The first thing that Max and Ames had to find was transportation. They couldn't use his car, and she only had her bike. He refused point blank to travel on it so they had to find another way.

Max resigned herself to stash her baby in the back of the cottage and they started to walk. The roads were deserted and they walked 50 miles before finding a town. They walked the whole 50 miles in silence, both contemplating what was going to happen next.

They had to find Sandeman. How could they do that? All the leads she had about the man turned out to be dead ends.

"What's the message?" she asked as they stepped into town.

"It's personal." He replied.

"Well since it's written on me…" she was going to add something but something in his eyes made her stop.

He too was processing things. She'd bet her life that he was back at debating whether he should kill her or not. She understood that the runes were her shield against him. Something in the runes, had made him stop.

Something that keeps you alive isn't a bad thing, right? Yet, she was frustrated that she couldn't read the message herself and know what had made Special Agent Ames White tick. She had to find out. She monitored herself and saw that the runes were – for lack of a better term – evolving. The tattoos weren't static. At least not all the runes were static. She kept taking pictures. Somewhere on this earth, someone could tell her what was written on her body. She was determined to find that person.

That focus made her forget that she was pregnant and that her travel companion was her mortal enemy.

"Well what next?" she continued. "Once we have a car, what are we going to do?"

"We track him down."

"And how do you propose to do that? If your organization couldn't manage finding him, what makes you think that we'll find him now?"

"Because he left clues in your body."

"And you're keeping me alive because?" She genuinely wanted to know.

"If you die, the clues die with you."

She shouldn't be surprised that yet again she was just a pawn in a much bigger game. So she wasn't going to die. At least not yet, not before her body had given up all the clues. This was just a temporary setback to his plan. She believed he still planned on killing her later. If she wanted to live, she had to pay attention. And despite everything, she wanted to live. She wanted to be able to spend a night at crash with her friends again, bickering with Alec and Sketchy, siding with OC, watching Sketchy make a fool out of himself, drinking beer.

So she was going to play this chess game: she might only be a pawn, but she had the strength of a queen, and the abilities of a thousand kings. She was going to survive this. After all, she was a survivor.


Their means of transportation wasn't the only thing that they had to take care of. Ames reported not only to the bureau but also to the familiars. The first wasn't going to be much of a problem: they didn't want him back there. The latter couldn't be easily shaken off: more than before he was on the council's watch list. They had long memories and they never forgot who his father was. If he brought in his father, his honor would be restored. If he brought in 452, there was no chance that they would let her live long enough for him to get all the clues and find his sire.

He was going to find his sire, he'd kill him and he'd kill 452 after she'd tell him where Ray is.

But for now, they cooperated and covered their tracks so that neither the council's cleaners nor her little friends would manage to find them. And they followed lead after lead throughout the whole country.

In the weeks they spent on the road together, the best way they found to deal with each other was complete silence, or a constant throw of insults. The words 'freak', 'inbred', 'animal', 'psycho killer' were often mentioned. Overtime they lost their edge.

Their personal bubble spaces were firmly in place. There was no touching no fighting. Any activity that created a close proximity between them was avoided at all cost: When he had to check on her runes, she took pictures of it and showed him. The decision was clear for both of them, there wasn't going to be a repeat performance of what had happened between them.


Their latest lead brought them back to Seattle and they were both stressed. She couldn't afford to be seen with him, just as he couldn't afford to be seen in Seattle period. Not by the Council, not by the FBI.

Getting in the city was easy enough given their abilities. She got annoyed as he tried to help her at one point in the climb. They touched ground at 3 AM, and took two adjoining rooms in a motel at the outskirts of Sector Eleven.

As long as they were away, she'd felt that none of this was true. Or at least she tried to convince herself of that. But Seattle was her home and she couldn't close her eyes on her situation anymore. She had to come to terms with the fact that she spent the last month with White, that she was carrying not only his child but keys to finding his father. As she typed the numbers on the burnt phone, she knew she really should have contacted him sooner. There was no avoiding this call. She held her breath as the phone rang. It went into voicemail.

"You know what to do." How she'd missed him. She was surprised that she missed Alec this much. She took a deep breath.

"It's me. Call me back."

She sank on the bed and tried to sleep, tried to make sense of her life this past month. And there was no forgetting she was pregnant, no forgetting that she was covered in runes.

'What am I supposed to do now?' she wondered.

'Well, what's done is done' another voice replied. Great, now she was talking to herself.

'You could get rid of it.' That last voice resembled Logan's.

