Deceptions: Chapter 2

Chapter Two

Anger and agony
Are better than misery
Trust me I’ve got a plan
When the lights go off you will understand
~ ‘Pain’, Three Days Grace

Stupid, fucking Ordinaries. Quinn snorted derisively. With all the hype in the news about transgenic capabilities, he’d figured they would have known better. Axel was under police guard until he was healed enough to transfer to a private government facility for testing. The Ordinaries were clearly underestimating the transgenics’ determination and loyalty and didn’t expect a rescue attempt to be pulled off right under their noses. This’ll be a cinch. The hospital room Axel occupied was guarded from the outside, leaving their chosen infiltration route unobstructed. According to Alec, the guard was due to check in on Axel in the next couple minutes. Quinn motioned to Jake to follow as he successfully removed the metal grate of the air vent and dropped soundlessly to the floor. They quickly took up positions and waited.

Alec, Lianna and CeCe monitored the hallway to ascertain the guard rotations. There were two policemen watching the door at all times. Just like a bad, pre-Pulse TV show, he thought with a grin. One old, working on crossword puzzles and sipping coffee, and the other young, smiling flirtatiously at the nurses and jumping up and down with pent-up nervous energy, tossing annoying comments to his older partner who grumbled in irritation.

CeCe nudged Alec’s arm. “You said ten minutes, right? ‘Cause I don’t know if I’ll be able to take too much of…that.”

Alec chuckled, noticing her shiver of revulsion at the idea of ‘distracting’ the young guard. “I’m sure you’ll be fine. Just let him cop a feel. We’ll have Axel out of here in no time and then I’ll buy you a drink to help you forget all about it.”

“Easy for you to say,” she muttered and he laughed outright. Turning to glare at him, she jabbed a finger in his chest. “What if our situations were reversed and it was you and Normal? How would you feel about letting him ‘cop a feel’?”

Alec cringed and shuddered. “Point taken. Ce, you’re our best shot. C’mon, I’ll make it up to you.”

“Damn straight,” she replied testily, rising to her feet and adjusting her clothes. She was dressed to seduce and even Alec couldn’t resist running his eyes over her revealing attire. Catching his smirk, she grit her teeth and straightened her shoulders before starting down the hall towards the policemen.

Right on schedule. The older of the two men stepped into Axel’s room to check on their prisoner, leaving the other man alone. He watched as CeCe successfully lured the younger cop into an empty room. Alec rushed to reach the lab on the other side of the building, knowing that time was limited. He was relieved to find Lianna inside, two lab techs out cold and stashed behind a tall cabinet.

Alec quickly scanned the vials and tubes on the desk. The table was littered with them, scattered haphazardly in all directions. He assumed the scuffle with Lianna caused the mess, and was thankful nothing had broken. Cleaning up physical evidence would have been that much harder.

He kept looking. Time was of the essence and he still couldn’t find Axel’s blood samples. Shit. Where the hell are- His eyes fell on the microscope set at the far end of the worktop. Bingo! Scooping up the vials, the slides that sandwiched his friend’s blood and the note pad with scientific scrawling, he tossed them into his pack. Alec then hurried to wipe down the surfaces.

Lianna, meanwhile, was searching the computer for information on Axel. After several ineffective tries, she cursed her stupidity. She quickly entered a command and was surprised when two files appeared as opposed to one. She hadn’t been aware that any other transgenics had been treated at Harbour Lights.

“Alec, take a look at this,” she said, beckoning him with her finger and pointing to the screen. He closed the small distance and peered over her shoulder.

“Huh. We don’t have time to analyze that right now. Gimme the file numbers so I can pull the hard copies and wipe the evidence from the computer. We’ve gotta go, now.”

CeCe was trying her best to swallow her disgust as the young guard ran his hands eagerly over her body. Stifling a gag when he lay slobbering kisses over her mouth, she reluctantly moved her arms up and down his back, pulling him as close as she could manage without screaming.

I’m so gonna kill you for this, Alec!

Her heightened hearing caught the muffled sounds from across the hall. When silence fell again, she knew Jake and Quinn had been successful. Moments later, she heard the door open and close.

Trailing her fingers up either side of the man’s neck, she wrapped them lightly around and leaned in as if to kiss him. He closed his eyes in anticipation, mouth pursed slightly. But the kiss never came. Instead, ragged gasping breaths escaped his lips until finally, he went limp beneath her hands. Dropping his deadweight to the floor, she muttered darkly. “When you come to, I hope you get an ass kicking from your superiors. God knows I’d do it myself if I had the time!” Wiping the back of her hand across her lips, she shuddered in remembrance of his saliva-slick mouth slabbering over her face.

Quietly exiting the room, she faced the three X5s. Quinn and Jake were supporting Axel, now dressed in the disguise they’d brought with them. A torn t-shirt saturated with whisky, worn jeans, sneakers and a baseball cap. The stench rolling off the unconscious transgenic was drawing attention. CeCe took matters into her own hands and slipped into the role easily, turning to yell at Jake and Quinn and drawing all eyes to her loud words and wildly gesturing hands.

“You bastards! He swore he wouldn’t go drinking. But noooo! You guys had to change his mind. Were you trying to get him killed? And what do I get for all this? Hours in the hospital waiting to see if he was gonna die of alcohol poisoning and leave me knocked up and alone!” she raged, shaking her fists at the two X5s who were trying to keep from smiling. “Goddamn men! Fucking useless!” she hissed.

CeCe was very convincing; more than a few women were murmuring their condolences and agreement. A few bystanders recoiled from the intensity of her outburst and cleared the way for the foursome, allowing unhindered passage right out of the hospital.

