Well, no need to bore you all with details, but suffice it to say that I've re-worked the rest of the story, and I'm much happier with the Grand Scheme now. :-) So you should be, too (I hope)!
A slight word of warning for this chapter, though. I realized that, in the Dark Angel universe, it really wouldn't matter a whole lot how the night after "Hello, Goodbye" happened—whether it happened the way the show implied, or the way I wrote it, the events of the next day wouldn't be affected all that much. So, with that in mind, this chapter is basically one BIG spoiler/rewrite of "Dawg Day Afternoon." I have changed a number of very significant details (for example, I think on the show there's actually another day in between "HG" and the transgenic manhunt, so I squished things a little, for the sake of convenience), but if you're one of the people unlucky enough not to have seen that episode yet, I just figured I ought to forewarn you before you read on.
What, you thought I'd tell you NOT to read it? C'mon, I think the whole WORLD should read this—I get more feedback that way! Do I really seem that crazy to you?!?
Wait, on second thought, don't answer that question… ;-)
Author's Note II: Okay, this chapter is now complete! *Whew!* I know it may seem a little slow for those of you who have seen "DDA," but I hope some of the changes (and the teaser at the end!!!) make up for that a little… And I promise more angst and romance in the next few chapters, cuz I need to develop that before White and his baddies can really make their appearance effectively.
And because my roommate insisted that I mention this… There is a very
obscure Star Trek: Voyager reference in the first half of this chapter—kind
of an in-joke among the "Triple Treaty," as Maggie, Denise and I like to
call ourselves. If anyone else can catch it…well, I dunno what you get,
but I'll have to come up with a cool prize. Some nifty Alec sound files
I copped off of the official website, perhaps? :-) I'll give y'all a hint…it's
from the 4th-season Voyager episode "Message In A Bottle."
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
{{Spiral}}
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
Chapter 4 - Wake Up, Seattle
you like snow, but only if it's warm
you like rain, but only if it's dry
you like pain, but only if it doesn't hurt too much
there's an obvious attraction
to the path of least resistance in your life
there's an obvious aversion
no amount of my insistence could make you try to like
'cuz it's easy not to
so much easier not to
get up
get up
get up off of it
get out
get out of here
enough already
wake up
—@—@—@—@—@—
"Oh, so nice of you to grace us with your illustrious presence, Missy-miss!" One stubby finger tapped pointedly at the watch on the opposite wrist. "In this establishment, it's customary for our employees to make their morning runs while it's still morning!"
Max rolled her eyes at Normal's predictable greeting. She shot him a false smile as she headed toward her locker. "Hey, a girl's gotta get in her full quota of shut-eye."
Normal's brows drew together behind his thick glasses. "Remind me again why I haven't fired you yet?!?"
"'Cuz you know I could kick your scrawny little ass from here to next Thursday?" she called back over her shoulder.
Her boss looked suddenly uncomfortable, shuffling defensively in place behind the pitiful shield of his dispatch counter. "Oh, right…"
Original Cindy greeted Max as she was pulling on her gloves. "So, wassup wit your boy now, boo?"
Max blinked at her for a moment before looking back down at her hands. "I told you—I'm not seeing him anymore. And actually…I think we're both kind of okay with that…"
OC was shaking her head. "Nah, nah—not Logan. I meant your boy Alec."
"Alec?" Max's forehead puckered with concern. "First of all—not my boy. And second—what do you mean?"
"I swear, th' next person tries to talk to th' boy's gonna lose a finger," Cindy drawled, one eyebrow raised pointedly. "He's practic'ly carryin' around his own personal li'l thunderstorm."
Max's surprise showed in her expression. "I dunno what his problem is," she said defensively, mimicking an uncaring attitude. "He was fine, the last time I saw him."
OC shook her head, eyes fixed on something over Max's shoulder. "See for yo'self," she replied, tipping her head in the direction of the door.
Max turned to see Alec coming down the ramp into Jam Pony. His stride was long and stiff, each booted foot making a loud clump as it pounded the concrete. His hands were jammed into the pockets of his leather jacket as though his life depended on keeping them there, and as OC had said, he probably hadn't even noticed the sunny sky—rare for Seattle—amid the angry stormclouds gathered around his eyebrows.
"You're right…I guess I ought to go find out what new trauma he's gotten caught up in," she sighed theatrically. When her roommate nodded her dark head, Max ambled over to where Alec was having a knock-down-drag-out with the combination on his locker. She could hear him muttering death threats under his breath.
"Well, I'd say 'hi' and ask how you're doing," she said jokingly, leaning one shoulder against the row of lockers, "but considering your attitude, I think I'll just skip right to, 'what's wrong?'"
The concern in her eyes belied her flippant tone, but Alec didn't seem to notice. "Look, Max," he said testily, still fighting with the dial on his lock, "I really don't think I'm up for a 'Pick-On-Alec Day' today, so could you cut me some slack—please?"
At that, Max's eyes widened, and she dropped any pretense of humor. "Hey, slow down! You're wound up so tight, your head's about to fly off." She reached up to lay a tentative hand on his shoulder, and her voice was gentle. "What's wrong?"
He shrugged off her hand so violently, he almost threw himself into the lockers. "Nothing!" he ground out from between clenched teeth. "I'm fine, okay? I didn't get much sleep last night." His voice was dismissive.
Max's hackles went up. And after our little heart-to-heart yesterday, I thought we'd gotten past this whole 'can't-stand-each-other' phase, she thought bitterly.
"Hey, no problem," she spat back at him. "But if you need any help getting your head back out of your ass, let me know!" She spun on her heel, intending to grab her packages from Normal and get the hell out of there, when the TV mounted high in the corner of the locker room grabbed her attention.
"…chased it out of our neighborhood last night," the young man was telling the red-haired reporter earnestly. "We caught up with it again this morning…thing attacked us for no reason!"
The woman with the microphone was all business as she prodded the punk for more information. "The police aren't confirming this, but we've heard rumors about a girl…?"
