"Here We Go Again"
by Kirsten Tapp

Disclaimer:

Dark Angel doesn't belong to the author, but to James Cameron, etc. The characters of Julia, Kera, Devon, Jondy's children, Tek, Rebecka, Ewen and Corban however do belong to the author. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary:

The South Africans kidnapped Logan in an elaborate scheme to get Jondy. The odds of the X5 not getting out of this trap are higher, when Max finds out Lydecker is behind the plan to catch Jondy.

Timeframe:

After Freak Nation, follow up story to Thanksgiving

Rating:

PG

Category:

Action/Adventure, Drama, Romance


Christmas was just around the corner. It was the first one spent in Terminal City for the Transgenics. Max sat in the South side garden that Logan had put together with a bit of help from their friends. All of the winter blooms were out, which helped brighten the dark dreary day. As Max pulled her coat closer around her, the engagement ring Logan had put on her finger sparkled at her. She still couldn't believe that she and Logan were engaged.

"Penny for your thoughts Boo." Original Cindy sat down on the bench beside Max. She took hold of Max's hand. "That ring sure does sparkle pretty."

Max beamed at her friend. "I still can't believe I'm engaged. It seems so normal and that's something I never thought I'd ever get to be."

"You excited?" Original Cindy had never seen her friend so happy. "Hell, have two even set a date? Cause I gotta tell ya, I ain't wearing no lavender bridesmaids dress."

Max laughed at her friend. "Yes, I'm excited. No, we haven't set a date and you have to be my maid of honor, not just a bridesmaid. And you're right, I don't see you in lavender anymore than I can see Jondy in pink."

"Speaking of sister girl," Original Cindy recalled how tense things had been between the Manticore twins at Thanksgiving. "Have you spoken to Jondy lately?"

"Yeah." Max's mood dimmed slightly. "Alec headed to San Francisco this morning. I think Jondy's still a little mad with me. I guess I'm hoping Alec can change that."

Original Cindy could hear the hesitation in her friends voice. "What? You don't think Alec can help? Jondy can't still be that mad?"

Max shook her head. "No, it's not that. Jondy knows me better than anyone. She knows I didn't mean everything I said at Thanksgiving. She still has every right to feel a little hurt though."

"Then what's the problem?" Original Cindy was confused. She had never seen two sisters as close as Max and Jondy were. She would hate to see anything change that.

"I tried to warn Alec, but he'd already left and his cell phone is switched off." Max started to worry slightly. "Jondy is going into heat. Don't ask how I know. Julia and Kera usually take over looking after the children when she goes into heat, while Jondy works on cures for the seizures and us going into heat. She's only ever gone with the flow of her heat cycles twice and one of those times she got shot."

"I still don't see what the problem is." Original Cindy figured Alec could probably help Jondy through her heat cycle. Which is why she couldn't understand why Max was so worried.

Max tried to explain her concerns more clearly. "Do you remember how bad I got when you first found out about my heat cycles. I mean, when you really found out and you knew what I really was." Her friend nodded. "Now imagine what I would have been like if I had only ever given into my cycles twice in my entire life."

Original Cindy began to get the picture. "Damn. So Alec gonna get one hell of a surprise when he gets to San Francisco. Lucky he's not one of us mere mortals, otherwise sister girl would probably kill him."

Julia hurried down the stairs to answer the knocking on the door. Thank goodness she had only been on the first floor of the hotel. She wasn't really surprised to find Alec on the doorstep as he had been coming to San Francisco a lot. "Come in Alec. Jondy's working in her lab. She's going through that chemical imbalance thing again." They still hadn't explained the X5s heat cycles properly to the children.

"I know." Alec had been able to smell Jondy's scent from outside the building. "How curious are the children going to be if I disappear with their mother for two to three days?"

Julia shut the door behind Alec. "Kera and I usually try to keep the children in another part of the hotel, so I doubt they'll notice. Just try not to break too much." Julia smiled at Alec as she headed back upstairs.

Alec headed for the lab which was in the basement. He had barely got to the door before Jondy's arm reached out and dragged a shocked Alec inside.

Logan walked around the almost finished Emily Cale recreation center. Things were really coming together. He was beginning to feel that he had been neglecting Max since Thanksgiving to work on the recreation center. He knew she understood why he had been so busy, but he still felt guilty. He couldn't remember the last time they had been apart for more than a couple of nights.

