Together -- Chapter 58

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.).

“I hate the holiday season,” Sketchy complained as he arrived back at Jam Pony one afternoon after making a run. “Nothing but run after run after run.”

“Stop complaining for once, fool,” Original Cindy said. “You’re making more money by making ‘run after run after run.’”

“Yeah, buddy,” Alec said. “Just don’t think about how tired you are, think about how you are going to spend all that hard earned money. Besides, we’ve got less than an hour and then we’re done for the day.”

“Has it ever occurred to you that maybe he should save his money?” Max said.

“Has it ever occurred to you that maybe you sound like—“

“Time out, please,” Jeff said. “Watching the two of you fight is fun as hell, but Alec is right and we only have less than an hour before Normal springs us loose and the last thing that we want is for him to be yelling at us all during that time about how we can’t control our behavior.” He stopped and blinked. “I think I sounded just like a school principal just now.”

“You did,” Sketchy said. “You sounded exactly like my junior high principal. I should know. I was in her office often enough when I went to that school.”

“Somehow, that really doesn’t surprise me,” Becky said as she rode back into Jam Pony. She got off of her bike and opened up her backpack and took out a newspaper and discreetly gestured with her eyes to Max and Alec and Jeff, who followed her over to a corner. She held out the newspaper and spoke quietly enough so that the three of them were the only ones who could hear her. “Check this out. Front page.”

“Holy shit,” Max said just as quietly. On the front page of the tabloid that Becky was holding was a picture of an anomaly. It was hard to tell what species of DNA had been put into his genetic makeup. “This isn’t good. We should be grateful that it’s only a tabloid and not a regular newspaper. People should just blow this off.”

“Or it could get White back into Seattle and get him on our collective ass again,” Alec said. “I personally think the guy’s looking for an excuse to get back here.”

“Yeah, me and my supposedly perfect DNA,” Max said. “He seemed pretty interested in it.”

“There was something that was very wrong about him other than the fact that he’s the one in charge of hunting us down and killing us,” Becky said. “Remember when I had that run-in with him back in August? The guy was chasing me across the rooftops. He was definitely as fast as an X5 and he took two bullet hits and he didn’t slow down and he didn’t show any signs of pain whatsoever. We know for sure that this guy is not a transgenic, though.”

“I don’t know what we’re going to do about him if and when he comes back,” Max said. “Whatever we do, we’ve got to stay alert.”

“Gee, Max, you’re starting to sound an awful lot like someone…” Becky teased.

Max rolled her eyes. “You occasionally do that if you spend time with somebody, plus Lydecker didn’t replace Tinga with me as his second-in-command two months before we bailed out for nothing. Speaking of Zack, I’ll be following you back to your apartment after we’re done here and he and I will be taking off on a date. I don’t know when we’ll be getting back.”

“I don’t care. If I’m sleeping when you guys get back, don’t wake me up,” Becky said.

“No problem,” Max said. She sighed and turned her attention back to the article. “This says that the picture was taken yesterday by the sewers not too far from Terminal City. I guess that makes sense. There must be at least some of us who decided to park there. It’d be perfect considering that we’re immune from the radiation and toxic waste that spilled there years ago.”

Alec nodded. “That’s where I found Becky’s brother after we all got out. There’s no way he was the only one who headed in that direction after the fire.”

“If all you slackers are going to do is stand around for the next forty minutes, you might as well go home,” Normal said.

“You serious?” Jeff asked.

“I am,” Normal said. “I expect for all of you to be back here tomorrow and for you to work your butts off.”

“Thanks,” Max said cheerfully. She and Becky and Jeff and Alec went to their lockers, got their jackets, got on their bicycles, and left Jam Pony and rode off. Alec and Jeff headed off to their own apartments while Max and Becky rode off to Becky’s place. They got there and Becky unlocked the front door and they wheeled their bikes inside. Max dropped her bike on the floor and almost ran to Zack and gave him a big kiss. “I missed you so much.”

“I missed you, too,” Zack said. He gave her another kiss before he went over to Becky and gave her a hug. “I missed you, baby sister.”

“Same here,” Becky said.

Zack stepped back and saw the look on her face. “What’s going on now? What happened?”

“Something that I suppose we should classify as inevitable,” Becky said. She took the tabloid out of her backpack again and handed it to Zack. “At least we’ve got something of a warning for White getting his weird ass back to Seattle. I am not looking forward to it at all. If White’s smart at all, he’s going to come back to follow up on this, even if it is only a tabloid.”

“…and he’s going to want an excuse to get back to Seattle to go hunting for Max again,” Zack concluded.

“What should we do?” Max asked.

“All we can do right now is stay alert,” Zack said.

Max sighed, but she knew that Zack was right. “I hate waiting for the other shoe to drop.”

“You and me both,” Becky agreed. “I’ll be in the other room. I need to check on my equipment. Jeff and Maggie and I are going down to Tacoma tonight to pull a job down there.” She went into her storage room and closed the door behind her.

Zack sat down on the couch and Max sat down next to him. “Don’t worry about White, Maxie,” he assured her. “If there’s one thing that we know how to do, it’s avoid the men and women who chase after us. Becky and Alec and most of the others who got out of Manticore might have more training than us, but if there’s one thing that you and I and our family has gotten down to a fine art, it’s avoiding and taking care of people who want to hunt us down.” He put his arm around Max’s shoulder. “And yes, I will be staying in Seattle for a little while longer than normal this time.”

“Good,” Max said. They sat silently for a few moments before Becky came out of her storage room and stared at them.

“I should be happy that you’re not making out,” she teased. She ducked under the pillow that Max threw at her. “I’m going to go over to Maggie and Brin’s to drop something off for Maggie and then I’m getting dinner. You guys want me to bring back something?”

“No, we’re going to eat when we go out,” Zack said. “Thanks anyway.”

“Cool,” Becky said. “I’ll see you guys later.” She left.

“So, what do you want to do? Do you still want to go out?” Max asked.

“Yeah, it should be fine,” Zack said.

“Good,” Max said. She grinned wickedly. “I never miss an opportunity to be up close and personal with my man with all that power between our legs.”

Zack’s eyes darkened with lust. “You know, Becky might still be in hearing range.” He leaned forward so that his lips were next to Max’s ear. “But if you’re good, maybe sometime later.”

“I hope so,” Max said.