A/N- hey to everyone who reads this. Glad to see you still with me. This chapter is a little bit of deliciousness for my faithful readers who requested certain "traditional" elements. And the return of a certain bad guy that we all know and adore.
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Chapter 3 All work and No Play.
Max walked down the street sidestepping the throngs of people on their way to work. She'd left the apartment shortly after she'd woken up. Sometimes having Shark DNA really sucked; especially when Alec worked at night in that fight club and fell asleep as soon as he got home. She'd catch a few hours and be awake while he slept until early afternoon, in time to spend an hour or so with her, before going back to the club.
She was left to her own devices during the day and more and more so at night since she quickly tired of watching Alec beat everyone in sight. Even betting on him lost its appeal after a few nights. The smoke from the club got to her and the hands grabbing at her ass made her sick.
When she told Alec he just laughed and said that he couldn't blame them, since he loved to touch her himself, besides she could certainly take care of herself.
It was true but that wasn't the point.
It wasn't that she was a girly girl and wanted her man to protect her or anything, it was simply that she wanted him to understand her point of view that while, yes she enjoyed watching him fight, she was bored.
Of course, Alec said that he understood and that he would probably be bored too if he had to watch, unless, of course, she was naked mud-wrestling with another woman.
That had got him a smack and they had started a fight in the apartment that had the neighbours banging on the floor.
Max grinned to herself as she dodged a market trader with his 'fresh' fish. She loved fighting with Alec; it was one of her favourite past-times. But it didn't take first place in her life.
She was still devoted to finding her family; Biggs, Sunny, Zan, Pix… all her family, but she still needed something to do during the day before she went crazy.
Max stopped in her tracks and her thoughts trailed off as she heard signs of a scuffle nearby, her innate curiosity taking her into an alley not too far away.
The darkest back wall was dripping with condensation and what was possibly urine, as well as a selection of the finer moulds… oh and a lanky, dishevelled guy up on his tiptoes to avoid the steel knife aimed at his throat.
"Look, dude," he was saying, "this is my fricking job, okay, I'm not on the game, I don't want your business and I don't care what your high is, okay? I deliver packages- that's all!"
The guy with the knife stepped closer revealing yellow teeth to match his badly spiked yellow hair.
"Oh yeah, well we don't want no poofters in our territory got it, mate?"
The accent was decidedly British and the knife came in closer as he snarled.
The two stooges behind him looked like something out of a bad horror movie, with metal spikes and plates sticking out all over the place. One was wearing a black dog collar with studs that showed against his dark-skin and glittered in the scant daylight. He was the taller of the two and although he towered over them all, his intelligence didn't seem to soar to the same heights. The smaller one had dark hair, plastered down to his skull to flop into his pasty face. He was wearing all leather and had a metallic hand; he looked kind of… greasy.
Whatever they were, they decidedly outnumbered and out-armed the goofy looking guy and Max felt a stir of pity.
"Hey," she called. "Back off, okay? The guy is just trying to make a living in a broken world!"
They spun to see her, tensing at first but relaxing when they saw who it was.
"Bugger off, girlie, this ain't none of your business."
Max folded her arms over her chest, "I'm making it my business."
The blond rolled his eyes. "Can't get a frigging minute to meself here. Tuck, Bird, get rid of the bitch wouldja?"
"Sure thing Eddy," the greasy one said.
Max smirked, "You gotta be Bird."
"Hey good call!" he smiled, delighted. "How'd ya know."
"They say the early bird catches the worm."
It took several seconds for him to register that he had been insulted by the girl and his frown cleared as he rushed at her, his metal hand grabbing for her throat.
Max dodged the stiff steel and kicked out at his knee. She grinned as she heard an audible snap and the guy went down with a cry.
"Bloody terrific!" Eddy said and pulled the knife away from the relieved man against the wall. "Wotcha do that for?"
Max shrugged one shoulder. "His mama never told him not to hit girls."
"I ain't got time for this. Tuck, pick 'im up." Eddy pointed the knife at Max. "You just made some powerful enemies, love. Steelheads ain't to be messed with."
"Steelheads?"
Eddy frowned at her, "You ain't heard of us?"
"I'm new in town," she smiled as she walked away from the groaning Bird. His friend Tuck helped him up and scuffled back towards Eddy.
"Oh!" Eddy beamed. "Welcome to Seattle. Don't plan on staying."
