a/n- Hey all. I know I have been really bad at updating recently and I do apologise to everyone who has been great enough to check for updates and email and review.
You know the saying, it never rains but it pours? Well I quit my job to have more time to write and my dearest darling sister brought back her own version of the bubonic plague. I spent Christmas day in bed cursing everyone with creative hexes whilst sneezing and seizing all day. Nice. So instead of spending my time on the computer I have been wrapped up to the eyeballs in tissues and medicine.
Sorry.
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Also this may seem short but is crucial-- pay attention!
Chapter 5- What signifies part 1?
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The place was so loud that Max was hard pressed to hear herself think. But that was half the fun, at least according to Original Cindy and Sketchy who had finally dragged Max to Crash despite her protestations.
It had now been four weeks since the fall of Manticore and Max was no closer to finding her family than before and it was grating on her already fragile nerves. Alec was really into the fighting lifestyle and that, too, was aggravating her nerves. He got home early in the morning smelling of cigarette smoke, sweat and blood and he'd shower before falling into bed beside her, maybe he was in the mood for something before he fell asleep and it was always good. He'd fall asleep holding her, murmuring her name in his dreams and Max would try to catch at least some peace before she got up to go to work. After her hard day at work she'd get home to Alec just awakening and they'd spend a little time together before he had to go back to the ring, he'd try to coax her to come along and she'd decline. Then she'd stay home and concentrate on her efforts to find her family and try to ignore the resentment that she felt towards Alec and his attitude.
She didn't understand it at all, she didn't begrudge Alec, his hobbies or past-times and she usually kept hold of her calm better than she had these past few weeks. It was almost as if there was something inside her skin that forced her to act irate and made her snappy.
Every little thing that Alec did seemed intent to drive her crazy. Every time he asked her to go with him to the bar was an annoyance and a nag. Every time that he refused to help her find her family was a slap in the face of all they had been through together and every time he told her to quit her job was a sting to her independence.
She did not need to rely on him and it grated that he seemed to expect her to.
Like she was some housewife that had nothing better to do than keep house and wait for him to come home to her. To someone who had never had the slightest inclination towards the domestic it was unthinkable.
But whenever she mentioned it to him or suggested that he cut back his time at the bar he looked at her mystified and asked if it was some female thing.
She had to leave the flat the other day lest she punch him out for his obtuseness.
Whatever it was she was feeling, she was better away from Alec right now and so she had agreed to come to Crash with O.C. and Sketchy for a break.
The music pounded away, some 21st century group singing about missing a guy like a hole in the head, something that, unfortunately, Max understood right now. She felt the knot in the back of her neck relax and she smiled for what felt the first time in weeks.
"That's it, boo. Feel that music!" O.C. yelled as she saw Max's face. Max laughed as Sketchy went to get their drinks.
She and the dark woman had become firm friends, her sense of humour and loyalty sparking a feeling of kinship in the street-wise woman who took her under her wing and showed her around Seattle's streets and alleys.
She had a sort of no-nonsense attitude that appealed to Max whilst still maintaining her aura of fun and fancy. She dispensed advice as freely as she did insults and both were welcome to Max who found amusement in the witty put-downs. It was like fighting with Alec… the old Alec who had time to fight with her.
Max took a deliberate breath and pushed him out of her mind. She had some serious dancing to do.
She let herself be dragged onto the dance floor by O.C. and let the fast beat soothe her troubled soul as she danced away, her movements stiff until she closed her eyes and just followed the beat, unaware of the attention that her seductive movements garnered. Raising her arms above her head and letting her hips sway Max gave herself over the music.
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The roar of the crowds was like a pure burst of adrenaline and he took a deep breath hearing the chants. Chants of his name that beckoned to him like a prayer to a god.
This was what he had longed for all those years when he had been just another number. Another nameless, faceless denizen of hell ready and willing to do whatever dirty work the equally nameless and faceless bosses demanded that they do.
