Title: ...Happily Ever After
Author's name: Roxy
Beta Reader: Rose
Category: Action, Humor and Romance. (M/L)
Rating: PG 13
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this.
Summary: This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.
Previous Chapter: A hostage situation goes sideways as Ames White kills Brin. Jondy and Zane are the facility's new inhabitants and Lydecker's got his mind set on finding Sandeman.
Feedback: This chapter was up really fast, yeah Beta Babe thought she owed it to you guys, to make up for the last one lol! Trouble is, she's now beta- reading faster than I'm writing! So there you go guys, Chapter V! and keep reading and reviewing (though I'm under the impression that you're all on vacation, well can't blame you, I'm going to Spain in a few days!!!)!And once again, I thank my wonderful Beta-Babe and all those who reviewed else where.
Mandi: Thank you so much for the warm review! Hope you like this chapter as much as the others. You're a purist? Then you should get along fine with M/L Only; try reading one of her fics! Another question, are you splitchick-something on LJ (sorry, my memory's wonky)?
BlackRose: Oooh, I made you cry! Oh my! I'm sorry! Lol! I was afraid Brin's death was going to be to fluffy; I mean, I wanted her to have a soldier's death but still show that she wasn't Manticore anymore! Chapter 5 is much more fun, you'll see ;-) Being in character is one the best compliment for a fanfic author, thanks.
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...Happily Ever After
Chapter V: Girl Talk
"Really Mum, besides the disgusting food, the towels so rough they remind you of recycled toilet paper, the boring and tyrannical trainings, the fact that I have to get up with the sun and that I am surrounded by male freaks, really, everything's just perfect" Lou told the image of her mother on the computer, "So how's it going on the other side of the Atlantic?"
"Well here there are soft towels, kidney pies and an appointment at the beauty specialist, oh and not to mention bloody worried parents waiting for you" an English accent replied.
Lou smirked as it felt good to still have something to relate to.
"How's Dad?"
"Well, you know your father... he's always pretending that everything's all right but I can tell by his increasing number of 'bloody hell's" said her mother in a perfect imitation of her husband's low grunting voice "and his obsession with American news that he's just as worried as I am. Couldn't you at least come home for Thanksgiving and Christmas? Uncle Frederic's promised to do his goldfish imitation. He'll be very disappointed to know that you won't be apart of his audience"
"A shame I'm going to miss it" Lou said with only the slightest tone of sarcasm "How's Donald doing?"
"William's trying to teach him new tricks for when you get back. However, I take it that Donald is not really appreciating Will's initiative, seeing as how his suit turned out"
"Did Donald bite him?"
"Yes"
"Oh my god, is William ok?"
"Well... the poor man won't be able to sit for a while but he should be good as new in a few weeks... that is, if you don't mention his personal ego which seems to have suffered more than his bottom"
"Whatever got into Donald?"
"I believe the little beast's missing you too. Are you sure you can't take a break for the holidays?"
"It's not a boarding school Mom!" Lou smirked at her mother's misunderstanding of the situation.
"Perhaps, but surely this Mr. Lydecker can arrange a little-"
"Sorry to interrupt" Noah said bursting into the room "but it's been over two minutes Lou and I don't feel like getting in trouble with Deck... or with Zack for that matter"
"Oh Noah, nice to see you once again" Lou's mother said.
"Same here Mrs. Wilson" Noah nodded.
"Good bye honey and take care"
"See ya Mom and tell Donald to behave himself with William" Lou said sadly before putting an end to the transmission.
The image on the monitor disappeared and Lou let out of heavy sigh. Noah gently rubbed her baby sister's back.
"Who's Donald? Don't remember you ever mentioning him" Noah said.
"Donald's a ten year old Labrador" Lou smirked.
"Donald, huh? Would this have anything to do with a certain Mr. Donald Michael Lydecker?" Noah grinned.
"What could ever make you think such a thing?" Lou ironically asked.
"I'm sure he'd be honored to know that you named your dog after him"
"I'm sure he would" Lou said getting up.
"I can just picture you two: Donald, sit! Eyes front Donald! Go get it, Donald!" Noah said as they both exited the room laughing.
-------------------
Otto Gottlieb was sitting in his boss's poorly decorated office, dreading to have to announce him the mitigated news.
"I'm not sure last week's cable hack was a very good idea. We only gave the press more to babble on about the possible survival of the transgenics. I mean even though we pretended that the hack was being sent from a terrorist organization and that we didn't use the X5s designation but their real names..."
