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 2
They came up to Jessica's apartment late in the afternoon. Max and Logan also had a busy night, catching up the wasted time. Max suggested to take Joshua with them, so that he would hear about his father too. They parked the car in the underground parking of Skytower and went to Jessica's apartment.
Max knocked on the door. No response. After 10 minutes of waiting, she decided to use her 'break-in' skills.
"Max, maybe she's not home", said Logan.
"No, her car is in the parking." Max opened the door and entered the apartment. "Jess, it's us. Where are you?"
Logan and Joshua followed her. Max went to the bedroom, thinking that maybe Jess was asleep. She was. Her head rested on Alec's chest, he was holding Jessica tightly, and they seemed pretty comfortable together.
"Alec and Jessica getting busy?" asked Joshua when he saw Jessica and Alec sleeping together. Max and Logan tried to hide their smiles. Alec opened his eyes and… blushed. "Hi, guys."
"C'mon, get up. We've got things to do", said Max and went to the living room.
Alec kissed Jessica's naked shoulder. "Jess, get up. Max and Logan are here."
"Uh huh", murmured Jessica.
"Jess, somebody stole your BMW." Maybe that would wake her up.
Jessica opened one eye. "Tell me you're kidding."
Alec smiled. "Of course, I am. Your precious baby is where it is supposed to be. Get up."
Jessica closed the eye again and said. "5 minutes."
"I'm going to the shower. When I get back you'd better be up." He got off the bed and went to the shower.
20 minutes later he entered the living room, his hair still wet after the shower.
"Where's Jess?" asked Max, "and what the hell did you to this book?" she was holding the journal in her hands, wondering what had happened to its cover.
"She's in the shower, trying to wake up, and the book – the original page from Nostradamus's book was hidden under the cover. We found it last night." Alec yawned.
"Why are you yawning? When did you go to sleep anyway?" asked Logan, looking at Alec's exhausted face.
"I don't know. At dawn, I guess. God, I need caffeine!" he moaned, falling on the couch.
"Oh, look who's here! The Sleeping Beauty!" said Joshua when Jessica entered the living room.
"Emphasis on the word 'sleeping'." Jessica yawned. "Hi, guys, why are you so early?"
"Early?!" exclaimed Max. "Jess, it's afternoon already!"
"Wow, how long did we sleep?" she looked at Alec.
"It doesn't matter how long we slept, it matters when we fell asleep", said Alec, smiling mischievously and remembering the night.
"Oh", Jessica also smiled, remembering the same. "Who wants coffee?"
Everyone, except Joshua, wanted coffee. Jessica glanced at Max as if saying 'come with me'. Max put the journal on the table and followed her to the kitchen.
"So, looks like you've moved on", said Max, sitting at the counter while Jessica was making coffee. "Don't worry, Logan and I also woke up a couple of hours ago."
Jessica leaned against the fridge. "Oh, yeah, I've moved on. It was incredible, something I've never felt before." Then she opened the cabinet and took the cups.
"Not even with Ben?" asked Max, lowering her voice.
"Not even close", sighed Jessica, pouring coffee in the cups. "I feel like I've betrayed him."
"Jess, cut it out. You're not betraying him." Max took two cups. "You're not. He would want you to be happy."
"Ok, enough with this sappy crap", said Jessica, took the other cups and the girls went to the living room, where Alec was half asleep, Logan was flipping through the pages of the journal and Joshua stared at the wall. Max gave Logan his cup and Jessica came up to Alec. "Rise and shine!"
Alec opened his eyes and saw the cup of coffee in her hand. "Coffee!!!!"
Jessica sat on the chair near the table.
"Did you read the original page?" asked Logan.
"No, I didn't have a chance, thanks to someone", she said, sipping her coffee.
"Do you have complaints?" Alec raised an eyebrow.
"Nope", said Jessica, hiding her smile. "Logan, the page is laminated."
"Are you saying that Sandeman wrote this journal for you and hid the page for you?" asked Logan, forgetting about his coffee.
"Did you say Sandeman? Jessica, do you know Father?" Joshua was surprised.
"Didn't you tell him?" asked Jessica Max. "Yes, Josh. I know your father. I work for him." Seeing his face full of hope, she continued. "I'll give him a call tonight, I have some questions. If you want, you can talk to him."
