Dark Angel Fic: Music of the HEART (Part-3)- DA Reverse Bang
Art Title: Music of the HEART
Artist:
nanoks (all the love to you Hun for being an awesome artist and an awesomest(This word should totally exist!) partner)
Link to the Art Masterpost: Shower your love here!
Rating/Warnings:PG, None
Fic Title: Music of the HEART
Author: dollysdoodles
Beta- Reader: dollarformyname (Did I tell you I totally love you for helping me out even when you were so busy? You are the best!)
Parings/Characters: Max/Alec, Ames White, Senator James McKinley, Joshua, Detective Clemente, Dix ... yada yada yada
Rating/Warnings:PG, None
Word Count:~14,000
Summary:it’s a melody Alec can’t get out of his head-a song that was programmed in him. It is a song that is classically elegant, and lethal, one that may put Max’s life in danger.
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Part I
Part II
“It’s almost over, Desmond. You have done well. I’m sending all the hover drones we have towards TC, it’s time for the final battle. Do your part well. Feno’s to’l.”
“Feno’s to’l.
Ramon looked up from his position towards the transgenic that had captured him. For the last five minutes he had been talking to White on some sort of derelict communicating device. There was too much static for him to clearly understand what those two were talking about, but he had recognized White’s voice easily. They had been talking about some transgenic who was under their control and was deployed to hunt X5-452. Max. Also, Desmond was talking about the central building’s basement being the place they were looking for. Ramon was pretty sure that the basement of this building was the place where those contraptions this Desmond guy had been talking about earlier were present.
He had understood three things, one, Max was in danger, that too from some person second in her command, second, Agent White and Senator James McKinley were responsible for a lot of things that were being blamed on the transgenics, and third, there was some kind of weapon in the basement of a building here at TC that White wanted destroyed badly.
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When the hover drone’s bullet hit him, Alec staggered. For a moment he felt the excruciating pain as blood seeped through the bullet wound on his side. Briefly, he realized there was something foreign inside him, for a moment the fear of being controlled gripped him, for a moment he felt the horror of trying to kill Max, for a moment he felt the horror of succeeding in actually killing her.
Then, the faint thrumming was back and all those things were wiped from his head.
The music went up another note, becoming more demanding, crueler, and more painful. Somewhere inside him, he felt extreme pain; somewhere inside, Alec tried to fight it off; somewhere inside, Alec lost that battle as the music overwhelmed him.
He straightened up and looked in Max’s direction. She wasn’t there. Maybe, he had successfully hit his mark.
A cruel smile tugged at 494’s lips.
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The hover drones had suddenly grown silent. The transgenics trapped inside the building should have felt some sense of relief at that--those ugly things were no longer firing at them. Instead, they felt extreme horror as they saw one of their own shooting another.
Alec had been second in command since TC was turned into transgenic central. He had good instincts and a talent for strategizing. He was also one of the only people still cracking jokes and keeping up morale as more and more of them took refuge in TC after running for their lives for so long.
Now, seeing the same guy aiming a gun at their leader, stunned everyone into silence. If it had been someone else, half of them would have leaped forward and knocked the gun out of his hands before he could even think of pulling the damn trigger.
But it was Alec, the one guy everyone collectively trusted. It didn’t matter if he fought with Logan and Max every now and then, didn’t matter if he got on everyone’s nerves, didn’t matter if half of them had already threatened to kick his ass. He was still the guy everyone trusted. And now, seeing this one guy going all postal on them, the transgenics were left too stunned to even react.
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Max would have been dead if Joshua hadn’t moved her out of the way at the last minute. The bullet hit the c-32 processors behind her and caused a small explosion. Bits of smoldering plastic and flecks of other electronic equipment scattered everywhere in a cloud of grey smoke.
Fear for several people gripped Max’s heart. Was Joshua okay? Original Cindy was propped against the ledge right behind those stacked computers. Was she hurt? And Alec. Oh, god, Alec, what have you done?
She raised her head a little bit to look around. The firing had stopped, the annoying buzzing sound from the hover drones no longer filled the room. Alec was still down there, leaning on some sort of upturned table, his features contorted in pain (and maybe fear?) as he held his stomach with his right hand. It was covered in blood. With increasing dread, Max realized Alec had been shot.
Then she noted the other transgenics, most of whom hem were too stunned to even move, but a few dozen of them had started to recover from the shock and were now pointing their weapons at Alec.
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“Is she dead or not? Really, Otto, how difficult is it to locate a dead transgenic when you have about a dozen cameras stationed around the damn building.”
“We can’t see her, sir but she is most likely is dead. X5-494 did fire at her.”
“You should not underestimate her capability to survive. Still, we don’t have any time left. You have footage of Alec firing at Max? That means everyone who was in that building saw it too. Our work is done. Send all the hover drones in, turn this into a full attack. Right now, the transgenics are most vulnerable. I’m sending Desmond in to clear our last hurdle.”
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Ramon saw his captor move out of the room, and knew this was his chance. He needed to get out of here and try his best to contact his department. He had no idea what Agent White and the senator were cooking up, but whatever it was, it was bound to be disastrous.
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Max wasn’t dead. Someone had pushed her out of his bullet’s way.
Alec raised his gun again, not even wincing as the table’s edge bumped into his wound. From corner of his eye, he saw several of his fellow transgenics aiming weapons at him. He lowered his pistol.
This was not good. He wouldn’t be able to take another shot at his target if he was surrounded this way. He had to kill her fast, the music called for her death, the pressure at the back of his neck increasing every passing second. He needed to change tactics.
For a moment, he diverted his attention from Max, from the target he needed to eliminate so desperately, and focused it on his bullet wound. Excruciating pain ripped through him, and his legs gave out. Beads of sweat broke out on his face and he let out a guttural cry of pain.
He could feel the confusion building around him. Most of these people had been his friends, and they must have been shocked to see him trying to kill Max.
All that they needed right now was a reason to believe that whatever they saw a few minutes back wasn’t real.
“Max. Sorry, there was someone behind you. Not a transgenic, I thought…” Those were the only words Alec could manage before making a show of passing out on the floor.
