The guards shook their heads as they passed the lab. They could hear his insane ramblings day and night. Regis would not be happy that he hadn't made any progress. He was starting to resemble the creatures that they had heard were located beneath Manticore when it had been functioning. Casting a concerned glance at the lab they finished their shift and went to fill out their reports.
"Nice Wig. What does Stan make of it?" Max sipped her beer as she sat with her friends from Jam Pony.
Jondy loaded the empty glasses onto the tray she was holding. "He thinks I make a better redhead, but as long as the customers keep coming in, he's not asking any questions." She scratched the back of her head. "It's damn itchy though."
"So the black wig is to hide you from a stalker?" Sketchy as usual was so drunk that he could barely stand, let alone stay on his seat. "It's only my opinion but I think you look hot no matter what color your hair is."
Herbal kept hold of Sketchy's collar so that he didn't fall off his chair. "It'll take more than a change of hair color to disguise you, my sister." He explained when everyone looked at him completely confused. "Jessica has an original walk, a specific way she talks, not to mention expressions that cross her face. A wig might not be enough."
Jondy blew a stray hair out of her face. "Well, it's going to have to be enough, at least for tonight." She turned and walked back to the bar.
"So there's been no sign of Mathew since Jessica left him with his pants around his ankles, literally." Original Cindy looked at Max over the rim of her glass of beer.
Max shook her head. "No. Logan found out that he was some sort scientist. Certainly was performing some major chemistry when I last saw him. If Bling hadn't called out to Jondy when he did, Mathew could have been running naked down the street instead of left standing in his boxer shorts." Max giggled at the memory. "Sister girl sure knows how to steam up an alley."
"Speaking of steaming. Where's Logan tonight?" Original Cindy wiggled her eyebrows.
Max rolled her eyes. "His cousin wanted to speak to him about something. I figured it was personal so I thought that I'd leave them to it."
"You staying with Jessica and me tonight then?" Original Cindy knew Max didn't have the normal family life, so Logan's family probably didn't make any sense to her what so ever.
Max shrugged her shoulders. "I'll give Logan a call later and see how it's going. Can I let you know?"
"Fine with me." Original Cindy finished the last of her beer. "It's not as if you or Jessica sleep anyway." She had gotten used to Jondy and Max coming and going as they pleased. The hard part was remembering to call Jondy, Jessica when they were in crowds or outside of the apartment.
Logan opened the door expecting his cousin Bennet. Unfortunately he found Mathew. "If you're looking for Jondy, she left town." He had come to regard Jondy as much a sister as Max did.
"So I hear." Mathew walked into the apartment uninvited. "Know where I can find her?" He looked around the apartment, suspecting Jondy was hiding there somewhere.
"Last word I got from her was a postcard from Florida. Why don't you try there." Logan had no patience to deal with Mathew right now. "Now if you wouldn't mind, I'm expecting my cousin any minute."
Mathew's head whipped around to look at Logan. "Your cousin? What's her name?"
"Bennet." Bennet stood in the doorway behind Logan. "Problem Logan?"
"No." Logan stayed facing Mathew. "He's just leaving."
Mathew could see that he wasn't going to get anything out of Logan. "I'll be seeing you." He walked past Logan and Bennet into the hallway. He could always stake out the building Jondy had shared with Original Cindy. "There's more than one way to skin a cat." He muttered to himself as he waited for the lift doors to open.
"Who the hell was that?" Bennet asked as Logan shut the door behind them. "Or should I say, what the hell was that?" He suddenly realized Logan was standing. The last time he had seen Logan was at his wedding and Logan had been in a wheelchair. "Hey, you're walking. How?"
Logan laughed at his cousin. "I'm seeing a specialist. Mathew is sort of hung up on her. Won't take no for an answer."
Bennet grinned. "She's not the one you brought to my wedding, is she?"
Logan shook his head and gestured to the sofa as he sat down in an armchair. "No. Actually, she's Max's sister. So what can I do for you?" Logan knew things had been tough for Bennet since his father, Jonas had been killed by Manticore.
"Well, I was wondering if you knew of anyone who was needing someone with my qualifications." Bennet looked down at his hands clasped in front of him. "Maryanne is expecting our baby in a few months and I've been coming up empty job wise. We've managed so far but ...."
