Disclaimer: Obviously with the exception of any new/original characters I own nothing, because if I did Max would have taken one look at Alec and jumped those fine bones of his, straight away ;) whilst Logan would have had a fatal accident concerning a bucket of water and that damn exo-skeleton…

Chapter 6:

Caged and Confused

Finn silently lounged in the doorway, observing the human seated before him. In the background he could just barely make out the sounds of his partner, as he quietly searched the other rooms in the house.

Finn didn’t understand this human; although if he was being completely honest with himself, hardly any of the ordinaries actually made any sense to him.

Admittedly a few of them, such as Max’s friend Cindy, seemed to be more open. More real. More in tune with both themselves and everything around them. And in a way he supposed that, that made them more like a transgenic than any enhanced strength and senses ever could. That ability to be completely at peace with their own sense of self. But this human, like most that he’d met, radiated a nervous energy; an internal anxiety that grated against Finns mind. The quick flow of warm air at his side alerted him to Cyrus’s presence.

Cyrus had searched the house in record time, utilising his ability to blur to help hasten the mission. Because quite frankly he didn’t want to have to hang around any longer in the house than was friggin’ necessary. The stink of the ordinary male was making his nose twitch.

The very loud crunch of an apple being bitten into was the first indication that Logan had, that there was anyone else in the house besides himself. And for a brief moment, he felt a rush of relief as he assumed Max had returned to apologise. But that momentary relief was quickly dashed the instant he caught sight of his visitors.

‘Crunch’

“So”, the blonde male gestured with his half-eaten apple; that Logan strongly suspected had been snatched from his fridge, “You’ve gotta be this Loggie-guy we’ve been hearing so much about”.

“Who the hell are you people, and what are you doing in my house”, Logan angrily demanded as he hastily rose from his chair.

‘Crunch’

“Excuse me; did you just say this was your house?” Cyrus insolently quirked an eyebrow at the human’s demand. “Cause’ ya’know, we were kinda under the impression that this was Joshua’s house”, he couldn’t help but smirk as he witnessed Logan’s eye’s widen, and his face blanche at his choice of words. ‘Heh, heh, heh it’s just too much fun, messing with this guy. No wonder Alec enjoys it so much’ he thought.

Logan suddenly felt his mouth go dry and sweat begin to bead on his brow at those words. Warily he watched as the two transgenics prowled their way into his living room. Nervously he asked “Why are you here?”

“C’mon Loggie, you’re supposed to be a bright boy, surely you can figure it out.” Cyrus said as he seated himself in the now vacated seat.

With his attention focused solely on the talkative transgenic that was seated at his computer, he didn’t notice Finn slip up behind him until it was to late…

~*~

Biggs’s internal clock told him, it had been at least ten minutes since the other two transgenics had entered the house. And during that time his companion hadn’t uttered a single solitary word. Instead she seemed content to sit there, as still as the grave simply staring out through the windscreen, seemingly lost amongst her thoughts.

Max didn’t know if she could do this. She didn’t know if it would work, and she didn’t want to be responsible for the deaths of any more of their people than she already had been. But a voice at the back of her mind was screaming that they had no choice – that she had no choice, because she couldn’t just leave Alec in Whites hands, she couldn’t leave her best friend (and he was her best friend her heart told her, maybe something even more than that, but she wasn’t prepared to go down that road. At least not yet, if ever), to face certain torture, a certain death.

Deep inside herself, in a place that Max very rarely acknowledged. In the part of her soul where 452 was kept hidden and locked tightly away from the world. Where all the rage, anger and pain that she constantly fought with everyday of her life was kept.

She could feel the walls beginning to crumble, the bars of that prison weakening, as the animal - as the soldier within fought for control and struggled to break free; causing a low growl to emanate from between her lips, just as a hand was placed on her shoulder.

Instinctively her right hand shot out, and clamped itself around the warm flesh of her attacker’s throat…

He couldn’t breathe, and it felt as though a metal vice was crushing his windpipe. Eyes bulging, and fingers clawing at her small hand, he tried to gain her attention, to bring Max back from whatever dark place her mind was inhabiting.

Gasping, she could hear gasping. ‘Where the hell was it coming from?’ Blinking her eyes slowly and allowing the world around her to once again come into focus, Max found herself staring into the purple face of Biggs. ‘Purple. What the hell?’ her confused mind asked. And then she realised her hand was cutting off his air supply, that she was choking him. ‘She was choking Biggs. What the fuck?’