And with that parting remark he turned and walked away, completely ignoring the guy that sagged against the wall.
Max smirked and chuckled to herself as she ambled closer. "You okay?"
He nodded his hand reaching for his throat.
Max stared at him, he was taller than her and much thinner, his lanky frame making him seem even taller. He had sunglasses perched on top of a mop of messy blond hair and a permanently confused expression was plastered to his face.
"Yeah, wow!" he beamed at her. "You saved me, I thought for sure those Steelheads were gonna go medieval on my ass."
Max shook her head, confused at the imagery and passed him his bag which had lain discarded on the ground. It was a large yellow bag with a black insignia on it- a man on a bike.
He was still chattering away. "Do you lift weights or do Kung Fu or something; I mean you totally kicked his ass. I mean, damn girl, you da bomb!"
Max giggled at his enthusiastic reply and eager eyes. He looked around and picked his bike up off the ground, "Geez, thankfully they didn't break the bike. Normal'd kill me!" he paused. "Or can my ass. Not sure which I'd prefer actually," he shook himself. "I'm Calvin Theodore… or, as my friends call me, Sketchy."
"Max," she shook his hand with a grin. "Just Max."
"Huh," Sketchy knocked his hair out of his eyes. "Well, Just Max, I am eternally in your debt. It's been a rough week for the Sketchmeister and I was not looking forward to having a steel knuckle sandwich, if you know what I'm saying."
"Not a word," Max confessed. There was something about Sketchy that she liked. He was honest and sweet and he had made her grin no less than four times in as many minutes.
"If there's anything I can do for you just say," he wrinkled his nose. "As long as it's not too hard."
Max laughed and added half jokingly, "You could give me a job."
"You in the market for one?" he looked at her thoughtfully.
Max shrugged and dug her hands into her leather jacket pocket. "Yeah I'm new in town and was looking for a little something to do."
"Huh," he frowned. "Well, come with me then. I'm not sure it'll work but it's worth a shot."
Max didn't have anything better to do so she walked with the funny guy across town.
While they walked he chattered away to her about anything and everything and his lilting voice and sketchy conversation made her giggle.
She learned that he was the second of four children and he wasn't living up to his parents' expectations as to what he could be. His eldest brother, Frank, was a taxidermist, his younger sister, Chloe, was a nurse and his baby sister, Lindsey, was just finishing her exams. It was clear that he doted on Lindsey and her on him. But Frank seemed to have an arrogant streak and Chloe was far too busy for anything else. He regaled her with tales of what Christmas was like at the Theodore house and Max had to stop several times to get her laughing under control. He was so different from any of her family that it was a wonder to listen to him. He was… light.
He was just telling her about his first bike when he stopped abruptly, pulling up to a broken down building which seemed to be the hub of activity.
"This is Jam Pony," he announced. "Home to the lame, the pathetic and the terminally baffled," he paused. "And Normal."
Max glanced around at the crowd of young people milling and chatting happily to each other. Some rode off on bikes and some rode in. Some chatted over steaming cups of coffee and some just hung over rails and laughed.
Sketchy looked concerned at her, "You know prostitution is always a good fallback."
Max's lips curved, "It can't be that bad."
He winced, "You haven't met Normal."
He gestured for her to follow him into the building and down a ramp that led to the centre of the activity.
The room was separated into several sections but it was all open plan and informal. There was the casual area full of falling to pieces sofas where teens sat around nonchalantly drinking and watching T.V with their friends, it looked battered and lived in. There, towards the back, was the locker area with peeling red paint and graffiti on the battered iron doors.
The bathrooms were tucked away at the rear of the building and bikes hung from the ceiling all over the place. On her right was a hatchway which housed a very harassed looking man in a striped shirt with dark rimmed glasses and an earpiece. He was yelling out orders and addresses and kept his eyes glued to his clipboard.
Sketchy took a deep breath and wheeled over to the hatch.
"Delivered to Sector Eight, although the Steelheads aren't pleased."
"Unless you lost a limb, tell it someone who cares," the man said without looking up. "Did you get a signature?"
"Yeah," Sketchy rolled his eyes and motioned Max forward. Max stepped closer to the hatchway feeling oddly nervous.
"Uh, Normal?" Sketchy said. "I would personally like to recommend my friend for a job here. She saved my ass from certain Steelheads and I feel she could be valuable asset to the company."