"You're now looking at another mouth to feed." Logan finished for him. "Let me make a few phone calls." Logan still had a few contacts who might be able to help Bennet.
"Thanks Logan." Bennet had no idea how Logan had managed to survive, but knowing Logan's high morals, he knew it was all totally legal.
"The phone line's busy." Max switched Jondy's mobile off frustrated. "He's probably working." She handed the phone back to Jondy. "Again."
"So why don't you go over there and convince him that he needs to take a break." Jondy hooked the phone onto her belt and moved back into the crowd to get back to the bar.
"Sister girl's got the right idea." Original Cindy gave Sketchy a shove as he fell towards her. "Learn when to say no, fool."
"No." Sketchy managed to mutter before he fell on the floor.
"I'll be getting him home now." Herbal yanked Sketchy off the floor. "Come on my brother. Time to go home."
"Ok. I'll walk you home." Sketchy mumbled as Herbal all but carried him out of the bar.
"You're right. I should just go over there and convince Logan there is more to life than saving the world." Max was more convincing herself than making a statement. "I'll catch you later." She got up and left.
Original Cindy waited until Max was out of the bar before giving Jondy the thumbs up. "I wish those two would get their signals straight before they drive the rest of us crazy." When she saw Jondy laugh, she realized the X5 had heard her from the other side of the room. "Man, you two have awesome superhero powers."
"I don't guarantee anything but at least you have three interviews." Logan wished he could have helped more.
"Thanks Logan. I appreciate all your help." Bennet hadn't even expected to get an interview.
"Logan. Are you still working?" Max strolled into the room. She spotted Bennet. "You're not working. You're still busy with your cousin, so I'm gonna go." She turned to walk back out.
"No wait. I'm just leaving." Bennet stood and shook Logan's hand. "Thanks for your help." He stopped by Max on his way out. "Nice to see you again."
"Yeah. You too." Max waved goodbye to Bennet as he walked out of the door. "I'm sorry. I tried to call and you were on the phone. So I thought that you were working and might need a break." She winced when she realized how lame that sounded.
"Bennet and Maryanne are expecting a child in a few months, so I contacted a few people to see if I could get him a job." Logan was always happy to see Max but sometimes her timing sucked. "That would be why I was on the phone. But I could use a break. Mathew was here looking for Jondy before that."
"Yeah, well Jondy is wearing a black wig at the moment, which if you can believe it makes her look even more pale than she does with red hair." Max inched closer to Logan. "I think that it may be a bit more difficult to find her this time. Besides, if Jondy doesn't want to be found, she can disappear right in front of your face."
"You don't think there's anything to worry about with Mathew still looking for Jondy? He doesn't seem very convinced that she's out of town. He might go after you next to get Jondy." The mere thought made him shudder.
"Jondy and I can look after ourselves." Max draped her arms over Logan's shoulders. "It's not as if Mathew will see either of us walking in and out of the front door. We don't exactly use the normal entrances and exits." She look Logan straight in the eye. "Worry accomplishes nothing, remember."
Logan pulled her into his lap. "Promise me you'll be careful and I won't worry." He knew the two women could take care of themselves, but the memory of Max dying in his arms was still painfully fresh.
Max rolled her eyes. "I can't speak for Jondy, but alright I promise I'll be careful. Now are you going to stop saving the world long enough to make sure I'm keeping out of trouble." She smiled at him sexily.
Logan started to tickle her. "Keep you out of trouble. I'm not a miracle worker. That's your job." He laughed at her shrieks of laughter. The moment he looked into her eyes his laughter stopped. He could so easily get lost in those eyes. "God, I love you." The words just came out of nowhere.
Max stopped laughing as well. She touched Logan's face, He was so serious. "I love you too." That had been a lot easier than she had thought it would be. She just couldn't seem to get close enough to Logan at that moment.
The both of them all but pounced on each other. Hands clawing at clothes. Limbs entangled with limbs. Neither of them could actually remember how they had made it to the bedroom. The moment they melted into each others bodies, all was right with the world. The apartment was silent apart from the sound of their ragged breathing and the occasional moan. Finally they just lay in each other's arms, a mass of tangled limbs.
