Title: Three Chimeras

Author: Nefertiry

E-mail: scorpy282003@yahoo.com

Rating: PG, maybe PG-13

Pairing: M/L and J/A

Summary: Max lost one of her sisters 13 years ago. Now she's back in her life. She might have answers to many questions, but is she a friend or foe? Post 'Freak Nation'

Disclaimer: definitely not mine. The characters belong to James Cameron and FOX. But Jessica is ABSOLUTELY mine. I don't make any money using these characters.

Timeline: In the "Prologue", it's during and after "Designate This". In the next chapters – after "Freak Nation".

A/N: Warning: this story is COMPLETELY result of my imagination. Any similarity to other authors' plots, characters, or events is PURELY COINCIDENTIAL AND ABSOLUTELY UNINTENTIONAL.

Secrets of Manticore 3

Sandeman's journal

Part 1

"WHO WAS WRONG AND WHAT DID YOU JUST SAY?" asked Alec, as he comprehended Jessica's words. He stared at her in disbelief.

"Oops … busted", murmured confused Jessica. "Alec, I need to make a phone call." She jumped to her feet and ran downstairs.

Alec shook his head 'Women…', and then he stood up, took the laptop and the book, and went downstairs too.

In the living room, Jessica took her cell phone, dialed Sandeman's number, but then changed her mind and switched off the phone. When Alec entered the room, he found Jessica sitting on the couch, holding her phone and staring at it.

"Jess, you're staring at your phone as if you've never seen it before", noted Alec, sitting next to her and placing the laptop and the book on the coffee table.

"What? Ah", Jessica 'returned to Earth' and put the phone in the pocket of her jacket, which she then took off and threw on the chair.

"Jess, what's the deal with this book and these 'Chosen Ones'?" asked her Alec.

"I don't know yet. Maybe the answers will be in this book." She grabbed the book from the table and opened it.

Alec understood that he wouldn't get the answer to his question, took the remote control and switched on the TV. "Boring, boring, more boring", he said, flipping through the channels. "I wonder what Max and Logan are doing now", he murmured, not addressing anybody. It was more a rhetorical question.

"Playing chess", said Jessica, putting aside the book and turning to Alec. "What do YOU think?"

"Knowing Logan and their history, I don't know." Alec switched off the TV and turned to face curious Jessica.

"What is that supposed to mean?" she asked.

"Well, they've known each other for two years but when they finally admitted their feeling to themselves it turned out that Max had her virus and her only touch could kill Logan."

"Are you serious? Are you saying they've never had sex?" Jessica's eyes widened.

"Yep. Actually, they got pretty close once, but it didn't work out", explained Alec. "Max found some doctor who managed to block her virus for 24 hours. Unfortunately, we had to catch one of Manticore freaks, so instead of a romantic night with Logan, Max had a 'romantic' walk in the sewers with me.'

Jessica laughed. "I guess right now they are having wild sex while we're discussing here their personal lives."

"Well, we could discuss OUR personal lives", suggested Alec, leaning close to Jessica. "Do you remember my wish?"

"What wish? You didn't win!" Jessica smiled. Alec's face was inches away from hers but she didn't mind at all.

"I have a feeling that you had something to do with that 'lights gone' and that slight tilt of the pool table." He was drowning in the darkness of her eyes. "And that lap dance in the strip club. I recognized your voice when you spoke to me."

"Do you always go to strip clubs on Friday nights?" teased him Jessica.

"No, only when YOU dance." Alec accepted the game.

"Ha, ha! Very funny. That was a one-time-exclusive dance. It's never gonna happen again", chuckled Jessica, looking him in the eyes.

"Your kiss was also one-time-exclusive?" Alec raised his eyebrow.

"You could say that. I mean, I'll never use that shitty lipstick again", she laughed, remembering the awful taste of the lipstick.

