suddenly seemed more determined than ever to find her son. Since Ben had suddenly started shutting her out and Zack was too furious to talk to her, Kay had tried to focus on Wendy. That was her problem right now. When she had woken up this morning, Wendy had been gone. Kay had searched her room and found all of Wendy's things missing. Couldn't that woman understand that her life was in danger if she went after Ray? For the life of her Kay couldn't imagine what was so special about that kid that made Wendy want to find him so bad. Of course, she didn't have any kids so she really couldn't relate. The worst thing of all right now was that Logan seemed to have unplugged his phone, so she couldn't get a hold of him.
Brin walked out of her room at the sound of Kay's fist hitting the wall. "What's going on?"
Kay looked up and carefully studied her sister's face. Despite looking tired, Brin's eyes were concerned. Well, I guess Manticore didn't stamp all the emotion out of her after all. "She left."
That was enough for Brin. She knew the whole situation and understood how dangerous it was. If there was anything Brin had ever understood, it was how it felt to have some of the people closest to you become your enemies. "Do you have any idea where she might have gone?"
"No, she won't go back to the hotel she was at last time. She knows enough to know that would be the first place we'd look. She never shared with me any of the information she was getting on Ray. For all I know she could be halfway across the country by now. Why is she so damned stupid!!" Kay turned and hit the wall again. As useless as it seemed, it really did make her feel a little better. Brin didn't seem to know what to say. She had never seen Kay this angry.
"Have you tried calling Logan?"
"He's not answering. I've heard that he's focusing on some of his more usual Eyes Only projects, or at least that's what Max told me the last time I talked to her. He probably just doesn't want to be bothered."
"Is there anyone else who would know where she is? Would her husband know?"
Kay rolled her eyes in disgust. "Well, isn't that a first-rate idea? I'll just walk up to him and ask!"
Brin flinched slightly at the angry sarcasm in Kay's voice. "Well, what about her sister? Do you think Wendy might have told her?"
Kay shook her head. "She knows Julie is in close contact with Logan. It's for her own good, but she just doesn't get it. I just wish she would have told me. I would have helped her get Ray just so she'd stop putting herself in danger like this."
Brin bit down on her lower lip, thinking hard. She had become close to Wendy ever since she had come to the farm. Wendy was the only person who made her feel like a human being. Zack, Ben, and Lydecker all treated her like a soldier and everyone else who knew what she was treated her like a freak either because they didn't trust transgenics or because they knew about her being turned into the enemy at one time. She figured she could be close to Kay if she wanted to, but she still always had that inner feeling that had been slammed into her as a child about Kay being the enemy. She knew now that wasn't true, but the feeling would never quite leave her. That was one reason Lydecker had always thought of her as a weak soldier, she was gullible.
"Are you going to go looking for her?"
Kay shrugged. "Seems like the only thing left to do."
Brin hesitated, then forced the words out. "Could I help you? It might go faster that way."
"I guess if you really want to. Just don't get your hopes up, without a lead it's doubtful we'll find her." Even though she wouldn't admit it, Kay was grateful for the help. She just didn't want to suggest it because she wasn't sure how much she trusted Brin yet.
"Should we get Zack and Ben to help?"
Kay's eyes widened at the thought. "Hell no! Zack will just take over the whole thing and I'm a little uncomfortable around Ben right now."
Brin nodded sympathetically. She knew the situation and couldn't help being angry at Ben. He had freaked out after one night with Kay, which certainly couldn't make Kay feel very good. If only he didn't feel so damned guilty. She had overheard him telling Mary that he felt as though he had taken advantage of her. She had been going through a tough time and, according to him, must not have been thinking clearly. Brin knew that wasn't true, it was just that Ben wasn't used to being so close to someone like that. Then again, neither were the rest of them but you didn't see them freaking out after sex.
"What about Alec?"
"Well, that's a possibility. Just one thing though. He can't know anything that's gone on here since he left. He'd never let me live it down. At least he can keep quiet on some things. Max hasn't sounded like she knows about Zack or Ben when I've spoken to her on the phone. Of course, she would just show up if she knew. She's not really the type to call first."
Brin smiled slightly. That sure sounded like Max. "Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"
When the two women sauntered into Jam Pony, male heads nearly spun all the way around to get a good look at them. Everyone remembered Kay, but Brin was a new beauty for them to check out. Sketchy walked over with his dopey grin on his face.
"Hey ladies, how's it going?" He was grinning at Brin the whole time.
Kay flicked him in the ear. "We're both doing fine, thank you very much. Where's Alec? I need to talk to him."
