Exit Strategy
Disclaimer: I claim no rights to Dark Angel, or any of the characters you find here. No, not even Alec.
Spoilers: Set two weeks after the events of Freak Nation, includes spoilers for the entire series.
Exit Strategy, Part II
The boy was still in his arms. Even the shaking had stopped. Mole tried to keep the dead weight from shifting as he ran, tried to keep his eyes from glancing down. He headed for the infirmary, 452 and Luke trailing behind him. No one stopped to ask them questions. As they passed Command, a woman wearing a white lab coat, a doctor, human, joined them, along with Joshua and Gem. The group made to slow down, so the doctor could keep up, but the boy was still in his arms, for the second time that day, and Mole kept up the pace.
When they reached the infirmary, Gem jogged ahead of the group to get the door. Once inside, she motioned Mole to the same stretcher Alec had laid in not five hours earlier. He settled the limp body down carefully, like Alec was a small child, precious and fragile. He gently arranged the boy's limbs more comfortably, and took a moment to be grateful that he had managed to shove Alec out of the way of White's bullet. The boy was barely alive without the additional damage it would have caused.
At Manticore, no one looked over the sick and injured. Sure, soldiers were patched up in the infirmary. They were poked and prodded, vitals monitored. Those classified as a "viable resource" were given time to heal and sent back to their units. The others, the ones deemed unfit, were terminated, then taken apart piecemeal. There was no kindness or comfort to be found, on either end.
Mole had many reasons behind his dislike of the ordinaries, but the greatest one was their tendency to take everything they had for granted. Even in their post-Pulse existence, they could experience compassion and love. They hadn't been raised as living weapons, to be used and then discarded.
He squeezed Alec's hand briefly before turning away. He saw Dalton, asleep and heavily bandaged the next stretcher over, skin still pale with blood loss. They were children, Dalton and Alec both. Mole watched over them and felt utterly hopeless, struck by how brutally unfair life could be.
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Once Alec was settled, Luke and Doctor Shankar shuffled Max and the rest of the transgenics out of the infirmary and into the hall. Joshua took up residence against the wall opposite the doors, to wait for an update on Alec's condition. Everyone else started to move back in the direction of Command. They had almost reached their destination when Max spoke.
"What in the hell just happened?"
No one answered. Mole was grinding his teeth in the absence of a cigar, and Gem was looking at Max in confusion. Of course, Gem hadn't been there. She hadn't seen White, beating Alec to death, hadn't watched Alec's sanity slip out of his darkened eyes while he egged the agent on. Gem hadn't seen White shot down by the police.
"White is dead." Once again, Mole beat her to the punch. "The PD showed up, figured him for the bad guy. Shot him up good."
Max saw Gem raise her eyebrows in surprise, while Max just shook her head. "I know that, but how? How did he find us? How did they get there so fast? The cops, and there were reporters. And Doctor Shankar, why is she here?" She added. Gem let out a surprised bark of laughter.
"Alec. It was…he was talking, to Logan and the agent, before we split up."
Max shook her head again.
"His plan, Max. The exit strategy. It wasn't just to get the ordinaries out of Terminal City."
"Then what…"
"Damn it, woman, don't you see?" Mole yelled at her. They had entered Command, and every head swung in the direction of his raised voice. "He led them right to us! White, the cops, hell, probably even the damn reporters!"
"He wouldn't. He could have gotten himself killed. He could have gotten all of us killed."
"He needed to end it." A new voice joined them, and Max recognized it as Logan.
"Uh, Max, I got Logan on the screen for you." Dix said, while pointing sheepishly to the station he had set up to receive Logan's camera feed. Max walked over to the monitor, Mole and Gem close behind her.
"Logan," Max sighed in relief, "are you safe? OC and Sketchy?"
"Everyone's safe, Max." Logan smiled at her through the screen, though she noticed it didn't reach his eyes.
"To hell with the ordinaries," Mole huffed in anger, "what did that boy do now?"
"What did you mean, he needed to end it?" Gem added.
Logan took a deep breath, and motioned to someone off-screen.
"You may want to ask him." He said, and tilted the camera to reveal Special Agent Gottlieb, sitting beside him.
Max swallowed her shock, and pinned Agent Gottlieb with a furious glare.
"Explain. Everything."
The agent nodded, then started to speak. Max heard the transgenics behind her shifting closer to listen.
