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: I apologise for not updating anything during the month of November; I was participating in NanoWrimo2004 with an original piece, and I did successfully write 50 000 words in a month. But now I have the (Australian) summer off, I plan to do a lot of DA writing! I hope you enjoy this chapter, I had a few creative problems with it. Review just to let me know people are still interested in my writing ;)

Warnings: Language

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


Four days had passed in a haze of pain and something else, to Jondy. She wouldn't reveal Zane and Tanner's location to White, and he had tortured her, before leaving her to be tortured by his minions.

Then, they had moved her from the white room. She could see that now; the drugs of the last three days had left her confused and in pain. Now she was conscious, she could smell the blood on her body, the sickly smell of the medications they had pumped her full of.

She was in a cell; a grey concrete cell, like a jail cell from the movies. She was lying on a cot on one side of the cell, facing the bars on the cell wall that kept them as prisoners. Her head pounded and she couldn't sit up. Her vision blurred in and out. She closed her eyes to stop seeing her surroundings swimming before her.

"Are you okay?"

The voice was reassuringly familiar and husky. Jondy couldn't place it, nor could she sit up to see who was asking. Her lips were dry and cracked and she could only whimper in reply.

And then there was a cool, wet cloth on her face, wiping the sweat and blood away from her face. Jondy did nothing as the stranger cleaned up her face. And then he lifted a cup to her lips to let her drink.

And after a few moments, he helped her sit up. She felt his hands smooth her hair back from her face, and he tucked another pillow behind her back. For a moment, Jondy could almost pretend she was back at home with Tanner and Zane.

"Are you okay?" Zane fussed around the bed, tucking a second pillow behind Jondy's back. The bedroom curtains were open, sunlight spilling into the room, giving everything a white-gold glow. Jondy was tucked into bed, wearing soft pink pyjamas and her hair in a ponytail. A glass of water sat on the night stand next to her, along with a bunch of daisies; brought by Micah the night before.

And curled in Jondy's arms was her daughter. A whole three days old, wrapped in blankets and a little white and blue outfit. Tanner slept against her mother, a little pink pacifier in her mouth.

"I'm fine, Zane," Jondy smiled up at him. "She'll wake up soon, and I'll feed her. Then I'll put her in the bassinet and get some sleep myself. You'll come home from work for lunch and we can have it outside."

Zane nodded, leaning down to kiss Jondy gently. He didn't want to leave Jondy and Tanner. He knew Jondy was more than capable of looking after their daughter, but he didn't want to be apart from them ever. He wanted to watch Tanner sleep, and be fed, and sit with Jondy and plan their little girl's future.

"Okay, if you promise you'll ring me if you need anything," Zane said, motioning to Jondy's cell phone on the night table.

"I promise. I'll turn the ringer off if I take a nap, though," she said, adjusting Tanner in her arms. "Have a good day."

Jondy opened her eyes again, and everything was clear and back to normal. And the guy was sitting on a stool next to her, holding a cup of water and the rag and looking rather concerned. But it wasn't what he was doing that shocked her.

"Zack," she breathed, staring at him wide eyed. "You're alive."

Zack shook his head. "I'm sorry Miss, but my name is Adam. Adam Thompson."

Jondy blinked. He was still Zack. The only un-Zack thing this guy was doing was smiling at her. Zack didn't smile. She vaguely remembered Zack mentioning something about drugs that convinced him Brin was Max when he'd returned to Manticore. They couldn't have used those on her… could they?

"Turn around," she asked softly. He gave her a funny look, but stood up and complied. And there was his barcode; the dark lines barely covered by his hair. Jondy bit her lip. It was Zack. This was X5-599. This was her brother.

"Zack, it's me. Jondy," she grabbed his hand. If she'd been able to feel her legs, she would have leapt to her feet and shaken sense into him. "X5-210. Jondy! Your sister!"

He still stared at her blankly. He genuinely did not recognize her. Not a glint of recognition in his eyes. Jondy pulled away, staring up at him. It was Zack, she was convinced. He had a black eye and a scratch on his left cheek that was still oozing blood that she hadn't noticed before.

"It's okay," Zack pats her shoulder gently. "You're probably disoriented. How long have you been here?" His tone is conversational; Zack had never spoken so calmly and pleasantly in his life. He might as well have been asking Jondy what her day had been like, how Tanner was.

