Dysfunctional -- Chapter 16

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.).

Almost two years later…

“I don’t understand why 511 had to stop and help that stupid X6,” 121 complained to 494 as they and most of the rest of their unit sat down at their usual table at breakfast one sunny morning in May.  “Doesn’t that little snot 224 know how to assemble an advanced flamethrower by himself?”

“Oh, he knows how to assemble as many weapons as you and I knew how to when we were that guy's age,” 494 replied.  “The kid’s not afraid to let people know about it, either.  He just wants to suck up to 511 and myself.  I don’t really like him very much.  He knows what he’s doing, but I don’t know if I would trust him to follow my orders if we were out in the field together.  He’s a little too arrogant.”

908 snorted.  “Pot calling the kettle black, 494?”

“I’m not afraid to admit that I can be arrogant sometimes, 908,” 494 said.  “I might be arrogant occasionally and a whole lot of other things, but at least I don’t suck up to my superiors quite the way that X6-224 does.”

“Yeah, whatever,” 908 mumbled.

“I’m sorry that I’m late,” 511 said as he approached the table and sat down across from 121.

“No worries.  You’ve still got plenty of time to eat,” 494 said.

511 looked down at his tray.  “Yeah…I’m really excited to be eating this crap this morning.”  He picked up his spoon and ate some of the indefinable contents of his bowl.  “Yum, nothing like starting the day with a nice big bowl of sludge.”

“Why didn’t you get oatmeal or a cold breakfast?” 494 asked.  “Not that either of those tastes any better than the mystery hot cereal that you’re eating, but at least you can identify them.”

“I’m hungry.  I just grabbed what was closest to me,” 511 said.  He ate another spoonful of his breakfast.  “Hell, it could be worse.  Remember the time when we went on that mission last year, 494, the one where it was you, me, 859, 967, and 714 and we had to infiltrate that ecology conference?  Remember the crap that they served there?”

“I remember that one,” 494 agreed.  “That was a fun mission.”

“Sarcastic much, 494?” 121 said, smirking.  “I remember how you were bitching about it almost non-stop after you guys got back.”  She snickered and then bent down and concentrated on eating her oatmeal, just catching 494 flipping her off out of the corner of her eye.

“Now, now, 494, there’s no need to be so angry,” 511 teased.  “We all know how 121 is.”

“Oh?  And how—“  121 looked up at 511 and suddenly paused and blushed.  She felt her heart skip a beat and she quickly composed herself.  “—is that?”

“Um…”  511 stumbled over his words for a moment as he glanced at 121.  “Tell her for me, buddy?”

“You dug yourself into this hole, 511.  I’m not tossing you a rope to get your ass out of it,” 494 said.  511 raised an eyebrow and started to reply, but he was cut off by 786.

“Great, our mighty leaders are acting more stupid than X7s,” 786 commented.  “That really gives me hope.”

“Give it a rest, 786,” 121 said.  “It’s still early in the morning.  Nobody is at their mental peak at this time of the day, the fact that you’re never at your mental peak not withstanding.  How can you expect anybody to be sitting up straight at breakfast, as perky as can be, and ready to engage in an intellectual discussion about world history?”  She smiled when she saw the angry look on 786’s face.  “Yes, I love you too, 786.  Now shut up and finish your breakfast.”

“Makes me glad that tomorrow I’ll be getting out of here for a few weeks,” 511 remarked.

“Where are you going?” 263 asked.

“To the capital of our once great nation, Washington D.C.,” 511 answered.  He shrugged.  “I’ve got to go undercover and assassinate the ambassador from Croatia.  I’m not allowed to give you all of the dirty details, but let’s just say that this guy loves his illegal activities and I need to take care of him before he’s scheduled to leave this country next month.  It shouldn’t be so bad.”

“Have fun and don’t cause too much collateral damage while you’re there,” 121 told him.

“Thanks, I’ll try my best,” 511 said.  He grinned.  “Will you miss me when I’m away, 121?”

“Of course I’ll miss you,” 121 immediately replied.  They locked eyes again and once more, 121 felt her heart skip a beat.  The expression in 511’s eyes almost mirrored the one in 121’s.  They quickly looked away just as the warning bell rang.

“It’s off to mission prep for me,” 511 said cheerfully.  “I’ll be seeing all of you again at lunch.”  He waved to his unit and ignored the eye rolls and raised middle fingers from most of them as he left the cafeteria.

“Well, we should get going ourselves,” 121 observed.  She made a face as she, 494, 304, and 107 left the cafeteria and headed down the hallway.  “We’ve got to learn all about Ballroom Dancing.”

“Hey, we will be in situations where it will be useful,” 494 pointed out, grinning.  “We might and most likely will at some point infiltrate some ball or formal dinner where our target will be at and something like ballroom dancing will be required.”

“No shit,” 121 said as they reached the room.  “But if all of these stupid dances are like the waltz that we learned last week, then I’ll just take a pass at that whole deal.  That dance was boooorrrrrrrr-ing.”

“It wasn’t that bad,” 494 said.  They reached the room for their lesson and 107 and 304 walked in.  494 hung back by the door and put a hand on 121’s shoulder, keeping her back as well.  “121, what was going on between you and 511 during breakfast today?”

“I don’t know,” 121 replied honestly.

494 looked skeptical.  “You don’t know?  Are you sure about that?  The two of you were giving each other some pretty weird looks.  I don’t think any of the others caught it, but I did and I know the two of you better than anybody here.  What was the deal between you and 511 earlier this morning?”

“I’m telling you the truth, 494.  I really don’t know what happened,” 121 insisted.  She sighed.  “I wish I knew what happened and what’s going on.  I don’t know, it just…felt different.  That’s the only way that I can describe it.  Something was not quite the way it was yesterday, but I don’t have a clue what.  You know what I mean?”

“I think I do,” 494 said.  He still looked at 121 a little bit suspiciously.  “As long as it doesn’t have any negative impact on anything.”

“Hey, you said it yourself,” 121 reminded him.  “You know 511 and I better than anybody in this facility.  You know that we won’t let anything get in the way of what we have to do, even if we don’t know what that something is.  Besides, he’s going away tomorrow.”  She felt something odd inside, but quickly brushed the feeling away.

“True,” 494 said.  He shrugged.  “We’d better get inside.  The lesson is going to start in a few minutes.”

“Yeah,” 121 agreed.  “Let’s get to it.”  She followed 494 into the room.  The odd feeling that she had, however, also followed her.