A/N: Please review everyone. I don't even know if you guys like this story anymore.
Everything was finally relatively calm in Terminal City. Although it was a wreck, the damage caused from the explosions wasn't as bad as they had originally thought. Transgenics were separated into teams and were each given a section to repair. All wounded tried to help out the best they could, but most gave out orders. Max had been discharged from the Med Bay the night before, but was under strict orders from Tara not to stress herself out. She protested against this but finally gave in when it looked like her siblings weren't going to let her do anything, so she sat in her office overseeing everything and giving out instructions.
Dix, Alec, Mole, her siblings and a few other transgenics stood around her desk.
"Dix," Max said. "Make sure that all the backup generators are working. We can't have a power out at a time like this. Alec and Zack, I want you two to be in charge of making sure that everything's running smoothly. If anyone has any questions about what to do, they go to you. Mole, Syl, Zane, Jondy and Faith, you guys get the fun part. Find out what supplies we're low on, especially in the weapons department, and go out there and find some. We need somenasty stuff: grenades, guns of all sorts, RKGs, ammunition, whatever you can find. I want The Gems to find out how the fuck did White get someone inside TC to plant the explosives. Search every room for a secret opening, every rat hole, every corner, every window, leave no stone unturned."
Ruby smirked at her sister's nickname for them. "The Gems" she called them. They consisted of Emerald, Aqua, Coco, Crystal and herself.
Max stood up. "The rest of you, try to find out who White's working with. It's obvious he didn't plan his festivities on his own; even though the Familiars are all high and mighty, they are not completely immune to the bio toxins that were released a long time ago. That's why White hadn't planned a direct attack on TC up until now, even though the toxins wouldn't kill them, they don't want to come here. Now that we've found out that the toxins aren't actually so bad and that even ordinaries can be here without being harmed, it might create problems for us. It's plausible that White found out that the toxins weren't so bad so he planned the attack, but not likely. He must be working with someone who is totally immune to the toxins, someone who had men also immune to them and who could come into TC without being harmed in the slightest. I want you to find out everything about the people White's working with, and if you happen to run into one, then bring them here for questioning. However, if there are many then we only need one or two. I give you the permission to kill the rest." Max's eyes blazed. "Many people died from those explosions, and those bastards deserve to die."
Max sat back down. "Now go."
Everyone filed out of the room except Zack. He walked up to her and ignoring her curious look put his hands on her shoulders.
"Are you okay Maxie?" he asked her. "You look tired."
She gave him a soft smile. "I'm fine, thanks. You don't have to worry about me all the time. I can take care of myself."
"I'll always worry about you Maxie," he told her. He straightened up. "Get some rest." He moved towards the door but he had to quickly step back when it flung open. Logan rushed in, looking irritated. Zack glared at him, looked back at Max, then with another glare at Logan he walked out of her office.
Logan waited until the door closed then walked up to Max.
"What is it Logan?" she asked tiredly, rubbing her eyes.
"Why didn't you ask me to come for the meeting?" he asked her accusingly. "Zack was here."
Max rolled her eyes at his obvious jealousy.
"I didn't ask you to come because first of all there was no reason to and second of all you've been acting strange lately. And of course Zack was here, he's my brother and I need him."
"Oh, so you need him but not me?" Logan asked. "How brotherly is he towards you Max?"
"Why are you being like this?" she asked, her voice starting to rise. "There is nothing between me and Zack, okay Logan?"
"So you don't have any less than sisterly feelings for him?" Logan continued, not looking like he was going to let up anytime soon.
Max took a deep breath to calm herself. "I don't have feelings for Zack, Logan. At least not in the way you think I do."
'Are you sure about that?' a little treacherous voice said in her head. 'You know you liked it when he kissed you. You know you wanted him to do it again. Still want him to do it again.'
Max shook her head to clear the disturbing thoughts. 'Maybe Zack's right. I should rest. All this stress is getting to me and making me think weird things.'
"I know how close you two were back at Manticore," Logan said. "The million dollar question is though, just how close did you two become?"
"Logan!" she said, her temper starting to rise. "Why are you being so irrational? I. Do. Not. Have. Romantic. Feelings. For. Zack."
'Liar liar pants on fire,' the voice said in her head. "Fuck. Why do I have to have a damn conscience?" she cursed under her breath.
"What did you say?" Logan asked her.
She looked up. "Nothing. Look Logan, I'm really busy right now. Can you please leave?"
Logan looked at her. "Okay, I forgive you. Don't worry, I won't stop loving you." He reached out but saw the look of horror on her face and remembered the virus. He snatched his hand back. 'Soon Max, soon I'll find the cure for the virus. I'll do anything to get it so that we could be together again,' he thought.
Max rolled her eyes again at the last comment. "Bye Logan."
"See you later Max," he said as he walked out.
