Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Dark Angel characters or plot. This
story and the new characters within it are mine though.
A/N: Hey people. Thanks for all the reviews. I appreciate it!
Well this is the next chapter, hope you like it. I know for sure now that after the next two chapter the MAJOR DRAMA will be taking place. I feel really bad 'cos I told you all about it ages ago and you're all still waiting and I ask you all to please forgive me!
Hope you enjoy this chapter!
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She nodded.
He stayed standing by the door, whether to keep space for them or to make a quick exit she didn't know but she sat patiently, waiting for him to begin.
"Max," he began soft but with a serious strength, "What you said yesterday....."
"It was wrong." She concluded looking him straight in the eye.
"What?" he asked shocked at her confession.
"It was wrong and I'm sorry." She said, her voice earnest.
"You are." He said, his voice indicating his suspicion, as he took a couple of steps forward.
It was then she stood and walked up to him evenly. As she stood in front of him, she took his hand and squeezed it affectionately whilst saying, "I mean it Alec. I'm sorry."
He stood, mute.
His confused eyes soon turned to angry ones and he quickly snatched his hand away and took one step back. The space between them was only two feet but was symbolic of a two universes.
Max stood there, her hand still hanging from rejection, her eyes burned with perplexity.
"I haven't finished." He growled.
She recoiled at his tone and nodded timidly.
"I thought we were friends Max." he said after a tired sigh.
She was about to speak and exclaim that they were friends but he didn't give her the chance.
"I mean I know we didn't like each other in the beginning but I thought we became friends. I took all the insults and put downs because I thought we were buddies. I mean we were partners in EO missions and heists. I mean you even............we even had that moment when you told me 'bout Ben. I thought that night cemented our friendship." Alec talked whilst pacing the small length of the room. His voice poured out his puzzlement and resentment eloquently.
Max watched him as he paced. With each word she felt her eyes prick with tears.
"We fought together at Jam Pony, like comrades in arms, and then you do a 180 on me. After months of warming to me you just suddenly turn ice cold." He abruptly stopped and spun to face her, "Thing is, I still don't know what I did to receive you harsh insults and humiliating anger. Everyday for weeks, you would stand right out there," he said his voice quietening in vehemence, pointing at the door which led to HQ central, "and you would hurl your tirade of abuse at me in front of my friends. And like the idiot I am, I actually let you because I thought that deep down you didn't mean anything by it." He stopped, his back to her.
Max's face held a deep frown and something resembling reluctant shame clothed her eyes.
"I've only been on the outside for less than a couple of years, Max." he spoke with a sad, imploring voice, "I silently craved for a friend, you know? Somebody I could hang out with; who I could take care of and who would take care of me. And when I kept bumpin' into you I thought that maybe you could be that friend."
Her eyes now held genuine indignity.
"I needed you." His woeful words rung in her ears.
"But it all got better after.......I don't know..........I guess when Hazel, Cindy and Sketch got here." Max's eyes narrowed at the mention of Hazel but Alec didn't notice. "Cindy kept telling me not to let you get me down. For every bad word you said to me I got three positive words from each of them. Then you suddenly got nicer. Cindy joked that you were jealous of Hazel and it gave you a kick up the backside to be nice to me. But I didn't care why you were doing it and just revelled in the fact that we were friends again, 'cos Max, you're important to me." He said all of this with his face blatantly showing his, usually masked, emotions; which travelled from the happiness of memory to sincere declaration.
She looked up at his final words and processed the information as he continued.
His voice took the casual tone of a storyteller, "So I'm all happy being friends with you and then you decide to kiss me." She cringed at the way his voice emphasised his annoyance. "Not only do you kiss me, but then you don't speak to me for THREE MONTHS except to tell me that YOU WANT TO SLEEP WITH ME!" His voice had steadily got louder as he got more incredulous at the situation. "What was it you said to me? Oh yeah," he put on a mock Max voice as he glared at her heatedly, "'I still love Logan Alec but I need you to hold me.' Wasn't that gist of it?"
Max could only look at him, unable to explain her actions.
He carried on irately, "I mean if you think that's a good pick up line, then you're sorely mistaken. Do you KNOW how that made me feel? YOU made me feel like I MEANT NOTHING. That I was only good enough for you to FUCK but would NEVER be good enough for you to love. I felt like nothing." He paused briefly before he whispered, "You made me feel like nothing."
