Together -- Chapter 70

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 carefully looked around her as she left Syl’s apartment building. No sign of 121 yet. There better not be a sign of her. If I can just get back to my apartment and call Zack—screw it, why should I wait to call him? She took out her cell phone and speed dialed Zack’s number. “It’s me. I’ve got a possible situation.”

“What is it?” Zack asked.

“I was visiting Syl and we spotted someone that we originally believed to be Rena in the window of the apartment directly across the street from us,” Max informed him. “She had a surveillance device with her, the kind that we’ve seen Becky use before, and as far as we know Rena wouldn’t know how to use it. She got out of sight for a minute when she realized that we’d seen her, but she came back into view just enough for us to take a look at her barcode. It was Rena’s twin, 121.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” Zack said.

“I know,” Max said. “I called Alec, since he was her commander back at Manticore, to find her and dig up the 411. I told Syl that I’d call Rena or Becky to come over to stay with her, but she refused pretty quickly. I couldn’t blame her. She was right, though. Whether she’s in heat or not in heat, she’s more than capable of defending herself and I know that she and Krit have some weapons stashed around their crib. She should be safe enough.”

“Most likely,” Zack conceded. “Maxie, you need to be careful at least until you find out what 121 was doing and what her motives are.”

“Lie low and get the info,” Max agreed. “I’m on my way back to my place right now. I might call Becky or Jeff and have one of them swing by.” She smirked. “Does that make you feel better?”

Zack sighed. “Yes it does. I’m in Savannah checking up on Wayne, but I can get to Seattle in three days, maybe less if you need me.”

“I don’t know if I’ll need you, but I’ll see you in three days,” Max said. “Tell Wayne I said hi and I miss him.”

“I miss you too, Maxie,” Wayne said in the background on the other end. “Keep this asshole in line.”

Max laughed. “I’ll do my best, Wayne. I love you, Zack.” She disconnected and put her phone away and continued towards her apartment.

Sasha caught her breath in the lobby as she waited for Max to leave Syl’s apartment building. I must be out of shape if I’m a little winded after running down the stairs for thirteen floors. I haven’t done that kind of exercise since months before Jade and Julia were born. She stiffened when she saw Max start walking and waited a few more moments before she started to follow her, carefully keeping enough distance so that she wouldn’t be spotted. Yeah, try spotting me now you ‘09er bitch. Did they have you play Escape and Evade solo against a full unit of other X5s when they were testing you for solo ops? I think not!

She paused for half a second when she saw Max pull out her cell phone and call Zack. Damn, the situation is more critical than I thought. She’s smarter than I’ve been giving her credit for. If I’m going to make my move, I’ve got to make it as soon as possible.

Max hissed in frustration when she reached a busy intersection. Damn, the light just had to turn red when I got here, didn’t it? If there weren’t so many people and hoverdrones around, I’d kick the—

“Max!”

Max turned around and managed to put a smile on her face when she saw Sasha running up to her. Sasha had a cheerful-looking smile on her face and Max guessed the game she was playing in a heartbeat. I don’t see anything that says this game can only be played by one person at a time! “There you are, Rena. I thought you said that you were going to be busy all day getting stuff settled in your crib.”

“I thought I’d take a break,” Sasha said. “I can’t go at it for hours on end without going crazy from the boredom.” She shrugged. “What are you doing?”

“I was just visiting Syl at her place,” Max said. “You know how much it sucks to be cooped up away from the world when you’re in heat. I was going to head back to my place when this light finally changes. You wanna come with?” Yeah, you wanna come with me over to Jeff’s apartment? It’s only a few blocks from here and I know for a fact that he’s there. At least he said that he’d be at his place all day.

“That sounds perfect,” Sasha said. Do I look like an idiot, 452? I know you’re taking me to someone else’s place. It’s either that or another transgenic is over at your apartment. I guess I have to pretend to be my dear sister for a little longer. No big deal. I can be patient, especially considering what I know the end result is going to be!

“Great,” Max said. The light changed and the crossed the street. “I’m glad that you’re settling into Seattle as well as you are.”

“I’ve had a lot of practice at settling into new cities and towns,” Sasha lied. “It gets easier each time you do it.”

“I’ve never moved around that much,” Max said honestly. “I didn’t get back into contact with Zack until last year or so. I first moved here to Seattle in the spring of 2018. After the escape, I was in L.A. for the first few months until about the time of the Pulse and then I got out of there and went east a little bit into Nevada and I lived there a few miles southeast of Vegas for the next four years. After that I moved back to California and I lived in Sacramento for two years before I moved to San Francisco and I lived there until I moved here to Seattle.” She laughed. “I missed Jondy there by a month.”

“Darn the bad timing,” Sasha commented.

“Yeah. At least I did get to see Jondy once after the escape,” Max said.

“You’re lucky,” Sasha said sincerely. She is lucky as hell. I miss my unit, even the people that I didn’t get along with most of the time. I definitely miss 494 a lot and 511…don’t you dare go soft now, Sasha! Your daughters’ lives are at stake here. You need to focus!

“Here we are,” Max said. She pretended to reach into her pocket for a key and swore. “Damn, I must have left my key back at Syl’s when I emptied my pocket to find my cell phone when Krit called me.” She shrugged and reached under the welcome mat and yanked the key that had been stuck on the bottom of it off. “I’m glad I keep a spare.”

