Disclaimer: I don't any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show, Dark Angel, which are owned by James Cameron. I do, however, own the original characters featured in this story. If you wish to use them, please ask me.
Summary: The X5s handle a potentially dangerous hostage situation, and Logan has some interesting information for Max…
A/N: Just watched 3A.M. starring Danny Glover and Michelle Rodriguez (ha, ha go figure). Freaky movie! O_O I don't recommend it unless you're a hardcore fan of Danny Glover.
A/N 2: Broke my foot. I'm in pain. The characters will suffer (lol).
Happily Never After
By
Brin
To be a genius is to be misunderstood.
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Chapter 5: Runed
Zack slinked across the building, gun held tightly to his chest, as Zane kept watch behind him; they were back to back. One of them would periodically check above for any kind of surprise attack or signal from the others. Zack's heart was pounding against his ribcage. The situation had little explanation as to what was going on inside, and that was the most dangerous kind. Here was where all their training came together; where it made sense and was needed to make ends meet. This was where their skill was defined.
They scouted around two sides of the building before coming to the back door. Its knob had been blown off, but a swift kick from a chimera would send the weak wooden threshold flying. Standing on either side of it, they looked at each other and exchanged an argument with mere glances and gestures. Zane didn't like it; Zack thought the location of the door would come in handy later on. In the end, they decided to check around the last side of the building.
Sure enough, they found a side door. This one also had the knob blown off; the Xs inside hadn't wanted any Ordinary entrance and taken careful measures to secure the building… but the fault of being trained in the same facility, under the same commanders, is the habits of training that the commander teaches. Zack and Zane knew Lydecker's training habits up and down… and they knew how to bypass them.
Zack gestured with his left hand, telling Zane to go around to the back door and blow it out using a small grenade, then return to this door for breaching. Zane nodded, pulled a hand grenade from his vest, and headed off towards the back of the building. The older X5 waited a few minutes, then heard the satisfying CRASH of the grenade exploding and brick falling everywhere. Zane came flying around the corner, eyes ablaze with excitement and bits of building on his shoulders, and they entered the building.
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The initial explosion almost sent Pick tumbling off the roof, but Alec grabbed a hold of him and they steadied each other while bits of brick and metal rained down a few feet away.
"Well, looks like Zack and Zane got in," commented Alec nonchalantly.
Pick chuckled nervously as they moved across the roof to the large, protruding glass sunroof in the middle of the building. It would be incredibly stupid of the Xs to keep their hostages inside such an easily-accessible room, so their entrance would have to be a little less evident than that of Zack and Zane.
Alec knelt next to the glass prism and pulled a small silver device from his pocket. A laser. A glass-cutting laser, to be exact.
"Isn't that convenient?" muttered Pick under his breath.
"Got it for my birthday," replied Alec sarcastically. He began cutting through the ashamedly thin glass.
"It's going to drop," warned the X6.
"Don't worry, I got it taken care of," replied Alec, pulling a suction cup out of his pack with his free hand. He placed it on the glass and finished cutting, easily moving the glass away when he was through and tossing it aside. "I'm not an amateur, don't mistake me for one."
Pick narrowed his eyes, but said nothing.
"You know, this isn't a good start for the whole in-law thing," grunted Alec as he tied rope to a nearby air vent and tossed it down the skylight.
"Ha, ha," replied Pick as the X5 began to lower himself into the building.
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Max pulled her phone from her pack and dialed the number that the local police had given to her—the number to the room in which the hostages were being held. It rang twice, then a gruff voice answered, "Talk fast."
"This is Max Guevara. You better start talking, buster, or we'll blow you to bits," barked Max into the phone. Several police turned and stared at her; threatening the kidnappers was an unheard of method. She ignored them—they didn't know how to handle Xs. "You got X5s all round."
"They were threatening to kill us. We had no choice," said the voice, softer this time.
"What have you done with the hostages?"
"Tied 'em up. They're sitting on the floor facing the wall."
"You know you'll have to be punished for this, right?"
There was muffled conversation on the other end, then another voice, clear and melodic, came over the line, "Don't let them hurt us, please. We didn't mean it. What will be our punishment?"
"Rules were set forth the moment we were freed of Terminal City. Kidnapping will result in the scattering of the lot of you around the country, three years separation, constant community service during that time, a hefty fine, and two months in jail. And that's the least we could get," replied Max. "But if you harm any of those Ordinaries, it'll be life in prison, no bail. You have to realize their perpetual fear of us."
Eddie approached, holding a high-powered walkie-talkie, and made several hand gestures, They have infiltrated the premises.
Max nodded in confirmation, then returned her attention to the phone as the young woman on the other end began speaking again, "Okay, but if two of us are married… do we have to split?"
