A/N: The chapters should start coming more frequently now, so certain
people can stop yelling at me so much. You know who you are. Lol.
Since most of you had opinions differing from mine on the action scene last
chapter, well, I'm surprised, but I'll write them more often from here on
out. Thanks for the ego boost; they do a girl's motivation good every now
and then. ;)
________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 14: The Road Ahead
Terminal City Saturday, September 27th 8:30 p.m.
It had been three long weeks since the familiars first set foot on Seattle streets. The war waged hadn't been easy on any of the city's transgenics, no matter what they're role had been in the battles. Blood had been spilled on both sides, the transgenics loosing two X8s in the crossfire of one of the last face-offs.
"Forty-nine hours since the last attack," Jondy observed as she sat at the dispatch computers with Gem. "You think they might be planning something big?"
"If they are, they're not doing on our turf," Gem read the message Alec had just sent her. "No sign of any familiars in the city."
"He have them check down in the sewers, too?"
"Sewers, hotels, bus terminals, markets, alleys, abandoned buildings," Gem read off where the troops of X series had been looking. "All monitored and at least two hours and nothing."
"Alright, bring them in," Jondy nodded as she signaled for the militia to hold their fire.
"Maybe they've given up," a twinge of hope was present in Gem's voice. "For now, I mean."
"That's what it's beginning to look like," Jondy nodded.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Saint Andrews Academy Salem, Oregon
"How many transgenics are in there?" the familiar high priest looked over the reports of the battles with the transgenics.
"I don't know," McKinley shrugged. "It's next to impossible to tell, but it's got to be near a thousand."
"Then how could we have nearly five thousand casualties?" the priest was enraged.
"Per haps this is being dealt with in the wrong way," McKinley suggested.
"Just how else are we supposed to go about this?"
"Well, from the file White left on 452, and based on what we could find from Manticore, it looks like her biggest weakness is her emotional bonds to those she loves," McKinley treaded around his idea.
"You idiot, we already know that. But it's been made rather clear that the girl is better than we thought," the priest snapped.
"But I'm thinking about the humans 452 is connected to. I f the transgenics are too close knit and the girl's been underestimated, why not try ordinaries?" McKinley gave his rebuttal.
"Easier said than done," the priest shook his head. "We can't even tie the name Cale to 452 anymore."
"Why not? You saw what that girl could do!"
"Yes, but her records show she was in school on the days the transgenics were being attacked. I find it hard to believe 452 would send her kid off with our people crawling the city," the priest told McKinley both of the unaware that Logan had been hacking into Cedar Ridge's computers and changing Lex's attendance sheet.
"So all we have to go on is 452's job?"
"And that's hardly the lead it seems to be," the priest admitted. "The place itself is far too public for us to attack, let alone apprehend her. A troop went through there a few nights ago, but 452's file lists no address or phone number and shows that she's still using the last name Guevara, which is another reason to discount the gifted girl."
"What does that leave our next move at?" McKinley inquired.
"We keep a tab on the girl, but don't put anyone on her. At this point, it's just a matter of watching her records until we can completely rule her out. As for 452, I want to know more before we attack again. Find out where's she's living, and whom she's living with. Don't call until you do. Fe'nos tol," the priest dismissed McKinley.
"Fe'nos tol."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terminal City
"So what's with the anti-socialness?" Tera stuck her head out onto the roof of the warehouse.
"Nothing," Lex shrugged, hunching over a sketchpad.
"Wow, that's really good," Tera commented over the image taking form. Sprawled over the paper was the form of a fairy, crossing the line between light and darkness, the colors changing to their opposite at the page's center.
"It'd be better if I'd brought my colored pencils with me," Lex blended the black ink with her finger.
"I heard you sent Logan over to the Needle," Tera raised her eyebrows. "Wouldn't have anything to do with Max being there, would it?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Lex didn't look up.
"Doing dirty work for Jondy?"
"That's usually how it works," Lex held up the drawing and scrutinized it. "Do the wings look asymmetrical to you?"
"The wings are fine," Tera heaved. "Now what exactly did you want to accomplish by sending Logan up there?" When Lex ignored her Tera just laughed, "I'm not leaving till you say it!"
"Say what? He's not gonna ask her now. He'd be the type to get this gorgeous ring and have this perfect plan before he popped the question."
"So then what's the point of sending Logan after Max?"
"Because he won't do it until he's sure shed say yes. And whenever she's in her 'high place', she's more apt to dive into the forbidden world of emotions," Lex explained simply.
"Interesting analogy," Tera nodded. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "Do you want them to get married?"
"I just hate to see the issue keep being avoided," Lex didn't really answer the question.
"Lex."
"If they do, they do; if they don't, well, that's not my business," Lex tried to sound indifferent, even though she wanted them to be like a real family more than anything.
