Choices

by Mystic25

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

28. Lack of Control Part Two

Choices 27 – "Lack of Control"

Part Two

Before we get things rolling, I hope everyone is enjoying the ride. They are? Good…

XXXXXXXXX

CHEYENNE, WYOMING

"There's no need to be worried; we're very pleased with the progress you're making." The voice was calm, reassuring, but not human. It was a robotic computer tone.

It was being transmitted through a headset receiver that was being worn by a dark haired man dressed in a white business shirt with the top three buttons undone, and a thin sheen of perspiration clearly visible on his neck. The person he was talking to was in the same vast concrete room as he was but a completely black four-inch thick glass wall separated them. The glass was soundproof so he could only hear whom he was talking too via the headset. As well as being soundproof, the glass was also a two way, and even though he could see nothing from his side, the man knew he was being closely watched. The computer-simulated voice that transmitted through his headset gave the Director a completely anonymous voice.

"Thank you," the man responded to the Director's praise, feeling the lacking end to his remark. He could not used "Ma'am" or "Sir" because no one knew except a few top members knew what the Director looked like. Secrecy – even from its affiliates – was top priority in the establishment. "The drop off occurs tonight. We've taken the necessary precautions to ensure totally privacy of all involvement."

"Good," the computerized tone masked any emotion in the Directors words; but the next words spoken were backed with such fierceness that they seemed to break through the monotony of the voice machine. "The precautions you've taken, they must be flawless. I am no someone who takes reassurances lightly."

Another bead of sweat unconsciously sprang up on the man's neck. He made no movement to wipe the perspiration away because doing so would allow the Director to see a weakness. He worked in a cooperation on paper, but nothing more. The workers were only responsible for themselves; weakness was something that wouldn't be tolerated; it would be exploited.

A loud high toned beeped emitted from a speaker hidden in the gray wall. It was the signal that the Director was done with the conversation.

The man stood up from the metal chair he had been sitting on, not saying anything more. He knew the Director's receiver was off now, and nothing he would say would be heard. He felt the sweat start to slide down his neck and back, but he still restrained himself from wiping it off. The Director didn't wish to converse with him anymore, but he was still being watched from the other side of the double sided mirror. He stood up and walked across the room; standing in front of a seemingly solid wall, but after a few seconds the gray concrete parted revealing the metal interior of an elevator car. The solid concrete, the lack of any windows, or clocks all made the briefing room intimidating. But what made it the most foreboding was that it was fifty feet below the main complex; accessed only by the single elevator the man was now walking into. It was in reality, a subterranean interrogation room.

The elevator doors closed heavily, and the man leaned against the steel wall, letting the stress from the meeting finally express itself. The phone in his pants pocket rang shrilly. He answered it; despite the almost complete lack of signal from how far underground he was. He already knew who would be calling and his words would be short.

"The Director just finished the review. It's a go." He flipped the phone closed and was silent for the rest of the ascent.

XXXXXXXXXXXX

JAM PONY

"Hey!" Normal had just watched Alec come down the ramp – having just returned from a run -and carelessly dropping his bike in a pile next to the dispatch desk. "Company property! Treat it with more respect!"

Alec picked up the bike by its handlebars, but he didn't move it anywhere, and instead grabbed a scrap of paper that had been trapped under the spokes of the bike's wheels, then letting the bike fall back to the concrete floor. Normal began another round of insults at Alec for his total disrespect his 'equipment'. Alec, however, chose to ignore him and unfolded the piece of paper – a phone number from the curvy single blonde he had just made a drop too –grinning at the remembrance of the low cut red halter she wore that did nothing to cover her ample breasts. Alec always had respect for his equipment; it just wasn't the same equipment that Normal was thinking of.

"The next piece of paper you get is going to be pink mister if you don't start doing your job better!" Normal said to Alec's retreating figure, muttering: "Why I thought he was a golden boy I'll never know," as he watched Alec disappear down a cubby of metal lockers.

Alec spun the combination of his locker without even looking, keeping his eyes focused on the 7 digit number written on the piece of crumpled paper. Being bred to multitask never had so many advantages before. The lock disengaged and the metal door squeaked open on it's own. Alec removed his messenger bag from his shoulder and shoved it inside the locker, taking out the set of keys to his bike. The door to the locker suddenly slammed shut and Alec – even with his fast reflexes – barely had time to move his arm before it got caught.

Jondy stood beside his locker, her hand on the now shut door, showing that she had executed the earlier maneuver. "Let's go big boy; I need you."

An amused look flashed over Alec's eyes. "I knew you'd come around eventually-" his words were cut off when Jondy grabbed his arm and slammed him against the group of lockers on the opposite side from his.

"I don't have time to indulge whatever fantasy is playing through your mind right now Alec!" Jondy's voice was low, but commanding. "Now shut up and move you're skinny soldier boy ass right now!" Jondy was part Manticore, part Zack's sister, and the results of that combination were very threatening. She didn't wait for Alec to respond, she grabbed his arm and yanked him out of the lockers and back into the 'main area' of the delivery service.

Alec had allowed her to pull him out of the lockers. He was just as strong as Jondy; had he not wanted to follow her he wouldn't have made it this easy for her.

"Can I at least ask where we're going?" Alec asked.

"No time," Jondy didn't look back as she released his arm. "Just get your bike and-"

"Excuse me girly," Normal's voice interrupted Jondy's retort. He came out from behind the dispatch desk, a brown clipboard held high against his chest. "Since you obviously don't work here, I'm informing you of our policy against stealing my employees before their shift is over to go be dirty behind a trash can."

"I so don't have time for this," Jondy said in more anger then annoyance. She turned back to Normal, hitting him with a hard, X5 look. "And since it's that obvious that I don't work here I don't really give a shit about your regulations. So I suggest you take that behind a trash can and get dirty with it." She turned back to Alec, ignoring the stunned, angry look on Normal's face. "Let's go."

Alec followed her up the ramp, knowing that now Normal was probably screaming about his being fired from inside.

Jondy was already straddling her bike when Alec came out of the building into the rainy Seattle afternoon. She obviously wasn't going to answer his question of where they were going with words; she was going to show him and expected him to keep up. So he didn't ask again and climbed onto his bike – a lime green Yamaha NX-600 – and followed her away from Jam Pony.

The corridor was stone gray, and long, seemingly endless. There were no window and, no doorways leading off of it. Max walked down it, but she couldn't tell how far she had gone because each part of the hall was the same as the last.

She walked for what felt like 10 minutes, before resting her hand against one of the concrete walls, pressing the side of her face against it. She felt dizzy, but not like she had back at the apartment, it was an otherworldly sensation, a feeling that told her she didn't belong in whatever place this was.

"Max?"

Max raised her head from the wall, and turned around. Zack was standing about a foot in front of her. "Zack?" her voice cast just the faintest echo, and she moved towards him. Walking felt more like she was floating, and she seemed to hover, not stand, in front of Zack once she reached him.

He was dressed in the same clothes she saw him in at the apartment, and a quick look down at herself told her she was wearing the same clothes she had on that morning. Everything felt like a dream, hazy, and shadowy in places. But despite the dreamlike qualities, the place felt too real, not like a dream at all.

"Zack are you okay?" Zack didn't look as sick as he did before she blacked out, but there was something off about him, as if he wasn't fine-tuned enough. She looked around the silent gray hallway they stood in. "What is this place?"

"I don't know," even Zack's words seemed to lack the vibrancy she was used to hearing and his voice gave no echo the way hers did. "I don't know how I got here, or where 'here' is."

"You were sick-" Max began, trying to connect something from what had happened earlier to where they were now. "-convulsing. I went to get some Tryptophane, but something happened, I blacked out with, seizures-"

Zack was staring intently at Max, looking very much concerned at what had happened. What had happened to her was exactly what had happened to him. He looked down at his hands, touching the flat of one palm to another. He felt the touch, but it was cold around the edges, fading. He wasn't dead; something, some pull inside him told him that. Wherever he and Max were was somewhere in-between death and life.

"What the hell is going on?" Max demanded. "Where are we?"

"Someplace you have no business being in!" the words were angry, but spoken in a normal pitch. But it was the loudest most vibrant sound in the bleakness so Max found herself unconsciously clinging to it.

At the visual end of the hallway stood Lydecker, dressed in an expensive charcoal black suit, every aspect of it immaculate. "I told you that you had no business being here Zack!" Deck didn't raise his voice any higher or moved from his position but the hallway echoed his tone loudly. His eyes were locked on Zack and even with the distance Zack could feel the intensity of the gaze. Not only did you disobey a direct order, but you brought Max down with you-"

"Shut up!" Max screamed loudly, but only a small echo was all that trailed after her words. Seeing Lydecker suddenly made her realize that the hallway looked liked the ones at Manticore. "What the hell is this place?"

Lydecker started walking towards them, but each step seemed to take him no closer then where he started. "I told you that you have no business being here!"

"You think we had a fuckin' choice in the matter?" Zack snapped. "Answer the question old man!"

"You do not issue out the orders Zack," Deck's voice had lowered, but his voice was steely.

Zack didn't have a chance to offer a retort. A loud cracking noise boomed above their heads. Zack and Max looked up to see a huge chunk of the ceiling give way and drop.

Zack pulled Max away a second before the concrete crashed to the ground. He and Max had no time to ask what was going on before a much louder rumble pierced the hallway. The ceiling began to cave in on itself, dropping huge pieces of solid concrete to the ground.

Zack pushed Max in front of him and they ran, but no matter how far they got the crumbling roof still rained down on them. A piece of concrete that almost as big as a door knocked into Max, throwing her sideways into the wall. She only felt a very muted pain despite how heavy the piece was that hit her. She heard Zack scream her name. Then an intense feeling was crushing through her chest, like someone had tied a rope around her heart and was pulling her somewhere with it. She tried to answer Zack but her voice was gone.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

FOGLE TOWERS

A desperate gasp emitted from Max's mouth, her eyes snapping open.

"Max!" Logan had been in the kitchen, but was at her side in less than five seconds. Max turned her eyes to the sound of his voice, but her eyes were, glazed unfocused.

Sam was at Max's side as well. Max had been unconscious for almost two hours. "Max, it's Sam Carr, can you hear me?" While Sam talked he placed the end of the stethoscope on her chest. Her heart was still racing. A check of her neck revealed that her lymph glands were swollen to the point that they were rock hard under his hands a sign that the infection was ravaging her body. "Max?" Sam shined a pen light in Max's eyes, to check her pupils and to try and rouse her more.

Max turned her head at the sound of the voice, her brows dipped in confusion at seeing Sam in front of her. "Zack."

"He's okay," Logan said, knowing that his words lacked any real truth, but he fought hard to keep it from showing. "You'll both be okay," he caressed her forehead.

Max seemed to meld into his touch, but it only lasted an instant before a painful cry escaped her mouth and a seizure overtook her.

"Damnit!" Sam checked her heartbeat with the stethoscope, having to hold her chest down with his free hand because of the spasms that shook her body. "Her heart's beating so fast it's almost not registering, it's going to burn out if it's not slowed down." He snapped his head up to Tinga who was standing behind the couch. "We have to risk moving her to the tub. She needs to be packed in ice to slow down her metabolic rate. Grab as much ice-" Sam's words cut off when Max's violent seizures suddenly stopped, and she went completely limp.

"Maxie, Maxie!" Tinga cried in alarm, bending over the couch to see her baby sister's face. Her back was killing her from being in that position, but she shut it out, her eyes locked on Max. "Is she okay?"

Sam checked Max's heart again; it had slowed down but not by much. "She passed out. Her body can't deal with the strain so it shut down everything that isn't vital to keep itself alive."

"Max," Logan looked down at his wife, she looked completely spent, nothing like her normally vibrant self. He looked back up at Sam. "How long can this go on?" The tone of the question demanded nothing but the truth.

Sam locked eyes with him. "If there is an antidote, it needs to be found, now."

A shrill ring made Logan jump because of all the tension that was in the room. It took him several seconds to realize that the ring had come from his cell phone that was lying on the coffee table.

He picked the phone up and flipped it open, "Yeah?"

"Logan we're here," Jondy's voice came over the other end. "The door's locked, but I figured picking it isn't something to do in this situation."

"Wait one second," Logan's response was clipped, but this wasn't a friendly conversation, and he knew Jondy knew that as well. He switched the phone to its walkie-talkie feature, tuning the frequency to the same one on Jondy's phone, which had the same two-way radio feature. "You still there Jondy?"

"Where the hell else would I be Logan?" Jondy retorted, none of her usual humor in her voice. She was too tense to joke.

"I've printed out the map to the drop off point, wait outside and I'll give it to you." Logan picked up a glossy satellite map from the paper tray of his laser printer, and then slowly walked towards the front door, keeping part of his gaze on Max the entire time.

Jondy picked up the faint sound of Logan's hand grasping the doorknob before he even turned it, and she opened the door before he did. Logan looked startled, but only for an instant, then closed the door behind him and stepping out into the hallway.

"Here," Logan handed Jondy the map. "The drop's southwest of here."

"What Sector?" Jondy asked, scanning the layout of the map, which showed an aerial view of the very end of a city's business district and the beginnings of a partially cleared forest dotted with factory buildings and warehouses.

"It's not in Seattle, Logan answered. "It's on the outskirts of Cheyenne."

Both Jondy and Alec snapped their heads up to Logan at the mention of the capital of Wyoming. Before it was disbanded, Manticore's location was in Gillette, a small city-town only 20 miles outside of Cheyenne. And Jondy and Alec already knew that the fact that these two locations were so close together had nothing to do with coincidence.

