A/N: *takes deep breath* Okay, nope, I am not even going to apologize for the delay... you probably don't want to hear it anymore. So, here you have a nice long chapter to make it up to you, and yes, believe it or not, it's the last one. Yup, that's right. AND! I'll post the epilogue in no time.

A/N: I know it is ancient history by now, but thank you all for your expressions-of-surprise..er..reviews on last chapter's ending. They really made my day.

A/N3: Infie: thank you so very much! I can't believe you managed to squeeze checking this into your overly busy day. You ROCK, hon! *hugs*

A/N4¨Thank you all for the encouragement and for keeping up with me. So... this is it!

Tough Call

... and Turns

X5-882 watched the doctors carefully, making sure no one tried to pull any tricks. They had all expressed their happiness that the vaccine had arrived, but he didn't want to take any chances. He'd been warned there could be Familiars trying to sabotage their plans.

He had been on a mission inside the US main Military forces when Manticore had been torched. Gathering some intel. Manticore didn't trust the people in Washington to provide them with the real deal, so they had sent soldiers to infiltrate all of the branches of the armed forces as soon as they were old enough to pass for 18 year olds. 882 – or Mikey as he was called on the outside – had been in the ranks for over 7 years now. He was actually 24 or somewhere around that, but everyone thought he was 28. The silver leaf on his shoulder straps identified him as a Lieutenant Colonel, and he really enjoyed it. So he had stayed. Being that Manticore was in fact spying on the Army, no one there, or in Washington, for that matter, really knew who he was.

When he had seen the Eyes Only broadcast he'd contacted the transgenics behind the message and then arranged for transportation. All of a sudden, a flight to China to re-deploy some units had been imperative, as well as a couple more planes to other locations around the world. The others must have arrived by now also. And must be on the same process of duplicating the culture, so they could make more of the vaccine and spread it around.

Of course, since he was on an Army mission, he was able to carry all the weaponry he wanted. He was after all, expected to.

He patted the Beretta 92 FS in his waistband. It was a ten shot, 9mm gun. Not the gun with the most damage dealing ability, but he kinda liked the feel and weight of it, and it also went with his 'style'. All-black guns were just not pretty enough.

Of course, he was also carrying the old reliable M-16. There was just no beating the light, compact firearm. Plus, the ammo was one of the cheapest and easiest to get.

There were a couple of knives hidden among his clothes, and some other pretty weapons. He just loved the US Army.

He was hoping it wouldn't come to fighting, though. His eyes were continuously shifting from one Asian to the other, making sure none of them were doing something they shouldn't.

Suddenly his ears prickled up and he had to resist the urge to smile. It had been very, very faint, but enough for him.

For a brief moment he wished someone would make a wrong move. It had been really long since he had been engaged in a real exercise with another transgenic. He kind of missed them.

His eyes did a quick sweep around and out the windows and then he was back to looking at the doctors. But he had seen the beautiful Chinese girl perched on the terrace of a tall building across the street. And man was she gorgeous! Once this was over, he would not mind getting in touch with his comrade. He was sure they would be able to find nice ways to get... in contact.

But first the mission. First, everyone needed to take this vaccine.


Dr. Sandeman took a couple of seconds to bask in the palpable silence that followed his statement.

First he looked at the transgenics in front of him. He did not want to miss their reactions. Their Manticore instructors would have been so proud of them. Twenty Nine faces had simultaneously turned blank. Completely. As surprised as they must be, it was completely impossible to tell from their faces; except that the stillness itself told him lots.

Next he watched little 'Regina', mostly because she was among the transgenics. He knew that wasn't her real name, but since he didn't really know it, she was still Regina in his mind. Her expression could be described with one word: confusion.

After that, he took a look at the Familiars in black behind him. They were also sporting guarded faces, but the surprise was still apparent in their eyes.

He left the robed leaders for the last. The man, Fen'el'Kahn, was frowning at him. The kid was glaring a very psycho like stare, it was the same expression he'd had since he'd arrived, but instead of centering it at Max, it was now divided between the female x5 and Sandeman himself. He fleetingly wondered what the kid was so angry about, but quickly dismissed the question. He'd also be angry if he'd had to grow up around Fen'el'Kahn – or David Kent, as he was known to the world.

The guy had been very young when Sandeman left the cult, but had already been a stuck-up, pain-in-the-rear, set-in-the-old-ways prick, well on his way to becoming one of the conclave's representatives, 'cause that was the way of the Family. Hierarchy had to be respected. It didn't matter if you were wiser, or if you were a jerk like 'el'Kahn.

Ximena's eyes, on the other hand, were beginning to gleam. Yes, of all the 'next generation' of leaders, she'd always been the smartest. She might not have approved of his plans had she known them in advance, but she definitely appreciated them now. She remained calm, however. A High Priestess never lost her temper or raised her voice. He smiled. He'd always liked Ximena.

"Explain yourself." Kent demanded coldly.

Sandeman shook his head. "David, David, David..." he said, using his 'human' name only because he knew the other man would hate it - the Familiar name stated his position as a leader of the cult, whereas 'David' stated... nothing. "What is there to explain? Even these kids," he waved in the direction of the silent transgenics, "understand what I did."

A vein started to tick in Kent's jaw, but he asked in an even voice. "Are you telling me these... beasts... aided you in contaminating the entire planet?"

"Well, they did." Sandeman smiled, "They just didn't know it. They were under the impression they were saving humanity."

"Why would they? Humans hate them."