Sighing, Tera saw pushing the issue would get her nowhere. "Yeah, I guess," she shrugged. "You know, I may not be Kayla, but you can still tell me stuff."
"I know," Lex nodded back. "But there's not much to tell here."
"Yu sound just like Max," Tera laughed. As Lex opened her mouth with a come back, Tera held up her hands, "I know, I know. Thank me, Captain Obvious," she rolled her eyes as both girls started laughing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Crash
"Fool, fo' the last damn time, she came down with that mono bitch!" Original Cindy shouted as Sketchy asked again about Max's absence.
"But it's been three weeks!" he whined.
"Bitch can take three months before you're back to normal," Original Cindy set a fresh pitcher of beer down on the table.
"Really? That sucks," Sketchy mulled over the thought for a minute. "Hey, isn't that 'the kissing disease'?" he remember the aliment's nickname.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, you know, if Alec has it, too, and he went out the same day-" Sketchy wiggled his eyebrows.
Slapping him upside the head, Cindy brought a stop to his fantasy, "Don't make Original Cindy put yo' ass deep in the worlds a hurt! Ya ain't gotta kiss to pass it. Alec finished Max's soda right before they got sick," she tacked a small lie on the end.
"That did hurt," Sketchy moped as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Besides, you think boo would ever do that to Logan?" Original Cindy shook her head.
"No," Sketchy agreed. Taking another generous gulp of beer he wondered aloud, "You think she and Logan are gonna get married?"
"Eventually, yeah. Whenever boo gets over those issues a hers, it'll happen. Just a matter of time," Cindy nodded. "Now c'mon, I feel like whoppin' some ass; make me look good in fronta that fine shortie over there," she tossed Sketchy a stick and headed towards a free poll table.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Space Needle
"Taking advantage of the dry night?" Logan came up behind Max and sat down.
"Starting to forget what stars looked like. How'd you know I was here?" Max smiled as she leaned back against his chest and into his arms, lacing his fingers with hers.
"A little birdie told me," Logan laughed.
"That birdie wouldn't be 5'6" teenager with brown hair and a sarcastic attitude, would it?"
"Maybe." Logan felt Max's lighthearted mood shift.
"I had a feeling," Max sighed. Lex had overheard Jondy pressing Max about the future with Logan and had taken it upon herself to hop on the proverbial bandwagon to get force Max to talk to him.
"Is that a bad thing?" Logan turned Max so that he could look in her eyes.
"No," Max sighed, trying not to let her apprehension get the best of her. She'd spent the last few hours up here trying to figure out what she wanted in this whole mess. "Logan," she started, suddenly breaking eye contact, "we need to talk."
"I know," Logan nodded. "I've been thinking a lot, about us, lately."
"So, you know what I'm gonna say?" Max got hopeful, even thought she herself didn't know what to say.
"You go first," Logan didn't want to rush anything with her, as he couldn't determine exactly what was going through her head.
"Ok," Max took a deep breath. "Ever since I left and had Lex, all I wanted was you, for her to have a normal family and us to be together. And now being back in Seattle, not everything is turning out just like I could have planned, but how much I wanna be with you hasn't changed at all. And I just wanna know what you want; you know, where we're gonna go from here? You know better than anyone, I have no clue in hell what to do here. I forgot to take 'Fucked Up Relationships 101' back at Manticore. I don't want to put you in any danger, but that's obviously inevitable."
"I don't know exactly what to do here, either Max. I don't think anyone would," Logan tightened his grip around her. "But all I want is you. At this point, a normal girl who doesn't have a secret government agency or breeding cult on her ass just sounds boring," Logan laughed in attempt to break the somber mood. "You're unlike anyone I've met and that's one of the million things I love about you. I started falling in love with you the minute I saw you and that'll never change. I never gave up on us, even after all those years and I couldn't be happier to have Lex now. I'm worried about what you want or how scared you still are. You know I'll never let you go," Logan hoped his professions wouldn't make her run.
"You'd better not," Max smiled, snuggling down into his chest and burying her face in his jacket. His warm scent filling her, she felt comforted. Feeling him so close stirred something inside her and made her wish time would stand still. "Logan?" she asked as he ran his fingers through her hair.
"Yeah?"
"I'm not scared; not with you." She didn't say anything else, but something in the way she looked up at Logan made her intentions clear to him. She wasn't running anywhere. Not this time.
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Finally, I'm nearly back on track with getting these chapters written. My research paper for my world cultures class is starting to go smoothly, so there's one less thing taking up my fic time. Sad news- my hamster, Skittles, died today. I buried him back in the pet graveyard with the other hamster and fifty million fish. My house is quiet now tonight without that annoying squeaky wheel. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Now I gotta ask you to please do it again and tell me- do you wanna see Max and Logan get engaged now or later? This is obviously coming- but it could go either way. I have about 20 different ideas zooming through my head, so leave me your vote!
