Chapter 9. Reign of terror.
The reign of terror began the very next morning. They tumbled out of bed at the sound of TAPS and down to the yards, yawning and stretching and stood in formation.
"Special Ops will be training today in advanced cultural studies in the third lecture hall," Trainer Banns began "Followed by disarming in hut 22."
"Yes sir," They chorused when he stopped.
"I understand that Training begins for Solo missions next week so you need to be at your best."
He took a breath to carry on but was cut off by a loud scream from across the yard. A trainer hurried past and they all craned to look what was going on.
"EYES FRONT!" he yelled even as he watched himself.
There was another bellow and a panicked little storm of activity in one area of the yard.
Then a red faced trainer marched past again this time he was followed by seven little bugle boys and girls. They too had red faces…and bright blue lips.
Special Ops sniggered as they filed past.
Trainer Davies was stopped as Trainer Banns put out his hand "What's going on?"
"Blue dye on the bugle horns," He whispered but Special Ops could hear him perfectly thanks to their transgenic hearing.
Coco stifled a laugh and bit down hard on her lip as her shoulders shook. B.J let out a tiny snort of laughter that set Emma off into a fit of giggles.
The trainer looked disapprovingly over at them.
Banns looked suspiciously at Pix.
"418 did you have something to do with this?"
"No sir!" Pix replied honestly.
"Hmm," Banns's eyes narrowed and he waved them away.
"Get in formation for morning drills."
Pix eyed the team as they disbanded for breakfast. He caught up to Alec and placed a hand on his arm.
"Not bad for a C.O."
Alec gaped "How'd ya know it was me?"
Pix picked up his hand and showed Alec the miniscule traces of blue dye left on his nails. Alec rolled his eyes chagrined.
He should have known better than that.
"Marks for execution, promptness and avoidance of capture. Not a bad score." Pix flicked open his ever-present black book and turned to the back pages making a note.
Alec elbowed him "Come on Pix, lets eat."
~~
The next day Mets told them that he was leaving for a Military mission to Moscow and that any James Bond jokes just weren't funny. He was going because he excelled in advanced surgery techniques, often working alongside Tara as a field med, and they need someone who could work as an undercover agent as well as aid those in the military unit.
"It's cold there!" he moaned and swept his silky hair out of his eyes "Besides I look more Italian than Russian right?!"
"Right." They agreed "Should send Flex."
Dek looked up at Drew who had seemingly frozen with the news that Mets was leaving.
She glanced around uneasily and bit her lips, her eyes flashing in intensity.
She got up and marched out of the room leaving a bemused Dek in her wake.
"Women!" he rolled his eyes and settled back with his magazine.
Drew walked around the complex, her arms hugging to herself tightly. What was going on with her? Mets was leaving for a mission. They went on missions with the military all of the time. It was standard procedure to get them acquainted with the field and to get practice whilst having plenty of experienced men around them to aid. Nothing to worry about and yet when he said that he was going there was something inside her that she wasn't sure what to call gave an uncertain lurch.
Maybe it was lunch, or maybe just maybe it was those strange feelingy things that the other girls talked about. She and Max had long discussions about them and both admitted that they had no clue what they were talking about. Feelings like what? "Ishy", that's what they were, what Max had said they were and she was right. All the talk about love and butterflies it was ridiculous. They were soldiers not insects and the whole love thing was a blatant way of advancing consumerism.
But right now it was her insides that were feeling ishy because of the very idea of Mets leaving. Why was it so bad?
She leaned against the wall, her arms folded and a pout on her lips.
Maybe it was because he had said that she was a coward and if he left he'd have won the argument. Not won- won, just thought he had won. She wasn't afraid of giving him a little old kiss, what harm could it do, and it meant that she wasn't a coward and these feelingy things would go away, right?
Her mind made up she stormed back down the corridor thunder on her face. How dare he try to manipulate her like that?
