Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show, Dark Angel, owned and created by James Cameron. I do, however, own any and all original characters that appear in this work of fan fiction.
Summary: The transgenics have accepted their surroundings and start making Terminal City into their new home. Max discovers something about herself… with the help of her favorite siblings, of course. Meanwhile, a threat that everyone thought destroyed is back… with a vengeance.
The SiegeBy
Brin"Did you look in the yellow pages under "black helicopter operations?" – Zack
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They say the drunk mind speaks what the sober mind is too afraid to say… well if that's the case, then does the in-heat body do what the normal body is too afraid too? Do I secretly want to jump Alec? It's a scary thought… okay, perhaps not so scary. But maybe that's just the heat talking back to me.
Chapter 4: Back"MAX!"
Max didn't know what was happening. She was frozen where she stood, her body rigid as a board. It seemed as if she was in the middle of a giant movie. The scene moved more slowly than normal… as if everything were playing in slow motion. Around her were all the makings of war—fire everywhere, bodies littering the ground, thick smoke rising up in ominous black columns, people running and screaming, ammunition slicing through the air. A bomb exploded a little too close for comfort, sending bodies flying. Her eyes swiveled around in their sockets as she realized the identities of the bodies… transgenics. All of them, transgenics!
Joshua and Hank lay dead a few feet away, their bodies riddled with bullets. Not far away from them, Junky crawled across the ground towards the two, his entire left side burned black. Axle ran past her wielding a gun, but was shot down before he could level it to take a shot. Men dressed in black uniforms marched through the area, finishing off Junky with a quick blow to the head. Several people in white lab coats came through and gathered the bodies.
"NO! MAX!"
Max looked around for the owner of the screaming voice. She spotted Krit, Zack, Brin, and Syl being led away by the men in those hauntingly familiar black uniforms. Several young X8s were chased into a corner and covered with a heavy-duty net. The soldiers proceeded to tie them up like cattle, using electric wands to shock the Xs into compliance. She heard a desperate shouting and turned to see Pick fending off the men trying to get Eddie, who lay paralyzed on the ground. After a few seconds of fighting the enraged X6, they raised their guns and shot them both. Pick slumped over his beloved, their blood pooling together.
"MAX!"
Finally, Max's eyes settled upon the one yelling her name… Alec. He was being led away by three of the uniformed men, his hands handcuffed and his ankles shackled together. Blood dribbled from his temple, his busted lip, his shoulder, and the bullet hole in his side. He struggled against his bounds, shouting Max's name desperately.
"MAX!" he yelled.
One of the soldiers, fed-up with his ranting, pulled off his helmet and goggles, drawing a handgun. It was White.
Max's eyes widened in horror and she tried to run to help Alec, but her body was rendered useless and she could do nothing but watch the scene play out before her.
Alec stopped struggling and pinned her with a sorrowful gaze as the soldiers forced him to his knees and put the cold steel barrel of the gun between his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something, but never got the chance…
White smirked. "Take the shot."
BAM!
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Max bolted upright, panting, sweating, screaming. She dragged her hand down her face and looked around to find herself in an over-stuffed bed, covered with a thick woolen blanket, not in a war zone. A fire crackled in the brick fireplace that stood a few feet away, lighting the room with a homey sort of glow instead of the flaming buildings from before. She sat up and looked around through blurry eyes. "It was a dream… all a dream… oh shit…" she panted, lying back down and throwing an arm over her eyes.
The door squeaked open, causing Max to jump in surprise and tense, ready for battle. She relaxed, however, when the familiar form of Alec slipped in. He quietly closed the door behind him and turned around. A smile broke over his face as he realized she was finally awake. "Welcome back to planet earth," he greeted, saluting. "I come in peace."
"Where… where are we?" asked Max, gulping down the lump in her throat. This was an odd situation, if you read into it enough. She was waking up to Alec… and, admittedly, it felt kind of nice. She smiled.
Alec moved closer to her. "Well, you'd be awfully surprised what Ordinaries leave behind when they're running for their lives from a toxic spill. We are inside what used to be an old apartment building."
"I'm impressed," Max said, whistling appreciatively. "How'd you find this place? And how did I get here?"
