Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.
A/N: Thank you for all you reviews! I really enjoyed reading them.
Calistra – You might be right with your guess, hehe! You'll find out part of it soon. Thanks for reviewing!
X5898 – Glad you're still finding it interesting. My greatest fear is that the fic becomes predictable and boring, lol! Heh! As for Zane, yeah, you'll kinda guess if your theory is correct after this chapter I think! You're right about Zack…he wouldn't know what hit him once Max makes her move. Which should come up fully blown in the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing!
Bitto – Patience! I'm getting there. It's not long more before everything gets clear. Thanks for reviewing.
HoneyX5-452 – Thanks for reviewing! You have a good reason to be suspicious of Zane, lol! But you'll find out more in this chapter. I'm aiming to finish it in about 3 chapters or so.
Angelofdarkness78 – Heh! Your guesses are all entirely possible (winks). And you'll find out soon if they are right! Max and Zack is slowly getting there…actually it's more like Zack running and Max attacking him, lol! Thanks for reviewing!
Ankari 238 – I'm glad you enjoyed how I described Zack and Max. Of course Max's jealous – as far as she's concerned, she has set her eyes on Zack and intend to make him see it, much to our amusement! As for Zane…maybe your psyops theory is right, but it's not quite there. You'll find out in the next chapter (grins). Thanks for reviewing!
Roxyroo – Thanks for reviewing! If I see a nice spot to put a heat scene in, I will (grins). And yep…a tracer in Zane as you'll see in this chappie!
BlueAngel137 – Glad you liked Zack's jealousy. He still stubbornly clings to his belief that he should not get emotionally involved with Max though…Hehe! But for how long can he withstand Max's charms? (grins) Thanks for reviewing!
Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 8
(by elle6778)
Zane returned from the shop just as their food arrived. Tucking into the mountain of food the way only X5s could, they soon cleared their plates clean of food.
Leaning back against her chair with a sigh of satisfaction, Max said, "I needed that."
Grinning at her, Zane teased, "Carry on like that and you'll end up looking like an elephant."
She rolled her eyes but decided that it took too much effort to reply to his comment. Shifting her glance from Zane to Zack, she noticed that the latter was deep in thought. He must be thinking about their conversation earlier.
A moment later, Zack stood up and nodded to the door. "We've got to get a move on. Lydecker's probably not far behind."
A frown creased Zane's brow. "You know, isn't strange that we can't seem to shake them off?"
Max stiffened and glanced sideways, exchanging a look with Zack. "Uh, yeah. Strange," she mumbled, thinking back to her conversation with Zack just before Zane turned up at the diner.
Oblivious to the undercurrents, Zane walked out and headed to their bikes with Zack and Max trailing not far behind. Not wanting Zane to hear what she was going to say to Zack, she laid a hand on his shoulders to hold him back. She stifled a grin of satisfaction when he tensed at the contact, glad that he was affected by her touch.
Time to up the heat, she decided. Let's see if he would react.
When he turned back to face her, she leaned closer than necessary before whispering softly, just loud enough for him to hear, "You know, Zack. I don't think Zane has anything to do with the whole thing. He seemed just as stumped as we are." Her face was set in an innocent expression as she gazed into his eyes, which were only inches apart from hers.
"I don't know, Max. But I think we need to find out soon," he replied just as softly, but the barely perceptible tightness in his tone telling Max what she wanted to know. Clearing his throat uncomfortably, he broke their gaze and said in a stronger voice, "I think I know how."
Her thoughts of teasing Zack evaporated as she noticed the serious look he suddenly adopted. Apprehensively, she asked, "How?"
"You'll see," he said cryptically as he started walking towards Zane. When he reached Zane, Zack gestured for Zane to follow him behind the fuel shop.
Max hurried after him, hoping that he would not do anything to harm Zane. Although they had just reunited, Max had decided that she quite liked the other transgenic. But not the way she liked Zack, of course.
As she stepped near them, she heard Zack say, "Stay still, okay. This is not going to take long."
