Chapter 6

The alley

Lexie held the door open for them, and as soon as she helped Alec and Joshua in, she slammed her palm on the truck wall. "We're good, go," she yelled to Mole.

The truck was already idling and as soon as Lexie gave the shout, Mole planted his foot on the gas. Joshua barely had time to pull the back doors closed properly before he was thrown off his feet.

Motioning to Alec to put Max down so she could look at her, Lexie found herself conversing with a deaf mute. Grabbing Joshua by the arm ready to instruct him as an orderly, she glared at Alec. "Hand her over. Now Alec!" Not waiting this time to see if her words had spurned action, she busied herself clearing the anchored workbench, unplugging her laptop and tossing it into her satchel in the corner, she pushed all the other material onto the floor and directed Joshua to lay Max down on it.

The babies were restless, which came as no surprise. They had woken up around the same time she'd screamed at Alec. The ruckus going on around them and the gunfire couldn't have helped either. One of them let out a high-pitched wail and she shot Alec a pointed look. "You wanna do something about that?"

Alec gave her a blank stare in reply, he turned his head and looked at the babies and then back at her. Lexie just about threw her hands up in frustration; she couldn't look after all three of them at the same time. "Joshua, can you soothe the kids, whilst I take care of Max?"

Thankfully someone besides her had babysitting experience. Obviously Gem had never called on Alec to watch Missy, a good thing too, he'd probably pin the baby to the diaper, instead of pinning the cloth around the baby.

Putting her ear over Max's chest, she checked her mouth and felt for a pulse, there was a faint one, but it was steady; however there was no sign of expiration. There was blood on her clothes, some of it was already dry and the black jacket made it hard to determine just whereabouts the wound was.

Suddenly the truck lurched to a grinding halt, Lexie had a split second to react and grab Max before she slid head first off the end of the bench. Cursing, Lexie hit the cab wall.

The viewing grate cover opened and Dalton peeked through. "Mole says it was that or hit an old lady that came out of nowhere."

"Tell him we'd like to get there fast, but in one piece," Lexie hissed. Under her breath she muttered, "She's out past curfew, she must be asking for it."

Tilting Max's head back, Lexie opened her mouth and pinched her nose, breathing down her windpipe with four deep breaths. She checked Max's pulse again, it was still regular but weak. On her third mental count, Lexie breathed into Max again. This time Max gasped and coughed.

Lexie held her steady as she rolled to her uninjured side and she started to breathe normally. "It's okay, we're all good. Now just take it easy and let me check you out okay?"

Max searched over Lexie's shoulder, she found him standing with his back against the wall watching her transfixed. He stood there staring at her with unblinking eyes, seemingly oblivious to the tears that werecoursing down his face.

Joshua looked between Max and Alec and couldn't contain the relief he felt. He was cradling both the babies, one in each arm, the boy was quietly observing him with wide expressive eyes whilst the little girl was bawling her eyes out, he couldn't pacify her and it was tearing his confidence to shreds. Playing Uncle to Missy he thought he was great with kids, obviously not. "Max." Joshua leaned down and nuzzled her affectionately before kissing her forehead. "You had us worried little fella."

Her throat tightened at the sight of Joshua holding her kids, and she reached out for her daughter. The truck swayed as it turned a corner sharply, and Max was thrown into the side of the truck. Her injured shoulder crunched with the impact and she nearly fainted with the haze of pain.

Joshua clutched both babies close to his chest as he regained his equilibrium. He noticed that Alec had come out of his state of shockand was watching him with curious expression. "Do you want to hold one of them?" Moving closer, Joshua offered the girl to Alec. He was only too happy to part with the wailing child, she might be tiny in size, but she had a set of vocal cords that could rival a full grown transgenic.