"When I first met 4…Alec, he was scouting for a supply run. He recognized me, and suggested a truce. He told me about Agent White and the Conclave, and what it was like…for him."
"Like?"
"At Manticore."
The entire room shifted around awkwardly, while Max uttered a soft "oh".
"He was making a play for my sympathy, I know that. He got it."
It was the agent's turn to look uncomfortable. For the first time, Max began to appreciate the strange situation he had found himself in. He took a breath, and spoke again.
"He told me he needed contacts, that's what I was for. Someone on the inside, who could help with supply runs and could run interference, with the Agency and White. More than that, though, he needed a co-conspirator."
Max interrupted him then, her impatience getting the best of her.
"Why you? Why not tell anyone? What exactly were you conspiring about?"
Mole answered. "He trusted him. Needed someone outside TC, someone who was soft on our situation, who could pull strings and makes contacts Alec couldn't."
"Right," Agent Gottlieb agreed, "Alec wanted me to start making inroads at the Agency, and with the Seattle PD."
"Clemente?" Max asked, curious.
"Clemente. We knew he was sympathetic, but was under too much political pressure to do anything to help…"
A picture started to grow in Max's mind.
"So you had me keep up talks with Clemente and the military, to show that we were willing to negotiate. But the government was getting anxious to see some kind of action, and you can only keep a population of super soldiers sequestered for so long."
"Exactly. Alec was worried about another incident like Jam Pony. If anything happened, he wanted it to be something he could control. And Agent White had to be dealt with."
"So the son of a bitch won us the pity vote, and took care of White in one fell swoop." Mole said, somewhere between anger and awe.
"Alec provoked White into attacking him." Max said with confidence. "Even got him to spew some of his crazy breeding cult, anti-humanity rhetoric."
Agent Gottlieb bobbed his head in acquiescence.
"In the end, it was a matter of getting the police to witness Agent White lose control, and intercede on Alec's behalf."
"So you called Matt Sung. Because Clemente couldn't be first on the scene, not when he'd already been accused of goin' easy on us." Max looked to Logan. "And you called him, didn't you?"
"After we first separated outside TC," Logan replied, "Agent Gottlieb asked me to call Matt and tip him off, while he called White to give him your location. Alec was carrying a GPS chip on him, and gave one of the receivers to Agent Gottlieb; Dalton had the other one. I had just gotten off the phone when Alec came back and attacked us."
"And the reporters?"
"One of Alec's connections, a reporter named Melissa Bycroft." Agent Gottlieb said. "She is also an acquaintance of your friend, Calvin Theodore. He alerted her of the situation and sent her to Detective Clemente and, later, to the scene."
"Clemente? Why?"
"The detective and I have been compiling a file on Agent White and the Conclave, while Alec was providing us with the information on Manticore. That, and the tape."
"What tape?" Gem asked.
"Wait, the supply run tape?" Max turned to the eavesdropping transgenics; saw their looks of uncertainty. "Alec was caught on tape with one of his teams on a supply run a couple days ago, but what good…that son of a bitch. He gave it to the reporters."
Mole laughed again in disbelief. "The damn boy waited until he had about one foot in the grave before taking on White. Bet he's got his pet reporter painting him as some sick tranny, looking for medical assistance, when he's almost beaten to death. And they've got a tape of him stealing what, food and medical supplies? I can see the headlines now: Transgenic forced to fight for his life, gets beaten by AWOL Fed for his trouble. They'll plaster his pretty face on the cover of every newspaper from here to Altoona."
"That was the idea, yes."
Max shuddered at her next thought.
"So Alec is dying. For this plan to work, he had to be expendable. You didn't know what White would do to him, couldn't guarantee he wouldn't kill him before the cops arrived. He needed to enact his plan before he ran out of time, and managed to use his illness to his advantage. His hallucinations, though, he wasn't seeing White. He knew White was coming and his mind supplied the rest."
"I knew he was ill, and he told me it would only get worse, that there was nothing he could do to stop it. The hallucinations, the mania, he tried to hold it back as long as he could." Agent Gottlieb said, looking inexplicably sad.
"What's wrong with him? Dix? Logan? I want to know. Tell me someone knows."
After several minutes of uncomfortable shuffling, Dix spoke up.
"It's Manticore. An implant. It was in his file."
"File?"
"About four months ago, a source of mine turned up some files from Manticore. Alec's was one of them. I didn't read it until today, or, last night, when I found out Alec was sick. Alec…knew sooner." Logan stated, abashed.
