Author: Athena
Rating: PG-13
Show: Dark Angel
Genre: Drama/Action/Romance
Pairing: M/A
Summary: Max and Alec travel 20 years back in time at Metropolis, KS to rescue a friend. DA/Smallville crossover .
Disclaimer: Nothing is mine.
Time Jump - Take 2
…He might take advantage of their relationship for his own gain….
&&&&&
After a moment that feels like a day, Lex Luthor finally decided. I just hope I won't regret it
"Ok… you two will travel together. Some of my people will take you to a more … comfortable location where you will study the mission information" and saying that, four security guys armed with tazers appeared through the door. For a moment, Alec was wishing he gave them a little chance to escape, but it was obvious that Lex Luthor was a clever man. He wasn't taking chances with them. Right then he pushed a control remote he had in his pocket, and the bars disappeared the same way they appeared before.
The guards handcuff them, on arms and legs, and were about to escort them out of the room, when Max stopped. "Wait! What about Logan? You promise you'll let him free. I want proof that he's safe before we do this."
"Yeah, and what about the money? We didn't talk about that" Alec said, and Max elbowed him, as hard as she could with her arms restrained by the handcuffs. "Hey! That's important too!"
"Yes, of course it is important" Lex Luthor said coldly. "I will inform you the final terms of our agreement when you reach the facility I mentioned. And there you'll be able to see Mr. Cale before he starts his travel back to Seattle, like I told you before"
The security guys take them to the roof, where a helicopter where waiting for them. "I have a bad feeling about this, Max. I don't trust this guy, Luthor" he whispered, so she was the only one who hears him. "Yeah. Me too. But we already are inside this mess, so we have no options. Besides, Zack might need us."
&&&&&
They could see during the helicopter ride how the city faded away and turned into farms and cornfields. They landed on a building that seems to be out of place, a very modern factory in the middle of nowhere. "If this is a hotel, I'm Superman and you're Wonder woman" Alec whispered, and Max only rolled her eyes. Alec, you'll never change
Still handcuffed, the guards took them through the facility. They could see labs, strange machines with glowing green stones, animals that looked nothing like what they know, plants and vegetables with weird shapes and colors, and what frightened most, rooms with persons under strange "treatments". Some of them were just kids. The first impression Max had it was that they were at old Manticore, with his white lab gowns doctors and his freaking experiments and the mere thought gave her the creeps. Alec has the same impression too, and it brought him awful memories of Psi-Ops and torture. They were wondering if Lex Luthor told them the truth. That he really wasn't trying to rebuild Manticore.
&&&&&
They finally arrived to their final destination. A steel door with extra security. Alec was impatient. "This might be a lab where they are gonna dissect us, Max. Can you realize that? Geez, why do you always drag me into these kind of problems? I just hope I won't be shot. That always happen when I'm with you in your rescue missions…" he said, trying to sound angry, but Max knew better. He was scare. Shit, I'm scare
The security guys finally open the door and the inside was nothing like they were expecting. Instead of a lab, the room looked a lot like a hotel room, with a king size bed, a couch, a closet, some cabinets, a minibar, a TV, for sure a bathroom and creamy colors and paintings on the walls. Not a five stars room, but it was nice. And sitting on the bed was Logan, apparently in one piece. The guards, with tazers in hand, freed them and leave them inside. Alec tried to re-open the door the second they left, but it was impossible. It couldn't be open from the inside. Max, in the other hand, was in shock. Logan seemed to be okay, but he didn't seem to recognized them …
"Max, it's really gooood to seeee you!" Logan said suddenly, more cheerful that they have ever heard him in their lives. "It's my imagination or does he sound like a bad impersonation of a drunk cheerleader?" Alec said whispering, trying not to laugh. "Yeah, he sounds weird. And don't laugh. Luthor's people must give him something to act like that. "
"Hey, yuhuu, I'm saying that I'm glaaad to seeee yooou! Stooop your liip talkking wit' Aleec an' talk to meeee!" He came closer to Max, trying to get her attention. "Maaax, aren't you glad to seee meee? I'm the lovve of yoour liffe, show more emmotiion, pleaaseee!"
