Spoilers: Set after Hello, Goodbye - so anything prior to this
episode is spoiled and as the story continues, it may impinge
slightly on other episodes after unintentionally.
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters that we owe
thanks to James Cameron, FOX and anyone else associated with
Dark Angel.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"Well hello 494."
Alec pried his eyelids up slightly, before clamping them shut in pain at the blinding bright light. Slowly, he blinked several times, allowing himself to adjust from the pitch black, one metre by one metre room he had been cooped up in for the past who knows how long. Alec tried shifting from his crouched position in the corner, but found himself too weary to move. He felt a shocking cold run of water splash across his cracked lips, dribbling down his dry, parched throat.
"I have to hand it to you soldier, there was no way I thought you'd make it this long.",
Lydecker eyed the transgenic, before continuing,
"It's beyond the extent any soldier accomplished at Manticore."
Alec felt himself be picked up and carried through numerous white, blinking light halls. He shook slightly involuntarily, as he was thrown onto a hard gravely floor. He sat up, hitting his head on a rock slab of a camper bed.
"Whatever it is that had got you holding on this long, it must be important. But, I hate to tell you 494 that your light at the end of the tunnel may be closed off. 452 is dead."
Lydecker's thin lips pressed together in a content smile, as he pressed a large hypodermic needle into his forearm,
"Just thought you'd like to know."
He gave an evil bark of laughter and walked out, shaking his head as Alec slipped off into an oblivious state of unconscious. Rolling his head to one side, a tear fell as he drifted off. Summoning all his remaining strength, Alec's lips parted and echoed one emotional, heart wrenching word,
"Max."
* * * * *
Max cautiously approached the sleeping transgenic, her tiptoe steps silent and her hand resting lightly on the gun tucked in her pants. She looked down at it with a grimace, and then moved it to hide against her back. As much as she hated the things, what she was doing was beyond relying on solely on her genetic skills. Max paused momentarily, as she stared down affectionately at the handsome X5. she longed desperately to reach out and smoothen his wild, dark blonde hair, see his green eyes flicker open and for his meltingly disarming beautiful smile to break across his flawless face. Her hand unconsciously stretched towards him, hovering just inches from his peaceful face, which had a light stubble growing since the last time she'd seen him, as well as noticeable dark circles under his eyes. Max let out a deep breath she had been holding and his eyes snapped open, as he rolled up into a sitting position arching his back in a feline manner,
"You know Maxie, when people escape - they tend not to return."
"Hey. Hope you're not going to knock me out again."
She flopped onto the floor opposite him, their eyes deeply connecting and Max suppressed the urge to touch him once again.
"You don't need that."
"Need what Ben?"
"The gun."
He saw the curious look gleam in her chocolate eyes,
"I can smell it."
Max smiled faintly, it was really uncanny the similarities he and Alec possessed, yet they were so different at the same time.
"What are you doing here baby sister? Come to take me out? I'm a target now, I guess. Aren't you worried about me finishing what I started?"
She reached behind her, brandishing her gun, almost relishing in the emerging fear in his face. Her eyes squinted and she lay it gently on the ground, before sliding it to him,
"Go ahead."
"You think I wont Maxie? I will if I have to."
"Then do it already."
"What sort of game are you playing?"
"No game, I was wondering the same about you."
"So what is it then? Are you here to save me?"
Max cocked her head to one side, as her eyes flashed inquisitorially,
"Are you in need of a saviour?"
"You tell me."
"I think only you can save yourself."
He let out a low husky rumble of amusement and he raised his hands, dancing a butterfly shadow on the wall next to him. A grin played on Max's lips as she fondly watched him, reminiscing of the times he had entertained her that way when they were young. Ben caught her eye, his own overcome with a childlike innocence,
"Now why would I want to do something like that?"
He flashed a cheeky smirk that would've been better suited to Alec and max snapped out of her entranced state,
"To stop yourself from hurting others."
Ben snorted and she shuffled uncomfortably.
"I thought we'd moved beyond this, baby sister."
"No. It's unsettled until you believe me. Ask Lydecker, make him tell you the truth."
Confusion settled on Ben's face, as he struggled to surface the words to speak,
"Lydecker? That's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I haven't seen him since our escape in '09."
Max stared her older brother, eyes like saucepans,
"What? Ben! One, Lydecker is the reason you and I were reunited - though not for reasons I would have liked. Second, he chased after all of us escapees countless times. Third, I was under the impression he was in charge of reindoctrination, so I assume that he was the one who found you and must've overlooked your reinstatement."
She saw his face twinge at the mention of reindoctrination and a guilty pang shot through her. He recovered quickly; shaking his head and Max groaned mentally, tempted to hit herself on the head. She had said it herself. Reindoctrination. They had wiped sections of his memory, making him keep only what the deemed necessary.
"Maxie, you think that my mission to capture and detain you was ordered from Lydecker?"
"If not him, then who?"
"I can't say."
"Yes you can Ben, you can trust me. I know you know that or you wouldn't be sitting here chatting so casually with me."
"I'm not under any orders regarding you anymore."
