When Max and Alec raced into the hospital bay with Dek eagerly on their heels, they had no idea what to expect; Dek had run to them the instant Pix opened his eyes.
Pix lay pale and twitchy against the white pillows. his face covered with cuts and bruises, their deep purple hue only emphasizing the stark whiteness of the crisp hospital linen.
Chance sat at his side, her hand grasping the bed sheets like they were a life line. She looked up when they burst into the room and Max wasn�t entirely surprised to see tears in Chance�s eyes.
Her gaze flew past the weepy brunette to Pix�s open brown eyes and she smiled at him, her pulse pounding more with nerves than the speed with which she had raced there.
He wasn�t dead. Whatever else happened, they could cope with providing he wasn�t dead.
�Hey, guys,� Max said as she calmed herself down, her fingers flexing as she wondered what to do with her hands. �Everything okay?�
�Max,� Tara greeted, her voice somewhat strange.
�Pix?� Alec called as he came closer to the bed. �How are ya doing, buddy?�
Pix said nothing and just blinked. An icy hand gripped Max�s heart.
�Pix?�
�He hasn�t said anything,� Chance burst out, as if keeping the words in hurt her. She�d tried to be strong. Manticore knows she�d tried, for her own sake if not Pix�s but for him to sit there, staring into thin air and just blinking, it was more than she could deal with, having been on tenterhooks for his awakening. Tara still wasn�t sure what had made him open his eyes and Chance was wondering if that was all that he�d ever be able to do.
Tara nodded, laying a hand on Chance�s shoulder in understanding. She may have been a bitch to the young girl before, but even she could understand the real fear that her mate might be a vegetable. �He�d been awake for about ten minutes before any of us noticed he�d opened his eyes. But he hasn�t said a word.�
Max sat on the edge of the bed and moved her face into Pix�s line of vision. �Pix? It�s Max. How do you feel?�
He blinked again.
Max held up her hand and moved one finger to the left and right of his vision. His eyes slowly followed the finger. She moved the finger left and right and then brought it to her nose.
Pix�s eyes followed it until he was looking directly at her, his vision focused.
Max smiled gently at him. �Hey. Do you know where you are?�
He nodded slightly, wincing when the movement caused him pain.
�Don�t move your head too much,� Tara ordered. �I�ll try to find some Tryptophan for any head pain.�
Max shifted to look over her shoulder. �There�s a guy in central command with Sunny. His name is Bill� he should be able to get his hands on some more if we need it.�
Tara nodded and started to move but halted at the door. �As Pix�s doctor I should tell you that you are not to overexcite him and there should be no more than three visitors at any time.�
�Duly noted,� Alec said with an irreverent air and Tara knew that her orders would be disregarded.
Max ignored them, intent as she was in looking at Pix. �Are you in pain?�
There was a slight head nod again and Max bit her lip. �We�re going to fix you up. But we need to know exactly what�s wrong. Can you talk?�
There was an odd rumbling from his throat and a pained expression crossed his face.
�Shh, it�s okay,� Chance soothed and touched his hand. �If it hurts too much then don�t try to talk.�
�C-c-a-an,� came a ravaged whisper from his throat.
�Can you tell me where it hurts?�
�W-w�� Pix cleared his throat. ��w-ater?�
�Of course!� Chance leaped up but Dek was faster, his hands grabbing a glass of water and bringing it to Pix�s bedside.
�Here, pal.�
Pix sipped at the cup that Dek held to his lips, spilling a little down his chin.
Chance had to turn her eyes away from the image of her mate unable to hold his own glass. Pix had always been able to more than hold his own and to see him reduced to this state was more than painful. She suddenly recalled Tara�s words and turned back, her spine straight. She would do this for Pix.
�W-what h-happened?� Pix stammered, his throat obviously hurting.
Max and Alec glanced at each other wondering if it was best to tell him or to let him remember in his own time.
