Chapter 5: Homecoming Introductions
It was raining again; it always rained in this shitting city. The drops splattered against the side of the large rectangular window and the surface began to steam with condensation, blurring the orange lights that lined the almost abandoned road across from the car park. Max sat and listened to the rhythmic thudding of the drops and looked around at the new faces that had joined Logan, Jess and herself at there, now cramped, table.
Jess sat across from Max looking a lot feebler than she had done the previous year. To begin with there was the obvious state of her face: cuts, only in the foetal stages of healing, spread sporadically across her taught skin and thin lips, and yellow bruising around her cheeks and tired eyes. On top of that there was a thick white scar that tore from the corner of her left eye and another ragged tear in her left cheek that added further character to an already saddened persona. Her hair hung lazily around her face and reached jaggedly past her shoulder. Oddly it's colourful appearance of platinum blonde interspersed with strands of vibrant red and black, conflicted with the haggard distinction that came with days of hard combat and a lack of any proper attempt at washing. Then there was the issue of her weight. Jess had never exactly been overweight or even podgy, far from in it in fact, but she had at least appeared to be properly fed and in a healthy position. Now, however, she looked terribly undernourished, her hooded top far too baggy given it's size, showing off a slither of stomach that receded inwards. Her wrists were scarily thin and didn't look like they could hold up should she ever deliver a blow to solid bone, and a bracelet that should have been tight, given it's elastic nature, lulled loosely and kept slipping down her arm as she moved it in frantic gestures that accompanied her tale.
Max couldn't help but feel bad as she watched Jess, a shadow of the fearsome misguided warrior she had known the previous year, recount a tale of hardship so tragic it could have been worthy of Max's own life. Jess' tale also pinched at Max's conscience, as it had been she who had asked Jess to take care of this dump in her absence. At the time it had felt like the right thing to do as, back then, Max still considered Seattle her home and always planned on returning some day to set up home with Logan by her side. However, having spent twelve months in secluded paradise, Max wanted to be anywhere but here and to see the pain Jess had endured in keeping this hole safe for her…well Max couldn't help but feel a little guilty, especially considering the bliss she had experienced in the same time.
Sat next to Jess was the first of the new faces introduced to Max upon Jess's arrival. Previously known as 'hot boy from the counter,' Max now had a name to put to the hulky mass of handsome transgenic she had been distracted by earlier; and that name was Trick. Apparently Trick was an old friend of Jess', going as far back as her days with Gray in Manticore. His presence bled confidence almost as much as it bled masculinity and he was also incredibly difficult to ignore now he was in Max's vicinity, and not just because of his build. There was a strange draw about him; the nature of his dark eyes screamed charisma and the relaxed nature of his exterior were somewhat relaxing, infectious almost. He had slung an arm around Jess's frail shoulders as she talked and Max couldn't help but note the intended protectiveness of the gesture. She watched as his hand gripped and massaged Jess as she began to let the emotions of her experiences get on top of her, and at times when it looked like Jess might break, Trick had leant over and gently kissed the top of her head. In fact, when Max had thought about it, she would have said these two were in love were it not for the fact Jess had introduced the man as her friend. Still, there was definitely a lot of feeling between the two and despite the brash and cocky nature of Trick, demonstrated by his quick interventions of jest during Jess's tale, Max felt like he was a guy she could trust.
To Max's left, at the head of the unstable table, sat the blue haired girl from the counter. Her name was Chloe and she was also a transgenic. So far she had kept pretty quiet, not really offering her opinion on things like Trick had. Instead, she kept her eyes down and occasionally glanced at Max in an uncertain manner. It would have been unnerving were the girl not so damn innocent, in appearance at least. Her eyes were so captivating, one hazel one green, that if Max caught her gaze she felt like she couldn't move. It was a weird sensation to experience, being lost in the eyes of a stranger, but thankfully Chloe, catching Max staring at her with her mouth hanging open in wonderment, had just smiled, said nothing and continued to listen intently to Jess. She was definitely a young woman, younger than either Jess or Trick and it was clear by her well-groomed appearance and lack of any war scars that she had not been an avid participant in the battles Jess was describing. Still, it was also clear that would not be the case for long as, according to Jess, the reason they were all here at Bannatyne's coffee shop, was to prep for an operation. This young Chloe would get her chance, and Max found herself praying the poor thing would not loose the precious innocence that surrounded her like an invisible aura. It was a commodity so rare these days, especially for a former Manticore soldier, that should you possess it you should do your utmost to retain and not squander it…but then given the situation did she have a choice?
