Out of the Future

Chapter 18: The Factory


"Oh Dear God don't tell me that's it," said Alec, "it looks worse than the sewers!"

A few minutes earlier Logan had turned off of the highway to follow a decrepid looking side road to the dark metal fortress now standing before them. They had gotten out of the van and were looking up at it. The night did it's best to make it look eerie and foreboding. Vines and tangled weeds grew here and there giving the impression that the factory hadn't been maintained for years.

"Isn't this..." started Asha

"Tuber Chemicals, my God, I thought this place was destroyed," said Logan.

"It's a chemical plant, so what?" stated Alec, "Let's go in."

"Are you crazy? This place was shut down almost 13 years ago it was supposed to be destroyed but it's standing right here."

"Look Logan they're gonna make us go in, aren't you?"

Alec looked at Jesse, who looked at Rachel, who nodded her head.

"I told you that you and Asha didn't have to come," she said, "but this just seemed like the best place to get rid of Koiohla, I mean it's big, out of the way, so in case it explodes no one will miss it."

"Excuse me, did you just say explode."

"Yeah, You know just in case."

"In case what?" asked Max

"In case we have to blow something up."

"That's Alec logic," said Max, "stop using Alec logic."

"What's wrong with my logic?" whined Alec.

"It's usually WRONG!"

"Oh well...don't you like blowing things up?" asked Alec, "where are you two going?"

Rachel and Jesse were half way to the front doors when Alec had spotted them.

"We're trying to do this quietly so we can kill Koiohla, save you guys, and find a way to get home, if you want to stay out here go ahead-we'll be fine."

"Wait up," said Max pushing her way past Alec as he followed her, Asha was closely behind.

"Don't you even want to know why this place was closed in the first place?" asked Logan weakly.

^^^

Rachel pushed the rust-eaten doors apart, they creaked noisily, not used to being touched in a while.

"Does anyone realize we're conveniently unarmed?" asked Alec.

"Oh for the love of..." Asha pulled everyone back to the van to get equipped.

"We took these from the S1W."

"Handy," said Alec approvingly as he checked the bullets and cocked his gun, "now we sneak into the creepy old place, right?"

"Right," said Rachel.

"Uh, Rachel."

"Yeah."

"Do we have a plan?" asked Jesse

"A...plan?"

"Turn off the Alec part of your brain!"

"Oh well excuse me! Just because I don't plan everything out that means I'm acting like my Dad?" asked Rachel, "and why is it that I'm always either acting like Mom or Dad am I not my own person?!"

"Sorry?"

"You'd better be!" she huffed, "do you have a plan?"

"Besides the usual let's split up for the umpteenth time? No not really, but we're too big of group to stay together, and personally I think everyone should stay here while we go in."

"Excuse me?" asked Max

"Look, if Koiohla gets a hold of either of you, Rachel and the future of transgenic kind are doomed, and those two don't stand a chance, Rachel and I..."

"Or just Rachel..."

"Yes or just...what? No way in hell you're going in alone!" Jesse yelled at Rachel.

"And exactly why not? I don't want you killed!"

"I won't be, Rachel, NO!"

"I should do this alone," said Rachel.

"Well in case you haven't noticed you aren't alone."

"Our future isn't written in stone if my Mom and Dad are alive, then good! But if I have to go down with that bitch to protect the future then I'll do it Jesse!"

"And then what? I go back and tell Max and Alec that your dead? And have Alec kill me for not looking after you?"

"We don't even know if we can get back!" shouted Rachel, "for all we know we could be stuck in '22 for the rest of our lives, I may never see the parents who raised me for the past nineteen years ever again!" tears were starting to fall down her face as she chocked back a sob. She wiped them away furiously and stomped around the van towards the trees.

"You really don't know how you're getting back do you?" asked Max quietly.

"There wasn't any time left to research it further, Cerberus uses a much more advanced security system than Manticore did, it took me at least 72 hours just to get past their primary layers, and the time travel documents were under some pretty heavy layers of security, they caught the hack stream about half way through the print job, we got most of it though-the technology, the history, prep work and how it works but not reversing it," said Jesse taking a deep breath.

"Doesn't sound very cheery," said Max looking around for Alec but discovering him missing.

"Yeah well you know too much about your future already. Maybe this time around you can destroy Cerberus and prevent it from growing into a facility like Manticore, the world would be a lot better off without them."

"Tell me when and where," said Max, "I blew up Manticore and if Cerberus wants to play then I think I can arrange a little explosion-you don't mess with my family."

Jesse smiled.

^^^

"Hey how you doing?" asked Alec sitting down beside Rachel underneath a tree.

"I don't even know anymore," she said wiping her eyes, "I don't think I've ever been this scared since I was twelve."

"Well if I know myself, which of course I do, then I'm pretty sure your Mom and I are going crazy in the future trying to find a way to bring you home."

"Not if they went charging into Cerberus and got themselves killed."

"What's with the Doom and Gloom? I'm pretty sure Max could single-handedly take on an army or two to make sure you'd be safe, I would, and they always say mothers are fiercer protectors of their young so if I took on two armies to keep you safe I'm sure Max could take on eight...or fifty depends on her mood, you do not want to mess with her when she's pissed."

Rachel laughed.

"I don't usually get this upset about things."

"Even with me and Max here, this isn't your home, and hey even if time travel doesn't exist yet, we'll find a way to get you back," said Alec, "have I ever lied to you?"

"I still don't have my pony."

"What's with girls and wanting ponies? Anyway that doesn't count because I haven't said it yet and...what I get you instead?"

"A stuffed horse," said Rachel smiling.

"Well, that was pretty close, and you look better now," he said, "How's about we go kick some '38 ass?"

"Sounds good, Dad."

"Hmmm...Dad...I kind of like the sound of that," said Alec grinning.

Rachel wiped her eyes and cuffed him in the shoulder as she stood up. They walked arm in arm back toward the others, and the Factory.

~*~*~*~*~

A/N: The last part I have dedicated to Faerie Babee, she wanted to see more 'cute, cuddly alec/rachel scenes' I wasn't even going to add another father/daughter thing until I read her comment for ch.14, and I was really considering cutting it out of this chapter when I went to edit but decided to keep the last scene.

Disclaimer: DA belongs to Cameron/Eglee etc.