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-Nine
432
The previous night's momentous decision to leave things to fate continued to weigh heavily on Max's mind the following morning. Even though rationally it made sense, rationally it didn't make sense either; not when it finally dawned that they only had three days left before the traceable radioisotope currently navigating Alec's blood networks decayed. They would then only be reliant on the implant in his inner ear for directions – which in truth wouldn't be all that useful considering the recent decline in Alec's mental health.
The only piece of good news Max had had, depending on the angle from which it was looked at, was that true to his word, Max had had another call from White. And it was because of this that Max was now currently seated in Renfro's office and the plan to eliminate White and rescue Alec could finally steam ahead.
"Of course you know we attained the blue prints for the facility right at the very beginning of the mission; immediately after 494's location was revealed."
Max nodded, as Renfro continued,
"Well since then, we have also managed to carry out some basic surveillance on the building to give us an indication of the extent of security we would be facing."
"How was that possible? The surveillance, I mean."
"Surprisingly, the building is an old packaging factory that came out of production very recently. Centred in a busy industrial area, surveillance was easy to set up without suspicion. And although it seems the task is as a result easier; White is no fool. Setting up in a busy area around hundreds of unsuspecting civilians actually makes our job harder. We can't just storm into the building – it would catch far too much of the public's attention. In saying that though, surveillance has shown that at least on the outside, security is fairly lax. Getting in should be no problem. Two units will be on standby to knock out the guards simultaneously five minutes after you have entered. We are of course assuming that you will have no problems there, as it is White himself who has initiated this meeting."
"Prior to this," Renfro continued, "You will have been dosed with the same radioisotope as administered to 494 and after this meeting you will be taken to have a microphone similar to 494's implanted in you inner ear. It will transmit at a different frequency so as to enable us to distinguish between yourself and 494. The device will also be connected to the transmitters of the two units being sent in; giving them a clearer idea of what's going on and how to proceed in taking down White."
"Which units?" Max asked.
"I will be deciding that this afternoon, and since White is expecting you early tomorrow morning, it allows time for them to be thoroughly briefed." Renfro looked to Lydecker, who had been silent the entire time, "Do you have anything to add?"
Lydecker stared back at Renfro; the distaste and reluctance in having to work together clear in his gaze. Sighing he turned back to Max. The transgenic watched him with her face a mask devoid of emotion; awaiting some sort of command or order. But really, there was nothing left to say except, "Good luck."
When Max returned to her cell later that afternoon, she was surprised to find a certain ginger haired female transgenic seated on her bunk staring blankly at the bare wall in front of her. The opening and closing of the cell door didn't avert Ginger's gaze nor did she acknowledge Max's presence until after she made it known with an abrupt clearing of her throat.
"Oh hey Max, I didn't hear you come in."
"Yeah I noticed," Max said, concern dripping from her voice as she sat down on the floor in front of her. Her expression didn't go unnoticed on Ginger,
"Max come on, you don't have to give me that look."
"What look?" Max said innocently.
"The I-know-something's-wrong-and-you're-gonna-tell-me-look. Besides even if there was, and I'm not saying there is, I can't really say anything," Ginger meaningfully tapped her left ear lightly.
Max smiled, "You mean the microphone?"
Ginger glared, "Give it away why don't you, while I'm trying to be inconspicuous."
"Don't worry about it, it's off."
"How can you be so sure?"
"I can hear it being switched on. There's usually a very tiny click. Plus, Renfro promised she would respect my privacy until the mission."
"Right, the mission," Ginger nodded morosely.
"There you go again, Ginge. Explain yourself."
The young transgenic sighed, gathering her thoughts together; she slid down from the bunk and joined Max on the floor,
"I guess you know the units that are assigned tomorrow?"
Max studied her friend's weary face, "No, but I think I know one of them already."
"4 and 9," Ginger confirmed for her.
"Just like old times," Max whispered, "How are the guys, anyway?"
"Good."
"I'm supposing you didn't include yourself in that then."
