Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters obviously do not belong to me. I am writing this purely for non-profit entertainment. No infringement intended, so don't sue me!
A/N: Oh, forgot to tell you guys last time. If you are of legal age and would like to read the NC17 version of the last chapter, it's in my homepage; but there's not much to miss if you don't read it.
This chapter kind of ran on, so it's a bit long -:winks:- Thank you for all your reviews! I had great fun reading them, lol!
Calistra – Yep, he would remain unnamed if she killed him now -:grins:- But you know I wouldn't do that! Thanks for your review.
Messymissy – Thanks for reviewing. I am beginning to think that I should change the genre to angst, after reading your review. But you are right. It is really sad! -:sigh:-
Alexceasar – Haha! Poor 494! Hearing his brother's name -:shudders:- But don't worry, he'll survive. Thanks for reviewing
Flephanie – Thanks for your review. Yes, Logan dies and will stay that way, lol! You don't have to wait much longer for the 'jab' thing, it's coming soon -:grins:-
Angel of Darkness231 – You know I can't help myself when it comes to cliffhangers, lol! Me? Writer? I think I prefer to keep it as a hobby! Hehe! Thanks for the vote of confidence anyway.
HoneyX5-452 – Thanks for your review. Glad you liked it.
NoAngell – He's going to have to tell her the truth sometime. The question is – when! -:grins:- Thanks for reviewing.
Kungfuchick – Thanks for your review. Hehe! Yep, finally the had sex, but it will cause more problems later, don't you think! And Yay for the cliffhanger too -:grins:-
Random Rose – You gave me a scare! I chopped, snipped and edited that scene after your review, lol! Hope it's back down to 'T' now. Thanks for pointing that out, I appreciate it! By the way, your fic is not up yet, right? Can't find it.
Iridescent Twilight – Aw, sweetie, don't bash your head in, lol! Yes, he seemed to have dug himself into a hole which may be too deep to get out of. I am still working hard on it -:sighs hopelessly:- Thanks for reviewing.
Ro (anon) – Thanks for your review. I love it when someone appreciates the cliffhangers, lol! Did he say that out loud? -:grins:-
W1cked angel – Thanks for reviewing. Glad you saw the hilarity in 494's predicament! Lol! Hey, you are supposed to feel sorry for him, you know. -:grins:-
Aotearoa Hiphop Grl – Glad you found it exciting. Yep, the cliffhanger was designed just so that it keeps you guys on your toes -:winks:- Thanks for reviewing.
Kelzaa – As if you don't know about my addiction to cliffhangers. I just could not help myself, lol! Thanks for reviewing.
Eden (anon) – Am I in the waiting list for heaven yet? -:looks around and then slumps:- But I DID update quickly! Lol! Thanks for reviewing.
X5898 – 100th Reviewer for Deception! Girl, first the longest review, now the 100th reviewer. Hehe! Anyway -:sighs:- how's 494 getting himself out of this fix? It does seem hopeless… As for his beautiful, skillful mouth and his body, he's definitely going to need to use them. If you consider your reviews as babbles, then I have to say I love your babbles -:grins:-
Acb – Thanks for reviewing. -:grins sheepishly:- It's kind of dramatic, isn't it? Lol! Everything that could go wrong actually went wrong. But I am glad you approved, especially the cliffhanger, lol!
Angelofdarkness78 – You got to be kidding if you think Max isn't going to freak out! Hehe! I think I am going to enjoy writing that bit -:grins evilly:- Thanks for reviewing!
Sarah (anon) – Thanks for your review. Hehe! Cliffhangers are always good, and you know you like it! Me? Cruel? -:sobs:-
Alana84 – The scene at Fogle Towers just gave Max yet another reason to kill him, like she needed another! -:grins:- Glad you liked the cliffhanger. Thanks for reviewing.
CrimsonReality (anon) – Thanks for your review. Read on to see what happens -:winks:-
Gamegirl452 – Gosh, you really want to see 494 in trouble, don't you! Hehe! And of course it's the best sex of her life. It's HIM after all, what else would anyone expect, lol! Thanks for reviewing.
