Spoilers: This is the third in my series of stories. The first
was Shattered Trusts and Whispered Confessions. The second,
which I only just finished, is Remembering to Forget. This
series is set after Hello Goodbye but does reveal spoilers from
the rest of the season, as I incorporate it into the story.
Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine except for some minors. The ideas are pretty much mine though but I just want to say thanks to those who have reviewed my previous works, it keeps me writing!
Authors Note: If you really want to understand this story and enjoy it, then be sure to read the original parts one and two.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
Seattle; Terminal City; October 11th 2022
2130 hours
Alec heard Max's voice clearly, yet he took a minute, repeating it in his head as he struggled to come to terms with what she had said,
"I have to kill Alec."
She was going to kill him. He knew why more or less, it had to do with the runes, the shroud of death and why she had been seeing Logan secretly behind his back.
"I have to kill Alec."
Scrap everything that their relationship had meant, all that they had been to one another. He had to get out of there, because if it came to a battle to the end, he didn't think he would be able to kill her, even if she could him.
"I have to kill Alec."
He gave one regretful look at the door to headquarters, before turning on his heels and running as fast as he could, composing himself not to look back.
* * * * *
Max looked at Luke, his face set into a grim expression of determination. She felt as though her world was crashing down around her,
"I wont do it. I cant."
"Then someone else is going to have to. But you're the messenger, you play an important part in this and it just might be that you're the one who is destined to do it. Why else would you be fated into this whole twisted thing?"
"Then we need to find Alec and tell him."
"Good luck",
The two turned as Mole's gruff voice echoed around them, seeing him standing staring at them from the entrance,
"He just ran out of TC, sentries contacted me, they thought something might be wrong. So are you two gonna tell me what's going on?"
* * * * *
Mole gave a snort of annoyance and then fixed his steely gaze on Max,
"You believe this Logan guy?"
"He didn't tell me, it was written in his files."
"Doesn't mean it's true."
"We have Alec's and my runes too, they spell out that something serious is going to happen."
"You want a way to examine the situation? A way to figure out a different explanation?"
"Of course."
"Then think about this Max, Alec was recaptured by Manticore like 8 months ago or something. Right?"
"Yeah."
"Did you ever think that while he was there, someone injected this plague deal into him. This trigger you talk about that brought about Alec's runes. Maybe the virus plague thing wont come into effect until it is triggered."
Max looked at him in amazement, it made perfect sense,
"So are you thinking that if we take him back to Manticore, we can get rid of it before it kills all the people?"
"Bingo."
"But we cant. I mean, he'd never go back."
"He would for you Max."
"I can't ask him that."
"You're going to have to. Or this will be on you. Every single human being will die and it will be all your fault."
Luke looked up, shocked at Mole,
"Ease up, you're driving her into guilt already. This is Max's call, we stand by you no matter what."
"Either way Max, it's on you. Honestly, it doesn't make a difference to me, I hate humans. But do you want something like that on your conscience. Do you think Alec does? You need to decided what's best here."
She hung her head down, trying to clear out the roaring thoughts plaguing her,
"Do you really think Manticore is the answer?"
"It's either there or killing him. Are you willing to sacrifice his life for the lives of millions?"
"I just can't take him back there. But I don't think I could kill him either."
"Knowing Alec, going back to Manticore would be worse than death."
"Looks like the decision has been made then Max, you know what you have to do..."
* * * * *
Flashback:
Alec flinched slightly as the man he had asked if he wanted to buy Andy, only to discover he didn't have any, was starting to get angry,
"What you mean, you don't have it on you?"
"Well, like I said, sir, if you just wanna give me your name and address, I promise I'll pop it in the mail tomorrow."
"You wack punk!"
He stormed off and Alec nodded in frustration, while he and Max continued walking along through the Steelhead territory. He couldn't bite his tongue any longer,
"This is ridiculous."
Finally Bird stepped into view,
"Hey, you."
Alec almost threw his hands up in the air to celebrate,
"Finally! You realize how long I've been waiting for you?"
Bird grinned at him,
"Not nearly as long as I've been waiting for you."
He raised his gun, causing Max and Alec to quickly dodge out of the way. Alec zigzagged up to him, flipping so that he was behind him. Another Steelhead approached them with his gun raised and Max swiftly kicked him down. Alec leaned down, wrenching the gun from Bird's hand and flipped him into some crates. The man Max had kicked came at her with spikes coming out of his forearm. She blocked his attack and kicked him forcefully in the back.
Alec stopped, cracking his knuckles, feeling completely satisfied with the fight. Zack came up to him, taking him completely by surprise as he grabs him by the throat. Max shoved the Steelhead she was beating on out of the way,
"Zack!"
