General disclaimer: Max Steel belongs to many companies, Kids' WB!, two different computer animation companies, and a whole mess-o corporate executives. This story is my personal work derived from my inner child getting hold of an uzi and obliterating my good side.
BY:
Maxy Steel
Josh's jaw dropped as he stared at his test paper. A big, red "F" glared back at him. One of the most important exams of the year, and he'd blown it. Along with the foreboding letter, were two simple notes. "Sleeps too much in class." "Attendance is less than 50%."
"Ugh..." he groaned, laying his arms on the desk, and resting his head on them. He squeezed his eyes shut, and clenched his teeth. He could already see the fight tonight with his father found out. Around him, other students were chattering excitedly about what great jobs they'd done on their own tests. Pete glanced over his friend's shoulder, and made a sympathetic noise at the paper. He laid a hand on Josh's shoulder.
"Hey, man. It's only a test," he tried to comfort. Josh sighed, and looked up.
"Only one that just dug my grave a foot deeper. Dad's gonna bite my head off," he groaned. The other teenager shrugged apologetically.
"Mr. McGrath," a voice called sharply from the front of the classroom. Josh's head snapped in the direction of the speaker. His teacher was looking right at him.
"Yes, Mr. Guerard?" he asked in as calm a tone as he could manage. The teacher sighed.
"Napping in class again, McGrath?" he asked, almost boredly. Several members of the class tittered as the blonde extreme sports star flushed in embarrassment.
"No, sir. Not at all," he answered after a moment. Guerard muttered something under his breath, and shuffled some papers.
"Josh, I'd like you to stay after class today," he said after a moment. The boy behind the blonde teenager chuckled coldly.
"Heh. Busted!" he crowed. Josh turned around and fixed the boy with a look that could have easily flash frozen white flame. It certainly shut up the snotty student.
"Mr. Tulenny, would you like to stay after as well?" Guerard asked coolly.
"N-no, Mr. Guerard," the student stuttered. The bell rang suddenly. Pete took his time packing his things together, lingering for just a moment longer.
"See ya later, bud," he said to Josh, then vanished out the door. With a sigh, the remaining teenager turned to face his professor. Guerard was filing through some papers on his desk. He motioned for the boy to come forward.
"I don't understand it, Josh. You were doing fine at the beginning of the year. Then it just went downhill. I'm afraid I'm going to have to schedule an appointment with your father," the older man sighed. Josh's book bag fell from his grip.
"A-appointment? With my dad?" he choked. The teacher nodded solemnly. With a groan, the teenager snatched up his bag, and bolted from the room. The second he was clear of the cursed classroom, the teenager threw his bag down and slammed his left fist into his right palm. What a great way to start the day, he sighed to himself.
"Hey, hermano. Sorry about the rough day, but duty calls," Berto's voice piped suddenly. Josh actually grinned slightly as he grabbed his bag.
"Great. I need to kick some tail right about now," he said, a little tiredly. Minutes later, he'd transformed, found Hawk, and was on his way.
The hostages had yet to be saved. The terrorists had no intentions of backing down, and the clock was cutting it close. Kat, Rachel, and Behemoth were waiting at the site when he arrived.
"Way to bolt here, Steel. I got here ten minutes ago," Kat greeted absently. Max scowled at her, but said nothing in reply.
"Bro, what's the 4-1-1?" he asked impatiently.
"We've got about ten more minutes. Terrorists are on the eleventh floor. Unknown number of hostages," the Spanish teenager replied a moment later. Max nodded, almost to himself, and bolted for the building. Kat was on his heels.
"This should be interesting," the female agent muttered to herself as they rushed around the building, doing their best to stay out of sight.
"Yeah," Max replied, unenthusiastically. The other agent shot him a raised eyebrow.
"What's up, Steel? What's with the lack of enthusiasm?" she questioned. The younger agent shrugged and shook his head.
"Nothing," he assured half-heartedly. Kat sighed and shook her head, choosing to drop the argument. They continued to search the building for their targets.
Several minutes later, the two agents had scoured almost the entire building, and found nothing resembling a hostage or terrorist.
"Last place to check," Max calculated, gesturing to the floor above them. Kat nodded, and raced after him. Max paused at the stairs, and activated his enhanced hearing.
