Welcome back to the story. Here is the next instalment for your enjoyment.
Chapter Summary: While everyone is waiting for the information on PresCorp to be decrypted, Max has some time to kill… and questions to answer.
Chapter Eleven: Sidekick
Late Afternoon – District Nine – Warehouse HQ - Max's Room
While waiting for Rachel and Victoria to decrypt the data, Max had gone back to her room. There was always something to keep her busy nowadays, not all of it was strictly business related either. She sat down at the desk in front of the computer screen she'd brought from where she used to live. It would be more useful here and much too dangerous to leave behind. Now it was time to call Rica. No matter what the pair were doing, they always made time to have a quick chat. Sometimes the other Verge members joined in on the call as well. With everything going on recently, their time had been brief. In fact, they hadn't had much of a chance to discuss anything in great detail.
Within a few seconds, the screen shifted and a woman appeared. Her hair was a deep purple, short and thick. When she saw Max, she smiled broadly and her mischievous brown eyes danced with delight. "Maximo, how's it going?"
Max found herself smiling so easily despite everything that was going on now. "Not bad, thanks. How about on your end, Rica?"
"Things are hectic and it's all your fault," her eyes narrowed accusingly, although the annoyance was clearly an act. "You wouldn't believe how many loose ends there are."
"You may grumble, but I know you're pumped about coming over here," Max confidently responded. Since their ragtag band of misfits needed all the help they could get, she had decided to call on Verge for backup support. Of course, they had been all too happy to agree. As soon as they finished their immediate business, they would come.
"Maybe I am. A little bit," Rica reluctantly admitted.
"Charming," Max mentioned with a grin.
"That's me. Anyway, onto more important questions," the moment those words left her adoptive sister's lips, Max began to worry… and she had every reason to. "Is there anyone hot in your little group?"
Max rolled her eyes and sighed. Maybe she should have expected something like this. "Of course you jump straight to that…"
"Don't ignore the question, sis," Rica insisted, not give her a second to back out of this.
Instead of giving her the answer she wanted, Max decided to keep it cryptic. There were very few times where she had an advantage over Rica so she had to make the most of it. "I guess you'll see when you finally make it over here."
The lack of a definitive answer made Rica pout. "So cruel. I'm going to take your silence as a yes. Come on, who's the lucky person to have caught your eye?"
The young mercenary shook her head and drew her fingers across her lips. "These lips are sealed."
"You are no fun," an unexpected flicker of glee entered Rica's eyes then. "That does confirm my suspicion, though. I'll have fun trying to guess who it is when I get there."
"Oh dog, please don't embarrass me too much," Max pleaded, knowing just how carried away she could get.
Her protests earned her a cheeky smile. "That's what family's for."
"Great…" Max sighed melodramatically.
"We haven't seen each other in person since you left. At least look a bit excited." There was something much more serious in her sister's tone now.
"I am, promise. I've really missed you guys." That was the truth. So many times Max had regretted leaving them to go off on her own mission. More than once, she'd almost returned with her tail in between her legs. She would always be a member of Verge, no matter where she went or what she did. Maybe one day she could go back with her head held high. Until then, she had to focus.
"We've missed you too," Rica mentioned with a surprising amount of emotion. Normally, her go to tone was humor. This was something much more vulnerable. "Things never felt quite the same after you left, like we're missing an arm or something."
"Shouldn't I be the one saying that?" Max held up her right arm to demonstrate the point. It had been long enough now that she could joke about her missing limb.
As hoped, the hint of melancholy disappeared from Rica's voice. "Aren't you just the comedian?"
"Hey, I was proud of that one," Max defended, happy to see her smiling again.
Rica's grin widened as she began her playful teasing. "It wasn't too bad, I suppose. I've heard worse… especially from you."
"I have no idea what you're talking about. All my jokes and puns are awesome," Max countered indignantly, well trying to sound annoyed anyway.
After shaking her head, Rica allowed herself a light smirk. "If you say so. Anyway, I should get back to it. The sooner we wrap this up, the sooner we can come over and save your ass."
