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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 TWELVE: Solidarity
2245 hours and counting...
"Max? Max?"
Luke's concerned voice dragged her out of her thoughts and she rested her eyes on him fretfully, wiping at her tearstained cheeks,
"How is he?"
"Dalton's finishing up. The kid's a whiz at all things medical. Alec took a nasty fall, but he'll live."
Max stared miserably down at the ground, her voice a shaky whisper,
"It was my fault."
"No."
"Yes. I hit him and he went through the glass."
Luke's surprised expression was the only response, before Dalton stepped quietly out of the TC hospital room she was anxiously pacing in front on.
"He's okay. He will be. I've done as much as I can for now, so he's sleeping off the anaesthesia, but the drugs will burn out of his system soon enough. Then he'll be alert and probably pretty upset with what happened – I wont know till I talk to him, but it looks like his legs have lost their feeling. But he's lucky it wasn't worse, considering the distance he fell."
Max smiled sadly at him, nodding her head gratefully as she pushed the door open into his room, her eyes refilling with tears as she looked at his hacked up, yet still handsome face – bruises and cuts already starting to heal. She automatically reached out and touched his face, pushing back the lock of hair resting messily on his forehead,
"I'm so sorry Alec. I... I am so sorry! It's like everything I touch falls apart. And you haven't even been back a day and I do this to you! I… And I was actually really happy you were back – I'm glad you came home."
She hovered above him, staring at his marred face, tears splashing soundlessly onto him. Max scrunched her eyes painfully, turning to leave, before looking back at him,
"I missed you
Alec. I've wanted to say that all day. That and... I still love you..."
His eyes fluttered open as she hurried out, his right eye unable to open more than a slit from the swelling and bruising. He grimaced, sitting up and using his left hand to pull the drip from his broken right hand,
"I never stopped loving you Max."
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2300 hours and counting...
Max's eyes widened at the sight of the large crowd of transgenics gathered outside headquarters. She looked at it curiously, spotting OC and Sketchy amongst them all and she gave them a small uncertain smile, which disappeared as the group fell silent, everyone staring at her expectantly. She made her way through them, as they parted to make room for her. She stopped as she came face to face with Mole,
"What's going on?"
"We called a meeting."
"Uh... okay..."
"We've decided. After what happened today at your work, its pretty obvious those after us aren't far from knowing where we are. It wont be long till the tanks are parked outside."
"So what Mole, what have you decided?"
"Escape and evade. We divide up into teams, pick an azimuth, and go to ground."
"What? NO! We stay here."
"In a couple of hours, that perimeter will be completely locked down. Tanks, National Guard, every cop within a hundred miles."
Dix stepped forward, his gaze sad as he focused on Max,
"We'll be digging our own grave, Max."
"This is ridiculous! We should stay here, we haven't been too badly exposed and Alec assures me Lydecker is watching our backs now."
"It's alright for you Miss X5 – you can walk out there and no one knows the difference. They just think oh she's pretty. Not, oh she's a scaly red-eyed lizard animal! You can walk out of here and humans don't know what you are!"
She gave Mole a filthy look, cut off as Joshua stepped forward too, his comment evoking a hurt expression from her,
"Mole's right. Move now, never is able to catch us all."
She licked her lips, hands on her hips in defensive mode, as she surveyed the mostly transgenic crowd,
"Where are we gonna go? I can't stop anyone from leaving, but I'm through running and hiding and being afraid. I'm not gonna live my life like that anymore. Aren't you tired of living in darkness? Don't you want to feel the sun on your face? To have a place of your own where you can walk down the street without being afraid? They made us, and they trained us to be soldiers, to defend this country. It's time for them to face us and take responsibility, instead of trying to sweep us away like garbage. We were made in America and we're not going anywhere. So they call us freaks; who cares? Today I'm proud to be a freak. And today we're gonna make a stand, right here. Who's with me?"
Max raised a fist in the air, looking around at them all to see their reactions. Her eyes dropped dispiritedly and her she readied herself to drop her hand, just as Joshua lifted his into the air, followed by Dix, Gem, Auris, Cindy, Sketchy – even Normal. One by one, the crowd members held their fists in the air too and she grinned slightly, turning to stare determined at Mole. He looked at her, his answer coming slow – his fist rising at the same pace,
"What the hell."
OC nodded her head proudly at what Max had done,
"Right on."
Max turned smiling at her best friend, catching the grins emitting from the transgenics in the crowd. But, even her transgenic eyes couldn't see the wheelchair seated Alec, hidden in the shadows – barely recognisable from his injuries; his hand held high up with the others in the air.
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