Title: The Enigma: Consider This A Sign
Author: Dizzy
E-mail: BadMonkeyMoblie@aol.com
Website: http://maxnalec.proboards6.com/
Status: VERY Incomplete
Category: Romance/Action
Spoilers/Rumors: Takes place after The Berrisford Agenda
Season: 2
Rating: R right now
Content Warning: Language, sexuality, violence
Summary: Joshua lets Gwen's secret spill by accident when he fears her to be in danger, and White gets one step closer to finding her.
Author's Note: Dude. I'm begging ya. Read and Review! Repeat. Oh yeah! Want all M/A fic all the time? Go to http://maxnalec.proboards6.com/ my Max N Alec board!
Pairing: Max/Alec of course!
Disclaimer: The characters from Dark Angel don't belong to me. The story however and the original characters I make up however are mine.
"I thought you were watching the perimeter!" Gwen glared at the two red transgenics, hoisting her bag higher on her shoulder. They shrugged sheepishly.
"I was." Max said softly. "Sorta."
"Me too." They looked away from each other, thier hands itching to touch, to feel again.
"I could have been killed!" Gwen was saying, stalking towards Alec car.
"We're sorry." Alec tried again, but Gwen was having none of it. Her thoughts were on other things. Such as the three vials in her metal box and the brand spankin new cell phone tucked deep in her bag. She wondered exactly what Benito Garcia's "favor" entailed, but she stopped after a few moments. The possibilites were endless, not to mention a bit creepy.
"Just take me home," Gwen said, eyes already trained out the window. Alec climbed into the car, his eyes catching Max's. A promise hidden deep in thier depths. This night wasn't over. Not by a long shot.
He didn't even bother to knock. Simply charged into the apartment. She was waiting, as he had assumed she would, pacing back and forth for what seemed like hours. They embraced immediately. Wasting no time.
"What took you so damn long?"
"I almost hit someone with the car," his lips locked with her. She pulled away, her eyes serious.
"Next time just run 'em over."
She awoke to his warmth, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist from behind, his lips pressing against her shoulder. She smiled and snuggled deeper into Alec's chest. Her eyes popped open. Alec's? Shit. She bolted up, jolting the unsuspecting boy awake. She scrambled away.
"Shit!" She had dragged the blankets with her, falling with a thump to the floor leaving Alec exposed to the world. She looked away, keeping her eyes anywhere but...there. Alec groaned, rubbing his eyes.
"What the hell?" His eyes popped open as the same realization that had hit her just seconds before hit him. Smacking him in the face. His quick Manticore reflexes had the pillow beneath him covering his lap in a flash.
"WHAT THE HELL?" He repeated with more fervor. Max stood up, wrapping the blankets around her like some ancient tribal robe.
"I could ask YOU the same question!" Her voice was at least an octave higher then normal.
"ME? You think I had something to do with this?" He glared at her, rising to his knees on her bed, the pillow clamped firmly to his midsection. The pillow she used to sleep on. She groaned.
"Oh my god." She almost sank to her knees again, but thier pending nakedness and the situation in front of them.
"You." She motioned to him. "And Me..." She moaned again, clutching the blanket tighter. "Oh my god." Her thoughts flashed back to the previous night. It had been a phrase repeated many times last night.
"It was the pheromones," Alec was saying to himself. "Just the pheremones." He reached for his clothing, realized that his pillow could only hide so much and then straightened. "Look Max. Could you just..." she turned a deep shade of red and whirled.
"I can't believe I..." Max was saying. Alec went for his turtleneck.
"We'll just forget about," he reached for his pants, completely ignoring the fact that his boxers and one of his socks were nowhere to be found. "It never happend."
"Never happened. Right." Max nodded, clutching the blanket even tigher. "It was the pheromones."
"We weren't in control there," Alec was trying to jerk his boot on.
"Of course not! We didn't have control over anything!" Max rambled. Alec didn't bother to lace them.
"We'll just forget about it." He rushed past her, turning once, and pausing, his hazel eyes locking with her brown.
"Right." She said softly. "Just forget."
Alec was tense and jumpy, shifting gears with all the grace of a three hundred pound gorilla attempting ballet. Gwen eyed him, but said nothing. She wasn't speaking to him, or Max, since last night's little debaucle. How had both of them missed seeing Garica enter the house? They were both good soldiers and there was no reason in the world why something so obvious should escape them. Unless...she looked at Alec, and then shook her head. No way. Not Max and Alec. Never in a million years.
