May 2009 A boy around the age of twelve ran across the snow so fast that he barely left any footprints in the white powder. The sound of cracking ice caught his attention. Ducking behind a nearby tree, he searched for the source of the noise. He was just in time to see Max fall through the ice. He raced over to help her out. The sound of the soldiers getting closer alerted the both of them to the danger of being caught. Max took a deep breath and ducked under the ice, as the boy ran to hide.
The soldiers ran straight past the two children, completely unaware that they were hiding right under their noses. As soon as the soldiers were a safe distance away, the boy ran out from his hiding place and helped Max out of the icy water.
"Thanks Rein." Max hugged her green eyed brother. They surveyed the snow covered landscape which had taken on a blue hue from the night sky. The way was clear for the moment. The two children looked regretfully at each other before splitting up and going their separate ways.
2021 None of them had wanted to split up that night. It was Zack who had said it would be safer that way. Looking back twelve years later, the man that Rein had become realized Zack had been right. There wasn't a day that went by, when he didn't wonder what had happened to the others.
Pushing the past back into the safety of his subconscious, Rein pulled his jacket on and made his way to work. He never noticed the looks he got from women as he walked confidently down the Seattle streets. His jet black hair highlighted the emerald green of his eyes. Like most of his brothers, although he didn't know it, Rein stood over six foot tall. He had the appearance of a body builder, with his sculptured muscles unsuccessfully hidden under the brown sweatshirt and faded blue jeans. It was his hands with the long fingers that gave away the artist in him. Paint, pencil, clay, he could produce works of art with any of them. It was a talent that had been frowned upon at Manticore, but was rejoiced in the outside world. In his spare time he made a bit of extra cash doing drawings for people on the street.
Rein walked into a local nightclub nodding hello to the waitress' that called out greetings to him. He walked calmly up the steps to the locker rooms. He waved hello to the other bouncers and opened his locker pulling out his uniform to change into. Although Rein was quiet and kept to himself, his height and build make him appear to be a force to be reckoned with.
"Rein!" Cole, the owner of the club called out to him. "Looks like it's going to be a full house tonight. Get yourself a cup of coffee and watch the dance floor tonight, alright."
"Sure thing, Cole." Rein had a lot of time for Cole, His boss didn't ask a lot of personal questions, he just expected Rein to do his job and paid him well for doing so.
Rein positioned himself with his cup of coffee by the bar. Cole had been right, the place was already packed. Rein cast a glance over the crowd. He had the uncanny knack of being able to pick out who the trouble makers would be. He gaze rested on a man surrounded by beautiful women. The man looked as though he was about the same age as Rein, maybe a year or two older. He had mischievous blue eyes, blond hair and an infectious grin. "Oh yeah. You're going to be trouble." Rein chuckled to himself.
As the night wore on, the crowd around the blond, blue eyed man increased. He was drawing pretty women to him like moths to a light. Unfortunately, most of the women had boyfriends, husbands or partners, who were becoming incredibly agitated that their women were paying more attention to the stranger, than to them.
Just as it looked as if a fight was about to erupt, two women walked up to the stranger. The women were as different as night and day. One had dark hair, big brown eyes and full lips. She was dressed completely in black. The other woman had red hair which was a stark contrast to her pale skin and bright blue eyes. She was dressed in a bright top, black jeans and stiletto boots. As different as the two women were, they mirrored each others moments as they looked at each other and rolled their eyes.
Rein stopped in his tracks when he witnessed the silent exchange between the two women. He had seen two of his sisters work together the same way when they were children at Manticore. Max and Jondy, the Manticore twins. Rein decided to wait and watch a moment longer.
Max took a step backwards so that Jondy could reach Alec. They had spotted White as they made their way through the club to get Alec. It didn't take long to realize Alec was up to his usual antics. "I suppose we should be grateful he's not in a strip club. Let's try and get out of here without drawing too much attention." Max watched for any extra trouble while Jondy worked at getting Alec out of the trouble he was getting himself into.
"Alec, Honey, there you are." Jondy managed to come up with a southern accent. "We've gotta get going. The kids are waiting for you to tuck them in." She took hold of Alec's hand and looked at him adoringly. "You know they love it when their Daddy tells them a bedtime story."
The women surrounding Alec immediately looked disgusted with him and departed taking their partners with them. Alec laughed good naturedly. "Wow, that was close."
Max reached out and smacked him around the back of the head. "Idiot. White's here. Logan picked up a call with his scanner. White knew where to find you. Have you been flashing your barcode trying to impress women again?" There were times when Max got so exasperated with Alec's carelessness.
Alec stopped laughing and looked around him. All of the exits had been blocked even though the three of them didn't appear to have been spotted. "How are we getting out?"
Jondy had noticed the bouncer watching them. His green eyes looked so familiar to her. "Max. Take a look at this bouncer and tell me who he reminds you of. The eyes especially." She had gone back to the English accent she normally used.