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Something was wrong with Alec, and no, she wasn’t referring to the bullet currently embedded in his guts. It was something else. The coldness in his eyes didn’t belong to the Alec she knew and right now, the way he clutched his stomach and moaned in pain, it all seemed so fake. He was putting on a really good performance, but it was just that… a performance. What the hell was happening to him?
She could see that the transgenics around her were buying it. Most of them were already lowering their weapons, some of them were even moving forward to come and help Alec. Max got up from where she had fallen down when Josh had tackled her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Alec tightening his grip on his gun and a sudden realization hit her. Alec was going to take another shot at her as soon as the transgenics surrounding him let down their guard.
“Stop right there. Guys, don’t lower your weapons, We’re surrounded by killer machines, remember? Not to mention, according to Alec, there is an imposter among us. We need to be on our guard. Any sudden movements and we need to pull the triggers, got it?”
Everyone nodded, but she could see some of them, Alec’s closest friends, Dix and Freeze, itching to go help him. She backed up a little from the staircase and asked Joshua to go down and bring Alec. Performance or not, he Alec needed medical attention immediately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Desmond was the most recent addition to the Phalanx, the most esteemed group of warriors of White’s cult. Desmond was vicious and once he set his eyes on a target, there was nothing that could stop him.
White had sent him to TC to pose as a transgenic soldier a couple of weeks ago. Desmond had been the one passing on inside information about the defense strategies being used by the transgenics and much more. That had helped White to design his attack.
Now, the only road blocks in his path were the rigged contraptions some transgenic named Dix had constructed inside that dammed building. Those things could lock frequency of devices producing static electricity and then with a huge magnetic pulse (much similar to the pulse that destroyed the world over a decade ago) could destroy those devices.
If somehow, these contraptions could be destroyed, there was no stopping White. This was Desmond’s final assignment. He had to destroy those contraptions.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alec felt himself being lifted up from the ground, and the sudden elevation made his stomach roll with nausea. Even so, he managed to stay still and keep his eyes closed as Joshua dragged him up the stairs.
Max was way too clever for his liking. Killing her wasn’t going to be easy.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Mole had almost booted Dix’s contraption in the basement. He just needed to give the command and these things would generate a magnetic pulse so high, those hover drones wouldn’t stand a chance against them.
When Alec had asked him to go down the basement and turn the contraptions on, he had told him about his suspicions of this attack being a distraction for something bigger. Mole trusted Alec’s instincts with his life. He and Dix had thought about using these contraptions earlier, but the total number of hover drones surrounding the building was barely a dozen, and according to Dix, The static electricity being produces by them wouldn’t be enough to generate a magnetic pulse of the required magnitude.
But if Alec was right and there was going to be another attack, a massive one this time, then, these contraptions might be the only things that could save their lives.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~`
Mole didn’t even realise when Desmond came up behind him. The guy was just there, wrapping his arms around his neck and doing his best to strangle him.
For a moment, Mole panicked. Breathing was something very important, he had learnt that the hard way when he had been trapped in an underground mine, back at Manticore, years ago. As all air left his lungs, Mole felt panic rise inside of him and for few seconds there was nothing but naked fear and desperation spoke to him. Then, a faint and all-too-familiar sound reached his ears. The thrumming of the hover drones. They were approaching the city--this time, in large numbers.
Adrenaline surged through his veins as Mole twisted himself and attacked his assailant with brute force. The guy stumbled, taken aback by Mole’s sudden movement. Mole knew the kid: he was the latest addition to their transgenic population, looked like, they had an imposter at their hands.
Without wasting another second, Mole kicked his jaw back between his ears and without giving him even a second to recover, he nailed him in his solar plexus. That should have done the trick, that should have knocked this guy out for good, it didn’t.
With a grace Mole would have thought impossible even if the guy were a transgenic, the boy stood right back up and punched Mole in the face. Mole staggered a step or two, enduring blow after blow, until he doubled over and was having difficulty sucking in even a single breath.
Somewhere above, the sounds of gunfire and mini explosions filled the air.
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Alec felt himself being propped up against the wall. Joshua squeezed the pistol out of his hand but Alec didn’t protest. It wouldn’t have done any good. Someone was kneeling beside him, pressing a piece of cloth against the gunshot wound to slow down the bleeding, Alec winced when more pain jolted through his body.
He didn’t open his eyes; opening them made the music louder and at this point, those sounds were making it difficult for him to even breathe. They had become too demanding. Alec needed to take action, he needed to complete his mission, he needed to kill Max and he needed to do it fast.
Forcing himself to open his eyes, Alec looked around himself. He was somewhere in the back of the upstairs room. Gem was kneeling beside him administering first aid. There were a few other people present, but most of them were slumped over couches or on the floor and hardly any of them seemed to be conscious. Dalton was attending to another girl at other end of the room. Alec couldn’t clearly see her face, but from the mop of bushy hair around her head, he had pretty good idea who she was.
Shouldn’t he feel some sort of sadness or worry? Original Cindy had been one of his first friends at Jam Pony’s office, even before he and Max had been able to stand in the same room at the same time without pulling each other’s hairs off.
Uneasiness crept over him. Somewhere inside him he knew this was wrong, he knew this was not how he was supposed to act. Alec brushed the uneasiness aside. Right now, the only thing he did want to do was whatever the music wanted him to do, so that he could finally get rid of this torturous cacophony in his head.
With that thought, Alec locked eyes with Max.
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Max felt the dread building inside of her. Something was terribly wrong with Alec.
For one, there hadn’t been any traitor standing behind Max when Alec shot at her, supposedly trying to save her bacon. Alec had tried to shoot her, and, for the life of her, Max couldn’t figure out why.
When Joshua propped him against the wall at the back of the room, Alec didn’t open his eyes, his face pinched in anguish.
Alec winced when Gem pressed a cloth to his side to slow down the bleeding. His eyes fluttered open and he scanned the room once, before he fixed her with a cold stare.
Something broke inside her then. This wasn’t Alec. He had never looked at anybody like that, let alone her. He had always tried to portray himself as an indifferent person, but his eyes never supported that portrayal.
Unbearable loud screeches filled the room just then and someone screamed downstairs. Max looked outside the window and saw several hundred of HDs bearing down on them.