The final new face introduced to Max, sat opposite Chloe and was the proprietor of the coffee shop. His name was Alisdair Bannatyne but he insisted Max call him Ali as, "everyone did." He was the only 'ordinary' person at the table, aside from Logan but since his resurrection, Max no longer considered him 'normal'; and he was one of the few in Seattle who did not bear a grudge against the transgenics. In fact he went out of his way to help Jess and hers, allowing them to use his shop as a point of communication, weapons storage and rendezvous…or – in non-combat hours – to hang out with free muffins and coffee on tap. He was an obvious stoner, given his bleary eyes and green tinged skin and the fact he kept rolling joint after joint as Jess laid the last twelve months out for Max. He would offer it around but no one else seemed that interested, not even Trick who had been an eager participant during his time at the counter. He kept quiet and offered little no emotion as he listened to Jess' tale…and what a tale it was.
It had begun: that was the predominate thought in Max's head as Jess told her of the sudden influx of Familiars into Seattle and the subsequent conflict that exploded between them and the transgenics. The Coming was, for lack of a better term, coming and had no doubt sent its foot soldiers out in search of her. That was what Sandeman had told her: the coming will seek you out for you are the key 452…you are the key to everything.
"And it's not just Familiars we have to deal with…" Trick's gravelly voice ripped Max from her thoughts of last year, post battle with Gray. "There's the fucking A.T.L as well!"
"A.T.L?" Logan inquired, an arm slung protectively around Max. He had initiated the action as soon as Trick had joined them; the presence of another male prompting him to protect what was his. Max smiled and let the feeling of his tight grip wash over her. It felt good when he held her…even if it was a little possessive in this instance.
"The Anti-Transgenic League," Jess explained, "the re-appearance of trangenics sparked the ordinaries into action once more. They've set up all kinds of different groups in protest. Some are militant and others are passive."
"They have a League?" Max asked, her tone a little jest.
"Most of the fuckers are pretty useless, closer to a joke than a threat but the A.T.L; they are the real deal." Trick put in, eyeing Max in a way that caused Logan to tighten his grip. "They got serious numbers and the weapons to cause a lot of damage. In fact I don't know whose killed more of us, the Familiars or the A.T.L."
"They're very disciplined," Jess continued, "very precise and very dangerous. They have substantial financial backing and an actual military force that patrols the street at night in the interests of public safety."
"They even have the consent of the church." Chloe piped up, her voice soft and every word seemingly requiring a Herculean effort to pronounce.
"What?" Max said, turning to petite Chloe, a little surprised that she had chosen now to make herself heard. The voice certainly suited the body, small and timid but with a hint of potential confidence.
Trick chuckled. "Yeah get this shit: apparently we are children of the devil. We are the punishment for years of sin and should anyone wish to walk through the pearly gates, we must first be vanquished."
"You can't be serious," Logan said, his face scrunching in disbelief. Max looked at him quickly, not wanting to miss a moment when Logan's ocean eyes would ignite with a passion lacking since he gave up Eye's Only. Not that he wasn't passionate about their relationship, but when it came to the whole protecting those who can't protect themselves deal, there was a spark in him that Max could not light. She missed that part of him which was strange seeing as in the beginnings of their tenure together she was desperate for him to be passionate about anything but the downtrodden. But now, now she wanted that part of him back and she could see it rising now as a new cause came to light.
"I'm deadly serious, the whole fucking system supports these guys. I wouldn't be surprised if they had the full backing of the entire government. Some of the weapons they carry have to be military issue and they are just too well trained to be your average Joe idiot."
"God damn it!" Logan said, his body tensing. Looked like it was time for Logan the crusader to make a triumphant return, Max thought, along with his trusty sidekick. Max smiled again, her thoughts filtering the seriousness of things to a tolerable level.
"How did they get so powerful?" Max asked, allowing herself to fall a little deeper into Logan's embrace, settling in for a night of questions and answers.
"Nobody knows, their leader is a right idiot," Trick answered with a smirk, " A total nobody, he just seemed to spring up overnight. One minute we were laughing at men with bats, the next we were running for our lives while men in gas masks chased us with motherfucking AK-47's!"
