Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel. I'm just using the characters and some story lines as puppets for my own amusement. I'm not making any money out of this story.
Spoilers/Timeframe: Set during "Bag 'Em"
A/N: I love writing cliff-hangers, and I make no apologies for them! I'm only sorry that I take so long to write new chapters.
I didn't really like the second season of the show. So after this chapter, I will stop following the story lines of season two closely. They may be referenced once in a while, but that is all. Sorry to disappoint any devoted season two fans out there, but that's just the way it is. Oh, and I don't hate Alec, and I don't intend to character bash.
Again, I've fiddled with the timeline of the episode. I know that the passage of time is very different than it is in 'Bag 'Em.' There are also things that have been added, or left out. It's all intentional.
Thanks to Kyre for her episode transcripts, which I would be incredibly lost without, and special thanks to Aimee, my wonderful beta.
Chapter 10 – Severed Leases
*** Barn, NIGHT ***
"We need something to tie her up with." Max said, looking around the barn.
"Had I known you were into bondage, I wouldn't have let you escape so quickly." Alec gave her a grin and raised his eyebrows.
"Shut up." Zane yelled harshly, struggling to hold on to Brin.
"Will these do?" Alec held out a pair of handcuffs. Together, he and Zane cuffed Brin to a pole, then retied her with a rope Max tossed them.
"I don't want to know where you got those." Max nodded at the handcuffs.
"It's quite a funny story actually." Alec grinned.
"Whatever. You!" Max called, her eyes falling on an X6.
"Yes Ma'm?" The X6 replied obediently.
"The name's Max." She corrected.
"Yes Ma'm." Max rolled her eyes.
"Keep an eye on her. If she moves, speak up. Or shoot her in the leg."
"I'll watch her." Zane countered quickly, eying the X6 up and down. Max stepped quickly over to her brother, resisting the temptation to slap him.
"We don't have time for this. Sorry it was me that gave the order and not you. But the kid should watch her."
"No Max. That 'kid,' or 'genetically engineered super soldier,' if you want to look at it that way, still belongs to Manticore. Up here." He explained, pointing at his temple. "She could persuade him to turn." Max looked over at Brin, who was staring straight at her. She turned back to Zane, away from Brin, and spoke in a barely audible voice.
"Be careful. She's not the same as she was." A groan came from the wounded X6 soldier and Max hurried away.
Zane approached his sister with caution, and the pretence of fear. Her eyes fleeted over him momentarily before returning to Max.
"Traitor! Vermin!" She hissed in a voice loud enough for Max to hear. Zane didn't need to look over his shoulder to know that Max was ignoring her. Though if the way Brin's comments were affecting him were anything to go by, Max was feeling each and every word. Feeling them cut deep. He sat down, trying his best to look bored, and studied his sister.
Alec pulled out his pocket knife and looked from the X6 to Max. "The bullet went right through. We're gonna have to cauterize."
"What happened?" X6-809 asked, voice heavy with confusion. "Why were they shooting at us?"
Max ignored the young female and studied the patient in front of her.
"He's going into shock. Get something to keep him warm." She looked at Alec briefly, who was searching through his pockets.
"I'm going to be sick." The other female X6 murmured before slowly (and palely) retreating.
"Bet that one flunked field med." Alec muttered, producing a lighter and running its flame over the blade of his knife. He handed the sterilised knife to Max. "Go."
"I'm not gonna lie--this is gonna hurt like hell." Max said by way of warning, before touching the blade to X6-787's leg. He yelled, then closed his eyes tightly.
"Hang on, hang on. It's almost over." Alec said reassuringly as the X6 held back screams. "Okay, it's done. Hey, hey, you're gonna be okay. All right?" Max gave him an uncertain glance and looked around at the other 'soldiers' in the room.
"Yeah, so long as we get him and the rest of these kids out of here." She muttered, looking back at Alec.