A split second later, shots were fired.
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As the city fell under attack, Detective Clemente had many near misses as he bumbled his way towards the basement. Transgenics were running around, trying their best to take cover in nearby trenches or behind barracks. Smoke clouds from various explosions rendered his surroundings invisible.
It was hell difficult finding a cover, trying his best to dodge bullets and explosives with his recently relocated shoulder aching the way it was. But somehow, Ramon managed it.
He also managed to convince a few X5’s he bumped into along the way, to come with him and help eradicate a certain impostor transgenic currently trying his best to destroy their last hope at survival.
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Shrapnel flew in every direction as tons of bullets were fired and explosives hurtled all over TC simultaneously. This was going to be a short attack. If the transgenics were unable to do something soon, like really really soon, Terminal City would be washed in blood and gore within moments.
The soldiers trapped inside were fast. Many of them were able to take cover almost as soon as the onslaught began. Those who knew about the magnetic pulse-generating contraption inside that very building’s basement tried to make their way towards it. They weren’t so lucky.
Max watched in horror, as transgenic after transgenic fell motionless to the ground.
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Max’s first thought was to transfer the already injured people inside the building. She saw Joshua carrying OC in his arms and settling her behind an upturned couch at the back of the room.
She moved towards Dalton to help him with another of the injured when the wooden panel below her feet gave out. She experienced a moment of free fall before she was able to catch herself on something. It was someone’s hand.
Alec’s fractured right hand.
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When the firing started, Gem inadvertently pressed the cloth against Alec’s wound harder than necessary, eliciting a groan from him as his fists clenched in pain.
This sudden bout of anguish brought a moment of clarity for Alec. In that instant, he knew what Manticore had done to him, he remembered being operated upon and getting fitted with a chip. They hadn’t administered any anesthesia before performing the procedure on him just for the purpose of torturing him, but had used shock treatment later on to make him forget.
Whatever they had embedded inside him, was responsible for what was happening to him right now. In that instant, he knew someone had found out about it. Someone had found a way to control this contraption and that very someone had given him a command to eliminate Max. Even if he tried, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold onto this moment of clarity, not for much longer. And then, like a pawn in the hands of their enemy, he would do his best to kill Max.
He needed to warn her while he could.
Holding back a scream, Alec managed to stand supporting himself with the upturned corroded iron desk next to him. Dark spots marked his vision and he had to blink several times before he was able to clear them away and look around the room to find Max.
She was standing right in front of him, about to plummet to her death, as the wooden panels beneath her feet caved in.
Alec lurched forward, and caught hold of her hand.
When another wave of nauseating pain hit him hard, he realised he should have used his left hand instead of his broken right one. Fighting back a groan, Alec put in every ounce of energy he had left in pulling Max up to safety.
When they both were back on the sturdier section of the floor, Alec almost gave up his fight with consciousness and blacked out, but Max shook him roughly. He tried swatting her hands away. Couldn’t she just let him sleep for few minutes? She was so bossy all the time!
“Alec no, wake up, wake up, dammit! We need to move from here.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A red button. A fucking red button that was barely a few meters away from him was all that Mole needed to press in order to save his entire city and he was not able to do that. Could things get any more pathetic?
Mole wasn’t sure about many things, but he knew this with hundred percent clarity. This Desmond guy, the one they all had welcomed inside their city like a bunch of total idiots was a member of White’s cult.
He sort of had super human powers, more advanced than the last pack of cult warriors he had fought against. Not only that, this guy also possessed the power of throwing him around the room with his brain. Nice surprise, he’d say.
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Max was highly confused. What the hell was happening today? One second, Alec was this total stranger with cruel eyes, aiming a gun at her. The next second, he was hurtling down a crumbling floor, just to save her from falling to her death. Had this guy fallen on his head way too many times?
Also, to spice everything up, they were losing the battle. The amount of blood on the floor, the unmoving bodies of those getting hit was something that skewered at Max’s heart. Still, she found a way to continue, even if their end was near, she would go down fighting, taking as many sons of bitches down with herself as she could.
Problem was, there weren’t many SOB’s around to kill. They had conveniently sent out their lifeless killing machines to wipe out the transgenics.
When Alec had saved her from falling down to her death and then almost passed out in the process, she had somehow managed to make him stay awake long enough to be able to move away from the dangerous spot and take cover behind a barrack of corroded empty metallic cylinders.
Now, she was doing her best to aim at the killing machines and take down as many as she could before getting killed herself. She had tried to make a run for the basement to start the contraptions that would have generated the magnetic pulse but Alec had stopped her. He had informed her in a barely audible voice about sending Mole down there to start the thing. He also reminded her if she so much as tried to put a foot outside this dammed building, she was dead meat.
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The music was starting once again, its insanely exacting notes making it barely possible for Alec to pull in another breath. Still, he tried to fight against them and not give in to the sudden and very insistent desire he felt to pick up one of the glass shards scattered around his feet and stab Max in her heart with it.
He knew he would lose the battle, he knew he had mere seconds, before he actually picked up a shard and killed her.
“Max get away from me, or kill me. Please.”
“What?”
“I know you’re not going to believe me, but something’s controlling me, and its forcing me to kill you. I can’t fight it much longer. You have to get away.”
“Alec, what the hell are you--”
“Maxie, Manticore cooked this thing, and I don’t know who’s pulling the strings, but you really need to get away from me.”
The insistent and torturous music playing inside his head suddenly spiked and with an agonizing cry Alec gave in to the murderous desire, picked up the glass shard and, with one swift motion, stabbed Max with it.
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Max saw the coldness return to Alec’s eyes as he screamed in pain. She knew what was going to happen a split second before it actually did. She moved out of the way as quickly as she could. The glass barely nicked her but Max scrambled backwards to put as much distance between herself and her friend-turned-attacker as she could. Something crashed behind her making it almost impossible for her to move in either direction. With dread, she realized she was cornered.
Whatever this thing was that wanted Alec to kill her, it was going to succeed now.
Max didn’t feel the fear of her own impending death. With this attack on TC she was going to die anyway.