She slammed open the door to the Rec room and felt everyone's eyes on her as she strode across the room to where Mets was sitting on the sofa.
She grabbed him by his shirt and hauled him face to face with her.
"Not a coward," She growled into his startled eyes and slammed her mouth down on his.
It didn't matter that the kiss had begun in anger, as soon as his lips touched hers a shock of electricity flooded through them both. Mets' hands slid into her long dark hair and she braced her hands against his strong chest as he pulled her closer to him. They couldn't seem to get close enough as their tongues met, chasing each other back and forth as the kiss deepened. Drew shuddered as emotion rolled through her and his hands drifted down her back to her waist and he dragged her down to him, rolling them so that she lay under him on the sofa as he ravaged her mouth, months of wanting her finally being fulfilled in one sitting.
Reality intruded in the form of whistles and catcalls from their friends and Drew pulled back gasping for breath. Her gaze met Mets' intense eyes as they burned with desire for her.
Suddenly aware of where she was and what had just happened, she felt a flood of embarrassment rise in her cheek and pushed hard at his body as it cradled hers.
Caught off balance he slid off her and she was able to scamper off the chair, her face cherry red.
She straightened her shirt and looked down at him.
"So there," She said breathlessly and winced at her childish words. With that she turned and fled.
Mets only hesitated a few seconds before a broad grin swept over his face and he dashed out after her leaving the whole of Special Ops and Unit 8 staring at the door they had just gone through.
Carrot leaned over and closed Dek's open mouth.
"What the hell was that?" Biggs blinked as Emma burst into giggles.
Alec shrugged, as confused as Biggs.
"Women!" Biggs said disgusted.
Sunny raised her eyebrows and exchanged glances with Anna and Coco who sat by him. All three picked up the pillow that they had been lying on and smacked it over his head.
"Hey!" Biggs said clutching his head in indignation.
"Shut up fool!" Sunny said and rolled her eyes.
Mets caught up to Drew and grabbed her arm.
"Hey Drew slow down."
"Don't." She wrenched her arm out of his grip.
Mets looked at her. Her lips were red and puffy and her hair was messy and dishevelled and she looked…like she had been thoroughly kissed. It was a good look for her.
She avoided his eyes and ducked her head in a vintage "Chance" move.
"What's wrong, Drew?" he asked in his silky voice. She wrapped her arms around herself.
"You mean apart from the fact that I just made a fool of myself?"
"No one would ever call you a fool." His fingers itched to touch her and so he trailed his hand down her arm drawing another shudder from her.
"Will you stop that!" she said trying to get angry at him.
"So what bought that on anyhow? Not that I was complaining. Il mio dolce."
"You are not Italian, Mets." She avoided the question. "And I'm not your sweet."
"Yes you are il mio adorable dolce, Drew," he purred and moved closer.
To her shame she found herself stepping backwards until she was pinned flush against the wall and his hard body.
"Ok, I was worried about you going away on your mission."
His expression changed from lustful to delighted pleasure. "Really?"
"Yeah, jerk." She slapped his arm.
"So you wanted to kiss me goodbye?" he teased playfully and she shrugged.
He chuckled, the sound resonating deep in his throat.
"La mia signora bella. Worried about me and yet too much the tomboy to say."
"I told you to quit with the Italian." He sounded like he was mocking her and she didn't like it. She tried to push him away but it was like pushing a mountain.
He trailed a fingertip over her cheek "Sorry Drew."
She froze and stared suspiciously up at his easy acquiescence and he took the opportunity to capture her lips again.
This time she lost herself in his strong embrace and when he pulled away and held a finger over her lips, his eyes asking permission that she gave her own in an instant. He stepped back and held out a hand. Drew took it and he enveloped her soft palm in his and pulled her down the hall to his cell.
