Now
Two more weeks on base and training under Alec was quasi-torture for Max. Not actual torture, and not actually under Alec, she mused, but, seemed he was prone to shirts and skins when it came to training, and he was often 'skin.' A few days in the middle of a heat wave had tiny little beads of sweat making glistening paths all over his skin, between his abdominals, and dipping down into his cargos by way of each leg of the V those muscles formed. She wasn't sure how long she could last if they kept this up.
It had been a full month since she'd placed that distress call. A full month away from Cale. Only a couple of weeks training alongside her new handler. A couple weeks' full of Max complaining and gossiping to Brandy about her new handler. So much so, that Brandy had finally told her that if she wanted it, she only needed to go get it. Alec was human, well, part-human after all, and even hybrids had needs, too. Max saw him across the hall, watched him forlornly, realizing that Manticore frowned upon intermingling.
Pete hadn't been her handler, and she wasn't sure how Alec perceived the 'rules' and whether or not he'd be willing to bend them if she was willing to bend them. Which was essentially what she and Brandy were discussing when they noticed Alec approaching.
"Max, come with me," he instructed, walking brusquely past the brunette X5 and her friend. "Briefing with the Director."
Max shot a quick glance to Brandy and fell in step next to her handler as they made their way to Director Lydecker's office. "What's up?"
"Got an update on the Cale mission," he answered, sneaking a sidelong glance at her to gauge her reaction. She tried to make her features nonchalant, but he saw the twinge of sadness in her eyes before she compartmentalized it, and then he saw nothing at all.
The Director's door was open, and when he saw them, he waved them in and motioned for Max to shut the door. She and Alec saluted him, which he returned before telling them, "take a seat."
The two chairs opposite his desk weren't all that comfortable; they were practical. Lydecker tapped a blue folder against his desk top. "There's been some movement on the Cale mission. We've had our IT units shadowing his network, and it appears as though he's looking for Manticore's home base.
Max looked to Alec, fearing Lydecker was about to have her reengage with the target. She wasn't sure she was ready for that, but if it meant defending her country…
Alec kept his face forward. "Are we going back in, Sir?"
His eyebrows twitched as he looked down. "Not yet. Right now, we have a contingent of troops setting up a dummy location, and IT is creating an infrastructure to leak to his informant net. We still have a few months until you go back under, but we do need a way to release you and still maintain your cover."
Alec spoke up first. "Seems the easiest plan would be for her to escape. Classic underdog – escape your captors."
The Director nodded, looking over to Max.
"But when I do it, I gotta go straight to him. Gives him the 'us against them' mentality if it looks like I'll rely only on him."
"Agreed," the older man said.
Max fidgeted a moment. "And leave me in my camos. I'll definitely look the part."
"Good idea," Alec said.
"One thing," interjected Lydecker. "We need to get Alec in. He's our accelerator – he'll fast track this mission, but he's gotta get tight with Cale, too."
Max pursed her lips. "Cale's not gonna let him in. When I aborted, he'd already suspected a mole. He's very untrusting, and no offense to my CO, but not even Alec could switch him."
The X5 in question snapped his head to her. "Switch him?"
"To play for the other team," she clarified.
He nodded, accepting her word and moving to the next possibility. "Would he take your word for it?" The blonde soldier asked. "Can you vouch for me?"
Again, Max bit her lip. "Maybe. Might be questionable if I suddenly show up with a 'Nova saying I trust him and he's from the same place and is just as disenfranchised as I am."
Alec chuckled at her comment and looked down, noting Lydecker's barely reigned-in smile, too. "Okay, I'll figure something out. Just give me a couple of days."
The air in the room shifted as the topic changed.
"Now that that's done, I'll let Alec fill you in on the next couple of missions, since you've been cleared for active duty." Lydecker passed the folder to Alec. "Dismissed."
"Sir," Max and Alec said in unison, leaving his office.
Out in the hallway, Alec perused the file he'd seen once before, and handed it to Max. "We've got a gig over in Tacoma. Big wig investors holding a gala for a foreign weapons outfit. They have a contact meeting them at the gala, and they're handing off a hard drive. We need to intercept it."
Max nodded, quickly reading snippets of the file. She looked up to him at the realization. "I'm your plus one?"
He smiled, and goddamn it was beautiful. "Yeah." He stared at her growing smile and cleared his throat. "You need to retrieve that drive. They've seen my face before – I'm already under with them, so I can't get it."
"When do we go?"
"Tomorrow night. Gotta get you in to wardrobe, 'cause it's formal." The hopeful glint in his eyes made Max feel as if her stomach were filled with fluttering butterflies. Did he want to see her in a stunning gown, one that maybe showed a tasteful amount of skin?
Max nodded and handed the folder back to him. A formal event, and she'd be going with the most handsome handler Manticore had ever created. She wondered what god she appeased in a past life to receive such a generous gift. Max smiled, thinking about the extravagant, low cut red dress they'd likely put her in to distract all of the guards. In her experience, the more cleavage she showed, the fewer questions they asked.
"See you tomorrow, Max," he interrupted her thoughts, before turning and leaving her in the hallway.
Well. Short and to the point.