"Oh, he's fighting again."
"What?"
"Yeah, he's getting back in the ring. That's why Normal is in such a good mood."
Kay glanced over to the counter. Sure enough, Normal had a schoolboy's grin on his face and was humming to himself. She turned back to Sketchy, who looked thoroughly disgusted with the way his boss was acting. "Well, how about Max?"
Brin shot her a questioning look. Max couldn't know about her yet. Sketchy shrugged. "I think she's going to that fight of Alec's with that rich guy pal of hers. I never thought she'd be interested in something like that, but she's going."
Brin pointed to Sketchy's left hand. "What's that?"
Sketchy held it up. It looked like a tabloid. "This? This is where I'm hoping to be working."
Kay cringed at the picture on the front. It had the picture of a strange-looking person with the headline: MUTANTS WALK AMONG US. So they were one of the tabloids that believed the stories about transgenics. She didn't like the idea of Sketchy being one of those reporters. If he ever found out what she was, he might try to expose her. She didn't want to think of him as someone she'd have to hide from.
"Well, I guess if they're not here then we can go. Nice seeing ya, Sketchy."
He looked a little upset that they were leaving so soon. He probably wanted to stare at Brin some more. Kay didn't know what they were going to do now. If everyone was busy then she didn't know how in the world she and Brin were going to find Wendy.
"Let's go to Logan's."
"But I thought that guy just said--"
"I don't care what he said. Logan may not be there, but maybe Wendy is. She might have gone to him for help."
Brin nodded and didn't say anything else, which Kay found as a relief. She wasn't in the mood for a conversation. In fact, she wasn't even in the mood for company. The entire ride over to Logan's she was thinking about how much she'd just like to dump Brin somewhere and keep looking for Wendy on her own. That way she wouldn't be slowed down. She shook her head, trying to get those thoughts out. It was just the stress talking, it was probably better that Brin was with her as backup.
A half hour later, Kay nearly kicked over Logan's computer. Wendy wasn't there and as far as the computer files she had hacked into were concerned, Logan had no leads on where to find Ray. Brin put a hand on her shoulder to try and calm her down. Kay thought about hitting her, then thought better of it. Now was not the time to lose her temper, she needed to be able to think clearly.
"I don't get it. How did she get information on Ray and Logan couldn't? He's the one with all the damn contacts!" She shoved Logan's chair out of the way and let it topple to the floor. After a moment, she reached over and picked it back up. Logan didn't need to know that someone had been in his home. She walked over to the window and looked down, trying to relax. There was someone in a hood heading towards the building. She let her eyes focus down on him. He was very tall, she could tell that, and he walked with a strange shuffle. When he glanced up towards the window where she was standing, she saw his face. "Dammit Joshua, I don't need you getting caught."
She hurried past Brin to the door. She doubted Joshua could make it through the first level of the building without being spotted. Brin tried to keep up with her as she rushed down the stairs, which they could make it down faster on than the elevator. Kay just hoped they were fast enough to stop Joshua from entering Foggle Towers. Luckily, they made it to the front door at the same time he did. He looked down at Kay in shock.
"What are you doing here?" they both said in unison. Brin smiled a little bit. It was cute to see a huge dog-boy looking afraid of a tiny woman like Kay. Joshua shifted his weight back and forth on his feet nervously.
"I want to talk with little fella."
"She's not here."
"She wasn't home."
Kay's eyebrows nearly shot through the roof. "You mean you've already been to her place? Come on Joshua, I thought you were smarter than that. You've been wandering all around the city when we've got people we've got to hide from!"
Joshua shrank back, but was still at least a foot taller than her. "I'm sorry. Who's that?"He gestured towards Brin.
"She's a friend. Come on, let's get you home and pray to God that nobody saw you."
Of course there was no such luck. They left Kay's motorcycle at Foggle Towers and walked back to Joshua's house. It was quite a distance, but Kay felt a little better knowing that at least he wasn't walking around alone. She and Brin might be able to help if he got spotted. Then again, maybe not.
They were about a block from Joshua's house when she noticed a black car come around the corner behind them. She nudged Brin's side and signaled for her to get Joshua out of sight. He had already been seen, that was for sure, but maybe she could keep White distracted long enough for Brin to get Joshua home safely. She turned to face the oncoming car with her arms crossed. She could already see White's face, but who was sitting next to him? It didn't look like Otto. When the car pulled up next to her and the man climbed out, she groaned inwardly.
"You!"
Greg smiled at her. "You didn't think you could flirt with me at my party and run, did you? That was a stupid mistake to make."