Mathew watched the apartment building that Jondy and Original Cindy lived in. He knew somehow she was still in Seattle. What he didn't see was Jondy climbing down the side of the building and in an open window, which Original Cindy had left open for her.
"It's windy out there." Jondy pulled the wig off and ran her fingers through her long red hair. "I didn't wake you, did I."
Original Cindy shook her head. "No. I wanted to make sure you spotted that lunatic downstairs."
"How long has Mathew been out there?" Jondy slumped down on the sofa.
Original Cindy shrugged her shoulders. "He was there when I got back from Crash. I think I've been hanging with you and Max too long. A year ago I never would have noticed somebody staking the apartment out." She waved good night over her shoulder as she walked into her room.
"Good night." Jondy pulled out her notes, her mobile phone and a pen. Leaving everything spread out on the coffee table, she walked into the kitchen to get a cup of tea. She was still pouring over her notes when Original Cindy left for work the next morning.
"Well, you're looking happy with yourself." Original Cindy wheeled her bike up beside Max who was practically glowing. "Good night?"
Max blushed. "Let's just say, Logan didn't get any work done last night."
Original Cindy raised her eyebrows. "You did have a good night. Not to burst your bubble, but Jessica had to use the window to get in last night. Stalker boy was watching the building."
Max wasn't surprised. "Yeah. He stopped by Logan's looking for her as well. I'm not sure if it's pure obsession or if the South Africans have told him it's his life or hers."
"It's not good either way, Boo." Original Cindy propped her bike up against a post. "Either way Jessica has to scale great heights to avoid him. To tell the truth, he's starting to freak me out."
Max knew it took a lot to worry Original Cindy. "I'll talk to Logan later, see if we can find a permanent solution. How's my sister coping with all this unwanted attention."
Original Cindy laughed as she shook her head. "When I left sister girl this morning, she was up to her neck in notes, files, medical journals and I'm pretty sure she had a book on the mating rituals of cats. She didn't even look up when I handed her a cup of tea."
Max nodded. "Yep. That's my sister. Panic on the inside, calm chaos on the outside."
Logan glanced through the books Jondy had with her. "Should I be worried that you have a book titled 'Heads or Tails: The mating rituals of cats' with you?"
Jondy was sitting cross legged on his sofa. "I don't sleep, I only work so many hours in the day and I have to work on your treatments in between your work, my work and Max's work. Strangely enough that still gives me a lot of time on my hands because I also have to schedule around those 'breaks' that you and Max take. Devon and I are working on some sort of antidote for Max and I going into heat two or three times a year."
Logan hadn't thought of it that way. He and Max had each other. Jondy was alone. "Why don't you take a break for a minute." He sat down beside her. "You don't have to find all the answers yourself. You and Max have managed to live your lives pretty well despite your Manticore induced differences."
"It gives me something real to think about, to focus on." Jondy looked at him. "It gives me a chance to forget that I am different, that I'm not normal."
Logan understood. "Let's you forget you're lonely. It's hard enough to meet the perfect person," he grinned. "She doesn't break into your apartment everyday and try to rob you."
Jondy pretended to wipe a tear from her eye. "That's beautiful." Her face turned serious as she stopped teasing him. "I guess the biggest problem really is: If you find Mr Right, how do explain that you're part feline. Most of the guys I've met, tend to want to turn you in to the highest bidder. It sort of makes it harder to trust people."
"I guess it must." Logan had always known it was difficult for the X5's to maintain a normal life with someone always chasing them. It was only now that he really understood how separated they were from the rest of the world.
Jondy looked at him wistfully. "Yeah, I think you do." She tugged at his shirt. "Come on, let's get your treatment started. I'll have to stop home to get showered and changed before I go to work."
Original Cindy clicked her tongue as she walked in the apartment to find Max standing in the living room. "I saw it, but I still don't believe I saw you climb up the side of the building, like a big cat." She looked out of the window. "Stalker boy's back out there again. I guess he didn't buy the leaving the city story."
Max joined her at the window. "I might have a temporary solution." She picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Hey Kendra. It's Max. You still got a cop boyfriend?" She smiled at the answer. "Great. Original Cindy and I need a favor."
Mathew sat in his car watching the building. He had seen Original Cindy walk in. It would only be a matter of time before Jondy/Jessica turned up. A knock on the passenger window made him jump. A police officer walked around to the driver's side and waited for Mathew to roll the window down. "Is there a problem Officer?"