Moving swiftly onwards…
Deception - Chapter 6
(by elle6778)
Fogle Towers
'I AM NOT BEN!'
A small gasp from Max snapped him out of his sated daze.
He tensed as it suddenly occurred to him.
SHIT! Did I say that out loud?
He looked down at Max with a feeling of dread. She had her eyes locked on his. He held his breath.
"What did you say?" she asked in a whisper.
"What?" he feigned ignorance, wrinkling his brow for good measure.
"What did you just say?" she repeated louder. She gripped his arms harder.
"I didn't say anything," he said. Heart pounding, he hoped that Max would not question him further.
"I thought I heard you say that you are not Ben," she said in an accusing tone. A frown of confusion marred her features. Her ears were assaulted by the frantic thumping of her hard after her completion that she was not sure she heard correctly, but it sounded like that. The heat hormones were distracting her ability to think clearly as well.
"What! Why would I say that?" he said with an affronted look. He paused for a moment to think, then continued as if he suddenly understood what she was talking about, "Oh, that! I said I am not done…yet," he finished lamely. It would be his lucky day today if Max chose to believe that. He crossed his fingers.
"Hmm…I thought I heard something else," she said, relaxing slightly. She probably heard wrongly, she thought. Hardly surprising considering the circumstances. The frown eased from her face to be replaced by a mischievous grin, "So, you are not done yet?" She trailed a finger down his chest.
He was finally able to breath as he realised that she accepted his explanation, however dumb it may seem to him. The heat hormones must be damping down her perceptiveness. He offered up a silent prayer to whoever that had helped him. He returned her grin, "Not by a long shot," he replied, and proceeded to demonstrate his point.
Her heat not quite over yet, Max laughed; a sound of pure seduction as she held her arms open to him.
Max blinked as the sun shone in her eyes through the open window. She wondered fuzzily why she felt so strangely satisfied and sore this morning.
Then her eyes snapped open as the events last night came flooding back to her. She directed her gaze to her right to find Ben sleeping next to her. She tensed as she waited for the feeling of revulsion that usually followed after she slept with someone when in heat.
It did not come.
Max waited a little while more, but that feeling did not appear.
A smile inched its way across her face. She had sex while in heat and she did not feel revolted at herself for the first time. Not only that; it was the first time she did not have to hold back her passion whilst in heat. She had to admit that it was definitely better than any of her previous encounters. The smile turned into a grin as she looked at the transgenic sleeping on the couch beside her.
Logan's couch.
Her heart sank.
She had sex with Ben on Logan's couch. Logan had just died two days ago and she had sex on his couch. The feeling of guilt started to creep up within her.
She must have made some sound of distress as Ben's eyes suddenly snapped open. She could see the wary look in her eyes.
"Hi," she said with a small smile, her troubled brown eyes locked onto his wary hazel ones.
"You okay?" he asked, shifting so that she had more space on the couch. The wariness in his eyes faded as he realised that she did not seem angry, but something was obviously bothering her. Probably because they were in Logan's place.
Max nodded. Then, clearing her throat, she said, "Erm…" She searched her brain for something to say.
"Shh!" he lifted a finger to silence her, "If you are going to apologise for your heat, don't bother,"
"Huh?" she frowned in confusion. She wasn't going to apologise. The thought never occurred to her.
"I thoroughly enjoyed it, thanks. You did very well," he said with a grin, trying to lighten the atmosphere. He saw a flash in her eyes and then…
SMACK!
"Hey! What was that for?" he yelled indignantly, trying to rub his stinging shoulders. Which was a difficult task because one of his arms was tucked under Max.
She glared at him, "I can't believe you said that. It's not funny, Ben!" She reiterated her point by jabbing him in his already sore shoulder.
"The truth never hurts so much," he grumbled under his breath, practically sulking.
