Title: Total Recall, Chapter 10
Author: CSIphile/redwing
AN: I simply cannot thank you guys enough for all the fabulous reviews, I love them all. I read them all. I'm so glad y'all are enjoying this fic! It thrills me!
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Chapter 10: Do I Know You?
494 rolls over in his bunk, thrashing slightly in his sleep.
A car explosion.
Terror.
A…girl, on the ground.
A tombstone.
A man holding a gun on him, 494 tied in a chair.
494 screaming at him to do it, end his miserable life.
Despair.
Another girl, in black. Taking out the man with the gun.
Relief flooded with disappointment.
Her.
452.
494 sits up quickly in bed, breathing hard -- cool beads of sweat running down his back, staining his grey t-shirt. What the HELL was that? he wonders, and looks around to see if anyone in his unit had noticed him.
No one had; all the other X's were sleeping peacefully. Here in the barracks, the transgenics slept hard, very little waking them from slumber except the wake up alarm.
Taking a few moments, he breathes in slowly through his nose. 494 can feel his heart racing, pounding in his sensitive ears. Finally calming his heart and breathing, he slides back into bed, taking one last long look around. This time, he sees 452's eyes on him.
Her eyes are emotionless for the most part, but there's something there, something behind that mask. He can just see it at the edges of her eyes, but can't define it. Sighing to himself, 494 slides down into bed, closing his eyes and hoping for a restful sleep.
Terminal City
Mole sits at the monitors and watches the police that have been outside TC since the beginning of this minor siege. As the months have passed, less and less cops have been assigned to watch the transgenic stronghold, and the human outcry over Manticore's creations has almost fallen silent. Most people in Seattle are now used to their existence and have just come to accept the transgenics as part of the landscape.
The transgenics haven't let their guard down -- that's asking for trouble -- but they have managed to lead a relatively quiet existence. With the exception of a few contacts of Alec's, no one would do business with them, leaving them to make "shopping trips" as the missing leader was fond of calling them. They always took these "trips" outside Seattle though, and never frequently enough for anyone to get suspicious.
Dix snorts at the screen and voices Mole's confusion. "What they hell are they doing all of a sudden? Two years we've been holed up here quiet as can be, not bothering anyone and all of a sudden, this?" He waves his yellow-tinged hand at the screen. For no apparent reason, there has been an increase in the police presence outside the gates the last few days.
A dread-inducing thought comes to Mole's mind. "Maybe they know."
Dix turns to him. "Know? Know what?"
Mole just gives him a pointed look.
"Ohhhh. But…how? Besides its not like we are going to fall apart with two of us gone."
"I don't know." Mole pauses and chomps on his cigar a bit, unsure how Dix will take his next words. "I've been thinking about that night. When they…disappeared. We know they weren't taken by cops, FBI or a foreign agency."
Dix interrupts. "Which leaves White."
"Well, I've been thinking about that too, but there's been NO sign of them at White's location, or anywhere near the bastard. And you know that prick would keep them close and torture 'em a bit, but there have been no bodies carried out that we know of. Which leaves one option….Manticore."
"Manticore?" Dix's voice is incredulous. "Manticore's gone, man. Cauterized, remember?"
"Who says there aren't more sites? Come on, you really think the government would put all its transgenic eggs in one basket?"
Mole watches the other transhuman contemplate this. After several minutes of staring at the monitor, he speaks.
"Manticore."
"Yeah."
"But that means…someone gave them up. Someone on the inside."
This time more resigned. "Yeah".
Manticore
She stands with her back rigidly, inhumanly straight. They are being briefed on a surprise training exercise. She's always hated the surprise ones -- they were usually the most…intolerable. This one doesn't seem so bad… yet.
452 sneaks a look at her training partner; he is standing the same way as her, looking forward, absorbing all the information the trainer is giving them. In the few seconds she dares to look at him, she takes in his handsome features: strong jaw line, high cheekbones, short dark blonde hair and those eyes. Those eyes that set off a niggling of something in her subconscious every time she sees them. As if the depths of green held some secret to be unlocked.
Snapping her head back, she hears the conclusion of the training exercise. It's pretty simple, honestly: eight groups of two start in separate locations in the forest surrounding the facility. The goal is to capture at least one of the transgenics from as many groups as possible, and return them to base camp. The team with the most captures in five hours wins. Of course, winning here simply means a nod of congratulations and a note in your field file.
Quickly, each group is called to the command tent and is given 30 seconds to memorize the map and get their starting coordinates. The games would start at dusk, each team expected to be at their location on time and get there unnoticed.
After reading the map, 452 and 494 elect to wait it out, going into the woods at the last possible second, hoping that the other groups are already in position and waiting, not paying attention to them slinking to their area.
