Disclaimer: I don't own anything!
Thanks so much to everyone who reviewed!
Iridescent Twilight, Doza, X5-459
HoneyX5-452: Zack won't be appearing in the story…but I hope you keep on reading it!
Athena80: You'll be surprised on who the sacrifice will be. ;-)
Reminder: This fic is: Alternate Universe
Fire and Blood
By: human28
Chapter EightNight fell, and soon the whole of Seattle was bathed in darkness. It was almost twelve midnight, the witching hour – the perfect time for a heist. A black shadow ran down a rooftop, with speed almost impossible to pursue. It leapt from building to building with the grace of a feline. And finally, it jumped from the rooftop and landed soundlessly on top of the next building.
The figure smiled. Clad in nothing but black, and moving like a shadow, she was practically invisible to the human eye. After making sure that no hoverdrones were present, she lowered herself on the fire-escape ladder on the side of the building wall. She came to a stop next to a certain window – her target. The curtains were drawn, and although the lights were turned off, she could clearly see everything within. Her mouth practically watered at her main objective. It stood against the wall.
Her name was Bast. The Egyptian goddess who comprehends all goddesses, eye of Ra, protector, avenger, destroyer…giver of life who lives forever. The golden statue was French, made in the 1920's. A tribute to Chitarus.
Plus, she wouldn't admit that she liked it so much because it was so shiny.
She quickly took out her tools and cut a neat little circle on the window. And without further hesitation, she wriggled through the hole and tumbled noiselessly into the penthouse. Grabbing her empty black backpack, she started to put the statue in it, but was unfortunately interrupted.
"Max? You're stealing from me?"
She spun around to see the owner of the penthouse standing in the middle of the room, holding a cup of coffee in one hand. He was still fully dressed, and the wrinkles on his shirt and the way his hair stood at different directions told her that he had been up working.
She mentally cursed herself for not noticing the dim light glowing from the next room. It was obviously coming from a computer screen. She was X5, damnit! Unbelievably stupid of her. After two seconds of staring at him, his words finally sunk into her brain. Max?
"Okay, I've got three things to tell you." She said, slowly backing away from him. She'll have to come back for the statue some other time. "Number one: a girl's gotta make a living. Number two: I'm not this Max-chick. And number three: I gotta blaze."
And with that, X5-453 wriggled back through the hole and fuck the ladder, jumped from the edge and landed lithely onto the ground. She hopped onto her bike and sped into the night, leaving Logan to stare after her retreating figure from above.
…
"I never knew that delivering packages could be so tiring," Max complained, as she and Alec strolled back into Jam Pony for the fifth time that morning, bikes in tow.
Alec smirked at her. "I think the only thing that's got you tired is being nice to all the old ladies."
Max laughed and punched him playfully on the shoulder. "Shut up, Alec." They plopped down on a vacant bench and took out the sodas they bought from a nearby vending machine. "I can't believe we still haven't found an apartment yet."
"We should've just taken Buffy's offer," Alec said downing his drink with one last gulp.
Max glared at him. "You know, I don't trust them."
Alec flashed her a devilish smile. "Or maybe, you just don't want to share ol' Alec."
He was again rewarded by another hit on the shoulder – only this time, it was a lot more painful. "Ow!" he whined, rubbing the sore spot with much exaggeration.
Max rolled her eyes. "You're such a big baby."
Alec then remembered something. "Hey Max. Did you forget about us dropping by Logan's place last night? You know, to talk about Renfro and shit?"
Max's eyes widened. "Oh my god. I totally forgot."
Alec shook his head. "Tut, tut, Maxie. Are you sure you don't have brain damage?"
"Alec." Max warned. "If you don't shut up, I swear you are going to have a large bruise tonight."
He grinned cheekily at her. "It depends where."
"Argh!" Max growled in frustration. "You are so annoying! Maybe we should have taken Buffy's offer. It's better than spending all day and all night with you in one freakin' apartment!"
"What's this I hear about apartments?" A new voice asked. It had a sassy edge to it, causing the two transgenics to turn around. An African-American woman stood behind them with a hand on her hip.
"Hey there," Alec said, his charming smile once again making it's appearance. "My name's Alec, and the bitch here is --."
"I'm Max," she introduced herself, glaring at Alec, and smiling at the woman. There was something about her that Max immediately liked.