________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 14: The Road Ahead
Terminal City Saturday, September 27th 8:30 p.m.
It had been three long weeks since the familiars first set foot on Seattle streets. The war waged hadn't been easy on any of the city's transgenics, no matter what they're role had been in the battles. Blood had been spilled on both sides, the transgenics loosing two X8s in the crossfire of one of the last face-offs.
"Forty-nine hours since the last attack," Jondy observed as she sat at the dispatch computers with Gem. "You think they might be planning something big?"
"If they are, they're not doing on our turf," Gem read the message Alec had just sent her. "No sign of any familiars in the city."
"He have them check down in the sewers, too?"
"Sewers, hotels, bus terminals, markets, alleys, abandoned buildings," Gem read off where the troops of X series had been looking. "All monitored and at least two hours and nothing."
"Alright, bring them in," Jondy nodded as she signaled for the militia to hold their fire.
"Maybe they've given up," a twinge of hope was present in Gem's voice. "For now, I mean."
"That's what it's beginning to look like," Jondy nodded.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Saint Andrews Academy Salem, Oregon
"How many transgenics are in there?" the familiar high priest looked over the reports of the battles with the transgenics.
"I don't know," McKinley shrugged. "It's next to impossible to tell, but it's got to be near a thousand."
"Then how could we have nearly five thousand casualties?" the priest was enraged.
"Per haps this is being dealt with in the wrong way," McKinley suggested.
"Just how else are we supposed to go about this?"
"Well, from the file White left on 452, and based on what we could find from Manticore, it looks like her biggest weakness is her emotional bonds to those she loves," McKinley treaded around his idea.
"You idiot, we already know that. But it's been made rather clear that the girl is better than we thought," the priest snapped.
"But I'm thinking about the humans 452 is connected to. I f the transgenics are too close knit and the girl's been underestimated, why not try ordinaries?" McKinley gave his rebuttal.
"Easier said than done," the priest shook his head. "We can't even tie the name Cale to 452 anymore."
"Why not? You saw what that girl could do!"
"Yes, but her records show she was in school on the days the transgenics were being attacked. I find it hard to believe 452 would send her kid off with our people crawling the city," the priest told McKinley both of the unaware that Logan had been hacking into Cedar Ridge's computers and changing Lex's attendance sheet.
"So all we have to go on is 452's job?"
"And that's hardly the lead it seems to be," the priest admitted. "The place itself is far too public for us to attack, let alone apprehend her. A troop went through there a few nights ago, but 452's file lists no address or phone number and shows that she's still using the last name Guevara, which is another reason to discount the gifted girl."
"What does that leave our next move at?" McKinley inquired.
"We keep a tab on the girl, but don't put anyone on her. At this point, it's just a matter of watching her records until we can completely rule her out. As for 452, I want to know more before we attack again. Find out where's she's living, and whom she's living with. Don't call until you do. Fe'nos tol," the priest dismissed McKinley.
"Fe'nos tol."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Terminal City
"So what's with the anti-socialness?" Tera stuck her head out onto the roof of the warehouse.
"Nothing," Lex shrugged, hunching over a sketchpad.
"Wow, that's really good," Tera commented over the image taking form. Sprawled over the paper was the form of a fairy, crossing the line between light and darkness, the colors changing to their opposite at the page's center.
"It'd be better if I'd brought my colored pencils with me," Lex blended the black ink with her finger.
"I heard you sent Logan over to the Needle," Tera raised her eyebrows. "Wouldn't have anything to do with Max being there, would it?"
"Maybe, maybe not," Lex didn't look up.
"Doing dirty work for Jondy?"
"That's usually how it works," Lex held up the drawing and scrutinized it. "Do the wings look asymmetrical to you?"
"The wings are fine," Tera heaved. "Now what exactly did you want to accomplish by sending Logan up there?" When Lex ignored her Tera just laughed, "I'm not leaving till you say it!"
"Say what? He's not gonna ask her now. He'd be the type to get this gorgeous ring and have this perfect plan before he popped the question."
"So then what's the point of sending Logan after Max?"
"Because he won't do it until he's sure shed say yes. And whenever she's in her 'high place', she's more apt to dive into the forbidden world of emotions," Lex explained simply.
"Interesting analogy," Tera nodded. Taking a deep breath, she asked, "Do you want them to get married?"
"I just hate to see the issue keep being avoided," Lex didn't really answer the question.
"Lex."
"If they do, they do; if they don't, well, that's not my business," Lex tried to sound indifferent, even though she wanted them to be like a real family more than anything.
Sighing, Tera saw pushing the issue would get her nowhere. "Yeah, I guess," she shrugged. "You know, I may not be Kayla, but you can still tell me stuff."
