Dark Angel Fanfic: A Flash (13/17)
Title: A Flash
Author: poestheblackcat
Rating: PG-13
Characters/Pairings: Alec/Max, Alec/Rachel (memories of), Logan, Berrisford, Sarah (OFC)
Warning/Spoilers: Major spoilers for the episode “The Berrisford Agenda.”
Summary: A flash is all it takes for Alec to notice the young girl with the locket. Enter Alec’s sweet-yet-spunky daughter with Rachel, Sarah. Of course, she gets in trouble-like father like daughter. Takes place in 2028. Not as bad as it sounds.
Disclaimer: All recognizable characters not mine, yadda-yadda.
A Flash
Chapter 13
Betsy, Logan’s reliable old car, was having trouble keeping up with Max and Alec’s breakneck speed. He caught up at the back entrance of the old Seattle Public Library where the two Transgenics had their motorcycles parked.
And there was the black van, that elusive vehicle that had swallowed up the four children. Logan glanced at the back bumper. Still no plates.
The windows of the library were covered so the inside couldn’t be seen from the outside. It didn’t seem like anyone was there. But appearances could be deceiving.
Alec and Max obviously weren’t going to wait for Matt Sung and the rest of the police force to get here. They were moving smoothly and gracefully around the building, scouting the area, their movements perfectly synchronized.
“Psst.” Max gestured from around a corner. Alec and Logan hurried over.
She pointed at a window where it could be seen that a corner of the paper pasted over the window had torn, revealing a light coming from within the room. The crack was too small to actually see inside, but that light was enough to tell them that there were people there.
“Let’s go.”
------------------------------------------
Owwwww. Her cheek was sore. That was the first thing Sarah noticed. The second was the dark. She was back in the basement again. Bummer. The third thing? Her right wrist was handcuffed to something. She tugged on it and followed the chain to-oh, a pipe, how nice.
“Sarah? You awake? Thank god.” Brittany? Why was her head in Brit’s lap?
Sarah groaned. “I did all that for nothing? You guys didn’t get out?”
“No,” Brit sounded a little sheepish. “Three other guys caught us at the door. We saw the other guy, the fat one, carry you in here and cuff you to that pipe.”
“Jake thought you were dead. He cried.” Lindsey the tattletale. Why did that not surprise anyone?
“I did not!” Jake’s voice was a tad indignant.
“Did too.”
“Not.”
Sarah groaned and clutched at her head with her free hand. “Stop it. You’re making my head hurt.”
Brittany ran her fingers through Sarah’s hair. “You feeling okay otherwise?”
Sarah closed her eyes. “Mmfh.”
“What you did Sarah, that was kinda stupid. What were you gonna do if we did leave you here alone when you told us to run?” Brittany scolded gently. Her voice had a calming effect on her and the movement of her fingers was soothing.
“My dad’s coming,” Sarah slurred sleepily. “He knows where we are. He’ll find us.” She drifted off again. She was tired.
------------------------------------------
Once inside, they split up; Max to the left, Logan down the middle, and Alec to the right.
Max walked carefully among the bookshelves. Joshua would love these books. Maybe she’d take some back with her when this was over. Not like anybody would miss them or anything. They needed some children’s books, too, to keep the younger kids busy.
She scanned the room, looking for any signs of movement and kept her ears peeled for any sounds. At the end of one series of bookshelves was an opening with a flight of stairs leading down to a door. Hmm.
Max cocked her head. If she was trying to hide a bunch of kids, she’d lock them in there. Carefully moving down the steps, she descended to the lower level. Looking back to make sure she was still alone, she pulled out her lockpick set and started working on the lock.
With a click, the door opened. Max’s eyes adjusted to the dim light as she cautiously stepped into the dark room. Three pairs of eyes looked up, both fear and hope shining in them. Wait, three? Oh, there was a fourth figure lying huddled in the lap of one of the girls. That wasn’t good.
“Are you all okay? I’m here to help you.” She moved towards the two girls in the corner. “What’s wrong with her? Did they hurt her?”
The older girl spoke. “We’re mostly okay. One of them hit her-”
“I’m fine. I told you, I’m fine.” The fourth pair of eyes opened, and even in the dark, Max could tell that one of them was swollen. The girl sat up. “Who’re you?”
“Like I said, I’m here to help you.” Max’s eyes caught the glint of metal on the girl’s wrist. “Are you Sarah?”
The girl’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “How’d you know?”
Max smirked and pulled out her lockpick again. “Figures you’d be the one in the handcuffs if you’re anything like your dad.”
Sarah stiffened. “You know my dad?”
It was hard handling the sliver of metal in the dark, especially with the girl squirming in her grip. “Yeah. I’m Max. I’m his friend.” The cuffs clicked open.
“His girlfriend?” Max could hear the grin in the girl’s voice. She rolled her eyes. Not another one. The kid was practically a miniature feminized Alec-clone. Complete with the sexual innuendos.
“We’re not like that,” Max answered shortly. “C’mon, let’s go.”
Once up the stairs, they met with Logan. “Anything?”
“I’ve got the kids. Have you seen-” Max was cut off by the blonde girl pushing past her to get to Logan.
