"The Camping Trip From Hell "
by Kirsten Tapp

Disclaimer:

Dark Angel doesn't belong to the author, but to James Cameron, etc. The characters of Devon, Dr Hopkins, Kera and Julia Saunders however do belong to the author. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary:

What starts out as a X5 family camping trip, ends up as a run in with White.

Timeframe:

Occurs somewhere in season 2.

Rating:

PG 13


Twelve young faces stared up from the photos lying on White's desk. Each pair of eyes held a defiant look in them. Across two of the photos were stamped the word deceased. Ben and Tinga. Two thorns removed from White's side before they could be a problem.

One by one White flipped the photos over. Some had photos of the older version of the children underneath them. Some just left the bare desk visible. He would find them all. He was determined to destroy each one of them. Tracking them down was proving to be more difficult than he had thought it would be. A certain redhead kept creeping into his mind making it near impossible to concentrate on the task at hand.

No sightings of Jessica had been made in weeks. A part of White wondered if she actually existed or if she had just been a wonderful dream.

He cursed himself for letting his focus get off track and went back to concentrating on the faces. His attention was drawn to the photo of Max. Her words echoed in his head. "You must be the new bad guy in my life. Gee, miss the old bad guys already." This one was sassy. "Where are you hiding?" he muttered absentmindedly to himself.

Logan rolled over and woke up to find the other side of the bed empty. "Max?" He couldn't hear anyone moving around in the apartment. Pulling a robe on, he climbed out of bed and walked into the kitchen.

He was on his second cup of coffee before he even noticed the post it note stuck to the fridge.

Had to get to work
Didn't want to wake you
See you tonight
Love
Max

Chuckling to himself, Logan finished his coffee and had a shower before starting work on the computer. Several phone calls from informants later, he glanced at the clock. He had been working for eight hours straight and had come up with some solid leads.

Max let herself into Logan's apartment and headed for his computer. She knew he'd be working. She was still trying to work out how she was going to convince him to go away with her and her family for the weekend. It had been Krit's idea and since the other's all had the weekend off of their jobs, it seemed like a plan.

"Hey." Max giggled when Logan jumped. She figured he'd be so involved with what he was doing that he hadn't heard her come in. "Think you could take the weekend off saving the world for a family camping trip?"

Logan shot her a puzzled look. "Family camping trip? Who's going?" He wasn't sure if Max meant her friends at Jam Pony or her X5 family.

Max counted them off on her fingers. "Krit, Syl, Zane, Jace, Jondy, Devon, Alec and Joshua." She grinned when she remembered how Joshua's face had lit up, when she told him they were going camping. "It'll be fun."

"I don't know, Max. Don't you want to spend some time alone with your family?" Logan instantly felt guilty when he saw the disappointed look on her face. Camping really wasn't his thing, but if it meant that much to her, he supposed he could make an effort. He rolled his eyes. "Do you have a tent?"

Max's face lit up. "Jondy and Devon are bringing the tents." She threw her arms around Logan's neck. "Thank you."

Logan shot her a mischievous look. "I'm not sharing a tent with Joshua. I hear he snores."

Max sat down on his lap. "Jase and Syl are sharing one tent, Zane and Krit in another, Alec and Joshua in a third. Devon doesn't mind sharing with Jondy, seeing as she doesn't sleep. I guess you're just going to have to share with me."

Logan grinned at her. "I think I can manage with that for a couple of days." He nuzzled his face into her neck. "When do we go?"

Max would have happily dropped everything and left that minute. "Friday after work. We're all going to meet at the camping site. I thought we could take the van and go get Joshua and then head up to the site."

"Sounds good." He loved to see her so happy. "Who knows, I might actually get to wake up and find you still there in the morning."

"Are you kidding? You're sharing the sleeping bag with me as well." Max teased. "Feel like feeding a hungry female."

"Ah, now I get it." Logan teased back. "You only want me for my cooking skills and my sleeping bag. Here was I, thinking you wanted me for my body."

Her big brown eyes sparkled at him. "Actually, I want your body in the sleeping bag. Cooking is optional." She burst into giggles as Logan started tickling her.

Asha walked in the front door, took one look at the couple giggling and laughing turned and walked back out of the apartment. "Life sux," she muttered under her breath.

The next morning Original Cindy sat on Max's bed watching her pack for her trip. "So how'd you convince Logan to leave his computer and go camping? What did you do? Offer him a close encounter of the transgenic kind?" She wiggled her eyebrows comically.

Max laughed at her friend. "Something like that. I told him that I'd have to share his sleeping bag."

Original Cindy bumped fists with Max. "That'll work every time. We'd better blaze though before Normal starts bip, bip, bipping us for being late."

Max nodded. Nothing not even Normal was going to ruin her mood. Tomorrow night she would be camping with her family. For once they could all be like a normal family.

The next afternoon they followed a map that Krit had drawn for them. There had been a bit of a hike to the camping site, but Max and Logan didn't mind. It was just nice to be together, even though Joshua was following them. He was like a big kid, asking them every five minutes if they were almost there yet.

Finally, they got to a clearing where the others had already set up the tents. Max quickly introduced Joshua to the X5's that he didn't know. Joshua quickly spotted Jondy and raced over to hug her.

