A/N: Well, it's nice to know I have to flaunt all my pathetic insecurities
to get many of you to let me know your reading.
Ok, that was mean. I take it back. Still, please do that more often! You
know how I am about hearing that I have readers out there. Lol.
Maria- since I didn't your precious baby in the last chapter, I'll mention
him in this one.. So you'd better start kissing my ass. Or I just have to
start calling you some thing else.
I know I've been putting off dealing with the familiars, but that's because
I royally suck at writing action scenes. Anybody notice how I had White
taken out without having to write a fight scene? Nobody? Only the people I
told? Or was nobody listening to me? Yeah, I'll just go with the latter; it
seems most logical.
________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 12: Square One
Saturday, September 6th Sector 7 Bus Terminal Seattle, Washington
"These are your subjects," Senator McKinley handed out photos of Max and Lex to the familiars in front of him. "They are wanted alive; avoid inflicting physical harm as much as possible. On Monday, when you arrive at the posts you've been given, find out where 452 and her offspring have been living and find the other X5 they have been traveling with. Take out any human that knows about them, we can't take any risks that 452 has leaked information about us."
"Yes, Sir," the man standing the front of the group took the photos from McKinley. "We'll let you know when we have them."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Penthouse 11:37 a.m.
"So you only have four classes a day?" Tera's jaw hung down. "You suck!"
Laughing, Lex shook her head, "Well I'd only have three if the didn't make me take aquatics," she grimaced. "It's so pointless; I already know how to swim."
"Yeah, well there are those of us who have never even seen a real pool, so just shut up."
"What? How could you have never seen a pool?" Lex closed her magazine and looked over at Tera.
"This is Seattle, only rich people have them. And from what I've heard, yours is the only school that has one left."
"Oh yippee," Lex's voice dripped with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes. "Ok, why am I even reading this? Who is Josh Hartnett anyway?"
"Got me," Tera shrugged, taking the old issue of YM from Lex's hands. "I've been reading about some Vin guy for the past half hour, time for a new whacko."
"Huh?" Lex looked at the article Tera had referred to and cracked up. "Oh god, if you ever talk to Kayla, don't call him "some Vin guy"!"
"Why not? Who is he?"
"That's guy she'd marry. If she could, I mean," Lex rolled her eyes.
"But how old has he gotta be now?! This is from 2003!"
"Sixty-nine, seventy," Lex thought. "But in Kayla's world, he's eternally thirty-seven."
"Why not eighteen or something?" Tera
"That hallucination's actually kinds legit," Lex shrugged. "Accident on the set of one of his movies. He insisted on doing this stunt, but missed the mat where he was supposed to land, stayed with the burning car instead cuz he freaked out mid-jump. Car lands, he falls. Dies of burns and head trauma at thirty-seven."
"Ouch," Tera shuddered. "But with a body like that, he doesn't look like someone who'd freak out over a car."
"Go figure. But put that with the really deep voice, and he's not too bad."
"Sounds like somebody else has a crush on the dead guy," Tera teased.
"Anyway," Lex ignored Tera's poking and changed to a less morbid topic, "where'd you get these magazines?"
"I found a pile of them in the South Market last year, took them out of boredom."
"You must have been beyond desperate. "Geeky Guys Are Hot"?" she read the title of an article aloud. "Life must've been really boring before the Pulse," Lex mused.
"Just try finding an issue without the words party, flirt, or guys on the cover. Though, I'd say we're not doing much better unless we come up with something to do. We haven't moved in over two hours," Tera yawned.
"So in other words, we're gonna sit around and yawn, only to watch Disney movies until we get hungry for junk we'll call dinner," Lex gathered.
"We really should get a new routine," Tera rolled here eyes as she popped Beauty and The Beast into the DVD player.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terminal City
"Hey, Max," Gem smiled as she walked into the warehouse. "Do you know if Tera's over at your place? I haven't heard from her since last night."
"As of an hour ago, she and Lex were still there," Max nodded.
"That's good. I'm glad they hit it off, at least they don't have to keep what they are from each other."
"You said it; I don't even wanna think about the Kayla-withdrawal Lex would've gone through," Max laughed.
"Little Fella!" Joshua came up and hugged Max from behind. "You came."
