A/N: As usual Infie was my beta on this, for which I am soooo grateful. But she also deserves A LOT of credit for this one. So this *BIG HUG* is for her :)
A/N2: Thank you all for reviewing. You are great!
Tough Call
Assertions
Biggs strode into JamPony and looked around. No… No Alec. He took a couple of steps inside, down the ramp. He slowly walked to the front desk, if that cage could be called that. The man behind it had a pencil tucked behind his ear, and was looking at some papers. He didn't even glance at him when he came near.
"Yes?"
"Uh, hi. I was wondering if Alec is here?" Biggs asked.
That made the blonde man look up. "What do you want with him?"
"Er… we're uh… friends." Damn. It was so hard to say.
"Haven't seen you around." The guy said, raising an eyebrow.
"We are old friends. We go a long way back."
"Oh! Did you train together?" Normal's interest was definitely stirred now.
*What? This guy knew?* "Er… yeah, we trained together sometimes…"
"Oh, then be welcome! He called saying he was going to be a little late, but you can wait for him here. Can I get you anything?"
"Er… no, thanks. I'm fine." Biggs wondered what the hell was going on. Was the man insane?
"Oh, I'm Normal, by the way." He was saying. Biggs nodded. "So… are you here to convince him to go back to the ring?"
"Uh… sure. That's it."
"I've been trying to, but he refuses." Normal shook his head. "But with your help, we might pull it off."
"Right."
Normal fidgeted a little. "Well, I have work to do, but make yourself at home."
Biggs nodded again as he rescued his arm from Normal's grip. "Sure. Thanks man. I'll just be… over there."
He wandered into the back, dragging his feet. He might have wondered what the hell that conversation had been about, if his mind wasn't so completely elsewhere.
Alec was walking briskly, hands in the pockets of his jacket, the wind tousling his hair every now and then. It was getting a little too long, but it was useful to hide his barcode and besides, he liked being able to wear something different than Manticore's buzz cut.
Ralph was walking beside him. Her steps were also brisk, but her walk was less relaxed. Her eyes were facing front, her arms straight at her sides.
Alec sighed.
"Relax, kiddo."
"Sir? I'm sorry. Alec?" She clearly wasn't comfortable using his name. Too bad, cause he was not going to have people calling him sir, so she'd have to get used to it.
"Yes?"
"I could have handled them."
So, she was going to offer no explanation as to why she was here… All right, he could play the game for a while. "We don't need to drag more attention to ourselves than necessary. More and more people are starting to be aware that we exist now. We did not need three big guys telling the world how a tiny little teenager beat them up, now, don't you think?"
"Oh, please, don't." She said hastily. "You don't need to explain your decisions to me. I just wanted to let you know I could have." She added, seeking approval.
He looked at her and nodded. "I know you could have, kid." Damn, why was he feeling like this? She was not his responsibility. Why the need to reassure her?
She smiled up at him, a delighted expression on her face. Those techies sure knew how to make them pretty. He was sure she could win just about anyone with those sad eyes and hesitant smile.
They walked in silence for a long time.
Just about anyone. But not quite.
"Yeah, so… What were you doing back there?"
"Biggs!" He nearly jumped off his skin. He had been that deep in thought. He turned around to face the happy voice.
Its owner was smiling at him. "Remember me? Sketchy."
"Oh, yeah, right. How are you Sketchy?" Conversation was the last thing he needed right now.
"Great, man. Great. Glad to see you came back. Here to visit Alec again? Oh! Did Max and Cindy ever tell you where he was that day?" Biggs took a deep breath. So much for trying to forget. He closed his eyes, and so he never saw the brunette entering through the door.
"Boo, great to see you!" Max said. She had barely made it through the door before bumping into Original Cindy, who was on her way out. "Listen, can I take this delivery?" She followed OC back out.
OC looked at her, confused. "Are you aiight, Boo?"
"Yeah, I just. I don't want to see Alec." There was no point lying to OC.
"Aiight, what's going on now?" Cindy asked, a hand on her hip.
"Oh, nothing. He just… I just…" She sighed, frustrated. "I did something stupid, and he's going to be tormenting me about it all day. Just figured I might spare myself a few minutes of it."
"Wait, wait, wait, wait. Did you just admit you did something stupid? You? Max Guevara?" OC faked shock. "What did you do?"
As she watched her friend blush, the shock became real.
"I.. I.." Max sighed. "He was standing there with another girl, and I just left. We were together, I was supposed to bring him to work, and I just left, all right?" She threw her chin up in a perfect imitation of a child in a tantrum.
OC bit her lips to hide her smile. "Aiight, boo. You can take it."
As she watched her friend pedal her way out of there, she threw back her head and laughed. "About time, Boo, about damn time!" she said, shaking her head with amusement. Finally.