"I know," Lex nodded back. "But there's not much to tell here."
"Yu sound just like Max," Tera laughed. As Lex opened her mouth with a come back, Tera held up her hands, "I know, I know. Thank me, Captain Obvious," she rolled her eyes as both girls started laughing.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Crash
"Fool, fo' the last damn time, she came down with that mono bitch!" Original Cindy shouted as Sketchy asked again about Max's absence.
"But it's been three weeks!" he whined.
"Bitch can take three months before you're back to normal," Original Cindy set a fresh pitcher of beer down on the table.
"Really? That sucks," Sketchy mulled over the thought for a minute. "Hey, isn't that 'the kissing disease'?" he remember the aliment's nickname.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, you know, if Alec has it, too, and he went out the same day-" Sketchy wiggled his eyebrows.
Slapping him upside the head, Cindy brought a stop to his fantasy, "Don't make Original Cindy put yo' ass deep in the worlds a hurt! Ya ain't gotta kiss to pass it. Alec finished Max's soda right before they got sick," she tacked a small lie on the end.
"That did hurt," Sketchy moped as he rubbed the back of his head.
"Besides, you think boo would ever do that to Logan?" Original Cindy shook her head.
"No," Sketchy agreed. Taking another generous gulp of beer he wondered aloud, "You think she and Logan are gonna get married?"
"Eventually, yeah. Whenever boo gets over those issues a hers, it'll happen. Just a matter of time," Cindy nodded. "Now c'mon, I feel like whoppin' some ass; make me look good in fronta that fine shortie over there," she tossed Sketchy a stick and headed towards a free poll table.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Space Needle
"Taking advantage of the dry night?" Logan came up behind Max and sat down.
"Starting to forget what stars looked like. How'd you know I was here?" Max smiled as she leaned back against his chest and into his arms, lacing his fingers with hers.
"A little birdie told me," Logan laughed.
"That birdie wouldn't be 5'6" teenager with brown hair and a sarcastic attitude, would it?"
"Maybe." Logan felt Max's lighthearted mood shift.
"I had a feeling," Max sighed. Lex had overheard Jondy pressing Max about the future with Logan and had taken it upon herself to hop on the proverbial bandwagon to get force Max to talk to him.
"Is that a bad thing?" Logan turned Max so that he could look in her eyes.
"No," Max sighed, trying not to let her apprehension get the best of her. She'd spent the last few hours up here trying to figure out what she wanted in this whole mess. "Logan," she started, suddenly breaking eye contact, "we need to talk."
"I know," Logan nodded. "I've been thinking a lot, about us, lately."
"So, you know what I'm gonna say?" Max got hopeful, even thought she herself didn't know what to say.
"You go first," Logan didn't want to rush anything with her, as he couldn't determine exactly what was going through her head.
"Ok," Max took a deep breath. "Ever since I left and had Lex, all I wanted was you, for her to have a normal family and us to be together. And now being back in Seattle, not everything is turning out just like I could have planned, but how much I wanna be with you hasn't changed at all. And I just wanna know what you want; you know, where we're gonna go from here? You know better than anyone, I have no clue in hell what to do here. I forgot to take 'Fucked Up Relationships 101' back at Manticore. I don't want to put you in any danger, but that's obviously inevitable."
"I don't know exactly what to do here, either Max. I don't think anyone would," Logan tightened his grip around her. "But all I want is you. At this point, a normal girl who doesn't have a secret government agency or breeding cult on her ass just sounds boring," Logan laughed in attempt to break the somber mood. "You're unlike anyone I've met and that's one of the million things I love about you. I started falling in love with you the minute I saw you and that'll never change. I never gave up on us, even after all those years and I couldn't be happier to have Lex now. I'm worried about what you want or how scared you still are. You know I'll never let you go," Logan hoped his professions wouldn't make her run.
"You'd better not," Max smiled, snuggling down into his chest and burying her face in his jacket. His warm scent filling her, she felt comforted. Feeling him so close stirred something inside her and made her wish time would stand still. "Logan?" she asked as he ran his fingers through her hair.
"Yeah?"
"I'm not scared; not with you." She didn't say anything else, but something in the way she looked up at Logan made her intentions clear to him. She wasn't running anywhere. Not this time.
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Finally, I'm nearly back on track with getting these chapters written. My research paper for my world cultures class is starting to go smoothly, so there's one less thing taking up my fic time. Sad news- my hamster, Skittles, died today. I buried him back in the pet graveyard with the other hamster and fifty million fish. My house is quiet now tonight without that annoying squeaky wheel. Thank you to everyone who reviewed the last chapter! Now I gotta ask you to please do it again and tell me- do you wanna see Max and Logan get engaged now or later? This is obviously coming- but it could go either way. I have about 20 different ideas zooming through my head, so leave me your vote!