"Sure I came, Big Fella," Max assured him. "I'm not going away again, I told you that."
"Little Fella stays with Logan and Lex."
"That's right," Max's returned Joshua's hug when he placed her back down on the ground. "Nobody's runnin' my ass outta Seattle this time."
"And just when I was getting my hopes up," Alec sarcastically snapped his fingers in disappointment.
"Max!" Dix shouted from his seat in front of the computer screens. "You might wanna see this," worry was evident in his voice.
"What is it?" Max hurried over.
"Footage from a camera at the bus terminal in Sector seven. Ever since Logan got us those programs with higher resolution, we can see everything. Take a look at what this guy is showing his little crowd," Dix pointed to the image of McKinley.
"Somehow, I'm guessing he's not showing off pictures of his new girlfriend," Alec remarked.
"Shut up," Max smacked him. Crossing her arms, she began to pace and rant, "Figures. I mean, how long could I have expected to get a normal life? I forgot, I'm not supposed to be happy."
"But Max, didn't you already beat the familiars back in Canada? I'm sure you can do it again," Gem tried to reason.
"Actually, it was Lydecker and his tact team that took out White," Max admitted. "Wait a minute," an idea popped into Max's head, "I'll be back," she ran out of the warehouse and gunned the engine of her bike, leaving the other transgenics to exchanged confused shrugs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sector 9 Jondy's Apartment
"Jondy!" Max rushed in the door.
"What-ie?" Jondy laid upside down on her couch clicking the remote. "So many channels, so little to watch."
"Yeah, well, we don't have time for TV," Max flipped it off. "The familiars just drove into town."
"What?! How the hell did they find us?" Jondy snapped upright.
"Who knows, who cares?" Max shook her head. "They're here and they shouldn't be."
"Got a battle plan yet? Where's Lex? They might be after her again," Jondy's solider mode began kicking into gear.
"She should be at home with Tera, though they may have gotten bored and headed to the South Market," Max pulled out her cell phone and hit the speed dial.
"Hmmm?" Lex's blasé voice picked up.
"Lex, where are you guys?" Max's tone was urgent.
"Watching Mononoke Hime," Lex answered, referring to one of her animes. "We finished Beauty and The Beast."
"Alright, good. Listen to me, the familiars just got in town. I want you to pack a duffel and be ready to head down to Terminal City when I say, ok?" Max instructed.
"How the hell did those bastards find us this time?"
"I don't know yet, but I don't wanna take any chances that they know where the penthouse is."
"What about Dad? Should I tell him the same thing?"
Every time Lex used the D-word, it still made Max smile brightly, "Oh, didn't know he was there with you. But yeah, tell him the same thing and grab my duffel, too. As soon as I get word on where they all are in the city, I'll call you and let you know what route to take."
"Yes, ma'am," Lex played along to Max's Manticore attitude.
"Just get moving," Max warned as she cut off the call.
"So you got any inklings on a plan?" Jondy shouted from her bedroom; where she was dragging out her own duffel bag.
"Kind of, but now I'm having second thoughts. I think it's make a better Plan B," Max followed Jondy's voice. As Jondy nodded, Max's phone rang, "Yeah?"
"Max, it's Dix. I just tracked all the familiars to a hotel in sector nine, so you might wanna get out of there. None of them are on the streets and McKinley left the city, so now's your chance," he relayed to her.
"Great, thanks Dix," Max hung up and turned to Jondy, "Let's move."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terminal City 8:30 p.m.
"And just why isn't a good idea?" Mole protested. "They're not expecting us, and we could use the advantage of a surprise attack against them."
"The rest of the people in the hotel aren't expecting us either," Alec backed up Max. "How do you think the public will react to an army of transgenics storming an upscale hotel?"
"The public is just as big a threat as the familiars. We need to decide where to lure them to before we fight them," Max addressed the group below from her place by the computer terminals.
"How about outside the city?" an X8 suggested.
"No, we want to keep it some place we know. Every feasible advantage needs to be taken, and home field should be no exception," Alec stepped up beside Max.
"What about the sewers? They'd be lost in there," another transgenic shouted out.
"We don't have them memorized either. And getting trapped in a tunnel where you're outnumbered won't do us any good," Max rejected the idea.
