Disclaimer: Sigh
A/N: I am really sorry this took so freakin' long. I can't believe I started this story over a year ago. Well, it's almost finished. Please enjoy this next chapter. ____________________________________________________________________________ ______
Max kept the cannon pointed at Psycho, even though they both knew he wasn't going to fire it. Not with Mindy in the way. Oh, Mother of God, what was he supposed to do?
Vaguely, he heard Berto swearing in Spanish through his bio-link. Part of him registered that all the other agents, though keeping the Dread soldiers detained, had stopped moving for the most part and were now watching the drama playing out before them. Even the Dread soldiers were watching. But, for the most part, Max's attention was on his enemy and his cousin.
He looked at the weapn in his hand again. If he turned it over... But it was for Mindy. His baby cousin. He couldn't just let her get hurt. Or worse. Still, he couldn't hand over the laser. He raised his eyes again.
"Don't give it to them," Mindy mouthed. Whatever that weapon was, she didn't want it in Smiley's hands. Or any other bad guys' hands. She didn't want to be stuck in this position either. A human shield for the mechanical freak who had chained himself to her. There had to be a way out of this. She couldn't think of a single one, but there had to be. Max, hurry up and think of something, she thought desperately.
There has to be out of this, thought Max. A way that would keep Mindy safe and sound and keep the laser cannon in N'Tek's hands. Whatever that way was, he couldn't think of it. Okay, he commanded himself, stop thinking about the fact that it's Mindy. If it was anyone else, what would I do? "Bro?" he asked quietly.
"Uh..." was the only answer he got.
"Can this possibly get any worse?" he whispered quietly to himself. Instantly, he regretted having uttered those words. Every time someone said that, things somehow got worse. His own situation hadn't changed yet, for better or worse, but he was pretty sure he'd just jinxed himself. And quite possibly Mindy.
"Max, look at the laser," Berto said suddenly.
"What?"
"Look at the laser."
Confused, Max obeyed. He turned the cannon from side to side so that Berto could see the entire thing.
"There! On the right side. That looks like a power control."
"Meaning?"
"You should be able to turn the power level down. I don't know how much. You'll have to set it to the lowest setting and fire a test shot."
Max did just that, turning and firing at a wall. The laser still caused plenty of damage, but not nearly as much as before. However, it was still causing too much damage for him to risk firing anywhere near Mindy. He looked at the other side of the cannon. There was some other kind of control devise. But it wasn't labled, so he wasn't sure what it was. He tried turning it to one side and fired again at the wall. To his astonishmment, the laser had spread out a bit, leaving a horizontal burn mark. If it did that when he turned it one way...
Psycho did not like where this was going. If Steel figured out exactly how to control that cannon, his "leverage" might not be quite as effective as he'd thought. Not good. He tightened his grip on the girl's hair. She winced. He didn't care.
By sheer luck, Max narrowed the laser beam to a tiny pipoint. It would still hold a lot of power, more than he wanted near Mindy, but at least it was something. He aimed at Psycho again. "This entire building is surrounded, Smiley. You're not going anywhere. There's no point to this, so just let her go."
"I really don't see that happening, Steel." He wrapped his cuffed arm around Mindy and lifted her in front of him. "What I *do* see happening is her dying if you don't hand it over."
"This is between you and me, she has nothing to do with it."
"On the contrary. I know exactly what she means to you. I hurt her, I hurt you. Simple." He put his mouth close to Mindy's ear. "Do you even know who he is, little girl?"
"The guy who's going to take you apart one piece at a time."
Smiley laughed. "You really don't know. What do you think, Steel? Should I tell her all about your dirty little secret?"
Max blanched. He wouldn't really tell her, would he? Yes, he realized. Yes, he would.
"I don't know about you, Steel, but personally, I think little Mindy here should know that- Argh!"
Mindy didn't let him finish whatever he had been about to say. She reached around behind her with her free hand and grabbed a hold of his most sensitive area. She squeezed hard and dug her nails in. As she had been hoping he would, he dropped her. When he did, she let go of him and ripped herself out of his grip. She pulled as far away from him as she could as he doubled over in pain. "Max!" She held up her cuffed hand.
Praying this would work, Max aimed more carefully than he had ever done before in his entire life. Saying a silent prayer, he pulled the trigger on the lazer. It hit the chain awfully close to Smiley's wrist, not that Max cared, and seperated him from Mindy. Psycho yelled in pain as he felt the burn on his wrist.
Mindy stumbled back a few inches until she came in contact with the metal railing. She glanced back over her shoulder. It was a long way down. Fifteen to twenty feet. Granted, she'd done some rock climbing and other sports with Josh before where she'd been higher up than this, but she'd had saftey lines and a helmet then. And Josh was always there to catch her if she fell. Not the case this time. And she was all too aware of the fact that Smiley was between her and the doorway. That left the stairs, but they were at least ten feet away. She knew how fast Smiley was. Could she make it there before him?
