Disclaimer: Look, if you've been reading my story up until now, you already know what I'm going to say. It's owned by people who were ungrateful enough to let it be cancelled. I do own Justin, Dalianna, her family and all her X-siblings, but I'm more than willing to share. If you'd like to use them, please just ask. Thank you.
Timeframe: After "Freak Nation", end of Season 2
A/N: Hey guys, thanks again for the wonderful reviews. (my muse has an incredibly inflated ego, and she loves to hear what a wonderful job she's doing…but you didn't hear that from me)
Chapter 11
Bouncin' In Da Club
Alec retreated to his room, a wounded soldier, albeit he would be the last to admit it. He laid down on his bed and stared up at the ceiling. Alec, you moron, what were you thinking? She's way out of your league, buddy. Give it up. Besides, after Rachel, you promised that there'd never be another. Then Max came along…but she's with Cale. No. I won't put myself through it. Not again. He sighed as he counted the holes in the ceiling, unable to drift into any type of sleep. 1…2…3…
Dali sat and stared out into the darkness. Her eyes boring holes through the vast nothingness, luminated only by the pale beams of the moon, and the incessantly dimming kerosene lantern. Dali, you idiot, what were you thinking? Alec reaches out to you, and what do you do? You pull away. Typical, typical, typical Dali blockhead-like behavior. But what about Justin? Her brain began to wage war with itself. What about him?...after him, you promised that there'd never be another…Well, that was then…But what about everything he meant to you…There's nothing I can do about that, he's gone now. Besides, he would want me to be happy…But…it's Alec! Dali smiled at herself. Who would've thought? Certainly not me…Well, what do I do now? Then she smiled again, she knew exactly what to do.
432…433…434…Okay, this isn't working. He sat up on his bed and sighed. Suddenly, the door to his room opened, allowing a single beam of light to pierce the deep darkness. Dali came in and closed the door behind her. She sat down slowly with Alec on the bed, as he stared open-mouthed at her.
"What are you doing here?" he asked her. But she didn't reply, instead held a finger to his lips. I hope you know what you're doing, she thought. It seemed as though everything was happening in slow motion. Her heartbeat quickened slightly, and a silvery haze covered her eyes. She traced his jaw-line with her finger, and, pushing all thoughts of Justin from her mind, she leaned forward.
Centimeters from his lips, the door flew open.
"Alec, what are you doing?"
Dali gritted her teeth, before turning to their intruder. Damn it all. Before them stood Max, arms crossed, a look of clear surprise on her face.
"Am I interrupting something?"
Damn it Max, don't you ever knock? Dali could hear Alec's thoughts clear as day, and had to control herself to keep from laughing.
"Impeccable timing, Max," she stated. "Alec and I were just getting ready to come see if you wanted to go hang out at Crash tonight." Funny, Max thought, looked like you were just getting ready to perform emergency tonsillectomies on each other.
Alec looked over at Dali. "We were?"
"Yes," she insisted, raising an eyebrow at him, "we were."
Max had an amused look on her face, but much to their surprise, accepted the proposal. "Well, actually, I do kind of need to get out, get my mind off things." She turned and left without another word. Dali let out a breath she didn't know she had been holding, and got up to leave too, but Alec took hold of her hand.
"Pick up where we left off?" he wondered.
Dali looked at him for a few seconds before surprising herself. "Later," she smiled and left.
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Dali sat swinging her legs at the kitchen table, as she took in another heaping spoonful of food. She was vaguely aware of the three pairs of eyes watching her, and wondered briefly if she had made the right decision staying here. Maybe she ought to keep moving…after all, she was in enemy territory. She decided that at the present moment, she wasn't in any immediate danger, and having a place to sleep inside was definitely preferable to sleeping on the outside, especially in the snow. She looked up to meet the older man's warm brown eyes. She then glanced briefly at the woman, who was also watching her, and even the baby seemed to be unable to take his eyes off of her.
"Is there a problem, sir?" she asked.
It took him a moment to realize this young child was speaking to him. "No," he finally managed to get out. "No, I just…Do you have any family?"
Dali kept her eyes on him. "Negative. Families are liabilities. The only things that matter are the mission, one's unit and the objective." The man raised his eyebrows. Dali almost smacked herself. What, are you still at Manticore? she wondered. It took her months with the Kormans to realize how wrong she really was.