"Married couples results in escalated punishment in the other areas. You'll have to be separated from the others for four years, five months in jail, a larger fine, and about twice as much community service," warned Max carefully. "But we won't separate the two of you."
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Pick and Alec silently crept down a dusty hallway, an ominous corner before them. Pick was at the front, Alec taking up the rear. They tensed as they came to the edge of the corner, then abruptly jumped out into the open.
"AAAAH!" Zack yelled at Pick. Pick yelled at Zack. They would've shot each other if their reflexes were any slower, but when they finally realized what had happened they fell against the wall, hearts pounding.
"Don't DO that!" growled Zack. He and Zane had been standing behind the same corner, and had jumped out at the same time as Pick.
Zane and Alec, on the other hand, were unsuccessfully trying to muffle their hysterical laughter at seeing two grown X-series screaming like little girls. They received indignant glares from their comrades and managed to stop laughing, but the wide grins remained on their faces.
"This is serious," scolded Zack, regaining his composure. "Come on."
The four of them traveled down the hall neither had checked, stopping when they came to a door at the end of it. They broke back into their two groups, standing on either side of the door, and listened.
"No deal!… You can't separate us for that long, and we'll get killed in jail with all the Ordinaries! You know it! The guards will beat us to death!… How are we gonna come up with that kind of money?! No! No, there's no deal. Come up with something better."
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Max cursed as the line ended. This was bad, very bad. She glanced over at Eddie, who was talking to the boys of the operation, and approached. "What's going on?"
Eddie removed her headphones and said, "The room is on the south side of the building. There's a small window there. Jondy could probably get a clear shot if she was in the right position," replied the anomaly before putting her headphones back on. "They're waiting orders."
"I want them to get in, get an inside assessment of the situation, then try to bargain with them."
"And if they don't want to bargain?"
"Then attack, but don't kill them unless you have to."
Eddie repeated this into her mouthpiece and gave Max a thumbs-up to relay their response.
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BAM! Zack and Zane kicked open the doors, receiving three bullets to the chest for their efforts. However, this was the part of the mission where bullet-proof vests came in handy.
"X5-494," said Alec as he stepped into the room, disregarding the attack. "You called for me?"
The male X6 stepped up and cocked the trigger of his gun. "We won't go!"
Alec, well aware what the punishment for kidnapping was, put both hands up to signal that he wasn't aggressive. "Hey, calm down there buddy. We just came to talk, since you hung up on Max and all."
The X6 narrowed his eyes at the X5. "Fine."
"Good boy. Let's take a seat and talk about this," Alec gestured to an empty maroon couch underneath the window. "We're both men, after all. Maybe we can reach some kind of agreement?"
"Right…" The X6 took a seat next to the X5.
Zack, Zane, and Pick, however were busy watching the other X6 – a female – and the three X7s with hawk eyes. They knew that this was strictly business, but heart-wrenching realizations were coming over them. The two X7s – both little girls – were of the clone batch. One was the clone of none other than Eva, and the other… Tinga. As for Pick… both X6s had been in his unit, and after the escape he had dated the female one for about a week.
"Pick," she said quietly, dark rings under her eyes. "I see you're moving up."
The older X6 winced at the bitterness in her voice. "Uhh… yeah. Nice to see you, too, Katie."
Zane and Zack exchanged knowing glances, then approached the X7s, who were clinging to each other fearfully. "Hey. What's your designation?" asked Zane of the little blonde one.
"X7-766," she whispered, her short strawberry blonde hair falling into her eyes.
"What's your name?" continued Zane gently.
"My name's Lyra, after a girl in a book."
"Lyra. That's a pretty name."
While Zack and Zane soothed the two little ones, Alec was busily mentally and verbally arguing with the male X6 – who was just about as stubborn as he.
"You don't understand. They want to separate me and my wife from Lyra and Toni, make us pay a fine, and toss the lot of us into jail! Those girls are ten years old!" protested the male X6.
"Look, kid… what's your name?"
"Jake."
"Alright, Jake, here's how it's gonna go. Either you come quietly and do your time – and if you do come quietly there will probably be a deal established to lessen your punishment – or we can do this the hard way and me and mine can kick your ass from here to jail, where'll you stay twice as long. It's your ball," said Alec seriously, his hand resting on his M16.
"There's gotta be another way. Can't you get us out on the sly, if you get me? Come on, we gotta stick together!"
"Now, ya see, Jake, that makes me mad, because Max and I fought for transgenics and Ordinaries to be equal for months. During the day we didn't eat or drink or even piss, we saved it all for night so that all our working hours would be devoted to you guys. We worked our asses off to get us all integrated into society, and we're not about to go against everything we have worked for. It'd be hypocritical if we broke the law of the society that we fought so hard to become a part of and right now, since you acted out of self-defense when you shot that man, you're gonna have at least some law working on your side. So you're back down to your two choices. Which one is it gonna be, Jake?"
