Challenge
Anyone who has been on my site knows that I do little manip/pics to go with chapter headings and also that there are only a few chapters to go in this series. The final Chapter is called "Exit, Stage left" and will have all of the transgenic back together (we hope- proving they don't die on me, which is possible). I would like to issue the challenge for someone else to do the manip for that chapter. The one I love the most will not only get their pic prize of place but will also get a SNEAK PREVIEW of the last chapter and, who knows, maybe even a cameo in the finale. Interested?
Entries sent to me care of fayth82 at yahoo dot co dot uk and if you want the real names of those I used for the Xs then email me for that. Good luck.
Chapter 14 Battered longing
Nyx watched intently as the dizzying bands of blue and red slowly disappeared from view, leaving static on the screen and ice in her heart.
There was an uncomfortable and almost desperate silence in the room as all four of the children therein tried to contemplate what they had seen.
The silence was broken by Nyx taking a deep shuddery breath. "I knew it was too good to last," she whispered when she had found her voice.
"What do we do?" Icarus asked quietly trying to be as mature as his thirteen years would allow him.
"Here's what we do." Zeph got up off his chair and went over to the video player, pulling out the video and walked, calmly and quickly to the window. He opened it and pulled back his arm, ready to hurl the incriminating tape as far as he could.
Isacar grabbed the tape before it could leave his fingers. "No, Zeph."
The tiny boy turned on his heel and glared at his elder brother with all the malice a six year old could possess. "Why? Tell me why we can't just throw the stupid thing away. It'll ruin everything!"
"Zeph's right," Icarus said, tears spilling unchecked down her rosy cheeks. "I don't see why we can't just pretend we never saw it. Things are great right now. Skye is happy again and… and Flex has a great job. They are practically our parents. Why can't we just go on as we have been?" She swiped at her face as a tear dripped off her nose.
Nyx was oddly relieved to see that Icarus looked ugly when she cried, it was random and irrelevant but it was something to focus on.
Isacar looked at the other occupant of the room. "Nyxie?"
Nyx shook her head slowly, trying to concentrate on the issue at hand. "Things have been great. I never knew the world could be…." She rubbed her face with shaking hands and then straightened. "We have to tell them."
"No!" Icarus cried.
"NO!" Zeph shouted. "It's not fair, it's not FAIR!" He rounded on the tall girl. "Jus'… jus' cause you are old enough not to have to do what you're told, to follow everyone. It doesn't mean you can make decisions for everyone! I don't want to go back to Manticore. I don't want to have to leave here and go back," he fisted his hands. "You can't make me! You can't!" His bottom lip trembled and Isacar knelt down pulling the tiny boy into his arms as Zeph began to cry, his shoulders shaking with pain.
Nyx watched the tender embrace and swallowed. "Isn't that what you are doing?"
Zeph peered over Isacar's shoulder.
"You don't want to leave. I don't want leave. Icarus and Isacar don't want to leave. But what about Skye? What about Flex? These people—" her lip trembled as she pointed to the television, "—these people are their unit… their family. Steve died but… but Skye is always talking about her other friends. Flex misses that Pix guy and Alice."
"Alec," Icarus corrected quietly. Nyx spared her a glance before turning back to Zeph, her eyes stinging as she held back tears with a ferocity that shocked her. She wasn't a baby; she wasn't going to cry over this. Nyx was, and always would be, a soldier and she was going to act like one, damn it.
Damn it.
"Don't they deserve the right to choose?"
Zeph pulled away from Isacar, his mouth in a pout. "What if they chose to go back and leave us all alone again?"
Nyx had no answer for that.
But Isacar did.
"I won't leave you, Zeph," he promised stalwartly and Zeph swung back around fixing his older brother with damp eyes.
"They put me in the tank," he sobbed plaintively and even hard-hearted Nyx was moved by the small body wracked with tears.
Icarus turned her back on the scene and grabbed her desk hard with both hands fighting back her own response to the small boy's pain.
"They deserve that choice," Nyx maintained calmly. "They have taken us in but…but…"
"Enough, Nyx," Isacar said, his usually jovial tone conspicuously absent. "Zeph understands. We tell Skye and Flex and let them decide what we do. If they want to go back we can always stay here. It won't be the same, but we'll make do."
"Soldiers always make do," Icarus spat bitterly. "Soldiers always follow orders; soldiers do what they're told. Soldiers have no feelings, no hope and no choice."
"Deal with it," Isacar said coolly, still trying to calm the hysterical boy in his arms. "For now we go home."
"It's not third period yet," Nyx replied absently." We'll be in trouble for truancy."
Isacar's cool gaze met hers. "Somehow I don't think it will matter."
>>>>>
"So let me get this straight," Biggs sat up straight in the passenger seat, discarding his sandwich. "You mean to tell me that we ditched that sweet ass set-up in the biggest casino ever, with luxury apartments, hot and cold running water and more food than even I can possibly eat… to go to some abandoned nuclear dump site?"
Sunny revved the car faster down the long stretch of desert and cranked up the air-conditioning. "Yes."
"Babe, it's like a couple'a hundred odd miles to Seattle and we have no idea that this Freak's information is even kosher."
Sunny sighed heavily, pushing her fringe out of her sweat-dampened face and fixed Biggs with a glare. "What if he's right and all Spec Ops are there? I am willing to drive 'a couple'a hundred odd miles' just to check. Our job will still be there when we get back."
Biggs picked up his sandwich and turned it over in his hands. "I know you gotta think of me as the most selfish jerk on the planet, but I don't see why genius-level soldiers would burrow down in one place."
"It's called family." she said icily.
"And don't forget that mine is there too," he replied with an edge to his voice that she hadn't heard in some time.
Sunny's eyes narrowed and she glanced over, taking her eyes off the otherwise abandoned road. "I haven't forgotten, Biggs."
Biggs stared out of the window at the passing scenery.
Whilst it was true that he had a certain playful personality that did not allow him to take things very seriously, or to linger on unpleasantness for very long, it was also true that he had a deep seated and quite fearless loyalty for those who he allowed into his family circle.
Chance was his sister, no matter what those stupid suits said of random DNA and genetic coding. He had been told that they had the same surrogate mother and that was proof enough for him.
His amiable personality allowed him to put on a front that he simply didn't care about anything except for food and recreation, when the simple truth of the matter was that he was scared.
Scared of never seeing Chance or Alec again, scared of discovering that they were dead and he had been powerless to stop it.
He would never forget the way that the beams had shifted in those last vital few moments at Manticore; the creak of the ceiling as it finally gave way still haunted him.
He still saw Mets's hand protruding from the fallen debris, covered in blood and dust, pale, lifeless and limp.
