Together -- Chapter 67

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.).

Max sat alone in her apartment, bored out of her mind. Original Cindy was out and Becky was out of town doing some recon on a bank that she and Max and Alec were planning on robbing within the week. She sighed in frustration and sat down on the couch. Her cell phone rang and she grabbed it gratefully.

Finally, this could be something to do. Sundays suck. She looked at the number and frowned when she didn’t recognize it. The only people who know my cell phone number are Zack, Original Cindy, Becky, Alec, and Jeff. I sure as hell don’t give out the number to any random people. Who the hell could have gotten this number? She answered the call anyway. “Hello?”

“My big brother gave me this number and told me to call it when I got to Seattle,” a female voice said. “I’m assuming since he was the one who gave me this number that you know what the deal is with me and him or maybe not considering how paranoid my brother can be.”

Max recognized the voice after a few seconds and gasped in surprise. “Holy shit! Is that you, Rena?”

Rena was silent on the other end of the line for a few moments. “Max? This is your cell number?”

“It is,” Max said. “I can’t believe it’s you! What happened? Why did Zack give you my number and why are you in Seattle?”

“I got into trouble at my previous location,” Rena told her. “I’ll give you the whole long story later.”

“Fine with me,” Max said. “Meet me at the park in sector 7 in ten minutes. Are you close enough to that sector or do you need more time?”

“No, I can make it to where you want to meet me in ten minutes,” Rena said. “I’ll see you in a few minutes, Maxie.”

“I’ll see you soon,” Max promised. She put on her leather jacket, grabbed her motorcycle and wheeled it out of her apartment and out of the building. She jumped on it and rode over to the park. Max got off of her bike and waited for a minute until she saw Rena arrive. She waved and Rena ran over and they hugged. “It’s been a long time, Rena. You’re still so damn tall.”

“How much do you want to bet that I’m the tallest in our unit now?” Rena agreed.

Max shook her head. “Nope, you’re at least third tallest. Krit’s a little bit taller than you are and Zane’s another two inches taller than that. Feel better?”

“Kind of, yeah,” Rena said. “You’ve seen Krit and Zane since the escape?”

“Yeah, I have,” Max said. “Krit’s actually in town and so is Syl, plus Brin is only a few minutes away. Krit and Syl are living together.”

“That doesn’t really surprise me.” Rena looked hopeful. “You said that you’ve seen Zane since the escape. How did you meet up with him? Where is he now? Is he in town?”

“I’m not sure exactly where Zane’s living, but it’s not in the general area and it’s a long story as to how I met up with him post-escape,” Max said. “Speaking of long stories, you should tell me your long story. What happened with you?”

“You’ve heard about how the media knows about us now,” Rena assumed. “I was in Montana. Zack relocated me there from Madison a few weeks ago. I was just going into town to get my barcode removed and I happened to run across this group of people who’d stopped in front of an electronics store’s window and they were watching the TVs in the window and guess what they were watching? I tried to leave as quietly as I could, but one of them by some stroke of luck, maybe the wind blew my hair or something, saw my barcode, and I got on my bike and I bolted. They got in their cars and chased me. I know leading a chase on my motorcycle going about 100 miles an hour with idiots occasionally firing at me in a snowstorm wasn’t the smartest thing, but I didn’t have an option.”

“100 miles an hour on your motorcycle in a snowstorm? Nice,” Max said approvingly.

“I knew you’d appreciate it,” Rena said, grinning. “I still haven’t told Zack the exact specifics of how I got away. He’d have a heart attack. Either that or he’d kill me.”

“Knowing Zack, he’d kill you while having the heart attack,” Max commented.

“Anyway, I’d gone on rides on my bike late at night before so I knew the area pretty well,” Rena continued. “I knew that there was this road that wound alongside this big hill and at one point on this road, there were a few blind turns that would make the people chasing me loose sight of me for long enough to completely lose them…by jumping off of my bike and letting it go off the cliff close to 200 feet and then hiding. I ducked inside of a snowdrift…” Rena shivered again. “…which also happened to be how Zane and I were able to evade the soldiers they sent out after us the night of the escape, and waited for the morons to conclude that I’d died and left. When they’d left, I got out of the snowdrift, made my way to the highway and got into a department store, got some dry clothes and some money and covered my barcode with makeup, then walked to a diner, went in, ordered some food, and called Zack and he told me to come here to Seattle and he gave me your number. After I’d talked to him and finished eating, I stole a car and drove here. It took me sixteen-and-a-half hours because I stopped once to grab two hours of sleep and to change cars, plus I stopped once for food and cash.”

“Wow, you’ve definitely had a rough couple of days,” Max said. “What do you want to do first? Do you want to get some food or do you want to get a new bike or what?”

“Whatever we happen to come across first,” Rena said. “Your bike is really sweet. How long have you had it?”

“Since I first moved to Seattle,” Max said proudly. “It really is a beauty.”

“I miss my bike,” Rena said. “It was so awesome. I had it for four years. Zack thought that the color scheme was too flashy but that was the style, at least it was when I got the bike. You know where I can get a new one?”

“If you want a really nice one, I know where we can find one for you,” Max said. “Hop on and I’ll take you over there and then we can get some food and figure out where you can stay for the time being.” She smiled. “After that we’ll go see Krit and Syl and then Brin. Did you know that Brin is going to have a baby soon?”

“Yeah, Zack told me that Brin was pregnant through this sick breeding program that Manticore set up, but he didn’t give me any other details,” Rena said.

“I’m not surprised that he didn’t give you any other details,” Max remarked. “Guess who Brin’s breeding partner slash father of her baby is?”

“Judging by the look on your face, not somebody who’s going to make my jump for joy,” Rena guessed. “Who?”

“Ben’s twin,” Max said. “His name is Alec. He’s a royal smart alec and a complete pain-in-the-ass. Though even I have to admit that he’s been really great about the baby since he found out that Brin had gotten out of the fire okay and was still pregnant. I think he’s actually going to be a great dad.”

Rena looked both a little surprised and a little amused. “Ben has a twin?”

“Hey, you have one,” Max said.

“I know, when I ran into Zack’s sister back in Madison she’d mentioned that she’d met my sister before,” Rena said. “Speaking of Becky, is she still living here in Seattle?”

“Becky’s still living here,” Max said. She smiled innocently. “So is that boy Jeff that you almost did the deed with.”

Rena winced. “Yeah, I probably owe him an apology for attracting him to me with those damn pheromones.”

“You’ve got plenty of time to do it,” Max said. “How about we start looking for a new bike and some food?”

“Works for me,” Rena said. She grinned. “Let’s head right for Krit and Syl’s place afterwards. I still need to get Syl back for that prank she pulled on me a week before we left Manticore.”

“I can’t believe that you still remember that,” Max said.

“Of course I do,” Rena told her with a smirk.

Max laughed. “Let’s go.”

TBC