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*The Longest Day*
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Spoilers: This is the fourth story in my series – if you haven't read any of my work before, you'd be best off going back to read and understand. The first story was Shattered Trusts and Whispered Confessions. The second is Remembering to Forget and the third, which I only just finished, is Events That Lead To Greatness. 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: Ideas are mine based on the brilliant work of the Dark Angel team – so don't sue me! I wish I owned Alec, but I don't. So I have to settle for writing fiction about him.
Authors Note: Just a general shout out thanks to all the great readers who have been reviewing my work and totally keeping me motivated. If it weren't for you guys I wouldn't be writing this stuff. I am trying out a new style of writing in this one; let me know what you guys think.
When it says someone's name over the top, it means that the chapter is in their point of view. It wont be like that for the entire story, just when necessary for what I am doing. Have fun and remember to review!
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CHAPTER NINE: Just Forget It
Seattle; Terminal City; January 1st 2023
1545 hours and counting...
The van pulled into Terminal City, Dix, Luke and many others coming out to meet the group, then issued them into Headquarters, away from shying eyes.
Luke came up to Max with a wet cloth, dabbing at the blood dried on her face,
"What happened to you."
"They killed Cece, I…"
Her voice broke as tears welled in her eyes. Alec looked over at her from the chair he was in having an X6 redress his shoulder,
"Wasn't your fault."
"This is all my fault. I let these people loose in the world. But there's no place for us out here. There's no place anywhere."
"You gave them freedom, Max. The thing about freedom...it's never free."
"Alec, I..."
His eyes fell downcast, then closed as he waited for the blasting she was going to give him for running away,
"I'm glad you're alive."
He opened them, smiling faintly at her,
"Me too."
"I just wanted to say I was sorry... for everything that happened. Things got really out of control and you were gone – I thought you were dead and by the time I found out you weren't, you were gone."
"Thought it would be for the best."
"I know."
They sat in silence, watching as transgenics ran around the room, cleaning everyone up and talking about what had happened. Alec turned to face her again,
"Hey Max?"
"Yeah?"
"Happy…"
A loud screaming from Auris - who was obviously in heavy labour, cut him off. Original Cindy held her hand comfortingly,
"Push. Push. That's it, girl. (Auris grunted as she pushed) Yes. Push! Push."
Normal sighed, shaking his head and moving over to join them,
"No. Wrong. Ca-ca. Don't you know anything about birthing babies? Pushing is exactly what she should not be doing right now."
He turned to Auris, speaking gently,
"Listen, I want you to breathe and relax, okay? All right, now breathe...and relax. Breathe and relax. All right, that's it. That's it."
He pulled up her skirt, looking under and OC gave him a look suggesting he was taking advantage of the pregnant woman. He ignored her,
"Okay. Okay, you're fully dilated. You're in a late second stage. It's not going to be long now. I want you to breathe from your diaphragm, okay?"
"And you know this how?"
"Dad was a dairy farmer. I know my way around the inside of a heifer better than you do."
Auris pushed him helplessly and he held up his hands,
"Okay. All right."
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1700 hours and counting...
Alec cracked his knuckles loudly, flexing his hands and sitting down at Luke's computer, typing away furiously after looking around to see what the others were doing. Minutes later, he stood, glancing around cautiously and then making his way out of headquarters. Max watched after him from the corner of the room, moving over to the computer when he was out of sight. It was turned off,
"Luke, can you come here? I need your help with something."
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Normal held onto Auris's hand gently as she panted raggedly, desperate to make it through these stages of childbirth. Max stood up on the other side of the room, walking past the pregnant woman on the couch. She stopped as Auris reached out, grabbing her arm,
"I want this over with!"
"You're okay, we're in Terminal City now, not Jampony and you don't have anything to worry about."
"Give me a weapon!"
"You're out of this soldier. There is no need for you to worry – okay. You just get that baby into this world."
Auris nodded at her, Normal's face creasing with pain as she gripped harder on him. He pushed her hair off her sweaty forehead with one hand,
"Just breathe, honey."
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Max made her way over to where Joshua and Mole stood just outside of Headquarters. They both looked up as she approached,
"We have a problem you guys."
"What's up Max?"
"You guys aren't going to like it. It's about Alec."
Mole regarded her warily, his voice demonstrating obvious tension,
"What about Alec?"
"He hacked into Luke's computer. Had a look at some files outlining what sort of transgenics we had here and how many. Then he sent the files to some email address."
"What about it?"
"It just seems a little suss. The day that you guys get trapped in a serious situation is the day that he turns up after being away for so long. And then now we find he's burrowing through confidential files and sending them off to someone."
He stared back at her stonily, speaking in a tight voice,
"Did you ask him about it?"
"Not yet."
"Well as usual, I think you're jumping to conclusions. Always ready to believe the worst about Alec – even when he was your boyfriend."
Mole turned to leave, stopping with his back to her as Max spoke,
"Can you not say anything to him? Just not yet."
"Whatever. You're just digging a bigger hole for yourself. Come on Joshua."
He walked away and Joshua looked over at her.
"Joshua..."
She stared after him as he walked away,
"Joshua!"
"Let him go."
Max whirled around to eye the speaker, her heart skipping a beat and her throat closing up,
"Alec, I..."
"Forget it."
She stared hopelessly as he walked off, escaping through a well-disguised hole in the TC fence.
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