"Hey, there. Missed you." Alec sat on the bunk, looking down at her. As Max crawled out from under the bunk, he stood.
"So when are the cavalry gonna crash our little party?" Max asked. She was beyond caring at this point. Let him play his games, it was obvious he hadn't said anything, or else Renfro would already have her in isolation again. Unless, she wondered, this was all part of some grand scheme they were cooking up.
"Don't worry. I haven't raised the alarm, but you've gotta be more careful, Max." He gave her the once over and then turned away, as if dismissing her. He walked to the door and knocked loudly twice. "Guard."
After he left it caused her to worry even more. She hadn't seen Zack at all, not in training, mess hall, and the briefing rooms. Even when she passed the outer barracks, there was no sign of him. It was well over a week since they'd been back at Manticore. Where could they be keeping him? After seeing her clone, she had a deep-set feeling everything was far from good.
~*~*~
After helping her to the bunk, Zack went to investigate the contents of the bucket in the corner. It was half filled with water, after taking a small scoop and sampling it, he surmised it was suitably clean enough to drink. Bring it over to Max, he offered her the first drink.
"I don't want to have to use it, but we have to get cleaned up if we want to avoid infection." They'd drink a little first, and then he'd use it to wash their wounds.
Sam sat up slowly and studied him, he was excepting her so easily. Maybe it was her appearance that had won his sympathy and had overridden his usually suspicious nature. Major Croan, had cautioned her repeatedly to take things very slowly. They had Zack's previous capture recordings to go on and it was enough to draw several important conclusions. He was very strong willed and he was fearlessly loyal. He was ready to sacrifice himself before he'd betray his unit. 'His family', Croan had said. A part of her wondered if she could be like him, whether she had that kind of selflessness. Looking in his blue eyes, she knew she didn't have it to the same degree as he did. She'd reasoned for her brother's life, but if the decision had been made against her, she wouldn't have pressed the issue. That thought made a cold shiver pass through her, maybe if she'd kept her mouth shut, he might have had peace.
"I'm okay, Zack." Sam said, unbuttoning her shirt. Underneath she wore a white top or at least it had been white when she put it on.
"Oh god, Max." Zack reached out and gingerly touched her swollen left shoulder. Below her ribs on her right side, blood had soaked through her top.
He looked at her, questioning with his eyes. When she nodded in response, he carefully pulled the material up to expose the wound. The skin was badly bruised and split, ugly welts lacerating creamy smooth flesh. The cuts looked fresh, but the smell of the blood was far from comforting. He could smell the onset of infection.
X5s were resistant to infection and disease and healed quickly, but it didn't mean that they were invincible. He tore the hem of his shirt and dipped it into the water. Thrist forgotten, when he looked into her eyes.
Sam felt a jolt of electricity pass through her when his strong yet incredibly gently fingers came into contact with her skin. He continued to dab her sores carefully and she let out a shaky breath.
"Am I hurting you?" He sent her a worried glance.
When his eyes caught hers and she saw the concern spoken there, something inside her snapped painfully. She bit her lip and looked away, wanting desperately to escape his care, avoid his probing presence. The way he made her feel, she felt guilty and why should she? She had nothing to confess, she'd done nothing wrong. Besides it was her body, her choice, she'd lived through beatings before. On one of her assignments to Japan she'd been tortured, it wasn't foreign to her and she'd dealt with it. They'd been trained, breed for the life of a soldier. This was just another mission, he's just a part of your mission. She kept reminding herself of that and more; her responsibility, her duty to Manticore, to the director. The major was counting on her to retrieve the locations of the renegade X5s.
Zack finished his ministrations, and she abruptly stood and moved a few feet away from him. Tugging her top the rest of the way up and over her head, she tossed it aside. She heard a sharp intake of breath behind her and couldn't resist letting a small smile of satisfaction escape. At least she knew he found her attractive, she could always use that card if need be. Picking up her discarded shirt, she slipped in on and buttoned it.
"It might be dirty, but it won't cling as much."
"Yeah, makes sense." Zack murmured, still distracted by her recent actions.
"Your turn mister, sit." She motioned for him to sit on the bunk and proceeded to clean his cuts and scraps.
Zack sat still as she crouched in front of him. Her fingertips seemed to linger on his bottom lip and his throat tightened with the sensations. He reached up and stopped her. Stilling her movements and capturing her gaze with his eyes.
Sky blue eyes. Like his skin, they did scary things to her senses. She felt vulnerable, exposed to those trusting probing eyes. "Zack?"
"You love him, don't you?" He questioned quietly, his voice barely a whisper.
She knew he'd asked her and expected an answer. The question was there in his eyes. He was talking about the man, Max had traded herself for. She couldn't think of who else it could be. Suddenly she realized why Renfro had chosen her. She had no idea why it hadn't dawned on her earlier. Zack was in love with Max. Why else would he trade himself too?
He had to have known it was far more risky for him to come back to Manticore, than for any of his siblings. It would be impossible for him to protect them if he was successfully reindoctrinated. But he'd traded himself thinking he could somehow protect Max. The others probably hadn't even factored into his last minute decision. Considering this information, she realized how important her answer to would be.
