Title: M.I.A

Author: Lexie Jayne

Rating: PG

Characters: Jondy/Zane; Max/Alec; Syl/Krit; Logan, Zack.

Summary: Jondy vanishes, risking the lives of her loved ones, Max is faced with a new future and Terminal City faces it's biggest challenge yet the return of old enemies and allies. WIP. JZ, SK, MA

Feedback: Would be lovely if you feel inclined.

Notes: First up, I'm totally loving this new QuickEdit feature. I'll have to go and edit all my fics with it. Anyway, this version of M.I.A is the rewritten version. I was very young, and not a great writer when I first wrote this, so I've rewritten it, lengthened it and just fixed it up. I hope you like this new version. The original version of M.I.A will be available at my new website, Written-Word dot org, and you can find the link on my profile.

Warnings: Language

Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to James Cameron. I make no profit from this fan based venture.


Zane sped along the streets of outer Seattle, his thoughts barely registering on the street in front of him. His seven month old daughter, Tanner, was snuggled in a baby carrier against his chest and a duffle bag was strapped to the back of the bike.

Where Jondy should be.

At the thought of his girlfriend, Zane bit his lip. Jondy had been missing for two weeks before now. She just left for work with a yelled good bye and Zane hadn't seen or heard of her since. Her cell phone had turned up down the side of the fridge; she always had been absent minded like that.

Zane sped faster along the streets, Tanner sleeping calmly in the carrier. He hadn't tried to seek Jondy out before now; he had thought up thousands of scenarios that kept Jondy away from home. Maybe someone had found her and she was in hiding. That was pretty much the base of all of Zane's theories. Zane hadn't wanted to ask around, worried one of the Anti Transgenic government types might get wind of Tanner.

But fourteen virtually sleepless nights and days without news of Jondy had made Zane tense and worried. He wanted to know Jondy was safe and sound, just being cautious. But he had a bad feeling. A really bad feeling.

Zane had planned to leave Tanner with their neighbours, who were good friends. But he was worried that if something happened to him… and that Jondy was already … he wanted Tanner to be around her Aunts and Uncles. If someone found out Tanner was the daughter of two transgenics, Jondy and Zane agreed that the risk to the daughter was not one either of them wanted to think about.

Tanner stirred, whimpering. Zane wordlessly pulled over, pulling Tanner out of the carrier.

"Hey, angel," Zane almost cooed at his beautiful girl. And she was a gorgeous baby. No one could deny that. She had his dark hair, and Jondy's wide blue eyes. Jondy always claimed Tanner looked more like an old fashioned doll than a real baby. Jondy had always liked to brag about Tanner, like any other doting mother Zane had met. In fact, compared to Tinga, Zane had found that Jondy had been rather restrained when it came to Tanner.

"What's wrong?" Zane stroked his daughter's cheek as Tanner let out a tiny sob. He knew what was wrong. Tanner was very attached to Jondy. And Jondy wasn't here. Zane cradled his daughter in his arms, trying to stop her whimpers and cries. He tried to shield her from the few passers by and prevent anyone from mentioning the fact he was travelling with a baby on a motorcycle.

Hell, even Syl and Krit would've disapproved of that.

Tanner's small cries stopped as abruptly as they had started and Zane slipped her back into the carrier.

"We're going to find her, Angel," Zane said softly, almost to himself. "Aunt Max will help us. And we'll be back home before we know it." Shaking himself out of his reverie, Zane restarted the motorcycle, weaving through the back streets of Seattle, trying to find the illustrious back entrance to Terminal City.

A summer had passed since Max's face had been splashed all over the news as 'Queen of the Underworld' and 'Trans human Leader'. According to Syl and Krit, about a year had passed since the attack on Manticore in which they'd lost Zack.

It had been a weird year – well, more like two years – for Jondy and Zane, too. Jondy had been in San Francisco and Zane had been in L.A. They'd both known this and had been visiting each other since they had run into each other in '18. It had been good to be able to talk to another X5 and Zane had been horrified when he realised he had, what Krit so eloquently dubbed, 'a thing' for Jondy.

And when Eyes Only told America the X5s had been comprised, Jondy had been waiting for him in Vegas, their appointed meeting place, in the sexiest dress Zane had ever seen. With Ben on the loose, trying to find his lost siblings and Lydecker hot on the trail of any leads, they'd decided that living together was probably a good plan; safety in numbers. And they'd lived together ever since, in a slightly run down townhouse in Chicago, Zane getting a job in a family garage and Jondy working a few nights a week in a fairly decent bar.

