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Buses & Trains

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Unexpected Visitor

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The weight of what she had just seen came crashing around her shoulders and a tiny voice squeaked up annoyingly in her head. But I thought you hated him always being around? 'Yeah, but that was before he was gone'. Then Max shook herself from her stupor shaking her head at herself. 'He's probably just gone for a joyride for a while. He disappears without telling you a lot; why not now?' That voice again, it was seriously starting to piss her off. She looked up at the building and of course, decided to check it out. Climbing the fire escape Max didn't allow herself to think of what her actions meant.

The window was closed tightly when she reached it, she soon fixed that by grabbing the rotting edge and pushing upwards. The window slid up with a long squeak and she froze, hoping nobody would come, with that thought she climbed right into the appartment. Who was she kidding, this was post-pulse America nobody was going to care whether or not someone was breaking in as long as she didn't disturb their homes.

It wasn't quite as she expected. Messy. She knew she didn't know everything about Alec, on the inside but she had no idea he would live like this. It was dark and the shadows seemed to jump out at you like clowns, she didn't like clowns, you couldn't tell who they really were under that crappy make up. This is the kind of room I imagine Ben to have had, not Alec. She realised and pushed the thoughts away as the familiar sting of her thoughts began to prick tears in her eyes, of course, her emotions got the better of her and she sank onto the bed closing her eyes.

Beep, beep.

Max leapt to her feet, her heart almost leaping through the roof of her mouth. Calming down slightly she checked her pager with one hand while the other unconsciously wiped her tears away.

Logan.

Thank god.

She'd had been feeling pretty close to breaking point. Deciding to hit him back, Max wondered how to act. The answer came immediately, with the right amount of feline coolness; while she was at it, she was going to steal a few oreos from the bed. Served Alec right for making her worry about him.

===

"Hitting you back." She didn't offer any greeting or lead on from the brisk tone and Logan noticed it. Of course what he didn't notice was the slight thick edge to her voice. Maybe he did notice but wisely didn't comment. Or...

Stop thinking about it!

"I need a job done. It's to do with a maybe transgenic." Max detected a familiar hesitant note in Logan's voice and decided to cut the poor man a break, he was making up for the transgenic comment pretty good.

"Are you going to apologise?" She asked with a petulant edge to his voice.

"I will... with dinner? I'll be careful; no touching, don't freak." At this Max smiled, she couldn't stay mad at him, there was just a hazy reluctance. She really wanted to know where Alec was going; the oreos were not helping her mood at all.

"Alright. But Logan, you've been talking with me too much, your vocabulary sucks." She paused listening to his laugh; it had been a while. At least she could cheer someone up. "So, what do you want me to check out?"

"A building in one of the sectors downtown. It's..." He rattled off an address and she snapped the cellphone closed after a warmer farewell than greeting. After many ribbings from Alec about the 21st century she asked Logan for a phone, and phone she got. She became aware of a gaze on her, tensing she turned. Just as soon as she tensed she relaxed.

"Anything good up there honey?" A shady looking middle aged man asked licking his dry, cracked lips at her.

She shook her head. "Empty."

"Too bad." He sighed, turning to go.

"Yeah." She said more to herself than the man shuffling off; she glanced down the road. The long empty road which headed back into town. Foggle Towers rose up like a huge tower that enveloped the stormy clouds around it. She groaned to herself and started in the direction of the old wherehouse trying to remove the cloud of unresolved emotions from around her head.

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The wherehouse loomed up in front of her while she shifted checking out the different angles. The

easiest way was to look through the skylight to determine whether or not there was anything to worry about. She argued with her inner voice the entire way up the ladder on the side of the building. "You got upset with Logan way too easily… He's just worried." Her rational inner voice spoke, trouble was Max didn't like that voice. She shook her head vehemently to herself. She had every right to get upset. He didn't completely understand what they had gone through. "Neither do you" She vaulted over the edge of the roof and shrugged guiltily to herself remembering Alec's words.

"But you wouldn't understand. You can't understand; you weren't there. You ran. You and your little rugrat brothers and sisters. You think life was rough when we were ten? A little schooling, a little brainwashing, some manoeuvres outside? You think that was tough?"