"Get to the point, Otto" Ames White rolled his eyes.
"I don't think many people bought that a terrorist organization had taken hostage three rich kids"
"Yes, I got that somewhere during your thrilling monologue, right before I dozed off. Surely, you haven't disturbed me to read me a bedtime story"
"No, Sir"
"Then spit it out" White said loosing patience.
"Our teams have been doing researches on this new X5 girl, Lou" Otto paused before asking a risky question "If, I may ask Sir... How did you find out her name?"
Of course, Ames White hadn't related to his men the fact that while they were putting their hands on three X5s, he had humiliated himself in a hospital. He had gone there incognito, at least at first, hoping to put his hands on Logan Cale, when he had come face to face with 452 and she had politely made presentations:
"May I introduce to you Lou, my baby sister" she had said back then. The very thought of that day's humiliation was enough to make him shake out of anger.
"No, you may not ask! Now get to the point Otto, will you?" he nearly yelled.
"Well using the information you've given us that is, the fact that this Lou is in 452's inner circle and that she's her sister, we thought that since we had never seen her until then, it's probably because she hasn't been in the United States until recently"
"Keep going" Ames White said in his icy voice.
"She has to be foreign, from Europe maybe"
"Europe? Why Europe? She could be from anywhere else on the globe just the same"
"The brand on her shirt said Nike. It's public knowledge that the brand was bought after the pulse by a Spanish company which exclusively sells in Europe"
"Her shirt?" White scoffed, "I had no idea you were such an observant mind Otto"
"I was just doing my job Sir"
"Right" White snorted, "I really don't care whether you think that the scum we're chasing is pretty or not, I've seen some that would make you throw up last year's Thanksgiving's turkey, Ok? Keep going"
"We've been tracing the calls going in and out of Europe towards the west side of our country. We're focusing on secured lines, especially the ones that last about two minutes because-"
"-because it's the time required to trace a call... I know, I've also read the book. Anything else?"
"We're still working on it Sir. That does represent a lot of phone calls"
-------------------
The X5s were sitting in the cafeteria along with all the others transgenics after a long hard day of training. Max usually sat with Logan, Joshua, Alec and the 09ers that were in the facility (Lou, Noah, Zack, Syl, Krit and new comers: Jondy and Zane) and today was no exception.
"I certainly hadn't felt that exhausted in the last twelve years" Jondy yawned.
"Yeah, well, we don't get weekends off here" Krit noted, "but you'll get the hang of it after a week"
"And if Mr. Laziness over here" Syl said pointing at Krit, "tells you so, you can have full confidence, sis"
Just then Syl involuntarily launched a new fashion tend: mashed potato on the cheek. She was about to respond to Krit's attack when Lydecker came up to their table. He walked to Max and leaned closer to her.
"Permission to leave the facility for twenty four hours granted"
"Great! What d'you tell'em?" Max asked referring to the committee that was supposed to keep a close eye on them.
"I didn't really lie" Lydecker shrugged, "Recon mission which is basically what it is"
"Right, if a recon mission usually implies going to see your ex roommate to tell her that you're still alive and getting some non supplied items such as cigars and shower gels, than I guess, you may go to heaven Lydecker" Max smirked.
"Max's going out? How come I don't know about it?" Lou asked, shocked at the discovery that something interesting was finally going on and that nobody had bothered to tell her.
"Yes, Max is going out and A) it's extremely impolite to eavesdrop" Lydecker replied, "and B) the world doesn't revolve around the Wilson's adopted daughter"
"A) If you didn't want us to eavesdrop than maybe you shouldn't have given us sharp hearing and B) the Wilson's adopted daughter can't help but feel sorry to hear that and she truly hopes that the world will soon realize its dramatic mistake and she then will be glad to except its humblest apologies..." Lou said in her most condescending tone "and C) if Max's going to bring more stuff into) the facility then she's gonna need more arms than just the two she's got"
"That's why she's going with Noah" Lydecker smiled in satisfaction.
Lou glanced at Noah, frowning since this was beginning to resemble a conspiracy theory she was the victim of more and more. Noah raised her hands in sign of helplessness and mouthed 'sorry'. Lou suspiciously narrowed her eyes and attacked once again:
"Certainly but four arms – X5's or not - Lydecker really, it's nothing! Think about Mole's cigars, Joshua's dog food –
"Joshua doesn't like dog food" the dog man intervened only to be ignored by 'Posh X5'.
