Disclaimer: Dark Angel belongs to James Cameron and C. Eglee, not me. So don't get confused. HAHA. Like actually possible...
A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed and made my day.. haha. Anyway here's chapter 2... This is for my 2 cousins who were injured in the Tsunami attack. Ming Yan andCorey. Love yall... Here we go..
Chapter 2: Of Guns and Psychic Powers.
She stood, poised and ready to conquer the task set before her. A sniper rifle lay on the ground, glinting in the setting sunlight. Her target, 50 feet away and unaware of the death which would soon befall him wandered in the clearing, picking fruits which were to be the dinner he would never eat.
She lowered herself to the ground, carefully remaining hidden in the undergrowth. She stared at the rifle on the ground, hesitating.
Flashback
Eva held the gun aimed at the colonel. No mistakes in her stance, her concentration not wavering. She meant to shoot him. There was aloud bang. For the few seconds after that, Max honestly thought Eva had shot him. But then it hit her. Lydecker was standing. Eva wasn't.
End Flashback
Why was she doing this? For him. But was that a good enough reason?
"What are you waiting for, 452?" Her superior snarled behind her.
"Identifying the target, sir,"
Max took a shaky breath and picked up the rifle. It was heavier than she thought it would be. Maybe it was the extra weight of the guilt caused by betraying Eva's memory. She realized she was trembling. She was a soldier. Soldiers don't regret.
But she regrets what she has become. She hates herself for being weak. She hates herself for giving in. She shuts her eyes and clears her mind.
"We haven't got all day, 452. Do you want me to fail you? I'm sure the Director would love to punish you if I did." Her superior smirked, knowing that his last remark would hit the right nerves.
She turned sharply towards him. "I can't concentrate with you constantly on my back…"
She pushed the memory of the last torture session away. Too much pain. She clicked the safety button off and took aim. She spots the old man crouching near a berry bush. She counted silently in her head.
3…
2…
1...
She pulled the trigger and the shot rings out in the forest. Birds fly out of the trees, angry that their calm had been disturbed. The old man clutched his chest, 50 feet away and falls down, lifeless. Just as Eva did so long ago.
She drops the rifle and stands up, her emotions a mix of anger and remorse at what she had just done. I'm sorry, Eva… She gazes at the sky, wishing she was one of the birds. Free. As she once was before.
A tap on her shoulder brings her back to reality. "That was perfect. Right in the heart, 452. Good work," her superior grinned, apparently proud of her.
She rearranged her exterior, masking the pain she felt, pulling up the walls she so expertly built around herself.
"I'm glad," she answered. Her smile was grim, seeking forgiveness from Eva, from Zack, from Logan.
"Pack up, 452. We're leaving at 1730 hours and there should be no trace of us ever being here. The Director expects us back by 2000 hours. Make haste."
She nodded. She bent down and picked up the bullet casing. Sneaking a look at the old man, she sent a silent apology to him. I had to do it. I'm sorry. She spotted a rusty blade on the ground. Looking around and making sure her superior was no where in sight, she picked it up and quickl scratched a few words on a tree. She stood back and stared at heer handiwork.
I'm halfway home. Halfway free.
Director Elizabeth Renfro watched the screen in interest. The subject had been broken. It had taken a long time, longer than the others, but 452 was worth the wait. She was worth it.
'That's her then?'
Renfro nodded and turned to the X5 standing behind her. 'Yes. What do you think?'
'I don't know. She killed him didn't she? So she should be on our side now. About time too.'
'When she gets back, I want you to make sure she's in top form for Operation Eagle Eye. Understand?'
The X5's eyes widened in surprise. 'A mission so soon, ma'am? Are you sure that's wise?'
Renfro slammed her hand on the table. 'You are not here to question me, 494. Your orders are to make sure 452 is physically and mentally fit for the mission. You do not question your superiors.'
494 looks down. 'Yes ma'am.'
Renfro turned back to the screen and an evil smile started to form on her already evil face. 'Besides, we need 452 to prove to us that she has been turned. Completely.'
Cindy lounged on the couch and watched Logan tinkering around on his computer. He had moved on, she knew. But the pain of losing Max still hurt for him. Hell, it still hurt for Cindy.
'Are you sure that this is gonna work, boo?
Logan turned around and gazed at her. 'It will.' He knew it would work. He could feel it. And then he smiled. 'This is for her. You know that. And everything goes right for her,'
Cindy nodded at him. How he changed so fast she didn't know. All she did know was that one day he just woke up and decided to stop drowning his pain in alcohol. He stopped blaming himself for her death and was on the way to being his old self again. Although she knew he was torn up inside, it was good that he was going out and about again. Good to know that Eyes Only had not forgotten all the downtrodden he had to protect.
She got up and walked over to Logan. 'Aaight, so maybe my girl makes everything go right for her. But how do you know?'
'You really want to know?'
'Yeah, duh!'
Logan turned back to his computer. He started pulling up files and his grin got bigger and bigger. 'Okay. Look,'
Cindy stared at the picture grudgingly. It was a grimy shot of a forest probably took by an amateur who didn't know what he was photographing.
'Look at the upper right hand corner.'
'Original Cindy ain't seeing nothing that proves that her boo's alive.'
Logan blew the picture up and added the contrast and sharpened he picture. Cindy gasped.
'So I'm thinking you see it now, huh?'
Cindy leaned closer to the screen and shook her head in disbelief. Logan had focused on a tree at the corner of the picture. There, etched on the bark of the oversized tree were the words Max ½ way home.
'It may not be her.' She said softly, not wanting to get here hopes up.
'It is. I know it. Look, there was a body found there two weeks ago, Kyle Anders, 56 years old and living alone. A bullet right through the heart. No traces found of the killer within a 20 mile radius.'
'The investigation was closed. No one really cared about an old man who lived in a forest anyway. An informant sent me this wondering if Eyes Only wanted to look into it. I combined that picture with the ones taken at the scene of the crime. And I realized you had a clear shot from here to where the man was found dead, here.'
Logan opened another file and pulled up another picture, with a body on the ground beside some sort of wooden hut.
'Assuming the sniper stood here, where the tree is, then the old man was definitely killed here. So what I'm thinking is that Max was there, with a group of them, on some sort of Manticore exercise and she took the opportunity to carve those words there.'
'That's over the top, boo. What if it's a total coincidence?' Cindy asked, wondering to herself why she was the pessimist all of a sudden.
'Cause it's not. Look, Manticore is near there anyway. It's very likely they would conduct some sort of training there. Maybe target practice or something. Whatever it was they were doing there, I'm sure Max is involved.'
Cindy considered his words. And then-
'If you're so sure Max was the one who carved those words then didn't you tell Original Cindy in the first place? Why go round and round the bushes?
Why did you just keep it to yo'self? You want my boo to be alive just as much as I do. Why tell me at the last minute?'
Logan was surprised. He didn't expect Cindy to question him. 'I wasn't sure whether it was really her,'
'And now you are?'
'Yes. After I saw that reaction on your face, I'm pretty damned sure it's her. I mean, you and I are the only people who know her so well. Tell me, Cindy. Doesn't your gut feeling tell you it's her?' Logan said.
'Well… yeah, but that's whack,' Cindy replied. 'You sayin' we have some sort of super powers, psychic connection to my boo?'
Logan laughed. He wheeled away from the computer table and stopped at the shelf near his television. He picked up Max's Jam Pony ID he kept there and held it up to Cindy.
'Not psychic, Cindy. Just love.'
End of Chapter 2 . Plz review..