"Can't Deny Destiny"
Chapter 5 "Gear Up"
Rogue Angel
Disclaimer and such: See Chapter 1
Note: This chapter's a little longer than the other ones but that's because I'm trying to delay the meeting between the Scooby Gang and the Seattle group... No, actually I needed to develop a little more of the story and all... so yeah next chapter-- SHOWDOWN! ***** The hotel room Jondy walked casually back into the room. Maxie could see the anger in each step, though. She was pissed. "Faith. We need to talk," Jondy said in a hushed but important tone. Faith got up and followed Jondy out of the room. As she exited she nodded to Maxie. "Everyone. Group meeting in here in an hour," Maxie said. "What's up?" Faith asked but Jondy kept walking. Faith fell in step, they continued to the BWM and got in. Without looking at her sister, Jondy finally spoke, "We got a call tonight, your friends have come for you. And they've taken a hostage. They'll kill him if you aren't turned over to them by eleven PM tonight." Faith regarded Jondy, her eyes dropped to the floor of the car. "The thing is," Jondy continued, "Nobody messes with my sister. Especially some blonde bitch from Cali." Faith smiled then it faded. "How do you know Buffy's blonde?" Jondy grinned. "You really think that it would take me a decade to find you? I found you in Boston." "You found me in Boston but you didn't let me know you were alive?" Faith opened the door and started getting out. "Faith wait..." "Why? You turned your back on me." Faith got out and started walking away from the hotel. Jondy climbed out of the car and ran to Faith. "I was still following orders, I didn't know any better." "I'm not listening." "I did everything in my power to make sure no one found you, even with all the stunts you pulled." "Stunts?" "The quarry where you and all the other local kids jumped. Thirteen people have jumped from that spot before you and none of them made it. Every single one of them hit the rocks below. Most of them were high school or college students and they were all out done by a fourteen year old girl. Made the news, you know that? With your picture on the front page." "No, it didn't. The news paper building was struck by an arsonist." "Or a protective sister. I've made sure that you never got in the paper, even during your spree in Sunnydale and LA." "Why did you do that?" "Because Zack wouldn't let me directly interfere. Even after your stupid tranks started to affect you psychologically." "They didn't." "The tranks along with a bitch named Buffy and her groupies and everyone else that screwed with you." "You knew about all of that?" "And I knew about the Mayor, how you sided with him. I don't blame you for doing that. He made you feel loved, something you really needed. I know you did some things that you may or may not regret but so have I. Fuck, so has everyone else." Jondy put her arm on Faith's shoulder. "Zack blames himself for Ben, I blame myself for everything that happened to you." Faith started crying. "No. Jon, don't blame yourself, I'm the one who messed up. I'm the one who is messed up." "You're not messed up." Jondy pulled her sister into a hug. "I am too. I mean, all of you guys got some state of normal after the escape..." "Normal?" Jondy started to laugh. "What the fuck is normal?" Faith pulled herself away from her sister. "Not being a psychopathic Transgenic Slayer." "What about Liz's whole 'I'm in love with ET' thing?" "Not even close." "How about Maxie joining the good fight with a cyber-journalist freedom fighter who also happens to be in a wheelchair?" "Still not even close." "How about me? I fell in love with my one of my brothers, intentionally kept my entire life masked in shadows and, by doing so, kept myself from everyone I care about only to get a job at some two bit bar in San Francisco so I could stay close to those I can't have contact with, then I find a prophecy that pits me and three girls I'm never supposed to see against some unseen evil, and..." Jondy stopped suddenly as if there was one more thing she was going to say but she stopped and cleared her throat. "Am I getting close yet?" Faith laughed. "Getting there. I think the prophecy pulls you into a tie." "I guess that I'll have to settle with that." Faith smiled again. "I'm still mad that you didn't at least hint to me that you were alive." "You were having too much fun with B." Jondy said, Faith rolled her eyes. "What's up with her, why does she really want you back so badly as to take hostages?" "Besides the fact she can't let shit go?" "Better yet, why do you hate her so much?" "I didn't hate her at first. I was just the way I am, you know? Gun-ho, balls out..." "I know, I'm that way too." "But you're more calm." "One of us has to be calm. You're giving me the eye... I'm sorry for interrupting, keep going." "Thanks, sis. But yeah... Everything was five by five you know? And then I find out that everyone in Sunnydale is a prude and that I'm quote unquote "to wild". For some reason I started caring too much about what they thought of me. After a while it really got to me, I wanted them to like me. To be a part of their happy group was this huge thing for me. Pathetic huh?" "Not at all." "When they turned their backs on me, it killed me. I felt so betrayed. It was like everyone was taken from me, like when we escaped and everyone was gone." Faith held up her hand to cut Jondy off. "I know you weren't really, but it was this idea that kept running through my head. And then I just lost it. Before I could figure it out again, Buffy and I scuffled and I went down. She put me in a coma, I had a lot of time to think about what I did. When I got out of the coma, I wanted to put Buffy through all the pain I went through and we traded places." "Traded places?" "Magic, we literally switched bodies." "You became Buffy?" "Sad, huh?" "Is this where you have your huge revelation?" "As a matter of fact... I did. I walked a mile in her shoes and saw that she was the one who had it five by five. He life was like the Pulse never happened. It was like a fucking fairy tale, the hero always won and the villain always lost. The hard truth was... I'm the villain. I really didn't want to lose anymore. I was going to go away and start over with a new face. If I was her then I wouldn't have to run anymore, not from her group, not from the Watcher's council, and not from Lydecker. It would be over." "What happened? Why am I not looking at Buffy?" "She found a way to switch us back. It's really hard