Lana's PoV

I open my eyes, waking from a unrestful sleep, and a sudden sadness washes over me at not being woken up by two bodies pouncing on me...it's funny how I miss the little things. Like my High Place. And watching Jill chase Becca with her sword, and drawing pictures for everyone....

I walk out of my 'apartment', if you could even call it that. I walk up the stairs, kicking open the rusted-shut door and walking onto the roof. Clouds block the sky, and thunder rumbles in the distance. How am I gonna get used to this weather?

Oh, well. At least it matches my mood. Which is to say that I'm pretty broody. I think I have reason to, though- I mean, was I a freaking serial killer in another life? What did I do to deserve getting taken away from my family?

As much as I hated Eden, at least it was home. A dysfunctional, delusional town full of narrow-minded hypocrites, sure. But at least I felt safe. Now? I'm living in a dilapidated apartment building and hiding from anyone on the face of the planet who dares to come within a hundred feet of me. Luckily, I don't think that's too many people.

Rain starts to fall, drop by drop at first, then harder. I look up towards the sky, and my laugh comes out as a bark. Perfect- just wonderful. I lay down on the roof, letting the rain soak me through, not really caring and totally needing the me-time.

It's funny how one day you can you wake up, and your life is tragically normal. And then it just snowballs. I sigh, closing my eyes and trying to let the tension out of my shoulders. It doesn't quite work, and I close my eyes, concentrating on the sound of the raindrops falling on the cement roof.

I like it up here...the rest of the world just doesn't exist.

HQ, Terminal City

"Hey Max?" Dix calls, and the raven-haired girl spins around and heads his way.

"Yeah Dix?" she asks, sounding happy. Dix hides his shock the best he can. "What's up?"

"Well, we searched the database, and we couldn't find anything on Lana. Which is, of course, what Sandeman was going for." he says, and Max nods.

"What's the point, Dix?" she asks, losing patience. Well, it was nice for a while. The deformed transgenic muses.

"We should see if she has any runes, and if her DNA is different like yours is." he says, and Max nods, looking really stressed all of a sudden.

"Ok, I'll get on it." she tells him as Alec walks behind her, putting his arm around her. She looks up at him, not realizing that everyone is staring at them.. "Hey, Alec." she says, heading to her office with him.

"Hey, Maxie. You doing ok?" he asks, and she nods as he shuts the door. "You sure?"

"Yeah, Alec, I'm fine." she says, grabbing her leather jacket. "Now, I need to go get Lana." she bites out, then softens, smiling at him a little. "You wanna come?"

"Only if you want." he says warily, not sure of what she'll do.

"Are you kidding me?" Max asks, taking his hand as she leads him out of the office. She sends him a smile. "What if I suddenly get the urge to kick someone's ass?"

"Maxie, Maxie, Maxie... It's always the ass, isn't it?" he asks, shaking his head in mock-pity.

"Well, it is pretty nice." Max says cheekily, glancing up just in time to catch his mouth drop open.

"The first step is admitting, Maxie." he says, and they head towards Lana's, both grinning like idiots and not quite sure why.

Lana's Apartment, TC

"Lana!" Max yells in warning, picking the lock after about twenty seconds of knocking.

"Talk about repressed rage." Alec mumbles, walking into the apartment after her. After a quick assessment (more like Max examining the apartment and Alec standing in the doorway, looking incredibly hot), Alec sends her a look. "I think I have an idea where she might be." he tells her, and she motions for him to show her.

Alec walks up the stairs, and can see the wheels turning in Max's head before she mentally kicks herself. "Of course. Her high place...duh." she mutters, and Alec sends her a smirk.

"Don't blame yourself- it is hard for you to measure up to my highly superior intellect." Max just rolls her eyes as the door to the rooftop swings open, revealing Lana staring out at the city, not moving a muscle.

Rooftop, TC

Sometimes, I like to try to remember my family. It's hard, though- I mean, I may have been made with a super good memory (or so I've been told), but everything before four is kind of a blur. That leaves me two years. Two years of memories.

