This is a plot bunny that came from TheWickedQuill (aka Shay). It is posted on the Engineered to Raise Hell forum under "Plot Bunnies". This one intrigued me, so I thought I'd give it a shot.
"Details: The challenge - Max wakes up in hospital and is told that the past ten years of her life were all just a figment of her twisted imagination. Will she learn to cope or will the pressure and uncertainty of what is real and what is not be too much for her fragile mind to handle and end up shattering her completely?"
I haven't fully decided if there is going to be an actual pairing or ship. However, I am certain there will be at least one rape scene between White and Max (later in the story). Only because it's part of the story. I'm not terribly fond of writing scenes of that nature, but once in a while, an author must stretch beyond their comfort zone.
Anyway, thank you Shay for the idea and encouragement. And thank you Max333 for reviewing and commenting this story before-hand. If there are any errors, it's all my fault.
She knew she was in the fight for her very life.
Bleeding and bruised in different areas of her body, her left eye swollen shut, her determination to live was faltering as she and White circled each other warily. The only reason she stayed upright to continue fighting White was because the words "give up" were not in her vocabulary. Manticore did at least one thing right. Never give up, never surrender. Fight to the death.
She was taught from an early age to withstand all kinds of punishment and torture. But they didn't factor in fighting a Familiar that felt no pain and was admittedly, stronger than she herself was.
White didn't even look winded, something Max hated with a passion. And frankly, she found it childishly unfair! Deck would have had a field day with this back at Manticore! She would have been sentenced to more exercise and training for several hours as punishment, or possibly placed in isolation without food or water for however long Deck deemed necessary.
White circled her and tossed his switchblade back and forth between his hands, taunting her.
"Give it up 452. You can't win."
"Bite me!" Max spat, as she watched her nemesis warily for an opening to attack.
Where the hell was Alec with the back-up?
A radio on White's belt crackled as a male voice barked, "Omega to Alpha, Omega to Alpha, come in Alpha."
White still had an earpiece in his ear, even after all the fighting they had done up to this point, he never dislodged the damn earpiece. White simply pressed a button on the earpiece, keeping a watchful eye on Max as he answered, "Alpha here, go ahead Omega team, what's your status?"
"We've captured 494, sir. We have him sedated. There were five other freaks with him. We killed them on sight as ordered and left 494 alive. Amongst the dead are a lizard man and a dog man, sir. Pretty freaky shit."
Max could hear Renfro in her mind, "You're poison to everything you touch 452."
Hearing that her back-up team was all dead, including Mole and Joshua... and Alec was captured, all because of her. The guilt nearly overwhelmed her. This was a set up and now she was thoroughly kicking herself. It was her fault. She led her people into this. They were dead or captured, and that left her to deal with White alone.
Smiling, White answered back through his earpiece, "Good work Omega. Take 494 back to base and keep him sedated." White grinned evilly at Max as he replied to his teammate ominously, "I have plans for him."
"Any sign of 452, sir?"
White chuckled and then answered, "Yeah... She's dead. Or at least, close enough!"
"Roger. Omega out"
"Alpha, over and out."
White continued circling Max during the whole radio conversation before he turned the radio off.
"I'm not dead yet, you snake worshipping psychopath!" Max hissed as she continued keeping her guard up, waiting for her moment.
White shook his head in a condescending manner, sarcasm dripping from his voice, "Where is that genius intellect I hear so much about regarding you animals? We don't worship snakes, you idiot. We worship a goddess that made us better than you. Now..." White tossed the blade back and forth between his hands again, "Enough talking. I intend to have your head in my trophy case. Right beside 494's."
He lunged and she dodged to the side, grabbing the arm with the knife. Max elbowed White right between the eyes, and the Familiar didn't even flinch. He simply grinned down at her and head-butted her, hard, knocking her into complete and utter blackness.
"She's coming around."
Max heard the voice as if from far away. A familiar voice she knew very well… and the strong smell of ammonia under her nose making her want to sneeze.
"Logan?" Max groaned, forcing herself to open heavy-lidded eyes and peer at the first man she ever fell in love with. Logan put aside the smelling salts as Max became instantly alert. She darted her eyes around the room, sitting up quickly. "Where's White?" she hissed, not seeing him anywhere. She struggled against her bindings, not understanding yet why she couldn't move her arms, she yelled, "Let me at him! I'm going to kick his ass!"
Logan's gaze was sympathetic as he kept his voice calm and soothing. He gently placed a hand on her shoulder in reassurance.
