Disclaimer: I don’t own anything
Rating: All of them maybe even NC-17
Summary: Liz realizes that the events of ‘Busted’ will lead someone to her that she has been hiding from for years. What happens now that they find her? Starts during ‘Busted’ while Liz is in jail, just after Max snuck in.
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Thanks to Calinia for betaing this for me.
Part 1
Liz sat alone in her jail cell thinking of how stupid she had been to let Max talk her into holding that gun while they held up the convenient store. She had told him that they couldn’t get caught, but no he had taken his sweet time and it ended up getting them busted. Now she was sitting alone in a cell in the middle of Utah waiting to see if she was going to jail on a more permanent basis. And despite how stupid she felt she knew why she had done it, he had needed her. He hadn’t asked her for her help but when she realized how important finding his son was to him she had to do what she could to help him. She knew she was better-equipped and far more knowledgeable of search procedure than he was so she had told him she would help him. So that he could find what he was missing, she understood how that felt.
It was late, lights out had been a few hours ago but Liz was far from sleepy. Max had left an hour ago. She had almost listened to him when he had tried to get her out of there and go on the run. But she had tried for too long not to spend her life on the run that she wasn’t going to do it now. So she had sent him back to the store to see if he could get back down to the ship. At least then she would know the whole thing wouldn’t have been a waste.
Liz felt her stomach growl and wished she had another piece of the fresh green lime pie that Maria had brought earlier. Instead she got up and started pacing as she ran through her life over the last few months. It had still stung that Max hadn’t believed her when she had started investigating Alex’s death. Sure she had her own reasons to believe that he had been murdered that no one knew about but he still should have at least looked into it. But instead he had told her she didn’t know what she was talking about, turned her away and went to Tess.
When Max told her about Tess being pregnant she felt a part of her heart forever break. First watching them kiss at the prom, finding out that they had slept together that Tess was pregnant and they were leaving, it was all just too much. She had thrown herself at Sean in the effort to make herself feel better, to feel love. But she hadn’t been able to do it and Sean had held her as she cried. Then all of the events that led them to find out that Tess had been the one who killed Alex and her departure from Earth. After Tess had left and Max had made his little speech Liz had distanced herself from Max.
But she had caved when he had called her and asked if she would go out with him. Although she knew that her heart would never completely heal from what had happened. Even after his pathetic speech about why he had been with Tess she had taken him back. He had been so happy and carefree after that, she couldn’t believe it when he had started stripping to go skinny dipping. Max Evans had wanted to go skinny dipping, well as close to skinny dipping as swimming in his boxers. That’s when it all began. The vision Max got from his son that started him on the hunt.
So after tons of searching, some grand larceny, and a misadventurous road trip this was where she was. According to Max, the ship was there so it hadn’t been a total loss. Now they just had to get back in there well Liz had to get out of jail first.
Her parents were majorly disappointed in her. They had tried to get her to blame Max but she wouldn’t do it. She just couldn’t, ever since she had found out his secret she had tried to protect him and she still was. Maria had told her what the judge was up to so now she waited to see what would be in store for her.
Liz turned her head towards the door that lead to the station house when she heard loud voices suddenly. She could vaguely make out some of the voices. She didn’t like what she was hearing either, they were here to see her. She looked around trying to figure out what to do, she was pretty much a sitting duck. She looked up and saw some exposed pipes. She quickly climbed up the bars of her cell to the top and positioned herself parallel to the ceiling. She only had to wait a few minutes before she heard the door opened and someone actually several someones enter the cell block. She kept quiet as she listened. “I thought you said she was in here. Where is she?”
“She was here at lights out.”
“Open it.” She heard someone order. She heard the clinging of keys and the door open. “Now leave us.”
She heard the sound of footsteps retreating and she knew that it was probably one of the deputies. She looked below her and saw two armed men in army fatigues cautiously enter the cell. She counted to three before she let herself drop from the ceiling. She saw the looks of surprise on the faces of the two men in front of her before she made her move. She grabbed the end of one of their rifles pulling it from his grasp before hitting him in the face with the butt of it. She then turned to the other one and knocked his feet out from under him. He hit his head on the cot Liz had previously been occupying.
