-by Infie
Rhys opened the door to the designated nursery as quietly as possible. His lips curved in a wide grin as he saw the wholly unexpected sight of Alec, leaning back in a chair, an exhausted six month old baby sprawled bonelessly on his chest and snoring softly. Alec's hand rested on the baby's back, and his head was tipped forward so he could smell her hair. He looked up as the door opened, and grinned at Rhys unapologetically as he settled himself even more comfortably. He raised an eyebrow in query.
"We broke the code on the Resurrection files." Rhys informed him softly.
"And it only took you two weeks." Alec whispered back. Rhys rolled his eyes. "What was it about?"
Lise, the person in charge of medical for TC, entered the room from the other side and leaned over the baby, feeling her head. "She's doing better. Good." Lise smiled at them both and moved to a nearby desk, where she began working. Rhys grabbed a chair and sat next to Alec, running a finger along the baby head.
"Who is this?" he asked Alec with a wicked grin. "Is there something you want to tell me?"
"This is Maia." Alec kissed her head tenderly. "She's Gem's daughter."
Rhys gave a delighted smile. "Really? I heard she was born during a hostage taking?"
Alec grinned. "Yeah. That was fun. 'Til White got there, anyway." He shifted in his chair. "And I got shot. I never like that part."
"Who does?" Rhys grimaced. "So... she's doing better? What was wrong?"
"Don't know. Most of the little ones are down with something. Must be going around." Alec shrugged a little, careful not to jostle Maia. "It's not like they provided parenting classes alongside 'Assassination 494'."
Rhys smirked, but Alec forestalled the inevitable smartass comment by shushing him as the baby stirred. Rhys sighed.
"So, what were the files about, Rhys?" Alec brought them back to the topic at hand.
"They were on the breeding program. A set of compatibility matrices."
Alec frowned. "Really? I suppose that makes a twisted kind of sense; resurrecting the X-series and all. But why would Tinga be in there?"
Rhys shrugged, and Lise spoke up from her desk, where the two men had completely forgotten about her. "Renfro was way into 656. I remember her saying once that she was the only one who'd passed her abilities onto a child."
Alec's eyes narrowed, and Rhys' head snapped around to look at her, gaze piercing. "What did you just say?" Rhys asked intently.
"I said that 656 was the only mother to pass on X characteristics to her child. Little fellow even had a barcode. Drove Renfro nuts that she couldn't figure out why." Lise paused, then went on thoughtfully. "She used to complain that all that her experimentation had produced children that were spectacularly ordinary."
Alec and Rhys looked at each other, both reaching the same conclusion at the same time. Their gazes dropped to Maia's innocently sleeping form, and Rhys leaped to his feet even as Alec gestured at him. "Check the rest!" Alec ordered hoarsely.
Rhys was already moving towards the line of bassinets and cribs. Lise was a step behind, looking confused. "How many of these children were born with a barcode, Lise?" Rhys asked curtly, turning the first infant over gently to peer at the back of his neck.
"Two." Lise pointed to a crib at the end. "Twin boys."
"How many children in Terminal City?"
"Fourteen, including the twins."
Rhys bit his lip and shook his head, looking at Alec, who was now standing, cuddling Maia against his chest and looking pale. Alec nodded, face stricken.
"We're gonna need Logan for this." Alec said.
"Gem? What's wrong?" she demanded.
"I don't have time to talk." Gem swiped at her cheeks. "I've gotta go."
"Go where?"
"Go away!" Gem shouted. "Alec said Maia and I have to leave! I need to pack." She returned to throwing clothes into the duffel.
Max stared at her a moment. "You don't have to leave, Gem. I'll straighten this out."
Gem shook her head and didn't slow her movements. "Alec said we have to go." she repeated stubbornly. Max set her jaw angrily.
"We'll see about that."
Alec saw Max coming as soon as she hit the doorway. She looked furious, and he sighed inwardly, then turned back to the computer screen.