But she felt the dread Alec was feeling right before giving in to this foreign desire controlling him. He had seemed so helpless in those few seconds and that made Max furious.
Alec didn’t deserve it. Even if they were going to die, it shouldn’t end like this.
She saw Alec crawling towards her, actually, he was sort of crawling towards her, trying his best to avoid any more bullets that might be coming his way. There wasn’t any gun in his hands, just some really long pieces of glass shards.
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Max had a gun; she could use it to save her life. Alec wasn’t himself and with the bullet wound he had received earlier, he might not be able to even survive this. She should just fire at him, and put him out of his misery. Didn’t matter if her heart would shatter into a hundred pieces at that act, it was the right thing to do.
She should do it, she had to do it. Alec would never want this happening to him, he’d rather die.
Max couldn’t do it.
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The music’s finally started to fade. Now that Alec was doing what it wanted him to do, it wasn’t tormenting him like before and somewhere inside, Alec felt the horribleness of it.
Max was trapped, so two things could happen: he could stab her, or she could shoot him. Either way, Alec would soon be free of the wretched music in his head and that was a sweet deal.
He saw her hoist her gun a little higher as she aimed at him, her face filled with anguish, and he knew she didn’t want to fire.
Alec needed to use this to his advantage.
Barely caring about this bleeding stomach and his throbbing head, Alec moved in Max’s direction too fast.
He was going to kill her and finish his assignment. He was finally going to make the music stop.
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Max lowered her gun as she saw Alec lunging towards her. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain that would accompany the glass shard piercing her heart.
The pain never came.
She felt Alec’s labored breathing on her neck for a few seconds before she opened her eyes and saw him collapsing on the floor. The glass shard was embedded in the mouldy couch upturned behind her, missing her heart by a few inches.
A sense of déjà vu filled Max as she saw the glass shard on her left side. Alec had tried to kill Max once before too. He hadn’t been able to do that even then, and had ended up plunging his knife in the grass few inches away from her.
Alec had tried killing her again today and he had not been able to go through with it.
Dread filled her as she knelt beside him and felt his pulse. She couldn’t find any.
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It was in that last second before plunging the glass shard into Max’s heart that Alec regained control. He had never before killed one of his own and he wouldn’t ever be able to do that, especially not Max.
Max was the one human being he had started caring for and getting attached to unknowingly. Didn’t matter if he was currently being controlled by some computerized contraption cooked in Manticore’s sterilized labs. Even those sucky things couldn’t make him kill the girl he cared about, the girl that had made him unconsciously love again.
He was already responsible for Rachel’s death--being responsible for Max’s last breath was something he couldn’t bear.
So he plunged his weapon into the upturned couch behind her and pain of the music engulf him.
As the blackness took him, he didn’t even feel the impact of hitting the floor.
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“No no no, Alec, come on, wake up. Alec.”
She pressed her fingers against the crook of his neck, trying desperately to find a pulse.
“No, no no, this couldn’t be happening. Alec! no not Alec.”
With a jolt she realised, Alec might not be the only casualty of this war. She had no idea what had happened to OC or Sketchy or Gem or Dix or Mole…. Or Logan or Joshua. Any or all of them could be dead.
Max felt helplessness like never before. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t let them die, she couldn’t let Alec die.
She started administering CPR and even though somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew it won’t do any good, she couldn’t make herself stop.
A loud gong interrupted her useless attempts at saving Alec, the buzzing of the HDs had stopped altogether and one after another she saw all of them crashing down to the ground.
Someone had been successful in generating that magnetic pulse. The attack on TC was over.
But for the life of her, Max couldn’t feel any sort of relief at that, not until she heard Alec gasp and suck in a rough breath as his body arched upward. Alec’s eyes fluttered open and within seconds he was coughing his lungs out.
Max sighed in relief.
He was okay, he was going to be okay.
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Alec heard his name being called again and again, but he really was unable to respond back. The voice sounded so far away and the darkness surrounding him made it impossible for him to even think about anything other than sleeping.
Was someone shaking him? Why wouldn’t they just let him sleep! The horrible music had finally stopped for Christ’s sake! He wanted to sleep.
“No, no no this couldn’t be happening. Alec! No not Alec.”
Alec’s heart broke at the pain in the voice. Maybe he should postpone his sleep for few more minutes and answer back? Alec tried finding his voice but couldn’t. He tried blinking his eyes open but they seemed to be sealed shut. He tried moving his damn finger but he couldn’t.
What was… was he dead? This didn’t seem that bad. Except for that pain-filled voice calling him back.
Something happened in that instant. He felt as if his body was suddenly plunged into very cold water. He felt his muscles going rigid and his body arching upwards the cold water splashed him back into consciousness. The shock of it was too much and Alec involuntarily sucked in air. It made him gasp and sputter and cough his lungs out.
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EPILOGUE
It seemed like the whole transgenic population owed their lives to Detective Ramon Clemente.
Mole told everyone about how Ramon and few other transgenics entered the basement in time to help him kill that Desmond guy. If it hadn’t been for them, Mole would never have been able to press the damn button and crash the killer hover drones.
Not only that, Ramon had also contacted his department and informed everyone about the senator’s and Agent White’s true motivations. He had offered all the proof he could to support his accusations against both White and James. Not everyone was convinced but at least they had backed off for now.
There were casualties, about a dozen of them. Freeze and Dalton lost their lives to the ambush and so did twelve other transgenics. Max couldn’t bear to even think about them after it was all over. Their deaths were just too painful and weighed heavily on everyone’s heart.
Apart from those who lost their lives, several others barely made it. Original Cindy was one of them and so was Alec.
It seemed like some sort of hover drone was responsible for sending signals to the implant inside him and the magnetic pulse broke this connection and short circuited the chip.
So, Alec made it out alive, even after the whole controlling chip fiasco, the bullet wound, extreme blood loss and severe infection.
Max couldn’t have asked for anything more.
There was still some sort of awkwardness between them. They barely looked at each other and hardly talked and yet, they were more aware of each other’s presence than ever before.
Whatever it was between them, it was much more than just friendship and, sure, they might take some time accepting that, but sooner rather than later, they would.
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Artist:
nanoks (all the love to you Hun for being an awesome artist and an awesomest(This word should totally exist!) partner)
Link to the Art Masterpost: Shower your love here!
Rating/Warnings:PG, None
Fic Title: Music of the HEART
Author: dollysdoodles
Beta- Reader: dollarformyname (Did I tell you I totally love you for helping me out even when you were so busy? You are the best!)
Parings/Characters: Max/Alec, Ames White, Senator James McKinley, Joshua, Detective Clemente, Dix ... yada yada yada
Rating/Warnings:PG, None
Word Count:~14,000
Summary:it’s a melody Alec can’t get out of his head-a song that was programmed in him. It is a song that is classically elegant, and lethal, one that may put Max’s life in danger.
CTRL + Q to Enable/Disable GoPhoto.it
Part I
Part II
“It’s almost over, Desmond. You have done well. I’m sending all the hover drones we have towards TC, it’s time for the final battle. Do your part well. Feno’s to’l.”
“Feno’s to’l.
Ramon looked up from his position towards the transgenic that had captured him. For the last five minutes he had been talking to White on some sort of derelict communicating device. There was too much static for him to clearly understand what those two were talking about, but he had recognized White’s voice easily. They had been talking about some transgenic who was under their control and was deployed to hunt X5-452. Max. Also, Desmond was talking about the central building’s basement being the place they were looking for. Ramon was pretty sure that the basement of this building was the place where those contraptions this Desmond guy had been talking about earlier were present.
He had understood three things, one, Max was in danger, that too from some person second in her command, second, Agent White and Senator James McKinley were responsible for a lot of things that were being blamed on the transgenics, and third, there was some kind of weapon in the basement of a building here at TC that White wanted destroyed badly.
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When the hover drone’s bullet hit him, Alec staggered. For a moment he felt the excruciating pain as blood seeped through the bullet wound on his side. Briefly, he realized there was something foreign inside him, for a moment the fear of being controlled gripped him, for a moment he felt the horror of trying to kill Max, for a moment he felt the horror of succeeding in actually killing her.
Then, the faint thrumming was back and all those things were wiped from his head.
The music went up another note, becoming more demanding, crueler, and more painful. Somewhere inside him, he felt extreme pain; somewhere inside, Alec tried to fight it off; somewhere inside, Alec lost that battle as the music overwhelmed him.
He straightened up and looked in Max’s direction. She wasn’t there. Maybe, he had successfully hit his mark.
A cruel smile tugged at 494’s lips.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The hover drones had suddenly grown silent. The transgenics trapped inside the building should have felt some sense of relief at that--those ugly things were no longer firing at them. Instead, they felt extreme horror as they saw one of their own shooting another.
Alec had been second in command since TC was turned into transgenic central. He had good instincts and a talent for strategizing. He was also one of the only people still cracking jokes and keeping up morale as more and more of them took refuge in TC after running for their lives for so long.
Now, seeing the same guy aiming a gun at their leader, stunned everyone into silence. If it had been someone else, half of them would have leaped forward and knocked the gun out of his hands before he could even think of pulling the damn trigger.
But it was Alec, the one guy everyone collectively trusted. It didn’t matter if he fought with Logan and Max every now and then, didn’t matter if he got on everyone’s nerves, didn’t matter if half of them had already threatened to kick his ass. He was still the guy everyone trusted. And now, seeing this one guy going all postal on them, the transgenics were left too stunned to even react.
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Max would have been dead if Joshua hadn’t moved her out of the way at the last minute. The bullet hit the c-32 processors behind her and caused a small explosion. Bits of smoldering plastic and flecks of other electronic equipment scattered everywhere in a cloud of grey smoke.
Fear for several people gripped Max’s heart. Was Joshua okay? Original Cindy was propped against the ledge right behind those stacked computers. Was she hurt? And Alec. Oh, god, Alec, what have you done?
She raised her head a little bit to look around. The firing had stopped, the annoying buzzing sound from the hover drones no longer filled the room. Alec was still down there, leaning on some sort of upturned table, his features contorted in pain (and maybe fear?) as he held his stomach with his right hand. It was covered in blood. With increasing dread, Max realized Alec had been shot.
Then she noted the other transgenics, most of whom hem were too stunned to even move, but a few dozen of them had started to recover from the shock and were now pointing their weapons at Alec.
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“Is she dead or not? Really, Otto, how difficult is it to locate a dead transgenic when you have about a dozen cameras stationed around the damn building.”
“We can’t see her, sir but she is most likely is dead. X5-494 did fire at her.”
“You should not underestimate her capability to survive. Still, we don’t have any time left. You have footage of Alec firing at Max? That means everyone who was in that building saw it too. Our work is done. Send all the hover drones in, turn this into a full attack. Right now, the transgenics are most vulnerable. I’m sending Desmond in to clear our last hurdle.”
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Ramon saw his captor move out of the room, and knew this was his chance. He needed to get out of here and try his best to contact his department. He had no idea what Agent White and the senator were cooking up, but whatever it was, it was bound to be disastrous.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max wasn’t dead. Someone had pushed her out of his bullet’s way.
Alec raised his gun again, not even wincing as the table’s edge bumped into his wound. From corner of his eye, he saw several of his fellow transgenics aiming weapons at him. He lowered his pistol.
This was not good. He wouldn’t be able to take another shot at his target if he was surrounded this way. He had to kill her fast, the music called for her death, the pressure at the back of his neck increasing every passing second. He needed to change tactics.
For a moment, he diverted his attention from Max, from the target he needed to eliminate so desperately, and focused it on his bullet wound. Excruciating pain ripped through him, and his legs gave out. Beads of sweat broke out on his face and he let out a guttural cry of pain.
He could feel the confusion building around him. Most of these people had been his friends, and they must have been shocked to see him trying to kill Max.
All that they needed right now was a reason to believe that whatever they saw a few minutes back wasn’t real.
“Max. Sorry, there was someone behind you. Not a transgenic, I thought…” Those were the only words Alec could manage before making a show of passing out on the floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Something was wrong with Alec, and no, she wasn’t referring to the bullet currently embedded in his guts. It was something else. The coldness in his eyes didn’t belong to the Alec she knew and right now, the way he clutched his stomach and moaned in pain, it all seemed so fake. He was putting on a really good performance, but it was just that… a performance. What the hell was happening to him?
She could see that the transgenics around her were buying it. Most of them were already lowering their weapons, some of them were even moving forward to come and help Alec. Max got up from where she had fallen down when Josh had tackled her. From the corner of her eye, she saw Alec tightening his grip on his gun and a sudden realization hit her. Alec was going to take another shot at her as soon as the transgenics surrounding him let down their guard.
“Stop right there. Guys, don’t lower your weapons, We’re surrounded by killer machines, remember? Not to mention, according to Alec, there is an imposter among us. We need to be on our guard. Any sudden movements and we need to pull the triggers, got it?”
Everyone nodded, but she could see some of them, Alec’s closest friends, Dix and Freeze, itching to go help him. She backed up a little from the staircase and asked Joshua to go down and bring Alec. Performance or not, he Alec needed medical attention immediately.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Desmond was the most recent addition to the Phalanx, the most esteemed group of warriors of White’s cult. Desmond was vicious and once he set his eyes on a target, there was nothing that could stop him.
White had sent him to TC to pose as a transgenic soldier a couple of weeks ago. Desmond had been the one passing on inside information about the defense strategies being used by the transgenics and much more. That had helped White to design his attack.
Now, the only road blocks in his path were the rigged contraptions some transgenic named Dix had constructed inside that dammed building. Those things could lock frequency of devices producing static electricity and then with a huge magnetic pulse (much similar to the pulse that destroyed the world over a decade ago) could destroy those devices.
If somehow, these contraptions could be destroyed, there was no stopping White. This was Desmond’s final assignment. He had to destroy those contraptions.
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Alec felt himself being lifted up from the ground, and the sudden elevation made his stomach roll with nausea. Even so, he managed to stay still and keep his eyes closed as Joshua dragged him up the stairs.
Max was way too clever for his liking. Killing her wasn’t going to be easy.
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Mole had almost booted Dix’s contraption in the basement. He just needed to give the command and these things would generate a magnetic pulse so high, those hover drones wouldn’t stand a chance against them.
When Alec had asked him to go down the basement and turn the contraptions on, he had told him about his suspicions of this attack being a distraction for something bigger. Mole trusted Alec’s instincts with his life. He and Dix had thought about using these contraptions earlier, but the total number of hover drones surrounding the building was barely a dozen, and according to Dix, The static electricity being produces by them wouldn’t be enough to generate a magnetic pulse of the required magnitude.
But if Alec was right and there was going to be another attack, a massive one this time, then, these contraptions might be the only things that could save their lives.
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Mole didn’t even realise when Desmond came up behind him. The guy was just there, wrapping his arms around his neck and doing his best to strangle him.
For a moment, Mole panicked. Breathing was something very important, he had learnt that the hard way when he had been trapped in an underground mine, back at Manticore, years ago. As all air left his lungs, Mole felt panic rise inside of him and for few seconds there was nothing but naked fear and desperation spoke to him. Then, a faint and all-too-familiar sound reached his ears. The thrumming of the hover drones. They were approaching the city--this time, in large numbers.
Adrenaline surged through his veins as Mole twisted himself and attacked his assailant with brute force. The guy stumbled, taken aback by Mole’s sudden movement. Mole knew the kid: he was the latest addition to their transgenic population, looked like, they had an imposter at their hands.
Without wasting another second, Mole kicked his jaw back between his ears and without giving him even a second to recover, he nailed him in his solar plexus. That should have done the trick, that should have knocked this guy out for good, it didn’t.
With a grace Mole would have thought impossible even if the guy were a transgenic, the boy stood right back up and punched Mole in the face. Mole staggered a step or two, enduring blow after blow, until he doubled over and was having difficulty sucking in even a single breath.
Somewhere above, the sounds of gunfire and mini explosions filled the air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alec felt himself being propped up against the wall. Joshua squeezed the pistol out of his hand but Alec didn’t protest. It wouldn’t have done any good. Someone was kneeling beside him, pressing a piece of cloth against the gunshot wound to slow down the bleeding, Alec winced when more pain jolted through his body.
He didn’t open his eyes; opening them made the music louder and at this point, those sounds were making it difficult for him to even breathe. They had become too demanding. Alec needed to take action, he needed to complete his mission, he needed to kill Max and he needed to do it fast.
Forcing himself to open his eyes, Alec looked around himself. He was somewhere in the back of the upstairs room. Gem was kneeling beside him administering first aid. There were a few other people present, but most of them were slumped over couches or on the floor and hardly any of them seemed to be conscious. Dalton was attending to another girl at other end of the room. Alec couldn’t clearly see her face, but from the mop of bushy hair around her head, he had pretty good idea who she was.
Shouldn’t he feel some sort of sadness or worry? Original Cindy had been one of his first friends at Jam Pony’s office, even before he and Max had been able to stand in the same room at the same time without pulling each other’s hairs off.
Uneasiness crept over him. Somewhere inside him he knew this was wrong, he knew this was not how he was supposed to act. Alec brushed the uneasiness aside. Right now, the only thing he did want to do was whatever the music wanted him to do, so that he could finally get rid of this torturous cacophony in his head.
With that thought, Alec locked eyes with Max.
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Max felt the dread building inside of her. Something was terribly wrong with Alec.
For one, there hadn’t been any traitor standing behind Max when Alec shot at her, supposedly trying to save her bacon. Alec had tried to shoot her, and, for the life of her, Max couldn’t figure out why.
When Joshua propped him against the wall at the back of the room, Alec didn’t open his eyes, his face pinched in anguish.
Alec winced when Gem pressed a cloth to his side to slow down the bleeding. His eyes fluttered open and he scanned the room once, before he fixed her with a cold stare.
Something broke inside her then. This wasn’t Alec. He had never looked at anybody like that, let alone her. He had always tried to portray himself as an indifferent person, but his eyes never supported that portrayal.
Unbearable loud screeches filled the room just then and someone screamed downstairs. Max looked outside the window and saw several hundred of HDs bearing down on them.