Alec moved to take the map from Jondy, but on an afterthought he retracted his hand and turned his attention back to Logan. "You've been around Max all this time-"

"The virus is only communicable from direct contact between people with Manticore DNA, I can't transmit it." Logan answered Alec's question before he fully asked it "So you two should be okay." His reassurance was lost in way the words came out of his mouth.

"Oh yeah, we'll be great," Jondy returned in dry sarcasm. She then looked at Logan, taking full stock of the worried, weary expression in his face. "How are they?" She watched Logan's expression deteriorate even more at her question.

"They're alive," Logan's words were quiet, painfully honest. He seemed to keep from falling apart by only a thin thread of his stubbornness. "You need to go, traffic is still thick, it'll take at least 18 hours just to drive there and back– and they may not even have that long." His voice cracked at the very end, but he quickly masked it with a stolid faced look; the same expression he had made Eyes Only famous for.

"Here, you'll need these." Logan held out twp small, black circular items, electronic two-way communicators. They were no larger then coat buttons –designed in order to be concealed in plain sight – but they were still highly sensitive They had a receiving range of up to 500 yards. Touching the top of the device activated transmission back and forth.

Both Jondy and Alec wore black leather jackets and after they affixed the communicators –via magnetic clips – to the outside of their jackets, they were affectively camouflaged.

The silence that followed was deafening, a quiet that threatened to crush them all if something wasn't said.

"Alec," Logan said. "I know there's no love loss between you and Zack. But that's my wife in there, and that's her brother-" His gaze on Alec alone at that moment would have made him an honorary X5. But it was also backed up with a low, fierce tone that made him very intimidating.

"I'm not about to let them die Logan," Alec's words were completely serious, a soldier's word of honor. "Not like this." He wasn't Zack's best friend, but he realized in that moment, all jokes aside, Zack was his friend, and so was Max. And Alec wasn't about to let them be taken down by people who were so cowardly they had to have a designer virus do their dirty work for them.

Jondy slapped the map against Alec's chest and walked the three-step distance over to Logan. She hugged him, feeling his hands in her long hair as he returned her embrace. "Take care of our family." She pulled back, and turned to face Alec, a hard look of fierce determination in her eyes. "Let's go give those sons-of-bitches what's coming to them."

XXXXXXXXXX

PUGET SOUND

2:00 PM

The sands along the water were disturbed every few seconds by small waves lapping at them, washing up years of discarded trash to the already dirty shore. There had been a time when Puget Sound was beautiful, with the smells of warm gray sand mixed with salty seawater and the gentle clanking noises of fishing boats moored to nearby docks echoed off the water. But now, it reeked of decay from discarded garbage and was enclosed by a ten-foot high perimeter chain linked fence, making even curious teenagers and tourists shy away from it.

But a handful of people still came to the shores of the Sound. Men who had once fished the open water in their boats climbed through weak spots in the fence, casting homemade lines from the sand, hoping to find enough fish still living in the polluted waters to either sell for profit or feed to their families. Even in the daytime they built fires along the beaches for warmth and their orange glows were dotted all along the shoreline.

Next to one of these fires – sitting with his legs folded in front of him – was the man who had infected Zack with the virus. He drew one hand into the inner pocket of his jacket removing two leather bound items, a Passport and an Alien Seattle Sector Pass, both under false names. He threw them both into the fire, watching them burn. He would receive a new set of identification tonight to avoid leaving a trail. The owner of the fire, who sat on it's other side, paid his actions no attention, keeping his eyes on the empty beer can buoy tied to his fishing line. It was an unspoken rule with these men that the less they knew about somebody else's business, the better. That way, if anything went bad, they could deny ever knowing what went on.

The man removed another item from his coat pocket; a second tipped dart created in case the first one didn't hit its mark. He held it carefully to avoid being pricked and dropped it into the fire as well. The chemicals inside the dart exploded in a loud pop and turned the flames light blue while it burned out.

This time the fire's owner turned his head; his bushy black brows creasing over green tinted eyes set into a face made more of curly gray whiskers then flesh.

A quiet vibrating danced across the man's breast. He stood up and brushed the grains of sand from his pants. He then looked at the former fisherman, and – speaking in French – told him: "Early fireworks for you old man." He flipped the phone open, but didn't say anything while he walked away from the small fire.

The fisherman rolled his eyes, upset that he had wasted time turning his head for nothing spectacular, and cast his gaze back out to his line.

The man walked back up to the fence that surrounded the Sound, standing right along side the massive aluminum enclosure while he listened to the voice on the other line. This was a phone call where he wouldn't need to make conversation; all he was required to do was listen.

A sarcastic smile crossed his lips when he recognized the computer synthesized voice used only by the Director; something he always found annoying. But it disappeared seconds later. The Director held such invisible force over the entire organization it felt as though this person had the power to kill people from anywhere.

He listened for several more minutes, before flipping the phone closed and placing it back in his pocket. A crease of confusion – not unlike the one on the fisherman – crossed his brow. The Director had just given him a new order, one that he didn't understand. But he was smart enough not to question things. He knew very well that he only a pawn in the organization; and he valued his life more then he valued answers to his questions.

He bent low and squeezed his way through the same small hole in the fence he had come it, biting back a gasp when a sharp end of a link tore through his jacket sleeve and sliced him across the arm. He shook off the barely-there injury and walked the short distance to where he had left his bike – a lemon yellow Kawasaki Motorcross Hybrid with gleaming silver spokes. He was very glad that his superiors were letting him keep the bike for the duration of his mission. The machine was a magnet for women and he intended to take advantage of it whenever he got the chance. He climbed on it, gunned the engine and pulled out into the one lane road that led away from the Sound.

XXXXXXX

7: 45 PM

Jondy was regretting ever taking her bike. At first it had been purely for practical reasons – her motorcycle had more power then Alec's; and they would cover more ground by only having to keep track of one vehicle.

But after over a hundred miles of sitting behind Alec in the saddle seat - listening to him pop and revv her poor motorcycle's engine to the point that it sounded like things wee ripping loose inside the engine – she was seriously wondering what the hell she was thinking.

Though her current situation had one plus – one that she would never admit too – holding onto to Alec for leverage was nice. Nice in the sense of what she was feeling through his clothes. Manticore made it a point to make everyone they created attractive; it was useful during mission strategies. And Jondy could see why. But she threw the thought away in anger; her brother and sisters lives were in danger; she could get off later.

The double lane road they were traveling on was paved, but weathered and cracked; and around it was a forest of evergreen trees, dense in places, but also with large clearings created from where trees had been cut down long ago. The sun was low in the western part of the sky, but the trees blocked out most of this light, casting the road in a gray light with elongated shadows.

They had cross the border into Wyoming an hour ago; and as Jondy observed the forest around her, memories of Manticore struck her whichever way she looked into the trees. She had trained in a forest like this, loaded down with weapons, weapons they used readily because Manticore was secluded and the forest was thick, so no one could hear what went on.

Jondy removed one hand from Alec's waist and unrolled the satellite map she was holding. The Ninja was going 90 mph but she was equipped with a keen sense of balance and it didn't faze her. She scanned the map for a few seconds; then rolled it back up, signaling Alec with her hand a second later to stop. The motorcycle cut to an abrupt stop, making the tires squeak loudly from the friction.

"Damnit Alec, watch that!" Jondy hissed at him. "I just got those tires, and we're supposed to be going for a covert approach remember?"

"We're way the hell out in the middle of nowhere Jondy," Alec returned, looking over his shoulder at her. "You planning on setting up on some woodland creatures?"

"We're not that far out there dipstick," Jondy snapped in a low voice. "The map shows a road that intersects with this one twenty yards ahead, and it doesn't lead to more forest."

Alec shut up after that and cranked up the bike, but just enough to turn the engine on. He coasted the motorcycle to the right edge of the road, stopping after it cleared the first line of trees.

Jondy dismounted, and pulled down low lying branches of pine needles from the trees closest to them, laying them across the across the bike's body for camouflage.

Alec unstrapped a black nylon bag from the back of the motorcycle. He unbuttoned the top flap and pulled out two guns, a .45 caliber Vector and a handheld Colt .65 caliber semi-automatic. He held them both out to Jondy. "Choose your candy."

Jondy took the Vector from him as well as the extra clip of bullets he held out afterwards, placing the gun in the waistline at the back of her jeans and tucked the clip in next to it.

Alec cocked the semi-automatic, popping out an empty bullet shell from the chamber, before placing the gun at his back like Jondy had done. He closed the nylon bag and shouldered it on his back with the two straps that were sewn into the back. He glanced over at Jondy, "You ready?"

"We were born ready Alec," was Jondy's response.

"Right answer," Alec returned, not bothering to repress a smile at her cockiness. Here was a woman after his own heart. He walked out of the clearing, erasing the tire tracks in the dirt with his foot as he walked. He came to the edge of the tree line and scanned the area in all directions. There were no noises except for the faint calling of birds getting ready to bed down for the night.

Alec turned back to Jondy. "Ladies first."

Jondy glared at him, but let her next words express how she felt about his retort: "Then go ahead."

Alec let her remark slide and stepped out onto the road, Jondy coming up next to him. They skulked the twenty yards down the exposed road to where the satellite map said there would be an adjoining road. And sure enough it was there. The new road was narrow, made of crumbling asphalt like the other one. Ten feet down stood a huge fallen tree trunk stretched out across the entire length of the road. After Jondy and Alec came up to it, they could see that, the edges of the trunk were clean, most likely cut with some kind of high-powered chain saw. This tree had not fallen on the road on accident; the width of the trunk was almost fifteen feet high, effectively blocking out whatever lay behind it; it had been cut purposely to keep curious onlookers from seeing too much.

On either side of the road where the tree had fallen were huge, seemingly bottomless trenches, completely black in the half-light of evening, making going around the trunk impossible. The entire setup was a created security measure. But it was one that Jondy and Alec conquered easily by leaping first on top of the tree trunk then back down on the other side.

Jondy checked to make sure the gun at her back hadn't been dislodged, then cast her gaze to what lay ahead of her.

The road kept going for five or so more feet then ended to a man made clearing where a large two story concrete building stood surrounded by a barbed wire fence. There was one lookout tower on the west end of the fence, and a bright halogen spotlight swept slowly across the perimeter of the clearing.

Alec took in the sight of the building. "Feels like home huh?" It was much smaller, but everything about that place was almost structurally identical to Manticore.

The halogen searchlight began moving towards the fallen tree trunk where Alec and Jondy were standing. They both ducked low, pressing their bodies as close to the tree trunk as they could. The beam was too large for them to avoid being caught in it; but they remained completely motionless, and it was obvious they went undetected because light continued on its rotation.

Both X5's remained in a crouch, watching the searchlight move far enough away from them; then they ran silently up the remainder of the road, stopping at the fence. Jondy took a moment to gauge it. It was only 10 feet high – they could easily jump it – but all along the top ran a twisted coil of jagged barbed wire adding an extra two feet to the fence's overall height; making the scaling extremely more difficult.

Jondy went first She backed up almost four feet, took a running head start and jumped, landing just below the barbed wire on the same side. She then flipped over backwards with enough momentum to clear coils of barbed wire. She landed silently on the other side, looked around in the darkness, and then turned to give Alec an "all clear" signal. Alec jumped over the fence the same way she had just done, and landed just as quietly beside her.

They tensed when the loud barking of a dog sounded off from somewhere behind the complex. Alec aimed his gun into the night, pushing Jondy behind him. The latter of his actions was only done because she was physically small enough to be hidden behind him, allowing for a sneak attack should anyone come.

The dog's barking grew louder, and soon a large black German Shepard rounded the east corner of the building followed by a guard dressed casually in a dark blue security uniform. The dog raced ahead of the guard and leapt at something in the grass, coming back up with a chunk of raw steak. The guard had thrown it to the animal, both for food and to keep its senses alert for tearing flesh.

Alec and Jondy watched the dog tear apart the meat while the guard looked on in amusement. After a few seconds of this being the only sounds they heard, a clicked sounded off a foot in front of them. They were both soldiers, and even if they weren't it wouldn't be hard to mistake the cocking sound of the M4 rifle that was now being aimed at them.

The person who held the gun was a man, tall, dressed in a long gray trench coat, making him look a little ridiculous, like a businessman handling a soldier's weapon, but his hard expression made him formidable. "I'm glad my directions were easy to follow." His words were laced with a thick African accent. analysis of them. "His word was a cue for after he had spoken it; the sounds of footsteps came out of the dark as a group of five men also armed with M4's circled Alec and Jondy. He looked over the pair – looking more over Jondy then Alec –The night air isn't good for one's body."

Even though all the men surrounding them were armed, Jondy and Alec could have fought their way out, their abilities as soldiers more then making up for their lack of weapons. But they had come here to find the antidote this group of militia claimed they had; fighting them now would no doubt cause them to lock down any information they had. So they had to offer no resistance, for now.

The man in front of them smiled, like he had just invited guests into his home. "Shall we?"

XXXXXXXXXXX

FOGLE TOWERS

"The virus is very well made; there seem to be no weak spots to exploit." The tone of Sebastian's voice box lacked any emotion, but the message of his words was clear.

"None at all?" Logan stared into the face of his old friend through the television screen. He had called Sebastian, hopping that he would have some lead, or even a theory on how to kill the virus without having the antidote. Logan didn't trust the men who created it to honor their deal and he wanted a Plan B.

