Author: Restive Nature (aka Bavite)
Rated: up to NC-17
Disclaimer: All characters within this fiction are the property of Cameron/ Eglee. I just like to play with them.
Timeline: Sequel to Dream Within. Fiction starts about six weeks after FN.
Pairing M/A
Summary: Dreams don’t often come true for Manticore-bred soldiers. So when the chance comes along for Alec, he’s not quite sure how to take it.
Chapter Five
Hovering
“So what have you got for me, big man?” Alec asked jovially as he approached Dix at his usual work station. The other few that were also gathered around Dix’s work station glanced up. Mole, Luke and surprisingly Joshua, had all been discussing something in low tones while Dix had been fiddling. It had come to an abrupt halt when Alec arrived and he wasn’t immune to the curious looks they were giving him. But he just shrugged it off. It wasn’t like they were going to say anything to his face and he certainly didn’t feel up to cajoling or even threatening it out of them. He easily imagined that it had all been on their lips about how when there was a perceived threat, his first instinct had been to protect Max. And not himself.
He didn’t blame them for their interest in that. He’d been going over it in his head on his walk back from the perimeter fence after meeting Max’s acquaintance, Angelo Biondello. That had been a nice little interlude and a surprising one. It wasn’t really surprising to Alec. He knew that there were some ordinaries out there that were decent. He’d met and gotten to know a few. But to realize that a person could base their opinion of an entire species just by the actions of one member of that species was mind boggling. Especially when one counted that it was Max that Angelo was basing his opinion on. Although, if you factored in the idea that Angelo was convinced that Max had saved his life. Well, it almost made sense.
He glanced up at the open area of the second floor. Max had hared off to make a phone call after Angelo had left. Alec had assumed it was to arrange her little deal. Alec wasn’t so sure about this plan. It seemed just a tad bit harebrained to him. But he knew better than to openly criticize her by now. So instead, he’d just heaved a sigh and let her do what she was going to do. He was going to keep an eye on her for the next few days, making sure that she kept her promise of that morning. And so far, being in the space denoted as her office should be safe.
“It’s actually not that bad,” Dix spoke up finally, bringing Alec’s attention back to the other event of their day. He glanced down at the disabled hover drone that was lying on the desk. Dix had managed to figure out how to hook up the video feed to his own computer. Not that it took a Manticore genius. But with all the modifications and whatnot, they wanted to make sure that the video link was disabled before poking around. It would have been disastrous to allow the sector cops to get a look inside their headquarters.
Alec supposed that he must have looked slightly distracted as the others seemed to wait with bated breath for his approval to proceed. He gave a small jerk of his chin and Dix nodded happily, turning to look. The other transhuman poked at the keyboard and as one, the group turned to the video monitor set close by.
It wasn’t easy to figure out where the video footage started from. Especially since most transgenics liked to keep their feet on the ground. But there were a few occasions that some high-flying action was needed. But Alec found himself musing about how as a former bike messenger, he would have been the best bet to relay where the hover drone had been flying. But then, messenger’s tended to use street signs, addresses and permanent ground structures as landmarks. Not clotheslines, clouds and birds.
But finally, something did look familiar. He thought he recognized a building, a number of blocks away from the outskirts of Terminal City. It was an even less desired sector than what the rest of the city had degenerated to. He was curious about the sudden dip the hover drone took. But before he could even ask the question, Dix was ready with an answer.
“So from what I can gather, the hover drones are used in rotation,” he began. “Obviously, they can be damaged. I looked it over and it seems that this model needs a specific flight plan, which can then be altered remotely if need be by the controller or programmer.”
“Makes sense,” Mole conceded. “Damn things won’t do the ordinaries any good if it just flies aimlessly around.” There was a nodding consensus from everyone around the desk. There was no use, them getting upset about the damn things. They’d been around for long enough that most ordinaries, even if they didn’t like them, had gotten used to them. The transgenics had as well. After all, they were specifically trained in the art of stealth and getting by a little flying video camera was cake.
They continued to watch in silence as the hover drone footage showed it monitoring the local populace in its flight. Occasionally, it would halt in midair to take a closer scan of something. But as far as they could tell, it was nothing to interest them. But Alec was surprised to see the sudden lurch that the machine gave. He turned to Dix.
