Title: …Happily Ever After
Author: 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: Lydecker's search of Sandeman revealed to be a failure. He and Joshua are on their way back. Logan and Max are out of the facility, celebrating both the end of the virus and Logan's birthday. They come across an old superstitious lady who mistakes Max for an angel on a mission to save the world. Lydecker and Max gone, Zack is left in charge of the whole facility.
Feedback: First thing's first: I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! Now onto the chapter: he, he, he… I was devilishly rubbing my hands at the idea of re-writing this chapter… Hope you've had enough fluff in the previous chapter cuz this one's all about raw emotions, ripping, grabbing and um… taking. Enjoy, he, he, he…
BlackRose9: Ah, nice to know that you're still around and reading… I thought you might all be gone after I took so long updating… about Lydia's introduction… it's kinda hard to re-write something that you wrote when you were 16. Sometimes there arethings that I want to change but can't and at other times, I'm just so caught in the story that I can't think of any other way to write it. And sometimes it works out fine and others, it feels really awkward… like I was saying on LJ, I can soo tell that some parts were taught up by a teenage, not that I'm so much more mature now lol but still, four years makes a difference… I hope lol! Thanks for still being here and reviewing!
BlueAngel137: He, he that you're still around lol! Well you know, when you're aware that you're using a cliché you might as well tell your reader that you're aware of it and doing it on purpose lol… makes it easier for the reader to swallow the pill or so to speak lol! By the way, love that song too!
ThisIsWhereMyNameGoes: True there aren't many Sam fics around, though I remember reading a really good one with another one of Max's clones… can't remember the title and I don't think it will ever be updated… too bad… I think it's gotta be listed somewhere in my favorite fics if you're interested. Anyway, thanks for the review and yes, I shamelessly beg for them… I'm just such a feedbackwhore lol… I'm not sure I can include Sam… I'll have to think about it though… thanks for reading and reviewing!
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… Happily Ever After
Chapter X: DNA Victims
Zane knocked on the door of Lydecker's office. He didn't wait for an answer to open the door to step in.
The colonel hadn't returned yet which was why Zane was knocking in the first place. Zack had enough work with keeping the whole facility going and Max not being around wasn't helping; he hadn't been at breakfast at all and so, Zane knew he was bound to find his brother here.
"Hey Zane, what's up?" Zack mumbled even worse than usual with a piece of paper stuck between his lips while his hands rummaged through some more, putting an incredible mess on the usually so-perfectly-ordered desk.
"I kinda got a favor to ask you" Zane said his hands in his pockets, appearing a little uneasy.
"What can I do for you?" Zack asked, stopping all his action and taking the piece of paper out of his mouth.
"I need to go to L.A. I'll be back in twenty four hours. It's personal and I don't really wanna talk about it"
"Look man, I can't just let you out like that. It's not just your safety on the line here, I'm gonna need more than just the it's-personal excuse" Zack shrugged apologetically.
A silence fell between them and Zane stared blankly at a spot on Zack's right.
"My father died five years ago. Exactly five years ago" he finally blurted out.
"Your father?"
"My adoptive father" Zane corrected.
Zack knew that among the 09ers, Lou wasn't the only one who had benefited from loving parents. Zane even had brothers and sisters. Still, he didn't want to get too deep into the subject of Zane's father's death.
After all, Max and Logan were due today and Lydecker tomorrow or the day after that at the most, so-
"Sure you can go to L.A."
"Can I borrow a bike from the facility?"
"Course"
"I'll make sure I'll be back before Lydecker is. You won't even know I'm gone" Zane smirked though his smile didn't quite reach his eyes.
"Don't worry about that" Zack shook his head, "I assume the consequences of my actions. Go ahead"
"Thanks" Zane nodded before exiting the office and Zack went back to rummaging through his papers; at least, until his stomach started rumbling and he was reminded that he hadn't eaten anything yet.
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"-said that Deck had abandoned us because he was retiring some place sunny with his long lost love and that they would adopt Joshua" Syl snorted.
"Wait, wait, wait! I have the best one yet! Yesterday, Gem told me she'd overheard two transhumans saying that they thought Lydecker had left with Joshua because he had a lead on Sandeman, the one who's said to have created Manticore" Jondy smirked.
Noah, Syl and Jondy were having breakfast and the cafeteria was packed with trannies. The girls were comparing the different rumors concerning their colonel's flee of the facility with the dog-man.
"Like Lydecker would even know where to find the guy in the first place" Noah scoffed.
"Yeah, but my personal favorite remains the one in which Joshua has-"
Syl's voice trailed off as she noticed Posh X5 walking towards their table. What caused her mouth to drop open seemed pretty obvious to the rest of the cafeteria as well.
Instead of her usual tracksuit, convenient for training, Lou was wearing an outrageously mini skirt and a white see through tank top which displayed a great deal of her flat stomach or maybe that was because the mini skirt was a bit too low… Syl couldn't quite make up her mind on that.
Lou placed her tray on the table sat down next to her, facing Noah and Jondy.
"Geez, have they finally switched on the heaters or what?" she said fanning herself with her hand.
"I don't think there even are such installations in this facility" Noah joked.
"Um… nice… clothes" Syl said half amused.
"Yeah, it's gonna come really handy when running through the woods" Jondy added indulgently.
"We are in fall Lou and this is the mountains" Syl stated.
"Thank you for enlightening me Syl" Lou said ironically, "What are you guys so uptight about, I just got tired of wearing the same old rags everyday"
"Right, aren't we more interested in impressing somebody in particular?" Noah said looking away innocently.
"I'm afraid I fail to see your point Noah"
Then, she looked down at her plate with certain disgust, pushed it away.
"Not hungry?" Jondy asked concerned.
