Together -- Chapter 69

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.).

Alec casually strolled through the streets. I guess I should be happy that 121 is in the city, I mean, I am happy that she’s here, but why the hell would she be spying on Max or Syl? There’s the whole ‘grudge against the ‘09er sibling for the extended Psy Ops trip’ thing, but I let go of that even before Manticore got deep fried and I know that Becky never held anything against Zack after she found out. 121 does tend to hold grudges a little longer than I do, though. Who knows? He paused when he saw the back of her and smiled a little. “Apparently, you’ve been a naughty girl recently.” He smirked and waited for Sasha to turn around and say something rude and then give him a hug. She turned around, but she almost jumped a mile and her eyes widened in surprise.

“Either you’re dead or Zack has to be the biggest fucking liar on the planet who’s getting a royal beating when he’s back in town,” she gasped.

Alec frowned for a moment in confusion, then smiled and nodded. “Neither on both counts. I’m Ben’s twin, Alec. I’m guessing you must be Rena.”

Rena looked relieved. “Pleased to meet you, I guess. So you’re the guy who knocked Brin up.”

“Guilty as charged,” Alec admitted. “Brin mentioned to me yesterday that you had gotten into Seattle.”

“Yeah,” Rena said. “Got in, got settled, got a new bike, it’s all good.”

“I’d say,” Alec said, looking at Rena’s bike. He whistled. “That’s a beauty. How much did you pay for it or how many guys did you leave conscious for it?”

“Why would you think that I would do something like that?” Rena said.

“I know your twin very well and you are one of Max’s best friends,” Alec pointed out. He winced when Rena smacked him across the back of his head, but still managed a smirk. “I can see why you and Max got along so well back when you were all at cozy little Gillette way back when.”

“I didn’t have to beat anybody up,” Rena said. “The guy that I took this from was so damn high he barely noticed after I flirted with him a bit.” She shrugged. “I was doing him and the rest of the world a favor by swiping this bike from him anyway. Nobody should be that fried and driving any sort of vehicle or bike on the road.”

“Quite true,” Alec agreed. “No offense, Rena, but I’ve got a favor to do for Max and I don’t want to waste anymore time. Max sounded serious enough when she called me a few minutes ago.”

“I won’t keep you,” Rena said. “Do you need my help?”

“Sure, why not?” Alec said. “Hell, with the bike, it might go faster.”

“Hop on, then,” Rena said, motioning to her motorcycle. “Where to?”

“The area by your sister Syl’s apartment,” Alec said. “We’ll start there.”

“Okay,” Rena said. She got on the bike and waited for Alec to get on behind her and then took off. “What exactly is this favor that you’re doing for Max?”

“It has to do with your twin,” Alec told her. “Apparently when Max was visiting Syl, they spotted her in an apartment across the street from them spying on them. 121 would have no reason as far as we know to spy on them, so Max decided to ask me to try to find 121 and ask her what she was doing because Max knew that 121 would at least give me the time of day because we were in the same unit back at Manticore. I was actually her commanding officer. The only other person she’d at least listen to that I can think of would be our fellow unit mate 511, but I don’t know where he is.”

“Think she’d listen to me?” Rena asked. “Or would her long-lost twin being around while you question her just piss her off? I know that I’ve held my fair share of grudges including this nice one that I had against Zack for a few years. If I can hold a grudge against even him, I can imagine that she’d be the same way. Then again, maybe not. You strike me as not exactly the same as Ben was.”

“So I’ve been told,” Alec said. “I have no idea how she feels about you in particular. The last time we talked, she didn’t have warm and fuzzy feelings about you and your family, but that was back in June. She might have changed. If anything can make you change, it’s becoming a parent. I’ve even become more mature emotionally and my kid hasn’t even been born yet.”

“My twin was in the breeding program?” Rena said incredulously.

“Not only that, but she told me that she was expecting twins,” Alec said. “Sure makes me feel better about Brin only having the one baby. I can’t imagine what it’s like to have two at the same time.”

“If you find either my surrogate or yours, you can ask them,” Rena commented. “Or when we find 121, you can ask her.” She pulled her bike up to a lamppost and stopped. “We’re in the right neighborhood. Should we go on foot from here for awhile?”

Alec nodded. “Let’s check out the apartment that 121 was in. If we’re lucky, she’ll still be there. It’s only two blocks from here.”

“Right,” Rena said. They got off of the bike and chained it securely to the lamppost and walked off. The reached the correct building and went inside it and up to the right floor. They listened carefully for any sounds coming from the apartment. “I don’t hear anything. I don’t think she’s in.”

“And we came all this way for nothing.” Alec pretended to be disappointed. “Oh, well, we might as well stop in anyway.” He reached inside his pocket for a credit card that he’d swiped the other day and opened the door and he and Rena entered the apartment. Alec went over to the window and spotted the surveillance device. “We’re definitely in the apartment that 121 occupied. She left this behind.”

“What’s that?” Rena asked. “That looks pretty cool.”

“It’s a surveillance device. It came out and we were trained on how to use this years after you left Manticore,” Alec said. He shook his head. “She’s not normally this sloppy, though. She knows better than to leave incriminating equipment behind.”

“Maybe she was in a rush when she left,” Rena suggested.

“Yeah, but in a rush for what?” Alec wondered. “Check the rest of the apartment. Let’s see if 121 left behind anything else.” He wandered over to the kitchen and looked at the photos and child’s drawings and school assignments that were stuck onto it. “I think it’s safe to say that this isn’t her apartment.”

“You’re right,” Rena said. “I didn’t find anything in the master bedroom. I haven’t searched the second one, but it looks like it’s a children’s room but only for one child that’s definitely older than a newborn.”

“Okay…she’s not here…she left in a rush…where to and why?” Alec thought for a few minutes before he looked back up at Rena. He made a motion to her and they quickly left the apartment and got back to Rena’s motorcycle and took off.

TBC