A/N--I have written and re-written this chapter. I still don't like the end as much as I wish I did. Any feedback would be appreciated. I'm not above re-writing it if anybody has a better idea…
Chapter 7
Max stood there in shock. With her mouth hanging open, she could do nothing but stare at the strange scene in front of her.
She had waited and hoped that one of her siblings would arrive in T.C.
She knew that the publicity surrounding the siege at T.C. would become national news and might attract some of them to come help the cause. And here she was, less than two feet away from Brin, and Brin hadn't even looked at her. She had seen Alec and only Alec.
But why?
Why would Brin hug Alec like he was---
Like he was Ben.
Max's heart stopped beating at the realization. Brin didn't think she was hugging Alec, she thought she was hugging Ben!
Max felt tears start to form in her eyes. She hadn't even been able to enjoy her sister for one minute before they were going to have to have "the talk" about what had happened with Ben.
Brin pulled back and looked up into Alec's smiling eyes. "494, I never thought I would see you again."
494?Brin knows Alec? What the hell?
Alec laughed, "Ah, Brin. It's Alec now, by the way."
Brin interrupted."Alec, huh? As in 'smart Alec? I like it."
Max just stood there speechless. She couldn't speak. She couldn't move. She could just stand there and watch like she was stuck in some sort of nightmare.
Catching the look on Max's face, Alec turned serious and cleared his throat.
"Brin, there's someone here who wants to see you." He touched her shoulders and steered her around so that she was facing Max.
The two sisters just looked at each other. Max with tears in her eyes, Brin looking like she saw a ghost.
Brin whipped her head around and turned back around to Alec. "What the hell is she doing here? You let traitors inside your HQ?" she spat out.
Alec cringed as Max paled. He had been afraid of that.
"Brin," he said seriously, his eyebrow raised. "Don't start with that shit. You don't know what you're talking about. Remember. Remember that they manipulated us everyday. Manticore told you what they wanted you to believe about Max and the others from your original unit, not the truth."
Brin looked confused for a moment and Alec gave her an encouraging nod. She looked slyly at Max and then quickly back to Alec.
Shit! he thought.
He spared a glance at Max and gave her a quick, reassuring smile before he continued.
"You remember Biggs?" Brin nodded and looked over at the dark-haired man next to Max.
Biggs had been silent during the whole exchange, but had stood with his weight on the balls of his feet, ready to act, just in case. He knew Brin. Had worked with her at Manticore. And he knew what Alec was dealing with here.
Alec was still talking."Well, he'll get you something to eat, and show you around. I have to do something with Max, but I'll catch up with you later, Ok?"
He hugged her briefly before guiding her towards Biggs.
Biggs greeted her warmly and he guided her out of HQ with his hand firmly on the small of her back.
Alec turned to Max who stood had one single tear trailing down her face. He brushed it away with one finger and said softly as he took her by the hand, "Come on Max, We have some things to talk about."
Silently, Max and Alec went to the roof. Ironically, this was where they had been headed (along with Biggs) before the interruption. Alec opened the bottle of Bourbon and handed it to Max. She took a long pull on the bottle before returning it to Alec who matched her enthusiasm.
"Alec, what the hell just happened?"
He sighed, mentally preparing himself to relive what he was about to share with Max.
"It was just after the Berrisford mission. I had been in Psy-ops for about two weeks before they brought her in. They put her in the cell with me. I was heavily drugged. I didn't know what was going on. I had been tortured and tested and I was scared. This was something new—putting someone in with me."
He paused and took a considerable gulp from the bottle. She was staring at him, seeing the faraway look in his eyes, hearing the dead voice he was talking with, but she didn't make a sound. Whatever this was, it was obvious that it was hard for him, and she didn't want to make it worse. Whatever her pain was, it could wait. He was obviously doing this for her and she didn't want him to stop.
"It turns out that it wasn't me they were trying to punish with this tactic. It was her. It was Brin. Renfro thought it would be fun to torture Brin with watching her brother tortured. They told her I was Ben. I didn't know. They used me to try to break her. They knew that she knew things about some of you and they thought if they tortured her with Ben, that she would give them the information they wanted. They thought she would give up your location to stop my torture. But she didn't. She knew that if she did, she would be watching you be tortured too."
He took another drink and passed the bottle back to Max.