Logan chuckled at the sight of the tiny redhead disappearing into Joshua's hug. He reached out and shook Devon's hand. "How's fatherhood going?"

Devon rolled his eyes. "It has its highs and lows. I think Jondy gets the worst of it though. She's at work when the girls are asleep and I'm at work most of their waking hours." He looked over at Jondy. "She's a natural though."

As it started to get dark, the tents were hastily put up and a fire was built. They all caught up on each others news. Max settled back in Logan's arms. She felt safer than she ever had in her life.

Logan was glad he had agreed to this trip. He kissed the top of Max's head. With her nestled in his arms, he felt as though he didn't have a care in the world.

Jondy and Devon caught Logan's attention. They were such an unusual couple, not in a normal strange way either. They looked perfect together. If Devon hadn't been gay and Jondy a female, they would probably be happily married. When Jondy shivered, Devon put his arm around her, just like a normal couple.

Logan rested his chin on Max's shoulder. "What's going on with those two?"

Max glanced over at her sister. "Jondy gets jumpy easily. With Devon she feels safe, probably because she knows that he's not going to do the screw and run thing, just about every other guy she's ever met has done."

Logan kissed her neck. "Ah, but will they ever find someone that is as right for them as they are for each other. The only thing holding those two back is Devon being gay."

It was past midnight before they all turned in for the night. Jondy put the fire out and sat in the darkness for a moment. It was so peaceful and quiet here. So why did she have the uneasy feeling that something terrible was about to happen.

She heard Devon move up behind her. "I know you don't need the sleep, but why don't you try and get some rest." He crouched down beside her. "You've been on the go for twenty four hours straight."

Jondy took hold of Devon's out stretched hand. "Alright, if it will make you feel better." It felt good to have someone take care of her for a change.

The next morning Max heard Jondy and Joshua starting breakfast. She moved to climb out of the sleeping bag to go and help them, but Logan's arms tightened around her. "I thought you were still asleep."

Logan snuggled in closer. "I was. Where were you going?" It was unusual to wake up next to Max. She had usually left for work by the time he woke up.

Max rolled over so that she was facing him. "I forget." This was a great way to start the morning. She leaned forward closing the small space between them and brushed Logan's lips with hers. "Good morning."

"Good morning yourself." Logan kissed Max back. They probably would have spent all morning in the sleeping bag if Joshua hadn't poked his head in their tent to tell them breakfast was ready. Logan groaned in frustration. "Next time we're getting one of your siblings to baby sit Joshua." Max burst out laughing at the look on Logan's face as she heard Jondy call Joshua away from the tent.

Breakfast went smoothly enough and after the mess was cleared away, everyone split up into small teams to going exploring. Jondy took Joshua with her, Devon and Jace so that Max and Logan could spend some time alone. Krit, Syl, Zane and Alec took a third direction. They all planned to meet back at the camping site for lunch.

With Max's natural ability to survive the wilderness, Logan found it hard at times to keep up. "You know some of us on this trip need to stop every hundred miles or so." Logan teased Max.

Max had gotten a bit of a lead on Logan. "Sorry. I tend to forget the great 'Eyes Only' is a mere mortal." She ran back to him and grabbed his hand. "Come on. Just a little bit further. I can see a cave."

Logan couldn't see anything, but he let her lead him up the bank. He wasn't really surprised to find Max had been right about the cave. "Let's just hope nothing's set up shop in there."

Max peered in the opening. "Not that I can see." She walked into the cave still holding onto Logan's hand. They had brought the basics with them. Water, a torch and enough food for a snack.

On further investigation they found the cave had smaller caves branching off of it. "Wow. Maybe we should move the campsite in here." Logan turned as he looked around him.

"It's certainly big enough." Max felt so tiny standing in the middle of the main cave. She glanced at her watch. "Maybe we'd better head back. It's starting to get late."

"Yeah, I guess so." Logan would have like to have stayed there, just he and Max. He knew her brothers and sisters would probably worry if they were too late. Taking a last look around they walked out hand in hand.

"Joshua. Come on. It's time to head back for lunch." Jondy held her hand out to the tall man. "You can't stop and sniff every flower."

Jase giggled at the sight of Joshua running up to take Jondy's hand. "What is wrong with this picture?"

Devon chuckled as well. "She can't take one weekend off being a mother." He had agreed to the trip in the hopes that Jondy would actually take a break. He was beginning to worry about her. She seemed to be taking too much on. He had thought that she might slow down, once she had found a cure for Max's virus. If anything she had taken more work on.

Jase watched Devon for a moment. "Are you sure you're gay? Cause you sure seem to pay a lot of attention to Jondy."

Devon grinned. "Positive. If I ever decide to go straight, your sister would be the first to know." He turned back to watch Jondy and Joshua. His grin faded when he saw the look on Jondy's face. "What's wrong?"

Jondy was still holding Joshua's hand. "I hear crying, like someone in pain." Joshua was sniffing the air. "What do you smell?"

"Fear." Joshua looked down at Jondy. "Lots of it." He and Jondy walked over to Devon and Jace. That was when the gunshot rang out.

Devon reached out and grabbed Jondy's arm as she went to run towards the gunshot. "You came on this trip to be with your family, not chase a gunman."