Drew's mind spun. What was she doing here? If Manticore found out that she and Mets were- whatever they were doing- then they'd be in big trouble. She looked down at their linked hands. It was the first time that she had done anything like this and she was nervous, but how would she feel if she said no? What if he didn't come back from his mission, their lives were fragile, fraught with danger and violence and they were stamped as expendable. There was no telling that he'd ever come back and she would never have this chance again. Manticore would snatch it away like so many of their unit mates. Could she live with herself if she didn't take this chance?
At the door he gave her one last chance to back out but she followed him into the room without hesitating and the door closed behind them.
~~
Zan came into the training room yawning and stretching and searched for Max. She was always in the gym this early, although why was beyond him.
"Y'okay Maxie?"
She jumped down from the rope that she had been scaling and crouched, cat-like, in front of him.
"Yeah. Just bored. Mets, Flex and B.J go off on that assignment today."
"I know." Zan slumped to the floor and stretched "Good luck to 'em."
Max shrugged and sat next to him. He draped an arm over her shoulder.
"Spill."
"It's nothing. Just hate it when we separate."
Zan nodded knowingly "I think it has to do with our D.N.A. we hate our pack being apart."
"Guess I'm just being a mother hen right? Worrying about her chicks?" Max's mouth turned up into a self depreciating smirk.
Zan tickled her side "You're not our mother Max."
"No I guess not. Would that be Renfro?"
"Ew," Zan shuddered, "Nice visual."
He smiled down at her happy with this small time that they had together away from the others. He was trying not to read anything into her actions, knowing that she'd react this way to whoever was there. But part of him, the part that was loudest, grinned at the way she tucked herself under his arm and nestled close to his chest.
"I'm sleepy now, Zan," She confessed yawning. "Why can't I be tired at night?"
"Get some sleep now. We still have a few hours before roll call. "
"And then some," She whispered conspiratorially and chuckled.
"Max?" he asked warily but she shook her head and leaned into his shoulder.
"Wake me when they call."
He lay back and let her fall asleep on his shoulder the loud part of his brain crowing in triumph.
~~
"Eyes Front!" Screamed the Trainer.
Every soldier stood frantically to attention as the Trainer paced backwards and forwards in front of them.
"One of you knows why you are all here. One of you is directly responsible for the almost complete shut down of the facility yesterday. One of you bottom feeding maggots is a vermin."
The soldiers ignored the insults they were well used to them by now. But almost everyone wondered what he was talking about as he paced backwards and forwards.
"He's making me seasick," hissed Anna.
"What I want to know is which one of you degenerates put this on the gate?"
He held up a big sign that even those at the back could read due to their excellent eye sight.
Facility closed until further notice due to possible contagion. Any sign of viral infection should be reported to the CDC. Trainers will be notified upon reopening of facility signed Director Renfro.
Sunny turned her sputtered laugh into a cough even as B.J.'s shoulders shook with silent laughter. Max blinked innocently.
The rest of the facility managed to keep a straight face, trained soldiers to the core.
Yesterday had been punctuated by a strange silence as no trainers reported for work. The transgenics had breakfast and some had milled around in the training yards for a while before wandering off to do their own thing. Some C.O's had taken the initiative and carried on their lesson's which was why it hadn't come to anyone's attention sooner. But as staff who lived on the site sat alone for dinner, they grew suspicious and called a few Trainers who explained that they were under the impression that the facility was under viral outbreak lockdown. It took one enterprising tech five minutes to locate the huge sign affixed to each of the entrance gates and Renfro had hit the roof.
It didn't take long to pin the blame on the transgenics and punishment would be doled out accordingly.
"Report to your common rooms. Series X4's, X7's and 8's get two hours in the tank. Series X5 and 6 have an hour in the tank, two hours extra discipline and there will be no food until morning as punishment to you all," the trainer spat as no one said a word.
In silence they all turned and walked sedately back to their respective bunks taking their punishment like they were supposed to.
Special Ops sat down in their recreation room carefully avoiding each others gaze.
"Well that was… bracing." Pix rubbed his hands together and eyed them all "Now who was responsible for that?"