A lifetime of killing and crawling through mud and hoops to do what they had been told. A lifetime of nothing but hard labour with no thanks and less reward.
He had been pushed around and pissed on, bruised, bullied and beaten, denigrated and discarded and now, finally, after all those years of torment, he was where he was supposed to be.
Looked up to, adored, praised for the feats that he could do and the way that he could do them. Those people in the crowds knew who he was and wanted to be him.
It was heady stuff and he relished every catcall and wolf whistle.
Like he had been taught he pushed away all of the bad things that happened, the bad thoughts that encroached and concentrated on becoming one with his DNA. He was going to beat them all and show Manticore who he was.
That was what he was doing, what Max couldn't understand. Every time he got into that ring he wasn't fighting some 'Freddy Fingers' or 'Marty McSuperfly', he was in the ring with Manticore.
He beat Trainer Banns.
He bloodied Trainer Reilly.
He lampooned Lydecker.
He mangled the medics.
He punished Psy-Ops and most damningly and satisfying of all he ravaged Renfro and tore her limb from limb.
He was finally master of his own destiny but no matter how hard he hit he was still a butterfly flapping its wings against the face of his invisible opponent.
Manticore was still out there in some form or other and wouldn't rest until they found him and brought him home. They wouldn't rest until they had poked and prodded him and found out what made him tick and made him so different from his twin.
Or was he really so different? Ben tore out teeth and sacrificed to the Blue Lady as penance.
Alec paid his own way in the blood of his opponents and relished each slap of flesh against flesh and drop of sweat. Taken forcibly or in the ring, what separated him from his 'brother'.
"Times come, champ! Get out there and wow 'em!"
Alec was struck out of his reverie and nodded, his mind suddenly back in the game as he stood and stripped off his shirt.
He would go out there and wow the crowds. He would get his accolades and his revenge. He would maintain his body strong and as fit as they intended and when they came for him he would be ready. He would show them. Show them all.
But until then Alec was fighting his own ghosts.
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Max sagged into her seat and grinned as Sketchy waved wearily to her.
"'Smy friend Macsh."
Max raised her eyebrows and turned to O.C, "I think Sketchy is smashed!"
"Always," O.C. laughed and Sketchy frowned.
"Not alwaysh. Anyways I wanna drink to my carr… carree… job."
O.C. chuckled, "What'dya want to drink ta Normal for, fool?"
"Nuh, nuh, wanna work for Newworldweekly."
"Who?" Max shared O.C.'s amusement at her friend's drunken ramblings.
"New World weekly," O.C. filled in, "it's a tabloid with crazy stories, like that one they ran a few days ago of that dog-man loose in Seattle."
"Dog-man?" Max sat up straighter.
"Yeshh," Sketchy pointed, off centre. "Dog-man, they didn't find him. Bet he went to the shhewersh."
"The what now?"
"Shheweresh, unnergroun'"
"Sewers," Max said carefully. "The dog-man went into the sewers?"
"Wanna go to tha bridge," Sketchy pouted.
"What bridge?" Max's voice was slightly more harsh and Sketchy blinked at her.
"The old cavern bridge, rumoursh sayshh that the govern… men… men… people are shhhooting mutantsh there."
Max's breathing went shallow, "Where is this bridge?"
"Thata way." Sketchy pointed over his shoulder and Max turned to O.C.
"Where is the Cavern Bridge?"
"About ten minutes hike over south of Sector Eleven."
Max grabbed her leather jacket and leaned over, "Gotta jet, see you guys tomorrow."
"Okay," O.C.'s eyes narrowed but she didn't say anything else. She knew that her new girl had her secrets and O.C. was content to wait until Max spelled out what they were. She could be patient until then.
"Night, Max!" Sketchy waved and promptly fell off his chair to the ground.
O.C rolled her eyes, "Fool!"
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Max bit her lip as she walked out of the club; Sector 11 was far enough away that she didn't want to walk there. What she needed was some mode of transportation that was mobile and easily manoeuvrable. She had left her own gorgeous Ninja back at home and she didn't want to go back there just yet in case Alec was there.