Recovering, Psycho growled in fury. His hate-filled glare rested on Mindy. He'd had enough of her. He rushed at her. He caught her just a couple of feet from the stairs. "You're gonna pay for that," he snarled. Before anyone could do anything, he picked her up and hoisted her over his head. "Well, Steel, it's been real." He tossed Mindy over the rail.
Mindy screamed.
"No!" Max ran forward and under Mindy, breaking her fall. They both fell to the ground when he caught her.
Max felt a surge of relief when he heard Kat yell his name. Looking up, he saw Smiley using some other weapon he had been carrying to damage the platform's supports. The platform creaked warningly just as Smiley dashed through the door. A moment later, the platform started to fall. Without thinking, Max covered Mindy's body with his own.
The platform, or what was left of it, crashed inches away from them.
Max waited for the dust to settle before raising his head. Carefully he climbed off of Mindy, helped her to her feet and yelled for someone to find Smiley. "Are you okay?" he asked anxiously.
Mindy refused to look up at him. Instead, she looked down at the metal cuff still attatched to her wrist and began tugging at it. "I'm fine, just get this off me."
Max, examined the cuff briefly before looking at her again. She still wasn't looking at him. "*Are* you okay?" he asked again, more gently this time.
"I'm fine, Max." She kept her head down, letting her hair fall on either side of her face, concealing her features. Her voice was slightly shakey.
Max placed his fingers under her chin and gently made her look up at him.
Mindy drew in an unsteady breath. She turned to look at the destroyed assembly lines and the Dread soldiers and workers being escorted away. When she turned to look back up at Max, tonight's ordeal came crashing down on her. She could no longer hold back the tears that threatened to flow free any second. She sniffled, her lower lip trembling.
Max put his arms around her as she leaned against him. A moment later, he heard her begin to sob softly. "It's okay," he said softly. "It's over now. You're safe. I'm right here."
Mindy returned the embrace, sliding her arms around his torso as he spoke reassuring words to her. He promised her that he would never let her get hurt. And she believed him.
________________________________________________________________________
Only one more chapter to go people. I can't guarentee it will be out soon, but it will be the last chapter in this story. I am really sorry it took so long. Writer's block again. I hope I'm really over it this time.
A/N: I am really sorry this took so freakin' long. I can't believe I started this story over a year ago. Well, it's almost finished. Please enjoy this next chapter. ____________________________________________________________________________ ______
Max kept the cannon pointed at Psycho, even though they both knew he wasn't going to fire it. Not with Mindy in the way. Oh, Mother of God, what was he supposed to do?
Vaguely, he heard Berto swearing in Spanish through his bio-link. Part of him registered that all the other agents, though keeping the Dread soldiers detained, had stopped moving for the most part and were now watching the drama playing out before them. Even the Dread soldiers were watching. But, for the most part, Max's attention was on his enemy and his cousin.
He looked at the weapn in his hand again. If he turned it over... But it was for Mindy. His baby cousin. He couldn't just let her get hurt. Or worse. Still, he couldn't hand over the laser. He raised his eyes again.
"Don't give it to them," Mindy mouthed. Whatever that weapon was, she didn't want it in Smiley's hands. Or any other bad guys' hands. She didn't want to be stuck in this position either. A human shield for the mechanical freak who had chained himself to her. There had to be a way out of this. She couldn't think of a single one, but there had to be. Max, hurry up and think of something, she thought desperately.
There has to be out of this, thought Max. A way that would keep Mindy safe and sound and keep the laser cannon in N'Tek's hands. Whatever that way was, he couldn't think of it. Okay, he commanded himself, stop thinking about the fact that it's Mindy. If it was anyone else, what would I do? "Bro?" he asked quietly.
"Uh..." was the only answer he got.
"Can this possibly get any worse?" he whispered quietly to himself. Instantly, he regretted having uttered those words. Every time someone said that, things somehow got worse. His own situation hadn't changed yet, for better or worse, but he was pretty sure he'd just jinxed himself. And quite possibly Mindy.
"Max, look at the laser," Berto said suddenly.
"What?"
"Look at the laser."
Confused, Max obeyed. He turned the cannon from side to side so that Berto could see the entire thing.
"There! On the right side. That looks like a power control."
"Meaning?"
"You should be able to turn the power level down. I don't know how much. You'll have to set it to the lowest setting and fire a test shot."