"You mean you can't tell?" Alec said in mock shock "I thought you would know?"
Pix shook his head and scrutinised everyone's face. Zan exuded mischief but that could be because he had planned on setting all of the laboratory mice free later; Pix had seen him loosening the jars.
Hmm, it could be Drew but he had seen her with a tub of purple dye headed towards the swimming pool earlier. He knew that Anna and Aiden were responsible for the wet paint on the door handles, having smelled it on them so it was unlikely to be them. Mets, Flex and B.J had left this morning so it wasn't them. Dek had asked him how to set off the sprinkler system so he was busy bypassing the water main system. Coco told him that it was juvenile so it wouldn't have been her. Sunny or Carrot maybe? Then he noticed the innocent look on Max's face.
"Well done, Max." He applauded and she bowed "Thank you."
~~
Alec was looking out for Sunny as she smeared glue on the seats of the Trainer's chairs when a low level tech ran by and skidded to a halt in front of him.
"494?" He gasped, totally out of breath.
"Yeah?" Alec glanced at Sunny out of the corner of his eye and saw her straighten up and hide the glue behind her back with an innocent smile.
"Assistant Sandoval wishes to see you in the head office immediately."
Alec nodded and waited for him to leave before turning to Sunny.
"Looks like I'm wanted," He grinned and she patted his arm
"Good luck."
Sunny watched Alec as he walked away with that confident swagger in his step and she shook her head. Max was lucky.
She hid the glue in a nearby locker and walked back down to the barracks.
Life was good in Seattle, more so than it ever had been in Wyoming. For one thing it wasn't so damn cold all of the time. For another she loved her unit and the people that were in it.
They really were her friends and although it wasn't encouraged or even allowed they were her family.
Sunny turned the corner and moved to check out the notice board.
Special Ops had their first solo op training today and she wanted to double check that they hadn't changed the time or even the place. She was so exited and didn't want to miss any of the training. Solo ops was best of the best and she was thrilled to be part of it.
As she stood staring at the board she heard someone walk up behind her.
"Hey Sunny."
"Biggs," She greeted with a smile.
He dug his hands in his pockets and rocked back on his heels.
"So..."
"So?" she raised an eyebrow.
"How's everything going with you?"
"Fine," She said and he stopped again.
"Ok then." He smiled and walked away with her staring after him bemused. He really was a strange one.
Alec stood ramrod straight in front of Sandoval who was trying to look busy and too important to talk to him just yet. But Alec could see that he was scribbling nonsense of the pages in front of him. He wanted to say that it was no use faking in front of a transgenic but why give away the edge.
"So 494, do you know why we called you in here?"
"No, sir." Alec fought the urge to roll his eyes at the imperious tone.
"I have no doubt that you know of the commotion here a few days ago concerning the TAP's brigade."
Oh shit. Alec thought but said nothing.
Sandoval smirked. "I see."
He got up and moved around the table to sit on it.
Alec heard it creak and hoped it snapped under the man's weight.
"Well we ran some analysis, since the substance didn't disappear immediately and you know what we found?"
"No, sir." Alec bit out.
"Traces of a dye that is used only in the laundry room and who do you think was captured on the camera in the laundry room last week?"
"Unknown," Alec tried and Sandoval's face turned red.
"Designation 494. Now who is that?" he stood up and yelled in Alec's face.
"That would be me, Sir."
"Your barcode, which would mean that you are responsible. Doesn't it soldier?"
"Sir, yes sir!" Alec barked and the overweight man sat back down.
"Fortunately for you, Director Renfro believes that putting a C.O in the brig or taking him to punishment this soon after clearing for Solo Ops detail would be demoralising, so you get off lightly this time. Two hours cleaning out The Tank, four hours of kitchen duty and two runs of the obstacle course before lights out."
Alec saluted. "Yes sir."
