She was more worried than she let on and when later that night, she left their room for a little walk around the monastery, she hoped she'd find a way out for them both. Because at the moment, whether she liked it or not, Ames White her arched nemesis, was the only protection the baby and her had. And though, she hated to admit it, her animal part recognized him as an alpha male that could protect them.
With much needed stealth, she moved around the monastery using the night and the darkness to cover herself. It was so easy for her. Silently, she visited all the parts of the monastery. Around 4 in the morning, she heard unusual noises coming from the garden; and being the cat that she was, she went to investigate. Her curiosity always got the better of her.
She found Andrea and four men dressed as monks surrounding her said protector: namely Ames White.
"What is a lapping dog of the Conclave doing so far from home?" asked Andrea not hiding her hatred.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
Observing them from the dark area she was standing in, she gave Ames credit for effort.
Andrea tssktssked.
"We know who, should I say what you are!" stated the barking red haired woman. "The only thing that prevented us from killing you is your name and the woman with you." A pause. "Who is she?" One thing I know, she's not a familiar. She doesn't move like one and she's more intelligent than all those robots the Conclave sent us."
"She's no one. A mere cover." He shrugged.
"Nice try." Andrea hit Ames hard.
Max thought the same. Her late at night walk confirmed her intuitions on Andrea and her people. They were really Sandeman's followers. Coming to a decision quickly, she stepped in the conversation.
"I'm a transgenic," she whispered. And she prayed that her guts were right, that they were what she thought they were. And if she was right, they would hear what she just said and turn their heads toward her. Andrea and the monks did just as she predicted.
She took a step into the light.
"And I think I found what I've been looking for," the raven haired transgenic added.
"If you're a transgenic what are you doing with him?" Andrea spat. The red hair was really angry toward Ames. It wasn't just the fact that he was a familiar. She had witnessed Andrea dispose of a familiar just a day before and there were no feelings when she pulled the trigger. This was different. This screamed of revenge.
"He's the father of my child. And he led me to you. We would like to meet his father."
It was an understatement to say that the renegade familiar was baffled. Andrea looked back and forth between Ames and Max. She shook her head in disbelief, and took a long calming breath. She fixed her eyes on Max and asked: "Show me your barcode."
Max complied, turning around and lifting her hair up model like.
"452." Andrea whispered.
"She's the one," said one of the monks.
Andrea nodded.
"You can stay. But he has to die."
"No." She had spoken without really thinking. It was just her instincts that was telling her killing Ames was wrong. That she had to preserve him.
"No? But he hunts your kind!" Andrea exclaimed.
"My kind will be fine. Let him live."
Ames was right, she was bossy around everyone. She was born to be a leader, born to lead an army. There was more power in her voice than in one of the second year graduate familiars he'd met. But he knew that she just saved his life. He was not a man who liked debts, but he wasn't either in a situation to complain.
Max was about to add something but she fell on the floor because of cramps. A few seconds later, there were blood on her crotch.
"No!" she said in a croaked voice.
Immediately, Ames was by her side, ignoring the monks' threat.
"I'm losing the baby," she stated with tears in her eyes.
"Carry her to the lab." Andrea ordered the monk. "And throw him out of here."
"No!" Max shouted. "No!" Despite her fear, her shout wasn't desperate, it was full of order.
That made the monks pause.
"Alright then. Carry her in their room. Ask someone from the lab to join us there."
A monk fled toward a building in the east garden at a fast pace.
She had miscarried. The monks and Andrea had the decency to leave them alone. Max was still in a hospital gown laying on the bed. Ames was seated in one of the corner of the room.
"I…4…Max…" He took a deep breath. He wanted to say something but what could he say? "I'm sorry," he finally said. That was not enough, he knew from past experiences that it was not enough to say sorry. Living the same thing two times when he was with Wendy didn't make it any less hard. But at that time, he didn't care. He didn't care for Wendy's feeling. He knew that the third one will be the right one. She had given him Ray after all.
But with Max it was different. Because along the way, he found himself caring about her, and how she took things. And her giving him the silent treatment was nerve racking. She was probably blaming him.
Andrea choose that very moment to usher herself in the room.
"Our lab tech took some of your blood and some of your amniotic fluid. He wants to know what caused the miscarriage." For the first time since they met her, Andrea showed some uneasiness. "He thinks that it wasn't supposed to happen."
"But it's the normal pattern," Ames intervened. There was comfort in knowing it was unavoidable. That meant it wasn't their fault.