A thick silence fell upon the room.
Max sat there chewing over his words but couldn't handle the immense tension that seemed to creep up.
She strode over to him in big steps and lifted his chin with two fingers.
Making sure he looked straight into her dark brown eyes, she said, "I'm sorry Alec." He went to move away but she kept him in place as she quickly carried on, "You are my friend Alec and I know I've been a crappy friend back but please try to forgive me. I shouldn't have asked you to do what I asked you to do but...........I'm not sorry for that kiss."
He looked at her hopefully curious and infinitely confused.
She took a deep breath before saying, "I wanted to kiss you. I've been wanting to kiss you for a long time. Not just as a friend and not just as a lover but as a sorta boyfriend. I've been wanting us," she said indicating the both of them, "to be together as a couple. But the thing is that I was too scared to admit it so I tried to convince myself that it was just sexual and that I loved Logan, but it wasn't and I didn't. I didn't want him, I wanted you to be you; to make me smile and to ramble on about the stuff that you always ramble on about. I wanted.........want us to exchange our usual course of diatribes and witty remarks. I just.......I want you and me to be an 'us'."
She finished her speech and searched his shocked and bewildered eyes. Seeing his distrust, she chose to show him how she felt, so she leaned forward and kissed him with no fiery passion but only a true love.
In a matter of seconds, a knock was heard in the background and the door was swung open with Hazel entering; a bundle of papers in her arms, which swiftly found the floor, as she gasped at the sight before her.
The two transgenics quickly broke apart and turned to see the intruder.
Alec met the opposite hazel eyes and he took a step forward as she simultaneously took a step back.
She mumbled looking at the floor, her eyes threatening to shed tears, "I'm sorry. I'll leave you."
She fled, her scattered papers left on the floor. Alec's eyes followed her route before meeting the eyes of his units'. They all looked at him, sporting understanding looks. His eyes found Ember's and the unit also fled, on the pain-filled trail of Hazel.
A small tug of his hoodie could be felt. Turning, he was confronted with a pair of awaiting eyes.
"Bad timing, Max." he said quietly and swiftly went to leave as the transgenics got back to work.
Max watched after him, impatient yet apprehensive. She saw as he neared the exit, about to walk out of HQ and, she feared, her life also; so she yelled across the room, "I love you, Alec."
He stopped mid step. The words hung in the air, reverberating persistently at his ears. He turned slowly.
"What?" he had only whispered but it could be heard all around because of the anticipating hush that had fallen over the room.
She took a few steps forward before repeating, "I love you, Alec."
How long had he waited to hear those words, those four simple words? And now it was actually happening, he could only stand and stare. Not only had she said the words but she had declared it in front of the whole room. She, Max, leader of transgenic nation, had announced that she was in love with resident handy man, Alec.
Alec felt like laughing and saying, 'Call the Pope 'cos the world's ending!' but didn't with his facial muscles being temporarily out of order. And there was also the film of Hazel, fleeing from the room, replaying in his mind; her pain and hurt scarred into his memory.
Mole watched the whole debacle with vexed eyes. There was the woman who pounded his best friend with invective clubs, confessing her undying love for him. He desperately wanted to go up to the pair of them and knock their heads together, even if it was just for a bit of, much needed, comic relief amidst the rising turbulent pressure. But he restrained himself, knowing that the two needed to work this out for themselves.
Alec still hadn't uttered a word. The two X5s stood in front of each other, unblinking, in the fashion of a staring contest.
Kat surveyed them both. For the few months that she had been there, she had seen the way they acted around each other. It was obvious of Alec's feelings but Max's were harder to read. She knocked him down but was ready to gauge the eyes out of any female – or male for that matter - who tried to even come near him.
"Talk about the drama." Trigger had whispered in her ear.
"What other way is there with Tomcat?" She replied laughing silently to herself.
'Night, who had been in HQ doing his recon de-brief report, had seen the whole thing as it unfolded to its conclusion. He watched Max and Alec with disgust. Hazel had taken off, practically in tears, and both of them were too wrapped up in themselves to even notice. He decided to diffuse the situation. Taking large strides he reached the two, filling the gap between them, he had securely hidden all signs of the female from Alec and said, offhandedly yet firmly, whilst poking him with a roll of papers, "I've finished the report. I need you to read it over."
