It had rained for twelve hours straight. He could no longer hear anything
but the rain drumming on the roof, and coming through the roof, onto the
floor. Storm sat on the floor of Alec's bedroom, leaning back against the
bed. In his hand he held a can of beer, which he sipped almost
mechanically, his eyes firmly focussed on the rain falling through Alec's
skylight and onto the floor.
It must not have rained since the ceiling had caved in, because Storm was
getting pretty wet just sitting by the bed. He doubted that Alec would have
put up with rain falling on his bed while he slept.
He finished the beer, and tossed the can through the hole in the wall, and
into the living-room, which was also getting rather wet by now. Without
looking, he moved his hand across the floor, until it touched the rest of
his 6-pack. He grabbed one, popped the tab and drunk deeply.
The rain was kind of interesting, the way it fell to the ground. His only problem with it was the way in which it puddled on the ground. In the near darkness the water looked dark, the same colour that blood looked in the dark. He kept drinking.
Mole walked slowly across the room and took a seat next to Max. she had her eyes closed, and he made no sound. If she had finally gotten to sleep, the last thing he wanted to do was wake her up.
"Neil send you?" she asked, and he glanced at her quickly. her eyes were still closed.
"No. thought you could use a friend." Max opened her eyes at that, and looked up at him.
"Alec was your friend, huh?" she asked him. he nodded, pulling out a cigar and biting on it nervously.
"He IS my friend." Mole corrected her, putting his hand under her chin and lifting it up so that he could look her straight in the eye. "Don't tempt fate, Max. You know how strong Alec is."
"Sometimes, I feel like, I don't really know him at all." She told him.
Mole nodded. "He lets you see what he wants you to see." He told her. "And sometimes, that's not such a bad thing."
"What was he like at Manticore? Did you know him?"
"like he is now. Always had a scam going, always planning ahead. He used to drive the Psy Obs guys insane, they couldn't predict what he was going to do, because he was always 5 steps ahead of them." Mole looked down, finally lighting his cigar. "He never used to smile though. And to answer your question, no. I didn't know him. I just listened when the staff talked about him. we all did, all us freaks. The Xs, you guys were going to get to go out into the world, interact with humans. We were just techs. We lived vicariously through them, I guess."
"I was making fun of him"
"Huh?" Mole asked, confused by the sudden change in conversation topic. "The last thing I said to him, I was hassling him for taking his time, leaving all the work to me."
"why should that conversation be any different from the others you have?" Mole asked her. "Face it, Max. that's what you do, and you both love it. He wouldn't have read anything into it, apart from that."
"There was so much blood"
"I know" Mole had had to listen helplessly from HQ as Alec had screamed, too far away to do anything. he had heard one-sided conversations, that he didn't understand, but that he knew were really bad. And he had heard Max cry out, and beg Alec to wake up, talk to her, anything. He had watched as they returned to TC, and Alec had been rushed into the makeshift hospital. Mole had had to look twice, to confirm that it was Alec, his face was almost completely covered in blood. Dix had stood there, completely motionless, not breathing. Then he had turned away, gone straight into his room and slammed the door. Mole hadn't seen him since.
Storm finished his can and swore, realising it was his last one. He still wasn't drunk, could still see the look on Shay's face as he nodded to him, telling him to stay as he went to join Max. Damnit. He stood up, pitching his can out of Alec's skylight, and leaving the apartment, going in search of something a lot harder to drink.
The bar was packed, even though it was only mid afternoon. There was a really strange atmosphere, transgenics not knowing whether to celebrate, or mourn. They kind of did both. Storm couldn't fault them for that. The immediate Familiar threat was over, they had got the poison, and as a bonus, all of the scientists, bar one, were dead. And the one left alive would not be making more poison in a hurry. He was in the custody of twenty pretty pissed off transgenics, who were awaiting orders. They were alive, and that was a reason to celebrate. But, not everyone was that lucky. Alec was lying in the hospital, in about his tenth straight hour of surgery to repair the damage caused by being hit with three bullets, and whatever else. Shay and Tim were missing, not classified as KIA, their bodies not found in the tunnel. Between them, Mole and Dix had organised a squad of some 40 transgenics to scour the area around the hill, going as close as they could safely go, to try to find any evidence of where they might have been taken. But so far, nothing.