Max had been the one to suggest that she stayed at Terminal City, while Logan stayed in Sandeman's house. Logan had to admit, whilst he didn't like the idea of being away from Max, he was working long days and going home exhausted. With Max not needing very much sleep, he could see her getting bored when all Logan wanted to do was sleep. He would make it up to her somehow. Christmas was coming up, maybe they could do something special then.

Sketchy stumbled into the foyer jolting Logan from his thoughts. "Hey Logan. Got a package for you. It's been sent in from LA."

"Thanks Sketch." Logan signed for the package and gave Sketchy a generous tip. "It must be from Zane." Although Logan knew quite a few people in Los Angeles, Zane was the only person he could think of who would send him anything. Noticing that Sketchy was looking at the parcel with great curiosity, Logan sat down on the stairs and began to open it.

Sketchy was confused when he saw the contents of the parcel. "Why would Max's brother send you tile samples?"

Logan grinned. "Because I was complaining at Thanksgiving that I couldn't source this particular tile and Zane must had heard me."

Sketchy seem to have lost interest now that he knew what was inside the parcel. "Well, I've gotta go. Normal's in one of his moods where he expects us to actually do some work. See ya later."

"See ya Sketch." Logan waved good bye. He would have to get hold of Zane to ask his future brother-in-law if he could get enough tiles so that the pool area could be finished.

After a quick phone call to Zane, Logan let the building foreman know he'd be out for a couple of hours and headed for Terminal City.

After greeting the disguised Transgenics at the gate, he went looking for Max. He found her waling around an old building that looked as though it may have once been a grocery store.

Max beamed as she saw Logan walk into the building. "Well look who decided to grace us with his presence. The great Logan Cale took time out of his busy schedule to see his finance."

Logan chuckled at Max's teasing as he kissed her hello. "I'm sorry I haven't been around a lot lately. I think the recreation center will be opened on schedule though."

"That's good." Max turned so that she was leaning back against Logan's chest with his arms around her waist. "Maybe then I can get a bit more of your time."

Logan frowned. "Is everything alright?" He knew Max could handle just about anything by herself and when it came to fighting, better than him. There was something in her voice though.

"Yeah. I just miss you that's all." Max wondered if she should tell Logan that, thanks to her altered DNA, there was a possibility she would be able to have children if she continued healing. She wasn't sure that she wanted to get his hopes up.

Logan looked down at Max's face. "I miss you too, but there's something else isn't there?" He could see it in Max's eyes, there was something she was holding back.

Max mentally scolded herself. Logan knew her too well not to be able to pick up she was keeping something from him. "You remember how we were told that I couldn't have children after White ran over me with a truck?" Logan nodded. "Well, Jondy thinks my funky DNA may be healing me and that sometime in the future kids might be a possibility."

"But not at the moment." Logan tried not to get too excited. "You didn't want to tell me incase you didn't completely heal?"

"Pretty much." Max admitted. "That and my transgenic doctor is still a little mad about something I said at Thanksgiving when I was feeling sorry for myself."

Logan nuzzled Max's neck. "I'm sure if you turned up on Jondy's doorstep, she wouldn't turn you away. If you want somebody to hold your hand while you grovel, I could take a couple of days off and I know the crew at the mansion would enjoy not having me breathing down their necks."

Max giggled. "Thanks for the offer and I might take you up on it in a few days. Alec's with Jondy at the moment and seeing as she's in heat, I'm not too keen to visit."

Logan realized if they visited Max's sister at the moment, they wouldn't see very much of her or Alec. "Well, we'll make it next weekend then. That way it will actually be safe for me to be in the same room with your sister."

Max turned and wrapped her arms around Logan's waist. "When do I get a weekend, where I get you all to myself?" She had known when Logan took on changing his Grandmother's mansion into a recreation center that they wouldn't get much time together. Somehow knowing that and actually living with the reality of being apart was so different.

Logan chuckled. "Well I have a couple of hours right now." He couldn't think of a better way to spent them, than with Max.

Jondy and Alec lay on the floor of her lab breathing heavily. Jondy frantically tried to control her feline side. "You should have told me you were going to visit. I could have warned you about this. Are you alright?"

Alec nodded. "Yeah. I wanted to surprise you. What are you so worried about? I have been with an X5 in heat before. It was practically part of the drill at Manticore." He had to admit to himself though, that none of his breeding partners had ever been as aggressive as Jondy had just been. It actually frightened him a little considering Jondy was usually the shy quiet one.

"Sorry about the scratches and the bite marks." Jondy fought the urge to jump Alec again, but her hormones were fighting her back.

"They'll heal." Alec could see she was fighting to stay in control. "No offense, but how did you get through this when Devon was alive."