The Officer nodded. "I'd say so. One of the tenants in this building claims you were stalking her flat mate. The flat mate's left town and yet you have been spotted two nights running watching this apartment building. If your name is Mathew, there have also been reports of you harassing the flat mate's friends for her location. I think that you had better accompany me down to the station Sir."
Mathew rolled his eyes. "You have no proof of any of this. I am entitled to sit in my car. You can't stop me." He retorted smugly.
"Actually Sir, I can." The Officer smiled back equally as smugly. "This is a no parking area." He looked at someone over his shoulder. "Is this him?"
Original Cindy came into view. "Yeah that's him. He's got it bad for Sister girl. She kept telling him no, but he just doesn't get it."
"Please get out of the car Sir and accompany me to the station." The Police Officer opened the car door, his face deadly serious. "Now!"
When Original Cindy walked back in the apartment and gave Max the thumbs up, she laughed. "Thanks Kendra. I owe you big time. Thank Walter for me as well." She switched the phone off. "I never thought I'd be thanking him for a favor." She shook her head. "It's a large life."
"You're telling me." Original Cindy shut the door behind her. "It's still only a temporary solution. You, yourself said that." She slumped down on the sofa. "Sister girl over at Logan's?"
"Yeah." Max sat down beside her friend. "She doesn't think it will be too much longer before he can walk without anymore treatments. I think Jondy would like to go back to San Francisco." Max couldn't help but be saddened by the thought.
"You're gonna miss her a lot, aren't you?" Original Cindy lent forward resting her elbows on her knees.
Max took a deep breath. "Yeah. To tell you the truth, I hadn't expected her to stay this long. I think she only did it to help me get Logan back on his feet." She shrugged her shoulders and managed a weak smile. "I guess I was getting used to having my sister around."
Original Cindy put her arm around her friend. "She has her own life to live. It can't be easy for her, hanging around with you and Logan when the closest thing she has to a boyfriend wants to put her in a cage. It's gotta get kind of lonely."
What Original Cindy said made perfect sense. Max could remember what it had been like. Not being able to trust anyone was a heavy burden to bear.
Bling helped Jondy pack up her notes and books. "How's Logan doing?" He shoved them into a back pack.
Jondy smiled gratefully. "Very well. It should only take a couple more treatments before he can walk completely on his own. He won't need my help anymore."
Bling realized the hidden meaning behind what she was saying. "You're heading back to San Francisco, aren't you?"
Jondy nodded. "That was the plan." She could feel his eyes on her. "Don't look at me like that. I don't belong here. I belong in San Francisco." Finally she looked up and found him still watching her. "If I promise to visit, will you stop looking at me like that? Anybody would think you're going to miss me."
Bling gazed into her big blue eyes. "Yeah. I sort of got used to coming here and finding you bullying Logan. Not to mention, who am I going to hang with when Logan takes one of his breaks." Bling chuckled. "Yeah. I'm really going to miss you."
"Thanks." Jondy leaned forward and kissed him on the cheek. I'm going to miss you too."
"Am I interrupting something?" Max had walked into the apartment without Jondy or Bling hearing her. She giggled when Bling actually blushed. Jondy on the other hand, didn't seem to notice what sort of affect she had on him.
"Hey, it's not our clothes that are constantly littering the floor of two certain apartments in Seattle." Jondy teased back.
"I got your stalker taken down the police station, but I don't know how long they can keep him down there." Max quickly changed the subject. "Logan in?"
"He's working on the computer." Bling gestured with his head to the next room. "He's had a couple of phone calls, informants I think."
Max rolled her eyes. "Great. That means we'll both be working tonight. Scaling great heights seem to be in my immediate future."
"No great heights. Fancy breaking into a safe and getting some money laundering information for me?" Logan walked up behind Max and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"We are not working all night." Max folded her arms in front of her, a determined look on her face.
"No. Not all night." Logan kissed her neck. "I promised we are saving a lot of innocent people's money."
"Oh well, I'll just drop everything and go and save the world." Max couldn't stay mad with Logan for long. In fact most of their fights had always been forgotten minutes later.
