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A/N: Ok, here's the next chapter! I changed it a bit, after reading your reviews! Thanks so much, by the way! Anyway, hope this satisfies for now!
Chapter 7: Old Faces
'Well, Alec is it now? Well, you always did have a knack for shocking people into silence.' At the voice, both Max and Alec stiffened and looked toward the doorway.
Shock covered Alec's face, followed by recognition and surprise. Then there was joy. 'Oh, and I'm still Bree.' She added, before she raced forward into Alec's arms to give him a hug. They hugged for almost a minute and then he pulled her back and held her out at arms length. As he held her, he studied her. She'd changed, grown up since the last time he'd seen her. But she was still Bree. Her face still looked about three years younger then she actually was, which was very deceiving. But then, that was how she had been made. If you looked at her now, you would guess her age around 13, but he knew she'd be at least 16 by now. Her hair was growing long, nearly as long as Max's now, but in soft curls, and it was still a light brown, almost gold on top. Her eyes were hazel, similar to his, but hers were fiery, they held passion and, he knew, a temper that simmered just beneath the surface. Her face was perfect, it would be an artist's dream come true. He pulled her close again, kissed her forehead and then drew her back away to look at the rest of her. Yes, she's definitely grown up. And the male X6s aren't going to know what hit them. That should provide some entertainment.
'You grew up' he informed her, then laughed at the face she gave him. 'But you're still Bree, still my temperamental Bree. How've you been? What've you been doing since Manticore went down?' He asked. He had so many questions; he didn't know where to start. He'd thought about her often after their mission, what had happened to her, what Manticore had done. And then after Manticore had gone down, he'd looked for her, very discreetly. And now she was here, and he couldn't believe it.
'Oh, you know, this and that. I got a job as a secretary, at the place where Shellie worked, actually.' She looked up at him. 'Did you ever find out what happened to them?' she asked softly, half afraid to hear the answer. He had known she was going to ask him this. He had regretted not telling her, the day he found out, but he hadn't wanted her to get in trouble. She had still been young, and he hadn't wanted her put through Psy-ops the way he had been. So he had protected her, and not told her. And he had taken the fall.
'They ran. They left a letter – I never told Manticore that I knew, and I didn't tell you cause I didn't want you sent to Psy-ops. I knew they'd be able to tell with a preliminary questioning whether or not you knew anything, and I didn't want to risk it, despite how good a liar you were.' He looked down at her and saw relief flood her face, followed by indignation. 'I'm sorry, but it was for your own good, and don't give me that look. I didn't see the point of both of us going to Psy-ops, and I'd already been through there, so there was no point in making you do it too.' She smiled at him and then pulled him in for another hug. This was why she'd loved him, because he was always looking out for everyone else first.
'I always hoped they had gotten away. I couldn't sleep for a month afterwards. I remember one of the doctors saying they shouldn't have sent you, how it had become another…' she trailed off, not wanting to bring it up, or even let him know that she knew.
'Like what?' he asked, although he was pretty sure he already knew the answer. Rachel. No, Bree can't mean that, she never knew about it, did she? 'Like the Berrisford case?' she nodded her head softly, letting it hang in shame. 'How did you find out about that?'
'Two days before we went out, as we were leaving a briefing, I overheard Sandaval telling you not to make them disappointed again, like last time. That this was your chance to redeem yourself, to not let this be another Berrisford job. I wasn't supposed to hear, but I did, and then I was curious' Of course she was, she was Bree. 'I asked around before we left, and I did a search on a computer one day, when you and Shellie were out, and James was in his room, and I kind of put it together. I'm sorry.' She looked down at the floor, guilt covering her face. I had no idea. How the hell did I not know? Well, this explains a lot. Oh, look at her face, I can't leave her like that… well, maybe just a minute… ok, I guess that's enough.
'It's ok.' He told her as he pulled her in for another hug. Max watched them, and felt her heart reach for him. She knew about Rachel, and what it had done to him. She had thought she was the only one who knew about her. Guess not, this girl seems to know all about it. And who the hell is Shellie? Ok, down girl. This girl seemed to know him so well, and they looked so close, Max could hardly believe it was really Alec standing in front of her showing such an open display of affection. And it appeared that they had done a job together, but this girl looked barely thirteen, so why would Manticore have sent her on a job? It didn't look like Alec was going to be introducing her any time soon, or that he even remembered she was in the room, so she decided to do it herself.
'Another Manticore alum, huh?' She asked, breaking the silence. Two pairs of hazel eyes turning to look at her. Their eyes are so similar, except different. His are full of laughter, hers are… passionate? Hmm, she'll be an interesting one to have around here. They broke apart, as if ashamed at being caught showing so much affection; Manticore did not like affection, and try as they may, a lot of Manticore things were still stuck in them. Alec cleared his throat.
