A/N- For those very smart people who realised that Logan didnt react when he saw Alecwhen he had already seen Ben, well you all deserve a chocolate cookie, go on treat yourselves.
Did anyone notice that I am updating faster? What do you mean no?
BTW the challenge for the art manip is still up- i have had no entries pouts>
Chapter 13 Unveiling the plot.
Her dreams were always full of the dead. An unsettling thing to say, but something that had been playing on her mind for some time; especially since she'd had to walk over dead friends back when Manticore burnt down. The grounds had been full of them and their wide eyes stared at her for restitution that she couldn't offer.
Max was well able to push things aside for the greater part of the day, but when it came to night time, all the things that she could and should have done seemed to crowd around her again and she felt swamped in the sort of guilt that drenched her in sweat and blood.
For someone who didn't sleep much, she found the time she did spend sleeping full of horrific nightmares that kept her springing between consciousness and wakefulness.
She often dreamt of Jack and Seth, two people that, although she hadn't seen for decades, had shaped the person that she was at heart.
She dreamed of the first man that she ever killed with her bare hands, snapped his neck like he was nothing but a twig.
She dreamt of Ben. Ben, who she'd been unable to save, and hoped that he wasn't numbered among the casualties of war.
But most of all she dreamt of Renfro; the ice-blonde bitch who had been too easily an adversary but too insignificant to be a nemesis, and yet she had died at Max's hand.
The trouble wasn't that she was bothered by her conscience; far from it. In fact, she often wondered if Manticore had bred consciences out of transgenics, like diseases and excessive body hair. The problem was that the terrors she wouldn't allow to scare her during the day sprang to full surround-sound, Technicolor nightmares once the sun had gone down.
Hence her current position of sitting in Pix's office, going through the plans that he had laid out for her to check.
For a Special Ops member, he seemed notoriously insecure.
Perhaps that was the culmination of years of thinking of himself as the joker of the facility, but to Max, he was on target on everything that he had proposed. He seemed to feel better, once she had looked over things and okayed them, though.
She had no idea why he thought that she'd be any better at this kind of thing than he was. After all, she had never run a city either and he had been in all of the classes that she had, even if he didn't listen as hard, preferring instead to ogle Chance and flick spit-balls at the Trainers. However some of it should have gone in.
Maybe.
He was perfectly capable and she had told him so, letting him see that she had every confidence in him.
That didn't mean that she wasn't prepared to look over things for him and nit-pick. God may not have been in the details but one slip was the difference between success and failure.
She leaned back on the chair and sorted through the various departments that he had set up over the past few days. The catering and supply department was one of the major ones, with runs and demands being put out all of the time. They had very few funds and Max was beginning to consider Dek's suggestion of black-market fencing.
It would add substantially to their incomings and would help to feed and clothe some of the hundreds of Xs that were coming in by the droves.
She had no idea that there were so many in Manticore, but more seemed to be arriving each day and she was increasingly uneasy as to some of the Freaks and their possible usage in the military. The Freak who could disappear at will was obvious in its usage but the one turned aquamarine was less obvious. And the one with antennae and six eyes was just baffling. How he had made his way through the streets to Terminal City was beyond her.
"Jeez, I thought Xs had to sleep sometime."
Max hadn't even heard the door open.
"And yet you, who truly need your beauty sleep, are still up." She swung around. "What gives Mole?"
"My rotation, Princess," he answered gruffly, walking into the room with his customary cloud of smoke following him. "I'm on security detail tonight."
"How sweet," Max smirked. "I know I feel safer knowing you're patrolling the grounds."
Mole glared at her and watched her fingers as they danced over figures and columns of numbers. "What ya doing? I though that was Pixie's deal."
"I'm just double checking for him," Max replied absently. "He's still a little uneasy with all the responsibilities."
"So why don't you take over for him? You were the big cheese at old M."
Max wrinkled her nose. "Big cheese at Old M? That sounds… gross."
Mole grinned around his cigar. "I know."
Max hid her own smile and rustled the papers she was looking through. "He has some good plans," she admitted. "We're getting this place on track and setting it up for everyone as a refuge."
"Yeah, real refugee camp," he dragged his finger across the tabletop and pulled it away to reveal dirt on his green scaly skin. "Planning a clean-up crew, Princess?"
"You afraid of a little dirt?" Max grinned and sat back. "Manticore made us resistant to most types of household germs and some that are not so usual. Bacterial bugs wouldn't touch you."
Mole rolled his eyes. "So says Manticore."
Max agreed. "Yeah and we know how they loved to tell the truth." Her eyes were caught by something she was reading. "Ooh look here, Pix has made a contingency on what to do if we are discovered. He has decided to elect one person to be media liaison between us and the ordinaries so that they can see we have no designs on wiping them out as a species."
"Clever man."
Max flipped the paper over. "He has a short list of people he's considering for the position."
"I knew the kid had a brain—"
"You're on it."
"—one he obviously keeps in his ass," Mole almost spat out his cigar. "What the hell is he thinking? Media liaison?"
"Maybe he thinks that you have a way with people," Max with her tongue firmly in her cheek.
Mole gave her a look that told of his patent disbelief. "I doubt that, Princess. Ordinaries are one step below on the food chain and three steps below in the chain of command. I'd prefer dogs."
"I'll put you with Joshua then," she said and regarded him. "Why the people-phobia?"
Mole shrugged. "My experiences with humans haven't exactly been warming."
Max smirked. "Hate to break it ya, Mole. But your experiences with transgenics haven't been particularly glowing either."