Jondy smiled to herself. It would be hard going for Max and Logan. They were so different. But if any two people could make it work, it was these two. The one thing they had in common was their stubbornness. "I've got to get to work. I'll see you guys later."
Bling grabbed his jacket. "I'll give you a lift. Something tells me things are going to steam up in here real soon."
Max watched them leave. "Looks as though I'm not the only one who's going to miss Jondy when she goes back to San Francisco." She looked up at Logan. "I guess we had better get to work."
Logan tightened his arms around her waist when she moved to walk away. "We have time. I know you're going to miss Jondy, but you're not alone anymore. It's different than before. You know where Jondy is and how to get hold of her."
Max turned so that she was facing him. "I know all that. I guess I just got used to having my sister here. She was always the one I was the closest to."
Logan kissed her forehead. "Yeah. She started to feel like my little sister too. Any idea when she's going?"
Max shook her head. "No, but I heard her tell Bling that you only need a couple more treatments. I guessing it will be soon."
Logan looked at Max thoughtfully. "You know, I can find another way to get this information on the money laundering. You go and spend some quality time with your sister."
Max threw her arms around Logan's neck and gave him a hug. "Thanks for being so understanding. Jondy's working until the early hours of the morning though. So I could probably do the safe break and you could spend some time thanking me for doing the safe break." She kissed his neck. "I should be able to walk home with Jondy and spend a few hours with her before I have to go to work."
Logan chuckled. "You have this all figured out, don't you?" Before he could get an answer there was a knock on the door. "Who can that be?" When he opened the door he saw Devon was standing outside. At least he thought that the man standing before him looked like the guy Blake had shown him photos of. "Devon?"
Devon nodded. "Are you Logan?"
"Yeah. Come on in." Logan moved aside to let Devon in. "This is Max. No offense Devon but what are you doing here? It's not exactly safe."
Devon shook Max's hand. "Nice to finally meet both of you. I got word from a friend that the South Africans are no longer looking for me. They're focusing on Jondy."
Devon stood slightly short of six foot. His short dark hair was slightly ruffled and his green eyes full of concern. He looked as though he had been traveling all night.
Max gestured for Devon to sit down. "She left for work about five minutes ago. She should be fine. She's wearing a black wig."
Devon chuckled as he shook his head. "Hey, I may be gay, but there is no disguise made that could make Jondy unrecognizable."
Max looked at Logan nervously. "You're not the first person to have said that. Logan I think I had better take you up on your offer and spend sometime with my sister."
Logan wasn't so sure that was such a good idea. "I don't know Max. If the South Africans are sure that Jondy is still in Seattle, they may not stop at capturing one X5."
Devon shook his head. "It's not just the fact that she is an X5. If it were just that, I'd be worried about all of the others as well."
"It's her medical knowledge." Max guessed. "With Jondy, they'll have a perfect specimen walking around and somebody with the knowledge to create others, all in one package." She put her head in her hands. "Damn it."
Logan reached for the phone. "I'll call Bling, get him to bring her back here."
The apartment door opened and Bling walked in holding his head, blood trickling down his face. "They got Jondy. They hit me over the head and when she came to help me, they threw a sack over her and threw her in the back of a van. She still managed to take a couple of them out." Bling sat down and looked at Max. "I'm sorry Max. We never saw them coming."
Max grabbed the first aid kit. "It's not your fault. We've just got to find her and fast. Mathew's been released by now." She started tending to Bling's head wound.
Logan dialed a number on the phone he still held in his hand. "Matt. A stalker was brought in there today. His first name is Mathew." He listened for a moment. "Yeah that's him. Has he been released yet?" He grinned at the answer. "No. It's just we need to follow him. Thanks." He hung up the phone. "Let's go and get Jondy back."
Jondy sat in the corner of the room that she had been tossed into. She had immediately spotted the so called hidden camera and was sitting beneath it. The sack they had thrown over her was lying in front of her. She could hear the guards outside trying to figure out what to do with her.
The door opened and Mathew walked in with two guards. "I knew you would come back." He looked so sure of himself.
Jondy stood slowly. "So this is the only way you can get a woman, by taking her prisoner. Wow! What a real turn on." Her expression was stone cold. "What's next? You want to try gang banging?"
Mathew shrugged his shoulders. "I hear you X5's are kinky. I have to admit, I'm not real sure what you're capable of. But hey, I'm adventurous."
