Jhondie
I don't think I have the words to describe what the next few days were like for me. I got to Seattle, called Justin to let him know I got there safely and then went to the address that Zack had given. And once I got there, the world, as I knew it, changed forever. It was like a dream or something. Zack was in this swank penthouse, surrounded by regular people that knew what was going on. The only thing that would have been more out of character for him would be if I found out he was about to be a father. Oh wait, he was.
Had the place actually been Zack's, I probably would have gone to the nearest bar and started drinking. It would have just been too weird. But it was merely just one of his safe places. It actually belonged to a guy named Logan Cale. Logan. My sister Max's boyfriend. Also, Eyes Only. But after all the shocks of that morning, it just seemed right to find out that Zack had known who Eyes Only was all this time.
But first came Max. Zack told me someone else had told the other people about Manticore and glared at this dark-haired girl. The moment I saw her, I had the eeriest feeling like I knew her. She came over to us and maybe it was her eyes or her smile, I don't know, but all of a sudden I knew her. Max. At Manticore, she was my best friend. When we had run, I had planned on us sticking together. Had things been the slightest bit different, she would have been with Bryn and I in Las Vegas. She was the person I missed more than anyone else. And she was standing in front of me without the slightest warning.
It was kill Zack or hug Max. I went for the hug. We were both talking, trying to catch up on ten years in ten seconds. It was funny in a way because I sounded so perfectly golden Californian against her ghetto-speak. Didn't matter and I didn't care. I had so much to tell her and if Zack thought for a second he was going to separate us again, he was going to get hurt. Of course, it was all business for him right away. He and Max told me what was going on and why they thought they would be able to get Bryn. I glanced over at the blonde studying something on the table in front of her. Were they insane?
"You believe her?" I asked Max. She said she did. I asked her because I was thinking Zack might have recently had some brain damage or something. Most people wouldn't have caught it, but he had this grayish tinge around the edges of his mouth and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. Most would think he was tired. I knew him better. He had just been through an extremely bad bout of seizures within the last couple of days. Being here and acting like he was fine was an act of sheer determination for him. The fact he had Max and the X-6 and still wanted me said he wasn't sure about being able to carry the team himself. I'd kill him later, but for now, I was willing to see what the X-6 had to say. For Bryn, I was willing to at least listen.
I still wanted to talk to Max though. I know, a waste of time, but I hadn't seen my sister and best friend in ten years. I think I had the right to at least tell her that I was getting married in a few months. Maybe mention being accepted into medical school and going to be a surgeon. And of course find out every detail of what she had been up to and where she was living and working. Well, she indicated with that smile that she was living in the penthouse with a very special someone named Logan. He better be special all right. I was going to have to make sure he was good enough for my baby sister.
I was in such a daze. It was a good thing that we weren't ready to go right then because I probably would have flown the plane into a mountain. But the two biggest shocks were yet to come. I found out that Alicia was the X-6 that had helped save Justin. So I guessed I owed her one, though I couldn't think of a single reason why she was willing to help us now. It didn't make sense. Common decency had been trained out of them at a very young age. She mentioned the Reds in LA had been after her. Maybe Zack got her out of that and this was payback? Nah. Manticore didn't care about paying back favors. They just shot you and called it even. I wasn't sure what was going on, especially with the weird tension between her and Zack. Yeah, I was being slow, I know. But after the last hour, I was allowed a few minutes of being dense. Especially when Logan emerged from another room.
It was kind of like when I saw Max for the first time. I would have sworn I knew the man. I heard Max introducing us, but I was still stuck on what it was that I recognized. It was something to do with the voice. And then there was the way he was staring at me. Not like he was trying to figure out where he knew me from as well, but more like he did know me and was stunned to see me in his apartment. Don't ask how I knew, but it hit me like lemon wedge wrapped around a brick.
"Eyes," I said.
He just smirked. "LA," he returned.
Let's just say, it wasn't a pretty moment with me and Zack and Max at that point. Max was about to jump Logan, who was swearing he had no idea, I was going for the kill with Zack, and we were all yelling and then the X-6, Alicia, stood up. And I swear, I almost fainted right then and there. She was pregnant. Little thing that Zack had forgotten to mention there. It made more sense now why she had left. But, seriously, she was pregnant and as she stormed off to the bathroom, I glanced at Zack and once again nearly fell onto the floor.
It was the way he was watching her. Possessive. And not because she was the key to getting Bryn back either. Five months ago he had come back to LA, really torn up about something and seemed okay with the fact I was getting married. Five months ago was when he had met Alicia. And now she looked about five months pregnant and he was watching her like she belonged to him and if anyone touched her, he'd kill them himself.
"Zack?" I questioned. It just took the slightest nod of confirmation. "Zack!" I cried, wanting to say a lot more, but he cut me off and in typical Zack fashion, informed me that it was his business also why she could never go back. Love is all well and good, but he was putting a lot on the line that her emotions could override a lot of years of training.
I glanced at Max and all she could do was shrug at the situation. Yeah, a shrug. Good call. Zack got an X-6 pregnant, excuse me, fallen for an X-6 and made a baby with her, Eyes Only was living with my sister and this was the rescue party for Bryn. "All of you are crazy," I finally said.
"You going to stay or blaze?" Max asked. She had this little smirk and I think she already knew what the answer was. If she had been helping Logan with Eyes Only stuff, then she knew the type of person it took to do that. We didn't back down just because of impossible odds.
I still thought about taking off. This was crazy. No doubt about it. And if Justin were here, he would kill me. But this was Zack and Max asking for my help. "I'm still in," I said firmly. "Ruining Lydecker's hopes and dreams is always a good way to spend the weekend. Least in my opinion."
Now, to say we won is a bit redundant. I mean, come on. Three X-5's being supplied information by a rogue X-6 and backed by Eyes Only against the US Army? Please. Except for one little blip with discovering that Cole, Alicia's brother and second in command already had the X-7 capabilities, winning was a foregone conclusion. I'm not going to say it was easy and if I ever told Justin all of the details, he'd probably kill me for taking such a huge chance, but the point is, the three of us that went in came out, and we had Bryn with us. That was what we had gone in to do and I can't describe what an incredibly liberating feeling it was to know that I had challenged Manticore. We had made a stand together and defied them all. And we won. In a do or die situation, we stood invincible.
