Choices

by Mystic25

UPDATE CHAPTER 28 SUMMARY: Jessie finally asks Max about her past

8. White Out

TITLE: Choices-09 "White Out"
AUTHOR: Mystic25
EMAIL: yellowrubberduck31@hotmail.com

DISCLAIMER: Cameron owns the ones I didn't make up:)
RATING: PG14 for violence and language
CATAGORY: M/L Paring, Z/A (Zack/Asha) Pairing/Angst Alternate Universe

SUMMARY: Last time it was Val who took their child, this time it's much worse. Now it's a race against time to save Max, Tinga and their children before they find out how bad "worse" is.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Okay, even with the slight burns on my last chapter, I appreciate the comments. I think I'm gonna lay off the smut and stick to the action, bang bang aspect. Heh, I'm more of a twist the arm of bad guy gurl then "let's twist the cork off the champaign"

AUTHOR'S NOTE #2: For Alec fans, I worked him in here to go with my universe. For those still in the first season, Alec is another X5. That'll be his base line for the story. Don't want to give spoilers to those who haven't seen the new eps.

AUTHOR'S NOTE #3: Okaay..after tonight's ep ("Medium is the Message") I learned a heck of a lot about White. I'm gonna play with that, but only slightly. The guys still in season one deserve not to have the story line spoiled for them. So I KNOW that all of this new stuff may not be exactly right, I did it on purpose.

*****

SEATTLE
UNDISCLOSED SECTOR LOCATION

"Alpha one, do you have the targets sited?"

"Copy that, subjects have been made"

"Alpha Unit move out, and remember, Base wants them back alive"

The man in black nodded silently to another member of his unit. He responded in kind, and switched on his stun gun, checking the ammo of his gun.

The leader gave the order to move out.

*****

SEATTLE
HOME OF CHARLIE AND TINGA SMITH

"Pow!" Jess threw down his solider on top of Case's.

"I dead!" Case cried out, not in the least bit worried that he lost more "men" then his cousin.

"You took out his whole unit baby," Max said, observing the boys on the floor of the living room with their toys. She turned to her sister "Brings back memory's huh?"

"Oh yeah, combats" Tinga sipped her coffee. "Always loved getting hauled out of bed at 0400 hours to trek three miles on the woods in camo and with more artillery then was in the weapons bunker."

"Wasn't as bad for me" Max stated, leaning more back into her chair
"Sleep was never an issue"

"I know, you always kept the rest of us up, you and Jondy-" Tinga shot her baby sister a stare.

Max shrugged "Nothing wrong with a lil convo time," she drank from her coffee cup.

Tinga snatched the remote off the kitchen table "Wonder how the game's goin'" she turned it to a sports station.

"Courtside you said?" Max was watching the game taking place in front of her.

"Yep, the best kind." Tinga put down the remote "Charlie likes to be so close he can feel the sweat that rolls off the players"

"Nice" Max said disgusted. She scanned the court looking for the boys. Charlie had scored tickets to the Seattle Piston's game (since Seattle bought out the team in 2015). He convinced Logan to go with him, and Max got her man to take him up on the idea. He loved sports more then her. Plus she said it'd be coo' for her and Tinga to have a sister's night in with the kids.

She soon spotted the pair sitting just off to the right of the visiting players.
The shot was only for a second before the camera followed a player dribbling down the lane.

"Nineteen to ten" Tinga red the score off the bottom of the screen "Charlie's gotta be happy" her smile vanished when she heard a faint noise from the window.

Case heard it too, and stopped in his playing. "Momma.."

"It's okay baby" Tinga stood up from her seat.

Max set down her cup on the tabletop, and stood beside her sister. Tinga waved her hand, signaling Max to check for the source of the noise on the left side of the apartment.

Tinga stepped up to the window and peered out. Honing in her vision, she saw nothing in front of her. But then the silence was broken as a figure crashed through the large picture window.

Six-month-old Alexis woke up from her nap in her playpen, crying.

Shattered glass crunched under the feet of the man covered in black Kevlar. Two more men emerged behind him." I believe we've hit the jackpot guys,"

"Gambling's a bad habit" Max spat out, taking in the sight of six armed men dressed all in black, and carrying high tech, military issued assault weapons.

"Turned out well though," The same man aimed his weapon at her "Got to the objective"

"Which is what?" Tinga growled, perched in a fighting stance

The man actually smiled "To bring in the X5 females and their offspring" he glanced over at the baby "Thought there was only two," again the sleazy smile "Base will be happy about another" he reached out his hand to touch the crying infant.

Max jumped him "Back off ass!" she moved to get in a sidekick, but was met with his high-powered tazer in her leg. She landed hard on the floor.

"Take it easy momma" the solider put his tazer away "I'm not gonna hurt her. She needs to be in good condition." he leered at her "as do you, which won't happen if you piss me off anymore"

"Mommee!" Two-year-old Jess scrambled over to Max. The soldiers didn't feel that he was a threat and let him kneel next to his mother.

"S'okay hun" Max climbed to her feet. Jess locked his famous death grip on her leg. She picked him up, and tried to calm him down.

The leader looked over at Tinga "I trust you won't make the same mistake as your sister 656." he held up the tazer "These things may not do much damage on Manticore soldiers, but I have NO problem using it on the little half-breeds here."

Tinga looked at the man in a rage "Why do you want us?"

The man found that amusing "656-"

"My name's Tinga!" she grabbed him by the neck.

Another solider pulled Case to him by his shirt collar "Momma!"

"Let go of my son!" Tinga screamed at the solider.

"You release your hold first on the Sarge, or I turn the little soldier's status here to KIA"

Tinga dropped the man to the floor, and true to the ass's word, he let Case go. He launched himself at Tinga the minute he was free. She scooped him up and held him to her chest.

"Ah motherhood-"

"Shut up dick!" Max shot out venomously. She was now kneeling next to the playpen, stroking her crying daughter's head. She glowered at one solider aiming his semi-automatic at her "If you know who we are, what makes you think we'll just go along like defenseless damsels in distress? What if we just want to introduce your whole outfit to the asphalt ten stories down?"

Once more the squadron leader grinned curtly "Stakes are too high for that kind of game 452." he swung his gun barrel at Jess "You have more to worry about then just yourself." he flipped on his wrist unit.

"Base this is Alpha, we have the X5's in Sector Four"

"And the two boys?" came the scratchy voice on the other end.

"Them as well sir, along with an infant. Apparently 452 banged it up one more time then we knew"

A pause, then slight laughter "That will be to our advantage. The transport is downstairs, get them there"

"Affirmative Sir"

"Don't mess up this time Private Jenkins"

"I won't Sir"

Jenkins ended the communication "Restrain them" he ordered to his men, Two pulled out titanium handcuffs. "In the front"

He gave a nod and three soldiers aimed the sights of their guns at the kids. "And if you get the itch to plan an escape one of my boys will get trigger happy on the little guys. These are hyped up Magnums XR-05's. Cyanide pierced tipped bullets; that once squeezed off travels from barrel to flesh at fifty miles in 1.5 seconds. Not even Manticore tinkered you with enough speed to stop something that fast. Remember this fact ladies, so you don't have to be reminded in a more graphic way"

"Ready to get kinky baby?" the solider leered at Max, holding up the metal restraints, he got closer, licking his lips "You and her are too hot lookin' to be freaks."

"I'd kick you, if had any balls" Max spat in his face "And I'm not wearin' those"

"Should 452 be reminded of the consequences of her choice?" Jenkins called out.

A shot rang out, as the solider, shot a hole through Tinga's apartment wall, barely an inch where Lexi's playpen was set up. She screamed.

"Enough dick-less" Max ordered, she picked up Lexi, who was all red faced, and scared. "I'm not wearin' those so I can let you or some other slimy sleaze hold MY baby" She cradled the baby closer to her.

Jenkins stepped back for a second "Okay then" he looked at his captive, who shot him a venomously hateful stare. "You hold them then" he referred to kids. The Magnum barrel made its stop point black at Lexi's head "I smell any shit, and she'll be so much dead weight"

Max looked defiantly at the man. Unknown to any of the soldiers Tinga wedged a place card with the numbers "911656452" in a crack in the light switch cover plate.

The soldiers shoved them along to the front door. Lexi cried louder, when a solider ground the barrel of his weapon in her tiny neck "Shut up kid! Or I will shut you up!"

"Shit, these kids are going to draw too much attention to the mission, take care of that," the leader ordered

"Yes sir"

And before Max knew what they meant two of them zapped her with their tazers. She cried out, and the last thing she and Tinga heard before blacking out was their kids crying as the soldiers yanked them up to take them to the transport.

*****

TRENTON PARK
TINGA AND CHARLIE'S APARTMENT

"So far there hasn't been any trace of blood, Matt announced.

Logan stood above him as Det. Sung took evidence samples from the scene that he and Charlie found upon returning to two-bedroom apartment.

The place was in shambles. Glass from the picture window coated the floor, and several bullet holes were drilled into the oak siding.

Logan had called Matt to help him, because no. one, he was a detective, and no. 2, he wouldn't ask too many questions. He glanced over at the upturned playpen.

"Whoever they are Logan-" Sung stood up from his kneeling position and looked him in the eye "They knew right where to go. The neighbors only reported hearing a crash, they didn't see Max, Tinga or the kids leave this building with anyone, which leaves me to believe this was orchestrated"

"No one saw a strange car or van?" Logan found it hard to believe how two women and three kids can be taken and no one noticed.

"You know how it is out there" Matt pointed to the street "Something goes down at night, people are too scared that it might happen to them. No one helps, no one questions, the just lock up and hope it'll all go away."

Charlie looked disgusted "How couldn't anyone not notice?" he stepped over to the Detective, his black Crosstrainers crunching on shattered glass "I mean, our wives are NOT your average girls on the street. Wouldn't it seem like a cause to at least be a little damn curious at two women single handedly kicking the asses of armed intruders?"

