Disclaimer: It's not mine.
Summary: Alec's interest on another girl drives Max crazy. Can she accept the reason for her jealousy?.
A/N: The plot thickens. Sorry, I couldn't let them get together that easy. But there are only like four or five chapters to go, so they will be getting together soon. Hang on and trust me. I want to thank my beta Secretly beautiful and my reviewers Rose and Cezar.
Rose: There might be something there with Biggs and Danielle, but you'll have to keep reading to see. Anyway, getting Alec and Max together is still my first task.
Cezar: Here is the drama I talked to you about, but there will be some humor and insinuations in between. Just trust me on this one.
CHAPTER 9: CASUALTIES
As they had expected, the alarms went off the moment Max and Alec opened the door to where the transgenics were held captive. They all knew this would happen, but bypassing the circuits would require a lot of time and without a doubt would get them caught in the process. Now all there was left to do was make their way out in less than a minute and they would be fine. They knew exactly where the transgenics were, so it couldn't be that hard to make it out in time, right? Wrong. They found the Xs, two X6s by the look of it, but they also found something else.
"Look what the cat dragged in." A familiar voice spoke behind them once they were inside.
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In the mean time, Biggs had reached his spot next to Danielle.
"So, you found them?"
"Yes I did."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Oh, I don't know. Take a wild guess." She was starting to get annoyed by Biggs's lack of conversation skills. "Are they hurt? Did something happen? Is the plan still on? What?"
"No, they are not hurt, although they will be soon if I can have a saying on that particular issue. I mean, I'm all pro love and all, but this is just ridiculous."
"What are you talking about?"
"They were making moon eyes to one another, that's the reason they were late. And here I was, worried sick, thinking something could have happened to them."
Danielle started laughing, but not very loud. They were still in enemy territory after all. "You big baby."
"What? What's so funny?"
"You. You are worst than a mother. ´I was worried sick`." The last part was spoken with the best old grouchy woman's voice she could manage.
"Very funny. Yet, they weren't doing their job, were they? I thought you, of all people, would be pissed at that. With all your ´be responsible` and ´get the hell off that girl, we have a mission to accomplish` shit you always were yelling about." Now it was his time to try to impersonate her. He pulled a very convincing ´moaning Danielle´ before she silenced him by elbowing him on the ribs.
"Well, I'm not particularly happy about it, but we are still on with the plan, so I guess no harm was done. Contrary to someone's night trips to local bars and motels during highly classified missions. Have you any idea of the meaning of the word inconspicuous? I mean, how stealth can you be when half of Manhattan's low lives are your drinking buddies? Give them a break ok, you are not one to speak."
"You are just jealous about the strippers I met."
Danielle never had a chance to answer, as they were forced back to reality by a very loud noise. Biggs's and Danielle's task was to keep an eye on the guards outside and to be prepared to intervene whenever they were needed. The moment the alarm went off, their friendly fighting was over and they looked to one another. Excitement, trust and confidence on their eyes.
"Ok, this is it. Lets show these cult loonies what us mutants are all about." Biggs nodded in answer to her words.
They both exited their hiding place, waited to be seen by the guards making their way to where Max and Alec were and then headed out on opposite directions. Both far from the cells. The guards split in half and followed them. X5 511 and X5 688 started their own game, escape and evade. This would buy the others a couple of minutes more. The guards would be too busy following them around the building while being eliminated one by one. That would give enough time to X5 452 and X5 494 to accomplish their part on the mission.
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To be fair, White hadn't been inside the factory during the reconnaissance, so they just assumed they wouldn't run into him during their mission. Alec kicked himself mentally for making such a foolish mistake. One of them should have stayed behind on the woods to brief them on possible new arrivals to the building. True, they didn't have enough men to let one stay behind or even comms so that person could reach them with the news, but still. He just couldn't believe he had let White sneak up on them like that.
When he received no answer to his previous comment, White continued, very amused with the situation. "The cat got your tongue?"
At last the two transgenics turned around and faced their enemy. Max was the first to speak.
"Of course, cat jokes. Hilarious. Your father would be so proud of you........ Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot." She turned her attention to Alec while White's amusement faded completely and his eyes turned darker than ever. "You see Alec, even years of special breeding weren't enough to give Sandeman a good enough kid, so he had to genetically engineer a whole bunch of them. Better kids. Kids with skills who would make up for little Ames lack off them."