"There is that," Mole acknowledged. "You cross my name off that list, Princess. Or me and Bertha'll have words." He patted his rifle and Max's smirk grew larger.
"You named your gun?"
"Yeah, so?"
"That make you feel manly?"
Mole's eyes narrowed into slits. "You are a bitch, aren't you?"
"Yes, I am. And that's Ma'am Bitch to you," Max said and returned to her papers. "Don't you have work to do?"
"Yeah."
"So quit hassling me already."
Mole nodded quite content with the constraints of his relationship with the transgenic. "Sure thing, Princess. Meanwhile, maybe you should exercise your girlie girl personality and clean up."
Max narrowed her eyes. "Do I look like Cinderella to you, Gecko-boy? You want the place spick and span then you strap on an apron and tackle the grease yourself."
"Whoa, there." Mole held up his hands and backed away. "Take a pill."
Max gestured over her shoulder to the door. "Take a walk."
Mole saluted, a smirk hidden by the cigar. "Yes, Ma'am Bitch."
The door slammed shut behind him and Max found herself grinning.
In the absence of B.J. it looked like she had to make due with a substitute pain in her ass. Which was fine with her.
>>>>
Alec always enjoyed the feeling of steaming hot water pouring over him in torrents… as long as it was in a shower and not water torture. He had spent too long as a child cold and hungry for him to enjoy ice-cold showers and when he could, he exercised his right to life's luxuries.
Sadly, the shower in Terminal City gave sporadic bursts of hot water, intermingled with water of a temperature than wouldn't be out of place in the Antarctic. He had come back from visiting Chance and Feen and catching up on what had gone on their lives.
He felt pangs of guilt when he realised that he hadn't even been bothered to find them not two weeks ago. He had allowed them a passing thought in his mind but he had reasoned that they were getting along as well as he was.
Of course, he hadn't been getting along as well as he thought.
His day had rendered him uncommonly exhausted and all he wanted to do was to wash off the grime and sink into a bed with a Max-shaped pillow.
He walked out of the shower, shaking like dog, and headed to the bedroom hoping that she was finished with Pix and would be there. However, when he walked into the room and saw the unmade bed his heart sank and his spirits with it.
His hair was still wet and his t-shirt clung to his damp back, raising goose bumps on his skin from the chilled air, but he couldn't quite bring himself to crawl into the bed and huddle beneath the covers without Max. Grabbing his boots from by the bed, he tugged them on and made his way to the door, grabbing a jacket as a nod to the cooler nights.
Terminal City was bunking down for the night and, as he made his way along the grimy streets, he could hear more than one shout of "lights out" from the surrounding buildings.
Alec grinned to himself as he strolled quickly along the lamp-lit alleys, letting the brisk exercise warm him and felt the cool breeze wind through his damp hair. He entered command central and looked around for Max, nodding at Mole as he resumed his security detail.
The light was flickering in Pix's office and so he made his way up the platform and onto the balcony. The door was slightly ajar and so he leaned on the frame, watching Max as she worked away.
She sat back on a chair, her boots on the table and papers in her hand, her eyes flickering frantically over them and her finger tapping out a rhythm on the arm of the chair. He let his eyes travel up the dusty biker boots and lean, jean covered legs up to her black leather jacket and long dark hair to her shining eyes and his heart strummed in his chest as he wondered how much he could love one person without exploding.
He must have shifted in his musings and Max looked up, her eyes lighting up as she saw him.
"Hey."
"Hey," he said, pushing away from the door and walking into the room. Max leaned forward to pick up another sheaf of paper and Alec quickly jumped on the back of her chair and slid his long legs in either side of hers so that he was behind her with her back tucked against his chest.
It was the work of a moment to get comfortable with the new position and Alec wrapped his arms around her, placing his chin on top of her head.
Max smiled warmly as she snuggled back in his arms and smelled the clean, newly-washed scent of him that somehow comforted her right down to her bones.
"I thought you'd be sleeping by now."
"Hmm," Alec rubbed his cheek against her satiny soft hair and smiled. "The bed just didn't seem inviting somehow, something was missing."
Max fought the urge to blush. She'd had sex with Alec before, many times in fact, just not since their fight and she missed both it and him more than she could say.
Alec had been behaving like the perfect gentleman recently with the chastest of kisses and caresses, treating her like a lady, and maybe that was the reason for her maidenly blushes. She was suddenly determined to do something about that. She was only human… mostly human and he was delicious.
She leaned back further and rubbed herself against him, enjoying the purr she felt rumble in his chest, casting vibrations through her.
"So why did you leave me all alone in the room?" he asked, picking up her hand and playing with her fingers.
"Couldn't sleep," she admitted. "Shark DNA turns up at the most awkward of times."
"I'll buy you a ball of string," he promised and chuckled as she tried to elbow him.
"I've been thinking about this Terminal City thing."
"You wanna lead after all?" Alec was surprised at that; he knew that she trusted in Pix's abilities, even if he wasn't so sure about them himself.
It was hard to see Pix as a leader when you had this image of him placing a firecracker in the exhaust pipe of the Director's car, or setting fire to a Trainer's trousers during basic drills.
"Hell no," Max shuddered at the idea of her in charge. She had enough of taking control and being the figurehead. She knew that being C.O. of Special Ops had groomed her to take charge, but that didn't follow that she wanted the responsibility. She preferred to run things from the back-stage, to make lists and see that orders were followed without actually standing in the limelight.
"Then what?"