Alec broke out of whatever trance he was in and looked at 'Night confused.
As recollection hit him, work slowly resumed at HQ. Max's declaration still on their minds but set aside so that work could continue.
Max, who had been waiting for a reply, was left fruitless as Alec was dragged off to carry on with his duties. So she returned to her office, her mind a mess. She sat on the couch, took the cushion into her arms and began to untangle her completely confounded emotions.
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The day was grey but held an uncomfortable warmth that left one feeling sickly. The courtyard held a group of brave, if unlucky, transgenic labourers who were given the unwanted task of repairing a water tank that stood, looming over the other buildings. In the yard the group worked, neglecting a lone transgenic running through it, followed by another seemingly hurried transgenic.
By the time Ember had broken down the door and gotten into the apartment, all was quiet. He walked down the narrow corridor into the living area and then to the kitchen.
"Hazel?" he called out only be left with his own voice ringing back at him.
Next, walking into the bathroom, he saw a cabinet open and large splashes of red liquid adorning the rim of the tub that hosted the room. On a closer inspection he saw that it was the crimson blood of a transgenic.
His worry increasing, he yelled out, "Hazel?"
Only one room left to check, he walked quickly yet with hesitance at what he was going to find past the closed the door. Seizing the handle, he jerked the door open, and inside he saw Hazels body hunched but still sitting on the bed, her hair concealing her features.
"Hazel." He said her name softly whilst walking to her.
When his shadow fell on her, she pounced up and away from him. In her hand was a blade, its tip red. His eyes instinctively swerved to her free arm and he saw what he had been dreading. Her sleeve rolled up haphazardly, revealed angry gashes across the underside of her arm. Small tributaries of blood trickled down, merging at confluences to form a steady stream.
Ember, still looking at her bleeding limb, shook his head in surprised disbelief and said, "No, Hazel."
She glared back at him, her eyes in slits.
He took a step forward, his hand out waiting expectantly, and said firmly, "No, Hazel. Not again. Give me the blade."
It was then she held the blade in her palm in front of her and slowly closed it into a fist. Ember went to grab it but her reflexes were too quick. Upon opening her hand again, he could see the deep wound that she had just inflicted upon herself.
"Give me the blade now." He said again, his voice strained from the force he spoke with.
She looked him in the eyes, not with the annoyance of before but fresh tears. It was then he noticed the tear stains that her cheeks held.
"Hazel." He spoke with a gentle voice and took a meaningful step forward. He then stood still, awaiting her reaction, but was faced with none. He took another step forward, and another. He kept going slowly until he was close enough to reach out and take the blade from her open bleeding palm. After ridding her of the blade, he took the time to observe his friend. Succumbing to a decision he said, "Hazel," in an almost knowing voice as he was pushed back suddenly by the momentum of Hazel's fierce embrace. He felt his t-shirt soak with blood and tears as she hung to him desperately.
"Is this the first time since......?" he left the question hanging in the air. She shook her head 'no' in his chest.
"When?" he asked, his voice calming.
He heard no answer for a long a time and thought that she may not have heard him when she spoke quietly, "When Max reminded me of Jophiel."
He nodded.
FLASHBACK
Hazel was lying face down on her bunk.
"No way. Renfro is definitely a man." Laughed Kat as she and Ember walked into the unit's shared quarters.
"594. Get up. We need to get down to the mess hall before the guards come." Said Kat as she went to the other female.
"Go away." Was the mumbled answer the two received.
"Come on." Kat said as she shook the other's arm.
Hazel hissed and moved away sharply. Looking at her own hand, Kat said, "What's this?" On her fingers was a red substance. "Show me your arm."
Her order went unobserved.
Ember had turned around to see what the hubbub was all about. From the corner of his eyes he saw the flicker of light. He went to it and picked it up.
"Where did you get this scalpel from?" he asked accusingly.
"594?" asked Kat as she pulled the girl to face them both. It was only then they saw the cuts. Lots and lots of small cuts decorated her otherwise beautiful skin.
END OF FLASHBACK
Still standing with his arms protecting her he said, "You can't start this again, Haze."