"Fine, whatever, what about this implant?" Max asked, her impatience returning.
"He received it after a failed mission." Dix responded.
"Berrisford, Max." Logan added.
"Let's cut to the chase here," Mole interrupted, "what does the implant do?"
"Alec's not the only one with an exit strategy," Dix replied, "Manticore needed a way to control the more volatile operatives. The implant acts like a kill switch. An operative goes off mission, goes rogue, they activate the implant, there's no need to hunt them down. Alec's was a beta version, still in development but, apparently, fully functional."
Mole knocked over the chair beside Max, and there were various sounds of anger coming from the other transgenics. She began yelling herself, in fear and confusion.
"But Manticore is gone! Manticore's been gone! You're telling me this thing took almost a year to kill him?"
"Max," Logan spoke his best quiet, calming tone, "that's not all the implant does."
Dix nodded. "It also tracks various bodily functions, most notably the production of red and white blood cells."
"Oh, shit." Max breathed.
"It was tracking injuries," Dix continued, "and Alec's been shot twice in the past six months, not to mention beaten, tasered and stabbed."
Gem broke in. "A good soldier doesn't get injured that much, not by Manticore standards. We're supposed to be better than that."
"This isn't his fault!" Max yelled again. Her head was starting to pound from her yo-yoing emotions.
"I know!" Gem answered defensively. "I never said I agreed! Manticore…"
"What does the implant do? How does it kill him? How do we stop it?" Mole asked, looking from Dix to Logan and back again.
"There is no stopping it." Luke said, walking up behind them. His shirt was bloody.
"What?"
"There is no stopping it." Luke repeated. "It's not the implant killing him. When activated, it releases a poison into the bloodstream. That's what does the damage."
"So cure it! There has to be some antidote, something!"
"It was created by Manticore, Max." Luke replied, "There is no antidote or, if there ever was, it's lost."
"You're wrong."
Max turned and started off for the infirmary, an entourage on her heels. She was tired of Manticore taking away people she loved. Alec was part of her family now, her brother. He had fought to save them, had come up with this crazy plan to sway the public and the police to their side. Max was not losing him now. As she sped to the infirmary, though, her mind swirled with the possibility.
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Max found Alec awake on his gurney. Joshua was sitting by his side, Alec's hand held gently in both of his. Doctor Shankar was hooking Alec up to a bag of blood; his face was covered in it. He talked in between quivering breaths.
"Guess Sketchy's not the only one to get a nosebleed today, huh Maxie?"
Doctor Shankar finished what she was doing, then cleaned off Alec's face, before turning to Max.
"It started bleeding when we first put him on IV fluids. It won't stop."
"But the seizures have, right, doc?" Alec said; a fake smirk plastered across his face. Joshua's hands tightened around Alec's one, but he remained silent.
"Alec. Why didn't you tell me?" Max asked.
"I tried to find it. I tried…didn't want to worry anyone. But you can't fix, there's no fixing it now. I needed to end it, before I go."
"Alec, don't, just…"
The fake smirk morphed into a small, pained smile.
"You can't fix it. They wanted me in pieces, and that's what they'll get."
Max heard Joshua whimper as he brushed away the sweat soaked hair from Alec's brow, and Mole stepped next to him, by Alec's side.
"Like hell they will."
Alec swung his head in Mole's direction, eyes resting on the giant lizard man.
"Doin' your own inventory from here on out, twinkle toes. 'Less Dalton…Dalton! Shit, s'he, di'I kill 'em?" Alec asked; the words garbled as he spoke through the blood running down the back of his throat. The transgenic put his free hand to his face and coughed, a harsh, wet sound. Joshua released his hold on Alec's other hand and started making shushing noises. Finally, the coughing stopped. Max saw blood splattering Alec's lips, and running in thin rivulets from the corner of his mouth.
"Dalton is resting, and he'll be fine. Luke and his team did an excellent job patching him up." Doctor Shankar replied while motioning Mole and Luke, who stood beside Max, to shift Alec to sit up higher on the few pillows behind him. Once he was positioned there, Luke wiped his face, yet again. "Now, you need to rest too."
"Rest? Be doin' plen'y o' that soon."
Max cringed at the implication, at the resolution in his voice. She leaned forward; kept her voice a hum in Alec's ear. "You should have told us. Told someone. We could have helped you."
