Max sat at Joshua's watching him paint, although he was bigger than her and
stronger she felt as though she had to protect him, he was her
responsibility. So were all the other transgenics she had set upon the
world. They were all her responsibility. At least Joshua was okay he had a
good heart and that was all he really needed.
"Hey Joshua. What's the new subject?"
"Billie, she was here today looking for Alec. I told her to go to Jam Pony and she went to find him."
"I guess he must of said something right." There was then a thumping at the front door.
"Joshua help please."
"Billie." Joshua put down his paints and went immediately to th door. He opened the door to see her standing there. She was soaked from the rain and there was some blood on her shirt. She looked frantic and exhausted. "Billie, are you okay?" She shook her head tears streaming down her face.
"I, I need to come in." Joshua moved away letting her inside, he looked out in to the street to make sure no-one had followed her before shutting the door. He led her to one of the chairs, she sat down, holding her head in her hands. "I didn't know he was alive, he was following me, I don't know what he wants."
"Who?" Billie looked up, she hadn't even noticed that max was there. There was so much going on in her mind at that moment.
"Ben. Alec's brother, clone, whatever."
"He can't be, he died." Max couldn't believe her ears. She had seen him die, she had killed him with her own two hands.
"That's really no obstacle for Manticore, they were fascinated by him. Why he had turned out the way her did. So they fixed him. It was only a snapped neck, not impossible for them. Then he got put in with the rest of us who had 'gone wrong'. He use to brag about the things he had done, the people he had killed. Never talked about his own death, the one time he had been defeated."
"Ben's alive."
"Very much so and he's just as messed up as ever. I managed to get away but that probably just pissed him off."
"We need to find him. Do you feel up to it?"
"I'm okay just surprised but I can fight if I need to."
"Okay. Joshua you stay here. We'll go to Alec's we are going to need all the support we can get."
"Max if we do find him what are we going to do?"
"I don't know."
*** Alec let himself into his apartment and switched on the television. He looked again at the painting she had given him, she really did have talent, he just hadn't noticed it before. She was still just as beautiful. He felt as though he had pushed her too soon. He couldn't expect her to just immediately forgive him and everything would be back to how it use to be. It would take time and effort. But he was prepared to do anything to win back her trust. At that moment he heard a knock at the door, he broke off from his daydreams and went to answer the door.
"Max, Billie, what happened? Is it White?"
"No slightly worse can we come in?" Max answered.
"Of course." He opened the door wider, smiling at Billie who gave an uneasy smile back. He closed the door behind them. "So what's with the faces?"
"It's Ben." Max replied. "He's not dead, Manticore, they brought him back."
"Ben my Manticore twin Ben."
"One and the same."
"How? I mean you snapped hi neck for gods sake." Billie looked at Max now realizing that she was the escapee who had killed her own brother.
"Zack blew his brains out and they sure as hell fixed him."
"True. So he's here in Seattle."
"Yes." Billie spoke up. "He came to my apartment tonight, surprise me when I got home. He'd been following me."
"He was put in that hole with you?"
"Yes after they fixed him. Before the fire he went crazy. There were three other nomalies in there with us he killed them all and all Manticore could do was scribble in their note pads. I don't know why he didn't kill me maybe cause I was X series I don't know. But he's still dangerous and he needs to be stopped."
"I'm sorry Billie all of this is my fault."
"Don't blame yourself, Alec. You didn't bring back Ben, I just think the sooner we find him the better."
"Then let's get going." Max spoke up. They left the building and began their search for Ben.
*** They had searched all through the night and into the morning. It seemed they had looked everywhere they could think of. They were all thinking it when would he kill, or had he already started. There was only one way to find out, both Max and Alec knew. Max knew that she would need to make that call sooner or later. They went to Max's apartment. Billie was staring down at her clothes, she had only just noticed the blood on her shirt where Ben had grabbed her.
"Billie do you want to get changed? I've got some spare clothes that would probably fit." They looked to be about the same size only Billie was a little taller.
"Would you mind it's just I can smell him over me, it's his blood."
"I'll find you something wait here." She went into her room. Billie looked nervously at Alec. They both felt weird about what had happened. Both were relieved when Max came back with some clothes. "Here, these look about the right size. The bathrooms over there." She pointed to one of the doors.