Storm took a seat at the bar, and gestured to the albino barkeep. "What you after?" "Scotch. Double." The beer just wasn't strong enough.
"Any word on Alec?" the albino asked him, and the noise level in the bar dropped away. Everyone seemed to be listening for an answer. "Don't know." Storm knocked his drink back quickly and stood up. "Thanks" He headed back out onto the street, not being able to stand the looks he was getting from the others, probably wondering why the hell he had made it back and not Alec. He started walking, then running, trying anything to forget the past few days. He ran harder, stumbling slightly on the wet pavement and falling to his knees. Picking himself up, he realised that he was just around the corner from the hospital. Fine. He walked inside, and stood just inside the entrance. He could see Max and Mole, sitting against a wall, talking quietly. Storm watched them for a minute, trying to decide whether to go over and join them. Then he shrugged, and crossed the room. Max could hit him if he wanted to. She didn't. She looked up as he approached, and smiled weakly, before turning to stare in the direction of the operating room.
"Any word?" Storm asked quietly, taking a seat on the floor beside them. "No" he sighed, and joined Max staring at the door.
Neil checked the IV one more time, then sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. He had done all he could. The bullets had done a lot of damage, a dangerous amount, even for a transgenic. He shook his head, and headed outside. Max was on her feet in an instant, moving towards him "Tell me" she asked quickly.
"We've done all we could, repaired as much of the damage as we were able to. He's lost a lot of blood, we're replacing it as quickly as we can."
"But he's."'
"Yeah, he's alive."
Max smiled, her whole face lighting up as she hugged Neil. "Can I go in?"
"Just don't yell at him, okay?" Neil told her, grinning at the relief on her face. "No yelling until he can yell back, okay?"
she nodded, moving quickly towards the door. Neil turned to look at Mole. "Listen, I don't know how good your contacts are, but there's some stuff we're going to need. Bandages, medication, IV lines, that kind of thing"
"Name it." Mole told him. "We'll get it."
Max walked into the room slowly, trying not to make any noise. There were three transgenics in the room, two females, and a possibly male green skinned transgenic. She nodded to them, and sat down by the bed. Alec looked horrible. They had cleaned the blood off his face, but his skin was so pale, as if the lost blood had taken all the colour from him. his upper chest was covered in bandages, already starting to stain with blood. She reached down and put her hand over his, gently stroking it, as she watched his face, praying to see any kind of response from him. none came. She lowered her head to rest on the bed beside his hand, and closed her eyes, listening to the reassuring beep of the heart monitor. Her hand tightened her grip on his.
The rain was kind of interesting, the way it fell to the ground. His only problem with it was the way in which it puddled on the ground. In the near darkness the water looked dark, the same colour that blood looked in the dark. He kept drinking.
Mole walked slowly across the room and took a seat next to Max. she had her eyes closed, and he made no sound. If she had finally gotten to sleep, the last thing he wanted to do was wake her up.
"Neil send you?" she asked, and he glanced at her quickly. her eyes were still closed.
"No. thought you could use a friend." Max opened her eyes at that, and looked up at him.
"Alec was your friend, huh?" she asked him. he nodded, pulling out a cigar and biting on it nervously.
"He IS my friend." Mole corrected her, putting his hand under her chin and lifting it up so that he could look her straight in the eye. "Don't tempt fate, Max. You know how strong Alec is."
"Sometimes, I feel like, I don't really know him at all." She told him.
Mole nodded. "He lets you see what he wants you to see." He told her. "And sometimes, that's not such a bad thing."
"What was he like at Manticore? Did you know him?"
"like he is now. Always had a scam going, always planning ahead. He used to drive the Psy Obs guys insane, they couldn't predict what he was going to do, because he was always 5 steps ahead of them." Mole looked down, finally lighting his cigar. "He never used to smile though. And to answer your question, no. I didn't know him. I just listened when the staff talked about him. we all did, all us freaks. The Xs, you guys were going to get to go out into the world, interact with humans. We were just techs. We lived vicariously through them, I guess."
"I was making fun of him"
"Huh?" Mole asked, confused by the sudden change in conversation topic. "The last thing I said to him, I was hassling him for taking his time, leaving all the work to me."
"why should that conversation be any different from the others you have?" Mole asked her. "Face it, Max. that's what you do, and you both love it. He wouldn't have read anything into it, apart from that."
