Disclaimer- The characters don't belong to me, they are property of James Cameron and Charles Eglee
A/N- I seem to have figured out a pattern here, I have writer's block every alternate chapter. I have so many ideas for the future, but I need to connect it all together. This is more of a build up thing, again less action.
A/N2- Sorry I haven't updated for a long time, my cousin was over and he wanted to watch my Smallville eps. He actually got through the 1st season in two days
JG- yeah I know about the mid-BC thing, it amused me too. The thing is, it sounds authentic, besides not many appreciate these 'fine touches'. However, you could see it as mid-known BC, from what we know that would be mid-BC
Lakergirl- explanations for Darren here!
MirellaM- You are welcome
Hanna- As for who the mole is, not telling!
Starre1- I agree, I think the familiar plotline was totally off course, I mean it was nice for the transgenics to finally have worthy opponents but why bring the mystical in?
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Chapter 10- Roomies
"We should've known better, White wouldn't have told his men much" Max sat at the bar sipping on a cold beer. Alec, who was sitting on her right, had opted for a scotch 'straight up'.
"Well, we already sent men to where they said the headquarters were. Cleared out, but we expected that Max, come on. White isn't that stupid, gotta figure that now he wants to make a clean break of it; cut his losses. I don't think that he'll come after them"
She snorted "He wouldn't come after his own mother"
"True" Alec conceded.
"I don't get it though. When we asked the leader who the mole was, all he said was false peace"
"Truth serum does strange things; the guy was practically in a trance, but we did sort of get a description."
"From a guy that got a glimpse of her beneath a hood? Yeah, that was just a peachy find"
"Well, now we know that it's a she" he pointed out optimistically "And that she is possibly a blond and definitely has grey eyes, 'stormy' to be precise"
"There are so many blondes with gray eyes around here. I think Manticore was playing favorites, I mean please Jondy, Syl, Lian, Sidney, Rose, Zack, you and Ben, CeCe, Eva and there were so many more at Manticore, plenty here. These are just the ones I knew from before. As for the X6s, there's Dalton, Ralph, Fixit. Then of course that sweet X8 kid, Bugler. They're all blonde! Not necessarily with gray eyes but blonde nevertheless, I feel outnumbered"
Alec laughed. She looked at him with an annoyed expression "What's so funny?"
"Aww, poor Maxie. Being unique is getting to her" he reached his hand out to pat her on the back in mock comfort.
"Shut up" she smacked his hand away but she couldn't help a slight involuntary smile "What do we do with them?"
"Lock 'em up unless of course you put Mole in charge of this and we dig trenches and shoot the lot of them"
"There's no way that we can do that. News, military, government, everyone has their eyes on us 24/7; it wouldn't matter if every single one of those men tried to destroy the world. If we shot them, we wouldn't have a chance"
Darren slid into the seat on the left of her, she stiffened. At the side, a bunch of giggling female X5s sat at a table, they gestured towards Alec. The table included Syl, Jondy and Lian.
"Well, got to go. My adoring fans await" Max ignored him; her eyes were fixed on the glass before her, studiously avoiding eye contact with Darren.
"Hey Max"
"Hey yourself"
"You've been avoiding me"
"What makes you think that?"
"Well, as the omnipresent leader of TC, it seems that every living particle in this godforsaken place has witnessed your presence but me."
"Darren…"
"Don't Max, please. I just want to talk, could you at least try?"
She winced and continued to stare at her glass. "Max?" she whirled around to face him.
"Fine. Why didn't you tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
"Don't play dumb Darren, why didn't you tell me that you were a transgenic?"
"You mean the way you told me?" She broke eye contact.
"You should have realized, after…" she didn't complete the sentence
"After? Max you weren't there after, you were gone. I didn't know about all that stuff, advanced recombinant DNA wasn't exactly my forte. After a couple of months I couldn't take it anymore, I researched and eventually I found out. I'd never felt that way before, so animalistic, so out of control. I swear if I had known I would have tried to stop, do something but I didn't know and after I did find out, it was killing me inside, thinking that you were out there somewhere. That you'd put me in your past as one of the many jerks that were so eager to jump into bed with you"
"I never even suspected" she said incredulously, "You always wore your hair short, but there was never a barcode, not a mark. Unless you got it lasered off every day, which was also impossible, there is no way that that could be. I was with you for entire days before"
It was his turn to break eye contact "I don't have one" he said softly.
"What?!"
"I don't have a barcode Max, never did"
She was obviously blown away by the news, she changed the subject "How did you get out? I didn't think that you were working for Manticore or you would have known and turned me in"
"I wasn't. Never did."