"Max, Ames White is not here. You're safe. He'll never hurt you again."
Max squeaked and crawled away from Logan as quickly as possible, eyes wide in fear and horror.
"Logan! Go wash your hands in bleach! Right now! The virus!"
"Max..." Logan tried to remain calm, and knowing his touch would just upset her, he raised his palms in surrender. Crooning softly, he replied, "Max... I'm cured, remember?"
Max looked around the room she was in for the first time, just now taking a really good look. Padded walls and floor, her arms were bound in a strait-jacket, and Logan was in a white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck. The identification badge on his coat read "Logan Cale, PhD, Harbor Lights Hospital".
"You're cured?" Max asked, confused about what Logan informed her, and completely disoriented by unfamiliar surroundings,. "But how can that be?"
(Earlier that morning)
"Thank you for coming in to see me Deck."
Dr. Donald Lydecker shook Dr. Cale's hand as he got right to the point, "You said you took over the care of one of my patients...?"
"Have a seat." Logan gestured to one of the visitor's chairs as he seated himself behind his desk. He tapped a few keys on his laptop and then turned the screen to where Lydecker could view it.
A picture of Max dominated the screen as Logan began, "This patient... A Maxine Sandeman-White. Do you remember her?"
"Absolutely. I could never forget her. Severely abused by her foster father and foster brother, she developed a multiple personality disorder coupled with paranoid delusions. If memory serves me correctly, she was nineteen when I first met her."
"Some new developments have come up since you last saw her doctor. I need your expertise, especially due to your history with this patient."
"I'll be happy to help in any way I can, son."
Logan nodded. Deck was an old friend of his father's, and actually helped him get the job at this hospital. With Deck's recommendation, he effectively took Deck's place when Deck was promoted to Chief of Staff of the Harbor Lights Psychiatric ward. If anyone knew how to help, his old family friend would. Logan tapped a few more keys on the laptop, bringing up Max's psychological profile.
"When I took over her case two years ago, Maxine seemed to be completely living her paranoid delusions. She believed herself to be a genetically engineered super-soldier made in a lab."
Deck gave a slight nod as he sat back more comfortably in his chair, "Well, that's easily explained. She was traumatized and victimized repeatedly in her formative years. 'Max Guavera' is her alter-ego that protects herself against harm."
Logan nodded sympathetically, already knowing this, "And her foster father, Rudolf Sandeman, is in the federal penitentiary for the severe abuse of Maxine and his son Charles James, also known as CJ, correct?"
"That's right, and her other foster brother, Ames White, is still at large. He performed the most heinous acts of physical and sexual abuse of the patient, as a directive from his father. At least, in the beginning."
Deck seemed to review the psychological profile that one couldn't find in a computer or file cabinet anywhere. It was the one locked tight inside Deck's memory. Logan waited patiently for Deck to elaborate. When he spoke, his voice was gruffer than normal. "Sometimes, Maxine also refers to herself as a number, '452'. Ames White called her that, possibly to dehumanize her, like she was no longer a person and she belonged to their family, like a possession would belong to them. They even branded her with what looks like a barcode on the back of her neck." Deck's eyes flashed, causing Logan to realize the older man cared more for his former patient than he let on. Then Deck firmed his jaw and simply replied in a manner like he was trying to keep his temper in check, "She is amongst the top ten of the worst child abuse cases in recent history. And it's going to take a lot of work to deprogram her mind-set. To convince her that she is a person worthy of respect and love, a young woman with a full life ahead of her and numerous possibilities to choose from regarding what to do with her life."
"Well, I have some good news on that front. These past two years, she has shown the capability of making friends amongst a few of the patients and staff here. Joshua, one of our orderlies, is especially close to her. Nothing sexual that I can tell, but there is a definite bond there between the two of them. However, there is another patient of ours that sticks by her like glue. We keep him in room 494; his name is Alec McDowell, a manic depressive individual that spiraled into a deep, dark depression when his high school sweetheart, Rachel Berrisford, died in a car crash." Logan looked up at Lydecker as he added, "It was prom night. Mr. McDowell was driving the car, and his alcohol level was off the charts, which caused the accident that killed Miss Berrisford. Anyway, he and Ms. White have struck up a pretty tight friendship, of which I encourage up to a point. This has brought McDowell out of his depression and he's relating to another individual, in this case, Ms. White. You rarely see one without the other. And then we had another problem."
"What was that?"
"Maxine claims to have 'heat cycles'."