"They eventually had to stop. They were too close to killing me. They separated us again. I had three days to recover in the Med-Wing before they put me through Reindoctrination. She wasn't so lucky. She went directly from Psy-Ops to Reindoctrination. She was close to breaking when I got there. We had adjoining cells. I was stronger now, and I was able to figure out what had been going on before. I convinced her that I wasn't Ben. I showed her my barcode. I helped her get through it. I had friends. I was able to sneak her painkillers and tranquilizers to help her sleep at night. She completed the Reindoc. program quickly and got an assignment. Then she returned the favor and helped me. She would bribe the guards to let her into my cell. She would sit with me for hours, soothing me when I had nightmares. We got close."
He glanced at Max as if he was just remembering that she was there.
"Max, part of Reindoctrination includes an entire segment about the '09 Traitors." He held up his hand as if to silence her even though she had made no move to object to the term 'traitor' "Their words Max, not mine. We were all brainwashed against you. She was told that you were responsible for her torture. She was told that you turned her in to save yourself."
Max jumped up "But I didn't! She had to go back! She would've died. She asked me to take her back! I didn't want to!" She was sobbing openly now. Almost hysterical.
Alec put his arms around her and held her close.
"Shhh, Maxie. I know. And she knows too. Sometimes she would tell me a story about you. A good story about when you were kids. She could remember that you were good. And the brainwashing just confused her. She had conflicting images inside her own head. She had her own memories and the images they fed her. She loved you too much to fully give in to them. And they either figured it out, or enjoyed having one of you escapees to punish. Bottom line is, she got sent back to Pys-Ops. I couldn't get to her. I don't know what they did to her. I think they used Telecoersion on her. Like Mia did with us. I think they had to trick her since they couldn't really break her. She's delicate Max, mentally, I mean. They played with her mind so much that I don't know how stable she is. And we don't know where she's been since Manticore went down."
His shirt was soaked with her tears, but she was getting control of herself.
"We'll take care of her Max. We'll work with her and help her to figure things out. Okay?" He pulled back far enough to look down at her, but he kept his arms around her.
She looked up at him with sad, bloodshot eyes and nodded once before hugging him tightly once again. She found comfort in the steady beat of his heart as he held her, and she wondered if Brin, too, had taken the same comfort from him.
Alec had stayed with Max until she calmed down. He knew she had a lot to deal with, but so did he. He had to go check on Brin.
Max was in HQ trying to look busy when Axel, Biggs and a group of other X-5's walked in. They were all dressed in black and were each carrying their own bag of tricks. Joshua had nicknamed the bags full of tools they used on missions, lock-pick kits, electronic gadgets for various purposes, little tools, small weapons, the occasional smoke bomb, or other distractionary method. Max perked up when she saw them. What were they planning? Axel walked over when he saw her.
"Hey Max. How's it going?" he had heard about the earlier excitement.
"I'm climbing the walls here. What do you guys have going on?"
"Just a little B&E. We got a lead on some troop movements and we're going to break into a government office so we can hack in and try to get more details."
She looked over his shoulder at the six men behind him.
"Why so many? Sounds like a two man op."
"We can't let it look like we were going after this info. If they know we got it, they'll change it. So the others are for a distraction. They're going hit some nearby places to steal actual things, so that our one little computer download won't even be noticed." He smiled at her.
"I know how much you like to mess with the sector cops. Got room for one more?" She asked desperate to get out of T.C. even if for a little while.
Axel looked over at Biggs who shook his head 'no'.
Ignoring Biggs, "Sure Max. Suit up. We're out of here in five."
She smiled, thanked him and took off, grateful for the distraction.
Looking pissed, Biggs approached Axel. "Alec would kill you for taking Max on this. What the hell are you thinking?"
"I'm thinking of her. Look at her. She's like a caged animal. I thought I'd give her something to do, take her mind off of things for awhile."
"But Alec-"
"Screw Alec, Biggs. He doesn't own her. She'll be fine. What could happen? She'll be with us."
"I'd like to hear you tell Alec that."
"If he were here, I would."
"Whatever." Biggs just rolled his eyes and walked away. There was no point in arguing about it now, anyway. It's not like Max would take no for an answer now anyway.
It's going to be a long night. he thought as he headed up to the truck.
Alec had no trouble finding Brin.
"Hiya." He said smiling at her.
"Hi yourself."
