Disclaimer: I don't any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show, Dark Angel, which are owned by James Cameron. I do, however, own the original characters featured in this story. If you wish to use them, please ask me.
Summary: FWAHAHA! As of now (as I write this summary), this is the last chapter… and it's going out with a bang (I hope).
A/N: Didn't feel like going into the whole wedding thing. Would take too long, and if you've read one M/A wedding story, you've read them all. ^_^
Happily Never After
By
Brin
"The backbone of surprise is fusing speed with secrecy." - Von Clausewitz (1780-1831)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Months passed with no activity on the transgenic front besides the order to have all underage transgenics adopted, which the older transgenics handled easily. The small family that consisted of the '09 escapees, Alec, Pick, and Eddie grew closer together as autumn passed to late winter. Max and Alec and Jondy and Zack had a double wedding, which nearly every transgenic in America attended.
Alec and Max's house, which had been in the process of construction for several months, was finally finished and they moved in a few weeks after Christmas. It was a relatively large two-story Victorian-looking house with a second-story balcony and pillars in the entryway.
Syl and Krit moved to Bellevue, a city not too far from Seattle, where they bought their own house and ducked under the radar of Ordinary politics to raise Eve like a normal little girl… or as normal as possible.
Jondy and Zack purchased a penthouse in the High Rise section of town, near Foggle Towers.
After several months of not hearing from him, it was discovered that Sketchy landed a contract with CNN, taking the seat of recently-retired anchor Dan Rathers. Original Cindy found herself a serious girlfriend and helped Normal run an organization known as OWWT, Ordinaries Working With Transgenics, which educated both transgenics and Ordinaries on the facts and lies about each side.
The S1W emerged victorious in a heated battle with the police over the burning of the Manticore. As a result, several cops were jailed for committing perjury and many members of the S1W were given government permits to enter restricted buildings and few case evidence so that they could flush out corrupt cops more easily. Asha, her distrust of the government too deeply embedded in her psyche to work for them, continued to run the S1W as supreme commandant.
Logan, being Logan, invented a new kind of computer chip. With the resulting money, he got Eyes Only up and running again.
There was no Familiar activity to be spoken of.
Everything was finally looking up… or so they all thought.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max nearly dropped her glass of water as a loud horn blared outside. She set the glass of water on a coaster, then peeked outside the window to see a familiar Nissan 240 SX sitting in front of their house. "Eddie! Diana's here!" she called, sitting on the couch.
The cat anomaly slid down the banister on her feet and nearly bashed her head on the ceiling as she jumped off. She then plopped down on the floor and began pulling on her snow boots.
"Where are you going?" asked Max nonchalantly, turning on the television to watch Sketchy give a special news report on Pre-Pulse rock bands.
"Movies. Diana's got a new date."
Max laughed. "That's the third one this week."
"Yeah, well after Mr. Jack's Clone dumped her in three hours, she's been pretty wary of guys."
"Not his fault. I'd be pretty mad if I was tricked like that."
Eddie shrugged and stood up, grabbing her jacket and a scarf from the coat closet. "She says it was good while it lasted."
"What're you going to watch?" Max took a sip of water and pulled a box of saltine crackers from the coffee table.
"Uhh… James Bond VII or something like that. They replaced Pierce Brosnan with this really hot dude with famous pecs." The cat anomaly finished bundling herself up and looked at the X5. "Are you okay? You look kinda pale."
"I'll be okay in a few hours. Get outta here," replied Max with a smile.
Eddie nodded and yanked open the door, receiving an icy gust of snow and wind to the face. She stepped out and closed the door behind her, then jogged out to Diana's sleek orange car.
As she slipped inside, Diana grumbled, "Took you long enough."
"It's freezing in here!" protested Eddie, hugging herself. "Turn on the heater!" She reached for the switch.
"Oh, no, no, no!" Diana swatted the anomaly's hand away. "Don't touch! I don't wanna use the heater. You can deal with it until we get to the movies."