"What do you mean, "we"? This is your party, not mine." He replied, earning a dark look from Max.
"You can't just-" She began ---
"This is not the mission!" Brin yelled suddenly, causing Max to break off, and an X6 to jump. Zane looked at her sharply. For her part, she hadn't tried to talk him into releasing her, hadn't spoken a word since he'd begun his watch over her.
"We need to return to the rendezvous point." She continued, speaking only to the X6 soldiers in the room. They looked at each other, dubious.
"Were you asleep back there? They tried to kill you. Twice. You want to make that three times lucky?" Alec said in a sarcastic voice accentuated by the rolling of his eyes.
"They weren't after us." Brin spat back. "They were after the traitor."
"Make that traitors." Zane cut in. Brin studied him properly for the first time, then spat on the floor in front of him. He raised his eyebrows.
"I see the Manticore finishing school is still producing quality women with fantastic manners." He quipped with a quick glance at Max. He turned back to Brin, who suddenly leapt forward, having freed herself, and launched an attack on Zane.
*** Temporary Command Centre, Rendezvous point, NIGHT ***
"Sir, we've been unable to locate the database." The soldier said nervously, avoiding looking White in the eye.
"Look harder. It's there."
"With all due respect, sir, the men have been searching since the fire was contained. All they have been able to come up with is this." The soldier handed White a folder. He studied it briefly.
"Tell them to search again. I need that database." He said roughly, returning his gaze to the file.
"Yes sir." The soldier retreated quickly. White smiled at the file, tapping it with a finger.
"Well well, looks like they got further than we thought. X5-452. There are a lot of people that are going to want to know about you."
*** Barn, NIGHT ***
Max looked wearily around at the X6s in the barn, trying to ignore the permanent death stare Brin was giving her. Her ankle was throbbing, probably broken, owing to an injury she had sustained pulling Brin off Zane. Added to the darkening bruises on her face from their earlier run in, she looked a mess. Alec stood guarding Brin and throwing popcorn at the X7, whose eyes were fixed on a point outside of the window. Max looked over her shoulder. Zane had begun working on a pickup truck housed by the barn. She flinched at the sight of the cut over his eye that he had hastily patched up, then turned away again.
"All right, people. Fall in." She commanded, and the X6s responded immediately by forming a line. Alec didn't move from his guard position, nor from throwing popcorn at the X7, who also stayed where he was. Brin's scowl darkened.
"There's been a change in your mission status- extreme and unforseen." She began, the Manticore terminology flooding back to her. "You've been betrayed by your own command. What do you do?" The Manticore children looked at her.
"Redeploy." They responded, and Max nodded.
"Correct. How?" The X6s remained silent.
"Unknown, ma'am." One answered. "We have no training with regard to that circumstance."
"Do you know what that means?" Max challenged, surveying the children in front of her.
"No, ma'am." They answered.
"All your training goes out the window." She finished.
"Yes ma'am." The X6s chorused.
"Starting with your blind obedience to Manticore and all it represents." She continued.
"Yes, ma'am." They replied obediently.
"Which means you're going to stop calling me ma'am and start calling me Max."
"Yes, ma'am."
"Yes, Max." She said, exasperated. "That's my name. And now that you're in the real world, you all should have names, too."
"Oh, for the love of-" Alec began.
"Shut up!" Max interrupted. Alec looked from her to the threatening look Zane was giving him and shrugged his shoulders. He looked pointedly at Brin as if to remind them of his 'guard duty' favour, then went back to throwing popcorn.
"You have to stop thinking of yourselves as soldiers and start thinking of yourselves as people." Max continued.
"But we are soldiers." An X6 protested. Max stormed over to him, looking down with her most threatening face.
"You mouthing off to me?" She yelled into his face. "'Cause I have zero tolerance for that. Zero! And to commemorate this special moment, that's gonna be your name--Zero. Get out on sentry duty." Zero immediately left for his duty, and Max addressed the rest of the group.