Pretty much. I knew full well that the only reason it went as smooth as it did was that Cole didn't want us to get caught for some reason. I didn't want to admit it, but it was still true. Strange though. I couldn't understand his reasoning and by the time we were over Washington State's airspace, I didn't care anymore. Maybe telepathy caused you to go whack was Max's thoughts on the subject. God knows he did his best to throw a head-job on Alicia when he knew she was listening in. Logan let us listen to that recording and I felt so sorry for her. I could just imagine what Zack could do to me if he really wanted to, and that was someone that I hadn't lived with day in and day out since birth. Poor kid.
Like I said, getting Bryn back was a foregone conclusion. Alicia still being there when we got back wasn't. Logan didn't realize how close he came to getting hurt when we got back and she was missing. I've never seen Zack that many shades of white. He had been so cute earlier. The casual person would never have seen a difference, but I knew him. He was happy to have Bryn back. It erased that feeling of failure as our leader that he had been carrying around since she had been recaptured. But he was honestly excited to see Alicia. He was in love with her. No doubt about it, he was honestly, truly in love with the girl. And she was missing. Let's just say, it wasn't a pretty scene.
I was lucky that I didn't need to sleep. Max had to stay at the penthouse for Bryn, Logan was looking through surveillance cameras and police bulletins, and Zack and I hit the streets to find her. The girl had money and a grievance now. She was also carrying Zack's kid around. After spending a lot of time volunteering in a hospital, I had learned a lot about pregnant women. I had a feeling that her disappearing act was more out of being highly hormonal than not really wanting to be there, but she was X-6. You still had to be careful. Pregnancy and lethal training were not a good mix. And then there was Zack. He wasn't hormonal, but he was sick. He needed to rest and it was starting to wear on him.
He was going for the seek-and-destroy method. Not the best one. If there was one thing I had learned from working with Justin, it was when to use brute force and when to switch to diplomacy. Zack and I split up for a while, covering double territory, I told him. Fine by him. He was off to break some skulls and I was off to actually find the girl. It wasn't too hard to get some leads on her once I got out on my own. You just had to know when to smile flirtatiously, who wants to see a little cleavage, which wants just a flash of green and when to use what. I've gotten in a lot of practice over the last couple of years.
I would have loved to say it was easy, but trying to find someone with better training than me who didn't want to be found was damn hard. Every time I thought I was just a step behind her, she was gone. Once, I thought I caught a glimpse of her in the market area, but a truck rolled past (and I thought this only happened in movies) and when it moved, she was gone. Frustrating, to put it mildly. But I was determined. I had to find her before she let the hormones really go out of control and left Seattle. I knew how much time it took to get fake ID's done, but she could have other methods. She had money, that was for sure. I was hoping that she didn't really want to leave Zack, but was more upset about the whole situation.
I met up with Zack again as night was falling. Curfew wasn't too far away and we were going to have to refine our techniques so that the sector police didn't arrest us for being out. That was the one thing I loved about LA. Technically, there were sector police there. But they mostly guarded the perimeter of the city. There were some guarded sectors, mostly where the people that were still rich lived, but the common areas were free for alls. Plus, Justin had gotten (pronounced "bribed the right people") special passes so that he and I could travel anywhere in LA at any time. Seattle was much different. Though, I must admit, it was awesome knowing that Eyes Only was watching over everything no matter where we were.
Zack was looking much worse when I found him. Again, anyone else and he would have just seemed more pissed than usual. But he desperately needed some sleep. He wasn't like me and Max. We could stay awake for days with no problems. Zack couldn't. He was tough and strong, but he needed to sleep every night for a couple of hours at least. He hadn't since the day before, and that wasn't for very long. Not to mention, I was willing to bet he didn't wait for the seizures to be over and then travel. He had worn himself down but was so determined. I wondered what Lydecker would think if he knew how critically exhausted Zack was when we left Utah, but he still managed to lead us out and spend the rest of the day looking for Alicia. I wondered if knowing how strong-willed he was would make Lydecker realize that he had no chance of Zack ever letting us go completely. Giving up. Going back.
We had agreed on a rendezvous spot earlier. He was already there and my heart went out to him. He was exhausted and popping some pills. I was willing to bet that I knew what they were. The fact he was taking them said a lot. The fact I came up behind him and he didn't notice said more. I knew I should have said something first, but, my mistake, I just put my hand on his shoulder.
The next thing I knew, I was being slammed against a wall. My body reacted before my mind could, grabbing his arm, flipping and twisting. And then all of a sudden I, yes, I, had Zack on the ground. He looked shocked. I know I was about to fall out. That was the first and last time that I ever got the best of him. All I could do was stare for a second before helping him up.
"Sorry," I muttered, not knowing what to say. "I just, uh..."
He shook his head, obviously embarrassed. "Leads?" he demanded gruffly.
I thought about telling him what I had learned a little bit ago, but shook my head. "Nothing concrete." He muttered a curse. "Go home and get some sleep," I said softly.
Zack looked at me incredulously. "Funny, Jhondie," he snapped.
"I will bring her to you before sunrise," I promised. "But if you don't get some sleep soon, you're going to pay for it."
"I'm fine," he said gruffly, turning away.
"No you're not," I shot back. I grabbed his arm and made him face me. "Just because I don't yet have the MD behind my name doesn't mean I can't look at you and see what's been going on. You've managed to tough out two days of fighting seizures and Manticore, not to mention one huge psychological shock. You want the tough guy award? You win it. I couldn't have done what you have the last few days. But I know you. You're body is so close to shut down, it's not funny."
He went to say something, but I overrode him. "Your lips are gray and eyes bloodshot," I said rapidly, listing things out. "Pulse is all over the place, high and thready and then slow and sluggish. Skin color is not right, stress lines in the corners of mouth and eyes." I took a breath. "It is the duty of a second in command to know when her commanding officer is unfit for duty and assume leadership of an operation. Speaking as a doctor, you are not well. And it is my duty to take control of this mission."
I thought for a second he was going to kill me. Seriously. It was the first time I had ever tried to take the leadership role from him. "First time I've ever heard you say the word duty," Zack said bitterly.
I shrugged. "I've never needed to with you. You're our strength. But I am asking you, just this once, please, let me help you. If you were well, I would never have been able to get the drop on you. But you're not at full capacity. And I think you know, of all people in the world, that I can understand how you feel about that girl. I'll take first shift for searching and wake you up to take the next one."
He looked down. I knew this was hard on him. I could imagine him telling me to go home and he would look for Justin. I wouldn't want to do it either. But he had been through hell. His poor body couldn't take much more without some sleep to help heal it. You could only be tough for so long. "Four hours," he said softly. I blinked. "If you don't call me in four hours and wake me up, then we will have a problem."
