As they approached the house Talia began to have doubts.

"Are you sure this is White's house"? She asked

"Yeah, why?" Alec returned. He was busy taking cover among the roses while still retaining an effective spying position.

"I dunno, I just guess that when I envisioned this evil transgenic killing familiar I neglected the possibility of him owning a rose garden. Which is well kept by the….Owww"

In an instant Talia had tripped and fallen head first into the roses.

"Fuck" she swore under her breath.

In a flash Alec was there at her side, in his hand he held the offensive tripping device.

"Gnomes?" Talia sounded both disgusted and awed all at once.

"We must be at the wrong house" she persisted.

Alec chucked quietly and helped her to her feet.

"You've got a little…" his face transformed into a frown as his eyes focused on the cut on her left cheek.

As Talia reached up to inspect the damage Alec's hands wandered to her head and began sifting through her hair.

"What are you doing?" Talia said, feigning offence and playfully slapping him away. But at the sight of 3 loose thorns that he'd managed to loose from her hair she stopped.

"What a sight we must be. Two covertly breed X-5 soldiers hiding out in our enemies garden after one of us was just attacked by his Roses and gnomes." Talia laughed.

"If Manticore could see us now huh?" He smiled.

Talia could see that he wanted her; she could hear his breathing deepen as his temperature rose. Ever since they'd met she'd known his intentions. But what surprised her though, was that she, here in White's garden, among the smiling gnomes and prickly thorns, found herself wanting him too.

"Talia" Alec breathed into her ear.

How close he was now, just an inch and he'd be hers.

For a split second her gaze was diverted to the patch of grass where the gnome now lay in town pieces.  Amidst the falling and Alec rescuing her she had failed to notice that she'd broken it. Now the broken gnome seemed to serve as an ill omen.

'Everything you touch turns to dust'. The sound of her subconscious brought her back to reality. The reality, which had spawned her. The reality, which would one day, take her. And the reality, which presented everyday people with the promise of a life which she, being a genetically enhances soldier, could never have.

Talia softly pressed a hand to Alec's chest. She couldn't let this happen. Though she had only known Alec a short time she already felt herself caring for him. The worst thing for him would be to become involved with her. Everyone she loved ended up dead. Like Rav….

As the beating of his heart drummed against her palm, Talia gently began to push Alec away. And as she did, a light from inside White's house flicked off. It was now time to carry on with the plan.

* * *

"211 confirm your status" Max said into her cell. She had successfully disengaged White's car alarm system and moved Otto to White's backseat. Now, she and Logan were parked a block down ready to take off as soon as they were given the word that Talia and Alec were in position.

"This is 211, I'm in position, ready to go at your word" Talia's crackled voice replied. It sounded as though she was standing in the middle of a bush.

Logan took his cue from Max and raised his phone.

"494 confirm your status" 

"494, I'm in position"

"211, can you see the subject?" Max asked.

"Negative 452, request permission to change position" Came the voice.

"Permission gr…" Max began, but before she could get the words out she heard rustling. Talia was on the move.

"Hey'! Max snapped.

"Subject spotted, Max, I have him in my sights"

"Are you able to get inside"?

"Affirmative, but…wait…"

"Talia what is it"? Max said, but there was no reply.

"Subject's on the move, repeat subject is on the move, permission to pursue to next window," She requested.

"Granted" Max replied.

Talia emerged from her hiding place and followed White's movements. She passed from window to window just in time to see his back as he moved from room to room. Finally he ascended the stairs and was gone from Talia's sight.

Talia knew she had ought to report this to Max but decided against it. What good would that do? Max would probably just tell her to head back and call the whole mission off. So instead, Talia dashed three windows back to where the laundry was and began shimmying up the drainpipe.

The window above was slightly ajar, and from the gap it spilled steam. White was getting reading to take a shower.

Though the steam clouded around 75% of her vision, Talia could just make out the shadowy silhouette of a man as he stepped into the source of the steam.

Once he was inside, Talia deemed it safe to re-establish contact with the ground force team – Max and Logan. Since she had had to hang up to jam the phone into her back pocket as she climbed, she now redialled using speed dial #4 and awaited a reply. She didn't have to wait long.

"452" Max sounded relieved.

"211 here, sorry I hung up."

"What's the status of your mission 211"?

"Well, I'm about 20 feet up clutching onto a drain pipe"

'Oh god, please let her be joking' Max prayed silently.

"I guess we never thought about what would happen should the subject decide to venture upstairs to his bathroom and take a shower"

"White's in the shower right now?" Max asked, not believing her luck. If her and Logan set off the car alarm now, It could take White ages to get out of the house, giving Talia extra time to slip inside undetected. However, if white got outside dripping he'd be in a hurry to get back inside, and that, mixed with the anger he's gonna feel once he finds Otto, wouldn't do well if either Talia or Alec were caught. Unfortunately, that was just a risk they'd have to take.

"211 get ready, we're setting the alarm off in 10 seconds"

In the background, Talia could hear Logan ramble the same thing off to Alec. By now, he had probably already told Max about his little run it with her. Oh how she despised the man.

"8…7…6…" Talia could hear Max and Logan quietly counting into their phones.

"5…4…3…2…" She counted silently in her head.

At the count of 1 everything seemed to happen at once. And it seemed as though time itself had speed up. From where she clung Talia swore she could hear the click as Max flicked the switch, which tipped the alarm. The screaming of the alarm itself followed this. It wailed like a Ban-She in labour. Then came the screech of tires as Max and Logan made their getaway. Next, the water stopped and the steam dissipated. A slam of the shower door came next showing that Talia wasn't the only one who had heard the alarm. From where she clung, Talia dared not sneak a look and for the first time in a long time she felt truly afraid. She pressed her cheek against the wall so hard her jaw hurt.

But she didn't have long to hide, because in seconds footfalls sounded on the staircase and Talia knew it was her time to go.  She slid her hands under the window and using only the muscles in her thighs to keep her up, lifted the glass.