The men had not shut the cell door behind them so Liz hurried out of it. She crept down the hallway to the end of the cells. She peered through the small window and saw another soldier standing guard. The sheriff and his one other deputy were in the office on the far side of the station. She grabbed the handle of the door and swung it open hard. It hit the surprised soldier in the forehead knocking him backwards and giving Liz enough time to run through the station. She just had to get to Max and the others. They could help her. She had helped them so many times that she was sure they would help her now. She heard the officers coming after her but she wasn’t worried about them. She hit the front door of the police station and shoved it open. When she did she ran straight into the man she despised most, the reason why she was running. So she did the first thing she could think of, she slugged him. The punch was solid and collided with squarely with his jaw. He went down and Liz took off. She saw two hummers and knew there were more soldiers for backup.
Liz made it halfway down the block when she felt a sharp pain in her calf. It knocked her off balance, and she fell forward. She recognized the pain, it was from a bullet. She was about to get up when she was surrounded. She did manage to get up and retaliate when she felt a bolt of fire course through her. She looked over and saw the end of a taser gun only inches from her side. It came at her again and with a stronger charge, she dropped.
She was barely conscious, only aware of the pain in her leg, being lifted into one of the hummers, and the voices around her. “As you can see Sheriff. She is very dangerous.”
“I’m glad you came to take her off my hands. We weren’t aware of how dangerous she was.” The Sheriff commented.
“Well you never know. But thanks to the thorough job on the arrest report and the efficiency of your office in inputting the information into the database.”
“Thank you.”
“Now I’ll leave you and your men to your duty.”
“Pleasure to be of help, Colonel Lydecker.” And with that the Sheriff was gone. Liz felt herself being jostled around as they settled her into the back where she was cuffed and shackled. As they headed out of the small town she took one last look at the motel she knew that Max and the others were staying at before disappearing into the night.
Note: I also wanted to tell you guys that this fic is not always going to be a happy one. Most of it will take place inside Manticore so Liz isn’t going to be cheerful.
Part 2
Liz sat in the hummer as they prepared to move her to the waiting helicopter. They had only drove a half an hour in the hummer until they came to the helipad so it was still dark out. Her chains were loosened as two of the soldiers; these were X5s like her, pulled her out of the vehicle and took her to the helicopter. They had to hold her as she limped to the helicopter thanks to the bullet wound in her left calf. They had bandaged it in the hummer on the way there but didn’t give her any painkillers. She was lucky though; the bullet had gone clean through.
She had to admit that Lydecker had learned his lesson about underestimating her. He now knew that although she had been gone for years, she hadn’t forgotten her training. Only the soldiers who were of the X series had been guarding her since they left the jail, none of the normal soldiers like the ones who had come into her cell.
She was lifted into the helicopter and watched as her chain was snapped onto a bolt on the floor. They were making sure she wasn’t going anywhere. She listened and tried not to cringe at the sound of Lydecker’s voice as he barked out orders. The orders were carried out and within minutes the helicopter was in the air and quickly ascending. Liz scanned the faces of the X5s in the cab with her. Paying close attention to their eyes she tried to decide if she recognized any of them. She didn’t, they must be from other units. She turned her face into an expressionless mask as she stared out the window, to hide the anxiety she was feeling. She was being sent back to Manticore. After ten years on the outside she was going back again.
It was Grandma Claudia who had found her and brought her to her parents. Liz had met her while Grandma was camping in the canyons in the north of New Mexico. Liz had been hiding out in one of the lesser-known caves and had been scavenging for food at her campsite after she had thought Claudia was asleep. When the woman had appeared at the flap to her tent Liz had froze, like a deer caught in headlights. She still didn’t know why she hadn’t run, after all before she had met Claudia all the adults she had met were the enemy. Doctors, nurses, trainers, all adults that had ran her life at Manticore. But something about Claudia’s face and soft voice made Liz think she was okay.
Liz came back each night for more food and on the third night Claudia had broke Liz a little out of her shell. She had told her she was a runaway so Claudia had taken it upon herself to find Liz a home. She told Liz that she would take her in herself but she was on the road too much to take care of her. She then told her about her son and daughter-in-law. Liz had then found herself on her way to Roswell, where she had found out what a real home was like.
It had taken Liz a year of living with the Parkers before she had told them the truth about herself. She thought at first that they wouldn’t believe her but her Dad had been in the Army and had heard stories of different experiments the army had been conducting. Then when they believed her she thought they would turn her away. But after a few days of getting over the shock, they had accepted her. They helped to keep her hidden from Lydecker and Manticore and to get a normal life. No one else knew until a year before the shooting, when Alex had found out.
