Can't Take the Heat
Can't Take the Heat
Chapter 3
Chapter Wordcount: 1050
Max looked between the two of them. “You know him?!”
“You can say that,” Rayce smiled, blue eyes glittering as she and Alec met halfway and hugged each other like old friends.
“Wait…how?” she paused. “And who’s Chase?”
Rayce pointed at Alec with a ‘duh’ look on her face, “This is Chase.”
Alec rubbed the back of his neck and smirked, “They don’t know me as that Rayce, my name’s Alec here.”
“Alec,” she said quietly, as if testing the taste of the name in her mouth.
“You can still call me Chase,” he smiled.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa…okay we need to fall back and regroup here…what the hell is going on?” Max asked, waving her hands in the air.
Rayce sighed before looking at Alec…Chase.
“You better sit down Maxie.”
Alec and Max both did, as if following an order.
“That night we escaped,” she started, leaning against the table and looking at Max as she shifted in her seat.
“Wait,” Alec busted in, his eyes darted across the floor as he put the pieces together in his head. “Her unit’s the one you broke out with.”
“Was there another group?” Rayce asked sarcastically.
Alec smirked; kicking himself that he never thought about the fact that Rayce had been a part of Max’s unit.
“The night we escaped,” Max prompted, hoping to get the story back on track.
Rayce sighed again, “The night we escaped, Zack and I took up the rear, pushing the rest of you guys to the perimeter, the guards…were closing in. Zack and I,” she paused, remembering the boy she had led their team with, “We both knew that we weren’t all getting out. I knew you needed him, we always looked after you guys, so I broke cover and drew the guards away while Zack took the rest of you to safety.”
“You sacrificed yourself for us…” Max whispered. “But why? We could have taken the guards.”
“The guards, sure…but not their guns. Look, you guys needed someone to lead you beyond that fence, beyond Manticore’s rule, Zack was that person, you know I would have died to protect you guys.”
“You and Zack always protected us,” Max whispered.
Alec swallowed hard, knowing all too well what Rayce must have been through after she had been caught. Memories of his own reindoctrination and torture after the Berrisford job flashed through his mind.
Max’s eyes watered, reliving memories of Zack and Rayce leading Tinga, Ben, herself and the others. They had been the self-appointed team leaders, and took their job seriously. The sudden realization that she had sacrificed herself for her unit made Max want to cry.
Alec watched Max before looking back at Rayce; sharing a look that was loaded with ‘I’m sorrys’ and ‘I know what you went throughs.’
Rayce sighed, “Look Maxie, it was me or all of us.”
She nodded.
“Speaking of…I know what happened to everybody,” she whispered. Renfro and the others had made sure she knew the fate of her fellow X5s. “But what happened to Zack? He’s the only one I lost track of.”
“He’s in Canada. He…he killed himself to save me,” she paused. “I have his heart. Manticore used him after that…but after I took them down, it’s complicated but he’s in Canada, living a normal life. He doesn’t even know about Manticore, or that he’s an X5.”
Rayce nodded, grateful for the fact that at least one of them had succeeded in their goal of freedom.
Max shook her head, “There’s so many questions…”
Rayce spun an office chair around and straddled it, crossing her arms across the back.
“Shoot.”
“Were you there? At Manticore? When they recaptured me?”
“No. I was on a deep-cover mission…that’s why I was on the east coast. I didn’t even know you were there.”
“What happened with you? After the rest of us escaped?”
Rayce swallowed hard and stole a glance at her old friend Chase, drawing on his strength.
“Reindoctrination. Torture. Brainwashing. The Manticore usual. I played along, made them think their perfect little soldier broke easily. Made them believe I was X5-301 to the bone. I knew damn well what they were doing, I never lost who I was…thank god. After a while they let me back in with the troops, I worked my way back up, trained some X6s, a few X7s, then they let me back in with the X5s…I was C.O. with Chase, over there of another unit before long. That’s how I met him.”
Max looked at Alec who nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you already had a name?” Max asked.
He smirked mischievously. “Well one, you were having too much fun bitching at me by yourself, and,” he shrugged. “She’s the only one that ever called me that.”
Max nodded; squinting slightly wondering just how deep their friendship ran.
“Chase and I ran the last unit of ‘new’ X5s…before you destroyed the DNA bank. We went on some missions together…they even paired us up as breeding partners…” Rayce provided.
Max’s eyes went wide and Alec laughed softly, looking down at the ground.
“You didn’t?”
Rayce laughed, “No we didn’t, we were too good of friends by then.”
Alec looked back up at Rayce, “Although good ol’ Manticore didn’t know that. As a team on missions we were unstoppable, unbeatable. They figured if they hooked up their two brightest stars they’d get some miracle child…never happened. Though we trained quite a few.”
Rayce smirked; she had made sure she taught her soldiers as much as she could about what was outside of Manticore control.
“Remember those tunnels we had?” Alec laughed.
Rayce busted into giggles.
“What?” Max smiled.
“We had these tunnels, between each other’s barracks…we spent a lot of time together, although not like that,” she added as Max’s face turned slightly red.
Max smiled and nodded.
Luke came running up the steps. “That’s one sweet ride you got,” he grinned.
“Thanks,” Rayce smiled.
“You’re the one that flew through the gates?” Alec asked.
Rayce just grinned.
“I shoulda known.”
“Why?” Max laughed.
“I can pull off a stunt like that with a bike but this girl,” he said pointing, “I wouldn’t put it past her to pull off a stunt like that with a military issue humvee.”
Rayce just smiled.
