Fractured

Fractured Chapter 14

For anyone who had meet Normal knew that he could be kind of a hard person to work for. He stuck to what he believed was right. It wasn't until the siege on Jam Pony, that his opinion on Transgenics had been changed. The moment he helped bring young Eve into the world. Those who had worked for him paused as he came rushing by. Cece's eyes snapped to Max's as she came up to her side. "Keep them back," she said softly. "I have to do some recon to figure out what happened."

"Yes, Ma'am," Cece replied as she barked out orders, setting up a ten foot perimeter. Cece watched as Max slipped away, doing the best that she could. Cece then stood by the doorway and watched as Gem and Sly began to work on Normal. A few others who had been trained in medical jumped in when asked, but mostly all just simply stayed back and stared.

"MOLE! DIX!" Max called out, as she rushed into the Command Center, both jumped at her voice. "I need Logan and Sketchy now."

"Why?" both asked, before turning to do just that. "It's not like…"

"Normal was attacked," Max replied, as she sank down in the chair usually taken by Alec. She took a moment to collect her thoughts, as she watched them work. She shivered, and reached out to pick up Alec's well coveted leather jacket. He got tired of having to replace them when a mission went bad that he simply didn't wear it anymore. She traced the worn leather, remembering how it felt on him. Since their last fight it had been hard being around him at times. "I need to know why and where?"

"Normal, the human, was attacked?" Mole asked, turning to face her. "So? It's not our problem. He's a human…"

"Who has helped us out in the past and came here because he didn't know where else to go." Max let out a sigh. "Just see what you can find…" She leaned her head back. She wasn't the strongest when it came to being a leader, but with the help of the others she did alright. With Alec as her second in command, those who were from Manticore normally looked up to him rather than her, but in the end they followed both of them when it came to orders. At the moment her world was shattered, she didn't know who was missing or who was dead. All she wanted was her 'family' close.

A bandaged arm slid around Max causing her to jump. She glanced up to see the bandaged face of Biggs. "You should be in bed," she whispered to him, as he sat down next to her. "You're not okay to be up on your feet are you?"

"Both Docs gave me an ok," Biggs replied. "Plus they kind of needed my bed. Funny a year ago I'd never even think of giving up my place for a normal, and here I gave it up to 'Normal'. It's the least I could do." He let out a deep breath, causing Max's eyes to fly away from the screens to look at him. "It's okay, just a bit on the owie side. Plus Cece told me you'd need some company along with Bugler, Joshua, Sly, and Gem. Being that Alec can't be here."

Max nodded not really knowing what to say to that. She hadn't really realized it herself that she relied on Alec a lot more than she wanted to let on. Zach had always taught them to rely on themselves for once they were apart from their unit, they were that a part. Zach had shown how he had left about Pip and even Alec and Biggs when Pip got kidnapped. She was just a simple number to him. "Thanks," she replied softly.

"So what gives?" Biggs asked, causing the others to turn to face him. "Normal was a good guy in the eyes of almost everyone after the attack. So why attack him now. We're not using him for anything anymore are we?"

"No…" Max answered. "With the thermal readers at the sector gates, we dare not send anyone through using a sector pass. We have learned to get around them." She shifted her weight before turning her attention back to Mole and Dix. "Either of you guys got Sketchy and Logan yet?"

"Both are awol," both answered. "Not answering their home lines, pagers, or cells. Got to wonder why we even bother with them half the time."

"Keep trying to get a hold of them," Max ordered as she got down and shot Biggs a look. "Feel up for a bit of recon?" He nodded before she turned to face the others. "Set us to high alert. Only those who have clearance can enter." Her eyes drifted around to the common area not that far from them. She could see Dalton there with some of the others. They had worked too hard for this kind of life to simply have it thrown aside because someone didn't think they weren't allowed it. She shot Biggs a look which got him to smile. "Let's go."

"After you," he replied and did just that, following her. They all knew that Max would bring them out of the darkness. They didn't care if it was etched in her DNA, to them Max was the one who released them and brought them together. She was their leader even without her asking to be. Some were loyal still to their unit leaders, but when it came to following her orders, most did without second guessing her.

Once outside of the Command Center, Max stopped short and Biggs almost collided with her. Cecile stood in front of them. "Something bad is going to happen," she whispered only to turn and head off, most likely trying to locate one of the unmated X5s.

"Is she getting more creepier every day or is it just me?" Biggs asked watching her go. When his companion didn't reply, he shot Max a look. "Max, you okay?" He chuckled softly. "You can't take what Cecile says to fact. Heck half her brain isn't really there."

Max shot him a harsh glare but she quickly smirked. "I know," she replied. "It's just right now I don't want to think of anything else going bad. I want our people home, and for us to spend some time not having to worry about attacks on anyone. We've lost so many already." She turned her back to Biggs as the tears started to fall.

Biggs slid his arms around Max's shoulders and pulled her back into him. She turned and buried her face into his shirt, letting the tears fall. Tears she had for the wounded, the fallen, for Biggs, Alec, and Pip. She sniffled as she glanced up at Biggs. "It's okay to cry," he whispered to her. "Alec does it at times as well, but he'd die before he admit it."

"Thanks, Biggs," she replied softly before taking a moment to fix the collar on Alec's jacket, she had snagged. "Shall we?" She turned and then headed for the secret passageway to the outside, with Biggs right behind her. She knew that he wouldn't really ask where they were going. He knew the moment she had asked about Normal.

Until Next Time...