Too Far Gone
Part Eleven
Previously:
"Joshua thinks Little Fella had good reason for what she did. Joshua thinks Medium Fella needs to listen."
"Medium Fella doesn't wanna listen to anything that bitch has to say." Alec replied, his voice resembling a growl.
"Maybe not want, but Medium Fella need." Joshua stood, looked at Alec for a while and then silently left the room to return to his post.
And Alec? He sat and contemplated Joshua's words. Maybe he did need to hear it. Even if he wasn't going to believe it.
Revelations
Alec let himself into Max's room and slammed the door behind him. Startled, she lifted her head warily. They stared at each other in silence until Alec thought he was going to scream.
"Josh said you wanted to tell me something. Well, go ahead and get it over with already. The sight of you makes me sick." He spoke slowly, and deliberately.
Max took in his tightly controlled stance and hard words. And she quietly began to speak.
"I know I'm the last person on earth you want to see, let alone listen to. But please hear me out and don't interrupt." He nodded curtly.
"That night I showed up at your door, I'd wanted to talk. You were, busy, to say the least. I'd had a pretty rough day and the weight of it pushed me over the edge. I went home and told Cindy I was leaving. I had fully planned on going to California, maybe look for my family. Clear my head, that kinda thing.
"At the Sector checkpoint, I was ambushed by Renfro and some Manticore thugs. They took me back, went to work on me and fucked with my head. Psy-Ops, reindoc, you know the drill. Then they put me in isolation which is where Biggs found me.
"We were assigned to the same unit. And over the past year we became really close. We were always paired for training and missions. And recently we were both promoted in rank. They made me CO." Alec snorted. She's delusional. She's actually gone insane!
"Whether you choose to believe me or not, it's true. Biggs was my Second. This was our first mission alone. I didn't understand why they were letting us out, but now I think I do. I think they were hoping one or both of us would remember our pasts, that taking out our target would trigger the memories. That would be just like Manticore to torture us in the worst way possible. Making us turn on our own.
"They succeeded, didn't they?" Max threw her hands up in despair. But she looked hard at Alec and continued.
"You were our target, Alec." That got his attention all right.
"What the fuck are you talking about, Max?" He decided to humor her. Not that Manticore didn't want him dead, he was pretty sure they did. But the notion that he was important enough for them to send an assassination team after him? Ludicrous.
"Renfro had information on your little set-up here in Terminal City. In her own words '494 is a threat to Project Manticore and all our soldiers. A Threat to your future.' You have to remember our minds were wiped, Alec. We followed orders like good soldiers. Like you used to do.
"When we got to Seattle we did some recon. Biggs checked out Crash and TC, I took your apartment. It's there that I first started getting my memory back." Max paused as she recalled what she felt when she first saw the photo of her and Alec. Something akin to physical pain washed over her as the memories assaulted her tired mind again.
Alec was suddenly thoughtful, as he listened to Max's account. The sincerity of her words tugged at his heart and he reluctantly began to hope. Hope that Max was innocent.
"Go on." he urged, now wanting to hear the what she said in earnest.
Max gave him a look of surprise but continued softly.
"I saw the photograph on the shelf in your bedroom. I couldn't understand what I was doing there. I didn't know you! Couldn't remember ever having met you, let alone spending time with you. And when I took the picture out of the frame and saw the inscription, things started coming back to me. I recognized Cindy, Sketchy, Cece... but not you.
"I decided not to tell Biggs about it." Alec's face clouded over at the mention of his friend's name and Max started to cry. Oh God She took a deep breath before proceeding.
"Biggs followed you around that day. Made sure you guys were being as predictable as you had been throughout our recon. He was going to take the shot, it was his chance to prove worthiness of his new status. What did we know, Alec? It's how they programmed us..." Max pleaded with him, willing him with her eyes to understand their actions.
"But when we got to Crash, I heard Cece call you by your name. And I remembered you! Oh god, you have no idea how hard it was for me to do what I did! I heard Cece scream, and I saw Biggs aim at you and I knew in that split second that if I didn't shoot your leg out from under you, there wouldn't be enough time to save you.
"I loved Biggs with all my heart, he was the best, the only friend I had this past year, and we shared everything. EVERYTHING! There wasn't a waking moment we didn't spend together.
"But when he pulled the trigger, he became the enemy, Alec. You have to see that. He was going to kill you! He didn't know who you were. And he told me, earlier, he would do anything to stay out of Psy-Ops. So I shot him. There wasn't anything else I could do..." Max was full out sobbing now, and she slumped to the ground in defeat. Whatever happened next, it was out of her hands.
