Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters obviously do not belong to me. I am writing this purely for non-profit entertainment. Yada, yada! No infringement intended, so don't sue me!
A/N: So sorry for the late update! I had been really bogged down with work and stuff! But here's the update finally. This chapter is a bit different from the last few, you'll see why soon. I just needed to move things along a bit! Hope you enjoy it!
Mel11 – Thanks for reviewing. Glad you liked the ending. We got to wait awhile before finding out if Gab likes Jondy, hehe!
Calistra – Yeah, an away mission is a good time to sort out feelings and such! Thanks for reviewing.
Chase – I agree…they need to kiss more often, LOL! I'll try my best to make sure they do! Thanks for your review.
Kungfuchick – Thanks for reviewing. Glad you like the chapter. As for the heat, just watch out in the next few chapters, okay?
Dory Shotgun – Hehe! Thanks for the sweeties! Logan and White integration? Hmm…they'll be featured in the next few chapters. Thanks for reviewing.
Lotamoxie – Yeah, can you imagine a persistent Jondy going after Gab at every opportunity, and Gab trying to get away? LOL! Nah, Zack got subdued before anything happened. Not that it would be a bad thing if it did, hehe! Thanks for reviewing!
Darkangelgirl – Thanks for your review. Yes, I meant for Manticore to be different here, just for a change. Unfortunately, Max and Alec cannot help with Jondy and Gab now…you'll soon see why!
L80bug – Thanks for reviewing! Enjoy this chapter!
Latinapotterfan – Me? Mean? Of course not! It's not even a cliffie this time, lol! Thanks for reviewing!
Alec'sAngel494 – Glad you liked how I brought Sandeman in. Yeah, finally those two got together after how many YEARS of bickering! Hehe! Thanks for reviewing!
Mae – Thanks for your review. Have fun reading this one!
Eva – We need to wait a while before Jondy/Gab bit comes up. As for Zack, there's more of him in this chapter :winks: Thanks for reviewing.
Angel of Darkness231 – Thanks for reviewing. Yep, Jondy likes Gab…and Gab is literally running scared, lol!
Angelofdarkness78 – I hope your homework is not too much :) Maybe you should take a break once in a while and update Ooh Baby, LOL! Okay, okay…I'm not supposed to say that! Ahem, let me try again…School is GOOD:Grins: Thanks for reviewing!
Iridescent Twilight – Thanks for reviewing! Yeah, I hate the head stuffed with cotton feeling. I hope you are back to your usual mad self soon! Hehe!
Toniboo – Thanks for reviewing. Glad you liked the chapter. This one has a bit of a different tone though :sighs:
Lex2u – Hehe! Glad you thought so. I felt a bit weird having no cliffie, but since you all like it, I supposed then I am happy enough! Thanks for reviewing.
Spanishwon2123 – Thanks for reviewing. I'm afraid you need to wait a while before we see what's happening with Gab and Jondy!
Lin – Yep, kisses, LOL! Thanks for reviewing.
Alana84 – Thanks for your review. Gab doesn't quite know what to make of Jondy's feelings, I think, LOL. Poor guy! As for Max and Alec…It's about time!
GuestTypePerson – Wow! You remembered to log in, Hehe! Gab and Jondy situation will come up later, not in this chapter. You'll soon see why…this is a weird chapter because it's kind of like a transition stage. Thanks for reviewing.
W1cked angel – Thanks for reviewing! I take it that you liked the kissing scene:grins: Hope you like this chapter!
Lakergirl08 – Thanks for reviewing! It's about time Alec and Max got together! And Zack? More on him in this chapter. Max being blind to his feelings is not surprising at all! Hehe! Glad you like having Logan around.
Chapter 24 - Relocation
(by elle6778)
Max stomped angrily into the gym and headed straight for the sandbag, intent on taking out her fury on it. She needed something to vent her frustration on.
After a series of rapid punches and kicks, Max felt calm enough to think. She wished that Jondy were around for her to talk to. Jondy was the only one who might understand what she had just been through. But Jondy, Gab and Biggs had just left for their mission a few days ago, the same day the X6s, Kelpy and Cammy were deployed for theirs, meaning that Max had been left pretty much alone.
Max sat down on the cold floor and cast her mind back to what had just happened out in the corridor an hour ago.
FLASHBACK
The lights had just gone out when Max started to make her way to the gym, muttering about the lack of company. She had only gone halfway to her destination before a familiar voice called out her name. Turning around, she saw Zack walking towards her. Involuntarily, she tensed as she recalled what had happened the last time they had spoken.
