A/N- Thanks for the reviews for the last chapter,I am glad that you all liked it so much. I love hearing what you all think and who you want to see the most so keep those reviews coming in!
Chapter 6. What, actually, killed the cat.
Skye stared down at the Greeks who stood eagerly in front of her in a line. It was odd to see the young faces looking at her with so much emotion. While she had never taken the training courses with the younger Xs, like Max and Alec; occasionally Unit 8 trained with them to sharpen their defences. But back at Manticore the emotion would have been missing. Oh, Nyx would fit in but the smile on Icarus's face would have been enough for a reprimand. The cocky grin on Isacar's face would have landed him in solitary and Zeph's pure delight would have earned him a one way ticket to Psy-Ops.
She shuddered at the thought.
"Okay, so we have been invited out this weekend by Flex's work superior… boss."
The five children shared uneasy looks.
"I know it's a little odd for us but I think that we need to do this to try to fit into the human world."
"Like shopping?" Icarus asked dubiously and Skye half-cringed as she thought about their first shopping trip.
It hadn't been a total disaster but the effects of Zephyr on a sugar high would remain with her forever. As would the image of Icarus trying on a bright pink dress and green heels. Oh, and Nyx pointing out that the cashier had short-changed her was a memory worth keeping.
She winced, "Right."
Zephyr shrugged, "I don't get why this is so important."
"Me either," Nyx added. "Unnecessary exposure to the human world would render our cover somewhat tenuous."
"Or it would reinforce it," Icarus pointed out. "To have humans back us as the same would add credibility to our proposition. In case of further inquiries the word of authority figures would only help strengthen our case."
"Okay, first up, you need to stop talking like you swallowed a text book!" Flex said quickly. "Cari, you're 13, human teens don't speak like that."
Icarus blushed as much from the nickname as the reminder.
"Right."
"Nyxie, you get more leeway because you are 16— but not much."
"Understood," Nyx nodded. "I will endeavour to… dumb down."
"Me too!" Zeph said cheekily. "Even though I would like to discuss the political ramifications of Dante's inferno, in Italian, with your boss."
Flex laughed at the image of six year old Zeph walking up to his boss and starting that conversation, "I think that'd kill Mike!"
"We would like to avoid that."
Icarus rolled her eyes, "He was kidding, Nyxie."
The taller girl turned icy eyes to Icarus, "Nyx. One syllable. Easy to pronounce. If you insist on a nickname then call me 099."
"Hey!" Flex said gently. "No need to get snappy."
Nyx regarded him and inclined her head lightly.
Skye sighed. There was a world of trouble brewing between Nyx and Icarus. Despite the girl's sunny persona and sweetness Icarus had the ability to set Nyx's hackles up faster than a cat in heat. Icarus reminded her, in equal parts, of Sunny and Cece; sweetness and light mixed with thoughtlessness and an innate ability to pick on the one thing that pissed you off. It didn't bode well that Nyx had no discernable sense of humour.
"Sorry," Icarus batted her lashes.
"Knock it off Icarus!" Skye said dryly. "The blonde routine isn't fooling anyone."
"Well at least no one will doubt that we are a family," Isacar added. "Add a little bloodshed and it'll be like tea time with the Walton's."
"The who?" Zeph wrinkled his nose.
Flex pulled on Skye's arm, "Hey, angel, are you sure that this is a good idea?"
Skye smiled, "All we have to do is keep Nyx from killing Icarus, Isacar annoying everyone to distraction and Zeph letting everyone know that he can speak five languages. Add to that hiding our barcodes, our super abilities and the fact that we are not human and have no idea of any human culture and we should be fine."
Flex thought for a second. "We're screwed, aren't we?"
"Well, yeah!"
----
"Son of a two-faced, bitch-dog, hell-whore!"
Aiden grinned at Dek's curse, "Creative. Very creative."
Dek glared at him, "Ow."
Aiden just leaned over Dek's bare chest and wrung out the blood-soaked cloth. "You know for an X5 you are a baby."
"Listen, you sorry excuse for a med tech, stab wounds hurt. I am in pain."