"Devon. Someone could be hurt." Jondy tugged her arm free and ran into the woods.

Devon rolled his eyes. "Jase, can you take Joshua back to the campsite? I'm gonna see if I can catch up with Jondy."

Jase nodded. "Sure." She held out her hand to Joshua. "Come on, we'd better let the others know what's going on." She looked up at the dogman. "What's wrong?"

"Manticore." Joshua was looking all around him. "Manticore's everywhere." His eyes widened. "White. He's here. Have to warn the others." He took hold of Jace's hand and headed back towards the camp site.

Logan and Max heard the gunshot as well. "What the hell's going on?" Logan reached for Max. "Let's get out of here."

The sound of gunfire was getting closer. Logan saw something move through the trees. It moved too quickly for him to be able to see what it was. "Can you see who that is?" He turned to Max.

Max scanned the area around them with her feline vision. "X7s. Two of them." When she caught sight of their faces, it sent a chill down her spine. They were the child versions of Zane and Jondy.

As they got closer Logan saw one of the X7's aim his rifle at Max. "Get down!" He shove Max to the ground as he felt the burning of the bullet go through his arm. He looked down at Max who was lying beneath him. "Are you alright?"

"Are you insane?" Max couldn't believe Logan had just done that. She was the one who could dodge bullets. "Stay down, I'll be back in a minute." She slid herself out from under Logan and crawled through the long grass on her stomach. Keeping the X7s in sight, she made her way around behind one.

Grabbing the Zane child from behind, she put a sleeper hold on him. Before Max could let go of the child, the Jondy child spun around and fired at Max. Max moved too quickly and the bullet hit the Zane X7 instead.

There was no remorse in the Jondy X7's face, she merely took aim at Max again. Max had learnt her lesson the last time she had come up against the X7 version of herself. Quickly grabbing the Zane X7's rifle, Max slammed the end of it into the female X7's face, stunning her. Spinning around she delivered a few well-placed kicks to the X7 and disarmed her.

Logan's arm was killing him, but not knowing what was happening to Max was worse. He was lying completely still when he heard the sound of footsteps. Looking up he saw Max coming towards him carrying two rifles. "Where are the X7s?"

"Hanging by their arms from a tree. Had to blindfold them so they couldn't communicate." Max sat down beside Logan in the long grass so that she could take a look at his arm. "Better get you back to that cave we were in. I'll go and get Jondy to take a look at your arm."

"I can walk, I'll go with you." Logan didn't want to loose sight of Max especially if there were more X7's out there. "Remind me never to let Krit pick our camping site again."

Max stood up and helped Logan up. "I doubt he knew we'd have a close encounter of the X7 kind. I know you can walk, but you can't dodge an X7 sniper. We're going back to the cave." She tore some material off of her already torn shirt and bandaged Logan's arm as best she could. She had, had to use strips of her shirt to tie and blindfold the X7s.

After making sure Logan was hidden in the safety of the cave with a rifle, Max headed back towards the campsite. She hadn't got far when Jace and Joshua caught up with her.

Jase raised an eyebrow at the sight of Max's torn shirt. "What happened to you?" When Joshua had picked up Max's scent, Jace had decided it would be best to warn Max and Logan of the current situation.

"Ran into a couple of X7s. Logan's been hit." Max noticed Jondy and Devon weren't with them. "What happened to Jondy and Devon?"

"We heard a gunshot. Jondy went to see if anyone was hurt, Devon went after her." Jace had seen the X's at work when she was at Manticore. This was not good.

"White's here." Joshua kept sniffing the air.

Max had to think quickly. "Jase, get back to camp, let the others know what's going on. Logan's in a cave just up the bank there. Joshua and I will go and find Jondy and Devon and meet you back at the cave."

Jase nodded that she understood. "Not quite the family weekend we were planning on, huh." She headed off towards the campsite.

Max looked up at Joshua. "Can you find Jondy?"

Joshua nodded and ran back the way he and Jace had just come.

Jondy could see a clearing up ahead. A small group of transgenics including a couple of children were surrounded by military looking personnel. As she watched, White came out of a nearby tent. "Oh great, the nightmare continues."

Devon finally caught up with Jondy. "You know him?" He saw the look on his friend's face and knew the answer. "Worse than Lydecker?"

"That's White." Jondy nodded in White's direction. "From what I hear and the one encounter I've had with him, He makes Lydecker look like a sweet little kitten." She frowned slightly. "They're in a holding pattern. Why doesn't he just cage them up."

Devon caught sight of a transgenic child laying dead on the ground. "He's not taking them back. This is a massacre." When he turned back to Jondy, she was gone. "Jondy. Where the hell are you?" He was trying to keep his voice down so that his presence wouldn't be detected.

Devon looked up into the trees and spotted Jondy perched on an overhanging branch. As White raised his arm holding a handgun, Jondy leapt off of her perch, knocking the gun from his hand. Devon watched in horror as one of the soldiers trained his gun on Jondy. Devon raced towards the solider knocking him to the ground. "Jondy, watch your back."

White couldn't believe his ears. "You're X5-210? The one they call Jondy?" He felt repulsed that he had actually been attracted to a transgenic freak. "No. This is some sort of sick game somebody's playing."

