What Really Happened?
By: Nora M.
Author's Notes: It's
been so long since my last fic that I bet some of you had thought I had fallen
off the face of the earth. Well, I'm
baaaaaaaaacccccccckkkkkk and better than ever. Happens something after "The Swarm: Part 2" and the beginning of
Season 2. It's a pretty pointless fic
but it's something. It kind of
explains why Brandon isn't in Season 2 of Action Man.
Disclaimer: I'm not
getting any money for this, so don't sue me.
The characters aren't mine and I'm not sure whom they belong to
anymore.
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Alex paced back and forth in his loft apartment in his usual
khaki pants and blue short sleeve shirt.
The Denver skyline was beautiful on mornings like this when the air was
crisp from a spring rain but clear of clouds but today Alex Mann could care
less about the blue-gray sky against snow-topped mountains. He was worried. He had a feeling in the pit of his stomach that something was
wrong. It had been over 3 months since
the last time Dr. X had shown his stolen face and this worried Action Man.
Actually, it terrified Action Man. Dr. X never gave Alex more than a week to rest in between his
adventures and suddenly Alex had 3 months of peace? No way, Dr. X and his Council of Doom had something up their
proverbial sleeves. What was it? Why was X waiting? This question had been plaguing our hero for weeks. They plagued him so much that he couldn't
eat, sleep or even go out for fear of the most terrible display of X's evil
would strike.
"Alex, would you please go get some sleep?" Brandon yawned as he staggered in from the
hall in a pair of gray sweat pants that reveal the waistband of his Joe Boxer
boxers.
Since being cloned from sample of skin, Alex and Brandon
decided that living toward would cut down on the possible revenge plots X might
have in store for them. Now Brandon
was worried about his friend's mental health.
Alex was showing signs of sleep deprivation such as hallucinations and a
terrible temper. Just yesterday, Alex
almost ran out in front of a semi because he thought a mailbox was Tempest.
"You've been up for what? 5 days straight?"
"I can't sleep Brand," Alex replied still pacing, "If I
sleep, X. will strike."
Brandon let out a slight chuckle that he quickly covered
with both hands. This reaction wasn't
what Alex had in mind. He stopped dead
in his tracks to glare at his best friend and new roommate. "This is no laughing matter, Brandon. Look at what X did to you. He's a monster who will stop at nothing to
bring his mutant army to life."
"Alex, listen. If
you're dead tired, you can't help anyone," Brandon reminded out hero while
walking into the kitchen. "Now go to
sleep, Alex Mann before I make you sleep."
"And how will you do that, my friend?" Alex lifted his
eyebrow in challenge to his friend's statement.
"Like this!" Brandon
charged Alex who could have easily dodged Brandon if his reflexes were working
properly. Unfortunately for A-Man, his
reflexes sucked and he ended up being thrown over Brandon's shoulder and
carried into his room. Like a sack of
potatoes, Brandon threw Alex onto Alex's bed with an 'oomph' from Alex.
"Get some sleep, Alex," Brandon offered his best friend,
"you need it. I'll wake you if X
strikes. I promise."
With the fight drained from him, Alex closed his eyes while
Brandon shut the door. Before Alex
could think, he was in a dream state catching up on a massive lack of sleep.
From outside the door, Brandon could hear Alex's light
snore. Sighing deeply to himself,
Brandon stepped away from his friend's door.
Thank you God. He thought
to himself as he walked back down the hall and into the kitchen. I was really beginning to worry about
him.
Brandon made himself a cup of coffee before the phone
started ringing. If it's Grey,
Alex's in the shower and will call him back.
"Hello?" Brandon questioned
into the phone.
"Did Alex ever get some sleep?!" A hyperactive, neurotic
voice shrieked from the phone.
"Yes, Rikki. He just
fell asleep and if you don't mind, he needs more than 45 seconds worth so I'm
hanging up," Brandon replied to Alex's manager.
"Oh, yeah. Let him
sleep. Sorry dude, I wasn't…." Before
Rikki could finish, Brandon hung up the phone on the nervous man. Sorry Rikki but you were going to wake
Alex up and you're not even here.
Brandon made some toast for breakfast while finishing his
cup of coffee. Just as he finished the
last sip, the phone rang again. Rikki
I'm not talking to you and Grey, Alex is at Fidget's trying to talk Vinnie out
of eating her camera.
"Hello?"
"Brandon, hi." A British accent filtered through a terrible
connection, "how's A-Man holding up? He
must be on pins and needles waiting for X."
"Well, right now, he's snoring." Brandon countered trying
hard to get over the static and keep his voice low, "he's been up for the last
like 5 days straight and now he's catching up."
"Wow, 5 days?"
"Yeah, 5. I think,
but don't worry. He's sawing logs right
now."
"Well ok then. I
just wanted to know how Alex was doing.