"-Noah's shower gels and Jondy's just told me she needed a new bathrobe-"
Lydecker glanced at a surprised Jondy who immediately recovered and nodded fervently.
"-and toys for the babies and look at Dix" she said waving at the transhuman sitting three tables away, "he looks bored, doesn't he?"
Actually Dix was laughing at something Mole had said.
"It's soo obvious, he's pretending" Lou went on "I mean, would Mole ever say something funny? Dix obviously needs new equipment, look at him, he'll fall into depression! And, think about yourself, Donald, you must be wanting something too. Surely we could get it for you" she finished with her indulgent smile though completely disgusted with herself for sucking up this much.
Logan seemed to be choking he was putting so much effort in repressing his laughs. The others weren't doing much better either. Lydecker let the corners of his mouth twitch for only a second than immediately went back to his usual neutral mood.
"I'm really touched to see my welfare is troubling you so much, Lou" he said sardonically, "but I can assure you that the only thing I truly desire, is for this mission not to go sideways, which it obviously will if you leave this facility, now if you'll excuse me-"he meant to go but Lou was faster.
"Oh, pleeeeeeeeease let me go! I'm gonna die if I stay stuck in here!"
Lydecker couldn't seem to care less: not quite the desired impact.
"Ok, forget about that! It really is an emergency, I need to get certain things that the government doesn't give us!" she pleaded.
"Such as?"
"Well um... if you really wanna know... I'm all out of the cookies I brought from England and cherry flavor gums and candies and-"
Lydecker waved her off and meant to leave once again.
"Did I mention the English cookies?" she looked like a desperate begging little girl.
"I can't let you out, Lou. To the government, this is some sort of a test. They want to see how you can behave when-"
"I promise I'll be nice!" Lou went on begging, "Please, please, please, I swear I won't stray from Max and Noah. They'll always have an eye on me, right?" Lou turned around and looked for support in her sister's eyes.
Max and Noah both looked at each other and shrugged.
"See? They're willing to..."
Max and Noah both got up and Lydecker eyed them suspiciously.
"We'll take full responsibility for her actions" Max said like a brave little soldier.
"What? Are you insane?" Noah told Max.
Max elbowed her; Noah looked at Lou's pleading look, straightened up and said dully:
"Yeah, yeah, we'll take full responsibility"
"I mean honestly, Lydecker what's the worst that could happen?" Max said.
"You mean besides the three of us getting caught and/or killed by White. And since you two are the only ones capable of stopping whatever it is the Familiars are cocking up, that would also mean the end of the world. Besides that tiny detail, I really wouldn't know" Noah scoffed.
Max once again elbowed her and Noah cleared her throat before saying:
"But of course, we are disciplined and responsible soldiers and we won't let that happen"
Lydecker remained silent for a few crucial seconds during which Lou made her 'sad puppy face': pleading eyes, trembling lower lip, eyelashes beating more than usual. Even Joshua couldn't have done better.
-------------------
"Why can't have a motorcycle too? You're both getting one..." Lou asked frowning.
The previous day, she had managed to convince Lydecker with the help of her sisters, to let her go to Seattle. Surprisingly, for Lou, this morning's wake up had been a lot less difficult than usual.
To Max and Noah's expense, knowing that she was going to skip a whole day's training to see Original Cindy again and go shopping (well, as much as you could shop in a third world country) somehow made Lou even more bouncy than she normally was.
"Because you don't know how to drive" Max sighed.
"But I can learn"
"That's not the day's assignment" Noah came to Max's rescue.
This was going to be a veeeeery long day for both of them.
Max started the motorcycle and let the engine throb beneath her. She had almost forgotten how good it felt to ride and by looking at Noah's face, Max could tell that her sister was experiencing the same feeling. Only Lou seemed not to understand that certain moments are better enjoyed when being silent.
"One thing I forgot to tell you guys?" Lou asked sitting behind Max.
"What?" Max grunted.
"Don't tell Mum you let me ride on a motorcycle, she'd kill me before coming after you"
-------------------
Asha Barlow was having a hard time supervising everyone in the confined quarters that was Original Cindy's apartment. Max's bedroom was barely recognizable: signs with black or red writing defending the transgenics were all over the place. Almost all of the Jam Pony team was part of the group, others had also joined: some worshipped the transgenics and saw them as their new gods; others were simply against the idea of murdering innocent beings.
Asha placed herself in that last category. She was aware that transgenics were far from all being innocent but neither were most humans. And if there was one thing that Asha loathed, it was injustice.
