Check the first chapter for Disclaimer ECT.
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
Maikaseregwen (HEHE. Turned you into an Alec fan! :) Yeah, Sketchy, one of my favorite votes. But I needed him for another scene. Don't worry, he'll still have a big part! LOL, yeah, stupid computer changes! Well, hopefully these few edits and next scene will add that hair and move this from a 9.75 to a 10! Do let me know how it works out! Glad you like the ideas, it's all gonna come to a head soon!)
willow98002 (Yeah, soon, heh, that's a relative word... right? Anyways, glad you like! I'm trying to update quicker, honest!)
Renata Cardelli (Brazilian, very cool. I'm glad to know that I have a variety of readers. Thanks for the compliments!)
RockerChica (Heh, spelling, grammar.... yeah, I'm working on it. A lot of it has been updated since it got posted here, through edits and stuff, but I don't tend to upload those unless it's major. So at the end of the story I'll upload the hard copy and hopefully that'll be better. Glad you liked the story though! DVD's rock, no?)
sierra (Glad you like the fic! Found again? Yeah, it tends to sneak off. Naughty fic, you know. I'll try to keep you out of m/a withdrawal. It's hard, I know!)
glitterina (Well, you'll be happy to see that it wasn't Logan. LOL, I suppose that was what you typed, knowing you ego-booster, you! Thanks!)
cloudburst (Yep, it's all about Rain. Well, acutally it's all about A/M cause it's an A/M story.... but you know what I mean! lol. Glad you like my OC, I'm pretty fond of her in this story too. My way of combatting that the show forgot about all of Max's friends in season 2! Well, Mr. Up Town Intimidation himself isn't supposed to be funny, but the name is supposed to be. Seemed like an OC name, and I couldn't resist a bit of amusement in an otherwise funny-free chapter. Hmm, cops or not, you'll still have to wait and see... Nominations were all great, don't worry! That's why there were no nominations, open for opinions. ;) You be safe too! Enjoy!)
SecretlyBeautiful (Zack would have been cool, yes. I'm considering working him into this story somehow other though... we'll see... Loved your vote of Joshua, something I hadn't thought about but I loved! Hope my choice did you justice!)
Faith Spencer (OOh, it was so hard to say no to that idea! It had such options. I just decided to go witht he sweet and fluffy. Compromising in 'Rising From Burnt Ashes' and probably later on in here too, promise!)
JG (Interesting idea, reminded me I still need to write a scene with some random chick from Alec's past. Promise!)
!~(*Chapter 14: Time*)~!
Once Upon A Time was not a good way for anything important to start. Sure, for fairytales it was fine, even for some pre-pulse movies it had been acceptable. But for Normal? Downright frightening.
Max blinked very slowly several times, as if the vision in front of her would disappear. She half-heartedly wondered if the stress of the last week had thrown her transgenic hearing for an unexpected loop. Still stunned, she even cast a glance at Alec, who nodded that yes, he saw it too.
Oblivious as always to the inner workings of the transgenic mind, Normal took a moment to sneeze and then, distracted and overtired, restarted his tale. "Excuse me. Now, as I was saying, 'Once Upon A Time' there was a nice but tragically overworked messenger service manager and two little messengers. These messengers were fast enough at delivering packages, but had the fatal flaw of FAILING TO COME TO WORK." He paused to readjust his glasses after that brief outburst as his world was again pounding. "The moral of this story? If you want to have a job, actually bother showing up for it. Ingrates. Now, bip, bip, people!"
Feeling that he had said his due, Normal handed a shell-shocked Alec and Max a package each, promptly turned on his heel, and strode back to the counter.
Rolling his eyes, Alec noted the 'fragile' marking on the package he was holding as well as Normal's turned back. Raising an eyebrow, he casually tossed the package up into the air and caught it single-handedly, just for the hell of it. "Remind me why we came to work today?"
Turning to her locker to drop off her bag, Max answered, already knowing that Alec had followed her, "Because as Normal so frighteningly pointed out, we haven't exactly made much of an appearance the last couple of days."
Slamming her locker door shut, Max noted that one of the main ways that she started her workday was missing. Normal yelling... check... she ran over the mental list in her head, only stopping once the inescapable hit her. "Shit."