"Mole decided to take matters into his own hands and shot you with enough tranquilizer to knock you out for a day… which is enough to take down a male hippopotamus, but that's just details." He sat next to her, grinning. "I came back and found you lying in the middle of the street, curled up like a kitten. Then I brought you inside the nearest building—this one—and who would've guessed? A fireplace full of wood, a feather bed with woolen covers, and a rocking chair. Nice, ain't it?"
Max laughed and pinned him with a suspicious stare. "Are you lying to me?"
Alec chuckled. "Yes."
"Then what's the truth?"
"The truth is that I carried you from one end of Terminal City to the other checking all the buildings until I found the only one that would suit you—this one," he answered quietly. He then began to twiddle his thumbs, waiting for her reaction.
Max's jaw moved up and down soundlessly for a minute, then she finally managed: "I-I-I… I wasn't expecting that." She licked her lips nervously. "Thank you."
Alec let out the breath that he had unconsciously been holding. "You're welcome." He pulled a little white package from his pocket and tossed it to her. "Got something for ya."
Max caught the package and opened it. "How in the hell did you get your hands on one of these?" she asked, laughing as she pulled a perfect Hostess cupcake from the bag.
"I had to gamble away some rations, but I know you like 'em so…," he replied with a shrug, looking like a bashful schoolboy.
"Alec… I'm going to have to pay you back for this. Why're you being so nice all of a sudden?" she asked, taking a big, over-dramatic bite of her cupcake.
"Do I have to have a reason?"
"I dunno… it's just… you've been different lately," she replied with a shrug. "I mean, since I first met you you've been this sort of wild child… but you've toned down. A lot. I haven't seen you go after a girl in weeks. Why the change?"
Alec tapped his foot nervously. "Well, I just… I just thought that, you know, in light of the situation it wouldn't be proper to run around hitting on every X in the city."
"Really?" Max narrowed her eyes at him incredulously. "And what situation would that be?"
"You want the truth?"
"That would be nice."
"The straight truth?"
"Straight."
Alec sat on the edge of the bed. Max scooted over and he pulled both legs onto the feathery bed, resting his upper body against the headboard. "Well… I seem to have fallen for this girl… and I have to be cautious because this girl seems to already have a love in her life."
Max experienced a sinking feeling in her stomach. "You've fallen in love?" she asked, her voice nearly breaking. "Tell me about this girl."
He smiled. "She's incredible. And I haven't even had sex with her." His eyes twinkled mischievously as he stared into the fire. "I mean, she has this way with people… When she says 'jump,' they jump and they like it. And when you look into her eyes, it's like everything wrong in the world—the Pulse, Manticore, anything—just sort of fades away into the distance." Slowly, he turned his head and checked her face for any emotion, but she showed none so he continued, "Once I was a total asshole, not a care in the world. I didn't care if I walked outside and got shot or if I pissed off all of America. Then she started caring. About me. I wasn't used to that. It caught me by surprise… but I like it. She's… Well… an angel."
Max gulped down the humongous lump in her throat. "And… and what's her name?"
"Now if told you that, I would have to kill you," he answered, winking as he regained his composure. "The truth is, Max, that I can't get enough of seeing her. Smelling her. I can only hope she feels remotely the same way."
Max half-smiled. "I bet she does." She rested her head on his shoulder. "Alec, you are a great guy under that bad boy image. This girl of yours sounds really special. I could bet my life on the fact that she loves you back. From the way you talk about her… I don't see how she could not love you."
Alec grinned and put his arm around her shoulder. "Believe me Max, I see a lot of ways she could not love me." He leaned closer to her. "So tell me about your current love life."
Max squirmed a bit; she could feel his breath tickling her forehead and was admittedly pleased by the feeling. "Well… I'm not quite sure at the moment. See, I'm in a very compromising position." She wriggled some more. He was so close his lips almost touched her skin. "Because I'm not quite sure where I am in my life. I just got over one especially heartbreaking relationship and…" Blood rushing to her face, she scooted away from him. "And although I have… strong feelings for this one guy, I'm not quite sure I can admit love yet. It's too dangerous."
"Strong feelings? Is that so?" Alec's face dropped. "Well, sounds like one lucky guy if you have 'strong feelings' for him. He gets my congrats."
"But you know… even I can't say it out loud… It doesn't mean I don't feel it," she whispered, turning her head to face him. She stared at his lips, just a hairsbreadth's away. "And… I…"
Alec leaned forward, his eyes closing, and—
KNOCK-KNOCK.
