Together -- Chapter 46

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 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.).

“Holy crap,” Becky said. “This is some party.”

“You’ve been in a cafeteria with hundreds of other hungry X-series at a time and this still manages to impress you?” Max teased.

“Hilarious,” Becky said.

“Come on,” Max said. “This is a milestone for you. Your eighteenth birthday.”

“I’m not used to these kinds of milestones,” Becky admitted. “Manticore didn’t exactly believe in celebrating birthdays. Heck, the only way I had an idea as to when my birthday was in the first place before you and I read the database was because of when they had me take the group missions test when I was eleven.”

“Well, welcome to celebrating birthdays in the outside world,” Max said. “Come on, let’s get something to drink and then we can point and laugh at all the weird costumes everybody has on.”

Becky laughed. “Speaking of costumes, how come you didn’t wear the vest with the cat suit tonight? I thought you said you were going as yourself.”

“No, I said that I was going as ‘a’ cat burglar, not ‘the’ cat burglar,” Max said.

“I guess that is a difference,” Becky deadpanned.

“You guess that is a difference?” Max said as she got two beers from the bartender and handed one to Becky. “You could take what I guess Manticore would have considered to be the top of the X5 food chain post-2009 and have him or her go in and try to pull off a bank robbery at a place like Seattle National downtown and he or she would not do it nearly as well as I would.”

“I guess there’s something to be said for those work study programs, huh?” Becky said. She grinned.

“There sure is,” Max agreed.

“Max! Becky!” Sketchy yelled to them.

“Where is...oh, I can’t believe it,” Max said. “I guess I should believe it, though.”

“What?” Becky asked.

“Sketchy’s dressed up as a clown,” Max told her. “He was blabbing all this week about how he wasn’t going to dress up as something childish this year.”

“Maybe he lost a bet with someone,” Becky suggested.

“That definitely sounds plausible,” Max said. “Hey, Sketchy! What gives with the costume?”

“I decided that a clown was really the right costume for me after all,” Sketchy said.

“You lost a bet, didn’t you?” Max guessed.

“I didn’t lose a bet,” Sketchy said. “I only lost a round of poker to Alec. The loser had to dress up like a clown tonight.”

“You put it together pretty well on such short notice, Sketch,” Alec remarked. “Not to mention how well you pull the look off. Personally, I don’t think I could look that good as a clown.”

“You’re not gangly enough to pull off a clown costume,” Max agreed.

“Right on the money,” Alec agreed.

“Speaking of costumes,” Becky said to Alec. “What’s the deal with the tux? It’s going to be so filthy by the end of the night.”

“I’m James Bond,” Alec said, grinning. “Don’t tell me you haven’t heard of one of the greatest movie heroes of all time, Becky. I know that you have to have heard about him.”

“Dude, my grandmother had the biggest crush on the first guy who played Bond,” Sketchy said. “That one dude who she swore got better looking as he got older...damn, what was his name, Alec?”

“Sean Connery,” Alec said.

“Yeah, that was the guy,” Sketchy said.

“I have heard about the James Bond films,” Becky said. “My parents might have tried to make sure I lead a relatively sheltered life, but I wasn’t that sheltered. Anyway, where are Jeff and Original Cindy? I don’t see either of them around.”

“Original Cindy will be here later,” Max said. “She was working on her makeup when I was ready to go and told me to go on ahead without her. I’m assuming that Jeff will show up soon. He is going to show up soon, right, Becky?”

Becky rolled her eyes. If Zack were here, he’d be rubbing it in about how this is payback for the teasing I gave him about him and Max. Thank goodness he’s not coming to Crash! “Jeff and I are friends but that doesn’t mean that I know where he is every second of every minute of every hour of every stupid day.” She smiled. Every action deserves an equal and opposite reaction! “Speaking of arriving late, are you sure you still want to leave early? This seems to be a really awesome party and I know I wouldn’t want to leave it too early. You really must have a good reason.”

“Are you sure that you didn’t have any liquor before I picked you up?” Max said. She rolled her eyes. “Alec’s kid hasn’t been born yet and it’s already one up on you on the maturity scale.”

“Thanks, Max,” Alec said cheerfully.

“And I haven’t even mentioned how your child is already at least two up on you,” Max said. She laughed.

“Real funny,” Alec said.

“Speaking of your kid, are we going to meet his or her mom one of these days?” Sketchy asked.

“One of these days,” Alec agreed. “She didn’t feel like coming here tonight, but I know she wants to meet all of you at some point.”

“Speaking of meeting, look who just showed up,” Becky said, looking over at the entrance. “Hey, Jeff! We’re over here!”

“Becky!” Jeff said. He made his way over to where they were standing and gave Becky a hug before giving Max a quick hug and then shaking hands with Alec and Sketchy. “What’s going on, guys? Have I missed any fun?”

“You haven’t missed anything good yet,” Max said. “We were pretty much just waiting for you and Original Cindy to show up. The night’s still young. I’m sure plenty of fun will happen later.”

“And let me say this right now,” Becky said. “If any of you gets the bright idea in your head to get up there sing Happy Birthday to me, I will cause serious physical damage to whoever does it.”

Max looked at her. She really can do that. I hope she’s joking. “You’re kidding, right?”

“Don’t worry, of course I’m kidding,” Becky said. “I’ll only do psychological harm. Seriously, don’t embarrass me by singing Happy Birthday.”

“We won’t,” Alec said. “I can’t make any promises about us getting up there to sing a good Happy Birthday to Max, but we won’t sing it to you.”

“I guess I know when I’m gonna be leaving the party tonight,” Max said.

“How about you have as much fun as humanly possible with us before then?” Alec said. “Who wants to see me kick Jeff’s ass at pool again?”

Max laughed. “That sounds like a good idea.”

TBC