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Dali stood watching herself and laughing at her own failed attempts at applying make-up while looking in the grime smeared mirror that hung in the bathroom. How had she come this far? What was she going to do? Everything seemed to be getting so complicated. What with the transgenics, the Convlave, the ordinaries, the xenophobia, Max and Logan, worries about food, clothing, sleep and protection. And now Alec…all of this thinking was only resulting in a colossal migraine. The last thing she needed was another panic attack. So she decided to put everything out of her mind, if only for tonight, and just try to concentrate on having a little fun. After all, that was their purpose for getting Max out…right?
A few minutes later, Dali, Max and Alec all met outside the headquarters building.
"Hey, can I drive?"
"Hell no!" Max and Alec answered simultaneously.
Dali raised her eyebrows. "And said in surround sound…Wow, you guys are really overprotective." She hopped on the back of Max's ninja without another word.
"Yeah," Max replied as she put on her shades, "and you're really persistent." She leaned to the side, knocked up the kickstand, turned the key in the ignition and they roared off with Alec not far behind.
"Hey watch out for the—" Dali was cut off as the front wheel left the ground smashing through the gate at the entrance to Terminal City. "…gate," she finished unceremoniously. She looked back and spotted a group of sector police ranting at them. One voice came through loud and clear.
"Damn you, freaks!"
"Drop dead pea-brain!" She shouted at them over the roar of the engines. Pea-brain?? I haven't used that insult since like the 5th grade! But all thoughts of insults and why they were being aimed at her left her mind, as she once again resolved to enjoy herself. I WILL have a good time…I WILL have a good time…she told herself over and over again. But if she truly believed that, why was she overcome by this sense of inevitable dread?
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Dali said nothing as the ride continued. Riding on the back of Max's bike always gave her a rush. Something about not having any boundaries, and just letting the wind have its way made the tiny hairs on the back of her neck stand up. She wondered how it would feel to drive it…just once. Max stopped about a block from the club and got off.
"Why'd you stop here?" Dali wondered. "I don't really feel like walking."
"Because we don't want to draw attention to ourselves. Now get off the bike, lazy."
Dali sighed and got off. Alec approached her from behind.
"Why are we walking?"
Max only sighed, rolling her eyes. "Let's just go." They headed toward the entrance, but stopped upon seeing the line gathered outside. A big, burly man stood at the door.
"Go home people; we're over our max. No one else's getting in." Though no one moved, this elicited several groans from everyone standing outside, including Dali.
"Looks like we're going home," she sighed.
"Not necessarily," Max countered with a gleam in her eye. She unzipped her jacket and gave a seductive smile.
"What are you doing?" Dali asked her.
"Don't worry," Alec whispered to her. "She does this ALL the time. She's a pro." Max began to walk over, when suddenly, Dali reached out to stop her.
"Wait," she said narrowing her eyes at the bouncer. "Max, stay. Alec, you go."
"What?!" was Alec's quick reply.
Dali's eyes never left the bouncer. "You said Max does this all the time, which means you must've seen her in action. You know what to do, go ahead, do your thing."
"This isn't my thing. It's Max's thing."
"Well, if Max does it, it's not gonna work."
"Why not?" Max asked. "Don't you have faith in my capabilities?"
Dali rolled her eyes. "It has nothing to do with your capabilities. The bouncer's gay," she replied matter-of-factly. Max and Alec both raised their eyebrows. "Yep, I can smell it on him over here. Apparently, working isn't the only thing he's done tonight…"
It was Max's turn to roll her eyes. "Can we focus please?"
Dali smiled, "Now you sound like Logan." At the mention of Logan's name, Max clamped her mouth shut.
"I'm not doing this," Alec interrupted them.
"Alec you have to. If you don't, we don't get in," Dali replied. Alec thought for a moment.
"Alright, fine. But if either of you speaks a word of this—"
Max and Dali showered him with promises of taking it to the grave before he finally walked off.
"Oh, I know a lot of people who would pay big bucks to be in my shoes right now," Max whispered.
"I know what you mean. Shh, watch." They both watched as Alec approached the guard, and begun to talk. Max strained, but even with her super-hearing she couldn't hear what was going on.
"What's he saying?" she asked.
Dali zoned her eyes in on the two men, and tuned her hearing up a notch. But no sooner had she gotten to the perfect pitch, when the guard smiled, and Alec turned to wave them over. They approached them slowly, so as not to be conspicuous, and the guard held the door for them. Apparently, he hadn't been lying. They were definitely over maximum capacity, whatever that was for them. But the place was packed. Dali had never been inside the club, and took it all in randomly. A pool game here, some friends having a drink there, it seemed almost as if the partygoers were sending out a message to the rest of the world, that no electromagnetic pulse was strong enough to stop them from getting their party on.
