Disclaimer - If they follow me home, can I keep them? Maybe just one? I know the one I want.....
Learning of Alec - Ch 2
----------------
-infie
RECAP
(Thursday...)
The arm Alec had used to point curled around the blonde's shoulders
shoulders. Alec's gaze had never left Max.
"See you later, Max." he left.
Max, frozen, watched him leave.
* * *
(Two weeks earlier)
When Biggs strode into Crash, no one noticed. He smiled contentedly, secure in normalcy
as his eyes surveyed the room warmly. His gaze lit on his newest friends, and his smile
grew into a grin as he hurried across the crowded room to greet them.
"Max, OC, CeCe." he nodded at the women first, then shook the hands of the men at the
table. "Logan, Sketchy."
"Hey Biggs." Sketchy clapped him on one leather-clad shoulder. "Just in time to buy a pitcher, my man."
Biggs shrugged. "Considering that it's all your money, I don't mind." The others laughed
as Sketchy's face fell.
"You should take up some other game, Sketchy." Logan told him with a grin. "Like bowling."
"Nah." Sketchy flapped his hand at Logan. "The balls are too big."
The crowd roared at that one. OC shook her head sadly. "Sketch, you are a walking straight
line."
"Save me then. Let's try foosball."
Biggs and Max laughed as Logan allowed himself to be dragged off to officiate the game.
They smiled at each other in shared amusement and poured themselves fresh beer.
Alec skipped fluidly down the steps to the main room, and the hum of feminine voices in the
bar suddenly decreased as the women in the bar held their breath. A soft but
noticeable multi-voiced groan could just be heard as Alec reached the bar and bent over to
pick up a dropped glass for the bartender, snug black jeans hugging all the best places. Slowly the
hubub returned to its original level, but Biggs could see several women who kept their
attention on his friend, while most of the others contented themselves with sideways
glances. A few of the bravest made their way to the bar, 'accidentally' bumping into Alec,
who always smiled politely and sent them on their way with easy charm, though not without an
appreciative glance or two of his own. Biggs laughed to himself. Max snorted,
drawing his attention to her.
"I wonder which one he's planning on taking home." she mused, eyes suspiciously bright as she played
with her glass.
"None of 'em." Biggs stated firmly. "He's got duty tommorrow."
Max laughed. "Like that's ever stopped him."
Biggs smiled in return, but this one didn't reach his eyes. "I'm not sure why you're so hard
on him, Max. He's been nothing but good to you. And, he hasn't been chasing the ladies for
months."
"Look, Biggs, Alec needs me to keep him in line. And what makes you think he's gone all monk on
us?"
"He told me." Biggs looked at her levelly. "And Alec can take care of himself, Max. You're not
his keeper." His mouth quirked. "Though you give a damned good imitation."
"I don't know where you get your info, Biggs, but believe me, I know Alec and..."
"You don't know shit." Biggs was suddenly, intimidatingly angry. "You don't know Alec *at all*."
Max moved back slightly, staring up at him. "Then take a seat and educate me, soldier boy."
Biggs considered a moment, then nodded curtly and drew up a stool. "All right. You should know
who you're working with. Any of *us*..." and his emphasis made clear that she wasn't one of 'us',
"Any of *us* know 494, cause we were there."
"At Manticore." Max said, sarcasm lacing her voice. "I was *at* Manticore..."
"Alec was our CO." Biggs interrupted, and smiled grimly at Max's surprise. "God, we worshipped him.
He was so good to us, fast, strong. The best fighter. And so *smart*... it was almost scary, the
way he was always thinking three steps ahead of the rest of us. Of course, we didn't care. We
thought he was one step below God, and if he was three moves ahead of us, then that kept us all
ahead of Lydecker's games. He protected us, Max No matter what it took, he made sure that we
were safe." Max nodded, thinking of Zach. Then Biggs' eyes grew cold. "He was my CO my whole
life. Until '09."
Biggs stopped, face dark. He took a deep pull on his beer, and his gaze shifted to Alec at the bar.
"When your unit escaped, it was like a bomb went off in Manticore. We were under complete lockdown for
months, and the operational tempo was tripled. I'm sure you remember, " It was Biggs' turn for
sarcasm, "Our training had been harsh to start with, but after you left, good old Deck decided that
he'd been too easy on us. That if we had enough time and energy to consider escape, then
obviously we weren't spending enough time on soldiering."
Max was silent, her eyes liquid with sympathy, and Biggs returned to staring at Alec. "It was hell
for us. And the worst thing was that they took 494 from us. Our greatest asset, our protector,
our commander. They took him away." Biggs took a deep breath. "But we had it easy, compared
to what they put him through, 452." His voice took on the warm edge of deeply held anger. "He
would never talk about it, of course, but we still found out what they did to the clones; the medical
experiments, the surgeries, the tests. It was twice as bad again for 494, though, because he
wasn't a clone. No, he was a twin, a real twin, and they kept him in the labs for *two years* trying
to pinpoint the flaw in his code that could allow 493 - someone who was once the *same person*,
to turn traitor. They took him apart in pieces, broke his body, tortured him..." Biggs choked to a stop.
