Together -- Chapter 40

Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Logan, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belongs 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.).

“Another town,” Becky remarked as she and Jeff wandered through Madison, Wisconsin.

“Oh, come on,” Jeff teased. “Don’t tell me they’re all starting to blend together already. Besides, Madison is a city. You do know the difference, don’t you?”

Becky made a face but laughed a little. “Yeah, I do.”

“As far as cities hit by the pulse, this place isn’t too bad,” Jeff said, looking around. “Either that or this city has done a better job about cleaning itself up than Seattle has done so far.”

“I know what you mean,” Becky agreed.

“I like Seattle, though,” Jeff said. “It feels comfortable in a way.”

Becky smiled. “Only one of us would find Seattle comfortable.”

“Not necessarily,” Jeff said. “Anybody who’s lived somewhere that’s rougher than Seattle could conceivably find Seattle to be a comfortable city.”

“You do realize that you sound like a know-it-all,” Becky said.

“I know,” Jeff said.

“You do have a point, though,” Becky admitted.

“What do you think of this one so far?” Jeff asked.

“It’s not bad,” Becky said. “It’s not as big as Seattle and I don’t have to be worrying about sector passes and do I have one and crap like that. That’s a plus right there.”

“Very true,” Jeff said. “I—“ He paused suddenly and sniffed.

“Jeff? What’s going on?” Becky asked, alert.

“I smell—“ Jeff suddenly took off running.

“I don’t smell a damn thing,” Becky said. She shook her head and went off after Jeff. He really should be more careful about running so fast. It’s like he’s not using his brain... Becky’s eyes widened and she moved quicker in Jeff’s direction. Oh, crap. This is not what I need right now! A moment later, she could hear a woman giggling in an alley and recognized the voice. Which one is she? Becky got to the alley and saw Jeff practically mauling a young woman slightly older than Max. She raced up to Jeff, pulled him off of the woman, and punched him hard. “Unless you feel like knocking up an X5, get the hell out of here right now!”

“What the hell—“ Jeff took a look at the woman and his eyes widened. “Shit!” He ran out of the alley.

“How did you know I was an X5?” the woman asked suspiciously.

It’s Max and Zack's sister. “I’ve met your twin before,” Becky said. “You must be 120.”

“I prefer to be called Rena,” the X5 said. “Have we met before?”

“X6-405. I prefer to be called Becky,” Becky said.

“Gillette before my brothers and sisters and I escaped,” Rena recalled. She squirmed around uncomfortably.

“Being in heat sucks, doesn’t it?” Becky said.

“So much,” Rena agreed. “It’s been eleven years since my first one and it never gets easier. Thanks for the save. I can’t believe I almost got it on with an X6.”

“Not into younger or shorter guys?” Becky teased.

Rena snorted. “I can’t help it if I’m six-one. Blame the moron who decided to use what was probably the DNA from some pre-pulse pro basketball star in me.” She shook her head. “I got take the world’s coldest shower right now. I just need to be able to get through the rest of today without jumping a guy and I’ll be okay for the next three months. You know, that X6--”

“His name is Jeff and don’t touch him,” Becky said automatically.

“Why, is he your boyfriend?” Rena said.

“For crying out loud, why does everybody think that Jeff’s either my boyfriend or that we like each other as something other than friends?” Becky said. “I seriously get plenty of that from—back home.”

“You live in Seattle?” Rena said. “Why did you stay that close to where the place burnt down?”

“For now, anyway,” Becky said. “I felt like it was as good as place as any to stay at least for that night and I decided to stay there for longer.”

“Oh,” Rena said.

“Are you okay?” Becky asked.

“I think I will be,” Rena said. She grinned. “Are you sure that boy Jeff isn’t your boyfriend?”

Max said that Rena was one of her best friends back at Manticore and I can see why that was true. “I’m sure.”

“I should get back to my apartment and pray to everything holy that my big brother doesn’t decide that today’s the day that he’s gonna check up on me,” Rena said.

Thank goodness that Zack’s in Mississippi right now! “That sounds like a plan. Do you live far from here?”

“No, just two blocks that way,” Rena said, pointing. “I’ll be okay getting there. Thanks again, Becky.”

“It was no problem,” Becky said. “It was nice meeting you.” She walked out of the alley and pulled out her cell phone and dialed Jeff’s number. “Hey. Where did you go?”

“I’m halfway back to the motel,” Jeff said. “I’m in a fast food place about ten blocks from the alley back in that direction.”

“Cool. I’ll be over there in a sec,” Becky said.

“I can’t believe that I almost banged 121,” Jeff said. “I hate that woman.”

“You can relax,” Becky said. “That wasn’t 121. That was her twin.”

“120? Isn’t she one of Zack and Max’s sisters?” Jeff said.

“That’s the one,” Becky said.

“Oh,” Jeff said. “That was still close. I’m so glad it wasn’t 121.” He paused. “Wait a second, of course it couldn’t have been 121.  She’d been successful in the breeding program, for crying out loud.  She wouldn’t be going into heat at all for the next however many months she's got left with her pregnancy.”

“True enough,” Becky remarked. “What’s the big deal with 121, anyway? You can kick her ass under normal circumstances.”

“I know that,” Jeff said. “It doesn’t mean that I like her any more than I do. That woman has a chip on her shoulder that’s bigger than 224’s ego. She's not nearly as bad as some of her teammates, but it sure was enough to scare the daylights out of me at times.”

“I remember,” Becky said.

“Remember the time when you were in Seattle because of the mission that you and Riley went on when we were sixteen and you guys were back for the weekend and 121 went crazy on that other girl in her unit?” Jeff asked.

“Oh yeah,” Becky said. “786 was the other girl.  She tried to slap me after the fight was over for no reason.  Why did she and 121 get into that fight?”

“Apparently 121 did something to piss off 786 earlier that day and decided to rub it in 786’s face when they were crossing the courtyard with their unit,” Jeff recalled. “786 blew her off and 121 got annoyed and it just went from there. It took Alec and his second in command a couple of minutes to break them apart.”

“We take catfights to the next level,” Becky remarked. “That was something else.” She looked up and saw that she was in front of the restaurant, so she disconnected her phone and went inside and saw Jeff sitting at a table and sat down across from him. “So, what do you think of Madison now?”

“Nice place to visit, but we can leave at any time,” Jeff said. Becky just shook her head and laughed.

TBC