Chapter 5: Damage Control
June 2021
Alec uneasily accepted the trolley loaded with food supplies with his eyes never leaving Lydecker for longer than a minute. "I should've known you couldn't stay dead for long. Now I owe a guy two hundred bucks."
"Still the smart ass 494?" Lydecker said in an unimpressed tone. "Maybe if you were actually smart, I wouldn't be here cleaning up your mess."
"That's enough," Max snapped, casting a glance over at the crowd that was still watching them. She was in no mood to drag this conversation outside. "Let's just get moving."
They didn't utter another word as they walked toward one of the large apartment buildings where Mole was waiting for them. Max didn't turn back to face Lydecker, her stride set on her destination and her mind trying to decipher his reasons for returning. The man had been gone for eight months after his car had been found underwater, and she and Logan had figured that he had gotten too close to something big. The fact that his body hadn't been recovered only made Max suspect he had to be anything but dead and would probably return at the most inconvenient moment. Like now.
"Alec, take Lydecker and the supplies to Mole for inspection. When you're done, meet me in Command," Max instructed him.
"Ever notice how I'm the one who does all your dirty work these days?" Alec asked.
"Ever notice how your head is still in one piece?" Max shot back.
Alec nodded. "Eventually, the statute of limitations on that will run out." Then he turned to Lydecker and said, "Come on Chuckles, I've got a friend I want you to meet. His name is Mole…"
Max headed straight to Command where the others would be demanding answers that she didn't quite have about their new visitor. She did have a sinking feeling that Lydecker's presence would not be welcomed. He knew the transgenics better than the people who spliced them together. He was the boogeyman who locked them in tanks of water to drown and gave orders to kill or be killed. Even though the smallest X8 could kill him without breaking a sweat, there was still a primal fear of him that they couldn't quite extinguish – he was capable of anything, including coming back from the dead. It was Max's worst nightmare come true.
That was who Max had let into their safe haven.
"Max, Logan's on the video line!" shouted Luke when she walked into Command.
Max silently walked over to the computer, noting the lower voices and shifting eyes in the room. They knew what the orders were and nothing, not even Lydecker was going to change protocol.
"Max!" Logan greeted her in an uncomfortable voice. "Was that Lydecker I just saw on TV?"
"Yeah, there's no mistaking that mug," Max replied.
"So where's he been this whole time?" Logan rubbed his chin thoughtfully.
"I don't know. He just got here and I haven't had the time to make him coffee and catch up on old times," answered Max. She wasn't quite in the mood for more questions that she didn't have answers to.
"Seems too suspicious. He's been missing for months and chooses now to show up?"
"It's Lydecker. He probably thinks this reflects badly on his training or something… Anyway, he's on our turf now," Max replied.
"You have to find out what angle he's playing before it's too late—"
Max inwardly groaned. Why did he seem to forget that she was the one who spent a lifetime running from Lydecker? She had enough on her plate without being told what to do. "Logan, let me figure it out, okay? I'm a big girl."
"I know. But I still worry," Logan replied, then smiled meekly. "And I still owe you dinner once this is all over."
"It's a date," she nodded, wondering when it would happen.
"Hey Max," Alec said as he entered Command. "Mole says he's done and he wants the rest of the day off so he can shed his skin."
Max turned back to Logan. "Listen, I gotta take care of this."
He nodded. "I get it. Go save the world."
The screen went blank and Max walked down the steps to where Alec was standing. They were still on civil terms after their quarrel and would probably take another few days before they returned to that almost friendly disposition they had for one another.
"Let's go collect Lydecker before someone tries to violate him further…" Alec said. "But I'd be willing to wait a few minutes."
"I'm going to need to find a baby-sitter for Lydecker… This certainly ruins my fun," Max said.
"You know you're Commander, right? Just delegate to someone and get it over with," Alec said. "Don't even look at me, I've got my hands full as it is… And I might look the other way when he gets the shit beat out of him."
Looking around the room, it didn't take much thought for her to choose the best person for the job. She needed someone she trusted, and that was a very short list of people.
"Joshua," she called to the transgenic who was across the room with two other transhumans drinking coffee.
The dogman's ears perked up at Max's voice and he quickly made his way over to where his friends were standing.
"What's up, Lil Fella?" Joshua asked as he ran a comforting hand through her hair.
"I need a favor," Max said.
"You need Joshua to keep Lydecker safe from people who are still afraid of Manticore," he said knowingly and smiled down at her.