"Open up. I know you're in there," said a voice from outside the door.
Max and Alec turned away from each other, faces flushed.
"I could so blast this door open," claimed another voice. "All I need is a paperclip, some wire, and…"
"Jondy, shut up."
The door opened and Syl and Jondy strode in with mischievous looks on their faces. "Hmm… looks like we walked in something important, Syl… Feel guilty?" Jondy asked, picking up the steel poker and adjusting the wood in the fire.
Syl sat down in the rocking chair. "Mm… not really," she replied as she calmly studied her nails.
Max glared at them, but couldn't help but break down and smile. "You guys have wicked timing."
"We know. We good," responded Jondy. She pulled a marshmallow from her pocket, stuck it on the end of the poker, and held it over the fire.
"That's nasty," commented Max with a frown. "That poker is dirty."
"So am I, now let's go." Jondy blew out the flaming marshmallow and popped it in her mouth. "You're needed down at the 'male hideout'."
Max raised her eyebrow. "You know, I never saw you the other night when everyone went into heat. Did you by any chance…"
Jondy choked on her marshmallow.
"I, uh, really don't think I'm needed here. I'm going to go see if anyone else needs my presence," declared Alec, hurrying to the door.
Max opened her mouth to call after him, but thought better of it and crossed her arms resentfully instead as she heard the front door close. "You guys are mean."
Jondy tossed a marshmallow to Syl and handed another to Max. "Yeah, you're not the first one to say that." She stuck another white puffball on the end of the poker. "Now spill it. What are you doing here, alone, in a bed, with some guy?"
"It's not like that. We're not like that," Max growled.
"Then why are you so annoyed?" continued Jondy, sitting down and making herself comfy. "Or should I say frustrated? Sexually?"
"I thought we had to go down to male central," commented Max irritably. Now she was not only missing the warmth of Alec's body beside hers, she was aggravated with the whole 'duty calls' idea.
"Yeah, we do, but people are used to me being late. Now answer my question."
"Nothing happened. He just brought me in here because I was hit with a tranquilizer dart and he decided to be nice. We're just friends." Max dragged her hand down her face, then grinned at her sister evilly. "You never answered my question, Jondy," she said in a matter-of-factly tone. "How did you… amuse yourself during your heat?"
Jondy paled a bit, but lost none of her sarcasm. "Ladies don't kiss and tell."
"You're not a lady and kissing's not all you did," Syl piped in, winking at Max.
Max raised an eyebrow. "Really? Do tell."
Jondy looked in-between the two, then threw her arms in the air in defeat. "Okay, okay… I… I sort of…" She rocked back and forth nervously. "I kinda slept with… um, Zack."
Max's jaw dropped. "You slept with… Zack?!"
Jondy nodded then hung her head. "He was the only guy I could find who wasn't an anomaly…"
"You mean he was the only guy on your mind," commented Syl nonchalantly.
"You're twisting my words!"
"No, I straightened them out."
"Uh huh… and how long exactly have you had the hots for our stone-faced CO?" asked Max, pulling her knees up to her chest and leaning back against the headboard.
Jondy sighed. "Does it really matter?"
"Tell."
"Okay… I guess since about… forever."
Syl laughed and dodged a flying marshmallow. "You should've seen her when we went to pick Zack up from the farm. She was hanging all over him and…" She mockingly shivered. "It was just sick."
"Yeah, well, you and Krit and your 'I love you, no I love you more' crap was about to drive me insane," countered Jondy.
The blonde X5 smirked and shrugged. "What can I say? He's my husband."
"Yeah, well, Zack and I are working things out."
"Whoa, whoa, wait, wait. Before you argue about this, why doesn't someone explain to me what exactly happened on the outside world while I dealt with post-Pulse Seattle," Max said, making a 'time out' sign with her hands.
Jondy sat on the end of the bed. "Well, my story can't be much different than yours. I got adopted into a really nice family in Oregon. They gave me an education, kept clothing on my back… for the four years I spent with them, that is. When I turned fifteen I left and have been drifting ever since, always checking over my shoulder. I got a friend of mine to remove the barcode on my neck every few weeks or so—very painful, I don't recommend it—so it's been better… but Zack was always coming around warning me about how I was never safe and I had to keep moving." Her eyes twinkled sadly in the firelight. "When I turned eighteen I started traveling with Zack, learning how to be CO, you know, just in case. Then, he disappeared."
