HQ Siege
They were in the vents. The attack was too strategically executed to be ordinaries, and aside from that, they wouldn't be stupid enough to take on the transgenics. No. This had to either be a government tactical team or someone similar.
Doing his best to fight the fumes, Logan typed the command codes into the systems. He dumped the server onto an offsite location and then set up the auto corrupt. It wasn't enough to delete. Systems could be rebuilt. He and Dix had been working on a worm failsafe. Just in the event of this type of scenario. If ever Terminal City were compromised, the locations and identities of all known transgenics would be safe. All the files that Max and Biggs had for security ops and hiatus would be destroyed too.
He managed to lockdown all the systems at the two main terminals before collapsing. Logan crumpled to the floor in a fit of coughs. His eyes watered till he couldn't see anything anymore, and he felt his lungs beginning to burn from lack of oxygen. Soon everything went black.
Mole moved between a bank of wall cages the second the first bomb dropped from the ceiling. He cocked his shotgun and aimed it at the vent. Even as gas filled to room and other transgenics scattered, he waited quietly. He wasn't counting on their next move though and he cursed as the lights went out.
The Phalanx soldiers waited until the power dropped out, then dropped almost silently to the floor, night vision goggles in place. Two of them took out transgenics with their backs exposed, before the riot began.
Mole used his hearing to mark the positions of the intruders and fired. Another shot he aimed at the vent. When he heard a grunt and crash, as the vent collapsed under the intruder's weight, he grinned. His satisfaction was short lived as a fist connected with his face. Mole grabbed the man's arm and threw him into the lockers. Still holding his arm, he ripped the headgear off; goggles, helmet and all. Stomping on them for good measure, Mole snarled at him. "How's that for leveling the playing field?" In the darkness, he could just make out the man and the silvery glint of a knife.
Alec crawled over to Logan. The man was unconscious. The gas was thinning, but he had to get the norm out of the area. No use performing AR if the first breath he took was a lung full of gas. Hoisting him over his shoulders. Alec did his best to navigate the room while staying out of sight. He could see the Phalanx dropping one at a time from the ceiling vents. That was until Mole blew a hole though the thing and it all have crumbling down.
Once Alec had Logan outside HQ, he left him with Joshua who had just thrown one of the Phalanx into a cement column. "I have to find Max. You got him?"
"I got Logan. You go, Alec."
"Thanks Josh."
The Infirmary
Max reached the door to the infirmary coughing, the gas almost everywhere. With her hand poised on the door, she prepared to turn it, when the lights when out. Her heart skipped a beat and she felt a soft footfall behind her. She was half-turned when a boot connected with her back and sent her sailing halfway down the corridor.
"That was for Thula," a voice snarled.
Pushing up off the floor, Max took her time getting up. The guy wasn't in a big hurry to get to her. He was taking his time. She could see him clearly, but she didn't recognize him or his voice. "She was a bitch."
"While that may have been true, her end was supposed to be at the hands of a great warrior. Not dealing with transgenic scum like you."
She felt his hands in her hair, pulling her upright. She didn't struggle against him. Not yet. With his face mere inches away, she could smell him. He smelled of sweat and cigars, not all that different to how Mole smelt. She wrinkled her nose, now wasn't the time to let her temperamental stomach get the better of her. When his lips curled into a self-satisfied grin. She reached up and ripped off his headgear and simultaneously kicked him in the gut, sending him backward.
It wasn't till she dropped his gear that she felt the sting of her leg. A deep gash oozed blood down her torn jeans. He held a knife in his hand and it was stained with her blood.
He tossed the knife to his other hand and beckoned her closer. "Come on little girl. Let's dance."
Behind him, Max could see another Phalanx soldier opening the door to the infirmary. She didn't have the luxury to mess with this guy. Lexie was a transgenic, but she didn't trust anyone else to protect her kids but herself, and she had to get to them.
