Break-In

She hated having to go back there. The house just felt 'wrong' and Krit's voice kept interfering which made it harder to stay in the shadows. Krit was the only one at the ranch who'd ever dissapproved of the stealing, actually, he just didn't want Nÿx doing any of the stealing…

She'd left Ash a half mile away and waited to make sure there was no one lurking about, besides her of course. Curfew was still in effect so no one had any reason to be out this late.

'Except me, of course, I have a really good reason. It's just too bad the police wouldn't agree with me.' Nÿx thought. She slipped over the wall easily and crouched on the soft grass. Being there gave her a bad feeling and somewhere in her mind she wondered why the place felt familiar. Nÿx gathered the shadows around herself while her eyes refocused, easily spotting the grid. She smiled standing and all she had to do was watch her step unless she wanted to set off the alarm.

'No dogs here. The jerk likes to keep his lawn shit free.' Nÿx halted in mid step a shiver of alarm going up her spine. How did she know that? Who gave her that information? 'Move, move Sawyer!' and she did, obediently moving towards the house. This was Aric's fault. Everything about tonight would be his fault no matter what. He was going to owe her BIG for this one. Come to think of it, Nÿx realized Aric was always getting her involved in his schemes.

'First it was those stupid comic books and the damned party. Not to mention that-that! Was there even a word to describe him? Not to mention he pimped me out, then the whole bet with the skirt and he still hasn't honored his end. Then the SteelHead's with the bike and now this.'

Nÿx deftly picked the lock re-routing the door alarm before entering.

"He's been nothing but trouble." She muttered following the corridor until it branched off and took the first right to the stairs.

When she thought about the night she arrived in Seattle, when Aric was being chased by five thugs, Nÿx could see their so called relationship had remained the same ever since. That night had set the precedent for their future, where she was once more rescuing him and for once was ready to call it quits.

"There's only one person I'm meant to help and it certainly isn't an ordinary incapable of being self destructive for more than a couple of minutes a day if at all." Nÿx froze with her hand on the door handle and tilted her head in the direction of the noise. She heard it again and frowned at the strangeness of the sound. Nÿx hesitated, wanting to get to the box behind the door but the sound pulled on her too strongly to ignore.

"Be right back." Nÿx promised the door as she headed down the hall. At the end there was another door though much smaller in proportion and for some reason a keypad was in place of a door knob. She smiled at the door leaning towards it as she pressed her ear against the wood.

"Oh, there's something pretty expensive behind you isn't there?" Nÿx purred at the door. "Something to make this little trip worth my effort…" her eyes closed while her gloved fingers gently glided over the keypad. The numbers dimmed until only three remained lit. Ever so lightly she touched a finger to each one pulling away with a slight pout when she touched the wrong number in sequence. Her eyes opened as the door clicked. With a pleased smile Nÿx slipped through leaving the door slightly ajar.

"Gotta love those little keypads." She sighed then blew a kiss to the door before heading up the staircase. At the top a faint light emanated barely able to illuminate the stairs. Nÿx didn't need it but was glad of the warning. Someone was up there of that she had no doubt. On the last few stairs Nÿx lay on her stomach and peered in.

The room was lit with a warm glow and smelled a bit musty. Nÿx scrunched her nose wanting to scratch it. Instead she let her eyes glide over the room but there was a corner out of her line of sight. Unable to contain her curiosity Nÿx edged up another stair and another then a third…

"They didn't!"

-X-

"And who else can she possibly send?" that was the question foremost in his mind. It wasn't as if he had nothing else to do because of course Max assumed he had nothing important he needed to do, which he really didn't but why let her know? It was the principle that mattered.

"I can't believe I'm looking for her again." He grouched parking his bike about a block away from Ash without realizing her bike was there. He moved quietly and efficiently to the house marked on the blue prints conveniently left out on the table in her apartment. He even knew about the grass alarm.

'Who ever heard of that?' he wondered, easily jumping over the wall. On the other side he crouched down, scanned the ground and found the barely glowing beams. At the side door he found it unlocked and waiting for his entrance.

