A/N: My muse and I are having a medium-major spat at the moment, so none of my series are getting updated. That being said, I have over a hundred/hundred and fifty documents for Dark Angel alone, some of them the beginnings of series long abandoned, some of them random bursts of inspired writing (this one, for example), and some of them intentional one-shots. I just thought it'd be nice to give you something while you wait. Enjoy!
Summary: The X5's learn the meaning of family.
Brothers and Sisters
"What is it?" 452 hushed 351 as the two of them stared at the squirming bundle in front of them.
"It's a baby," 210 stated with all the expertise of a six year old with three years of combat medicine training.
"I understand that," 351 stated, giving 210 a dirty look. "What I meant is, what is it doing here?"
"It must be one of the civilian med staff's," 452 conjectured. "None of the X6's are allowed outside of the nursery."
"What's its purpose?" 351 asked, watching the child punch its tiny little fists in the air. "Where are the rest of its series?"
"Unknown," 210 stated with a frown, reaching up to poke the child, blinking when it cooed in response.
"I think it soiled itself," 452 stated, wrinkling her hyper sensitive nose.
The other two X5's quickly agreed.
"There you are," all three X5's jumped to attention as one of the med staff came bustling in, but her comment had been directed at the squirming bundle and not them.
"There you are, my little Anthony," the woman cooed, holding the child under its armpits and making funny face as she did an odd little shuffle.
The child laughed and the woman smiled. The three X5's exchanged confused looks, their movement drawing the woman's attention.
"Goodness, what are you three doing out of the barracks?" the woman, who all three could identify by her last name, Monroe, was one of the nicer lab techs.
"We were ordered to report to the lab for further testing, Ma'am," 210, the eldest of all of them, and the highest ranking, reported, expression not quite blank as she continued to stare in fascination at the smiling child.
"Further testing?" Monroe transferred the child to her right hip, rubbing her head with her left hand as she frowned in confusion.
"I don't remember receiving any memo's concerning further testing, but you know what they say." She gave a little laugh, the laugh trailing off when all three X5's simply stared at her in confusion.
"What do they say, Ma'am?" 351, by far the least cautious and most curious of the three, asked.
"I'd lose my head if it wasn't attached," Monroe explained, laughing again.
"We concur. All species would lose their head if it weren't attach. However, I find this statement irrelevant since once one loses one's head, there is little concern whether or not it's lost or otherwise."
Monroe stared at 210 while she rocked Anthony.
It was hard for her to remember sometimes that these kids weren't actually kids but soldiers in the making. Things that she took for granted were novelties to these poor children.
"Well, then, let's see if we can find that memo," Monroe set Anthony down on a nearby counter and started going through her paperwork, humming to herself all the while.
"Ahh, here it is," Monroe found the memo buried under another memo concerning parking, turning around and stopping in surprise.
351 had discovered that funny faces, like the one Monroe had been making, caused the child to coo, an action he was careful to replicate while 210 and 452 looked on in rapt fascination.
"He likes you," Monroe stated with a fond smile, startling all three X5's back to attention.
"I apologize, Ma'am. I broke protocol and accept my punishment."
"Oh, no, I'm not going to punish you. I would never do that." Catherine Monroe was horrified at how these children so readily expected punishment for such simple things that shouldn't warrant it.
She racked her brains to think of a way to make them all feel more at ease.
"Do you want to hold him?" 351 stared up at the female, his expression caught between surprise and interest.
"Here, hold him while I gather my supplies," Cat smiled as she picked up Anthony and held him out for 351 to take.
"Just make sure you have one hand under his behind to support him," Cat instructed, smiling as 351 cautiously accepted the child.
Wide blue eyes stared out at 351, who stared back with eyes a few shades lighter.
The child weighed approximately sixteen kilograms, about half as much as his pack during field maneuvers. 452 and 210 crowded around him while Cat worked in the background.
"He's tiny," 452 stated.
"He's actually big for his age," Cat interrupted with a smile, setting the necessary lab equipment on a nearby newly cleared table.
"Anthony's always been a big baby, haven't you, honey?" Cat plucked her child out of 351's hand and made a kissy face.
"Ma'am, may I ask a question?" Cat smiled down at the doe eyed transgenic.
"Of course, 471."
"452," 452 corrected. Cat blinked at her.
"That's what I said, isn't it?" 452 opened her mouth, but shut it when 210 gave her a quick shake of her head.
"Your question, 210?" 452 blinked.
"Where's his unit?"
Cat blinked.
"What unit?" The three X5's exchanged looks.
"His squad," 210 elaborated. "The others assigned to train with him."
"Anthony doesn't train," Cat cooed at her baby.
"What purpose does he serve?"
"What?"
"If he doesn't train, he can't be an effective soldier. If he's not an effective soldier, then what is he?"
"A child," Cat replied. "He plays, he smiles, he laughs, he cries. He makes me happy."
"So that's his objective?" 210 frowned in confusion, trying to correlate her training with what this woman in front of her was saying.
"He doesn't have an objective except to grow up big and strong."
It didn't make any sense to any of them, and the current line of conversation didn't seem to be resulting in any relevant answers, so 351 decided to take a new tact.
"What's his designation?" Cat blinked at him.
"His name is Anthony."
"Doesn't he have a designation?" 452 asked, curious.
"No. On the outside, we have names. His is Anthony James Monroe. Mine is Catherine Samantha Monroe. If you had been born on the outside, you would have names too. And parents."
Cat stared down at the children, sadness in her eyes.
"But at least you have siblings."
"Siblings?"
"Brothers and sisters," Cat indicated 210 and 351. For their parts, both 210 and 351 looked at each other, their expressions intrigued.
"Brothers and sisters?"
"You know, family," Cat sat down in her office chair, plopping Anthony down on her lap as she rolled over to a computer set-up.
"I have two brothers and a sister. Andrew, Bradley, and my baby sister Danielle. My mom wanted another kid, but Danielle screwed up her uterus. It would have been nice having a baby brother to lord myself over, though."
Two hours of testing later, all three X5's reported to the Parade ground just in time for hand to hand.
"How did testing go?" 471 asked as all three fell in.
"Fine," 452 smiled briefly at her brother, knowing that he was really asking if they did any more invasive tests, like the ones that usually meant excessive bleeding and intense pain.
Her brother. 452 knew that 471 and her shared genetic material, her smell and his mirrored each other closely. She just hadn't had any word that she could used to describe it until today.
She couldn't wait to share what she'd learned with the rest of the squad.