Jondy glared at him. "I don't play games." She turned slowly and lifted her flame colored locks to reveal her barcode. She turned back, her blue eyes like ice. "That's my family you're so bent on destroying." Jondy had positioned herself so that Devon was behind her and out of the line of fire.

White regained his control. "As far as I'm concerned, you're all vermin, pests that need to be exterminated." He raised his gun and fired.

"No!" Devon shoved Jondy to the ground so that the bullet hit him instead. He fell to the ground beside Jondy.

"If at first you don't succeed, try, try again." White went to fire again.

At that moment Joshua came roaring out of the trees behind White, knocking him to the ground. Seeing Jondy kneeling beside Devon, Joshua swiped his claws across White's face as the man went to stand up.

"Joshua, I need you over here." Jondy needed help getting Devon and the others out of the line of fire. "Devon's been hit."

The other transgenics had started to fight their captures when White had started shooting at Jondy. It was nothing short of a miracle that Joshua made it over to her unmarked.

White looked up to find Joshua picking Devon up and carrying him towards the trees. He scrambled around in the dirt trying to find his gun, but only being able to see out of one eye was making it difficult. As he reached out to grab something for a weapon, a boot slammed down on his hand. Looking up he found himself staring up at Max.

"Vermin." Max spat out at the fallen man before she delivered a kick to his face, knocking White unconscious. "Let's move out people." Max had passed Joshua carrying Devon as she had run towards the gunfire. They had been separated trying to find Jondy.

She spotted Jondy near one of the injured transgenics. Max sprinted to the medical tent and grabbed the first aid kit and some extra bandages. "Jondy! We've gotta go. Now!"

Jondy picked up the transgenic child and followed Max into the woods, stopping briefly to kick White in the guts.

In the dark caves, Logan braced himself against the wall, the gun in his good hand. The sound of footsteps were getting louder. Just as he raised the gun, Logan saw Joshua come into view carrying Devon.

"Joshua. What happened?" Panic started to settle in when Logan realized Max wasn't with them. "Where's Max?"

Joshua gently laid Devon down. "Max with Jondy and others. Not too far behind."

Logan breathed a sigh of relief. He glanced down at Devon, who was unconscious. "What happened?" he repeated.

"White shot at Jondy. Devon pushed Jondy down and got shot instead." Joshua knelt down beside Devon. "He's going to be alright, isn't he?"

"He will if I have anything to say about it." Jondy appeared with a child in her arms and Max right behind her. "When will you mere mortals learn that we X5 women are the one's who can dodge bullets." She laid the child down and removed her jacket to cover her.

Max ushered the other transgenics into the cave and posted two that weren't injured on guard duty. "You know they're not happy unless they're playing hero." She could see the concern on Jondy's face as she examined Devon. "How bad is it?"

"Joshua. I need your coat." Jondy waited for the big man to take his coat off and then covered Devon with it. She stood and walked over to Max. "It's pretty bad. He's going into shock and we only have the basics in the first aid kit."

Max looked around the cave. There were a few injured transgenics but nothing she couldn't handle. Logan's arm needed looking at, but Devon was in the worst condition. She turned back to her sister. "Is there anyway you can treat the shock? This cave actually has a few little caves off of it. I could put the injured people into a few of those while you look after Devon."

Jondy nodded. "I'll get Joshua to help me move Devon and then see how bad Logan's arm is."

"I'm fine." Logan joined them. "I can wait, Devon can't." His arm stung like hell, but Devon was unconscious.

Jondy nodded. "Joshua. I'm going to need your help again." She left Max and Logan and explained to Joshua what she needed him to do.

Joshua picked Devon up and carried him into a smaller cave. A moment later he walked out of the cave and stood guard for Jondy.

Max started issuing orders so that everyone was kept busy. Once everybody had a job, Max sat down beside Logan and took a look at his arm. "Wow, the bullet went right through your arm." She looked Logan straight in the eye. "What were you thinking?" She gently stroked his face which had grown quite pale.

"I couldn't loose you again." He caught hold of her hand. "I can't watch you die again." Logan looked towards the cave that Jondy and Devon were in. "I wouldn't want anyone to go through that experience."

"I'm not going anywhere." Max kissed Logan's forehead. "It took me too long to get back to you the last time." She kissed his lips. "I'm not going anywhere," she repeated.

Jondy sat down beside the couple. "I hate to break this up but how about I take a look at Logan's arm." She cleaned the wound so that she could get a better idea of the damage.

Logan winced slightly. "How's Devon doing?" He had noticed that Jondy wouldn't make eye contact with either of them. Upon looking over at Max, he could see that she had realized the same thing.

"Jondy. Devon's gonna be alright, isn't he?" For a moment Max was worried that Devon might have died.

Jondy bandaged Logan's arm and made a makeshift sling. "He's alive and awake and keeps calling me Freddie. I'm guessing that last part is because he's delirious."

"But he's out of danger?" Logan smiled gratefully as Jondy finished tying his sling. "Jondy, what is it?" Her hands were shaking.

"We don't have the medical equipment I need." Jondy brushed her hair off of her face with the back of her hand. "We've got to get him to a hospital."

Zane and Alec walked into the cave. Zane took one look at Jondy and scooped her into his arms. He realized Devon must have been hurt when he couldn't see him and saw the state Jondy was in. "How's Devon doing?"

