Sorry its been so long since I updated. I have been so insanely busy doing end of term stuff that I have not had a moment to call my own...okay so I went shopping yesterday but shoes are always a top priority.

This is the penultimate installment of Sibling Rivalry. There is nothing more I can do with the story and its really starting to piss me off. I have so many other ideas whizzing around in this blonde head of mine that I wanted to get started on them and I have to finish The Morning After the Night Before. I hope you all enjoyed the story...I had fun writing it.

Please try and review...it would give me a huge boost to know that people were reading from beginning to end.

Have a nice day.

***

Mac walked around the warehouse to reach the door as opposed to phasing the wall, savoring her last few minutes of liberty, the last moments before she went to face her brother. And the weird thing was she didn't feel guilty, she didn't feel angry. She felt...nothing. Emptiness filled her mind and her heart. She knew she was doing a good thing, she was ridding the world of the menace that was Gabriel Ashlocke. But it didn't feel good. She didn't feel like she was doing the right thing. And in some part of her she still loved Gabriel. He may have been one hell of an evil bastard but he was family, the only family that she had left. And somehow the two points of view, the one where she loved him and would do anything just to make him a good person, and the one where she hated his guts and wanted to make him suffer for everything he had ever done, somehow the two arguments balanced each other out.

She blinked back the tears that were forming themselves at the bottom of her eyes in little pools. She would not cry, she couldn't or she would never get the job done. She couldn't allow herself to become too emotional because then she knew she wouldn't have the willpower or strength to follow through with her plan. She couldn't be weak, within herself or externally. She breathed deeply and continued walking.

***

'Where's Gabriel?' Adam asked, his voice full of obvious relief that they had all gotten back to Sanctuary.

'We left him in the warehouse, didn't really want to try and move him for fear that he would kill us all,' Shalimar replied with a slight smirk playing on her lips.

Adam looked at her indulgently. He knew very little of what she had suffered at the hands of Gabriel physically, mentally and emotionally. She had been through more than any person should. And he knew how she felt about him trying to come up with some kind of cure for Gabriel's deterioration. It didn't mean that Adam was going to stop trying but he understood why Shalimar wanted him to fail so badly.

It was then that Adam noticed how heavily Shalimar was leaning on Brennan. His brow furrowed and he ordered her and Sara into the lab for a check up.

Jesse and Emma flopped onto any available surface. They were both completely worn out as were Maia and Alex. They lay back on a table and stared at the ceiling above, both unable to find the strength to move any of their limbs.

Emma shot up only minutes after lying down, her eyes wide open in shock and fear.



'What's wrong?' asked Jesse his voice full of anxiety as he sat up beside her.

'Where's Mac?' she asked.

Jesse's eyes narrowed as he thought back to when they left the warehouse. She had been with them then but he hadn't really been paying a whole lot of attention since. Maybe she had wandered off, after all she had been through, some alone time was not a lot to ask. But it was probably best to check.

Emma however was one step ahead of him and was already telempathically searching for Mac. But it was difficult and Emma knew it was because she was further away than she should have been if she was in Sanctuary. She also remembered Mac being with them as they got onto Helix but looking back she could see certain kinks. Mac had seemed two-dimensional and she knew it hadn't made any sense at the time but Emma and the others had all been so desperate to get as far away from Gabriel as possible they had rushed. Mac's emotions hadn't been present. Normally Emma could sense if a person was feeling empty, they gave off certain vibes but Mac had been different, she had been a black hole.

Shalimar, Brennan and Adam all looked towards the door as Emma and Jesse rushed in with Maia and Alex not far behind them.

'We have to go back,' Emma said, her eyes wild , her pulse racing.

'Why?' Shalimar asked, her voice laced with disbelief.

'Because Mac's still there.'

***

Gabriel stood up and dusted off his leather jacket. His clothes were covered in dust and grime and various footprints all left there by Mackenzie. He smirked as he thought about how she had tried. She hadn't succeeded and now had a broken arm but she had tried. If Mutant X hadn't have showed up dragging their hero complexes behind them he would have killed her. Or maybe he would have driven her insane with images from their parents death. Whatever, it would have been fun.

His head jerked around as the door slammed open. Mac stood there, fire in her eyes, her fists clenched by her sides. He smiled again but this time it faded. She looked so fierce, so strong and he knew that the previous fight had been just a warm-up. This was the real thing. Yet again he had underestimated her.

Mac looked at her brother and felt the anger welling up inside her. She had pitied him before, after all, it wasn't his fault he a complete psycho but she had seen one too many smirks, and the full extent of his plan. She had passed through the office before making it to the main room and had seen something she had glossed over the first time through.

Now she held it up in her hand.

He looked on in shock as she opened the fist of her free hand and drew a huge burst of electricity into it. She drew back her other hand and threw the object straight towards him.

***

The Helix soared across the sky towards the warehouse. Brennan was driving. Allowing Shalimar to come at all had caused a huge row and he had point blank refused to let her pilot the Double Helix. Sara had been left behind in Sanctuary, everyone agreeing that she needed time to catch on some zzz's.

Maia and Alex were sitting in the back. Alex couldn't stop moving around, fidgeting with anything and everything. Maia was sitting in stony silence. She knew exactly what Mac was going to do, knew exactly what Mac was willing to sacrifice to take down the brother who had caused her so much pain over the years.

Shalimar looked out of the window next to her seat and saw the warehouse. It looked so small from her vantage point and it seemed un-real than they had all been there fighting Gabriel a mere half hour before.

The Helix landed on the solid ground and before the doors were fully open everyone except Brennan was out. He joined them and they all started making their was towards the warehouse.