I gave silent thanks for him actually being reasonable for once. Zack told me where he would be staying and trudged off. Poor guy. He didn't want to seem weak. And he wasn't. What he was fighting through was amazing. I have one bad round of seizures, and I'm down for the day. He has them and runs off to attack Manticore. If that didn't explain a lot about Zack right there, then nothing would.
Still, I only had four hours. I went back to work, checking in with Logan occasionally. Bryn was awake and had been able to eat, though she wanted Max with her. Max had gotten her away from the other guy when they realized she was getting sick and only Manticore could save her. She trusted Max. She probably would rather have Zack, but Max would do.
It was full dark when I got my lucky break. Someone knew someone's cousin that knew something. Twenty bucks brought back some memory. Psycho chick was in the park. This guy's best friend's girlfriend used to date this other guy who got killed by this chick and the chick was back in her territory. Fifty bucks and the story became clear. I knew where Alicia was. I high-tailed it to the park and there she was, sitting on a bench, looking abjectly miserable.
I scared the hell out of her when I came up on her, but we were able to have a good little talk. I told her a little about my life and I think she realized then it was possible to have a life, even one where you were hiding from Manticore. A good life. With family, friends, birthday parties and hunting Easter eggs. She listened, but I couldn't tell if she was convinced or not. The best I got out of her was an agreement to see Zack and talk to him. We went to the hotel where he was staying and I dropped her off before heading back to Max and Logan's place.
Their reaction was not quite what I hoped.
"You did what?" Max yelled when I told them where we stood. Her dark eyes were wide. "She probably cut and run the minute you turned the corner."
I shook my head. "No, she was going to see him." We were in the kitchen and Logan was doing something that smelled divine over the stove. I had checked Bryn, still sleeping, and then told Max and Logan what had happened. "She wanted to come back to see him, but I kind of had a feeling there was some bad blood with you guys from earlier and she didn't want to deal with you all."
Logan snorted. "That's one way of putting it."
"All I'm saying," Max continued, "is that she is seriously trippin as of late. She's got half of Manticore looking for her and Zack is not exactly the reassuring type."
"For you," I said. "But he is for her. I don't get it either, trust me, but I saw Zack five months ago when she had left him. I've seen Zack hurt, sick and upset before. I never saw him devastated like that."
"Point is," Max said, taking some dishes out of a cabinet, "he won't do everything possible to make her stay. You and me he'd kick ass in a second to put us in line." I grimaced in painful memory. She put the dishes down on the counter. "He'd let her go."
"If he does," I replied, "then he sure as hell doesn't deserve to keep her." I glanced at Logan. "Would you let Max go without a fight? Let her and your unborn child out the door?"
Logan looked at Max and his glance said it all. "I know Max," he said. "I don't know if Zack knows Alicia well enough to convince her. She's got a dangerous temper and it doesn't take much to set her off."
I smirked. Max had filled me in on the details of what had happened in Seattle five months ago while we were flying back. "First hand experience sucks, huh?"
Before he could answer, the front door opened. A pretty black girl walked inside rather grandly, her lips turned up in what appeared to be a permanent smirk at the world. "Okay," she said to Max before anyone could greet her. "Normal says if you not out of bed from the flu by tomorrow morning, he's canning your ass, mine, and maybe Sketchy's too just because and he don't care how many freaky CIA cousins you got stashed." She held up her hands in a stopping gesture. "Don't be all over me. I'm just the messenger, remember? Thank you for using Jam Pony."
She finally looked at me, her gaze taking me in from head to toe. Oh boy. That was the way Kat liked to look at me when she didn't think I noticed. Her eyebrows rose in a look of definite interest. Oddly enough, there was something really familiar about her. I had no idea what it was, but I would have sworn that I knew her from somewhere.
"Jhondie," Max said, "This is my best friend, Original Cindy. Cindy, my long-lost sister, Jhondie."
Original Cindy shook her head in mock dismay. "Damn," she muttered. "Boo brings in the fine-ass white girls and Original Cindy has a policy of not playing with your peep's sibs."
I held up my hand with my engagement ring on it. "Kind of spoken for anyway," I said. I glanced over at Max. "She knows about our...family?"
"Boo already explained about the barcode club," Cindy said, waving a hand dismissively. "It's cool." She swung that smirk back at Max. "So what were you doing making me have to tell Normal you couldn't come in. He is one strange, bitter little man when he thinks he short-staffed."
Max filled her in on the details while Logan finished up what he was cooking. My mouth was watering. There was lime in there somewhere. Oh yes. Fresh lime. Apparently Cindy knew who Alicia was because when Max said she was pregnant, Cindy burst into laughter.
"Told you," she said. "Just because Original Cindy plays for the all girl team does not mean she can't tell what's going on in the hetero world."
Max rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you and dippy over there. True love, blah blah."
"You know, this could end up in the disposal," Logan said in mock seriousness, indicating the food.
Max's eyes immediately went innocent. "You're different, baby," she said. "Besides, we're talking Zack here. And come on, a kinder, gentler Zack? Not happening."
I laughed. "Kinder, gentler Zack? Please. We're only his sisters and you know how protective he is. Can you imagine him with a kid he made?"
Original Cindy's jaw dropped. "We talking Sam-boy knockin' boots and making babies?" she asked Max. Max nodded. "He the one all up yours about makin a little time with your boy and he's out spreading the seed?"
I couldn't help but laugh at that. I could see why Max and Cindy were friends. I could also see where Max had picked up a lot of her speech patterns. The timer on my watch went off and I grinned, grabbing my phone.
"Got a date?" Max asked.
I smirked. "Hey, the great and almighty CO ordered me to call him in four hours. I'd hate for him to think I wasn't up to my duties."
Max smirked as I dialed. The phone rang three times and then Zack picked up quickly. "What?" he barked. I was trying to fight back laughter. Zack answered on the first ring. That was a given. All of my questions were answered right then and there, but dropping it just wouldn't be fun.
"It's been four hours," I said sweetly. There was a pause. "You did tell me to call you in four hours, remember?"
"Yeah," he responded. "Is every..." his words trailed off with a slight gasping intake of breath. I had to bite my lip to keep from howling with laughter. Now he understood why I was so pissy the couple of times that he had interrupted Justin and me.
"Got the packages settled," I said cheerfully. "We're about to have some dinner if you're hungry. Our friend made this stuff with shrimp and pasta. Don't know who he had to kill to get the shrimp, but it smells divine."