His friend had sacrificed himself for them and Biggs had been powerless to stop him or do anything about it. He hadn't even been that close to Mets; in truth he had always found the man's posturing to be ridiculous and amusing, his put-on accent was funny and his airs and graces laughable.
He wasn't laughing now.
Biggs let his gaze fix on a tumbling weed as it was pushed along by the breeze, casting up sand wherever it went.
"Seattle is a dead hole," he said abstractly. "Nothing good comes out of there."
Sunny guessed where some of his thoughts came from and offered a wry smile. "You did."
Biggs gave a dry laugh. "Yeah, there's a ringing endorsement."
"It is for me," Sunny maintained and reached over to hold his hand. She thought of someway of changing the subject to something more uplifting but couldn't control her curiosity. "I wonder who'll be in charge of Terminal City."
"Terminal City," Biggs shuddered. "Now there's a name that fills you with confidence. It sounds like a disease 'ooh, look I have Terminal City'."
Sunny giggled and entwined her fingers with his, grimacing at the sticky residue of his sandwich melting in the heat.
"Seriously, do you think it'll be Max and Alec?"
Biggs shrugged. "Or maybe Coco, she's pretty level-headed. Or Steve."
"As long as it's not Cece," Sunny gave a little frown.
Biggs grinned. "Hey, imagine Drew's in charge!"
Sunny's eyes widened. "Wow, the world would not know what hit it!" she inclined her head. "Although it could be worse."
"How?"
"Pix could be in charge."
There was no answer to that.
>>>>>
Although they had been taught from infancy how to have sufficient self-control to ignore any and all outside stimulus in pursuit of a single goal; there were some occasions and circumstances that this was near to impossible.
Flex was discovering this anew, as he found his attention from his newspaper wavering with every slide of Skye's foot up her smooth calf.
She was lying on the sofa opposite him on her stomach, deeply involved in some book. Her legs were waving slowly in the air and her shoulders swayed to some internal rhythm as she scanned the pages, her mouth smiling.
Flex found it utterly enchanting and his gaze and attention kept being drawn away from the spreadsheets that he was trying to decipher. He may have been on the outside for some time now but it didn't mean that he was fully cognisant of all that it entailed, for example, just this morning he had been exceedingly puzzled by the mention of one of his co-workers of something called the 'old ball and chain'. He wondered whether it was valuable and had quite innocently asked if it were an antique, much to the amusement of his friend who had explained that his wife, whilst no spring chicken, was not past her sell-by date yet.
Flex remained confused.
Skye was unaware of his attention; she was enthralled in her book which was an unusual occurrence for one who had always found music and computers to be far more entertaining than literature, but Isacar had recommended a book to her and she found herself accepting his recommendation and picking it up.
Now she couldn't put it down. She had even let Galen go off to play by himself whilst she indulged herself and she could hear him behind the sofa playing with a train set that Flex had brought home for him.
"Good book?" Flex asked suddenly and she smiled as she turned the page.
"Uh hmm."
Flex let his gaze linger on the sweet curve of her lips and trailed it down the elegant slant of her smooth shoulder, perfectly framed by her halter top. He swallowed hard and tried to drag his attention back to his paper. Less than fifteen seconds later he was watching her again.
"Interesting characters?"
"Uh hmmm." She nodded.
Flex shifted in his seat and sighed. "Comedy?"
She shook her head.
"Tragedy?"
Another shake.
"Romance?" He heard the deep rumble of his voice in that word and winced.
She gave a small nod, obviously lost in the tale and he found himself in that odd state of bemused annoyance that she was so oblivious of the state of his emotions. He placed the paper down and edged off his seat, sliding across the floor on his hands and knees.
"Oh, Skye?" he whispered.
"Shh," she dismissed him, smiling sweetly at her book.
Flex frowned as he slid up to the sofa. "What cha reading?"
"Shh…" her voice trailed off as her attention was caught by something she read.
Flex wrinkled his nose at being so summarily dismissed and considered how to extract his revenge. He leaned forward and nudged her leg with his nose.
No reaction.
He rubbed his nose up and down her bare calf.
Nothing.
Kneeling, he trailed kisses over the sole of her foot and nipped at her toes.
Skye yelped and glanced over her shoulder at his satisfied look. "Hey!"
Flex pouted and she felt her heart melt.
"What do you want?"
He raised his eyebrows and she tried not to flush. "Besides that."
"Some attention?" he fluttered his eyes and mock-whined. "Honey, you never take me out anymore, don't cha love me?"
"Like a toothache," she sassed and grinned as his face fell. "I swear sometimes you are worse than the kids."
He merely grinned boyishly and the lock of hair that fell into his eyes was pushed back by her quick fingers. The feel of her soft hands in his hair caused him to sigh louder with pleasure and the quick squeeze of elation that she loved him enough to touch him with such tender care.
"So what or who had you so enthralled?"
"Mr. Darcy," she grinned.
"Who?" He tried to keep the accusation from his voice.
"It's this book that Isacar told me to read, something classical that he read once and thought I'd like. It's kinda cool actually, if you ignore all the flowery words."
Flex wrinkled his nose. "Shakespeare?"
Skye shook her head. "Some chick called Jane Austen." She sat up, eager to share what she was reading. "See, there's this family with five daughters and no fortune so the mother is really eager to marry them off. The dad is kinda funny but he would rather stay in his library and read."
"With five daughters?" Flex shuddered. "I'd stay locked up too."
Skye frowned. "So, pretty soon two rich men come to stay in the neighbourhood and one makes for the older daughter, a pretty kind of… actually she reminds me of Sunny—always sees the best in everyone. Then there's the second eldest, who is the main character, and she hates the second rich guy who actually likes her but he's too proud to say anything to her."
Flex frowned. "That sounds dumb. If he likes her why not just say so?"
"Because he is mega rich and her family isn't the best connection for him. Of course, she wouldn't marry him even if he asked because she doesn't like him. Her father won't make her because he is kinda cool, even though the mother would be totally for it. She already tried to get him to make the girl marry some vicar-dude."
Flex shook his head. "Sounds complicated. Why any father would make his daughter marry someone she doesn't want to. I mean if Icarus…" he trailed off, his eyes wide. "Not that she's my daughter or anything."
"Oh no?" Skye's eyes lit up with amusement. "Papa Flex!"
"I just meant generally." He tried to back-pedal and Skye slipped her bookmark into her page and started to tease him.
"Sure you did. What would they say if they could see you now? Big bad Flex, the one who put the 'man' in Manticore, just another concerned daddy to his little babies."
"I have no compunction about hitting girls," he growled and she burst into laughter.
