Alrighty ladies and gentlemen. This is the second episode of season three. Revised and improved…hopefully. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel. Blah, blah, woof, woof
"You know, you're an Ordinary; what are you doin' in here?" Max heard Mole's voice demand from inside the room she was headed to. In the two seconds it took her to reach the doorway, she had mentally prepared herself for another round with the terminal hothead of Terminal City, idly wondering who the victim of Mole's wrath was this time.
Max turned in the direction she heard his voice come from and almost laughed when she saw OC standing there, proud and defiant, in front of Mole with a cowering Sketchy behind her back. Instead of rushing over to defend her less physically enhanced friend, Max let a grin cross her face as she leaned her shoulder back against the wall.
Someone leaned against the wall next to her. "Twenty bucks on Cindy," Alec's voice said in an almost bored fashion.
Max grinned. "No deal. I like my Andy Jacksons just fine in my pocket."
"Coz OC's aiight. I don want none of this shit, jus cuz I'm an "Ordinary". You feelin' me? I been backin' ma homegirl longer than you been wankin' ta lady lizards. OC ain't gonna bail on her Boo jus coz she landed in a jam. OC won't take no shit jus cuz you sweatin' me. I'll put the smack down on yo ugly ass, transgenic or not." OC declared finishing by folding her arms across her chest and raising an eyebrow. Alec let out a snicker.
Sketch looked horrified by OC's outburst. Mole stood there a while, silent, then he suddenly threw his head back and burst into laughter, "You know what, you're alright for an Ordinary."
"Yeah, and you not half bad yourself for a washed up wrinkly thing," she retorted. Sketchy looked about ready to pee himself. Luckily, OC looked over and saw Max before the fight could escalate. She walked over with Sketchy right on her heels. They had been here for two days and Sketchy had been right with her the whole time. She hadn't been the only one to notice.
"If I had to hazard a guess, I'd say Sketchy isn't too terribly comfortable being of the minority in a place chocked full of transgenics," Alec said dryly.
That made Max smile.
"Hey boo. I gotta tell you…some of your family are aiight," she paused significantly, looked back over at Mole, and continued in a much louder voice. "And others OC could put the smack-down on for trippin so hard on me n ma wigga friend."
The "wigga friend" really looked like he was re-evaluating his previous judgement on safety in numbers. "OC," Sketchy said in a hurried voice when Mole looked over, "I do not want to die before I can get my story out. Will you please give it a rest?"
"Don't sweat it Sketch, we got your back," Max said while lightly punching Sketchy in the arm. He flinched and jumped about a foot in the air.
"Hey Sketch, you alright?" Alec questioned. "You know, I told you stay away from the purple pills. They were strong stuff and last time…"
"Could you please be serious, man?" Sketchy spoke over him. It completely silenced the circle of friends.
Alec shrugged. "Yeah, sure. Sorry, I know I'm a pain in the ass. I'm told it on a daily basis. I just thought what with being in a siege and all, people would appreciate the humor."
"Well, I don't appreciate it."
Alec's jaw clenched tight, his eyes deadening. "Whatever." He turned around and walked off. Sketchy didn't even look like he cared.
Max had never seen a jumpy Sketchy…unless you count the time they delivered to that gang, or the time he was cheating on Natalie. Okay, so she had seen him jumpy quite a few times…but generally it was always backed by a good excuse. She had definitely never seen a mad Sketchy. Or such a rude Sketchy.
She wondered what was bothering him this time…
"That was uncalled for wigga," OC scolded.
Sketchy turned to her. "You know what. I'm tired of everyone deciding for me what is called or uncalled for. I'm not stupid. I can make decisions on my own too, you know."
Max's eyes got round.
"Don't worry, my boy's alright…I think he jus needs some good ol fresh, polluted air." OC grabbed Sketchy by the ear and led him off, so they could talk in private.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAA
Alec stormed out of HQ, walking down the lengthy hallway of doors, brooding. He was breathing fast, but not from any physical exertion.