I could hear him gritting his teeth lightly. He couldn't tell Alicia to stop whatever it was she was doing and I was being a little chatterbox. "No," he managed to get out.
"Is everything okay on your end?" I asked with such syrupy innocence that Max made a gagging expression.
Zack finally realized that I knew Alicia was there and he was having a very nice night without us. "I'll call tomorrow," he snapped, hanging up.
I almost fell off the stool, laughing. I swear, if I didn't have the grace and coordination I was blessed with, I would have been in the fetal position on the floor. "Alicia's definitely there," I managed to say. "And I don't think we're going to see him before tomorrow."
The others laughed, but I don't think they thought it was as amusing as I did. I guess Logan had never been tossed off of Max before while they were enjoying a little time together. I wasn't about to go that far with Zack and Alicia, but if he thought he wasn't going to get some serious teasing out of this, he was sadly mistaken.
Logan was making a salad (brilliant underground cyber-journalist and he could cook, I wondered if Max would mind trading every now and then) and I took that time to go into the living room and call Justin. I had wanted to call him earlier; I knew he was going to be sick with worry, but there just wasn't time. And I had to admit, I was kind of surprised to realize that calling him and letting him know I was okay was more important than food.
He answered before the first ring was even through. "Hello?"
"Hey baby."
His relief was evident. "Jhondie...how's it going?" Yeah, these phones were supposedly only traceable by God himself, but Justin wasn't going to risk it by saying something that would be of interest to certain parties.
"Well, just finished up the bulk of the business and things are great," I replied.
"Great?"
"Absolutely...better than I could have hoped kind of great."
There was a pause and I had a feeling he was saying a small prayer of thanks. "So you're on your way home?"
"Um, actually, I think I'm going to stay a couple of days," I said.
"I can be there tomorrow."
I thought about that. I would have loved to have him fly up here just to meet Logan. But I wanted a couple of days to get to know Max and Bryn again. Maybe even get to know Alicia a little. She was going to give birth to my nephew after all. "No, I think I need to finish up by myself."
A note of warning entered his voice. "What happened to great?"
"No, it's not that," I quickly reassured him. "It's just...I don't know how to begin to describe it. I just want the time to get reacquainted with a couple of old friends."
His silence said volumes as he realized what I was saying. "That is great, sweetheart."
"Dream come true kind of great."
I could hear the smile in his voice. "I know. You sure you're only going to need a couple of days?"
"Well, we've agreed that we're not getting out of touch again, so it's good."
From the dining room, I could hear Max yelling at me that dinner was ready. "Hey, dinner's on the table, so..."
He laughed. "Food wins over your fiancée, I know. Call me later."
"I will," I promised, grinning. Oh, I couldn't wait to get home. I was just going to be full of surprises when Justin and I could really talk.
I hung up and went to eat with the others. And let me say, the food was as good as it looked. I had no idea how Logan had managed to get everything and put it together like this, but I wasn't going to complain. I wasn't a bad cook myself, but this blew me out of the water. It was even better than the cooking that Kat did and Justin claimed as his own when I was out late studying. The shrimp was fresh, seasoned with citrus juices, and the cream sauce was phenomenal. Plus, it was obvious that Logan was used to cooking for a transgenic because he had made far more than one man and three slim girls should be able to eat.
Original Cindy had found out about Logan being Eyes Only a few months before, so we were free to talk about everything as we ate. The irony of Max helping Logan the way I helped Justin was too funny. Justin had said more than once that if Eyes Only knew about me, he would want me in Seattle working for him personally. I think he wouldn't have been able to handle it if he had both me and Max there all of the time. Still, I got a few questions answered. Logan was the one in that tape Steiner had sent to Justin. He had been shot and then a blood transfusion from Max gave him the stem cells needed to repair the spinal damage. Wrong thing to say to a future doctor. In fifteen minutes he was so dazed from my questions that he had to get up and find some more wine. Max thought it was hilarious.
Logan told me he had been a little worried when his LA guy brought in a new partner. He wondered if we had broken up or something. Not that it would have been his business, but he knew what relationship troubles could do to his work. He had given Max a rather pointed look and she responded with a kick under the table. I told him that between graduating college, planning a wedding, and starting medical school, I didn't have the time that I used to. I loved helping Justin, and had promised that I would still be there if muscle was needed, but Nikki had a flair and desire that I was lacking.
Max shook her head. "This is just totally whack. All along I've been hunting for you guys and you been the ones making him say 'Just fifteen more minutes. I'm waiting for my LA people to finish the transmission.'"
I looked at her curiously. "Why were you looking? You knew Zack has us all taken care of."
She rolled her eyes. "No, Mr. Man knew he had us tight. And that was a need to know situation. Until last year, apparently, I didn't need to know. I end up with Lydecker hot on my ass because I'm wondering if I'm the only one that made it out and looking for the rest of you."
My eyes narrowed. How many of the others had he not made contact with? Damn him. I would have called him right then to cuss him out, but he was probably in too good of a mood to care. "Do you know about any of the others?" I asked. "Were they out looking too?"
Max looked down, her face drawn. "Just Ben."
"What happened to Ben?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to know or not.
"He's dead," a small voice said from the hall. We all looked over to see Bryn. She was wearing this long nightshirt with her hair hanging limply down around her shoulders. Her face was still lined with the stress of her ordeal. I could see the strength and vitality that had been there but now she looked as fragile and vulnerable as a small girl.
"They told me he was killed," she said. "How if we stayed out we would die, but in there they would protect us. Make us better. Keep us safe. He was broken, like me. I went back, so I was fixed. He stayed out, so he died."
She was shaking, tears falling down her cheeks. "I didn't want to die," she whispered. "I was so scared. I didn't know what to do."
I was across the room in a second, pulling her into my arms. "You survived," I said firmly. "Your orders were to survive until we could come for you. You did good, baby sister." Max was there, helping me hold Bryn up. I think there's something of cat in there that we like to touch for comfort. It's extremely comforting to feel those small touches on your hair or face from someone that you care about.
Bryn turned her tearstained face to me. "I tried to wait for you," she said. "But they were all over the place and got close, so I ran. I ran and I was too scared to go back. So I ran and ran and I didn't know how to leave you a trail that they couldn't see."
"It's okay," I whispered. "I found you, right? I told you I would. Doesn't matter when. We said we would meet. Me, you and Max. We made it out. That's all the counts."
Max's arms were wrapped around me and Bryn and our little circle tightened. The wounds were way too old to be this raw and hurtful. But they could heal. There was hope now. A new life for all of us. Hope.