"How nice of her." inside he could practically see which way she went. It was her scent. There was no mistake and no way he'd mistake it. Now Alec was following in her wake; hopefully he'd find something to make this worth his time and future head ache.

Alec shoved himself into a corner pushing into it so hard he fell into the cabinet.

"Ooh!" he pulled the shutter closed quickly seeing the shadow move into the hallway. His head tilted at the strange sound but the more he tried to see through the small slits the less he could see. Alec sniffed lightly but that only confused him.

"Azia, hush!" Nÿx's voice startled him by her closeness. She was practically ontop-. 'Would you stop thinking about that!' Alec groaned silently. Very slowly he pulled the shutter open and his jaw dropped.

"No way." he breathed.

Nÿx turned with her elbow ready to strike. Alec blocked the blow stumbling back into his cabinet with Nÿx in tow. Her startled cry was muffled in his chest which she harshly shoved intent on putting her fist in his face.

"It's me!" he whispered loudly, her wrist caught in his hand. "Hey," he pointed at Nÿx his brow furrowed in thought. "You…" he shook his head thinking it couldn't be her but… "It was you!" he accused as he remembered the alley and the messenger. He'd almost gotten caught because of her-.

"Alec?" Nÿx hissed then slapped his hand down. "What are you doing here?" she asked breaking his hold and grabbing his arm to yank him out of the cabinet.

"You punched me." Alec stated.

"Not today." Though Nÿx felt the urge.

"Yeah, play it off but I know it was you." He assured.

"What? I haven't even touched you." Nÿx hissed. "Shut up." She ordered when he tried to reply. "You'll frighten her."

"Her?" Alec asked looking at the feathered figure currently peeking at them from behind a snowy white wing.

"Yes, her-. Why are you masked?" Nÿx frowned staring at him. She stood, hands on hips with an angel hiding behind her and she wanted to know why he was wearing a mask? Then Alec remembered the swath of black cloth covering half his face.

"It was your idea." He replied offhand. "Can she fly?" he asked pointing.

"Ye-no. I don't know! Alec woul- I'm busy." Nÿx grabbed his arm and pushed him towards the door. She couldn't deal with him, couldn't let herself be distracted by his scent.

"Hey, I came to let you know you have a guest waiting." Alec pulled out of her hold stopping with his back to their exit. His hands came up to rest at her waist, holding onto her lightly. He could feel her lean into him, the way her nose flared as she inhaled-.

Nÿx pushed away from him, head shaking and then she glared at Alec.

"Guest? Can you not- aah!" Nÿx let out a frustrated breath in order to calm down. "Help me get her out of here alright." She turned to Azia gently trying to coax her forward all the while ignoring the fact Alec was so close-.

"What's in it for me?" Alec asked moving. Nÿx turned glaring and pulled back seeing he was closer than she'd first thought.

"How about I don't fry you. That should be plenty." Nÿx warned drawing away from him as her skin tingled. She couldn't help the flow of electricity.

"After all we've been through?" Alec asked. His face expressed hurt but his voice sounded much more sarcastic than wounded which only served to annoy Nÿx. How could he think about mentioning that when they had agreed!

"We haven't been through anything!" Nÿx hissed advancing on him. "We haven't been anywhere." Nÿx poked a finger at his chest.

"Ouch." Alec winced feeling the slight pinch of electricity. He rubbed his chest looking down at her with a slow smile. "Not the past two days but before that-,"

"Was a job." She finished for him. "Max needed my help, I gave it. Job finished, done, finito, se acabo." Nÿx ripped the mask from his face then pushed him back ignoring his look. She couldn't thing about him and their lock down, she couldn't deal with it and not thinking about it helped Nÿx pretend they hadn't.

Alec grabbed at the mask unable to believe this girl could make him loose his temper so fast -she was almost worse than Max!

"Now help me get her out of here." She ordered.

'She is worse than Max!'

