I'm sorry I'm only back now. Let's just say that life got a hold of me. Anyway, I just uploaded the revised version of the first three chapters. I'm currently working on the rest and on the rest of the story. I've made some changes, especially with the second and third chapter. The plot is the same but, I needed to make some adjustments. I hope you'll still like the story.
The car lay lifeless on the side of the road. He'd smashed it again, and again, until, it resembled no more a car but an awkward pile of bent steel.
As far as he could remember, he was always good in expressing his rage, anger, violence, hatred, fury, wrath, ire. And so far, this year, those feelings had become his companions.
Things kept stacking up. He'd discovered how deep his father's betrayal went with the Manticore Project; and the looks came back. The looks that told him that he wasn't good enough, and that they were watching him, because he was the son of a traitor.
The respect, and fear, he'd come to consider to be rightfully his were now meaningless. It was '96 all over again. The questions, the second guessing.
And then, there was the transgenics and 452. The mere thought of an aberration such as her existing... He mentally cringed and scrunched his face. How could his father side with humans? How could he create those animals? How could he betray his son yet again?
The looks and the suspicions weren't the only things that bothered him: 452 kidnapped his son; All his leads didn't bring him closer to find him; leads on 452 and transgenics that didn't in the end amount to anything. The last two weeks, they've been chasing Xs and other freaks, but they always ended up somewhere non-related to the transgenics: a bakery, a drug dealers' lair, a boat, a sex addict reunion, and lately a strip joint.
His director considered that particular thing to be the last straw: he was present at the 'gentlemen's club', casually 'discussing' with a 'waitress'. As a result, the Bureau, unfortunately composed of non-familiar members, considered that he didn't do a good enough job of chasing the Manticore freaks and most of his teams, when they ran across Xs ended up hurt or dead, and apparently that was unacceptable.
So here he was, in the middle of nowhere, with no gas, no car, no means of transportation and no phone. He was on 'vacation'. Forced leave described it better. And all of it really was Otto's fault.
He considered Otto to be his Personal Assistant, before being an agent. Well, Personal Assistant was too grand a word for a slave. Otto simply did all White told him to do. Pick up his laundry, wash his car, and put gas in the said car. Something that he obviously didn't do.
His fury came back full force. This time directed to a particular person. Otto Gotlieb.
"That son of a bitch!"
How a guy could be so stupid and forget to simply fill his gas tank! Thankfully, soon, the Coming would erase all the human weaklings. The transgenics however were something else. And again, he felt his anger burst.
He exhaled. Took a deep breath. Paused. Something in the air, in the smell around him was familiar.
He knew that smell. Sniffing the air, he followed the fragrance toward a path in the woods.
Three days before
Sleep was a rare commodity for her, but it never bothered her. Most of the time. But the last two days, she'd overslept. She arrived at Jam Pony, late as usual, and for once (well twice) Normal was actually right when he accused her of hogging the sheets. Anyway, there was no reason that would make her arrive on time. Normal or no Normal. He was shorthanded as it was. Plus, it would probably shock the poor guy to death to see her at Jam Pony bright and early.
Or maybe he'd just find another reason to nag her. Probably.
Of late, the temperature in town was smoldering hot, November was approaching but it felt like Seattle had just a pulled a Vegas weather. And like anybody else she felt hot. Some kind of dysfunction in Mother Nature that agreed to her own dysfunctional nature.
"Hey OC!"
OC turned her head and smiled. "Hey boo. Didn't see you last night, where were you?"
"Had some things to do." Max replied.
"Logan?"
"Who else?" she was a tiny bit defensive and Cindy noticed.
Cindy arched her brow "Uhm…Cranky much?"
Max looked apologetic. "Sorry, it didn't go as planned and…" Before she could finish her sentence, a vice grip was pulling her away from Cindy and from Jam Pony. She relaxed when she recognized Alec, but she didn't hide her anger.
"What is wrong with you?" her face was flushed.
"I can smell you!" he growled. He released her as if she'd caught an STD.
"What are you…" she stopped as realization dawned on her. "Oh God, oh no!"
"You needto get out of town. Don't go near TC, some X5s could…" He looked at her pointedly, not needing to explain further what could happen.
