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 Thirty
Tick Tock Tap Tap
"When you're ready 452," Renfro's voice came loud and clear through the cell phone as Max turned the corner of the busy street.
"Copy that," Max said pausing slightly as she deliberated over her next choice of words. Renfro saved her the trouble as the dial tone flat lined.
Shutting the phone she placed it back in her jacket pocket. It was a bit of a pointless act as no doubt it would be taken off her soon enough. Inconspicuously she looked around for any signs of units 4 and 9. There was no trace of them, which for today's purpose came as strange relief.
Renfro hadn't been lying when she had said the area was bustling. There were people everywhere; mainly factory workers and those poor souls stuck in other types of gruelling manual labour. The smell of freshly burnt and cut steel hung thickly in the air, mixing with the putrid smell of sulphur dioxide being emitted from the big polluting chimneys of the surrounding factories. But, Max was only interested in one particular factory. The black and white signboard nailed onto the chicken wire fencing made her feel right at home.
'Packaging,' Max thought silently with wry humour, 'right up my alley.'
She cleared her throat rather loudly to gain the guard's attention but it was to no avail. Reluctantly, Max raised her voice,
"Excuse me," she shouted, "Do you know where I can by fresh fish? I'm looking for some mackerel."
The guard turned to face her. His eyes were a cold black, "This is an industrial suburb, not a fishing port."
Max's throat felt dry. White had given her, her opening line word for word. Had she gotten it wrong? But before she could try again, the man took out a key from his back pocket and started to open the padlock, "Follow me," was all he said.
Submissively, Max followed.
Max felt like a prisoner on death row. She was being escorted by two guards either side of her, who in all likelihood were probably familiars to boot. The corridor seemed to go on forever, almost as if it were torturing her on her way.
As she continued to get closer to what she hoped was the end, a bright light seemed to filter its way through the dark, almost blinding her as she drew nearer.
When her eyes finally adjusted to the abrupt change in light intensity, her eyes focussed themselves on none other than the man himself.
"Well, well, well," White drawled, "Seems like you made it." Nodding at the two guards beside her, he ordered a quick "Search her."
Max managed to make out the glint of satisfaction and enjoyment in the familiar's otherwise dead eyes as they ran their rough hands over her body, checking pockets inside and outside her jacket. Retrieving her cell phone and pager, they handed them to White.
"All clear," one of them reported.
White nodded again, and both guards moved out of the way, leaving Max standing alone with White in a huge empty room.
Renfro's recent bout of truths and no exaggerations was starting to 'freak' Max out a little in all honesty. When she had said that the company had gone out of production; they really had.
Nothing was left of any of the equipment or machines, the only giveaway of its former use were the tattered scraps of cardboard on the floor and the heap of mouldy rubbish in the far corner of the room. Large, paned, high windows lined the east and west walls and Max counted four other exits excluding the one through which she had entered.
"Nice place you got set up here," Max smirked.
The hint of sarcasm was not lost on White,
"In that case I don't think we'll be staying here."
Max placed a hand on her chest to emphasise her disappointment, "What a shame." The fake sincerity reminded her painfully of someone she knew. That someone, who she was here to rescue; she could only hope she was in time to save him, if only to save her own sanity more than anything else. With that thought, her seriousness returned to her immediately; Alec didn't have time for to be trading flippant remarks with White,
"Where is he?" she asked boldly, her eyes never wavering from White's.
"I was wondering how long this would take."
"Answer the question White."
"You my dear transgenic filth are in no position to be making demands."
"I held my end of the deal, now let me see him."
White grinned as he clicked his fingers, "If it makes you happy . . . bring him out . . ."
The go ahead signal from her CO was all she needed to see. Her finger pulled on the trigger of the silencer and the familiar guarding the back entrance of the factory's warehouse tumbled to the floor with a soft grunt. The familiar next to him had no chance to retrieve his gun let alone actually see where the shots were being fired from as he too fell backwards against the wall. Ginger smiled at their small but significant victory; units 4 and 9 had always out shone the others when it came to firing guns. The simultaneous removal of all the guards had kept the mission well concealed from the public; not to mention the fact that using silencers had probably helped a great deal.