-X-

"Come on, this way. You'll be fine." Alec crooned to the angel. Slowly, she peeked over the wing she held protectively over her face. She'd held on tightly when they were on the bike stretching her wings out but never once did she fly off. He was beginning to wonder if she could because well, she wasn't particularly flappy with her wings.

"Where's Nÿx?" Krit asked glancing at the feathered Transhuman with a frown.

"Oh, she'll be here." Alec waved absently over his shoulder. "In the meantime," he asked pointing behind himself. "You wanna help figure this one out?"

Both males set their eyes on the feathered figure making Azia even more uncomfortable so that she hid behind her wings and refused to come out no matter what they said.

-X-

Running into Alec was the last thing she had expected. Hadn't she been doing a great job of avoiding him? Hadn't she completely put him out of her mind? Hadn't she managed to avoid thinking about him and the way his hands-.

'What is wrong with me!' Nÿx wailed inwardly. She wasn't even in heat anymore yet she found her mind straying and constantly replaying their- their- what was that even called? They weren't a couple. They had nothing in common that she could see. She didn't even know him! Is that what everyone considered a one night stand? Only in her case it wasn't just one night, it had been two and not just the night either, it had been all day as well…

'I'm bent. Completely lost my mind. It's the only logical explanation not that there's an explanation anywhere that could cover this.' Nÿx thought as she pulled into the buildings underground parking. She left her bike in Aric's parking spot, just in front of his junky car where he managed to leave enough space for Ash. Once upstairs she was going to let Aric know the SteelHeads had been paid off and he was safe, until he went out and got himself in trouble again.

'Why? Why does he do that to himself? Cant he just stay out of trouble?' Nÿx wondered, face set into a frown. She couldn't understand why the ordinaries always managed to cause themselves pain, either physical or emotional. Somehow they seemed unable to live without some form of chaos in their lives.

The door opened almost silently and just as quietly Nÿx made her way to her bedroom to change. She pulled off the black leather jacket dropping it on the bed as she reached in the closet for a pair of jeans when she noticed the skirt hanging next to them. On impulse Nÿx grabbed it and the black half boots shoved under the bed. They had a leather strap across the ankles with a buckle and a low square heel, just perfect for a fight. She slipped on a red tank and started to walk out of her bedroom with the black long-sleeved thermal top trailing in her hand and grabbed the leather jacket. She slipped it over her head then reached up to pull her hair out of the neck and stopped seeing Aric at the dining room table.

"Nÿx…" Aric trailed off seeing her outlined in the moonlight shinning in behind her. "I'm sorry. I just- I don-."

"You're safe now. The SteelHead's won't be bothering you but stay out of Sector4 just to be sure." Nÿx said quietly.

"I'm sorry." He repeated. She looked disappointed and that was worse than if she were yelling at him. "Nÿx, I lov-." He stopped, seeing her begin to move to the door. He got up stumbling around the table until he was in front of her. "I know you don't want to hear this, Nÿx. But I-."

"This will never happen." Nÿx interrupted. "It's not what I'm made for." She said firmly. Deep down she heard that little voice calling her a liar. Hadn't she just been in the arms of another man? Hadn't she just found out she really was made for that?

"You don't know that." Aric grabbed at her hands pulling her close. He wanted her to say that was a lie, to tell him she was willing to at least try.

"I do." Nÿx gently pried her hands out of his grasp. "That's why it's easy for me." she looked right in his eyes and lied. Because this wasn't easy, none of this made any sense because she wasn't supposed to deal with any of this. Wasn't she a soldier? But that wasn't exactly an explanation either.

"Don't go at least." Aric sighed and stepped back. He swallowed his pride or what little there had been in the first place. He could pretend not to care, he could behave as if he'd never spoken those three words to her, ignore the fact that he had kissed those soft lips now smiling sadly at him. He didn't want her pity. "I won't -!" he didn't want her to feel sorry for him either. "You'll never hear this again. That's a promise." Aric said standing tall.

"That's not a good idea-." Nÿx began. He could see her start to move for the door again and tried a different tactic.