"Unless they were inestatized," Matt suggested, "Let's jump the gun and assume the people who took them DID plan this, that means they knew that Max and Tinga were Manticore; so they most likely carried some sort of tranquilizer or supped up electric tazers, knowing what they were up against. And this-" he walked over to the wall where the still smoking bullet was implanted in the wood. "This is a single slug, embedded six inches in solid oak, these guys have highly advanced weapons, only associated with SEALS or other military task forces."

That fact didn't make Logan feel any better, knowing that his wife and kids were in the hands of people with a twisted agenda. He leaned his hand against the wall, and brushed against something. He lifted his hand, spying the wedged piece of paper in the light switch.

"Take a look at this" he waved over the two other men in the room. "These numbers" he pointed to the last six digits, "all except the first three are the ending sequences on Max and Tinga's barcodes"

"911" Charlie read aloud "Isn't that shorthand for an emergency?"

*****

TWENTY MINUTES LATER
FOGGLE TOWERS

Logan stood by the door awaiting for, of all things, the arrival of Zack. He had called him on the contact number. After about two rings, Mr. Subtle finally picked up. /"This better be lethal" for some reason, Big Brother had actually not been all gung ho about a call on his contact number; maybe it had something to do with the noises in the background. "Zack, it's Logan, something's happened to Max and Tinga-" At the mention of his little sisters' names Zack suddenly switched gears. "Damn shit asses" Zack cursed after Logan had told him what happened "Messin' with my siblings." There was a creaking of a bed, Logan's assumptions about the noises were correct "I'll be there in twenty"/

He stole a glance at Charlie. His brother-in-law looked as together as him at the moment, trying to focus on something other than the door, but that was as successful as Ganges Con going vegetarian.

Logan gazed at the piece of folded paper for the tenth time since arriving home. "911" those first three numbers screamed at him. Emergency. Something had happened that his sister-in-law and his baby couldn't control by themselves. Matt was most likely right, that these people were affiliated with Manticore. The nature of the break in was too "well done" to suggest otherwise.

He thought for a moment, before finally flipping open his cell with a sigh. /Dear God, here goes the call to hell/

"Who you callin'?" Charlie asked from across the room where he sat on the sofa.

"Someone who better be worth my minutes" Logan threw back. He punched up the number from the phone's memory. After a few rings the other line picked up.

"Welcome to my revved up dreams"

"Alec, is that all you think about?"

"Whoa Logan," a pause, as Alec shifted his phone to the other hand. "Scratch that comment, caller ID just said Cale, figured it might be the other-"

"Is that suppose to help the situation?" Logan shook his head at the young X5 with more hormones then the all the pubescent males who horded Dior catalogs in-between their mattresses combined. "You hittin' on Max?"

"Not like it was successful," Alec argued back. There was a rustle as he checked his watch "It's Friday night, shouldn't you and the Mrs. be involved in some extracurricular activities, instead of calling those of us who have to actually scope out our entertainment?"

"Alec, Max was-taken" he cut straight to the point, ignoring Alec's sarcastic remark. "Along with my sister-in-law, my nephew and my kids"

"Someone was thorough" Alec whistled "Sister huh?" he referred to Tinga "An X5 I assume, Maxie sure gets the Hallmark factor award for the pet names of her unit"

"What the hell difference does that make?" Logan growled in the receiver. "I'm asking for your help, so would you just quit with the sarcastic BS?"

"Sheesh, take it easy. I'll do it, once again Alec to the rescue"

Logan rolled his eyes "Be at the penthouse as fast as those whacked up genes can move"

"First time I've been invited to the pad since Maxie hooked up with you permanently, and I don't even have a date."

"How about I arrange a little meeting with some ICU nurses?" he threatened

"What army's backin' you up?"

"Just get here" Logan disconnected the call.

*****

UNNAMED BASE OF OPPERATIONS
UNDISCLOSED LOCATION

"Up and at'em solider" a rattle above Max's head pulled her out of her haze. She immediately pulled herself into a sitting position, almost whacking her head on the metal roof of whatever the hell she was being held in.

"That's a good little experiment" White, the man taunting her cooed in sarcasm.

Max soon identified the metal above her as the underside of a bunk against the cell she was in. She looked for Tinga and the kids, but only found her sister chained by her arms to metal holders in the wall.

"656" White looked at Tinga smugly "Your "sister's" finally decided to wake up and join us."

Tinga tried once again to lunge at White, but the chains she was imprisoned to were strong enough to stand against the X5's attack.

White actually laughed, "It's useless 656, I'm no idiot. Those restraints are built Manticore tough. You'll dislocate everything and not even put a crack in the wall"

"What did you do with my son?!" Tinga barked, still struggling. "Where are our children?"

"Sorry but that's classified information solider" White sneered. "You know how that runs"

"You're the only thing that's gonna run around here-" Max sat up off her bunk and leapt at the metal bars. A jolt coursed through her body when she made contact with the metal. She pulled back, and slid to the floor from the aftershock.

"Like that?" White looked down on her. "I say everyone who captures hyped up prototypes oughta have these 100 volt shock systems don't you?"

"Where are my kids?!" Max barked out. Her hands were red and blistered from the contact point on the bars.

"Patience solider" White addressed "I can personally guarantee that they're alive."

"Sure is nice of you" she spat back, finally getting the shaking caused by the electric shock under control. "Bein' alive isn't what I'm worried about"

White laughed cynically "I take it you remember the medical evaluations 452. Although, I doubt you've ever had this kind of examination before"

"Why?" Max's voice was demanding, "What did you do to them?"

"Nothing yet" White replied "Well except for a routine physical exam," he paused "We were prepped for two toddlers, having that third one, we had to make preparations"

Max immediately snapped to her feet at that remark, careful not to touch the bars this time "What did you do to my baby you rat bastard?"

"See for yourself" he glanced behind him where a woman in a white lab coat was wheeling a small gurney. The baby was on it, in a spread eagle position on her back, wearing nothing but her diaper, with two electrodes attached to her chest that were hooked up to a portable EKG monitor.

"Why isn't she moving?" Max looked at Lexi's motionless form "What did you give her?" her snap back was venomous.

"Full of questions aren't you 452?" White leered at her through the bars "Just a mild sedative, she was getting a little fidgety, guess she missed her momma" the last few words were incredibly sarcastic.

"Or she recognized you for the shit face that you are" she returned

"I'll let that slide 452" White stated, "It's an anxious time-" he looked over at the baby.

"I want to make sure you are good on your word"

"Don't you trust me Max?" White used her given name as a taunt to throw in her face.

"You really want me to answer that?" Max threw back

White suddenly whipped out a revolver "How about we answer the question about how long these kids will go unharmed-" he cocked the gun at the sedated baby.

"GET AWAY FROM HER YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Max lunged at the bars, not caring about their shock effect. She heard the hiss of her sweater being burnt by the electricity.

White released the trigger, as if he suddenly had a change of heart "Why waste bullets" he looked at Max, who was seething with rage. "Besides, none of you are of any value to me if you're dead" He pulled out a set of keys from his pocket, and looked over to the armed solider on his left "Restrain her when I say. I'll take care of the other"

"Yes sir" the solider responded crisply, pulling out the same type of cuffs that had been used on the two X5's previously.

"Exercising us?" Max threw out with sarcasm.

"I think you've had enough of that 452" White unlocked Tinga's restraints from the wall, giving a nod to the armed solider. He in turn locked the titanium manacles around Max's wrists.

White secured Tinga's hands in the cuffs "Need to see what inside two hot lookin' freaks, sugar 'n spice-" his breath was hot on her ear.

"Bite me!" Tinga growled swiping at his face through the restraints.

White reeled back briefly for a moment. "Ya had to go and piss me off" a quick glance at the solider beside Max and the man stuck a cattle prod into her stomach.

"Maxie!" Tinga watched as her sister fell hard on her side, her locked hands being of no use to break her fall.

"I assumed that being the second oldest in your unit 656," White began goading Tinga "You would remember that if one of you messes up, the whole squadron gets it." he actually smiled "But I'm a little more on the cynical side. You screwed up, so I think watching 452 take the fall for something YOU did is better then anything I could do to you physically" he looked her up and down "And BOY, the things I could do to you physically"

Max came back to the world in a slight haze when White yanked her up by the cuffs. "On your feet solider" he stood her up to face him "You and 656 get your wish, at least part of it"

Max wondered what the hell he meant, but didn't have time to phrase it in a smart ass way before she and Tinga were forcefully hauled out of the 8 x 5 steel cell. Once outside they were surrounded by armed guards; who all locked the barrels of their hyped up Magnums on the two captives.

/Déjà vu/ Max thought bitterly remembering when Deck had captured her and Zack, wanting to take them back to Manticore.

With guns locked on them, and guards watching their every move, the two X5 hostages were pushed forward.

*****

FOGGLE TOWERS

Zack studied the numbers Tinga had written on the place card "This was all that was left?" he asked of the two other men in Logan's computer room.

"That and the broken glass" Logan offered

His brother-in-law shot him a low glare "It's a call of emergency" Zack went on, looking at the piece of paper again "If an obstacle was too big for any of us to deal with, we'd leave a marker like this, asking for back up. "911" for emergency, and then the designations of who called it" /Maxie, Tinga, my little sisters, whoever has them will eat their own balls when I get through with them/

"But why the kids?" Charlie asked from his seat "They weren't from this Manticore base"

"Yeah, but they are the children of Manticore soldiers" Zack answered. "Deck wanted Case that time because, up 'till then, there had been no successful offspring conceived between normal civilians and X5's. Most of Manticore bred with its own. Renfro became fascinated with the resulting genetic codes and DNA sequencing in such babies. And if these guys are from home sweet home, they're probably salivating over having their hands on them"

Charlie looked more upset "Ask a silly question" his words were angry.