"What about here?" Lex shrugged.
"Yeah," Tera backed her up. "We get that home field advantage because we've already got battle stations planned out for everyone, all our extra supplies are here, and as long as we can find a safe place for all the surveillance stuff, we can keep track of them through the cameras."
All exchanging speechless glances at once; the adult transgenics digested the teenagers' statements.
"All in favor of taking them down here?" Jondy held up her fist.
One by one, the rest of the transgenics in the warehouse followed, making it a unanimous vote.
From their place on a pipe near the ceiling, the girls laughed.
"Yet another example of why teens should rule the world," Lex cocked her head towards the crowd underneath them.
"Did you plan on wearing that shirt, or is it just a coincidence?" Tera point to the slogan. "Ask a teenager now while they still know everything."
Laughing again, Lex shook her head, "No, but when is it not fitting?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that night, Max stood on the roof, gazing at what view of the stars Seattle had to offer. She smiled to herself as she though about Lex, out- thinking even herself on a battle plan for the familiars.
"Room for one more on this roof?" Logan whispered in Max's ear as he snaked his arms around her waist from behind. "What made you come up here?"
"Just thinking about how all of Manticore's super soldiers just got out- strategized by two teens," Max sighed and leaned back into Logan's embrace.
"Well, Lex did learn from the master," Logan smiled as he nuzzled Max's neck.
"But now the student has surpassed me," Max held up her finger to articulate the point.
"Which gives you a little more free time," Logan mumbled as he began to make a trail of light kisses along her earlobe.
Max turned around and looked at him, but started laughing before she could get any words out.
"What?" Logan looked her in the eyes, only to make her laugh harder.
"You are so obvious when you beg," Max managed to get out as she caught her breath.
"So is that a no?" Logan asked rhetorically.
"Baby, we're on the roof of the warehouse." When that answer didn't seem to be enough for Logan, Max added, "Lex is right down there, remember?"
As that small tidbit of information surfaced from the back of Logan's mind, he wordlessly turned Max and resumed their pervious position. Spooning her, he tightened his arms around her waist, "I love you."
"I love you, too," Max titled her head and kissed his chin.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Monday, September 8th Cedar Ridge Academy 5:27 a.m.
Lex sat out in the crisp, misty air, scanning the area for anyone approaching.
"See them yet?" Jondy's voice broke through Lex's com.
"No," Lex answered for the twelfth time in the past fifteen minutes.
"You remember the plan, right?"
"Yes, I got it," Lex rolled her eyes. "Monkeys see, monkeys chase, monkeys end up in Terminal City, monkeys die."
"Thank you for that interesting interpretation, but could you take the plan a little more seriously?"
"It's killing you not to laugh," Lex more observed than asked.
"Just. shut up!" Jondy pursed her lips together. "And stop referring to the familiars as monkeys."
"Ooooo," Lex channeled her hearing and zoomed her vision to three approaching figures. "The monkeys are here."
"Just get the job done and be careful," Jondy said as Lex clicked off the connection.
The three men approached Lex, looking at each other questioningly.
"I'll bet you boys didn't think I'd be waiting for you," Lex smirked as she gunned her engine and took off. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the familiars chasing after her at their top speed. "Idiots," she laughed to herself as she made the first turn towards their destination.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terminal City
"Gem! Lex is tailing a band of goons this way," Jondy relayed down.
Nodding, Gem activated the coms of the transgenics stationed where Lex would be coming in and gave out the orders, "All units to their posts. Use deadly force; leave none alive."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sector 12 Jam Pony 5:32 a.m.
"They should be coming, Lex just started hers on the wild goose chase," Jondy informed Max. "You still alone?"
"Nobody yet," Max said. "Jam Pony doesn't open till eight."
"Well, the familiars seem to be starting business bright and early. It didn't sound like they expected Lex to be waiting, so take advantage of that if you can."
"Well, what teenager does want to be at school two hours early?" Max laughed. "Thanks for the heads up."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terminal City
"Incoming!" Lex shouted through her com as she gunned her bike up a wooden board, clearing the barbed wire fence with ease.
The familiars followed close behind, in pursuit of her every move. As the front man witnessed Lex jump the fence, he came to a halt, "Son of a bitch!"