"Bitch."
"Brat."
"Psycho."
"Nerd."
They glared at each other for a few moments, then gave up and started laughing. Diana revved the engine of her car, smiling at the sound it made. "Aah, now that is music, my friend. What more do you need?"
Eddie shook her head. "You and your car… You're almost as bad as Max and the motorcycle."
Diana smirked and floored the gas pedal. The wheels squealed, then the car shot off down the street with its rumbling motor echoing off the houses.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"I'm beginning to think that you bring me along just to scare them away," declared Eddie as they parked the SX as far as possible from any other cars to avoid having it scratched. "And Pick doesn't help any."
"Well you said he couldn't make it," said Diana, pressing the 'lock' button. The car chirped. "So that makes your argument void."
Eddie huffed, "I shouldn't be here, either. This is supposed to be a date, and dates generally involve two people, remember?"
Diana ignored her as she started towards the theater.
They had developed a shaky friendship over the past months, its foundation resting on the fact that they could relate to each other on a lot of levels – losing loved ones, going through tough times, boy troubles, etc. On top of that, both girls knew when was a good time to just shut up. It was a quality that made their relationship bearable.
After purchasing tickets, Diana stood outside waiting for her date while Eddie indignantly warmed herself inside, watching through the cracked glass doors. She made herself comfortable on a bench, assuming that, like all the guys Diana had hooked lately, he would be thirty minutes late.
Surprisingly, however, this guy arrived right on time – five minutes early in fact. He was dressed nicely, too, which was a strong contrast to Diana's last date, who had shown up wearing a stained tank top and tight cutoff shorts. He had on khaki slacks and a blue collared shirt, along with a shiny new leather jacket. His golden hair was wind-tousled and hung down into his pale blue eyes. He had large hands and was at least six-foot-three, towering above most of the other moviegoers. Diana and he whispered shy greetings to each other, then went inside.
Eddie stood as they approached her. "Hi," she said nervously.
Diana had an uncharacteristically silly grin on her face. "Eddie, this is Tom. Tom, this is Eddie."
"It's a pleasure," he said, holding out his hand.
Eddie smiled as she shook his hand. "Hope I'm not intruding…" She looked up into his eyes and a shiver went down her spine. His eyes darkened and she looked away.
"No, that's fine. Any friend of Diana's is welcome," interrupted Tom with a million-dollar smile.
Hook, line, and…, thought Eddie suspiciously.
"Um, we're going to go get some popcorn. Can you grab us seats?" asked Diana, handing Eddie a ticket.
"Sure," replied the anomaly, watching as they walked away. She frowned when Tom's hand snaked around Diana's waist. Sinker, Eddie finished her previous thought. There was something about that guy that made her skin crawl. He was just too… perfect. If she didn't know better, she'd think he was a transgenic.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
After the film (though which Diana and Tom had been cuddling the entire time), Diana and Eddie got back into Diana's Nissan and headed back home.
"We're going out to dinner tonight," gushed Diana, eyes sparkling. "In fact, after I drop you off I'm going to have to get ready. He's picking me up at eight."
"Really. Where?"
"Some French place. It's supposed to be really good," replied the athlete giddily. "Man, that guy is dreamy, isn't he? I think it's love at first sight."
Eddie laughed. "Are you serious? You, in love at first sight?"
"Hey, anything can happen," snapped Diana, hitting her friend on the head playfully. "'Sides, every girl has the right to live the dream – knight in shining armor."
"Well, what exactly do you like about him?"
"Whaddya mean?"
Eddie sighed and explained, "Well, with Pick… I like his hands, his hair, his face, his dimples, his muscles, especially—"
"Alright, alright, I get it," interrupted Diana. "I like Tom's voice. Did you listen to him? He sounds like a friggin football announcer! I bet he can sing. I also like his hands. They're huge. And he's got this wicked scar on his arm—"
"What?" Eddie froze. "A scar on his arm? Where?"
