Title: Catch me if you can.
Chapter 4: Cat, mouse and a lot of claw.
Author: Wordless_angel
Author email: wordless_angel @hotmail.com
Rating: PG
Spoilers: 411 on the DL; Cold Comfort; Blah Blah, Woof Woof; The Kidz are
Aiight; Hit a Sista Back; And Jesus Brought a Casserole; Designate This;
Proof of Purchase; Some Assembly Required
Disclaimer: None of this is mine. No offence is meant to the creators and
no money is being made from this work.
A/N I've always wondered what Jondy would say to Max about what happened to
Zack. Oh, and by the way, I'm trying something new with these chapters. I
need reviews. And, yet again, I have to thank Arazana.
"Have no illusions about free will. Once ruled, always ruled. "
Max couldn't believe it. After leaving Logan alone and searching for her sister, she never imagined it would be disappointing. But it was. She had found Jondy, but Jondy didn't want Max to find her.
Jondy wasn't like Max had expected. She had expected someone more like herself. Instead she found a small, dark haired, blue eyes girl, who looked like she couldn't harm a fly. But her eyes were cold, calculating and closed off, so they only thing you could see in them was your reflection. Her hair was long, reaching past her shoulders to mid-way down her back. It was dead straight. Jondy didn't keep it long to hid her barcode, for she had it removed every month. She didn't care how much it hurt; she just didn't want to have a barcode. She dressed simply, for comfort, and would never be caught dead in anything that wasn't black. She had a small tattoo on her shoulder blade. It was a tiger fighting a dragon. Zack had liked it but Max wouldn't. Tattoos would remind her of Manticore.
Jondy looked Max up and down. She knew that what Eva had said one night was true. Eva had warned her. "Max is dangerous, Jondy. She will wound all those close to her. Not intentionally, but she will. You, me, Zack, Tinga, Brin, Ben, all of us will hurt." Eva could always see those things in others. She had paid for knowing Max with her life and Jondy had almost paid with her freedom when Max fell in the ice. So far Eva had been right about all of them. Tinga, Ben and Eva were dead, Brin was changed and Zack, well, Zack was gone. They were all gone. When Zack had finally admitted where Max was, Jondy had wanted to see her. But after what happened to Zack, Jondy had stayed away. Not because she didn't love Max, but because she did.
Max wasn't like Jondy had expected. She had expected someone more like herself. Instead she found a gentle looking beauty, who looked like she fainted at the sight of blood. Her eyes were so full of emotion, no wonder Zack loved them. Her hair was dark, straight and sat just below her shoulders. Jondy knew that Max wouldn't have removed her barcode, because it came back. It would probably hurt too much for Max, anyway. Max dressed fashionably, in tight clothes. She obviously liked to look good and preferred darker colours.
"Hi." Max said. It sounded strange. She hadn't seen Jondy in years. She had expected a hugging session.
"Hi." Jondy replied, slowly circling her sister, like a cat circles her prey. She was watching Max, waiting for a sign that Max was still a soldier. When she saw Max's shoulders tense, Jondy grinned evilly.
"So, how've you been?" Max asked, awkwardly. Jondy was making her feel uncomfortable. Jondy stopped circling and shrugged.
"Hunted," Jondy answered casually. "You?"
"Fine." Jondy growled deep in her throat. Max might be fine but no one else was.
"Yeh, you would be." She answered angrily.
"What does that mean?"
"You're always fine. It's those around you that suffer."
"What!" Jondy's remark felt like a slap in the face.
"Hey, I'm just telling you like it is." Jondy's voice was hard and her eyes as closed off as ever.
"Like it is!"
"Yeh," Now Jondy was really angry. "You know what happed to all of the others."
"The others?" Max had started to shake. This wasn't her sister, her best friend.
"Ben, Brin, Tinga. All of them. There was never a problem until you saw them. We never lost one before you interfered. Zack was." Jondy paused. "Zack was fine before he saw you again. You and your stubbornness. He was always worrying about you. He paid for that, didn't he?" Jondy threw the words in Max's face.
"I don't want to talk about Zack."