"Nope" Lou said casually, "Not for that anyway" she added almost to herself and her eyes seemed to loose their focus.
Noah, Syl and Jondy went on chatting but Lou didn't join in. She was eyeing the room or more pointed its occupants and it seemed its occupants were beginning to become of aware of a few things themselves.
"God, why is it so hot in here?" Lou sighed after a few minutes.
Syl raised her brow and looked from her own turtleneck sweater to her baby sister's short, sleeveless top.
"Are you sure you're ok? You look flushed"
But Lou wasn't listening anymore. She seemed much more interested in smiling at those sitting down at the table on her left… composed exclusively of X6 males.
Noah's eyes widened in horror. She sniffed the air and turned her head towards Syl and Jondy.
"Pheromones" was all she whispered urgently.
"What? Lou, honey? Tell me you were placed under a contraception program like the rest of us" Jondy asked nervously though she knew the answer.
"Um…" Lou let out absentmindedly.
"You don't think-" Jondy started.
"Do you have any other explanation?" Syl cut her off.
"We gotta get her outta here before this place starts looking like WW3!" Noah said standing up at once, grabbing Lou by the arm and yanking her to her feet.
"What is up with you?" Lou said irritated, trying to get away from her older sister's grip.
"Half of the males in this room have feline DNA and are therefore receptive to your pheromones!" Noah said hurriedly.
"My what?"
"Lou! You're in heat!"
"What? Of course not, last time was only-"Lou paused realizing with horror that the last time she had gone in heat, she hadn't even heard of Terminal City, "Bloody hell! I'm in heat!"
Under other circumstances, Noah would have made fun at the way her sister's British education tended to resurface whenever she got carried away, but right now was not the ideal moment. She glanced at what was going on around them and realized that several males were already eyeing Lou in a way Mrs. Wilson would certainly not have appreciated.
"Come on! We gotta get you out of here!"
Syl and Jondy got up simultaneously; both of them grabbed one of Lou's arms and supported her as if she was sick.
"Ok now, nice and easy, we-"
"Hey Lou, feeling all right? Need a hand?" X5 472 Devon asked with a look that suggested he was looking at a yummy looking slice of chocolate cake.
"Move over Devon, unless you wanna be put in a world of pain" Syl said elbowing him out of her way.
But Devon grabbed her arm and pulled her back, pulling Lou back to him as well.
"What you gonna do to me, blondie?" he asked defiantly.
Syl opened her mouth to answer but she was cut off:
"I think you should listen to the lady, Devon and mind your own business"
Great.
It was Alec.
He advanced on them with the expression of a predator. Lou, who until now had been trying to shake the heat out of her by not looking at the hotties surrounding her, restraint melted away.
"Hey you" she said, her voice like purr.
"Hey yourself" Alec addressed her his trademark smile.
"You gotta a problem Alec?" Devon asked defiantly.
"I think I speak for everyone when I say: I was doing pretty well until you showed up" Alec shrugged, looking quite relaxed.
"I think both of you are being pains at the moment" a younger X6 intervened.
Lou raised her head, smiled and passed her tongue to her upper lip. The young man seemed lost in space and time.
"Shut up Jay! This isn't a school playground" X5 418, Luke joined the party.
All of the males who possessed feline DNA in their cocktails (as Joshua would have put it) crowded around the four girls and Lou kept looking from right to left, to right again, smirking and winking and trying to get away from her sisters but Noah, Syl and Jondy held on tight.
Suddenly, as the voices were getting louder and louder and the first few punches were being thrown, someone broke into the crowd and reached Noah's right side.
"Zack? Oh no, you gotta-" she looked at him with pleading eyes.
"I'm gonna free the way, you girls get her out of here" he whispered in her ear.
Noah looked at him in disbelief.
"But you're not-"
"Affected? Oh, I am. But I have a thing that helps counteracting the pheromones' effect. Excess canine DNA, remember?" he winked at her.
Noah smirked, that was one thing off her back: not worrying about her boyfriend wanting to jump her sister's bones!
She glanced at Syl and Jondy and they nodded. They eluded as many lost punches and kicks as they could and dragged Lou towards the exit. Hopefully, most of the men were more concerned with fighting and proving they were the alpha male, than in actually looking for the source of this mayhem.
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Lou had managed to get out of the cafeteria with the help of Jondy. Unfortunately, Syl and Noah had been somewhat delayed. They were still inside: probably trying to prevent any male from getting through the cafeteria's doors. However, a back door did exist and it might not take as much time as the girls hoped it would for at least one of the males to remember that crucial detail.
Jondy was fully aware of all this. One hand so firmly wrapped around Lou's arm that it would most certainly leave bruises, thoughts were racing through her mind at a speed only a transgenic could achieve. She needed to get Lou some place safe… some place no male would find her at least temporarily. Bind her there somehow so that she would have time to alert security about what was going on in the cafeteria. Jondy hoped they wouldn't take too long to notice it on the video cameras. But even if they did, she wanted to be sure that they didn't hurt anyone during their intervention… nor get hurt for that matter.
If Lou didn't hook up with one of the males now, this could go on twenty four hours. Maybe it would be faster to lock Lou up with one of the males… But Jondy couldn't quite bring herself to make that decision when she looked down at her little sister… even though the latter seemed a million miles away and was probably going to try and escape from her any chance she got.
Decisions, decisions… Like Joshua always said, 'Safety first'. She needed to make sure her little sister was safe before she could go supervise the security guys.
She started running down the corridors, unceremoniously dragging a semi-willing Posh X5 along and making a spatial map of the facility in her head. The farthest corner from the cafeteria was the southern building where was the girl's bathroom.
Good, Lou could use a cold shower.
