Max yawned and sagged against Tinga.
"What's wrong baby sister?"
"Nothing." Max assured her with a smile. "It's just time for me to sleep."
"Oh." They continued to silence. Max was walking Tinga home after a 'sisters night out' at Crash. Max's Ninja had blown a fan belt, or she would be taking Tinga home on it.
"Where's your baby again?" Tinga asked.
"At my other baby's apartment building sharing a space with his Aztec. I blew a fan belt, and me and Logan haven't been able to scrounge one up yet."
Tinga grinned at her. "So. When are you two gonna get married and give me some nieces or nephews? Case needs some cousins." She teased. Max rolled her eyes.
"Tinga, please. We finally got together after a year of dancing around. I'm lucky we've taken this step."
"So take the next one." Tinga urged.
"Tinga!"
"All right, all right. I'll drop it. For now."
"Thank you."
They reached Tinga's apartment, and Max went up to see Charlie and Case.
"Aunt Max!" Case yelled, running over to Max.
"Hi sweetie." Max said, hugging her nephew. "Hi Charlie."
"Hello Max." Charlie greeted his sister-in-law. He kissed Tinga, then gave Max a warm hug. "How are you?"
"Fine." Max said with a grin. She turned to Tinga. "I gotta go. Told Cindy I'd be home early, best friend quality time." Tinga nodded her understanding, then hugged her baby sister.
"Bye Maxie. See you later. Call me."
"I will. Bye Charlie, bye Case." Max waved and left the apartment.
She left the building and started walking toward her building. It wasn't exactly in the safest part of town, but Max could take care of herself. The gangs had never tried to jump a genetically enhanced super soldier before.
"Hey baby." A voice said. Max groaned to herself. Great. A group of six guys, all of them in leather, with suggestive grins on their faces, stepped from the shadows.
"Wanna have some fun?" The first one asked, leering at her.
"No thanks. I'll pass." Max said.
"Come on baby. You'll never get a better deal then this."
"Oh believe me, I do." Max said with a smirk, thinking of Logan.
"Somethin' tells me that ya should be believein' the cher, monsiours." A thick Cajun accent said. Max threw a surprised glance over her shoulder, to see a tall, lean, wiry man with broad shoulders straddling a dark green motorcycle.
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Lyle had gotten into town just an hour ago, and now he was waltzing straight into a gang fight to save a girl he didn't know from Eve. What in the world was he thinking?
"Somethin' tells me that ya should be believein' the cher, monsiours." Lyle drawled, taking one last drag from his smoke, then dropping it to the ground and crushing it under his boot.
"Stay out of this Frenchy." One of them snarled, pulling out a knife. Lyle bared his teeth in a silent snarl.
"Ah believe the word yah searchin' for is 'Cajun'." He corrected, putting down the kickstand on his bike and strolling over to them, his hands in his pockets.
He stopped next to the girl, and grinned down at her from his 6 feet, 5 inches. She looked up at him.
"I think you should get out of here. I can handle myself."
"Ahh, but so can Lyle, cherie." Lyle told her with a wink. "So donna be a worrin' yah pretty little head, mon bella."
The biggest guy, obviously the leader, snarled. "Take her advice and get out."
"Yeah." The guy with the knife chimed in. "Piss off pal."
"Nope. Lyle canna do that, Ah." Lyle assured them with a shrug, a cocky grin spreading over his face. Knife guy went for Lyle, who decided it was time to drop the nonchalant act; he whipped his elbow up under his chin, knocking him clean over a pile of trash as big as a car as the a second guy, a white guy with a buzzed hair cut, charged. Lyle got in a good spin kick, just before number three clocked him.
Lyle and the third one traded vicious blows, barely registering that the girl was also taking care of herself. The fight was brutal, savage, and over as Lyle sent the gangster crashing into a pile of garbage, splintering some boxes in the fall. The guy with the buzz cut got to its feet and charged. Gangster see, gangster do: Number three was no more original then his teammates.
Lyle stood, waiting calmly and efficiently as they rushed him from either side. He held his hands down behind his back and loosened his secret weapons. Two throwing darts fell into his hands. He shot his arms out to either side, nailing both his adversaries at the same time. They both fell back with shrieks of pain, grabbing at they bleeding shoulders.
