A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed. Sorry to the person wanting nekkid Sketchy (I know who you are dude), that is NOT gonna happen. It's gonna take awhile for Erin to actually meet the crew but it WILL happen I promise you.

Also, you might've guessed that this is not for M/L shippers and though I am a fan of all M/A fiction, this is not gonna be one. Max is going to be with someone else….

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Chapter two: Of Dreams And Reality

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'Hope is for losers'

Max (Pilot)

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'That's what war does to you.

Either kills you in one go or destroys

You bit by bit. One way or the other,

It gets to you.

Unless you go back and face the nightmare.

Unless you go back and stand up for your dreams.'

From a book I forgot the title of

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Two days later:

Stealing was pretty easy once you know what to look for and when to strike. After she had managed to get over her guilty conscience, Erin had managed to steal food and water to keep her alive. She'd also 'acquired' a baggy grey sweater and a nice dark blue leather jacket. The owner of the stall had never even seen her. There were some advantages to being short for her age. She was actually 18, or she had been back home. If she counted the year she was in now, she'd be… well, old. She hated maths.

While she was stealing, she'd been learning the plan of the city. Granted, it was only a tiny part of the city, but it was enough. She'd slept in a doorway her first night and it wasn't too bad. At least it hadn't rained. The next night, she's slept in an abandoned building right next to Terminal City. If she looked to her left out of the window on the second floor- she had a clear view of the narrow minded, hate filled crowd. What they were doing pissed her off. All because they didn't understand. On the streets, she'd kept her head down when hoverdrones passed over in case White had connections in the police. He probably did, anyone could have connections in the police if they had the money. They looked pretty cool though- the hoverdrones. She wondered how it felt to surf one like Max had. Then she realized that it would probably scare her shitless and she'd fall off and break her neck. Erin even kept herself looking clean so she didn't stand out in the crowd. She would sneak into bars and cafes to use their running water and wash herself of grime and dirt. Yep, she was adapting pretty well, but all of the time she was running around- her head was spinning. She was in a different reality for crying out loud! She was surprised that her head wasn't doing an exorcist twist. Actually, she was surprised that she wasn't arrested, captured or dead yet. All would be bad.

But at least she was being resourceful. She was staying alive. That was another tick in the plus column. Now knowing that she could survive on the streets without ending up dead she could put her plans into action. She had created a list in her head of what things she would need to get for everyone at TC. She needed to get maps of Seattle, TC and all of the sewers. They were for Max so she could send out parties for food and stuff. She needed to get Logan's computers- they would be at Josh's house somewhere in the suburbs. She also needed to get gas because Max needed it for whatever it was they used gas for. She was also considering getting Cigars for Mole. She would definitely need to gain his trust- he had a thing about Ordinaries. All of these things were of no use to her at all, but she really wanted them to trust her so she could stay with them. The gas would be tricky, she knew that the cops would have a lot of it so she decided to get that last. Do the easy jobs first. She decided to find Joshua's house first so she had warmer shelter for the night. However, when she found the right area, she stopped dead in her tracks. All of the houses looked the same and they went on for miles. This was going to be a long, long day.

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Terminal City

'Damned sewers!' Alec put his rifle strap over his shoulder so he could reach his bag. 'It's all Max's fault!' he pulled out a piece of paper and a compass. Marking down his position and the fresh water pipe he'd found, he rolled his eyes. He knew she'd given him this job just because he hated the sewers. He also knew that there was no way to get back to her. She was the leader after all. Man, he really wanted to get out of this place. Terminal City was driving him crazy which was definitely bad since the way 49…Ben had ended up. 'Better yet' he thought with a small smile, 'I need to find myself a woman.' Every female in TC was either pregnant, an anomalie, with someone, too young or not interested. It wasn't his fault that he had a bad reputation and they didn't like his attitude. Or maybe it was? Alec put the compass and paper back in his bag. Maybe he should actually settle down with someone? Show Max and Logan how it should be done? Alec snorted at the thought. It'd take one hell of a woman to make him willing to do that. He took a step backwards and winced. There was a suspicious squishing noise that emitted from beneath his left boot. He looked heavenward and cursed under his breath "Damned Maxie!"

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Max and Cindy had long since finished their own task. The delivery room had been set up and the list of females and everything about their state was in the office space that Max had created for herself. Now, Max was on her mattress on the sixth floor of the large parking garage. Though Max didn't need to sleep much thanks to her shark DNA, the whole stress of organising everything was getting to her just like Alec had suspected. She'd had to keep everyone organised and working, she also had to keep their spirits up. Doing that for 400 people wasn't exactly easy. Max hadn't slept at all in a week and a half so now she took the chance. Only one problem- her sleep wasn't exactly restful and her dreams were pretty disturbing…

The world was a war zone. Max walked down a street- empty of all life. Buildings were blazing and falling around her. Smoke blocked the moon and stars from view as if it were trying to smother them as well as blocking the chaos from their sight. The dead lay everywhere, lifeless, glassy eyes staring up at her. Some were covered with and lying in their own blood and body parts, while others bore no signs to how they had died. Mothers, children, neighbours…everyone. Just ordinary people- dead. Screams of pain and agony echoed and filled the air, seeming so close but the source was nowhere to be found. Max was looking at their corpses. She covered her ears and yelled along with them as desperation and total grief overwhelmed her. She staggered onward. In the distance, the transgenics' flag, her flag, burned above the rooftops.

