Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel so don't sue me. Thanks. :-)

A/N: Thank you nattylovesu, DancerInTheDark101, 452max! Your reviews are highly appreciated!

Ex Multus Familia

Chapter 20

"You stole a bunch of laundry?" Robin tried to control the laughter bubbling up inside of her as she eyed the dirty lab coat and slacks.

Seth shrugged, trying not to look hurt. "It matched what they wore back in Manticore. I saw an opportunity and took it."

"I'm sure it could be helpful," Robin said, trying to assuage his hurt feelings. "If we run into some of the minor people who work there, maybe they won't look too closely."

"And Logan and I can probably set us up with fake IDs to offset that," Krit said, "It won't hold up under close scrutiny, but we could probably get through some of the outer levels of security."

"It's sad to think that getting in is actually going to be the easy part," Robin said. She rested her chin on her hands as she eyed the couple viewing screens Krit had already set up. The plan was to enter the warehouse from a tunnel system that connected to another nearby building. There were soldiers down there, but dealing with one of them at a time was manageable.

"Don't worry; I'll be at the cameras," Syl said, "I'll talk you guys through the whole mission."

"I won't worry, unless we get ambushed by super soldiers," Robin said. "I've heard those guys can be nasty."

"Definitely," Syl said without hesitation. "But Krit's going to set up a loop for me to feed through the cameras, so even if you guys have to deal with one or two, the others shouldn't be alerted immediately. The key thing to remember is to not get separated. You can't deal with these guys one on one, okay?"

"We know," Seth said with a smile. He picked Taylor up and cradled her as he leaned back against the wall of the van. It had been several long days since they had gotten the van…he was ready to get the mission over with and get out. He really hoped they found Sandeman's wife when they went in in a few hours.

"We'll still want to wear street clothes too," Krit said, eyeing his own stolen laundry, "Most scientists don't walk around looking and smelling as if they were just hanging out in a sewer."

"Well, most people don't take a bath while they're in the sewers," Seth muttered. He was feeling like his attempts at a disguise were unappreciated. Robin smiled and stroked his arm a couple times.

"They'll come in handy," she said. She peeked over Seth's arm and eyed her daughter. She was fairly sure that she could time it just right so that Taylor would be well-fed and sleeping while she was gone; she didn't want Syl to have to worry about the baby at a crucial moment. She just hoped everything went smoothly…it felt like so much could easily go wrong.

"So what are we waiting on anyway?" Syl asked, moving back to Krit's side.

"Mics," Krit said, fiddling with one. He glanced up at the TVs; three monitors were now showing more than blue fuzz. "We're also waiting for the fourth TV and the last computer monitor to boot and connect properly. Then there's a shift change, and that's when we'll go in. Hopefully all this stuff is up and running by then."

"I'm sure it will be," Syl said. She had full confidence in him; he'd never failed before. Still, she was usually nicer to him when he was in the final stages of setting up all the technical equipment. She figured that it was better to not abuse him when he needed to concentrate.

She flopped down on the other side of Seth and nudged Taylor out of his grasp. "I'm looking out for the baby tonight, might as well let her get used to me," she said as an excuse. Taylor seemed to have a remarkable ability to make everyone around her adore her.

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They spent the next couple of hours slowly getting ready. Ammunition was loaded in the guns they had bought, blades were sharpened to an almost invisible edge, extra ammunition was stored in jean pockets, and mics were finally attached and tested.

"Want me to go over the controls with you one more time?" Krit asked Syl anxiously. The equipment might have used, but once he made a system out of it he sort of became attached.

"Krit, I've got it. I've done this with you before." Syl said, a dangerous edge to her voice.

"Sorry," Krit muttered, "I'm just ready to go." He leaned over her shoulder to peer at the monitors.

"Krit, I swear I'll…" she swung around to hit him, but Krit had already jumped out of reach.

"Got it, got it." He held his hands up. "I'll go sit over here and not say anything, promise."

"You do that," Syl said, spinning back around toward the controls. Her fingers rushed over the keyboards and brought up the schematics for the building and got the mikes online. Krit turned to the second set of electronics and turned on the feeding loops.

