Dysfunctional -- Chapter 43

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:  Takes place at the same time as chapters 10, 11a, and 11b of Together.  Spoilers/spoiler-ish stuff for "Designate This."

121 sat down on her bunk the following night and lay down and closed her eyes. Yeah, another great day. Get up, throw up, breakfast, fight nausea, go through the same old boring shit, blah, blah, blah. She frowned, though she didn’t open her eyes. Just another day closer to… 121’s thoughts were interrupted by a knock at her cell door and she sat up. “You can enter.”

“Thought you might need some cheering up,” Alec commented as he walked inside.

“Then why the hell are you here?” 121 said sweetly. She paused. “Now that I think about it, that’s actually a valid question. What are you doing here? Are you supposed to be banging 452 right about now?”

Banging…that’s actually a pretty good description of what goes on when I have to see Max, though it’s her fist or her foot banging on my head rather than what 121 is thinking, Alec thought. “I have the night off from procreation duty.” He shrugged. “For whatever reason, a tech approached me as I was leaving my class in training room 4 and he informed me that Director Renfro told him to let me know that I did not have to report to 452’s cell tonight. I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth so I didn’t ask him and I didn’t feel like going to Director Renfro’s office to ask her why I didn’t have to go over to 452.”

“I can’t believe that you got a night off,” 121 pouted. “I wish that I had gotten a night off from that oh-so-lovely…” She made quotation marks with her fingers.” “…’quality time’ with 591.” She sighed, took her pillow, and threw it at Alec. “You are one lucky bastard, 494.”

Alec grinned and caught the pillow. “Yep, another thing to add to the list. Good looks, intelligence, charm, luck…damn, I really do have it all.” He walked over to 121’s bunk and put the pillow back down on it before he sat down next to her.

“I already throw up in the mornings. I don’t really have any desire to throw up at night as well,” 121 remarked. She suddenly got up and walked over to the opposite corner of her cell and just stood there leaning her forehead against the wall.

“Are you okay, 121?” Alec asked, concerned. This isn’t good. “Is something wrong?”

“I think you already know the answer to that question, 494,” 121 replied dryly.

“Sorry,” Alec apologized.

“No, it’s okay,” 121 assured her friend. She walked back to her bunk and sat back down next to Alec. “It really is. I’ve only got about thirty-one weeks or so, give or take a little bit, to get used to you-know-what. It’s plenty of time to get myself to the point where it’s only going to take a short stay in Psy Ops to calm me down after the twins are born.” She managed to put a smile on her face. “Enough about my issues, how was the fun stuff today? Kick anybody’s ass?”

“As a matter of fact, I had the pleasure of beating the snot out of 228 this evening,” Alec told 121. “She said hello, I said hello, the trainer told us to get our asses to the mats, and I helped her say hello to the mats several times.”

“Smart ass,” 121 said.

“Thank you.” Alec gave 121 a big smile.

“You’re welcome,” 121 told him. “I think.” She grew quiet before she got up, went over to her desk, and took a magazine out of one of the drawers. “I think I’m going to read for awhile, 494. I hope you don’t mind.”

Alec picked up on the tense tone that her voice had taken on again, but he stood up and walked back over to the door. “I don’t mind. Will you be okay?”

“News flash, 494: I’m a big girl,” 121 remarked.

“News flash, 121: You have a talent for stating the obvious,” Alec mimicked. He laughed when 121 flipped him off and left the cell, but the laughter stopped and the grin disappeared from his face as soon as he was back inside his own cell.

511 sat almost awkwardly in 849’s desk chair as he looked out of her cell’s small window. “Do you think that if it rains hard enough tonight that me and the other guys in my unit will get out of that training mission that we’ve got scheduled for immediately after breakfast?”

“I’ve lost count of the number of times that I’ve said this over the past week or so, yet somehow it still bears repeating,” 849 said. “You can’t make awkward polite conversation if your life depended on it.”

“I know,” 511 acknowledged. “But at least we only have another couple of days of uncomfortable forced talk left to go.” He got up and stretched. “It could be worse.”

“Like the weather?” 849 commented.

“Don’t get me started on the weather,” 511 warned her. “I hate weather like this because it means mud city the following day. Why do you think I was hoping that the training mission I’m supposed to have tomorrow morning will be canceled?”

“You didn’t have to snap,” 849 pointed out, annoyed.