Ginger said nothing.
"Come on, Ginge. You know you can talk to me."
"Do you remember a couple of weeks back," Ginger started unsurely, "When you came to me with your problems about Alec and Logan?"
Max nodded.
"And I uh mentioned a mission I had on the Outside?"
"Yeah," Max said slowly, her brain surging as she remembered her friend's mood then. It was very similar to what it was now.
"Well I guess I haven't dealt with that yet and now with another mission on the Outside, it's just brought it back to me."
Max sat silently, waiting for her friend to make sense in her own time,
Ginger blew out another breath, "When I was about ten, they transferred me from unit 12 to 9. I know what you're thinking. They don't usually do that. You stay with the unit you're assigned to normally, but I uh . . . well there was this guy, I mean X5."
Max raised her eyebrows.
"Don't worry it wasn't like that. It's just we were really close. He used to always look out for me; he taught me almost everything I know. In some ways, I guess you could call him my big brother."
"What happened?"
"Well after you guys escaped in '09, Manticore were really paranoid about units cosying up to each other like families and I guess 432 and I demonstrated some of those familial tendencies that your unit showed."
"So they had you transferred to another unit?"
"That, and trips to psy-ops and re-indoctrination. I never saw much of 432 after that and I thought that Manticore would just leave it at that. But then two years ago, they called me in again, saying they had a special assignment for me. They had me partnered with 432." Ginger paused slightly before continuing, "We were to pretend to be a married couple, with 432 and I being leading figureheads for a large pharmaceutical company that were going to try to secure a deal that would get Manticore unlimited access to thousands of new drugs for their new X-series prototypes. They made us carry out this charade for a month, while unbeknownst to us, everything was a set up. The company and drugs were all one big hoax."
"So what was the point of it?"
"I guess the re-indoctrination worked on me, but 432 was much stronger than that. The only way Manticore could be 100 per cent certain that 432 was an insubordinate was by placing me and him back together in a sterile environment. I was the only one who elicited a strong enough response from him. He tried hopelessly to convince me that we were family, that Manticore were using us and that we should try and escape; seize the opportunity that Manticore had presented us by giving us this mention. But Manticore had cut off that connection between us; at least I couldn't feel it anymore and so I just saw him as another soldier. Another soldier disobeying and disrespecting our superiors. Just another soldier who needed to be reported."
The tears had started to slide down the transgenic's face, but Ginger didn't feel them fall. She carried on bravely with her story,
"They had him killed," she whispered.
"It's not your fault," Max said softly as she hugged her friend tightly.
"I let him down. If he hadn't forgotten, how could have I? I only managed to remember what he meant to me after I saw the same reasoning and emotions in you. First time I met you, you reminded me of someone, I never said anything, I hardly dared to think about it. But now . . . I let him down in the worst way possible."
"No you haven't Ginge, you have remembered and I'm sure he knew that you loved him. Deep down you always have."
Ginger sniffed, wiping the tears from her cheeks and releasing herself from Max's grip, she recollected herself into the strong willed transgenic she usually was,
"Thanks for listening."
"Well I had nothing better to do," Max shrugged.
Ginger laughed softly, before speaking again. Seriousness once more engulfed the room,
"We're gonna get Alec out, Max. I'll be damned if I lose him as well."
Max nodded. Her friend's promise was all the assurance she needed.
A/N 2: Okay, so I know, there was no Alec and no action in this chapter, but the next chapter will hopefully make up for that! A lot of you had some queries about Ginger's past, so I thought I'd wrap that up before plunging into the main event! Hope you enjoyed reading it! And also very sorry for the delay in getting this up, like I said, I'm finding the final parts of this story very hard to write, but I hope you'll bear with me!
Thanks to:
Gabbie760, Aqualung, C'est Magnifique, TTT1901, X5-459, Guest type person, HisVampira, Suenooneus, and JeNsEnS wifey ChAdZ lover and everyone else reading!
Please review!
Love SmilinStar xxx