Title: Happily Ever After...
Author's name: Roxy
Author's email: roxymusic38hotmail.com
Beta: Rose
Beta's email: arwenqis.net
Category: Action, Humor and Romance. (M/L)
Rating: PG
Disclaimer: This story is based on characters and situations created by James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee. I don't own Dark Angel, though Noah and Lou do belong to me. I am making no money out of this.
Summary: This is my hit at a 3rd season. Max and the others are trapped in TC, surrounded by White's men. A new little sister comes along. Deck reappears (isn't he just our favorite bad guy?). X5s reunion. More Familiars and how to deal with them.
Previous Chapter: Max hooks up with Lou a long time no see baby sister with weird abilities. The trannies along with Lydecker, fouled Ames White into thinking that he's managed to get rid of them using military air force and turning TC into ashes. Logan is in hospital while OC and Sketchy are back in the free world.
Feedback: Black Rose: I'm glad Lou gets on your nerves, because I would strangle her if I had to spend an hour in the same room with her. She's meant to be the selfish spoiled brat kid that she is, eventually she'll change a bit, we'll see about that. It also is an image that she's cultivating, you know. She actually likes being seen that way. And anyway, what's the point in only having characters that people love, right? Ships um... yeah, there might be. M/L for sure, for the rest keep reading and reviewing. Thanks.
BlueAngel: Now that's the kind of review that keeps me going for sure. Thanks. Hope you'll enjoy this chapter as much as the previous one. It's a bit lighter but it won't always be. Things are slowly putting themselves into place.
Agmgdafan: Hey, I know you... you had already reviewed this story when it was entitled Third Season. Nice of you to go through it again. So, what d'you think? Is it any better? I know the plot's mostly the same but what about the writing? I'm working hard on that you know! Lol! You'll notice that this chapter has nothing to do with Chapter II of Third Season, so... keep reading and thanks.
Allison Lightning: Wow! Lol! Thanks a lot Allison, your review made my day!
M/L Only: Of course, there's going to be more M/L. If there had been an S3, I wouldn't have seen it any other way. I've come across some really good M/A fic though I don't think I'll ever write any. It would be like being untrue to someone... lol! I'm nuts. Anyway, there's gonna plenty of M/L in this fic, maybe even some smut coming up... Oh, no, I've said too much!!!
Tabitha5: Thanks, hope you'll like the rest as well... Aren't you also one of the readers that had read Third Season before? If not, sorry, I'm mistaking you for somebody else... I'm such a geek lol!
I would also like to thank all those that reviewed on darkangeltv.com; brokenworld.tk and livejournal.com... Oh, and I also thank Rose, my beta babe ;D!
Further Notes (I swear, you'll get to read the chapter after that lol!): I had to split this chapter in two. It's not especially longer than the previous one but for some reason, ff.net kept cutting it in the middle!!! Don't ask me why, I have no idea! I tried several times and each time it cut it! So, anyway, here it is, in two parts but here... behold Chapter II (I'm nuts, haven't I already mentioned that?)
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Happily Ever After...
Chapter II (Part 1): Back in Manticore?
They were out of TC alright, but where to?
Max wasn't quite sure and she feared the very thought of finding out where trusting Lydecker had lead them. Maybe he had helped them take down the DNA lab, a mission that had cost her own life but then again Max knew too well how some missions could go sideways even when you least expected them to. She hadn't planned on leading the transgenics into all this when she had first set them free.
Anyway, Max was anxious and so were all the others. Now that she didn't have Logan anymore she felt... alone and insecure. Paradoxical; since she was the one that was supposed to assure his protection and not the other way around.
All the TC transgenics were already in... what was it called? 'Not Manticore', she hoped. So, they were all in this not-Manticore-but-sorta- Manticore facility as they had evacuated TC progressively in small groups; Max's being the last.
She was also apprehensive about her meeting with Zack. Would he really be himself again? Or would he be Manticore? And what if this was all a trap because he was still Manticore deep down inside? She had seen what Psy-Ops had done to some of her brothers and sisters; Brin, Jace, Billie (that was a whole other story) and Zack himself. Psy-Ops reduced you to a little puppy taking and accomplishing orders and then going back to its master wagging its tail.