"Did any security cameras in the building pick up anything?" Zack suddenly asked, looking at Logan.

They most likely went down the fire escape" Logan replied back "No one saw them leave, and I doubt using the halls would be an elusive escape route"

"But there's a hover cam sect not far from our apartment" Charlie informed, "It might have picked something up, it's a night watcher, so it normally activates around 7:00. The sect faces the back of the building, so the fire escape would be in its view"

"I'll see if I can hack into its feed" Logan swiveled in his chair to face the computer screen.

"You do that" Zack came in.

A few short knocks were heard on the front door.

"Since I am doing THAT Zack, you can get the door," he typed on the keyboard at a fast pace.

Zack slid off the table he was sitting on "Sure Logan, I'll also put some mints on your pillows while I'm up" he quipped in sarcasm, heading towards the foyer.

"Who is it?" he called out, always remembering where he came from.

"Genetics peddler" came the reply.

Looking through the peephole, Zack saw the face of a young, dark haired man standing there.

"As much as I love staring at you through this shit small hole, I'd appreciate it if you open this thing before I do"

Zack pulled open the door, coming face to face with Alec.

"Hey Zackie boy, remember me?" Alec stepped into the penthouse

"Vaguely," Zack answered, "You're an X5?" it was more of a statement then a question.

"Alec would do fine" Alec responded "If we used only designation class, it'd be confusing as hell to talk to each other" he came more into the apartment, and Zack slammed the door after him.

"So you're one of Max's "brothers?" Alec stopped walking, and turned back around to face Zack.

"What's it to you?" Zack barked back

"Nothing," Alec defended "Just wondered if all of you were so "cutesy" with each other"

"I don't see how that's a problem" Zack argued "Units take care of their own"

Alec didn't comment, following the older X5 back into the computer room.

"Back up has arrived fellas," Alec announced, as he came through the door-less entry. He looked at Logan, typing away at his computer "And as usual, this is where he is found"

"Kind of like you and strip joints" Logan threw over his shoulder.

"It's good entertainment" Alec defended "You oughta go one day. Bring Max, sure she wouldn't mind makin' some extra cash-"

"Can we focus on the task at hand please?" Logan broke in with annoyance.

"Fine" Alec came back "So you have any idea what kind of shit Maxie got herself into this time?" he leaned back against the computer desk.

"Not yet" Logan stated above the pinging of his hands on the keys."But so far, all the signs point to some kind Manticore related task force" his hacking had brought up the mainframe to the hover drone read outs. He zoomed in on the map, to find the particular drone that had been assigned on Tinga and Charlie's block "Serial number 253718666" Logan read the code "666, funny how that seems to fit the situation"

"Gotta love fate" Alec came back. He had the picture that had been beside the monitor in his hand "Excuse the subject change, but Maxie is one fine piece of ass."

"If only she didn't want to drop kick yours every time she saw you" Logan commented, bringing up the time surveillance footage that was taken three hours previously. "I'm in" he announced, running the feed

Alec set the photo back down, as the visual began to play on the screen. The camera focused on the side of the large picture window in Tinga's apartment; the one that had been shattered in the attack.

The break in had already occurred; the soldiers had their backs to the camera. But it was plain to see the weapons in their hands that were aimed at the people inside the apartment.

Zack leaned in closer to the screen "Audio sucks, can you enhance it?"

"Hang on a sec" Logan stated, fiddling around with the system. After a few seconds static broke in on the speakers, but then the almost non-existent audio feed became louder.

"I smell any shit and she'll be so much dead weight" the soldier's taunting words came through the speakers.

Logan watched in rage as a gun was shoved under his infant daughter's neck. He could see the defiant look in Max's eyes. The next few minutes were like a bad dream. The soldiers with their tazers, both Tinga and Max falling unconscious to the floor, leaving all three kids in the hands of the SOB's.

"We're heading back," a nameless soldier communicated in his radio.

The rest of the conversation was lost to Logan. As even with the volume amplified, they began to speak in low monotone, and became too quiet for the hover drone's sound receiver to pick up.

"Headin' downstairs?" Alec's heightened ears picked up the last few words the drone didn't "Yeah, well I would too if I wanted to avoid the cops"

"Do they say anything else?" Logan swiveled in his chair, facing Alec.

Alec listened for a few additional seconds "The brunette's a damn nice piece of ass. Too bad she's knocked out, or I could have some fun" he recited one soldier's words.

"Thanks" Logan said after a second, his voice full of malice. A pencil snapped in his hand, and he threw the shattered pieces to the floor.

"Like to have fun with that weasel's balls," Zack snapped from his position, shooting daggers at the screen.

"Down boys" Alec broke in "Not that I'm certain that on some minute level Maxie would be flattered by this display of testosterone defense of her honor, but then again, you've known her longer then me"

"Feeds ended," Zack announced, his eyes on the images on the screen. "Damn thing honed in on some local prostitutes"

"Niicee," Alec drew in for a closer look at the scantily clad women working the street corner.

Logan noticed something "Wait a sec," he played the last fifteen seconds of the feed before the camera had panned away to the hookers. He froze the image on the soldiers moving Max and Tinga to a black Hummer. He then locked on a smaller section and enhanced it.

"Don't tell me you're lookin' for the license number," Alec said skeptically. "Manticore vehicles aren't that easy to trace Logan. I mean what data base would you be able to cross reference the tag with?"

"It's not that hard," Logan disagreed "Just gotta look in the phone book in the same listings where you would find Black Helicopter Operations" he glanced at Zack out of the corner of his eye. "But that's not what I'm honing in on" he zoomed in on the picture more. "There's a serial number on that magnum the soldier has in his hand, on the underside of the barrel." He brought up the numbers. "Let me get at this upside down, the figure might be easier to see" he talked as he worked. A blurry set of digits now displayed on the monitor. "Now just need to get this sunny side up" he rotated the image back to its original position "and clean it up a bit" he ran an enhancement command to sharpen the numbers "Bingo"

"All there in black in white," Alec stated "I'm impressed. But this will help us HOW?"

"If those number is still on it, the gun isn't lifted" Logan notified. "My guess it was engineered by this outfit. You and I both know that Manticore is obsessed with numbers. Barcodes /Flash to the necks of Manticore children, barcodes are visible as they have no hair/ "designations" /flash to drill sergeant. Sgt. shouts "state your designation!" "X5-656 Sir!" Tinga stated crisply./ "Some of the newer Manticore soldiers had extra digits on the ends of their barcodes /Flash to a young man in fatigues, carrying an assault rifle/ "It signified the artillery they were assigned too /Shot of the serial number on the gun. Cut to: shot of barcode on soldier's neck. Last four numbers of both sequences matched/ "That many soldiers and that many guns, there has to be some kind of record to keep two of them from being given the same firearm."

"This IS the computer age" Zack said "Probably all the records are on some CPU" the cell phone in his pocket rang. He looked annoyed and flipped the silver unit open "Yeah?"

"Just wondering if I shouldn't wait up" came the reply.

"Asha," Zack stated "Can't talk right now, something big is going down"

"It's about Max isn't it?" the blonde sat cross-legged on the sofa in her apartment. She poured some more white wine from the half empty bottle that she and Zack had shared earlier.

"Yeah it is" Zack answered back.

"Give me the phone for a min" Logan held out his hand.

"Zack?" Asha heard Logan's voice in the background.

Zack wordlessly handed him the phone.

"Asha, it's Logan. I need a favor," Logan informed.

"Sure, what is it?" she answered back.

"Are you at your computer?"

"No, but hang on a sec" she pulled the chrome colored Vaio notebook off the coffee table and switched it on. "I'm up"

"I'm gonna run a serial number for what looks like a magnum, by you and-"

"Looks like?" Asha broke in, "You can't tell?"

"Why I'm talking to you" Logan came back "Need you to cross reference it with the artillery check list you and the S1W keep."

"Give'em to me" Asha had logged onto to her secure section dedicated to the S1W.

"240967483" Logan read off the numbers to her one by one.

Asha typed the digits into the database. "Hang on" she stated, clicking a few keys. "Sometimes this takes a while" a few more seconds, and the results of the search were brought up. "The numbers are significant with a newly introduced line of techno magnums- Damn" she drew out the last words "Never seen anything like this"

"Why is that?" Logan asked

"The design of the trigger" she brought up an image of the gun "it has some sort of micro chip attached to the underside. These things are made to propel ammo fast. I've only seen machine guns squeeze off at this kind of speed"

"How fast are we lookin' at?"

"I'm guessin' over forty mph, but I'm not the micro chip expert" Asha replied.

"Do you know who has possession over them?"

"Let me check" Asha did a little digging "They were made in South Africa, some place called Ghanti. Supply and Demand is mainly focused on military outfits. Most of them are just small guerilla units, except for one, a more sophisticated branch, headed by a guy named Peter White"

"Did you say White?" Logan repeated the name

"Yep" Asha responded, looking at a file photo "Thirty-ish lookin' white guy, excuse the pun. Kinda cute, in a sinister sort of way"

"Thanks for the info"

"You're welcome" Asha answered "Tell Zack, I've got an early morning tomorrow, so I won't be up if he decides to drop back here again" she disconnected the call.

Logan hung up as well. "Say's she's not gonna wait up" he tossed Zack his phone.

"Zack, you got a lil sleeper in Seattle?" Alec looked amused "Someone get me a camera to capture this Kodak moment."

Zack placed the phone back inside his jacket, ignoring Alec's remark. "She give you any leads?"

