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: Thanks so much for your reviews! Also, a big thank you to Sirena1 for betaing this chapter! I know that this chapter is not exactly long, but I'm fiddling with 2 other fics at the moments (that's my excuse anyway, lol!). Please bear with me while I sort myself out!
Angel of Darkness231 – Thanks for reviewing! Hehe! I'm sure Lydecker knows, but decided not to say anything at that time. As for Alec and Zack, you might get your wish yet, lol! And you expect Jondy to understand when Gab touches Asha, hehe? Fat chance!
Mel11 – Hehe! I suppose it's my fault for making Zack that way! Yes, he needs to lighten up and hopefully he will, otherwise life would be difficult for him! Thanks for reviewing!
Sirena1 – Yeah, I didn't think Lydecker is really bad. I think he truly cares for his 'kids' but he must still be have like a colonel. And of course, thanks for the beta! I guess it's not much fun for you to read this now, lol!
Kungfuchick – Thanks for reviewing! I know there's less Max/Alec scenes in the last chapter. But I'll only do more in the chapter after this one.
LucreziaNoin86 – Thanks for reviewing. I'm glad you like the story.
Sarah – Glad you liked Biggs. And do you think Max can talk Zack into returning. (Sighs) I have my doubts, lol! Thanks for reviewing!
Calistra – Yep, Alec and Max going on a mission which is bound to be problematic because it involves Zack. Thanks for your review!
Toniboo – No. Alec doesn't know much about Zack at all. Max didn't tell him. But if he knew… Haha! Thanks for reviewing!
Darkangelgirl – Thanks for reviewing! More on Max and Alec in this chappie but we'll have to wait for the next one for Jondy and Gab. And I can't update faster than this, lol!
Spanishwon2123 – I know, it's a bit gross to think about Logan with a 16-17year old. Jondy and Gab will sort stuff out in the chapter after this one. Thanks for reviewing!
W1cked angel – I found the kiss! It's in Chapter 7, lol! Do you have doubts that Gab would get together with Jondy? Hehe! Thanks for reviewing!
Alec'sAngel494 – Thanks for reviewing! You'll find out what happens soon!
Lakergirl08 – Yeah, Lydecker knows, lol! Anyway, we'll soon see how Max and Alec deal with their mission. Thanks for reviewing!
Alana84 – Thanks for your review! Glad you found Biggs funny. Hehe! Someone has to be, since Gab is still moping (whether he admits it or not) about Jondy.
Angelofdarkness78 – Update your fics, girl! Hehe! Now that that's done…yeah, the MZ fic is in progress right now. I'll probably upload it at the end of this week. Zack in Retrieved is going to have a hard time with Max and Alec soon. I'm glad you think of Lydecker like that, lol! From bad to good to dead, lol! Thanks for reviewing!
Lotamoxie – Thanks for reviewing! No, I don't think Zack would be anywhere near willing, lol! He has a point about Manticore, but Max has her point too. (Sighs) I have no idea how to fix this (shakes head). Plenty of material? I have an ending for this story already, actually. And it's supposed to end before the Berrisford Agenda. (grins)
Eva – Thanks for reviewing. Yeah, Jondy and Gab needs to sort something out soon or they would combust with UST, lol!
Chapter 27 – Retrieval II
(by elle6778)
The house that they were approaching looked like the rest along that street, with no distinguishing marks whatsoever. But Cale had told them that he had traced the records to this address, among others.
Gab told himself that he needed to get used to calling Cale by his first name. For some reason, when he imagined the older man, his last name always popped up. Asha was beginning to find it odd that he kept referring to Logan as Cale.
Logan, Logan, Logan, Gab chanted in his head, hoping to get used to the sound of it.
"That's it," Asha said, pointing at the house.
Yanked out of his thoughts, Gab just stared at her for a moment before asking, "So how are we doing this?"
Asha shrugged. "I guess we should just walk up and knock. Ask for direction or something."
"Well, if you think that will work…" Gab said, giving her a doubtful look.
"Any better ideas?" Asha asked, a questioning look on her face.
Gab had many ideas, but he was not about to help S1W track down Manticore. So he shook his head, "Nope. Yours will do," he said, walking towards the house.