Finally, his thoughts just got too much for him. He fisted his hand and threw his torso, driving his arm up to the wrist through the wall. He slowly pulled his hand out and looked down at it. There was blood that trickled out from his four knuckles, running a slow red snake through the dust covered skin.
A door opened to his immediate right, and a head popped out.
"You've got to be kidding me," Alec whispered when he recognized who it was. The world was against him, both figuratively and literally.
"Uh…Alec," Logan questioned. "Is there a particularly unique reason you're punching holes through my wall, or is it just the normal every day routine?"
Alec really wanted to get upset with him, especially after the stunt he pulled the other day on the roof with Max. He didn't hear the whole conversation, but he did know that majority had been about his self. But Alec was all too aware of how this whole siege thing was affecting everyone. Hadn't he just stomped out of HQ like a spoiled little kid, because Sketchy indirectly told him to shut the hell up. And really, if Alec were to think about it, he should have been aware that something was wrong with Sketchy because, seriously, as long as the dude had a beer and a story to write, the world was, "All good, all the time." This had been told to Alec on a regular basis when Sketchy was in a less than sober state. He would mumble something about "herbal." Alec would jokingly tell him he needed to take it easy on the ganja, and Sketchy would laugh it off, moving on to whatever tickled his drunken interest.
Alec would have felt guilty for storming off without figuring out was wrong with his friend, and yes, Sketchy was indeed a friend, if it hadn't been for the fact that his words had really ticked a sore spot that Alec didn't even know existed. If he had stayed, more than likely, he would have said something he would definitely have reason to feel guilty for.
"Listen Alec," Logan started, bringing Alec out of his thoughts. For the first time he noticed that there was something on the computer whiz's mind. "I know I told you before to just take care of Max, but I want to say it again…and mean it this time."
Ah, so he was still the screw-up, taking the fall to protect the guy. It didn't matter too much, after all, hadn't Alec agreed to it after he had his little talk with Logan? The man was one key short of a piano.
Alec was also aware that this was his way of making up for his behavior yesterday. The man all but gave his blessing for the girl he had been celibate over for two years. It was probably more than Alec would have done given the positions being switched. Logan didn't even know that he had heard part of their fight.
The guy was too righteous for Alec's health.
"Uh, yeah. Whatever," he said with a shrug, already looking away, but Logan wouldn't let him.
"No, don't do that," Alec raised a brow, but Logan was already continuing before Alec could ask. "That Manticore thing I'm beginning to suspect was part of the curriculum. This is serious, don't close yourself off." Logan's stare was intense.
Alec met his intensity with spare. He didn't make a habit of showing this part of him. It intimidated people too much to think that he could be good looking and highly intelligent. He searched Logan's eyes. What he found there surprised him. He was sincere. Suddenly, this felt like more than having Max's back.
"Max sometimes takes on too much to handle by herself. Not always, she's got a brain in her with a genius IQ, but it still happens. And she sometimes tries to close herself off, but you have to make sure she doesn't do that. I know you may not think this, but it's better to talk about it. And…just, don't take her for granted, life's too short. She's a great woman."
The last was said with regret. And pain so deep that Alec could feel it. Logan cleared his throat and met Alec's eyes. "Will you take care of her?"
Alec hadn't actually realized how serious their relationship had been. How could anyone be serious with an ordinary? He suddenly felt juvenile for always poking fun at Max. He held Logan's gaze.
"Always," he said, without a trace of his trademark sarcasm.
OC dragged Sketchy the room where Max had patched up Alec. OC shut the doors and turned to Sketchy who now sat on the table swinging his legs.
"Alright fool, what's the problem?" OC demanded.
She had expected to have to wait a while for him to gather an answer, but was surprised when he blurted out,
"How long have you known?"
OC sighed. She knew he would ask eventually; she just still couldn't think of a better way to go about this.