Jondy gave an unladylike snort. "Trust me, it's a really big turn off when the guy you're groping would rather sleep with another guy than you. Plus I took a lot of cold showers."

Alec sat up slowly, his whole body aching from being slammed up against various pieces of furniture. "You mean to tell me that you've never ...."

Jondy shook her head. "Only once did I ever follow my screwed up hormones. Twice if you count the time I got shot by Edward. I heard that Edward couldn't walk for a couple of weeks after I'd finished with him the first time."

Alec could quite easily believe that. His own body was thanking him and cursing him at the same time. "I guess we'd both better get into a cold shower." He quickly pulled his jeans on while Jondy dressed.

Jondy nodded as she tugged her own clothes on. "I should have warned you about the down side of fighting the heat cycles. I just wasn't expecting to see you this week."

Alec nodded that he understood. "It's alright. We'll find a way to work through this." He squeezed her hand. The truth was, it scared the hell out of him to see her so out of control.

Jondy looked up at Alec. "You'd better get me in that cold shower. Right now."

Logan made sure nobody saw him leaving Terminal City and made his way to his car. Despite his Grandmother leaving him a lot of money, Logan had kept the Aztec. That car had seen he and Max through a lot and at the moment he couldn't bare to part with it. As he approached his car, he saw an African man leaning against it. "Excuse me. Can I help you?"

The man pulled a gun out of his pocket. "Actually, I think you can. We're looking for an X5 and I think you can help us find her."

"An X what?" Logan decided his best bet was to play dumb until he found out what the man wanted. "And who's us?" He turned slightly and saw he was surrounded. "Oh, that's us."

"What do you want us to do with him Zeak?" The man holding the gun asked somebody behind Logan.

"Take him back to the base." Zeak moved into Logan's view. "When his girlfriend comes to the rescue, we'll catch her as well. It's only a matter of time before her sister shows up. We'll just offer her a trade, her services for her sister and her sister's boyfriend."

"I think you've got the wrong guy." Logan decided to stick with the bluff for the moment. "I don't have a girlfriend, so I guess that lets her sister out of the picture."

Zeak grinned at Logan. "We know who you are Mr Cale. We have it on very good authority that you know a number of the X5's, especially the one we are looking for."

Logan knew immediately who the South African was talking about. "How is Donald Lydecker?" He had checked the safe house that Lydecker had been staying in a few weeks ago. It was obvious he had left and not recently. Logan had assumed that White's conclave buddies had tracked Lydecker down and he had run. Now it seemed Lydecker had gone straight to the South Africans when the coast was clear.

"Eager to see you." Zeak gestured towards the car he had waiting. "It seems Deck thinks quite highly of you. Just as well for you, otherwise you'd already be dead."

"Lucky me." Logan muttered as he walked towards the car. Keeping his cell phone out of sight, he quickly sent a text message to Max, knowing that his cell phone would probably get taken off of him.

Joshua glanced over at Max. "Little Fella. What's that beeping noise?" He had heard the noise coming from her direction.

Max listened for a moment but couldn't hear anything. Then it occurred to her that Jondy might send her a text message. "It's my phone." The caller ID confused her for a moment. "It's from Logan."

"Why would Logan send you a message?" Joshua had seen Logan leave a few minutes ago. "He's only just given you your phone back. Is he testing it to make sure it's working?"

"I guess so." Max pushed a button on the phone so that the text message play across her cell phone screen. "Damn it. The South Africans have got Logan. It's a trap to catch Jondy." The last part of the message made her blood run cold. "Lydecker's behind it."

Mole walked in as Max was reading the text message. "I though Lydecker betrayed Manticore. Why would he get involved with the South Africans? Aren't they working along the same lines as Manticore?"

"Yeah." Max was running through a possible plan in her head. "They want Jondy for her medical knowledge as well as her DNA. Could be Lydecker wants to build a better Manticore. After all, he knows what works and what doesn't."

"Then why do they need Jondy at all?" Joshua was quite distressed that Jondy might be in danger. "And why would they take Logan to get to her?"

Max hadn't really thought of that until now. Why had they taken Logan. "Ok, let's think this through. First of all, Lydecker knows where Jondy lives. So why doesn't he head straight to San Francisco."

Joshua shook his head. "Lydecker only knows Jondy lives in San Francisco. He doesn't know her exact location. She made sure he was blindfolded when he was brought to San Francisco and when she sent him home. Jondy also made sure Lydecker was kept in the parts of the hotel that had the windows boarded up."