Max reached over and smoothed a lock of hair away from Pix�s eyes, feeling relief that she could touch him and that he was alive to feel it. All at once calm swamped her and she released a breath that she hadn�t realised she�d been holding; holding since she�d first seen his face on that screen.
Pix had been her unofficial brother since that moment she�d turned to him in the cramped truck she�d left Wyoming in and the thought of losing him, like she�d lost Zack and Ben and the rest, sat in her stomach and heart like a lead balloon. She�d felt on edge since he had been injured, yelling at everyone and disregarding Alec, hoping to hell that she wasn�t about to lose someone else that she loved. She didn�t think she�d be able to take it if Pix died. She couldn�t�didn�t want to be leader if he wasn�t there to lighten the load. Now that he was awake, she was going to do all that she could to ensure that he would get well again.
�We�ll discuss that when your better. For now, it was an accident.�
He looked at her like he didn�t believe her but didn�t say anything as she stroked his face with a sad smile.
�Okay, Pix. Can you tell me where it hurts?�
Pix swallowed. �E-everywh-ere ex-cept�I c-can�t f-f-feel my legs,� he struggled to say, his eyes widening in panic. �Legs.�
�There was some spinal damage from the�accident,� Max filled in. �It�s probably temporary. We are gonna take good care of you, Pix.�
�Promise,� Chance offered with a smile dredged from the deepest recesses of her strength. Paralysed?
Moments ago all she�d wanted was for him to be awake and alive and now. Now? Could she deal with having a mate who could never move below the waist? Could she deal with never going for walks with Pix again, or chasing him after some dumb prank? Could she deal with this Pix who suddenly seemed far too sedate and sweet? Ropes knotted in her stomach as she watched him.
Pix leaned back with his head against the pillow and closed his eyes.
�Pix, buddy, is there anything you need?� Dek asked quietly, not wanting to crowd his friend.
�Yes,� Pix sniffed and opened his eyes. �I ne-ed to know,� he said, his voice still ragged from the abuse he had gone through.
�What?� Alec frowned.
Pix looked at each of them in turn. �Wh-o are you and why do you call me Pix?�
>>>
Sunny sat in central command with Max�s ordinary friend, Bill, and watched as he tapped away at his computer.
�I think I remember you,� she blurted out and he halted in his typing to look at her.
�Really?�
Sunny brushed her hair over one shoulder and nodded. �I was stationed at Wyoming and spent a lot of time in the DNA base. I was good at molecular biology.�
Bill gave her a rueful smile. �Sorry, I don�t remember you. There were a lot of you and I wasn�t really supposed to be in contact with any of you.�
�You made an exception in Max�s case.� It wasn�t a question. Sunny knew that he must be someone special for Max to have reacted to him the way she did. Max�s eyes didn�t light up that way for just anyone and, lately, she�d smiled like that for almost no one. She seemed to be so busy trying to run things that she�d made herself forget that she was still a person.
Sunny wanted to remind her, but there was so much to do, and she hadn�t had the time yet. She only hoped that Alec would be able to do something before it was too late.
�Max is always an exception,� he replied and swiped at his forehead.
�So what are you doing here?� Biggs asked not unkindly from his position behind them.
Bill sighed. �Lydecker sent me.�
Sunny and Biggs stiffened straight away.
�What?� she spat. �Does Max know?�
He rolled his eyes. �Of course. I told her the second I walked in. Lydecker wants to do a deal.�
�No dice,� Sunny decided and folded her arms defensively against her chest. �Nobody wants to make a deal with the devil.�
�Not even to fight a common enemy?� he raised an eyebrow that silenced the blonde.
She was silent for a long moment before spitting out tersely, �Who?�
�White.� Bill nodded at her look of surprise. �His agenda is much less friendly than Lydecker�s.�
Sunny shivered, and rubbed at her bare forearms, feeling chilly all of a sudden. �What do they want?�
�Annihilation and cooperation,� he smirked. �In either order.�
�Elaborate,� Biggs suggested and Bill rubbed his forehead.