Alec moved so close to her that their lips almost touched. "Jessica, when you look at me, who do you see? Me or Ben?" whispered Alec and immediately realized his mistake. The magic between them was gone. Her smile faded and she turned away. Alec sighed, stood up, and went to the kitchen. When he returned, he found her asleep. He took the blanket, covered her, and noticing the book, decided to read it. Sitting comfortably in the armchair, he opened the book, read a couple of pages, and then fell asleep.

                                                                       *          *          *          *

Alec woke up early in the morning. He looked at his watch: 7.43. He still had time to go to his place, take a shower and go to work. Alec stood up, stretched his muscles, and came up to the couch. "Jess, I need to go", he said quietly, touching her shoulder.

"Ok", murmured Jessica, not opening her eyes.

"I need my bike."

"Uh huh ", was her response.

'It's in your car. Where are the keys?"

"In my jacket", yawned Jessica and turned on the other side.

Alec found the jacket, took the keys ad left.

                                                                                  *          *          *          *

Manticore. Familiar long dark corridors. She's trying to find a way out. Suddenly she sees a door and goes to it. The door is open and she enters it. She's on the roof. It's night, clear starry sky and full moon. She sees someone standing on the edge and approaches him. "Hey?"

He turns. "Ben…" she whispers.

"Jessica." Ben smiles. Jessica throws her arms around his neck and hugs him. "I've missed you so much." She doesn't notice tears running down her cheeks, she's overwhelmed with happiness of being in his arms. "Ben, how can this be? You're dead", she mutters, looking at him.

"Yes, I'm dead, but you're alive. Let me go. Move on with your life." Ben gently kisses her, feeling tears on her lips and disappears.

"Ben…"

                                                                                  *          *          *          *         

Alec opened the door with his key. He heard voices in the living room and went there. It was the TV.

'I have to admit that without the clones the victory would be incomplete.'

'Victory? Victory, you say? Master Obi Wan, not victory. The shroud of the dark side has fallen. Began the clonic war has.'

Alec looked at the screen: huge starships and thousands of soldiers, boarding them, a group of people observing the process with concerned faces. He smiled and turned to Jessica. She was sitting on the couch, holding the book tightly. Her eyes were closed and face wet with tears. He sat down on the couch and touched her face. "Jess, Jessica…"

She opened her eyes and looked at him. "You're here…"

"Of course, I'm here. I promised I'd be back in the evening", said Alec. "Why were you crying?"

She shook her head. "I had a dream. A weird dream, actually." Then she looked at the screen. "Oh, crap. I missed half of the movie.'

"Was that 'Star Wars'?" asked Alec, reading the credits.

"Yep. 'Episode II. Attack of the Clones'. My favorite." She finally shook off the remains of her dream and realized who was with her. "Where are my car keys?"

"Here they are." Aleñ took them from the pocket and handed the keys to Jessica. "Any word from Max?"

Jessica stood up and went to the TV. "Nope. I think they lost track of time", she said, taking the DVD from the DVD-Drive and disconnecting the laptop from the TV.

"Who lost track of time?" Jessica heard Max' cheery voice from behind her back and turned to her.

"You look tired and so DISGUSTINGLY satisfied", noted Alec, seeing the happy couple in the doorway.

"Oh, yeah, SATISFIED is the right word." Max was glowing. "Guys, let's go to Crash, I want to celebrate."

"Good idea", said Alec and looked at Jessica. She hesitated for the moment. "Ah, what's the heck! Let's go."

They left the house and went to their cars. When Jessica was locking the house, Alec asked her quietly. "When are you gonna tell Max about the book?"

"Later."

Crash

As it was usual on Fridays, the club was full of people. Logan bought a pitcher of beer and they found a free table.

"So, guys, how's my apartment? I mean, I hope you didn't break my bed?" asked Jessica, smiling, but when Max and Logan exchanged guilty glances, frowned. "You broke my bed…"

Logan laughed, seeing Jessica's upset face. "Jess, don't be angry, but …um, Max emptied your fridge. And we used the guest room."