"Don't be under the impression that we run a jester service 494. This is a military establishment and you are a soldier not a damn court jester. Screw up again and we'll take you off Command so fast your head will spin. Are we clear?"
"Yes sir."
"I can't hear you!"
"YES SIR!"
"Dismissed."
Alec turned and walked out, hating the vindictive little man and wishing him every sort of evil. He was worried about further infractions but at the same time he was relieved that that was all the punishment that he was getting this time.
Damn he bet would lose points for that.
~~
The Special Ops team sat in front of their computers and waited instructions from Trainer Kivali.
"So hacking is a basic skill that you'll need to master for your solo missions. Some of you are already great at it but some need practise." He glared at Pix who smiled innocently.
Pix was very hands on, he liked to fix things, which made him excellent at his practical jokes but when it came to computers, well he just didn't like them.
"So, we start lightly today, basic hacking of government sites and we'll work up to more hardcore stuff. Remember in solo missions timing is everything. You need to get faster, your whole cover could hinge on precious seconds and you need to have a damn good excuse if you are caught."
"Or a decent right hook," Anna said and Max laughed.
"Ok, so here we go, you have three minutes to open the local government plans for arms facilities. Press escape to start the exercise."
Pix waited and watched as the rest of Special Ops hit the correct key.
Immediately the screens all went black.
"What?" Alec tapped a few commands "Sir my computer has frozen."
"Mine too." Zan tapped his screen "Is this part of the exercise?"
"No," Trainer Kivali frowned and leaned over to see the same on every screen. He pressed the escape key again on Zan's terminal as the others craned to see and a white dot appeared on every screen, the dots got bigger and bigger until they could be distinguished as skull and crossbones.
"Isn't that the Pirates flag thing from the Eighteenth century?" Max grinned as it flashed and its mouth opened.
"What the-?" Kivali glowered and tapped a few more keys.
The skull turned bloody red and vanished and Trainer Kivali started to grin. It faded as a pair of legs walked across the screen wearing fishnet tights.
The picture pulled back uncovering a red lace teddy and then more of the nearly naked woman.
"Ew," Coco said in disgust and rolled her eyes.
The head slowly came into view and Sunny shrieked
"Oh god, its Director Renfro."
Someone had taken Director Renfro's head and placed it on the computer generated image of a hooker.
The Trainer blanched and shuddered.
"Oh god."
He hit another key and the image turned to face them, she waved her finger at them "Uh uh uh, you didn't say the magic word. Uh Uh Uh you didn't say the magic word."
Max turned and buried her head in Alec shoulder laughing hard "Oh I'm scarred for life!"
"Me too!" Emma agreed, her expression slightly nauseous.
"That is disgusting," Aiden maintained and tried to close his computer.
Hooker Renfro was joined on screen by Trainer Banns, Trainer Hedges and Trainer Kivali, all wearing stripper gear and they started to do the can-can.
Dek couldn't contain his laughter any more and started to roar. He set Drew off and one by one Special Ops went into hysterics as the computer generated hierarchy shook their booty at the screen.
Pix watched from the door as the Trainers tried, unsuccessfully, to end the program and shut down the system. They'd been at it for three hours and hadn't managed to stop it. None of them dared to mention it to Renfro, let alone let her see what was going on here.
Pix thought of all of the tricks that had happened this week. Ahh it had been fun but he knew who the winner was. After all, not everyone had managed to close down the facility for a two days; One where the Trainers just didn't come to work and one where they came but spent all day in the bathroom thanks to laxatives in their coffee. Yeah, he had to hand it to Max, she had the best ideas.
He grinned hard as the Trainer swore and hit the side of the monitor; this was one they wouldn't trace back to him as they all knew that he wasn't the best at computer stuff. Pix pushed away from the door and walked back to his bunk, he was in the clear.