"Logan, is special to me, Zack. He's watched my back out there, he's a good friend but nothing more. I love him like a brother…" She saw a flicker of hurt cross his features and she immediately knew why. 'Like me', she concluded, read his thoughts.
He knew he should be relieved that she wasn't in love with the norm. Not that Logan wasn't a good guy, he just wasn't the right guy. And he was? He scoffed at that, he was kidding himself. He knew the feelings he had for Max were different to that of a brother for a sister. Because he hadn't felt that way about Tinga or Jhondie. When he'd discovered that Tinga had been married he'd wanted to hang them both. Not because he was jealous, but because Tinga had endangered and compromised herself. He'd wanted to dismember Charlie because he'd taken advantage of his younger sister. With Max, when he'd seen her with Logan, kissing him. His stomach turned in knots just remembering it. The feel was as if someone had reached inside his chest and tore out his heart. From that moment on, every time he thought about Max, Logan was right there with her. Holding her, touching her, kissing her, how he longer to. He couldn't bear to imagine her happily asleep in Logan's arms, that thought would break him. He closed his eyes and killed the picture.
"That kiss looked real steamy."
It was a statement more than anything else but Sam knew he hadn't let the matter drop. She sighed, men and their petty jealous streaks. Actually some norm women were a lot worse so she'd give him that. She wasn't about to try and play guessing games about just what was bothering him, it was too risky when she didn't know the stakes. She'd have to try to reassure him without having to drag up things she had no clue about. "Zack, it was a messy situation. I'm telling you honestly, there's nothing more than friendship between us. That's it. Now are you going to try and sleep or are we going to dwell on the past all night?" She pushed him back into the mattress and then stood.
He looked about to protest and she interrupted him. "I don't need to sleep remember?" She gave him a smile, as he reluctantly stretched out and shifted to watch her. She crouched against the wall opposite the bunk and watched as he slowly slipped into unconsciousness.
Zack stirred a little when he felt the mattress dip slightly. A warm body snuggled against him and soft curls brushed under his chin. In his sleep, he drew his arm around the feminine form beside him and pulled her closer, before setting back into a deep sleep.
When he next awoke he knew something was desperately wrong, the body was no longer next to him and the air resting around him was cold. He opened his eyes and turned his head, there on the floor was Max. Shuddering uncontrollably, she was bathed in cold sweat, her clothes clinging to her body. Her eyes were wide with fear and her fists opened and closed desperately, as if trying to cling to something. Then all of a sudden, before his eyes, she began to change.
Her usually radiant olive complexion turned a sickly pale gray. Her breath was coming in ragged shallow gasps and she never stopped quaking.
Leaping off the bunk, he lifted her shoulders gently and cradled her to his chest. "Max, tell me what's wrong. Tell me what I can do."
Sam had seen it happen to some of the other X5s, even appeared in a couple of the later series too. Progeria, the aging syndrome, it seemed to strike at anytime and was non-sex specific. Manticore had a treatment; they altered the genetic code and injected doses of anti-aging serum until the reversal was evident. But the drugs and resources the treatment required, weren't in surplus supply and she knew in the past they'd review each case individually and determined whether the treatment would be subscribed. After all the rigorous screening she'd be subjected to, she was sure that she couldn't possibly get it; the progeria, seizures or any other gene defective disorder.
He studied her face, her hands, her hair. It was graying at the roots and some of her beautiful locks were already beginning to shed. For a moment she closed her eyes and when he looked down at her, he saw Brin. He knew immediately that what she had was treatable, Lydecker had cured Brin. He got to his feet and started pounding the door. "Guard," he screamed. "Guard."
Torchlights blared through the cell bars and the door slammed open.
Zack returned to her side and Sam immediately gripped his hand with hers. "Please," she whispered, "don't let them take me."
The guards came in with a stretcher and lifted her on, strapping her securely.
"Zack?" She reached for him but he wasn't there.
Zack stood helplessly, watching as they took her away. He went to take her hand but one of armed guards pointed his taser at his chest.
"You stay." The guard ordered.
Sam had never been afraid like she felt now. Her body was caving from the inside out. Cold on the outside, chills crawling across her skin, but underneath she was melting, sweating her life way. Voices hovered around her, lights changed in intensity and then darkness washed over her.
Renfro and Croan watched from the observing screen, as doctors piled ice packs on the unconscious woman. A nurse inserted an intravenous tube and after hanging the bag on the overhead hook, she moved away. The rest of them soon followed suit until the woman was alone in the dimly lit room, surrounded by empty beds.
"Where to from here?" Croan asked, looking back from X5-453, to the director standing beside him.
"Bring X5-599 to me." She replied before walking to the door. This might prove to get the ball rolling a little faster, his reaction to her was enough to guess that he thought she was Max. He might be willing to make a deal for her life. Renfro smiled happily. Now to figure out just what could she get him to do?
A/N: I'm nasty, I'm mean. I give you rotten cliffhangers. I'm sorry, but aren't you happy I gave you this instead of leaving you hanging a couple more days? Okay, I've juggled over this dilemma for a whole weekend and I'm still stuck. What is Renfro going to proposition Zack with? Obviously the treatment, but what does she want? If have a wicked idea or any ideas, please SHARE :D
