AN: Sorry for the delay on the chapter. It's a bit shorter than the others.. but upon reading, you'll understand why. Anyway, continuing with the trend: Unbeta'd. Any errors (tense and whatnot) are mine and mine alone. I don't own a thing, just enjoying the 'verse. Hopefully you guys like this chapter as much as you have the others! Reviews are love. Thanks again for reading! :D

Update: Just a few minor additions to the chapter, enjoy!

Chapter 4

City District Beta

The smoke swirled lazily toward the sky, mingling with the ever-present haze that hung just beneath the clouds. It seemed to contrast the absolute chaos below with the way it moved so peacefully in the air. Beneath, a crater had formed where once Beta Precinct had called home. They'd find the bodies of those few who had been unlucky enough to have to work that fateful night, but not until morning. The sun had finally set, and the eerie glow from the remaining fires wouldn't be enough for any of the fire and rescue teams to go searching. That and the buildings that surrounded the precinct were being watched for their stability. They'd been evacuated, as per protocol, and the people rounded up and taken elsewhere to stay. But it really was anyone's guess as to whether they'd collapse after the shockwave had leveled the police building.

Sparks and flashes of electricity lit the night like a strobe. Unfortunately, being Christmas Eve, the Con-Ed men were off celebrating with their families. There was no one to shut off the electricity that threatened anyone who ventured near to the building. And while the firefighters were dressed in their traditional attire that would keep them safe from the worst of the electrocution, none wanted to venture in very far. Not after they'd lost one of the cadaver dogs to a cave-in. And perhaps it was a bit selfish by those who were forced to stare at the wreckage, but there was a bit of relief that settled over them when they couldn't readily see blood or broken bodies.

Unfortunately, the surrounding area wasn't faring any better. Several of the beat cops who had been lucky enough not to be in the building during the attack had been lured to their doom by the hands of the children. Innocent, fresh-faced and utterly evil, the children had acted almost as one entity. Though, in essence, they had. Acting on a single signal, they spread out like tiny spiders intent upon catching their next meal. And each unsuspecting police officer would fall prey. After all, who would deny a child?

Chaos, madness, violence; it was everywhere. It seemed that with the downfall of City Precinct Beta, the looters had come out of the woodwork. With every step the remaining law enforcement made toward containing the chaos, it seemed the citizens of the city dragged them back another ten. And when word got out that it was children leading the doomed officers to their demise, those who hadn't been led astray banded together. They couldn't, in good conscience, shoot a child. But it didn't take long to begin catching the kids and tossing them in the backs of patrol cars, holding them until they could figure out where to contain them.

No one knew what was coming next. Would another precinct building be hit? Districts Alpha and Gamma were evacuated, but contact with Delta had been lost. No one answered the radios, it was as if no one was home. Though that couldn't have been further from the truth. As painfully undermanned as they were, it was tossed back and forth as to whether anyone would venture toward Delta to see what had happened. Though it didn't take long to begin calling back into action those beat cops and detectives who had been given Christmas Eve off.

It was perfect. The unified white masks milled about Delta Precinct, listening to the panicked chatter over the police radios while armed to the teeth. Every channel was lit up with a new tragedy. Death, destruction and chaos, all of which covered what it was they truly wanted. The bulk of the troops had descended below into the bowels of the building, seeking out the evidence vault. Which was why they hadn't immediately put a bullet into the skulls of those who had shown up for work.

And at the center of the chaos sat the self-proclaimed Goddess, herself. Smug in her power, Anna sat proudly in Maldonado's office overseeing the medical care of the one person she hadn't wanted to see in the precinct. She should have known better than to expect Kennex to avoid showing up. Asshole was both predictable and persistent. He put his own health and well-being beneath that of everyone around him, no matter how little they actually deserved the care. And as a price for his insolence, he lay bound and unconscious on the floor, being patched up by one of her men.

Sadly, that had actually been the one thing that had nearly blown her cover. His devotion to everyone around him. It was commendable and had actually made her question her duties to Insyndicate. He'd shown her what it truly meant to love and be loved, meanwhile she took what she could from him for the sole purpose of undermining the law enforcement officials of the City. Anything to further Insyndicate's cause. And when she'd learned of the ambush, she'd almost not informed her superiors.

Almost.

But ultimately, duty overrode her baser desires. In that respect, she and Kennex were reflections of one another. Her devotion to her cause was the one thing that propelled her forward. Just as it had for John. The only difference between the two was his morality. John's innate sense of right and wrong kept him from truly being able to be the right sort of monster for her. Though it broke her heart a little. In her own, albeit twisted, way she had loved him. And watching him suffer for her cause had effectively ceased any chance that she would find her way back to his side.

For a time, she'd thought him dead. And then one of her minions had informed her that not only had he survived, but he remained in a coma in the hospital. She'd visited once. Undercover. And then never again. Seeing him so vulnerable, it had been too easy to contemplate finishing the job. And the realization that she could kill him without regret had driven her further away. Perhaps she should have. But she didn't.

Deep in thought while she watched them using the programmable DNA to repair his wounds, she almost missed the call from her men. She'd leave Kennex with her second and take the Captain down herself. Maldonado would be able to open the vault with her keycode. She smiled at the dark haired captain, ignoring the way both women glared at her. Oh, she hadn't missed the way the younger detective had cried out when Kennex went down. A glaring weakness on the woman's character. Clearly, there was something possibly between Kennex and the detective. Something possibly worth exploiting. She stayed behind.

At Anna's side, bound and held at gunpoint, Maldonado was walked toward the elevators. "You won't get away with this." She said softly, dark eyes narrow and full of venom.

Anna smiled, though it didn't reach her eyes. Empty and nearly devoid of humanity, those eyes fixed on the captain. "We've had all year to plan for this. And from the sounds of it, not only will we succeed, but there won't be a police force left to stop us."

Maldonado, ever the detective, attempted to talk her way through to the root of the plan. "Why? Why this precinct? What are you hoping to find here?"

One perfectly formed brow arched and Anna smirked. "Not find. Found. And there's no reason I need to tell you anything. You open the vault. End of story."

Which, of course, meant one thing. If she opened the vault, she and everyone else would die.

Elsewhere, in the precinct, a familiar pair of unnaturally blue eyes flickered to life and a system began rebooting.