Been away on another volunteer-esque road trip to Wales. Spent my entire day off yesterday getting this typed up, so please forgive the massive gap between chapters and review for me anyway! Love to all!
-- Tyler
Rows of child soldiers standing at attention as far as the eyes could see, faces set in stone, swathed in gray.
Nameless chromosome flesh-sacks created solely for exploitation and anonymous tyranny. Close-cropped hair and even closer-cropped morals – designed to kill and not ask why.
Duty. Mission. Discipline. Words flashing in the strobelight of her subconscious. Zack, Krit, Syl, Tinga.
Ben.
Jondy, Brin, Jace.
Ben.
We never should've left.
A bone snapping in her hands with all the resistance of a pencil.
Tears, hot and stinging on her face. The lingering warmth of her dead brother lying cradled in her lap.
Everything made sense there.
Green eyes glittering with terror, with pleading.
Please, Max.
Max…
"Max!"
She stirred, eyes fluttering open before they winced shut at the light streaming in from the rattletrap shutters falling across her windows.
"You alright?" The voice was young and unfamiliar. Max shifted on her side and forced her eyes open once more to gaze at the X6 slumped in a chair beside her bed.
"Who are you?" Max blinked away the sleep filling her eyelids and propped herself up on her palms, feeling groggy from the evident length of her slumber.
"Friends call me Rait." The young girl had a peroxide-blonde crop with sloppy bangs shadowing bright eyes. She didn't look a day over eight. "Alec asked me to drop by and keep a look out for you till he comes back."
"You know where he went?" Max glanced around her apartment and was thankful to see everything as she had left it – well, minus a pile of empty chip packets and a fresh stack of dirty dishes in the sink. This Rait kid was a messy nurse, apparently.
"Nope. Just said he'd make it back as soon as he could." Rait tucked her bangs behind her ears and pushed out of the chair, "Well, I'm supposed to try and get you to eat, so – whaddya want?"
"Nothing. I'm fine." Max's head was no longer throbbing – in fact she felt a great deal better then her health had permitted over the last month or so. Ten hours of sleep probably did that for just about everybody, she figured.
Rait was smirking, Max noted – the grin bore an irritating resemblance to Alec's. "He said you'd say that, but I'm not supposed to take 'no' for an answer, so…"
"So nothing." Max repeated the word indomitably as she swung her legs over the edge of her bed and pushed back her blanket. Her black, zip-up sweater had been removed sometime in the night and the red crop top she was wearing clung to her body with a sticky film of sweat.
God, she wanted a shower. Oh wait – no hot water. No clean water.
Great. Fucking great.
"Uh you're meant to stay in bed till Alec comes and checks on you." Rait sounded hesitant and was hovering behind Max as the X5 crouched down and pulled her suitcase out from underneath the bed.
"Oh yeah? According to who?" Max muttered in response as she pulled out a fresh change of clothing and slid the bag back to its resting place.
"According to me."
Max rolled her eyes and straightened to her full height, twisting to face Alec as he ambled into the apartment, hands tucked into his pockets and as stern a scowl as she had ever seen him wear pasted on his features.
Max smiled with a raise of her eyebrows as she clapped her hands against her thighs, "Well, as you can see, I'm out of bed and this whole freaky meltdown's blown over, so…"
"So you figure you'll just, you know…" Alec's nose scrunched up somewhat as he waved a hand, and Max found it highly abstract that she only then noticed Golden Boy had a smattering of muted freckles, "put your nose back to the grindstone and cross your fingers for the rest, is that it?"
"Pretty much sums it up, yeah." Max didn't really understand why Alec appeared to be so torqued about her momentary lapse in well-being. It wasn't like she'd asked him to shoulder her workload while she slept it off.
He was scoffing now, but the action was entirely humorless, "You're unbelievable."
"And you're overreacting." Max responded tartly, gripping the clothes in her fist tighter as she stalked to the bathroom door and pulled it open, "Now if you don't mind, I'm gonna change…" She flinched and her face hardened into dangerous stone as Alec's hand slammed the door shut and the two locked eyes (and horns).