�The plain truth of it all is that I am not 100% sure what Deck�s motivation is. White wants you all dead and he�s not bothered about who gets caught in the crossfire. He sees you as a threat and I don�t know why.�
Sunny and Biggs, who were party to Pix and Max�s information of White�s cult leanings, knew why he wanted them erased off the face of the planet, but chose not to elaborate. They didn�t have Max�s faith in this ordinary�or ordinaries in general and they may have to work with this guy, it didn�t mean that they had to like it.
�So what does he want?� Sunny asked meaning Lydecker.
�Deck?� Bill bit his lip, not sure if he should tell her what the military man had actually asked him to bargain for. If everyone knew what was on the man�s mind there would be anarchy. �He wants�something that only Max can give,� he decided upon.
�And that would be?�
�Between those two.� He refused to say anything else. �The point here is that Deck trusts White as far as he can throw him�even before the hearing disaster.�
�The enemy of my enemy is my friend?� Sunny offered sceptically.
�War makes for strange bed folk,� Biggs shook his head and they lapsed into silence, waiting for Max.
>>>
Max edged back from the bed. �Pix?�
�My designation is 418, stationed at Wyoming facility. Project classification level R-red,� Pix said, his voice in an odd monotone but getting stronger with every word. �I am authorised to give you nothing else until appropriate clearing is offered.�
The group around the bed cast horrified looks at each other. There was no way that this could be true.
Pix had regressed right back to Wyoming? Chance gripped the bed in horror. She knew that Tara had stated this as a possibility, but she had thought it was only an outside chance. The very idea that he didn�t know who she was, didn�t love her�it hurt.
�Pix.� Dek breathed, deciding to address that first. �Your name is Pix.�
�My designation is X5-418.�
�I�m gonna throw up,� Chance said, her face a mask of revulsion.
�I�m X5-452,� Max said stalwartly. �I have top level security clearance on Red level two. Commanding Officer. What do you recall, soldier?�
Alec reached forward to touch Max�s arm, wondering if playing along would do Pix any good. Shouldn�t they tell him that Manticore had been destroyed? Max may be the de facto leader of Terminal City and the transgenics but Pix was part of the figurehead and people needed to see him so as not to lose heart.
He needed to at least play the part, to stop the city from succumbing to hysteria; after all, if White could do this to their leader, what chance did the others have?
�Lights, ma�am,� Pix said immediately. �I remember lights and people. I think I was under attack. The last thing I remember was some sort of haze.�
�Haze?� Max frowned.
�Like a dream,� he continued, swallowing hard. �And you were there, and you were there and you��
As Chance gaped, Dek caught the mischievous glint in Pix�s eye and laughed out loud.
�You evil son of a bitch!�
Pix could no longer keep a straight face and burst out laughing at the same time as Max.
�Asshole!� she remonstrated. �You had us all going there.�
�That was mean!� Chance said and reached for some place to slap him that wasn�t covered in bruises and bandages. But the relief was evident and the sudden sheen of merriment in his eyes was all the push she needed to decided. Her future was with him. For better or worse.
�Couldn�t r-resist,� Pix admitted gasping for breath. �How often do I get a c-chance like that? You should have seen your f-faces.�
�You wait,� Alec vowed retribution but neither he nor the others could wipe the grins of their faces.
Tara walked back into the room to see the sea of happy smiles and realized that Pix was out of danger.
�Ok,� she said stridently. �Everyone who isn�t medical personnel clear out.�
Alec grabbed Chance�s hand, ushering her out to tell the others that Pix was fine, Max started to follow them when Pix caught her hand.
�Wait,� he asked, his voice low. He cast a look towards the others as they filed out, shooting a reassuring smile at Chance.