Max reached across the table and rested her fingers against his arm, tears standing out in her
eyes. Biggs shook her off gently, continuing hoarsely. "When they gave him back to us, he was
different. Oh, he was the same on the outside, but in his eyes... in his eyes he was gone from us.
And he *knew* that they had given him back to us to show us what happens to traitors, to show us
that we could be broken." Biggs clenched his hands. "He only mentioned it once, when he refused
be our CO again. He told us that he couldn't be responsible for us anymore, because if they took
him again he might not be able to hold out."
Max was spellbound. "He didn't break, then."
Biggs shook his head. "No. But he also wasn't whole anymore, Max. There was something missing.
494 volunteered for solo missions as soon as he regained his grade. He never worked as a part of
a unit again, except as an attached solo specialist. Of course, he excelled. Best assassin
Manticore ever built; no nerves at all. He was proud of his record, and even started to live a little,
like the first time he and I were sent out together... Volkovich or something." he smiled at the memory.
"And over time, Manticore
decided that 494 was a perfect, loyal subject. Then came the Berrisford mission." Max nodded faintly,
and Biggs nodded with her. "Yeah, that one. Christ, the shitstorm that came down when 494 failed
the mission was unbelievable. I was out on another mission in Jordan, but when I got back they told
me that he'd been taken again. And that this time they were really pissed. He was in Psy Ops for months,
and when he came out, Max..." Biggs ran his hand through his hair. "He just didn't care anymore.
About *anything*. I'd see flickers of life, sometimes, and mostly he was bright and shiny and fun,
but behind his eyes was just empty. It killed us to see him like that. But he was still the man
with the plan, working the angles, rebuilding his reputation. Berrisford and everything that
happened there was all gone, wiped away."
"And then, as if all of that wasn't enough, 493 resurfaced."
Max's face froze at the mention of her beautiful, crazed brother. "Ben. His name was Ben."
Biggs made a bitter noise. "Sad, psychotic Ben. 494-minus-1. And *that* meant that it was time to go
back to Psy Ops. When they came to get him, he didn't even struggle. They took him apart all
over again, from the inside out, mind and body. But this time, when he came back, he was the same
as the last time, bright, shiny,...empty. It was like they'd already sucked everything out,
so there was nothing more to give up to them."
Biggs stopped, drank. "What happened next?" Max leaned forward.
"You're next, Max. He was assigned to you; told to make you pregnant, told to follow you home. And
he followed orders. But only to a point, right Max? He refused to rape you, refused to hurt you.
You know most of the rest. The women, the fighting, the stealing... it had nothing to do with
trouble making, Max, and everything to do with finding the 'Alec' underneath the '494'. He needed to do
all of those things to *feel* something, anything. And then he discovered that he had a unit again,
and that maybe he didn't need to take those risks to feel alive anymore. Maybe just living was
enough. But 494 is still under there. I worry sometimes..."
Biggs stopped, closing his mouth firmly. "Anyway, that's who your second is. A hell of a lot better than
you deserve, believe me. Those of us X-series who are here, are following *him*, Max. His support is why
you're leading us. And you'd better start treating him better, or you'll lose us all." he shook himself
violently. "Christ, it's good to see him with life in his face again." Biggs grinned at Max, shedding
his grim mood.
Max smiled back at him, still processing what she'd been told. "You said that 494 was the best
fighter, but I've beaten Alec every time I've gone against him."
Biggs laughed out loud. "Alec has never tried to fight you, Max. Even that cage fight, when he
actually got pissed off for a second. He's only ever defended himself, and even then, with the
minimum of force. I was there, in the crowd." A grin crossed his features. "Christ, before
you pouched him, he was laughing at you!"
"But not so much afterwards." Max looked at him consideringly. "I don't know,
Biggs. Alec..."
"Hey guys!" Alec dropped a hand on Max's shoulder and high-fived Biggs with the other.
"What're you so serious about?"
Biggs and Max exchanged a quick glance. "We were just talking about Max's brothers, Alec. She
wanted to know if I'd seen any of them since I've been out."
"Uh huh." Alec didn't look convinced. "That's strange. I'm sure I heard my name. And, Max,
whatever else I am to you..." his voice grew lower, intimate, and he leaned over so that his
mouth was against her ear. "I am NOT your brother." His breath wafted warmly against the sensitive
skin of her ear, making her shiver and Alec laugh low in his chest. Biggs snickered, and someone
cleared their throat loudly.
