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 think between writing, website commitments and icon-ing, I stretch my time too thin :sigh: Maybe that's why my updating is slack. But I have updated, one of the longest chapters of the story.
Warnings: Language
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters belong to James Cameron. I make no profit from this fan based venture. I only own Tanner, Micah, Sway and the character of Tawny. The name of Tawny is borrowed from the ever excellent Kara. Everyone else belongs to James Cameron.
Jondy sat opposite Tawny and Micah in the booth, shredding napkins. Syl was running late, having had to pay some bill for the refuge; and Jondy knew from experience that it took ages to pay bills. Jondy looked at her watch again and picked up another napkin.
"Jon, what the hell is up with you?" Tawny took the napkins out of her hand. "You've killed a small herd of trees in the space of seventeen minutes."
"It's not a herd of trees, moron, it's a misery of trees," Micah looked up from the giant greasy menu.
"It's a forest of trees and a misery of ravens, dumb ass... I'll tell you when Syl gets here," Jondy sighed. "I'm not sure I should even tell you."
"Why not?" Tawny looked offended. "I can keep a secret."
"It's sensitive," Jondy said. "Just wait for Syl; I need a woman's input."
"Can we order?" Micah said, tossing his menu aside. "I am starving."
"Go for it," Jondy flicked her eyes down her menu. "I'm not hungry."
"You sure?" Tawny frowned. "Micah, grab me something?"
"Get it yourself; I haven't got enough money to feed both of us," Micah looked affronted and Tawny shot him an unreadable look. "Burger okay, big brother?"
Tawny turned to Jondy. "Tell me what's wrong, sis."
"Zane doesn't know yet…"
White looked up as the guards hurled X5-210 back into the room. A trail of blood dribbled from her hairline, down her face. There were burns across her face and shoulders and she didn't seem like she was able to walk. Her hair fell across her face as she tried to look up at him. This scenario was beginning to feel monotonous.
"X5-210, I just want to know where my son is. My son for your daughter. It's very simple," White said as the guards shoved 210 into a chair and handcuffed her hands behind the chair. She slumped backwards.
"This is getting boring," she said, followed by a coughing fit. "I've told you, I don't know where your kid is. I haven't spoken to Max since I was nine."
White knelt before Jondy. "210, I just want to reassure you something." He took her face in his hands. "It doesn't matter what you say to me. You are transgenic trash. You are going to die, and die painfully, the second I say the word. You can either save the life of your child by giving me back my son, or your daughter can join you." White straightened up. "As a parent myself, I think the answer is obvious. But then, you are a transgenic."
Jondy swallowed and met his eyes. "You think you're the upstanding citizen in this situation?"
White laughed. "Without question, 210. I will destroy every trace of you and your kind from this world for me and mine."
"I'm pretty sure that's what Hitler said about the Jews. And he's not in the history books as being one of the good guys," Jondy said. Before she could react, White span around and his fist met her face, and everything went black.
White rolled his eyes and grabbed Jondy's chin in his hands, her face white. The red mark on her cheek where he'd hit her was already darkening as he watched her. She was nowhere near as strong as when his operatives had brought her in, but she was far from giving in.
"Bring in X5-599 and return X5-210 to the cell," White said grimly. "Keep her sedated for the next 1200 hours."
As the guards dragged Jondy from the room, her body a dead weight, Jondy felt everything. She felt White's fist hitting her face, him manhandling her face and the swelling of her left cheek and the guards roughly dragging her harshly from the room. And she certainly felt them strap her to a gurney, her wrists held to the mattress with Velcro rubbing the soft, bruised flesh of her wrists raw – her ankles too.
And she felt the cold metal of the syringe slide deeply into the veins in her neck. And her cheek palpated with pain as it swelled, red and black and blue.
---
Syl had tucked Tanner into a baby car carrier that Gem had found and happily handed over for Zane to use whilst Tanner was in Terminal City. Tanner had cried a little, kicking her thin blue blanket onto the floor. It had taken half a bottle, her pacifier and half an hour of rocking to get her to sleep. And even then, Syl left her in front of the window to keep her cool, and so her and Max talking wouldn't disturb her.
Max pulled the small laptop onto her lap. "Can I borrow your cell phone so I can connect?" Max asked, tapping wildly at the keys. "Alec broke mine." She smiled a little at the memory of the incident – it almost seemed funny now, except it would cost upwards of twelve hundred to replace that phone. That was the only non-funny part of the whole thing.
"Ah, Alec," Syl grinned, digging her phone out of pocket and tossed it towards Max. "I'm sure."
"I threw it at him," Max clipped the cell phone to the side of the laptop and dialled in. "It hit the wall. I wouldn't have thrown it at him if he hadn't pissed me off."
"Whatever you think, Maxie," Syl grinned. "What are you looking up?"