to look at yourself through someone else's eyes. We switched and I booked. Went to LA and I did everything I could to have someone kill me. That didn't work and I ended up in Jail. You got me out and now we're here." "Well, if it's any consolation, I think you grew from that whole situation. You learned the lesson." "What do you think my lesson is?" "Tranquilizers and Tryptophan don't mix well." Faith laughed. "Seriously." "That cute boys like you." "Cute boys?" "Alec and Michael both keep looking at you and you keep looking back at Alec." Faith blushed. "No comment. How about a realistic moral?" "Everything's five by five now. You're better than they gave you credit for? They don't know that you're of a different level than them." "That's what got me in trouble in the first time." "I'll never tell you to act like them, you're not like them. We're not like them. We're soldiers. We're animals. We don't live by their rules, we have our own... Which leads me to ask, do you want to go back?" "What?" "It's up to you, do you want to go with Buffy? If you do then we'll do the switch but..." "No. I'm not going back. I've got all of you and I'm not letting go for the world." "Thought you'd say that." Jondy smiled. "We'll give her a display of power that will make sure that she or any of her lackey friends will ever think about coming back to mess with my twin sister." "What's the plan?" "You're gonna like it, it's way over the top." Jondy grinned largely. The Hotel Room Jondy and Faith re-entered the room. The whole group was back in there. Maxie came up to them. "What did you tell them?" Jondy asked. "Nothing, you're the CO. You get to tell them." "Good. Cause Jondy's got a plan that can't go wrong." Faith said with a grin. "What's going on?" Zack asked. Jondy and Faith assumed the at-ease position. "Alright everybody we've got a problem. We are in a hostage situation. A group from California has come to Seattle after Faith, the leader of the group is named Buffy. Buffy has taken a hostage with intent to kill him at 11 PM tonight if we do not make the change. We will not make the exchange. We are going to go to the location we have selected and we are going to put the bitch in her place." "Who's the hostage?" Isabel asked. "He's a close friend of Maxie's. His name is Logan Cale, known to many as Eyes Only. Logan is responsible for saving the X-5's, minus Alec and Jace, when our cover was blown last year. We owe him this favor. The bitch holding him is not at normal human abilities. She has special talents, supernatural shit. This mission is optional. I'm in, 518's in, and 452 is in. The rest can choose." "I'm in." Liz said. Maxwell looked to her and grinned. She was really amped about doing this mission. "I'm going," Zane said glaring at Jondy, words screaming in his head... "Because you're not fit to lead this... God, I should say something." Syl, Jace, Grix, and the three aliens agreed to join in the attempt. "Fucking help me!" Maxie thought at Zack, the others were holding out because of him... Him and his stupid grudge against Logan. Zack looked at Maxie and she pleaded with her eyes. "Count me in," Zack said. The other X-5s, minus Alec, offered immediately. "Original Cindy sure as hell ain't goin'. She ain't combat trained for supernatural bull shit. Me and the other normal people here will hold down the fort. Keep the grub warm for ya and shit like that," Original Cindy said. Kyle, Maria, and Jesse were all relieved that they didn't have to go. Alec had a plan of his own. "I'm going to go home and watch TV. Have a wonderful time," he said standing. Faith put her hand on his chest. "I don't think so." "Oh?" His eyebrows lifted in mock shock. "All I want to do is join the traitor's fight." "I wasn't a traitor," Jace said. "Yeah, well you left. Knocked up and useless," Alec said. Syl held Jace back as she tried to launch at Alec. "Bastard," Jace snapped.
"I can't be. I don't have parents," Alec said with his chagrined look. Michael walked up to him. "You've been flirting with Faith since you got here and when it's time to prove something, you take off running with your tail between your legs." "Oh, how sweet, Faith, the little green man is coming to your rescue. Isn't that cute?" Michael's hand began to glow. "I'm not little and I'm not green." "And you're not really a man here either. The Buddha boy and the married fuck are the only men here. The rest of us are fucked up science projects or fucked up versions of ET. And if you don't mind, this fucked up science project is going to go, he's getting sick from all of this fucked up fantasy of family. Live long and prosper," Alec said doing the Star Trek hand. Michael pushed his hand out and Alec flew against the wall. He didn't even touch Alec. All of the X-5s jumped back into reflexive positions. Jondy pulled out her gun. Alec got up, stunned. "Want to try that again?" "I can go all night, soldier boy," Michael countered. Zack snapped out and punched Alec, Maxwell got in front of Michael. "We don't have time for this." "If Alec wants out he can go. I said this was optional," Jondy said. Zack did not stand down. Jondy trained her gun on Zack. "I said, optional. Back off, Zack, or I'll hit you. If Alec wants to walk, he can. We're not his family so why should he care." Zack turned to Jondy. They stared each other down for a few seconds then Zack backed down. Jondy slowly lowered the gun. Faith looked at Alec with a twinge of pain in her eyes, she had been attracted to him and he was backing out. "You heard her, I'm not family. I don't want to go so I'm out." He pushed by Michael towards the door. "Alec," Jondy yelled. Alec paused but didn't turn. "What?" "You change your mind, you know where to find us." "Don't hold your breath," he said and then left. Faith ran to the door and yelled out after him. "Five by five for me. Go. I didn't want you there anyway." She slammed the door and she found Jondy right by her, Liz on the other side. They both put an arm around her. She shrugged them off and walked away. "Ok, now who here has arms on them and who needs?" Zane asked to break the tense moment. As it turned out, only Jondy had guns on her. Dax, Grix, Zack, and Krit went out on a hunt to get guns and lots of ammo. Everyone got their game faces on. Some of the girl X-5s made a run for food and Max drew a map of the building while Jondy began to plan the attack. Original Cindy took the "humans" back to her place so they could honestly say they had no idea what was going