Joshua nodded vigorously. "Yes, yes. I want to talk to Father."
Jessica smiled. "You will. This journal looks like it's been written at one
period of time, not during 10 or 20 years. It seems that Sandeman
wrote it after we were born. Moreover, the journal is completed. I think he
wrote it not long before the "'09 great escape from Manticore".
Josh, when did he leave you?"
"I don't know. One day he brought me to the basement and left me there", said Joshua sadly.
"Jess, when Lydecker wrote his letter about 'fulfilling your destiny', did he mean this, the 'Chimeras' thing?" asked Max.
"Nah, I doubt that. Maybe he meant by my 'destiny' work for Sandeman and protecting Max. I guess he contacted Sandeman while I was in New York and he told him." Jessica finished her coffee and finally felt that she woke up.
"So, these runes on my skin are FAKE…" murmured Max.
"Yep, and he prepared me for that so seriously, can you believe it? I honestly thought that those runes were really important and studied the damn language. Sandeman was the only one who knew what was real", noted Jessica. Then she took the phone. "I'll cal him right now."
"Hi, it's me."
"Did you read the book?" asked Sandeman.
"Where's 'Hi, Jessica, glad to hear you, I hope you don't work too much'?" asked sarcastically Jessica. "Yeah, I read the book. Fascinating reading. Why didn't you tell me about the prophecy when I was in Paris? I believed in what you said about Max – the 'Chosen One' stuff, the runes, yada, yada. Didn't you trust me?" reproached him Jessica.
"I'm sorry, but I couldn't take chances. It's too important", assured her Sandeman.
"By the way, Joshua's with me and he would like to talk to you", said Jessica.
"Give him the phone", asked her Sandeman. Jessica handed Joshua the phone.
"Hello", said Joshua.
"Hello, son. How are you?" asked Sandeman, happy to hear his first-born's voice after all these years.
"I'm fine. When will I see you, Father? I've missed you."
"I've missed you too, son. You'll see me some day. Tell me, do you still have that pendant that I gave you?" asked Sandeman.
"Yes, I have it", answered Joshua and touched the pendant on his neck.
"Give Jessica the phone, please", asked him Sandeman. Joshua did as he asked.
"What?" said Jessica.
"Jessica, if you have read the book carefully…" started Sandeman.
"What's the deal with the LAMINATED PAGE????" interrupted him Jessica
"I wanted you to read the original", answered her boss.
"Look, about the 'Chimeras'. Are you sure that you made 493 the First Chimera? His date of birth doesn't match", said Jessica, looking at Alec, whose date of birth matched perfectly.
"It's impossible!" exclaimed Sandeman. "I calculated and checked your dates of birth to minutes."
"Well, I don't know who messed up and where, but the fact remains – 493 wasn't the Chosen One, but his clone, or twin, 494 is a perfect match", said Jessica, thinking of Alec as not only a perfect match for the prophecy. "He was born on 02.28.2000, one day earlier than 493."
"I don't know what to say. Have you found anything that would explain the mix-up of dates in the database that Lydecker had copied?" asked father-creator of all transgenics.
"I don't even want to ask how you KNEW about the database!" raised her voice Jessica.
"It was my plan to copy it", said Sandeman. And Jessica thought 'why am I not surprised?' Sandeman continued. "One more thing – long time ago I gave Joshua a pendant – a small polished stone with intertwined snakes. It's the key."
"For crying out loud, George! Can you speak like normal people, not in puzzles?" Jessica got tired of charades and mysteries.
"In the journal…" the phone line went dead. Jessica looked at the battery status – there was enough charge in it. She shook the phone. "WHAT is WRONG with this thing???"
Logan switched on his phone. It didn't work either. "Maybe there's something wrong with the satellite or something else", supposed Logan.
"Sometimes I don't understand the man AT ALL", moaned Jessica.
"What key are you talking about?" asked Max, amused by the conversation between Jessica and her boss, well, that part that Jessica said to him.
"Beats me! Bloody phone went dead! He told me 'In the journal…' and nothing else. I'm gonna have to read the journal AGAIN. His handwriting is killing me. Sometimes I could hardly read the words", winced Jessica.
"Jess, if you want, I can read the journal. Maybe I'll find something that you might have missed." Logan offered his help.