'Yeah, this is Bree, otherwise known as X6-683. We did a mission together, about 6 months before you came back. Bree, this is Max, TC's CO and the reason we stand here today.' At Bree's confused look he added 'the reason that we're all out in the real world; she took down Manticore' he grinned at Bree as realisation dawned on her face.
'Well then, I guess thanks are in order.' She smiled at Max. 'So, how long have you know Alec?' she asked, causing Max to break out in laughter.
'Since the day he walked into my cell and ordered me to copulate with him. It wasn't a great first impression, and although he continued to dig himself into a hole for a while, he has since redeemed himself, although it took him a while; he kept digging the hole a bit bigger' She smiled at him and he grinned as they both remembered all the times he had gotten himself into trouble and Max had had to come and bail his ass out. Bree watched them, and she knew. They were in love with each other, but as she continued watching them, she realised that they didn't know it yet. Hmm, this will make life in TC very interesting. Luke, I mean Alec, in love. Not like last time though, I hope it's not like last time. She looked over at Alec.
'Seriously? You ordered her to copulate with you? What…? Oh, you got him for the breeding program. Man, I would pay money to have been there to see that. How did you react? She asked, looking expectantly at Max with a grin on her face.
'I kicked him into a wall and told him that that was the only kind of physical contact that we were gonna have.' Max laughed at the memory, and Bree laughed just imagining it. She couldn't imagine Alec's reaction at having been kicked away by a woman.
'Yes, and then of course I let you escape only so you could infect Logan, only to come and try and take you back to Manticore.' Alec continued. 'And then I tried to kill Joshua, and when that didn't work out the way I wanted, I tried to kill you instead. Oh, sorry about that whole thing, ya know. No hard feelings?' he asked, grinning at her. She couldn't help but smile back; it seemed like such a long time ago, and she almost understood why he had done it, and in the end, he hadn't been able to anyway.
'Yeah, no hard feelings. Then you started working at Jam Pony, which of course I hated at first. But then you started helping out with all the Transgenics, and I have to admit that I realised that you weren't quite the screw up, and waste of space, or self-absorbed jerk, that I had originally thought.' She smiled at Alec, then turned to Bree. 'Of course, now he's TC's SIC and currently a pain in my ass.' She said, emphasising the last four words. Alec glared at her.
'It's not happening Max, Mole agrees. It's two against one, end of story. And I don't care if you're CO, and I think I just proved that I can kick your ass if need be.' He ended their discussion just like that, and turned his attention to Bree asking 'Now, Bree, who are you staying with?'
'Uh, no idea. I have no clue as to who's here, I haven't had any contact with anyone from Manticore until now. Although, uh the giant lizard man, Mole is it? Yeah, he told me that there's lots of other X6s here, so…'
'Well, for now Gem is in charge of housing and stuff, so let's go introduce you to her, see if she can't find you an apartment.' They walked out, Alec's arm around her shoulder. Bree turned her head one last time to see Max staring at them. She caught her eye, and the two shared a knowing look. Yep, Alec is definitely a strange man, always taking people by surprise. He did have family at Manticore, he just didn't know it. A big brother, who'd have thought? Max thought to herself, and she smiled as they left.
'Hey, what's up?' Bree came up behind Max, who was bending over a table looking at some documents. She'd been assigned an apartment, and Alec had already taken her to it, then he'd been called away by someone called Dix, so Bree had made her way back to HQ in search of Max. She wanted to get to know her, and in some part of her mind, she knew it was because she wanted to make sure she was good enough for Alec.
'Oh, Bree, hey. Not much, just going over figures and stuff. What about you, did Gem find you a place to stay?' She asked, looking up from her papers.
'Yeah, I'm rooming with another X6 girl, Jo, that I knew back at Manticore. She's nice and we get along, so I think it'll work out.' She told her, trying to figure out how to broach the subject of Alec in just the right way.
'Good, cause we don't want to have people fighting amongst themselves right now.' Max said. Well, she brought it up, so I guess now's as good a time as any, Bree thought.
'Unless it's you and Luke, I mean Alec.' Max's head snapped up, and when Bree saw the look in her eyes she threw up her hands and said 'Hey, I know what he's like. I lived with him for four months.' She looked up at Max, and got a nod of agreement. So she continued 'But I also know that when he gets as stubborn as he was with this thing of yours, he's usually right. He made a lot of good calls on our mission, and I know that if he hadn't done some of those things, or if we'd gone another way, then Shellie and James probably wouldn't still be alive. Maybe you should trust him.' When Max simply stared at her she said 'it's just a suggestion, feel free to continue ignoring him if you want. But it might be easier to listen to him once in a while, and if you guys are gonna be our leaders, you've at least gotta listen to each other. That said, you are the leader, and I guess it's up to you. So, you've know Alec a year, huh? Well, I can tell you, not much has changed.' She laughed as she said this and Max smiled at her. She could imagine that was true.
