Zero had taken Pip to an empty warehouse and chained her to a post. She now was staring up at him from her spot on the floor. "Why are you doing this?" she asked him, as she shifted on the cold floor. "They trusted you. You betrayed your own kind."
"You wouldn't understand," Zero snapped, as he looked over at her. He had a scared and confused look on his face. "I had to, I just had to."
"What do you mean by that?" Pip looked around for something to use as a weapon against the older X6, and found nothing in reach. "Like someone brain washed you?"
"Yeah, I think so." Zero let out a moan as he ran his hand through his hair and sank down next to her. "I didn't mean to hurt that one girl. I didn't know what I was doing. I was in a haze. They are going to kill me."
"Maybe you can talk to them." Pip bit down on her lower lip as she looked around. "I don't really know what to tell you. You did kidnap me, and kicked the heck out of those others. There's going to be harsh feelings from them."
"I know."
"So what are you going to do?"
"I don't know yet. I was supposed to wait for someone. I was supposed to bring you here for someone."
"Who?"
"I don't know."
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Alec, Biggs, and Max drove to the harbor and came to a halt outside of the warehouse district. "Okay, she's somewhere in there," Alec said, as he pointed towards the warehouses.
"You can't narrow it down?" Biggs said, as they hid their bikes, in an accessible location, and started off. "This place is huge. It'll take us a while to look."
"It's just a few clicks that way," Alec said, as he tossed the palm pilot at Biggs. "See if you can pinpoint which warehouse it is from that thing."
"Boys we didn't come here to fight," Max said, as she shot them both a look. They both shot her a smile, as they looked around checking the perimeter for unwanted guests. "We came here to find Zero and Pip, remember?"
"How could we forget?" Alec muttered, as he started to walk in front, only to have Max snag his jacket and pull him back. He landed hard on his back and looked up at her. "What's your problem, Max? Did I say something to offend you?"
"Not this time," she replied, as she looked forward at the guard dogs coming at them. "I was more worried about them."
"Ah, man, dogs," Alec hissed, as he quickly got to his feet. "Why does it always have to be dogs?"
"Oh, I'm thinking it's just because of your personality, buddy," Biggs called out, as they began to back away, as the dogs started to come towards them. "Anybody see a way out."
"To the left," Max whispered, as she spotted a door that was open. "Open door. Looks clear."
"Looks clear?" Alec asked, as he shot a glance over at her. "That doesn't sound safe."
"You want to stay here and have a nice chat with the rabid dogs go right ahead."
"You're right, I would rather stay in your good company." The dogs broke into a run towards them. "Let's go." They blurred towards the open door. Alec slammed in shut behind them. "Okay, I hate dogs."
"We kinda figured that one out, all ready," Biggs teased as he pulled out the palm pilot from his coat and let out a soft whistle. "I think we found the warehouse where Pip is."
"Wow, that was lucky." Alec looked around to see another door. "Come on let's do this." He then took off.
"Who made him in charge?" Biggs asked Max, as they followed him.
"Oh, just let him have his moment," she whispered to him. "Cause he doesn't get those very much."
"Oh, don't I know that. He missed being in charge of a unit." They slid through the door and came to a complete stop behind Alec. "Why did he stop?"
"Because of that," Max responded, as she pointed to Zero and Pip, as they turned to face a man walking towards them. "And I think I know who Zero was meeting."
"White," Alec muttered, as they moved closer, hiding behind a tank. They watched as Ames White came up with a Familiar body guard. "Yep, there's our buddy white and one of familiar buddies."
"And there's Pip," Max pointed out. "We at least know she's okay. Now let's see what White wants with her."
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"No," Pip cried out, as soon as she realized that the man was White and she tried to get away, but the chains kept her in her place. "No."
"Hello, again, 946," White said, as he looked down at her. "We meet again. Good job, solider. You did well. You brought her here without any trouble."
"Yes, Sir," Zero muttered, as he looked down at the ground.
"Having second thoughts?" White asked, as he came up to stand in front of Zero.
"No, Sir," he replied, as he kept his eyes to the floor. He knew that if he looked up, White would see that he was lying.