"Then how…?"
"I wasn't created to be a soldier working for Manticore specifically."
"Then what were you created for?"
"To be a bodyguard, and a son" Max was puzzled, he explained "My mother was Elizabeth Renfro. She wasn't married but she wanted to have a kid, a special kid. She was only a junior officer, but her uncle was the Director of Manticore then."
Max interrupted "Sandeman?"
"Yes. How did you know?"
"Just a hunch"
"Anyway, she managed to convince him to create me, but there was a condition. He couldn't let any soldier go to waste; I was to be trained like the rest. She agreed. Biologically, she is my mother."
"I don't get that; wouldn't it pollute the gene pool? No offense"
"None taken. Yes, it would but they altered some genes. I have the same abilities as any one of you. Her genes weren't nearly as flawed as normal ones though, I don't know why"
"I think I do, I'll explain later. Continue"
"I was born without a barcode because she wanted me to have a name, like a normal child instead of a number. I was trained with all of the other children, that's how I knew anything about Manticore in the first place, I would talk with them but I was forbidden to tell them who exactly I was. Most nights I'd spend in my own room at her apartment on the Manticore base. After I made some friends, I convinced her to let me stay with them a few times. I was rotated around different units so that no child could ever get close enough to me and no commanding officer would be the wiser, Sandeman would tell them that I was on loan from another unit and he was never questioned. I had no permanent place. My mother was a cold woman; I didn't feel any attachment to her. I was constantly under surveillance, more so than even you because I was the one with the 'most freedom' and 'privileges', I wasn't to be allowed to escape. One day in 2009, sometime in the winter, there was a big emergency. Alarms were going off everywhere, guards were moving about. Vehicles were becoming active and the lights were turned on. My mother went to see what the commotion was about and to lend a hand. I took my chance and ran. It must have been ages before they discovered that I had run; even after she found out she couldn't have put out an alert because I wasn't supposed to be there, according to records I did not exist. I had about two years of freedom, and then I think she got promoted to a senior position. She had the cash and the influence, she sent men out after me. They located and almost captured me, I've been on the run ever since. That's how I landed up in LA; I hooked up with Shard's gang. I felt a little more secure, so I stayed"
"Then I turned up"
"Yeah. They cornered you in an alley because they were bored and they wanted some sport of the more carnal kind"
"That's a polite way of putting it"
He grinned "I convinced them to let you go, you were just so angry, all attitude. You walked up to me and said…
"Don't even expect a thank you" Max filled in
"Then you walked past and you purposely jostled me. They guys started hooting and one tried to get fresh with you, Fingers I think, you broke his arm"
"Then I asked if anyone else wanted some and they all backed off" Max said, laughing as she remembered. Darren joined in the gaiety.
*******************
At the mostly female populated table, Alec and the girls watched Max and Darren as they talked. He turned back to face the others
"So, what do you think?"
"Old boyfriend" Jondy
"Heat victim" Lian
"Bonk buddy" Syl
"I agree with Jondy"
"Tibs on Syl"
"Lian"
"Lian"
"Okay" Alec said "So that's two for old boyfriend, two for bonk buddy and three for heat victim. Did I get that right?" An ecstasy of bobbing heads "Apparently so, now what do we think of their future relationship?"
"Boyfriend" Syl and Jondy
"Bonk buddy" Lian
"Boyfriend"
"Boyfriend"
"Bonk Buddy" the other three chorused.
"Well then, it's a tie. We'll just have to see how it plays out" he heartily banged his glass down on the table twice.
"And what's your opinion in all of this Alec?"
He looked uncomfortable "Hard to say. Umm, I think I'll just go tune my bike. The timing was a little off today" he made a quick exit.
Jondy turned to Sidney, a blonde X5 "I think he's a bad liar, do you think he's a bad liar?"
"I think he's a bad liar" she agreed
There was a general chorus of murmurs of agreement. "Okay, whose turn is it to get the beer?"
**********************
"What happened Max?"
Her laughter died down, she looked down at the gleaming marble counter, already stained with wet rings made by her glass. "Do you know what it feels like? Being that out of control, so unable to think straight. Feeling like every male that I see belongs in my bed, even the most disgusting pathetic excuses for human beings whose butts I would gladly kick if I was feeling normal. You can't. Maybe you're affected by a female's pheromones but it doesn't happen to you three times a year, you don't wake up in a room in some disreputable motel in bed with a man whose name you don't even know, or at least I hope you don't" Darren smiled wryly "I tried so many things, once I locked myself in the room and threw away the key. I blasted the door open."
