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The riots outside of the Terminal City perimeter had lessened over the past month. Not enough to consider it safe to just walk in and out of the gate. There was still a news team reporting from the outside, making the whole situation sound worse than global warming. Zane sat inside the van he had brought after he had last returned from Seattle. He would be hard pressed getting into Terminal City without being spotted. The National Guard had posted men over the man hole covers as well as any entrances and exits. Zane wondered if they realized that they were probably protecting the Transgenics from the humans, more than the other way around. As Zane sat watching the scene outside of his van he dialed the number to Alec's cell phone. It was answered on the second ring. "Hey Alec. It's Zane. How's it going inside there?" Alec looked around him. "Well, I've had worse. I've also had better. Is Jondy with you?" He felt a twinge of guilt that he hadn't at least asked Zane how he was, before asking after the red head who filled his dreams. "No." Zane had suspected for a while that Alec had more than brotherly feelings towards his sister. "Why? Is everything alright in there?" Alec tried to cover his disappointment. "Yeah. We have a few pregnant transgenics in here and some of the kids seem to have the flu. We have people in here that know the basics in medicine. It's just it would have been nice to have someone with more than a basic knowledge, that's all. Where are you anyway?" The signal from Zane's cell was too clear for him to still be in Los Angeles. "Outside the gate." Zane grinned to himself. Alec had hidden his feelings well, but Zane knew what the reaction to his sister was so well, that he could pick it out a mile away. "Nice little circus you've got going on out here. I've got supplies in the van, but there's no way for me to get in without being spotted." The news of the transgenic kids having the flu worried him. Transgenics were supposed to be immuned to that sort of thing. "Where's Logan hanging out these days?" "At Sandeman's place, where Joshua was living." Alec was looking around for Max, thinking she might want to speak to her brother. "He's got a computer all set up so that we can speak to you over the monitor with the help of those eye camera things." "Cool." Zane would check in with Logan before he decided if he should call the others in or not. "Talk to you guys soon then." He switched off his cell phone and started the van. If he called the others in, the first thing they would have to get rid of, was the news van. Alec went looking for Max. He knew she would want to talk to Zane when he called back. He finally found her in the part of Terminal City they had turned into the medical ward. "Hey. Zane's in town." He saw the worried look on Max's face. "The kids aren't getting any better?" Max shook her head. "With the National Guard outside, we can't go out to bring medical supplies in." She figured Alec had some other reason for being there than checking up on the kids. "What's up with you?" "Zane's going to call back from Logan's." Alec gestured with his head towards the door. "I thought you'd want to say hi. Besides, he may be able to get the medical supplies you need. I think he has things like food and blankets already. He said he had supplies with him." Max followed Alec out the door. "If these kids don't get any better, we may have to call Jondy in." She didn't really want to put her siblings in more danger than they already were, by asking them to come to Seattle. "Jondy had the most access to up to date medical technology through Devon when he was alive." By the time Alec and Max got to the contact center in Terminal City, Logan and Zane were on the monitor. "Hey Big Brother. What brings you to the Transgenic Nerve Center?" Max smiled at her brother. "Nice beard." Zane chuckled. "Thanks Sis. I thought it would make it harder to recognize me. How am I doing? I think I freaked Logan out when I turned up on the door step." "Hey, cut me some slack." Logan joked. "You and your family don't exactly phone before you turn up." Zane took Logan's jesting as it was meant. "So Alec tells me you have a few sick kids in there and some mothers to be as well. How are you coping?" Max ran her hand over her face. "I don't know Zane. We have people here that have medical knowledge, but not enough to be able to tell us why transgenic kids that are supposed to be immuned to most illness', have the flu." "We have another problem." Alec added. "Even if we decide to risk bringing Jondy here, there's no way to get her in here. After we kicked White's butt last week, security was tightened." Zane considered what Alec had said for a moment before pulling out his cell phone. He knew his redheaded sister better than anyone despite, the bond Max and Jondy shared as twins. He smiled as his sister answered the phone. "Hey J. How would you feel about spending the long weekend in Seattle?" "What's wrong?" Jondy instinctively knew it wasn't Max that was the cause for concern. Krit and Syl had turned up that morning intending to spend the long weekend in San Francisco. "We can leave for San Francisco in an hour." "Here's the thing," Zane noticed Jondy said we not I. He also knew Jondy wouldn't risk bringing her children anywhere that they could get ill, which meant the we had to be one or more of their siblings. "Some of the kids in Terminal City have flu symptoms. Which is sort of strange considering they should be immuned." "So I guess I should pack my nurse's uniform." Jondy rolled her eyes. "Might be an idea." Zane grinned mischievously. "Can you bring something slutty to wear as well?" "I sense this is going to be a multiple wardrobe changing trip." Jondy felt someone tugging on her hand. "Hold on a sec Zane." She saw one of her adoptive daughters standing behind her. "What's the matter?" Maggie, Jondy's Irish daughter pointed to three cartons the girls had brought into the room. "We went through our clothes and toys and put the ones we don't use in the cartons. So since you're going to Seattle anyway, we thought you could take them for the transgenic kids." Jondy squeezed Maggie's hand. "That's very thoughtful of all of you." She returned her attention back to the phone call. "Zane, we'll be in the van. Do you need any more supplies?" Zane looked at Max on the monitor as he spoke to