She knew she was playing with fire, but nothing could make this situation worse, so what the hell. She enjoyed the look on the familiar's face and jumped into action the moment he reacted to her words. While Max was fighting White, Alec made his way to where the X6s were and picked the lock of the cells.
When they were ready to go, Alec joined the battle to finish the guy off. After all, White might be strong, but he is no match for two trangenics fighting together. With a hard punch to the back of his head, Alec sent the familiar on a one way ticket into unconsciousness. He was about to finish him off when Max intervened, positioning herself between the unconscious man and the pissed transgenic.
"Max! What the hell are you doing?"
"Don't do it Alec. I know you want to kill him, I do too, but we can't do it."
"He is a threat to us all. We can't just let him go, let him live so he has a chance to kill us later."
"Alec, we have to take these kids out of here now, we don't have time for this. You know that if the press learns about the death of an FBI agent by the hands of a transgenic....... Alec, the familiars will milk this for all it's worth. We can't take that chance."
He was far from convinced, but who could say no to Max? "Ok, Max. I just hope you know what you are doing."
With no further discussion, they signaled the X6s to follow them and exited the room. When they were reaching the manhole that would lead them to safety, they heard people running behind them. They turned around and identified Danielle and Biggs running towards them with three very well armed agents on their backs.
"What the hell are you two still doing here?" Biggs spoke while getting closer and closer to the other four Xs.
"We got a little distracted."
"Get your asses down to the sewers now!" This time Danielle spoke while shooting and killing one of her pursuers.
There was no time to argue. The X6s made their way down the manhole first, followed by Max and then Alec. When the remaining two X5s reached the spot, Danielle stopped and send a grenade she had stolen from one of her victims, to the remaining agents following them. There was a loud explosion. When she was about to enter the manhole, she caught a quick movement at her left and a second later she was in the sewer, laying on the floor with a strong body over her and covered in ...... blood? She could see Alec running towards her but couldn't make out the words, couldn't understand anything for that matter. It all happened so fast. But a moan coming out of the body above her when Alec took it away from her, took her back to reality.
Biggs had been shot. The movement she had seen was that of an arm with a gun pointing at them. Biggs had seen it too. He pushed her inside the sewers and jumped behind her. But apparently he wasn't fast enough. Not even a genetically engineered soldier can beat a bullet. She pushed the episode and the feelings that were beginning to surface to the back of her head and rose to the occasion. They had to remain calm if they were to survive this one. At least one man was alive up there, if not more, they had to keep their heads cool and get the hell out of there. She turned her attention to Alec. He was attending Biggs, who was apparently unconscious.
"Where's Max?" Danielle spoke with a strong and cold voice. The soldier taking over. It was the soldier that was needed here, it was the soldier she would be now.
"She took the X6s to the meeting spot. I told her to go on while I waited for you."
"How's Biggs?"
"He has a nasty bullet wound on his temple. The bullet didn't penetrate his skull, so I guess he'll be fine if he receives treatment soon."
"Ok, you carry him, I'll cover your exit."
Alec was up on a heart beat. "Are you insane? I won't leave you here alone, we still don't know how many of those loonies are alive."
"You said it yourself, he needs instant treatment. I can't carry him out while he is unconscious, you have to go with him. And you know you need someone to cover you. Think as the soldier not the friend, 494."
She didn't leave him much choice. She was right, no matter how much he hated to admit it. He gave up in the end, Biggs needed him right now. He took a last look at her and then turned around and took off. She was left there standing, thinking of what that look meant. She knew it too well and had being on the receiving end of that same look a million times before. ´If you get killed, I'll kick your ass`. She smiled a little, then her face was stone as she took her attention back to the manhole above her.
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Max drove so fast to TC, she thought her baby would collapse under her. One X6 had taken Biggs's motorcycle and Max was driving her baby with the female X6 behind her. Alec had Biggs securely in front of him on his own bike. They had left Danielle's ride back so she could use it for her escape. Max couldn't understand how all got so very wrong so very fast. One second they were all making it out in one piece, the next Biggs was shot and Danielle was left behind. The look on Alec's face when he exited the sewers carrying someone on his hands, was all it took for Max to realize hell had unleashed in a second.