"Five minutes to go," a gruff voice said calmly.
"Mommy, I wanna go home!" a little girl's voice wailed. Max sighed grimly, and motioned for Kat to follow him. The two agents crept up to the door, and listened outside for a moment.
"We move on three...two...one..." Max whispered. Kat realized what he was planning, and moved to stop him. She was too late. The younger agent's heavy boot collided with the door, exploding it off it's hinges.
"Refine your tactics, Steel," Kat grumbled as the two agents found themselves looking down the barrels of at least five different guns. Max shrugged, and set about knocking out the threat. A group of people were near the far wall, including the child he'd heard earlier.
"That's that," the female agent said with satisfaction as the last guard hit the floor. She and Max stepped over to the hostages.
"Come on, everyone. Let's get you out of here," Max said calmly, gesturing towards the door. The group was quick to follow. The teenager was bringing up the rear, and he heard the gun cock before the others. Spinning around, he saw one man was still concious, and had a gun aimed at him. Reflexively, Max's leg shot out, catching the guy in the hand. A second too late. He heard the bullet fire, and waited for impact. To his horror, he heard a woman behind him scream in panic. Whirling back around, he saw Kat trying to calm the lady down. In her arms was the little girl. The bullet had caught her in the head.
"Molly, Molly! Honey, say something!" she gasped, shaking the child. But the girl was already dead. Max froze at the child's name. The mother continued to repeat her daughter's name. Rachel appeared at the doorway, flanked by several other agents.
"We heard a gun shot. Is anyone--" she started, but stopped, seeing the victim. Max looked away from the girl. It's my fault, he thought bitterly.
Shortly after, everyone was outside the building. The terrorists had been loaded into the waiting police van, and the dead girl had been placed in an ambulance to be taken to the morgue. Rachel approached Max not long after the van had left.
"I'm sorry, Max," she offered, placing her hand on his shoulder. The teenager shook his head slightly. The blonde agent frowned.
"It's not you. It's my fault. I should have been watching that guy," Max added after a moment. Rachel shook her head slightly.
"You couldn't have known, Max. Come on. I think you should come back on the Behemoth. I wouldn't trust your nerves right now," she said, quietly authoritative. The younger agent didn't protest. Kat offered to bring Hawk back, and left soon after. Rachel, however, had to all but drag Max into the mobile base. She left him in one of the training rooms, and went to her own quarters. With a tired sigh, she slipped off her gun belt, and laid it on her desk, then went to check their arrival time. Moments after she left, someone entered the room, walked over to the desk, took one of the guns from the holster, and left the room.
It was fairly dark out by the time they finally returned to Del Oro. Max left abruptly, saying something about studying for a class. He'd shut off the bio-link as well.
"I'm going to have a talk with Max when he come in tomorrow," Rachel was saying to Kat as the two of them were making sure Hawk and Behemoth were safely stowed in the hanger.
"Why? Oh, about today?" the younger woman sighed, jumping down from Hawk's wing. Rachel nodded, dusting off her hands, and glancing around to make sure everything was in order.
"I think today hit him a little harder than usual," she noted absently.
"He was acting a little out of it even before the accident. Ah, probably just a teenage mood swing," Kat tried to shrug it off. Rachel merely sighed. Something in the back of her mind kept pulling her thoughts back to Max. He had been unusually quiet, even considering the day's events.
As if sensing, and fearing, his mood, the moon had hidden itself behind the clouds. Down on the darkened beach, Max sat, knees drawn to his chest, staring out miserably over the water. He'd failed completely. School, that little girl, he hadn't done his job. He looked to his left hand. A black metal object was in it. Raising it to his face, he examined it. Standard issue N-tek weapon. It wasn't his. He sighed, and his hand started to shake. This is the only way...isn't it? he thought, as tears began to slide down his cheeks. He knew this was crazy. He knew his father would be disappointed in him. But, he couldn't go on. There wasn't a point, not one that he could see.