"My hero." Max rolled her eyes, her voice dripping with sarcasm.
"I should be. So, see you soon." There were indistinct voices in the background, presumably the other members of Verge getting ready to head out on a mission.
"Real soon." With that, Max disconnected the chat. As much as she would have loved talking to Rica and the others all night, they had things to do. Just like she did. She began to wonder how Rachel and Victoria were doing. It had been a couple of hours since they began working.
Curious to find out, Max stood up from her desk and left the room, making her way over to the tech area. When she opened the door, Rachel was sitting there on her own. She turned at the sound of the door opening and smiled. "Hey, Max."
Since Victoria wasn't around, Max decided to temporarily take the vacant seat beside her. "How's it going?"
She leaned back in her chair and stretched her arms above her head before answering. "Well, both Victoria and I are still in one piece, somehow. I half expected one of us to end up dead before now. Maybe both. She had an important call to take apparently, leaving me to it."
"You do seem to have an… interesting relationship," the young mercenary observed, hoping that she might get some more information if she tried again. It was worth a shot at least.
Rachel glanced over to her with a reserved smile. "You don't know the half of it. Complicated might be a better word to use."
"Sounds like there's a story behind that," Max lightly pushed, curiosity getting the better of her.
Instead of completely shutting her down, Rachel just shrugged, "There might be. I guess you'll have to tease it out of me."
Max took that as a sign that maybe one day she would find out. For now, she would just have to wait. The blonde hacker's expression changed then to something much more conflicted. She was obviously debating something. Admittedly, Max didn't know her that well but such an expression didn't seem to fit her personality. Just when it looked like she might leave whatever it was she was thinking about alone, she shook her head and a wave of hesitant determination crossed her features.
"Max, I have a question to ask you, if that's okay." The uncharacteristically reserved nature of this request was surprising. Normally, Rachel was like a bull in a China shop, doing what she pleased without regard for the consequences. That thought made it worrying.
"Sure, go ahead," Max tentatively prompted, biting her lip as she waited.
Rachel's brow furrowed slightly as her hazel eyes wandered down to Max's right arm. "What does it feel like to have a different arm? One that's not made of flesh and bone."
"I… haven't really thought about it much. Not recently anyway," Max replied honestly. It happened such a long time ago that sometimes she forgot. "Maybe at first it was strange, but after a while it just felt like my arm, mostly. I guess I've just gotten used to it."
"I'm surprised you would be so open about showing it off. Most people don't like to admit they have cybernetic enhancements." There was something off about the way Rachel was acting now. It was subtle but there was definitely something troubling her.
"I'm not most people," Max answered, watching the blonde as her troubled expression shifted to her default mischievous one. Although, it did seem a bit forced.
Within a second, Rachel managed to get herself under control again. Whatever had been bothering her had passed… or been pushed to the back of her mind. "I'll say. Anyway, I've taken up enough of your time and this data won't decrypt itself."
Max took this as her cue to leave, standing up from the chair. "Good luck and let us know when you make some headway."
"Will do," just as Max was about to leave Rachel spoke again. "Oh, before I forget. You should go check up on Chloe."
"Why?" The young mercenary asked, half-suspicious and half-curious. Rachel always seemed to be planning something.
"Think of it as a secret tip from me," she responded with a wink.
Despite the suspicious tip off, Max decided to follow up on it just to sate her curiosity. "Okay…"
Following the suggested instructions, she went to go find Chloe. She couldn't see the blue-haired rebel in the main section of the warehouse so that narrowed it down to the basement, one of the side rooms or her room. Taking a gamble, she headed on over to the bedroom corridor. When she reached Chloe's door, she found it open a fraction. Presumably, that meant she was in. Max reached out and knocked softly, receiving a confident "Door's open" in response. As she stuck her head around the door, she saw Chloe sprawled out on her bed looking extremely busy staring up at the ceiling.
Max entered the room properly, standing less than a foot away from the bed. "Hey."