"No way we can clear a twelve-foot fence like that. Should we take a chance with the barbed wire?" one of the accomplices asked.
"Pain is a phantom of the mind," the front man ordered as he began climbing the fence. "Those transgenics think they're so smart, but they're wrong. A little wire can't keep them safe from us."
One by one, the three familiars dropped down onto the ground of Terminal city, blood streaming from the deep gashes the barbed wire left in their hands and legs. The leader signaled for his followers to head down the alley Lex had turned on just a moment before.
"Dammit!" one of the familiars cursed as he saw Lex's abandoned bike propped up against the wall.
"Wait," another spoke up. Pointing forward, he took off towards the center of Terminal City, where the four familiars chasing Max had just stumbled into.
"All units, targets are in designated location release fire, repeat release fire!" Alec ordered from his vigilant post on a rooftop.
Simultaneously, the transgenic militia rose up and fired their weapons. In a whirl of bullets and blood, the seven men dropped to the ground as a scarlet pool grew around them.
From inside the main warehouse, the remainder of the population watched the action unfold and cheered at the sight of the familiars' demise.
After a sigh of relief, Lex's face fell slightly. "This isn't over yet, is it?" she innocently asked Max, even though she was already well aware of the answer.
"No, sweetie. Far from it," Max slid an arm around Lex's shoulders as her daughter rested her head on Max's chest.
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Well, that certainly took long enough. But hopefully this chapter was pretty good and that'll make up for the wait. I had it virtually done as of Wednesday night, but had to go to bed before the phone line freed up and I could get this chapter posted. (Yes, I remain cursed by dial-up and my house only having one phone line.) And then there was that thing where I turned 16 on Thursday and having my annual birthday sleepover Friday night, so I've been pretty busy. Then I go to upload this, and ff.net is down for the ninety-millionth time. I will do my best to get the next chapter up faster, but I'll be getting surgery on wrist this week. I don't know if I'll be in a cast or just have my left hand looking like a balloon, but I expect it'll hinder my ability to type. And surely my wrist will be a little sore. So no yelling if it's more than a week until my next upload. Now please, please, please click the purple button and leave me a review. If you wanna yell at me for taking so long, go ahead. But when you guys read this and don't review, I do get worried that you guys don't care anymore, so I might be driven to start really slacking on the chapters. So feed into my pathetic insecurities, ok? (
________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 12: Square One
Saturday, September 6th Sector 7 Bus Terminal Seattle, Washington
"These are your subjects," Senator McKinley handed out photos of Max and Lex to the familiars in front of him. "They are wanted alive; avoid inflicting physical harm as much as possible. On Monday, when you arrive at the posts you've been given, find out where 452 and her offspring have been living and find the other X5 they have been traveling with. Take out any human that knows about them, we can't take any risks that 452 has leaked information about us."
"Yes, Sir," the man standing the front of the group took the photos from McKinley. "We'll let you know when we have them."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
The Penthouse 11:37 a.m.
"So you only have four classes a day?" Tera's jaw hung down. "You suck!"
Laughing, Lex shook her head, "Well I'd only have three if the didn't make me take aquatics," she grimaced. "It's so pointless; I already know how to swim."
"Yeah, well there are those of us who have never even seen a real pool, so just shut up."
"What? How could you have never seen a pool?" Lex closed her magazine and looked over at Tera.
"This is Seattle, only rich people have them. And from what I've heard, yours is the only school that has one left."
"Oh yippee," Lex's voice dripped with sarcasm as she rolled her eyes. "Ok, why am I even reading this? Who is Josh Hartnett anyway?"
"Got me," Tera shrugged, taking the old issue of YM from Lex's hands. "I've been reading about some Vin guy for the past half hour, time for a new whacko."
"Huh?" Lex looked at the article Tera had referred to and cracked up. "Oh god, if you ever talk to Kayla, don't call him "some Vin guy"!"
"Why not? Who is he?"
"That's guy she'd marry. If she could, I mean," Lex rolled her eyes.
"But how old has he gotta be now?! This is from 2003!"
"Sixty-nine, seventy," Lex thought. "But in Kayla's world, he's eternally thirty-seven."