The young woman had joined the organization almost as soon as it had been founded, therefore assuring them the support of the S1W.
"Asha, I need to know how many people are going to participate in the demonstration, we might not have enough signs"
A media war was taking place and Asha and the others sure intended to be part of it. They would tell their side of the story and be the transgenics' voice, replace Eyes Only until he made his great coming back. And when he did - which Asha knew that he would - their movement would assist him.
"I don't know; you'd have to ask Cindy for that. Where is she anyway? She didn't go back to Jam Pony, right?" Asha hoped Original Cindy hadn't left her alone in this.
'I've got work above my head here and- oh, no, not new members! I soo don't have the time for this right now! They'll have to go see Normal at Jam Pony', Asha told herself when she saw three young women enter the apartment.
Asha felt completely overwhelmed until she recognized one of the women: her rival in the past and her ally in today's battle.
"Max!"
"Asha?" Max said failing to hide her puzzlement and therefore not really returning Asha's welcoming tone.
"What are you doing here? You guys shouldn't be here, it's too dangerous"
"I thought I'd drop by and say hello to... Where's Cindy? And who the hell are all these people?" Max said waving at the crowd around them.
"Oh, OC hasn't told you yet. Well, it's all really recent; we don't even a name yet! It started with the rumors. You know, the ones about your survival in the air raids on TC. We didn't know what had happened and for a second we thought that it had been the end of you guys! But we should've known that you guys could beat the government at its own game! And I couldn't even reach Logan!"
Noah had no idea who the blonde girl in front of her was, neither did she understand half the things she was babbling about. She looked happy to see Max though, and that could only be a good thing, right?
"Wow, Asha, slow down" Max said puzzled, "Look, I'm sorry we couldn't get to you guys to warn you, communications just weren't safe, but that's why we're here now. These are my sisters, Noah and Lou. Girls meet Asha, she's part of the S1W. A progressive group on our side" she added when she saw her sisters' matching I-don't-know-what-the-hell-you're-talking-about-so- I'll-just-nodd-politely expressions.
"Nice to meet you" Lou and Noah said as one.
"Asha? What the hell is-" Max started.
She was interrupted by the arrival of a beautiful afro American young woman. Max beamed at her but the woman simply stayed on the threshold and her lower lip dropped with all the things she had been holding.
Max blurred across the room to rush towards Original Cindy and hugged her. OC hugged her back but didn't say anything. When she let go, she had tears in her eyes and mock-hit Max in the shoulder.
"You gotta stop doin' that to Original Cindy, boo"
"I'll try but I can't promise anything" Max smirked.
Max felt bad about letting her best friend believe that she had died once again but at the time, in the rush of getting everybody out of TC, there had been no way of contacting Cindy without White finding out as well.
However, OC had simply known that her boo couldn't have died in those air raids. The rumors had only proven her point and OC had known that Max would come along sooner or later. That didn't mean that she would have less of a shock when that time would come, though.
-------------------
"So? What's the name of your movement?" Noah asked once all four of them had left poor Asha alone in the next room to deal with the responsibilities of leadership.
"Well, we ain't got one yet. We gonna need somethin' catchy you know. Normal's proposed The Movement, but hey, that's Normal's idea of somethin' catchy"
"I can't believe Normal's joined too" Max said.
"Deliverin' a baby can set a man's priorities straight, boo"
"That and Alec I suppose" Lou snorted.
As all three girls in the room gave her a funny look she felt forced to add:
"What? Isn't that what you told me? That your boss was a, I quote, 'white republican with a stick shoved up his ass and a crush on golden boy over there' AKA Alec. Not that I understand the man anyway" she shrugged.
"Right" Noah meaningfully nodded at her baby sister.
"Care to let OC in on the word?" OC asked.
"What word? There's no word to let you in on!" Lou said defensively.
"Our little Lou doesn't exactly seem a 100% impermeable to our number one playboy's famous charm" Max said. Lou's eyes widened in shock; if Max had suspected this before, she had never mentioned it. Maybe it was the fact that she was kickin' it with her best friend that made her loosen up and talk about lighter subjects.
"You an' Alec?" OC said letting her amusement slip through.
"No!" Lou shook her head violently, "I don't know where you got that idea Maxie! Alec's just another guy overdosed with testosterone that prides himself in jumping everything that has breasts"
"Anyway, I remember a certain time, not so long ago, on the shore of let's say... the Columbia river" Noah said looking all innocent.