“What was that?” he demanded. Dix just gave him a pleased smile and grabbed from his desk, a small pebble and held it up for the other man to peruse.
“You saw those kids?” Luke offered. Alec nodded. That had been the last part of the video tape that was clear. Some children were... he hesitated to use the word playing. His first instinct was that they were up to some juvenile mischief. And by their swift movements to hide whatever they were doing, they were obviously aware that a hover drone was on to them. But since it was away from Terminal City, Alec didn’t really worry over it. It was a normal occurrence in the city and sadly, it seemed as if the less desirable criminal element was getting younger every day.
“Our theory,” Luke continued, gesturing to Dix and himself, “was that they weren’t too pleased about being taped. We think one or all of them were a little aggressive and uh, took it out on the drone.”
Ale knew he must have looked as though he hadn’t caught on immediately. Dix gestured again at the footage and Alec could see the rocky, jerky path the drone was taking.
“This was in the engine, disrupting the flight plan,” Dix explained, holding up the pebble again. He handed it to Alec. “You can see where the engine chipped off pieces of it as it worked its way through.” And indeed, Alec could see fresh pieces of stone under where the metal gears and pieces had sheared it away.
“Ah,” he nodded. He got it. A simple mistake that the creators probably hadn’t expected. After all, they wouldn’t expect rocks to be flying through the air in Seattle. Birds, yes, rain, most definitely. In protest or just general ordinary teenager way of thinking, they’d thrown stones at the damn thing. It was almost laughable that an ordinary kid had managed to lodge a rock in the machinery. Just one of those lucky coincidences. He turned his gaze back to the monitor. There was nothing discernible in the information. At times, the drone was partly upright, with a view of the buildings it passed, or it jerked another way, showing sky, ground or another building. And then the screen went blank.
“That’s when I blasted it,” Mole broke in, his very tone showing how overly pleased with himself that he was.
“Yes,” Luke agreed fervently. “It was an excellent shot.” Alec hid his smirk as he noticed Mole’s chest puffing up even more. “He got it right through the video lens. They got nothing about TC or anybody in here.”
“Well, that’s a relief,” Alec sighed. There was one less burden to worry about. Max would be glad to hear. And speaking of, he glanced up as he heard a door slam shut. As he’d expected, it was their fearless leader. She was moving swiftly along the catwalk, towards the stairs leading towards the lower area. Alec let his vision focus in on her face and was glad to see a faint trace of a smile on her face. So that meant that her phone call went well. He wasn’t sure if he was happy about that or not. After all, trusting that the publicity would work for them was a chancy thing.
Max was paused in her purposeful walk towards their group by an overeager Jiminy. He showed something to Max on a clipboard. Alec straightened up, unconsciously trying to see what she was looking at. Which was just plain silly, since she was still a good fifteen feet away and most especially, because the back of the clipboard was facing him. It was kind of hard to read those things when they were facing the other direction. Alec grunted, drawing the curious, speculating and all too knowing looks of those males amassed around him. But all he could do was roll his eyes. Let them speculate all they wanted. They would never figure out what was going through his mind. He knew this for the pure simple reason that even he couldn’t understand himself and the way his brain was wired some days.
After another moment pf conversation, Jiminy nodded and rushed off. And Max was able to continue her determined stride towards them. As she joined the group, it seemed to Alec that the others all gave them just a little more room, as if expecting an imminent attack.
“So did you get through to him?” Alec demanded, sure that she had. Why else would she have taken so long?
“I did,” she confirmed and then fell silent as she glanced curiously at the monitor which was still blank. She glanced at Dix, opening her mouth to ask something, but Alec was too quick for her.
“Well?” he demanded softly. “What did he say?”
Max glanced up at him, her eyes slightly unfocused, as far as a Transgenic could be unfocused anyway. “Oh,” she murmured, slightly shaking herself. She waved one hand dismissively. “He’s happy to do it. You know how he is. As eager as a big puppy dog.”
Alec heard the low chuckle behind them, knowing that it came from Joshua. This kind of irked him. How come Max was allowed to make dog references? Coming from anyone else, he’d be all snarls. But back to the matter at hand.
