Hello! Long time no see. Here is Chapter Nine, Tuesday Morning, and Tuesday Afternoon…

During the school year, I'm not sure about how many times I'll be able to update. My goal is to post a chapter every month. How long they'll be, I don't know. This one 3,200 words, but I can guarantee that all will be this long. So, some will be long, some will be short, but at least it's a chapter a month, unlike last year.

Thank you for your future patience.

Chapter Nine

Ames White stood there, steel faced, and did nothing. He watched, steel faced, as 494 stepped over the broken body of his own son, and did nothing. He watched, steel faced, as 494 reached into his jacket and pulled out his own gun. And once again, he watched, steel faced, as 494 aimed at his head, smirked, and pulled back the trigger.

Then everything went dark.

He didn't know if he had closed his eyes at his last moment of life, or if 494 had pulled that trigger long before he thought he did and he didn't see the 9mm bullet coming at him, but he soon found out.

Wherever he was, it instantly lit up, like someone had flipped a switch. And before him stood, broken, bloody, slouched, and nearly half dead, 452.

He didn't know if it was a dream, a vision, or something that was really happening, but he knew that something did this to her. One of those half cooked freaks maybe? Perhaps that giant dog man she kept under wraps. No, something more inhuman then that wouldn't even be able to do that to her. Not her.

It was odd, watching as she looked up at him, her eyes clouded over with something. Perhaps it was pain? Sorrow? Regret? He was sure of one thing, it was something deep, and something far more complicated then he cared to delve into. But as she slowly began to limp towards him, something in him seemed to chip. Maybe the ice around his heart that only Ray could melt, or maybe the pure reinforced iron around his mind, but he couldn't help his heart from clenching, seeing such a strong being reduced to what was before him.

He watched silently as with each step, her right leg seemed to give way more and more, inch by inch. When it finally gave up in the act of supporting her weight, what compelled him to do so, he didn't know, but he did what he did.

He caught her.

Slowly, he brought her down, watching as her head fell to his shoulder. He could feel how shallow her breaths were, and no matter how much he denied it, it scared him.

She was dieing, slowly at that, and he couldn't do anything. Not even put her out of her misery. He couldn't bring himself to think about it.

"I'm sorry..." she choked out, a weak cough coming directly after speaking. Why she was apologizing, he didn't know, but he wanted to.

"Why?" he asked bluntly, positioning her so she was sitting against him and off the obviously shattered leg.

"Because," she said, bringing her hand up to her two lower left ribs as she took a breath in. "I-I couldn't save him."

He listened to her closely, taking in each word and each struggled breath while calculating all of her injuries.

Her leg was literally shattered. How she was able to stand on it, let alone walk the few steps she had, was amazing. The other ankle looked severely sprained, with a sizeable gash running up the side of each of her thighs. There were small cuts and scratches across her abdomen and up along her arms, though the only fatal ones were at her forearms and her chest. Along with that, her back and face were bruised and bloodied, most likely from the fight she was in.

"Save whom?" he asked softly, watching as runes appeared all over the broken and dirty skin, most completely unreadable by him.

"R-" she took in a deep breath, he back straightening as she coughed, a large amount of blood spilling over her lips before she sat back against him again, breathing even shallower then before. "Ray."

Everything seemed to freeze when she said his sons' name. She tried to save him? She was dieing because she tried to save his son? She was dieing because one of her own turned on her? 494 did this to her?

It was completely unbelievable. Of all of the transgenic trash she was hiding, 494 would do this to her? He practically loved her, and now he was the reason she was dieing.

"I forgive you." she said, sighing out a breath. He didn't understand her. Forgive him? For what? Not succeeding in being the one to kill her, or for trying all those times?

"For what?" Ames asked, some of his steeled face mask dropping as she turned to face him, her head still on his shoulder.

She slowly smiled up at him, and even though it seemed to pain her, she kept smiling. And as she did, a rune he did understand slowly appeared on her collar bone.

