Title: into the wild
Author: sue
Rating: PG
Show: DA
Genre: Romance/Adventure
Type: WiP
Summary: this is a challenge by mely and because it sounds so irresistible, *grin* I decided to take it up. Max and the others failed to blow up the DNA lab but she was recaptured. After months of Psy-ops she was sent to a new unit and her CO is this drop dead gorgeous -- *methinks!* X5494. Then the unit was sent on a retrieval ops in a jungle. Then, the story continues..
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Thank you so much to Addy who beta-ed this chapter.. thanks, hon! I don't know what I'd do without you.. *sniff*
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into the wild. chapter 1.
The small cell was dark. A lone figure was huddled under the thin blanket but her dark eyes were wide open, staring into the darkness. Above her, silvery fingers of dawn sneaked in through the heavy bars of her miniscule window and the rays of light danced merrily on the cold hard floor, slowly pushing the darkness away.
She stirred idly, just a flutter of movements, that small vibration would be lost on any watching eyes. But there were none, the cell was safe from any prying eyes. The warm rays of sunlight continued their never ending task of heating this abused planet most of the population absent mindedly called home.
Suddenly deciding that her dominant shark DNA had won the battle yet again for today, impatiently Max threw the sparse covering away and sat on her narrow cot. She ran her fingers through her hair, trying to untangle the long unruly locks as her eyes stared into the dim room. A huge sigh escaped the full lips as she remembered her surroundings.
She turned desperate eyes towards the tiny thing they called window and with a painful pang she recalled her life, the one she had unwittingly left behind, a lifetime ago in Seattle. Her dark eyes glazed with pain as images of her friends invaded her troubled mind. Sharp stabs of homesickness plunged its spiky end into her heart as she thought about her best friend Original Cindy, housemate Kendra, oblivious Sketchy, unfathomable Herbal.. heck! even Normal, who was anything but that.
Her disturbed mind took a detour and ended up on Eyes Only, the man she had been helping on and off for almost a year.. or also usually known as Logan Cale. She wondered briefly who's around to give him a hand in saving this corrupted world for the good of mankind, so that a better future would emerge from this murky present. But only for a moment before she lost interest and turned her thoughts back to her shattered life.
She would've given anything in this world to hear Normal's usually annoying 'bip bip bip' again. Although the overly repeated phrase (can that even be considered a phrase? Max brooded) that usually grated on her frequently high strung nerves, the sound of that irritating command would have meant that she was still living the life she wanted, now; a bike messenger by day, a cat burglar by night and always on the look out for her lost siblings.
Not once did she imagine that her troubles would start after she had located several of her long lost relatives. Nor did she ever imagine of being recaptured and undoubtedly stuck here in this godforsaken facility as a genetically engineered soldier. She turned her caged gaze around the tiny cell as the ever present thought of running sneaked back in.
She squashed that stubborn idea flat and the whisper of hope it brought along. Her hand stilled as her heart beat faster and for a second she imagined that she was free. Free to do exactly as she pleases and free from this heavy shackles Manticore had clamped around her legs. Shutters automatically clanged down on her dark eyes, hiding the turbulent emotions behind it.
Max shut her eyes tightly as the memory of her escape paraded across. After a few months of being recaptured, she had worked tirelessly each night, loosening the heavy bricks under her bed, successfully freeing the block of stone an agonizing inch a day from the cold wall. At that time, she thanked the Blue Lady that the technician had added the shark DNA into her and she had used it fully.
She had worked silently and quietly and a couple of months later, the stone was out. Feeling that quick rush of adrenaline flooding her senses, she had glanced around the quiet facility and hastily concluded to make a run for it at that very instance. She sneaked through the basement, alert eyes taking in the surroundings while her keen hearing tried to spot any sort of danger.
But that night, the basement was completely empty, devoid of anything threatening or anyone for that matter. She had kept walking until she ended up under a grimy window. Feeling reckless, Max took hold of the bars and with a single tug she had a makeshift hole to wriggle through.
She hoisted herself up quickly and after scanning the woods beyond the perimeter, she blurred across the yard. A soft sigh came out as she remembers with sudden clarity the feeling of that soft cool breeze as they whipped over her face and whispered slowly in her ears. The feeling of freedom. She was so giddy from her successful escape, she lost her concentration and didn't see them until it was too late. Way too late. A whole unit of X7's around the area.
The every same area she was hurtling herself through. She stumbled a step before she caught herself and in a split second she had made her decision. Do not abort the mission, keep going, she chanted softly to herself. If somehow she was sighted, she was sure she could handle it. They were just a bunch of kids, super soldier maybe but then so was she. She could hold her end, no doubt about that.
She blurred to the nearest tree and stop, scanning the area for immediate danger. Although she was completely out of sight, somehow she sensed that a number of the X7's already had their eyes trained on her. Before she could even moved a muscle, the telltale click of a gun broke the silence. Followed by a few more of those. She tensed before lashing out, shoving the thought that she was totally outnumbered away.
She had managed to take down a couple of those silent soldiers before something pierced through her back. She looked down and saw that her standard issue gray shirt was stained with a rapidly growing pool of blood. She put her hand on her wounded rib and turned to face her shooter, intent on seeking revenge on her injury, breathing hard as the wound had sent her working neurons into overdrive.
