RESCUE

Seattle

January 2041

They prepared the plan and many of them lay down for a while. Seth couldn't rest he was safe here and neither Ben nor Gray were here.

Max and Alec sat down next to him, one on the left, one on the right and he leaned against them. It almost felt good if it hadn't been for the uncertainty.

Nika went straight up to the rooftops and sprinted off. She jumped from roof to roof like a big cat. Nothing could have stopped her because she was sure that Ben was in danger. She quickly arrived at the Space Needle and was already on her way up. She was just jumping over the fence when a car with squealing tires caught her attention. She hesitated and instead of going up, she decided to first look where the car had been a few seconds ago. She walked closer and froze. There on the ground was a small can of tryptophan! They already had it, she was late.

She turned on her heel and was on her way again, this time towards TC.

She stormed into the hall, it was already late but she saw that Seth was sitting there with Max and Alec.

"We have to do it now, they have Ben!"

Seth jumped up and looked at her in horror, but at the same time he seemed more determined than ever. He ran through the hall once to wake up everyone who was supposed to take part in the mission.

Oliver, Damon and little Jack stayed here with Dix and Luke to coordinate the troops.

Joshua and Mole took Madison, Harper, Carson and Boas under their wing. Alec took Aiden, Yara and Seth, Max took Nika, Chad and Jade in their unit. Now it started. As they had already noticed, the streets were empty, no family to be seen. They had now reached their destination and caught Ben, which everyone found even more frightening.

At the same time, the car with Ben had arrived at Ames White's former apartment. Ben was lying trembling in the trunk. He had just been digging his tryptophan out of his pocket when he was attacked. The can had fallen to the floor and he couldn't make it out. He was now feeling accordingly and could no longer defend himself enough, let alone walk upright, when the trunk was finally opened. Two of the bastards dragged him out and dragged him into an apartment that didn't normally appear to be occupied. He was placed on a chair and a shifty and shabby-looking little man in a doctor's coat, without warning, stabbed him in the carotid artery and drew some of his blood, which he immediately packed in a suitcase and disappeared again the next moment. They opened a door that had a large bolt on it, dragged him up and threw him in. He rolled on the floor into a corner and lay there groaning, almost unconscious. It had never come to this before, all these years either Marga or Seth had found him early enough and helped him, he had never been in this state for longer and had never felt so weak and at the mercy of him.

He barely noticed that anyone else was in the room, but he recognized Gray next to him as he dragged himself over to him. He looked bad, his body was covered in cuts and bruises and, given the regenerative ability of a transgenic, that suggested that his stay here had not been particularly pleasant.

Before he passed out, Ben only managed to say:

"They are on the way".

Gray didn't know who was on the way, but all these weeks he had been worried that he wouldn't get killed and now he hoped it was good news and not bad news.

Outside, the groups from TC were just taking a stand. Some on the roofs, others behind the corners and cars in the area. Everyone had found a suitable place to remain undetected when the little shabby laboratory doctor came to the door. A car drove up and he handed over the suitcase he had with him with the words: "Quick analysis, it looks like we got the right guy".

The car drove away with the suitcase and the strange little man went back into the house.

The small groups now approached from all sides, always in the shadows and under the cover of darkness. Alec was the first to reach the door and signaled above that those who should attack from the roof were also advancing.

Then Joshua howled and all the groups struck.

Alec led his team up the stairwell to the target apartment. On the way they met two guards and had to fight their way through. One of the men pulled out a gun and shouted: "Pérez, Bloggs!", at the same moment he fired at the Alec and his companions. Seth felt a sharp pain in his arm but nothing could stop him on his way to his brother and Gray. He screamed and at the same time he jumped in front of the big guy, grabbed him and threw him over the railing. A shattering scream and a few more shots echoed through the house and then it was silent for a moment. Above they heard glass breaking. The troops from the roof had entered the apartment through the windows. As discussed, Jade came straight to the door and opened it. Alec and Seth stormed into the apartment, Aiden and Yara stayed at the door as discussed to keep watch. Inside, the battle raged between the kidnappers and Max, Nika and Chad. Alec sent Jade out to Joshua and Mole's squad because he suspected reinforcements would arrive soon after the guard in the stairwell sounded the alarm too early. And warned the two in the apartment.

He himself started to work on the door inside the apartment, behind the large bolt they suspected Gray and Ben, but was torn away by one of the enemies and almost flew halfway across the room.