"The guns are from hot off the market artillery originating in South Africa. She traced it down to a few local outfits, one in particular, run by a man named White." Logan practically spat out that name. "I don't know if he has direct connections to Manticore, but so far since we've been aware of him, he's had no problem trying to kill or capture Max whenever he can."

"He's got a personality to die for" Alec threw in. "literally"

"Do you know where he is?" Zack questioned.

"That's actually the sixty-four million dollar question" Logan responded

*****

"Welcome to the luxury sweet" White opened the door to a steel room.

Tinga was shoved inside, Max right behind her. The room was composed of four steel walls, with no windows. Cabinets lined one side of the wall, with trays and syringes. IV bags were stacked there as well. In the center stood three cold exam tables.

Max took all of this in. This room was almost an exact replicate of the ones back at Manticore. Where they would go for their "exams", and also where those under interrogation were subjected to torture to gain information.

Before Max had the chance to do or say anything, she was pounced upon by two of the guards. Normally this would not be a problem, but these soldiers were stronger then anyone she had ever dealt with, including the Red series. She fought back hard, Tinga taking on one to get them off her, but it was useless. Two other guards surrounded Tinga yanking her to an exam table.

"Don't be difficult 452" White stated, as one of the guards held Max down to the exam table while the other secured her in the five point leg and arm restraints. "Just makes these things go slower"

"Comfy sweet thing?" the guard taunted above her.

"Kiss my transgenic ass!" Max growled right back, tugging at her bindings.

"You're being difficult again" White notified.

"Yeah well, what'd you expect? The helpless little girl act?" Max spat back.

"No" White answered back "Just for you to shut up, so we can get on with this"

"With what?" Tinga growled, tugging at the restraints. "If you plan is to try and get anything out of us, you'd have a better chance of convincing me to give head to your guards."

A soldier stepped up to her, one military issued, leather gloved hand tracing her cheek "Wanna play army baby? I'll lay down, and you can blow the hell outta me"

"I always chew before I swallow scuzz ball" Tinga stared him down.

"Whoo, nice" the solider replied

"Jenkins," White broke in angrily, "get the syringes ready" he gazed over at Tinga "What would your husband say if he caught you talking like that to another man 656?" he looked over at his two captives "And neither of you should worry about spilling your guts. I just want to mess with your guts." he smiled cynically.

Jenkins handed him one syringe. White picked up the 500 cc hypodermic needle, pushing the plunger all the way up to release any excess air. "The blood drive is now beginning."

"Funny, I don't remember signing up" Max spat back.

"I don't recall this being a voluntary procedure 452" he pierced her jugular vein with the needle.

Max jerked forcefully at the pressure, trying to knock him off her.

"Suck it up soldier" White mocked "You should know from your training that the arteries in neck hold more blood then those puny things in your arm. Ergo, I just cut out the middle man of having to do this several times to get all the blood I need from you by doing this in a more painful way" he pulled out the plunger, as Max's blood filled the syringe.

Max couldn't even scream; the pressure from the syringe was choking off her words.

"Done" White announced, yanking the needle out of Max's neck "Now that wasn't so bad was it?" he leered at her, the syringe almost completely full in his hand. He handed it off to the soldier that was closest to him "Take this for analysis"

"Yes sir" the man responded crisply, capping off the needle with a tiny orange cover.

The other guard didn't wait for White's instructions; he just capped the blood sample taken from Tinga. He started to follow the other out the door, when White stopped him by gripping his arm

"Bring the offspring of 656 and 452 here." he scanned his eyes over Tinga and Max.

"Is that wise sir?" the solider that White was gripping asked.

"Yeah," Max broke in "With absolutely no respect sir, we might decide to do a disappearing act on ya and the shit ass quartet once those babies come through that door. Is this a well thought out plan?"

"Is that a challenge 452?" White met her sarcasm with hard words "No, this will work because of them" he pointed to the soldiers Max had just dissed. "As I am sure you are now aware of these guys aren't from Manticore like you. They have these little minor details that separates them from you two. They have an amazing resistance to injury, and are basically made up of nothing but adrenaline." he gave a low laugh "Ya think Manticore was so great playing around with their little chemistry sets and DNA splicing? Didn't figure that those little tribes in South Africa had guys like these for hundreds of years, perfecting them on their weekends off from cattle grazing?" a shit eating grin spread across his face "You try anything once they come back, and I'll disgrace every geneticist who created you" he whipped around to the two soldiers "You two have your orders. If your not back here in 10 min, I'm gonna create the first grave site on the planet of your kind right here"

"Sir!" the SIC responded with a salute, turning on his heal, and leaving the room, the other man following in step behind him.

"What should we do to pass the time?" White sneered, stepping in the center of the exam tables.

"Count the number of brain cells you have, but that'd be a piss poor way to pass a second" Tinga glowered at the man.

"Forever a smart alic 656" White came back with "And here I thought that 452 swept that category." he stepped closer to Max, leaning close to her face.

"Didn't you ever learn not to stick your face close to a lion's cage?" Max head butted White.

He reeled back gripping his forehead, but then his surprise quickly turned to anger. One hand wrapped around Max's neck in an incredibly strong hold. "Doesn't matter if you're a lion tamer." he gripped the flesh tighter, sticking her side with a cattle prod. "What?" he held her gaze, "Surprised that I can do this?"

After a few seconds, he pulled back, leaving her chocking from the lack of air and the shock. "Anything to add to that soldier?" he snapped his head over to Tinga, moving away from the exam tables, and heading towards the door "Don't go anywhere now," he taunted, "The party's just getting started"

He exited the room, locking the door. Through the double-sided mirror, White observed them. "You have that phone that was confiscated off 452?"

"Right here sir" the soldier beside him responded, handing it to him.

White flipped open the phone, scanning its speed dial memory. There were some that were off little interest to him. /"Cindy" "Kendra/Walter". "Repair Shop" "Work" "Tinga/Charlie."/ One however made him stop "Logan?" he read the name aloud.

"Most undoubtedly 452's husband Sir" the soldier informed. "There is no last name, so it's a close connection"

"That's probably correct soldier" White agreed "Too bad *I* know the last name of this man." he laughed unsmilingly "All this time I've been trying to establish the connection between a one Logan Cale and X5-452, and I never bothered to think of an simple explanation" another slow smile colored his features.

*****

"Just get them back" Charlie demanded via his cell phone "I've already had to go through this one time too many"

"We will" Logan reassured from his cell, while he drove his Aztec down the dark road. He had made put in a few calls, trying to figure out where White kept his base of operations. One of those calls had been to Zane. The man had major connections to all the underground establishments that existed in world. Through his digging Zane had found out that there had been some major military activity near the boarder of Oregon and Washington State. The center of the mess was at some town that had been built to house the oil workers that were laborers during that Alaska Pipeline re-direction project of '07.

The project failed, the pipes being made too poorly, dumping gallons of oil into the surrounding wilderness. A week after the Pulse rioters stormed the town for food. One miss-thrown cigarette had ignited a store. The blaze quickly swept through the oil-soaked town, creating an inferno that lasted for ten days. The town was never re-built, and abandoned by those that had survived the disaster. But a few years back, trucks had rolled in, erecting a few new buildings, and re-constructing the old auto works factory.

"Quite sure of yourself huh?" Alec commented in the seat beside him. "Not to be a downer Logan, but White isn't exactly a negotiating man. He has exactly what he wants, and I don't think he'll give it up, even with a fair fight"

"I'm not planning to strike any deals with the man" Logan objected. "I want my family back alive, plain and simple"

"Oh yeah, simple" Alec said in sarcasm. He fiddled with the radio dial, skipping over the classical and elevator music. "NSYNC, please," he dissed the pre-Pulse song "There is just something wrong with a bunch of guys spending all that time together writing love songs" he finally stopped on one station "Here we go P.O.D" he sat back listening to the group pound out the tune of their song "Alive" his head turned "So where is it exactly we're going?"

"To see Max's sister Syl," Logan stated, "Zane is skippin' town, but gave us access to his Hummer to use so we can slip under White's radar. Syl is looking in on his dog Millie, so we're swinging by her place first."

"And ya do the hokey pokey and ya shake it all around-" Alec broke in. He looked in the rear view mirror at Zack trailing the Aztec in his Vulcan. The CO of the X5's opted to take his own wheels before he sat in the same car as Alec. His riding glasses were almost identical to the one's Max wore, except the lenses were red. His blonde hair blew in the wind created by the fast speed. "If you back up fast, bet he'd do a cool trick"

Logan just shook his head in annoyance, even though the idea was tempting. After a few minutes Zack pulled ahead of the Aztec. Logan had himself never been to Syl's apartment, so Zack lead the way down the exit ramp.

Soon the three were rounding the hall where Syl established residence.

Logan's hand knocked on the door of apartment 21.

"What's your business?"

Logan turned to see a late teen or twenty something Hispanic man calling out to him from behind his bolted door. "What you want with her?"

"We're family" Logan pointed out

The guy didn't look convinced "That right? I think you'z just lookin' for trouble."

"Yeah kid" Alec leered, "Go on back to your Sears catalogs before you cool off"

"How bout I bleed you out punk?" he sneered.

"Rico, give it up" Syl stood in the now opened doorway. Her blonde hair was damp, so that it rustled against her leather jacket "*I* got more balls then you" she looked over to Logan "One second guys, gotta lock my door"

"Take your time" Alec looked the blonde up and down.

Syl flipped her long hair back from her face to get a better look at Alec "And who the hell are you?"

"This is Alec" Logan introduced, "A "close" friend of Max's" he emphasized the word "close" to get her to pick up the point.

"Aww, I never knew that Maxie thought of me so highly Logan" Alec came back

Syl finished locking her door. She stepped up behind Alec, flipping down the collar of his jacket to reveal his concealed barcode.

"We just met Syl, c'mon in the hall-" Alec said in mock disapproval.