Max did just that, turning and firing at a wall. The laser still caused plenty of damage, but not nearly as much as before. However, it was still causing too much damage for him to risk firing anywhere near Mindy. He looked at the other side of the cannon. There was some other kind of control devise. But it wasn't labled, so he wasn't sure what it was. He tried turning it to one side and fired again at the wall. To his astonishmment, the laser had spread out a bit, leaving a horizontal burn mark. If it did that when he turned it one way...
Psycho did not like where this was going. If Steel figured out exactly how to control that cannon, his "leverage" might not be quite as effective as he'd thought. Not good. He tightened his grip on the girl's hair. She winced. He didn't care.
By sheer luck, Max narrowed the laser beam to a tiny pipoint. It would still hold a lot of power, more than he wanted near Mindy, but at least it was something. He aimed at Psycho again. "This entire building is surrounded, Smiley. You're not going anywhere. There's no point to this, so just let her go."
"I really don't see that happening, Steel." He wrapped his cuffed arm around Mindy and lifted her in front of him. "What I *do* see happening is her dying if you don't hand it over."
"This is between you and me, she has nothing to do with it."
"On the contrary. I know exactly what she means to you. I hurt her, I hurt you. Simple." He put his mouth close to Mindy's ear. "Do you even know who he is, little girl?"
"The guy who's going to take you apart one piece at a time."
Smiley laughed. "You really don't know. What do you think, Steel? Should I tell her all about your dirty little secret?"
Max blanched. He wouldn't really tell her, would he? Yes, he realized. Yes, he would.
"I don't know about you, Steel, but personally, I think little Mindy here should know that- Argh!"
Mindy didn't let him finish whatever he had been about to say. She reached around behind her with her free hand and grabbed a hold of his most sensitive area. She squeezed hard and dug her nails in. As she had been hoping he would, he dropped her. When he did, she let go of him and ripped herself out of his grip. She pulled as far away from him as she could as he doubled over in pain. "Max!" She held up her cuffed hand.
Praying this would work, Max aimed more carefully than he had ever done before in his entire life. Saying a silent prayer, he pulled the trigger on the lazer. It hit the chain awfully close to Smiley's wrist, not that Max cared, and seperated him from Mindy. Psycho yelled in pain as he felt the burn on his wrist.
Mindy stumbled back a few inches until she came in contact with the metal railing. She glanced back over her shoulder. It was a long way down. Fifteen to twenty feet. Granted, she'd done some rock climbing and other sports with Josh before where she'd been higher up than this, but she'd had saftey lines and a helmet then. And Josh was always there to catch her if she fell. Not the case this time. And she was all too aware of the fact that Smiley was between her and the doorway. That left the stairs, but they were at least ten feet away. She knew how fast Smiley was. Could she make it there before him?
Recovering, Psycho growled in fury. His hate-filled glare rested on Mindy. He'd had enough of her. He rushed at her. He caught her just a couple of feet from the stairs. "You're gonna pay for that," he snarled. Before anyone could do anything, he picked her up and hoisted her over his head. "Well, Steel, it's been real." He tossed Mindy over the rail.
Mindy screamed.
"No!" Max ran forward and under Mindy, breaking her fall. They both fell to the ground when he caught her.
Max felt a surge of relief when he heard Kat yell his name. Looking up, he saw Smiley using some other weapon he had been carrying to damage the platform's supports. The platform creaked warningly just as Smiley dashed through the door. A moment later, the platform started to fall. Without thinking, Max covered Mindy's body with his own.
The platform, or what was left of it, crashed inches away from them.
Max waited for the dust to settle before raising his head. Carefully he climbed off of Mindy, helped her to her feet and yelled for someone to find Smiley. "Are you okay?" he asked anxiously.
Mindy refused to look up at him. Instead, she looked down at the metal cuff still attatched to her wrist and began tugging at it. "I'm fine, just get this off me."
Max, examined the cuff briefly before looking at her again. She still wasn't looking at him. "*Are* you okay?" he asked again, more gently this time.
"I'm fine, Max." She kept her head down, letting her hair fall on either side of her face, concealing her features. Her voice was slightly shakey.
Max placed his fingers under her chin and gently made her look up at him.
Mindy drew in an unsteady breath. She turned to look at the destroyed assembly lines and the Dread soldiers and workers being escorted away. When she turned to look back up at Max, tonight's ordeal came crashing down on her. She could no longer hold back the tears that threatened to flow free any second. She sniffled, her lower lip trembling.
Max put his arms around her as she leaned against him. A moment later, he heard her begin to sob softly. "It's okay," he said softly. "It's over now. You're safe. I'm right here."
Mindy returned the embrace, sliding her arms around his torso as he spoke reassuring words to her. He promised her that he would never let her get hurt. And she believed him.
________________________________________________________________________
Only one more chapter to go people. I can't guarentee it will be out soon, but it will be the last chapter in this story. I am really sorry it took so long. Writer's block again. I hope I'm really over it this time.