Learning of Alec - Ch 2
----------------
-infie
RECAP
(Thursday...)
The arm Alec had used to point curled around the blonde's shoulders
shoulders. Alec's gaze had never left Max.
"See you later, Max." he left.
Max, frozen, watched him leave.
* * *
(Two weeks earlier)
When Biggs strode into Crash, no one noticed. He smiled contentedly, secure in normalcy
as his eyes surveyed the room warmly. His gaze lit on his newest friends, and his smile
grew into a grin as he hurried across the crowded room to greet them.
"Max, OC, CeCe." he nodded at the women first, then shook the hands of the men at the
table. "Logan, Sketchy."
"Hey Biggs." Sketchy clapped him on one leather-clad shoulder. "Just in time to buy a pitcher, my man."
Biggs shrugged. "Considering that it's all your money, I don't mind." The others laughed
as Sketchy's face fell.
"You should take up some other game, Sketchy." Logan told him with a grin. "Like bowling."
"Nah." Sketchy flapped his hand at Logan. "The balls are too big."
The crowd roared at that one. OC shook her head sadly. "Sketch, you are a walking straight
line."
"Save me then. Let's try foosball."
Biggs and Max laughed as Logan allowed himself to be dragged off to officiate the game.
They smiled at each other in shared amusement and poured themselves fresh beer.
Alec skipped fluidly down the steps to the main room, and the hum of feminine voices in the
bar suddenly decreased as the women in the bar held their breath. A soft but
noticeable multi-voiced groan could just be heard as Alec reached the bar and bent over to
pick up a dropped glass for the bartender, snug black jeans hugging all the best places. Slowly the
hubub returned to its original level, but Biggs could see several women who kept their
attention on his friend, while most of the others contented themselves with sideways
glances. A few of the bravest made their way to the bar, 'accidentally' bumping into Alec,
who always smiled politely and sent them on their way with easy charm, though not without an
appreciative glance or two of his own. Biggs laughed to himself. Max snorted,
drawing his attention to her.
"I wonder which one he's planning on taking home." she mused, eyes suspiciously bright as she played
with her glass.
"None of 'em." Biggs stated firmly. "He's got duty tommorrow."
Max laughed. "Like that's ever stopped him."
Biggs smiled in return, but this one didn't reach his eyes. "I'm not sure why you're so hard
on him, Max. He's been nothing but good to you. And, he hasn't been chasing the ladies for
months."
"Look, Biggs, Alec needs me to keep him in line. And what makes you think he's gone all monk on
us?"
"He told me." Biggs looked at her levelly. "And Alec can take care of himself, Max. You're not
his keeper." His mouth quirked. "Though you give a damned good imitation."
"I don't know where you get your info, Biggs, but believe me, I know Alec and..."
"You don't know shit." Biggs was suddenly, intimidatingly angry. "You don't know Alec *at all*."
Max moved back slightly, staring up at him. "Then take a seat and educate me, soldier boy."
Biggs considered a moment, then nodded curtly and drew up a stool. "All right. You should know
who you're working with. Any of *us*..." and his emphasis made clear that she wasn't one of 'us',
"Any of *us* know 494, cause we were there."
"At Manticore." Max said, sarcasm lacing her voice. "I was *at* Manticore..."
"Alec was our CO." Biggs interrupted, and smiled grimly at Max's surprise. "God, we worshipped him.
He was so good to us, fast, strong. The best fighter. And so *smart*... it was almost scary, the
way he was always thinking three steps ahead of the rest of us. Of course, we didn't care. We
thought he was one step below God, and if he was three moves ahead of us, then that kept us all
ahead of Lydecker's games. He protected us, Max No matter what it took, he made sure that we
were safe." Max nodded, thinking of Zach. Then Biggs' eyes grew cold. "He was my CO my whole
life. Until '09."
Biggs stopped, face dark. He took a deep pull on his beer, and his gaze shifted to Alec at the bar.
"When your unit escaped, it was like a bomb went off in Manticore. We were under complete lockdown for
months, and the operational tempo was tripled. I'm sure you remember, " It was Biggs' turn for
sarcasm, "Our training had been harsh to start with, but after you left, good old Deck decided that
he'd been too easy on us. That if we had enough time and energy to consider escape, then
obviously we weren't spending enough time on soldiering."
Max was silent, her eyes liquid with sympathy, and Biggs returned to staring at Alec. "It was hell
for us. And the worst thing was that they took 494 from us. Our greatest asset, our protector,
our commander. They took him away." Biggs took a deep breath. "But we had it easy, compared
to what they put him through, 452." His voice took on the warm edge of deeply held anger. "He
would never talk about it, of course, but we still found out what they did to the clones; the medical
experiments, the surgeries, the tests. It was twice as bad again for 494, though, because he
wasn't a clone. No, he was a twin, a real twin, and they kept him in the labs for *two years* trying
to pinpoint the flaw in his code that could allow 493 - someone who was once the *same person*,
to turn traitor. They took him apart in pieces, broke his body, tortured him..." Biggs choked to a stop.