Jondy. "Well, I've got canned food, cartons of bottled water, blankets, bed rolls and a couple of first aid kits." Max listened to Zane's list. "We also need some gas for the generators. Maybe we can knock an alternative to the gas up if we can get our hands on a few car batteries." Zane relayed Max's request to Jondy. "When can you get here Sis?" He always got uneasy when his sister had to get through check points. "Probably first thing in the morning. I'll have to stop for the supplies at different points." Jondy always had a bag packed, so it wouldn't take her long to get ready. "See you soon." Zane finished up his call. "J will be here first thing in the morning. So I guess we'll see you then. Do me a favor Max. Have some of your more human looking Transgenics standing by in the morning. I may have an idea on how to keep an entrance into Terminal City clear." Max looked suspicious. "Want to let us in on your plan." Zane shook his head and grinned. "No. I want it to be a surprise." He flicked off the monitor before his sister could ask anymore questions. Turning to Logan, he chuckled. "I don't suppose you know where we can get our hands on some National Guard uniforms do you?" Logan grinned when he realized what Zane's plan was. "No, but I can find out." He pulled a chair up in front of the computer and started tapping away at the keyboard. Jondy walked confidently through the hospital corridors in the short nurse's uniform. "I am getting far too much use out of this outfit." She muttered into the set of coms she was wearing. "Yeah, well the sooner you find the supply closet, the sooner we can continue onto Seattle." Krit reminded his sister. "Syl's waiting on the North side of the building with your harness." Jondy finally found what she was looking for. "So what did you do to upset Syl and don't bother trying to deny it Big Brother. I can see Syl shooting daggers at you with her eyes." Syl's voice cut over the coms. "He never wants to go out. If Krit had his way, we'd stay in bed all day every day. All I wanted to do was go out dancing." Krit winced. "I was tired, I just feel like going out." It wasn't the truth, but he was too embarrassed to admit he had no idea how to dance. "You never want to go out." Syl sulked. "You just couldn't come up with a descent excuse this time." Jondy listened to their bickering as she pushed a loaded trolley down the corridor until she found an empty room. Making sure the door was locked behind her, Jondy made her way to the window and opened it. Syl lowered a back pack to Jondy from where she was floating just about her sister. Jondy loaded up the back pack and using the sheets off of the bed, made bundles and tied the rest of the supplies on to the rope. "Ok Krit." Jondy could see her brother waiting at the bottom of the rope. "Special delivery coming your way." Krit loaded the back pack and bundles into the van and waited for his sisters to descend down the front of the building. "J, Syl. You better hurry. I'm starting to get funny looks from passersby." "We're on our way." Jondy put her harness on and swung herself out the window, just as someone started banging on the door. Effortlessly, Jondy and Syl glided down the front of the building, detached themselves from the rope and jumped into the van Krit had already started. Krit waited for the van door to slam shut before flooring the gas. "Ok. I just need to make a quick stop to change the plates on the van and then we can head towards our first fuel stop." Jondy changed in the back of the van into a pair of demin jeans and a cobalt blue top. "I need to stop off at a couple of supermarkets as well. I couldn't risk stealing any antibiotics so we'll have to go with a natural antibiotic." Syl chuckled. "Don't you think people are going to get suspicious when you buy out the entire stock of dried sage?" Jondy smiled sweetly. "Not if there's more than one of us doing the buying." Krit smirked. "Nah, they'll just think we trying to smoke the stuff." Max sat on the roof of Terminal City's highest building watching the sun set. She wished Logan was sitting beside her. The romantic in him would love the way the sky turned such beautiful colors. She smiled to herself. She knew that Logan being the eternal optimist would tell her that they plenty of sunsets to watch together ahead of them. The unfortunate turn that their lives had taken was just a minor set back. Max wished she could just have something go right for her for a change. Max waited for a few minutes for the sun to finish setting before heading back to the sick children. When the children had first started to get ill, she had wondered if it had something to do with the water that White had contaminated a couple of weeks ago. After contacting Sebastian to see what he had found in the sample Logan had taken to him, she had hit a dead end. Although Sebastian had found traces of the bronchitis virus in the water, all of the Transgenics were immuned to such virus'. They were also immuned to the toxic waste that had been dumped in Terminal City over the years, but they had all decided it couldn't hurt to do a clean up. The waste had been contained in one particular area and fenced off. Despite the humans protests against the Transgenics, there were still a few homeless humans living in Terminal City. They were aloud to stay on the condition they helped out in the community. Mole joined Max as they walked through Terminal City. "So I hear we have supplies on the way. Any idea how they're going to get through the human barricade outside the fence." "Yeah, I've got a pretty good idea." Max kept looking straight ahead. "My brother's sent for the Manticore distraction. We should have the supplies in here by breakfast." Mole chuckled to himself. "What is this distraction going to do exactly? In case you haven't noticed, there's a lot of people out there as well as a news van. What could possibly distract them long enough to get a van load of supplies in here, unloaded and back out again?" Max shot him an icy glare. "My sister. Also my brother has a plan of his own. I get the impression Zane's going to find a way to get an opening for us, so that we can pick up our own supplies." Mole was impressed. "Sounds as though you have some pretty handy siblings." He held the door open for Max, then followed her inside the make shift hospital to check on the children. Zane lay dozing on Logan's sofa while