Epilogue: Going Home

The remaining members of Unit 7 didn't stay together for long after the escape. As the team left the rendezvous point Max thought hard about whether or not they should all stay together. On the one hand, she didn't want to split everyone up like Zack had done all those years before. If she did, they might never find each other again. But on the other hand, the powers that be, the ones that were financially supporting Manticore, were not likely to just let millions and millions of dollars worth of genetic research just up and walk away. Seven transgenics in one place was a lot harder to hide than one or two or even three. In the end though, it wasn't up to her. Everyone made their own decision.

It wasn't that they didn't like each other; on the contrary, they were a family. It's just that they all had different priorities for their new lives, different interests, and different places they wanted to go. For example, Paige had always dreamed of living in New York City so when the team passed within a few hundred miles of there, she bid them a tearful farewell and headed off. Meeks and Cale found a new home in a little town near Bismarck, North Dakota. It was small and quiet and Meeks found a great job at the local hospital. Biggs was an adrenaline junky. He craved adventure, but he had made a promise to Alec that he'd keep Max safe and he was determined to keep that promise. He accompanied Max and Brin to Canada and stayed with them for a while to make sure that everything was alright. Within a few months though, he was beginning to go stir crazy from all the peace and quiet and he had to move on. Brin went with him. The last thing Max heard from them, they were living the high-life in Las Vegas. Max missed everyone terribly, but for most of them this was their first taste of real freedom and she would never have stood in their way. Besides, it wasn't like she has lost them forever; they still kept in touch by phone or letters and if anyone one of them ever needed the others, they would all be there in a heartbeat.

In Canada, Max chose to move into an old farm that Zack had bought years before when he was still their C.O. Max laughed when she remembered how many times Zack tried to convince her to move up there with him to escape Manticore. How ironic that it took the defeat of Manticore to actually get her there. Anyway, all her siblings knew where the farm was and they'd stop by once or twice in a blue moon to visit for a bit.

And there was Zack…About three months after the escape Zack showed up at the farm. Everyone had assumed that he and Alec died in the final explosion, but it wasn't so. When the labs fell, Zack and Alec were caught in the debre. Zack received a large gash on the back of his head and was knocked unconscious for several days. When he came to, he found Alec pinned under a large beam and near death. One of Alec's legs was severely broken, possibly shattered. Zack tried to free him, but the strain was too much. Both boys passed out again, one from blood loss and the other from pain. When Zack came to a second time, Alec was gone. Zack told Max that he searched the grounds for hours, but all he found were tire tracks from some large military vehicles. Based on that he assumed that Alec had been recaptured, and since he was in too bad a condition to follow their trail he decided to head to Canada to regroup. Max was overjoyed to see him and insisted that Zack stay with her at the farm. Together they tried over and over again to find some trace of Alec, but to no avail.

Five years later, the unthinkable happened, Zack died. His death was totally unexpected. The best explanation Meeks could come up with after the autopsy was that one or more of Zack's artificial organs just quit working overnight. He died peacefully in his sleep and Max and her siblings buried him there on the farm.

Shortly thereafter, Max left Canada. She traveled around the US for a while trying to clear her head and decide where to go next. One thing was certain, she couldn't bear to stay in Canada. The loss of Alec and then Zack was just too much. Max was visiting Tinga's son and husband in Cincinatti when she saw something on the news that changed everything.

A newscast from Seattle was being broadcast across the country. Rumors about transgenic freaks on the loose in Seattle had people panicked. Riots began to break out everywhere as vigilantes took it upon themselves to rid the world of mutants. There were pictures on the news of Joshua, the canine man who befriended Max in the basement of Manticore, along with accusations of murder. Mobs were chasing all of the transgenics into Terminal City. And as is that weren't enough, at the forefront of it all trying to run interference between the police, the citizens of Seattle, and the freaks was someone Max thought she'd never see again…Alec.

Max stood at the top of the Space Needle and looked out over the city of Seattle. It had been five years since the final destruction of Manticore…Five years since she had seen Alec.

"Mommy, we're cold." "…And sleepy." A little boy and girl about five and a half years old stepped out of the shadows and walked towards the edge of the roof. Zachary Alec and Eva Alexis were born on Zack's farm in Canada about six months after the escape. They had their mother's dark hair, their daddy's mischievous eyes and they had been Uncle Zack's pride and joy. For the longest time Max thought they were all she had left of Alec, but that was about to change…

Max smiled down at her children as she took their hands. "Alright, my loves. Let's go."

The twins cherubic faces looked up at her expectantly, "Where are we going, Mommy?"

"Home, babies. We're going home." Max looked out at the Seattle skyline again, this time peering off towards Terminal City, towards Alec. Home is where the heart is, Max thought, so I guess that makes Terminal City, home.