"Hey Big Fella," Gwen let herself be enveloped in one of Joshua's eager hugs. He grinned at her.
"More music?" Gwen nodded.
"Yeah sure buddy," she plopped her messenger bag onto the table, ignoring Alec completely. He looked around the room.
"You'll be okay with her Josh?" Joshua nodded, more interested in the CD Gwen was taking out then Alec's concerns. "Okay then...I'll be back later today to pick her up." Joshua nodded again, taking the shiney metal disk delicately between two fingers. He placed it into the CD player just like Gwen had taught him, and pressed the triangle button. He waited a few seconds and the joyous strains of techno pop flowed into the room. Instantly the big hulking figure began to bebop to the music and Alec had to supress a laugh. Gwen however acted as if it was perfectly natural to see a part dog, part human trangenic dancing and singing along to music. Alec shook his head, wondering what the hell was going on and wandered out of the room. Gwen would be fine at Joshua's.
Curled up in the great big arm chair, a book balanced between the fingers of one hand, a glass of lemonade in the other, Gwen was perfectly content. Joshua had broken his paints out once more, bobbing back and forth to the music as he painted. It seemed his newest "Joshua" painting was a tribute to music. She smiled, and stretched languidly. She enjoyed days like this. She turned the page, sipped her lemonade. Perfect.
Her perfection was shattered minutes later by the insistent chirp of her new cellphone. Joshua startled, somehow managed to fling paint backwards onto the wall.
"It's okay Josh," she scrambled for her bag. "It's just this." She held up the small gray phone. "I'll be right back okay Joshua?" Joshua nodded, eyes squinting at her, wary of the phone. She disappeared into the kitchen, flipping the phone open.
"WHAT?" She hissed into the reciever.
"Now we both know that's no way to answer the phone," Garicia. His voice was soft and friendly, like they were old aquantices.
"What do you want?""I have a job for you," in an instant his voice went from best buddy to all buisness. "Now."
"Now?" She could almost see him nodding as he said "Yes now."
"It's not really a good time now Bennie I mean..." he cut her off.
"Now." She sighed.
"Okay. Let me get a pen and you can give me the instructions."
"Joshua sweety," Joshua looked up from his easel at the girl. She had shrugged into her coat, placed her cap on her head and slung her messenger bag over her shoulder. She was leaving. "I have to go run an errand for Alec okay?" Joshua nodded, confused.
"I'll be back soon okay?" He nodded again.
"Max said you're not supposed to leave." He reminded her.
"Max won't mind if it's for Alec, right?" Joshua thought about this for a minute and then nodded again.
"I'll be back before you know it."
It was dark when Alec returned. He smiled at Joshua, who just looked at him confused. Alec looked around.
"Where's Gwen?" Joshua continued to stare at Alec.
"She run errand for Alec." Alec furrowed his brow.
"Um, no. She didn't run any errand for me Buddy."
"She say, "Have to go run errand for Alec. Will be back soon. Okay?"" Joshua looked more confused then ever. Alec shook his head.
"I'm telling ya Josh she wasn't running an errand for me." Joshua shrugged.
"Gwen gone.""Did she tell you where she was going?" Joshua sighed, as if it was all too much.
"She running errand for Alec!" It was Alec's turn to sigh.
"But did she say what KIND of errand it was. Or where?" Joshua shook his head. Alec cursed.
"Gwen in trouble?" Alec pulled out his cellphone.
"Knowing her? Yes." He whipped out his cellphone, not thinking as he dialed the number he knew by heart. "Let's just hope it's not too much."
She tugged her jacket tighter around her, breath visible in the cold air of the night. He stood as Benito had said, under a streetlamp, the light casting his skin in a greenish alien glow.
"You must be Gwen," his accent was Brooklyn, and he smelled of new car. "I'm Ramsey." He jutted out a hand, the nails bitten and dirty, and she shook it warily.
"Yeah I'm Gwen." She tucked a stray hand of hair behind her ear. "Do you have the stuff?" He nodded, handing her a small altoid box. "There's 4 in there. You got the disk?" She nodded, taking the small purple cartridge out of her pocket. They traded. She opened the box, counting four vials of the precious liquid, running her hands over them. "He said if you ever need him, his numbers in the phone. If he ever needs you he'll call ya. That stuff is going to cost you." Gwen nodded.