Logan slept in the bedroom. He woke the instant his phone started ringing. Answering it quickly so that the ringing didn't wake Logan, Zane knew before he heard her voice, who would be on the other end of the phone. "Hey J. Where abouts are you?" "Heading to Joshua's." Jondy had taken over the driving so that Krit and Syl could get some sleep. "We should be there in about fifteen minutes." "Who's we?" Zane sat up and rubbed his eyes. He had only had an hour or so sleep once he had stolen some uniforms from the National Guard's headquarters. "Krit and Syl are with me." Jondy glanced at her sleeping siblings. "Syl's not talking to Krit at the moment. She says he never wants to go anywhere with her." Zane shook his head and chuckled. "I bet that made your trip so much more fun." He could just picture Jondy being trapped in a van with Syl sulking and Krit pleading his innocence and begging to be forgiven. "Yeah." Jondy shot back sarcastically. "I wish I could do this everyday. I'll see you soon." Zane hung up his phone and went to put the kettle on. They would need a few minutes for Jondy to work all the kinks out of her body after being stuck in the van for so long, before they headed to Terminal City. He thought it best not to wake Logan until his siblings got there. It would give the man a few more minutes sleep. True to her word Jondy walked in the door after picking the lock, fifteen minutes later. Krit and Syl walked in after her. The house looked a lot tidier than the last time they had all been there. Jondy rotated her neck a couple of times before accepting the cup of tea Zane handed her. "I love what Logan's done with the place. I gather he's still asleep." Zane nodded. "I'm not that eager to wake him. He's not what you call a morning person." "I know the feeling." Krit kissed the top of Syl's head forgetting that she was mad at him. "You got any coffee made?" Zane gestured with his head to the coffee machine. "Help yourselves." He sat down on the sofa watching Jondy as she stretched out all of her limbs. "I stopped by Terminal City when I got to Seattle. We're going to need you to do that distracting thing you do. We need enough time to be able to chuck some National Guard uniforms over the fence and borrow the news van." "No problem." Jondy paced back and forth like a tiger, too wired up from being in an enclosed space for too long. "Syl can go with Logan in your van. That should give Syl the chance to grab the news van while Logan throws the uniforms over the fence. You can drive my van while Krit and I are on the roof." Zane frowned slightly. "What are you and Krit going to be doing on the roof? And how much is Syl going to want to kill you for it?" Jondy smiled sweetly. "I'm going to teach Krit to dance. Now which room is Logan in?" She put her now empty cup down on the coffee table and walked into the room Zane was pointing to. Zane, Krit and Syl followed her, unsure of what she was going to do. Jondy stood silently beside Logan's bed for a couple of minutes before Logan's arm suddenly snaked out and pulled her down onto the bed. "Don't move anything." Jondy warned him. Obviously Logan had thought it was Max in the room with him, judging from the reaction he was having to Jondy. Zane flicked the light's on, struggling not to laugh at the scene in front of him, which he and his sibling could see even with the lights out. "Well, I guess that was better than my idea of how to wake Logan up." Logan blinked for a few seconds as his eyes got used to the light. Then he saw who the woman was in his arms. He had one arm cradling her back and the other around her legs. "Sorry Jondy. Didn't know you'd arrived." Krit chuckled as he reached out a hand to help Jondy off the bed. "You sure do now." Syl tossed Logan a shirt which was lying on a chair in the room. "Time to get up Logan. We have supplies to deliver." She giggled as she and Jondy walked out of the bedroom. "I was going to say rise and shine, but I see a part of him is already up." Her giggles turned into a full blown laugh when Jondy gave her a good natured shove. Lydsey Macintyre nudged the cameraman beside her. "Look. Another van load of protestors is arriving. How long do you think it will be before we get something worth filming?" Ronan had been a cameraman long enough to spot a young reporter waiting for her big break. Lydsey was more impatient than most of the others he had seen. As he was about to speak, he saw a young man climb onto the roof of the van. It had only just started to get light, so Ronan could only just make out the form of a woman joining the man on the roof. "This could be your big break now Lydsey." His jaw dropped as it became lighter and the woman's outfit could be seen. Krit looked at the outfit Jondy was wearing. "I thought Zane asked you to dress in something slutty, not sexy." Jondy was wearing a short black skirt, black knee high stiletto boots with two small buckles on the sides, a black fitted v neck top and a long black jacket. "I don't own anything slutty. This was the best I could do." Krit saw Syl move into position beside the news van. "So why am I up here with you J? Shouldn't I be round the back helping Logan throw those uniforms over the fence?" Jondy shook her head. "No, I need you here. Besides I'm going to get you out of trouble with Syl." Krit frowned. "How are you going to manage that?" He had, had a feeling Zane and Jondy were up to something while they had been traveling to Terminal City. Jondy smiled sweetly. "I'm going to teach you to dance." She stamped her foot signaling Zane to start the music before Krit could find a way of backing out. Music came blaring out of the van, waking anyone who had actually fallen asleep in the crowd. The R and B rhythm of 'Just a little' by Liberty X filled the air grabbing everyone's attention. Logan waited for the National Guard troops to turn to see what the commotion was, before climbing onto the roof of his van and throwing the uniforms over the fence. He, himself was dressed in one of the stolen uniforms, so he merely stood watching the show as the disguised transgenics leapt silently over the fence. Logan chuckled to himself at the sight of the mesmerized males in the crowd watching Jondy who was by now, completely visible in the light of day. The music flowed over the crowd as Jondy seductively moved her hips in time with the music. Krit followed his sister's movements nervously at first, but then got the general idea of what she was doing.