"You are a pain," Aiden corrected.
"Bite me!"
"And risk infection, I think not."
Dek groaned as Aiden picked up the tweezers next to the bed and aimed them at his side.
"What now, Dr. Mengler?"
"Glass shard, did you by any chance fall into glass at some point?"
"Mmf tru' in bu'es."
"What?" Aiden hid a grin as he examined his friends wound. "Sorry I don't speak 'Muffled Dek'. It's hard enough understanding you at the best of times."
"I said I rolled off the truck into a broken windshield in the bushes. Some car wreck. Not all of us had a soft ego to land on."
Aiden pointed at the seeping gash in his side, "Insulting me when I have sharp pointy objects—clever plan?"
"I'll play nice," Dek conceded.
"Oh good," Aiden added, "I won't know what to think."
"Kidding aside, what the hell were they?" Dek hissed as Aiden touched his side. "They weren't transgenics, that's for damn sure. We may be hard asses but we feel pain. I snapped that guys jaw and nada, not even a wince."
"That White guy gave me the uber creeps." Aiden shuddered. "There was something about him that…" he trailed off.
"He was familiar," Dek injected. "Not totally but there something about him… some kind of… I don't know."
"No, I get ya. Like I knew him or his family."
"You know what this means?" Dek asked cheerfully.
"We're cracking up?"
"Oh, yeah!"
---
It wasn't claustrophobia that finally drove Anna from Terminal City. It wasn't the endless grime of the place and nor was it the accusing looks from both Xs and anomalies as she refused to set herself up as leader, despite being the only member of Special Ops in the place. No, what finally made her walk out of that gate to "get some air" was the incredible feeling of inertia. The disinterest and general lethargy of the place that threatened to pull her down into a deep depression.
And Anna was depressed enough as it was.
She knew that the others—Feen and Techie in particular—wanted her to step up and show them what she had learned in advance Special Ops classes about sieges, shanty towns and security. But to be brutally honest – which was something Anna delighted in—she just didn't care enough to make Terminal dump-heap inhabitable. It wasn't like she planned on staying for any length of time anyway. No, as soon as she found B.J. she was out and away… presuming, of course, that he wanted anything to do with her. They had parted better than she hoped although that wasn't saying much; at least he forgave her for being… herself.
She threw off the memory of standing in the middle of the corridor and watching him walk away to find Aiden and Dek, his voice drifting eerily to her ears as he simply said "yes" to her unspoken question of absolution.
Anna shoved her hands deep into her pockets, kicking out at the cans at her feet. She had acquired the clothes through theft a few days out of Manticore and they were getting a little ragged. Not that she cared.
That pretty much summed up everything about her at that moment. She just didn't care. She would bet that none of the others missed her, even if they thought about her and that also suited her just fine.
She glared at a particularly broken can as it made contact with her foot, soaring over the fence of that…
Anna blinked. In her haze she had walked into a construction site. Or as she would say, a wreckage. Turning around she peered at the sign on the gate proclaiming that this was the property of RCF development.
Anna glanced around, "Not much in the way of development," she said aloud.
The place looked like it hadn't been used in decades, maybe even longer. As she turned to go she saw something in the dirt that made her pause.
Footprints.
Obviously scuffed footprints to make it appear that no one had been here.
The only people that she knew would deliberately cover their tracks were transgenics; after all, if they had found a great hideout here it stands to reason that they wouldn't want anyone to know that there was a hideout or someone living here. She heard a sound at the edge of her range and froze, knowing that whoever lived here was home.
Anna closed her eyes and let her other senses guide her as she tried to see if she knew that person. It was a gift that she hadn't let on that she had. After all Tara was supposed to be the medical one, Emma was the empathic one and she was the bitch.
Second only to Drew—obviously— but then again she wasn't psychotic.
But even at the periphery of her senses she couldn't tell who the person was.