I don't think I have the words to describe what the next few days were like for me. I got to Seattle, called Justin to let him know I got there safely and then went to the address that Zack had given. And once I got there, the world, as I knew it, changed forever. It was like a dream or something. Zack was in this swank penthouse, surrounded by regular people that knew what was going on. The only thing that would have been more out of character for him would be if I found out he was about to be a father. Oh wait, he was.
Had the place actually been Zack's, I probably would have gone to the nearest bar and started drinking. It would have just been too weird. But it was merely just one of his safe places. It actually belonged to a guy named Logan Cale. Logan. My sister Max's boyfriend. Also, Eyes Only. But after all the shocks of that morning, it just seemed right to find out that Zack had known who Eyes Only was all this time.
But first came Max. Zack told me someone else had told the other people about Manticore and glared at this dark-haired girl. The moment I saw her, I had the eeriest feeling like I knew her. She came over to us and maybe it was her eyes or her smile, I don't know, but all of a sudden I knew her. Max. At Manticore, she was my best friend. When we had run, I had planned on us sticking together. Had things been the slightest bit different, she would have been with Bryn and I in Las Vegas. She was the person I missed more than anyone else. And she was standing in front of me without the slightest warning.
It was kill Zack or hug Max. I went for the hug. We were both talking, trying to catch up on ten years in ten seconds. It was funny in a way because I sounded so perfectly golden Californian against her ghetto-speak. Didn't matter and I didn't care. I had so much to tell her and if Zack thought for a second he was going to separate us again, he was going to get hurt. Of course, it was all business for him right away. He and Max told me what was going on and why they thought they would be able to get Bryn. I glanced over at the blonde studying something on the table in front of her. Were they insane?
"You believe her?" I asked Max. She said she did. I asked her because I was thinking Zack might have recently had some brain damage or something. Most people wouldn't have caught it, but he had this grayish tinge around the edges of his mouth and his eyes were slightly bloodshot. Most would think he was tired. I knew him better. He had just been through an extremely bad bout of seizures within the last couple of days. Being here and acting like he was fine was an act of sheer determination for him. The fact he had Max and the X-6 and still wanted me said he wasn't sure about being able to carry the team himself. I'd kill him later, but for now, I was willing to see what the X-6 had to say. For Bryn, I was willing to at least listen.
I still wanted to talk to Max though. I know, a waste of time, but I hadn't seen my sister and best friend in ten years. I think I had the right to at least tell her that I was getting married in a few months. Maybe mention being accepted into medical school and going to be a surgeon. And of course find out every detail of what she had been up to and where she was living and working. Well, she indicated with that smile that she was living in the penthouse with a very special someone named Logan. He better be special all right. I was going to have to make sure he was good enough for my baby sister.
I was in such a daze. It was a good thing that we weren't ready to go right then because I probably would have flown the plane into a mountain. But the two biggest shocks were yet to come. I found out that Alicia was the X-6 that had helped save Justin. So I guessed I owed her one, though I couldn't think of a single reason why she was willing to help us now. It didn't make sense. Common decency had been trained out of them at a very young age. She mentioned the Reds in LA had been after her. Maybe Zack got her out of that and this was payback? Nah. Manticore didn't care about paying back favors. They just shot you and called it even. I wasn't sure what was going on, especially with the weird tension between her and Zack. Yeah, I was being slow, I know. But after the last hour, I was allowed a few minutes of being dense. Especially when Logan emerged from another room.
It was kind of like when I saw Max for the first time. I would have sworn I knew the man. I heard Max introducing us, but I was still stuck on what it was that I recognized. It was something to do with the voice. And then there was the way he was staring at me. Not like he was trying to figure out where he knew me from as well, but more like he did know me and was stunned to see me in his apartment. Don't ask how I knew, but it hit me like lemon wedge wrapped around a brick.
"Eyes," I said.
He just smirked. "LA," he returned.
Let's just say, it wasn't a pretty moment with me and Zack and Max at that point. Max was about to jump Logan, who was swearing he had no idea, I was going for the kill with Zack, and we were all yelling and then the X-6, Alicia, stood up. And I swear, I almost fainted right then and there. She was pregnant. Little thing that Zack had forgotten to mention there. It made more sense now why she had left. But, seriously, she was pregnant and as she stormed off to the bathroom, I glanced at Zack and once again nearly fell onto the floor.
It was the way he was watching her. Possessive. And not because she was the key to getting Bryn back either. Five months ago he had come back to LA, really torn up about something and seemed okay with the fact I was getting married. Five months ago was when he had met Alicia. And now she looked about five months pregnant and he was watching her like she belonged to him and if anyone touched her, he'd kill them himself.
"Zack?" I questioned. It just took the slightest nod of confirmation. "Zack!" I cried, wanting to say a lot more, but he cut me off and in typical Zack fashion, informed me that it was his business also why she could never go back. Love is all well and good, but he was putting a lot on the line that her emotions could override a lot of years of training.
I glanced at Max and all she could do was shrug at the situation. Yeah, a shrug. Good call. Zack got an X-6 pregnant, excuse me, fallen for an X-6 and made a baby with her, Eyes Only was living with my sister and this was the rescue party for Bryn. "All of you are crazy," I finally said.
"You going to stay or blaze?" Max asked. She had this little smirk and I think she already knew what the answer was. If she had been helping Logan with Eyes Only stuff, then she knew the type of person it took to do that. We didn't back down just because of impossible odds.
I still thought about taking off. This was crazy. No doubt about it. And if Justin were here, he would kill me. But this was Zack and Max asking for my help. "I'm still in," I said firmly. "Ruining Lydecker's hopes and dreams is always a good way to spend the weekend. Least in my opinion."
Now, to say we won is a bit redundant. I mean, come on. Three X-5's being supplied information by a rogue X-6 and backed by Eyes Only against the US Army? Please. Except for one little blip with discovering that Cole, Alicia's brother and second in command already had the X-7 capabilities, winning was a foregone conclusion. I'm not going to say it was easy and if I ever told Justin all of the details, he'd probably kill me for taking such a huge chance, but the point is, the three of us that went in came out, and we had Bryn with us. That was what we had gone in to do and I can't describe what an incredibly liberating feeling it was to know that I had challenged Manticore. We had made a stand together and defied them all. And we won. In a do or die situation, we stood invincible.