"Why not eighteen or something?" Tera
"That hallucination's actually kinds legit," Lex shrugged. "Accident on the set of one of his movies. He insisted on doing this stunt, but missed the mat where he was supposed to land, stayed with the burning car instead cuz he freaked out mid-jump. Car lands, he falls. Dies of burns and head trauma at thirty-seven."
"Ouch," Tera shuddered. "But with a body like that, he doesn't look like someone who'd freak out over a car."
"Go figure. But put that with the really deep voice, and he's not too bad."
"Sounds like somebody else has a crush on the dead guy," Tera teased.
"Anyway," Lex ignored Tera's poking and changed to a less morbid topic, "where'd you get these magazines?"
"I found a pile of them in the South Market last year, took them out of boredom."
"You must have been beyond desperate. "Geeky Guys Are Hot"?" she read the title of an article aloud. "Life must've been really boring before the Pulse," Lex mused.
"Just try finding an issue without the words party, flirt, or guys on the cover. Though, I'd say we're not doing much better unless we come up with something to do. We haven't moved in over two hours," Tera yawned.
"So in other words, we're gonna sit around and yawn, only to watch Disney movies until we get hungry for junk we'll call dinner," Lex gathered.
"We really should get a new routine," Tera rolled here eyes as she popped Beauty and The Beast into the DVD player.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terminal City
"Hey, Max," Gem smiled as she walked into the warehouse. "Do you know if Tera's over at your place? I haven't heard from her since last night."
"As of an hour ago, she and Lex were still there," Max nodded.
"That's good. I'm glad they hit it off, at least they don't have to keep what they are from each other."
"You said it; I don't even wanna think about the Kayla-withdrawal Lex would've gone through," Max laughed.
"Little Fella!" Joshua came up and hugged Max from behind. "You came."
"Sure I came, Big Fella," Max assured him. "I'm not going away again, I told you that."
"Little Fella stays with Logan and Lex."
"That's right," Max's returned Joshua's hug when he placed her back down on the ground. "Nobody's runnin' my ass outta Seattle this time."
"And just when I was getting my hopes up," Alec sarcastically snapped his fingers in disappointment.
"Max!" Dix shouted from his seat in front of the computer screens. "You might wanna see this," worry was evident in his voice.
"What is it?" Max hurried over.
"Footage from a camera at the bus terminal in Sector seven. Ever since Logan got us those programs with higher resolution, we can see everything. Take a look at what this guy is showing his little crowd," Dix pointed to the image of McKinley.
"Somehow, I'm guessing he's not showing off pictures of his new girlfriend," Alec remarked.
"Shut up," Max smacked him. Crossing her arms, she began to pace and rant, "Figures. I mean, how long could I have expected to get a normal life? I forgot, I'm not supposed to be happy."
"But Max, didn't you already beat the familiars back in Canada? I'm sure you can do it again," Gem tried to reason.
"Actually, it was Lydecker and his tact team that took out White," Max admitted. "Wait a minute," an idea popped into Max's head, "I'll be back," she ran out of the warehouse and gunned the engine of her bike, leaving the other transgenics to exchanged confused shrugs.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sector 9 Jondy's Apartment
"Jondy!" Max rushed in the door.
"What-ie?" Jondy laid upside down on her couch clicking the remote. "So many channels, so little to watch."
"Yeah, well, we don't have time for TV," Max flipped it off. "The familiars just drove into town."
"What?! How the hell did they find us?" Jondy snapped upright.
"Who knows, who cares?" Max shook her head. "They're here and they shouldn't be."
"Got a battle plan yet? Where's Lex? They might be after her again," Jondy's solider mode began kicking into gear.
"She should be at home with Tera, though they may have gotten bored and headed to the South Market," Max pulled out her cell phone and hit the speed dial.
"Hmmm?" Lex's blasé voice picked up.
"Lex, where are you guys?" Max's tone was urgent.
"Watching Mononoke Hime," Lex answered, referring to one of her animes. "We finished Beauty and The Beast."
"Alright, good. Listen to me, the familiars just got in town. I want you to pack a duffel and be ready to head down to Terminal City when I say, ok?" Max instructed.
"How the hell did those bastards find us this time?"