Lyle picked up the sound of footsteps behind him and swung around as his last remaining gangster reared up with a metal trash can and smashed Lyle in the face with it. It was not so much the pain as the pressure---that was what he told himself anyway---but he had a feeling he was going to be scraping metal off his teeth for at least a week. Lyle hit the ground, hard, his back to the girl.
Now he was pissed off.
"Yah shouldnna done that." He said to the trash-can gangster. He snarled as he grabbed his attacker. The other guy was now obviously scared: He hadn't expected Lyle to get back up after being slammed in the face with a garbage can. Even now it was clear that he was confused. Lyle took advantage. He wailed on the guy, taking everything out on him; giving him holy hell, beating him to a bloody pulp before he flung him headfirst into a dumpster.
Lyle looked up just in time to see the girl finish her last guy with a double-handed U-punch that hit the guy in the head and stomach, followed by a roundhouse kick.
"Nice." He commented.
"You too." The girl said, smiling up at him.
"Thank you cherie." Lyle said with a smirk. He motioned toward his motorcycle. "Can ah gives yah a lift somewhere?"
"Sure." The girl said. They walked toward the street, and Lyle looked down at her when they hit the pool of light cast by the lone street light.
She was his age, but small. Her body was wiry, lithe and athletic. She had long, curly, silky black hair that fell to just past her shoulders. She smiled up at him again, and he saw her eyes. Large and dark, set in a face with an olive complexion. . .
Lyle let out a gasp and stumbled back away from her, leaning on his bike for support. His dream a few nights before came around and hit him full in the face. Only the pretty girl who had hugged him and kissed his cheeks in the snow wasn't a blurry, unfocused, figure in his dreams. She was here, in the flesh, looking worried as she came towards him.
"Hey, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" She asked. .
"Jo. . .Jo. . .Jondy?" He asked in a ragged whisper.
"LYLE?!?" The girl asked, her eyes wide in amazement.
********************************************************************************************
The guy looked up just in time to see Max finish her last guy with a double-handed U-punch that hit the guy in the head and stomach, followed by a roundhouse kick.
"Nice." He commented.
"You too." Max said, smiling up at him.
"Thank you cherie." He said with a smirk. He motioned toward his motorcycle. "Can ah gives yah a lift somewhere?"
"Sure." Max said. They walked toward the street, and the guy looked down at her when they hit the pool of light cast by the lone street light. She smiled up at him again.
Suddenly, the guy let out a gasp and stumbled back away from her, leaning on his bike for support. Alarmed, she started toward him. Had one of the gangs stabbed him when she hadn't been looking?
"Hey, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" She asked. .
"Jo. . .Jo. . .Jondy?" He asked in a ragged whisper.
"LYLE?!?" Max gasped, her eyes wide in amazement.
It all made sense. He hadn't moved like a regular human. His strength and speed had been Manticore, but his style was different. Less military, more street fighting, and bar room brawling. She had almost forgot about Lyle. He hadn't been in their group long, only about a year. He had been transferred from another group because he was a 'trouble maker'. Translation: He asked questions. Max had liked Lyle, and so had Jondy. In fact, if Max remembered correctly, Jondy and Lyle had liked each other a lot.
Lyle was different then the rest of the X5's. The scientists had tweaked or twisted some gene when he was being developed, and he had very accelerated healing. As a result, when Lyle was young he was experimented more then any others. He also had more animal genes.
Most of them, like Max, only had a few. She had shark and cat, and probably a few more. But Lyle, he had shark, cat, wolf, spider, tiger, cheetah, mountain goat and deer. He could run faster, go without sleep longer, jump and climb higher, see better, hear better, smell better, taste better, was stronger, and could even cling to walls.
"Jo. . . Jo. . . Jondy?" Lyle stammered again.
"No Lyle. Lyle, it's Max!"
"Max?"
"Yeah, Max! Remember? Jondy and I were to closest things to twins at Manticore, remember?"
"Manticore?"
"Yeah Manticore. . . Lyle, what's wrong?"
His normal olive complexion was white, and he was clutching at his head.
"I. . . don't. . . remember. . . " He gasped out, before falling to his knees, grabbing his head in agony.
"Lyle!" She dived for him and wrapped an arm around his back. "Lyle, what's wrong?" He looked up at her, his bright green eyes she knew so well clouded by pain and confusion. Then he said something that chilled her down to her bones.
"Max? Who are you? Who. . . am I?" He asked in a heartbreaking whisper. Then his eyes rolled up in his head and he passed out in her arms.
