A/N: to all my faithful readers and the new ones. You all make my day J And to Infie, of course, cause she rocks (Just look at that title!)
Tough Call
Subornation
Regina got in the car after one last look around. It was parked behind a corner that obstructed the view from Terminal City. The young blonde woman behind the wheel made a movement of her head, signaling for Regina to duck down. She obeyed, sinking low into the feet compartment of the passenger's seat, wrapping her arms around her knees.
It was only after driving some blocks that the other woman turned her head slightly and said sternly. "There is much that needs to be clarified."
"Yes, ma'am." Regina resisted the urge to frown. That was something she had learnt living with those monstrous creatures. How to keep her face impassive. Familiars were very good at deception – they'd been practicing it for countless years – but no one was as good at hiding their emotions as those freaks.
The slender woman beside her remained completely serious. After a few more minutes of driving Regina had to ask. "Is an attack going to take place tonight, ma'am?" The blonde just looked at her. Regina squirmed, but she continued speaking. She was young, and very low on the command chain, but she was not stupid. This was highly irregular. "Otherwise I don't understand. I had a very good cover, ma'am. No one suspected me. I could have kept it up, even after today."
The pale eyes bore into her. "Today was not in our plans."
"Ma'am?"
"This entire mission was not supposed to be."
"What? What is going on?" Regina was getting really nervous by now. "Who are you?"
"You can call me ma'am. And I'll call you... 809. That was the name you were using back there, wasn't it?"
"Regina. 809 was my designation."
"Very well, Regina. You were placed here to impersonate X6-809 who was captured and eliminated by one of the scouting teams. You bear a very slight resemblance to the transgenic, and your height, build and coloring are appropriate. All of this accurate so far?"
"Yes, ma'am."
"Except for one thing," she shot Regina a grave look, "the Conclave did not provide consent for this mission."
"What?"
"It was being considered. But some members of our family decided to go ahead with it, without waiting. While this may be considered good initiative - I do believe the timing was right - this individuals might have been acting according to an agenda of their own."
A heavy silence permeated the air in the car. A few minutes ticked by before Regina finally found the courage to speak again. "Am I being accused of something?" Something like defying the Conclave, perhaps? She knew only too well what the punishment for such a crime was.
The blonde did not answer for a few minutes. Then she just said: "That is what I am here to evaluate."
The sound of Alec's shot echoed on the walls of the warehouse. Only after the last remnant of the reverberation faded away did he slowly let his left arm fall to his side.
He looked at the man lying slumped against the crate one last time. He felt nothing. He replaced the gun at the small of his back, this time, slightly to his left. The simple, automatic gesture reminded him of his hurt arm. Idiot, he mentally called himself as it started hurting anew. He once again forced the pain back. It was not important right now.
When he raised his eyes again neither of the transgenics was standing by White's limp body anymore. Nicole was kneeling beside the red haired guy Alec had killed first, checking him for more weapons. Biggs had moved to the nearest window, the shotgun that had been previously hanging at his back now in his hands. Alec watched him squint his eyes as he searched the street outside.
He took a deep breath and turned to face Max.
She was still standing where he had left her. She looked completely lost and small, just standing there. Her eyes were fixed on him as he moved towards her. Most of her face was turning blue with bruising and a trail of blood was visible on her cheek.
"Max?" he asked softly. "It's okay, we are safe now."
"I .. I shot him. I shot him and I killed him." Her eyes were opened wide, clinging to his.
"No you didn't. I did." He said softly.
"Damn it, Alec. Do not patronize me," she said through gritted teeth, the frightened, lost expression vanished from her eyes as she glared at him. "We both know he would have died anyway."
Alec blinked at the sudden change but his shock gave way to amazement and a deep sense of pride for her. He nodded seriously. "You are right. He would have."
The fight seemed to desert her, her shoulders relaxing imperceptibly. "You came for me," she said softly.
"Yeah..." was the vague reply. Suddenly he smirked. "Your regular knight in shining armor... You ended up saving my butt. Again." His voice was thick with self-mockery. He turned serious. "Thank you Max."