Alec blinked at Max's sudden mood change but knew her violent tendencies well enough to be able to tell that it wasn't his fault this time. Content in that knowledge, he asked amiably enough, "What now?"
But Max had already spun around, having spotted Sketchy coming by her, and caught his arm quickly and effectively. "Where's Original Cindy?" she took a deep breath, reigned in her temper, and added doubtfully, "She already head off on a run?"
Shrugging Max's hand off of his arm, Sketchy shook his head in the negative. "Nah, Max, I ain't seen her come in yet." Suddenly, his eyes lit up in a way that had only started appearing recently, "Hey, shouldn't you know? Unless..."
Fluidly and efficiently, Max cut him off, sending a brief glare at Alec who was leaning against the lockers, looking all too content to let her fend off Sketchy's questions. "OC stayed at Rain's last night," she knew that the imagery of that would distract Sketchy from any other thoughts for awhile, "just seeing if she decided to come in after all."
Lies firmly in place, Max turned and strode over to the pay phone in the corner, ready to call Original Cindy and see where she was exactly.
"Right, Sketchy, ready to head out on a run?" Alec spoke smoothly, stepping into the void of silence left by Max's departure. Not that he really wanted to leave, he was just as concerned as to where Original Cindy was as Max, but because Normal was sending glares their way and looked about ready to spew another fairytale.
That being enough motivation for anyone, Sketchy readily agreed and made his way with Alec towards their bikes. "Normal's off his rock this week... Damn..."
Alec nodded, sparing a brief thought as to what exactly was causing Normal to act so strange before other worries took over his mind. Like, where exactly was Original Cindy? "Ahh," he brushed it aside, "it's Normal… maybe he got a girl or something."
!~(*)~!
Rain shuddered slightly against the chill of having received yet another unsettling phone call. This one by far the worst.
She hardly knew Max, and then only as Original Cindy's friend who, y'know, happened to be a transgenic. Sarcasm, it tasted unbecoming to her even inside of her own head. But she knew well enough that her fellow X-5 wouldn't be making something like this up. Wasn't in their breeding.
Tendrils of fear trickled at her spine, a startlingly slow sweep of feeling that spread and got sharper as the minutes ticked by.
They had her.
Which 'they,' Rain didn't know. But nonetheless she knew that someone, someone after her had Original Cindy. Why the beautiful brunette hadn't answered her phone calls; why her friend Max was calling to find out nervously where she was.
It was everything she'd been afraid of since the other night when she'd known for sure, with out a doubt, that she had been found out. That she'd failed and she'd abandoned her mission and everybody knew, everybody that shouldn't and nobody that should.
Original Cindy didn't know, now did she? You didn't tell her! A nasty part of Rain's mind that sounded suspiciously like her old CO mocked and second guessed her.
Still, it was true. She hadn't been honest with her lover. Hadn't called and explained even though she knew that she should have. Hadn't protected her well enough.
STOP IT!
The problem now wasn't what she'd screwed up, and Rain knew that. Now it was how she was going to fix it. She needed to know who had Original Cindy and how she could be rescued.
Nothing was going to stop her this time.
If she had to come clean, so be it. If she had to go to Original Cindy's friends, her fellow X-5's and suck up her pride and tell them what she'd done, she would. Because nobody was going to mess with her girl, not when Original Cindy was her reason for happiness.
Shades closed, senses on overdrive, Rain started to make plans. It was time.
!~(*)~!
"Hey, Max…"
Half way out the door, package forgotten, several distressing phone calls made, and mind focused completely on her friend, it took a moment for Max to process who the voice was. Who the person standing in front of her was. Forcing her mind to do a complete three-sixty and focus on the multitude of other issues in her life: pregnancy, Manticore, Logan. "Hey… what are you doing here?"
Looking scruffy but sharp, as always, which had led Max more than once to wonder if he actually planned his messy hair all out, Logan stood by the door. Sensitive ears could pick up the faint whizzing of the exoskeleton, but he could not. "We didn't get much of a chance to talk and you haven't been returning my calls. I thought maybe we could."