"So then tell me who gave you the original order."
Ben sat there silently, weighing up the options in his mind. Leaning his head back against the wall, he closed his eyes and was immediately engulfed by fatigue, or rather something beyond that.
* * * * *
"Ben, why are you doing this?"
Max's soft voice rung out through the empty church.
The blue lady stared down accusingly and Ben could hear her crying out for more sacrifices, for strength to fight the anomalies.
"We never should have left."
Ben grimaced as he ran through the woods, hunting a man, smelling the combination of sweat and fear, and then brutally killing him.
He fingered a gold medallion. His medallion.
"Your strength is your faith."
Tattooed a barcode into the neck of a priest. His barcode.
"I'm a good soldier, I try so hard."
* * * * *
"Ben!"
Max spoke impatiently in a sharp note, as he began breathing deeper and loudly. He came up abruptly, his crystal green eyes overflowing with tears, everything rushing back to him in a vicious flash.
"I'm sorry!",
He cried out loudly,
"All I wanted to do was finish the mission!"
Ben covered his face with his hands as he wept; his shoulders jerking and Max hesitated, before moving to him and wrapping her arms around her devastated brother,
"Sshhh.it's okay. It's in the past. You're not him anymore."
He relaxed in her hold, relieved that she knew him well enough to understand what he was talking about. Finally, Ben raised his head from her shoulder, his cheeks stained with tear tracks,
"I was telling the truth about who ordered me, it wasn't Lydecker."
"Then who is it?."
* * * * *
Max felt Alec's cell phone vibrate in her pants and she felt a tiny surge of hope as she answered,
"Hello?"
"Hey.it's me."
"Oh.hey."
Logan sighed in relief on the other end, thankful Max was not as angry as she had been at his apartment.
"So what you're saying is."
"We're cured. You and me. I had a scientist look at making me immune, rather than flushing the virus out of you. He has been working on it for a while now and by mutating strands of my DNA, he discovered a way to backtrack and trap the virus, sort of like how you discovered the protein coat. I am now unaffected when in contact with you."
Max groaned, this couldn't have come at a worse time. She wasn't sure if she could bear to let Logan so much as be in the same room as her, let alone touch her.
"Well at least I wont kill you be accident."
"I thought you'd be happier Max, this is what we both wanted."
"Past tense, wanted. Present want is to find Alec. You and I, if there even is an us, it can wait."
"You want Alec?"
Her head screamed yes and she pushed the nagging thought that she hadn't realised what was right under her nose until it was too late. Hanging up the phone, she paused, deep in though and then directed her attention back to Ben.
Max prompted him gently, her eyes sparkling as she spoke,
"Ben, everything will be okay. I need you to tell me.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
"Well hello 494."
Alec pried his eyelids up slightly, before clamping them shut in pain at the blinding bright light. Slowly, he blinked several times, allowing himself to adjust from the pitch black, one metre by one metre room he had been cooped up in for the past who knows how long. Alec tried shifting from his crouched position in the corner, but found himself too weary to move. He felt a shocking cold run of water splash across his cracked lips, dribbling down his dry, parched throat.
"I have to hand it to you soldier, there was no way I thought you'd make it this long.",
Lydecker eyed the transgenic, before continuing,
"It's beyond the extent any soldier accomplished at Manticore."
Alec felt himself be picked up and carried through numerous white, blinking light halls. He shook slightly involuntarily, as he was thrown onto a hard gravely floor. He sat up, hitting his head on a rock slab of a camper bed.
"Whatever it is that had got you holding on this long, it must be important. But, I hate to tell you 494 that your light at the end of the tunnel may be closed off. 452 is dead."
Lydecker's thin lips pressed together in a content smile, as he pressed a large hypodermic needle into his forearm,
"Just thought you'd like to know."
He gave an evil bark of laughter and walked out, shaking his head as Alec slipped off into an oblivious state of unconscious. Rolling his head to one side, a tear fell as he drifted off. Summoning all his remaining strength, Alec's lips parted and echoed one emotional, heart wrenching word,
"Max."
* * * * *
Max cautiously approached the sleeping transgenic, her tiptoe steps silent and her hand resting lightly on the gun tucked in her pants. She looked down at it with a grimace, and then moved it to hide against her back. As much as she hated the things, what she was doing was beyond relying on solely on her genetic skills. Max paused momentarily, as she stared down affectionately at the handsome X5. she longed desperately to reach out and smoothen his wild, dark blonde hair, see his green eyes flicker open and for his meltingly disarming beautiful smile to break across his flawless face. Her hand unconsciously stretched towards him, hovering just inches from his peaceful face, which had a light stubble growing since the last time she'd seen him, as well as noticeable dark circles under his eyes. Max let out a deep breath she had been holding and his eyes snapped open, as he rolled up into a sitting position arching his back in a feline manner,
"You know Maxie, when people escape - they tend not to return."
"Hey. Hope you're not going to knock me out again."
She flopped onto the floor opposite him, their eyes deeply connecting and Max suppressed the urge to touch him once again.
"You don't need that."
"Need what Ben?"
"The gun."