"People have names, not numbers. If you're going to survive out here, you need to blend in. That means names. I have one, Alec has one," She said, gesturing to Alec. He gave an exaggerated sigh and rolled his eyes at the comment. "And even Brin has one." She finished, daring a quick look at her sister. Brin's eyes hadn't left Max's face, but she made no sign of having heard the comment. Max turned back to the soldiers in front of her.
"I saw you messing around with that radio there." She said to X6-809.
"I excelled in diagnostics and repair. I was trying to fix it." The young soldier replied.
"Fixit--that's gonna be your name. And that's what I want you to do. Go help Zane with that old pickup." Fixit hurried away and Max turned back to the group, fixing her gaze on the weak-stomached female.
"You're the girl that threw up." She stated. Alec paused from his popcorn throwing and smirked.
"You could always call her Ralph." Max turned to shoot him a glare.
"Ralph. I like it." The female said.
"It's a boy's name." Max told her. The X6 shrugged.
"I still like it." She said.
"Ralph it is, then. Go check on Bullet."
"Who's Bullet?"
"The kid that got shot." Ralph nodded, leaving in the direction of the wounded soldier. Max turned to the remaining X6, and her heart went out to him. She looked him over. He was by far the smallest and looked the most vulnerable of all the other soldiers.
"That yours?" She asked, nodding at the bugle he held tightly in his hand. The child nodded proudly.
"I'm in the bugle corps." He replied with a smile.
"Bugler it is." Max smiled.
"What's my assignment?" He asked in his small voice.
"Getting some sleep."
"It's not lights-out yet." He protested weakly.
"That's okay. Let's find a place for you to bunk down." She said gently.
Alec was watching with interest. He caught Max's eye and gestured at the X7.
"What about him? Doesn't he need a name?"
"I'll leave that to you, since you two seem to be getting along so well." She said in a pained voice. Alec shrugged and threw more popcorn.
"That's it. Good." Zane said to Fixit, watching her work on the car. "You know, there are a lot of things broken out here in the real world. Fixing things is a good skill to have." Fixit gave him a half smile.
"Thank you, Sir." She replied.
"Zane."
"Thank you, Zane." Zane ruffled the young soldier's hair.
"That should just about do it. Shouldn't take too long now." He turned and saw Max watching them. "I'll be right back." He said to Fixit, who nodded.
"Yes Si- Zane."
"You didn't mind me taking control back there?" Max asked quietly.
"Of course not. You're mother to the entire army, remember? I'm just your CO."
"Funny. You're good with her." Zane turned back to check on Fixit's progress and then gave Max a smile.
"Just passing on my great wealth of knowledge on automobiles."
"Modesty was never your strong point." Zane's grin widened, but fell as he studied Max's face.
"It's hard, isn't it?" He said quietly.
"What?"
"Watching her like that. Seeing what they did to her. It's hard." Max glanced at Brin briefly.
"She hates us, Zane."
"We'll get her back, Maxie." Max looked down at the floor.
"We should really find you a job." She changed the subject quickly, looking back to Fixit and the car. Zane hesitated, unwilling to let the subject drop. He looked at her face, which was focussed hard on Fixit.
"Couldn't be too hard to find some busted up cars in our fair city." Zane agreed, pretending not to notice the small sigh of relief that escaped Max when he let the subject go.
"I could always bust some up for you." She said with a forced smile, turning to face him again. "I'll look around when I'm making deliveries. Look for mechanics. See what I can do. I'll get the gang onto it."
"Sounds great." He responded with a smile.
"It is hard." She whispered, looking away once more. "Not just her either. Him. Alec. He's-"
"I know." He nodded softly. "Took me a while, but I picked it. But it's not him, Max. He's not Ben."
"I know that. I know that. But it breaks my heart just to look at him. I killed our brother, Zane. That's not going away." She took a deep breath. "That's my punishment." She finished, waving her hand in Alec's direction.