Kay punched him right in the nose. She didn't make any other move, just stood there after she did it with her arms crossed again. "You didn't think you could keep some friends of mine hostage and keep me flirting with you, did you? Now that was a stupid mistake to make."
He glared at her from behind his hand, which already showed blood coming between the fingers that were attempting to cover his nose. She kept her eyes on him, although she knew perfectly well that White had moved behind her to keep her sandwiched between the two Familiars. She had to keep them busy, which meant keeping their attention on her. When she heard the click of a gun behind her, she turned to give White a tiny smile.
"How have things been for you Ames?" she asked sweetly. "Not that I care, you know."
He smiled back, the smile every bit as cold and humorless as hers. Although her face seemed at ease, that couldn't be farther from the truth. Every muscle in her body was prepared for a fight and she was scared as hell. She could have taken on White on her own, but two Familiars were a little much. She didn't even have Brin for backup. Now she regretted her decision to have Brin take Joshua home. Joshua would have been welcome help. He wasn't very good at the fighting skills Manticore had taught to the others, but he was plenty strong. White and Greg would never be able to beat him. Now she just held eye contact with White and struggled not to show how scared she really was.
He finally decided to answer her question. "I'm doing fine now that I've found you. I have a few questions for you, 358."
"What if I don't feel like answering?"
"I know there are ways of making you talk."
Greg's voice came from behind her. "There are ways of making you come with us as well." She turned to fight, knowing fully well what was coming and wishing more than ever that she hadn't sent Brin and Joshua away. Greg slammed a briefcase from the car into her chest, shoving her back into White's arms. The last thing she saw was the pleased little glint in Greg's eyes as White brought his gun down on her head.
Brin poked her head into the basement where she had just smashed the window. It was filled with boxes that looked as though they had been hastily moved out of the neighboring room. That was probably where White was set up. She wondered if he had the full lab setup she had been told he'd had last time. How could these people keep moving all that expensive equipment? Why they would want to confused her. If they were just supposed to kill transgenics, why did they bother studying them? She slid in through the window, only getting stuck once, and made her way through the pile of strewn boxes as soundlessly as she could. She didn't know why she bothered. If they hadn't heard her smash that window, they wouldn't hear her walking. Still, she didn't want to take the chance. She didn't know if the Familiars had hearing as sensitive as the X5s, but she'd be careful just in case.
Joshua poked his head into the window right after she reached the door and announced the coast was clear. He had assured her after Kay sent them away that he could get home safely on his own, but when Brin had gone back to see how things were going, he had followed her. Seeing as how he didn't seem to know the meaning of sneaky, Brin realized he was following her after about two minutes. Still, once he knew that Kay was in trouble, she couldn't get him to go back. He could be helpful anyways. Brin tried not to laugh as Joshua tried to cram his way through the window. There was nobody in the other room which was also filled with boxes, so she went back to drag him the rest of the way through. She actually had to grab hold of him and put both feet against the wall and pull. The poor guy was rubbing his head during their whole trip upstairs; she had grabbed him by the hair first.
The first floor of the warehouse was packed with science junk. There were even a few things Brin couldn't identify. At the first sound of footsteps approaching, Brin shoved Joshua around the corner and she ducked behind a table. White, Greg, and a very eccentric-looking scientist came into the room, arguing the whole way.
Greg had his arms crossed over his chest. "I don't want to leave!"
"Greg, this is business. If my superiors knew that you were here, I'd have a lot of questions to answer. You have to leave!" White looked as though he had been arguing for quite some time now. His face was red and Brin could actually see a vein pulsing in his forehead. When Greg opened his mouth to say something back, White backhanded him angrily. It had enough force to send Greg straight into the wall. When he stood up again, he looked stunned.
"I am your elder, Ames. You know how the Conclave feels about respect for the elders."
White scowled. "I don't really care at the moment. I want you gone yesterday, and you know perfectly well I can beat you if you care to get physical."
Greg didn't look too happy, but he left. The strange scientist looked as though he had been dying to talk for quite some time now. White nodded at him and sat down in one of the old metal chairs in the room.
"What do you need to say? I have to do some questioning with 358."
"That's just the problem sir, you can't do that."
"Oh, and just why not?"
"I've done a few experiments. I don't think she'll be in the right state of mind to answer anything clearly."
Brin was furious. Did this guy just think they were guinea pigs? Apparently White wasn't too happy with this news either. "What the hell do you mean? What kind of experiments?"