Max felt her lips twitch at the expression on his face. She wasn't really angry at him anyway; the smack was just a knee-jerk reaction she seemed to have every time he tried to be a smart-aleck.
"I knew you have a sadistic streak in you. You always seem to be happier after you hit me," he continued with a pained look on his face.
Max snorted, "You asked for it," she said pitilessly.
She started to get up but he tightened his arms around her, "Hey, stay. What's the rush?"
Max looked down at his arms around her, suddenly noticed their nakedness. Flustered, she tried to pry his arms away, but he tightened it. Obviously he had to intention of letting her go, she thought as she observed the determined look in his eyes.
"Ben, let go. We are going to be late for work," she said, again trying to escape.
He gave her a look, "Max, we didn't do anything wrong, you know. It's not like either of us could help it,"
Max turned away from him. Ignoring his words, she said softly, "I've got to go,"
"Running again, Max?" he taunted, not unkindly.
His words struck a chord in her. She whipped her head around to face him, "What! I am not running," she said, offended.
"Then stay. Talk this out," he coaxed. His eyes pleaded with hers.
Max sighed, capitulating, "I don't know, Ben. It did not seem right to…you know…" she paused. Then continued, "Logan just died and here we are,"
494 paused at her words. He knew that she was uncomfortable with it and all he wanted to do was to reassure her, "Look, there's no reason why you should feel guilty. What good does it do anyway? Logan's gone. Whatever happened, happened. We just need to carry on the best we could,"
"Since when you became so philosophical?" she said with a wry smile.
He shrugged, "Hey, I have a deeper side too, you know," he said, grinning.
Max snorted, "Right. The one that surfaces once in a blue moon,"
"I resent that," he frowned at her.
They fell silent for a moment. Then Max spoke.
"So, where do we go from here?" she asked softly, wondering if anything would change between them now that they had sex.
"I don't know, Max. It's your call," he shrugged nonchalantly but Max could see his muscles tense at her question.
"Okay…I need some time to think," she said, relieved that Ben did not try to pressure her into anything. She did not know if she was ready yet to move on so soon after Logan's death. Furthermore, she needed to sort out her feelings for Ben.
He nodded.
She made a move to get up. This time, he released her. She bent down to pick up her clothes from the floor. When she looked back at him, she found him staring at her with a cocky grin.
Embarrassed, she snapped ungraciously "What are you looking at?" As if he hasn't seen everything, she thought to herself.
He smirked, "Just enjoying the view," he replied.
A cushion flew at him; bouncing off his head as he laughed at the flustered look on Max's face.
Jampony
It had been three days since Max's heat.
Although they did not speak about it since that morning after, 494 was glad that their relationship did not seemed to have suffered. Part from the occasional subtle looks, it was as if it never happened. He guessed that Max needed some time to come to terms with what they did. He was fine with it so long as she did not push him away.
It had been five days since they left Manticore. Five days since his last jab. But now he was not so worried anymore.
494 finally came up with a solution to his problem. Someone told him yesterday that he could find what he wanted in Sector 8. It was by no means a permanent solution to his problem, but at least it would work temporarily. It would buy him more time till he found someone who could help him, without actually going back to Manticore. After that, all he needed to do was to persuade Max to leave with him.
Fortunately for him, Normal decided to give him only two packages to deliver today. That meant that he should have the afternoon free to survey the various locations in Sector 8 to find the one which best suited his needs.
He went to the lockers to grab his bag. Max was already there, tying her shoe-laces. Her hair fell across her face as she was looking down, and 494 itched to brush it back for her. Finally giving in to temptation, he reached out his hand and tucked her hair behind her ears.
Max gave him a smile, which he returned.
"Where are you going today?" Max asked, trying not to sound too interested. Ever since that night, she had always felt the need to know where he was and what he was doing. It was unsettling. Max never wanted to feel this way about someone. It cramped her style.
He looked at his packages, "Sector 3. Hopefully it doesn't take long," he said.