"Is it safe enough for us to get Devon to a hospital?" Jondy mumbled into his shoulder.

Alec rolled out a sleeping bag. "Ready when you are." He shoved a couple of thick branches into the sleeping bag. "Your stretcher awaits." He made a grand sweeping gesture with his hand.

"Joshua." Jondy untangled herself from her brother's arms. "We're moving out." She gestured for Zane to follow her with the stretcher. "Thank you." She verbally threw the thank you at Alec as she walked past.

Alec gave Max a puzzled look. "Is she alright?" He wasn't used to Jondy being so nervous. "Devon's pretty bad, isn't he?"

Max shrugged her shoulders. "He went into shock but I think Jondy stopped that as best she could. He was delirious." She looked up at Logan. "I think the bullet was pretty close to his lung."

Logan nodded. "I'm no doctor, but it looked pretty bad." He saw Joshua and Zane carry Devon out on the stretcher.

Krit walked in the entrance of the cave. "Sorry we took so long to get to you. It's all clear to move now. Jace and Syl are packing up camp." He looked slightly guilty. "Sorry about this guys. Nobody was here last week when I scouted the area."

Max squeezed her brother's hand. "We know. I got the impression they set up camp the same time we did."

"We're just leaving before they do." Logan waved the transgenics to the entrance. "I'll see what I can do about papers for the newest additions once we get Devon to the hospital."

They all headed out of the cave, Max took the lead while Krit brought up the rear. It was the tensest hike any of them had ever experienced. They only stopped long enough to pick up the tents and their gear.

Max and Logan took Devon's car so that Jondy could drive the van with Joshua looking after Devon in the back. The newest transgenics were split amongst the rest of the vehicles.

In the waiting room of the hospital, Jondy was pacing back and forth in front of Max and Logan. "What the hell is taking so long?"

Max spotted Devon's doctor and reached out to stop her. "Jondy, here comes the doctor."

A young man in green scrubs walked up to them. "Are you Mr Saunders family?" He looked the threesome up and down. "I'm Doctor Hopkins."

Logan could see the Doctor was unconvinced any of them were related to Devon. "Jessica is Devon's wife." He gently pushed Jondy forward.

Doctor Hopkins couldn't help thinking what a lucky man Devon Saunders was. His wife was stunning to say the least. He reached out to shake her hand. "Mrs. Saunders, your husband's condition is stable. You may go in and see him. It's a miracle he didn't go into shock."

"Where is he?" Jondy flinched at his last comment. "Is he conscious?"

"Yes." The doctor gestured down the corridor. "He's down this way. Follow me." He walked down the corridor and into a room. "Mr. Saunders, your wife has been waiting to see you."

Devon was slightly confused until Jondy walked in. "Hey. I was wondering where you were. Are you ok?" He held his hand out to her.

Jondy squeezed his hand and smiled down at him. "Well, I must say I was sort of offended when you referred to me as Freddie Prinze Jr." She sat down in a chair beside his bed. "I'll get over it. How are you feeling?"

"Tired. Like something big ran over me." He could see Max and Logan in the doorway. "Are the others alright?" He couldn't really remember what had happened, it was all coming back in flashes.

"Logan took a bullet in the arm and there were a few minor injuries. Apart from that we're all fine." Jondy leaned forward slightly. "You know if you keep taking bullets for me, I might get the impression you care about me."

It all came flooding back to Devon. He looked up into Jondy's frightened blue eyes. "I went into shock, didn't I? You saved my life." He felt her pull her hand away from him, so he tightened his grip. "Don't run from me, Jondy."

Jondy was starting to shake. "If I hadn't kept you warm, you would have died. I didn't have a choice, I couldn't loose you. I don't know how to do this by myself. You were delirious and everything just got out of control." The words just came tumbling out and weren't really making any sense to anyone but Devon.

He tried to calm her down, seeing the puzzled looks on Max and Logan's faces. "Listen to me. We will work through this, I promise you. Just don't run from me." His green eyes pleaded with her.

Logan knew how Devon felt. So many times Max had run from him when they had started to get close. The moment they both got over their fears, they had ended up trying to save Tinga, Max had died. But she had come back to him only for him to be unable to touch her. If it hadn't been for Jondy, they would still been dancing around each other.

"Let's give them a little time alone." Logan took hold of Max's hand. "They have issues to sort out."

It all clicked with Max. "Oh wow. That's what she meant about Devon calling her Freddie." She tugged slightly on Logan's hand. "Can you get a start on those papers for the others?"

Logan nodded. "Have you got Jondy's cell phone? A certain dark haired angel made me leave mine at home, so that I couldn't work this weekend."

Max reached into her jacket pocket and handed him the cell phone. "Hey, we were having a great time before Manticore gate crashed and started shooting our mortal men." The whole incident had shaken her up.

Back in the hospital room Jondy was trying to joke away the whole day. "You know for a gay guy, you did an impressive impression of a straight guy."

Devon chuckled slightly. "Well, the girls were wondering why Mommy and Daddy have separate beds. I guess we can't tell them Daddy has to go into shock and be delirious to sleep with Mommy."

