Title: Total Recall, Chapter 15

Author: CSIphile/redwing

AN1: I have NO clue what the trouble is uploading this chapter, I hope this time it works, if not, Im at a loss what to do honestly.

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Chapter 15: Total Recall

"ALEC!"

They stop all movement and pull apart -- their hormones and physical need forgotten with the revelation of his name. She looks at him with fear, and closes her eyes against the sudden onslaught of memories -- this time worse than before. It's speeding by so fast, one on top of the other….

He enters her cell, and informs her they are breeding partners.

******************

She's in a cage. It's dark when suddenly he appears, brandishing a gun. And keys.

"Alec!"

"To the rescue. Still wanna kick my ass?"

"Maybe later. Hurry up."

***************

A barn -- there are other, younger transgenics around.

"Figures you would forget the one good thing Manticore ever taught us…never abandon your unit."

He walks away.

******************

He's kneeling over her, she can't move, stunned. He shocked her.

"I'm sorry. There's no other way," he mumbles, and pulls out a knife.

"A-Alec"

"I don't want to die." His face, god his face. He doesn't want to.

**********************

He's in her apartment, one arm wrapped around her, his lips on her hair.

"Max, I'm sorry."

*********************

"We didn't get a signature!"

"I said let's go."

********************

"Be careful."

"Always."

****************

"I'm always all right."

She scrambles away from him, grabbing her head in her hands, whimpering in pain. He approaches her, but is stopped dead in his tracks….

***************

Her cell, a different Manticore.

"You should have a name too," she tells him.

"I told you, my designation is 494." He smirks at her.

She regards him. "Doesn't suit you, I'm gonna call you Alec."

"Alec?" he questions. This girl has him curious. She's unlike any other X5 he's met.

"As in smart-alec." She has a rather self-satisfied smirk on her face.

He purses his lips and contemplates this briefly. "I can live with that."

She smiles at him. "Good, 'cause my second choice was Dick."

He returns the smile with a tight one of his own. This girl has something; he is oddly drawn to her -- her fire, her life. He walks to the door and hollers, "Guard." 494, no  -- Alec, turns around with his typical smile. "See you around….Max."

"Max….oh my…Max," he whispers, and approaches her slowly. She is still looking shaken. Her rush of memories seemed to be more painful than his. He just suddenly…snapped back; then again, he only had three years to erase. She had a lifetime. Pausing, he takes a second to at least get his pants on, and grabs the blanket off her cot, wrapping her in it. Sitting next to her on the floor, he puts one arm around her shoulders and pulls her lightly into his side; she fits almost perfectly.

"You ok?" he finally asks.

She looks at him with a dazed expression, her heat forgotten. "I…I remember. I remember everything."

He nods and brings one hand up, touching her forehead, where the probes had been inserted into her skin weeks before. "Me too."

She starts shuddering slightly. "They took it away from us, Alec. They stole our lives."

"I know. Come on, let's get off the floor, ok?"

She nods, and they stand together. He looks away as she puts on her underwear and tank top, which really seems a bit ridiculous; he's already seen what Manticore gave her. Alec waits for her to crawl into the bed, then follows, spooning her body into his, and covering them both with the blanket. He can still feel the heat radiating off her body and can smell her, but for the first time in his life, he can resist it. Something about Manticore stealing your life tends to sober you up so you  forget about carnal pleasure, for the minute anyway. Besides, Alec may be a player, but he isn't about to have sex with her for the first time in a cell at Manticore. Maybe three years ago he would have, but not now.

But, we practically DID have sex, he admonishes himself. Oh screw it, we'll get to that when we do. Bigger problems right now.

Wrapping his arms around her, he nuzzles his face into her hair, just taking her in for a minute. Even though they have spent practically all their waking hours together for the last two months, he hasn't felt like he has been with her. He was with 452. Not his Max.  And…since when is she yours?

For several minutes they are silent, until her quiet voice breaks through the darkened room.

"What's going to happen now?" It's not a tentative question; her tone is mostly business, and she wants a plan of attack. A way to escape.

He reaches up and starts stroking her hair lightly. "We continue to be dutiful soldiers, Max, until we can find a way out of here. Which I don't think will be easy, even if they think we are submissive."

"Agreed." She pulls away from him slightly, and rolls over, facing him. "Those bastards stole my life -- our lives. They replaced our friends, our family with…pretend missions, a pretend life. This isn't just a matter of escaping, Alec -- we have to destroy them. And not just this facility, we have to expose them for good. And I think we can do that best from the inside."

He regards her carefully, using his cat DNA to see her in the dark. "Max…are you sure? That means pretending to be what you hate, what you spent your entire life running from."

"I know."

