Together -- Chapter 17

Disclaimer: All of the characters that appeared on the TV show Dark Angel (Max, Zack, Logan, etc.) belong to their respective owners, not to me. No money is being made off of this fic. I only own the original characters (Becky/X6-405, etc.).

Notes: More spoiler-ish stuff for “Proof of Purchase” as well as the pilot. The next chapter or two is sort of an AU version of "Proof of Purchase."

“You seem like you’re adjusting to life in Seattle pretty well,” Max remarked as she and Becky walked down a street one day.

“Yeah, it’s not bad here,” Becky said. “It’s so much better than life back at Manticore.”

“No argument here,” Max agreed.

“I’m glad to see that Logan’s back doing his normal Eyes Only broadcasts,” Becky commented. “I just wish he would get off of my case about helping you out.”

“Yeah, he gave me the same speech when we first met,” Max said, rolling her eyes. “All that ‘you have to do something to save the world’ crap.”

“Why did you decide to help him?” Becky asked.

Max grinned at the memory. “I first met him when he and his bodyguard at the time walked in as I was robbing the penthouse. Unfortunately, he saw me jump a few stories to the ground as I was taking off. He got curious and he figured out who I am. He got me to go back to the penthouse under the premise of a date and he confronted me and I told him everything about who and what I was and then he told me his little secret and then he asked me to join him in his crusade. I refused. I mean, it’s not like I don’t want to help the world, far from it, but how am I supposed to play superhero when I’m supposed to lie low? He tried to lay a guilt trip on me. Long story short, a day or two later, I’m hanging at Jam Pony in between packages when a news bulletin comes up on the TV about a shooting and kidnapping. Logan’s bodyguard was killed, the little girl that they were trying to protect was kidnapped, her mother used to work for a member of the mob and was gonna testify at a trial, and Logan was shot in the back, which explains the chair. Those braces he was using before are another long story that I’ll get into another time. So I felt a little guilty and I visited Logan in the hospital, picked his wallet...” That got a laugh out of Becky as well as Max. “...and I wheeled his bed out of the room before it got fire bombed. Long story short, I ended up rescuing the little girl while having Lydecker on my tale at the same time. I dropped in on Logan at his penthouse a few months later. He agreed to help me find Zack and my other brothers and sisters if I helped him with Eyes Only, so I did and the rest is history.”

“Some story,” Becky observed.

“Yeah, it’s pretty whacked,” Max agreed. “But then again, it’s me.”

“True,” Becky noted. She stopped suddenly and zoomed in on something. “Oh my...” She took off running.

“Becky? What’s going on?” Max yelled as she followed her.

“115? Are you okay?” Becky asked as she helped her second-in-command off of the sidewalk.

“Yeah, I will be,” he groaned. “Fuck, I hate it when painkillers wear off.”

Becky turned to look at the back of his neck and gasped at the sight of the bloody gauze taped to the back of his neck where his barcode was. “What the hell happened?”

“Got it cut off,” 115 said.

“Cut off? Why?” Max wondered.

“He said I was in trouble...he said that there wasn’t enough time to go find a tattoo parlor or some laser to take it off,” 115 told her.

“Who said?” Becky asked.

“494,” 115 replied.

“What?!” Max exclaimed.

115 started to nod, but moaned in pain. “I think he might be the one in trouble, though. I heard him mumbling something about how this should save his ass with someone named White when he dumped me here and how he couldn’t kill me like he had to kill the other two.”

“Do you know where he was going after he left you here?” Becky asked.

“I think he headed off in that direction,” 115 said. He pointed to his left. “But where he went from there, I have no clue.”

“We should get to Logan’s,” Max suggested. “The penthouse isn’t far from here and he can help us find Alec. He’s got enough first aid for your sib, too.”

Becky nodded. “Can you walk, 115?”

“Yeah, I should be okay,” 115 answered. The three of them walked quickly in the direction of Logan’s penthouse. “Um, who are Logan and Alec? When did you meet up with 452?”

“I met up with 452 after the fire,” Becky explained. “Her name is Max, by the way. Logan is a norm friend of her’s. He can be trusted.” So far. “Alec is 494. Max named him.”

“Oh.” 115 was silent for a few moments. “Do you have a name?”

“Becky,” Becky said. “How about you?”

“Kyle,” he told her. “What do you think?”

“It’s perfect for you,” Becky assured him.

“We’re here,” Max spoke up as they entered the building. They went up the elevator and over to and into the penthouse. “Logan. Emergency.”

“Max, what happened?” Logan asked.

“This is my brother Kyle,” Becky said. “Where’s your first aid?”

“In the bathroom, I’ll go get it.” Logan left the living room, returning a moment later with a first aid kit. He handed it to Becky.

“Thanks,” Becky said. She took the kit and started to clean and redress Kyle’s neck.

“What’s going on?” Logan asked again.

“Alec cut off Kyle’s barcode,” Max informed Logan. “We think he was forced into it, though. Can you check to see reports of any dead bodied with patches of skin missing from the backs of their necks?”

“Sure,” Logan said. “But why bodies?”

“He said he had to kill the other two,” Kyle spoke up. “Someone named White was making him do this.”

“This White must be one of the people in charge of cleaning up the Manticore mess,” Becky mused.

“He must want proof that we’ve been eliminated,” Kyle commented. “But why didn’t he kill me? Why did he just leave me by that hospital?”

Becky shrugged. “I don’t know, Kyle.”

“Tapping into hover and security cams...got a hit,” Logan said triumphantly.

“What is it?” Max asked.

“Security cam footage of a sewer near the Terminal City area from this morning,” Logan told her. “Young man fighting and killing what looks like an anomaly.”

“That’s Alec, all right,” Becky confirmed when she saw the monitor.

They watched as Alec easily defeated the anomaly and then sliced the barcode off and tucked it into a pouch that he slipped into his jacket pocket before walking away. “Maybe that’s why he didn’t kill you,” Max said softly. “Maybe the other X-series were almost or as afraid of the ‘nomilies as we were. It wouldn’t be too much to kill one of them if we had to, but to have to kill an X-series? Someone that looks like us?”

“Yeah,” Kyle agreed.

“Can you track him?” Becky asked.

“I can try,” Logan said. He worked a few more moments while Max, Becky, and Kyle looked on silently over his shoulder. “Got him. Just entered a warehouse near the docks.”

“Why do all bad guys like warehouses by the docks? There’s gotta be some kind of manual.” Max said shook her head. “You coming, Becky?”

“Definitely,” Becky said. “Kyle, stay here.”

“Becky, I can help you,” Kyle protested.

“I know you can,” Becky acknowledged. “But I don’t want to take a chance on you right now. This isn’t the worst injury you’ve ever had, but you’re not 100 percent right now and I don’t want anything to happen to you if you go with us.”

“All right,” Kyle agreed reluctantly.

“Don’t worry,” Becky assured her teammate. “We’ll be back and we’ll get all this straightened out. I promise.”

TBC