Liz thought she had been alone in the closed Crashdown and when she had seen that her Dad had left a note asking her to get some supplies for the opening shift. One of the jars was up high so instead of going back out and getting a stepladder, she had just used her abilities to jump up to it. She had just landed when she heard a gasp behind her and saw Alex standing in the doorway with a startled expression. It had taken quite a few Orange Sodas but Liz had finally told him the truth, calmed him down, and swore him to secrecy. Alex being the wonderful friend he was, had done it immediately wanting to protect her. They had become even closer after that. Maria never had any idea that her best friend was a genetically enhanced female prototype soldier.
It had hurt Alex so much when she had distanced herself when she had first found out about the aliens. But she didn’t feel like it was her secret to tell. She had been so happy when she had finally been able to tell him. Alex had even tried to convince her to tell Max and the others her own story but Liz refused Max had this image of her that was perfect, that she could do no wrong. She knew Max loved her for what he saw and if he found out the truth about her, that love might disappear. When Max first told her about the flashes she had been scared that he would find out but he hadn’t seen her memories. Actually the memories that he had seen weren’t even hers they were implanted ones. Just before she had left Manticore she had been the subject of a new experiment in Psy-Ops. The experiment was to see if a person’s mind was flooded with images of a ‘supposed’ memory would that memory come out under torture or even hypnosis or would the real ones come out. She had escaped before they found out the final result but she was pretty sure she knew the answer now. So without having to worry about what Max would have seen she had kept it from everyone else in their group.
When Liz had first found out about Alex’s accident her thoughts instantly went to Manticore. She thought they might be on to her and knew that Alex had known as well and killed him. After everyone left the morgue after Max tried to heal Alex, Liz climbed to the top of a nearby building and just sat there, watching the doors that her friend’s body had gone through. She didn’t know why exactly she had done it maybe because she was looking for any sign of Manticore’s involvement. Then she remembered that Manticore would have covered it up better so than she had switched to an alien theory. She owed it to him as a friend to find out what had really happened. Although she hadn’t minded doing it herself, Michael and Maria had been a big help. And then Kyle had helped give them the last piece. They found out that Tess had killed Alex, but Liz still felt his death had not been avenged since his murderer had been allowed to leave. So she had prayed to the Blue Lady who she hadn’t believed in for years to protect Alex and for Alex to forgive her for letting Tess get away.
Liz felt a pair of eyes on her and looked to see that Lydecker was staring at her intently. Even after ten years his penetrating gaze could bring out fear in her. She continued to watch as he moved closer to her watching her calm face. “You’re not fooling me. I know under that calm exterior you are boiling. Your attempted escape at the jail proved that to me. But it helped me prove to those pathetic excuse for law enforcement that you were as dangerous as I said you were. I must say that I’m surprised you let yourself get captured during a simple robbery.”
Lydecker was right; she was anything but calm. But for now she was biding her time until she could escape. They would be expecting right now so she waited and tried to come up with a plan. You always had to have a plan. “I didn’t intend to get caught.” Liz said simply. “And they must not be too pathetic if they could catch me when you couldn’t.”
“I taught you well on evasive techniques. But apparently not well enough to stay out of situations where your barcode would be listed as a ‘distinguishable’ mark on your arrest report.” Lydecker commented.
Liz’s theory was confirmed by his words. Thanks to the miracles of technology where all law enforcement agencies were cyberly linked, she had been found. “So you waltzed in there with some type of phony paperwork saying I was a danger to National Security and pulled me out.”
“You wouldn’t have wanted to stay in jail would you?” Lydecker asked menacingly. “I’m curious. I noticed by your file that it listed a set of parents. Are they aware of what you are?”
“No,” Liz lied changing her face into an expression that she knew would look convincing and hopefully help Lydecker buy into the lie.. “They have no idea.”
“What about others? Your boyfriend that was arrested with you perhaps?”
“No, they don’t know either. No one knows.” Liz said. She knew that if Lydecker really believed that her true existence had been leaked that he would take out whoever knew.
“I didn’t think so. After all I can’t imagine many people taking in something that may look like a little girl but is actually a hardened killing machine.” Lydecker commented making sure she was reminded of what she was made for.