"I know. I learned my lessons during the little months I spent back there!" she cut in. Her anger hadn't dissolved. How couldn't she have seen this coming? She was angry at him for noticing this particular weakness in her, and angry at herself for not picking up earlier on the clues. But she was still sane enough to react accordingly.
"You have somewhere to go?" inquired the troubled X5 in front of her.
"Logan's uncle used to have a cottage, out of the city. It's a bit far but I'll manage."
"Go!" he barked.
And without looking back, she ran as fast as she could.
Jonas Cale's Cottage
After the last year, her heat felt almost reassuring. As if something in her life was still the same as before. Before the attack on Manticore, before the retro-virus, before the familiars, before all this mess that made her present life.
It was almost easy to stay focused on distracting herself from any sex implied thoughts. Real easy. The recipe was simple: Push-ups and cold showers. Lots of them. And some additional help thanks to Alec who'd had given her some kind of drug months ago to ease the craving :it was a mild success. She could force herself to do something else than thinking about Alec's muscles, or his hands on her, or the way he fitted his jeans perfectly, or the sight of him with just a towel around the waist, his smell, his eyes, his mouth, lips, pecs…
"I need another shower!" she groaned.
The second she stepped out of the bathroom, she smelt a male. Finally, someone had come to her. The flush of desire crept on her face and in her eyes.
His scent was familiar. It wasn't Logan or Alec; she would have recognized their smell. No. She shook her head, clearing her thought. It wasn't a transgenic. Nor was it human. What was he then? Despite her state of arousal, she shuddered as she understood what he was. And then, she recognized the scent. His scent. A familiar's scent.
"Oh, no! Not him."
She blurred to get to the kitchen counter but in her rush the vials fell on the floor and the green liquid spilled on the floor.
"Shit!"
She was doomed.
He couldn't believe his luck. If his sense of smell didn't betray him, it was 452. Maybe he wouldn't bite Otto's head off afterall.
Something was polluting her smell. Something sweet mingled in her odor, something heady, rich, exhilarating. But he didn't stop to think about that. Instead, he focused on the fact that 452 was at his mercy. He smiled and pulled his gun out.
He didn't know why she was here, on her own, but he didn't mind, by the end of the day, he would know where she had hidden Ray and he would have the pleasure to kill her.
His day had just taken a turn for the better.
Panic seized her. Her head was filled with conflicting thoughts: on the one hand, she felt an intense craving to jump the male right outside the cottage; to feel his hardness, his strength all over her, in her. Calling on her graphic memory, she remembered the way he walked, the way he frowned. All of a sudden, the way he fought, the way he carried himself wasn't perceived as a threat, as something to be analyzed. At that moment, his every move, word, phrasing, quirks that she could recall held an appeal. His body held the promise of relief.
On the other hand, her survival instincts were kicking in. The familiars were to the transgenics, what werewolves were to vampires, they, the transgenics, were the mongooses fighting the snakes, the familiars. It was in their blood to fight, to turn on each other. And in her heightened state, this fact was clearer to her than it ever was since she learned of the existence of the snakes. 'What am I gonna do?' she whispered desperately. She couldn't call on help. She was miles from Seattle and she definitely wouldn't involve another transgen, just so that Ames and his team could add another scalp in this already bloody war. She struggled to focus, to see the situation as the soldier that she was trained to be. How many of them were out there?
Cocking her head to the side, she listened. How odd, he was alone too she concluded after a few seconds. Her animal side took over. Something more than her heat was driven her.
"You don't want to be here White." It was hard to keep the purr out of her voice.
So much for a surprise visit, Ames thought. No matter. He had a gun and as far as he could remember, she never carried one.
"Actually, I do want to be here. I'm coming for you 452."
Her aroused alter ego answered "In a few minutes babe, in just a few minutes." Her sane part was immediately mortified. She was facing her most dangerous enemy, and due to her hormonal state, all she was able to think about was how good it would feel to have his tongue down her throat, or hers down his. She could think of lot of ways to use her tongue on him, and she was sure he was really going to cum for her.