Alec took the baby tentatively, unsure of how to hold her at first, he watched her bottom lip tremble and hushed her in soothing tones. She quietened considerably and at that moment he felt Max's gaze upon him. Alec looked up and his eyes locked with clear brown ones, he felt his chest tighten painfully, he had thought he'd lost her tonight. Dumb Alec, real dumb. If it wasn't for Joshua's determination and blunt force, Max might have died because of his own blind fear. He was so afraid of losing her that he'd completely lost all sense of reason. Instead of getting her help, he'd sat there like a bumbling fool and let her slowly slip away. He forced his limbs to move and he went to stand next to Lexie who was tending to Max's shoulder.

Lexie loosened Max's sweat shirt and checked her wound. "Just a nasty flesh wound, but I'd bet with everything your body's been through past few hours it wasthe straw that broke the camel's back." She reached into her satchel under the bench and pulled out her field medkit. Tearing open a few alcohol swabs, she cleaned up the gash as best she could, and slapped on a few dressings. "Bullet ripped up a bit of muscle but it's nothing a few weeks won't cure." Lexie noticed Alec beside her and smiled to herself. He'd pulled together okay. For a minute there she was worried she'd have to slap him into shape, it kinda put a dint in the chain of command if you had to beat on your2ICto get him back in the game.

Taking Max's hand, Alec squeezed it reassuringly. The gesture was more so for his benefit than for hers, he needed to prove to himself that she was really there and that she was going to be okay.

Max grasped his hand in hers and interlaced her fingers with his. Her cold skin immediately stole his warmth away and she sighed, could nothing in her world last just a little longer than an instant?

Watching her daughter fall asleep in her father's arms brought tears toMax's eyes. You'd think with all the crying she'd done over the past few months, being pregnant, missing Alec, fearing how she'd cope being a single mother, that she'd be all dried out but apparently not. As she hiccupped, the motion tugged at all her muscles and she winced. "Remind me never to get shot again." This was the second time she'd caught the path of a bullet, and although she hadn't taken a full hit this time, it strangely didn't hurt any less. Maybe it was the phantom labor pains, mixed with the gun graze, added with fatigue and everything else that was weighting on her body at that moment?

Sensing her distress, Alec stroked her hair away from her face and pulled up a chair to the bench, this time he was listening for the sound of the wheels beginning to turn and held onto Max, while planting his feet firmly either side of the anchored leg of the bench.

Alec put one arm over her waist holding her steady as Mole turned and drove up the ramp and into Terminal City, she smiled tiredly and put her arm over his, holding him to her.

The doors were swung open and Gem was ready for them with a gurney, CeCe beside her. "Infirmary's prepped, and Biggs is already hooked up and bagging as we speak."

Lexie nodded in comprehension and helped Max off the bench. She was relieved to find that Max wasn't fending off help like she usually did, perhaps she finally grasped the concept that doctors did know best. After they had her on the gurney, she turned back to Alec and Joshua who were climbing out of the truck. "Bring the kids too. I'd like to check them over after I patch Max up properly."

Alec nodded and carefully put his sleeping daughter back into her baby seat. "Thanks Joshua." He hugged his friend after he put the boy down next to his sister. "Thanks for what you did back there."

"What friends are for Alec," Joshua grinned happily. And he clapped Alec on the back heartily. "Little Max, and Little Alec?"

Alec chuckled uncomfortably. "Ah I don't know about that one big guy. We'll leave the naming to Max huh?"


The brig, Terminal City

White came around to a sharp vapor assaulting his senses, he looked around the room, a tall blonde stood by the window regarding him with a cold stare. And the hand holding the smelling salts under his nose, belonged to a young man who looked strikingly familiar.

The transgenic they'd almost caught, White smirked to himself, and the guy was slick. He had evaded every one of his trained agents, including a few sector police. With his face plastered on every news channel, he'd still managed to slip through vigilante and government hands alike. Somehow the transgenics had learned of their new technology after that incident, not more than a week passed and miraculously all their million-dollar machines were rendered useless by a mutating computer virus that corrupted the heat sensor register and marked everything at 100 degrees. You could barely make out any shapes in the fog of white pixels - people, walls, the machine couldn't tell the difference.

