By Valjean
Prayer
"They want us to surrender," Max told the assembled crowd of mutants. "They promise us safety if we'll give ourselves up to the military and be used as captive soldiers again."
Her news was met with dead silence.
"I say no," she said. "But I can't speak for all of you. If some of you want to do this, I understand. But personally, I spent enough of my life locked up at Manticore. I sure as hell don't want to go back there again."
"I say no!" Mole shouted.
"No!" the crowd roared.
In the end, there wasn't a single taker, and Max knew they were right back where they'd started -- alone and at war. Now, all they could do was to wait for Donahue to make the next move.
"What about Alec, Little Fella?" Joshua asked her after the crowd had dispersed.
Max, seated at the command table, dropped her face into her hands. "I don't know," she said. She looked up at Joshua, hair hanging in her eyes. "It's so ironic. I'm always bustin' Alec's ass about him getting into trouble, and now I'm the one who dragged him right into the line of fire. It's my fault he's being held prisoner down there."
"What will you do?" Joshua said. "Rescue him?"
"How? He's at Sector Police Headquarters. I know I got him out of there once before, but now it's crawling with military. Oh, and on top of everything else Lydecker's alive. He showed up for the conference. That really made my day."
Joshua growled at the name. "Lydecker hurt Max."
"I know," she said, remembering her horrific childhood. "But I've got a funny feeling about him now. I almost think he wants to help us. Even though he said something about rebuilding Manticore. I guess dead soldiers wouldn't be any good to him."
"Will Lydecker protect Alec?"
Max shrugged. "I know Alec doesn't trust him. And Alec's usually right about things like that."
Joshua put a big hand on Max's shoulder. "You miss Alec. Little Fella wants Alec to come home."
Tears began to slip down her face. "I very much want Alec to come home, Joshua. I need him to come home." I don't know if I can go on if he never touches me again.
"Can Logan help?"
"No," Max said sadly, the tears still falling. "I can't ask Logan for help about this." She sniffed and wiped her nose on her sleeve. "What I'm really afraid of is that they'll send Alec away somewhere. If Lydecker gets him, he might do something to him, try and make Alec the way he used to be, a Manticore assassin."
"Alec would never let that happen. Alec would never forget Max and his friends."
Max turned big eyes on Joshua. "You don't know the ways they torture people. They could do to Alec what they did to Zack. They could hurt him so badly ..."
"I'll help you rescue Alec," Joshua said firmly. "I'll go with you and together we'll get him out of there."
"We can't Joshua. We just can't. Alec's on his own this time."
"We're too high!" Lydecker shouted to be heard above the gunfire.
"I can make it!" Alec yelled in return as he got off several rounds at his pursuers before ducking back behind the metal ventilation shaft.
Lydecker looked at him, a pained expression on his face. "The roof of the police station might not have been the best route, 494."
"Well, it didn't look this high from the ground," Alec snapped. He was breathing hard. He'd had to fight his way through eight guards to gain access to what he thought would be a way out. But Lydecker was right. A 100 foot drop was too much for even an X5 and to try and climb down would make him a perfect target.
He looked around, seeking an alternative, and his eyes came to rest on the neighboring building. "That one's two stories lower," Alec said, pointing his chin at the other structure.
"Still too high," Lydecker warned. "And the distance between the buildings is about your limit. If you miss, you'll break your neck."
"I won't miss," Alec said. He started to move, but Lydecker's hand on his arm stopped him.
"Where's Logan Cale?" Lydecker asked. "I really thought he'd be the one Max brought with her. You were a bit of a surprise. I need to talk to him."
"Logan's hidin' out," Alec said, tossing off two more shots.
"I have to talk to him," Lydecker repeated.
"Where can he reach you? I'll tell him."
"No good," Lydecker said. "In a minute or so you're probably going to be lying dead down there on the pavement."
"He's got an email address," Alec said. "It's supposedly untraceable.You can reach him there. Bastet at network dot net. Can I go now?" Alec was beginning to feel desperate. The police were definitely closing in and he was almost out of bullets.
"Good luck," Lydecker said. "And remember, above all else, protect Max."
"Works for me," Alec said. Then he realized something. "What about you? Won't you be arrested?"
Lydecker grinned slyly. "Why? You forced me up here. I'm just an innocent bystander. Hey, they'll be lucky if I don't sue."
Alec nodded. He then took one last shot at his pursuers, turned, and blurred for the edge of the roof. His momentum carried him almost far enough. He caught the cement edge of the adjacent building with both hands. A second later he'd swung up and over the parapet. Before the police could get him in their sights, he dashed to the opposite side, and jumped once more. Using a trick Max had taught him, he landed on the roof of a car to break his fall. By the time the National Guardsmen and police poured into the alley he was gone.
