Disclaimer: I don't own anything… if only
A'N: so, here's the next chapter, sorry the update took longer then I promised, it was a long weekend. Anyway, here it is, hope you like it, I tried to make it as original as possible, but don't worry, after this I move on from the actual show into my own world.
Chapter 5: Freak Nation
A week later, Alec walked into Jam Pony and was surprised when Normal came around the counter singing 'for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow, for he's a jolly good fellow!' as he held out a small cake with a single candle on top. He looked down at the cake, then back up at Normal.
'The man's finally lost it' Alec said to the room at large, giving Normal a cautious look, and looking at his eyes, trying to detect anything different, like dilated pupils or something. Yeah right, like Normal would ever take drugs, or like he'd need them to do something like this. The man's a walking, talking fruit cake.
'Many happy returns there buddy boy.' Normal said to him, still holding the cake out for him. What… oh, he thinks it's my birthday. He really is insane, like I even know when my birthday, thanks to good ol' Manticore. Not that I really care, I mean it's just another notch on the belt, so to speak. And why would I want to celebrate getting older anyway? Who wants to be old?
'It's not my birthday.' Alec said, looking up at Normal, trying not to look like he was looking at a crazy person, which he was sure he was. Not my fault the guy's stark raving cuckoo… crazy…uh, or whatever that saying is.
'Yeah, it's right there in black and white on your application form.' Normal informed him. Ah crap, I forgot I had to do that, didn't realise how long it's been since I started here. But as if Normal even remembered… unless he checked, and noted it down somewhere. God, the man's a nut job. Normal gave him the cake, and he looked down at it and said 'Oh, yeah, yeah. Boy, nothing gets by you, does it, Normal?' Yep definitely nuts. Oh, that time with the dream about the gladiators… Alec repressed a shudder. Don't think about that, push it out of your mind forever, man. Damn Manticore's excellent memory dealio.
'Now, I made that without eggs and butter, all right? I know you like to look after the ol' physique. Go ahead, blow it out.' Normal told him. Alec tuned Normal out then, and blew out the candle. Best to appease the man, the fact that he's obsessed with me can, occasionally, make life a lot easier. Just deal with it, soldier. He almost cringed to himself at the use of the word soldier. Damn, Manticore ingrained that so far into us it's never gonna go, is it? He turned to Sketchy, and they shrugged to each other as if saying why not, before they both took a bit of the cake and tasted it. They both regretted it instantly and Alec had to resist the urge to spit his back out, it was disgusting. One look at Sketchy told him that he wasn't alone in his thoughts, and he walked quickly around Normal and OC, who were currently discussing Max's whereabouts; yeah, any minute, sure Cindy. And I'm a monkey's uncle… well actually…, and discreetly threw out the cake on his way to his locker. Dum dee dum, where am I off to next? Sector two, fantastic, another day of mindless idiots to smile at; no wonder I'm always looking for ways to put a little excitement in my life, Max can't really blame me… hmm, I wonder where Max is anyway? She's probably with Logie the roller-boy, god he's the biggest loser I've ever met. What does she see in him, anyway? He's so… ah, what do I care, anyway?
20 minutes later he was on his bike, on his way out to a run, when he ran, literally, into Joshua. 'Alec, I'm so glad to see you' Joshua said hurriedly to Alec, who was so stunned at seeing Joshua and Mole outside Jam Pony that all he could manage to get out was 'uh-huh'. Joshua continued talking, saying 'This is Gem, she's having a baby' as he indicated to the young X5 woman standing behind him. When he looked down and saw the obviously pregnant woman, he snapped right back out of his shock.
'Oh, so naturally you thought of dropping by Jam Pony in broad daylight.' He may have sounded normal, but inside he was freaking out by going, so not good, this is so not good. We need to get them back to TC right now. Oh this is so not good. He could hear Joshua talking, but was distracted by the sight of police cars at the end of the street. 'Don't turn around, don't turn around. Keep walking, keep walking.' He told them as they started heading for the other end of the street. They tried to act casual, but the cops had seen them, and the large rifle Mole was carrying didn't help either.
'You in the hood, drop your weapons.' One of the cops yelled as another cop car pulled up in front of them. More cops started yelling at them to put their hands up. Shit, could this get any worse?
'Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa!' Alec yelled, putting his hands up in front of him, as if he to say 'easy'. He didn't have a plan, but before he could even formulate one he heard a shot behind him and Mole had grabbed the collar of his shirt and was suddenly using him as a hostage. Mole yelled at the police 'Get back or he's dead' and out of the corner of his eye, Alec saw Joshua put an arm around Gem to pretend to use her as a hostage, and he pointed the gun in the air but Gem grabbed his arm to point it at herself. Then Mole whispered to him as he yanked his collar 'Play along.' Alec had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at that one. What am I gonna do, seriously? You're the one with a gun to my head, Mole. I had to tempt fate, I had to ask if this could get any worse, didn't I? Max is so gonna kick my ass when she gets here… She better get her ass here soon. But he didn't say all this to Mole, obviously as he'd probably get shot, so he simply said 'yeah, no problem.'
They backed up into Jam Pony, and all the bike messengers looked up at them and froze. Alec muttered to Mole as the walked 'Don't blow my cover.' Mole gave an almost imperceptible nod of the head and then shoved him forward, sticking his gun into his back.
'Got a back door?' Mole asked him.
'Yeah.' Alec said, and Mole grabbed his collar again and started to drag him towards the back.
'Alright, nobody move' Mole yelled at everyone as they headed for the back door. Alec opened it, but as they exited, they saw that they were blocked by even more cop cars. Not good, not good. Oh this is not going to end well. Shit!
'No no no no no no no no no no, go back!' Alec told them, and he and Mole turned to go back in but they weren't quite quick enough. Alec felt a bullet pierce his left shoulder. That's gonna hurt in the morning, he thought. They got back inside and Mole closed the door, but they came back into the main room only to find Normal pointing a gun at them.
'Hold it there freak show.' Normal said to them, looking at Joshua and Mole. The he looked at Alec. 'You're bleeding' Alec looked down at his arm and nearly sighed. Oh he's so perceptive. I got shot, of course I'm bleeding.
'Yeah, bullets will do that to you.' He quipped, almost wincing as he realised that that probably wasn't how an ordinary would react to a bullet wound. Oh well, too late.
'Ok, you're safe now.' Normal told him, and Alec had to quickly asses the situation. They'll never look up to you again. Oh who are you kidding, no one in their right mind would look up to you. But they'll never admire you, you'll always be the freak. There'll be no escaping White now; everyone will know what you are. Oh, what the hell. Life's been a little quiet lately, why not liven things up a bit?
'No…' he blurred forward and, twisting Normal's arm up and around, took the gun from him. 'I'm safe now.' He saw Mole pointing his gun at Normal, and gestured to him to lower it. One of the messengers behind him got up to run, but was knocked down by Cece. 'Nobody move' she ordered. Alec looked at her. 'Cece, call base, tell them we're in trouble.' She nodded and headed for the phone. Alec looked to Mole and Joshua. 'Joshua, take the front. Mole, you got the back?' they both nodded and moved to their positions. Then he turned to the kid. Damn, a kid that young should be out in the streets playing with his friends. Not dealing with this shit. 'Hey kid, what's your name?' he asked
'Dalton' the young X6 answered.
'Ok Dalton, I want you to go upstairs, keep an eye on the street for me.' Dalton nodded his head then ran upstairs to his post. Almost a year, and when it comes down to it, we're all still soldiers. Guess there are some things that you can't forget, that are ingrained into you. Oh Manticore would be so proud of themselves if they could see us now, bastards.
A short while later Alec was checking the news on the T.V. when he heard a loud crash behind him. He turned around, prepared to fight, but what he saw was not what he was expecting. Max was sliding across the floor on a hoverdrone, and when it came to a stop she looked up, smiled, and said 'Hey, who ordered a pizza?' She jumped off and Alec couldn't help thinking Ah Maxie, always did love her dramatic entrances.