"I don't know yet, but I don't wanna take any chances that they know where the penthouse is."
"What about Dad? Should I tell him the same thing?"
Every time Lex used the D-word, it still made Max smile brightly, "Oh, didn't know he was there with you. But yeah, tell him the same thing and grab my duffel, too. As soon as I get word on where they all are in the city, I'll call you and let you know what route to take."
"Yes, ma'am," Lex played along to Max's Manticore attitude.
"Just get moving," Max warned as she cut off the call.
"So you got any inklings on a plan?" Jondy shouted from her bedroom; where she was dragging out her own duffel bag.
"Kind of, but now I'm having second thoughts. I think it's make a better Plan B," Max followed Jondy's voice. As Jondy nodded, Max's phone rang, "Yeah?"
"Max, it's Dix. I just tracked all the familiars to a hotel in sector nine, so you might wanna get out of there. None of them are on the streets and McKinley left the city, so now's your chance," he relayed to her.
"Great, thanks Dix," Max hung up and turned to Jondy, "Let's move."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terminal City 8:30 p.m.
"And just why isn't a good idea?" Mole protested. "They're not expecting us, and we could use the advantage of a surprise attack against them."
"The rest of the people in the hotel aren't expecting us either," Alec backed up Max. "How do you think the public will react to an army of transgenics storming an upscale hotel?"
"The public is just as big a threat as the familiars. We need to decide where to lure them to before we fight them," Max addressed the group below from her place by the computer terminals.
"How about outside the city?" an X8 suggested.
"No, we want to keep it some place we know. Every feasible advantage needs to be taken, and home field should be no exception," Alec stepped up beside Max.
"What about the sewers? They'd be lost in there," another transgenic shouted out.
"We don't have them memorized either. And getting trapped in a tunnel where you're outnumbered won't do us any good," Max rejected the idea.
"What about here?" Lex shrugged.
"Yeah," Tera backed her up. "We get that home field advantage because we've already got battle stations planned out for everyone, all our extra supplies are here, and as long as we can find a safe place for all the surveillance stuff, we can keep track of them through the cameras."
All exchanging speechless glances at once; the adult transgenics digested the teenagers' statements.
"All in favor of taking them down here?" Jondy held up her fist.
One by one, the rest of the transgenics in the warehouse followed, making it a unanimous vote.
From their place on a pipe near the ceiling, the girls laughed.
"Yet another example of why teens should rule the world," Lex cocked her head towards the crowd underneath them.
"Did you plan on wearing that shirt, or is it just a coincidence?" Tera point to the slogan. "Ask a teenager now while they still know everything."
Laughing again, Lex shook her head, "No, but when is it not fitting?"
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that night, Max stood on the roof, gazing at what view of the stars Seattle had to offer. She smiled to herself as she though about Lex, out- thinking even herself on a battle plan for the familiars.
"Room for one more on this roof?" Logan whispered in Max's ear as he snaked his arms around her waist from behind. "What made you come up here?"
"Just thinking about how all of Manticore's super soldiers just got out- strategized by two teens," Max sighed and leaned back into Logan's embrace.
"Well, Lex did learn from the master," Logan smiled as he nuzzled Max's neck.
"But now the student has surpassed me," Max held up her finger to articulate the point.
"Which gives you a little more free time," Logan mumbled as he began to make a trail of light kisses along her earlobe.
Max turned around and looked at him, but started laughing before she could get any words out.
"What?" Logan looked her in the eyes, only to make her laugh harder.
"You are so obvious when you beg," Max managed to get out as she caught her breath.
"So is that a no?" Logan asked rhetorically.
"Baby, we're on the roof of the warehouse." When that answer didn't seem to be enough for Logan, Max added, "Lex is right down there, remember?"
As that small tidbit of information surfaced from the back of Logan's mind, he wordlessly turned Max and resumed their pervious position. Spooning her, he tightened his arms around her waist, "I love you."
"I love you, too," Max titled her head and kissed his chin.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Monday, September 8th Cedar Ridge Academy 5:27 a.m.
Lex sat out in the crisp, misty air, scanning the area for anyone approaching.
"See them yet?" Jondy's voice broke through Lex's com.
"No," Lex answered for the twelfth time in the past fifteen minutes.