"Flex is a daddy, Flex is a daddy," she mocked and squealed as he leaped on her.
"Take it back!" he demanded, his fingers tripping over her body causing her to wriggle.
"Never!" she laughed as he found her ticklish places.
"Take it back!" Flex leaned over and used his lips and teeth on her neck and collarbone where she most sensitive and the tone of their teasing changed with heavy breaths and deep, slow kisses.
His hand slipped around her back to pull her to his body and Skye slipped her hands behind his neck to haul him in close.
"Hmm," she murmured. "Mr. Darcy!"
Flex bit off her laugh with a nip at her bottom lip. "You, madam, are a minx! Now, say my name."
"Yes, sir!" Skye giggled as he pinched her.
"My name, Skye," he growled.
"Flex."
"That's better."
"That wasn't me," Skye said as she pushed him away. She glanced over his shoulder to see the four Greeks staring at them. "Hey guys, you're home early."
Flex tumbled off her and onto the floor, ready to make some smart-ass comment when Zeph broke rank and raced over to the sofa, throwing his arm around Skye and holding on for dear life.
The rest of them stood silently and a sliver of ice raced down Flex's spine.
Skye gave Flex an alarmed look and then sat up straight. "Spill," she demanded and winced as Nyx, Isacar and Icarus stood to attention.
"There's been a development, ma'am," Isacar said and waved the black tape. "We thought you might need to know."
Skye glanced down at the video tape in his hand and her heart sank. "I guess we're watching a video."
It didn't take long for the Greeks to show the tape to Skye and Flex and even less for Isacar to translate the Morse code hidden beneath the message.
As the bands of red and blue faded it seemed that the whole room stood still waiting for some kind of explosion.
Skye shifted Galen on her knee and he looked up at her with wide eyes. Zeph was at her feet, almost huddled against the sofa and Flex sat on the other side watching the three teens that had elected to sit across the room, perhaps in order to gauge the reaction of their pseudo- parents.
"So," Flex said slowly. "The code says that initial congress is at Tuesday 0800 location at billboard 5. Any idea what that means?"
"What did we do, every Tuesday at 0800?" Skye pointed out.
"Tech room 610 for health check and mission briefing at billboard 5," Icarus said archly. "They want us to go back to Manticore."
"Initial congress," Flex nodded. "That means we meet there to be told where to head. First line of defence. Sensible."
"Or…how about we don't?" Zeph said brightly. "We could ignore it and not bother."
Skye and Flex both looked at him oddly. "What?"
Zeph swallowed. "It could be a trap. Everyone and his dog heard that broadcast when Manticore went down, everyone knows the code. It could be the head brass trying to find another way to kill us. They shot at us, remember!"
"I've not forgotten," Skye said as coldly as she had ever spoken to Zeph and he was chagrined as he recalled that her brother had been shot down by that self-same fire.
"Sorry," he whispered. "But I think it's risky."
"Why didn't they call us back before? Or why would they have hidden the message inside the hack and in Morse code?"
All four Greeks shrugged.
"They are making us go back to Manticore for this initial congress," Icarus pointed out. "How can it be good?"
"It's the only place we all know and that is likely not be overheard by enemies," Skye said and pulled Galen closer.
"Manticore is the enemy," Icarus maintained. "I may not have believed it whilst we were there but they tried to kill us; lockdown, friendly fire, then the broadcast by 452 telling us that we were being barbequed. You remember that?"
"Every word," Isacar said softly and he took a deep breath and recited, "Do not panic, this is X5-452 speaking. Code-word 946. Listen to me, you are being betrayed by your command; Manticore isn't under attack, except by your superiors. Head out and go to ground, repeat, head out and go to ground. This is not a drill. Do not accept any other correspondence than that, which is coded, do not trust any other. Wait for my signal to reconvene. Repeat. You are being betrayed by command; redeploy, take your unit and go to ground. This is 452 and 494 out, Good luck."
"Wait for my signal to reconvene," Skye repeated calmly. "This is the signal."
"What if we don't want to reconvene?" Icarus spat. "I like it here."
"Me too," Zeph sat by Skye's feet again and looked up at her. "I don't want to go."
Skye glanced over at Flex wondering why he was being so quiet, but his gaze was intent on Nyx who looked as blank as she had ever seen her.
"Flex?" she prompted. "Little help here?"
"Isacar, what do you think?" Flex transferred the question.
"As little as I respect my scholarly acquaintances here," he said dryly, "I still prefer their adolescent presence than that of the Trainers or my erstwhile Unit, most of whom walked away without a backwards glance when I was incapacitated. Given the option I would remain here."
"Nyx?" Flex said softly.
"I am at your disposal, sir," she bowed and promptly turned on her heel and left the room.
Flex gave Skye a troubled glance and quickly followed the girl out across the grounds. She was making good progress across the garden when he caught up with her.
"Nyxie?" he offered.
She turned to face him, her face blank and eyes dead. His heart lurched as he remembered the sparkle that had started to appear in her expression over the past few weeks.
"What do you want to do?"
She spread her hands. "I will follow orders, sir. Command and I will follow."
"That's not what I asked."
"Our time on the outside will be useful as an exercise."
"Nyx."
"Once we are assimilated back into the core of Manticore operations our experiences will no doubt be documented—"
"Stop."
"—and of use on future missions."
"Stop it!"
Her fists opened and closed tightly. "I'm a soldier, I have no choice and I do as I am told. That's my job."
"That's bullshit and you know it," Flex stated adamantly. "We are more than that and you have the right to have an opinion of something that is going to change our lives."
"Does it matter what I want?" she said quickly, almost falling over the words. "Manticore wins, they always win. We can't escape, we can't get away. We are made to follow orders and that is what we should do."
"No, Nyxie."
"People get hurt," she burst out. "When orders are not followed, people get hurt. They die and are taken away and there is nothing you can do to bring them back. There are… there are rules. Follow the rules and no one gets hurt. If you miss the line then…then it's all your fault."
He could feel his heart slowly breaking as the slight girl, her frame deceptively fragile, held in so much pain that her shoulders shook with the effort. And yet, not even a tear escaped from her eyes and there was no expression on her face to show the excruciating pain that was in her voice.
"God, is that what they told you?" He stepped forwards and she took a step back.
"Don't," she said. "Just give me an order."
Flex let his hands fall to his side and he stuffed them into his pockets. Minutes passed as he looked at his shoes. "Come back inside," he said finally. "That's an order."
Nyx stiffened as they marched back into the living room, everyone watching each other carefully.
"Sit," he said and Nyx sat almost erect on the sofa, her back too straight and her posture almost painful.
