Disclaimer : I do not own any of the Dark Angel characters (Max, Logan, etc...). They belong to Fox, Charles Eglee or James Cameron. I am not making any money off of this, so please, don't sue, I am not rich enough. All the characters that do not appear on the show are mine, if you wish to use them, please let me know.
Author's note: this isn't set after my other story. Please, leave a review to tell me what you think, good or bad, a comment is still a comment. Raven, my little friend, wherever you are, and if you ever read this, it is dedicated to you J
THE LITTLE ONES
Part 1
It was still cold in this early spring, but the Commander didn't care about that, in fact, he thought it was a new condition his soldiers hadn't been trained in yet, and it was a good thing that they could experience it.
The freezing air passed right trough their thin coats, but they didn't mind, the temperature didn't affect them, even though they could feel it.
The blue unit creapt silently between the trees, staying as close to the ground as they could. Finally, Monkey saw their target. He gestured it's direction to the others, and, quickly, they each took their position. When they were all ready to attack the red unit, their objective, Tiger, the leader, imitated the cry of a crow, to engage the attack.
Unfortunately, Squirrel, a member of the red unit, identified the cry as human. Buffalo quickly stopped his unit and positioned them in defensive mode. He scanned the bushes arround them, was it the green unit? No, they couldn't have found them here; the members of the green unit were almost all dog-like animals, which meant they searched their opponents by tracking their smells. But Buffalo had wisely chosen their way, always making sure there were enough flowers or odorant plants around them to cover their smell. Since it was obviously not the green unit, and that the yellow unit was probably after the green, it had to be the blue unit.
Tiger, sensing that they had been identified, gestured to his second in command, Linx, to gather the unit. He decided to fake a fleeing, but to wait for the red unit in a small meadow he'd located earlier in the mission. He just hoped Buffalo would fall for it.
óóó
- four months later -
The quietness of the space needle was probably what attracted her to it, or maybe it was the height? She just liked this little break from the overcrowded city. When the pulse had hit, she remembered, everyone had fled from the big cities, letting the place free for vandals, thieves, and other kind of trouble-makers. The police had been overwhelmed. But once the population understood that the cities offered, at least, a shelter, everyone came back at the same time. It was chaos. People found their home robbed, or already occupied. You could find tv for 5 bucks on the black market, but what was the point? The tv sations had been wrecked by the pulse anyway.
Max's pager started to beep. A quick look at it told her Logan wanted her to come by his place. Logan... what a strange man, so much determination for a lost cause. He never gave up, even though he'd come pretty close to it when his ex-colleague had been murdered by his own daughter. A daughter Logan had helped finding her dad. Max knew Logan was still blaming himself for it, even after six months, he was still thinking about it.
She was glad he'd paged her, she liked seeing him and mostly, what a great cook he was! It had been a long time since she'd realised she liked him in a more-then-friendly way, that she loved him. But she never told him, never even gave him a hint of how she felt. Since she'd met his ex-wife, (Logan, married!? She still couldn't believe it!) she knew she wasn't his type at all. He wanted someone whom he could take care of, comfort and protect. But Max didn't need any of those things, she'd been trained to deal with life by herself.
óóó
"Logan?!" She called, entering the huge condo.
"In here" he answered back from his office.
~ I guess I am not here for diner ~ she thought as she walked in the room where Logan sat in front of his computer screen.
"You know, I think you spend way too much time in here!"
"Yeah, well, i am not exactly the jogging-type" he answered half-jokingly.
"So, why am I here?"
"I need you to get rid some vilain for me"
"Alright, who and where?"
"Larry Jonhston, St-Christopher orphanage"
"An orphanage?"
"The guy sells some of the kids to a company in Africa, which hires the them for about 5 dollars a month, fourteen hours a day"
"Bastard... well, I'll be off then" she said, moving toward the door
"And I suppose I don't need to remind you to be careful?" he said, his icy-blue eyes searching hers.