He saw the curious look gleam in her chocolate eyes,
"I can smell it."
Max smiled faintly, it was really uncanny the similarities he and Alec possessed, yet they were so different at the same time.
"What are you doing here baby sister? Come to take me out? I'm a target now, I guess. Aren't you worried about me finishing what I started?"
She reached behind her, brandishing her gun, almost relishing in the emerging fear in his face. Her eyes squinted and she lay it gently on the ground, before sliding it to him,
"Go ahead."
"You think I wont Maxie? I will if I have to."
"Then do it already."
"What sort of game are you playing?"
"No game, I was wondering the same about you."
"So what is it then? Are you here to save me?"
Max cocked her head to one side, as her eyes flashed inquisitorially,
"Are you in need of a saviour?"
"You tell me."
"I think only you can save yourself."
He let out a low husky rumble of amusement and he raised his hands, dancing a butterfly shadow on the wall next to him. A grin played on Max's lips as she fondly watched him, reminiscing of the times he had entertained her that way when they were young. Ben caught her eye, his own overcome with a childlike innocence,
"Now why would I want to do something like that?"
He flashed a cheeky smirk that would've been better suited to Alec and max snapped out of her entranced state,
"To stop yourself from hurting others."
Ben snorted and she shuffled uncomfortably.
"I thought we'd moved beyond this, baby sister."
"No. It's unsettled until you believe me. Ask Lydecker, make him tell you the truth."
Confusion settled on Ben's face, as he struggled to surface the words to speak,
"Lydecker? That's a name I haven't heard in a long time. I haven't seen him since our escape in '09."
Max stared her older brother, eyes like saucepans,
"What? Ben! One, Lydecker is the reason you and I were reunited - though not for reasons I would have liked. Second, he chased after all of us escapees countless times. Third, I was under the impression he was in charge of reindoctrination, so I assume that he was the one who found you and must've overlooked your reinstatement."
She saw his face twinge at the mention of reindoctrination and a guilty pang shot through her. He recovered quickly; shaking his head and Max groaned mentally, tempted to hit herself on the head. She had said it herself. Reindoctrination. They had wiped sections of his memory, making him keep only what the deemed necessary.
"Maxie, you think that my mission to capture and detain you was ordered from Lydecker?"
"If not him, then who?"
"I can't say."
"Yes you can Ben, you can trust me. I know you know that or you wouldn't be sitting here chatting so casually with me."
"I'm not under any orders regarding you anymore."
"So then tell me who gave you the original order."
Ben sat there silently, weighing up the options in his mind. Leaning his head back against the wall, he closed his eyes and was immediately engulfed by fatigue, or rather something beyond that.
* * * * *
"Ben, why are you doing this?"
Max's soft voice rung out through the empty church.
The blue lady stared down accusingly and Ben could hear her crying out for more sacrifices, for strength to fight the anomalies.
"We never should have left."
Ben grimaced as he ran through the woods, hunting a man, smelling the combination of sweat and fear, and then brutally killing him.
He fingered a gold medallion. His medallion.
"Your strength is your faith."
Tattooed a barcode into the neck of a priest. His barcode.
"I'm a good soldier, I try so hard."
* * * * *
"Ben!"
Max spoke impatiently in a sharp note, as he began breathing deeper and loudly. He came up abruptly, his crystal green eyes overflowing with tears, everything rushing back to him in a vicious flash.
"I'm sorry!",
He cried out loudly,
"All I wanted to do was finish the mission!"
Ben covered his face with his hands as he wept; his shoulders jerking and Max hesitated, before moving to him and wrapping her arms around her devastated brother,
"Sshhh.it's okay. It's in the past. You're not him anymore."
He relaxed in her hold, relieved that she knew him well enough to understand what he was talking about. Finally, Ben raised his head from her shoulder, his cheeks stained with tear tracks,
"I was telling the truth about who ordered me, it wasn't Lydecker."
"Then who is it?."
* * * * *
Max felt Alec's cell phone vibrate in her pants and she felt a tiny surge of hope as she answered,
"Hello?"
"Hey.it's me."
"Oh.hey."
Logan sighed in relief on the other end, thankful Max was not as angry as she had been at his apartment.
"So what you're saying is."
"We're cured. You and me. I had a scientist look at making me immune, rather than flushing the virus out of you. He has been working on it for a while now and by mutating strands of my DNA, he discovered a way to backtrack and trap the virus, sort of like how you discovered the protein coat. I am now unaffected when in contact with you."
Max groaned, this couldn't have come at a worse time. She wasn't sure if she could bear to let Logan so much as be in the same room as her, let alone touch her.
"Well at least I wont kill you be accident."
"I thought you'd be happier Max, this is what we both wanted."
"Past tense, wanted. Present want is to find Alec. You and I, if there even is an us, it can wait."
"You want Alec?"
Her head screamed yes and she pushed the nagging thought that she hadn't realised what was right under her nose until it was too late. Hanging up the phone, she paused, deep in though and then directed her attention back to Ben.
Max prompted him gently, her eyes sparkling as she spoke,
"Ben, everything will be okay. I need you to tell me.