Freedom on the inside
Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own anything to do with Dark Angel. They apparently belong to some guy who is most definitely in need of a brain check. What was he thinking when he decided to axe the show? Oh well, I guess when I'm rich enough I'll just have to buy the rights to the programme and then we'll finally get a third season. I wouldn't count on it though.
Rating: PG-13
Pairing: M/A (eventually!)
Summary: What if Max never escaped Manticore in 'Designate This' and didn't get the chance to infect Logan? Logan and everyone else in Seattle thinks she's dead and Renfro's still alive?
Author's Note: I know there's been a lot of 'what if she never escaped stories?' but this is my shot at what could have happened. Please read and review!
Chapter Twenty-Eight
Delusional Fate
Manticore was still business as usual. The fact that they were knee-deep in a mission that could save transgenic and mankind was unknown to nearly all the soldiers training at the base, except for a select few. Besides Alec and Max, the only other two transgenics who had any idea of what was occurring was Joshua and Ginger. Strictly speaking they weren't supposed to know and Max could only hope they hadn't been found out.
She shifted uncomfortably in the large armchair as a tall blond haired woman entered the room. Renfro took the seat the other side of the desk separating herself and Max. Looking directly at the female transgenic, she leaned forward and sighed;
"We have a name for the drug."
A very large part of Max didn't want to hear it.
"It's called Cerebrasin, which is a particularly potent neurotoxin with dramatic psychological effects."
"Psychological effects?"
"494 will in all likelihood experience paranoid delusions and obsessive behaviour as he loses grip on what's real and what isn't."
"How long does he have?"
"The drug will need about 4 administrations before the effects become clearly visible. 1 dose will last effectively for up to eight hours, but as time moves on and he receives more and more doses, the effects become more long term."
"How many have they given him so far?"
"Three."
Max blinked her eyes several times, slightly taken aback. She thought she had more time.
"Have you heard anything from him since last time?"
Renfro fell quiet, scrutinising Max hard and weighing up her options,
"It's probably best you don't hear the recording."
"And why the hell not?" Max spat.
"The drugs are working faster on him than expected."
"He's an X5, a trained soldier specifically taught how to resist psychological interference."
"Cerebrasin is used widely in veterinary science."
Max gazed at Renfro disbelievingly, "Your point?"
"To put down animals that appear to show signs of mental ailments – in particular cats. In theory, it should be killing 494, but because of his unusual DNA mix, it is having an adverse affect to that of its actual purpose. Any X5 feline hybrid, with even the strongest of psychological barriers, would not be able to withstand this drug. 494 won't be able to fight it."
Max swallowed hard, "I want to hear the recording."
"452, I strongly recommend against it."
"I don't care what you think, I want to hear it."
"Very well," Renfro sighed, pushing out and up from her chair, "Follow me."
For once in her life Max actually felt she should have listened to Renfro. It had been the single most dreadful thing she had ever heard. It had been horrifying, sickening and heart-wrenching all at the same time. What she would've given to hear the self-sure, cocky X5 – Alec from out the transmitters, but what she had heard was nothing short of a broken man:
"What's that?" Alec cried as he watched the frighteningly thin man in a white lab coat enter the cell, "I don't like doctors – leave me alone!" Screaming he kicked out his legs in no particular direction.
"Help! Somebody help! He's got a knife!"
"It's not a knife," the man explained impatiently as he struggled to hold down the transgenics writhing body, "It's some medicine that's going to make you better."
"Better?" Alec asked wide-eyed and child like. He seemed to pause and ponder over this, before holding out his arm and offering it to the doctor, "Okay fine – make me better."
The white coated doctor made no hesitation in plunging the needle into Alec's thick muscle whilst he had his bizarre cooperation. Although that didn't last very long; the sharp pain of the needle sparked a short lived resurface of the real 494,
"What the hell are you doing to me?" Alec growled, fire once more lighting his hazel-green orbs.