"Uh so I'm gonna go now." Rait seemed keen on beating the scene before the thunderclaps crackling in the atmosphere gave way to a downpour, "See you guys later." She fiddled absently with the drawstring of her oversized hoodie as she inched towards the door.
"Call you later, huh?" Was all the response she got from Alec. Max was far too engrossed in glaring at her fellow X5 to make any sort of reply.
"Sure – if not I'm dead from the toxic fumes comin' off of you guys." Rait mumbled under her breath as she fumbled with the door-handle and then uttered a loud obscenity as it clattered to the ground.
"Language." Alec snapped in her direction though his eyes remained glued acerbically to Max's.
Rait rolled her eyes. Grown-ups. "Sorry." She waved the door-handle at Max and placed it on counter before slipping through the threshold and tugging the door shut behind her.
"What the hell is your problem?" Max demanded the moment their audience had flown the coop.
"What's my…you wanna know what my problem is?" Alec scoffed and seemed to find the accusatory remark highly amusing.
"Actually I'm already clued in," Max folded her arms and raised an eyebrow at him scornfully, "But if there's a fresh batch, lemme know."
"My problem," Alec countered with an even sharper emphasis on the word then before as he arched his eyebrows at Max, "is that there's a pack of Ordinaries wearing bio-hazard suits doing a sniff-out of the area with an armed escort in tow."
"Yeah…" Max's fire waned slightly as she kicked herself for having been too out of it to pass on that juicy little detail, "you know, about that…"
"Matter of fact, I didn't know 'about that'." Alec had a penchant for twisting her words back at her that Max had never cared for, "You know what else I didn't know about till it was too late? The fact that White pulled a raid this morning at Jam Pony and bagged all our workmates."
"You're not serious." Max felt the blood drain from her face and fought off the helpless guilt threatening to overwhelm her.
"I'm 'seriously' pissed off." Alec offered, scrubbing at his honey-colored hair and looking more anxious then Max had seen him in a while, "Swung by Normal's last night and hassled him into accepting Sung's deal."
"So how come Matt's guys didn't come through?" Max queried, bewildered, as she gripped her biceps tighter and tried to get her muddled head around it all.
"No clue," Alec shook his head and frowned at the wall beside him, "Though I'm hoping it was down to White's timing as opposed to the other option."
Max nodded dismally, "Which is Normal backing off on his end." She sighed, "I'm gonna call Logan…"
"Already did that. Said he'd get in contact with Sung, find out what went down." Alec's lips pursed tightly for a moment and he glanced around before shuffling closer to Max, "Look, I was gonna ask if you could take a shift with the kid."
"You get anything out of him?" Max had momentarily forgotten one of the countless slew of issues they were attempting to juggle.
Alec snorted softly as he dug his hands into the pockets of his jacket, "Nope. Kid's still playin' innocent. What's more he's been bawling his eyes out non-stop since last night. I dunno how he's even still awake – Mia 'n Tank are half-dead."
"I should get down there." Max concluded, unfolding her arms and running a hand through her tangled hair as her eyes flicked up to Alec, "He's gonna talk, Alec. It's just a matter of time."
"If you say so." Alec eyed her skeptically before continuing, "So what's the deal with these bio-hazard guys?"
"They're health inspectors." Max stalked by him and into the kitchen area, swiping two mugs from the counter as she went, "Logan called me right before I went all weak and helpless on you."
Alec bristled at Max's self-reproachful intonation but ignored it, "And? What're they after, I mean TC's already been cordoned off as a no-go zone."
"Yeah well that's actually the card they're playing." Max responded, filling a grimy-looking pot to the brim with water and clanging it onto the stove's single functioning burner, "Logan said they were running a sweep to get clearance for shutting down the whole sector."
"The whole sector?" Alec raised his eyebrows and Max's eyes met his in confirmation before he smiled acerbically, "Well this is peachy. You know why they'd want that one passed."
"I'm going with air strike," Max agreed sullenly as she spooned instant coffee into the mugs, eyes trained on the counter, "though Logan thinks they might pull out all the big guns with this one."
