Disclaimer: Dark Angel belongs to Fox et al. I claim any original characters.
Chapter 25 – Kamikaze Mission
Kasha flipped a switch on the heart monitor, leaving the room in a silence almost as horrible as the shrilling alarm. Nate and Trace watched a couple feet from the bed, and Alec seemed frozen on the other side.
"I'm sorry. There's nothing else…" Kasha's voice trailed off into a whisper, letting the oppressive silence blanket them again as they all stared at Max's still form on the bed.
Without looking at any of them, Alec spun and vanished out the door behind him.
Trace sprinted around the bed and into the hallway.
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She barely managed to catch Alec outside the hospital, and for a second she feared he would pull his arm from her grasp and keep going. Instead, he finally turned to face her, although his eyes looked over her shoulder, his unfocused gaze on the hospital building.
"Alec, where are you going?" Trace asked in between deep breaths.
"White."
"Ok, let me call a team to meet us." She pulled a communicator out of her pocket.
"No."
"You can't go alone. It's suicide." She caught his sleeve again and forced out her next words. "Max wouldn't want it."
Alec glared at her and hand on his arm and she snatched it away, crossing her arms over her chest as if protecting herself. He doubted it was because she was afraid of him.
"She wouldn't have wanted it," Alec ground out in a raspy voice.
"What?"
"Past tense. She's not here to tell me anything." For the first time he looked at her, and Trace had to force herself not to flinch as she glimpsed the shattered look in his eyes. She swallowed, finally able to speak when the emotion buried itself underneath a flat, emotionless shield.
"But you must know she would have wanted you to take over, hold us all together." Trace gave up trying to keep her voice steady. It was all she could do to keep eye contact. "We won't be strong enough to hold out against White and the government if we keep losing people." She tried to ignore the hot tears that overflowed and ran down her cheeks, telling herself it was an uncontrollable physical reaction. Once she got through to Alec she could worry about her own strained emotions.
"That bastard is the reason we keep losing people," Alec responded harshly. He ran again, making no sound as he disappeared into the tangled underbrush.
Trace followed, trying to keep him in sight. "Nate, you and Kasha take Max back to Terminal City," she said breathlessly into her communicator.
"What's going on Trace?" Mole's gravely voice came through her earpiece.
"Trying to…stay…with Alec. Ask Nate," Trace gasped. She almost wished Alec would run on the main highway so that she could keep him in sight as she fell behind. However, moving onto the road would take them both out of the cover the woods provided. Still, she wondered how long she could keep up. Even her own transgenic abilities were no match for Alec's strength, speed, and endurance.
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Trace shrugged her shoulders uncomfortably, trying to get rid of the itch at the back of her neck where the collar of her jacket rubbed. With two days worth of sweat and grime built up on her clothes and body a lot of other places itched too. At least that discomfort kept her mind off her empty stomach.
Alec had thrown away his communication unit shortly after leaving the hospital. Trace was sure he knew she followed, but he didn't seem to care. She guessed he decided to go with his plan of using himself as bait, counting on White's arrogance to make him hunt the transgenic personally. At least that was the only reason she could think of for Alec's skulking around known Familiar locations, occasionally killing soldiers, vandalizing property, and generally making a nuisance of himself.
Trace sighed as she dropped out of the tree to follow Alec again. At least she had a chance to rest a bit, even if it was only on a rather skinny, rather hard, tree limb. She hoped she would be able to keep Alec from destroying himself on his kamikaze mission. Although if self-annihilation while ruining White was Alec's goal, she supposed she could do little to stop him. However, staying in soldier mode tailing Alec kept her from thinking about other things, and she definitely didn't want to think of those other things right now.
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Alec left the motorcycle at the southeastern end of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge. He ignored the fleeting thought that Max would kill him for leaving a Honda Super Hawk in the bushes. He had stolen the bike and ridden to the bridge without much thought about it, because that led to thoughts of Max.
He walked over the water, stopping about a quarter-mile away from shore, both land masses invisible in the night darkness. Alec turned to face the eastern road and waited. His expression and stance stayed the same as White approached about thirty minutes later.
"Think the dark will give you some transgenic advantage 494?" White asked.
"Nope. Turn on that lantern you're carrying if you want."
White flipped the switch of the battery-powered camping lantern and set it on the sidewalk, creating a small half-circle of light across the roadway.
"Now what? You run at me like a professional wrestler?" White smirked at Alec as he spoke. "Did 452 send you to handle her problems?"
White dodged Alec's fist and aimed a punch at the transgenic suddenly positioned in front of him. The hit grazed Alec as he stepped aside and swept his leg at White's knees from behind. As he went down, White grabbed Alec's leg and flipped him backward. Both instantly jumped up from the damp pavement and stood a few feet from each other.
"Aren't you worried I'll call in reinforcements?" White mocked.
"Nope. There's a chunk of bridge missing on the Gig Harbor side, and you've got all your stooges waiting at the eastern edge," Alec answered. "You don't want them to see me beat you."