"No, I don't think you do. What happens if they send us out on an assassination, Max? Can you do that -- can you kill someone who may not be a bad guy?" He runs one finger along her jawline, just relishing being with her. The last thought he had had as Alec was that he would never see this woman again -- never hear her laugh, be on the receiving end of a punch, share a quiet moment in the chaos that was TC. Now they are lying in bed together, plotting the downfall of Manticore…again.

"I'll cross that bridge when I get to it…but…" She pauses and sighs, the reality setting in. "..This is war and sometimes, there are casualties."

Leaning in, he kisses her forehead and pulls her tightly to him. He can feel her wiggling into him, trying to get as close as possible. Unfortunately, all she is doing is causing him to remember why he was brought to her to begin with. He can tell her pheromone level has dropped, but he can still smell it.

"Uhh, Max, would you stop…doing that?"

"What? Ohh, god, sorry." She instantly stills in his arms, her head tucked under his chin. "How long do we have?"

"I don't know. I imagine they will leave us alone for a while. But it won't be enough."

"You suppose they can see us?"

"Not if it's like it was before. Cameras made the mating partners….nervous. Decreased conception rates."

"Eventually they'll figure it out when I'm not pregnant, Alec."

"We'll figure that out when we get there. It's not 100% pregnancy -- closer to 92 or 95. Maybe they will just think we were part of the five percent. Maybe…"

He feels her nod.

"When I'm gone, they will probably leave you in here. Heat can last up to a week, so tomorrow start whining, moaning, hollering for me…"

"Not a problem. I AM in heat, Alec. Just…not in the mood right now, given the givens."

"…Good, very good. Besides, this isn't exactly what I had pictured for a first time. In a cold, dark Manticore cell."

She smiles at him, even if he can't see her. "Uhhh Alec, do I need to remind you what just happened on the floor?"

"I know…I'm just, choosing to ignore that for right now. That wasn't us -- it was 494 and 452.Different people."

She nods, and then tilts her head, as if remembering something. "You pictured a first time?"

"Yeah, well its not like we didn't want to, Max -- admit that. We just didn't have time with trying to run TC. So yeah, I did."

"Hmmm…well as I recall, you could have the first time we met."

His voice turns serious. "I'm not like that, Max."

"I know…." she whispers. "So what, I scream and they just…bring you?"

"Yeah, probably. Increases the chance of conception. Then we can try and figure this bitch out." He uses one of her favorite phrases.

"Good. We are going to need help though, Alec."

"I know….I know." He contemplates this; he had realized they would need serious help if they are going to bring down all of Manticore. But he can't exactly ask to use the phone either -- it has to be outside the walls. "We'll think of something. Come on, you've escaped twice -- can't be that hard…right?"

He feels her smile at that. "Yeah, piece of cake."

Again he kisses the top of her head, and turns serious. "I'm sorry, Maxie. I promised you that I'd get us out of here and I didn't. Jesus! We were what? Twenty clicks from Seattle and, like idiots, we came right back."

"We had no control, Alec -- we didn't know."

"We did, though; we were getting flashes of our real lives and we ignored them! Figured it was a mission gone bad. They screwed us up good."

She pulls away from him slightly, planting small kisses on his jaw. He can feel her skin start to heat again, smell the increased pheromones. "Shhhhh, we are back now. Together." Her tone is slightly seductive.

For a minute, he lets her continue the ministrations, her warm lips moving across his jaw and down his neck, her tongue dipping into the hollow at his throat before continuing across his collarbone, nipping at the bone slightly. Coming to a stop at his shoulder, she runs her tongue along the top until she reaches his neck, nibbling at the soft flesh. When she gets to his ear and sucks on the earlobe, he practically jumps out of the bed, pushing her away from him so they are on either side of the suddenly tiny cot.

"Max…we can't," he practically whimpers. He would do anything right now to be able to take her, to love her, but he can't, can't give into her. That would add a whole new complication they don't need. Plus…he just can't here.

Initially she ignores him, and eyes him like prey. "Max….please." His tone is pleading, desperate; he can't be the only one resisting, 'cause then he won't be able to.

She stops. and he can hear her breathing through her nose, trying to calm herself. "I'm sorry, but….it's hard."

He nods, and in the background, hears a door opening. They are coming for him.

"They're coming, Max." Much like that last desperate kiss in the van, he leans over and captures her lips quickly. "Keep up the act -- you're 452."

She nods, biting her lower lip slightly. "Got your back, 494."

Now he can hear footsteps and light breathing. They are closer, almost at the door. "Love you, Max."

Before she can respond, he gets up and pulls his shirt back on just as the door opens. He faces the guards with a satisfied smirk on his face. "Well, that was fun." He turns to her. "Hope to see you again real soon, 452."

And he disappears out the door.