Chapter 2

Dark Angel

MAX

"You okay!?" Max shouts. Gem tapped on Max's shoulder about three hours through the drive. And based on the sounds that were coming out of her mouth, they'd be covered in whatever she had for breakfast this morning if she didn't stop when she did.

"Fine!" Gem calls, spitting out the last of the bile. "It's been a while since I've been on a trip this long. On a motorcycle, no less." She takes a few more deep breaths as she walks back towards the bike, determining whether or not her stomach will turn on her again. Once her stomach calms enough, she nods and climbs back on the bike.

"You sure you're still up for this?"

"Yes." she says stubbornly. Gem can practically feel Max's stare from the back of her head and she's briefly tempted to part the hair there to see if she actually had an extra pair of eyes. "I'm fine, Max, really."

Max sighs and starts the bike back up. She's worried for the young mother. Max had once heard somewhere how connected a mother and her child were; and that's just in the realm of Ordinaries. Imagine how connected a transgenic mother would be to her young. Max's stomach wants to turn at the separation anxiety that Gem must be feeling. Stop it. She tells herself. You did not force her to come along. Gem volunteered and she promised that if anything were to go wrong she would run the other way.

Well, not exactly. And if she's being honest with herself, she knows that Gem will probably try to fight- that is, if anything comes up.

And with Max's luck: something will most definitely come up.

Feeling the dot of anxiety swelling inside her, Max pushes the accelerator further, letting the roar in her ears drown out all of her thoughts.

GEM

Gem misses her baby. She misses Dalton, too, though the thirteen-year-old can be annoying, but the two of them are her family, and Libby is still so young…

No, she chants in her head. If you don't take time off now, you'll never take time off. The best way to do this is a mission. You're good with missions; you've been going on missions your whole life. Plus, if you never go out you'll just be a burden. DON'T be a burden.

She's done her best to find material on raising children - Dalton even brought back a few books whenever he went on supply runs. She read that the earliest time that a child can be separated from their mother is at six months as that is about when their sense of individuality - the sense that they are separate from their mothers - begins to form.

With her and Libby's dad being X5s, Libby has cat DNA - meaning Gem could probably have started leaving her alone at around 14 weeks. But Libby is for the most part human and - as they discovered at her birth - she doesn't have a barcode. They don't really know what other attributes could go along with that. Will she have their speed, strength, or stamina? Their senses? Intelligence? They're questions that only time will tell.

The other X5 mothers - most being outcomes of the breeding program - don't have to worry about this. For whatever reason, all of the other babies were born with barcodes, their designations being the sum of whatever their parents' are. So why wasn't her little Liberty? Is it something in Gem's DNA? Or in her 'breeding partner''s?

Gem can feel herself scowling at the term that created her baby. That term that forced her to-

No, she stops herself. Don't even think about it. STOP thinking about it. You'll only upset yourself and you can't afford to do that right now. She moves her hand from around Max's waist to move a piece of her hair that caught in her mouth from the wind.

She takes a deep breath of the assaulting breeze, instantly wanting to fling her arms out and pretend like she's flying. It's been a long time since she's felt this enticingly free. But with that thought, she automatically runs through all of the things that could go wrong in that situation, her battle-strategic mind taking charge; one of the most adamant thoughts: falling off the bike, then being run over and killed by a truck. She only clutches herself to Max tighter at that.

The moment she learned of her pregnancy, Gem found that her sense of self-preservation increased ten-fold. Not for herself, but for her baby. No, the circumstances in which the little one came to be were not ideal, but Gem loves her Liberty and would do anything to keep her safe. And one thing she knows for certain is that she is safest with a mother to protect her. Especially where she was raised in a military compound without any parents to even think about (which doesn't in any way mean she didn't at least imagine it); it's just the way it was back there.

She doesn't even know if the father is still alive. X5-498 was his designation. He had dark hair that might have been a dirty blonde if given the opportunity to grow out, tall - she had guessed around 6'4, angular/square face, around her age - 17 or 18 - at the time. His eyes were guarded and sad with the familiar weight of 'I'm sorry; I have to do this'. A look that they all had and did their best to hide, but was always obvious to one another. She didn't know anything more about him. They'd only been in the same room twice before Manticore was burned to the ground. She learned of her pregnancy two months later.