Anna crept forwards into the broken down building, gently bypassing the rotten beams that criss-crossed over the damp, mouldy flooring. She edged over the stone laid on the floor in broken piles and she grimaced at the rat droppings that layered the ground. She paused at the far doorway and looked down into the blackness, surprised to see that the disrepair stopped there. It was like someone had deliberately portrayed the air of the building being a shambles to misdirect someone who came in here looking either for shelter or for mischief.
Anna looked down at the strong, steady wooden supports that framed the stairway down to the bottom of what looked like a dirt pit.
She stepped gingerly on the first step and grimaced as it creaked loudly in the stillness.
Holding her breath she stepped down again and again listening in the stillness for a voice or a noise that would alert her as to who it was that held both the building and, now, her interest.
She had almost made it down to the dirt floor when she spied something large and heavy over in one corner. She let her natural curiosity overshadow her innate paranoia and walked over.
It was a large, almost museum-like, exhibit of a large stone instilled with fossils.
No, wait, they weren't fossils but skeletons, half buried in the concrete. They were very small skeletons, possibly of children.
She looked around and bit her lip.
Maybe they had uncovered theses skeletons, possible murder victims, and demolition had been postponed until they could uncover who or what had happened.
It was a logical explanation. One that was sound and likely and yet. And yet… there was something not quite right; something that grabbed Anna in the deepest depths of herself and told her in no uncertain terms that this place was not safe.
Get out! screamed her inner alarm and, having a healthy respect for her internal alarm system, she turned to do just that.
But standing in front of her was a short dark haired man. She hadn't heard him come up behind her and she hadn't seen him come in.
"Hi?" she said quickly, not wanting to stay any longer than she had to and not wanting to do anything to provoke this stranger. "Didn't realise the place was taken, I'll scat."
The man smiled icily, his blank face replaced by a nasty expression of triumph.
"I think not," he said smugly. "And here I went out looking for one of you freaks and you dropped into my lap."
Anna backed away slowly, "Uh, I think you have me mistaken for someone else."
"Do I?" he asked coolly.
"Uh, huh, and I'll be going now."
It was stupid, she knew that. Dumb and suicidal and would have earned her an instant reprimand. But having had weeks out of training had made her forget fundamental rules.
Like: no matter how confident you are that they are inferior to you, no matter how strong you are and how capable you may be; never, ever, turn your back on an unknown enemy.
She felt a thump and her head spun as she slumped to the floor. Anna cursed herself as she fell into blackness.
------
B.J. watched as Jace got up and walked into the office out back. There had been something about that whispered conversation yesterday that pushed him out of his funk. No matter the screams in his dreams and the pains in his head, what B.J. had always loved was a good puzzle.
And this was. Exactly who was the mystery man that caused her voice to light up? Why was she passing on information about recruits and military personnel to someone that she was so enthralled with? Someone that she was happy to hand classified files over to?
He knew that it couldn't have been a superior because she told them to take Prozac. He grinned at the thought but his smile vanished with the last thought. Zack.
She had called whoever it was Zack and that rang bells. Big stinking church bells.
But the hunchback wasn't home; or rather, he had no idea why it was so familiar.
Zack. It was sitting on the tip of his brain and had been since she had said it.
He had wanted to discus it with Zan last night but he had been up all night with Emma and the poor guy was looking more and more ragged as she didn't appear to be coming around, it seemed that there was nothing they could do to stop her from sneaking into madness.
The thing was that they didn't know why.
She had been out on missions before and nothing like this happened. She had been around transgenics who—social issues aside—weren't exactly the most well adjusted and calm of people and, aside from her moaning and sentimentality, she had been fine.
Why was being here affecting her so much?
He and Zan had bandied around theories last night. Maybe human psyche's affected her differently. Maybe it was being away from her 'family', maybe Manticore had been slipping her drugs to combat this.
Or maybe, B.J. had snapped finally, it was Mars in the frigging house of Venus.
What the hell did it matter what caused it? All it seemed was that there was no way for it to be reversed and poor Emma was getting weaker and weaker, her screaming a thing of habit.
It was driving him to distraction and more than once he wondered if his nightmares were a sort of reverse empathy, projected by a distraught Emma as she battled her own inner demons.