He would try to talk her out of going to the bridge or insist on tagging along.
This was her adventure, she didn't need him along.
Her eyes scanned the outside and a grin slid over her features as a tall biker got off his hog and eyed her.
"Hey baby, want something' powerful between your legs?"
"Actually, yeah."
His eyebrows shot up and a leer covered his face right before Max's fist did. His eyes rolled back inside his head and he fell back like a chopped tree, crumbling to the floor.
Max knelt by his side and took his keys. "Thanks."
She reached the Harley Davidson and ran her hands along the smooth black chrome. "Sweet." But not as sweet as her baby.
The engine purred over as she edged it down the street and off towards Sector 11. She could feel the vibrations of the powerful machine as the wind grabbed her hair, tossing it all over and her face lit up with exhilaration.
"Oh, I so could do this all day!"
The journey to Sector 11 was much shorter thanks to the speed of Max's new toy and as she reached the border she got off the bike and hid it in some bushes. Now that she was here, she wasn't sure what it was that she was looking for; maybe some sign that her family had been through here, or even some tracks to show which way they had gone. What she wouldn't give to see Zan, Dek or Pix. Even Anna would—possibly—be welcome at this point.
But would they have left tracks. They were the best of the best after all. Surely they'd realise that she would be looking for them. They knew how mothering she could be—worse than Sunny sometimes.
She was fierce when it came to protecting her family and had shown that on more than one occasion.
She recalled once on a mission in the East she had been with Sunny when some locals had taken more than a passing interest in the blonde beauty yelling and crowding around them offering camels and jewels for the lady.
They had been alone and outnumbered but she had fought like a demon to stop them from taking Sunny away and had taken the shaken beauty back to base before taking out her frustrations on Alec.
Alec—her all- purpose punching bag. Max half grinned before melting into the trees.
She moved into the woods and made her way south, knowing that O.C had said that it was ten minutes hike away, which to a transgenic was half that time. Max kept silent and kept her eyes peeled for anything unusual or any sign…
She turned a corner and saw two guards dressed in full camouflage gear with high powered assault rifles. With her usual grace she edged back into the protective shadow of the trees.
Max used her feline sight to check out the weapons, both guards held M16A2 rifles with about 550 meter range which meant that she was well within their sights.
She ducked down in the foliage, glad that it was dark and so she had the advantage here.
There was a reason that they were watching the woods, something that they didn't want people to see and that meant that there was something that she wanted to see—desperately.
Max grinned and reached above her head to the sturdy branch, pulling herself up onto the hard wood. She quickly scaled to the top of the tree peering between the leaves to see what it was that they were so eager to keep her from. About a few hundred yards away from the two soldiers there were inconsistencies in the foliage which meant camouflage tents— a camp.
But a camp for what?
Max crouched down and used her powerful legs to propel her into the next tree, careful to avoid landing heavily or breaking branches which would give away her position. It was times like this that she missed the obstacle course at Manticore, soaring through the trees, making the others jealous and springing from one step to the next, letting the wind rush through her hair in her attempt to beat her own speed; because none of the others had ever been able to.
Max grinned as she curled herself around the rough trunk, staring down at the guards standing below her under the tree totally unaware that she was even there.
Max launched herself into the next tree and the next, keeping a slow steady rhythm so that she didn't alert them to her position. As she neared the irregular foliage Max slid down the tree she was in and dropped to the floor in a crouch, her feline sight helping her out as she watched the encampment.
Set in a small clearing, the encampment was kitted out fully with commandos in military paraphernalia, camouflage tents and covered trucks. It was the full operation and as Max ducked down she could see at least eight military outfits with full arms guarding the perimeter, there was a small duty office by the entrance to the clearing which led out to the road were the trucks had obviously come in.