Jess laughed and nudged Trick with her head. Again he kissed the top of her hair and pulled her closer. "Thing's didn't quite go like that, but they were definitely an overnight sensation."
"Certainly adds credence to the idea that they have full backing of some higher power. I mean to garner that sort of force overnight would take a substantial level of authority, on a national level perhaps." Logan said, eyes scanning the floor as though it held the answers.
"So every one wants us dead…what else is new?" Max said bluntly.
Jess smiled. "True, but for a while things were nice…they were peaceful. It's just a shame everything had to fall apart, for all of us."
Max looked at Jess and again her heart panged with sorrow. Jess wanted redemption, she had said as much to Max on more than one occasion last year. Her time with Gray had not been pretty and for a chunk of it she had been consumed by the darkness. But after helping Max kill Gray, the personification of the despair writhing within herself, she had been set free – actually she did more than help, if it weren't for Jess, Max would be dead now and Gray would have free reign of everything. After Gray had perished at both their hands, Jess had been granted the chance to live a normal life and find some measure of peace but it was not to be and now she was caught up in another tirade of violence and destruction. It was clearly starting to get to her and Max could understand given all the shit she had dealt with during her stay in Seattle.
"Yeah…" Max wanted to say something more re-assuring but the words wouldn't come. There was a brief pause and everyone looked to each other for something else to say to lighten the mood. It was Logan who picked up the slack and pushed things in a new direction.
"So how many Familiars are we talking here. I mean do they hunt in packs or waves or…"
"Usually in groups of about three, four or maybe five if you're unlucky…" Trick answered, his face melting into a tightened look of annoyance, eyebrows downturn and teeth gripped.
"Like me," Jess added bitterly, a hand coming up to tentatively run along her scar. Max watched her, seeing again the mist of pain that drifted from somewhere deep inside. This girl certainly had a lot of demons an despite her best efforts she could not hide them all. Perhaps now she was back, Max could help her exorcise some…after all she bore similar scars underneath the skin, in her blood and her mind.
Trick gave Jess another squeeze, his arm remaining wrapped around her as though she were something fragile, before continuing. "It's weird, you know, it's like they are hunting us or something. If you're a transgenic, the streets are not a safe place to be at night cos they will seek you out and they will not stop until you are no longer breathing. It's just too much, what with the A.T.L on top of that…" for the first time since they met there was a brief lapse in Trick's confidence that Max could not help but notice, it was almost a sad event to witness, like a lion robbed of it's pride. "We're losing…"he finished.
There was another pause and the air carried the solemn nature to every person sitting at the table. Damn, why was Seattle infected with sadness? Like the rain, it just never seemed to stop, soaking everyone with it's presence and pushing them in it's desired direction. Max scraped her teeth together and Logan sensed the tension in her shoulders and began to rub her arm. Max smiled and tried to relax again.
"There is little we can do in the face of such wilful determination," Jess said, her fingers still trailing the raised flesh that trailed from her left eye to her ear. "Our numbers are few and they are dwindling. Our group used to be fifty strong but that was in the beginning. Now we are down to what?" she looked to Trick.
"Six, six and a half if you count Drake"
Jess smiled and prodded Trick in the ribs, he was a goof but again he had diffused a potential landmine of grief concerning the heavy loss of life. "Yeah we count Drake and he is a whole."
"Whose Drake?" Logan asked
Trick, whose eyes had been lingering on Jess, turned to look at Logan. He grinned, his brazen exterior fully restored to it's shining best. "He's our tech guy, good with computers and all that shit. He works closely with Ali here," Trick reached out and prodded the morose red head who didn't register the contact. "Helps draw up battle plans, gets us blueprints on buildings and potential hit points. All that kind of stuff you know. He's the nerd…"
"So why would he only be a half?" Max asked, sitting forward with interest, but not straying form Logan's hold.
"Well I'm just being mean, but er…he isn't exactly normal…" Trick said with a shrug of his broad shoulders.
Max arched her crayon eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
Jess smiled. "Well originally he was just a brain. Manticore created him to be a resource of limitless information so he had no need for any real physical form. He kept malfunctioning on them – something to do with the minds inability to function without some form of vessel to carry it – so they built him a body, a robotic one."
"It wasn't a very good job…" Chloe remarked, her rosy lips pulling back to reveal brilliant white teeth as she shuddered backwards into her seat.
"I would like to talk with him, I might be able to help. I have a past in that sort of thing so…" Logan said, finally showing his desire to get back in the game as it were.