"Off the pity train. It's resolved and OVER!" Max thought viciously, glancing around she was waiting for a suprise attack, anything, But nothing came. There was no sound except for the distant clink of a generator turning over. She peered through the skylight; then with a sudden pressure on her back she crashed through the skylight and down to the floor below. Like cats do, she hit the floor feet first, but staggered back a few steps crashing into a table with the suprise and pain of the groundshock.

Her eyes searched methodically but quickly for her attacker. She didn't have to look far as there was someone landing gracefully in front of her. Max gaped. It was all she could do. "You-!"

"You should have seen the look on your face Max." The supposed attacker snorted imitating the look of a cross between a terrified cat and an angry one.

"Jace!" Max rushed forward to hug her and Jace obliged easily, Max could hardly believe she was seeing her again, when she pulled back she noted the sparkle of happiness in Jace's eyes. "Why are you here? Isn't it too dangerous, with the other transgenics on the loose?"

"I only have one distinguishing mark Max, I'm sure I can handle it." Jace had retained her sarcasm, which made Max smile bittersweetly

"I know, I know." The shorter X5 said giving in sheepishly.

"I came to Seattle for a few supplies, with all the media frenzy there's been more call for food up here." Jace paused searching Max's face for a clue to something. "So who was it?"

"Who was it what?" Max asked only slightly confused, Jace rolled her dark brown eyes, darker than her own and crossed the floor to pick up a backpack.

"Who opened the cages, duh. I'm thinking it wasn't Syl, I can see that happening when she dyes her hair pink and starts saying dude." Jace pulled a face and Max smiled at the thought, her brief meeting with Syl had her thinking the same thing as well.

"It was me." Max said feeling strangely relieved but guilty at the same time. Meanwhile, the suprise she had expected wasn't lurking in Jace's dark eyes.

"You always did have too much compassion." She said smiling, Max was once again struck by how little she knew about Jace. Back at Manticore, even thought the place hadn't been big on sibling togetherness she had been closer to Jondy and Tinga.

"I guess. Come on. I got some questions for you, we'll go supply stealing."

"Sounds good to me." Jace said grabbing a limp backpack from the table Max had been sent staggering into and shrugged it onto her back taking the hairtie from her hair. Suppressing her usual to go mushy on her siblings Max merely smiled exiting the wherehouse. She had learnt mushy wasn't the way to go with her siblings especially after Zack. She'd also had a make up test for that when Jace had appeared on the scene. She certainly hadn't gone to right way with- shut up! Max's hands clenched at her sides.

"Max?"

"Hmmm?"

"You ok?"

"Great." Max tried to fake a smile but even with her added training to be a good actress she couldn't quite force her mouth into the seemingly foreign movement. Go figure. It was probably more like a grimace.

"Sure, love the pearly whites." Jace snorted and looked closely at her face, but Max's poker face was in place immediately, barring any further questioning. The pair continued walking along until Max recovered her inward composure so that it matched the outside.

"Come on, hurry up. We gotta get the supplies quickly and then-"

"Going to get rid of me?"

"No, no- I want to introduce you to Original Cindy. And then I need you're help with something"

"You what?"

"I said-"

"I heard you Max, no offense but who are you going to introduce me as? Your long lost sister who's come back to see you again?" Jace scoffed shaking her head, Max laughed shoving her off course.

"That's exactly who I'm going to introduce you as."

"And what do you need help with?"

"Tracking a transgenic."

"Max." Jace started but shook her head,

"What?" Max asked surprised at the tone in Jace's voice.

"You're just going to take off?"

"I think I'm the reason he took off Jace, I can't just leave a- why are you looking at me like that?"

"A he then? What happened to your little cyber journalist?" Jace asked with a smirk.

"Ah…" Max trailed off, shook her head and smiled. "You're not getting anything out of me. I let them out. I take responsibility."

"Oh, Of course you do."

"You and Original Cindy are gonna get along great." Max muttered and quickened her step, a look of worry in her eyes.

=====

The music spread throughout the bar like a telltale little child who was whispering secrets to each of the patrons. The music had a hypnotic sort of beat and the voice was running through the air like liquid honey, the patrons were all swaying slightly on their stools. Except for one. Alec kept the drinks coming as well as he could, it all depended on the barkeep and this one was relatively good and being silent and keeping them coming. Must've been the prospect of a really good raking in of the cash. He emitted another sigh, contemplating the liquid in the glass like it was the solution to all his problems. Which, at the moment, Alec was considering that it was a temporary solution. So maybe it was the solution.