If Zack had been turned then they were all lost. She didn't trust Lydecker, well she trusted him to a certain extent and that extent was letting them out of TC and then finding them a home sweet home.
Well, at least, if Zack still had uncontrollable terminate-Eyes-Only pulses, Logan wasn't around. Lydecker had taken him to what he called a secure hospital, secured from White and his nasty Familiars.
But oh my god, Logan, hospital; hospital, Lydecker; Lydecker, Zack. If Zack had been compromised, all Deck had to do was to send him to Logan's hospital and then... How stupid could she be to have fallen into such a trap! It was so obvious! Something was up!
"Calm down Maxie" Lou said, "You're as hyperactive as an EM pulse"
They were just entering the new facility after walking several hours.
"What?" Max said distracted, "Me? I'm perfectly calm" she said not really convincing.
"Whatever" Lou sighed, "You'll see once we're inside... Zack wasn't lying and I don't think he's alone either"
"What d'you mean?" Max asked more anxious.
"I'm not sure... but you'll see" Lou said casually.
Look at her! Not a care in the world, not a single problem or responsibility! She was one weird little chick, indeed. She didn't look a bit worried, well not by anything else other than her hair.
She was constantly passing her available hand through it while her other hand held the bag she had been carrying around ever since she had first arrived in TC. One of the first groups going through the tunnel had been in charge of carrying personal belongings and of leaving them at the end of the tunnel so that each proprietor could get back what was his.
Max knew Lou was special among the X5s, whether that was intended or not, she didn't know but Lou was... different. She sensed things better and with much more precision than any of them.
They were all capable of detecting fear, anxiety or weird behavior by smelling, detecting sweat or scanning pupils but that was it. With Lou, it was like she simply knew. Just like she had done with Zack back in TC; and she didn't even have the guy in front of her, no, she had done it through a computer screen! That meant that distance was certainly not a problem using her high sensory ability.
Lou would just frown for a few seconds; her whole body would stiffen for a very brief instant and then she would relax and most of the time, ordinaries wouldn't even notice it. Max supposed she could trust Lou though she didn't know how her little sister's ability had developed through the years; Max didn't know whether or not Lou had been wrong or if she had ever mistaken a feeling for another, therefore Max still kept her fears in the back of her mind.
The building looked like any other: big grey ugly thing surrounded by perimeter fence that seemed unpleasantly familiar. They walked in, using the main gate that was open and arrived to the front door.
Mole was waiting for them, sitting in the sun, smoking a cigar Lydecker had given him.
"Well it's about time he groaned, "What happened, d'you stop for picnic or what?"
No one even bothered responding. If even the sun didn't help Mole do anything but groan and be grumpy, nobody else even dared trying.
Max simply walked up to him, still very nervous but no one could've noticed except maybe Posh X5.
"Is everybody alright?" she asked.
The reptile man nodded and said:
"No losses" blowing out smoke.
"Where's Lydecker?" was Max's second question though what she was thinking came closer to 'Where's Zack?'
"Waiting for you and kiddo here" he replied nodding at Lou who simply raised an eyebrow in protest.
Mole then lead Max, Lou, Joshua and Alec into the facility and the little Zen tagged along with the two X6s.
Max wondered if it was just her imagination or if this facility really resembled Manticore. The empty halls, the echoes of their footsteps, the grey naked walls and the smell, the smell of disinfectants, like in hospitals.
Every time she turned her head, she felt memories pushing back through her head; the trainings, the experiments, the seizures, the infirmary, the gunshots... Eva, Jack... Just when she thought she couldn't take it anymore, Mole came to a stop.
"You three follow me" he told the X8 and the X6s, "Luck Max" he just added.
He immediately left with the three younger ones, leaving Max more nervous than ever. 'Luck Max! What the hell's that suppose to mean! Luck Max!' she inertly scoffed. Still she burst in without even knocking.
All the heads in the room turned towards her even though some of them had heard them arrive with Mole long before others. Max took a few steps forwards in order to let Alec, Joshua and Lou enter as well; but she didn't dare go any further.
