I started this fic just before June 2002, incorporating people from my
class at school. While I love those people and this fic dearly, I can't
seem to get out of my writers block, so I decided to post it. Mainly cause
leila asked me. So, thank you to my friends who feature in this - Leila,
Jessica, Lauryn, Sophie, Elliot (coughleilacough) and anyone else who
possibly pops up. Leila will inform you if you do.
Thanks to Ashantai and Jacey who never stop telling me I rock. And Lemel cause she's cool.
Review or I';ll beat you with a plastic rubber chicken.
****
Max stared out into the sky. Four months since that whole ordeal at Manticore. She still had nightmares about it. Two weeks of full on torture, knowing poor Brin had been killed in the blast that had destroyed the DNA labs.
Then, that fateful night that all the power had gone out. And there her siblings were - Jondy and Krit - getting her out of Manticore. And the tears that had fallen from her eyes when she saw, waiting in the van, were two semi familiar faces - Syl and Zane.
They had gone back to Seattle, to witness a tearful reunion between Max and Logan, and hung around for a day, catching up.
And now Manticore was gone, there was no reason to stay apart. So, Max had contacted Krit, who had contacted Zane, who had arranged for all the X5 escapees to spend December in Seattle. A whole month of her favorite siblings...
"Max, do you think you could boil some water?" Logan's voice broke into her thoughts.
"I could burn it," was Max's feeble excuse. But she was grinning ear to ear.
"You burn the water and I'll never make you boil anything for me again," Logan promised, standing in the kitchen, stirring something delicious- looking (Max was still recovering from the Manticore diet of mineral- enhanced grey slop.)
"Done," Max stood up.
"What time do you expect them to start arriving?" Logan asked. Food covered every surface, Logan had been preparing food all week for the army he was having. And after having five of them for a day, he had a vague idea of what to expect.
"Jondy said she and her group would arrive in about half an hour. The others could arrive any time between now and midnight," Max smiled.
"The question is," Bling walked in, "who are the other three escapees?"
None of her siblings had mentioned the other three, possibly because they had no idea who they were - or because of security. Now, Bling, Original Cindy and Logan were bugging her, trying to guess who else had made it out.
"I honestly do not know, trust me."
The door to the penthouse swung open. Max, Logan and Bling span around. Two people walked in. Logan could tell that they were X5s by the way that they moved. And the shadows in their eyes, that Logan now looked for in X5s.
"Oh, Maxie!" the girl moved forward, flinging her arms around Maxie.
"Leila," Max smiled, hugging the shorter girl back. "I missed you, big sister."
Logan watched the X5 named Leila - she was quite a bit shorter than Max, but apparently older. Logan often wondered how the X5s knew their ages. Leila had dark brown hair cut just below the barcode and had streaks of red and gold through it.
The guy moved forward, slowly and carefully due to his height. "Baby sister!"
A three-way hug. "Tawny!" Max murmured. "I didn't know you made it out!"
"Carpe diem," Tawny grinned. He had dark hair that fell into his eyes, which were huge and golden-brown eyes. In all, Tawny reminded Logan of an extremely graceful bear.
"Good to see you, Maxie," Leila grinned. "And this must be the famed Logan Cale." Leila had a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"How did you know?" Max asked, amazed. She could hardly imagine Zack giving Leila or anyone else updates about her life - especially considering Zack hated Logan so much.
"Krit had a good old rave in the car coming up from New Orleans about everything," Tawny explained. "I think he was pissed that Syl chose to ride her motorcycle up."
Max smothered a snort of laughter. "So where are they?" she asked eagerly.
"Having some . SnK time in the car," Tawny grinned evilly, as Leila cracked up.
"And you my sister have a dirty mind. You know how private Syl is about these things."
Tawny and Leila exchanged evil glances as two more people joined them. Max's eyes widened.
Krit and Syl had appeared and Krit pulled Maxie into a hug. "Big sister, long time no see."
"Missed you, baby brother." Recently, one of the X5s (Zane didn't mention who) hacked the Manticore mainframe and found out their birth dates. In order, it was Zack, Tawny, Mish, Zane, Leila, Lexy, Max, Krit, Syl, Jondy and Sophie.