********************************************************************************************
Logan looked up from his computer when he heard the frantic pounding on the door. He frowned. Who would be coming over this late? Blind would have called, so would Tinga, Charlie, Kendra or Cindy if they were looking for Max, and Max wouldn't have knocked.
The knocking became more insistent, dragging Logan out of his thoughts. It sounded like whoever was out there was desperate, and knew he was home. Logan opened the door cautiously, then threw it open in surprise when he saw Max, half supporting, half dragging a tall, lean, wiry man with broad shoulders. His olive complexion was pale, his black bangs, eyebrows, and eyelashes looked black as coal where they lay on his white cheeks.
"Logan!" Max yelled in half relief, half frustration. "I thought you'd gone to bed! What the hell took you so long to open the damn door?!"
"I'm not used to people knocking on my door so late." Logan responded, deftly slipping the man's other arm around his shoulders, and helping Max get him to the couch. "Who's this? What happened?"
Max quickly explained about the fight, then turned back to the man on the couch. "This is Lyle." Max said, brushing the man's hair back from his forehead tenderly, in a move Logan recognized.
"Another brother?" He asked with a smile
"No, a friend." Max said. "He's an X5, but he was only in our unit a year before we broke out. He wasn't a brother, but he was a very, very, very, good friend." Max gave Logan an amused smile. "He and Jondy had a crush going on I think." Then her expression turned worried and almost. . . scared.
"Logan, just before he passed out, he thought I was Jondy. Lyle could always, always tell us about, no matter what. It was one of those things that made him so different. But, he didn't seem to know who I was! He looked so. . . confused when I told him I was Max! And then he grabbed his head, whispered that he didn't remember, fell to his knees, then said 'Max? Who are you? Who. . . am I?' then he passed out." Max looked up at Logan, her expression was worried and a little scared. "What's wrong with him Logan?"
Logan pulled Max into his arms. "I don't know Max. But we'll find out, I promise." He cupped her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. She looked deep into his indigo blue eyes and smiled. He smiled back and bent his head to press his lips to hers. She instantly relaxed into the kiss. As it was, neither noticed when Lyle's eyes flickered and then opened. Of course, the first thing he saw was the girl he had saved kissing a guy with blonde hair, glasses, and blue eyes.
"Hey now, Lyle donna need to be a seein' that right when he's wakin' up." He groaned. Max was instantly at his side.
"Lyle! Your awake! How do you feel?"
"Did anyone be a gettin' the number of that trash can that be smackin this poor Cajun boy in the face?" Lyle asked. He sat up slowly, then patted his pockets down for a smoke. He found a packet of cigarettes, pulled one out, lit it up, and inhaled deeply. "Or how 'bout the number of a certain cherie that gave Lyle so much pain in his poor head?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Max. Max rolled her eyes and sat next to him.
Lyle looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Well, come on mah bella Jondy, sorry, Max.. Be a spillin' the beans about Lyle now."
"You really don't remember me?"
"Sorry p'tite. This poor Cajun donna remember anything 'fore mah ninth birthday. It's up to ya to be a fillin' in the gaps. Out with it now."
Max took a deep breath and told Lyle everything she knew about him, the X5's, and Manticore. Lyle simply sat there smocking his cigarette slowly, showing no surprise, only a look of faint amusement. When she finished, he still didn't react, just sat still until he finished his cigarette. Then he looked at Max.
"Well cherie. Seems the only thing to be a doin' is for Lyle to be a hangin' in town for a while. After all, canna be a friend with no friends can I now?" He grinned at Max and ruffled her hair. "And ya canna be a sister with no siblings, can ya? Besides, Lyle got a memory to find. Maybe X5's can be puttin' it together, no?"
Max smiled and hugged him tightly. "Thank you Lyle! If anyone can help me and Logan find the rest of the X5's, it'll be you! You were always the best tracker!"
"Lyle be takin' yah word on that. Now, know where this bum can be a gettin' a job?" Lyle asked, his dead cigarette still between his lips. Max looked at Logan, who started laughing, followed by Max.
"You'll be giving Normal a death sentence." Logan started. Max mock pouted.
"Oh come on Logan. Lyle is an X5! He has to work at the X5 Grand Central Station!"
"Uh, cherie? Yah be confusion poor Lyle over here. Like to be explainin'?"