"What?" Lou said turning to Max, "You told her!"
"I thought there be nothin' to tell" OC told Lou, following the conversation with amusement.
"Yes, exactly. Max told Noah that nothing had happened!" Lou said crossing her arms over her chest in a this-conversation-is-over sign.
"So you upset 'cause nothin' happened between you an' pretty boy?" OC tried again.
"Yes... I mean no... I mean-"Lou stammered.
"What was it again, Maxie?" Noah feigned not to remember, "That Alec had lost? What was it?"
OC's eyes widened in horror.
"I don't even wanna hear this! How old are you gurl for-"
"-His balance, Cindy. Alec had lost his balance" Max explained.
"Oh"
"Yes, which is a perfectly valid explanation since he had just ate a bullet" Lou said.
"Alec ate a bullet? Again?" OC asked.
"Yep, and he ate a bullet for Lou" Max said grinning.
"Oh, so you ain't playin' solo girl... Guy digs you too"
"No! I mean I don't know and I don't care all right? So what? He was all over Noah till he found out she wasn't available"
"That's different" Noah said.
"How so?" Lou asked defiantly.
"The only time I enjoy Alec's company is when his lying on the ground holding his groin because I've just kicked his ass. Plus, he didn't stay with me during one of my seizures"
Lou was seething, passing through her genetically engineered mind all the possible exit doors. Why had she brought up the subject of Alec in the first place?
"I'm sure OC doesn't really care about Alec... Why don't you tell her how things are going between you and Logan?"
Bingo! If there was one thing OC wanted to know, it was how Max was doing. And 'how Max was doing' was often linked to 'how's it going with Logan?'
"Kid's right boo" OC said taking the bait "How's you' man doin'? And this virus bitch?"
Max heavily sighed and Noah gave Lou the you're-not-getting-away-so-easily look.
"Well, the virus's still here but Logan's doing fine. He's driving himself crazy over the whole Familiar dealio; what's the Coming and when's it coming? And how are Lou and I supposed to stop it?" Max explained.
"You and Lou?" OC raised her brow.
"I'm not the only one with the ugly messages from Sandeman all over my body"
"You too?"
"Yep, unfortunately... Maybe there are others?"
"I dunno" Noah said, "But if there are others then they should be in our unit, right? Like you two?"
"Yeah... and the ranks of our unit are emptying more and more" Max sighed, "We lost a sister last week" Max added as an explanation for OC.
The three of them counted silently, not daring to say the names of the lost ones out loud.
Thirteen escapees. Brin, Tinga were gone. That was two. Plus themselves, five. Plus those back at the facility: Zack, Jondy, Zane, Syl and Krit. Up to ten. Plus, Jace. That made eleven. Two left.
"That only leaves out Billie and Reese, right? We know where everybody else is" Lou said.
"Billie's happy, I hope" Max said musing.
Max had come across Billie back in TC. The traumatized X5 had been looking for Zack but Max hadn't asked their former CO whether or not he had seen their sister. Billie had only been the shadow of herself, that is, when she was herself.
Like Brin, Billie had been caught back by Manticore and Max feared to imagine what they had done to her back there. It had been horrible enough for Billie's mind to be completely confused and to even forget entire parts of her short existence.
"Yeah, I think she is" Noah smiled.
Max looked at her questioningly, taking seconds to understand. Of course! Noah would know; she had probably been with Zack when Billie had come for him at the ranch where he was supposed to be living a normal life.
"All Billie really needs right now is peace"
"Don't we all" Lou pouted completely unaware of the meaningful glances her sisters had been exchanging.
-------------------
"Sir" Otto said bursting into his boss's office.
"What now Otto?" White said trying to use the little patience he had.
White had decided to install quotas of patience; a certain quantity per day. However, he feared that Otto was going to use his day's quota all at once. And that wouldn't be fair for the other employees, now would it?
"Our thermal detectors have spotted three transgenics in South Market" he replied beaming.
"South Market? I take it they're X series. Did our men over there send us a visual?"
"Yes, sir" Otto said handing over to White a fax just coming out of the machine.
"Well, well, 452, your little girlfriend and another one which I believe, was there last week"
"Yes, Sir"
"I wonder if you'd be this good at identifying male subjects" White raised his brow, "Let's get going Otto"
"Are we going to attack them in broad daylight? In front of so many witnesses?" Otto asked worried.
"So many witnesses which are in danger if we don't do anything" White reminded him.