"Seth, the key." Nika shouted and threw almost at the same time but his heightened senses enabled him to catch the key in the same second and just as quickly open the lock on the locked door and push away the large bolt. There were already battle cries coming from the street outside and Joshua's howls suggested that the fight was tough and that some familiars had now arrived down there to reinforce them. Seth stormed into the room he had just opened. Alec had picked himself up and had now come into the room shortly behind him:

"Oh shit!" That was all he could say before he leaned over Ben and tried to feel his pulse. He nodded at Seth and picked Ben up in his arms. Seth was with Gray and supported him since Gray himself wasn't strong enough to get to his feet. "Finally, Sethy," he slumped heavily and Seth had trouble standing with him. Alec made his way to the door and amidst the shouts of the two familiars in the apartment, who tried to set their colleagues downstairs on him, he continued on undeterred. Seth followed him with Gray and they made quick progress until they paused just before the door to the street. Suddenly it was quiet. Dead quiet. Then Joshua howled and they still dared to step through the door. Joshua and Mole's squad stood there and Joshua was carrying Jade, who lay lifeless in his arms. One of the attackers caught her and broke her neck. However, this attacker had not counted on Joshua's strength. The moment he saw this, he freed himself from the clutches of two attackers, finished them off with a single blow and then took on the murderer. He had the murderer's head in his hand, and at that moment everything became quiet. All eyes were on Joshua and he had thrown his head away with a howl and picked Jade up from the ground. So he stood there like a huge memorial. Everything seemed to happen in slow motion. The attackers were defeated, either dead or at least struck down for a long time. Joshua set off with Jade in his arms, followed by Alec with Ben who he still had to carry and Seth with Gray who was able to walk supported by Seth. Everyone else followed them in a group led by Max and Nika.

A silent march through the dark and deserted streets of Seattle, punctuated by the chime of a church tower bell.

Today was January 15th. The elder's birthday.

They walked towards TC, listening to the bell in the church tower. Jade wasn't the Familiars' first victim but they swore that night she should have been the last victim.

When they arrived in TC, everyone wrapped Jade in white towels and carefully placed her in the back of one of the trucks.

Alec had placed Ben on one of the couches and was sitting next to him with a cloth wiping the injuries and just trying to be there when he woke up. Nika had sat down so that Ben's head was in her lap and was stroking his head. They had already given him his tryptophan and were now hoping that he would come to soon.

Seth took Gray up to the room where they had always been together before. He helped Gray out of the blood-stained sweater and turned on the shower up there in the bathroom. Gray was weak and could barely stand on his own. Seth also got him some tryptophan to drink and then tried to help him into the bathroom. Gray sat back down and looked at him helplessly.

"Come with me and hold me," he asked Seth.

Seth undressed without a word and he also helped Gray out of the rest of his clothes. They went into the shower together, Seth held Gray, who just stood there and let the warm water flow over his face. He turned Gray towards him to gently wash his face and chest. Gray leaned in and kissed him. Seth returned the kiss and they stood there under the warm stream of water, kissing passionately and enjoying this very intimate moment despite all the circumstances of the night. Gray was weak and seemed vulnerable. Seth admired how strong he still was despite his long time in captivity and torture. Seth helped him wash away the dirt, blood and torment of recent times. Gray was grateful and at the same time, despite all the painful wounds, he was drawn closer to Seth. He turned and leaned against Seth and they let the warm water run over their bodies until Seth opened his eyes again and saw something.

"Gray, your code, it's readable, it's complete." Y2 331845 645 213 was now clearly legible. Seth read it out loud and at the same time something seemed familiar. His coach! Malcolm, an X5, commissioned by Alec, 213 was his identification number!

It occurred to him that today was the older Y2's birthday and should actually be celebrated today. Seth wasn't sure if the group was up for it because there was still Jade downstairs and Gray probably needed some rest rather than any excitement. Seth decided to take care of Gray first. He helped Gray out of the shower and into fresh clothes, then he took him to bed, Gray slipped under the covers and was almost asleep. Seth stroked his head and kissed his forehead: "I'll check on Ben."

Gray nodded and then immediately fell asleep.

Seth went down into the hall. Ben was now awake and sitting on the sofa with Nika and Max. They were talking about the lab technician and Ben was talking about the blood that he had drawn from him. Max had heard that when the suitcase was handed over, there was talk of the "right person". She called Joshua, Mole and Alec over and told them what she had found out on her trip to Wyoming. She suspected that once the person with the perfect genetic cocktail was found, control of the Familiars could also be placed in his hands.

That was an assumption but also an explanation for the notes in the files about the target value that had apparently been achieved and also for the statement of the laboratory technician, but also why the Familiars had not given up looking for Ben all these years.

"You were in my file storage?"

Alec looked at Max confused. How did she decide to go there?

"Your file storage"?

"Yes, I told you that I've been collecting everything for a long time and it's all stored there in the little flophouse. "I just looked in vain for the files you got from Lydecker."

"When I was staying there I looked through a lot of the files and I have a guess."

Max looked at Alec and then around but Alec completed her sentence:

"Ben is the one they are looking for, the perfect offspring who alone is entitled to lead the Familiars."

Everyone looked at Alec, speechless. He had said the unthinkable. Max had suspected exactly that back in the small apartment but hadn't dared to think about it in more detail and she had always held it back. Now Alec had said it and everyone knew, after the blood sample and the shabby little lab doctor's statements, that it was true.

"You mean to say I'm not just a lab product but also the top result?"

Ben had picked himself up and looked around exhausted, somewhat horrified and confused. In these few weeks he had not only learned who his parents were but also why he was the actual target of the Familiars.