Max knew Alec was standing behind her shoulder watching the coverage, probably with the same sinking feeling in his stomach.
The scruffy-looking guy on the screen nodded in response to the reporter's question. "Annie—she's from our neighborhood. It took her down into the sewer."
Both X5's held their breath as the reporter, no doubt smelling some major career advancement, continued to interrogate the guy. "I'm sorry, are you saying the creature abducted a girl from your neighborhood?"
"Yeah, it took her down into the sewer. We tried to stop it, but..." He shrugged his shoulders helplessly, as if to say, 'what can you do against a transgenic, anyway?'
Max turned to meet Alec's suddenly worried gaze. "You don't think that…"
"I dunno," he said quietly, eyes darting around to check for eavesdroppers. His dangerous mood had evaporated in the face of this potential threat to his friends—and himself. "It might not be Joshua—it could just be a few more idiots and their paranoid delusions…"
"But her name was Annie, what are the chances of that?" Max whispered frantically.
The TV reporter's voice cut across their conversation like a bell, tolling the shrill, mournful news that any hope they once had of remaining hidden, was now futile. "…correction, a young blind woman…stay with Channel 3 News as this extraordinary situation continues to unfold. We'll be bringing you continuous coverage…"
But Max and Alec didn't hear the end of the woman's report. They were
already out the door, and even Normal's frustrated shouts couldn't catch
up to them as they grabbed their bikes and lit out for Sector 3 as if all
of Manticore was on their heels.
—@—@—@—@—@—
Asha let herself into Logan's apartment, listening hard. After that one time she'd come waltzing in and stuck her foot halfway down her gullet with that crack about Max "and all her furry little friends," she'd been a lot more careful about knowing who was around when she came over.
But today the apartment was silent…no, not quite. She could hear the sporadic ticketty-tick of nimble fingers flying over a computer keyboard. She smiled softly, and continued into the apartment, stopping in the office doorway to lean against the edge of the partition.
"Hey," she said by way of greeting, letting her backpack thunk to the floor by her feet.
"Hey," he responded in kind, throwing her a sideways glance.
He didn't smile, and she filed that information away for future consideration. Fodder for a later obsession session, she thought resignedly. One of these days, I'll either get over him, figure him out, or go completely insane trying to do one or the other…
She sighed. "So, whatcha working on?" She moved behind him, leaning one palm on the surface of the desk to peer over his shoulder at the screen.
"Trying to hack into the Sector Police mainframe," he said slowly, as he concentrated on the commands he was entering. "I thought maybe if I could get my hands on the complete hover-drone footage of that transgenic 'attack,' I could use it to help Max and the others."
Asha dropped her gaze and straightened, pulling away from him. "Oh." She turned around, half-sitting on the adjacent desk as she examined her fingernails with feigned interest. "So…have you heard from her since…?" Since the Phone Call Of Doom, she wanted to say, but long habit made her bite her tongue.
Logan let out a huff of air—almost a chuckle. "Actually, she stopped by last night," he said conversationally, in that tone of his that said I'm-not-happy in a remarkably buoyant way. "Twice, come to think of it… The first time's a little hazy, but the second was a lot more memorable…" His voice trailed off as he became lost in the memory for a moment.
The blonde girl's face froze. C'mon, what did you think would happen? That she'd drop kick him to the curb and leave you to pick up the pieces…? Works in theory, but you wouldn't really want that for him…would you? She forced her voice into a jovial tone she didn't feel. "So I guess the two of you are cool again, then? That's—that's really great…"
Now he turned to look up at her over his shoulder, a wry half-smile quirking his lips. "It's okay, Asha—you don't have to play cheerleader today." He continued to meet her eyes as he forced his next words around the lump in his throat. "It's over…really over."
Her eyes widened fractionally, and she held her breath as he gazed off into the distance above her right shoulder. "Oh…god, I'm so sorry, Logan…"
He shook his head distractedly. "Don't be…'cuz, oddly…I think we're gonna be okay with it." He frowned slightly, remembering. "We talked a bit, and we agreed that it…just couldn't work anymore." After a moment, he refocused on her, his cheeks reddening slightly. "Anyway, it's not like we could…"
A sudden, shrill beeping from the computer next to him interrupted his comment. He turned to call up the program that triggered the alarm, and stiffened in surprise.
"It's the flag I put on the police dispatcher frequencies," he informed her. His tone had gone from soulful to businesslike, in the time it took him to absorb the information on the screen. "I programmed it to alert me of any mention of transgenics—or related words, like 'mutant,' 'Manticore,' and so on…" He trailed off as he read the report further.
All of the color began to drain from his face. "Asha—turn on Channel 3." His voice was flat and cold, and sent chills down her spine. She scrambled for the remote, and flipped to the proper channel just in time to catch the anchorman's words.
"…description of the transgenic. This exclusive rendering of the transgenic was drawn from eyewitness accounts by the three brave young men who first saw it." The camera shifted to frame the newsman in the left half of the screen, while a digitally-rendered image came up to the right of his head.
Asha gasped in shock. The drawing was very well-detailed, and depicted a vicious-looking creature, part human, part…dog, maybe? The thing's lips were distorted in a feral snarl, revealing a mouth full of very sharp teeth, and there was a rabid light in its charcoal eyes. A halo of dank, stringy hair hung limply around its face. "What the hell is that?" she breathed.
Logan's gaze was also fixed on the drawing on the TV screen. "Joshua," he replied grimly.
Asha's eyes flew to his face. "Wait—you know this thing?!?"
"One of Max's 'furry little friends,'" he explained. She winced at the reference, but listened as he went on determinedly. "He's not like they've made him look. He's really shy and gentle…we've got to get him out of this!"
She closed her eyes for an instant. I almost wish I'd never heard of Manticore, she thought sadly. My life would have been so much easier! But if it's so important to him…
When she opened her eyes again, there was a steely glint there. "You page Max and grab what you need, and I'll go start the car," she said, snatching his keys from the desk. She was halfway to the door when his voice stopped her.
