Prophecy -- Chapter 7

Disclaimer:  The TV shows Dark Angel and Supernatural, all of the characters that appeared on them, and everything else that has to do with the shows belong to their respective owners, not to me.  No money is being made off of this fic.  I only own the original characters (Dylan/X6-175, etc.).

“Well, looks like somebody enjoyed his little field trip,” Alec teased Dylan later that night as he watched his friend approach him, Max, and Audrey.  “And you even got the goods, too.  Did you behave yourself?”

“Yes, I was a good boy.  I am an adult.  Unlike you.”  Dylan muttered the last two words under his breath, but the others all heard them anyway.  He grinned when he saw the annoyed look on Alec’s face.  “I didn’t say anything.  You must be hearing things.”  Dylan patted the older transgenic on the shoulder and handed the duffel bag that he’d been carrying to him.  “But little boys deserve a good present or two every now and again.  Check it out.  What you asked for and more.”

Alec set the duffel bag down and unzipped it.  A smile spread across his face as he examined the contents.  “Dylan, you rock.”

“What’s in there?” Audrey asked.

“Some stuff for me and other crap for Dylan,” Alec replied.  “Mostly food and drink.”  He held up a DVD case.  “But this I didn’t ask Dylan to grab on his trip out.  I mean, I wanted it, but…”

Max rolled her eyes when she saw the label on the case.  “For crying out loud, Alec.”

“I refuse to apologize,” Alec said.  “Besides, it’s a bootleg.”  He opened the case and held it out to Max, laughing when she saw that the DVD inside was not what the case indicated it was.  “Oh man, the look on your face.  So priceless.”

“Let me watch the movie with you later and I might not hit you for this little prank,” Max said.

“Consider it done,” Alec assured her.

“You guys make runs just to get some personal items?” Audrey asked.  She frowned.  “I really don’t want to sound like a pain-in-the-ass or anything, but isn’t that kind of silly?”

“I get where you’re coming from,” Max acknowledged.  “It’s a morale thing.  I mean, you remember what it was like back at Manticore when we were kids.  The closest thing that any of us had to anything fun and personal was that freaking rock that Zane found out in the woods that one time when you and I were seven and we were running a training exercise.  Alec and Dylan can tell you that as they and the others got older, they were able to sneak in some contraband from mission, but even so.  If having some personal stuff makes everybody a little more cheerful and gives them a little more enthusiasm for keeping this place going and trying to find a way to get White and the government off of our backs, then I’ve got no problem at all with it.  There’s obviously some limits with the crap that they can keep, but that goes without saying.  It’s really all good.”

“We’ve even got a money source for those of us that can’t go out on our own and grab some cash either legit or not,” Alec added.  “Every so often, a couple of us go out and do some underground gambling.  All of that money goes to personal things.  We usually send out the X6s on personal runs.  It’s great experience for them to go out one or two at a time for these things.  Consider it warm-up for the bank and museum raids that we pull to get money for cafeteria food, building maintenance, and weapons and electronic equipment supply.  Dylan here, unlike most of his generation, could go out on a tough run solo if the situation calls for it, though.  He’s one of the best, period.”

Dylan looked surprised and touched at the X5’s confidence in him.  “Thanks, Alec.”

“Just calling it how I see it,” Alec said.  He smirked.  “You learned from the best, after all.”

“So…” Dylan began to say automatically, but then both he and Alec grew quiet and stayed that way for a few moments before Dylan cleared his throat.  “Anyway, I stashed a smaller bag inside the duffel for my things since some of your stuff is bulkier.  It’s starting to get a little late and I’m getting tired.”

“No problem,” Alec assured him.  He took the duffel bag from Dylan and began to sort out the items inside of it.  “Your shift for sentry duty tomorrow afternoon might get switched around.  We’re waiting to see what comes out of the surveillance and recon op that’s going on outside of that medical supply warehouse just outside of the city.  If what we get out of it looks promising, you’ll be on sentry duty at night to cover for one of the people that I want to have on the raid.”

“Consider me warned,” Dylan said.

“I should be heading back to my own place,” Audrey spoke up.  “This afternoon, I had the wonderful task of trying to teach some X8s, whom I suspect were on sugar buzzes, the finer points of age-appropriate slang.  It felt like it went on forever.  They were all sweet kids, but they had way too much energy.  Were we like that when we were their ages?”

“That would explain a lot about Lydecker’s attitude back in the day,” Max commented.

“Sounds kind of scary,” Dylan said.

“Felt like it at times,” Audrey admitted.  “But I guess it could have been worse.”

“There.  Done,” Alec said.  He handed a backpack over to Dylan, who shouldered it.  “I’m going to head back to my place and just crash for a bit.  Dylan, you want to join me?”

“Thanks for the offer, but I really am tired,” Dylan told him.  “I better get back to my own place.  I’ll see all of you guys in the morning.”

“See ya then,” Max said.

“Bye.”  Dylan waved to the group, turned around, and headed off to his apartment building.  Once he was inside both the building and his own apartment, he dropped his backpack onto the floor, quickly changed into a pair of boxers and a t-shirt, and lay down on the bed, not even bothering to get underneath the covers.  He fell asleep practically the moment his head made contact with the old pillow.

A group of eight black-clad transgenics, including Max and Audrey, moved into the alley.  All of them scanned their surroundings before exchanging hand signals.  They split up into pairs and started to move into their assigned positions when all eight members of the group froze.  Those that were armed with guns started to bring them up, but a larger group of people, outnumbering the transgenics by two to one, came out of nowhere.  Max started to shout orders, but it was no use.  The enemy had the numbers and used them to their advantage.  One by one, the transgenics were killed until only Max was the last one that was alive.  She lay on the ground, tears flowing silently down her face, reaching desperately for Audrey’s still body.

“Audrey?  Sis?  Wake up,” Max begged.

“Oh, 452.”  Max’s eyes snapped over to the man that had spoken her designation.  He removed the mask and grinned.  “You don’t even look surprised.”

“Why should I?” Max hissed.

“Good point,” the man conceded.  He pulled a gun out of one of his pockets and pointed it at Max.  Max tried to get up, but her broken leg wouldn’t let her get very far.  The man just laughed at the effort and shot Max in the head.  “It’s about time, 452.  It’s about time.”

Dylan’s eyes opened and he sat straight up in bed, gasping.  He sat there for a few moments before he completely realized that he was in his bedroom in his apartment.  He gave himself another few moments to get himself under control before he got out of the bed and shakily made his way to his bathroom.  Dylan splashed some water on his face before closing his eyes tightly.

It was a nightmare.  That’s all.  Calm down, Dylan, it was just a nightmare.  He bit his lip.  I’ve never had a nightmare that…vivid before.  It seemed so real.  The gunshots, the blood, Max, Audrey…  Dylan shuddered and looked at his pale reflection in the mirror over the sink.  It’s only a nightmare.  Just a nightmare.

TBC