A/N: Thanks to everyone who reviewed!!!
Lakergirl, Ellimelli, willow98002, m/a fan, secretlybeautiful, Kyla, Tikigirl16, and Jade-K!!!!
Chapter Seven: Dead End
During one rainy night the day before 'Freak Nation' had risen, Max had a dream...
'The slick streets of Seattle were overflowing with people: the Sector police, the media, a dozen transgenics, the angry citizens of the city and a few passersby who had stopped to watch.
"You are murderers!" a voice from the crowd yelled, to the group of transgenics that stood in the center of a circular barricade. A chorus of affirmations erupted from the audience. Hundreds of people were trying to push through the blockage, determined to get a good hit at the dangerous 'freaks'.
"We're no different from you guys," Max shouted over the blaring sirens of the police cars, their red and blue signal lights flashing brightly in the dimness.
"Look, it's the leader of the freaks!" another voice yelled. "Oooh, we're so scared!" Mocking, derisive laughter followed this comment, and Max had to restrain herself from lunging at the offending man. Now was not the time to become violent. Their attitudes and well-beings were being weighed right now. And their actions would determine the outcome of this 'freak show'.
"We are not dangerous," Max continued, disregarding the man's disdainful remark. "We never chose to be what we are! You can't blame us for looking like this!"
"Shut up, bitch!" another guy cried out from the front line. Max recognized him as one of the guys that gave Mole a hard time on the road when he and Joshua had picked up Gem and Dalton.
"Keep on saying that, and we'll show you just how dangerous we really are!" Alec snarled from beside her. Max clutched his arm, willing him to calm down.
"You must be the bitch's boyfriend," the guy sneered. "She must be a good fuck."
"That does it," Alec growled and pounced at the man. The minute he did, the police opened fire on him. Max blurred over to the scene, only to find Alec lying on his back on the gravel. A pool of blood surrounding his head.
She checked for a pulse and found none. "Alec!" she shouted in his ear just as it began to rain. She repeated his name again, much more louder this time. "Damnit Alec, wake up!" She yelled, as she choked on a sob. The rain pelted against her face, and she could no longer tell if the droplets of water falling down her face was tears or raindrops...'
She had woken up from the dream, shaking involuntarily, her cheeks wet with tears. She hadn't realized until then that the death of Alec would affect her so much. She had then rushed off to Alec's place to check on him – just in case. He was fast asleep when she dropped by, and she left as quietly as she came. She doubted that Alec even knew she was there that night.
She didn't really think much about her dream, saying to herself that she would feel that way if one of her close friends had died. Like Original Cindy, or Joshua. Alec was nothing more than a friend – a part of her family...
'I love someone else now.' Alec's words seemed to have plastered themselves firmly on the base of her head, in the center of her thoughts; everything else appeared irrelevant, revolving around those thoughts, circling it like the moon orbiting the earth with its ghostly, yet pragmatic light.
It was almost too surreal. Even impossible. Alec was in love with her. 'Me', Max clarified, dumbfounded. Slowly, she put two and two together, arranging the pieces of the puzzle in a comprehensible order that would give her the final picture.
She recalled the look on his face when he raised that knife to kill her – to save his own skin...and when he stabbed it furiously onto the grass beside her. Max had looked at the knife for a few seconds, staring at the way it gleamed and how it had reflected her terror-stricken face. Alec had lain beside her, breathing heavily...as if he could not believe what he had almost succeeded in doing.
Max had shrugged that incident away, knowing that Alec had not killed her because he couldn't bear to be laden with the guilt of murdering his own kind in cold blood. She never would've guessed that he failed to kill her because he – loved her.
And then, there was the time when Max sat alone in her apartment. Miserable and very, very unhappy. Alec had come flouncing in, and she ended up telling him all about Ben...how she killed her own brother to save him from the sway of Manticore. How she had broken his neck in attempt to release his pained soul that was trapped within the body of an assassin. Alec had understood her, had wrapped his arms around her until her shaking sobs ceased, had whispered comforting words in her ear until the morning came. Max had seen that day as the beginning of a real, genuine friendship.
Logan had seen them together that morning, and he had assumed that the two were together, a couple. Max had immediately jumped at the conclusion, seeing this as a way of pushing Logan away from her and the virus, a way of keeping him safe.
And then, Alec found out about it. He wasn't the least bit happy about it. Max had thought that he just simply didn't want to be dragged into the middle of hers and Logan's complicated love life. But know she knew why. He couldn't tolerate the fact that Max was only using him. When he himself actually loved her.