on. Jondy pulled out her small bag of guns, Liz grabbed one and went to clean it. Maxwell followed after her. "This is new," he said with a smile as she took the gun apart and began to clean it. "Habit. I don't want there to be anything wrong with it, if I have to use it." "I mean the whole image. G.I. Jane and all. I like it." Liz grinned. "Then you'd have loved it back in the good old days. Shaved head and fatigues." "A force to be reckoned with?" "Something like that." "Why didn't you ever tell me?" "We were in enough danger with your secret, we didn't need to be overloaded." "Why didn't I ever see memory flashes from that Manticore place?" "I repressed and forgot a lot of it so you couldn't. No one could. I could undergo unspeakable torture and not be able to remember what happened there." "You can do that?" "I did it." Liz loaded the clip into the gun and cocked it. Maxwell noticed she had completely taken the gun apart and put it back together while they had been talking. "And you would have done that with my secret?" "You have to ask?" "No. There's something I need to ask, though... Are you coming back to Roswell after this is over?" Liz locked eyes with him and took a deep breath. "No." "Why not?" "I've spent my whole life looking for these people, I can't turn my back on them now. Faith, Maxie, Jon, and I are going to travel around together for a while. Faith was my best friend back there, we were supposed to escape together but we got separated so I went with Tinga and Brin. I love them but Faith and I, we're like Maxie and Jon. We were tight and I want that back." "I understand." "Find a way to make Maria understand then," Liz said and she stood off. Outside by the bench in the hotel With Alec gone Michael was now the center of Faith's attention. Faith realized that the two of them were alone outside. "Why did you do what you did?" she asked. "I saw you when you were at the Crashdown to pick up Liz. I was working in the back." "You did?" "Yeah. Hard to miss you." "A punk stands out." "No, a kindred soul stands out. You and me, we're a lot alike. People look at us and think we can stand up for ourselves, and it's not like we can't because we can. But it's nice to know that someone's always got your back. I've got yours and someday, you can get mine." "And I will." Michael leaned in and kissed Faith and he got a flash of her running in the snow as a child. Running away from Manticore. Faith pulled back. "What the fuck was that?" Dumbfounded, Michael responded. "I just had a flash. We had a flash?" "Yeah?" "That's like a Max and Liz thing. I've never kissed someone the first time and see something from them." "I saw something from you too." "What did you see?" Michael asked. "A young boy, who's very naked, walking by the side of a road in the desert." "That was me after I escaped from the pod." "So what did you see about me?" Faith asked. "This is getting fun, and he's cute," she thought. "A kid with a shaved head running in the snow. Dogs barking, the cold, and a lot of fear. What is it?" "The night we escaped from Manticore. How did that happen?" "I can't explain it, it's a connection that forms when my kind touches someone... But not always." "I'm gonna be level with you, I've got a very dark past. I've killed people, assaulted people, and I've been in prison." "I don't care. The past is gone. In the past, I was Maxwell's right hand General and he ruled a planet. I can barely hold down my two jobs now. The past doesn't make us who we are." Faith smiled softly. "Maybe we should test the connection thing again and make sure it's not a fluke." "I agree." The two kissed again, deeper and longer... In the twenty minutes they had alone they were able to discover a lot about each other. Syl broke their kiss, accidentally. "Faith, we... Busy are we?" she said with a grin on her face. "Kinda," Faith said giving Michael a quick kiss. "What's up?" "We're going over the schematics for tonight. You two are needed." "Be right there," Michael said. "Jondy said five minutes ago," Syl said as she was leaving. Faith stood and headed out. "We've better." Michael grabbed her arm. "Why do you take orders like that?" "Lots of reasons, Jondy's my CO, my sister, and my friend. She's got my back, she got me out of prison, and she's going pretty far to make sure I don't go back. So right now, if she says 'jump', I say 'how high?'" "Still, you shouldn't have to take orders from her." "It's our nature to react that way. We were born into the military, programmed for it... So when shit goes down, digits go up." "Digits?" Michael asked. "My number.. For the first nine years of my life I was X-5 332340090518 or just X-5 518 to everyone but my family." Syl popped back around the corner and yelled to the two on the bench, "Let's move people." "Coming." Faith said and her and Michael followed after Syl. They entered Jondy and the girl's room and it looked like a war room. The guys who had gone for guns were unpacking crates. The group stood around and looked at the wall. "About time," Jondy said, not looking to the two late arrivals. "To bring you up to speed. Michael, you're going to be with Delta Team. That's Jace, Dax, Syl, and yourself. You're going to be located on the ground floor. Faith, you're with me and Max Squared, we're Alpha Team. Grix, Brin, Liz, and Isabel is the Omega Team, they're cover on the second floor. Delta and Omega teams will secure the perimeter. Krit's going to patrol the roof, Zack and Zane are going to be guarding the exits." "What about me?" Alec asked from the door. Silence answered him, "You should learn to lock the door," he said with a weak smile. "Weren't you going to watch TV?" Michael asked. Alec shrugged. "Nothing on. How can I help?" Jondy smiled. "Knew you'd come around. You're on the roof with Krit." Krit nodded, he didn't like Alec but he didn't like the idea of loosing Faith more. "If he mouths up can I shoot him?" "No," Jondy said, trying not to grin. "This should be cake people, we've dealt with much more difficult stuff." "Can I request one thing?" Faith asked. "If push comes to shove Faith alone takes Buffy, if need be," Jondy said with a wink. "Read my mind," Faith whispered. She smiled as she felt Michael's arm slide around her waist. "Ok, my clock's reading five PM. We have six hours till go time. We will rendezvous back here at 2130 hours. That's nine-thirty. We will roll to the facility and take positions." The group dispersed. Jondy walked out to the bench and sat there. Zane followed and sat next to her. Sweat was glistening on her face. He put his hand on her face. "You need to slow down." She pulled her face away, "I'm fine." "You're not. Why don't you pull back to the roof or something?" "I'm not sitting on the sidelines. I'm going be right where I need to be." "I know you care about Faith, but come on, this should be an in and out mission and you know this. Maxie, Faith, and Zack could handle it." "Zane, can you let me have this one mission as CO? Please?" Zane locked eyes with her. "Fine." "Thank you." "I know you don't need to sleep, but you should be resting." He put his hand on her face again, his finger tips played in her hair. "Why do you insist on making this so hard?" Tears began to build in Jondy's eyes. "Because, I can't stand to not be with you. If you die, I want to be at your side, holding your hand. I don't want to be thousands of miles away wondering and waiting for a call from my brother telling me, 'Oh, by the way...'