"Phew! I can live with the empty fridge", sighed Jessica with relief.

"So, what did YOU do when we were busy?" asked Max, looking at Alec.

"Well, we found the attic and some interesting stuff", answered Alec, drinking his beer.

"What stuff?" wondered Logan. Jessica stood up abruptly. "I need something stronger than beer", she said and went to the bar.

"What's her problem?" asked Logan, watching Jessica order the drink.

"I'll be right back." Max also stood up and went to Jessica.

When Max left, Logan asked: "Did Jessica find anything new in the database?"

"She found out that when she met Ben in Chicago, he had already killed two people. And I found out, that she wrote the plan of my mission. Well, y'know, when I had to kill Berrisford", answered Alec.

"Hi, guys." They heard Asha's voice.

"Asha, where have you been?" smiled Alec at her. She sat next to him and put her hands around his neck. "I've been in Mexico for 5 months." Then she whispered in his ear. "I've been thinking a lot about you. Despite of what you said to me that I shouldn't get involved with you, I WANT to be with you. I know that you want me too. What do you think?" she smiled.

Alec hesitated. He liked Asha, but now with Jessica in his life…on second thought, Jess was still obviously in love with Ben and Asha was simple and available. "Sure, why not", he answered.

Asha kissed him.

*          *          *

Jessica was sitting at the bar, drinking her drink and thinking when Max approached.

"Jess, what is it?" she asked, sitting down next to her sister.

Jessica turned to Max. "I miss Ben, even though he was a serial killer." Jessica named things as there were. "Yesterday I read his personal file and it turned out that when we met, he had already killed 2 people." Jessica sighed and continued. "Remember, I told about that mission in Chicago?" Max nodded. "So, that mission was to investigate two murders. The victims had barcodes on their necks and their teeth had been pulled out. It's so ironic. I slept with the killer."

"Jess, it's all in the past. Ben is dead, you're alive. Let him go, move on with your live." Max put her hand on Jessica's shoulder.

Jessica laughed bitterly. "Funny thing. Today I had this dream. I was back at Manticore. I met Ben and he kissed me and told exactly the same words. And you know what? I decided to let him go and move on with my life. Starting from this moment, I'm moving on with my life." Jessica smiled and turned to look at the person because of whom she was moving on. The smile froze on her face when she saw that Alec was kissing some blonde girl. "Who's that blonde chick with Alec?"

"What chick?" Max also turned to look at that 'chick'. "Ah, it's Asha. She has a crush on Logan, but she has no chance with him."

"Yeah, right. Looks like she decided to make a move on Alec", noted Jessica, sitting comfortably on the stool so that she could see everything.

Max whistled. "Jess, are you jealous?"

"Let's go to them." With these words, Jessica stood up and went to their table. Max followed her.

When they approached the table, Asha and Alec were kissing. Logan drank his beer, trying not to look at the kissing couple. Max sat on Logan's lap, showing whom this man belonged to, and glanced at Jessica, who stood near the table.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked in a cold voice. Asha broke the kiss and turned to face Jessica. "I'm Asha. Alec's girlfriend. And you are…"

Jessica ignored Asha and addressed Alec. "Really?" her face was pale and expressionless.

"Really", nodded Alec. Max and Logan stared at him in disbelief.

Jessica turned around and went to the exit.

"Alec, are you nuts?" hissed Max.

"Look, Max, she's not over Ben. She still thinks about him", answered Alec, trying not to think about the look of pain on Jessica's face.

"Not anymore", sighed Max. "Not anymore…"

Alec raised his eyebrow. "What???"

"Yep. She finally accepted his death and decided to move on with her life", nodded Max.

