-by Infie
It looked as if the entire population of Terminal City was gathered around what they had come to think of as the front gate. They were eerily silent, and Johan pushed his way through the massed bodies impatiently. They gave way, opening a path for the oncoming group. Johan fell to his knees beside the sheet-shrouded huddled form on the ground, reaching out a tentative hand, but not quite touching it. Alec, Max, and Rhys broke through into the space in the centre of the clustered transgenics, and froze. Rhys shot a stunned look at Alec, who's face looked carved of stone as he stepped forward and crouched beside Mel, placing his fingers against her throat. He lowered his head, in despair or relief, Rhys couldn't tell.
Alec heaved a sigh as he felt Me's pulse under his finger tips. Thready, but there. He brushed her hair away from her face, and lifted the edge of the sheet to look. His stomach clenched, and so did his fists. He lifted his eyes to the crowd, his gaze colliding with Zane's. The other transgenic looked as if he was about to throw up, and Alec frowned. He forced himself to assess Mel's injuries as he listed to Johan.
"Zane, Spot and I were just finishing our sweep through when we saw her here, just like this. We looked under the sheet, and we left Spot here with her and took off for headquarters." Johan's voice shook, and, looking at Mel, Alec could understand why.
The female transgenic was naked under the sheet, and there was almost no inch that was not purple with bruises. Her face was unrecognizable, but her barcode had been left untouched, presumably so that they would know for sure who they had. A moment later he was pushed aside as Lise arrived, eyes already bright with tears.
Johan helped place Mel on backboard Lise brought with her, then trotted alongside as the wounded transgenic was hustled into the main building, with Max carrying the end opposite to Lise. Rhys came to stand beside Alec, and Zane moved over to join them.
"Rhys." Alec's voice was hoarse, and he didn't look at either of the other men. "Finish gathering the people who need to leave, and manage the packing. Call Logan in half an hour and tell him we need the documents by midnight." He set his jaw, made an effort to continue. "Zane. We need these people matched and tattood before they leave. You have six hours." He set off purposefully for the main building without waiting for answers. Zane and Rhys stared after him.
"You know, I don't know much about this White character that seems to hate us so much," Zane commented, rubbing behind his ear. "But I have to say, right now, I can think of no one I would want less to be."
The crowd of transgenics shuffled, and as they began to disperse a cell phone began to ring. They stopped, and looked around. After a moment, Mole bent over and picked up a dark phone from the pavement, flipping it open and pressing it to his ear.
"Yeah?" he asked gruffly.
"Could I speak with 494, please?" There was no mistaking the oily voice on the other end of the phone. Mole almost bit his cigar in half gritting his teeth.
"No." He said. "He's busy." Rhys and Zane looked at him, moving closer to hear.
"All right." White sounded amused. "I have a proposition for him. For all of you, really."
"I got nothin I want to hear from you." Mole moved to hang up, but White's next words stopped him.
"I'm ready to deal."
Mole brought the phone back to his ear slowly. "What?"
"All I want is 452. You give me her, and this campaign is all over." White paused, and his voice hardened. "You don't, and I'll make what I did to your little friend look like a swedish massage. I'll call back to make arrangements." He hung up.
Rhys, Zane, and Mole stared at each other. Rhys reached out and gently took the phone from Mole. "I'll tell him," he said softly. "Later."
They split up and headed to take care of their assignments.
It was two hours before Rhys braved the medical rooms. He found Alec and Max sitting at Mel's bed side, facing each other across the transgenic's still body. Their faces were blank, expressionless as they stared at Mel, and Rhys was afraid for a moment, until he saw the blanket rise with her breathing. He pulled up a chair and sat down next to Alec.
"The parents we were able to match skin tones on are done," he said softly. "The six that don't match any of the mixes we already have are going to be set up in Seattle until we finish. Gia has decided to take the twins and leave too, just in case." Max and Alec nodded, still looking only at Mel. "We've set them up with the latest drug distribution, so they'll be able to evade the thermal sensors, and we're just waiting for Logan to come through with the paperwork. The six that are staying local have left already; we can get them the ident papers later."
"Good." Alec's voice sounded forced, and as Rhys looked a little closer he saw a muscle twitch in Alec's cheek. He recognized the signs. Alec was angry.
"There's more." Alec turned his head finally, and Rhys wanted to flinch at the heat in his eyes. "We've spoken with the parents, and we think we know the answer. Why the twins inherited the genes, but the others didn't. Why 656... Tinga's son inherited her capabilities."
Max and Alec both shifted, attention wholly on him. He leaned forward. "It's heat."
"Heat." Alec sounded confused. "Like hottubs?"
Rhys' lips twitched. "No. Like heat. Gia was in heat when the twins were conceived; she had been out in the field long enough that her shot had worn off. She went into heat before she made it back to Manticore." He paused, took a sip of the water bottle he'd brought with him. Max and Alec both looked riveted. "The others were all a product of the Manticore breeding program. They were all achieved in the... er... standard way, but of course none of these were heat related cause everyone's shots were up to date. We think that 656.. er.. Tinga was in heat when she conceived Case."
