I probably could have found a better way to break that, Alicia thought later. She lifted the ice pack off of her face, and touched her nose gently. Ouch! Something was poking her, and she was pretty sure it was some glass in her bra. She wanted to fish it out, but that would have been rather inappropriate. Max was sitting in a chair facing backwards while Bling sutured a cut on the back of her head. Alicia put the ice pack back and closed her eyes while she lay on the couch.
Logan came out of the kitchen with a fresh ice pack for Max's head. He was sporting a bandage on the side of his face covering a couple of long scratches. Minutes ago he'd learned a very valuable lesson. When two genetically engineered killing machines get into a catfight, mere mortals should stay the hell out of their way. The coffee table was smashed, a door had a hole in it, and his window was completely shattered.
Zack was sitting up at least. He was still pale, but he had been built to recover quickly. Getting into a fight was still not a good idea, but he could move without falling over. He wanted to take care of Alicia, but didn't want Max to make a guess about their relationship. Instead he explained to Max a very edited version of the events of the last twenty-four hours. With her head being worked on, she was a rather captive audience. Alicia noted that he didn't mention Jhondie or Justin at all. Interesting.
He hadn't been able to stop Max from jumping on Alicia, and from that point it had been a free for all. Alicia didn't want to hurt Max as they went all over the room, and tried to just defend. Max put her fist through the door to another room. Alicia had stopped a kick an inch from her face and had thrown Max into the coffee table.
Logan had tried to grab Alicia at that point, but she backhanded him into a shelf. The distraction gave Max a second of advantage, and she caught Alicia full in the face with a blow. Alicia's temper snapped, and she went after Max in earnest. She didn't mean for it to happen, but she hit Max hard, and well, Max's back had been to the window. She went crashing through it, but Alicia had forgotten that the fiver's had quicker reflexes. Max locked onto her wrist and pulled her though the window too.
The window overlooked an overhang of the building roughly three stories down. Max had jumped it before, but never backwards with another person almost on top of her.
It was the fall that showed the differences in the two women's training. Alicia had immediately gone into a spread eagle position to get as much air resistance as possible and slow herself down. At the last second, she tucked in, and flipped in the air. Her feet hit hard, and she used the momentum to bounce into the air for another somersault. Max hadn't had as much training in uncontrolled falls. She had tumbled hard, and ended up landing flat on her butt.
"If I was going to turn you in, Lydecker would have been waiting for you with Zack," Alicia gasped before Max could attack again. Her vision was blurred from the blow to her face, and if Max had broken her nose, she was going to be seriously pissed. She was trying to help the bitch, and she was the one getting hurt. Who had said no good deed goes unpunished? They were too fucking right.
Max jumped to her feet in an attack position, but hesitated for just a moment. "You think Zack would be with me if I was lying?" Alicia said, hoping Max would stand down. "Talk to him. We're all in trouble Max, including me."
Max was feeling dizzy from her recent blood loss, and she could feel something warm and sticky oozing down her neck. If Alicia was lying then they had to get out of there anyways. Fighting was just wasting time. Instead of replying, she scrambled up the fire escape on the wall, and Logan helped her in.
Alicia sat down hard, panting for breath. Her face hurt like fire. She was bruised from earlier, and it was very clear she was in hostile territory. She looked up at the window and used her enhanced vision to see inside. Zack was talking to Max. Good. She wearily got to her feet, and stumbled to the fire escape. Her body had taken a lot of abuse in the last day, and it was warning her of what it was going to do if she kept up this pace.
Now she was lying on the couch, wondering what to do next. She was pretty sure her nose wasn't broken, but it still hurt, and she didn't have time to do some sleep regeneration. The plan was to get Max and Zack out of Seattle, and while she still had the element of surprise, track the traitor. Now everything was in turmoil.
