Echoes of the Past - Chapter 4

One month had passed since Max first set foot in the Seattle facility and she was beginning to settle in.

She was lucky to have been allocated into Unit 6. The members of the team seemed to genuinely care for each other. And they had been more than civil to her. She was not stupid. She realised that many of them went out of their way to make her feel welcomed. Especially her partner, Biggs. Having Biggs around was like having a good friend, a partner in crime. He was someone who kept her mind on the present, keeping her from dwelling too much on her past. And also someone who seemed to understand her enough not to push her or to demand too much from her.

Unlike another.

Her brows furrowed as she thought about her new CO.

But although he had never voiced it, Max had always felt he was expecting something from her. It was as if he wanted her to prove something to him. She was not sure if it was just her imagination, but he seemed to always watch her a little too closely for her comfort. Perhaps he was just doing his job as the CO, trying to monitor her progress and all. After all, he only had a month’s worth of training to base his decisions on.

Talk about watching. Alec was not the only one who had been doing it. She had to admit that her attention had wandered to him on more than one occasion. Was it because he reminded her of Ben? But that was not entirely true. Yes, he resembled Ben in appearance, but in terms of personality, they were very different.

Ben had never been as forceful as Alec, but he had a sweeter disposition. A soft smile curved her lips. Ben had never said no to her, or tried to order her about. Perhaps that was why she had always felt closer to him than the rest of her unit. He had been her partner, the one she could always depend on. The one she shared everything with. Most of her first times had been with Ben.

Her heart constricted at the memories.

She tried so hard not to dwell on the past, but every time she thought she had succeeded, something always reminded her of those days. She knew that she had gaps in her memories, but what she could remember was enough to make her want to bury herself somewhere where nothing and no one could touch her.

She sighed wearily. Everything had been so jumbled up in her mind, those days had been like a nightmare which she could not wake up from. One day merged into another until she could not tell what was real and what was just a figment of her imagination.

Lost. It made her feel lost.

Resting her head against the wet tiled wall, she exhaled a shuddering breath.

The present. Think about the present, she told herself resolutely. What was she thinking about a second ago?

Alec.

Unsurprisingly, there was still that odd tension between them. But they seemed to have come to an unspoken understanding to remain civil to each other. Meaning that they did not communicate unless necessary.  She had learnt in the first week that they seemed to rub each other up the wrong way, so unlike her interaction with the rest of the unit.

However, she had to admit that she had a grudging respect for him as a Commanding Officer. He was good at his job, keeping everyone motivated and dealing with things fairly. It was not hard to see why the rest looked up to him so much.

She closed her eyes and tilted her head up to the spray of the steamy water.

It could have been worse.

Things were definitely much better than she had expected it to be. The change of environment probably played a large part in it. Sandoval and Lydecker were right after all. They had figured that she would find it easier once she was away from Wyoming, where every little thing reminded her of her loss.

However, the nagging feeling of being restless and empty still remained within. She could not shake it off no matter what she tried. There was still something missing, but she just could not put her finger on it. It was nudging her subtly, like a reminder that she had forgotten something. But what?

She shrugged in resignation. Well, she could not possibly fix it if she did not know what was wrong.

A tap on her shoulders interrupted her contemplation and made her jump. Surprised, she almost lost her footing on the soapy floor until a pair of steadying hands clamped around her shoulders.

Startled, she swivelled around too fast and slipped again. Her hands shot out and grabbed the nearest thing she could find; a naked arm. Her eyes widened in alarm, realising whose arm it was, and then the both of them tumbled down in a heap to the floor. Wet skin slid against wet skin as she tried to grab something to stabilise herself.

She found herself lying face-up on the wet tiled floor, staring into a pair of shocked hazel eyes.

“Alec!” she exclaimed breathlessly.

He stared at her wordlessly, seemingly unable to speak. His breath tickled her face where he shaded her from the water spraying down from the shower.

She flushed, suddenly realising the intimate position they had managed to get themselves into. He had a hand behind her head, somehow managing to cushion her from impacting against the wall. Her breasts were flattened under his water-slicked chest. Their legs were tangled together with... She gulped when she realised what was pressing against her naked thigh.

She froze instantly.

