A/N:  Sorry it took so long for me to update but this chapter's been evil to write *shrugs* Please R&R

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Chapter thirty-five: The Chase

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'Okay, what part of "They're trying to kill you" do you not understand?'

-Alec (Bag 'Em)

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'It's aggravating

How you threw me on

And tore me out

How your good intentions turned to doubt

The way you needed time to sort it out'

-Matchbox Twenty (Leave)

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"I shouldn't let you do this" Jondy stopped at the sewer entrance after nodding at the guards.  "You're injured."

"Jondy, I can run.  If it makes you feel any better, Alec's made me promise to let you check me out when he gets back" Erin was determined to help.  "Look, it's my fault they're out there in the first place.  I can act as a distraction so you can help them.  If you don't let me go with you, I'll just go out without you."

Jondy nodded, they really had no time to argue over this.  "Can you handle that gun?"

Erin shrugged "Point and shoot.  I'm not gonna use it on anyone.  Most I'll use it for is a little distraction."

Jondy nodded once and lifted up the manhole.  "Just putting it out there.  Let's go find a ride."

Alec felt the familiar rush as adrenaline surged through his system.  It felt as though he was flying over the ground as he, Zane and Jax ran.  He felt the roof disappear beneath his feet and he was looking down on the top of several soldiers' heads.  To the soldiers below, they would appear as nothing but a blur.  All three men landed and continued running.  The market wasn't far away now.

The rooftops became a blur, but the sounds of their pursuers stayed with them.  Alec had been right, they were familiars.

"Dix, we're close to the market now.  We'll be there in…" Alec was cut off when he felt a searing pain in his left leg.  He looked down, stumbling slightly.  He'd been shot.

"Shit, I've been hit.  We'll be near the market in a couple of minutes.  We've still got the familiars on our tails so we might have to change direction for a few blocks."

"Copy that, will you need medical attention?" Dix sounded slightly worried in his ear and Alec almost smiled at the thought of Dix being worried about them.

"Yeah, tell Jondy I've got a leg wound."

There was static for a few seconds as if Dix was conferring with someone else.  "Copy that.  She'll be notified."

Alec nodded at Jax and Zane and they headed east.

Jondy was practically drooling over the transport she wanted to steal.  Erin and Jondy had gone looking for the right kind of vehicle, and had found what Jondy had wanted outside a biker bar.  They were gonna score a car or van but Jondy had insisted that bikes would be easier to manoeuvre through crowded streets.  Erin had pointed out that there were 3 guys in trouble and Jondy had shrugged, pulled out a cell phone and called a number.  Dix had answered and told her Jax had just walked through the door.  He'd also told her Alec was shot, something Erin had looked slightly pissed off about.  When he'd asked why, Jondy had said it wasn't important and had hung up.

Jondy watched the bar for a few more minutes and saw no one leaving or entering despite the loud music that told people the place was open.

"Okay" Jondy turned back to Erin.  They were in an alley across the street from the bar.  "This is what we're gonna do, well, what I'm gonna do.  I'm gonna steel that Ninja over there and we're gonna ride away for a few blocks.  When we hit the highway, I'm gonna give you a crash course on staying on a motorcycle and how to do a couple of tricks."

"WHAT?!" Erin hoped she hadn't heard her right "You wanna teach me in a matter of minutes, how to ride a motorbike? You're insane!"

"It's motorcycle and" Jondy shrugged "I've been called worse.  Now, are you in or not?"

"I have one question.  Why would I need to learn how to ride one?"

"Incase Alec or Zane can't drive.  Now, are you in or out?"  Jondy rolled her eyes.

Erin looked between Jondy and the row of bikes outside the biker bar.  This was one of the most stupidest things she'd ever done.  Erin looked back at Jondy "It's a good job I'm a quick study."

A few minutes earlier

"Go" Alec nodded at Jax and Jax melted into the busy crowd.

