Damn the consequences: Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Writing this between shooting scenes for season three….. um…. Alright. Not true.

A/N: yeah well, as I promised some of you a quick update, here we are again…. thanks so much for the thoughts you put into your reviews, I totally appreciated them all (:

She closed her eyes briefly, bracing herself for what was to come. Then she turned around in a blur…

… She only saw as much as a hooded figure that had stopped in their tracks when she had. But she didn't really need to see more. Max's face was known throughout town, it had involuntarily become the face of the "Freak Nation," and she had been stupid enough to show it in public.

She was alone, didn't carry any sort of weapon, as still she refused to do after all this time, and thus solely relied on her own transgenic strength. Hence she didn't wait for the stranger to strike the first blow or even so much as open their mouth, but instead whirled herself up into the air in a high jump and kicked her foot out at the unsuspecting other.

With a grunt the man – for she could see now that it was a man – landed on his back, the hood sliding slightly off to reveal his face.

Max breathed in audibly…

Zack had decided to go find Max first as she might be able to explain what had happened to him, the whole Adam-business.

And why Ben had been with her.

His baby sister's predictability did have its upsides now that he needed to see her so desperately. The memory of her being kind of glued to Seattle for one reason or another had popped up in his head when he had tried to devise a plan for seeking her out. Something about a guy, too, but he didn't quite recollect a name, or a face.

He was sure to still find her there; and maybe even Ben. After all, he knew Maxie, she had always wanted to find all of her siblings; and with her, it didn't seem too far-fetched that she 

had actually persuaded one of them to stay close to her. Even if it was only to prevent him from killing more people.

It was Ben, after all, his little brother who had never managed to adapt to life outside of Manticore's restrictive boundaries. He was probably glad about any kind of guidance or rules Maxie could provide.

At that instant a severe flash of white-hot pain shot through his head, and his hand reached up to his temple to press down hard on it in an effort to ease off the ensuing throbbing sensation. He had to park the pickup on the curb for a couple minutes, before eventually feeling safe enough to go on driving.

Too many bits and pieces of memory connecting in there, he thought, too many stimuli in too short a time for his brain to process without causing him a bad case of headache. Although, of course, pain didn't register with brain tissue…

"Figure of speech."

Zack looked at his reflection in the car's rearview mirror, trying out a lopsided grin over this last statement, which he had uttered aloud. Since when did Manticore's well-engineered creations talk to themselves, huh?

But then, since when did they turn out to be serial killers rather than trained assassins?

Zack swallowed hard. He didn't want to think about what he was going to do, what he had to do. He tightened his grip on the steering wheel momentarily, forcing deep marks into its fake leather coating.

He was nearly there now, as close to Seattle as he was going to drive by car. A while ago he had decided to leave the vehicle well out of range of the city's outer perimeter, for he knew it wasn't quite the inconspicuous ride a soldier needed to get past the sector checkpoints unheeded.

Plus, if Ben was no longer anywhere close by, as Zack assumed was most likely the case, he would need the car to be intact – and not stolen – in order to resume his search.

When at last he parked some miles off the road in a small area covered with brush, he got out, camouflaged the red color as best as possible and continued his way on foot.

"Purpose of your stay, son?" the sector cop asked with a glance at the blond farm boy in front of him. He sure looked the type, he thought, all muscles and dumb stare. Although he had made an attempt at blending in with the townsfolk….

And sure enough, Zack had changed out of his usual farm attire – what had been usual to Adam, he amended – into something more suitable at the first opportunity. Therefore he now stood in front of the police officer wearing a standard grey T-shirt underneath a black leather jacket he had zipped up to his throat.

He had just explained to the other man that he worked on one of the farms not too far away, his experiences on Buddy's ranch proving to be invaluable in providing him with a whole pool of information on farm life and thus enabling him to come across as a quite authentic farm hand.

Life indeed was a good school for that sort of thing, and Zack was sure Manticore could have never drilled him more perfectly for this role than Buddy.