511 nodded. “I know. I’m really sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

“I understand,” 849 said. “No big deal. That’s what I’m here for. Snapping at, fucking me to knock me up, that’s X5-849 in a nutshell for ya.”

“I’m sorry,” 511 apologized.

“I know that you’re sorry, but…” 849 stopped and took a deep breath. “I know that you’re going through some serious shit with 121 and I don’t want to take away from that at all, but do you think that this is any easier on me? Huh?”

Involuntarily, 511 began to get defensive. “Did I ever say that I thought this was a picnic for you, 849?”

“You didn’t,” 849 conceded. “I really…oh, fuck it.”

“That pretty much sums up everything that’s gone on in the last few months,” 511 observed.

“It does, doesn’t it?” 849 agreed. She started to say something else, but stopped when both she and 511 heard footsteps approaching the cell. She quickly messed up her hair and began to yank on her shirt as if she had just put it on. 511 moved next to her and bent over as if he was re-tying his bootlaces. A few moments later, the footsteps stopped in front of 849’s cell and somebody knocked on the door.

“X5-511? Your time is up,” a guard spoke up.

“Yes, sir. I’ll be just a minute,” 511 said. He straightened up and turned back to 849. “I’ll be seeing you again tomorrow. Good-bye.”

“Good-bye,” 849 replied.

Alec lay on his bunk, staring silently at the ceiling. Once the lights had gone out and he heard the guard’s footsteps leave the hallway, he sat back up and put his boots back on. He waited a few more moments before he got up and opened his cell door. He looked around to make sure that the coast was clear before he walked over to 511’s cell and let himself inside. “Hey.”

“Hey,” 511 said. “How did it go with 452 tonight?”

“Had the night off, I don’t know, don’t ask,” Alec told him. “How about you and 849 or should I not bother asking?”

“The usual, so don’t bother,” 511 answered. “You look like hell, 494. What’s on your mind?”

“A hell of a lot,” Alec confessed. “I was just going to go over to the library and do some thinking. Do you want to go with me?”

511 thought about it for a few moments before he finally shook his head. “No, I don’t think I feel like it. I’m more in the mood for working out my frustrations in a physical manner. I was going to go to the gym and go at it for a few rounds on one of the punching bags. Thanks, though.”

“Not a problem, buddy,” Alec replied. The two of them left the cell together and started to walk through the building before splitting up. Alec waved to 511 before he continued the rest of the way to the library in silence. When he reached it, he sat down at a table and put his head in his hands. He stayed that way for a minute or two before he looked back up, deep in thought.

This situation with 121 has hit critical mass for sure. She’s going to blow and the only question now is exactly when the moment of detonation is going to occur and how messy it’s going to be. He shook his head. Scratch that, I know it’s going to be messy. There’s no doubt about that one, she practically said that one herself.

Alec sighed and sat back in the chair. What options do I have? He paused in his thoughts. Would Max and Zack be willing to let 121 get out with them? No, I know that they wouldn’t have a problem letting 121 tag along. They do consider 120 to be their sister and 121 is 120’s flesh and blood. Max does seem to be pretty big on the whole family concept. He managed a slight smile. I bet that’s probably why she hasn’t actually strangled me yet! He took a look at his watch. Max and Becky and I usually meet in about half an hour from now. I could bring it up with them tonight and after that will come the hard part: talking 121 into this. I’m definitely going to have to let 511 in on this. If anybody can talk 121 into anything, it’s him. He frowned. But if 121 does agree to escape, then what will 511 want? He’d want 121 to be happy, that’s definitely a given, but would he want to go with her? Damn, this is a lot to chew on, isn’t it? He twisted his head and caught a glimpse of the butt of the pistol that he’d stuck into one of his pants pockets earlier and laughed a little. And if all else fails, I could always shoot some sense into everybody! A noise caught his attention and he whipped around. What the hell?

511 walked up to the punching bag and without wasting any time, he swung at it, almost smiling at the loud noise that resulted. This is more like it. He whirled around and kicked it. How do you like that, huh? He continued to take his anger out on the bag. Oh yeah, does that hurt? If I kinda squint a little, I could almost see Director Renfro’s face— His were abruptly cut off when he heard a noise coming from the gym door. He raced over and tried to open it, but he couldn’t. Why the hell is this thing locked?

121 sat straight up in her bunk when she heard the noise coming from her door. After quickly putting her boots back on, she went over to the door and tried to open it. It shouldn’t be locked. Why would they lock the damn doors now? As she tried yanking on it, her nose picked up on something and she started to panic. Smoke? Oh, shit! Come on, let us out so we can help get this under control! Come on! But to her horror, the door didn’t budge.