"Here." Diana gestured to the underside of her forearm. "It's sick. He told me he got cut by this thug robbing a convenient store."
"And it looks like?"
"I dunno. It was kind of faded…"
Eddie gulped down the large lump in her throat. "O…kay." They reached her house and she leaned over to her friend. "Be careful," she warned quietly before stepping out of the car.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the anomaly got inside, she found Max and Alec sitting rigid on the couch, faces intent on the TV. "Hey guys, what's up?"
"Shhh!" urged Max, gesturing for Eddie to come sit down as well.
Eddie walked over, the sound of Sketchy's voice increasing as she approached.
"…it has just been confirmed that WNBA superstar Yolanda Brooks has been kidnapped from her Los Angeles home. Witnesses say she was taken by a man she had recently dated, though nobody can surely identify him. He is described as being a Caucasian male, about six-foot-five, with black hair and green eyes.
"This is the third alleged kidnapping reported in the past hour. If you have just joined us, the other kidnapping victims are: NHL Rookie of the Year, Ritchie Patterson; Professional tennis-player Irulan Williams; and NFL star quarterback Blake Winden.
"All the victims were reported to be taken by individuals in their early-twenties, described to be in very good shape and showing no signs of mental trouble. All kidnappers have allegedly been dating each of their victims, though no connection can be made between the cases beside the fact that all the victims are nationally-recognized athletes. The FBI says this is an organized operation run by the likes of which have never been seen. If you have any information, please contact your local police station."
Eddie paled. "Diana." She turned and ran towards the door, but Alec shot up and grabbed her arm.
"You're not going anywhere. It's not safe," he said sternly. "Sit."
"No, you don't understand! Diana… her date… he's going to kidnap her! I know he is! I've got to warn her! Let me go!"
"Calm down," said Max, standing and taking Eddie's face in her hands. "Look at me and think clearly. Why would Diana's date kidnap her?"
"Diana said he had a scar right here." She gestured to her forearm. "What more do you need?"
Max looked at Alec, her eyes expressing her worry. "Alec…"
He stared at Eddie for a long while, his emerald eyes filled with confusion, then he walked over to the coat closet and pulled out an M16. "Let's go."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alec's black truck barreled down the icy street so fast that he had given up looking at the speedometer. Unfortunately, Diana lived on the other side of town and some of the roads were closed down due to the ice. Already they had outrun two cop cars and an old man on a motorcycle. They thought they were going at a good pace until they reached the inner part of the city. The traffic was backed up for several miles due to an accident involving two semi trucks carrying stolen goods.
"Come on!" Alec leaned on the horn angrily. "Don't you see we're out to save the world here?"
"Psycho!" yelled someone, and another driver flipped him off.
Alec growled and slumped in his seat. He looked at the clock. 7:00. "I don't think we're going to make it. The guy will probably come early to surprise her."
Max turned on the radio.
"…reports have come in warning all potential athletes against leaving their houses tonight. The nation is on alert. The owner of this station wishes to send out a special warning to the members of any professional team members in Seattle, especially: quarterback Nick Bettinger of the Washington Redskins, professional hockey player William Litsey, and semi-professional boxer Diana Guzman…"
"Shit," grumbled Max, seeing the color drain from her adopted daughter's face.
"I'm getting out," announced the anomaly. "I'll be faster on foot."
"Eddie, you don't even have your jacket. It's below freezing out there."
Ignoring the female X5, Eddie opened the door and jumped from the vehicle. Max moved to follow her, but Alec stopped her. "Max! I'll go after her. Stay here," he said sternly, exiting the truck.
Max sighed in exasperation and jumped over the median to sit in the driver's seat, closing the door. "This is bad."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Eddie's body felt stiff and horribly sore as she ran through the city, eyes raking the buildings, trying to gain a sense of direction. She vaguely heard Alec calling after her name, but paid him no attention as she pushed forward with single-minded determinedness. She could hear the news report right now, "This just in: Bronx-native semi-professional boxer Diana Guzman has been kidnapped. Her kidnapper is described as about six-foot-three with blonde hair and blue eyes. If you have any information, please call your local police station."