That's all I have left of them. And when you're six, you don't expect your family to up and die, so you don't remember the little things. Like what they smelled like, or what made you want to hug them and never let go. Or what it felt like to have someone love you so much that they would eventually die to keep your secret.

A lone tear escapes her lashes, and she hastily wipes it away, so lost in her thoughts that she doesn't hear the door swing open. Alec and Max watch her, hands still intertwined. Her shoulders shake slightly, and they can't tell if it's from the cold or if she's crying.

She buries her head in her knees, wrapping her hands around herself, as if trying to make herself as small as possible. A small sob escapes her, and even Renfro would feel bad for her (which is saying a lot). Max and Alec look at each other, both at a loss. They walk back into the dirty, dusty stairwell, and open the door, trying to make noise so that Lana hears them. With a quick, inconspicuous swipe of her eyes, she turns around, a smile plastered on her face.

"Hey, guys, what's up?"she asks, smirking. But it doesn't quite reach her eyes. She glances down to their hands, and they drop them like the other one's on fire. "I thought things were 'Strictly business'?" she asks Max, who blushes.

"They are, and we need you to go to the Med Center and get some tests done, so we can see if your DNA is different than the other transgenics." Max says, rushing her words. Lana pales at her words, but tries to shrug it off.

"Whatever." she mumbles, glancing up at the sky. "Is it always like this around here?" she asks them, and they nod. "Great."

"How long have you been out here?" Alec asks her as Lana walks down the stairs, leaving puddles at every step. She shrugs, not really seeing the big deal, even through her sneakers squish when she moves.

"Since I woke up." she tells them absentmindedly, twirling around in a flourish as she hops down the stairs. Alec just watches her seemingly happy movements, not quite understanding how this girl can cast away her troubles so fast. Max understands, finally realizing why Ben would go up to the High Place alone before the others came. So that he could be sad. Because when they were there, he couldn't be sad. He had to cheer them up.

"Um, that might not have been that good of an idea," Alec's voice jolts her out of her thoughts. "I mean, I know that we have kick ass immune systems and all, but being out in the rain from when you wake up until 3 in the afternoon can't be too good for you."

Lana just rolls her eyes. "Thanks, Dad, but I've been sick before, and I'm sure that I'll get a cold again. It's really not that bad." she mumbles, wondering if they were going to fuss this much all the time.

Both Max and Alec are confused by this, seeing as no transgenic that they know has ever been sick, unless it was a twisted experiment gone wrong on Manticore's account. Lana walks into the Med Center unsurely, not really positive which way it is. She turns back to their questioning gaze. "Um, which way?" she asks, wringing out her hair on the grimy tiled floor. They point left, into an empty room. "Oh." she says, walking in and sitting on the table, tapping her fingers nervously on the table.

They sit down on the musty smelling chairs outside the room, and Lana peers out the door worriedly, biting her nails. She steps off the counter warily, breathing shallowly, trying not to smell the distinct hospital smell, the one she hates with a passion. She walks out in the hallway, tapping Max on the shoulder.

"Yeah?" Max says, thinking it's a doctor. She looks up, greeted by Lana's nervous, pale face. "Oh, Lana, what's wrong?" she asks her, and Lana smiles shakily.

"You mind keeping me company?" she asks, and Max shakes her head.

"Of course I don't mind. I should have realized that you probably would be nervous." Max says, mentally kicking herself. She ushers Lana in the room, telling her a stupid joke to make her less nervous.

Alec smiles to himself. "See, Maxie? You aren't the big bitch you make us think you are."

A/N: I know, it kinda , BIG TIME sucks it up. But writer's block is killing me, and I'm moving I less than two weeks, and my sister's driving me insane (did I mention I get to share a room with her at the new house? WHOOOOPEE)....I know, I still am a evil author for making what few readers I have left wait forever for an update? Forgive me?

R and R!!! tell me that you cried, it was so horrible, or that you threw up from mush-overload. Next one will be better, I swear....more on Lana's past (including a runin with Sandeman), and I'll work on getting Max and Alec together. Promise!!

Luv you all, and thanks for putting up with me. You totally rock!!

Molly jeane