When they reached TC, Biggs was taken immediately to the infirmary. After an hour and a half of worrying, the X4 in charge told them everything would be ok, that Biggs would be ok. It was a close one, but fortunately the bullet wasn't inside and it hadn't damaged any organs. He had lost a lot of blood, but the transfusions he had got from Alec, would get him back on his feet in a couple of days. Max was relieved. She liked the X5, he was a good friend to her. But above all, he was a good friend to Alec, someone who knew him from before. She enjoyed watching them together. When he appeared in Alec's life again, Max saw the smirk he always had on, finally reaching his eyes and soul. He was with his own.
The same look he got on his eyes the day Danielle appeared. Danielle, that girl really got on Max's nerves. It wasn't easy for her to accept the fact that that beautiful girl could share with Alec something she couldn't, but she had to. If she was to be a part of Alec's life, she had to accept that she couldn't be the only person in his life. He had friends, friends that he cared about and she had to accept it. If she had learned something from the events of the last weeks, it was that. Now all that was left to do was hope for two tiny favors from the powers to be, that Alec thought of Danielle as a friend and that he could learn to think of her, Max, as something more. Tiny wishes, right?
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Alec had disappeared after learning about Biggs's condition. Biggs was still unconscious so there was no way Alec would be able to talk to him. He decided taking some air would be the best way to clear his thoughts. Apparently, not so much. He'd be walking around for five minutes when he found himself standing on the garage of TC. It was deserted, except for the large amount of bikes and vans all around him. It was late, which meant the heists had been done already, leaving no reason for anyone to be waiting for new arrivals or transgenics bursting in after their assigned missions on the outside. Anyone except for Danielle. She wasn't back yet and that made him nervous. He trusted her, but she should be back by now.
He heard some steps behind him but didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Max. Her scent was all too familiar to him already.
"She's still not here, is she?"
"No"
"Don't worry about it, you said it yourself, you guys know how to take care of yourselves."
"How is Biggs?"
"Still sleeping."
"I'm ready to hear it, you know?"
"What?" Max was confused. She honestly didn't know what he was talking about.
"I'm ready to hear your ´Alec you are a screw up` speech."
"I'm not going to give it to you. I told you, I don't think that any more."
"But I deserve it. This was my mission, I was in charge. I almost lost Biggs and I'm this close to losing D too."
Max's heart broke when she saw his eyes. He was pleading her to blame him.
"It wasn't your fault. We were all there. This was a tricky mission, we all could have died. But we didn't. We didn't because you planned it well. Biggs is going to be fine, and it's all because you took him out of there on time. And Danielle, she is too stubborn to die, she is gonna be here any second."
He smiled a little bit at her and gave her a grateful look. "Yeah, she is stubborn. I don't know how I put up with her."
"Look who is talking." A female voice spoke from the far side of the garage. "What, no welcome party or anything?"
"D!" A huge smile appeared on his features.
"What? Don't tell me you missed me?" Her smirk was instantly in place.
"Not really, I was just anxious to get my money. I remember a certain girl betting she would beat us to TC. We were here what, two hours ago, two and a half?...." He turned to Max for confirmation and she nodded. "..... But you, you have just arrived, so I guess I'll be collecting my winnings." He had his very well known smart aleck smirk on.
Danielle started walking towards Alec and stopped inches from his face. Max frowned at this; she wasn't liking this game any more. But just then Danielle leaned closer to him. Alec was too shocked to react, but he did later on with a painful yell into the silent night. Max started laughing; Danielle had stepped on his foot with all the strength of an X5.
"I never truly said what those winnings were, you know? I hope you enjoyed them just as much as I did. Now, moving on....... Where's B? How is he?"
Max had to answer that one, Alec was still recuperating.
"He is going to be fine. He is sleeping now, but the doctor says he'll be as good as new in a couple of days."
"So what happened?" Alec re-entered the conversation.