But Jondy needed something for the binding. Surely Lydecker had a set of handcuffs in his office. She sure hoped so because that was where they were heading.
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Lou could feel the sweat running down her back and making her already see-through top stick to her back and chest. She was so tired of running but Jondy didn't seem like she was about to let her go or to stop.
Lou wasn't quite sure as to why they were running, least of all what they were running from… everything in her brain felt so clouded. Maybe she had committed another mistake and Lydecker was after her again; when had he ever stopped anyway? That was probably it.
But that didn't quite explain her strange feeling of wanting to run the opposite way Jondy was heading. Lou felt like going towards the danger. Something inside her was telling her that it would be far more… exciting. And what was the point of being an X5 if you couldn't follow your instincts?
Lou was trying to make her point but Jondy wasn't paying attention to a single word she was saying. Lou couldn't quite blame her; she wasn't sure she was making a lot of sense. It all felt good, but once put into words, it somehow didn't quite have the same impact.
Words having failed, Lou was now trying to pull at her sister. But Jondy only seemed to tighten her grip. Her fingers were getting slippery but at no point did she let go.
Lou could feel a throbbing pain emanating from her arm. Somehow it brought her back to a dark, humid room at the back of a chapel and other horrid pains and incredible fear… Lou didn't exactly remember the events that had taken place, it felt more like something that's on the verge of your tongue but that you don't seem to be able to get out. The fear and the pain, however, were quite vivid in her memory.
She froze in her place and disrupted Jondy's progression enough for her sister to stop and turn around.
"What is it?" Jondy asked frowning deeply, hardly out of breath.
"I… I dunno… I don't… feel so good, I guess" Lou stammered.
Jondy's look softened and she cupped her sister's face with her free hand and said:
"Don't worry, I'm going to take care of you, 'k? Everything's going to be all right. We're going to Deck's office to get handcuffs and then we're going to lock you up the girl's bathroom. Got it?"
Lou nodded unconvincingly. It didn't make her feel any better.
Something was creeping up inside her, threatening to overwhelm her totally and make her loose control. She didn't want it to be the fear and the pains and so she fought back as best as she could. But her arm was still hurting and her brain still fogged up. She couldn't recall anything in detail and that terrified her. She felt like prey… a hunted vulnerable prey.
She heard noises coming from behind her. Or rather, she felt Jondy stiffen beside her and saw her look apprehensively in the noises' direction. Lou felt too dazed to pay attention to anything. As fast as it had happened, Jondy relaxed and a loud sigh escaped her tighten lips.
It was only the security guards. Finally.
Lou heard Jondy briefly explaining the situation. One soldier asked if it wasn't better to take Lou to the medical department and Jondy replied something about it being too late and that going to the medical wing implied passing in front of the cafeteria again and that was out of the question. The pheromones weren't going to stop anytime soon and so they should use tranquillizers on the male subjects and definitely not on Lou.
"I'm not sure we'll have enough tranquillizers" the soldier pointed out.
"You will if you don't shoot at random and only target those with feline DNA" Jondy said severely.
"Beg your pardon Mam, but how do we know?"
Jondy opened her mouth to reply then seemed to think better of it.
"I'll be with you. But three of you need to take her to the girl's bathroom and make sure that she's handcuffed to something and locked up in there. Plus, those three will have to stay on guard"
"We're already outnumbered. We can't leave three men on guard!" the soldier protested.
"We won't be outnumbered. I'll be on your side and so will all the females and the transhumans!"
The soldier seemed to doubt the efficiency of a group composed only of females and un-human looking creatures but Jondy's look suggested that she would gladly make demonstration if he objected again. So the soldier kept quiet and merely designated three of his men to escort Lou.
"Something else Mam" the soldier addressed Jondy.
"What?"
"Colonel Lydecker's car was being sighted at the gates when we left to find you"
"Shit" was all Jondy thought of replying.
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Saying he was upset didn't quite cover the extent to which his anger went. He was angry at himself for not thinking of reaching for Sandeman earlier, angry at Callaway for letting Sandeman escape, angry at Lou for making a mess of everything though that hardly came as a surprise, angry at the facility's doctors for letting something like this happen, angry at Zack and Max for not being able to manage a few days without him, angry at the Familiars for laying all this on his shoulders… pretty much angry at the whole world actually.
"How could something like this have happened?" Lydecker asked for the thousandth time since Jondy had arrived to clarify the situation.
The Colonel slammed his fist down hard on the surveillance room's desk.
He was looking furiously at the screens that displayed what was going on in the cafeteria from different angles. The three doctors that had cared to join him and his head officers stiffened before one of them patiently explained yet again:
"X5 515 is young, much younger than the other X5s. In fact, she should be classified as an X6. The problem comes from the fact that when we went through the contraception program when they all moved in, we did this series by series"
"And we thought that as far as the X series were concerned, the classification was to be made regarding their age. So she must've been registered as an X6 while we were doing the first phase of the program on the X5s females"
"And when we started on the X6s females, she simply didn't appear on our list. The mistake must've been corrected without her ever having been treated and-"
"But you had all of their records! All of their names and designations and the series to which they belonged! How could you not have noticed that one was missing?" an infuriated Lydecker interrupted.
"With all due respect Sir, if you wanted experts than you should've hired your previous colleagues and not us newcomers. We're doctors, not veterinarians!"
Jondy's eyes merely glared at the doctor who had uttered those words but her brothers and her had all heard worse from ordinaries. She just felt glad for him that Max or Syl wasn't there, otherwise they would have showed him just what kind of animals they could be.
Lydecker however, spun to confront the doctor with an expression even Max would have shied away from.
"Never again will you speak this way about my kids"
He didn't yell but it only rendered the threat more effective. A heavy silence filled the room, that was, until-
"Look!" Joshua pointed at one of the screens "Here's Zack!" he added enthusiastically.