Mole grinned. "That's pretty smart. Your sister obviously never trusted him."

"Just the same, I think I'll call her and get her to relocate." Max wouldn't put it past Lydecker to have found a way to discover where she was. She quickly dialed her sister's number. She was surprised when Alec answered the phone not Julia or Kera. "Hey Alec. Why are you answering the phone? I though you'd be otherwise occupied."

"Yeah, thanks for warning me about that." Alec collapsed on the sofa. "Jondy's in the shower if you want to speak to her." He noticed the children had started to gather around him, their faces filled with curiosity.

"I didn't know Jondy was in heat until you had left." Max hastily explained. "Besides, I did try to reach you on your cell phone."

Alec reached into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone. "Sorry. It looks as though I forgot to switch it back on. What's wrong? You sound panicked."

"The South Africans have Logan." Max was trying not to panic. "It looks as though Lydecker's involved. Logan managed to get a text message through it me, but I figure they'll probably take his cell phone off of him soon."

Alec followed Max's train of thought. "You think this is an elaborate scheme to get to Jondy. If Lydecker is involved, he's been here, so he may be able to reveal her location. I'll get everybody moved right away."

"Thanks." At least that was one thing off of Max's mind. "I figure Lydecker's probably told the South Africans that Devon's dead, so Jondy is their last shot at reviving Manticore or something just like it."

"Don't worry. I've got things covered here." Alec wasn't sure how he was going to cope with Jondy and move the entire family. "Let us know when you find out where they're keeping Logan."

"I will." Despite the urgency of the situation, Max couldn't resist asking. "Is Jondy still mad at me?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "She's not exactly mad at anyone at the moment. I'll get her to call you once we've relocated. Bye." He hung up the phone. "Did you get all that J?" He knew his girlfriend would have used her enhanced hearing once the phone had started ringing.

"Yeah." Jondy walked into the room wearing a bathrobe. "Alright everybody. You know the drill." She had another property in San Francisco in case of an emergency.

The children quietly moved as a unit. It was obvious they had done this before. Alec waited for the children to leave the room before he spoke. "You have an idea of where the South Africans are keeping Logan, don't you?"

Jondy nodded. "I figure they're pretty eager to get hold of me, so they won't make it very hard to be found. My bet is they've set up shop at the same location they took me when Mathew was working for them."

"That makes sense." Alec agreed. "Max says Lydecker's working with them. My guess is that it will be easy to get in, but not as easy to get out. You know their methods better than I do, what do you think their plan is?"

"Well my brain isn't functioning the way it should at the moment," Jondy was finding it hard to think of anything but jumping Alec at that moment. "But at a guess, I'd say they've taken Logan, so that Max will go in to get him, then they probably plan on catching her so that I'll turn up to try and get Max out."

Alec could almost hear Jondy purring. That cold shower didn't appear to have helped cool her off very much. "I have a really insane idea." Alec couldn't believe he was even going to suggest it. "We may be able to your heat cycle to our advantage."

"I'm listening." Jondy wondered what Alec had in mind. It was frustrating as hell focusing on his words not his body.

"Well, not to insult you or anything," Alec knew he could possibly get his ass kicked for what he was about to suggest, "but at the moment you're really aggressive. What I'm suggesting is that you store up that aggression, head for Seattle and kick South African butt. I'm thinking that will cause enough of a diversion for Max to get Logan out."

"I have to keep my hands off of you until we get to Seattle, so that I will be so sexually frustrated I'll beat the crap out of anyone that gets in my way?" Jondy thought about the plan for a moment. "That could work. Phone Max and tell her your plan while I get dressed and grab my bag. Better tell her to move Rebecka as well. When Lydecker's plan A doesn't work, he'll be looking for a plan B."

Max repeated Alec's plan to Joshua with Mole standing nearby. "I'm not sure it's going to work, so I want a team standing by in the sewers just in case."

"I've got your back Little Fella, Jondy's too." Joshua tried to reassure Max, but he was concerned as well. Alec's plan sounded completely insane.

Mole shook his head in disbelief. "Let me get this straight. Jondy's the red head who lost her sight a few months back before we came to call this dump home. Is she still blind, cause nobody seeing clearly would walk into a trap like this."

Max rolled her eyes. "No Mole, my sister operated on my brain blind." She snapped sarcastically. "Of course she has her eyesight back. Did she look blind to you at Thanksgiving?"

"No." Mole went back to chewing on his cigar.

"Joshua, can you organize a back up team?" Max started to dial a number on her cell phone. "I've gotta get my mother moved before Lydecker gets to her."