He eyed her suspiciously as he held Alec in midair by his throat with just one hand. Zack pulled out a gun and trained it on her. She didn't hesitate,
"Zack. It's me. It's Max."
"Who are you?"
"Zack, it's me. Zack? It's Max."
He didn't speak, his eyes darting around as though he were remembering unseen memories. Finally he came back to reality,
"You're an X5. Show me your barcode."
She didn't move and Alec choking, managed to splutter out his advice,
"Max, show it to him already."
She turned around, pulling her hair aside to flash him her barcode. It was obvious he was matching it to other memories. Zack dropped Alec, who fell to the ground gasping, as Zack spoke,
"You're 452. I know you. You're in my unit."
"That's right. I'm Max."
"Max."
"Come on. Let's get you out of here."
Zack wavered, staring at the Steelheads lying on the ground,
"What about them?"
"They're not in our unit."
The two walk away, Alec watches after them, still trying to regulate his breathing,
"I'm fine."
* * * * *
Seattle; The Space Needle; October 11th 2022
2300 hours
Max came up the top silently, knowing in her heart that Alec would be there. He spoke before turning to even see if it were her,
"You know, it seems like you always put others before me. Like how you saved Logan's life even though he tried to kill me. Or like that time when Zack nearly crushed my windpipe, you were more worried about taking him somewhere where you two could talk, instead of seeing if I was alright."
She moved over to the edge where he was standing, her hands in her pockets as she followed his gaze over the city,
"You're always alright."
"I'm not now. As much as I resent the fact that I never come first in your life, this time I get it. Millions of people will die."
"We'll find a way around it."
"I've got a way around it."
He looked at her, his normally sparkling green eyes, almost black in the night. Silently, he handed her a knife and held his arms out,
"Do it or I'll jump."
"I wont kill you Alec."
"Then you're pretty much killing millions of innocent humans. People like you."
She reached for him and he dodged, moving so that he was lying down on the graffiti covered surface. He pulled her dangling arm and she fell to her knees next to him, her free hand landing with the knife poised high above his chest, aimed straight at his heart.
"Do it!"
Max stared at his handsome face, torn over what to do.
"DO IT!"
She gave a gut-wrenching sob, catching his eye as she slammed the blade down,
"I'm so sorry."
* * * * *
To be continued...
Author's Note:
More soon, but I hope the suspense drives you guys crazy and inspires reviewing to take place. Fingers crossed and all that jazz.
Disclaimer: Characters aren't mine except for some minors. The ideas are pretty much mine though but I just want to say thanks to those who have reviewed my previous works, it keeps me writing!
Authors Note: If you really want to understand this story and enjoy it, then be sure to read the original parts one and two.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:
Seattle; Terminal City; October 11th 2022
2130 hours
Alec heard Max's voice clearly, yet he took a minute, repeating it in his head as he struggled to come to terms with what she had said,
"I have to kill Alec."
She was going to kill him. He knew why more or less, it had to do with the runes, the shroud of death and why she had been seeing Logan secretly behind his back.
"I have to kill Alec."
Scrap everything that their relationship had meant, all that they had been to one another. He had to get out of there, because if it came to a battle to the end, he didn't think he would be able to kill her, even if she could him.
"I have to kill Alec."
He gave one regretful look at the door to headquarters, before turning on his heels and running as fast as he could, composing himself not to look back.
* * * * *
Max looked at Luke, his face set into a grim expression of determination. She felt as though her world was crashing down around her,
"I wont do it. I cant."
"Then someone else is going to have to. But you're the messenger, you play an important part in this and it just might be that you're the one who is destined to do it. Why else would you be fated into this whole twisted thing?"
"Then we need to find Alec and tell him."
"Good luck",
The two turned as Mole's gruff voice echoed around them, seeing him standing staring at them from the entrance,
"He just ran out of TC, sentries contacted me, they thought something might be wrong. So are you two gonna tell me what's going on?"
* * * * *
Mole gave a snort of annoyance and then fixed his steely gaze on Max,
"You believe this Logan guy?"
"He didn't tell me, it was written in his files."
"Doesn't mean it's true."
"We have Alec's and my runes too, they spell out that something serious is going to happen."
"You want a way to examine the situation? A way to figure out a different explanation?"
"Of course."
"Then think about this Max, Alec was recaptured by Manticore like 8 months ago or something. Right?"
"Yeah."
"Did you ever think that while he was there, someone injected this plague deal into him. This trigger you talk about that brought about Alec's runes. Maybe the virus plague thing wont come into effect until it is triggered."
Max looked at him in amazement, it made perfect sense,
"So are you thinking that if we take him back to Manticore, we can get rid of it before it kills all the people?"
