Mood Music:
Storm - Lifehouse
Dark Doo Wop (Lead Acapella) - MS MR
2025Jan11 – Saturday – Approximately 07:30 amShe stirred slowly, feeling so heavy it was a struggle to even open her eyes, let alone move; so she didn't, content for the time being to just let herself drift wherever the hell it was she happened to be. There was a sense of something hovering about her periphery, a feeling of urgency, that there was some mission or task she needed to take care of or accomplish, although she wasn't quite sure what that might be. The effort required to actually think it through and figure it out, beyond her tired and fuzzy brain at the moment, so she let that slide too.
Stretching out lethargically with her other senses, she picked up her mate's familiar musky scent from somewhere close by and the reassuring sound of his steady heartbeat and light snoring, which made a hint of a smile curve her lips. She felt warm too, for what felt like the first time in ages, soft fluffy cotton embracing her gently and encouraging her to remain in this wonderfully peaceful zone somewhere between sleeping and full-on wakefulness.
But reality intruded far too soon in the form of the insistent trill of a cell phone, the surface beneath her shifting as her mate groaned sleepily and got up, answering it as swiftly and quietly as he could while he strode a short distance away.
"What have you got for me Mark?" Alec scrubbed a hand over his face and forced himself back into alertness, shoving his exhaustion aside as best he could.
("It's him, Alec. It's Trev." Mark's voice was filled with purpose and excitement. "If someone wasn't looking specifically for it, they probably wouldn't notice, but there's about a two-inch-long pink curved notch right where you said it would be. It's fading fast but it's there, and I made damn sure I got several really good shots of it with one of the recon cams, so there's no way he's weaseling out of this.")
A low menacing growl filled the room, rumbling up from deep within Alec's chest. Rage positively dripping from his words as he snarled, "I'm gonna rip that fucker's heart out with my bare hands."
She didn't even have time to think, her instincts propelling her up and off the bed in a blur, despite the pain it sent rampaging through her system. Her whole body on fire as she backed up into the nearest corner, her head whipping around frantically trying to determine the exact nature and location of the threat. Her right arm automatically shifting up into a defensive position as her left curled protectively around her ribs and abdomen.
("Easy Al." Mark said quickly. "He's gonna get what's coming to him, we'll all make sure of that, but we need to figure out how he did this first. Why does he have all those alibis?")
Alec was about to respond, but the sound of his mate's hoarse hiss and whimper silenced him instantly. Spinning around, he saw the empty bed, then found her huddling in the corner beside it, her bleary eyes darting all over the room before zeroing in on him. "Shit. I'll have to call you back."
He took one step toward her after tossing his phone on the end of the bed but stopped immediately and put his hands up when she recoiled, mentally kicking himself as he realized what was likely going on. "Okay okay, just relax sweetie. I'll stay over here. I'm sorry for snarling like that, I didn't mean to scare you."
When he didn't get any response, he forced himself to step back and begin trying the things Retha had suggested, even though he didn't think she was actually having a flashback this time. She seemed a bit too aware of him for that, her eyes tracking his every movement. "It's me, Alec, 494. You're safe now and we're here at Cindy's apartment. So try to calm down and breathe. It's gonna be alright. Your attacker's not here and nobody's gonna hurt you, especially not me."
Taking a deep shuddering breath as his much quieter and calmer tone started to seep through her initial panic and the haze left over from the sedative, she began processing his words and the actual situation around her.
"Please try to relax babe." He pleaded. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."
Max just stared at him, blinking several times as she finally realized he was looking right back at her, and what that might mean. Looking over at the bed and seeing it empty, she glanced down slightly and wiggled the fingers on her right hand experimentally, just to see if she could, and watched Alec follow the movement with his own eyes from across the room.
"452?" He asked warily, looking far more concerned now.
"No," she whispered croakily as she shook her head slightly from side to side, her throat drier than a desert. Licking her lips in an attempt to gather enough moisture to properly speak, she said in a bit louder tone, "It's me Alec. I'm back."
"Max?" He uttered her name hoarsely, his eyes widening dramatically when she nodded, the green orbs glistening as his lips slid up into a relieved smile. "Oh God baby, I've been so worried about you and missed you so much."
"Me too." She eased forward off the walls and relaxed her stance as much as she could, wincing at the fresh pain the small actions caused. The monumental effort it took to actually move her own body again draining; every sensation feeling much more intense than it did before, to her dismay.
"Can I come closer now?" he asked tentatively, his hands still raised and stretched out openly in the universal gesture of no harm.
Peering almost shyly at him, despite the growing darkness shadowing her eyes, she murmured, "Please."
Keeping his gaze on her, he crept forward, watching intently for any kind of sign that he was overstepping his bounds so he could check himself if necessary. But to his relief, there wasn't one and he stopped not quite a foot away from her. "Is it okay if I touch you?"
She gingerly inched closer with another muffled hiss of pain, her eyes shimmering as she offered tremulously, "I'd love it if you held me. I could really use a good hug." Staring up at him hopefully, Max bit at her bottom lip to keep it from trembling as she waited on his reaction.
"Are you sure?" He asked guardedly despite his own vital need to hold her, his expression full of concern for her. "I don't want to hurt you, and your back is a real mess baby."
"I don't care. I'm already hurting no matter what. I just..." She took a shallow breath as her voice wavered, trying to no avail to make it come out stronger. "I really need for you to hold me and tell me that everything's gonna be alright. Please Alec? Even if it's a lie. All I've wanted and needed all week is to feel your arms around me." Her voice finally breaking completely on a sob as tears started spilling over and trickling down her cheeks.
"Oh sweetheart," he choked out, not even attempting to hold in his own emotions as he declared, "everything is going to be alright. Maybe not right away, but it will be. I swear it." Moving forward, he pressed his lips against her forehead in a tender kiss and wrapped his arms around her as gently and carefully as he could, relishing the feel of her against him. Something deep inside him settling, feeling more at ease with her there where she belonged; his breath leaving him in a massive sigh of relief.
Max slowly slid her good arm around his waist, digging her fingers into his back as she attempted to burrow into him, and the love and safety he exuded. Her nose nuzzling into his neck and chest as she inhaled as deeply as she possibly could, drawing his essence into her lungs and soaking up his heat. Her whole body trembling finely as her tears flowed freely, dampening the fronts of both of their shirts. "Don't ever let me go." She pleaded earnestly. "Promise you won't leave me?"
"I won't baby. You have my word." He soothed, his voice breaking as he added, "I'm so sorry. I never should've left you Monday and I will never forgive myself for that. But it's gonna be okay. I've got you and you're safe now." Brushing another kiss into the top of her head he told her, "I love you and I'm not going anywhere. You are my life and you will always hold my heart. Everything I am or ever will be is yours. Now and forever, remember?" He pledged, the words a partial echo of the ones he'd sworn to her the night they'd mated.
"Now and forever," she repeated with a soft sigh, his renewed vow a balm to her soul. Turning her head so she could rest her ear against him, she listened to his heart, feeling it beat its way inside her skin as her own took up time with his. The steady rise and fall of his chest, and the low rumble of his voice beneath her cheek deeply comforting, the feel of his strong arms wrapped securely around her even more so, and she let herself sink into him. Let the reality and intensity of his presence banish all the dark thoughts and even darker memories to the farthest reaches of her mind, as much as she possibly could.
Alec snuggled her in closer when he heard and felt her response, rubbing his cheek against the top of her hair and imprinting his scent on her instinctively, as he continued to murmur reassuringly to her. "I don't want you to worry about a thing. You're going to be fine Max, and so is our baby. We're going to work through this together, one step at a time, until we make everything right again."
They stayed that way for several more minutes, losing themselves in the comfort of each other's embrace, until the sudden sensation of other strong arms - extremely unwelcome arms - forced their way into her consciousness and she moaned fretfully in the back of her throat at the invasion. The feel of them gripping her hard and wrestling her down onto an unyielding cold surface stealing the air from her lungs. Shaking uncontrollably, she jerked away from him with a strangled gasp, her eyes darting nervously around the room as her fingers shifted to the bottom of the button-up shirt of his she was wearing, trying to smooth it down a bit further over her thighs.
"Max? Did I hurt you, or do something wrong?" He asked apprehensively as he drew his arms back carefully and tried to catch her gaze, uncertain of exactly what had triggered her, but knowing that something clearly had. Her behavior too abrupt and out-of-sorts for it to be anything else; the scent of fear rolling off her in waves.
"No, I... I'm sorry Alec." She mumbled as she performed another rapid scan of the room, her voice sounding small and more than a bit ragged even to her own ears. "I know I'm being stupid, but I... um... I think I need some space now... I feel like... I can't breathe."
"Hey, nothing about you or this situation is stupid sweetie, so don't apologize. The only thing I want you thinking about right now is what you need. Let me worry about me." Stepping back to give her some additional room, he eyed her wobbly legs and the IV needle in her arm, which was getting close to being pulled out, and suggested as lightly as he could, despite the apprehension building in his chest, "Maybe you should lie down again, hmm?"
She looked on the verge of protesting as her eyes shifted uncertainly to the bed, the thought of being prone and essentially helpless filling her with even more dread and anxiety, but her leg muscles were starting to shake with the strain of holding herself upright so it was hard to argue the point. "Yeah, you're right. I probably should. I guess." She nodded more than a few times while saying it, as if she were trying to convince herself that it was a good idea, her right hand creeping up unconsciously to grasp at the neckline of her shirt and pull it tighter around herself; the feel of the buttons digging into her palm helping to steady her a bit.
"Would you like some help?" Alec asked gently, taking another larger step back as he monitored the thinly-veiled panic and distress she was trying so desperately to suppress, keeping his movements as non-threatening as possible. "I can get OC and Retha in here if that would make you feel more comfortable. They're both just lying down out there right now." He gestured toward the rest of the apartment with a slight incline of his head.
"No. I... I don't want to wake them." She shook her head, looking troubled by the thought, her voice getting smaller still, "They must be really tired, and they already went through enough with me last night."
Trying to distract herself, Max looked over his shoulder at the glow she could see starting to lighten the curtains. "It is Saturday morning, right?"
"Yeah." He glanced down quickly at his watch, then back up at her. "It's getting close to 8 now."
"Okay." She nodded again, "That's good. At least I haven't lost my sense of time." Taking another long hard look at the mattress, she bit her lip for a moment before muttering to herself, "Come on, it's only a bed. You can do this." Pulling herself together by the skin of her teeth, she started hobbling toward it, embarrassed by how decrepitly she was moving and involuntarily hissing as agony shot through her with her first real step, making her wonder how the hell she ever managed to get up and off the frickin' thing in the first place.
Groaning and breathing harshly through her gritted teeth, she wrapped her arms around her middle to help support her ribs as she made for the edge and then shuffled around to face Alec, her eyes locking on his as he untangled the IV tube from around her and quickly stepped back again. Her face settling into a stony grimace as she slowly started easing herself down, feeling the fiery spasm and burn and stretch in every muscle and tendon and stitch. The sheer torture that was her back and ribs and lower half shoving every other thought from her head and making it impossible for her to take in any air at all.
But actually getting into a sitting position didn't help in any way, her crotch and ass firing up with a whole new host of excruciating sensations and she froze on a whimpering exhale, unable to deal with any more, praying silently to anyone who would listen to please make it go away. Her eyes screwing tightly shut as she tried to block out all the reasons she felt this way, while tears streamed indiscriminately down her ashen face.
She only came back to awareness when she heard Alec pleading urgently with her to breathe, feeling her lungs screaming for oxygen, and she drew in a great gasping shuddering breath.
"Oh thank God! That's it Max, just breathe through it. It'll ease off. Just listen to my voice and breathe."
Forcing her eyes open, she found him crouching on the floor at her feet, his green eyes shimmering with unconcealed fear and worry as he watched her helplessly, obviously wanting to assist, but forcefully restraining himself from doing anything without her express say so. Reaching out to him, she grabbed his left shoulder in a death grip. "Just do it for me Alec. I can't move any farther." She gritted out from between clenched teeth, barely able to pant through the constriction in her chest, her eyes begging him to make it stop.
Not even hesitating, he cupped a hand beneath her knees and the other behind her neck, scooping her up and depositing her swiftly but carefully onto her back before easing her legs down flat. Removing his hands from her and scooting back just as quickly, he watched her face gradually ease into something far less pinched and pained as her breathing slowly smoothed out and color returned to her cheeks. Seeing that she was shivering uncomfortably though, he gathered the fallen blankets up and draped them back over her, ensuring she was covered from head to toe.
As her gaze started to focus in on him again, Alec reached for the water bottle waiting on the night stand beside his gun and offered it to her, wanting to allow her a bit more time to regain her composure, "Would you maybe like a drink to help ease your throat?"
"That'd be good." Smiling faintly but gratefully, Max opened her mouth to him so he could give her some, trying to remain as still as she possibly could to allow her body time to settle completely.
Struggling hard to keep his expression neutral when he got a good look at the burns lining the insides of her lips and tongue, he eased down onto the edge of the bed and reached over to painstakingly trickle a small amount of water in at a time, pausing every few seconds to allow her to swallow, until she signaled that she'd had enough.
"Thanks." She murmured as her eyes lingered on him, seeing and feeling the high levels of concern and distress still radiating from him. "It's okay, you know. You can come closer. I'm fine now." She insisted, although there was no real conviction behind her words.
Eyeing her appraisingly while he put the water bottle back and moved his cell phone onto the night stand as well, Alec decided to take her word for it since she did at least seem calmer, and shuffled over until he was sitting beside her waist, one leg crossing beneath the other as he leaned in to her, his right hand bracing on the bed between them.
She reached out gingerly once he got close enough, running her right hand up over his cheek and smoothing her fingers over the decidedly less prickly skin there. "I'm glad you took some time to shave and shower." She murmured pensively, letting her hand slip down to caress her mating mark on his neck.
A bit startled at the turn in conversation, Alec nonetheless accepted her attempt to redirect his focus, knowing how much she hated feeling or appearing weak, even in front of him still at times. Raising his left hand to tenderly cover hers, he curled their fingers together as he turned his head to press a soft kiss into her palm. "How do you know about that?" He asked, gently lowering their hands to rest intertwined over his knees, not wanting to put any additional stress on her body.
A sad smile curved her lips. "I've been present for a while now. Since you carried my body in here and put me down on the bed so Retha could start treating me. I just wasn't the one in charge."
"So you are aware of 452 then?" One of his eyebrows arched up a bit in surprise.
"I am now. But before Monday? Not so much. At least not like this." Max shook her head slowly, looking highly disturbed. "I always thought she was just a part of who I am, you know? The tougher, more kick ass side of me leftover from Manticore. But this? This is beyond messed up. She separated us somehow, and actually managed to shut me out for most of this week. Not that I minded missing out on reality." She swallowed hard, worry and fear plain to see in her eyes. "But it does scare me. Because if she was able to keep something this huge from me, what else don't I know about Alec?"
"I wish I could tell you sweetheart, but I honestly don't know." He squeezed her hand lightly before asking gently, "So where have you been and how much do you know of this past week?"
"You mean beyond the obvious?" She paused for a moment and pursed her lips, thinking about what to tell him, then said, "Well, when I regained consciousness on Monday I found myself on a sunny California beach, completely lost as to what was going on, since the last thing I remembered at that point was being in our apartment with Josh." She paused for a moment as she carefully eased her other arm out from under the blankets, finding it too warm with the extra padding of the splint and wrap. "The place was familiar at least, as I could recall being there once as a kid, but it still freaked me out not knowing how I'd gotten there."
She sighed. "I should've just stayed there and left well enough alone, let myself relax and enjoy the mental vacation like 452 obviously meant for me to, but I didn't." She shook her head in disgust. "No. Like an idiot, I had to go looking for answers. And when I strayed too far from the sand, I got swept up in this weird mist and wound up in a long white corridor filled with an endless array of mist-lined archways, each leading to a different memory."
"They were all laid out at random, so I never knew what I was getting into until I actually entered one. And once I was in, I was there to the end; there was no escape, whether it was a good one or bad." She bit her lip for a moment, her eyes looking off into the distance as she murmured, "It really threw me too, because after a while I realized they were all from 452's perspective, which was actually clearer and more objective than mine in some cases, especially if I'd been upset or distracted during whatever was happening."
"I wandered through a bunch of them that first day, unable to confirm what was going on, although I had my suspicions once I sat down and thought about it." She muttered darkly. "Something I figured out right away though, was that if I actually touched my body in any of them, I'd get a full-on sensory experience instead of just hanging back and observing. Which was fine, great even, when I stumbled into the memory of our first heat together."
Her lips twisted rapidly from a semi-smile into a grimace, "But really really not, when I finally got proof late that night as to what was going on. When I entered the one of waking up in that hellhole and accidentally got kicked by my own flailing body." Her voice shook and she shuddered hard. Closing her eyes as she felt chilled metal suddenly encircling her wrists again and the slither of a hot wet tongue licking a stripe up her spine; she tugged her right hand away from his grasp and started picking and prying at the wrap on her other wrist as she struggled to free herself from the evil sensations. A high-pitched whine of horror and distress joining the raspy pants of air starting to leave her lips, her throat working convulsively as she tried to keep the bile down.
Reaching out to her, and only barely remembering in time not to touch her when he saw the stark tension written in every line of her body, Alec tried to get through to her, "Max baby, you're safe and nothing's happening to you right now. So you need to stop that okay? Please sweetie." He urged, his voice slowly rising in pitch and urgency. "You're gonna tear the fiberglass apart and hurt yourself even more."
Jerking as his last sentence registered, she looked up at him and then down at her arm in utter confusion, until she clued in to what she was doing. Drawing her trembling hand away from her left wrist, she mumbled, "Sorry. I didn't mean to..." She shook her head, looking shattered, "It's just... I can still feel the shackles ... and... and..." she wailed as she finished brokenly, "I didn't think it would ever end."
She reached up and scrubbed at her eyes, feeling the tears gathering there and the tightness in her throat from the sobs she was barely holding in. Remembering only too well Retha's warning about getting too upset and the risk it could mean for the baby, she drew in a deliberately deep breath through her nose, and then let it out slowly through her mouth in an attempt to calm down. Grabbing hold of the top-most blanket covering her while she repeated the process again, she tugged it up under her chin, running her thumb and fingers along the edge of the soft fabric, using the tactile sensations to help ground herself in reality.
Realizing what she was doing when he saw her lips silently counting out her breaths, Alec started counting with her, relieved when she looked over at him and smiled slightly, seeming to take some comfort from his efforts.
When she felt she'd regained enough control to continue, she shifted her gaze up to the ceiling, her eyes glazing over and her voice going hollow as she tried to put some distance between herself and the rest of her story. "The hours... after... are all blurred together in my head. I know I was out for quite a bit of it, and umm... I- I don't think I actually became coherent again until sometime Tuesday afternoon. But even then, I was pretty messed up."
She shook her head, looking bewildered. "I must have been in shock I guess - I just sat there in the silence of that hallway for what had to have been hours. I couldn't wrap my head around any of it, kept trying to tell myself it was just a nightmare, since I wasn't hurt at all and I was still dressed as I had been. So how could it be true, right? If it weren't for the sensations haunting me..." Her voice trailed off as she took a few more calming breaths.