"The Africans are experts in the designer virus field. This one looks to be one of their best creations." Sebastian paused, "I'm sorry Logan, I know that's now what you want to hear."

"It's not," Logan agreed in frustration.

"How is Max doing?" Sebastian asked.

"Not good." Logan rubbed a hand across his eyes. "Keep looking for some kind of way in; there's no such thing as a locked box." He pulled out the earpiece and switched off the computer screen. He stood up from the chair and walked over to the couch where Max was, sitting slowly on the edge of it.

Sam lifted the stethoscope from Tinga's back after she jumped. "Does your back hurt?"

Tinga was sitting on Logan and Max's bed resting her head against the mahogany headboard and holding a pillow against her stomach; her back was to Sam. "My back's been hurting for the last month doc," Tinga responded over her shoulder. "Those things are just always so damn cold."

"Sorry," Sam apologized; normally he would rub the stethoscope end on his clothes to warm it up, but he was taking no chances with spreading the virus; so he pressed it against Tinga's back without this move. He listened to her heartbeat from her back because it was easier to distinguish her heartbeat from the babies. And without a sonogram to pinpoint the position of the baby, he wanted to make sure he got an accurate reading of Tinga's vitals.

"Your heartbeats elevated, but it isn't critical yet-" Sam couldn't see Tinga's face but he could sense the shift in her gaze when he said that last part. "In your situation your body will do all it can to protect the baby; including safeguarding you from the full effect of the virus."

"This kid can't tell me later on that I never did anything for him," Tinga said. She meant it as a joke, but her words were lacking real humor and only a single dry laugh escaped her mouth afterwards.

Sam echoed her dry laugh, but his was much quieter then hers. "Did you call your husband?"

"Case did," Tinga said. "Some things are easier to hear from a kid."

"You need to talk to him," Sam told her in quiet force.

This time Tinga turned her head and looked at Sam. "And say what? 'Sorry I'm so late baby, this group of whack jobs infected me with this bio-virus that plans to kill me very slowly?" Her voice was angry but tired. The virus was starting to take its toll on her. She wasn't nearly as sick as Zack and Max, but she was starting to feel winded, exhausted.

"If he loves you, he has a right to know what's going on, so he can be there for you." Sam said. He himself had never been married but he had years of experience in treating married patients. The ones that faired the best had their partner by their side, even if all they could do was hold them. He saw Tinga's back rise in a sigh, she knew what he was saying was true.

Tinga sat up from the headboard and reached out for the cordless phone that was on the nightstand but the sound of the bedroom door being open stopped her from dialing.

"Mom?" Case stood in the doorway; slowly retracting his had from the knob. He stepped partway inside the room.

Tinga was going to reprimand him for being in there, because she feared for his safety, for his life. But her son held such a dead serious look to them that she didn't say anything.

"Mom," His voice was strong, but there was an underlying tremble to it. "Mom are you going to die?"

Tinga only allowed herself to succumb to sorrow few times in her life. When Eva had been killed, after she had gone back to Manticore to save Case, and now. When her baby boy asked her this heartbreaking question. "I'm still here Case," she knew her response wouldn't satisfy him because he was her son, so she added, even though she was painfully unsure: "I'm not going to die."

"What about the baby?" Case sounded so desolate, wanting to go back to the days when a soothing word from Tinga would calm him, when he wasn't so aware of how life could play out.

"The baby either," Tinga reassured, "He's got as much stubborn will power as me; he'll be okay" she paused, a silence where she could have cried, but she went on talking, showing her strength. "That's going to be his name Case – Will," she smiled through the pain of emotions she felt, at having picked a name for her child. "Because he's got the strongest will to do just more then survive."

Case returned her smile, and she could see how he wanted desperately to hug her, but he stayed away. And it ripped her apart to know that she couldn't even touch him. "You have to go back now honey, okay?" her voice grew softer on the last word, sadder.

Case nodded "Okay --I love you."

"I love you too baby," An embrace was wrapped up in the words she spoke to him. She watched him turn around slowly and walk out of the room. She didn't take her eyes off of him as she picked up the phone again and dialed her home number.

After two rings it picked up.

"Hello?"

"It's me," Tinga said.

Sam laid his stethoscope on the nightstand walked quietly out of the room to give the couple privacy to talk.

"Hey," Charlie's voice broke on the last syllable, his voice clogging with emotion.

"Hey," Tinga repeated; all the torrent of emotions she had been holding back coming out in that single word and a tear traveled down her face.

opening guitar chords of "Broken" begin

Logan picked up the rag he left on the arm of the couch and wiped it across Max's forehead. Her fever had spiked so high that he doubted that it was doing any good, but he had to do something to help her. He set the rag back down after half a minute; replacing its presence on her forehead with his hand; caressing her in long slow strokes.

Seether

I wanted you to know I love the way you laugh
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain away

Max had long ago become his other half, his best friend, his soul mate. And it physically hurt him to see her like this, so pale, so worn out. He was a grown man, but he felt like a helpless infant right now, not being able to do anything but sit there. He loved her so much and it was torturing him to see her hurting from something that he couldn't do a damn thing about.

I keep your photograph and I know it serves me well
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

He leaned over and kissed her, first on her mouth, then the hollow of her throat, right above her pulse, feeling it's faint beating; a beautiful sensation of life that was ebbing slower by the minute. A small splash of tears escaped Logan's eyes, dropping onto the skin of Max's neck.

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel like I am strong enough
'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

Amy Lee

The worst is over now and we can breathe again
I wanna hold you high, you steal my pain away

Asha held Zack's right in had in both of hers, pressing her face into it; clinging to the warmth that still lay underneath the skin. She kissed the top of his hand deeply, turning to gaze at his face. Zack had the skills to completely hide his emotions; she had seen him do it many times. But when he looked at her she saw a deep adoration for her in his eyes despite his soldier's mask; it was one of the things she loved most about him. And more then anything else, she wanted him – her husband, her lover, the father of her child – to open his eyes and pierce her with that gaze.

There's so much left to learn, and no one left to fight
I wanna hold you high and steal your pain

Asha leaned down and kissed him, biting on her lip to keep a full sob from escaping her mouth, but three or four tears still escaped and dropped on his face. She intertwined her fingers into his and laid her head down on his chest.

Seether and Amy Lee together

'Cause I'm broken when I'm lonesome
And I don't feel right when you're gone away

You've gone away
You don't feel me here anymore

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

CHEYENNE, WYOMING

Alec and Jondy had been lead at gunpoint down a long gray concrete corridor to an equally gray room with no windows. The guards who had escorted them had searched them and removed the weapons they had on them before closing the door, leaving them alone.

"So I guess no welcome baskets," Alec quipped, looking around the room they were in, which was bare except for a single table and one fold out chair that sat at a haphazard angle on only three legs.

Jondy also surveyed the room, walking around its perimeter, checking each wall for any surveillance equipment. The only one she discovered was a blatantly exposed silver speaker set high up in the corner of one of the walls. Jondy listened, tuning in her ultra heightened hearing, but could detect no trace of noise coming from the speaker.

She and Alec had yet tried to contact Logan on their communicators. When they had been searched the guards had failed to discover the devices on them but it was still too risky to attempt until they knew exactly what they were dealing with. But when they were out in the yard – before they had been found out – Jondy picked up the faintest clicking noise, which was a signal from Logan that he had begun listening in from his end.

"Please have a seat," the monotone sound of a computer voice simulator emitted from the once silent speaker, loud enough to startle both X5's.

Alec turned his head up to gaze at the speaker, like it had just spoken instead of the person behind it. "We'd rather stand if it's all the same to you, your dime store furniture looks a little shaky."

"Fine," though the voice was robotic, a sense of annoyance emitted from it. "The pleasantries have all been used up, so I suggest we begin. You can start by telling me your names."

"Names aren't part of the deal," Jondy retorted, moving to stand beside Alec. "Not unless you plan to spill yours too."

"You two have all the workings of a soldier's mind. I knew that the two sent to transact this deal would be Manticore. Who else to try and save an X5 but one of their own? Fine then, I'll allow the anonymity." An electronic whirring was heard, causing Alec and Jondy to turn around. A small section of concrete lifted up from the wall behind them – in reality a hidden compartment door – and tray slid out with a glass vial filled to the top with a yellow tinted liquid. "The antidote." The door snapped shut. "Take it."

Both Jondy and Alec hesitated, after all the secrecy, the armed guards, they didn't believe for one second that the antidote would just be handed to them without any strings attached; it was too easy.

"What are you getting out of us just walking out of here with that?" Alec asked, turning back around to face the speaker. "Don't tell me you all brought us all the way out here because your conscious got the better of you?"

"Your skepticism is understandable, but in fact, we are gaining plenty. We created this virus years ago; but until recently had not the assets to test it's effectiveness completely. Our subjects would simply burn out before the virus ran its full course. We needed genetics that could withstand the virus long enough for it to cycle so we could isolate the deadliest part of it and mass-produce it for bio warfare sale. And thankfully, your kind fit that profile to the letter."

"You were using us as guinea pigs?" Jondy was livid, shouting up at the speaker. Had it been a real person she would've jumped it.

"Don't blame us; blame your genetics; we only used what was already created. And this virus is only the beginning-"

"So the antidote?" Alec asked an unfinished question, beginning to understand things clearer.

"We are constantly creating new germ warfare, and for that we need viable test subjects. If we let them die off, well, that would be bad for business, plain and simple."

"And we're supposed to just believe this load?" Jondy snapped.

"If you don't your Manticore groomed skepticism will only get your family killed. We know more about you then you realize. I suggest you take the antidote." There was an ominous pause. "Time is running out." There was a quiet crackle as the speaker cut out.

Jondy walked over to the wall with the compartment. She swept her hand over the air in front of the tray, testing the space for any silent alarms. When nothing happened she picked up the vial and raised it to eye level. It had a slightly cloudy tint to it; she opened it, sniffing the contents, which were odorless.

She screwed the cap back on the vial and turned her head to Alec. "What do you think?"

"I think we don't have a choice if we're going to save Max, Zack and Tinga." Alec responded. "Although I don't think for one second that this is all there is too it."

"Neither do I," Jondy agreed. "But like you said we don't have a choice." She placed the vial on the outside breast pocket of her jacket, because it was the only one with a buttoned flap that would keep it secure.

Alec again looked around the room, noting its lack of any exits. "Any ideas on how the hell we get out of this concrete tomb?"

"Yeah, like this." Jondy pushed the small table over to where the speaker was set in the wall, She climbed up on top of it and – by digging her nails around the speaker edges – ripped it off from the wall. The silver casing came out with a tangle of multicolored wires behind it. Using her nails again she stripped two of the wires, pulling them apart from the others. "Say something," she told Alec.

"Okay," Alec said confused. "What the hell are you doing?"

Jondy listened to the pitch in Alec's voice echo around the room, the she twined the wires around themselves and placed them way in the back of the hole the speaker had rested in. The speaker had a fat main cable that connected it with all the other sound surveillance in the building; and it was through this cable that things such as pitch and volume control were controlled. She twisted the wires in her hands around that main cable, replaced the speaker back on the wall and then removed the communicator from her jacket.

"Sorry Logan," After listening to the reverberation of Alec's voice bounce off the room Jondy was able to calculate the pitch of the concrete the walls were constructed off. and if she matched it, it would shatter them. She had looped the speaker feed to amplify itself five times louder then before; and when she touched the top of the communicator – it's quiet 'function on' click a perfect pitch match to the walls – a monotone, but very loud sound poured out of the speaker and the room began to shake.

Seconds later chunks of the wall in front of her began to crumble, a huge section of it dropping loudly to the ground.

Jondy jumped down from the table, hearing Logan's voice through the communicator. He had picked up her activation signal.

"Jondy what the hell is that?"

"I'll explain later," Jondy told him. The broken chunks that had fallen from the wall created a small gap where noises echoed behind it which meant that there was a much larger room behind the one they were in. She dealt the wall several roundhouse kicks and the hole in it grew large enough for them to move through.

Alec gave her a very impressed look "I so want to have sex with you."

"Save it," Jondy told him. " The only cocked gun I want is the one those idiots lifted off me. Let's go." She squeezed through the opening, having to turn sideways in order to fit.

After Alec made it through the hole he glanced around the room they now found themselves in, which wasn't a room at all, but rather a long corridor with no doors or windows. It seemed to go on forever in both directions.

Jondy listened, but couldn't hear anyone coming down the hallway in either direction, so she turned to the right, but after walking about 15 feet she stopped, turning her head around like she heard something.

"What?" Alec asked looking behind him as well, but he didn't see anything.

Jondy looked back in the direction they were originally going, then back to the left side of the hallway. "This way."

"How do you know?" Alec asked.

"Do you want to ask questions Alec or do you want to get the hell out of here?" Jondy snapped. She had no idea what had made her change directions; it was like an invisible force telling her to go the other way. She started down the left end of the hallway, leaving Alec to follow her.

The hallway went on in a dulling gray similarity; but after 200 feet or so, the right wall abruptly vanished and became a gaping jagged hole. A Huge chunk of concrete that had fallen from the ceiling blocked the hallway. Alec crouched at the end of the hole, peering through it. There was a dim light emitting from the other side. "Your explosion shock waved down here."

"The plaster crumbling looks really worn," Jondy corrected. "This happened before today. But who the hell cares? Let's just do a sweep in there before our luck with being undetected wears off."

Alec stepped over pieces of fallen concrete, and went through the hole; Jondy following close behind.