"What do you mean?" asked Max finally uttering some words.
"I don't know. They're still looking into it." Andrea shrugged. Then she started to shift on her foot again. "What do you want us to do…with…the…you know…foetus."
For a moment, Max looked like she spaced out a little.
"Burn him. I don't want anyone to use him in their research or anything."
Andrea nodded following her argument.
"But now is the time for White to go."
"I already said no to that. He has the right to mourn his child just like I do. Leave him alone."
Andrea's eyes bulged out but she muttered a 'yes'.
"One more question," called Max as Andrea had her hand on the doorknob.
"Yes?"
"Sandeman," the name a question in itself.
"I'm sorry I can't help you with that. He left a week ago. All I know he's that he went back to the US. But he told us you'd come. That's all I know. I'm sorry I couldn't help you more."
Somehow, Andrea managed to find a urn to put the baby in. She handed it to Max.
"Thank you for everything," said Max to the red hair girl. They were going to stay in contact though, now, she knew Andrea was going to move her compound elsewhere.
"I wish you luck. You're going to need it."
Max nodded and gave her phone to Andrea.
"Keep it. I'll contact you," the transgenic said before she engulfed herself in the car. How they didn't kill each other during their ride to the airport, neither could recall.
Several hours later, she landed on the American soil again and Alec was there to welcome her. Before Ames could ask her: "What now?" she had disappeared among the crowd.
"Max." She didn't even acknowledge his presence. It has been days since she had come back to Seattle. The only decision she took was to move to Terminal City. And she told him that she didn't want to talk to anyone. She lived just across Alec's apartment now.
He reached their floor and sighed as he saw the lunch tray he had delivered for her. It was untouched. He looked at his door with longing but without hesitation, he went into Max's apartment. They were supposed to share apartments because the housing was still scarce around Terminal City, but Max's attitude had scared away her roommates.
"It's been 13 days. And you said nothing except, "I'll move to TC and don't tell anyone I'm here.", the dark blond transgenic mimicked. He had hoped to see the fire in her eyes. But it was to no avail. She kept the urn in her hands day and night.
Everyone at TC was starting to wonder what was wrong with the raven transgenic. But Alec hadn't slipped one word about her.
He went to sit on the edge of the bed.
"You need to talk about it."
"It! It's not a it! It was a baby! My baby!" That was the first time she had raised her voice on him. He took that as a good sign. At least she was reacting.
Slightly taken aback at first, Alec continued nonetheless. "Then you need to talk about your baby."
He looked at her as she avoided his eyes.
"I miss the old Max. Everyone misses you. Joshua too. A lot of women miscarry…" he tried.
"But I'm not a normal person." It was barely a whisper and he wasn't sure if he heard right. "I have no junk DNA. What normal person doesn't have junk DNA! We…I…I'm supposed to be perfect. I'm supposed to pass on my genes. It was my fault…"
"No! No! It wasn't! It's the normal pattern for familiars."
"Yes. But I am a transgenic." Her tone made Alec pause.
"You know something I don't." He stated.
She finally looked at him.
"Someone over there analyzed my amniotic fluid."
"And?" He wanted to push her. He wanted to know everything about her trip and what had happened. He especially wanted to know about what had happened between her and White.
"You're carrying a virus?"
"Yeah…"
"You tried to cure it?"
"Yeah?"
"The lab geek who did your mix lady did something wrong. Cause not only the virus mutated again, but it's starting to…attack you…Well your blood cell."
"How come I don't feel any symptoms?" she asked.
"Because you have no junk DNA. The foetus was the weakling in your body. And naturally the virus turned toward it. It'll prevent you from carrying to term any pregnancy."
"Shit! Where did you get that virus?" questioned Andrea.
"Manticore's last gift to me."
"Then you must find someone to cure the virus and fast," decided Alec. He was going through his rooster of contact in his head.
"I'm mourning Alec. One or few more days won't change anything. Because the simple truth is, I lost my baby! And no one. No one can give him back to me."
Alec shut his mouth. Fine she needed time to mourn, he'd give her that. But she also needed to live, for the others. Like OC, Sketchy, Joshua. And him. He'll giver her two more days.
"I'll get back to my never ending quest of finding a cure when I'll accept he's dead." She looked defeated and he felt guilty.
"Still it's not your fault. It's Renfro's. And she's dead."
He was about to leave but he turned around to ask her a question. Max still had her eyes on him.