"Well, you never did have much of an understanding of human nature." Benjamin gave him a lopsided grin. "Not all humans do. But more important, they do not hate all humans. They have made friends. They care. At least some of them do. I made sure of that." He looked at Max fondly. He had already enlightened the transgenics, when they had asked him what he knew about Max being in a unit while the rest of them trained individually. He had explained to them that the 'unit' had been a project of Lydecker's indeed –not that Sandeman hadn't encouraged him, of course. And that when Max had been created, he had convinced Deck to take her in as well. He had even agreed to use some DNA of a woman Deck knew to ensure he would take her. He had known he was going to need her cooperation to carry his plan at the time of The Coming, he would need her to care. Being in a unit would increase the odds of that, since she would learn to care about others at a young age. Of course, when he explained all this he had left out the fact that his 'plan' was not exactly what the transgenics thought it was.

"So you were responsible for the outbreak in Atlanta." The Priestess stated. Sandeman smiled smugly. "We were wondering about that. Exactly what purpose did that serve?"

Sandeman looked at Alec and raised an eyebrow, the invitation evident in his eyes.

"It was a media drive and a test to secure our trust." Alec answered flatly. "He knew we would suspect him. He also knew we would have started working on the vaccine by then. So he creates a small outbreak. People panic. All the media arrives. We have the vaccine so we take it there, or actually he does, so he gets all the credit and makes sure you guys know who is responsible for this. They try the cure and it works. People start realizing this doctor is cool, the media gets wind of this, people start seeking this vaccine, our minds are put at ease. When the real thing -the one you guys orchestrated- comes along, the vaccine that he prepared, is ready to be sent out. And he has an army of highly trained, genetically enhanced soldiers to make sure it gets to everyone, whatever it takes."

Benjamin nodded, smiling. These kids were so good. It really was a shame they would all have to die.

"If you are so highly trained, so very superior and intelligent, how could you have been fooled like that?" David asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Easily. He never lied to us." Max answered, still completely expressionless, but for the same slight light of understanding that matched the one in Alec's eyes.

"He knew we would be able to tell if he was lying, so he didn't." Alec finished.

Sandeman smiled blandly at him. "I wouldn't have dreamed of insulting your intelligence by lying. After all, *I* created you, I know what you are capable of."

"You've always been so full of yourself, Benjamin." David said, looking at him with disdain. "You always thought you were smarter than us, but you left a tiny little detail out," he raised an eyebrow.

"What's that?"

"Atlanta. All those people in Atlanta have received the cure, the one these creatures made. They will not take this other vaccine. They will all survive."

Sandeman grinned. "They are irrelevant, David."

"Irrelevant?" The tall Familiar repeated.

Instead of answering, Sandeman turned to look at Max and Alec. Alec's left eyebrow was slightly furrowed, indicating that he was thinking more than likely. It went back to its initial position. Sandeman's grin got bigger. "See, David? He already knows. Care to do the honors?" He asked Alec with a grand inclination of his head.

"They are irrelevant, because they are only a couple of million people, all isolated in one area. They'll be confused and terrified. And they are weaker than you." Alec recited. "And even when they stop being scared and decide to fight for their lives - that is, if you haven't killed them by then -, who will they fight against?"

"Us. It'll be against us." Max spat out. "The vaccine was made out of transgenic blood, by transgenics. So they'll fight us. And it doesn't matter who wins. There'll be casualties on both sides, and which ever side loses, will be one less problem for you guys to worry about."

"Brilliant, is it not?" Sandeman asked.

"Very well thought out, I would say." Alec conceded with a nod.

-----------

Logan squirmed a little watching the scene. He had been in awe the whole time. At first, he'd had a hard time believing it was actually happening, but there was evidently no denying it now. It was playing right there, under his very nose.

And quite a surreal scene it was. The familiars looking pleased, had moved slightly off of their covered positions, some parts of their bodies were visible around the columns they had been using. They were probably trusting that the shock would be too much for the transgenics to actually do something about. Besides, it was a must in any soldier's manual to get all the information before starting to shoot, which made it a pretty safe bet that the trannies would not start with the shooting just now.

The 'uber' familiars were nodding, the kid was smirking a pretty evil smile. It was especially scary seeing it in the middle of that angelic face. The woman was very serious, reflecting on everything that was being said. The man's face was a continuous contradiction. It went from utterly pleased to furious. He was having trouble accepting the fact that it was Sandeman who had made it all possible for them.

Then there was Regina. Logan had really enjoyed watching her expression as she had learnt she had been used, utterly, completely. Too bad it had not lasted. And now she was smiling scornfully, even despite the fact that she was being held very unceremoniously by Alec and a shotgun was placed near her right temple.

The transgenics were still completely expressionless. They even looked calm. One just had to take Alec's last words into consideration. Just a simple statement, no more than that.

Logan sighed and continued to watch. He couldn't shake the feeling of detachment, as if it was a movie playing, and not a world-changing event that affected him.

---------

He was truly enjoying this. It was the moment he had been waiting for most of his life. And it was even better than he had imagined it would be. The faces of the Familiars were priceless.

"Too bad there will not be that many of us left anyway, that would have made the fight more interesting, huh?" Mole asked from behind his cigar.

Dr. Sandeman's face wrinkled into a sad smile for a moment. "So you guys also figured that out?"

"Yes, we did."

"I thought you might. But some of you still might survive, you may develop the correct antibodies for Max's mutated version of the virus.."

"True. And you never said we were immune, you just said you told Renfro we were. And you also said you had not told her the entire truth about your plan. Besides, when you said 'you' you were looking directly at Max. Conveniently imprecise English pronouns, huh?"

"Yes, they can be very helpful, I'll admit. I imagined you would have tested your blood, but I didn't know for sure. And I wanted to give you the benefit of the doubt. If you hadn't tested it with her version of the virus, you would think that you were immune and you wouldn't take the vaccine that would make you sick for sure. Most of you would be able to resist the older strain that the familiars put in the watercourses. Well, the ones that you didn't manage to stop, of course. I wanted to give you a chance."

"So very considerate of you, doc." Biggs inserted sarcastically.

