Seattle Ain't What it Used to Be
Disclaimer-Nothing that has to do with Dark Angel or Dark Angel books belongs to me. Only the parts of the story that I make up are mine.
Summary-Sequel to Reliving Manticore. After escaping, Max and the other transgenics find refuge in Seattle. More people from Max's past start showing up, the humans start finding out about transgenics and it doesn't help that White is back in the picture.
Pairings-Max/Alec and Syl/Krit. More people will be paired off as the story goes on.
Chapter Two-Old Friends
Max walked into Jam Pony with her broken bike. Normal looked up from his clipboard and groaned.
"What the hell did you do to your bike?" he asked. Max rolled her eyes as she leaned the bike against the wall.
"Had a little accident. I'm fine, by the way," she retorted. Normal raised his eyebrows.
"Did I ask?" he said before walking away. Max folded her arms across her chest and scoffed. She turned to leave and found Alec standing in front of her. She grinned in greeting.
"What happened?" he asked. Max glanced at her bike.
"Got hit by a car," she said simply. Alec raised an eyebrow at her. "On my way to Chinatown..."
"Who hit you?" he questioned. Max looked away from him and he narrowed his eyes. "Max."
"Rafer," she answered. Alec smirked.
"A guy named 'Rafer' hit you? What, was he in a hurry to get to his gig at the karaoke biker bar?" Max bit her lip.
"No..." she said softly. Alec sighed.
"Max, spit it out."
"He's just...an old...acquaintance..." she began. Alec gave her a look. "That I had sex with during my heat cycle before I was captured by Manticore," she added in a rush under her breath before moving to go around Alec out the door. Alec's eyes widened and he quickly grabbed her arm, stopping her from leaving.
"Whoa, whoa," he said, staring at her. "You had sex with him?" A few heads turned to give them weird looks. Max laughed nervously and dragged Alec behind a few lockers.
"I was in heat, okay?" she explained. "You know how hard it is to stay in control during that time, don't you? Always smelling those female's pheromones...don't tell me you never jumped one of 'em." Alec sighed.
"I don't think I'll answer that, but I do understand what you're saying," he replied. "It just took me by surprise." He kissed the top of her head. "It's not like you found him hotter than me or anything." Max gave him a 'duh' look. He smirked. "Thought so. I'll see you at home, 'kay?" But Max seemed to be looking at something over his shoulder, with a slightly worried expression. He turned around and saw a guy in a paramedics uniform. "Who's..." He answered his own question when Max started fidgeting with her hands as the guy walked over to them, giving her a smile that caused Alec to be overcome with a very strong urge to smack it off.
"Max," Rafer greeted. She smiled nervously at him.
"Hey," she replied. Rafer glanced at Alec, who appeared calm, but if you knew him well you'd notice the predatory glint in his eyes and his stiff posture that signaled he was ready to attack if need be.
"I just came by to apologize again," Rafer explained. "And to give you this." He held out a pager that Max recognized as her own. She frowned.
"Wow, I didn't even realize I lost that..." She took it back from him and winced as she sensed Alec's obvious dislike of them touching hands. Rafer, of course, remained oblivious.
"I was also wondering if you wanted to have lunch with me," he said. Alec's mouth twitched and began to say something but Max beat him to it.
"Sorry, but I can't. My boyfriend, Alec," she gestured to Alec. "And I promised we'd help out a friend after work. Maybe some other time?" She forced herself to smile and then grasped Alec's hand and dragged him away.
"Oh...alright. Nice to meet you Alec," Rafer called after them.
Once outside, Max let go of Alec's hand as she headed toward her motorcycle. Alec folded his arms across his chest and watched her with a smug smile on his face.
"So that was Rafer, huh?" he asked. Max swung her leg over the motorcycle.
"Yeah," she muttered. Alec nodded slowly, tongue in cheek.
"Interesting," he commented. Max glanced at him and he suddenly clasped his hands together and grinned. "So what friend are we helping? Joshua?" Max sighed, relieved.
"Yeah. We're gonna head back to our place and pick him up. Then cruise around checking out those houses on his directory. Hop on," she nodded to the back of her seat. Alec raised his eyebrows.
"You expect me to get on the back with you in the front?" he asked. Max just shrugged.
"It's my bike. You wanna drive, get your own," she said. Alec rolled his eyes but swung one leg over the side of the motorcycle and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Guess I'll have to..." he muttered. Max smirked and started the ignition, speeding away from Jam Pony.
Night...