Substantial was the word which suddenly came to mind. It reminded her of-

NO! She immediately admonished herself for her wayward thoughts. But her heart continued to beat faster than usual. He was still staring down at her with that unreadable expression. The stillness dragged on. Why was he not moving?

She swallowed, her eyes darting away and then back again to him. “Erm, Alec?”

He blinked and she watched his face redden slightly. “Sorry,” he muttered gruffly before he pushed himself up.

“It’s okay,” she mumbled, holding her body stiffly.

He took a few steps back, his eyes not leaving her.

Suddenly feeling self-conscious, she quickly got to her feet and turned back to face the wall. She closed her eyes, trying to calm her breathing. The water continued to spray down like nothing was wrong. She suppressed the urge to snort. Nothing was wrong? She could cut the tension in the air with a knife.

Why the over-reaction anyway? It was not as if she had not seen him naked before. But she had never been in such close proximity with him in all his bare glory. A twinge of desire nudged her, and she quickly shoved it away.

No, she was not attracted to her CO. She could not be.

She hesitated mid-thought. Could she?

Why did he tap her shoulders anyway?

Without looking at him, she asked, “What is it?”

There was a short pause before he replied shortly, “The drain. It’s stuck.”

Max looked down. The water was rapidly pooling around her feet. The drain in her cubicle, which also served the adjacent shower stalls, was blocked. Somehow, lost in her thoughts, she had failed to notice it.

She bent over, reaching for the lid, and immediately heard a sharp intake of breath behind her.

Her hand stilled over the blocked lid and she blinked.

Her confusion only lasted a mere second before she understood why he had reacted the way he did. She felt her face grow hot in embarrassment. And then her hands fisted by her sides. Facing away from him, she could not tell for sure, but he must have been still looking at her when she bent down. It was not hard to guess what he must be thinking.

Men! Testosterone-filled creatures!

She spun around and glowered at him, careful to keep her eyes on the top half of his body. “Nice view?” she asked icily.

His eyes snapped up to her face. Max saw a myriad of expressions crossing his face. Confusion flashed across his face followed by embarrassment and something else she could not place, before he blinked twice and the mask slammed down.

He raised an eyebrow. “What view? Sure you didn’t think that I had my eye on you?” he retorted in a mildly bored voice.

She tensed, his subtle insult not lost on her. Anger, mingled with hurt, began to bubble to the surface, but she quickly squashed the feeling. Fine, she knew that with her scars and all, she was no beauty. But having it pointed out like that to her, subtle or not, still stung. It was not as if she asked to be marred by those unsightly lines. But there was just so much a transgenic body could take even with the enhanced healing capabilities.

She gritted her teeth. Anyway, could he not see that she wanted to be alone? Was it not obvious enough? This was the third time he had walked in on her pre-dawn ritual. The second time, they had barely said a word to each other. Those were the two other times they had been alone together.

Then she straightened her spine. Who cared what he thought anyway? It did not make her any weaker than the rest. She could still hold her own against anyone who tried to cross her.

Yes, she felt angry and hurt, but she was not going to let him have the satisfaction of seeing that his taunt had hit home.

“Then do you mind not staring this way?” she asked in a sickly sweet voice as she presented her back to him.

A derisive snort sounded. “Staring? Hardly.”

“Really? Could have fooled me.”

“You’re imagining things, Max.” His voice was flat.

She turned to look over her shoulders to find him still standing there. Quirking an eyebrow, she remarked, “Then I’m sure you have better things to do than to stand there gawking.”

She saw a flash of annoyance on his face before he turned abruptly. A few second later, the shower in the stall next to hers started to pour.

“I was just wondering if you needed help with the drain,” he said quietly. “We don’t want to flood the place.”

Her eyes narrowed suspiciously as she studied him. Was he serious? It suddenly occurred to her that maybe she was just seeing and hearing things that were not there, interpreting them in the wrong way. After all, Alec had shown no sign that he saw her in that manner. Perhaps she just overreacted. Perhaps her hormones were out of whack.

“I think I can manage,” she said carelessly.

She bent down again, relieved that this time she was hidden from his view by the tiled wall separating them. The second she pulled up the lid, the water began to rush into the hole. Removing the clump of hair which had unknowingly caused so much tension, she replaced the lid and straightened.

She heard him clear his throat. “Look, it was an accident,” he said flatly.

Straightening, she looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, “I know. It’s no big deal.”