Max walked around, checking on everyone, making sure they were all ok, trying to calm the workers down. Eventually she managed to convince them all that they would be fine, that they weren't going to kill any of them. Then she looked over and saw Alec, leaning against a wall. Look at him, he's so… but whatever she'd been about to think was lost when she noticed… Dalton, was it, or something like that, standing next to him, wrapping a bandage around his shoulder. Oh my god! Alec! Calm down woman, he's standing isn't he? If he was seriously hurt he wouldn't be standing, and he's not even whining about it, like he always does, he's fine. Just breathe, get everyone back to TC in one piece then you can worry all you like.
'Hey, what's that?' she asked, trying to sound a lot more calm and unconcerned then she actually was.
'It's a hole, in my body, made by a bullet.' He replied easily, not letting on how much it hurt.
'Been there, done that. Dalton, right?' she said turning to the young kid. He nodded 'ok Dalton, I want you to keep an eye on him. He's very, reckless, and if this goes bad I need you to have his back in case I can't. Can you do that?' Dalton nodded at her, and a smile covered his face, while Alec simply glared.
'I am not reckless, I'm just a… a free spirit, that's all. Yeah, I'm a free spirit, and you Maxie, just cramp my style.' He grinned at her, and she rolled her eyes and smacked him up the back of his head. He shook his head slightly, and gave a soft sigh. Then she turned and walked away to talk to OC and Gem.
Half an hour later, their group began to make its way towards the door. Cece, Gem and Cindy were all acting as shields. Max received the all clear from Clemente, and they headed out. But they had barely gone two steps when she felt Alec stiffen beside her. What…? 'Max, there are still snipers, get back. Get back!' he yelled to everyone. They all looked around at him in confusion. Max looked up, following his line of sight, and saw the snipers taking aim at them. 'GO!' she yelled, and they all turned and ran back inside, but not before Cece was shot. She stumbled through the doorway, followed by Alec and Mole, who had been shooting at the snipers. They came inside and slammed the door down behind them. Alec turned and saw Max bending over Cece, who had collapsed on the floor, and she was applying pressure to her left shoulder.
'Hey, is she ok?' he bent down next to Max and looked down at Cece. 'Dalton, get more bandages. It's ok Cece, you're gonna be fine. Bullet went straight through, we just need to stop the bleeding.' She nodded, then closed her eyes against the pain. Dalton handed him the bandages and he and Max set to work patching her up as everyone surrounded them, watching in silence. No one noticed Logan standing silent in the corner; all eyes were on Alec and Max. While they worked, Alec' mind wandered back to a similar situation from a year ago; they were patching up a bullet wound, except in a young male, and they had been in an old barn instead of Jam Pony, but they had been working together to keep a fellow soldier alive, from an ambush attack.
'Hey Max, remember the first time we did this? Wonder how old Bullet is now. His leg was probably as good as new two weeks later. Ha. Guess that's one thing we can thank Manticore for, huh?' he grinned at Max as they finished up, and by her soft smile, saw that she too was remembering Bullet and the rest of his 'family'.
'They were good kids. Hopefully they stuck together and maybe we'll even see them around here some time.' They finished, and Alec gently lifted Cece up and carried her over to a couch. Max looked around her. 'OC, can you watch Gem and Cece? Mole, back door, Joshua, front. Dalton…'
'Upstairs? Got it' he said, and ran upstairs again. When everyone had settled down again, she walked over to Alec. 'Hey, you did good. It you hadn't seen those snipers…' she trailed off, her voice hitching. They both knew what would have happened if he hadn't seen those snipers. He pulled her close, and wrapped his arms around her. She did the same, and sunk into him, letting him relax her. She breathed in his scent, his uniquely male, uniquely Alec scent, and was surprised at how strong an affect it had on her. His smell alone was comforting to her. 'I could've lost you Alec. I didn't see them, I didn't notice, and I almost lost you.' Her voice was less then a whisper, so low that only the transgenics could hear, and even then it was barely audible.
'Hey, shh, I'm alright. You know me, Maxie, I'm always alright.' He looked down and grinned at her and she couldn't help but smile back at him. He had an odd way of always making her feel… safe. Like nothing could go wrong if he was there, although that wasn't exactly true. Trouble had a habit of finding him, or vice versa. Maybe it was just that she knew he would never let anything happen to her, he had her back, no matter what. She gave him a squeeze, then made to step away, but he held on to her a moment longer. He studied her face, checking that she was really ok, that she could handle this. He nodded his approval and released her.