"I knew it was real though, no matter how much I didn't want to believe it." She sighed sadly. "I finally managed to pull myself together enough to get moving later that evening and kept myself busy exploring more memories for the next - I don't know - maybe 20 hours or so?" She looked a bit bemused as she tried to recall, then frowned. "I never should have stopped to rest after that. I wish to God I'd just kept going Wednesday evening. But I didn't. I couldn't; I was too exhausted from trying to cope with everything, so I lay down for awhile."
Swallowing hard, she continued, "Somehow, while I was sleeping, I must have reconnected with 452, as I experienced two back-to-back attacks with her. The first one felt almost like a nightmare, like maybe she was unconscious and I was reliving it along with her in her head. It was ..." she paused for a moment, trying to figure out a way to describe it without breaking down, finally settling on, "... particularly vile and sadistic." She inhaled shakily through her nose and moved her hand over instinctively to cover the bandage on the side of her neck as a tear escaped and slipped down her cheek.
His gaze focused intently on her hand and its location; the realization of all that it represented, that she was aware and present for that particular attack, gutting him, and it showed on his face, cutting her to the bone as well. "You know that wasn't me, right?" Alec asked desperately, needing her to believe it, to know this one fundamental truth. "I would never, ever do anything like that to you. I'd rather die."
Max nodded slowly and sniffled as she affirmed, "I know. And I'm trying to keep it straight in my head, keep telling myself that over and over again, but everything was so messed up and confusing. I couldn't see anything, and he sounded so much like you. If it weren't for the way he smelled, I don't know if I would've been able to separate it..." The memory of his voice raised in anger intruded on her again and she shuddered, trying frantically to shove it aside and move on to more urgent matters.
"The second attack was... well, it wasn't worse, but at the same time it was. I was stuck on that table right there with her, being tortured with hot needles and wax and... other things..." Her shoulders hunched in protectively around her chest as she struggled to keep breathing, her soft chocolate eyes drowning in remembered pain and horror.
Alec grimaced as he too recalled the attack in question, the images of those 'other things' turning his stomach all over again. Wanting to reach out and comfort her, he held himself back forcibly, her body language absolutely screaming of how bad an idea touching her would be right now.
"Luckily, I woke myself up screaming part-way through, before it got completely unmanageable. And after I was able to calm down and process everything he'd said, that he'd been responsible for killing Sam and Logan," her voice broke, and she took another deep breath before continuing, "what really struck me, was how different the two attacks were. There was so much anger and hate in both, but the way it was expressed was poles apart. One so violent and vicious, and the other so ruthless and methodical. I remember thinking he was like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. And that's when I figured it out." She stated baldly.
"Figured what out?" Alec asked curiously.
"How this was being done." She looked over at him, her eyes haunted. "We've been so stupid Alec. Made one of the worst mistakes Manticore ever taught us about."
"What?" His brow screwed up in a frown.
"Never assume that you know anything. Always keep an open mind and look at all the facts before trying to draw any conclusions." She muttered, almost by rote, the mechanical note in her voice freaking him out.
"But what did we assume Max?"
She held his gaze, her dark eyes filled with terrible knowledge, "That there was only one man doing this." Her words hung in the air between them, his face twisting in absolute horror as her meaning sunk in.
"It's hard to swallow, I know, but out of all the potential suspects we've identified, everyone has a good proportion of their time vouched and accounted for." She grimaced. "So if you go at this problem assuming there's only one - cause God knows, how could there actually be two guys sick enough to be doing something like this - then it doesn't make any sense. There is no one clear identifiable suspect. No real suspects at all for that matter!"
"But if you look at the possibility of there being two, that they're tag-teaming... Suddenly everything falls into place Alec." She looked up at him earnestly, needing him to believe her. "They'll have similar builds and skin coloring - like a good majority of us do anyway - so that once they put on the full face mask and used the voice modulator, they'd basically be identical. None of us would be able to tell that they weren't the same man. Except for maybe their scents, which I did notice were slightly different. And only then because I was deliberately trying to separate them from you in my head."
"They'll work opposite shifts too. So one of them can get off work, maybe chill out for a bit, and then head down into the dungeon to have their fun. While the other one heads out to put in their appearance at work and make their alibis." Her voice caught on a sob, but she forced herself to continue through her choked throat, "It's the perfect plan. The perfect way to get away with something like this. Because unless you can catch them in the act, you can't prove a god-damned thing!"
Max shook her head angrily, "I've spent most of the last few days just thinking this through, poring over every single alibi and motive in my head. And some of the memories I visited had clues to potential motives too, things that I hadn't really noticed before or seen in the proper light. And if you take them one at a time and out of context, there's not much there, but if you put it all together? There are less than a handful of clear suspects."
"One of them is definitely Trev." Alec gritted out as he struggled to remain calm for her sake, his eyes dark and decidedly stormy. "I asked Mark to check up on him for me earlier - that was his callback that woke us up - and he found evidence of the stab wound in Trev's right shoulder. He's got pictures of the healing scar, so there's proof on him."
She nodded, looking extremely relieved. "Thank God; I was hoping there'd still be some sign of it when I got 452 to remember and tell you earlier. But we need to get proof on his partner in this too. His best friend."
Seeing the shock in his eyes, she explained quickly, "I know you don't want to believe it of him Alec, and I don't have any proof, but out of everyone, they're the most plausible pair. They've got motive, intent, and capability! Bran is in HQ almost every day, heading up the planning department. And he's got access there, to all of our meetings, and everything that's happening in TC. Even all of the information and evidence we've been gathering on this. So he knows exactly what's going on. And he's more than clever enough to work all the angles to his advantage. You've even told me, on more than one occasion, how highly intelligent and strategic he is. That he could easily get away with anything we needed without anyone suspecting a thing, if he had enough incentive and time to plan everything out. And he's had years to set this up!"
She barely even paused for breath, too worked up to hold back anything anymore. "And Trev works the night shift on security, so he's wired into a lot of what's going on too. And he has access to all the security cam footage. So he knows where all the cameras are, and can cover up for anything that accidentally does get caught on tape. Why else did Trev deliberately switch over to the night shift a few months ago, when we all know how much he and Bran like to hang out together?"
Alec just sat there speechless, rage steadily building in his system as he listened to what she had to say, unable to deny the truth he could now see behind her words.
"They've been working so damn hard all this time to stay under our radar. But there've been a few clues that they've let slip. Their attitude toward me for one. Especially in the beginning. We knew they hated the fact that I was trying to assume control here. I was the 09er after all, the traitor. And a woman to boot. Just like Renfro." Max muttered and shook her head, furious and frustrated that she hadn't figured it out before.
"And their bone to pick with you is just as big," she continued. "You were the cause of Bran's downfall at Manticore. The girls told me a few months ago that he'd been top dog and Renfro's right hand man. That they appeared to have some sort of weird, potentially even sexual relationship, although no one really talked about it or knew exactly how far it went. But that all changed when your mission went south. They told me how Renfro punished all of your unit, but especially you and Trev and Bran. That she yanked the majority of Bran's power and status away from him, and Trev's as well in turn. From what the girls said, they despised her for treating them like that when they didn't do anything wrong."
"And we know how power-hungry Trev is too. He's wanted to be in control right from the start, and only reluctantly stepped back when Bran said that we were the right ones to run TC. That I was doing a good job." Max shook her head, barely biting back a sob as she admitted with a shudder, "And there was that one screw up with my heat. We both saw how angry Trev was about that afterward, especially when he couldn't do anything about it. He's always had some sort of sick thing for me. And the two of them, their behavior back when Logan died... It was so weird. But I was too messed up back then to pay it any heed..."
She blinked back tears, her voice husky with pain. "They tried to knock us out of contention by taking out Logan, because Bran figured I would mess things up with that mob and fire up the press and public opinion even heavier against us. And when that didn't work, they tried to mess us up again by taking out Sam, because they knew how hard that would hit both of us. They took out all their frustration and anger on her since they couldn't attack me directly at the time. Made her pay for how popular I'd become and how well we were doing as TC's leaders."