As she ran out from between two buildings, the anomaly's attention was caught as two headlights hurtled straight towards her. She froze in fear and barely had time to realize what was happening before the car struck her and she was thrown several meters back.
"Holy shit!" yelled voices, gathering around her. "He hit the freak!"
Eddie's vision spun. Every breath held a sharp pang of pain her lungs. Blood was on her hands, but she didn't know where it was coming from.
"Eddie!" shouted Alec's voice, but he sounded far off. He knelt next to her. "Eddie, where does it hurt?"
Why was his voice echoing? The cat anomaly made a broad gesture to her abdomen and chest, though it hurt to move. She felt the cold air and snow quickly seeping into her body.
"Okay, I think you've cracked a rib and there might be some internal damage. Keep still," ordered Alec, frowning as she tried to sit up. "Don't move!"
"No!" protested the anomaly, bolting upright and ignoring the spasms of pain constricting her chest. "I'm getting Diana first!"
Alec looked up at the driver of the truck that had hit the anomaly. "Give us your car."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
They arrived at Diana's at 7:30. Eddie staggered up the stairs of Diana's building, gasping as she saw that the door lock had been shot off. She shoved open the door and peeked inside. The floor was covered in debris. There were several holes in the walls. A pot of tea sat forgotten on the stove.
Eddie and Alec froze as they heard a crash from the next room. Alec made a several hand gestures to Eddie. Careful. I'll go in first. Don't underestimate your enemy.
The anomaly nodded in reply and they crept towards the sound, bodies poised. Alec's gun was raised. He got to the bedroom door and gently pushed it open, wincing at the creaking sound it made. When it had opened enough for him to slip through, he quietly did so, with Eddie moving painfully after him.
"Freeze!" yelled Alec as soon as he saw what was going on.
Eddie's eyes widened in horror when she spotted Diana being held several feet in the air by 'Tom.' She was badly beaten, with big black and blue bruises covering her body. Her right leg had a bump on it, signaling it was badly broken. Judging by the blood on her head and the shattered glass on the floor, he had smashed her through the window. His body was tense. He was ready to throw her right out shattered window.
"You can't stop us," declared the Familiar. He had a rip in his shirt and his eye was swollen shut. "This one put up a good fight. She will be a good contribution."
"Sick bastard," mumbled Eddie under her breath.
Alec's hold tightened on his gun until his knuckles turned white. "Put her down!"
The Familiar moved forward, dangling Diana outside the window. Her feet hung limply ten stories up. "You really want me to?"
Diana whimpered, her trying in vain to pry the Familiar's vice-like hands from her throat. She was turning colors in the face.
"She can't breath," whispered Eddie. "He's crushing her windpipe."
Alec raised his gun. "Step away from the window or I'll blow your ass off."
Tom smiled demonically, but complied with Alec's order. He then dropped Diana to the floor where she coughed and sputtered for breath. "As you wish."
The X5 barely had time to react as the Familiar ran forward and knocked the gun from his hands, then gave him a swift punch that sent him crashing through the wall behind him. Eddie grabbed a piece of wood from the floor and hit the Familiar on the back of the head with it, but he merely flinched.
"Silly girl," he said, tossing her aside with one hand. He then went over to Diana and threw her over his shoulder. "Come. You will impress the Committee."
Diana hit his back with clenched fists, but there was no force behind her blows. She looked through blurry eyes at the two transgenics, lying helpless and injured on the floor. "Eddie… Eddie!"