"Asha—"
She turned back to look at him, framed in his office doorway.
"You know you don't have to do this." He looked at her worriedly. "I know it's not your problem, and we can probably handle it…"
She shook her head slowly at him. "Yeah, well, it's not really your problem, either, but you're rushing off to the rescue, like usual." An affectionate smile took the sting out of her words. "In my book, that's enough to make it my problem."
He just looked at her for a moment, before allowing a small smile to crease his face and light his eyes. "Thanks, Asha. Really."
She just nodded, still smiling. "Meet me at the car when you're ready," she said, turning toward the door again. "That way, I can drive while you do your thing." The door snicked softly as she closed it behind her.
Logan looked at the door for a moment, then focused on grabbing his cell phone, laptop, and whatever else he could think of that might help them extricate Joshua. Most of the time, Eyes Only was about saving the world. Today, it was about saving a friend.
A moment later, the door latch fell into place once more, and the apartment
was empty.
—@—@—@—@—@—
"So, do you have a plan for rescuing Joshua, or are we making this up as we go?"
"Shut up!"
Alec sighed. Oh, so it's gonna be like this, huh? "Look, Maxie, I'm as worried about the big guy as you are, but that's no reason to snap—"
Max turned to glare daggers at him. "I'm trying to hear what the cops over there are saying…but it's a lot harder when you're yelling into my ear!" She was only slightly mollified by his sheepish look.
"Sorry…"
"I think I got what we needed," she said by way of forgiveness. "They've closed off some of the sluice gates, and they're gonna try to herd him back to that manhole," she pointed to the middle of the cordoned-off intersection, "to take him down."
Alec shuddered slightly at the thought of climbing up out of a manhole to find a dozen automatic rifles staring him in the face. Wouldn't be my first choice of welcoming parties. "Okay—so what's the plan?"
Max was already moving away from the police barricades toward the sidewalk, forcing Alec to jog to catch up to her. "We find a way down into the sewers, and get Joshua out before they can tighten their net around him," she stated plainly.
Alec scrubbed at his face with one hand. "How did I know you were gonna say that?" he muttered under his breath. "Why is it that so much of our time together seems to be spent in nasty, slimy sewer tunnels?"
"Just lucky, I guess—"
But before Max could continue that thought, a shout from behind them caught their attention.
"Max! Alec! Hey, guys!"
Max closed her eyes, frustrated. "Sketchy?"
A surreptitious glance over his shoulder confirmed it. "Sketchy."
"Guys, what's up?" Sketchy's friendly voice rang out once more.
"Just what we needed," Max mumbled as she turned around…
…and froze in her tracks.
"Wake up, dirtbag!" A new voice intruded on their little tableau—a cold, arrogant voice that could only belong to one person…
"White!" Alec breathed. The moment Sketchy's attention was diverted, Alec grabbed Max's arm and pulled her into the crowd gathering on the sidewalk, where they had more freedom to move away unnoticed. A block away, they paused to take stock of the situation.
"Do you think he saw us?" Max asked worriedly.
"Nah, if he had, we'd already be surrounded," was Alec's opinion. "But that was really dumb of us, hanging around for so long—we should've known he'd be all over this the minute it showed up on the news."
"But what choice did we have? We had to find out what the police were planning, or else we might as well just let them have Joshua…and that's not gonna happen!"
But Alec wasn't paying attention. He was looking at something over her shoulder, and the gleam in her eye reminded her a bit of a little kid finding an unattended cookie jar. "Don't worry, Maxie," he said with a wolfish grin. "I've got it all under control…"
She glanced over her shoulder at the lone cop guarding the manhole across
the street. Her wicked grin was a mirror image of his own. "Sometimes,
Alec, I really like the way your mind works…"
—@—@—@—@—@—
"Wow…talk about a media circus…" Asha's voice was tinged with awe and worry as she shifted the car into park twenty yards shy of the police barricades.
Logan grunted in response, typing furiously on his laptop. "Keep an eye out for Max, will you?" he requested distractedly. "As soon as she catches wind of this, she'll be here in a heartbeat…"
"So, this 'Joshua' guy is…a good friend?" Asha inquired dubiously. "I would've thought, well—cat DNA, dog DNA…you know…"
Logan smiled at her attempt to explain herself. "I know what you mean, but…no, they're actually pretty close." He tapped a few more keys, then sat back to wait for the satellite link to be established. "I figured she'd be here already, actually."
Asha frowned at him in confusion. "Why not just page her?"
Logan looked over at her, blinking momentarily. "Page her. Right…good idea." He reached for his cell phone.
Asha smirked smugly at him. "Didn't think of it, did you?"
"Hey—how come everyone always expects me to think of everything?"
"You're welcome."
"Mmm-hmm…" His reply was non-committal, but a smile tugged at the corners
of his mouth as he hit the speed dial.
—@—@—@—@—@—
Max and Alec moved silently down the dim, green tunnel, pausing every few moments to listen for the telltale sounds of the Sector Police search teams. They had already dodged two patrols by pulling themselves up among the pipes near the ceiling, and Alec had come to the conclusion that there was nothing more disgusting than the dank, drippy ceiling of a sewer tunnel
Except maybe the foul, oozy floor.
I shouldn't be here, anyway, he thought in frustration. I should've just walked away from that stupid news broadcast…told Max it was her problem, and kept right on going… He sighed heavily. But it's just so damned hard to keep friends at arm's length, when you feel like you have to keep risking your neck to save their lives…and your own…
As they came into a larger chamber where two tunnels converged, Max raised one hand in warning, and both X5's froze in their tracks.
"Delta Team moving to east junction. Over."
The ominous voice of a search team reporting in echoed toward them down the tunnel to their left. Max waved Alec back toward the tunnel they had just emerged from, using the silent hand-signals they had learned at Manticore.
Backtrack, come around by another route, she signed.
Okay, he responded…but then his hands told her to stop again.
Another echo came down the tunnel at their backs. "Alpha Team moving to east junction. Over."
Their eyes met as they shared a single thought.