"I'd like to think so." He answered. He tried to take the self-righteousness from his voice, but wasn't sure he had managed. "Unfortunately, if you kids realized you weren't all immune, you all probably took the vaccine already, huh?" A brief nod was all the answer he got. Oh, well, cannot be helped now. It will kick in about three or four days after receiving the dose – I didn't want people to panic and stop taking the vaccine, after all."

"Of course." Nicole spoke for the first time since he'd arrived.

Sandeman smiled at her. "You've been wonderful, dear. I couldn't have asked for anyone better to have on my side all these years and to carry along all my messages."

-------------------

The sun was shining brightly , heating up the concrete surface of the narrow avenue. The faded tones of the multicolor house fronts seemed to be gleaming.

It all reminded Anita of the First of January. Or maybe Labour Day, or the day of the Virgin. No cars were passing by, and the sidewalk on the Southern side of the street was strangely empty. No street vendors, no filthy carts, no sweaty men shouting their 'ofertas' at the top of their lungs.

Yes, it really did seem like a holiday, unless you looked at her side of the street, which was busier then ever. Not with bargain opportunities, but with an endless line of people that went on for as far as the eye could see.

Anita sighed and looked down at the tiny little tanned hand pulling from her calf-length skirt. "Mami, me va a dolé'?"

"No, bebé, es sólo como un mosquito. Pero ya verás como te pones bien apenitas la recibas, ¿si?" Anita reassured her little boy that it wasn't going to hurt, and that this vaccine would make him all right.

Anita looked back up at the streets of Asunción, Paraguay and sighed again.

Across the world, inside a spotlessly clean hospital waiting room in Frankfurt, Ulf Schmidt was glancing at his clock again. Such an inconvenience... Stupid people, he thought as he watched the broadcast of that doctor again. They had been repeating it over and over every fifteen minutes. Ulf already knew it by heart. The German version of the voice over and the English version he had finally deciphered. It had been a good way to pass the time while he waited, trying to hear the English words under the perfectly accented German translator. But he had finally managed to do it. So now he was back to being exasperated.

"Bitte, setzen Sie sich, wir werden balde ihnen bei Namen rufen." The nurse said again. And sure enough, someone else kept calling out names, just as she said they would. But there were over 500 people around, just in this waiting room.

He sighed once more and went back to his laptop just as the anchorwoman announced that there was more on the Familiar Virus. Great, the speech again, Ulf thought with a shake of his head. He ignored the screen and tried to focus on his work.

-----

After hearing the doctor's last words Nicole remained impassive as usual and listened on, her eyes continued to dart around the place as they had been all along. Taking in everyone whether they were Familar, X series, transhuman or whatever. "Thank you, doctor," she said finally, noticing he was waiting for a reply, "was just doing my job."

"Indeed you were." He chuckled. "You never change, huh? Always the perfect soldier." He said in a patronizing voice. It made her wonder for a few moments if some sarcasm had slipped into her voice. The absurdity of the thought made her dismiss it instantaneously.

"It's what I am, sir." She just answered.

She watched Sandeman hesitate for a second. She knew what he was thinking. Whether to let the transgenics wonder if she had betrayed them all along or to tell them the truth directly. Leaving the doubt hanging would be the wisest choice. The less you reveal, the more you have to your advantage. But she knew he wouldn't. He had been waiting for this moment for many years and he needed to be the star of the show. It was okay by her. It would not matter one way or the other. Not anymore.

"I guess you want to know if she was aware of my plan, huh?" Sandeman asked smiling. Nicole placed a mental check in her mind. Humans. She pondered on the fact that this would actually be the perfect time for her to smile. The opportunity was ideal. Yet, putting aside the fact that she never actually did smile, and no matter what the rational part of her brain was saying, she felt absolutely no inclination to do so.

Max seemed to decide this was the perfect time for her sassy self to return. "Not really." She said, one hand on her hips, looking at the fingernails of the other.

Sandeman chuckled. "Well, she wasn't." He said, "She was told the same carefully selected truths all along. Bits and pieces here and there. I knew she'd put them all together once she met you, even when she didn't entirely believe me back then." He paused to look at Nicole, "And she did not disappoint me."

"That was what I was trained to do." Nicole replied.

"Yes, dear, I know. So don't feel bad, any of you. I knew exactly what buttons to push." He said, that patronizing voice again. Why did people always do that. Sure, it looked like he had all the cards in his favor, but did he have to act so conceited? Nicole had never understood that. She was saved from analyzing the subject further.

"All of this is cool and all, but now what?" Biggs suddenly exclaimed from behind the bulletproof door of his truck. "Can we start the shootout to see how many of each other we can kill?" he asked cheekily.

"As we all said before, what good would that do?"

"Well... we'd get to see all your ugly mugs disappear..." Mole countered.

"Truth, but as you know, some of you might still survive. Would you seriously jeopardize the chance of having a more organized attack on Familiar forces in the future?"

"There'd be a few less priests...?" Biggs offered halfheartedly, vaguely aiming his shotgun at the robed figures.

"And what good will three less priests do? There are many others." Ximena said evenly.

Nicole watched Alec's crooked smirk and left eyebrow as he whispered, "Are there?"

----------

It was a dark cave lit only by the flickering lights provided by several torches located on the cavernous walls. Rustic paintings adorned said walls. Intricate designs, the biggest of which had a slight resemblance to a lion. Shadows danced as the people inside the cave contorted to the rhythm of their humming.

A slender woman in her forties with paint all over her bald head and arms appeared to be leading whatever ceremony this ritual was. Many older people surrounded her, their heads bent down, their brown robes hissing as they moved on the dirt.

There were around one hundred others dancing in neat rows, facing the master of the ceremony.