"Shut up," ordered the Familiar, hitting her on the back of the head with his knuckles. She blacked out.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max worriedly stroked Eddie's forehead as the young anomaly began to wake up from her nightmare-ridden sleep. She had broken two ribs, nearly puncturing a lung, and when the Familiar had thrown her she had bruised her skull. "Poor thing," whispered Max. She looked over at Alec, who had been brooding in the corner ever since he had brought her home. "I should've been there, Alec."
"No. You would've been hurt or killed or worse," he said through gritted teeth. "That guy… he was stronger than normal. He could blur."
"Logan said there is a possibility of multiple bloodlines of Familiars. That kid with mind powers, for instance. I bet he was part of some special line, and so is this guy… the only question is why not use them earlier?"
There was a long silence, which was then broken by Alec saying, "Because they were saving them."
"For what?"
"For the final assault."
Max frowned. "What do you mean?"
Alec stood and grabbed his cell phone. "I'm going to find out." He dialed Dix's number and waited impatiently for the transhuman to answer.
"Dix here."
"Hey, Dix, remember that last set of runes? The ones that didn't make sense when put with the first set?"
"Yeah…" The transhuman sounded confused.
"Okay, say it to me again." He put on the speakerphone so Max could listen as well.
There was the sound of ruffling papers as Dix searched for where he had scribbled down the translations. He cleared his throat and began, "The last set says this: 'When the doe is kidnapped and taken among the wolf den and the savoir finds reason for jubilation, the storm will have begun to thunder. Lightning will strike when the helpless learn of their threat, and the savoir will rise above the clouds to rid the air of Armageddon.'"
"Thanks, Dix. Talk to ya later," said Alec, then he hung up. "Max… almost all of it fits… but is there something you want to tell me?"
Max gulped down the large lump in her throat and turned her eyes downward, her hands idly stroking Eddie's cheek. This action caused the anomaly to fully awake, and she sat upright. As soon as she did, however, a groan escaped her lips and she laid back down again. "What… Diana! Where's Diana? Did you catch him?"
Alec frowned, then gave the anomaly a sympathetic look. "We'll get her back."
"Shit," seethed Eddie. "What are they going to do with her?"
"That's a good question," said Max, eager to get Alec's attention off her. "Why don't we call Logan?"
Alec gave her a 'We'll discuss this later' look, then dialed Logan's number on the speakerphone.
"You've reached the number you've dialed."
"Logan," said Alec quietly. "Have you seen the news?"
"Yeah. Just came in that they took a girl named Diana Guzman. Did you know her? Heard she was from the Seattle area…"
"We know her, and we want to know what you think they'll do with her. Haven't you been looking up on the Familiars all this time?"
There was the sound of clicking keys as Logan pulled up the info. "Yeah. I just got in a report from a contact a few hours ago. He says that the kidnappings all have to do with the whole 'selective breeding' thing. All the victims' most recent medicals show that they have advanced metabolism, natural fitness, good looks, and nearly constant health. Now think about it… if you wanted your kid to never have to face a gym, who would you pick to have a kid with?"
"Someone athletic," whispered Max, appalled. "So… they're going to…"
"Impregnate the females or harvest their eggs, and I assume they will harvest sperm from the males to use in several Familiar females just because they can. It's sick, but it's our best guess about what they'll do to their victims… otherwise…"
"Otherwise what?" interrupted Alec.
Logan sighed, exasperated. "Otherwise they'll use them as test subjects for whatever the hell they're going to use to 'wipe out the human race.'"
Silence settled over the group.
"Thanks, Logan. We'll… talk to you later…" Alec hung up.
"Dear God," said Max quietly. "That's… that's sick."
"It's twisted, that's what it is," growled Alec. "Worse than Manticore. No wonder Sandeman would want to leave." He looked at Max square in the eye. "Now, Max, this prophecy seems to be in effect. There's only one thing missing."
Max gulped and averted her eyes from his emerald green ones. She took several deep breaths, then said in a shaky voice, "Alec… I think I'm pregnant."
finis
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A/N: BAHA! BAHAHAHAHAHA! ^_^