"Hi Zack," she greeted with a small amount of caution in her voice.
Zack raised his eyebrows, "You don't look to happy to see me, Max."
She shook her head and gave him a small smile. "What are you talking about, Zack? Of course I'm happy to see you."
"Look, Max…We didn't really get a chance to talk since the last time."
"It's okay, Zack," Max said quickly, not wanting to continue their previous conversation. It was not pleasant and she did not want to get sucked in into another conversation about Manticore and Alec. It was obvious that they had differing views on those two topics.
Zack sighed. "Max…" he paused and seemed to think for a while before he continued, "I'm just worried about you. I mean, I really can't believe that you have changed so much."
"I really think we shouldn't be talking about this again," Max said uncomfortably.
Ignoring her, he continued, "I care about you, and… and I just want things to be the same with us as before. We used to be so close."
"Zack, I'll always think of you as my big brother. You know that," Max said softly, touching him gently.
Zack glanced at the small hand on his shoulders and then looked at her. "That's… nice," he said, but he looked less than happy.
Max frowned, confused at his reaction. "What's the matter?"
"Nothing," he said evasively.
"No. Tell me, Zack," she persisted.
Zack took a deep breath. "What if I say I don't want to be just your brother?"
Max stilled, trying to digest his words. Then, as realisation dawned, her eyes widened in shock. Zack could not possibly be saying what she thought he was saying. But it definitely sounded like it.
"Max?" he prompted.
"Erm…Zack, I…" she faltered, not knowing what to say. Swallowing, she finally looked in to his eyes and said with a helpless expression, "I can't…"
Zack stood there silently, staring at her with an emotionless mask. Then his lips compressed.
"This is because of Alec, isn't it?" he ground out, obviously fighting to keep his voice level.
Taken aback at his sudden accusation, Max said, "What? No! This has nothing to do with him. You're my brother, Zack. We're not like that."
"But you and Alec?"
Max hesitated. Then, knowing that the gossip would reach him sooner or later, she nodded wordlessly.
Tonelessly, Zack said, "I see."
Then he promptly turned and walked away from her.
"Zack…" Max said in a beseeching tone, watching him walk away as if he had not heard her.
END FLASHBACK
Max groaned as she thought about the look on Zack's face. She had not meant to hurt him, but she could not possibly think of Zack that way. Even if things were different with Alec, Max knew that it was highly unlikely that she would feel that way towards Zack.
The door to the gym swung open, interrupting Max mid-thought.
"Hey, gorgeous… Care for some company?"
Her frustration about Zack temporarily forgotten, Max smiled and glanced towards the door, watching Alec as he swaggered in. "Why? Are you offering?"
Sitting beside her, he grinned. "Well, your bodyguard had paid me loads of cash to keep you company while he's away."
"Gab?"
Alec nodded. "Who else? So, here I am."
Max narrowed her eyes. "So meaning that if he had not asked you to come, then you wouldn't?"
Giving her an innocent look, he replied, "Well, my beauty sleep is kind of important to me. Need to look good for the chicks, you know,"
Max smacked his shoulders. "You are such an ass, you know that?"
Rubbing his shoulders, he said with a grin, "But you love it."
Max grinned back.
Logan looked up from the pile of paperwork on his desk when he heard the lift door open. Turning around, he noticed that it was one of his acquaintances from the S1W.
"Asha. Hi," he greeted with a smile and gestured for her to sit.
Asha returned his smile and made herself comfortable on his couch. "Hey, Logan."
"So, found anything interesting on that list of addresses?"
"We checked all of them and I think we might have found what we are looking for. Every one of them were empty except for two. One is the Wyoming address you gave us is registered as a children's hospital. The compound is quite large and the security seemed overboard for that type of institution. Another one is in Salt Lake City."
"What's suspicious about the one in Salt Lake City?" Logan asked, turning to his computer to bring up maps of the two areas.
"It's all fenced up and we couldn't get in, so we suspect there must be something there worth hiding," Asha explained.
"Good…good," Logan said thoughtfully as he zoomed in on the Wyoming location.
"Logan?" Asha said hesitantly
"Yeah?"
"How do you know the information could be trusted? I know I said that the two places look suspicious but there might be a perfectly good reason for it. We just don't know,"
Logan sighed. "I think now that we have narrowed in down to two, I could do a better check on them. Then we'll see. My other contact might want to be involved in the takedown, so I'll have to let him know if we find something."