"Thanks." She went into the door shutting it behind herself. Both Max and Alec sat down.
"When are you going to call him?" Alec asked as if he was reading her mind.
"I have to don't I? See if he knows anything about Ben."
"I could call him if you want."
"No." Max said sharply. "I'll call him, but it's only just this once for information and that's all." She went to the phone located in the kitchen. She dialed and hung up a couple of times, Alec imagined Logan wheeling over to get the phone over and over again, and chuckled to himself. Finally Max let Logan answer.
"Hey Logan."
"Max." He answered surprised to hear her.
"Um. I need some information."
"Oh." He said slightly disappointed. "What about?"
"It seems Ben isn't exactly dead. Manticore fixed him and now he's back in Seattle."
"I'll get in touch with my contacts see what I can find out. I'll phone you if I get anything."
"Thanks." She hung up the phone. "He's going to look into it." The door to the bathroom opened. Billie emerged with the blood washed away.
"Do you know where I can find a garbage chute?"
"Out in the corridor. I'll come."
"I can go by myself if I get into trouble I'll yell." She walked out into the hall.
"She doesn't particularly like people taking care of her, does she?"
"She never did, never let me help her in any of the missions. She always wanted to do things for herself."
"She's a little nervous around you. One could even say blushing."
"I have that effect on women."
"I'm sure you do Alec." Billie re-entered the room.
"Well that feels much better. Thanks, for the clothes Max they fit pretty good. She settled herself on the chair away from Alec. He was about to talk to her when the phone rang.
"I have a feeling that's for me." Max took a deep breath and hopped up off the sofa to answer it.
"Billie we have to at least talk."
"About what?" She knew exactly what he was talking about. She just couldn't face it not at the moment, she had so much going on in her head that she couldn't deal with these feelings that she was having once again. Not yet anyway.
"You know what. Don't try to tell me that you didn't feel something when we kissed."
"You know that I felt something back there. Look I thought that I could handle being around you, as friends. But I can't, those feelings that I had in Manticore just keep flooding back."
"You mean the hurt, anger and hate."
"No I mean the lust, desire and want. I'm not ready to cope with those kinds of feelings not yet anyway." Max re-entered the room.
"It's happened he's killed. A sector cop in sector nine. They found him his teeth ripped out. Ben's calling card."
"We have to stop him Max. He's dangerous, we need to find him as soon as possible."
"I know that Alec. It's just I don't know if I can kill him again."
"We'll figure something out Max. But we need to find him first. We'll go to sector nine and work from there. He must be living nearby and without a sector pass he won't want to be drawing too much attention to himself."
***
They had been checking around abandoned buildings and a couple of churches. With Logan's help they had been able to find the places Ben was most likely to be. They were now checking the final building in that sector.
"I don't think he's here Max." Alec said as he cleared the room that he was looking around.
"Okay then let's go check another sector nearby. Where's Billie?"
"Checking the last corridor. I'll go get her."
"No need little brother, found her." Ben was standing in the corridor he was holding Billie a gun placed to her temple, Ben's finger on the trigger. "I don't remember giving any of you guys an invite."
"Let her go Ben. I know you've killed but I can help we can get through this together."
"Like old times hey Maxie. You going to leave me dead in the woods again?"
"You didn't want to go back, you wanted to go to the good place, remember?"
"The resemblance is uncanny isn't it?" Ben said changing the subject. "My own little brother. I've got a lot to teach you about the world."
"I don't think that I want to learn from a psychopath like you."
"Is everybody forgetting who's holding the gun? You've gone very quiet Billie, scared?"
"What do you care? They should have left you in those woods, left you to rot into the ground it's where you belong." He pushed the nose of the gun into her head. She grimaced in pain not wanting to let him know that he was hurting her.
"Billie I'm holding a gun to your head. A word of advice don't piss me off."
"If you were going to shoot me you would've done it already. You obviously want something so cut the crap."
"Smart girl she's right. I do want something, well not me personally. My new best buddy, White. Apparently a certain brother of mine couldn't kill transgenics, but I really have no problem."
"You're working with White?"
"Yeah. I am he wants you, Max god knows why ut he does. So tell you what I'll swap you. You for her."
"Max don't it's my fault. I got caught."
"Don't get all noble on me Billie. I know what you're really like."
"You don't know shit Ben."