Outside, three shadows moved without making the slightest noise. 346 checked their positions and then went back to staring at the cave's interior. Everything was the same. All was under control. He tapped his microphone twice and only after getting the 'message received' sign did he allow a small smile to touch the corner of his lips.

These Familiars were toast, even if they didn't know it.

On the bright side, they would go out dancing, 346 guessed it would be a good way to die... for some.

-----------

"Ah! So you've taken care of them, huh?" Sandeman asked, unable to hide the pleasure in his voice.

"That was why the location of the main ceremony casually slipped out, wasn't it?" Alec challenged.

"Of course, of course." Sandeman conceded.

Logan watched the high priest – David, according to what Sandeman had called him- David's eyes open wide. They looked like saucers. "You revealed the location of the ... ?"

"It will do the world good to be rid of those narrow-minded obsolete personas." Sandeman interrupted him smugly.

"You, you.."

"Oh, shut up, David. All of this is evidently beyond you." Sandeman cut him off again. "This whole plan is way beyond anything you could have even dream of coming up with. You are no match for me. In fact, no one is. These kids are the closest there is. Then again, they were created by me."

As much as he hated to do so, Logan had to admit he was right. He himself had discovered plenty of evil schemes in his work as Eyes Only. But this was way over his head. He doubted anyone could have discovered such a twisted and well thought out ploy.

Well, anyone but him, he shook his head with a smile as he listened to the guy start to speak. Damn cheeky, know-it-all bastard.

-----------

"Yes, that is true. And that is exactly the reason you should have known better." Alec was saying calmly.

Sandeman looked a little surprised for a tenth of a second, but then he smiled confidently again. "Meaning?"

"Meaning that we were built to be smart, smarter than other humans. And that includes you." Alec made a light movement of his left hand and twenty semiautomatic shotguns were fired. In less than two seconds, all the black clad Familiars were down, too surprised by the sudden attack to have had time to duck back behind their cover... and now twenty nine guns were trained at the four remaining Familiars, not counting the one still resting against Regina's temple. "Did you really think you could fool us in the making of the vaccine? Did you really think we would trust you enough not to check the contents of all the containers in that fridge? That just because the label stated they contained chlorine dioxide we would believe that? And even if we had not thought of doubting the contents, have you forgotten what a developed sense of smell some of the older transgenics have? We were made and trained to think of every possibility." He paused, his expression blank. Max watched him in awe. He looked so poised, so relaxed. He was so sexy. She knew this wasn't the time to be thinking that, but she couldn't help it. He had a way of crawling under her skin. And he looked so incredibly hot when he was taking charge. "So yes, the vaccine we sent out to the world is the real thing. It will be the salvation of all the humans out there that could have been exposed to the virus." Max watched Sandeman's face become more aggravated with every syllable that came out of Alec's mouth.

"So, yeah, doc, sorry, but your perfect evil master plan... it kinda went down the drain." Max added cheerily.

The priestess and priest looked at each other, at the bodies behind them, at Sandeman and back at the transgenics, completely at a loss for words. It had all been so sudden they hadn't had time to react yet. They had certainly not been expecting the transgenics to shoot, not when everything had seemed to be going so well.

"No billions of humans dying, no more priests dancing in a poorly lit cave..." Biggs put in, smiling. "And, hey, Mole! Looks like we'll get our wish with these guys after all!"

Sandeman had managed to compose himself and after a deep breath said, "You cannot kill me. You'd make a martyr out of me. After all, I am the one everyone saw as responsible for the vaccine. If you kill me, I'll still be known as a hero."

"Hmm... he does have a point there, doesn't he?" Dix asked with a frown.

"Well, that's certainly what it looks like." Luke supplied, nodding enthusiastically. Max had to give them points for their acting.

"Indeed, that's what it looks like." Alec drawled, not taking his intense hazel eyes off the doc.

"See that over there? Looks like a crack on the ceiling?" Max supplied, "Camera. That over there?" She pointed to another dark spot on a wall. "And of course, these." She finished signaling a button on her black leather jacket. "The great Eyes Only is recording the whole thing."

"And over there, behind the wall, is lovely Tricia Adams, reporting live for WKNN and the whole wide world!" Biggs informed readily.

"Amazing how you never expect the same tricks you pull to be used against yourself, huh?" Alec asked softly. He was smirking lightly, but Max could see the iciness of his stare. "But you are right. We don't want to kill you. You'll be judged by humans. Let them decide what your fate shall be. It is a soldier's duty to catch the crooks. Let the civilians pass judgement."

"You think they'll listen to you after what you just did?" David raised his voice and pointed at the fallen bodies of the dead Familiars.

"This was a war, and we did what we had to. But, yes, they'll judge us too. We just will probably not abide by their decisions. You guys won't be so lucky."

Max's eyes suddenly darted towards the kid, he'd been silent throughout the entire exchange, not even moving. But she watched his eyebrows draw together now. There was no time to think. As she stepped forward, she could feel the doors of the tracks begin to rattle. And she felt the gun in her hand shaking for no apparent reason. She wanted to shout a warning to Alec, who was completely focused on Sandeman, his grip on the gun on Regina's temple dead strong and steady. That was when she realized what had struck her as odd in the first place. His gun was not shaking.

"I would not waste my energy if I were you." Nicole said to Max's right.

"What's the matter, kid? Mind trick not working?" Biggs completed the thought with a smirk. "You may have powers over certain things, but not over our minds. We were trained for this. We've had our fair share of psy-ops freaks prying into our brains. After a while, we learned how to stop them. And sure, some mind tricks could eventually get to us if we were not expecting them. But not you, and not now."

The little face became almost purple with outrage and he concentrated even harder. Max watched the guns of several of the fallen Familiars raise in the air and move unsteadily in their direction.

