A/N: I'm sorry for taking so long to update. Had work to do. Yeah, I know. It's then end of the school year and they still give me work. Anyways, it's almost summer. YAY! Since I'm not doing anything, that means I'll be writing away. I hope you guys aren't going away for the whole summer 'cause then you won't be able to read my story. :( Oh well, on with the story. :) 6 reviews to get me to update!

BTW, this chapter is dedicated to elle6778 for reviewing 19 times and to HoneyX5452 because it's her birthday tomorrow.

White let go of Max and she fell to the ground, shaking and sweating. For a moment, there was only silence except for Max's cries of pain. The transgenics all watched her with some sort of horrified fascination and Zack felt fear mount inside him as another scream was let out and more violent shakes wracked Max's body.

She's starting to seize, Zack thought. I need to get to her; this can't be good for the babies.

He tried to sit up but the pain in his shoulder was too great, and the dark blood was staining his clothes. White finally snapped out of his stupor and bent down to yank Max up again, whose screams were intensifying. She stopped as the contraction was over, breathing heavily, but it started all over again, in some sick cycle. White put the gun back to Max's head and grinned triumphantly.

"You can't get away now," he whispered to her. "Not in this condition."

Even through all her pain, she managed to throw White a glare and she spat in his face. His hand shaking in anger, he flicked it off into her own face. He had orders from the Concave not to kill her because they wanted to study her, see if she really was the One to stop The Coming, but he was quickly losing control of his temper and might accidentally defy the Conclave's wishes.

He yanked her hair. "You are the bane of my life, yet I still have to keep you alive because you might be the one my idiot father created specially."

"Specially huh?" she breathed. "So nice to know I'm special. You just made my day."

White closed his eyes to control his temper, but then again, he had never been good at controlling his emotions. He started twisting her arm, ignoring the gasping sounds of pain coming from Max and not stopping until he heard a crack. Max screamed and her arm hung uselessly at her side.

Zack's anger was mounting and quickly overriding his fear. Ignoring the pain in his shoulder he blurred towards White at breakneck speed and White, anticipating this, threw Max to the side where she collided with the wall hard, slumping down without making a sound, her eyes closed, and her body still.

Zack saw red and went at White with everything he had in him. Krit and Alec rushed over to Max, checking her over and trying to make her wake up.

"Her arm's broken and her pulse is faint," Krit said grimly. "We need to get out of here now and get her to Terminal City. There are some doctors there, right? I'll fix her up best as I can, but she's going to need someone who really knows their stuff."

"How about Wayne?" Alec asked. "Is he trained enough to handle this kind of thing?"

Krit's eyes widened. "Wayne! You're right. Call him right now. You know his number, right?"

Alec nodded affirmative, stood up and went a little bit away to make the call.

"You. Son. Of. A. Bitch," Zack grunted as he pummeled White in the stomach. Pain or no pain, Zack's attack had been taking its toll on White's body, and White was slowing down. Zack punched White and he went flying, slamming into a wall. Zack stalked over to him and put an iron rip on his shoulder, his other hand jerking White's bloody face up to look him in the eye.

White had never feared anything before, and wasn't about to start now, but that dangerous look in 599's eyes unnerved him. He knew he had crossed the line when he had hurt 452, but that didn't stop him from rubbing it in 599's face.

"You call yourself her mate?" White taunted. "You're a poor excuse for one, and a transgenic for that matter. You let her get hurt. Is that what mates do?"

The truth in it all made Zack even angrier, and he punched White's face to the side. Even so, White kept talking.

"You transgenics will never fit into the world," White said. "Eventually, exposure will come. Even though I'm trying to prevent that, I'm not denying it. And when it does, you filthy pieces of scum will be shunned, hated, and feared. Your children will be hated. If they are even born." He jerked his head toward the unconscious Max, Zack's grip tightening on White's shoulder. He moved his hand and pressed, satisfaction coursing through him at the sound of White's collarbone breaking. He stopped when he heard the sound of sirens and listened.

A man in his late twenties hid behind a corner, watching the scene unfold in front of him. His eyes had been widening at what he had seen.

Those men, he thought. They moved so fast and defeated all those soldiers so easily. Except that one guy who was fighting someone who fought equally well. What the hell is going on?

When he saw the girl that the one guy with a malicious smile was holding go flying, he decided things were getting out of hand and called the police. He had told them that there was a big fight going and hung up.

He resumed his watching, thoughts about who they were swirling around in his head until he remembered something.

That guy who was doing those broadcasts across the nation, who was he? Ears, no, Eyes Only. He had said something about enhanced humans. Could I have stumbled upon some?