Their next major task now was to get into the building and hope to get all the way in before White began to get suspicious. Ginger could only hope that Max and Alec held on just that little bit longer.
Max's eyes shifted from White's revolting grin to the even more unsettling scene unfolding far behind him.
Her face upheld a stoic, detached expression, but the rest of body indicated the opposite. Her fists were clenched, teeth gritted, whilst unshed tears glistened in her eyes and her heart hammered frantically in her chest.
If it weren't for her heart overriding all her senses, she probably wouldn't have recognised him. His beautiful face had been subjected to such force of brute; it seemed that not a single stretch of skin had been left unmarred. Thick blood that was so dark it almost looked black, lay matted in streaks on his hair. That was not the only sight of blood Max was forced to look upon. His torn jeans were also stained with dark blood, drawing attention to the gaping hole in his left thigh. The wound was unmistakeably a bullet entry.
Max tore her eyes up to his bruised arms, the chained handcuff rubbing viciously against his wrist as two burly familiars yanked him closer like an animal.
It wasn't the signs of the physical pain he endured which caused Max to snap; it was what she saw when she finally looked straight into his eyes as they gave him one last shove and he fell on the floor in front of her:
Nothing. She saw nothing. Absolutely nothing.
His eyes were clouded over; cold and distant. It was as if she were looking at a lost boy, a stranger. Her heart broke for him.
"Alec?" It was barely a whisper, something well in Alec's hearing range, but if he heard it he gave no indication. He hadn't recognised his own name.
Max advanced on the battered remains of the man she loved; she was within a few centimetres of him before White, as if he couldn't get any crueller, moved in front of Alec blocking her path of a much needed connection.
Max took a couple of step backwards, "What the hell have you done to him?" Max spat ready to pounce back forward.
White, as was now common, simply grinned back,
"Just a little experimentation."
Max's eyes blazed with pure unadulterated anger.
"I mean," White continued oblivious, "If transgenics are so superior, a little physical torture and drugging should have had no effect, right? But alas," he exclaimed in clear mockery, "It seems your beloved wasn't quite superior enough to keep even a fraction of his useless brain in tact."
Shaking her head furiously from side to side in an attempt to calm herself down and keep from throttling the remorseless familiar in front of her, she caught sight of something, which to any other person would have seemed completely normal. But Max wasn't an Ordinary.
From in front of White she could see the lower part of Alec's body lying lifeless along the ground; except it wasn't lifeless. His fingers were twitching as they lay on his wounded thigh.
Giving the pretence of listening and reacting to White's taunts, Max noticed something very synthetic about the way in which his fingers were almost tapping against his leg:
A long tap followed by a short, followed by another three long and a fourth – N. O. T. He was using Morse code.
With more self control than she ever knew was possible, she stopped herself from jumping up and down in glee and singing child fully to spite White by the fact that he was wrong.
Alec was still there. The master of deception had done it again.
Waiting discreetly for the sequence to repeat, Max made out the message letter by letter in her head.
−∙/---/-/--∙/---/-∙/-∙/∙-/--∙/∙/-/∙-∙/∙∙/-∙∙/---/∙∙-∙/--/∙/-/∙∙∙∙/∙-/-/ ∙∙-∙/∙-/∙∙∙/-/
Max very almost cracked a smile.
NOT GONNA GET RID OF ME THAT FAST
She had thought that was all he had to say; but as he had proved so many times before, she was wrong:
∙∙/∙-∙∙/---/∙∙∙-/∙/-∙--/---/∙∙-/
I love you too Alec; just hold on. They're coming.
A/N 2: So did you like? Well I hope it made up for the long wait. I have had loadsa work, loadsa stress and a massive writer's block. Plus I lost my bus pass, so please review and cheer me up!
Thank you to:
Suenooneus, TTT1901, C'est Magnifique, JeNsEnS wifey ChAdZ lover, naeri, jracklesfan77, Guest Type person, lakergirl08, X5-459, HisVampira and Gabbie760
love SmilinStar xxx
ps. i'm hoping the morse code came out ok, i have a horrible feeling it may not do.