No answer was received.
"Hazel." He said, his voice a concerned warning. "You know what happened last time."
Still there was no response.
"You nearly died." His voice rasped at the memory.
FLASHBACK
"We need to take her to the Infirmary." Ember yelled quietly within their joint chambers.
"They'll leave her to die." Replied Kat as she sat composed, bandaging the younger one's split wrists.
"494 will be back with the transfusion kit soon." Said 657 as he paced the room, biting his already gnawed nails.
Just then Alec opened the door. "Move over." He said as he replaced Kat's position beside a barely alive Hazel.
"Don't you dare die on me now, hazel eyes." Talking softly, he put the needle into his arm and did the same to hers. "Don't you dare."
END OF FLASHBACK
Silence.
"Hazel." He opened from the embrace slightly.
Her eyes were closed.
"Hazel." He said shaking her slightly but she only moved with him.
He stepped away from her and she nearly fell but he quickly caught her.
"Hazel." He nearly shouted at her but still there was no movement.
"Shit." He murmured under his breath as he took her in his arms and raced out of the apartment.
Running through the courtyard with Hazel in his arms definitely caught the repair team's attention this time.
Ryan jumped down gracefully from the skeletal scaffolding he was balancing on. "What's the matter?" he yelled as he ran over to, the nearly hysterical, Ember.
"It's Hazel." Ember managed say the words without breaking down.
"What do you want me to do?" Ryan had assessed the situation straightaway.
"Get Alec." Was Ember's reply as he set off again.
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Alec had been absentmindedly continuing with his duties, all his thoughts focused on the four words that had been uttered earlier. Currently he was staring intently at a stain on the severely worn carpet, when he heard, "Alec!"
His head shot up at the urgency in the person's voice. Looking up at the raised area of the entrance, he saw Ryan. The X5 didn't have to speak, his face alone made Alec stand up.
"Alec. It's Hazel." At those words, his eyes instantly found Kat and Trigger across the room. They all got up and swiftly followed, the already exited, Ryan. 'Night also ran, following on their heels.
Alec, who had blurred to catch up with Ryan, asked, "What happened, Ry?" His eyes revealed his fear.
"Hazel, she had all these slashes across her arm and wrist. They were bleeding pretty badly. Ember's taken her to the Infirmary." He paused for a moment before adding uneasily, "She was unconscious."
"Shit." Alec muttered as he burst through the Infirmary doors.
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Ember had crashed through the doors, after his brief meeting with Ryan.
From the commotion he made, both Chloe and Gem came to see what was going on. At the sight of a bleeding and cataleptic Hazel, Chloe went into a panic-stricken frenzy.
Putting the insentient female onto the bed, Ember was pushed out of the way as Chloe hooked up blood for transfusion and Gem set about cleaning and bandaging the wounds.
"What the hell happened Ember?" roared Chloe as she rushed around her comatose friend.
"She......" His ability talk seemed to be failing him as he saw his friend unmoving.
"Ember?" she howled, turning on him.
"She.....she cut herself." He mumbled as he looked at his blood stained hands.
"She what?" her voice had died to whisper.
He only looked up, his lifeless stare proving his honesty.
"Why?" the words had barely left her mouth when Alec came bursting through the doors.
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'Night ran out after the three X5s, already having an idea where they were headed. He took a detour and found Ray in the canteen, helping Shy cook for their dinner.
"What is it?" she said instantly as he approached her.
"Come." He said grabbing her hand. The aggressive grasp turned into a needy and comforting lock of hands.
The journey to their destination was speedy and their entry was unnoticed. Walking to the back of the crowd, they could only hear hushed voices. Making their way to the front, they saw Alec, his hands clinched with Hazel's like their own.
With tears falling desolately down his pallid cheeks, the two X6s heard him whisper, "Come on hazel eyes. Not again."
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A/N: So what did y'all think? Tell me in a review.
I really hope you all enjoyed. I'm trying to involve all the people you have been introduced to, so that they fit in the grand scheme of things and in the conclusion. I've tried to make it so that each of them has an emotional tie to one of the main characters. Do you think it's working okay?
Anywayz, I've gotta be studying hard 'cos I've got really important exams coming soon but I'll do my best to install the next chapter in a little while.
