Disclaimer: I'm not going to bother anymore. Just see the first 9 chapters.
A/N: Please review and recommend this story to people if you can. I'm absolutely dying for reviews. LOL Hope you like this.
White stood a little way off from T.C., enjoying the view. He watched as one by one, the explosions went off and screams echoed in the distance. There were bright lights flashing and they seemed like fireworks, except the cries were of terror and not joy. As suddenly as it started, it stopped and the sky became dark again, everything going silent. The wind blew through the place, rustling papers, littered garbage and leaves, lifting some into the air. T.C. still remained fairly intact; the point of the explosions weren't to destroy the building and kill them all, although that would have certainly been an added plus. No, the explosions served as a warning. They reminded the transgenics and whatever other type of freak they had in there – aliens or slayers – that White was still there. The Familiars were still around, staying in the shadows. And now they were back, stronger than before with the help of the Purest.
Hilda materialized beside him and grinned at the cemetery-like scene.
"We did this well," she said.
"Yes. It'll teach those filthy freaks a lesson," White responded.
They stood there for a few minutes, not saying anything until Jaquen appeared.
"I know you're having fun but you two need to come back to HQ. The Conclave is gathering for a meeting," Jaquen told them. White and Hilda nodded and with a wave of her hand, they disappeared into thin air.
Zack groaned and struggled to open his eyes. His head was throbbing painfully and it felt like it would explode. Explode The word stayed in his mind. Explosions. Screaming. Bright lights. Max screaming. Max. Max! He forced his eyes open and looked around with horror. Bodies littered the ground, most bloodied and coming to like himself, but some resting immobile and pale. He pushed himself off the floor and leaned against the wall for support as he became dizzy. He surveyed the damage to the room.
Some of the ceiling had caved in and beams and pillars lay across the floor. Some walls were blasted through but others were intact, having only some plaster blown off. The room wasn't in such bad condition. It would take a while to repair but it could have been worse. He just hoped the med bay hadn't been hit. They couldn't afford to have the medical stuff destroyed. He grimaced as he saw all the blood around the room. Thankfully more and more people were waking up and tending to the others who were in grave conditions. The room smelled smoky and Zack had to take a few minutes to clear his head and check himself over.
He soon found out he wasn't so badly hurt and most of the damage was cuts and bruises. He started walking toward an X5 helping a little X8 when out of the corner of his eye, he caught a pale slender hand sticking out from beneath a fallen beam. The color drained from his face and his heart stopped. Holding his breath, he walked over to the beam and slowly lifted it off the person. It was Max.
Zack thought he would die right then and there. Trying not to let fear and panic seep into him, he tenderly pulled her to him.
"Max," he whispered, trying hard not to cry. He checked her over. She was hurt badly, really badly. There was blood all over her, darker than the color of her dress. Her face was almost a pale white from blood loss, and more blood trickled down the side of her face. Her head hung to the side, her hair a filthy mixture of blood and debris. He ran his fingers over her face gently, praying to the Blue Lady that she would be alright.
"Help!" he called, his voice hoarse. "Somebody help! Max is hurt!"
As soon as everyone heard their leader's name, a bunch of people rushed over. They scurried about, checking her over, seeing how much blood she had lost and sending people ahead to check med bay's condition. One X5 tried to take her from Zack, but he wouldn't let go of her seemingly lifeless body.
Spike and Buffy, who had recovered quickly due to their slayer and vampire powers, walked up to Zack.
"Hey buddy," Spike said. "I know you're scared but ya gotta let them take her so that they can make her better."
"She's…" Zack trailed off, not knowing what to say or do.
"She's not dead Zack. I've only known Max for a short time, but from what I've seen so far, she's strong. She'll hang tight. But you going ballistic is not going to help her," Buffy said.
"I love her," Zack said under his breath, forgetting for a moment that there were many transgenics, Buffy and Spike around him and because of their enhanced abilities, could hear what he had said.
No one showed on their faces that they had heard what he had said, knowing it was supposed to be a private comment. An X6 came running to them.
"Med bay isn't so bad," he said. "A little dusty, but everything's fine. There are a lot of people there so far, but Tara's all ready to check her over."
Zack wordlessly picked her up and started walking toward med bay with many others trailing.
Maria stirred, feeling like every bone in her body was broken. When she opened her eyes, she saw Sketchy kneeling over her, battered and bruised like she was.
"You okay?" he asked.
She nodded and sat up slowly. "What the hell happened?" she asked. She looked towards the building, seeing wreckage everywhere.
"My God," she breathed.
Sketchy followed her gaze. "Yeah, I know. I hope that everyone's alright in there, and that no one's seriously hurt. We're lucky that we were out here when all those explosions went off."
"Why do you think they did?" Maria asked. "Do you think it's the military, or…?"
Sketchy shook his head. "It's probably White. That asshole has been trying to get rid of all the transgenics since day one. Too bad he hasn't got that stick out of his ass yet."