"I don't know," Jondy whispered. Zack was here and he couldn't help her. He didn't know he could help her. She couldn't save them either; the drugs that had been pumped through her veins since she had been kidnapped had left her ill. Jondy wasn't sure if she could stand up and walk across the tiny cell, let alone plan an escape.

She looked up at Zack's cheerful face. Had he been drugged to? Was this another sick plot to find the others?

"452, 599, 205, 701... Every escaped X5 was here. I believe 205's body was incinerated four hundred and sixty seven minutes ago, 210."

Jondy blinked. She dimly recalled Ames White telling her that. She didn't know how long ago that had been, or if her mind was just offering her something; an idea to cling to.

"He's lying," Jondy breathed. And she'd known it the whole time. But it was her family - her… her Zane and her daughter. "He's lied about everything."

Zack gave Jondy a puzzle look and sat down on the cot next to her. "Who is lying?" he asked gently, like she was a little girl. It made her equally annoyed and comforted.

"Ames White. He told me everyone I loved was dead. But you're here," Jondy murmured, resting her head against his shoulder. "I know you don't recognise me but I think they've drugged you. They've done something to you, Zack."

He looked at the woman – girl – in his arms. Her wild and frightened blue eyes, with the dark circles under them, her pale and thin face that was littered with cuts and blue-purple bruises. The torn shirt and jeans she wore, soaked with blood in some places, the delicate veins in her wrists that seemed bright blue against the white and black bruising of her wrists. The rough, long cuts in her wrists where the drip needles had been ripped out without any grace – she was sick. She was terrified, sick and Adam – or Zack – felt protective of the unknown girl.

"They did give me a few shots," he admitted. "Don't remember much at all. But I am Adam Thompson."

Jondy swallowed and nodded. She couldn't alienate him now. She had her big brother back, and when they got out, Zane and Syl would fix him. They'd bring the old, moody Zack back to them.

If they got out.

---

Max sat on one of the couches in Terminal City's main hall, with a cup of lukewarm and milky coffee (powdered milk, but she couldn't complain), balancing her niece on her lap. Zane sat opposite her, patiently holding Tanner's bottle and his own cup of coffee.

It was one of those rare moments Max knew she'd reflect on in the future and smile at. There was no war, there was no White and for just a second, she had no worries. Yes, Jondy was missing and the world wanted to eradicate all the transgenics. But when she gazed down at Jondy and Zane's daughter, she felt peaceful.

Tanner's blue eyes blinked up at her aunt. She was dressed in pink again, complete with a pink pacifier that morning. Someone had managed to find and smuggle in a box of bagels that morning, and Tanner held a small chunk of one in her little hand, occasionally gnawing at it, and then grinning wildly at her aunt and father.

"She's beautiful, Zane," Max said for the one hundredth time, stroking Tanner's soft, fluffy hair. "Absolutely perfect."

"You sound like Jondy," Zane laughed. "And Syl. You should see the others around her. Krit's trying so hard to convince Syl babies are the devil, but you show him Tanner and he can hardly convince himself."

Max grinned. "I'd love to see him."

"Max."

Zane and Max turned around and just stared, with their mouths half open. Syl and Krit stood before them, a little worse for wear but grinning broadly.

"Where's Zack?" were Max's first words.

Before Syl or Krit could make sense of this question, Tanner spied her Auntie Syl and let out a squeal of pleasure and reached up for Syl.

"Hey baby girl," Syl focused on her niece, scooping Tanner up from Max's lap and balancing her on her hip. "You've gotten so big!" Syl beamed down at Tanner, and Max could only look on, seeing how naturally maternal Syl was. With her dark hair and blue eyes, Tanner could have almost passed as Krit and Syl's daughter.

Almost.

"We stopped by the address you gave us Max, and the Thompson's said he'd already left for Seattle with his brother," Krit shrugged. "We thought maybe you'd sent someone else to get him out of a danger zone."

Max froze.

"Two X5s, stated their designations as X5-701 and X5-471. Said that they had located X5-599, that someone has been keeping tabs on him, and they would be in touch in a week."

And she felt cold. Very cold.

"They got him," she whispered. "Alec took the call and he doesn't know either of you. How would he know if it was a Familiar or an X5?" She felt herself go pale as she leant back on the couch, closing her eyes.

Alec was beside her in a second, ignoring the squeaks of shock from Syl and Krit. He looked at Max's scared face and rested his hand against her shoulder.

"Max? Max, what's wrong?"

She opened her brown eyes and resisted the urge to throw herself into Alec's arms. Tears glistened in the corner.

"Ames White has Zack."