They had managed to lose several of the familiars and slip down off of a roof top near the outside market and into a narrow alley.

Zane watched Alec check his leg.  It was still bleeding.  "I'm not leavin' you, man.  You're injured and White knows what you look like."

Alec looked up at him and glared.  "You're going and that's final.  I'm giving you an order."

Zane shook his head and folded his arms.  "Not leaving."

"Zane, if you don't go we'll both get caught.  I cannot let that happen."  Alec gritted his teeth and stood up straighter.

Zane just continued to stare.

"Zane" Alec's voice dropped to almost a whisper and he got in the other man's face.  "I am giving you an order.  As your CO on this mission, I'm ordering you to go back to base."  Alec stared at Zane.  No emotion on his face, no emotion in his eyes.  Alec had reverted back to what Manticore had made him to be.  A soldier, a killer.  "I can deal with White."

Alec continued to stare at Zane.  Zane continued to stare at Alec.

Zane caved.  "Fine" he said through gritted teeth and dropped his arms, "but if you get captured, I'm coming back to rescue your scrawny ass, and then we're gonna see if I can kick it or not."

"Go" Alec continued to stare and Zane looked like he was resisting the urge to salute.

With one last look at his CO, he nodded and slipped into the crowd.  Alec waited 5 seconds before slumping against a wall.  Then he frowned.

"My ass is NOT scrawny!"

The ringing of a phone made Erin tap Jondy on her shoulder.  Jondy pulled the bike over to the side of the busy street and pulled her cell phone from her jacket.  Jondy flipped it open and put it to her ear.  "This better be good."

"Jondy?! Where the hell are you? Is Erin with you?"  Max yelled over the phone and Jondy winced.

"Maxie, it's fine.  Erin's with me" she spoke calmly, Jondy remembered her sister's temper well.

"Where the hell are you?!"

"Um, Seattle?"

"Be more specific Jondy"

"Um, outside of TC?"

"WHAT?! Why the hell are you outside the fence?! White's out there gunnin' for all things transgenic, if the crowds find out what you are, you're as good as dead; AND you have Erin with you!! She's injured!"

"Erin said she was fine and we're okay.  Don't worry Maxie, we've even got ourselves some transport, we're cool."

"Just what the hell are you two planning?!"

"We're gonna help Zane and Alec."

"By getting yourselves killed? Somehow I fail to see how that would be useful."

"Oh ye of little faith.  Look, I've gotta jet.  Time's awaisting and Erin and I have a few things we need to sort out.  Talk to ya later Max."

Jondy disconnected the phone, put it away and turned to Erin.

They both grinned and Jondy gunned the engine.  They had people to save.

Alec looked behind him as he ran.  White was catching up, and he had at least 4 of those supped up familiar soldiers with him.  Compared to them, Alec could've easily outrun them.  He had the speed and he had the reflexes.  Only problem was, Alec was shot and he wasn't feeling so good…

He tripped and stumbled over something but managed to regain his balance and pick up speed again.  White was still behind him, hopefully, Zane and Jax had made it back to base.  Alec didn't want White to get them too.

As soon as Zane had left, Alec had waited a few more minutes before making a run for it in the opposite direction, swinging around so now he was on the opposite side of the market.  White wasn't shooting because he didn't want to risk exposure of his muscle queens, and Alec used it against him.  He headed to the most populated area and lost White in a crowd, slipping into an alley again.  Hiding behind a dumpster, Alec peered around it and saw White run straight past.  This was good.  However, Alec spotted something else that turned the tides again.  Cops.  Lots of them now, almost directly across from the alley.  'What is this?' Alec thought disgustedly as he watched them eat 'a friggin' doughnut convention?'  This was obviously an area cops frequented on their dinner breaks. There were loads of them; Alec counted at least 20, all armed and all anti-transgenic.  Some of White's familiar soldiers arrived on the scene and began to ask questions.  Alec was stuck.