Syl stayed at Krit's arm length, Max noticed they always kept some sort of physical contact. Syl was talking softly to Tawny and avoided looking at Max, Logan or Leila. But then, Max sniggered, one of the things Zane had shared with her was Syl's avoidance of her sisters. not avoidance, but she bonded better with her brothers than her sisters; the only of her sisters' Syl had really bonded with was Jondy and Brin.
When it came to most of her brothers, Syl was a favorite.
"I parked my baby next to yours," Syl said to Max, overcoming her 'shyness'.
"What is she?" Max asked.
"2001 Crimson Kawasaki 650hp," Syl said, obviously proud. Leila rolled her eyes.
"I will never understand what it is with my siblings and their so-called babies," Leila said with a disgusted look. "They are simply a mode of transport."
"Blister thy tongue for such a comment," Another girl with like brown hair in tiny little braids walked in, with a huge smile on her face. "My 'cycle is like part of me - an arm, a leg - my torso."
"Sophie!" Tawny said, hugging his sister tightly.
"We're X5," Krit pointed out. "If we lost the aforementioned arm, leg or torso, it could be replaced." Syl shot him a glare of death. "Hey, I love my bike as much as anyone.I was just."
Tawny sniggered. "Sucked in, man."
"Bite me."
"Nah. I'm sure Logan has food, especially with digs like this." Tawny wandered over to the fridge - obviously a graduate in a fore mentioned Zack School of subtly.
"Great, food!" Krit almost knocked Syl over in attempt to get to the fridge.
"Enough from the peanut gallery," Sophie rolled her eyes.
Leila, who had begun raiding the pantry, turned around brandishing a jar. "Peanut butter!" she grinned with glee.
Syl and Sophie rolled their eyes.
"Knock, knock," came a yell.
"Marco!" garbled Tawny, with a mouthful of crackers.
"Polo!" Jondy appeared, grinning , her caramel coloured hair being untangled by another guy - this time, with dreadlocks.
"Mish!"
"Leila!"
"Boo?" Original Cindy walked in, carrying a pizza and a chocolate cake. "Whoa. Family?"
Logan nodded, a bit bewildered. "Uh, yeah. Um, Tawny.Leah?.Jondy." Logan looked vaguely confused.
"No," Syl rolled her eyes. "I'm Syl, this is Krit, the girl next to you is Jondy, the guy next to you is Mish, the people raiding Logan's kitchen are Leila."
"Charmed, I'm sure."
"Tawny."
"Hey."
"Then," Syl continued, rolling her eyes. "We have Sophie."
"Nice to meet you."
"I'm Original Cindy. Damn boo, your sistahs are fine. Your boys aren't too hard on the eyes either."
Max laughed. "Ma fam. No one quite like 'em."
"No kidding," Tawny rolled his eyes.
"Not a care in the world," Logan shook his head.
"As long as you believe that, Money Bags," Sophie sneered. "Anyway, where are Lexy and Zane?"
"Lexy AND Zane?" Bling held up his hands. "This makes more than twelve escapees."
Leila came out of the kitchen, eating her way through a packet of potato chips. "Me, Sophie and Jess got out straight after the Pulse. Power was off at Manticore for a week. We ran like hell; and we all know how much I hate running."
"Knock, knock," came a girl's voice. Everyone turned to the door, where a brunette girl and a raven-haired guy appeared.
Everyone froze and Logan, Bling and Original Cindy took a step backward unconsciously. Either, no one had spoken to these two in a long time or they were bad news.
"Oh come on, I'm not that bad," the girl laughed, flipping her long brown hair over her shoulder.
"'Course not, Lexy," Jondy grinned, flinging her arms around her. "Good to see you up and, you know, breathing."
She smirked. "Being dead is so overrated."
Max said nothing to Lexy, but turned to the guy. "Hey Zane," Max choked, hugging the guy tightly.
"Don't worry, Lex, you're still completely unloved," Tawny's voice floated over.
"I wouldn't expect anything else."
Max gazed at all of her siblings standing in the room - Tawny and Leila who were stuffing their faces, Syl and Krit draped over each other, Sophie rolling her eyes, Jondy and Mish laughing together and Zane and Lexy holding hands very subtly.