They engaged again, each scoring hits and kicks on the opponent. When they broke apart, White wiped some blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I'm not worried about you beating me. But if you're here alone, either Max didn't tell you to come," White gave Alec a wicked smile, full of teeth, "or she's dead." He dodged Alec's fist again and this time used his kick to knock the transgenic to the pavement. "Hit a nerve? Pity, she wasn't supposed to go yet. I'll just have to take you back instead." He pulled a tranquilizer gun out of his jacket.
He sprawled to the ground as someone tackled him from behind. Rolling over, he fired at the attacker and turned to shoot Alec, who kicked the gun from his hand.
"One of yours, I presume?" White asked, not even bothering to look at Trace's crumpled form. "We'll leave her as the sign for the rest of your crew to find. I'll be sure to mark our calling card somewhere." His head snapped sideways as Alec landed another punch to his jaw.
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High above the roadway, another figure moved painfully along the bridge cable toward the dimly lit area that marked the invisible edges of the fighting ring. At least the tall tower was behind and the cable sloped back down to the suspension bridge's deck. Gloved hands reached, gripped the cold, wet metal, and arm and leg muscles strained to pull body weight forward inch by inch.
A chilly wind coming off Puget Sound tried to pluck the figure from the cable. It pulled at hair and clothing with invisible fingers, but dark eyes stayed focused on the two fighting below.
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"Max isn't the first in your line of failures," White mocked. "Rachel Berrisford." He punctuated each name with a blow, although Alec dodged most of them. "Owen Shaw. I think the trash behind me might be your last though." White landed a particularly vicious kick to Alec's gut, making him double over briefly.
Staying low, Alec aimed his shoulder at White and ran forward. White stood his ground, flipping over Alec's back and jabbing his side while completing a somersault in midair.
Alec looked at the tranquilizer dart rolling on the ground and mentally cursed himself. The dart had only emptied halfway before the movement of his shirt pulled it out of his skin, but Alec could already feel the drug slowing his reactions. He glared at White who approached with handcuffs and another gun.
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The figure used the metal bridge suspender like a thin firehouse pole and slid down to land just outside the reach of lantern light. Leather gloves dropped silently to the ground as the shadow moved closer to the standoff.
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"I would enjoy taking you in to torture," White told Alec, motioning with the handcuffs. "But you would probably cause more trouble than you're worth. We can still get a lot of information out of you during an autopsy." He brought the gun up to Alec's eye level.
The crack of gunfire echoed over the dark water.
White's arm dropped and his eyes remained locked with Alec's. White took a shallow breath and blood oozed from the corner of his mouth, slithering like a crimson snake in a trail down his chin and neck. He dropped to the ground, and behind him a figure moved into the light toward Alec.
"Oh God," Alec muttered hoarsely, scrubbing a hand over his eyes. The tranquilizer drug must cause hallucinations. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Looking again, he still saw Max standing in front of him. She appeared thin and pale, but not hazy or translucent. He reached out and pushed a strand of dark hair behind her ear, his hand shaking.
"How?"
She gave him a fleeting smile and shrugged. "You know how Manticore taught us to go into a coma in case of capture to avoid giving away information? That venom crap White gave me prevented it, so my body went into overdrive once it was out of my system. You would have known this morning if you hadn't decided to go all lone wolf."
They both turned as Trace groaned and pushed herself off the ground.
"Ok?" Max asked.
"Yeah, I think," Trace answered as she pushed her hair out of her face. She screeched as someone grabbed her from behind. "Bren!" She grabbed his dark brown hair and pulled his face to hers for a kiss.
Alec and Max raised their eyebrows.
"That's out of character for her," Alec muttered. "And a lot of tongue."
"Nate and Nisa picked him up on their way to the bridge. Must have been after she got knocked out," Max told him.
"Maybe that's why she doesn't talk much otherwise," Alec muttered, not paying much attention to Max's explanation.
Bren broke the kiss for a breath. "If that's all it took to get you to kiss me—" He broke off as Trace smacked his shoulder and pulled his face back to hers.
Alec and Max stepped out of the light and walked back toward the shore. He held her small, cold hand in his scratched and bruised one.
"Feel ok? What did Kasha say?"
"I'm fine. Didn't ask." Max shrugged. "You know she'd want to run all kinds of tests and make me stay in bed forever."
"Ruston Way isn't too far. Want to go see sunrise?" he asked casually.
She looked up at him through her lashes. "If you let me drive the Super Hawk."
"You've still got snake poison in your brain if you think that. Ow!" He winced as her blow hit one of his bruises. "No. You can't drive. But do you really want to pass up a great view of Mount Rainier and Puget Sound at sunrise?"
"I guess not." Max sighed. "But you really should start following my orders when we get back to Terminal City."
"Just like I did before?" He grinned at her, and she smiled back. He leaned close and gave her a gentle kiss.
She smiled again and tugged his hand. "Come on. Sunrise. Beautiful view. Big Mountain."
"You forgot wind blowing through your hair and hanging on to me as we go really fast on a motorcycle."
"Mmm. And more kisses."
They both laughed and walked together through the darkness, listening to the calm sound of the waves hitting the shore, knowing that once again they had survived.