"Do me a favor, please." She took the book from the table and handed it to Logan. "I'll work with the database. At least in it everything is readable."
"And what are WE supposed to do?" asked Max, feeling neglected.
"Moral support would be nice", said Logan, reading the journal intently.
Max smiled. "I could do that." She sat on Logan's lap and kissed him.
"Logan, now you have your own lap dance", chuckled Alec. "Speaking of lap dances, Jess, you still owe me one."
"Gee, Alec, after what we did last night I don't think you'd miss some unfinished lap dance", said Jessica, looking at the computer screen.
"Jess, did you read the journal to the end? Every page?" asked Logan, having found something that Jessica never mentioned.
"The last 10 pages I skimmed." She turned to Logan. "I got tired of reading and decided to watch a movie, then Alec came, then you showed up and we went to Crash. I just didn't have the chance to read those pages one more time. Did you find anything?"
"I think so. Sandeman wrote that right before he left the US, he hid something at the cemetery and Joshua's pendant is the key that opens this something."
"He wrote that? Couldn't he be more specific?" Jessica didn't find anything that would explain the mix-up of dates and was a bit annoyed.
"That 'something' is hidden in a crypt in the southern part of Seattle cemetery. Nothing more", added Logan.
"And how many cemeteries are there in Seattle?" wondered Jessica. "Probably more than one."
Logan looked in the book again. "Ah, yeah. It's "Peaceful Home"."
"Nice name for a cemetery", noted Max and laughed. "I mean what kind of moron would name the cemetery 'Peaceful Home'?"
"Great! Who the hell does he think I am? Lara Croft?" grumbled Jessica. "I don't like cemeteries and certainly I won't break into every crypt looking for something I don't even know."
"Lara Croft?" raised his eyebrow Alec.
"Well, yeah. When I was in France, I spent Christmas holidays in the French Alps. Once during a rather unsuccessful downhill, I hurt my ankle and the doctor told me not to disturb my ankle for a week. I was bored and played video games, including 'Tomb Raider'", explained Jessica.
Alec came up to her and put his arm around her waist. "So, you are afraid of cemeteries, huh?"
"No, I'm not AFRAID, I just don't like them."
"When do we go to the cemetery?" asked Max, ready for the new adventure.
"After dark", sighed Jessica, thinking 'this is not how I want to spent the night'.
'Peaceful Home' cemetery
After midnight, Jessica parked her BMW at the alley near the cemetery. "Ok, the cemetery. What's next?"
"We split. The crypt is in the southern part of the cemetery, so Logan Joshua and I will start looking for it at one part; you and Alec at the other. The first to find the crypt calls the others", said Max, zipping her jacket.
"And what crypt are we looking for anyway?" Jessica didn't like the idea of night walks at the cemetery and wanted everything to be done as quickly as possible.
"Look for anything unusual", said Logan and got out of the car. So did the rest of the 'tomb raiders'. Jessica locked the car and sighed. "Alec, let's look for something unusual."
Alec put his arm around her shoulders and said. "Think of it as a 'romantic walk'."
"Romantic? Pleeeze! At the cemetery?" Jessica winced. Alec shrugged. "At least we are alone here."
"Oh, yeah, alone. Nothing but graves and crypts." Jessica watched where Max, Logan and Joshua were walking and went in the opposite direction.
"Jess, c'mon, I'm with you", said Alec when the walked past the graves.
"Alec, one question. When I read your personal file, I found that you were in psy-ops for six months. Why?" She asked.
"When Ben started killing, people at Manticore wanted to know what went wrong. The best candidate for a 'lab rat' was - guess who? – his twin, a.k.a. X5-494, me", said Alec bitterly, reluctantly recollecting those six horrible months in psy-ops.
"I'm sorry", whispered Jessica. "Was it that bad there?"
"Yeah, it was."
They were walking through the graveyard and reading the inscriptions on the tombstones.
"How am I supposed to find something I don't know what it looks like", murmured Jessica. "I'd rather be in bed right now."
Alec sat on the tombstone and pulled Jessica to him. She sat on his lap. Alec smiled. "I'd rather be in bed too. With you."
Jessica put her hands around his neck.