Everyone was paired off - Except Sophie, who was always an exception to the rule - except Max. She felt a pang for an older brother who should be here, disapproving of the whole reunion.
Oh, she and Jondy were best friends, closer than close. But Jondy was one of those people who had a special place in everyone's heart - including Mish's, it seemed.from the looks of Lexy and Zane, and from what she knew about Syl and Krit, they weren't all just brothers and sisters to each other now.
"Come and sit down," Logan said, motioning to the couches.
Everyone moved, staking out seats - except for Leila and Tawny, who armed themselves with more snack food before joining them.
"Oh, this is Logan, my boyfriend," Max said, to the others who hadn't arrived when Leila had mentioned it. "His friend, Bling, and my girl, Original Cindy."
The X5s all nodded hello and Logan gazed at them, for the first time, as one. Each and every one of them could have passed as a model. The genetics hadn't been picky with features, though - black hair, brown hair, and Syl's blonde hair. Golden eyes, brown, blue and green.
Logan could sense the history between all of them - the tenseness between Lexy and Max, Syl and Sophie, Tawny and Max. An air about some of them that Logan would ask Max about later that night.
"Ha!" Leila suddenly yelled, her hand plunging into the chip packet, pulling out a silver package.
"Mine!" Lexy flung herself at Leila, grasping at the silver package with a determined glint in her eyes. To look at them was no contest - Lexy was the tallest girl, Leila the shortest. But they had a tug of war over the packet. Legs and limbs flayed dangerously around Logan's coffee table, with his grandmother's crystal bowl, almost a beacon in the game.
Finally, the packet ripped and a flat, circular object fell to the carpet. Both girls dove on it, Lexy finally holding it up gleefully.
"I've already go that one," Leila smirked.
"What?" Max asked, looking shell-shocked.
"Tazos, baby sister," Lexy said, gazing at it. "Velcro backed so we can play games with them."
"You and Leila argue over them?" Sophie asked, looking disbelieving.
Leila looked up. "I have 74. Lexy only has 56."
Shaking of heads and Jondy turned to Zane. "So, where have you been, big brother? Out of action for way too long; even for you."
"Busy with this and that," he said, stroking Lexy's hair. "Nothing much."
"You two, huh?" Tawny said, staring into a doughnut he had managed to locate. "'Bout time."
Zane rolled his eyes. Lexy ignored the comment entirely, examining her tazo carefully.
"I'm going to start dinner," Logan stood up, walking towards the kitchen.
"I'll help," Sophie offered, leaving Lexy and Leila behind.
"Am I really that unlovable?" Lexy pouted, sticking her Velcro backed tazo to her woolen sweatshirt.
"You're perfect," Zane said, playing with Lexy's hair.
Sophie stood in the kitchen, chopping capsicum, her light brown hair falling in her eyes.
"You and Lexy not on speaking terms?" Logan asked casually.
"Me and Lex? Nah. She can be a bit overwhelming sometimes. No, it's Max and Lexy and Leila who aren't on speaking terms."
Logan wanted to ask why Max didn't speak to two of her siblings; whom she didn't know had escaped, but felt that Sophie would ignore the question that was so obviously none of his business.
Watching the X5s laugh in the lounge room, Logan wondered what had happened to the ones left behind.if there were any more second-escape escapees out there.
After dinner (a learning experience Logan would never ever forget), they had to work out sleeping arrangements.
"Really, Logan, we aren't picky about where we sleep," Sophie said.
"Give me a patch of floor and a pillow and I'm all good," Tawny agreed.
"Hey, Leila," Lexy called from Zane's lap. "Race ya to the guest room."
Leila grinned. "You're on."
Both girls leapt from their seats (Leila had been sitting on the floor) and flew towards the guestroom.
Everyone waited until there was a shriek of pain, and Leila stalked back out, pouting.
"Was that your yelp of pain?" Krit asked.
"No. It was hers. I pushed her off the bed," Leila stopped and sat in the middle of the floor.
"Interesting technique," Mish commented.
"I'm going to crash now," Logan announced to no body in particular. "Feel free to shower or snack or whatever. Good night."
Max gave him a gentle good night kiss. "I'll join you soon," she whispered in his ear. "I'll sort out the peanut gallery and then come in."
