WARNING: Mentions of child abuse, nothing sexual, and not too graphic.
Rooftop, HQ
Max stands on the rooftop, letting the rain fall over her and watching the city from her new High Place. She hears his footsteps behind him, but she ignores them, hoping that he'll go away and leave her alone. But, as they say, misery loves company, and Max is about as miserable as you can get.
"Tell us a story, Ben......" Memories echo through her mind, and she leans into the arms that wrap themselves around her. "Maxie, I know we're immune to pretty much everything and all, but we're part cats- how can you stand the rain?" Alec asks, hoping that she'll come out of the shell that she's surrounded herself in.
"I needed to think." she says quietly, staring into the horizon to avoid looking into the face that's a mirror image of the one who's life she ended forever. Granted, he did ask her, but still, she takes the blame all on herself. Alec nods, knowing why she's upset.
"You all right?" he asks, and she nods, leaning her head back to rest on his shoulder.
"I just wish we could have saved them all..." she says, turning around and wrapping her arms around him, finding solace in his touch. "Tru was right. Innocent people shouldn't get hurt. They should have been okay."
"Shh, it's ok now, Maxie. We'll be ok." he tells her, rubbing her back and kissing her forehead, soothing her. "They won't get us. We'll take care of our own." he whispers, hoping what he's saying will deem true.
HQ
"Tru, My-Tru, wake up..." Jessie whispers childishly loud, kind of ruining the whole point. She shakes her sister's shoulder lightly. "Tru!." she says, pouting. Tru, hearing her voice, wakes up, checking for tears and plastering on a smile.
"Hey, Jessie. What are you doing up? People sleep at night, silly." she says, hoping her sister will just go to sleep. But, like Tru, she has problems sleeping.
"Sleep doesn't like me, Tru, and I'm bored. Wanna play?" she asks, and Tru smiles, shushing her.
"You have to be quiet, and tomorrow you have to take a nap. What do you want to do?" she asks, and Jessie smiles happily, thoroughly unaware that it's two in the morning.
"I wanna dance, Tru." she says, and Tru nods, wondering why she didn't already know that. She digs out the ballet slippers she got Jessie for Christmas. Jessie lunges for them, wagging her finger at Tru. "I want you to play, too." she says, pulling Tru's slippers out and handing them to her. Tru looks around HQ, making sure that everyone is asleep and poking Biggs for good measure, nodding and putting on her shoes when he doesn't flinch.
"Let's find someplace where there aren't people, Jessie." Tru says, even though everyone stuck in HQ is asleep. She grabs the little girl's hand, and decides to leave her backpack there. They head to the parking garage attached to HQ, glad that they don't have to go on the streets, which are still kind of flooded.
"Always stretch, Jessie." Tru tells her, motioning so that she can learn. "Reach as tall as you can, and then go all the way down to your toes." She instructs the little girl, who follows obediently. Neither notice their audience.
"Tru, let me watch you dance." Jessie says, and Tru blushes, hating people see her dance. "Please?" she begs, and Tru relents, nodding.
"Fine, but not for long." she says going onto her toes and doing a perfect pirouette. Jessie claps, and Tru sends her a smiles, but then gets lost in the dance, doing a kick and then a leap through the air. The only sound to be heard in the old, dusty parking lot is the sound of gasps from Jessie at every move, and the sound of her pointe shoes slapping on the pavement.
Sera and Holly, two X7's, watch from the door, entranced by the woman dancing. Biggs, who woke up just as soon as Tru pulled herself from his arms, finds them, and smiles at the pair of dancers, as well as their audience. An idea forms itself in his head, and he smiles, trying to form a plan in his head to make it a reality.
He walks back to HQ, already working out a plan. Sera and Holly, who hadn't realized that he was behind them, look at each other and start the trek back to HQ, still amazed at what they saw- the talent, the power, the grace of just one person affecting them more than any gun-training seminar. "I want to be a dancer." Sera says, and Holly nods.
"Me too. That was incredible." she tells Sera, who nods, yawning sleepily.
Abandoned parking garage, TC
"You getting sleepy again?" Tru asks Jessie, who nods, falling asleep. Tru stops dancing, untying her shoes and handing them to Jessie, who holds onto them for dear life. Tru picks up the little girl, who pops her thumb in her mouth and immediately falls asleep in her arms. "Come on, honey. You need to get more sleep."
Jess just mumbles something angrily in her sleep, probably whining that she gets enough sleep as it is, and Tru rolls her eyes. "You know, you aren't very fun to talk to when you're sleepy." she says, and Jessie just remains silent. She quietly stalks into HQ, laying Jessie down on the couch and settling herself in Biggs's arms, falling asleep immediately.
Tru's dream.
/"I'm sorry, Sir. I didn't mean to." a fourteen-year-old Tru whispers, trying not to flinch as another blow comes down on her.
"I told you to get me the paper." her stepfather says, kicking her. Her tiny, underfed body falls to the floor, blood dripping from her knee. She curls into a fetal position, praying to whatever gods are up there to just let her free.