"You're lying," White snapped and slugged him in the stomach. Pip screamed, and the X5s cringed. "I'm not to be played with, X6. You are pathetic. You're worse than a X5."
"I'll tell them that when I see them," Zero whispered as he looked up at White. "Because I'm not really liking your company, Sir."
"Oh, so you went back to calling me, Sir. How thoughtful." He then grabbed a tight hold on Zero's arm and he cried out in pain. "Now we're going to have a nice chat about the others."
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"I'll be back," Max whispered to the others, as she moved.
"Max," Alec whispered, as he went to grab her arm and missed. "Damn her. Come on. This is not going to be fun."
"Right behind you, 494," Biggs whispered, as he followed his fellow X5.
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"So, "Zero" is it?" White said, as he released Zero's arm and Zero fell down to his knees in pain. "That's the name that 452 gave you, isn't it?"
"Yeah, so?" a very familiar voice called out from behind them. "What's it to you?"
"Ah, 452," White muttered, as he turned to face her. "I was wondering when you were going to show up." His face then fell when he saw Biggs and Alec coming up behind Max. "I see you brought along friends. You didn't think you could come alone."
"No, I didn't," Max replied, as she crossed her arms. "Why did you used Psy-Ops in Zero?"
"Why not? It sounds like something I would do." He turned and grabbed a hold of Zero's neck. Alec came up to stand next to Max, and she put a hand on his arm. "Easy there, 494, you wouldn't want me to snap his neck."
"Easy guys," Max whispered to her fellow X5s. "We don't want him to do anything crazy."
"You're getting smarter, 452," White said, bringing Max's attention back to him. "I'll give you an option. You can come along with 946 or die."
"Not much of an option," Max responded as she looked down at Zero. He had gone still in White's hold. 'I'm sorry' he mouthed was all he said, before he went into action. He slammed an elbow into White's head and White let him go. He then blurred off.
"Grab him," White yelled at his fellow Familiar. "Do not let him go."
"He won't let him get away from me, Sir," the Familiar replied, as he went after Zero.
"That just has to rub you wrong, Whitey," Alec called out, as he looked over at White. "Losing some of the leverage you had with us."
"Oh, shut up, 494. You're annoying."
"You got under his skin," Biggs pointed out, as he came up to their sides. "You tend to do that a lot."
"So?" Alec muttered, as they watched as White's face let up in anger. "Ah, look, Whitey's upset."
"Enough!" White snapped. "This ends now." White turned towards Pip. "I'm taking the girl."
"No!" Both Alec and Max yelled, as they raced towards him, only to get stopped by familiars who came out of nowhere.
"Yes, I'm going to," White said, as he began to work on the chains to free Pip. "And there's no one to stop me." He got her free of the chains and was reaching for her arm. "No one is going to help you."
"You're forgetting about me," a soft voice called out, and White turned to get a punch in the face. Zero then quickly swung and slammed a kick into White's chest knocking him down. "Pip, run!"
"But, I can help," she said, as she looked up at the older X6. "I can fight."
"Not against them," he said, as he gave her a little shove. "Go."
"Don't go far 946," White growled as he jumped to his feet, and Zero went into a fighting stance. "You do well, "Zero". I didn't think you had it in you. I thought you were a coward. Not one to stick against someone who was superior to you."
"I'm not afraid of you," Zero snapped, as he looked at him. "I'm more afraid of them." He then shot Pip another glare. "I said go, solider."
"Right, I'm on it." Pip then took off in a blur. White tried to grab her, but missed and stumbled.
Alec caught the sight of a small blur coming towards them. "Biggs, blur," he called out to him. "Catch it." He slammed a familiar into the ground and turned and kicked another one hard in the chest.
"Blur?" Biggs asked, as he quickly looked around and caught sight of the blurring Pip. "Ah, I get ya. I'll get her." He quickly blurred off to grab onto her arm and pulled her into his side. She let off a scream and slammed a fist into his chest. "Easy, Pip, it's me."
"Biggs?" she cried out, as she looked up at him. "I'm so sorry, I didn't know." She then curled up into his chest, and shook in fear. "Thank you."
