Disclaimer: They're not mine.
Note: There's no Buffy in this chapter and fairly enough in the next few (if I write anymore). The action descriptions suck I know, but bare with me. It's my first fic.
Chapter 3
He had never meant to destroy this much of the city over one genetically enhanced teenager. Yet Lydecker knows if it weren't for the hardheaded trooper of his the space needle might still be standing. For all he knows Max could be dead, but deep down inside he knows he trained her well; he trained them all well. Standing in the rubble he searches for anything that could be of assistance. Only, at this point his searching becomes random thought. It had taken him years to find her. And it's all over thanks to some stupid rookie? His eyes began to squint as his anger deepened. I need a smoke. He reaches in his upper left jacket pocket and feels nothing. Damn. Lydecker looks around him to notice a homeless vagabond covered with a cloak standing 10 feet behind him and leaning on a nearby building that was lucky enough to be salvaged the week before. The nicotine urge had gotten to him now. Decades of military experience were now going down the drain over an addiction he hadn't beaten since he was 19.
"Got a smoke?"
He asked the cloaked stranger. This particular vagabond was
certainly neat. When is nose unconsciously searched for a strong odor it got:
none?! By this time it was too late. Even decades of military experience cannot
match the months it took to genetically enhance a child and teach it to use its
super strength. Before he blacked out he was unimaginably pleased for a person
whose life could have very well been in danger. She's safe.
¨
Barred up old windows. Hummer. A few guns here and there. He tried to move, but the ropes prohibited even the slightest turning of his wrists. Lydecker knew very well who had him and needless to say he wasn't very nervous at all. He waited a moment. Lydecker knew that she was well aware of when he'd awaken. So he sat patiently and in time she entered the room; same worn dark denim blue jeans and black biker jacket She walked like she could make love to you and kick your ass if you broke her heart. He smiled. She had the largest frown on her face, yet she always frowned. He had gathered that she wasn't too happy today and he planned to use that in order to worm his way into her head. She may be genetically enhanced, but she's still a teenager.
"Who is she Lydecker? Are there other X-5's besides us?"
Assumption is the mother of all fuck ups. Assuming Lydecker knew the girl Max had tangled with last week before the needle collapsed was as far from wrong as peanut butter and mayonnaise on a sesame seed bun.
"Do you have a cigarette?"
His eyes were bloodshot. He could go into withdrawal any moment. It had only been 2 hours. She turned her back to him. The rage grew stronger. It slowly charged from her heart to her hands and became physical. She hit Lydecker. His chair rose nearly 6 feet from the ground and landed on its backside. How could a human being do something like this? How could he take my family and use us to fight his stupid wars? She could kill him anytime, but that's not what she was after today. She wanted answers and was determined to get them. Outrageously she removes her jacket and tosses it across the warehouse. She storms over to Lydecker's chair fist in the air ready to send him to his death or so she made him believe.
"In the past week or so for some reason no one's been answering my questions. It's simple. I ask questions. You answer. You don't. You get hit. So, we're going to try this again.."
She lifts Lydecker's chair to its normal sitting position and walks around in front of it. She looks him directly in the eye:
"Now who is she?"
Lydecker smiles. He knows she can hit hard. He knows she'll continue to hit him, but he also knows she won't kill him. She's looking for answers; answers he doesn't have, but if it's important to Max it's important to him.
"I asked for a smoke."
Normally Max may have followed his request. After all, it is Lydecker and he isn't exactly a pathological liar. He's cooperated before. She raises her fist in rage once again. He's playing with me. Her knuckles are two inches from her face when suddenly she feels her hand stop. She tries to jerk forward to send Lydecker's chair flying further across the warehouse, but she can't; someone's holding her arm! Before she knows it she's flying further away from Lydecker airborne, and the sensation she feels against her back so suddenly is none other than the comfort of a warehouse wall!
Faith unties the ropes quickly. She knows it'll only be a few moments before her opponent is back on her feet and in her face.
"I'm gonna get you out of here."
Lydecker stares into her beady brown eyes. He hasn't much
strength thus when he stands he is forced right back down to his feet. He is
beginning to become unconscious. This girl. She looks so familiar, but it
couldn't be…
Faith throws Lydecker's arm around her shoulder and they take off. Max is back on her feet. She squints. It's her!
Max taps Faith on her free shoulder.
"You know I wasn't through talking with him yet."
She decks Faith and sends her flying to the ground. Lydecker hits the pavement also. After being that close to her he is finally able to realize whom he's dealing with now.
"Max NO!"
He screams to her. She pauses for a moment and looks back at
Lydecker lying on the ground. She turns back around and Faith is in her face;
pummeling it. Men hit Max all the time. Some of which have gone through
extensive training for nothing, but learning how to hit. But she knows with
each passing punch that she has never been hit this hard before. Faith twirls
like a tornado with all her might carrying what she hopes will finally knock
this thing down, but she is wrong. Just as she comes around Max is able
to clearly catch her hand and swing with a punch of her own. But Faith is not
that slow. She remembers her training with Buffy. This thing's style isn't all that different from Buffy's,
which means…
Faith blocks and goes for Max's sides. A few roundhouse kicks should do the trick. Max takes the first and catches the last:
"Why are you protecting him?"
Max asks sternly. Faith's back flip lands a solid foot directly under Max's chin sending her to Lydecker's side on the pavement. Faith notices a stray piece of wood and hurries to it. She breaks it over her knee creating a stake. She waits. After seeing all this, Lydecker is convinced. He grabs Max as she tries to get back up:
"Max don't. You're making a terrible mistake."
Max wiggles away from him angrily, but he grabs her again harder this time with his last remaining strength:
"Max…she's your…mo.th…e..r.."
It takes a moment before Max can make out what Lydecker was trying to say before he fell unconscious. Her heart began to race as she looked up at the brown haired fighter standing before her, stake in hand ready to conclude their battle. She squints slightly:
"My….mother?"