Asha looked worried. "I hope you know what you are doing."
"I hope so too."
Max was already sitting in the briefing room with the rest of the COs when Alec barged in, breathing hard.
"Sorry, I forgot this," he apologised, holding up a large roll of paper. He immediately spotted Max and went to sit beside her in the only empty seat in the room. "Thanks for saving me a seat," he said with a grin and wrapped one arm around her shoulders affectionately.
"Alec…" Max hissed in warning as she tried to dislodge his arm as discreetly as possible. She was still not too comfortable with the idea of Alec and her being an item. She guessed that she should be by now, considering the number of people who had found out about it. It definitely had not taken the rest of the transgenics long to figure it out. They had only been sort of officially a couple for a couple week or so.
Mole gave them a disgusted look. "Hey kids, do you mind keeping your hands off each other until the end of the meeting?"
Mia laid a hand on Mole, smiling indulgently as she said, "Oh come on, Mole. Don't you think they look sweet together?"
"They can be sweet together when I'm not around," he growled.
"Gee, Mole. You're in a cheerful mood today, aren't you?" Max mocked with a large grin.
"That's something new," Alec let out a bark of laughter.
The rest of the transgenic sniggered as Mole glared at Alec and Max.
Stifling his laughter, Matt banged his hand on the table for attention. "Right, soldiers. I think it's time to start the meeting. We'll save the fun for later."
Sobering up, the rest of them started shuffling papers, extracting the more useful ones out of their own piles.
"Let's see what we've got. Mole?" the CO of unit 1, X4-43, who had been named Dana due to her fixation with the pre-pulse show X-files, asked.
Chomping on his contraband cigar, Mole said, "Well, our Desert Acclimated Commandos are all informed of the move. Those who are in the field had been briefed to go straight to the new facility. The rest will be coming with us. And oh, I sorted out the Mules as well. Luke will be organising that lot, but he'll report to me."
"Good. Pops, how about your guys?" she asked, turning towards the albino soldier.
"The Arctic Division is all briefed as well. The last soldier who was out in the field just returned yesterday. So we're all set at this end," Pops said.
"What about the rest of the transhumans in the basement? Matt?" Max asked.
"Yeah, they've all been briefed. Hulk and Joshua will take care of it," Matt reassured her with a smile.
"The Underwater lot and the smaller divisions had been told as well, so we are done with all the non-X-series," Jace explained. She had spent the last few weeks organising this, which was no easy feat, considering that she had not even been aware that some of these transgenics exist.
Dana grinned, "Good work, soldiers. Now let's get on to the X5s. Scrib?"
X5-204, nicknamed Scrib due to his fondness for doodling during meetings replied, "Unit 5 is all set. We're moving out together with Unit 6 if I'm not mistaken. Right, Alec?"
Alec nodded, the glanced at Matt, who was in charge of the logistics plan for the transfer. "Are you sure I can't go with the X6s?" he asked cheekily, knowing fully well what the answer was going to be.
Matt groaned helplessly. "Someone, please make him stop. This must be the tenth time I've heard this question."
Mia laughed. "He just can't bear to be without his soulmate, that's all."
Max just rolled her eyes as the rest of them laughed. Knowing that they could go on all day getting sidetracked, she ignored them and pushed on, "So I'll be going with the X6s, right? Are you sure we can all fit in that school bus?"
"Positive. I've counted the number of seats. And oh, can you make sure they look right? You know, like a regular bunch of schoolkids?"
Max nodded. "They've been letting grow as well. It's still short, but it'll do, I think."
Satisfied with her answer, Matt continued, "Unit 1 will be travelling with the X3s, Unit 3 with the Underwater Division, Unit 4 with the some of the smaller divisions, the Desert lot with the Mules and Arctic with the rest of the stragglers. I think we've got it covered. All of you, except Max and the kiddies, will be moving out in trucks," he finished and looked up.
Dana glanced at the checklist in her hands, nodding as she said, "Yes, logistics are done. Now, accommodation?"
Alec grinned. "I've got it all planned out," he said, unrolling the large roll he had brought in earlier. It was a copy of the blueprint of the new Seattle facility, marked-up with designations showing where everyone would be housed.
Shaking his head, Mole muttered, "I can't believe Lydecker trust him to do this,"
Alec looked affronted. Making a face, he said, "Lydecker obviously can spot good talent for organisation."