"You sure are charming aren't you?" Syl returned in sarcasm, stepping away from him.

"Sure am" he came back

She rolled her eyes "Let's head out" Rico was still staring at her. "Janice!" she called out "Rico needs a screwdriver out here so he can finally fix that broken bell of yours!"

A woman appeared behind Rico. "Here baby," she slapped the screw driver in his hand "I'm tired of sales people coming and havin' no advanced warning" she looked over to her "Thanks for the heads up Syl"

"No prob gurl" Syl returned with a smile.

Once they were in the elevator, she pulled out a silver Sig "Early Christmas present Zack" she handed him the gun.

Zack immediately checked the clip. "Full, nice work little sister"

"Here it goes again," Alec said

"Hey shut up!" Zack barked back.

Syl ignored the argument, looking towards Logan "So what does this shit want with Tinga and Maxie?"

"Don't know" Logan answered honestly "White's main focus so far has been to simply deplete the existence of X5's. But that doesn't look like the game plan now, or he would've already done it" the elevator dinged to the parking garage. Syl headed over to her purple Corverre.

"You guys leave your rides here, and we'll take mine. Too many cars at Zane's will attract a crowd"

Zack took shotgun, before anyone else called it. Having to be in the same car with Alec, he wanted to keep as much distance between them so there wouldn't be any blood on his hands.

"Slow down there speed racer," Alec quipped at Zack's speed.

"Don't lean on my hood Alec" Syl warned, "If you smudge up my gurl I'll kick your nuts in"

"Yes ma'am-"

"Just get in the car ass," Syl barked.

****

THIRTY MINUTES LATER

"Zane didn't give you the key?" Zack asked.

Syl looked up from her lock picking "He doesn't have one, lost it a while ago. This is how he "unlocks" his door." the door finally came open soundlessly.

Barking echoed in the darkness. Syl flipped on the light "Take it easy Mil, it's just me" she scratched the dog's ears. Millie lapped at her hand, retreating more into the trailer.

"Nice," Alec commented stepping inside "The showroom quality deluxe aluminum trash model."

Syl ignored him "Zane told me to check his answering machine message when I got in here."

"Why?" Alec asked

"Don't know" Syl replied, "But let's find out" she pushed the button on the machine that would play back Zane's outgoing message.

"If you are lisitin' to this-heh, sorry I always wanted to say that. I take it you already met up with Syl if you're here. That base is eighty miles due west north west of here. There ain't much except trees and shit between there and here, so don't let that throw you off. The keys to Mr. Hummer are inside that opened bag of Millie's kibble in the kitchen. Fuel is full, so you should make it there in two hours. My arsenal is in the back, should ya need it. Ok, now the individual props. Syl, don't forget to feed Millie, don't want my dog dead, and help bring our sisters home. Logan, you got skills on the computer, so fiddle with that tracking service in my ride; and for god sakes don't do anything dumb. I don't want Maxie to come hunt me down 'cause something happened to you. Mr. Cop Out" Zane used his nickname for Zack "Drive my wheels, but keep your mind on the road bro. Prove that you're the CO Deck apparently thought you were qualified to be. And whoever the hell that other X5 is, good luck with this group, and guys? lets not put our years of covering our tracks to waste. Alcohol and a match makes a great trash can fire. Oh and whoever does the deed owes me a new tape."

Syl popped the tape out of the machine "How 'bout we make it daddy's Christmas present?" she asked Millie "Or would he like that Metalica CD I already got planned better?" she pulled out the tape from its casing, cutting it into pieces with her switch blade. When the brown film ended, she threw all the pieces and the empty shell in the trash, adding more paper inside to make the fire larger and burn longer.

"1996" Logan read the label off the bottle of Rhone he picked up off the counter "Good vintage" he uncorked the bottle and poured a third of the contents in the trash.

"Probably for his New Years bash." Syl snagged a box of matches "He has the vino, and Krit racks some backwoods Moonshine, it's great" the match light after a single strike and she threw it in the trash. Large orange flames sparked out of the can, singeing the sides and turning the "evidence" to ash.

"Too bad, Jondy couldn't be here to see this" After it burned for a few minutes Syl doused the whole can with a bowlful of water. Smoke now rose in the fire's place.

"What do ya say Mil?" Syl looked at the dog "Chow?" she wagged her tail happily. "Just let me go fishin' first" she unearthed the keys to Zane's Hummer from a mound of Kibbles-N-Bits. "Here girl" she set the dog bowl on the newspapers that were there. Millie pounced on it.

Zack locked the door to trailer before unlocking the driver's side to the Hummer. A hiss was heard. "Fuck!" Zack paused in his task, punching in a set of digits in the keypad under the door handle. A green light switched on. "Not gonna get zapped from this damn security system again" he opened the now deactivated door and climbed in.

Once on the road, Logan began messing with the tracking service, while Syl and Alec checked out the armory in the back.

"Sig P299" Alec pulled the clip from the gun "Haven't seen one of these since Disney World went Pro-Terror"

Syl didn't say anything, re-aligning the sight on the small automatic she was holding.

"Zane must be the last angry man" Alec threw out.

"Can't we just leave him on the side of the road?" Zack stated, his eyes still on the highway.

"For once I think we can agree on something," Logan returned. The screen on the tracker now showed a map of Washington and Seattle. "This place just barely crosses the Washington border." he created a line from the two points. "Countdown time 1:56:32" he red off the readout the tracker gave him for the total amount of time from Point A to Point B.

A ringing broke the silence. Logan looked down at his phone, it hadn't rung all night. He looked at the ID "It's Max's number"

The group went quiet.

Logan punched the "0" placing the phone up to his ear "Max?" he had a feeling it wasn't her. If it were this easy for her to contact him, she would've done so already. But, he still hoped.

"I'm sorry Max is unable to come to the phone right now"

"Who is this?" Logan barked out.

Zack turned to face his brother-in-law, at that remark.

"Just your worst nightmare" White replied "Cale? Why didn't I see this before?" there was humorless laughing on the other end. "Only a man like you would actually have the guts to fuck with these freaks."

"I'm gonna fuck with you freak if you do anything to hurt my wife!" his voice was a low growl.

"Eastwood is dead son," White taunted "So cut the crap. And you're a little too late for prevention. 452 isn't exactly happy with her current situation. And I say, happy, unhappy, who the hell cares? Even a squirmy lab rat still gets messed with."

"What the hell did you do to her?" Logan's anger was livid.

"She's built for this" White objected in mock reassurance "I mean what's a few pints of blood and drug experiments to Manticore genetics? Not like we're doing that to those little babies you and 452 procreated, at least not yet"

"Well your window of opportunity's about to be slammed shut on your fingers you son-of-a-bitch. Mark my words, if anything happens to my family, I will kill you"

"If only that were possible," White stated cryptically. "Oh and if I find out you're tracing this call, which by the way won't help didley squat, I'll start working on that scenario you just mentioned."

Logan slammed the cover down on the phone hard, angrily ending the call.

"Did he mention anything about where they are?" Syl asked from the back seat.

"Like he's just gonna come right out and say "yeah, they're in back, here's the key, lock up when you're done" Alec corrected.

"Just told me the 'fun' he's having" Logan spat back in response. "Some kind of tests he's running on them"

"He said he was performing experiments?" Zack whipped his around to look at him, each word punctuated with venom.

"Didn't come right out and say it, but I still got the point. The sleaze's acting like he's a hunter showing off his prized catch in The Most Dangerous Game."

"When I get a hold of him" Syl locked the clip back into the Sig in her hand with one hard, fluent motion "Shit's gonna hit the fan"

"Might have a tougher time of it then you think Syl" Logan objected

Syl shot him an 'oh please look' "We trained for this kinda crap Logan"

"It's not the same as Manticore" Logan came back "White and his group, they're-advanced. I don't know what the hell they are, the closest connection I could find so far are the Red Series in South Africa, except these guys don't have implants. Max had a run in with some of them once." he now had the X5's attention. "They fight as well as Manticore, but they don't have barcodes"

"Nomalies?" Syl suggested, "Maybe some of them were taken to train with this White character."

"Max said that when she had that run in, White kept throwing her training background in her face. Said that she was stupid if she thought that Manticore and their little chemistry sets were the only ones who could create advanced genetic warriors"

"So what the hell are these guys?" Zack asked the question that no one did.

"That spot for the sixty-four million dollar question still open?" Alec asked.

*****

"See" the iron door opened and White entered the concrete enclosure, an armed solider on his left "Told you they were still alive" the two little boys were at his other side. The soldier's gun was all the while trained on Case and Jess.

Max and Tinga had been relocated to a non descript gray room. There was nothing there except the walls and the floor. Tinga had scanned over the whole area, finding no method of escape, no cracks no nothing. Whoever designed it was through.

"Momma?" Case's voice sounded unsure, the long separation had taken its toll.

"It's me baby" Tinga knelt next to him.

That was all Case needed, he propelled himself in her arms.

"I'm here hun" Max was repeating the same actions with Jess, hugging his little body to her fiercely "It's aiight" she pulled back looking him over with a sharp eye /What did those fuckers do to my child?/ "Are you okay sweetie? You hurt anywhere?" she felt the back of his head, checking for lumps or scrapes.

Jess just started to cry for the sole reason that he was scared.

White wheeled in the gurney with the baby on it "I just love happy endings don't you?" each word reeked of disdain. The steel door slammed shut.

"Sir" Jenkins stopped White out in the hall "With all due respect, putting those kids in with 656 and 452 isn't well thought out. Now there is nothing holding them back from trying to plan an escape."

White didn't seem fazed by his declaration. "There are more then thirty miles of woods between here and anywhere. Now 452 and 656 may know how to track, but this is new territory for them, and traveling with three small children makes it hard to be inconspicuous" he looked over to Jenkins angrily "*Don't* question my authority again soldier. This operation will not suffer with one less genetically freaked shit ass to worry about." he stared hard at him "Is that understood?"