The scientist looked nervous now, as he should be. "Um, I was curious about what you told me from one of your other encounters with this X5. You said she had heat cycles. I was simply curious to see if these heat cycles could be induced."
"Are you telling me you drugged her to make her come into heat?"
"Yes, exactly. There's just a few problems with it though."
"What are you talking about? There had better be nothing fatal, I need some important information and she's the only one I know of that I can get it from."
"Well, I don't think it's fatal. I can't be sure."
White's eyes narrowed and his fingers ran along the barrel of the gun at his side. The scientist gulped audibly. "I, uh, I am not sure of the side effects. The drug should almost definitely bring her into heat, but it won't be a normal heat. The drug is meant to make her ovulate, which means she'll spring right into the strongest part of her cycle. It'll last longer as well, but that's only if the drug works perfectly."
"What happens if it doesn't?"
"Um, she'll be in heat for a while, but while the drug is supposed to raise her body temperature just like when she's in heat, her body could react and then the rise of body temperature won't stop. She could be sent into a high fever and become violently ill. A fever as high as one she might get from the drug could cause her to have hallucinations and lose quite a bit of strength. Even if we could get the fever to come back down, she wouldn't be in her right mind for a while." Now he was almost terrified. White was actually gripping the gun and had his finger toying at the trigger. Brin knew perfectly well that if the drug went wrong that this man would die. Of course, he'd die only after he had saved Kay. If he didn't save her, then he would likely be beaten first.
Brin had heard enough. She slid back around the corner to where Joshua was. It was obvious that he hadn't understood a word that had been said, but he could tell by the look on Brin's face that it wasn't good. She put a finger to her lips before he could say a word. She didn't need White finding Joshua. Kay was going to be hard enough to sneak out. They headed through the halls, hoping to come to Kay's door from the opposite side that White would. They were in such a hurry that they didn't hear White tell the now terrified scientist "I'm going to go see if she is still capable of answering my questions, and if she isn't, you're as good as dead, my friend."
Kay awoke feeling as though she hadn't moved in years. Her body was cold and stiff. She frowned as she got hesitantly to her feet. It felt a little strange, but other than that her head felt fine. She walked around the tiny stone room she had been placed in, trying to make the stiffness go away. The room was almost completely pitch black except for the crack of light coming in under her door. As she moved around, her body went from freezing cold to boiling hot. The room was stuffy and she almost felt like undressing to avoid the heat. She heard her stomach growl loudly in the darkness and rubbed it. She could actually feel it rumbling under her hand. What the hell is going on? This was an awful lot like being in heat, but that was impossible, she'd been in heat only about three or four weeks ago. She'd have to see a man to be sure though.
Kay went and sat down in the far corner of the room. She was worried now, something was up. If she wasn't in heat, her body temperature was up. Through her shirt she could feel the sweat building up, getting heavier every moment. She wondered vaguely if Joshua and Brin had made it home okay. Her head shot up as she heard voices down the hall. It sounded like some men arguing. Her body got warmer than ever, if that was possible. Dammit, how can I be in heat? She tried to block them out but they luckily started going in the opposite direction. After a few minutes, someone went storming past her room without slowing down. The other voices continued farther away, then seemed to stay right where they were. Maybe they had sat down to talk or something. For a little bit they were calm, then one voice grew angry and the other became nervous. Even through her clouded head she managed to recognize the angry voice as White's, but the other one belonged to a stranger. A few seconds more, and another set of footsteps were headed for her door, this time stopping right outside. When she heard the jingle of keys, she prayed that it wasn't a man coming in. Of course, it ended up being worse than that.
White finally managed to open the old, rusty door. When he stepped in, without even knowing what she was doing, Kay jumped to her feet and headed for him. When he spotted her coming, he started to pull himself into a fighting stance but found out immediately it wasn't needed when she said huskily, "What took you so long?"
They both had one last thought. Kay's was what am I doing? while White's was I don't think my questions will be answered soon. No sooner did those thoughts run through their heads than Kay practically jumped on him and pulled him into a passionate kiss. Her head was thrown into a tailspin. Despite the fact that this was the strongest heat she had ever experienced, her own mind was protesting this decision with all its might. Old pictures that Manticore had shown them with the word ENEMY written on them flashed through her head. As if her mind was trying to stop what was going on, while she kissed him she threw a punch into his side. He jumped slightly, but it had startled him rather than hurt him. After all, it was really only a halfhearted punch. Right after she did it she moved her hand to the back of his head again. After a few more seconds she yanked on his hair, but went back to kissing him, the cologne he was wearing totally overwhelming her. When she did things like that out of the blue a couple more times, White started expecting them. She wasn't doing it with all her strength because her heat was completely screwing her up, so it wasn't affecting him too badly.
