DISCLAIMER: I don't own Dark Angel or its characters.
SPOILERS: None at this point.
SUMMARY: After an Eyes Only mission goes sideways, Max finds herself being held captive by a
family that is convinced she is their only hope.
Ticket to Freedom
Chapter One
Little by little, the world slowly and painfully came back into focus. Max didn't know how long she'd been out. She searched her mind, trying to remember what had led up to this. She remembered going to work, having dinner with Logan, then pulling an Eyes Only job. She was supposed to get some kind of disc. Logan hadn't even known what was on it. His info was from an anonymous tip he got in one of the Eyes Only drop boxes he had set up around the city. He had wanted to check it out more first, but she insisted on doing it right away so she would be able to spend Friday night out at Crash with OC and the guys from work. The office where the disc was supposed to be had been empty. She remembered Logan radioing for her to get out of there, but it was too late. She didn't hear someone sneaking up behind her. The next thing she knew, they shot her with something and her whole world went black.
She knew she was in trouble. Logan had been out in the Aztec a block away when she went down. There was no way he would have been able to get to her in time to save her. What troubled her most was how quickly she had been taken down. Most run-of-the-mill tranquilizers didn't have as strong an effect on an X5 as they would on an ordinary human being. Whatever she had been shot with had taken her down fast, which suggested that whoever had her either wanted to be sure she went down or they knew what she was. Either way, it was bad.
The first thing to come into focus was the sound of computers running and someone typing. For a second, she wasn't so afraid thinking that Logan just might be there with her, that maybe he had gotten her out of there. But then her other senses caught up. She definitely wasn't at Logan's. Wherever she was smelled like fresh paint, disinfectant, and cedar. Now all that was left to do was open her eyes, but that was proving more difficult than she would have liked. Whatever they had shot her with had left her feeling weak and groggy. With all of the energy she had, she forced one eyelid open, then the other. Everything was blurry for a few seconds, but when the haze cleared she found that she was in a cabin. It was smaller than Logan's uncle's, and probably much older. Out the window, she could see only trees. The only piece of furniture in the small room was the couch that she was laying on. There were no pictures or decorations on the walls, no rug on the floor. There was only a space heater that was plugged in in the corner.
In the next room, Max could see a young girl, maybe fourteen or fifteen years old, sitting at a computer wearing headphones, nodding her head slightly to her music. As if she felt Max watching her, she suddenly looked up. Seeing Max was awake, the girl sighed heavily and took her headphones off.
"Are you cold?" she asked as she walked into the room.
Max tried to nod.
The girl went back into the other room and returned with a blanket. Without even looking at her, she covered her with the blanket, then walked around where Max couldn't see her anymore. She reappeared holding a syringe.
"I'm sorry," she said, picking up the tube to an IV Max hadn't even realized was in her arm.
Max shot the girl one last pleading look before everything went black once more.
A QUICK NOTE: Okay, so I've been hanging on to this one for a while. It's been just notes for about a year and a half. Interested? Not interested? Let me know. Usually I write more for amusement (see "The Bare Essentials" posted about 2 years back), but I'm giving the serious thing a shot.