Important message after long awaited chapter. Enjoy.

If you recognize it, I don't own it.

Chapter Ten

Tuesday Afternoon and Tuesday Evening

"Max!" the young boy yelled, eyes wide as he threw himself into her, hugging her tightly. He hadn't seen her in some time, and he was happy to know that his savoir was still alive and kicking. Since she had originally saved him and the others, giving them names and a place to go, he wished he would see her again.

"Hey Bugler, how are you? I didn't know you guys moved here." Max said, pulling the toque tighter over his ears. "You're all still together, right?"

"Of course ma'- Max!" Bugler said, nodding quickly as he caught himself. "Fixit fixes - well, anything. Ralph and Zero work at a car repair shop, and Bullett takes care of the house." when he said that, Max got a worried expression on her face. The wound wasn't that bad, was it? But Bugler was quick to explain.

"No, no, no, no, he's okay; he's just the only one that can cook without nearly burning the house down."

At that, Max couldn't help but laugh as the end of day bell rang.

"Hey Logan - you didn't notice anything strange about that Mustang back at the hotel, did you?" Alec asked as they sat at a small resturaunt, where they had stopped for something to eat. They had been out for most of the day, but neither of them had seen any sign of Max or White.

"No, why?" Logan said, grabbing a few fries from the X5's plate. If he wasn't going to eat them - there was no reason they should go cold.

"Because the same car is sitting outside in the parking lot." Alec said, eyes still watching the sports car from where he sat - in the middle of the room.

"So? It's a nice resturaunt; lots of people are here." Logan said, looking around. The resturaunt was in fact quite full, and the poor elderly couple to their left must have thought that Alec was staring at them intently.

"Well then Mr. Eyes Only, answer me this." Alec said, turning his dark head towards the blond man. "Why has the driver been in his car for the last twenty minutes?"

"So where's your dad?" Ray asked his red headed friend, holding onto her arm as they tried to make it across the playground. The rock underneath their feet was very uneven, and they had already slipped and fell four times.

"I don't know." Sarah said, standing on her toes to look over all of the taller kids in front of them.

"Hey!" Ray said, moving quickly through people while still holding onto his friends arm. "Dad! Dad!"

Ames tore his gaze from the X5 to where his sons voice was coming from, picking him up when he finally made it over through the labyrinth of other school children. Giving him a hug and letting him back down, he noticed the young girl smiling at them.

"Hi!" she said brightly, waving up at him. "I'm Sarah McBrighen! You're Ray's dad, right? He talks a lot about you. You have a lot in common with my dad! You two should meet, you'd be great friends!"

Ames was amazed. She had just elegantly said six sentences in one breath - in a total of ten seconds; and his son just stood there smiling and nodding his head. This eight year old girl was insane - and she was still going!

"I think my daddy is taller then you - but that's okay, he's taller then a lot of people. My mommy says I'll be tall too. She's really nice and really smart too! She always helps me with my homework. Daddy tries to help too, but he doesn't know how to do long division. He does it all in is head, so I guess that makes him smart too, but -"

"Sarah! There you are." another voice said, and Ames was happy the man, hopefully her father, was there to make her stop talking. She could've gone on for another hour.

"I was waiting for you two out by the truck." the man said, then turned to Ames. "Sorry, I'm Nick McBrighen, you must be Ray's father."

"Ames White." he said, shaking Nick's offered hand. The red head was smiling at him, and then looked over his shoulder.

"So you're here with your fiancée today?" he asked, nodding his head over to Max who was still with the odd boy.

Biting his tongue to make sure no snarky remark or denying sneer came out at the question, he only nodded his head, seeing the transgenic stand up again, hugging two women who were not there before and watching them leave before she came back towards them. There was a soft smile on her lips but a suspicious glint in her eyes when she nodded to the taller man, ruffling Ray's head when she stopped beside him.

"I see you two have met already." she said, smiling at Sarah and lightly tugging on one of her pigtails, making the girl giggle. For some unknown reason to him, Ames hated that sound.