Pretty much. I knew full well that the only reason it went as smooth as it did was that Cole didn't want us to get caught for some reason. I didn't want to admit it, but it was still true. Strange though. I couldn't understand his reasoning and by the time we were over Washington State's airspace, I didn't care anymore. Maybe telepathy caused you to go whack was Max's thoughts on the subject. God knows he did his best to throw a head-job on Alicia when he knew she was listening in. Logan let us listen to that recording and I felt so sorry for her. I could just imagine what Zack could do to me if he really wanted to, and that was someone that I hadn't lived with day in and day out since birth. Poor kid.
Like I said, getting Bryn back was a foregone conclusion. Alicia still being there when we got back wasn't. Logan didn't realize how close he came to getting hurt when we got back and she was missing. I've never seen Zack that many shades of white. He had been so cute earlier. The casual person would never have seen a difference, but I knew him. He was happy to have Bryn back. It erased that feeling of failure as our leader that he had been carrying around since she had been recaptured. But he was honestly excited to see Alicia. He was in love with her. No doubt about it, he was honestly, truly in love with the girl. And she was missing. Let's just say, it wasn't a pretty scene.
I was lucky that I didn't need to sleep. Max had to stay at the penthouse for Bryn, Logan was looking through surveillance cameras and police bulletins, and Zack and I hit the streets to find her. The girl had money and a grievance now. She was also carrying Zack's kid around. After spending a lot of time volunteering in a hospital, I had learned a lot about pregnant women. I had a feeling that her disappearing act was more out of being highly hormonal than not really wanting to be there, but she was X-6. You still had to be careful. Pregnancy and lethal training were not a good mix. And then there was Zack. He wasn't hormonal, but he was sick. He needed to rest and it was starting to wear on him.
He was going for the seek-and-destroy method. Not the best one. If there was one thing I had learned from working with Justin, it was when to use brute force and when to switch to diplomacy. Zack and I split up for a while, covering double territory, I told him. Fine by him. He was off to break some skulls and I was off to actually find the girl. It wasn't too hard to get some leads on her once I got out on my own. You just had to know when to smile flirtatiously, who wants to see a little cleavage, which wants just a flash of green and when to use what. I've gotten in a lot of practice over the last couple of years.
I would have loved to say it was easy, but trying to find someone with better training than me who didn't want to be found was damn hard. Every time I thought I was just a step behind her, she was gone. Once, I thought I caught a glimpse of her in the market area, but a truck rolled past (and I thought this only happened in movies) and when it moved, she was gone. Frustrating, to put it mildly. But I was determined. I had to find her before she let the hormones really go out of control and left Seattle. I knew how much time it took to get fake ID's done, but she could have other methods. She had money, that was for sure. I was hoping that she didn't really want to leave Zack, but was more upset about the whole situation.
I met up with Zack again as night was falling. Curfew wasn't too far away and we were going to have to refine our techniques so that the sector police didn't arrest us for being out. That was the one thing I loved about LA. Technically, there were sector police there. But they mostly guarded the perimeter of the city. There were some guarded sectors, mostly where the people that were still rich lived, but the common areas were free for alls. Plus, Justin had gotten (pronounced "bribed the right people") special passes so that he and I could travel anywhere in LA at any time. Seattle was much different. Though, I must admit, it was awesome knowing that Eyes Only was watching over everything no matter where we were.
Zack was looking much worse when I found him. Again, anyone else and he would have just seemed more pissed than usual. But he desperately needed some sleep. He wasn't like me and Max. We could stay awake for days with no problems. Zack couldn't. He was tough and strong, but he needed to sleep every night for a couple of hours at least. He hadn't since the day before, and that wasn't for very long. Not to mention, I was willing to bet he didn't wait for the seizures to be over and then travel. He had worn himself down but was so determined. I wondered what Lydecker would think if he knew how critically exhausted Zack was when we left Utah, but he still managed to lead us out and spend the rest of the day looking for Alicia. I wondered if knowing how strong-willed he was would make Lydecker realize that he had no chance of Zack ever letting us go completely. Giving up. Going back.
We had agreed on a rendezvous spot earlier. He was already there and my heart went out to him. He was exhausted and popping some pills. I was willing to bet that I knew what they were. The fact he was taking them said a lot. The fact I came up behind him and he didn't notice said more. I knew I should have said something first, but, my mistake, I just put my hand on his shoulder.
The next thing I knew, I was being slammed against a wall. My body reacted before my mind could, grabbing his arm, flipping and twisting. And then all of a sudden I, yes, I, had Zack on the ground. He looked shocked. I know I was about to fall out. That was the first and last time that I ever got the best of him. All I could do was stare for a second before helping him up.
"Sorry," I muttered, not knowing what to say. "I just, uh..."
He shook his head, obviously embarrassed. "Leads?" he demanded gruffly.
I thought about telling him what I had learned a little bit ago, but shook my head. "Nothing concrete." He muttered a curse. "Go home and get some sleep," I said softly.
Zack looked at me incredulously. "Funny, Jhondie," he snapped.
"I will bring her to you before sunrise," I promised. "But if you don't get some sleep soon, you're going to pay for it."
"I'm fine," he said gruffly, turning away.
"No you're not," I shot back. I grabbed his arm and made him face me. "Just because I don't yet have the MD behind my name doesn't mean I can't look at you and see what's been going on. You've managed to tough out two days of fighting seizures and Manticore, not to mention one huge psychological shock. You want the tough guy award? You win it. I couldn't have done what you have the last few days. But I know you. You're body is so close to shut down, it's not funny."
He went to say something, but I overrode him. "Your lips are gray and eyes bloodshot," I said rapidly, listing things out. "Pulse is all over the place, high and thready and then slow and sluggish. Skin color is not right, stress lines in the corners of mouth and eyes." I took a breath. "It is the duty of a second in command to know when her commanding officer is unfit for duty and assume leadership of an operation. Speaking as a doctor, you are not well. And it is my duty to take control of this mission."
I thought for a second he was going to kill me. Seriously. It was the first time I had ever tried to take the leadership role from him. "First time I've ever heard you say the word duty," Zack said bitterly.
I shrugged. "I've never needed to with you. You're our strength. But I am asking you, just this once, please, let me help you. If you were well, I would never have been able to get the drop on you. But you're not at full capacity. And I think you know, of all people in the world, that I can understand how you feel about that girl. I'll take first shift for searching and wake you up to take the next one."
He looked down. I knew this was hard on him. I could imagine him telling me to go home and he would look for Justin. I wouldn't want to do it either. But he had been through hell. His poor body couldn't take much more without some sleep to help heal it. You could only be tough for so long. "Four hours," he said softly. I blinked. "If you don't call me in four hours and wake me up, then we will have a problem."