The X6 narrowed his eyes at the X5. "So… if I let you handcuff me and drag me out there without fighting… we'll get less of a punishment?"
"If you don't, well sue," replied Alec with a smile. "Come on, whaddya say?" He held out his hand.
Jake stared at the X5 for a long time, then took his hand and sighed. "Okay, fine, but if I regret this…"
"You won't, buddy, believe me. This'll show those Ordinaries that we're civilized. Who knows, you might go down in Transgen history, eh?" Alec clipped the handcuffs around the X6's wrist and led him towards the door. "Alright, people, let's go. Party's over," he called to the hostages.
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Everyone breathed a sigh of relief when both the hostages and the transgenics emerged from the building unharmed. Max grabbed Alec's hand and didn't let go until they were on the helicopter back to Seattle. A few X5s had agreed to take care of the X6s and X7s until everything was settled. The helicopter ride back was much less tense, and the transgenics had a lively chat about everything from the latest president to Pre-Pulse movies.
"Okay… anyone ever heard of Ali, starring Will Smith?" asked Zane, both thumbs up. "That was awesome."
"I liked him in MIB better," commented Alec with a shrug.
Before they knew it, they were back in Seattle again. Zack and Jondy headed home, Zane went over to Brin's, Eddie and Pick excused themselves to go to the latest romantic comedy, but Max and Alec still had work to do – a meeting with Logan. They drove over to the Foggle Towers and rode up the elevator in silence.
"Ready?" asked Alec.
"Always," Max replied, taking his hand again.
They reached the top floor and Logan let them into the penthouse. He looked ragged and tired; there were dark rings under his eyes and his hair was getting long again. His stubbly beard was longer than usual, and unwashed dishes cluttered the sink.
"Logan… are you alright?" asked Max, resisting the urge to feel his forehead. "You look sick."
"I'm fine, Max," he said nervously. "Umm… Alec said you needed me to find parents?"
"That's right."
"Okay, I've got a list of nationwide potentials that I think you'll want to check out," said Logan, handing them a packet of papers. "I think that'll be enough."
"This… this is great!" exclaimed Max as she looked through it. "Thank you."
"Yeah, anytime…" He bounced from foot to foot nervously. Something was obviously bothering him.
"Logan, are you sure you're alright? Maybe you should get some sleep, we'll take things from here," said Max gently. "You look tired."
"Uhh… Max, I was wondering… have any new runes appeared?"
"Well, yeah, they've been coming and going. I've just been so busy lately…"
"Did you take pictures like I asked?"
"Yeah, of course. Um, Alec mailed the latest batch to you last week, right?" She looked at Alec for confirmation and he nodded.
"I've decoded them all together, and I think you're going to want to see this…" He gestured for them to follow him and they ventured over to his computer, buzzing away like always. They stood behind him as he opened several folders on his hard drive and then opened a single document. "Alright, so I've been working on this for awhile now, and I think I've got the translation pretty much perfect."
Alec leaned down and read the words aloud, "When the shroud of death covers the face of the earth, the One whose power is hidden will deliver the helpless. This power unleashed upon the enemies of the world will devastate all, unless shared with the two missing parts of the triangle – the two souls intertwined with the One. With the three souls combined, the darkness will be destroyed by the light."
"So what does that mean?" asked Max.
Logan removed his glasses and rubbed his eyelids. "It means that in order for your powers to work, you have to find two souls who, without you, Max, wouldn't exist."
"I'm still not following."
"Alec, what would you do if Max died in a car wreck tomorrow?"
Alec's eyes widened and he scratched his chin thoughtfully. "Die of a broken heart."
"Okay… so Alec's part of this freaky cult thing too?" Max looked perturbed.
"Well, according to your DNA analyses, you two are perfect for each other in every genetic way. In fact, I can tell exactly what your child will look like according to this report." Logan brought up the analyses of the blood samples Max and Alec had given him for research. "Your children will have brown eyes, maybe brown-green if you're lucky, dark blonde hair, Max's skin tone, Alec's cheekbones, Max's nose, and Alec's lips if it's a boy – Max's if it's a girl."
"Wait… why are you talking about children?"
A look of irony came over Logan's face and he laughed a bit before saying in a slightly embarrassed voice, "Max, in order for this prophecy to come true you're going to have to be pregnant."
THUD.
"Max? Max?" Alec and Logan stood over the unconscious X5. "Well maybe she's more like Eddie than the thought, eh?" mused the male X5 with a wide grin.
"I should've seen that coming," replied Logan, trying to hide his smile. "You think we should leave her like that?"
"Maybe we should at least move her to the couch."
TBC…