'Hello! That baby must the key of everything! In case you didn't notice she has runes all over her body since she has that bun in her oven!' said a third voice, and she could have sworn it was Alec's voice.

'It's White's child for God sake!' continued Logan's voice.

'It's an innocent child! You of all people should understand that Max! You can't do that! Don't kill this child.'

SHUT UP!

She didn't realize she had screamed before White barged in her room. She was standing in the middle of her room staring at herself in the mirror in front of the bed.

"452! Are you okay?" asked White.

She didn't answer; slowly Ames approached her as you would a wounded animal.

"452!" he repeated.

She seemed to snap. "My name is Max!" she finally spat, with that she went in the bathroom.

Ames was fuming and he didn't even think before following her in the bathroom.

"452…" he stopped short by the sight of his transgenic nemesis in her birth suit.

"Get out!" she spat angrily, not bothering to cover herself, she pushed him out of the room.

He hit the door with his fist, and made Max jump. He hated her for what she did to him, he hated her for being perfectly beautiful, he hated her for the reaction he had at the sight of her.

He was her arch enemy! They were supposed to try to kill each other not bang each other.

But now…Now his father had to come and ruin everything up like he always did. Since his youth, it was always this way. When he was starting to have a little fun, his father would manage somehow to spoil it. It was fun for him to hunt 452. But now, he couldn't even do that anymore.

He turned his back on the door and let himself drop on the floor. He tried to calm down, took a deep breath.

452. Pregnant. With his child. It was an abomination. He had to be in some kind of nightmare, otherwise, it couldn't be possible. How could his father still control and ruin his life when he was supposed to be dead?

He thought back at those times when he was bullied in school because of his name.

'How's this for you Sandeman?' said a 10 year old boy as he kicked a younger boy. The little boy addressed as Sandeman had already a bloodied nose, a black eye and probably some broken ribs. Nonetheless, he got on his feet and fell in a fighting stance. He didn't stand a chance against the 5 boys in front of him, but he wasn't about to let them win easily.

That day like many others he had ended up at the infirmary.

He was over that now. He had proven them that he was better than his father. He wasn't a traitor. He was one of the familiars to look up to now. Still low on the hierarchy but high enough (more than enough) considering his age and his name. Or maybe it was just the Conclave's politics: to keep their friends close and their enemies closer. He had changed name. He had become a new person. He was finally…how could he formulate that…at peace with his origins.

Then, he heard about Manticore and was assigned to hunt the freaks. Each transgenic he killed was like making up for all the things his father did against their kind. He felt revived. Yeah, he felt he was doing the right thing.

Suddenly, he fell backward as the door was pulled opened and was greeted with 452 in a simple towel warped around her.

"What are you still doing in here?"

"None of your business 452!" he spat though he didn't manage to tear his eyes away from her body.

"Can I remind you that first, my name is Max, address me as 452 again, and the Conclave will need a whole year to find all your body parts, second to that, this is my room, not yours. So get out!"

She pushed him out of her way with her foot. White took hold of her foot to pull her down and she kicked his head for that.

"You freak…"

"The name calling is getting old White. Find something else and get out of my sight!"

"I plan to do so, but not before this…" with all his strength, he hit her in the face, splitting her lower lip.

"You bastard!" She got up quickly and chased him but he closed the door to his room on her like she did earlier.

She needed to work out the frustration and the anger she was feeling. White and her didn't really talk beside the necessary stuff. If they 'talked', they would insult one another and then end up fighting which she didn't want to do anymore because of the growing life within her that she had reluctantly come to cherish. Absentmindedly, she put her hand protectively on her belly.

'No one's going to hurt this baby,' she said to herself.

Her phone rang. She knew who it was, but she hesitated. Taking this call, would mean talking about what happened. She knew that he probably tried to find her. But it was unavoidable.

"Max? Hello?"

"Alec…" she finally said.

"Max!" she felt the relief in his voice. "Where are you? Are you hurt?"

"Alec stop! I'm fine…"

He breathed a sigh of relief. She sounded calm not frightened nor threatened.

"You know it wasn't your fault. You couldn't help it…"

"You went to the cottage," she stated.

"Yeah." He paused, searching for his words, "did he hurt you badly?" he finally asked.

"I'm fine Alec, ok? But I need you to do me a favor."

"Anything."

"Call Cindy, ask her about the honey pot, and bring it to me in one hour in sector 5, ok?"

"You sure ok?"