"There was so much blood"
"I know" Mole had had to listen helplessly from HQ as Alec had screamed, too far away to do anything. he had heard one-sided conversations, that he didn't understand, but that he knew were really bad. And he had heard Max cry out, and beg Alec to wake up, talk to her, anything. He had watched as they returned to TC, and Alec had been rushed into the makeshift hospital. Mole had had to look twice, to confirm that it was Alec, his face was almost completely covered in blood. Dix had stood there, completely motionless, not breathing. Then he had turned away, gone straight into his room and slammed the door. Mole hadn't seen him since.
Storm finished his can and swore, realising it was his last one. He still wasn't drunk, could still see the look on Shay's face as he nodded to him, telling him to stay as he went to join Max. Damnit. He stood up, pitching his can out of Alec's skylight, and leaving the apartment, going in search of something a lot harder to drink.
The bar was packed, even though it was only mid afternoon. There was a really strange atmosphere, transgenics not knowing whether to celebrate, or mourn. They kind of did both. Storm couldn't fault them for that. The immediate Familiar threat was over, they had got the poison, and as a bonus, all of the scientists, bar one, were dead. And the one left alive would not be making more poison in a hurry. He was in the custody of twenty pretty pissed off transgenics, who were awaiting orders. They were alive, and that was a reason to celebrate. But, not everyone was that lucky. Alec was lying in the hospital, in about his tenth straight hour of surgery to repair the damage caused by being hit with three bullets, and whatever else. Shay and Tim were missing, not classified as KIA, their bodies not found in the tunnel. Between them, Mole and Dix had organised a squad of some 40 transgenics to scour the area around the hill, going as close as they could safely go, to try to find any evidence of where they might have been taken. But so far, nothing.
Storm took a seat at the bar, and gestured to the albino barkeep. "What you after?" "Scotch. Double." The beer just wasn't strong enough.
"Any word on Alec?" the albino asked him, and the noise level in the bar dropped away. Everyone seemed to be listening for an answer. "Don't know." Storm knocked his drink back quickly and stood up. "Thanks" He headed back out onto the street, not being able to stand the looks he was getting from the others, probably wondering why the hell he had made it back and not Alec. He started walking, then running, trying anything to forget the past few days. He ran harder, stumbling slightly on the wet pavement and falling to his knees. Picking himself up, he realised that he was just around the corner from the hospital. Fine. He walked inside, and stood just inside the entrance. He could see Max and Mole, sitting against a wall, talking quietly. Storm watched them for a minute, trying to decide whether to go over and join them. Then he shrugged, and crossed the room. Max could hit him if he wanted to. She didn't. She looked up as he approached, and smiled weakly, before turning to stare in the direction of the operating room.
"Any word?" Storm asked quietly, taking a seat on the floor beside them. "No" he sighed, and joined Max staring at the door.
Neil checked the IV one more time, then sighed, and ran his hand through his hair. He had done all he could. The bullets had done a lot of damage, a dangerous amount, even for a transgenic. He shook his head, and headed outside. Max was on her feet in an instant, moving towards him "Tell me" she asked quickly.
"We've done all we could, repaired as much of the damage as we were able to. He's lost a lot of blood, we're replacing it as quickly as we can."
"But he's."'
"Yeah, he's alive."
Max smiled, her whole face lighting up as she hugged Neil. "Can I go in?"
"Just don't yell at him, okay?" Neil told her, grinning at the relief on her face. "No yelling until he can yell back, okay?"
she nodded, moving quickly towards the door. Neil turned to look at Mole. "Listen, I don't know how good your contacts are, but there's some stuff we're going to need. Bandages, medication, IV lines, that kind of thing"
"Name it." Mole told him. "We'll get it."
Max walked into the room slowly, trying not to make any noise. There were three transgenics in the room, two females, and a possibly male green skinned transgenic. She nodded to them, and sat down by the bed. Alec looked horrible. They had cleaned the blood off his face, but his skin was so pale, as if the lost blood had taken all the colour from him. his upper chest was covered in bandages, already starting to stain with blood. She reached down and put her hand over his, gently stroking it, as she watched his face, praying to see any kind of response from him. none came. She lowered her head to rest on the bed beside his hand, and closed her eyes, listening to the reassuring beep of the heart monitor. Her hand tightened her grip on his.