Sexy. Everything about you so sexy As the music faded, Krit lowered Jondy off of the roof of the van into Zane's waiting arms. Lydsey turned to Ronan to ask if he had got the dance on tape, only to find the news van missing. "What the hell is going on here? Did you get any of that on tape?" Ronan had switched the camera on, but hadn't noticed that the tape had been removed. "No. Looks like today isn't the day for your big break after all." He looked back over to where the roof top dancing had been and noticed that the dancers and the van had disappeared as well. "Seattle just keeps getting more and more strange." Logan walked up to the guards dressed in the same uniform as he and the transgenics were. "You guys ready for the next shift?" He was followed by some of the disguised trangenics. "Hell yes." One of the guards stepped forward. "You missed one hell of a show though." He slapped Logan on the back. "See ya tonight." Logan waited for the guards to disappear from sight before signaling the three vans. "Terminal City is open for business." He walked through the entrance after the vans, leaving a few of the disguised transgenics standing guard so that they wouldn't alert anyone's suspicions. Max, Alec and Joshua met them in the compound and started to help unload the vans. Max glanced at Logan. "Nice uniform." She couldn't help but notice how it showed off his muscles. Logan grinned at her. "Yeah, well your brother said you liked men in uniform." Zane shook his head chuckling. "No, what I actually said was, I wonder how long it will take Max to get you out of that uniform." Syl joined in the laughter, having forgiven Krit for not telling her why he wouldn't go dancing with her. "We were going to take bets, but Jondy has an unfair advantage of knowing the two of you too well." Krit helped his red headed sister out of the van where she had been changing back into jeans and a warmer top. "You know it's always pointless betting against Jondy. She has the best poker face." Jondy grabbed her medical bag and handed Alec a carton of bottled water and a paper bag full of sage. "That's right. Everybody was looking at my face while I was on the top of the van." She joked. "Now where are these sick kids?" "Alec will show you." Max was comfortably settled against Logan's chest with his arms around her waist. "Thanks for coming Jondy." "No problem." Jondy cast her sister a concerned look. "What don't you get out of here for a little bit Max? You look as though you could do with a break." "Thanks. I might take you up on that." Max nodded towards a couple of transgenics watching them. "If you need to get linked up to Sebastian just ask those two. I don't why, but I still get the feeling that the kids being ill has something to do with what White put in the water." Zane could see Max was worn out as well as Jondy had. "Don't worry about it Sis. We'll take this shift. Logan, why don't you take Max home. We'll call you if anything comes up." Logan nodded. "Sounds like a plan. Be careful though the police department has the hover drones passing over Terminal City pretty regularly. We don't want them to figure out one of their teams is actually been replaced with Transgenics." "No problem." Krit grinned. "Got a couple of rifles Syl and I can borrow? We'll soon stop the breach of privacy." Syl noticed the concerned look on Logan's face and nudged him towards the now empty van. "Don't ask. Just get Maxie out of here for a couple of hours." Logan decided it probably would be best if he didn't ask what Max's mischievous brother had in mind. Taking hold of Max's hand he led her to the van, determined to make the most of a couple of hours alone with her. Krit took Syl's hand and headed off to find a good place for target shooting. Zane got Jondy's attention. "I'm gonna get Sebastian linked through to our coms. Couldn't hurt to have the information about the contaminated water supply while you're checking the kids." Jondy nodded in agreement as she followed Alec. "I'll catch up with you later Zane." She noticed that Alec was incredibly quiet as they headed towards the hospital. "Are you alright Alec?" For a moment she thought he might be missing Asha. Alec nodded. "I'm fine. I'm glad you're here. I think Max was starting to panic about these kids getting ill." He was babbling, he knew it, but Jondy was the one that had always seen through his smart ass comments and sometimes changeable moods. Zane had always claimed that Jondy was completely unaware of the effect she had on men. He hoped that would be the case this time. He finally dared to look Jondy in the eyes and saw that it wasn't. Once again Jondy had been able to see through his act. "How long have you felt like this?" Jondy knew Alec would understand what she meant without her having to voice it aloud. She saw Alec shrug his shoulders and look anywhere but at her. "We'll talk about this later Alec. Now where are the children?" Alec sighed with relief. "This way." He walked up to a door and held it open for Jondy. He watched silently as Jondy checked the children. She had a way with children. They seemed to trust her instantly. "Any idea what's wrong with them?" Jondy nodded. "Yeah, but I want to see the results of the tests Sebastian did on the water that White contaminated." Alec grinned to himself. He could practically see Jondy's mind at work. "You still think it was something in the water like Max does. Why wouldn't White just poison us and wipe us out in one move?" Jondy headed back towards the door with Alec following her. "That's exactly what he would have done. All he would have to do is leak the news that some of the Transgenics were ill and therefore diseased. The general public outside the perimeter of Terminal City wouldn't think twice before bombing Terminal City in the hope that they would kill off the disease and the Transgenics with it." In a sick sort of way it all made sense. "Well the kids didn't drink the water, but some of them admitted they were playing in the general area we disposed of the water after it was contaminated. So how would it have still affected them?" That was the part that confused Alec. Jondy walked into the control center where Zane was talking to Sebastian on a monitor, trying to figure out how to patch him through to Jondy's coms. "They didn't need to drink the water. It could have been