"Sorry Lyle. Yeah, I know a place where you can work. You got a bike?"
"Ah can get one. Speaking of bikes, where's mah baby?!?"
Logan rolled his eyes. "Good, what is it with X5's and motorcycles?"
"Hey! That p'tite's been good ta Lyle!" Lyle protested. Max and Logan laughed.
"Chill out Lyle. Your bikes downstairs sharing a space with mine." Max assured him. Lyle sighed in relief, making Max and Logan laugh again. After a moment, Lyle joined in.
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"Umm, cherie, Lyle not so sure 'bout this." Lyle said as Max lead him into Jam Pony the next day. "Lyle donna know his way around the city, Ah."
"Lyle, chill out. I'll get packages near yours so I can show you around until you can find the way yourself, okay?"
"If you say so cherie."
"I say so." Max said teasingly. Lyle rolled his eyes.
"How le bon Logan puts up with you, Ah'll never know." Lyle muttered. Max elbowed him in the ribs, hard. "OWWW!"
"Quit whining Lyle. Come on."
Max walked up to Normal's desk, dragging an unwilling Lyle behind her. Normal looked up when she approached.
"Well, well. If it isn't Max. To what do we owe the honor of having you show up for work?" He asked. Max ignored the sarcasm.
"Normal, I have a new worker for you."
"No."
"Before you say no, his name is Lyle, I've know him for a really long time, he's really dependable, he's really strong so he can deliver a lot of packages, and he's had military training so he's not afraid to go into gang territories. What do you say?"
Normal sighed and looked over Max's shoulder at Lyle. He was wearing baggy jeans, a tight black T-shirt, and his black leather jacket, with his combat boots and a unlit cigarette between his lips, his bicycle next to him. Normal sighed again.
"Fine. Take him back and have him pick out a locker. Then get back up here."
"Okay Normal." Max said, grabbing Lyle's elbow again and dragging her reluctant friend back to the lockers.
"OC? Alec? Where are you two? Got someone for you to meet." Max called.
"We're over here boo." Cindy called. Max and Lyle turned the corner and found Alec and Cindy sitting on a bench.
"Hey boo. Hey Alec." Max said.
"What's up Boo?" Cindy asked with a smile. Alec simply waved, his mouth full with his breakfast. Max smiled at him. Alec was kind of annoying, but he had gotten better about it, and he and Max were good friends.
"Cindy, Alec, this is Lyle." Max said, dragging Lyle forward. Alec looked up to say hello, and just about chocked on his breakfast. Cindy and Max both pounded him on the back until he started to breath again, and then he just stared at Lyle.
"Lyle?" He finally asked in a small voice that didn't sound at all like him. Lyle stared at him in the same wide eyed, scared wild animal way he had looked at Max last night, then he grabbed his head in pain and careened backwards into the lockers with a loud crash.
"Lyle!" Max cried, running to his side. He had slid to the bench and was gripping his head, gritting his teeth against the pain. He put his head between his knees, and Max began to rub his back and neck.
"You know him?" Max asked Alec, who was obviously shaken by Lyle's sudden burst of pain.
"Know him? He was my best friend in my X5 group. He just disappeared a little more than a year before you escaped. I thought he was dead! How do you know him?"
"He was transferred into my group a year before we escaped. They must have just transferred him instead of killing him. He had a crush on my twin, Jondy."
"Ah did?" Lyle asked, his voice muffled. Max looked down at him.
"Are you okay?"
"Better." Lyle sat up and stared at Alec for a long time. Finally, he spoke. "Alec?" Alec and Max both looked at him.
"You remember me?" Alec asked.
"You remember him?" Max asked at the same time. Since they practically yelled it, Lyle winced and pointed at his head.
"Hey, cool it cherie and friend. This poor Cajun boy has one doozy of a headache." He looked at Alec. "Yeah, Lyle remembers yah. Kinda. There's no facts, but yah name and face are familiar."
He groaned again and put his head between his knees. "Damn this hurts." He muttered. He took a deep breath then stood up. Just then, Normal yelled from his desk.
"Come on you free-loaders! Bip, bip, bip!"
"What?!" Lyle asked, his expression confused. Max, Cindy and Alec laughed.
"Ignore him." Alec said. "Come on gang. Let's get some packages and get out of here!"
"Lyle agree with that, Ah."
"What's wrong baby sister?"