"The agents were all dead when I came up to the facility again. I thought I saw some movement on the other side, so I checked it out. A van was driving away when I reached the door, so I followed it. That's the reason I was late. I followed it half way across town until it parked outside a government installation. I couldn't get in, the security was too tight and I didn't want to risk it. But I saw who was driving the van; it was White. I never saw him inside the factory, but he was the only one to leave it alive so I guess he was the one that shot Biggs. That bastard!"
Alec and Max looked at each other. Alec was the first one to speak.
"We did see him. We fought with him."
"What do you mean?"
"We fought with him when we reached the X6s." Alec knew what was coming and it wouldn't be pretty. Confusion reached Danielle's face.
"You fought him? Why is he still alive then?"
It was Max's turn to speak now, although Alec wouldn't have recommend it if he knew what she was going to say.
"We couldn't kill him. People would blame us and fear us even more."
Danielle's features turned red with anger and Alec tried to calm her.
"D, what she means....."
"Stop....." Now her eyes were unreadable, the mask was on. "Stop, don't try to protect her." She turned to Max and the later had to suppress the need of taking a step back. She never backed down from a fight. "Max, I get you have issues and all. I get you hate what Manticore made you do, I get you hate the soldier in you and I get you don't like hurting people. I get it. But I don't get why you would let your own people suffer for those issues. Biggs could have died......."
"I...."
"I don't want to hear it Max. You think they would hate us even more? They hate us already. All we've got right now is each other, and apparently not even that. There will be a moment when you will have to choose between us and your normal life Max. The question is, which are you going to choose when that moment comes? Just think about this Max, you are an X5 whether you want to accept it or not. Do us a favor and face that fact, make your choice. And if you decide your normal life is too precious to risk for the life of your people, then go away and live it. Leave us alone, do us a favor."
And with that she left a very shocked Max behind and headed for the infirmary. Alec stayed there in front of Max for a second, looking down to the floor. Finally, he seemed to have reached a decision. He looked at her with his own mask on and then followed Danielle to the infirmary. The guilt Danielle had managed to give Max was tossed away with Alec's actions. Max could feel the anger rising inside. Once again, anger was a better feeling than pain, so she let it be. She suppressed her tears and let the anger out.
"That idiot didn't even defend me. Let that bitch have him, they deserve one another."
Summary: Alec's interest on another girl drives Max crazy. Can she accept the reason for her jealousy?.
A/N: The plot thickens. Sorry, I couldn't let them get together that easy. But there are only like four or five chapters to go, so they will be getting together soon. Hang on and trust me. I want to thank my beta Secretly beautiful and my reviewers Rose and Cezar.
Rose: There might be something there with Biggs and Danielle, but you'll have to keep reading to see. Anyway, getting Alec and Max together is still my first task.
Cezar: Here is the drama I talked to you about, but there will be some humor and insinuations in between. Just trust me on this one.
CHAPTER 9: CASUALTIES
As they had expected, the alarms went off the moment Max and Alec opened the door to where the transgenics were held captive. They all knew this would happen, but bypassing the circuits would require a lot of time and without a doubt would get them caught in the process. Now all there was left to do was make their way out in less than a minute and they would be fine. They knew exactly where the transgenics were, so it couldn't be that hard to make it out in time, right? Wrong. They found the Xs, two X6s by the look of it, but they also found something else.
"Look what the cat dragged in." A familiar voice spoke behind them once they were inside.
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In the mean time, Biggs had reached his spot next to Danielle.
"So, you found them?"
"Yes I did."
"Well?"
"Well what?"
"Oh, I don't know. Take a wild guess." She was starting to get annoyed by Biggs's lack of conversation skills. "Are they hurt? Did something happen? Is the plan still on? What?"
"No, they are not hurt, although they will be soon if I can have a saying on that particular issue. I mean, I'm all pro love and all, but this is just ridiculous."
"What are you talking about?"
"They were making moon eyes to one another, that's the reason they were late. And here I was, worried sick, thinking something could have happened to them."
Danielle started laughing, but not very loud. They were still in enemy territory after all. "You big baby."
"What? What's so funny?"
"You. You are worst than a mother. ´I was worried sick`." The last part was spoken with the best old grouchy woman's voice she could manage.
"Very funny. Yet, they weren't doing their job, were they? I thought you, of all people, would be pissed at that. With all your ´be responsible` and ´get the hell off that girl, we have a mission to accomplish` shit you always were yelling about." Now it was his time to try to impersonate her. He pulled a very convincing ´moaning Danielle´ before she silenced him by elbowing him on the ribs.