"Helped me? Help…" Alec seemed to shake off his exhaustion, and he looked at her with his eyes clear and lucid. "This is Manticore, Max, there is no help. You forget about the virus? How's the cure coming along? You and Logan been 'getting busy' and I didn't know it?"
"Alec, stop now!" Joshua called out.
"There's no help! You don't think I tried? You think I wanna…"
Max stepped away from the gurney and stormed out of the infirmary before he could finish. She was furious but, more than that, she was scared. Maybe Alec was a better man than she had given him credit for, but he wasn't a martyr. He wouldn't be dying if he could be healed. He would have left no stone unturned, would have explored all avenues.
Max kept her back to the infirmary doors and headed back to Command. Alec was dying; there was no question about it. Well, Max had seen enough death. She hurried down the corridor, and left her thoughts of implants, poison, Manticore, and Alec, behind.
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Mole stared after 452's retreating back in shock. He didn't know why he was surprised. Leaving was what she was known for. Mole looked at Alec, saw him breathing unevenly. He mopped more blood from the boy's face.
"Well gee, Princess, I think you may have drove her off."
Alec responded by arching his back in pain. The human doctor rushed to his side, and pushed an ampoule of some drug into the transgenic's IV. The room waited with baited breath for Alec's panting to stop, for his body to still, but to no avail.
"Too late for that now, Doc," Alec said through clenched teeth, "it's almost over now. Almost…"
The boy arched again, though his strength was sapped, and his body barely rose off the table. Mole watched, horrified, as Alec's eyes rolled back in his head. His body collapsed; suddenly limp.
"Is he dead?"
Mole glanced over to Dalton's stretcher to see the X6 watching Alec's still form with bloodshot eyes. Gem rushed over to the boy's side, while the doctor leaned forward to check Alec's pulse.
"He's alive. Pulse is thready." She reported.
"He wasn't lying; it's almost over. If we don't find some way to help him …"
Luke trailed off on those ominous words. Joshua whimpered again, and nuzzled his face into Alec's side.
Mole was tired. Tired of running from the government, tired of fighting to live, to be free. Alec had done his best to help solve those first two problems; it was time someone did something for Alec. Starting with dragging their so-called leader back to his side. Mole squeezed Alec's good shoulder, and marched off to Command.
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He found her sitting in front of the monitors, though the screens were black. He reached out and pushed her out of her chair, so that he could loom over her.
"You want to convince us you're one of us? That you're not just some spoiled prissy bitch that likes to boss us around? You get your ass back to that infirmary, and you stay there until this is done!"
452 jumped to her feet. He expected her to attack; she was always doing things like that. Then he noticed her face was wet with tears. "I can't! I've already…I've seen him die once, I can't do it again."
"Seen him? What…" A thought came to Mole, and any sympathy he may have felt for 452 went flying out the window, his anger returning full force, "are you talking about 493? His goddamn clone? You plan on letting your Second die in there, while you sit out here moping and feeling sorry for yourself, because he looks like some kid you knew once?"
"Yes!" 452 yelled right back at him, fury lining her tear streaking face, "Is that what you want to hear? That I'm weak? That I can't stand there and watch him die? Well, fine! I won't! You heard him, there's nothing we can do. It's over."
Mole sunk back in the chair behind him, put his head in his hands. The room was silent around him.
The longer they stayed in the world, the more accustomed the transgenics had gotten to losing. After everything that had happened the night before, they finally stood a chance of gaining some ground. Alec made sure of that. Yes, Mole craved freedom. He craved it like he craved the desert. There was a time he would have given anything for it, paid any price. But Alec was his Second, his friend, and Mole didn't want to lose him. He didn't want it to be over.
"It doesn't have to be."
A voice sliced through the quiet, and every eye in Command fastened on the speaker, Mole's included. His eyes widened and jaw slackened as he took the man in, fought the urge to salute. He looked a little worse for the wear, but he was alive.
Standing in Terminal City, in the middle of Command, stood Colonel Donald Lydecker.
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This is the end of the story proper. There will be another post, sort of epilogue-ish, but nothing more with the folks at Terminal City. If you have any questions about the story, any plot details you need cleared up, etc., feel free to leave a review and I'll try to answer them for you in the next post.
I can tell you that, when I started writing, I had every intention of killing off Alec at the end. As the end got closer, however, I started feeling a little guilty for torturing the poor guy, and wanted to give readers a little hope. Yes, Lydecker is considered hope, here. Try not to feel too dirty about that.
Thanks again for your reviews. Please let me know what you think.