"You haven't found a place you like half as much, Nÿx."

She stopped and her head tilted a little in thought.

"Just… stay. I'll leave you alone… Not a word." He promised silently. Not another word about his feelings, not another declaration of love from him. He could do that.

Nÿx frowned slightly. She was feeling guilty because Aric certainly sounded sincere and he was looking so mature. It wasn't like him to be so serious, not from what she knew of him. Aric was only serious about his computers and gambling. Nothing else ever brought out this side of him.

"Not a word…" Nÿx echoed questioning and Aric nodded almost hoping. "That's going to make it a pretty one sided conversation." She said. He was right about not having found some where else she liked. Every where else had been too expensive or just a dump. The only other option she had was going to Terminal City and asking for a place and she knew exactly where that would be. Somehow that thought sent her into a panic and her body tingled in anticipation. "No. I mean people hear me talking to myself and they might start thinking…" Nÿx trailed off seeing the grin on Aric's face.

"Maybe a few words then." He conceded happy that she would stay.

"Sentence at most." Nÿx shrugged.

-X-

Krit turned at the sound of her voice, a huge smile already on his face. Nÿx ran the last couple of steps and threw her arms around him happy to see a familiar face. Up until that moment she hadn't realized how much she missed LA and the ranch. Krit lifted her off her feet turning in a half circle amazed at the feelings going through him. He'd never thought he'd grow to love someone other than his siblings as much as he had over the last two years. Seeing Nÿx again after six months just opened his eyes. He set her down still smiling, as he looked her over.

Krit threw her a questioning glance looking down at the skirt. Nÿx shrugged stuffing her half gloved hands in the back pockets while he took in the rest of her. Black long sleeved shirt with a 'v' buttoned collar currently undone and revealing the red tank beneath, down her bare legs to the half calf black boots.

"I won't ask." Krit said half laughing. He gently ran a hand through her loose hair turning to walk.

"I won't tell. So how was the trip?" Nÿx asked walking with him.

"Fine, where did you find the 'Angel'?" he asked. Nÿx rolled her eyes sighing.

"Oh, you know, I just-." Nÿx shrugged giving him the 'special' look, the one she used when he was going to hear or find out something he wouldn't like. Like when she would sneak into the city without telling them…

"Broke in and stole her? Yeah." He finished at her innocent look. Nÿx grinned then abruptly stood on her toes and gave Krit a peck on the cheek just as Alec walked in.

"You missed me." she said unaware of the frowning Transgenic standing a few feet away. Krit shrugged hiding his pleased surprise at her affection.

"Someone has to watch you." He said forcing his hands to stay at his side when he really wanted to pull her in for another hug.

"GreaseMmonkey didn't want the job huh?" she teased bumping him with her shoulder. Alec couldn't stand to see her laughing and just- just-.

'Wait a minute. She's actually touching another Transgenic. She's touching Krit. So then is it just me she doesn't like?' Alec wondered scowling at the grinning pair.

"Zane did say something about me not being a good mechanic and you know… the ranch-." Krit couldn't help his smile when a familiar voice cut in.

"It's not in your DNA."

Nÿx turned sharply noticing the old, blond haired man walking into the command room and Alec's stony expression. She glanced from one to the other keeping quiet because she had no idea how to respond to the now tense atmosphere. Something was wrong and it had to do with the old man.

Lydecker smiled at Krit feeling proud of his 'son' noticing all the little changes that now marked him as a man. He also noticed the girl standing next to him. She moved closer to Krit sensing the tense currents flowing in the room. Lydecker guessed the girl was a year or two younger than Krit and wondered where she'd been trained. He'd never seen her with his kids and the thought that this one might be of the black ops strain was just impossible but…

Nÿx could take her eyes off the man. He wore all black, which shouldn't have grabbed her attention the way it did because most everyone at Terminal City wore black or shades of it, from dark gray to blue. Her vision suddenly narrowed and it was as if she was seeing 'him' again. The black shadow she couldn't make out that always came back to tease the edges of her memory.

