What's Next? -- Chapter 24

Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Alec, etc.), and everything that has to do with the show and anything else that does not belong to myself 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.).

Zack, Becky, Dennis, Caroline, and Jenny walked through the airport early the next morning. None of them looked to be too happy and Jenny even looked like she was half asleep. They remained quiet when they reached the gate that Dennis, Caroline, and Jenny’s flight would be leaving from and sat down. Jenny was the one who finally broke the silence. “I’m tired, Mom.”

“It’s okay, sweetie,” Caroline said. “Go ahead and close your eyes. I’ll wake you up when it’s time for us to get on the plane.” Jenny nodded and closed her eyes and fell asleep. Caroline turned to the others. “I haven’t been in D.C. since the last time that I visited my father here before he retired while Congress was still in session.”

“I’ve been there a few times,” Zack said. “I was just passing through on my way to check up on one of the others. I never took the time to look around and visit any sites or anything like that.”

“You should do that when you get the chance to come up and visit us,” Dennis suggested. “I think you might enjoy it.”

“Maybe,” Zack agreed.

Becky looked out the massive windows out at the runway. “I’ve flown on commercial planes a few times. Most of the time I went out for missions I went out either on a van or by some other form of military transport, but there were a few times when my cover required me to fly on a regular commercial flight.” She made a face. “The last time I had to do that was enough to last me while. The turbulence didn’t bother me, it was the stinky asshole who kept on leering at me the whole flight that got on my nerves. Fortunately for me, he was sitting between me and one of the X5s that was also on the mission and he pissed off the X5 even more, so 482 slipped something into the bastards drink and he slept like a baby.” She saw the look that Zack gave her. “What? 482 was a field med. He had sleeping medication on him and less control over his temper than I do over mine.”

“I’m not going to say anything,” Zack said.

“I’ve wanted to do worse to some people,” Caroline said. “I remember one time when I was flying back home to Ohio from West Point for my summer break that I got stuck sitting next to the most obnoxious person on the planet. He wasn’t interested in me, thank goodness, but he kept talking and talking and talking and he just wouldn’t shut up. He kept going on about how he loved redheads and how he loved fast cars and his favorite foods and his most recent bowel movement and just everything and by the time the plane landed in Columbus I was at the point of strangling him. I remember getting my carry-on from the overhead compartment when he said to me right in my ear about how he and his parents were splitting up the family business, when I turned to him and calmly, and I see how you boys are looking at me and I really was being as calm as I could have been at that point, and I told him where I went to school and how among other things that I had been trained to properly use assault rifles and how I was on the verge of earning my black belt in Karate. He got the hint and shut up.”

“Like mother, like daughter,” Zack said.

“Proud of it, bro,” Becky said, smirking.

Dennis shook his head. “I swear, sometimes the two of you remind me of these two brothers who lived next to me when I was growing up back in Baltimore. I was friends with the older brother and every time that I would go over to their house to play, he and his younger brother would be arguing and being smart with each other exactly the way that you and Becky are with each other. It’s remarkable.”

“You should have seen me and my older brothers when we were growing up,” Caroline said. “If you thought that we were bad when we went over to Columbus a few months ago, then you should have been there thirty years ago. We would drive our parents crazy sometimes.”

“You’ve been around us when we’ve had the whole gang together here,” Zack said. “Rena and Syl have always gone at each other a good portion of the time, even when we were kids and they haven’t changed. Jace and Jondy are the same way. Zane, Krit, and Wayne can really go at it with each other but most of the time, they’re the best of friends and teaming up usually against Max, Jondy, and Rena. Either way, they’re driving me nuts. Brin’s probably the most stable of all of us. It takes a lot to get her riled up, but it’s not pretty when it does happen.”

“I don’t know, I thought it was pretty funny when Wayne got Brin worked up that one time,” Becky said. She snickered. “I’ve seen some verbal ass-kickings, but the one that Brin gave to Wayne was absolutely brilliant and the look on Wayne’s face was just priceless. It made my week.”

“Welcome to Alaska Airlines flight 1091, non-stop service to Reagan National Airport in Washington, D.C,” the flight attendant standing at the desk by the gate said cheerfully. “We will now begin boarding all first-class passengers and all people with disabilities. Thank you and have a nice day.”

“What row are you guys sitting in?” Zack asked.

Dennis pulled out his boarding pass. “We’re in row 20. I think that we’re sitting over the wing.”