And then Eyes Only revealed Manticore to America. And all hell broke loose. Transgenics and Nomalies all over the place. So Syl, Jondy and one of their other brothers, Tawny, started a series of secret transgenic refuges in Chicago. Jondy had been pregnant pretty much the whole time they had run the refuges and Zane was always trying to keep her out of trouble, even bribing Tawny and another brother, Micah, to play bodyguard to Jondy at certain time.

When Tanner was born, the refuges slowed down a little. Most of the 'Manticore refugees', as Syl and Jondy called them, moved out of America – to Canada and Mexico, mostly. Others became a part of what the press called The Underworld; inhabiting towns and suburbs that were uninhabitable to Ordinaries. Syl and Krit (who'd been with Syl the entire time) moved to Portland and Tawny and Micah had hit the road.

And then, Jondy had vanished into thin air.

Zane pulled up outside the wire that had been put around Terminal City; and recently repaired by the transgenic-fearing Seattle council. Zane got off the motorcycle, examining the wire. Tanner whimpered, over tired from the long ride to Seattle from Chicago and hungry. It took Zane a few more moments to find where the wire was loose around the steel pole. Unravelling it carefully, Zane got back onto his bike and managed to angle the bike underneath.

Tanner's whimper upgraded to a sob, gripping tightly to Zane's shirt. "Calm down, angel," Zane murdered at her as he got off the bike and replaced the wire carefully. "Don't want to get attacked on account of you being hungry," Zane muttered. "You know, Tan, you and your Mommy sound the same when you're upset. Let's go find your Aunt Max and some dinner; not necessarily in that order."

Zane wheeled the bike behind some old crates and pulled the duffle bag full of Tanner's things – and one or two of Zane's shirts – stuffed in it. Tanner squealed loudly, waving her hands about. Zane slung the duffle bag over his shoulder and pulled Tanner free of the carrier, balancing her on his hip. Like her mother, Tanner hated sitting still for too long.

"Let's go find Aunty Max," Zane said as Tanner cries subsided.

"Freeze. State your designation and no sudden movements," said a voice behind Zane.

Zane froze, his instincts telling him to pull Tanner into his arms and protect her, but the rational side of his brain told him not to move Tanner in case the owner of the voice started to shoot or whatever; the voice had to have a gun or some form of weapon.

"I'm X5-205," Zane said loudly and clearly. "I'm trying to find my sister, Max X5-452."

"Okay, turn around slowly, no sudden movements," the voice said.

Zane turned around slowly, his arms around Tanner. And came face to face with Ben.

"Ben," Zane said slowly. "What the hell are you doing here?" Raw anger was written across Zane's face and Tanner instinctively whimpered, gripping Zane's leather jacket with her tiny hands.

"No, not Ben. 494," the guy said quickly, defensively. "Alec."

Zane stared blankly at the man in front of him, aiming the gun too closely to Tanner's head for Zane's comfort. "Get that gun away from my daughter."

Alec stared at Zane for a second, then Tanner's tearful face and then the gun in his hand. "Oh. Sorry." And the hand holding the gun dropped to his side. "Cute kid."

"Thanks," Zane said, adjusting Tanner's weight. "Look, I really need to talk to Max."

Alec stared at the man in front of him. He was tall, with black curly hair and bright green eyes and didn't look like any relation of Max's. But Alec vaguely remembered Logan explaining that Max considered all of the '09 escapees her brothers and sisters. Alec wondered what it would be like to actually be able to trust and care about fellow X5s like that; in his unit, you had to be on your back. It wasn't unusual for one of his unit to 'accidentally' shoot another in training, if only to put the other X5 out of the field for a few weeks.

"Come with me," Alec nodded. "I know where you can find Max. And maybe a bottle for the kid."

Zane nodded and followed as Alec led him through the maze of broken and damaged buildings that made up the transgenic sanctuary in Seattle in silence, until Alec led him into a huge gym-like building full of second hand couches, card tables, chairs, mattresses and one small colour television in the middle of the room. Random transgenics sat around the room, reading or talking or playing cards.

Zane spied Maxie almost instantaneously. She hadn't changed much; her hair was long and dark now and she'd always had wonderful brown eyes that reminded Zane of some sort of baby animal.