"And you're..?" Nÿx asked low voiced.

"This is good old Lydecker." Alec responded in his usual sarcastic voice as he moved to stand next to the old man. "Ex- Manticore official and now turncoat, not to mention informant on the Conclave."

"He trained us." Krit said quietly, laying a hand on her arm. Nÿx frowned, the blurry shape always indistinguishable began to sharpen until the image in her mind focused and there was the man who killed Krit's siblings.

'Jondy, 7 year old Eva, Vada lying dead under a blistering sun, Kavi because he was too good a baseball player, Ben, Seth here in Seattle because he was spying and Tinga… there was a little boy who'd never get to know his mother…'

Pictures were going through her brain so fast, information blinking behind her eyes, Syl's quiet voice telling her about the others, the ones she knew about but the rest; Vada, Kavi, Seth and Ben; how did she know about them? The only thing she was sure of was that this was the man she was meant to hunt down and kill. This was Col. Donald Lydecker of the Manticore Project in Gillete, Wyoming. The X-5's were defective, they were being terminated under his watch, he was in charge, he trained them, he made them.

Krit felt her tense by his side, the expression on her face was completely blank. Her eyes were locked onto the colonel unaware of the droning voice in her head repeating her orders. "Terminate. Kill. Execute. Traitor. Defeat…"

Lydecker couldn't be sure until he saw her barcode. He wanted to know if any other Transgenics had survived outside of Manticore, if there were still other operations in effect. He closed the distance raising his arm to check the back of her neck oblivious to the look on her face. The face that had a resemblance to someone he had cared about a long time ago. The skin tone, the shape of her face even the slight tilt of nose, they were little things but he noticed, just like something about her eyes caught his attention.

Krit saw the change immediately, the harsh look in her eyes was so out of character for Nÿx. She usually had this soft warm look, somehow relaxed almost sleepy, like a cat! This look though, Krit had never seen Nÿx this way. Suddenly she grabbed Lydecker's outstretched hand yanked him around reaching for his throat. Krit shoved his body between them blocking her clawed hand. He felt her kick his leg which effectively brought him to his knee.

Alec jumped in trying to pull Lydecker out of the way when Nÿx punched his nose.

"Aah!" he grabbed his face feeling the burn spread over his cheeks. "Son of a BITCH!" he roared. His eyes blazed angrily towards Nÿx.

In her mind the mantra kept playing. "Execute. Destroy. Exterminate. Kill. Slay. Traitor…" her hands reached for his neck intent on snapping it. Someone yanked her backwards, away from her target. Nÿx turned, her elbow connecting with something soft. There was an explosion of breath and a dark shape hunched over. Nÿx raised a knee intending to hit the face only to be blocked. Her fist flew down then her wrist was in a viselike grip and she was turned around.

Krit pushed her against a table, his arm shoved across her back. Nÿx relaxed letting her body prepare for the EMP. Krit felt it, her body went soft, her breath seemed to sigh past her lips and he knew. He shoved away from her a second before she released the blast. The entire building went black, there were more shouts and sounds of a scuffle, grunts and a crash then the generator kicked in and some lights turned on.

Alec was struggling to pin Nÿx and keep her from electrocuting him at the same time. She managed to get another hit at his face which only pissed him off more.

"Knock it off!" he ordered roughly pinning her down. He barely sat back when she tried to head but him.

"What are you doing?" Krit yelled reaching toyank Alec off.

"What's it look like?" he retorted wiping at his still bloody nose.

"Get him off!" Nÿx sat up shoving at Alec as he stood and she scrambled to get up. She couldn't believe she'd been about to hurt Krit let alone kill someone.

'What the hell's wrong with me?'

Nÿx didn't dare glance at the blond man afraid she was going to get that unbearable impulse to kill him. Nor could she look at Alec not after the- the-.

"Nÿx?" Krit's voice snapped her head up glad to be able to focus on something, someone other than the accusing faces currently in the command room. She was suddenly very aware of having knocked the power out in the one building in all of Terminal City that could possibly-most likely-render the most damage had the enemy been about to charge in for the kill.