"That's where my story picks up," interrupted Syl. With some effort, she stood up and moved over to the bed, her hand on the slope of her belly. "Of course, you know what happened back at Manticore when we blew the DNA lab up. After that, we found Jondy and told her what happened, then dropped her off in Canada to stay with some X5s awhile just in case. We found out through a few 'reliable sources' later on that you were alive again and Krit and I almost came to visit you, but we ran into Brin. She was… five months pregnant, I think, and getting chased by some psycho tabloid who had seen her barcode only God knows how."
There was a long pause, and when she didn't continue, Max got impatient. "Go on."
"Patience, young grasshopper," replied Syl with a mischievous grin. "I'm getting there. Anyway, we helped her out of that, but she was still ready to run away from us. We somehow knocked some sense into her. Her mind slipped away from Manticore again. We knew if we all had turned rebellious once, we could do it again.
"Krit and I got married a few months ago and now, in true-blue domestic Ordinary fashion, we're now going to have a baby. Of course, that wouldn't stop me from running to help you once we heard about the hostage situation and saw your face all over the papers." She paused. "What about you, Max? What have you been up to besides driving tabloids wild and starting government conspiracies?"
Max shrugged. "Got shot, almost killed Logan a few times, was very temped to knock the living crap out of Alec more than once, saved a few transgenics, rescued a bunch of kids, burned down Manticore, uncovered a three thousand-year-old selective breeding cult, found out I could be the savior of the human race… you know, the usual."
Jondy laughed and gave her sister a high-five. "Wow. Been busy, huh?"
"You know it. It's not like a revved up, hot female such as myself could sit still for very long, right?" declared the youngest X5 with a smirk.
"Don't get cocky on us now," Syl said in a mockingly parental voice.
Max's smirk widened. "When have I ever not been cocky? Preacher Max is gone, ladies… the bitch is back."
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Alec was busying himself helping a psy-ops transgenic build a solar-powered generator when his attention was caught by a familiar-looking young man staring at him. The man was sitting with a few other X5 males, playing a fairly boring looking game of poker. After trying to ignore the X's gaze for a few minutes, Alec, irritated a little more than he'd like, gave up. He excused himself from the project and walked over to them, putting on his game face.
"Is there a reason you keep looking at me like that? Because last time I checked, I didn't have anything stuck on my ass so there's no reason for you to be staring at it," Alec ranted, coming to a halt a few feet away. "What do you want?"
There was loud guffawing and a chorus of cheers from the other male Xs. The one who had been staring stood up, eye-to-eye with Alec, but with a more muscular build.
"Hey, I remember you," declared Alec, stroking his chin. "You're the dude to tried to dislocate my head from the rest of my body. Robot guy. What happened to your bionic eye?"
"Uh huh… and I remember you, Alec. You're the guy who got Max into trouble with the steelheads."
"Zack, right?"
Zack nodded and crossed his arms over his chest. "That'd be me." He looked Alec up and down, then sat down again. "You don't look as threatening as some say."
Alec's ears perked up. "Hm? You mean you've heard of me?"
"Yeah, take a seat," said another X with a startling resemblance to Max. "The name's Krit, Krit Guevara."
"So you're…"
"Max's brother? Yeah, and a lot more closely than this muscle-head," mused Krit, patting Zack on the shoulder. "So tell me. What's, uh, what's going on between you and our little sister?"
Alec gulped and bit his lip. This was like taking a lie detector test; surrounded by eight fully-trained, fully-grown Xs with suspicious big brother dispositions. "Nothing… right now."
Zack glanced at Krit, who shrugged. "Let's move this someplace else," suggested Krit, standing up. "After all, if things continue like the rumors have been saying… you could be our brother-in-law in a year's time."
Alec's eyes widened. Oh shit…
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Max walked arm-in-arm with Jondy and Syl as they headed back to 'headquarters.' "Tell me what happened with Zack."
Syl let out a puff of air, blowing a lock of blonde hair from her face. "Krit and I had spotted him while we were passing through a farming area. He was driving this rickety old pick-up full of cattle farm equipment. After awhile we started approaching him when he stopped to get his breakfast at the local café. It was obvious that he had no memories of us or Manticore. We made friends and after two weeks of just talking to him about anything besides Manticore, he said, out of the blue, 'I remember you.' And the whole lot spilled out from there."