Max reached across the table and rested her fingers against his arm, tears standing out in her
eyes. Biggs shook her off gently, continuing hoarsely. "When they gave him back to us, he was
different. Oh, he was the same on the outside, but in his eyes... in his eyes he was gone from us.
And he *knew* that they had given him back to us to show us what happens to traitors, to show us
that we could be broken." Biggs clenched his hands. "He only mentioned it once, when he refused
be our CO again. He told us that he couldn't be responsible for us anymore, because if they took
him again he might not be able to hold out."
Max was spellbound. "He didn't break, then."
Biggs shook his head. "No. But he also wasn't whole anymore, Max. There was something missing.
494 volunteered for solo missions as soon as he regained his grade. He never worked as a part of
a unit again, except as an attached solo specialist. Of course, he excelled. Best assassin
Manticore ever built; no nerves at all. He was proud of his record, and even started to live a little,
like the first time he and I were sent out together... Volkovich or something." he smiled at the memory.
"And over time, Manticore
decided that 494 was a perfect, loyal subject. Then came the Berrisford mission." Max nodded faintly,
and Biggs nodded with her. "Yeah, that one. Christ, the shitstorm that came down when 494 failed
the mission was unbelievable. I was out on another mission in Jordan, but when I got back they told
me that he'd been taken again. And that this time they were really pissed. He was in Psy Ops for months,
and when he came out, Max..." Biggs ran his hand through his hair. "He just didn't care anymore.
About *anything*. I'd see flickers of life, sometimes, and mostly he was bright and shiny and fun,
but behind his eyes was just empty. It killed us to see him like that. But he was still the man
with the plan, working the angles, rebuilding his reputation. Berrisford and everything that
happened there was all gone, wiped away."
"And then, as if all of that wasn't enough, 493 resurfaced."
Max's face froze at the mention of her beautiful, crazed brother. "Ben. His name was Ben."
Biggs made a bitter noise. "Sad, psychotic Ben. 494-minus-1. And *that* meant that it was time to go
back to Psy Ops. When they came to get him, he didn't even struggle. They took him apart all
over again, from the inside out, mind and body. But this time, when he came back, he was the same
as the last time, bright, shiny,...empty. It was like they'd already sucked everything out,
so there was nothing more to give up to them."
Biggs stopped, drank. "What happened next?" Max leaned forward.
"You're next, Max. He was assigned to you; told to make you pregnant, told to follow you home. And
he followed orders. But only to a point, right Max? He refused to rape you, refused to hurt you.
You know most of the rest. The women, the fighting, the stealing... it had nothing to do with
trouble making, Max, and everything to do with finding the 'Alec' underneath the '494'. He needed to do
all of those things to *feel* something, anything. And then he discovered that he had a unit again,
and that maybe he didn't need to take those risks to feel alive anymore. Maybe just living was
enough. But 494 is still under there. I worry sometimes..."
Biggs stopped, closing his mouth firmly. "Anyway, that's who your second is. A hell of a lot better than
you deserve, believe me. Those of us X-series who are here, are following *him*, Max. His support is why
you're leading us. And you'd better start treating him better, or you'll lose us all." he shook himself
violently. "Christ, it's good to see him with life in his face again." Biggs grinned at Max, shedding
his grim mood.
Max smiled back at him, still processing what she'd been told. "You said that 494 was the best
fighter, but I've beaten Alec every time I've gone against him."
Biggs laughed out loud. "Alec has never tried to fight you, Max. Even that cage fight, when he
actually got pissed off for a second. He's only ever defended himself, and even then, with the
minimum of force. I was there, in the crowd." A grin crossed his features. "Christ, before
you pouched him, he was laughing at you!"
"But not so much afterwards." Max looked at him consideringly. "I don't know,
Biggs. Alec..."
"Hey guys!" Alec dropped a hand on Max's shoulder and high-fived Biggs with the other.
"What're you so serious about?"
Biggs and Max exchanged a quick glance. "We were just talking about Max's brothers, Alec. She
wanted to know if I'd seen any of them since I've been out."
"Uh huh." Alec didn't look convinced. "That's strange. I'm sure I heard my name. And, Max,
whatever else I am to you..." his voice grew lower, intimate, and he leaned over so that his
mouth was against her ear. "I am NOT your brother." His breath wafted warmly against the sensitive
skin of her ear, making her shiver and Alec laugh low in his chest. Biggs snickered, and someone
cleared their throat loudly.