." She began to cry and she collapsed into his chest. Instinctively, his arms wrapped around her. Sobs began to wrack her body. "I don't want to die," she sobbed. "No one does," Zane said. "I just found everyone. I just got Maxie and Faith again. I just got them. I can't be taken away now. It's not fair." "I know it's not, Jon." "I even pulled a tooth for the Blue Lady," she said with a weak smile. Zane couldn't help but laugh a bit. "You did?" She leaned back and showed him her missing wisdom tooth. He laughed again and wiped a tear from her face with his thumb. "I know it's childish but I'm scared of going to the Bad Place with the Nomlies. I thought I outgrew that fear, you know, that I was old enough to not believe in the monsters under my bed... But I'm so scared." "It's ok." "Hey guys, what are you doing out here?" Maxie asked, she noticed the tears flowing down Jondy's chin. She ran to them. "Are you ok?" "We're just reminiscing," Zane lied. "Talking about Tinga, Eva, Jack, Ben, our stray childhood." Jondy tried to smile. "Tinga owed me fifty dollars." Tears began to fall anew. "I beat her in pool like I did to you. She promised to pay me the next time she saw me. Logan made the call less than two weeks later. I never saw her again." She dried her eyes with her arm. Max crouched in front of her sister. "I'll pay before I die, I promise. It's gonna be a long time, ok, girl. You and me are gonna grow old together, alright?" "Tell me again later," Jondy said. Max tensed. "What? Jondy, what's wrong?" "Ask me after Faith's safe, ok? Please?" Jondy pleaded, tears falling once more. "I have to know, what's wrong? You can't just not tell me." "Now's not a good time, Max," Zane said in Jondy's defense. "Like Hell it isn't." She put her hand on her sister's face. "You're hot." "I'm fine," Jondy said. "You're not. Please tell me." "I will," Jondy looked at her watch, "In seven hours. Please, Max." "Are you fit to lead this mission?" "It's my last one," Jondy said. "But don't say anything to anyone. I swear I'll tell you everything later." Max pulled Jondy to her, their foreheads touched. "I want you to be safe." "I will." Max kissed her forehead. Jondy all of a sudden got very anxious about something and she got up and left. "Ok, spill, Zane. What's wrong?" "Max, I can't." "Tell me or I swear..." "Swear what, Max? She's been better but... She can handle the mission." A tear ran down Max's cheek. Her voice nearly broke as she spoke, "Why does she have a fever?" "She's sick. That's all I can say. Please. Don't ask. Let her tell you." "Sick? Is she going to die?" Zane remained quiet. Max wrapped her arms around his legs and began to cry. "That's why she was crying, wasn't it? She's going to die?" Zane lifted Max up on to his lap. "She's just scared. We were talking about the Blue Lady." Max dried her eyes. "Why?" "Jondy still kinda believes in it. I think it's just her trying to get a grasp on some kind of religion. I started reading about shit like this when I found out she was sick. She's just finding her faith and our Blue Lady is all that she's got." "It's comforting her?" "I'd say so," Zane said. "Now take a few breaths and here," he dried her eyes, "I know it's tough, you want to tell but she needs to be the one who makes the move." Max nodded, and Zane gave her a firm hug. "You just got to be strong for her, alright, Sis. She needs it. From you the most." "Me?" "You." Zane smiled softly. "I can see why she cares for you. You've got an amazing heart." "So do you, Maxie." Jondy was pacing, she had a lot of energy. Brin walked up next to her and walked in pace with her. "You know you're pacing, right?" Brin said in a smart tone. Jondy stopped and looked around. "No. Am I?" Brin grinned. "Tell me what's up." "Just too much coffee. And I've been skimping on my Trytophan for the last few days..." Brin watches her sister. "Or you can bold faced lie to me." "Shit, not you too." "Not me too, what?" Brin said with genuine interest. "I'm just worried about something and everyone's jumping on my case." "The joys of being on top." "Oh, yeah," Jondy said with a fake smile. "So how have you been?" "Good." "Last time I saw you, I looked older than you. When the hell did you get to look older than me?" "All of us do. You look like you're ten." "Ok, I've heard sixteen but not ten." Jondy made a sour face. "You're young at heart, that helps on the outside too." "Young at heart? Is that a nice way of saying, 'ha-ha'?" Brin grinned. "Pretty much. But you can make any of us laugh, I don't remember you being able to do that." "Self taught. I learned the smart lip all of us developed from Manticore wasn't exactly the best way to make friends. Genuine humor is the best deflector, remember that." "Note to self." "It's supposed to help with stress too, but it's sucking pretty hard for that, right now." Jondy quieted, "How was it, when you went back?" "Mixed. Now that I'm out again I realize it wasn't all that good, I betrayed Max and Zack and Tinga and I let Tinga die. But part of it made sense, you know, we were made for it. And I wasn't afraid, I was always afraid when I was running. But there, I didn't have to run. But shit hit the fan for me when Max chained me up. I really began to question what I had become." Jondy's face was solemn, Brin took it as a supportive face. "But I'm good now. I've made my peace with Zack and Max. And well, it's too late for Tinga." "She'd forgive you. I know she would." "Thanks." The two girls hugged. "I love you, Sis," Jondy said. "I love you too."