"geez, now, I think he's drunk, he smell like shit" Alec said out loud, not caring about Logan hearing him.
"And yoooou, stop messssinnng with my girlfrieendd! And I dooonn't smell. It's just myy nattturaaal aroma and I knoww Maaxx likeees it…" he said, until Max knocked him out. "Oh, God, he was driving me nuts! What the hell they did to him?" Max screamed.
Alec put his arm around her shoulders, and pull her, like if he was about to kiss her or something like that. Max's first reaction was to push him, but Alec's steel grip on her wrist stopped her. "Shhh. This room is wired; they are seeing and hearing us." Alec said on her ear in a smooth voice, just for Max to hear it. It made her skin tingled. "how do you…" she was about to say something when the TV screen turned on. It was Lex Luthor.
"I hope you like your accommodations. And I see you have take care of Mr. Cale" He said with a sardonic smile on his face. It was obvious that he saw the whole scene. He frowned a little his forehead at the sight of Max and Alec's 'intimate' embrace, but he said nothing about it. "Well, like I said before, now is time to settle our agreement. I offer for your professional services a sum of $1 million dollars, transferred to the bank account of your choice and, of course, Mr. Cale will be taken to Seattle by my personal airplane. Any questions?"
"What's gonna happen if we refuse? I mean, there's the possibility that we never come back…" Alec said, doubting of the Lex's Luthor offer.
"Well, I will tell you that's things aren't going to be pretty for any of you. You know, you're valuable commodities and your prize on the black market is beyond your wildest dreams. I have two or three good offers for the two of you, alive or dead." His smile was almost wicked.
"Ok, so we have no choice. I think we already knew that. Where's the info? When are we going to do this travel?" Max said, trying not to sound hysterical. god, this is getting worst every minute!
"The information is in a safe behind the sailing boat painting. And the trip is going to be tomorrow at 8 am, so sleep well." He looked at his watch, a really expensive Rolex. "Right now is 3:00 am, so you have five hours to study the info and catch some sleep. A piece of cake for engineered killing machines, you might say," he said sarcastically "ah, and my men will take away Mr. Cale the moment you leave the room for the time travel" He smiled at them, knowing that he had them on his hands. "Hey, that wasn't the deal…" max started to say when Lex Luthor said "Peace. Out", trying to imitate EO broadcasts, and the TV screen went black.
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7:00 am
Alec was sleeping on the bed, his smooth respiration making contrast with Logan's snoring. It's a wonder that he could fall sleep with all these noise Max thought cheerfully. They studied over and over again the info Luthor gave them, but like an hour ago, it was obvious Alec needed to sleep. It was ironically, but he didn't want to sleep, knowing that the room was wired, but she insisted. After all, he doesn't have any shark DNA like me Logan was on the couch, and he looked much better than the way he was some hours ago. I just hope he wake up with a clear mind before we leave the room.
The info was basically Zack's mission parameters. Zack was sent to find an ancient artifact, location unknown, some kind of 'stone' with some gibberish that apparently was sacred to ancient cultures. Why Lex Luthor or Luthorcorp want it, it wasn't on the file. The stone was part of legends and local stories until it was recovered in China by a group of four people: Lex Luthor, Jason Teague, a girl named Lana Lang and farm boy named Clark Kent, disappearing when they returned to the States. The stone reappeared some time later in a chain of events that evolved on Jason Teague and his mother's death and it disappeared again. The stone couldn't just vanished, someone must taken it.
So, discarding Luthor (for obvious reasons) and Jason Teague, who was already dead, there were two suspects: Lana Lang and Clark Kent. The arrival time was some date in 2005 and the files included school, personal interests, friends, relatives, even love affairs. They found interesting that the girl, Lana, had been girlfriend of this guy, Clark, and Jason Teague, and she also used to have a really close friendship with Lex Luthor himself. It was a shame they couldn't research more about them, about their "future" after 2005, because even when the names didn't ring a bell, their faces were oddly familiar. Well, maybe after we come back, Logan will help us about it
She was thinking about it when the TV turned on. It was Luthor again.