He heard sirens wailing and decided it was time to go. He would report what he had seen to the police.

One of the X5s who had gone with them tapped Zack's shoulder. "We need to go," he said quietly. "Your girl's in really bad shape and the police are coming. We gotta split. Now."

"I need to make this bastard suffer for what he did," Zack said, breaking White's other collarbone.

"Look, it's not like I think he doesn't deserve it, but like I said, we gotta go. We can't let the police see what has gone on, there will be too many questions and exposure might come. Plus, your girlfriend is in labour but something's wrong because she isn't moving. We need to get her to T.C. pronto because every second counts," he said.

At what the X5 said about Max, Zack turned his head to look at her. She still wasn't moving and she was paling. He looked back at White, who was grinning at him through his bloodied mouth. He tightened his hold on him and put his mouth near White's ear.

"If I lose her, I won't stop until you're dead and in pieces," Zack growled into his ear, then with one last punch he knocked White out and ran to the van where the other X5s were putting Max in, jumping in himself and closing the door. They left the scene only minutes before the police came, finding the place completely empty.

White was gone.

Lucy paced beside Original Cindy, who despite her usual calm self, was doing the exact same thing.

"They should be back by now, shouldn't they?" Lucy asked.

"I dunno," O.C. replied. "These rescue mission thingies sometimes go for a long time. But I get the feeling something's wrong."

"I don't think we should have let Max go. It was too dangerous for her to go in her condition," Lucy said.

"What were we supposed to do?" Cindy said. "It's not exactly like we could force her to stay. Pregnant or not, she could still kick our pretty asses. This is her sister we're talking about. Plus, she's not one to miss out on a party."

Normal looked up from his office and saw the two women pacing, though he couldn't see that idiot Sketchy around. He sighed and walked up to them.

"What is wrong with this picture?" he asked them rhetorically. "I see you pacing, wearing out my floor. I see you without packages that should have been delivered by now. And I see you," he said to Lucy, "Who are you? You don't even work here. Shoo! Go away! Disappear! Vamoose! And Cynthia, get to work! These packages don't have legs, which means they can't walk themselves to their owners. Bip bip bip."

"Chillax Normal," Cindy said. "First of all, I'm on a break so you can't bip me. Second, Lucy over here is lookin' for a job."

Normal snorted. "Yeah right. Like I need any more of you bums, especially one of your love toys."

O.C. rolled her eyes. "The girl is straight ya fool. And besides, aren't ya gonna be shorthanded when my home girl has her little baby boos? Lucy ain't like us bums; she's a sweet girl who'll work unlike us. Ain't that right, boo?"

Lucy looked amused at Cindy's way of speaking. "Yeah. Look, um… Normal was it? I promise I'll work hard. I haven't had a really great life and I know how rarely opportunities like a job pop up in this post-Pulse world, so I won't screw my chance up. Please give me a try."

Normal sighed, muttering something like, "I'm getting soft." "Fine," he said to Lucy. "You seem like an okay girl. You're hired. Now bip bip bip! This isn't a chatting lounge." He turned around to face everyone who was lying around.

"Get off your asses you idiots and start delivering packages! Or you're all fired! Bip bip bip!"

Then he retired back to his office.

Cindy shook her head and her afro bobbed from side to side. "Believe me girl, this ain't any opportunity. Welcome to hell."

They rushed Max to Med Bay and quickly put her on a bed, changing her into more loose fitting garments. Transgenics with medical abilities hurried around, some preparing themselves for a complicated delivery, others checking her over.

"We've got some internal bleeding," an X5 named Holly said. "We need to stem the blood flow."

A bunch of X4s and X5s worked on her, finally stopping the blood. Another was working on her broken arm when she regained consciousness a little. She grimaced and whimpered as another contraction came.

"These babies are definitely coming," an X4 named Lara said. "Stay with us 452. We need you to be awake to help us deliver your children."

"Max," she whispered. "My name's Max."

"Alright Maxie," Krit said. "Stay awake. Please stay awake." Her eyes were fluttering closed but she forced them open again. She clenched her teeth to keep from screaming as a powerful contraction shook her, but was unsuccessful.

Syl's face contorted from where she was standing with Zack. "Who knew you had to go through so much shit to reproduce," she said.

Zack didn't answer. He just stood silent until the doctors said that it was okay for him to be beside her.

"What's Wayne's ETA?" Krit asked Alec.

Alec flipped his cell phone shut. "30 minutes. Do we have that long?"