Chapter 5 "Gear Up"
Rogue Angel
Disclaimer and such: See Chapter 1
Note: This chapter's a little longer than the other ones but that's because I'm trying to delay the meeting between the Scooby Gang and the Seattle group... No, actually I needed to develop a little more of the story and all... so yeah next chapter-- SHOWDOWN! ***** The hotel room Jondy walked casually back into the room. Maxie could see the anger in each step, though. She was pissed. "Faith. We need to talk," Jondy said in a hushed but important tone. Faith got up and followed Jondy out of the room. As she exited she nodded to Maxie. "Everyone. Group meeting in here in an hour," Maxie said. "What's up?" Faith asked but Jondy kept walking. Faith fell in step, they continued to the BWM and got in. Without looking at her sister, Jondy finally spoke, "We got a call tonight, your friends have come for you. And they've taken a hostage. They'll kill him if you aren't turned over to them by eleven PM tonight." Faith regarded Jondy, her eyes dropped to the floor of the car. "The thing is," Jondy continued, "Nobody messes with my sister. Especially some blonde bitch from Cali." Faith smiled then it faded. "How do you know Buffy's blonde?" Jondy grinned. "You really think that it would take me a decade to find you? I found you in Boston." "You found me in Boston but you didn't let me know you were alive?" Faith opened the door and started getting out. "Faith wait..." "Why? You turned your back on me." Faith got out and started walking away from the hotel. Jondy climbed out of the car and ran to Faith. "I was still following orders, I didn't know any better." "I'm not listening." "I did everything in my power to make sure no one found you, even with all the stunts you pulled." "Stunts?" "The quarry where you and all the other local kids jumped. Thirteen people have jumped from that spot before you and none of them made it. Every single one of them hit the rocks below. Most of them were high school or college students and they were all out done by a fourteen year old girl. Made the news, you know that? With your picture on the front page." "No, it didn't. The news paper building was struck by an arsonist." "Or a protective sister. I've made sure that you never got in the paper, even during your spree in Sunnydale and LA." "Why did you do that?" "Because Zack wouldn't let me directly interfere. Even after your stupid tranks started to affect you psychologically." "They didn't." "The tranks along with a bitch named Buffy and her groupies and everyone else that screwed with you." "You knew about all of that?" "And I knew about the Mayor, how you sided with him. I don't blame you for doing that. He made you feel loved, something you really needed. I know you did some things that you may or may not regret but so have I. Fuck, so has everyone else." Jondy put her arm on Faith's shoulder. "Zack blames himself for Ben, I blame myself for everything that happened to you." Faith started crying. "No. Jon, don't blame yourself, I'm the one who messed up. I'm the one who is messed up." "You're not messed up." Jondy pulled her sister into a hug. "I am too. I mean, all of you guys got some state of normal after the escape..." "Normal?" Jondy started to laugh. "What the fuck is normal?" Faith pulled herself away from her sister. "Not being a psychopathic Transgenic Slayer." "What about Liz's whole 'I'm in love with ET' thing?" "Not even close." "How about Maxie joining the good fight with a cyber-journalist freedom fighter who also happens to be in a wheelchair?" "Still not even close." "How about me? I fell in love with my one of my brothers, intentionally kept my entire life masked in shadows and, by doing so, kept myself from everyone I care about only to get a job at some two bit bar in San Francisco so I could stay close to those I can't have contact with, then I find a prophecy that pits me and three girls I'm never supposed to see against some unseen evil, and..." Jondy stopped suddenly as if there was one more thing she was going to say but she stopped and cleared her throat. "Am I getting close yet?" Faith laughed. "Getting there. I think the prophecy pulls you into a tie." "I guess that I'll have to settle with that." Faith smiled again. "I'm still mad that you didn't at least hint to me that you were alive." "You were having too much fun with B." Jondy said, Faith rolled her eyes. "What's up with her, why does she really want you back so badly as to take hostages?" "Besides the fact she can't let shit go?" "Better yet, why do you hate her so much?" "I didn't hate her at first. I was just the way I am, you know? Gun-ho, balls out..." "I know, I'm that way too." "But you're more calm." "One of us has to be calm. You're giving me the eye... I'm sorry for interrupting, keep going." "Thanks, sis. But yeah... Everything was five by five you know? And then I find out that everyone in Sunnydale is a prude and that I'm quote unquote "to wild". For some reason I started caring too much about what they thought of me. After a while it really got to me, I wanted them to like me. To be a part of their happy group was this huge thing for me. Pathetic huh?" "Not at all." "When they turned their backs on me, it killed me. I felt so betrayed. It was like everyone was taken from me, like when we escaped and everyone was gone." Faith held up her hand to cut Jondy off. "I know you weren't really, but it was this idea that kept running through my head. And then I just lost it. Before I could figure it out again, Buffy and I scuffled and I went down. She put me in a coma, I had a lot of time to think about what I did. When I got out of the coma, I wanted to put Buffy through all the pain I went through and we traded places." "Traded places?" "Magic, we literally switched bodies." "You became Buffy?" "Sad, huh?" "Is this where you have your huge revelation?" "As a matter of fact... I did. I walked a mile in her shoes and saw that she was the one who had it five by five. He life was like the Pulse never happened. It was like a fucking fairy tale, the hero always won and the villain always lost. The hard truth was... I'm the villain. I really didn't want to lose anymore. I was going to go away and start over with a new face. If I was her then I wouldn't have to run anymore, not from her group, not from the Watcher's council, and not from Lydecker. It would be over." "What happened? Why am I not looking at Buffy?" "She found a way to switch us back. It's really hard to look at yourself