"I figured." She sighed. "What else does he need me to do tonight?" The man handed her a slip of paper. "Go to this address. There should be a main office, you'll know it when you see it. Get all the files on the harddrive and bring them back here at midnight." Gwen took the paper, looked at it for a moment and then stuffed it in her pocket.
"Remember," Ramsey was saying. "If you need him the numbers in your phone."
"I won't need him for a little bit." The guy scoffed.
"Keep telling your self that honey." He turned, stuffing the disk into his pocket, he looked to the box she was sticking in her own bag.. "That stuff'll kill ya."
At her side the familiar sound of her pager snapped her out of her daydream. She looked to Logan, who sat on the other side of his couch, completely absorbed in the movie. Knowing who else it would be she dreaded to answer. She wasn't ready to face him yet. It was hard enough to be here, so near the man she was supposed to love, when just hours before she had made love to a man she shouldn't be. She swallowed, her hand reaching down and unclipping the device from her belt. It was him alright.
"Can I use your phone? Alec emergancy," she almost choked on his name. Logan noticed, he raised an eyebrow and pointed to the phone.
"Something wrong between you guys?" Max shook her head, quickly. Too quickly. She turned before he could say anything else, going to the phone. She dialed with trembling fingers, hoping her face wouldn't give her away.
"Max?" God the sound of her name on his lips was enough to make any girl drop the phone. But Max wasn't any girl, so she held steady.
"Yeah it's me." Her voice was soft, uncertain.
"Get over to Joshua's now. It's Gwen." She nodded. "Right. I'll be there soon." She pressed the button on the phone. "Gotta jet."
"What did Alec want?"
"Something up with Gwen." Logan's eyes burned into her.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" Max shook her head, shrugging into her jacket.
"Of course not. I'll see you later," and then she was gone.
Gwen looked at the large sprawling mansion in front of her. Protected on all sides by thick black iron fencing, the intricate work of the iron not detracting from the fact that it was meant to keep out. At the gate two large stone pillars rose high, the swinging iron gates locked by computer. She set her bag in the bushes, extracting a pink disk this time, stuffing it into the pocket of her jeans. In and out. It wouldn't be hard. She'd simply take out anyone who got in her way. She took her gun out of the bag, stuffing it into the jeans as well, at the waist. Simple right? In and out.
"Okay I'm here," Max breezed into Joshua's place. Trying to look for all the world like she was unaffected by his precense. She could remember everything about last night. The strength of those arms, the caress of those lips. She tore her gaze away and looked at Joshua. "What's up with Gwen?"
"She's gone," Alec fell into the chair. "She told Joshua she had to run an errand for me and she just left."
"You think White has her?" Joshua looked up startled.
"White want Gwen?" Max nodded.
"He's very interested in Gwen Josh." Joshua looked troubled, his gaze going to the floor.
"Maybe it isn't that big of a deal," Alec said. "Maybe she just wanted to get out of here.""But what happened after she left? Why isn't she back yet?" Max looked to Joshua.
"When did she leave?" Joshua shrugged.
"Long time ago." His brow was furrowed, and he was making small grunting noises in the back of his throat.
"Joshua? What is it? Max took a step towards him.
"Why does White want Gwen?" He asked looking up. Max shook her head.
"I don't know Big Fella. We haven't figured it out yet."
"He would hurt her?" Alec nodded, not bothering to lie to him.
"Yes. Most likely."
"Then we must find her," Joshua bolted for the door. "Before he finds the wires." Alec looked up. And Joshua stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide.
"What wires?" Max looked around. "I don't see any wires Joshua."
"Secret," Joshua shook his head. "Joshua promised."
"Joshua promised who?" Alec stood up. Joshua shook his head again.
"We must find Gwen." Joshua went for the door again, but Max's hand on his arm stopped him.
"Joshua, you know something." Joshua shook his head.
"Joshua know nothing." He shook his head again. "Nothing about Gwen, that for sure." Alec crossed the room.
"Joshua what is this secret? What wires?" Alec stared at the hulking man. "It might help us find Gwen."
"Gwen might be in trouble, Joshua. We need to know everything you know." Joshua looked dejected, his eyes on the floor. He didn't want to betray his friend. But if it could save her life...
"Wires." Joshua repeated. "Wire's in Gwen's cocktail."