A split second later, shots were fired.
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As the city fell under attack, Detective Clemente had many near misses as he bumbled his way towards the basement. Transgenics were running around, trying their best to take cover in nearby trenches or behind barracks. Smoke clouds from various explosions rendered his surroundings invisible.
It was hell difficult finding a cover, trying his best to dodge bullets and explosives with his recently relocated shoulder aching the way it was. But somehow, Ramon managed it.
He also managed to convince a few X5’s he bumped into along the way, to come with him and help eradicate a certain impostor transgenic currently trying his best to destroy their last hope at survival.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Shrapnel flew in every direction as tons of bullets were fired and explosives hurtled all over TC simultaneously. This was going to be a short attack. If the transgenics were unable to do something soon, like really really soon, Terminal City would be washed in blood and gore within moments.
The soldiers trapped inside were fast. Many of them were able to take cover almost as soon as the onslaught began. Those who knew about the magnetic pulse-generating contraption inside that very building’s basement tried to make their way towards it. They weren’t so lucky.
Max watched in horror, as transgenic after transgenic fell motionless to the ground.
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Max’s first thought was to transfer the already injured people inside the building. She saw Joshua carrying OC in his arms and settling her behind an upturned couch at the back of the room.
She moved towards Dalton to help him with another of the injured when the wooden panel below her feet gave out. She experienced a moment of free fall before she was able to catch herself on something. It was someone’s hand.
Alec’s fractured right hand.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
When the firing started, Gem inadvertently pressed the cloth against Alec’s wound harder than necessary, eliciting a groan from him as his fists clenched in pain.
This sudden bout of anguish brought a moment of clarity for Alec. In that instant, he knew what Manticore had done to him, he remembered being operated upon and getting fitted with a chip. They hadn’t administered any anesthesia before performing the procedure on him just for the purpose of torturing him, but had used shock treatment later on to make him forget.
Whatever they had embedded inside him, was responsible for what was happening to him right now. In that instant, he knew someone had found out about it. Someone had found a way to control this contraption and that very someone had given him a command to eliminate Max. Even if he tried, he knew he wouldn’t be able to hold onto this moment of clarity, not for much longer. And then, like a pawn in the hands of their enemy, he would do his best to kill Max.
He needed to warn her while he could.
Holding back a scream, Alec managed to stand supporting himself with the upturned corroded iron desk next to him. Dark spots marked his vision and he had to blink several times before he was able to clear them away and look around the room to find Max.
She was standing right in front of him, about to plummet to her death, as the wooden panels beneath her feet caved in.
Alec lurched forward, and caught hold of her hand.
When another wave of nauseating pain hit him hard, he realised he should have used his left hand instead of his broken right one. Fighting back a groan, Alec put in every ounce of energy he had left in pulling Max up to safety.
When they both were back on the sturdier section of the floor, Alec almost gave up his fight with consciousness and blacked out, but Max shook him roughly. He tried swatting her hands away. Couldn’t she just let him sleep for few minutes? She was so bossy all the time!
“Alec no, wake up, wake up, dammit! We need to move from here.”
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
A red button. A fucking red button that was barely a few meters away from him was all that Mole needed to press in order to save his entire city and he was not able to do that. Could things get any more pathetic?
Mole wasn’t sure about many things, but he knew this with hundred percent clarity. This Desmond guy, the one they all had welcomed inside their city like a bunch of total idiots was a member of White’s cult.
He sort of had super human powers, more advanced than the last pack of cult warriors he had fought against. Not only that, this guy also possessed the power of throwing him around the room with his brain. Nice surprise, he’d say.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max was highly confused. What the hell was happening today? One second, Alec was this total stranger with cruel eyes, aiming a gun at her. The next second, he was hurtling down a crumbling floor, just to save her from falling to her death. Had this guy fallen on his head way too many times?
Also, to spice everything up, they were losing the battle. The amount of blood on the floor, the unmoving bodies of those getting hit was something that skewered at Max’s heart. Still, she found a way to continue, even if their end was near, she would go down fighting, taking as many sons of bitches down with herself as she could.
Problem was, there weren’t many SOB’s around to kill. They had conveniently sent out their lifeless killing machines to wipe out the transgenics.
When Alec had saved her from falling down to her death and then almost passed out in the process, she had somehow managed to make him stay awake long enough to be able to move away from the dangerous spot and take cover behind a barrack of corroded empty metallic cylinders.
Now, she was doing her best to aim at the killing machines and take down as many as she could before getting killed herself. She had tried to make a run for the basement to start the contraptions that would have generated the magnetic pulse but Alec had stopped her. He had informed her in a barely audible voice about sending Mole down there to start the thing. He also reminded her if she so much as tried to put a foot outside this dammed building, she was dead meat.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The music was starting once again, its insanely exacting notes making it barely possible for Alec to pull in another breath. Still, he tried to fight against them and not give in to the sudden and very insistent desire he felt to pick up one of the glass shards scattered around his feet and stab Max in her heart with it.
He knew he would lose the battle, he knew he had mere seconds, before he actually picked up a shard and killed her.
“Max get away from me, or kill me. Please.”
“What?”
“I know you’re not going to believe me, but something’s controlling me, and its forcing me to kill you. I can’t fight it much longer. You have to get away.”
“Alec, what the hell are you--”
“Maxie, Manticore cooked this thing, and I don’t know who’s pulling the strings, but you really need to get away from me.”
The insistent and torturous music playing inside his head suddenly spiked and with an agonizing cry Alec gave in to the murderous desire, picked up the glass shard and, with one swift motion, stabbed Max with it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max saw the coldness return to Alec’s eyes as he screamed in pain. She knew what was going to happen a split second before it actually did. She moved out of the way as quickly as she could. The glass barely nicked her but Max scrambled backwards to put as much distance between herself and her friend-turned-attacker as she could. Something crashed behind her making it almost impossible for her to move in either direction. With dread, she realized she was cornered.
Whatever this thing was that wanted Alec to kill her, it was going to succeed now.
Max didn’t feel the fear of her own impending death. With this attack on TC she was going to die anyway.
But she felt the dread Alec was feeling right before giving in to this foreign desire controlling him. He had seemed so helpless in those few seconds and that made Max furious.