The smell followed him everywhere. The heady aroma filled his nose. He liked that smell. Like a wolf, he sniffed the air and took a lung full trying to understand what was in that scent that he liked so much. Her voice seemed to come from the front of the house. He backed up and went around the cottage toward the back door. Something was pushing him ahead. It wasn't his fury or his anger anymore that fueled him. He didn't want to kill her either. It was a new kind of desire that pushed him ahead.
He kicked the door open but as soon as he set one foot in the cottage, the gun was kicked out of his hands, and another kind of attack overwhelmed him. An hostile take-over of his senses. The heady scent was her pheromones, and they hit him full force once he was inside. To his horror, he couldn't help but react to it, as the bulge in his pants attested.
Before she could think about stopping, or clearing her thoughts, or better yet fleeing, Max crashed her mouth on his. If she stopped she'd know that this was Ames, she would maybe have the time to clear her head, and realize this was her natural enemy. And then, she wouldn't have her relief. Her wanton doppelganger craved the relief. Years of frustrated unsatisfied sex had finally caught up with her and here was a man who could, who would satisfy all her needs.
Hungry lips crashed on his own before he could recover and before he knew it, he too was lost and exploring her mouth; he roughly handled her body, his hands mauling her breast, her ass, he was everywhere, overwhelming her senses; and that was exactly what she was looking for. Her alter ego sighed in pleasure, finally relief had come.
The smell of gun powder woke him up. Without opening his eyes, he knew that she had his gun trained on him.
Slowly, he opened his eyes and looked straight in her brown orbs. There was reluctance in her stance, but no hesitation in the way she handled the gun.
"I told you to go!" Max said through gritted teeth.
"The way I remember it, you jumped on me." He was strangely composed about all this.
"Do you want to die?" her voice was dispassionate, but her eyes betrayed her feelings.
They remained in a stare match for a long time, and he wondered why she didn't pull the trigger already. To his surprise and shock, she moved the gun away from his head and threw it across the room. All the while, silent tears begun to fall from her eyes.
The situation couldn't have been more awkward. He wasn't supposed to bed his enemy, the bitch who'd stolen his son. He wasn't supposed to react in that way at her sight; he wasn't supposed to think that the last two days of his life were the best ever. They weren't supposed to be that compatible on that level! He wasn't supposed to care about why she was crying! He wasn't that bad in bed, right? And finally he wasn't supposed to feel a rush of protectiveness toward it, or her! Whatever she was. The last two days, she'd been his lover. And he had to admit it she had been a freaking good one.
She was not completely dressed: she just had a bra and panties on. Nonetheless, it was clear that she'd been awake for at least an hour. He guessed that she had trained that gun several time right between his eyes before he came around. The knowledge that she could have killed him so easily had never occurred to him. She was a killing a machine, yes; but he never thought that one day, he'd find himself utterly defenseless and naked in front of her, that he'd find himself in a situation where she got the jump on him. She'd always been just an animal to him, a little bug who needed to learn her place in the world. It bothered him that he'd continued to sleep, the sleep of the dead when she was there. No matter that she wasn't in a state to think about killing him when he closed his eyes completely tired around 3 in the morning. Now, she'd apparently gathered all her wits. And he'd given her an opportunity to take his gun and shot him in the head. Why hadn't she pulled the trigger? He watched as the tears continued to fall silently.
"How long you've been up?" he asked trying to distract her and himself from her tears.
He thought she wasn't going to answer, when he heard her whispered, "I don't sleep," Her voice was surprisingly firm for someone who was crying.
"Shark DNA." It was a question. She nodded.
"It was heat," she was really talking to herself, rationalizing what had happened. She had to find a way to accept what had happened and live with herself. This was the worst heat ever. "Manticore wanted to make sure that we were able to breed..." she stopped mid sentence unable to finish.
"I know," Ames said. He hated his father even more for making this kind of situation possible.
As he continued to look at her, he realized he didn't feel repulsed by her anymore. If anything, he wanted more of her. From where he was, he saw the bite mark on her shoulders, some bruises here and there on her manufactured, yet perfect golden skin.
He realized that he had enjoyed the late events. He'd always enjoyed sex. But sex with humans had been unsatisfying : he had to be careful not to break them. With her,he'd been rough, and she'd handled it fine. She even seemed to like it. The whole thing was…baffling to say the least.