absorbed through their skin." She leaned over Zane's tattooed shoulder slightly and smiled at the face on the monitor. "Hi Sexy. I heard you found the bronchitis virus in the water." Sebastian's face lit up with the briefest hint of a smile. "I knew you only wanted me for my brain." His mechanical voice joked. "You think the virus has been altered to pass the transgenic immune system?" Jondy nodded. "That's what I was thinking alright. Can you bring up the test results on the screen?" "I think I can manage that for my favorite redhead." Sebastian always appreciated how Jondy treated him as though he was just like any other man. He never felt pitied or disabled when she spoke to him. Even though he knew she wasn't interested in being anything more than a friend, it was still nice that she made him feel special and in a good way. With a slight nod of his head, he activated his computer to bring the test results up. Jondy glanced through the test results, nodding her head occasionally. "Alright, I see what he's done. It's pretty much as I guessed. Thanks Sebastian. I'll go and get these kids started on antibiotics. Catch you later." "Anytime Jondy." Sebastian's mechanical voice replied before the monitor cut out. Alec followed Jondy again. "I didn't see any antibiotics when we unpacked the vans." "That's what the sage is for." Jondy pulled her hair into a ponytail and secured it with a scrunchie. "It's a natural antibiotic. You put a teaspoon of dried sage into a cup of boiling water and make tea with it. It tastes pretty awful and you shouldn't have more than two cups a day, cause it can strip the stomach lining. It does the job though." Alec chuckled to himself. "God, you're so sexy when you talk all medical." He suddenly realized he had said his thoughts out loud. "Ah I mean ...." He looked up and saw Jondy trying not to laugh. "I think we'd better go and cure those kids." Jondy couldn't resist teasing him. "So you really think my medical knowledge is sexy? I took you to be more of a leg man." Alec pulled Jondy into a hug. "That's right. Make fun of me when I unintentionally bare my soul to you." He had to laugh at his own behavior. "Come on. We have some kids to make better." Logan carried the two cups of coffee over to the sofa where he had left Max, only to find her fast asleep. Setting the cups down on the coffee table, he watched her sleep for a moment. It was a rare sight, Max sleeping. Usually Logan woke to find Max watching him sleep. Bending down, he scooped Max into his arms and carried her into the bedroom. Laying her gently on his bed, he untied her boot laces and slipped her boots off of her feet and put them on the floor. He removed her jacket and folded it and laid it on the chair next to the bed. He tucked her into the bed, careful not to disturb her. Kissing her forehead, Logan lay down on the bed next to Max. He hadn't got very much sleep the previous night, so he closed his eyes and fell asleep. Logan woke to find Max awake watching him. "I see we're back on track. I missed waking up to find you watching me. Did you get enough sleep?" Max moved closer. "Yeah. Thanks for putting me to bed. I see you still have your uniform on." Logan chuckled. "Well, I seem to remember Zane saying something about you wanting to remove it yourself. Who am I to deprive you of anything you can get some sort of pleasure out of." Max giggled. "Well, you are just the most giving man on the face of the earth." She quickly disposed of his jacket. "Well isn't this just like unwrapping Christmas presents." Three hours later Logan finally got out of bed to start dinner. Dressed in only a pair of sweatpants, he quickly threw together a casserole and put it in the oven. He heard footsteps on the front porch. Knowing Max's family were in town, he didn't take much notice when his visitor let themselves in. Turning around he found Asha standing by the door. "Asha. What are you doing here? Come to think of it, how did you know where to find me?" Asha shifted from one foot to the other. "I heard what happened to your apartment so I guessed you might be here. Especially after I saw Max on the news. So I guess she's staying at Terminal City." Max was listening from the bedroom. "I don't believe she's still hitting on my boyfriend." Max slipped on one of Logan's shirts. Logan wasn't impressed. "Sometimes Max stays at Terminal City, sometimes she doesn't. Somehow I don't think you're here to ask how Max is doing?" Max chose that moment to make her appearance, dressed only in Logan's shirt. "Sweetie, have you got anything to drink?" She walked up behind Logan and put her arms around his waist and rested her chin on his shoulder. "Oh, hi Asha. What brings you here?" Asha felt her heart plummet. She had missed out again. "Just came by to say hi. I thought maybe Logan had some 'Eyes Only' work for the S1W. But since he hasn't I guess I'll leave you to it." She quickly exited the house before she could embarrass herself any further. Logan rested his hands over Max's. He waited until he heard Asha descend down the front steps before speaking. "You heard her from the bedroom didn't you?" He turned slightly to kiss the top of her head. "Yeah. I couldn't resist." Max looked up into Logan's sparkling blue eyes. "Sorry. I know you only think of her as a friend, but Asha was making more than a friendly visit." Logan snickered. "I hadn't noticed. You see my sexy girlfriend was waiting in the bedroom for me." He glanced at the closed door. "I guess she was lying to Alec all this time." Max raised and lowered her eyebrows. "Yeah, well I think Alec worked that one out a while ago. Haven't you noticed that Alec has been paying a lot of attention to Jondy and not Asha?" Logan turned so that he was facing Max. "Yeah, but most guys pay a lot of attention to Jondy. You, yourself told me that Jondy was the Manticore distraction. Do you think Jondy knows?" Max shrugged her shoulders. "I'm not sure. Normally I'd say no. With most guys Jondy doesn't notice the attention she's getting from them. With Alec though, she's always been able to see past his smart ass attitude. When she looks at Alec, she doesn't really see Ben like I do." Logan pulled Max close. "Well that's because Jondy never saw Ben after you all escaped. She's only ever know Ben as the child he was." "Maybe that's for the best." Max nuzzled Logan's neck. "At least she has a chance of being happy. So when's