'So, you two did a mission together? Cause, no offence, but you look really young, like too young to have been sent out on a mission by Manticore, especially two years ago.' Max said, trying not to insult her, but Bree simply laughed.
'Yeah, that's the way I was designed. I'm actually one of the oldest X6s, but you'd think I was one of the youngest, or even an X7, wouldn't you? Manticore designed me so that I look about three years younger then I actually am. Can be really useful, like on our mission, but other times not so much. It's a pain in the ass a lot of the time, actually. I'm about 16 and I should be 17 soon, I think. I chose a birthday when I applied for a job. November 2nd. It was nice to put a date on it, you know, after 16 years of the whole Manticore not telling you and stuff.' She noticed Max was staring at her, incredulity on her face, and she laughed. 'Sorry, I know I talk a lot. I can't help myself, I think it's to compensate for all those years at Manticore, cause we couldn't do a whole lot of talking there.'
'Huh, that explains Alec then. Or at least, semi-explains him. Some of that is purely Alec.' This caused both females to laugh, and that moment started a bond between them.
'Tell me about your mission together.'
'Hey Alec! ALEC!' Alec stopped in his tracks, and turned around to see Biggs running after him.
'Oh, were you looking for me? I'm sorry, I didn't realise.' Alec said, mock sincerity in his eyes and voice. Biggs glared at him.
'Yeah right, you knew I was chasing you for the last three blocks, otherwise you wouldn't have started blurring. Man, you're evil. I should have just let everyone vote you as CO, that would have taught you a lesson.' Biggs said, and started laughing at the appalled look on Alec's face.
'You wouldn't have!' Alec said, outraged. Biggs simply continued laughing, he couldn't help himself. But when he caught the look in Alec's eyes, he sobered up immediately.
'Sorry man, but the look on your face when I said that, priceless! Come one, you know I wouldn't have let that happen. I'm not heartless. Speaking of this, have you told Max why? Cause she keeps asking me, and it's getting harder to avoid her, it's like she's put out some sort of radar on me, she's always there demanding to know why you wouldn't be CO. It's getting a bit annoying, you know?' he looked up at Alec, trying to decipher the look on his face. I'm not one for heart to hearts, especially with another dude, but he seriously needs to stop doing this! Jeez, I swear, if these two don't get their act together soon, I'm going to lock them in a room until they do! Which is obviously way easier said then done, but I'll do it if necessary. I just hope that it's not. He almost shuddered at the thought of having both Max and Alec hunting him down. Not a pleasant thought. Thankfully Alec was still too caught up in his own thoughts to notice his. 'Alec!' He snapped his fingers in front of Alec's face, pulling him out of his reverie.
'Huh? What? Oh, uh, look, she doesn't need to know, ok?' Alec said forcefully. She doesn't need to know, it's bad enough that she knows I was a CO back at Manticore. He hadn't meant to let that slip, and now she was harassing Biggs about it, which he knew wasn't fair on his friend. 'Just tell her to ask me, the next time she asks, ok? I'll deal with it.'
'Ok' Biggs said, shrugging, 'But you know she's not gonna leave me alone, or you, so it might just be easier to tell her. It's not like you did anything wrong. You made a choice, and it was the only one you could have made. Any CO would have made the same choice back then. If you hadn't, well, who knows what would have happened to the rest of us.' Who am I kidding; we all know what would have happened to us if Alec had gone back for 556. We all woulda been toast. It would be so much easier if Max knew, she's much better at the whole comfort thing. Plus, she's a chick! This always sounds way better coming from a chick. Ooh! Cece! She already knows! And he made a mental note to ask Cece about it when he got back to their apartment later. He turned to walk away, when he remembered why he had been chasing Alec in the first place. He turned back to Alec, who was still standing there, and said 'By the way, Joshua's looking for you. He's over near the Med building. I think he found two newbies for you.' Biggs laughed at the look on Alec's face before he turned around and walked off.
'Hey, big fella, Biggs told me you were looking for me. What's up?' Alec walked over to Joshua, who was standing near the medical building in front of two X5s that Alec had never seen before, and who he assumed where the newbies that Biggs had been referring to.
'Alec, meet Krit and Syl.' Joshua said to him, and saw surprise and recognition cover his face. Max's family.
'Max's brother and sister, I presume?' They nodded their heads, both studying his face intently. He saw them studying him, and it took him a few seconds to realise why. Ben. He used to hate Ben, but after that night at Max's apartment, he'd stopped hating and started to understand. He still didn't get it all, but he understood how Max felt about him, and he knew it wasn't really Ben's fault; he was just doing what they'd been trained to really, just a little more extreme. He looked back at Syl and Krit and said 'I know I look like him, and I'm sorry. Hope you won't hold it against me. Now, I'm guess you want to see Max?'