Logan chuckled and left the room. Max turned to her siblings.
"Not a word, a sound, an idea, a loud thought," she said. "Lexy and Zane can share the guest room, the rest of you can crash out here; the sofa folds out."
Thanks to Ashantai and Jacey who never stop telling me I rock. And Lemel cause she's cool.
Review or I';ll beat you with a plastic rubber chicken.
****
Max stared out into the sky. Four months since that whole ordeal at Manticore. She still had nightmares about it. Two weeks of full on torture, knowing poor Brin had been killed in the blast that had destroyed the DNA labs.
Then, that fateful night that all the power had gone out. And there her siblings were - Jondy and Krit - getting her out of Manticore. And the tears that had fallen from her eyes when she saw, waiting in the van, were two semi familiar faces - Syl and Zane.
They had gone back to Seattle, to witness a tearful reunion between Max and Logan, and hung around for a day, catching up.
And now Manticore was gone, there was no reason to stay apart. So, Max had contacted Krit, who had contacted Zane, who had arranged for all the X5 escapees to spend December in Seattle. A whole month of her favorite siblings...
"Max, do you think you could boil some water?" Logan's voice broke into her thoughts.
"I could burn it," was Max's feeble excuse. But she was grinning ear to ear.
"You burn the water and I'll never make you boil anything for me again," Logan promised, standing in the kitchen, stirring something delicious- looking (Max was still recovering from the Manticore diet of mineral- enhanced grey slop.)
"Done," Max stood up.
"What time do you expect them to start arriving?" Logan asked. Food covered every surface, Logan had been preparing food all week for the army he was having. And after having five of them for a day, he had a vague idea of what to expect.
"Jondy said she and her group would arrive in about half an hour. The others could arrive any time between now and midnight," Max smiled.
"The question is," Bling walked in, "who are the other three escapees?"
None of her siblings had mentioned the other three, possibly because they had no idea who they were - or because of security. Now, Bling, Original Cindy and Logan were bugging her, trying to guess who else had made it out.
"I honestly do not know, trust me."
The door to the penthouse swung open. Max, Logan and Bling span around. Two people walked in. Logan could tell that they were X5s by the way that they moved. And the shadows in their eyes, that Logan now looked for in X5s.
"Oh, Maxie!" the girl moved forward, flinging her arms around Maxie.
"Leila," Max smiled, hugging the shorter girl back. "I missed you, big sister."
Logan watched the X5 named Leila - she was quite a bit shorter than Max, but apparently older. Logan often wondered how the X5s knew their ages. Leila had dark brown hair cut just below the barcode and had streaks of red and gold through it.
The guy moved forward, slowly and carefully due to his height. "Baby sister!"
A three-way hug. "Tawny!" Max murmured. "I didn't know you made it out!"
"Carpe diem," Tawny grinned. He had dark hair that fell into his eyes, which were huge and golden-brown eyes. In all, Tawny reminded Logan of an extremely graceful bear.
"Good to see you, Maxie," Leila grinned. "And this must be the famed Logan Cale." Leila had a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"How did you know?" Max asked, amazed. She could hardly imagine Zack giving Leila or anyone else updates about her life - especially considering Zack hated Logan so much.
"Krit had a good old rave in the car coming up from New Orleans about everything," Tawny explained. "I think he was pissed that Syl chose to ride her motorcycle up."
Max smothered a snort of laughter. "So where are they?" she asked eagerly.
"Having some . SnK time in the car," Tawny grinned evilly, as Leila cracked up.
"And you my sister have a dirty mind. You know how private Syl is about these things."
Tawny and Leila exchanged evil glances as two more people joined them. Max's eyes widened.
Krit and Syl had appeared and Krit pulled Maxie into a hug. "Big sister, long time no see."
"Missed you, baby brother." Recently, one of the X5s (Zane didn't mention who) hacked the Manticore mainframe and found out their birth dates. In order, it was Zack, Tawny, Mish, Zane, Leila, Lexy, Max, Krit, Syl, Jondy and Sophie.
Syl stayed at Krit's arm length, Max noticed they always kept some sort of physical contact. Syl was talking softly to Tawny and avoided looking at Max, Logan or Leila. But then, Max sniggered, one of the things Zane had shared with her was Syl's avoidance of her sisters. not avoidance, but she bonded better with her brothers than her sisters; the only of her sisters' Syl had really bonded with was Jondy and Brin.