Her long dark hair began to tickle his arm and so he gathered it up in his hands and draped it over her back and, because the temptation it presented overwhelmed him, he began to pet it, like a silk blanket.
"Now that Aiden is comfortably established in bringing home everyone, I'm wondering if now is the time to start working out this whole White angle."
Alec thought of what they already knew as he caressed her. "Maybe, or maybe others who come in will have ideas and information for us."
"Can't put it off forever," Max said as she settled back against him and laid her head against his chest, listening to his heart pound in her ear.
"I'm sure it wouldn't kill you take a break," he soothed as he kissed her forehead. He paused in his ministrations to her hair and Max nudged at his hand like a spoiled kitten and he grinned as she almost purred under his hand.
"Hmm," Max closed her eyes for just a moment. "I have so much to do, Alec. Pix wants help in setting up T.C. I have to call Normal and quit."
Alec chuckled. "You'll enjoy that."
Max smiled sleepily. "Rota's need checking, teams need—" she yawned, her voice growing fainter, "—need organizing and setting up. Gem said there… was a problem with the kitchens and she wants to advertise for… a cookery assistant. Security… needs looking at and supplies, munitions…"
Alec waited but all he could hear was soft breathing and the gentle rise and fall of her chest as she succumbed to sleep in his arms, the gentle motion of his fingers tangled in her hair causing her to relax enough to let her defences down.
He craned his neck over to peer at her face, her long lashes resting like a kiss against her pale skin. She looked so serene in sleep and almost seemed angelic—a misnomer if ever there was one. Max was no angel.
Or, if she was, she was a dark angel; an avenging force that spun her way through people's lives making them brighten and come to life in a way that none had ever been before.
His little dark angel.
"Max?" he whispered and felt relieved when she didn't answer. Her tiny exhaled breath softened something inside him that had been crushed and splintered after their long talk the night before.
With the full disclosure of what had happened to her at Wyoming Alec had been in the very unusual position of being speechless.
He'd listened, cold all over, to her tales of torture, degradation and abandonment and he had almost shivered as she delivered it all in a voice devoid of all the tempestuous feelings he knew that she possessed.
Her blank eyes and her monotone voice had scared him, had touched him so deep that he had to reach out to touch her, to reassure himself that she was there; that his precious Max had made it through and wasn't just a figment of his imagination.
It was his touch that had broken down that barrier and let loose the floodgates of those nightmares, the constant fear of what she had done and what that might make her into.
His strong little angel shattered in his arms and the raw pain on her face had ripped his heart to shreds and he felt as exposed as he had been those many years ago on the Psy Ops table, naked and vulnerable.
He'd held her tightly in his arms as his heart shattered and splintered into a thousand pieces watching her cry, watching her bury her face into his shoulder to shield herself for just a little while.
There was nothing on earth more shattering than a strong woman's tears.
That was all she would allow and when she slipped into exhausted sleep he could not bring himself to let her go and all day his arms had ached with the emptiness that came from not having her there.
He had never known that it was possible to need someone so much, and although every soldierly impulse screamed at him that this was a weakness that couldn't—shouldn't—be tolerated, he was powerless to stop it.
And wasn't sure that he wanted to.
He laid his lips against her soft skin and let himself follow her into sleep.
>>>>>
Morning was breaking over Terminal City and, although one would like to say that it was a beautiful sight, the industrialisation and dirt grey of everything almost defied the beautiful sunrise to make it more than it was. As it was the sun was put to shame and things just looked dirtier, if not lighter.
Dek was of the same constitution as Max in that his DNA kept him up more often than not and this was one occasion, and he didn't even have Aiden to keep him company this time.
Aiden had left after the meeting yesterday for Manticore, complete with well wishes and a few bottles of Mole's home-brew, something purported to be more lethal than anything that Manticore had managed to cook up in a lab.
Dek well knew that Aiden, whilst he did not have particularly horrid memories of Seattle, his memories of Manticore in general would be keeping his friend awake at night and Dek felt that he could at least commiserate in this regard.
He sat on the rooftop of his apartment watching as the sun turned the murky dark city into a murky light city and he grinned at the idea that not even the brilliance of the sun could make Terminal City any more appealing. Of course, nowhere held appeal to him at the moment.
Basically because she wasn't here.
Raking his hand through his hair Dek wondered what Drew was doing now. Was she in pain or was she tucked up in a warm bed? Was she walking the streets or was she hard at work somewhere?
All his life she had been the one thing that he could rely on and he felt somehow lost without her.
He remembered meeting her for the first time. They had been assigned Units straight out of what he affectionately dubbed "Kinder-Manticore" and his first glimpse of her had been this small four year old with a shaved head and mocking brown eyes. She'd frowned at the whimpers that the girls in the Unit made and had adamantly demanded that they stop because they were giving her a pain in her head.
Then she'd walked over to him and told him that his shirt was on inside out and that was that; firm friends for life.
He had maintained a watchful eye on her through their young life and knew that she did the same and yet their relationship had never been that of brother and sister; unlike Max's feelings for her first Unit.
His feelings towards her matured and he often wondered what it was he held against Mets, the guy wasn't so bad after all.
Of course, it wasn't until he had seen her walk up to Mets that day in the Rec room and plant her lips on his that he had realised what he was feeling.
Pure unadulterated jealousy.
But it had been some time since he was able to come to terms with the feeling and even longer to figure out what to do about it.
As luck would have it, just when things had gone their way, they had been separated.