Oh, shit…
Moving as quickly and as silently as he could, Alec grasped Max around the waist and lifted her, so she could swing up and over the pipes near the ceiling, as they had done before. She got one knee up, but after a moment of struggling, she looked over her shoulder at him with panic in her eyes.
"Alec, there's not enough space! We can't fit!" she whispered frantically.
His eyes swung back and forth between the two tunnels. The bobbing lights of both search teams could be seen now, steadily approaching them. They had just seconds to find a place to hide, or they would be discovered…
Alec signaled to Max with a blur of hand-signs. She nodded, and continued
to cling to the pipe, but inched down it so she was as close to the wall
as she could get, leaving an unoccupied span of pipe for Alec to leap up
and grab. He copied Max's action by wrapping both legs as far around the
pipe as the limited clearance would allow, and set his muscles for a long,
uncomfortable wait.
—@—@—@—@—@—
The two search patrols greeted each other in the east junction room with nods all around.
"Anything?" the Alpha Team leader inquired.
Delta Team shook their heads in disgust. All of the search teams were frustrated. They'd been over every inch of these stinking tunnels—twice—and had yet to find either hide or hair of the monster they were looking for. Maybe the kids had imagined the damn thing, after all…
Bee-bee-beep…bee-bee-beep.
Huh?
The cops looked at each other in confusion, when the noise suddenly came again.
Bee-bee-beep…bee-bee-beep.
Slowly, they looked up…straight into Max and Alec's startled eyes.
The two X5's looked at each other.
"You couldn't have put the damned thing on vibrate?" Alec asked in a pained voice. Then they both let go of the pipe and fell onto the four startled men below.
Max's feet swung free, clobbering one unsuspecting cop as she dangled by her hands. Then she dropped to the floor, dipping beneath the punch the cop's partner threw at her. She came up underneath his outstretched arm, using his own weight and momentum as leverage to flip him over her shoulder.
Alec had taken a different tack, since neither member of the other team had been within reach when they stopped. He dropped directly to the floor, moving in a genetically-enhanced blur to avoid the rifles trained on him. He came in under the first trooper's aim, ramming the heel of his hand into the man's nose, while simultaneously breaking his grip on the gun, which went skidding across the chamber.
The other guard abandoned the idea of using guns. He simply dropped one shoulder and charged Alec, catching him directly in the gut and bowling him to the floor…but a transgenic with almost two decades of Manticore training under his belt doesn't go down quite that easily. Even as Alec fell, he planted his feet in his opponent's stomach. The instant he hit the floor, the X5 grabbed the other man's wrists and kicked out, flipping the cop over his head, where he struck the wall behind them with the flat of his back, his head pointed toward the floor. The impact stunned him long enough for gravity to finish the job—he slid down the wall to the floor, head first, and didn't get up again.
Alec got up, rubbing his sore stomach muscles, and looked just in time to see Max kneeling over a fifth guard neither of them had noticed. She appeared to have laid the man out with a single, vicious right hook. Alec winced slightly, remembering what it was like to be on the receiving end of that particular punch. Not an experience I plan to repeat anytime soon…
"Well, that was fun," he said sarcastically. "But can we just find the big guy and get out of here? 'Cuz it's already gonna take me a week of showering to get this smell off of me…" His voice trailed off as he got a better look Max's last victim. "Sketchy?"
"Idiot," was Max's considered opinion. She levered herself to her feet and turned to look at him. "You got your cell phone on you?"
"Yeah," he replied, tossing it in her direction. He kept a careful eye
on Sketchy while she dialed. Wouldn't want him to wake up and start
asking questions…
—@—@—@—@—@—
Logan was frantically typing when his cell phone rang. He didn't take his eyes from his laptop's screen as he said, "Hey, could you answer that?"
Asha picked up the phone and flipped it open. "Hello?"
Asha? It's me.>>
The blonde woman turned to Logan. "It's her."
Where are you two?>>
"We're right outside the police cordon, where they're searching for…your friend." Asha decided that discretion was probably the better part of valor. After all, you never knew who might be listening in on a cell phone call. "Where are you? Logan expected you to be here long before this…"
We're in the sewers, looking for that friend. Did Logan bring you up to speed on our friend's…situation?>>
Asha found herself nodding, despite the fact that Max couldn't hear it. "Yeah, he gave me the abridged version. I guess we'll have time for the longer one later." Then she blinked, frowning. "Wait—who's 'we'?"
Me and Alec.>>
"Oh, okay." She glanced over at Logan. "Alec's down there with her." Logan nodded, and motioned for her to give him the phone. "Hang on, Max, Logan needs to talk to you for a sec."
"Max, I hacked into the Sector Police computer," Logan said without preamble. "They're using a GPS to track their men. They've searched about half the area, so there's no sense in you going over the same ground…" He brought up a more detailed map on the screen in front of him. "Where are you?"
Um…>> Logan could hear her talking to Alec in the background. What was the sign at the last intersection…? Right. Logan…? We're just south of junction J-12-R.>>
Logan gave her a few directions on how best to go about their search, then signed off.
Asha looked over at him, worry etched between her brows. "D'you think they'll find him in time?"
Logan gave her a smile, but couldn't hide his own concern. "As long as nothing else goes wrong, they ought to be fine…" He trailed off as Asha buried her face in her hands with a soft moan. "What—are you okay?"
Asha looked up at him with a mixture of frustration and humor in her eyes. "When are you gonna learn about saying things like that? Now they're probably doomed!"
He laughed out loud at that…then trailed off uncertainly. They looked
at each other for a beat, then Logan went back to typing…his fingers flying
over the keys even more frantically than before.
—@—@—@—@—@—
Half a mile away from the scene in the intersection, two complacent Sector Policemen were guarding a sewer entrance beneath a quaint stone bridge. They considered themselves lucky—nothing to do but make sure none of the freaks got out of the sewers, and their assignment afforded them a chance to see something few Seattle residents believed existed—green grass.