Max, Alec, and Joshua walked down the street. Joshua was looking around eagerly while Max was glancing up and down at the directory.
"I think it's over here," she said, pointing to her right. Alec shrugged and followed her.
They stood in front of a house that had the porch lights on but the shades were drawn. There was a sign next to the mailbox that had the address numbers-542. Joshua ran his hands across it. Max frowned.
"Switch the 5 and 4 and it spells 452," she muttered, annoyance seeping into her voice. Alec rubbed her shoulder.
"Just a coincidence Maxie," he began but stopped when they heard voices coming from inside the house.
"Ooh, yeah! Oh, yeah! Oh, baby! Oh."
"Meow!"
Joshua cocked his head to the side in confusion while Alec and Max exchanged looks of disgust.
"Not a cat," Joshua sniffed the air. "Why say meow?" Max laughed softly. She started to explain when the voices continued.
"Ooh, ooh. That's nice. Now let's get some shots of you vacuuming the sofa."
"Alright." A loud noise reached the transgenics' ears and they knew it was a vacuum.
"What the hell are they doing?" Alec asked, grinning in amusement. Max shrugged and Joshua crept closer to the window, his foot snapping a twig shortly after the vacuum had been turned off. Alec went to get him away from the window, knowing neither of the people in the house were Sandeman, but tripped over a rock. He put his hand against the door to steady himself, but he hit it harder than he meant to and a loud crash was heard. He looked over at Max, who was staring at him in disbelief. She opened her mouth to say something but the front door opened and a man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and shorts with a camera dangling around his neck looked out at them.
"What are you doing here?" he asked. Then his eyes fell on Joshua. His mouth dropped open and his eyes widened in shock. "Holy...cow..." He lifted his camera and quickly took a picture before running back inside. "Call the police!" The transgenics heard him yell.
"Oops..." Alec said. Max rolled her eyes and tugged both him and Joshua away from the house.
"Come on," she ordered. They jogged away at a brisk pace until the sound of sirens faded. Max turned to face Alec and Joshua. "Good. We can check out one more house tonight, but let's be a little more discreet this time. We'll check out the rest tomorrow." She turned away to continue walking and bumped into a person. "Sorry." She looked up at the person and smiled. "Zack. What are you doing here?" He returned her smile.
"I was in the neighborhood and heard your voice," he said. He nodded in greeting to Alec and Joshua. "Also heard some sirens. What were you doing?"
"Looking for Father's house," Joshua replied. "Zack want to help?" Zack adjusted his jacket and ruffled Max's hair.
"I got some time to kill," he grinned. Max rolled her eyes and fixed her hair. "Just one more house though, right? It's not safe to continue for too long after your mission might have been compromised." He said this with a straight face and Alec laughed in response. He lightly punched his shoulder and walked ahead.
"Forever the CO. Good luck with that," he joked. Zack rolled his eyes as he, Max, and Joshua followed him.
About 20 minutes later they came across the next house. The windows were boarded up and the roof looked like it was falling apart.
"Guess this is it..." Max muttered as they walked up the steps. She tried the knob and was surprised when it simply opened. She glanced at the others before heading in.
She looked over at the room to her right. It had papers and books strewn across the floor. Zack and Alec went to check out the rest of the house while Joshua picked up one of the books. He smiled slightly and looked around.
"Father's house," he said.
"You sure?" Max asked. He nodded.
"His books...I remember..."
Zack entered the room, carrying a cane. "Uh, Max?" He held it out to her but Joshua grabbed it. The top end of the cane was carved into the same shape as the Manticore logo. The body of lion, head of a man, and a long tail ending in a sting like that of a scorpion.
"The Manticore symbol," Max said, her voice barely above a whisper. She pointed to a Manticore logo on Joshua's jacket. "See?" Joshua shook his head.
"No. Father's," he said.
Flashback...
Max was standing in an old room at Manticore. She was very young and wore a Manticore gown. A man walked towards her using the cane with the Manticore logo. He reached down and picked her up.
"There she is. My little one. My special one..." the man said. Max's face remained expressionless.
End Flashback...
Alec waved his hand in front Max's face. "Maxie? You still with us?" he asked. She blinked and looked at him.
"Yeah," she answered. He continued to stare at her with concern.
"Little fella, Father not here," Joshua interrupted. She sighed.
"Nope. Guess not. Looks like he hasn't been here for a while. I'm sorry," she replied. Joshua shrugged sadly.
"Joshua stay here," he said. Max exchanged glances with Zack and Alec and nodded, smiling.