"What the hell was that?" Alec practically yelled. He stood much closer than she remembered and looking into his green eyes she couldn't help remembering the last day they'd been locked in. It was the only time they'd had an actual conversation or part of one that had nothing to do with sex.

"What was it like? Living at the ranch?" Alec asked. He was curious about her life, what it would be like to live somewhere other than Seattle or out of the shadow of Manticore…

"What…?" Nÿx blinked to get the two pictures in her head to become one. There was a groan and Nÿx turned towards it. She watched as Krit helped Lydecker to his feet.

"I know you…" she said softly trying to remember who had shown her that picture.

"Is that why you wanted to kill him?" Alec's voice was muffled. He held a cloth to his face which he knew would swell slightly by morning. She was strong and he couldn't help looking her over yet again. He knew how it flet to have her legs wrap around his waist, the strenght… She was limber in everyway, with training and apparently some conditioning they hadn't been aware of.

"I-." Nÿx glanced at Alec quickly looking away from him feeling guilty about hitting him. She felt bad about hitting Krit too and tried to apologize but the words wouldn't come.

"I wasn't going to hurt you." Lydecker rasped. He moved away from Krit who glared at him.

"What were you doing?" he asked moving so he stood between Nÿx and the colonel.

"Her barcode, I wanted to see her series." He replied pointing at Nÿx. The protective stance didn't escape his noticed either, nor did the slight shift in stance from Alec.

"She doesn't have one." Both Alec and Krit replied in unison. Both males glanced at each other, one frowning, the other questioning. Nÿx sensed some tension and felt even worse. She hoped Alec would keep his mouth shut, they had agreed! They would never mention it. Ever!

"You all have a barcode and she looks about the right age." Lydecker insisted. "She looks… she's the age to be in one of your platoons, an X-5." He kept trying to figure out why her eyes caught his attention. Something about their shape or the shade…

"I'm not an X-5 and I'm certainly not branded!"

"You look like her." Lydecker said suddenly, his voice very low almost whispering to himself but the others heard. Nÿx sucked in a sharp breath thinking he meant Max. She'd been so afraid of being just another copy of the legendary hero that when she actually met the other X-5 she had been relieved to see they were completely different. Other than the slightly tanned skin color and black hair they couldn't be mistaken for the same person.

"I am not her! I'm not an X-series, not one of your toys!" Nÿx yelled advancing on him. Krit snaked an arm around her waist holding her back. Nÿx struggled slightly but she was afraid of getting loose because of what might happen if she actually got her hands on the old man.

'I don't belong, not here and not out there.' She thought with a wrenching pain in her gut.

"Yeah." Alec spoke up unable to keep quiet anymore. "I get you're not an X-5 but you're definitely not an ordinary." He was angry with her, angry because she kept sounding as if Transgenics were less than human, a plague even. He felt offended and after the two days locked up with her well it pretty much sucked to think she'd only touch him if she was in heat.

"You have no clue as to what I am." Nÿx yelled at Alec. How could he begin to understand how it felt not to know what you were let alone who? "Or who I am anymore than I do! So, if I sound bitchy it's because you can remember being trained!" Nÿx pulled out of Krit's arms glaring at Alec. "You can remember what an asshole he was!" she pointed to Lydecker who stiffened slightly at the insult. How would she know if he was an ass? He'd never even seen her!

"I'm blank. Completely fucking blank!" Nÿx felt her eyes begin to burn and the idea of letting Alec see her in tears was so horrible she turned away searching for an escape.

"Nÿx," Krit moved in front of her but she pushed past heading to the door.

"Leave me ALONE!" her voice echoed in unison with the door slamming behind her. He was a little hurt by her words; he was an X-5 after all. Krit sighed turning with a glare for Alec. He realized then the X-5 before him was not his brother Ben.

"Something I said?" Alec asked in a voice laden with hostile sarcasm. Inwardly, Krit finally said hello to Alec and put to rest the memory of Ben.

-X-