They were now standing in a laboratory. A long steel counter ran along the North wall and to the right of it – also a long the same wall – was a row of steel lockers. The laboratory counter was empty except for a single six-rack test tube tray and a desktop hp computer. Two lines of hooks on the wall next to the counter held white lab coats.

Alec walked over to the row of lockers – four in all – and by pressing his ear against the door was able to crack the combination of the locks. The first two he opened were empty; but the third one held a pair of faded green scrubs, and what he had been looking for, the two guns, plus Alec's bag. He pulled them off the top shelf they were resting on; checking the ammunition in the guns, both were still fully loaded.

"You'll have to accept my cocked gun this time," Alec said, throwing Jondy the Vector, which she caught with one hand. Her other hand was busy typing on the lab's computer. He saw a look pass over her eyes as she was reading what was on the screen. "What is it?"

"It's the analysis of the virus," Jondy was looking at a 3D model of a viral strand.

"Are you sure it's the same one?" Alec asked. "A place like this could have manufactured hundreds of viral agents."

Jondy pointed on the screen where, next to the virtual virus model, there was a written analysis describing its pathology. "Look at the name." At the very top of the analysis was the viral agent's name: 86X5.

"Cute," Alec retorted in quiet anger. He read over the analysis hoping to find something useful, something about it to exploit. The first half of the analysis described how the virus was transmitted, the symptoms – things Alec already knew first hand. Further down the screen was a section about the antidote.

"Damnit," Alec cursed after reading it. "They were on the level about the antidote being real, they just failed to mention a few other things-"

"It's a private organization Sir, we do have our secrets."

Alec and Jondy both whipped their heads up at the sound of the voice. The man who had the M4 outside the compound was standing outside the room, in the hole in the laboratory wall; aiming the same M4 at them. He stepped closer to them, keeping them at all times within the scope of the gun.

"I'll risk a monologue in order to tell you both that the antidote must be merged with the uncontaminated DNA of the first carrier in order for it to be activated; otherwise it's just useless liquid." The man kept walking as he talked, and now he was two feet in front of the table; his face set in a smile of superiority.

"You son-of-a-bitch!" Jondy cocked the gun at the man; moving so fast that in three seconds she had the maw of the Vector pressed against his throat. "I have had it with your fucking games!"

"There was never any game ma'am," the man addressed Jondy politely, but his words were completely cold. "It was never our intention to let any of you survive this virus. We knew you would discover our identity; and we simply needed another way to carry on the infection."

Movement came from behind the man, as another person stepped behind him. The nameless man who had infected Zack walked silently into the room, a silver dart gun poised in his hand. The first dart he had fired had microscopic nano-sensors in it that would read the DNA of the initially infected X5. This readout would allow the bioengineers to recalibrate the remaining strands of the virus; speeding up the incubation time of any new injections; meaning that if infected, Jondy and Alec would only have as much time left to live as Zack, Max and Tinga. The man slowly raised the gun to his lips.

"Don't consider this unfair treatment," the man Jondy was aiming her gun at spoke in a very calm manner; despite the weapon shoved into his neck. "You and your friend broke the rules; this meeting was inevitable."

The man with the dart gun was aiming at Alec; and Alec could see his quick intake of breath as he fired the dart. A dead center shot into the jugular in Alec's neck was what the man was aiming for; but Alec had followed the dart from the second it was fired and moved causing the dart to instead pierce the skin of his collarbone. Alec flinched from the sharp pain but his enhanced vision allowed him to find the dart sticking out of his skin before it had fully dissolved. He pulled it out by the end and threw it to the ground.

Alec being shot by the dart had all transpired in 5 seconds and after those 5 seconds were up Jondy lowered the gun and jammed the barrel right into the man's crotch. She didn't fire, but the force she put into her blow was equally as painful, causing him to gasp. "That's for my brother." He lost his hold on the M4 and Jondy grabbed it, knocking it into his chest; hearing ribs breaking; and this time he didn't gasp, he screamed, crumpling to the floor. "And this for my sisters."

"And this is for me," Alec picked up the discarded M4 and shot the man who had fired the dart at him. It wasn't a kill shot, he shot him in the side; enough to painfully incapacitate him.

"Did it hit you?" Jondy asked turning to Alec. She grabbed his shoulder and touched the skin of his neck with her hand, checking for any remaining pieces of the dart in his skin. She knew the ramifications of her actions; but she was in soldier mode, and dealt with things as they came to her.

"It wasn't a direct shot," Alec answered, hearing sounds out in the hallway; their gun battle hadn't gone unnoticed. He had just been injected with a deadly retrovirus, but he was in more threat from dying in gunfire at the moment so he didn't think about it. "And I sure as hell am not planning on dying today. Let's go." The sounds in the hallway –the thudding of many footsteps all running the same direction – were growing closer.

He and Jondy stepped over the writhing man Alec had shot; he clutched at his blood soaked wound; glaring up fiercely at Alec and Jondy. Lydecker had taught them both years ago that an injured enemy was still dangerous; only death would permanently remove a threat. But the feel of the place they were in was too reminiscent of Manticore; and killing a man – even a bastard like him – would bring them too close to a past they were trying to escape from. So they left him to his fate and sprinted down the hallway.

They had run down the hallway, not seeing any of the men they had heard before. Fifteen yards or so down from the laboratory was a large square block of concrete cemented against the edge of one wall. It just sat there like a left over piece from the building's construction. They crouched down behind it, keeping an eye out for anybody coming.

Jondy touched the tip of her communicator, speaking low to avoid being detected. "Logan, it's Jondy, come back."

"Jondy, you two okay?" Logan's voice came through the other end.

"Well those bastards shot up Alec with the virus and I've been touching him, so I'm going to say, no, we're not okay, we're basically screwed."

"If you have the antidote you can administer it to yourselves."

"That would work if the sons-of-bitches didn't stiff us on a crucial part of information." Alec said, aiming the semi-automatic over the top of the concrete structure. "The antidote has to be combined with a portion of Zack's DNA that hasn't been affected by the virus, otherwise it's completely useless. It's their way of being funny and getting a hard on at the same time."

"Damnit!" Logan's curse was so loud through the communicator that it almost sounded like he was in the hallway with them. "There has to be another way."

"Well we'll never know it if your loud mouth gives away the location." Alec snapped.

"Sorry;" There was a deep pause after Logan apologized. "I'll try and shake something loose with Sam, maybe there's something he missed."

"First, can you give us a heads up on where the hell we're going?" Jondy cocked her gun and readied her finger on the trigger. "This place is a maze."

"The part of the complex you're in has no surveillance; it's built like an island. But I hacked into the IP site in Africa and managed to get a map of the building. It's a maze of hallways, but their south ends eventually run into a huge room; there's surveillance in there – a lot of it. I don't know what it's for but I think I can guide you out from there."

"I'm never one to question a coincidence under hostile attack," Jondy radioed back, switching her communicator off. The south end of the hallway was where she and Alec had heard all the noise of men, and she didn't want them to intercept any transmissions with Logan.

She and Alec swept their weapons in a semi circle around them before turning around and heading south, following Logan's directions to lead them to the room he saw on the map.

Both Jondy and Alec were still feeling no symptoms from the virus; they're bodies were pumped full of adrenaline and, for now; it was counteracting any of the antigen's affects. They ran for fifty yards then the ringing of bullets began to sound off. Several winged by them making them duck down to keep from being shot. A group of armed soldier's – rebel army men dressed in faded fatigues and red berets – rained a fire of bullets from old, beat up looking M1 rifles. But the weapons appearances were not related to how they fired; the shots from the soldiers were very accurate.

The gunfire was so intense that Jondy couldn't stand from her crouched position to fire, so she aimed her gun lower, shooting the bottom of a soldier's thigh at the femoral artery in his leg. The man dropped, but didn't loose hold on his gun. But as he fell the muzzle of his rifle slammed into the side of the head of soldier next to him, throwing off the other man's aim, causing his next shot to ricochet off the ceiling and embed itself into the concrete floor.

The confusion in these few seconds allowed Alec to stand from his crouched position and fire off a spray of bullets. His aim hit three soldiers and they cried out and went down. The two remaining men, took up their weapons, but before they could fire Jondy shot one of them in the stomach and Alec slammed into the other one, throwing him to the floor, sending his weapon clattering a foot away from him.

The man pinned under Alec reached across his side, pulling out a side arm Smith and Wesson, but his hand dropped short of grasping the trigger, blood leaking from the hole in his chest where Alec had just shot him.

Blood ran down the sides of the soldier's mouth, and a cynical smile crept up his mouth. He said something low in an African dialect, but then translated it into winded English: "You will die next." His eyes rolled back and his head slumped to one side.

Alec climbed off the man, taking the gun out of his hand and emptying all the bullets out of the chamber. He left the weapon there because it wasn't nearly as affective as his Colt.

Jondy had already moved a foot down from where the soldiers now lay writing on the ground. She kept along the gray wall, aiming her gun ahead of her, and once Alec stood beside her they both advanced farther down the hallway.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"Max!"

Max could hear Zack call her name from under the pile of fallen concrete that she was under. She pushed through the fallen debris - hearing broken concrete screech around her – and climbed to her feet.

The dull ache she had just been feeling before was now gone, but she didn't feel a strong as she did moments ago. Her body felt sluggish, like she had just come out of a drug-induced sleep.

Zack took her hand and pulled her out of the pile of rubble. They now stood side by side next to a huge gaping hole made into a concrete wall.

They stepped through the hole, first Max, then Zack. The room through the hole was overly lit, casting an intense bright white glow all around them.

The room was completely empty except for a 4-foot circular white stand in the center of the floor. A cylindrical specimen jar sat atop the stand, and floating in green liquid was a tiny, translucent shape.

After Zack and Max stepped closer to the jar they could identify that the shape was that of a human embryo, curled into a crescent shaped position with it's umbilical cord floating above it's tiny abdomen. Closer examination of the jar also revealed something else – a fourteen-digit barcode printed across the top of the plastic container:

33041729159901.

Max focused on nothing else - the strangeness of the place they were in, the floating feeling hovering around her - but what she was looking at. "Zack it's you – except for these two digits." She touched the last numbers on the barcode with the tips of her finger. "What the hell does this mean?"

Zack stared at the embryo in the jar, watching it float in the green liquid. It was too small to see features distinctively; its skin was translucent revealing tiny forming internal organs beneath it.

Zack touched his hand to the glass; and after he did the embryo moved, just slightly.

"Asha's pregnant, this is my child." The hazing effects of this place had robbed him of this realization until that moment. He saw a look of confusion cross Max's face, temporarily replacing the heavy weakness that came as a result of being where they were.

Max looked at the tiny thing embryo and then back up to Zack, her confusion being replaced by something else – a form of realization. "You think its trying to tell you something?" Manticore had taught them that nothing was coincidental. She still had no idea what the hell kind of plane they were on – perhaps the place where death and life crossed paths with each other before coming into being – but them discovering this room was no accident.

"I don't know," Zack answered. "Maybe, but what?" He lowered his hand from the glass. Up until that point touching the jar had created warmth beneath his hand, a physical energy flowing through him. But once he removed his hand from the jar a weighted feeling began to cloud his senses; like a sack of bricks was dragging him down under water. The weighted sensation exploded in his chest causing him to stumble backwards.

"Zack!" Max grabbed a hold of his arm, but his weight pulled her down with him onto the floor.

"Zack?" His was still awake, but his eyes had all but lost their color. Ever since she had woken up in this place something had told her that they weren't dead yet. But after seeing the grayness in Zack's eyes, she knew that death was the place that lay beyond this world.

"Zack you have to hang on, you hear me damnit!" Max's voice was desperately weak, but sparks of passion still existed inside of her and they pushed to the surface in her words. "That kid is trying to tell you something." Max had no time to give into the torrent of emotions Zack's illness had caused before she herself had become sick. But here on this floor, in this world of haze she started to cry. "You're going to be a father Zack; do you fucking know how great that is?" Her faded looking tears fell onto his neck. She cradled his head in her lap, stroking his hair.

Zack's eyes met hers with a piercing look through the grayness that enclosed them. He reached out and gently grabbed her wrist. "I love you Maxie." his voice was almost gone, but there was no defeat in his words. Whatever existed on the other side of this place – heaven or hell – it would not equal the raw, beautiful reality of the life they lived in. So he wasn't telling Max this on the utter of a last breath; he was hanging on with every bit of life he had left, because he wasn't ready to die.

"I love you too." Max leaned down and kissed his mouth, closing her eyes against the unbearable monotony of gray that had begun to seep into the white room.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXX

FOGLE TOWERS

9:55 PM

"Logan I understand what it is you're saying," Sam said standing in the computer room, a weary, defeated look on his face. "But there is no healthy sample of Zack's DNA, not anymore. The virus has completely overrun his system. It was intelligently designed, they knew that this would happen."

Logan sat at his computer with his black headset on, listening to the staticky silence that came over the speakers. The static was from the speakers themselves; Jondy and Alec had switched off their communicators to prevent anyone from intercepting the transmission. He swiveled in his chair to face Sam. Like the doctor, his eyes were weary, but also angry, not at Sam, but at the suggestion of admitting defeat. "I'm not ready to give up this fight Sam. There isn't just one kind of intelligence. There has to be something they didn't count on." Logan knew he wasn't facing the reality, but did not want to just let a nameless corporation decide on when his wife lived or died – only she had that right. "What about clone DNA? Manticore kept basic cocktails off all their X5's."

"It would work if this DNA still existed. You said it yourself; the DNA lab was taken out years ago. We don't even know if any cocktails survived, and even if they did there's no time to track any down."