Maria looked worriedly at the building. "I know almost all of them are super humans and stuff, but even an explosion like that could kill one of them." She bit her lip. "I hope they're okay. All of them." She looked at Sketchy. "I can hear people moving around in there. We should walk around; see if we can help with anything. We've only got cuts here and there, we should see if we can help with the injured. I don't want to sit around out here safe when there are people possibly dying in there."
Sketchy nodded. "Let's go in. I need to see if my friends are okay. Plus, Original Cindy and Logan are in there, and they're not transgenic. They might be really hurt because their bodies can't heal like the others."
They got up, dusted themselves off and headed into T.C.'s main building.
Krit and Syl were helping out in med bay when they saw Zack walk in carrying their youngest sister, covered in blood with her arms and head dangling. They immediately dropped the bandages they were holding and rushed to her.
"What the hell happened to her!" Syl yelled, rushing around gathering supplies. It was Krit who was field medic back at Manticore but since he was in a state of shock, it looked like she was the one who had to keep her head.
"My baby sister," Krit said silently. "My only real sister."
Syl slapped him gently on the back of his head. "Get moving. We need to help Tara fix her up. It looks like she's lost a lot of blood; we need to transfuse her, ASAP." She stopped moving around when she realized he still wasn't doing anything except standing still, looking at Max with tears in his eyes.
"Krit, stop acting like she's dead. She's not, Maxie's strong. She'll get through this, but only if you keep your head in the game," Syl said. She nudged him. "Take a look at Zack."
Krit did as he was told and saw his oldest brother still standing there holding his little sister, looking lost and almost childlike. He was slightly trembling, eyes locked on Max.
'Syl's right,' Krit thought. 'It doesn't look like Zack's in any shape to take charge, so I guess the rest of us will have to. I'm not letting my little sister die.'
With that, Krit tugged on Zack's arm and led him to where Tara was waiting for Max. He saw her grimace when she saw the condition their leader was in.
"Bring her over here," Tara ordered. "Quickly, no delay."
Zack obeyed and softly laid Max down on the hospital bed.
"Now stand back," Tara said. "We might need to do some complicated stuff, so no distractions."
Krit walked over to where Tara stood and started to help her bring Max back to health.
Syl walked up to Zack. "Hey big brother. Look, I know you're hurting and scared right now, we all are, but standing here watching is not going to accomplish anything. Why don't you come with me and see if there's anything we can do for the others?"
Zack looked like he was going to refuse for a second, but then he nodded his head. With one last look at Max, he followed Syl out the door.
Dawn and Zero awoke almost at the same time to find themselves lying on top of one another. Dawn blushed and hastily rolled off him, trying hard not to look at him. The only problem was that he moved until he was right in front of her. She was starting to get lost in that sea of foam green again.
"Are you alright?" he asked, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.
She looked herself over. "Yeah, I think I'm fine," she said.
She caught him looking her over too. "You sure are," he said under his breath.
She giggled softly and he grinned at her. They both looked back towards the building. "I need to get back in there," Dawn said. "My sister's in there."
"Who's your sister?" Zero asked.
"Buffy Summers. She's a slayer," Dawn explained.
Zero's eyes widened. "Really? Cool. Do you have powers too?"
"Yeah, some. But nothing like my sister," Dawn said.
Zero nodded. "Okay, let's get in there. I have some friends I need to find too."
Maxwell woke up to find Liz lying beside him, blood all over.
"Jesus," he muttered, as he raised a hand over her and started to heal her. He looked around to see how everyone was. There were many people on the ground that weren't moving, the people with somber faces gathered around them telling him they were dead. He continued healing Liz and the process was complete a minute or so later and her eyes opened.
"Max?" she asked wearily.
"Yeah. Don't worry, you're alright. I healed you," he said.
"Thanks honey." She sat up and gave him a quick kiss. "I need to find my family now and see if they're okay."
"Michael, Isabel, Willow, Jesse, Buffy and Spike are fine," he told her. "I saw them walking around. I think I saw Faith leaving the room too. I have no idea where Maria is."
Liz bit her lip. "I'll go find her. I hope she wasn't in the building when everything went to hell."
Max nodded. "I'll go around healing people."
She kissed him again briefly. "Thanks. See you soon. Be careful, some of the beams may not be sturdy and can cave in."
"I will," he said. "Promise."
She walked off and he went to the nearest people he saw that needed medical attention. He raised a hand over them and they smiled gratefully at him as he started to heal their bloodied bodies.
Alec ran through the halls towards med bay after hearing that Max had been severely hurt. As much as he hated to admit it, the ice queen had found a place in his heart as something like family. He cared about her like his own bitchy sister with an almost permanent case of PMS and who had a tendency to hit him. A smile tugged at his lips at the thought.
'My sister. Who would have guessed I'd be referring to her like that in my lifetime?'