And true to Joshua's word, there was Zack fighting with two younger protagonists. And he was clearly having the upper hand, but his two opponents were much more self confident, overzealous and stubborn than usual. Lou's pheromones gave them wings, or so to speak.
The problem was that even though a small number (proportionally speaking) was being affected by Lou's heat condition, the entire cafeteria was fighting. Females with males; transhumans with X series. Most of them probably weren't quite sure why, but a random blow during breakfast was reason enough for most.
Lydecker privately noted that perhaps they weren't getting enough training and then went back to dealing with the current situation.
"Get all the tranquillizers you can get. I'd like to avoid anyone getting injured"
"On either side" he added correctly reading the expression on his soldiers' faces.
As Jondy added that they should take guns to Zack, Syl, Noah and the others as well, Lydecker just hoped that some of the affected males would not require double dozes of tranquillizers.
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The soldiers weren't as pressing as Jondy had been, but they did have nasty looking guns and one was pointed at her back. Its edge was unpleasantly knocking in her backbones each time the owner of the gun took a step.
One behind her and two on either side. The corridor was just large enough to let the three people walk side by side but still Lou felt overpowered, intimidated and ill at ease.
Jondy had said that everything was going to be all right. But Lou could feel that it would not. As unfocused as she was, she still smelled it and heard it before any of the three soldiers did.
To them, Devon had jumped out of nowhere. They were surprised to say the least and Lou should have felt lucky for the fact that the soldier behind her did not pull the trigger of his gun from being startled.
She managed to pull away as none of the members of her escort seemed to pay any attention to her anymore. Devon was the far greater danger on the short term. Bad instinct.
What happened after that took place in a blur and days later, Lou still couldn't quite place all the events in the correct order. Standing flat against the wall, Lou tried to recollect herself, concentrating on the cold concrete behind her and on her breathing that was coming in gasps.
She was trying to order her eyes shut so as not to notice the way Devon's chest muscles appeared under his gray shirt when he punched the first soldier and grabbed his gun. The way his chocolate hair flew when he blurred to avoid the two other soldiers' shots and then the way it fell back in place. That confident, surely cocky expression that formed on his fine face as he took out the second soldier.
That something building inside her was making itself louder, strongly banging on the mental barriers she had erected so as to contain it. She could feel those very same barriers thinning and thinning and dreaded the moment they would leave her defenseless… facing Devon.
Lou saw the first soldier struggle back to his feet, recover the second soldier's gun and aim it at Devon's back. She didn't stay to witness the rest, not knowing what to do (come to Devon's aid or to the soldier's?) she fled. Trying to get as far as she could away from whatever was banging on her inner walls was threatening to overpower her and from the sight of Devon which made her body react in a way she couldn't control.
She fled and didn't turn around when she heard several gun shots.
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The backdoor… most hadn't even thought about it. They were too busy keeping their eyes on the prize to think strategy.
Losers.
Not just anybody turned out to be the alpha male. And he wasn't just anybody. He could smell her; she wouldn't be too hard to track down. The chase only added to his excitement. He didn't remember having ever been this tensed, excited and… simply alive.
He was getting closer and felt no real need to hurry.
Not just anybody turned out to be the alpha male…
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Lou had made it to Lydecker's office somehow… half running, half stumbling, barely remembering why she wanted to go there in the first place.
She put a hand on her heart and thought it might jump out of her chest if it beat any faster. She was covered in sweat and her breathing was coming in pants and gasps.
She tried pushing the door to Lydecker's office open.
It was locked.
She pushed again before realizing that if she didn't try hard enough, she would never be able to get in.
And she wanted so desperately to get even though she couldn't quite remember why at that precise moment… she just had to keep going.
Panic threatened to overwhelm her… panic and that other something that she was trying so hard to push away.
A loud sob died in her throat and she elbowed the door once again and this time, she heard it crack. This unexpected victory over the lock found her fallen, inelegantly spread on the floor due to the power of her own blow.
She scrambled to her feet, supporting herself on the desk. Once she was sure that she could stand on her own, she let go of it and started rummaging through the drawers, making a mess of all the papers that Zack had put into order the very morning.
She pulled everything out of its container, spreading papers, pens, disks, everything and anything on the floor, till she couldn't take a step in the room without hearing things breaking and crumpling beneath her.
She knew she was looking for something but couldn't recall what it was until she finally had it in her hands… handcuffs.
Yes, she was running, but from none but herself. She was going to be all right, Jondy had told her so. Everything was going to be ok now that she had the handcuffs.
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That was how Devon found her.
In the middle of what had previously been Lydecker's maniacally organized office; among papers and garbage, holding a pair of handcuffs like a prize.
Well, he had found his… his prize and she wasn't getting away this time.
He took a step into the room and felt several objects crack under his shoes and stilled, waiting.
She slowly turned around, an uncertain look in her eyes. It didn't last long though. Very soon, Lou knew exactly what and why she was here at that precise moment. And most of all, she knew what she wanted. And for once, she wouldn't have to beg for it.
She raised her hand that was holding the handcuff and without ever breaking eye contact, she threw the pair against the wall where it fell with a metallic thud.
Devon barely waited for the noise to die out before he rushed towards her and crashed her against the desk in his haste. His demanding mouth reached for hers and a violent exchange of tongues and teeth started.
Lou could feel his firm fingers all over her body. So eager was he to take possession of her, that Jondy's bruises were probably going to look like scratches near his.
She cared little for the whole matter so intensely was she caught up in the primitive-branding process. Her nails dug deep into the soft flesh of Devon's back and she heard him moan as she did so.
Her teeth sank into his ear lob probably harder than intended and his hand gripped her wavy brown hair, brutally pulling her hair back to gain better access to her mouth.