"So what was that saying again, Ce? Oh yeah, the enemy of my enemy is my friend?" Biggs leaned over and inclined his head thoughtfully. "I never did by into that crap, you?" he said turning to CeCe.

CeCe shook her head and walked over to them. Planting her boot on White's foot, she ground into it, coming closer she flicked him upside the head. "I've always wanted a play thing that didn't damage like an ordinary." She gave him a sultry look before yanking at his tie. "It's so much more fun when you can break a couple bones and not have your toy go limp on you."

Biggs raised his eyebrow but said nothing about her comments. As much as he thought her approach to this interrogation would probably prove interesting, he didn't want her getting too comfortable with their prisoner. He might be in restraints, but White was remarkably resourceful, and he was stronger and faster than an ordinary, she had to be on her guard. And as he watched her leaning in to whisper in White's ear, Biggs decided that was too close.

Snatching White's tie from CeCe's fingers, Biggs loosened it and took it off. "Can't have you trying to hang yourself now." He gave CeCe a warning look and she took a step back. "I have something I want you to see." Biggs reached into his jacket and pulled out a photo, he held it up to White's face and forced him to look at it. "Recognize anyone?"

White tried to remain indifferent but he couldn't. He had dealt with the death of his wife by ignoring it, burying it, denying it. He had done it for so long now that he almost believe that she had run off with Ray and that she was the one hiding him.

"You killed her. Murdered her with your bare hands and for what?" Biggs tormented. "For them? They don't even want you. You're nothing but road kill on their way to world domination and the destruction all us poor folk who won't bow to their ways. We'll guess what, Ames - you gave them everything and look what it got you."

"A bullet with your name on it," CeCe sneered.

Not wanting to admit one ounce of weakness in front them, White stared at the picture unflinching, a perfect mirror of controlled observance. Inside though he was a different picture, the man inside was remembering his wife, Wendy, his pretty, affectionate and trusting wife; a woman who loved him and every one of their children, even the ones that didn't survive. They had been doomed from conception as many others had been before theirs, if they weren't still born, they were killed - pattern of three, once the third is born the mother is killed. He had ignored the disapproving words of his elders, he had married and fallen in love with her, but he had followed through in the end. He had killed her.

"Hate to break it to you Ames, but your so called Conclave, the powers that be that you've been bowing to for God knows how long, they're nothing but cheap knock offs. They're phonies." Biggs pulled a PDA out of his back pocket and selected a few images to show White. "A friend of ours did some digging and found these."

White looked at the pictures of a burial site, and some ancient Macedonian symbols; he recognized them as trademarks of the breeding cult. The Phalanx got their name from a Macedonian tribe of warriors and there were other cultural links to Egypt and Macedonia that the Conclave used. "Our forefathers started our work thousands of years ago, and we will fulfil their vision."

"And here's the problem, we can't let you do that." CeCe pulled out a gun from the back of her jeans and walked over to where White was sitting, resting the tip to his forehead, she smirked down at him. "First we put an end to your miserable existence, it's only fair after what you did to Wendy not to mention countless of our kind, and then we finish of every one of your power-hungry, sick inbreed brethren."

White narrowed his eyes at her; he clenched his jaw and glared at her. "Do it," he challenged. "I don't have anything left to loose."

Biggs stood back a little watching the exchange. CeCe's index finger tightened slightly on the trigger and he noticed White's hands tremble where they were tied behind his back. His facade was faltering.

CeCe leaned closer, and breathed on White's earlobe. "Tell me Ames, where would you like to take it? In the head were it'll be near painless and instantaneous? Or in the heart so you can feel what it was like for Wendy when you betrayed her trust, and destroyed her love for you."

This time his eyes glistened and a nerve beneath his eye twitched. He closed his eyes, and to Biggs that was a sign of breaking point.

"Tell me that you're willing to die for them, Ames and maybe I'll give you what you want. Maybe you can see your son one last time..."