Erin opened the throttle and took off down the empty street again.  She was really getting the hang of this which was good because they didn't have much time.

"That's it, easy, does it" Jondy spoke in her ear and Erin slowly released the throttle and they slowed down.

"You were right about the quick study" Jondy grinned when Erin got off the bike.  "Is there anything you have trouble learning?"

"Maths" Erin said seriously, "and languages.  Ooh, I was also really crap at PE in school, and um" Erin raised winced "Geography, Art and History.  Basically, everything but English and Music."

Jondy chuckled and shook her head before sliding forward on the seat of the bike. "How about I teach you a couple of tricks incase you get cornered?"

Erin got back on the bike and they took off again.

Alec stuck his head out of the alley again and saw the place was still crawling with cops and familiars.  He couldn't spot any thermal scanners but he knew that White would be here any second with at least one of them to scan the area and he'd be screwed.  The X5 looked back down at his leg and winced again.  It was still bleeding which meant it must be bad for his healing not to have kicked in.  Soon, he'd begin to feel dizzy from the blood loss if it's didn't stop soon.  Ale leant back against the wall and closed his eyes.  There was no way for him to get out of this mess.  He'd at least have a chance of survival if he hadn't been shot, but bullets seemed to always gravitate towards him.  This was not good, Alec was gonna get his ass shot off and White would be there to spit on his corpse.  Straightening up and gritting his teeth, Alec checked his gun one more time.  If he was going to die then it would be fighting. 

"Jondy, it's the only way.  I go in as a distraction and get the cops focused on me to cause some chaos, you go get Zane and I pick up Alec.  You've got the R1; we can all get out of here."

Jondy looked down at the other bike they'd gone back to steal.  She looked back at the younger girl on the other bike.  "You do realise you're insane right?"

Erin grinned back at her and shrugged "I've been called worse."

Jondy grinned back and held out her hand "You've got some guts, Erin.  You'd have made a good soldier."

"Nah" Erin shook her hand "I don't like following orders and I like my sleep.  So, we gonna do this?"

Jondy nodded and they both put on their shades "First things first, we move the bikes, and get you a hat to hide your face incase White sees you."

A few minutes later, Erin's new bike was parked up a few streets away and Erin was wearing a new baseball cap.  They were stood on a street corner, preparing themselves for the chaos Erin was about to cause.  Erin was bouncing on the balls of her feet as her eyes darted about.  If Jondy could see her eyes, she knew that they'd be full of mischief.  Jondy herself was looking forward to watching the cops being given the run around but she was nervous about Erin being out here on her own without protection.

Jondy looked down at Erin, respect in her eyes now as she realised what Erin was willing to do, what she was about to do, despite being just an ordinary.  "You ready?"

Erin looked up at her and grinned.  She checked the gun and nodded.  "I'm always ready."

Jondy nodded and reluctantly left Erin… alone… in a place surrounded by sector police wanting to kill her…

It was official.  Erin was insane.  She knew that she was just an ordinary.  She had no special skills that made her useful to the transgenics but Erin didn't care right then.  All she cared about was Alec and the others.  They were out here getting shot at and hunted because of her.  If she hadn't been caught and beat up, they wouldn't be in this situation.  Erin wanted nothing more than to find White and shoot him herself.  That bastard needed a bullet between the eyes.  Closing her eyes, Erin took a deep breath.  She couldn't screw this up.  She wouldn't screw this up.  Lives depended on her.

Straightening her shoulders, gripping the handle her gun tightly Erin walked out into the busy market, whistled loudly at the nearest bunch of cops and fired her gun upwards.  The result was instant chaos.

"It's that transgenic!" the cops shouting at her made it even worse.  The crowd was running now, screaming and yelling as they went.

As the police pulled out their guns, Erin grinned and ran.