Thank heaven for Chance.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Messymissy- Zan is just full of surprises. I'm glad that you like my Max so much- she always had more layers than Mr Cameron gave her credit for. Oh you know me so well- all will be revealed in a flood of emotion and revelation. Can't wait! Thanks for the review pet- keep reading!
Kitty- I like the whole instincts thing so I will bring up the dna thing a bit.
Feenian- Ok so not what I meant! Zan and Alec eww. Or well, kinda ew anyway. Zack and Logan- BIG EW! So Zan needs a girl then? Any takers?
Gamegirl452- Nah Max'll drop her own bombshell for that. like I said I also like their animal aspects so I will be including more on that soon. Thanks for letting me know about Moving ahead as well- ff.net can be such a pain sometimes.
Gaia- hey there! Techie is a great character to play with- so scared of Feen!
Aaa- I know but Alec never seemed to me to have that whole leader thing going on. Max loved to order people around and she made the plans whereas Alec was much more spontaneous.
SecretlyBeautiful- Max is still very tight lipped so she possibly wouldn't have just told Zan. I know what you mean though- I'm M/A all the way but Zan is just so damn cool!
Raven- Just wow? I think that's great enough thank you. I'm glad everyone appreciates Zan's scene. He really is growing on everyone isn't he?! Tara and Max are dong well too.
Ting- Don't worry about Zan he is a big boy. Drew and Mets just seemed to write themselves, they work so damn well!
Dokushoka79- I was wondering what Tara was up to as well and am so glad she decided to be a good guy! I'm trying to bring the new transgenics and their stories in slowly so we can keep track and still love them all. I hope I'm doing okay and it isn't getting too confusing. The Alec brushing Max's hair has to be a fave of mine! More Techie, more Carrot and Tara? Hmm I'll see.
GivenAlias- Aw, the boy is in serious love with Maxie and went crazy for her. Drew headbutting Mets was fun to write!
Sigma1- How much time? Uh, about three years give or take. She tells Bill that it was three years but might be closer to four. (She was 10 when she was let out of Psy-Ops and then went through 5 years of Bulli in Wyoming. Transferred to Seattle in 2015 and is now 18/19 so yeah three yearsish.) I got confused when I was writing it too!
Bittersweet bitch- Polyandrous DNA? I sooo don't write threesomes! LOL. Besides that would be, what? I don't know any animals that are like that…except possibly monkeys.
Cloudburst- Drew was supposed to be in Special Ops, she just was second choice…besides I prefer her to Tara. I'd hide from Feen that girl is pushy as hell! Poor Techie! Renfro probably had more evil intentions but she chose the wrong girl to test them out on. Thanks for the judos pet- glad it continues to amuse!
Angel21- I feel for Tara on the end of Max's temper- who else do you feel sorry for?
Nat452- So not the last chapter- I have a lot I want to do first!
Anna Kristina- LOL, im not sure if Techie is over his Feen-fear just yet! But it's a possibility! As for the 2ic, C.O thing it was your comment that made me change it. Many thanks pet. See review and you change stuff!
Kim- I was wary about skipping time and still getting to the parts that I wanted to but I have found a way mwah ha ha so glad its working. Its interesting to find out who is the fave character!
Natasgi- Another Zan and Max fan!! Yay!
Elfie- Why they let Pix get away with it all. Hmm? Good point. Dammit- why do they? Maybe Renfro has an inner pixie or maybe he's just so smart they can't pin it on him. LOL! I have made a M/Z shipper! little dance Feel free to write a M/Z story grin. Drew is such a great person to write about- I like her too. Not nick picking, it's nice to hear interpretations. I think maybe Max was still so worried about Zan and after all that's happened maybe the idea that one of them was a traitor hit closer to home than we thought. The whole being 493/494 confused me a little but it was all good after a second read!
Ganko- they are sort of long chapters from now on- I was getting a tad verbose. Zan is a popular man ain't he?! And Max as usual being oblivious! More Drew and Mets here and Techie…who could forget him.
Nora- Be selfish- it motivates me! lol