So until then..............
unspoken-beauty
A/N: Hey people. Thanks for all the reviews. I appreciate it!
Well this is the next chapter, hope you like it. I know for sure now that after the next two chapter the MAJOR DRAMA will be taking place. I feel really bad 'cos I told you all about it ages ago and you're all still waiting and I ask you all to please forgive me!
Hope you enjoy this chapter!
*******************************************************************
She nodded.
He stayed standing by the door, whether to keep space for them or to make a quick exit she didn't know but she sat patiently, waiting for him to begin.
"Max," he began soft but with a serious strength, "What you said yesterday....."
"It was wrong." She concluded looking him straight in the eye.
"What?" he asked shocked at her confession.
"It was wrong and I'm sorry." She said, her voice earnest.
"You are." He said, his voice indicating his suspicion, as he took a couple of steps forward.
It was then she stood and walked up to him evenly. As she stood in front of him, she took his hand and squeezed it affectionately whilst saying, "I mean it Alec. I'm sorry."
He stood, mute.
His confused eyes soon turned to angry ones and he quickly snatched his hand away and took one step back. The space between them was only two feet but was symbolic of a two universes.
Max stood there, her hand still hanging from rejection, her eyes burned with perplexity.
"I haven't finished." He growled.
She recoiled at his tone and nodded timidly.
"I thought we were friends Max." he said after a tired sigh.
She was about to speak and exclaim that they were friends but he didn't give her the chance.
"I mean I know we didn't like each other in the beginning but I thought we became friends. I took all the insults and put downs because I thought we were buddies. I mean we were partners in EO missions and heists. I mean you even............we even had that moment when you told me 'bout Ben. I thought that night cemented our friendship." Alec talked whilst pacing the small length of the room. His voice poured out his puzzlement and resentment eloquently.
Max watched him as he paced. With each word she felt her eyes prick with tears.
"We fought together at Jam Pony, like comrades in arms, and then you do a 180 on me. After months of warming to me you just suddenly turn ice cold." He abruptly stopped and spun to face her, "Thing is, I still don't know what I did to receive you harsh insults and humiliating anger. Everyday for weeks, you would stand right out there," he said his voice quietening in vehemence, pointing at the door which led to HQ central, "and you would hurl your tirade of abuse at me in front of my friends. And like the idiot I am, I actually let you because I thought that deep down you didn't mean anything by it." He stopped, his back to her.
Max's face held a deep frown and something resembling reluctant shame clothed her eyes.
"I've only been on the outside for less than a couple of years, Max." he spoke with a sad, imploring voice, "I silently craved for a friend, you know? Somebody I could hang out with; who I could take care of and who would take care of me. And when I kept bumpin' into you I thought that maybe you could be that friend."
Her eyes now held genuine indignity.
"I needed you." His woeful words rung in her ears.
"But it all got better after.......I don't know..........I guess when Hazel, Cindy and Sketch got here." Max's eyes narrowed at the mention of Hazel but Alec didn't notice. "Cindy kept telling me not to let you get me down. For every bad word you said to me I got three positive words from each of them. Then you suddenly got nicer. Cindy joked that you were jealous of Hazel and it gave you a kick up the backside to be nice to me. But I didn't care why you were doing it and just revelled in the fact that we were friends again, 'cos Max, you're important to me." He said all of this with his face blatantly showing his, usually masked, emotions; which travelled from the happiness of memory to sincere declaration.
She looked up at his final words and processed the information as he continued.
His voice took the casual tone of a storyteller, "So I'm all happy being friends with you and then you decide to kiss me." She cringed at the way his voice emphasised his annoyance. "Not only do you kiss me, but then you don't speak to me for THREE MONTHS except to tell me that YOU WANT TO SLEEP WITH ME!" His voice had steadily got louder as he got more incredulous at the situation. "What was it you said to me? Oh yeah," he put on a mock Max voice as he glared at her heatedly, "'I still love Logan Alec but I need you to hold me.' Wasn't that gist of it?"
Max could only look at him, unable to explain her actions.
He carried on irately, "I mean if you think that's a good pick up line, then you're sorely mistaken. Do you KNOW how that made me feel? YOU made me feel like I MEANT NOTHING. That I was only good enough for you to FUCK but would NEVER be good enough for you to love. I felt like nothing." He paused briefly before he whispered, "You made me feel like nothing."