Suddenly, they broke apart… unwillingly and involuntarily.
Lou barely registered what had happened. She fell over the desk and her head hit the wall.
It took her a few seconds to recover and be able to open her eyes again.
She shut them closed as soon as she saw what was happening and didn't reopen them for another few seconds.
Doing this, however, changed nothing of what taking place in Lydecker's office: Alec was here.
He seemed to have hit Devon in the back with a chair… which explained why Lou was on the floor at the moment.
Devon, however, had taken much less time to recover. He was already on his feet when Alec was aiming a second chair-blow at him.
He gracefully avoided the hit and replied with a rightfully aimed kick that Alec blocked with the chair.
This time, Alec threw the chair to the side; obviously preferring arm to arm combat, eager to prove his superiority.
He was beyond anger, his mind and body coldly controlled by one primitive instinct: don't touch what's mine.
He should've anticipated that another one than he would remember the backdoor.
Lou once again scrambled to her feet, her head still throbbing with the pain of the blow. She tried massaging it and realized that blood was dripping from her brow.
She looked at the traces of red smeared on her fingers and seemed to come back to her senses for a few minutes.
She was in Deck's office. Man, would he be mad when he found out the mess they had put in here!
She had to get away otherwise the guys would never stop fighting and they could and would get hurt.
The handcuffs… what had she done with the handcuffs?
Lou replayed in her mind the scene in which she had thrown them against the wall. Why on earth had she done something so stupid? It seemed like, at the time, someone else than her had taken over her body, leaving her a passive spectator.
Avoiding the males' fighting area, she managed to reach the handcuffs. She kneeled to recollect them and as she turned around, Alec fell inches in front of her.
He had fallen on his chest and the impact had momentarily dragged all the air out of his lungs.
Their eyes met for just a second and during that second, she was tempted to help him, to come to his aid. Why shouldn't she? After all she was responsible for all this…
Alec broke eye contact and his eyes fell on the handcuffs Lou was clutching a bit too tightly.
She thought she saw him smile, but too quickly, he turned around and from the ground, aimed a kick at Devon's shin.
Lou spun around and fled from the room, leaving the two males to further wreck the office.
The girls' bathroom… that was where she had to go … a childish secure thought made her believe that this was were no man was supposed to go and that there, she would be able to stop fighting, to let the monster come out and she, Lou would let it take over and rest.
Finally.
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The battle taking place in the cafeteria was dying out as the soldiers were coming in, heavily charged with tranquillizer loaded guns.
Thankfully, most affected males fell within seconds.
Of course, a few shots were lost. Eventually, one hit an infuriated Mole because he just didn't seem to want to stop the fighting.
Jondy joined Lydecker's men and came as back up for Syl and Noah who were out of breath and beyond exhaustion.
Now that everything was almost back the way it was supposed to be, Lydecker was organizing different patrols so as to control the rest of the facility for any strayed transgenic.
He needn't have a bothered. As he pushed the door of his office, he was tempted to think that something wasn't quite right: the door was ajar.
As he pushed it carefully, the door still creaked in its hinges.
He slowly peered inside and besides the incredible mess that was his office, he noted a more singular detail: a knocked out X5 spread on his floor.
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He stopped on the threshold of the girl's bathroom.
He deeply inhaled as if he hadn't had access to air that pure in a very long time; an air filled with pheromones. X5 494 devilishly smirked and took a step forward, finally exhaling.
Only then did he start paying attention to the sounds around him. Water was running and covering up most of the other noises but he could still hear it… her harsh, hoarse, rhythmic breathing.
He took another few steps making a great deal out of controlling himself.
He had won and he had come to collect his prize. No need to hurry, that's what he was trying to tell his body that was pressuring him, wanting him to get on with it because it just couldn't take the wait any longer; not now that it was so close to having what it had been craving for all day long.
But X5 494 wanted to play a little longer; finding some kind of morbid pleasure in punishing himself, in making his own body long.
That would only mean more merit in taking the prize.
He gave a semi-circular look around the room; his hazel green eyes finishing their path on the corner of the room where he knew, without looking, she was located.
There she was and the sight of her, there, still unaware of his presence, only increased the pressure of his body on his mind.
She hadn't even bothered closing the shower curtain.
Water was running freely over her flushed body, the pressure of the water turning parts of her body pink or maybe it wasn't the result of the water but simply the heat. That same water was spreading freely on the floor and reaching his shoes.
X5 494 took a little longer than required capturing this image of her.
She was sitting on the shower's cold stony floor, looking down, her curls in her face, one hand supporting her head, the other loosely hanging up, handcuffed to the tap.
He could feel her high body temperature; the icy cold water doing nothing to cool it down.
The heat was stronger than any kind of cold. You could've placed the female X5 in the middle of Siberia and she still would've acted like a thermometer about to explode.
Water mixed with sweat gave her skin a gleaming aspect and redefined her brown curls.
X5 494 took another step, his foot clapping in the water that lay before him.
She heard it.
She looked up, saw him and all attempt at fighting the power of the heat was dashed.
You were no match against heat, so why even try?
Slowly, like a predator, she got to her feet and meant to close the gap between their two inflamed bodies, but something forgotten held her back.
The metal of the handcuffs dug deep into her burning skin but she didn't even frown; it clicked against the water tap as she took a step back, falling in her initial position.
X5 494 tilted his head to the side, his eyes carefully looking at her from head to toe: bare feet, naked shapely muscled legs, perfectly flat stomach, soaked see-through white top barely covering her breasts after her last encounter with Devon.
Her chest was heaving by now irregular but still loud breathing; her body wanting his as much as his wanted hers.
