Welcome to Our Life -- Chapter 33: Zack (X5-599)

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.).

I started to march in the direction of our block from the gym, but halfway between the two I turned and went down another hallway and to a rec room. I opened the door and looked inside and surprisingly, there was nobody there. All the better for me, I like peace and quiet when I want to get my thoughts together.

I sat down on a couch and rested my head in my hands. I felt like I had too much going on in my head. It was like Elle had said once when she was talking about a particularly stressful day that she’d had: it felt like my thoughts were the ocean and there was one heck of a hurricane outside. Naturally, some of my brothers had teased her over that line, but it seemed to fit my current state of mind. There was just so much going on right now and I wouldn’t be surprised if my head exploded.

Today had been a chaotic day in general, but I guess that could be explained away what with the remaining transgenics from Wyoming and New York arriving over the course of the morning and afternoon, not to mention the meeting that Renfro held with the various squad commanding officers and 2ICs right after breakfast and on top of that the usual hellish schedule. It was completely crazy and non-stop. The meeting was especially annoying. I can’t stand meetings to begin with and this one seemed to drag on more so than a typical one. Thank goodness that Max was there. If she hadn’t been there to give me the occasional smart aleck-y comment that I’d had to give her looks to remind her not to do that during a meeting, I would have lost my mind.

I bit my lip. Max. She was the other reason that my thoughts were so wild and mixed up. Yet in a way when it came to her, they weren’t. After last night’s incident with 786, I had gone back inside of my cell, but I hadn’t gone over strategies and I had told 786 that I would do. I kept on going over not just what had happened, but lots of things that have happened over the years, from when Max had first been brought into the unit back in the Fall of 2001 when she was only two years old to the present. I could almost hear every single comment that my siblings made about Max and me and denial as I reflected on the past seventeen years. Things started to come together. I had never referred to Maxie as my baby sister to myself since she had been a kid. I’d never thought of her as a sister to me since that time, to be honest. Every time that we came into physical contact, I always felt my heart speed up and fire almost pulse out from where we had touched and as a result I’d had a harder time concentrating whenever we would have to spar against each other. I would get almost irrationally scared for her when she would be on an especially dangerous mission or even more intensely protective of her than I would over the other female members of my family. I always tried to be as honest with myself as I could and this time was definitely no exception to my rule: I didn’t love Max as a sister, though she was definitely one of my best friends. I was flat out in love with her and it was scaring me more than Lydecker ever did when I was younger. I sighed and then looked up when I heard a few pairs of footsteps approaching and I relaxed slightly when I saw that it was Max, Jondy, and Eva. The three of them looked inside and saw me sitting by myself before they had a whispered conversation quiet enough for me not to be able to hear. Jondy and Eva nodded to Max and continued to walk down the hallway and Max entered the room. My heart beat started to pick up once again. She never fails to do that to me.

“Hey,” Max said. She sat down next to me. “Having one of those days, huh?”

“Yeah, I am,” I agreed. I looked at Max for several moments before I sighed and shook my head.

Max smirked. “Wow, you’re not going to tell me to get my butt back in my bunk or at least back to my cell before lights out? Are you going soft these days, Zack?”

“No, I just know when to call it a day on certain fronts,” I replied.

Max laughed softly to herself but then looked concerned as she picked up on how stressed I was. “What about on this one? Zack, you’re looking much too tense again.”

“That’s just part of the job,” I said. “I have to deal with not only our family, but every other X5 that was originally from Wyoming as well. You know that as well as I do, Max.”

“Cut that bullshit,” Max said. She rolled her eyes. I should have known that she would do that. “Maybe that kind of line would shut up or even chase off one of said other X5s, but I’m not one of them. Tell me what is bugging you.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I know that you aren’t one of them and accordingly, you should know that you can’t force information out of me.”

“Is that a challenge?” Max said. I looked at her to see if she was teasing. Sometimes it’s hard to tell with Max when it comes to something like this. She sighed. “I’m sorry. Do you have to be such a hardass like that, Zack?”

“I—“ I stopped myself and tried to calm down. I didn’t want to pick a fight with Max. “Max, I’m sorry.”

Max softened. “I know you are.” We sat together in silence for a few moments before Max decided to change the subject. “Speaking of other X5s, have you gotten a chance to meet some of the Seattle group other than Alec’s crew or any of the gang from Syracuse other than their command team?” She rolled her eyes. “I met this one prick when I was in Field Med with Jack this afternoon. We were brushing up on treating serious chest wounds and Jack and I had been paired up and this guy decided that he was going to try to shove me out of the way when he went to get some more gauze from the supply cabinet in the room. I asked him nicely…” She threw me a look then and I couldn’t help smiling a little. “…for an apology and he just snorted and blew me off and I asked him again and he told me that I was something that I don’t like to say in front of the kids. I asked him what his problem was and he said sarcastically ‘I’m sorry, sweetheart, I just prefer redheads to brunettes. But if you really want, we could arrange something.’ Since I knew this guy wasn’t on the Syracuse squad’s command team, I pulled rank on his sorry ass and told him to shut up. God, I hate pulling rank on people. Well, usually I do. This time I didn’t have a problem with it.”

“He propositioned you?” I asked. I tried to keep my voice as calm as possible, but I was clenching one of my fists behind my back.

“No,” Max said. “At least I don’t think that he was. I’m pretty sure that he was being at least half sarcastic then. Either way, though, I still want to strangle the guy.” She took a good look at me and I knew that she could tell that I was trying to keep my temper under control. She smirked. “Or am I going to have to get in line behind you for that particular honor?”

I took a deep breath. “Well, you punched out 786 last night so by that token I guess I should get first crack at the asshole who at least half propositioned you. Fair is fair.” I shrugged. “What was that guy’s designation, anyway?”

“It was almost the same as yours…591, that’s right,” Max said. “You’re right, that would be fair of me to let you get the first crack at him. He did back down once I pulled rank on him, though. He apparently has marginally more brains than 786 does.” She smiled at me. “But it is nice to know that you’ve got my back.”

“Always, Maxie,” I said. Something compelled me to lean forward towards her as if I was in a trance. What was it about Max that never failed to make me spellbound time after time? Was it those almost hypnotic brown eyes of hers? Was it her laugh? Was it those full lips that my own were drawing closer to…and closer…and kissing softly. Time stood still and for probably the first time in my life, I was completely unaware of everything around me except for Maxie. It was…it was amazing.

“Zack,” she whispered. “Zack, what was that?”

“Maxie, I love you,” I blurted out. I had to tell her while I had something resembling courage. “Not as a sister, but…I love you. I’ve loved you for as long as I can remember. The others were right this whole time as much as I’ve denied it.” My stomach felt like it was in knots as I waited for Max’s response. She was speechless for several long moments before she leaned forward and kissed me until both of us were breathless.

“I love you too,” she said. “For so long.”

I was now the one that was unable to speak. To actually hear those words come out of Max’s mouth overwhelmed me. Finally, I was able to smile and I lifted a hand to stroke her cheek. “It makes sense that the others were able to catch onto it before the two of us, doesn’t it?”

“Oh yeah,” Max agreed. She smirked. “You always were the most stubborn person known to mankind, Zack.”

“That’s the pot calling the kettle black,” I pointed out to her.

“And is that why you love me?” Max said, her voice softening.

“Absolutely,” I said. “Absolutely.”