Disclaimer - If they follow me home, can I keep them? er.. Just one, then?
A/N: I have got to say that I had a blast writing this chapter. I love to watch Alec/494 do his stuff, even if it's only in my own head. =)
Learning of Alec - Chapter 7 - infieRECAP
(Saturday - Terminal City)"Look, Max, are you sure you know what you're doing? All accounts are that 494 is not someone you really wanna mess with." Dix piped up anxiously. Max patted his arm reassuringly.
"Don't worry, Dix. You just get me what I need, and I'll take care of the rest."
Max caught up to 494 outside his apartment. He was facing away from her, priming his motorcycle, getting ready to head out, and she paused a moment to appreciate the quality of the view as he leaned forward for the leverage to start the powerful engine. The muscles in his buttocks and legs bunched as he kicked the start once... twice... the engine caught with a throaty roar and 494 sat back in the seat, obscuring Max's view. With an internal regretful sigh she finished approaching and tapped him on the shoulder.
"What do you want, Max?" he shouted over the sound of the revving motor, not turning his head toward her. She realized with embarassment that he had seen her coming in the mirror, and that he had observed her checking him out. "I don't really feel like being your sacrificial lamb today, thanks. And I'm all outta help for you."
Max's stomach felt light with nerves. She shoved her hands into the deep pockets of her jacket. "Easy, or hard?" she said loudly.
This time he turned his head to look at her directly. His empty eyes made her stomach drop again, just as they had every time she saw them. He reached forward and turned off the engine. The sudden silence was deafening. "What?"
"Easy, or hard. It's a simple question." Max's hands were sweating, and she took a quick look around them, hiding her survey of the area under the cover of twitching her hair away from her eyes. Everyone was in position. 494 flashed her a cocky grin so like Alec's normal expression that it made her heart twist, but it was still a shadow of his usual vibrant vitality.
"Now there's an invitation if I ever heard one. Please tell me you're about to get naked."
"Nah."
494's head whipped around as Mole swiveled out from behind a nearby car, shotgun in hand. All of the humour drained instantly out of his face, matching the stillness of his eyes. His voice was icy cold. "What the fuck is going on here, Max?" Two more transgenics, a spotted feline known as Spot and a black panther called Yule showed themselves, and 494's whole body tensed with that unnaturally calm look that only professional soldiers really master. He turned his head slowly, warily, back to meet Max's serene gaze, noting another three trannies, Bat, Greb, and Kyle, coming up on his left flank. Max flinched a little when his eyes met hers, then straightened defiantly. "Max." his voice was a whipcrack, and a couple of the support team shuffled their feet and exchanged nervous glances. 494 softened his tone to a low, dark rumble. In that moment, he looked like a profoundly dangerous man. "Perhaps you should explain yourself."
"You're going to come with us, now." Max told him baldly. "You can make it easy, or you can make it hard, but you will be coming with us."
494 bared his teeth at her in a fierce grin. "Oh, I don't think so, Maxie my love." Suddenly he moved, diving sideways off his bike and rolling fluidly to his feet. He reached Spot in two long strides and dropped him with a single punch that started at the ground and ended two inches past Spot's head. Spot fell like a rag doll, and 494 threw a spin kick at Yule's midsection. Yule overcame his shock in time to block the kick and replied with a wicked backhand. 494 sank to one knee, ducking Yule's arm, and drove his right fist twice into Yule's short ribs, lifting him off his feet with the power behind each strike. He followed up with a left roundhouse to the jaw that felled Yule like a sack of wet laundry.
"Shit!" Max vaulted the bike even as Spot collapsed and waved the others forward. She had known he would resist, of course, but she hadn't expected this fast, coldly efficient dismantling of her support. Alec had always liked to draw out his fights with the trangenics, enjoying the challenge of fighting his equals in strength and speed. Though, not equals in skill, apparently. {Idiot!} she chastised herself mentally. {This isn't... quite... Alec. And he's not fighting for fun.} She should have known that he'd define his objective and aim to achieve it as efficiently as possible.
Of the remaining team, Bat reached 494 first, even as Yule hit the ground, and took the expedient route of tackling him at full speed, rolling them both into a nearby car with a painful, muffled thud. The car rocked on its wheels, and burst into the earsplitting sound of a violated car alarm, lights flashing, horn blaring, and siren wailing. Bat froze in shock at the sonic assault, and 494 took full advantage of his surprise by rising and executing a beautiful straight kick to Bat's jaw, throwing him into the next car along the street and adding an all new cacaphony to the existing uproar. 494 turned to face his remaining attackers and froze as the barrel of Mole's shotgun tapped meaningfully against his left temple.
"Rubber bullets, boy." Mole growled softly in his gravelly voice. "I don't want to kill you, but I got no objections to hurting you some." His eyes slid to Yule and Spot. "Or even lots." 494 stood impassively, motionless in his torn shirt and dusty jeans, not even breathing hard as Greb moved up on his side and grabbed his right arm. Kyle gingerly took his left, and Mole nudged him gently with the muzzle of the gun. "Come on, move it."
494 took one step willingly enough, then whirled to his right, stepping into Greb's body while swinging Kyle's arm up and stepping under it. Mole's shotgun bellowed and caught Greb full in the chest with the non-lethal bullet. Greb grunted and slumped to the ground as Mole pumped the reload, and Kyle gave a blurt of shock as he found himself looking down the barrel from milimeters away. 494 pushed Kyle's head down as the shotgun roared again, and the rubber bullet whined harmlessly over Kyle's head, creasing his hair in its passage. 494 used Kyle's back to lever himself into a perfect side kick into Mole's gut, and had just centred himself to finish the desert soldier off with a backhand fist when he felt two tiny piercing pains in his chest and heard the absurdly familiar whine he knew well enough to dread. He had just enough time to lift his head and see the regret on Max's face before the tazer shook his body with its electic dance. He crashed to his knees and fell onto his chest, unconscious.
Max blew out her breath shakily. "Hard it is."
Mole wobbled to his feet, leaning on the gun like a crutch. Kyle rose slowly, eyes wide. "Jesus." he turned and punched Mole in the chops. "Hey, asshole, even rubber bullets kill when you get shot in the eye."
Mole sat up, rubbing his jaw and chuckling. "Yeah, sorry about that."
"Jesus." Kyle nudged 494 gently with his toe. "He saved my life, Max. He was fighting us to get away, he shoulda been trying to kill me, and he still saved my life. Why would he do that?"
"Because you're part of the family, Kyle. And Alec doesn't kill family." Max's eyes were alight as Yule and Spot groaned as they started to come around. "Alec's still in there. Now we just have to convince him to come out and play."