Welcome to Our Life -- Chapter 13: Zane (X5-205)

Disclaimer:  The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Jondy, 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 (Elle/X5-164, etc.).

Notes:  Spoiler-ish stuff for “Cold Comfort.”

I slid into my seat for Language and Foreign Infiltration in a good mood.  I’ve got to admit, this mentoring program is pretty cool.  I really like the X6s.  Matt and I had a blast, and I swear that no pun was intended, in live ordinance yesterday and the other kids are a blast.  It’s great to have our family extended like this.

“What do you think the trainer’s going to blabbing to us today?” Kenny asked as he sat down next to me.

“Who knows and who gives a rat’s ass?” I said.  “Languages bore the hell out of me.”

“Welcome to the club, bro,” Kenny said.  We both saw Zack rolling his eyes from where he was sitting in a different part of the classroom and we both turned to him and made a face and laughed our asses off when Zack shook his head in disgust.  “Man, he needs to loosen up once in awhile.”

“Since when has that been news?” I said.

“Good point,” Kenny admitted.

I noticed that my bootlaces had come loose, so I bent down to re-tie them.  I pulled myself back up and then I did a double take.  “Holy crap, is that really her?  It’s only been a few days since she collapsed.”

“That looks like 355 all right and she looks pretty normal to me,” Kenny agreed.  We watched as 355 handed a note to the trainer, who read the note and then handed it back to her, and took her seat.  I’ve got to admit, I felt a little sorry for 355.  Everybody, well maybe except for Zack, was looking at her out of the corners of their eyes.  I wonder how many people knew what had actually happened to her.

“Okay, now that everybody is present, we’ll begin,” the trainer said.  He picked up some of the books that were on his desk.  “I’ll be passing out a textbook for each and every one of you because we’ll be starting on a new language today.  You lucky little bastards are going to be learning how to speak Japanese today.  We’ll be spending the first hour of class going over some of the basics of the language and then we’ll be going over various methods of infiltration into Asian countries.”  He started to walk down the aisles and pass out the books and I shut up and paid or at least tried to pay attention.  Class seemed to go on forever.  When the trainer finally dismissed us, Kenny and I left the classroom but hung back a bit to wait for Tinga, who’d been sitting near the back and who’d also been paired up with 355 when the trainer had us go over some information that he’d given us towards the end of the class.

Tinga rolled her eyes.  “My God, the two of you just can’t wait.”

“Are you surprised?” I said.

“Not really,” Tinga conceded.

“Where’s—oh, there he is,” Kenny said as Zack saw the three of us standing together and walked up to us.  “Just in time, bro.”  He turned back to Tinga.  “So, did 355 say anything to you about why they sprung her from the infirmary already?”

“Yes, she did,” Tinga said.  “She came through whatever treatment they gave to her just fine and whatever caused her to get sick is permanently fixed.  She’s still not completely 100 percent so she’s restricted to classroom activities only and she said that at the rate that she’s recovering that she should be cleared for full active duty again in a week at most.  Are you happy, Kenny and Zane?”

“Thank you, Mommy,” Kenny and I said in unison.

“The two of you need to grow up,” Zack said.  “Thank you for the update, Tinga.”

“You’re welcome,” Tinga said.

“Thanks, Tinga,” I said.

“Thanks, sis,” Kenny said.

“You guys are all welcome,” Tinga said.

Zack looked at his watch.  “We should get going.  We need to meet the others outside by the obstacle course.”

“Who do you think is going to win today, Max or Zack?” Kenny said as we headed outside.

“I don’t know,” I said.  “Rena and Ben are always pretty fast on the course.  One of them might actually pull of the upset today.”

“Don’t tell me that you guys are actually going to put bets on who has the fastest time today on the obstacle course,” Tinga groaned.

I raised an eyebrow.  “Where have you been, sis?  We’ve been doing this every time we’ve ran the course since when knew what a bet was and how they worked.  You know that.”

“Call me crazy, but I still hold out hope that you might actually grow up one of these days,” Tinga said.

“Okay, lunatic,” Kenny said.  He and I laughed and we exchanged a high five.  I might be closer to Wayne and Krit than I am with Kenny a little bit, but I still love my other older brother.

Zack shook his head as we exited the building and headed towards the start of the obstacle course.  “Tinga, they’ll never change.  Just be happy that Krit, Wayne, and Parker aren’t with them.  Take what you can get.”  He turned his head around so that he was looking at Kenny and I.  “And Zane, I heard you reaching inside of your pocket and if you even think of taking that piece of paper that was in there and making it a spitball and throwing it at anybody, much less Tinga or myself, you will regret it.  Am I making myself clear?”

“Sir, yes, sir,” I said, grinning.  Kenny laughed even harder and even Tinga smiled.  “Hey, we beat the others here.”

“Not by much,” Max said as she, Jondy, Krit, Eva, and Jack walked over to us.  “Hey, you guys.”

“Damn, we’re last here,” Ben said as he and the rest of our brothers and sisters walked over to the obstacle course start.

“Who thinks who’s going to win on the course today?” Brin said.  Everybody began to call out their bet.  “Okay, that’s seven for Max, seven for Zack, three for Ben, and two for Rena.”

“I know that I am going to beat all of you today,” Rena said, grinning.  She cracked her knuckles.

“You wish,” Max said.

“Exactly,” Rena said.  We all laughed.