A/N: Thank you all for being patient with me! I know I haven't been a good girl ;-), but hey! there's not much left to the story, so...
Thank you Infie for the beta-job. Thanks to all for your opinions, they help a lot.
Tough Call
Conversations
"627." Dr. Sandeman said as he continued to stash papers into his old battered travel bag. He really couldn't remember the last time he'd used it. Another thing he had to thank Nicole for. The transgenic had always kept things in order, and that was the only reason he had been able to find the leather case.
The pale blond appeared inside the office's doors without a sound. If he didn't know better, Dr Sandeman would have thought he had been in the room all along.
"Sir?" 627 said.
"Get the car ready. We are leaving in twenty minutes."
"All of us sir?"
"No. We'll leave 256 here to man the fort, so to speak."
"Very well, sir." The younger man nodded before disappearing out the door.
That was one of the things he liked about soldiers in general and transgenics in particular. They didn't ask questions.
He took one last look around the room before nodding in satisfaction and heading for his bedroom. Clothes should be easier to pack. He was only taking the new ones. He'd gone shopping a couple of days ago, all he'd had was old fashioned and that wouldn't do.
When one set out to save the world, one had to dress appropriately.
HR
The tall man in the robe approached the short haired priestess, who announced, "The source informed us that White is dead."
"Did she see the body?"
"Of course not. She is supposed to be on the lower side of the command chain. But she overheard some things." The man nodded and the priestess added. "And we know he never returned."
"Ironic, isn't it? All these years trying to distance himself from his father, yet they both succumbed to the same fatal flaw: they got too attached to their offspring."
"A pity. That hatred and desire to drift away from Sandeman made White a valuable asset to us."
"Yes." The man agreed.
"The source has proved to be very useful, though. I assume we are to leave her in position."
"Yes," the man said, "but contact should only be with you. We don't want to risk someone down the chain. This is a very delicate time."
"It shall be done as you say. Fenos'tol."
"Fenos'tol." The robed man turned and walked out the door.
Alec looked around the main hall of Terminal City's headquarters, marveling at how fast it had become the usual place for him to be.
Everything seemed to have settled into a comfortable routine. Well, as much as a routine as anything concerning transgenics could be. But things had settled down after the events at the warehouse last week. His eyes became cold just remembering it.
The sight of Max leaning on a table talking to Joshua made him smile again. She was frowning, a hand on her hip, head tilted to the side.
Nicole was a few steps behind, going over the security measures with Mole. The lizard guy was making threatening gestures with his cigar, which the X5 was completely ignoring, making Mole even more irritated.
Dix was sitting in front of a screen, a notebook filled with formulas on his lap. Luke was trying to get Lyon to join him in a conversation with X6 Joe, which the other refused. Lyon did not like Xs. At all.
Everything was back to normal.
Even Regina.
She had done exactly as she'd been told that day. They'd all put on a show about not completely believing her at first, but her continuous exclamations of guilt over what could have happened 'convinced' them. It was a lucky thing that Biggs and Alec had by chance been going through that part of Terminal City. They'd been just in time to save Max. It was a lucky thing White had been so obsessed with the kid. Alec had watched this click in Regina's mind, confirming what she'd been told before.
She'd contacted Asha once with the information she was going to convey her contacts. It was all nothing more than telling them transgenics were getting organized. And some guard shifts... – all stuff that Alec had set up for her to see. And all false.
It hadn't been hard. After all she was supposed to be just an X6 and with things getting organized at TC. It was logical that she would not have access to a lot of information.
They had had to talk to Ralph about it. But she was the only one of the X6s that knew. Alec didn't want Regina to notice the people she was in contact with all the time acting differently, but they couldn't not tell Ralph. The blonde might find out the designation Regina was using and that would be disastrous.
"What?" Ralph's eyes had opened like saucers when they told her. She had started to tremble, as if she was going to cry, but then her eyes had hardened as she realized what Regina had been trying to do. She had taken a deep breath. When she'd spoken again, her voice had been very determined. "What do you want me to do?"
She had been a real pro after that. She had been so intent on her vengeance she had been acting towards Regina exactly the same way she did to the other X6s. Quite impressive. As a matter of fact, she was the one who had passed on some of the info.
She did seem older though. Whenever the others were not around, Alec could catch a glimpse of sadness in her eyes. And anger. He made a mental note to have someone talk to her. He still wasn't sure if it should be himself. Maybe Max? She was familiar with the concept of losing siblings.
