Together -- Chapter 76f

Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Logan, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me. No money is being made off of this fic. I only own the original characters (Becky/X6-405, etc.).

“All right, this is it,” Max said to the others as they sat in a van parked near the store twenty minutes later. “Everybody knows what they have to do. Once Vance has made the call, we move into position. Check in once you’ve gotten into position. Kevin and Kyle are already set. Got it?” The others nodded. “Good. Vance? It’s showtime.”

“Got it,” Vance acknowledged from inside the comm van. He took the cell phone that Felicia handed to him and dialed a number and waited patiently for somebody to pick it up on the other end.

Zack and Becky and Jeff sat close to each other, watching the men pacing nervously. “Come on, when is Vance going to make the call?” Becky muttered.

“He will,” Jeff assured her. “Don’t worry. I know Vance. He’ll come through.”

“Right,” Becky said.

They heard a cell phone ring and the leader took one out of his pocket and answered it. “Hello?”

“Hello, I’m assuming that this is the leader of the group that’s holding the hostages?” Vance said.

The leader grinned. “Yeah, that’s me. You’re the transgenic leader?”

“I am an authorized representative,” Vance said. “Barcode number 331596266437, designation X6-437. I was told by our leader that I am to listen to what demands that you have and execute them the best way possible.”

“Why doesn’t your precious leader speak to me him or herself?” the leader asked nastily.

“Our leader likes to maintain his or her anonymity,” Vance answered smoothly. “I hope that you understand.”

“My brother, the bullshit artist,” Jeff said, just managing to hide a smile.

“Quiet,” Zack hissed.

“I understand,” the leader said. “I’m not completely happy about it, but I understand.”

“Thank you,” Vance said. “What are your demands?”

“First, I would like to speak to one of you bastards face-to-face,” the leader told him.

You did a few hours ago, remember? Zack thought.

“I can see if the leader will authorize you to speak to one of the transgenics that are with you right now,” Vance offered. “Will that be sufficient?”

“I’m afraid not,” the leader said. “I don’t even know which of these hostages the transgenics are. Well, it obviously isn’t the old couple but it could be the kid or Mr. All-American or Ms. America or the James Dean-wannabe or one of the store employees.”

“We keep ourselves as hidden as we can,” Vance said. “But let me check with my leader to see if we can arrange something.” There was a pause before Vance came back on the line. “We will be sending another authorized representative of our leader to the store within the next fifteen to twenty minutes.”

“Good,” the leader said. “I want this representative to enter through the front. The police will have to let him or her through those barricades. After all, I’m sure that they want to resolve this situation as much as we both do.”

Vance pretended to think about that. “I’m sorry, we can’t do that. We want to minimize the chances of our representative being hit by friendly or enemy fire and we feel that those chances will only increase if our representative enters through the front. Does the store have a side entrance?”

“Hey, does this place have a side entrance?” the leader asked the assistant manager.

“Y—yes, it does,” the assistant manager said shakily.

“Fine, your representative will come in through the side entrance,” the leader said. “He or she will knock exactly three times and wait for exactly ten seconds before knocking again. Then he or she will be escorted into the building so that we may begin the negotiations.”

“That sounds acceptable,” Vance agreed. “One of us will be seeing you in fifteen to twenty minutes, then.”

“We’ll see you then,” the leader said. He disconnected his cell phone and shoved it back into his pocket. “Okay, boys, we’re gonna meet a freakin’ transgenic face-to-face.”

“Maybe it’ll be a girl,” one of the other men remarked, laughing. “I’d like to have some fun with one of them. Talk about wild animal sex!”

Becky narrowed her eyes. She felt Zack grip her right shoulder and Jeff grip her left hand so tightly she thought she was going to lose circulation. “Guys, ease up on the grip,” she hissed. “I really do appreciate the support, but loss of blood to my limbs isn’t going to help us.”

“Sorry,” Jeff apologized. He and Zack both eased their grip on Becky. “That bastard…”

“I know,” Becky said. “He’s going to get one royal ass-kicking. You don’t have a problem with me getting violent with him, do you big brother?”

“This time, I won’t have any problem whatsoever,” Zack agreed.

“Thank you,” Becky said. She reached underneath her turtleneck to scratch her neck and quickly withdrew her hand and yanked the neck back up before anybody other than the three of them could see. “Shit. It’s back.”

“Great,” Jeff muttered. “One more thing.”

“Stay cool,” Zack said. “Five minutes or less. Stay cool.”