"My pleasure, pet," Biggs replied, and quicky pulled them into a crouch as a familiar jumped at them. "Now that wasn't nice."
"You are parasites," the familiar growled at them, as he came towards them. Pip shivered as she took a step back into Biggs. "I came for the girl."
"You're not getting her. You'll have to come through me to get her."
"I can do that." He lunged forward and Biggs grabbed Pip at the last minute and blurred to one side. The familiar slammed into the steel post behind them. He knocked himself out.
"Idiot." Biggs looked down at Pip who was still shaking in his arms. "Come on. Let's find your parents and Zero and get the heck out of here."
"Sounds like a great plan," Pip replied, as she looked over at where Alec was helping Max fight off a familiar. "A really, really good plan."
"Then what are we waiting for?"
"You're going to die, today, Zero," White growled at him, as he grabbed onto his arm and threw him down to the ground. "Any last words?"
"Yeah, be nice," a voice called out from behind him, and White turned to receive a kick to the face by Max. "You see the funny thing about us, White, is that even though he did betray our trust, we still will stand up for him. He is our kind. He is a X. A transgenic. So we won't turn our back to him, unlike you. Who probably would have shot him for being a traitor."
"Damn straight I would have," White said, as he got to his feet and wiped his bloody lip on his sleeve. "That makes us totally different. I knew that."
"What you don't realize, Whitey, is that you won't win this round," Alec called out from behind him, and White turned to see him helping Alec helping Zero to his feet. "We won this round. "Now you're going to take your familiar trash and sulk home and plan the next round."
"Why would I do that?"
"Because that's who you are White," Max said, as she looked over at Zero. He has cuts and bruises on his face, and was leaning pretty much on Alec for support, meaning he was pretty much exhausted. "We can stay here and fight, but I don't have time for this. We took out your familiars. Plus we have three X5s to you. I know you don't think that you're outnumbered, but we do."
"Fine, you can go, but they're will be a next time," White sneered. He then turned towards one of his Familiars as they were coming towards him. "Oh, and Max..." He turned to face her only to find the warehouse empty. "...never mind. I'll tell you more about your daughter another time." The beaten Familiars looked up at him with a look of failure in their eyes. "Come on, let's get out of here. I don't want anymore failure today."
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By the time they got to their bikes, Zero was barely able to stay on his feet. "It was stupid of you to fight White by yourself," Alec muttered to him, as he helped him on his bike.
"Well I had to do something, Sir," Zero muttered, as he held his head between his head. "I couldn't let anything happened to Pip."
"And I thank you," Pip replied, as she went up to the injured X6 and hugged him only to have him gasp and she quickly jumped back in fear. "I'm sorry. What did I do?"
"You didn't do anything wrong, pet," Biggs said, as he put a hand on her shoulder. "I think Whitey, might have bruised some of his ribs, and that hurts."
"You don't have to remind me, Sir," Zero mumbled, as he looked down at the ground. "So what happens to me now?"
"We go back to TC and get you taken care of," Max said, as she put a hand on his shoulder. "Then you tell us everything. There are people there who want to see you, such as a fellow X6 and a certain young X8."
Zero's head came up at the mention of Bullet and Bugler. "Nothing happened to them?" he asked.
"No," Biggs answered, as he looked down at the young X6. "Lucky for you, CeCe and I got there before the others found out that you hurt Gem."
"Oh, that's right I hurt Gem. Is she okay?"
"Yeah, she'll live," Alec said, as he put a hand on his shoulder. "Lucky for her, you held back. You only gave her a few bruises. White isn't going to be lucky,"
"Somehow I knew that she wasn't a threat in my mind even though I was in the haze," Zero said. He then let out a sigh. "I don't even remember coming to Seattle with the others."
"Then we have a lot to talk about."
"Can I suggest we don't talk about it here," Max called out, causing them to look up to see some black vehicles coming towards them. "I don't think their friendly."
"Right, let's go," Alec said, as they hopped on their bikes. Zero rode with Alec, while Pip rode with her new buddy, Biggs. Soon they were on their way back to TC.
TBC
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