The doors swung open easily, and she sauntered through, her eyes scanning the area for any guards. Seeing none she continued forward, her eyes landing on the trellis, vines creeping up the sided of the building towards an open balcony. Perfect. She made her way across the lawn, towards the white lattice-work and twisting vines. She didn't want to enter through the front door. It took all the fun outta this. She reached up, grasping the latticework and praying it would hold her. She climbed, slowly one by one up the little diamond shaped holes that made up the trellis, towards the balcony. It held her weight but barely. She was lucky she didn't weigh any more then she did. She leapt off, grasping onto the iron work of the balcony, dangling for a moment before pulling herself up. The toe of her boot wedged inbetween the bars and she swung one leg over, then the other. Checking her weapon and the disk to make sure all were present she made her way to the sliding glass doors at the other end of the balcony. Whoever lived here was home perhaps, nearly every light was on, but she sensed no movement in side, heard nothing. She tilted her head to peer into the room on the other side of the glass doors. Nothing and no one, simply a lone hot tub, turned off. She checked the door, and was surprised to find it unlocked. Sliding it back just a little she slipped inside. No sound came from any of the adjoining rooms, no pitter patter of servants feet. For all appearances the house was empty save the lights shining brightly. She slipped from room to room. Not one held a computer, or gave the appearance of an office. They were all immacuately decorated bedrooms, or bathrooms. There was a small upstairs kitchen, a rec room with a pool table, and a wet bar. Whoever lived here lived in style. She paused, listening for sounds from the downstairs. Hearing none she slowly made her way down the steps. Of course they didn't creak, not even a bit. Not when the owner was shelling out a cool million. They twisted around and around, until finally giving way to the cold black marble of the foyer, large oak doors lead to the outside, stained glass windows on either side. She turned to the right, seeing nothing more then a large open living room to the left, and a few other rooms. The first was the kitchen, large and clinical it had enough ovens to start a fullscale four star resurant. She moved through easily, to the dining room, a long table with matching chairs and several plants were the only decor. Bingo. The final room was the office she was looking for. It was large and airy, an entire wall of windows made it seem more open, a beautiful view of a private lake behind it. The large desk was easily the biggest piece of furniture in the room, a very nice piece of computer equipment in the center, surrounded by other high tech devices and several papers. There was a bookshelf, easily a thousand volumes of various text on it, and a swiveling chair behind the desk. She sat down, a smile playing on her lips as she took the disk out of her pocket and slid it into the drive. She didn't touch the keyboad. Information flashed onto the screen, and the process had begun. She opened a drawer, then another. Nothing more then a few papers of little interest and a candy bar. The guy who owned this house and desk was probably huge. At least 300 pounds. She swirled in the chair as she waited, her eyes looking out across the lake before making a full circle again. Nice. There was the beeping of hardware as the downloading process finished and she turned, pressing a finger to the drive to eject the disk.
"Fancy seeing you here," Gwen looked up startled at the familiar voice, brown eyes locking with hazel. She had been caught.
"What do you mean?" Max said. "Wire's in her cocktail?" Joshua shook his head, he genuinely didn't know.
"Joshua smell wires, like computer." Alec's eyes widened.
"Gwen's a machine?" He looked to Max, who was, just as bewildered as he. "Like that guy Zack?"
"Wouldn't we have seen her implants? I know skin grew to cover up Zacks but we should have seen something." The two locked eyes, the same question passing between them.
"The girl is working for you?" White raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really..." The man nodded.
"For a price." He smiled. "She requires the Bezanthydrine." White nodded.
"Most of them do." He looked to the man.
"What are you having her do?"
"Data Collection. Small things." He smiled. "I'll turn her over to you. For a price." White shook his head.
"I'm afraid I have no money to spare on your little investment Benito," he stood. "But thank you for telling me where I can get the information in the future."
"Not a problem Ames. You know we go way back." White nodded, his smile a little sad.
"And that's why it hurts me to do this." He lifted his gun, training it right between Benito's eyes. "The number Garcia. What is the number?" Benito's eyes went wide.
"The number? What number?"
"For the phone you twit. The phone you gave her." Benito pointed to the desk.
"There, there, on the top." Keeping the gun trained on Benito White made his way over to the desk, looking at the digits. He picked the paper up, nodding with inerest. "Perfect. Thank you for your cooperation." The gun fired, and one more victim slumped across a desk. White calmly folded the paper, sticking it into the inside pocket of his suit. "Goodbye old friend."