Judiciously Biggs rubbed at his bruised throat, all the while maintaining eye contact with Max, Just in case the predator that he’d seen moving and writhing behind those dark eyes decided to return.

The two of them remained like that until the van’s doors were suddenly flung open, as Finn and Cyrus clambered inside.

Finn almost stumbled as he climbed into the back of the van. The tension emanating from both Biggs and Max, wreaking havoc on his already overworked and heightened senses, causing an intense headache that almost felt like the beginnings of a seizure. Reminding himself to take a couple of long calming breathes, he tried to block out the pairs emotional overflow.

Seating himself across from his partner, Cyrus pulled a small data chip from his pants pocket and tossed it over to Max.

“Here ya go”, he said “I managed to download everything that looked as though it might be connected to Manticore and you from the computer’s hard drive, but your gonna want to get Dix and some of the tech’s to decrypt the passwords for some of the files”.

He sighed as he scrubbed his hand through his tussled blonde hair.

“I’d have cracked em’ myself, but as soon as ‘old happy’ here”, nodding his head in the direction of his sombre friend, “Put the whammy on the ordinary, it didn’t exactly give me much time.”

At hearing this Finn lifted his pounding head, and mock glared at his unit mate “What you wanted to hang around longer?” he teased.

Max smiled at the antics of the two friends, as she slipped the data chip into her pocket.

“Thanks guy’s, I really appreciate this; and so will Alec when he gets back”, she told them. Glancing over at the unusually quiet Biggs she lowered her voice so that the other’s wouldn’t hear “We good?” she asked tentatively. He held her gaze for a long moment before nodding his head, and switching on the cars ignition. “In that case then, home Jeeves”, she said as a small smile played on her face, but never quite reached her eyes.

~*~

‘Cages. Why was it always fucking cages!’ Alec thought in exasperation as he tested the steel re-enforced bars. Bad enough that, when they dragged him from his cell that not only had he been handcuffed and shackled, but he’d been blindfolded as well. Obviously whoever his captor was, they were fully aware of not just a transgenics strength, but also their photographic memories. He wrinkled his nose as the scent of someone familiar reached his senses.

“494. So nice to see you again”

‘Shit. This is not good. This is not good at all. Damn it Max, you’d better hurry up and save my sorry ass’, Alec silently muttered to himself, as Ames white walked into view.

~*~

The Large warehouse that was terminal city’s headquarters was alive with a hive of activity. As transgenics, nomalies and transhumans were al busily checking equipment, manning comms units and keeping check of the twenty or so TV screens that were all hooked up to external CCTV camera’s, around the perimeter of TC.

In the far corner of the warehouse Mole was comfortably seated between two heaters, whilst oiling and checking the large stockpile of assorted guns and weapons that were spread out on the table before him.

“-so anyway I called him an asshole, and punched him in the face.” Maeve finished, as she lovingly cleaned and sharpened the long hunting knife that she was holding.

Mole bared his teeth in a grin, at the small auburn-haired elfin-like X5 that was seated across from him, and nodded his scaly head in approval. “So how’d he take that?” he growled as he passed her a couple of PK-39’s to dismantle.

“Well, after his nose stopped bleeding and his eye had closed up, he sat down and agreed that he was most definitely an asshole”, she chuckled as she brushed her long hair out of her face; and shifted in her seat, grimacing slightly as a sharp kick was delivered to her side. “Hey sweetie, stop kicking mommy okay”, she said as she rubbed her swollen belly.

“Heh, heh, heh… Junior feeling frisky today is he?”, Mole questioned.

“Yeah”, Maeve said “He follows his Father”, she smiled as her mind briefly flashed back to that morning and the wonderful way her mate had decided to awaken her; before blushing hotly at Moles lascivious laughter.

~*~

“Do you know why you’re here 494”, White asked as he walked around the outside of Alec’s cage.

“Because you missed my scintillating company and witty repartee”, Alec mused, as he paced the inside of his cage, making sure to keep White in his line of vision.

“You’re here, because something important has been stolen from me”, White continued as he ignored the imprisoned transgenic. “You’re here because that little Bitch of a breeding partner of yours needs to be taught a lesson”, he paused in his walking, coming to a stop directly in front of the cage’s door. “And you’re going to help me.”