He felt a sudden hatred and satisfaction on the death of that bitch Renfro who had siphoned them off to different partners for that Sex Education fiasco. If he had been paired with Drew then they would have been able to get out together and not have been parted.
Now he had the hand-shaking, heart-breaking, fear-inspiring dread that came from not knowing if she were alive or dead.
Dek swiped his hands at his face, trying to brush away the bone tiredness that came from within. He may have flirted with Max, hell, he would even have slept with her, but his heart belonged to Drew.
He only wished that she was alive and here with him.
Please, please, Manticore, just let her be alive.
The sun rose high and the inhabitants of Terminal City scurried to life below him, going about their daily business unaware of the heart that was broken so far above them.
>>>>>
The reconstructed cafeteria was one place that all transgenics would pass through sooner or later and this worried Max.
By the smell and look of the place she had reasoned that it was entirely possible that the viral outbreak had occurred from here. Although she didn't say anything like that to Gem or Cece because, frankly, their hormones were scarier than a platoon of Xs.
She had been sent to the kitchen by Pix to ask Gem what supplies they needed from the catering aspect and had been collared into hearing a litany of problems that could be expected if she were ever crazy enough to have children of her own.
Not that she planned on ever doing that, and was even less inclined to now.
After half an hour she had managed to get the list of supplies needed and attempted to make her way out of the kitchen, but Gem was having none of it while she had a captive audience.
"—so I watched the birthing video as Cece suggested and you know what happens once your water breaks?"
Max swallowed, horrified and wished she were back in Psy Ops. She made some non-committal answer and proclaimed that she absolutely had to go, national security was at stake and she had to go kill Pix.
Gem's eyes began to tear and Max stayed where she was with a sinking feeling that she would be trapped forever.
Give her death, give her dismemberment and she was right at home. Hand her a bomb and point her and she was ready to go.
Stick her in a room with 'girl talk' and a pregnant woman and she would be begging for mercy and ready to spill all her secrets.
She amused herself by blanking out Gem's tales of labour with vibrant images of what she was going to do to Pix and his intestines once she had removed them.
She smiled insincerely as Gem mixed up some vile white substance in a huge tureen and proclaimed it tonight's dinner.
"And that would be?"
"Gruel," Gem snapped, her hand rubbing her aching lower back. "What the hell do you think it is? It's mushroom soup."
"Oh!" Max backed away quickly wondering if now was a good time to escape, only to bump into Cece who growled at her.
"Watch where you're going, Max. Some of us have a little more weight to carry now and can't be knocked around."
"Right, right, sure." Max couldn't take her eyes off the bump that was shown beneath Cece's clothes.
"Problem?" Cece asked sweetly, her eyes narrowing.
Max shook her head quickly. "No, no problems."
"Good, JOSHUA!" Cece screeched. "I need help with this box!"
The tall dog-man raced out from where he had been hiding, covered with flour and gave Max a big grin.
"Hey, little fella."
"Hey, Josh," Max said with a smile. She and Joshua had had their little reunion with much hugging and excited speech and they had fallen back into their easy friendship even though Gem and Cece surrounded him most of the time.
The two pregnant women were easy around the huge, gentle man in a way that they weren't around other male transgenics at the moment and Joshua had taken it upon himself to be a sort of surrogate husband to the two women while they were… indisposed.
This suited everyone, or at least it seemed to, and Max was far more than willing to allow Joshua to take the part so she didn't have to pretend an interest and understanding over the mysteries of childbirth.
"I'll leave you to it," she said backing out of the kitchen before Gem could start to cry again and, taking the supply list with her, she turned abruptly and bumped into Carrot who steadied her with one hand.
"Whoa, Max, where's the fire?"
"In the kitchen, with Gem and Cece," Max shuddered. "Get me out of here."
"Why?" Carrot felt easier in teasing Max now that he had seen her again.
"Because if I have to endure one more lecture on swollen ankles and filled bladders, I'm gonna join White in his attempts to destroy the transgenics myself!"
Carrot stifled a laugh. "Okay, I'll take you away from here, but I have something to say to you, Max."
"What could that be?" She smiled up at her redheaded big brother.
"Me and Joshua had a few errands to run while we were in the outside and we found something that might be of interest in your plans."
Max was intrigued and gestured for him to follow her to command central where she had managed to procure her own office space. She cleared some of the paperwork off a chair and let him sit down.
"Spill," she said as she made herself comfortable.
"Joshua remembers the father of our nation."
"Say what?" Max blinked and then remembered conversations that she had had with Joshua back in the basements of Manticore. "You're talking about Sand man?"
"Sandeman," he corrected. "Josh managed to find his old address."
"Really?" Max was interested in this and sat on the edge of the table. "Was he there?"
"No, long gone," Carrot took a deep breath. "But he left papers and documents… and a disc journal of his whole life."
Max's shoulders dropped in disbelief. "A journal?"
Carrot nodded. "During the early twentieth century there was phase of something called "live-journalling" it was a world-wide phenomenon on the 'net. Ordinary people began cataloguing their lives; every minute detail was itinerated for prosperity. It seemed dear old Sandeman was caught by the bug and, although he didn't post live, he downloaded all his entries onto a disc. I had to hide it from Joshua before he could read it, not that he had a disc player to put it on, but just in case. I wasn't sure what it contained but didn't want Josh to see anything that could damage his opinion of his father."
"And would it?" Max was quiet.
Carrot didn't answer her for a moment and stood up to begin pacing. "I gotta tell ya, Max that most of it read like some kind of science fiction story. If I wasn't a product of a weird Sci-fi experiment myself, I wouldn't have even believed it. As is…" He took another breath.