Flex stared at them all. Galen, although young and still shell-shocked seemed to understand that something serious was going on here and his sad eyes clung to Skye. Skye was carefully avoiding the tear-stained face of Icarus, never having been very good at the whole tears thing. Isacar sat quietly, leaning against the doorframe, his whole bearing one of someone barely holding things together whilst Zeph seemed ready to run at the slightest provocation and Nyx… Nyx looked already broken.
"I have a unit that I was brought up in—Unit 3, no big deal, couldn't stand most of them. Then I was transferred at ten to Unit 8. Liked it well enough and then I was promoted to Spec Ops. All those units… those families were chosen for me. I made them into my own later, but I had no choice in the matter at the time," Flex paused to search for the words. "Although I wouldn't change my unit for anything it could have been a different story. Say I hated Alec or couldn't deal with Cece, it could have been a nightmare and I can see where you are all coming from. You were all abandoned by your units when you needed them the most. I don't hate my unit and I miss my brothers and sisters. But they are no longer priority."
Everyone stiffened further.
"I may not have got to choose Unit3, Unit 8 or Spec ops… but I chose you guys. I could have gone, left and not come back. But I chose to stick around. You are the unit… the family that I chose; and you are family." He swallowed and looked at them with a small smile. "Your…our happiness comes first, our safety is paramount. But I want to know who is alive and I need to let them know that we are. As head of this band of merry miscreants I propose that we go, but we go carefully. Six take point while one goes in. If all is okay then we can proceed to the secondary point of contact. If we like it we can stay…or we could come back. But whatever we do, we do as a family. Together."
He stared at them to ascertain their response and watched as alone tear slid down Skye's cheek to land on Galen's head.
Zeph launched himself at Flex and unashamedly sobbed into his shoulder in delight and Isacar's shuddery breath told him more of his relief than any words of five syllables could. Icarus danced on the spot and swiped away her tears with a happy grin.
Flex released Zeph to Skye and, after planting a kiss on Skye's cheek, knelt down in front of Nyx.
"Nyxie?"
She wouldn't look at him, ashamed over her outburst.
He planted a finger under her chin and lifted her gaze to his. "Every family needs its black sheep. You wanna stick around with us? I'm sure we'll be unruly and un-soldierly. Probably untidy and loud as well."
She nodded so quickly that he wondered her neck didn't snap. He leaned up and placed a small kiss on her forehead.
"We'll leave first thing in the morning. Everyone go pack a bag. One bag each."
The children raced away, Isacar taking charge of Galen as they headed for the stairs.
Skye stood up and looped her arms around Flex's neck, standing on tip-toe to kiss him deeply and lovingly. His lips crushed hers with a dizzying intensity that left her grabbing at his arms.
"Skye," he moaned hoarsely, his voice as thick as the air. "I meant it. Family."
She nodded, glad that he had taken the decision that she had been unwilling to make. She, too, had grown more than fond of their little band and didn't want to separate.
"I love you," she whispered.
"I love you, too," he said back, equally as quietly and ran his hand over her hair. He pulled away ruefully and smiled. "So much for Flex the playboy. Daddy Flex just isn't as sexy. I guess you'll have to do with Mr. Darcy after all."
Skye just shook her head as he walked away. As he had stood there, defending his family he had never been more attractive and she had never been more in love.
Or more proud.
Mr. Darcy had nothing on her man.
But she was dammed if she was going to start crying again.
>>>>
The streets were always full to bursting, full of life and energy; of people going about their daily business without a thought to anyone else.
Drew secretly loved the feeling of getting lost in the bustle of town and, as she strolled down the street with Ben, she smiled contentedly, like a cat, at her musings.
"What's with the grin?" Ben asked.
"Just appreciating the city," she said mischievously.
Ben glanced around him at the dirt and grime, the noise and smell of people all around, pushing and yelling at everything and everyone.
"It's great," he said in disgust. "The hoards of unwashed masses. People talking, talking, talking but never actually saying anything."
Drew gave him a worried glance from the corner of her eye. Her and Ben had come to an understanding of sorts in that they agreed not to kill each other. That wasn't to say that he didn't still unnerve her completely at times and there were times that she feared his new-found sanity was not as tightly secured as she hoped.
His brief forays into erratic behaviour sent her pulse racing, a side-effect of being hunted and chased across rooftops by a maniac with a knife.
What she's never tell him, or even admit to herself, was that half of that pulse-racing was not from fear, but excitement.
She had always known that she was different from her fellow soldiers. She enjoyed the violence, enjoyed the chase and enjoyed the feeling of knowing that you are superior to your quarry.
Drew had fond memories of escape and evade and often wished for the simplicity of the hunt.
She appreciated the value of a good challenge and found that, in that respects Ben could match her.
In fact, Ben was her match in more ways than one.
He could be funny and tender, as well as sarcastic and witty. They liked the same movies, they liked the same books. They shared a sense of humour and their physical relationship was… Well, wow described it pretty well.
He had issues with morality that she found odd and off-putting in that he didn't seem to care much whether he harmed people or poultry, men or mice, everything was game to him. But he appreciated that she was different and held off on some of his baser tendencies when she was around.
And if at times he scared her, she knew she scared him too.
They would have been perfect for each other but for one thing.
He wasn't Dek.
And because he wasn't her best friend, because he hadn't been there for all of her life, because he didn't have her heart, she wouldn't let him in.
Ben could feel her holding back and told himself that he didn't care. He told himself that Drew and that… Dek creature would probably see each other again after these months and think nothing more than friendly thoughts.
Yeah, and Lydecker would win "most shining personality" contest.
Ben reached down and grabbed her hand, lacing their fingers together and smiling at her startled look. He was so busy looking at her that he bumped into a tall imperious looking man and had to stammer apologies quickly.
Drew shook her head.
"Want an ice-cream?" he offered and her face lit up in that innocent way that he lov—that he admired so much.
"Flavour?" she questioned imperiously and he pretended to sweat over the question.
"Hmm, toffee and pecan?"
"Nope."
"Huh. Uh, tiramisu and baileys?"
"Ugh!"
Ben grinned. "Coffee?"
Drew grinned back. "Double scoop. You got cash?"
Ben held out the wallet that he had just lifted from the bustling man. "Trust me."
"Okay, you get ice-cream, I wanna check out the store," Drew pointed over her shoulder to the gadget store over the road. Ben smirked.
"I could do with a new TV."
"Only because you put your foot through the last one." Drew rolled her eyes but couldn't suppress a shudder at the recollection of a furious Ben kicking hell out of the TV like a man possessed.
"That guy was blasphemous!"
"It was a religious debate," she reminded him, her hand on his arm to calm him down. "And he didn't call Mary a whore, he just pointed out that she had other children after Jesus, therefore she couldn't have been a virgin always."