Arriving unmolested at their designated starting point, they both crouch into the brush, remaining stock still. There is another 15 minutes to dusk, and they pass the time in relative silence, with only an occasional hand signal passed between them to clarify their plan. They are in the large expanse of woods outside Manticore. Woods might be pushing the term though; mostly it's pine trees and assorted bushes surrounded by a ring of cornfields. It's warm for October, so they are only wearing beige T-shirts with their green camo. 452 can feel the sun on her back, warming her slightly. They are officially outside the chain link fence of the facility, with nothing between the transgenics and 'normal' society. Despite that, it doesn't even cross either of their minds to make a break for it. Why would they?
Finally, the sun starts to slip behind the horizon, and that's their cue to begin the game.
452 turns to her partner and speaks quietly.
"Ready?"
Motorcycles, two of them. She approaches on her own black one, splitting the men, giving each a glance.
"Ready?" she asks.
"I'm always ready," he responds, a smirk on his face.
494?
A hand on her shoulder snaps 452 out of the…dream? Had she fallen asleep? No, she rarely sleeps much to start with, much less on a training assignment. She gives 494 a strange look and swallows hard. What the HELL was that?
He gives her an equally strange look before speaking.
"You ok?"
It was him, oh god, it WAS him in her whatever-it-was. On a green motorcycle, wearing a black leather coat and sunglasses. She can remember the smell of decay, the feel of the roaring engine under her body, the warm sun on her skin -- she can even feel the salt in the air from the harbor. If it was a dream, it was the most vivid one she'd ever had. She looks at the man next to her and nods slightly.
"Fine, let's go."
In short order, they had captured three single transgenics and one pair and brought them to Command. Currently they were stalking another pair, watching them carefully move through the forest. 452 and 494 are behind a small embankment, hidden from view by thick brush. They are also downwind from their targets; both can smell a small amount of fear coming from their prey.
She looks at him and he gives her a hand signal, she nods.
Another embankment, another time….
"You're on, pretty boy."
The words came to her mind; they were hers. She can hear herself saying it, clear as day, in her head. Creasing her forehead, she tries to will more information, more of this…memory. Were they on another assignment together? If so, why couldn't she remember?
Suddenly she remembers where she is, and realizes 494 has moved into position slightly ahead and to her right. Dammit. She gets up and leapfrogs him, moving ahead and to his left. Cat-like, they quietly do this a few times, always keeping their prey, and each other, in their sights. On the last move, they are practically within spitting distance of the other transgenics: the large male, X5-234, and the blonde, a slight female, X5-366. The plan is for her to take the female and for him to grab the male; it had worked once before.
Separating, they make noises on opposite ends of the forest, splitting their prey.
As 366 approaches her location, 452 rushes the other female, knocking her down in one swift move. Straddling the other X5, she is about to knock her out when a heavy body slams into her, forcing 452 off her prey and onto the cold forest ground.
She lets out a small grunt and looks up to see 234 now straddling her, sitting on her chest, constricting her airflow. Where is 494?
452 struggles, futilely. 234 outweighs her by at least 80 pounds, and even with her enhanced strength, she is no match for him.
"Say goodnight, 452 -- gotcha," he hisses at her and raises a fist.
"It's never nice to hit a lady." A voice calls from behind 234 and the male turns just in time to see a large branch make contact with the side of his head.
He slumps over 452, smothering her with his weight, before 494 comes over and picks him up, throwing him like a rag doll to the ground next to her. She takes a moment to get her breath before standing and taking the hand 494 has offered her.
"Where's 366?" she asks and brushes pine needles from her camouflage.
494 points behind them, and she sees an equally unconscious blonde X slumped against a tree. "Lets get them to base camp. That's two pairs and three singles. We win."
He gives her a wide grin, and she starts at the expression…. Something so familiar about it. Then again, she's been paired with 494 for several weeks now -- of course his smile is familiar. That's not why, her subconscious taunts her.
Gathering herself, she walks to the blonde. "Yeah, we win. Lets go."
They are silent the entire walk back, a longer than expected walk due to the weight of the unconscious X5, making 494 move slower than usual. Finally, they arrive in base camp and brusquely dump their capture at the feet of their handler.
The human looks at them with surprise and checks his watch.
"That's a record, 452 and 494. Three singles and two pairs in under four hours. Congratulations, head to the showers, then the training room for debriefing."
"Aye, sir," they say in unison, and head toward the barracks.
As they approach the large grey building, she looks around to be sure no one is near them before turning to her companion.
"Have we been on missions together before?" she asks, quietly.
He gives her an odd look. "No, I don't think so. Why do you ask?"
She lets out a frustrated sigh. "No reason. See you at debriefing."
"Yeah, ok…" he says to her back as she heads to the female locker area.
She feels it too. What happened to us?
tbc……………………..