'Yeah, it's been a while. We thought se was dead until a week ago, when we saw the news. Think she'll be happy to see us?' Krit asked, grinning.
'Happy? Are you kidding? She'll be ecstatic, she's always talking about you guys, her family. I've only had the chance to meet one of you before, and that didn't end too well, so seeing you guys will be great for her. Maybe you can talk some sense into her. She's probably in HQ, let's go see if we can find her. You coming Joshua?' he looked at Joshua, who had been standing silently and watching Alec intently, but when Alec turned to him, he looked away quickly and nodded his head.
'Need to see Mole before meeting.' He said.
'Ok, let's go.'
'So, you were Alec's niece? Oh that would have been funny. So you had to call him Uncle Luke?' Max asked Bree as they sat at the table in HQ, Max's papers sat long forgotten between them.
'Yep, that was our cover. My parents had died so 'Uncle Luke' was looking after me. Manticore chose me cause I was older then most of the other X6s, so I had more training, but I looked younger, you know, cause that's they way they made me. It made it easier, too, to pull it off, cause people trust young people, particularly young, innocent looking girls.' Bree grimaced as she said this, and Max laughed at her face.
'Yeah, it's hard enough getting people to take you seriously if you're a woman, but a young girl? No chance. They expect us to be weak and helpless, the damsel in distress, and unless you want to draw attention to yourself, you have to act like it's true and play along.'
'Aww, come on now, Max, you know that's not true. No one could ever accuse you of being a damsel in distress. No one would dare, for fear of your wrath.' Alec's voice rang out across TC as he picked up their conversation from the other side of the room. Funny, no matter how many people there, and how much noise there is, I can always pick out her voice. As he looked at her, sitting with Bree, he tried to remember when exactly he'd fallen in love with her, but he, like always, found he could never define a certain moment. It had sort of just crept up on him, unnoticed, until it was on him and there was no going back. And soon, everything was going to change. As soon as he told her that he'd found an old Manticore scientist, the same one who had made her lovely virus, and the same one who could give him the cure for it as soon as he could pay for it. All he needed was for his planned heist tonight to go down according to plan, and he was set. And all he needed for it to go according to plan was a reliable back up, someone who wouldn't tell Max what they were going to do, or anyone else. All he needed was Bree, and they could do this heist, he could pay the scientist and his life would officially be over. Oh no, not over, but practically. Max will finally be with Logan, and I, I will be alone forever. Oh SNAP OUT OF IT MAN! Distract Max long enough so you can ask Bree about tonight. Actually, her appearance in TC couldn't have been better timed. She was just the person he needed for tonight.
'Shut up Alec. Where have you been?' Max asked without looking up. Alec shook his head slightly.
'Joshua and I brought you a present. Maxie, I believe there two belong to you?' he asked, and she finally looked up and noticed for the first time the two people standing next to him.
'Krit? Syl? She barely whispered their names, but they heard her. They laughed and nodded and two seconds later Max was hugging them. 'I'm so glad to see you two. I never knew if made it out, but I never saw you in Manticore, and they never talked about you, so I hoped.'
'We thought you were dead. Lydecker said you'd been shot, and that they had got Zack. Then we saw you on the news, thought we were seeing a ghost.' Krit told her, as he studied her. She looks the same. But she's not. My baby sister is in love, actually in love this time, I never thought I'd see the day. And with Ben's clone, who'd have thought. Wonder how long it will take them to realise it?
'And then we saw Alec, and we were sure we were going crazy, so we just had to come down here and see for ourselves. You got a pretty good thing going here for everyone.' Syl finished, thinking the same thing as Krit. Max looked from one to the other. They looked exactly the same as they had a year earlier. She hadn't realised how much she'd missed them until she'd seen them standing there. She hadn't realised how much she had needed to know that they were alive, that she hadn't lost them too.
'I'm so glad you guys are here. There's so much going on. But, uh, we're actually just about to start our meeting. Uh, Bree, you know how the whole housing thing works, right?' Bree nodded and Max continued. 'Do you think you could take these two and see if you can get them an apartment? You guys don't mind sharing, do you?' She asked, turning back to Syl and Krit. Syl laughed and said 'No, as long as their's two bedrooms so I don't have to sleep in the same room as him again, I'm fine.' She lowered her voice, but so it was still loud enough to be heard by nearly everyone who was listening, and added 'he snores.' Max and Syl broke out in laughter, as Krit looked indignant.
'I do not snore. She lies' Krit denied, and was denying it two minutes later as he and Syl left HQ with Bree in search of Gem's team, to find them an apartment.
A/N: Ok, there you go! Thanks for the review, I just added the bit with Alec and Biggs, sort of to start explaining why he didn't want to be CO. I'll explain further in a later chapter. Please review, and tell me if there's anything I that doesn't make sense, cause that wouldn't surprise me.