Liz didn’t say anything in response as she saw that they were approaching a large facility. One that she recognized instantly, Manticore. The trip hadn’t taken that long since the Army helicopter traveled faster than standard helicopters. They began landing procedure and Liz felt the slight jarring sensation as they touched the ground. The side door was slid open. Lydecker hoped out and Liz’s chains were unhooked again. “Welcome home 435.”
Part 3
As soon as she was taken out of the helicopter Liz was taken inside and led through the winding corridors. She could see that Manticore had stuck with the same cold sterile appearance that she remembered. The corridors were empty since it was still a few hours until the arousal hour that the base woke up. She knew that the first stop would be the infirmary to get her leg more thoroughly checked out and rebandaged. But when they reached it she realized that fixing her leg was only the beginning. Lydecker ordered a complete physical and even blood work as well as fixing her leg. Liz could only guess that he wanted to compare the results to her medical records from before. After all she had been on the outside for ten years, he was probably dying to know if she was in as good as shape as the X5s that had stayed behind. But first Lydecker wanted her into standard dress.
There was a small bathroom attached to the infirmary and she was told to go in to change. Liz grabbed the clothes and went in. She shut the door and instantly noticed it didn’t lock. She didn’t waste time looking around for a window or air vents that she could fit through to escape. There were no windows and the only air vent was four by four, too small for her to fit through. She resigned to fact that she wouldn’t be able to sneak out of there and went about cleaning up and changing. Her clothes were a mess, dirty and ripped from the struggle during her capture plus her pant leg had been cut all the way up to her knee so they could treat the gunshot. Liz struggled out of the pants leaning against the sink to keep her weight off her leg. Then she pulled off her shirt. She grabbed some paper towels and washed as much of the grime off as she could. She had a feeling it would be awhile until she would be allowed to go to the shower.
Liz looked in the mirror at her reflection. The stress was showing on her face. After all in a few days she had taken a road trip, staked out a convenient store, committed a felony, participated in a police chase, gone to jail, fought to keep her freedom only to be dragged back to the hell she was born into. She figured after all of that she didn’t look that bad. She wondered what her friends would think if they saw her now? She knew it was almost sunup. Within a few hours her parents, Max, and her friends would find out she was gone. She knew her parents would know what had happened as soon as they saw Lydecker's signature but her friends wouldn’t know. Would they look for her or would Max just keep looking for his son?
A loud voice, Lydecker's, coming through the door telling her to hurry up broke her out of her thoughts. She pulled her bra and underwear off changing into the clean ones then pulled on the clothes. They were different than what she had worn when she was a child, these consisted of a light blue T-shirt and camouflage pants of the same color. They hadn’t given her boots yet so she left the clothes where they were and left the small bathroom.
She took a seat on the exam table and got ready for the testing to start. As one technician rolled up her pant leg cleaned and bandaged her leg again, another one took her blood. The doctor then started asking questions, “How often and how powerful are your seizures?”
“I don’t have any.” Liz said simply.
“435, if you don’t cooperate we can’t give you the necessary treatments.”
Liz cringed like she always did when called by her designation. “I am cooperating. If I had the seizures don’t you think I’d tell you? From what I remember, they didn’t look very pleasant.”
“Did you receive any type of medical treatment while you were on the outside?”
“No.” Liz answered. She didn’t think Maria giving her some of her herbal remedies would count as medical treatment nor Max healing her.
“So you never developed seizures at all?” Lydecker asked.
“No.”
Lydecker nodded, not all of the remaining X5s had developed seizures especially the younger member of the series. So her answer wasn’t a complete surprise.
After that the doctor started examining her, checking everything. Reflexes, weight, height, blood pressure, Liz was almost dizzy from all of it but after what she guessed was about an hour they appeared to be done. She knew it was only for now though, she was sure they would do more later. Especially after her leg was healed. They would want to test to see what she kind of shape she was in as well as other things.
Liz knew the next stop would be interrogation as they took her out of the infirmary and down the corridor. She saw that there were more people about. She saw a few her age that looked at her curiously as well as a few children she guessed were a series or two down from her either X6s or X7s. She was taken into an interrogation room where she was forced into a chair and strapped down. Once they were sure she was secure, the X5s that had been guarding her retreating leaving only her, Lydecker and what she assumed was another doctor.
Lydecker gave Dr. Taltos a stern look, motioning his head at 435. Taltos briskly strode over to a locked cabinet to the left of 435's chair. After opening the compartment door, Taltos took out a large syringe filled with a clear liquid. Liz recognized the label on the tube from her training so many years ago; it was a Manticore-made serum that they used on their soldiers to make them loose control over what they said. Basically a truth serum ten times stronger than normal. When you were injected with it, no matter how much you didn’t want to say anything, it would slowly break you down until the serum caused them to reveal everything. It forced the person injected with it to tell the Manticore doctors anything they wanted to know. She quickly started doing the procedure she had been trained to do when captured by the enemy. She didn’t want the aliens’ secret getting out after she had done so much to protect them. She chastised herself for not doing the procedure sooner but she had thought she would have been able to escape by now. But the doctor was faster. He walked to her side, injecting the relaxant into her bloodstream at the wrist just below one of the straps. It worked fast and Liz could feel the effects.
"Well, 435, I have some questions I'd like to ask you." Lydecker said. He sneered at 435, who continued to sit completely still. He knew he was going to get the exact answer to every question he planned on asking. He would find out all she knew. But first he wanted to make sure the serum was working right. He sat down in the desk chair and sighed. "First, your designation?"
"X5-435." Liz stated unable to stop herself.
“And what are you?” Lydecker asked.
“I am a transgenic, X series.”
“What is a transgenic?”
Liz looked at Lydecker annoyed at the mundane question. “A transgenic is a soldier made by Manticore. A soldier, a human weapon, genetically engineered to be superior by the enhancements of the mixture of animal and human DNA encoded into their own DNA sequence.”
“Good.” Lydecker said satisfied that the serum was working, so now came the real questions. “What are the locations of the other eleven escapees?”
“Eleven?” Liz said in question. She didn’t know until just then that eleven of her siblings had also gotten out that night. And since they were asking about all of them that meant that none of them had been captured.
“Yes. What are their locations?” The question was repeated.
“I don’t know.” Liz said truthfully.
“Have you had any contact with any of them?”
“No.”
“None?”
“I have not seen any of my other siblings since we escaped from hell.” Liz stated.
Lydecker tried not to show his frustration. 435 was the first of the twelve to be recaptured and he had hoped she would be able to lead him to at least one of the others but he should have known better. He had taught his ‘kids’ well, it was safer if they didn’t know each other’s locations. As frustrated as he was, he still saw the up side to the situation. He had one of the twelve back, and after some work she would be back in operation. “Next phase.”
Liz felt somewhat weak from the effects of the serum but she couldn’t understand why. As far as she could remember, that wasn’t a side effect of the drug. She felt herself being unstrapped and ordered to stand. As soon as she was up two X5s were next to her leading her out of the room. As much as the doctors examining her and the questioning had freaked her out, it was nothing compared to what she felt when she was led to the next area. It was Psy-Ops, where they did reindoctrination. “NO!”
Liz started struggling. She knew what would happen in there. They would brainwash her, wipe away all traces of herself, all her memories. Her memories of growing up, Grandma Claudia, her parents, Alex, Maria, Max. Granted there were some memories she could deal with out but others were precious. She would become a mindless drone. She grabbed the X5 to her left and managed to flip her onto her back. She wrenched her arm from the one of her right and turned to flee. But she didn’t make it far before she was hit from behind and plunged into darkness.
Part 4
"Lydecker wants you in his office." A female medical technician called out to the X5 she was sent to find. She watched as the X5 turned towards her and nodded in acknowledgement. The X5 followed the technician into the main building, and then into Lydecker's office. The stern looking man was sitting at a large desk at the back of the room. He glanced from the black laptop that he'd been typing furiously on and turned to address the new arrival.
"Thank you, Doctor," Lydecker said to the doctor who had led 494 with a dismissive wave of his hand. As the door clicked shut, Lydecker turned his full attention to the X5. "Your background here at Manticore?”
"My training is wide range, from basic Manticore training, participation in extensive education in Assassination, Field Medicine, Hand to Hand Combat, Battle Strategy, Weaponry, and Invasion. Primarily sent on Solo Missions. Special Mission training includes Common Verbal Usage, as well as a variety of human interaction lessons and instruction in fine arts for Covert Solo Missions. Four months spent in Psy-Ops.”
"I’ve heard that you have been showing progress since you were released from Psy-Ops a month ago.”
“Yes sir.” He responded. After his time spent in Psy-Ops, he couldn’t really remember anything from his last assignment but according to the TAC Officers, he had messed up and failed to achieve the mission objective.