But the man—Normal?—wasn't listening. He scratched something on his clipboard and looked up, surprised to see Sketchy still standing there.
"What do you want, you feckless bum?"
Max stepped forward. "Actually I was looking for a job?"
"We have no vacancies," he said abruptly.
"I quit!" A tall blonde girl slapped her paper down on the desk before walking out.
"We have a vacancy," Normal said and slid paper over to her. "What's your name, Missy Miss?"
"Max."
Normal looked her once over, but it wasn't the look that guys often gave her. Normal looked at her like he was gauging her ability to work.
"All right, you are on probation. Feckless here can show you around." He looked over at Sketchy's grin. "Actually, maybe not. Cindy!"
"That's Original Cindy ta you."
Max turned around to see a tall African girl glaring at Normal with attitude firmly in place.
"An' I don't answer ta no dog call, Normal. Ain't no need to holler, holler across the room, dig?"
Normal shook his head, "If I want to call you Lady Sappho herself I will. I have that right as the person who signs your pay-check. Missy Miss this is Cindy she'll show you the ropes around here. Bikes up there, you break it you buy it. I'll get you a sector pass tomorrow and don't forget to get a signature. Welcome to team Jam Pony now bip bip bip!"
He walked off leaving Max staring bemused after her new boss.
"The name's Original Cindy," said the African holding out her hand. "But chu' can call me O.C."
"Max. Uh, O.C.?" she leaned forward conspiratorially. "I don't know how to bip."
Original Cindy laughed, "Me neither suga, lets get outta this dive and get us acquainted."
"You ladies have Sector 6, same as me," Sketchy smiled and handed Max a package.
O.C. raised her eyebrows, "You know each other?"
"We just met," Max said.
"Yeah, Max saved my ass from a couple of Steelheads, the girl has some serious muscle." Sketchy unhooked a bike from the ceiling and handed it to Max.
"I work out," Max hedged at his admiring look. She was going to have to nip this in the bud as soon as possible.
"Feel free ta work out wi' me anytime, boo!" O.C.'s glance made Max feel uneasy and she just smiled blithely.
They walked out of the building and into the bright sun of Seattle and mounted their bikes, as they sailed down the road Max asked the question she'd wanted to for a while.
"Is Normal always so?" Max searched for a word to describe him—a polite word.
"Anal?" O.C. nodded and answered in rapid-fire street. "He was born with a buck up his butt, but his bark is worse than his bite, suga."
"Of course his bite is rabid," Sketchy added and Max agreed. "But you know it's not a bad job, it sure beats getting kicked outta your apartment for rent and you don't have to take your clothes off," he paused. "You know, unless you want to."
At that Max let out a loud laugh and O.C. joined in.
"Sorry Sketch," Max said between laughs. "My boyfriend is notoriously jealous and protective… plus he's a fighter so…"
"Ah, nuff said!" Sketchy raised his hands in defeat and O.C. pouted.
"How come all the cute ones are straight?"
Max frowned, "Straight what?"
----
Max kicked open the door to the apartment and staggered in, exhausted after a day of riding around the city. She propped her new bike against the wall and called out for Alec.
There was a grunt from the bedroom and Max smirked as she realised that Alec was only just getting up.
She sauntered into the kitchen and made up a pot of coffee, just as it was ready Alec stumbled blindly into the kitchen, his hair askew and rubbing sleep from his eyes.
Max's heart melted as his face exuded softness and vulnerability, he smiled goofily at her and she pushed the coffee to him.
"How long have you been up?" he asked with a yawn.
"Since nine," she said as she watched him try to wake up, his chest gloriously bare and jeans low slung on those strong hips. "Shark D.N.A can be a bitch sometimes."
"Hmm," he pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her, nuzzling into her hair with his nose. "Smell good."
Max smiled at the feel of warm sleepy Alec and she tucked her arms around him, rubbing her cheek against his heart. "I stopped this guy getting beaten up today."
Alec pulled away slightly, "You okay?"
Max rolled her eyes, "No, there were three humans with spiky things sticking out all over."
"Steelheads," Alec said knowledgably. "One of the guys at work was telling me about them. They are serious and scary, packing serious hardware according to Mark anyway. Did they hurt you?"