As time has gone on Libby has begun to show more and more of her father's physical attributes; straight dirty-blonde hair, long limbs, angular face. Gem can honestly say that she is relieved that her daughter's eyes are dark twin mirrors of her own instead of the bright hazel-blue of his. If it weren't for that, she'd be scared of her daughter only taking after him. Which doesn't make sense, but it did worry her in the past.

She still can't decide what to think of Libby's father - whether she's glad he isn't around or wants him to meet their daughter. She knows that he was just another one of Manticore's pawns - following orders - just like she was. But the memories are still painful to look back on. Being forced-

You're doing it again. Warning stumbles back into her mind as she squeezes her eyes shut tight to keep the memories at bay.

"You squeeze much tighter than that and we're gonna have to make another stop! This time not so steady as the last one!" Max yells over the wind.

Gem quickly loosens her hold on Max's torso. She didn't even notice her hold tightening. It just…happened. She promises herself that she won't let her mind wander off like that again. They're on a mission. She needs to stay focused. "How far out are we?"

"Only about an hour 'til we hit the runway - about five more check points in between - then it's about three and a half- you know I'll just tell you at the next checkpoint." she calls and Gem nods against her back.

ALEC

"What do you mean you're leaving Seattle?"

Logan continues walking. They'd just finished unloading the final truck for the night when Logan dropped the bomb of his early vacation. "It's not like I'm going on a weekend getaway, Alec. I just need to see a friend about…something."

Alec freezes where he is in the middle of the hall, looks up, and shakes his head. "You've GOT to be kidding me."

It's Logan's turn to stop. "What?"

Alec has to restrain from rolling his eyes at Max's Ex. "When are you gonna get it out of your head that she doesn't want to be with you?"

Logan's eyes shoot up to his. "Where did you pull that from?"

Alec just looks at him. "You do realize that you fidget about ten times more whenever you're referring to Max." Logan's hands immediately freeze. "And since you're going to 'talk to a friend about…something'- seriously, man? You're going out to find the cure again!"

Logan just stands there for a second before chuckling to himself. "Sometimes I forget that you're just as intelligent as the rest of these people."

Alec narrows his eyes at this, unsure whether to be offended or amazed that Logan just paid him half a compliment. "Well, y'know- the rugged handsomeness can distract from a big brain."

"More like the big head distracts." Logan mumbles and then turns to walk further down the corridor. Alec follows after him. "And I'm not doing this to be with Max,"

Alec lets out a laugh. Or, well, it was supposed to be a laugh, but it ends up becoming more of an exasperated huff. He opens his mouth again to argue.

"-I'm only doing this so we can work normally without having to worry about touching all the time." Logan replies, knowing what Alec is about to say. He turns after placing the clipboard on the nail.

The sight he is met with is that of Alec standing with his arms folded across his chest and a suspicious look practically shining in his eyes.

Logan sighs. "Look, she's with you now and that's great and all-"

Alec barely hides his flinch. He always manages to forget that he and Max are boyfriend and girlfriend to the rest of the world instead of just friend-friends, like they really are. He might even call her his best friend. If Biggs had survived the initial attacks on transgenics, he would obviously take precedence. But they're close enough now that even she might call him one of her best friends - after OC of course and just possibly Logan. But now he's starting to think that he might come before good old Eyes Only himself.

Of course, Max still loves Logan. Alec can tell every time they are in the same room together. However, he also knows that she knows for sure that they can't be together. Ever. And not just because of the stupid virus(something that he can't help but feel is at least partially his fault - because it was), but also because of just how different they've become. Max even told Alec once that even if they did eventually try - it would never work out. So why even imagine going for it again?

Usually these conversations happen during a panic attack of some sort - which honestly don't happen very often considering the role she's been taking on. Her excuse nearly every time is stress. Stress about work, stress about people, etc, etc. And, while that might be true every once in a while - most of the time it isn't. She's scared. Scared for other transgenics, yes, but mostly scared for herself. When her hearing sensitivity started to increase during the JamPony Incident - it was only the tip of the iceberg.

Max's eyes had started to hurt. It began with her rubbing her eyes a couple times in meetings, then she was popping Tylonol behind everyone's back, and finally she was having to excuse herself to leave another said meeting. This was the last straw for Alec. He'd adjourned the meeting (as he was technically second in command) and ran after Max.

It didn't take him long to find her.

He'd expected her to go to her apartment or at least the roof. He knew that she liked being up high. But she didn't even make it that far.

He followed her scent up two floors until he hit a storage closet at the end of a hallway. The door was open and when he looked inside, he noticed that it was used for extra bedding from supply runs. With transgenics arriving so often, they always needed more. But he didn't see anyone there until he heard staggered breathing coming from a corner of the small room.