"Tough! Why should this be easy on you! You've hurt so many people Max! We don't have a CO any more. We don't have a brother any more. You took that away. You took the others away to. Directly or indirectly, you destroyed them. Stop being so selfish and explain how you could do that to me!" Jondy snarled.
"I didn't ask him to kill himself!" Max yelled.
"No, but you knew he would! You knew he would do anything for you. And you used that, Max." Max didn't make a sound. "Then his memories come back, and you take them away again. What right did you have to do that?"
"He was going to kill my friend!"
"You should have let him!" Jondy knew she was being unreasonable but it didn't matter right now.
"Would you have let him murder your friends?"
"That's it. That's the problem. You don't seem to understand that we are superhuman, super freaks, wanted by the government! We're living on borrowed time. You don't make friends! You don't stay in one place! You move, you run from everything. Zack would never have even been in that situation if you had just followed your training."
"We're not still part of Manticore!"
"Yes aw are! And Manticore is still part of us, Max! So use it. Use what we learnt to stay safe. Nothing's free, Max. And if you want freedom you have to make sacrifices."
"I have."
"Not the kind I mean. Once you've seen me, what are you going to do? Go home to your boyfriend? Your friends? Who are you going to tell? Who's shoulder are you going to cry on, saying that I'm mean. You want to be normal, that's not possible. Being normal isn't a reality for us."
"Who says?" Jondy sighed.
"Manticore. That's all that matters."
"I won't let them rule my life."
"But they do. They always will. While any one of us is alive, Manticore controls that life."
"But that means we're never free." Again, Jondy sighed.
"We're not, not really. Sometimes I think the day we escaped, we waisted our time and our lives. You will always be a freak. What do you think your friends would say if they knew what you could do, what you are? They wouldn't still be your friends." Her voice was without malice. Max knew Jondy didn't mean it to sting, after all, Jondy was the same as her.
"That's not true. They except me."
"So you've told them. What happened to secrecy! You do realise that you put all of us in danger by telling people we exist." Max said nothing. "No, you didn't. Because you don't think about us, just about you!" Jondy calmed down. "This isn't a game, Max. It's a war." Her voice was quiet and her eyes blank again.
"It doesn't have to be." Max growled childishly. Jondy laughed. Her laugh was hard and showed more teeth than mirth. "I don't want it to be."
"What you want doesn't count, Max. It never has. What matters is that we are soldiers."
"You sound like Zack." Jondy's eyes flashed again.
"Well, maybe you should have listened to him. He was right. You can hide from you past, you can try to block it out and you can even fight it. But in the end, Maxie, we always end up running from it. Nothing can change that. You just have to learn to run fast enough to avoid it."
"I'm tired of running." This time Jondy's smile was sad. She remembered Zack saying the same thing.
"Do you every get tired of being a good solider, Zack?" there was no resentment in her voice. She sounded serious. She sounded old. Old and tired. He glanced at her.
"Of course not. I am a solider and."
"Don't lie to me Zack." Zack sighed.
"I'm nothing but tired. I'm tired of running, of looking over my shoulder to see if someone's there. I'm tired of being alone. I'm tired of having to look out for everyone and I'm tired of fighting."
"We all get tired Max. Even the best of us. You just have to get over it."
"Easy as that, huh."
"It's never going to be easy. And it's never going to be painless." Jondy looked tired. "Don't get into trouble. I can't risk the others by helping you to often." She turned to leave
"You're going?" That was it! Jondy was going to jut get up and leave. She was exactly like Zack! Jondy turned back to face her and finally Max understood. Emotion had started to show in Jondy's eyes. They were smothering. Love, hate, anger, frustration, loss, sadness and the smallest particle of fear.
"I have to go, Max. Syl needs bailing out of prison again." Jondy smirked. She knew her big sisters fetish for dangerous weapons. Max said nothing. Jondy had to go. She understood that. She didn't like it, but she understood. Jondy was looking after the others. She had taken Zack away, and Jondy was making it up.
"Love you." Max whispered.