Zane's expression showed his confusion when he asked, "What's wrong?"
Max's eyes widened as she realized what Zack was doing. He was searching Zane for bugs. She supposed that it was the obvious conclusion for him to come to considering their situation. They had no idea where Zane had been before they had found him in the hospital. For all they knew, Lydecker had gotten to him first.
As Zack meticulously patted Zane down inch by inch, Max could not help but grin at the long suffering expression on Zane's face. He was taking it really well, considering that he did not know the purpose behind Zack's actions.
Making a face, Zane proclaimed, "Well, I would never have thought that you swing that way, Zack. But hey, since you saved me from that Lydecker, I suppose I do owe you something. Just be careful where you put those hands, okay? My body is precious to me."
Max could not help herself, she snorted loudly, earning a scowl from Zack.
Winking at Max, Zane invited, "Maybe you should join in as well. I've always wanted to try a threesome. Though I was kind of thinking more of a case of me with two chicks."
Max smiled sweetly and responded, "Nah, I might accidentally damage your precious body."
Still scowling, Zack ordered in a clipped tone, "Take of your shirt."
Giving Zack an incredulous look, Zane took a step back. "Whoa, man. Hold it right there! My gratefulness only goes so far. I'm not going to let you paw me without a shirt on. It's sick!"
Tired of having to repeat himself, Zack gave Zane an unrelenting look. "Shirt off, Zane. We're going to do this the easy way or the hard way. It's your call."
Zane regarded him for a moment before he finally sighed in defeat. "Alright. No need to get so wound up," he said, pulling off his shirt, revealing his muscular torso. Turning to Max, he grinned cockily and waggled his eyebrows.
Max shook her head slowly as she swept her eyes over him. "Not bad, soldier," she commented with a slight smirk. Her smirk turned into a full blown grin when she saw the almost imperceptible stiffening of Zack's shoulders. It's working, she thought in satisfaction.
She was more than convinced now that Zack was interested.
Zack felt his temper rise when he noticed the direction of Max's gaze. Why the hell was she checking Zane out? As he saw the smug look on Zane's face, he felt like punching the lights out of the bare-chested transgenic.
"Stay still," Zack instructed tightly, trying to clamp down on his animosity as he proceeded to search Zane thoroughly.
After a few minutes, he finally found what he was looking for. It had been almost impossible to find. The small object, the size of a grain of rice, was embedded just under Zane's skin next to his barcode. Its function, however, was clear to Zack. They had learnt about this in one of their lessons back in Manticore.
The question was; why did Zane have one in his neck? Was he a traitor all along or Manticore had somehow brainwashed him? Was the memory loss a just ruse to trick them? Whatever it was, Zack was determined to find out before things could get worse.
Yanking Zane around roughly to face him, he growled threateningly. "You better have a good excuse for the tracer behind your neck."
Max gasped, throwing an accusing look at Zane. "So it's you!"
Looking completely bewildered, Zane gaped wordlessly for a moment before he found his voice. "What are you talking about, Zack? What tracer?"
"I'll show you," Zack snapped and reached into his pocket.
Zane's eyes widened as Zack took out a pocket knife. Backing away from Zack, he held his hands up and said in a low voice, "Man, whatever your problem is, I have nothing to do with it. I know nothing about a tracer."
"Zack, what are you doing?" Max asked as she stepped forward, her wary eyes on the knife.
Still keeping his eyes on Zane, he replied, "Trust me on this, Max. Grab him and hold him still."
"What? NO!" Zane protested vehemently as Max looked back and forth between the two of them, her actions showing her indecision.
Why the hell was Max hesitating? All he had asked was for her to hold Zane still, Zack fumed. Annoyed beyond belief, he ordered tersely, "NOW, Max! We don't have time to hang around. Lydecker's going to be here soon."
Something in his voice must have finally gotten the message through to her. Max stepped up to Zane, her eyes apologetic as she grabbed his arm. Zane's expression displayed his fear as he struggled against Max, but with his recent injuries, he could not escape from her grasp.