He walked towards Max until he noticed that she was practically shaking in the fetal position. Seizure. He rushed to her side and took into account her hands pressing against her temples and her clenched teeth. She was in pain. "Max," he spoke to her but she didn't answer. "Max!" She was clenching her teeth even tighter now.

He swore, ripping off his jacket and placing it just under her head when he noticed that she had begun crying. Max was crying.

"Alec." He could tell that she was barely managing to get it past her teeth. "It hurts." a tear rolled over her lips.

"Hold on. I'm gonna go find a medic." he turned to leave but was instantly pulled back. He turned and looked at the offending force: Max's hand in a death grip around his wrist.

"No." she gasped, pressing her free hand to her forehead. "No medic."

Worried, he looked over her immediate being and finally noticed that she was making a visible effort to control her emotions. Not only that, but she stopped shaking. "You're not seizing," he realized.

A low chuckle managed to escape from underneath her breath, though she winced as it did. "Yeah, no kidding." she croaked.

"Max," he knelt in front of her. "What is going on?"

She turned her head away from him and then seemed to realize he wouldn't be going anywhere until he got some answers. "Okay," she whispered, barely audible. "Just…Can you turn off the light?" She pressed the palms of her hands to her eyes.

Alec glanced briefly up to the blue-white fluorescent light dangling above them that he'd turned on upon entering and then right back down to Max. It was almost like…the light was hurting her?

He stood up, confused, but hoping that after he completed the task he would start getting some answers. He switched the light off and heard a sigh of relief come from Max. He turned back to see her palms still over her eyes.

"The door, too."

Alec's patience was thinning. "What - do you want me to stick towels in the cracks, too?"

"Just do it."

Alec stood there, stubbornly holding off. But it was only a second. Just because she's a pain in the butt doesn't mean that she's not still in pain. He shut the door and let his feline eyes adjust for a second. And it really was just that - a second. "Alright Max, what's going on?" He folded his arms across his chest and looked down at his friend.

He observed as she took one more breath before finally removing her hands from her eyes and looking back up at him.

She had headlights.

Alec heard a sharp intake of breath and wondered why Max would have done that for a moment before realizing that it was him. Her eyes were shining - and not just her iris', but the surrounding white of her eyes were also producing radiance.

Alec struggled to speak. "Wha...How…"

"You remember when we were at JamPony and I knew that the Familiars were coming before any of the rest of you did?"

Alec nodded once.

"Well, it was because I heard them."

Alec nodded again. "I vaguely remember you whispering something along those lines. The real question is ho-" It was at that moment that he realized the answer. He looked back into Max's shining eyes. "Your senses are enhancing."

It was Max's turn to nod. "That's Logan's theory. Or at least it was… I still haven't told him about all this." she pointed to her face.

Alec's mind was whirling. "Bu…how is…This kind of thing has never happened to anyone else I've ever known - why is this all suddenly happening now -"

"-I don't know, Alec!" Max was suddenly yelling. She stood up and quickly paced to the other side of the room before turning back. Alec could see the panic in her eyes, now. "How on earth am I supposed to know this when I was barely ever a part of it in the first place? The closest thing I have to even a fraction of an idea is that it's a part of the same time-bomb DNA that Sandamin put inside me to make these appear." She pulled up her sleeve to display the strange glyphs that were stamped in even lines across her skin.

Alec had seen them before, but last time there were only a few - maybe five or six. Now there were dozens, running up and down her arm like a second layer of sleeves. Except maybe for the- hang on…

Max had continued talking. "I haven't shown Logan most of these new ones, either. He hasn't even figured out- Hey, what are you doing?!"

Alec had grabbed Max's forearm and was inspecting a series of inflamed scabs on the wrist beneath her palms. "What are these?"

Max was quiet.

"Max…?"

"None of your-"

"-Business? Oh yeah, I forgot that you were usually a loner when it came to your 'feelings'." Alec scoffed and Max breathed angrily.

She yanked her injured hand away from him, rubbing slightly over the scabs her own fingers had created. She walked to the door and opened it - momentarily forgetting her sensitivity to light.

Alec barely managed to catch her when she cried out and stumbled back. He immediately knew that he had messed up. The only reason he was supposed to be here was to ease her pain, and yet he had somehow managed to cause her more. What is wrong with me?