Alec looked at Asha, who stared at him not understanding, what he and Max were talking about, removed her hand from his neck and said. "I'm sorry, Asha. You're a nice girl, but…." He stood up and ran to the door to get Jessica back. When he exited the bar, he saw only red taillights of Jessica's BMW that was turning round the corner. Alec returned to the bar. Asha was gone, only Max and Logan sat at their table.

"She's gone", said Alec.

"Where would she go?" asked Max.

"Well, I have the keys to her apartment and she has the keys to Sandeman's house", supposed Logan. Max stood up. "Let's go."

*          *          *          *

Jessica drove her BMW automatically. Tears chocked her, but she tried hard not to cry.

She pulled over near Sandeman's house. She opened the door, went to the living room to get her stuff, the laptop and Sandeman's book. Jessica heard the sound of the car that had stopped near the house.

"Jess, where are you?" shouted Max, coming in. Alec and Logan followed her.

Max found Jessica in the living room, putting her things in the bag. "Jess, wait. Talk to me." Max tried to get Jessica's attention, but her sister ignored her. Jessica noticed Logan. "Logan, the keys, please." He gave her the keys and she handed him his. "Oh, yeah, one more thing. Can I take these photographs with me?" Logan nodded and she put the pictures in her bag. When she was leaving the living room, she bumped into Alec, who stood in the doorway.

"Jess, don't leave, I need to talk to you", he said, but she didn't even look at him. She left the house.

"Alec, she's hurt, very hurt", said Max to Alec who still stood in the doorway. He didn't say anything.

"Why would she need the pictures with Max's signs, Alec?" asked Logan.

"She saw them yesterday and then she called someone. After that we went to the attic and found a book with a really weird prophecy, if that was a prophecy", replied Alec.

"We should go to her", suggested Max.

"I don't think she wants to see me", said Alec quietly.

"She'll have to. Alec, work things out between you two", said Logan and tossed the car keys in his hand. "Get into the car."

                                               *                      *                      *                      *

Jessica's apartment

Jessica entered her apartment, switched on the light and went to the kitchen. She opened the fridge. Logan hadn't lied – IT was empty. She sighed, closed the fridge, and went to the living room. Jessica unpacked her bag, put the laptop, the book, and the pictures on the table, and went to the bathroom, hoping to have a nice hot bubble bath that would help her relax and forget about everything and everyone, especially, one person. Unfortunately, her plans about a hot and relaxing bath failed. Someone knocked on the door.

Jessica had no doubts concerning who had knocked on the door. She opened it and there they stood – Max, Logan with big brown bags and grim Alec.

"We come in peace and bring you gifts." Max tried to sound cheerful.

Jessica shrugged. "Come in." She took the bags and carried them to the kitchen. Max went with her.

"Jess, are you Ok?" asked Max, helping her unpack the bags and placing the food into the fridge.

"I'm tired, not physically, emotionally", said Jessica quietly. "Why are you here?"

"Alec said something about the book you found in Sandeman's house and some prophecy", explained Max.

"Let's go to the living room", said Jessica and the girls went to the living room.

In the living room Jessica sat on the swivel chair near the table so that she would have easy access to her computer, Max sat on the couch between Logan and Alec.

Jessica started. "I can read the runes that appeared on your, Max, skin three months ago."

"How?" interrupted her Logan. "The language is very ancient. I barely translated some of them."

"I…um, well, Sandeman taught me how to read and translate the Minoan language. I work for Sandeman, he sent me here to protect Max. Last September he told me to go back to the States, to Manticore. Max, he knew that you were there and I had to be with you when the time comes."

"What time?" asked bewildered Max.

"The time when the letters appear on your skin and I would read and translate them. But you escaped and I had an unexpected job in New York. I finished it two months ago and then came to Seattle, but it was too late. The letters had already appeared and disappeared", continued Jessica.

"What does this mean?" asked intrigued Logan.

"It means that I missed the opportunity to read them, but luckily you took the pictures."

"I hope they won't appear again?" asked Max, who didn't like being like a message board.