Ralph looked up at him warily. One minute he had been smiling benevolently at her, and the next, his eyes were searching into the depths of hers. All his playfulness was gone.
She looked away.
"Ralph. I asked you a question. Answer it." He never raised his voice, but she couldn't possibly miss the command in his voice. She swallowed hard.
"I was looking for her." The truth was always the best way out. He would never fall for a lie.
He nodded; he had gathered as much.
"I… I remembered the license plate number of the guy that came with the papers. So I looked him up. I thought he might help me find her. It was the only thing I knew that was related to her, except for the name Max."
Alec nodded again. Made sense.
"Where are the others?" He watched her blink several times. She was trying to avoid crying. Alec winced, but didn't let it slide. "Where are they, Ralph?"
"They.. I don't know… Zero.. Zero is dead sir." She started to sob.
He put his arm around her shoulders, but insisted nevertheless, "Go on."
"We.. We were coming back to Seattle. We heard some of our people were coming here, so we came. All of us." She wiped a tear away from her face. "We came through the forests, avoiding the roads. I.. I told him we shouldn't blur, but he.. he was in a hurry to get here. Of course the rest of us didn't. Bugler, the little kid, he can't run that fast. But Zero was always going ahead to see the terrain.
Maybe if he hadn't… I don't know. But these people saw him. So they waited and grabbed the rest of us. Zero tried to save us, but… They shot him. He.. he died right there, in front of us." Her eyes were filled with tears again. "They just left him there, Sir." Alec's eyes narrowed, but he didn't say anything. "They held the rest of us at gunpoint. Maybe we shouldn't have fought, but we were in shock. We'd never seen something like that, sir. It was not like the training exercises. Even the ones with real victims, sir. This.. this was..." She trailed off, looking up at him, trying to find an answer. One he couldn't give her. How could he explain that you stopped caring? How your mind just blocked it, refusing to let it surface? How it never really left you, but you dealt with it at the moment, cause it was what you had to do? It was something she shouldn't have to learn. Something no one should.
So instead, he just squeezed her shoulders and encouraged her to continue.
She swallowed. "We went wild. I guess we caught them by surprise, I don't think they expected us to fight. But they had the guns. So we hit as many as we could and ran in different directions. I saw Bullet grab Bugler. That's the last thing I saw." She swallowed hard again. "But I heard shots. Lots of them. I wanted to go back. But someone was after me. He – I think it was a man - chased me for over three hours, sir. That was really strange, sir, it was as if he didn't tire. And every time I thought I'd lost him, he came back." She shook her head. She never saw the look in Alec's eyes as it dawned on him exactly who had caught them. "I finally lost him at a river. I sort of let it take me. It was the only thing I could think of. So when I finally got out I decided to come here. It was our idea to come to Seattle in the first place. I'm sure the others came this way. Only, it took me several days to find out exactly where I was. The rest must be here already."
Alec looked down. How could he tell her she probably wouldn't be able to find any of them. It was a miracle she had made it alive.
White walked into a room crowded with desks, computers, and the technicians that came with them. He was wearing a black suit and his eyes were cold, as usual. A faint smile could be seen on his lips.
"So?" He asked, as Otto approached him.
"It won't be long now, sir." Otto answered with a smile.
"Don't disappoint me now, Otto. I don't want any surprises."
Otto's smile vanished and he stood straight. "No, sir." He said and hurried back to stand behind one of the men at the computers, monitoring what was being done.
White smirked. He loved doing that to Otto.
An hour later, Biggs was standing by the lockers. He had stopped pacing.
Sketchy, coming back from a run, approached him smiling, a pretty African-American woman walking beside him. "Hey man. Still no sign of Alec?" Biggs just shook his head. "Oh, this is Original Cindy. Cindy, this is Biggs."
Biggs shook her hand. Cindy. *Oh, please, no. Please don't let her work here too.* Sure, fat chance. He remembered Alec saying he worked with one of the oh'niners. Why hadn't he put two and two together before? *Cause you spent most of the time trying not to think about any of this, moron.*
He was about to say something, when he saw the beautiful young woman standing near the entrance. She was glancing around as if looking for someone. Her eyes swept past him, and she didn't recognize him. But he knew her. Things couldn't possibly get any worst, could they?
After one final look, she seemed content and started walking in their direction. OC, seeing the way Biggs' eyes were fixed on her friend, warned him: "She's taken, boy."
"I know." He replied seriously. It wasn't her he was interested in, but that little bit of information only confirmed what his friend's face and silence had told him.
As she approached them, Biggs could see her stop. She was trying to remember where she had seen him before. He knew the exact moment she recognized him. Her eyes became bigger and she blushed. He was about to speak when Sketchy said: "Max, this is Biggs. Biggs, this is Max."
"Hello, Max." He said, nodding at her, his eyes pleading. She understood and extended her hand.
"Nice to meet you," she said.