Maxrushed at him, connecting to blows to his face, and knocking the knife from his grasp, before his big hand locked over her forearm. He swung her into the wall and her injured shoulder sagged under the impact. She bit back the tears that sprung to her eyes as the pain ripped through her body. Deal and move on Max. She growled, furious at herself over her weakness at that moment and raged beyond belief at the nerve of these guys. They thought they could invade their territory and finish the job while they were tending their wounded. Well, they had a reality check coming. Back head butting him, she whirled and gave him a round house to the jaw. At full force, her boot smacked into the side of his face, snapping his head to the left. The guy staggered backward and raised his hand, quickly wiping the blood from his split lip.
"Gotta do better than that."
"How's this?" Alec pushed the knife deep into his gut and up under his ribs.
The soldier's hand clamped over Alec's and squeezed till Max was sure she heard a cracking sound. Alec withdrew the blade and sunk it in again. The man spat in Alec's face and shuddered before his hand fell away.
Max, who'd been frozen to the spot, frantically turned to the door. "The twins."
Bursting through the door, it connected with something with a thump. The soldier who'd been standing in front of the door, when crashing into the bench. Lexie was on the defensive, effectively putting herself between the intruder and the kids.
Not giving the woman a second to recover, Max grabbed the back of her neck and threw her into the wall. The soldier rebounded and felt to the ground. "Ties, Lexie."
"Max, you can't be…"
"Ties!"
Lexie went to the cupboard and retrieved the demanded item. Placing it in Max's hand, she watched her restrain the semi-conscious Phalanx soldier. "You've got more heart than I have, I'll give you that."
"We need prisoners." Max took the soldier's helmet and goggles and placed them on the bench. She felt Alec's presence even before she turned to look at him. "The others?"
Mole seemed to have things under control." The cell at his hip buzzed and he answered it. "Yeah."
"HQ is ours, how many have you got?"
It was Biggs. "Two down. One dead. Block C is secure."
"Good. Luke and Dix are working at getting the power back online. Tell Lexie to be ready. We've got wounded. And I'll need Logan back here ASAP. We need our system back up and running."
"Got it." He snapped his phone shut and met Lexie's gaze. "Biggs is sending people our way. Sounds like not everyone did as well as us." He gave Max a concerned look. "Are you okay?"
"Shoulder's playing up, but I'm good." She avoided his eyes and went to Lexie's office.
Lexie threw Alec a towel. "Go wash up, and then help me get her out of here,"she said inclining her head in the direction of the restrained woman.
Alec went to the basin and turned on the faucet. As he watched the water running over his skin, the lights overhead flickered. Illuminated by the florescent lights, the blood on his hands was dark crimson. Warm water alone wasn't enough to wash the stains from his hands. He squeezed the soap dispenser but found it empty. "Lexie, you got more soap?"
He didn't get an answer and after scrubbing as best he could, he dried off with the towel she'd given him. Dropping it on the bench, he washed the knife, wiped it on the towel, and folded it closed. It was a good knife. It reminded him of the one that White had given him when he'd put clock on his life. His eyes widened in realization. Max. That look was because… Shoving the knife in his pocket he went to Lexie's office.
He paused in the doorway, watching her. She was staring down at the babies. Her hand trembled as she touched their hair. She looked up at him, and his heart thumped hard. She was afraid of him.
"Max, you have to know that-"
"I know, Alec." Max turned her head. She could still see the blood on his hands. He'd washed it off but the stain was still there. It was fresh in her mind's eye, and it was as though she could still smell it too.
"You don't know. It was our training. He was going to kill you, and I just reacted…"
"He was unarmed."
"You can kill people with your bare hands, Max. Or did you bail before that class?" At the hurt look in her eyes, he bit his tongue. Nice one, Alec. Way to rub it in. You're not gaining any headway here. If anything you're backsliding.
Max bit her lip. She was glad that he hadn't made a move toward her yet. The distance between them felt safe. She was rattled enough as it was without trying to get her head around why she was afraid of him.
"If this is because of that thing outside Sandeman's…"
"Don't." Max's felt her hand on her throat. "It's over."
