Blind Touch: Part Four

DISCLAIMER: I don't own anything in relation to Dark Angel. No money is involved (story of my life).

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A/N: Special thanks and hugs goes out to Infie for Mayne and Jaxel. Without her these two would be very dull indeed.

Somewhere in dreamland…

Warm liquid seeped through her clothes and slid up her skin. The air was thick with the flat metallic scent she had come to associate with blood. She was lying in a growing pool of it but it was too dark to see where it was coming from. All around her friends called out for help. Their voices were garbled as if trying to speak around liquid. Now she had an idea of where the blood was coming from.

A scream ripped through the chamber and the others joined in. Soon the pool covered everything but her face. Their screaming never stopped but only when her face was finally covered did Max join in.

While in reality…

Jaxel and Mayne were engaged in deep tactical maneuvers. Between them lay the battlefield, their soldiers carefully placed for maximum coverage. Jaxel saw his advantage and went for the kill. "Checkmate!" he shouted with glee. It wasn't often he was able to beat his brother at chess.

"Two out of three?" Mayne knew Jaxel would agree and began to set the board up for their next game. He was just about finished when the screaming began. Ebony and ivory pieces scattered as they rose abruptly from the table and rushed to Max's room. They hovered loosely around her momentarily unsure of what to do.

Terror drew her body taut and tore another scream from her throat. Her wide open unseeing eyes searched the ceiling as if expecting her horrors to come raining down upon her. Without warning her arms slashed outward and struck them. Nails bit in deep welts into Mayne's left and Jaxel's right shoulders. They suffered several similar blows by the time the got her into the bathroom. She was still screaming.

As instructed, they first prepared the tub by filling it with hot, hot water. While one held her under a cold shower, the other went for Alec. By the time he arrived Max had stopped screaming. She was catatonic, scarcely reacting to any stimuli. Alec thanked the twins and dismissed with orders to report to Kara for treatment of their wounds.

Carefully he placed her in the tub but unlike other times, the extreme temperature didn't immediately bring her back from the edge. It pushed her over it and she thrashed about. Pain speared up his side; one of her elbows found the nerve cluster three inches below his armpit. The other elbow clipped his chin and he finally had to climb into the tub to restrain her effectively. Once her arms were neutralized in his powerful bear hug, he crossed his legs around hers and rocked.

Water, Max could smell water and Alec's unmistakable scent. His wet denim jeans dug into her skin, the intensity of the harsh material shocked her completely back to consciousness. Crushing grief squeezed a small cry from her lips fracturing the fragile dam she had on her emotions. Max felt safe enough in Alec's presence to not hold back.

Alec felt her body shudder and shrink in one last exhale. Tears hotter than the water dropped onto his skin. It took him a moment to realize she was crying too hard to breath. He angled her head backwards hoping this worked for adults as it did for babies. His mouth locked over her nose and he exhaled sharply. She didn't have any other choice but to inhale. Heart-rending sobs racked her entire body and all he could do was anchor her and tell her everything would be all right.

This was the first time since her return that Max had cried. His heart bled with every sob but he knew she needed to cry herself out otherwise she couldn't start to heal. She turned in his embrace curled into a ball, hands fisted in his shirt. She kept repeating, 'they're dead, all dead' but he didn't press her. Now was not the time for interrogation.

At first it seemed she couldn't stop. He was about to resort to physical intervention but she quieted down and eased up her death grip. Tears continued to fall silently down her cheeks until finally exhausted, she lay still except for an occasional hiccup.

Most of the water had been splashed out of the tub but it was turning cold. If his muscles were cramping, he could only imagine how Max was feeling. With great care, he gathered her up and got out of the tub. He paused for a moment to allow most of the water to cascade off their bodies. Then he wrapped her up in a towel.

There was no way to dry her with out removing her clothes and he didn't have the courage to try. Alec was pretty sure she'd snap out of it and kick his ass. To see her indulging in her favorite pastime was almost an incentive enough to do it but not quite. Besides, getting her dry was a moot point if he was still wet. He'd be fighting a losing battle since they were both soaked to their waterlogged skin.

Outside across the yard, Alec spotted the small playground of the Gem's growing daycare center. It was a little after two and the strong afternoon sunlight flooded the field. The children should be down for their nap, which should give them enough time to dry off.