I gave silent thanks for him actually being reasonable for once. Zack told me where he would be staying and trudged off. Poor guy. He didn't want to seem weak. And he wasn't. What he was fighting through was amazing. I have one bad round of seizures, and I'm down for the day. He has them and runs off to attack Manticore. If that didn't explain a lot about Zack right there, then nothing would.
Still, I only had four hours. I went back to work, checking in with Logan occasionally. Bryn was awake and had been able to eat, though she wanted Max with her. Max had gotten her away from the other guy when they realized she was getting sick and only Manticore could save her. She trusted Max. She probably would rather have Zack, but Max would do.
It was full dark when I got my lucky break. Someone knew someone's cousin that knew something. Twenty bucks brought back some memory. Psycho chick was in the park. This guy's best friend's girlfriend used to date this other guy who got killed by this chick and the chick was back in her territory. Fifty bucks and the story became clear. I knew where Alicia was. I high-tailed it to the park and there she was, sitting on a bench, looking abjectly miserable.
I scared the hell out of her when I came up on her, but we were able to have a good little talk. I told her a little about my life and I think she realized then it was possible to have a life, even one where you were hiding from Manticore. A good life. With family, friends, birthday parties and hunting Easter eggs. She listened, but I couldn't tell if she was convinced or not. The best I got out of her was an agreement to see Zack and talk to him. We went to the hotel where he was staying and I dropped her off before heading back to Max and Logan's place.
Their reaction was not quite what I hoped.
"You did what?" Max yelled when I told them where we stood. Her dark eyes were wide. "She probably cut and run the minute you turned the corner."
I shook my head. "No, she was going to see him." We were in the kitchen and Logan was doing something that smelled divine over the stove. I had checked Bryn, still sleeping, and then told Max and Logan what had happened. "She wanted to come back to see him, but I kind of had a feeling there was some bad blood with you guys from earlier and she didn't want to deal with you all."
Logan snorted. "That's one way of putting it."
"All I'm saying," Max continued, "is that she is seriously trippin as of late. She's got half of Manticore looking for her and Zack is not exactly the reassuring type."
"For you," I said. "But he is for her. I don't get it either, trust me, but I saw Zack five months ago when she had left him. I've seen Zack hurt, sick and upset before. I never saw him devastated like that."
"Point is," Max said, taking some dishes out of a cabinet, "he won't do everything possible to make her stay. You and me he'd kick ass in a second to put us in line." I grimaced in painful memory. She put the dishes down on the counter. "He'd let her go."
"If he does," I replied, "then he sure as hell doesn't deserve to keep her." I glanced at Logan. "Would you let Max go without a fight? Let her and your unborn child out the door?"
Logan looked at Max and his glance said it all. "I know Max," he said. "I don't know if Zack knows Alicia well enough to convince her. She's got a dangerous temper and it doesn't take much to set her off."
I smirked. Max had filled me in on the details of what had happened in Seattle five months ago while we were flying back. "First hand experience sucks, huh?"
Before he could answer, the front door opened. A pretty black girl walked inside rather grandly, her lips turned up in what appeared to be a permanent smirk at the world. "Okay," she said to Max before anyone could greet her. "Normal says if you not out of bed from the flu by tomorrow morning, he's canning your ass, mine, and maybe Sketchy's too just because and he don't care how many freaky CIA cousins you got stashed." She held up her hands in a stopping gesture. "Don't be all over me. I'm just the messenger, remember? Thank you for using Jam Pony."
She finally looked at me, her gaze taking me in from head to toe. Oh boy. That was the way Kat liked to look at me when she didn't think I noticed. Her eyebrows rose in a look of definite interest. Oddly enough, there was something really familiar about her. I had no idea what it was, but I would have sworn that I knew her from somewhere.
"Jhondie," Max said, "This is my best friend, Original Cindy. Cindy, my long-lost sister, Jhondie."
Original Cindy shook her head in mock dismay. "Damn," she muttered. "Boo brings in the fine-ass white girls and Original Cindy has a policy of not playing with your peep's sibs."
I held up my hand with my engagement ring on it. "Kind of spoken for anyway," I said. I glanced over at Max. "She knows about our...family?"
"Boo already explained about the barcode club," Cindy said, waving a hand dismissively. "It's cool." She swung that smirk back at Max. "So what were you doing making me have to tell Normal you couldn't come in. He is one strange, bitter little man when he thinks he short-staffed."
Max filled her in on the details while Logan finished up what he was cooking. My mouth was watering. There was lime in there somewhere. Oh yes. Fresh lime. Apparently Cindy knew who Alicia was because when Max said she was pregnant, Cindy burst into laughter.
"Told you," she said. "Just because Original Cindy plays for the all girl team does not mean she can't tell what's going on in the hetero world."
Max rolled her eyes. "Yeah, you and dippy over there. True love, blah blah."
"You know, this could end up in the disposal," Logan said in mock seriousness, indicating the food.
Max's eyes immediately went innocent. "You're different, baby," she said. "Besides, we're talking Zack here. And come on, a kinder, gentler Zack? Not happening."
I laughed. "Kinder, gentler Zack? Please. We're only his sisters and you know how protective he is. Can you imagine him with a kid he made?"
Original Cindy's jaw dropped. "We talking Sam-boy knockin' boots and making babies?" she asked Max. Max nodded. "He the one all up yours about makin a little time with your boy and he's out spreading the seed?"
I couldn't help but laugh at that. I could see why Max and Cindy were friends. I could also see where Max had picked up a lot of her speech patterns. The timer on my watch went off and I grinned, grabbing my phone.
"Got a date?" Max asked.
I smirked. "Hey, the great and almighty CO ordered me to call him in four hours. I'd hate for him to think I wasn't up to my duties."
Max smirked as I dialed. The phone rang three times and then Zack picked up quickly. "What?" he barked. I was trying to fight back laughter. Zack answered on the first ring. That was a given. All of my questions were answered right then and there, but dropping it just wouldn't be fun.
"It's been four hours," I said sweetly. There was a pause. "You did tell me to call you in four hours, remember?"
"Yeah," he responded. "Is every..." his words trailed off with a slight gasping intake of breath. I had to bite my lip to keep from howling with laughter. Now he understood why I was so pissy the couple of times that he had interrupted Justin and me.
"Got the packages settled," I said cheerfully. "We're about to have some dinner if you're hungry. Our friend made this stuff with shrimp and pasta. Don't know who he had to kill to get the shrimp, but it smells divine."