"Alright. I'll stay here til you fall asleep." She settled down on the floor. "I'll see you guys later, 'kay?" Both Alec and Zack sighed but nodded. Alec bent down and kissed Max's cheek.
"Don't stay too long," he said before he and Zack left.
Chinatown (the next day)...
Henry's dad was asleep on the couch at the motel. Henry stood at the counter, checking in the transgenic with the overcoat.
"This is your bus ticket, sir," he said, looking up at the transgenic. He swallowed as he handed him a ticket and a key. The transgenic went upstairs with Henry watching him.
Later that day, Henry was climbing up a ladder attached to the building. He reached the transgenic's window and leaned over to peer inside. The transgenic was unpacking a suitcase.
Downstairs, Henry's dad was on the phone. Matt Sung and another cop walked in and he hung up.
"I'm Detective Sung," Matt said, flashing his badge. "You the one that called the police?" Henry's father nodded.
"It's here. My son, he rented. I was asleep. I had no idea." They walked up the stairs. "I keep telling him not to rent to strangers. The creature, his room is over there." Matt and the other cop walked to the transgenic's closed door. A crash was heard and then cries of 'help' followed. Matt and the other cop took out their guns and burst through the door. The transgenic had brought Henry in from outside. He turned to look at them and the other cop shot him until he dropped dead.
Jam Pony...
Max walked into Jam Pony and was greeted by Syl and Krit.
"How was your day big sis?" Krit asked. Max shrugged.
"Not too bad," she replied. "I was just paged by Logan though. I need to call him back." Syl nodded in understanding.
"Is it still awkward between you guys?" she questioned. Max rolled her eyes.
"If he would stop being an ass about this supposed toxic transgenic in Chinatown we might get along a bit better," she said. "See ya later." She walked over to the phone and dialed Logan's number. "It's me."
"Max," Logan greeted.
"What's up? Calling to apologize?" she asked. Logan sighed.
"I have some news of the transgenic," he said, ignoring her question. She rolled her eyes.
"And how is my bestest toxic friend?" she questioned sarcastically.
"He's dead." Max's breath caught in her throat. "They thought he was hurting a guy's little boy. We're at Dr. Shankar's. We're waiting for the autopsy report. I just thought I should tell you. I'll call back once we've..." Max hung up the phone and hurried out of Jam Pony.
Max walked into the waiting room. Matt and Logan were sitting down in chairs. Logan immediately stood.
"Max. What are you doing here?" he began. Max shot him a look before Dr. Shankar came in carrying a clipboard.
"He's clean," she said.
"Clean?" Matt questioned in disbelief.
"Not a trace of the pathogen found in the others."
"Let me take a look at that," Matt took the clipboard and examined it before he entered the autopsy room. Dr. Shankar, Logan, and Max followed him.
Dr. Shankar turned back the sheet that was covering the transgenic. Matt noticed something and removed a pen from his pocket. He used it to brush aside the transgenic's sparse hair.
"What is that?" he asked, pointing to a barcode on the back of its neck.
"Looks like a tattoo," Logan answered. Matt noticed him, Max, and Dr. Shankar exchanging glances.
"Why do I get the feeling you guys aren't telling me something here? What's going on?"
"You killed an innocent man. That's what's going on," Max snapped before walking out.
Sector Checkpoint...
White stepped into a delivery truck. Cyril was inside, along with an unconscious Blake.
"All right, three steps are going to be involved," Cyril began. White rolled his eyes.
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Step one: We take the test subject into the target area, where we release him." Cyril picked up a cartridge. "Step two: We use this to disperse the pathogen. There's enough here to kill any transgenic within a two-mile radius, which should be more than enough to cover, uh, Sector Four."
"And what if he escapes the kill zone?"
"No. That-that'll be impossible. Only takes a minute for the plume to hit ground level, and it takes another four minutes for it to dissipate. There's no way on earth he can make it out alive." Cyril attached a tracking device to Blake's shin, under his pant leg. "Step three: We track and retrieve his body."
"I have a correction to step three," White interrupted. "You track him and retrieve the body. I'm staying away from here until this thing is done. What if you messed up-got a couple of base pairs wrong? For all we know, we could end up with a sector full of dead people."
"You don't trust me?"
"Make a believer out of me, Cyril. You'll get the rest of your money." White stepped out of the van. "You have a nice day now."
Max was just walking into her apartment when the phone rang. She groaned and went to answer it. "Yeah?"