"God damnit Sam, we're running out of time!" Logan shouted. He looked about ready to physically attack Sam.

And Sam braced himself for it, should it occur. "I'm painfully aware of that too Logan!" Sam yelled just as loud. He took a step back, wanting to physically move away from Logan regain a sense of calm. "But I can't think of any other options!"

"What about a child?" Asha suggested. She was beside the couch where Zack was, and looked down briefly at his face before meeting Sam's eyes. "If Zack had a kid?"

"That would work," Sam agreed. "Any offspring of Zack's would have his DNA; there'd be enough in his blood to intermix with the antidote. But Zack doesn't have a child."

"I'm pregnant," Asha's declaration was blurted out, just like she had done to Zack when she had first found out.

Both Sam and Logan looked at her in stunned silence that came from at having learned such knowledge in this way.

"How far along?" Sam asked her.

"Seven weeks."

Sam analyzed this information before speaking. "There isn't sufficient blood in the baby's system for an adequate draw, but there should be enough of Zack's DNA in the amniotic fluid."

"So this can save him?" Asha asked. "All of them?"

Sam walked over to Asha, stopping a few inches in front of her. "The only way to retrieve the fluid is through an amniocentesis; but without a sonogram to know the exact position of an embryo this early in development it's very risky. If I rupture the sac in the wrong place you could miscarry."

"I'm doing it," Asha told him. "I have no choice – not if I want to save his life."

Sam wanted to talk her out of it. She was only seven weeks pregnant, there would be a very small amount of amniotic fluid surrounding the baby; and without a sonogram he could puncture the needle too deep and actually impale the embryo. But he knew that none of the risks would sway her, she had already made up her mind.

"I'm going to need you to lie here," Sam cleared away the papers on a table that sat next to Logan's computer. Now that Asha's decision had been made he had to act quickly. He helped Asha lay back on it, before racing to retrieve the empty liquid tryptophane bottle, connecting two syringe heads together to make them long enough to penetrate Ashas's uterus and reach the embryo. "With this small of an embryo, its vitals are almost indecipherable but Logan has a sound wave program." Sam came back into the computer room with his supplies, placing a cushion under Asha's head to give her neck some support. "He can attach a mic to my stethoscope and magnify the embryo's heartbeat so it's audible. At this stage of development there's a small pocket of fluid in front of the abdomen; it should be just in front of the heartbeat. If I don't penetrate too far, I should be able to extract some without hitting the baby." He removed the stethoscope from around his neck, and attached a small magnetic microphone that Logan handed him to the end of it.

Logan opened his sound wave file, turning the volume up as high as it would go. At first the microphone squeaked loudly in the speakers but once Sam pressed it against Asha's stomach the noise died down and was replaced by the swishing sound of bodily fluid. Normally the seventh week of development was too early to hear the heartbeat of an embryo but the microphone Sam had affixed to his stethoscope was hypersensitive, and able to detect the most minute of sounds.

Sam slowly slid the stethoscope across her abdomen, after about 20 seconds had past the microphone picked up a quiet thumping noise; the tiny heartbeat of Asha's baby. "I've got it." He kept the end of the stethoscope pressed against Asha's skin until he moved the tip of the syringe over the same location. "I didn't numb you with anything so this is going to hurt, but you need to keep very still, or I'll hit the wrong spot."

Asha took a deep breath to prepare herself, gripping both hands on the edges of the table "Go."

Sam pierced the needle through her skin, and a hot pain shot through abdomen; almost as intense as she had felt when her sister had stabbed her. She swallowed a cry in her throat and dug her palms hard into the edges of the table, using that pain as a distraction. A few seconds later however she felt Logan release one of her hands and hold it in his own.

Sam held his breath while the place where the two needle heads were connected went into Asha's skin. The connection held, allowing Sam to focus on the more important task, extracting the amniotic fluid. Once the needle had hit the halfway mark Sam moved it slower, gauging its position. After moving it another half inch he felt the tiniest resistance – he had pierced through the amniotic sac. He now had to keep the needle's angle very straight to avoid making the hole in the sac any larger, and to keep the tip submersed in the fluid and not near the embryo. He moved the needle barely two millimeters in further, and let out a quick breath before retracting the syringe's plunger. Relief came over his eyes when only pale yellow amniotic fluid tricked into the syringe. "I got it." He extracted five cc's of fluid.

"Hold your breath," Sam told Asha and then slowly extracted the needle. Once it was out he watched her let out a painful breath. He placed a piece of gauze over the injection site, and secured it there with a piece of medical tape. "You need to lie still for thirty minutes to make sure your blood starts clotting around the injection site."

"Logan, comeback we're in the huge mother of a room." Alec's voice came through the headset Logan had never taken off.

Logan gave Asha's hand a squeeze before sitting back down at his computer. "I'm here guys, give me a second to link into the system.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

CHEYENE, WYOMING

"He says that like we have a second," Alec whispered to Jondy. They were pressed against the wall at the end of the hallway.

They had followed the insanely long hallway, which, like Logan had said, soon opened up into a room that looked almost as big as a football field. The floors and walls were made up of white concrete that was blindingly bright compared to the long stretch of gray hallway that had preceded it. There was no furniture in the vast room, but it wasn't at all empty. At least a hundred soldiers – the same kind that Jondy and Alec had just fought off – moved about the room. They were dressed in camo BVD's and heavy flack jackets. But despite their large number, Jondy and Alec found one flaw – not all of them were armed. There were only about ten soldiers they could see who had new M5's strapped across their backs; the others might have handguns on them, but there were so many of them it was impossible to tell.

"How many soldiers do you need for a damn contingent?" Alec whispered. "What the hell are they all guarding?"

"After what just happened you have to ask?" Jondy whispered back. She was standing on the opposite wall of the hallway, observing the chaos of men in the room. None of them looked organized for any kind of action; some soldiers were walking the perimeter of the room, there were groups of men against the walls talking. Jondy concluded that these men weren't guarding anything. This place was a holding room, somewhere for all the soldiers to wait until they were deployed them to some part of the compound.

"Jondy, I'm in." Logan's voice came over the communicator. "I've got you two on visual."

"Where are the cameras?" Jondy swept her eyes over the entire room; she could see no surveillance equipment.

"They're built into the ceiling, at least a dozen of them, angling every part of the room."

Jondy looked above her head, honing her vision to the ceiling. There were patterns of large circular dots in the center of the concrete. At first she thought they were lights, but her sensitive hearing picked up a whirring hum and she saw one of the discs rotate it's angle thirty degrees.

"There's a shit load of bored looking soldiers in here Logan," Jondy said. "Hurry up and find an exit, I don't want to give them something to do."

"There's only one exit; a single door on the wall directly across from you."

Jondy looked at her communicator like it was actually Logan, and that he was crazy. The wall directly across from them was 30 yards away. To get there they would have to walk right through the group of soldiers.

Alec had also heard what Logan had said, and he too glanced over at the wall that was almost blocked by the bodies of the soldiers and it seemed that most of the armed men were gathered right next to that wall. Alec observed all of this in five seconds, knowing that they didn't have any other choice if they wanted to get out.

Jondy glanced across the hall at Alec He nodded silently at her to keep her attention then reached up into the pack on his back, pulling out a small aluminum metal canister – a smoke bomb. It was only as big as a tennis ball, making it easy to throw undetected, but it was filled with thick concentrated smoke that would release with a wailing diversionary alarm once the bomb landed somewhere.

Alec handed Jondy the Colt. His hands would be occupied with the smoke bomb; she would be the first one to step out into the room and would need the most firepower. Jondy flicked out an empty bullet shell from the chamber of the semi-automatic, catching it in her hand to keep it from making any noise. She held the weapons with their muzzles pointing up, poising her hands on the triggers.

Alec pulled the pin at the top of the smoke bomb, taking half a second to gauge his target area, before throwing the bomb to the right side of the room. The bomb struck the right wall, and a screeching noise cut through the room; followed by a hissing sound as thick white smoke began to billow outwards.

The soldiers – who just moments ago had been almost relaxed while they waited for their orders – all snapped up in full alert. Those that were closet to where the smoke bomb had gone off began shouting orders to the others amidst the haze.

Jondy shot off a spray of bullets in front of her as cover fire. She wasn't aiming directly at any of the soldiers, but many of them were hit, dropping to the floor in painful gasps. She unloaded a full magazine by doing this; but didn't reload the weapon because even ten seconds of exposure would be too much, and instead starting firing with the Vector.

A soldier directly in front of her dropped after she shot him in the shoulder. After he fell she realized that there was a man hiding behind him who was armed. She saw the red pinpoint of a laser sight appear on the center of her chest; then a sudden jolt in her back threw her to the ground. A round of shots sounded off, but not from the soldier's gun. Alec had pushed Jondy down to prevent her from getting shot; and had shot the soldier twice in the chest with the S&W he had lifted. Blood saturated the front of the soldier's camo gear so quickly that it was obvious that he wasn't wearing any form of protective ballistic vest. He dropped to the ground, his weapon hitting the floor first before he collapsed on top of it.

If Jondy's life hadn't been in danger she would have torn into Alec for playing the chivalry card. But there was no time to think about male dominance; she retrieved her weapons and jumped to her feet. The crowd of soldiers had cleared enough that Jondy could see the door Logan had been talking about set into the wall in front of her. Five soldiers were closest to the door; they were unarmed, but they were far from looking like they wanted a truce.

Alec shot one of them in the side, making the man stagger within Alec's reach, and he kicked him hard in his wound, causing him to drop to the ground.

Two soldiers advanced on Jondy, one grabbing her around the neck; holding her, while the second came around, a wrapping of barbed wire around his knuckles. Jondy shot a bullet in his arm, and the propulsion of the bullet tearing through his muscle jerked his arm upwards. At the same time she did this she punched the soldier's side that was holding her. He gasped and momentarily released her; but before he could grab a hold of her again she flipped over him; kicking him into the other soldier into the first one; causing the barbed wire fist of the second man to slam right into the eyes of the other soldier. He screamed and fell on top of the other man.

The remaining three soldiers were either fearful of Jondy and Alec after witnessing their fighting abilities, or they lacked good combat skills; because Alec and Jondy took them out in a matter of seconds; knocking them out with hard blows to the back of the head. But the sound of gunfire soon picked up again as the remaining armed soldiers in the room started coming towards them.

They were now finally standing in front of the door that Logan claimed to be an exit. It was made of shiny aluminum; and had no knob or handle on it and beside it on the right was a circular keypad, it had a computerized lock that would only open with a code. The door was most likely the exit to the outside grounds, but it still had a keypad entrance. This cooperation not only wanted to keep people out, it also wanted to keep people in.

Alec hovered his hand over the keypad, and after he did so an automated voice came on: "Please enter keycode to exit." Alec raised his weapon and shot two bullets into the keypad. There was pop and a tiny explosion as the bullets released the lock mechanism and the door slid open.

"Thank you." The broken doorway proclaimed, like things had been done normally.

Polite bastards aren't they? Alec ran through the doorway followed by Jondy. The door led them outside the complex, fifteen feet from where the perimeter fence stood gleaming from the rotating searchlight. Once outside the doorway slammed shut. There had been no time to contact Logan while they were inside that room. But now that they were outside there still wasn't any time; the yard within the fence had no shrubbery, or any other form of cover. They would have to make a straight dash to the fence; Logan would have to wait.

The distance from where they were to the fence was barely enough space to build up enough force in order to leap over it and the barbed wire. But they had no choice. The bullet Alec fired had jammed up the circuits of the door, but they could already hear the men prying apart the door with a vise. If they tried to scale the fence in two moves like they had done earlier it would leave them too exposed, they would have to scale it one move.

They ran, fast enough to build momentum, then halfway across the yard they crouched in the same position, like a cat, and then sprung forward, leaping over the fence, but just barely. The leather of Alec's jacket tore on the barbed wire on the way down and Jondy's leg got tangled up in the wire, leaving her hanging there upside down for two seconds before the fabric of her jeans ripped and she fell on the opposite side, landing sideways on top of Alec.

"This isn't the time or the place Jondy," Alec remarked to her being on top of him.

Jondy snarled at him and started to pull herself up, but she cringed when she tried to put weight on her right let. The barbed wire had shredded the lower half of her jeans, slicing up the flesh of her leg underneath, which was now hidden under streaks of blood. "Shit!" she cursed under her breath, groping for something to help regain her balance.

Alec grabbed her arm before she fell. "You okay?" it was obvious that she wasn't but it was a question you asked anyway when someone was hurt.

"Peachy fuckin' keen," Jondy snapped, feeling the blood trickle down her leg, causing a sharp stinging pain to shoot through her; but she pushed the pain away for now, there would be time to give in later. "Let's go." She picked up her gun from where it had been thrown when she fell and jumped on Alec's back.

Alec didn't question her move, and grabbed her legs, holding her secure. They had both been trained that this was the quickest way for an injured soldier to travel; it dispersed their weight so they weren't too heavy to carry and it still allowed them to fire on an enemy.

Jondy gripped one arm around Alec's shoulder and kept the other on the trigger of her gun. His hand on her wounded leg made it very painful, but she didn't voice it and kept her eyes alert for any more soldiers as he moved through the darkness They reached the fallen tree that blocked the only way back out to the main road; Alec leapt first on top of it, then jumped down without much difficulty. Jondy only weighed 103 pounds, and he had maneuvered with more extra weight then that during three-hour training missions.