Max reached over and grabbed his hands. "Tell me."
"Richard Sandeman was a member of some kind of cult; he calls them the snake-biters. I think it's a joke but I can't be sure." He scratched his head. "He indicated that this cult has been around for centuries in secret and that their ultimate goal was to breed the ultimate race. They have their roots in something called the Nephilim."
"Nephilim?" Max frowned. "Why is that familiar?"
"According to the research that I did, they were supposed to be the offspring of angels gone bad and human women, they had terrible strength and power and would have gone on to rule the world if not for a global flood."
Max snapped her fingers. "I remember reading about that in religious studies back in Seattle's facility. When I was on the outs with you guys before we met with Bulli again, I spent a lot of time in the library."
Carrot nodded, solemnly recalling that time. "Anyway, turns out that over the centuries they've been breeding and interbreeding to try to create this master–race. But, he wrote, in recent years, with all of the medical and technological advances, there was a faction that wanted to use these to enhance things more, whilst another—he calls them purists—wanted to keep things the way they always had. Hitler apparently was a contemporist, who wanted change and he had his own ideas of how to go about it."
Max shuddered at the pictures of the world wars that they had been showed back in History class. "Hitler was part of this cult thing?"
Carrot nodded. "The cult members always had positions of high responsibility. He talks of judges, majors, even presidents being part of this. He was interested in medicine and genetics and so became a doctor. The purists were against any use of new methods and continued to use old ones, but the old ways weren't working. There was something about miscarriages in the women that they chose to birth the babies, two in every three died. That third child was taken and reared in the ways of the cult and then, when they reached eight, Sandeman makes some mention of a test that they had to go through to ensure that they were worthy to be part of this cult. At first it's a joke to him but later on he talks about it being an antiquated abomination. By this time he had two kids. It seems that he took samples of his fellow cultists and managed to find some gene that would determine who passed the tests and who wouldn't. He worked out that basically his big old cult came down to who had this gene and who didn't. It was pure chance."
"Sheesh," Max shuddered at the thought of random genetics determining who would live and die.
"He got very disillusioned and although he seemed to keep the same ideals, he goes off on a tangent, talking of other ways to promote a master race."
"Us?" Max breathed, her eyes lighting up. Carrot smiled to see her keep up with him, but he returned to his sorry tale.
"His talents take a turn when he realises that one of his kids doesn't have this gene and will, in fact, die from the tests. His writing gets more passionate but at the same time, he sounds more like a lunatic than ever. He starts thinking of his cult as animals and that's where he got the idea."
"What?"
Carrot swallowed. "It was a random throw-away comment from one of his cultists. He called them animals when they wouldn't allow him to exclude his precious CJ from the tests. The rest of the comment was written down exactly as the man said to him; he said "If animals are what we are, then animals will rule the world." Sandeman took that to heart. There are pages of scrawled notes of the advantage of animals over humans; speed, agility, intellect, instinct. Pages and pages of insane notations and pictures of cat eyes, lion's hind legs all mixed with scrawlings of… God, Max, it scared me. The father of our nation was coming unglued. His wife was pregnant with kid number three and…"
"What?" Max whispered as he trailed off, his hand going to his mouth in horror.
"He injected her, Max, with canine DNA while she slept."
Max's jaw dropped and ice filled her veins.
Carrot slumped to a chair. "He fed her with a constant stream of some serum that he called Canine4, there is a mention of a formulae but it's lost."
"He injected his own wife? His kid?" Her voice was as full of horror as her face.
"Once she gave birth, she confronted him. She knew what he had been up to but didn't know that he had injected her with what he had been working on. Until the proof came out of her."
Max felt her world spin as she imagined the scene. His wife; so excited, like Gem and Cece, at having a child. It would be a product of love and combined lives; a perfect culmination of years of marriage and mutual love. She would be so looking forward to a baby brother for her two sons and would be giddy with joy. The hard, painful labour would zap her strength, but she would know that, at the end, it would all be worth it. Then they'd place a bundle in her tired arms.
A bundle swathed in blankets that she'd turn down gently, expecting to see a cute button nose and dark eyes. But when that soft blanket was removed she'd see an abomination with snout and fangs and she'd know… her heart would turn over and her stomach with it as she realised what her husband had done.
Max's heart broke. "Joshua!" she whispered.
Carrot swiped away a tear. "The first. He was taken away and they studied him to find out what his make-up was and how to improve on it."
A cold knot unfurled in her stomach. "He was nothing more than a guinea pig for Sandeman."
"We all were. He managed to isolate some gene in women that would produce children with the capability to hold animal DNA. His notes are full of failed attempts, of babies that came out wrong or women whose bodies rejected the animal DNA in their own and died. God, it was sick."
"Murderer."
"The Freaks and mutants are failed attempts."
Max held back the tears from her own voice as she watched them make tracks down Carrot's face. "The women? Where did he get them from?"
"Pre-pulse he frequented abortion clinics for his first attempts, before in-vitro when they could mix a perfect kid in a test tube and then inject. I think he advertised once he found out that they didn't need to be pregnant already, plus he wanted to use pure sperm."
"His?" Max didn't think she could have felt sicker.
She was wrong.
Carrot shrugged. "His, another cultists, sperm banks, he only chose the best."
"I'm flattered," she said in a dead tone.
"Post pulse it was easier, no one had any money and women were mistreated all the time. All he had to do was dangle cash and most were eager to be fed, housed and paid for their womb and offspring."