'The Coming' Max thought, dropping her hands and blinking against the smoke and decay. She wanted to gag. 'How can I beat them? How can I stop this on my own!' "You are not alone Max" a strangely familiar voice spoke beside her.

There was silence and only the sound of crackling fire meant that time had not stopped. Max spun to her left to see a familiar looking girl with short black hair beside her wearing street clothes. Everything about her was extremely familiar but Max couldn't remember ever seeing her before.

She looked up at Max with bright blue eyes that seemed much too old for her years. "This pain and suffering is a choice made by one. It doesn't have to happen. You CAN beat this." Tears of blood fell from the girls eyes as she looked at Max levelly, "you DON'T have to do this alone."

'Who can help me stop all this?' Max didn't move her lips but her voice echoed around them. In reply, the girl turned and looked in the direction that Max had been heading to. The flag in the background, several hundred people stood. At the front of the army were her friends- Cindy, Sketchy, Alec, Joshua, Mole, Dix- even Gem and Dalton. For some reason Logan was somewhere near the back behind them. Next to her friends stood a group of people that made Max catch her breath. Her brothers and sisters.

Transgenic and human alike stood side by side, the city blazing around them. Even Asha was there next to Logan. They all watched her silently, as if waiting for her to make her move. Max looked back to the teenager by her side.

The girl smiled sadly, "See, you already have family to help you."

'What about you?' Max looked at her curiously, 'who are you?'

Her tears made crimson tracks down her smooth pale skin and Max wanted to hold her for some reason, to brush them away and comfort her like a big sister. The girl was obviously extremely sad. Maybe she had lost someone?

"I am one of two, The Link" she looked down at her own arms.

Only now, Max saw that they were covered in blood. She wondered if the girl was in pain. Max felt wetness on her cheeks and touched them. She was crying tears of blood too and she knew that they were for her, this girl. 'How can I stop this? How can I beat them?'

The girl continued to smile and her voice echoed of sadness. Max realized she was English.

"Choose your battles. You can't always play the hero. You can't always run. Sometimes you just have to step back."

'What do YOU want?' Max thought quietly. The darkness of the night didn't seem to touch them as they stood amongst the chaos.

The light of the flames flickered on their skin and The Link became silent. Screams filled the air once again and Max winced.

The girl's face became void of emotion and she looked at the ground. One word escaped from her lips in a mere whisper, "Trust".

Max regarded the girl by her side, 'That's what you need?'

The girl said nothing.

Slowly, Max held out her hand to her, 'then you have it.'

The girl looked up at her then, her eyes wide. A real smile spread on her face making her look like an angel in the flickering light, for this girl was far from ugly.

She slowly reached out and grasped Max's hand. The screams faded away as they walked towards the army that was Max's family.

Max sat bolt upright and looked around her. "Wow. That was…interesting." She ran her fingers through her hair and stood up to straighten her clothes. It had been so real. She'd felt everything, smelt everything, heard everything. With a sigh, she rubbed sleep from her eyes and began to walk back down to headquarters. Too bad it wasn't true, then maybe, just maybe, she'd have a chance to beat this bitch once and for all.

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Erin had done it. It had taken her all day with no rest but she'd done it. Luckily, the place was still empty so she went snooping around the house. She'd gotten rid of her exhaustion and jetlag when she'd found her first alley to sleep in. Grabbing a box of biscuits from the kitchen, she went to look around.

In the living room she found Joshua's paintings. They were pretty good in an abstract kind of way. Joshua had taken his paints with him so she decided to bring some of 'father's' books with her for him. He'd like that. She checked out Logan's computer next. It wasn't too hi-tech and she could probably do all of the hacks that he did. Ah, the modern age. Computer classes came in handy for some things and she spent most of her time messing around with computers at college. Besides English and Music, it was one of her best subjects. She'd hated everything else back when she was at school.

Erin packed all of it away next to a couple of Joshua's books. She was gonna need a big bag for all of this. That, or make several trips inside of Terminal City.

Upstairs, she found a thief's lock pick set in a small black case. Probably Alec's. She grinned to herself and put them with the books and computer- they'd be of use to her. Next, she went downstairs to the basement and saw the piano. That made her swallow. Alec had played this piano. Alec! She was actually gonna meet Alec! Absent-mindedly she played a little tune on it. She wasn't gonna let him get to her. No one was. She had already decided that when she got there, she would pretend that she couldn't speak. It was hard- but she'd done it before. This would mean that she didn't have to answer too many questions. Questions would mean more lying. All she wanted was a safe place where White couldn't get to her without great difficulty. Also, if she couldn't speak, she would be less likely to blurt information out that she didn't want them to have. She'd have to think before she communicated with them.

Erin carefully covered up the piano and went back upstairs. Going back into the living room, she checked out Logan's things again. How convenient. There wasn't anything she could use to get a VIP sector pass. That would mean she'd have to sneak in and steal the stuff she needed from the library. Good job she had that lock picking stuff. Smirking and moving to Joshua's big chair, she sat down and closed her eyes. It was amazing how easily she fell into the role of being a thief.