"You want to meet up for lunch? I'm doing sector 5 today, and it is right next to sector 3," Max asked, stuffing her packages into her bag as she turned a questioning glance towards him.
494 occupied himself, fixing the straps of his carry bag so that he did not need to meet her eyes. Mumbling distractedly, he said, "No can do, Max. Too many packages,"
Max frowned as she registered his almost empty bag, "Yeah, you have like what? Two packages. Don't tell me that it's going to take you the whole morning," She hid her disappointment at his refusal with the frown.
"I thought I should give myself some extra time just in case I get lost, being new and all, you know," he said, still not looking at her.
Max rolled her eyes at his lame excuse, "Transgenics don't get lost. We have great sense of direction," she informed him.
"Right. Say I somehow managed to lose my way and turn up late for our lunch. Then what will you do? Yup, you are going to kick my ass. No thanks!" he said, finally catching her eyes.
"You ask for it, sometimes," she said with a grin as she gave him a soft punch.
He grinned back and said, "I prefer to keep my pretty ass intact. It would be such a terrible loss to the female population otherwise,"
Max snorted, "As if!"
He started to walk away, "See you later, Max," he threw over his shoulders.
Max's smile faded as she watched his retreating back. He seemed a bit distracted this couple of days. She wondered why. She frowned. She hoped that he would not decide to revert back to his killing ways. Manticore seemed to have stabilised him, but that was in a controlled environment. Being out here was different.
"Max!"
She whipped around to see Sketchy jogging towards her, looking more dishevelled as usual, if that was possible.
"Max!" he panted as he reached her, trying to catch his breath.
Wondering what got him so flustered, she questioned, "What's up?"
"You've got to help me, Max. I can't deliver this," he turned his pleading eyes towards her.
Max scowled, "I have enough for myself, thank you. I don't need anymore packages. And why can't you deliver your own packages, Sketch?" she said irritably.
"It's not that. I just can't deliver to this house," he said, pointing at the address on the package.
Realisation dawned in Max's eyes as she saw the address. It was the girl who at one point refused to let Sketchy go until Max decided to pose as his girlfriend. The girl was scared out of her wits after Max dangled her off the balcony, and finally consented to leave Sketchy alone. Max almost grinned at the thought. Then she noticed that Sketchy was still speaking to her.
"Tell you what. You deliver mine and I'll deliver yours. I would even give you my tips. Please, Max!" Sketch said, practically begging. He went down on his knees and stared up at Max with puppy-dog eyes.
"Oh, alright! Stop grovelling, it's embarrassing me," Max snapped, snatching his packages from him, looking around to see if anyone noticed Sketchy's display. She sighed in relief as she noted that most of the messengers had already left with their packages.
His face brightened instantly, "Thank you! You are a real friend. Look, all of mine is in Sector 8, so it is closer and you don't have to travel so far,"
"I said okay, Sketchy. You don't need to try to convince me anymore," Max insisted impatiently. Really, Sketchy was a real sweet guy but he doesn't know when to stop sometimes, she thought. She took her packages from her bag and pushed them into Sketchy's chest, "Sector 5. And make sure it gets there," she instructed.
"Thanks! I owe you a beer," Sketchy said, grinning ear to ear.
"You're on! Crash tonight?" Max asked with a smile.
"Yeah," Sketchy said, his head bobbing up and down.
A house in Sector 8
After delivering the first package to Sketchy's ex-whatever, Max arrived at another house to deliver the second package. She knocked on the door. A few seconds later, it opened to reveal a Hispanic woman cradling a child on her hips.
"Jampony messenger! I've got a delivery for a Mrs Hayes," Max greeted, plastering an over-bright smile on her face. Her eyes travelled to the baby, who was eyeing Max with large curious eyes. Max wiggled her fingers at him, and was rewarded with a cheerful gurgle. Max's eyes softened. She looked up to find the mother looking at her with a smile, "You've got a beautiful baby," Max said sincerely.