Had they known what was coming, they might not have thought themselves so lucky, because that day, chance had cast them in the roles of two post-apocalyptic 'Chicken Littles.' With no warning, the sky suddenly came crashing down on their heads, in the form of a dark, ominous man in a grey raincoat.
The man got up, seemingly unaffected by his fifteen-foot fall, and eyed
the two cops for a moment…just to be sure they wouldn't get up again. Satisfied
with his handiwork, he turned and strode confidently through the unguarded
sewer entrance, a determined scowl on his face.
—@—@—@—@—@—
"It's okay if they find me, Joshua," she said tiredly. "It's not okay if they find you." She could feel his mournful gaze on her, despite not being able to see his face. Now that she knew it's shape, she could almost imagine the pitiful expressions he must be able to assume…like her mother used to describe Billie's soulful face, when she got a pebble stuck in her paw…
She could hear his hesitation. "Go on…when they find me, I'll tell them you went the other way." She tried to inject a note of steel into her tone, like her father used to do when he meant to brook no resistance…but she could her voice tremble. God, don't let me wait alone for long…
With a soft whisper of hair and clothes, and a guttural whine, Joshua approached her again. "Annie…I can't leave you here by yourself—"
She shook her head. "It's the only way you'll—" She broke off suddenly, listening. Footsteps, quick and light, but definitely human…no voices, no walkie-talkies, but had to be the police… "Joshua, go! Someone's coming, they might see you any second—hurry!"
She reached up, feeling around for his cheek. Her outstretched fingers grasped hair, then warm skin. "Please go, now!" she begged helplessly. "If something happens to you…I won't be able to come by your house tomorrow to see you, now will I?"
The hope and wonder in his voice almost brought tears to her unseeing eyes. "Tomorrow?"
"Tomorrow," she affirmed. "Now get going!"
She heard him move away, but the sound was quickly overwhelmed by the footsteps approaching from the right-hand passage…two pairs, moving quickly but carefully…not running… Surely they can see me by now? They're so close…
"Annie?"
The man's voice was unfamiliar…deep and rich. "Who's there?" she called, uncertain.
"It's her!" the man said to his companion. "It's alright, Annie—we're friends of Joshua's." He sounded breathless, as though he had been holding his breath for a very long time.
She frowned, suspicious. "How—how do I know that's true?" she asked boldly.
There was a momentary silence. Then, a woman's voice…sassy, and young. "Well, I guess bar-codes are kind of a moot point, huh?"
Someone took a deep breath. "Annie, I…hate to tell you, but…I was there. The other day, when you came by Joshua's, and he told you he had to leave. When you touched his face…that was me."
Alec waited a moment, letting that sink in. He expected the girl to be shocked, disgusted that they had tried to trick her…but she just nodded.
"He told me about that," she said simply.
Alec waited for her to say something more, but realized that she still wasn't sure of them. She's not going to say anything that might give Joshua away… He marveled at her nerve. Wish a few more of our friends were so loyal…
"Well, if you touched my face again, right now…could you recognize me?"
She seemed to weigh that in her mind for a moment, then nodded sharply. "I could," she responded, bringing up her hands to remove one glove.
Max looked on in wonder as Annie's fingers brushed delicately over Alec's features, hovering like butterflies on his nose…brow…lips. Imagine, living your entire life not just in the shadows, but in total darkness… she mused. This would be the only way she'd ever "see" anything…
Dusky lips curved into a small smile. "It is you…" she breathed. Then her forehead creased in worry. "I wonder if he's still nearby…" With that, she took a deep breath, and her mouth opened wide. "JOSHUA?"
Max's eyes bulged. "Shhh! Do you want to bring every patrol team in the city down on our heads?!?"
But Annie appeared unconcerned. "He just left me a second ago—he can probably still hear me."
As if to prove her point, a deep, guttural cry came echoing faintly back down the tunnel at them. "Annie…?"
One side of her mouth quirked into a small grin. "You did want
to find him, right?"
—@—@—@—@—@—
This time, Logan was holding his cell phone when it rang, and he answered without waiting for a second one. "Yeah?"
Logan, it's me. We found them—both of them.>>
Logan breathed out a happy breath at the news. He could hear a similarly relieved tone in Max's voice…along with something else…
I missed you, too, Big Fella, but I still need to breathe!>> he heard Max mutter off the line, and he smiled, pausing to cover the receiver as he relayed the message to Asha: "They've found him."
She grinned in response, appearing as honestly thrilled as he himself was. And she doesn't even know Joshua, he marveled. We really have underestimated her…we could've trusted her with this a long time ago…
Max was speaking into the phone again. Okay, we've got what we came for—now, can you get us out again?>>
"I think so," Logan replied, focusing back on the task at hand. We're not out of the woods yet. "I've been keeping an eye on a couple of guards stationed about three-quarters of a mile from your position…they're guarding a sewer entrance underneath the old stone bridge in Pratt Park…you know the place?"
Yeah…but if it's being guarded…>>
"Ah, but I don't think it is," Logan corrected. He called up a localized map on the screen. "From what I can see, those two guards haven't moved so much as an inch in the last half-hour. Which means either they sat down to take a nap, or…"
…or someone "convinced" them to. Good call.>> Logan could almost hear the gears in Max's head turning. Okay, so what's between us and that exit?>>
Logan frowned slightly. "That's what worries me," he confessed slowly. "There doesn't seem to be much of anything in your way…"
Which means whatever it is, it's keeping a low profile,>> Max intuited, nodding absently. Alec gave her a questioning look, but she shook her head at him, mouthing "later." Okay, map it out for me.>>
Logan described the route from their position to the bridge exit with painstaking detail, knowing that Max's genetically-enhanced mind would store every word for later recall.
"…and at that point, you've basically got three choices," he continued. His voice was getting hoarse from several minutes of constant speaking. "You'll come to a four-way intersection. Both the right and left tunnels will lead you to the bridge exit—they both circle around and rejoin a few hundred yards later, and then it's a straight shot along the bank of a large drainage stream, and you're in the clear."