"Mmh, I see your partner is still sleeping. It seems to me that he doesn't have the stamina to keep your pace. You should think about replace him. I can be that replacement, or whatever you want, you know" he said, his comment sounding more sordid to Max that it really was.
"I don't think so. Besides, we aren't like that." Max said, angry about the implication Luthor made. "Like what? My dear, I don't know what you mean" He said smugly, making Max angrier.
"What do you want? You said the travel was programmed for 8 am. And there's still time." Max said totally pissed Relax Max, he might kill all of you if he wants it. Control yourself
"Yes, I know I said that, but you need to do some preparations before. So, wake up your partner and get ready. In 15 min my guards will be there to take you to the Time Jump lab"
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The guards took them to a different level that looked more than a warehouse than a lab. It had a rounded platform on the middle, surrounded by a framed structureEach frame had a panel that looked like a thin mirrors. It looked a little like a carrousel, but without roof and ponies Alec thought.
In front of the platform, on the other side of the lab, was some kind of control room, with consoles, big server computers and lots of screens monitor, or at least that's what they saw through the glass mirror using their transgenic sight. And Lex Luthor was inside.
The guards hold them until Lex Luthor came to them. "Well, what do you think about my time machine? Amazing, isn't it?" Lex said with pride. "It looks to me like a piece of junk, but if you say so…" Max said nastily.
"ok, ok, straight to business. I will give you some money from that time that you will be able to use there…. Here… $1000" He handed the money to Max. "This money is only useful on 2005. So, if you're thinking of keeping something for your return, you won't able to use it. That also apply to any money you 'acquire' during your journey. So, if you come back with remaining money, you'll return it to me. Understood?" both transgenic nodded, obviously disappointed.
He handed a backpack to Alec. "Here, that's equipment that will help you…." He hadn't finished his sentence when Alec had already checked the inside. "You must be kidding!" he handed the backpack to Max, so she could see it herself. "Rope? A map? Climbing gear? Simple guns? You're nuts…. Where's the high tech electronic devices? The laptop? The best arms? We had better stuff with us when we tried to steal from you, and we don't have the best in the market by far. Return it to us, because this…stuff… is for amateurs."
"You can't travel with anything from this time. We can't change the way things happened. And that included the technology progress. So, you can leave these things if you want, but, remember, you only have $1000"
"Aren't we going to change the past by robbing this artifact? I don't see the difference." Alec said sarcastically.
"No. You're not. The artifact had been hidden all these years, so there's no difference. Besides, have you forget that transgenics hadn't been out of Manticore until '09?" he looked at Max who avoided his gaze. "And the '09 escapees were kids. Don't you think an adult transgenic will make a difference? We don't know if Zack already changed something from the past, his own and the collective one. It can be already late."
"Ok, ok, we're taking these with us. What else?" Max said, putting the money on the backpack. "Anything more we need to know? Like how are we going to come back?"
"Take these." Lex Luthor handed them two watches that look pretty normal "These aren't simple watches. We call them 'markers'. Look, it has two buttons. The one in the right will let us know that you want to come back"
"What happened if we lose one marker? One of us won't be able to come back?" Alec said.
"No. You only need one to travel. The only thing you need is that the person that carry it must be touching the other persons or things that are also traveling."
"And the left one?" Max said curious.
"Oh, that one shows you the remaining time. Ah, because each marker last a certain period of time. 72 hours from its activation. After that, it will disintegrate." Max and Alec glared to each other "Only 72 hours", Max whispered; "Now I can understand why Zack didn't come back"
Tbc…
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A/N: what do you think? Review please!
And wait for the Take 3! (third part of the second part)
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Tks a lot to the people who review Part 2 - Take 1:
HoneyX5452: Again the first one! Tks a lot ;) … You'll have to wait a little for Zack (one or two updates), but I'm sure you won't be disappointed. I'll try to update faster… the only thing I'm not as fast as you… but I'll do my best…
A reader Tks a lot. And I have more surprises in mind for the plot, so stay tuned!
CrimsonReality : I'm glad you like it, I hope you like this one…
EminemIsSoHott Thank you! You know, I must confess I'm a Max/Alec fan at heart, but … this is a Xover, so I've already thought about the possibilities you suggested. You never know…