"Coupla years," she stated, deciding she wanted to be honest with him. She watched as his face fall to an expression of hurt and betrayal, and it hurt her more than she would ever admit. She didn't like any of her friends hurting, and somewhere along the road, between all of his hair-brained ideals and idiotic expressions, yet honest intentions, he had wormed his way into her closest circle of friends.
"She didn't trust me," he stated slowly, looking down.
"Sketch…it's not how you think-" OC started. That made him mad, which, in return, scared the hell out of OC. She'd never seen him mad. Scared, happy, drunk, sad-heck, she'd even seen him serious for a couple of seconds, but never mad.
"OK! Tell me why Max can tell you about her being a transgenic and not me," he ordered, watching her closely.
"She didn't tell me…at least not by her choosing to." He shut his mouth and waited for her to continue. OC sighed. Well, they were here. They had reached the point of no return, but OC couldn't find it in herself to care. Sketchy had earned the right to know.
"Some really bad people found out what Max was. They wanted her to be mommy to a bunch of…monsters," OC shivered at remembering the Reds. She didn't see Sketchy's expression change because she was lost in the memory.
OC was actually scared…she's not scared of anything. She may not be scared now, but he knew that at the time, whatever she had gone through, it had really shaken her up. Sketchy didn't know what to do, so he acted by instincts. He reached out and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. She seemed to barely notice.
"Max managed to escape from them, jus barely. But they were persistent bitches…when they found out Max was my boo, they used me to get her to walk into a trap." OC's eyes got even more distant remembering the feel of the gun held point blank against her chest.
"They made OC call her, but I warned her. When I saw ma home-girl walk in and start kickin some serious ass, I was extremely shocked…and that's putting it mildly. Afterwards, we were at Logan's. She was scared I wouldn't like her, but she thought I deserved the right to know. She told me."
Sketchy realized that maybe it wasn't as easy as he thought being a transgenic. He also felt sorry for thinking that Max didn't care or trust him.
"I didn't know what to think except that, she's a transgenic. Then I looked up and saw her standing there-holding her breath waiting for an answer all teary-eyed and what not. Max almost died that night, in fact, she had expected to, but she came anyway without shilly-shallying around. Original Cindy realized she was wrong; Max isn't just a transgenic…she's my friend." OC finished her story with watery eyes. "And that goes for Alec and Cece and Biggs and all the other ragtag X's out there who are doing what they think is right by them. They have to make decision in their interest because they think they the only ones who care about themselves. And they have to deal with the consequences every step they take. When Max, or Alec, chose not to tell you, they thought they were makin' the best choice. Can you blame 'em for not jumping at telling a reporter who works for New World Weekly?"
Sketchy cracked a small smile at that. "I guess I wouldn't have been the best person to confide in if you're wanting to hide."
Sketchy was quiet a moment. OC had thought she needed time to think about her decision, but in the end didn't need it. Sketchy had thought he needed time too, but hearing OC's story had brought up all the times Max had had his back too: cheating on Natalie, losing that Russian gang's money, going with him on JamPony runs because he was scared…
"You know what, Cindy? I think you're right."
OC sighed in relief and smiled.
"Just one question," he said as they walked to the door together, "You said those people who had you…"
"Reds," OC supplied.
"Right, the Reds. Well, how did you warn Max with them standing right there?"
OC laughed," I told her she had to meet Carlito."
"Carlito?"
"Ya, you know…my hot boyfriend," she said hitting him in the arm.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AA
Max was waiting at HQ for OC to return with Sketchy. She desperately wanted to know what was up, but knew she shouldn't interrupt their talk. She was also wondering where Alec was, but only minimally. He could usually handle his emotions. It was Sketchy who had her worried.
She decided to keep busy by walking over and talking to Dix. After about five minutes, she could tell he just wanted her to shut up and go away, but because she was Max, and a bored Max at that, she stayed and continued to drill him about food, water, electricity, etc. etc. They had been under siege technically for two days, but the less photogenic X-series had been camped out in this toxic town for much longer than that. They had a good start on supplies, but nowhere near enough food. Especially since they had more than doubled the population of TC in a matter of days and inadvertently put themselves under heavy surveillance. Sneaking out for supplies runs had become near impossible.