Alec stared at Jondy as though she were insane. "We're trapped in here with White and you two are trying to pick up a guy together? Need I remind you what White will do to us if he catches us?"
Both women turned and glared at him. Max gave an unladylike snort. "Need we remind you, that it is because of you being careless that we are all stuck in here with White." She focused in on the bouncer that Jondy was talking about. "Rein used to have eyes that shade of green. You think it's him?"
"There's no time to find out." Jondy had just caught sight of White heading their way. "Maybe we can get out under the stage."
Rein watched as Max and Jondy headed for the stage. The moment they got on the stage, everybody would be able to see them. He had managed to catch most of their conversation. He could only guess that White posed the same sort of threat that Lydecker did. Rein walked over to the DJ and suggested a track to play. If these two women were his sisters, then Jondy would find a way to distract everyone while the other two got out. Rein could get his redheaded sister out by using the crowd to his advantage.
The three X5's heard the change in music and looked over to where Rein was standing by the DJ. Max nudged her sister. "If you're not out in ten minutes, we're coming back in to get you." She listened briefly to the song playing. "What can you do with Britney Spears." She recognized the song. It dated back to 2002.
Jondy smiled sweetly. "I think I can come up with something. Meet you outside in ten minutes." She walked onto the stage. The track was called Overprotected. It had a good beat for her to work with.
Jondy strutted onto the stage in time with the music and stopped at the edge. She looked right into White's eyes, her own face expressionless as she swung her hips seductively with the music, her hands gliding up her body.
White knew immediately what was going on. "She's covering for the others. Spread out and find them." He started making his way towards the stage, but the crowd had packed itself around the stage and was too dense for him to get through.
Rein hit the switch for the strobe lights as Jondy bounced back a few steps in time with the jerky beat of the music. He gestured to a couple of the other bouncers that there were armed men in the building.
A couple of men from the crowd tried climbing onto the stage with Jondy as she danced. She even timed her fighting movements with the music as she threw them off of the stage. Jondy never missed a beat, even with people stuffing money in her pockets.
Rein maintained control of the crowd near him, while the other bouncers were trying to find out what military type troops where doing in the building. Rein gestured to Jondy to move near the trap door on the stage. As the track hit it's last note, Rein hit the release for the trap door and Jondy disappeared through it.
White cursed as the crowd cheered the impromptu act. He pulled the walkie talkie out of his jacket pocket. "X5 210 is somewhere under the stage. Find her. Team two, X5 452 and 891 are somewhere outside the building waiting for X5 210. Approach with caution. Do not let them out of the sector."
Max, Jondy and Alec sat on the roof of the building adjacent to the club. Max dialed Logan's cell phone number. "Hey, it's me. We've got Alec out but White's people have the place surrounded. We're going to have to stay put until they give up and go home."
Logan could have happily strangled Alec for putting them all in danger. "How did you get out. Or should I ask what Jondy did to cover for you getting Alec out?" He saw Krit, Syl and Zane let themselves into his apartment. Zane's dog followed at his master's heels.
Max snickered at her sister counting the money that had been stuffed into her pockets. "Jondy made four hundred bucks keeping her clothes on. On a slightly different note, we have stumbled on one of our brothers, so all in all, I guess we've had a busy evening."
Logan shook his head. "Let me see if I can get White to relocate his men long enough for you to get out of there. Is White using a walkie talkie or his cell phone?"
Max repeated the question to Jondy. Jondy had actually passed right past White's feet when she had crawled out from under the stage. "Walkie talkie. He had his cell phone clipped onto his belt."
Max repeated the information back to Logan. Logan started tapping into the frequency on White's walkie talkie. Motioning to Krit, he pointed to the microphone that was set up on the desk. "Tell White that Alec, Max and Jondy have been sighted on foot in sector seven."
White's walkie talkie crackled. "Sir? Three of the rouge X5's have been sighted in sector seven. I repeat. Three X5's have been sighted in Sector seven. One of them is a redheaded woman."
White turned pale. "How the hell did they get to sector seven so quickly? Approach with caution. Shoot to kill if necessary, but I want X5 210 alive understand?"
"Yes Sir." The voice fizzled out on the walkie talkie.
White paced for a moment. How had the three X5's gotten across town to sector seven so fast. Even with their souped up DNA it seemed impossible. "Search the roof." He wasn't convinced the sighting in sector seven was correct. "Team one take the roof. Team two head over to sector seven" he was leaving nothing to chance.
Rein watched the chaos outside the club. He thought Lydecker was persistent in his search for the escaped X5's, but this guy White was like a machine. He would never stop until he or the X5's were dead. Rein went back to his post by the bar, watching the dance floor. His sisters knew where to find him now. They would contact him when it was safe.
Syl glanced at the clock on the wall for what seemed like the hundredth time. "What's taking them so long? They should be back by now."
Logan came back into the room. Jondy's twins were still fast asleep in the guest room, much to his relief. "They had to stay off of the street and travel by rooftop. If they're not back in another ten minutes, I'll give Matt Sung a call and get him to take a look for them."