Max watched carefully as the guards changed over and the men walked through the camp. It was obviously a serious assignment by the way they were all acting. She followed one man who was holding a clipboard with her eyes as he entered the biggest tent. There was a satellite linkup and cable outside the entrance flap leading her to believe that there were electronics at work inside there. Outside the tent was a large computer set up with a beam that aimed at the air and Max glowered as she realised that it was set to signal into the sky, a kind of Morse code that they had been taught to look for if something were to happen to the facility.
Max hadn't seen it but then again there were the lights from the city to interfere. The problem was that many of the others could have seen it and if what Sketchy was saying was true then they had been called to their deaths.
Max wouldn't let that happen anymore.
With her eyes narrowed Max stepped into the camp and darted out of the way of a guard walking the perimeter.
Max crept up behind him and twisted his neck, lowering him to the floor as the snap of his broken neck sounded loud in her hearing. She grabbed his gun and tiptoed over to the next tent, hiding behind it so that the other guard wouldn't see her.
She stepped forward to move closer to the signaller but heavy footsteps made her dart back into the shadows.
Her heart sank like lead as she recognised the voice that sounded loud in the clearing.
It was a voice that had struck terror into her as a child, fear into her as an adult and sparked pure hatred as an escapee. A voice that had ordered her to be abused and abandoned; her team-mates to be killed, to be dissected and dismissed.
It was a voice that was more familiar than her own and caused her heart to sink.
Colonel Donald Lydecker. Judge, jury and executioner.
She peered around the corner to verify her ears and grimaced.
It was Lydecker, stalking out into the clearing like he owned the world and knew it would bow to him, his 'game' face on demanding respect, fear and blind obedience.
Lydecker turned back to his companion and smiled sarcastically.
"I trust you can have that report to me by morning, Agent White?"
"Of course, Colonel," the other man said icily. "Just remember that you may be from the committee but I am in charge of this operation—and that Cyril was my find."
"Of course, son."
Max felt rather than saw the man grit his teeth at that address.
"I assure you, Colonel, that I have matters well in hand. My work at the CIA comes in handy on more than one occasion and might I remind you that while your… efforts for ten years resulted in less than three members recaptured, I have had more success in three hours. Our rates of capture are satisfactory. Cyril is a dedicated member of our project and his bio-weapon will be reaching its fullest potential soon."
Lydecker tapped the smaller man's chest with a manila folder, "It's still not perfect though. And I don't approve of your methods at all, Agent."
Max frowned at Lydecker's tone. It almost sounded like he was afraid of this guy. But Lydecker wasn't afraid of anything he had always been the alpha and omega, his word more damning than any god. God may work in mysterious ways but Lydecker would see you dead in his own time.
The idea that Lydecker would even pay attention to this man made him an enemy worthy of watching.
No matter if the guy was CIA or NSA or whatever, Max had known the Colonel well enough to know that a man he was wary of was a man to watch. Max found herself almost worried about Agent White and vowed to find out all she could about the man.
"But at least I still have a plan. Then they'll be falling over themselves to come back… to safety."
"Ahh yes, your plan. I'll leave this… and Cyril in your capable hands, Agent White."
"See that you do."
Lydecker turned on his heel and walked away with Agent White glaring at him.
Come back? He has to mean the transgenics. He wants to recapture them all.
Max swallowed, this was bad. This was really bad. The ones that he was talking about included her family and people that she cared about, like Joshua and there was no way that she was going to let Lydecker and this… upstart hurt her people.
Max waited until White had gone back inside the tent and she crept out, heading to the signaller and tapping in a few commands and codes. She half- grinned to herself as the message bleeped and was inputted and then she slipped back into the shadows, heading for the trees again.
Max was halfway back to her bike when she heard the explosion and she grinned fully at the pretty fire coming from the self-destructed signaller.
They would learn that Max wasn't someone to be messed with—especially when family was involved.
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Thanks to those who reviewed by name;
Special mention to RaeCole who reviewed every chapter till now. Thank you!
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