~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Lucy's room, Med Center, TC(4 hours later)

Lucy opens her eyes, revealing an empty room. ~Where'd he go?~ she wonders in dissapointment, then realizes that he must have work to do. ~Anyway, why would he want to hang out with someone as disaster-prone as you?~ a little voice in her head chastises.

"Damn." she mumbles, trying to spot her backpack. ~Oh, god. They took it. Oh man, they know!~ she starts freaking out, but forces herself to calm down. ~Okay, Luce, just count to 10. 1...2...3...4..5..6..7..8..9..10...~

She opens her eyes again and spots a note on her nightstand that she must have missed. She picks it up and examines it, rightfully wary of letters ever since the one from The Conclave. It's slightly off-white, and has her name written on it in black marker. She pulls it open, praying that this time it's from a good guy.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~letter

Lucy,

Hey...Max here. I just want to tell you that Xander promised he'll visit you when he's done with the kids, and Alec and I will, too, as soon as we can. Lucy, I know that it's hard to be different. Trust me, no one knows that better than the people living inside TC. But just know that you fit here, and you'll be safe here. I have a feeling that Xander'll kill anything that so much as looks at you wrong.

Max

P.S. Look in the nightstand drawer. Dix left you a present.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Lucy smiles a little, touched that everyone's trying to make her feel at home. She opens the drawer and pulls out a little rectangular package. She tears off the paper to find a hardcover bok entitled, The Study and Evolution of Genetics. She opens the cover and a letter falls out. ~Christ, what's with people leaving me letters?~ she thinks, and rips it open.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~letter

Dear Lucy,

Hello! I'm Dix, and I thought that this book might be of some use to you.

Max gave me a sample of your blood to analyze (standard procedure, don't feel violated), and it was incredibly interesting. You see, Lucy, us transgeincs are genetically engineered. Our DNA was carefully fused and fussed with, our genomes altered, and the result is superhuman-esque transgenics. Your DNA, however, isn't altered- it's mutated. All naturally, somehow your body is one step above the stage of evolution we're at now.

Well, I don't mean to bore you. I can't wait to meet you in person, and the rest of TC hopes you feel better.

Dix

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

~A mutant? GREAT. Like I don't have enough to worry about as is. Stupid evolved DNA.~ Lucy sighs, and flips to Chapter Nine: The Evolution of Human Genomes. ~Oh, well, maybe the book'll explain something~ she muses, and starts reading.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~TC gym

SMACK!

~Fucking Familiars~


SMACK!

~They hurt Lucy~

SMACK!

~They're gonna pay.~

Xander wipes the sweat out of his eyes, and stops hitting the punching bag at the sound of footsteps behind him. "Xander, take a break," Alec orders, knowing that he's probably been at it for a good three hours. He throws him a towel. "You okay? You look kinda tired."

Xander sits down on a nearby bench, his breathing heavy. "I needed to hit something." he says simply, wiping his face with the towel. "God, Alec...I mean, how could you hurt a person that much? Especially one as sweet as Lucy?" he thinks out loud. ~He really cares about her.~ Alec thinks, impressed with the bond that he and Lucy have.

"I understand, man." Alec sympathizes, knowing that if Max was ever traumatized that much, he'd kill to see her happy. He sits down next to Xander. "Xander," Alec says cautiously, "did Lucy tell you why White's after her?"

Xander looks up, his face dark. "Besides the fact that he's an asshole, no." he says. He looks up to Alec worriedly. "Why?"

"Just thought you should know, since you're close to Lucy." he says quickly. Xander nods his thanks, and Alec continues, "We don't know why quite yet, but Lucy's DNA have evolved somehow, to our level. It's like she's a transgenic, but naturally. From what Dix and his crew can tell us, she has powers-strong ones, too. Max and I know that for sure." He pauses.

"What do you mean, and how strong are we talking?" Xander asks immediately.

"Well, when Max and I first checked on Lucy, she was sleeping-peacefully, I might add. Then she started screaming about hating White and that he didn't have to hurt them, and then..." he trails off, not really knowing how to describe her powers.

"Then what, Alec? Is she okay?" Xander asks impatiently, needing to know if she's all right. Alec nods, and continues.

"Yeah, she's fine, buddy. But all of a sudden her screaming trailed off, and her eyes flew open, and her body went rigid, and this bright light came from her. It formed some kind of protective ring around her, and it just kept growing until all of a sudden it was like the light repelled anything that might be potentially dangerous. Max and I were thrown across the room, and most of the stuff near her was trashed or thrown across the room. Then, just as quickly as it started, she fell to the bed asleep again." Alec explains, still in awe at the power Lucy has.

"Damn. Do you think that it happens a lot?" Xander asks, guessing that the use of her powers wuold probably make her weak.

"Don't know." Alec says, thinking. "But she seemed pretty damn close to it when she was having that nightmare back there. I don't know how the hell you calmed her down. Max and I tried the same thing, but it kinda backfired."

Xander stands up and throws the towel in a bin nearby. Alec stands up, too, not done talking yet. He falls in step with Xander. "So, you really like Lucy, don't you?" he says nonchalantly, hoping that he'll get something out of Xander. The teenager blushes a bit, a little embarrassed, but brushes it off. "Aw, come on, man. You can tell me."

"Yeah," Xander says, holding the door for the older man as they walk out into the bright afternoon, "I do. It's weird, though, because it's like we've known each other for forever. Okay, that sounded stupid, but you know what I mean."

"Like you have an instant connection." Alec finishes, remembering the first time he met Max.

"Exactly. So, what about you and Max?" he asks, laughing inwardly at Alec's look of shock. "Oh, come on, man, you like her, don't you?"

"I don't know. It's confusing, like we're best friends, but are scared to take it any further in case we might ruin our friendship." Alec explains, slightly uncomfortable talking about feelings like this, but Xander doesn't seem to mind at all, and ponders it.

"I know what you mean. Hey, why don't you ask her to the Transgenic Pride Dance?" he suggests, and Alec rolls his eyes.

"You don't think that I already thought of that? I want to, I just don't know how to do it." he explains.

"Well, you could always serenade her." Xander laughs. Alec lights up.

"Only if you sing to Lucy." he negotiates, hoping to convince Xander to ask her. "And ask her to the dance."

"I don't know." Xander says, kind of nervous to ask her. "What if she says no?"

"Come on, man," Alec scoffs, "she likes you. And we can do it together."

"How so?" Xander asks, intrigued. ~Maybe this can work. I want to go with Lucy so bad.~

"Well, we can tell them to meet someplace, and then we'll have the room decorated and everything." Alec says, already planning.

"Yeah, we can send them flowers and anonymous notes telling them to meet us at..." Xander trails off, not sure where.

"Headquarters!! It will be a total surprise, and everyone will see how ingenious we are." Alec says.

They walk straight to Alec's office and lock the door, just in case anyone should try to invade their planning session.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A/N: hey everyone! Sorry that it's been a while, but we just got off book for the musical, and my brother's being an ass, and I have no idea what I'm doing in Algebra, so I'm having fun.

Please review and make me happy! Luv ya!

Molly jeane