'And so the Angel of Darkness falls, killed by her own beloved Corrupted One...'

"I forgive you," she said, coughing again, though this time no blood came to her lips, for her last words would be the last thing she ever said. "For killing me."

White's eyes shot right open, to once again, darkness. He quickly sat up, relived for the fact that he could feel the thick sheets covering him, the mattress beneath him, and the fabric that were his pajama pants.

He hadn't been able to feel anything in his dream.

He hadn't dreamt of anything in a good twenty six years.

But the scariest fact was the fact that he had killed 452. He had beaten her that badly, and she still came back. She forgave him.

The concept of it was terrifying to him.

Lying back down onto his pillow slowly, he turned to his right. There was a small amount of light coming through the window above the bed's head board, and with that, he could see her.

She had her back to him, with her dark hair spread out over the pillow her right arm was under. The blanket rested on her hips, exposing the tight tank top she wore, and where it rode up, the smooth skin that was distinctly hers and the faint letters of a new rune appearing.

Letting his eyes travel up her back, he focused on the back of her neck. Under her slightly tangled hair, he could see a good portion of the tell tale barcode she had been branded with since birth. It was odd, lying there in the same bed with her, staring at her barcode. Her identification, her designation, her name.

'But her name is Max.' he thought sarcastically, rolling over to lye on his back. 'It ridiculous, the bunch of them running around like the freaks they are, saying they have names.'

You're such an ass, you know that?' a voice said in the back of his mind, which he gladly ignored, and went back to sleep.

Max woke up slowly, early morning light lighting up half of the room she had been sleeping in for the previous three hours.

She had come down form the roof when her teeth had started to chatter from the cold as she thought. After, she had locked everything and gotten into the bed, turning her back to the sleeping man on the other side. She had fallen asleep so fast; she barley saw that it was one thirty in the morning when she had finally gone inside.

Slowly getting up from the bed, she let her back arch, a few disks popping back into a comfortable place.

"I thought you didn't need to sleep."

Max spun around, completely shocked and in a fighting stance. She had no clue he was awake before her, and the fact that he was now laughing at her didn't help her all ready irritated state of mind towards him.

"What's wrong 452? Don't tell me I scared you." he taunted, his eyes never even opening as he laid there on his back with his hands propping his head up, and what seemed like a trademark smirk planted on his face.

"Having to remember the fact that we're in the same room and you're not dead yet is scary enough." she shot back, leaning back on one leg while she crossed her arms. "How would you know if I was asleep or not anyways White? Watching me in my sleep now?"

White snorted, cracking an eye open to look at her in the morning light. "You know you talk in your sleep?" he asked. "Who the hell are Ben and Tinga anyways?"

"None of your business." Max snapped. 'I do not talk in my sleep!'

"Really...?" White drawled, this time opening both eyes and facing her, sitting up against his propped up pillow. "Are you hiding something illegal perhaps 452? You did a lot of mumbling..."

"Shut up." she said pointedly, glaring at the male before her. 'He's lying!'

"Are you positive?" he asked, tilting his head to the side while making an attempt to look seriously interested, which he was. She did mumble in her sleep, she even twitched a bit, and those were the only names he could understand. Of course, since he knew that, it meant that she was right, and he did watch her sleep... But only for the last thirty minutes. Then she woke up.

"White..." she growled, her head lowering in a very menacing way. Truthfully, Ames thought that if he pushed her anymore, she would pounce him and beat the shit out of him...

He wasn't wrong either.

"Fine." he said, holding both hands up in mock surrender.

It seemed to calm her, the small movement. She straightened herself and made for the door, stretching her legs and arms along the way. By the time her hand was on the door knob, like in his dream, Ames seemed to have lost complete control of his body, and what came out of his mouth nearly gave him a heart attack.

"I'm sorry."

Max felt herself freeze, trying to understand if that was her imagination, or if it was simply the fact that she had literally frozen her brain while sitting out in the cold without even her jacket. Ames White would never say those words. It just wasn't... possible.