"Nothing." Max assured her with a smile. "It's just time for me to sleep."
"Oh." They continued to silence. Max was walking Tinga home after a 'sisters night out' at Crash. Max's Ninja had blown a fan belt, or she would be taking Tinga home on it.
"Where's your baby again?" Tinga asked.
"At my other baby's apartment building sharing a space with his Aztec. I blew a fan belt, and me and Logan haven't been able to scrounge one up yet."
Tinga grinned at her. "So. When are you two gonna get married and give me some nieces or nephews? Case needs some cousins." She teased. Max rolled her eyes.
"Tinga, please. We finally got together after a year of dancing around. I'm lucky we've taken this step."
"So take the next one." Tinga urged.
"Tinga!"
"All right, all right. I'll drop it. For now."
"Thank you."
They reached Tinga's apartment, and Max went up to see Charlie and Case.
"Aunt Max!" Case yelled, running over to Max.
"Hi sweetie." Max said, hugging her nephew. "Hi Charlie."
"Hello Max." Charlie greeted his sister-in-law. He kissed Tinga, then gave Max a warm hug. "How are you?"
"Fine." Max said with a grin. She turned to Tinga. "I gotta go. Told Cindy I'd be home early, best friend quality time." Tinga nodded her understanding, then hugged her baby sister.
"Bye Maxie. See you later. Call me."
"I will. Bye Charlie, bye Case." Max waved and left the apartment.
She left the building and started walking toward her building. It wasn't exactly in the safest part of town, but Max could take care of herself. The gangs had never tried to jump a genetically enhanced super soldier before.
"Hey baby." A voice said. Max groaned to herself. Great. A group of six guys, all of them in leather, with suggestive grins on their faces, stepped from the shadows.
"Wanna have some fun?" The first one asked, leering at her.
"No thanks. I'll pass." Max said.
"Come on baby. You'll never get a better deal then this."
"Oh believe me, I do." Max said with a smirk, thinking of Logan.
"Somethin' tells me that ya should be believein' the cher, monsiours." A thick Cajun accent said. Max threw a surprised glance over her shoulder, to see a tall, lean, wiry man with broad shoulders straddling a dark green motorcycle.
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Lyle had gotten into town just an hour ago, and now he was waltzing straight into a gang fight to save a girl he didn't know from Eve. What in the world was he thinking?
"Somethin' tells me that ya should be believein' the cher, monsiours." Lyle drawled, taking one last drag from his smoke, then dropping it to the ground and crushing it under his boot.
"Stay out of this Frenchy." One of them snarled, pulling out a knife. Lyle bared his teeth in a silent snarl.
"Ah believe the word yah searchin' for is 'Cajun'." He corrected, putting down the kickstand on his bike and strolling over to them, his hands in his pockets.
He stopped next to the girl, and grinned down at her from his 6 feet, 5 inches. She looked up at him.
"I think you should get out of here. I can handle myself."
"Ahh, but so can Lyle, cherie." Lyle told her with a wink. "So donna be a worrin' yah pretty little head, mon bella."
The biggest guy, obviously the leader, snarled. "Take her advice and get out."
"Yeah." The guy with the knife chimed in. "Piss off pal."
"Nope. Lyle canna do that, Ah." Lyle assured them with a shrug, a cocky grin spreading over his face. Knife guy went for Lyle, who decided it was time to drop the nonchalant act; he whipped his elbow up under his chin, knocking him clean over a pile of trash as big as a car as the a second guy, a white guy with a buzzed hair cut, charged. Lyle got in a good spin kick, just before number three clocked him.
Lyle and the third one traded vicious blows, barely registering that the girl was also taking care of herself. The fight was brutal, savage, and over as Lyle sent the gangster crashing into a pile of garbage, splintering some boxes in the fall. The guy with the buzz cut got to its feet and charged. Gangster see, gangster do: Number three was no more original then his teammates.
Lyle stood, waiting calmly and efficiently as they rushed him from either side. He held his hands down behind his back and loosened his secret weapons. Two throwing darts fell into his hands. He shot his arms out to either side, nailing both his adversaries at the same time. They both fell back with shrieks of pain, grabbing at they bleeding shoulders.
Lyle picked up the sound of footsteps behind him and swung around as his last remaining gangster reared up with a metal trash can and smashed Lyle in the face with it. It was not so much the pain as the pressure---that was what he told himself anyway---but he had a feeling he was going to be scraping metal off his teeth for at least a week. Lyle hit the ground, hard, his back to the girl.