"M-Mom wouldn't let me outside." she chokes out, her pale skin testifying to that fact. Her mother comes downstairs in her evening gown, hooking on an earring and watching disinterestedly.
"Don't give me excuses, bitch!" he yells, and Tru braces herself for another kick. Her mother just kisses Joe on the cheek.
"Darling, you can take care of this later. We're going to be late for the gala." she says, and Tru cringes as one last kick comes, hitting her directly in the center of her back./
/The couple walks out the door, leaving a bleeding daughter behind, but they don't care. Their party is too important to miss. Tru pulls herself off the tile floor and wraps a strip of an old, ripped sheet, kept under her bed for this purpose, around her knee and waist. She then grabs the mop and cleans the floor of her own blood, tears falling unchecked as she limps around./
/The door opens, and Tru, in the kitchen, freezes, looking for a place to hide that Joe hasn't already found. She limps to the hallway, pulling herself to the top of the linens closet and pulling folded sheets over her to hide herself./
/Drunken laughter falls into the closet from the entryway, and she hears them going upstairs. But, just to be safe, she sleeps there. Never know when she'll need to stop hiding./
HQ
Tru bolts awake, nausea and dizziness hovering over her. She runs to the bathroom, leaping over people with jumps and grace that most transgenics would envy. She doesn't even bother shutting the door, she just runs to the toilet and throws up, wiping the cold sweat off of her forehead. Her breathing is shallow and heavy, and she lets out a sob, hating how her past has affected her.
Biggs hurries to the bathroom, seeing the light on and hearing someone in there. The door's open, and he sees Tru throwing up. She hears his footsteps and looks up, the anguish and pain on her face heartbreaking, even to the most coldhearted person. (coughRenfrocough)
"Oh, Tru, what happened?" he asks, and she flushes the toilet, shakily standing up and drinking a bit of water from the sink. She walks to him wrapping her arms around him and closing her eyes.
"He was hurting me again." she says, shaking with fear, sounding like a frightened little girl. Biggs lowers them to the ground, pulling her closer, so that she's in his lap.
"He hurt you?" he asks, and she nods. He just holds her tighter, unaware that anyone else in the building is awake.
"I tried to be good, so I wouldn't get in trouble..." she whimpers, clinging to him tightly. "But I was never good enough."
"Sh....I won't ever let him get you, Tru. I won't let anyone." he tells her, and she climbs into his lap, leaning her head on his chest.
Max and Alec watch from the door, not noticed by Biggs or Tru, who are otherwise occupied. Alec puts his arm around Max, who's watching with a look of shock and horror on her face. "Come on," he whispers, leading her into an empty office silently. "Let's let them be alone."
She nods, still watching Tru and Biggs. They hold onto one another, trying to hide from the world. Tru's breathing slows, and she rests her head in the crook of Biggs's neck. "I just wanted to be good..." she whispers, letting sleep claim her.
"But you are." he whispers, brushing a stray strand of hair out of her face. "You are so good."
Max's office, TC
"Damn." Max says, and Alec nods. "What do you think could have hurt her that bad?" she asks, only having seen that reaction to a flashback in Manticore alums, and even they weren't that bad.
"I have a feeling that fairytale she told before might ring a bit more true than we thought." he says, and she nods, sitting down on the couch. Alec follows, and Max lays her head in his lap, staring at the ceiling. His smirk grows, if that's possible, "Guess we'll have to make it have a 'Happily Ever After', huh?"
"You have a plan, don't you?" Max says, groaning. Alec's smirk turns into a pout.
"Why do you always think that my matchmaker plans are bad?" he asks, sticking his tongue out at him. She shrugs, grinning.
"Probably because they are." she says, and he growls playfully, and starts tickling her. She giggles uncontrollably, a very un-Maxlike thing that very few people have witnessed. "Stop it, stop it..." she laughs, and he grins.
"Say mercy." he orders playfully, and she locks her legs around his, using the leverage to flip them, so she's on top.
"No way in hell, Pretty Boy." she whispers, lowering her head and kissing him lightly. "So, what's your ingenious plan, Einstein?"
Alec smiles, glad that she saw things his way.
"Well, first of all, we need to get Normal in on the plan..." he says, and they both grimace, but know that it's the right way.
A/N: ok, so this chapter sucks beyond belief, and I'm really sorry about me. Please review me, even if it's just to comment on the suck-factor of this chappie. Again, please forgive me. Also, please don't be too harsh- god knows I know how much y'all are probably mad at me, but I had to read to little people, in costume in REALLY hot weather, the Sword in the Stone, and these creeps were totally ogling me. Ick. Sorry, I'm rambling. Anyway, my point was to please just drop me a line, and I'll be forever grateful.
In other news, I just got out of school Friday!!! woo hoo!!!
Oh, before I forget, I'm kinda trying to write like a novel this summer, if anyone would like to be my Simon(American Idol reference), I would appreciate it. Tell me if it sucks, or if it rocked. Just mention it in your review with your email, and I'll hit ya back.
Luv ya all, and sorry for the hella long author's note!!!!
Molly Jeane :D