A thick silence fell upon the room.
Max sat there chewing over his words but couldn't handle the immense tension that seemed to creep up.
She strode over to him in big steps and lifted his chin with two fingers.
Making sure he looked straight into her dark brown eyes, she said, "I'm sorry Alec." He went to move away but she kept him in place as she quickly carried on, "You are my friend Alec and I know I've been a crappy friend back but please try to forgive me. I shouldn't have asked you to do what I asked you to do but...........I'm not sorry for that kiss."
He looked at her hopefully curious and infinitely confused.
She took a deep breath before saying, "I wanted to kiss you. I've been wanting to kiss you for a long time. Not just as a friend and not just as a lover but as a sorta boyfriend. I've been wanting us," she said indicating the both of them, "to be together as a couple. But the thing is that I was too scared to admit it so I tried to convince myself that it was just sexual and that I loved Logan, but it wasn't and I didn't. I didn't want him, I wanted you to be you; to make me smile and to ramble on about the stuff that you always ramble on about. I wanted.........want us to exchange our usual course of diatribes and witty remarks. I just.......I want you and me to be an 'us'."
She finished her speech and searched his shocked and bewildered eyes. Seeing his distrust, she chose to show him how she felt, so she leaned forward and kissed him with no fiery passion but only a true love.
In a matter of seconds, a knock was heard in the background and the door was swung open with Hazel entering; a bundle of papers in her arms, which swiftly found the floor, as she gasped at the sight before her.
The two transgenics quickly broke apart and turned to see the intruder.
Alec met the opposite hazel eyes and he took a step forward as she simultaneously took a step back.
She mumbled looking at the floor, her eyes threatening to shed tears, "I'm sorry. I'll leave you."
She fled, her scattered papers left on the floor. Alec's eyes followed her route before meeting the eyes of his units'. They all looked at him, sporting understanding looks. His eyes found Ember's and the unit also fled, on the pain-filled trail of Hazel.
A small tug of his hoodie could be felt. Turning, he was confronted with a pair of awaiting eyes.
"Bad timing, Max." he said quietly and swiftly went to leave as the transgenics got back to work.
Max watched after him, impatient yet apprehensive. She saw as he neared the exit, about to walk out of HQ and, she feared, her life also; so she yelled across the room, "I love you, Alec."
He stopped mid step. The words hung in the air, reverberating persistently at his ears. He turned slowly.
"What?" he had only whispered but it could be heard all around because of the anticipating hush that had fallen over the room.
She took a few steps forward before repeating, "I love you, Alec."
How long had he waited to hear those words, those four simple words? And now it was actually happening, he could only stand and stare. Not only had she said the words but she had declared it in front of the whole room. She, Max, leader of transgenic nation, had announced that she was in love with resident handy man, Alec.
Alec felt like laughing and saying, 'Call the Pope 'cos the world's ending!' but didn't with his facial muscles being temporarily out of order. And there was also the film of Hazel, fleeing from the room, replaying in his mind; her pain and hurt scarred into his memory.
Mole watched the whole debacle with vexed eyes. There was the woman who pounded his best friend with invective clubs, confessing her undying love for him. He desperately wanted to go up to the pair of them and knock their heads together, even if it was just for a bit of, much needed, comic relief amidst the rising turbulent pressure. But he restrained himself, knowing that the two needed to work this out for themselves.
Alec still hadn't uttered a word. The two X5s stood in front of each other, unblinking, in the fashion of a staring contest.
Kat surveyed them both. For the few months that she had been there, she had seen the way they acted around each other. It was obvious of Alec's feelings but Max's were harder to read. She knocked him down but was ready to gauge the eyes out of any female – or male for that matter - who tried to even come near him.
"Talk about the drama." Trigger had whispered in her ear.
"What other way is there with Tomcat?" She replied laughing silently to herself.
'Night, who had been in HQ doing his recon de-brief report, had seen the whole thing as it unfolded to its conclusion. He watched Max and Alec with disgust. Hazel had taken off, practically in tears, and both of them were too wrapped up in themselves to even notice. He decided to diffuse the situation. Taking large strides he reached the two, filling the gap between them, he had securely hidden all signs of the female from Alec and said, offhandedly yet firmly, whilst poking him with a roll of papers, "I've finished the report. I need you to read it over."