Then the battle with White and the Phalanx broke out. And there was a brief time there, when Max was fighting with Thula that she thought Alec was dead. And there was this uncontrollable anger that raged inside her, that burned her – that made her win that fight. She had never felt so relieved in her life when she saw Alec standing up and alive.
Her dream pulsed back into her head...
Was that it? Was that love? But she loved Logan... 'Then how come you're always depressed when Logan's around? That annoying voice in the back of her head asked. And how come you're always having fun when you're with Alec?' She closed her eyes for a split second and opened it again. 'Logan always puts you in danger...sending you on missions that could've cost you your life – Alec would never do that to you...'
The New Manticore was similar to the Old Manticore at Gilette, Wyoming in a few small ways. They had the same cold, gray walls that were made by thick concrete, the same windowless cells, and the same training fields that were completely grassless. Although this time, the New Manticore was severely guarded. Colonel Donald Lydecker was not risking anything. The concertina- wired fences were at least fifteen feet tall. Too high for a transgenic to jump over.
Every single room and hallway in the buildings were equipped with surveillance cameras, even the infirmary. Lydecker watched from the small black and white screen in the Security room as the two X5s 'talked'. Unfortunately, the clinic was not bugged. And he therefore, could not tell what they were talking about. Though from the looks of it, it was something somberly serious.
He checked his watch which read 4:20 p.m. Twenty minutes had passed since he last left 494 there. He stood up and headed over to the clinic, wondering silently if they had reached a decision. He pushed open the door which swung noiselessly behind him. The two transgenics looked up, and the mask that Manticore had taught them to hide themselves behind in, covered Lydecker's view from their true expressions.
He stood in front of Max's bed, hands in his pockets, waiting for them to say something. When they didn't, it was he who initiated speech. "I take that you two have reached a decision?" he asked, accompanying the question with raised eyebrows.
He could not hold back a smirk at the panicked look on 494's face. A fragment of himself was surprised. 494 had always had this composed, and calm look about him that seldom wavered. Lydecker had always thought of 452 as the more – untamable one. The expression was concise, but the colonel had seen it.
Alec looked expectantly at Max, as if waiting for her to reply. Max did not return his gaze; instead, she turned to look at Lydecker with a raised chin of pure stamina that reminded him of the soldier she really was. Lydecker had a fleeting feeling that she wouldn't be choosing reindoc. "We will be doing the – breeding." The hesitation was evident in her voice, but Lydecker took the answer immediately. Alec however, looked shocked.
"Very well," the colonel said with a pleased smile. That was better, a lot more better than choosing death, or even reindoctrination. Traitors or not, he still considered the two transgenics has his 'kids'. And would not have liked to see them suffer.
The two of them had a perfect DNA match. The outcome would be beyond successful. And besides, they made a perfect couple. Physically speaking, of course.
"I will have a cell prepared for you," Lydecker said. "But since 452 is in no condition to copulate. Your breeding will be done tomorrow."
"Yes, sir." Max said. Lydecker ignored the emphasized 'sir', and left the infirmary to give the two their privacy.
Alec blinked, trying to clear his vision. He couldn't hear or see anything, he didn't even see Lydecker leave the room. All he could see was Max, sitting on the bed in a fragile way, and her words reverberating in his head in a balanced rhythm. 'We're going to do the breeding.' But what did that mean?
Max was now smiling, and Alec blinked again. And this time, he saw what he had always wanted to see – the woman he loved staring back at him in admiration, respect, and saying the words he had always dreamed of hearing. "Alec," Max said still smiling. "I love you."
Alec goggled at her. "Really?" 'What the hell was that?' He asked himself. 'You're the cocky, smooth, slick guy remember? You don't say things like 'really.''
Max laughed. "Yeah, really." She paused, gazing at him with that certain look lovers exchanged each other. Alec had seen her look at Logan like that for a number of times. Only this time, it was directed at him. "I guess I have for a long time too. I just didn't want to admit it." She grinned. "Hey, Alec."
"What?" he asked, grinning as well. He couldn't help it. Who the hell cared if they were trapped back in Manticore? He was trapped in Manticore with an incredibly beautiful, sexy woman who loved him, and had agreed to be his breeding partner.
"Still think we've reached a dead end?"
Alec's grin broadened. "Well, yeah. In some ways we really have reached a dead end. But in my case, it's a really, really good dead end."
And ignoring the security camera that was staring straight at them, he captured Max's lips in a passionate kiss.
A/N: Mwah!!! Leave a review everybody!!!