"Ohhhh. Fiesty. I like it. Max, hurry up and make a decision or I might be tempted to keep her." Max knew then that she had to make a decision.
To be continued.
"Hey Joshua. What's the new subject?"
"Billie, she was here today looking for Alec. I told her to go to Jam Pony and she went to find him."
"I guess he must of said something right." There was then a thumping at the front door.
"Joshua help please."
"Billie." Joshua put down his paints and went immediately to th door. He opened the door to see her standing there. She was soaked from the rain and there was some blood on her shirt. She looked frantic and exhausted. "Billie, are you okay?" She shook her head tears streaming down her face.
"I, I need to come in." Joshua moved away letting her inside, he looked out in to the street to make sure no-one had followed her before shutting the door. He led her to one of the chairs, she sat down, holding her head in her hands. "I didn't know he was alive, he was following me, I don't know what he wants."
"Who?" Billie looked up, she hadn't even noticed that max was there. There was so much going on in her mind at that moment.
"Ben. Alec's brother, clone, whatever."
"He can't be, he died." Max couldn't believe her ears. She had seen him die, she had killed him with her own two hands.
"That's really no obstacle for Manticore, they were fascinated by him. Why he had turned out the way her did. So they fixed him. It was only a snapped neck, not impossible for them. Then he got put in with the rest of us who had 'gone wrong'. He use to brag about the things he had done, the people he had killed. Never talked about his own death, the one time he had been defeated."
"Ben's alive."
"Very much so and he's just as messed up as ever. I managed to get away but that probably just pissed him off."
"We need to find him. Do you feel up to it?"
"I'm okay just surprised but I can fight if I need to."
"Okay. Joshua you stay here. We'll go to Alec's we are going to need all the support we can get."
"Max if we do find him what are we going to do?"
"I don't know."
*** Alec let himself into his apartment and switched on the television. He looked again at the painting she had given him, she really did have talent, he just hadn't noticed it before. She was still just as beautiful. He felt as though he had pushed her too soon. He couldn't expect her to just immediately forgive him and everything would be back to how it use to be. It would take time and effort. But he was prepared to do anything to win back her trust. At that moment he heard a knock at the door, he broke off from his daydreams and went to answer the door.
"Max, Billie, what happened? Is it White?"
"No slightly worse can we come in?" Max answered.
"Of course." He opened the door wider, smiling at Billie who gave an uneasy smile back. He closed the door behind them. "So what's with the faces?"
"It's Ben." Max replied. "He's not dead, Manticore, they brought him back."
"Ben my Manticore twin Ben."
"One and the same."
"How? I mean you snapped hi neck for gods sake." Billie looked at Max now realizing that she was the escapee who had killed her own brother.
"Zack blew his brains out and they sure as hell fixed him."
"True. So he's here in Seattle."
"Yes." Billie spoke up. "He came to my apartment tonight, surprise me when I got home. He'd been following me."
"He was put in that hole with you?"
"Yes after they fixed him. Before the fire he went crazy. There were three other nomalies in there with us he killed them all and all Manticore could do was scribble in their note pads. I don't know why he didn't kill me maybe cause I was X series I don't know. But he's still dangerous and he needs to be stopped."
"I'm sorry Billie all of this is my fault."
"Don't blame yourself, Alec. You didn't bring back Ben, I just think the sooner we find him the better."
"Then let's get going." Max spoke up. They left the building and began their search for Ben.
*** They had searched all through the night and into the morning. It seemed they had looked everywhere they could think of. They were all thinking it when would he kill, or had he already started. There was only one way to find out, both Max and Alec knew. Max knew that she would need to make that call sooner or later. They went to Max's apartment. Billie was staring down at her clothes, she had only just noticed the blood on her shirt where Ben had grabbed her.
"Billie do you want to get changed? I've got some spare clothes that would probably fit." They looked to be about the same size only Billie was a little taller.
"Would you mind it's just I can smell him over me, it's his blood."
"I'll find you something wait here." She went into her room. Billie looked nervously at Alec. They both felt weird about what had happened. Both were relieved when Max came back with some clothes. "Here, these look about the right size. The bathrooms over there." She pointed to one of the doors.
"Thanks." She went into the door shutting it behind herself. Both Max and Alec sat down.
"When are you going to call him?" Alec asked as if he was reading her mind.