"Everyone check firearms," Seth said, his voice serious, as if he were back on a Manticore-assigned mission. Obediently, Robin and Krit started checking the weaponry they had. There hadn't been much extra money for weapons after Krit had bought everything he had needed, but they had managed to scrape together a few handguns and some minor weaponry like smoke bombs and knives. Seth even had a flash grenade, just in case they needed it.

Seth looked at Robin as she finished locking down the straps on the two handguns that rested on either side of her waist. "Are you ready?"

"Yes," she replied, looking him straight in the eyes. This was what she had been created and born to do: even out of Manticore, she was a soldier. It was something that none of them could escape.

Seth nodded before looking over to Krit. The towering, dark-skinned transgenic smirked.

"Hey, I may not have as much formal training as you two, but I've done my fair share," he said. He tossed at grin at Syl who didn't look back, but a half-smirk dashed across her face. Robin would love to find out exactly what kind of trouble those two had gotten into before they found their way to Terminal City.

"It should take us about twenty minutes to drive there. I want to start at 0000," Seth said. He glanced toward Krit.

"That's when the next shift change is," Krit replied, "They'll be taken off guard."

"Was that supposed to be a pun?" Syl asked, one pale eyebrow cocked in question. "God help us."

Krit bumped his hand against the back of her head. "Watch the screens."

"We should head out," Robin said, looking down at her ever-present wristwatch, "We'll need to get to the entrance site."

Seth slipped into the driver seat, and Robin, holding Taylor, took the passenger's seat. Krit stayed in the back with Syl, unobtrusively helping her connect the last few electronic pieces.

As Seth drove, Robin cuddled Taylor and played with her daughter's little hands and feet. Taylor gurgled and cooed and made grabs for wisps of Robin's hair that had escaped the tight ponytail she had put it up in. Silence settled over the van, making Robin uncomfortable. She hated the silence before the storm; she liked it much better when teams were joking and laughing even while the Manticore handlers told them to shut up.

"So, what are you going to do when we get back to T.C.?" she asked, bouncing Taylor a little as the baby started to complain. Robin guessed that Taylor could feel the silence falling too.

Seth pulled his shoulders back and then laughed. "I don't know," he said, "I wasn't really thinking that far ahead."

Robin grinned. "You do expect us to get back, don't you?"

"He better, because I'm sure as hell not staying here," Syl said, "It's too hot."

"We're going back to Seattle," Seth said, rolling his eyes at the rearview mirror. "I'm just..."

"In the moment?" Robin asked, smirking at him.

Seth's mouth quirked to the side. "Yeah, that's about it."

"So mission-minded," Robin said, tsking. "Do you know what I'm going to do?"

"No," Seth said. They stopped at an intersection light, and he glanced at her, sea-blue eyes looking at her. "Are you going to redecorate?"

"No!" Robin said, "That's not all I do, you know." She tugged Taylor's baby blanket tighter and shot him a half-hearted glare.

Seth grinned. "No, but it's all I could think of right now. Want me to guess something else?"

Robin considered it for a minute and then nodded. "Yes, I'll give you another chance."

"What? Am I being tested?" Seth flicked his eyes toward her.

"She's a girl," Krit put in from the back. "They're always testing you. Get used to it."

"Shut up, you like it," Syl said. There was the sound of her hand hitting the back of his head.

"Oh, yeah, I love being physically abused," Krit said, rubbing his head before going back to work on the electronics.

Robin grinned over at Seth. "You're only being tested if you think you are."

"That's cryptic," Seth said, his hands tightening on the steering wheel. The light turned green, and they made a right turn. "Am I supposed to be thinking of something specific?"

"I just want to see what you think I'll do," she said, smiling at him.

"It's so a test," Krit declared. "Be careful about what you say, she'll turn on you!"

"Krit," Robin turned around in the chair and gave Krit a dangerous look, "Care to shut up?"

"I'll keep him quiet," Syl said, slowly turning the chair around and smiling at Krit. Krit rolled his eyes at her but silently went back to work.

"What will you do…" Seth's thinking trailed off, and Robin traced her finger down Taylor's soft arm. He smiled and settled back into the driver's seat. "You'll take up dancing. Or art. I can't decide."

Robin arched her eyebrows. "And why do you think that? That's sort of a random thing to do."