"Max!" Alec curled out, slinging himself over a ratty blue lounge. "Your brother is here!"

For a second, Max thought Alec meant Zack, as she tore her attention away from the blue prints of the sewer system than ran the circumference of Terminal City. She half expected to see Zack's six foot frame filling the door way, maybe confused, looking for answers…

Instead, it was Zane. The boy who had always silently backed her and Jondy up back in training at Manticore. The one who always covered when Jondy and Max took too long in the bathroom or covered when Jondy and Max were giggling in line.

Max just stared at Zane. He had changed so much. He was so… the word 'hot' sprung into her mind. He was great looking now. Just like Zack and Krit. He looked tired and tense. But it wasn't his appearance that startled Max. It was the baby in his arms that was the reality shock for Max.

"Zane," Max said softly.

"Maxie," Zane said, giving her a tired grin. "Long time, no see little sister."

Max walked over to Zane, giving him an awkward hug around the baby. "I can't believe how long it's been, Zane," she muttered into his shoulder.

"Way too long, Maxie," Zane said, stroking Max's hair. It was then Tanner gave a squawk of annoyance, which was followed by a torrent of tired and angry tears. "I think someone needs a feed and a nap," Zane sighed, pulling away from Max and hoisting Tanner into his arms, rocking her back and forth, trying to calm her down.

"You both look like you need some food and a sleep," Max said. "Didn't know you went and got domesticated, Zane. Wouldn't have pegged you for it." Tanner stopped mid cry and gazed at Max steadily, reaching out for Max's long dark hair.

Zane chuckled and began to stroke Tanner's feathery hair. "You'd be surprised how easy it is to change, Max."

Max smiled at Tanner. "So, I'm an Aunt again, huh? What's her name?"

"Tanner De Luca," Zane said. "Tanner, this is your Aunt Max."

In response, Tanner let out another angry squawk, wriggling in her father's arms.

"She really needs a bottle and a sleep," Zane sighed. "Neither of us has been getting much sleep lately."

Max didn't press the matter. "We've just started allocating some of the apartments in the next block. They're small and rough but they're better than a mattress on the floor, like last week," Max sighed. "Let's go find you two one."

"Thanks Max," Zane said, stifling a yawn of his own.

The next building was crumbling at the top and, Max was right, had very small apartments. More like hotel rooms, in Zane's opinion as Max swung the door open to one.

"It's small, but it has a kitchenette thing and running water – both kinds," Max shrugged.

Zane looked around. A small bathroom with a bath and shower combination. Then a room with a small table, two folding chairs, a double bed and a small television on a crate. Definitely not the house back in Chicago, with Tanner's carefully decorated bedroom and Jondy's photos of the other X5s.

"Thanks Maxie," Zane said, slinging the duffle bag to the floor and setting Tanner down on the floor for her to grab at the blankets sitting in a pile at the end of the bed. Zane sat down on the bed and looked up at his younger sister.

"No problem," Max sat next to Zane as they watched Tanner crawl around the room.

"She should start walking soon," Zane explained as Max watched Tanner pull herself to her feet and looked around the room, a sulky expression on her baby face that was so reminiscent of Jondy's sulky expression, Zane felt like crying and spilling his guts to Max. How Jondy was probably dead and he was left to raise Tanner alone and how he was in the shower when Jondy left and he never got to tell her he loved her again.

"Where's her mama?" Max asked as Tanner dropped back to her knees.

Zane slumped forwards. "She's gone, Maxie. Jon left for work and she didn't come back…"

"Jon? Jondy?" Max asked, unable to keep the surprise out of her voice. "Her mother is Jondy?"

Zane looked away from Max's shocked gaze. "Yeah. Jondy."

Max looked back at Tanner who was peering at a dust ball. Max could see Jondy in Tanner. The eyes and nose and mouth. All Jondy's. Her sister's baby girl. Jondy was missing.

"How long ago did Jondy vanish?" Max looked at her brother.

"Two weeks ago," Zane said pitifully. "She went to work at the bar and she never came home. I found her cell phone in the kitchen two days later; she never took it with her." Zane leant forwards, scooping Tanner up in his arms. "I should put her to bed."

Max stood up. "Zane…" she said slowly. "I promise I'll find Jondy."

Zane gave Max a tired smile. "Thanks baby sister. Knew I could count on you."

Max mirrored his smile. "No probs. Gotta jet."