Surprisingly, they found a few empty stools at the bar, and quickly made their way over before anyone else could take them. The bartender smiled at them.
"Hey, haven't seen you guys in awhile. What can I get you?"
Max smiled back. "Gimme three beers please."
"Make that two," Dali interrupted.
"Oh, you don't drink?" Alec asked with a look of clear astonishment on his face. As though he expected that everyone did.
"I didn't say that," Dali responded. "I just don't drink beer. Can I get a fuzzy navel on ice please?"
"You don't drink beer, but you drink hard liquor?" Max asked.
"I never really had a taste for beer," the young girl replied. The bartender approached them and set their drinks before them. Dali downed hers in one shot. Alec looked on, clearly impressed.
"Well, look who finally decided to join the world of the living," came a familiar voice from behind them. Dali turned to see OC standing there.
"Hey Cindy," Max said bumping her fist, "what's really good?"
"Chillin," she replied. "What are you guys doing outside Terminal City?"
"Taking the night off," Alec replied for them.
"From?" she asked, sitting on a stool next to them.
"From being transgenic," Dali answered. "Tonight, we are simply three friends out having a good time, keeping our minds off the trials and tribulations that have become a daily ritual." She raised her second drink, and clinked glasses with Alec before downing it once again.
"I see."
"Hey Alec, what'd you have to promise that guy to get us in here?" Max asked over the noisy chaos that filled the room.
"You don't want to know," he muttered in reply. "Just understand that I will NEVER go through with it."
"He might be kinda pissed that you lied to him," Cindy told him. Alec shrugged his shoulders.
Dali glanced at him. "Don't feel bad. I'm a human lie detector. Lying is my specialty. I do it all the time."
A boy in a t-shirt, and a brown leather jacket came up behind Dali and put his hand on the counter in front of her. "Buy you a drink?"
Dali gave him a fake smile. "No thanks." But he was relentless.
"Yeah, a pretty young girl like you must have guys lining up to get you a free drink."
"Something like that," she replied clearly uninterested.
"So what's your name?"
Dali sighed. He had enough money to buy that coat; maybe he should have used some of it to buy himself a clue. "Unavailable." She turned and hopped off the seat, but he was close behind. He grabbed her wrist and turned her around. Dali felt rather than saw Max tense, as she watched the scene unfold before her. But the young girl shot her older sibling a look that clearly said "I can handle it".
"Hey, no one disrespects me. I know how to handle young girls like you."
Dali actually smiled at that. "Oh really?" she asked. She snatched her wrist away and took him by the shoulders, gently pushing him towards the wall. When they got there, she wrapped her fingers around his neck in a not-so-gentle way, squeezing until he was gasping for air and leaned in close so that her lips brushed his ear. "And I know how to handle perverts like you. Let's try to be fair, and we'll do this quid pro quo. You do something for me; I do something for you. Now I, am going to refrain from taking away your ability to have children, and you know what you're gonna do for me?"
"What?" he barely squeaked.
"Take your slimy, ugly, grimy, scrawny, no good, can't hack it, waste of skin ass and leave, and you're never gonna come back." She smiled sweetly at him. "Isn't that right?" He didn't respond, and the grip on his neck tightened. "Isn't that right?"
"Consider it done," he gasped.
She gave him an even wider smile. "I'm so glad we understand each other. Now get outta my sight before I change my mind." She released her hold on his neck, leaving visible bruises, and he slinked away towards the door, coughing and holding his collar. Dali made her way back to the bar. Max glowered at her as she neared them. "What?" Dali snapped. She really wasn't in the mood.
"Whatever happened to not drawing attention to ourselves," Max snapped back through barred teeth.
"Hey," the bartender interrupted them, "that sleazebag has been chasing away my female customers for two months now. It was about time somebody showed him who was boss."
"Yeah, well the universe has its own way of taking care of scum like him," Dali replied.
"Still, thanks for that. You're pretty good," he smiled at her.
She smiled back. "Eat your heart out." She slapped a five on the counter and turned to leave, but Alec caught her sleeve.
"Where you headed?"
"It's kind of warm in here; I'm gonna go get some air. I'll be back in a little while."
"You sure you're ok?"
"Yeah, peachy," she replied before walking away. She squeezed by some guys having a bar brawl over a poker game, and pushed through the door, giving the bouncer a small wave as she passed. She began to walk down the sidewalk, not entirely sure of where she was going. But as she passed an alleyway, she heard screams. It was almost pitch black, but she saw none other than the boy from earlier, harassing a girl who looked to be younger than her. She sighed and put her hand on her hip. "Unbelievable. I thought we had a deal."
