Where Were You? -- Chapter 13: Zane (X5-205)

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 (Wayne/X5-369, etc.).

“Why did we move, Zane?” Rena muttered as we sat inside a small restaurant. “I liked Virginia. I liked that whole D.C. area. Why did we have to move to stupid New Jersey? It’s cold and it’s rainy and it sucks.”

“It’s cold and rainy because it’s the middle of October. Oh yeah, and in case you forgot about the soldiers that we saw in town who were most likely only on leave but we still shouldn’t take a chance…” I reminded her.

Rena squinted in my direction. “Is there something wrong with my vision or maybe my hearing? I’m seeing your face but I’m hearing Zack talk out of his ass again.”

“Nice,” I said, snickering. I should be insulted, but I’ve got to give credit where credit is due. “If Zack were around, he’d kill you.”

“He wouldn’t.” Rena looked smug. “We’re in public.”

“That’s right. As soon as there are no witnesses around, I will cause you serious physical harm.”

Rena and I both jumped in our seats and turned around and there he was. I got up out of my seat and gave him a quick hug. “You’re here! When did you get into town?”

“Yesterday,” Zack said. “I saw you guys last night as I was looking around for a place to spend the night. I followed you until I saw where you’re sleeping and then found a place to sleep of my own and I’ve been following you around all day.” His face got serious. “You almost got caught already?”

“We didn’t,” Rena insisted. She gave me an annoyed look before she gave Zack a big hug and sat back down in her chair and waited for Zack to pull up a chair to our table and sit down before she continued to talk. “They didn’t see us. If they did, they couldn’t have noticed a thing wrong with us. Our barcodes were and still are burned off and we were behaving perfectly normal. We were just playing it safe.”

“Good idea,” Zack complimented.

“Are we the first ones that you’ve found so far?” I asked. “Have you found anybody else yet?”

Zack paused for a few moments. “I’d found one of us last week. I’m not saying who it was, but it was one member of a pairing that had been forced to split up after they’d gotten past the perimeter fence. You two are the first complete pair that I’ve found so far.”

“What do you want to do?” I wondered. “Are you going to move us again? Like Rena said, we really weren’t spotted by those soldiers back in Virginia, but if you want to move us one more time just to be safe we understand.”

“I’m not going to move you two,” Zack said. “Not together.”

Rena and I looked at each other and I felt my stomach drop. We knew that this was coming at some point. We’d all come up with the escape plan the night of Jack’s death and we’d all agreed that after Zack had gone around and had found all of the pairs that he’d split them up and we’d all be on our own after that until it was safe to be together again. We knew that this was always going to be the plan and for some reason, I still didn’t find myself prepared in the slightest way for it.

“Zack, are you sure that you want to do that?” Rena questioned. She looked like she was close to crying.

“Rena, you know that’s always been the plan,” Zack reminded her. “You and Zane can say good-bye, but I have to separate you two. I’m sorry. I really am sorry.”

“I know,” she said. She and I both stood up. “We’ll be a minute or two.” We walked over to a corner of the restaurant. “I guess this is it. Damn it, Zane, I didn’t want to leave you this soon.”

“Neither did I,” I agreed. I grabbed Rena and pulled her into a hug. She hugged me back. I could hear and feel her sobbing. “Hey, we had a great time together. These last seven months have been great. Just remember all of the fun that we’d had.”

“Like our first kiss,” Rena recalled, dropping the volume of her voice low enough so Zack definitely wouldn’t be able to hear her. “Zane, I—“

“It’s okay,” I said quickly. “We’re kids. We’re supposed to have a first kiss.” I couldn’t help feel something nagging at me. Weren’t we also supposed to eventually date too? Weren’t we—for crying out loud, I’m only thirteen. I shouldn’t be stressing out about that. "We should get back to Zack before he has a fit waiting for us."

“Yeah,” Rena reluctantly agreed. She gave me one last hug and dried her eyes before we turned and walked back to Zack. “I’m ready. What do you want to do?”

“We’ll go back to where you and Zane have been sleeping and get whatever things that you’ll need,” Zack said. “Then the two of us will leave and then I’ll come back for Zane and relocate him. I’ll be back for Zane in about three days. I will not be telling either of you where I’ve relocated the other one. There will be no breach of op sec. I’ve got a cell phone number and voice mail account set up already. I’ll give both of you the number once I’ve relocated you. Rena, we’ll leave whenever you’re ready.”

Rena nodded and gave me one last hug. “I’ll miss you, Zane.”

“I’ll miss you too, Rena,” I said. I let go of her and turned to Zack. “It was great to see you again, bro.”

Zack nodded. “It was good to see you too. I’ll meet you here again in exactly three days. Be ready.”

“I will be,” I promised.

Zack nodded again and he and Rena left the restaurant. I sighed and sat down and buried my face in my hands and tried not to cry.

TBC