"Right... manifested from years of sexual abuse by her foster father and foster brother. My theory was that they would purposely manipulate her body into arousal, have sexual intercourse with her, then hold it over her later, like she wanted the experience. At times, they even used drugs to keep her compliant." Deck shook his head sadly, "The 'heat cycle' she referred to was her way of explaining everything away, that she was only aroused by the experience because she was part feline and in heat. Then she would experience intense guilt afterward for having enjoyed it, to some extent. Still rape though. That's what I've been trying to get her to see for years. She seems to only see herself as a sexual vessel for men."
Logan nodded in agreement, "And now she's experiencing attraction to other men and coming on to them pretty strongly. One is me, which is why I am bringing you in for assistance, because I don't want anyone suspecting anything other than a doctor/patient relationship between us. And the other is Mr. McDowell. And just yesterday, the two of them were making out pretty heavily in one of our storage closets. Luckily we got to them before coitus and separated them."
Lydecker leaned forward toward the laptop and scrolled down the screen, reading, and remarked, "It says here that she believes she is carrying a genetically targeted retrovirus that can kill you?" Deck raised a questioning brow at Logan. "That's new."
Logan sighed, "Yes, that's my fault actually. She was having this inappropriate attraction to me and I just felt, in order to continue treating her..."
Deck's eyes narrowed at the younger man, "That you can just make up another delusion for her to live? That's not very orthodox, son."
Logan leaned forward in earnest, "C'mon Deck. I honestly thought I had a breakthrough with her a few months back. And then she... kissed me." Logan blushed as Deck's gaze became more of a reproof now. Logan's eyes widened, seeing the unspoken implication in Deck's eyes. Fearing for his job, he raised his hands in surrender, speaking quickly, "I swear Deck, I didn't lead her on in any way... We're not like that. But now, in order to keep her calm, sometimes I..."
"Have to go along with her delusions." Deck nodded, "Any psychologist would do the same thing, if her mind is too fractured to handle the truth." Deck leaned forward and pointed a finger at Logan warningly, "But we do not add to her delusions by making up another story." Deck shook his head and sighed tiredly as he leaned back into his chair again, "That's neither here nor there, Cale. Get back to the point. In your email, you said Maxine had a mental breakdown a couple of days ago? What triggered it?"
Logan reached into his desk drawer and pulled out a thick Bible and opened the flap where there was a picture of a handsome, dark-haired man in his early thirties.
"Do you recognize this man Deck?
"I do." Deck steepled his fingers in front of him as he confirmed Logan's suspicions, "Ames White, Maxine's rapist foster brother, later turned husband."
"Alleged rapist, remember Deck? Innocent until proven guilty? He hasn't even been brought up on charges yet."
"Screw that Cale. I have no doubts that this son-of-a-bitch did it. Let me guess. This picture caused Maxine's psychotic break?"
Logan nodded in answer, and then explained. "It was sent to us by secure priority mail. One of my nurses signed for it, opened it, saw it was a Bible with a well-dressed man's picture inside, no weapons or anything. She gave it to Maxine instead of going through the proper channels... The nurse's first day on the job, she didn't know. Frankly I wish I would have seen it first..."
Deck stood and propped both hands on Logan's desk, eyes narrowed he ordered, "Get that to the police, Cale. We have a restraining order against White. He is not allowed to communicate with Maxine in any way. We can now issue a warrant for his arrest."
"Sounds good in theory Deck, but I've tried that already. We have no proof that it actually came from White himself."
"What, do they need an engraved invitation or something? His picture in a Bible! C'mon! They used Old Testament scriptures on her to convince her God allowed them concubines of their choice. And that they could treat her however they wanted to and God blessed them for it."
"Deck…. I've never seen you so passionate about a patient before. Is there something more that I'm not aware of?"
Deck knew Logan was right, but it didn't make it any easier to deal with. Instead of answering the question posed to him, Deck's fist hit Logan's desk in fury, causing the cup filled with pencils to fall over and scatter the pencils and pens all over the desk, "Whoever said that a picture is worth a thousand words didn't know bupkus!"
Logan remarked drily while tidying up the roaming pencils and putting them back in the cup, "They obviously never worked here, that's for sure."
Deck huffed out a breath, calming himself down as he gave Logan a small nod, then pointed at him, "Call me immediately if you get anything else for Maxine. And I'll send you my file on Maxine as soon as I get back to my desk. Be sure to check your email."
OK peeps! Kindly review, even if you don't review kindly. :)