Now he was pissed off.
"Yah shouldnna done that." He said to the trash-can gangster. He snarled as he grabbed his attacker. The other guy was now obviously scared: He hadn't expected Lyle to get back up after being slammed in the face with a garbage can. Even now it was clear that he was confused. Lyle took advantage. He wailed on the guy, taking everything out on him; giving him holy hell, beating him to a bloody pulp before he flung him headfirst into a dumpster.
Lyle looked up just in time to see the girl finish her last guy with a double-handed U-punch that hit the guy in the head and stomach, followed by a roundhouse kick.
"Nice." He commented.
"You too." The girl said, smiling up at him.
"Thank you cherie." Lyle said with a smirk. He motioned toward his motorcycle. "Can ah gives yah a lift somewhere?"
"Sure." The girl said. They walked toward the street, and Lyle looked down at her when they hit the pool of light cast by the lone street light.
She was his age, but small. Her body was wiry, lithe and athletic. She had long, curly, silky black hair that fell to just past her shoulders. She smiled up at him again, and he saw her eyes. Large and dark, set in a face with an olive complexion. . .
Lyle let out a gasp and stumbled back away from her, leaning on his bike for support. His dream a few nights before came around and hit him full in the face. Only the pretty girl who had hugged him and kissed his cheeks in the snow wasn't a blurry, unfocused, figure in his dreams. She was here, in the flesh, looking worried as she came towards him.
"Hey, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" She asked. .
"Jo. . .Jo. . .Jondy?" He asked in a ragged whisper.
"LYLE?!?" The girl asked, her eyes wide in amazement.
********************************************************************************************
The guy looked up just in time to see Max finish her last guy with a double-handed U-punch that hit the guy in the head and stomach, followed by a roundhouse kick.
"Nice." He commented.
"You too." Max said, smiling up at him.
"Thank you cherie." He said with a smirk. He motioned toward his motorcycle. "Can ah gives yah a lift somewhere?"
"Sure." Max said. They walked toward the street, and the guy looked down at her when they hit the pool of light cast by the lone street light. She smiled up at him again.
Suddenly, the guy let out a gasp and stumbled back away from her, leaning on his bike for support. Alarmed, she started toward him. Had one of the gangs stabbed him when she hadn't been looking?
"Hey, are you okay? Did they hurt you?" She asked. .
"Jo. . .Jo. . .Jondy?" He asked in a ragged whisper.
"LYLE?!?" Max gasped, her eyes wide in amazement.
It all made sense. He hadn't moved like a regular human. His strength and speed had been Manticore, but his style was different. Less military, more street fighting, and bar room brawling. She had almost forgot about Lyle. He hadn't been in their group long, only about a year. He had been transferred from another group because he was a 'trouble maker'. Translation: He asked questions. Max had liked Lyle, and so had Jondy. In fact, if Max remembered correctly, Jondy and Lyle had liked each other a lot.
Lyle was different then the rest of the X5's. The scientists had tweaked or twisted some gene when he was being developed, and he had very accelerated healing. As a result, when Lyle was young he was experimented more then any others. He also had more animal genes.
Most of them, like Max, only had a few. She had shark and cat, and probably a few more. But Lyle, he had shark, cat, wolf, spider, tiger, cheetah, mountain goat and deer. He could run faster, go without sleep longer, jump and climb higher, see better, hear better, smell better, taste better, was stronger, and could even cling to walls.
"Jo. . . Jo. . . Jondy?" Lyle stammered again.
"No Lyle. Lyle, it's Max!"
"Max?"
"Yeah, Max! Remember? Jondy and I were to closest things to twins at Manticore, remember?"
"Manticore?"
"Yeah Manticore. . . Lyle, what's wrong?"
His normal olive complexion was white, and he was clutching at his head.
"I. . . don't. . . remember. . . " He gasped out, before falling to his knees, grabbing his head in agony.
"Lyle!" She dived for him and wrapped an arm around his back. "Lyle, what's wrong?" He looked up at her, his bright green eyes she knew so well clouded by pain and confusion. Then he said something that chilled her down to her bones.
"Max? Who are you? Who. . . am I?" He asked in a heartbreaking whisper. Then his eyes rolled up in his head and he passed out in her arms.