"Bingo."
"But we cant. I mean, he'd never go back."
"He would for you Max."
"I can't ask him that."
"You're going to have to. Or this will be on you. Every single human being will die and it will be all your fault."
Luke looked up, shocked at Mole,
"Ease up, you're driving her into guilt already. This is Max's call, we stand by you no matter what."
"Either way Max, it's on you. Honestly, it doesn't make a difference to me, I hate humans. But do you want something like that on your conscience. Do you think Alec does? You need to decided what's best here."
She hung her head down, trying to clear out the roaring thoughts plaguing her,
"Do you really think Manticore is the answer?"
"It's either there or killing him. Are you willing to sacrifice his life for the lives of millions?"
"I just can't take him back there. But I don't think I could kill him either."
"Knowing Alec, going back to Manticore would be worse than death."
"Looks like the decision has been made then Max, you know what you have to do..."
* * * * *
Flashback:
Alec flinched slightly as the man he had asked if he wanted to buy Andy, only to discover he didn't have any, was starting to get angry,
"What you mean, you don't have it on you?"
"Well, like I said, sir, if you just wanna give me your name and address, I promise I'll pop it in the mail tomorrow."
"You wack punk!"
He stormed off and Alec nodded in frustration, while he and Max continued walking along through the Steelhead territory. He couldn't bite his tongue any longer,
"This is ridiculous."
Finally Bird stepped into view,
"Hey, you."
Alec almost threw his hands up in the air to celebrate,
"Finally! You realize how long I've been waiting for you?"
Bird grinned at him,
"Not nearly as long as I've been waiting for you."
He raised his gun, causing Max and Alec to quickly dodge out of the way. Alec zigzagged up to him, flipping so that he was behind him. Another Steelhead approached them with his gun raised and Max swiftly kicked him down. Alec leaned down, wrenching the gun from Bird's hand and flipped him into some crates. The man Max had kicked came at her with spikes coming out of his forearm. She blocked his attack and kicked him forcefully in the back.
Alec stopped, cracking his knuckles, feeling completely satisfied with the fight. Zack came up to him, taking him completely by surprise as he grabs him by the throat. Max shoved the Steelhead she was beating on out of the way,
"Zack!"
He eyed her suspiciously as he held Alec in midair by his throat with just one hand. Zack pulled out a gun and trained it on her. She didn't hesitate,
"Zack. It's me. It's Max."
"Who are you?"
"Zack, it's me. Zack? It's Max."
He didn't speak, his eyes darting around as though he were remembering unseen memories. Finally he came back to reality,
"You're an X5. Show me your barcode."
She didn't move and Alec choking, managed to splutter out his advice,
"Max, show it to him already."
She turned around, pulling her hair aside to flash him her barcode. It was obvious he was matching it to other memories. Zack dropped Alec, who fell to the ground gasping, as Zack spoke,
"You're 452. I know you. You're in my unit."
"That's right. I'm Max."
"Max."
"Come on. Let's get you out of here."
Zack wavered, staring at the Steelheads lying on the ground,
"What about them?"
"They're not in our unit."
The two walk away, Alec watches after them, still trying to regulate his breathing,
"I'm fine."
* * * * *
Seattle; The Space Needle; October 11th 2022
2300 hours
Max came up the top silently, knowing in her heart that Alec would be there. He spoke before turning to even see if it were her,
"You know, it seems like you always put others before me. Like how you saved Logan's life even though he tried to kill me. Or like that time when Zack nearly crushed my windpipe, you were more worried about taking him somewhere where you two could talk, instead of seeing if I was alright."
She moved over to the edge where he was standing, her hands in her pockets as she followed his gaze over the city,
"You're always alright."
"I'm not now. As much as I resent the fact that I never come first in your life, this time I get it. Millions of people will die."
"We'll find a way around it."
"I've got a way around it."
He looked at her, his normally sparkling green eyes, almost black in the night. Silently, he handed her a knife and held his arms out,
"Do it or I'll jump."
"I wont kill you Alec."
"Then you're pretty much killing millions of innocent humans. People like you."
She reached for him and he dodged, moving so that he was lying down on the graffiti covered surface. He pulled her dangling arm and she fell to her knees next to him, her free hand landing with the knife poised high above his chest, aimed straight at his heart.
"Do it!"
Max stared at his handsome face, torn over what to do.
"DO IT!"
She gave a gut-wrenching sob, catching his eye as she slammed the blade down,
"I'm so sorry."
* * * * *
To be continued...
Author's Note:
More soon, but I hope the suspense drives you guys crazy and inspires reviewing to take place. Fingers crossed and all that jazz.