Epilogue
A month after I got the cure for the virus the Conclave injected me with I left Terminal City. I couldn't stay there anymore, not with Krit and Max and all the others. Alec didn't want me to go even though he knew I'd never wanted to move in. He surprised me though, he had everything ready at Aric's apartment, even got me a room mate so I wouldn't be alone when he was at Terminal City.
Yep, he moved in. He splits his time between Seattle and Terminal City while I try to stay in Seattle like any normal homosapien. I keep pretending to be normal, I go to work everyday, pedal around the city on my bike delivering packages, hanging at Crash. Every once in a while we do have some added expenses so I have to take up a 'night' job but it all works out.
OriginalCindy took up Aric's old bedroom which I thought was a good idea. I wasn't ready to be on my own… besides, Logan's place was too crowded for her not too mention it wasn't girl friendly. Yep, OriginalCindy took some getting used to but it was nice to have her around. I remembered her from JamPony the day I'd run out of there and away from Gryph. She hadn't looked half as well as she did now.
Gryph showed up a week after that and helped me go through Aric's personal belongings. There were a lot of things that needed to be sent to his family and I dreaded having to break the news to them.
Logan had taken care of the body with help from his police friend. Aric had been listed as a 'John Doe' since no ID had been found on his body. Max had sticky fingers; she'd given me his wallet and ID on her only visit to the clinic. We hadn't said much, mostly because we didn't know what to say.
OriginalCindy says that's because we don't let our guards down long enough to get to know each other. I say that's a load of krap but hey, everyone's entitled to their own opinion. Free speech and all that…
Krit called down to the ranch and now the whole family was moving north. They were selling the ranch. Most of my things arrived yesterday I just haven't opened the boxes. I couldn't believe they were giving up the only place where the Conclave, White and even the government couldn't find them. That more than anything else was bringing up thoughts I'd rather have kept ignoring but the fact that Zane was throwing in with the Transgenic's… That was-.
Maybe this fight, this war had more importance than I thought. It certainly made me rethink my view on the whole situation and what my part in all this was going to be. Lydecker had said I had a purpose and like him I now wanted to know what it was.
"Are you ready?"
I turned to the door smiling at him. He'd come to see me at the clinic after Krit had left. He'd looked haunted, eyes glassy, hair all mussed and cold. I could tell he'd been riding around the city, probably trying to figure things out and I knew. Neither of us said anything but there was a silent understanding. I'd lifted the sheet aside and after a moments hesitation he climbed in next to me careful not to jostle the bed.
"I'm ready." I felt as if I were and whatever had to be decided could wait another day. It wasn't like the war was going to end any time soon. It had been two years and both sides were still at an impasse of sorts.
-X-
"722."
The soft voiced designation was no louder than a whisper, light as a feather floating in the wind. The number tore through me like a hurricane, the voice, familiar sounding, as if it were my own yet I knew it was not. It was foreign yet soothing in its warmth and that more than anything I could remember sent a shiver down my spine in ominous foreboding.
I turned around pulling out of Alec's arm with a terrible feeling as I searched the street.
"Nÿx?"
I heard him ask, seeing the look on my face he searched down the street as well wanting to know what had brought such a strange reaction out of me. I didn't know myself, didn't know why the hairs on the back of my neck rose chillingly as I searched for the cause.
Then I saw him.
"Khaza."
He stood on the next corner not far from us, his black hair gently blowing in the cool breeze. He looked no different than I remembered because I did remember him. His face so familiar I felt my chest constrict with feeling…
He didn't look real to me, not even with that stupid trenchcoat he always had to wear. It was something he'd read in some spy novel and the image had stuck for some reason. Almost every mission he'd end up wearing one.
This one was a charcoal color. He wore it belted but I knew he'd be wearing somethingnice if not a suit. He likes dressing nice…
I must've taken a step in his direction because he smiled. That stopped me, the smile was nothing warm or loving, not how I knew it could be. I'd forgotten how Khaza could make his beautiful features, usually so amiable and unthreatening, into this vulgar mask. His brown eyes so like mine narrowed into slits, his eyebrows drawing together and the sensuous lips thinned into a thin line. Even in the late sun shining behind me with its warmth I felt cold, frozen to my spot. His eyes shifted from mine to the left and I knew. The smile twisted as he raised a closed hand.
"No." I shook my head hoping he would stop but I knew… that pinprick of fear washed over me like a tidal wave almost drowning me under the weight. It was his harsh laugh that broke through the fog and I moved to Alec. He couldn't and yet I wondered why? What was he doing here?
Khaza's fist opened and from his palm sparks burst forth. Alec saw him, saw the bolts and thought it was me they were aimed for. I shoved him aside even as he tried to do the same for me. Alec fell and there was no time to get out of the way or avoid being hit. I felt my side burn but even that faded away under the onslaught of the current as it tore through my body. The pain was intense and I wondered if this was how the others felt. Did it burn as much when I hit them with my EMP?
The current moved through my body like a wave bouncing from one body part to the other with no end in sight.
Far off I heard a tinkling sound, as if there were bells ringing…
I could see- suddenly everything was there; I knew who I was, what I was. All the people, their faces, moments, even places flashed through my brain so fast they blurred until they formed a montage yet I finally understood.
Just when I had the answers to all my questions, everything finally clear and I could tell hi-
I could share those memories…
Alec's voice seemed so far away, he was calling my name, his voice fading-
Or was it me?
-X-
And here is the end. So I hope this was a good ride to jump on and seeing as how the last 26chapters have received over 3000hits I'd guess there were plenty of you who did enjoy it.
Thanks to all my loyal reviewers who have lit the fire so to speak in order for me to get these chapters posted.
2am sessions at my computer screen to type them up not withstanding I had fun dreaming all this up.
And I'm not done.
I'll let you know when I post up the 2nd part of this fic.
X-Series: War Games
Coming soon…