********************************************************************************************
Logan looked up from his computer when he heard the frantic pounding on the door. He frowned. Who would be coming over this late? Blind would have called, so would Tinga, Charlie, Kendra or Cindy if they were looking for Max, and Max wouldn't have knocked.
The knocking became more insistent, dragging Logan out of his thoughts. It sounded like whoever was out there was desperate, and knew he was home. Logan opened the door cautiously, then threw it open in surprise when he saw Max, half supporting, half dragging a tall, lean, wiry man with broad shoulders. His olive complexion was pale, his black bangs, eyebrows, and eyelashes looked black as coal where they lay on his white cheeks.
"Logan!" Max yelled in half relief, half frustration. "I thought you'd gone to bed! What the hell took you so long to open the damn door?!"
"I'm not used to people knocking on my door so late." Logan responded, deftly slipping the man's other arm around his shoulders, and helping Max get him to the couch. "Who's this? What happened?"
Max quickly explained about the fight, then turned back to the man on the couch. "This is Lyle." Max said, brushing the man's hair back from his forehead tenderly, in a move Logan recognized.
"Another brother?" He asked with a smile
"No, a friend." Max said. "He's an X5, but he was only in our unit a year before we broke out. He wasn't a brother, but he was a very, very, very, good friend." Max gave Logan an amused smile. "He and Jondy had a crush going on I think." Then her expression turned worried and almost. . . scared.
"Logan, just before he passed out, he thought I was Jondy. Lyle could always, always tell us about, no matter what. It was one of those things that made him so different. But, he didn't seem to know who I was! He looked so. . . confused when I told him I was Max! And then he grabbed his head, whispered that he didn't remember, fell to his knees, then said 'Max? Who are you? Who. . . am I?' then he passed out." Max looked up at Logan, her expression was worried and a little scared. "What's wrong with him Logan?"
Logan pulled Max into his arms. "I don't know Max. But we'll find out, I promise." He cupped her chin and tilted her face up to look at him. She looked deep into his indigo blue eyes and smiled. He smiled back and bent his head to press his lips to hers. She instantly relaxed into the kiss. As it was, neither noticed when Lyle's eyes flickered and then opened. Of course, the first thing he saw was the girl he had saved kissing a guy with blonde hair, glasses, and blue eyes.
"Hey now, Lyle donna need to be a seein' that right when he's wakin' up." He groaned. Max was instantly at his side.
"Lyle! Your awake! How do you feel?"
"Did anyone be a gettin' the number of that trash can that be smackin this poor Cajun boy in the face?" Lyle asked. He sat up slowly, then patted his pockets down for a smoke. He found a packet of cigarettes, pulled one out, lit it up, and inhaled deeply. "Or how 'bout the number of a certain cherie that gave Lyle so much pain in his poor head?" He asked, raising an eyebrow at Max. Max rolled her eyes and sat next to him.
Lyle looked at her out of the corner of his eye. "Well, come on mah bella Jondy, sorry, Max.. Be a spillin' the beans about Lyle now."
"You really don't remember me?"
"Sorry p'tite. This poor Cajun donna remember anything 'fore mah ninth birthday. It's up to ya to be a fillin' in the gaps. Out with it now."
Max took a deep breath and told Lyle everything she knew about him, the X5's, and Manticore. Lyle simply sat there smocking his cigarette slowly, showing no surprise, only a look of faint amusement. When she finished, he still didn't react, just sat still until he finished his cigarette. Then he looked at Max.
"Well cherie. Seems the only thing to be a doin' is for Lyle to be a hangin' in town for a while. After all, canna be a friend with no friends can I now?" He grinned at Max and ruffled her hair. "And ya canna be a sister with no siblings, can ya? Besides, Lyle got a memory to find. Maybe X5's can be puttin' it together, no?"
Max smiled and hugged him tightly. "Thank you Lyle! If anyone can help me and Logan find the rest of the X5's, it'll be you! You were always the best tracker!"
"Lyle be takin' yah word on that. Now, know where this bum can be a gettin' a job?" Lyle asked, his dead cigarette still between his lips. Max looked at Logan, who started laughing, followed by Max.
"You'll be giving Normal a death sentence." Logan started. Max mock pouted.
"Oh come on Logan. Lyle is an X5! He has to work at the X5 Grand Central Station!"
"Uh, cherie? Yah be confusion poor Lyle over here. Like to be explainin'?"