Trick's eyes widened and he directed an almost accusatory finger between Logan and Max. "You two want to join the lost cause?"
Logan laughed and he let his face fall to look at the floor. Max felt his hold on her relax so she prodded him slightly to remind him there was potential competition: she liked the feeling of his warmth and the absent protection it gave her. She may be a super being but she still needed a little T.L.C.
Jess looked at Max. "You think this has something to do with the Coming?"
Max nodded. " Yeah, a couple of weeks back some more symbols appeared on my skin telling me that it was time. That's why we're here."
Jess sighed. "Well it's damned good to see you."
Max returned the smile and a little of the guilt she felt about leaving Jess to the wolves subsided. It was clear she felt no animosity and besides, Max was here now and she would do all that was in her boundless power to make sure that, this time, the transgenics would not be on the losing side of an unjust war. The events at Terminal City still burned her eyes when she thought of them and there was no way she would allow her kin to fall to such a fate again. As for the coming, those Familiar pricks would get everything they deserved and then some, she would see to that.
"Well, if you want to join our little team, first you have to get the consent of our leader." Trick said, his face beaming with a grin
"You mean you're not in charge?" Max asked in a deliberately flirtatious tone, the strengthening of Logan's grip around her the resultant and desired effect.
"Alas I am not…but fuck it I could be if I wanted to…I just didn't want the gig, too much hassle."
"Yeah right, "Jess snorted, "you ain't in charge cos you're useless."
"Am I now and what about you aye, why aren't you in charge?" Trick danced his fingers along her ribs and Jess giggled. There was definitely something going on between these two, Max thought and she smiled; Jess deserved a little happiness after what happened between her and Alec. Shit, there came that damned burning in her eyes. Her past was too scarred; it would be best if she could keep her thoughts in the present while others besides Logan were present.
"So whose in charge?" inquired Logan.
"Captain Courageous." Trick replied bluntly, his features set in a stupidly serious posture.
Jess spluttered a laugh into the mug of coffee she had brought to her lips.
"Are you being serious?" Max asked, her eyes tightening as though to dare Trick to try messing her around.
"Yeah," Ali made himself heard. His voice was ridiculously slow and bore a hint of an accent. "Imagine superman and multiply his good guy factor by…two million…and you will get our fearless leader."
Jess' smile broadened and Chloe began to giggle.
"I mean this guy is the epitome of all things good." Trick continued, his voice gathering a mock pride.
"And there I was thinking it was me." Max remarked to Logan who smiled and kissed her forehead.
"I mean, he is a great guy, but damn, he can be so fucking serious about the whole good guy thing. He is a radiant beam of sunshine but you know, too much sunshine gives you cancer…"
Jess looked at Trick in amused confusion. "What the hell are you trying to say?" she stuttered between laughs.
"Just that, you know, he's great but only in small doses."
"I like him," Ali put in
So do I," Chloe agreed.
Trick swung his attention to the tiny blue haired girl. "You like his muscles Chloe, and his smile and his…"
Chloe shrunk into her seat and a red rushed into her cheeks.
"Leave her alone." Jess cried, shoving Trick with a little extra force.
"Ow," he cried clutching his ribs. "I didn't have such a great night either." He exclaimed.
"I would have done a lot more than that!" came a voice from the door of the coffee shop.
Max stopped there and then, she just stopped and she felt Logan do the same. The voice was familiar, an echo from the past and she dared not turn around in case she was right.
Now Trick shrunk back into his seat. "Hi man…I mean sir, boss…" he leaned towards Jess and whispered, "ah shit that's my brownie points down to zero, bet I get the ass end of tonight's job."
Max heard footsteps approach towards her and the voice came again. "What do we have here?"
"New recruits." Trick answered.
Jess got to her feet. "Hey, this is Max, the one I mentioned last night." She turned her attention to Max who swivelled in her seat and saw the past standing in front of her. She could barely hear Jess's voice as she said, "Max this is Zack, the leader of our little rabble."
Ok there we go. New Age Darkness is back and running again. Now I know this chapter may not live up to my claims of BEST DA FIC EVER!!! But I haven't written in a while so I used this as a chance to get a feel for it again. Things will get better and let me tell you, I'm excited about where this is going. Anyway I hope you enjoy this little filler and I really hope you don't hate me…as has been mildly suggested….waaarrrgghh! Peace to all and lets remember the fallen