"You mean a full-barrel siege." Alec stated and she nodded. He sighed and scraped a hand across the stubble lining his jaw, "Great. Okay – well at least we have an evacuation plan mapped out."
"We can't just skip town whenever White and his creepy breeding cult buddies say 'boo', Alec." Max set the pot of water down and caught his eyes with her own, "Wherever we make camp, they're always gonna find us. We have to take some kinda stand or they'll cross every line we draw."
"You know it's true that hindsight's twenty-twenty, but that aside," He raised his eyebrows at her, "maybe we should admit that pitching our tents smack in the middle of the war zone wasn't the brightest idea we've had."
Max was silent for a moment as she drummed her fingernails on the counter before responding, "Maybe it brings it home for all the people out there who read about the transgenic monsters out for their heads." She looked up at Alec and could read that he was digesting the words as she spoke them, "Most of us have friends, people who worked or lived alongside us right here in Seattle. And they know we're not so very different from everybody else."
"I'm gonna say this once – you don't sit yo' raggedy ass down, I will clock you one and haul you over." Original Cindy snapped with all the veracity of her feisty nature, fingers clenching the edge of the cold metal bench tightly and full lips pressed into a scowl.
"No, no." Sketchy breathed, sweat trickling down his forehead and sticking his hair to his skin as he paced rapidly to and fro, eyes and hands searching for a crack in the seamless, doorless holding cell, "There's gotta be a way outta here, right, or else there wouldn't be a way in."
"You've been prowling around for the past two hours, you idiot, now quit the pacing – it's driving me insane." Normal drawled unsympathetically from his position beside OC, "The small-minded creatures I employ…"
"Alright, does anyone remember how we got here?" Sketchy rushed into a skid, sliding onto the ground and eyeing his workmates frantically, his voice breathless and low, "I mean was it some kinda ceiling drop, uh star-trekkish beaming pad…"
"I have no idea, fool." Cindy retorted acidly, "We were unconscious when we got here. Remember comin' to on the cold, hard floor?" She eyed the room warily and unzipped the padded waistcoat she wore over her blue sweater, "Least their heating system beats Jam Pony's."
"I like to think my enactment of the friendly company phrase 'our doors are always open' breeds good clientele." Normal stated haughtily in his defense as he adjusted his glasses and glared at a small fracture in one of the lenses.
"Yeah – and frozen workers." Muttered one of the gangly young men who sported a bright red beanie and shirked away from Normal's disapproving eyebrow-raise.
"Least you'd all be solid." The Jam Pony boss lectured in his condescending manner, "Not a day goes by I don't have one o' you low-lives bailing on me for highly exaggerated reasons."
"Here it comes." Sketchy nudged OC with a knowing expression, and the woman rolled her eyes as Normal continued.
"Though of course the most negligent and unapologetically absent employee of the year award goes to Missy Miss hands down." Normal shifted in his seat and rubbed at his elbow subconsciously, "Hardly a day went by that Max wasn't later then a…"
"Before you start runnin' my girl into the ground, may I remind you that she's gonna be the one to get us outta here?" OC raised an eyebrow contemptuously in her boss' direction, and he scoffed in response.
"Only thing Max is gonna do about this little crisis is once again dodge the fallout from her actions." Normal unbuttoned the collar of his plaid shirt and slapped at a trickle of moisture on his neck, "Are they trying to roast us?"
"I read about this." Sketchy was all wide eyes and contagious anxiety as he gestured at the air, "It's some kinda slow-acting agent as a prelude to torture, you know, break down our defenses, make us sluggish, desperate…"
"Homicidal?" Cindy suggested before viciously smacking Sketchy upside the head, "Get a grip, Mister Conspiracy Theorist. Ain't none o' that speculation crap gonna help us figure this bitch out."
"Well excuse me for being the only one with an actual handle on the habits of malicious government agents." Sketchy rubbed the back of his head and scowled at Cindy, "May I remind you of the time I was tied to a chair and beaten into denying the existence of transgenics…"
"Here we go again!" Cindy groaned and buried her face in her hands before turning to Normal, "Now you better not go tellin' me this is somehow Max 'n Alec's fault, cuz I know that ain't the case."