"Yeah, I have a lead on Sandeman. I'll be out of town a bit. Just bring the pot, ok?"

"Ok Max."

She hung up before he could ask something else.


"Max!" relief coursed through him as he saw her. They hugged though neither was a tactile person being who they were, and because a month ago, she would have probably kicked his arse to the end of the earth if he dared to touch her. Yet, today, that day, they hugged. Their relationship was rocky from the beginning. But they had to come to respect one another, and she knew that he had her back, just as she had his back.

"What happened? Where is he?" Alec asked without preamble.

She shook her head.

"Somewhere. I need him to find Sandeman." She handed him an envelope.

"What's this?"

"Photos of runes." She rolled up her sleeves to show him the tattoos. "They appeared after my heat. I made copies. Find out what they mean. Please."

Alec nodded.

"Did you bring what I asked you?"

Alec opened his back pack. There was 50 000 dollars in it, and a few IDs.

"Tell me, with your lousy job, how did you manage to put out 50 000 dollars?" He was more amused than anything.

"It wasn't my only job for a long time." She rose and motioned for him to follow her.

"Where are we going?"

"To see a doctor." She wondered what he was going to do when he knew.


They found their way to Sam Carr's clinic. The forty or so year old man was about to leave. He was already getting behind the wheel of his old Chevy. He jumped as his car door was pulled open. He was reaching for his gun, but someone else stopped him.

"Max!" he breathed. "You frightened me."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. I'll never get use to it." The doctor smiled at her, and then at Alec.

"I need your help."

He turned his attention back on her. She seemed more tired than usual.

"What's wrong?"

"I'm pregnant."

She couldn't tell which of Carr or Alec was more shocked. Max looked at Alec, she was waiting to see hatred in his eyes. But she didn't.


Clearly, the doctor wasn't prepared for this. As far as he was concerned, Logan and Max were in some sort of way involved and because of the retro-virus they couldn't have any contact. So the million dollar question was: who was the father?

He looked at the other X5 in the exam room.

"It's not Alec's." She said reading his mind. "A month ago I went into heat. I wasn't in Seattle. The father is a familiar." she was all facts and no emotions, Carr noted.

"A…A…familiar?" he wasn't prepared for that answer. Looking in her eyes, he knew she was telling the truth. "I thought they were your enemies?"

"They are," hissed Alec from his corner. He was angry, but none toward her.

"Ok. Ok." Carr rose from his chair and paced. "What do you want me to do?"

"I need to know if I'm going to lose it…"

"Lose it?" he questioned.

"The familiars, they always lose two foetuses before the 'right one'."

"I'm afraid there's no science yet that could determine if one will lose a baby or not," Carr stated. "But I can take a blood sample, and find out…anything that I can about your condition."

"Send the result to Alec, he'll keep me posted."

"You're leaving town?"

"I have some family problem that I need to take care of." She paused a moment. "Thanks for the help. Don't tell Logan."

The doctor hesitated but acquiesced. "Of course. I'm your doctor Max."


"Where to now?" Alec asked as they got back into the car.

"To a bank," she simply said.

"You're not going to rob it, are you? Not that I'll mind…"

"No."

Max apparently knew all the people who worked there. The welcome she got was odd to say the least. The guard nodded, and immediately led them to the CEO's office.

"Care to explain?" he whispered so that she was the only one who heard.

"I did a favor to the CEO a few years back," she waved it off as it was not important.

"EO mission?" the other X5 wondered.

"No. Before that. Anyway, I put my money here since then."

"Your money?"

"Yeah? You know those green things with the Presidents faces stamped on…"

"Ah, ah…My question is how?"

"I was very good at what I did before I met Logan." There was a hint of pride in her voice. " And Logan deals with dangerous criminals, but also with rich, and sometimes very rich criminals…Stealing from a thief is not really stealing right?" She smiled. "I worked with him for a year, what do you think? It's not like anyone was going to cry over that money…"

Alec chuckled.

"I need money for the next weeks. I can't trust him." That was obvious. "In fact, we can't trust each other. So I have to watch my back…I can't rely on him."


'What does it mean White?'

'Not now 452!'

'I told you my name is Max!' she had yelled.

'Shut up! I need to think!'

'For that you need a brain' she muttered angrily. She had spent the last months try to avoid White, and now she wanted his undivided attention! She was going crazy!

White looked at Max finally. He opened his mouth to say something then closed it again. He looked at her closely, then at her runes.


Alec's voice brought her back to the present.