Asha knocked as Gab let his eyes scan the windows and the surroundings inconspicuously. His eyes sharpened when he saw an almost imperceptible movement of the curtains in one of the windows.
Hmm, so someone's in there, he thought.
After a few more minutes of knocking and waiting, Asha said, "I think we should go in."
"Are you sure?" Gab asked, trying to stall for time just in case it was someone from Manticore inside.
Asha nodded. "No harm in it, right? If there's someone in there, they would have opened the door already. We don't look that threatening. And if it's empty, there's no problem in us going in anyway."
Gab wanted to roll his eyes. He wondered how S1W survived the way the members carried on. Outwardly he said, "Alright."
Pulling out a toolkit from his pocket, he said, "Cover me while I get us in."
Asha turned around to face the street as Gab crouched down. "No one around. Go ahead," she said.
He could have done it in seconds, but Gab pretended to fumble over the lock for a few minutes for two reasons. Firstly, it would look suspicious if he managed to get it open too soon. Secondly, he wanted to give a chance ro whoever it was in there to make a run for it, just in case they were Manticore. Eventually he gave a triumphant exclamation, "Success!" The door swung open.
Grinning, Asha turned back around and stepped in behind Gab.
"You go downstairs and I'll do this level," he said, spotting a set of stairs leading to the basement.
Asha nodded and went to the stairs.
Not really bothering to conceal himself, Gab walked to the living room. The furniture seemed old but the lack of dust told him that this place was definitely occupied. But there's no one here now, he thought, walking back out. Then he went to the kitchen. A fridge caught his attention. Yanking the door open, he studied the contents, noting that none of the food inside had expired.
It confirmed his suspicion that the place was occupied. Turning around, he spotted a door leading to a back garden.
He was about to go to the door when suddenly he felt someone tapping his shoulders. Ducking backwards as he turned around, he automatically snapped into a fight stance.
"A bit jumpy, aren't you?" a voice said softly, sounding amused.
"What?" Gab said in confusion as he tried to pinpoint the location of the voice.
A spot next to the fridge changed colour. Gab's eyes widened in realisation.
"Kelpy!" he exclaimed happily, "What the hell are you doing here?"
Kelpy rolled his eyes. "My mission, what else? This is Sandeman's place."
Sobering, Gab nodded. "Is everything okay?"
"All going fine. Cammy got Sandeman out of here, but I saw you out of the window, so I thought I should say something. By the way, thanks for stalling," Kelpy said, grinning.
"Hey, what are friends for, huh?"
"You better get her out of here now. We're not going to move unless absolutely necessary, so keep them away, okay?" Kelpy said quickly as the sounds of footsteps on the stairs reached them. "Say hi to Max and the rest if you see them, alright?" he went on before blending back into the furniture.
Gab hurried to the stairs to intercept Asha before she decided to check the kitchen. The fridge was a dead give-a-way.
"Find anything?" Gab asked, standing between her and the kitchen.
Asha shook her head. "No, just a bunch of dusty junk downstairs. You?"
Gab shook his head. "I think whoever it was who lived here left sometime ago," he said, hoping that Asha would not insist on checking the living room and the kitchen. "Let's go. Maybe we'll find something at the next address," he said, stepping to the front door.
"Okay," she said to Gab's relief and followed him out.
A feeling of deja-vu washed through Alec as he peered out of the window of an abandoned building across the street in Chinatown. Being there, searching for Zack reminded him of the time when he and 480 had been looking for Max. The difference was, this time Max was with him.
Initially, he had wondered why Lydecker had asked Max to do something like this. He had thought that surely it would surely be much harder on her to bring Zack back than for Lydecker to assign someone else more impartial. Not that Alec was complaining. Personally, he loved having Max around although they had been bickering like mad about how to run the mission. Both of them were dominant enough to have strong opinions on how to do things, and this time, they disagreed.
Later, he had understood Lydecker's choice when Max had told him what Lydecker had told her. Not wanting the hassle of having to keep chasing Zack down, Lydecker had implied that he wanted Max to talk Zack into coming back instead of dragging Zack back forcefully. Alec had snorted when he heard that. He had no doubts whatsoever that Zack would not want to go back to Manticore, no matter what Max said. Alec's plan was to just knock him out and bring him in. Simple, efficient and quick. Obviously Max disagreed.