His eyes were fixed to the wall. “Good. Then we’ll have no problems.”

“Good,” she echoed tightly.

Wall mounted open shelves lined the two sides of the room there were in. Weapons of all descriptions were hung off brackets on the shelves in tidy rows with a small label underneath. There was a sharp scent of metal and gunpowder in the air which could only come from recently discharged weapons.

Alec was seated at a long bench between Ren and Silt, opposite Biggs. A number of guns and knives were laid out on the table in front of them.

As the door to the armoury opened, Alec’s gaze automatically went to it. His heart sank a little when Laney stepped in with a handful of scourers and a new bottle of oil.

Where was Max?

Alec lowered the gun he had been taking apart and sighed. No one had seen her at breakfast and she was still absent. If she did not turn up soon, questions would fly.

He looked around. There were already some questioning looks being passed around. He knew that most of them genuinely liked her. His worry that she would disrupt the unit was a complete waste of time. Max had been doing fine. More than fine considering what she had been like when he first met her. Although she was still a little distant, he could see that she was beginning to integrate nicely into the unit.

He had to admit that the rest of the unit, not him, deserved the credit for slowly dragging her out of her shell. Somehow it was harder for him. He could not seem to let go enough to be himself with her. There was something holding him back. Something which refused to allow him to lower his barriers fully.

He knew that he had reacted like an idiot in the showers.

After what he had said to her, who could blame her if she decided not to turn up for this? Or any other thing from now on, for that matter?

Alec groaned inwardly.

His only excuse was the shock of having her curves pressed like that against his naked flesh. Damn it, he was a red-blooded male. How else could he react? His entire brain had decided to give way to his hormones as he stood and stared when she bent over.

Then his smart mouth had to come up with such a cheap shot.

He should not have said what he had said to her. That flash of hurt in her eyes had been real, and he felt bad about it. But somehow, he could not bring himself to apologise the second time round. He knew that if he did, she would just rub it in his face. But still, was he so full of himself that he could not deal with that?

What the hell was wrong with him?

“Alec?”

He shut his eyes briefly, preparing himself for the barrage of questions. “What’s up, Biggs?”

“Where’s Max?” Biggs asked quietly.

He looked up to find the other X5 staring at him curiously. “I don’t know,” he replied.

“She wasn’t in her room earlier. Does she know we’re supposed to be here?” Biggs sounded worried.

Alec debated if he should confide in Biggs. Finally he shrugged and continued to inspect the gun chamber. “Maybe she’s just a little late.”

Biggs frowned.

Suddenly Alec wondered if Biggs knew about what happened that morning. But how? The only way he could have known was for Max to tell him, but then Biggs would know where she was.

“Something wrong?” Alec ventured carefully.

Bigg’s eyes flickered, and then he said brightly. “What? No, nothing’s wrong.”

Then the dark-haired transgenic sobered up. With a resigned sigh, he continued quietly, “Actually, I’m just worried that she might be withdrawing.”

“Withdrawing?”

Biggs nodded. “Yeah. Back to the way she was when she first got here.”

The gun in his hand suddenly felt heavy, and Alec placed it carefully on the table in front of him. “I don’t know,” he said honestly.

Ren frowned. “I hope not. It took weeks for us to get to this point.”

The door suddenly opened, and to Alec’s relief, Max ran in breathlessly. She glanced around, her eyes completely skipping over him before they landed on Biggs. Alec fought down a twinge of annoyance at her blatant action.

With a small smile, she headed to their table. “Sorry I’m late. Lost track of time,” Max said apologetically, pushing her hair out of her face.

She smelled like she had just been outdoors, Alec noted.

“Been working out?” Ren asked.

Max nodded as she took the empty seat beside Biggs. “Assault course.”

She always took it out on the assault course when she was upset about something, Alec thought, surprising himself with that knowledge. He did not realise that he knew her habits so well.

Keeping his voice level, he asked, “Was it a good run?”

Her attention pinned on the black gun in her hand, she did not look up when she replied, “It was okay.”

He tried again. “Anything like the one in Wyoming?”

She instantly stilled, her hands suspended in mid-air as she reached for the nearest gun.

Alec groaned inwardly. Great going. Remind her of Wyoming and her decimated unit, won’t you, Alec?