"Yes sir" Jenkins responded.

"I wanna go home," Jess proclaimed, his little body leaning against a wall.

Max reached an arm around her son, shifting Lexi to the other arm "Me too sweetie" her eyes shifted upwards to Tinga sitting in the center of the room, Case in her lap. "Ya think anyone found your marker?"

"That's why I left it baby sister" Tinga answered.

"Yeah, but know one knows where we are" Max argued. "Hell *I* don't even know where we are."

"The temp has changed much, so we're still around Washington."

"Overheard some of the oh-so-fun soldiers mention that this use to be some sort of oil digging boom town. Oh how times have changed."

Tinga didn't say anything, but suddenly noticed something she hadn't before "Look," she pointed a small slit in the floor. "I thought it was just a shadow at first." she gripped her hand in the slit and pulled. Part of the floor lurched forward, but caught on something.

Max stood up "Can you hold your sister for me hun?" she carefully set her daughter into Jess's hand.

The two year old placed both arms around the infant, securing her to him. Lexi was almost the same size as him, but he managed.

Max smiled a bit at the scene, and stepped over to Tinga.

"This thing's got a latch." Tinga tugged on it again "It's gotta be metal or I would've gotten it off by now."

"Place must be built like Manticore, that has to lead to a underground network. White probably used it to haul in equipment when he designed this place"

"Bet your right Maxie" Tinga grunted out "We just need to get Door Number Three opened" she gave a hard wrench, and the door popped open. "Check out the noise level," whispered.

Max stepped over to the door, honing in her hearing. "Don't think anyone noticed" she turned back to Tinga "And I don't give a damn if they did, the accommodations suck, and service is a bitch."

"Time to blow." Tinga agreed. She picked up Case "Hold tight to me baby" she looked down below, before dropping the ten feet to the ground. She landed silently on her feet.

"Follow Aunt Tinga sweetie" Max picked up her son, scooting him over to the edge.

"I got you Jess" Tinga reassured holding out her arms to catch him.

Max carefully pushed him over the side, and heard the gentle "plop" of him landing safely in her sister's arms.

Once he was down Max lifted Lexi in her arms, securing her in a tight grip before making the leap. She landed as lightly as Tinga, jumping up to re-close the hatch.

The place where they now were was a long hallway, dimly lit. Water pipes ran all along the ceiling.

"Jump down hun" Max told Jess who had launched himself in her arms the second she had came from the above ground room. She set him carefully on his feet "But stay close to mommy 'kay?" she grasped his hand through her leather glove.

The headed forward, the hallway ended a few feet later, branching off into a labyrinth of rooms and doorways. "There's light up ahead" Max zoomed in her vision. "North" she pointed ahead of her in the semi-darkness.

After walking about ten yards, the two X5's came to the source of the light. A 5 x 7 ft barred window streamed in moonlight.

"This just keeps getting better," Max remarked.

"Sir!" a soldier was standing in the opened doorway of the empty cell. "The two X5's have escaped."

White shoved the man aside; he looked around the empty room. "Son-of-a-bitch" he noticed the hatch on the floor. He tried to open it, but Max had it re-bolted. "Where does this lead?"

"Underground storage Sir" the soldier responded. "It's a network of halls and rooms around the entire building."

"Any windows?"

"Only one that hasn't been sealed Sir" the soldier answered "But it's barred, about half a mile from the main gate."

"Notify the Unit at that post to be on the lookout." White ordered, "Tell them I want the X5's back alive, I don't care what other kind of things are done to bring them in" he stood back up from his kneeling position.

"Yes Sir" the soldier responded, heading out. He flipped on his wrist unit "Unit in Sector One comeback, message relay-"

"Structure of these bars are weak" Max felt along the edges of the metal, there were several cracks and dings from weather and age. "Guess these aren't built "Manticore tough"

Tinga picked up an old sectioned chunk of dry concrete. "Give me a hand Maxie"

Max grasped the other end. "Stay back guys" she told their kids. "On three. One. Two-" they pulled back the block like a battering ram at ready-"Three-" there was a large cacophony of noise as the cement crumbled the middle two bars. "Someone should really tell White that his builders cut corners."

They slid through the bars. The window lead out to the clearing surrounding the main gate. The moon outlined a large expanse of tree line about five miles away. The glint of a fifteen-foot high barbed wire fence stood between the clearing and the woods. There was no catwalk, but Max could see figures moving near the fence. One of the soldiers who had broken into Tinga's apartment stood on sentry duty along with another soldier Max hadn't had the "privilege" of meeting yet.

The tip off from the soldier with White, plus all the noise had the guards at ready, but they didn't exactly know where Max and Tinga had come out yet. They stood, with their guns cocked in the darkness, prowling up and down the span of the chain-linked fence.

Max and Tinga crept silently through the clearing. Max held the baby close to her chest, only letting her nose hit the air so she could breathe, but to muffle the noise should she start to cry. The made it to a low row of shrubs planted just to the side of the fence.

Tinga untangled Case from her arms, setting him in a small "clearing" between the branches.

"Momma-" Case sounded scared

"Shh, baby" Tinga reassured in a whisper "You hafta stay here with your cousins for a while 'kay?"

Max set her two down beside Case, laying Lexi across the boys' laps. "Hold onto her okay?" they nodded silently. "We'll be right back guys, it'll be okay. Just stay here and be VERY quiet" She moved some branches to block them from sight.

Max remained in a crouch, moving to the end of the hedge. She silently signaled Tinga to left.

Tinga nodded, signaling back to take down the guards. They shifted left to defer any ammo away from the hiding children. There was really nowhere to be secrete once they past the shrubs. This would have to be a direct and lethal ambush.

The soldier caught site of Max once she was about ten yards in front of him "I don't think so 452" he cocked the gun at her. "You're fighting a loosing game"

"Sorry, my rules aren't the same as yours." Max side kicked him in the face.

The soldier caught her foot dropping her to the ground. "You didn't invent the game" he squeezed off his magnum.

Max rolled on the grass, dodging the spray of bullets. She leapt up to her feet, facing her adversary.

"Manticore never prepared you for this soldiers" the guard in front of Max proclaimed. "And there ain't no crash course offered to save your asses either" he dropped his gun to the ground.

"Giving up so soon?" Tinga quipped.

"I prefer hand-to-hand combat" the soldier responded "Gives me more chances to disgrace you." he lunged at Tinga. She avoided him, back flipping four feet in the air, and landed behind him. "Nice 656" the soldier returned. "Too bad I still have to take you down." he flipped, once, landing Tinga on her back.

"Want a break soldier?" he taunted "Too much?"

Tinga corkscrewed in the air, nailing him in the chest with her foot. She landed back on her feet, her body in a fighting stance.

A war broke out between the four soldiers. Max and Tinga managed to get in a few good moves, but the line of soldiers that these two came from had amazing agility. Manticore enhanced moves and fighting skills could not equal them. Max had been pinned under the second soldier more times then she could count, her lip bloody and split in several places.

"Too bad about this 452" the soldier had his gun on her neck, after having slammed her to the grass. "White said all you had to be was "alive", anything else I wanted to do was fine-"

Max leapt back up sending him into the fence. "Yeah, well this isn't about you scum bag"

*****

"I have them" Syl spoke into her mic. "Side of the main gate, and there not alone" she and Zack were crouched in the undergrowth of the woods surrounds the operation.

"Kids with them?" Zack asked, pulling up behind her.

"I wish" Syl answered back "This company's tall and ugly."

Zack honed in his vision, seeing the fight going on through the fence. "Alec, they're around the other side of the warehouse."

"See'em." Alec responded, pressed against the warehouse's outer wall. "No offense Zack, but your sisters' are gettin' their tails kicked. Logan wasn't fooling around with what he said"

"Well stop watching, and get over there" Zack barked back.

"Yes sir oh fearless leader." Alec ended the connection.

"When this is all over-" Zack turned to face Syl "-I'm going to slam Alec into the nearest tree."

"Slam yourself there as well bro" Syl pointed out "'Cause Alec's only crime so far is to be as pig-headed as you" she met his eyes, and before he could say anything she added "C'mon, let's go get our girls." She stalked forward, carefully avoiding the leaves that had fallen to keep from ruining the "surprise"

Alec had started to move, when he caught site of something inside the warehouse. He slid through the unlocked window, coming into a lab. He stopped at a test tube rack of blood samples. There were two large ones that bore the designations "X5-656" and "X5-452" beside that were three smaller tubes, two labeled "gen II-452" and the other marked as "gen II-656"

"Aww, and I didn't make a donation," Alec whispered to himself, picking up all five test tubes in his hands. He dropped them haphazardly into a large sink, the glass cracking on the aluminum basin. "Oops, gotta do something about these-" he looked down at his hands, turning them over once "pure jello" he turned on the water out of the faucet, washing the blood samples down the sink.

After the crimson stains disappeared down the pipes, he snatched Max's cell phone off a counter. "Can't have this here-" he looked through the speed dial-"hey, she doesn't have my name."

"Pity" a gun cocked by his ear. "Turn around"

Alec sighed, spinning around to meet a lab technician locking her semi-automatic on him.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" the gun moved closer to Alec's chest. "Those samples are very important to us, who the hell are you?"

"I'm the official Manticore clean up crew lady." Alec stared down the woman "Those samples weren't properly contained, I merely prevented cross-contamination. Standard procedure."

The tech moved the gun closer still "And why do I find that so hard to believe?"

"I think it's a trust issue" Alec came back, kicking the gun out of her hand. "Too bad I lied" he knocked her into the wall. "Glad you're not that hard to take out" he pocketed the cell and slid back out the window.