Lakergirl, Ellimelli, willow98002, m/a fan, secretlybeautiful, Kyla, Tikigirl16, and Jade-K!!!!
Chapter Seven: Dead End
During one rainy night the day before 'Freak Nation' had risen, Max had a dream...
'The slick streets of Seattle were overflowing with people: the Sector police, the media, a dozen transgenics, the angry citizens of the city and a few passersby who had stopped to watch.
"You are murderers!" a voice from the crowd yelled, to the group of transgenics that stood in the center of a circular barricade. A chorus of affirmations erupted from the audience. Hundreds of people were trying to push through the blockage, determined to get a good hit at the dangerous 'freaks'.
"We're no different from you guys," Max shouted over the blaring sirens of the police cars, their red and blue signal lights flashing brightly in the dimness.
"Look, it's the leader of the freaks!" another voice yelled. "Oooh, we're so scared!" Mocking, derisive laughter followed this comment, and Max had to restrain herself from lunging at the offending man. Now was not the time to become violent. Their attitudes and well-beings were being weighed right now. And their actions would determine the outcome of this 'freak show'.
"We are not dangerous," Max continued, disregarding the man's disdainful remark. "We never chose to be what we are! You can't blame us for looking like this!"
"Shut up, bitch!" another guy cried out from the front line. Max recognized him as one of the guys that gave Mole a hard time on the road when he and Joshua had picked up Gem and Dalton.
"Keep on saying that, and we'll show you just how dangerous we really are!" Alec snarled from beside her. Max clutched his arm, willing him to calm down.
"You must be the bitch's boyfriend," the guy sneered. "She must be a good fuck."
"That does it," Alec growled and pounced at the man. The minute he did, the police opened fire on him. Max blurred over to the scene, only to find Alec lying on his back on the gravel. A pool of blood surrounding his head.
She checked for a pulse and found none. "Alec!" she shouted in his ear just as it began to rain. She repeated his name again, much more louder this time. "Damnit Alec, wake up!" She yelled, as she choked on a sob. The rain pelted against her face, and she could no longer tell if the droplets of water falling down her face was tears or raindrops...'
She had woken up from the dream, shaking involuntarily, her cheeks wet with tears. She hadn't realized until then that the death of Alec would affect her so much. She had then rushed off to Alec's place to check on him – just in case. He was fast asleep when she dropped by, and she left as quietly as she came. She doubted that Alec even knew she was there that night.
She didn't really think much about her dream, saying to herself that she would feel that way if one of her close friends had died. Like Original Cindy, or Joshua. Alec was nothing more than a friend – a part of her family...
'I love someone else now.' Alec's words seemed to have plastered themselves firmly on the base of her head, in the center of her thoughts; everything else appeared irrelevant, revolving around those thoughts, circling it like the moon orbiting the earth with its ghostly, yet pragmatic light.
It was almost too surreal. Even impossible. Alec was in love with her. 'Me', Max clarified, dumbfounded. Slowly, she put two and two together, arranging the pieces of the puzzle in a comprehensible order that would give her the final picture.
She recalled the look on his face when he raised that knife to kill her – to save his own skin...and when he stabbed it furiously onto the grass beside her. Max had looked at the knife for a few seconds, staring at the way it gleamed and how it had reflected her terror-stricken face. Alec had lain beside her, breathing heavily...as if he could not believe what he had almost succeeded in doing.
Max had shrugged that incident away, knowing that Alec had not killed her because he couldn't bear to be laden with the guilt of murdering his own kind in cold blood. She never would've guessed that he failed to kill her because he – loved her.
And then, there was the time when Max sat alone in her apartment. Miserable and very, very unhappy. Alec had come flouncing in, and she ended up telling him all about Ben...how she killed her own brother to save him from the sway of Manticore. How she had broken his neck in attempt to release his pained soul that was trapped within the body of an assassin. Alec had understood her, had wrapped his arms around her until her shaking sobs ceased, had whispered comforting words in her ear until the morning came. Max had seen that day as the beginning of a real, genuine friendship.
Logan had seen them together that morning, and he had assumed that the two were together, a couple. Max had immediately jumped at the conclusion, seeing this as a way of pushing Logan away from her and the virus, a way of keeping him safe.
And then, Alec found out about it. He wasn't the least bit happy about it. Max had thought that he just simply didn't want to be dragged into the middle of hers and Logan's complicated love life. But know she knew why. He couldn't tolerate the fact that Max was only using him. When he himself actually loved her.