Max watched the firefight on the roof of the police station from several blocks away and her heart filled with fear. She was too late. Alec had already made his move, and now it looked like he was trapped. The police would show no mercy. They were terrified of transgenics already. All they needed was an excuse to take him down.
"Idiot," she muttered under her breath as the tears came again. "You damn fucking idiot.You're gonna die before I can get to you."
She knew she should go back to the tunnel, back to Terminal City. It was foolhardy exposing herself like this, doing the exact thing she'd ordered everyone else not to do. But she couldn't just leave Alec behind.
She moved closer to police headquarters, ignoring the danger to herself. The streets were filled with squad cars and National Guard troops, uniformed men and soldiers running everywhere. She crouched low behind a pile of discarded boxes and anxiously watched the roof. There hadn't been any gunfire for over a minute, which meant one of two things. Either Alec had gotten away, or he'd been shot. Which made her remember their encounter with the Familiars above Jam Pony. Alec had been badly hurt, but he'd continued to fight. It would require a fatal hit to stop X5-494 in the heat of battle. If Alec had taken a bullet, he wasn't wounded. He was dead.
Tears choked Max's throat as she continued to anxiously watch the rooftop. Everything had gotten too quiet. Her vision zoomed in on a group of men and she recognized Lydecker being escorted away. But there was no sign of Alec.
Max had very rarely prayed in her life, but the words formed silently in her mind. Please God, if you're really there, don't let him be dead. Let me see him just one more time. Please, I have to tell him something important, and he can't just die without knowing. It wouldn't be fair. He deserves this. Please God, don't let him be dead.
There was a sound behind her and Max whirled.
He was just standing there, breathing hard, his handsome face lit by the glow of the streetlight, green eyes sparkling, full lips quirked in a smile.
"Miss me?" he said, his voice low and rich.
"Alec," she whispered. She wanted to throw herself into his arms, feel his body warm and hard against hers like it had been that night. His eyes were locked onto hers. He was waiting.
She hated herself, but Max knew what she had to do."About time you showed up," she said, deliberately sounding annoyed, ignoring the words her heart wanted to scream. She nodded toward the distant rooftop. "I gather the fireworks were your show?"
Alec had cocked his head to one side and was regarding her with a puzzled expression. "Max, did you come all the way down here to rescue me?"
"No," Max lied. "You said not to, remember?"
"Well, what are you doin' here?"
"I ... I came to see Logan."
The playful light in Alec's eyes vanished. "Logan's place is quite a ways from here," he said evenly.
"I heard there was something going on down here, and I thought you might be trying to get away," Max said, thinking quickly. "I wasn't going to go into the station after you, but I figured the least I could do was lend you a hand if you made it this far."
"Well, here I am," Alec said easily, arms spread wide and a wall of sarcasm between them once again. "In the flesh. Mind my company goin' to Logan's? I've got some stuff to run past him anyway."
A police car pulled into the other end of the alley where they were standing, and several military men climbed out. Max stepped back into the shadows, her hand on Alec's arm pulling him with her. "You're welcome to come with me, but we should get out of here now," she said softly.
"Agreed," Alec said, as he looked around for an alternate route.
Max looked up at him, very much aware of his warmth beside her. What would it feel like to be wrapped in his arms again? The one night they'd spent together was a blur, like a dream half remembered. She wanted something real now, a memory of Alec when her mind wasn't feverish with heat. But did he really want more with her as well? More than just the sex? That night he'd said he did. And what had she done? She'd stomped on his heart with both feet. Maybe he was through with her now. Maybe it was too late.
"Max," Alec said sharply.
"I'm fine," she said quickly, ashamed of herself for letting her attention wander.
"What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing. I'm just tired."
"I hope you're not too tired to climb, 'cause that's the only way we're gettin' out of here." He was looking up the side of the building. "Jeez, I hate this. Up and down all night long." He glanced at her, probably realizing how that sounded.
"How can you hate heights?" Max said, accepting a boost from him onto the wall. "You're part cat."
"It's not the heights, Max. It's the work."
"Shut up," she hissed as he scrambled up the building behind her. "They'll hear you."
They made it to the roof and down the other side. Once in the clear, they had three checkpoints to get by, but finally Joshua's house was in sight. Which is when Max began to really worry. It was time to tell Logan and Alec the truth. They had a right to know. The only trouble was, what she had to say might mean losing both of them.