Dark Angel Revised
Summary: Max comes to Seattle in search of her brother Seth. Alec has also just arrived in Seattle on the Berrisford mission. They cross paths and stuff happens. M/A
Disclaimer: I don't own or have anything to do with the creation of the show or its characters.
Spoilers: Anything is subject to altering from both seasons as well as Max Collins' book Before the Dawn
For instance, in this reality, the stuff in Collins' book takes place a couple of years before it's written in the book in order to coincide with Max and Alec being in Seattle at the same time.
Chapter one: the Meeting
His target would be arriving shortly.
The initial phase of his mission was to assume the identity of Simon Lehane. The scouts had been watching Lehane the moment they confirmed he'd been hired by Berrisford to replace his daughter's other piano teacher, whom incidentally disappeared not long after Manticore sensed Berrisford was getting a little too curious about their operation.
Lehane was a college student who helped pay his tuition by giving piano lessons. With no surviving family or significant other, inquiries regarding his disappearance would most likely not be made until classes resumed, if then. A conversation via his tapped phone line confirmed that he would be arriving in Seattle early afternoon and then meeting the student with whom he would be exchanging living quarters with for the duration of the break. This bar where the two would be meeting would also be the best place for 494 to observe his future persona before eliminating him later tonight. It would be too risky to take Lehane out while he still remained on campus. Therefore, 494 was to watch Lehane and follow him to his new home and then kill him when he was alone.
However, looking for Lehane wasn't the sole reason 494 chose a seat at the bar that faced the doors. Ever since he arrived in this part of Seattle he had an eerie feeling that somebody was watching him.
~~~
She entered the bar fifteen minutes after he did and immediately spotted him in the back sipping a cocktail. Her eyes processed the information in less than a second so the pause she took upon seeing him appeared slight to any casual observer. However in that pause, she both acknowledged that the man she had caught a glimpse of two hours ago at a café by a train station and had been following ever since was indeed the man she had suspected he was while also managing to put the onslaught of emotions that bit of information evoked in check.
She made her way over to him and took the empty seat next to him. A quick glance confirmed what she had originally seen when he exited the café ahead of her---the tell tale black lines peeking out from where his jacket didn't quite cover. And when he turned to her with those eyes…and that smile, she knew for sure who this man was.
~~~
I'm on a mission. There's no time for fraternizing now. I've got a job to do. 494 ordered to himself as the gorgeous brunette clad in biker girl chic made her way towards him. But there's always the off hours. The mission in Kazmekastan flashed in his head and a smile formed on his lips as he turned to face the beauty seated next to him.
"Ben." She breathed.
494's brow scrunched up. Is she foreign? He did a mental inventory of the twelve languages he spoke fluently and the twenty or so others he knew basic greetings for, but "Ben" didn't equate to hello in any of them.
"Ben, it's me Max." Ah, Ben is a name. She thinks I'm somebody else. Well I am a damn good liar so playing along is definitely an option. But then he noticed the longing in her eyes. It looked as if she was a moment away from bursting into tears. What disturbed him more, however, was the effect seeing her upset was having on him. He was a genetically engineered killing machine trained to ignore people crying and begging for mercy, yet all he wanted to do was make that look disappear from her face.
494 sighed. "I'm sorry, Miss, but I think you have me mistaken for someone else." Oh God she's going to cry anyway. He cursed to himself seeing the crestfallen expression she now wore. I better just get outta here. "I really need to go. Sorry again." He started to move away when a surprisingly strong grip held his hand in place on the bar.
"Wait. Please." She pleaded. He turned back to her. "I know I know you. Please, you don't have to be afraid of me. I've done nothing but search for any of us since the night we got out. You're the first I've seen. Please just tell me it's you, Ben."
She couldn't help it. The words just kept pouring out, but as the confusion in the man's eyes grew with each syllable, so did the feeling that she had made a terrible mistake.
"I'm not who you think I am. Honest. I just got into—" The desperation in her eyes were tempting him to go back to his original plan of playing along in the hopes that it would bring a smile to her face. But he attempted one more time to convince her she was wrong. However before he could finish, she did something completely unexpected and therefore he was too shocked by both the speed and the action itself to stop it. She reached behind him and yanked down his collar. They both gasped in surprise, albeit for different reasons.
"Four not three. 494." She whispered to herself.
His blood ran cold at the face of this stranger speaking his designation but then the words spoken before it caught up to him, and the swiftness in which everything fell into place almost knocked him off the stool.
~~~
She was one of them. An infamous 09er. A traitor. She thought he was 493. 493-the reason he was hauled into psych ops years ago and probed and prodded for six months straight.
~~~
He was identical to Ben. But he wasn't Ben. He was a twin or a clone…and he was out. Most likely he was here on a mission. Which meant…oh shit! Max's eyes widened as she prepared to bolt. This time she was prevented from leaving by an iron grip on her arm.
He didn't know why he stopped her. It certainly wasn't because he was going to turn her over to Manticore. His mission was Robert Berrisford and he was hardly an over achiever when it came to Manticore. Let those other automatons bend over backwards to suck up to the suits. Sorry not looking for an extra half an hour of rec time in exchange for bringing in one of the '09 rogues.
He stopped her because he was intrigued. If there was anything 494 was always ready for it was adventure. And seeing the fiery glare the vixen in his grip was giving him now, he could tell that this latest retreat from Manticore was about to get a whole lot more interesting.