Max processed this information as they walked. "I guess I've missed more than I thought."
Jondy slung her arm over Max's shoulders and placed an affectionate kiss to her little sister's temple. "Maxie, you have been going through a lot right here in Seattle." A pause. "Tell me about this Logan guy Syl was complaining about."
"There's not much left to say. I thought we were meant to be… that we were perfect for each other… and then, like that," she snapped her fingers, "everything spiraled out of control. Suddenly we were fighting. The virus seemed like the wall that couldn't be scaled… even by me." She smiled sadly. "But I'm okay now. We're done and over and I'm free of the opposite sex once again. Totally free and totally single."
Jondy raised an eyebrow incredulously. "Really?"
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Alec sat down on one side of a table. Zack sat across from him and Krit remained standing. Zack placed a single, faded card in front of Alec. "Turn it over."
Licking his lips nervously, Alec flipped the card face-up. It was a Queen of Hearts.
"See that? That is what Max is. The Queen of Hearts; many hearts at that. You've got to realize that Max is a work-in-progress, just like the rest of us. She acts almighty and all-knowing, but we know it's just a façade," Zack explained, his tone surprisingly soft.
"Rumor is that she's spiraling down; losing hope. If you break her heart Alec, she'll be too far gone even for us. We don't want to see that happen to our little sister," added Krit.
"What makes you guys think Max and I are even gonna go past being friends?" asked Alec, his voice breaking as he said it.
Zack and Krit exchanged glances.
"Look at me," said Zack sternly. "I've watched you two while you're together. I wasn't born yesterday. See… I was once in love with Max. I always will be, but I realize now that it was more of an obsession than the romance that you two have. You've got a helluva girl making goo-goo eyes at you, Alec."
"So you guys dragged me over here just to lecture me on my love life? I don't need this," growled Alec, standing up.
Krit placed a firm hand on Alec's shoulder and pushed him back down. "No, we didn't bring you over here to lecture you. We brought you over here to make sure you know what you're getting into. Max has about twenty people—the loyal subjects of the Queen of Hearts—who love her enough to kill you if you do anything to her. Is that clear?"
Alec nodded. "Yeah, fine. Whatever."
"Good boy," Krit patted him on the shoulder a little more roughly than called for.
"You guys, I'm not going to hurt Max. Why do you think I would?" asked Alec accusingly.
"Look me in the eye," instructed Zack. When he was sure that Alec was looking straight into his eyes, he said slowly and clearly, "Do you love Max?"
Alec gulped. "Yes."
Krit smiled. "Then what are you sitting around here for?"
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"I mean, it's not like I'm totally obsessed with him or anything. He's Alec. It's just that he's cute and I'm attracted to him. That's it. It's just an itch… when I scratch it, it'll go away," Max was saying.
Jondy and Syl exchanged knowing glances.
"Uh huh, riiight," mumbled Syl.
Max stopped walking, allowing them to continue on. "But I'm serious."
"Just keep telling yourself that," Jondy called over her shoulder.
They arrived at the main part of Terminal City and entered the parking garage that seemed to be the center of action now.
Axle emerged and greeted them, "Hey ladies. The boys are waiting for you."
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Max sat down in the only empty seat at the round table that seated three intimidating transgenics. One of them, an anomaly with reddish skin and a lizard-like face, stood and spoke, "I suppose one of us should get things going." His first eyelids blinked, followed by his second. "We were called here to discuss a course of action. A tally was made and there are about 850 transgenics here in Terminal City, with approximately 105 yet to be born."
"Yes, and most of them are from the anomaly side!" huffed an X—the only other X at the table.
"Hey, cut it out," growled Max without looking at him.
The lizard anomaly sighed and continued, "So, any ideas? We can't just sit here and wait for them to storm the place."
"Well, they wouldn't have discovered us if it hadn't been for you damn anomalies running around in broad daylight!" ranted the X. "How stupid can they be?"
Max turned her gaze to him. "What the hell is up your butt, asshole?"
"The name's Zane and I can be mad if I want to. To hell with 'nomlies!"
Max's eyes widened as she took a closer look at the X. He was tall, with sandy blonde hair and piercing blue-green eyes. "Zane?"
"That's me. X5-205. Who are you?"