They looked into each other's eyes for a few more seconds before the beginnings of a smile started tugging at Max's lips. "You're welcome. 'twas the least I could do. Who would I blame for things if you're not around?"
He shook his head, impressed again, and smiled back at her. He knew that would not be the end of it, and that she would have to deal with what she'd done. Hell, she was still trembling, but she was being so brave right now... his Max was a tough girl. "You are amazing, you know that?" he murmured softly as his lips brushed lightly against hers. He took a step back and laughed.
"What?" she asked defensively.
He bit his lip and then announced unceremoniously, "You look like hell."
Her eyes sparkled but she faked an outraged voice. "How dare you? Besides, not like you look so hot yourself..." she said, hitting him playfully on the shoulder. His right shoulder. He paled for a second. Her eyes opened wide as she remembered.
"You were shot!" she accused him.
"Er... sorry?" he said wryly, wriggling his eyebrows.
"You fool! What the hell do you think you're doing, fooling around when you've got a bullet in your arm?" She moved to his side, carefully taking his jacket off, her eyebrows furrowed. "I need to get it out."
Alec half smiled at her concern but said: "Not now," turning to move away, only to be jerked back as her fingers tightened their grip on his wrist. "Ouch!" he glared at her, "Injured guy here, remember?"
"Then keep the hell still. Bullet needs to be removed." She mused, already having taken his knife from his jacket pocket. "I need fire," she announced.
Alec's protests were stopped by the sardonic look on his friend's face as he tossed his lighter to Max. He raised his chin and glared at Biggs, which only seemed to amuse him even more.
He resigned himself to Max's treatment of his wound, biting his lip as the heated surface of the knife touched his skin.
>HR>Max winced when she felt Alec's body stiffening as she started prodding inside the wound. She was doing it as carefully as possible, but there was no way to avoid the pain. At least, not without some anesthetic.
She needed to take his mind off it. Right.
"How did you get here so fast?" She asked him.
"Huh? Oh, well, Biggs called me."
"Right. And how did he find out so fast?"
"He was following her." He gritted.
Max frowned. She turned to Nicole. "Yeah, I am still not quite clear why you led me to White." She said accusingly.
"I didn't." She answered in her usual monotone. Which only earned her a glare from the brunette.
Alec made a short signal for Biggs to intervene. "Maybe I can bring some light into this." The dark haired X5 said lightly. "The 'her' Alec was referring to was not Nicole." Max face told him that had not been enlightening at all, "Nicole appeared here cause she was following you. It is her job to be with you everywhere."
"But... no she wasn't, she is the one who sent for me here. And who is the 'her' you're talking about?"
"Max is right. I was not following her. I, and I presume you as well," Nicole said looking at Biggs, "was following Regina."
Max frowned. "Regina? The kid? The X6?" Biggs' nod confirmed it. "Oh, so she is the one who set this up? But why didn't White get you first?" she asked the other girl, and then shook her head. "And what on earth made you all suspect her enough to follow her?"
"White didn't get me because she didn't bring me here. She led me to another building."
Max let out an exasperated snort and looked at Alec as she finished bandaging his arm. "Can I punch her lights out?" She asked with in a conspiratorial whisper, one that she knew Nicole would hear anyway.
Alec only smiled briefly, before he raised a finger as he took out his cell phone and dialed. "Dix? Alec. Is everything set? Good." He closed the connection and smiled coldly. "Well, we are going to get her good."
The woman's cell phone rang. She retrieved it in a graceful movement and after looking at the display answered: "Fenos'tol."
Regina's ears prickled up, but she could not hear what was being said on the other side. Suddenly the blonde stiffened. She looked really pissed off at what she was hearing. "Where?" she asked. After a nod she said. "Very well. Fenos'tol."
She turned icy eyes at Regina and inquired: "Was your contact Ames White?" Regina nodded, her eyes uncertain. "You better tell me all there is to know, if you don't want to be caught in his fallout."
Alec dialed yet another number and, after saying a few words he raised his cell phone, making a gesture for the others. None of them got close enough to hear.
They didn't need to.