Previous: Chapter Two | Next: Chapter Four
Chapter 3
Chapter Wordcount: 1050
Max looked between the two of them. “You know him?!”
“You can say that,” Rayce smiled, blue eyes glittering as she and Alec met halfway and hugged each other like old friends.
“Wait…how?” she paused. “And who’s Chase?”
Rayce pointed at Alec with a ‘duh’ look on her face, “This is Chase.”
Alec rubbed the back of his neck and smirked, “They don’t know me as that Rayce, my name’s Alec here.”
“Alec,” she said quietly, as if testing the taste of the name in her mouth.
“You can still call me Chase,” he smiled.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa…okay we need to fall back and regroup here…what the hell is going on?” Max asked, waving her hands in the air.
Rayce sighed before looking at Alec…Chase.
“You better sit down Maxie.”
Alec and Max both did, as if following an order.
“That night we escaped,” she started, leaning against the table and looking at Max as she shifted in her seat.
“Wait,” Alec busted in, his eyes darted across the floor as he put the pieces together in his head. “Her unit’s the one you broke out with.”
“Was there another group?” Rayce asked sarcastically.
Alec smirked; kicking himself that he never thought about the fact that Rayce had been a part of Max’s unit.
“The night we escaped,” Max prompted, hoping to get the story back on track.
Rayce sighed again, “The night we escaped, Zack and I took up the rear, pushing the rest of you guys to the perimeter, the guards…were closing in. Zack and I,” she paused, remembering the boy she had led their team with, “We both knew that we weren’t all getting out. I knew you needed him, we always looked after you guys, so I broke cover and drew the guards away while Zack took the rest of you to safety.”
“You sacrificed yourself for us…” Max whispered. “But why? We could have taken the guards.”
“The guards, sure…but not their guns. Look, you guys needed someone to lead you beyond that fence, beyond Manticore’s rule, Zack was that person, you know I would have died to protect you guys.”
“You and Zack always protected us,” Max whispered.
Alec swallowed hard, knowing all too well what Rayce must have been through after she had been caught. Memories of his own reindoctrination and torture after the Berrisford job flashed through his mind.
Max’s eyes watered, reliving memories of Zack and Rayce leading Tinga, Ben, herself and the others. They had been the self-appointed team leaders, and took their job seriously. The sudden realization that she had sacrificed herself for her unit made Max want to cry.
Alec watched Max before looking back at Rayce; sharing a look that was loaded with ‘I’m sorrys’ and ‘I know what you went throughs.’
Rayce sighed, “Look Maxie, it was me or all of us.”
She nodded.
“Speaking of…I know what happened to everybody,” she whispered. Renfro and the others had made sure she knew the fate of her fellow X5s. “But what happened to Zack? He’s the only one I lost track of.”
“He’s in Canada. He…he killed himself to save me,” she paused. “I have his heart. Manticore used him after that…but after I took them down, it’s complicated but he’s in Canada, living a normal life. He doesn’t even know about Manticore, or that he’s an X5.”
Rayce nodded, grateful for the fact that at least one of them had succeeded in their goal of freedom.
Max shook her head, “There’s so many questions…”
Rayce spun an office chair around and straddled it, crossing her arms across the back.
“Shoot.”
“Were you there? At Manticore? When they recaptured me?”
“No. I was on a deep-cover mission…that’s why I was on the east coast. I didn’t even know you were there.”
“What happened with you? After the rest of us escaped?”
Rayce swallowed hard and stole a glance at her old friend Chase, drawing on his strength.
“Reindoctrination. Torture. Brainwashing. The Manticore usual. I played along, made them think their perfect little soldier broke easily. Made them believe I was X5-301 to the bone. I knew damn well what they were doing, I never lost who I was…thank god. After a while they let me back in with the troops, I worked my way back up, trained some X6s, a few X7s, then they let me back in with the X5s…I was C.O. with Chase, over there of another unit before long. That’s how I met him.”
Max looked at Alec who nodded.
“Why didn’t you tell me that you already had a name?” Max asked.
He smirked mischievously. “Well one, you were having too much fun bitching at me by yourself, and,” he shrugged. “She’s the only one that ever called me that.”
Max nodded; squinting slightly wondering just how deep their friendship ran.
“Chase and I ran the last unit of ‘new’ X5s…before you destroyed the DNA bank. We went on some missions together…they even paired us up as breeding partners…” Rayce provided.
Max’s eyes went wide and Alec laughed softly, looking down at the ground.
“You didn’t?”
Rayce laughed, “No we didn’t, we were too good of friends by then.”
Alec looked back up at Rayce, “Although good ol’ Manticore didn’t know that. As a team on missions we were unstoppable, unbeatable. They figured if they hooked up their two brightest stars they’d get some miracle child…never happened. Though we trained quite a few.”
Rayce smirked; she had made sure she taught her soldiers as much as she could about what was outside of Manticore control.
“Remember those tunnels we had?” Alec laughed.
Rayce busted into giggles.
“What?” Max smiled.
“We had these tunnels, between each other’s barracks…we spent a lot of time together, although not like that,” she added as Max’s face turned slightly red.
Max smiled and nodded.
Luke came running up the steps. “That’s one sweet ride you got,” he grinned.
“Thanks,” Rayce smiled.
“You’re the one that flew through the gates?” Alec asked.
Rayce just grinned.
“I shoulda known.”
“Why?” Max laughed.
“I can pull off a stunt like that with a bike but this girl,” he said pointing, “I wouldn’t put it past her to pull off a stunt like that with a military issue humvee.”
Rayce just smiled.
Previous: Chapter Two | Next: Chapter Four