A/N: I just wanna thank you guys for reviewing! Don't worry Kim, I'll be
nicer to Max soon, not real soon but soon. I love you all.
"You've what?" she asked in disbelief.
"I've found them, well not all of them but some."
"Oh god. Where are they? Are they safe?" she asked.
"Calm down Max, they're fine. I sent a message across to them, they should be here in a couple of days."
"Really?!" Max said totally excited.
"Yeah," Logan said, glad to see her happy. He reached out to pull her into his arms when she stepped away. He looked at her, making sure that the hurt he felt showed on his face. He knew that it had worked because she immediately looked apologetic.
"I'm sorry Logan but....how long has it been since you've showered?"
"Huh?" he looked down at himself, then smiled when he realized that she wasn't backing away at him, but at his personal hygiene. He knew that she would love him after this. He looked at her with longing in his eyes. "Well do you wanna wait for me up at my apartment?" he asked hopefully.
Max felted horrified but hoped that he wasn't able to tell. "Well I have to go talk to Cece about something so maybe later?" she said, spotting the blonde transgenic sitting in the same spot that she was before.
He looked disappointed. "Alright then but later," he said. She smiled at him and he walked off mollified.
. .
His phone was ringing but he ignored it. Finally it just irritated him too much and he picked it up.
"White."
"Fe nes tol."
"Fe nes tol," he answered, wincing slightly. He had been dreading this conversation.
"What are you going to do now that they are holed up inside that toxic dump?"
"We can't do anything. The government is still keeping a close eye on them, there is military everywhere. There is no way to get to them without suspicion."
"Well you better think of a way. We aren't very happy with your performance White so you had better do something to change our opinions or your help will no longer be needed. Understand?"
"Yes," he answered through clenched teeth, understanding the thinly veiled threat very well.
"Good, Fe nes tol."
He listened to the dial tone, his anger getting stronger and stronger. This is all 452's fault he thought. I will get her, I will kill her but first I have to find out where my son is. He put the phone down and stalked out of the room.
He didn't notice the pair of eyes following his every move, he didn't see the person pick up their own phone and relay everything that White and his confidant had talked about.
. .
Otto sat back in his chair exhausted. He ran his hand through his hair trying to get of the thoughts in his head. He sighed and took out a picture from his wallet. It was of him and his dad. He didn't think that he would ever forget about his father, he had only died a few months ago. He knew that the only reason he was after the transgenics was because he believed that they had killed him. His father had been a worker at Manticore, one of the cleaners there. He remembered asking his father about the kids that had been there when he had been really young. His father had told him stories about them but had made him promise not to tell anyone else. He remembered that his dad had told him that he would get into a lot of trouble if anyone at work had found out about him telling other people what went on at the Manticore facility. He had vowed to keep his silence and he was still keeping that promise today. No one else knew that his dad had been employed there and he intended on it staying that way. He knew that White would probably have a heart attack and then kill him for not telling him. That had been the only reason that he had joined White, because it was obvious that he shared the blinding hatred for transgenics that Otto had. His father had been killed by transgenics and he had resolved to take his revenge, but now. He sighed, they had captured more of those freaks and they had been taken away to be examined. He hadn't really cared about it when it had been the weird looking ones that were being taken, but now it was the ones that looked just like him. He didn't like the idea of people being cut up and used for experiments. He kept telling himself that they weren't human but each time he told himself that he just believed it even less. He sighed again, he didn't know what to do. He turned the photo over to see the familiar scrawl. Otto and Sam.
. .
"Hey Cece," she said, sitting down next to her.
"Hey Max," she replied. "Are you alright?" she asked the brunette as she slumped down in her chair.
"Yeah I just." She sighed. "Cece, you know that I've been out of Manticore for like 10 years now and I just don't understand how things were back there anymore. Can you explain it to me?"
Cece looked at her in surprise, this was the first time that Max had ever wanted to talk about Manticore. Usually she stopped conversation about it as soon as it was brought up. She looked at the dejected transgenic and took pity on her. "What do you want to know?"
Max looked up in surprise. She hadn't thought that Cece would actually talk to her about it. "Well...everything," she finally managed to utter.
"OK," Cece took a deep breath and began. "Well you already know that it was split into two but it wasn't always like that. First we started off with our original unit." Max nodded and she continued, "Then some units were split and put into other units." Max nodded again, she remembered that, their unit had been given 3 extra soldiers but they hadn't really paid any attention to them because they were already planning their escape, which happened a week later so she hadn't got to know any of the new soldiers and they had kept to themselves anyway.