No one was behind them as they made their way down the dirt path, but once they reached the main road they could hear the shouts of soldiers from behind them. A spray of bullets whizzed by them; but the shots weren't aimed at them. So neither Jondy nor Alec returned the fire because they knew it was the just a method to flush out their location.

Alec ran down the crumbling paved road, careful to put as little of his weight on his feet as possible in order to keep his footsteps muffled. But even though he was a trained soldier, having a whole extra person on his back made this task more difficult.

He ran down the edge of the road, and after twenty yards he spotted the pile of branches where Jondy's bike was hidden. He turned and looked in the three directions of the night around him, Jondy doing the same on his back, before stepping off the road and into the forest.

Once he reached the beginning of the tree line Jondy slid off his back. Her leg was still throbbing and she could feel blood tricking down her skin; but walking next to Alec was less noticeable then him carrying her.

The shouts of the soldiers were getting louder. They were obviously very basic level soldiers because they seemed to know nothing about sneak attacks. Alec signaled for Jondy to go first, she was injured and he didn't want to not notice her if she started to lag behind. He turned and aimed his gun behind him while Jondy pushed through the bramble that grew in between the forest's trees. She made it to the spot where her bike was hidden and threw the branches off the motorcycle's body. She gunned the engine before she climbed on because the night had become considerably cooler and she needed to get the fuel circulating. There was no way to revv an engine quietly; but Jondy wasn't concerned about that; she just wanted to get the hell out of there. She climbed on the bike; and Alec jumped on behind her.

Jondy maneuvered the Ninja through all the trees, fallen branches and stones crunching under the black tires. Finally she got the bike back on the road; but barely ten feet to their right she could see the beginnings of a group of soldiers coming down from the compound. They opened fire on the Ninja. Jondy and Alec both ducked their heads, hearing the sounds of bullets wing off the bike's metal body.

Jondy kept her head down; but turned and accelerated towards the soldiers, plowing into them. They jumped back from the motorcycle and Alec fired his weapon. Men started falling; while those behind them continued to fire. Jondy maneuvered the bike back around and rammed into the men again. She drove twenty feet ahead of them then stopped. The soldiers took this opportunity to approach the Ninja, trying to take out the tires.

Jondy turned her upper body in the seat and pulled the pin on a small circular mini bomb, it was little but it was packed with 6 ounces of C4. She pitched it into the group of soldiers and seconds later a fiery explosion shot up from the road; engulfing the screaming soldiers in flames. The shockwave jolted the bike sideways; but Jondy kept it from falling; and speed down the dark road.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

"What do you mean they got away?" The computer voice demanded.

The man the Director was talking too, wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was new to the organization, having been there only three weeks, a new bioengineering graduate recruit from Stanford. He knew nothing about keep his emotions unseen. His superiors had sent him to speak to the Director about the X5's escaping, not wanting to take the heat of the Director's fury themselves.

"They somehow escaped through the side entrance in the holding room." The man knew that the answer was pathetic even before he said it. He wasn't being reprimanded by his teacher for cutting class; a multi-million dollar covert installation had just let two prisoners escape. "Several men inside were killed, more then several actually."

"I do not give a damn about the men." The Director's words sounded cold; like the computer voice was no longer there, and it was his or her real voice speaking instead. "They were expendable, but what wasn't was the objective. The objective that you and your men just let walk out the door."

"The virus was still successful," The man insisted, feeling more sweat trickle down his face, but this time he let it fall untouched. "Infection of one subject was made before our man was taken down; and there was confirmation that the second X5 made dermal contact with him."

"The antidote-"

"A dud," the man cut the Director's remark off. "It can only work if the first X5 infected had any trace of healthy DNA to intermix with it. But the virus's pathology doesn't allow for that kind of phenomena – the objective is unharmed, every eventuality of this operation has been planned for."

"Are you certain of that?"

Even through the thick black glass the man could feel the Director's eyes glaring into his. It wasn't said, but the man caught the hidden meaning behind the Director's words. Was he willing to bet his life on his reassurance? Everything had been accomplished, but the sterility of the Director's computer words made him doubt the answer to that question.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

FOGLE TOWERS

3:30 AM

Logan jolted awake; at first it took him a moment to recognize the hard object under his head was his computer desk. He had been waiting for a relay message from Jondy or Alec; but he had fallen asleep, even though he didn't think that was at all possible at the moment.

He cursed under his breath and checked the communicator log on his computer screen to see if any messages were received. The log displayed an output of zero; which meant that he didn't miss anything, but also it meant that Jondy and Alec hadn't checked in for several hours. He had no idea if they even made it out of the complex. They were elite soldiers, trained since childhood how to live up to the status of their identity. But Logan still worried about them; they weren't bulletproof.

His stood up stiffly from his computer chair and stretched his arms over his head. Once the kinks in his neck were somewhat loosened, he removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes with his free hand, and then glanced at his watch.

He was completely exhausted; he had barely slept the last few hours. Being too worried about Max hadn't allowed him to fall asleep completely. Two hours ago she had started seizing again. Sam was at a loss as to what to do, there was no more tryptophane left in the vial. He and Sam had forced a half glass of milk down her throat, but the virus had made her gag reflexes become hypersensitive and she had vomited half of it up. Her seizures had stopped after an agonizing five minutes, but her heart rate had dropped so dramatically after the convulsions that Sam hadn't been able to register it at first. He finally picked up a very faint beat with the stethoscope; but she had become completely non responsive. And Logan just stared at Sam when he told him that at the level of deterioration she was going through she would soon slip into a coma, and then completely shut down. Logan knew what "completely shut down" was referring to, but he refused to think about it.

A high-pitched cry – the noise that had woken him up - echoed on the baby monitor that he had placed on the coffee table.

Logan walked back into the living room. Asha had fallen asleep on top of Zack's chest, one of her hands intertwined with his. Beside the other couch – the one where Max was lying – Sam was checking her vitals. He had done so every fifteen minutes since her last seizure. He raised his head when he heard Logan approaching, his expression as exhausted and beaten looking as Logan's.

"Eight more hours," Sam's words were quiet, watching as Logan registered his words. Both men had never admitted it openly, but they were friends, and it made it that much harder for Sam to tell Logan this.

Logan leaned over the couch and kissed Max's forehead tenderly before gazing back up at Sam.

"There's still time. As long as there's even a shred of hope I'm not giving up on her. She wouldn't want me to." His words were deeply emotional but not broken, he had broken down enough already; he had to find some strength or he would fall apart.

Lucy's cry erupted again through the baby monitor.

"Go," Sam said, touching Logan on the shoulder. "I'll watch her."

Logan backed up a step and then turned in the direction of the hallway. When he passed his bedroom, the door was halfway open. Tinga was asleep on the bed, and at the foot of the mattress he could see Case, asleep as well. He wasn't touching Tinga at all, but he was lying in a mirror opposite position to his mom; a position that would have him curled close to her body had they been touching.

Lucy was still screaming when he pushed the door to the nursery open. He picked her up, intending on walking her to the kitchen to retrieve a bottle, but once she was in his arms her crying started to die down. Babies could sense emotions and the hell of the last day was affecting her; she had just wanted to be held.

Logan rocked her gently. She stopped crying, switching instead to a quiet whimpering noises. "You're okay sweetheart." He kissed her forehead. A small cluster of tears had been left in the corner of one eye, and one fell down her face. He wiped it away gently with his thumb. She looked at him the entire time with her brown eyes, eyes that were so similar to Max's.

"Daddy?"

Logan turned to see Lexi standing in the doorway of the nursery; still wearing the same clothes she had been wearing yesterday. Behind her was Jess; also still wearing the same clothes. They both looked as tired as Logan did.

"What are you two doing up?" Logan asked. "It's late."

"We're worried about mom," Jessie answered for them, stepping inside the nursery; Lexi followed him.

"You need to go back to bed," Logan's voice lacked any firmness, it wasn't an order, he was too tired to issue orders.

"I don't want mommy to die." Lexi's voice was soft and quivering, heartbroken in every aspect. Tears began to streak down her face.

Logan walked over to them, carefully handing the baby over to Jessie, who took her without any protest, holding her tight. He then knelt down next to Lexi, stroking her cheek with his thumb. "I don't want mommy to die either."

Logan's words were like a release for his daughter. She threw her arms around his neck. He picked her up and returned her embrace, kissing the side of her face, then the back of her head.

"Does this mean she'll be okay daddy?"

Lexi had asked the question but Logan could also see it reflected in his son's eyes.

"I hope so baby," Logan could barely get the words out passed the hard knot in his throat.

Logan touched Asha's back, and the contact jarred her. She raised her head from Zack's chest. "Sorry, I didn't mean to wake you."

"I wasn't asleep." Asha rubbed at her eyes, standing up slowly, like she didn't want to move so far away from Zack.

"You should try and get some rest," Logan told her.

"I don't think I could sleep if I wanted too." Asha returned. "Even in my current 'condition'"

She turned to face him; she was still sore from the injection site of the amino and her movements were pained. "How's Max doing?"

"She had another seizure," Logan said, the incident still painfully raw in his mind. "The tryptophane's gone, and the milk Sam gave her barely had any effect on the seizure, she finally just passed out."

"Damn," Asha cursed.

"What about him?" Logan asked, referring to Zack.

Asha glanced down at Zack. "He seemed to feel my touch before, but now, he's been completely unconscious for the past few hours. "

"And you? " Logan asked, "How are you holding up?"

"I'm not," Asha told him. She stood up slowly to and stretched. Her hair was in disarray and she smoothed it out for something to do. "It's just a crap load of false bravado." She laughed, dryly. "My dad; he used to come home completely wrecked after dealing with rape cases and murderers, but he'd put on this mask so I'd never see his pain. He acted like the whole goddamn evil side of life didn't bother him; it kept him from completely going over the edge." Asha smoothed her hair again, in jerky movements. "And I learned it from him, otherwise I'd be going crazy right now; because I have to watch Zack suffer like this. Watch them all suffer like this. It apparently isn't enough that they all survived child hood torture and being continuously hunted down like animals, so the powers that decided to throw a deadly designer virus in the mix, just for kicks, cause things were apparently getting too normal around here." Her rant cut off and she rung her hands together, biting on her lip to keep the flood of emotions from erupting out of her.

"Things were never normal," Logan insisted quietly.

"Okay fine, but they were good." Asha returned. "God Logan. I love him so much, I don't want to lose him." Her voice dropped to a level below a whisper, her eyes pooling with tears.

Logan pulled her to him and hugged her, and she came into embrace willingly, sliding both arms up both sides of his back. "We're not going to lose any of them." He kissed the side of her face by his ear.

They pulled away from each other "They're strong," Logan reminded her. "And stubborn as hell," he and Asha shared a quiet whispering laugh at this part. "They've been through worse then this. They'll be okay."

"I'm going to hold you to that Logan Cale," Asha told him.

"So am I," Logan returned.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

WASHINGTON STATE BOARDER

5:00 AM

Before the Pulse borders between states were little more then lines on maps; not a second thought was given to crossing them. But after Martial Law had been enacted in the U.S state border patrols had been created, guarded by military police that scrutinized everyone coming through, regardless of their citizenship.

A tall looming checkpoint tower – almost as large as some of the trees that surrounded it – stood on a small double lane road. At the base of the tower were Military Police – armed and dressed in full riot gear – examining the vehicles one by one that were lined up on the road. A bright halogen search beam swept into the early morning sky that was coming awake in a pink sunrise that filtered through the trees. Beside the ominous checkpoint stood an old faded metal sign proclaiming: Welcome to Washington.

Off to the side of the checkpoint tower, in the small area of forestland that hadn't been cleared away for development stood Jondy's motorcycle. Jondy was beside her bike, leaning back against the tall trunk of a Sequoia tree. By disobeying all speed limits and military checkpoints, she and Alec had made it to the Washington border in quick time. But as they neared the checkpoint, Jondy's wound had started to throb so much that the muscles in her leg had actually started to spasm, causing her to almost wipe out on the road. She was forced to pull the bike into the clearing to try and regain control of her bearings; but doing so was excruciating. Besides the pulsating wound she was winded, and started to feel hotly flushed; and she knew that it had to be the effects of the virus.

Standing just inches from her was Alec, looking as crappy as she did. And it must have been only sheer willpower that kept them from collapsing, because neither one of them looked like they should still be standing. Jondy didn't even want to imagine how Zack, Max and Tinga were fairing if she and Alec were already this bad off.

Jondy patted her jacket, making sure the antidote vial was still inside her pocket. After she felt that it was she examined the wound in her leg. Trickles of blood ran down her skin, but the wind created from the speed she had been driving had kept the bleeding down to a minimum.

Alec ripped the front hem off his sweater, even this low-energy tasked seemed to leave him tired. He knelt down and wrapped the cloth around her leg.

"I can do it myself!" Jondy snapped in a low voice, then cursed when Alec tied the cloth tightly around her injury. She tried to smack his hand away, but he caught it and tied a knot it the cloth to hold it secure, making Jondy hiss in pain. "Damnit, watch that!"

"You're welcome," he pushed her hand away, and stood back up. The change of positions caused vertigo to settle in him and he stumbled, swaying backwards.

Jondy forgot about her leg for a moment and grabbed his arm to keep him from falling. "You okay?"

"I think we're beyond that question." Alec said, bracing himself on the Ninja's body with both hands for support. "Just be grateful we're both too damn stubborn to die." He rubbed at his eyes with one hand.

Jondy grabbed a hold of both his shoulders and pulled him up right; "Don't you dare throw up on my bike." Despite her snappish words a look passed from her eyes to his.

