"Max. Max. Maaaax."
Max blinked and turned to Aaron. "What?"
"This is a serious place." He told her. "It's run by some rich old guy who loves his art, and has the place teaming with guards. The good thing about that though, is that there are only five assigned to each floor and they don't leave that floor unless another one of the guards calls for assistance. Statistically you'll be looking at running into at least two of the guards, depending on position. Take them out as quietly as you can, I suggest pressure points in the neck."
Max nodded, questions swimming in her mind that she wouldn't bother asking, knowing his answer would be the same old built to know. She tucked the tube into the backpack she was wearing, then quickly made her way across the street. She moved into the alley behind the building and didn't fail to notice the camera sitting near the window. She wondered if Aaron had disabled them like before.
She jumped onto a nearby dumpster, then jumped up to a window, much like she did when trying to find the Rockwell when she was trying to save Normal from defenestration. Pushing that thought from her mind, she crawled through the window and landed not so gracefully on the floor. She pulled herself up from the floor and looked around. Right. She was supposed to go right.
She crept along the corridor until she reached the first doorway. She crept past that, waiting to find the third, where the Rockwell would be. She passed the second and thought she wasn't noticed, but a guard flicked off his flashlight and stepped out of the doorway. He watched her walk down the hall then disappear into the third doorway. He pulled out his gun and crept down the hall. He braced himself then jumped into the room, pointing the gun in every direction.
"Who's ever in here, show yourself." He said and slowly walked further into the room.
Max hid behind a large misshapen sculpture and waited until the guard passed her. She quietly crept up behind him and quickly placed her fingers on the pressure point in his neck. He let out a small moan, then fell to the ground in a dead sleep. She smiled and kicked his gun away from him, then moved over to the Rockwell.
She noticed the small wire that ran the length and width of the frame and a small keyhole near the edge. Taking her chances that Aaron had disabled the alarm, she pulled the painting from the wall and separated it from the frame. Gently she placed the frame back on the wall, then pulled the tube from her backpack. She rolled up the painting and quickly slid it into the tube then screwed on the cap. She put the tube carefully in the backpack and made sure it was secure before she crept to the doorway and looked up and down the hall.
Seeing no one, she crept up and turned the corner to the window. When she reached the window, she opened it and... realized she hadn't closed it behind her. She then heard a gun cock and felt the cool metal against her neck, then heard the tube slide from her backpack.
"Turn around nice and slow."
She put her hands up and did as she was told, thinking that Aaron's statistics were indeed correct. "Something wrong?"
"One of the funny ones." The guard said and grinned, the gun never leaving Max's face. "Shame you gotta go to jail, cause you're a pretty one."
"You could let me go." She replied in a sugary sweet voice.
The guard chuckled. "I don't think so."
"Shame." She replied smoothly. Before he could reach for his walkie talkie, she kicked up her leg and kicked the gun from his hand, then punched him in the face. Seeing he still wasn't going to go down, she head-butted him and roughly dug her finger into his pressure point.
He fell quick and she wasted no time taking the tube from him and moving to the window. Then she heard a loud bang and felt a stinging near her ankle. She looked down briefly and saw a bullet hole in the wall. Wasting no time looking back, she dove out of the window. When she landed, she rolled and roughly hit the next door building.
She heard another gunshot and heard a bullet whiz by her head. Then another, and another. Not wasting any time, she pulled herself up and ran across the street, where Aaron already had the bike going. She heard another gun shot, then jumped on the bike behind Aaron and they sped off.
* * *
"You say you went outside and some maniac shot at you?"
"Yeah. Crazy bastard."
"Well, you're lucky the bullet only grazed you or you'd be looking at a shattered ankle right now."
The medic X5 bandaged up Max's ankle then looked up at her and smiled. Max smiled back and hopped down from the examining table, then quickly brought her pant leg down to cover the bandage. She could only imagine the questions Logan, Alec, Joshua, and hell, even Mole would have for her if any of them saw it.
"Thanks, Angie."
"No problem." The X5 smiled.
Max gave a small smile in return then limped out of the room. She had hoped it wouldn't have hurt that bad when she walked, but as Angie had explained it was right near a point in the ankle where pressure from walking hit the muscles.
Just my luck. She thought as she hobbled back to her office.
She sat at her desk, happy to be off her foot. Instead of going to work like she planned, she leaned back and began looking at the scrapbook again. She touched some of the photos longingly, wishing she would fall through the photograph and be taken back to that time when her life was so much simpler.
* * *
Two watched as the last of the rooms were locked and sealed. He shook his head and turned to Fourteen. "I don't understand, sir."
"Part of the downsizing process." Fourteen replied.
"But, sir, it's just a building." Two said. "Desks, chairs, brick. All the employees have been terminated... both ways, depending on their knowledge of the Project. But why the building, sir? I'm sure it could be of use when The Committee is functional again."
"No." Fourteen told him and led him into the dark board room. Only now it wasn't so dark. The blinds had been opened and the curtains drawn, allowing a flood of light into the room, allowing them both to see it in a way they had never seen it again. "No, Mr. Two, The Committee can never be functional again."
"Sir?"
"A new organization is running things now." Fourteen explained. "A great organization older and wiser than any the government could ever dream of. It is the dawning of a new day."
"But sir -"
"Silence." Fourteen interrupted, then handed Two a letter. "I regret to inform you that you are being terminated."
"Sir..." Two spoke shakily.