When it came to most of her brothers, Syl was a favorite.
"I parked my baby next to yours," Syl said to Max, overcoming her 'shyness'.
"What is she?" Max asked.
"2001 Crimson Kawasaki 650hp," Syl said, obviously proud. Leila rolled her eyes.
"I will never understand what it is with my siblings and their so-called babies," Leila said with a disgusted look. "They are simply a mode of transport."
"Blister thy tongue for such a comment," Another girl with like brown hair in tiny little braids walked in, with a huge smile on her face. "My 'cycle is like part of me - an arm, a leg - my torso."
"Sophie!" Tawny said, hugging his sister tightly.
"We're X5," Krit pointed out. "If we lost the aforementioned arm, leg or torso, it could be replaced." Syl shot him a glare of death. "Hey, I love my bike as much as anyone.I was just."
Tawny sniggered. "Sucked in, man."
"Bite me."
"Nah. I'm sure Logan has food, especially with digs like this." Tawny wandered over to the fridge - obviously a graduate in a fore mentioned Zack School of subtly.
"Great, food!" Krit almost knocked Syl over in attempt to get to the fridge.
"Enough from the peanut gallery," Sophie rolled her eyes.
Leila, who had begun raiding the pantry, turned around brandishing a jar. "Peanut butter!" she grinned with glee.
Syl and Sophie rolled their eyes.
"Knock, knock," came a yell.
"Marco!" garbled Tawny, with a mouthful of crackers.
"Polo!" Jondy appeared, grinning , her caramel coloured hair being untangled by another guy - this time, with dreadlocks.
"Mish!"
"Leila!"
"Boo?" Original Cindy walked in, carrying a pizza and a chocolate cake. "Whoa. Family?"
Logan nodded, a bit bewildered. "Uh, yeah. Um, Tawny.Leah?.Jondy." Logan looked vaguely confused.
"No," Syl rolled her eyes. "I'm Syl, this is Krit, the girl next to you is Jondy, the guy next to you is Mish, the people raiding Logan's kitchen are Leila."
"Charmed, I'm sure."
"Tawny."
"Hey."
"Then," Syl continued, rolling her eyes. "We have Sophie."
"Nice to meet you."
"I'm Original Cindy. Damn boo, your sistahs are fine. Your boys aren't too hard on the eyes either."
Max laughed. "Ma fam. No one quite like 'em."
"No kidding," Tawny rolled his eyes.
"Not a care in the world," Logan shook his head.
"As long as you believe that, Money Bags," Sophie sneered. "Anyway, where are Lexy and Zane?"
"Lexy AND Zane?" Bling held up his hands. "This makes more than twelve escapees."
Leila came out of the kitchen, eating her way through a packet of potato chips. "Me, Sophie and Jess got out straight after the Pulse. Power was off at Manticore for a week. We ran like hell; and we all know how much I hate running."
"Knock, knock," came a girl's voice. Everyone turned to the door, where a brunette girl and a raven-haired guy appeared.
Everyone froze and Logan, Bling and Original Cindy took a step backward unconsciously. Either, no one had spoken to these two in a long time or they were bad news.
"Oh come on, I'm not that bad," the girl laughed, flipping her long brown hair over her shoulder.
"'Course not, Lexy," Jondy grinned, flinging her arms around her. "Good to see you up and, you know, breathing."
She smirked. "Being dead is so overrated."
Max said nothing to Lexy, but turned to the guy. "Hey Zane," Max choked, hugging the guy tightly.
"Don't worry, Lex, you're still completely unloved," Tawny's voice floated over.
"I wouldn't expect anything else."
Max gazed at all of her siblings standing in the room - Tawny and Leila who were stuffing their faces, Syl and Krit draped over each other, Sophie rolling her eyes, Jondy and Mish laughing together and Zane and Lexy holding hands very subtly.
Everyone was paired off - Except Sophie, who was always an exception to the rule - except Max. She felt a pang for an older brother who should be here, disapproving of the whole reunion.