"Thanks," she replied gratefully. "Let's go meet your new roommate."
"Wait, does that mean you and me," Alec said and gestured his hand between himself and Max, "are going to be alone in the apartment together?" A wicked grin crossed his face. "You really went to a lot of trouble to get me alone. I'm flattered but all you had to do was ask."
Max made a disgusted face and swatted him in the shoulder. "Not even if we were the last two people on earth."
"Took you long enough. He, the cheese and the crackers are clean," Mole said, taking the cigar from his mouth to report his findings then placing it back when he was done speaking. "After what I just saw, I need to make someone cry. Excuse me."
He walked out of the check-in station that new transgenics went through once they got into Terminal City to make sure they weren't carrying wires for the enemy or looking to cause trouble. It was a large room that served as some dentist's office before the Pulse, all the creepy dentist chairs included. Lydecker gave a hard stare as Mole left the vicinity then turned to Max, Joshua and Alec.
"Now that you and Mole are intimately acquainted, I'd like to introduce you to Joshua," Max informed him, gesturing at her tall friend.
Joshua bravely extended his hand for Lydecker to shake. The former colonel gazed at the transhuman, assessing him thoroughly before accepting his hand.
"Josh, as you already know, this is Donald Lydecker," Max went on, and then looked at Lydecker. "You two will be spending a lot of time together."
"My handler, I presume?" Lydecker asked.
Alec smirked. "I see that age hasn't rendered you completely useless."
"And I can see that time has still rendered you more just as imbecilic as ever," Lydecker countered, glaring at the soldier once under his command.
"Hate to interrupt your pissing contest, but we've got a few questions for our former colonel," Max rolled her eyes.
"Glad to see one of you is thinking," Lydecker scoffed.
"Let's start with where the hell you've been all this time?" Max demanded bluntly as Alec shut the door behind them. She wasn't in the mood to beat around the bush. "You fake your own death while hunting some lead on Renfro, now you're back as some government lackey?"
"I was following a lead on Renfro, as you so brilliantly pointed out. It seems she was involved with a larger organization that wanted me out of the way, and I decided to keep my head low until I knew what I was dealing with," he answered casually.
Max had almost forgotten that Lydecker could be more slippery than a transhuman with too much salamander DNA. She also knew this was as close to being a good answer as she was going to get out of him. She exchanged a look with Alec who was obviously thinking the same thing. They could probably strap him to that dentist chair and use every one of the tools attached and he wouldn't let out a word more than what he'd told them. His arsenal from their childhood had been far worse and they hadn't broken under interrogation. If they had, they wouldn't be alive to see the day Manticore burned to the ground.
For a moment, Max could easily see how dangerous having Lydecker in Terminal City was. She almost wondered if Lydecker had been put up to this so they would kill him, then the public would have its justification for slaughtering them all.
"Why come back now?" Max asked, not one to mince words.
"I honestly didn't think you kids would be dumb enough to let yourselves get caught with an entire news crew watching," he shot back pointedly.
"What do you care? Not like anyone flashed your face on TV screens across America blaming you for this mess—oh wait, you took care of that yourself," Max went on in a sarcastic tone, taking a step closer to Lydecker.
"Years of research, development and training some of the best soldiers in history was about to go down the drain so some corn husker in Iowa wouldn't have to lock the barn up at night. I couldn't just stand by and watch," he told her unwaveringly. "The Committee wasn't too pleased when I showed up, but I'm the last person left from the project that could rein you kids in. They decided to cut their losses by sending me in. Maybe I could get you to work for us again…"
Max narrowed her eyes. "Of course, you're still trying to be big dog at Manticore no matter what's going down. We aren't going to line up in the yard anymore. Never again. So, I suggest you take a minute and rethink your decision to stroll in here like nothing's changed. In the meantime, an apartment has been prepared for you and Josh to share. We don't think it's safe to leave you on your own."
"My safety matters? I would say I'm touched but I don't see us being here too long," Lydecker said.
"We'll see," Max replied. "So while you were in hiding, did you find anything else about Renfro?"
All eyes were fixed on the former colonel. His answer would dictate how much they could trust him about the Familiar situation, or at least how to spring it on him. Bastard or not, the fate of the human race did have to matter to him on some level.
"Nothing more than I knew before. Did you find anything?" Lydecker responded, knowing the question was a loaded one.