Zack stepped behind Zane and laid the knife against his neck. With a swift movement, he sliced into Zane's skin and the tracer popped out.
Catching it in his hand, Zack smiled grimly and said to Max, "You can let him go now."
When he was released, Zane turned to give Zack a look of disgust as he rubbed his sore neck. "What the hell was that for?" he yelled as his hand came back all smeared with blood.
Holding up the blood-stained tracer, Zack said in a hard tone, "Explain how this got into your neck. This is why Lydecker had been able to track us so easily. Because you've been giving away our location all this time."
Eyeing the object in Zack's palm, Zane's brow furrowed. "You actually think that I know it's there? I thought you said Lydecker's out to get all of us!" His voice was raised in agitation.
"Come on, Zack. He really doesn't look like he knows it's there," Max said, appearing not too convinced herself. After a small pause, she continued briskly, pointing to the tracer, "And we need to destroy that now and leave. We can deal with how it's there later."
Zack had to admit that Max had a point. There was no use in them discussing it now. They have a more urgent problem to contend with; Lydecker. Taking a last look at the tracer, he then dropped it and ground it flat with his heels.
"Alright, let's go," he said. Frowning, he wondered if it was safer for him to ride with Zane or for Zane to ride with Max. After a few moments, he reached his decision.
Gesturing at his bike, Zack turned to Zane and instructed, "You can handle that yourself. But damage my bike and I'll kill you. Max will ride with me." He did not like it, but he guessed that for the sake of their safety, it made sense. Who knew if Zane had not been pretending all along? Hurt or not, Zane might be capable of harming them while they were on the same bike, and Zack had no intention of letting that happen to himself or Max. The loss of his bike was unavoidable if it happened, but it would be a small price to pay.
Zane looked at him with an expression which resembled hurt. "You don't trust me," he stated flatly. But he made his way to Zack's bike.
Zack stared at Zane retreating back for a moment before saying levelly, "I'm not sure you would trust us if the situation was reversed. This is for the best." Then he walked to Max's bike.
Her hand on her hips, Max warned, "Zack, you're not driving my bike."
A surge of irritation rose in him at Max's words. He wondered if she was capable of listening to him just once without arguing. "I'm driving, Max," Zack said in a tone of finality.
Narrowing her eyes, Max insisted, "That's my bike."
"I know," he snapped, exasperated. "You can have it back intact later. And since you're riding with me, you can make sure that nothing happens to it."
Max looked as if she wanted to argue further, but wisely held her tongue. Grudgingly she said, "Fine. But I'll have your ass if anything happens to it."
Zack decided that that was the best he could get out of her and proceeded to mount her bike. When he turned back to face her, he was surprised to see a mischievous twinkle in her eyes and a smug look on her face. The alarms went off in his head. Why in the world did she have that cat got the cream look on her face? She had the appearance of someone plotting something.
His curiosity overtaking his caution, he asked, "What's that look for?"
Blinking at him, she said innocently, "What look?"
Knowing that she would not elaborate any further, Zack gave up, deciding that whatever it was, it could not be anything too bad. Inserting the key into the ignition, he revved up the bike and said, "Hop on."
Max was not sure, but she had been honest when she said that did not think Zane knew about the tracer. His reactions had been too surprised, too natural when Zack had confronted him about it. There was only one way to find out if Zane had been telling the truth; to watch him closely and to see if Lydecker came any closer to them.
They had been riding for a few hours in no apparent direction, Zane on Zack's bike and her behind Zack on her bike. Lydecker's men was nowhere in sight, which convinced Max that the tracer which Zack had destroyed must be the only one in place.
Realising that they could relax a bit now, the idea that she had a few hours ago outside the diner came back to prod her. A smile tugged at her lips when she debated with herself whether or not she should do what she had planned to do.
Her mischievous side won, overriding all the protests from her sane side.