And apparently, Lydecker did, too. Lydecker's primary aim was to persuade Zack to come back, but if that failed, Alec was to move to the back-up plan. Lydecker had not been too keen on using force, but he had agreed that if all else failed, they would have no choice but to do so.
"So, he's still there?" Max asked from the room which they had decided to live in while looking for a way to get Zack. Scattered around them was communication equipment, their sleeping bags and rucksacks full of personal items.
Alec nodded, eyes trained on the door where Zack had entered an hour ago. "He's not out yet. I wonder what he's doing in there."
Max shrugged and shoved the comms set in her rucksack together with the rest of the stuff around the room, preparing to confront Zack. She had been dreading this moment ever since they were deployed a few days ago. Since then, they had found Zack and proceeded to study his movements, which had been quite a pointless exercise as he never did anything twice. That did not surprise Max. They had been taught to remain unpredictable if they wanted to remain unspotted. If Lydecker had not given them the tracer, she doubted that they could have found Zack so easily.
When she had finally finished packing, she stood up and walked to the window to stand beside Alec, wrapping one arm loosely around him.
As they watched silently, Zack finally made an appearance and moved down the street.
Alec instantly bolted towards the door. "Let's go!"
Rushing out alongside, Max said, "Let me do the talking, okay?"
"I still don't think he's going to listen, Max," Alec said as they came out in the street, pausing for a moment until they detected Zack walking further down the street. "He's going to run when he sees us."
"I don't think he will," Max said, but there was a small amount of doubt in her voice.
"Right, Max. He escaped with full expectations that Manticore would not let him go so easily. Now, he's alone and there's two of us. You can't seriously think he would just stand there and wait for us to grab him," Alec said, shaking his head at her at her over-optimistic view.
"And am I supposed to believe that ambushing him would be better?" Max asked sarcastically.
"Yes!" was Alec's reply.
"He's going to fight back if we do that."
Pointing back and forth between the two of them, Alec stated flatly, "There's two of us, Max."
Averting her eyes, Max fell silent for a moment and then mumbled something back.
"What?" Alec asked, not catching what she had just said.
"I said, I'm not going to fight him again," Max said in a louder voice, bringing her defiant eyes up to meet his.
"WHAT! Max, that's..." Alec exclaimed, then paused, searching for words in his head to tell her how stupid she was being without pissing her off. Finally giving up, he sighed and said, "Do I want to know why?"
Haltingly, Max replied, "The last time I saw him, we fought..."
"When he escaped?" he prompted.
Max nodded. "I didn't want him to go, so without really thinking, I just tried to stop him. Then when we calmed down a little, regret finally struck me. I mean, Zack loved us and took care of us when we were younger, sometimes at the cost of himself. He would take our punishment when he could, without complaining and without expecting anything back from us. And how did I repay him? By trying to force him to stay in that one place he despises so much. By fighting him. And now, you're asking me to do the same? I don't think I can, Alec."
Alec fell silent at her words. He did not know she felt that way. She had not spoken much about Zack or her other siblings to him and he had never bothered to ask. A small twinge of jealousy prodded him as he imagined how close they must have been.
Alec had never been close to another person in his life, until Max.
A few minutes later, they saw Zack walking into a building. Wordlessly, they followed not far behind, not bothering to hide their presence. Max went into the dimly lit building first, and Alec trailed a small distance behind her.
When she walked down the hallway, a pair of arms suddenly shot out and grabbed her.
"Zack! It's me," Max gasped quickly as she tried to loosen his chokehold he had around her neck.
"Max?" he exclaimed, surprise evident on his face.
Rubbing her neck, she turned to face him. But before she could speak, Zack spotted Alec coming up behind her.
"What the hell are you doing here with that creep?" he asked roughly, backing away.
"Who are you calling a creep?" Alec retorted indignantly. He was still feeling slightly sore about the closeness between Zack and Max.
"Shut up, Alec," Max hissed and then turned to face Zack, "Listen, Zack. We need you to come back with us to Manticore."
Zack snorted, giving Max an incredulous look. "You're kidding, right?"
"No."
