Author's note : I'm blushing! Thanks for those marvellous reviews! That was really nice of you all!
Maxie--Thanks for the compliment.
Aur--Thank you...soon some M/A emotions.
XxinsanityxX--Thanks!
Dory Shotgun--U made my day.
Ting--By the end of the chap, you'll know what happened...thanks for reviewing
Sky Angel--Well thank you.
Dark Borg Drone--Thanks for your review...this chapter answers your question about 247.
AKA-Annabelle--Thank you.
silsecri--yeah, i figured that imagining Gem chasing after a Max completely naked in a bathroom would be fun...you know like those little babies that you have to fight with to get them dressed, my 5 years old cousin gave me that idea! I wanted her to feel safe with Alec...the reason why i posted this story was that i didn't want anyone to use this idea before me...so that's why i posted it...and i stopped(for a while) the other stories...(though i'm still writing about them.)
Poo--Thank you so much for the congrats and the mail...i loved it...i hope you're not sick anymore.
Again, a HUGE thanks to all of you, you're the best! Love ya all!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I hope this chapter will help you understand a bit more what happened to 247, without revealing too much, yet...
When they got into Max's apartment, she did the same thing she did first each time she was in a new area. Sniffing all around. When she finally settled in a cat-like position on the couch, he went to sit next to her.
«Do you think you could, you know. Let me sleep a little?» he asked not really expecting an answer.
«Sleep.» she answered.
That took him aback. She wasn't supposed to speak. Well, she didn't speak for three days.
«Max? You just spoke?» he stuttered.
She tilted her head on one side and looked at him quizzicaly. For a few moments, he thought that he had dreamed it. That she didn't speak. But she repeated the word.
«Sleep.» she said again, then she rose on her feet, probably to explore the other rooms.
Alec woke up as he felt someone rubbing itself on him. On his face, his chest, and then on a, er, lower area.
«Mmm...» he purred.
But then he realized who that was.
«Wow! Wow!» he yelled causing her to fall on her butt. «What were you thinking Max?»
She looked at him as if he was a crazy person.
«Don't do that again! Ok?» he ordered though he wasn't sure if she had understood. He had nothing against Max rubbing herself on him. In fact, he wouldn't mind doing something more intimate with her. But she would hate him, if he took advantage of her in her condition. Since the first visit of Sam, Max's twin, he finally realized that he was indeed in love with her. He did nothing though to tell her that he loved her, because of Rachel, and because of her obsession with Logan.
Joshua knocked on the door.
«Middle fella there?» he called.
«Yeah Joshua!» Alec replied and went to open the door.
«Little fella agreed to come out?» he asked. «She's okay now?» Joshua said hopefully.
«No, Joshua. But she said 'sleep' last night.» he informed.
«I wish i was there.» the Dog boy said sadly.
Max was probably in tune with all the emotions of the people around her because she hugged Joshua as if she wanted to make it better for him. To wash away all his worries.
«Sad. Not good.» she whispered.
Joshua was overwhelmed that his little fella was trying to comfort him like she used to do.
«She speaks!» said Joshua completely thrilled.
«Yeah. But we don't know if she'll get better, or not.» stated Alec. He knew how much Joshua didn't want to hear that, but the fact that Max was speaking didn't meant that she'll soon be 'okay' again.
«Gem told me...about 247...» Joshua looked down.
Max was back to her sniffing around.
«I'm sorry, but we need to face some truth. And some are not pleasant.» said Alec as he patted Joshua's shoulder.
«Joshua knows.»
Later that day...
Zane and Krit had come back from, wherever they were with Jondy and Syl.
«Where's my sister?» ordered Jondy as soon as she stepped into command.
Luke knew when he saw Zane and Krit behind the red-headed X5 that she was one of the 09ers.
«Come with me.» said Alec.
OC was already there with Joshua.
Before knocking, Alec stopped and turned to the four X5.
«It's good you're here.» he started. «But that won't be enough...we'll need to talk about her 'status'...there was only another X5 to undergo this kind of 'thing'. You remember when you were kids, all the tricks that Lydecker taught you to avoid talking during torture...»
«You mean...you mean...she shut down completely...» Jondy's voice was barely above a whisper.
Alec nodded silently.
«She's different...Nothing can prepare you to see her in this condition...Don't talk to her before she aknowledges you, otherwise, she'll kill you...Let her focus on my scent first...We'll talk about 247 later.»