"I don't think so." Jondy smiled for the first time that day. She felt Devon's grip on her hand tighten. "What's wrong?" She reached for the buzzer beside his bed, as she watched his face contort in pain. "Hang on Devon. Don't you leave me."

Max spotted the doctor running towards Devon's room. She touched Logan's arm to get his attention as he was talking on the cell phone. "Something's wrong with Devon."

Logan quickly finished the phone call and grabbed Max's hand. "Let's see what's going on. Your sister may need you."

When they got to the room they found a stunned Jondy backed up against the wall. She held out her hand stopping the doctor from getting any closer.

Max walked past all of the nurses, leaving Logan standing in the doorway. "What happened?" She moved slowly towards Jondy. "Hey, what's going on?" She pulled her shell-shocked sister into arms.

Logan looked over at the bed and saw Devon's blue tinged face. "Doctor Hopkins. I thought Devon was out of danger."

Doctor Hopkins went to touch Jondy's shoulder, but she shrank away from him. He turned to face Logan. "Mr. Saunders suffered an aneurysm. It couldn't have been foreseen. I'm sorry, we couldn't save him." He took one more look at Jondy. "I'll give the three of you some time alone." He ushered the nurses out.

Logan grabbed the chair and brought it over to Jondy, she looked as though she was about to topple over. He helped lower Jondy onto the chair with his good arm. Logan couldn't think of anything to say to her. Nothing could make this right.

Alec raced into the room. "Sorry to break up whatever's going on in here, but White's just been brought into emergency. He's claiming he was attacked by a wild animal and somebody stole his first aid kit." He glanced at the bed and saw Devon's lifeless body. "When?" He looked over at Logan.

"A few minutes ago." Logan planned quickly. He had to get Max and Jondy out of there. "Go and get Zane. We're gonna get Devon home." He knew Jondy wouldn't leave without Devon. Besides White was sick enough to use the dead man to get to Jondy.

Alec raced out of the room. Logan stood guard at the door so that no nurses would stumble in on them. Moments later, Zane returned with Alec. "Get him out via the morgue. We'll figure out how to get the body back to San Francisco for burial once we're clear of the hospital and White." Logan started issusing orders.

Max stood her sister up. "Are you going to be alright to drive?" Logan couldn't drive with his injured arm. She was worried that her sister was too deep in shock to be able to drive.

Jondy regained her composure and nodded. "Let's get the hell out of here." She walked out with Max and Logan either side of her, straight out the front door.

Zane and Alec appeared moments later with Devon's body in a body bag and loaded it into the van, before climbing into their respective vehicles.

When they were a safe distance away, Logan clued them all in on his plan. "Zane, can you and Krit get Devon back to San Francisco? We'll call Devon's mother when we get back to my apartment and let her know what happened. Julia will probably want to meet up with you in San Francisco."

Zane agreed. "Julia's met me before so at least she'll trust me when we arrive." It wasn't the best circumstances to meet up with Devon's mother again.

"I should go with them." Jondy didn't want Devon's mother burdened with the death of her son alone.

Max shook her head. "White's going to have people looking out for you, me and Joshua. We'll get you back in a couple of days."

"White doesn't know this was a family camping trip, so he won't be looking for the rest of us." Syl guessed what Logan had planned. "As soon as we get the papers, I can take some of the newbies with me."

"I can take a few with me as well." Jace sort of felt she owed Max and Logan for getting her and her unborn baby which had turned out to be a girl, away from Manticore.

"Some can stay with me until it's time to go." Joshua offered. Devon's death wasn't as hard for him as Isaac's had been, but he could see the pain Jondy was in.

"Great." Logan managed a brief smile. "The rest can stay in my living room. We'll get them out a few at a time. It'll be safer that way."

They all got back into their vehicles and started work on Logan's plan. Jace and Syl headed back to their homes immediately with a few transgenics each. Zane and Krit headed straight for San Francisco.

Back in Logan's apartment Alec watched Jondy while Max and Logan talked in the kitchen. They had dropped Joshua and half of the leftover transgenics off on their way home. Alec didn't know Jondy very well, but he had never seen her look so alone before. "Can I get you anything?" It was all he could think of to say.

Jondy shook her head. "No, thank you." Her phone conversation with Devon's mother kept playing over and over in her mind like a stuck record as she sat curled up on the sofa.

In the kitchen Max watched Alec's attempts to help Jondy, while the transgenics sat around on the floor. "I don't know how to get her through this." Max looked over her shoulder at Logan.

Logan looked over at Jondy. "She needs time, Max. She lost a friend as well as a partner today. I can't help thinking that a part of her was in love with Devon, even though I'm sure she'll never admit it."

Max felt her sister's pain. "I know. I just feel so helpless. I need to do something for her."

Logan understood. He felt helpless as well. "I guess it was lucky Kera was looking after the girls. At least Jondy will have someone to help her when she gets home."

"Furneral arrangements." Jondy's voice broke the stony silence in the living room. "I have to organize the furneral." She needed something to keep her busy before she fell apart.

Alec fetched her a pen and a pad of paper. "Write down what you need and I'll help you." It would give him something to do as well.

Max brought in a tray of sandwiches and drinks and let the transgenics help themselves. "What are we doing?"