He was unreadable. Of course he was, he was the one who had trained them that the mind could conceive, the body could achieve. This was going to be trickier than she thought.
"We stumbled onto something, but not sure how it connects to Renfro," Max replied, baiting him.
Lydecker simply nodded. "Well, it looks like we have our work cut out for us."
Max returned the gesture. "Why don't you get settled in and we'll take things from there?"
"I will," Lydecker replied.
Max put a hand on Joshua's shoulder and said, "Thanks. Call me when you guys are done."
Joshua smiled down at her. "Sure thing, Lil Fella."
She turned on her heel and started to walk off, leaving Lydecker to stew over his new intel and decide what cards to play. "Come on, Alec."
"But Max, Josh and I were just discussing whether or not to have Lydecker join out poker night," Alec bantered to get under her skin.
"Alec," Max gritted out as she was walked out the door.
He sighed and rolled his eyes. "All right, see ya buddy," he said, giving the transhuman a pat on the shoulder. Then in a carefree yet callous tone aimed at his former commander, "See you in hell."
Max was busy for the rest of the day, barely saying more than a sentence to anyone unless she was giving instructions. She didn't want to hear that Lydecker was playing all of them to regain his former glory. She was the one who spent her life running from him, she knew that he had something bigger up his sleeve. That was why he had started this Manticore business to distract her. And there wasn't a thing she could do at the moment to bend him to her will.
Nico had left his guard post and returned as a mangled mess from what Mole told Max that afternoon before dinner. Nico had been infuriated by the news of Lydecker's arrival and asylum, so much so that he left his post to let Alec know it. Max hadn't been there, but she heard that the two X5s had brawled it out on Oak Street. The fight would have been nastier if Dalton hadn't called Gem, who took it upon herself to break them apart. The last thing Max needed was fighting among them. She and Alec were still not on anything more than civil terms, so she didn't feel the need to hunt him down and see if he was all right. He could take of himself.
At dinnertime, Max was a little surprised that Alec was nowhere to be found in the mess hall during food distribution. The transgenics would pay a small fee for what Joshua cooked in the former elementary school kitchen or purchase some of the food stuffs smuggled in. The money was necessary to help buy more food and supplies from outside and prevented people from taking and wasting any supplies they did have. It had been Alec's brainchild and he was usually the one to keep track of the money and supply detail, but this night the task of collecting had been given to Dalton.
"Hey kiddo, doesn't Alec usually handle this?" Max asked. She took a seat beside him at the table in front of the cafeteria doors where he was collecting money and handing out dinner tickets.
The boy's face flushed a little red as he counted the bills that a rat-like transhuman had given him. Suddenly, he jumped out of his seat.
"Yo, Stewart! You owe me a buck next time!" Dalton called as the rat-boy walked away from the table. The transhuman made some squeaking noises, to which Dalton responded, "Yeah, well they probably got your donor DNA from something crawling around a dumpster!"
Max shook her head. The kid was definitely hanging around Alec too much.
"Sorry Max," said Dalton as he sat back down. "He didn't tell me where he went." The X6 was careful to look her in the eyes as he continued. "I don't think he wants anyone to see the shiner Nico gave him. I still say Nico would've gotten his ass kicked if Gem hadn't gotten in the middle. He deserved it."
"I thought you were assigned to do apartment visits to the X5 mothers to see what they needed?" Max asked.
Dalton swallowed uneasily under her gaze. "Yeah, well… I was…"
"Don't let it happen again, okay?" she said in a gentler tone. She didn't want to punish the kid for catching him slacking off, but this wasn't the time for being a kid. "So what actually started the fight?"
"Nico started yelling how you gathered us all up like eggs in a basket for Lydecker. Alec told him that he was out of line… Then Nico said some other stuff and Alec slugged him," Dalton told her as he collected money from two more transgenics, a pale blood reservoir like Marrow and a bald man-like creature with white eyes.
"What 'other stuff' did Nico say that got Alec pissed?" Max inquired. Alec wasn't the type to lose his temper and she was curious what could have pushed him over the edge.
Dalton kept his eyes on the cash he was counting. He looked around to see no one else waiting to come in. "Nico called you… Lydecker's bitch. Alec told him not to talk like that just because he was scared… So Nico called him your bitch and Alec hit him…"
Suddenly, Alec punching Nico only seemed natural. There were few things Alec despised more than being called someone else's pawn.
"I think I know where he went," Max said. She got out of her seat and smiled at Dalton. "And after this, go find some Xs your own age and get into some mischief, okay?"