Max frowned but allowed the others to leave her alone with him and Tara. There was concern in her voice when she spoke next. �What is it?�
He bit his lip. �I remember everything, even though some of it, I wish I didn�t. But I do remember seeing you; I remember you coming to my rescue, and I want to say thanks.�
�Alec was there too,� she tried to shrug off the praise.
Pix nodded slowly and took a deep breath. �But you and me have a history and I wanted to tell you�� he paused.
�What?� she prompted.
He looked up, the light gone from his eyes and to Max�s horror she was confronted by, not the carefree solider he had become, but the scared little boy who had been thrown into the lake back at Wyoming and left to die.
�Pix?� she urged.
�I really can�t feel my legs, Max.� His voice shook. �I�m dead from the hips down.�
He bit his lip and his hand wavered uselessly in the air as he stared down at the offending limbs. �Nothing.�
Max�s eyes met Tara�s in terrified revelation before she reached forward to envelope Pix in a hug, not sure what to say to make this any less devastating.
�A soldier without his legs is a liability, Max!� he said, his voice hoarse.
�Fuck that,� she said, dragging her hand through his hair. �You will never be a liability, Pix.�
�I step down from command, effectively immediately.�
Max�s eyes glistened. �I won�t let you, asshole.�
Pix gaped at her. �You�ve always been more of a leader than me, Max. You know I never resented you taking charge. Hell, I never wanted the position in the first place.�
�I was CO, Pix, but that doesn�t make me a leader. My troops follow and that makes me leader. Without them, I�m just a bossy bitch.�
�Amen,� Tara muttered under her breath and Pix choked on a laugh.
�This,� Max gestured to his legs, �is just temporary. You�re no less of a person, no less of a soldier, and no less of a friend for it. I refuse to allow you to wallow in self-pity.�
�I can�t do anything.� He growled, allowing his temper to come out.
Max dug into her pocket and pulled out a battered and burnt black book. �The guy who wrote this, the guy who did these things didn�t think he couldn�t do anything. I bet he wrote them sitting down.�
Pix stared at the black book. �Where did you find that?�
Max swallowed. �In your office, buried underneath paperwork.� What she didn�t tell him was that when she had seen it, something had burst inside her and she�d sat down and bawled for half an hour straight. �You still are someone, Pix. We need you.�
�I won�t command,� he declared not wanting anyone to see him and pity him in this position.
�Then be there for me,� Max tossed the book at him. �I need you there to be my support and my backup. If you can�t do it for yourself, then do it for me.�
She placed one last kiss on his forehead and got up to leave.
�Max!� he called and she half-turned, cocking a brow at him.
�For you?� He shrugged. �I can try.�
�You�ll do better than try.� Max knew and walked away, leaving him to think.
>>>
One of Alec�s main duties as Max�s 2IC was to help her with the final part of her plan to aid the transgenics, so while she was catching up with Pix and probably gaining a status report, Alec was sitting in his office with his cell phone glued to his ear.
He was well aware that White and his men would be monitoring the airwaves but this was something he needed to do.
The phone rang once, twice, and a third time before someone picked it up.
�Hey, Sketchy here.�
�Liked your TV debut, Sketch,� Alec grinned and almost laughed as he heard Sketchy fumble the phone on the other end.
�Alec?�
�Yeah. How�s it hanging, dude?�
�Oh, man!�
Alec could almost hear Sketchy roll his eyes on the other end of the phone and rake his hands through his hair. It was nice to have some semblance of normality when everything around you was going to hell in a hand basket.