"You might like it," Seth said, shrugging, "We're all designed with a strong creative suit, just in case they needed us to pose in an artistic profession."

"Yeah, Krit's just full of Picasso," Syl said, flicking Krit's ear.

Krit waved her hand away. "I don't do art," he said.

Robin looked out the window at the Cape Town buildings passing by. She had never really seriously thought about doing anything like that before. There had always been something else to do, like stealing, that seemed more automatically productive.

"I think you'd enjoy it," Seth said, flicking his gaze at her, "You should give it a try."

"I'll think about it," Robin said, smiling back at him.

"If you two are really wondering what you're going to do when we get back to T.C., I can tell you," Syl said, sounding much too perky. Before they cut answer her or cut her off, she plunged right into the rest of her thoughts. "I bet a queen size at least will fit into one of your bedrooms."

"Syl!" Robin said, her face growing hot.

Seth laughed. "Let's focus on the mission right now." He looked over at Robin, and she could see that the idea of rooming together permanently wasn't foreign to him. "We'll talk about what we'll do in T.C. when we get there."

That sounded like a good idea to Robin.

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Alec was starting to get impatient. He knew girls took a while to get ready, and that Sidda's costume was more elaborate than his. But at this point, they were definitely going to be late.

"Ready yet?" he yelled up the stairs. "The party's already started."

"It's called being fashionably late," she yelled back. "And I'm coming anyway, don't work yourself into a frenzy."

"I'm not, I'm not. It's just…"

Alec paused in an utterly cliché moment as he saw her at the top of the stairs. Sidda smirked at him and twirled for his benefit. The supple leather outlined the shape of her body perfectly, and the slit in the side of the skirt gave a tantalizing view of an extremely well-toned leg.

Alec whistled appreciatively as Sidda sauntered down the stairs.

"Hey, Sidda, you actually clean up pretty good," Dalton said. He was on the couch, resting his elbows on the back of it as he watched her.

"Oh, geez, thanks, Dalton," Sidda said sarcastically as Alec cuffed Dalton on the side of the head.

She had to admit, Alec cleaned up pretty well too. Manticore soldiers had a remarkable ability to make anything look good, but they looked even better unclothed… not that Alec wasn't wearing clothes. But he was lacking in the shirt department, and the leather strap that went across his chest was doing a nice job of enhancing his muscular abs.

"Well, you two do look like a couple," Dalton said doubtfully. He rested his head on his arms, still bitter that he was being forced to stay home another night while they got to go have fun.

"We shouldn't," Sidda said. She smiled brightly at Alec. "We should look like brother and sister."

Alec frowned at her. "What? Why?"

"Well, if you had really done your research you would've known that we're half brother and sister, not lovers."

"Weren't all the gods incestuous anyways?" Alec asked. Sidda turned and looked at him, surprised Alec even knew that much. But he just shrugged as if everyone knew that.

"Maybe they were, but I'd rather avoid that. Modern day societal rules are a bit different from ancient times."

"Ewww," Dalton's face scrunched up in disgust as he looked at Alec, "That's just wrong, man. Hey, don't you guys want a driver or servant or anything? I could pose as one, and maybe they'd let me in…"

"Nice try, but for once we don't need you to act the serving boy."

"Keep that helpful attitude up though, and life might get much better," Alec said teasingly.

"Yeah, for you," Dalton replied.

"Exactly."

"Oh, come on, you were the one complaining about being late," Sidda said. She pulled Alec to the door. "Dalton, I'm not going to tell you to stay inside or anything because I'm not your mother, and I know you won't listen to me anyways. But please try to stay out of trouble, ok?"

"I'm not a kid, even though everyone seems to thinks so," Dalton said. "I can stay out of trouble, I promise."

"Yeah, sure. I'm going to pretend like I believe you," Sidda said. She and Alec had to leave then; the taxi had gotten there, and if it had to wait more than a minute it would start charging. They really didn't need to spend all their money on a stupid taxi for the ball.

The masquerade was being held in a place called the Pisani-Moretta Palace. It had been privately owned until a decade or so ago, when the family lost most of its fortune and sold the house to the government. Now tours of its beautiful 18th century architecture were held during the day, and its large rooms were rented out for parties and gatherings at night. It was supposed to beautiful , full of elaborate baroque decoration.