"What was that?" she asked uncertainly, slowly turning around to face him.

"I believe you heard me." he said through his teeth, believing that if we were to open his mouth again, something else he seriously should not say would come out of his mouth.

Within seconds she was sitting beside him on the bed, the back of her hand resting gently on his forehead. After a few seconds she moved it to his cheek, then just under his chin.

"You don't seem to have a fever..." Max muttered.

She watched, highly amused, as White's right eye seemed to twitch a few times.

"Leave." he said, slowly, and it sounded very strained. His eye began to twitch even more when she didn't move.

Laughing lightly, Max got off the bed and walked to the door, silently shutting it behind her.

"Mhmmm." Max mumbled, listening as Becky ranted on about the beautiful different colors she could wear.

"And you know what; you would look beautiful in a deep blue..." Becky said, grabbing hold of Max's wrist to drag her into another store.

They had already gotten nearly everything on Ray's list, well, except for the one suspicious item, but they could get to that one later.

'Why would that be on his list, of all things? It's winter!' Becky thought as she grabbed a nice pink sweater for herself, grabbing Max a same one but in a rich violet color. 'We'll be passing one of those stores soon... I'll have to talk her into it somehow...'

"Those are nice colors." Max said politely, walking on to look through some jeans just a little bit away.

Becky smiled, handing her the sweater and picking out a pair of dark colored jeans for the both of them. They tried them on, and after much ranting and persuading from Becky, they made the purchase and walked out of the store, a total of five bags for each other them after an hour of shopping.

As they turned a corner, Becky saw the store she was dreading to walk by. How would she get Max in there? Let alone get her to try something on... It was a difficult task.

"So… umm... What would you like to get next?" Becky asked, slightly moving to the left to slowly turn Max towards the up coming store.

Max looked down and into her various bags. "I don't know." she said, shrugging lightly as Becky again took a step towards the left as they walked side by side, which only confused Max. Was she tripping or something? Could this woman not walk in a straight line? Was she drunk at one in the afternoon?

"Oh!" Becky said, stopping in front of the store with pink lights illuminating the manikins in the window. "We must go into this store!" she said cheerfully while Max gave her a skeptical look.

"You're not thinking of getting anything are you?"

"Oh, come on Maxie! It'll be so much fun!" Becky said joyfully, grabbing Max's hand and dragging her into the store.

'Maxie? Where did that come from?' she thought letting herself be dragged into the bright store.

Ames sat back on the couch down stairs in the den, a phone book in his lap. Flipping through the thick paper back, making sure he didn't recognize any names. Of course, he knew new aliases would be used, but he needed something to do. He now completely understood why 452 didn't want to be left in the damn house. It was extremely boring. There was absolutely nothing to do.

So, he sat down, got comfy, and grabbed the phone book, and started looking for any name that he knew, which he knew we wasn't going to find.

Talk about pointless.

When he heard the front door unlock with a click, and shut with a loud resounding smack, he knew who was home.

Getting up from his seat, he put the book back and shut off the light, heading to the front door.

Max dropped the bags around her, glaring at each and everyone of them.

'Damn shopping experience from hell.'

"I guess you didn't have fun..." a voice drawled from somewhere in front of her, a voice that belonged to a man that she didn't care to deal with in her bad mood.

"What time is it?" she snapped, grabbing the bags in her hands again. Hers in one, Becky's in the other.

"Two o'clock, Ray gets out in half an hour." Ames said, following the younger woman up the stairs. He watched silently as she deposited what must have been Becky's bags into her room, and then turned to their room, stuffing her own bags into their closet. "What did you get?" he asked slyly, noting how it made her left hand twitch slightly.

"Nothing that you need to stick your big nose into." she said dryly, grabbing her leather jacket and throwing his over her shoulder in his general direction. "Let's go."

They had gotten through the thickening snow and through the annoyingly slick intersections quickly, getting to Ray's school with ten minutes to spare. Max looked around, noticing that everything was the same, though the snow seemed to be deeper, and Ames did the same, their observations very much the same.