“That is a good thing,” Sasha agreed. It’s not her apartment.

“Well, make yourself at home,” Max said as she opened the door. “I’ll see if my roommate is here. Hey, anybody home?” She felt her stomach drop a little when Jeff didn’t answer back. Jeff, if you’re playing a game with me… “I’m back, you can come out of hiding now.”

“Nobody home, huh, 452?” Sasha said. She smiled coldly.

“I guess not, 121,” Max replied.

“You ‘09ers are smarter than most people that were back at Manticore gave you credit for,” Sasha said.

“We must have been if we kept them off of our asses for so long,” Max said sweetly. “My name is Max, by the way. Do you have a name, or do you just go by 121? I can think of a few if you like.”

“Very funny,” Sasha said. “My name is Sasha.” She reached for her gun and almost swore out loud. Damn it, I knew I shouldn’t have rushed out of that apartment! Not only did I leave my surveillance equipment there, I left my damn gun! I can still take 452, I’ve got much more training on her, but it’s going to be closer than I want it to be. “Let’s get to the point here, 452.”

“Even without your gun?” Max said.

“Yes, even without my gun,” Sasha mocked. “It’s pretty simple. I don’t know what the hell you did, but I got caught by whoever’s hunting us down and unless I turn your ass into him—“

“I should have know,” Max interrupted. “Your friend and mine, Special Agent Ames White.”

“The one and only,” Sasha said. “The point is, I’m going to take you and hand you over to him. He doesn’t want you dead, which is kind of a shame. I don’t know. I personally don’t have a use for you whether you’re dead or alive so I guess it doesn’t matter to me but he really wants your sorry ass breathing when I hand you over. He doesn’t care how many pieces it’s in when I give you to him. You really must have pissed him off, 452.”

“Gee, with an attitude like that, I’m not surprised that you practically grew up calling Renfro ‘Mommy,’” Max remarked.

There was a flash of anger and pain in Sasha’s eyes. Mommy…if I don’t get your ass to White, I’m never going to hear my girls call me that sometime. “I don’t have any time for this. I’m handing you over to White whether you like it or not.”

“And I’m not going to let you do that whether you like it or not,” Max said. There was a knock at the door.

“Oh, this is not funny,” Sasha snapped. Not taking her eyes off of Max, she backed towards the door and yanked it opened and turned around and was surprised when she saw a mirror image of herself standing there.

“Long time no see, sis,” Rena said.

“Holy shit,” Sasha said. Crap, this is not what I need! I don’t need this! “Yeah, it has been a long time, but would you mind leaving for a bit? I’m just getting acquainted with your sister Max.”

“Sure,” Rena said. She apparently casually tapped her fingers against the doorframe quickly glanced over Sasha’s shoulder and smiled. “Oh, and sis? Remember rule number one in hand-to-hand? Don’t turn your back on an opponent.” Sasha whirled around and barely blocked Max’s punch and was about to throw one of her own when she suddenly dropped to the floor.

“What the hell?” Max said. She looked down and saw the tranquilizer dart sticking out of Sasha’s upper back. “Who the hell did that?”

“That would be me.” Alec stepped into view and held up the tranquilizer gun that he’d used to shoot Sasha. “This baby is loaded with a sedative powerful enough to give a mountain lion the personality of a sweet little pet kitten, so she should be out for a few hours.”

“Why would you have a tranquilizer gun on you in the first place?” Max asked.

“I got it to scare Maggie,” Alec said.

“What?!” Max exclaimed.

“Who’s Maggie?” Rena asked.

“She’s Brin’s roommate,” Max said. “She’s an X6 that was in Becky’s unit. You’ll meet her later.” She turned back to Alec. “Why the hell would you threaten a teenage girl with a tranquilizer gun?”

“She was annoying the hell out of me,” Alec informed her. “I shudder to think of you at her age. Don’t get me wrong, Maggie is a sweet girl about ninety percent of the time but the other ten percent of the time she is the biggest pain-in-the-ass known to man. Besides, she was the one who said ‘Prove it’ when I told her that I’d get a tranquilizer gun and bring it over the next time I was at her and Brin’s place and she pissed me off again.”

Max rolled her eyes. “You moron.”

“What, you’ve never threatened one of your crew with retaliation for something and then followed through?” Alec countered.

“Of course I have, but a tranquilizer gun?” Max said.

Rena shook her head and walked over to where her sister lay unconscious on the floor. I finally meet my twin sister for the first time since we were days old at most and this is what happens. I guess it figures. Something sticking out of one of Sasha’s jean pockets caught her eye and she carefully took it out of the pocket and looked it and managed to stifle a gasp.

“Relax, Max,” Alec said.

“You’re right,” Max agreed. “We need to find out why Sasha, as she generously told me her name was, is working with White.”

“I think I know why,” Rena said quietly. She handed the item that she had taken from her sister’s pocket to Max.

“Oh my God,” Max said softly. It was a photograph taken of two beautiful baby girls who couldn’t be more than a month old.

Alec leaned over Max’s shoulder and nodded grimly. “They must be her children.”

Max handed the photograph back to Rena, who put it back in Sasha’s pocket. “Come on. We need to get her to the safe house and call the others. It looks like we have a rescue mission to plan.”

TBC