He found himself missing the guy already…

"It's my day off, Sir," he answered quickly, not wanting to keep the officer waiting any longer.

The man nodded. "Uh huh. Just make sure to stay away from TC then, alright?"

The boy gave him a blank stare and the officer furrowed his brow in disbelief. Surely they had heard of TC even in his parts of the sticks, right? Anyone had heard about Freak Nation, that state existing of so-called transgenics – monsters, if labeling them were up to him, and that, unfortunately, had to be situated in Seattle of all places– in his hometown.

Of course his position as civil servant, working for the government, prevented him from using any derogatory words in explaining that place to the poor kid, so instead he tapped his bat against a poster hanging from a nearby wall. It pictured one of them, a creature with both human and canine features and an unkempt long mane more than vaguely reminiscent of a dog's shaggy fur; and it had become one of the most famous pictures of the whole freak issue.

Then he looked at Zack again. "Do you see this? That's what's in Terminal City these days. There the transgenics established what's known as Freak Nation in these parts of the country. Even more dangerous than the toxic environment there. So wherever the night may take you, beware of that place, you hear me? A good kid like you wouldn't want to get too close to them." With that said, the cop gave him a nod and motioned for him to pass.

"Thanks for the warning, Sir," Zack whispered, wondering what had led to the establishment of such a thing as this Terminal City. What had happened to good old "Scatter and go to ground?"

"You will need this," the cop interrupted his musings and handed him a sector pass. "For visitors. You'll have to have handed it back in again by noon tomorrow. Enjoy your stay."

"Thank you, Sir."

This whole new development made Zack's search for Max profoundly easier as a place like Terminal City seemed to be the perfect area to look for her; because where else would he find her if not among her fellow transgenics, right in the middle of this "Freak Nation?"

Therefore he asked the next best passerby where exactly TC was to be found, "just so I can make sure I don't end up anywhere near it," he stated. And after having gotten directions to the place, he got on his way and headed down the poorly lit streets, handgun never far from reach…

"Ouch, Max. You definitely know how to get a guy to lie on his back. All you would have needed to do was ask, though. I'd even have arranged some flowers, romantic candle light, the whole rigmarole, as the saying goes…"

"Shut up, Alec. – What in god's name were you doing following me, huh? I could have… shot you or something…"

His face broke into a smirk, as he got up with cat-like grace and brushed some dirt off of the back of his jacket and pants.

"Oh?" he then asked, squinting his eyes. "With what? Your little magic shooting finger?" He adjusted his jacket and put on the hood once more. "Aaaand, shouldn't the question rather be: what the hell were you doing? Running out of Josh- Logan's place like that all by yourself? You forgot that the whole fuckin' town is trying to hunt us down? That your pretty face has by now decorated the front pages of every newspaper in this whole fuckin' state? We're not talking New World Weekly here, Max!"

Max was momentarily rendered speechless by the vehemence of his outburst. She hadn't really anticipated him saying anything along those lines. He was right of course. And she hated it when he was right.

"Come on, let's go already."

She sighed, then bit her lip, staring hard at Alec. God, she so didn't want to say this…. Not to him, anyways. It would be like admitting her own weakness.

Alec stopped in his tracks when he realized she wasn't following him, and turned around to face her. He arched his eyebrows up and looked at her questioningly.

"Alec," she said in a small voice, her arms slack at her sides. She stood there, not daring to meet his gaze. "I – can't go back in there. – I…. couldn't say it, you know – what you said earlier…. It's…. the words just wouldn't get out….," she faltered, "I can't face him right now…"

Alec cocked his head slightly, then took a few steps back toward her and with one arm pulled her close in a half-hug. With his free hand he tousled her hair affectionately and whispered, "S' alright, Max…"

Any day but today she'd have kicked his ass big time for treating her this way. But right now… It was like that night when she had told him about Ben… It felt so good, just to be able to let go, to not be the stronger one for once.