"The Blue Lady deserves more respect," he said, his eyes still aglow.
"Yeah? Well this lady needs more ice-cream. You go fetch." Drew commanded and sighed with relief when he went to do her bidding.
Okay, maybe he scared her more often than she scared him.
She let him wander over to the ice-cream stand as she stood outside the gadget store, looking in the window with glee at all the new technology that had managed to wrangle its way into the US. The pulse may have fried all the circuits of pretty much everything nationwide, but other countries were more than happy to send their advances over… for a hefty price.
Drew goggled at the mini-music players and the plasma screen TV's playing perfect quality movies from the twentieth century. She watched as some guy dressed in clinging wet trousers and soaked shirt stomped his way across a field only to stop dead at the sight of a woman in a bonnet.
She moved closer to hear what he had to say but the sudden burst of static had her cursing the TV in a blue streak. The stately home was replaced by twin bands of blue and red with a pair of beady, rather untrustworthy eyes, staring out at her.
Drew wandered into the store, watching as every single screen flickered to this unappetizing sight.
Seconds later her jaw was hanging about her chest as the mangled beeps and buzzes from the hidden message began to penetrate her senses.
Drew froze in place as her quick brain deciphered the message and her heart pounded loudly.
Max was issuing a recall. Max was alive.
Max was alive!
Drew's face split into a grin and she fought the urge to do an uncharacteristic mini-dance on the spot.
She swept her dark hair back over her shoulder and spun on her heel to find Ben.
She scurried across the busy street and spotted him near the head of the queue.
She raced across and drew him out of the line.
"Hey, I was almost there!" he said in surprise.
"Forget Ice-cream, way more important."
He raised an amused eyebrow. "More important than food? Let's hear it then."
"There was a message hidden in an Eyes Only message. We have been given the recall by Max."
A myriad of expressions crossed Ben's face too fast for her to decipher before he settled to a blank expression.
"Oh."
Drew's jaw dropped. "Oh? Oh? What the hell kind of response is that?" She waved her hands. "Max is alive."
He nodded; his face still carefully blank. "Got that."
"Then why aren't you happy?"
"I'm happy," he said flatly. "I'm ecstatic. This is wonderful news, can we go already?"
He made to move away, only to be stopped by Drew's hand on his arm.
"Hey!" Her face took on a menacing edge. "What's your problem?"
"Gee, Drew, let me think!" He wrenched his arm out of her grip and glared back at her.
"You'll need to pull your head out of your ass first!" she spat. "This is great news, Ben."
Ben nodded fervently, not even trying to mask the patronising edge. "Sure it is." He started to walk away.
Drew planted her fists on her hips unconsciously mimicking Max's kick-ass posture. "You're not too big for me to kick your ass to the curb, pal. Why don't you let out what's bothering you, before I beat it out of you?"
Ben froze in his tracks and slowly turned to her. "No, it's great, I'm so happy for you. It's great that Max is alive and well; it's fantastic that she wants you to go to her. It's amazing that you'll be leaving and I've never been happier to see you walk back to your dumb-ass of a boyfriend. In fact I might just throw a fucking party!" his voice rose to a yell that had many people stopping to stare, only to be hurried on by the glint in his eye.
Drew went from steely-eyed determination to dumbfounded understanding.
"Ben," she started uneasily.
"No," he cut her off. "You go back to your cosy little family, you're sweet little escapee freaks. You can tell Zack that he has my blessing to screw himself. I'll be fine. Me and the Blue Lady will have a pity party."
Drew's heart sank and went icy. "Zack?"
"My 'guardian'," he mocked, "he called, said he knew some of your buddies. No doubt Mr. Hyper-efficient is already there panting after Max and sharing the stick up his ass with your precious Spec Ops."
"You knew where some of my Unit were?" She wasn't sure whether to be annoyed or hurt by this admission.
He gave her a look of patent disbelief. "I told you we were instrumental in the destruction of Manticore. Did you think we just lit off bombs and scurried back into the woodwork? Of course we have been keeping tabs on each other and what is being said in the media. Right now Mr. High and Mighty is probably off to see Eyes Only to find where Max is and then there'll be one big ass reunion."
"So why don't you come to?"
Ben scoffed, raking a hand through his hair. "You think they actually want me there? Psycho-Ben? It may have been amusing when I was a kid but now, they'd execute me 'for my own good'."
"You don't know that," Drew maintained. "Max would be thrilled to see you again."
"And Dek?"
Her silence was all the answer her needed. He grinned cruelly and turned his back, walking away down the street.
Drew took a shuddery breath as she thought about Dek again. Imagine seeing him, being there and being able to hold him… Telling him about Ben.
It'd go down as well as one of Pix's laxative curries.
She folded her arms across her stomach and walked slowly after Ben, thinking deeply.
When she arrived back at the apartment, Ben was standing in the kitchen with his back to her, staring out of the window, his hands gripping the sink tightly.
Drew moved forward slowly and leaned against his back, resting her cheek against his back and feeling the tightness in his spine. Her hands touched his washboard stomach gently and she breathed in sync with him.
"Sorry."
"Yeah," came out as a strangled laugh.
"Killing isn't the answer," she said softly. "No matter how we were bought up, Ben; we can't hunt people down like that."
"It's not right, be more than what they made us," he quoted and it sounded enough like one of Max's phrases for Drew to smile sadly.
"Yeah."
"I won't fit in there, Drew. Neither will you." His hand reached down to cover hers. "We fit."
"Too well," she whispered. "We'd kill each other."
"But what a way to go," he paused. "I could fall in love with you, Drew."
She closed her eyes. "Don't."
Her insistence that they could never stay together was endearing.
And convincing.
Ben smiled sadly. "Okay."
He turned to face her, lifting her face up to his. "Zack told me, the last time we met, that I was a liability. He knew of the killings before; covered for me on more than one occasion and got me away from Lydecker once. He thinks it gives him the right to dictate how I live. He disapproves of me and refuses to allow me within a state of any of the others."
"A state?" Her eyes fixed on his.
Ben chuckled. "He thinks I'll corrupt one of the others, the way I managed to screw up everything else."
Drew held her arms wide open and stepped back. "Hey, look, extended exposure to Ben and yet uncorrupted."
"Yeah, well, you were weird to start off with," he said dryly.
"Jerk." She poked him playfully. He captured her hand and kissed her fingers.
"I don't want you to go."
"Come with me," she offered.
Ben shook his head. "They don't want me there."
"I want you there," she asserted and shook her hair. "And I always get my own way, just ask anyone."