"God, I hope not," she muttered under her breath. Then she froze. 'What the hell's wrong with me?' she asked herself. 'Isn't he supposed to be the love of my life?' She thought of Logan and surprisingly she didn't feel a tingle shoot up her spine anymore, no quickening of her heartbeat. 'I've gotten over him,' she realized. 'The virus has kept us apart for too long. No, it's not just that. Every time we try to get together something happens. Maybe it's just not meant to be.'
She stood up and walked over to the mirror on her wall. She studied her face and everything else about her. She touched her cheek. "Have I changed?" she murmured. She thought back to how she felt when Zack had kissed her. His lips had felt so right on hers, the way he held her, so tenderly. She had long since known that Zack didn't regard her as his sister, but the kiss had stirred new emotions in her. Passion, love, wanting… needing… something she hadn't felt in a long time. Maybe she had always had those feelings for him, but had suppressed them because it felt wrong to feel those kinds of things for your brother, so they simmered beneath the surface, waiting until they could come out.
'He's not my brother,' she realized. 'I've always known this, but I didn't accept it did I? I've gone so long thinking of him as my brother, that when I didn't feel like he was anymore I pushed those feelings away.'
She touched her lips and closed her eyes, reliving that moment where everything had felt so right. She opened them again.
"What do I want?" she asked herself. "I don't know what I want."
She knew she had feelings for Zack, feelings that were strong, but what about Logan? She had feelings for him too, but the way he was acting lately, she wasn't sure if she loved him anymore. Should she try to have something with Zack, where she could have unconditional love, passion and all those other wondrous things, but risk getting hurt? Or should she stay with Logan, who was safe? That's why she was with Logan all those years; she was playing it safe so she wouldn't get hurt.
'Love is pain,' she thought. 'With love you always risk getting hurt. But it would be more painful not to experience it or take a risk at all.'
She thought about the two men in her life, one from her past, and one from her future. Both loved her, and yet she couldn't decide. Though deep down in her heart, she knew who she would choose if worst came to worst.
'Zack…' The name was on the tip of her lips. She thought about his blonde hair, his baby blues, and smiled to herself. She thought about his fit body, his…
"Crap, I need a cold shower," she said, then ran off to her room.
Mole, Jondy, Zane, Faith and Syl snuck around an ammunitions warehouse in sector 5. Syl was stocking up with all the guns and looked at them with childish delight. Syl was the complete opposite of Max, not only in appearance, but in likes. Syl adored guns, she loved tinkering with them, taking them apart and putting them back together again.
"Whoa," she whispered. "Nice Glock. Titanium. Not a scratch on it."
Faith looked at Syl in amusement. "Our sister's a nut," she said to Zane. "Look at her; she's going insane over a bunch of guns. She looks like she's in heaven."
Zane chuckled and walked over to Syl.
"Sister dear, we don't know how long it will be until someone finds the unconscious guards and the disarmed alarm system, so get a move on will you?" Zane said to her.
She glared at him and stuck out her tongue, but began to pack the guns into her backpack more quickly.
"Oh yeah, really mature," Zane said. He rolled her eyes then continued packing the explosives with Jondy.
"I love this stuff," Jondy said. "This place is like my dream home," she joked.
Faith was finishing stocking up knives when she heard voices.
"Crap, someone's coming. Hurry up and let's go," she whispered.
The other three quickly threw the last of the weapons into their backpacks when Syl noticed someone missing.
'Where the hell is Mole?' she signaled.
They all ran around the rooms looking for him when the door swung open. They froze as flashlights were beamed on them and 10 guards walked in. 3 of them were holding ice packs to their heads where the transgenics had punched them.
"There they are," one of them said.
"Hey," Jondy said, smiling flirtatiously. "You boys don't really want to use those ugly things, right?" she asked as they pulled out their guns. They aimed them at the four standing in the middle of the room.
Jondy dropped her smile. "Okay, so maybe you do want to use them."
All of a sudden Mole came crashing through the glass window of the proprietor's office, shooting wildly. Faith, Jondy, Zane and Syl all hit the floor, not wanting to find out if Mole had good aim. A few seconds later, he dropped to the ground in front of them and they stood up, finding all the guards dead.
"Where the hell were you?" Faith demanded. "We almost got our asses shot off because of you!"
"Easy toots," Mole said. He grinned and held up a cigar. "Looks like the owner of this place likes Cuban cigars. Figure I'd help myself to some." He opened his backpack to show dozens of cigars.
The looks on the four X5s' faces were priceless.
"We were almost killed because of your cigar obsession?" Zane asked incredulously.
"It's not an obsession," Mole said defensively. He grinned again. "It's a liking of cigars."
They all rolled their eyes and got out of there.
The Gems scoured the tunnels of T.C.