"Maxie?" he shook shoulders gently and she raised her head from his chest. Dried tears trailed all over her face and her bottom lip bled where she bit it. Her lids were half closed but he couldn't let her sleep yet. "I know I know but you need to stay awake for a little longer." He turned around and guided her to his back. "Hop on and hold tight."

Max felt like crap but remain awake even if Alec hadn't asked her to. Sleeping meant more nightmares and she didn't want to go there anymore. Yet, if Alec was with her maybe…she felt muscles move under her and wondered where Alec was taking her. He was moving too fast for her to get specific scents from the air but they were in the staircase headed down. The air turned stale and heavy with dust. Things creaked overhead and Max nearly choked Alec.

"S'all right Maxie. We're in the basement. It's the only way."

'Only way to what' Max thought tiredly and tried to relax. They were kneeling in front of something that smelled of wood and metal. Familiar clicking and scraping noises were louder than they seemed. Alec was picking a lock.

He swore non-stop as he worked on the stubborn lock wishing a thousand times over that he think before issuing orders. After Biggs' little stunt with Max on the roof, Alec had the genius idea to station guards at all entrances. It never occurred to him that he would have the necessity to sneak her out. The only entrance not covered was the basement because it was an unused floor. The lock finally popped and he started to dance around. Max groaned and he cut his victory dance short.

Fresh air rushed over them and Max tried to sort through the many scents that came with it. Gravel, dirt, grass, concrete; everything slammed into Max and she had to hold her breath. Overwhelmed, she buried her nose into Alec's back. His scent stopped the sensory onslaught for now.

He moved them into the sunlight and Max sighed. Her wet clothes were starting to chill her skin but to her disappointment they didn't linger long. Alec was on the move again at a blur. Strangely the usually stomach jerking movements were putting her to sleep. She panicked momentarily at the thought of sleep but then they stopped.

The wind kicked up a bit and rattled a nearby chain-link fence. Alec grabbed her hand and pulled her in front until he held her in his arms. He surveyed the playground for the best spot and settled on the narrow deck surrounding a large sandbox. There was a lounge chair already set up for the teacher on duty and Alec took full advantage of it. Much like he had done in Max's room, he lay back into the chair and arranged Max so that she lay comfortably nestled against his chest.

She resisted his gentle calming strokes. "No, they'll come again," she said, her voice small and frightened.

"Not while I'm here," Alec assured her.

The sun's warmth penetrated through her wet clothes but it wasn't near as comforting as those four words. She gave in and was all but asleep when she remembered to ask where they were and what they were doing.

"Recess," he replied and his breathing evened out.

Oh, she thought fleetingly and soon her breathing matched his.


Booted footsteps drew nearer and Kara looked up from her work. Two figures marched unerringly toward her office. About the same time she notice them, she heard Max's scream and understood. Different day, different set of twins, same injuries, Kara thought as Mayne and Jaxel strode through the door. She hid her laugh in a fit of coughing and instructed them to sit on the exam table.

These two were proving to be a welcomed addition to what TC citizens were starting to call the 'Inner Circle'. They were the only set of non-identical twins she'd ever seen out of Manticore. 'Guess they couldn't control everything' Kara surmised.

Mayne was taller by a head. Unruly, tawny brown hair flowed around his face like a lion's mane that had inspired his name. Strong cheekbones led to well-shaped, kissable lips that fell into a natural pout when they weren't curving into a reluctant killer smile. Matching golden eyes constantly held a hard edge, and his stare held an intent focus that made you feel like he was either going to eat you or read your mind. A big, powerful body and a mind to match meant he was in constant demand from the unattached female population…and some of the attached ones. Naturally tanned a shade lighter than is hair, Mayne had been part of a desert/savannah strike team. Put him in a sand dune or wheat field and he was almost invisible.

Beside his brother, Jaxel's slimness looked almost feminine, an impression belied by the wiry strength evident in muscled arms and chest. His raven-black hair and ever-present black clothing made him look like a living shadow. When he moved, light played across the tight curls and reflected it back, revealing the dappled rosettes of his feline heritage. If the light fell across his eyes, the breathtaking backlit green made him instantly extraordinary. Winged black brows arched over the fabulously long black-lashed eyes, and his lips constantly quirked into an ironic smile that mirrored Mayne's.

For all the physical differences between them, there was still some indefinable…quality that stamped them as brothers. They removed their torn shirts and she applied ointment to the deeper scratches. Some of the shallow ones were already closing.