Logan found himself being hauled into a room that looked like a prison cell. His cell phone had been forcibly taken from him in the car and any attempt to escape was met with a punch in the face. After being locked in the room, he got slowly to his feet and took in his surroundings.

Lydecker observed Logan over a monitor. "I told you he wasn't to be harmed. Do you have any idea the trouble we are going to have when X5 452 sees the state he's in?"

Zeak crossed his arms in front of him. "First of all, you said you wanted him alive. He's alive, even though he didn't seem too eager to catch up on old times with you. Secondly, he may have tipped off the girl." He tossed Lydecker Logan's cell phone. "A text message has been sent on that to another cell phone."

Lydecker was impressed Logan had still managed to warn Max despite being captured. "It doesn't matter. The team in San Francisco have located X5 210's home from the description I gave of the interior that I saw while staying there. They should have X5 210 in custody within the hour."

Zeak looked at the monitor where Logan was walking around his room. "So what do we do with him? He knows where we are."

"Let me deal with Cale." Lydecker snapped. "He could still be of a lot of use to us." He walked out of the room and headed for Logan's cell.

Logan watched Lydecker approach him. "If you think Max and Jondy are going to let you capture them using me as bait, you underestimated them."

"Maybe." Lydecker leaned back against the wall, his hands in his jacket pockets. "I hear White's still alive and rotting in jail. How the hell did that happen? Your shot was spot on."

Logan shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know how these conclave freaks work. Somebody got to him after we rushed Max and Jondy to the hospital and got him some medical attention. Hell, I've hit that freak with a car and seen him get right back up and walk away." Logan continued to pace. "But you didn't come here to talk about Ames White."

Lydecker could see Logan's face was starting to swell. "I'll send somebody in with an ice pack. I'm guessing you'll want to look your best when Max comes to get you." As he walked away Lydecker motioned to the guard. "Send someone to this address, we may need some extra leverage." He handed the guard a piece of paper with the address of the house that Rebecka was staying at. "Contact me when you have her."

Logan knew Max would figure out where he was being held and come and get him. The mere thought of Max putting herself in danger to save him, terrified Logan. In his heart, he knew that if their positions were reversed, despite Max's super human strength, Logan would run to the rescue too. "Be careful Max." He spoke so quietly that only an X5 would have been able to pick up his voice.

Max looked around her at the motley crew assembled. "Ok. Everyone knows the drill. But for God's sake, stay clear of Jondy. Let Alec handle her."

Mole rolled his eyes. "Tell me again why we are going to so much trouble for a normal. And don't try and tell us it's not because he's your boyfriend."

Max stood with her hands on her hips. "We are doing this because Logan has done a lot for everyone at Terminal City. Also he is my fiancé and I was sort of looking forward to planning my wedding. Last of all Mole, if you don't help me save Logan's butt, your supply of cigars will cease."

"Alright, just asking." Mole smirked.

"When will Jondy and Alec be here?" Joshua put his hand on Max's shoulder to remind her, she had someone for support.

"I'm here, Alec's in the van." Jondy strode towards the group. "Original Cindy just turned up with Rebecka. She said something about having to lose some black helicopter guys."

Joshua took a step away from Jondy. "Not so sure of this Little Fella. Why is Alec still in the van? This was his plan." He had never seen Jondy in heat. She looked ready to tackle anyone who got in her way.

"It's probably so that she won't eat him alive." Max muttered, before she answered Joshua's question seriously. "Alec is taking the van. We don't know what condition we're going to find Logan in. It may not be possible to get him out via the sewers."

"Can we hurry this up." Jondy was getting more and more agitated. She plugged a set of coms into her ear. "Alec, are you picking me up?"

"Yeah." Alec's voice came down the coms. "Loud and clear. I'll see you at the other end. Try not to get shot."

"I'll keep that in mind." Jondy shot back sarcastically. She eased herself down into the sewer.

Max followed her sister down into the sewers, with Joshua, Mole and the small group of transgenics behind her. Max had the distinct feeling that Logan had been hurt, but she pushed the feeling aside to concentrate on getting him away from Lydecker and the South Africans.

"Colonel Lydecker." One of Zeak's men walked up to Lydecker who was watching Logan on a monitor. "The woman you sent me to fetch is missing. It looks as though she left in a hurry."

"Damn it." Lydecker slammed his fist down on the desk in front of him. "Contact the team in San Francisco. I want X5 210 picked up now." In the back of his mind Donald Lydecker knew Jondy had already moved her family. Logan had been right, he had underestimated two of his kids.