Alec didn’t deserve it. Even if they were going to die, it shouldn’t end like this.
She saw Alec crawling towards her, actually, he was sort of crawling towards her, trying his best to avoid any more bullets that might be coming his way. There wasn’t any gun in his hands, just some really long pieces of glass shards.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max had a gun; she could use it to save her life. Alec wasn’t himself and with the bullet wound he had received earlier, he might not be able to even survive this. She should just fire at him, and put him out of his misery. Didn’t matter if her heart would shatter into a hundred pieces at that act, it was the right thing to do.
She should do it, she had to do it. Alec would never want this happening to him, he’d rather die.
Max couldn’t do it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The music’s finally started to fade. Now that Alec was doing what it wanted him to do, it wasn’t tormenting him like before and somewhere inside, Alec felt the horribleness of it.
Max was trapped, so two things could happen: he could stab her, or she could shoot him. Either way, Alec would soon be free of the wretched music in his head and that was a sweet deal.
He saw her hoist her gun a little higher as she aimed at him, her face filled with anguish, and he knew she didn’t want to fire.
Alec needed to use this to his advantage.
Barely caring about this bleeding stomach and his throbbing head, Alec moved in Max’s direction too fast.
He was going to kill her and finish his assignment. He was finally going to make the music stop.
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Max lowered her gun as she saw Alec lunging towards her. She closed her eyes and waited for the pain that would accompany the glass shard piercing her heart.
The pain never came.
She felt Alec’s labored breathing on her neck for a few seconds before she opened her eyes and saw him collapsing on the floor. The glass shard was embedded in the mouldy couch upturned behind her, missing her heart by a few inches.
A sense of déjà vu filled Max as she saw the glass shard on her left side. Alec had tried to kill Max once before too. He hadn’t been able to do that even then, and had ended up plunging his knife in the grass few inches away from her.
Alec had tried killing her again today and he had not been able to go through with it.
Dread filled her as she knelt beside him and felt his pulse. She couldn’t find any.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It was in that last second before plunging the glass shard into Max’s heart that Alec regained control. He had never before killed one of his own and he wouldn’t ever be able to do that, especially not Max.
Max was the one human being he had started caring for and getting attached to unknowingly. Didn’t matter if he was currently being controlled by some computerized contraption cooked in Manticore’s sterilized labs. Even those sucky things couldn’t make him kill the girl he cared about, the girl that had made him unconsciously love again.
He was already responsible for Rachel’s death--being responsible for Max’s last breath was something he couldn’t bear.
So he plunged his weapon into the upturned couch behind her and pain of the music engulf him.
As the blackness took him, he didn’t even feel the impact of hitting the floor.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“No no no, Alec, come on, wake up. Alec.”
She pressed her fingers against the crook of his neck, trying desperately to find a pulse.
“No, no no, this couldn’t be happening. Alec! no not Alec.”
With a jolt she realised, Alec might not be the only casualty of this war. She had no idea what had happened to OC or Sketchy or Gem or Dix or Mole…. Or Logan or Joshua. Any or all of them could be dead.
Max felt helplessness like never before. This couldn’t be happening. She couldn’t let them die, she couldn’t let Alec die.
She started administering CPR and even though somewhere in the back of her mind, she knew it won’t do any good, she couldn’t make herself stop.
A loud gong interrupted her useless attempts at saving Alec, the buzzing of the HDs had stopped altogether and one after another she saw all of them crashing down to the ground.
Someone had been successful in generating that magnetic pulse. The attack on TC was over.
But for the life of her, Max couldn’t feel any sort of relief at that, not until she heard Alec gasp and suck in a rough breath as his body arched upward. Alec’s eyes fluttered open and within seconds he was coughing his lungs out.
Max sighed in relief.
He was okay, he was going to be okay.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Alec heard his name being called again and again, but he really was unable to respond back. The voice sounded so far away and the darkness surrounding him made it impossible for him to even think about anything other than sleeping.
Was someone shaking him? Why wouldn’t they just let him sleep! The horrible music had finally stopped for Christ’s sake! He wanted to sleep.
“No, no no this couldn’t be happening. Alec! No not Alec.”
Alec’s heart broke at the pain in the voice. Maybe he should postpone his sleep for few more minutes and answer back? Alec tried finding his voice but couldn’t. He tried blinking his eyes open but they seemed to be sealed shut. He tried moving his damn finger but he couldn’t.
What was… was he dead? This didn’t seem that bad. Except for that pain-filled voice calling him back.
Something happened in that instant. He felt as if his body was suddenly plunged into very cold water. He felt his muscles going rigid and his body arching upwards the cold water splashed him back into consciousness. The shock of it was too much and Alec involuntarily sucked in air. It made him gasp and sputter and cough his lungs out.
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EPILOGUE
It seemed like the whole transgenic population owed their lives to Detective Ramon Clemente.
Mole told everyone about how Ramon and few other transgenics entered the basement in time to help him kill that Desmond guy. If it hadn’t been for them, Mole would never have been able to press the damn button and crash the killer hover drones.
Not only that, Ramon had also contacted his department and informed everyone about the senator’s and Agent White’s true motivations. He had offered all the proof he could to support his accusations against both White and James. Not everyone was convinced but at least they had backed off for now.
There were casualties, about a dozen of them. Freeze and Dalton lost their lives to the ambush and so did twelve other transgenics. Max couldn’t bear to even think about them after it was all over. Their deaths were just too painful and weighed heavily on everyone’s heart.
Apart from those who lost their lives, several others barely made it. Original Cindy was one of them and so was Alec.
It seemed like some sort of hover drone was responsible for sending signals to the implant inside him and the magnetic pulse broke this connection and short circuited the chip.
So, Alec made it out alive, even after the whole controlling chip fiasco, the bullet wound, extreme blood loss and severe infection.
Max couldn’t have asked for anything more.
There was still some sort of awkwardness between them. They barely looked at each other and hardly talked and yet, they were more aware of each other’s presence than ever before.
Whatever it was between them, it was much more than just friendship and, sure, they might take some time accepting that, but sooner rather than later, they would.
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