Ben found himself grinning. "You're a dangerous one, Drew."
"You just remember that and we'll get along fine," she nodded. "Now get your ass packed, we leave first thing in the morning."
"Yes, Ma'am." Be sighed. "I don't want to do this."
"Tough. We all do things in life that we don't want to. Think of it as character building."
Ben rolled his shoulders. "Zack will be annoyed if I disobey his reg's, so at least I can piss him off by going. Hell, it might even be fun."
Drew grinned. "That's the spirit."
He turned to go but paused at the door not turning around. "If things don't work out with you and Doofus, I'll be there."
"Nice to have a plan B," she said lightly and let him go.
>>>>>
The building resembled nothing more than a burnt out shell, a husk of what had formerly been the residence of nightmares.
Seven shadows stood on the hill and tried not to hear the echoes of screams, the rattle of gunfire and the ever-present march of thousands of feet.
Galen turned and buried his head in Skye's shoulder, a whimper escaping from his throat.
"Shh, Shh, it's okay," she soothed. "We're not here to stay."
Nyx reached absently for Flex and her hands were icy as they touched his shoulder. He jumped at the freezing contact and immediately grabbed her hand, rubbing it between his to try to coax some warmth into it.
"Should we scout?" she said looking down at the place that they had all called home once upon a time.
She could see the places where they had done drills, she could hear the crunch of gravel and the heavy press of feet stomping. The crisp morning air was still imprinted onto her psyche.
Nyx shivered.
"Or we could go home?" Zeph said with mock-cheerfulness.
Isacar shook his head at the younger boy's youthful optimism as he tried to shake off the memories that threatened to engulf him. He had stepped over bodies in that courtyard. That floor up there was where half a building had fallen on him and his unit had left him there to die.
Only Icarus had stayed behind to try to help, her slim weight no match for the rest of the concrete, but still she had tried. She had wept solidly whilst trying to save him as their world fell down around their ears.
Isacar reached out for her and pulled her into a one armed hug feeling her slight body tremble.
"It'll be okay," he whispered into her hair. "We got out."
"It's wrecked," she hissed back, sobs making her voice thick. "Why does that hurt?"
He had no answer for her.
Skye waited for Flex to answer but after a long moment she prompted him. "Flex, you want us to spread out, do recon?"
"No," Flex bit his lip, thinking hard. "If this is an ambush I want them to get as few as possible. I have more chance of slipping in and ascertaining if it's a trap or not."
"Why you?" Skye demanded.
"Because I am Spec Ops, dearest," he reminded her with a small kiss to her turned up nose. "Whilst you are merely Unit 8."
"Had to go bring that up," she mumbled and pulled Galen nearer.
"I want you kids to stay up here, got that?" Flex turned and knelt on the floor, looking into Zeph's eyes knowing that the kid would more than likely follow him anyway. "Stay here?"
"Else what?" Zeph replied mutinously.
"I'll… ground you." Flex tried to ignore Skye's giggles. "Look have some respect, okay? A small bit will do," he whined and they all nodded the humour of the situation taking away the edge, just as he had planned.
Content that at least they wouldn't all be in tears when he came back, Flex stood.
"I'll scout ahead, Skye, give me ten minutes and then come in. Kids, head back into the trees and wait for us. If we aren't out in two hours…" he hesitated.
"Run like hell?" offered Nyx.
Flex looked at Skye and they both nodded.
"That works."
>>>>>
Aiden drummed his fingers on the desk in the tech room and tried to keep memories of his time here at bay.
He couldn't believe that he had drawn the short straw and got posted as sentinel duty; it wasn't like he didn't have better things to do.
Okay, he didn't, but that wasn't the point.
He hadn't been tortured here like Max or Alec. He hadn't even spent much time in Solitary like Pix.
No, he was simply the aide; someone people vaguely recalled.
In fact, the only time he had ever been punished was when he got involved in a fight between BJ and Zan. It was back when Max and Alec were on the outs and he had been trying to stop it. But even his fortitude was tested when they tried to kill each other and he ended up with a broken nose. He'd lashed out at whoever was closest and ended making a three way fight instead of being the voice of reason.
It had been cathartic, though.
Now, he was stuck here listening to the echoes of memories past and trying not to think too hard about his life.
It seemed that everyone had someone or something to differentiate themselves. Max had Alec and her unique '09er status. Dek had Drew (when he found her). Tara had Carrot and Feen had Techie. Pix was the joker and had Chance as his back-up. Even Joshua had Gem… and who did he have?
No one.
He was just the aide; the extra.
Aiden tapped a rhythm on the desk and picked up the CD player that Alec had lent him to listen to when things got too much. It wasn't the silence that got to him, but his own thoughts and they were driving him crazy.
Crazier.
But he was just one of many after all. He had seen about nineteen X-series and twelve anomalies already and sent them on their way to TC, exactly how many Freaks did Manticore make?
Why make so many and what was the purpose of a guy who could turn pink at will?
Maybe they planned on infiltrating a blancmange factory? Or were there spies hidden in Barbie's dream mansion?
Aiden wondered if he had spent too much time around Dek.
"They have you on desk duty?"
Aiden face split into a grin as he lurched to his feet, the voice registering way before he even realised it.
"Flex!"
The tall body-builder physique was just as he remembered it and their welcoming hug was manly but full of affection.
Aiden was so pleased to see him. "I was wondering when you'd show up."
"Whenever you least expect it," Flex shrugged. "Like a bad case of leprosy."
Aiden eyed him strangely. "It's good to see that there was no brain damage."
"Hey, I'm like a bad penny," Flex responded cheerfully and stuck his hands into his pockets. "Actually we were wondering if the call was a hoax."
"We were stumped as to how to get the message out without infiltration or otherwise," Aiden admitted. "Luckily Max had an in with Eyes Only."
"Max?" Flex beamed and burst into delighted laughter coaxing a smile from Aiden as he recalled how random Flex had always been.
"Alive, well, and kicking Alec's ass."
"Always good to know!" Flex grinned. "Who else?"
"We got Dek, Alec, Carrot, Tara, Techie, Feen, Pix and Chance and, of course, Cece."
"Cece? Damn, I knew I should have stayed in bed!"
Aiden peered around Flex to see Skye's sardonic grin.
"Hey, it's the Queen of Mean. Get your ass over here girl and gimme a kiss."
Skye laughed and threw her arms around her old friend. "Nice to see you again, Aiden."
Flex watched good naturedly as his girl kissed and hugged their old friend. He had really missed Aiden and hadn't known how much until he saw him again. He let loose a chuckle and punched Aiden hard on the arm.
Aiden stepped back and caught his eye, knowing full well what Flex had meant by that and he slapped Flex's back in friendly accord.