through someone else's eyes. We switched and I booked. Went to LA and I did everything I could to have someone kill me. That didn't work and I ended up in Jail. You got me out and now we're here." "Well, if it's any consolation, I think you grew from that whole situation. You learned the lesson." "What do you think my lesson is?" "Tranquilizers and Tryptophan don't mix well." Faith laughed. "Seriously." "That cute boys like you." "Cute boys?" "Alec and Michael both keep looking at you and you keep looking back at Alec." Faith blushed. "No comment. How about a realistic moral?" "Everything's five by five now. You're better than they gave you credit for? They don't know that you're of a different level than them." "That's what got me in trouble in the first time." "I'll never tell you to act like them, you're not like them. We're not like them. We're soldiers. We're animals. We don't live by their rules, we have our own... Which leads me to ask, do you want to go back?" "What?" "It's up to you, do you want to go with Buffy? If you do then we'll do the switch but..." "No. I'm not going back. I've got all of you and I'm not letting go for the world." "Thought you'd say that." Jondy smiled. "We'll give her a display of power that will make sure that she or any of her lackey friends will ever think about coming back to mess with my twin sister." "What's the plan?" "You're gonna like it, it's way over the top." Jondy grinned largely. The Hotel Room Jondy and Faith re-entered the room. The whole group was back in there. Maxie came up to them. "What did you tell them?" Jondy asked. "Nothing, you're the CO. You get to tell them." "Good. Cause Jondy's got a plan that can't go wrong." Faith said with a grin. "What's going on?" Zack asked. Jondy and Faith assumed the at-ease position. "Alright everybody we've got a problem. We are in a hostage situation. A group from California has come to Seattle after Faith, the leader of the group is named Buffy. Buffy has taken a hostage with intent to kill him at 11 PM tonight if we do not make the change. We will not make the exchange. We are going to go to the location we have selected and we are going to put the bitch in her place." "Who's the hostage?" Isabel asked. "He's a close friend of Maxie's. His name is Logan Cale, known to many as Eyes Only. Logan is responsible for saving the X-5's, minus Alec and Jace, when our cover was blown last year. We owe him this favor. The bitch holding him is not at normal human abilities. She has special talents, supernatural shit. This mission is optional. I'm in, 518's in, and 452 is in. The rest can choose." "I'm in." Liz said. Maxwell looked to her and grinned. She was really amped about doing this mission. "I'm going," Zane said glaring at Jondy, words screaming in his head... "Because you're not fit to lead this... God, I should say something." Syl, Jace, Grix, and the three aliens agreed to join in the attempt. "Fucking help me!" Maxie thought at Zack, the others were holding out because of him... Him and his stupid grudge against Logan. Zack looked at Maxie and she pleaded with her eyes. "Count me in," Zack said. The other X-5s, minus Alec, offered immediately. "Original Cindy sure as hell ain't goin'. She ain't combat trained for supernatural bull shit. Me and the other normal people here will hold down the fort. Keep the grub warm for ya and shit like that," Original Cindy said. Kyle, Maria, and Jesse were all relieved that they didn't have to go. Alec had a plan of his own. "I'm going to go home and watch TV. Have a wonderful time," he said standing. Faith put her hand on his chest. "I don't think so." "Oh?" His eyebrows lifted in mock shock. "All I want to do is join the traitor's fight." "I wasn't a traitor," Jace said. "Yeah, well you left. Knocked up and useless," Alec said. Syl held Jace back as she tried to launch at Alec. "Bastard," Jace snapped.
"I can't be. I don't have parents," Alec said with his chagrined look. Michael walked up to him. "You've been flirting with Faith since you got here and when it's time to prove something, you take off running with your tail between your legs." "Oh, how sweet, Faith, the little green man is coming to your rescue. Isn't that cute?" Michael's hand began to glow. "I'm not little and I'm not green." "And you're not really a man here either. The Buddha boy and the married fuck are the only men here. The rest of us are fucked up science projects or fucked up versions of ET. And if you don't mind, this fucked up science project is going to go, he's getting sick from all of this fucked up fantasy of family. Live long and prosper," Alec said doing the Star Trek hand. Michael pushed his hand out and Alec flew against the wall. He didn't even touch Alec. All of the X-5s jumped back into reflexive positions. Jondy pulled out her gun. Alec got up, stunned. "Want to try that again?" "I can go all night, soldier boy," Michael countered. Zack snapped out and punched Alec, Maxwell got in front of Michael. "We don't have time for this." "If Alec wants out he can go. I said this was optional," Jondy said. Zack did not stand down. Jondy trained her gun on Zack. "I said, optional. Back off, Zack, or I'll hit you. If Alec wants to walk, he can. We're not his family so why should he care." Zack turned to Jondy. They stared each other down for a few seconds then Zack backed down. Jondy slowly lowered the gun. Faith looked at Alec with a twinge of pain in her eyes, she had been attracted to him and he was backing out. "You heard her, I'm not family. I don't want to go so I'm out." He pushed by Michael towards the door. "Alec," Jondy yelled. Alec paused but didn't turn. "What?" "You change your mind, you know where to find us." "Don't hold your breath," he said and then left. Faith ran to the door and yelled out after him. "Five by five for me. Go. I didn't want you there anyway." She slammed the door and she found Jondy right by her, Liz on the other side. They both put an arm around her. She shrugged them off and walked away. "Ok, now who here has arms on them and who needs?" Zane asked to break the tense moment. As it turned out, only Jondy had guns on her. Dax, Grix, Zack, and Krit went out on a hunt to get guns and lots of ammo. Everyone got their game faces on. Some of the girl X-5s made a run for food and Max drew a map of the building while Jondy began to plan the attack. Original Cindy took the "humans" back to her place so they could honestly say they had no idea what was going on. Jondy pulled