"Hi, Max. What's up?" Chloe asked as she sat up and patted the space beside her.
Taking this as an invitation, Max took her up on the offer and made herself comfortable. "Nothing much. Rachel said I should come see you, not that I wouldn't anyway."
"Did she now?" The bluenette's expression became unreadable as she learned of Rachel's involvement. She often wondered whether her old friend was trying to help or just amuse herself. Probably a bit of both.
"Anything wrong?" Max asked cautiously, hoping that things were okay. If there was something troubling Chloe or anyone else, she wanted to know and help if she could. They were a team now.
Chloe shook her head, smiling involuntarily at the thought of Rachel butting in yet again. "No, she's just meddling. I suppose I can't be too mad at her, though. Besides, I'm always happy to see you."
"Me too," Max agreed, finding herself smiling too. She felt a lot calmer knowing that Chloe was actually fine.
That only made the bluenette's grin widen. "Now that you are here, do you have time to chat?"
Without really thinking, Max nodded. "Sure, I have time now."
"Awesome." Chloe grinned, a smile that made Max feel nervous for some reason. She had a similar plotting glint in her eyes she recognized from Rica… which didn't bode well.
Out of self-defense of her remaining dignity, she decided to cut in first before Chloe could ask her something embarrassing. "So, how did you and Victoria's mission go?"
As expected, Chloe looked a bit disappointed at the question but answered it anyway, "Without a hitch and we didn't kill each other, so bonus. Enough about work, though." Clearly, she wasn't going to give up on whatever it was she wanted to talk about and Max just had to accept that fact. "I'm curious about something. You have anyone special waiting for you somewhere?"
Max was momentarily taken aback by the question. "Special?"
"Special like Victoria and Rachel…" Chloe clarified, pulling a face before backtracking. "Well, maybe not exactly like them but you get the idea."
"No, I don't," Max replied shyly, wondering just where this was going. She didn't want to get ahead of herself, but… Chloe did seem to light up hearing that answer. "Try not to look too happy."
"Who says I'm happy about that?" she countered too quickly and defensively, realizing her mistake all too late.
Deciding to call her out, Max narrowed her eyes suspiciously and crossed her arms. "I hate to break it to you, but the way you smiled then kind of gives it away."
Instead of getting flustered, Chloe coolly shrugged it off. "I'm more surprised than anything."
"The mercenary lifestyle surprisingly doesn't leave much time for romance." It was true. To get anywhere with that kind of lifestyle, you always had to be on the ball and ready to move out. Very few people would be able to overcome an obstacle like that, having to constantly move and be separated for long periods of time. Any relationship Max had seen among mercenaries were either sporadic, like Victoria and Rachel seemed to be, or kept within groups.
There was a deliberate pause before Chloe spoke again, her gaze focused in on Max to gauge her reaction. "I think it could. If the right person came along."
Sure, it wasn't beyond the realms of possibility. There just hadn't been anyone Max really wanted to try and make it work with before. Maybe things had changed slightly now, though. "I guess if I tried hard enough I could make time."
"Like now, right?" Chloe was quick to add, sounding a bit more confident in herself. "I'm sure there are a million different things to grab your attention but you're here talking to me instead."
The more Max thought about it, the more she realized Chloe had a point. "I guess I am."
"Well, just to let you know I can always keep my schedule open if you want a chat or… whatever." Her voice trailed off to a mumble at the end, blue eyes drifting away.
"Thanks, the same goes for you." Max did have to wonder what she actually meant by 'whatever'. Presumably, there was something she'd gone to say but had ultimately decided against it.
She wanted to press further but was beaten to it. "Shit's only going to get crazier from here on out, so we need to enjoy the downtime where possible."
"Thanks for the reminder…" Max sighed lightly, thinking about the monumental task they had ahead of them. She wasn't afraid of a challenge, but some might consider their proposed mission borderline suicidal.
Chloe lightly nudged her shoulder to distract her. "Don't sweat it. We're a team now, so we can't fail. No way, no how."