"I hoped the two of you would end up together, too many of us got separated."
"Yeah," Flex jammed his hands in his pockets. "Have you seen BJ?"
Aiden shook his head sadly. "Nah, he's probably somewhere holed up with Zan."
"Or Anna?" Skye suggested.
"Nope, Anna was there but went out on her own a few weeks ago," Aiden filled in, leaning against the desk and folding his arms across his chest. "Apparently, she took umbrage to the thought that she might have to lead the rabble at TC and headed on out to fight injustice wherever she found it, a la batman."
Skye and Flex chuckled as they were meant to. "TC?"
"Terminal City, a dump heap located in the middle of Seattle which is ground zero and where we are all convening."
"Ah, so they used you as first line of resistance?"
"Pretty much," Aiden sighed melodramatically, "and here I thought I was beyond being used as cannon fodder."
"But you are so useable," Skye drawled and grinned again at Aiden's pout.
"See, that's why I didn't miss you," he sassed. "No wonder Steve left ya."
The sudden silence made him wince. "Did I just demonstrate my amazing power to open my mouth and put my foot in it?"
"Steve..." Skye struggled and was glad when Flex reached for her hand. "Steve didn't make it out, gunned down."
Aiden closed his eyes. "Shit."
They all held the silence in partial respect and partial remembrance of their fallen friend.
Aiden straightened when he heard a noise from the hallway and he tensed, shooting a warning glance at Flex. He made to go for the gun he had on his desk.
Flex just shook his head and called out loudly. "That's minus points for stealth, slick. Oh, and you're grounded."
"Ahh, Flex!"
Aiden watched a tousled head appear around the door attached to a small boy with mischievous eyes and elfin face and complete with pout.
"No 'ahh, Flex', I told you to wait outside," warned Flex.
"Yeah, like that was gonna happen!" another voice said and a tall boy walked in carrying another child in his arms. "Besides, Galen was starting to get freaked out."
"C'mere, babe," Skye held out her arms and the small child leaped into them like a magnet to the poles.
There were more footsteps and Aiden turned to Flex in surprise. "Party of yours?"
Flex grinned. "Aiden, I'd like to introduce you to my kids, this is Zephyr." The tousled-haired child eyed him.
"Zeph," he corrected.
"Isacar," Flex continued, scuffing Zeph around the back of the head before pointing to the taller lad.
"Charmed," Isacar waggled his fingers.
"Equally," Aiden said, bemused.
"This is Galen," Skye said as she cradled the boy in her arms.
"And these two are Nyx and Icarus."
Flex moved aside to show the two girls who had slipped quietly into the room; one was of the same ice-blonde hair and deep blue eyes as Isacar and the other was a stunning oriental X series with long dark hair and a serene expression.
"I'm Icarus," said the blonde with a smile that stretched from ear to ear.
"Twins?" Aiden guessed, looking from her to Isacar.
"Sibs," she beamed in approval.
Aiden nodded in amusement and looked to Flex. "Kids?"
Flex tucked his hands into his pockets. "Yeah, see we came upon Icarus and Isacar in the upper levels and… uh… procured the others somewhere in the weapons bay."
"I see," Aiden was openly amused at seeing Flex and Skye in the midst of the children. Well, mostly children.
"Tell me, how is it that I ended up with Dek and you ended up with not one, but three gorgeous ladies?"
Flex leered. "Luck of the draw and my animal magnetism."
"Huh!" Aiden scratched the back of his head and looked over the brood that Flex and Skye had brought with them. "Well, colour me stunned. You are the last people, with the obvious exception of Anna, of course, who I would have thought as family orientated. Yet here you are, brats in tow."
"I'd take umbrage to that remark," Isacar drawled in an insolent way that immediately reminded Aiden of BJ, "however; in light of circumstances I suppose it's an accurate conjecture."
"I'm not a brat," Icarus pouted playfully, openly flirting with Aiden.
Skye noted that and rolled her eyes. "Yes, you are and you'll be a brat until you learn to pick up your crap before someone has to remind you."
Aiden caught the eye of the girl behind Icarus trying her hardest not to laugh at her siblings' indignant expression. They shared an amused look as Icarus pouted harder.
Aiden was distracted by a little hand tugging at his trousers. He looked down to see Zeph glaring at him.
"We'd like not to split up, please. Unconventional, we may be, but we are family. I recognize that our self-appointed parents may wish to amalgamate with their previous units; however, we have no such desires and would be most grateful if you could house us in the vicinity of each other. Please."
Aiden blinked at the long-winded speech from the child who barely came to his knee. "Terminal City is just that, kid, city within a city. It's a dump, but there are places with whole empty blocks. You, your family and the entire cast of Sunset Beach could bunk in one and still have room for Spec Ops and Unit 8. We want to get back together for safety; we aren't looking to split anyone up."
"Really?" Nyx blurted out quickly and coloured when he glanced at her quizzically. "It's just that the message wasn't specific as to the actual delegation of transgenics. We wondered if someone was reorganizing Manticore."
All five children looked at him with a combination of fear, hope and uncertainty that tore at his heart strings.
"No, no, no!" he hastened to reassure them. "Max knew that some of our people are living rough and in fear, especially the anomalies and Freaks. What she is doing is giving those with no place to go… a place to go," he smiled softly. "Everyone else is welcome to come, bunk down if they want, but there's no mandatory recruitment."
The children let out a sigh of relief almost in unison.
"So we could go back to our house and no one would hunt us down?" tested Zeph and Aiden squatted down.
"Right. But although we want to live wild and free there are elements that want us back… or dead. Me and Dek came up against one guy and his army who want us obliterated. Scattering and going to ground is all well and good, but there is safety in numbers."
"Especially when those numbers are genetically engineered killing machines," Nyx added dryly and Aiden gave a smirk.
"Too true. TC isn't much yet, but it has one thing that you'll find no where else."
"Mutated viruses?" Isacar volunteered.
Aiden bit back a laugh. "I was going to say being able to hang upside down by your toe with no one thinking it odd, but hey, yours works too."
Aiden looked up to catch Flex's amused expression. "I see why you keep them around."
"Oh, Isacar is in a class all his own."
"Only because he doesn't play well with others," the boy in question shot back with.
"Imagine being able to race and blur against actual transgenics!" Skye offered to Zeph. "You said humans were no challenge. Well, here's your chance to see how good you are."
"Anyway, Mr. Aiden said it's very open," Icarus said sweetly. "If we don't like it, we can leave… right?"
"Right. Although it's Aiden, not Mr. Aiden," he gave her a dashing smile and Icarus blushed, much to the amusement of her brother.