She had been sitting with her hands loosely placed at the side of Zack's hips. The said hands, however, were now inching forward as she slowly leaned closer to his back, pressing her cheek against his leather-clad back. She grinned as she felt Zack stiffen noticeably, but he did not say anything.
He kept up the tense posture for the next half hour although Max did not move any closer. She wondered how long he could remain in that state.
Another ten minutes passed before she decided that she should tease him further. Slowly, she slid her hand across his midsection, hearing him suck in his breath sharply as her palm touched his stomach though his thin shirt.
But he still remained frustratingly silent.
Determined to get more of a reaction from him, Max pressed her front fully against his back and moved her fingers into the gap between the bottom of his shirt and the waistband of his jeans. A surge of satisfaction washed over her as the bike wobbled precariously for a second.
"Watch it," she warned.
"Max! What are you doing?" he hissed over his shoulders.
"What?" she questioned in an innocent voice.
"You know what I'm talking about!" Zack gritted out tightly.
"Gee, Zack, I don't know what's bothering you, but I can't help if you don't tell me," she said dryly, hiding her smile.
This was much more fun that she thought it would be.
Zack blinked his eyes rapidly to clear the sudden haze of desire which enveloped him ever since he felt Max's body tight against his. She had been moving closer and closer to him in the last hour. He had tried, but the feel of her warm hand through his thin shirt and the contours of her body refused to let him ignore the effect she had on him. Stifling a groan, he wondered if she was trying to kill him by torturing him.
He had held his tongue for what seemed like hours, but when her fingers touched his bare skin, he had momentarily lost control of the bike. The accusation had then popped out of his mouth before he could stop himself. He felt like a fool now for his questions. She really sounded as if she did not know what she was doing to him. Why would she be consciously touching him that way anyway?
But then he recalled the suspicious look on her face just before he asked her to get on the bike. Was she doing this on purpose? Was she trying to tell him something? Did she know how he felt and had decided to tease him about it?
Before he could answer any of the questions, the cellphone in his pocket rang.
"Damn," he swore as he tried to extract the cellphone from his jacket. Signalling Zane to stop, Zack brought Max's bike to a halt at the side of the road and took out the phone.
The display on the screen says 'unidentifiable number', Zack noticed with a frown. It was probably one of the others. He had told them never to use a traceable phone.
Pressing a button, he pressed the phone to his ear. "Yeah?"
"Zack?" a voice replied.
Instantly recognising the voice, Zack felt the blood rush from his head. This is not possible! What the hell was going on? Trying to keep his voice steady, he said, "What's up?"
"Nothing. Just calling to see how you're doing, and to piss you off, what else?" the voice said cheerfully.
"Very funny. Is everything okay?" Zack asked guardedly, his eyes flicking to Zane, who was sitting on his bike, inspecting the almost healed wounds on his arms.
A small pause before the voice answered with a slightly confused tone, "Yeah, nothing out of the ordinary. Same thing everyday. I've just been thinking, isn't it time for you to come over?"
"I've got something to sort out here. Listen, keep your eyes open, okay? The old man had been sniffing around," Zack advised.
"You worry too much. I can take care of myself," the voice said confidently.
"I'm serious."
"What's new? Okay, give me a call when you're done with your rounds."
"Okay," Zack answered before clicking the phone shut. He sat stock still, hardly believing what he had heard, but suddenly a lot of things seemed to make sense in a weird kind of way. A soft touch on his arms startled him out of his thoughts.
"You okay?" Max asked, looking worried.
Nodding, he said, "Yeah. Just need to clear something up right now," he said, getting off the bike. Turning to Max, he said cryptically, "Don't interrupt, okay?"
Max's expression showed her confusion. "Huh?"
But before she could voice her question, Zack was already striding purposefully towards Zane. The look on his face was a mix of determination and anger.
Glaring at Zane, Zack growled, "Your game's up. Who the hell are you?"
t.b.c.
A/N: I guess by now you should have at least part of your theories confirmed! Looking forward to your reviews!