"Now?" Even though she knew that Logan couldn't possibly know about Original Cindy's abrupt disappearance, Max still felt herself flush with anger that he wanted to barge into her personal space and discuss his problems with her. He wasn't her god anymore, not the most important thing in her world. And hello, mood-swings…
Logan was not an idiot. Despite rarely being on the often well deserved receiving end of Max's anger, he had seen enough and knew her well enough to recognize that spark in her eyes for what it was. Rage. And, well deserved or not, very quickly she was going to come to blows. Which, in his case, could be especially deadly, "Well, I figured you might not be busy."
No Logan, I'm not busy at work, why would I be? But her rage was already fading down to a simmer. Forcing herself to look at things objectively and using her perfect memory to recall that she had never vocalized her desire not to see him, Max sighed and looked down. "Look, Logan, now really isn't a good time…"
Making himself take a deep and calming breath, Logan smiled. Stiffly, yes, but he was trying to accept this unaccustomed and unimportant role in her life that he was apparently now occupying. "Another time than. You can call me."
Max had to give him credit; she suddenly had this urge to acquiesce to his every whim. Rush over and make it all better. But the difference now was that Max had seen through this façade, and her photographic memory wouldn't let her forget the other side. Still, it made her less angry and put life back into perspective. Logan could help her; help her find Original Cindy easily with his resources. "Logan, wait," she called out and waited until his attention was focused on her again before continuing, "I do need to talk to you about something."
Suddenly Logan's face was a mixture of joy and anxiousness. Motioning her to come with him, he spoke, "Not here. I wanted to show you something," looked back to make sure that Max was following, she was.
Her decision was made. If Logan wanted to traipse her around the town to confess his undying feelings for her, or to force her to talk about her whole Manticore-induced pregnancy, Max would do it. The important thing was finding Original Cindy and making sure that nobody who had a grudge against her had her friend. "Well, let's get going."
Logan nodded, happy that he was finally getting a chance to do this with Max. Her now much pleasanter attitude a good sign in the direction of all his plans.
He didn't even come close to noticing the hastily scribbled piece of paper that Max dropped in the middle of the doorway on their way out where it was sure to be noticed. Too caught up to care if he had.
To Be Continued ( in ch. 15: Traps)
Thanks to everyone who reviewed!
Maikaseregwen (HEHE. Turned you into an Alec fan! :) Yeah, Sketchy, one of my favorite votes. But I needed him for another scene. Don't worry, he'll still have a big part! LOL, yeah, stupid computer changes! Well, hopefully these few edits and next scene will add that hair and move this from a 9.75 to a 10! Do let me know how it works out! Glad you like the ideas, it's all gonna come to a head soon!)
willow98002 (Yeah, soon, heh, that's a relative word... right? Anyways, glad you like! I'm trying to update quicker, honest!)
Renata Cardelli (Brazilian, very cool. I'm glad to know that I have a variety of readers. Thanks for the compliments!)
RockerChica (Heh, spelling, grammar.... yeah, I'm working on it. A lot of it has been updated since it got posted here, through edits and stuff, but I don't tend to upload those unless it's major. So at the end of the story I'll upload the hard copy and hopefully that'll be better. Glad you liked the story though! DVD's rock, no?)
sierra (Glad you like the fic! Found again? Yeah, it tends to sneak off. Naughty fic, you know. I'll try to keep you out of m/a withdrawal. It's hard, I know!)
glitterina (Well, you'll be happy to see that it wasn't Logan. LOL, I suppose that was what you typed, knowing you ego-booster, you! Thanks!)
cloudburst (Yep, it's all about Rain. Well, acutally it's all about A/M cause it's an A/M story.... but you know what I mean! lol. Glad you like my OC, I'm pretty fond of her in this story too. My way of combatting that the show forgot about all of Max's friends in season 2! Well, Mr. Up Town Intimidation himself isn't supposed to be funny, but the name is supposed to be. Seemed like an OC name, and I couldn't resist a bit of amusement in an otherwise funny-free chapter. Hmm, cops or not, you'll still have to wait and see... Nominations were all great, don't worry! That's why there were no nominations, open for opinions. ;) You be safe too! Enjoy!)
