You and Me -- Chapter 1

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

Notes: This is the sequel to “A Quiet Night” and it’s about Max’s life since re-settling in Canada and the progression of her relationship with Zack, so it’s an AU from this point on. This starts a few months after “A Quiet Night.” Spoiler-ish stuff for “411 on the D.L.,” “Cold Comfort,” and “The Kidz Are Aiight.”

Max smiled as she entered some data into the computer at her desk. Yeah, just another day in the life of a secretary. Answer the phones, keep track of the asshole—I mean, the boss’ schedule…the usual. She looked up from her work and saw a sleazy-looking blond woman approaching her and she smiled sweetly. “Here for your lunchtime screw?”

“Oh, very funny,” the blond woman said sarcastically. “Is he free?”

“Believe it or not, he’s in a meeting right now. He actually does work,” Max said. “Don’t worry, the meeting’s almost finished. Just have a seat and he’ll be with you in a few minutes.”

“Thanks,” the woman said. She gave Max one more glare before she sat down.

If this is what Mr. Benton’s taste in women is like, I’d hate to meet his wife, Max thought.

The door to her boss’ office opened and some business men walked out. Mr. Benton waved to them and then he saw the blond woman and he grinned. He turned to Max. “Hold all my calls for the next hour, Ms. Vasquez.”

“I—yes, Mr. Benton,” Max said. She watched as he and the blond woman disappeared into the office and waited until the door closed before she sighed. It’s been about three months and I still have to stop myself from telling people that my name is Max Guevara, not Kara Vasquez. One of these days, I’ll be able to use my real name in public again.

She looked at the time in the corner of her computer monitor and shrugged. I might as well take my lunch now. It’s not like the boss is going to need anything for the next hour. Max stood up and stretched and walked up to Mr. Benton’s door and knocked. “Sir? I’m taking my hour for lunch now.” She heard a grunt in response and shuddered and grabbed her jacket and purse and left the building. She walked down the street, smiling to herself as she looked around.

It’s really amazing the difference between the Canadian cities and the ones back in the U.S., she thought. Everything’s so clean here. Nothing out of the ordinary is run down. I mean, it’s a large city so of course there’s going to be some parts of it that aren’t the greatest in the known universe, but compared to some of the places that I’ve lived in over the years, Canada looks like an absolute paradise. But I guess that’s what happens when you live in a country that wasn’t affected by the Pulse. Everything’s clean, everything works, there’s no sector checkpoints or sectors at all like there was back in the States, and best of all, you don’t see soldiers everywhere. You don’t see them at all, really, unless they’re off duty and happen to come into the city for whatever reason. The best part about living here? I’m out of Lydecker’s jurisdiction! Take that, Don.

Max stopped in front of a small restaurant and went inside and sat down at a booth. She opened her purse to check to see how much money she had on her and felt her fingers brush over not one, but two cell phones as she reached for her wallet. The emergency phone. I can’t believe that Zack had a contact number all of this time and he didn’t give it to me the first time that he checked in on me in Seattle or even when he came by there again when Brin got into trouble. Okay, I can understand about the second time because getting Brin away from the bastards who’d taken her was definitely a bigger priority than giving me a phone number, but why not the first time? She shrugged to herself as she took out her wallet and counted her money before putting it back in her purse and closing that back up. You know Zack, the one person on the planet who’s more stubborn than I am. He was probably still pissed that I wasn’t willing to leave Seattle then.

She let a waitress take her order and then sat back. I miss Seattle. I know that it really was time to finally leave there three months ago, but that still doesn’t stop me from missing it or my friends. Original Cindy, Sketchy, Herbal, Kendra, and… She sighed. Logan. What the hell was going on with us when he dropped me and Zack off at the cabin the day that I left? Why the hell did I kiss him? I don’t love him or anything like that. Hell, I was probably so whacked in the head because I’d had that close call back at South Market and that I’d known that it would most likely be the last time that I’d see him. God only knows how I felt when we escaped from Manticore!

Max thanked the waitress when her food was brought to her and started to eat, though her thoughts didn’t die down. I still think about my brothers and sisters every day. I still want to search for them, but I can’t right now. I mean, it’s so hard to find somebody to trust and I’m still basically settling in. Pretty much the best thing that I can do right now is just sneak up to the top of the CN tower every night and hope and pray that we’ll be reunited one of these days. At least I see Zack every six weeks or so when he comes by to check up on me. He should be coming by again sometime in the next couple of days. It’ll probably the usual ‘How have you been and are you keeping the barcode hidden blah, blah, blah’ dealio. I wish that he’d loosen up more, like he did the night he and I headed north. That night…I guess it was one in a million. How many times has Zack ever talked like that? How many times did he smile before then? Not many, if ever, not even back when we were kids and we were back in our barracks for the night.

She finished her food and paid and went back outside. Well, whatever happens, it’ll happen. Whether it’s Zack opening up or seeing Jondy, Krit, Zane, Brin, or any other of my siblings, or seeing my old friends from Seattle, I just need to wait patiently. Max couldn’t help laughing to herself. Yeah, me being patient for something that I want badly. Hey, stranger things have happened!

TBC