He knew he still despised her and for good reasons; for what she was, for what she had done, for what, who she represented. But he couldn't deny the chemistry between them. He would even tolerate going another round with her. But he suspected that it was a onetime thing. He had heard about the heat of the females X5s. He had even witnessed some. But he hadn't responded like that to the other X5s. What did his father put in her cocktail to make him react that strongly to her? He pondered silently.
"I'm pregnant," she announced. She stood up, giving her back to him, she stared out the window. Cold air penetrated the warm cottage through the opened back door; it seemed that the winter had finally decided to show its nose and settle in.
"Is that why you were here?" he asked.
"No. You don't understand. You fathered it," she affirmed.
"What…I…that…" he spluttered.
Horror painted itself on his face. She had to be lying. She had to be. How could a onetime thing become a permanent thing? Especially with her.No. It was just impossible. Because of their peculiar genes not many humans could be compatible with them. They'd been experimenting with the transgenics and so far, they had approximately the same result, as with the humans. It was just impossible, he reassured himself.
But the truth in her words reached his head. And he knew, he knew that she wasn't lying.
Oblivious to his inner turmoil, Max went on "I can get pregnant when I'm not in heat. According to Manticore stats, 23.9% of chance to be pregnant out of heat. With an X serie it goes up to 69.8%." she said coldly. "But in heat, I have 99.9 per cent of chance to be. If our…" she hesitated. "sessions are any indication, then I can assure you that I'm pregnant. After my last stay in Manticore, Renfro made sure that in my heat induced state, I'll choose the best male compatible and breed." She spat the last word, recalling the one session during which Renfro had explained it allto her. She wasn't responsible of her actions. Manticore did this to her. This wasn't her fault. If she repeated it enough times in her head, she'd believe it. Maybe.
This was insane. "There is still a chance..."
'There's still a chance.' Was he high? Didn't he listen to what she'd just said? Anger toward him brought her out of her limbo, "I told you to go!" she clamored. "Do you think I want to carry your spawn?"
He winced at her words. He didn't want her to carry his child, but at the mention of her condition, he couldn't help the rush of protectiveness he felt toward this unborn baby. He'd lost so many childs along the way, before he found Wendy and she gave him, Ray, his only living son. He hoped that Ray was still alive.
His expression was her undoing and she lunged at him landing blow after blow. Somehow, he managed to push her and to get his hands around her throat. She stilled. Thousand thoughts crossed her head, and she settled on one. Maybe this was the solution she was searching for. She couldn't live with herself; this was the alternative she'd been looking for. It wasn't suicide if someone killed you.
At that moment, she didn't care about OC, or Joshua, or Alec, she didn't want to, she couldn't; she had to save herself. What had happened last night, between them was a betrayal. And never again she would betray her kind. Never again. She had to die. She wouldn't carry this child, his child.
Warmth seeped through all of her body; she thought it was from her decision, some kind of response her body was giving her, telling her that it was the right thing to do. But no. Death was an end far too sweet for her.
He saw the decision in her eyes. She wasn't going to dodge this one. She wasn't even trying to fight. Nonplused, he hesitated long enough to see the runes starting to appear all over her like an army of black ants. From her toes to her head, she was completely covered by the 'ants'.
"Kill me!" she sobbed.
Quickly he read the inscriptions. His hands still around her throat, ready to snap her neck. He pushed her toward the morning light; he clumsily followed the lines of ants from bottom to top, again, again. No, it couldn't be! She couldn't be! His father couldn't be right during all this time! He just couldn't be right! Completely confounded, he let the gun drop from his hand.
"Are you doing this? How did you do this?" he spat angrily.
"Like I would do this to myself!" she snickered. "I didn't do anything. It just appeared. You saw it like I did!"
"Do you know what it means?" he inquired. He loosened his hold on her.
"Do you see a twisted caduceus on my forearm? No." He stepped back. "So the answer is: No, I don't know what it means!" she yelled. "Just kill me!"
She picked up the gun and put it in his hand, the barrel aimed at her head.
"Kill me," she continued to say.