"Jess, don't be angry, but I overheard you and Max talking in the kitchen. Y'know, when you told her that when you were with me you've never felt like that before. Is it true?" asked Alec.
"Men…" sighed Jessica. "Always want to know if they are the best. Yes, Alec. It's true. Happy?"
"Oh, Yeah." Alec was happy. He kissed her and the kiss grew so passionate that they began to forget where they were and why they had come to the cemetery. Blood boiling and desire growing. The ringing of the phone interrupted them. "It's working again!" Jessica exclaimed and answered the call. "Have you found something?"
"We found the crypt", said Max cheerfully.
"Where?"
"Go to the place where we split, Joshua will meet you there." Max disconnected the call.
"Looks like we gotta go", said Jessica and stood up. Alec sighed and also left the comfortable tombstone.
They found Joshua and followed him. He led them to the crypt Max and Logan had found.
"What am I looking at?" asked Jessica, seeing a rather ordinary crypt.
"Look at the inscription", said Max.
Jessica came up closer and read. 'Here lies Elizabeth Sandeman, beloved mother and wife. Rest in peace.' "Where are the dates of birth and death?" asked bewildered Jessica.
"That's what had caught our attention", noted Logan. "I think we need to enter it."
"Can I stay outside?" Jessica desperately didn't want to go there. "You don't need too many people there. Besides I could warn you if anything happens."
"Ok, guys, follow me." Max picked up the lock and entered the crypt. Jessica and Joshua stayed outside.
"Jess, is this mother's crypt?" asked Joshua.
"I guess. Do you remember her?"
"Not really. I remember her smile and voice, nothing more", said Joshua sadly.
"You're lucky. I never knew my mother, neither did Max and Alec." Jessica turned to the crypt, having heard some noise. Max, Logan, and Alec came out of the crypt. Max was carrying a box in her hands. "Is this what we came for?"
"Yes. And we need a key to open it but I don't see any key holes", nodded Max, placing the box on the nearest tombstone.
"Guys, do you mind if we open this box somewhere else, not at the graveyard?" said Jessica, looking around. "Please, let's get out of here."
They went to the car. Jessica got into the car and waited for the others to join her.
"Your place or mine?" she looked at Logan who sat in the backseat with Max and Joshua.
"Your place", said Logan. "The journal and the database are there."
"I want to go to Terminal City", said Joshua, taking the pendant off his neck. "Father asked about my pendant. I think he wanted me to give it to you, Jessica." He handed it to Jessica.
"He said it was the key", sighed Jessica. "Ok, Josh, I'll take you to Terminal City. Show me the way."
* * * *
Jessica's apartment
Max placed the box on the coffee table. Jessica handed her Joshua's pendant. "Max, it's all yours."
Max frowned. "There's no key hole here. The box looks solid."
Logan took the box and turned it in his hands. "Strange. If Sandeman said that there was the key, then where's the key hole?"
"Let me try", said Alec, who was sitting on the couch and watching Logan's attempts to find the key hole. Logan handed him the box.
Jessica, who was standing near the table and reading the part about the cemetery in the journal, came up to the couch and sat near Alec.
Alec ran his hand along the cold and smooth surface of the box. Suddenly he heard a soft hissing sound and saw a small slot on the top of the box.
"What did you do?" Jessica almost jumped up in surprise.
Alec smiled slyly and looked at Jessica. "I don't know I just touched it. Maybe there's a secret button in it. I know what buttons to push…" Jessica narrowed her eyes but didn't say anything.
"Try the key now", said Max and gave him the pendant.
Alec inserted it into the slot. Nothing.
"Maybe you should turn it", suggested Logan.
"It doesn't turn", said Alec.
"Try the other side", said Max, taking the pendant out of the box. "There's a symbol, maybe it should coincide with something in this locking mechanism."
Alec did as she suggested and the box opened.
"Wow, a CD!" Jessica took the disc from the box. "Like the Manticore database wasn't enough." She stood up and came up to the table. Jessica inserted the disc into CD-Drive of the desktop computer. "Let's see what's on this disc. Some video files." She looked at the properties of those files. "They were created in '99 and 2000." Jessica turned to her friends.
"Great! A 21-year old Home video", chuckled Max.
Logan stood up and came up to Jessica. "Jess, open one of the files."