"I nearly bust a rib laughing if that's what you mean." Max pulled away slightly annoyed at his question. She was C.O. of Special Ops, she wasn't Monty Cora's girlfriend; she was perfectly capable of handling herself, and Alec too, if it came to it.
Alec didn't seem to notice her irritation as he stretched languidly. "Gotta love a world where you can have a metal plate in your head and call it fashion."
Max shrugged and walked over to the couch flopping down and crossing her legs. Alec smiled and sat on the arm of the sofa.
"So what have you been doing, precious?"
"I got a job," she said shortly and switched on the T.V.
"Why?" Alec sounded baffled. "My ring job earns way more than enough for the two of us."
"I want my own money, Alec."
"It is your own money," he said. "What's mine is yours."
Max turned to face him, "I pay my own way Alec, I don't need you to provide for me when I am perfectly capable of doing it myself." She turned back to the T.V. "Besides its not like I'm doing anything else."
"Is this a girl thing?"
Max reached up and smacked him with her cushion.
"All right, all right!" he smirked and held his hands up. "So tell me about this job."
"Well, the guy that I saved offered it to me," Max suddenly had an evil idea. "He even said that I don't have to take my clothes off unless I want to."
Alec had just taken a gulp of coffee, which ended up spewed halfway across the room with Max's words.
"Wha-?"
Max raised her eyebrows delicately. "Something I said?"
Alec's gaze darkened, "He said what?"
Max blinked, "It's not a hard job, I mean delivering services to customers all over Seattle. Of course my muscles are all aching from the work-out but that's to be expected since I've never done it before. But, wow, I didn't know how much fun it is to ride all day long."
The look on Alec's face was priceless and Max had never wanted to giggle so much in her life but she managed through sheer force of will to keep a straight face.
"Who the hell is this guy?"
"Sketchy?" Max beamed and looked up as if lost in rapturous thought. "Oh you'd love him, he's so cute. He has this hair that just… and these eyes. He's like…"
Alec growled and brought her chin towards him, his face like thunder. "Like what?"
"A crazy puppy," Max broke into a grin. "I think he was on drugs way too long."
The sigh that escaped Alec was comical and Max gave way to giggles as Alec sat there indignantly.
"That's not funny, Max," he stated.
"Should have… seen your… face," she managed between giggles.
"Maxie!" he growled half irritated but able to see the humour through his jealous haze.
She calmed down slightly and sat up on the sofa until she was kneeling on the cushions, face to face with her pouting boyfriend. Looking sweetly at him she put him out of his misery. "I'm a bike messenger delivering packages to people all over Seattle. The wages may be small but I get a sector pass and I get paid to travel all over Seattle where I can keep an eye out for any Manticore alumni."
"Sounds great," Alec beamed at her, relieved that she wasn't lusting after this guy. He tucked his hands into her jeans pockets and pulled her closer, nuzzling his noise into her neck and smelling her unique scent as if to comfort himself with it.
Max allowed him to imprint her scent on himself and smiled as his heart rate slowed to normal.
"So are you coming to the ring tonight?"
"Nah," Max shook her head and pulled back, settled back on the sofa. "I'm kinda wiped so I'll take a shower and catch some sleep."
"Okay," Alec dropped off the arm of the sofa to lay with his head in her lap.
Max stared down at him as he made himself comfortable on her knees. She had wanted to talk about Alec taking time off to combine efforts to find their family but he was adorable and so relaxed right now. It could be that he got to release his tension in the ring or it could be that he was no longer under constant scrutiny from Manticore but his teasing and whole demeanour was so laid back, it was refreshing and Max felt her lips curve.
She could talk to him about this some other time and so she combed her fingers through his hair and settled back to watch the T.V.
----
Ames White had had enough of inefficiency and inability. Exactly how hard could it be to find details on one female freak and bring them to him? How hard could it be for them to find said bitch and force her to give up the code that cause the transgenics to come to him in their droves aching to be put out of their misery?
He was surrounded by incompetents and it was beginning to grate on his already fragile nerves. What he needed was one solid break.
"Sir?"
Wrist, neck, leg— any break would do, really.
"Sir?"
"Yes?" he said tiredly his hands going to the bridge of his nose to massage away the burgeoning headache.
"A Colonel Lydecker has just arrived for you."
White's hand snapped down and he spun on his heel, "What?"