"Making furneral arrangements." Jondy started making a list of what she needed, but her hands were shaking too bad for her to write. She handed Max the pen and pad. "Flowers, headstone, priest, coffin. What else?" She looked over at Logan. "I don't suppose you have a San Francisco phone book, do you?"

Logan pulled a book off of his shelf and handed it to Alec. "Start looking for florists." He sat across from Jondy. "What were Devon's favorite flowers." He had realized that he was probably the only one who had ever been to a real furneral.

Jondy ran her hands through her hair. "Um, Gardenias. I think." She turned to Alec who had found a listing of florists that were in the general area he had heard Jondy lived in. "White Gardenias."

Alec nodded and started calling florists on his cell phone. He had become an expert at haggling, so he got the flowers at an incredibly low price.

Logan called priests, while Max looked after the coffin. Jondy dealt with the headstone herself. It was midnight before they all turned in. At least the burden of organizing Devon's furneral had been lifted from Devon's mother's shoulders.

Max felt someone gently shaking her. She slowly opened her eyes. She knew it hadn't been Logan because she could feel his good arm around her. She found herself looking at Alec. "What's wrong?"

Alec had decided to stay the night at Logan's in case Jondy needed help. He shocked himself by how protective he felt towards her. "Jondy's gone. I woke up and decided to check on her, but her bed's empty."

"Go and wait for me outside. I'll get dressed and we'll go look for her." Max glanced at the clock. It was four o'clock in the morning. She had a feeling, she knew where Jondy had gone. Careful not to disturb Logan, she slipped out of bed and threw some clothes on.

It was pouring with rain outside. "I guess we can't get Joshua to track her in this." Alec pushed the wet hair off of his face.

"We won't need Joshua." Max climbed on her motorcycle and signaled for Alec to climb on. "She's gone after White." She started up the motorcycle and headed for the campsite.

White sat staring at Jondy's file. How could he have been so stupid? She was created to be a distraction. He should have realized immediately who she was when the Crime boss had mysteriously ended up in the hands of the police.

He looked up when he heard what he thought was sloshing water. There was no river or stream nearby so he went to investigate. There was no sign of anyone, but it was hard to see with half of his face bandaged up.

He could feel an intense heat behind him. Turning he found his tent on fire. Spinning back around he saw Jondy a short distance in front of him, her face completely void of emotion. She was completely soaked to the skin from the rain. Amazing enough, she still looked gorgeous.

Without even blinking, Jondy flicked alight the lighter she had in the palm of her hand and dropped it on the ground. White's tent was instantly surrounded in flames. It was then he smelt the gasoline.

He watched her walk away without giving him a second glance. He pulled his now wet jacket over his head and raced through the flames. When he got to the other side of the flames she had disappeared. He never saw the three X5's walking away through the woods.

Logan woke to find the other side of the bed empty again. This time however there was a note on the other side of the bed.

Jondy's gone.
Alec and I have gone to find her.
Don't worry
Love
Max

Logan had never gotten out of bed and dressed so fast in his life. By the time he walked around all of the sleeping people on his living room floor, Max, Jondy and Alec were walking in the apartment, soaked to the skin. Jondy looked as though she was in a trance.

"I'll go and run a bath for Jondy." Logan had no idea where they had been, but Jondy was in no condition to stay in wet clothes. "Alec you can borrow some clothes for the moment." He gestured for Max to follow him.

Max left Jondy with Alec and followed Logan into the bathroom. She waited for Logan to start running the bath before she spoke. "Jondy went after White this morning. She set his tent alight."

Logan was astounded. "With him in it?"

"No. I think the ring of fire around the outside was supposed to finish him off, but I think he got through it." Max leaned against the bathroom sink. "We didn't stick around long enough to check."

They got Jondy settled in the bath while Alec was changing into some clothes he borrowed from Logan. When he came out of the bedroom, Alec found Logan sitting on the sofa with Max, wrapped up in a bathrobe. Not wishing to disturb them, he quietly knocked on the bathroom door that had been left slightly open in case Jondy needed some help.

She looked so frail sitting amongst the bubbled foam, her red hair straight from being wet. Alec sat beside the bathtub. "What was he like?" He saw her eyes flicker ever so slightly. "Devon, I mean." This time she actually looked at him. "I only met him this one time, but he seemed alright. I heard he's gay but apart from that I didn't really get a chance to know him."

"He cared about people." Jondy looked puzzled by Alec's question. "He always put others first. He's a great father, the girls adore him. He looked after me when I first got out of Manticore, kept me safe." She lifted her hand out of the bath as if it were a foreign object. "The water's gone cold." She was still in shock.

Alec stood and went to get Max. The rescued transgenics were still asleep on the floor so he didn't want to wake them by yelling across the room. "Hey." He touched Max's shoulder. "I think Jondy's ready to get out of the bath."

"Thanks." Max was confused by Alec's concern for Jondy. Usually he was incredibly self-centered. "I'll go and help her."

Logan watched Max creep into the bathroom before talking to Alec. "You actually got Jondy to talk?"

Alec shrugged his shoulders. "A little. She's pretty out of it. Is she going to be alright?" X5s weren't trained to care or, hell, even have emotions.

Logan heard his houseguests stirring. "Not if she keeps everything bottled up inside. You guys may have been trained to believe emotions make you weak, but trying to keep them locked inside eats away at you. That's what makes you weak."