“Uncle Logan!” Brittany held on to him as if for dear life. “I never, ever want to babysit, ever again. Ever.”
Logan chuckled as he ran a hand through his niece’s blonde hair. “Is that so? I think we can manage that, Brit. Are you all right?”
“Yes, I’m fine. Can we go home now?” Her response was almost lost in her uncle’s jacket.
A sound in the west wing of the library out Max on the alert. “We’ve gotta get moving. Logan, take the kids to the car. I’ll go find Alec.”
Sarah protested. “No, I’m going with you.” She looked very stubborn (as stubborn as her dad, at least) and Max had no time to argue. The voices coming from the other end of the building were getting louder.
Max gave an exasperated sigh. “Fine. Keep up and don’t make a sound.”
The voices were coming from around the corner. “Where are the kids and what did you do to them?” Alec’s voice, and he sounded absolutely furious.
“What makes you think we’d tell you? You’re outnumbered four to one. Those kids ain’t never seein’ their families agin. Least not unless their folks pay up. And maybe not even then.” Probably one of the goons who’d done the kidnapping. Max smirked. Pretty dumbass thing to say to a pissed off X5 male.
Max rounded the corner in time to see Alec blur. The four children and Logan crowded at her back to watch as well. Pow-pow-pow! Kick-turn-punch! Pow-pow-pow. It didn’t take very long for the four men to be sprawled out on the floor looking to be in very bad shape with a not-even-out-of-breath Alec standing in the middle of them.
“Whoa.” “Awesome.” “That’s crazy cool.” “That’s my dad.”
------------------------------------------
It wasn’t every day Alec bumped into a group of ugly dunderheads with guns prowling around an abandoned library, but when he did, he liked to make the most of it.
“Dude, what happened to your face? Don’t tell me, a little girl beat you up?” At the twitch the very bruised-looking skinny guy gave, Alec huffed out a laugh. “Seriously?”
Skeletor squirmed. “She bit me, too. Now I’m gonna hafta get a rabies shot.”
The ugly next to the skinny dude rolled his eyes. “Shut up, moron. The little shit won’t be bothering no one for a while.”
Alec narrowed his eyes. “Where are the kids and what did you do to them?”
The fat guy next to Ugly smirked. “What makes you think we’d tell you? You’re outnumbered four to one. Those kids ain’t never seein’ their families agin. Least not unless their folks pay up. And maybe not even then.”
Bad choice of words. No one should ever come between an adult male Transgenic and his child. Alec growled from deep in his chest and let out a vicious snarl, allowing 494 to emerge from his shell. With a few fluid, well-placed kicks and punches (no killing no killing no killing), he had all four men unarmed, bleeding, and unconscious within twelve seconds.
Alec reverted back to his newly discovered “Dad” mode in a flash when he heard the awed voices of several children behind him. He turned around and scanned the group of dirty faces for the one that-oomph!
A blurring cannonball of eight-almost-nine-year-old girl ploughed into him, burying her face in his stomach and throwing her arms around his waist. If it weren’t for his Transgenic reflexes kicking in, he would have fallen over. Alec automatically hugged Sarah back with as much fervor and relief. If he’d looked up, he would have seen identical looks of mild surprise and curiosity on both Max and Logan’s faces, but he didn’t. Alec had eyes only for his daughter.
“You okay, baby?” he whispered into her hair. Feeling her nod, he knelt down to check for injuries. A bruise on her left cheek and a split lip made him frown as he lightly ran his thumb over them. “What happened to you? Are you hurt anywhere else? They didn’t-”
He was more than a little surprised when Sarah grinned and opened her mouth to chatter, “It’s nothing. I’m fine. What happened was I attacked that guy who looks like Jack Skellington and knocked him out and used his phone to call you, but then Fatso came and punched me after I hung up. Next thing I knew, I was handcuffed to a pipe which really, really sucked, but that lady, she said her name’s Max, got us out so I’m alright.”
Alec chuckled and pulled his daughter close into a one-armed hug. “You knocked that guy out? That’s my girl,” he said proudly and kissed her forehead. He glanced over at the quartet of unconscious men that Max and Logan were ‘taking care of’ and his look hardened. “Good thing I knocked Fatso out, then, huh? No one hurts my little girl and gets away with it.”
Sarah put her arms around his neck and giggled. “That was awesome! I told the other kids you’re like Superman and-”
Alec interrupted her, voice stern and a frown starting on his face. “You told them? Sarah, I thought we agreed not to-”
Sarah shook her head vehemently. “Uh-uh. No, I didn’t. I almost did, but I didn’t tell them why you’re like Superman.” She was still grinning cheekily as she continued, her green eyes shining brightly. “Besides, you probably gave it away yourself just now ‘cause we saw you fight.”
An identical grin appeared on Alec’s face. “Brat,” he said laughing. Seeing the others were done, he stood up, lifting her up with him and settled her on his hip. “What do you say we get outta here?”
Sarah held on tight but almost nodded her head off when she answered earnestly. “Oh yes, please. I’m starving.”
-----------------------------------------
Chapter 14