White's eyes shot open and his face hardened. "You think you can turn me that easy? We've been around long before you were even a thought. And we'll be here after this world and you and everyone else has long faded..."

CeCe punched him in the nose and White along with his chair went crashing backward to the cement floor. White lay their dazed for a moment with blood pouring from his nostrils and his arms pinned underneath him, they left him like that for a while, nobody moving or saying a word.

White grinned through his pain, loving that he'd hit a raw nerve and that he'd caused her to strike him, it proved that they weren't any better than he'd believed them to be. They were animals, dangerous, and untamable, they should never have been created, and nature would rectify the situation soon enough.

"If you're so much better than us, why did your own father turn his back on them?" Even though Joshua kept on saying that Sandeman was a good guy, Biggs had a hard time putting White and Sandeman in the same boat and believing that was possible. "He made us to save his son, and other people who he knew where going to be hurt in the long run. He did it to save his family and look at you. You destroyed ours; you had what some people search for their whole lives..."

"You don't deserve anything," CeCe spat angrily. "You think we're the threat to humanity, that we're the ones who need to be locked up or smothered out of existence, if the world only knew what people like you did."

Biggs hauled White's chair upright and dropped his family picture on the floor in front of him. "Maybe you'd like to think about that awhile?"

He motioned to CeCe and they were to leave the room when they heard a groan, Biggs turned back and noticed that White had slumped in his chair. Keeping his distance, Biggs waited to see if their prisoner had passed out or if he was just admitting defeat.

Ames stared at the picture, for him it was over, but Ray was still out there. Even though it would be a huge gamble, he had a chance to see his son, maybe the transgenics wouldn't make good on their offer? Maybe it was just all a ruse to get him to talk? But he didn't care anymore. Ray was alive, and as long as that was true, all wasn't lost.

Thula had wanted to kill him, and after what had happened tonight, he was sure that the Conclave weren't going to welcome him back with waiting arms. If anything, they'd probably shoot him as soon as he walked through the door and cut their losses. The transgenic hunt had caused a lot of unwanted exposure of their operation and their people. The Conclave didn't appreciate failure and lately he'd served them that in spades. Words his father had said came back to haunt him again.

"There is more to life than being the strongest, my son. There's family, respect, knowledge and understanding. Blood doesn't make family. Love makes family. Remember that."

There was no doubt in his mind that if there was one thing that his father never failed in and that was loving his family. When he'd realized that CJ wouldn't survive the initiation, he turned his back on wealth, power and position, everything the Conclave had offered him hadn't been enough, nothing could measure the value of his son. When they'd walked out and gone into hiding, he couldn't understand it. At fifteen he'd thought his father had gone mad abandoning their old life and forcing them to live in disgrace, so he left them, he left his family. The last time he'd seen his father was delivering a message from the Conclave, it had been ten years later, they had heard of Sandeman's work with a genetics lab in Seattle and after investigation had seen the threat it posed to their future and so they had sent Ames and one of the Brother-head Elders to try to reason with Sandeman, but he wouldn't listen, they gave him an ultimatum; his work or his family. Sandeman had disappeared. He resurfaced a few years later doing work through a secret government funded project, Manticore; his mother had died a few months after before he found CJ in a specialist care facility. It seemed that not only would his little brother not have survived the initiation, but he had psychological challenges as well. Two of the Phalanx best were dispatched to take Sandeman out, but the night they raided his house, he was already gone. His father certainly had done a superb job of botching up the Conclave's plan and he'd managed to preserve his family, a supremely dysfunctional one but still they were family. He might not have understood back then, but he was beginning to now. Their mother was picked for his father, but as he felt about Wendy, his father felt the same way about Rianne. Even after the stillborns and CJ and after everything the Conclave put them though; they never gave up on each other. Dad and his annoyingly slow driving, his quirky sense of humor, his obsession with his work - his mother had stuck by him through it all. So what if they were stronger, faster and better than the average person? It meant nothing if you had nobody to laugh with, none to share your dreams. He'd accused CJ of throwing away his life like garbage, but in fact he'd done worse and not even realized it.