"I have to don't I? See if he knows anything about Ben."
"I could call him if you want."
"No." Max said sharply. "I'll call him, but it's only just this once for information and that's all." She went to the phone located in the kitchen. She dialed and hung up a couple of times, Alec imagined Logan wheeling over to get the phone over and over again, and chuckled to himself. Finally Max let Logan answer.
"Hey Logan."
"Max." He answered surprised to hear her.
"Um. I need some information."
"Oh." He said slightly disappointed. "What about?"
"It seems Ben isn't exactly dead. Manticore fixed him and now he's back in Seattle."
"I'll get in touch with my contacts see what I can find out. I'll phone you if I get anything."
"Thanks." She hung up the phone. "He's going to look into it." The door to the bathroom opened. Billie emerged with the blood washed away.
"Do you know where I can find a garbage chute?"
"Out in the corridor. I'll come."
"I can go by myself if I get into trouble I'll yell." She walked out into the hall.
"She doesn't particularly like people taking care of her, does she?"
"She never did, never let me help her in any of the missions. She always wanted to do things for herself."
"She's a little nervous around you. One could even say blushing."
"I have that effect on women."
"I'm sure you do Alec." Billie re-entered the room.
"Well that feels much better. Thanks, for the clothes Max they fit pretty good. She settled herself on the chair away from Alec. He was about to talk to her when the phone rang.
"I have a feeling that's for me." Max took a deep breath and hopped up off the sofa to answer it.
"Billie we have to at least talk."
"About what?" She knew exactly what he was talking about. She just couldn't face it not at the moment, she had so much going on in her head that she couldn't deal with these feelings that she was having once again. Not yet anyway.
"You know what. Don't try to tell me that you didn't feel something when we kissed."
"You know that I felt something back there. Look I thought that I could handle being around you, as friends. But I can't, those feelings that I had in Manticore just keep flooding back."
"You mean the hurt, anger and hate."
"No I mean the lust, desire and want. I'm not ready to cope with those kinds of feelings not yet anyway." Max re-entered the room.
"It's happened he's killed. A sector cop in sector nine. They found him his teeth ripped out. Ben's calling card."
"We have to stop him Max. He's dangerous, we need to find him as soon as possible."
"I know that Alec. It's just I don't know if I can kill him again."
"We'll figure something out Max. But we need to find him first. We'll go to sector nine and work from there. He must be living nearby and without a sector pass he won't want to be drawing too much attention to himself."
***
They had been checking around abandoned buildings and a couple of churches. With Logan's help they had been able to find the places Ben was most likely to be. They were now checking the final building in that sector.
"I don't think he's here Max." Alec said as he cleared the room that he was looking around.
"Okay then let's go check another sector nearby. Where's Billie?"
"Checking the last corridor. I'll go get her."
"No need little brother, found her." Ben was standing in the corridor he was holding Billie a gun placed to her temple, Ben's finger on the trigger. "I don't remember giving any of you guys an invite."
"Let her go Ben. I know you've killed but I can help we can get through this together."
"Like old times hey Maxie. You going to leave me dead in the woods again?"
"You didn't want to go back, you wanted to go to the good place, remember?"
"The resemblance is uncanny isn't it?" Ben said changing the subject. "My own little brother. I've got a lot to teach you about the world."
"I don't think that I want to learn from a psychopath like you."
"Is everybody forgetting who's holding the gun? You've gone very quiet Billie, scared?"
"What do you care? They should have left you in those woods, left you to rot into the ground it's where you belong." He pushed the nose of the gun into her head. She grimaced in pain not wanting to let him know that he was hurting her.
"Billie I'm holding a gun to your head. A word of advice don't piss me off."
"If you were going to shoot me you would've done it already. You obviously want something so cut the crap."
"Smart girl she's right. I do want something, well not me personally. My new best buddy, White. Apparently a certain brother of mine couldn't kill transgenics, but I really have no problem."
"You're working with White?"
"Yeah. I am he wants you, Max god knows why ut he does. So tell you what I'll swap you. You for her."
"Max don't it's my fault. I got caught."
"Don't get all noble on me Billie. I know what you're really like."
"You don't know shit Ben."
"Ohhhh. Fiesty. I like it. Max, hurry up and make a decision or I might be tempted to keep her." Max knew then that she had to make a decision.
To be continued.