"Max? It's Logan."
"What do you want now?"
"First of all, to apologize. I shouldn't have jumped to conclusions."
"Doesn't really matter now does it?"
"I guess it doesn't. I know you're with Alec now...but..."
"Can we talk about that later? I'm really not in the mood."
"Fine. But I do have something important to tell you. We've got a problem." Max's face hardened.
"What is it?" A few minutes later Alec walked into the living room.
"Hey Maxie," he greeted cheerily. Then he noticed her crestfallen expression. "What's wrong?"
Cyril backed his truck into an alley between some industrial buildings. He released Blake's restraints and woke him up. Blake groaned as he rubbed his wrists. He groggily looked over at Cyril, who opened the truck's back door.
"Who the hell are you?" Blake hissed. Cyril grinned.
"You're free to go," he said. Blake gave him one last look before racing out of the truck. Cyril continued smiling and loaded the cartridge into the dispersal gun.
"You can run but you can't hide."
Outside the sector checkpoint White sat in the backseat of a parked car. A police car and Matt Sung's Grand Am pulled up nearby.
"What the hell are the cops doing here? Son of a bitch," White growled. "Drive."
White's car left as Logan stepped out of Matt's car. Matt stepped out and spoke into a walkie-talkie, "Units three and four, move into position." Max and Alec pulled up on Max's Ninja and approached Logan.
"They've got an X5 they're going to test the pathogen on," he explained. Max swore softly.
"Where was he last seen?" she questioned. They heard a voice come over the radio in Matt's car.
"Eyewitness said he busted out of a van on Mercer. Took off down 11th."
A loud noise sounded and Max, Alec, and Logan noticed the cartridge burst in midair.
"We gotta get him out of there," Alec commented.
"There's no time," Logan protested. "In about a minute it'll hit ground level. Whole sector'll be toxic for another four minutes after that." Max set a timer on her pager. It started at 0 and counted up.
"I'm going in," she stated.
"Max..." Logan began. But Max ignored him and ran through the sector gate.
"Jam Pony messenger. Coming through," she said. Alec quickly followed her lead.
"Max!" Logan called, trying to go after them, but a sector cop stopped him.
Cyril closed the truck's rear door from the outside and walked away, tracking Blake with a handheld computer.
Max and Alec reached 11th street and saw him, standing on one side of the street and looking up. They followed his gaze and saw Blake quickly climbing a ladder attached to a building. They started up the ladder after him, not caring that Cyril had seen them.
"Blake! Wait!" Max called as they ran across the roof after him. He had jumped across the alley and turned to face her when he heard his name. His expression was one of shock.
"Max?" he called back to her. Max checked her pager and her eyes widened. She and Alec jumped across the alley to reach him.
"Keep running," Alec ordered. Blake opened his mouth to say something. "No. Just do it." They ran to the other side of the roof and jumped down onto a slanted roof part of another building. They half-ran, half-slid to the edge and stopped. Max looked down and noticed a large tank of water.
"Jump!" she ordered before doing so. Alec and Blake followed her. Once they were underwater, Maxsent Blake hand signals and showed him her pager. It read 4:58. A few seconds later, they surfaced. Cyril was standing on the edge of the tank, computer in hand and pointing a gun at them. He tossed the computer away.
"Christ. I have no idea who you people are, but you just cost me five million dollars!" He was about to shoot when he was suddenly shot himself and fell into the tank. Max looked up and saw Logan and Matt standing on a catwalk a short distance away. Matt held a gun. Max and Alec exchanged looks before climbing out of the tank. Blake followed them and gave Max a hug.
"Max," he breathed. "I missed you. I got separated from the others when Manticore was burned down. I got captured by that son of a bitch White." Max suddenly pulled away from him.
"Ames White?" she questioned, her eyes blazing. "That bastard that killed Jessica?" Blake nodded with a dark expression on his face.
"No wonder that Cyril guy was using you as a test subject. White wanted him to wipe out every transgenic from here to San Diego," Alec said.
"Why do I get the feeling he's not going to give up on that little dream of his any time soon?" Max growled.
A/N-Sorry the update was slower than usual. But school has gotten really hectic lately, so updates might be a little farther apart...
Angel Of Darkness231-Hopefully school will calm down soon...I'll try my best ;o)
angelofdarkness78-I'm glad you're enjoying it ;o)
willow98002-I like sequels too. Hope you liked Alec's little jealous scene ;o)
XxInsanityxX-I'm glad you liked it. I'll try to update sooner.