He whistled in alarm "I've always felt ashamed of that part of me, always wished that it would go away, always run from it. Every time I go into heat I try to restrain myself, I have a friend that knew my secret. I told her to smack me if I started getting to close to a guy. It helped, but I went out for a ride on my bike to clear my head and I landed up in some guy's apartment. The best part is I had blown off a dinner date with the man that, then I didn't admit to loving. I felt so guilty, so ashamed. I spent hours in the shower just trying to wash away that feeling of grime and dirt, I was squeaky clean but I felt like I had taken a dip in the sewers. That's the way I feel every time I succumb to that animalistic desire, the carnal urge. That's the way I felt after you. I had to go. I knew that Manticore was catching up, but I needed that extra incentive and I took it."
"God, we were just sixteen"
"For Manticore, just sixteen meant nothing" Max's voice was shot straight through with bitterness.
He cleared his throat and looked down at the table uncomfortably "so what happened to him?"
Max looked puzzled, "Who?"
"The guy you said that you were in love with"
"Oh, um that kind of panned out" Then she faced him thoughtfully "You know, I think you were my first real boyfriend"
"And you were my first real girlfriend, so it looks like we're even. Want to go for a walk?"
"Sure, let's get the hell out of here"
********************
Max strode into the command center "Mole, you called?"
"Yeah, you said you wanted to meet new arrivals. We have new arrivals"
"Great. Where are they?"
"Downstairs. Max we barely have any place"
"I think we can fit a couple in"
"A couple? What about the rest?"
"How many are there?"
"Why don't you see for yourself?" Max clattered down the steps, she was slightly worried. There had never been arrivals of over 4; most had had the sense to split up to keep from being discovered. She had ordered more bedrolls to give the current population of TC something to sleep on instead of the floor. They weren't just fast running out of space, there just flat out was no space. Max had tried to get to the makeshift kitchen the night before and had given up after 5 minutes, the floors were so clogged up that she was afraid that one toe out of line (literally) would wake the whole lot.
She came across the 50 or so 'new arrivals', she stopped and stared. They really had no place for that many arrivals. None of them could be over 12; the youngest must have been about two. Standing and sucking his thumb, the toddler stared at her. She cleared her throat "Hi, my name is Max. Welcome to Terminal City"
A girl stepped forward, smiling wanly. The girl was pale and thin, perhaps about 13 years old, she had a ragged grey blanket draped around her shoulders, she appeared to be the leader "Hi, I'm Faile. I'm an Y-4, from the facility in Nye, Nevada. I know that most of you are from Gillette, Wyoming. When the base there was exposed, they attempted to raze all of their bases. We managed to escape, please can we stay?" the girl looked up at Max with pleading blue eyes.
Max smiled, she bent down and hugged her. "Of course you can stay" she pulled away from Faile and faced the others "All of you can stay" A cheer went up from many of them. "Now come on, let's get you some food"
*******************
"I don't know what she expects me to do, just wave a wand and magically we'll have more space?" Mole grumbled.
"Relax" Jondy said "We'll put them somewhere"
"You haven't seen them; they're a bunch of kids. Max won't let them sleep on the floor with a bedroll like everyone else. They're going to have to be in apartments"
"Well we'll just clear some people off and double up the ones that do have apartments. They're kids, they take up less space. You can fit five or six in one apartment easy"
Just then Alec walked in "Hey, watcha doing?"
"Nothing much" Jondy replied "How's it going?"
"Not bad, but I swear I wish I had a larger apartment. I'm living in a broom closet! You can't take girls home to that dump. Last night, I had to…"
Jondy hit him in the chest to get him to shut up "Overshare Alec, by definition too much unnecessary information"
He grinned at her, "Sure" he turned around when he heard his name being called, Sidney was impatiently gesturing to him "Catch ya later" he left.
"So who're we going to double up?" Mole asked, chomping down on his cigar. Jondy's mouth opened to suggest something but it snapped shut, she looked off in the direction that Alec had departed in, an evil (good evil) smile spread over her face "I think I have a starting idea"
********************
Next Day- In the evening
Max heard noises coming from her apartment as she walked down the hallway. She distinctly remembered locking it before. She reached the door and tensed before shoving the door open. She stared at the sight before her. Alec was huffing and puffing as he dragged a wardrobe into the second room in her apartment, he stopped when he saw her glaring daggers at him from the doorway.
He grinned at her and let go of the wardrobe "Hey Max!"
She did not smile back, "Alec" her words were clipped and coated with venom "What the hell are you doing in my apartment?"