“Jenny was really happy when I told her that,” Caroline said. “Her favorite places to sit on an airplane are the seats that look out onto the wings.”

Becky gave a quick look to make sure that Jenny was still sleeping before she turned back to her parents and her older brother. “Mom, have you heard anything about the loser’s body yet?”

“No, I haven’t been notified yet,” Caroline said. “It’s only been less than a week.”

“We did hear that Patrick said that he was going to surprise his sister after…” Zack shook his head. “If his sister didn’t know that he was going to visit her, then she wouldn’t have any reason to notify the authorities to go look for him. They probably won’t go searching for him until after he misses his flight back to Germany. He said that would have been a week from when we got you back, so it shouldn’t be long before this gets officially wrapped up.”

Caroline snorted. “And even if she did know, Veronica’s not the sharpest tool in the shed.” She saw the look that Dennis gave her and she shrugged. “Okay, Veronica’s probably not really that stupid, but she and I never got along. Patrick’s parents loved me, but Veronica never did. I actually got a letter from her that Patrick’s parents mailed to me for her because I never gave her my Seattle address and she basically blasted the hell out of me. Good for her. If I did anything to make that bitch use more than one brain cell, then I have no reason to complain.”

“Hey, you’ll never have to see her again,” Becky said helpfully. “You don’t have to go to his funeral if you don’t want to.”

“It would be too weird for me if I did,” Caroline agreed.

“Attention passengers, we will now begin boarding rows 25 to 30 for Alaska Airlines flight 1091,” the flight attendant announced.

“Damn, they’re going to be boarding our row in a few minutes,” Dennis said. “Should you wake Jenny up now?”

“That’s probably a good idea,” Caroline agreed. She gently shook her youngest child. “Jenny, sweetheart, it’s time to wake up. They’re going to be boarding our row in a few minutes.”

Jenny yawned and looked at Caroline. “Okay. I’m still tired.”

“Don’t worry about it,” Caroline assured her. “The plane ride is just under five hours long. You’ll have plenty of time to get more sleep.”

“Okay,” Jenny said. She picked up her backpack. “I didn’t forget my mp3 player, did I?”

“Check your backpack right now to see if it’s there,” Caroline suggested. “If you left it back at the house, then Zack or Becky will find it there and mail it to you.”

“I got it,” Jenny said in relief a moment later after checking her backpack. “Phew.”

“I thought that you were going to sleep on the plane,” Becky teased.

“Not all of the time,” Jenny said.

“Attention, we will now begin boarding rows 20 to 24 for Alaska Airlines flight 1091,” the flight attendant said.

All five of them slowly stood up. “I guess this is it,” Caroline said. She reached over to Becky and gave her a big hug. “I am going to miss you so much, Becky. Good luck with your job, don’t take anything from those kids if they give you a hard time, and don’t you dare forget to call or write to us.”

“I promise,” Becky said. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you, too,” Caroline said. She gave Zack a hug. “Good luck with everything, Zack. I know that we can’t get back here for Thanksgiving and you guys can’t fly out east either, but don’t you dare forget to come out next year and don’t forget to bring that grandchild of mine with you.”

“As long as you promise to fly out here when he or she is born,” Zack said. “I love you, Mom.”

“I love you too, Zack,” Caroline said.

Dennis hugged his only son. “Be good, Zack. I’m so proud of you. I love you.”

“I love you too, Dad,” Zack said.

Dennis moved to Becky and gave her a hug. “I love you, Becky. I’m proud of you, too. Take care.”

“I will,” Becky promised. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you, too,” Dennis said.

Zack and Becky both turned to Jenny. “I guess we’ll probably be seeing you maybe this summer or next fall at the absolute latest,” Becky said. “You won’t give Mom too much grief until then, will you?”

“I won’t,” Jenny promised. “I’m really going to miss you guys.”

“We’re really going to miss you, too,” Zack said. He and Becky each gave Jenny a hug and then they watched as their parents and their half-sister got in line and went to board their plane. They stood there silently for several minutes until they finally turned around and left the terminal and headed back to Zack’s car, where they just sat for a few minutes.

“I can’t believe this is hurting this much,” Becky finally said.

“Neither can I,” Zack said. “I’m glad it is hurting this much, though.”

“Me too,” Becky said. She knew what he meant. She took a deep breath. “We should be getting back into the city.”

“Yeah,” Zack said. He turned the key in the ignition and drove off.