Just then Mole grabbed Sketchy and held his gun to him. Alec and Max snapped to attention just in time to hear Mole saying something about killing a hostage every hour. 'No. Let him go Mole.' Max ordered, to no avail. Mole just stood there, and the two transgenics tried to stare each other down, neither winning. That was when Logan decided to make his presence known by saying 'Let him go Mole'. This earned him a glare from Mole, and Alec finally gave into the urge to roll his eyes. And the prize for the world's biggest idiot goes to… Logan Cale, ladies and gentlemen! Mole rarely took orders from anyone, including him and Max, but an ordinary? Especially Logan, who was always high and mighty with his whole Eyes Only thing? And what's he doing here anyway? He walked over to Mole, who was still clutching Sketchy's top. He laid a hand on his arm, and Mole turned to look at him.
'Hey Mole. Look, I know this is stressful. Well, that's an understatement, but anyway. And I know it's a lot harder for you guys, you and Joshua and Dix, cause you don't fit in out in the real world, and you guys are stuck in TC like 24/7. But we get what it's like to be considered a freak, to be looked at like you've got two heads or something. Look around Mole, cause these people aren't just staring at you. They're staring at me; they're staring Max and Cece, at all of us. Some of these people have known Max for years, for god's sake, but suddenly cause they found out she was made in a lab, they're looking at her like she's about to blow them up of something. You know why those snipers were out there, Mole – this is what they want. They want us to respond exactly like this, so they can prove their point. Well, I for one don't want to prove anyone's point unless it's mine. In fact, most days I like to prove others wrong, and today that is precisely what we need to do. I'm not a monster and neither are you. In fact, none of us are. And I won't let them make us monsters.' Mole glared at him, but he released Sketchy. He turned his back on Alec, but he wasn't letting this go. He grabbed the lizard-man's arm and swung him back around.
'Hey! We're in this together. You, me, Joshua, Max, all of us. We need to stick together because we need to get through this alive.' He noticed the murderous look in Mole's eyes and added 'Hey, you still wanna kick my ass when we get back to TC I will gladly, well not gladly, but I will stand in as your punching bag. But don't turn your back on us. Not now, cause we're not turning our backs on you. A smart-ass chick once reminded me of the one good thing Manticore taught us – never abandon your unit.'
Wow, he's handling this so calmly. He'd be a good leader. Huh, who'd have thought? And I can't believe that what I said actually sunk in. But Max's thoughts were interrupted by Logan. God, Logan. What the hell is he doing here? It's not his fight, he's gonna get himself killed, I swear, he's such an idiot. She managed to suppress the urge to roll her eyes as she turned towards him.
'It was White, Max. White's men did this, not the cops. And there's more. I translated the new runes. The gist was something like there's something bad, like maybe biblically bad, coming and you're gonna be the one to stop it.' Max just stared at him, then she turned to look at Alec, who she was glad to see was looking just as confused as she was. Then she made up her mind. I need to stop this, or I'm gonna end up getting everyone I love killed, I'm gonna get Alec killed.
'I'm going out there. It's me White wants.' Max turned and started to head towards the door, but she suddenly found her path blocked by Alec, who looked down at her like she was crazy.
'No, Max. I'm not letting you walk out there. Even if he gets you, he'll still come after us. You know White – he won't stop until he's killed everyone in this building, so he can blame it on us and turn even more people against our kind. He won't stop hunting us just cause he's got you. We need you in here Max, and when this is over TC is gonna need you.' He lowered his voice so only Max could hear him, but even barely and added 'I need you.' She looked up at him, stared straight into his eyes, and she knew in that moment that she loved him, that she always had. Max nodded and started to smile, but then she stiffened and she turned around slowly.
'What about the hostages?'
'Let's show the viewers at home what the mutant menace does to innocent people. Take out the hostages, the freaks, the kid… take out anything with a pulse.'
'Max? Maxie? What's wrong?' Max turned back around slowly, a look of horror covering her face as she looked up at him.
'They're coming.'
A/N: Ok, so I'll make this quick, cause I have to go to class – sport at 8:30am on a Monday is just cruel! Anyway, hope you liked it! Please review!!!!