He stopped when he saw Mole starting to get up, his suit charred.
"Hey buddy. You okay?" he asked.
"Yeah," Mole grumbled. "Knew something like this was gonna happen. Christmas, a holiday, ha! As if! Christmas is just another day to bomb the hell out of people when they're celebrating to make them miserable. Christ, I need another cigar."
Alec laughed despite the distressing circumstances. "Sorry. All out." Then he continued blurring towards med bay.
Jondy and Zane were walking through the halls and rooms, writing down a list of everyone who had been killed in the explosions.
They stopped at another body, and Zane bent down to close the transgenic's eyes out of respect.
A tear slipped down Jondy's cheek. "Another dead person. There have already been 11 and the list is growing."
Zane hugged her. "Hey. It could have been worse." They were about to start walking again when they bumped into an almost zombie-looking Zack and Syl.
"Geez bro, what's wrong?" Zane asked. "You look like you've been through hell and back."
Zack just uttered one word. "Max."
That got them worried.
"Is she okay?" Jondy asked. "Tell me!" she pleaded. Over the course of her life, she had thought Max had died twice. The first time when she had fallen through the ice. The second time when she really had died at Manticore. She just got her sister back and there was no way she was going to lose her again.
"She's in a bad condition," Syl said quietly. "Krit and Tara are working on her right now."
Zane closed his eyes. "Please, blue lady. I've never been much of a praying man but please let our baby sister be alright."
Bobby, Michael (DA), Tawny and Jordan each lay in a hospital bed in med bay. They all had broken bones and Evan, Ruby, Aqua, Emerald, Crystal and Coco worked on them.
"You know, I can get used to being pampered," Bobby joked.
"Want me to break another bone?" Coco asked sweetly.
Bobby shuddered. "Violent women," he muttered.
Aqua swatted him. "Grow up."
"So Em," Ruby started. "You and Xander looked pretty cozy tonight. Anything to share?"
"Pray tell," Jordan said. "If I'm going to be stuck in a hospital bed, I might as well have entertainment."
"There's nothing to tell," Emerald said hotly.
Michael snickered. "Ah, the sweet sound of denial. We're going to have to help her get over that, now won't we?"
Emerald stepped back as her siblings surrounded her.
Alec walked into the room where Max was and found Krit transfusing her. He frowned when he saw the state she was in.
"So how is our leader?" he asked, sitting down and picking up another I.V. kit to start transfusing her as well.
"Well, we've done all we can do," Krit said. "The rest is up to her. We thought about getting Liz's boyfriend to heal her, but even if he does, he still won't be able to get her to wake up. She needs to have the will to recover, or else she won't. But for now she's stable. Let's just hope she stays that way."
"Did you tell Zack?" Alec asked.
Krit shook his head. "Not yet. And I don't want to either 'cause he's going to be even more down than he is now."
Alec looked at Max. "He really loves her, doesn't he? And she doesn't even realize it."
"I think she does but she's too scared to admit it," Krit said. "She's been with Logan for such a long time now; she uses him as her safety. Hopefully she'll realize that she could have more with Zack, and soon."
"You're probably right, she is scared. I mean, for the first ten years of her life or so, he was her psychological brother. Now she's realizing that she might have not so sisterly feelings for him, and it's probably terrifying her," Alec said. He chuckled. "Typical ol' Maxie. Doesn't want to admit she's wrong."
"Speaking of Logan, an X5 found him in his apartment unconscious. The thing is it wasn't from the explosions. He was so drunk he passed out," Krit said.
Alec shook his head. "What a loser. I looked around for Original Cindy and she's fine. She's getting one of the transgenic females looking her over. She had that whole 'This will be my new lickety boo' look on her face."
Krit laughed. "That woman just cracks me up."
"Tell me about it," Alec said. He looked at Max. "Oh come on Maxie, wake up. Zack looks like he's practically dying without you and it's killing the rest of us. Hey, make you a deal. If you wake up, you can hit me and kick my ass all you want, huh? Come on, how can you pass up an offer like that? It's priceless!"
Krit laughed uncontrollably. "The look of disbelief on your face that she's passing up your offer is priceless."
Alec shrugged his shoulders. "What can I say? It's shocking."
That sent the both of them into another laughing fit.
On a hill outside T.C., a young Asian woman with long, jet black hair stood watching the place. She shifted her backpack on her shoulders and started walking towards T.C.'s main building. She stopped halfway there, saw all the commotion, and walked the other way, back to where she came from.
'I won't see them just yet. Something happened and they're not ready to see me yet. I'll come back tomorrow. I just pray to the Blue Lady that they won't hate me for what I've done.'
A/N: Hey guys. I hope you liked this chapter. Please show me some love people and start reviewing. I only got 2 reviews for the last chapter and it's making me wonder if you guys aren't interested in this anymore. Ok, so plz plz plz plz plz review everyone! Thanks!
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