"Yes, he's adorable. We love him to distraction," Mrs Hayes said, "So, you've got a package for me?"
"Oh! Here," Max handed the package over, "Please sign here," she held up her clipboard.
Mrs Hayes signed and returned the clipboard, "Wait, I'll get you your tips," She went into the house, leaving Max standing just inside the door.
As the mother went in, the baby turned back to smile at Max. Max smiled back, wondering if maybe one day, she could have one herself. Probably not a good idea considering that Manticore would still be hunting her down. And a baby needed more stability than she could provide. And a father.
All of a sudden, something occurred to her. She squeezed her eyes shut and leaned against the door. She and Ben had sex without protection. For all she knew, she could already be pregnant. Max groaned. What should she do? It has been already three days since her heat. As far as she knew, it was too late for any preventive measures.
She looked around desperately, as if a solution would suddenly present itself if she looked around hard enough. A familiar figure across the road caught her attention, distracting her from her thoughts. Looks like Ben, she thought, surprised. She focussed her eyes until the figure became clearer. That's definitely Ben, she thought, noticing the clothes he was wearing.
Why was he in sector 8? Max wondered as her eyes followed the hazel eyed transgenic. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed that his carry bag appeared empty. So it could not be for a delivery. So what was he up to in this neighbourhood?
She watched him from the doorway as he slunk into an alley.
Any other normal person would never have noticed anything out of place, but Max had been trained to notice this sort of behaviour long before she left Manticore. As far as she was concerned, his behaviour was suspicious; he was up to something.
"There you go," the woman said, distracting Max from her thoughts.
Max took the money and smiled, "Thanks,"
She rushed over to the alley where she last spotted Ben, but no one was there.
Frowning, she wondered if she should ask Ben about it later. Maybe she should just wait for him to tell her, otherwise it would seem like she was keeping tabs on him.
Crash
It was almost 8pm when 494 finally turned up at Crash. A quick scan of the room told him where his friends were and he immediately headed towards them.
"Max," he said, giving her shoulders a squeeze, "How's it going guys?" he greeted Original Cindy and Sketchy.
"Hey, yourself. Where have you been? We have been here for ages," Max complained, glowering at him.
Uh-oh, she's did not sound too happy, he thought, "Had some stuff which needed sorting out," he answered evasively.
Max narrowed her eyes, "What stuff?" she asked suspiciously, remembering what she saw earlier.
"Nothing important," he replied. He then grabbed the almost empty pitcher of beer and said, "I'll get the next one,"
Max nodded, watching him leave.
After a few hours, Sketchy was slumped over the table and Original Cindy was nowhere to be seen. Probably went home with some chick, 494 thought. He noticed that both Max and himself were beginning to get quite tipsy. That was no small feat considering their enhanced metabolism. Must be the two bottles of scotch which they had consumed for the last hour, he thought, eyeing the almost empty second bottle. Even transgenics have their limits.
He knew that he had to stop drinking before he loses control. Recently, it was getting harder and harder to keep up the pretences. It was much easier when they were back in Manticore; he only had to do it few hours at a time. Now, he had to be perpetually careful not to slip up. He had already made a few slip-ups which thankfully, Max did not catch. He supposed that it was because it never occurred to her that he was not Ben. The whole thing was beginning to wear him down and all he wanted to do at times was to just confess. Until he thought of the expression on her face when she realised how thoroughly he had betrayed her.
"Hey, Ben. You look deep in thought. Never knew you were capable of that!" Max teased as she jabbed his arm.
Rubbing his arm, he frowned jokingly and said, "I am capable of many things. You want to find out?" he asked suggestively. He ran a finger down her jaw.
Max swatted his hand away and laughed, "Are you never serious? I could have sworn that you were much more mature as a kid,"
"Ah, well. I grew up," he said, grinning, "Come on, Maxie! I told you that I have a serious side too. It does occasionally surface. I can't help it,"
Max snorted in disbelieve, "Who do you think you are kidding?"