"Indirectly, yes, they're both responsible." Normal replied flatly, ignoring her low-throated growl of irritation, "Pair of'em cruised around Seattle wreaking havoc and using Jam Pony sector passes to do it, now the rest of us are guilty by association."
Cindy eyed him sharply, "I'm guessin' you're intentionally leaving out the part where Jam Pony's been in the limelight ever since."
"Not necessarily a plus, my Nubian associate." Normal removed his glasses and squinted at the damaged lens once more, "'Bad publicity is still publicity' may be some people's motto, but not mine. I prefer the 'no news is good news' line of thought."
Cindy actually blinked silently at the man for a good few seconds, her incredulity at the complete and utter lie from Normal overpowering her.
"Now I want everyone to know that I've spoken with a very influential detective who's agreed to grant us witness protection in exchange for a deeper dig into the hostage situation we underwent." Normal was seizing the window of opportunity to address his clan, it seemed, "So the important thing is that everyone remains calm and in control."
"Last position's already taken, apparently." One of the female workers mumbled to Sketchy, who smirked briefly before pasting on a somber face as Normal continued.
"No matter what happens, keep your mouths zipped. I don't want any o' you clowns jinxing our only shot at rescue here."
"I'm tellin' you, people," Cindy finally got her voice back and used it to ride to her friends' defense, "Max and Alec got this one, aiight? Ain't nothing to fret over."
A wide variety of mute responses to Cindy's statement of faith rode the expressions of her friends for a moment before Normal opened his mouth to boycott the effort at goodwill.
"Well that's an interesting theory, and how exactly did you…"
The sudden hiss of machinery in action dubbed over the rest of Normal's sentence, and the gang of frazzled Jam Pony employees glanced up as a hairline circle the width of full-grown man jutted out of the metal.
Smoke streaked out, and the workers took hesitant steps to clear the field as the platform began to descend, rods and steel cables working with robotic joints to lower it to ground level. Cool air flooded the cell, and Cindy's face hardened as she felt Sketchy grab her arm and Ames White, backed up by a contingent of armed men, surveyed the team with malicious glee.
"Team Jam Pony," Ames cracked a smirk, "It's a pleasure."
The overcast sky was weeping snowflakes onto the decadent outskirts of Terminal City, working feverishly to cover the misdeeds of humanity as the health surveyors perused the area with ruthless intensity.
Alec's lips were pursed ever so slightly and his eyes were narrow slits as he stood beside Mole on the rafters of TC's walls. So far their sentries had been ignored by the surveyors – not even so much as a 'by your leave' had been solicited before the suited-up men and women had piled out of vans and dismissed the neighborhood watchdogs with barriers and sector cops.
"Dunno what they're hopin' to find." Mole muttered to Alec as he puffed at his token cigar, "Public already knows TC's a biohazard."
Alec shook his head slightly, his face set determinedly as his eyes scanned the crowd of inspectors, "They're not looking to find anything." He turned to Mole, "They're looking to plant something."
Mole's eyes narrowed, "Whaddya mean?"
Alec raised an eyebrow sardonically, "Like you said, the public already knows TC's not fit for human living. That's why it's sectioned off. What they need now is an excuse to clear the sector, and the biohazard threat's not gonna hold water."
"You think they're gonna let loose some kinda airborne infection?" Mole eyed the rampaging inspectors below him with a suddenly keener sense of hatred.
"Somethin' like that, yeah." Alec cast the offending crowd one more disdainful squint before patting Mole on the shoulder, "Keep an eye on'em, will ya?"
"You can count on it." Mole drawled as he tucked his rifle into the nook of his shoulder and planted a boot on the railing of the wall.
"No shooting." Alec added with a stab of his finger and a raise of his eyebrows as he headed down the stairs, and Mole rolled his eyes, "I mean it, Mole – not unless they shoot first."
"Well in that case I'll be dead." The lizard-like nomalie reminded Alec curtly, "So it's all good."
Alec forced out a laugh as he stalked down the stairs, shaking his head and keeping the farcical grin he'd been wearing all morning.
It is so not all good.