"Sorry Lyle. Yeah, I know a place where you can work. You got a bike?"
"Ah can get one. Speaking of bikes, where's mah baby?!?"
Logan rolled his eyes. "Good, what is it with X5's and motorcycles?"
"Hey! That p'tite's been good ta Lyle!" Lyle protested. Max and Logan laughed.
"Chill out Lyle. Your bikes downstairs sharing a space with mine." Max assured him. Lyle sighed in relief, making Max and Logan laugh again. After a moment, Lyle joined in.
********************************************************************************************
"Umm, cherie, Lyle not so sure 'bout this." Lyle said as Max lead him into Jam Pony the next day. "Lyle donna know his way around the city, Ah."
"Lyle, chill out. I'll get packages near yours so I can show you around until you can find the way yourself, okay?"
"If you say so cherie."
"I say so." Max said teasingly. Lyle rolled his eyes.
"How le bon Logan puts up with you, Ah'll never know." Lyle muttered. Max elbowed him in the ribs, hard. "OWWW!"
"Quit whining Lyle. Come on."
Max walked up to Normal's desk, dragging an unwilling Lyle behind her. Normal looked up when she approached.
"Well, well. If it isn't Max. To what do we owe the honor of having you show up for work?" He asked. Max ignored the sarcasm.
"Normal, I have a new worker for you."
"No."
"Before you say no, his name is Lyle, I've know him for a really long time, he's really dependable, he's really strong so he can deliver a lot of packages, and he's had military training so he's not afraid to go into gang territories. What do you say?"
Normal sighed and looked over Max's shoulder at Lyle. He was wearing baggy jeans, a tight black T-shirt, and his black leather jacket, with his combat boots and a unlit cigarette between his lips, his bicycle next to him. Normal sighed again.
"Fine. Take him back and have him pick out a locker. Then get back up here."
"Okay Normal." Max said, grabbing Lyle's elbow again and dragging her reluctant friend back to the lockers.
"OC? Alec? Where are you two? Got someone for you to meet." Max called.
"We're over here boo." Cindy called. Max and Lyle turned the corner and found Alec and Cindy sitting on a bench.
"Hey boo. Hey Alec." Max said.
"What's up Boo?" Cindy asked with a smile. Alec simply waved, his mouth full with his breakfast. Max smiled at him. Alec was kind of annoying, but he had gotten better about it, and he and Max were good friends.
"Cindy, Alec, this is Lyle." Max said, dragging Lyle forward. Alec looked up to say hello, and just about chocked on his breakfast. Cindy and Max both pounded him on the back until he started to breath again, and then he just stared at Lyle.
"Lyle?" He finally asked in a small voice that didn't sound at all like him. Lyle stared at him in the same wide eyed, scared wild animal way he had looked at Max last night, then he grabbed his head in pain and careened backwards into the lockers with a loud crash.
"Lyle!" Max cried, running to his side. He had slid to the bench and was gripping his head, gritting his teeth against the pain. He put his head between his knees, and Max began to rub his back and neck.
"You know him?" Max asked Alec, who was obviously shaken by Lyle's sudden burst of pain.
"Know him? He was my best friend in my X5 group. He just disappeared a little more than a year before you escaped. I thought he was dead! How do you know him?"
"He was transferred into my group a year before we escaped. They must have just transferred him instead of killing him. He had a crush on my twin, Jondy."
"Ah did?" Lyle asked, his voice muffled. Max looked down at him.
"Are you okay?"
"Better." Lyle sat up and stared at Alec for a long time. Finally, he spoke. "Alec?" Alec and Max both looked at him.
"You remember me?" Alec asked.
"You remember him?" Max asked at the same time. Since they practically yelled it, Lyle winced and pointed at his head.
"Hey, cool it cherie and friend. This poor Cajun boy has one doozy of a headache." He looked at Alec. "Yeah, Lyle remembers yah. Kinda. There's no facts, but yah name and face are familiar."
He groaned again and put his head between his knees. "Damn this hurts." He muttered. He took a deep breath then stood up. Just then, Normal yelled from his desk.
"Come on you free-loaders! Bip, bip, bip!"
"What?!" Lyle asked, his expression confused. Max, Cindy and Alec laughed.
"Ignore him." Alec said. "Come on gang. Let's get some packages and get out of here!"
"Lyle agree with that, Ah."