"Oh, for the love of..-" Alec murmured as he shoved Regina in the kid's direction, hard, causing them both to fall in a tumble of limbs. The guns made a series of clattering noises as they fell. But even before that, Nicole was by their sides, gently pressing the little Familiar's carotids. There really weren't that many mind tricks to pull off when you were unconscious.

Ralph had also moved, and even though her speed was not comparable with the X5, she was there before Regina had a chance to recover. She pulled her up by the elbow and slapped her hard, before pressing her gun to the Familiar's side. "Just give me an excuse." She said softly, no emotion on her beautiful fair face. The words were whispered too quietly for the TV mikes to catch, but not too low for Max.

"Now Andrew and Jessie will escort you to your new facilities here in Terminal City along with the TV crews. You will be given all the comforts a regular prisoner has," Max paused for an ironic smile, "and the place is close enough to the City's limit for the police to come question you until we figure a way to get you off our hands."

"Now wait a..-"

"Meeting's adjourned. Get moving." Alec said unceremoniously, and then, as an afterthought, added "Yo, buddy, what do you say we place the two gentlemen together in one cell. That should be interesting." He winked.

Biggs chuckled, "You are the boss, boss."

As she watched the Familiars being led, or carried in the kid's case, away, Max moved a little to be by Alec's side and sighed. She hated to admit it, but it felt a bit anticlimactic.

Mole wasn't so diplomatic about it. "Well, this sucks!" He exclaimed. It made every head turn his way. "I still think shooting 'em woulda been the thing to do."

"That would have been too easy." Alec said quietly. "Let them spend the rest of their lives in prison, knowing everything they wanted, everything they fought for, the purpose of their lives and the lives of thousands of years of generations will never come to pass. Let them wallow in their failure. Let them experience a world full of humans."

It wasn't so much the words as the look in his eyes when he said it that caused chills to run through Max's body. "Besides, it would have made us the monsters everyone thinks we are." She said, raising her voice a little.

"Right, cause when they see this face they won't still think that of me." Mole smiled, his teeth pressing the cigar.

That actually made most of the transgenics bite their lips to stifle a chuckle. All except Lizzie, who moved to stand up in front of Mole, hands on her hips, a daring look on her eyes and announced in her fresh but loud voice. "Well, whoever thinks that, will have to have a few words with me!"

If the declaration hadn't been enough, the embarrassed look on Mole's face would have done the trick.

The group of twenty odd transgenics burst out laughing.

Max smiled as she watched Mole go ruffle Lizzie's hair, Luke hugging Dix, some of the others shaking hands. Whether they had showed it or not, they had been all very tense. It was good to let go of that.

She turned her head to look at Alec beside her. He was looking at her with an unreadable expression, but then he broke into that beautiful smile of his and he winked at her.

She smiled back at him, a smile that lit up her face.

-------------

Sketchy's camera made its typical snapping sound, some yards away of where the action had taken place. And that was the image that would be printed on the cover of most papers all over the world the next day. The two proud, striking transgenics in the front, beautifully smiling at each other; the lizard guy kindly ruffling a little redhead's hair in the background while she smiled adoringly back at him; a pale, weird looking dude shaking yet another handsome X5's hand; three kids that looked like they couldn't be over 16 standing on the top of armored trucks, guns tucked on their belts, their hands up in celebration. The image was so full of contrast, so innocent and at the same time chilling, the transgenics looking so alive and sweet, yet well armed and surrounded by camouflage and Army gear.

As if his exclusive interview were not enough by itself, he just knew this picture would go a long way, and he was the only photographer around. Sure, they would have the screen-captures, but nothing compared to a professionally taken 35mm shot.

After tomorrow, everyone would know who Calvin S. Theodore was. And he had Alec and Max to thank for that. He would not forget that fact.

---------------

Original Cindy watched, fascinated by the scene unfolding before her. She had to rub her eyes to really believe it was happening. Her Max and Alec were sitting on adjoining chairs in front of a one by two wooden table. Max had her elbows on the scratched surface, her chin resting on her hands, her legs far apart as she straddled the chair.

Alec was leaning back on his own chair, sprawled on it would be a better description, his left hand tapping a slow rhythm on the table, his right hand playing with a strand of Max's hair. That made OC smile. Neither of them seemed to be aware of the fact and Cindy figured no one else in the room was seeing it either. It was just the angle that she herself was sitting at that allowed her to glimpse at the distracted gesture.

But that wasn't what made the scene surreal, after all, she had worked to that end. Her friends may never realize it, and maybe it hadn't been that much, but she sure as hell had helped those two. Alec may have a clue, she had told him directly what she was doing. Some of the time. But Max had no idea. It was best that way. Original Cindy needed no thanks from anybody. She was just glad her boo was happy.

So it wasn't the easiness they had around each other what made the scene bizarre. Or the fact that they were the center of attention - those two always seemed to be in the middle of everything.

And it wasn't the gray-haired woman looking dead serious in one corner of the room, eyes sweeping around as if on guard for trouble while everybody else seemed relaxed and happy. Or the weird-ass looking transgenics around that made doggie-dog look completely 'normal'.

Nope, it wasn't any of that.

It was the fact that the focus of everyone's attention, her own and that of the rest of the room, was resting on...Sketchy.

That's right. Sketchy was running the show. He was sitting on the other side of the table, a recorder in front of him, the camera laying to his left, a pad and a pen in his hands. He was asking questions. He was actually interviewing Max and Alec.

And to make things even more unreal, he was doing a pretty darn good job of it. Original Cindy was impressed. Sketch was asking all the right questions, not only the technical ones. Like when he'd asked about the drug swap the doctor had made to turn the vaccine into an infectious spreader. The entire explanation had been way over her head, the only thing she had gotten out of it had been that the transgenics had known about it, so they let the doc make one batch before he went to Atlanta. They'd known he would check the results, and then had changed all the substances and the process slightly so that the right vaccine was produced, but taking advantage of the state of the art lab the doc had built.