Alicia noticed when everything went very quiet. She opened her eyes, and realized that everyone was staring at her. This was getting to be too much. She'd been cut off, attacked four times, pitched through a window, and everyone was looking at her like she'd grown an extra eye. Sickened. Disgusted. A little curious. She was tired of being an object of curiosity.
She sat up, grabbing the side of the couch as dizziness overcame her. "Girl, you got a wicked left hook," she said to Max, touching her nose lightly. Max didn't laugh. Alicia gave up.
"You do realize that I am not Satan," she snapped.
"Of course you're not," Max said with sarcastic sweetness. "You were just sent by him."
Alicia could see herself walking out. Maybe even with a good door slam that would crack the plaster. One phone call and this place would be swarming with Manticore troops. Max would trade herself for Logan. It was pretty obvious from the puppy-dog eyes they were giving each other that there was something going on between them. She could go home, and let the other sixers help track the traitor.
It seemed like a good plan, except for two minor details. She had a mission to complete and a promise to keep. Honor sucked.
"Fine," Alicia said coolly. "I was sent by Satan. He poked my ass with his pitchfork, and sent me on my way. It still doesn't change mission parameters."
Zack had told Max why Alicia had been sent. It didn't mean Max believed it.
"Whatever you want to believe, it doesn't change what needs to be done," Alicia continued in the same cold voice. "You need to leave Seattle with Zack ASAP."
"So you can run and tell Lydecker where we are?" Max snarled in the nastiest tone she had.
"So I can get to work on finding out who set me up," Alicia replied just as caustically. "The world doesn't revolve around you. I have siblings that I need to warn." She looked at Zack. "And so do you," she said but in a much softer tone.
Something hit her suddenly. She sat up straighter, her eyes locking onto Zack. "They tried to kill you," she said.
"I noticed," he retorted.
"But I was the one shooting. They still tried to catch me, not kill me." She caught a glance between Logan and Max. Her eyes narrowed. "What do you know?" she growled.
"They're," Logan began, but Max kicked his foot. He looked at Max. "She needs to know," he said softly, touching her hair. "They'll go for her too. It's not something anyone should have happen to them."
Even evil Manticore monsters such as her, Alicia mentally finished the statement. It wasn't just generals and CIA guys that thought of her as an it. She risked a look at Zack, and he seemed to be able to read her thoughts. She had to look away quickly or break into tears. Being cut off was really playing with her head.
Logan turned back to Alicia and started again, this time without interruption. "They want the females for their ova. We think they want to breed more soldiers."
Shawna, Alicia thought suddenly. She's in the open.
They could all see the sudden alarm in her face.
"Alicia?" Zack questioned.
"My sister," she said worriedly. He could see the real fear in her face. "They can't get me, that should be obvious by now, but the traitor knows she's a weaker link."
Even Max could understand her worry about a sister. It was very plain that she wasn't faking her concern. Zack alone understood how much she didn't want to lose another.
"Do you have a computer that I could use?" Alicia asked. She had to risk a message to Cole. If it wasn't too late already.
"Well, umm…" Logan stuttered. Hesitance was the wrong thing to do at that moment. Before anyone else could react, Alicia was off the couch in the blink of an eye, and roughly three inches from Logan. "I will not lose another sister," she snarled, her eyes locked on his. "Are we clear on th…" she broke off suddenly.
Logan's eyes widened. Alicia's pupils had, well, twisted somehow, the iris shrinking, become one large black spot. He knew Max had enhanced vision, but he'd never actually seen what happened when she used it.
Alicia straightened up slowly, a cold smile on her face. No one moved. "I daresay you would have a computer here," she said drawled.
"What?" Logan gasped, wondering what she had seen.
Alicia sauntered back to the couch and plopped down. "The great Eyes Only without an entire data center close by? Come now, that's a little far fetched for even a top secret genetically engineered super solider to believe."
"What are you talking ab…" Logan said, but she cut him dead.
"Don't lie about who you are Logan," she said. "It's very unbecoming, and absolutely useless to do to someone who can read your retinal pattern. Now your computer room is where?"