Dysfunctional -- Chapter 7

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 (Sasha/X5-121, etc.).

511 flipped himself off of the last obstacle and blurred for the finish, with 121 only about a second behind him. 121, however, used her longer legs to her advantage and pulled up to 511 as they crossed the finish line. They slowed down and looked over at the trainer who had been timing the two of them as they tried to catch their breath.

“121, five minutes, twelve point 33 seconds,” the trainer announced as he looked at the laptop that had received the feed from the electronic timer. “You tied 494’s time on the course today. 511, five minutes, twelve point 36 seconds. Very close. Good job, both of you.” He typed some commands into the laptop and then he closed it and turned to the rest of the group of X5s that had run the obstacle course. “All of you did very well this afternoon. Dismissed.” The X5s saluted the trainer and marched back towards the building.

“I am so happy that I have enough time for a shower before my next class,” 121 said, relieved. “I smell worse than whatever it was that they served in the cafeteria for lunch yesterday.”

494 turned around and sniffed. “Nah, I think you smell like my socks after I ran the course last week.”

121 rolled her eyes and smacked 494 in the shoulder. “Wise ass.”

“Thank you,” 494 said.

“Anytime, 494,” 121 replied.

“I almost beat her,” 511 said. “I almost had your time.”

“494 left me in the dust when it was our turn to run,” 228 added.

“You still did really well, 228,” 494 pointed out. “I think you had the fifth highest time and there were thirty of us who ran the course just now. What was your time again? Five minutes, fifteen seconds?”

“Five minutes, fifteen point 35 seconds,” 228 confirmed. “Yeah, it wasn’t that bad of a time and it was only half a second off of my personal best, but you three are speed demons out there.”

“It’s one of the few times that I love being tall,” 121 said, grinning.

“It’s not how tall you are, it’s how you’re built. You’re tall, but you also have long legs,” 511 reminded her.

“How would you know, 511?” 121 said. “Have you been looking at my legs? Pervert.”

“I’m fourteen years old. I’m supposed to be at least a little bit of a pervert,” 511 teased. “Isn’t that right, 494?”

“He’s right,” 494 agreed. He reached around and grabbed 121’s ass. 121 shrieked a little and clocked 494 in the head, but both she and 494 as well as 511 and 228 were laughing. “It just comes with the territory.” The four of them entered the building and started to head for the area where their cells were located, but they were intercepted in the hallway by 849.

“There you guys are,” she said breathlessly. “They’re up. They put up the platoon and intraunit rankings.” They followed 849 over to a bulletin board that was against one of the walls that was surrounded by a crowd of mostly X5s.

“How did we do?” 511 asked.

“See for yourself,” 849 replied, but she was smiling.

“I’ll go take a look,” 494 said. He walked up to the board and a minute later, came back to the other four, a big grin on his face.

“So? What was it?” 121 wondered anxiously.

494 kept on grinning and he pointed to himself. “One.” He pointed to 511. “Two.” He pointed to 121. “Three…in not just our unit.”

121’s jaw dropped. “I’m ranked third in the entire platoon? Are you serious?”

“Take a look for yourself,” 494 said.

“Oh, I will,” 121 told him. She managed to get through the crowd and took a look at the board. Sure enough, in the list of the squad rankings, her barcode number was listed third behind 494’s and 511’s. She squealed and ran back to them. “You’re right! You’re right!”

“Welcome to officer status, 121,” 511 said. He gave her a big hug.

“Darn, she’s not a C.O. or a SIC and yet she still manages to outrank me.” 849 pretended to be disappointed for a moment before she grinned. “Congratulations, 121.”

“Thank you, and congratulations to you, too,” 121 told her friend. “Fifth in the squad. That’s really good.”

“Thanks,” 849 said.

“You miserable little whore bag,” a familiar voice spoke up.

121 rolled her eyes. “She had to show up sometime.”

“You pathetic little bitch,” 908 hissed, stalking up to them. “How dare you make officer status when you’re not even a commanding officer or a second-in-command. How dare you take my spot!”

“Your spot? It didn’t have your barcode number on it, 908,” 121 retorted. “Look, just because you weren’t bumped back up to officer status and just because you slipped back to fifth in our unit rankings doesn’t mean that you can take it out on me. I am sick of hearing this kind of shit from you. I’ve been hearing this crap every time I’ve done better than you at something since I got out of Psy Ops two years ago and it’s beyond old. I don’t want to hear this again. Ever.”

“You really are a pathetic little bitch,” 908 said.

“And yet when I make a mistake, I don’t whine about it. As a matter of fact, I bust my ass to correct my mistake and improve myself,” 121 pointed out. “You should try that sometime instead of complaining. Who knows, if you actually do that, you might find yourself back on officer status.” 908 continued to glare at 121, but 121 matched her glare. “Don’t make me beat the shit out of you in front of everybody, 908. Too much collateral damage.”

“Fine, ma’am,” 908 said angrily. She stared at 121 for a moment later before she suddenly reached out and slapped 121 across the face hard enough to send 121 stumbling back into 511’s arms.

“That’s enough, 908,” 494 commanded. He grabbed 908 and pushed her back. “Get your ass to the brig for hitting another soldier unprovoked.”

“Unprovoked?” 908 said skeptically.

“Now!” 494 snapped. “849, please do me a favor and escort 908 to the brig and tell the guard in charge there what happened and tell him that he can determine how long 908 stays down there.”

849 nodded. “Yes, sir.” She grabbed 908 and led her away.

“I can’t believe that bitch hit me,” 121 commented. “When will she just get over it? I thought I was bad at holding a grudge, but she outdoes me in that area by so much it’s hard to fathom.”

“Don’t ask me, she’s not in my unit,” 228 said. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for it to sound bitchy.”

“It’s okay, I understand,” 121 assured her.

494 smirked. “With the way you were acting, I’m not surprised that you’re getting a reputation especially among the younger X-series’ that you’ve got an attitude problem.”

121 returned the smirk. “I like to instill some degree of fear with the kids. I want them on their toes.” They all laughed and continued on their way.

TBC