"Look for who?" Max walked in the door followed by Alec and Jondy. "Sorry we took so long. White wasn't giving up too easily. We saw Rein though."
"Rein?" Logan started to relax now that Max and Jondy were safe and sound. "Is he one of your siblings that escaped with you?"
"Yeah." Max sat on the arm of the chair that Logan had sat down in. "He's a bouncer at the club we were at tonight. He helped us get out of there. I don't think White knows who he is, so he's probably still safe."
"Thanks to Alec," Krit frowned at his fellow X5. "We can't go back there and speak to Rein. White will have people watching the place. The phones will probably be tapped now as well."
"We'll find a way to contact Rein." Jondy reassured her brother. "We just have to wait a while. I have to get over to the hospital and put a few hours in." She ruffled Alec's hair. "No using my children to pick up girls."
"I'll go with you.' Zane followed his sister, his dog walked between Zane and Jondy. "There's a lot of weirdo's out there."
Syl slumped down in an armchair. "So what's the deal with Jondy's medical degree? She has to put in a few hours at a hospital to keep it?"
Logan nodded. "Yeah, something like that. Sam needed the help at the hospital anyway, so it fitted in perfectly. All we have to do is make sure White doesn't find her."
Max glared at Alec. "Next time you get spotted by White's people, you're on your own. Jondy has kids now. She can't keep saving your arse and risking her own. Don't you get that?"
Alec felt terrible. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to have a bit of fun. How was I to know that all of those women had temperamental partners. It could have been worse, I could have been in a strip joint."
Krit put his head in his hands. "If that had been the case, you would be in a cage or dead now. No way would Jondy do a strip to save your sorry butt."
The full impact of what Max and Krit were saying hit Alec hard. Jondy had been through so much in this year alone. He couldn't bare to think that he was making her life even worse. "I promise, it will never happen again. I'll be more careful."
Metro Medical was hectic tonight. Sam Carr watched the patients pour in. "Has Dr Saunders arrived yet, Selina?" Sam smiled at the young nurse who looked run off of her feet.
"Yes Dr Carr." Selina smiled at the Doctor. "Her brother brought her in a few minutes ago. Is anybody in that family ugly?"
Sam chuckled. "Not that I've seen. Can you page her and get her to come to emergency. We're getting overcrowded in there and I could use the help." He made his way back into the emergency room.
Sitting on an examination table holding a towel to his forehead, Rein watched the Doctor walk back into the examination room. A fight had erupted at the club. Rein had managed to stop a drunken thug from killing his girlfriend, but Rein had ended up getting a broken bottle to his face and arm.
Rein heard the sound of stiletto heels on the tiled floor. He saw Dr Carr smile at someone behind him. "Hey Jessica. Can you take a look at our friend here. He had a fight with a broken bottle. His boss is worried about how close the wound is to his eye. I'll take the car accident victim." Rein turned slightly to see who the Doctor was talking to. Standing before him wearing a white lab coat was Jondy.
"No problem Sam." Jondy moved the towel away from Rein's face. "Well, let's clean this up and see if we can keep you from scaring." She winked at Rein. "Thanks for your help tonight."
"You're a Doctor?" Rein was confused.
"It's sort of a part time thing. Actually, although I have a medical degree, I usually tend bar at nights." Jondy kept her voice low as she cleaned Rein's wounds. "I live in San Francisco normally. Just visiting my sister Max, who lives here. My brothers Krit and Zane and our sister Syl are also visiting." As far as Jondy could see Rein's wounds weren't deep and would probably be completely healed by the end of the week. She kept their conversation sounding as though Rein was just another patient in case someone overheard them. "So do you still draw?" She bandaged up his arm.
Rein was still dealing with the fact that Max lived in Seattle. She had been close by all of this time and he hadn't know. "Sometimes. The club keeps me busy though." He lowered his voice. "What about the others that escaped? Are they all safe?"
Jondy dressed Rein's head wound. She could whisper and Rein would be the only one that would be able to hear her. "Tinga's dead. Zack's alive, but he's more machine than transgenic now. It's a long story, but the summary is that he has no memory of us and he's safe. Ben went insane and was killed. Brin got taken back to Manticore and reprogrammed. Jase got out of Manticore about a year and a half ago. Oh yeah, Max blew Manticore up."
"Twelve of us escaped, what about the other two?" Jondy had only covered the whereabouts of nine of their siblings, ten if Rein counted himself.
Jondy shook her head. "Zack's the only one who knew where they were." She could see more casualties coming in. "If you need anything, get hold of Max. You can find her at Jam Pony. Manticore has been destroyed, Ames White is the new problem. He's stronger than a transgenic and he will not stop until we have all been destroyed. Watch your back." Jondy squeezed her brother's hand. "Take care Big Brother."
Rein watched his sister walk away. "Jondy always the complicated one." He muttered to himself. He eased off the examination table and went to find Cole, who had brought him to the hospital. After twelve years, he had finally found his family. Suddenly life had a whole new meaning to it.
THE END