Max fought herself out of his arms. She glanced back at him briefly before giving him a frustrated huff and walking into the opposite corner. She punched the concrete wall once. Twice. Three times.

"Max." Alec said, worried once again. "Max, stop."

She just kept hitting.

He couldn't let this keep going on. He walked up behind her and went to grab for her arms. "Max, sto-"

His sentence was halted by a punch to his torso so powerful, he was sent flying into the opposite wall.

"Alec? Alec, oh my-"

He felt his head being lifted into someone's lap as his vision cleared. "Max?"

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean…I don't know…"

That was when he saw it. Fear. She didn't know what she had done, or at least she didn't have control over what she did; that much was obvious.

Max swore and pulled away from him. By this point, he was conscious enough to sense when she had let go of him and lift his head before it hit the ground. "Max." he rolled over, grunting at the pain emanating from the back of his head. His eyes skimmed the room until they landed on Max, pacing back and forth across the room.

Her hands were shaking. And her pacing indicated that she wanted to do something, but the very fact that she was still in the room with him told him the most important thing.

Alec stood, ignoring the pain, and slowly walked up behind his friend. They might not have gotten along in the past - even hated each other at some points. But Alec always knew one thing - Max would be there. Max was always the rock. And, although he knew she had her issues, he knew that sometimes she needed correcting, and maybe even a little help with the social aspect of things, Alec had unconsciously come to set her as the standard. Over time, his moral compass came to align with hers, he'd even stopped stealing altogether, at one point - until that one point where they were stealing Star Wars episode seven or something like that. And even that was influenced by her.

The point being that Max had influenced his life to a point where he couldn't imagine it being without her. And not in a romantic way, either. She'd just always been there. Annoying, sassy, and painful, at times. But also kind, and knowing, and- well, if he was being honest with himself, she'd become his crutch for whenever he fell down(which was often).

The least he could do, at this point, was offer to be one for her, as well.

She had stopped pacing. His chest was almost right up against her back and he could tell that her breathing was faster that usual.

Don't freak her out. He told himself.

She was fidgeting with her hands, now; cracking her knuckles, interlacing her fingers, letting go, and then wiping her sweaty palms in the front of her shirt. Alec didn't think that he's ever seen Max like this before. Then again, he hadn't ever seen her be this vulnerable, or scared for that matter beyond the time they spoke in her apartment - but even then, she'd kept her emotions reined in. Now it was all just…here.

He slowly reached from behind her and took her fidgety hands in his, crossing them against her chest and pulling her body into his.

He felt a tear drip onto his hand. "What's happening to me?" She whispered. It could have been rhetorical, but he answered anyway.

"I don't know, Maxie," he murmured, using a nickname that, if he'd used in any other situation, she'd have punched him. But in that moment, it seemed like the most correct thing to say to her. He had a surge of protectiveness come over him that he'd only had for himself previously, now reserved for the strong woman which he clutched in his arms. "but we'll figure it out, I promise."

" -and she told me that she doesn't think that we'll ever work out anyway. Of course that's not what I thought, but she's a grown woman and can make her own choices -"

"Okay, okay, I'm convinced!" Alec squeezes the bridge of his nose as he feels a headache begin to pulse behind his eyelids. "Look, I'm just concerned about what could happen if you go out there besides the normal route."

Logan turns to him and gives him a strange look. He looks down, almost laughingly, and shakes his head. "Better be careful, Alec; you're starting to sound like you care."

Alec just looks at him, baffled. "Hey, just because I've never - what's the phrase? - 'Taken a shining' to you, does not mean that I am going to send an ally of my people onto a battlefield without wondering whether or not they are going to get shot." Especially one that Max will punch me repeatedly over if she finds out I let him go out there alone.

Logan lifts his head, surprised, and then Alec sees the obviousness of the situation thud into his head. He smirks. "You're afraid of Max."

"You're bleeping right I'm afraid of Max." Also for her. He thinks, though he doesn't let that show.

"Fine," Logan eventually speaks up. "You can come with me so she doesn't kill you for sending me out there alone. Happy?"

Alec considers. "Not exactly - but at least she will be."

Logan can only nod in agreement to that.

Yes, I realize that I bleeped out Alec's swearing. But...

1) I don't like swearing and try to avoid it at all costs.

2) Alec definitely would have sworn there

3) And I think you can guess what he would have said.

Please tell me what you think! Problems, ideas, etc. I want it all (and then I can finally rule the world!*shakes head vigorously in denial*).