X5 494 absentmindedly licked his upper lip and, as if to prove what was going inside of her was mirroring what was taking place inside of him, she slowly, sensuously bit her lower lip.
Without taking his eyes off her, X5 494 slowly put his hand in his jeans pocket and drew out, with a nasty smirk, a small silver key.
He threw the tiny key in her direction; she caught it and turned herself free without ever breaking eye contact.
Now she could move and that meant that he no longer had exclusive control of the situation. Not that it bothered him in any kind of way; it was just making things more exciting and challenging.
The dual would no longer be taking place within him, but between them.
Thy both still seemed frozen in place.
Only one element in the room appeared animated: the water. It was running on her shoulders mixing with messy brown hair, down her back and to the floor, spreading at his feet; water being the only connection between them.
Their eyes were locked and both thought the vision of the other was getting blurry they were both staring so much, staring in excitement and desire.
Something flickered in X5 515's brown eyes and a similar response was reflected in the male's eyes.
They blurred across the room and stopped chest to chest as still as they had previously been.
If a third person had witnessed this scene, had they blinked, they would've thought that the two X5s had just popped out of thin air and closer to each other and that no movement whatsoever had resulted in the fact that they were now millimeters apart from one another.
X5 515 could feel X5 494's breath on her face, a breath betraying both excitement and impatience mixed with a vain attempt at self control now that she, the object of his desire, was so close.
She lifted her head back a little in order to see him more properly: his cheekbones seemed highlighted in pink, his lips, unusually red, were slightly opened, allowing her a quick glance at white teeth and his eyes, though they hadn't looked at anything but her in the last five minutes, seemed unfocused.
Her eyes narrowed, the tip of her tongue showed and played on her own lips, gently humidifying them and her head tilted slightly to the side.
Everything seemed in slow motion.
He lowered his head, placing his lips right in front hers that were full and pink.
She brushed her lips against his; giving him a taste of what was bound to come, tempting him with a taste of her.
He could smell her, not just the pheromones, but her. She smelt like something sweet, like something he could just devour right here and right now and oh how he craved to.
His lips parted more and everything went back to normal transgenic speed; no human could've followed.
In the space of a heartbeat, he threw one of his arms around her waist and lifted her up in order to gain more access to her mouth; the tip of her toes barely making contact with the wet floor.
She was completely resting against him; arms wrapped around his neck, letting him take the advantage.
Never breaking the connection between their two mouths, he blurred forward, pushing her with him back in the shower cubicle.
There was nothing she could do; she no longer had any sort of balance. And even if she had been able to, she wouldn't have stopped him.
Her back connected with the cold wet wall and in seconds, X5 494's warm body was against hers; pressing her against the wall she had been resting against when he had first come in.
His hands were all over her body; their contact fluid and slippery from the water that had never stopped its own action.
His mouth… oh, his mouth…
His tongue was exploring her entire mouth, first playing with her own tongue, and then imposing its own rule.
It felt harsh yet the contact was soft; his grip was firm as he had one hand around her head constantly dragging her closer, constantly deepening the kiss, letting the feverish passion that was consuming him, flow as freely as the water running down his back.
He pressed his body even more tightly to her and X5 515 felt the contrast between the cold, hard wall against her back and the raging, passionate touch that was X5 494's.
Her hands had made their way under his shirt and up, pressing his shoulder blades against her, digging her nails into his skin.
She broke away from the kiss, recollecting her breath and turned her head away leaving him access to yet other unexplored areas.
He took it all.
Still, one hand lost in her curls, he let his mouth wonder around the curves of her jaw, chin and neck. Once he reached her collarbone, he made the same path backwards, letting his tongue rather than his mouth lead the way, devouring her.
It led him near her ear and he grabbed her earlobe between his teeth, pulling gently.
Something came from deep within her; a low, constant, soothing noise escaped her lips.
The animal had taken over a while back and was now expressing the exquisite pleasure it was feeling. X5 515 didn't seem surprised by it; there was nothing she could do to stop the purring as long as X5 494 kept doing what he was doing.
His other hand had traveled down her back and the curve of her hips, to her butt and was now on its way back up, bringing her leg up with it.
Without, neither letting her go, nor interrupting the contact of his tongue against her neck, he pushed further into the space that was her spread legs.
Her hands went from X5 494's shoulders down to his buttocks.
There, they applied an even stronger pressure, joining his effort, feeling that they yet weren't close enough, that there had to be more, wanting him to be all over her, wishing him to cover her entire body with his hands.
This was a contest, a challenge; two animals unleashed and wanting to satisfy their wants and needs. And what X5 515 wanted, was dominance.
She switched the advantage to hers, and in a brutal, animal kind of way, she rolled X5 494 to the side.
His back was now against the cold wall, but the absence of his body against her made her shiver.
She immediately jumped on him, her legs spread.
He caught her and helped her up, both his hands locked under her butt, her legs wrapped around his waist, her hands around his neck.
Her bent knees made contact with the wall and she reached for his demanding mouth again while ripping his shirt apart.
Both her hands then locked around his neck as he pushed his mouth in hers, lips mouthing a wordless desire to make them merge, to make their entire bodies merge.
Water was now falling down her spine but X5 494 was the one soaked, not that he cared, he would've been soaked in sweat if it hadn't been for the water.
But the animal in him wanted more, he hadn't wrestled with his mind to let her take over, it wasn't a matter of giving and taking, it was just taking, taking as much as you could and they both were aware of that.
He propelled himself against the opposite wall.
She was once again backed against the stone, cold wall of the shower cubicle and he was pressing her against it.
Her ankles locked around his back and he pushed further, took her further more and more.
She deepened the kiss – even that was even possible – taking advantage of her transgenic breathing techniques; making sure she, too, was taking further more and more.