Fourteen grinned wickedly and quickly left the room. He slammed the door behind him before the aged Two could make it.
Two grasped the doorknob and twisted with all his might, but it was locked. He knew it had been sealed too, just like all the other doors he had watched them close, never to be opened again, that day. He didn't understand what was going on. Then he smelt it. Gasoline.
"Oh God." He whispered and backed away from the door.
He watched, horrified, as a gentle orange glow shown under the door. He moved to the window and looked down at the parking lot, where Fourteen and his small team were piling into their cars. He began pounding on it and screaming. He saw Fourteen look up at him and grin... then drive off.
Knowing it was over, he moved and sat in the Head's seat, the only - and final - time he would ever sit there.
* * *
Orion gulped and knocked on TJ's door. He heard a muffled word or two and opened the door. He saw TJ and Spring sitting on the mattress that TJ had managed to obtain, looking at him expectantly.
"I had a talk with someone." Orion told them. "He told me some things that made some sense, and... and I know I can't do anything but... but be supportive."
Spring smiled and got up to hug him. "Thank you."
"Don't thank me." He said as they separated. "I didn't do anything."
"You made things a lot easier for us." TJ said. "So, thanks."
Orion smiled, knowing things could be the same again.
* * *
"Knock, knock."
Max looked up from the scrapbook and smiled when she saw Logan at the door. "Hey stranger."
He entered the office and sat in the chair in front of the desk, smiling. He then tossed a small brown paper bag at her. "I brought you something."
Curious, Max opened the bag and pulled out a grapefruit. She looked at him with a lopsided grin. "Fruit?"
"Thought I should return the favor." He shrugged. "So, busy this morning?"
"Yes, actually." She told him, then smiled. "But I'm currently ignoring all of my duties."
"So you wouldn't mind going for a walk with me then?"
She thought this over, then remembered the limp. "I'm actually pretty tired."
"Oh." His face fell for an instant, but he quickly covered that up. "Well, I'll go then so you can rest."
He stood up and was halfway out the door when she bit her lip, then called out. "Logan! Wait!"
She limped to the doorway and stood halfway hidden so that he wouldn't see she was only standing on one foot.
"Hmm?"
"Uh... breakfast." She said. "Would - do you wanna have breakfast sometime soon? I don't know what day, but... soon?"
"It's a date." He smiled warmly and continued on his way.
She let out a low whistle and limped back to her desk. She closed her scrapbook and put it aside, deciding to actually get some work done. She quickly finished a list of supplies and went to work on the water system plans.
She was halfway through the solution when a finger suddenly appeared on the paper. "That needs to be a stronger material or you're looking at a serious leakage problem."
"Noted." Max mumbled and scribbled something down on the plans, then looked up at Aaron. "Well?"
He pulled a brown paper bag from behind his back and dropped it on the desk. "Ten thousand, all there."
Max looked into the bag, not knowing whether to smile or cry... so she did both. She jumped to her feet then went over to Aaron and gave him a hug. "Thank you."
"I got my hug." He said. "I'm thanked. You're welcome."
"So this is it..." She said quietly as she walked over to the filing cabinet. She unlocked and opened the last drawer then put all the money in the black bag. "This is what I've been waiting forever for."
"Happiness in a bag I guess it is." Aaron said thoughtfully.
"I don't know what to do first." She said as she hobbled over to him. "Should I dance? Sing? Tell Logan?"
"How about you go and tell the scientist to get working on the cure, then you wait until that ankle of yours is healed and dance." Aaron said. "Then tell Logan, but... try not to sing at all. If you were meant to sing, you'd have a recording contract."
Max smiled at him. "Thank you."
"Just go."
Her smile widened and she limped out of the office as fast as she could.
Aaron moved over to the window and frowned. Now what was he going to do?
* * *
"Fe'nos tol."
"Fe'nos tol."
The robed man smiled as he watched the news on mute. He watched the video footage of the burning Committee building flare up one last time before it collapsed. "You have done well."
"Thank you, sir."
The robed man turned to him. "You may shed your number. You are no longer Fourteen of The Committee, you are Brother West and will be for the rest of your days."
West bowed his head and allowed himself a smile. He had finally been promoted.
No longer an underling, but a true Brother. He thought happily, then wiped the smile from his face and brought his head back up to look at the robed High Priest.
"It's going to be difficult to infiltrate the transgenics." The High Priest told him. "They won't be trusting, especially now that they have the man of Voltaire."
"Sir, what is the plan?" West asked. "Since the execution of White I have not been clear on anything."
"You will learn when it is time." The High Priest told him. "The moment will come."
* * *
Max barged into the lab, not bothering with any pleasantries. She walked over to the scientist, who was currently enjoying a bowl of Chex and staring at her oddly, and dumped the money out of the bag in front of him. "Fifty-thousand. There it is. Get to work."
He put his bowl down and stared at the money, then at Max. "I didn't think you'd be able to -"
"Yeah, well, I did. So get to work on the virus." She said. "You've got everything you need, now work."
He nodded and put all the money back in the bag. "Come back in a few days, and I'll have it."
"You better." She said. Then added in a menacing tone, "And if you try skipping out with the cash, I swear I'll find you and I will make sure you feel pain that you thought wasn't possible... and then, of course, I'll kill you. Slowly."
The scientist nodded, obviously very afraid of Max. She wanted to add a dramatic exit for effect, but found that very hard as she limped out of the room slowly, so she turned to glare at him then slammed the door roughly.