Dysfunctional -- Chapter 1

Disclaimer:  The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Alec, Biggs, Renfro, 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 (X5-121, etc.).

Notes:  This fic is part of my “Together” AU fic series. I’ve made references to how Alec’s, Biggs’, and 121’s unit back at Manticore was dysfunctional in “Together,” “All of Us,” and “What’s Next?” and I decided that I would go and explain that whole story of their unit. This will be darker than my other fics and because of that, it’s rated M instead of T. There’ll be some more adult-type issues and things like that in this fic. Also, Alec, Biggs, 121, and any other transgenic that had been named either on the show or in one of my fics will be referred at least for now by their designation (So nobody gets confused, Biggs’ designation is 511). Anyway, enjoy it! This starts in June of 2010, about a year after the Pulse.

“Not bad, buddy,” 494 said to 511 as he barely managed the punch that 511 had thrown. He ducked a kick and then swung 511 over his hip and down to the mats. “I got you again.”

“Big deal,” 511 said. “My success rate against you in sparring is only about one in five at best. That isn’t counting draws as successes, though.”

“Whatever you want to think,” 494 told him. They looked over to where 121 had knocked 908 to the ground. “For our commanding officer, 908 can’t fight.”

“908 can fight, just not against 121,” 511 pointed out. “121 is better at martial arts than 908. You know, you’d think that with all of that anger and rage and whatever else is in 908’s head that she could channel it and maybe beat 121 for once but it never happens.”

“You don’t have to show off the fact that you aced Psychology,” 494 said.

“You don’t have to show off the fact that you aced everything else,” 511 retorted, but he grinned and 494 did also. “Seriously, 908 still hasn’t gotten over getting sent to Psy Ops for three months when those X5s from Wyoming escaped more than a year ago. You’ve bounced back and both you and 121 were there for twice as long. Even 121 is almost back to her old self. She’s probably as much as her old self as she’ll ever be by now, I think.”

494 nodded. “Yeah.”

“494, 511, no chatting,” the trainer said. “Wait until lunch before you talk freely.” He started to turn to one of the other pairs, but he saw a tech waiving to get his attention and walked over. He listened to the tech for a few minutes and nodded and walked back over to the X5s. “Okay, we’re ending class early today. Apparently, Director Renfro wants all of you little maggots to report to her office immediately.”

“Sir, yes, sir!” they all replied in unison. They saluted the trainer and lined back up and marched out of the gym and to Director Renfro’s office. After waiting for a few moments, they were allowed into the office and somehow all eighteen of them managed to form a perfect line across from Director Renfro’s desk despite the relative lack of space.

“X5 Unit 3 reporting as ordered, ma’am!” 908 said.

“At ease, all of you,” Renfro instructed. She waited until they had fallen back into the position. “I’m glad that all of you are here. I have been, among other things, reviewing the performances of all of you since I arrived here in January. X5-908 and X5-494, step forward.” 908 and 494 stepped forward and waited patiently for Renfro to continue. “908, you have been commanding officer of this unit from day one, correct?” The facility director picked up a folder from her desk and flipped through it. “Your leadership skills are solid, but not remarkable. Your score on the group missions test that you took in October of 2006 was likewise very good and well above the passing score, but it was also not remarkable. You’re record on missions is very good. No failures, everything that you ordered or were ordered to do executed efficiently. You have a tendency to stick a little too close to the book, but nothing to be worried about and your mission record does speak for itself.” She put the folder back down on her desk.

“I wonder what the point of this is,” 121 muttered barely loud enough for 494 and 511 to hear her.

Renfro picked up another file off of her desk and looked through that one. “494, it says here that you have been second-in-command of this unit since April of 2007 when you took over that role from X5-786. The leadership skills that you have displayed so far have been quite remarkable. Despite missing six months of training last year because of your precautionary stay in Psychological Operations, you, and 121 as well, made those months up remarkably quickly. You excel in every one of your classes and exercises and you hold the current record high score for this facility for the group missions test. Your record on the few missions that you have been on so far has been exemplary.” She set the folder back on her desk. “Effective immediately, I am promoting 494 to commanding officer of this unit. 908, you are being demoted to second-in-command.” She looked at the X5s for a few moments to see if they had any reaction and when she didn’t see anything on their faces she finally nodded. “Dismissed.” The X5s saluted her and marched out of the office towards the cafeteria, this time with 494 leading them. They kept the blank looks on their faces while they got in line and got their food, but dropped them as soon as they sat down at their table.

“I can’t believe this shit,” 908 said angrily as she stabbed her meat loaf with her fork. “I get bumped down to second to the twin of an 09er. How could that have possibly happened?”

“Because I’m better than you,” 494 replied with a smirk. “That’s how. I’ve outscored you on every test, when we split into teams for Capture the Flag and other training missions, my team always wins, and I’m just more likeable than you are.” That got a laugh out of both 511 and 121.

“You’re better than me?” 908 hissed. “You are not better than me! You’ve got tainted genes.”

“Get over it,” 121 told the older X5. “It’s been more than a year. 494 is not his twin and I’m not my twin. We never wanted to leave. If we did, we wouldn’t be here. Get that through your head.” She smiled sweetly. “Besides, if you really have a problem with having 494 as your commanding officer, you can always go right back to Director Renfro’s office and complain to her.”

“No, that’s not necessary,” 908 reluctantly said. She narrowed her eyes. “Besides, you still can’t order me around. You’re not an officer in this unit.”

“No, but according to the last intraunit rankings that were posted last month, I outrank everybody except for you, 494, and 511,” 121 reminded her. “At this rate, I’ll eventually outrank you.”

“Little piece of shit,” 908 grumbled, not quite soft enough for 121 to miss it.

“And I’m taller than you, too,” 121 added cheerfully.

“You are pathetic,” 786 said. She shot 121 a nasty look before she took a bite of her meat loaf and turned around to give one of the male X5s in Unit 1 a flirtatious look. “You’ve always been a loser, 121.”

“Says the soldier who spent a few weeks in solitary because she ran her mouth off and violated a direct order when a guard was in hearing range,” 121 muttered under her breath.

“Excuse me?” 786 said.

494 sighed. “Enough of this. Can the two of you please cool it down? I think that all of us want some degree of peace while we eat.”

“Yes, sir. I’m sorry,” 121 apologized.

786 gave both of them another nasty look, but she also apologized. “I’m sorry, sir.”

“Thanks,” 494 said. He looked around the table at his unit and sighed before focusing on finishing his lunch. I really do have my work cut out for me, don’t I?

TBC