What happened next, neither X5s could recall precisely.
Pants were striped down, more shirts were ripped off, more rolling over was involved, more pushing and much, much more taking.
-------------------
Lydecker entered the cafeteria calmly, far more calmly than he truly felt.
He gave a circular look at the mess that was now left. Those few transgenics that could still stand were exiting the cafeteria and heading for their dorms. The injured and drugged were being transported to the medical wing where a bed-penury was surely taking place.
Jondy was taking care of her sisters while leaving her brothers to others or manage themselves and others.
It was funny, the colonel noted, this temporary resentment, even though there was nothing the males could've done to prevent all that had happened.
Somehow, Lydecker who knew his kids far more than they suspected he did, was willing to bet that in the days to come Syl, Jondy and the rest of the girls would be cold and distant towards Krit, Zane and the others.
Interestingly enough, Zack might be exempted from this treatment as he had kept a some semblance of self control. Plus, the fight had kept him busy and with something else on his mind.
Lydecker understood the girls' reaction: you don't get away with trying to bang the little sister just like that, whether you're simply the brother or worse, the lover.
Those were the thoughts that he was ruminating on on his way back to the video surveillance room.
"Um… Sir?" one of his officers politely addressed him.
"Yes?" he replied patiently though he felt older and more exhausted than he had ever felt.
"The girl… the one that caused all this"
"Lou? What about her?"
"Our three men that were in charge of escorting her have just come back. Apparently, she's gotten away from them. And quite some time ago too"
"Why am I not surprised?"
"There's more Sir" the soldier added before taking a step on his left.
Lydecker could then have a clear look at the screen the soldier had been standing in front of. It was a video that was placed in the girls' bathroom. It offered only a partial view of the room to preserve the girls' intimacy. But for once, it showed more than enough.
Lydecker closed his tired eyes as he switched off the screen. He then turned around and came face to face with Jondy. The expression on her face left no doubt as to whether or not she had seen what was on the screen.
Lydecker merely looked at her and she returned his stare. He thought he could read several things in her big blue eyes: an incredible sadness. A painful memory of too many morning-afters but also a trace of blame.
He was partly responsible for all this after all. He had helped making them the way they were: human but also victims of savage primitive instincts, as primitive as animals sometimes. Victims of their own perfectly designed DNA.
He could think of nothing to say. There was nothing to say, nothing he could tell that would take away the blame and the shame that came with the day's events.
And anyway, Jondy wasn't expecting any words.
-------------------
"Ah… home sweet home" Logan ironically said as he smelled the clinical air of the facility.
Their few days escapade had done him good… had done both of them good.
So much, that they had decided to leave in the evening, rather than early in the morning; delaying, even if just for a few hours, their return to the facility and to all the responsibilities that awaited them there.
Surely, Zack could manage one more day without her. And surely, Lydecker would take his time to come back from his mysterious road trip with Joshua. Why, then, should they be in a hurry to come back?
As they were reaching the bottom of the stairs that led to their room, Max was distracted. She somehow could tell that something wasn't right.
She hadn't been expecting a welcoming committee, but surely someone must have announced to the others that their car was back and surely a few of her brothers and sisters would have come out to meet her.
It was kind of late. Surely, they weren't all in training.
But there was something else. Something she couldn't quite put her finger on… was it just something in the air, an intuition, a feeling that something wasn't right.
Logan was still talking but she couldn't seem to force her mind to register the words he was speaking.
Instead, a shudder ran through her as she heard her name spoken half as a sob, half as a beg… the low, plaintive call of a ghost.
For a second, she doubted she had heard it at all. She thought her mind was playing tricks on her.
"Max?" Logan asked, looking down at her with an inquiring look.
Of course, he was finding the whole situation somewhat funny. He was halfway up the stairs while her foot was still frozen on the first step.
"Max?" Logan asked again, more concerned.
"Um… yeah, I'll be right there. I've just remembered there's something I gotta do, 'k?" she answered a bit too quickly for it to sound authentic.
She was sure Logan could tell but he didn't say anything. With a shrug, he turned around and continued his progression up the stairs to their room.
Following her instinct and the phantomlike voice, Max went round the stairs and found what she was looking for beneath it.
The sight was somewhat more pitiful than she had expected.
Her little sister was standing in the stairs' shadow, arms wrapped around her practically naked self, drops of water rolling down her shaking body and on the floor, creating a slippery pond around her bare feet.
Lou looked every inch the part of a broken child.
As Max got closer, she smelled rather than saw the dried blood on her sister's brow and that particular odor of sex emanating from her sister.
"Lou? Are you all right? What's happened?" Max asked urgently.
Lou took a few uneasy breathes before answering in a trembling voice:
"I… I wish I didn't remember"
Max pulled off her jacket and put it around Lou's shoulder. She didn't say anything else; it hadn't taken her ages to put two and two together, but she now had a lot of questions. They would have to wait.
She helped Lou up the stairs and politely asked Logan to leave them alone. Whether or not he had understood why, Max was grateful for his not asking when he caught a brief glance at Lou.
-------------------
She felt filthy and unclean; soiled with dirt that no soap could ever wash away. Dirt incrusted within her and that she had no way of getting rid of.
Max had allowed her to take refuge in Logan's private bathroom. Though her hair was still wet from… earlier events, Lou had felt she could use another shower.
She had entered the small, sober room neighboring Max and Logan's bedroom and her hands had automatically turned on the tap, grabbed a hold of the shower gel and the shampoo and started accomplishing the daily ritual. She had then rinsed her entire body thoroughly and was now making a vain attempt at relaxing her tired muscles with a jet of hot water.
Vapors were rising from all around her, clouding up the narrow room and fogging up the tiny mirror.