Kay felt her back get slammed against the wall. The sane part of her mind screamed out again, but she struggled to ignore it. If he could give her what her body needed, then she would get it and that was that. But I'm going to hate myself when it's over. She tried to shake that thought off. That was later, this was now, and she wanted it right now. Her hands moved away from his head and started pulling at his suit. It seemed as though she couldn't get it off fast enough. First the jacket, then the shirt. It didn't really want to come off and when she opened her eyes to look down and see why, she saw his tie. Even though it wasn't the same tie as last time, Kody's words still went through her head. "It's going to kill someone." She tried to ignore the memory and managed to get the tie off without killing White, but for some reason something came into her head. He's going to kill Wendy. It came as a shock to her and she didn't know why it had popped into her head like that, but it seemed to fit. The Familiars would have ordered him to kill Wendy because she knew too much, and because he said he loved her he wasn't going to want to do it. "He doesn't know it yet, but he's going to do it." The heat part of her tried screaming back Shut up, Kody! but the memory had already hit home.
Kay braced her feet against the wall and shoved White away as hard as she could. Maybe if she could put some distance between them, she could pull herself together. He managed to stay on his feet but stumbled back several feet, looking dazed. His shirt was still on but was open, showing how hard he was breathing. Kay tore her eyes away from him and looked at the floor as if she'd go blind if she looked away.
"Get out of here," she managed to choke out, her eyes never leaving the floor. "I don't know what you did to me, but I want you out of here."
White grabbed his tie and jacket off the floor. Now that he was getting over what had just happened, he looked angry with himself. He apparently hadn't meant to do anything like that. Kay let herself sink to the floor once he was gone. This was not a normal heat, it never started out this strong. Usually her strong part was at the end. She had no doubt now that they had done something to cause this. White probably hadn't known about it initially, judging from the way he had reacted to her. Maybe it was just some doctor or scientist that wanted to play around with a transgenic. Whatever it was, it pissed her off. She was more than just some lab rat for them to play around with.
Kay shook her head, trying to stop thinking. The only thing she wanted to do now was sleep this off. She lay down on her side and closed her eyes, trying to force herself to forget what she had almost done.
Brin was almost ready to kick the asses of all the idiots in front of her. They were apparently the security for the building, but while she and Joshua were sneaking through the halls, they nearly ran into the entire force just sitting in a hallway intersection playing cards. It looked like they were playing poker, but she couldn't be sure. They seemed to have changed some of the rules. This meant though that they were blocking the path to Kay's room. Brin and Joshua had been sitting in the same spot for about ten minutes just waiting for them to leave. Finally, Brin gave up.
"Come on, big fella. Let's go back around the other way and try to get past White."
He nodded and lumbered after her, trying as hard as he could to keep up. He was strong, but his speed was nowhere near that of the X5s. Brin had to constantly slow down to let him catch up. She was quickly losing her patience for this, she was a soldier, not a babysitter. When they made it back to the lab, White was about to walk out.
"I'm heading home, Jake, so keep an eye on 358."
The scientist, Jake, nodded and looked as though he couldn't be more relieved to see the back of that man. Brin couldn't help feeling hopeful, it didn't look as though White had gone to talk to Kay. If he had, he would probably still be there, whether it was asking questions or not being able to escape Kay in heat. Hopefully the drug hadn't worked.
After White was out of sight, Brin headed for Jake. She moved quickly and quietly, so he didn't even know there was someone else in the room until she snapped his neck. She motioned for Joshua to follow her, then once again headed for Kay's room. This time they made it there with no delays, and Brin spent at least half an hour trying to break into the room. That door wouldn't budge an inch, which made her last nerve nearly snap. She was about to blow up on the spot when Joshua pulled her off to the side, giving her a tiny smile.
"I can get it."
He took a few steps back, then threw his entire body weight into the door. It practically flew into the room, and Joshua hurried in hoping it hadn't hit Kay. Lucky for him it hadn't. She was in the corner, curled up in a ball on her side and sound asleep. When Brin saw her, she was immediately worried. With their sensitive hearing, she couldn't see how Kay could have possibly slept through her attempts to open the door, much less Joshua charging through it. Maybe the drug had worked and her body was reacting like Jake had said it would. Brin walked over and felt Kay's forehead. It was so hot she almost had to jerk her hand away. It worried her even more when Kay didn't wake up from being touched. Brin shook her gently by the shoulders, which were just as hot as her forehead. After a few good, hard shakes, Kay's eyes opened a little bit. Even Joshua was worried now, her eyes looked glazed over.