"You remember the plan, right?"
"Yes, I got it," Lex rolled her eyes. "Monkeys see, monkeys chase, monkeys end up in Terminal City, monkeys die."
"Thank you for that interesting interpretation, but could you take the plan a little more seriously?"
"It's killing you not to laugh," Lex more observed than asked.
"Just. shut up!" Jondy pursed her lips together. "And stop referring to the familiars as monkeys."
"Ooooo," Lex channeled her hearing and zoomed her vision to three approaching figures. "The monkeys are here."
"Just get the job done and be careful," Jondy said as Lex clicked off the connection.
The three men approached Lex, looking at each other questioningly.
"I'll bet you boys didn't think I'd be waiting for you," Lex smirked as she gunned her engine and took off. Glancing over her shoulder, she saw the familiars chasing after her at their top speed. "Idiots," she laughed to herself as she made the first turn towards their destination.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terminal City
"Gem! Lex is tailing a band of goons this way," Jondy relayed down.
Nodding, Gem activated the coms of the transgenics stationed where Lex would be coming in and gave out the orders, "All units to their posts. Use deadly force; leave none alive."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Sector 12 Jam Pony 5:32 a.m.
"They should be coming, Lex just started hers on the wild goose chase," Jondy informed Max. "You still alone?"
"Nobody yet," Max said. "Jam Pony doesn't open till eight."
"Well, the familiars seem to be starting business bright and early. It didn't sound like they expected Lex to be waiting, so take advantage of that if you can."
"Well, what teenager does want to be at school two hours early?" Max laughed. "Thanks for the heads up."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terminal City
"Incoming!" Lex shouted through her com as she gunned her bike up a wooden board, clearing the barbed wire fence with ease.
The familiars followed close behind, in pursuit of her every move. As the front man witnessed Lex jump the fence, he came to a halt, "Son of a bitch!"
"No way we can clear a twelve-foot fence like that. Should we take a chance with the barbed wire?" one of the accomplices asked.
"Pain is a phantom of the mind," the front man ordered as he began climbing the fence. "Those transgenics think they're so smart, but they're wrong. A little wire can't keep them safe from us."
One by one, the three familiars dropped down onto the ground of Terminal city, blood streaming from the deep gashes the barbed wire left in their hands and legs. The leader signaled for his followers to head down the alley Lex had turned on just a moment before.
"Dammit!" one of the familiars cursed as he saw Lex's abandoned bike propped up against the wall.
"Wait," another spoke up. Pointing forward, he took off towards the center of Terminal City, where the four familiars chasing Max had just stumbled into.
"All units, targets are in designated location release fire, repeat release fire!" Alec ordered from his vigilant post on a rooftop.
Simultaneously, the transgenic militia rose up and fired their weapons. In a whirl of bullets and blood, the seven men dropped to the ground as a scarlet pool grew around them.
From inside the main warehouse, the remainder of the population watched the action unfold and cheered at the sight of the familiars' demise.
After a sigh of relief, Lex's face fell slightly. "This isn't over yet, is it?" she innocently asked Max, even though she was already well aware of the answer.
"No, sweetie. Far from it," Max slid an arm around Lex's shoulders as her daughter rested her head on Max's chest.
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A/N: Well, that certainly took long enough. But hopefully this chapter was pretty good and that'll make up for the wait. I had it virtually done as of Wednesday night, but had to go to bed before the phone line freed up and I could get this chapter posted. (Yes, I remain cursed by dial-up and my house only having one phone line.) And then there was that thing where I turned 16 on Thursday and having my annual birthday sleepover Friday night, so I've been pretty busy. Then I go to upload this, and ff.net is down for the ninety-millionth time. I will do my best to get the next chapter up faster, but I'll be getting surgery on wrist this week. I don't know if I'll be in a cast or just have my left hand looking like a balloon, but I expect it'll hinder my ability to type. And surely my wrist will be a little sore. So no yelling if it's more than a week until my next upload. Now please, please, please click the purple button and leave me a review. If you wanna yell at me for taking so long, go ahead. But when you guys read this and don't review, I do get worried that you guys don't care anymore, so I might be driven to start really slacking on the chapters. So feed into my pathetic insecurities, ok? (