Krit shook his head. "Doesn't look that way. We're going to have to do this without him." He saw Max's eyes start to close again and slapped her lightly on the cheek. "Come on little sister. Stay awake." When he saw how much she was struggling to stay conscious, he pulled Holly, the medic in charge, aside.

"We might have to do a C-section on her if she can't stay awake, so we should prep ourselves for that," Krit said quietly.

Holly nodded and got out the utensils. Krit motioned for Zack to come forward and he sat down beside Max, holding her hand.

"You need to stay awake Maxie," Zack told her. "Please don't close your eyes."

"It hurts Zack," she whispered and screamed as another contraction came.

"This is it everyone," Lara said. "Baby number one's coming out."

Krit wiped the sweat off his sister's face. "You need to push now Maxie. Push as hard as you can and breathe in and out. Don't panic."

She listened to her brother and her grip tightened considerably on Zack's hand. She clenched her teeth and pushed. Krit continued wiping the sweat off her face with a wet towel, whispering soothing things to her, telling her when to push and when to breathe.

Holly, the one delivering the babies, started to smile. "Keep going," she said to Max. "I see the head."

Max pushed and pushed, her chest heaving with the effort. She was still so weak from when she slammed against the wall. She could see darkness starting to seep in, her eyes wanting to close and let her fall into unconsciousness, but she fought to hold on.

"I've got the shoulders now," Holly said. She put her hands under the wriggling baby's armpits and pulled gently, trying to help liberate it. "You're doing great, a few more big pushes," she pep talked Max.

Max was growing weary but listened to Holly. She gripped Zack's hand harder and he felt a bone snap. He winced but said nothing except comforting words. "Keep going Maxie. They've almost got the first one out."

She gave the biggest push she could and the baby slid free, right into Holly's waiting arms. A baby's cry pierced the room.

Max was breathing heavily and was slowly losing the battle to stay conscious. Holly saw this and wasted no time; she cut the umbilical cord and handed the baby to Krit, who took his newborn nephew to the sink to wash the blood off.

"Alright, we're halfway through Max," Holly said. "One more baby and we're home free. You're doing great, just keep breathing and pushing. Don't give up, we're almost done."

Max yelled when another powerful contraction passed through her, the one that signified that the baby was coming. The room was starting to spin.

"She's in too much pain," Syl said to Alec. "Can't they give her some painkiller?"

Alec shook his head. "I'm no medic, but I know that right now the pain is the only thing that's keeping her conscious. If they give her a painkiller, she's most likely going to pass out. Then it'll be harder to get the baby out. She doesn't look like she's in great shape though. I don't know how much longer she can hold out."

Syl looked on worriedly, the thought that she might lose her sister fresh on her mind.

Max pushed and pushed, forgetting that she had to breathe. The action was making her even dizzier and the room spun around faster. Only in the background did she hear Holly's words, telling her to hold on and to push and breathe.

She complied but she felt that she had already lost the battle to stay awake. Slowly, her eyes started to close and her grip on Zack's hand loosened.

"We're losing her," Lara said. "She's going unconscious."

The baby was already halfway out. They tried to pull on it lightly to bring it out even more but it was no use. They needed Max to give at least one more big push.

"One more push, Maxie. Just one. Stay with us. Push, Maxie, push," Zack murmured.

She gave one last hard push, letting the baby slide free, before letting the realm of unconsciousness claim her.

Max's hand went limp in Zack's and she stopped moving. Lara jumped forward when she saw a trail of blood coming from Max and moved to stop it. After minutes, she managed to stop it, but with a sad look turned to Zack.

"She's in a coma," she said quietly.

There was silence in the room and Zack realized that although his children were fine, he might lose the woman that he loved.

A/N: Dun dun dun… What's gonna happen to Max? Plz plz plz review, I'm begging you. 6 reviews to get me to update and to find out what happens to Max. Hope you liked this chapter!

Thanks ever so much to –

shygirl1 – Thanks for reviewing!

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elle6778 – Thanks for reviewing so much. I'm not tired of reading your reviews at all. Actually, I looked forward to them. I LOVE REVIEWS. LOL Ok, I'm a review addict with no life. I know. LOL Thanks so much!

Thank you to everyone who reviewed and to those who didn't but are reading this. Please review, it takes 6 reviews to get me to update! BTW, for those who are interested, I have another fic, also MZ, SK, Alec/Faith, etc... It's a crossover between BTVS, Roswell and DA, but I'm sure you'll like it. Please check it out if you have the time, it's called "Together We'll Fight". And for those who have read my fairy tales series of DA, keep your eyes peeled for another one coming out either today or tomorrow.

Luv y'all, aod78