Max's eyes darkened. "So that bitch Renfro killed my sister trying to find out something that should have been staring her in the face."
"Well.. Manticore knew that heat didn't affect whether or not we were fertile, so it made sense to supress something that makes us so vulnerable." Alec said, eyes distant as he thought. "Is there any indication of whether the males pass on the characteristics the same way?"
Rhys shook his head. "No sample space," he said. "At least, none we know of."
"None you know of." Max repeated darkly. "We'll have to run tests to be sure."
Alec and Rhys exchanged looks. "Yes." Rhys said unhappily. "We'll ask for volunteers. Maybe one of the married couples would be willing to be test subjects and provide us a 'sample'."
Alec blew out his breath. "You'd better go ask," he told Rhys. "Cause I am not going to."
Rhys rose, looking grumpy. "Great. You know, I'm suddenly glad you won't be able to make use of my services for a long while." On his way out the door he paused. "Oh.. Alec? Can I talk to you a sec?"
Alec frowned, but followed him down the hallway into another room. "What?"
Rhys filled him in on the phone call, handing him the cell that White had used to call them.
"No fucking way." Alec's eyes were hot with rage. "We are not handing anyone over to that bastard."
"Of course not." Rhys clapped him on the shoulder. "But you should know, a lot of the crowd overheard. And right now, Max is not in the best odour around here. They might decide to act."
Alec stared at him, face tight, but slowly he nodded. "I hear you." he said. "We'll be careful."
"Good." Rhys rolled his shoulders to eliminate some of the tension and headed for the door. "You know," he threw back over his shoulder. "I'm beginning to wish I'd stayed in Toronto, with the nuns."
"Hello, Ames"
"So... how did my messages go over?"
"As expected. I think I'll be able to convince them to take the deal. We'll have to go around 494, though."
"Easy enough." *pause* "Make it happen."
"Fenest'ol, Ames"
Rhys watched them come, his skin throbbing with the power of his onrushing heat. The six of them were arrayed in a variety of enticing lingerie, and wore almost identical smiles of anticipation. Sister Beth reached him first, and nudged his shoulder, asking him to roll onto his stomach. He did so without demur, pillowing his head on his arms. An instant later the aroma of sandalwood struck his nostrils, and his body tightened in response to the seductive scent. He heard a chime of feminine laughter, then warm, oily hands began caressing his body, massaging the tension out of taut muscles. He closed his eyes.
The hands ranged across his entire body, coaxing deep groans from his throat as they rubbed against his increasingly sensitive skin. A tongue flicked against his ear and he jumped. Another mouth fastened against his flank, teeth nipping at the flesh there and he gasped. He opened his eyes just as a third set of lips met his in a deep kiss.
He laughed against Sister Mariana's lips, and rolled onto his back, bringing her with him. Sister Laura and Sister Jay took the opportunity to begin nibbling his chest, and Sister Nicola ran her hand up the inside of his thigh as she bit the skin over his hipbone. Her hand slid to tickle the soft skin at the crease of his leg, then moved on to hotter, more private things.
He felt a puff of breath against the tip of his hardness, and looked down to see Sister Daniela leaning over him, eyes fastened hotly on his face. She lowered her head, and as her mouth enveloped him.... He was awakened by the sound of a door slamming open with what had to be transgenic strength.
Rhys was out of bed and across the room in less than a heartbeat. He found himself on the other side of his door and racing down the hall with only the faintest idea of how he got there, and skidded to a halt outside Max and Alec's apartment, where the door was now hanging forlornly by one hinge. An instant later, Zane and Joshua were at his side. They all stared wide-eyed through the door, where Alec was calmly pulling a turtleneck over his head. He meticulously tucked it in and did up the button on his jeans before looking challengingly at the crowd in his doorway.
"No show here." he said, brushing past them as he headed out.
"Max left." Joshua huffed at him, touching his arm.
Alec patted Joshua's hand. "Yeah. But I know where to find her."
Alec reached the top of the Space Needle and paused before heading out, dreading the continuation of the discussion that had sent Max into flight. He took a deep breath and headed out onto the roof of the observation deck, stridign directly to where Max sat curled with her legs against her chest.
"You walked out in the middle of our discussion." he said evenly, breath frosting in the air. A warm thread of anger ran through his voice. Max remained silent. "It's time, Max. We can't let this slide. If you try and sweep this under the rug, the others are going to strike out on their own."
"That would be a mistake." Max told him hotly. "It's only going to take another couple of incidents to have the outside bomb us into smithereens! We can't afford a wholesale slaughter!"
"We're not talking about a slaugher, Max. We're talking about an example."
"A murder, Alec." She clutched her legs tighter. "Well, I won't be a party to murder."
When Alec spoke again, his voice was tight with rage. "You've been trying to run this like we're living in some kind of democracy. This isn't a democracy, it's a war. These people need to know you'll do more than just die for them, Max. They need to know you'll kill for them, too."
"Well, I won't." Max stated flatly.
"Then let me." Alec was almost pleading. "Max, listen to me. You. Can. Not. Let. This. Go." He paused, then continued with iron in his voice. "I will not let this go, Max. You try and sweep this away, and you do it without me."