"Right" but somehow Otto didn't sound much convinced.
-------------------
The girls were, as a matter of fact, in South Market: the only place in Seattle that resembled a pre-pulse supermarket. Cindy and Max led the way while Noah and Lou tagged along.
"I think we'll go a lot faster if we split" Noah suggested.
"Yeah" Max said.
She didn't like the idea of letting Lou alone in Seattle. But then again, they only had twenty four hours and they had to consider the time they had already spent and the time it would take them to ride back to the facility. Lou didn't seem much concerned. She looked like a tourist.
"Wow, this is so rustic. You no longer see any of those in England"
Cindy dragged Lou away as the seller didn't seem to appreciate the fact that his selling goods were being qualified as rustic, though he had no clue what the word meant. Maybe it was something in Lou's condescending tone that got to him.
"Ok, Cindy, you and Lou can stay here and just play tourists" Max said, "Noah, you head for the clothes and I'll get paint for Josh, cigars for Mole and some other stuff we need"
"Works for me" Noah nodded, "See you in a jiffy"
They both headed opposite ways with empty bags, leaving Lou to OC. She really felt like a tourist, it was like buying souvenirs for the whole facility. She glanced all around her: everything was so different from what she'd known.
People were poor here, really poor and probably struggling their way through life but they looked... happy and free. There weren't cold and suspicious, although maybe some of them should be, but Lou felt a massive sense of solidarity.
It almost seemed like a family thing, well most of them were family. They were in this together, like Max and Cindy had been, and they looked like they cared - except for that one guy that didn't seem to be paying the slightest attention to the clothes he was touching and probably supposed to buy.
There also was this muscular woman would looked like she belonged to the WWF who was hanging around in the jewelry sector. Though Lou would rather have qualified that section of cheap imitation. Anyway, the women wasn't looking at the stuff she was about to buy. No, she was looking in the mirror but she wasn't even looking at her own reflection, she was looking at Lou!
Ok, now that smelled like NSA agent like a mile around. Lou gave a few quick glances around her and noticed about ten agents closing in on her.
"Get to Max and Noah and tell them we gotta bail" Lou whispered to Cindy.
Cindy stiffened and meant to turn towards Lou.
"No, don't turn around! They might not have noticed you yet"
"I ain't leaving you to go on your own" OC said, her back to Lou.
"Unless you can keep up with me, Cindy, I think this is goodbye. See ya soon. Luck with The Movement" Lou said before walking away from OC.
Those NSA agents are so poorly trained, it's pathetic. She reached the street and quickened her pace. They were still behind her and quickening as well. That was the confirmation she needed. She started running; the agents were after her now, no more dissimulated chase.
She turned at the corner of the street but White's men were already waiting for her: they had anticipated that. Ok, maybe not so pathetic.
When you can neither go back nor go forward, you go... up. The building on her left had a window on the third floor open. Third floor, that was manageable enough.
Lou bent her legs while the agents were getting ready to aim at her. Lou wondered whether or not their guns held real bullets. She jumped and the agents' bullets-real or not-missed her.
White didn't want Max dead that was for sure, but what about her? Lou had nothing to give him, no address to find his son, no Coming to stop from what he knew.
She landed on the window's sill right near a flowerpot. Well, there was a pot though the flower was nowhere to be seen. New gun shots and pop went the pot!
Lou decided not to linger outside and didn't wait for an invitation to come in. She passed her left leg in first, bent her body to pass her head and chest in; last came her right leg. The sight that lay before her eyes within the apartment nearly made her want to go back and face the NSA agents.
A human wale lay on a couch. Lou thought that he deserved his name in the book of records. That would probably be his only instant of glory in his entire life. He held a remote control in one hand and his other hand was constantly making the same path from his mouth to a bowl filled with pop corn, leaving trails of food along the way. Disgusting image, really!
"Marge, bring me another beer!"
Wow! It actually talks! This was as surprising as when you heard Joshua talk for the first time! The guy nearly had a heart attack when he noticed Lou coming in via the window. Had his constitution included less fat, he would've been able to get up.
However, given the givens, all he managed to do was spill more pop corn on his T-shirt.
"Don't mind me really" Lou said, "I'm just passing through"
She entered another room which seemed to be the kitchen. A woman, who much resembled a faded flower, was standing in the middle of the room, holding a beer, her mouth dropping open as she saw Lou.