Max shook her head. "So the father of our nation was nothing more than a sadistic, insane pimp? Whoring women's bodies out for mad scientist purposes? Suddenly I feel real proud to be a transgenic."
"Yeah," Carrot gave a dry laugh but there was no humour in it.
"So, White is probably a purist, out to kill the abominations Sandeman made?"
Carrot shrugged. "Could be, he makes no mention of White anywhere in his journal. In fact, most names are hinted at or sublimated with nicknames. One woman he calls the "Harridan Hatchet"."
"Well, at least he had sense of humour," Max tried lightly but her heart was heavy with these unsettling secrets that Carrot had spilled into her lap like bombs.
Carrot sat down in the chair in front of the desk and looked up at Max. "I hated having to carry this around alone."
"Thanks for telling me." Max smiled at him, letting him know that she didn't begrudge him sharing this with her.
They were silent were a few moments, both contemplating what they had just uncovered and the ramifications it caused for them.
"Do you think this cult will be after us?"
Max nodded slowly. "If that White guy knew who and what we are and he is who we think he is, we could be in trouble. Especially if his cultists are as high in power as it seems. What I want to know is where is Sandeman?"
Carrot shrugged. "His last entry was purposely vague, full of paranoid ramblings and words that made no sense at all. He started writing in French and German and something that looked like Swahili. He lost it big time, Max."
"As much as I'd love to have a nice long talk with the father of our nation… preferably with a nice big stick and few hot pokers," Max grit her teeth. "We have other fish to fry."
"White?"
"Dek and Aiden said he was trying to capture them and when Pix and Chance met Anna they said that White was doing some kind of experiment." She whispered, almost to herself. "What is he up to?"
"He wants to clean house," Carrot said suddenly. "Obviously, there can't be two master-races; they want us out of the way so we can't interfere in their plans of world domination… and oh geez, does that sound like a Saturday morning cartoon!." He made a face and affected a deep voice. "What shall we do tonight, Sandeman? The same thing we do every night, White- take over the world!"
Max laughed at his appalled face and clutched her sides in giggles at his easy rendition of that twentieth century cartoon that Alec was addicted to. "It might sound like a bad cartoon plot to us, but they do wanna take over the world." The very words made her giggle harder.
Carrot frowned. "No idea why, seems far too much hassle to me."
Max sobered up. "True, just think of the paperwork."
"So what do we do about White?" Carrot asked, sitting back with his legs tucked under the table in easy relaxation.
"We'll need to convene with the others on this, something tells me it'll be a huge-ass problem soon enough."
"Why?"
"Right now, he's trying to clean house without any exposure to either us or them, but soon enough they'll get desperate enough to not care."
"You think they'll expose us?"
Max nodded. "I'm sure of it. Public exposure with the spread of fear, they won't have to worry about wiping us out, because ordinaries will do it for them."
Carrot's eyes opened wide. "Spreading fear; mob behaviour and they'll turn on us… and each other."
"What better way to become the master-race than to systematically eradicate their competition?" Max swallowed. "Once the cult decides to expose us, we are in for a world of hurt and they'll hold all the cards."
"They're in a prime position to," Carrot agreed. "Remember the roster?"
Max was already ahead of him. "For centuries they've ensured that their members are high up in positions of responsibility. Once a Major or Judge tells the populace that we spread disease or are an abomination to their human sensibilities because we have animal in us?"
"Death… annihilation."
"Genocide," Max corrected.
"So, team meeting?" Carrot examined his nails in extreme nonchalance in contrast with the dire words they were exchanging.
"Bring your own pack-up," Max smiled as she jumped off the table and held open the door.
"Cheers, Max."
She couldn't hold back a cheeky grin. "After you, Pinky."
"Hey!" he feigned irritation. "How come I don't get to be the Brain?"
She looked him up and down. "That answers that for itself."
>>>>
For all intents and purposes the woods surrounding the site formerly known as Manticore were abandoned and Lydecker was quite content to leave it that way.
His memories of the charred and decimated facility were uncomfortable at best and sketchy at worst. His interests and interference had mainly run from the site located in Wyoming, a place that he found far more to his liking in both temperature and convenience. Also the cold, bleak wilds of Wyoming worked wonders to keep away the memories of his wife that tormented him with the absence of fortifying alcohol.
No matter how he tried to tell himself that one drink was one too many and two drinks were never enough, he could still taste the sweet after-taste and craved it like some people craved drugs or excitement.
Of course, his answer had never been in a twelve-step program or a gradual cutting down, unlike those weaklings who insisted on the power of support and brotherhood. Surrounded by likeminded ones who proclaimed Alcoholism a disease.
It wasn't a disease; it was a weakness and if there was one thing that Lydecker wasn't—it was weak .He had almost been the epitome of strength, to both himself and his kids and he wasn't about to be beaten by fermented vegetables.
He gripped his hands tightly and willed away the desperate need for scotch; for brandy; for goddamn cider and willed himself to think of work.
It was all the fault of Ames White after all. Ames White was the one who had him reaching for the bottle he thought he had beaten. Ames White was a manipulative, arrogant, egotistical, ambitious little shit.
If he wasn't so annoying, Lydecker could even find it in himself to admire him. As it was, he despised the very sight of the officious little man and knew that the sentiment was mutual.
It was made even worse by the whispers of suggestion that made their way through the mind of Lydecker that White wasn't exactly playing by the rules. (It also occurred to him that White wasn't playing with a full deck but that was more personal than professional.)