TBC...(FEEDBACK)
Author: Dizzy
E-mail: BadMonkeyMoblie@aol.com
Website: http://maxnalec.proboards6.com/
Status: VERY Incomplete
Category: Romance/Action
Spoilers/Rumors: Takes place after The Berrisford Agenda
Season: 2
Rating: R right now
Content Warning: Language, sexuality, violence
Summary: Joshua lets Gwen's secret spill by accident when he fears her to be in danger, and White gets one step closer to finding her.
Author's Note: Dude. I'm begging ya. Read and Review! Repeat. Oh yeah! Want all M/A fic all the time? Go to http://maxnalec.proboards6.com/ my Max N Alec board!
Pairing: Max/Alec of course!
Disclaimer: The characters from Dark Angel don't belong to me. The story however and the original characters I make up however are mine.
"I thought you were watching the perimeter!" Gwen glared at the two red transgenics, hoisting her bag higher on her shoulder. They shrugged sheepishly.
"I was." Max said softly. "Sorta."
"Me too." They looked away from each other, thier hands itching to touch, to feel again.
"I could have been killed!" Gwen was saying, stalking towards Alec car.
"We're sorry." Alec tried again, but Gwen was having none of it. Her thoughts were on other things. Such as the three vials in her metal box and the brand spankin new cell phone tucked deep in her bag. She wondered exactly what Benito Garcia's "favor" entailed, but she stopped after a few moments. The possibilites were endless, not to mention a bit creepy.
"Just take me home," Gwen said, eyes already trained out the window. Alec climbed into the car, his eyes catching Max's. A promise hidden deep in thier depths. This night wasn't over. Not by a long shot.
He didn't even bother to knock. Simply charged into the apartment. She was waiting, as he had assumed she would, pacing back and forth for what seemed like hours. They embraced immediately. Wasting no time.
"What took you so damn long?"
"I almost hit someone with the car," his lips locked with her. She pulled away, her eyes serious.
"Next time just run 'em over."
She awoke to his warmth, his arms wrapped tightly around her waist from behind, his lips pressing against her shoulder. She smiled and snuggled deeper into Alec's chest. Her eyes popped open. Alec's? Shit. She bolted up, jolting the unsuspecting boy awake. She scrambled away.
"Shit!" She had dragged the blankets with her, falling with a thump to the floor leaving Alec exposed to the world. She looked away, keeping her eyes anywhere but...there. Alec groaned, rubbing his eyes.
"What the hell?" His eyes popped open as the same realization that had hit her just seconds before hit him. Smacking him in the face. His quick Manticore reflexes had the pillow beneath him covering his lap in a flash.
"WHAT THE HELL?" He repeated with more fervor. Max stood up, wrapping the blankets around her like some ancient tribal robe.
"I could ask YOU the same question!" Her voice was at least an octave higher then normal.
"ME? You think I had something to do with this?" He glared at her, rising to his knees on her bed, the pillow clamped firmly to his midsection. The pillow she used to sleep on. She groaned.
"Oh my god." She almost sank to her knees again, but thier pending nakedness and the situation in front of them.
"You." She motioned to him. "And Me..." She moaned again, clutching the blanket tighter. "Oh my god." Her thoughts flashed back to the previous night. It had been a phrase repeated many times last night.
"It was the pheromones," Alec was saying to himself. "Just the pheremones." He reached for his clothing, realized that his pillow could only hide so much and then straightened. "Look Max. Could you just..." she turned a deep shade of red and whirled.
"I can't believe I..." Max was saying. Alec went for his turtleneck.
"We'll just forget about," he reached for his pants, completely ignoring the fact that his boxers and one of his socks were nowhere to be found. "It never happend."
"Never happened. Right." Max nodded, clutching the blanket even tigher. "It was the pheromones."
"We weren't in control there," Alec was trying to jerk his boot on.
"Of course not! We didn't have control over anything!" Max rambled. Alec didn't bother to lace them.
"We'll just forget about it." He rushed past her, turning once, and pausing, his hazel eyes locking with her brown.
"Right." She said softly. "Just forget."
Alec was tense and jumpy, shifting gears with all the grace of a three hundred pound gorilla attempting ballet. Gwen eyed him, but said nothing. She wasn't speaking to him, or Max, since last night's little debaucle. How had both of them missed seeing Garica enter the house? They were both good soldiers and there was no reason in the world why something so obvious should escape them. Unless...she looked at Alec, and then shook her head. No way. Not Max and Alec. Never in a million years.