Kay looked up at Brin and felt completely confused. Where was she? Why was Brin shaking her? Why was Joshua here? She couldn't answer any of those questions, and to her surprise she couldn't even ask them. When she opened her mouth to speak, it felt as though it would take all her energy to say even a couple of words. Her head felt like it was about to explode and her body was shaking. Even though she was sweating, she felt like it was below zero in the room. After a moment, she saw Brin gesture towards Joshua, who came and picked her up easily. She felt like a limp rag in his arms, and hated that she felt so helpless. She doubted she could so much as do a high kick without falling over from exhaustion.
When they got to the lab, the first thing that registered for her was a man's body on the ground with the head twisted at a strange angle. The next thing that hit her was the smell of cologne. At first she thought she was going nuts, but the smell seemed to come from just outside the lab door. It was familiar and she was sure she had smelled it recently, but her head was so muddled that she couldn't remember what had happened since she had been knocked out on the street. Not clearly anyways. It was all fuzzy in her head, but she clearly remembered that cologne. She tried to say something, but couldn't.
Brin went flying back into Joshua when White hit her as she came out the door. "Did you really think I didn't notice you when I left?" Brin didn't reply, just grabbed the tray of test tubes closest to her and threw it at him. It didn't really do enough damage to slow him down, but the glass cutting into him was enough to distract him for just the right amount of time. Brin shot out the door and Joshua followed closely, making sure he slammed into White on his way.
Kay watched everything happen in a daze. Why had she recognized that cologne? The answer was right at the edge of her mind, but for some reason she couldn't get it to come out. She watched as Joshua carried her out into the street. Brin obviously didn't know what to do. It wouldn't have been so hard if it weren't for Joshua. He was easy to see. Brin turned to look at Kay. She looked worse every second. Kay struggled to force her lips to open. If she could just get it out, she could help. When they hid around the side of the building so Brin could work out a plan, Kay managed to say what she wanted.
"Go...home. I'll..stay....with.......Joshua." Kay nearly collapsed with the effort of talking. She had never spoken so slowly in her life. Brin looked horrified at the idea of leaving Kay this helpless with Joshua, but Kay managed to shake her head.
"Get....motorcycle. I'll..get..home...another way."
Brin frowned, but she wasn't sure what else to do. She had the sudden urge to call Zack and get him and Ben to come down, but that would make it even worse if they were all caught. She finally turned and headed for Foggle Towers, where the bike was parked. Kay was relieved to see her go. Joshua could get her to safety easily enough. He peeked around the corner of the building to see if it was clear. When he was satisfied, he picked her up again and headed out. He was going for his house, which she found out really wasn't all that far away. She hadn't been taken very far after she had been knocked out.
Once they were in his house, Joshua laid her down on the couch. "What do I do?"
Kay thought for a moment, then decided they had to take a risk. "Go to Logan's and get him to come here. I think I'm going to need that doctor friend of his."
Joshua nodded and didn't even argue about it being too dangerous. It was obvious he liked any excuse to go outside. After he left, Kay worked on keeping her eyes open. She tried to find something interesting to look at, which might keep her awake. She didn't want to take the chance of whatever was going on killing her in her sleep. Her eyes finally landed on a painting. It was really just splashes of color on canvas, but it was kind of pretty to look at. She remembered Alec telling her about Joshua painting, then smiled as she remembered the tale of their fiasco as they tried getting one of the paintings back from a gallery because they had plastered important papers of Max's to it. It was funny to think that Joshua was doing so well with this, because if anyone knew what he was they wouldn't want his paintings at all. Of course, the lady at the gallery must know now that she'd seen him, but she seemed to respect him even more for it.
As she stared at the painting, memories started flashing back. She remembered waking up in the room and walking around to loosen up. Kay kept staring at the bright colors and suddenly had a quick flash of kissing someone. Whoever it was was impossible to see because of how close she was to him. ENEMY flashed through her head. The colors almost looked like they were swirling now. The smell of the cologne filled her nostrils, although it wasn't really there, just the memory of it. Wasn't that the cologne White was wearing when he attacked Brin as they were getting out? With his face in her mind, the memory of him entering the room and her jumping on him came back. She was horrified. Oh please tell me I didn't oh God please tell me I didn't! She couldn't remember what happened, though.
Kay was still trying to remember when Joshua came back, this time flanked by Max and Logan. Max's eyes widened in horror when she saw Kay's face. It reminded her of when Logan had first been affected by the virus.