"And now, I think they're trying to use these attacks as a means of destabilizing our leadership. They want to make us look weak and ineffective so that they can step in and assume control of TC. I think this whole thing has been about power." She finished with a heavy sob, her eyes locking on his.
She could see him thinking it through, his eyes heavy and dark as he matched everything up in his head. Their constant attitudes and hunger for control, the things they've said and done in the past, and how buddy buddy they've always been. Both living in the same building, in the same apartment even for years now. And they do have access, more than sufficient means to cover up any potential screw-ups, and to drop the flash drives off for him without anyone being the wiser. The myriad of puzzle pieces slowly starting to mesh. His whole body tensing as he started to vibrate, his fists clenching and unclenching in his lap, the scent of absolute fury pouring off of him and surrounding them both.
It was clear as day, just by looking at him, that he was going to destroy the bastards. With extreme prejudice. Which should've probably bothered her, she thought, as she wasn't normally the bloodthirsty or vengeful type.
But she did want them dead.
In as painful a way as possible.
Strangely enough, his rage in this case was actually comforting. Maybe because it was so obviously directed at someone other than her, or maybe because it's main purpose was to protect her and remove any further threats to them and their people. In any event, she wasn't frightened by it. Reaching out to grab his arm, and hopefully his attention as well, she insisted, "You can't kill them yet though Alec. Nobody is going to believe they did it or allow us to act against them without proof."
Forcefully pulling himself back from the red-hot haze that was trying to take him over and blind him to reason, that was screaming violently for their immediate blood, Alec took more than a few deep breaths and then nodded slowly, meeting her gaze and holding it intently as he promised, "I'm going to make them pay for everything they've done to you."
"I know you are, and I want you to." She nodded firmly, letting him see her approval and agreement. "But we have to be smart about this. We need to find the place where they're doing this, and we need to catch them both there, so we can prove they're responsible."
His mind racing, Alec muttered, "I can get several of our people - ones that we can trust - to stake them both out without tipping them off. Follow them around tomorrow and Monday until they take their next victim and track them back to wherever they're doing this. Then we can catch them in the act."
Max shook her head though. "I don't know if that'll work. I'm not sure they'll take anyone else now. They likely believe they've won." Her eyes shone with pain. "They're going to expect both of us to be out of commission for the foreseeable future. Me trying to recover from this. And you either deserting me, or being too wrapped up in taking care of me to deal with anything else, let alone running TC."
"So what do you suggest we do?" He asked, his green eyes wild with barely controlled purpose.
Taking a deep breath as she tried to work up her nerve, she said, "I need to provoke them into taking someone else, or attacking me again."
"Over my dead body." He hissed quietly, unable to help himself. "You're not going anywhere near either one of them."
"No, Alec. Hear me out. I need to do this." She insisted, her voice shaky, but determined. "If we go into HQ together on Monday and act like nothing's happened, like what they did means nothing to me? If I can manage to pull it off, neither one of them will be able to let that go unchallenged. They'll be forced to act, to do something to try to shake me up permanently. They'll want to see me torn apart."
He frowned, not liking the idea one bit, every protective instinct inside him roaring against it, even though he could see the reasoning behind it.
She didn't allow him to override her though, pointing out, "You can still be acting on your part of the plan. Have several people stake them out and follow them. We should probably bug their apartment too, in case they talk about any of it there. And to be on the safe side, maybe see if we can scrounge up a few trackers for me, and Brandy, Dana, and Greta, since they'll be likely targets as well. You can stay by my side the whole time too, I'd actually prefer it if you did. Because I think it's gonna be harder than hell for me as is, just to go anywhere near them, let alone be in the typical crowd at HQ right now. But I'll never be able to rest or feel safe, unless we take them out."
Thinking hard, but unable to come up with anything else that would have anywhere near as good a chance of provoking them into action, Alec finally shook his head reluctantly. "Fine, but I'm going to be stuck to you like glue. Neither one of them is getting anywhere near you."
She smiled tremulously, relieved and terrified at the same time. "I wouldn't have it any other way."