"..and then White told me to be on the lookout for X5s. Especially 494 and 452. He gave me pictures of them. I was to contact him as soon as I saw them. First there was another X5. A female one. I don't know her designation. She goes by Nicole. Then came another one. A male. 511. And that same afternoon I spotted 494. This was three days after I got here. He didn't see me. I was far away. But I saw him. And got confirmation of his identity from one of the X6s as well. I contacted White. He said he'd prepare a set up right within the limits of Terminal City. That 452 was too important for the cause. I was to bring her alone. The opportunity presented itself today. The freak in charge told me to send Max and Nicole to check out a building. He said he wanted Xs to do it, cause it was near the limit and people outside might see. I asked one of them. Nicole offered. So I took her to the building the transgenic wanted checked. Then I came back and told 452 that Nicole needed her."
Asha remained impassive the entire time. Alec had explained some things to her. And he was listening on the other end of the phone call she had never really ended. It was really hard to keep from smiling. For all their superior airs, these familiars were not all that they thought themselves to be. Asha was sure Max or Alec would have realized the phone hadn't been hung up. After all, they'd been trained to notice such details.
"I led her into proximity of the building, pointed it out to her and headed back to headquarters. I was supposed to wait for 494 and distract him as long as I could, to give White and the others more time to get 452 out for interrogation and testing." The girl continued, trying to demonstrate that they'd thought of maintaining her cover. And Asha had to admit, the plan had been pretty good. If someone had by any chance seen her, they'd vouch she'd signaled the building for Max but hadn't gone in. They'd suspect the other transgenic, the one that had supposedly called for Max. And if something went wrong, she could always claim she knew nothing. It was her word against that other woman Nicole. And who would suspect a kid like this? No one. Well, almost no one. She wasn't so sure Alec wouldn't have, even if he hadn't known beforehand that the kid was a traitor. She smiled to herself thinking how she herself had been deceived by that hazel-eyed devil. Her first impression of him had been that of a coldhearted, cynic, calculating soldier. But then, she'd been deluded by those charming ways of his and influenced by Logan's and Max's opinions. She still thought he was calculating in a selfish, egocentric way, but she'd also fallen for his easygoing, lazy act.
His call had surprised her earlier that afternoon. She hadn't heard anything from them in a while, nor from Logan. He had left a message for her, telling her he was okay after the destruction of his apartment, but that had been all.
She had immediately agreed to Alec's plan. She owed them from the time when they'd saved her and the rest of the S1W. Besides, they were kind of friends, weren't they? In a… weird sort of way.
He had explained the situation to her. She had to pass for a member of this cult. All she had to do was act superior and not talk much or give any sort of explanations and she'd be fine. What had really caught her of guard was the quickness of his next call. Not half an hour had passed when he called again to tell her she had to make her move. He'd given her the number of another guy, one with a gruff, raspy voice that kept her appraised of where her 'target' was.
She had been wondered what had gone wrong until Alec called her again just now, telling her to not say anything but to act angry. He told her everything was all right. And that she should press the matter. He'd told her he'd mute his own phone and that she should get the girl to start talking. Then he'd given her an address to take the girl after she was done talking.
Asha drove on. She tossed another cold glance in the girl's direction, just for good measure.
After Regina stopped talking Alec turned to Nicole. "What made you suspect?"
"Ralph's chatter this morning. She spoke of everyone. She would not have kept quiet about something as important as recognizing this alleged 809, especially since she had seen her, because she mentioned Regina in her talk."
Max noticed Alec's and Biggs' nods. She frowned again. "Well, what about that?"
Nicole and Biggs just looked at her. Alec clarified for them, "Max didn't know her designation." And to her, he said, "Remember when we met Ralph and the rest of the kids that time? You never asked for their designations. As a matter of fact, neither did I, and I interrupted them when they started giving them to me, but not before two of them had said them. One of them was 787, Bullet. The other was 809."
"Fixit?" Max asked cautiously. He nodded. A sad look overcame her as she thought of the implications of that. She had known after Alec had told her about the rest of the kids that it was very likely they were all dead, but knowing it was an entirely different thing. She tossed an icy glare at the Familiar she had shot before, White. She took a deep breath and looked at the others again. "How did you know the designation?" She asked Nicole.