"Don't worry" she said with a slight smile, it always amused her how he was so protrective over his friends "Well, I'll come by tomorrow to tell you how it went, bye!" and she disappeard, leaving Logan staring at the now empty space in front of him.
She seemed to take those missions like jokes. She thought she had nothing to fear as long as she stayed away from Lydecker. ~ Truth is, one day, she'll get herself killed~ thought Logan sadly. He didn't want her to die, he wanted her here, with him. Now that she'd invaded his life, he couldn't let her go. He knew he loved her, but he kept pushing his feelings away. He wasn't her type, he knew it. She wanted somebody who could understand her, comprehend what she was going through. She needed someone who could run with her instead of holding her back. Everytime he thought he'd found something on one of her sibs, he was afraid that she would leave him to her brothers and sisters.
óóó
Max knocked-down the man that was standing by the door easily. Casually, she opened the door:
"Hello, M. Jonhston"
"Who the hell are you!?" said the man, standing up. He was fat, and his forehead was covered in sweat...
"You look tense, maybe you should take a nap" she said, about to jump on his desk. But he opened the main drawer of his desk and quickly pointed a gun at her, his hand shaking dangerously.
Max evaluated the situation: an hysterical man was pointing a gun at her. Simple. She had to make him move. Out of his office, he'd be easier to get. She turned arround as fast as she could and ran. She heard gunfires, but he didn't hit her. His heavy footsteps were resounding behind her. She opened a door, intending to wait for him there, but she found herself in a dormitory: about twenty beds were aligned along the walls. Most of the children were sleeping, but some of them were awake and looking at Max questioningly. Soon after, Jonhston entered the room, panting.
He didn't see Max take a step behind him, and neither did he knew what was happening when two hands grabbed him from behind and twisted his neck firmly. A second later, he didn't wonder anymore. He had had only the time to scream out of surprise.
All the children were awake now and were forming groups, as to protect each other from the killing-lady.
"Hum... Sorry 'bout that kids" she didn't know what to say. She'd just killed a man in front of a bunch of kids, what was she suppose to do? Comfort them? One thing she wasn't really good at.
She noticed a little girl, maybe 5 or 6 year-old. She had short hair and bright intelligent eyes. She was standing all by herself by her bed, staring intensely at Max. There was something about her, something familiar. Max walked over to her bed:
"Hey there, are you OK?" she said, trying to make her voice soft. But the girl didn't answer. "What's your name?" she tried to get the girl to talk. ~God, I probably traumatised her, maybe she's in state of shock... but she seems so... alert~ thought Max.
"She doesn't have a name, she never talks. I wouldn't get too close to her if I were you, she's dangerous" said the boy who stood in front of the younger ones.
Max looked deep into the girl's green eyes. Then, at the same time, they both recognised each other for what they really were.
"Come with me" Max said. The girl only nodded.
óóó
"Kendra, I am home!" Said Max, entering her apartement, closely followed by the girl.
"You live with another one? Isn't it dangerous to get caught?" said the little girl. It was the first thing she'd said since they'd left the orphanage.
"Kendra isn't one of us. She doesn't know about that"
The girl stiffened, she didn't like this. ~ do not trust anyone but the members of your unit ~ she thought. This woman was trustworthy, the girl felt it inside. But this Kendra, she wasn't one of them, she couldn't be trusted, she was weak and unpredictable.
"Oh, Hey Max... who's your friend?" said Kendra cheerfully, coming out of her room.
"Hum... yeah, this is... someone I found in the street, her mom abandoned her. I just figured she could stay here until i find her a place in an orphanage... is that alright with you?"
"Yeah, sure, but what is she going to do during the day? I mean, we're both at work...?"
"I haven't thought about that yet. But if you'll excuse us, I think I should discuss some things with her..."
Max and the little girl went into Max's room.
"So, now, are you gonna tell me what is you name?"
"I don't have a name"
"Well... what did they call you back there?"
"Linx"
"Ok, what do you know about yourself?"