"Well, I'm not particularly happy about it, but we are still on with the plan, so I guess no harm was done. Contrary to someone's night trips to local bars and motels during highly classified missions. Have you any idea of the meaning of the word inconspicuous? I mean, how stealth can you be when half of Manhattan's low lives are your drinking buddies? Give them a break ok, you are not one to speak."
"You are just jealous about the strippers I met."
Danielle never had a chance to answer, as they were forced back to reality by a very loud noise. Biggs's and Danielle's task was to keep an eye on the guards outside and to be prepared to intervene whenever they were needed. The moment the alarm went off, their friendly fighting was over and they looked to one another. Excitement, trust and confidence on their eyes.
"Ok, this is it. Lets show these cult loonies what us mutants are all about." Biggs nodded in answer to her words.
They both exited their hiding place, waited to be seen by the guards making their way to where Max and Alec were and then headed out on opposite directions. Both far from the cells. The guards split in half and followed them. X5 511 and X5 688 started their own game, escape and evade. This would buy the others a couple of minutes more. The guards would be too busy following them around the building while being eliminated one by one. That would give enough time to X5 452 and X5 494 to accomplish their part on the mission.
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To be fair, White hadn't been inside the factory during the reconnaissance, so they just assumed they wouldn't run into him during their mission. Alec kicked himself mentally for making such a foolish mistake. One of them should have stayed behind on the woods to brief them on possible new arrivals to the building. True, they didn't have enough men to let one stay behind or even comms so that person could reach them with the news, but still. He just couldn't believe he had let White sneak up on them like that.
When he received no answer to his previous comment, White continued, very amused with the situation. "The cat got your tongue?"
At last the two transgenics turned around and faced their enemy. Max was the first to speak.
"Of course, cat jokes. Hilarious. Your father would be so proud of you........ Oh, I'm sorry, I forgot." She turned her attention to Alec while White's amusement faded completely and his eyes turned darker than ever. "You see Alec, even years of special breeding weren't enough to give Sandeman a good enough kid, so he had to genetically engineer a whole bunch of them. Better kids. Kids with skills who would make up for little Ames lack off them."
She knew she was playing with fire, but nothing could make this situation worse, so what the hell. She enjoyed the look on the familiar's face and jumped into action the moment he reacted to her words. While Max was fighting White, Alec made his way to where the X6s were and picked the lock of the cells.
When they were ready to go, Alec joined the battle to finish the guy off. After all, White might be strong, but he is no match for two trangenics fighting together. With a hard punch to the back of his head, Alec sent the familiar on a one way ticket into unconsciousness. He was about to finish him off when Max intervened, positioning herself between the unconscious man and the pissed transgenic.
"Max! What the hell are you doing?"
"Don't do it Alec. I know you want to kill him, I do too, but we can't do it."
"He is a threat to us all. We can't just let him go, let him live so he has a chance to kill us later."
"Alec, we have to take these kids out of here now, we don't have time for this. You know that if the press learns about the death of an FBI agent by the hands of a transgenic....... Alec, the familiars will milk this for all it's worth. We can't take that chance."
He was far from convinced, but who could say no to Max? "Ok, Max. I just hope you know what you are doing."
With no further discussion, they signaled the X6s to follow them and exited the room. When they were reaching the manhole that would lead them to safety, they heard people running behind them. They turned around and identified Danielle and Biggs running towards them with three very well armed agents on their backs.
"What the hell are you two still doing here?" Biggs spoke while getting closer and closer to the other four Xs.
"We got a little distracted."
"Get your asses down to the sewers now!" This time Danielle spoke while shooting and killing one of her pursuers.
There was no time to argue. The X6s made their way down the manhole first, followed by Max and then Alec. When the remaining two X5s reached the spot, Danielle stopped and send a grenade she had stolen from one of her victims, to the remaining agents following them. There was a loud explosion. When she was about to enter the manhole, she caught a quick movement at her left and a second later she was in the sewer, laying on the floor with a strong body over her and covered in ...... blood? She could see Alec running towards her but couldn't make out the words, couldn't understand anything for that matter. It all happened so fast. But a moan coming out of the body above her when Alec took it away from her, took her back to reality.