Alec held his hands up. He approached her slowly, trying to show her that he wasn't a threat. She wasn't looking at him anymore, her eyes were distant, unfocused. She was remembering something. "I would never hurt you. Never," he whispered. She resisted at first, but when he continued to hold her, she leaned into him and buried her face in his chest.
"He's dead, Alec."
Somehow he got the feeling that she wasn't talking about the guy in the hallway. They were so messed up. Manticore had taken care of that royally. He wasn't surprised that she felt the only solution was too put everyone she cared about at arms length or as far away as possible. Besides having guns on their tail at every turn, there was no telling when their training would take over and turn them into the freaks they were so often labeled. He promised himself that he'd never do anything to mess up her life again, after he'd cost her the cure, but so far he'd managed to do it in spades. "You did what you had to Max. We all do."
Max drew back slowly. "The only reason I held back on that familiar was because I knew I could do exactly what you did. The impulse was there Alec. But after watching you do it…you reminded me of how I felt after Ben… I'm not a killer. They might have breed us that way but I won't…"
"And you won't have to Max." His cell phone buzzed again. "What's up?"
"We've got a problem."
And hallway outside HQ
Joshua held Logan loosely as the other man coughed sucking in fresh air. "You're okay Logan."
Logan didn't know about okay. Alive? Maybe. Okay? He felt far from it. His chest felt like someone had rolled over him with a truck, and his eyes were burning. At least he could breathe. It was times like this that he wondered just what he'd gotten himself into. He sat up slowly, his head pounding from lack of oxygen. He blinked, trying to clear away the stars that dotted his vision. "How long was I out?"
"Not long. A few minutes?" Joshua gave him a look of concern but readily grab Logan's arm when he tried to stand on his own. "Want to go to the infirmary? Have Lexie look at you?"
Shaking his head, Logan removed his glasses, cleaned them and placed them back on his nose. "If the siege is over I better get back to the Command Center. Start the recovery process."
Joshua nodded, not really understanding what that meant but wanting to appear as though he knew what Logan was talking about. He had gotten a better grasp on what the X series and norms did on the outside, and moved from being an observer and casual runner to daily operations contributor and advisor of a whole band of transgenic. A lot of the transgenics looked up to him. He'd cared for a lot of them back at Manticore, especially the transhumans. Max thought it'd be better if orders came from him or Mole rather than her and Biggs. Max had a lot of faith and trust in him, and Joshua made it a promise never to disappoint her.
He followed Logan back to the doors that lead to HQ. He kept a wary eye on the man. Logan was an ordinary and even though he believed that he was stronger than most ordinaries, he'd been very sick and nearly died once. He had to be careful. It was bad enough that Max could make him sick, but just being around the transgenics put him in danger. Logan was a stubborn man. He wouldn't leave just because he was jeopardizing his own safety. He argued that the transgenics could use allies, and he had skills that were invaluable. As long as they weren't free to live like normal citizens, he'd stick around. Seeing as there was no persuading him otherwise, Joshua took it upon himself to watch out for Logan. Max might protest that she and Logan were just friends, but Joshua knew that if anything bad was to happen to Logan, Max would blame herself. She had Alec and her babies to worry about now, and if he could help her out, he would.
Logan climbed the short flight of stairs to the command desk. Two of the monitors were broken. Smashed in by batons. The bank of monitors overhead where undamaged though, so he set to work recovering their systems using them.
The first things he brought back online were the surveillance systems. He was in the process of linking up most of the cameras when the HQ intercoms crackled to life.
"Gunner to HQ…anyone…"
"Gunner, it's Logan, go ahead." Logan swiveled in his chair and motioned to Biggs who was on the lower level talking to Dix.
"White's gone. During the raid, he must have slipped by me…"
Biggs bounded up the stairs and came to stand by Logan in time to catch the last words from Gunner. "He's what!"
Furious, Logan pounded the desk and wheeled to the next terminal. He typed in a few commands and scrolled through the security feed from the cameras before he locked down the system.
Biggs and Joshua leaned in to watch the video. They saw a figure running through the mist in the loading area of Terminal City, taking out two X6s manning the gate.