Acting on a hunch he had called the main base where the captured transgenics were supposed to be held. He had maintained a specific kind of radio silence, just in case some of his kids were monitoring the airwaves. Not the escapees of Seattle—those weren't his kids; weren't his concern and, really, were only his problem via delegation.
No, it was his '09ers who he knew would still be waiting and watching. He had trained them right and he had trained them well enough to instil a healthy fear and respect for him deep in their genetic make-up and knew that no matter where they were; no matter how well they were hidden; and how long they hid, they would always fear him.
Had Renfro cared even the smallest iota, then she, too, could have had her soldiers eager and willing to bend to her every whim. But she was sloppy and more eager to follow her own agenda.
Lydecker had known that her loyalties were geared more towards Sandeman than the committee and he had always been fine with that. As long as she didn't get in his way and try to usurp his authority he couldn't care less who she was screwing.
But when his authority was questioned that was when he got mad.
His cell finally beeped to show that he had reached the base.
"Lydecker here," he barked. "Code Authority delta one Manticore, password: Archimedes Sly."
He waited a beat for the line to let his code pass through and he punched a four-digit number into his cell.
"Main base command."
"Lydecker here."
"Yes, sir?"
"I want the status of the prisoners that have been sent to you."
There was a brief silence. "There have been no prisoners admitted under the care of Donald Lydecker."
His heart beat a stuccato rhythm. "What about under Ames White?"
"There is no one authorised under that name, sir."
He quit stalling. "How many prisoners of the transgenic variety have arrived within the past six weeks?"
"None, sir."
None.
"Will that be all?"
None
"Sir?"
Not one
"Colonel Lydecker?"
"That'll be all." He shut the cell carefully and fought the urge to force his way into command centre and beat the living hell out of Ames White.
What the hell had happened to those kids? Although the laser beam had been sabotaged before they could capture many, between those who responded early and those they had managed to round up they had caught at least twenty or thirty of the younger X-series. Where were they?
He walked calmly into the base and let his eyes trail over the men still working hard to rectify the mistake made over the Seattle base.
He knew he had sent some over to the bases. He knew that they had got into the truck and that that truck had returned.
Someone, somewhere, was lying to him and he was inclined to believe that it was White.
So if White had a whole other agenda then it didn't include the safety of transgenics, and, possibly, not the safety of him either. He wouldn't put it past the committee to overrule him and place White in position to destroy the Manticore project and use him as a patsy, making him take the flack for the failure of the mission and, maybe even push him into the public eye as the figure responsible for the escape and infliction of these creatures on an unsuspecting populace.
He would be forced to resign, honourable discharge—maybe, and made the scapegoat of the whole project.
In the words of the twentieth century "screw that!"
Lydecker paused in the centre of command and looked around unknowingly portraying an icy rage that sent even the hardiest of soldiers scampering in the other direction, desperately looking for something else to do; or at least give the appearance of being busy so as not to attract his eagle eye.
Who could he trust here? Who was on his side and who was in White's pocket?
His eye fell on those two lackeys' of White's—Otto and Mendez, they seemed to dislike White as much as he did. Maybe there was opportunity there for him.
He walked over quietly and stood behind them just long enough to make them sweat and then, in a cool, calm voice said:
"You two, with me. Now."
They jumped a mile and gave each other furtive looks before following Lydecker out of command, feeling more uneasy with each glimpse of the hard gleam in the Colonel's eye.
Lydecker barely noticed their unease, so intent he was in his planning and plotting.
After all, there was more than one way to skin a cat.
He walked into the nearest room and shut and locked the door before turning to the two, now quite unnerved, men.
He let his gaze ride over them, assessing both them and their loyalties and coming up somehow pleased.
"The two of you are placed under the command of Ames White?"
"Yes sir" they replied cautiously.
"Where are your loyalties? To him?"
"Uhh," Mendez frowned. "Permission to speak freely?"
"Granted, accepted and even encouraged, son."
"My loyalties have, and always will be centred on the promotion, expansion, security and safety of my nation and government."
Otto nodded in agreement and Lydecker looked them over.
"Laudable, gentlemen. Whilst I agree on both scores, what would you say if I told you that Agent Ames White appears to have a somewhat different agenda?"
"I wouldn't be shocked," Otto said. "White has given a few… odd orders, sir."
"He does seem to have his own agenda," Mendez added dubiously.
Lydecker smiled, glad they were of one mind. "And in the interests of national security, are you willing to do what it takes to find out, exactly what agenda Agent White has?"
"Whatever it takes," said the ever-patriotic Mendez.
The smile on Lydecker's face grew larger. "Then here's what we have to do. It all involves a transgenic called 452."
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AngelKougaeri- Cheers pet!
Sigma1- I don't get tired of answering reviews and have decided to continue until tell me otherwise. I do have some Logan-issues but my therapist is steadily helping me to be a more rounded member of society… it's either that or write kids books.
Meri24- Glad I could make your day. It always makes mine when people review, so we're square there. The Ben/Drew part will be a bit of a shock.. possibly
XxInsanityxX- Cheers pet, the reunion should be fun.
Moonlite star- I heard about it third class so I hope it's not true, I did email to ask but they haven't replied as yet so we'll have to see. I'll make some Logan-shaped amends.
Elle6778- Thank you for the praise. I have to admit that it is getting harder to keep it fresh but glad that the effort pays off. No, in my series Alec is all Max's- I have way way had enough of cheating men, so my Alec is just that. Mine… I mean Max's. Zack will be having words with our resident hacker so more crazy Zack interaction. I decided to heed your words and carry on with ther reviewers answers. It's only polite.
