Title: Days of War
Author: X5 898
Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or any of the characters you might recognize from the show. No infringement intended.
Summary: War is on its way and its time for soldiers to be soldiers. Post FN.
Chapter 1: About damn time
Alec had heard the rumors. They were there, present, for everyone to hear. Yet, they were so hard to believe that he had refused to acknowledge them. How foolish of him. He should have known better. It was destined to happen. Sooner or later, things were destined to return to the status quo. And now that he thought about it, he had really hoped they would. His denial of this hope, of the inevitability of the rumor's truth, wasn't born out of fearing it, but born out of his human need to shield himself against disappointment. Cause they were in trouble. Deep, unavoidable trouble. And him, like everyone else in TC, except for Max, knew there was only one way out of it.
More and more X5s had been arriving at TC for the last two weeks. That should have been Alec's first clue that the rumors were true. Up until the Jam Pony incident and the three weeks after that, TC had been mainly inhabited by anomalies, X6s, X7s, transhuman created for special operations and some pregnant X5s looking for shelter. Since the destruction of Manticore, be it because of their appearance or their lack of training in the outside world, TC had become sort of a promised land for these transgenics. Yet, for the X5s, normal looking and easily capable of blending in with their surroundings in a world they had studied and visited during their missions, TC didn't mean much. Except for Alec, Max and a few others, the X5 presence was lacking in Freak Nation.
The X5s were a very independent and proud bunch. They knew they had been the most successful lot of the entire Manticore and they knew, with time, they were supposed to become the generals and colonels to all the other series and transhumans. They knew it all too well, for they had been bred into it since birth. They knew they were better than the enemy they faced; the ordinaries, those who didn't accept them. Truth was, most of them probably didn't care if they were accepted or not, they were out there, living their lives without much complications and just waiting for the chain of command to be reinstated to know what to do next. He knew, he had been one of them. If it weren't for Max, he probably would still be. They were out there, not even thinking that TC was a comfortable or even a viable choice of housing for them. At least, that was until a couple of weeks ago.
Out of nowhere, X5s had started arriving at TC and that's when the rumor started spreading. They arrived, settled into a corner of the city and interacted only with themselves. They didn't pay attention to anyone else nor they cared for the established leadership. Max had tried talking to them, getting them to start interacting with the other inhabitants of TC, to start helping with the planning and negotiations, anything. They didn't listen to her. She thought the reason behind it was her being an 09er and therefore sent Alec to take care of it. As much as he hated admitting it, he had walked away empty handed as well. The only explanation provided to him, that they were waiting for something. Something that would take place very soon and was the reason behind them being there. As long as that mysterious episode didn't take place, they would stay where they were, awaiting orders and making sure their entire units were successfully making it into the city. That's when it dawn on Alec; maybe the rumors weren't as unfounded as he had thought they were. And a small seed of hope caused a smile to spread on his features.
He was still deep in thought about his new realization when he stepped into command.
"So? What you've got for me?"
He lifted his eyes and was greeted by two very familiar brown orbs. Two smiling familiar brown orbs. What? His mind couldn't process a happy Max. He had never seen that occurrence before and after everything that had happened lately, that scene was more bizarre than ever. Max was way over her head with the negotiations and trying to unite TC. Her mood swings were worse than ever before because of her stress. She had been so depressed since Logan, OC and Sketchy had abandoned TC a couple of days after the Jam Pony incident, that the least he was expecting was this.
"So? … Come on Alec, I don't have all day."
But she didn't sound annoyed. She seemed … hopeful. He realized then that she was sure he would come home with good news. A part of him felt oddly warmed by her trust in him. Too bad it wouldn't last.
"Uh.. Max… we really need to ta…"
He was cut short by the door swinging open. The entire HQ turned their heads to the origin of the sound, only to be faced by five entering figures walking towards them. Their firm and graceful strides, spoke not only of their genetics, but also their status. Like they knew no being would dare stop them. And none did. They just stared dumbfounded at the sight they were witnessing. The only noticeable change in them, the rigidness in their posture, like they were forcing themselves not to fall back on training and salute.
Alec felt Max start to walk towards the newcomers and stopped her before she did something foolish. A hand on her shoulder was enough for her to turn around and look questioningly at him.
"That's what I needed to tell you Max. They are here."
Her confused look told him she wasn't really following.
"The COs are back."