Of course, somewhere in the back of his head he knew he was actually doing a pathetic job of avoiding his feelings, no problems. Mest was a… difficult guy to get a hold of; he was more slippery than his little friends that liked to pretend they were. Especially that annoying little one that was staring at him from across the smoke filled room trying to intimidate his back into a whimper.

Alec tilted his head back and slammed back the last of his drink. Letting his hand thud it down onto the bar counter, he let out a satisfied 'Ah" and stretched. The barkeep raised an unruly eyebrow at him and Alec shook his head delving into his jacket pocket and pulling out some money.

"You wanna bar tab?" The guy asked cautiously, aware of how much Alec had consumed but what he didn't know was that Alec had been engineered in a lab for stuff like this. Maybe not quite like this… but they were enhanced.

"Nah, not hanging around." He pushed the bills across the bar and left, his hands in his pockets. The car was still there, which Alec was mildly surprised about but the sound of light footsteps that sounded oh so heavy to his heightened senses was not a surprise. The cronies were following quickly and were loading weapons.

"Stop where you are if you know what's- oof!" The man's 'threatening' tone was cut off and Alec turned, his leg sweeping through the air to make close contact with the man's head effectively knocking him unconscious. That got the blood pumping as the friends watched Alec with a wary gaze.

As a unit they fanned out, starting to circle him but he wasn't so worried. He could take them. Maybe he should be a tiny bit worry, because the villains always seemed to have some inhuman advantage that you would look over and then you'd lose the fight. Like calling Max a bitch for instance, but everything about her was inhuman.

As he thoughts distracted him one of the pesky villains he was supposing to be shutting down managed to get in a punch that not only sent him back to earth but also made him realise that he should be paying more attention to the big bad guys for the moment. Settling in his own skin once more his mind was focused on taking out the cronies.

Of course, he hadn't taken his own brand of common sense into the equation of the fight which he

had planned as Bad Guys + Fists + Legs + Gravity = Down and out Bad Guys. He liked that but sadly it didn't seem it would work out that way as he was eyeing the tasers they were holding out.

They were a lot more cautious now. Circling him with the tasers crackling with unused energy.

"Come quietly 494."

"Say please" Alec taunted as he kept turned ready to lash out at any second.

"You don't deserve please you filth. Come quietly. Now." At this Alec pulled a mocking face at the obvious leader who looked impassively back. When the attack came from both sides he was ready leaping forward and whirling past the leader who didn't see. Obviously Alec had misjudged the distance; the taser sent shocks into his body as the point of the taser connected with his side. Then the van came out of nowhere; hitting him side on and knocking him down onto the asphalt. Men spilled from the van and hauled Alec to his feet, zapping him a few more times for good measure. All Alec could muster was a half hearted struggle, the vans floor rose eagerly up to meet him and the last thing he heard before the last taser hit his head was the self satisfied smirking tone of Mest.

"Time to face up 494, or should I say Alec?"

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R E V I E W

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Acknowledgments Deb: Alec pain is good. Alec torture is better :evil laugh: I'm glad. Have you read TV Time by All Might Terrestrial? Mindless fun at it's best. :D Evil Mest, yeah... he's coming. I can't say much more... Thank you! Your reviews are honest and I really appreciate them :) chic: Thanks! I appreciate it! And aww, :blush: *goofs off to corner* All Mighty Terrestrial: Actually, I think it was more on purpose ;) I hope you like this chapter, I don't really know what to make of it, I kept banging my head on the wall, and I've been sick, so pleeease forgive me. I don't know if I stuffed it up or not. Not Telling: Thank you :) I'll try! InkaCajo: :evil grin: You'll have to keep reading. No, the car is one of those Alec things, that he had, I'm thinking it was like that car he had? The roofless.. well, I don't know if he still had it. Maybe I should've made it a motorcycle, ahhh bah humbug. :laugh: *hands you milk and oreos* MoonGrlonearth: Aww.. *retreats to corner blushing* You're too kind! :) Adrolien Isil Greenleaf: Phew, long name :) Greenleaf eh? As in Legolas Greenleaf of Mirkwood, Middle Earth I presume? :cheeky grin: Cool. I'll definately check it out. Thank you :D Hebe: Well, if I told you that... :lol: Just kidding. I'll try get the chapter out more quickly this time. :) Luthyel I'll try to make it clearer. Thanks :)