He was still in awe of that. He should have seen it. When Max told him about the stories Ben used to tell them. He had always wondered back at Manticore how it was possible that they had escaped all together. He had barely known anyone back then. How could twelve kids have escaped together? After the escape, socializing had been even more frowned upon. They'd said it was that which had caused those who escaped to become traitors. And they were probably right, of course.
The atmosphere had been really chilly when he'd come out of his long stay in psi-ops. Not that he had immediately noticed. He'd been too dazed, too out of himself for that. Of course, not knowing why he had been put there in the first place hadn't made things easier. It wasn't until much later that he found out about his 'twin' 493.
But he understood now. Of course they could have escaped. No guards were a match for twelve transgenics working as a team. He'd do well to remember that.
They'd had some really interesting talks, he and Max, both trying to understand, to know what it had been like for the other. It had been good. It was sort of neutral ground. It allowed them to talk about things that were really very personal, to get to know each other, but without having to talk about *them*. He knew they'd have to, eventually, but was happy to have it this way for now. A lot had happened in a week.
He laughed at himself. Had it only been a week? It felt like a lifetime. So much had happened, at least in the first half of it. He looked at Biggs, smiling at something someone else said. A week ago he had thought he'd never see his best friend again. It was weird, the thought of never seeing that mischievous expression, those intelligent eyes always finding amusement in the oddest things. He really couldn't picture him gone. Speaking of the unthinkable… He watched Nicole walk his way. A week ago she didn't even exist in his little world.
"Do you have a minute?" She said in her usual inflexionless voice.
"Sure. What is it?" He said, following her to the room that was used as an office.
She took two sheets of paper from the top of the desk and handed them to him. "We need you to check it out before we send for that stuff."
A flicker of annoyance danced in his eyes for an instant. "You don't need my approval to do things."
"I wasn't seeking it." She answered off-handedly. "I merely asked you to check it in case you wanted to add something you needed."
Alec smiled ruefully. "Yeah, sorry, I just.. " A burst of laughter from his friend Biggs in the other room interrupted him. He watched Nicole glance in that direction and smiled, happy for the chance of changing the subject. "So.. how're things with you and Biggs?"
"Good. 511 is a very efficient soldier, we have no problem working together."
He laughed, "Don't know why I even bothered asking." His gaze shifted back to the other room, but instead of falling back on his friend it settled on the brunette biting her lip as she focused on what Joshua was telling her. "Actually, I do." He turned his eyes back to Nicole. "Helps a great deal to know he's around someone else." Nicole actually blinked at his words. Alec quickly clarified. "Don't get me wrong, I know he's not going to be looking at her that way, it's just... " He shrugged.
Nicole remained silent.
"It's just.. I am not used to this, you know? They didn't teach us about stuff like this. Or they did, but not as something that would happen to us. It's so strange. Jealousy was something to be exploited on a target, on an opponent. Not something we were supposed to feel."
"I understand."
"Do you?"
"Yes. Sometimes when I was younger I got angry at the other soldiers, because they were able to stay at Manticore and I wasn't. It faded away with time, I redirected my anger at the real source of the problem. But I remember the feeling."
There was a beat, as Alec considered this. "I guess you are right. You know, it would be easier if I could just go take her in my arms, sweep her off to somewhere we could be alone and just don't let go until we were both senseless."
"Why don't you?" Nicole asked.
He chuckled, but said, "I just can't. I don't quite understand it myself. If it were anyone else, I'd do just that, but with Max... everything is just ... complicated."
"She is quite different," Nicole conceded. "But it is the fact that you have feelings for her that makes things more complicated for you."
"Probably." He hung his head. "Not probably, certainly. I just can't seem to get her off of my mind. And I don't want just to have sex with her, although just being in the same room as her drives me completely insane with need. I find myself with a continuous h.." He stopped and shot her a sideways glance. "Too much information there, huh?" he asked wryly.
"I was just wondering why you are telling me all this."
"Well, that's easy. I need to talk to someone, it's driving me crazy. And it obviously can't be Max. It's the kind of stuff you talk to your best friend about- at least I guess so –" he frowned, "but he is kind of in the middle of it all, so... that leaves you. Somehow you don't strike me as the type who'd go telling the world, you know?" He winked at her.
"And even if I were that type, who would I go tell it all to?" She nodded. "Yes, it makes sense."
"Of course it does. My idea, isn't I?" he smirked. "But anyway, I just wish this whole Terminal City-Sandeman-Cult-End-of-the-World thing would go away so I can really work it out, but at the same time I dread the moment. Not like exposing my feelings, or even my thoughts, is something I like very much."