"Sorry Colonel, the San Francisco team say the girl moved her family out." The South African looked confused. "Could we have a leak here?"

Lydecker shook his head. "I doubt it. The two X5 women in question have an unique bond. If Cale tipped one of them off, then they both know that we have Cale."

"You think they'll try and get Mr Cale anyway?" The man questioned.

"What's your name son?" Lydecker looked the man in the eye.

"Corban Sir." Corban stood at attention. He knew how powerful Donald Lydecker could be. The man was a legend.

"Well, Corban. I have known these two women long enough to know that they will do anything for that man. Just as he will do anything for them, especially X5 452." Lydecker turned back to the monitor. "I also know that we'd better all be on our toes, cause we just picked a dangerous fight."

Logan stopped pacing. He knew Max was near. It was as though he could sense her. He would have to ask Jondy what that was about once he managed to get the hell out of wherever he was. Maybe it had to do with the blood transfusions he had received from Max and Joshua.

Glancing around the room Logan spotted the camera. If he was going to be of any help to Max, then he had to get rid of the camera. The only furniture in the room was a wooden chair and a cot. Using every ounce of strength he had left, Logan dragged the cot over so that it was beneath the camera. When the light's flickered and went out, Logan quickly smashed the chair on the concrete floor. Picking up a piece of the broken chair, he climbed onto the cot and swung at the camera knocking it from the wall just as the lights came back on courtesy of a back up generator. "Come and get me Max." Logan grinned to himself.

Everybody in the sewers was staring at Joshua. "I hear a generator working. They'll be able to see you coming." Joshua looked down at the X5 twins.

"Alec." Jondy spoke into her set of coms. "We have an added complication. Joshua can hear a back up generator."

"You still going in?" Alec had been standing beside the fuse box with a set of pliers.

Max looked at her sister as she answered Alec's questions. "We're still going in. We'll just have to take the camera's out as we go. Maybe we can pick up a supply of weapons for our troubles."

"Let's go shopping." Jondy climbed up the ladder that led to a manhole cover which was in the basement of where they suspected Logan was being kept.

By the time Max had followed her sister, Jondy had taken out the guard and the camera in the basement. Max picked up the gun and the guard's walkie talkie. "Mole, got you a present." She handed the items down into the manhole.

Mole's sarcastic voice came up from the sewers. "Gee, you shouldn't have and I didn't get you anything."

Joshua climbed out of the manhole. "Time to get Logan." He pulled the unconscious guard aside and tied him up. "I'll wait here. Yell, if you need me."

"Thanks Big Fella." Max smiled at her friend. A moment after she and Jondy walked out the door, they came back in dragging another unconscious guard. "Another weapon for your collection."

By this time Mole had joined Joshua in the basement. "We should save your boyfriend's ass more often. Look at the cool stuff we get." His comment was met by two icy looks from the X5 females.

"You can't keep bringing the guards and weapons back here." A third transhuman joined them. He looked to be part bear. Since arriving at Terminal City he had been named Tek. "Just leave a trail of unconscious guards and we'll clean up behind you. As soon as you have Logan in the van, let us know and we'll all get the hell out of here with supplies."

"Fine." Max followed Jondy back out the door.

Lydecker hit the side of the monitor. "How many of the cameras are down?" He glanced at another monitor which was also blank.

"Four so far." Corban answered. "Perhaps a fuse or two went when the lights went out. I have sent Ewen to check the fuse box."

Lydecker shook his head. "I don't think it's a blown fuse. Call every guard. X5 452 is in the building. I want two men in the room with Cale."

Corban nodded and left the room to follow Lydecker's orders. As he walked into the corridor, someone came swinging down from the ceiling and kicked him across into the wall. He barely had time to register a figure running up the wall and kicking the camera off of it's brackets, before he fell unconscious.

"You remember where the cells are in this place?" Jondy tied Corban up with his own belt. Pulling a set of keys out of his pocket, she checked the lock on the door Corban had just come through. Picking the matching key she slipped it into the lock, turned the key locking the door and broke the key off in the lock.

"Yeah." Max headed towards the prison block. "I'm guessing we can't get out through the ventilation system like we did the last time."

"I don't think so." Jondy took out another camera, ripping it off the wall as she ran up and flipped over backwards onto the tiled floor. "I figure they learnt from their mistakes."

As they approached two more guards just outside the cell block, Jondy tossed the camera at one of the guards. "Catch." As the startled guard went to catch the camera, Jondy punched him in the face. The guard crumpled to the ground.