"I'm surprised you didn't get a gondola or something for us." Sidda was in a snarky mood. "Wouldn't that have been more romantic?"

Alec chuckled. "I was planning for the trip back. Moon and starlight and everything, right?"

Sidda shook her head and sat back in the seat of the taxi. She hadn't originally known what to think about the whole ball deal, but now she thought it was going to be sorta fun. As she'd been dressing in her room she'd started daydreaming about hot Italian men in skimpy clothes. It had created quite a nice picture. She turned her head away from Alec and smirked; Alec was going to see a whole new side of her tonight.

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When they were dropped off at the Pisani-Moretta, Sidda's mouth fell open. It was a huge palace, orange-pink with white trimming around the windows and balconies; it looked like a sunset. All around her, people in lavish costumes were getting out of cars that would they could have fenced and got enough money to run T.C. for a month. She jerked back as Alec tapped his hand under her chin.

"Catching flies isn't very classy, Sidda," he said, smirking at her.

She rolled her eyes at her. "Neither is wearing almost nothing to a masquerade," she retorted. However, she wasn't going to complain. Secretly, she was rather enjoying this shirtless variety of Alec. "And it's Athena, not Sidda. You have to get in character."

"Trust me, I have faking a soldier-type down to a T," Alec replied. He held out a hand to her, but she stared back at him, her eyebrows lifted.

"Brothers and sisters do not hold hands," she said, "And Ares is more bloodlust and passion than soldier. If you can manage that."

"I can do that, too," Alec replied. He glanced down at her. "What about the whole incest thing? Can that be a part of our characters?"

"That would have been Aphrodite and Ares," Sidda replied. She ran a hand down her thigh, smoothing out the leather and looked up at him. "Besides, Athena is a virginal goddess." She patted his arm and headed toward the palace. "Come on, soldier boy, let's go play with the commoners."

Alec's mouth below his masked eyes was a strained smile as he followed Sidda into the palace. Quite a few heads turned in their direction as they passed through the garden, presenting their tickets to the gatekeeper, and went into the massive foyer that was floored with pure Italian marble in a red-tinged, diagonal checkerboard pattern.

Music flowed from the hidden speakers, an anachronistic mixture of old waltzes that had been modernized with rock undertones. People in bright costumes thronged together in groups, chatting over drinks in slender, elegant glasses while they pretended not to know each other. Appreciative whispers whirled behind fans and among bowed heads as the two transgenics walked through the room.

"I think they like your dress," Alec said, keeping at Sidda's elbow. He was certain that he would lose her in the press of people, most of whom were taller and bigger than her.

"I think they like your abs," she replied, flicking her eyes up at him. "And as much as I admire them too, I think it's time we split up. Bro."

"Are you in character or you just planning on abusing me the whole night?" Alec demanded. His eyebrow arched. "And you like my abs?"

"Maybe" Sidda replied simply. "Anyways, we can cover more ground if we split up. Hear more things. Good thing you didn't decide that we should be two really clingy gods, like Krishna and Rahda." She slid her hand down his arm, from shoulder to wrist, and gave him a smile that he hadn't seen before. "Then we would have had to stay together all night. I'm glad you had the foresight not to choose something like that."

"Yeah, good thing," he said grumpily. "I'm so happy with myself."

"Me too," she said, winking at him. She bumped her hip against his side before sauntering off toward the stairs. "I'll be around if you need me, brother."

Alec watched her walk away, wondering how his great planning had suddenly backfired on him. How did that always happen?

While Sidda went upstairs to go…socialize, he would say, Alec planned to work the foyer. He'd find her later; she owed him a dance, fake sister or not, since he brought her there. And with her in that black leather dress, thin dress... He snatched a glass of champagne off a passing tray and downed it in one gulp. If she was going to be like that, then damn it, he was going to do the same thing. What did he care what Sidda did anyway? Damn girl, always twisting whatever he tried to do.

"Hey," a silky voice said, and a smooth, long-fingered hand rested on his shoulder. "Did you and the cute little Amazon have a fight?"

"I don't think you can call Athena an Amazon," he said, turning around.