"Yes, but unfortunately Sarah and I have to get going. My breaks almost up and I have to get back to work." Nick said, taking his little girls hand in his. "It was a pleasure to meet you Ames." he said, shaking his hand one more time. With a polite nod and good bye to Max and Ray, he and Sarah left, the kid talking animatedly to her father.

Max tilted her head inquiringly. "Wasn't she quiet and a little shy yesterday?"

"The teacher gave us candy today. Substitutes aren't that smart." Ray said, innocently popping a sour gummy into his mouth. "Sarah doesn't usually get candy, so she gets big sugar highs." he said as he grabbed their hands, leading them to the side walk.

"I'm not surprised." Ames said dryly, sighing as he shook his head. The girl must've been on something, because nothing in the universe was meant to talk that fast.

Max sent a weak glare at him. "She's cute."

"Just was cute as the kid you were talking to."

"Oh," said Ray, cutting in quickly. "You mean Bugler? I didn't know you knew him." at Max's nod, he continued. "I like his older siblings, their nice. Especially Bullett, he's a great cook! Ralph is funny, and Zero's working on a go cart! It's really cool looking. Fixit is nice too; she knows how to make the coolest snow mans! One time, she even made one that looked like a dinosaur!" Ray laughed suddenly, remembering the last time he had gone over to their home. "Then, Zero and Ralph made a snow fort, and we all had a big snowball fight! Bullett even got a good shot right at the back of Fixit's head." sobering quickly, he smiled and said the last part of his speech quite seriously. "But of course, Bugler and I beat them all."

"Sure you did, Ray." Max said lightly, smiling in a teasing way when he looked up at her, vexed. Ames only smirked to himself, lightly rubbing his sons head. Maybe the rest of this week wouldn't be a completely horrible disaster.

"Is he still trailing us?" Logan asked, watching the road. They had been driving for the last hour aimlessly, trying to figure out what the deal was with their unwanted shadow.

"Five cars back." Alec confirmed, indiscreetly looking back in the rear view. "It must be a familiar, thinking we know where Max and White are."

"So they're expecting us to lead them to Ray." Logan said, stopping in a crowded parking lot.

"Well considering they just parked and haven't gotten out of their car yet, yeah, I'm pretty sure that's what they're thinking." Alec said, getting out of the car. Logan jumped out as well, following the annoyed man into the department store.

"What are we doing?" Logan asked quietly, matching Alec's quick pace.

"We're dragging him out." was the reply as they stepped into the electronics department, a man in a black coat with shifty eyes slowly following them in from a distance.

They walked to the back, where the smaller, ill-favored TVs sat forgotten. Turning their backs and watching the black and white version of Finding Nemo, they listened intently for the sound of footsteps behind them. It took their stalker a minute, but it wasn't much of a wait before Alec could hear him coming up, hiding behind a stack of CD's.

"I don't think she's gonna show." Alec said quietly, trying to get the man to come closer. Logan got the hint.

"She said be here, we're here."

Alec shook his head. "Max is never late." he sighed. "You don't think White is giving her problems to keep her from giving us Ray, do you?"

"No, he can't be on to her plans already." Logan said, shaking his head. "No familiar is that smart."

As though he took that as an insult, the unqualified shadow stepped forward, just in reach of Alec's fist as he swung around and hit him in jaw. The familiar stumbled back two steps, but was otherwise unaffected.

Getting his fists up, Alec was more then ready to defend himself when he saw Logan scurry away to the left.

The familiar came at him fast, and in a split second was back in his original position, the only evidence of him being close was the dull throb coming from where his fist made contact with Alec's forearm.

"This is ridiculous, you know." Alec said, shrugging his shoulders nonchalantly. "Fighting in a department store, in front a kid's movie. I mean, really."

The familiar narrowed his eyes, jumping forward and throwing several punches at Alec's head. Four were blocked by his arms, while one hit and he dodged two. Slinking past him towards the right, Alec jumped on the balls of his feet a few times.