The second guard quickly fired the taser on his gun, but Max simply dodged the taser and flipped over backwards kicking the guard in the face.

"Is it just me or was this too easy to get in here." Max kicked the door before her in. Marching into the cell block, she searched the small rooms for Logan until she sensed him.

"It was bound to be. After all they wanted to catch us. The hard bit will be getting out." Jondy bent down and picked the lock. "I gotta tell you though, breaking and entering while in heat is a bitch."

Max reached into the room and pulled Logan out. "So what you're basically saying is, it's not going to be a picnic getting out." She caught sight of Logan's battered face, which she hadn't noticed before. "Oh my God, what did they do to you." Max went to storm back down the corridor. "I'm gonna kick their asses."

Jondy crossed her arms in front of her and leaned back against the wall. "Ok. You go kick some butt and I'll stay here and grope your fiancé, cause he still looks real good to me even with his pretty face busted up." She grinned as her sister marched back into the room. "Thought you'd see it my way."

Max grabbed Logan's hand and dragged him out into the corridor after her. "We can kick butt another time, when you're not ready to jump anything in pants."

"Hey. I'm still plugged into the coms." Alec protested. "Still hearing what you're saying." He knew Jondy's comment about groping Logan was merely to stop her sister from running off without thinking. She wasn't like Asha. She wouldn't use him like that.

"Start the engine Babe." Jondy smirked to herself. "We're on our way out." She came screeching to a halt when she saw the guards blocking their way out. The sound of gunfire told her Lydecker was shooting his way out of the room they had locked him in.

Lydecker pushed his way through the guards until he faced Max, Logan and Jondy. "The only way out of here is through us and that's not going to be easy with Jondy being blind." He had been surprised to see the red head and assumed that Max had led her sister through the building.

"I'd say our chances are pretty good." Logan mumbled, his face so swollen that it was difficult to speak. Lydecker hadn't seen Jondy since she had regained her sight. "In fact I'd say better than good."

Max played along with the act, reaching back behind her to help her sister to move forward. "Haven't you noticed that half your toy soldiers are missing Deck."

"You're still outnumbered Max." Lydecker pointed out smugly. "None of you are armed, but then you and Jondy never did like guns. A lot has changed, but that hasn't. Ever since that tragic accident with Eva, the two of you were just about to be sick at the mere sight of a gun."

"Shooting a child at point blank range can hardly be called an accident." Jondy snapped.

Logan saw Mole, Joshua and Tek closing in behind the guards. "I don't have a problem using a gun."

Everything seemed to happen at once. The three transhumans attacked from the rear as Jondy spun and kicked Lydecker in his mid section sending him flying into the guards directly behind him. Max jump kicked the guard to Lydecker's right causing the same domino effect that Jondy had managed with Lydecker. Logan grabbed the nearest gun and hit a guard in the face with it. As another guard went to grab Max, he fired the taser gun which had been set to stun.

Soon Logan and the Transgenics were standing amongst a pool of fallen guards. Grabbing all of the weapons, they made their way out of the building. Logan, Max and Jondy went out the front door, while Mole, Tek and Joshua headed back down into the sewers.

Alec had the van running, but as soon as he saw Logan, Max and Jondy heading out the front door of the building he climbed out of the driver's seat and into the back of the van.

Logan climbed into the front passenger seat, while Max climbed into the driver's seat and Jondy joined Alec in the back. "Why isn't Alec driving?"

Max stayed concentrating on the road. "Well, it's a long story but in order to get you out, Alec came up with this crazy plan to use Jondy's heat cycle to our advantage. So they traveled from San Francisco with Alec driving and Jondy in the back of the van. It seemed to work pretty good cause Jondy was throwing those guards aside like they were scrapes of rubbish."

Logan had seen Max when she tried to control herself during a heat cycle. He could only guess what Jondy must be like. "My God, does that mean ..."

"Yeah." Max yanked the set of coms out of her ear and banged on the wall of the van behind her. "Hey guys, I can hear you unfortunately, but you two still have your coms plugged in, so everyone at Terminal City can probably hear you as well."

Logan started to relax in the van despite the banging and crashing in the back of the van. "So I'm guessing after this little incident, you're not going to want Lydecker to walk you down the isle."

Max shot him a disgusted look. "That was never my intention anyway. I sort of thought about asking Joshua to take on that duty, but I guess it depends on the guest list."

"I wouldn't worry about my family." Logan had already considered the transgenic verses human ratio at their wedding. "There's only a couple of them that I want at our wedding. Most of my friends are your friends. I though I'd ask Bling to be my best man."

