All of Us -- Chapter 42

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.).

“I don’t remember the last time I had a day off, whether it’s from Jam Pony or from any kind of duty here,” Max remarked as she sat back in a chair in her living room the next afternoon.

“After the last few days, we’ve earned a day off,” Biggs said. “I can’t say it enough how glad I am to have Jeff back safe and sound.”

“When is he being sprung loose from the med bay? Tonight or tomorrow morning?” Alec asked.

“I think tonight sometime,” Max said.

“Good for him,” Sasha said. “Knee injuries suck so bad. Remember when 908 nearly destroyed my left knee back in ’16 when we were sparring? I was ready to kill her. I was out of active duty for two weeks and I had been scheduled to go on a solo down in Los Angeles a week after my injury happened. I had to give that one up to that prissy little bitch 714.” She smirked. “On the bright side, 908 got a week in solitary for use of excessive force, 714 botched the mission and she got a two-week trip to solitary, and I ended up getting assigned a solo mission a week after being cleared for active duty down in the Caribbean. Oh my God, the off hours on that mission were so good. That month down there was so beautiful.”

“714 got three days in Psy Ops for botching that mission too, remember?” Alec pointed out.

“I do remember, Alec,” Sasha said. She sounded a little annoyed. “I never said that I was happy about her getting a few days in that hellhole. As much as I hated her and Diane and 908 and a bunch of the others in our unit, I wouldn’t wish Psy Ops on them.”

“Calm down,” Max told them. She wiped her forehead. “Is it warm in here?”

“No, I’m good,” Brin said.

“Me too,” Sasha and Biggs and Alec agreed.

“That’s weird,” Max commented.

“Yeah,” Brin said. “I know that the air conditioning is working.”

Max shrugged. “Whatever. I wish that I was in the Caribbean right now.”

“You and me both,” Sasha said. “It was easy to see why those business men I was tailing on the mission chose that as their vacation spot. It was sweet. I got to work on my tan and spy on those idiots at the same time. Everybody was so jealous of me when I got back to Manticore when the mission was over. I think the only people who weren’t jealous of me were Biggs, Alec, 849, and 228 and that was because I picked up some contraband for everybody and got it past the numbnuts’ at the front gate.”

“How did you get contraband past the guards?” Max asked.

“It was one of those things that you would have learned if you hadn’t run,” Sasha told her. “Trust me. There wasn’t a single mission-qualified soldier at Manticore who didn’t know how to sneak something back with them. I can guarantee you that you would have been doing the same thing.”

“I know I would have,” Max agreed.

“That reminds me,” Alec said. “I saw 237 and 714 last night when I was heading back to my apartment after I saw Jeff in the med bay.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Biggs said. “Were they together-together or not? And where were 714’s kids?”

“They weren’t hooked up,” Alec informed his best friend. “714 said that her twins were in the nursery while she was looking for a place. 237 just gave me nasty looks. I don’t know what got into him now, but I think the last time that I wondered what had gotten into him was I think sometime in 2011.”

“Has 714 changed at all?” Sasha asked.

Alec shook his head. “No. She’s still the same old 714, except that she uses the name Melanie now.”

“What, she’s not going by Fifi or something like that?” Sasha remarked.

“No, that would have been too perfect,” Alec said. He saw the slightly confused looks on Max and Brin’s faces and shrugged. “I’ll grab some water from the kitchen.”

“Sure, as long as you don’t break anything,” Max said.

“I’m touched that you have such faith in me,” Alec remarked.

“She won’t after I tell her about the mission in Mexico,” Sasha said sweetly.

“She doesn’t need to hear about how I barely managed to cover for you and Biggs when I caught the two of you playing full contact tonsil hockey when that free moment we had when we were getting recon was up,” Alec observed.

“Not that, you moron,” Sasha said. “That time while we were on the mission and you practically destroyed that poor lady’s pottery.”

“It was part of my cover! The target was also there and I had to distract him so that Biggs could plant the tracer on him,” Alec protested.

“That’s what you’re telling your girlfriend and Max to save face, but Biggs and I both know that you were planning on—“

“Here’s your water,” Biggs interrupted. He handed Alec a cup of water that he’d gotten from Max’s kitchen. “Holy crap, you guys still argue like that.”

“Duh,” Sasha said.

“Thanks, buddy,” Alec said. He drank the water and sniffed. “Do you guys smell anything?”

“Nope.” Max shook her head.

“That’s weird, because it’s coming from you,” Alec informed her.

“Get real,” Sasha said. “I don’t smell anything out of the ordinary.”

“Neither do I,” Brin agreed.

“Biggs, back me up here. Do you smell anything?” Alec asked.

“I do,” Biggs said. “It’s kind of familiar, but whatever.” He shrugged.

“You two are weird,” Max said. “I can’t wait until Zack gets back—“ She bit her lip. “Did it just get a lot hotter in here?”

Practically in unison, Brin’s and Sasha’s jaws dropped. “Holy crap, Max is in heat!” Brin said. “I should have known! The same damn thing happened to me.”

“It did?” Max asked.

“Yeah. I’ve even got a theory on it. When a couple is mated or has at least subconsciously gotten to the point where they are mated but haven’t had sex when the woman is in heat, the man will resist or at least try to resist a different woman if said different woman is in heat,” Brin said. “And if that woman happens to be at that same point in her relationship, she will not know that she is in heat until her guy comes along or she thinks about him, whatever.”

“Wow,” Max said. “That is—“ She was cut off by the door suddenly opening and slamming back shut and the temperature in the room for her suddenly skyrocketed. Her eyes immediately went to where Zack was suddenly standing in front of the door, his own eyes similarly glued onto Max.

“You guys? Get out right now,” he growled.

“You don’t have to tell us twice,” Alec said. He and Biggs and Brin and Sasha quickly left the room.

“Zack,” Max whispered. She found herself moving towards him and then kissing him passionately as the world seemed to fade around them.

TBC