Okay…where does the third tunnel go?>>
Logan scrutinized the map again. "It looks like that one could be an alternate route, if you get stuck and can't get out by way of the bridge," he finally decided. "It goes to a ladder leading up, and a tunnel that will take you back toward the Sector Police command center. It wouldn't be your first choice, but if you have to go that way, we may still be able to get you out…" Logan looked at all the flashing yellow dots in that section of the map. "…if you're really lucky," he added under his breath.
Noted.>> Max responded dryly. Logan could envision her expression—a wry half-smile—and felt a slight pang at the thought that he could be there to witness the smile he'd put on that beautiful face… We're gonna head out. We'll contact you when we're close to the exit…can you pick us up in the park?>>
"No problem," he confirmed. "But Max—be careful."
Always.>> And the line went dead.
Logan let out a sigh as he turned off the cell phone.
Asha looked over at him in sympathy, and placed one hand atop his, where it rested on the keyboard of his laptop. "They'll come out okay," she assured him softly. Then she smiled. "Put those two together, and they can cause more trouble than two wolves in a henhouse—but they can also get themselves back out of the henhouse," she said, a twinkle in her eye. "And usually leave it with one or two hens less than when they went in…"
Logan suddenly discovered that, despite the trying events of the last
several days, he was still able to laugh…and it still felt damned good.
—@—@—@—@—@—
What Logan failed to mention, Max mused, as she ran down the dank, greenish tunnel as quickly as she could, while still allowing the blind girl she was guiding to keep up, was that the stupid straight-ahead tunnel didn't end with a stone wall, but with a metal grille…
They had made their way to the intersection of the four passageways with remarkably little trouble. But as they had emerged into the junction room, Max in the lead, Joshua leading Annie behind her, and Alec bringing up the rear, the ears of the three transgenics had been suddenly assaulted by the echoing roar of a gunshot, zinging over their heads—a near-miss.
Too close! They all hit the floor—Annie, not without a small cry of surprise. Max looked up…
…and straight into the dark, hateful eyes of Ames White. He was standing perhaps fifty yards away, straight ahead down the tunnel, on the other side of a sealed metal grate that bisected the passage.
Suddenly, the layout of the area became painfully clear in Max's mind. The sewer tunnel they had just emerged from was the stem of a Y—only with three branches instead of two—with the chamber they were in as the intersection of the three branches. Logan had led them to believe that only the left and right branches led onward, but if the grate straight ahead were open, all three would lead out to the exit under the bridge, once they rejoined at another intersection farther down.
She watched from behind the corner of the junction room as White spun on his heel and ran back down his tunnel, no doubt with the intention of coming back up one of the side passages, to capture them…or worse.
We are in such deep shit…
All this flashed through Max's mind in a split second. Then she heard Alec's voice calling out to her, and she knew he'd reached the same conclusions.
"Max! You take Annie and go left—White's coming up the other way! Joshua and I will go straight to the ladder, draw him away from you…"
Max's head whipped around to look Alec in the eyes—god, so much like Ben's eyes—and read there his confidence…and his determination to get everyone out in one piece. Damn it…what is it about Manticore transgenics that makes us all so god-damned self-sacrificing?? She opened her mouth to protest, but he cut her off.
"Dammit, Max! For once, just listen to me and go!!" The fear in his voice was real, but it wasn't for himself.
She blinked twice, then nodded, and reached for Annie's hand, taking care to guide the young woman so she wouldn't bump into any of the narrow passage walls. "It's okay," she tried to reassume the frightened girl, despite the quaver in her own voice. "Joshua and Alec are getting out a different way. White can't follow us all…"
As she led the other woman down the brightening walkway toward the faded Seattle sunlight, Max's enhanced hearing picked up a shout, full of malice and thwarted purpose, its dying echoes roiling at her heels…
"This isn't over, 452! You think you've seen the worst of me, but you've seen nothing! I've got plans for you, 452… Soon the whole world will know your face, and curse your name…"
Max couldn't suppress the shiver that rolled down her spine as she and
Annie burst out into the cool sunlight.
—@—@—@—@—@—
C'mon, Logan ol' buddy, pick up the damned phone! Fear made Alec impatient. One ring…two…
Yeah?>>
"Logan! Damn, I thought you'd never pick up!" The X5 would have heaved a sigh of relief, but at that moment, most of his breath was already dedicated to running and talking.
He and Joshua had lingered deliberately in the junction room as Max and Annie got away. At the last possible second, they dove for the descending ladder, ensuring that White caught the barest glimpse of Joshua's shaggy head before they disappeared from view. Now, they were trying to lose the maniacal agent in the maze of sewer tunnels…but all they were accomplishing was getting themselves remarkably lost.
Alec?>>
"No time to chat, buddy—we need some navigation help, and fast—White's on our tail!" Alec huffed, catching a glimpse of a wall marking as they sped past. "We just blazed through junction J-42…you got any exits coming up soon?" A mental light bulb went on as he recalled something else. "Oh, and Max and Annie should be getting out under that bridge, like you said…they'll be needing a pick-up sometime soon."
Logan's harried sigh came through as clearly as if they were sitting in the same car together. "Well, as soon as we're done saving your ass, Asha and I will get right on that…" Alec could hear fingers on a keyboard, and then Logan's voice came back. "Okay, take the next tunnel on your right—it should only be about twenty yards or so from the last one."
Alec skidded to a stop, cursing. "Josh!" he whispered loudly, indicating the opening several feet behind them. They backtracked, taking the new tunnel, as Logan continued to direct them.
"Keep going. Now, you should see a ladder on your left…take it down one level."
Alec frowned into the phone. "Down? You sure you don't have that map turned around?"
Logan rolled his eyes at the skepticism in the X5's tone. "Damn it, Alec—don't second-guess me! Just go!"
Alec's frown turned into a glare. I hate it when that guy's
right… He glanced back at Joshua, running easily at his shoulder. "C'mon,
big guy—if the man says 'down,' then down the ladder it is," he said tensely,
gesturing to Joshua to precede him in the slippery descent.