Jondy blended in and out of the terrified crowds easily.  Her eyes darted about for Zane, knowing that he wouldn't be far away, despite what Alec had probably told him to do.  Jondy smiled slightly as she thought of Erin.  That girl sure had guts to pull this off.  Right now, she was running around, getting the cops to follow her.  Hopefully that would confuse White long enough for both Alec and Erin to team up and escape.  Jondy moved quickly through the terrified crowds, looking for Zane.  She knew that despite whatever orders Alec had given him, Zane would stay within a few blocks of him so he could report back any Intel.  This was one of the things Zane had always been good at.  He would follow the orders to return to base only to a certain extent.  He'd head in that direction as far as he could go while still being in range for back up.  Zane never left a soldier behind.

This was why she wasn't surprised when she was pulled into an open café 3 blocks away from all of the commotion.

Zane looked down at her, not at all surprised with her being outside of TC.  "Wondered when you'd get here" he said calmly after releasing her.  "What's the plan?"

Erin ignored the pain in her sides as she sprinted through the stalls and scared people.  This was insane!! She was dodging bullets for Christ's sake! And they were aimed at HER!!  Erin swore loudly as a bullet whizzed passed her head to imbed itself in a wall.  That was a close one.  Erin gripped the handle of the gun tightly and fired it blindly up in the air, once again, causing the cops behind her to scatter.  Putting on another burst of speed, Erin got to the road where the bike was parked.  As she ran, she tucked the gun into the back of her combats and practically launched herself onto the bike.  She fumbled with the key for a couple of seconds before managing to get the bike to start and she was off.

Jondy had told her that Alec would probably be somewhere near the edge of the market and she was to drive around the large open area, keeping to the edges so Alec could see her.  Erin knew what else this meant.  If Alec wasn't moving, it would be because he was pinned.  Erin went in search of the second most police populated area. The first being the one she just left.  After about a minute, several cops still on her tail, Erin spotted the area.  White was there as well as several of those Phalanx dudes from the Jam Pony incident.  Erin needed to make it difficult for them.  What was that trick Jondy had taught her?  Oh yeah… Erin smiled as she closed in on the area.

Alec stared in shock.  That was Erin.  Erin was here, outside of TC, and riding a motorcycle!  Alec was gonna kill her!  He watched as she shot into the area on a Ninja and skidded sideways slightly causing the smell of burning rubber to fill the air and smoke and exhaust fumes to blanket White and a large number of sector cops.  He noted that Erin was smiling as she spun the back wheel, creating more smoke to confuse the cops shooting at her.  How the hell did she know how to do that?  Shrugging it off, Alec blurred over to her, jumped on the back of the bike and then they were off.

"Oh shit!" Dix's hands blurred on the keyboard of his computer as his eyes scanned the screen at transgenic speed.  "Oh shit!" he yelled again as more images and sounds reached him.  Brin was silently working beside him, just as fast and absorbed as he was only emotionless with her task.  Screen upon screen lit up with images of news reports and footage from the marketplace, coming as fast as the police reports and requests for back-up.

"Guys, you might want to see this!" Dix yelled over to Max and the others as several of them kitted up with several teams of soldiers.

Everyone turned to look at the TV screens silently and the sound was turned up on one of the screens, as several views of the same scene were shown by different networks.  They watched as Erin, her face covered by her hair and wearing a baseball cap, roared into a heavily policed area on a motorcycle and spun the bike around, covering the crowds in smoke.  They managed to spot a blur of colour shoot out from an alley and get onto the back of the bike, and then the bike sped off again with several cops shooting at them.

"Damn, that girl has style" Lee grinned as she watched Erin take a particularly sharp corner better than the cops who spun their car out of control and into a market stall.

"She's gonna get killed" Max muttered and began to strap on a bullet-proof vest.

"Max, you can't go" Logan spoke up from a corner he was sitting in, trying to not to get kicked out of HQ again.  "It's too dangerous."

"Logan…" Max began with a glare but Zack interrupted her.