Mole snorted and was about to retort when Max interrupted. "Mole, just ignore him," she advised, her own lips twitching.
"Hey, who's side are you on?" Alec exclaimed with a wounded look, poking her ribs.
Max yelped and scooted away, glaring at him.
Holding up her hands, Dana snapped, "That's enough! Now, Alec, do you want to go through it?"
Alec nodded. Pointing to the plan, he started explaining the reasoning behind the arrangement. When he finished, even Mole had nothing to say, the plan was flawless. Alec even managed to allocate Max's unit to the same corridor as his, to everyone else's disgust.
At the end of three hours, Lydecker joined them. He had been allowing them practically a free rein with this project, which surprised many of them, Max included. None of them really believed that the change in Manticore was for real, but faced with this responsibility, they now grew more hopeful that it will continue in this pattern.
They went through everything again with Lydecker, who seemed to be pleased at the development.
At the end of the meeting, they finally settled on a date.
They would be moving out in two weeks.
Two weeks passed relatively quickly as the transgenics rushed through the final preparation for the transfer. The transfer was phased such that the various transgenics were moved at different times of the day to avoid attracting unwanted attention. The last thing they wanted to happen was to be stopped.
Max stood beside the bus with a checklist in her hand. The X6s, looking very innocent in their civilian clothes, formed a line next to her. The X6s boarded the bus one after another as she called out their designation, putting a tick next to the corresponding box in the checklist. When the bus was finally full, Max let out a sigh, relieved that she did not have to go on a mad search for a lost X6. All of them were accounted for.
As she waited for the guards to join them, Max looked to the other end of the compound, where Jace's unit with the Underwater divisions were going through the same process. Max spotted Zack in the group, looking completely emotionless as Jace gestured for him to enter the truck.
Max did not know how it could be possible but she hoped that the move would somehow make things better for Zack. Although she did not return his feelings for her, she still cared for him and wanted him to be happy.
Logan's eyes lighted up as he saw the results on the screen, ecstatic that all his hard work had paid off. He had found many irregularities, strange cover ups and dead trails associated with the Wyoming site, and from what he could see, he was positive that this was where Manticore held the children. Now, he could take steps to make sure that Manticore was prevented from progressing with their despicable activities.
He had discussed this with White a few days ago, and was pleasantly surprised when White had told him that he agreed to be involved in the takedown. He had no doubt that White had the resources to do so. Something told Logan that White was much more influential than he let on.
He picked up the phone and dialled White's number, looking forward to telling him the good news.
The truck had been moving for about half an hour now.
Zack sat on one of the benches lining the two sides of the truck. The Underwater Division, complete with their water-suits, were sitting in a group by themselves, communicating with each other in their own special way. Near him, unit 3 were conversing in excited tones about their destination, pointedly not including him.
Zack did not blame them. He knew he had been less than pleasant to them. But he could never understand why they would be willing to serve Manticore when they could have something much better.
Freedom.
His thought went back to the conversations he had with Max. In his view, Max had definitely been brainwashed. She would never have sided with Manticore otherwise. But then again, he never thought that she would reject him either. That showed him how little he understood her; the adult Max.
He had felt hurt when she told him that she could not return his feelings. But somewhere deep inside he already knew that that was what she was going to say. He just needed to hear it from her. She had never looked at or reacted to him like she did to Alec.
The incident with Max was the last straw.
Zack thought of the object he had hidden in his rucksack, amongst his Manticore standard issue clothes and kits. He had searched for a long time before he finally got his hand on it. Fortunately, no one missed it. Not that he expected them to. He had been careful. So unless they decided to do a stock take on their supplies, Manticore would never find that one item which was hidden in his spare boots.
He took a deep breath and glanced discreetly towards the rest of the transgenics. They were too preoccupied with their conversation to pay any attention to him.
Which suited him just fine right then.
Slowly, he slid his arms into the opening of the rucksack, and when he found what he wanted, closed his fists around it. Extracting it carefully, he kept it wrapped up in his hands. Part of him felt bad about what he was about to do to the rest of them, but he knew that they should be fine, considering that it was non-lethal.
It's now or never, he thought.
Taking a very deep breath, filling his lungs to its full capacity with air, he released the catch on the small pod of knockout gas.
t.b.c.
A/N: Yes! Another cliffie! Hehe! So, what do you think is going to happen? Please review and let me know!