It was a long day. Alec had taken the transgenics that were staying with Joshua over the boarder. Zane and Krit phoned to let Jondy know they had got Devon home. Krit was going to stay in San Francisco for the funeral and Zane was heading back to Seattle to get Jondy.

Max and Logan took turns watching Jondy. Neither of them was sure what she would do next. "Where's my jacket?" Jondy walked around the apartment searching under all of the cushions.

"Where are you going?" Max really didn't think her sister was in any condition to go anywhere at the moment. She still seemed to be walking around in a daze.

"Nowhere." Jondy found her jacket hanging on the back of one of the dinning room chairs. Unzipping an inside panel in the jacket she pulled out the files that White had on his desk. "These might be of interest." She handed them to Logan before going to check on an injured transgenic.

Max shot Logan a puzzled look. "What are they?" She got worried when she saw the shocked look on his face. "Logan?"

Logan handed Max a file. "White's files on the X5s that escaped with you. Jondy must have stolen them before she set fire to his tent." He gazed at Max in amazement. "He probably thinks they went up in flames with his tent."

Max smile to herself. "Payback's a bitch. Considering what White's done, I think he got off lightly."

That night Logan walked quietly around the sleeping people on his living room floor. He had gotten a small taste that weekend of what it was like to be them and for the life of him, he couldn't even begin to imagine how Max had made it this far.

The sound of somebody quietly sobbing caught his attention. Moving towards the sound, he made his way to the lab. It took him a while to find her in the dark, but in the corner of the room sitting on the floor, hugging her knees and crying her heart out was Jondy.

Carefully sitting down beside her on the floor, Logan put his good arm around the young woman's shoulders. They sat like that for about twenty minutes before the tears finally stopped.

Zane walked in moments later and found them. He quietly walked up to them and crouched down in front of them. Gently pushing the hair out of his sister's tear stained face, he watched her for a moment. She seemed so numb. She didn't even look up at him. Carefully he lifted her into his arms and walked out the room.

Logan followed them into the spare bedroom and watched Zane put Jondy to bed as though she were a fragile child. If it weren't so tragic, it would have looked amusing. Such a fierce looking man, tucking the tiny redhead into bed and kissing her on the forehead.

When Max came back from filling Original Cindy in, she found the two men sitting on the floor beside Jondy's bed watching her sleep. "How's she doing?" Max whispered as she squeezed in between Logan and Zane.

"I think she'll be better once she's got a good night's sleep. She's not going to get over this in one or two nights." Logan kissed Max's head. "She's made of strong stuff though, just look at her siblings."

Zane had been filled in on the funeral plans by Logan, once Jondy had fallen asleep. "I'll take her home tomorrow and stay with her until after the funeral in the weekend. I'm sure my boss won't mind. Krit's already cleared with his."

"We'll bring Joshua up with us." Max was relieved Jondy would have someone with her. "He wants to be there for Jondy."

Logan knew how Jondy felt. He had pretty much gone insane when Manticore had taken Max from him. "I guess the girls will keep her busy. Too much time on your hands can be deadly at a time like this."

That weekend they all gathered in San Francisco. After the funeral they stayed at the hotel Jondy and Devon had brought to live in.

Max watched Jondy tuck the girls in. Devon had been right, Jondy was a natural mother. They sat on the stairs together after everyone had settled in for the night.

"So how are you doing?" Max couldn't even begin to imagine how Jondy was coping. She didn't know what she would do if she lost Logan.

"Better." Jondy had never felt so exhausted before. "Julia has decided to move in to help with the girls. I think it makes her feel closer to Devon. Kera got a job as a teacher's aid. She wants to pay board to help out. Together we'll manage."

"It doesn't fill the gap though, does it." Max read between the lines.

Jondy managed a weak smile. "No. I don't think anything ever will." She glanced up the stairs towards the room she had put Max and Logan in. "Don't let that one go, Maxie. He's a keeper." She squeezed Max's hand when she blushed. "I'm gonna check on Joshua and then turn in."

"Goodnight." Max wondered into her room and watched Logan sleep. There were times especially in the last week when she wondered if she had been selfish caring for Logan. She couldn't bare for anything to happen to him.

Logan opened his eyes to find Max watching him. "Hey. Everything alright?" He reached out and pulled her into his arms.

Max snuggled closer. "It will be." This was where she felt safe. Tilting her head she leaned forward and kissed Logan gently. "My sister reckons you're a keeper." She teased him as she kissed his neck.

Logan chuckled. "It's good to know I have your sister's approval." He rolled Max onto her back so that he was looking down on her. "Jondy's gonna be alright you know. You X5 women are pretty tough." He had seen the strength in Jondy today when she was looking after Devon's mother and her adopted daughters.

"I know." Max knew he was right. "How about we stop talking about my sister and make the most of a weekend away from Seattle."

White slowly removed the bandages from his face. His wounds had begun healing quickly. He looked into the night sky for the first time in a week with both eyes. The cold empty look on Jondy's face was burnt into his memory. He had made a dangerous enemy in that one.

He had, had his people search for her but they had come up empty handed. White grinned to himself. "I always did love a challenge." One way or another he was going to find them all.

The End