"Max-" Zane began, but she shook her head.
"You can't talk me out of it, Zane. I was there. You weren't. I killed him. You didn't. I have to live with it. Just forget it." Tears formed in her eyes and she jammed her fists into them to stop the tears from falling, standing and walking out of the barn, leaving a speechless Zane staring after her in disbelief.
*** Temporary Command Centre, Rendezvous Point, NIGHT ***
"Help me to understand how a girl on a motorcycle got the drop on you and all of your men." White demanded, glaring at the soldier in front of him.
"It's hard to explain, sir. It all happened so fast we-" he floundered, looking around frantically. His eyes fell on the open file lying on the makeshift desk.
"That's her sir. The girl on the motorcycle." He pointed to the file.
"You sure?"
"Yes, sir." The soldier answered.
"Don't just stand there. Find her." The soldier departed.
"And find me that database!" White yelled to nobody in particular.
*** Barn, NIGHT ***
With a sigh, Max checked on the last sleeping X6 and sat down. She met Zane's eyes and gave him a half smile. He looked relieved at her change in mood.
"We should move on. This place isn't safe enough for us." He said in a low voice. Max shook her head in disagreement.
"Big day tomorrow. They need their sleep." She looked at the X7, who was looking out the window.
"All except bat boy over there. Looks like he got some shark in his cocktail as well."
"Cocktail?" Instead of answering, Max frowned at the X7, who was smiling for the first time. She spun around and checked that Brin was still where they had left her, then turned back to him.
"Do you hear…?" Max began before being interrupted by Zero darting into the barn from his position as sentry.
"Max! Soldiers outside!" Zero exclaimed. Zane jumped to his feet.
"Get away from the window!" He yelled to Zero.
"You too!" Max ordered the X7. He looked at her briefly before returning his gaze to the window. She spotted two other X7 soldiers watching.
"Zane!" She called. He spun from his position at the car and looked at her.
"Someone's been talking out of school." She said, nodding to the X7. "We've gotta go now." Zane nodded to Zero, who tried to start the engine.
"Ralph, tie him up and blindfold him. We're leaving him here." She turned to the car, which both Zane and Fixit were hurriedly examining.
"It won't start?" She said incredulously. "What happened to your great wealth of automobile knowledge?"
"Shut up Max." Zane hissed, but his reply was drowned out by the sound of breaking glass. The barn began filling with smoke.
"Why are they using smokers?" Bullet asked in a confused voice. "I thought they wanted us dead."
"Me too. Come on, into the truck." She turned, looking through the entrance of the barn. "Hurry!" She yelled to Zane, who had ordered Fixit into the pickup.
"Get Brin!" He yelled back. Max strode purposefully over to Brin's corner of the barn, but was cut off by the group of soldiers entering. She immediately took two soldiers down, retreating briefly as they opened fire.
"Go!" Zane yelled to the children as the truck started. "That's an order!" He called over his shoulder as he followed in the direction Max had disappeared in. Zane effortlessly knocked out a soldier, taking his gas mask in an effort to blend in, and stayed low, darting between cover. The X5 heard a loud crash as the truck full of X6 children burst through the wall of the barn, then a smaller one as Max jumped from the loft of the barn and took out more soldiers. Zane broke his cover and rushed to assist his sister, only to be stopped half way by a dull knock to his head. He fell backwards, landing heavily on the ground and blinked, trying to bring the barn and his assailant into focus.
"Brin?" He whispered before his world went black.
Zane blinked, allowing his mind and body to assess the situation before making any other movements. Hearing the sounds of soldiers outside the barn, he estimated that he'd only been out a few minutes. He listened carefully to the soldiers, and for possible sounds of closer enemies.
"Foxtrot One to command. We have her, sir." A soldier spoke into his radio and Zane froze, devoting all energy to listening.
"Say again, Foxtrot One." Came the response from the radio.