"What happened to you?"
Kay honestly didn't know what to say, but thankfully Joshua answered for her. "Crazy man drug her, make her in heat. Didn't work right, gives fever. Keeps going up."
Now Kay understood. The way she was feeling right now was a side effect of the drug they had given her to make her come into heat. But if Joshua had said it right, this fever was just going to keep climbing. She tried to say she wanted so see a doctor, but the words wouldn't come out. She had tired herself trying to remember what had happened when she was in heat.
Max seemed to understand, though. "We have to get Sam to look at her."
She reached down and lifted Kay up. Kay didn't see the scared look Max sent to Logan when she felt how hot Kay was. The whole ride to the hospital seemed to blur together for Kay. She heard Logan and Max whispering to each other. Joshua had been forced to stay back at his house. He wasn't really needed at the hospital. She felt rather than saw the frightened looks Max was sending her way. It was getting hotter for her all the time, almost to the point where she would have gladly dived into a snowdrift.
The bright lights in the hospital flashed by so fast it seemed as if the entire ceiling was one long beam of light. It hurt her head so badly she could have screamed if any noise would come out of her throat. She could hear her heartbeat in her ears, and her head throbbed with each one. She wasn't even aware her body had gone into an immense seizure, jerking the bed she was on with such force the nurses were barely able to keep it going straight. She was vaguely aware of Max telling her it would be alright and that she would see her in a little bit. Yeah right, have you taken a look at me? She couldn't help the sarcasm running through her head. With the way she felt, she wasn't too sure she was going to make it. She didn't remember the bed stopping, but she heard Dr. Carr call for ice. Soon she was surrounded by bags of it, and it felt great against her skin. She hadn't noticed that they had removed most of her clothing, which had been drenched in sweat. The world was all running together and she couldn't make sense of anything no matter how hard she tried. All she knew was she wanted to go back to two weeks ago, back to when she was with Ben.
Kay felt like he was the only person who understood her. For a while she had thought that Zack understood, but once he got his memory back it was as though he had forgotten how he'd felt about her. Of course, that had been slightly different. Zack hadn't remembered her or what she'd been through, so he could never really understand what went through her head. Ben, on the other hand, knew who she was, remembered hating her, and still managed to love her. Or maybe he didn't. What if he had only slept with her that time to make her feel better about what had happened with Kody? Did he love her? She wasn't really sure. It had felt like he did with how gentle he'd been with her, but maybe that was just the way he was. Was that the reason he had run from her afterwards? Was he ashamed that he had just slept with someone he didn't care about? The more Kay thought about it, the more her feverish mind was sure that he didn't care about her at all. She had no idea that at this exact moment he was sitting on top of the tallest barn, worrying about her since Brin had told him what had happened and wishing he hadn't turned his back on her when she needed him most and could have used his support. Although she felt Zack hated what she had done, she didn't know that he was chopping wood at double speed, trying to work out his anger with himself, blaming himself for turning his back on her for being with Ben when he had just been jealous and causing her to run into this whole situation without extra help.
The doctors' panicked voices came to her through the haze of thoughts. She had the feeling the ice wasn't working. The heat wasn't going away, no matter how hard they tried. She turned her head slightly and saw Max standing in the corner of the room with Logan with tears in her eyes. Kay hated herself at that moment. She was putting her newly recovered sister through all this pain when she didn't deserve to be mourned. She hadn't told Max when Zack had gotten his memory back or that Lydecker hadn't been killed. That wasn't too bad, but she hadn't told her about Ben and Brin being alive either, which was horrible because Max blamed herself for both their deaths. Last but not least, she might have slept with Max's enemy while in that fake heat. No, she didn't deserve Max's sympathy or love because she was probably the opposite of what a sister is supposed to be. It was her last thought before she slipped into blackness.
The farm was full of worried people. Brin was sitting in her now empty house, wishing things hadn't gone so horribly wrong. Zack had locked himself in his bedroom and was doing pushups and sit-ups, making himself go past even the X5 limit. Ben was sitting on top of the tallest barn, hating himself for how awful he had been to her. He had slept with her when she was feeling her worst and left her, and now he might not even get the chance to apologize. She had turned to him for comfort and he had made her feel worse. If only he hadn't run, then he might have been there to help her before those assholes drugged her. There was only one thing running through his mind, he had to get to her, if only to tell her he was sorry and he loved her. He had just been scared to admit it and felt as though he had taken advantage of her when she wasn't thinking clearly. He knew better than that. Kay wouldn't let her emotions get the best of her.