"Ah." Nicole nodded, deep in thought. "So this is like practice."
"Hmm, I guess you could call it that. Yeah. Except for the part where you are not talking back to me, or interrupting me, or misunderstanding what I say, and, uh, let's not forget, tying my stomach into tight knots just by looking at me, so that everything I want to say comes out wrong. Other than that..." he said, rolling his eyes. He thought he detected a hint of amusement in her eyes, but she said nothing. "How am I doing so far?" he asked with self-mockery, not really expecting an answer.
"Okay, so now it's your turn."
"My turn?"
He shook his head with mock exasperation. "You skipped class that day, huh? This is what people call a conversation. One of the parties says something, then the other one says something in return, preferably on the same subject." He said slowly, as if explaining it to a child. "I told you about me and my ..sort-of-relationship. Now your number is up. Spill all the juicy details. Tell me how he rocks your world, how he's the best you've ever had." He smiled remembering similar words said long ago, inside a closet.
"If by 'had' you mean sex, then, technically I can't say that. We haven't had sex."
"You haven't?" Alec looked at her in disbelief.
"I suggested we wait until this was over when the talk of sex came up."
"And he went along with that?"
"Well, he has kissed me. Several times. Usually when I am not expecting it."
"Really? But he hasn't tried to go further than that?"
She shook her head almost imperceptibly. "I think he may be trying to make a point. He commented something about my lack of enthusiasm when the subject was broached."
Alec narrowed his eyes. "How exactly was the 'subject broached'?"
"I said it would be interesting to investigate what sex would be like between us, given our genetic make up." She looked at him when a coughing fit seemed to overtake Alec.
He cleared his throat. "You did, huh?" He stifled the bubble of laughter that threatened to come out. "And? How is it going so far. The study, I mean."
"It is quite stimulating. This kissing thing. The only other times I was with a male were during heat. There wasn't any kissing. The contact of his lips with mine seems to trigger many nerves into action, more than the usual ones activated by the sense of touch. The other senses seem to become more alert as well, and yet at the same time less so, as if they can only focus on the other person. There is definitely an increase of the body temperature. And a tightening of a series of muscles."
Alec groaned. Well, he guessed he had asked for it, but really! Was she trying to kill him?
"It is quite remarkable," she continued, "I am still puzzled about the stomach muscles. I can't find a reason for them to react along with the rest."
"Hmmm... maybe you should analyze that more carefully."
"You think?"
"Yup! Definitely. I wouldn't move onto other stuff until the kiss thing is thoroughly examined."
"Yes, I think that would be wise." She nodded.
Alec looked at his friend in the other room and smirked.
Hey, if he wasn't getting any, why should anyone else?
Max slowly moved into the storage area for the guns. She took a wary look around and forced herself to breathe evenly, closing her eyes until she got it under control.
When she opened them again, a determined gleam in them almost managed to conceal the trace of fear behind.
It was hard.
It was a good thing her shark DNA allowed her to function with very little sleep, because she sure as hell wasn't getting much of it.
At night, the scenes of the warehouse would creep into her dreams, but instead of White, there was a little girl with very short hair and an ugly gown, shocked eyes glued to Max's as the life ebbed out of them. But those weren't the worst. The worst were the ones where she remained totally paralyzed. What if that had happened for real? What if after all the time her aim had not been as good? And what if it something similar happened again?
That was why she was here. She took two determined steps forward. She could not allow something like that to happen.
And if she felt horrified and disgusted by the sight of the guns, then she would just have to deal with it.
Maybe she couldn't control the runes. Or what was in her blood.
But she was damned if she would let this thing control her.
Her hand finally reached one of the shelves and soft fingertips caressed the metal surface of a small gun. She felt the familiar shot of revulsion but she crushed it, letting only the smoothness of the material permeate her senses. She traced her fingers along it one more time before firmly grabbing it. She checked the weight carefully and very calmly disarmed it, and taking a cloth from the other shelf, started cleaning it. Professionally. Every movement was sleek and calculated. When she was done, she put the gun back together, loaded it, and placed it back where it had been.
She released a breath and the beginning of a smile played on her lips.
She had been coming here to clean one weapon each time for the last few days. It was the first time since she had shot White that she had touched a loaded one. Tomorrow she would start target practice.
She would not let this beat her.
"Oh, sorry, didn't see you come in." Biggs said, almost bumping into her but exerting all his muscles so that he didn't even touch a hair of hers.
Of course you didn't, you wouldn't have come in if you had. She thought, but aloud she just said, "Yeah, I was just leaving."
