A Family affair
Chapter 17: Awakening
"So how do we do this?"
"How do we escape a cloned X38 while being surrounded by a Familiar Tactical team?" asked White, "I should write a fucking book."
"I'm open to suggestions."
"Where are we heading?"
"You sure you're not working for them?"
"There are two dead Familiars who tried to kill me that can contest to that."
"You guys have zombie Familiars?"
White rolled his eyes, "They were alive when they tried to kill me. I killed them when I escaped so I'm pretty sure that I'm not working with my former…employers."
"Trust huh?"
"Yeah."
"Shit."
They were both silent trying to think of something when they head shouts coming from Prager's side of the alley followed by an explosion. The dark alley flamed red and orange as shouts from their left tried to contact their brothers after the blast knocked out their radio transmissions.
"What did that?"
"Don't know, don't care but it's what we needed."
Taking the only break they had, White and Alec ran out of their hiding place and towards the flames as quickly as they could. The Familiars at the left blockade didn't even notice. Soldiers were down, Eve was nowhere to be found. As they rounded the corner, White spotted Prager struggling to his feet. The elder Familiar glared and shouted to what was left of his men as he saw them running but due to the fire and distance they couldn't hear him. Soon after White and Alec were a safe distance away and heading to the hospital.
^^^
"What the hell is he doing here?" demanded Logan when he saw White come in with Alec.
"Logan, just trust me alright."
"What the hell happened to her?" asked White spotting Asha.
"Like you don't know."
"Hey I had nothing to do with this hit, The Conclave wants me dead too."
Logan looked at Alec for confirmation.
"I got surrounded by Familiars in an alley, turns out they were after him. It was just the wrong place at the wrong time for me."
"Okay what is going on?" asked a very confused Logan. Alec went out to find information about Max and comes back with White.
"So your story is that you had no idea what was going on and that your old pals are trying to kill you."
"To sum it up, yeah."
"Is that why you were out of the country so much?"
"You checked my flight logs?" asked White, the he shrugged, "Probably. They've been sending me on idiotic missions. Now I know it was to keep me out of the way until they called in Prager to replace me."
"So you wouldn't know where Max is?"
"I know exactly where she is and where they're going to move her to. On the occasion that I saw her when I was being led away to my own execution. But I'm only telling you what I know on one occasion."
"And that is?"
"I want my son."
"No deal," said Logan automatically.
"Then we're done here," said White turning to leave.
"Wait, wait, wait," said Alec, "Logan he knows where Max is."
"Alec-"
"My son, Mr. Cale. That's all I want. I give you 452, her kid, and the downfall of the Conclave. All I want is my son, you'll never see either of us again."
"And then you can turn Ray into his future self?"
"That was NOT my son!"
"Dammit Logan, who cares about what he does with his own son. This is the life of MY WIFE and MY CHILD we're talking about!"
"How does it feel 494?" asked White, "Not knowing where they are? What happened to them? I've been going through that with Ray for over four years. How does it feel now that it's happening to you?"
Alec ran his hand over his face.
"Ray means nothing to either of you He's my world. Are you willing to let 452 and her unborn child be killed, dissected, and examined through a microscope just to spite me? Because trust me, The Conclave was VERY interested in Rachel. This 'perfect' creation of Manticore."
"How do we know you won't betray us?"
"How do I know you won't betray me when it comes to Ray?"
"Okay look, this is the way I figure it," said Alec, "We give him Ray because he's right Logan. He gives us the information we need and we get Max back, destroy the Conclave and be done with it. Rachel said that they were always after her in the future. I don't want her life to be like that this time around. I want her safe."
Logan sighed and glanced at Alec and White before turning his attention to Asha. She was gone but she was right here. He couldn't imagine being in Alec's place. If Asha had been pregnant with Jesse and kidnapped, he would have done anything to get her back. Anything.
"All right," said Logan, "When we get Max back, we'll give you Ray."
