What's Next? -- Chapter 1

Disclaimer:  The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Alec, 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.).

Notes:  Here it is! At this point in time, I don’t plan on having too much ass-kicking type action in this fic, but I guess that could change. This starts a few days after the end of “All of Us.” I hope you like it!

“I brought in the paper,” Biggs said cheerfully as he joined some of the others as they sat at a large table in the cafeteria. He handed it over to Max and Zack. “Front page on the bottom. Not the biggest headline. The Familiars or I guess I should say ex-Familiars they’re arresting are still getting the big headlines.”

“Thanks,” Max said. “’Young Girl Found. Ten-year-old Jennifer Nelson, daughter of Colonel Caroline Robinson, a member of the military force outside of Terminal City, was found unharmed in downtown Seattle early yesterday morning. Ms. Nelson had been missing and feared dead since the shooting that had occurred at the party of a friend of Ms. Nelson’s a few days ago, of which Ms. Nelson had been in attendance. Colonel Robinson has expressed her gratitude to the Seattle P.D. for their efforts in finding her daughter. Ms. Nelson’s father, Colonel Patrick Nelson, is currently not in the country and we have been unable to reach him for any comments.’”

Zack rolled his eyes. “Expressed her gratitude to the police, that’s a load of crap. Dennis told me how she ranted about them not doing squat to find Jenny.”

“I’m glad that she’s home again,” Jondy said. “Not that I minded occasionally baby-sitting her at the safehouse. She’s a pretty smart kid.”

“She is,” Becky agreed.

“Definitely,” Zack said. He finished his cereal and picked up his tray and gave Max a quick kiss on the cheek. “I’ve got work to do. I’ll see you at the apartment later, okay, Maxie?”

“Sure,” Max said. “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” Zack said. He left the cafeteria.

“Awwww,” Jondy said.

“Very funny,” Max said. “You’re just jealous because Wayne drew a morning shift in the med bay for today and he’s not here to practically make out with you over your oatmeal.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Jondy said.

“I just call them like I see them,” Max said. She finished her breakfast and stood up. “I’m gonna blaze. I’ll catch you guys later, okay?”

“Sure,” the others said.

Max waved to them and put her tray and dishes away and walked outside, smiling to herself. It’s such a nice day outside. It’s weird, it seems as if everyday since White went down has been nice. I guess that’s what happens when you get that kind of a load lifted off of your shoulders. Damn, it’s a good feeling!

“Hey, Maxie,” two identical voices said cheerfully.

“Hey,” Max said to Rena and Sasha as she walked up to the two of them. “What’s going on with you two? Are you meeting everybody in the cafeteria? I know Biggs is there, but Zane isn’t.”

“Yeah, Zane’s still sleeping,” Rena said. “He was on a really late shift on sentry duty last night.”

“We both already ate,” Sasha said. “I’m going to meet back up with Biggs later this morning after I get the girls from the nursery.” She stretched and grinned. “Nothing like the smell of Seattle in the mid-summer morning.” She sniffed. “Speaking of smells, you kind of smell, Max.”

“Excuse me?” Max said. “Do you want to get your ass kicked this morning?”

“That was nice,” Rena remarked. She sniffed. “Though Sasha is right. You smell like something. I’m not sure what, but it’s something. It’s not very noticeable.”

“Yeah, I don’t think an ordinary would be able to get a whiff of it at all,” Sasha said. “I’ve been kind of smelling this on you since you and Zack came out from heat-imposed hiding five days ago.”

“It was nice of you not to let me know about it then,” Max said, though she wasn’t as annoyed as she’d been a few moments ago.

“We were busy,” Sasha said.

“I’d say that’s an understatement,” Rena said.

The three of them walked around before Sasha stopped suddenly. Rena stopped a fraction of a second later and turned around and looked at her twin. Sasha barely raised an eyebrow and one of the corners of Rena’s mouth twitched. Max rolled her eyes. “Can you stop the twin thing for a moment and fill me in?”

“Sure,” Sasha said. She shot Rena another quick look over Max’s head and Rena nodded. The three of them just continued to walk around.

“Okay…” Max said. “I’m waiting.”

“For what?” Rena said innocently.

“For the two of you to fill me in on whatever joke or whatever,” Max said. “Do you two know how annoying it is when you do that?”

“Do what?” Rena and Sasha said together.

“I give up,” Max said.

They walked around until they reached the med bay building. “Let’s go say hi to Wayne,” Rena said.

“Okay,” Max said.

They walked inside the building and quickly found Wayne, who grinned when he saw the three of them. “Wow, two smoking twins and a hot brunette coming over to me.  If I didn't have my own woman that I'm crazy about, I'd be living out almost every man's fantasy.”

Max, Rena, and Sasha groaned. “That sounds like it came straight from Sketchy's mouth,” Max said. “No wonder the two of you got along as well as you did after you got into Seattle.”

“Birds of a feather,” Wayne agreed. “What’s up?”

“Nothing much,” Rena said, her smile and Sasha’s both annoyingly bright. “Zack knocked Max up when Max went into heat almost a week ago.”

Max’s jaw dropped. “What?!”

Sasha shrugged. “I told you before that we could smell it on each other. We were pretty damn preoccupied the last five days so I couldn’t exactly place the smell, but I definitely remember what it is now.”

“Are you serious?” Wayne said. “I’m going to be an uncle?”

“Yeah,” Sasha told him. “You should check her out, but she’s definitely pregnant.”

“Whoa, whoa, whoa,” Max said. “Let’s back the truck up here for just a moment. How they hell can I be pregnant?”

“You know the stats, Max,” Rena reminded her. “There’s a 98 percent chance of getting pregnant when you’re in heat and I’m willing to bet that you and Zack weren’t thinking about anything at that time, much less about using protection.”

“No shit,” Max said. She shook her head. “I can’t believe it.”

“Maybe you’ll believe it more after I check you out,” Wayne suggested. “Come on, Maxie.” He grinned wickedly. “I promise I’ll be gentle.” Sure enough, it snapped Max out of her daze and she smacked Wayne across the back of his head and he laughed. “That’s the spirit, little sister. Follow me.”

“Okay,” Max said. She took a deep breath and followed Wayne.

TBC