"Never give up do you 452?" the soldier taunted, breaking out from under Max, and flipping back in front of her. He grabbed her by the arm slamming her into the fence corner.

Max rebounded again. "Funny, I wasn't taught that in my training"

"Me neither" Zack had made it to the fence, leaping over it in one move. He side kicked the soldier hard with his combats.

"I don't recall this being a public party 452" the man returned, jumping to his feet.

"Well consider this a crash fest" Syl notified behind him, shooting off the magnum in his shoulder. "Ya really shouldn't leave this lying around."

"Nice timing sis" Tinga commented.

"Or bad timing" White's voice called out. He had another magnum and aimed it at the group. "I thought I made my self clear on this whole "escape" issue soldiers."

"Guess we didn't pay attention." Max spat back.

"Yet another Manticore flaw" White taunted. "Taking children and trying to turn them into warriors, what were those geneticists thinking, wasting all that money."

"You didn't wait for me before starting the "pep talk" White" Alec threw out behind the man "How rude"

"Why don't we just jump ahead to the main event 891-" White leered -"that way you won't be left out on anymore."

"I think it's just too little too late." Alec responded. "My feelings are still hurt"

"Funny-" White glared at him -"I don't seem to care about that" the gun went off.

All the X5's ducked the bullets. Max flipped over White's head, moving to collect the hidden children and get the hell outta there.

"The kids are hiding in those shrubs." Tinga whispered to Syl.

Syl nodded "Time to collect the young'uns from day care"

Before Max had landed again, White took aim on her. The XR-05's bullet glanced off her shoulder, dropping her to ground.

"MAX!" Zack was right next to her.

"I'm fine." Max informed, she put her hand to the wound. "It's only flesh" "Go get the kids, I'll catch up" she got to her feet with a hiss.

"I can't leave you here Maxie-"

"DO IT!" Max screamed at him "Get YOUR head in the game Commander, MOVE OUT!"

Zack quickly left after that, looking back at her long enough to check her progress.

"I think your running out of tricks 452" White approached her with the gun.
"And lives"

Max was now caked in mud from a stagnant puddle she had been thrown in earlier. Her hair was plastered to areas of her face, and chunked off her head like dirty snakes. Her face had several abrasions, and her lip cut had been opened again, trickling blood down her chin. But despite all that, she still had defiance in her eyes "I'm spliced with feline DNA ass, still have more to spare." she circled him like a beast of prey.

"Aundie Syl.."

"Hey baby boy" Syl responded to her nephew. "Ready to go home?"

"Where mommee?" Jess asked

"Mommy's a little tied up." Alec told him

Syl lifted her niece off Jess, holding the baby to her. "Your momma's gonna be here soon sweetie. I want you to go with Alec, he'll take you too her."

Jess looked at the stranger warily.

"I'm not a bad guy to know kid." Alec commented.

Despite his reassurance, Jess still didn't take to the idea, and started to cry.

"He's not going to do anything to-" Tinga's reinforcement was short-lived, when Jess caught sight of Zack approaching.

"Unky!" the little boy propelled himself at him, stopping short as Zack held up his hand. "I'm a little too messy to tangle with right now Jess"

"But he wants to so bad Unky" Alec threw out.

Zack shot him a scowl "Maxie's wounded, we gotta double back and get her out"

"What about them?" Syl spoke of her two nephews and niece. "Someone needs to get them out"

"You and Tinga take them Syl, I'm going back for Maxie"

"Alone?" Alec asked, "Not to de-grade this whole "CO-Big Brother" aspect you got going Zack, but I've already had rumbles with White and his lackeys, and I've never had my ass handed to me by the same guys so many times before."

*****

Logan threw off his headset and quickly climbed out of the Hummer when he saw the two figures emerging from the woods. "Where's Max?" was his first question when he didn't see her among the group.

"White got to her" Syl passed him the baby "Zack and Alec doubled back to bring her in"

"Mommee not here" Jess piped up once Tinga set him in the back seat of the Hummer.

"Don't worry sweet baby" Tinga stroked her nephew's head "She'll come"

****

Max had never fought so hard in her life. White looked no worse for wear then when the match had started.

"What the hell are you people?" she circled him, mud squishing beneath her feet, and her flesh wound bleeding into the dirt caked on her shoulder. "Thought that all this time we were just "special" she spat out the last word.

"Manticore was just some little side freak show on the edge of tradition" White informed, knocking her off her feet "We didn't need any DNA sequencing, black market funding, or some shit ass barcodes for cataloging. This is what we always were, not some whacked out scientific mutations." the gun was back at her face "I'm sure that you've met our friend here already."

"Now THAT'S a waste of funding" Max growled.

White jammed the maw in her neck -"I know-" cynicism dripped from his voice "I have to waste it on you. Not that it hasn't been a blast, but you've out lived your usefulness to me-" the gun cocked "-Think this is your last life 452-"

A blast exploded behind White's ear. "Nice equipment White, thanks for lettin' me borrow it"

White turned to stare down Alec, who had the still smoking XR-05 in his hand. Though his chest was bleeding, White remained on his feet. "Was that a tact maneuver 891?" he grabbed at the wound, finally starting to stumble in his stride

"Figured since these baby's are designed to kill X5's in quick time, it'll delay your ass from commin' after us for a while"

*****

To Logan, there was never a more wonderful sight then his dark angel stepping out of the trees, towards the clearing where the Hummer stood.

"I'm not going to that spa again-" Max joked quietly, wiping mud from her face. She headed towards her husband "The payment plan sucks"

Logan drew her into a long kiss, pulling her mud-slicked body close to him.

"Could you do that AFTER we get outta here? Just to save some time?"

Alec's remark made Logan pull back "I can't remember why I called him."

*****

Zack crouched on the hearth near the fire. His hand grasped the wooden handle of a hunter's knife. The metal end was submerged in the flame heating up the blade.

"Ya think no one would notice that Hummer hidden under a tarp?" Alec had just come through the door to Logan's parents cabin. "Not very discrete"

Logan had suggested that they stop off at his uncle's cabin for the night, the kids were tired, and it would be best to stay off the main roads at least for one night.

"Yeah well neither is your face" Max threw out. She sat cross-legged on the stone with her back facing Zack. Her shoulder wound was exposed by the cut of her gray tank top. "Anyway, this place is tucked away enough so I don't think anyone will notice"

Zack lifted the blade from the flames, the metal glowing from the heat, hissing when he dropped a small amount of water on it. "This is gonna burn like hell-" he lifted the stray strands of hair off Max's back.

"Just get it over with Zack" Max informed, readying herself for the "assault" The blade let out a hiss when it came in contact with the injury. She let out a strangled cry, while the heat did its work to help stop the bleeding.

"Sorry Maxie" Zack held the heated blade to her skin for about a minute before removing it. "You still alive?" he placed the knife down, dabbing at the wound with a sterile cloth.

She cringed slightly at the new sensation "Just got my sense heightened" she remarked.

After Zack had finished, Max headed off into the bathroom for a shower. She had years of dirt to wash off of her.

The hot spray eased the tension in her muscles, though it did make her wound sting like hell. But that couldn't be avoided. She just gritted her teeth, and kept the injury under the water for a little longer to flush out the dirt.

Mud washed off her in rivers, flowing down the drain. After all the dirt was gone, she cut off the water. Wrapping a towel around her damp body, she surveyed the damage in the mirror. Her neck bore a bruise from the pressure of the syringe White had used on her. Cuts adorned both cheeks. She was sore from the countless times she had been zapped with prods and tazers. /Hey at least I didn't bite the dust/ She ran a brush hastily through her hair.

She was lost in thought, so when the bathroom door opened, she almost jumped ten feet in the air.

"It's just me" Syl stepped into the steamed up room. "Logan told me to give these to ya." she set a pile of clean clothes on the counter.

"Thanks" was all Max said, "Where is he?"

"Nourishing the little bottomless pits you two have" Syl answered.

Max smiled slightly. Thankfully, there was a clean set of underwear on top of the pile. /Thank God, I REALLY didn't want to wear my old stuff again/

"Feeding them wasn't exactly on the top of White's priority list" Max zipped up the pair of worn jeans.

"Figures" was all Syl said. "Before you put a top on, let me dress that." she opened a package of gauze. Pushing her sister's long hair off of her shoulders, she dabbed at Max's back with disinfectant, making her hiss.

"Forgot how much it hurts to get shot at" she jumped again at a second wipe with the cotton ball.

"Don't get any better know matter how many times ya kiss the metal." Syl placed a second layer of gauze over the first, and the applied white First Aid tape to the edges of both to hold them down.

"Did they look okay?" Max was asking about the kids. Physically, they had suffered very little from the ordeal, but emotionally might be another story.

"They're too relieved right now to be back with both you guys, I don't think it's really clicking yet-" she closed off the final corner-"Done"

Max pulled the green turtleneck over her head. "What must be going through their heads?" she looked over at Syl "How can I make this right for them?"

Syl put a hand on her baby sister's shoulder "Just be there when they need you" she hugged her.

Max returned the gesture "Thanks for bustin' us out"

"Hey no prob. I could've don't without Alec crunching on me all night, but other then that I was glad to tag along"

"Sorry no one warned you about him" Max apologized.

"Better get out there Maxie" Syl killed the lights "I haven't left the Boy Wonder and Zack alone in the same room all night, blood's a bitch to clean up."

*****

"..No honey, I'm fine, really." Tinga held the cell up to her ear, speaking to her relieved and concerned husband on the other line. "Case is okay too. I looked him over, that shit ass didn't hurt him. There were-tests" she spat out the last word like it was poison-"but I don't see any injuries on him."