Lydecker was sitting behind a desk, his desk apparently, running through papers. Zack was looking over his shoulder, his back resting against the wall. Syl was casually sitting on Lydecker's desk, Krit standing not far away. And there was this black girl with curls and green eyes. She was a bit aside of all of them, not really taking part in whatever they were doing.
For once, Max thought she could sense like Lou that it was Noah, another '09. Awkwardly enough, Noah reminded her of Original Cindy and later on that would make Max feel comfortable with her though they barely knew each other.
It all looked like a nice and normal family reunion; daddy with all his kids, but Max couldn't help but feel uneasy. There was too much untold and undone. It all seemed surreal and impossible.
She wanted to hold Syl and Krit in her arms, same for Noah and Zack but she couldn't. How much did Zack know? How much of him was really back? Would it ever be like before between them? The answer was no, it would never be like it had been because something very important had changed on Zack's part.
She couldn't hold Noah either because her sister looked Max over from head to toe with that all too familiar emotionless expression. Her entrance had like frozen whatever action had been taking place and Max had never had a harder time finding a sarcastic remark. God, what was Alec doing! But against all odds, the first one to break the silence was Lydecker.
"So, you're all here" he said, "We were just discussing the facility's inner function and its future relations with the government"
Oh oh! Had he just said the G-word? Max's thoughts focused on something other than her family. Was this really a trap?
"The government?" she repeated, "What's the government got to do with that? The government is the one that sent White to blow our ass up"
"Well, yes. The public had to think that the transgenic issue had been resolved and I believe that now they do" Lydecker shrugged.
"You mean this was all a lie?" Max asked astonished.
"Not quite. White really thinks he's accomplished his mission and so that gives us a head start" Lydecker said.
"A head start towards what?" Lou asked.
"Well first of all, there's the Familiar problem. I've been working on it these past few months-"
"Really? Found death was too boring?" Lou scoffed.
"- and there are a lot of things that don't add up. Logan might come in handy"
Great, Max thought. He doesn't want to kill Logan but to enslave and use him for some brain work for the rest of his life. What a relief!
"Wait, wait, wait" Max said, "Why are we here? I mean, why is the government helping us when as far as I can remember, all it's ever done was be a pain in my ass?"
"The whole transgenic population within Terminal City being blown up! That would've meant millions of dollars wasted!" Lydecker said, "Besides... the government might need a little transgenic help now and then... after all, it's what you're were designed to do" Lydecker said.
There it went, that was it; the whole thing was nothing but a big mouse trap and she had led them all right into it. What the government wanted was to recreate Manticore. To get all its little soldiers back...
"Stop living in the past, Lydecker! You know we'll never go back, we'll never be what you want us to be! We'll keep on fighting, plus we're too many for you, you don't stand a chance"
"Neither do any of us if we choose to live outside" a strong determined voice said loudly.
It was Zack. He had rose from the wall and stood in front of Max with all his might.
"It's only a matter of time before the Familiars find out that we've tricked them and when they do, all of us that are out there will pay for it dearly. We've got to stay put" he nearly ordered again.
Max's mouth dropped open.
Was this a new Psy-Ops experiment for re- indoctrination? Had Zack really been turned? What about the others? She desperately looked at Syl and Krit.
"He's right Maxie" Syl said with a kind smile, "We really do need all the help we can get"
"It's not all that bad-" Krit started.
'It's not all that bad... He's right' Syl and Krit's words echoed in Max's head. What was up with everybody? Couldn't they see that they were going twelve years back?
"-we won't let them do what they want of us. This is just temporary" Krit added.
Now that was more like what she was used to hearing from them. For a minute, she thought she had had Brin and three of her clones in front of her. Max frowned at Krit's statement as if demanding for more explanations.
"What the government wants for now is to prevent another scandal" Lydekcer said.
"So what? They think that people are going to shut their eyes and think we were nothing but a big nightmare?" Lou scoffed.
"A committee composed of militaries and scientists are supposed to keep an eye on our activities. This committee asks to be informed on whatever you are doing and keeps the government informed as well. For now; it only has a council power over you: as long as you stay inside the facility, you can do whatever you want" Lydecker went on.