"Is that all you got? I know cats that hit harder then you." he taunted, leaning in to whisper the last bit. "Literally."

This time, Alec jumped forward; hitting him with a well aimed back kick to the abdomen, and a right hook to the jaw. But once again, the familiar looked unfazed as he stood straight and cracked his neck, patiently waiting for the next attack. But, to his shock, Alec only stood up and dropped his fists. With an idiotic smirk on his face, he waved to the man, and the familiar hit the floor with a dull thud.

"What is that?" Alec asked, noting the long metal object Logan held in his hand. It was slightly dented from where it had hit the back of the Familiars head, but since the man hadn't sprung up from the floor yet, he supposed he'd be amazed if it wasn't dented.

"Solid metal baseball bat, from the sports section." he said, dropping it down beside the unconscious man. "They make them like a rock."

"Hello Brother." the speaker phone said, the connection clear and slightly echoing through the large office like room.

"Hello Brother." the man who sat in the room said, sitting back in a tall leather chair. "452 and Brother White are in the city, the boy, Ray, great friends with Sarah. What are my orders?"

There was a pause before the voice answered.

"Keep a close eye on them. We don't know what their next move is, and the superiors want a reason to attack. If they end up bringing him back to Seattle, we can deal with them there."

"I understand." the man in the office said, nodding his head although he knew the man on the other side of the line would not see the gesture. "I shall invite them to my home for the end of the week, if you wish for me to do something; you know where they will be."

"I shall tell this to the superiors right away, we will stay in touch. Fen'es'tol."

"Fen'es'tol."

"What did you do exactly?" Logan asked as Alec hopped back into the car, slipping a soft leather case back inside his jacket.

"Nothing really." Alec said smartly. "Just - personalized - his car, since you wouldn't let me steal it." the last part was said as though he were a sulking child, which Logan thought he greatly resembled at the moment.

Logan looked at him oddly, but looked away when the familiar walked over to his car. He looked unsteady, like he might fall over at any moment, but that was quickly gone. He unlocked the door, and got in the car.

Much to his confusion, and anger, when he started up the car, the alarm came on. It only lasted a few seconds, but that wasn't the only problem. At random, the windshield wipers came on, and then the radio started blasting, and then the alarm made a second appearance! It was ridiculous.

Putting the car in drive and punching the gas, his head nearly hit the steering wheel when his car went into reverse, hitting the large heavy duty pick up behind him.

Turning off the car, his anger increased when he saw the objectives car drive away, the laughing X5-494 clearly visible through the passenger side window.

"So, what do you think about this Nick McBrighen guy?" Ames asked offhandedly, lying down in their shared bed while she sat on the end, taking off her shoes.

"You don't like him." she stated, not turning around and continuing with her other shoe.

"You do?" Ames asked, bewildered.

Max turned around slowly, looking at him for a second before answering. "I met him yesterday and I didn't hear him take one step on the frozen rocks. I heard everything else, everyone else, but he was a ghost." shaking her head slowly, she rubbed her eyes. "I don't trust ghosts."

"Then what do we do?" he asked, a sarcastic tone to his voice.

Lying back on the bed beside him, Max closed her eyes, trying to think. A little, quivering voice in her head said to leave the city now, but to stay away from Seattle. It said that Seattle was just as bad as this place right now, but another voice, a stronger commanding voice said that the mission wasn't done yet. The second voice said to stay in the city, and deal with whatever asshole that showed up. The first voice seemed to sigh tiredly before shrinking away.

"We stay." Max said, her voice sounding different even to herself. "There's nothing else we can do."

End Chapter Ten

Hello. I am terribly sorry for, well, not updating. I'm not happy with this chapter, but I thought that I should get it out anyways so you all don't assume I'm dead or abandoning the story -- Which I'm not!

So, if anyone is still reading this - please do review so I know I'm writing this story for someone out there to enjoy.

-Kasumi