Alec followed Max outside. From where he was, he could see that she was hurting, by her body posture. "Max, hang on," he called out to her softly, as he jogged up to her, and gently took up her arm. "Hey, talk to me." She looked up with tears in her eyes. "Maxie, it's going to be okay. We're going to find her. Mole's working on the tracker to locate her. Don't worry, we'll find her. Pip's strong, she can handle herself."
"What if it isn't Manticore we're talking about here?" Max asked a she looked up at him. "Or White and his regets. What if its something brand new? Something we've never come across before and have no idea how to face, Alec."
"We'll come across this together Max." He reached out and pulled her close to him. "We're stronger together. Pip knows that. We have to be together for her."
"I know."
Pip was jarred awake by the sound of the door opening, and she snapped up as the man walked in. "Good morning, 946," he slurred, as he sat down next to her. Pip's nose wrinkled, as she smelled the alcohol on his breath. She looked up at him with large eyes, as he reached out for her hair. "Such a pretty little girl. You'll do nicely for what we have in store for you."
"Sir?" a familiar voice called out, causing Pip's head to snap up and she stared up at the face the voice belonged to. "What are you doing?"
"It's okay, being," the man said, as he reached out and stroked Pip's hair, causing her to jerk away from him, in fear. "Don't worry, 946, it's going to be okay. I won't hurt you."
Pip shook in fear as he reached out for her again. "Don't touch me!" she snapped, as herself launched away from him. "You have no right." She looked over to see the figure from before taking a step towards her but like before they always remained in the shadows, so that she couldn't see their face clear enough to make out any facial features.
"You will not tell me what to do, 946!" the man barked, as he grabbed a tight hold of her hair, and yanked her head back. "I'm still your commanding officer. You will do as I order you to do. You will obey me."
Pip's eyes grew wide in fear and she tried to pull her head away. "Sir, stop," the figure snapped, causing the man to turn his head to look over at them. "You're scaring her."
"You have no right to tell me what to do, X5," the man snapped, as he stumbled to his feet and started towards the figure, leaving Pip alone for a few seconds. "I am also your commanding officer. You have to obey my orders. You do not command me around. Do you understand that?"
"Sir, you are not yourself at the moment," the figure said, as he stepped back away from the man and into some light, giving Pip her first chance to see them for the first time. It was a young man, about mid twenties with dark hair and dark eyes. "You're not thinking clearly."
"Oh, I'm thinking clearly," the man snarled, as he looked over at Pip. "I'm going to run my tests on that one. Like we were supposed to do when we had her the first time, except that horrible X5-599"
The X5 bit back a smirk at the mention of the X5 in question. "Yeah, that one has always caused trouble for everyone," he said, as he looked over at Pip. "But what do you expect when you deal with his second in command daughter. I'm thinking he's not going to play nicely and just look the other way."
Pip's head snapped up at the mention of the word daughter and she looked at the X5 with a question on her face. "You say that like I should be afraid of them," the man said, as he turned back towards Pip, with a snort. "Why would I be afraid of some traitors. Some outcasts, some rejects."
The X5 chuckled softly. "I would be more afraid of them, Sir, than anomalies or anyone else, that you would throw at me, Sir," he replied, causing the man to turn to look at him. "Cause I'm betting taking her, you pissed off her parents majorly and that's not going to end up really well. And once the others here of this, it's not going to sit well with them as well either."
The man then turned to face the X5. "Does it look like I care if I upset her stupid parents? I don't care if they are the president of the freaking world right now. I just wanted her back." He turned to face Pip. "Now where were we?"
"You were about to go away," she hissed at him, as she moved back away from him, as he came closer to her. "Cause you smell bad, and you can't seem to stand up by yourself. Are you sure you're okay?"
"Will you both shut up about me!" the man snapped, as he glared at them both. "If I wanted a trannie doctor, I would have gotten one." He then reached for Pip and hauled her to her feet. "Now it's time for you to remember your manners and respect your elders, little one."
"When I see one, I will," Pip muttered, only to have the man slap her hard across the face, causing her to cry out. The X5 took a step forward, causing the man to look up at him. "Ya know for a Doc, you sure don't treat your patients good." She stared up at him with extreme fear in her eyes. I remember you now." She fought to get away from him, but found that she couldn't. "You're evil."
"Yeah, duh, I knew that," he said, as he tightened his grip on her, forcing her down to her knees. "And it's good that you remember who I am, little one. 'Cause then we don't have to go through all of the uncomfortable first introductions."
"Leave me alone," Pip cried out, as the man gripped her arm tighter, threatening to break bone. "Please. I promise I'll be good."
"Okay, then. State your designation?"
"My name is Pip." Tears started to flow down the side of her face, as the pain started to become too much for her to bear.
"No, that's wrong. What is your designation?"
"My name is Pip. You are not a number, you have a name. You are a person." The mane slapped her for her answer. Pip blinked back the tears. She remember Alec telling her about the reason for her wanting to pick a name and she held onto that.
The man let out a sigh, as he looked over at the X5. "Okay, let's do this again. Let's do this again. What's your bloody designation?"
Back at Terminal City, Max and Alec were sitting outside looking down at the streets, when a presence behind them, caused both of them to jump to their feet and they turned to see Sly. Max dropped her hands and went up to hug her sister "What are you doing here?" she asked her. "I thought you would be long gone from here and safe?"
"I was until someone contact me about a problem," Sly answered, as she looked over at Alec with an arched brow. "So this must be Alec." She then shot him a smile. "Hi, I'm Sly."
"Hello," he said, as he shot a confused look at Max.
"Sly, why are you here?" she asked for him.
"Because you need me," she answered. "Seems that your little one maybe in some serious trouble, and our man on the inside maybe needing some help getting her out."
"Really?" both X5s said, as they looked up at her, their attention now caught.
"Yeah, and it seems that I know got your attention. You ready for a little trip. You got some help to go along?"
"Yeah, we do," Max said, as she looked over at Alec. They both knew who they would bring without even having to ask each other. "Let's jet."
TBC
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