The girl took a deep breath and began:
"We were trained in the canadian Rockies. We are the next generation of chimeras. They tried to fix the mistakes they had made when they created you. We don't have seizures. Each one of us is different. We are all made of mixed up DNA from a bunch of animals, but each one has more of one animal's DNA. We were called by the name of that animal. I was linx. They thought that making you all too much alike made you capable of thinking as only one being. They think that's the reason you escaped. Each one of us has a different personnality, coming from our different origins. " she paused to let Max swallow all the new information.
"There were four units:" she continued "red, blue, green and yellow. They encouraged rivalry between the units. Once, we got all together and put all our forces against our guardians. We escaped four months ago. Our units leaders, Tiger, Buffalo, Wolf and Bear, discussed the best tactic. They said we had to split up. I had been paired up with Cat, but she got caught by our pursuers. Tiger told us to go south, south-west... Tiger is the leader of my unit, the blue one. I don't know where the other leaders sent their units. Buffalo probably decided to go south too, he is wise, he is the oldest, he is the leader of the red unit."
Max considered the little girl for a moment. She was so young, but yet so old, mature. It was obvious she'd been trained like Max, but there were some differences, and they would be revealed as she'd grow.
"Do you know anything about a man called Lydecker?"
The little girl didn't say anything for awhile, obviously trying to recapture a memory.
"Once, I overheard the Commander talking to one of the doctors. From what I understood, they hold Lydecker responsible for the escape at Manticore I. I don't think he knows about us."
"Manticore I ? Why do you call it like that?"
"You were at Manticore I, we were at Manticore II. Manticore III is probably already on the way in canada."
Max nodded
"Well, first thing first, you have to pick a name. We can't just call you Linx for the rest of your days, now can we?"
"I don't know any names... I heard one of the kids was called John, and another Daniel, and now Kendra."
"Hum... I can't name you. You have to chose your own name... and by the way, mine is Max." The girl nodded in acknowledgement "wait here, I think Kendra has a book..."
When she came back, Max was holding a book she knew Kendra had... it was the only thing left from her mother.
"Here. It's not exactly a naming book, but it should do. It's a dictionnary of book characters." She handed the book to the kid.
For a few minutes the little girl turned over the pages...
"Is Pixie a good name?" she said, unsure.
"I don't think it's a name, but if you like the word, then make it your name"
Max wasn't surprised by the girl's choice: a short, easy to learn and easy to pronounce name was all a soldier needed. As for the weirdness of it, it was understandable: she didn't know what a pixie was. Yet, deep down, Max knew that, if the girl tried to forget her training a little and grew up in a more normal environment, she could grow into a somewhat pixie-like girl.
"Well, Pixie is my name then" she said with a smile, it felt nice to have a name of her own. It was like being more then a soldier, it was like becoming Someone, not just a number or a barcode.
óóó
The next day, early in the morning, Max brought Pixie to Logan's condo. She knew the girl wouldn't trust Logan, but it was the best place she could drop her off to when she was at work. And she was confident that Logan would find a way to change Pixie's feelings toward him... he was a natural charmer.
"Logan!? I've brought company!" She called through the huge apartment.
"Who's he?" said Pixie defensively
"A friend, you can trust him"
Logan rolled out of his office; he was eager to know how it had been the previous night, and who Max had brought along.
"Hey there" he said, a surprised look on his face when he saw the little girl that was standing by Max's side. She didn't look much like a little girl. She was neither shy nor insolent, she just stood there, straight and serious.
"Hey Logan, I'd like you to meet Pixie, Pixie, this is Logan"
"Pixie?! Well, nice to meet you Pixie" ~ Pixie!? That's a name!?~ he thought
"Hi" simply answered the girl
"Pixie is one of the new generation of chimeras, they escaped, and their leaders told them to split up. She ended up in St-Christopher orphanage, where you sent me last night."
Pixie turned her head questioningly towards Max. What was she doing!? Repeating all her story to some human stranger!
" I see... "
"Hi Max! Who's this?" said Bling with a warm smile for the little girl as he came out of the kitchen.
