Chapter 2:
Friendship & Phone calls
Max
strode into TC’s headquarters’, taking in the hustle
and bustle of its inhabitant’s. However she was dismayed to note that although there
were several transgenic’s in the large converted
warehouse, they were still segregated into their own little groups of X-series,
transhuman and nomalie;
with each group having the minimum amount social interaction between them that
was needed. However spotting Joshua over in one of the
darkened corners, Max headed in his direction.
~*~
“Hey,
Big fella’”, Max said as she placed her hand on the
back of the larger transgenic.
Turning
around at the sound of her voice, Joshua’s face split into a huge smile as he
returned her greeting. “Lil’ fella”,
he growled softly, while at the same time engulfing her in a warm hug before
releasing her, and looking down into her upturned face. Cocking his shaggy maned head to one side, Joshua looked at his ‘lil fella’ and was surprised to
note a flicker of worry flash behind her dark eyes before it was quickly
hidden. “What’s the matter with lil’ fella”.
Max
smiled up at her large friend and tried to suppress the worry that was starting
to creep into her bones. “Um, have you seen Alec since Saturday”, she asked
with some ill concealed nervousness.
Joshua thought for a moment, before replying that no he hadn’t seen ‘medium fella’,
for a few days.
~*~
After
staying to talk with Joshua for a while and listening to him describing his new
masterpiece, Max left TC and headed back to Jampony,
and an increasingly snarky Normal.
~*~
Later
that evening Max was seated at a table in Crash, half listening to Cindy and
Sketchy debating the merits of blondes vs. brunettes; while at the same time
thinking of all the ways she was going to make the ‘asshole’ suffer, once he
deigned to show his face; after causing her to actually be concerned as to
where the idiot was and what he was up to. So lost in her thought’s was she that
she was unaware of Biggs and Cece’s arrival at their
table.
~*~
Out
of the corner of his eye, Biggs watched Max as she unconsciously fiddled with
the beeper that was usually attached to the waistband of her pants. Biggs
hadn’t known Max for very long, not surprising since she was one of the
original 09 escapee’s; but during the month or so since she’d showed up at TC,
he’d come to actually like her.
Sure
she could be bossy and pissy as hell, but that just
proved she was a transgenic female, because they all seemed to go off on one
everyday, and the male inhabitant’s of TC were bruisingly
used to it.
But
all in all he couldn’t stop himself from going against Manticore’s
programming, and actually liking her. Besides he figured she couldn’t be all
that bad or 49-Alec, he mentally corrected himself wouldn’t have hung around if
she was. But then again he thought while unsuccessfully trying to suppress the
grin that was spreading across his face, she is his designated breeding partner.
~*~
Max
had just decided that when she found him, she was going to make him realise
that a stint in Psy-Ops was a picnic in comparison to
the wrath of a worried, highly pissed off transgenic female who has a penchant
for taking her frustration’s out on that gorgeous ass of his. However here train of thought was cut off by the sound of her
beeper. Recognising the familiar
number she quickly left the table and headed towards the backroom of Crash
where the payphones were situated.
~*~
Dialling
the number on the phone, Max waited impatiently for the receiver to be answered
on the other end. On hearing it being picked up, she immediately started with
her well rehearsed tirade before the voice on the other end could speak.
“Alec you asshole; where the fucking hell are you;
~*~
From
across the room both Biggs and Cece, watched Max as
she spoke or more accurately screamed into the phone, for a good five minutes
before she suddenly stopped and her face blanched. They continued to watch in
silence, as numbly she replaced the receiver into its cradle and walked back to
their table in a near daze. As she neared them, she motioned to Cindy to keep
Sketchy distracted while she said the three little words that made Biggs want
to smash his fist through the nearest wall.
“White
has Alec”.