—@—@—@—@—@—
Asha sat in the driver's seat and watched Logan converse with Alec, her eyes wide. She could tell from Logan's voice and the tense set of his neck and shoulders that something had gone horribly sideways. So when he turned to look at her with imploring eyes, her response was immediate.
"What do you need me to do?"
He rewarded her with the faintest of smiles, and reached to indicate a point on the map of Seattle's streets. "We're only a few blocks away from here," he told her, muffling the phone against his shoulder. "Can you get us there fast?"
"No problem," she said, starting the car and laying on the horn to clear away the crowds of pedestrians now flocking to the site.
Logan was quick to caution her, "There's gonna be a cop or two guarding this manhole." There was concern in his eyes. "We're gonna need a way to take them out quietly…"
She turned to look him in the eye momentarily, and her grin was devious. "Why, Logan…didn't I ever tell you what a wonderful driver I am?"
"Look out!"
Her eyes snapped back to what was ahead of her, to narrowly avoid mowing down some guy selling ice cream cones. Then she had to whip the wheel back the other way, to miss the greasy-looking bum with the rack of tacky T-shirts, loudly proclaiming in red text on heather grey cloth, "I Survived A Mutant Attack!"
Serves them right, she thought vindictively, as she finally made
it out of the cloying crowd and sped off down the stretch of uncluttered
concrete before her.
—@—@—@—@—@—
Alec looked around in surprise. Kinda creepy, actually…that a sewer chamber could be so pretty… He spoke into his cell phone again. "Hey, Logan, we're in a big room—where to next?"
There should be three tunnels on the far side of the room—take the second one from the right. And, Alec…>>
"Yeah?"
Hurry!>>
Alec motioned to Joshua, and the two leapt over the railing into the shallow pool of water on the main floor of the chamber…
…and right into the path of the four Sector Police approaching out of the other two tunnels.
Oh, shit…
"Go, Joshua! Now!!" Alec turned and sprinted madly for the only passageway still open. He heard gunshots, felt bullets buzzing past his shoulders like kamikaze bumblebees on steroids. They dodged, zigzagging across the passage, but just as they rounded the corner out of the line of fire, he heard Joshua grunt in pain. Risking a glance back, he saw the big guy falter.
Alec's mind froze. It was astonishing, really…how fast panic could rise up to choke you, even when you're not supposed to care about anything but yourself.
He reached behind him, grabbing one of Joshua's enormous paws, and kept running, dragging his injured friend along with him. Their genetically-enhanced speed was making the difference, keeping them ahead of White and the Sector Police…
…for the moment.
—@—@—@—@—@—
Logan sat very still, his mouth hanging so far open that his chin rested comically on his chest.
Asha, still in the driver's seat, crossed her arms over her chest, looking smug. "So…can I drive, or can't I?"
Her companion's jaw flapped uselessly for a moment, as he struggled to regain his voice. Finally he cleared his throat enough to respond. "That was…impressive. I'm…impressed."
They were parked neatly at the side of the street, not twenty feet from the manhole where Alec and Joshua ought to emerge. The two Sector Police guards were also present, but they were lying flat out on the pavement. Asha had taken one of them out with a head-on hit-and-run-style assault. The other had fallen victim a few seconds later, when she had cut the wheel suddenly as far to the right as it would go, sending the vehicle into a vicious tailspin. A moment later, the car had ended up precisely parked, and the cops had ended up down for the count.
Asha made a great show of breathing on her fingernails and buffing them against her shirt. She was about to comment on his witty repartee, when a loud metal clanking startled them both.
"The manhole!" Logan was the first out of the car, dashing over to the violently dancing metal lid and helping to lift it.
Alec's wild, frightened eyes came into view as the cover rolled away. "Joshua…" he huffed, obviously exhausted from running. "Shot…"
"Oh, no…" Logan's voice was strained. He and Asha struggled to help Alec lift the barely-conscious transgenic out of the sewer through a manhole not designed for men sporting canine DNA. It wasn't until Alec had clambered up after them and could take much of Joshua's weight off her arms that Asha stopped to really look at the creature they were working to save.
He was enormous—at least six and a half feet tall, with broad shoulders to match. His face was much like the image they had shown on the news broadcast…but even with that face twisted and distorted with pain, she could see that Logan was right. This was not the face of a vicious, bloodthirsty killer. It was a softer, sadder face than the crude drawing had shown…the face of a faithful friend.
Its innate friendliness didn't make it any less shocking, however.
Asha stopped and shook herself gently. The surprise had thrown her off-kilter
for a moment, but then she recalled the urgency of the situation, and hurried
around in front of the two men carrying their limp friend, to open the
car door for them.
—@—@—@—@—@—
Max continued to trudge along the park path, gently leading Annie by her side. She was lost in her own thoughts when the pager at her hip buzzed, startling her.
"What's that?" Annie asked sharply.
Wow, she's really jumpy, Max marveled. But then again, she's probably not nearly as used to getting shot at as I am…
"Don't worry," she reassured the blind girl. "It's just my pager…actually, it's Logan—the guy I was talking to on the phone, who helped us out of the sewers," she added for the sake of clarity." Off of Annie's understanding nod, she looked around, noting a pay phone a few paces away. Thank goodness for small miracles…
She punched in Logan's cell phone number from memory. Now that much of the excitement was over, she had the luxury of feeling a small pang at that insignificant detail. How much have I taken him for granted, these past two years? She wondered sadly. And now, he's not there anymore…or at least, not in the same way… She shook herself as she heard the click of the line connecting.
"Max?" Logan's voice was tense, and she felt her stomach clench.
"Yeah—is everything okay?" Please, please tell me they're okay…
She could hear his sigh. "Well, it will be…" he hedged. "You guys got out alright?"
"Yeah, yeah, we're fine. What about Alec and Joshua?"
"They got out, too. We're at Joshua's house right now." There was a pause. "Max…Joshua's been shot."
"WHAT?!?"
Logan was quick to reassure her. "Calm down, it's okay—he's gonna be fine! It just winged him. But how far are you from here?"