Max turned from her sister, knowing she wouldn't see her again. Jondy was right, Zack had been right, Eva had been right, she was dangerous. She wouldn't leave Logan, the others and her normal life, even for her brothers and sisters and she couldn't except that other things Jondy had said. But she loved her family and because she did, she was going to walk away. You can't have everything, and Max had chosen. Max also understood that Jondy loved her too much to walk away, despite her toughness, and she had made it easier for sister.
"Love you to, Maxie." Jondy answered softly. Max smiled sadly and kept walking.
"Have no illusions about free will. Once ruled, always ruled. "
Max couldn't believe it. After leaving Logan alone and searching for her sister, she never imagined it would be disappointing. But it was. She had found Jondy, but Jondy didn't want Max to find her.
Jondy wasn't like Max had expected. She had expected someone more like herself. Instead she found a small, dark haired, blue eyes girl, who looked like she couldn't harm a fly. But her eyes were cold, calculating and closed off, so they only thing you could see in them was your reflection. Her hair was long, reaching past her shoulders to mid-way down her back. It was dead straight. Jondy didn't keep it long to hid her barcode, for she had it removed every month. She didn't care how much it hurt; she just didn't want to have a barcode. She dressed simply, for comfort, and would never be caught dead in anything that wasn't black. She had a small tattoo on her shoulder blade. It was a tiger fighting a dragon. Zack had liked it but Max wouldn't. Tattoos would remind her of Manticore.
Jondy looked Max up and down. She knew that what Eva had said one night was true. Eva had warned her. "Max is dangerous, Jondy. She will wound all those close to her. Not intentionally, but she will. You, me, Zack, Tinga, Brin, Ben, all of us will hurt." Eva could always see those things in others. She had paid for knowing Max with her life and Jondy had almost paid with her freedom when Max fell in the ice. So far Eva had been right about all of them. Tinga, Ben and Eva were dead, Brin was changed and Zack, well, Zack was gone. They were all gone. When Zack had finally admitted where Max was, Jondy had wanted to see her. But after what happened to Zack, Jondy had stayed away. Not because she didn't love Max, but because she did.
Max wasn't like Jondy had expected. She had expected someone more like herself. Instead she found a gentle looking beauty, who looked like she fainted at the sight of blood. Her eyes were so full of emotion, no wonder Zack loved them. Her hair was dark, straight and sat just below her shoulders. Jondy knew that Max wouldn't have removed her barcode, because it came back. It would probably hurt too much for Max, anyway. Max dressed fashionably, in tight clothes. She obviously liked to look good and preferred darker colours.
"Hi." Max said. It sounded strange. She hadn't seen Jondy in years. She had expected a hugging session.
"Hi." Jondy replied, slowly circling her sister, like a cat circles her prey. She was watching Max, waiting for a sign that Max was still a soldier. When she saw Max's shoulders tense, Jondy grinned evilly.
"So, how've you been?" Max asked, awkwardly. Jondy was making her feel uncomfortable. Jondy stopped circling and shrugged.
"Hunted," Jondy answered casually. "You?"
"Fine." Jondy growled deep in her throat. Max might be fine but no one else was.
"Yeh, you would be." She answered angrily.
"What does that mean?"
"You're always fine. It's those around you that suffer."
"What!" Jondy's remark felt like a slap in the face.
"Hey, I'm just telling you like it is." Jondy's voice was hard and her eyes as closed off as ever.
"Like it is!"
"Yeh," Now Jondy was really angry. "You know what happed to all of the others."
"The others?" Max had started to shake. This wasn't her sister, her best friend.
"Ben, Brin, Tinga. All of them. There was never a problem until you saw them. We never lost one before you interfered. Zack was." Jondy paused. "Zack was fine before he saw you again. You and your stubbornness. He was always worrying about you. He paid for that, didn't he?" Jondy threw the words in Max's face.
"I don't want to talk about Zack."
"Tough! Why should this be easy on you! You've hurt so many people Max! We don't have a CO any more. We don't have a brother any more. You took that away. You took the others away to. Directly or indirectly, you destroyed them. Stop being so selfish and explain how you could do that to me!" Jondy snarled.
"I didn't ask him to kill himself!" Max yelled.