Alec frowned when he smelled the smoke. Damnit, this is not good. He went to the door and tried to open it, but was unsuccessful no matter how hard he pulled on it. Fuck! The doors should be opening by now to let us out! It’s like—do they even want us to get to safety? He felt horrified. No way, that can’t be possible! He took a deep breath. Whether it’s possible or not, you’ve got to assume the worst and that it is. You have to get the hell out of here now.

He withdrew his gun, but just a quickly put it back in his pocket. No, bullets won’t work on this model of lock. What would work? Let’s see, I don’t have a laptop or the correct code-breaking program to run, so what the hell can I do? He bit his lip. You know, not panicking would help. Think of something. You’ve always been able to think of something.

121 clenched and unclenched her fists, desperately trying to get her thoughts together. Okay, the door’s locked and there’s a fire somewhere in the building. No big deal, right? If the door remains locked, then the guards must have the situation contained. Piece of cake. Get back to bed, you idiot. She started to take a step back towards her bunk but froze when she heard the muffled but still unmistakable sound of an explosion and gripped the door again. Contained my ass!

“You are so going to open and you’re going to do that right now,” 121 hissed at the door. It still didn’t budge and 121 started to panic once more. Shit! How am I going to get out? She took a deep breath and continued to work on the door, a new determination filling her. I’ve got to get myself and my babies to safety. They won’t get hurt! She listened at the sounds around her and frowned when she realized that she couldn’t hear 511 or Alec in their cells. They better be away from what’s happening. They better be okay!

511 looked desperately around the gym. With all of the equipment around here, there has to be something that I can use on the damn door! He quickly analyzed his options and moved over to one of the pieces of equipment when he suddenly heard the lock release. Without wasting a second he immediately went over to the door and threw it open and started to head back in the direction of his cell, only to barely be able to stay on his feet when an explosion nearby shook the hallway. He felt the heat and winced and quickly looked around. It came from somewhere up ahead, right in the middle of my planned route back to our cells. Damn, I’m cut off!

“Sir, what should we do?” a voice asked. 511 turned around and saw a mixed group of other X-series standing behind him, mostly X6s and X8s and a few X3s.

511 took a deep breath and forced any emotions and worries he had to the back of his mind, knowing what he had to do. “Follow me. We need to get out of the building and away from the facility as soon as possible.” He motioned to them and they took off down another hallway.

121 grinned when the door to her cell finally opened and she took off, racing through the halls as quickly as she could. Come on, almost there…move it, you morons! She finally managed to get to a door and followed some other transgenics out. She had barely taken two steps outside when she dropped down to the ground, covering her head. Oh, that better not be who I think it is!

Alec ducked when he heard the bullets being fired and quickly glanced in the direction of the perimeter fence and zoomed in. Yep, it’s the X7s alright. Poor deluded clones must not have a clue. He drew his own gun and began to fire on them as he advanced quickly towards the fence only to yell in pain and stumble as a bullet hit him…

511 quickly made some gestures to his group and a few of them withdrew weapons and began to fire back at the X7s. He made another gesture and most of the rest of the unarmed X-series’ with him took off towards the fence, easily leaping or climbing over it. He quickly took a look around and he felt his heart sink. I can’t see them anywhere. 121, 494, where the hell are you guys? He heard the sound of another explosion close by and he knew that he could no longer wait. He made another gesture towards the armed transgenics and then they took off towards the fence and soared over it. I’ll find you guys. I swear.

121 waited for the bullets to stop firing in her direction before she got up, the fire in her eyes almost rivaling the one behind her. Nobody, and you’d better believe it when I say nobody, tries to hurt my children! Damnit, I wish I had a gun. She glanced ahead and waited for another moment before she suddenly blurred ahead and cleared the fence. She continued to run ahead for several minutes before she stopped and looked around. She bit her lip when she realized the she couldn’t see 511 or Alec anywhere near her. Where are they? I hope that they got out of there. They better—

“Oh, great. You?”

Strangely, 121 felt like laughing. Oh, it really figures, doesn’t it? I can’t find either my boyfriend or my best friend around and I end up with her instead. She turned around to see 786 standing there. “Considering that our cells were right next to each other, 786, I don’t think that you should be all that surprised.”

“Please,” 786 sneered. She rolled her eyes.

