Summary: Logan's going to get the cure. But why isn't Max that ecstatic? What happens after they were besieged in TC.
A/N: Ok, this is what happens before the prologue. I was actually planning for IRONIC to be a standalone, but some people told me to continue it. So here I go. This chapter is set two months after the siege began and four months before the prologue.
Dedication: To all those who told me to continue with the story. Reviews make a writer's world.
Chapter 1: Maxie
It's been two months since the siege on Terminal City begins and Max doesn't see the possibility of it ending anytime soon. It frustrates her that her family is reduced to this. Sure, TC isn't as bad as when it was first occupied. The residential areas have been fixed and some even have running – albeit, slightly chemically-hazardous – water. Food has been smuggled from an underground tunnel that provides very limited access to the outside world. And some transgenics have even set up a kind of 'bar' that surprisingly mimics Crash in appearance (filthy, but homely – in a very poor bid at irony, the transhumans have christened it 'The Barcode'). But Max knows that this isn't the freedom that they deserved.
What's worse is the fact that all ordinaries had to be evacuated from the area, two weeks into the siege, because of the danger the chemicals pose to their health. Logan stayed for three weeks before becoming violently ill.
After that, Logan made several successful attempts to visit them through the food tunnel. But, after one food smuggling operation went to hell, Max could not risk exposure by letting Logan through.
So she had forbidden Logan to ever come again. She still remembers their last goodbye.
Max was trying very hard not to cry. Normally, this would not have been too difficult since a transgenic is trained never to cry, but this was Logan. She was about to say goodbye to the love of her life, not knowing when – and if – she would ever see him again. Logan looked just as bad as he brought up one hand to caress the air above her cheek...
That was Max's last memory of him.
She has not seen him since and the occasional Eyes Only broadcasts have not done much to quell her longing. She has been watching TV a lot, just waiting for a chance to hear his voice. The TV/phone link that they managed to set up at TC before the siege has a great chance of being discovered. She can't risk it.
"Hey Maxie, glaring at the TV won't get us out of this hellhole, you know."
When Max doesn't reply, the intruder adds, "Face it Maxie, you're stuck here with me. Why not make it more pleasant by giving in to your urges to jump me?"
Max comes out of her trance. She has been staring at the TV (connection courtesy of the ever resourceful Dix) where it's shown how the military is considering to drop a gas bomb, which, they hope, will poison the 'mutants' to death. However, there's still the worry that the gas will also kill humans who reside within the vicinity. Right now, they are attempting to evacuate residents in the proximity and gathering info on whether or not this specific type of gas will affect the transgenics at all.
"They're going to gas us out." Max doesn't need to look up to see who she's talking to. There are only a few people who call her Maxie in TC and, out of those, only one has an ego-inspired humor.
"Well, not the response I was looking for…" Alec stares at Max. She has this glazed look on her face that appeared pretty much ever since they got stuck in TC. Alec knows that Max feels responsible for their current situation. After all, if it weren't for her highly inspirational speech that night, most of them would have probably been wondering around Canada – being hunted and murdered by bears, Canadians, and White – instead of besieged in the most God-forsaken place in Seattle – being hunted and murdered by the mob, the military, and White. Alec thinks his purpose is to provide some light-hearted annoyance and, hence, distraction for Max. That's why his approach to her has always been sardonic. Unfortunately, most of the time, Her Pouty One fails to appreciate his humor, leaving Alec at the receiving end of some painful butt-kicking.
"And don't call me Maxie."
Aah, so she did notice... Alec has started calling her that when two of Max's siblings, Syl and Krit, joined their lovely establishment two weeks ago. She was ecstatic to have them there with her and Alec was just happy that Max stopped her constant moping over Logan to smile, once in a while. He has been calling her Maxie because he knows it's something special that Max's siblings get to do. And after he got out of Manticore, she and Joshua had been his only real 'family' and Alec can only hope that she feels the same about him. Plus, he just likes to irritate her. Pissed Max is SO MUCH more fun than mopey Max.
Meanwhile…
He called me Maxie. He reminds me so much of Ben when he does that. Max doesn't know why, but she doesn't want Alec to call her that. It's just something special that her siblings get to do, and somehow, she doesn't want to think of Alec as her sibling. He's more of like an annoying distant cousin, thrice removed. Plus he always has this cocky tone to his voice that can just rattle her. Speaking of His Cockiness, Max realizes that he just said something to her.
"What?"
"See, I knew you weren't gonna listen to me unless I call you Maxie. I said, 'MAAAXXX, here are the plans for tonight's heist. You said you wanted to go over them with me again today.'" Alec slowly pronounces each word, followed by his signature smirk. He spreads the blueprint across the desk and adds under his breath, "Not like the previous ten times we went over it hadn't been fun."
Max looks at the X5 before her. Somehow there's something different about him today. He looks the same, as much as she can tell. Tousled hair, cocky smirk, jeans, leather jacket. Nothing different there. He just … SMELLS a bit different. Probably new cologne or something. Max decides to ignore it.
"We have to make sure that we completely understand the plan. Memorize every escape route. This is going to be the first time that we go out there ever since the siege begins."
A week ago, Max had been informed that funds for the food and weapon smugglers were running out. So she decided to pull a heist big enough to keep them on their feet for a couple of months, but simple enough so that they could pull it off without White smelling anything. A few days later, Alec came up with the perfect plan. He'd found Japanese clients willing to pay big bucks for some kind of top-of-the-line software. It's supposed to be recently developed by the military and is being used against (surprise!) the mutant inhabitants of TC. So the plan's simple: break in a highly-guarded military compound, steal some software from a few geeks, and get out. It'd be the last thing that they'd expect. It'd be perfect.
"I know Max. We're X5s and, unless there's something horribly faulty in your cocktail, I'm pretty sure that both of us can memorize the entire plan the first five seconds we looked at it."
"I just have this feeling that something terribly wrong is going to happen. Why can't we take Syl and Krit with us?"
"I told you, this is a two-man job. The less people we have out there, the better."
"I can't help feeling that something's going down on TC while we're gone. What if they decide to drop that gas bomb while we're gone? I mean I think they've already tried some kind of a heat bomb or something because it's been a bit too hot in here lately." Max wipes the perspiration forming on her forehead. It seems like the military is trying to boil them out. So far though, she's the only one who's been feeling especially uncomfortable.
"Being paranoid, aren't we, Maxie?"
"I told you not to call…"
"Besides, if anything did happen, Syl and Krit will be here to take care of the whole thing. Now, can we get down to business? I have places to be and very nice ladies to entertain."
"God, you're such a pig." But Max does start focusing on the plan, "So we're coming in from here…"
A/N: What do you think? I'm just trying to set the scene on this one. I got the idea of a gas bomb from the current war on Iraq. How 'bout that, huh? I've been reading the paper and guess what. America actually has an 'E-bomb'! Once detonated, will trigger "large electromagnetic pulse, disabling electronic and electrical devices within range". Just thought I'd share that with you. I suppose it's not completely new since they already have something like that on Ocean's Eleven. Great movie, I'd recommend it.