"Probably", answered Jessica.

"What about the prophecy you found in Sandeman's book?" wondered Logan.

"Yeah, the prophecy. When I read Lydecker's letter I couldn't understand the part about 'fulfilling my destiny', so I called Sandeman and asked him about that. He said that I was one of 'Three Chimeras'. The other two wereX5-452 and X5-493. When I explained to him that 493 had been dead for 2 years he told me to go to his house, get to the attic, take this book and read it." Jessica pointed at the book in black leather cover and with Manticore logo on it. "I read the part about these Chimeras. It said. 'As the Great Evil comes to this world, three Chosen Ones, Three Chimeras will stop it. The First Chimera, born on the 28th day of the second month of the last year of the second millennium, will be able to see it. The second Chimera, born on the 28th day of the sixth month of the last year of the second millennium, will be able to defeat it. The Third Chimera, born on the 28th day of the tenth month of the last year of the second millennium, will deliver the message.' I checked the dates of birth. Max was born on 06.28.2000, I was born on 10.28.2000. Although Sandeman told me that Ben was the Chosen One, his date of birth didn't match. It was 02.29.2000." Jessica stopped to catch her breath.

"So, Jess, who's the third?" Max was very intrigued.

"Alec", said quietly Jessica and finally looked at Alec, who hadn't said a single word since he came. "His date of birth matched, 02.28.2000."

"I need some air." Alec stood up and went to the balcony.

"What's his problem?" asked Jessica.

"Maybe the idea of being a Chosen One doesn't fit his plans of life", supposed Logan.

"He's known about that since last night", noted Jessica. "So, what's next?"

"What do you mean?" asked Max, not understanding Jessica's change of subject.

"I mean you and Logan. You're together. What are you gonna do? You've wasted 2 years of your life walking around each other. Don't waste your time anymore", said Jessica.

"Well", Logan hugged Max and smiled at her, "maybe I'll ask her to live with me."

"Where? In that old house? No offence, Logan, but the place is a half-wreck", Jessica took the book from the table.

"I'm thinking about returning to my penthouse. Although White's people trashed it, the place can be repaired. Max, what do you think?"

Max smiled. "I don't know, I'll think about that."

Alec returned to the living room and sat on the couch near Max. He was silent and gloomy.

"Ok, back to the book. I read it and it turned out to be Sandeman's journal. There's a lot of interesting stuff here and I analyzed the information. Here it is - for starters, Sandeman was one of the Familiars. He was a scientist, a geneticist. Sandeman didn't like the idea of selective breeding used by the Familiars, y'know, killing 2 children and keeping the third. He experimented with splicing genes by adding DNA of some animals to the human DNA. He wanted to create a superhuman, possessing the best features of animals and he started his experiments by mixing some canine DNA with his and his wife's DNA. Unfortunately, his first experiment wasn't completely successful. Though the child was born alive and healthy, his face wasn't human. Well, not exactly human." Jessica made a pause.

"You mean Joshua is his first-born?" asked Logan.

"Yes, and according to the rules of the cult, Sandeman HAD to kill his first-born, but he refused to. He was a rather influential person in the Conclave and wasn't punished for his 'rebellion'. His second son, CJ, was conceived in a natural way, but again Sandeman refused to kill his child.

He continued his experiments here, in Seattle. Numerous experiments with feline, canine, shark and other animals' DNA finally became successful. He named his project 'Manticore', but it needed a very substantial financial support. When people at DOD realized the potential of his work, they offered the deal – Sandeman would create a super soldier and for that his work will be generously financed. Accepting the deal, Sandeman pursued his own goal – creating a super human who would destroy the cult. Somehow, he knew that in the future the cult would become a serious threat to the mankind. Oh, I forgot to mention that his third son, Ames, was strong, healthy and a perfect candidate to become a true member of the cult."