Cece kept talking "Well they kept doing it. First there were only a couple of soldiers added, then there were complete units put together. They had picked the CO's already but then there were fights as to who the units were going to listen to, their own CO or their new one. It stopped as they got older though because they soon made their own alpha line."
"Alpha line? What's that?" Max asked remembering that Blake and Alec had talked about it.
"Well, you know that we have different animal genes in us right?" she asked making sure that Max understood before she went any further. "Well it's due to the instincts in our genes that make us line up in order of who is more important. It wasn't that bad with the females but the males, they were terrible." She shook her head at the thought. "They had to fight it out and everything. It was just so typical though." She sniffed with contempt.
"I don't understand," Max said. "How did they work out who was more important?"
"It's in our instincts Max, have you ever got the feeling that you were intimidated by some one even though you didn't know them, or you felt like you had to do something just because they told you to? Well that's your instincts coming into play."
Max looked at her, deep in thought. She didn't think that she had ever been intimidated by anyone. Then she remembered how she had jumped to do Blake's bidding. "Blake is an alpha isn't he?" she asked.
"Yeah he is, there aren't many people that outrank him or are alpha to him." She looked at Max who nodded at her to continue. "Well after a while the groups just got bigger and bigger, there were 2 CO's in our compound and then finally one. We were all being led by one person and it was the same for the other compound. We were being led by someone we trusted, someone we knew would never let us down."
Max looked at her. She was starting to understand, well sort of. But there was one thing that she wanted to know. "Cece where am I on the alpha line?"
Cece looked at her, "Don't you know?" she asked in amazement.
Max shook her head.
"Well Max, you are the alpha female in here now, I thought that you would know that?"
"No," she answered, "I didn't. What makes me alpha female?"
"Our instincts just tell us that you are Max."
"Oh ok. So then who is alpha male?"
"Alec of course."
"Why not Blake?"
"Because Alec was CO and he is alpha to Blake."
"But I thought that Blake was CO too?"
Cece looked surprised and was about answer when Blake himself appeared.
"So ladies, how are we tonight?"
"Good." They chorused.
"Good. Cece, can I talk to you for a moment? Max I think that Joshua wanted to talk to you."
"Oh ok," Max said and walked off.
"Don't say anything," Blake hissed at Cece as soon as Max was out of earshot.
"What?" she said alarmed.
"Direct order Cece. Nothing else about Manticore. Understand?"
"Yes sir." She replied instantly.
"Good" he replied and walked off to talk to Dix again.
"You've what?" she asked in disbelief.
"I've found them, well not all of them but some."
"Oh god. Where are they? Are they safe?" she asked.
"Calm down Max, they're fine. I sent a message across to them, they should be here in a couple of days."
"Really?!" Max said totally excited.
"Yeah," Logan said, glad to see her happy. He reached out to pull her into his arms when she stepped away. He looked at her, making sure that the hurt he felt showed on his face. He knew that it had worked because she immediately looked apologetic.
"I'm sorry Logan but....how long has it been since you've showered?"
"Huh?" he looked down at himself, then smiled when he realized that she wasn't backing away at him, but at his personal hygiene. He knew that she would love him after this. He looked at her with longing in his eyes. "Well do you wanna wait for me up at my apartment?" he asked hopefully.
Max felted horrified but hoped that he wasn't able to tell. "Well I have to go talk to Cece about something so maybe later?" she said, spotting the blonde transgenic sitting in the same spot that she was before.
He looked disappointed. "Alright then but later," he said. She smiled at him and he walked off mollified.
. .
His phone was ringing but he ignored it. Finally it just irritated him too much and he picked it up.
"White."
"Fe nes tol."
"Fe nes tol," he answered, wincing slightly. He had been dreading this conversation.
"What are you going to do now that they are holed up inside that toxic dump?"
"We can't do anything. The government is still keeping a close eye on them, there is military everywhere. There is no way to get to them without suspicion."
"Well you better think of a way. We aren't very happy with your performance White so you had better do something to change our opinions or your help will no longer be needed. Understand?"
"Yes," he answered through clenched teeth, understanding the thinly veiled threat very well.
"Good, Fe nes tol."
He listened to the dial tone, his anger getting stronger and stronger. This is all 452's fault he thought. I will get her, I will kill her but first I have to find out where my son is. He put the phone down and stalked out of the room.
He didn't notice the pair of eyes following his every move, he didn't see the person pick up their own phone and relay everything that White and his confidant had talked about.
. .