"Hey Big Fella," Gwen let herself be enveloped in one of Joshua's eager hugs. He grinned at her.
"More music?" Gwen nodded.
"Yeah sure buddy," she plopped her messenger bag onto the table, ignoring Alec completely. He looked around the room.
"You'll be okay with her Josh?" Joshua nodded, more interested in the CD Gwen was taking out then Alec's concerns. "Okay then...I'll be back later today to pick her up." Joshua nodded again, taking the shiney metal disk delicately between two fingers. He placed it into the CD player just like Gwen had taught him, and pressed the triangle button. He waited a few seconds and the joyous strains of techno pop flowed into the room. Instantly the big hulking figure began to bebop to the music and Alec had to supress a laugh. Gwen however acted as if it was perfectly natural to see a part dog, part human trangenic dancing and singing along to music. Alec shook his head, wondering what the hell was going on and wandered out of the room. Gwen would be fine at Joshua's.
Curled up in the great big arm chair, a book balanced between the fingers of one hand, a glass of lemonade in the other, Gwen was perfectly content. Joshua had broken his paints out once more, bobbing back and forth to the music as he painted. It seemed his newest "Joshua" painting was a tribute to music. She smiled, and stretched languidly. She enjoyed days like this. She turned the page, sipped her lemonade. Perfect.
Her perfection was shattered minutes later by the insistent chirp of her new cellphone. Joshua startled, somehow managed to fling paint backwards onto the wall.
"It's okay Josh," she scrambled for her bag. "It's just this." She held up the small gray phone. "I'll be right back okay Joshua?" Joshua nodded, eyes squinting at her, wary of the phone. She disappeared into the kitchen, flipping the phone open.
"WHAT?" She hissed into the reciever.
"Now we both know that's no way to answer the phone," Garicia. His voice was soft and friendly, like they were old aquantices.
"What do you want?""I have a job for you," in an instant his voice went from best buddy to all buisness. "Now."
"Now?" She could almost see him nodding as he said "Yes now."
"It's not really a good time now Bennie I mean..." he cut her off.
"Now." She sighed.
"Okay. Let me get a pen and you can give me the instructions."
"Joshua sweety," Joshua looked up from his easel at the girl. She had shrugged into her coat, placed her cap on her head and slung her messenger bag over her shoulder. She was leaving. "I have to go run an errand for Alec okay?" Joshua nodded, confused.
"I'll be back soon okay?" He nodded again.
"Max said you're not supposed to leave." He reminded her.
"Max won't mind if it's for Alec, right?" Joshua thought about this for a minute and then nodded again.
"I'll be back before you know it."
It was dark when Alec returned. He smiled at Joshua, who just looked at him confused. Alec looked around.
"Where's Gwen?" Joshua continued to stare at Alec.
"She run errand for Alec." Alec furrowed his brow.
"Um, no. She didn't run any errand for me Buddy."
"She say, "Have to go run errand for Alec. Will be back soon. Okay?"" Joshua looked more confused then ever. Alec shook his head.
"I'm telling ya Josh she wasn't running an errand for me." Joshua shrugged.
"Gwen gone.""Did she tell you where she was going?" Joshua sighed, as if it was all too much.
"She running errand for Alec!" It was Alec's turn to sigh.
"But did she say what KIND of errand it was. Or where?" Joshua shook his head. Alec cursed.
"Gwen in trouble?" Alec pulled out his cellphone.
"Knowing her? Yes." He whipped out his cellphone, not thinking as he dialed the number he knew by heart. "Let's just hope it's not too much."
She tugged her jacket tighter around her, breath visible in the cold air of the night. He stood as Benito had said, under a streetlamp, the light casting his skin in a greenish alien glow.
"You must be Gwen," his accent was Brooklyn, and he smelled of new car. "I'm Ramsey." He jutted out a hand, the nails bitten and dirty, and she shook it warily.
"Yeah I'm Gwen." She tucked a stray hand of hair behind her ear. "Do you have the stuff?" He nodded, handing her a small altoid box. "There's 4 in there. You got the disk?" She nodded, taking the small purple cartridge out of her pocket. They traded. She opened the box, counting four vials of the precious liquid, running her hands over them. "He said if you ever need him, his numbers in the phone. If he ever needs you he'll call ya. That stuff is going to cost you." Gwen nodded.