Alec broke out of whatever trance he was in and looked at 'Night confused.
As recollection hit him, work slowly resumed at HQ. Max's declaration still on their minds but set aside so that work could continue.
Max, who had been waiting for a reply, was left fruitless as Alec was dragged off to carry on with his duties. So she returned to her office, her mind a mess. She sat on the couch, took the cushion into her arms and began to untangle her completely confounded emotions.
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The day was grey but held an uncomfortable warmth that left one feeling sickly. The courtyard held a group of brave, if unlucky, transgenic labourers who were given the unwanted task of repairing a water tank that stood, looming over the other buildings. In the yard the group worked, neglecting a lone transgenic running through it, followed by another seemingly hurried transgenic.
By the time Ember had broken down the door and gotten into the apartment, all was quiet. He walked down the narrow corridor into the living area and then to the kitchen.
"Hazel?" he called out only be left with his own voice ringing back at him.
Next, walking into the bathroom, he saw a cabinet open and large splashes of red liquid adorning the rim of the tub that hosted the room. On a closer inspection he saw that it was the crimson blood of a transgenic.
His worry increasing, he yelled out, "Hazel?"
Only one room left to check, he walked quickly yet with hesitance at what he was going to find past the closed the door. Seizing the handle, he jerked the door open, and inside he saw Hazels body hunched but still sitting on the bed, her hair concealing her features.
"Hazel." He said her name softly whilst walking to her.
When his shadow fell on her, she pounced up and away from him. In her hand was a blade, its tip red. His eyes instinctively swerved to her free arm and he saw what he had been dreading. Her sleeve rolled up haphazardly, revealed angry gashes across the underside of her arm. Small tributaries of blood trickled down, merging at confluences to form a steady stream.
Ember, still looking at her bleeding limb, shook his head in surprised disbelief and said, "No, Hazel."
She glared back at him, her eyes in slits.
He took a step forward, his hand out waiting expectantly, and said firmly, "No, Hazel. Not again. Give me the blade."
It was then she held the blade in her palm in front of her and slowly closed it into a fist. Ember went to grab it but her reflexes were too quick. Upon opening her hand again, he could see the deep wound that she had just inflicted upon herself.
"Give me the blade now." He said again, his voice strained from the force he spoke with.
She looked him in the eyes, not with the annoyance of before but fresh tears. It was then he noticed the tear stains that her cheeks held.
"Hazel." He spoke with a gentle voice and took a meaningful step forward. He then stood still, awaiting her reaction, but was faced with none. He took another step forward, and another. He kept going slowly until he was close enough to reach out and take the blade from her open bleeding palm. After ridding her of the blade, he took the time to observe his friend. Succumbing to a decision he said, "Hazel," in an almost knowing voice as he was pushed back suddenly by the momentum of Hazel's fierce embrace. He felt his t-shirt soak with blood and tears as she hung to him desperately.
"Is this the first time since......?" he left the question hanging in the air. She shook her head 'no' in his chest.
"When?" he asked, his voice calming.
He heard no answer for a long a time and thought that she may not have heard him when she spoke quietly, "When Max reminded me of Jophiel."
He nodded.
FLASHBACK
Hazel was lying face down on her bunk.
"No way. Renfro is definitely a man." Laughed Kat as she and Ember walked into the unit's shared quarters.
"594. Get up. We need to get down to the mess hall before the guards come." Said Kat as she went to the other female.
"Go away." Was the mumbled answer the two received.
"Come on." Kat said as she shook the other's arm.
Hazel hissed and moved away sharply. Looking at her own hand, Kat said, "What's this?" On her fingers was a red substance. "Show me your arm."
Her order went unobserved.
Ember had turned around to see what the hubbub was all about. From the corner of his eyes he saw the flicker of light. He went to it and picked it up.
"Where did you get this scalpel from?" he asked accusingly.
"594?" asked Kat as she pulled the girl to face them both. It was only then they saw the cuts. Lots and lots of small cuts decorated her otherwise beautiful skin.
END OF FLASHBACK
Still standing with his arms protecting her he said, "You can't start this again, Haze."
No answer was received.