"Ralph told us when we found her in the woods so that we could go look for them."
Max nodded.
"Ralph told me as well," Biggs said, "and when I first came to Terminal City we were introduced and I then told Alec. I figured he'd want to tell Ralph."
"He gave me the description and it matched, but somehow I thought it was very unlikely that two of them had escaped the Familiars." Alec shrugged and turned to Biggs, "Help me rearrange things, will you?" The question was, of course, rhetorical. He knew Biggs would. They started shoving the bodies to the side.
"Alec!"
He turned to look at Max's exasperated face. "Oh, sorry. Well, when I came here, I looked around. I only found one X6 that matched the description. I saw her from afar, but there was no question. She was not Fixit. I knew I was forgetting something yesterday. But after a good night's sleep," he smiled at her sheepishly at that, "I remembered what it was. This so called Regina. So when we came here, and especially after Ralph's little speech, I talked to Biggs and we took turns keeping an eye on her." He said.
"There was no time to tell you, we went separate ways all day. Plus, I never thought they would do something like this so soon. According to Dix, she'd only been here two days. The logical thing would have been to gather some more information before making any move. I guess White was just more messed up than the rest of them. He was too obsessed with his kid. Should have thought of that." He shook his head.
"Of course, a one man tail is not good enough. She must have contacted White without us realizing." He shook his head, his eyes hardening. "Biggs watched her greet you two and then leave with Nicole. He figured you'd be safe cause you were inside headquarters. I guess it's what you figured as well." He turned his cold eyes towards Nicole. She straightened her spine but didn't look repentant. "You should have known I had her covered." He said, looking her in the eyes.
"If I hadn't gone, she would have." Was the curt reply, her head motioning towards Max.
Alec smirked lightly. "Well, you might have a point there." Max seemed to choose that exact moment to discover how interesting her shoelaces were and Alec chuckled. "Anyway, as you heard, she led Nicole somewhere else and then came back for you. Biggs followed her back and saw you go with her." He paused, looking at her pointedly.
"Well, how was I supposed to know... not like I knew the girl's designation. And she said Nicole wanted me to go and had offered no explanation. That sounded very much like her, why would I suspect anything?" She countered.
"Touché." He conceded. "The rest is history. Biggs saw you walk in. Then he saw Nicole and Logan get captured, then he called me. And that was pretty much it." He shrugged. Then he frowned and turned around looking for Logan, as if he'd just remembered he was there. "I still am not sure what you were doing here." The human was standing a few feet away, the amazed expression still on his face as he gazed from one to the other. It took Alec a couple of seconds to realize what the wariness was all about. Of course, some people –as in the rest of the human race who was not transgenic or Familiar – would find it a bit odd that they were calmly discussing things after having just shot three people, been beaten blue, taken a bullet and having been betrayed. Well, they weren't 'some people'. He raised an expecting eyebrow at Logan, tapping his foot for effect.
"I was looking for Max." Logan finally said. He seemed to want to leave it at that, but four pairs of eyes were unrelentingly fixed on him. Alec's were narrowed, Biggs' curious and slightly mocking, Nicole's cold and Max's... well, Max's were difficult to decipher with the all the blueness and the swelling. "I... I wanted to apologize to her." No one seemed to take that explanation as sufficient. He sighed. "I'd made some assumptions that I reali..- no, learned last night were not true. I also said some very nasty things," he glanced at Alec briefly, "to both of you. They were uncalled for." He swallowed. It was not easy for him. He shook his head. "Anyway, I saw Max walk in here, and then I saw her chasing her. I know she said why she was here now, but weren't you surprised to see her there? Especially after you saw her being led somewhere else?" He asked Biggs, emphasizing the words, glad at having found something else to talk about.
"Not really." Biggs shrugged. "I mean, I was watching the kid, but I knew she'd be following."
"Why?" Logan asked.