Alec grasped both her wrists and slid her hands off his shoulders. "Then get back on it, causing throwing up would be the last thing I would want to do on you."

Jondy braced one hand on Alec's shoulder for leverage – her sense of balance was beginning to get hazy like his– and climbed back into the saddle seat of her bike.

Alec slid in behind her. "Are you sure you can still drive this thing, you're not looking as hot as your normally do."

"Neither are you," Jondy told him. "So we don't exactly have much of a choice." She revved up the Ninja's engine and pulled back on the road.

Cars were lined up for almost a full half-mile in front of the checkpoint and many drivers impatiently honked their horns at the slow pace of the MP's at the state line. Jondy drove the Ninja on the very edge of the road, bypassing all the traffic. When she reached the checkpoint, she cut in front of the dirty white Camry that was at the head of the line.

The driver rolled down his window and cursed at Jondy; but she completely ignored him, because his profanities were nothing compared to the three MP's with M-20 assault rifles that had surrounded her bike.

"Back in line!" One of the soldiers's shouted; he stood in front of the bike aiming his weapon at Jondy's head. He was forced to jump back a second later when Jondy gunned the engine and sped past him. The other two MP's opened fire, but the Ninja was too now too far down the road to be hit.

XXXXXXXXXX

FOGLE TOWERS

6: 50 AM

The large picture window in the living room overlooked the entire city. At night the lights of what was now called the High Rise District glittered like earthbound stars in the darkness of night. And in the daytime the sunset rose over the broken city, flashing it's rising array of colors through the clear glass.

This view was one of the reasons Logan had bought the penthouse, because even the devastation of the Pulse could not affect the sunrise. But this morning it's beauty was lost to Logan as he sat on the couch facing this window. Alec and Jondy had not returned yet; and with every bit of brightness the sun cast over Seattle, it took away the time that Max had left.

He had not slept since those fleeting few moments hours ago; he was so far beyond tired, that it felt like everything but the primal functions of his brain had gone offline. He still found himself lost the sunrise so completely. Not for the beauty of the swirl of colors, but because it had broken through the nighttime as it always, and would always do, despite everything that had transpired. So it took him three or four seconds to notice the coffee cup hovering in front of his face.

Sam Carr's hand was on the other end of the cup. "Thought you could use this."

Logan took the coffee from Sam gratefully; but didn't drink it, and instead placed it on the coffee table. He picked up Max's limp hand, and cradled it between both of his. She was very pale and there wasn't one part of her body that didn't glisten with sweat; but she was still beautiful to him. No matter what she would always be physically beautiful; but her beauty wasn't just a contingent of her outside appearance; it came from an internal passion that poured over her physical being. And it was this passion that fought for control over the weakened vulnerability.

"Forget what I said before." Sam could see just how much Logan loved Max reflected in his gaze. She was more then just his wife; their love was on a much higher plane. Logan would have taken the life right out of him and given it to her if he could.

"You're a doctor Sam, you're bound by your professional knowledge." Logan insisted. "You can't even disregard what you've said before." He stroked Max's hand with his thumbs. "Even in this instance."

"I am now," Sam looked down at Max, then up to Logan. He had known Max for a good many years now; and he knew all the strength she possessed, even know when it seemed like she possessed none. "Max is a fighter; and the fight isn't over."

"Logan, are you there?"

Logan's headset communicator was wireless, and he hadn't removed it since he had given the commicators to Alec and Jondy. But it had been several hours since he had heard anything from either of them, so when Jondy's voice broke through the dead air it startled him, but it only lasted a second. He raised the microphone to his mouth "Jondy, are you two okay?"

"We're coming up to your floor," Jondy's transmission cut off after she said this.

Logan ripped the headset off and ran to the door, Sam following him. The other man hadn't heard the transmission between Logan and Jondy, but he could sense that Logan might need his help.

The elevator was across the hallway from the penthouses front door, and when Logan walked through the door he heard the ding of the elevator car reaching the floor. The metal doors slid open and what looked like a irregular shaped form stepped out; but Logan's sleep deprived mind soon came back to normal functioning and he realized that the form was actually Alec, carrying Jondy on his back.

"We got it," Jondy held up a vial, her words punctuated with short, panting breaths.

Alec stepped out of the elevator in staggering steps, looking so worn out that Logan was sure he was going to drop right there on the floor. "The horse is finished, get her off me." Jondy removed her hands from his neck and Alec released her legs, but the virus had severely weakened his muscles and he almost collapsed under Jondy's loose weight.

Sam grabbed Alec's shoulders before he fell, and Logan grabbed Jondy, pulling her off of Alec.

Logan glanced down and saw the blood soaked cloth tied to her leg. "Jondy you're bleeding."

"Life threatening virus first," Jondy's voice was almost gone and she leaned heavily on Logan.

Logan draped her arm across his shoulders and took on most of her weight. However, Jondy's legs were barely functioning anymore, so after a few steps Logan picked her up in his arms.

"Get them inside," Sam said.

Sam supported Alec into the apartment, but halfway inside Alec's legs gave out and his weight was too heavy for Sam to catch. Alec hadn't passed out; the muscles in his legs had suddenly been hit with a firing pain and locked.

"Is Alec okay?" Jondy asked as Logan carried her over to the dining room table and gently set her into a chair.

"I'm good," Alec's words were weak but they still managed to reach Jondy's ears. He was splayed out on the hardwood floor, supporting his head against the sliding wall of Logan's computer room. "Just wake me when I'm not dead." His eyes closed in exhaustion.

Jondy looked up at Logan with bleary, tired eyes. "The other half, did you get it?"

"Relax; it'll be over soon." Logan said.

"No morbid talk please," Jondy insisted, laying her head on the table, in a state of complete exhaustion.

"We got it," Logan answered her question with different words, rubbing her knee from under the table.

Asha came down the hallway into the living room. She had been inside the bedroom to check on the kids, who thankfully had all finally fallen asleep, but she ran back out into the living room after she heard all the noise. She spotted Alec on the floor, and her eyes widened "Oh my god, Alec; is he-"

"He's alive," Sam informed He checked the pulse in Alec's neck. He had taken the antidote vial from Jondy on the way inside the penthouse. The doctor took it to the coffee table where he had set the hypodermic needle of amniotic fluid, sealed with a needle cap to keep it from leaking. He removed the lid off the antidote vial and drew its entire contents into the same syringe. Both liquids combined filled 50 cc's of the hypodermic needle. Sam removed the needle, held his finger over the cylinder's hole and shook it. Whatever the contents of the antidote, its density almost matched that of the amniotic fluid, allowing the two substances to combine. He replaced the needle head, and flicked the top of it to release any air.

He knelt down next to Zack; and lifted his arm, exposing the auxiliary artery –a major blood circulating artery in the body – underneath it. Both the Carotid Jugular Vein in his neck were covered in scar tissue and Sam didn't want to risk breaking the needle by trying to stab it through his jeans to reach the femoral artery in his thigh. He pierced the needle through Zack's skin and slowly injected 10 cc's of the antidote. He couldn't inject any more; there were five other patients to treat with it; all he could do was pray that 10cc's would be enough to counterattack the virus.

Sam held his breath, while he waited for the antidote to take effect. There was no idea as to how long it would take; hours, minutes, Sam was hoping for seconds, because time had all but run out. He placed his stethoscope on Zack's chest, sometimes change would occur internally before any outward signs would appear, and he wanted to hear it if it did.

Asha had pushed her way in-between Sam and Zack, and was sitting on the edge of the couch, watching Zack's face, praying for some kind of change. She rubbed her wedding band with her thumb as she waited, holding her breath.

Sam had dealt with many patients who had been as sick as Zack was when a living saving medication had just been administered to them. And in all cases the transition from violently ill to a form of stability was slow at best; the body took time to recover from such a ravaged condition. This is what he fully expected, for nothing major to transpire as he watched Zack; he would settle for a normal shift in heart rhythm. But two minutes after the injection – Sam had been keeping time on his watch – Zack's entire body convulsed on a deep choking breath.

"Zack?" Asha touched his face, scared at first at his violent response but his eyes flew open at her touch. At first his eyes were hazy, unfocused; and Asha was afraid that the drug had been a form of blackmail and had actually hurt him more; but his gaze soon became lucid, and settled on one spot: her face.

"What-" Zack's voice was lost on a series of choking coughs.

"Take it easy," Sam told him. "You've been unconscious for over a day, your voice won't be very functional."

Zack cleared his throat, but didn't try to speak again. The coughing left him exhausted. Not only was his voice shot, but also his muscles felt soft and painful from lying in the same position for so long; but he wasn't about to admit any of this to Sam; he was already more vulnerable then he wanted to be. He raised his arm and touched his fingertips to Asha's stomach. "The baby?" his question was so low that only she could hear it.

A flicker of surprise came over Asha because in all logic Zack would have no idea what had transpired while he was unconscious. "He's fine." She closed her hand around his. Her surprise quickly disappeared; there were some things that even logic couldn't explain.

Sam checked the pulse in Zack's neck' simultaneously listening more closely to his heart with the stethoscope. "The antidote's working; he's stabilizing," He turned to Logan, holding out the needle to him. "Give 10 cc's to Max." Sam had no idea if using the same needle could still transmit the virus. But Max was already infected, so he was gambling on the fact that she couldn't get the same strand twice because this was the only way for her to receive the medication.

Logan had nothing to use to spot a vein in Max's arm, so he injected the antidote into the large Carotid artery in her neck. There was no change in Max for longer then Logan liked; but then – just as Zack had done – she became conscious with a choking gasping breath and, jerked on her side in painful coughs.

"It's okay," Logan grabbed her shoulders and pulled her against him.

"Logan?" Max's voice was crackly and weak; she took in another painful breath.

"I'm right here baby," Logan rubbed her back, in gentle, reassuring circles. "You're okay, you'll be okay."

Max's leaned heavily against him; her limbs were weak like Zack's from being unconscious for so long. When she turned her head up to look at Logan it felt like the weight of her head would crush her neck. "Zack-"

"He's okay too." Logan reassured her, stroking the edge of her face.

She wrapped his arms around her and furrowed her head into his chest. "Thank you." All the pain, the desperation, the aching fear that she was going to die in such a meaningless way, all that she hadn't been able to release, came pouring out, wrapped up in those words. She had saved Logan countless times over the years, and he had just paid her back, in every way possible.

The sound of her voice and the feel of her body as she settled into his embrace ripped a deep relieving ache in Logan's gut; releasing all the torture of the last two days. But he didn't cry, and instead focused his energy on holding her closer to him, kissing the side of her face deeply.

TWO HOURS LATER

8:50 AM

The penthouse living room was as quiet as it had been for the past 48 hours; but this time it the atmosphere wasn't electric with fear, but rather from a deeply relieved exhaustion.

The vial of antidote had been exactly enough to administer to everyone. And as the minutes passed, they all had steadily begun to improve. Sam had done vital checks on them every fifteen minutes for the first hour; their bodies were still weak from the prolonged exertion caused by the virus, but it was nothing life threatening anymore. Only Tinga faired slightly better then the rest of her siblings because of her pregnancy. Sam had found no abnormailites in the heartbeat of the baby; but his stethoscope was a crude instrument compared to an ultrasound machine; and he wanted Tinga checked out the next day; and she didn't object, because she was too wiped out to say anything.

"Looks like you could use some of this."

Sam glanced up from his medical bag on the dining room table where he had been replacing his supplies. Max was holding out a cup of coffee to him; Her fingers were wrapped shakily around the handle of the mug.

Sam took the mug from her before she lost her grip. "Thanks." He hovered the cup next to him, not drinking it; surveying the tired woman in front of him. "You should really be lying down Max, you're still just starting to recover."

"Sam I've been lying down for almost two days; I need to move," Max's voice was hoarse from disuse, but her all knowing Manticore wit still came through.

She was leaning against the back of one of the black dining room chairs; and it looked like her weight wouldn't hold her for much longer. Sam wanted to make her sit down; but she was such a strong-headed person that he didn't know how to bring it up without offending her. She was stable enough to not need a doctor; now she needed to be respected for who she was.

Sam sipped the coffee she had given him, one quick sip, then set the mug down on the table, hoping his gesture didn't offend Max; but nothing hinting of that crossed her eyes.

"Those bastards could've have checkmated this game; but they didn't." Max's words stalled out, but not from weakness, but because she didn't know where to begin saying what she wanted to say. "We would've died if it hadn't been for you."

Sam placed a hand on Max's shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze. "You're welcome." His eyes briefly left her face and traveled over to the sofa. Before Zack had been the one who had been unconscious while Asha watched over him, but this time it was Asha who was lying down in an exhausted sleep with her head and shoulders resting in his lap and Zack was softly stroking her side. "But if Asha hadn't been pregnant, I would've have been able to save any of you."

Max showed no surprise at the mention of Asha's pregnancy, because she had already known about it; and Sam backing up what Zack had said in her 'dream' made her believe all the more that it wasn't a dream at all. Exhaustion finally won out over her muscles and she stumbled slightly.

Sam caught her by the arm, bracing her as he pulled her back upright.

Max steadied herself on his arm. "Think I'm going to go lie down now," her words ended on a quiet laugh.

Sam helped her walk for a few steps; but she soon broke away from him and made the rest of the journey on her own; but he still watched her carefully to make sure she didn't fall.

When Max reached the couch – Jessie – who had been sitting down on it – stood up watching her. "You okay mom?"