"Your apartment? No, no Maxie, our apartment"
"What?" She couldn't believe her ears.
"Well see, apparently we have a bunch of new kids that you wanted moved into apartments on the first floor preferably, so I got kicked out of my cozy crib all the way up to this godforsaken windswept cold place. I'm just re-decorating."
"I'm supposed to share an apartment with the broken record player that just won't shut up from hell??!!"
He opened his eyes wide innocently "No, just me."
"Very funny" she growled. She stormed into her room and slammed the door behind her loudly.
Alec winced "Well, that went well!" he muttered.
He heard shuffling coming from Max's room "Could you give me a hand?" he called.
She strode out of her room and turned to glare at him. Alec was stunned, Max was dressed in a black mini skirt with a narrow silver belt and a halter neck with no back, instead there was a criss-cross of strings to hold the edges of the material together. Silver earrings dangled from her ears, a slim silver charm bracelet gently resided on her wrist and a silver ring with a small diamond (fake but very realistic) glinted on her finger. The only makeup that she wore was a coat of lip gloss that complimented her full lips beautifully. Completing her outfit was a pair of jet black boots that came up to mid-calf.
"Whoa, where are you going?" secretly he was eying her from appreciation but he knew that if he let that show, he might not survive the night.
She looked at him like it was the most obvious thing in the world "The TRW dance"
"The what? I'm sorry"
"Transgenics Rock the World dance? The one and only thing that all transgenics of TC have been slacking off to talk about all day? The thing that Sidney has been so excited about planning for almost a week? Any of this ringing a bell?"
At the mention of Sidney, Alec smacked a hand to his forehead "Oh God, Sidney. That's what she was telling me when I got that call, then Jondy broke the whole moving into your apartment thingamajig and I scrambled. Jeez! If I don't go she'll kill me!"
"Well it's about time you got some retribution from the female population"
Alec muttered "I think you more than make up for that"
Max raised her eyebrows and Alec grinned at her, he mustered all of his charm "Max, how about you give me a hand with this, we can finish fast and we'll both make it on time. What do you say?"
"We'll both be late, I don't want to keep Darren waiting"
"Fashionably late and about Darren, since when have you cared about being so punctual? Come on, be nice"
Max sighed and rolled her eyes "Fine, but you owe me"
**********************
Darren looked around impatiently, Max still wasn't there. He smiled when he remembered all the times that she had been late. On their first proper date she turned up two hours late just as he was leaving, the first thing she did was sit down and order then started talking to him, she never apologized.
The bar was teeming with transgenics, the party extended outwards outside the bar. There were temporary bars set up outside for those that were partying outside. Max had ordered speakers that they placed at various places around TC for emergencies, 'like a party!' as Sidney pointed out. She had been in a frenzy for the past week, organizing the party as a relief for all the transgenics and an excuse to act crazy and be free. Max and Alec had been only too happy to let her and left her to it. Darren frowned; it was funny how most mentions of Max went with Alec and vice versa. They were together a lot, true they were both in charge of TC but was there no way that they could do it separately?
He spotted Max walking into the bar. A drop-dead gorgeous Max, with Alec. Darren's lifted spirits became dampened at the sight of the two of them walking in together when she was late, she had promised to put off work. She saw him and headed toward him, he grinned. The sight of her captured him; she turned quite a few heads on her way over to him. He vaguely made out Alec headed in the opposite direction.
"Hey Darren"
"Oh, I'm sorry, do I know you? I'm waiting for an attitude-filled tough chic that captured my heart"
She laughed "Darren that is so corny!" she smiled at him "But sweet. Sorry about that whole being late thing, it was Alec's fault"
"What happened?"
"You saw the new arrivals right? Well they were put into the ground floor apartments and one of those was Alec's. Mole decided to kick him up to my apartment"
"What?!"
"I know, I thought that too. The bug, I have to live with him! He convinced me to help him move in so that we wouldn't both be late, fat chance"
Darren shook his head in sympathy, a lively tune started playing. He nodded his head in time to the beat and grabbed Max's hand "C'mon, let's dance"
He dragged a half-protesting half-acquiescent Max to the dance floor that already had several dancers.
*******************
"What does she see in him?" Alec popped a piece of cheese into his mouth and regarded the dancing couple through narrow slits.
"Why? Jealous?" Jondy asked, she slapped him on the arm playfully.
"Nope" he grinned at her "Just wondering. I mean first Logan, now him. I just have to know what she thinks is so hot in the people she drools after"
"Shut up Alec" on his other side Syl whacked him on the head.
"Ow! You're really fond of doing that aren't you?"