But Sketch had also asked the right other questions. About how they felt. About what they wanted, and he was interlocking both types of questions quite seamlessly. She hadn't known Sketchy had it in him. But she had no doubts the boy would make it as a journalist. He was good.

"So how did you know about Atlanta? Because that was convenient to you, I mean, with the doc away, you were able to make the swap. But it was a hell of a lot to plan if you didn't know beforehand." He was asking right now.

"We didn't know. Not until a couple of days before the trip. We had guessed he was going to stage something big, something to get everyone's attention, but we had no clue as to what that would be." Max admitted.

"It was another error in judgement by our doc that let us find out." Alec said, his eyes getting a little colder.

"Wait, I thought you said the doctor arrived the day of the outbreak in Atlanta. So how was it his error a couple of days before that that let you know?" Sketchy asked, narrowing his eyes.

Cindy could see the flash of recognition in Alec's eyes. He was also impressed, although she was sure it was much more apparent in her own face.

"It wasn't something that happened a couple of days, but actually many years, before." He said looking at Nicole with a half smile. "In his conceited 'I-made-you' way of thinking he forgot one tiny little detail." He paused to look back at Sketchy. "We may be genetically enhanced, we may be really smart, and well trained and almost perfect soldiers. But we are also human. At least a large part of us is. And we have human emotions."

Cindy stole a glance at the woman Alec was evidently talking about, trying to find a vestige of humanity. But Alec had sure as hell picked the least likely subject to drive his point home. The woman looked like she was made of stone.

Sketchy was eyeing Nicole in much the same way. Alec smiled. "My point exactly. People tend to forget that. Especially with someone like her, who shows so little. That's what happened to Sandeman, she was such a perfect unemotional soldier, he forgot she was human too."

"At the beginning we weren't sure what side she was on. We knew she wasn't lying, but then, neither did Sandeman ever, and look how that turned out." Max seemed to take pity on them all and decided to clarify Alec's words. "She could be in the same situation we were, but she could also be working with him... she sure as hell has no warm feelings towards humans."

"But the day before Sandeman arrived, she said something to me. I don't think she even meant it that way, we were talking about something completely different, but she said: 'I redirected my anger at the real source of the problem.' That's when I realized it... Who was that but our dear doctor? Think about it. She was a little girl, a soldier, but a girl nevertheless. And she was taken from the only place she knew, the only people in the world that were like her, to baby-sit this guy. She was okay with it at first, it was what we were trained to do. But then she realized she was there for a different purpose, this guy was feeding her all these stories because he wanted her help. She had been taken away from the only place she knew because of this guy's plans. She directed her anger at the real source of the problem, all right." He looked at Nicole again with a faint smile in his lips. She looked straight back at him, but nothing, nothing at all was visible in those gray eyes. For all she showed, Alec could have been talking about the weather. Cindy shook her head.

"After that, it was just a matter of asking her. She got us in touch with 256- the X6 kid that remained there after the doc left-, and he reported that indeed, Sandeman had made a shipment to a colleague of his in the State of Georgia. He had a lab in the basement of the house where he had massive amounts of the virus, just in case the whole 'transgenic' plot didn't work out." Max continued the explanation.

"As I said, he forgot our individuality. Our ability to think for ourselves. Nicole had known about this lab for years. And she hadn't been fooled by his proclamations of it being the cure. If that had been the case, why bother looking for Max?" Alec finished. "It was an easy mistake to make, but a mistake nonetheless. Assuming that just because she shows no emotions she doesn't have any. We know better. After all, we are experts on it too." He said, his usual smirk in place, the playful tingle in his eyes, his perfect 'Alec' face, Cindy thought. Hadn't he fooled her with that attitude? Hadn't he fooled everyone with it? Hadn't Max hidden her true feelings from her as well? For many years?

She missed the rest of Sketchy's interrogation, she was lost in her own thoughts.


Max hugged her friend tightly, not wanting to let her go, but she knew she had to. It wasn't a good idea to expose humans to the bio-hazards of Terminal City, and she had been here for some hours already. Of course, she hadn't been able to keep Cindy away once she'd found out Sketchy would be there.

They had agreed. It was good to have a friendly face around when one knew one would be facing the enemy. In the end, all had gone well. But still... it took just one bullet to kill someone. She was sure had any of the Familiars attempted anything, transgenic speed would have beaten them to it, but you never knew. For the most part they'd been protected by the trucks, and yes, Alec had been using Regina as cover, but he was taller and what if a bullet had f..-

Max forced herself to stop. It was over. They were all okay.

And that was it.

She smiled as she watched her friend hug Joshua. She'd been a great help in that department as well. It had been hard to bring Joshua in on everything. They had done that only a couple of hours before the showdown. They had debated long and hard about it. First, on whether to tell him or not – Max had not wanted to, Alec had insisted they had to- and after that, on when to tell him. Joshua would be hurt, and even though Alec trusted that Joshua would be able to behave like a soldier if it was necessary, there was the tiny, little detail of whether or not he would deem it necessary. She knew the rest of them wouldn't doubt it for a second, not when it was about choosing a human over one of their own. At the same time she also knew that had she been in that position and had someone told her that, say, Cindy or Logan was plotting against her, she would not have believed it. No matter how much evidence they showed her, she would have needed to see it for herself. So they had told the big guy right before it all happened. Cindy had stayed there with him while he watched everything unfold on HQ's and Logan's screens. He had been hurt. Deeply. But Alec had been right, Joshua was strong. It would continue to eat at him, but he would learn to live with it. Which didn't make watching the betrayed look in those big sad eyes any easier.

"So, will ya be visitin' your boo now that you're a big TV star?" Cindy asked her with a wink.

"You bet your pretty ass I will!" She countered, her chin raised.