Electricgurl- Cece's babies daddy is Harley, a burly X5 she was partnered back at old M. Ooh! So glad that you've ventured into PO territory- YES!
Crimsonreality- Cheers.
Toniboo- Hey pet, More Max/ Alec fluffiness? Okay, I'll se what I can do in the next chapter.
EminemIsCool- Your welcome pet, I do try to answer requests from readers and reviewers wink . Just remember that there are already over 40 characters here!
Kim- I know- typical males. Just the council is aware of Max being in TC right now, but news will spread. Hyped up Cece is far more psychotic than normal. Carrot and Tara have more experience with Flex and Dek teasing Alec about him and Max, so that will not have changed.
JG- Someone mentioned that they had enough of Alc always being the one in the wrong in my fics and I realised that Max really needed to accept some blame for being a bitch at times. Alec is never perfect in any of my fics… as you can tell!
Max and Ben's relationship will be some thing of a mystery to everyone until it happens. Me too!
Angel of Darkness231- Torture Logan? Hmmm, has possibilities.
Black Rose9- More Dek and White issues here, more of them in the next part- promise.
Ellenemi- Cheers pet. Max having a 9 at Logan was my fave moment of that chapter- he so needed it. Come on- who wouldn't check out Aiden's ass? I would. Yeah… about that Ben/Alec/ Logan thing…
Geminangel- I don't think she'll be very happy. She'll pull out his intestines and wear them as a hat.
Mystic Fayth- Yup Harley is the daddy. I bet that will go down well.
Ronda TIW- The Buffy references just seem to leak through! It's what comes of religiously watching a TV show for 7 years. And Logan bashing is always good.
Lotamoxie- Yes you see that is my sneraky plan. Logan recognised Ben/Alec and was far far too scared of Ben to say anything so he… okay so missed that. Sheesh, no one's perfect. Logan probably has other things on his mind.. I know I do. LOL. Anyone guesses who Gem's baby's father is is better than me. I have no idea. I do, however have a few concrete ideas for my fics—which I'm sure you'll be happy to hear.
Chicita- oh yeah OC is one smart cookie.
Ganko- I did! Yay me. Max was scary in that part wasn't she? I thought she handled that fairly well. I think they'll have more to say to him once he calms down. Sunny and Biggs in TC- how cool!
Bluejean452- Cece is very funny anyway. The gang is all coming together,
JJBP- Cheers pet, great to hear from ya.
Chaosti- Alec related to coffee- mm, smooth, deep, dark, sensual…. Talk amongst yourselves. Ahem yeah, those that don't want to be found will never be found. It's what they were trained to do! Jay is going to be my sarcasm relief while BJ is away. Feel free to have an affair with Dek, I know I have been. I know I could be nicer to Logan but seriously—where's the fun in that? I have chosen to disregard the rumor and just continue until they tell me otherwise.
Fadingphantom- Isn't Carrot delicious? And Sunny and Biggs are on their way, along with Flex and Skye etc.. oh one big reunion! I have heard nothing further so I have disregarded the rumour.
L80bug- Cheers pet, glad to amuse!
Grey Daze's Nirvana- Bulling Logan is so much fun!
SGOU- mini-review? What is the world coming to?I too hated seeing Carrot used by eyes only, but at least he got a place to live out of it all. If you remember in the series Max didn't get anything except grief and a virus. Not a fair deal. Ooh lots of questions and just to be petty I won't answer them all. Save to say that you want a longer answer you have to give me something to work with wink
Sarah- Ahh pushing around a guy in a wheelchair hours of comedy, just watch Committed… kidding!
A- Wow you've had some reading to do! Glad you caught up and are enjoying the series. Don't forget to check out my website for the pics and posts. Any suggestions feel free to make and hope that you liked this as well as I did!
Aku-neko- Well done, a kudos for getting through a chapter without grievous bodily harm! But minus points for judo injury- honestly do I need to wrap you in bubble wrap? Although then I'd get the urge to pop you. Just sneak up and Pop. Ahh well you can praise me all you like but once this series is done. It's done. No-really. POP.
Starlight Angel- Cheers pet, more soon.
Sakura- Hey there, welcome to the saga! Thank you for enjoying it so much, keep reviewing!
Salcyra- Hey there. Pix has had the same tra8ining that Max and Alec have had and he didn't have to take command in SO, so I think Max and Alec will take a break for a while.
Silk- missing trains is bad. British rail do it all the time and look what a reputation they have! As I go through it gets easier to add details that I see when I wrote them. Its like a mini movie in my head and I hope that that is the same when people read it. But I didn't wan to rehash the whole thing—take up far too much room for one thing. feedback on feedback is one of the fun parts of this.
Yodes- More soon, honest.
SGOU- YES I KNOW! big cheesy grin
Ladybug- Yes it is way past time for an update, Blame the weather.
Elfie- Nah Alec isn't the father but he wanted to tease them all back together which worked well. The security thing is a huge issue but one that they are keen to implement. Good point that babies might not be affected by the viruses and things. Transgenics don't tend to think of ordinaries needs as it doesn't really refer to them at all. I guess they are selfish in some ways. Logan isn't a good marker of the human race and Alec and Max just wanted out, after all now they have the upper hand.
Gepap- many thanks again pet, your review has helped.
Pixie Wildfire- its shocking what some people will say fro secret peeks!
Princess Incognito- You knowI adore you, I'll tell you often.
And everyone else who I have forgotten!