Biggs laughed, the hint of discomfort in his voice evident. “I bet it’s better over here. Those Wyoming guys don’t know what they’re doing.”

Max swivelled around, an affronted look on her face. “Hey! Watch what you’re saying.” But there was no seriousness in her voice.

Ren grinned. “One day, we’ll have a competition.”

Alec raised his eyebrows. Challenging Max, he found, was a sure-fire way to get one-self kicked. Ren would not know what hit him.

Max’s eyes gleamed. “What’s the prize?”

Ren leaned forward in anticipation. “Loser gives up a day out, winner gains one.”

Whenever they were not on an assignment, they were each allocated twenty-four hours out per week. Alec knew that Ren had used up all of his, but in the last four  weeks, Max had not ventured a step out of the facility. No doubt, this was Ren’s way of buying her accumulated time from her.

With a grin, Alec interjected, “Ren, if you lose, someone from Unit 1 is going to have your head.” Ren had been seeing an X5 called Sri from the other unit.

Ren grimaced for a moment before he brightened up again. “I won’t.”

 

Max tapped her fingers against the table, a smile playing at the corner of her lips. “I wouldn’t be too sure about that.”

“I bet Sri would have something to say about this,” Biggs said with a laugh. “Don’t you have regular dates with her?”

“Who’s Sri?” Max asked curiously.

“Ren’s girl,” Silt replied. “Who’s going to be really pissed off when Ren fails to turn up for their date.”

Ren gave him a droll look. “Some support would be nice.”

Alec laughed as he patted Ren on the back encouragingly. “I’m sure you’d do fine,” he said, lying through his teeth. He had seen Max on the assault course, and he was not sure if Ren could beat the newcomer.

“So, when’s the run?” Biggs asked with a grin.

Ren looked at Max questioningly. “After this session?”

Max nodded casually. “Sure.”

When they finished inspecting and cleaning the weapons for the day, Unit 6 moved out of the armoury and headed for the assault course.

With a brief sideways glance to make sure that Ren was still occupied with Silt and Biggs teasing, Alec slackened his pace until Max caught up with him.

Obviously still bent on ignoring him, she displayed no sign that she detected his presence, even though he was right beside her.

“Listen, Max…” he started.

She tensed. “What is it?” she asked flatly, so unlike the tone she had used earlier with the others.

Alec clamped down the sudden urge to shake her. How long was she going to let the shower incident cloud their interactions? Keeping his voice even, he continued, “Ren can’t afford to lose another day.”

Max halted in her tracks and finally looked at him. “I know,” she said wryly. “I have no intention of winning this. What am I going to do with so many free days anyway?”

Taken aback, Alec just stared at her wordlessly. She was already planning to give up a day to Ren?

As he stared on incredulously, Max smirked smugly, obviously taking some joy in his speechlessness. “We’re a team, right?” she said, walking away from him.

The assault course run took only fifteen minutes. After that time, Ren emerged from the last course grinning ear to ear as he punched his fists in the air.

As the rest of Unit 6 patted Ren on the back, Alec searched for Max.

When their eyes met, time suddenly suspended.

And then she gave him an almost imperceptible nod of acknowledgement. It was the first time he felt a bond of shared secret with her.

The projector threw a picture of a desert on the screen.

“Desert manoeuvres, as I expect all of you to know by now, are often made difficult by the dust and the heat. The desert breeze often stirs up the sand, making it difficult to gauge distances even with your enhancement,” the drill sergeant said by way of introduction to the new topic.

“The only way to cope with this is through prolonged exposure in the environment. Now, it’s impractical to keep sending you all out to a desert regularly, so you’ll have to manage with just the simulation. This would be your assignment tomorrow.”

The desert, Max thought numbly. As far as she was concerned, she had had enough exposure to that damned place. And if she could help it, the desert was the last place she wanted to find herself at again.

Ever.

But she could not help revisiting it in her mind.

She cracked open her eyes slowly. Her blurry vision was further impaired by the cloud of red dust swirling in the air. She tried to move, but immediately groaned when her muscles and bones protested violently against the strain. Her head felt like it was splitting into two.

Something had her pinned to the ground. It was a section of a stone column. She glanced around, and then her eyes widened in horror.

“No…” she croaked, suddenly anxious to get up. She recognised the mop of blonde hair belonging to Zack near her. He was lying facedown under the column with his legs crossed over hers.