Otto sat back in his chair exhausted. He ran his hand through his hair trying to get of the thoughts in his head. He sighed and took out a picture from his wallet. It was of him and his dad. He didn't think that he would ever forget about his father, he had only died a few months ago. He knew that the only reason he was after the transgenics was because he believed that they had killed him. His father had been a worker at Manticore, one of the cleaners there. He remembered asking his father about the kids that had been there when he had been really young. His father had told him stories about them but had made him promise not to tell anyone else. He remembered that his dad had told him that he would get into a lot of trouble if anyone at work had found out about him telling other people what went on at the Manticore facility. He had vowed to keep his silence and he was still keeping that promise today. No one else knew that his dad had been employed there and he intended on it staying that way. He knew that White would probably have a heart attack and then kill him for not telling him. That had been the only reason that he had joined White, because it was obvious that he shared the blinding hatred for transgenics that Otto had. His father had been killed by transgenics and he had resolved to take his revenge, but now. He sighed, they had captured more of those freaks and they had been taken away to be examined. He hadn't really cared about it when it had been the weird looking ones that were being taken, but now it was the ones that looked just like him. He didn't like the idea of people being cut up and used for experiments. He kept telling himself that they weren't human but each time he told himself that he just believed it even less. He sighed again, he didn't know what to do. He turned the photo over to see the familiar scrawl. Otto and Sam.
. .
"Hey Cece," she said, sitting down next to her.
"Hey Max," she replied. "Are you alright?" she asked the brunette as she slumped down in her chair.
"Yeah I just." She sighed. "Cece, you know that I've been out of Manticore for like 10 years now and I just don't understand how things were back there anymore. Can you explain it to me?"
Cece looked at her in surprise, this was the first time that Max had ever wanted to talk about Manticore. Usually she stopped conversation about it as soon as it was brought up. She looked at the dejected transgenic and took pity on her. "What do you want to know?"
Max looked up in surprise. She hadn't thought that Cece would actually talk to her about it. "Well...everything," she finally managed to utter.
"OK," Cece took a deep breath and began. "Well you already know that it was split into two but it wasn't always like that. First we started off with our original unit." Max nodded and she continued, "Then some units were split and put into other units." Max nodded again, she remembered that, their unit had been given 3 extra soldiers but they hadn't really paid any attention to them because they were already planning their escape, which happened a week later so she hadn't got to know any of the new soldiers and they had kept to themselves anyway.
Cece kept talking "Well they kept doing it. First there were only a couple of soldiers added, then there were complete units put together. They had picked the CO's already but then there were fights as to who the units were going to listen to, their own CO or their new one. It stopped as they got older though because they soon made their own alpha line."
"Alpha line? What's that?" Max asked remembering that Blake and Alec had talked about it.
"Well, you know that we have different animal genes in us right?" she asked making sure that Max understood before she went any further. "Well it's due to the instincts in our genes that make us line up in order of who is more important. It wasn't that bad with the females but the males, they were terrible." She shook her head at the thought. "They had to fight it out and everything. It was just so typical though." She sniffed with contempt.
"I don't understand," Max said. "How did they work out who was more important?"
"It's in our instincts Max, have you ever got the feeling that you were intimidated by some one even though you didn't know them, or you felt like you had to do something just because they told you to? Well that's your instincts coming into play."
Max looked at her, deep in thought. She didn't think that she had ever been intimidated by anyone. Then she remembered how she had jumped to do Blake's bidding. "Blake is an alpha isn't he?" she asked.
"Yeah he is, there aren't many people that outrank him or are alpha to him." She looked at Max who nodded at her to continue. "Well after a while the groups just got bigger and bigger, there were 2 CO's in our compound and then finally one. We were all being led by one person and it was the same for the other compound. We were being led by someone we trusted, someone we knew would never let us down."
Max looked at her. She was starting to understand, well sort of. But there was one thing that she wanted to know. "Cece where am I on the alpha line?"
Cece looked at her, "Don't you know?" she asked in amazement.
Max shook her head.
"Well Max, you are the alpha female in here now, I thought that you would know that?"
"No," she answered, "I didn't. What makes me alpha female?"
"Our instincts just tell us that you are Max."
"Oh ok. So then who is alpha male?"
"Alec of course."
"Why not Blake?"
"Because Alec was CO and he is alpha to Blake."
"But I thought that Blake was CO too?"
Cece looked surprised and was about answer when Blake himself appeared.
"So ladies, how are we tonight?"
"Good." They chorused.
"Good. Cece, can I talk to you for a moment? Max I think that Joshua wanted to talk to you."
"Oh ok," Max said and walked off.
"Don't say anything," Blake hissed at Cece as soon as Max was out of earshot.
"What?" she said alarmed.
"Direct order Cece. Nothing else about Manticore. Understand?"
"Yes sir." She replied instantly.
"Good" he replied and walked off to talk to Dix again.