Chapter 3:

Motorcycles, Musings & Memories

Cece rode behind Biggs on his motorcycle as they followed Max back to TC; she could feel the tension coursing throughout his body, something that was so totally at odds to how he normally was. In fact searching her memory Cece had a difficult time job, trying to think of any occasion where Biggs wasn’t either smiling or laughing, or both.

Of course since getting out of Manticore they’d all been slightly on edge, or at least they had until they’d all somehow ended up migrating towards Seattle and Terminal City. That tension although still hanging in the air, seemed to be dissipating though.

At least, that had been the case up until twenty minutes ago.

Sighing softly the blonde transgenic turned her attention to the woman on the Ninja beside them.

Max was a mystery to Cece; to most of the X-series actually. On one hand for the last ten years they’d been taught to believe that 452 and the other members of her unit were traitors. But since being out in the world, it had made Cece wonder.

Wonder about Manticore and its ultimate goals.

Wonder about the still missing member’s of her own unit.

Wonder about White and both his freaky cult friends, and just far his connections in the government actually went.

But more than anything it made her wonder why Max and the other 09’ers considered it so important to leave Manticore, leave their home. After all none of them had even been outside of the compound before 2009; so how did they know that what they’d been taught, what they’d been designed for was wrong. How did they know that there had to be something better outside of Manticore’s walls.

~*~

Pain. Blinding white light, and the acrid smell of burnt flesh made his sensitive nostrils twitch, and a low moan escape from between clenched teeth.

~*~

Biggs felt Cece sigh and shift on her seat. He’d noticed that she’d started doing that a lot of late, the soft sighs were usually accompanied by a thoughtful look; no doubt an expression that was now most likely covering her delicate features. As to what she was thinking about he couldn’t hazard a guess, but his own thoughts were a tumultuous riot of anger, incredulity, disbelief and an almost imperceptible sense of loss. Alec was his friend. Had been his friend, and his unit mate since before he could even remember; and the idea that, that sick fuck White had him, was no doubt subjecting him to torture, both physically and probably psychologically as well, was enough to make Biggs want to howl with rage and clench his hands against the bikes handlebars in frustration.

Glancing around him, he realised that they’d arrived back at TC; and he hadn’t noticed. Feeling Cece getting off the back of his bike, he chanced a glance in Max’s direction.

She was just sitting there, making no move to get off her bike and let everyone know what had happened. In fact thinking on it, after she’d told them about Alec, she hadn’t said another word; instead she’d just turned on her heel and left, without even so much as a goodbye to Cindy. Looking at her now, just sitting there he couldn’t help but take note of her ashen complexion and the vacant look to her normally intense eyes. It was a look that he knew well, a look that they’d all learned out of self-preservation. But it was the first time he’d ever witnessed that same expression on her face; and to see it now was almost as shocking as knowing about Alec. Seeing that expression made him realise that just maybe, there was more to Max than what normally met the eye. More than what she normally let them see. And the fact that neither himself nor anyone else had picked up on this was disturbing.

~*~

Ice cold water hit his body, and made him shiver, both from the cold and the shock. He gasped for air, dragging it into his burning lungs before blacking out once more.

~*~

Max couldn’t think. Her mind was a jumble of thoughts and images. Snippets of conversations half forgotten, were clamouring to be remembered. Memories long buried were breaking the surface; demanding to be seen…

Frightened green eyes looked up at her, filled with fear and pain. “Don’t let them take me.”

A pair of equally fear filled eye’s looked down at her. “It’s the only way. I don’t want to die”.

She wanted to clap her hands to her ears and scream.

She wanted to look into Whites eyes as she tore his throat out with her bare hands.

She wanted to see that cocky grin.

She wanted to hear him call her Maxie; just so she could kick his ass.

She wanted Alec.

She wanted her friend back.

‘White. White has Alec.’ That one thought was the one constant amongst the babble of her mind. White had Alec; and she didn’t know what to do. She didn’t know how get him back. But she was going to. She was going to get him back even if it cost her, her soul.

She had three days before she was supposed to meet White.

Three days to wrest the location of Ray from Logan.

Three days to remember who and what Max really was.

Three days to waste, while Alec was tortured,

Three days filled with pain.

~*~

Electricity surged and his body arched, just as a scream was torn from deep within his bruised chest, and the scent of his own charred flesh filled the air. Then all was blackness once again.