He took Asha's hand and kissed it before looking back up at her face. It took him a minute to realize that her eyes were open.
"Logan?"
"Asha?!"
"Fuck, she's awake?!" Alec rushed up behind Logan.
"Oh God, Asha?"
"Hey," she murmured.
"You're awake, you're awake," breathed Logan, he brushed a strand of hair out of her face and kissed her on the forehead, "Welcome back."
"Well now, if she doesn't fall unconscious again she can confirm my story," said White, "Nice timing 210."
"You can shut up now," said Logan reaching for his cel phone to call Carr
"Where?" asked Asha.
"How are you feeling?" asked Alec.
"Dizzy but…I'll be fine. Max. There were Familiars…where am I?"
"The hospital and we know, they-uh they took her," said Logan after he hung up his cel, Carr was on his way over.
"That bastard…"
"Who? Asha who was it? Was White there?"
"Hey! I told you I wasn't!"
"Shut up!"
"White? No…someone else," said Asha trying to remember, "Prager…said his name was Prager."
"I told you so," said White.
"We, we followed a kid," said Asha trying to sit up and wincing.
"Hey you might want to take it slow, you were shot after all."
"Just help me up."
Logan propped her pillows up under her back and raised the front of the bed, so she could sit without pulling anything.
"We followed a kid into the alley, he was being chased. Looked like sector cops, he went over a fence; think he was transgenic. But now I'm wondering if…"
"It was a Familiar set up," said Logan catching on.
"Yeah, as soon as we got further in he disappeared and we were surrounded. They were everywhere. We were expecting White but a new guy showed up. Why's he here?" Asha finally noticed White.
"His buddies want him dead, we're trading Ray for Max's location and recovery."
"Take it that means I'm supposed to come with you?" asked White.
"I'm not going on your word alone, you're coming with," said Alec.
"And you're going to trust me?"
"That's all we have right now isn't it?"
"Yeah it is."
"Well anyway," continued Asha, "He talked, ordered them to shoot, then I woke up here."
"So Familiars attacked Asha and Max then they attacked you two. That's a lot of movement for not doing anything for two years," said Logan.
"Actually they have been doing something, and that's our new problem," said Alec.
"Which is?"
"Eve."
"Who?"
"You said she was Mezsima's clone," said Alec to White, "How's that possible?"
"Clone? Of-Wasn't Mezsima Koiohla's twin? Care to explain exactly what the hell you two are talking about?"
"The Familiars cloned Mezsima and voila - Eve," said Alec, "and I repeat to you how is this possible?"
"When Mezsima was shot through the neck we had her body taken back."
"What do you mean you took her body back? Koiohla's disintegrated."
"Was she human when you killed her?"
"…No…"
"Then there's your answer," said White, "How it works I have no idea. Our science team has been working on her for two years now and it's been quite easy. Her blood was encoded with information, once we deciphered it. It was like a building grid. It gave us the blueprints to create an X38 among other things.."
"Oh God," Alec shook his head in disbelief, "Other things?"
"which aren't important. We disovered that if you mixed the X38's blood with a Familiars it was like a symbiotic cross. Making the host incredibly strong, but it created an anomaly and the testing has only a 49% accuracy rate, I was quite tempted to try it but I was going through a rough patch. Anyway Eve is what we all shoul;d be concerned about. Her creation had to be done exactly, they tried over 300 times before succeeding in Eve. But she's still not perfect. We lack some of the technology, you know considering that we're building a hybrid super soldier twenty years before it should exist. So our line is exactly like Koiohla and Mezsima except for two things."
"Which are?"
"The transformation, whatever that is, and the toxins in the nails. They can extend all right, but they're not poisonous."
"That's not so bad."
"It gets worse."
"How can this get any worse?!" demanded Alec.
"Cerberus has been up and running for over a year and a half."
"You're joking," said Alec, "Please tell me your joking."
