A/N: Just a bit of pointless musing…

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Chapter 6: Colours Of A Rainbow

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Max: We need to fan out and search the place top to bottom. Joshua, you take the basement.

Joshua: Joshua in basement. Always the plan

-Max and Joshua (Boo)

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'I was blind

But oh, how you could see

You saw the beauty in everything

Everything and me'

-Michelle Branch (Sweet Misery)

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Terminal city and the city it resided in was quite. There were always people up in Terminal City 24 hours a day, but it was at this time- the time before people woke for the day to go to work and go about their lives, that the transgenics could no longer hear the yelling of the protestors or the hustle and bustle of people being given orders in Headquarters.

This was the time of day he liked the best. On a rooftop, watching the sun rise, Joshua stood alone with his paints and canvas, painting. Though he painted a lot at 'father's house', very few had true meaning, except for the ones of Annie, Alec and Max. Now, though he painted less thanks to his new responsibilities in Terminal City, when Joshua did paint, his work had meaning. Right then, he was painting the sunrise. He was painting it for Max to show her that they still had hope- a possible future in this world that hated them so much. Alec had also tried to cheer her up but Max's hope was disappearing all too fast. This was bad, just not for her but for their people. When they saw their leader's hopes disappearing, there's began to disappear also. Their optimism in their situation was beginning to wane, people were getting antsy and beginning to feel trapped in their situation. It was not a good thing for genetically enhanced super soldiers to feel cornered and bored. Things could get… nasty.

Sighing, Joshua stood back and looked at his finished picture. Colours blended and stood out sharply, the subject obvious. The painting was good and it was obvious what it was but there was something missing. Joshua had been working on this painting every morning since they got to Terminal City but he still couldn't think what it was that would finish it off. Joshua looked around him for inspiration and his eyes fell on an X6 Anomalie with too much cat in her cocktail. From what he could tell, she had pointed ears, cat eyes and a tail sticking out of her baggy jeans. What interested him though, was the t-shirt she was wearing, a multicoloured t-shirt. Josh smiled and turned back to his painting. He was going to paint a rainbow…

Focussing on the canvas once more, Joshua let the magic erupt from the end of his paintbrush, watching as the picture grew in multicolour before his eyes . The rainbow took shape above the sunset, seeming to frame the golden ball in a multicoloured border, drawing the eye away from it and to it.

Red for what was happening- the blood being shed. Yellow for the happiness that they craved- their freedom. Pink for the newborn babies- life. Green- Alec trying to be good. And, purple for hope- Max's hope, a nation's hope.

Joshua stood back again and frowned. There was still something missing, something that needed to unite the two pictures of an orange/red sun in an orange/purple sky filled with a giant rainbow. There was something that just wasn't there. He stared at the painting for a minute, pondering what it was that didn't quite work in his picture. What could it be?

The sun had risen higher and sounds began to filter into his consciousness. He'd spent over an hour painting. Realizing the time, he growled as he packed his things away, telling himself that he'd finish it another time. After all, if it worked to cheer Max up, he'd make a larger version for the rest of TC. Everyone needed a little hope in their lives, his people more than many at that moment. He just hoped that they'd be around to regain their hopes again.

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On another rooftop, Max stared up at the space needle with longing. She missed her high place where she could go and think high above the world. So, instead, she had to settle for one of the taller buildings in Terminal City. It paled in comparison but it was the best she could do for the time being. There was no way that she was going to risk capture simply because she missed sitting on the needle thinking about how crappy her life was.

Someone cleared their throat quietly behind her and Max smiled without turning round. She'd known Alec was there from the moment he'd climbed up to the roof via the fire escape 5 minutes previously.

Taking her silence as an invitation, he silently moved to sit on the edge of the roof beside her, crossing his legs and looking up at the lightening sky with a thoughtful expression on his face.

They were silent for another couple of minutes- something that up until recently, had been impossible for them to accomplish without bickering and joking around.

"What's up?" Max broke the silence quietly.

"Nothing. Just wanted to think for awhile and I thought I might as well come and join you." Alec continued to watch the sky for a moment as Max resumed the same thing. Slowly, the activity in TC increased.

"Max," Alec turned towards her a perplexed expression on his face, "Can I ask you something?"

"Sure" Max shrugged, not looking away from the sky, enjoying the peacefulness she was feeling for the moment.

"When you were on the run from Lydecker, planning on finding your family and taking down Manticore, did you ever think about what you would do afterwards?"

Max was silent for another moment, thinking Alec's question over carefully. "Yes I did." She turned to look at her best friend with a sad smile on her face, "I'd planned to find a place somewhere where we could live without having to think about running."

"A place where people could accept us" Alec looked away again, "I think that'd be good."

"Yeah," Max went back to looking at the sky, "that would be good."

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Somewhere in Seattle, the 8 bikers kitted up with weaponry. They were headed towards Terminal City…