All of Us -- Chapter 26

Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Alec, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me. No money is being made off of this fic. I only own the original characters (Becky/X6-405, etc.).

Becky sat alone in the kitchen of her apartment just after dawn two days later, staring at her coffee mug. Maggie had gotten up and was out already. Most of the rest of her brothers and sisters, Zack included, were still sleeping, so she didn’t have anybody to talk to. She looked up when she heard a knock at the front door. “Who is it?”

“It’s me,” Karen said. She sounded a little nervous. “Can I come in?”

“Of course,” Becky said. “The door’s open.” She heard Karen opening the door and she walked into the living room to meet her. “Hey, there. How did the heist you did with Max go?”

“Perfectly,” Karen answered. “Much better than the one two nights ago.” She set the bag that she was holding down on Becky’s coffee table. “Can we talk?”

“Absolutely,” Becky said. She and Karen sat down on the couch. “What is it?”

“Becky, I want to tell you how sorry I am for everything,” Karen apologized. “I know that I’ve been acting like a bitch about Manticore since I’ve been here in Terminal City and I know how much friction it caused with everybody until you guys got me away from White. I am so sorry.”

“It’s okay,” Becky said. “Karen, don’t worry. We all still love you. You’re our sister.”

Karen nodded. “I know. I’m still sorry.” She closed her eyes for a moment. “It’s hard letting go of something that you’ve believed in for your entire life when it turns out to be one big lie, you know what I mean? Every single day, it was ‘Duty,’ ‘Mission,’ ‘Discipline’ nonstop. Wake up, straighten out our bunks, go to breakfast, train, etc., everything seemed so straightforward and simple. There were hard times, but you guys were there. Then the ’09—I mean, Max and Zack and all of them escaped and you were taken away to Psy Ops and it was the first real jolt that I’d had that maybe something wasn’t okay. But then they kept on telling us that everything was okay and that the ones who’d escaped were the wrong ones and all of that and after awhile, I completely believed it. Things had gone back to normal so they must have been right, you know? So life went on. It hurt when 956 died and it hurt when I believed that Felicia had been taken away and killed. I never believed that she had fired that shot even before 427 confessed. I believed you when you said when we’d been dismissed that Felicia had been with you the whole time. So life still goes on and everything’s fine. Then the fire happened. I assumed that we were under attack by somebody and then when Max had unlocked the cell doors and you said that she’d let us out and that Renfro tried to kill all of us…”

“It blew your mind,” Becky finished.

“It did,” Karen confirmed. “It was one of the few times in my life that I was completely confused. Here was my older sister, my commanding officer, the girl that I’d looked up to since I could remember, saying that the Director had tried to kill all of us and that the unit that we’d been taught to hate for over eleven years were the good guys all along. I’ve believed you my whole life but right then I didn’t know what to believe. I still had faith in you so I did what you asked and I went to ground. I didn’t pair up or group up with any of the others until I met up with Dalton and Matt and Liesel and Brent when I got back into Seattle the day before the five of us reached Terminal City. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to be around any of the others at that point, you know? I just needed time alone with my thoughts.”

“I don’t blame you for wanting to get your thoughts together,” Becky said.

“So I met back up again with Brent, Liesel, Dalton, and Matt and I was thrilled to see them,” Karen continued. “I was even happier when I realized that the four of them were also heading for Terminal City. I guess I was lonelier that I’d thought I’d been. Then I saw you and everybody else and it was the happiest that I’d been since before the fire. But then you said that Felicia was still alive and she was there and I felt like the thoughts in my head, which might have finally begun to settle down again since we left Manticore, just fly apart again. More than anything, maybe even than the fire, Felicia was proof that pretty much everything that I’d believed in was a lie. I didn’t want to admit it yet. You know how stubborn I can be at times. I didn’t want to admit it, so I avoided Felicia like the plague and I tried to stick to my faith in Manticore, but it was broken. Like I said, I didn’t want to admit it.”

Becky saw the look on Karen’s face. “I won’t ever tell you ‘I told you so.’ I’d never say that to you. You needed to come to this conclusion on your own. We all did. You do know now that everything’s cool between you and everybody again that Kevin and some of the others will tease you for awhile that he beat you in something, but you know how competitive they are.”

“Oh yeah,” Karen said. She laughed.

“So, anything else that you want to talk to me about?” Becky asked.

“Not really, nothing major like that,” Karen said. “You?”

“Yeah,” Becky said. “Zack and I are brother and sister. I didn’t want to tell you before but now…what do you think?”

Karen thought about it and smiled. “Cool. Oh before I forget, I brought you a piece offering that I got when Max and I were out on our heist tonight. I knew that you would accept my apology, but I wanted to be certain.”

“Okay,” Becky said, laughing a little. “I’m not usually into presents, but I haven’t gotten many either. What is it?”

“This.” Karen reached into the bag that she’d brought with her and handed something to Becky.

Becky’s eyes widened as she accepted the brand-new black leather jacket and held it out in front of her. “This is gorgeous! I love it, Karen.”

“I’m glad you do,” Karen said. “Max helped me pick it out for you.” She smirked. “She said that since you’re eighteen, you’re old enough to wear leather.”

“Yeah,” Becky said, laughing. She tried the jacket on. “It fits perfectly. Thank you so much again, Karen.” She took the jacket off and carefully draped it over the arm of the couch.

“You’re welcome,” Karen told her. “Do you have any breakfast? I’m hungry.”

“I was just having some coffee, but I haven’t eaten yet,” Becky said. “Cafeteria?”

“Sure,” Karen agreed. The two of them got up and left the apartment.

TBC