The faint sound of sobbing greeted Max as she entered Central's basement, and she felt her stomach churn at the thought of going head-to-head with Kid once again. Max entertained a secret fear that the X6 had been the cause of her sudden migraine attack and would be damned if she was left debilitated yet again.
"Finally." Mia's voice was full of genuine relief as Max descended into the room, casting a glance at the boy still tied to his chair. Kid's eyes were red and bloodshot from hours of crying, though his ardent wailing had reduced to subdued sniffles and the occasional hiccough. He wouldn't look Max in the eye as she scrutinized him from her position beside Mia.
"Any luck?" Max queried in a low voice, trying to stave off the pity she felt creeping into her veins at the clearly distressed child in the chair before her.
"None whatsoever." Tanker, looking haggard and completely worn out, appeared next to Max as he pinched the bridge of his nose, "Unless you count calming him down."
"This whole thing is genuinely over his head, Max." Mia stated in a whisper, "He gave up protesting his innocence an hour ago, but that's about it. All I can tell you for sure is that those aren't crocodile tears – he's honestly afraid of something."
"Or someone." Tank muttered, rubbing at a knot in his neck muscle, "After the lecture Alec sat him through I'm beginning to wonder if the damn kid's ever gonna stop crying."
Max quirked an eyebrow at the X5 and he shrugged. She sighed – clearly he was in no mood to spill further details on the topic.
"Maybe we're goin' about this the wrong way." Max shuffled options in her mind for a moment before deciding on a course of action – a risky one, at that. But a long shot was still a shot, and those were something Central was running short on at the moment.
"I'm gonna untie him." Max informed Mia and Tank as she headed directly to Kid's side, brushing off the squawk of protest from Tanker as she crouched down in front of the boy and placed a hand on his shoulder.
"Listen – I'm gonna untie you, okay?" She stated in a soft tone as she worked to free Kid's hands and ankles, noting that he tensed rigidly as her hands met his skin, "But if you try anything, it's back to Square One, you got that?"
Kid nodded fervently and sniffed back a shuddering sob as Max freed his wrists and ankles from their bonds before moving to squat in front of him.
"I don't know what you want me to say." He whispered in a small, anguished voice, tears mixed with snot staining his splotchy red face.
"About what?" Max countered in the same gentle tone, reaching out and wiping at his cheeks with the hem of her biker glove.
Kid glanced around and then leant forward, his voice lowering to an almost imperceptible whisper.
"You have to promise not to tell."
"Tell what?" Max prodded, refusing to allow herself to be manipulated a second time. She'd often heard Alec state flatly that he never promised anybody anything if he could help it. Didn't mean he wouldn't come through – just meant he wasn't going to tie himself to that anchor should it sink with whatever deal had been made.
The concept seemed pretty sound to Max right about then.
Kid shifted in his seat and bit his lower lip for a moment before taking in a deep breath, "If he finds out I told you, he's gonna lock me in the room with no doors again."
"Who is?" The duo-syllabic question technique appeared to be a good approach with the shaken X6, Max thought.
Kid's eyes widened, puffy and red from hours of crying.
"The man." He whispered in a cracking voice, "He keeps lots of us down there, and he only lets us up to make us sit in the chair."
"The chair?"
"You remember." The boy eyed Max sharply and his voice lowered another notch, the next word spoken almost reverently, "In Psy-Ops."
Max remembered. Hell – how could she forget? How could any of them forget that fucking chair?
It was the scene of many a stolen memory, of rewritten pasts and painful reconstruction of presents.
"Kid," Max leant closer, reaching out and gripping his small hand in her own tightly, "If I showed you a picture of the man, could you tell me who he is?"
The boy's eyes flicked to the side in trepidation, "Maybe…"
"We're gonna protect you, alright?' Max assured him, "Nobody's going to hurt you anymore."
Kid's eyes welled up with tears once more and he shook his head furiously, "You don't understand. He'll get me – he has people everywhere!"
"I like to see him try and get you here." Max responded reassuringly, her thumb rubbing comforting circles in Kid's palm, "This is a place for people like us to be safe."
"But we're not safe." Kid began to sob once more, "He has people here too."