"We have X5-452." Zane remained still until the sounds of the retreating vehicles and absence of other noises told him it was safe to follow. Pulling himself to his feet, he rubbed the back of his head where Brin had attacked, and allowed himself to wonder if he was to spend the rest of his life being beaten up and knocked out by women. With a sigh, he headed into the direction of the makeshift military base.
*** Temporary military base, NIGHT ***
Assess the situation
Manticore's words pounded in Zane's head as he surveyed the scene playing out before him. Bad guys out in force. Caged transgenics everywhere, with clipboards attached to the cages. He focussed hard on one and felt sick to his stomach.
D2-807
Designed for harsh arid environments. Can survive for long periods of time without water.
Current bid: US 107, 250 - Australian armed forces.
"Transgenics for sale." He muttered to himself with a shake of his head. He scanned the area for either one of his sisters, spotting Max through the open entry to a large tent. She was in a cage next to a nomaly, whose price tag read 97, 000. Someone was getting rich quick. He focussed on Max's clipboard.
Not for sale.
Zane frowned at the thought of his sister as a commodity to be bought or sold at will. With a risky plan forming in his head, he took a few steps forward to further assess the situation when he caught movement out of the corner of his eye. Immediately poised to strike, he flicked his head around to get a better look.
The group of X6 kids were behind a bush. With Alec approaching them from behind.
Zane gave a short sigh of relief at the sight of reinforcements, then forced an angry expression.
"I told you to leave." He whispered to the X6s and Alec in a harsh voice.
"You told us not to follow orders." Fixit whispered back. Zane gave her a half smile.
"And you?" He nodded at Alec.
"Didn't have anything better to do tonight." He avoided Zane's gaze. "Let's get this over with." Zane gave the group a series of handsignals and they split up, moving quickly from the cover of the bushes.
Alec and Zane sat in silence, waiting for the X6 children to complete their part of the plan. It was not a comfortable silence. Zane scanned the area while Alec looked bored and played with a blade of grass. The lights that had been illuminating the area went out.
"Good work, Zero." Zane whispered to himself, praising the X6 for knocking out the generator. He nodded to Alec as Bullet and Ralph surprised and took down the guards and Bugler set about liberating Manticore soldiers from their cages. The two X5s darted forward, and Alec seized a set of keys and a gun from one of the 'sleeping' soldiers. He followed Zane into the now unguarded tent.
"Zane." Max sounded relieved at the sight of her brother. "Alec." She continued, sounding a little more uncertain.
"To the rescue." Alec grinned as Zane unlocked the cage. The trio heard a click as the lock opened, and Max stepped out.
"Him too." She said, pointing to the reptilian man in the cage next to her own. Zane shot her a look that was clearly questioning her sanity.
"Are you kidding?" Alec asked, leaning closer to study the 'nomaly' whose clipboard showed his designation to be A0-403.
"Do it!" Max demanded, looking from one man to the other. Zane slowly pulled the key from Max's lock and moved to the other cage.
"It's gonna be okay." Max said to the reptilian soldier. "We're gonna get you out of here." Zane opened the cage. "Go." Max ordered in a firm voice. The soldier ran out of the tent past Alec, who was keeping watch.
"You're welcome!" Alec shouted after him. He looked back at Zane and Max. "Come on, let's go."
The three left the tent and set about helping the X6 soldiers free the remaining Manticore soldiers.
"Zane, look!" Max whispered, pointing. Zane followed her gaze.
"Brin." He murmured, watching her free a captured soldier. She moved past a 'nomaly' soldier obviously built for missions in sub zero temperatures, and started on the cage of an X series female. As if sensing them watching her, Brin turned. Her eyes narrowed at the sight of them, and she ran in the opposite direction, leaving the soldier in her cage.
"Come on. We have to help." Max said. Zane ignored her, and watched Brin leave.
"Zane. She'll be ok."
"Right. Let's go." He headed away from the caged transgenics and Brin's retreating form purposefully.