"What do you want?"

Biggs thought he hadn't heard right, because White's head was still bowed like before and he hadn't moved.

Raising his head, he fixed his gaze on the male transgenic. He knew his eyes were red rimmed and he ignored the look of surprise on the man's face. "Kill me or ask me, I don't care anymore." If helping the transgenics would put an end to the Conclave and protect Ray then he would help, but it didn't mean he was going to give them everything on a silver platter. Just looking at them reminded him of all that he'd already lost and of a family he could never get back. They were Sandeman's, his father's creations, he had made sons and daughters he'd always wanted. The ones who weren't blood, but knew what family was all about, they fought, bled and died for one another, something he had never done, and he hated that they made him see that.

"Tell me why they want Max dead so badly? Why the kids?" Biggs queried barely able to hold his excitement in check. He thought it was going to take days if ever to make White crack. He knew that pressing memories of Ray and Wendy into the equation was going to help but he didn't expect it to work on him so easily.

"I want to see him." White straightened, and glared unflinchingly at CeCe this time. Her pretty face was deceiving, underneath the gentle lines, and soft blue eyes was a seasoned interrogator, ruthless and cold, her voice had hacked into his carefully erected barrier, her tone so much like Wendy's, subtle and warm, the words spoken a harsh contradiction to the inviting and soothing manner in which they were delivered.

"Him who?" CeCe folded her arms across her chest and raised an eyebrow suspiciously at White.

"494."

"He has a name," Biggs bit out. "Alec. Are you sure you really want to do that? You're the reason Max is lying in the infirmary right now hanging on by a thread." So that wasn't entirely true but he wanted to impress the magnitude of the outrageousness of his request. When he'd finished giving blood, Max had seemed relaxed and her color healthier, Lexie said it was just a scrap and that she was going to be fine, but White didn't have to know that.

"You want to know what their grand plan is then let me talk to Alec," he said with a cool stare.

"It's your funeral," CeCe replied with a shrug, and walked to the door, Biggs followed her out.

Outside, she gave Biggs a puzzled frown. "Do you think he'll go for it?"

Biggs looked at White through the window, and then at CeCe. "Either way, I have a feeling someone's gonna get satisfaction out of this."


Infirmary, Terminal City

Alec clutched her hand so tightly, that she could have sworn she'd lost all circulation in it, but he looked so distraught that she thought better than to tell him to loosen his grip.

"You shouldn't have left." Max fiddled with a microscopic lose thread on her gown, and tested her shoulder carefully.

Okay, so she only had a flesh wound, but his heart was still doing flip flops in his chest and try as he might, he couldn't get it to stop. He brought her hand to his lips and held it there, she was still so cold. "Stupid, it was a stupid thing to do," he said aloud.

Max narrowed her eyes at him. "And going there without me wasn't? I carried them for almost nine months, Alec. I felt them growing inside me, you think I was going to lay back and let White take them away from me? You and Logan were so bull-headed nobody ever thought to ask me what he was planning. Nobody asked me what I thought about it all."

Alec leaned over hushing her and rubbing her arms.

"Don't shush me," Max cried. "I'm tried of being babied, I'm not a piece of fragile pottery, I'm fine." She pushed him off and sat up for good measure, she winced as she pulled the muscles in her shoulder.

Knowing he wasn't going to calm her by arguing, Alec let go and gave her room to move. "You scared me, Max. You really did."

Max felt his concern and touched his hand. "I'm sorry, but it's partly your fault for keeping me in the dark. And you lied to me..."

Alec moved closer to her and even though she didn't lean into him, she didn't protest when he wrapped his arms around her. He hugged her and he sensed a little tension leave her body. "I love you Max," he whispered against her hair. He felt her nod into his neck, and even though she hadn't said it in return, he was relieved that she had acknowledged and accepted his feelings.