"I don't joke, I've been there myself."
"Jesse gave us the data it's on Victoria Island…"
"Not anymore."
"What do you-Ray, that's why he came back."
"Yeah, to warm his precious Conclave about the information that 211 had about them. He went right over my head and straight to them. That…boy…was not my son. I didn't raise him. I was killed in the future, The Conclave found him and molded him into what they wanted."
"So all the information Jesse gave us-"
"Is useless. 452 is going to be moved to Cerberus, if she hasn't been already."
"And you know this how?"
"I had top clearance until they decided I had no more use. It was always the plan for 452 to be shipped there if she was caught, last time I saw her it was at the Sect just out of the city. Figures those wimps would only be able to capture her when she couldn't fight back. I took her on at the top of her game…fucking cowards," White shook his head, "But that's not the worse part. They have plans and blueprints undoubtedly from Ray, not to mention Mezsima's body. So let's put it this way. In their future Cerberus started out small and in twenty years created the X38's. But now in our time, Cerberus is STARTING with an X38, just imagine what they could concieve in twenty years…"
"When we were fighting Koiohla she said the X40's would be damn near invincible," huffed Alec, "Starting with an X38, they could experiment to an X50 level this time around. Koiohla was a tough bitch, maybe Eve won't be…"
"Eve is just as strong. Same physical strength, same vigor, agility, power…I've seen her tested. She's ripped captured Transgenics and disloyal Familiars apart. It wasn't pretty."
"This is bad," said Asha, "And I didn't even fight her the first time."
"And you're not this time either," said Logan, "I'm not letting you out of my sight."
"So where is it?" asked Alec, "Cerberus' new location."
"In Alberta, Canada disguised as an oil well. The entire building looks like one on the outside but on the inside is a whole new story. There's multiple levels, sub-basements."
"What we need is an army."
"What we need is discretion," said White, "There's a Protocol lockout system, if the security monitors pick up unauthorized personnel or things that aren't where they're supposed to be the entire place locks down, nothing gets in…or out."
"This is insane."
"Extra precaution, your future brats got into Cerberus and through time way too easily. They just wanted to make sure something like that never happened again."
"This really sucks," said Alec, "But let's say we actually do pull it off, how would we destroy Cerberus?"
"When I said 'disguised as an oil well' I meant that in everyway, they had to keep up the front so-"
"It pumps oil."
"Excatly."
"So now, how do we do this?" asked Logan.
"I don't think they've changed my clearance yet so hopefully I can still get into the mainframe, get the construction plans, if not let me see that disc 211 brought you. I take it he gave you floor plans for Cerberus?"
"Yeah they're there, but only partials."
"If I can't get in to the mainframe let me see those, hopefully they're not that different so I can tweak them to what I remember."
"Logan we'll head to your place and check it out. Wait for Carr, maybe they'll let Asha move to Foggle Towers."
"Be careful if that thing's still out there."
"Will do," said Alec heading out and motioning to White to follow. The Familiar rolled his eyes but went nonetheless.
^^^
"This day couldn't get any better," said Alec.
"What?"
White and Alec were quickly moving towards Foggle Towers, so far they hadn't seen anything unusual. No Familiars, no surprise traps, just smooth walking.
"Well you know how when someone says 'This can't get any worse' it always does? I just thought that if I switched it around, something good might happen instead."
"It doesn't work that way 494, anything that can go wrong will go wrong."
"Gotta love Murphy's Laws huh?"
"In this line of work? Absolutely."
"So in reality, how high of a chance do we have of getting to Max if she's already in Cerberus, with the lockdown, the soldiers, and Eve?"
"Not high."
"Can you give me a percent?"
"It would involve a decimal and a whole lot of zeroes."
"That good huh?" said Alec sarcastically.
"That good."
"Yeah that-" Alec stopped and froze, turning his head slightly, "Did you hear that?"
"What?" asked White, he stopped and was as still as Alec.