dinner going to be ready?" "You keep nuzzling my neck like that, dinner is going to burn." Logan heard the timer on the oven go off. Reluctantly, he untangled himself from Max's arms and started to dish the food out. "So should I expect any of your family to join us for dinner?" At that moment Krit and Syl walked through the door hand in hand. "Got anything to eat?" Krit announced, totally oblivious to his sister and Logan's half dressed state. Logan and Max burst out laughing. "Great timing Krit." Max started laying the table. "So how come you didn't go with Krit and Syl?" Alec sat down beside Zane. Zane watched Jondy show Joshua how to take care of the children. "I didn't really feel like sitting at a table with Krit and Syl unable to keep their hands off of each other and Max and Logan staring into each others eyes." He turned to look at Alec. "So have you told Jondy how you feel about her?" Alec shook his head. "No. She saw through me as usual. Am I really that obvious?" "No." Zane chuckled. "It's just Jondy and I have always been close. So it's easier for me to pick out people's reactions to her. With Max, it's a twin thing." His face became serious. "She's not one of your one night stands, Alec. If you hurt her, I'll kill you." Alec nodded, he understood. "You'll have to stand in line behind Max. I know Jondy's different. I guess I have known since the first time I met her." Zane went back to watching his sister. "I hope you're good at long distance relationships then. Jondy's not going to just move you in with her. It's probably going to take time." Alec saw Jondy glance their way. "No problem. I've got time." It was decided over dinner that Krit and Syl would stay at Original Cindy's place. Logan would make a quick trip back to Terminal City for the changing of the guards and then come back home where Max would spend the night with him. Jondy and Zane would stay and keep an eye on the sick children in Terminal City. Zane sat against the wall with Jondy seated in between Joshua and Alec in the dark. The sick children had started breathing more easily, a sure sign that the antibiotic herb was working. "Hey J." Zane whispered so that he didn't disturb the sleeping children. "Do you remember that night you confronted Zack? He was so shocked that you dared to speak to him like that." Jondy smiled to herself. "Yeah, I remember. I also remember that you wanted to be back in LA cause you had a hot little blond waiting for you." Zane chuckled. "Well Angelica sure wasn't waiting for me when I got back. Can't really blame her. After all, I told her I was just going to get some milk and came back three months later." "Did you remember the milk?" Joshua had his arms around Jondy, keeping her warm. Zane grinned at the canine man. "Funny, that's what she said just before she dumped me." Alec chuckled at Zane's honesty. "So what happened that night with Zack? I take it, he was the self appointed leader." Jondy flashed back to that night as she told the story. It was as clear to her as though it had happened yesterday. Canada was always the place they had arranged to run to if Lydecker caught up with them. But that night they were a few siblings short of a family. "What do you mean Max isn't coming?" Zane glanced at Jondy, who was watching Zack pace in front of them. Her expression gave nothing away. "At least tell us if she's alright." "She fine." Zack stopped pacing to glare at his brother. "She refuses to leave Seattle. You know how stubborn she is." "She's not the only one." Tinga moved to stand beside Jondy. "It's because of that guy that helped us last night, isn't it. You're jealous of him." Zack spun around to face his sisters. "He'll get her caught. I don't understand why she won't leave him. Can't she see, he's only putting her in more danger." "She won't leave the man she loves." Jondy finally spoke up. She saw Krit and Syl arriving behind Zack. "It's not that you think this guy will put Max in danger that's bothering you Zack. It's the fact she chose him, not you." "You don't know what you're talking about Jondy." Zack surprised himself by snarling at his sister. She had always been the shy quiet one when they were little. He had never thought he'd see the day she'd stand up to him. "Like hell I don't." Jondy's blue eyes flashed with anger. "You've never thought of Max like a sister. You're in love with her. But Zack, she's not in love with you. You'll never be more than a brother to her." Her voice softened slightly. "If you really love her, then let her be with someone who makes her happy. Let her go." "So what does Max's boyfriend do?" Having come in at the end of the conversation, Krit was unaware this was a delicate subject. "He saves the world." Zack muttered before storming off into the woods. Syl was confused. "Max's boyfriend is a missionary?" Alec chuckled as Jondy finished the story. "Well Syl wasn't far wrong. So you didn't even know Logan's name when you came to Seattle to find Max, Jondy?" Jondy shook her head. "No. I had no idea who Logan Cale was, even when I broke into his apartment. All I knew was, we had to get Max out of Manticore and Max sent me to get him." Joshua gently stroked Jondy's hair. "You made a new friend that night. Not a bad night's work." Zane shook his head in disbelief. "She was also in heat, Joshua and got shot that night from what I hear." "Hey, Jondy never does anything by halves." Alec joked. Logan sat on the carpet in front of the sofa with Max in his arms. So much had happened to them over the past few months, that it was nice to be able to just sit in front of the fire holding each other. "Do you ever think of the future?" Max pondered his question for a moment. "Not a lot. I guess I've been looking over my shoulder for so long, waiting for someone to drag my ass back to Manticore, that I got used to living in the here and now." She looked up at him. "Why?" Logan shrugged his shoulders. "Just wondering. I mean, we never talked about what we wanted out of our relationship until some of the choices were taken away." Max knew he was remembering when Max had lost their child that she hadn't even know she was pregnant with. "You want kids?" Logan kissed the top of Max's head. "Yeah, but I always thought that when we were ready to have kids, we'd have to adopt. Jondy told me there was a strong possibility that due to my injuries and the medication I took to get me back on my feet, I might