"Anything else?"
He hesitated for a second. "You kept saying him…"
"I don't know for sure if the baby was going to be a girl or a boy, but I felt like it was a boy. I know in my heart it was going to be a boy."
Looking at the screen with an annoyed expression, Dix raised his voice so Alec would come and see.
"Hey! We've got a norm at the gate!" he yelled. "And Mole's on watch." Dix added after a moment.
Alec smirked knowing that the lizard guy hated norms. He also knew who the norm was.
"I want to see Alec!" yelled the norm on the camera.
Alec finally looked at the screen and recognized the norm, confirming his intuition.
Clenching his jaw, he said, "Let him in. Tell the X8-unit 6 that they're having a live exercise now, with the paint balls we got last night."
Dix let out a laugh.
It takes 10 minutes to get to the Command centre. Not that long actually but, they made Logan take the long road. Mole had given him the instructions and opened the gate. So during 10 minutes Logan had been the live target of the X8s. Dix, Luke and several other transgenic were watching as the norm was running and trying to get away from the shooters but didn't really succeed.
Loud cheers of transgenic slowly enveloped the apartment. At first she ignored it, but soon the cheers became a loud roaring happy sound.
Her mind was still on what Alec had told her earlier.
"Still, it's not your fault. It's Renfro's. And she's dead."
Yes, it was that fake blond's fault. And Lydecker's. And Logan's. Logan? What does he have to do with that?
"Well, for starters, if it weren't for your quid pro quo Zack would have never been recaptured. He would have never talked about Tinga and the others. Renfro would have never found about Tinga and her son, and your sister would be alive!"
She shook her head, but she started to think. How many times she had wanted to stop doing those EO missions. How many times she wanted to tell Logan to forget about their quid pro quo so that she could get on with her life. Then maybe all the problems that had happen a year ago wouldn't have happened. She should have been more firm. But Alec was right: she was blind when it came to the matters of her 'family' and friends.
Her mind was reeling. And the noise was getting louder. Her curiosity got the better of her and she got on her feet and went to the window. She almost didn't recognize him, but straining her eyes, she recognized the spectacled man running like a girl toward the Command Centre. She let out a laugh.
'What is he doing here?' she then thought angrily. She knew that Alec would have never called the man if she hadn't asked for it first. So what was he doing here?
Logan arrived at the command centre completely 'painted'. Alec barely managed to hold back his laughter but with everyone present laughing, it was hard not to. The older painted man walked up the cat walk to talk to Alec and waited until the X5 calm down.
That took a good half hour. Finally, Alec cleared his throat.
"I want to see her. When she'll know what you've been doing here…"
Alec was about to laugh again but Logan's words made it die in his throat.
"And what exactly have I been doing Logan? Huh? Apparently you still don't get, so let me be clear with you: she's the one who told me to do all of this! Not that I need her permission for anything but she knows everything that's been happening around Terminal City!" the X5 replied with anger. It was time to dot the I's and cross the T's with the journalist.
"I want to see her. Someone spotted her at the airport."
"You mean, you were spying on me, and your little spy told you that I found her." Alec managed to remain calm though all he wanted to do was to smash the man's skull on the wall. "Take my word on this Logan. She doesn't want to see you."
A glob of paint fell from his head on the floor and Alec resumed his laughing just like everyone else in the room. Then it grew quiet and both Alec and Logan turned to see who entered the building.
"He's right. I don't want to see you." Max said coldly. "I don't even know what you're doing here." She had debated a long time with herself if she was ready for this confrontation, and she decided that now was good as any other time.
"Max...I…"His initial joy as he spotted her through the paint was stopped short by the anger he felt directed at him.
"All of this…All of the things that have happened to me the last year was your fault!"
"Max?" Logan had now a puzzled expression on his face, but with all the paint on his face he looked more like a sad clown.
"You! You!" She was having a hard time getting her temper in check. "You are the reason why they inoculated me with that stupid virus."
"Max…I don't understand."
"Of course you don't. All you care about is 'the good fight'! You don't even have the right to be here!" And with that she stomped out of the building.
Her outburst was like a cold shower for the command centre. That was the first time that she got out of her apartment. Usually, Joshua or Alec delivered her meals and she remained in her apartment doing nothing but laying on her bed with the urn close to her.
In another part of town, Ames wasn't doing that good. Alone holed up in his apartment with no one to talk to, he was starting to go crazy.
