Dysfunctional -- Chapter 40

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 chapter takes place immediately before chapter 6 of “Together”. Spoilers/spoiler-ish stuff for “Designate This.”

A week or two later...

“I think 228 is getting back from her mission in a few days, right?” 494 asked 121 as they left the cafeteria after lunch several days later.

121 nodded. “Yeah. It’s about time.”

“She’s sure missed out on a lot,” 511 said dryly.

“Well, she’s going to have a blast once she gets back,” 494 remarked. “I wonder how soon after she gets back is she going to get put into the breeding program. Is she going to get thrown right into the mix just like I did or are they going to hold off for a day?” He frowned. “Why did they just shove me right in like they did?” He snapped his fingers. “Oh, right, now I remember. It’s because they finally realized how much my genes kick ass and they couldn’t wait to put them to good use.”

“Here’s hoping that when your and 734’s offspring is born that it doesn’t inherit your ego,” 121 commented. “Manticore couldn’t…actually they really couldn’t handle two of you now that I think about it.”

“Have I ever mentioned how sarcastic you are, 121?” 494 wondered.

“Only about ten million times,” 121 replied. “Keep going. I never get tired of it.”

“No problem. You have got to be the biggest sarcastic b—“

“You can stop now,” 121 informed him.

494 pretended to be insulted. “But I thought that you said that you never got tired of this, 121?”

“Call it a brief moment of insanity,” 121 said.

“How about I call it—“ 494 started to say. He stopped mid-sentence and laughed when he saw the annoyed look on 121’s face. “Okay, okay, I’ll give it a rest.”

“Thank you,” 121 said. She looked curiously at the small group that was gathered around a nearby bulletin board. “I’ll go see if 967 was finally put into the program.”

“Be my guest,” 494 told her. He turned to 511. “Speaking of which, how is it going with 849? Is she pregnant yet?”

511 shook her head. “I couldn’t smell anything on her last night and if we conceived successfully then, she hasn’t told me yet. I hope it happens soon because I don’t know if I can take much more of this. It shouldn’t be too much longer.”

“Keep the faith, buddy,” 494 encouraged his best friend. “Hopefully it’ll just be another night or two that you’ll have to sleep together and then you and 121 can go back to as close to or better than normal as you guys can get.”

“I know,” 511 admitted. “I will.” They looked up and saw a snickering 121 heading back towards them. 511 looked at her suspiciously. “What did you do, 121?”

“I didn’t do anything,” 121 replied honestly. She turned to face 494 and smiled sweetly. “Mr. My-Genes-Kick-Ass? You’re needed again.”

“Huh?” 494 said, confused. “Why would they put me back into the program? I already knocked up 734.” He narrowed his eyes. “Why do you look so damn happy? Are your hormones screwing with you?”

“No more so than they have been for the last almost nine weeks,” 121 informed him. She grinned.

“Yeah…” 494 said slowly. He made his way over to the board and looked at it. X5s by males…X5-494 and… His jaw dropped. Oh, for crying out loud! Renfro can’t be serious about this. He stepped to the side and started to bang his head against the wall.

“Something wrong, 494?” 121 questioned innocently. She laughed when 494 flipped her off. “Sucks to be you.”

“What is going on?” 511 asked, confused. “Did they decide to let 908 into the program after all and paired her up with you, 494?”

“I’d say I wish, but I’m still pretty sure that the hand that I was just dealt is still a lot better than that,” 494 said. He sighed. “I got paired up with 452.”

“What the fuck?” 511 exclaimed. “452? I didn’t think that she was completely through with Psy Ops and reindoc yet, not to mention them trying to catch her up on all the crap that she missed.”

“I haven’t heard that she was done with that shit either,” 494 agreed. “I have no clue and I don’t care. All I know is that I’ve got to go to 452’s cell tonight and copulate with her like a good little boy.” He rolled his eyes. “Great, lucky me.”

“Just remember, it could be worse,” 121 assured 494. “Or can it?”

“It really warms my heart to see how much pleasure that you’re getting out of my suffering,” 494 commented.

121 smiled cheerfully. “What can I say?” Her expression grew concerned. “Seriously, 494, are you okay with this?”

“Not really, but I don’t have a choice,” 494 pointed out. He put a cocky grin on his face. “I do believe, however, that the correct question is whether or not 452 can handle me?”

“That’s our 494,” 121 said. “You boys go and have fun playing with knives and machetes and all that fun stuff. I’ve got some X9s that need to learn chemistry. I’ll see you guys at dinner.” She waved to them and walked away.

“I love edge weapons,” 511 declared as he and 494 started off towards their next class. “I wonder if I was a swordfighter in sixteenth or seventeenth century Europe in a previous life.” He glanced at 494 out of the corner of his eye. “No, I was not the village idiot. I know exactly what you were going to say.”

494 shook his head in mock disappointment. “Damn. Sometimes having a friend that knows how you think is a pain-in-the-ass.”

“I guess my woman was right. It does suck to be you,” 511 said as they entered the training room for their lesson. They both laughed.

“Looks like a mixed group today,” 494 observed as he saw the various X5s and X6s that were already in the room. He turned when the door opened again and grinned. “Hey, 941!”

“Hey,” 941 greeted. He walked up to 494 and 511. “Good to see you guys. I didn’t know that we’d be in this class together today.”

“Could you sound any smarter?” a voice sneered from behind them.

941 briefly closed his eyes before he turned around. “Maybe not, 224, but in any case it’s none of your business how I sound so long as it doesn’t interfere with any mission or activity that I am required to perform and since class hasn’t begun yet and isn’t scheduled to begin for another—“ 941 checked his watch. “—two minutes, then there was no need for you to but in and speak up.”

“Oh, really?” 224 said skeptically. He turned around and grinned evilly. “Look who also decided to show up. It’s the Ice Queen herself.”

“It wouldn’t be a party without me,” 405 deadpanned. “Hey, 941.”

“It’s good to see you, 405,” 941 said. He looked towards the entrance. “115, 367, and 773 aren’t scheduled to have this class too?”

“No,” 405 admitted. “Hey, I don’t see 252 or 312 or any of the rest of your people here.”

“My, what scintillating conversation,” 224 remarked.

“224, shut up. You’re annoying everybody,” 494 told the younger soldier.

“Make me,” 224 taunted.

“Glad to. I’m ordering you to shut your mouth,” 494 said cheerfully. That got snickers from 511 and 941 and a smirk from 405. 224 glared at all four of them before he turned around and stalked off to the other side of the room. “That was fun.”

“I wish that I could do that,” 941 lamented.

“Maybe you’ll outrank his sorry ass one of these days,” 405 said.

“I can see that 224 is sure winning this month’s popularity contest,” 511 remarked.

“And he won last month’s and the month before that, et cetera, et cetera, et cetera,” 494 said.

941 frowned. “Are you okay, 494?”

“Yeah, I’ll tell you about it later,” 494 promised. 941 still gave him a puzzled look, so 494 just put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. “Don’t worry about me, kid. I’m fine.” He smiled. “It’s nothing a good knife fight with somebody won’t cure.” They suddenly looked towards the door and then the four of them, as well as the other X5s and X6s in the room, formed a line and stood at attention as a trainer entered. I hope a good knife fight will cure it. Besides, being paired up with 452 might not be so bad. I just need to keep an open mind. That’s all.