"Marge, right?" Lou said, "Look frankly between you and me, as in girl talk, women have been fighting for their rights for like, decades"
Lou walked to the kitchen's window. She looked down; no use going there, they must have secured the whole building.
"Do you think it's for their daughters to be enslaved to guys like couch potato over there?" she went on.
Her best chance was to reach the roof and jump to another building.
"I mean, come on, Madonna's gotta be tossing and turning in her grave!"
There was a fire escape ladder on this side of the building though it didn't seem very stable. She'd have to use the pipes and climb. It looked safer.
"You can do better than this" she added before disappearing out the window leaving a still opened mouth Marge with a beer in her hand.
The climbing was easy enough. What was worrying her was what she would be facing on the top of the building, on the roof.
She had that feeling again. The same she had experienced at the hospital; the building was... dangerous for her. A feeling she had now understood was to associate to Ames White.
Lou knew that he'd be on top of the roof waiting for her. She thought better to ignore her instinct and take her chances against Ames White as opposed to twenty maybe thirty armed and angry NSA agents. Not that White wouldn't be angry or armed.
Still even in proportion, one Familiar couldn't be compared to twenty humans and even if he could match them, Lou wanted to face him. She needed to after what he had done to Brin.
"Well, well, why am I not surprised?" she said as she lifted herself up.
"Really, not even a little? This is all getting very boring" Ames White sighed.
"You're right, kicking your ass really is getting boring"
"That's one thing you have in common with your sister" he spit out that last word with a perfect expression of complete disdain, "your punkass mouth"
"I'll take that as a compliment"
Lou wasn't really feeling as cocky as she looked. Facing Ames White all by herself... what if she was biting off more than she could chew? Still, she was a soldier and if that was the way it was supposed to end, than she was ready to face it.
Lou raised her first, bent her legs in a fighting stance. Ames White let a grim smirk play on his lips before adopting the same position. Lou went for it first. They fought for several minutes on the top of that building: kick after punch after jump after knee sweep.
Lou knew that White's men would come bulging onto the roof soon but she couldn't find a way to get rid of him. He wasn't stronger than she was, but he couldn't feel pain and that might sometime soon come as an advantage to him.
Yet, for now, Ames White found that he had already used all of his patience for the day. He wanted to get rid of that transgenic and he wanted to get rid of it now! 452 would come after him when she would find her sister's corpse on this roof. And we would be ready, standing near by.
Boiling with impatience, White decided it was about time that he draw his gun and as he did so, Lou started panicking. She was already panting and nearly out of breath.
How long had they been fighting? Shouldn't White's men have arrived already? Yes, they should have. Unless of course, this was all part of a plan she hadn't foreseen. Things are bad, Lou thought. And as a matter of fact, things were really bad.
White made a clean and precise knee sweep and Lou landed hard on the floor. She looked up almost immediately and White was on top of her, his gun aimed at her head.
She was alone, alone with White and his weapon. No big sister to save her, no Alec to take a bullet for her, no one; just her, icy blue eyes and a loader. And that wasn't your usual combination that led to hugs and puppies.
"You see..." White paused, "I'm gonna need to know your designation as I will not call you by first name"
"What's wrong Ames?" she spoke like the defiant teenage girl that she was "Afraid of calling things by their own name? Lemme try: Ames White is nothing but an insufferable bastard" she paused, shrugged "I seem to be having no problem with it"
"I guess I'll just have to look at your bar-code once I've lodged a bullet in your head" White said coolly "You see, after killing your sister last week, I get to kill you. I'll track every single one of you down and kill you one by one if that's what it takes"
His hand squeezed on the trigger and his eyes were fixed on Lou's.
Her huge brown almond shaped eyes never betraying herself or her sisters' presence for that matter.
Max jumped on White's back. The gun fired once but Lou had time to roll on her side. Noah also popped out of nowhere and retrieved the gun from White's hand. White was still making a big deal of getting rid of Max on his back.
Noah aimed the gun and fired once. Max felt White give a slight jump as one of his legs collapsed. He looked up at Noah and told her:
"What are you waiting for? Shoot me"
Noah really seemed to be considering the idea. Max looked at her but Noah's green eyes were fixed upon her target.
He had killed their sister and so many others. He deserved to die. But that wouldn't really come as a good point in the media war, the S1W, Eyes Only, OC's organization wanted to launch.
The first thing to do when you want to fit in a society is to follow its rules. In this case follow the law, even though your enemies don't.
Noah lowered the gun, emptied it before throwing it away. Lou walked up to White who couldn't get up anymore, let alone follow them and spit in his face.