"Already told our little hacker friend that we'd be heading straight back to Command as soon as I found you…. Just need to call him back real quick, tell him you're all right, okay?" When she stared at him blankly, he added nonchalantly, "Yeah, me and the Log, we're like this." He crossed his fingers, "Even looking out for each other's girls…"

At that Max hit him lightly over the head and disentangled herself from his light grip. "Right. And your girl would be who?" she teased and followed him down the road, his chuckle filling her ears.

But he really did call Logan, muttered a few words into his cell, and flipped it closed after not more than thirty seconds. After all Alec sympathized with the guy's desire to know that Max was safe.

"Let's get down into my second home the sewers alrea- dy….." His sentence died on his lips when Max, now walking alongside him, suddenly grabbed his arm and hissed. He stared at her dumbly, before averting his eyes to follow the direction of her gaze.

"Zack!" she exclaimed, sudden excitement momentarily making her forget all the worries his disappearance from the farm had caused her. There he was, her beloved big brother. She could see it in his eyes, he truly was Zack again. God, how she had missed him.

Alec looked at the other man dumbfounded. When he had finally found his voice again, all he could say was, "Well, if this ain't party boy…"

"Max?" Zack said, stopping only a few feet away from his sister. He wasn't quite prepared for meeting her here. He had expected to find her closer to the TC region, not out on the streets like this, exposed.

Hell, had she never learned anything from him? She should have opted for the tunnels underneath the city, the sewers that would have hidden her from view, protected her. He was about to reprimand Maxie when the guy next to her made a sideways movement that allowed the dim light of one of the street lamps to illuminate his hooded features briefly.

Zack stifled a gasp. It was Ben.

He had found them both, and in such a short time. He tried to repress his loving feelings for his siblings for it would only make things harder to bear; but he didn't quite succeed.

A horrible feeling was tearing at his heart already.

If he didn't get this over with right now, he never would. And he knew he couldn't let that happen. It was too late for Ben. There was no absolution for what he'd done, and even though Zack desperately wanted to let him go he knew he couldn't. He was responsible for him. For all of them. He had always looked out for them. It was his job.

And they counted on him to do the right thing…

"Maxie…." he whispered, feeling overwhelmingly tired, and walked a few steps, meeting her halfway. Her tiny hands on his back felt so good, so reassuring….

Eventually he broke the embrace and headed over to his brother. To say goodbye….

Alec was a little put off by Max's weird brother suddenly grabbing him in a bear hug like he knew no morning, almost crunching Alec's ribs.

"Whoa, easy now, buddy," he said, trying to shove the other away. He did not like to be hugged like this. Not by a total stranger anyways. At least if it was a guy.

Only when he heard the guy mumble an "I'm sorry, Ben. I should have been there for you," did Alec actually start to get worried.

Shit, he thought, what's this supposed to mean? And he called out, "Not the one, okay? So you better let go – or you'll be sorry….. honestly, man."

"Zack?" he heard Max's worried voice as he struggled to break free. "Zack, this is not Ben, okay? It's not him. Zack. Let him go, please? Zack?"

The questioning tone didn't really help in making Alec feel any more comfortable and although Max would sure as hell kick his ass for it later, he started to strike some heavy blows at her brother's head. Then the guy suddenly grabbed him by the throat.

I'm having some déjà vu here, he thought bitterly and fought even more desperately.

Shit, how could it be so damn hard for him to hold his own against stupid Zack? Alec wondered, before realization finally dawned on him: fucking great combination, transgenic and cybernetic superpowers…

"Zack, listen to me. This is Alec. Not Ben. Ben's dead, alright? I…." Max stammered, trying to break her brother's hold on Alec.

And she had thought the worst that could happen was that Zack would go after Logan again….

Ben's twin was just about to eventually break free, when Max saw something dark shining up in Zack's other hand.

She immediately knew what it was. Her old panic at the sight of this kind of steel made her flinch, but she blurred into action nonetheless, trying to prevent the worst from happening.

Already she heard a shot echo through the air, then Alec's high-pitched scream…..

A/N 2: Aw, I know, I'm being mean….. but aren't we all little suckers for hurt!alec? (: