Chapter 2
"Alec… I think I might know a way, but it's gonna take a while" Max looked directly into Alec's eyes with an eyebrow raised in challenge
"Ah…you mean tail him…actually that's about the best idea we have at this time, but it could take all day, I wanted to go to the blowfish tonight, they have a new show on…cow girls and lassos…you know Max you'd look hot in chaps maybe dye your hair blonde, add a sweet little innocent look to your face…swirl a pistol around on your finger…"
Alec trailed off with a slightly glazed look in his eyes. Max punches Alec in the arm playfully. They have kinda grown closer over time, what with Max doing all those Eyes Only jobs that require more than one transgenic, she had always asked Alec, she figured that he had her back because no matter what she called him she always had his. Yeah she thought he was a screw up, but at times he proved her wrong and she admitted that to him and herself. When she told him about Ben that night he seemed to change…he was careful with what he said, he wasn't making as many jokes as he normally would. But since everything with Sam (Max's twin 453) Alec had realized that Max had done what she had been asked…and that she had done her best through life, she didn't have to look out for him or the other transgenics but she did, she made him learn about life and how she felt about Manticore. He saw and felt how brave she was to do what she did all of her life, but he also realized that it was something she had to do, like he had to with his missions all because of guilt…she carries to much of it.
"Alec!...what the hell are you thinking about?...it better not be me in chaps cause I'll kick your ass" Alec actually looked scared at that moment
"Uh…oh…em…actually no I wasn't thinking of you in chaps but, seeing as you mentioned it I don't think I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight" Max's eyes narrowed into tiny slits, if this was a cartoon, Alec swore you'd be able to see steam coming out of her ears.
"Alec…please pay att-"
Suddenly Alec pushed Max down to the floor and landed on top of her. Alec put his hand over Max's mouth and stared deeply into her eyes. Alec then mouthed the problem (White) Alec could hear White talking to some of his men behind them in an alley.
"Good, at least you was able to get rid of somebody even if it wasn't who we WANTED and to top it off he wasn't even a transgenic" no emotion, no nothing apart from freak filled anger
"Sir he had a barcode on his neck and we reacted as to what we were given orders to do so sir…but when we went to check on his status…the barcode was only ink, must have been some kind of joke played on him"the lackey repeated the reason to White, even though he wasn't paying any attention to the man
"I wanted 452…and 328…oh and don't forget 494, trust me if you are not going to do what I want you to do…then I have to do it myself, especially since you can't do it right…I should of killed 450 while I could"
"450?...Sir what does 450 have to do with this? we have no proof of him even being in Seattle" one of White's other men added, he sounded rather confused
"sir"
Otto Gottleib ran into the alley
"Sir…what the hell happened?, I thought this was my mission…I was trying to keep from any casualties" Otto sounded hurt that White didn't trust him enough with this one case
"Otto…you was taking too long with this whole thing, what were you trying to do? you want to get to know those freaks before we kill em? 494, 328, 450 are extremely dangerous not to mention 452!" White was getting all worked up over this, more than he had before, Otto knew this was more about White's job, it was a sick fascination, one that he wouldn't be involved with anymore
"sir I was…you know what? I QUIT…I ain't running around for you anymore…I'm gone"
See that's the strange thing about Otto, maybe that's why he never really seemed like a real government official, he had a heart, even when transgenics were involved, he saw something else. The manners and ways of life were taught to him by his uncle, who happened to work at Manticore, though Otto never told anyone for fear of reprisal.
Otto ran out from the alley and disappeared from sight and earshot.
Alec slowly stood up and looked around.
Max shot up and stalked to the side to she what happened. All of a sudden her cell phone rang.
"Better be global!"
"452? wait don't hang up…it Otto Gottlieb…I need to speak with you, you name the place and the circumstances…I won't bring anybody with me, you have my word and my life" he sounded honest
"Why should I trust you?, you're one of White's men, your life means shit to us…you ended up killing and injuring friends of ours, but I heard what went down and we really need to talk with you!"
"fine I understand…name the place and time" Max seemed to think this over
"Right…Terminal City…Nine…tonight…O.K?"
"O.K"
Max hung the phone up and explained to situation to Alec.
"Max you are aware that this could be a trap…asking him to go there could expose all the other transgenics" Alec looked suspicious about it
"But think about it Alec…if we take him there we have enough backup, Alec I understand what you're thinking-"
Alec interrupted Max halfway through her sentence
"Max…if you do this I'm not letting you do it on your own, I'm gonna tell you now that no matter what you do…I'll be behind you every step"Max actually hugged Alec
"Alec…I know you have my back and I have yours too but…hold on he did say under my circumstances though…I think this might work"
Later at terminal city. Alec is talking to Mole and Joshua
"Alec…little fella always know what to do" Joshua said, trying to calm down Mole and Alec, in the gentle way he's known for
"Yeah but she can't be thinking straight leading him here, think about it…she's leading White's men to all of us" The cigar in his mouth didn't even move because he was clenching his teeth so hard
Mole was staring Alec down but he wasn't backing off
"Mole you think about it…she doesn't have to be here and she doesn't have to look out for all of us but she does!...Mole, God Damn it, just listen to her, she has a plan that will…if all of us pull TOGETHER…Work, trust me on it…Joshua you trust me and Max don't cha boy" Before Joshua could bark out what he though about it, a loud female voice filled to air, surprising everyone
"ALEC…ALEC…come on we got to get this sorted out NOW"
"Whoa… she calling, I better go."
Alec ran to find Max pacing up and down a long corridor just around the corner from where he was just talking to Joshua and Mole
"Alec I just remembered that White said another transgenics designation…328…have you heard of him before?"
"328, yeah I've heard about him, he was put through a deep dialect course when he was 5, the dialect happened to be…um…Jamaican, when he was 15 he was shipped out on a mission, to, I don't really know…but he never came back." Alec explained very seriously
"With White saying his designation along with mine in the same sentence could mean that he was or could be in Seattle!" Max was looking hopeful at this, Alec had no idea why.
"I guess…but this transgenic wouldn't look around the same age as us"
"Why?"Max was confused by this
"I can't really explain it cause I don't really know but…from what I remember being told he would look around 5 years older!"
"Ummm…5 years older…wait" something clicked in Max's mind
"Max what are you thinking?...do you think you know who it is?" Alec raised an eyebrow at Max
"I only knew of one Jamaican guy around 5 years older then me and that was Herbal Thought…but I never recall seeing a barcode…or any other signs that he was a transgenic" Her eyebrows furrowed which indicated that she was in deep thought
"Must be really good…or not him!" Alec reasoned
"We need to speak to Logan to have him track Herbal down" Alec didn't like the sound of Max going back to Logan, not after their last fight, which, by the way, he doesn't know fully about
"But first we have to get this whole White mess sorted out, Otto will be here in around an hour and we still don't know what you're thinking!"
"Alec, we could bring him to the parking garage, it's dark enough in there for a few transgenics with guns to hide…plus you will be with me, kinda like my knight in shining armour…well the only thing that would be shining is your gun!"
"Max you should carry one to…Knight in shining armour?!" Alec quipped, the smirk on his face made Max think again
"I don't carry guns and don't think about it!...wait a minute I take it back, another smart mouth remark and not only would you gun be shining…but so will you ass…if you catch my drift" all said with pure attitude
"There you go again…MY ASS…always the ass!" Alec leaned in closer to Max, he knew she was going to lose her temper, it was a sure bet, like him winning Sketchy in a game of pool at crash
"That's it…you done for my friend…your ass is mine"
Max started to chase Alec around Terminal city…not giving up Alec decided to throw a little firework into the works, so to speak.
"Max if you just wanted my ass, all you had to do was ask, but I should really be chasing you…come here!"
"Alec if you dare to touch mine I'll make sure that you won't be able to please yourself never mind another woman!" Max was still running while hurling threats at Alec's chasing form.
"Awwww…come on Maxie!!!...please come out and play…pitty pease…I'll tell Miss O.C." Alec put on his best hurt little boy voice and his trademark puppy dog eyes which put Joshua to shame
Max couldn't help but stop running to laugh at Alec but that meant that he caught up with her…Alec grabbed Max from behind and started to playfully bear hug her…Max was still laughing when she heard a familiar voice…she turned her head in the direction of the voice and asked Alec to put her down.
"See like I'm interrupting somethin'…you know I and I over stand the need to relax and play but tat just be takin' tha biscuit" a thick Jamaican accent which belong to a African American man with a cigarette stuffed behind his ear
"Herbal?…Herbal, oh my god, come here"
Max enveloped Herbal into a hug…Herbal was gripping on to Max has hard as he could without hurting her…
"Max, you kno dis is a shock to tha system…I thought that you were dead, that's tha reason a left Seattle…but I saw tha news on tha TV 'bout chu and the otha transgenics I and I knew that we had to come see you"
"Hey, so you're 328 then…hi I'm 494 AKA Alec, nice to meet you Herbal"
"You too, my brother." Alec and Herbal bumped fists
Max was just too elated to hear that Mole was shouting her.
"MAX…damn woman…ALEC…where in the hell do they get off ignoring me…HEY…WHO IN THE BLUE HELL ARE YOU?"
Mole came running out of the building he was in to stand straight between of Max and Herbal pointing his shotgun at the latter…
"Mole you know how much I really appreciate you trying to protect me but you don't have to worry about him…he's 328." Max walked up to Mole, she put her hand on his arm as a gentle persuader to put the gun down
"The other one White was after?!" Half statement, half question, but what do expect from Mole
"Yeah…my brother, yes"
After Shaking Herbal's hand Mole was straight down to business
"Max…that Otto character is here waiting, we have put 15 transgenics in there hidden so you have plenty of backup with this, Alec, here you go princess…take this."
"A bullet proof vest? And a .45, I didn't think you owned less than that shotgun?!" Herbal and Max stood by to watch the playful banter between Alec and Mole
"Shut up Alec…Max you're gonna need one too…but I didn't know you size so you'd better run to the armoury…now"
"Fine Alec could you take Herbal to Joshua and ask Josh to phone O.C …please"
And with that Max ran to the armoury leaving Herbal in Alec's care.
"Whoa…she actually said please to you Alec…she must be pretty happy to see you 328…what are you one of those 09ers or sumthin' or did you just know Max from her Jam Pony days before she destroyed Manticore?"
"Max destroyed Manticore…when did that happen?" Herbal looked surprised
"That happened in 2020 just after she managed to escape, again!"
"But Max died in 2019…how in the blue hell is she alive?!!!"
"Do you remember her brother Zack, saying that he probably went by a different name then…always used to look at Max in a funny way? Like he wanted to sleep with her? Blond curtains…a bit of muscle? Normal used to call him wonder boy and that when he first started was worth 'ten of you feckless bums' that ring any bells?…how about he was the one Normal hired after finding you smoking herb in the men's bathroom…now you remember?...Sam…he called himself Sam"Clicking his fingers when he finally remembered the name Zack used, Alec beamed
"Him? What about him? What's he got to do with Max being alive?" Herbal was completely confused
"That was Zack, Max's brother and if it wasn't for him she would not be alive right now, you see that he killed himself for Max, so she got his heart…but Zack is still alive in a robotic way, and he can't remember anything now and it's got to stay that way, cause before when he did remember things he started to go after Max in a 'mine' way, but she thought of him as a brother not a lover…so he took that bad and went to kill Logan, Max had to 'shock' him to stop him so…don't talk about it to her though, it still hurts her"
"Thanks for the info brother…this place 'Med bay' why is he in med bay what happened to him?"
"What?...oh Joshua is just in there helping out for a little while until I can get him some new paints…now you know all about the basement people at Manticore don't you?"
"Yes…Why?"
"Well Josh is a dog boy…he is 'first…special' his words not mine…Herbal are you okay?" Herbal looked lost in thought
"You talkin' bout a dog man…that goes by the name of Joshua?"
"That's what I just said…boy…you must be slow…been out in the world a lot huh?" Alec rolled his eyes
"What?...no it's just that I remember a guy called Joshua when I was younger before I got sent out…I used to sneak into the basement at lights out."
"Max did that too, that's how she met Joshua…we helped her escape"
"You two help Max escape? Why? And how?"
"Funny story actually, well I was assigned to be Max's breeding partner, but she didn't want that…she wanted to go home…so one night I went into her cell cause I could get some extra sleep cause I couldn't do what I was supposed to, but she wasn't there…I waited to see if she was taken to Psy-ops or to med bay, but low and behold she turns up underneath the bed where I was sitting, covered in dust and plaster…she looked kinda cute…but she somehow persuaded me to help her escape, she said that I might actually get a new breeding partner…so that kinda switched me…but Renfro found out I helped her after a load of X-7's captured me…I was told to follow her and that they would forget about me helping her seeing as they got what they wanted…" Alec trailed off, he never forgave himself for following Manticore's order
"What did they want with my sister?"
"They wanted her to kill Eye's Only…with a retrovirus they put into her during a Psy-ops session, I followed her and told her Renfro had a temporary cure and that she give it if Max told her who he was working for and what he knows." Alec looked at his watch and raised his eyebrows
"Well I better get going, I'll talk to you later...brother!"
If any of this confuses you just tell me;)
anyway read and review please, first piece of work so kinda apprehensive about it. is it boring, stupid, or just plain weird?