"I suppose you think I'm going to say 'yes' and tag along like an obedient puppy?" Zack said mockingly.
Max gritted her teeth, trying not to let Zack's tone get to her. She was finding it hard enough to do what she had been asked to do without letting her emotions out. "No. I just want you to hear me out," she said calmly, trying to ignore Alec, who was standing to one side with his arms crossed in front of him.
Eyeing Alec warily, Zack nodded to Max to continue.
"You once said that Manticore had succeeded in reindoctrinating me. Do you remember what I said at that time?" Max started slowly.
Zack cast his mind back to that day years ago when Max had walked into the medical room which housed both him and Jondy. He could not remember exactly what she had told him, but just that she did not think Manticore was as bad as he thought. At that time, his blood had rushed to his head at her words. What she had told him had hurt him, so he had lashed back at her. And now she wanted him to listen again to the same thing. Zack gritted his teeth and took a deep breath.
"Yeah, you were basically defending Manticore at that time, if I remember correctly," Zack said tightly.
"I've already told you what I know about Jack and Eva. Don't get me wrong, I hate the fact that they died like that. But it happened and we need to move on. Doesn't mean we forget about it, but I don't think it should dictate what we think for the rest of our lives," Max said, her eyes pleading with Zack for understanding.
"No Max, I can't move on like that. It would be like forgetting why they died in the first place. Like forgetting how much control Manticore has over us," Zack threw back angrily.
"Zack, things are changing. We are older and we get more say in what we do nowadays, more independence. They've even stopped the intrusive testing. And I get a feeling that Lydecker trusts us to make decisions on Manticore's behalf."
After his last few conversations with Max on this topic, he should have known how she felt. But it did not make it any easier for him to hear her defending Manticore again. "Don't talk about Lydecker! He killed Eva! How could you even be on his side?" Zack shouted loudly, glaring at her furiously.
Alec had heard enough. As Max flinched at Zack's words, Alec stepped forwards. "Hey, there's no need for you to lose it, alright? She's just trying to talk to you," he said calmly, although he was seething inside at the way Zack spoke to Max.
"You stay out of this!" Zack snapped, angry at Alec for a variety of reasons and itching to take his anger out on the other transgenic. He knew that Alec was one of the reasons why Max would never consider him as more than a brother. So Alec had succeeded where he had failed. Alec had also been the CO in charge when he had been captured and the one who had prevented Zack from talking Max into escaping with him at that time.
"Guys…" Max tried to interrupt but they ignored her.
"Well, seeing that this is my mission too, I'm afraid I can't do that," Alec replied with a smirk. "You see, Max and Lydecker think that it's possible to talk you into coming back with us peacefully, but you and I know that that's not going to happen, right?"
Zack snorted. "So what are you going to do about it?" he taunted.
Alec laughed mirthlessly. "What do you think?" he said, stepping towards Zack.
Zack raised his eyebrows as he moved closer to Alec. "You think you could take me on?" he asked in a threatening voice.
"Stop it, you two!" Max yelled as she grabbed Zack's arm to hold him back.
"Max, let me go. This is between him and me now," he said without taking his eyes off Alec. When she continued to hang on to him, Zack shook her hand off and shoved her away, causing her to stagger backwards.
Alec narrowed his eyes at Zack's treatment of Max. "Keep your hands off her," he snarled.
"Or what?" Zack mocked as they finally came face to face. "Max can take care of herself. She doesn't need you to play protector."
"Yeah, but when you're the protector then I suppose you're fine with idea, right?"
Zack stiffened at the accuracy of Alec's deduction. Feigning nonchalance, he said, "I've been looking after her much longer than you have."
"But now you're not. Now it's me," Alec gloated, missing the look on Max's face.
Max wanted to kick them both for talking about her as if she was not there. She realised that somewhere along the way, the conversation had stopped being about bringing Zack back to Manticore, it had become something about her instead. Why was Alec baiting Zack anyway? He had to know that baiting Zack was not going to help their case.
She did not know who started it first, but suddenly, Zack and Alec was grappling with each other.
"Cut it out!" she yelled without avail.
t.b.c.
A/N: I don't know about you, but I agree with Alec about Max being over-optimistic in relation to talking Zack into going back with them, lol. Please review and let me know what you think!