He gave her a sad smile, "I am not kidding. I do have my problems, just that I don't talk about it. You should know, you do the same as well,"
The look on his face made Max realise that he was not trying to be funny. Voicing her concern, "Ben, are you okay?" she asked.
He remained silent for a moment, staring blindly at the almost empty dance floor. He sighed and said, "Max, have you ever been forced in a corner so badly that you have no idea what you could do to get out of it?" He ran his fingers in circles around the rim of his glass, thinking that it was appropriate, considering that his thoughts had been going round and round in circles. And still he did not get any closer in finding a long term solution to his problem.
"Like how?" she asked, face full of curiosity.
"Like you wanted something so bad that you go about doing everything in your power to get it, even when you know that there is going to be a high price to pay at the end of it,"
Max mulled over his words for a second before saying, "Yeah, that's pretty much what we did when we escaped, Ben. We wanted freedom so much that we spend the rest of our lives running and hiding. Is that what you meant?"
He shook his head, "It is something like that, but different,"
"What is it, Ben?" she asked apprehensively. She hoped that he was not talking about having urges to kill again. It was possible that he was thinking about it, but after Manticore, he probably developed some sort of conscience. He could have meant that he wanted very badly to kill but he knew there were going to consequences to his actions.
"You won't understand," he said dejectedly, rubbing the back of his neck. He could feel the effect of the alcohol now; instead of numbing him, it was making him feel more depressed about his predicament. Great, he thought. Just what I needed; to crumple in one sobbing heap right here in front of Max.
"Try me," she pressed, beginning to worry now.
"Knowing what you're like, I am sure you'll find out one day, Max. I don't even need to tell you," he said, rolling his eyes.
"Ben, stop hedging and tell me," she insisted. Her head began to feel heavy. Must be all the scotch, she thought. Or it could be this weird conversation.
"Yeah, and then you'll kill me. I am sure of that. And just while I have the chance, I think I better tell you how much I enjoyed our time together since I walked into your cell," he said with grin that did not quite reach his eyes.
"Huh? Since the day you walked into my cell? What has that got to do with anything?" Max asked, even more confused now. Ben was being really vague and she did not know what to make of it.
"Don't you think I'm a different person since then?" he asked carefully.
Max cast her mind back to the past month or so. She nodded, "Yeah, you changed. But I think I like you the way you are now. It's different, I guess. I used to think of you as a brother, but not anymore," she said, grinning, "Must be all that heat hormones,"
494 sighed in relief at her answer. He was glad that unknowingly, she had differentiated between Ben and him. The thought cheered him up. 494 moved closer to her, "I am glad of that," he said. So…erm…do you think that maybe we could, you know…since you don't think of me as a brother anymore," he asked mischievously, waggling his eyebrows suggestively.
Surprised at his abrupt change of mood, she did not reply for a second. Then as her mind registered what he'd just said, she narrowed her eyes and gave him the customary punch in his shoulders.
"You wish!" she retorted.
494 just grinned.
Max's Apartment
Max was lying in her bed, not able to sleep. She was thinking about the conversation she had with Ben last night. There was something bothering him. Something which he obviously did not want to tell her. She was worried, but she did not know how to get him to talk.
Max knew that deep inside, she was worried that Ben may revert back to his killing ways. She did not want that to happen. Ever since their reunion in Manticore, Max found that she liked this part of Ben much more than the part of Ben she knew before. She realised that her recent distrust towards him was less than acceptable. But faced with the thoughts that he may well start killing again, she could not help herself.
She told him the truth last night. Ever since that kiss in her cell in Manticore, she had slowly stopped thinking of him as a brother. To add to the complication, after the heat incident, Max found it really difficult to even stop thinking about him. She still felt guilty about having sex in Logan's place, or even having sex at all, but she could not deny how right it felt at that time. Even now, she could not bring herself to regret what they did.
Max was no fool; she knew the signs. She was falling for Ben and for reasons only known to him, Ben was hiding something from her.
