10
Alec was actually doing some work in main command. He was checking over the cameras with Dix and Luke, waiting for Max to get back which should be soon.
He looked into the camera which showed the back entrance of Terminal City and the industrial district which the police hadn't got as well covered as they had thought. In the darkness he could see the outlines of several trucks.
"They're back." He said and a small smirk ran across his face. Max was back.
He let the others go set up med just in case there were casualties and he monitored the surrounding areas in case they had been marked or followed.
A burst of noise caused him to spin around as Biggs ran in holding a nearly unconscious Ally.
"Med." He called and Cece and Lana raced forward to take the pale transgenic away from his friend.
"We have three wounded." Biggs called as stretchers emerged from the med bay and they raced towards the exit.
Alec's pulse began to pound as he turned to his blood soaked friend.
"It was supposed to be routine, what the hell happened?" he shouted.
"It was an ambush, somehow they knew we were coming, it was a professional job man. " Biggs panted "They were strong and a dead aim. It was like Manticore."
"White." Alec froze catching his friends arm before he could run off to help the team "Where's Max?"
Biggs looked down and Alec's heart stopped.
"Biggs where's Max?" his voice caught as Biggs looked up at him with wide eyes.
"They surrounded her, eight of them with tasers." Alec dropped his hand like he had a disease "We were in the van and she was shot."
"Oh God." Alec thought he was going to be sick.
"She ordered us to keep going. Alec she ordered us."
"Is she-?" he couldn't have finished that to save his life.
"I don't think so, they weren't shooting her." Biggs swallowed "I'm sorry man."
Alec waved him away. His vision swimming and his breath ragged.
White had Max.
*~~
Ames White wasn't taking any chances. He refused to let anyone go near the cage and refused to let her out even to be moved. Instead he had the cage transported to the truck for transportation. To Max's annoyance and White's amusement the truck was an old circus lorry that advertised the attractions with a huge sign proclaiming on its side "Don't feed the animals." Very funny.
In her mind she tried to detail all the twists and turns that she could feel whilst in the van so that if she managed to escape she could find her way back but after hours and hours it seemed like too many twists and turns and the rocking of the carriage of the truck finally lulled her mind and she fell asleep.
~~
Alec paced the headquarters feeling his frustrations bubbling just below the surface of his calm façade. The three transgenics that had been hit were doing okay and Ally was going to be okay once the swelling went down. The debriefing had gone as well as could be expected with Alec grinding his teeth so hard he was getting a migraine.
Apparently they had walked into a Familiar trap. White undoubtedly had Max. Just the thought of that Psycho with his hands on her made Alec mad enough to spit nails and it was taking all his restraint not to scream at them for leaving her behind no matter what the odds were or what she had ordered.
Alec made his way into his office and shut out all the noise from Terminal City, he was going to have to do something that he knew would be hard and he didn't want any witnesses.
He reached for the phone to make a call that he knew he didn't want to make.
"Jam Pony." Normal answered with his usual monotone. He was flipping through papers trying to get this ragged bunch up to scratch as a first class service. Not that he ever expected it to work.
"Normal? Its Alec."
"Golden boy!" Normal's enthusiastic cry grated on Alec's nerves more than the apparent hero worship had ever done back when he was a bike messenger. Not that he would let that interfere, Normal was useful.
"Listen Normal I'd like to chat but it's vital I talk to O.C something bad has happened okay?"
"Can I help?" Normal's sincere tone would have shocked anyone who knew him.
"Get Cindy."
"Girly girl!" Normal called the African who was talking to another of the messengers. "Original Cindy!"
"You talkin' ta me?" O.C wasn't used to Normal calling her by her name.
"Phone." He held out the receiver and her eyebrow raised, normally he wouldn't let them use the phone during company time. That meant that it was probably her favourite transgenic.
She took the phone with a beam.
"Hey Boo!"
"O.C it's Alec."
"Oh baby boo wassup?" there was silence "Alec, what is it?"
"Max." his whisper was heard like a thunderclap.
"Alec, Alec what?" her voice got louder "What's wrong? Where's Max?"
"God Cindy I don't know." She could hear the ragged edge in his voice. "She went on a mission and White and his familiars got her. She's missing Cindy."
Cindy dropped the phone and was surprised to hear a cry sounding like an animal was trapped. The surprising thing was that it was coming from her.
"No, no please not Max." she felt arms touch her back and she spun into the embrace not caring who it was.
From his end in Terminal City Alec could hear the raw desperation in the cry from Max's best friend in the world.
His heart was breaking as he couldn't be there to comfort her and be comforted in return and the thought hit him hard that he shouldn't have had to do that over the phone.
"Cindy? Cindy? O.C?"
"Sorry Champ Cindy's gonna have to go home." Normal's voice was back on the line "If there's anything I can do?"
"Take care of Cindy." Alec managed to choke out and replaced the receiver fighting back tears.
He nearly slumped against the wall as he heard his ragged breathing sound harsh in the silent room. It was killing him, he knew that he had to find Max and bring her home but he had no idea where to start, they hadn't covered insane snake cults hiding perfect transgenics in basic training. And he couldn't even put himself in White's shoes since, no matter what Manticore thought; he wasn't a sociopath like his brother Ben.
He slowly crumpled to the floor allowing his grief to take him for a second. But only a second.
He stood up and straightened his back. He was a soldier and Max had trusted him to take care of Terminal City and its inhabitants and he couldn't do that if he allowed himself to fall apart. Priority one was to find Max. He had to locate her and get her back.
His plan of action firmly in his head he turned ramrod straight in a motion that would have done Manticore proud and headed for the door.
In the back of his head, the part of him that was screaming noted that although Original Cindy was taking this about as well as he wanted to he still had no idea how to tell Joshua.