"Max," Dix finally snapped at her.
"Ya?"
"You're worse than Alec!"
Max was shocked for many reasons. One-she annoyed him a lot longer than she thought she could before he snapped. Two-he actually yelled. And three-he just said she was more annoying than Alec!
That last fact shut her up quick. A small, triumphant grin adorned Dix's mouth as he turned around and went back to his computer work.
But Max was an extremely impatient person, and after a while she got bored again, "So you got-"
She was cut off by an exasperated sigh. She glanced at him sharply. Dix's face lit up as he seemed to get an idea.
"Max, I heard Mole was looking for you…something to do with security problems." Dix smiled. Mole's head quickly jerked up from where he was cleaning his gun. It took him seconds to assess the situation and come to the conclusion that Dix deserved one of his intimidating glares.
Mole knew Dix had just pawned the annoying leader off on him. Max turned to Mole. Mole was going to kill that computer geek the next chance he got, his glare said.
"Well?" Max asked, tapping her foot while placing a hand on her hip.
But Mole was saved from answering when OC and Sketchy returned. Max mumbled a quick, "hold that thought," before rushing over to greet her friends.
Mole slumped back his chair and let out a big sigh.
"That was close," he heard Dix say to his computer with amusement in his voice.
"You're going to regret that, mule-boy," Mole threatened with squinted eyes.
"Regret what?" Dix asked as innocently as possible before turning back to his computer to hide his grin.
Max walked up to Sketchy and OC, trying to figure out what was bugging Sketchy, only to find out that whatever it was, it had already been resolved with their little talk.
OC knows how to fix everyone up. It's a big wonder why she doesn't run for president. Max smiled to herself at her thoughts picturing OC with a George Washington wig saying something like, "There never was no cherry tree ya damn fool."
"Hey Max…," Sketchy started nervously. For a second, Max was scared that maybe the "little problem" hadn't been fixed, until he continued, "uh…thanks."
That threw Max through a loop, "Huh?" she asked, looking at Sketchy as if he'd grown two heads.
"For always havin my back-…you're a good friend."
"You too," Max replied with a cheeky grin. "Besides, someone has to protect your skinny ass," she said getting their old friendship back to normal.
There was an awkward silence that followed.
Sketchy cleared his throat. "Uh…do you happen to contain the whereabouts of a certain X5 whom I owe an apology to for yelling at?"
Max looked around to the doorway, as if speaking of the devil, he shall appear. Alec missed his cue. "I don't know where he is actually…"
Just then, Sketchy broke out into a coughing fit. At first, nobody paid any attention to it. But after about a full minute of coughing Max glanced at a very red-faced Sketchy and started to get worried.
She was about to ask Sketchy if he was okay, but she was interrupted when OC started coughing too.
What the hell? Max thought for a second. Sketchy and OC were gasping now. They had sweat running down their faces due to the physical toll their bodies were taking from nonstop coughing.
Max had never felt so helpless in her life. What the hell was happening!
Max was so concentrated on them that she didn't see Alec walk in.
"Shit…we have to get them outta here…NOW!" Alec said after taking only a few seconds to grasp the situation.
Max spun around to face him. What was he talking about?
Suddenly, as if she was hit by a huge truck, she remembered. She wanted to hit herself. How could she forget something so important?
"Gotta plan?" Max asked Alec.
"…well the fences are probably too risky, but Luke and Dix might know about a few underground tunnels. I'll go talk to them."
"Thanks…" Max sighed and then something occurred to her, "Do you think Logan…" Max asked knowing she didn't have to finish her sentence because Alec would understand her question.
Alec looked concerned before he replied, "He's with Joshua. They were headed off down Maple street when I left them."
Max shook her head, nodded, and then ran out of the room.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAA
It actually wasn't raining today. There was a slight overcast, but Joshua wasn't too worried. A person could count on one hand the number of sunny days in Seattle and still have fingers to spare.