But her sluggish movement can't compare to their efficient one. Before she could even turned completely, her head burst into a firework of pain after connecting with something blunt and very hard. Before she blacked out, she could almost see her hope and freedom fluttered away and vanished gradually into the night. Moving away from her bloody grasp.
Max shot up from her bunk, shivering all over as she recalled the failed escape and what followed…
The next thing she knew after she opened her heavy eyes again was that she was strapped down tightly on a bed in the medical wing. She struggled feebly, knowing that there's absolutely no way she could escape now. Her jaw clenched tightly as she recalled her next destination after she was pronounced healthy enough to handle it. Psy-Ops.
Her hand resume the motion of going through her hair automatically, as she was pushed back to the past and again she relived the horrifying experience. She had been daily tortured for two months before they announced that she wouldn't be a problem anymore. Psy-Ops. Max trembled as that mere word brought its usual companions. Fear. Dread. Terror.
Although she berated herself harshly on her crushed goal of fleeing from here, the two months of torture was something she could not bring herself to forget. And she knew that without a remarkably solid plan, she won't put her life and possibly sanity on the line to chance another escape. She shuddered as flashes of the past returned, bringing in its wake the customary horror.
Laser beams probing painfully into her eyes.. long, hard interrogation.. physical torture.. mental torment.. brain washing.. Unconsciously, Max started breathing faster and harder as the nightmare continued. Her agitated arm moved rapidly pulling and pushing her hand through her hair, but she was oblivious to the movement, too submerged in her own thoughts. Suddenly her long slender fingers encountered a unforeseen snag among her long tresses.
Still lost in her deep thoughts she hadn't realized the would be painful result of that encounter. Her arm kept moving before sharp searing pain pierced the thick cloud around her consciousness and she gasped loudly as a few strand of dark hair was pulled in the process. Gently she massaged her stinging scalp as she winced, breathing slowly and softly through her mouth.
After the biting sensation gradually subsided, she ran her fingers through her hair for the last time before tossing the heavy hair over her shoulder feeling tense, she stood up to stretch and again her eyes took in the cold cell. There's no way I'm gonna give Psy-Ops another visit. Not if I'm still breathing, she vowed as her eyes harden with determination.
Before she had time to dwell on her pitiful life, the door to the tiny cell clanged loudly as a guard was fumbling clumsily with the lock. Max turned her head and watched silently as the guard pulled the door opened and stood at the entrance.
'452. Director Renfro wants to see you, NOW!' he snapped, the cold blue eyes watching her every move.
Then he moved aside and waited impatiently for the ex-escapee to move past him. Max glanced at the man and intentionally took a couple of minutes before she started moving. As she marched past the infuriate guard, she turned her head just for a fraction and send an imperious glare to the waiting man.
With a toss of her head, she left the furious man and headed towards the Director's room, her head held high, her rigid back straight as an arrow. The guard continued to mutter angrily under his breath even though she had disappeared from view.
Max stood in front of the door, a bit hesitant to enter. She turned around, trying to find anything that would give her any kind of clue to today's early 'request' for a meeting. Sadly, luck was not on her side as there was absolutely nothing that could've given her any sort of hint.
Discipline? No, absolutely not! She shook her head, not believing that was the reason. I've been the model soldier. No one had been as sickeningly meek as I have, she thought with revulsion, or did they suspect everything was a ruse? And now, they're going to throw me into Psy-Ops again! Maybe I could talk her out of it or.. NO! snap out of it, Max! You're overreacting! Calm down and walk through that door, end of story, slowly she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Then smartly, she knocked twice on the thick dark door.
'Enter,' an alert sounding voice replied instantly. Max collected herself for the last time before pushing the door and stepping into the Director's chamber. She stood stiffly before her, hand moving fluently into a salute.
'X5452 reporting as ordered, ma'am!' then her hand whipped down to rest firmly by her side, blank eyes staring straight ahead, standing still in attention.
'At ease, soldier,' the Director spoke, as she leaned back into her chair, her linked fingers on her lap. Immediately Max's stiff posture relaxed, but just for a notch, her hand motionless behind her erect body. And the dark eyes were still empty as they stared at the wall behind Renfro's back.
Director Renfro remained silent as she studied the unmoving soldier in front of her. Her calculating gaze roved over the emotionless face, silently assessing the stationary girl. Satisfied with what she saw, the Director reached over and picked up the discarded pen lying on her table before resting back against her chair,
'A group of terrorists called The Flying Star had somehow required something Manticore wanted. And now we want it back. You'll be a part of that retrieving team. Your Commanding Officer will brief you on this mission.' Max hid the surprise she felt at Renfro's words. If her CO would brief her later, then what the hell was she doing here? But of course, she never asked her questions out loud. No one questions the Director's orders, however weird they may sound, period… or you'll be heading for another tour of Psy-Ops.
But something must have flicked over her closed face. 'I ordered this… meeting, is because I want to decide for myself whether you're ready for a mission or not. I'm happy to say that your recent records certainly proved that. You're dismissed,' with that, she turned back to her work.
Max stood still for a second, not believing what she had heard before everything came flooding back. Quickly she saluted the busy Director, turned on her heels and left the room. She closed the door with a click before her busy mind started working. She's going on a mission. That means leaving this facility and if she planned this correctly, this could be her ticket out.
I have to think this through first, her sane side whispered trying to stop the rapidly growing hope from blossoming, very, very thoroughly indeed.. or it's- hellooo Psy-Ops.. She shook her head hard before she started walking.
to be continued..