Walking through the front playground, Ames took lead, making sure to crush the frozen chunks of gravel under his feet as both he and Max approached the door to Ray's class. Though, just as they were passing a set of swings, the sounds of her footsteps didn't seem to reach his ears. Looking over his shoulder, he found that she wasn't even behind him anymore.

Instead, she was slowly making her way over to a young boy who had his back turned to them. He looked a little younger then Ray, and was certainly smaller, wearing a thick jacket and heavy looking boots, a trumpet clutched in a gloved hand. Though, what was odd was the fact that the boy was nearly completely bald, and didn't even seem to have a hat in the cold weather. Why she was sneaking up on the boy was beyond him, so he decided to watch and listen in, surprised the boy didn't notice 452 behind him.

He watched, amazed, as she crouched down behind him, pulling off her own black and dark blue toque, and pulling it onto his head, holding back laughter when the boy spun around, obviously shocked.

He was even more shocked when the boy latched onto her neck.

"Ugh... I hate snow."

"You don't mind rain."

"Rain doesn't pile up like that."

Logan looked over to his car, nodding. The car was absolutely covered with at least an inch of snow, and he was surprised it was even recognizable.

"Now, we have to get all of that off, or it could ruin something." Alec said, pulling on his black gloves and sighing. "Why couldn't you get a small, normal car?"

"Because I don't like small, normal cars." Logan said, stepping out into the falling onslaught of flakes and whipping chunks from his cars hood and windshield.

"Now, if you had just gotten a car like that..." Alec trailed off, looking over to the car behind Logan. It was a red Mustang, something just a little before the pulse, that looked like it was right off the line.

"You know how fast that would be stolen in Seattle?" Logan said, and when Alec did nothing but ogle at the car, he threw a chuck of snow at him. "You going to help me or not? It's a car, leave it be."

Alec scowled at him, reaching out and whipping off half of the snow on the top of the car. "It's a nice car, and stop reprimanding me, I can get that from Max later."

"Just hurry up, will you?" he heard Logan say, though Alec kept looking at the car. It was a nice car, a very nice car, and it strangely looked familiar. He hadn't seen it before... Had he?

"Alec," Logan said, looking over the roof of the car at the male X5. "Perhaps if you get in the car, we can get moving."

Blinking a few times, Alec nodded slowly, slightly suspicious of the car, though he couldn't exactly remember why. People had Mustangs. People had red Mustangs. People with cars lived in Seattle.

Nodding his head, he got into the car, pulling off his gloves to rub his hands together. 'But that one...' he thought as they drove off, stopping at the intersection to make a left hand turn. 'That ones different... Somehow...'

As they turned and drove out of sight, a shadowed figure stepped out of near by alley way, sighing quietly as he neared the red Mustang. He was safe, for now. Even if 494 had subconsciously seen his car as he tailed them last night, he wasn't smart enough to put them together.

But the real question was, was 452 smarter?

End Chapter Nine

Tuesday Morning and Tuesday Afternoon. Action should be coming soon.

Reviews:

angelofdarkness78:

Wow, you are so close to guessing what was on the list! So, so close! Thank you for the review, and feel free to blame Logan more then Alec anytime during the story, I don't like him that much either. Thank you for the review!

Aurora:

Awww, thank you. :D White won't find out what she bought for a little bit, but I'm sure he'll like it… And action with the Conclave is coming soon! Heh, I'm writing the story and I can't wait. Thanks for the review!

SitaTheLastVampire:

Thank you, thank you. Be mad at them at any time, any time. BTW… Nice new name. And I think I'll take your hope and change it into a reality… Or, at least, try really, really, really hard. Thank you for the reviews!

Once again, thank you to you all, because you all rock! I hope you like this chapter… I think it's my longest yet. Be proud! And, virtual cookies and candies to anyone who can figure out who the kid at the school is, and what Ray had on his list!

Hope you all had a Happy Thanksgiving,

-Kasumi