He would have asked Zan if he, too, was inundated with dreams of a freakish and hellish nature, but it was kind of hard to slip that in over breakfast.
"Hey, Zan, I dreamt I was being tortured last night, do you have hot poker- like fantasies and the tendencies to pull out someone's eyes, too? Oh, please pass the toast."
He choked back a hysterical laugh at his psychotic thoughts.
Oh hell, he was getting too much like Drew!
B.J. shook himself and started tapping away at the keyboard again, hoping to take his mind away from the fact that he was losing his mind.
He would keep the fact that he was cracking up away from his friends but this other thing. This Zack thing could do with some exploring, if only to take Zan's mind away from Emma's predicament.
One thing was for certain. He was going to have to discuss this with Zan.
----
"Okay, so here we are at Sandeman number 5," Carrot looked around. "Unless the father of our country is an actual rat, he ain't here."
Joshua's lip fell even more at the rubble heap beyond the gates. "Father not here?"
"Nope," Carrot sighed. "I'm beginning to think that your address list is older than these buildings. Where did you get it, by the way?"
"Upstairs people."
"Ah, those people," Carrot said sagely. "In that case it's definitely out of date."
"One more?" Joshua said hopefully.
"What the hell," Carrot shrugged. "I don't have anything better to do."
He ignored the beeper in his belt that had buzzed him at least six times in the last day. It was selective defiance.
The final place was a nondescript building in downtown Seattle. Its rustic charm was marred somewhat by the fact that the wood was rotting, the paint was peeling and the termites were partying.
At Joshua's sad bark, Carrot walked up to the wraparound front porch and called loudly, "Hello?"
He stepped onto the rotting wood, surprised to find it sturdier than it appeared. He racked his knuckles on the door but there was no answer.
The door was locked so he knelt down and stared into the keyhole gauging for intruders. Nothing.
He heard Joshua scuff his feet and knew that the dog-man was feeling discouraged and unhappy.
He dug a lock pick kit out of his boot, smiling at the memory of Zan showing him how to pick locks back in Wyoming; one of his few good memories of that place. But still it was useful now as the door swung open under his ministrations.
He gestured for Joshua to follow him and half-grinned as he could almost see the man's ears perk up.
Joshua walked into the house and stopped, Carrot not far behind him.
"Huh," he said in his typical economical way.
Joshua didn't pay attention, he was sniffing wildly and Carrot knew that his tail would have been wagging—if he had one.
"Father."
Carrot eyed the place, "Uh huh."
"Not here now, gone. But this was father's place."
"You sure?"
Joshua beamed, making his face look simultaneously menacing and endearing. "His books… I remember."
"Well good, it's great that he was… literary. But I don't think he's here, dude."
"No dude," Joshua shook his head, his shaggy mane flying until he paused staring down at the ground. "Look, look!"
He darted to the ground and pushed aside papers to pick up a long black stick—no, it was a cane. With a pearly white figure on top.
Carrot squatted to get a better look.
The head of a lion, the body of a beast and the tail of a serpent. It was symbolic of a chimera, it was unusual, it was familiar, it was… ugly.
"The Manticore symbol," he drawled. "I was wondering how long it took for it to show up."
"Father not here."
"And hasn't been for a while. I know that wasn't exactly the plan."
"Joshua and father, that's the plan."
"Me too," Carrot added. "I have questions for this guy."
Before he could say more his belt buzzed again. He bit off a curse.
"Wanna come back with me, Josh? Tara'll make you little dogs, she'll even heat them."
"Stay at father's house." Joshua stated firmly, then added plaintively, "But little dogs..."
"I'll bring some over tomorrow, I promise."
Carrot stood up and stretched. His belt buzzed again.
"Wanna eat a beeper instead?"
The confused look on Joshua's face was almost worth the summons.
Almost.
----
Feen walked into the dilapidated building, her eager eyes searching around for the familiar form of her boyfriend. He was bent over a table filled with electrical equipment, his hands diligently working with a screwdriver. Even from over here she could hear him hum under his breath and she leaned against the doorway to appreciate the picture that he made.