SecretlyBeautiful (Zack would have been cool, yes. I'm considering working him into this story somehow other though... we'll see... Loved your vote of Joshua, something I hadn't thought about but I loved! Hope my choice did you justice!)
Faith Spencer (OOh, it was so hard to say no to that idea! It had such options. I just decided to go witht he sweet and fluffy. Compromising in 'Rising From Burnt Ashes' and probably later on in here too, promise!)
JG (Interesting idea, reminded me I still need to write a scene with some random chick from Alec's past. Promise!)
Once Upon A Time was not a good way for anything important to start. Sure, for fairytales it was fine, even for some pre-pulse movies it had been acceptable. But for Normal? Downright frightening.
Max blinked very slowly several times, as if the vision in front of her would disappear. She half-heartedly wondered if the stress of the last week had thrown her transgenic hearing for an unexpected loop. Still stunned, she even cast a glance at Alec, who nodded that yes, he saw it too.
Oblivious as always to the inner workings of the transgenic mind, Normal took a moment to sneeze and then, distracted and overtired, restarted his tale. "Excuse me. Now, as I was saying, 'Once Upon A Time' there was a nice but tragically overworked messenger service manager and two little messengers. These messengers were fast enough at delivering packages, but had the fatal flaw of FAILING TO COME TO WORK." He paused to readjust his glasses after that brief outburst as his world was again pounding. "The moral of this story? If you want to have a job, actually bother showing up for it. Ingrates. Now, bip, bip, people!"
Feeling that he had said his due, Normal handed a shell-shocked Alec and Max a package each, promptly turned on his heel, and strode back to the counter.
Rolling his eyes, Alec noted the 'fragile' marking on the package he was holding as well as Normal's turned back. Raising an eyebrow, he casually tossed the package up into the air and caught it single-handedly, just for the hell of it. "Remind me why we came to work today?"
Turning to her locker to drop off her bag, Max answered, already knowing that Alec had followed her, "Because as Normal so frighteningly pointed out, we haven't exactly made much of an appearance the last couple of days."
Slamming her locker door shut, Max noted that one of the main ways that she started her workday was missing. Normal yelling... check... she ran over the mental list in her head, only stopping once the inescapable hit her. "Shit."
Alec blinked at Max's sudden mood change but knew her violent tendencies well enough to be able to tell that it wasn't his fault this time. Content in that knowledge, he asked amiably enough, "What now?"
But Max had already spun around, having spotted Sketchy coming by her, and caught his arm quickly and effectively. "Where's Original Cindy?" she took a deep breath, reigned in her temper, and added doubtfully, "She already head off on a run?"
Shrugging Max's hand off of his arm, Sketchy shook his head in the negative. "Nah, Max, I ain't seen her come in yet." Suddenly, his eyes lit up in a way that had only started appearing recently, "Hey, shouldn't you know? Unless..."
Fluidly and efficiently, Max cut him off, sending a brief glare at Alec who was leaning against the lockers, looking all too content to let her fend off Sketchy's questions. "OC stayed at Rain's last night," she knew that the imagery of that would distract Sketchy from any other thoughts for awhile, "just seeing if she decided to come in after all."
Lies firmly in place, Max turned and strode over to the pay phone in the corner, ready to call Original Cindy and see where she was exactly.
"Right, Sketchy, ready to head out on a run?" Alec spoke smoothly, stepping into the void of silence left by Max's departure. Not that he really wanted to leave, he was just as concerned as to where Original Cindy was as Max, but because Normal was sending glares their way and looked about ready to spew another fairytale.
That being enough motivation for anyone, Sketchy readily agreed and made his way with Alec towards their bikes. "Normal's off his rock this week... Damn..."
Alec nodded, sparing a brief thought as to what exactly was causing Normal to act so strange before other worries took over his mind. Like, where exactly was Original Cindy? "Ahh," he brushed it aside, "it's Normal… maybe he got a girl or something."
Rain shuddered slightly against the chill of having received yet another unsettling phone call. This one by far the worst.
She hardly knew Max, and then only as Original Cindy's friend who, y'know, happened to be a transgenic. Sarcasm, it tasted unbecoming to her even inside of her own head. But she knew well enough that her fellow X-5 wouldn't be making something like this up. Wasn't in their breeding.