“Despite some of your recent problems on your last mission, you have always been considered one of Manticore’s best. Because of that I have an assignment for you that if successfully completed will help us to further over look the mark on your record. If not it will be another black mark.”
“Yes, sir.” He knew he couldn’t have another black mark on his record. Despite having no memory of the screw up on the Berringsford Mission, he knew that it had left a big enough one. If he got anymore, he knew that punishment would be severe.
“It’s a long time assignment but I know that will make no difference to you.”
“No, sir.”
"I’m sure you are aware of the current status of X5- 435?" Lydecker asked.
"X5-435 escaped from the Gillette facility, along with X5-734, X5-210, X5- 471, X5-452, X5-734, X5-656, X5-205, X5-493, X5-526, X5-621, and X5-599, all of whom were the only successful Manticore escapees that I am know of. X5-435 was recaptured a week ago."
"X5-435 was indeed recaptured . She has been put through reindoctrination but we are not sure of how effective it was. But she appears to be compliant at this point.” Lydecker paused, again wondering about the distorted brain waves that the doctors had found in Psy-Ops. Then he turned his eyes to the X5's face. “You know where this is going, don't you?"
"Yes, sir," he stated, "I have an informed opinion of what this conversation is leading to."
“I am assigning you as 435s Commanding Officer. But unlike your previous leadership missions, you will only be CO to 435 not an entire unit. I want you to mentor her. Bring her back into the fold so to speak. You will catch her up on her training, make sure she is as knowledgeable in every area as you are. Plan on an extended absence from daily training and assign someone to take over command of your unit. I expect you to start her training one hour after the standard arousal hour."
“Yes, sir.”
“I want weekly written reports on progress along with a verbal report in one month. But if at any time 435 seems to shows signs of her previous traitorous ways, I want it reported right away.”
“Yes, sir. What is the time frame for the mission?”
“I want her operational in three months. If not then she will be considered defective and will be terminated.”
“Yes, sir.”
“Dismissed.” Lydecker ordered. He watched the X5 leave his office before sitting back down at his desk. If it worked out like he had planned X5-494 and X5-435 would be a very lethal team, Manticore’s best.
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Liz lay in her bed, more like a cot, in her new cell trying to take advantage of the few quiet moments. The cell was a small one meant for only one maybe two and as barren and sterile as she remembered the barracks of her childhood. She wondered if her cell was now standard living quarters or if it was only to keep her away from the others. But for now she didn’t care if it gave her time like she had now, it was the first time she had been left alone since arriving.
The last week had been complete and utter hell. She had been through test after test mental and physical many of the repeated numerous times, poked and prodded. They started by doing all types of psychological tests probably trying to see how she could have turned ‘traitor’ and then they had moved on to the reindoctoring. That’s where things got confusing, it didn’t seem to have been successful. She was still the same as she always was. She knew the effects of the procedure; when they were young they had witnessed it being performed on an X4. It had turned him into the good obedient soldier he was supposed to be.
Liz rolled over being careful of her sore body and let her mind run free. She had a theory about why it hadn’t been effective. She had overheard the doctors talking about the results of her tests, mostly from monitoring her brain waves and CAT scans. They showed irregular brain wave that indicated that Liz was using more of her brain than on average. Even for a transgenic who were made to have increased brain functions. For reasons unknown to the doctors a part of Liz’s brain that wasn’t normally used was active. But Liz had an idea as to why.
Liz remembered Max telling her that Nasedo had once told Michael that their powers were in part human. But regular humans didn’t use that part of their brain. Ava had told her that when Max had healed her that she had been ‘changed’. So Liz had come up with the theory that by ‘changing’ her, Max had woken that part of her brain up, which she was now using. That was why the brainwashing hadn’t been effective. She knew that the doctors and Lydecker would know that the differences to her brain might effect the reindoctrination. But she wasn’t about to let them know to what extent.
She heard a noise at her door and removed the arm she had covering her eyes to see what was going on. They had already delivered her last meal of the day and she had hoped to get some sleep. She hoped they weren’t taking her for more tests.
The door opened and Liz watched as a guy a few years older than her walked in. He had dark blonde hair and a good ten inches taller than her. Like most male transgenics she had ever seen, he was easy on the eyes. He had a broad chest and she could see muscles hidden under the T-shirt he wore. His clothes were the same as hers, which she knew indicated that he was a transgenic. The regular soldiers wore dark fatigues. She was surprised when the door was shut behind him and he looked at her. She still hadn’t gotten up off the bed so she just looked up and said, “I thought it was time for lights out.”