His almost shaven head had grown in the few weeks that they had been away from Manticore giving him a less severe look. The fact that they had bought only used clothes gave him a sweet rumpled air without making him look scruffy and the denim jeans suited him more than khaki's and combats ever had. His toffee coloured skin made him look tanned, healthy and… damned gorgeous, she thought with a grin.
"Hey you."
Techie's head darted up at the greeting and they widened in recognition before he gave her a rueful grin.
"You shouldn't sneak up on a guy with a screwdriver."
She pushed away from the door and walked over, "I'm armed, so I'll take my chances."
He checked out her claim and smiled to see that she was indeed armed—with lunch.
She handed him the sandwich and perched herself on the edge of the desk.
"Haven't seen you in a while."
"Been busy," he shrugged and looked down. "Besides you've been more than entertained, figured I was in the way."
Feen frowned and shoved her shirtsleeves up. She had to wear a mans shirt and the damned sleeves kept falling down her arms to cover her hands. She knew it made her look elfin and cute, but it was annoying.
"What do you mean?"
Techie shrugged again, avoiding her eyes.
"Tech?"
He poked at a electrical board, "You and Mole."
Feen's lips broke into a curve, "You're jealous."
"No," he snapped but he was too hasty and she laughed in pure delight.
"You are! You're jealous of Mole!"
His voice turned icy, "If you'll excuse me."
"Oh, no, you don't!" she said grabbing his screwdriver off him and holding it behind her back. "Talk to me."
"Feen!" he said threateningly but she grinned impishly at him.
"Techie!" she mocked.
He sagged wondering how it was that he could look calmly down the barrel of a gun and say nothing but one look from Feen— a bad tempered pixie— was enough to have him spilling his guts.
"It's not important," he said hesitantly. "I mean it's not like we are at Manticore any more. There aren't strict rules to follow as to who you can talk to or… or… be with."
"Be with?"
Techie gestured vaguely towards the window, "Now that the Xs are coming in, in dribs and drabs, I see the way that they look at you."
"How's that?"
"Like you are something new and delicious that they want to taste."
Feen smiled at the tone of his voice, half remembrance and half distraction, and watched as he pulled himself back together.
He pulled himself back, "Anyway, I guess I just wanted to say that if you found any of… interest. Then don't hold back on my account."
The grin was gone and that gleam was in her eye. The one that said that now was a good time to shut up. Unfortunately it only worked on Techie as a precursor to babbling.
"I mean you are great and there are guys that look at you here and I know that we grew up in the same unit and that can get old, I mean it's not old to me but if it is to you then that's fine… I mean not fine, but understandable. People grow and sometimes they grow apart and want to try something new…not that I ... but you might… I wouldn't be okay… I mean, I would if you wanted—"
"Techie,"
"Yes?"
"Stop now."
"Stopping," he took a deep breath.
"Firstly, if I wanted one of them I would have them," she glared at him pointedly, "I don't need permission."
He opened his mouth but she cut him off, "Ah ah! Secondly, who's to say that I do want one of them, I mean I have you, don't I?"
"See that's my point," he raked a hand through his hair. "You only started to be with me because you were trying to 'fix' me. Remember, girly talks and forced association? You wanted me to be sociable and then one day I turn around and we're dating… or whatever. I don't even know of that is what you wanted."
Feen stared at him for a long moment. "Do you remember just before we started in on that whole sex-ed crap?"
"Yeah?"
"I came to your cell because I was worried that you'd take up with another girl, remember?"
Techie bit his lip and cast his mind back.
"Well?" he'd watched her pace for about twenty minutes and had wondered when she was finally going to get to the point.
"In a minute!" she'd snapped and continued to pace and then abruptly turned to face him, folding her arms over her chest, her red hair fluffy around her face as she glared at him.
"Don't you have somewhere to be?"
He realised that in her own way she was worried about him and another girl. Despite the over confident faced she put on for everyone she was as insecure as he was.
"I don't want to go," he said slowly, to pacify her but also because he meant it. "I'd rather stay here with you. There's no girl that I have ever looked at before and none I want to be with like I do you."