She sat up abruptly in her bed as her sensitive transgenic hearing picked up the sound of footsteps and the front door clicking shut. She realised that it must be Ben.
Max decided that enough was enough. If Ben did not want to tell her what was bothering him, then she would just find out about it herself.
Inside a building in Seattle
494 figured that if he could hold his hand steady enough, this idea of his may just work. He knew that it would be a short term solution, but at least it was better than nothing.
He knew that his real barcode was emerging; he saw it this morning in the mirror. It no longer looked like 493, but 494. He had been careful to conceal it from everyone. Almost a week, he thought mirthlessly. He did not understand why Manticore could not up the dosage in the jab to make sure that the temporary genetic alteration remained intact longer. Then he would not need to go through this. But then again, Manticore would have expected him to return with Max by now.
He stood with his back facing the large mirror; his left hand held another mirror in front of him. He was holding a tattoo pen in his right hand. He held himself as still as he could while he lowered the pen steadily to the back of his neck. His eyes remained fixed to the reflection of the back of his neck in the mirror.
As the pen was about to come into contact with his skin, he heard a soft shuffling sound outside the room. He cursed inwardly at the disruption. Putting down the pen, he silently moved into the next room and stood listening with his back against the wall.
He heard the sound of the door open and shut. 494 frowned. He thought he had locked the door.
Then he heard a gasp. Then it went so quiet he would be able to her a pin drop. He was beginning to feel unnerved when a voice suddenly broke the silence.
"I know you are in here, Ben. You can come out," the voice said.
494's heart sank as he recognised Max's voice. The last person he wanted to see here. Knowing that he had not way of escaping without passing her, he stepped out of the room, revealing himself.
Max was staring at him with a look of pain in her eyes.
"Hi, Max," he said warily. She couldn't possibly have known what he was doing here. Could she?
"Ben, what are you doing?" she asked, still staring at him with that look. He found that he did not like the way she was looking at him at all. This was completely different from the friendly, caring…even loving look she usually bestowed on him. The expression on her face was a mix of sadness, anger and disappointment. 494 hated himself for putting it there.
"What do you think I am doing?" he answered her question with one of his own. He knew he was hedging, but he wanted to draw this out as long as he could. He did not want to see the trust in her eyes shatter at the revelation of his true identity. He was prolonging the inevitable but that was his choice to make.
"I thought you have changed, Ben. Why do you have to go back to this?" she said, gesturing at the tattoo pen. Her distress was clear in the tone of her voice.
His brow furrowed in confusion at first, as he realised that she still thought he was Ben. Then it dawned on him. 493's file contained pictures of his victims. All the victims of his psychosis had his barcode tattooed at the back of their necks. He tried to hide his dismay as he realised that she thought he was Ben going back to his killing ways. But that could mean that his cover was still salvageable.
"It's not what you think it is, Max," he said, stalling as he frantically searched his brain for a plausible excuse for being near the tattoo equipments.
Max narrowed her eyes and folded her arms over her chest, "So what is it then?" she asked, waiting for his answer expectantly.
"I…uh…Was trying to remove my barcode," he said in a rush as the idea suddenly presented itself to him.
"Really? What for?" she asked, eyeing him sceptically as she moved closer. Her hands were reaching out to his neck.
Without thinking of how it may look to Max, 494 jerked away from her hand. Oh, shit! She would sure suspect something now, you idiot! He ranted at himself.
She forcibly grabbed hold of his collar again, yanking it down to reveal his barcode. He could hear her sharp intake of breath. He knew that the game was over even before she spoke. He had been lucky before but this time, there was no way he could talk himself out of this mess. It was just too obvious.
"What is this, Ben? What did you do to your barcode?" she asked in a dangerously quiet voice.
t.b.c (-:grins evilly:-)
A/N: I know…Please don't kill me for the cliffhanger! Hehe! So, what do you think? Did you like this chapter or not? Is the cat finally out of the bag? Please leave meyour review. I'd love to know what you think.