“Smart thinking there, Ce,” Jake commented after a few long minutes of silence.

“Had a little pent-up anger that needed releasing,” she grumbled.

“That bad?” Quinn teased, shifting Axel’s heavy frame more comfortably on his shoulder.

“Alec owes me so big that his great, great grandchildren will be knee-deep in debt,” she replied sourly.

“That bad,” Jake acceded with a knowing smile. CeCe would have hit him if not for the fact that he was supporting half of Axel’s weight.

The moment of levity had passed and the three transgenics fell into an uneasy silence.

When they were a safe distance from the hospital, they made their way to the predetermined rally point where Lianna and Alec were waiting. Hoisting Axel up into the van, they gently laid him down. Kat went to work examining his injuries and setting up an IV drip.

“Will he be okay?” Mole asked over his shoulder as he started the engine.

The assembly of soldiers turned faces creased with worry to Kat. She sighed heavily.

“I don’t know. I won’t know until I can properly assess the damage and with the way he’s been handled and Mole’s driving…” her voice trailed off. Nodding at Alec she suggested, “You might want to call Mena.”

Max had spent the better part of the last two weeks in her office within Terminal City. The inhabitants of the toxic waste site kept their distance, sensing her distress and pain. The anguished eyes ringed by dark circles, the perpetually sagging shoulders and the defeated air that surrounded her made them hesitant to approach her. It didn’t stop the speculation though.

They thought she’d fought with Logan and had taken time out from their relationship to lick her wounds away from the nosy Ordinary. She didn’t bother to correct them. When Logan called looking for her, he was told that she would contact him when she was ready, that she was dealing with issues she wished to keep to herself. He tried relentlessly to get through to her but to no avail, and finally he gave up altogether.

Her door was always shut and faint sounds of hiccups and sniffling could be heard through the thin walls of her office. Max had only left her office once since she’d holed up in there ten days prior. Joshua brought her food regularly but the trays were often left untouched. By the middle of the second week, the transgenics decided something needed to be done.  They put the task to Alec, who’d been her closest friend. Even though their relationship had been terribly strained over the last year, he was still the most likely candidate to shake her from her funk.

Alec had been tempted to go to her earlier, especially after Lianna relayed Max’s initial reaction to his inquiry.

“Max, Alec asked me to inform you that the team sent to retrieve Axel is back. Went off without a hitch. We got all the files and physical evidence. The mission was a success.”

Max had been worried about Axel and wished she’d been able to help with the rescue. Her heat had finished not long after the team went out and she’d gone to her office to do some work, take her mind off things.

“How’s he doing?”

“Kat says he’ll recover. Mena was fit to kill, as you can imagine.” Max looked up in alarm. “Don’t worry, even though most of us would love to get our revenge, Alec talked them out of doing anything stupid.”

Max was relieved that Axel was alive and on the road to recovery. And she was glad that Alec had things under control. But then again, he always did. She smiled and offered thanks to Lianna and returned to the pile of paperwork spread out before her. She noticed that Lianna hadn’t made a move to leave and glanced up at her with questioning eyes.

“Is there something else you wanted?” she asked.

“Alec gave me this file to give to you. He wants to know if you were aware of any female X5s that were treated by Dr. Carr last year. We found a Jane Doe with X5 specific DNA markers, but none of the information seems familiar.” She slid a thin folder across the surface of the desk.

Max frowned, deep in thought. The only female X5 she knew of that had any connection to Carr was herself, and it was highly unlikely that her information would be on file at the hospital. Sam Carr knew what was what and he wouldn’t risk exposing her like that.

Flipping the file open, Max scanned the pages quickly, gasping when she came to a particular printout. Her face drained of color and she dropped the folder, pages scattering over the floor. Her mouth opened to form words that tumbled forth too quietly for even Lianna to grasp. But her lip reading skills didn’t fail her.

‘It can’t be. It’s not true. It can’t be true. God, no. No.’

Lianna’s brow furrowed as she watched her friend’s lips move. She noted the pallor of Max’s skin and her unfocused gaze transfixed on a far wall over her shoulder. She bent down to retrieve the documents Max had dropped. She skimmed them, trying to discern the reason for Max’s apparent shock and almost incoherent mumbling.

The page consisted of lab test results and a recommendation, and was stamped ‘Original’. The printed red words caught Lianna’s eye and she peered closer.

‘Patient has been cleared of all traces of genetic defects or mutation. All concerns regarding her ability to conceive were unwarranted.’

Lianna was about to ask Max if she was alright of if she could bring her some water, something to bring the color back to her face, when she heard Max whisper pleadingly, “I need to be alone.”

Dipping her head in acknowledgement of the other woman’s request for privacy, Lianna placed the rest of the paperwork on Max’s desk and slowly made her way out of the office, pulling the door quietly closed behind her.

Alec had wondered at Lianna’s revelation. It wasn’t their business to pry, but she thought he might like to know why Max refused to step foot out of her office or receive any visitors.

He wondered if Max and Logan had been trying for a family and almost choked on the thought. He may have moved on, was even happy with Hailey and thankful for his son, but nothing had yet eased the pain of losing Max. And the thought of her having children with Logan was something he wasn’t ready to deal with.

Given her reaction, Alec now knew that the documents he and Lianna had stolen from the hospital were hers, and that they clearly contained bad news. What he didn’t know was why it upset her so much. The situation bordered on ridiculous and he refused to let her wallow any longer.

Alec took a deep breath and knocked on Max’s door.