He reached forward and took hold of her hands, watching the unshed tears glistening in her eyes. "You know that, right?"
Feen shook her head, "You never say. I'm always the one that pushes and makes the effort, you seem content to go along with it but I was worried that you only did it because you were scared of me, t-that you don't really like me like that and you were glad to have an excuse to go with another girl."
Techie looked at her in astonishment; he had never thought that she would feel anything like that. Feen was always so calm, collected and in control. The idea that she was insecure about his feelings was something that he had never even considered.
Her confidence permeated the very air that she lived in and he was hard pressed to reconcile that with the uncertainty that glimmered in her expression.
"I like you, I care about you. If I didn't want to be with you then I'd hide more--" Feen laughed damply at that, --"and believe me, I know how to hide by now."
"You like me?" Feen bit her lip. "I like you too, lots."
Techie leaned forward and captured her lips. The kiss was soft and sweet and just that little bit possessive and when he pulled away he was happy to see the sadness had left her eyes and they twinkled again.
"I'd better go," he said, letting his reluctance permeate his voice and was rewarded as Feen smiled.
"Yeah, have fun," she'd added hurriedly, "but not too much."
Techie had laughed and left her cell with a grin.
He smiled again as he thought of his confident girl babbling nervously. It had possibly been the only time that he had been the one that was in control. "What about it?"
"That day I was so nervous. So worried that you finally had the opportunity to get away from me. After all, I was the one that actively pursued you and you went into hiding more often than not. Even now it's like you can't wait to be rid of me." A crease appeared on her forehead. "Is that it? Do you want me to go off and find someone else? Is this more your way of getting me gone?"
"No!" he grabbed her hand. "Damn it, Feen, I never meant that I wanted you gone. It's just that we are so different. You are flamboyant and social; I'm more quiet and isolated. I stutter through most conversations while you flow. I just… thought you'd want someone more like you."
She shuddered, "Damn, that's a scary thought. A male version of me."
Techie grinned.
Feen sighed and looked carefully at him, "I never said, but I should have. I think… I think that I love you."
Silence.
Now it was Feen's turn to babble. "I mean I'm not sure. I think that I do, I've never been in love and I've never put the feelings to words, but it feels like love. I feel sick when you go missing and… and I'm happy when you're near. I think about you all the time and I love being with you and—"
"Feen?"
"Hmm?"
"Shut up," Techie grabbed her arm and pulled her in front of him and into his arms, bending her over the table as he caught her mouth in a kiss.
Feen relaxed as he stroked her back and caught his fingers in her hair.
She pulled away, "You tell me to shut up far too often for someone who is scared of me."
"But when I kiss you, you forget to hit me. It all works out." He grinned broadly.
Her eyes narrowed, "I'll remember that. I owe you for that, pal."
"Uh, I could lay you on the desk and make you forget that too?" he offered hopefully.
Feen looked behind her in horror at the desk strewn with gadgets and chips and pieces of metal. "If you think I'm going to have sex with you here, you are vastly mistaken. If you come down on a circuit board the wrong way there could be considerable damage."
"Good point," he mused. "Good circuit boards are hard to find."
"I meant to me."
He smiled sheepishly, "Oh, yeah."
She rolled her eyes at him, "Some romantic."
"How about this then, I know that I love you," --her breath caught at his tone-- "I know because, to me, you are everything. I don't want you to find someone new. I want you to be with me," he smiled, "Doesn't mean I'm not scared shitless of you, but that it's a state I find myself enjoying."
Feen swallowed, "Okay, that's romantic."
"Can I eat my lunch now?"
"And that's a guy," she laughed as he had intended. "Okay, eat, Project Techie continues tomorrow."
He froze with the sandwich halfway to his mouth, "Wait, wait, I thought Project Techie was over? Girl talks, socialisation—I did that."
"Uh huh and graduated. Now we are in the real world and as we know social skills begin at home. Tomorrow we start by talking to Mole and Dix. We'll stop you being a social disorder."
"I like being a social disorder!" he said plaintively, his appetite gone.
