The X5's quickly pulled Pip behind them, as a young man stepped forward with two X6 with gun pointed at them, dressed in ragged fatigues. "Who are you?" Max asked, as she looked over at Zero to see if he recognized the X who was with the X6s and he shook his head no. "Answer me solider!"
The X5, in question chuckled, as he looked over at them. "You have no right to demand anything from me, 452," he said, as he looked over at her. His black bushy hair got into his dark brown eyes that had extreme hatred for her in them. Max could easily read it from where she was standing. "You can't order me around. So don't even try it."
Just then Pip peered out from behind the X5s at the X5 and her face lit up. "Jessup," she cried out as she blurred over to his side. Biggs and Alec tried to make a grab for her, but both failed. "You're alive. You're here. Why?"
Alec and Max quickly exchanged a glance between the two of them. "Okay, who is that?" Max asked, as she took a step towards Alec. "He's from Manticore. He holds himself like someone from Manticore."
"And what's that supposed to mean?" Biggs asked, as he looked over at her, with a teasing look in his eyes. "No, I've never seen him before. If he's from Manticore, he's not from any unit that we've encountered before."
"Jessup, speak to me," Pip demanded, as she pulled on his arm, only to have him shove her aside. Pip landed hard on the ground in shock. Hurt and confusion quickly filled her big doe eyes, as she looked up at him. "Jessup?" The others Xs' heads snapped up to look over at them. "Jessup, please. It's me, 946. You have to remember me." He quickly blurred over to her side, grabbed her by the neck, and held her off the ground. "Jessup, no. This is wrong."
"Okay, time to teach, Jessup, to behave," Max muttered, as she blurred over to his side, with Alec at her side, she grabbed onto Jessup's shirt, and yanked him away from Pip, while Alec pulled her to safety. "You will not touch her. I do not care who you think that you are."
Jessup let out a growl as he got to his feet and faced the traitor X5. He knew all about her. He and her other unit mates had decided that Manticore had been too hard for them, and broke out, leaving the rest of them to face the wraith of their wake. "You don't care, 452," he growled," as he shot a glance over at 494, who has holding a shaking 496. "Why do you care what happens to 496? She isn't any of your concern. None of them are. You abandoned them once before. What makes you so certain that you won't do it again."
"Oh, I get it," Max said, as she released her hold on him, and he backed away from her, as is she was the plague. "You think of me as a traitor still. One who abandoned Manticore and it's ways. Left the good of the cause. Well I hate to tell your warped mine, but Manticore wasn't all cakes and flowers. They tried to burn you all alive. They had to be brought down for the evil that they were." Her eyes then darted over to Alec and Pip. Alec was running a hand down Pip's back, trying to calm her down. "As for her, she's my daughter, my kid. Nothing more to say. Alec and my DNA created her."
"You're lying." Jessup got ready to attack her, only to quickly notice that the others were ready to come to her aid. "You are all stupid enough to follow her. She'll lead you to your deaths."
"Jessup stop," Pip demanded, as she slipped from Alec's hold and went to his side. "I know what they did to you. Some one did this. You were never like this before. You were funny. You brought me stuff to make me forgot about the tests and how painful they were. You weren't like the soldiers they were." Alec and Biggs exchanged a quick glance and then grinned. "But they're not like that anymore. That is good. You are more solider now. How?"
"Times changes people, 946," he snapped, as he took a step towards her, but she quickly stepped back away from him in fear.
"Not that much," Biggs muttered, as he and Alec come towards him. "Okay, you can play this either the easy way or the not so easy way. The choice is yours buddy."
"I'm not afraid of you both. I can kick your butts."
"Oh, joy male egos at their bests," Cece said to Max, as she came over to her side, as Pip came over to their side, along with Zero. They kept their eyes on the X6s at the doors. They hadn't moved since Jessup had entered. "You all right, little one?"
Pip simply shrugged. "I've been better," she answered, as she looked over at Jessup. "He's not the same." A single tear slide down her check, as she looked up at Max. "Are they gonna hurt him?"
Max looked over at Alec, Biggs, and Jessup. "I don't know, Sweety," she said, as she held out her hands to Pip. "Why don't you tell us a little bit more about Jessup. You seem to know more about him than any of us."
"Okay, I guess I can do that," she said, as she looked over at them. "He was with us at Manticore. He found me one day when I ran from the doctors. He was nice to me. He then brought me stuff. Like toys and little stuff. He made sure that the others didn't make fun of me and were nice to me. He always looked out for me. He wasn't like this. He was like Biggs and Alec." The tears started to fall and Max quickly picked her up. Pip buried her face into her shoulder. "It's not fair. I want Jessup back. Not this one."
"Yeah, well we know...little one," CeCe said, as she looked over at Biggs and Alec. "But don't you worry your little head. Alec and Biggs are just having a little X5 talk with him. They won't hurt him, much."
"Okay, I trust them."
TBC
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