"Where are you going?"
"Laser." He explained. Max looked up at the stars and nodded.
"Hurry. Reinforcements can't be far away."
Zane approached the man running the laser quickly and stealthily. He stood poised to attack, but was distracted by a sound behind him. He turned and assumed an attack position, only to find Alec standing before him. Alec grinned, pushing past Zane and taking out the guard.
"Didn't want you to have all the fun." He explained. Zane glared at him, stepping over the guard to take control of the signal. While Alec kept watch, he changed the message in the sky.
Separate and scatter. Go to ground.
"It's done." Zane whispered. The two X5s guarded the machine and its signal for another ten minutes.
"Trash it." Zane finally said softly, and Alec aimed his gun, shooting out the machine.
*** Roadside, DAY ***
"ID's and passports to get you across the border to Canada." Max said, handing out the papers that Logan had given her to the group of young ex-soldiers.
"Are we ever gonna see you again?" Zero asked.
"Promise. Now I'm going to drop a little wisdom on you grunts, so pay attention. First time I got out in the world, I lost track of all the kids I escaped with. Spent the next ten years trying to find them." She exchanged a smile with Zane, who was fine tuning something on the truck. "Don't let that happen to you. Stay together. You're family." Alec shifted awkwardly.
"Okay, I'm out of here before the waterworks start." He started to walk away.
"Hold on. We have one last thing to do...as soldiers." Max ordered
"And what's that?"
"Pay our respects to those who didn't make it. Attention!" The group listened to Bugler's music in silence, remaining still even after it ceased. Alec left the group first, driving away in a convertible he had produced from somewhere, radio blasting.
Zane watched him leave before turning back to the car and fiddling with it, talking quietly to Fixit. Max addressed the rest of the group, joking around and giving advice. Zane and Fixit slammed down the bonnet and rejoined the group, who were now sparring playfully.
Max left Zane talking to the kids and walked over to Logan. He swept her into a hug.
"Thanks for coming through on their papers."
"No problem. Would have been nice to hear from you a little earlier though." He pulled back and delicately ran a finger over a nasty bruise around her eye, a concerned look on his face.
"Too busy trying to keep the freak show under control. My freak show." She sighed.
"You did a good thing, Max. Not just for them, but for all of 'em. They'll figure it out." She nodded and he pulled her close again, kissing the top of her head. She pulled away from him enough to wave at the children departing in the pickup.
Zane stood a distance away, looking awkward, giving them their space.
"So you heading back into town?" Logan asked, looking down at her.
"Zane and I are going to hang around. Make sure no more lost kids turn up." Max looked at the ground. "And I need to talk to him." She smiled up at him.
"Thanks for being here Logan."
"It's what I do."
*** Roadside, NIGHT ***
Hours later, the two X5 soldiers sat hidden a small distance from the road, laughing together. They had remained that way for the better part of the day. The bad guys had, for the most part, retreated, and Max and Zane had taken down those that were left behind to wait for any soldiers that had missed the 'go to ground' signal Alec and Zane had sent.
"And he still thinks I hacked into that system on my own? He must be driving himself crazy." Zane laughed.
"You should have told him. Computers are his thing. It's important that they're secure. You turn up and hack his system in five minutes-"
"Under five minutes" Zane corrected with a laugh. "I'll let him know sooner or later. It'll teach him to keep his blinds closed when he's entering his passwords." The pair laughed together.
"So what's this thing with you being a big important junk-free genetically engineered super soldier?" Zane changed the subject and laughed, nudging Max in the ribs. She groaned, not previously having noticed the pain hiding there.
"I don't care. I just want a bath." She said flippantly.
"Going to Logan's?"
"Where there's hot water, there's hot bath water."
"I'm sure that's the only reason." He teased lightly.
"Didn't say it was. Are you coming?" He grinned at her tone, which was letting him know beyond any doubt that he was not invited back to Logan's.