Whatever Charlie said next caused Tinga's eyes to tear up. "I'm still here love, you haven't lost us. We stopped over at Logan's cabin for the night. The old soldier genes kicked in for laying low after the "attack" Your niece and nephew are okay too, tired and hungry-"but okay." a pause "Max got a little nicked out there, but it's nothing major, just a flesh wound."

"Put Case on honey" Charlie's voice came through the receiver.

"Okay Charlie. I'll see you in the morning, wait for me?"

"Till eternity Tinga" Charlie answered, the emotion palpable in his tone "I love you"

"Love ya too, here's Case-" Tinga removed the phone from her ear, carefully passing it to her son "Daddy wants to talk to you sweetie" she helped the little boy steady the cell to his ear.

Max and Syl emerged from the bathroom. Syl headed over the hardwood floor to the kitchen to claim what was left of the coffee in the brewer. "Java Maxie?"

"Sounds great" Max slid into the unoccupied kitchen chair across from Logan.

"You feeling better?" Logan spooned some more pureed fruit into Lexi's mouth. The little girl in his lap tried to take the spoon away from her daddy with her little hands.

"I'm okay" Max remarked "Just a little worn out." she smiled at the baby making a mess, dribbling her dinner down her chin. She took a napkin and wiped off Lexi's mouth. "You're gonna need a new shirt soon baby"

"She could be just expressing her zest for modern art angel" Logan replied "Can't stand in the way of a budding artist." his kissed the top of his daughter's head.

Max took the spoon out of his hand, spoon-feeding the baby while Logan held her securely in his lap. "What is this?" she asked, looking at the jar.

"Pureed pears" Logan answered "My mom use to make this for me when I was a baby. Gave me the recipe a few months before her and dad died. She said I could make it for my kids one day."

"She likes it," Max held out the spoon in front of the baby, who watched her mommy intently, waiting for it to land in her mouth. "Seems that all the women in your life can't get enough of your cooking" Max commented, popping another mouthful into Lexi's mouth.

"Seems so" Logan responded. He looked up, noticing something he hadn't before. Ugly purple and blue bruises, the size of finger marks wrung Max's entire neck, like some one had tried to strangle her.

Logan's hand brushed against the discoloration. He could feel the roughness of injured skin, underneath his fingertips. His blood boiled /Who the hell did something like this to MY baby?/

Max stopped what she was doing at his probing "White's version of "modern art" she stated sadly. "For a spineless dick, he knocked it down hard." she gave a hard smile "Actually makes me miss Deck. At least with him I had my kick ass genes to my advantage."

"Speaking of genes Max-" Alec approached the table where the two sat. "While we got the pleasure to be VIP's in White secret lair, I found a couple of blood samples of you and Tinga here, and I chucked them. So sorry, no donor privileges. And-" he slid her cell phone to her "You really need to remember where you leave this." he looked at her in mock stern "What was all that training for anyway if not to be careful?"

"Here's some philosophy for ya. What's the sound of my foot breaking off in your ass? But thanks for doin' all that" she added at the end.

"You'd actually cheat on whiz boy here Max?" Alec raised an eyebrow.

"Save it for the street life Alec" Logan warned, playing with the baby's fingers.

Syl set a black coffee mug in front of Max.

"What is up with all these negative vibes guys?" Alec asked, glancing back from Logan to Syl to Max.

"I think it has something to do with your personality" Syl noted, sipping from her own mug.

"Nothing wrong with being an individual." Alec complained. "See if I save your ass next time Maxie-" he looked at her-"after all this bashing being dished out on me."

"I will" Max came back.

Tinga had gotten off the phone, now stopped in front of the group with Case tucked up in her arms. "Think he's finally worn out." she brushed his fingers through his chestnut hair. "Going to put him down in the master bedroom."

"These guys have just about had it as well." Max looked over at her son, half asleep on his folded arms on the couch. "We'll come with you."

"I'll go get Riff Van Winkle over there." Max said to Logan, standing up. She collected her tired son, who wrapped his arms around her sleepily.

Tinga laid Case down next to Jess in the queen size bed, getting him settled.

"Sweet dreams baby" Max kissed her sleepy son on his head, tucking the sheets around him.

"Mommee?"

"Yeah?"

"Did we get hurtee cause we was bad?" he looked at her with big questioning eyes.

Max placed a gentle hand on his forehead "No sweetie, you weren't bad." she reassured him. "You were never bad." a pause "This wasn't your fault. Those people and that place were bad, they should never have hurt you. You understand that baby? You are a good boy, and Lexi and Case are good too"

"But why de hurt us momma?"

That simple question was the hardest to answer. How did you tell your son that there were people in this world that wanted nothing better then to lock him in a cage like an animal, and experiment on him, because they thought of him as a created project, and because they could? "They hurt you because they're bad Jess." she spoke honestly. Lying to him, even at this tender age wouldn't help him. He deserved to know the truth. "There are bad people in the world honey, not a lot, but they exist. They hurt you, even if you did nothing wrong. They just can't see what a beautiful boy you are, they don't want to." she stroked his hair "But I do, and so does daddy. We love you and your sister so much. You are always right here-" she placed his small hand on her chest, right over her beating heart-"in me, and I love you more then anything. Bad men can never take that away from us."

"Love you too mommee.." Jess kissed her on the nose.

Max returned the gesture, pulling the covers over him "Sleep tight sweetie"

Logan laid the baby in the center of the bed, turning her little body on her stomach, and draping an afghan over her. "Good night princess."

"We'll go home and see daddy tomorrow baby." Tinga knelt next to Case's head.

"He'll give us lots of hugs huh?" Case asked through a yawn.

Tinga smiled "Lots" she kissed him as his eyes closed.

Tinga flipped off the light switch, leaving the door ajar for Logan to be able to see since he didn't have her or Max's night vision.

Max wrapped her arms around Logan in the darkness.

"God, I'm glad you're all okay. I was in hell." he hugged her tighter, keeping his hands from grazing her wound.

She kissed him without a word, a deep passionate kiss, even more intense then they shared in the woods. It was a gesture of pure, undadultared love, to reassure each of the other's presence after the day's events. Their tongues barely danced, but it was still an intense moment.

Max was the first to pull back, her lower lip swollen She grasped his hand, pulling him to the door.

Logan shut the door to the bedroom quietly, to not disturb the kids sleeping there.

"Burgundy," Alec read the bottle of wine in his hand "Good choice to have Logan."

"Alec, I appreciate you "saving my life-" Max raised her hands, making quotes with her fingers-"but if you don't turn it down and you wake up my children, YOUR best choice will be to run." she pulled Logan to one of the two long couches in front of the fire place, plopping down in the well worm heather gray leather.

Logan sat down next to her, and she laid her head in his lap, stretching out sideways to keep from rolling around on her wound. His fingers ran through her hair.

Zack poked at few logs in the fireplace with a stick of green wood. "We need to head out before it gets too light out." he was still ever the CO.

"Dawn is only in three hours Commander" Max complained "That's not enough sleep for me"

"You don't sleep remember Maxie?" Zack responded, pitching the stick in the fire

"No touché there bro-" Max argued, "all the shark DNA in the world can't compete with keepin' up wid two little kids." She moved a little, to allow Logan easier access to her brown locks.

"Zane's gonna need a new paint job on his ride" Syl pulled her feet under her on the other couch. "After tonight, it's gonna be nothin' but patches"

"At least it'll go well with his trailer" Alec argued.

"There's the touché" Syl agreed, "Guess you're not all bad, for a prick that is."

"I'm a well rounded guy" Alec replied, uncapping the bottle to the wine.

"Didn't we have this same kinda convo before?" Max looked over at Zack "Wonder who that was with?"

Zack didn't take offense, "Zane'll be worse when he sees "Chip-ville" camped out on his ride."

"It was for a good cause," Syl argued "And next time he'll by more weather resistant car paint." she stole the bottle from Alec, taking a swig of the alcohol, licking the excess off her lips. She looked over at Max. "You can crash baby sister, We'll take first watch." she smacked Zack on the back of the "Let's go Commander, you can tell me 'bout this sugar Zane's seen you with while we man the posts."

"Think I'm gonna sit with Case" Tinga suggested, heading towards the bedroom door.

Alec stood near the "un-manned" window. The night was still and calm. "What a great way to spend an evening." he sighed "But there's always three for all Wednesday"

Max and Logan now were lying together on the couch, Max's head against his shoulder. "One day that sap isn't gonna work on them anymore, and I'll have to tell them the whole truth."

"They'll cope" Logan said, "You did, and you're their mom. Just teach them how to be strong."

"I'd rather show them where White could get branded with a barcode" she yawned. "But that's just me" she closed her eyes. "Night baby"

"Goodnight sweetheart" he pulled her closer to him.

They slept.

*****

WASHINGTON BORDER
HALF DEMOLISHED BRIDGE OVERLOOKING PACIFIC OCEAN

"Sir, there's no sign of them" Jenkins approached White. "And our blood samples have been destroyed. We have to start back at square one"

"Jenkins?" White starred down the Private. The wound he had sustained earlier was almost non existant. The only remaining evidence of it being there were faint traces of blood on the button's of his leather jacker.

"Yes sir?"

"Get started then"

*****

END

I played with some new "paints" when I got into Alec; hopefully he's portrayed well. He's not a bad guy, just a little on the smart-ass side. Sorry if you all didn't like that ending, but White isn't going to go away in a magical "poof" that would be too easy.

FOR ALL NYSNC FANS MAD AT MY DISS: I had to keep Alec in context to where I feel the show goes with him. I personally don't have any prob. with the group, but honestly don't think Alec is into that type of music, not unless I missed something. So no Mystic hate mail and/or "Justin Timberlake is God" letters 'kay?

If I made any technical errors, sorry, I do the best I can. This was a job writing this. Had to play up a lot of angles, and do some research. Grammatical and spelling errors will go away if you squint your eyes..heh..anyway, hope you liked. R/R please.