Max smiled at the way his concerned words sounded so much like his father. "I'm fine baby." She kissed him on top of the head picked up Lexi - who was asleep across Logan's lap – and settled down with her on the cushions. Logan put his arm across Max's shoulders and kissed the side of her brow. Tinga was asleep on the other side of the couch with her arm drawn around Case, who was spooned against the front curves of her body.

There was no room for Jessie on the couch beside his parents so instead he sat down next to Jondy; who was sitting up in a pallet of blankets made up on the floor.

Logan had insisted that they all stay in the penthouse to recuperate, at least until they felt well enough to leave. Normally this group of X5's super soldiers would've given him an earload of complaints and quips because of such a request. But the virus had wiped them out so much that not even Alec said anything about it.

Jondy pulled Jessie against her body, wrapping her arms around him and rested her chin atop his head.

"You don't know how jealous I am right now." Alec told Jondy. He was half sitting, half lying on opposite Asha and Zack on the couch, his legs splayed out in front of him He gave her the same look she had given him at the Washington border.

Jondy received the look with a knowing silence. "He's prettier then you," she kissed her nephew on the back of the neck, making Jessie smile from the compliment.

"No argument there," Max agreed. She felt Logan kiss the side of her face again. But before he pulled away she turned her head and kissed him for real; and felt him return it eagerly.

XXXXXXX

CRASH

THE NEXT NIGHT

8:30 PM

"Are you two ever going to come up for air?" Alec was sitting at the graffiti covered bar; arms resting on top of it, shooting Max and Logan a look for what they were doing.

Logan broke his kiss with Max and looked over to Alec. "I almost lost my wife; I think I have the right to want to kiss her."

"Logan with the way you two are always all over each other one would think that Max's life is in jeopardy everyday."

Logan ignored Alec's remark, and turned his attention back to Max. "Are you coming back to the table?"

"As soon as Harold here gives up the pitcher," Max responded; smiling at the bartender good-naturedly, who returned the gesture.

"Okay, I'll see you back there," Logan stole another kiss from Max; the corners of his mouth pulling up into a smile at how this action must being annoying Alec.

"Thank god that's over," Alec said after Logan left, finally raising the beer mug to his lips, drinking its pale yellow contents slowly. "If you and Logan had kept going Maxie you, Tinga and Asha could form a Knocked Up sister trio."

"I'm not even gonna waste my time on that remark," Max shot back.

"You don't want to waste your time or you can't think of anything as good?" Alec raised his eyebrows at her.

Max flicked the side of his brow with her finger in response.

"Hey watch it," Alec said. "Remember I'm just getting over being infected from a terrible virus."

"So am I, but you don't hear me bitching about it," Max's response ended on a small smile. After the last two days it felt good to joke about the hell they had all went through; it allowed her to vent out all the pent up emotions she hadn't been allowed to express before.

Cindy came up to the bar, and stood against it in-between Alec and Max, looking them both over in concern. "How ya two feeling?"

"Not bad considering all the circumstances," Alec answered Cindy's question.

Cindy gave Alec's response to her question the pondering it deserved. Logan had called her hours after Max had been infected; and Cindy wanted to do something, to be there for her girl; but Logan told her it was too risky. So she had sat in her apartment in total silence; all her senses tuned into the phone, waiting for any news. And she had been scared as hell, because Logan had sounded scared as hell when he was talking to her. Sitting there in that unnerving silence Cindy prayed for the first time since Diamond had died.

"What he said," Max agreed with a quiet, honest smile. The antidote had worked surprisingly quickly, obviously it's creators never thought that they could utilize otherwise it wouldn't have worked at all, or would have killed them. After a few hours Max felt completely like her old self, almost like she had never been sick at all. But she was painfully aware of how close she and her siblings had come close to dying. And it was this emotion that was taking longer to heal then anything physical. "One thing's for sure, I'm never sending my kids to these guys for inoculations."

Cindy smirked at Max's joke; she knew that Max still had to think about things; but that didn't mean she had to quit being herself. She placed a hand on Max's shoulder comfortingly. "It's over girl."

Max touched Cindy's hand with hers and squeezed her fingers.

Soft footsteps echoed behind Max as Asha approached the bar; and came to a stop next to Max and Cindy. "No booze yet huh?"

"Harold's just making sure it's a good brew," Max said.

"I'll bet," Asha returned; she leaned against the edge of the bar. "This is starting to feel like a ration line. But it's not like I'm drinking anyway."

"And you got the best excuse for abstaining boo," Cindy said, glancing down briefly at Asha's abdomen even though she hadn't started to show yet. "Nothing takes a girls mind off the hooch like being pregnant."

Asha smiled shyly at Cindy's remark. This had been the first time that she her pregnancy brought up in a public setting; it made it official.

"How's the baby doing?" The question came from Max. Asha had saved her life, without thinking about the consequences of her actions. It gave Max an entire new form of respect for Asha; and she didn't want her sister-in-law to have to pay for committing such a selfless act.

"I'm still throwing up like clockwork so everything must be great," Asha joked lightly before actually answering Max's question. "Sam made me get an ultrasound this morning from one of his colleagues; everything's fine."

"So is it a boy or a girl?" Max asked.

"It's still too early to tell," Asha responded. "But I'm not hung up on whether this kid has or lacks a certain appendage, so long as it's healthy."

"Whatever method you have to use to explain away the cliché." Alec quipped.

Asha glared at him, but a second later her face dissolved into a sighing smile. She knew that Alec would never stop his trail of wit on her relationship with Zack; it was just the smart-mouthed, yet appealing way he was.

"Niece or nephew, either way, I owe them big time." Max put her hand on Asha's shoulder when she said this. She didn't vocally thank Asha; there were no words she felt that would express what she wanted to say; but her eyes expression deep, sincere gratitude. A look of understanding passed between them both, one that ended with Max turning to embrace Asha.

Asha accepted the quick, but heartfelt hug, and few seconds after the two women broke apart

Harold the bartender finally set three pitchers of beer on the bar in front of them. "Sorry about the wait Max; the new guy spilled half the supply of Vodka in the back, it was a bitch to clean up." He placed a stack of clean glasses next to the pitchers. "This round's on the house."

Cindy's eyebrows rose at that. Harold was a good guy, but he needed the money from his job so he normally didn't give freebies, even to his regulars. "Damn boy you should hire crappy workers more often," Harold grinned at her in return and went to tend to his other customers.

"C'mon my sistah's." Cindy picked up one of the pitchers, glancing over at Alec "You too Method Man. This party's been in the works too long; it's time to get it started."

Max picked up the other two pitchers and she; Alec and Asha followed Cindy through the people that were thickly cluttered around the bar.

"It's about time," Jondy said as she spotted Max and Cindy approaching the table with the pitchers. "I was this close to swiping Tinga's tasteless club soda."

Max set one of the pitchers in front of Jondy in the center of the table; reclaiming her seat next to Logan.

Jondy poured an almost overflowing glass of beer from the pitcher.

"Jondy you might want to cut back on the drinking. Remember you were violently ill just twenty-four hours ago." Logan reminded.

"But I'm not anymore; so this time I'm getting a say as to what goes in my body." Jondy raised the completely full glass to her mouth without spilling any of the beer inside it. She swallowed three soundless gulps and then set the glass back down; looking around the table; absorbing her surroundings for a moment. "Funny how it seems we just did this."

"Let's just hope that Zack here doesn't get stung by another 'mosquito'," Alec said, claming a hand on Zack's shoulder.

"Let's also hope that you remove your hand Alec," Zack returned.

"Based on Asha's current medical status, you obviously never used that line on her dad." Alec returned.

Zack didn't volley another remark at Alec, and brushed his hand off his shoulder.

"I don't know about the rest of you;" Charlie spoke up. "But I'm counting on an incident free night this time." Tinga had her chair scooted right up next to her husband's and was leaning into his arm that was wrapped around her shoulders. "There's only so much a man can take when it concerns his family," he placed his free hand on Tinga's stomach when he said this, kissing her forehead at the same time. He had been reunited with Tinga the previous morning, and had almost broken down at just the sight of her before he actually took her into his arms. Tinga had gotten the ultrasound that Sam suggested that same morning, and the baby miraculously hadn't suffered from the virus.

"You've got that right," Logan agreed. He squeezed Max's hand, and after she felt the contact she leaned over and kissed him.

Alec watched their exchange and turned to Asha, who was standing next to the table. They had run out of chairs, and Asha had yet to swipe one from another table. "Since everyone else seems to be all over each other, how's about we join in?" He looked over her body suggestively.

"Not on your life," Asha said matter-of-fact. She walked around to the front of the chair Zack was in and sat down in between his leg. Zack slid an arm around her waist after she was sitting down, adding a physical exclamation mark to Asha's response to Alec.

"Fine;" Alec said. "Leave me out of all the action."

"Hello" Jondy shot back. "Did I suddenly turn invisible or something?"

Alec's next remark paid Jondy back from the slam she made against him the day before.

"Asha's prettier then you."

XXXXXXXXXX

OUTSIDE CRASH

10:00 PM

"Promise me you won't catch another horrible disease out here." Asha's joke to Zack was light on her lips.

"I've already checked the shadows," Zack returned. "At least they're not idiotic enough to lurk out here again."

A smile spread across Asha's face; it had been too long since she had heard Zack's witty banter. She kissed him, sliding her arms around the back of his neck.

"Sorry to interrupt your hot moment Romeo."

The voice made them break apart. Across the alleyway stood a group of three men. The one who was talking had along-bladed knife in his hand. The other two men behind him were similarly armed.

The first man walked three paces across the alleyway stepping in spilt beer and semen puddle on the road. He eyed Zack, comparing what he looked like to a description he had of him in his mind. "Not that I blame you." His gazed shifted and traveled over Asha's body so closely that she might as well have not been wearing any clothes. "But you see I have a few things to straighten up with you, so you're going to have to sex-up the Prime-Grade meat later." He was now standing two steps in front of Zack. "You insulted some of my boys night before last, despite your pathetic fighting skills. But we don't let things slide even with pansy little pretty boys like you." The knife raised in his hand as he slashed the blade at Zack.

Zack ducked from the man's attack and grabbed his neck when he tried his maneuver the knife close to him again. He squeezed the man's neck like it belonged on a pliable rag doll. The man gasped, and choked, the knife slipping from his hand.

"There's a clever payback quip in here somewhere, but I'd rather not." Zack's threw the man to the ground on top of his useless knife.

It took the other two men seeing their "leader" sprawled on the pavement at Zack's feet before they finally lunged at him. The first man to reach Zack aimed the blade of his knife the vein in Zack's neck. Zack grabbed his fist, and applied bone crushing pressure to his hand; causing the man to scream and drop his weapon. Zack head butted him and kicked his feet out from under him; knocking him next to his friend.

The third man attacked Zack from behind locking an arm around his neck. But – to his surprise – he was wrenched off.

Max gripped the collar of this man's jacket like a puppy by the scruff of his neck. Even though he was in a very embarrassing position he still leered at her.

"I don't think so," Max said in response to his sleazy look. She slammed her fist into his crotch. He gasped soundlessly and doubled over at her feet.

"This ain't over punk!" The man's words were a pathetic choking wheeze, but he still tried to make them sound tough.

Zack punched him hard in the throat, and his weak voice disappeared completely from the blow.

Max looked up at Zack after he completed his maneuver. "Feel better?"

Zack glanced down at the three men at his feet, completely unconscious from him taking them out, before meeting Max's eyes. "Yeah."

XXXXXXXXX

CHEYENNE WYOMING

The cool night air whispered through the thick growth of trees, and distant birds called to each other, between their branches. The night held a full moon and it illuminated all these activities of night in a pale yellow transparent glow. The soft sound of a twittering Cardinal joined the symphony of birdcalls. Seconds later the Cardinal and all the other birds lit from the branches of the trees as an earsplitting explosion shook the forest.

A huge orange fireball shot up in the night; it's flames sweeping through the clearing, through all the buildings that stood there, ripping apart the concrete masonry. Agonized screams cut through the night air as men – soldiers – tried to escape the inferno only to collapse to the ground, their bodies alight. All the soldiers suffered the same excruciating fate so there was no one to help as each one of them dropped to the ground, burning alive.

Standing on the edge small road that led up to the compound was a single black sedan, it's shape lit up from the brightness of the flames of the explosion. The black tinted window of the driver's seat was rolled down, and the driver of the car observed the fire and smoke through a pair of military issue binoculars. The fire was now towering above the tree line, but the driver's expression was not one of horror, or even stunned confusion. It was the stoic look of someone who had ordered such an event to happen.

The Director observed the blaze a few seconds longer before rolling up the car window. A silver rectangular case rested on the passenger seat, bearing a single monogrammed scripted 'E' in the lower right hand corner. The Director placed the binoculars in this case, then pulled back on the road and drove away in silence.

XXXXXXXX

Okay, I know, a lot of bad stuff keeps happening to Max and her family, but in the show a lot of bad stuff happened to her too. It's because she's a covert super soldier who ran away from her creators; not exactly the lifestyle of someone who's biggest fear is one of her kids getting into a school fight.

I didn't realize until after I wrote it that there's a bit of a joke in the name Tinga picked out for her baby – Will. Tinga's last name is Smith, so we now have Will Smith, heh.

My next couple of chapters may be long in the making. I start nursing school next month and my schedule will be very busy. I'll write whenever I have a free moment, certainly I'm not going to quit writing. No, that's crazy talk, I love it too much, but I have to prioritize.

Please feel free to drop a review.

Peace,

Mystic