"How would he know that the cult would become a threat?" asked Logan, listening to Jessica's story very carefully.

"Ten years before his first experiment with DNA, Sandeman visited a small French town where he bought a book in the antiquities shop. That was the book of Nostradamus's prophecies. He wrote it not long before his death and those prophecies had never been studied and translated. Sandeman read it and one of the prophecies caught his attention. It was about some dangerous force growing in the world and that it would gain its full strength in the 21st century. "

"Jess. How do WE fit into this prophecy?" Finally spoke Alec.

"Huh, I don't know HOW exactly Sandeman figured out that the 'dangerous force' was the Familiars, but the prophecy scared the shit out of him. When he read the part about the Chimeras, he had a plan. He decided to create those Chimeras that would fit the prophecy. That's why he began all his work with DNA. When Sandeman already worked for DOD, he finally managed to create the X5 series that looked completely like humans. Also at that time, he met Lydecker who asked him for a favor. Lydecker's wife had been murdered in 1995, but he kept her DNA and wanted Sandeman to create him a child, a daughter who would look exactly like his late wife. Sandeman agreed but on one condition – in the future the daughter would work for him. He planned ME to be one of those Chimeras."

"What about me and Alec?" asked Max.

"Well, it's complicated why Alec turned out to be the Chosen One, not Ben. I need to check out the database, something looks messed up. As for you, Max, Sandeman planned you as a bait", answered Jessica.

"A BAIT? Great, now I am a bait!" exclaimed Max.

"Yeah. He kept telling everyone that you would be the ONE who would save the world from the Familiars, blah, blah, blah, yada, yada. The problem was that people in the Conclave also knew about the prophecy, although they misinterpreted it, they knew about only one Chosen One. So, Sandeman wanted to make sure that nobody would ever find out about the other two chosen Ones and encoded FALSE message in Max's DNA. The message was in Minoan, the language that the Familiars of the higher rank could understand. Every link of her DNA had information so that HER DNA would be different from any other person's or transgenic's DNA. That would catch their attention if they managed to test her DNA."

"Wow, Jess, how did the Conclave misinterpret the prophecy? It's not like they could confuse 'three' and 'one'", interrupted her Max.

Jessica smiled. "They read a FALSE prophecy. They read: when the Great Evil (a. k. a. the Familiars) comes into the world, the Chosen One, the Chimera will face it and will be able to defeat it."

"Cool", whispered Logan. "How did he feed them the fake prophecy?"

"It was simple. He switched the pages of the book. Instead of the genuine page with the genuine prophecy, people in the Conclave read the fake one written on the fake page. Sandeman brought the book to the Conclave, making them believe that he was a loyal and trustworthy member", replied Jessica.

"Now I understand what C.J. mumbled when White read the letters on my skin. He said 'She's the one he used to talk about. She's the only chance I've got. You're it! Time's running out. It's coming'", said Max.

"Jess, something seems wrong. When we were at the attic and you said 'oh, boy, we're not screwed up. Sandeman was wrong'", noted Alec. "You knew about it, didn't you?"

Jessica shook her head. "No, I didn't. Sandeman explained about the Chosen Ones only last night. Well, actually, he told me about them on Saturday, but I didn't understand much. And when you hear that there are three Chosen Ones, that are chosen to do something important, and one of those chosen ones is dead that means that the other 2 won't do what they are supposed to do, you understand that you're screwed and life sucks", tried to explain Jessica.

"My brains are melting from the information overload", said Logan, rubbing his temples and standing up. "What if we call it for today and continue tomorrow?"

"Yeah, frankly speaking, I also need a break", smiled Jessica wearily. But then she decided to figure out the mix-up with the dates.

"Jess, we'll be back tomorrow." Max rose to her feet.

"Oh, can't wait!" responded Jessica.

Max and Logan went to the hall, Alec followed them. Max stopped him and said quietly. "Work things out between you and Jessica."

