This is majorly AU: In this Fic Alec escaped
with the other X5's when they escaped from Manticore. Also this is A Max/ Zack
Fic.
~~~
All around Max was carnage.
Blood of the dead Angels soaked
the ground, turning it a dull rusty red. The dying sun's red rays further
enhanced the redness. The entire world seemed to be made of blood and death.
Max stood, head bowed, her wings wrapped tightly around herself. Silent
tears rolled down her face. In the light of the setting sun, the tears were
turned red. It made it appear as if she was crying tears of blood. Her shoulders
shook with sobs.
We never had a chance, Max thought sadly. We were destroyed
as easily as one swats an annoying fly. They were too powerful for us to stop.
There were too many of them. There was no way we could hav beaten them. They
slaughtered everyone.
And all the time the battle had been waged, Max had
been untouched. The demons hadn't fought her, hadn't even acknowledged her
presence. She had tried to fight them, but they batted her away like a fly. They
ignored her. She didn't matter to them. And so powerless to do anything, she had
been forced to watch her brothers and sisters slaughtered.
Images raced
through her mind:
Syl: she screamed as the little black demons ripped off
her wings. She kept screaming her face twisted in pain, even though her tongue
and vocal cords had been long since been ripped out.
Krit and Zane: they had
been killed almost the very second the fight had started. Their wings had been
ripped off. Torn from their bodies one wing at time. Their bodies cut and
bloodied almost beyond recognition from demon teeth and claws. They had fallen
to the ground together. Their screams of pain and anguish still rang in Max's
ears even though they were silent now.
Silent in death.
Tinga: every
bone in her body broken by the demons, her wings torn off she fell through the
sky half alive, until she finally at last hit the ground with a crash to end all
her pain and suffering. Her face had at last looked peaceful as she died.
Jondy: Her eyes, her beautiful brown eyes, had been torn out of their
sockets by the demons. Blood had poured from where her eyes had once been like
tears of crimson. Her sobs of pain had finally stopped when she had died as a
demon ripped her heart out.
Alec and Ben: Brothers to the end they had
fought together, side by side. Their bodies had been mutilated and wounded
beyond belief. But yet they continued fighting. Alec had fallen first, a demon's
arrow through is heart. Seconds later Ben too had fallen when dozens of demons
had suddenly teamed up against him, overpowering him. They had covered him like
a flood of black, killing him almost instantly.
Brin: she had been beaten to
death by swarms of demons. They had descended on her like black locusts. She had
not cried out once as they ripped the wings from her back and broke her arms and
legs. Her lips had moved in a silent prayer as she died. Yet she had not uttered
a single word or sound the entire time. Her silence rang louder than any scream.
But worst of all was Zack: Only one of his wings had been torn from his back
at first. As he struggled to keep himself aloft with the other, the demons had
been tearing the feathers from his other wing and then finally at last, his
remaining wing. Bloodstained feathers had surrounded him like rain as he fell
from the sky. The cuts on his back had bled profusely, covering his entire back
in slick red blood. He had hit the ground with a crash, but he hadn't died then.
He had hovered between life and death until finally he had died. His eyes were
open as he died. They had been staring at the sky, his eyes had been void of all
the life Max usually saw in them. The sparkling blue fire that made Zack, Zack
had been gone. Extinguished. His eyes were flat, empty, vacant.
Dead. As if
his very soul had been ripped out of his eyes.
~~~
Max sat alone in the
ruined battlefield. The only survivor of the battle. In her lap she cradled
Zack's head. She hadn't moved for hours. She softly stroked Zack's blood
encrusted hair. Hair that had once been golden and silky was now dark brown and
gritty with blood.
The sun had set, darkness had covered everything. Her
tears were gone. She couldn't cry anymore. She had used up all of her tears. Her
eyelids felt heavy and stiff. She sat there in a sort of daze. Unfeeling, numb.
She only knew that there was a hole in her soul that would never be healed
again. A soft whimper forced it's way out of her mouth.
Out of the corner of
her eye she saw a soft glowing light. She turned her head to look at it. Her
brown eyes were emotionless and glassy like the eyes of a person in shock. As
she watched the glowing light formed itself into a vague outline of a person. A
man.
"What do you want?" Max asked. Her voice sounded hollow and flat.
"It's more of a question of what you want," the figure replied.
"What do
you mean, ' what I want?'" Max asked.
"What is it that you most want in the
entire world?" The figure asked.
What did she want most in the world? Oh the
answer was so damn simple and easy that it was laughable. She wanted to have a
second chance. To let everyone have a second chance. A chance to be reborn and a
chance to start over. A chance to rectify what had happened and change it.
Max smiled, it was more a grimace than a smile. "Think for yourself. You
*know* what I want most in the world."
She dropped her eyes to Zack's face.
She had closed his eyes out of respect for him. He didn't look peaceful in
death. His face had a haunted expression in it. An expression of absolute pain
and suffering. Gently Max kissed his forehead. She felt a soft whimper rise in
her throat. Biting her lip she forced it down.
"Then it shall be granted,"
the figure replied.
Max looked up startled, "What?" She asked not believing
her ears.
"It's your wish. You're second chance." The figure replied.
Max still gaped at him, her eyes wide.
"You know it's not going to be
easy," the figure replied.
"It's never easy," Max murmured softly somewhat
bitterly.
The figure laughed softly," Yes, it is never easy. Be careful. You
won't get another chance." Then the figure faded away until Max was alone once
more.
~~~
Max sat bolt upright in the bed. A single tear rolled down her
cheek. Eyes wide she gently brushed it off her cheek. She stared at her hand as
if it didn't belong to her. Zack stirred next to her, waking up.
"What's
wrong?" He asked concern in his voice.
Max shook her head wordlessly," I
don't know. But I had the strangest dream."
"Are you OK?" Zack asked,
gently, brushing a lock of hair out of her face.
"Yeah, I think so." Max
snuggled against him. He wrapped an arm around her waist. Soon he was asleep
again.
But Max didn't fall asleep. For what seemed like forever she hovered
between sleep and wakefulness. Just as she was about to fall asleep again the
figure's voice echoed softly in her ears: ' It is never easy. Be careful. You
won't get another chance.'