An exotic woman, mocha skin and strong curves, stood behind him, her hand still on his shoulder. Colored contacts that had probably been bought just for tonight turned her eyes a brilliant purple, contrasting wildly with her bright gold mask. Straps of cloth the color of her eyes covered her in the important places and strips of lilac gauze trialed from her hands. Bits of gold chain were wrapped around her exposed limbs, and a golden headdress covered her curled dark brown hair. She was older than Alec, probably in her late twenties, but she was clinging hard to youth and doing a good job of it.

"Athena?" the woman asked, her lips curling in amusement. "Who wants a stuck-up virgin wise ass for a girl anyway?" She put her hands on Alec's chest, and his eyebrows jumped. Wow, she was a little forceful. "Peitho will show you a better time, Olympian."

"Peitho?" he asked, not remembering the name, "Are you Roman?"

The woman shook her head and the golden chains tinkled as they hit one another. "No, Grecian." She grabbed one of Alec's chest straps and pulled him toward one of the side rooms. "Come on, Adonis, I've got friends in the next room who'll want to meet you."

"It's actually Ares…"

The woman who called herself Peitho grinned and tugged again. "Good. Aphrodite will love seeing how you turned out."

As the woman pulled him into the side room, Alec started wondering if he should go find Sidda now. Maybe she needed rescuing from some Norse behemoth or an Egyptian death god. Yeah, she probably needed him by now.

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"I love this place." Max turned to look at Logan, then laughed. He was leaning on the half-rotted fence, and even though he lacked the boots, plaid shirt, and cowboy hat, for a moment he just seemed to fit in there.

"What?" Logan asked, straightening up.

"Nothing." Max smirked and turned to look back at the big farmhouse. It was a good thing she was fairly agile, otherwise she might be scared to walk onto the sunken porch and across the leaning floors of the house.

"You always say that," Logan grumbled. He moved to come stand next to her. "Why did we come back out here again?"

"To take pictures, dork." Max waved the camera in front of his face. She'd decided to take Logan's advice and start pressing the issue of the farm to the other transgenics. She'd decided that photos would help her case, and she'd managed to rope Logan into taking her out here.

Max leapt onto the steps and paced around, trying to figure out what the good angles might be.

"I'll just stay down here," Logan called after her.

"Baby," Max muttered, going into a crouch to get a better picture. She got a nice shot that looked down the length of the porch, past the door, and out into the open fields.

"No sensible." Logan followed her as she moved around the porch, but he refused to actually climb into the building.

Max rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad, there are only a few bad spots. I could warn you."

"No need to."

"No need to make such a big dealio." Max sighed and looked at Logan. "Come on, I've got enough good ones here anyway. We can go to the barn."

"Nice solid ground, I can handle that," Logan said with a smile.

Max turned and walked backward while talking to him. "I thought you were going to come up into the loft with me," she said innocently.

"Much as I like what's implied when two people talk about going into a hayloft, no thank you."

Max's face fell immediately. "Not that it matters, for us."

Logan belatedly realized what his words had reminded Max of. "Yeah, well, by the time that loft is actually safe enough for me to go into, it might actually matter," he said with a grin.

A slow blush crossed Max's face, and she looked away from Logan. She was trying not to hope too much, but it was hard with Logan's constant optimism. Logan had always had a problem with seeing the world in a very realistic manner. Hence his save-the-world complex. Then again… there he was by her side, walking again.

"Penny for your thoughts."

"What?" Max looked at him. "Why would I want a penny?"

Logan laughed, "It's an old expression. I wasn't actually going to give you a penny. Unless you want one."

"So wait, you were going to lie and steal my thoughts?" Low, Logan. Very low."

"Fine, how about a dollar? That's all I have at the moment."

Max gave him a pitying smirk. "Keep your cash, poor man. I can get my own. I was just debating how much hope I should put in Sandeman's wife."

"A lot," Logan said confidently. They stopped in front of the barn and Max turned to face him, arms wrapped around her chest.

"I don't…"

"It'll be okay," Logan promised. He wrapped his hands around her upper arms and then rubbed her arms gently. Max stiffened, but she didn't move away. She was just trying to control the urge to take a step, to move closer to Logan.

"I hope you're right." She looked at the barn. "Come on, I have to get the rest of those pictures."