Oh, she and Jondy were best friends, closer than close. But Jondy was one of those people who had a special place in everyone's heart - including Mish's, it seemed.from the looks of Lexy and Zane, and from what she knew about Syl and Krit, they weren't all just brothers and sisters to each other now.
"Come and sit down," Logan said, motioning to the couches.
Everyone moved, staking out seats - except for Leila and Tawny, who armed themselves with more snack food before joining them.
"Oh, this is Logan, my boyfriend," Max said, to the others who hadn't arrived when Leila had mentioned it. "His friend, Bling, and my girl, Original Cindy."
The X5s all nodded hello and Logan gazed at them, for the first time, as one. Each and every one of them could have passed as a model. The genetics hadn't been picky with features, though - black hair, brown hair, and Syl's blonde hair. Golden eyes, brown, blue and green.
Logan could sense the history between all of them - the tenseness between Lexy and Max, Syl and Sophie, Tawny and Max. An air about some of them that Logan would ask Max about later that night.
"Ha!" Leila suddenly yelled, her hand plunging into the chip packet, pulling out a silver package.
"Mine!" Lexy flung herself at Leila, grasping at the silver package with a determined glint in her eyes. To look at them was no contest - Lexy was the tallest girl, Leila the shortest. But they had a tug of war over the packet. Legs and limbs flayed dangerously around Logan's coffee table, with his grandmother's crystal bowl, almost a beacon in the game.
Finally, the packet ripped and a flat, circular object fell to the carpet. Both girls dove on it, Lexy finally holding it up gleefully.
"I've already go that one," Leila smirked.
"What?" Max asked, looking shell-shocked.
"Tazos, baby sister," Lexy said, gazing at it. "Velcro backed so we can play games with them."
"You and Leila argue over them?" Sophie asked, looking disbelieving.
Leila looked up. "I have 74. Lexy only has 56."
Shaking of heads and Jondy turned to Zane. "So, where have you been, big brother? Out of action for way too long; even for you."
"Busy with this and that," he said, stroking Lexy's hair. "Nothing much."
"You two, huh?" Tawny said, staring into a doughnut he had managed to locate. "'Bout time."
Zane rolled his eyes. Lexy ignored the comment entirely, examining her tazo carefully.
"I'm going to start dinner," Logan stood up, walking towards the kitchen.
"I'll help," Sophie offered, leaving Lexy and Leila behind.
"Am I really that unlovable?" Lexy pouted, sticking her Velcro backed tazo to her woolen sweatshirt.
"You're perfect," Zane said, playing with Lexy's hair.
Sophie stood in the kitchen, chopping capsicum, her light brown hair falling in her eyes.
"You and Lexy not on speaking terms?" Logan asked casually.
"Me and Lex? Nah. She can be a bit overwhelming sometimes. No, it's Max and Lexy and Leila who aren't on speaking terms."
Logan wanted to ask why Max didn't speak to two of her siblings; whom she didn't know had escaped, but felt that Sophie would ignore the question that was so obviously none of his business.
Watching the X5s laugh in the lounge room, Logan wondered what had happened to the ones left behind.if there were any more second-escape escapees out there.
After dinner (a learning experience Logan would never ever forget), they had to work out sleeping arrangements.
"Really, Logan, we aren't picky about where we sleep," Sophie said.
"Give me a patch of floor and a pillow and I'm all good," Tawny agreed.
"Hey, Leila," Lexy called from Zane's lap. "Race ya to the guest room."
Leila grinned. "You're on."
Both girls leapt from their seats (Leila had been sitting on the floor) and flew towards the guestroom.
Everyone waited until there was a shriek of pain, and Leila stalked back out, pouting.
"Was that your yelp of pain?" Krit asked.
"No. It was hers. I pushed her off the bed," Leila stopped and sat in the middle of the floor.
"Interesting technique," Mish commented.
"I'm going to crash now," Logan announced to no body in particular. "Feel free to shower or snack or whatever. Good night."
Max gave him a gentle good night kiss. "I'll join you soon," she whispered in his ear. "I'll sort out the peanut gallery and then come in."
Logan chuckled and left the room. Max turned to her siblings.
"Not a word, a sound, an idea, a loud thought," she said. "Lexy and Zane can share the guest room, the rest of you can crash out here; the sofa folds out."