"Zane… it's me. Max."
Zane took a moment to process this information, then his jaw went slack and he smacked a hand to his forehead. Suddenly, all the fight left him and he was rendered helpless. "Max? You are Max?"
"Yes, that'd be about right," she replied, regaining her composure. "Didn't know one of my brothers would turn out to be such an ass."
"Look, I am just worried about what's gonna happen," defended Zane with a sigh.
"Well, we'd appreciate it if you'd be more cooperative, Zane," said Max coolly. She noticed the bruises on his cheeks and his slightly swollen eye. "What happened to your face?"
"Some X named Alec came in and we had a little squabble."
Max smiled to herself. "Oh."
"Can we continue, people?" rumbled another anomaly in a particularly deep voice, this one with a long snout and rounded ears like a bear.
"Right," replied Max, sitting back in her chair.
The lizard-anomaly continued, "We have two choices: sit and wait to see what happens or launch our own attack. Given our current status and supplies, does anyone think that we would be able to properly defend ourselves if they tried to enter?"
"I don't think we could for very long," said Zane, scratching his scruffy chin. "We have enough ammo and guns for almost every transgenic here, but a lot of them are kids, babies, or pregnant."
"He's right," piped in the bear-like 'nomlie. "If they bring in a force bigger than a thousand, we could be in deep shit."
"But the thing is," interrupted Max, "they don't know how many people we have, how many supplies we have, or what we are all capable of if we work together. The truth is that they are terrified of us. And we have got to use that to our advantage."
"What are you saying?" asked the lizard. "That we just bluff our way out of this?"
Max smirked. "We need to convince them that we have a force of about two-thousand armed and ready transgenics, but we won't make any threatening moves towards them. They also need to believe that we are all stocked-up on food and all that good stuff. Part of their strategy is to wait until we run out of food and eat each other up or something."
The other three transgenics chuckled.
"In fact, now that I think about it…" She chewed on her lip. "We should execute this plan at once. You—" she pointed to the lizard, "—what's your name?"
"Styx."
"Okay, Styx. And what's your name?" she pointed at the bear-anomaly.
"The name's Baba."
Max held in a chuckle and covered her mouth to hide her smile. Baba the bear.
"Yeah, yeah…" mumbled Baba resentfully. "Go ahead and say it."
Max shook her head. "No, no. I wasn't gonna." She smiled at him. "Anyway, you, Styx, and Zane need to go and inform your transgenics of our plan. We want ideas from everyone. And while we're at it…" She scratched her chin. "To the best of your capability, I want you to document every kind of transgenic you have, their specialties, their designations, and their ranks in their units, okay? We need some kind of roster… just in case."
The three nodded.
"Good. Gentleman, I think we're well on our way to actually becoming an organized military force."
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After the meeting was adjourned, Max returned to the apartment that she had woken up in. Ominous gray clouds loomed overhead as she walked down the TC street. She jumped inside the building just as the first drops of rain hit the pavement. The thought of the feathery-soft bed and cozy fire made her surprisingly relaxed and carefree. She was willing to risk getting soaked to the bone just to get back there—but luckily didn't.
The rest of the place wasn't too bad either. It was on the fifth floor of the building, which was second from the top, and the fireplace extended up through the sixth floor and out the roof. A shredded leather couch sat in the living room opposite a busted television. The kitchen was right next to the living room, separated by a dirty granite counter with a rusted sink. Above the counter were some semi-rotted cabinets holding a few cobweb-covered porcelain plates and bowls.
The entryway had tiles that were probably white once upon a time, but were now covered in a layer of grime and dirt that gave them a beige, almost brown, color. The bathroom had the same tiles, a deteriorating curtain hanging across a cracked marble shower, a destroyed toilet, and a rusted marble sink.
Max looked around the place a bit to make sure there were no leaks before returning to the bedroom and sinking into the over-stuffed bed. She took a deep, calming breath and found herself inhaling the scent of… Alec. The X5 bolted upright and pulled back the covers to find Alec's leather jacket. A sigh left her. She was about to toss it over her shoulder to deal with it later, but something seemed to hold her arm still. After a few moments, against her better judgment, she slipped the jacket onto her shoulders and inhaled his scent again. It smelled of his cheap cologne and his shampoo; of grime and Seattle smog; and, surprisingly, of chocolate. She had been sitting there, just enjoying the feel of his jacket on her body and the smell of him inside her head, when someone knocked on the door, causing her to jump.