“It is. But I came to deliver your orders to you, first.”
“And you are?”
“494.” He answered.
“494?” Liz asked. That was only one digit away from her Brother Ben’s designation.
“I’m the twin of your fellow traitor 493 before you ask.” 494 stated. He couldn’t help but look over the girl in front of him. The base had been buzzing with news about the rogue that had been caught. Only half a dozen X5s had seen her and a few other series and they had relayed everything they knew to others. He had to admit he himself was intrigued to check her out. But at the moment she didn’t look like much. She looked ragged and in serious need of some cleaning up but he knew she had been subjected to a lot so he didn’t hold it against her.
“Great.” Liz muttered. She was surprised to find out that Ben had a twin. “You wouldn’t happen to know if there are more of me running around here would you?”
“None in the X5 series, at least not that I’ve seen.” 494 stated. “I’ve been assigned to be your CO while you start your training. We start tomorrow morning.”
“Nuh uh, I’m exhausted and haven’t been able to sleep in a week.” Liz stated. She knew she was supposed to be obeying orders but she was tired. She could go extended time without sleep but the stress and testing that had happened had taken it’s toll on her. Thankfully her leg had healed up to almost normal so she didn’t have to worry about that.
“We have our orders.” 494 argued. He was starting to see what Lydecker meant by the reindoctoring not taking hold. He felt almost glad that she wasn’t a complete drone. It was a nice change.
“They can wait. Now I’m going to sleep, I think you know the way out.” Liz said turning over so her back faced him.
494 only stared at her back for a moment before he turned and knocked on the door for the guard outside to let him out. This was going to be a difficult assignment. She was strong willed and insubordinate to him who was supposed to be her Commanding Officer. That took some guts since she didn’t know he wasn’t going to report it back to Lydecker. He had to successfully complete this assignment. He didn’t want to think about what it could mean for him if he didn’t. He just needed to figure out a way to get her to cooperate and he thought he might know how.
NOTE: Now that I have introduced Alec, I just wanted to tell everyone that this will be an X-tremer fic. I didn’t want to mention it until I brought Alec into the story. I’m glad everyone so far likes this story. RoswellSlayer had asked me at the end of A New Start if I would ever write anymore Alec/Liz stories and I told I didn’t know, but then this idea popped into my head and couldn’t resist. One thing I will warn is that this isn’t going to be a fluff story. Their will be hardships through it and don’t look for our couple to get together soon, after all Manticore isn’t the most romantic of places.
Part 5
Liz leaned her head back and let the water cascade down her hair while the rest of the stream beat against her body. The water wasn’t as hot as she’d like it but it was warm enough not to chill her. She was in one of the large shower rooms, which she had all to herself. She figured Lydecker didn’t want her mingling with the others yet so after they were done, Liz was lead to the room. There were guards outside in the dressing room standing watch making sure she didn’t escape. They might think she was reindoctored but they weren’t taking any chances. Liz had already searched the wash room but there was no way out of there.
The shower felt like heaven to Liz, the standard soap and shampoo felt better than her scented stuff back home just for the simple fact that this was the first shower she had taken in a week. She had felt grimy and filthy but now it was all washed away. She wished everything could be washed away as simply. But despite her circumstances, she felt a thousand times better. Knowing she had been in the shower long enough that one of the guards would probably come looking for her she turned off the water. She reached for the towel and dried off.
“Crap.” Liz muttered as she realized she had forgotten to grab her fresh clothes from the outer room. Thankfully the towel was big enough to wrap around herself, which she did and once she was sure it was secure she went to get her clothes.
She was surprised when she entered the outer room and saw that her guards were gone and 494 stood in their place. “Do you know of something called privacy?” Liz asked.
“Yes.” 494 answered from where he was leaning against the lockers. He couldn’t help but look her over, after all he might be a transgenic but he was still a guy. From what he could see, she looked pretty good. Better than pretty good. And much better than last night. Her wet hair hung around her face falling to her shoulders. Her shoulders as well as the rest of the skin he could see, which was quite a bit, was covered in a healthy tan. He could see the taut muscles beneath it. He was sure that despite the illusion she gave off of being the innocent little teenager, she was everything she was created to be. “But I figured if I came in here, you couldn’t make a run for it.”