Joshua was walking down the street with Logan. He wasn't sure why Logan wanted to look for a house. It was obvious that he was intending to stay here in TC.
Joshua didn't think that the transgenics would like an Ordinary living in their territory, but Joshua knew that Logan only wanted to stay close to Max. He liked Max no matter what the situation was and would always stand by her side. It was a good trait that the canine could relate to with his innate sense of loyalty, but Logan would do much more good on the outside.
Joshua sighed, shaking his head sadly. Logan was acting foolish. He wondered what Little Fella was going to do.
"Joshua!" he heard Max's voice call in a searching tone from somewhere, but didn't see her.
"Little Fella!" Joshua exclaimed, excited as always to see her. There had been little time for socializing. Max had a lot on her shoulders, and Joshua understood that, which is why he had been waiting patiently for her to come to him. Joshua's smile slipped from his face when Logan suddenly started coughing behind him.
Joshua looked back at Logan with concern and wonder. He walked over and put two supporting hands on his shoulders. Logan's face was turning red and he couldn't seem to get enough air in to account for the oxygen starved muscles. He was fighting a downhill battle.
He heard footsteps running towards them. Joshua looked up to see Max blurring to their side.
"C'mon, Alec has a way to get them outta here-we think it's because of the nasty chemicals that were left here in TC," she instructed Joshua. She nodded at him when he silently asked with his eyes if he should carry Logan.
Joshua hefted him up on his shoulder and began to run back with Max to HQ.
AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAA
The sun wasn't up yet, but there was a sort of light purple color at the bottom of sky, indicating that the sun wasn't too far off.
It was about four in the morning, according to Max's inner transgenic clock.
Even as she was just trying to enjoy the feeling of being safe, she couldn't help but smirk at the irony of the situation.
Who knew her safe-haven would be in the middle of a biohazard wasteland, surrounded by police and god knows who else, in the middle of a seige. Both sides restless to anticipate the other's move, but neither anxious to make the first.
But no matter how ironic, she knew it was true. And she owed it to the fact of simply being surrounded by others of her kind. And even though they had that at Manticore, it still wouldn't be the same because they weren't there by choice. Like now. They were going to fight to the end, not be resigned to whatever Manticore decided they wanted to do to you.
She was atop her substitute Space Needle looking out at TC. This was her third night in Terminal City, yet this was the first time she had actually been able to sit down. She wasn't usually the sentimental type, but this was the first time since she was probably born that she had felt at home. Things had been hectic blur of running back and forth like a mindless puppet trying to deal with the complaints from both sides. The police outside weren't ready yet to make negotiations, they were still in the demanding and threatening stage. The transgenics in TC were worried about food and shelter and anything else they could think of. She hadn't had a break in two days. Without her shark DNA she wasn't sure what she would have done. She especially wasn't sure how Alec had managed it, because he had been working just as much as her. If he wasn't by her side, he had been off doing something else to take some of the workload off her shoulders.
Now everyone was waiting for Dix and Luke to come up with a timetable to go with the fortunate discovery they had made tonight.
Max sighed. At least something's going our way, she thought while contemplating all that had happened over the last few hours. It was definitely the first silver lining they had found amidst this whirlwind of storm clouds.
A Few Hours Earlier, Around Midnight
Typing furiously, Dix seemed to dig up some very old looking blueprints.
"If we're lucky they should totally be forgotten about," Luke said while looking at Max to make sure she knew that he wasn't totally positive they were.
"I deleted all their blueprints that are in their databases, but I'm sure they have a paper set somewhere…maybe you could steal them, so no one would be able to find out about them."
She nodded and looked at Alec. He looked immensely happy-due to the fact that these tunnels weren't sewers.
She would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious.
The openings to the tunnels, thankfully, weren't near the fence. Max wasn't sure what they would have done if they had to walk right up in front of the National Guard and disappear down into the ground. Especially since, in all likely, this would be the route they had to take to smuggle in supplies. Since there were several entrances to the tunnels in various buildings, it would hopefully take a while for the police to catch on that they couldn't just wait them out. It would take them a while to realize that they were somehow getting food in their city. It gave Max some time to find the bargaining chip she would need when they decided to call to negotiate.