Biggs had been shot. The movement she had seen was that of an arm with a gun pointing at them. Biggs had seen it too. He pushed her inside the sewers and jumped behind her. But apparently he wasn't fast enough. Not even a genetically engineered soldier can beat a bullet. She pushed the episode and the feelings that were beginning to surface to the back of her head and rose to the occasion. They had to remain calm if they were to survive this one. At least one man was alive up there, if not more, they had to keep their heads cool and get the hell out of there. She turned her attention to Alec. He was attending Biggs, who was apparently unconscious.
"Where's Max?" Danielle spoke with a strong and cold voice. The soldier taking over. It was the soldier that was needed here, it was the soldier she would be now.
"She took the X6s to the meeting spot. I told her to go on while I waited for you."
"How's Biggs?"
"He has a nasty bullet wound on his temple. The bullet didn't penetrate his skull, so I guess he'll be fine if he receives treatment soon."
"Ok, you carry him, I'll cover your exit."
Alec was up on a heart beat. "Are you insane? I won't leave you here alone, we still don't know how many of those loonies are alive."
"You said it yourself, he needs instant treatment. I can't carry him out while he is unconscious, you have to go with him. And you know you need someone to cover you. Think as the soldier not the friend, 494."
She didn't leave him much choice. She was right, no matter how much he hated to admit it. He gave up in the end, Biggs needed him right now. He took a last look at her and then turned around and took off. She was left there standing, thinking of what that look meant. She knew it too well and had being on the receiving end of that same look a million times before. ´If you get killed, I'll kick your ass`. She smiled a little, then her face was stone as she took her attention back to the manhole above her.
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Max drove so fast to TC, she thought her baby would collapse under her. One X6 had taken Biggs's motorcycle and Max was driving her baby with the female X6 behind her. Alec had Biggs securely in front of him on his own bike. They had left Danielle's ride back so she could use it for her escape. Max couldn't understand how all got so very wrong so very fast. One second they were all making it out in one piece, the next Biggs was shot and Danielle was left behind. The look on Alec's face when he exited the sewers carrying someone on his hands, was all it took for Max to realize hell had unleashed in a second.
When they reached TC, Biggs was taken immediately to the infirmary. After an hour and a half of worrying, the X4 in charge told them everything would be ok, that Biggs would be ok. It was a close one, but fortunately the bullet wasn't inside and it hadn't damaged any organs. He had lost a lot of blood, but the transfusions he had got from Alec, would get him back on his feet in a couple of days. Max was relieved. She liked the X5, he was a good friend to her. But above all, he was a good friend to Alec, someone who knew him from before. She enjoyed watching them together. When he appeared in Alec's life again, Max saw the smirk he always had on, finally reaching his eyes and soul. He was with his own.
The same look he got on his eyes the day Danielle appeared. Danielle, that girl really got on Max's nerves. It wasn't easy for her to accept the fact that that beautiful girl could share with Alec something she couldn't, but she had to. If she was to be a part of Alec's life, she had to accept that she couldn't be the only person in his life. He had friends, friends that he cared about and she had to accept it. If she had learned something from the events of the last weeks, it was that. Now all that was left to do was hope for two tiny favors from the powers to be, that Alec thought of Danielle as a friend and that he could learn to think of her, Max, as something more. Tiny wishes, right?
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Alec had disappeared after learning about Biggs's condition. Biggs was still unconscious so there was no way Alec would be able to talk to him. He decided taking some air would be the best way to clear his thoughts. Apparently, not so much. He'd be walking around for five minutes when he found himself standing on the garage of TC. It was deserted, except for the large amount of bikes and vans all around him. It was late, which meant the heists had been done already, leaving no reason for anyone to be waiting for new arrivals or transgenics bursting in after their assigned missions on the outside. Anyone except for Danielle. She wasn't back yet and that made him nervous. He trusted her, but she should be back by now.
He heard some steps behind him but didn't need to turn around to know who it was. Max. Her scent was all too familiar to him already.
"She's still not here, is she?"
"No"
"Don't worry about it, you said it yourself, you guys know how to take care of yourselves."
"How is Biggs?"