Flex stood up straighter and cleared his throat. "Uh, Aiden, where do we head to?"
Aiden shook himself. "Oh right, this is a pass that lets those in TC know that you've been cleared and this is a set of co-ordinates."
Skye scanned the piece of paper and nodded before tucking both the token and piece of paper into her pocket. "Guess we'd better be off to see the rest of the rejects."
"Well, tell Dek I'll be waiting for my damn relief, okay?"
"Language!" Flex admonished absently and Aiden burst out laughing.
"I'm sure Isacar here could tell you the Latin derivatives and etymology of the words, right?"
"If I wanted," Isacar grinned.
"Oh Lord, I knew it was a bad idea to have the two of you together!" Skye groaned. "Thank Manticore B.J. isn't around! The last thing I need is you encouraging him."
"Sure," Aiden winked at the amused boy.
"Let's scat before he corrupts our minors," Flex reached over and shook Aiden's hand.
"I'll see you guys back at TC."
They all moved to leave and Aiden felt a sudden pang at the way that they all moved simultaneously, looking very much the family.
"Hey?" he called and Skye turned, her arms holding to Galen.
"Yeah?"
"You never asked who was in charge."
Flex blinked, "I assumed it was Max."
"You know what assuming does?" Aiden folded his arms over his chest.
"So who's in charge then?" Nyx asked.
Aiden just grinned. "Bye now, ya'll have a safe trip."
Flex and Skye just shook their heads at Aiden's antics and only Nyx saw the wink he aimed at them as they left.
-------------------------------------------------------------------
elle6778- Jace is one of the more taciturn X's, of course she'll come out with things like that. Adds layers. Hmm, Zan wouldn't be the only one who's holding a torch for Max—they could make a club! Max Adorers Anonymous.
Moonlite Star- The Greeks told Flex and Skye and poof- all will be well. Hah and if you believe that…
Sigma1- Poor baby, you need sleep. Have some juicy Ben/Drew to sleep on mwah ha ha in an evil laughter way
Pixie Wildfire- Chase? Small boy with a lollipop fixation. Did Tinga never tell that kid not to accept sweets from strange men?
Pinkflipflop3- You are very curious aren't you? I know it killed the cat, but not before the cat savaged the flipflop. . Wish granted.
Angel of Darkness231- Cheers pet, glad you enjoyed.
Starr Light1- Erm… it's possible that I might write more to this universe- once I am on day release from the local loony bin.
Aku-neko- Hope you had a good birthday, I like to add realism in there with parts that would be classed as uber sci-fi. Glad you liked those. I have exactly the same reaction as Coco when presented with children. As in "Ahh small person take it away until it grows and gets a job!" Nuremberg was where Nazi war criminals were tried—they told judges that they were just 'following orders' when they gassed thousands to death.
Lotamoxie- Ooh I wanna see the snoopy dance! It's had to imagine anyone taking the reigns from a Xseries in the family, poor Jason. That's one fro Dek/Drew me too actually LOL, feel free to write about them yourself!
Yodes- hey there. So glad that I got you hooked, it a fun place to be actually so enjoy the next few thrill packed instalments complete with evvvilll cliffhangers.
Geminangel- Well they did and Flex and Skye are doing well on that. Look forward to them coming home!
Mae- All right you are forgiven. LOL. Love you too, angel, enjoy the instalment just remember that reviews make the world go around. Or cash, whichever works.
Roxyroo- Cheers pet, glad that you liked that. I am hoping that this will be the end to the series but you know me, I have this habit of hating finishing fics. Its possible that there will be more instalments later down the line, but I will be giving this a rest for a while afterwards. I'll be rewriting Coming to terms before someone kills me.
Bluejean452- Here was the Ben/Drew. It wasn't as fluffy as you would have hoped but there ya go. Angst is my fave.
Kim- I think Max is so eager to have people back at Manticore that she had missed the fact that some will not be eased by the message, especially the younger Xs. Anna has a big role to play which was why she got a lot of the other chapter to herself. This part will be much more broad I scope with all of the transgenics.
Nevanroy- The glue on my restraints came unstuck in the last downpour and I was able to sneak out the back. I am hiding in an alley writing my fic on the back of a McDonalds wrapper and existing on scraps from Starbucks, where I have uncovered a plot to rule the world. Here are coffee beans and a plan of action to verify my story.
Lyndsay- Sorry sweetheart! I must have missed your review and that was just plain wrong of me. Tell me who you want to see more of and I'll see if I can't make it up to you. I gave you Ben and Ice-cream that has to count for something!
Mely's the name- You're welcome, inspired by your earlier comment which was nice. I hope all the flipping loose ends get tied up.
Black Rose9- Hope you liked the website, I know its fun to do, even if I don't update as often as I should!
L80bug- Jace disobeying orders? Would she? LOL. I think she could cook if she chose to, but good old Nyx has other things on her mind- or will do at least. wink
SGOU- BJ has a habit of appealing to the taciturn bitch type- First Anna and now Jace! Max is doing her level best to dissuade him from scattering and she might succeed to a certain extent but ten years is a long to have "run run run" ingrained and it'll be hard to shake that. Would you give up Jason who looks Brad Pitt-esque (without the obvious male-asshole, 'let me chuck you for someone new' genes). I really don't like Icarus and have no idea why since I am the one who writes her. I just can't seem to like the little cow, so no sympathy there. LOL.
Ganko- Cheers pet, just keep the addiction under control. Nyx is more of the Drew class of scariness. I wonder if they gave classes on that in Old M? Ahh the Zack issues will be addressed in the next part of SF, so look out for that.
Meri24- Me and Coco thank you for mocking our reaction to small people. They do spread disease you know! And they smell funny and expect you to act as transport/ vending machine. shudders
AngelKougaeri- Cheers pet, Keep reviewing and I'll keep updating.
Gepap- Well I emailed you for the concrit, which was well received and even more appreciated. There are an awful lot of character and not really enough space to do them justice, but I will persevere. There seems to be someone for everyone here and everyone seems to identify with at least one character which is great. I do have a mental block as far as Logan is concerned, I think it's a throwback to some of the meaner episodes which I take delight in pulling to pieces. But I agree as to his reaction on the transgenic cause. Tinga is one of the upcoming storylines (if you can believe I'll fit another in just now!)
Elfie- LOL, no I don't have acat myself, but Miss Kitty is one of my best received fics. I still get nominated for awards for her. I was thinking of writing a DA version with Miss Kitty- what do you think? Small person alert- ew. I enjoyed making a mess and mixing sugar with salt and letting the greedy boys "steal" my food. Mwah ha ha.
Ladybug- Yes it's way past time… and yet.