When they left, Alec went to the living room, where Jessica was sitting at the table and working with the database.

"Alec, why are you still here?" asked Jessica not even looking at him.

"I need to talk to you." He stood behind her.

"About what?" Her attention was fully concentrated on the computer screen.

"About what happened today."

"And what happened today?"

Alec got tired of this 'meaningless exchange of meaningless phrases' and turned her chair so that she would face him. "A HUGE MISUNDERSTANDING HAPPENED TODAY", said Alec distinctly, looking in her eyes.

"Do you call 'Asha kissing you and saying that she's your girlfriend' a 'huge misunderstanding'?" exploded Jessica, jumping to her feet.

"At least she doesn't see her dead boyfriend when she looks at me", retorted Alec, raising his voice.

"For the record, I never saw Ben when I looked at you. Got it?" Her voice was brimming with anger. "Ben wasn't like you."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means that he was different. His eyes were different, full of pain. He was always tense, as if expecting something to happen", said Jessica, calming down a little. "Ben relaxed only when he was with me, well, y'know what I mean", her voice cracked.

"Jess, Asha's not my girlfriend and she's never been one. I don't know why I said that. I guess I wanted to make you…"

"Jealous?" finished Jessica. "Well, congratulations, it worked!"

"What?" asked Alec, not believing in what he'd just heard.

"Do you have hearing problems? I said 'It worked'", repeated Jessica.

A wide smile appeared on Alec's face. "I heard it the first time, but wanted you to repeat …"

"You…" Jessica punched him in the chest. He grabbed her waist and, falling down, took her with him. She landed on top of him. "I hate you", she hissed.

"No, you like me. You want me", teased her Alec, pulling her close to him.

Jessica touched his lips. "Oh, yeah. I definitely like you and …" She stopped. "Either you're carrying a gun with you, or…" she didn't finish the phrase.

Alec laughed. "Or…."

"Wow!" her eyes widened and she looked at him more intently. "I can feel that."

Suddenly Alec frowned. "Jess, get off me." When she stood up, he jumped to his feet, came up to the table, and grabbed the book. His fingers gently touched the cover. Jessica raised an eyebrow, but didn't say anything.

"Jess, there's something under the leather cover", said Alec, handing the book to Jessica. She took it and touched the cover.

"How did you know?" she asked.

"When you fell asleep last night I took the book. I wanted to read it for a while. When I touched the cover, I felt something but didn't pay much attention", explained Alec, seeing Jessica's bewildered face.
She went to the kitchen, took a sharp knife and returned to the living room. "Let's play surgeon", with these words she carefully cut the leather. When she removed it, she saw a very-old-looking page. "Is that what I think it is?" whispered Jessica, looking at Alec.

"Probably." Alec touched the page. It was laminated. "Either Sandeman knew that you would read the book and would find the page, or people in I-don't-know-what-century knew how to laminate paper."

Jessica whistled. "He is an incredibly smart son of a bitch!" She was so anxious to start reading the page that she forgot that some minutes before she was ready to make love to Alec, but he hadn't forgotten. He put his arms around her and said gently. "Jess, enough. You'll read it tomorrow, the page won't go anywhere. You need to relax."

"What do you have in mind?" she asked playfully.

Alec took her face in his hands and kissed first gently, but then more and more passionately. She felt desire filling her from head to toe. His eyes darkened from almost unbearable desire.

"Let's go check out my bed", she whispered and led him to the bedroom.

*          *          *          *         

They fell asleep when the sun was about to rise. Even they, strong transgenics, were tired. Neither Alec, nor Jessica had ever felt anything remotely close to what they had that night. Her body responded eagerly to Alec's every touch, kiss, and move. Alec was insatiable, but so was Jessica. They matched each other perfectly, as if they were meant to be.
 
A/N I already wrote the Final chapter, but if I don't get enough reviews that will show that you read this story, 'So long, Final chapter!'