"I have a thing for handcuffs." Jondy grabbed Mathew and threw him across the room onto the bed. Running up the wall to avoid the gunfire the guards had started firing at her, she kicked out the camera and flipped herself over so that she landed behind the guards. Taking hold of their collars, she banged their heads together, knocking them out. Jondy quickly yanked the handcuffs off their belts. Glancing up she saw that Mathew had got his breath back and was creeping towards one of the guns that the guards had dropped. "Still want to play?" Spinning around she kicked him in the chest, sending him sprawling on the bed. Quickly she cuffed his hands to the bed. "What do you know: I am kinky." She dragged the two guards over to the bed and cuffed one hand of each guard to the same part of the bed as Mathew. "As fun as this hasn't been, I've really got to go."
"You'll never get out of here. This place is a lock box." Mathew grinned smugly. "Didn't think of that did you?"
Jondy took two steps back from the door and stood with her hands on her hips smiling. Suddenly the door came crashing down at her feet. "What took you so long?"
Max walked into the room and looked at the three men handcuffed to the bed. "You have been busy. What would you have done if we had taken longer?"
Logan walked into the room. "Hey. We've gotta get moving. I'm up for any ideas to get out of here, cause we can't go back the way we came in."
Jondy walked over to the bed and climbed onto Mathew. Searching through his pockets, she tried to find some sort of security card.
Logan was slightly taken aback. "Jondy, I don't think that we have time for you to play with your stalker."
Jondy stood up with a card in her hand. "Got it." She delivered a sharp kick to Mathew's side before jumping off the bed onto the floor and racing out of the door.
Max swiped the card Jondy had lifted off of Mathew through the lock on the first door they came to. Running between departments, they narrowly missed the seemingly endless stream of guards.
"Damn it." Max swiped the card a second time and still it didn't work. "I guess we have to do this the old fashioned way." Taking a step backwards, she bent her leg upwards and kicked the door down. "I just know I'm going to feel that tomorrow."
"Looks like we have all the clearance we need." Logan reached out and stopped the two women. "What's wrong with this picture?"
"You mean apart from the fact that we don't know where the hell we are?" Jondy looked around her. Her feline hearing picked up the guards coming down the corridor. "We've got company."
Max tapped the top of the computer in the room. "Ok Logan. Show us what you've got." When Logan moved around the other side of the desk, Max took a moment to look around the room herself. "We're in the lab." She spotted the photo of Jondy supposedly in Florida. "Mathew's lab." She handed Jondy the photo a disgusted look on her face.
"I'm in." Logan quickly brought up a site map. "Damn. The only way out is the way we came in."
Jondy looked up. "Can you find a map of the ventilation systems."
Max looked worried. "You think Logan's legs are strong enough for him to get in and out of the ventilation system."
"Looks as though we're going to find out." Logan printed out the map and handed it to Max. Tapping a few more keys on the keyboard he climbed onto the desk and followed Max into the airshaft, with Jondy right behind him.
Seconds later the guards and Mathew charged into the room. "Where are they then?" Mathew spun around at the sound of Regis' voice.
Mathew looked around him. "There's no way they could have gotten out of here. They would have had to have gone through us." He charged over to his desk. Something was missing. "They've definitely been in here. The photo's missing off of the wall and someone's been touching my computer." He moved the mouse. "Oh my God and they've downloaded a virus onto the machine."
Regis looked up and saw a ceiling tile out of place. "They are in the ceiling." He glared at Mathew. "You let the girl get loose. Again. Then, while you were handcuffed to the bed, they made it into the lab, downloaded a virus. I'm just guessing that they downloaded the virus cause I can't see anybody remembering to bring a disk with a virus on it, in while breaking someone out of here. And now they are crawling around somewhere in the ceiling. Am I surrounded by idiots?"
Zeak moved up beside Regis. "Yes, but you also have to remember: These are Lydecker's kids. He would have taught them to cover their steps and take any advantage available to them." He grinned when he thought of his old friend. Lydecker was fiercely protective of his 'kids'. Especially one in particular. "You won't be able to recreate what he did." He pointed to Mathew. "At least not with him in charge of the DNA structure. He can't get his head past the redhead. If he actually uses his brain to think he may be of some use."