"Making you better."
"Making me better, my transgenic ass!" he yelled, trying unsuccessfully to kick him. Instead it was Alec who met the soles of a boot. White had entered the room to find the X5, who should have been under sedation, dangerously lively, and so in order to solve the little problem, he delivered a swift hard kick to Alec's gut.
"What's the progress, doctor?" White asked once satisfied with Alec's still, crumpled and cooperative body.
"The drugs are working as anticipated," he replied.
"Good," White smiled crouching down on the floor in front of Alec.
Alec's lips were cut and swollen, his body battered and bruised, and his mind currently involved in a dynamic match of tug of war,
"And how's our piece of transgenic scum today?" White asked.
Alec opened his mouth and muttered something incomprehensible,
"Speak up!" White barked as he slapped him across the face.
Tears spilled over and rolled down the side of Alec's cheek,
"I want Max," he whispered, "I want Max."
"Well it would seem we want the same thing 494 – who would have thought it."
"Please," Alec begged, what remains he had of his self-dignity were being torn to shreds.
White's expression for a moment became all too serious, "Pity," he said standing up, "You could have come in quite useful."
Turning to leave, he briefly nodded at the doctor, "Increase the dosage."
With that, Alec was left to face yet another sickly pale syringe.
Max tried to shake the sounds of Alec screaming from her mind – she had a job to do. If he had any chance of getting out of there with even a single remnant of the Alec she knew and loved left – she needed to get off her ass and do something.
Renfro's interest didn't really lie with Alec. Yes, they were doing what they could to get him out alive, but it wasn't their priority. Their objective was – in no sugar coated terms – to kill Ames White and stop the Familiars in their attempt to take over the world as breeding lunatics. No, the only person who may be more on Alec's side than herself was Lydecker.
"Max?" Lydecker asked; his initial shock quickly replaced with intrigue, "What brings you to my office at two in the morning?"
"Alec," Max said simply, inviting herself into the room as she sidestepped past Lydecker. Coming to halt in the centre of the small room, she turned back to face him, "I need your help."
Lydecker sighed running a hand through his tousled grey hair. Shutting the room's door, he came to sit down on the table in front of her,
"I know you're growing impatient Max. Truth be told, I am too, but for once, I'm with Renfro on this. It's the best way for everyone."
"Alec included?" Max asked, her opinion clear in her defiant tone.
"Well tell me Max, what would you do?"
"We know where he's being held, down to the bloody cell room and wall he's lying beaten up against. I say we just go in and haul his ass back."
"Then this would have been for nothing," Lydecker said seriously.
"And do you know what? I don't bloody give a shit! This was all a long shot anyway. Sacrificing Alec for something that isn't going to work is tactically ridiculous!"
"Tactically?"
Max was silent.
"We know this isn't about that Max," Lydecker answered for her. "Do you honestly think that your love for Alec's been unnoticed? Renfro knows it, I know it and White knows it. Most importantly, Alec does too, and if you go in and pull him out of this prematurely, it'll devastate him. He wants to do this Max."
"I know, it's just-"
"Like I said Max, we know."
Nodding in defeat, Max decided perhaps it was better to leave things to fate. Fate after all had lead to her recapture, which in turn had lead to the demise of her relationship with Logan and most importantly, if it hadn't been for fate, she never would have met Alec. Maybe fate had yet more surprises in store for her.
A/N 2: Sorry for the wait, this chapter was soooo difficult to write. In actual fact the chapters are getting progressively harder to write, so please bear with me. Also, cerebrasin, is a completely made up name. I couldn't think of any drugs that caused the effects I was looking for, so I made it up. Cerebral means 'of the brain' - so I did try! Thank you to my wonderful reviewers:
C'est Magnifique, His Vampira, Kristibella, TT1901, Guest type person, X5-459, JeNsEnS wifey ChAdZ lover and Suenooneus