She opened the file marked 01.25.2000. "Looks like it's a lab and some kind of experiment. Well, hello, George!" she said, seeing Sandeman 21 years younger.
Hearing Sandeman's name, Max ran up to Jessica to look at him. "So, this is Sandeman…Jess, I think it's the surveillance video from the lab at Manticore. Wait, can you enhance this part?" Max pointed at the left low corner of the screen. Jessica enhanced that part.
"I'll be damned! It's me!" she exclaimed. In his hand, Sandeman was holding a test tube labeled X5-407.
"Oh, you were so cute in the test tube", teased her Alec who also left the couch and stood behind Jessica's back.
Jessica opened another file. "Ha! I think I know what this all means. On this tape, Sandeman is creating either the First or the Second Chimera. Judging by the date on this tape it's the First. Look!" she pointed at the screen. Sandeman was sitting at his desk and writing something when a lab tech entered the lab. Sandeman took the test tube labeled as X5-494 and placed it on the personal file of Maria Corleone. Then he placed the tube marked X5-493 on the personal file of Anna Swift. He pointed at Swift's file and said to the lab tech. "This embryo should be implanted today and this", he pointed at Corleone's, "tomorrow." The lab tech nodded. Then Lydecker entered the lab, Sandeman came up to him and they talked about something quietly. The tech wanted to take the files but he accidentally pushed the table and the tubes rolled off the files. He didn't see which tube was on which file, so he just placed the tube with 493 on Corleone's file.
Jessica frowned. She reached for her laptop and opened the database. She found the files of the surrogate mothers who carried the X5s.
"Jess, what is it?" asked Logan, seeing Jessica read the database.
"Logan, try to enhance the image of these personal files. I need the numbers." She let Logan take her place, took the laptop, and sat in the armchair.
Logan did as she asked. "Corleone – file#591467, Swift - #629386."
Max returned to the couch, so did Alec.
Jessica found the personal files. "I knew someone messed up!" she exclaimed.
"Jess, would you care to explain?" asked Alec, trying to understand something.
"Listen: surrogate mother, personal number 591467, delivered a baby boy on 02.29.2000. Surrogate mother, personal number 629386, delivered a baby boy on 02.28.2000", read Jessica.
"I sill don't get it", shook his head Alec.
"The embryo of 494 was supposed to be implanted in Corleone, who would deliver him on 02.29, and 493 was supposed to be born by Swift on 02.28, but the lab tech accidentally switched the test tubes. That's why Sandeman thought 493 would be the First Chimera born on the 28th of February. Do you understand now?" Jessica looked at Alec.
Now he was confused. "Are you saying that some lab tech screwed up and because of this 'screw up' I'm the Chosen One?"
"Well, basically", nodded Jessica.
"Great! Max is a bait and I'm a lab tech's 'screw up'!" exclaimed Alec and turned to look at Max to see her reaction, but Max was asleep.
"Looks like Max got really tired that she fell asleep. She doesn't sleep much, actually", said Logan, coming up to Max. "Jess, can I take her to the bedroom?" he turned to Jessica.
"Sure, I won't sleep anyway. I have a lot of work to do", agreed Jessica.
Logan took Max in his hands and carried her to the bedroom.
"What about me?" asked Alec.
"Do you want me to carry you to the bedroom too?" asked him Logan innocently.
Jessica giggled.
"No", snapped Alec, "what am I supposed to do here?"
"If you want to sleep there's a guest room." Jessica looked at Alec. Then she turned to the computer.
"C'mon, Jess, let's go to bed. When we were at the cemetery, you wanted to be in bed. With me." Alec came up to Jessica and leaned close to her.
"I still want, but now I have this information…" she answered.
"You can take your laptop with you to bed if you want to work so much", suggested Alec
"Nah, I can't take it with me", she refused, turning to face him and with an inward sigh resisting the urge to rip off his clothes and make love to him right on the floor.
"Your laptop will be jealous?" joked Alec, smiling mischievously and having the same thoughts as Jessica.
"No, Logan is working with the laptop and as you can see I can't take Logan to the bed with me and besides, I can finally read the page", whispered Jessica.
Alec sighed, found the chair, and moved it to the table so that he could see what Jessica was doing. "I don't understand one thing. Why would Sandeman hide the surveillance camera records at the cemetery", he noted.
