With You Chapter Three
A/N: Huge thanks to all who reviewed the last chapter! You guys sure know how to brighten someone's day. Everyone starts to grow closer in the next few chapters, and then things begin to really heat up.
Ryan and Aletha are sitting in his apartment along with Krit and Syl as Aletha continues to explain her experiences in the real world.
"I was about fifteen miles from the border when an Indian medicine man found me along the road. He was on his way back to Arkansas, so he took me along for the ride, eventually adopting me as his own daughter. When I got older, we traveled on the pow wow circuits."
"Pow wow circuits?" Ryan asks inquisitively.
"You take a rusted out trailer and a pet wolf and travel the back roads from one pow wow to another. I had a pet wolf named Sasha. She wasn't mine, but I loved her. She had blue eyes. Her real owner was a Blackfoot."
"It sounds exciting! Think you might be interested in taking us along when this is all done with?" Syl is on the edge of her seat, lost in the conversation.
"Sure thing! While we're waiting, I can even teach you some of the Cherokee language."
Krit adds, "Ah, one of the very few languages Manticore didn't require us to learn at an early age."
"Is it hard?" Syl asks, knowing full well that it will only take them a matter of hours to memorize it all.
"For ordinaries it is, since there is no English equivalent. It's more like a syllabus, where each letter stands for a sound, or a cluster of letters. Although, I've seen how fast you guys pick things up, I'm sure you'll get it in no time," Aletha states, a glimmer in her eye as she glances at a smiling Ryan.
Before he can make a remark, she adds, "For example, part of my name in Cherokee is 'Red,' Gi Ga Ge I. You have one character for Gi, one for Ga, one for Ge, and one for I."
"Hey, you're not too bad at this." Ryan smirked.
"I should think so, considering I taught it for a few months a while back." She grinned, thinking about the good times that they are bound to share in the future.
Two young X6s approach the gates to TC, searching for a way in.
Inside the HQ, Dix is monitoring the screens. When he spots them, he motions for Mole to go greet them. Of course Mole, being the anti-social lizard man that he is, tries to refuse but when Dix threatens to call on Max for a ruling, he gives up.
He reaches the gates in no time, ordering the trangenics guarding it to allow the X6s entrance.
"What's your business here?" Mole skips the warm greeting and gets right down to business, his cigar moving as he talks.
"I'm Luke, and this is my, um… close personal friend, Kay. We're here probably for the same reason as everyone else."
"Which is?"
Kay and Luke begin to notice Mole's lack of emotion as he speaks.
"A safe house, away from the ordinaries. In case you haven't noticed already, the city is panicking. They're killing any transgenic they can find and hanging them in the streets for all to see!" Kay is so excited she practically knocks the cigar right out of Mole's mouth as she gestures towards the outside world.
"Okay, okay, no need to get rambunctious. There are plenty of vacancies around here. Just don't expect the Hilton, 'cause this place is far from it."
"Thank you, sir," Luke says, saluting Mole.
"And for starters you can stop calling me 'sir' and start calling me Mole. You hear that?"
"Yes, s- Mole," Luke and Kay say in unison.
"Now follow me, you're going to get a place to stay and chores to do, just like everyone else."
Kay glances at Luke, fighting the giggles that urge to erupt. Mole certainly didn't come off as a nice guy. More like impatient and a little rude.
Max and Alec sit in front of the television. For lack of a more comfortable chair, Max gave in to his pleading and found a spot on his lap.
As the smell of her hair reaches his nose, it sends a tingle up and down his spine. It was enough to render him intoxicated.
Before he realizes what is going on, his hand is stroking her arm.
She notices almost instantaneously, but she doesn't shove his arm away or yell at him to stop. Instead, she feels the need to snuggle closer. He brings her a sense of comfort in their rag tag world, and she doesn't want to lose it.
She repositions herself, trying to seem as if everything is just normal as she moves closer to him. He notices but just shrugs it off.
Half the time Max can hardly stand being around him. And after all, it was a struggle just to get her to sit down and watch with him, let alone to sit this close.
She contemplates whether or not to break the silence that managed to settle between them. It was way out of the usual. Any other time she can't get him to shut up for a nanosecond.
She decides to avoid personal matters for the moment, trying instead to find a comment about the made for TV movie they are watching.
"What's up with this guy?"
"Huh?"
She almost startled him with her words.
"The guy in the movie. I mean, you're telling me can't figure out that the enemy is closing in on him and his team with all that noise they're making?"
"You're forgetting one thing. They aren't genetically enhanced super soldiers with a little feline DNA mixed into their cocktail."
"Oh, right."
The silence creeps back, leaving them once again with an uncomfortable atmosphere.
'Oh God, what the hell was I thinking?' Max mentally slaps her forehead. Unbeknownst to her that Alec is doing the same thing.
"I'm just going to get a soda."
Max goes to get up, but her grip on the arm of the chair slips, sending in close proximity with Alec. Closer than they were before.
He gives her a cocky grin and she returns it nervously.
Their faces are so close they can feel the other's breath on their cheeks. They inch closer.
Closer.
Just as they are about to kiss, Max's pager begins to ring.
Frustrated, she climbs off Alec and goes to see who ruined the moment.
Dix. That can only mean one thing.
More newcomers.
"I gotta blaze. The responsibilities of leadership await me." She rolls her eyes and Alec jumps to his feet, turning off the television.
"Mind if I tag along?"
Mole sits in a chair just below the balcony where Dix has the controls set up, brandishing his favorite shot gun.
His spirits lift a tad when Max and Alec arrive, bickering as usual. They quit their mouth battle when they reach a slightly disgruntled Mole.
"What's so urgent it couldn't wait until later?"
Max folds her arms across her chest.
"Them," Mole says simply, pointing with his gun behind the two X5s at Luke and Kay.
At the sight of Max they stand at attention, just as Manticore taught them.
"X6 182!" Luke exclaims, saluting Max just as he did Mole at their arrival.
"X6 148!" Kay says in the same manner.
"You're not at Manticore anymore. You don't have to do that. My name's Max." She grins; any outward signs of her earlier frustration are invisible.
"Luke," he says, as Max nods and looks to Kay.
"And I'm Kay."
"Welcome to Terminal City, the home of more transgenics than you can count on your fingers and toes. Great to have you on board. I think I'll leave it up to Mole to assign you both jobs, since you guys seem to be such great friends," Max smiles cheekily.
"Just my luck," Mole says under his breath.
"Don't mind him, he'll grow on you. With time." Alec slaps Luke on the back and winks at Kay.
"And now that that's done, Alec and I have some things to sort out in private. So we'll be leaving you rug rats on your own. Oh, and one more thing. Play nice."
With that Max and Alec walk back towards their apartment, Max waving at Joshua as they leave.
La Vito – Don't worry, there might be a little bitchiness between them in a couple chapters, but nothing to worry about :) Thanks for the review!
RGAP-48 – I hope you liked Kay and Luke ;) More of those two in the coming chapters. Glad you're enjoying it so far!
Athena80 – I couldn't resist, I had to add the boob tube part, lol. Glad you liked it, thanks for the review!
Keep them coming!