"I figured." She sighed. "What else does he need me to do tonight?" The man handed her a slip of paper. "Go to this address. There should be a main office, you'll know it when you see it. Get all the files on the harddrive and bring them back here at midnight." Gwen took the paper, looked at it for a moment and then stuffed it in her pocket.
"Remember," Ramsey was saying. "If you need him the numbers in your phone."
"I won't need him for a little bit." The guy scoffed.
"Keep telling your self that honey." He turned, stuffing the disk into his pocket, he looked to the box she was sticking in her own bag.. "That stuff'll kill ya."
At her side the familiar sound of her pager snapped her out of her daydream. She looked to Logan, who sat on the other side of his couch, completely absorbed in the movie. Knowing who else it would be she dreaded to answer. She wasn't ready to face him yet. It was hard enough to be here, so near the man she was supposed to love, when just hours before she had made love to a man she shouldn't be. She swallowed, her hand reaching down and unclipping the device from her belt. It was him alright.
"Can I use your phone? Alec emergancy," she almost choked on his name. Logan noticed, he raised an eyebrow and pointed to the phone.
"Something wrong between you guys?" Max shook her head, quickly. Too quickly. She turned before he could say anything else, going to the phone. She dialed with trembling fingers, hoping her face wouldn't give her away.
"Max?" God the sound of her name on his lips was enough to make any girl drop the phone. But Max wasn't any girl, so she held steady.
"Yeah it's me." Her voice was soft, uncertain.
"Get over to Joshua's now. It's Gwen." She nodded. "Right. I'll be there soon." She pressed the button on the phone. "Gotta jet."
"What did Alec want?"
"Something up with Gwen." Logan's eyes burned into her.
"Is there something you're not telling me?" Max shook her head, shrugging into her jacket.
"Of course not. I'll see you later," and then she was gone.
Gwen looked at the large sprawling mansion in front of her. Protected on all sides by thick black iron fencing, the intricate work of the iron not detracting from the fact that it was meant to keep out. At the gate two large stone pillars rose high, the swinging iron gates locked by computer. She set her bag in the bushes, extracting a pink disk this time, stuffing it into the pocket of her jeans. In and out. It wouldn't be hard. She'd simply take out anyone who got in her way. She took her gun out of the bag, stuffing it into the jeans as well, at the waist. Simple right? In and out.
"Okay I'm here," Max breezed into Joshua's place. Trying to look for all the world like she was unaffected by his precense. She could remember everything about last night. The strength of those arms, the caress of those lips. She tore her gaze away and looked at Joshua. "What's up with Gwen?"
"She's gone," Alec fell into the chair. "She told Joshua she had to run an errand for me and she just left."
"You think White has her?" Joshua looked up startled.
"White want Gwen?" Max nodded.
"He's very interested in Gwen Josh." Joshua looked troubled, his gaze going to the floor.
"Maybe it isn't that big of a deal," Alec said. "Maybe she just wanted to get out of here.""But what happened after she left? Why isn't she back yet?" Max looked to Joshua.
"When did she leave?" Joshua shrugged.
"Long time ago." His brow was furrowed, and he was making small grunting noises in the back of his throat.
"Joshua? What is it? Max took a step towards him.
"Why does White want Gwen?" He asked looking up. Max shook her head.
"I don't know Big Fella. We haven't figured it out yet."
"He would hurt her?" Alec nodded, not bothering to lie to him.
"Yes. Most likely."
"Then we must find her," Joshua bolted for the door. "Before he finds the wires." Alec looked up. And Joshua stopped dead in his tracks, eyes wide.
"What wires?" Max looked around. "I don't see any wires Joshua."
"Secret," Joshua shook his head. "Joshua promised."
"Joshua promised who?" Alec stood up. Joshua shook his head again.
"We must find Gwen." Joshua went for the door again, but Max's hand on his arm stopped him.
"Joshua, you know something." Joshua shook his head.
"Joshua know nothing." He shook his head again. "Nothing about Gwen, that for sure." Alec crossed the room.
"Joshua what is this secret? What wires?" Alec stared at the hulking man. "It might help us find Gwen."
"Gwen might be in trouble, Joshua. We need to know everything you know." Joshua looked dejected, his eyes on the floor. He didn't want to betray his friend. But if it could save her life...
"Wires." Joshua repeated. "Wire's in Gwen's cocktail."