Alec was actually doing some work in main command. He was checking over the cameras with Dix and Luke, waiting for Max to get back which should be soon.
He looked into the camera which showed the back entrance of Terminal City and the industrial district which the police hadn't got as well covered as they had thought. In the darkness he could see the outlines of several trucks.
"They're back." He said and a small smirk ran across his face. Max was back.
He let the others go set up med just in case there were casualties and he monitored the surrounding areas in case they had been marked or followed.
A burst of noise caused him to spin around as Biggs ran in holding a nearly unconscious Ally.
"Med." He called and Cece and Lana raced forward to take the pale transgenic away from his friend.
"We have three wounded." Biggs called as stretchers emerged from the med bay and they raced towards the exit.
Alec's pulse began to pound as he turned to his blood soaked friend.
"It was supposed to be routine, what the hell happened?" he shouted.
"It was an ambush, somehow they knew we were coming, it was a professional job man. " Biggs panted "They were strong and a dead aim. It was like Manticore."
"White." Alec froze catching his friends arm before he could run off to help the team "Where's Max?"
Biggs looked down and Alec's heart stopped.
"Biggs where's Max?" his voice caught as Biggs looked up at him with wide eyes.
"They surrounded her, eight of them with tasers." Alec dropped his hand like he had a disease "We were in the van and she was shot."
"Oh God." Alec thought he was going to be sick.
"She ordered us to keep going. Alec she ordered us."
"Is she-?" he couldn't have finished that to save his life.
"I don't think so, they weren't shooting her." Biggs swallowed "I'm sorry man."
Alec waved him away. His vision swimming and his breath ragged.
White had Max.
*~~
Ames White wasn't taking any chances. He refused to let anyone go near the cage and refused to let her out even to be moved. Instead he had the cage transported to the truck for transportation. To Max's annoyance and White's amusement the truck was an old circus lorry that advertised the attractions with a huge sign proclaiming on its side "Don't feed the animals." Very funny.
In her mind she tried to detail all the twists and turns that she could feel whilst in the van so that if she managed to escape she could find her way back but after hours and hours it seemed like too many twists and turns and the rocking of the carriage of the truck finally lulled her mind and she fell asleep.
~~
Alec paced the headquarters feeling his frustrations bubbling just below the surface of his calm façade. The three transgenics that had been hit were doing okay and Ally was going to be okay once the swelling went down. The debriefing had gone as well as could be expected with Alec grinding his teeth so hard he was getting a migraine.
Apparently they had walked into a Familiar trap. White undoubtedly had Max. Just the thought of that Psycho with his hands on her made Alec mad enough to spit nails and it was taking all his restraint not to scream at them for leaving her behind no matter what the odds were or what she had ordered.
Alec made his way into his office and shut out all the noise from Terminal City, he was going to have to do something that he knew would be hard and he didn't want any witnesses.
He reached for the phone to make a call that he knew he didn't want to make.
"Jam Pony." Normal answered with his usual monotone. He was flipping through papers trying to get this ragged bunch up to scratch as a first class service. Not that he ever expected it to work.
"Normal? Its Alec."
"Golden boy!" Normal's enthusiastic cry grated on Alec's nerves more than the apparent hero worship had ever done back when he was a bike messenger. Not that he would let that interfere, Normal was useful.
"Listen Normal I'd like to chat but it's vital I talk to O.C something bad has happened okay?"
"Can I help?" Normal's sincere tone would have shocked anyone who knew him.
"Get Cindy."
"Girly girl!" Normal called the African who was talking to another of the messengers. "Original Cindy!"
"You talkin' ta me?" O.C wasn't used to Normal calling her by her name.
"Phone." He held out the receiver and her eyebrow raised, normally he wouldn't let them use the phone during company time. That meant that it was probably her favourite transgenic.
She took the phone with a beam.
"Hey Boo!"
"O.C it's Alec."
"Oh baby boo wassup?" there was silence "Alec, what is it?"
"Max." his whisper was heard like a thunderclap.
"Alec, Alec what?" her voice got louder "What's wrong? Where's Max?"
"God Cindy I don't know." She could hear the ragged edge in his voice. "She went on a mission and White and his familiars got her. She's missing Cindy."
Cindy dropped the phone and was surprised to hear a cry sounding like an animal was trapped. The surprising thing was that it was coming from her.
"No, no please not Max." she felt arms touch her back and she spun into the embrace not caring who it was.
From his end in Terminal City Alec could hear the raw desperation in the cry from Max's best friend in the world.
His heart was breaking as he couldn't be there to comfort her and be comforted in return and the thought hit him hard that he shouldn't have had to do that over the phone.
"Cindy? Cindy? O.C?"
"Sorry Champ Cindy's gonna have to go home." Normal's voice was back on the line "If there's anything I can do?"
"Take care of Cindy." Alec managed to choke out and replaced the receiver fighting back tears.
He nearly slumped against the wall as he heard his ragged breathing sound harsh in the silent room. It was killing him, he knew that he had to find Max and bring her home but he had no idea where to start, they hadn't covered insane snake cults hiding perfect transgenics in basic training. And he couldn't even put himself in White's shoes since, no matter what Manticore thought; he wasn't a sociopath like his brother Ben.
He slowly crumpled to the floor allowing his grief to take him for a second. But only a second.
He stood up and straightened his back. He was a soldier and Max had trusted him to take care of Terminal City and its inhabitants and he couldn't do that if he allowed himself to fall apart. Priority one was to find Max. He had to locate her and get her back.
His plan of action firmly in his head he turned ramrod straight in a motion that would have done Manticore proud and headed for the door.
In the back of his head, the part of him that was screaming noted that although Original Cindy was taking this about as well as he wanted to he still had no idea how to tell Joshua.