---
Colonel Donald Lydecker was intimately familiar with the retrieval operation of the transgenics; he had spent the last ten years hunting down his kids and had only managed to recapture two. One died in the attempt and one had been caught back in '09 and had gone on to do marvellous things. X5- 452, or as otherwise known Max. His little Max that he had managed to keep a hold of instead of losing like he did so many of the others. She had always been a favourite of his back in Wyoming, truth be told. Max and Ben had always been his little stars; 452 with her smart little ideas and quick thinking and 493 with his imagination and eager attitude. When he'd discovered that it was 493 who had been killing people all over the continent he had been heart-broken and it had almost been enough to drive him back to the bottle which he had sworn never to touch again. But Ben had been quiet since the explosion of the Seattle base and the committee had called Lydecker in.
Settle might be a bust but there were still the bases in Wyoming, Atlanta and the two abroad that were spearheaded by basic operations. The committee had decided that it was high time this mess had been cleared up and so he had been ordered back to HQ and he was assigned Seattle cleanup to work alongside the letter agencies that were also hoping to clear up the governments embarrassing mistake. Lydecker's job was now recapture any way possible, dead or alive didn't matter, after all it was just as easy to dissect a dead transgenic as it was to reindoctrinate a live one. His plan was to bring in as many as possible— alive— to be redistributed between the other facilities.
Unfortunately, in order to do this, he had to work with the same sanctimonious assholes that had made his job so hard in the first place. Like the officious prick that had just walked into the place like he owned it.
"Colonel Lydecker, I'm Agent in charge, Ames White," the short square jawed man held out his hand for Lydecker.
He waited a beat before placing his hand in the man's, after all he had the position of power here and he wanted to enforce that. Power games were there for a reason.
"Pleased to meet you Agent White," he lied, immediately having had enough of pleasantries. "I'm interested to where you are in your present investigation."
"Me too," growled White glaring at the scurrying men around him. He felt decidedly ill at ease with Colonel Lydecker around. Although the man had been reported to have gone off the deep end for a while, no one at the Committee or anywhere else had anything but praise for the dedicated man who had spent most of his life either teaching or tracking the transgenics.
White looked him over, Colonel Lydecker wasn't tall but carried himself in a way that made the most of the height that he had, he had a presence that demanded respect and White found himself itching to stand to attention. Lydecker's mop of dark straw coloured hair was unruffled and short, his piercing, shrewish eyes stared right through you and his stocky but strong physique spoke of a man that wasn't some paper-pusher. Lydecker obviously worked hard, despite his aging years and the threads of grey in his hair.
White disliked him already.
Mendez came closer and smiled at Lydecker almost relieved that here was someone who looked like they could stand up to his arrogant boss.
"We have been unable to look into the files too carefully; many of them were destroyed with the fire at Seattle and most are heavily encrypted. What we have gathered is that this," Mendez looked at his notes, "Uh… person managed to open the doors after lockdown was established and then transmitted the announcement."
"What announcement?" Lydecker asked coolly.
"One of the transgenics managed to make an announcement to the others over the PA system," White filled in, "they were informed that the explosion was a hostile act on behalf of their superiors."
"I'd like to listen to this tape."
"It's not clear," Mendez began but Lydecker cut him off.
"I said I'd like to hear it." Lydecker's voice informed him that this wasn't a request and that it had never had been. This was a voice of someone who was used to being obeyed and would tolerate nothing less that exact compliance.
Mendez barely fought the urge to roll his eyes and ask for a new assignment. Being under White had been bad enough, but to be under the command and control of, not one, but two arrogant egotistic S.O.B's? Maybe his mother was right and he should have gone into the Navy.
White gestured for the older man to follow him into the inner tent and glowered at Mendez until he switched on the mechanic reel.
The static once again filled the canvas tent before a female voice echoed.
"Hal… not panic, this …452 … Code…. Listen to…You… betrayed by your command; Manticore… under attack…. by… superiors….go to ground…This... not … drill. …not accept… than… coded, do not trust… Wait for my signal … Repeat. You are … command; re—ploy… your unit …go … g—nd ...49— …luck."
Lydecker listened intently, betraying nothing with his cool exterior but White could see a flicker of something in his eyes.
"452," he said eventually.
"Yes, we assume that she gave them a premeditated code or signal that they will respond to. We have every confidence that once we capture her and send up this signal then the rest will follow and recapture should be easy."