Rachel sighed irritably as she stalked back out to the hangar. She'd just changed from her uniform into dark tan khakis and a dark red long sleeve T-shirt, when she realized her gun belt was still on Behemoth. She'd slipped on a pair of boots, and made her way down. She moved swiftly through the familiar ship, and found her room. Her belt was right where she'd left it. Picking it up, the female agent frowned at the odd change in weight of the leather strap since the last time she'd held it. One side was heavier. She looked, and was surprised to discover that the left gun was missing. A quick glance around revealed that the missing weapon was no where in sight. Hmm, how strange. I could have sworn... she thought slowly. Suddenly, it came together. The day's events, Max's depression, her missing gun. Oh, god...please let me be wrong... she thought, rushing to the front of the massive airship. She grabbed one of the spare headsets, and slipped it on.
"Leeds to Martinez. Berto, come in," she said urgently, managing to keep her voice as calm as possible.
"Rachel? What's the emergency?" the younger agent's voice came across a moment later.
"Where's Max? I need his location, now," the blonde agent replied firmly. Berto shrugged, but obeyed, checking his signal locators.
"Down at the beach near his house. But his bio-link's shut off," he said after a minute.
"I knew that. Thank you, Berto," Rachel told him, then took off the headset, dropped it back onto the control panel. She raced out the ship's door, out of the hangar, found her own car, and sped off. Please don't let me be too late, she prayed.
Max sighed, and toyed with the gun. Why am I waiting? he wondered silently. It was time to stop waiting. He raised the weapon to his temple, and slowly expelled his breath. His shut his eyes, and placed his finger on the trigger. Vaguely, he heard a car drive up.
"Max? Max!" a voice yelled, startling him. Instantly, the teenager dropped the gun from his head. He was on his feet in a second, spinning around to face the arrival. Rachel was standing less than ten feet from him. Her eyes were large with fear.
"Rachel. No, go. I don't want you to see this," Max said softly. The blonde shook her head, and stepped closer. A soft breeze blew past both of them.
"Max, I'm not leaving until you give me that gun. We both know this isn't what you want. Please, stop and think," she said softly, holding out her hand. He shook his head rapidly, and the gun whipped up to his temple. The knot in Rachel's stomach tightened.
"Rachel, I can't go on. I don't want to go on. My life is too messed up. I'm a failure," he said in a tear-choked voice. The older agent looked at him closely. His eyes were red-rimmed, he'd obviously been crying hard earlier. She shook her head, and stepped closer.
"Max, you're not a failure. Not if you put that gun down. You're smarter than this," Rachel told him gently. Another step forward. Only a few feet separated them. It was still too far.
"I can't do anything right. There's no point," the teenager replied in a shaky voice.
"Max, there are people who want you around. Your father. Berto. Max, I love you," Rachel pleaded. Max smiled slightly. But it wasn't enough to change his mind.
"I do too. But it doesn't change my decision. I can't live with myself anymore," the younger agent responded in a sullen voice. The female agent shook her head, contemplating. One last chance.
"I can't change your mind, can I?" she asked softly, almost whispering the words.
"No," he replied, in an equally quiet voice. The gun was shaking badly. Either his resolve was weakening, or he was getting nervous with anticipation. Or maybe both.
"Then, can I at least kiss you good-bye?" Rachel questioned, looking him in the eye. He brightened, a little. His mind hadn't changed. It still wasn't enough. Almost silently, Rachel closed the distance between them. She looked up into Max's eyes, then stretched up, slid her arms around his neck, and pressed her lips to his. Hesitantly, her right hand moved to his gun arm, and gently pressed down. Almost to her surprise, he let her move the gun away from his head. She let him go, and looked up. He was looking at her with a kind of shocked amazement. The gun fell from his grip, and landed in the sand. His eyes watered, and he hugged her. Several small, gasping sobs escaped him. Rachel sighed in relief and closed her eyes.
"Rachel?" Max asked a moment later.
"Yes?" she replied. He loosened his grip enough that he could look her in the eyes again. They were surprisingly clear, despite the redness around him.
"Thank you," he told her, a small smile on his face. She returned the expression.
"You're welcome," she said softly. He lowered his head to hers, and pressed his lips to hers. The moon shifted out from behind the clouds, bathing the couple in it's soft bluish light.
Okay, then. Just the usual. Angst, tension, romance, just the usual. Hope you liked it, and catch ya later! Luv ya all!
-Maxy Steel