He looked at her. If he read the runes in the right order, he couldn't. He just couldn't. And even without the runes, he wasn't sure of what he would do. Knowing that his child was probably growing inside her was, let's face it, hard for him to accept, but it was pleasant. He was overwhelmed, just like when he learned about Ray.
"No. You need to live."
"You're supposed to hate my kind! Just kill me already! If you worry about the child, it's not born yet! I've seen you bragging on the fact that you could kill a transgenic without a second thought. Do it now! Please."
He grimaced. He understood her pain. Their kinds were never meant to mix. But he couldn't, he just couldn't kill her. "Yes it's about the child! How could you think that I would kill the mother of my child! I'm not a monster!" There was another reason but he wasn't about to tell her.
"Oh yeah!" she said with irony.
"I've done things. Just like you did. And those things were done to protect my kind! I should have killed you. But this" he gestured toward her body covered runes "this changes everything. So I won't kill you. I can't. I can't." He shook his head.
"What, you fell in love with me or that kind of shit?" sarcasm dripping through her.
"No. There's a message for me from my father on your tattoo. We need to find him."
"And after?" you'll kill me? She didn't need to finish the sentence to make him understand.
"I don't know," he admitted. She nodded. At least it was the truth.
Alec had decided to give Max one more day before calling her. He knew that depending on the female, the heat period was more or less longer. But now, 5 days after he'd told her to hit the road, he still didn't have any news. Whereas it was normal for her not to call him to ascertain that she was fine, she called OC. But just like him, his sassy co-worker hadn't heard a word from Max. 7 days now had passed since he had smelled her. 7 days since she had ran from Seattle to Jonas Cale's cottage. 7 days since he got any news from her. The only other person she would have called was not on his favorite list. Unfortunately for him, he was worried and that meant that he had to pay a visit Mr Eyes Only.
"I don't know where she is Alec," admitted Logan, his eyes never leaving his screen.
Alec chuckled as Asha entered the room and leaned on Logan, peering on his screen. She seemed to be spending a lot of time around since she learned that Max was going to be 'unavailable' for a few days. He knew just by the smell what was really going on here, but hey, it wasn't his place to say anything. So he shut his mouth. All he wanted was Max's location. Just to make sure that she was safe and sound.
"So you think it's him?" Asha asked the vigilante, ignoring Alec.
"It's him," Logan said.
"The mice are dancing when the cat is out" Alec muttered darkly. It might not have been his place to say anything but Max was his friend.
"You said anything Alec?" replied Asha a bit angrily. She knew his comment was directed toward her. Logan as usual was oblivious.
"Nothing." He shrugged. "Logan can you give me the location of your uncle's cottage?"
For a moment, Logan didn't answer.
"Logan!"
Finally, Logan scribbled something on a paper and handed it to Alec.
"Thanks for nothing." Snarked the transgenic on his way out.
He arrived at the cottage as the day was rising. The scenery was beautiful. The sun was fighting the night for his spot, and the colors were so vivid and warm against the frost and snow that had started to settle in. But Alec didn't pay any attention to that.
He eyed the open door warily. No one was here, he could smell and hear that much. No human heartbeat and the scents were days old. Nevertheless, he recognized her. And the other one too. First he thought that a transgenic had followed her. But the smell wasn't transgenic. It was Ames White's familiar flavor.
He had noticed a car - well sort of a car really - on the road before he took the turn toward the cottage. So he came back on his way but he found that the gas tank was empty. The license plate was one of the government.
"Max where are you?" he wondered out loud.
He was sure she was alive, but in what condition, he didn't know? And that was what was worrying him most.
He came back by nightfall in Seattle, and didn't beat around the bush when he confronted her "not like that boyfriend".
"She wasn't there Logan."
"Who?"
"Max."
"Well maybe she's with Cindy…"
"You don't understand, I smelled Ames White and his car was parked three miles from the cottage!" yelled Alec angrily. "For once leave your beloved computer and your pale copy of a cat burglar alone and find her! If she's dead Logan, you are too!"
Alec could feel it in his bones, somethings were brewing in the dark. Changes were coming. He just hoped that wherever Max was, she was somehow safe, at least alive and kicking, coz he was coming after White and he knew she would hate to miss someone kicking Ames'ass.
"Please God, let her be alive."
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