"Coming!" Max called, running to the front door and opening it. A gasp escaped her lips before she could control it. "Alec?"
He stood there, rivers of rainwater falling off his body, panting for air. His white t-shirt was plastered to torso and his jeans were heavy with water. There was a strangely terrified look on his face, yet at the same time he looked absolutely pitiful, like a half-drowned kitten, blinking rapidly to prevent the water from falling into his eyes.
"Damn, Alec, come in," she said, backing away from the door so he could enter. "What are you doing here?"
He didn't reply. Instead, he stood there staring at her. She wearing his leather jacket he realized. His heart leapt into his throat excitedly.
Max stared back, adrenaline rushing through her veins as she saw the emotion practically pooling in his eyes. "Alec…"
Alec stopped her by placing a hand on either side of her face and pulling her into a very heated, very passionate kiss.
Stunned, Max went slack and he had to put his arms around her waist to keep her from falling over, but they never broke the kiss. Her lips automatically parted, a slight moan escaping her as his tongue slid into her mouth. Minutes ticked by and, when both of them realized the reactions of their bodies to the lip lock, they separated. Max fell against the wall behind her and Alec against the opposite.
"Max… I was looking for you everywhere," Alec panted. "I've got to tell you something." He gulped. "Max, I love you."
Max's eyes widened and she was struck speechless for a moment. A brief moment. Then, a soft smile upon her face, she stepped forward and kissed him again. His hands raised and stroked her arms until she wrapped them around his neck. Her hips swayed and she pressed herself into his body as his hands moved to hold her firmly in place. Before things went any further, she pulled back and searched his eyes. "I love you, too."
Alec smiled and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "I was hoping you'd say that." He put on an innocent face and slipped his jacket from her shoulders, leaving her in the tank top she had been wearing under her cat suit earlier. "Hmm…" Still sporting a face that could get him away with murder, Alec pushed the straps of her tank top down. He then dipped his head and placed feathery-soft kisses on her exposed skin, causing her to shudder. "You like that, huh?"
"No one's ever given me goose bumps before," she whispered, running her fingers through his hair. She then shrieked in surprise as Alec tossed her over his shoulder and ran into the bedroom, heaving her onto the bed and flopping down next to her.
Alec stroked her face as she snuggled up next to him. "So… now that we have a room… do you think…" He rolled on top of her, resting most of his body weight on his elbows, which were on either side of Max's shoulders.
"Mmm… I'm trying to think but I can barely breathe," Max whispered. She lifted her head and kissed him.
"You know what's good about this place?" panted Alec as they came up for a breath of air.
"What?"
"No one can hear you scream."
Max laughed and shoved Alec off of her, then rolled on top of him. "Now where were we…?" She pulled his slick t-shirt from his back and ran her hands down his chest.
"Right about…" Alec slipped her tank top up and over her head. "Here…"
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The police barricades were momentarily cleared to allow three armored trucks to get close to the Terminal City perimeter. The officer in charge, Captain Trey Ramos, approached the vehicles as the doors opened and fifteen people exited. One of them, a dark-skinned man in his early-thirties, moved forward to meet him. He was wearing khaki slacks and a black leather blazer with a white turtleneck underneath.
"Captain Ramos," said the man, shaking Ramos' hand.
"Colonel Briggs, nice of you to join us," Ramos responded. He peeked over Briggs' shoulder at the fourteen soldiers standing straight and rigid, their guns shouldered. "I see you've brought only the necessities."
Briggs smirked. "My kids can handle this until more are ready, Captain. They're just as good as any of the things in there; probably even better."
"Just so long as they don't cause more trouble than they're worth."
"Oh, they're worth a lot more than you'd think, Captain. Now, if you'll excuse us… we've had a long trip." Briggs signaled to the soldiers and they followed him in two straight lines of seven to the trailer where the officers could freshen up.
As they walked, Briggs' cell phone rang. He opened it. "Briggs."
"Are you in?"
"Yeah. We'll have this mess taken care of in no time."
"We're counting on you, Briggs. The public thinks no one is taking responsibility for the creation of these wayward transgenics."
Briggs chuckled. "Well, they'll soon find that we always clean up our mistakes. Manticore never does a job halfway. Briggs, out."
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