“Okay, Max, the call has been made,” Vance reported.

“Excellent,” Max said. “Okay, you guys, let’s move out. Everybody checks in when you’re set to go and then it’s comm. silence unless it’s absolutely necessary.”

They exited the van and fanned out and moved into their positions. Max and Riley and Alec quickly moved around until they were at the rear of the building. They listened as one by one, the others started to check in. Max looked up at the fire escape and reached up and grabbed it. She shook her head and gestured to Riley and Alec. It’s steady but too noisy for us.

Riley nodded and began to put together the rappelling gun together and shot the hook up to the roof. It caught and she tested the rope to make sure that it was secure before she looked over towards Max and Alec and then back up at the rope and then jumped up, grabbing the rope about three stories up and climbing up the rope until she reached the top of the fire escape and swung over to it. Max waited until Riley was safely on the fire escape before she ascended and Alec did the same. When all three of them were at the top of the fire escape, Max opened the window and the three of them slipped inside the building one by one. They silently made their way to the stair case and went down the stairs, stopping at each floor to make sure that nobody was there. They finally reached the first floor and stopped at the door. Max lifted a hand to her earpiece. “We’re in position.” She reached up and began to tap her fingers against the wall.

Zack listened intently when he heard the faint sound of Max’s tapping and nodded and turned to Becky and Jeff. “They’re in position and waiting for our signal whenever we’re ready. As soon as—“

“Damnit, I’m tired of this,” one of the men snapped. “Why do we have to wait until some dumb sci-fi freak show fucker shows up for us to talk to?”

The leader thought about it and smiled. “Yeah, Grant, you’re right. What the hell. Let’s start killing people until we get to the transgenic. Let’s start with the old—“

“Wait,” Becky said suddenly.

“Becky, what the hell are you doing?” Zack hissed.

“I’m going to be exposed anyway, remember?” she whispered back. “Trust me on this.” She straightened and turned and stared the leader right in the eye. “I’m the transgenic. There’s only one of us here and it’s me.”

“Listen, princess, it’s awfully sweet of you to want to save the other people, but you don’t have to get yourself killed,” one of the men said patronizingly.

“You don’t believe me?” Becky said. “I’ve got the barcode to prove it. Wanna take a look?” She rolled down the neck of her shirt and the leader took a look at her barcode and blinked.

“I’ll be damned,” he remarked. “She really is a freak.”

“Nice, I was hoping for a female,” the man who’d made the rude comment before, said. He rubbed his hands together in anticipation. “You wouldn’t mind if we didn’t kill this one, would you?”

“Sorry, Davis,” the leader told him apologetically. “We’ve got to kill her. We’ve still got a few minutes before the representative gets here. This will be some nice leverage for us.” He aimed his automatic rifle right at Becky.

Becky shook her head and laughed, though she sounded far from happy. “Oh, that was such a bad, bad move.”

“Really? Tell me why, sweetheart?” he asked, leaning closer to Becky, his full attention on her.

Becky smirked. Perfect. “I’ve got a few reasons. Like…” She saw him start to lunge towards her, obviously thinking the she was going to attack him, but she ducked and Zack tackled him to the floor. She saw Max and Riley and Alec blur into the room and reached over and grabbed Davis. “I think I owe you something.” She let go of his hand and whirled around and kicked him in the head. He dropped to the ground and groaned in pain. “Maybe that will teach you a lesson about treating women nicely, huh?”

“I don’t think so,” Max said as her opponent struggled in her grip. She turned around and swung him into some shelves, then blurred over to where Zack was fighting the leader of the group.

“Not bad, 599,” the leader commented as he blocked a punch from Zack. “But I will always be better.”

“I don’t think so,” Zack growled as he grabbed the leader’s fist as it was about to connect with his face and twisted his arm. The leader kicked out at Zack’s thigh and Zack went down and lost his grip on him.

“Guess who was wrong?” the leader said, smiling cruelly.

“That would be you,” Max replied sweetly from behind him. He turned around, only to have Max’s foot connect with his stomach. He staggered back and Zack got back up and took him out with another punch. “Man, these freaky cult people have issues.”

“Yeah,” Zack agreed. He turned to the other hostages. “It’s okay, we’re not the bad guys. We want to get you all out of here.”

“Just do that,” the elderly lady said. “Please?”

“Don’t worry, ma’am,” Max assured her. “We’re going to get you out of here.” She waited while Zack, Becky, and Jeff armed themselves with the weapons from three of the men and Riley and Alec grabbed the rifles off of another two. She listened for noises outside and turned back. “We’ve got to get out of here. White’s sending people in. Riley, Jeff, get the hostages out of here. Take the side entrance.”