"Okay." He said. But as Max was about to reach the door, he said "Max?" He looked down and then back into her eyes, "I know this is very uncomfortable for you. It is for me too, you know?"
"Yes, I know."
"We should... er.. You think we should.. talk or something?" He asked and Max had to bite her lips to prevent herself from smiling, even despite herself. He was so clearly uncomfortable. And she had not missed the effort he had made to rephrase his declaration into a question. Proud one here too, huh? Maybe Manticore had put that into all the X5s. She took a deep breath. "All right." It would have been easier if she could just hate him. Or remained indifferent to him. But no, the stupid jerk just had to go and help save her life, hadn't he?
They remained silent a minute or two. "This is the part of talking when you are supposed to, you know, talk." She finally said.
He scratched the back of his neck absently. "Damn, and I was hoping I'd get out of that." He tossed lightly, before he turned serious again. "I am sorry about the things I said that day at Jam Pony. I .. forgot you were there." He didn't apologize for the heat incident. They both knew that part hadn't been his fault. Or hers, for that matter.
"So you wouldn't be sorry if I hadn't heard them?" He groaned, Max could see him mentally kick himself. "It's okay, I am just being difficult." She offered.
He even lifted one corner of his mouth at that. "So was I. I had been feeling so guilty ever since.. well, you know and so I took the first opportunity to lash out. You know, better to be angry than guilty." He said, shooting her a sideways glance.
Oh, did she know! She sighed. "Apology accepted."
He blinked. "Just like that?" He asked suspiciously.
She shrugged. "Want me to keep up the evil eye thing?"
"Not particularly, no. But ... why?"
"I just got tired of it all, you know? It really doesn't matter. I don't really know you. And you don't know me." She paused. "Just one more thing we have to thank our lovely childhood home for." She waved her hand in dismissal.
He watched her as if he couldn't for the life of him understand what she was talking about. To tell the truth, neither could she. She knew she should feel betrayed or resentful or something towards him. But she really didn't care.
Biggs was trying to understand the woman before him. He really was.
Well, when had women ever made sense? One day she was treating him like dirt, the next she didn't care anymore. Well, when he thought about it... Those were two sides of the same coin, weren't they?.
He shook his head, well, he wasn't going to complain.
"So..." She was saying.
He realized he'd been quiet for a while, "So..."
"So... How's things with you and Ice Queen Nicole?"
Max could see he was a little startled by her choice of topic, but anything was better that awkward silence. His answer was still careful. "Good, I guess."
"You two getting busy yet?"
"Excuse me?"
"Well, if you get to it maybe she'll loosen up some of that stiffness of hers."
He blinked. "Er.. well, no. Not yet." He answered, clearly uncomfortable.
She raised a daring eyebrow, "Nothing?"
He squirmed a little. "We have... kissed and stuff."
"Oh, good. That should do the trick." This time he raised a questioning eyebrow, she simply shrugged and said, "You are one hell of a kisser."
He literally looked at her open mouthed. She hid her smirk.
"What?" She said, chin raised, a defiant look in her brown eyes.
Once he got past the shock, he let out his breath and glanced warily around. "Geez woman, are you crazy? Get me killed, why don't you?" When she just looked at him, he added, "Do you realize what Alec would do if he heard that?"
"Well, I'd think about that if I were you and ever thought of crossing me." She gave him a wink and a feral smile over her shoulder as she left the room.
Biggs stood staring after her before he burst out laughing.
Damn, the woman had spirit. He recalled those deep eyes, that defiant pose and he finally understood why his friend was crazy about her.
He shook his head once more, still smiling as he reached for a shotgun on one of the shelves, which was what he had come in here for in the first place.
Alec watched Max leave the weapon's storage room and smiled. Brave Max.
Nicole brought him out of his contemplation.
"Now that you've accomplished what you set up to do here, are we having the meeting?"
"Accomplished what I set out to.. oh, you mean the practice talk?" He asked, a little confused.
"That too." Nicole answered. "Along with establishing an emotional connection with me."
"Now why would I want to do that?"
"Well, if I am on your side, it brings me closer. If I am not, you don't lose anything. But if I am undecided, and there ever comes a time for a determination to be made, having an emotional connection, however small it may be, might tip the scales in your favor." She answered readily.
He stared at her, shaking his head amazed at how much alike they thought. "You know, sometimes you scare the hell out of me." He told her, serious.
She looked straight into his eyes, and calmly declared: "No, I don't."