Lou turned the tap furthermore, allowing more pressured warm water to roll down her head and weigh her long brown hair in her face. Then, she bent her head, looking down though her eyes were closed; jets of water then had access to the back of her neck, her tensed shoulders and down her back marked by recently appeared runes.
She sighed deeply; yet another manifestation of an unwanted, unasked for and unwilled element locked inside her.
Earlier events… involving… Lou swore never to say his name again; neither to look nor speak to him; let alone think of him! And it was all starting this very minute, right here and right now!
Lou opened up her eyes, blinking away several drops of water only to see pink patches had appeared on her exhausted body. Pink patches caused by both the high temperature and the pressure of the water escaping the tap.
Lou wondered why Max didn't use Logan's private bathroom more often; it was much more intimate then having to wait in line for one of the ten showers shared with several other female X5s to turn vacant.
The girl's showers… that reminded her of…
No! Do not think of him!
Lou's head rose in frustration and anger as she shook it from side to side, sending drops of water everywhere.
She immediately grabbed the shower gel for the second time, scrubbing it in her dirty skin, her dirty self and her dirty soul.
Truth was, if she closed her eyes and concentrated hard enough, Lou could recall all the places he had touched her; a phantom-like feeling of his fingers.
She could even recall the sensations it had generated within her.
And it had all felt soo good; it still did and she hated what had happened because it had felt so good! She hated him, she hated what they had done and above all, she hated herself for letting any of it happen!
Heat wasn't a drug dashing all your inhibitions and fears, like alcohol. Heat was far more crueler: it reduced you to a victim of the most primitive aspects of your animal DNA and you were to remember exactly what had happened each time you turned into what some would call "your average male".
Unlike alcohol, it didn't even offer you the compensation of memory loss.
No, she recalled his scent - not that it was too hard as it was still all over her, stronger than the soap's perfume.
She recalled the delightful moans and groans they had both let out.
She remembered every muscle curve and inch of his body. Hell, she could even retrace it with her eyes closed!
And she hated it all so much!
The patches on her skin turned red at the never ending scrubbing on her already sensitized flesh. Lou unconsciously felt it necessary to rub her skin raw, particularly on the spots where he had marked her: neck, inner elbow and chest.
Silent at first, tears started rolling down her cheeks.
As she looked skywards, a strong jet of warm water pushed back her brown hair and mixed with the salty drops on her face.
Lou placed her two palms flat against the shower's white tilled opposite wall.
Her chest rose, abruptly lifted by her irregular breathing and a sob that escaped her lips.
The first of a very long line; until Lou couldn't remember how long she had been there, having completely lost track of time, sitting her arms wrapped around her knees, crying in Logan's shower.
-------------------
Alerted by the loud sobs and the incredible long amount of time her sister was taking, Max had shyly pushed the door to Logan's bathroom open and peeped her head through.
The picture before her had struck her like lightning, bringing back painful memories of her own past.
Max stood on the threshold for several seconds, staring at the small naked form lost in the endlessly rising steam, curled up in the corner of the shower and dangerously shaking under the strong power of its own cries as water washed over it.
She couldn't believe that this teary and frightened little child was her Lou, 'Posh X5'.
Max deeply exhaled - she hadn't realized she had been holding her breath - and tried to gulp down the knot forming in her throat.
Her brown eyes never releasing from their gaze her little sister's fragile-looking form, Max took a determined step into the room, grabbed a dry towel from the towel rail and walked to her baby sister; ready to save her for the second time that evening.
She came to a stop, left hand holding the dry towel, right turning the tap off.
She looked down at the naked form beneath her; her visibility cleared now that the room appeared less foggy. Max caught a glance at a pair of puffy red eyes as her sister met her gaze.
Lou sniffed loudly, the sound echoing through the room, now that the noise generated by the running water had been extinguished.
With the protective and caring gesture of a mother, Max bent down; and as her knees connected with the wet floor of the shower, she wrapped Lou in the dry towel.
'Posh X5' surrendered, like a puppet, in Max's arms as the latter whispered soothing words into her ear:
"I know what it's like. I understand. It's over now and things are going to be all right, I promise"
Yes, Max did understand as she did remember.
Heat was crueler than alcohol and she remembered what it was like to go after Rafer while Logan was waiting all alone in his penthouse apartment.
She understood the feeling of filthiness that was like an infection gnawing at you from the inside.
She knew it was over… but that there would be more to come. More heats, more bad things, each tougher than the previous one and always more and more…
As for the promise, never had things ever seemed quite so unclear.
The atmosphere in the room was still warm, but Lou shivered from deep down inside.
Her sobs stopped at once and she seemed to be taking an everlasting inhalation. Her entire body appeared frozen in Max's arms, every muscle appearing so tensed it felt like it would never move again.
Max looked down at her sister; Lou's eyes seemed focused and a deep frown marked her forehead.
All of the sudden, she stumbled to her feet, requiring both Max and the wall's support to stand properly.
In a whisper, as if out of breath, Lou said:
"Zane… we gotta get to him… he… he's in trouble"
Max nodded, wrapped the towel around her sister's shoulders again and as they walked out of the bathroom.
… and always more and more.
-------------------
End of Chapter X
Note: I know Lou reacts differently to heat than Max but I think that's one of the things that changes according to the person. I think all females would react differently. Max is hyperactive when she's lucid and transitions from one state to another are brutal. It acts more like a drug when it comes to Lou. Others might not even have lucidity moments. I think it all depends on the girl's temper. I hadn't written it like this the first time, I hadn't even thought of it but now that's it's done, I kinda like it this way. What d'you think?
And as always, please review… for some reason, I imagine you guys to be more interested by Alec's reaction and how it's all going to work out between him and Lou, rather than by what's actually happened to Zane…