She pouted playfully, "Don't you want me to be happy?"
"Well, yeah… sometimes."
"Play nicely with others, that'll make me happy." She got up and walked away with his staring after her in dismay.
He thought for a second and then called after her, "Can't I just steal you something nice?"
----
Drew wrapped her arms around herself tightly, uncomfortable at being in this close a proximity to so many people.
It wasn't that she wasn't used to being around people, after all Manticore was actually quite enormous and she was often surrounded by her fellow soldiers. But this seemed to be the first time that she was in enemy territory with no discernable exit and no back-up— it was a little unnerving.
She used her thumb to push back the lock of hair that dropped into her eyes and tucked her arms more firmly around her middle wishing that she had heeded Ed's offer to show her around the country, rather than venture into the city where it was possible that she would be hunted. But Drew knew her fellow soldiers and knew that to have stayed in Seattle was lunacy, they would want to be close should anything happen, but only the most courageous, foolhardy— or insane— would dare stay within the city itself. So she had set out for a small town, ravaged by the pulse, called Kent.
Pretty enough, once upon a time, it was now just another broken down town with a bustling market place and abandoned businesses by the dozen.
She was feeling sick again and it was making her crazy. She was used to being the best of the best and this weak feeling just wasn't cutting it for her. Never mind that less than four weeks ago she had been close to death with more holes in her than a sieve, she wanted to be healthy again, dammit!
She elbowed her way through the crowds, feeling the ache in her side grow with each exaggerated movement until it was dull thudding under her rib cage.
She tried to think of something that could distract her from the pain and tried to concentrate on the sounds and smells around her, cataloguing them for future usage like they had been taught.
After all, if she had to spend a lot of time in this town then she should at least know where and how to buy food and…
She stopped dead in the middle of the crowded street, her eyes wide and her mouth almost hanging open.
Was that…? It could have been… Was it?
Drew pushed the person in front of her out of the way as she stared down the street. There just walking past a market stall was a tall man with broad shoulders and a familiar shadow.
"Hey!" she called loudly but he didn't hear her over the cacophony of sound.
Drew rammed her way forward through the crowds and emerged just as he crossed the street.
Drew raced over and stood behind the figure, her heart pounding in her throat.
"Alec?"
He slowly turned and a grin broke over her face as he raised an eyebrow in that, oh so familiar, way.
Drew couldn't hold herself back as she threw herself into his arms, wrapping her arms firmly around his neck and burying her face in his shoulder.
"Alec! Oh God, I missed you so much. I had no idea if you were okay or what had happened." She squeezed him as tightly as she dared and was vaguely comforted when his hands tentatively touched her back in a gesture of warmth.
"Uh," he began and she stepped back wiping away tears that she had realised had escaped.
"Sorry, Alec, didn't mean to blubber all over you. I'm just so pleased to see you."
He smiled nervously, "Uh, thank you. But I think you might have me confused with someone else."
Drew's smile faded, "Hah hah, Alec, it's me, Drew."
"Nice to meet you, Drew, but my name isn't Alec."
Drew looked up into those familiar green eyes, with more than dash of deep brown. But not the warm brown she was used to. No, there was coldness, an oddness that hadn't been there before. Her eyes trekked backwards. His hair was cut shorter than Alec's had been the last time that she had seen him and was gelled at the front rather than left to its natural curl. He held himself tighter than Alec ever had and seemed to resonate with an energy that unnerved her.
"Not…?" she hesitated and a flash of nervousness covered her face. "Who are you?"
He half-grinned, "My name's Ben."
"Ben?"
"Pleased to meet cha!" he grinned broadly and Drew's breath caught in her throat. Her side throbbed and her head hurt more than she thought possible.
This wasn't Alec, not her Alec but he had his face. There was only one person it could be and that was the person that had almost single-handedly broken Max and Alec's relationship and thus the entire Special Ops brigade. This was the '09er.
Max's brother.
The '09er.
Drew thought she was going to be sick. Her head spun and she lurched forward straight into his out stretched arms.
"Whoa, are you okay?"