Anger flashed into Pixie's eyes. ~ Has Max forgotten her whole training!? What is she doing? Talking to so much humans? Humans are not trustworthy, they are weak, at least that's what I was told, and from what I've seen, it's true. This is a tactical exposure ~
"Hi Bling! I'd like you to meet Pixie, Pixie, this is Bling, you can also trust him..." said Max, knowing that even if she said so, it would be long until the girl really trusted a human.
Pixie pouted in disbelief ~ Yeah, right, a human trustworthy~. Seeing that Max and Logan needed to discuss somethings, Bling said:
"Well, Pixie, why don't you come with me in the living room. You can watch TV if you want"
"TV? What's that?"
Bling looked at Max with a puzzled expression. A kid who doesn't know what TV is?.
"I'll explain to you later" she said "Go on, you'll see what a TV is" she added for Pixie.
Once Pixie and Bling had disappeard in the living room, Logan turned his wheelchair toward Max:
"So, how did it go last night?"
"Just fine, the guy is dead"
"Alright then...So... What are you going to do with her?"
"I don't know yet. I just know I couldn't leave her at the orphanage... I was hoping she could crash here for the day, while me and Kendra are at work"
"You want me to babysit her?!" said Logan with a smile, wow, if there's one thing he'd never thought Max would ask him, that was it.
Max grinned at the thought of Logan babysitting
"I just thought staying here was more interesting for her. And she doesn't need anyone to look after her. I think that what she needs right now is to learn more about humans, 'cause she doesn't trust them at all "
"Well, I'll see what I can do... but that doesn't solve the problem, does it? You'll have to send her to school someday... And she'll grow. You won't have enough space for three in your apartment. And what about the others like her? Do you know if she wants to find them?" he stared at her for a minute, her beautiful eyes, her perfect face, her fine curves...
She stayed quiet for a minute, thinking about what he'd just said. He was right, she had no idea whatsoever of what to do with Pixie. She never thought about having children, and now she was in charge of a 6 year-old soldier... She had no idea what to do. She knew Logan would do his best to help her, but he had other things to worry about.
"She didn't talk much about the others, but I think she'd like to be with them... She said her unit leader told them to go south, south-west. They were in the canadian rockies"
"I'll try lo locate them if you want..."
"Yeah... I think it would be the right thing to do..." she was interrupted by a burst of laughter coming from Logan' living room "Looks like she discovered cartoons" added Max with a smile.
óóó
- three weeks later -
Pixie had lived with Max and Kendra for three weeks now. Everyday, Max brought her over at Logan's. She was slowly getting used to Logan, Kendra and Bling. Logan always took an hour or so to spend with Pixie, he'd explained her the concepts of "loving" and "liking", as well as all the other words she had never heard during her training. She learned quickly, and soon, she was devouring every book she could find in the condo. Max showed her the streets and taught her how to handle the people she might have to deal with one day. The image of worthless humans she had was slowly drifting. The rest of her days and nights she spent training by herself or with Max.
Max sped off on her motorcycle, it was 7:30 p.m. and it was time to pick Pixie up at Logan's. She'd seen alot of Logan lately, since she came by at least twice a day, to drop off and pick up Pixie. Of course, she wasn't complaining! The probleme was, it was becoming harder and harder to hide her true feelings from him. These icy-blue eyes of his were sometimes so damn penetrating, she felt as if he could see right through her.
Once she reached the condo, she, as usual, let herself in. Barely knocking on the door of the computer room, she saw Logan in front of his screens, apparently absorbed in the data in front of him.
"Honey, I'm home... " she said sarcastically, loud enough to startle him.
"Oh! Hi Max... I suppose you're here to pick up Pixie... I think I found something on one of your siblings..."
"What!?" she said, her heart beating hard in her chest.
"In Minnesota, Minneapolis more precisely, I have found the files of a couple of pharmacies. They seem to have received alot of prescriptions for tryptophan, most of them have been signed by a certain doctor Fitzgerald. I've found his adress and phone number. I've tried to contact him, but it doesn't answer. "
He looked at her with a mix of worry and fear. He feared she'd leave for Minneapolis, he feared she'd find her sibling and never come back, he feared he'd never see her again.