"Beats me. Actually, I don't understand many of his actions. I mean, how would he know that I would find the journal at the attic of his house? Alter all these years the house could have been destroyed", shrugged Jessica.
"Maybe he kept and eye on the house. Somehow", said Logan, entering the living room and sitting at the table.
"Maybe", murmured Jessica, taking the page from the journal and reading it. The more she read it the more concerned her face was.
"Something wrong?" asked Logan, seeing her worried face.
"This prophecy gives me creeps. Sandeman was right. 'Dangerous force is growing in the world. Blood of the snake is collecting its servants. At the beginning of the 3d millennium the servants will raise the Great Evil'. Well, the rest you know", said Jessica. "And I think I know what the part about the Chimeras means. I, as the Third Chimera, will deliver the message. That's what I was trained for. I was meant to read all this stuff."
"So, I'll be able to see this Great Evil and Max will be able to defeat it. Are we gonna have some special powers?" asked interested Alec.
"Yeah, you'll be superheroes", said Logan. "The servants of the snake are the Familiars. The blood of the snake, being a part of the Initiation ritual, shows those who can become one of them. The strongest will survive."
"Does this prophecy mean that these 'strongest' would want to destroy the 'weakest' one day?" suggested Jessica.
"Jess, I don't think the message in Max's DNA was a fake. It said. 'When the shroud of death covers the face of the earth, the one whose power is hidden will deliver the helpless.' And this has to be some global disaster", replied Logan.
"Well, yeah, as Sandeman wrote, he encoded the message for the Familiars", shrugged Jessica but then she found the photos on the table and decided to take a close look at them. "Why would he encode a false message? So much trouble and for nothing…" she murmured, turning the pictures in her hands. Then, having suddenly realized something, she placed them in some order, known only to her. "Son of a bitch!!!! IT'S NOT A FAKE!!!!" she yelled.
Her yell awakened Max and she came out of the room, yawning and rubbing her eyes. "Look, you, sleepless in Seattle, it's the middle of the night. People usually sleep at this time of day", said Max, coming up to the computer table.
"Will the words 'Max, you already have your superpowers' wake you up?" asked Jessica, smiling widely.
"What?" Max's eyes widened. "How?"
"This message is for me, not for the Familiars", noted Jessica. "It explains what Three Chimeras are supposed to do. Max, you are the Fighter. Alec, you are the Seer and I'm the Messenger. The runes say that the Messenger will deliver the Fighter the Touch of Death. As for the Seer…" Jessica looked at Alec. "The Messenger will deliver the Seer the Moment of True Happiness. That's why Sandeman made the First and the Third Chimera … um, people of different sex, if you know what I mean."
Alec perfectly understood what Jessica had meant. He smiled widely. "I got it. What we had last night triggered my superpowers. "
Jessica raised her eyebrow. "I guess… if you had the moment of true happiness."
"Oh, don't worry. I had and more than one", assured her Alec.
"How come Alec has the Moment of True Happiness and I get the Touch of Death? It's not fair", pouted Max.
"Do you want her to deliver YOU multiple orgasms?" asked Alec innocently.
"Sorry, Max, I'm not into girls", laughed Jessica, seeing faces of Alec and Logan when they tried to picture what Alec had just said. "And as for the Touch of Death, you already have it. You've had it since the retrovirus was implanted in you. I gave you the modified version. I'll explain. When I reprogrammed your virus to attack White's blood you got the ability to kill him with one touch. Right?"
Max nodded. And Jessica continued. "So, your virus will attack White's DNA. What if this snake DNA penetrated the DNA of every initiated Familiar and this part of DNA is common to all of them? The virus will attack this snake part of the DNA and voila! Dead Familiar. The Touch of Death."
"Wow! But it's the wild guess, Jessica", said Logan. "You don't know it for sure."
"There's only one way to find out if Jessica's right", said Max. "We'll need to find a Familiar and test our superpowers."
"Good point", noted Logan. "We'll use Alec as a radar to track a Familiar, if I understood what Jess has said correctly."
"Yeah, somehow Alec will be able to see them", nodded Jessica.
"What else does the prophecy say?" asked Max.