"Name's Original Cindy, but everyone here calls me OC." She said with a warm smile. "So – you lovebirds lookin' for an apartment, huh?"
"We're not -- " Max started.
"Yep!" Alec said at the same time throwing an arm around her shoulder. She quickly shrugged it off with a scowl.
OC raised an eyebrow. "You sweeties can stay with OC, if you like. Of course, you gotta help pay the rent. My roommate just moved out with her punk-ass boyfriend. So I've got plenty of room."
"That would be great." Max smiled.
…
"Hey." A hand clamped onto his shoulder, making him jump out of his seat in alarm, his heart jumping right along with him. He turned around to face the intruder, half-angry, half-frightened. He didn't know whether to feel annoyed or relieved when he saw who it was.
"Max, you scared me." He said, running a hand through his hair.
"It's an X5-thing," a masculine voice said from his right, thus startling him once again. He glared at Alec. "There's a little thing called 'knocking' you know."
"Like I said, it's an X5-thing." Alec stared at him. "What's wrong with you? You look like you've seen a ghost or something."
"You can say that again," he muttered under his breath, slowly lowering himself back on his computer chair. He opened up several of his security files, looking for the footage from last night. Finally finding it, he opened it up and placed it on pause. He then turned back to look at Max.
"We forgot to drop by last night, I know." Max said apologetically. "Sorry about that."
Logan waved it off. "That's okay. But somebody else dropped by."
Alec cocked an eyebrow. "Who? The tooth fairy?"
Logan glared at him. "Why don't you take a look at this." He hit the play button and the events from last night, made its appearance on Logan's computer screen. He himself, took a closer look as well, not noticing the expressions on the transgenic's faces.
Max? You're stealing from me?
Max rolled her eyes and poked Alec in the ribs. She was answered by another one of his cheeky grins. But it swiftly vanished at the sight of Max's mirror image.
"That's my twin -- 453," Max informed Logan. "She was one of the twelve who escaped back in '09." Her mask had gone up, but her dark brown eyes betrayed her anger.
Traitor.
"She's here in Seattle," Alec said, trying to keep his emotions intact. "We have to find her."
Max nodded.
Logan stared at them, his bright blue eyes full of questions, and a tiny bit of understanding. "Very well. But I just want to remind you that retribution is never the answer."
…
Faith wandered through Seattle's market place. She had a sudden craving for a Fudgy-Buddy. And she still had not found the ice cream vendor. She sighed and settled herself on an empty bench. The last three days had been wild. Spike's resurrection, Manticore's demise, their new friendship with two killing machines.
She shrugged. She was a Slayer. She was supposed to have a wild life. A grin split her face when her eyes caught sight of the man she had been looking for. She practically ran all the way over to him. "Hi. One Fudgy-Buddy please." The vendor answered her cravings, and once again disappeared into the crowd of people.
Faith smiled happily as she ate her ice cream. Tough-ass-chick eating ice cream. Now that's a picture. She frowned when she finished it. That was a bit too quick for her. Oh well, there's always next time. She thought.
She was about to go back to the apartment, when she bumped into a familiar someone. Dark brown hair, dark brown eyes, black outfit. "Hey."
"Hey." The other girl replied almost monotonously and brushed past Faith without so much as a glance.
"Where are you going?" Faith called out, a bit miffed that Max would brush her off like that.
"None of your business," Max called back at her and vanished into the throng of marketers. Faith scowled, and looked around for any sign of her handsome partner-in-crime. She grinned when she saw him standing near the bench she had abandoned. Her grin faded when she saw who he was standing with.
"Hey Faith!" Alec called out to her. She jogged over to him – and Max.
"Max?" She asked doubtfully. "Is that you? Coz' I swear I just bumped into you a few seconds ago."
Max sighed. "I see you've met my twin."
"Twin?" Faith echoed.
"Max's twin, X5-453." Alec shook his head. "Did you know where she went?"
"I – I, she went that way." She pointed the direction, still a bit bewildered.
"Thanks." Alec said and they too vanished into the crowd of people.
"You're welcome!" Faith yelled back at them. She sighed, and made her way back to the apartment.
Another wild day to add to her list.
…
To be continued……
A/N: In my story, Sam (453) never had a family, and she was one of those who escaped in '09. Got it? Good. Now be a kind person and REVIEW! ;-)