�Dude, you were on TV.�
Alec felt a mild interest. �Which channel?�
�Uh, all of�em, I think. Hey, did you know Max was a transgenic?�
He fought the urge to laugh. �Yeah, I kinda had a clue when we escaped together.�
�Oh, yeah,� Sketchy sounded sheepish. �It�s just, Max, ya know?�
�She does have a tendency to get under your skin. Anyway, I saw you, too, Sketch. What you said was great. We loved that you�d stick by us.�
�You know Normal freaked out when he found out you were transgenics,� Sketchy added. �His golden boy. I think he was crushed, until O.C. threatened to put the smack down on his ass for being a�Hey O.C.?� Alec heard him call the diva to the phone. �What did you call Normal?�
�A double-dealing, back-slamming, slum shyster baby dissing on his fave boy and superior sister cuz they weren�t straight up birthed babes. Ass. Who you talking to?�
�Alec.�
�Lemme talk to him!�
There was a mini wrestling over the phone and O.C. gained control. �Hey, baby boo. How�s my girl and what the hell have you been dragging her into now?�
�Max�s fine,� Alec allowed and then took a deep breath. �We�re both fine. A little shaken from what happened out there.�
�Straight up,� she shuddered. �It scared Original to the core. Peoples is plain nasty and things are getting hotter to handle. What can we do?�
�Put Sketchy back on.�
�Fool?�
�Hey Alec, she�s got a mean grip.�
�Listen,� Alec sat up, all traces of humour gone. �You know how you were going for that job as New World Weekly journalist? Did you get it?�
�Yup, freelance. Why?�
�Sketchy, with all this bad press transgenics are getting, what we really need is some pro-press. How would your editor feel about a one on one interview with a transgenic?�
�He�d piss himself.�
�We are willing to allow New World Weekly exclusive interviews and our side of the story, complete with names, dates, and all the pictures your little journalistic self can handle. Want it?�
�I�d give a testicle for it.�
�Unnecessary,� Alec grinned and looked down at his watch. It had been a hell of a night and it wasn�t over yet. Pix had only been hurt last night; why did it feel so long ago? �I can find you our least human looking transgenic to interview if you can make it to the gates by six am.�
�I�ll go talk to Bob now, get him to hold the front page. If we wrap by nine, I can get you on the morning edition� Sketchy said. �Insider scoop!�
�Thanks pal,� Alec said. �We need this.�
�I won�t let you down,� Sketchy vowed and rung off.
Alec leaned over on his knees and clasped his hands, as if in prayer. He wasn�t worried about Sketchy letting them down.
He was worried about staying alive and keeping everyone else the same way. He sighed deeply and was about to close his eyes when the door opened silently. He knew without looking that it was Max.
�Hey, babe,� he said rubbing his head. �Did you know that a few more of the �09ers have arrived? Zane, Ash and some woman with a kid called Tinga�the woman�s called Tinga; I think the kid is Chase�or Run, maybe it was Hunt. Something symbolic. I�ve settled them in East block and they want to talk to you or whoever�s in charge, which, I guess, would be you, too.�
�Alec?�
�Yeah?� Alec stretched and he looked up into Max�s worried eyes, �What�s wrong�now?�
She bit her lip. �I need to tell you about Pix.�
>>>>
Lydecker was not happy.
Scratch that.
He hadn�t been happy when he had been assigned to Ames �so-incredibly-dead� White. He had been less than pleased when he found out that White had been killing his kids. He had been rather pissed when he discovered that Ames White had a hidden agenda that wasn�t in favour of either his kids or his race. He was angry when White had cornered Max and let her go, and he had been downright furious when White set the nation on his kids.
Now he was past furious and into homicidally murderous and when he got his hands on the agent, he would kill him.
Plain and simple.
Or slowly and painfully, which ever worked best.
He clenched and unclenched his fists, wishing that they were wrapped tightly around someone�s throat. At this point he wouldn�t care whose.
His eyes flickered to the television that played White�s �revelation� in a never ending loop on every single channel.
And when the stations weren�t playing that, they were awash with the hover drone footage of transgenics in a bloodbath.
It hadn�t taken him long to identify Max. The others he was only aware of marginally, but the way that 452 had handled herself was nothing short of majestic. The fact that it catapulted her to the spotlight was irrelevant.
He wanted her.