Max took a quick glance at their surroundings. "Not far…just a couple of blocks. I can drop Annie off at her house and be over there in fifteen minutes."
"Sounds good."
"Tell the Big Fella to hang on, I'll be there soon."
"Will do." The smile in Logan's voice was genuine.
Max smiled in response. "Logan…thanks."
"Anytime, Max."
—@—@—@—@—@—
The three transgenics sat around Joshua's living room, munching on popcorn as they watched the waning news coverage of the "mutant hunt," smug smiles on their faces. Joshua's left shoulder was heavily bandaged, but as Logan had said, the bullet barely clipped him, and his accelerated healing would leave the injury barely noticeable after a couple of days.
Logan and Asha had left not long after Max's frantic arrival. She hadn't quite believed Logan's assessment of Joshua's wound until she saw him with her own eyes, sitting up on his sofa, munching contentedly on one of the ham hocks Alec was always bringing him. She had rushed to his side, then given him a slow, careful hug, avoiding the white gauze wrapping on his shoulder.
"Hey, don't I get a hug?"
At that playful voice, Max had turned to see Alec standing behind her, wearing his usual cocky grin, his arms open in invitation. She'd surprised them both by throwing her arms tightly around his neck and giving him a hard squeeze, which he'd returned, after a moment of befuddlement.
When they separated, she looked him squarely in the eye so he couldn't escape. "Thank you…"
He gave her a suspicious look that clearly said, 'who are you, and what have you done with Max?' But all he said was, "For what?"
She shrugged, looking down at her interlaced fingers. "For being there. For helping. For risking your life…" She shrugged again. "Take your pick."
Had she looked back up at his face, she might have seen the swift, gentle smile that flitted across his handsome features. Instead, she turned to look back at Joshua, who was accepting a glass of water and a small handful of painkillers from Asha. Had she been anything but a transgenic with augmented senses, she would have missed his quiet reply.
"Anytime, Maxie…"
Now, the three of them just sat, laughing at the Sector Police as they fumblingly tried to explain that, as it happened, the "missing" girl had been found safe and sound in her own home, and no trace of the "wolf-man" had been uncovered.
"Bet it takes them a while to live this one down," Alec said smugly from his recliner, as he snatched another handful of popcorn from Max's bowl.
Joshua looked up from his position laying on the couch, his head in Max's lap. "People gonna think this is pretty whack," he said seriously.
Max laughingly agreed, but her reply was cut off by a sudden commotion on the television broadcast.
"…from Channel 3, with the latest breaking news from the scene of today's 'mutant scare,'" the red-haired reporter was saying. "Apparently, authorities have discovered an unidentified man in the sewer system, who also claimed to be hunting the 'wolf-man' creature. They're bringing him out now. We have word that he's anxious to give a statement to the media…"
The camera jiggled wildly, reorienting itself on the brightly-lit manhole in the middle of the cordoned-off intersection. A pair of hands emerged from the circular pool of darkness, followed by a dark head… Two Sector Police stepped forward to help the man up off of the ladder.
Max's jaw fell open. "White?"
Alec's eyes grew wide as manhole covers themselves. "Damn…" he whispered. "I was expecting it to be Sketchy…"
The three transgenics could only gape at the scene, as White was besieged by reporters, all looking to get the first crack at this man and his enigmatic 'statement,' but Ames turned unswervingly toward Channel 3's live reporting team.
"Sir! Sir, who are you, and what were you doing in the sewers?" the red-haired woman asked loudly. "Does this have anything to do with the alleged transgenic sighting this morning?"
The dark-eyed man turned toward the camera, as though speaking directly to the viewing audience. Max felt a foreboding chill tickle along her spine.
"My name is Ames White." He spoke clearly, in his cold, commanding voice. "I represent a group known as the Kariff Mo'os. We are dedicated to the betterment of mankind—and to the goal of protecting mankind from dangerous outside influences…such as the transgenics who escaped from the Manticore project."
Max and Alec exchanged shocked glances, while Joshua stared at the screen, transfixed.
White continued to speak, his words growing in volume and conviction. "People of Seattle—never doubt that these transgenics are real. The threat they post to society is real. They are the monsters that go 'bump' in the night, and they are no longer content to hide under your beds." He paused momentarily, and it seemed to the three friends that he stared right through the TV screen and directly into their eyes. "Make no mistake—this is a war…and it is a war we cannot afford to lose."
Alec swallowed hard around the lump that formed suddenly in his throat.
He and Max instinctively reached for each other's hand, as she rested her other palm on Joshua's uninjured shoulder. The three transgenics looked on in horror as their world suddenly came apart at the seams. All they had now…was each other.
They could only hope that it would be enough.
—@—@—@—@—@—
Okay…I know what you guys are gonna say…but darn it, I couldn't kill her!!!! I'd be the first to admit that it was excellent, top-caliber, heart-wrenching drama…but it hurt to watch, and since this is 'Tallera's World' (TM), I decided to exercise my authority as Author and make it happen the way my optimistic sensibilities would have preferred. You guys will just have to take it on faith that the Ames White of this story is equally as evil as the Ames White we've grown to love to hate on the show…
To wondertross, who wanted more of Joshua's POV in this chapter…well, I thought about it, but honestly, none of the Joshua-Annie scenes needed to change a whole lot, and when the did, I found it a lot more interesting to write from the POV of a blind girl. Also, I wanted to shift the focus of this chapter away from that pair a bit (unlike in the actual ep), and put it more on the two pairs that I'm writing the story about. :-) Maybe I'll put some of the later chapters in Big Fella's POV…we'll have to see!
And to pari106, apologies if my portrayals of Logan and Asha aren't
as good as they ought to be... *hangs head in shame* But,
to be honest...those two characters aren't the reason I watch the show.
Now, can you tell which characters I do spend most of my time watching,
when I pop in my season 2 tapes (which is basically every night)??? ;-)
Coming soon!!!!!!!
Chapter 5 - Precious Illusions