I could hear him gritting his teeth lightly. He couldn't tell Alicia to stop whatever it was she was doing and I was being a little chatterbox. "No," he managed to get out.
"Is everything okay on your end?" I asked with such syrupy innocence that Max made a gagging expression.
Zack finally realized that I knew Alicia was there and he was having a very nice night without us. "I'll call tomorrow," he snapped, hanging up.
I almost fell off the stool, laughing. I swear, if I didn't have the grace and coordination I was blessed with, I would have been in the fetal position on the floor. "Alicia's definitely there," I managed to say. "And I don't think we're going to see him before tomorrow."
The others laughed, but I don't think they thought it was as amusing as I did. I guess Logan had never been tossed off of Max before while they were enjoying a little time together. I wasn't about to go that far with Zack and Alicia, but if he thought he wasn't going to get some serious teasing out of this, he was sadly mistaken.
Logan was making a salad (brilliant underground cyber-journalist and he could cook, I wondered if Max would mind trading every now and then) and I took that time to go into the living room and call Justin. I had wanted to call him earlier; I knew he was going to be sick with worry, but there just wasn't time. And I had to admit, I was kind of surprised to realize that calling him and letting him know I was okay was more important than food.
He answered before the first ring was even through. "Hello?"
"Hey baby."
His relief was evident. "Jhondie...how's it going?" Yeah, these phones were supposedly only traceable by God himself, but Justin wasn't going to risk it by saying something that would be of interest to certain parties.
"Well, just finished up the bulk of the business and things are great," I replied.
"Great?"
"Absolutely...better than I could have hoped kind of great."
There was a pause and I had a feeling he was saying a small prayer of thanks. "So you're on your way home?"
"Um, actually, I think I'm going to stay a couple of days," I said.
"I can be there tomorrow."
I thought about that. I would have loved to have him fly up here just to meet Logan. But I wanted a couple of days to get to know Max and Bryn again. Maybe even get to know Alicia a little. She was going to give birth to my nephew after all. "No, I think I need to finish up by myself."
A note of warning entered his voice. "What happened to great?"
"No, it's not that," I quickly reassured him. "It's just...I don't know how to begin to describe it. I just want the time to get reacquainted with a couple of old friends."
His silence said volumes as he realized what I was saying. "That is great, sweetheart."
"Dream come true kind of great."
I could hear the smile in his voice. "I know. You sure you're only going to need a couple of days?"
"Well, we've agreed that we're not getting out of touch again, so it's good."
From the dining room, I could hear Max yelling at me that dinner was ready. "Hey, dinner's on the table, so..."
He laughed. "Food wins over your fiancée, I know. Call me later."
"I will," I promised, grinning. Oh, I couldn't wait to get home. I was just going to be full of surprises when Justin and I could really talk.
I hung up and went to eat with the others. And let me say, the food was as good as it looked. I had no idea how Logan had managed to get everything and put it together like this, but I wasn't going to complain. I wasn't a bad cook myself, but this blew me out of the water. It was even better than the cooking that Kat did and Justin claimed as his own when I was out late studying. The shrimp was fresh, seasoned with citrus juices, and the cream sauce was phenomenal. Plus, it was obvious that Logan was used to cooking for a transgenic because he had made far more than one man and three slim girls should be able to eat.
Original Cindy had found out about Logan being Eyes Only a few months before, so we were free to talk about everything as we ate. The irony of Max helping Logan the way I helped Justin was too funny. Justin had said more than once that if Eyes Only knew about me, he would want me in Seattle working for him personally. I think he wouldn't have been able to handle it if he had both me and Max there all of the time. Still, I got a few questions answered. Logan was the one in that tape Steiner had sent to Justin. He had been shot and then a blood transfusion from Max gave him the stem cells needed to repair the spinal damage. Wrong thing to say to a future doctor. In fifteen minutes he was so dazed from my questions that he had to get up and find some more wine. Max thought it was hilarious.
Logan told me he had been a little worried when his LA guy brought in a new partner. He wondered if we had broken up or something. Not that it would have been his business, but he knew what relationship troubles could do to his work. He had given Max a rather pointed look and she responded with a kick under the table. I told him that between graduating college, planning a wedding, and starting medical school, I didn't have the time that I used to. I loved helping Justin, and had promised that I would still be there if muscle was needed, but Nikki had a flair and desire that I was lacking.
Max shook her head. "This is just totally whack. All along I've been hunting for you guys and you been the ones making him say 'Just fifteen more minutes. I'm waiting for my LA people to finish the transmission.'"
I looked at her curiously. "Why were you looking? You knew Zack has us all taken care of."
She rolled her eyes. "No, Mr. Man knew he had us tight. And that was a need to know situation. Until last year, apparently, I didn't need to know. I end up with Lydecker hot on my ass because I'm wondering if I'm the only one that made it out and looking for the rest of you."
My eyes narrowed. How many of the others had he not made contact with? Damn him. I would have called him right then to cuss him out, but he was probably in too good of a mood to care. "Do you know about any of the others?" I asked. "Were they out looking too?"
Max looked down, her face drawn. "Just Ben."
"What happened to Ben?" I wasn't sure if I wanted to know or not.
"He's dead," a small voice said from the hall. We all looked over to see Bryn. She was wearing this long nightshirt with her hair hanging limply down around her shoulders. Her face was still lined with the stress of her ordeal. I could see the strength and vitality that had been there but now she looked as fragile and vulnerable as a small girl.
"They told me he was killed," she said. "How if we stayed out we would die, but in there they would protect us. Make us better. Keep us safe. He was broken, like me. I went back, so I was fixed. He stayed out, so he died."
She was shaking, tears falling down her cheeks. "I didn't want to die," she whispered. "I was so scared. I didn't know what to do."
I was across the room in a second, pulling her into my arms. "You survived," I said firmly. "Your orders were to survive until we could come for you. You did good, baby sister." Max was there, helping me hold Bryn up. I think there's something of cat in there that we like to touch for comfort. It's extremely comforting to feel those small touches on your hair or face from someone that you care about.
Bryn turned her tearstained face to me. "I tried to wait for you," she said. "But they were all over the place and got close, so I ran. I ran and I was too scared to go back. So I ran and ran and I didn't know how to leave you a trail that they couldn't see."
"It's okay," I whispered. "I found you, right? I told you I would. Doesn't matter when. We said we would meet. Me, you and Max. We made it out. That's all the counts."
Max's arms were wrapped around me and Bryn and our little circle tightened. The wounds were way too old to be this raw and hurtful. But they could heal. There was hope now. A new life for all of us. Hope.