Not in the way that most men would want her, but the way that a good captain would want a top soldier; the way a manager would sell his soul for that quarterback; the way a woman wanted those shoes.
Max had grown up into the epitome of all he was trying to create. She was the pinnacle of perfection and she could be his; if he played his cards right.
That was why he had sent Bill to the camp as a peace offering. He knew that she would come willingly if she thought that there was a possibility that she could help. Loyalty was her main weakness as well as her most valuable asset.
And she would come�if White hadn�t scared her away.
�Sir!� Someone disturbed his musings and he turned to see Otto looking intently at him.
�What is it, Mendez?�
�You have to see this, sir. Quickly.�
Lydecker frowned and followed him into the other room where anther television set was playing.
�I have been following the news, Mendez.�
�Yes, sir, but this came over the set not ten minutes ago. We were monitoring the transgenics and almost missed it.�
Lydecker folded his arms and waited with forced patience as the man switched on the set.
When the twin bands of red and blue swirled across the set, he was caught.
This is an Eyes Only broadcast, direct from among you. People, we have been duped. We think that the main threat to our lives is transgenics? We are wrong�I was wrong. I have conclusive proof that there is an even deeper agenda; a reason why these transgenics were made. They were made to protect us from an even greater threat.
They call themselves The Cult, and are a breeding program dating back further than even Christ. They want to create a master race, a race of super humans to replace us all. For centuries they have been waiting in positions of power, ready to take over and wipe us out. That time was near at hand when one of their own turned against them. He wanted to give us a fighting chance, and so the transgenics were created to defend us against them. Eyes Only has proof that they exist, have existed for centuries, and want us all dead and gone. Their agenda is to first take out our last line of defence�the transgenics� then to kill us all.
It was they who let loose the bio-toxin that killed hundreds and left Terminal City a waste land; it was they who loosed the pulse, rebelling against a technologically advanced human race. They are among us, and they will not stop until we are cattle.
Eyes Only has a list of names of members, some of the highest members of our society, waiting to lead us to the slaughter. Here is a list of those names.
If we rid the world of transgenics, we are making ourselves slaves.
Fight against the cult.
Peace out.
There was a flash of green and a list of names began to make its way down the screen.
Senator James McKinley
The Right Honourable Judge Allen
Bishop Greg Greenwall
Dr. Aku Neko
Colonel T. Marthinussen
Lady Charlotte Vincent
Special Agent Ames White
�Holy crap,� Otto breathed. �Is this true, sir? Sir?�
Lydecker was so intent on staring at the names that filtered down the screen that he hardly heard the man asking for verification.
�Sir?�
Lydecker started. �What?�
�Is it true, sir?� Otto frowned. �It seems somewhat farfetched.�
�Oh, it�s true,� Lydecker reiterated. �In fact, Mendez, I think that we should make sure no slip of this reaches the mainstream media. There is a man I know who works for Channel 52; his number is on my desk. I think you should call him anonymously and let him know that this is all�conjecture and in no way endorsed by Manticore�not that we exist.�
Mendez blinked. �In no way endorsed by the secret project that shouldn�t exist, sir?�
�How can our organization be real when the man who revealed its existence is part of an organization that doesn�t exist and hasn�t for centuries?�
The delicious irony tasted good to Lydecker and he ran his tongue over his teeth as the connotations of this echoed in his head.
�Do you understand, Otto?�
Mendez looked at him and decided on honesty. �I have a headache.�
Lydecker sighed. �Our denial will be taken as proof, not only that the Cult exists, but also that Manticore exists. It will also highlight that those who denied our existence have something to hide. The media attention will shift to the Cult and not on us and we will be free to bring the kids home.�
�Oh,� Mendez frowned. Really, there was something off with Lydecker�s reasoning.
�Maybe Bill has something for us,� Lydecker mused and walked away, leaving Mendez shaking his head in bewilderment.
>>>