Biggs' relief was short lived. As he stepped closer to shake her hand, his mouth fell open and he shook his head with shock.
"Are you..?"
He watched Max's expression turn to one of panic. It was all the answer he needed. And to think just a couple of minutes ago he'd been thinking things couldn't get any worse. What a joke!
Alec looked at Ralph as they entered Jam Pony headquarters. The poor kid had been through a lot. Still, he was not satisfied with her story. There was something missing.
He was about to ask her more, when his eyes caught sight of Max, standing in the back by the lockers. And she wasn't alone. All of his questions were forgotten as he realized who she was with. The blood in his veins stopped flowing.
Biggs saw him almost at the same time. The room seemed to freeze as they stared at each other. Even Sketchy was aware of it and glanced warily from one to the other.
Only Max seemed completely oblivious to the tension sizzling around her.
Not that the two men responsible for it noticed. Alec started to walk in Biggs' direction, his eyes never leaving his prey. Biggs stiffened even more, stepping around Max to meet Alec head on.
As she was shoved to the side – gently, but shoved nonetheless – Max realized the attention of the man before her had gone elsewhere. She turned to look and was startled to see Alec walking, actually prowling would be a better description, towards them, his eyes unreadable.
*Oh, no! Just what I need!* How could she tell him this? 'Hey Alec, meet the guy I had sex with. Guy-I-had-sex-with, meet the man I want now.' She took a deep breath: "Alec, this… this is…"
She shouldn't have bothered.
"Biggs." Alec was saying, a muscle in his jaw twitching.
"Alec." The other guy acknowledged.
Max gaped at them. And here she had been thinking things couldn't get any worse. "You two know each other?"
"Oh, yeah! Best buddies and all." Biggs answered ironically. It was clear, however, that he was not talking to her.
"So nice of you to come visit!" Alec said, sarcasm filling his voice. "Funny, a couple of days ago, I got the impression you weren't coming back…"
Max's eyes grew large. A couple of days ago? She felt the world begin to spin around her. She shook her head in denial. This couldn't possibly be happening…
"Well, I see you have been taking care of my business…" Biggs was saying.
Max took a couple of steps back.
"Hey, that's what friends are for…"
"No, no, no…" she whispered, before she turned and ran out, pushing everyone out of her way. Sky found himself sitting on the floor against Normal's counter before he could realize what had hit him.
Alec was vaguely aware of her leaving, but was too focused on the man before him to pay attention.
Ralph, who was now beside them, urgently said, "Sir. Sir!" She used her best soldier tone, one she knew a commander would not overlook. When he glanced at her, she looked around the room, clearly reminding him that there were other people there.
Alec only nodded and suggested in a very polite manner, "Mind if we step someplace else to continue with the pleasantries?"
"Not at all." Biggs nodded and headed for the stairs. He knew there was a big abandoned area upstairs. He had checked it on his previous visit. Standard procedure.
Alec looked at Ralph out of cold gray eyes as he followed Biggs up the stairs. She nodded, needing no further instruction. She closed the door behind them and stood before it, effectively blocking the stairs.
Looking at her, no one would have guessed she was totally terrified.
Alec stopped three feet away from Biggs. Every muscle in his body was tense.
Biggs was speaking again.
"So… When were you planning on telling me, pal?"
"Oh, I don't know, right after I never saw you again?" Alec's hands were clenched.
"I have this little thing called a cell phone… I believe you have the number…?"
"See, I would have tried that, but for some reason I didn't think you'd answer. But don't worry, next time, I won't make the mistake of believing you can keep your promises…" he tossed off-handedly.
Biggs eyes grew darker if possible. But he didn't say another word. His left arm shot out in a blur of movement.
Alec barely dodged the punch, and at the same time launched a kick at Biggs.
Biggs used his left leg to block it, as his right fist went for Alec's stomach.
It was stopped by a strong forearm getting in the way. Alec spun to his left, his right elbow aiming at the back of his opponent's neck.
All it met, however, was air, as his target ducked and, using his own body for leverage, grabbed Alec to throw him over his hunched shoulders.
Alec used the momentum to throw the other transgenic against a wall.
Biggs was immediately on his feet and facing him.
They circled each other and it began all over again.
This time, Alec moved first.
Tears were flowing down her face. They were endless. They were uncontrollable. But she wasn't really aware of them.
Why? How?
Her mind was trying to find those answers, yet, at the same time, dreading them.
She was sitting on the floor of an abandoned warehouse. She just hadn't had the strength to go all the way to the Space Needle. And somehow she had known even the 'High Place' wouldn't be able to soothe her, to wash the hurt away.
She was shaking with sobs. She was trying to think clearly, but her mind refused to work. All she heard were the voices, over and ever again, until they began to get mixed, one over the other, as they got louder.
".. yeah, best buddies.."
".. a couple of days ago.."
