A/n: I bow down before those of you who reviewed the last chapter.

Sorry this has taken so long to get out, guys. Between Maple Syrup, homework and computer room opening hours it's been kind of tricky to find time to work on it. Plus, I needed to try and think up a way to match Reilynn's latest cliffhanger. ; )

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Chapter 20: House of Cards

Jondy was still on point, watching for familiars while the others stood ready behind her. Zack made his way over to stand at her side. "My turn to be scout," he said tersely.

"You're welcome," Jondy replied. "How're our guests doing?"

"Staying quiet and out of our way," Zack replied.

"That's probably a good thing. If they were going to make a move they'dve done it by now, while we were distracted."

"Unless they're trying to lure us into a false sense of security."

"I doubt they'd be that dumb. You think Max and Logan are out yet?"

"Speculation without intelligence is detrimental to the success of the mission, Jondy," Zack quoted.

Jondy rolled her eyes. "Don't even start, Zack, you donut." All the other X5's sniggered at her remark.

"X5 210!" Called out Zane, in a passable impression of Lydecker's voice. "If you ever refer to your commanding officer as a donut again I'll have you court-martialled."

Jondy turned around and stuck her tongue out at him.

"I think I hear something," said Zack. The laughter died away instantly, and to a man (or woman) the X5's reached to their weapons.

"What is it, Zack?" Whispered Jondy.

"Not sure," he replied. "I'll check it out. Cover me." He made his way silently to the corner of the corridor and carefully looked around.

And then the ceiling caved in.

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Mole found himself falling. His landing was softened – although only slightly – by the fact it was directly on top of Alec. He picked himself up, slowly, from on top of his comrade. The rest of his team were in a similar state. Two floors had collapsed under them, depositing his fifty strong team into a room in the basement with a lot of rubble. On top of Alec and his group.

Alec managed to sit up, groaning, "Oh, man, what fell on me?"

"I did," replied Mole, sounding very pissed. "What the hell just happened?"

"I blew up some familiars," replied Alec flippantly, getting to his feet.

"That was some bomb," said an X5 Alec vaguely recalled as Jason.

"Yeah," he replied. "Must have been some kind of weapons storage room in there."

"What is it with you and blowing up your allies?" Mole grumbled, still puffing on his dusty cigar.

"I save it all for you, Mole. How many injured do we have?"

"Five non-walking, sir," An X6 told him.

"The stairways must have collapsed when the blast happened," Dix pointed out. "How's Max going to get down?"

"She'll manage." Alec said, mentally adding, 'she'll have to.' "Help with the wounded. X7!"

The boy materialised at Alec's side. "Relay to the others. Full withdrawal to the perimeter, immediately. The whole building could come down in a minute."

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Zack came around in darkness. He took a deep breath and immediately regretted it as he choked on the dust filled air. Every time he tried to inhale he filled his lungs with the tickly dust. He began to cough loudly, tears streaming from his eyes as he struggled to breathe.

Just as he felt close to passing out, a damp cloth was pressed over his face, filtering out the fine particles. Zack took several grateful breaths, sitting up to peer at his helper in the gloom. His night vision kicked in and he recognised Syl.

"Shut up a minute, bro," she said. "By the sound of it, you've got enough plaster in your lungs to redecorate half of Seattle."

"Needs it," he managed, sparking another coughing fit.

"Told you so," said Syl, not without sympathy. "Just hope there's no asbestos in this place." When he'd regained the ability, Zack ignored her advice again.

"Everyone ok?"

"Except Jondy. She took a bad blow to the head, but she's breathing."

Zack got to his feet as fast as he could, still holding the cloth to his face. "Will she be all right?"

"We don't know," said Syl softly.

Zack stated the obvious. "We need to get out of here."

"No shit," Syl replied, leading him over to where the others were grouped around Jondy's unconscious form.

