All of Us -- Chapter 46

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’ll be so damn happy when all of this is done and over with,” Caroline said to Dennis as they sat together at a table in a bar that night. “I’ll be happy when at the very least White and the rest of the Familiars are out for the count.”

Dennis nodded. “The world will be saved, but where will that leave the transgenics? We could be out here in Seattle in front of Terminal City for more months or even years. As much as I like being close to our kids, I’d much rather know that they’re definitely safe and we can have as close to a normal relationship with them as we can get.” He took a sip of his beer. “We should take things one step at a time. At least when this threat is done with, Jenny should be able to return home.”

“Yeah,” Caroline said. She grinned, but it faded quickly and she sighed.

“Don’t worry, they’re tough as nails and then some, remember?” Dennis said, knowing what Caroline was thinking. “They’ll be fine.”

“You’re right,” Caroline admitted. “I talked with Becky this evening at the safehouse when I went to visit Jenny after work and Becky happened to be one of the people on guard at the time. Becky’s still pretty stressed after what happened with her boyfriend, but she is so damn resilient and I am so proud of her for it.” She smirked. “She told me that Zack and Max had been shut away from everybody for about a day-and-a-half until early this morning. Things will be over in someway soon, but guess who also now has a 98 percent chance of becoming grandparents in nine months?”

“I could go from finding out that I have children in the first place to being a grandparent in less than a year. That’s weird,” Dennis commented. “Do you know when we’ll know for sure about that?”

Caroline shook her head. “Becky didn’t have a clue and that Max possibly being pregnant is the farthest thing from anybody’s mind right now. Between White and dealing with the kid who ended up getting Jeff in trouble, they’ve got too much on their plate to contemplate it.” She drank a little more of her own beer. “That reminds me. Guess who I talked with on the phone at my house when I was getting ready to come meet you here?”

“Beats me,” Dennis said. “Who?”

“My brother Pete,” Caroline told him. “He’s going to be back in Columbus with Jessica and their kids in a month or so.”

“I haven’t seen him in ages,” Dennis said. “How’s he doing?”

“He’s doing really well,” Caroline said.

“Pete was one funny bastard,” Dennis recalled. “He was always pulling a prank on one of the other guys on the football team but you always had to laugh and you couldn’t be mad at him even if you were the one that was on the receiving end.”

Caroline laughed. “All three of my brothers were like that and Danny and Pete still are. They could charm the hell out of anybody and everybody. They were all my mom’s little angels, even after they’d grown up and moved out of the house.” They looked over as a man and woman over at another table started screaming at each other.

“That brings back some memories,” Dennis said. “She even sounds a little like Simone.”

“I still can’t believe that you and Simone got divorced,” Caroline confessed. “The last time we talked before we met up again two months ago here in Seattle, every other thing you talked about was about how wonderful she was. You sounded like you were seriously in love with her.”

Dennis looked thoughtful. “I think I was. When I look back, I know that it wasn’t the real deal. I did love Simone and she was the first woman that I ever seriously loved and maybe I thought that was the real thing. I don’t think Simone was ever in love with me. I think that Simone was in love with the thought of being married to an officer who would be going places and she wasn’t prepared for how the life of a soldier’s wife really was. We had some nasty fights before I filed for divorce. I haven’t seen or heard from her since she flew off to Europe to be with her boyfriend. With Brooke, I just don’t think that we were completely compatible.”

“Do you think that you’ll ever find the real deal?” Caroline asked.

“I think so,” Dennis said. “Do you?”

“Yeah,” Caroline said. “One day I hope I will.” She smiled. “I’ll wait. If it doesn’t happen for a long time, then I’ll be patient because true love is definitely something that is worth waiting for.”

“Absolutely,” Dennis agreed.

TBC