Biggs poked his head into the infirmary and spotted his friends. He was intensely glad that Max was okay, but their crisis was far from over. Their latest show down was more than likely to stir up transgenic hate all over again and then there was the whole breeding cult agenda that they had yet to figure out. He hated to be the one to break the family reunion, but it had to be done. "Ahem," he coughed. When Alec met his eyes over Max's shoulder, Biggs continued, "Sorry to interrupt, but someone is saying he'll only talk to you."

Alec's jaw stiffened a moment, but he gave Max a reassuring smile when he lifted her chin to meet his eyes. "Let me handle this for now okay? I'll be by later; you have to introduce me to our kids."

That earned him a smile that lit up her eyes and as he followed Biggs to their makeshift brig, he tried to keep that picture in mind. White had to be mad thinking that he'd be a better person to plead his case too; he'd like nothing better than to wipe the smarmy self-centered bastard off the face of the planet.

Max watched Alec leave, and she hoped to heaven that she'd been convincing. The whole time he'd been standing by her, she had been a bundle of nervous tension. He was going to face White so she needed him to know that she was fine, and that she'd be waiting right where he left her. However, in reality she was anything but calm and collected.

She had honestly believed she was ready for this. Shooting a glance in the direction of the babies, she realized she wasn't. Gem and Lexie were looking after them, giving them their bottles. At least White had been prepared to care for them. He had bottles, formula, diapers and blankets, even car seats for cryin' out loud. She didn't know the first thing about caring for infants. She had been given a crash course in childminding looking after Logan's niece a year or so back but that wasn't even for a full twenty-four hours. She'd never been more relieved about anything than handing the kid over at the end of the day. These babies were hers, there'd be no one to had them to when they cried incessantly. And the thought of feeding time put her at wits' end. Her and breastfeeding just didn't belong in the same boat. She had seen Gem feeding Missy that way hundreds of times, but she just couldn't picture herself doing it, and at this point she seriously didn't want to. Her body on the other hand had other ideas, when one of them started crying before she'd started leaking like a broken faucet. The more she thought about it, the more terrified she felt. She wasn't ready for this, and before now she had been fooling herself thinking that she was.

She had almost gotten everyone killed, Alec, the kids and herself included. Renfro was right about one thing. She was poison. Sooner or later she would cause the death of everyone she loved. The babies, they were so small and dependent, and there was no way she could protect them from every threat in her life. And Alec, he'd almost gotten himself killed tonight. As for Logan, well she'd already almost killed him three times now. She was literally poison to him. As long as she was around, everyone she loved was in danger. It would solve a lot of problems is she just disappeared. The White's Familiars wanted her right? If she left then maybe it would take their focus off the transgenics in Terminal City. Even though she'd never told him, Alec was the most reliable and caring guy she knew aside from Logan. And from the way he'd held their daughter, she was sure he'd make a fantastic father. Didn't the saying go, love them enough to set them free? She shot a glance at the trio hovering over the bench at the end of the room. Missy was giving the babies sloppy toddler kisses, and Gem was beaming at her daughter proudly.

Max used the diversion to quietly slip from the room. She felt smothered, and she desperately needed air. The ache in her chest was crushing her, and she closed her eyes. It was all she could do to keep herself from letting the tears fall freely. A voice kept telling her, 'It's okay to be afraid. We can make things work.' But another voice reminded her of how many times she'd hurt people, and asked her how many more she wanted to lose. 'Zack, Tinga, Brin, Ben, do you want to add Alec and the kids too?'

Bad karma stuck to her like an afternoon shadow, and as long as she kept hanging onto them, and that stupid dream of a happy and normal life, she would risk loosing everything she ever loved.

Notes: Sorry to anyone who read this mid-edit but I realized that I couldn't post in parts and have it still flow right. :oP Please review. Your feedback inspires me to keep working on this. Thank you.