"If we did shoot you, your little gang of Familiars will send another one of you and this one just might be qualified" Max scoffed, "We wouldn't want that, would we?"
"Let's get the hell outta here" Noah said.
"You can't! My men have surrounded the building!"
"There are only so many escape exits we can use" Max noted "But you won't be able to tell them that" she added putting on her fakest sorry face.
She punched him hard in the face. Surprised, he fell on his back and Max grabbed both his earpiece and his cell phone and they soon joined his unloaded gun.
All three of them turned their back on him, making for the roof of another building. They went through several buildings before deciding it was safe for them to join the street again. Then they made their way back to OC's where they had left their motorcycles and all their goodies.
From there, they headed back to the facility, neither of them wanting to imagine Lydecker's reaction to their report.
-------------------
"You WHAT?" Noah and Max were in Lydecker's office.
Not really knowing whether or not they should be taking a sudden interest in their shoes or stand up to the man.
"You left her alone with a civilian?" he yelled again "And she made contact with two ordinaries?"
"The press might not know about it. The couple she talked to might not even know she's a transgenic" Noah tempted.
"Let me picture myself lying on my couch, watching TV in my third floor apartment when a teenager popes out of the window! Doesn't that just happen everyday?!!"
Ok, lame attempt. Lydecker fell silent and the girls wondered if this meant the end of the storm or only a calm before and the worst was still to come.
"How did he find you?" he finally asked on a calmer level.
"No idea" Max shrugged.
"This can't be a coincidence. He spotted three X5s last week. How can that be?"
"He's gotta be using some kind of detector" Noah said, "That's the only explanation"
White knew what they looked like, he could've passed on portraits of the three of them to sector cops. But that didn't explain how he had gotten a hold of Zane, Jondy and Brin the previous week.
Yes, a detector seemed the only explanation, Lydecker told himself. And that answer didn't make him more at ease in the least.
-------------------
"Hey mum, I didn't think you'd be up. It's rather late... I mean early for you guys" Lou spoke in a soft voice.
"I haven't been sleeping very well lately. I wonder why" Mrs. Wilson said sarcastically, "Maybe it's because my daughter's in a third world country facing God knows what"
Lou only smirked weakly.
"What's wrong honey? You don't look so good"
"I'm just really tired" Lou lied.
The truth was, Lou wondered, if she had been in Noah's place, if she wouldn't have shot Ames White. The guy deserved it but what was bothering her was that she could feel so much hatred for someone... other than Deck - oh, there was also this math teacher, that always thought she cheated during exams.
She hadn't grown up in a hostile environment and she had been taught that taking a man's life, no matter who the man was, should be avoided. Not that she had ever wanted to kill a man till now, really take a man's life and actually feeling pleased about it.
That was a line she had never crossed, she wondered if Max and the others had.
"When you start calling me every day, I know that something's wrong Lou"
"Max, Noah and I went on a recon mission today in Seattle and well, we came across the man that murdered Brin. He's not really human you know, but then again neither am I. He would've killed me without a second thought"
Lou noticed her mother gasping and then, try and do her best so as not to interrupt her daughter; there obviously was something more important than Lou nearly being killed. Mrs. Wilson didn't really feel like hearing the rest.
"But Noah and Max showed up. Noah caught his gun and had the chance to kill him... but she didn't"
"That's very noble of her" her mother said still holding her breath.
"Yes, but I think that if it had been me, I think I might not have made the same decision and-"
Lou was interrupted as Logan burst into the room.
"Cut the transmission!! Cut it now!" he yelled, alarmed.
Lou didn't even ask for a reason, she looked at the screen and said: "Bye mum" before doing as Logan had ordered.
"What's going on?" Lou asked facing him.
"The line is not secured anymore!"
"What? How's that possible? I checked the time, it hasn't been two minutes yet!" she pleaded.
"White's men have probably been working on this line for quite some time. I can't believe I haven't noticed it!"
"Oh my God, they're coming then, aren't they?" Lou gasped.
"No. No danger for us" Logan shook his head, "We're untraceable"
"What?" Lou frowned, "How?"
"Two very acute questions but we don't have the time for now. Just know that White's men didn't get the location from which the call was made, but they just might have the location to which the call was made"
"They know where my parents are?" Lou asked horrified.
Logan nodded silently and as he did so, her heart sank. Like she hadn't already caused enough damage in one single day!
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End of the Chapter
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