"I thought I heard something."
"It was probably nothing," said White
"But what if it was?"
Silence. Nothing Moved.
…Click…
"There."
"We should take it as a bad sign."
"How fast can you run?" asked Alec as the clicking grew.
"I can keep up."
The Transgenic and Familiar took off down the side of the street. A shadow followed on rooftop as another one, unseen, slipped into an alley. Alec and White followed street after alley before reaching a building near Logan's.
"Where the hell are we going?" asked White as they entered the building and went up the staircase.
"Rooftop, Logan's Penthouse is a couple buildings away, we can make it and go through the window."
"Good enough."
Alec and White reached the top of the staircase. The went out the door cautiously looking around. Alec went further out as White stayed near the door. A scraping sound from above made them both glance up. The next thing Alec knew was that he hit the ground hard. Eve belted him across the face before flipping them over. Getting her foot under Alec she tossed him over her head and flipped upright. Using her speed, she was in front of White before he could move. A knee in the stomach, a fist to the head, and a well placed roundhouse sent him flying to land ten feet away.
"The traitor and the X5, I'd don't think we've been properly introduced," said Eve rushing at Alec who had gotten back on his feet. The offensive and defensive blocks were brutal, Eve was almost faster than Alec was. A few times he almost lost concentration and she got in a hit. But it was inevitable as she caught both his arms and threw them aside leaving his stomach exposed. Locking her hands together, Eve shoved them into Alec's chest sending him to the ground.
White hit her in the stomach and under the chine before backhanding her across the face. Eve hardly flinched as she looked back at him. Her pupils dilated to catlike slits. She hit him across the face and he staggered before aiming a kick at Eve. She caught his leg and brought her leg up to meet the side of his head. Using her momentum she twisted his leg so he landed hard and rolled as she turned the other way, face to face with Alec once more. Their dace was leading them further from the door and closer to the ledge of the building, as Alec's leg connected to Eve's stomach White grabbed her from behind, Eve just threw her head back and hit him in the face. Her elbow connected with his rips and she used her foot to hook around his knee and pull, sending White to the ground. As she moved towards Alec, no one noticed a shadowed figure blur towards Eve's right side until it connected. The force of the Unknown sent Eve to the ground, rolling over her shoulder and righting herself, she faced her new adversary
"Another one?"
"Damn straight."
Eve rushed at her as the two traded blows. The unknown was smoked across the cheek just as Alec joined in to cover her. Eve now had two to defend herself against. Being pushed into a defensive position was not something she liked. For every blocked punch there was a ducked kick. She landed a good punch to Eve's face as Alec got a good kick on the middle of her back. As she was propelled forward she was instantly thrown back as White got in a good hit. Alec and the Unknown grabbed her arms on either sides.
"Over the ledge," said the woman. Eve tried to wrestle out of their grip as they dragged her to the end but was immediately hit back by White every time she struggled forward.
"This isn't over," she started as the three of them forced her over the edge after much hardship. The two Transgenics and Familiar watched her hit the ground forty feet below, she didn't move and a pool of blood formed around her head.
White leaned down putting his hands on his knees and breathing deep. Alec sat on the ledge wiping the blood from his mouth. They would both feel the bruises in the morning…
"So you're Alec," said the Unknown, "Thought you could use some help."
Alec stared at the woman before he recognized her, "I thought you were…"
"In a coma?" asked Brin, "I'm suddenly wide awake."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~
A/N: Well I called it "Awakening" for a reason. Both Asha and Brin are out of their comas! I wasn't originally going to wake Brin up at all, but then she had an opening and it would have been kinda stupid to bring her in at the beginning just so Asha could be revealed but Brin gets no other action. So now I'm calling it foreshadowing ;P and remember that fiery explosion in the beginning? That was Brin, Eve went after her once the explosions went off. Wow, she is really helping my story. I didn't know how White and Alec were going to get out of that!