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Alec and Mole's group had been wandering around the half-collapsed basement for almost thirty minutes, trying to find a way back to ground level. Alec's sensitive hearing picked up voices and he signalled the rest to be silent. Peering around a corner, he spotted a tall man trying to force his way through a door.

"Must have jammed when the explosion went off," said the man, putting his shoulder to it. "Come on, come on," he muttered, just as he managed to force the door. He almost fell through it, so was off balance when Alec stepped around the corner and opened fire.

Thirty seconds later, the only occupant of the corridor was the body of the conclave's leader, as the last transgenic stepped into the secret tunnel he'd been trying to escape through.

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A small group of X5's arrived at the field hospital Max had set up, a pair carrying one of their own between them. Another guarded two strangers with their hands tied behind them. Luke, who was in charge of the hospital, recognised them as Zack's team.

"Hey! You guys all right?" He called, going over to them.

Zack turned to face him, his expression bleak. "Jondy's unconscious," he informed Luke. "Serious head injury."

"Get her over here and let the medics take a look," said Luke. "Who are they?" He asked, spotting the prisoners.

"Ordinaries. They claim to know Max and Logan."

"Sir! There's a tunnel here," called a lanky nomlie with a strangely mottled complexion like a cheetah. "There's a big group coming through, we can hear them."

"All right, everyone gather round and aim at the entrance," said Zack. About a dozen transgenics obeyed, including Krit and Zane. They all got ready to fire as the trapdoor opened… and Mole's scaly head popped out, cigar firmly in place.

"Do I look like a familiar to you?" He asked, seeing all the gun barrels levelled at him.

"No, you look more like a good old fashioned Manticore lizard guy to me," said Zane, shouldering his weapon and offering Mole a hand up.

"Any sign of Max and Joshua yet?" Asked Alec, following Mole out.

"None," said Luke.

"We need to find them. Are there any scouts looking?"

"Not enough," Luke replied. "We've been kind of busy out here."

"Ok. Zack, you get some volunteers together. Where's Jondy?" There was a pause.

"The field hospital," Zane said, quietly. "She's hurt."

"What? Is it bad?"Alec asked.

"The ceiling fell in on her when the explosion happened. We don't know how bad her head injury is yet."

Alec simply moved away, searching the lines of wounded until he found Jondy. He almost didn't recognise her. One of the medics was shearing off her long, lustrous golden hair to get better access to her wound. His hands and the clumps of hair were covered in blood.

"How is she?" Alec asked, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Hard to tell," said the medic. "Could be a split scalp, could be a cracked skull. I'm going to stitch up this wound and bandage her head but beyond that, there's not much we can do. It's really up to her."

Alec could only stare at Jondy's blanched face, free of her usual sassy expression. She looked childlike, innocent; almost angelic.

Zack laid a hand on his shoulder. "Come on, Alec," he said, far from his usual commanding tones. "There's nothing you can do for her. You're needed to help organise our withdrawal."

Alec wiped his face swiftly before turning towards Zack. Jondy's brother looked as sympathetic as Alec had ever seen him. A silent understanding passed between them before Alec marched away, to issue orders, organise people. While all the time the only place he wanted to be was at Jondy's side, holding her hand.

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Alec was worried. Not just about Jondy; Max's group hadn't been seen since the invasion. He sent Zack off with a scouting squad and watched enviously as they left. All he wanted was to focus on a simple task, something that would take his mind off the blonde woman lying unconscious in the hospital and the dark one inside the now fiercely burning building. Ordering the transgenics around was too complex, needing too much thinking. Why couldn't he just beat someone up?

A few minutes later, Alec was immersed in organising a new team to scout the area for ordinary witnesses when Zack returned.

"Alec!" He called out. The hazel eyed X5 turned to see that Zack wasn't alone. A number of members of Max's team stood with him. The conspicuous absence of Max, Logan and Joshua sent a chill of fear through his heart.

And then he turned, as with a final spectacular explosion, the familiar's headquarters finally folded in on itself like a house of cards.

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So, what did you think? Has the Apprentice of Evil surpassed the master?