Biggs looked at him, his eyes clearly expressing what he thought of the question. "Well, she was supposed to watch over Max. I knew she wouldn't neglect her duties. It's just not in her nature. After what I heard Regina say... It was what I would have done. Pretend to go along and then double back." He raised his shoulders again. "You, on the other hand, I had not been expecting." Logan had to look back down. "And neither had she." Biggs smirked tauntingly.
"It was unexpected." Nicole conceded. "But proved to be useful. Delayed things."
Max was biting her lip. "Okay here is what I don't understand, how in the world did they expect to sneak this ... kid, for lack of a better word ... into Terminal City to pose as one of us? It was obvious she would be discovered sooner or later."
"Not really. They knew the rest of the kids that were originally with her were dead. Or at least they thought so. Someone neglected to inform that one of the kids had disappeared into the river." His tone said everything he wasn't saying about the Familiars' discipline.
"Well, but even if Ralph had died, what about the rest?"
"Well, they had no way of knowing you and me had run into them. Besides, you didn't even know her designation anyway. It was a pretty good plan."
"What about the rest of her unit?" Max continued.
Biggs looked at her weirdly. "Her what?"
"Her unit."
Biggs looked at Alec, who just shrugged. "She always talks about the others that escaped with her as either her siblings or her unit. Apparently they spent a lot of time together back at Manticore."
Max looked at them confused. "What do you mean I al..-?"
"Really? That's quite we..-" Biggs said at the same time
"Maybe I can explain." Nicole interrupted reluctantly. They all turned to her. "It was in the records. Max belonged to a special group back at Manticore. It was Lydecker's personal project. He maintained that we would work best as teams, developing the bonds that have made the best military forces. The rest of the military and scientists disagreed. They said we were not to be allowed to socialize. Their position was that since relationships depend on feelings anyway, and we were not capable of those it would be useless. In the end Lydecker was allowed to experiment with a small group and they trained as a unit, completely detached from the rest of us."
They all just stared at her.
Max finally spoke. "So that's why Deck was so obsessed with us." She said quietly, almost a murmur. "It was very personal to him." Then she looked up at the rest of them, her eyes sad. "You mean... you didn't have a unit? But... how did you train?"
"Training was individual. They put us in groups for the exercises, but it was always a competition. The last ones, or the ones that lost or won the least points were punished." Said Nicole. "Talking with others was also forbidden."
"But...what about sleeping time? Didn't you talk to each other then?"
Alec had been absorbing all this information. It explained a great deal, and lots of things began to make more sense. Max's question brought him out of his thoughts. "Hardly. We slept in individual rooms. You remember the one you had when we first met? Didn't you find that odd?"
She nodded. "I thought it was just me, cause I had escaped before. Or maybe because we were ...grown up. I even thought maybe they had decided to keep you separated after.. after the escape."
The faces of the other three transgenics turned darker at the mention of the escape. "It was even worse after that." Alec said distantly. "But we had all learned by then that we were by ourselves. The X7s were put together, because they function as a hive. But not us."
Max was having a hard time assimilating it all. She looked at the serious faces in front of her. She had no trouble reconciling Nicole to the idea of solitude. But the other two? "Wait a minute. You two," she looked at the men, "you were friends. You told me so, Alec."
Alec looked briefly at Biggs and the ghost of a smile touched his lips. "Missions." He just said.
Biggs smiled in reminiscence. "Some missions required several individuals. So they had to send more than one of us."
"They usually didn't use the same people for more than one mission together. We didn't go on many of them. But we were good. Very good." Alec said cockily. Max was so glad to see his trademark smirk back on his face, she didn't even comment on his arrogance.
"The point is, it was not very likely anyone would recognize her. Especially being an X6. After the 09 fiasco, socializing was even more frowned upon. And they were never sent on missions. Not even X5s knew all the others." Nicole said.
"Except in cases like him." Biggs said with a mischievous twinkle in his eye looking at Alec, who glared at him. Biggs blinked innocently. "Why, I meant that you were sometimes sent to train the younger kids on hand to hand, whatever did you think I meant?"
"Funny."
"Thought it was." Biggs said with a cheeky grin.
"Okay, enough of this," Alec turned serious again, "they'll be here any minute now." His eyes sought out the human's. "Logan, buddy, I am going to need your help."