"Hospital records for any women fitting Jondy's description," Max said, "And any men fitting Zack's description." Her fingers flew across the keys. "How tall was Jondy?"
Syl frowned, all mirth leaving her expression. "Jondy is about one hundred and seventy five centimetres, Maxie. Weighs about one fifty, I guess. Brown hair, blue eyes, tattoo of a star on her back…" Syl trailed off, looking towards Tanner as the little girl slept. "I would give anything to trade places with Jondy at this moment, Max. She didn't deserve this. She deserves to be at home with her baby girl and her boyfriend."
"And for some reason, you deserve to be wherever Jondy is?" Max shook her head. "That's stupid, Syl."
Syl rolled her eyes. "None of us deserve it. But Jondy worked so hard at the refuge and Tanner and at her relationship with Zane and then she goes missing and we're all thinking that she's dead…" Syl closed her eyes and rested her hand on her forehead. "And if she's dead, it'll kill Zane and I'm not ready to become the sole guardian of my seven month old niece!" Syl flopped onto Zane's bed.
Max balanced the laptop on her chair and lay next to Syl. "You aren't going to become a step-mom for my niece," Max said quietly. "Did you hear about Tinga?"
Syl closed her eyes. "I know she died, Max. I was there, remember?"
Max felt vaguely guilty bringing their older sister up, remembering how close Syl had been to Tinga, how Syl had turned to Tinga after Eva's death, and how Syl had lost Tinga. And then Syl had turned to Jondy…
"I promised Case I would bring Tinga back for him. I swore I would get my sister back to her son," Max said quietly. "And I got there, and she was dead, her face was all white and all these red and blue veins were all over her face and body and…" Max buried her face into Syl's shoulder.
"And Case grows up with his normal, every day father and he'll never know everything about his mother - that he has to be careful. And I can't … he has to stay with Charlie. He has to stay with his father because there is no one else for him to go to, and I cannot take my nephew away from my brother in law. I can't and that'll be the reason why Case dies."
Syl ignored the tears on her face. "It's not exactly a situation anyone wants, Maxie. There's no right or wrong answer. I can't tell you what Tinga would have wanted – how do you chose whether your baby grows up with his father for a short time, or if you send him into the care of complete strangers on the chance that he might survive this war. He might be fine with Charlie, or he might not. He might die if we find another place for him, or he might life a long life. I don't think Tinga would know the right choice either."
Syl and Max leant against each other in silence. Before either sister could say another, a baby sob caught their attention, followed by a beep made by the computer.
Syl sat up, running her hands through her hair and moved towards Tanner, scooping her niece into her arms. "Hey baby girl, what's the problem?" Syl kissed the baby's round little cheek, wiping the tears off her face. "You want the rest of your bottle?"
Max smiled as Syl held Tanner close and cooed at her, before turning back to the computer. Sixty four results for women and thirty nine for men. Max sighed and began reading; many of the men were too old to be Zack, but generally most of the results just weren't her siblings.
And then the apartment door flew open, startling all three girls in the room. Tanner let out an annoyed squawk at the intruder and returned to her bottle, her head against Syl's shoulder.
Max looked up to see who the intruder was and rolled her eyes. "Did you get the military convoy reports?"
Alec shook his head, his expression serious for once. "Not yet. Look, Max, I need to talk to you. Alone, for a minute."
Max frowned and disconnected the laptop. "I'll be a second, Syl," Max said unnecessarily, and followed Alec from the apartment, not noticing the knowing smirk on Syl's face.
Alec felt like he had willingly walked into a munitions drill completely naked; vulnerable, scared and at risk of horrendous pain - both physical and emotional. And he took her hand and dragged her away from the stairs. Max's face revealed nothing, as he looked down at her, except her extreme irritation at having her search for Zack and Jondy interrupted.
"Max," Alec began, staring into the deep brown eyes that had been dogging him for weeks. "I… I've been thinking. You've done a lot for me since we met. I mean, you named me and got me out of Manticore. You were the reason I got a job at Jam Pony and helped out the transgenics and generally… did something good."
Max watched Alec babble at her, her temper simmering. She was in the middle of looking for her siblings and not only had he interrupted her search, he had ignored her orders!
"And some days I think maybe all the stuff you've made do have kinda made up for all the shit Manticore made me do," Alec stumbled. "And you were my first friend. And now, Maxie, I think that I'm in lov…"
"MAX!" Zane came sprinting up the stairs. "Max, Mole and Joshua just caught a trespasser."
Max looked away from Alec, who was mentally cursing Zane, and made a face. "We're always getting someone trying to break in here, Zane," Max shrugged. "Mole knows what to do."
Zane shook his head. "No. It's not a reporter with a death wish. It's bigger."
"Who?" Alec snapped, willing Zane to go away so he could throw Max against a wall…
"Donald Lydecker is bound and gagged in your office, Max."