But Max was waiting to hear the other part of the bargain. The part when they had to go back to doing the government's dirty job. From what Lydecker explained, she understood that given the rather tensed situation between both parts that end of the bargain would not be exploited right away.
Lydecker seemed to hope that they would get enough time to find out what the Familiars were up to and get rid of them once and for all. The fact that they had tried to terminate him appeared to be one of his main motivations.
Max didn't know what else to say. For the first time in very long time, she felt tired like she could sleep for at least... five hours! After all, why would she complain? Everybody was safer here then outside, that was true.
She'd just have to keep an eye on the government and they would all bail when it would get to demanding. Yeah... that's what they would do.
She glanced at Lou who immediately understood what she wanted. Lou fixed her gaze on Lydecker and frowned. The next second she was giving Max thumbs up.
It would be OK then and Max felt part of her anxiety fade away but the other part remained as her eyes tried to catch a glance at the blue ones. But Zack didn't seem to want to establish eye contact. He didn't seem to want to establish any contact at all.
"That's it then" Lydecker said, "Maybe you should all get to your respective dorms and get some rest" he added before exiting the room.
Syl and Krit then walked to Max and hugged her. She didn't linger in their arms as long as she wanted but she was glad to have them with her. It wasn't her against the whole world anymore.
They then hugged Lou and shook hands with Joshua and Alec who had remained unusually quiet during the whole conversation.
Lou came near her and whispered:
"I think he's pissed"
Max knew who she was talking about.
"Thank you for warning me. I really hadn't noticed" Max said sarcastically.
Max then turned back to Zack who was still standing in the middle of the room, arms crossed and teeth clenched but before she could do anything, Noah popped up in front of her.
She held out her hand and gave Max a slight smile.
"Nice to see you Max, long time no see"
"Sure has" Max said shaking her hand, "Where you been hanging around?"
"Phoenix mostly, dropped in Seattle though before the whole situation got outta hand" Noah shrugged.
"Seen any of the others?" Max asked a little distracted.
She still had her mind on Zack.
"Yeah... hooked with Jondy and Zane not too long ago. Well, hum... gotta show you guys your new apartments, coming?" she asked Max though she knew the answer.
"I... I gotta do something first. Catch up with you later" Max smirked.
Noah then did something odd. She turned to Zack, gave him a look that Max didn't quite know how to interpret. Yet, he responded by a simple nod and that was it, they seemed to have understood each other using nothing but a look and a nod.
"Fine with me" Noah smirked "Humm, by the way, how's Logan doing?"
Max gave her sister a funny look. How did she know about Logan? Then again, anybody could've told her; Syl, Krit, Zack, Lydecker... Still why was she interested in Logan?
"He's OK I guess, he's in hospital" Max stammered, "Why?"
"No reason" Noah shrugged and left with all the others.
Max was left facing Zack and for the first time in a while, she felt like he was her CO again and like she had done something wrong, with good reasons but still done wrong. She didn't feel her brother, she felt the soldier that had given up his freedom and later on his life for her.
She sat on Lydecker's desk while Zack remained standing still.
"So? How have you been?" she finally asked as the silence was oppressing her as much as X5 599's presence.
That was a stupid question but it was a start anyway. He snorted and that announced nothing more than a bad start.
"I dunno. Maybe you could tell me since you seem to know what's best for me" he said coldly.
Oups... storm was coming and you didn't need to be Lou to sense that.
"Zack I know you're mad but I had reasons to do what I did and I-" Max started.
"Reasons to take my life away from me, reasons to drag me away from my family, from my job, from protecting all of you" he nearly yelled, "What if any of the others needed my help? Had you even thought of that?"
Motionless face gone, furious expression entering the game: storm had arrived.
"Manticore was destroyed: the others wouldn't have needed you because Deck was on their ass and I just thought that I should give you what we all deserved; a chance at a normal life. A chance of forgetting what we were, what Manticore had done to us" Max pleaded.