As Asha and Regina entered the warehouse an eerie silence was hanging in the air. It was already dark and only the beam of a flashlight pierced the blackness that had claimed the empty room.
As they approached the light they started to make out the shape of a man holding it. He was tall, his hair was short and he wore glasses.
Asha stopped walking and said distinctively: "Fenos'tol."
"Fenos'tol." He didn't look at them as he answered in a voice that was just above a whisper. "Is that her?"
"Yes."
He asked Regina to repeat what she'd already told the other woman. After she was finished, he turned his head and then made a movement with his hand. The ray fell upon a spot on the floor, near a wooden crate. It was unmistakably a bloodstain. The light moved until it reached another such stain. "They are gone." He murmured softly. And then looking back at Regina he added, "Three fine, proud members of a family lost because of the madness of one. Somehow, the transgenic escaped. Maybe on her own, probably with the aid of more of them. And why? All because brother White felt that finding out about his son, who was probably dead anyway, was more important than taking this specimen to our facilities for investigation."
Alec crouched by the railing on the opposite side of the room from the opened window – he had to make sure he was upwind of the Familiar; the ones they had killed earlier hadn't smelled him, but he wasn't taking the chance that this one would. He smiled to himself. Logan was really getting into it. He had just used the exactly correct mixture of disdain, coldness and sadness. Asha wasn't doing so bad either. Of course, Regina would not be able to see her, but she was maintaining a perfectly unmoving hard expression.
And Regina was buying it all. He had seen her eyes grow huge at the sight of the blood. Learning you Familiars are not undefeatable after all, are you? He thought, twisting his lips.
"This is what happens when individual agendas are put before the good of our Family." Logan shook his head in a grand gesture once more before abruptly turning around. "There is nothing left to do here. You will be sent to the conclave for debriefing." He announced and turned as if to walk out of the place. "We have wasted a very good opportunity."
Regina looked at him wide-eyed, but suddenly sprang to life. "Wait, sir."
"Yes?" The exasperated tone was a piece of art.
"Maybe the opportunity isn't wasted." She said softly. "They still have no way of knowing it was me. Maybe I can stay and still provide good intel."
The man and woman looked at each other and then back at her. They said nothing, clearly waiting for her to continue.
"I just showed the building to her from like a block away. And it was a similar alley to the one I sent the other transgenic to. I can say I got confused, or she entered the wrong building or something like that." Regina offered. "I would report my findings to you."
At that last bit the man twisted his head to the side, as if thinking. The blonde looked at him and nodded. "This could prove very useful." The woman said. He nodded back. They seemed to have reached an understanding.
"We could use you as you say, but there would be more to it than just intelligence."
Regina frowned.
"Very, well. You may stay. And you'll continue to report to your contact – they'll assign someone now that White is dead."
"Sir?"
"We want to know if White was acting on his own, or if there are others who deny the ways of our ancestors." After a meaningful pause he continued. "You will report whatever information you can gather to one of us first and then relay it to the rest." He glowered down at her. "You are being entrusted a very important mission. Far more so than any other. The future of our Family could be up to you. Do you think you can take that responsibility?"
Regina took a deep breath. "Yes, sir!"
"You will go back now. Running. Say you realized you led 452 to the wrong alley and came back looking for her, only to find all the buildings empty, but for the traces of blood in this one. Act worried. Don't show too much emotion, but pretend you are having a hard time concealing it. They should believe that."
Alec could see the admiration the simple plan caused in Regina and smirked. It was a good plan, if he did say so himself. He could feel Biggs rolling his eyes beside him.
He made a sign with his hand and Max and Nicole exited through the trapdoor to the roof. He followed not two steps behind. They needed to be in headquarters before Regina arrived. Biggs would stay to make sure Logan and Asha got out okay.
"Very well, this is the number where you can reach us. Memorize it." Asha was saying.
When the trapdoor closed behind Alec, she was still repeating the numbers.
A/N2: Hee J I laughed a lot with all the Asha speculation. It would have been cool to make her a Familiar, but then, I already did ;) (different story, if anyone is interested that one is on NWP-the link is in my profile).