Regis stood, still glaring at Mathew as he thought over what his brother had said. "Fine. I won't have him killed. Yet." He turned and walked away leaving Mathew to contemplate the threat left hanging in the air. He leaned closer to his brother as they walked side by side down the corridor. "Get the guards to search all of the ceiling vents. They may still be in the building. If they're gone, get hold of Blake. He may have a lead on where they are heading."
Zeak nodded. "Of course. The sooner we can find a qualified team of doctors and scientists, the better. Devon Saunders is friends with one of the X5's. That makes him harder to get hold of." He signaled to some guards to follow him.
Max, Logan and Jondy clambered into the van and slammed the door shut. Jondy did a double take when she saw who was in the van. "Devon! What are you doing here?" She threw her arms around her friend. "God, I've missed you."
Devon laughed as he hugged his tiny friend. "I'm here to get you out of trouble. I can't leave you alone for five minutes, can I."
Logan leaned over the front seat. "Let's get the hell out of here Bling." He sat back down beside Max. "What do you think they'll do to Mathew. This will be the second time he's lost Jondy."
Devon kept hold of Jondy's hand. She was the only family he had. He needed to reassure himself she was safe. "They will keep him working in the lab until he succeeds or they find someone better. After that, who knows."
"What are you two going to do now?" Max knew in her heart that it was time for her sister to leave for her own safety.
"Head back to San Francisco. Blake will keep the South Africans looking in the opposite direction." Jondy didn't want to leave her sister behind, but at least she was safe with the knowledge that Max had someone who loved her.
Logan smirked. "They may be too busy trying to get back the information that was in the computer I downloaded the virus onto."
Max smiled proudly. "I knew you'd come in use. I might have to keep you around." She loved how his eyes sparkled when he looked at her.
"You'd better." He pulled her closer.
"I've really gotta get me one of those." Devon watched Logan and Max tease each other. He looked over at Jondy. "No offense. I love having you as a roommate and all but ..."
"No offense taken." Jondy cut him off.
Normal shook his head at the sight of his employee's laughing and chatting with each other. "You all have jobs to do people. The packages don't deliver themselves. If they did I wouldn't need any of you." His jaw dropped when he saw the woman walking in the door. "Can I help you?" He noticed out of the corner of his eye that she had grabbed the attention of all of the other males in the building.
Original Cindy rolled her eyes. "Max! Sister girl's here." She walked over to Jondy. "You leaving then?" She waited for Jondy to nod. "Well you sure shook Seattle up for a while. Take care of yourself." She hugged the petite redhead.
"You too." Jondy smiled at her new friend. "You had better come and visit Devon and I."
"You've got Original Cindy's word on that." She waved good bye and grabbed the parcel that Normal was holding out to her. "You're drooling Normal." She chuckled to herself as she caught him wiping his mouth as she walked out.
Max took in the scene in front of her. Jondy had no idea the kind of stir she caused just walking in the room. "My Sister." She hugged Jondy. "God I'm going to miss you. You'd better stay in touch."
Jondy giggled. "I have a feeling you're going to spend a lot of time at Logan's with the phone switched off. Make sure you and Logan come and visit."
Max finally let go of her sister. "You know where to find me if you need me."
"Yeah." Jondy nodded. "If you need a genetically engineered Doctor ..."
"I know where to find you." Max was dragging the moment out. Both of them were. "Devon's waiting in the car?"
"Yeah. I've really got to go." Jondy's face was full of regret. "Next time we've really got to make sure neither of us is being chased by maniacs." She started to walk backwards. Waving goodbye she turned and met Logan at the door. She hugged him goodbye. "Take good care of my sister."
"You bet." Logan watched her head out to the car where Devon was waiting for her. Max came to stand beside him as they watched the car fade into the distance. "You alright?" He kissed the top of her head.
"Yeah. I will be." Max looked up at him. "I've gotta get back to work before Normal has a stroke. See you tonight?"
"Yeah." He snuck in a quick kiss before she went back to work. "And then there were two." He muttered to himself. This was going to be interesting. He took a coin out of his pocket. "Heads: it's going to be hard going. Tails: we're gonna be fine." He flipped the coin in the air, caught it and slapped it on the back on his hand. Looking at the coin he chuckled. "Tails."
THE END