"Well, you didn't give me a normal life! All you did was take it away. How could you even think that you knew me so well, that you knew all about my life to do something like this? You wouldn't leave your life when I asked you to! Did I ever force you?"
No, he had never forced her but back then, she had a life; friends, job, fun, her 650 Ninja and Logan. It was true; she didn't know anything about Zack's life apart from when he came to check on her.
Could he have had a life? A life that he had actually enjoyed? Love maybe... 'Come on Max, we're talking about Zack here!' she told herself. 'He would never let anybody through his protective wall'.
"Giving you up was the hardest thing I ever did but I had to" Max said "because you would've killed Logan, because of Manticore!" she screamed out. "So you didn't just do it for me Max! You did it for Miracle Boy and for yourself!"
"I did it for several reasons and no matter how hard it was; I'd do it again if I had to!"
"You just don't get it Max; it's not about what you thought was right, it's about how it turned out... and it was wrong!" Zack said coldly.
Max remained standing in front of him, her mouth open.
"I... I..." she stammered.
"I sacrificed everything for you, for all of you! And when the first opportunity comes along, you sacrifice me! But that's not even a problem, I can live with that. The problem is you making other people I care about suffer. That, I don't tolerate" he said calming down.
An awkward silence fell between them as Max digested Zack's last words: 'people I care about'.
"Who Zack? Who is it?" Max asked softly finally seeing the end of the storm.
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"As X5s, we don't get a whole dorm to ourselves" Noah explained, "We have to split in groups of two and we have our own room. X6s, 7s and 8s have dorms down here; our rooms are on the first floor" she added walking up the stairs, "The whole medical junk's on the left side of the facility and transhumans have rooms and dorms available too. There's plenty of room for new comers. I suppose many are still outside spread all around the country, I think we'll execute recovery missions to bring them back here. There also is a training field right near the woods, a swimming pool at first underground level, a garage with something like eight cars and several motorcycles. Kitchen's behind the cafeteria; that was on your left when you came in and well, that's about it for now" she said coming to a stop in front of a door opening to a two bunk room.
Lou walked inside and mumbled something about some people's bad taste for decoration though there was hardly any decoration at all. She threw her bag on one of the bunks, asked for the bathroom, took some clean clothes, looking forward to a nice shower.
Syl and Krit had given Joshua a personal visit, leaving Alec and Lou to Noah. Lou having gone showering, that left just Alec and her.
Alec took a look around and then turned back to her with his trade mark smile on.
"Wouldn't it be more equitable if we split into mixed groups, you know a guy and a girl?" he asked.
"Lou is a girl. And do whatever you feel like, nobody'll mind" she said calmly though perfectly knowing where he was going.
She was heading for the stairs and Alec was following her along.
"Really? Then, could I ask you to share my room?" he asked.
"You could always try" she shrugged walking down the stairs.
"Would you share my room?" he asked.
"No"
"Why's that?"
"Because I'm already sharing my room with someone else" Noah said.
"Let me guess, your sister, the blonde one" Alec said.
"Maybe, maybe not" Noah shrugged.
"Was that a maybe, maybe not you'll share a room with me?" Alec asked.
"I already answered that question and the answer came closer to plain no" Noah said casually.
"Hard to get" Alec smirked, "I love that in a woman" and he let her walk away.
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"Nothing? What do you mean there's nothing?" Ames White yelled at the young medical recruit in front of him.
The fire in TC had extinguished itself and so Ames White had sent a couple of teams in to collect what was left of the transgenics. A formality to him but a necessity to both the FBI and the Familiars.
"Sir, we've been looking all day. There was quite a big number of them, I'm sure we'd've found something by now and-"
"But you saw them! You saw the headlines and the picture of 452 and the other and you saw the bombs and the fire!"
Poor little Ames was beside himself making the young scientist's teeth shake and connect out of fear.
"But it's impossible! They can't have just disappeared!" special agent in charge White screamed.
"It seems so... Sir"
"You better fine me a logical explanation for this between now and tomorrow, McMahon, or else" Ames White said lifting a threatening finger towards the inexperienced young man.
"It's McMillan... Sir"
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(Click to read Part Two)