Tendrils of fear trickled at her spine, a startlingly slow sweep of feeling that spread and got sharper as the minutes ticked by.
They had her.
Which 'they,' Rain didn't know. But nonetheless she knew that someone, someone after her had Original Cindy. Why the beautiful brunette hadn't answered her phone calls; why her friend Max was calling to find out nervously where she was.
It was everything she'd been afraid of since the other night when she'd known for sure, with out a doubt, that she had been found out. That she'd failed and she'd abandoned her mission and everybody knew, everybody that shouldn't and nobody that should.
Original Cindy didn't know, now did she? You didn't tell her! A nasty part of Rain's mind that sounded suspiciously like her old CO mocked and second guessed her.
Still, it was true. She hadn't been honest with her lover. Hadn't called and explained even though she knew that she should have. Hadn't protected her well enough.
STOP IT!
The problem now wasn't what she'd screwed up, and Rain knew that. Now it was how she was going to fix it. She needed to know who had Original Cindy and how she could be rescued.
Nothing was going to stop her this time.
If she had to come clean, so be it. If she had to go to Original Cindy's friends, her fellow X-5's and suck up her pride and tell them what she'd done, she would. Because nobody was going to mess with her girl, not when Original Cindy was her reason for happiness.
Shades closed, senses on overdrive, Rain started to make plans. It was time.
"Hey, Max…"
Half way out the door, package forgotten, several distressing phone calls made, and mind focused completely on her friend, it took a moment for Max to process who the voice was. Who the person standing in front of her was. Forcing her mind to do a complete three-sixty and focus on the multitude of other issues in her life: pregnancy, Manticore, Logan. "Hey… what are you doing here?"
Looking scruffy but sharp, as always, which had led Max more than once to wonder if he actually planned his messy hair all out, Logan stood by the door. Sensitive ears could pick up the faint whizzing of the exoskeleton, but he could not. "We didn't get much of a chance to talk and you haven't been returning my calls. I thought maybe we could."
"Now?" Even though she knew that Logan couldn't possibly know about Original Cindy's abrupt disappearance, Max still felt herself flush with anger that he wanted to barge into her personal space and discuss his problems with her. He wasn't her god anymore, not the most important thing in her world. And hello, mood-swings…
Logan was not an idiot. Despite rarely being on the often well deserved receiving end of Max's anger, he had seen enough and knew her well enough to recognize that spark in her eyes for what it was. Rage. And, well deserved or not, very quickly she was going to come to blows. Which, in his case, could be especially deadly, "Well, I figured you might not be busy."
No Logan, I'm not busy at work, why would I be? But her rage was already fading down to a simmer. Forcing herself to look at things objectively and using her perfect memory to recall that she had never vocalized her desire not to see him, Max sighed and looked down. "Look, Logan, now really isn't a good time…"
Making himself take a deep and calming breath, Logan smiled. Stiffly, yes, but he was trying to accept this unaccustomed and unimportant role in her life that he was apparently now occupying. "Another time than. You can call me."
Max had to give him credit; she suddenly had this urge to acquiesce to his every whim. Rush over and make it all better. But the difference now was that Max had seen through this façade, and her photographic memory wouldn't let her forget the other side. Still, it made her less angry and put life back into perspective. Logan could help her; help her find Original Cindy easily with his resources. "Logan, wait," she called out and waited until his attention was focused on her again before continuing, "I do need to talk to you about something."
Suddenly Logan's face was a mixture of joy and anxiousness. Motioning her to come with him, he spoke, "Not here. I wanted to show you something," looked back to make sure that Max was following, she was.
Her decision was made. If Logan wanted to traipse her around the town to confess his undying feelings for her, or to force her to talk about her whole Manticore-induced pregnancy, Max would do it. The important thing was finding Original Cindy and making sure that nobody who had a grudge against her had her friend. "Well, let's get going."
Logan nodded, happy that he was finally getting a chance to do this with Max. Her now much pleasanter attitude a good sign in the direction of all his plans.
He didn't even come close to noticing the hastily scribbled piece of paper that Max dropped in the middle of the doorway on their way out where it was sure to be noticed. Too caught up to care if he had.