“Got it,” Jeff said. He turned back to Becky and grinned at her and mouthed ‘I love you’ before he turned to the hostages. “Okay, everybody, follow me and my sister and we’ll get all of you out of here safely.” He and Riley led the hostages out of the building.

“We’ve got to get out of here,” Alec said. He tossed earpieces to Zack and Becky, who put them on.

“Shit, I’ve been spotted—damnit!” Kyle reported from his position.

“Kyle, get the hell out of there!” Becky yelled as she headed towards the back with Max and Zack and Alec. “Are you okay?”

“Just a graze,” Kyle assured her. “White’s bastard sniper. I’m on my way out.”

“Get to the getaway van and drive it to rendezvous point A,” Max ordered.

“I copy,” Kyle said.

“Sniper situation neutralized,” Kevin reported. “White’s sniper is taken care of.”

“Good work,” Zack said. He kicked opened the back door and they raced outside, only to see some of White’s men come at them from the left in the distance. “Damn, they’re closing on us already.”

“We’ll have to take the low road,” Max noted. “Guys, we’re taking the sewers. We’ll meet you in T.C. Syl, you and the ground group take out as many hostiles as you can before meeting Kyle at rendezvous point A. Kevin, get out of there too and try to provide cover if needed.”

“Got it, Max,” Syl said.

The four of them reached a manhole cover and they lifted it and quickly dropped down into the sewers. Becky quickly pulled it back into place before taking off with the rest of them. “How much farther?”

“It’s gonna be a few minutes,” Max said as they tore through the sewers. They ran in silence before Becky suddenly looked up above her.

“Shit!” she yelled as the manhole cover above her opened. She let loose a few rounds with her rifle and a body dropped down next to her. She ducked and let Alec and Zack fire on the other two men who tried to enter the sewers before she got up and the four of them ran again. She could her other manhole covers opening in the distance. “They’re going to try to cut us off before we reach Terminal City.”

“You and Alec split off,” Max ordered. “We’ll meet you guys there.” Becky looked like she was going to protest, but Zack gestured to her and Alec and Becky shut up. She gave Zack and Max a quick smile and then she and Alec took off down another tunnel.

“I hate splitting up,” Becky said.

“I don’t like it too much myself, but it’s the best way,” Alec admitted. He looked ahead of them and zoomed in on a manhole cover. “Dead ahead.”

Becky turned and fired on the men who dropped in on them from behind them. “And right behind.” She dropped the rifle and kicked one in the knees. She quickly bent down and grabbed her rifle again and tossed it to another man. He barely had time to catch that and no time at all to block the kick that went straight into his face. She picked her rifle back up and slung the strap back over her shoulder. “Gets them every time.”

“I second that,” Alec said as he elbowed an opponent in the head. He took a quick glance at the one that Becky had kicked in the face before they took off again. “You only left him with a shattered jaw?”

“Don’t forget about the cheekbone,” Becky deadpanned. “I purposely went a little off-center with that last kick because I don’t want to kill unless it’s necessary. I just want to get the hell to safety.” She gestured something to Alec, who agreed and they turned into another tunnel, only to stop short at the sound of a gunshot and a scream.

Max and Zack continued on down the sewers until they too heard manhole covers opening on either side of them. Zack fired a few rounds in the distance, but neither he nor Max heard any bodies fall down. They frowned and continued on when Zack suddenly yanked Max, who was in front and to the left of him a little, directly behind him and fell backwards, pinning Max underneath him. Max pulled herself from underneath Zack and screamed. He wasn’t moving.

“Oh, did I just shoot your precious boyfriend, 452?” White asked innocently as he walked up to the two X5s. “Our bad. They meant to shoot you.”

“You fucking bastard,” Max said. She flung herself onto Zack’s body and sobbed. She listened in for a heartbeat and to check if he was breathing and almost jumped when Zack talked to her.

“I’m not hit,” he whispered, just barely loud enough for Max to hear. “Play along.”

Max nodded and continued sobbing and slapped Zack’s face lightly as if she was trying to revive him. “Zack? Zack? You better not be joking. Come on, baby, wake up. Wake up for me, please? This isn’t funny. Can you wake up for me? Can you be okay for me? Zack, please…”

“That is just so sweet,” White said. He laughed. “Oh, 452. How screwed are you? Your boyfriend is dead and I don’t see your buddy 494 or that little bitch 405 around. Do you? All I see are you, your dead freak boyfriend, and my friends over there. You’re surrounded. What is that phrase that they taught you back in Manticore that I’m guessing that you learned in some of your first tactics classes? I think it is ‘surrender.’”