Max and Alec were supporting OC, Logan, and Sketchy as they ran down the dark passages. Luke and Dix had found that not just one tunnel, but a huge labyrinth of abandoned tunnels ran under TC. It was mind-boggling. When Max had taken a glimpse at the blueprints, she knew that even if she blurred, she could get lost down there for days. It made Max wonder what exactly the place had been up to. She suspected that laboratories and toxic chemicals were only the tip of the iceberg.
Max, the ever-prepared soldier, also noted with satisfaction, that if it all boiled down to desperate measures, and the siege ended up turning into a huge bloodbath of a war, that all the transgenics could escape through the tunnels.
The farther they got from TC, the less the three stopped coughing, which was a huge relief. Max had had the impression that they were going to have to carry them. Ten minutes later, they were talking as if nothing had happened.
Shortly after the three had completely recovered, they found the exit.
Alec cautiously opened the door and looked out, scoping the building.
Nothing spectacular, just an abandoned building. It looked like an indoor parking lot with three big garage doors. It only had two windows and a regular door that led outside. Off to the right there appeared to be some rooms.
Alec gave the nod, signaling that it was clear, and that they could come out. They all filed out of the passageway while Max snooped around outside.
Alec watched as she came back in grinning, which confused the hell out of him.
"Max, you're scaring me," he said nodding his head slightly towards her smile.
She hit him on the back of his head, but her smile never faltered; she only exclaimed, "Can you believe our luck?" while moving her arms to indicate the building.
He looked around and was confused-he didn't think it was that great of a thing. He glanced up and noticed OC and Logan were confused as well. He was turning back to Max to ask if she had hit her head and gone crazy, when from somewhere behind him he heard Sketchy exclaim, "You're right Max. This place is perfect!"
Max only nodded, her grin growing even bigger. "I know. I was planning on having to do some work to the place, but it's already ideal."
Sketchy continued, "It's got a garage door, so all you have to do is pull in…"
"It's extremely secluded…" Max added in.
"…Old and abandoned…" he supplied.
"…and free." Max declared, putting an end their cryptic conversation.
Alec was felt slightly embarrassed that Sketchy had caught on to something and he hadn't…STILL.
He finally snapped, "WHAT in the world are you two going on about?"
Sketchy gave him an incredulous look before replying, "And you're the one with a transgenic IQ?…Dude, it's the perfect place to smuggle stuff into TC."
Present Time
Max smirked. After dropping them off and they were in the tunnels heading back home, she had naturally given Alec a hard time about Sketchy being quicker on the uptake.
She wouldn't let him live that one down for a long time to come. She liked how their roles had reversed; she did the teasing while Alec received the teasing.
It reminded her of how she used to be, carefree, happy, spontaneous, all balanced together with her bad-ass attitude.
What was different? She couldn't help but wonder.
Ben. That's a given, but I was a bitch before that too. Besides, that wouldn't explain why I'm okay now…so, again, what's different?……
It seemed to hit her like a brick-filled dump truck. Logan.
Logan, she thought with a bitter smile. I always thought he was so perfect with his holier-than-thou attitude. Was it because I, myself, always felt so guilty? No…Logan was exciting. Was that all that attracted me to him? The thrill of the heists? Maybe it was. He's always lecturing on doing the right thing, not using my abilities unless it was for the good of mankind. Blah, blah, woof, woof. How could I not realize that what Ben was sprouting at me was true? Sure, he had kind of twisted it a little, but true nonetheless. The only time I ever felt like myself was when I was on a heist, putting my skills to use. What kind of sister am I? To have listened to Logan's morals instead of trying to help her brothers. Now, they were both dead, or might as well have been. And for what? I'm a good person; I did the right thing? Was it really? Or was it just the easiest way?