“Who says I couldn’t take you out and escape?” Liz asked.
“Even if you could, and that’s a big if, the other two guards are just outside.” 494 said.
“If you don’t mind I’d like to get dressed.” Liz stated feeling naked despite the towel.
“Go ahead.” 494 said smirking. “It’s nothing I haven’t seen.”
Liz looked at him in shock. “You’re insane if you think I’m going stand here naked and get dressed in front of you.”
“You can’t blame a guy for trying.”
“You don’t sound like everyone else around here.” Liz commented. She had to admit that it was a nice change to hear someone talk in ordinary language instead of strict military language or technical terms. 494 didn’t act like any of the other transgenics she had met before.
“I took Common Verbal Usage, it helps to blend in. Thought you might feel a little more at ease.”
“Thanks, I think. So why did you feel you have to corner me in the shower room?”
“We’ve got work to do or did you forget we had a date?” 494 asked.
“I thought I told you last night…”
“Yeah you’re tired.” 494 stated. “Should have known so long on the out side would make you soft.”
“I’m not soft.” Liz snapped. “I kept myself in shape and studied up on things that would go along with my training.”
“Then prove it.”
“If you think you can come in here and try to goad me into everything because you think I would want to prove myself, you’ve got another thing coming.” Liz said. She knew that she should be following orders to stay under the radar but she just couldn’t do it for some reason with him egging her on. He just seem to want to get under her skin. He was nothing like the quiet, soft spokenness of his twin, her brother Ben.
Deciding there was no other way to get her to cooperate 494’s face turned serious “I’m going to tell you something Lydecker told me when he gave me my orders. He told me that he wants you active in three months.”
“And if I’m not?”
“You would be terminated.” 494 explained.
Liz sighed in frustration. She should have figured on this. “So basically I better listen to you or die.”
“That sums it up.”
“Why are you telling me this?” Liz asked.
“You’re my mission and I always complete my missions. If this is the only way to do it, then so be it.” Alec said. He wouldn’t tell her that this was one of his last chances too.
“Fine.” Liz conceded.
“Get dressed then meet me in the hall.” 494 ordered. He turned then and left. Liz dressed quickly and five minutes later she joined him in the hall. He led her into one of the training rooms that were full of mats. “First I want to see your fighting skills 435.”
“My name is Liz.” She muttered under her breath.
“What?”
“I said my name is Liz.”
“Not in here it isn’t. What’s the big deal about a name anyway?”
“It says who you are.” Liz said. “Haven’t you ever had a name?”
“I’ve had ton, a different one for each assignment.”
“Like which ones?”
“Eric, CJ, Alec..” 494 started to list off but Liz interrupted him. “I like Alec. That’s what I’ll call you.”
“You’re serious aren’t you?”
“Of course.” Liz stated. “You know you’re not fooling me, you’ve got a whole side to you that you’re hiding.”
“Whatever. Let’s get to work.” Alec ordered. “First things first. Let’s see if you can still fight.”
They both moved into fighting stance and started circling each other. Alec threw the first punch, which Liz blocked and gave him one of her own, which landed solidly. He brought up his leg and kicked her in the stomach sending her to the ground. Liz flipped herself up and dodged another kick from Alec before firing one off herself and kicked with her left leg to his stomach, then a snapped a crescent kick to the face with her right leg, sending him to the ground. Liz stood over him and punched him in the face but Alec blocked it.
Alec pushed Liz off of him; she fell on the floor but got up quickly. Liz and Alec kept up with each other throwing punches and kicks that all hit their marks. Alec went kick her in the head but she ducked and gave him an uppercut to the face, then she received an elbow to the face by Alec. Liz was sent back a bit but she regained her composure and gave him another punch that made Alec's head spin. Alec grabbed her hand as she went to give him another punch and tried to flip her on the floor but she just removed his hand and out of the way and did a one handed back flip hand spring that kicked him in the face. She then went to kick him in the stomach with her left leg but he caught it. “No wonder you got caught if you were moving this slow.”
Liz decided to prove him wrong and used his hold on her leg for balance as she brought up her other leg launching a kick to his stomach. He let her leg go and she flipped backwards, landing on her feet. “Not that slow.”
Alec stayed silent as he launched another attack on her and continued her training.
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LittleBit