not be able to father any children. I guess it just occurred to me that's probably a subject I should have discussed with you." Max giggled. "It's probably just as well you talked to Jondy. At the time I probably would have freaked if you had even brought the subject up." Logan was relieved that Max wasn't freaking about the subject being brought up now. "There are plenty of kids out there that need a good home. When we're ready, how many do you want?" Max looked at Logan in disbelief, trying not to laugh at the same time. "You're speaking like we can just pick children up like grocery items. Still, I wouldn't mind one or two. I don't think I could cope with fourteen children like Jondy does." Logan chuckled. "One or two kids sounds good to me." At the same time he was a little disappointed they couldn't have kids of their own, the natural way. But White had left Max with injuries that made that impossible. Max wondered if her transgenic DNA may have reversed the damage White had done to her. After all, it had with Jondy. It couldn't hurt to ask Jondy to look into the possibility for her. "I need to catch up with Jondy before she goes back to San Francisco. How do you feel about having a family dinner here tomorrow night?" "You're going to cook?" Logan couldn't resist teasing Max. Max burst out laughing. "Not if I ever want to see my siblings again. You don't mind doing the cooking do you?" Logan shook his head. "Of course not. In fact I was wondering if they would mind all coming back in November for Thanksgiving. It should be safe enough for Jondy to bring the children with her. I was thinking we could have it at Terminal City. It would probably be a new experience for most of the Terminal City family." Max turned and sat astride Logan's lap. "That's a great idea." She couldn't believe how considerate Logan was. "Thanks for doing so much for my family." Logan smiled at his gorgeous girlfriend. "Hey, I consider them my family too. Besides, I can never repay everything your family has done for me." Jondy sprung into his mind. He had never met anyone who had gone out of their way to help him walk again and then cure the retro virus Manticore had given Max. Through it all she had never asked for anything in return. Max watched the emotions flicker across Logan's face. "They consider you family as well, you don't have anything to make up for." She saw the surprise on Logan's face. Giggling she kissed Logan on the nose. "You have a lousy poker face." Logan rolled his eyes and chuckled. "I think you just know me too well." He looked into Max's deep brown eyes. "Have I told you lately that I love you?" Max reached out and stroked Logan's cheek. "Not in last five minutes. It's not as though I'd forget. I love you too." She leaned and gently brushed Logan's lips with hers. "Of course I wouldn't complain if you showed me how much you love me." Logan rolled them both onto the floor. "I never could refuse you." Afterwards, Max snuggled closer to Logan. That had been so much better than the frantic tearing off of clothes that they had taken part in that morning, several times. Not that she had any complaints about Logan's performance then, either. "Wow, you love me that much, huh?" Logan chuckled. "With all my heart, soul and body." Alec woke to find himself using Joshua's shoulder as a pillow. Zane was asleep in the same position on Joshua's other shoulder. Jondy had disappeared. For a moment Alec panicked, then he remembered that Jondy didn't need the amount of sleep that they did. Rubbing the sleep out of his eyes, Alec searched the room looking for Jondy. Finally he saw her rocking a child to sleep. Careful not to disturb Joshua and Zane, Alec stood and walked towards Jondy. "How's she doing?" He nodded to the child in her arms. Jondy tucked the child back into bed. "She'll be fine. They all will." She stood and stretched. "Want to take a walk with me?" Alec nodded. "Sure." He followed her out into the bleak night. "I guess you want to have that talk." Jondy smiled. "I guess I do. How long were you going to stay silent about your feelings?" Alec shrugged his shoulders. "I figured you never got over Devon. Then I figured that you only saw me as a brother and I managed to convince myself that, that was better than nothing." Jondy shook her head. "I know you won't settle for second best Alec. That's one of the reasons it didn't work with Asha." Alec put his arm around Jondy's shoulders and laughed. "Gee, I thought it was Asha lusting after Logan. The last fight we had, I told her if Logan didn't have Max, he always had you and Syl to fall back on." Jondy stopped walking. "I think Max is it for Logan. I seriously doubt anyone would have a chance with him if he didn't have Max. I'm glad they found each other." Alec nodded. "So what is it about their little drama that you find so romantic?" He always felt Logan and Max made things too complicated. Jondy turned slightly to face Alec. "I think the fact that no matter what happens, they are always there for each other. Even when one of them is pushing the other away, they still know they can turn to each other when things get rough." Alec looked into Jondy's brilliant blue eyes. "You think we could have that?" He saw the unspoken question floating in the blue pools of her eyes. "I mean, I know we have complications of our own. Getting involved with you involves at least fourteen other people. But I figure we can take things slow and work through the big decisions later, together. Just, let's not take as long as Max and Logan." Jondy smiled up at him. "You have this all worked out, don't you?" Alec leaned closer to her. "Actually, I'm confused as hell, but this feels right." He gently brushed her lips with his. Pulling back slightly, he waited for a moment for her to push him away. Instead Jondy pulled him back down and kissed him passionately back. Joshua watched from the shadows, smiling to himself. "Jondy and Alec getting busy." He glanced at Zane who was standing next to him. Zane patted Joshua on the back. "I think they have a long way to go before they get to that point." "But Jondy won't be lonely anymore." Joshua pointed out. Zane grinned at Joshua. "Maybe we can find somebody, someday so we won't be lonely anymore either." Joshua chuckled. "I think Doctor Shakar likes you. Maybe you should pay her a visit before you go back to LA." Zane had been thinking the same thing. "Maybe I