Then the battle with White and the Phalanx broke out. And there was a brief time there, when Max was fighting with Thula that she thought Alec was dead. And there was this uncontrollable anger that raged inside her, that burned her – that made her win that fight. She had never felt so relieved in her life when she saw Alec standing up and alive.
Her dream pulsed back into her head...
Was that it? Was that love? But she loved Logan... 'Then how come you're always depressed when Logan's around? That annoying voice in the back of her head asked. And how come you're always having fun when you're with Alec?' She closed her eyes for a split second and opened it again. 'Logan always puts you in danger...sending you on missions that could've cost you your life – Alec would never do that to you...'
The New Manticore was similar to the Old Manticore at Gilette, Wyoming in a few small ways. They had the same cold, gray walls that were made by thick concrete, the same windowless cells, and the same training fields that were completely grassless. Although this time, the New Manticore was severely guarded. Colonel Donald Lydecker was not risking anything. The concertina- wired fences were at least fifteen feet tall. Too high for a transgenic to jump over.
Every single room and hallway in the buildings were equipped with surveillance cameras, even the infirmary. Lydecker watched from the small black and white screen in the Security room as the two X5s 'talked'. Unfortunately, the clinic was not bugged. And he therefore, could not tell what they were talking about. Though from the looks of it, it was something somberly serious.
He checked his watch which read 4:20 p.m. Twenty minutes had passed since he last left 494 there. He stood up and headed over to the clinic, wondering silently if they had reached a decision. He pushed open the door which swung noiselessly behind him. The two transgenics looked up, and the mask that Manticore had taught them to hide themselves behind in, covered Lydecker's view from their true expressions.
He stood in front of Max's bed, hands in his pockets, waiting for them to say something. When they didn't, it was he who initiated speech. "I take that you two have reached a decision?" he asked, accompanying the question with raised eyebrows.
He could not hold back a smirk at the panicked look on 494's face. A fragment of himself was surprised. 494 had always had this composed, and calm look about him that seldom wavered. Lydecker had always thought of 452 as the more – untamable one. The expression was concise, but the colonel had seen it.
Alec looked expectantly at Max, as if waiting for her to reply. Max did not return his gaze; instead, she turned to look at Lydecker with a raised chin of pure stamina that reminded him of the soldier she really was. Lydecker had a fleeting feeling that she wouldn't be choosing reindoc. "We will be doing the – breeding." The hesitation was evident in her voice, but Lydecker took the answer immediately. Alec however, looked shocked.
"Very well," the colonel said with a pleased smile. That was better, a lot more better than choosing death, or even reindoctrination. Traitors or not, he still considered the two transgenics has his 'kids'. And would not have liked to see them suffer.
The two of them had a perfect DNA match. The outcome would be beyond successful. And besides, they made a perfect couple. Physically speaking, of course.
"I will have a cell prepared for you," Lydecker said. "But since 452 is in no condition to copulate. Your breeding will be done tomorrow."
"Yes, sir." Max said. Lydecker ignored the emphasized 'sir', and left the infirmary to give the two their privacy.
Alec blinked, trying to clear his vision. He couldn't hear or see anything, he didn't even see Lydecker leave the room. All he could see was Max, sitting on the bed in a fragile way, and her words reverberating in his head in a balanced rhythm. 'We're going to do the breeding.' But what did that mean?
Max was now smiling, and Alec blinked again. And this time, he saw what he had always wanted to see – the woman he loved staring back at him in admiration, respect, and saying the words he had always dreamed of hearing. "Alec," Max said still smiling. "I love you."
Alec goggled at her. "Really?" 'What the hell was that?' He asked himself. 'You're the cocky, smooth, slick guy remember? You don't say things like 'really.''
Max laughed. "Yeah, really." She paused, gazing at him with that certain look lovers exchanged each other. Alec had seen her look at Logan like that for a number of times. Only this time, it was directed at him. "I guess I have for a long time too. I just didn't want to admit it." She grinned. "Hey, Alec."
"What?" he asked, grinning as well. He couldn't help it. Who the hell cared if they were trapped back in Manticore? He was trapped in Manticore with an incredibly beautiful, sexy woman who loved him, and had agreed to be his breeding partner.
"Still think we've reached a dead end?"
Alec's grin broadened. "Well, yeah. In some ways we really have reached a dead end. But in my case, it's a really, really good dead end."
And ignoring the security camera that was staring straight at them, he captured Max's lips in a passionate kiss.
A/N: Mwah!!! Leave a review everybody!!!