A Taste of Everyday -- Chapter 14

Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Zane, 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 (Rena/X5-120, etc.).

I checked my top desk drawer, making sure that all of the papers had been put back, nodding when I saw that everything was where it should be. As I was going to grab my jacket, something caught the corner of my eyes. I knew what it was, so I didn’t bother to zoom in, even though I was the only person left in the office because I was closing it up tonight. I quickly made sure that there was nothing left for me to do, left the temp agency, locked the door, and turned and started to walk down the street. I went over to an alley a few blocks down, where Zack was waiting for me. “I guess you’d be my ride home?”

Zack rolled his eyes. “Just get on and I’ll give you a lift to your apartment.”

“You’re in a good mood today,” I remarked. I got on the back of Zack’s motorcycle and as soon as he’d gotten on, we took off towards my apartment. He turned off the motorcycle and chained it up outside and we went inside and up to my apartment. I took out my key and let us inside. “Seriously, it’s good to see you. How’ve you been the last few weeks?”

“The usual,” Zack said. “Anything new with you?”

“Other than the job…” I pointed to the spare bedroom. “I got my own motorcycle. It’s pretty damn good. I changed the license plate and everything so you don’t have to worry. Besides, I stole it from somebody who most likely stole it to begin with.”

“I see,” Zack said. We sat down on the couch.

“So, what’s the good word?” I asked.

Zack looked me right in the eye. “You made the right decision when you left Garland. You got very lucky.”

I sucked in a breath. “The guy was from Manticore?”

“From the Seattle facility,” Zack confirmed. “Apparently, he’d thought you looked familiar and it wasn’t until later when he was in bed with your foster mother that he realized where he’d recognized you from. You missed them by six hours.”

“Wow,” I said. I was quiet for a few moments until something occurred to me. “Wait a moment, Zack. How could he have recognized me? I was only eleven when we left and I’ve grown my hair out a lot since then, obviously. Did he recognize me from the last mug shot they took of me before we left, because that’s a little bit of a stretch unless they did an age progression on it or something like that.”

“It’s a little more complicated,” Zack said.

At least five red flags went up in my head. “How more complicated?”

“Apparently, you have an identical twin sister,” Zack said. “Her designation is 121. She’s been living and training in the Seattle facility since I guess the two of you were born. He’s seen your sister around Manticore so that’s why he thought you were familiar and eventually placed your face.”

I was stunned. What the hell?! “I have a twin? I’ve had a fucking twin sister this whole damn time?!”

“Rena, calm down and watch your language,” Zack said.

“Calm down and watch my language? Excuse me, brother dearest, but you kind of just dropped a major fucking bomb on me,” I said angrily. “I just found out that I have a sister that I’ve never met and thanks to those incredibly generous people at Manticore, I never will meet. Just another family member taken away by Manticore, thank you very much.”

“Rena, relax,” Zack said.

He actually has the nerve to tell me to relax? “Relax? Hey, Zack, if it turns out that you have a flesh-and-blood sibling in Manticore that they never told you about, call me and let me know about it,” I snapped.

“Rena, cool it right now,” Zack ordered. I shut my mouth immediately. “I didn’t know that you have a twin sister.”

“Maybe you didn’t,” I conceded. My eyes widened as another thought occurred to me. “She’s identical. Son-of-a-bitch, they’ve know what I look like this whole fucking time! They’ll always know what I look like! I’m screwed! Thanks a lot, you fucker.”

“Excuse me? I didn’t have anything to do with this,” Zack said.

“I know, I know, I know,” I admitted. “Damn it. No matter what I do, I’m not completely safe. They’ll always know what I look like. I’m doubly screwed.”

Zack looked thoughtful for a few moments before he finally spoke. “If it makes you feel better, you’re not the only one of us who’s in this position. I also found out that Ben has an identical twin brother. He also happens to be in the Seattle facility.”

“He does?” I said, surprised.

“He does,” Zack said. “494 and 121 are even in the same unit.”

“Oh.” I felt my sense of humor coming back to me and I smirked. “I bet 121 is their commanding officer.”

“No,” Zack said. “Seriously, from what I overheard, 494 is their unit’s C.O.”

“Don’t let Ben know that,” I told him. “He’ll get a major ego trip from it.”

“Yeah,” Zack said. He sounded a little evasive but I decided to let it slide.

I got up, stretched a little bit, and walked over to the window and looked outside. “I can’t help wondering what my twin is doing or if she or Ben’s twin ever thought about making a break for it like we did.”

“I don’t know,” Zack said honestly. “I guess it’s something to think about.”

“I guess so,” I agreed. I turned back to Zack. “Do you need a place to stay for the night?”

“No, I’ve got someplace this time,” Zack informed me. “Thank you.”

“Okay,” I said. “You’re welcome.”

“I should get going,” Zack said. “I’ve got to check up on some of the others.”

“Okay,” I said. “I guess I’ll see you again in six weeks or so.”

Zack nodded. “I’ll see you then. Take care of yourself, little sister.”

“I will,” I promised. I gave Zack a quick hug and I watched him leave my apartment. I walked back over to the couch and sat back down, lost in my thoughts. I had a twin who was at Manticore. I had Jace still at Manticore. Two of my siblings, one blood and one not, stuck back in a hellhole that I had escaped and still had the occasional nightmare about. I wanted to do something about it, but what could I do? Maybe one day I’ll be able to do something about it or at least somebody will do something about it. Maybe one day I’ll be able to return to Texas if only for a visit to let Brianne know that I was fine. The only thing that I can do right now is wait and hope that things will work out. If I’m lucky and I have been so far, they will. Maybe they will.

TBC