"Gunner, get to the receiving bay now," Biggs ordered.
"On it, sir."
"Joshua, you're with me. Let's go."
Command Center, Terminal City
When Max and Alec reached HQ, Logan was deeply engaged in a hack of an NSA satellite. Alec shifted the sleeping child he had in his arms. Lexie had asked to leave them.
"They're sleeping and they'll stay that way for at least another hour. Biggs needs you to keep things together, they'll be fine I promise. If they wake up in the meantime, I'll call you."
Max gave her a pensive look. "It's not that I don't trust you Lexie…you know a lot more than I do about caring for them but…"
Lexie nodded, an understanding smile forming on her lips. "You don't have to explain. They're only safe if they're with you."
"Up till I saw that bitch going for them, I seriously didn't know I was capable of being so terrified." She glanced over at Alec. "Think you could give me a hand?"
Alec moved closer and tentatively scooped up his son. He could feel both women watching him. It was bad enough that he felt completely uncoordinated and nervous out of his brain but he had the kid's mother boring holes into his back. And it'd be a lot worse if he dropped the baby. Carefully supporting the baby's head, he brought him close to his chest, and wrapped the blanket around him more snugly.
"Aww Alec, you're a natural." Lexie elbowed him playfully and grinned.
Jesse squirmed in his sleep and yawned. Alec tightened his grip instinctively, the feeling that the baby was going to slip out of his arms making his heart skip a beat in his chest. When Jesse settled again, Alec let out the breath that he hadn't realized he'd been holding. He wiped his forehead with his free hand. "If they stayed this small, I don't think I'd make it past thirty."
"Wait till they hit two," Max teased.
"What happens at two?" Alec swallowed thickly.
Out of the corner of her eye, she could already see new beads of perspiration breaking out over his forehead, and she smirked to herself as she picked Tia up. "They grow a pair of horns and a tail."
"He knew." Logan grit his teeth and stared at a freeze frame of two figures fighting. Their backs were to the camera and the image was cloudy because of the gas, but it was definitely White. All the Phalanx soldiers had been in stealth gear. The man in the picture was dressed in a white shirt. The other was distinctively younger, one of the X6s.
The HQ intercom buzzed again and this time it was Biggs. "Get Lexie down here. Jax is dead but Tag is alive. He's bleeding heavily, we'll need guys ready to pinch."
"On it. Calling Lexie now." Alec flipped out his phone and paged Lexie. Tia woke up and started whimpering. Alec watched as Max rocked her and bent her head to rest her cheek against her daughter's head.
"Did he plan this? How could he have known we'd bring him here?" Max moved to see the monitor Logan was looking at, but kept about an arms length between them they wouldn't bump into each other if he turned. She did it semi-consciously now. It had been so long since they'd discovered the virus that she felt like she'd been living with it for years. She'd almost forgotten what his touch felt like. It wasn't as thought she was craving it or anything, but it felt odd to not be able to hug someone or squeeze their hand in a gesture of support. If only Manticore had put an expiration date on their nasty piece of work. It'd be nice to just be able to touch his shoulder without the risk of killing him.
Logan turned his chair so he was facing her. It was the first time he'd seen the kids. Alec was holding one of them, and Max had the other. He felt tears prick at the back of his eyes and he coughed, blinking them away. "The gas really got to me."
"Your eyes are very red, do you want some saline? I know Lexie had a few bottles in the Infirmary."
Half smiling, Logan shook his head. "I'll live. I've had worse."
Alec caught the sad look on the man's face as he looked at Tia in Max's arms. He's probably wishing it was his child that she was holding. "I don't think he pre-planned it, but I don't think it was a coincidence either. He knew The Conclave would send the Phalanx after him, although talk about daring. They had to be nuts, trying to take on transgenic central."
"Maybe they suspected that he'd give them up. They've been planning this for too long to let him bring it down on them."
"Did you get in contact with your friend in DC?" Alec remembered that White had asked for a pardon in exchange for information. Not only would it be worthless to him if it wasn't signed by the President, but there was no way they'd hand it over to him now that he'd killed their own – again.