"... taking care of my business.."
".. what friends are for.."
"business"
"what friends are for"
"buddies"
She cried out in pain, trying to drown the voices, trying to stop them. But they just wouldn't go away.
Fifteen minutes had gone by. No sound could be heard from the outside, except the occasional thud of a body against the floor or the distinctive sound of shattering glass.
Inside, the two bodies were moving with a catlike grace that would have made anyone marvel, had they been able to watch. Every move was matched by a similar response. For every kick and punch, there was a block; for every maneuver, there was a counter maneuver. Sporadically, a low grunt came out of one of them, as the other caught him unawares. But those times were seldom, and they immediately returned to the rhythmic dance.
Now it all made sense.
Oh, damn! How could she have been so stupid?
She had been no more to him than 'business', a way to help his friend.
She now knew how responsible he really was. Of course he'd take care of his friend's baby. And if she came with it, so be it. He'd take care of her too.
Okay, maybe that wasn't true. She knew he cared about her, at least as a friend. No wonder he had stopped last night. Yeah, he probably had wanted her, but it must have killed him.
She wiped another tear from her cheek.
And what the hell was she crying about? Not like he had ever told her he loved her or anything like that.
She recalled him saying things didn't have to change between them. And last night: "..I want you.." "..but things are complicated enough as they are.."
No kidding!
She wanted to be mad at him. Being mad always worked better for her. She was used to it. But what could she be angry about? He had done nothing wrong. He had never lied to her. Maybe he hadn't told her everything, but it wasn't as if she'd given him much chance to do so… She had just let herself believe there was more…
Another sob strangled in her throat. The bastard had even taken away her right to be angry.
Oh, no, he had not!
Max heaved a breath, and wiped her eyes angrily.
She rose to her feet and
snuffled, but already felt stronger.
How dare he? They? 'Take care of business?'
Well.. she'd been taking care of herself for a hell of
a lot longer than
THEY had. And she could take care of herself again.
She rubbed a hand across her tummy. She could take care of BOTH
of them.
She'd show Alec and Biggs that she didn't need either of them.
Their movements were less graceful now. More hits were reaching their destination as the contenders got more tired. The silence that had been so complete before, was now constantly disrupted by the sound of flesh hitting flesh, bodies dropping on the floor and all sorts of grunts. Their hard breathing was a permanent flow in the dusty room.
Punches lacked the power they'd had at the beginning of the fight. They were however, still strong enough to cause bruises or even draw a little blood now and then.
Biggs lunged himself at Alec, who, too tired to attempt any sort of evasive maneuver, just dropped to his back. He grabbed Biggs' tee-shirt and threw the other X5 over his shoulders, with the help of his foot in Biggs' stomach. Biggs thudded heavily against one of the walls. None of his feline DNA was apparent at his landing.
Alec, still on the floor, twisted his head to glance at him, and seeing Biggs trying unsuccessfully to lift himself off the floor, dropped his head back, breathing hard.
Biggs saw this out of the corner of his eye and stopped his futile attempts to rise. He just rolled to his side, so that he was also lying on his back, his head very close to the wall.
After a couple of minutes, seeing Alec trying to brace himself against a column, he used the wall behind him to raise himself into a sitting position. He watched the other transgenic wince and press a hand to his left side. He had noticed during the clash Alec was hurt there, and had used that to his advantage. You always exploited your opponent's weaknesses.
After a couple of failed shots at it – air was still not reaching his lungs properly- he managed to say: "Broken rib?"
Alec, having just finally managed to prop himself against the pillar, grunted without looking up, "It is now," and then added, "again."
"Sorry." Biggs said curtly. He really was.
"It's okay." Alec shrugged it off. Or at least he tried to. A piercing pain on his side prevented him from finishing the dismissive movement. He glanced up. "You don't look so hot yourself." He said, smiling slightly and trying to raise his eyebrow.
One of Biggs' eyes was closed and starting to turn purple. His nose was bleeding, as was his lower lip. He shrugged and let out a short laugh, grabbing one of his fingers with the other hand and yanking hard. A very soft popping sound was heard, as the bone snapped back into place. He let out his breath and leaned his head back against the wall.
A few more minutes went by, until Alec finally raised his head again.
"511" he said, too tired to think of using anything other than his friend's designation.
"494." Biggs lifted his own head.
"She's mine." Alec said simply, looking him straight in the eyes. His tone was final. It admitted no doubt; left no room for questioning.
Biggs studied him. The eyes that looked back at him were cold, unrelenting. They sent a shiver down his spine. The smile was gone from Alec's features.
Had it been anyone else but 494, he would have discarded the implicit threat coming from someone that was barely breathing and lying on the floor with a broken rib. But he knew better. He nodded.
Still, he wasn't going to back down.
"I'm not leaving now."
Alec sighed.
"I know."