"I don't know if I can get these for you that fast, Alec." Logan scrubbed a hand through his hair. "Thirty six sets of identity papers is a tall order on such short notice." He paused. "And, it's going to be expensive."
Alec's eyes flicked to Max as she climbed the stairs to reach him. "Just make it happen, Logan. Don't fuck around or haggle, either. I need them now."
Logan nodded curtly, and even as Alec flipped off the camera, Max grabbed his arm and swung him around.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?" she hissed at him. "Gem doesn't have to leave Terminal City." she looked around at the people packing hurriedly. "None of you have to leave Terminal City!" she shouted. The din died as the transgenics turned to look.
Alec's lips compressed, and he motioned for them to continue working. He took Max's arm in his hand and dragged her to an empty room, slamming the door behind them. She shook him off and spun to face him. "What the hell?" she raged. "You can't just tell people to get out!"
"Yes, I can. I did. And, if it comes down to it, I will again." Alec's eyes were tired. "There's reasons here, Max. Would you like to hear them?"
"There is no reason good enough!"
Alec's temper rose to meet hers. "The babies are sick, Max!" he shouted. Neither noticed the door sliding slowly back open. "They need to get out of here before they die!"
Max stared at him as if he was out of his mind. "What are you talking about?"
"The babies. Maia. Michael. Hope. Jeffery. All of them. All sick, Max. Did you never wonder why?" Alec's eyes were hot.
"Of course I did." Max responded. "We all did. DO."
"We're living in a fucking toxic spill site! Of course they're sick!" Alec was shouting again, his frustration at himself breaking loose.
"Transgenics aren't affected by the toxins here, Alec." Max shook her head. "You aren't making any sense."
"The babies are ordinaries, Max! They didn't inherit the genes!" Alec fists were clenched. "They're ordinaries," he repeated in a normal tone, regaining control. "We ran the assays as soon as we suspected."
Max's eyes were wide. "They have to leave, Alec. They have to leave now."
"Yes," Alec told her curtly. "They do." He turned toward the door and stopped, seeing the entrance to the room filled with faces. Rhys straightened from his position slouching against the doorframe, and lowered his arm from where he had been blocking the others from entering. "Don't you have something to do?" he asked pointedly.
Mole swung his shotgun in one hand. "Yeah. I think we do," he said gravely. He looked around, and only Joshua looked stubborn. The rest looked angry. "I think it's time for a change of leadership around here." The group gave a dark sounding rumble of agreement. Alec turned his back on them and closed his eyes.
"Who do you think should replace me, Mole? You?" Max strode up to the desert fighter and stared him in the eye. "You plan on being the front man for us to the world?"
"No." Mole didn't back down. "But that don't mean I think it should be you, lady."
Rhys' eyes were on Alec's tight shoulders. "I don't think this is the time for this, Mole." he said slowly. "We've got transportation and identities to arrange for more than thirty people, right now. We'll deal with the question of who's calling what shots another time."
Alec spun on his heel and faced the crowd. "I won't do it, so don't even go there." he said, face tight with anger. "We follow Max's lead here. And you heard her. She says we get the babies out now."
"Sure... now she does!" came a mocking voice from the back of the crowd. Whatever retort Alec would have made died on his lips as Johan pushed his way through the crowd, stopping in the doorway. He was panting, eyes wide.
"Alec. Max. You need to come right now." he closed his eyes, horror on his face. "They found Mel. She was dropped off just outside." He backed up at the look on Alec's face. "I think she's a... a message."
"I've only got a second here, but it's happening, Ames. They're melting down."
"Good. I hope my little 'peace offering' speeds the process a little. How long?"
"Days, I think." *pause* "452 won't be able to control them much longer."
"Perfect. I want that bitch to suffer."
"I understand. But Ames... I don't think you want 494 to be in control here either."
"I have that covered. Just do your job. Fenest'ol."
"Fenest'ol, Ames."