"No, but you knew he would! You knew he would do anything for you. And you used that, Max." Max didn't make a sound. "Then his memories come back, and you take them away again. What right did you have to do that?"
"He was going to kill my friend!"
"You should have let him!" Jondy knew she was being unreasonable but it didn't matter right now.
"Would you have let him murder your friends?"
"That's it. That's the problem. You don't seem to understand that we are superhuman, super freaks, wanted by the government! We're living on borrowed time. You don't make friends! You don't stay in one place! You move, you run from everything. Zack would never have even been in that situation if you had just followed your training."
"We're not still part of Manticore!"
"Yes aw are! And Manticore is still part of us, Max! So use it. Use what we learnt to stay safe. Nothing's free, Max. And if you want freedom you have to make sacrifices."
"I have."
"Not the kind I mean. Once you've seen me, what are you going to do? Go home to your boyfriend? Your friends? Who are you going to tell? Who's shoulder are you going to cry on, saying that I'm mean. You want to be normal, that's not possible. Being normal isn't a reality for us."
"Who says?" Jondy sighed.
"Manticore. That's all that matters."
"I won't let them rule my life."
"But they do. They always will. While any one of us is alive, Manticore controls that life."
"But that means we're never free." Again, Jondy sighed.
"We're not, not really. Sometimes I think the day we escaped, we waisted our time and our lives. You will always be a freak. What do you think your friends would say if they knew what you could do, what you are? They wouldn't still be your friends." Her voice was without malice. Max knew Jondy didn't mean it to sting, after all, Jondy was the same as her.
"That's not true. They except me."
"So you've told them. What happened to secrecy! You do realise that you put all of us in danger by telling people we exist." Max said nothing. "No, you didn't. Because you don't think about us, just about you!" Jondy calmed down. "This isn't a game, Max. It's a war." Her voice was quiet and her eyes blank again.
"It doesn't have to be." Max growled childishly. Jondy laughed. Her laugh was hard and showed more teeth than mirth. "I don't want it to be."
"What you want doesn't count, Max. It never has. What matters is that we are soldiers."
"You sound like Zack." Jondy's eyes flashed again.
"Well, maybe you should have listened to him. He was right. You can hide from you past, you can try to block it out and you can even fight it. But in the end, Maxie, we always end up running from it. Nothing can change that. You just have to learn to run fast enough to avoid it."
"I'm tired of running." This time Jondy's smile was sad. She remembered Zack saying the same thing.
"Do you every get tired of being a good solider, Zack?" there was no resentment in her voice. She sounded serious. She sounded old. Old and tired. He glanced at her.
"Of course not. I am a solider and."
"Don't lie to me Zack." Zack sighed.
"I'm nothing but tired. I'm tired of running, of looking over my shoulder to see if someone's there. I'm tired of being alone. I'm tired of having to look out for everyone and I'm tired of fighting."
"We all get tired Max. Even the best of us. You just have to get over it."
"Easy as that, huh."
"It's never going to be easy. And it's never going to be painless." Jondy looked tired. "Don't get into trouble. I can't risk the others by helping you to often." She turned to leave
"You're going?" That was it! Jondy was going to jut get up and leave. She was exactly like Zack! Jondy turned back to face her and finally Max understood. Emotion had started to show in Jondy's eyes. They were smothering. Love, hate, anger, frustration, loss, sadness and the smallest particle of fear.
"I have to go, Max. Syl needs bailing out of prison again." Jondy smirked. She knew her big sisters fetish for dangerous weapons. Max said nothing. Jondy had to go. She understood that. She didn't like it, but she understood. Jondy was looking after the others. She had taken Zack away, and Jondy was making it up.
"Love you." Max whispered.
Max turned from her sister, knowing she wouldn't see her again. Jondy was right, Zack had been right, Eva had been right, she was dangerous. She wouldn't leave Logan, the others and her normal life, even for her brothers and sisters and she couldn't except that other things Jondy had said. But she loved her family and because she did, she was going to walk away. You can't have everything, and Max had chosen. Max also understood that Jondy loved her too much to walk away, despite her toughness, and she had made it easier for sister.
"Love you to, Maxie." Jondy answered softly. Max smiled sadly and kept walking.