"Still sleeping."
"I'm ready to hear it, you know?"
"What?" Max was confused. She honestly didn't know what he was talking about.
"I'm ready to hear your ´Alec you are a screw up` speech."
"I'm not going to give it to you. I told you, I don't think that any more."
"But I deserve it. This was my mission, I was in charge. I almost lost Biggs and I'm this close to losing D too."
Max's heart broke when she saw his eyes. He was pleading her to blame him.
"It wasn't your fault. We were all there. This was a tricky mission, we all could have died. But we didn't. We didn't because you planned it well. Biggs is going to be fine, and it's all because you took him out of there on time. And Danielle, she is too stubborn to die, she is gonna be here any second."
He smiled a little bit at her and gave her a grateful look. "Yeah, she is stubborn. I don't know how I put up with her."
"Look who is talking." A female voice spoke from the far side of the garage. "What, no welcome party or anything?"
"D!" A huge smile appeared on his features.
"What? Don't tell me you missed me?" Her smirk was instantly in place.
"Not really, I was just anxious to get my money. I remember a certain girl betting she would beat us to TC. We were here what, two hours ago, two and a half?...." He turned to Max for confirmation and she nodded. "..... But you, you have just arrived, so I guess I'll be collecting my winnings." He had his very well known smart aleck smirk on.
Danielle started walking towards Alec and stopped inches from his face. Max frowned at this; she wasn't liking this game any more. But just then Danielle leaned closer to him. Alec was too shocked to react, but he did later on with a painful yell into the silent night. Max started laughing; Danielle had stepped on his foot with all the strength of an X5.
"I never truly said what those winnings were, you know? I hope you enjoyed them just as much as I did. Now, moving on....... Where's B? How is he?"
Max had to answer that one, Alec was still recuperating.
"He is going to be fine. He is sleeping now, but the doctor says he'll be as good as new in a couple of days."
"So what happened?" Alec re-entered the conversation.
"The agents were all dead when I came up to the facility again. I thought I saw some movement on the other side, so I checked it out. A van was driving away when I reached the door, so I followed it. That's the reason I was late. I followed it half way across town until it parked outside a government installation. I couldn't get in, the security was too tight and I didn't want to risk it. But I saw who was driving the van; it was White. I never saw him inside the factory, but he was the only one to leave it alive so I guess he was the one that shot Biggs. That bastard!"
Alec and Max looked at each other. Alec was the first one to speak.
"We did see him. We fought with him."
"What do you mean?"
"We fought with him when we reached the X6s." Alec knew what was coming and it wouldn't be pretty. Confusion reached Danielle's face.
"You fought him? Why is he still alive then?"
It was Max's turn to speak now, although Alec wouldn't have recommend it if he knew what she was going to say.
"We couldn't kill him. People would blame us and fear us even more."
Danielle's features turned red with anger and Alec tried to calm her.
"D, what she means....."
"Stop....." Now her eyes were unreadable, the mask was on. "Stop, don't try to protect her." She turned to Max and the later had to suppress the need of taking a step back. She never backed down from a fight. "Max, I get you have issues and all. I get you hate what Manticore made you do, I get you hate the soldier in you and I get you don't like hurting people. I get it. But I don't get why you would let your own people suffer for those issues. Biggs could have died......."
"I...."
"I don't want to hear it Max. You think they would hate us even more? They hate us already. All we've got right now is each other, and apparently not even that. There will be a moment when you will have to choose between us and your normal life Max. The question is, which are you going to choose when that moment comes? Just think about this Max, you are an X5 whether you want to accept it or not. Do us a favor and face that fact, make your choice. And if you decide your normal life is too precious to risk for the life of your people, then go away and live it. Leave us alone, do us a favor."
And with that she left a very shocked Max behind and headed for the infirmary. Alec stayed there in front of Max for a second, looking down to the floor. Finally, he seemed to have reached a decision. He looked at her with his own mask on and then followed Danielle to the infirmary. The guilt Danielle had managed to give Max was tossed away with Alec's actions. Max could feel the anger rising inside. Once again, anger was a better feeling than pain, so she let it be. She suppressed her tears and let the anger out.
"That idiot didn't even defend me. Let that bitch have him, they deserve one another."