"Max, in your condition you're going to need someone on your side. Let me go with you…" Alec started.

"No!" she said more harshly than she intended. "No," she repeated on a quieter tone. "You can't. As long as we're looking for Sandeman, he's going to do everything he can to protect me. Plus, you have to take care of things here."

"What things?"

She looked at him straight in the eyes and then, sighed. "You and I both know that a war is bound to happen. Whether it being us and the familiars, or us against norms, it's bound to happen. You know it. You know we have to gear up, and the sooner the better! They have five thousand years of advance to prepare this war."

Alec nodded.

"So what are we going to do?"

"I'm going to go and find Sandeman. And you, you're going to take the rest of the money. I don't need it all and start putting some organization around TC. I'm sure you can do it." that last part was ironic.

Alec's eyes bulged when he saw the amount of money she leaving to him. 4, 987, 456 $

"Max?"

"It was supposed to create a haven for my family when we met again," she said sadly. "It was my dream. A foolish dream I guess. Lydecker would have never left us alone and Zack. Zack would have never gone for it." There was a smile in her voice. "I've never touched a penny out of it."

"Max, are you sure?"

"You are family Alec. They are family. I've never found any of my siblings. The few encounters I got with some of them never gave me the hope that someday we would be together again. I don't mind though. I have Joshua now, and you…" she added as an afterthought. They both knew Cindy or Sketchy or even Logan didn't count. They couldn't understand, would never understand.

"Take care of everyone…" she whispered and then she disappeared into the crowd.


"Where have you been?" he yelled as soon as she set foot in her room.

"What? You missed me?" she turned her back on him to close the door.

"You wish!"

"God forbid!" she muttered.

"Where. Have. You. Been."

"I had to talk to someone…"

"Your precious Eyes Only, I presume. Or is he dead already? I heard Manticore inoculated a retro virus in you."

"It's none of your business!" she spat. "Now leave me alone, will you."

"Don't you understand you're vulnerable in your state! I've seen the reports on X5s females being pregnant. They are not at their 100 per cent capacities. It means that you're an easy target. The last two weeks you fainted three times!" he put three fingers in front of her as she was a 5 year old child.

She put away his hand, and entered further in her room.

"Whatever! Just tell me what did you find out?" she asked.

"France, the next clue is in France," he answered.

"That's not going to be easy. We'll need perfect and clean IDs to get through airport security. I'm assuming we don't have much time." He acquiesced. "Problem is right now they are wary of single tourists because of the latest terrorist acts of this year."

"You know that?" he said surprised.

"What? You think I don't watch the news if it's not transgenic related?" The truth was that Logan had told her about it, she didn't care for it back then, like most of the times Logan talked these last days. Or should she say months? She remembered him saying that he had a lead on the man who was behind the terrorist attacks. At the time, she had said whatever. All she wanted him to do was research on Sandeman.

"We need forged papers, the best we can find, clean ones. I don't want my boss wondering what I'm doing abroad and I'm sure you don' t want your little pose hightailing it after you."

"That's not a problem. I know the best person to do it. We'll have it by morning."

"We'll travel as a couple." It was logical for them to do so.

"Alright. I'll see the man tonight."

"Why not now?" he asked.

"Because I don't know where he lives, just where he works. And he only works at night. Don't worry, he's the best. Now I need to sleep." She dropped gracefully on her bed dismissing White.


The apartment was dimly light. It was easy for her to hide in one of the dark corners. Ames had insisted on going with her but agreed to stay in the car.

"Mike," she said.

The spectacled man turned toward the voice. "Who's there?" he asked.

She took a step toward the light.

"Hello Oreo!" She had a smile on her face.

"Max! God, why do you always do that?" She picked up one of biscuit he got his name from.

"Coz it's fun. How do you still manage to find oreos in this economy baffles me." she commented. He ignored her question and focused his eyes back on his screen.

"I suppose you didn't come by to say hello."

"No. I need two passports for me and someone else." She handed a craft envelope as he turned around. "All you need is there."

"No problem."

"I need them in the morning."

"Max, you're killing me now…" Oreo complained.

"In the morning Mike." Max insisted.

He nodded but looked at her closely.

"Are you okay? You look…I don't know."

"I'm fine." She interrupted. "I'll be back by 6. Can I count on you or not?"

"Yeah, 'course."

"Ok."

Before he could add anything, she jumped through the window.

At 7 AM, they were both sitting in a plane en route to Paris, via New York. It was time to go find their 'sire'.


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