The doors swung open easily, and she sauntered through, her eyes scanning the area for any guards. Seeing none she continued forward, her eyes landing on the trellis, vines creeping up the sided of the building towards an open balcony. Perfect. She made her way across the lawn, towards the white lattice-work and twisting vines. She didn't want to enter through the front door. It took all the fun outta this. She reached up, grasping the latticework and praying it would hold her. She climbed, slowly one by one up the little diamond shaped holes that made up the trellis, towards the balcony. It held her weight but barely. She was lucky she didn't weigh any more then she did. She leapt off, grasping onto the iron work of the balcony, dangling for a moment before pulling herself up. The toe of her boot wedged inbetween the bars and she swung one leg over, then the other. Checking her weapon and the disk to make sure all were present she made her way to the sliding glass doors at the other end of the balcony. Whoever lived here was home perhaps, nearly every light was on, but she sensed no movement in side, heard nothing. She tilted her head to peer into the room on the other side of the glass doors. Nothing and no one, simply a lone hot tub, turned off. She checked the door, and was surprised to find it unlocked. Sliding it back just a little she slipped inside. No sound came from any of the adjoining rooms, no pitter patter of servants feet. For all appearances the house was empty save the lights shining brightly. She slipped from room to room. Not one held a computer, or gave the appearance of an office. They were all immacuately decorated bedrooms, or bathrooms. There was a small upstairs kitchen, a rec room with a pool table, and a wet bar. Whoever lived here lived in style. She paused, listening for sounds from the downstairs. Hearing none she slowly made her way down the steps. Of course they didn't creak, not even a bit. Not when the owner was shelling out a cool million. They twisted around and around, until finally giving way to the cold black marble of the foyer, large oak doors lead to the outside, stained glass windows on either side. She turned to the right, seeing nothing more then a large open living room to the left, and a few other rooms. The first was the kitchen, large and clinical it had enough ovens to start a fullscale four star resurant. She moved through easily, to the dining room, a long table with matching chairs and several plants were the only decor. Bingo. The final room was the office she was looking for. It was large and airy, an entire wall of windows made it seem more open, a beautiful view of a private lake behind it. The large desk was easily the biggest piece of furniture in the room, a very nice piece of computer equipment in the center, surrounded by other high tech devices and several papers. There was a bookshelf, easily a thousand volumes of various text on it, and a swiveling chair behind the desk. She sat down, a smile playing on her lips as she took the disk out of her pocket and slid it into the drive. She didn't touch the keyboad. Information flashed onto the screen, and the process had begun. She opened a drawer, then another. Nothing more then a few papers of little interest and a candy bar. The guy who owned this house and desk was probably huge. At least 300 pounds. She swirled in the chair as she waited, her eyes looking out across the lake before making a full circle again. Nice. There was the beeping of hardware as the downloading process finished and she turned, pressing a finger to the drive to eject the disk.
"Fancy seeing you here," Gwen looked up startled at the familiar voice, brown eyes locking with hazel. She had been caught.
"What do you mean?" Max said. "Wire's in her cocktail?" Joshua shook his head, he genuinely didn't know.
"Joshua smell wires, like computer." Alec's eyes widened.
"Gwen's a machine?" He looked to Max, who was, just as bewildered as he. "Like that guy Zack?"
"Wouldn't we have seen her implants? I know skin grew to cover up Zacks but we should have seen something." The two locked eyes, the same question passing between them.
"The girl is working for you?" White raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Really..." The man nodded.
"For a price." He smiled. "She requires the Bezanthydrine." White nodded.
"Most of them do." He looked to the man.
"What are you having her do?"
"Data Collection. Small things." He smiled. "I'll turn her over to you. For a price." White shook his head.
"I'm afraid I have no money to spare on your little investment Benito," he stood. "But thank you for telling me where I can get the information in the future."
"Not a problem Ames. You know we go way back." White nodded, his smile a little sad.
"And that's why it hurts me to do this." He lifted his gun, training it right between Benito's eyes. "The number Garcia. What is the number?" Benito's eyes went wide.
"The number? What number?"
"For the phone you twit. The phone you gave her." Benito pointed to the desk.
"There, there, on the top." Keeping the gun trained on Benito White made his way over to the desk, looking at the digits. He picked the paper up, nodding with inerest. "Perfect. Thank you for your cooperation." The gun fired, and one more victim slumped across a desk. White calmly folded the paper, sticking it into the inside pocket of his suit. "Goodbye old friend."
TBC...(FEEDBACK)