"Minnesota huh?"
She thought about it for a second, but it was clear she had to go check it out. The question was: to bring or not to bring Pixie along. Even if the little girl had only been there for a couple of weeks, she was already a important part of Max's life. Strangely, when it came to Pixie, Max abandonned immediately her "I-don't-care" attitude.
"Pixie!? Come over here for a second..." she called. 2/3 of a second later the kid was standing in the doorway, clearly, she had been listening to their conversation. "How about a little trip to Minnesota? What do you say?"
"Won't we draw too much attention on ourselves?"
"You can pass for my little sister"
"I think it's a good idea then... But Tiger told us to go north-west. And isn't Minnesota in the east?"
"Logan will take care of finding Tiger and tell him to wait for you..."
"Lets go then!" she said with a smile.
óóó
Bling walked slowly down the crowded street. His small apartment wasn't located in the rich part of Seattle, so it was quite far from Logan's condo, but he didn't mind the long walk home through the lively streets full of all kinds of people. As he grew nearer his apartment, he caught sight of a small crowd in the middle of a nearby street. As he approached, he heard laughter. There was a street circus performing in front of the crowd. They were cheering a little boy who could jump at the top of a human tower formed of five adult equilibrists.
The sight of five adults struggling to keep their balance with the facetious little boy ontop of them was quite entertaining, and the money poured like rain in the hat an old lady was carrying along the ranks of spectators. When the woman was done collecting money from the cheering crowd, the boy suddenly jumped off the head of the man he'd been standing on, causing for the equilibrists to fall painfully on the street's pavement into a minglement of arms, legs and heads.
As the kid turned to see if his friends were alright, it dawned on Bling that the boy had something written at the back of his neck. ~ Oh no... It couldn't be...?~ he thought, as he stared at the barcode on the back of the child's neck.
He walked confidently toward the little boy.
"Hi there, that was quite impressive what you did" he said warmly.
"It was nothing, really. One just have to have the Technique..." responded the kid in a dismissive tone.
"You know what? I think we have a friend in common." Said Bling with a large smile on his genie-like face.
"I don't think so, I just got here. All my friends are in the circus' crew"
"Her name is Linx" Bling looked at the child's reaction; there was barely a start and the boy looked at him straight in the eyes. For a few seconds, they stared at each other.
"You are trustworthy, it is obvious I have nothing to fear from you, I can read it in your eyes. Were you looking for me?"
"A friend of mine is. But no, I wasn't. I happen to live a few blocks away."
"Where is Linx?"
"She's at my friend's place, and she is safe, don't worry. She is now known as Pixie."
"Well, I am Raven, back there I was known as Monkey. Chief called me like that because of my hair. Can I see Linx... or Pixie?"
Bling considered the little boy for a second. He was thin, dark skined as if he came from India, and he had wide black eyes. His hair were of a deep black, indeed. But there was something about him that was different from Pixie. He was more open, more sociable. He seemed to enjoy the contact of humans, and seemed more human himself.
Why was he like that? The answer was easy: he had more or less the personnality of a monkey, and monkeys are, as we know it, closely related to humans. Monkeys also lived in groups, or families, which made Raven more sociable. Pixie, on the other hand, came from linx DNA. Linxs are known to be solitary and suspicious; hard to domesticate, if not impossible.
"Well, if you can leave your crew for awhile, I can bring you to her. I am not sure she'll still be there though. She spends the night elsewhere."
"We must hurry then. I warned Chief I could have to leave the circus suddenly, he won't worry."
"Well, follow me then"
End of part 1
I tried to do something different from the other fics, I don't know if I succeeded... Please, I am begging you, leave a review!!! I desperatly need it!!! I am truly sorry for any spelling mistakes. My first language being french, I sometimes do not see the obvious mistakes. Tell me if you want more, and any suggestions are welcome!
Arwen