"Hazel." He said, his voice a concerned warning. "You know what happened last time."
Still there was no response.
"You nearly died." His voice rasped at the memory.
FLASHBACK
"We need to take her to the Infirmary." Ember yelled quietly within their joint chambers.
"They'll leave her to die." Replied Kat as she sat composed, bandaging the younger one's split wrists.
"494 will be back with the transfusion kit soon." Said 657 as he paced the room, biting his already gnawed nails.
Just then Alec opened the door. "Move over." He said as he replaced Kat's position beside a barely alive Hazel.
"Don't you dare die on me now, hazel eyes." Talking softly, he put the needle into his arm and did the same to hers. "Don't you dare."
END OF FLASHBACK
Silence.
"Hazel." He opened from the embrace slightly.
Her eyes were closed.
"Hazel." He said shaking her slightly but she only moved with him.
He stepped away from her and she nearly fell but he quickly caught her.
"Hazel." He nearly shouted at her but still there was no movement.
"Shit." He murmured under his breath as he took her in his arms and raced out of the apartment.
Running through the courtyard with Hazel in his arms definitely caught the repair team's attention this time.
Ryan jumped down gracefully from the skeletal scaffolding he was balancing on. "What's the matter?" he yelled as he ran over to, the nearly hysterical, Ember.
"It's Hazel." Ember managed say the words without breaking down.
"What do you want me to do?" Ryan had assessed the situation straightaway.
"Get Alec." Was Ember's reply as he set off again.
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Alec had been absentmindedly continuing with his duties, all his thoughts focused on the four words that had been uttered earlier. Currently he was staring intently at a stain on the severely worn carpet, when he heard, "Alec!"
His head shot up at the urgency in the person's voice. Looking up at the raised area of the entrance, he saw Ryan. The X5 didn't have to speak, his face alone made Alec stand up.
"Alec. It's Hazel." At those words, his eyes instantly found Kat and Trigger across the room. They all got up and swiftly followed, the already exited, Ryan. 'Night also ran, following on their heels.
Alec, who had blurred to catch up with Ryan, asked, "What happened, Ry?" His eyes revealed his fear.
"Hazel, she had all these slashes across her arm and wrist. They were bleeding pretty badly. Ember's taken her to the Infirmary." He paused for a moment before adding uneasily, "She was unconscious."
"Shit." Alec muttered as he burst through the Infirmary doors.
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Ember had crashed through the doors, after his brief meeting with Ryan.
From the commotion he made, both Chloe and Gem came to see what was going on. At the sight of a bleeding and cataleptic Hazel, Chloe went into a panic-stricken frenzy.
Putting the insentient female onto the bed, Ember was pushed out of the way as Chloe hooked up blood for transfusion and Gem set about cleaning and bandaging the wounds.
"What the hell happened Ember?" roared Chloe as she rushed around her comatose friend.
"She......" His ability talk seemed to be failing him as he saw his friend unmoving.
"Ember?" she howled, turning on him.
"She.....she cut herself." He mumbled as he looked at his blood stained hands.
"She what?" her voice had died to whisper.
He only looked up, his lifeless stare proving his honesty.
"Why?" the words had barely left her mouth when Alec came bursting through the doors.
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'Night ran out after the three X5s, already having an idea where they were headed. He took a detour and found Ray in the canteen, helping Shy cook for their dinner.
"What is it?" she said instantly as he approached her.
"Come." He said grabbing her hand. The aggressive grasp turned into a needy and comforting lock of hands.
The journey to their destination was speedy and their entry was unnoticed. Walking to the back of the crowd, they could only hear hushed voices. Making their way to the front, they saw Alec, his hands clinched with Hazel's like their own.
With tears falling desolately down his pallid cheeks, the two X6s heard him whisper, "Come on hazel eyes. Not again."
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A/N: So what did y'all think? Tell me in a review.
I really hope you all enjoyed. I'm trying to involve all the people you have been introduced to, so that they fit in the grand scheme of things and in the conclusion. I've tried to make it so that each of them has an emotional tie to one of the main characters. Do you think it's working okay?
Anywayz, I've gotta be studying hard 'cos I've got really important exams coming soon but I'll do my best to install the next chapter in a little while.
So until then..............
unspoken-beauty