"Max, for once he's right.  You're the leader and you're known to the public.  You're as good as dead the moment you leave TC."

Max turned her glare on her old CO but thanks to her new feelings, her anger disappeared rapidly.  She sighed, took off the vest and handed it to him "Don't get hurt.  Bring 'em back alive."

"I don't think they need to go" Brin spoke up and pointed to another screen that was obviously showing footage from a helicopter or hoverdrone.  "They're heading back to TC."

Erin would've been laughing if it weren't for the fact that she was riding a motorbike with several cop cars chasing her and a shot Alec sat behind her.  If he hadn't have been shot, then it might've been another story entirely.  She took another corner sharply, forcing herself to keep her eyes open by reminding herself that she was doing the driving.  She had to get her one of these when she got back home.  People scattered and displays were upturned in the commotion.  Man, she was good with the chaos.  It was exhilarating and scary all at the same time, kinda like the feeling she got when she'd pulled a really difficult trick on her board or when she, Skye and Dylan had just done a really good gig at one of the clubs they got booked regularly at.  They drove onto a straighter main street and Erin took the opportunity to put her cap on back to front and pushed Alec's hands lower.  Really, if he just wanted to be friends, he wasn't giving the right impression.  She felt his breath on her neck and heard him whisper in her ear.

"We're gonna have a little talk if we ever live through this."

Erin suppressed the shiver and forced herself not to lean back into Alec's embrace.  Erin driving was not one of Jondy's brighter ideas.

Suddenly, another bike shot out of a side street and Erin glanced over to see Jondy driving the R1 with Zane holding onto her.  Jondy had a huge grin on her face as she kept pace with them easily, and they both weaved in and out of tight spaces and stalls of produce.  Zane himself kept glancing over to Erin to see if his eyes really weren't deceiving him.

When they got closer to TC, Erin glanced over to Jondy to see her nod in the direction they were going.  Erin nodded and sped up, smiling slightly when she felt Alec holding on a fraction tighter.  When they got even closer, the crowds in view, Jondy and Zane continued to speed up, moving in front of Erin and Alec.  Zane pulled out his gun and shot it a few times in the air to scatter the police and crowd, causing everyone to run for cover.  Jondy sped up even more and Erin realised what she was going to do just before she was doing it.  Jondy had guided them to the part of the fence that Max had crashed through before.  Yep, there were the burning crosses, and yep, Erin was heading straight for them.  Once again, Erin forced herself not to shut her eyes and sped up like Jondy, not knowing how she was gonna pull this off.  Jondy hadn't taught her this trick.

"Hold on" Alec muttered into her ear and shifted her foot out of the way to change the gears and Erin sped up even more and suddenly they were flying, the air was burning and Erin thought she could see her life pass before her eyes.

Jondy and Zane crashed through the burning crosses in style with Erin and Alec immediately behind them.

Erin felt the air expel from her lungs in a big whoosh as she felt the tyres hit the ground and she managed to stay in control of the bike to guide it further into the safety of TC.  They'd made it.  They were alive, and DAMN did she want one of these babies! 

Erin guided the bike to a stop a little way from Jondy and Zane, and got off the bike carefully, praying that her legs wouldn't buckle.  When she turned around, all traces of smile disappeared from her face.  Alec was stood staring at her with his hands in fists at his sides.  He looked like he was going to kill her.

"Damn it!" White growled as he watched 494 slip from his grasp yet again.  That freak was as annoying as 452 and just as slippery.  Someone was gonna pay for this mess.  The Phalanx were meant to be good at what they do.  They'd just failed him again.  White kicked over a burning trashcan and swore loudly, glaring at the pathetic sector cops and other ordinary people going about their business.  "Someone is going to pay" he muttered as he stalked over to a slightly ruffled cop.

"You saw what was going on?" White demanded as he flashed him his badge.

The cop nodded.