"Easy?" Lydecker's mouth crinkled into an unpleasant smirk. "Son,"
White bristled. "In 2009 twelve of these transgenics escaped, they were nine at the time. I have spent the last ten years trying to find them and only coming close on several occasions through a combination of luck and sheer tenacity. Take those children and give them ten extra years of training. Easy isn't the word I would use."
White pasted a smile on his face, "With all due respect, Colonel, we have the full backing of the US government with all of its resources to make sure that this little mess of yours is cleared up."
"And yet your resources have told you squat about X5-452, am I right?"
White had never been called a patient man and being talked down to by this deteriorating ex-alcoholic with a superiority complex was frustrating to say the least.
"No," he said shortly.
"This girl who you assume to capture so quickly was one of the 09ers, the fastest, and the brightest. The only reason that she was recaptured was because she fell through a patch of ice, otherwise she would just as elusive as her fellow squad."
"How lucky," White bit out through gritted teeth.
"She graduated top of the Manticore project and was immediately transferred to the Seattle base for Special Operatives training. She was made joint Commanding Officer and in time took that role for herself. 452 is fast, powerful, intelligent and has enough reason to hold a grudge against us all. If she is anything like her original Unit she will be hard to catch and with ten extra years training not to mention her Special Ops training, I'm guessing it will nearly impossible."
"You seem to know her well," White remarked ignoring the way that the rest of the men in the tent were watching the byplay between the two of them with increasing interest and delight.
Lydecker just smiled secretively. "However I do accept that impossible or not, it may be the best course of action."
White barely resisted the urge to smirk at the Colonel using his plan. "Do you have access to their files?"
"I can get Ma-452's by tomorrow."
White raised an eyebrow, "With pictures?"
"No," Lydecker admitted. "The Committee didn't think that having their photographs on file was advantageous in case of a leak."
"Right," said White. "Wouldn't want those who they may be sent to kill to know what their assassins look like."
"Quite," Lydecker ignored White's sarcasm. "We have pictures of them at ten but obviously they have matured."
White had an idea. "You have had contact with her; could you work with a composite artist to work up a sketch?"
Lydecker considered this. "I haven't seen her in over a year, but I could try."
White let a small smirk come through his forced casual demeanour.
"Excellent, Otto!" The Hispanic man appeared at his elbow. "Find a composite artist for Colonel Lydecker."
"Yes, Sir."
Lydecker turned to Otto.
"I'll also need that tape transcribed and a copy of all efforts thus far."
Otto carefully didn't look at White's tight jaw and just nodded at Lydecker's commands.
"Yes, Sir."
"Anything else?" White almost growled.
Lydecker smirked, "Coffee would be nice. Black, two sugars."
Otto exchanged glances with Mendez and then the two men escaped quickly before things could explode. Mendez watched Otto head for the satellite phone and he headed for the communications truck.
He could tell that things were going to be even tenser in the camp from here on out, now that the two main commanders would be butting heads constantly. He was no behaviourist specialist but even he could see the potential for disaster.
Why hadn't he listened to his mother?
-----
restive nature- Thanks, it wasn't timed for the election but hey. It all worked out well. I didn't think that they ever explained that in DA. And oh yeah my little motorcycle!
Sigma1- Purring? Oh that's a new one on me. I like it!
Lotamoxie- That she will, Alec is being tad selfish but hey, she's his girl for the first time ever.
GivenAlias- I always wanted to know the story behind Max's original Ninja but nada. I had to make up my own in the end.
Geminangel- I miss the interaction between them all, so we will have plenty of flashbacks, trust me on this!
Annabelle- A few meet up soon, don't worry. They are way too much fun to have solo for too long
Ronda TIW- Max has incredible self control. I would have jumped the guy already!
Moonlite Star- Cheers pet.
Lynn- 50670- I couldn't keep Maxie away from her baby for too long, could I?
Messymissy- I think Alec is jealous of anything that takes Max's attention away from him.
Natacup82- when are they gonna do it? Uh Chapter 5 I think.
Raven- She is attached, after all a Ninja is a thing of beauty! Just like Alec.
Ganko- thanks sweetheart, I hope your bf does something that sweet for you. But if he buys you a Ninja- I may have to steal him!
Volleyball-Setter- LOL, well if you review and Anne doesn't then kudos you! Oh feel free to ramble on- I enjoy listening.