"Well, looks like Nostradamus himself wasn't sure what exactly that Great Evil would look like and when all this will happen. The prophecy is kinda vague, which is weird. Nostradamus usually said when things in his prophecies would happen", said Jessica. "So, when are we gonna test your superpowers?" she addressed Max and Alec.
"First we have to find a test subject", answered Max.
"And where do the Familiars hang out?" wondered Jessica.
"Around. I think they're somewhere in Seattle area", said Logan, rubbing his temples. "I'll address them during my next broadcast of 'Eyes Only'. Maybe they'll come out."
"And what are you gonna say? 'The Chosen Ones are seeking a Familiar to test their superpowers'?" asked Jessica, laughing.
"Do you have your own suggestions? All you do is give us amounts of information and we are supposed to figure out what this all means and deal with it", snapped Logan. "Jessica, I've been thinking about you lately…" he changed the subject.
The transgenics stared at him. "Why would you be thinking of me? Don't you have somebody else too think about?" asked Jessica.
"No, not that way. I mean, you still haven't explained that deal with your diplomatic immunity and IDs…"
"Oh, that… Sandeman just gave me the passport when I was leaving Paris and had a lot of cash with me. He didn't want me to have problems with the customs. About IDs… Ok, listen. I worked and still work for Sandeman at what I call 'Rent-A-Transgenic' company. No, I'm not kidding", smiled Jessica, seeing faces of her friends. "The thing is he kinda lent me to the secret services of different countries. I worked for MI-6, French Intelligence, Interpol, Russians, CIA…"
"You were a spy, right?" interrupted her Max. "That's why you have this spy-stuff – the pin, the bracelet."
"Yeah, basically. I would have found you sooner, I already told you that right after I came to the States I got this urgent and important job in New York. The mission lasted for about a year and when it was over I could continue my search", said Jessica. "To tell you the truth, I didn't know where to start but one thing made my search easier."
"What thing?" asked Alec.
"The siege of Terminal City three months ago. The transgenics had a leader, a dark-haired girl. This story was on the National television. I watched all the reports but couldn't see the face of that leader. My instincts told me that it could be Max and I moved to Seattle."
"Your instinct wasn't wrong. Who did you work for in New York?' asked Max.
"NSA, you remember that ID. But the mission is still highly classified, so you won't hear anything about it", said Jessica, standing up from the chair and stretching her muscles. Then she looked at her watch. "Damn, it's four in the morning."
Logan looked at Max. "Max, let's go home. I mean my place, you'll get some sleep."
Max smiled at him. "I doubt that."
Jessica and Alec exchanged glances.
"Jess, do you mind if I take the database and work with it when I have some spare time?" asked Logan.
Jessica closed the laptop and gave it to Logan. "Knock yourself out. I'm a little tired of this database."
She went to see Max and Logan off. She closed the door and returned to the living room. Alec lay on the couch with his eyes shut. She came up to him and touched his shoulder. "Are you sleeping?" No answer. "Alec, you've got to be kidding me! You dragged me to bed and now when I'm ready to be dragged to bed you're SLEEPING?!" hissed Jessica. Then she leaned to him and whispered in his ear. "Your loss, I wanted to try to trigger some of your superpowers in you, but since you're asleep…. I'll take a hot bubble bath and try to….." she rose to her feet and went to the bathroom.
Alec opened his eyes. "I'm not sleeping!" He jumped off the couch and ran after Jessica. "Jess, wait! I can rub your back!"
A/N In the A/N in my previous chapter I wrote that I wouldn't post the Final chapter if I didn't get enough reviews that would show that you read this story. If it seemed like blackmail, I apologize. I didn't mean to, I just was pissed off at that moment and forgot to delete that note. My being pissed off wasn't connected with the lack of reviews, well, not entirely. I still think that this story should have more reviews. I was pissed off because I pleaded my brother to install a firewall on our computer, but it (the firewall) screwed up some files and instead of having a secured Internet connection, the browser couldn't upload Internet pages as the access to the proxy servers was shut down. That led to 2 days' absence of Internet :( But everything is Ok now and I can upload the chapters of this and my other story "The Call of Blood". I swear I won't abandon any of my stories ;)
A/N2: This isn't a final chapter yet :) The title of the final chapter
is "Kiss Me, Kill Me…"