"Well, you better do, hon, 'cause this" OC said, patting her behind, "ain't nothin' to be givin' away lightly." She turned around once more, and after whispering something in Alec's ear that made him raise his eyebrows and smile, she hugged Max quickly one more time and went inside the sewer tunnel, through which Luke would lead them – Cindy, Logan, Sketchy and Miss Adams- to the 'civilized' world.

Max sighed as she watched the brown curls disappear into the darkness.

They may have saved the day, the may have spared the human race from a painful and certain death. But they were still pariahs, still abominations of nature, something that should have never existed.

She didn't harbor any hopes that after today they would be accepted.

She glanced at Alec standing a few feet away and recognized the same thoughts in his eyes. It was far from over. Today might have gained them some gratitude, but not with all humans, and even with some of them it would be temporary. Sooner or later they would find an excuse to attack them again. That was just human nature. And they would have to stick together and prepare for it.

They still hoped that eventually, things would settle down, and they would work to that end. And Sketchy's interview was just a first step to start with.

Nicole's approach distracted Max from her thoughts and a smile started to form on her lips as she watched the other X5 walk their way.

"Well, well, well, look who's here..." she said, grinning widely.

Nicole, naturally said nothing. Alec was biting his lips to hide a smile. They all knew she was aware of what Max was talking about.

Just a few minutes earlier, before everything was set for the humans to go, Miss Tricia Adams had been looking around, asking for Andrew –they'd all been very careful not to call him 'Biggs' at all during the whole thing. At which point a completely impassive Nicole had walked up to her and informed her that 'Andrew is busy right now, but Luke will be leading you out of TC in a moment', before continuing with her very blank expression, 'And if you ever so much as lay one finger on Andrew's hair, I am going to dismember you, slowly, keeping you alive all the way'. Only to finish with, 'Oh, you should start getting your things together. We don't want you to be exposed to all the germs around here, that could be dangerous to your health'.

"What happened to the whole: 'I am cool with it.' 'It's for the good of the mission.', huh?" Max asked Nicole now, raising a daring eyebrow.

"The mission is over." Was the simple answer, delivered smoothly and with no emotion at all. "I'll be finishing things over at HQ." The gray-haired X5 added before turning to leave. She left an open-mouthed Max and a smirking Alec behind.

"Oh. My. Goodness!" Max whispered, "I cannot believe it!"

"What? That she was making fun of herself?" Alec smiled.

"No! Well, yeah! But, but... was that a... smile?" she asked bewildered.

"See? Now you are teasing me." Alec joked.

"No! I swear, I swear, I saw a corner of her mouth lift! I did!" She protested before she realized he was actually the one teasing her. "You saw it too!" She accused him.

"Did not. I just saw a very weird and slight movement of her lips. I wouldn't dare to call that a smile."

Max laughed, "You are right. But who would have thought, huh?"

"Who would have thought what?" Asked a chirpy voice behind them. They both tuned to watch Biggs saunter into the room and had to stifle a laugh.

"Nothing." They said in unison.

Biggs frowned slightly, probably suspicious that they were both easily agreeing on something, but then dismissed it with a shrug.

"Anyhow... where's the lovely Miss Tricia?" he asked.

"Lovely? With that yellow hair?"

"Now don't be like that, Maxie. Brown hair doesn't look that bad on you..." Alec teased her. A snort was all the response he got.

Biggs seemed to decide not to get into that one and said, continuing his previous statement, "I am ready to lead Tricia back outside like I promised. And maybe I'll escort her to her hotel suite, after all... I wouldn't want her to feel lonely in a strange city..." he trailed off, a sparkle in his eyes.

"Tough break, boy." Max ignored the raised eyebrows at her choice of nickname, "Luke already took them all back."

"Really? Well, I guess I'll just have to settle for the visit then. And I was so looking forward to a romantic stroll through the sewers..."

That made Alec chuckle and, although she fought hard to keep it from showing, it made her smile as well.

"I would reconsider that if I were you." Alec said.

"Uh huh." Max nodded.

"Reconsider? Why?" Biggs looked at them puzzled.

"Well, Nicole was just here. She told us to tell you she'd be at HQ." Alec answered casually.

"Ah, yes, the lovely Nicole." Biggs said with a wistful look in his eyes. Max actually saw them glaze over for a second, before they refocused and the playful glint was back in them. "Now that will be interesting and something I am very much looking forward to. But as you just said, she'll be in HQ, wrapping things up. No reason to interrupt her. I'll just let her finish peacefully. No harm if I go distract myself while she does so, now, is there?" he winked.

"Well, I don't see what the harm would be," Alec nodded, earning himself a strong punch in his shoulder. Max was not even sorry when he trained his puppy dog eyes at her, he had deserved it. "But as you can see, Max doesn't see it that way." He said with a lopsided smile, "And neither does Nicole."

"You think?" Biggs asked eagerly. And then sobered up, "Nicole? Are we talking about ice-queen, no-emotions-at-all, aloof Nicole?"

"Well, she certainly gave us the impression that she wouldn't want you to be touching a certain reporter." Max said with a sweet smile.

"Really? What gave you that impression?"

"Well, I think her promising to ...what was it she said? Dismember?" Alec turned to Max for confirmation. She nodded. "Yeah, dismember Miss Adams was a very good indicator." He finished with a grin.

Biggs looked from one to the other. They were both looking back at him with raised eyebrows. "Son of a..-" He whispered.

"What? You don't think she'll keep you occupied enough?" Max challenged him, more to tease him than anything else. He had tried to conceal it, but she had seen the pleased look in his eyes.

Biggs shook his head to snap out of it and answered readily, "Oh, no, I know she will. It's just, well, a guy likes to have his options, you know?"

Max glared at him. A look that switched to Alec as she heard his next words.