"N-no, I need…" Drew swallowed and her hands shook. "Oh!"
The strong scent of male was the last thing that she heard as, for the second time in her life, Drew fainted.
Tbc….
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Bet cha didn't see that coming did ya?
Given Alias- I agree I do think the darker undertone was what made the series. You will see more of that now that their behaviours are coming through.
Geminagel- Sunny has her own brad of humour and who doesn't love Dek and Aiden?
Crazy- vampire Slayer- Yes he heard her and the bells have started to ring. Guess who comes soon?
Moonlite star- BJ and Jace are becoming fun to write which is odd because I didn't originally intend for them to be a main story—They are great though More Greek family soon too- The whole BBQ!
Guest Type person- Made sense and yes they will figure it out soon. White is mean but oh so cool. You need to laugh more quietly in class!
Jynx- hey pet, everyone loves those Greeks- fun aren't they?
Black Rose9- Biggs and Sunny- Oceans2! Cool, I like that.
Lozz 422- thank you I am glad that you liked the fight scene, it took a while but I was enjoying that too. More Jace Zack soon.
Sigma1- Biggsworth and Metson the names made me grin more than anything- talk about lack of imagination!
Ganko- hope you had a great vacation and a good holiday season!
Fangedangel- I appreciate it when you get the chance to review so anytime is good. Falling into Kansas was a nod to the Wizard of Oz where Dorothy comes home and has that weird- everything's the same but its all different feeling and I think that that is what many of the transgenics are feeling right now. They understand that the world is exactly what it has always been but trying to find their place in it is hard.
Shyleigh3- he is definitely coming into his own recently isn't he? Gotta love the tall tortured type
Feenian- oh they have their own little display coming up soon, a whole chapter dedicated almost entirely to the Greeks. The new story is based on AU where they lose the war with the familiars, so far its dark but fun! I will post as soon as I have more than a few chapters written.
BlueJean452- Cheers pet, glad that you enjoyed that. I think Jace and BJ are well suited so who knows if it will turn to romance, they seem to have minds f their own!
Ru- Sorry pet, they aren't as heavily featured because so many of the others have huge ass storylines, I will bring our Pix and Chance back soon though, probably around chapter 8 and then they'll be here to stay.
Lotamoxie- Dek is fast becoming one of my faves too, he's just so delicious! Yeah I think Jace and BJ would make a sweet couple, don't you? I have a few shock pairing to come too!
DiscordantDragon- Hey there and welcome, I am so glad that you like the series, it does seem to have a life all to itself and is so much fun to write. The Greeks, too, are enormous fun to have around and they will feature heavily in the next few chapters.
SGOU- True, so I am not as evil as you'd imagine! You love that Anna BJ thing don't cha? Well you may have to wait a while for that. Aww I'm sure BJ would appreciate the hug that you'd give him, he wasn't hugged enough as a child. I like the idea of him and Jace as they bring out the best in each other and yes he did overhear the comments to Zack and is suitably suspicious now. The characters seem to have control over themselves and I have none so I have no idea what they will end up doing! I don't think that Casino boss would dare to ask for the money back from Sunny and Biggs- do you? More Joshua and Carrot soon. Logan needs to die in the worst way possible! Gotta love my darling Dek and Aiden, I have big plans for both of my guys, ain't they cute, that whole exchange had me in hysterics- they work so well together! And yes you have sort of the answer there.
Jade k- yup its all go from this point on. All fun fun fun. Feel free to tell me what you like best.
Natacup82- More Feena dn techie- your wish is my command! And Drew's meeting wasn't exactly who you wanted it to be with but imagine the consequences of that!
Angel of Darkness231- Hey sweets glad you like, more soon. Grounded? Have you been naughty?
Natasqi- nutcase! Oh well it makes computer time that much more special when you can actually get to reading the stories that you miss.
Elfie- Exactly, well done. the chapter heading was something of a symbolic one.
Shygirl1- Thank you angel, I am glad that you like it and I hope continue to do so.
Mrs- I know what stressing over school is like so you are forgiven. No one likes the Log!