out her small bag of guns, Liz grabbed one and went to clean it. Maxwell followed after her. "This is new," he said with a smile as she took the gun apart and began to clean it. "Habit. I don't want there to be anything wrong with it, if I have to use it." "I mean the whole image. G.I. Jane and all. I like it." Liz grinned. "Then you'd have loved it back in the good old days. Shaved head and fatigues." "A force to be reckoned with?" "Something like that." "Why didn't you ever tell me?" "We were in enough danger with your secret, we didn't need to be overloaded." "Why didn't I ever see memory flashes from that Manticore place?" "I repressed and forgot a lot of it so you couldn't. No one could. I could undergo unspeakable torture and not be able to remember what happened there." "You can do that?" "I did it." Liz loaded the clip into the gun and cocked it. Maxwell noticed she had completely taken the gun apart and put it back together while they had been talking. "And you would have done that with my secret?" "You have to ask?" "No. There's something I need to ask, though... Are you coming back to Roswell after this is over?" Liz locked eyes with him and took a deep breath. "No." "Why not?" "I've spent my whole life looking for these people, I can't turn my back on them now. Faith, Maxie, Jon, and I are going to travel around together for a while. Faith was my best friend back there, we were supposed to escape together but we got separated so I went with Tinga and Brin. I love them but Faith and I, we're like Maxie and Jon. We were tight and I want that back." "I understand." "Find a way to make Maria understand then," Liz said and she stood off. Outside by the bench in the hotel With Alec gone Michael was now the center of Faith's attention. Faith realized that the two of them were alone outside. "Why did you do what you did?" she asked. "I saw you when you were at the Crashdown to pick up Liz. I was working in the back." "You did?" "Yeah. Hard to miss you." "A punk stands out." "No, a kindred soul stands out. You and me, we're a lot alike. People look at us and think we can stand up for ourselves, and it's not like we can't because we can. But it's nice to know that someone's always got your back. I've got yours and someday, you can get mine." "And I will." Michael leaned in and kissed Faith and he got a flash of her running in the snow as a child. Running away from Manticore. Faith pulled back. "What the fuck was that?" Dumbfounded, Michael responded. "I just had a flash. We had a flash?" "Yeah?" "That's like a Max and Liz thing. I've never kissed someone the first time and see something from them." "I saw something from you too." "What did you see?" Michael asked. "A young boy, who's very naked, walking by the side of a road in the desert." "That was me after I escaped from the pod." "So what did you see about me?" Faith asked. "This is getting fun, and he's cute," she thought. "A kid with a shaved head running in the snow. Dogs barking, the cold, and a lot of fear. What is it?" "The night we escaped from Manticore. How did that happen?" "I can't explain it, it's a connection that forms when my kind touches someone... But not always." "I'm gonna be level with you, I've got a very dark past. I've killed people, assaulted people, and I've been in prison." "I don't care. The past is gone. In the past, I was Maxwell's right hand General and he ruled a planet. I can barely hold down my two jobs now. The past doesn't make us who we are." Faith smiled softly. "Maybe we should test the connection thing again and make sure it's not a fluke." "I agree." The two kissed again, deeper and longer... In the twenty minutes they had alone they were able to discover a lot about each other. Syl broke their kiss, accidentally. "Faith, we... Busy are we?" she said with a grin on her face. "Kinda," Faith said giving Michael a quick kiss. "What's up?" "We're going over the schematics for tonight. You two are needed." "Be right there," Michael said. "Jondy said five minutes ago," Syl said as she was leaving. Faith stood and headed out. "We've better." Michael grabbed her arm. "Why do you take orders like that?" "Lots of reasons, Jondy's my CO, my sister, and my friend. She's got my back, she got me out of prison, and she's going pretty far to make sure I don't go back. So right now, if she says 'jump', I say 'how high?'" "Still, you shouldn't have to take orders from her." "It's our nature to react that way. We were born into the military, programmed for it... So when shit goes down, digits go up." "Digits?" Michael asked. "My number.. For the first nine years of my life I was X-5 332340090518 or just X-5 518 to everyone but my family." Syl popped back around the corner and yelled to the two on the bench, "Let's move people." "Coming." Faith said and her and Michael followed after Syl. They entered Jondy and the girl's room and it looked like a war room. The guys who had gone for guns were unpacking crates. The group stood around and looked at the wall. "About time," Jondy said, not looking to the two late arrivals. "To bring you up to speed. Michael, you're going to be with Delta Team. That's Jace, Dax, Syl, and yourself. You're going to be located on the ground floor. Faith, you're with me and Max Squared, we're Alpha Team. Grix, Brin, Liz, and Isabel is the Omega Team, they're cover on the second floor. Delta and Omega teams will secure the perimeter. Krit's going to patrol the roof, Zack and Zane are going to be guarding the exits." "What about me?" Alec asked from the door. Silence answered him, "You should learn to lock the door," he said with a weak smile. "Weren't you going to watch TV?" Michael asked. Alec shrugged. "Nothing on. How can I help?" Jondy smiled. "Knew you'd come around. You're on the roof with Krit." Krit nodded, he didn't like Alec but he didn't like the idea of loosing Faith more. "If he mouths up can I shoot him?" "No," Jondy said, trying not to grin. "This should be cake people, we've dealt with much more difficult stuff." "Can I request one thing?" Faith asked. "If push comes to shove Faith alone takes Buffy, if need be," Jondy said with a wink. "Read my mind," Faith whispered. She smiled as she felt Michael's arm slide around her waist. "Ok, my clock's reading five PM. We have six hours till go time. We will rendezvous back here at 2130 hours. That's nine-thirty. We will roll to the facility and take positions." The group dispersed. Jondy walked out to the bench and sat there. Zane followed and sat next to her. Sweat was glistening on her face. He put his hand on her face. "You need to slow down." She pulled her face away, "I'm fine." "You're not. Why don't you pull back to the roof or something?" "I'm not sitting on the sidelines. I'm going be right where I need to be." "I know you care about Faith, but come on, this should be an in and out mission and you know this. Maxie, Faith, and Zack could handle it." "Zane, can you let me have this one mission as CO? Please?" Zane locked eyes with her. "Fine." "Thank you." "I know you don't need to sleep, but you should be resting." He put his hand on her face again, his finger tips played in her hair. "Why do you insist on making this so hard?" Tears began to build in Jondy's eyes. "Because, I can't stand to not be with you. If you die, I want to be at your side, holding your hand. I don't want to be thousands of miles away wondering and waiting for a call from my brother telling me, 'Oh, by the way...'