"I've gotta go. Get things in order for the move. I have a dog that's missing me right now." He said proudly.
"I'll get on top of living arrangements. Promise to have something ready by the time you get back from your visit to Kia. Oh, and say hi for me." Max gave him a knowing smile.
"What makes you thing I'm going to see Kia?" Zane looked at her in surprise.
"Oh I don't think you're going to see Kia. It'd just be pretty hard to see her friend without bumping into her too." Glad it was dark to hide the blush he was sure was spreading over his face, Zane laughed nervously.
"I'm never speaking to you again." He said in a monotone.
"Fine by me." Max grinned back.
"Even if the whereabouts of every other X5 are in my head?" Zane asked, the tease back in his voice.
"Thought you were never speaking to me again?" The pair laughed, neither making the move to leave, instead sitting in silence, listening out for any lingering threat of White, Manticore, or lost soldiers.
"Think they'll make it?" Zane said into the darkness.
"Yeah. They have each other. It's getting the Manticore out of the system that'll take the longest. And they'll always be looking over their shoulders." Zane nodded.
"When did you break yours, Max?" She sighed.
"It's been a long day. You're going to have to try and make a little more sense."
"Your Manticore leash. When did you break yours?" he repeated.
"I was about twelve. These kids from a school I went to for about five minutes dared me to break into the principal's house and-" Max giggled. "And put his toothbrush in toilet water, then replace it. Stupid, I know. I knew it then, too. The guy's wife was a cop. Breaking and entering. I knew what was tactically a better decision, but went against it. Almost got myself killed courtesy of the biggest dog I've ever seen, but felt great afterwards." She grinned at the memory. "Total disregard for rules, and using my training for trivial purposes. What about you?"
"The first time I deliberately disobeyed my CO." Max snickered.
"You mean outside of Manticore?" The two ex-soldiers laughed, remembering numerous practical jokes that Zack had been on the receiving end of in their early years together.
"Yeah. The first time I deliberately disobeyed my CO outside of Manticore. I was around sixteen, I suppose. I got a dog to commemorate the event."
"Tinga got married. Had a kid." Max said softly. "He's beautiful."
"Kia has friends." Zane replied, an involuntary smile coming to his face at the thought of his sister's friends. Of his sister's friend.
"Jace has a baby." Max said. Zane smiled again, then looked sombre.
"That's what happened to Ben, isn't it Max? He couldn't break his leash?" Max closed her eyes.
"Something like that." She whispered. Again, the two soldiers stayed silent, both lost in thoughts of their brothers and sisters.
"I don't know if I can like him." Zane broke the silence first.
"Alec?" Max asked, unable to think of who else Zane could be referring to.
"Yeah." Zane said gruffly.
"Well I know I can't like him." She giggled.
"I'm serious, Max. He's so-" He broke off, unable to think of the right word.
"Yes." Max agreed.
"And so-"
"Yes." She interrupted, knowing exactly what he meant.
"And you know the biggest thing?"
"He's not Ben?" She said quietly.
"Yes."
The pair sat side by side a little away from the road each staring off into the distance.
"Tell me about the Good Place, Maxie." Zane said in a low voice. Max felt the tears she had heard in Zane's voice well in her eyes and swallowed a lump in her throat. The X5 closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"Where no one ever gets punished." She whispered, recalling and echoing Ben's words with a shiver.
"And children are children." Zane said softly, putting a comforting arm around his sister.
"And brothers and sisters live together." Max continued, stronger.
"And no one disappears or dies." Zane sighed into the darkness, thinking of his lost brothers and sisters.
"Or knows what reindoctrination means." Max agreed, her voice breaking.
"We'll get her back, Maxie." He felt her nod in the darkness.
"Tell me more about the Good Place, Zane." The commanding officer tightened his grip on his sister and they rocked lightly back and forth, hidden by the roadside, talking softly through the night.