"It's disgusting down here!" Ruby screamed. "I'm never going to get this gunk out of my hair!"
"Calm down Rube" Aqua said, although she was just as unhappy with the situation as Ruby was.
"Max is just making us do this to get back at us for making her kiss Zack," Ruby muttered angrily.
"If anything she should be thanking us," Crystal said. "It's obvious she liked it."
Emerald and Coco chuckled.
"I see a whole lot of matchmaking in the future for them," Coco said mischievously.
"Let's call it revenge and I'm open to the idea," Emerald said, grinning wickedly.
"Deal," they all said.
"Guys, wait," Aqua said. She turned to the wall beside her, and with a disgusted face, put her hands on it.
Crystal scrunched up her face. "Your hands are never going to stop stinking now."
Aqua ignored her and moved her hands all over the wall, obviously searching for something. She stopped and smiled.
"Bingo."
She pushed and a door swung open. They all stepped into a room that was filled with the most luxurious thingsthey had ever seen.
"Holy crap," Emerald said.
Isabel and Michael were waving their hands, making a bunch of bricks and other garbage rise into the air and fly outside where they were dumping the crap into a nearby river. Isabel was talking to Liz though and not focusing so Jesse and Maxwell had to duck quickly when a bunch of debris came flying at him.
"Isabel, do you mind focusing a little more on where you're sending that stuff," Max asked. She blushed.
"Sorry."
Jesse came up to her and gave her a kiss. "My shift for cleaning up is done. How much longer are you here?"
"Someone should be coming in to replace me and Michael anytime now," she replied. Just then, Spike and Buffy walked in.
"You can go," Buffy told them.
Michael nodded his thanks and Isabel and Jesse went off somewhere. Michael cleared his throat.
"Um, do any of you happen to know where Willow is?" he asked.
Spike grinned. "She's out in the garden, mate."
"Thanks," he said, and then he hurried off.
"Whoa, they weren't kidding when they said Christmas means love is in the air," Liz said. "How many people hooked up?"
Buffy shrugged. "I don't know. But you'll never know what will happen on New Years. New Years equals new romances, new resolutions, and of course, new battles."
"That sounded good until the battle part," Maxwell said. He laughed bitterly. "Guess we can never get rid of those, huh?"
"Well, at least it gives us a good reason to kick ass," Liz said. She grinned. "Sorry, my kind just always needs action."
Maxwell kissed her forehead then told her that he had to relieve the X4s working in med bay.
"Meet me in 3 hours?" he asked her. She nodded then started to get back to work.
Dawn looked everywhere for Zero but couldn't find him so she went to the place where she had first met him and sat down on a bench.
"Great," she mumbled with her elbows on her knees and her face in her hands. "I finally find a great guy then he completely disappears and I have no clue where he is. Can my life suck any harder?"
"You look glum," someone said and she recognized the voice.
'Speak of the devil,' she thought. She turned and saw Zero emerge from the shadows.
"Where have you been?" she asked.
"I had to go on a little mission to get some stuff," Zero said.
"Oh," Dawn said. She waited for him to sit down beside her.
"So…" Zero said. "Do you miss your old life?"
Dawn shrugged. "Not really anything to miss. I mean sure I had friends but no one really close. It's just been Buffy and the crew for a long time. My parents are dead," she said softly.
Zero's eyes widened and he wrapped an arm around her.
"Sorry," he said. "I didn't know."
"Nah, it's okay, it doesn't bother me to talk about it anymore," she said.
"If it's alright, can you tell me what it's like to have parents?" he asked.
Dawn suddenly felt shame course through her. Here she was, feeling sorry for herself that she didn't have her parents anymore, when Zero never had parents in the first place and didn't even have real family like she did.
"It was great. I mean, like every kid, I thought they were annoying for awhile, not letting me have any space to breathe. But when I lost them, I finally understood that I took them for granted. It's just their way of letting you know that they love you, by smothering you and not letting you do your own thing. Parents take care of you, hold you when you cry, cheer you up when they can," she explained. "Sure, not all parents are like that but most are."
Zero nodded. "Sounds nice."
Dawn nodded too, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. "Yeah. It was."
A/N: Hope you liked this! Please review everyone and show me some love. I need to know you guys are still enjoying this. It only takes a second so please review, it makes my day. :)
Thanks ever so much to –
Tarzo – Thanks for reviewing!
Doza – Thanks for reviewing! I made this chapter especially long just for you. Hope you like it!
meri24 – Thanks for reviewing! If you want some sparring between Faith and Alec, then I'll give it to you. LOL I love pleasing my reviewers. It's great to have a new reviewer!
longbca – Thanks for reviewing!
Plz review everyone! It only takes a second and it makes my day. For those who haven't already, plz check out my other fic, "Whose Love?" It's good, I promise. Thanks everyone and review! (electronic kisses)