Alec opened the door slowly.
Max was layed on the couch and OC was rubbing her belly like she would do with a cat. Max was smiling and purring.
«Hi OC.» Alec greeted.
«Hey Alec. Joshua is in the bathroom. She just had her bath.»
«Ok. I came with some company. You already know Zane and Krit. This is Syl and Jondy.»
«She used to talk about you a lot.» said OC adressing Jondy. «She said you too, you didn't needed to sleep much.»
«Yeah.» nodded Jondy.
Max stood up and went to 'greet' Alec by rubbing her cheek on his chest.
«Hey Max.» Alec said stroking her back. «She doesn't speak...well yesterday, she said 'sleep' twice and 'sad. Not good.' But it doesn't mean she's getting better though. We...we don't really know how to fix this, if this state is permanent or not...we do not know what to do to reverse this...» He admitted.
For the first time, Max took a peek on the people who entered her apartment with Alec.
She tilted her head on one side and smiled at the four X5.
«What...what is she doing...» inquired Syl.
«I think she recognized your scent. You don't represent a threat to her.» informed Alec. «That's good if she recognized you. You were part of her unit, so your scent is probably registered in a part of her mind.»
Max was turning around the four X5 and as usual, she started to smell them. Jondy first then Krit.That was normal, she was a lot closer to Jondy and Krit when she was young. Then she smelled Zane and Syl.
After aknowledging them, her attention was back to OC.
«I think she wants to get out. You know, do some exercice. She has been here all day, and for four days now she spent her days inside. I'm not even counting the time in that warehouse.» said OC.
«I know. But not now.» said Alec. «You know she's not...»
«I know that Alec!» she replied with authority. «But you can't keep her always in here.»
At that moment, Max performed acrobatics on the table of the living while Joshua entered the room with a floorcloth.
«You see that. She needs to get out!» Oc almost yelled.
«She's not easy, huh?» said Alec looking at Joshua.
«She's a skank!» said Joshua.
«Who taught you that word?» said OC.
«Mole.» the dog boy said apologetically.
«Then me and Mole will have to talk a little bit.» the young woman said with anger.
Zane smirked. OC was really a strong woman for an ordinary. He understood why Max trusted her so much and relied on her on some important things. The ordinary could handle herself.
«I have to go now. Normal would fire my ass if i'm late today.» She rose to her feet. She put her hand on Alec's shoulder. «Think about it Alec... And what are you guys going to do for the treaty? You need her.»
«Sam will be here by tuesday.» he informed.
«You think that'll do the trick?»
«It should. We cannot explain them what happened to her. They're going to freak out when they'll see her. We don't even know if we can reverse her condition.»
«Take care of my boo, ok?» She nodded her head to say good bye to everyone and exited the apartment of her friend.
Max continued to do some acrobatics around the room.
«What...what do we do now?» asked Krit.
«We need to talk about her state. Do you think you can handle things here Josh?» inquired Alec.
«It's okay middle fella.»
«I'll be back in a few hours, okay.»
Joshua nodded.
With Zane, Krit, Syl and Jondy, Alec arrived in a dilapidated building. Dix, Mole were already there with three psy ops unit.
«Everybody's here?» asked Alec.
«We were waiting for you.» said Mole. «Who are the girls?»
«Jondy and Syl. Max's sisters.» 494 informed.
«That's great.» said one of the psy ops unit. «I'm Carrie. This is James, and the little one here is Sid.»
«Who are you exactly?» asked Syl suspiciously.
«They are psy ops units.»
The four 09ers flinched when Alec pronounced the words 'psy ops'.
«We get that reaction a lot.» James shrugged. «Sometimes i'm thinking that being an 09er is simpler than being us.»
«Why are we here?» inquired Zane.
«To help your sister.» informed Carrie. «Funny, in your unit, you consider the other ones as your siblings. Never thought of you that way James.» she commented.
«We were close.» explained Jondy.
«The problem with your sister is that we don't really know what happened to her. Not exactly. Here, Sid, is the only one who have approached 247. And she didn't get the time to study him enough.»
«Who is 247? You've mentioned that designation before.» interrupted Krit.
«247 was an X5 who undergo the same condition as Max. He was in the same condition as her when Lydecker found him.»
«Was...» inquired Zane.
«He's dead.»