He tipped his head to the side, as if considering and then broke into a mischievous grin. "Yeah, you're right, you don't." He wriggled his eyebrows, "But you do see my point here, don't you?" he asked, "It's kinda freaky."
She did not answer, didn't move a muscle, but he could 'see' the shrug. He laughed. "Come on, Nicole, let's have that meeting of ours."
"Okay, what do you have?" Alec asked Dix.
They were all crammed into the little office, after having made sure Ralph took little Regina out of headquarters.
"Well, it appears to be as we expected. She does carry some sort of unknown virus, other than the one we all know about. I am still not sure what it is, but the good news is I am pretty confident we can synthesize antibodies out if it."
After White's words in the warehouse about Max, they had concentrated on her blood. Nicole told them Sandeman had explained to her how he had experimented with the 'nomalies' first. But the results hadn't been up to his expectations, how he had perfected it with the Xs.
"Okay, what's the bad news?"
"Well, in theory everything sounds great. But I would need a sample of the snake's blood to make sure we are talking about the same virus. We are trying to test it with the blood of those familiars you killed, to see if the antibodies they have are good for Max's virus as well."
"What do you know? White was good for something after all." Alec winked. He turned serious again. "You are working on that vaccine anyway, aren't you?"
"Yes, we are. We will have to get our hands on some things first. You guys up to a little trip to the local hospitals?" Dix asked.
"What do you say, Max? You haven't been in one for some time now, I'm sure you miss it by now." Alec kidded Max who just glared at him. He chuckled. "Anything else?"
"Dr. Sandeman." Nicole said.
Alec looked at her, "What about him?"
"I have not contacted him in more than a week. He'll be on his way here by now."
"Think he'll come right here?"
"He knew about this place. He used to have his lab in this part of town. He and I talked about it once and concluded this would be a perfect place for transgenics to seek shelter. It's the reason I came here in the first place. It's the reason he'll be coming here."
Alec frowned. "All right. You and Biggs know him. Give Dix a description so he can generate a computer image of him. Shouldn't be hard. I want it distributed to the sentries, so they will recognize the doctor when he gets here. We do not want our little traitor to see him first. And we want to keep his presence, or at very least his identity a secret from her as well. At least until we figure out if it's good that they know or not."
"Ralph will have to be told. She has seen him." Biggs added.
"You are right. Will you make sure she doesn't blurt it out?"
"No worries, my friend." Biggs assured him with a bright smile.
"Good. Dix, let us know if you need more hands. Biggs here is great with computers," he rolled his eyes at that, "and Nicole says she is as well, but I'd prefer they stick to other chores. Feel free to call Cale, if the information is not too sensitive."
Dix nodded.
"Anything for us unsophisticated techno-peasants, boss?" Mole asked from behind his cigar.
Alec glared at him, more for the use of the word 'boss' than anything. Just to be contrary, he said, "As a matter of fact, yes. Put that cigar away."
Mole just chuckled, "You think a little smoke is going to damage that genetically engineered body of yours? Not likely, boss."
"I said, put it out." He gritted through his teeth. He had started it as a game. But it wasn't.
"Alec." Max said, putting a hand on his arm. "I'm sure Mole would 'butt out' if you ask him properly." She batted her eyes at the reptilian transgenic.
"Still." Alec protested.
She just looked at him pointedly.
He sighed in defeat. Great, now Max of all people was telling him how not to be rude. He would have laughed if he were not feeling so bad about snapping at Mole like that.
"I am sorry, Mole. That was uncalled for. I .. I was just worried about.. er.."
"Baby X?"
Alec narrowed his eyes and looked at Biggs who just shrugged and shook his head.
"Sorry, boss, hard to keep something like that a secret when you make us analyze the girl's blood." Mole continued with a smirk.
Alec growled. He had not thought about that. Stupid of him. He glanced at Max. Her cheeks were several shades of red deeper than usual, but she didn't seem hurt or angry. Oh well...
"So, are you going to put it out or not?" He asked defiantly, but the mirth was unmistakable in his eyes.
"Well, since you ask so nicely.."
Biggs laughed at their antics, and even Max smiled, no longer blushing. Nicole, of course, said nothing.
"Okay, here's what I want you to do," said Alec, smiling as well as Mole, after a great show of personal sacrifice, finally put the cigar out.
"Well, here we are. It's been a long time since I was in the city." Dr Sandeman told 627 amicably as the first checkpoint was behind them.
627 saw no need to reply, so he remained silent.
The old man glanced out the windshield with a nostalgic expression. "Yes, a very long time."