"Yeah, sure," he replied, covering over his disappointment that she hadn't stayed with him.
"You know, if I knew I'd be having company over I would've cleaned up the place," Alec said with his back to her as she walked into Sandeman's old lab.
He didn't even need to turn around to see that it was her. Sitting at one of the desks by the windows, he had laid out his rations but hadn't found much of an appetite. One window was opened enough to let in a cool summer breeze, so it wasn't the smell of the place that ruined his appetite. He was toying with the wrapper of a Hostess cake when Max grabbed a stool and took a seat next to him.
"It's not that bad. I've seen worse… So, I heard you got into a fight…"
Alec turned to face her and that was when she saw the damage. He had a black left eye and his bottom lip had a cut on it, yet his soldier's mask remained firmly in place. "Just a forgot what it's like to tangle with some other Xs and not humans, that's all."
Max scowled. "I can't believe you hit him."
"It was insubordination," he shot back.
"This isn't Manticore, Alec!"
"Yeah, for how long, Max?" he demanded, pushing his stool away from her and standing up. "Nico's not the only one thinking these things. There are more people who feel that you're selling us out by letting Lydecker in here. If we split up now, we might as well start calling each other by designations again."
She wasn't going to let him talk like that to her. Replicating his previous motions, she stood toe to toe with him, so close that she could smell the Skittles on his breath. "Is that what you think too? That we'll go back to with Lydecker?"
Alec's hazel green eyes locked onto hers. "I think that's where we'll end up if we fall apart here. And I am not going back to wearing camouflage and having sex or killing people on anyone else's schedule but my own."
"Well, there's something we can both agree on," Max sighed and sat back down on her stool. "Damn it, I just want to know what game he's playing at."
When she had on her 'I'm gonna figure this bitch out' face on, Alec couldn't resist placing an arm around her shoulders. She wouldn't lean into him to accept any real type of comfort, it wasn't the way they worked. Still, it made her feel like she wasn't alone in this madness. He had promised to take care of her after all the times she had saved him.
Logan had told him to be good to her, and the only thing Alec could think was that in spite of the tough girl exterior, she needed someone to have her back. He didn't know what things wee like between Max and Logan before he and the virus came into the picture, but he doubted that Logan could take care of her the way another X5 could.
"You know Deck, it's not going to come out until he wants it to," Alec reminded her. "We'll just have to play it by ear because trying to figure him out will just make us crazy."
"He should've stayed dead," Max grumbled.
"Yeah, but as much as I hate to admit it if he was, then we'd be dead," he pointed out. "After all this is over, he should write about his talent for screwing us over our entire lives: 101 Quagmires to Live, Die and Come Back from the Dead By: The Donald Lydecker Story."
Max let out a small laugh and pulled away from him. "I know the perfect use for that book—balancing the coffee table back at the apartment."
She gazed out the window at the darkening streets of Terminal City. Some of the streetlights still worked, while random windows were lit at various buildings. There were people in the streets unafraid of who might see them. This was their home.
Her hand reached for a packet of crackers nearby, but before she could grab them, Alec's hand quickly pulled them away.
His smug grin appeared as he said, "Uh uh uh. Bad Max. Stealing my rations for the night?"
"As your Commanding Officer, I order you to give me those crackers," Max replied in a serious tone.
"Who died and made you the boss of me?" Alec demanded, opening the crackers and shoving one into his mouth.
"Renfro. Now hand them over," Max said and stuck her hand out.
He popped another cracker into his out and mumbled something she couldn't quite make out as he handed her the crackers. He swallowed before saying, "Oh, and don't worry, I spat in the macaroni already."
Max cast a disdainful eye at the plastic bowl full of cheesy, noodly goodness. "I don't believe you, but I'd rather not risk catching something."
Picking up the bowl, he shoved a spoonful into his mouth. "I'd be more offended if I wasn't banking on it to save my dinner."
"Jackass."
Looking at his impish grin, she remembered Ben for a moment and when they used to fight over dessert back at Manticore, not the broken Ben she found two years ago. She felt a hole in her heart remembering how he kept her safe by simply being in the bed beside hers. She made a silent vow that no one else would be a victim to Manticore ever again. Not if she could help it.
A/N: I'm stunned that I've gone so long without updating. I'm so sorry but I changed some things that happened later and then had writer's block. Let's see how long this bout of inspiration lasts.