“Bite me,” Max snapped. She never left Zack’s side. “Zack’s not dead. He’s still got a pulse.” She pretended to check for a pulse again and gasped and covered her mouth with one hand. “No. No way. Oh no, oh no, oh no…”

White laughed. “Look at the miserable little freak bitch now. Her poor boyfriend just bought the farm. Am I mistaken, 452, or did he just die without telling you how much he loved you?”

“Shut up!” Max yelled through her sobs. White just kept on laughing.

Becky took a gun that she’d taken from one of the men back at the store, grabbed the silencer that she’d also taken, snapped it onto the gun, and took aim. She saw Alec do the same and waited until his signal before she fired, hitting her target dead-on. How do you like that, you sadistic asshole?

“You pathetic little freak of nature.” White made a ‘tsk-tsk-tsk’ noise with his tongue and shook his head. “You know, maybe you have more in common with regular humans than we thought you did. You are both absolutely, completely pathetic. Too weak to walk the face of the Earth.” He jumped when the two men who were behind Max and Zack fell backwards suddenly, each of them with a bullet hole right between the eyes. “What the hell is going on?”

“This is,” Zack said as Max rolled off of him and he sat up and fired the pistol that he’d taken, the shot going straight through White’s right kneecap. White went down, unable to stand on the knee, pain or no pain.

“Whoopsie,” Max said innocently. “Did we ever mention that part of our training included learning how to act? Well, they didn’t exactly call it that and it’s not like we learned it by performing plays or anything like that, but it’s all the same in the end.” She smirked. “See you later, White.” She and Zack got up and went to Alec and Becky and the four of them continued on.

“Nice shooting, you guys,” Zack complimented. “Those shots were perfect.”

“Nice acting,” Alec said. “You almost had Becky running in there and going apeshit on White and company until Max said the code phrase.”

“I’m sorry,” Zack apologized.

“It’s okay,” Becky said. “It worked. I’ll probably beat the crap out of you later for it, but it worked.”

They continued on silently for another minute before they finally reached the manhole cover they wanted. “Hi, honey, we’re home,” Alec said cheerfully. Max punched him. “Wow, Max, even now you have to hit me.”

“Shut up,” Max said as the cover was pulled aside by somebody above them and she jumped up and out of the sewers, followed by Zack and Becky and Alec.

“Jeff!” Becky squealed as she saw him and blurred over, nearly knocking them both to the ground as she hugged him. “You’re okay.”

“So are you,” Jeff said. He kissed her. “The hostages are all fine. Riley and I released them somewhere safe before we headed over here.”

“We just got here a few minutes ago,” Syl told Max. “No losses and no injuries other than the bullet graze across the ribs that Kyle picked up. He’s over in the med bay getting a bandage put on that. We had to take out a few of White’s men, but we all got here in one piece and we weren’t followed in.”

“We had a close call with White, but it’s all good now,” Max said. She grinned at Syl. “I told you that we’d pull this one off, big sister.”

“You did,” Syl agreed.

“You also seriously need to take a shower,” Krit said, wrinkling his nose. “Damn, Maxie, did you guys go swimming while you were down there?”

“Do you want a hug?” Max asked.

“No thank you,” Krit said.

“The showers, at least the ones that work, are in the apartment building that’s closest to the main building,” Kevin said. “We got some of your stuff here.” He grinned wickedly. “Well, except for Alec’s. Ooops.” He and the others laughed at the Look that Alec gave Kevin. “Don’t worry, I’ll let you borrow a change of clothes from me until we get your stuff from your place.”

Max looked around as it sank in. “This is going to have to be our home now. With White going to expose myself and Becky and Zack and Alec and possibly others, we’re not safe living in the rest of the city or anywhere else.”

“Safety in numbers,” Zack agreed. “Looks like that time is definitely here, Maxie.”

“Looks that way,” Max said. She brightened and smiled up at him. “Does that mean that we’re officially moving in together?”

Zack grinned. “You’ve talked me into it.”

“Just please, for the love of God, get an apartment here that’s not next to where I’ll park myself,” Becky begged.

“Same here,” Krit agreed. Max and Zack just shook their heads and headed to the showers.

TBC