"I called my contact, but she couldn't get through to the White House. The President can't give him a pardon anyway because the President has just been hospitalized a long with majority of his cabinet."
"What about the Vice President? Wasn't she in weapons trade agreements with South America? If White has something that can put an end to the outbreak, I'm sure the CDC and anti-terrorist agencies would be willing to deal." Tia had settled, but Max continued to rock her. That same fear she'd felt when the Phalanx were after her kids had come back. This time it was because of a threat she might no be able to stop.
"Unless he's willing to give them something substantial, nobody's going to authorize it. And now that he's out, we've got nothing. It's already breeched the Capital. It's hit New York, Las Vegas, Miami, Los Angeles and Chicago too. Hospital emergency rooms are filling and are ill equipped to handle biohazard situations of this scale. There are more patients than there are nurses and doctors to care for them. The CDC are trying to keep a lid on things to avoid mass hysteria, but their investigation isn't progressing fast enough. The incubation period is extremely short and there have already been ten reported fatalities."
"Who's your source?" Alec had seen the news, and so had Max. The reports had said nothing of the outbreak spreading. It looked as though every major city either coast was being targeted. Seattle could be next if it hadn't already started.
Logan ran a hand through his hair. "She's an old friend. Veronica Walter. She's with the CIA. She said if we can help, she could use it. Things are getting out of hand in D.C. The White House, the Pentagon, the CDC head office, FBI HQ and Langley were all hit almost simultaneously." He called up a map of the DC area and marked off all the buildings that were under lock down. "She was offsite when they called the emergency quarantine. She got checked out anyway, but she's clear. Her boss gave her the go to investigate possible leads. She has asked us for back up."
"You're going to send transgenics to DC? Are you serious? They're rounding them up…"
"It's not local enforcement. It's McKinley's NSA taskforce. She believes that the transgenics are being framed too. This comes from higher up the food chain. Someone wants to shift the balance of power. It's not a coincidence that the White House and security agencies where compromised first. And she thinks it's strange that McKinley was conveniently absent the day the cabinet was hit."
"If this is White's breeding cult, then Max is the one to stop it."
Max shot Alec a dark look. "Kicking ass is a specialty but I hardly see…"
"Your blood Max. White said you're immune to whatever they've cooked up." Alec fingered Jesse's tiny hand that had slipped out of the blanket. "And I bet they are too, and that's why the Phalanx were sent after them."
"If we're going to get people on our side we have to do what we can to stop this. I can have Beverly work with you. Let me call Veronica. I'm sure she can help us." At Max's defeated nod, Logan punched in a number on his phone. "Veronica, it's me."
In Veronica's car, Virginia
Veronica hit the incoming call button with a passing glance at the number. "Logan, what do you have for me?"
"We might have a lead on how to stop the outbreak."
"That's great. The CDC are just about in critical meltdown mode. They've got investigators and medical teams dispatched to all the hot zones but they still don't have any answers. Most people are too sick to talk and testing everything in the quarantine areas has been really slow going. If you've got some guys you can spare, I could really use the help. I lent a hand at the hospital and right now I'm couriering a trunk load of samples to the lab. What do you need?"
"I can spare a few hands if you can get me access to a lab over here."
"I'll put in a call and see what I can get you. Give me five minutes."
Command Center, Terminal City
Biggs had come back with Joshua and CeCe. And Logan was on the phone with Veronica again. "What's the update?"
"Logan's trying to arrange a lab for Max, Lexie and Dr Shankar to start analyzing the pathogen." Alec felt something warm against his chin. Jesse's little hand was brushing his face. Despite the tense vibe he was getting from everyone in HQ, he couldn't help grinning. "Hey there."
Max smiled at the look on Alec's face, as Jesse stared up at him in wide-eyed observation. "White seemed to think that I could stop this thing. Personally, I wish someone else was blessed with my genes right now."