“Zack?” She tried to move her leg to nudge him to no avail.

He remained still.

She scanned the area desperately, hoping to see some signs of life. Everything looked hazy to her but she managed to make out the blood splattered bodies were strewn all over the ruins amidst the crushed stones. With mounting horror, she could tell from the black colour of the clothes that those bodies belonged to her unit.

“Tinga? Ben?” she tried to call out. But her voice came out weak and tremulous.

One by one, she spoke their names, but none of the bodies moved.

“No, please wake up!” she choked out, her eyes stinging with unshed tears.

Then her ears picked up the sound of a chopper in the distance.

There were here, she thought in relief. Manticore’s back-up team was here to pick them up. Everything would be alright. They were transgenics, they were design to cope with a lot. They would be fine once the chopper got them back to the base.

Suddenly, a large shadow loomed over her.

“Max!”

“MAX!”

She jumped, started by Bigg’s voice. He was standing over her, the sun behind him casting his shadow over her.

She swallowed hard, banishing the memories from her mind and making sure that nothing of her memories showed on her face before she glanced up.

“What?”

He gave her a bewildered look. “You were miles away.” He gestured around the empty room. “Everyone left and you’re still sitting there.”

“Oh. I was just thinking about the simulation,” she said vaguely, hoping that he would not catch the evasive tone in her voice.

To her relief, Biggs brightened in excitement. “It’s going to be great, don’t you think? I can’t wait to get into it. The sim is a new one.”

She gave him a weak smile as she stood up. “Uh, yeah,” she replied as they walked out of the room.

He turned around to face her with a look of concern. “You don’t look too happy about it.”

Stepping down the hallway, Max shook her head, exhaling slowly. “Not my kind of thing.”

“Well, maybe you’d grow to like it. It takes time to get used to,” Biggs offered helpfully.

“I doubt it,” she muttered under her breath.

Alec jack-knifed up in his bed, his senses on full alert.

Something woke him up. Something which made his heart race erratically. An alarm?

Then he heard it again.

A raw scream of sheer anguish. It was animalistic; a sound which sent an uncontrollable shiver down his spine. Who was it?

Alec jumped to his feet and rushed out of his room to find Biggs dashing to the cell next to his. Max, Alec thought in apprehension. Something had happened to her.

An image flashed across his eyes; Sam trying to scream through the blood in her mouth.

No! Snap out of it, Alec! This is Max, not Sam, he told himself harshly as he dashed to the end of the corridor to join Biggs. As he ran past, a few other cell doors opened.

“What’s going on?” Laney asked, as she reached Max’s door.

A tousled looking Ren frowned as he joined them. “Is Max okay?”

“Max?” Alec called out, rapping on the door. A soft whimper filtered through the door. A nightmare. She must be having a nightmare, he realised. “We’re coming in, Max,” he announced resolutely.

Biggs tried to open the door, but it refused to budge. “What the hell?” he muttered in confusion.

Frowning, Alec tried the door. It was locked. “WHO locked the door?” he asked, furious.

Eyes wide in surprise, Thena remarked uncertainly, “She must have locked it herself.”

“What the hell did she do that for?” Alec snarled in annoyance. He needed to get in to see if she was alright.

Another agonised scream ripped through the air, its intensity making them wince. It went deathly silent for a while, and then the choking sobs begun. The sound was heartbreaking.

Alec turned to see a misty-eyed Laney sniffing. “We’ve got to wake her up,” she said with a slight tremor in her voice.

“Max!” Biggs yelled loudly. “Come on, girl, we know you can hear us! You’ve got to wake up,” he urged firmly.

Thena banged on the door loudly in frustration. “Damn it! Can’t we break the door open?”

Alec shook his head. “Did you forget that these were originally designed to keep us in?” He kicked the door hard. “Max! Wake up! This is an order, soldier!” he commanded loudly.

Silence.

“Max, open the door,” Alec rapped out firmly.

All of them strained to hear through the door.

And then Alec heard a slight sound of shuffling from the other side, followed by soft footsteps.

Biggs held his finger to his lips. “Listen…” After a pause, he ventured gently, “Max? You okay in there?”

A muffled sniff filtered through the door. Unconsciously, Alec held his breath.

“Yeah. I’m okay,” a quiet voice mumbled.