"Sure. Well, maybe you can find some other options. I mean, having a dead 'distraction' is not that much fun. And think Miss Adams would agree on that."

"Yeah," Biggs sighed dramatically, "Oh, well, I guess I'll have to settle for some unbridled transgenic lovin'... for now." He finished with a wink, as he turned towards the door Nicole had used a few minutes before. He didn't seem upset at all, Max noticed distractedly. Good for him.

"Ha! This ought to be entertaining." Alec commented once Biggs was out of sight. He turned to look at her when she didn't answer, only to find her still glaring at him. "What?" He said with his most innocent look.

"Sure? Sure? 'A guy likes to have his options' and you answer sure?" She stared at him, her hands on her hips.

"Aw, come on, Max. You know you are more than enough for me." He said with a winning smile. When she still continued to glare, he added. "Besides, if I didn't say things like that, I wouldn't be the Alec you love, now, would I? I wouldn't be this charming, irresistible, smart-alecky, pain-in-the-er.. neck Alec." He beamed at her, a sexy pleading in his eyes.

She looked at him seriously before saying simply. "You are right. You wouldn't be. By all means, carry on." She smiled sweetly.

"Right, see? I.." He started saying before the words registered. Then he stopped abruptly and looked into her eyes, the smile vanished from his lips. "Did you just say th..-?"

"Alec," she interrupted, laying a finger on his lips, "Shut up and kiss me already."

He blinked once before smiling brightly "Your wish is my command, Ma'am." He raised both his hands to frame her face and kissed her. First softly, sweetly, his thumbs caressing her cheekbones. Then his body shifted as he deepened the kiss. She kissed him right back, feeling the hunger in her grow. She felt the butterflies start their frantic fluttering inside her stomach and moaned softly.

One of his hands traveled lightly down her neck and lingered there for a moment before continuing its way. Suddenly, he stopped and took a step back, the hand resting on top of her black cat-burgling outfit, just below the neck. He expertly put two fingers down the neckline and retrieved the object he had touched under the fabric.

"I can't believe you are wearing this." He said looking at the gleaming diamonds sparkling in his hands. "We were facing the end of Mankind and all that and you had time to put on this necklace?"

"Well, the father of my baby went through a lot of trouble to get it, figured I might as well ..." She smiled as she watched his face light up. It had been like a tacit agreement for them both, but she knew he appreciated her actually saying it out loud.

His mouth came down on hers fiercely again, his left fingers pulling at the necklace, the right hand entangled in her hair.

She pressed herself to him, savoring the texture of the lean body outlined before her. He was so incredibly hot, and strong and sexy. Her arms went around his neck of their own accord. Not that she would have wanted to stop them, had she had the chance. She clung to him and flung her legs around him. He took her weight easily, barely shifting his stance, his right arm going around her back.

"Alec?" she mumbled when she got a chance to breathe.

"Hmm?" He was too busy nibbling at her neck to actually form words.

"You think we should.. oh..." She choked on the words when he bit the sensitive skin just above the necklace he was still holding.

"Yeah?" He asked.

It took her a few moments to remember what she had been about to say. Right! "We should go somewhere ... uhm ... more private?" It was really hard to think when he was doing just that. Damn, he was good at it.

"Okay." He said, his lips going back to hers and started walking towards the door, carrying her easily.

"Alec!" She protested.

"Yeah?" He mumbled again, trailing light kisses along her jaw.

"Put me" she groaned when he finally reached her earlobe, "down." She managed to finish.

He made a protesting sound but finally lowered her to her feet. "Fine! But you better run, cause this is pretty... noticeable, as well as uncomfortable."


Alec smiled as he watched her giggle and race up the street into HQ, where she proceeded to ignore everyone as she walked towards the main office. It wasn't the most private of places, but it had a door, and since she and Alec had been living at Sandeman's before the whole thing started, this was where they had bunked down whenever any of them got a chance to sleep in the last days. She reached the doorway and turned around. He was but a step behind her. He smiled predatorily at her and was leaning down to claim her mouth again when Dix's voice came from somewhere behind him.

"Hey, Alec, can you take a look at this? We are getting several calls from different people through Eyes Only and WKNN and they are requesting to talk to you or Max."

Alec groaned, "Uhm... okay tell them that... shit, I cannot think very well right now." He mumbled. How did people expect him to have a coherent thought? Not only was the hottest woman on earth beckoning him to have sex with her, but she had also just admitted that she loved him... in a very 'Max' sort of way. He had been right long ago, she did choke on the words.

"Dix can take care of it." The temptress said in a sultry voice.

"You think? Maybe we ought to..-"

"Alec? Do you wanna do this? Or are we waiting for the," she paused and looked at him from underneath dark eyelashes, "right time?"

Alec blinked his astonishment and then a smile spread on his lips as he shook his head. He could not believe she would actually tease him about that time in the closet.

Was it any wonder he was completely head over heels in love with her?

"Dix!" he shouted, "Tell them they'll have to wait. We will be busy."

"But.." was the last thing he heard as he used his foot to slam the door closed.


When Luke came back to headquarters, he watched Dix standing in front of the office's door, a hand in the air as if about to knock. Luke watched his very pale complexion wrinkle into a frown and then watched him turn around and head his way.

As Dix saw him, he casually asked, "Hey, did you ever finish setting up that sound system in here?"

Luke nodded enthusiastically. "I did. Why? Are we having a party?" Not that he would complain.

Mole guffawed, "Yeah, right. Some people are having a party alright. We just weren't invited."

"Come on, admit it. You are just jealous because it's not you and Blondie over there, making all the noise." Lyon teased him, quickly retreating to escape Mole's reach.

Luke looked at Dix, confusion clear in his face. Dix simply said, "Let's just say, a lot of us have pretty sensitive hearing. Loud music will help ... protect it."

Luke still looked puzzled when everyone else started to laugh.