"Brin-"
"I know what you're going to say Alec. I just got confused for a minute."
He kneeled down on the floor in front of her and took her hands in his.
"It's okay. I know how hard it is to sort through all Manitcore's bullshit. We'll figure it out together. And Max'll be fine. You can see her tomorrow if you want. Or not. Whatever you want. But enough about that. I'm interested in hearing about you. Where have you been? How did you get here? Did you come alone?"
"Later. I want to hear all about you. And Max. Tell me how you ended up here."
He sighed for what felt like the one millionth time that day. He stood up and sat beside her making himself comfortable. It's going to be a long night.
"Fuck!" Biggs swore as he picked Max up and threw her over his shoulder. She had a stab would in her right side that was bleeding profusely. And she had been hit in the back of the head rendering her unconscious. He hoped that the pressure of her wound pressing against his shoulder would slow the bleeding until he had time to attend it properly.
What was supposed to be a distraction for the real target had turned ugly when Max was ambushed by several over-aggressive rent-a-cops. Turns out that security had been beefed up since the last time they had hit this place. Biggs was gonna kill Dix for not updating the intell.
"Axel!" He said into the microphone of the headset they were all wearing.
What came the response.
"I need help. Max is down and I have a bullet in my right thigh."
Fuck! What is your position?
"We're two miles from the rendezvous point. Slightly northwest from the target."
Give me two minutes.
"If you're even one second late you're telling Alec about this! Wait, strike that, you're telling Alec anyway. You're the one who let her come"
Shut up Biggs
"You shut up."
No, you shut up.
"Make me."
You don't think I can?
"I know you can't, you little-"
GUYS! Focus! Cece's voice came over the channel. Argue later. We're still on the mission here!
He started it Axel and Biggs argued simultaneously.
Two minutes later, the entire team was loaded up in the van with their booty.
Cece and Clint worked on Max's stab wound while Axel dug the bullet out of Biggs thigh.
"Son-of-a-bitch!" Biggs shouted as the van hit a bump.
"Sorry" Came a reply from the driver.
"Hold on Biggs." Axel said as he ran a lighter over the knife preparing to sterilize it to cauterize to wound.
Biggs grabbed the wrist holding the lighter and stared hard into his eyes. "If you enjoy this for even one second, I'll kill you."
"You wanna do it yourself?" Axel smirked a very Alec-like smirk.
"Fuck you."
"I love you too, man."
Cece rolled her eyes at the two men's antics.
Biggs gripped the legs of the bench to hold himself steady and braced himself for the pain. He focused on Max's face looking for any sign of consciousness to distract himself.
He grunted as the knife touched his flesh. He could smell his skin burning. And Max never even flinched.
Max was conscious by the time they reached T.C. She didn't have a concussion, but she had one hell of a headache. Fortunately for her, she didn't really notice the headache because of the giant stab wound in her gut!
"You ok, Max?" Axel asked.
She glared at him to emphasize the stupidity of that question. "Axel, I have a headache the size of your ego and a STAB WOUND in my gut. What do you think!"
"Yeah. Right. Umm, Sorry. So, do you think we could keep this little incident from Alec?"
"WHAT!" came the simultaneous reply from everyone exiting the van.
"Well, what he doesn't know doesn't kill me, right?"
Biggs laughed. "Oh he'll find out whether we tell him or not, so there's no saving your ass on this one."
It was Cece's turn to laugh at that. "Is that so soldier? Weren't you supposed to be Max's look-out, Biggs?"
Biggs nodded rolling his eyes. Of course he was partnered with Max, how else did her unconscious ass get back to the van?
"And you don't think Alec is going to kill you for dropping the ball on that one?" Cece finished.
Biggs gulped. She was right. Axel let her come, but Biggs let her get hurt. Or, at least that was the way Alec would see it.
Alec had explained the past year of his life in detail to Brin and then she had conveniently fallen asleep on the couch before she could tell her story. He didn't mind though. He had plenty of time to catch up with her. He was just glad she got here before they displaced to a new location. He covered her up and sat down on a nearby chair.
He hadn't lied to Max. He and Brin had met in Psy-ops and helped each other through the pain. He had been surprised that Max hadn't been pissed that he hadn't told her before. It's not like he hadn't known how starved for information about her siblings she was.