They both looked up at her, and in his surprise, the boy let the girl go, she was off in a flash.
"You really know how to ruin a guy's fun," he spat at her.
She raised an eyebrow. "You have no idea." He slowly walked over to her, then quickly grabbed her by the arms and slammed her up against the side of the stone building.
He leaned in close; his breath smelling strongly of what Dali decided must've been scotch. "You know, my father told me never to hit a girl. But I know that you're just another one of those freaks that came out of the test tube. You're not even human."
Dali's eyes went cold as they filled with anger. "Well in that case, I can't be held accountable for my actions." She pulled her arms out of his grasp, took hold of his shirt and kneed him in the groin, causing him to double over in pain before falling to the ground. She rolled him over and sat on his chest. All the sadness, hurt, guilt, pain and confusion of the past years finally boiling over; it was too much to bear. She grabbed him by the collar and slugged him in the jaw. She hit him again, and again, and again, only vaguely aware of the crunching bones beneath her knuckles and the dull ache that jolted her arm. From far away, she could hear a familiar voice calling her name, yelling at her to stop. She wanted to stop, but it was as if her body no longer cared what her mind wanted. Suddenly, she was enveloped by a strong pair of arms, and pulled off the boy's chest.
"Dali!" Alec screamed at her, turning her around. "What the hell is wrong with you?" The look in her eyes scared him. He had seen that look before…it was the same look Max had on her face when she realized that Alec had been in collusion with Manticore to keep her and Logan apart. She didn't reply, but only stared at him as though confused. He shook her hard. "Snap out of it!"
Dali blinked her eyes a few times, trying to clear her head. She raised her hand in front of her face to see her fingers covered in blood. "Alec…oh my god…what have I done?" Hot tears stung at the back of her eyes, and it was hard to keep them from coming forth and falling. Max, I need you! her mind screamed out. She backed into the wall and sank to the ground, unable to stop the tears as they silently streamed down her face. She was distantly conscious of Alec sitting next to her holding her hand, and telling her it would be ok. Her head found his shoulder and that's how Max found them, moments later.
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Through the dark, Dali could hear voices.
"What was wrong with her?" the female voice asked.
"I don't know," a male voice responded. "I kept yelling at her to stop, but she wouldn't. She had this look in her eyes…I don't think she recognized me at first."
"What'd the paramedics say?"
"Broken jaw, minor bruises. I think they said she probably knocked him out on the first hit, which means he was lucky enough to be out of it for everything after that."
"No, Dali's the one who's lucky. If that girl hadn't come forward and admitted that the guy was attacking her and Dali helped save her, then she would probably be either in jail or White's possession right now."
"Max, chill. She's got a lot on her mind. She probably didn't even know what she was doing."
Dali's eyes opened, and Max and Alec got quiet. She glanced over at them.
"How you feel?" Alec asked her. She blinked a few times realizing for the first time that she was back in her bed in her room in Terminal City.
"Like I've got a bad hangover," she admitted. Sitting up slowly, a wave of nausea hit her, and she laid back down. Her eyes landed on Max. "I'm really sorry Max," was all she could manage. Max nodded but didn't say anything. What in the world was I thinking? she wondered. A flashback entered her mind.
Justin and Dali sat on some swings where the chain links were barely holding them up. Justin asked Dali if she'd ever killed anyone. She looked over at him, and admitted that she had, but only because Lydecker had told her too. He nodded without saying anything else, and she wondered if she should tell him about the game. In the end, she decided that she didn't want anymore secrets, and she told him.
"Search and Destroy? But why would you want to do that? I mean, you did it because you had to obviously, but you didn't enjoy it right?" Justin looked over at his best friend, but she avoided his gaze. "How could you?"
She glanced up at him quickly. "Did you ever play Manhunt as a kid, before you met me?"
He nodded. "Yeah, we played all the time in my old neighborhood."
"And didn't you enjoy it?"
"Well yeah. I loved it, the thrill of the hunt, working together, chasing, being chased…it was fun." Dali smiled at his memory. "But the instinct was to catch, not to kill. That's just not human." The smile fell from Dali's face as quickly as it had appeared.
The flashback ended. Max and Alec looked at her with concern.
"Are you Ok?" Max asked.
She nodded slowly and turned to look out the window. "Yeah, I just need to be alone." Silently the two rose and left, closing the door behind them. Dali looked out at the sun just beginning to come over the horizon, and really believed for the first time in her life that she truly was a monster.