"Veronica got a lab uptown. Melbay Pharmaceuticals. Your contact is Adrian Steen. Biggs, Veronica is negotiating the release of the transgenics being held at an NSA base, but she said that we might have to break them out if things fall through. They're being shipped out at daybreak. I promised her we'd provide back up."
"And she'll have it. CeCe and I will go."
"Good, a helicopter will be here in ten minutes."
"I think you should stay," Alec said to Biggs. "The transgenics need you here. I've been gone awhile but don't think I haven't noticed the sideways looks in my direction. They respect you as a leader, they need you here."
"Then who? Gem won't leave Missy, not with norms camped outside."
Alec glanced at Max, then back at Biggs. "I'll go."
Max felt her stomach hit the floor. She looked from Biggs to Alec and threw her hand up in disbelief. "Let Logan go, or someone else… why does it have to be an X5 anyway? We could send Regan or Mole."
"TC's systems are crippled. We need Dix and Logan working on them. And if we send a transhuman McKinley's guys will be on them before they can even get close enough to any damage," Biggs said reasonably. He understood Max's concern but Alec was not only one of the best at covert ops, but he'd be a level head to CeCe's often-explosive infiltration techniques.
"Veronica agreed to keep the CDC out of the loop but only for the next 12 hours. She's obligated to give her superiors a full update then and she hopes to offer them not only a cure but also the people responsible. She doesn't want the transgenics to burn for this any more than we do. We're on a deadline, the clock's ticking in more ways than one."
Alec shot Biggs a look. Biggs nodded and turned to talk to Logan. Grasping Max's arm, Alec steered her to a corner. "I have to do this. Trust me, if there was someone else better I'd be all for it, but we're short manned here. I want to do this for us Max. If White and The Conclave go down for good and we come up with the cure, the government will have to accept us. This is our chance to prove we're valuable to them…"
"They've got to know that we're onto them Alec or they wouldn't have risked coming here. I can't protect the kids on my own…"
"They'll be safe Max. These guys and Logan's contact are the only ones who'll know where you are. I'll be back before you know it." Alec gave her one of his best charming smiles but it didn't do much to lift her spirits. "Just tell me something, I really have to know."
Max had a sneaking suspicion it's about their first night together. She stiffed unconsciously, preparing herself for a personal attack against the carefully erected wall she'd build around those feelings. Tia snuggled against her chest and she hugged her tighter.
"Why did you run?"
Max narrowed her eyes at him, slightly defensive. "And you didn't?"
"Hey, that's different and you know it. Besides that's not answering my question?" Alec pointed out with a teasing glint in his eye.
Despite his obvious attempt to set her at ease, Max still felt like he was placing the blame on her. "I freaked out okay."
"Initially, I'd buy that yeah, but you avoided me for two months." She was admitting that she was scared but that wasn't enough for him anymore. He'd lost half a year of a life they could have shared together, he'd missed being there before because she'd pushed him away. He wanted an explanation.
Max bit her lip and looked at Jesse, avoiding looking at Alec directly. His hazel eyes were too intense right now. Having them on her, she felt as though he was stripping her bare of her defenses. She couldn't hold back or retreat behind her wall while he was watching her. Finding courage as Tia's heart beat against hers, Max lifted her eyes. "I needed time to figure things out, and it's not like you stuck around. When I realized I needed to talk things through, you'd disappeared."
"I think two months is plenty of time don't you think? And it's not like I didn't try to talk to you. You did a better job of evading me than you did White." He immediately regretted saying that when he saw the look of white shock on her face. "I'm sorry, that wasn't fair…"
"You're right. It wasn't," Max said, levelly.
Alec touched her arm, and gently dragged her closer. "Shot up and on death's door, I'd still find away to get back to you."
"Don't joke about things like that." She nudged him with her elbow, but smiled at him with her eyes.
Alec leant down and captured her lips. He kissed her softly. They both heard CeCe cough loudly behind them and they broke apart reluctantly. "I'll be back before you know it."
Notes: Many thanks to acirefox for the beta. Please send me your thoughts, I seriously crave feedback. Thanks bunches guys.