." She began to cry and she collapsed into his chest. Instinctively, his arms wrapped around her. Sobs began to wrack her body. "I don't want to die," she sobbed. "No one does," Zane said. "I just found everyone. I just got Maxie and Faith again. I just got them. I can't be taken away now. It's not fair." "I know it's not, Jon." "I even pulled a tooth for the Blue Lady," she said with a weak smile. Zane couldn't help but laugh a bit. "You did?" She leaned back and showed him her missing wisdom tooth. He laughed again and wiped a tear from her face with his thumb. "I know it's childish but I'm scared of going to the Bad Place with the Nomlies. I thought I outgrew that fear, you know, that I was old enough to not believe in the monsters under my bed... But I'm so scared." "It's ok." "Hey guys, what are you doing out here?" Maxie asked, she noticed the tears flowing down Jondy's chin. She ran to them. "Are you ok?" "We're just reminiscing," Zane lied. "Talking about Tinga, Eva, Jack, Ben, our stray childhood." Jondy tried to smile. "Tinga owed me fifty dollars." Tears began to fall anew. "I beat her in pool like I did to you. She promised to pay me the next time she saw me. Logan made the call less than two weeks later. I never saw her again." She dried her eyes with her arm. Max crouched in front of her sister. "I'll pay before I die, I promise. It's gonna be a long time, ok, girl. You and me are gonna grow old together, alright?" "Tell me again later," Jondy said. Max tensed. "What? Jondy, what's wrong?" "Ask me after Faith's safe, ok? Please?" Jondy pleaded, tears falling once more. "I have to know, what's wrong? You can't just not tell me." "Now's not a good time, Max," Zane said in Jondy's defense. "Like Hell it isn't." She put her hand on her sister's face. "You're hot." "I'm fine," Jondy said. "You're not. Please tell me." "I will," Jondy looked at her watch, "In seven hours. Please, Max." "Are you fit to lead this mission?" "It's my last one," Jondy said. "But don't say anything to anyone. I swear I'll tell you everything later." Max pulled Jondy to her, their foreheads touched. "I want you to be safe." "I will." Max kissed her forehead. Jondy all of a sudden got very anxious about something and she got up and left. "Ok, spill, Zane. What's wrong?" "Max, I can't." "Tell me or I swear..." "Swear what, Max? She's been better but... She can handle the mission." A tear ran down Max's cheek. Her voice nearly broke as she spoke, "Why does she have a fever?" "She's sick. That's all I can say. Please. Don't ask. Let her tell you." "Sick? Is she going to die?" Zane remained quiet. Max wrapped her arms around his legs and began to cry. "That's why she was crying, wasn't it? She's going to die?" Zane lifted Max up on to his lap. "She's just scared. We were talking about the Blue Lady." Max dried her eyes. "Why?" "Jondy still kinda believes in it. I think it's just her trying to get a grasp on some kind of religion. I started reading about shit like this when I found out she was sick. She's just finding her faith and our Blue Lady is all that she's got." "It's comforting her?" "I'd say so," Zane said. "Now take a few breaths and here," he dried her eyes, "I know it's tough, you want to tell but she needs to be the one who makes the move." Max nodded, and Zane gave her a firm hug. "You just got to be strong for her, alright, Sis. She needs it. From you the most." "Me?" "You." Zane smiled softly. "I can see why she cares for you. You've got an amazing heart." "So do you, Maxie." Jondy was pacing, she had a lot of energy. Brin walked up next to her and walked in pace with her. "You know you're pacing, right?" Brin said in a smart tone. Jondy stopped and looked around. "No. Am I?" Brin grinned. "Tell me what's up." "Just too much coffee. And I've been skimping on my Trytophan for the last few days..." Brin watches her sister. "Or you can bold faced lie to me." "Shit, not you too." "Not me too, what?" Brin said with genuine interest. "I'm just worried about something and everyone's jumping on my case." "The joys of being on top." "Oh, yeah," Jondy said with a fake smile. "So how have you been?" "Good." "Last time I saw you, I looked older than you. When the hell did you get to look older than me?" "All of us do. You look like you're ten." "Ok, I've heard sixteen but not ten." Jondy made a sour face. "You're young at heart, that helps on the outside too." "Young at heart? Is that a nice way of saying, 'ha-ha'?" Brin grinned. "Pretty much. But you can make any of us laugh, I don't remember you being able to do that." "Self taught. I learned the smart lip all of us developed from Manticore wasn't exactly the best way to make friends. Genuine humor is the best deflector, remember that." "Note to self." "It's supposed to help with stress too, but it's sucking pretty hard for that, right now." Jondy quieted, "How was it, when you went back?" "Mixed. Now that I'm out again I realize it wasn't all that good, I betrayed Max and Zack and Tinga and I let Tinga die. But part of it made sense, you know, we were made for it. And I wasn't afraid, I was always afraid when I was running. But there, I didn't have to run. But shit hit the fan for me when Max chained me up. I really began to question what I had become." Jondy's face was solemn, Brin took it as a supportive face. "But I'm good now. I've made my peace with Zack and Max. And well, it's too late for Tinga." "She'd forgive you. I know she would." "Thanks." The two girls hugged. "I love you, Sis," Jondy said. "I love you too."