The reassurance almost convinced Max then and there that they could do it. Still, they had to be careful. "You seem confident."
"Sure I am," her bravado faltered for just a second before she continued. "Look, I know PresCorp is some big bad scary boogeyman and it'll be tough. That doesn't mean we can't beat them."
"I'm sure that's what everybody else who's tried to face them thought," Max mentioned sadly, wondering just how many people had fallen to PresCorp over the years. Too many was the answer.
Instead of completely dismissing her point, Chloe placed a comforting hand on her shoulder and looked her straight in the eyes. "They probably did but we can't worry about them. We've got to go into this with a winner's attitude. So chillax, Super Max. We've got this."
Max couldn't help but smile at that despite her reservations. The fact that Chloe was trying to cheer her up made her feel better already. "Oh, so does that make you my sidekick then?"
A flicker of humor replaced the concern in her eyes. "I suppose it does. I don't usually take that role but I might consider it for you."
"Well, don't I feel special?" Max rolled her eyes good-naturedly, genuinely feeling a little bit special for the attention.
"You should…" a mischievous grin quirked at Chloe's lips as her knee lightly hit against Max's. "Before I get tired of being hidden under your immense heroic shadow and take my vengeance."
"I'll make sure that you feel appreciated to prevent that from happening." It was nice just to be able to mess around like this with someone again. Ever since leaving Verge, Max hadn't spoken with many people. Kate was the only person she had kept in regular contact with aside from the members of Verge, alongside a few work-related contacts.
"And just how do you propose to do that?" Chloe challenged, curious to see how Max would react. She wanted to push her, work out what the boundaries between them were and how much she could get away with.
Feeling surprisingly bold and daring, Max allowed herself a cheeky smile. "You'll find out when you do a good job."
"Aw, can't I find out now?" Chloe whined playfully, doing her best to wear Max down.
"Are you always this impatient?" she sighed melodramatically.
Chloe's smirk was unapologetic and mildly teasing. "Yep, just ask Rach. Can't I get a sneak preview or something? Just to tide me over."
In an impulsive move that surprised her just as much as Chloe, Max leaned over a placed a kiss on the blue-haired rebel's cheek. It was only brief and the lightest of contact but it had a huge effect on both women. Chloe sat there dumbfounded, witty comebacks failing her. Max was just as shocked by her actions, suddenly wondering if she'd crossed a line she wasn't supposed to.
Before either of them could say anything about the unexpected incident, there was a loud tap on the door. They turned to see Rachel leaning against the doorframe fighting to keep the smug grin off her face. "Just thought I'd let you know that we're pretty much done with the data. Maybe I should have waited until later."
"N-no, it's cool. We'll be there in a minute," Chloe replied, trying hard to keep the nervous stutter from her voice.
The grin Rachel had been fighting against moments before suddenly erupted. "A minute, huh? Okay, see you out there."
"Guess we'd better get out there," Max suggested as she left them to it, eager to pass on any discussion involving the previous situation as quickly as possible. She was too embarrassed to face it right now… as much of a coward as she felt for performing a kiss and run.
For a second, it looked like Chloe was going to say something about it. Her mouth opened a fraction before she let out a soft sigh and stood up, "Yeah before Victoria decides to get her rage on." Before she left the room, she glanced back at Max over her shoulder. She clearly wanted to talk about what had just happened but couldn't bring herself to say anything too direct. Instead of pushing, Chloe allowed a small smile to tug at her lips. "I look forward to experiencing the full package for doing a good job, by the way."
Max hung back for a moment longer, trying to calm herself down. She didn't know what to think about what she had done. Her mind was all over the place, both self-doubt and giddiness threatening to consume her. As flustered as she was feeling right now, she didn't regret it. She just wished that she had the guts to follow through. Figuring that she had left the others waiting long enough, she stood up and headed off towards the main part of the warehouse, all the while wondering what expression she should have and how she should act when she got there.
…and we'll leave it there for now. So, there's been all sorts of small progress in this chapter, huh? Have an amazing day and I'll see you around for the next chapter.