“Whatever,” 121 said. She took a deep breath. “That doesn’t matter. What we need to do now is find a place to crash for the night and then we need to get money and clothes and whatever other necessities that we’ll need.”

“In your dreams,” 786 retorted. “I’m out of here.”

“Right now, it will be better for us if we stick together and you know it,” 121 reminded her unitmate.

“Not really,” 786 said. She started to leave, but 121 quickly reached out and grabbed her arm.

“If you want to go out there right now and potentially endanger the life of your unborn child, go right ahead,” 121 hissed. “I don’t give a rat’s ass what you think of me, but you know as well as I do that the best thing for us and for our children is that we work together for the time being. Once we get ourselves set, then we can split up but until then, we both need to suck it up. Am I making myself clear?”

786 glared at 121 for several more moments before she finally nodded. “For the record, I still think you’re a goddamn ‘09er twin loser.”

“And for the record, I still think that you’re a complete skank whore bitch,” 121 replied almost cheerfully. “But all of that aside, we need to get going.”

“There should be a road about…two miles or so southwest of our current position,” 786 said, pointing off in that direction. “We should be able to hitchhike or even steal a ride.”

“And then we’ll take it from there,” 121 agreed. “Let’s move out.” She led 786 in the direction of the road, trying to keep her emotions under control. Later. I can’t let her see a damn thing.

Alec gritted his teeth as he raised his gun and fired back at the X7s. He quickly glanced around the area. “511? 121? Where are you guys?” When he had neither seen them nor heard a reply, he bit his lip. It’s such a zoo around here, it’ll take me awhile to find them and I don’t have the time! Damn. He put on as much speed as he could and ran up to and leaped over the fence. He continued running until the pain in his leg finally was too much and he stopped to catch his breath. He heard two other people stop near him and he looked and felt his heart sink when he saw that neither of them were 511 or 121.

“What happened, sir? What’s going on?” the tall blond girl to Alec’s left asked in a clearly panicked voice. Alec stared at her for a few moments before he finally recognized her.

She’s from the kid’s unit…334, that’s right. “I don’t know, 334. It took me by as much surprise as it did you.”

“Count me in for that one,” the young woman on Alec’s right agreed. She shook her head and then winced. “Got anything that I can use for a bandage for the time being? I caught one in the arm on the way out.” 334 took a look at the blood that was soaking through the left sleeve of the woman’s t-shirt and immediately ran to a nearby tree and threw up.

Alec also took a look at her left arm and nodded, taking off the light hooded sweatshirt that he’d been wearing over his t-shirt. “Yeah, right here.” He ripped a sleeve off of the shirt and he pushed up the drenched sleeve and wiped away the blood from the wound. “You know, it’s not actually that bad. The bleeding should stop pretty soon.” He tore the other sleeve off of the sweatshirt and wrapped it tightly around the injury. He knotted it securely and stepped away. “There you go. That should hold you until we get something real.”

“Thank you,” she told him gratefully. She glanced at the rip across the right thigh of Alec’s pants. “What about you?”

“I don’t think I’m that bad,” Alec commented. He pushed aside the tear enough for him to see and sighed in relief. “Yeah, it’s just a graze. It’s not even bleeding that much.” He held out his hand to the young woman. “X5-494. The girl who was just throwing up is X6-334.”

“X5-601,” the woman said. “Don’t worry, I’m not pregnant or anything. Tonight was only my first night in the program.”

“Gotcha.” Alec nodded.

334 walked back over to Alec and 601, still pale. “I’m sorry about that,” she apologized.

Alec raised an eyebrow. “Are you going to ralph every time we need to change her bandage?”

“I hope not,” 334 commented. “I have kind of a weak stomach.” She shivered and looked around and sighed, obviously disappointed. “I don’t see any of my unit mates.”

“Me neither,” Alec said. “What about you, 601?”

“Not a thing,” 601 replied a few seconds later.

“What are we going to do?” 334 asked.

Alec looked downwards. No 511…no 121…not even 849, 228, or 941. What are we going to do is right, 334. He lifted his head, let his training take over, and replied to 334 in a calm voice. “The first thing that we need to do is break into a store, get some bandages for 601 and myself and some cash, and then we need to find a place where we can get some sleep. Everything else we can figure out in the morning.”

“Got it,” 601 said.

“Yes, sir,” 334 said seriously.

Alec took one final look back towards the direction of the fire before he looked at 334 and 601 again. “Move out.”