"Several of you came here shooting at the rider, what do you know and what did you see?" White growled, his manic eyes burning into the pale faced officer.

The cop seemed to shrink despite being overweight and broad shouldered.  White scared anyone who wasn't a familiar.  "It was that girl from the TV- that transgenic.  She caused some trouble at the other side of the market.  Shot at the crowds and ran.  We gave chase and the next thing we know, she's pulling all this shit on a motorcycle."

"Fuck!" White swore, "They were playing you like the stupid little shits you are!  She caused a distraction! YOU were it!"

White stalked off leaving a bewildered cop and moved off to lean against a wall to think things over.

Could it have been the girl?  The conclave had said she was smart, not stupid.  It would definitely be idiotic to go to the transgenics for help.  They would think she was insane if they knew her story, and even if they did believe her, they were in a fight for survival, they couldn't help save her.

White was pulled out of his musings when his cell phone rang.  Growling in frustration, he pulled it out and flipped it open.

"Fe'nostol" the voice was calm, collected and White immediately straitened.

"Fe'nostol" he replied automatically, talking quietly so no one passing would be able to hear him.

"You've failed us again, White.  And on National television.  The Conclave is not pleased."

White glared at the police as he listened quietly, seething with anger.

"Luckily for you, we have decided to give you one last chance to prove yourself worthy."

White relaxed slightly "What do you want me to do?"

"He is almost ready.  The Conclave will send him to you soon and you are to use him on another mission.  As soon as he plays his little part in this, he is to return to us immediately.  He's too valuable, too dangerous to leave with you.  Remember this, if this goes wrong, you will be severely punished."

White felt a shiver of excitement run through him at the mention of 'him'.  Smiling, suddenly feeling like things were going his way after all, White gripped the cell phone tightly, almost snapping it in two.

"What's the mission?"

Next Chapter: The Heart Of A Child…

"Erin…!" Alec began but Erin wouldn't let him finish.

"No, stop it" Erin interrupted him before he could go off on a rant about how she had to stay in TC where it was safe.  "I'm sick of the way you treat me.  I'm sick of the way you think you can tell me what to do." Erin turned away so he couldn't see how upset she was.  "I go out there and save your life and this is how you treat me.  I hate all of this shit.  From now on, don't talk to me, don't even look at me and we'll be fine."  Erin began to walk away but Alec grabbed her arm.

A/N: Wow, that's more action than I usually write.  Anyway, um, hope you guys liked it, the next one's not so long but it has lots of Alec/Erin stuff in it.

Marty: Ooh, look dude!! I got in the motorbikes!! :P You're last review truly showed your age *smirks*

Cat: Sorry it took so long for me to update but I've had exams, and this chapter took me AGES to write.  But, hey, it's a long one.

Riley: I'm trying to make it funny, but I have my good days and I have my bad days.  Glad you like it

Messymissy: The reason why I USUALLY write so fast is because I've got a lot of this story written down already.  I got the idea for this story ages ago and then Marty convinced me to put it up here.  The Max/Zack thing will progress slowly in this story but hopefully it'll develop more in the sequel.  Yes, Logan will be an ass and the bashing will happen in a few chapters time.  I usually add that in to my chapters last.  Thanks for reviewing dude.

Astra: Thanks for the review dude.  Glad you like the story.

MM: Thanks for reviewing dude, your English I fine.  As for being evil? *grins* I try my best.

Sea Siren: Ass grabbing- well, I'm sure most of us wished we were the ass grabber *grins*.  As for your theory about Erin, well, the whole torture thing had nothing to do with the Dark Angel world.  There IS an important reason why I included it in the story but you'll have to see why later on.  White WAS hunting her because she has something to do with The Coming but I'm not saying she's part of the cure.  Wow, I'm vague

MaxCat452: Well, Zack had a tiny part in this.  Hopefully, he'll be in future chapters.  I just need to find somewhere to include him :P