If only he had Ray. But Max, no 452 had to take his son away. And it was her fault that the baby had died. No. It wasn't her fault. As much as he would like to think that she was the one responsible, the only one that was guilty was him, and his father.
When he had come back to Seattle, things were different. He wasn't cleared for certain things, though his boss thought he didn't know he knew about those. Now, he was the one 'working' for Otto. Otto for God's sake! A guy who couldn't even do a simple thing as put gas in a car! Gee! What was wrong with the world? The Men, he answered to himself. The norms, the humans! The meek! He spat on the word as he thought about it.
But he knew that they didn't trust him. It was true that he had been careless before he left for his supposed 'holidays'. Now he was a simple agent. But he didn't care, he was spending more and more time trying to find his son. And he had a lead on the sister of Wendy.
That's why he was packing now.
Six hours later, he was on the doorstep of Lauren's apartment. Without knocking, he entered the apartment.
The noise woke Lauren but before she could wipe the sleep from her eyes, Ames had her in a choke hold.
"Where's my son?"
She could barely breathe and he was tightening his hold more.
"Breathe…"she managed to choke. She was trying to pry open his hand.
Ames threw her across the room and repeated his question. "Where. Is. My. Son."
"He's not here. He's not with me." She said rubbing her sore throat. "Someone took him about a month ago."
So he was indeed alive.
"Who?"
"I don't know!"
Ames sighed dramatically and muttered: "You don't know? How can that be?"
"I don't know. I don't know."
He gave her credit for her courage: Wendy would have probably started crying by now. He took a long breath and pulled her on her feet with his hand on her throat. Slowly, he squeezed her throat harder and lifted her off the ground.
"You're going to tell me what you know. I ask the question, you answer them. Understood."
Lauren nodded with difficulty.
Without any warning, he released her and she fell hardly on the floor. She coughed and tried to regain her footing.
"Now, who took my son?" He threw her across the room again.
"I don't know." This time she was rubbing her right ankle. "I really don't know. I thought no one knew where we were. But this guy arrived one day, and he took Ray."
It was maybe the Conclave. No. It couldn't be. That would mean that they thought he was alive, but they thought Ray was too weak to survive. They tried to convince him that his son had probably died in the hours after 452 kidnapped him.
"One thing I know, it wasn't one of you."
"Oh." Ames raised his eye brow. "And how would you know that? Uh? What do you know about me?"
"I know what you are." It seemed to him that she had spit the words. "And that guy was human like me. Not a monster, an animal."
Funny he thought, he thought the same about Max and her kind.
"And what am I?" he said smugly.
She snorted in a 'Don't think I'm an idiot!' way.
"He warned me about you before I went to get Ray. So I bought a gun." The 'he' was probably Eyes Only.
"So?"
"So…when that man came I shot him. The guy who brought me Ray told me that you didn't feel any pain. Well that guy did."
"It doesn't make sense."
"Tell me about it," she commented. "I contacted the EO network but they don't know anything either.
"What would a norm would do with my son?"
"Ever heard of slavery? You know nowadays they kidnap many children and send them to some mine or something like that. There was such a thing as the Pulse who triggered all those kind of commerce," she continued. "Not that it didn't exist before, but…"
"Shut up!" he yelled.
"That's the only thing that makes sense now." She said.
What if that bitch was right? No, she can't. She couldn't be right. He would find his son. Whether she was right or not, right now, all that mattered was that his son was alive! He would find him.
But now, he had no clues again as to where look for his son.
"You're going to kill me." It was a statement.
"No."
That wasn't logic. He was supposed to come here, get the information he needed and kill her. Yet now, he didn't want to kill her.
So that's what he said: "I don't want to kill you." And he left leaving a dumbfounded Lauren behind him.
He was back in Seattle again, in his apartment. He dropped his bag near the door. The minute he put his keys down, the phone went off.
"This is White."
"I need to talk to you," said a female voice in the phone.
Was it who he thought it was? He didn't even wonder how she got the phone number. She wouldn't be who she was if she couldn't do that. He smiled. It felt good to hear her voice again.
"It's Max." the voice continued.
"I know," he snapped.
"I…thought that maybe…It's just that I was going to the needle with the baby…"
"The baby is dead Max."
"I know!" she yelled. "I know," she repeated more calmly. "I…I like that place…and I thought that maybe I would spread the ashes there…"
A silence.
"And I thought that maybe you would like to go there with me. I'll be there tomorrow at midnight. If you want to be there…"
"I'll be there."