"It's becoming a favorite. Now if you'll excuse me, there's a shot of tequila with salt and lime somewhere with my name on it. Not to mention that there are some cute guys sitting next to it. See you." Syl walked off. Sidney came to join them, passing Syl on the way she sat in the newly vacated seat.
She plunked a pitcher of beer down on the table "Refills anyone?"
There was a chorus of 'yes!' She turned to Alec "And where were you?"
He grinned at her charmingly "Setting up a Palace for a queen"
She laughed "Nice try Alec, what were you doing?"
He sighed and placed his hands over his heart in mock hurt "My liege has greatly wounded me"
"Do you want her to wound you in another way?" Sidney looked at him threateningly.
Alec raised his hands placatingly "Okay, okay. I was moving in to Max's apartment, you know arranging things. Bugging Max. Being assaulted, the usual"
She raised her eyebrows "Moving in with Max, really?"
"Well it wasn't my idea!" he started muttering under his breath.
She rolled her eyes, grabbed his arm and yanked him up "Come on, this is no time to be sitting on your laurels. I didn't organize this whole thing for you to drink the night away"
They headed towards the dance floor.
*******************
Max squealed as Darren dipped her. She was having the time of her life. The music was pounding, lights flashing, people chit chatting and screaming. It was a regular club. The song ended and they stopped dancing, she grinned at Darren happily.
"Do you want to go sit down?" he asked as the music started up again.
She laughed "Tired already? Sure"
They went over to where Jondy was sitting with Gem and Shane. She plonked herself down on a seat and Darren followed suit.
"Hey guys" They nodded in acknowledgment. Jondy grinned and nodded her head in one direction. Max turned to look. She saw Alec dancing with Sidney. He danced, Max had to admit, with a certain grace. She heard the Blue Danube Waltz start playing. Most couples on the dance floor started attempting to waltz, she saw that poor Alec never had a chance. Sidney was leading, something he would never hear the end of. She cocked her head to the side *hmm, he cleans up well*
"Max? Max!" Darren tried to get her attention, she had been watching Alec for two minutes, lost in thought and he was getting slightly worried. It wasn't like her eyes were blankly staring at a certain spot, quite the contrary, they were alive and moving everywhere that Alec and Sidney went. She snapped out of it when she heard Darren.
"Yeah?"
"Just checking if you're still alive" she laughed self-consciously as she realized that she must have been staring at Alec and Sidney for quite a while.
"Come on, I want a drink."
******************
Alec dropped onto his seat; he was exhausted after all that dancing. Sidney was a real slave driver, she hadn't let him sit down for ages. He saw Max walking off in the other direction with Darren. Sidney looked after them "Well, Max is looking particularly hot today don't you think?" she looked back at him and gauged his reaction.
"Uhh, I wouldn't notice." He suddenly looked uncomfortable "Say, up for another dance?"
"Nope. I'm exhausted" she leaned closer to him smiling mischievously, she playfully bit his ear and whispered "But there is this one another thing that I am up for" Alec grinned at her gamely.
***********************
Later that night- or more accurately the next morning, very very early
"Mmm" Sidney murmured and turned over in her sleep. Next to her Alec's chest rose and fell with his even breaths, his arm was under his pillow and his eyes roamed in their sockets as he dreamed.
His arms encircled her small waist, pulling her closer; the heat radiated from his body warming her as she was pressed up against him, her scanty clothing allowed her to feel every burning touch. Her arms slipped around his neck and her hands entwined in his hair, drawing him closer still. His lips softly brushed hers, sending tingles down her spine. His hand moved up her bare back causing yet more shivers while his lips wandered, barely grazing her.
The feel of soft velvety skin under his fingertips was killing him. All he wanted to do right then was take her in his arms and blow her away. She moaned as his lips brushed against hers again. He undid the clasp of her dress that was at the back of her neck. It didn't fall because he was pushed up against her so tightly that it was held on.
She desperately tugged his shirt off. Their mouths finally met in a breathtaking kiss. The lip lock was sending different sensations tumbling down inside of her, overwhelming her. She couldn't think, she was captured in the moment. So lost in his arms, enraptured by him.
They stumbled into a room, clumsily fumbling with feet and clothes alike. They were finally on the bed, he looked down lovingly into the eyes of…
Alec sat up in bed suddenly, sweating half with fear half with shock "Holy crap"
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A/N- Do you think the story's still going strong? Or should I wrap it up? Please feel free to push that button down there on the left and tell me what you think!
A/N- Is it possible to sweat from shock? Say a cold sweat maybe.