Dysfunctional -- Chapter 44

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.).

Two days later...

Alec watched 601 disappear down the street through the store window. He heard a noise just behind him and turned around to look at 334, giving the younger transgenic an amused look. “I’m going to take a wild guess and say that you don’t like her very much, huh?”

“You got that right,” 334 agreed. She blushed. “Sir.”

“It’s not sir,” Alec corrected her. “It’s Alec.”

“Sorry,” 334 apologized again. “I keep forgetting to call you by your name.”

“It’s okay. It’s a tough habit to break,” Alec said. The two of them turned around as the salesperson came back to the counter and slid some paperwork across it towards 334, who signed an alias to it and gave it back to the salesperson along with the cash that Alec had given her before they had gone inside the store. The salesperson smiled, took the cash, and then handed 334 the bag that had been sitting on the counter and thanked both her and Alec. The two transgenics smiled and waved and left the store. Once they were outside, Alec turned back to the X6. “Your first cell phone. How does it feel to have one?”

“It’s so cool,” 334 commented. She opened the bag and peeked inside.

“How about we find someplace to sit down before you play with your new toy?” Alec suggested. “There’s a burger joint across the street and it’s time for us to eat lunch anyway.”

“Okay,” 334 agreed. The two of them crossed the street and went into the restaurant and sat down at a table. After they had ordered, 334 immediately opened her bag up and took the phone out of its packaging and brought it out and looked it over. “This is really amazing. I’ve seen and used communications equipment that’s either smaller or more complicated than this phone, or even both at the same time, but this is just neat.” She giggled. “Command would have had a fit if I had taken whatever comm. device they had given me for a mission and had put a cover like this on it.”

“Yeah, I don’t think that they were too partial to purple and silver,” Alec remarked. They paused while their food was served and they began to eat. “Tastes like cardboard.”

“Yeah, it tastes like the one that 111 made last month in cooking when they were teaching us how to make basic popular foods,” 334 observed. She looked sad. “I miss him and 941 and 252 and my other unit mates.” She blinked, put her hamburger down, and wiped her eyes. “It’s weird. I didn’t know that you could be this sad when you were separated from them. I mean, I’ve been on missions before and so have they and I’ve missed them then, but not nearly as much as I do now.”

I never thought that I would ever think this, but I kind of wish that Max was here right now, Alec thought. “Maybe you guys were closer than you realized.” He shrugged. “When I was paired up in the breeding program with 452 and when she wasn’t threatening physical violence if I tried to touch her, she would go on and on about her own unit mates, how they gave each other names, and how close they were. She said that they were a family and that they were brothers and sisters to each other and all of that. Maybe that’s how you and your unit mates are to each other.”

“I think so,” 334 mused. She took a sip of her soda and smiled. “That makes a lot of sense. I like that.”

“Glad that you do,” Alec said. They finished their lunch, paid for it, and went back outside. He looked around and stretched. “So, what’s on the agenda now?”

334 shifted around a little. “Actually, I wanted to go off on my own now.” She looked up and saw the somewhat surprised expression on Alec’s face. “It’s nothing against you, Alec, honest. It’s just that…” She looked almost sheepish. “…I’ve never been on my own before. I wanna be out there and explore and maybe get an actual job and my own place and…”

Alec couldn’t help laughing a little bit. “You can’t wait for your independence, huh?”

“I am sixteen,” 334 pointed out, grinning. “According to every psychology class that I’ve taken, most ordinary human teenagers crave their independence. I’m a lot more capable than those guys. I can’t wait to be out there by myself. It’s going to be so much fun!”

“I guess so. Are you sure that this is what you want?” Alec asked. He felt obligated to stick around and keep an eye on her. I owe it to 941 after everything that he’s done for me. Besides, she’s not that bad.

“Absolutely,” 334 assured him. She shifted the backpack that she was wearing on her shoulders. “I’ve got a few changes of clothing, I’m armed with the basics and I can always pick up something else if the situation calls for it, I got my barcode taken care of when you, 601, and I found that tattoo parlor yesterday…” 334 turned around and lifted her ponytail to show Alec her barcode-free neck. “…I’ve got my share of the money that you and 601 and I picked up over the past two days, and I’ve got this.” She cheerfully took her cell phone out of its bag before she put it into one of the pockets of her jeans. She crumpled the bag up and tossed it into a nearby trashcan and looked back at Alec almost shyly. “Actually, can you do me a favor?”

“Yeah, of course I’ll do you a favor,” Alec said. “What is it?”

“If you happen to see 941 before I do, can you give him my cell phone number?” 334 asked. “I mean, you won’t know if you’ll see him first, so can you give it to him anyway? I mean—“

“Relax, don’t worry about it,” Alec assured her. “Consider it covered.”

“Thank you,” 334 told him gratefully. She tugged on the hem of her pink t-shirt nervously before she grinned up at Alec. “Well…I guess that this is it. Thank you so much for everything from the last two days, Alec.”

“It was no problem,” Alec said. “Don’t forget to get the barcode taken care of when needed and stay under the radar.” He couldn’t help smiling at 334’s eagerness. Just another teenager ready to go out there and take on the world.

“I won’t forget,” 334 promised. She impulsively hugged Alec, who after a moment of surprise hugged her back before letting her go. “Good luck finding 511 and 121.”

“Good luck finding your guys,” Alec said. “Bye.”

“Bye,” 334 echoed. She waved to Alec before she turned around and walked away. Alec watched her disappear into the crowd before he turned around and walked off in the opposite direction.