will." He cast his sister one last look before heading back to check on the children. He just hoped that Alec treated Jondy with the love and respect that she deserved. The following night, they all sat around the dinner table. Jondy thought Logan's Thanksgiving idea was fantastic. "Just let us know what you need before we leave home and we'll pick it up on the way." Zane nodded in agreement. "I saw a building that looked as if it used to be a bakery in Terminal City. If you can get it up and running, it should be perfect to cook a few turkeys." Logan hadn't considered how he was going to cook everything. "Well, that solves one problem. Still we don't have to work everything out tonight." Joshua nudged Max. "So you're really staying at Terminal City? I thought you'd stay here with Logan." As much as Max wanted to do just that, it didn't seem fair. "No. Logan is still working on turning his Grandmother's house into a recreation center. Besides, I convinced all those transgenics to stay at Terminal City. I'd feel as though I had made one set of rules for them and another for me." Krit considered his sister's statement. "So get Terminal City up and running so that it's a proper city. If it's less like a dump and more like what exists outside the fences, then maybe it won't matter so much if you live here with Logan or if he lives there with you.' Syl kissed Krit's cheek. "You have it all worked out, don't you? What about those programs that are loaded into the hover drones to show up any transgenics? That's your biggest problem outside the Terminal City perimeter." Zane shook his head. "I've been working with Mole on a device to jam the frequency that the hover drones use to run that program. We think we have something that will do the job." "The children should have fully recovered in the next day or two." Jondy added. "So there's another problem crossed off your list." Max watched her family chatting over the dinner table. It should always be like this. Not humans verses transgenics. She reached beneath the table and took hold of Logan's hand. Jondy had been watching Max out of the corner of her eye, reading her sister's expression. "Max, can you spare an hour to go visit the hospital with Zane and I. I want to check that implant and Zane wants to check out Beverly Shankar." "Jondy!" Zane turned bright red. "You're not going to greet her like that are you?" Jondy rolled her eyes. "No. I thought about standing at one end of the hospital and screaming 'Zane has the hots for Doctor Shankar.'" She looked teasingly at her brother. "What? Too subtle?" Zane returned her teasing look. "So how long were you and Alec tonsil wrestling last night?" Jondy stood and grabbed Zane's hand. "Don't know. I wasn't timing it. Joshua was. How long were we tonsil wrestling Joshua?" "Two hours, forty minutes and twenty five seconds." Joshua stated. "Then they came up for air and it was another hour and a half before we needed to get Jondy to check on one of the children." Krit and Syl looked at each other, unaware that there was anything between Jondy and Alec. Before they could say anything Jondy, Zane and Max had walked out the door. Logan laughed at the stunned look on Krit and Syl's face. "They only just happened this weekend. Don't worry, I wouldn't have noticed either if Max hadn't pointed it out." "Oh, well I feel better now." Krit chuckled. "I thought I hadn't noticed before cause I was too busy getting Syl to stop being mad at me." Syl gave an unladylike snort. "You could have avoided all that by just telling me you couldn't dance. What the hell was with the bump and grind show on the roof of the van yesterday?" Alec shook his head in disbelief. "First you're mad at Krit because he won't take you out dancing. Then you're mad at him cause he didn't tell you he couldn't dance. Now you're mad because he learnt to dance from your sister. Is this some weird condition you have?" Logan and Joshua silently cleared the table and started the washing up. They worked quietly side by side while the other three bickered in the background. At Metro Medical Jondy sat looking at the x-rays with Max beside her. "We still can't risk removing that implant at the moment. How are your seizures?" Max shrugged her shoulders. "I haven't had any for the last few months. I take it, I'm not cured of them though." "Afraid not. I'm working on it though." Jondy pointed to a second set of x-rays. "Now on this second matter, you're right. Your feline DNA is mending the damage your body suffered a year ago. But you still have a way to go." Max let out a pent up breath. "So children are still out. But not indefinitely." Jondy smiled at her sister. "Are you and Logan thinking about having kids?" "We discussed it." Max blushed. She quickly changed the subject. "How's Zane doing with Beverly?" Jondy glanced over her shoulder as she began collecting up the x-rays. She could see her brother through the office window. "Let's put it this way, I think we're going to have someone extra with us at Thanksgiving." Max turned to see what Jondy was talking about. She shook her head as she chuckled at the sight of Zane kissing the beautiful Doctor. "He certainly doesn't waste anytime, does he?" Jondy stuffed the x-rays into her purse. "Not our Zane. He sees what he wants and goes and gets it. It must be nice to be that confident about yourself." Max nodded in agreement. "I think Manticore gave that trait to the males and didn't have enough left over for the females." Jondy giggled and nudged her sister. "We manage though." She tapped on the window. "Zane, we've gotta go." She rolled her eyes when Zane, still kissing the Doctor, waved her away. "Now." The following morning Max headed back to Terminal City after seeing her siblings off. They had accomplished a lot that weekend between them. The children were back on their feet, almost fully recovered. The stolen news van was being used to block the transgenic seeking program in the hover drones. An escape route had been opened so that Max and the others could come and go as they pleased, without anyone knowing the Transgenics still walked outside the Terminal City fences. Work had already begun inside Terminal City to change it back into the fully functional city it had once been. For the first time in a while, Max was actually looking forward to the holidays. Life was looking pretty damn good.
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