A distant strangled cry halted Kara's ministrations momentarily. She worried about Max's nightmares and their increasing frequency. More and more of White's memory implants were surfacing and her psychological staff was at a loss. There were still unanswered questions: her mysterious return, the reason for the truce, even her blindness was a puzzle but until Max was healthy in every way they had to sit on their hands.

"Alec is with her," Jaxel volunteered when the doctor's attentions became curt. He was afraid the doctor thought they'd abandoned Max. Mayne caught her wrist when a particularly rough tug made his brother cry out.

Kara blinked as if coming out a trance. She wasn't mad at Jaxel or Mayne but she had allowed her frustration with the situation get the best of her. Quickly she apologized and pulled her wrist from Mayne's massive hand. He continued to glare at her through the rest of the session. She sent them back to their post with new T-shirts without further incident and returned to her work.

Biggs wandered into Kara's workroom in hopes dragging him mate away for some private time together. She had become obsessed with finding the root of Max's blindness. In her dedication, Kara tended to forget rules she set up and worked until exhaustion. Sure enough, she was currently poring over dozens of MRI scans.

"We don't need another blind transgenic," he said dryly. He laid his hands on her shoulders and kissed the top of her head. He dug knuckles into her knotted muscles and her head lolled back.

"That's cheating," she mumbled and smiled up at Biggs. Her eyes closed as his hands worked their magic but her mind continued to mull over the problem at hand.

Transgenics as a rule were equipped with a large portion of stem cells in their bloodstreams. They were present in Max's blood but weren't helping to repair the damage done to her optic nerves or the dark area in Max's brain that signified inactivity. It was the dark area that concerned Kara the most; her sight center. Her last theory was lost when the twins had shown up. Damn!

"You are thinking too hard again. Time to exercise something other than your brain." Biggs smoothed the frown wrinkles on her forehead and drew her away from the table. Before she had a chance to weasel away, Biggs picked her up by the waist and plunked her down on the exam table. He wormed his way between her knees holding her in place.

Biggs was usually very soft spoken. He rarely asserted that he was alpha, not THE alpha, but if the primal fire burning in his coal black eyes wasn't a clear enough reminder of how dominant he could be, his hungry assault on her lips left no doubt in Kara's mind.

'Door!' a voice screamed at the back of Biggs' mind but passion flared between them and consumed further thought. However, a shred of restraint kept him aware of his surroundings. Someone cleared their throat nervously; they weren't alone.

Dalton and Dix froze at the doorway. Neither of them had wanted to interrupt, especially with bad news. Mayne and Jaxel had briefed them over half an hour ago during shift change. Alec and Max still hadn't returned from the bathroom. Maybe something had gone wrong so they went for reinforcements before going to search for them. He repeated his request for help and heard Biggs' angry growl.

"We may be on our own. Get ready to run," Dalton whispered to Dix and started to back away.

Biggs' sudden laughter scared the nervous pair. They were caught between the confused curiosity and the urge to bolt. "Hold still. Maybe he'll forget we're here," Dix hissed back.

"It's okay guys, at ease," Biggs said over his shoulder. It wasn't their fault he didn't listen to himself. Kara was shaking her head at him in silent rebuke but the effect was marred by the sideways grin tugging at her slightly swollen lips. He had the grace to look embarrassed. He let her off the table but retained his hold on her hand lest she try to escape back to work. "Let's go!" he ordered and ushered everyone out.

"Oh Blue Lady!" Biggs exclaimed and rolled his eyes skyward for patience. They were staring at an empty bathroom. Water puddles meandered from the doorway, down the hall and disappeared under the door leading to the stairs. He waved his hand insistently at Dalton for his two-way. After a rapid exchange with Micah and Lexan, Biggs headed down the stairs careful not to step in the water on the floor. If they had gone up the twins guarding the front door would have reported in.

The cellar door leading outside stood ajar. "What do we have to do, collar them with bells?" Kara asked coming to Biggs' side. "They could be anywhere now."

Biggs smiled at her bell comment. That might not be a bad idea. There were plenty of extra tracer bugs around. He turned to Dix to ask his opinion when the two-way in his hand pinged loudly. Gem's hesitant voice floated over the connection. A chorus of snickers sounded off in the background. "Uh, did you perhaps lose something? Come to the playground. You got to see this."