Alec noted that her voice sounded raw, but he guessed that was to be expected considering her screams. “Open the door, Max,” he ordered sternly, wanting to see for himself that she was alright.

There was a short pause before she replied, “Honestly, I’m okay. I’m sorry I woke you all up. Go back to bed.”

 

“Max…” Alec started, his voice carrying a tone of warning.

Biggs laid a hand on his arm, shaking his head slowly as he mouthed, no.

Alec gave his Second in Command an incredulous look. “Biggs…” he started.

Biggs interjected quietly. “Let me deal with this.”

“But, Biggs, she’s…” Thena started.

“Biggs…” Alec said at the same time.

“No. Go back to bed,” Biggs insisted, flicking Alec a look of mute appeal.

What was Biggs planning to do? Alec frowned thoughtfully at his Second in Command. Biggs was telling him wordlessly with his eyes to trust him on this. Finally relenting, Alec sighed and gestured to the rest of them gathered around the door to return to their cells. And then, with a curt nod to Biggs, he spun around on his heels and headed back to his cell.

Curious about how Biggs was going to gain access to Max’s cell, he fought the urge to look back as he travelled down the corridor. When he reached his cell, he stepped in and pushed the door, leaving it slightly ajar. Then he sat on his bunk, listening as the other cell doors clicked shut. He heard Bigg’s voice in the distance. The guy was trying to talk to Max. Alec guessed that if anyone could get through to her, it would be Biggs considering they had been training together and growing closer for the couple of months.

A few minutes of hushed conversations went by before Alec heard a door being unlocked. And then, with a subtle squeal, the door shut again.

Max had finally relented and let Biggs in, he realised.

Alec settled down on his bunk, pillowing the back of his head on his crossed arms. Blinking at the ceiling, he wondered what could have triggered Max’s nightmare. He has his own share of nightmares to understand well enough how vivid and traumatising some of them could be. Normally, it would have been triggered by something.

At least Biggs was there with her now. With luck, she would even tell Biggs what was bothering her.

A small voice inside him protested. Why Biggs and not him? He was the CO wasn’t he? She was supposed to trust him enough to confide in him, right?

Alec sighed in resignation. No, Max would probably shoot herself in the foot before she ever confided in him.

He was reminded again of how different Sam and Max were. Sam used to confide in him. Sam used to tell him everything, even things that he would rather she kept to herself.

He still remembered the day she had dropped the bombshell on him. All the signs had been there, but he had chosen to ignore it. So much that he had even managed to convince himself that there was nothing there.

They had been eighteen, three years ago, when Sam had told him that she had feelings for him. Not the sort of brotherly-sisterly feeling, but something more. Unsure how to react, he had simply laughed it off. Now that he thought about it, that was probably not the right thing to do. But she had been persistent to the point of making him feel acutely uncomfortable on the subject.

He closed his eyes. Memories of Sam always stirred up all sorts of things that he would rather forget. He knew that he should not have said certain things to her, or reacted in the way he had. It always gave him this sour taste in his throat whenever he thought about it. And it always filled him with an all-consuming feeling of guilt.

Exhaling loudly, he glanced at his watch. An hour had passed since Biggs had entered Max’s cell, but there had been no sign that the other transgenic had left.

Alec wondered if he should go and see if they were alright.

And then something occurred to him.

Perhaps they were closer than he had realised. What if he walked in on something? He quickly banished the unbidden image of Max and Biggs writhing naked in bed. Somehow, the idea of Max and Biggs being a couple did not sit well with him. Something about it seemed wrong.

Or perhaps he wished that it was him but not Biggs who was in that position? But why should he? He had no such inclination when it came to Sam, so why should he feel any differently towards Max?

Because they were different, damn it!

Alec groaned in frustration. What the hell was he thinking? Sam or Max, it did not matter. He should not be thinking of Max in that manner anyway. Aside from the fact that she was Sam’s twin, which in itself should be good enough a reason to avoid any form of entanglement, she had also shown no hint of affection towards him.

Get a grip, Alec, he scolded himself sternly.

No, he would not think about this anymore. Max and Biggs could do whatever they liked.

It had nothing to do with him whatsoever.

t.b.c.

A/N: Of course it had nothing to do with Alec at all, right? :grins evilly: Thanks for reading and it’ll make me very happy if you review

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