Before he knew what he was doing, Ben had climbed onto Kay's motorcycle and flew out onto the road. He had to get to Seattle if it was the last thing he did.
Max sat on a bench outside Kay's room. Logan had gone to get some drinks, but he just wasn't comfort enough since he couldn't touch her. She couldn't believe she was losing another sibling. It felt as though everyone in her family who met her ended up being taken away. She was still completely miserable when she felt a hand on her shoulder. She looked up into the blue eyes of the person next to her.
"Alec? You'd think after how hard I kicked you that you wouldn't be able to walk right now."
He seemed confused for a moment, then sat down next to her, smiled, and put his arms around her. "I'm fine, you could never really hurt me."
She was about to shoot back a remark of her own when she saw his face. He wasn't being funny, he really meant it. He meant it in a deeper way, though. Why did he look so different? His sly grin was nowhere in sight, and his eyes looked so kind, not playful. He pulled her back to him, letting her cry on his shoulder.
"None of this is your fault, you've got to understand that. It's never been your fault."
Max had the feeling he wasn't just talking about Kay, but wasn't really in the mood to ask him what he meant. Maybe later. He finally sat back and looked her in the eyes again. Those eyes still were so different. Now that she was close, he smelled different too. He smelled like hay. She was about to ask him why when he cut her off.
"I need to see Kay, alright?"
She nodded and pointed at the room behind her. He smiled gently again and entered the room. Max still couldn't get rid of the feeling that something was so different about him.
Ben looked down at Kay's still form. He had been happy to see Max again, but these circumstances weren't the best for telling her who he was. Kay looked like she was already dead, which wasn't the case, not yet anyways. The doctors had finally just given up trying to save her when they realized there was nothing they could do. He could hear her struggle with every breath. He couldn't believe she had hung on this long. He reached down and took her hand, pain filling him inside when he felt how hot it was.
"Kay? Can you hear me?"
He could have sworn her eyelids twitched, but other than that there was no other movement and he decided it had just been his imagination. He tried again with no response. He sat by her side talking to her for almost an hour. Somehow, she was still alive when he finally got up to leave, although he didn't know how it was possible. Her breathing had seemed to get better, but he was sure that was his imagination as well. Just as he reached the door, he thought he heard something. He turned back around.
"Kay, was that you?" No answer. He turned back to the door and heard it again.
"Ben?"
Her voice was so soft he thought he had to be dreaming. He moved back to her side and picked up her hand again.
"Yeah Kay, I'm here."
Her eyelids fluttered for a moment, then opened and her blue eyes looked for his. She smiled a little when she saw him, but it was almost sadder than when she was just laying there because it was obvious that it took quite a bit of effort for her to do that one simple thing. She took a deep breath and her lips opened again.
"I love you."
The words came as such a shock to him that he almost dropped her hand. "Are you sure that's not the fever talking?"
She shook her head so slightly it almost wasn't noticeable. "My mind is perfectly clear, just as it was last time."
Ben stared out the window, too ashamed of himself to look at her. So she had been in her right mind when she asked him to make love to her. He finally shook away his shame and leaned over her and planted a kiss on her forehead. It was hot, but cooler than before, and he was sure it wasn't his imagination this time. She was getting better.
"I love you too."
He loved the way she lit up when she smiled this time. She squeezed his hand gently. "I knew that before."
Ben blushed. She had managed to see through his worry of taking advantage of her. She rolled onto her side to prop herself up on her elbow, then kissed him. It was short-lived because she had to drop back to the bed, exhausted.
"Call Alec and see if he can set you up with a place to live. As soon as I'm better I want to go home."
He nodded, knowing he would have had to call Alec anyway to tell him to follow along with whatever Max might say he had done tonight. After she gave him Alec's address and number, he headed back out.
Max had fallen asleep on the bench after Logan left, but woke up when someone shook her gently. She opened her eyes to see Dr. Carr.
"Did she die?"
He smiled and shook his head. "She woke up on her own and started killing the fever. I don't know how it happened, but she'd going to be fine."
Max's face lit up in a smile. She didn't even wait for him to give permission for her to go in there, she just went right in. When she saw Kay sitting up in bed and slowly eating a bowl of soup, she was absolutely beaming. Kay smiled.
"I take it this is good news?"
Max grinned. "It is now, but now don't you see what happens whenever you are out on your own? I think you should have to live with me from now on, just to make sure nothing happens to you."
Kay threw back her head and laughed. "What are you trying to do, kill me? I've had enough of that for today, thank you very much."