Max pulled the van into Terminal City. "Sounds good. I asked Original Cindy to be my maid of honor and I figured my sisters could be bridesmaids."

"Well at least we have some of our wedding planned out." Logan climbed out of the van which was beginning to shake due to the action in the back.

"Let's get you to the infirmary." Max put her arm around Logan's waist. "We can sort the rest of our wedding plans out later."

Logan gestured over his shoulder to the van. "What about them?" Alec had never been his favorite person in the world, but the way the van was rocking he figured Alec might be safer outside with them.

Max glanced back at the van. "I figure another twenty four hours and they'll both be fine." She noticed a curious X8 going to look at the van. "Hey, do me a favor and keep everyone away from the van."

The X8 nodded and sat down on the ground, a safe distance away from the van, keeping watch.

The next day Logan found Jondy sitting observing Joshua walking around Logan's car, which had been brought into Terminal City. "How are you feeling?" Logan sat down beside his future sister-in-law.

"Exhausted." Jondy grinned at Logan. "Apart from that, not too bad. Wish I could say the same for Alec. I don't think he'll be visiting me for a week or so."

"I'm not going to ask for details." Logan nodded towards his car. "What's Joshua doing?" He frowned when the canine man got down on his hands and knees and reached under Logan's car.

"Joshua said he could hear a noise coming from your car when one of the X6's brought it in." Jondy smiled at the huge dog man as he held up the device he had pulled out from under Logan's car. "Good work Big Fella."

"Lydecker planted a tracking device under my car." Logan looked at Jondy. "How did he know we'd get out of that place?"

"He didn't." Joshua handed the device to Jondy. "He was just covering all of his bases." He patted Logan on the head. "Are you alright?"

Logan nodded. "Just a few bruises and cracked ribs. I'll be fine in a couple of days." He reached out and hugged Jondy. "Thanks for coming in after me with Max."

Jondy chuckled. "No problem. Let's not do this again." She looked down at the tracking device in her hand. "I have an idea on what to do with this. Anyone up for a trip to the bus station?"

Corban knocked on the door to the room that Lydecker was using as an office. "Excuse me Sir. We have picked up the tracking device you had us plant on Cale's car. It appears he's heading for New Orleans."

"She's getting him out of Seattle so he'll be safe." Lydecker mumbled to himself. "Do we have any contacts in New Orleans?"

"Yes Sir." Corban saluted. "I'll get hold of them right away."

"It's only a matter of time." Lydecker muttered as Corban left the room. This time Manticore would be operated his way without any interference. All he needed was Jondy to make it all work and Logan Cale was the link to both Max and Jondy.

Max burst out giggling. "So you attached the tracking device to a bus heading for New Orleans."

Jondy nodded. "Yeah. I guess Lydecker figures now that Renfro's dead and White is behind bars, he can be King of Manticore with a little help from me."

Max gave an unladylike snort. "Like that's ever gonna happen." She became serious. "So you're really going to leave San Francisco and move to Florida?"

Jondy nodded. "That's the plan. It's not safe in San Francisco anymore. Lydecker will have men combing the city for me and I wouldn't put it past him to use one of the children to get to me. I still have to talk it over with Kera and Julia though. They may want to stay in San Francisco."

Max could see her sister's point. It wasn't about keeping Jondy safe, it was about keeping the children safe. "If that's what you think is best. Just stay in touch." She looked at the charts Jondy was flicking through. "So what's the diagnosis Doc?"

Jondy smiled at her sister. "Why don't you get Logan in here first." She could tell Max was trying not to look as though the results mattered.

"Logan!" Max yelled knowing Logan was just outside the door, as eager to hear the results as she was.

"What's wrong?" Logan came running into the infirmary. Seeing the unsure look on Max's face, he immediately put his arms around Max and kissed the top of her head. "It's ok Max. I told you we can always adopt."

Jondy rolled her eyes as she began to pack up her gear to head back to San Francisco. "You could adopt or you could just have a child of your own." She giggled at the surprised looks on Max and Logan's faces. "Looks like Manticore technology came through for you two." She reached into her bag and pulled out a packet of condoms and tossed them to Logan. "You two have a lot of things to work out. You don't want any extra unexpected surprises." She hugged Max and Logan good bye. "I'll call you when I get back to San Francisco."

"Thanks Jondy." Max called after her sister. She looked up at Logan. "So I guess we have a lot to talk about."

"Guess so." Logan felt as though he had just been handed the world on a silver patter. "So, where are we going to have our wedding?"

The End