I better let you go now." This
time Brandon didn't have to hang up on a member of Team Extreme. Grinder said his good-bye over a fair amount
of static then hung up.
"One more to go," Brandon stated out loud to no one in particular. Deciding not to wait for Fidget to call,
Brandon found her L.A. number, picked up the phone and dialed. On the third ring, the fiery redhead picked
up.
"Hello?" The sleepy halfway still in dreamland voice of Team
Extreme's cameraperson answered the phone.
"Hi, Fidge. It's
Brandon."
"Is Alex ok? Did X
strike? Are you safe? Is Grey there? Where are you?" The
rapid-fire questions show Fidget is no longer halfway asleep.
"Alex is fine. X
didn't strike. Everyone is safe. I wouldn't let Grey near Alex right now if
my life depended on it and Alex and I are in the apartment," Brandon answered
all the questions with ease. "I want to
fill you and Vinnie in on Alex's condition. He's been up for 5 days straight I
think but he finally fell asleep about ten minutes ago and I'm hoping to keep
it that way."
"Oh," came the respond from the phone, "Why didn't he
sleep?"
"He thought that if he slept X would strike."
"Tell that boy he needs to sleep if he wants to save the
world and do all those awesome stunts of his."
"Ok, Fidget," Brandon chuckles slightly at Fidget's
statement, "I will." He glanced at the
clock on the microwave. "Oh jeezs,
Fidget. I didn't mean to wake you at 4
am. I should have remembered you're an
hour behind us."
"Brandon, chill. I'm
glad you called and filled me in on the situation," she yawned into the
phone. "But I'm going back to bed
now. Bye Brandon."
The pair hung up their respective phones at the same
time. Brandon was about to go to his
room and change into something other than sweat pants when someone knocked on
the door.
Brandon got up from his spot in the kitchen and made his way
over to the door. Glancing out the peek
hole and seeing no one, Brandon really doesn't want to open the door because
last time, all heck broke loose when someone answered a door when no one was
there. Not wanting to wake Alex up
either, Brandon unlocked the deadbolt but kept the chain secured. He opened the door enough to peek out. Nothing or no one was there and that had him
worried.
Brandon quickly slammed the door and secured the deadbolt
again. He leaned against the door
expecting the worst. This was so
reminiscent of the first time Dr. X contacted both Alex and himself and Brandon
really didn't want to have to go through that again.
Oh please. Don't
let it be what I'm thinking it is.
Don't let it be another of X's schemes.
Please don't let be that X wants…
There was another knock on
the door only this time it came with a feminine voice. "Mr. Mann, it's Agent Zarves from
Intercept. I would like to speak to
you."
Brandon let out a deep
breath then unlocked the deadbolt and loosened the chain. He opened the door so Agent Zarves could
enter.
"Oh, Mr. Caine I didn't
know that you and Mr. Mann shared an apartment."
"We didn't until a few
weeks ago," Brandon informed the agent as she stepped in. "Alex isn't here right now. Could I help you
with something?"
"Yes, would you please
give me a message?"
"Sure."
"Please tell Mr. Mann that
all charges that were brought against him were dropped upon further
investigation. The same goes for you,
Mr. Caine," Zarves commented as though its everyday two people are proven
innocent without a media circus and a massive amount of willpower, money and
time.
"I will tell him as soon
as he gets back. Thank you Ms.
Zarves." Brandon politely accepted her
hand and shook it. "It was a pleasure,
Agent Zarves." He stated as she stepped out the door.
Once Zarves was out the
door and walking toward the elevator, Brandon shut the door to the
apartment. He had decided last night
that if Alex hadn't gotten any sleep he would stay here and make sure he did.
Sure enough, some 22 hours
later at 3 am the next morning, our hero emerged from his room looking much
better. The dark circles under his eyes
gone and his friendly personality and calm temper were back.
"How did you sleep,
Mann?" Brandon questioned when Alex
came into the living room to find Brandon on the couch watching 'Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon' on HBO.
"I slept like a baby,"
Alex remarked as the first fight between the two female characters began. "I'm so glad you made me get some sleep."
"No problem, bro." Then remembering what Agent Zarves said,
Brandon informed Alex of the good news.
"We were cleared of any charges that Intercept had brought against us."
"Cool, I can go back to
the Games with a clean record." Alex
shrugged while the two friends sat watching the movie.
But in the back of Alex's
mind there lingered one question. "When
will X make his next move? And what is his next move?"
That question would not be
answered for some time but it finally was.
One night while practicing for the Acceleration Games, Brandon Caine was
seriously injured when a sudden tornado touched down in downtown Denver. Miraculous the only building touched by the
tornado was the gym were Alex and Brandon practiced for the Games. Caine's
injuries were so severe he was unable to compete in the Games that year.
The End.
More A/N: I didn't get a chance to run this by my
usual editor because of a death in her family.
Please ignore any misspelling if there are any.