Kim- This story is twistier than a crazy straw in a hurricane! I'm going crazy! The flashbacks will probably be a firm fixture- I miss Manticore!!
Jynx- LOL! That would be so much fun- I could come and give tutorials!
Aur- Like Max would let some two-bit bimbo get her claws into her man! I hope that the relationship is accelerating at the right pace.
Rose- hey doll, the chapters are coming thick and fast and only time will tell f your questions get answered. Enjoy anyway!
Crimsonshadoe- That's true, he finally has her to himself. Lets hope he doesn't abuse the privilege Yeah the Shark thing comes into play a lot with both Max and Chance. Less so Dek now because he is aware of it. But it is hitting Emma harder than most. More detail as to why they are not lovers? Yeah I need to do that. I'd gush over the bike too! Classy piece of metal.
Fangedangel- Oy wench! Its plenty long enough. I could make it half the size if ya want? LOL, okay this part is longer. No Sam, clones have no place in my universe!
Stormvind- hey Angel, have you had a blast on your travels?
Natasgi- Sorry for the distraction and good luck on those exams honey, ooh cool idea a dankangel fanfic monthly. Wonder if it'd sell well?
Aleclovemax- for some reason my site keeps crashing on me when try to update- it sucks but I will get it done soon!
Lynn- better late than never. It feels weird to have them separate but I also like how they work together. Ooh Alec delivered chocolate! That'll be sweet! They are so much like real people t me now it's odd when I don't write them in a story
Alexceaser- hey nice name, Lydecker was a cool bad guy and this whole turning over to the side of good was sooo overdone. He's a great bad guy and working with White? Classic
Feenian- when will they start to look for the others? Hmm nowish?
Manda- Hi! It's a small world after all so she probably will meet up with someone soon- not saying who though!
Schizm01430- Hi, glad that you like it and I am sorry that I had to kill off Mets, I liked the guy too. The pic of Tara is a mystery- some model, one is of Elle McPherson but I could never find the other girl again- which was annoying..
Guest Type Person- Okay mention it if you must. LOL. Glad that I could make your sucky day better even in a small way. Yes do homework!
Arwen-amy- I'd be jealous of the motorcycle if Alec paid that much attention to it rather than me. Sigh
Jade-K- Cheers pet, I like jealous Alec personally but hey. I understand I miss them all too.
Tina N. Blair- me too, there just hasn't been the interest lately and the stories are kinda the same! Of course I haevnt read much DA since I discovered Harry Potter fic (ss/hg if you're interested) That is one reason why this story is much harder for me, because I think that once they do get together they start to be too lovey and less trannie- I hate that. if I lose the spark let me know! I love White! Alec and Zack? Mmm.
Angel of Darkness231- Wickedly cool TransG way- I like it! This part was fun!
Kristibella- Cheers pet, glad you like. A levels are the hardest thing that I have ever done—and I have a degree so that should tell you. Loughborough is like an hour away from me! Its very very pretty and the college is fab! I studied Psychology and American Studies which have helped not at all in my career thus far!
SGOU—I think they would survive the pulse because they would be too drunk to notice! Sorry you have to be in such a boring place. But you could always do recon at FortIrwin and report back to me. Yeah Max is starting to feel the DNA thing and Alec is having way too much fun to notice. I do miss them all together again, its not fair that I had to destroy Manticore! Shame on me! I think that, like Syl with Zack, they need to muddle through things on their own. Max feels protective and rightly so but Alec will feel bad once he realises that they felt neglected. Naive- excellent way of describing Alec, he really is a big kid isn't he?
Mrs- Check out my site and the pic of Max on the bike- so cool!
JG- LOL, Max ands Alec will get together in that way soon. Patience my love.
Elfie Sorry the fave guys are Sketchy and Lydecker. Actually wonder what Bill is doing now. The overall arch was something that they missed in DA so we never understood wy Manticore and the familiars. Here is more clear- or will be once I get my ass in gear. I assumed White was CIA- possibly was NSA- but would you tell people that? Being Brit I have no understanding of the letter agencies. I love flashbacks, I get t tell stories that I missed. I actually updated the wrong chapter and wrote replies to this one instead, then realised I had missed a chapter out and had to replace so some of my replies made no sense. My bad.
Btm452- Hey, thanks for reviewing. More soon.