“I don’t know Max,” he sighed, running a tired hand through his hair. He scratched at the back of his neck. “Do you really think that Sketchy can pull off getting an interview?” But before she could answer, they turned at the choked, mangled half-curse uttered behind them.
“What?” Max demanded, fully in control of herself once again. But Alec could see, lurking underneath the surface of her smooth caramel colored skin, the hints of a grin.
Mole however, made no such effort to hide his derisive amusement. “You trust that ordinary?” he demanded. And before she could reply, he continued on. “I’d have thought you’d have Cale all over this type of thing.”
Max shrugged, noncommittally. “Normally I would have,” she admitted. And Alec found himself curious as to her reasoning why as well. It was an odd move to make. Logan had the connections, Eyes Only, the tendency to champion the underdogs. Which is what they were in a manner of speaking. It was them against the world.
“But instead you’re asking a JP messenger to do this instead?” Luke asked softly. The story of their daring hostage situation and escape, while having been played on the news repeatedly, had also been bandied about Terminal City by those who had been present. So while not everyone had met Logan, Cindy or Sketchy, everyone in TC knew who they were. “What makes you think he can do it?”
The question, while simple, Alec realized, was also a big step for Luke. He wasn’t designed by Manticore to challenge orders. He was made to follow them. Just as they all were. Yet, those like Luke and even Dix seemed to have been made with even less free will than the X’s and other transhumans.
“Instinct,” Max answered succinctly. The others all looked at her as if they were indulging her. The smile that had been threatening her face finally broke and she grinned at them all. Alec was surprised to see that she was taking this all so well. Normally, any perceived insolence was handled immediately and harshly. It wasn’t uncommon to hear Max screaming at the top of her lungs about ‘zero tolerance’. “Look at it this way,” she continued. “You’re right that normally, I’d want to filter this thing through Logan. But the problem is that he’s too closed off. Eyes Only is too mysterious, too quick a program to deal effectively with this plan. And, in case you haven’t noticed,” she lowered her tone conspiratorially, “he’s also getting a little preachy.” She glanced around and caught Alec’s eye. She smirked, as if about to impart some eternal wisdom. “And in case you haven’t noticed, ordinaries hate being preached at.”
“Unless of course they’re going to the actual licensed preachers,” Alec replied sardonically. Max shook her head.
“Even then,” she murmured, lifting one delicate shoulder. “Have you ever noticed the percentage of a congregation that actually snoozes rather than listen to a sermon?”
Alec opened his mouth to reply, but found that he couldn’t. After all, when had he spent time cataloguing the behavior of parishioners? “But anyways,” he shook his head. Best get back to the subject. “Do you really think Sketch can handle this? I mean, I love the guy as much as the next person, but really, we all know how reliable he is.”
“Pretty damn reliable,” Mole burst out. Surprised, they turned as one towards him. Mole glanced around at the others. Alec could see that he wasn’t shocked that they were reacting to his words as one might expect. In fact, he was sure that Mole was being deliberately shocking, going from the extreme of supreme suspicion to utter acceptance of an ordinary. So Alec relaxed himself. Really, ever since this whole debacle had started, months ago, he’d been just too tense.
“Yeah, he has been,” Max agreed with the lizard man amicably. She turned back towards the others. “As I said, we aren’t going through Logan on this one. Sketchy may not have the amount of experience that Logan does, but he has some. He works on the side for New World Weekly. It may be a rag, but at least he’s almost guaranteed to get HIS words out there.” They could all hear the stress of that specific word. And it was there that they understood the specifics of her choice.
Alec knew that Logan was getting too into the transgenic movement. Enough that he was alienating the general populace. And if Sketchy were to get his version, however outrageous it might be, into print form and out to the world, it would be an entirely different matter. Print was lasting. The words and reporter would be fresh to the public. Thinking on it now, Alec realized that if Sketchy could pull this off, it would be a coup for the trannies.
“So, you finally got it?” Max questioned lightly. Her words had been to the group at large, as Alec noticed them all nodding in agreement, but her eyes were centered on him. He grinned sheepishly, and then glanced away. And his eyes fell directly on Jiminy, hurrying towards their group, his face serious and intent.
“Max!” he called. The rest of the group turned the same direction of the wiry, energetic X. He wasted no time, but jerked his thumb over his shoulder. “Incoming!”
Chapter Six
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