What he didn't tell Max was that he had been Brin's breeding partner before he had been assigned to Max. They hadn't slept together. Not only did they have a brother/sister-type bond, neither of them wanted to give Manticore any new babies to torture. But it was still weird. And even though nothing had happened between him and Brin, but he knew Max would be pissed that he hadn't disclosed that bit of information. He knew first-hand that sisters didn't like to share men. (He had learned that lesson back at Jam Pony.) He was pretty sure that Max wouldn't take it any better than the ordinary women had.
He was deep in thought about the situation when he fell asleep too.
Cece had helped Max shower to clean off the blood, and then helped her into clean clothes. Axel had made himself scarce, going to volunteer for Sentry duty to avoid Alec for as long as possible, but Biggs was waiting up for Max. He didn't want to go to sleep until he knew she was alright.
Cece helped Max from the bathroom over to her bed. Biggs was sitting up on his bedroll against the far wall. "Goodnight, guys." Cece called as she headed out.
"Night." Max and Biggs called out together.
Max was restless. She couldn't lay flat because if pulled on her stitches. She just couldn't get comfortable. Biggs was in no better shape. His leg was killing him. He got up and limped over to the cabinet where they kept whatever alcohol they had. He grabbed the nearest bottle and took a big drink.
"Didn't Manticore teach you that it is impolite not to offer a drink to a lady?" Max asked from across the room.
Biggs smiled. "They didn't encourage chivalry between the male and female soldiers. They drilled it into us that females were our equals. Probably Renfro's contribution to the curriculum."
She giggled. "Ow! Don't make me laugh. I'll pull a stitch. Come on, share." She patted the mattress beside her.
Biggs limped over to where she was sitting up in her bed and he sat down beside her. They passed the bottle in silence for a few minutes letting the dulling effects of the alcohol numb some of their pain.
"Nice mattress. Where'd you get it?"
"Alec got it for me. Consolation for having to bunk with you three idiots."
"Ow! Laughing hurts me too, Max! I'm shot remember?"
She was silent for a minute. "Biggs?"
"Yeah?"
"Thanks. For saving my ass, I mean."
"But not for the liquor?"
She hit him lightly. "Do you guys ever quit playing and act serious?"
"We were serious for too many years, Max. Now we wanna play." He shrugged. "But you're welcome. Come on, get some sleep." He got up to move back over to his bedroll.
"Biggs?"
"Yeah?"
"It hurts to lay down. Can you sit up here so I can lean on you?"
He sighed. If Alec didn't kill him for one thing, he'd kill him for the other. But he didn't say no. He walked back over to her and sat on the bed, resting his back against the wall. Max leaned into him. He put his right arm around her shoulder, and adjusted his good leg so that it was bent under his bad leg supporting it. Max wrapped her left arm around herself to protect her wound and put her right hand on his stomach to hold herself up. They were asleep in minutes, their breath synchronized.
Alec woke up an hour later, stiff from dozing off in the chair. Sparing one last look at Brin, he got up and headed back to the apartment he shared with Max and the guys.
He had felt bad leaving Max after their talk, but he had needed to make sure Brin was alright.
Besides, Max had other friends. She wouldn't have to be alone if she hadn't wanted to.
He got to the door of the apartment and opened it silently. His eyes were already adjusted to the blackness since the hallway had been just as dark.
He looked over at Max's bed as he reached down to take off his boots, and what he saw shocked the hell out of him. Biggs and Max were curled up together on Max's bed. what the fuck! There was no way that Max had chosen Biggs over him, was there? He didn't want to believe it, but they were cuddling for Christs sake!
He felt his temper start to rise, and he immediately reverted to soldier mode. Think.Assess the situation objectively.Gain the necessary intell to determine the best way to adapt to the situation. He took a calming breath, and let his training take over.
They were dressed not naked, they were sitting up not laying down, and Max didn't have her arms wrapped around him. In fact, one of her arms was wrapped around her own stomach. They probably fell asleep talking. She was upset. He had known that when he left her on the roof.
If they had been awake, they would have been able to literally watch every muscle in Alec's body relax from tightly coiled to a normal state.
He ripped his gaze away from them and headed back out of the apartment.
He could be understanding. He wasn't designed to like it, but he could accomplish that particular feat.
But there was NO WAY IN HELL that he could sleep in that apartment knowing that Max was in the same room and in another man's arms.
He headed over to HQ. He might as well get some work done since sleep was now out of the question.