Disclaimer: I don't own anyone or anything from Dark Angel, yada, yada, yada- you know the drill. The only thing that belongs to me is the character I created- Erin Jackson and her family etc. If you wanna borrow my character for fan fiction- please email me to ask permission. I would need to see proof of it first due to people telling me this, and using it to simply get information about what's going to happen.
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A/N: This is the sequel to an incredibly long story of mine called 'The Story Of Erin'. This story would be better understood if you read that first.
'The Wisdom Of War' is dedicated to all the people who kept reading Erin and asking for more- you guys kept me writing, thank you.
This fic focuses on Erin as the main character. There are many different pairings, and it doesn't focus on Dark Angel being a television show.
As always, the more reviews I get, the quicker I tend to post.
I HAVE POSTED THIS STORY WITH A RATING OF M. THIS IS BECAUSE THE PREQUEL TO THIS STORY WAS CONVERTED TO THE SAME RATING AND IT CONTAINS MOSTLY THE SAME KIND OF SUBJECTS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THIS RATING, I APOLOGISE.
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Summary: Life for Erin just got a whole lot complicated. She's in a different world. Her friends no longer trust her. She inadvertently hurt Alec. She's turned into some kind of killing machine and killed for the fun of it. And to top it all off- she's still no closer to finding a way home. Can her life get any worse? What do YOUthink?
Characters: Lot's of them. This fic is NOT for Logan fans so be warned.
Rating: R
Spoilers: This fic is set after the end of the series. It contains spoilers/ references from the Dark Angel prequel book 'Before The Dawn' but not the other two books.
There WILL be violence, mentions of rape, suicide, bad language etc.
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The Wisdom Of War
By Yodes
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Prologue: I'm Sorry
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'Not alive? Not human? Who are you to sit in judgment, Mr Caldwell? Have you seen that tape? Did you see the look in his eyes? He was scared, cornered. And despite what people like you have been saying about them, transgenics aren't that different from you and me. They do feel, they do hurt, they are alive… Take a moment to talk to those you're condemning. They could tell you what it's like to be afraid, alone in a hostile world. And it might be more convenient to pretend otherwise, but in the end, who does that say more about- them, or us?'
-Eyes Only (Dawg Day Afternoon)
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'The sun shines and I can't avoid the light
I think I'm holding on to life too tight
Ashes to ashes and dust to dust
Sometimes I feel like giving up
Sometimes I feel like giving up
-Creed (Weathered)
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"Once upon a time there was a girl named Erin, who went on a grand adventure…"
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"I'm sorry, Max." The voice was quiet, calm, final.
The world was in chaos again. Max looked around her for the girl she had come to rely on in this world of confusing dreams and visions.
She didn't know whether to trust her guide in this place, she never knew. She thought that she was trying to help her, guide her actions but it was hard to tell. It annoyed Max to no end. She thought Erin was there to help her, but Max was unsure. It was possible she was trying to guide her, that is if sarcastic quips and frustrating answers were guiding techniques. Erin was hard enough to understand normally, but here in this world, she was almost impossible. She was holding things back, that much was obvious. But then, Erin always held things back, it was what she did, but Max had come to accept that. Everyone had their secrets.
Max was stood alone on the rooftop of a building. She squinted below her and saw one of the roads leading to headquarters. She knew this road. Terminal City was burning. Below her fires burned, the smoke made her eyes water and sting and the smell made her want to vomit and gag. Down on the ground, bodies lay everywhere amongst the rubble and fires. She couldn't make out who they were- they were too badly mutilated. In the distance, screams could still be heard. People were still dying. They were always dying. They were always leaving her alone.
"I'm sorry, Max." The whispered words echoed.
This time, she ignored the voice, knowing it was in her head.
Max wrapped her arms around herself as she shivered and blinked back tears of frustration and anger. They were always being hunted, locked up, hated, killed. It was part of who they were. It was a part of who she was. Max was a transgenic. A genetically engineered soldier created to kill. There was no way for her to escape her purpose in life, she knew that now. People were always going to be dying around her and she would never be able to live a normal life. The closest she had ever got to normal was when she was hiding under Lydecker's radar.
"I'm sorry, Max."
Then, she had met Logan and had fallen for his good vs. evil attitude. In his world there was nothing but black and white. Max had gone along with it. She had ignored her enhanced intellect, forced herself to try to act like the superhero girl he had wanted her to be, and had put herself at risk constantly, trying to make the world into something it had never been. It was one of the reasons she wasn't with him now. When she had come to the conclusion that she did not actually love him, that she was trying to use him as a replacement family, an image of the guy she thought she was supposed to love- someone normal, she had also come to the conclusion that what he wanted was a dream.
The world had never been black and white. It was very grey and very hard. There weren't simply good guys and bad guys. There had never been a perfect world for people to live in. What he was grasping for was an impossibility. Even now, she wondered at how deluded she had been. All of her friends had seen that he was using her, that he was wrong for her. She had refused to see it. Just like she had refused to believe that she couldn't blend in, just like she had refused to believe that she wouldn't live a normal life.
"I'm sorry, Max."
Max shivered as she hugged herself and stared at the battleground below her. This was just a glimpse of how it was meant to be for her. A tear slid down her cheek.
"It always ends like this, doesn't it?" a voice spoke from the darkness behind her, "Violence, death. It's always the same."
Max spun around to see Erin stood there in jeans and a white t-shirt, her hands stuffed into the pockets of her leather jacket. The girl jerked her head to the scene behind Max. "Guess we're both used to it, right?"
"What's happened to you?" Max could only whisper in reply, her voice low, like the one people used to talk to people on the edge.
Erin gave her a crooked smile "What does it matter? It's not like you'll ever want to see me again, is it?" She walked up to the edge of the roof and looked down. "It's not like he'll want to see me again."
"He does- he's just hurting" Max edged closer, but not too close. "You lied to him, Erin. You lied to all of us."
"Do you think it was by choice!" Erin's blue eyed gaze snapped towards Max's making the other girl take a step backwards, "Do you think I like what I've become!"
"I'm sorry, Max."
All of a sudden, the image of Erin seemed to waver for a brief second. One minute she looked normal, the next, Max saw a younger image of Erin, the child version glaring up at her with tears making tracks down her cheeks. The next second, she was the Erin Max recognised again.
"You need to question your knowledge of me, Max" Erin turned to look out over the city again, "C'mon, use that superior brain of yours. What do you know?"
"You…" Max began then stopped, "Is there a point to this?"
"Is there a point to this, she asks" Erin's image flickered again, and Max was staring once more at the child version of Erin, "Is there a point?" she mimicked sarcastically. Her voice was the same voice Max had heard behind a door in a previous dream. It was the same voice that had been reassuring Erin's brother, telling him that she would protect him, that she wouldn't let them take him.
Suddenly, they were no longer in Terminal City. They were stood on top of the space needle, the city down below them and the sky above them dark and thundering, the rain hitting Max's skin like freezing needles. It wasn't raining a second ago. Looking out across the city, Max could see flames flickering in the distance where Terminal City was.
I'm sorry, Max"
"Of course there's a point to all this" the young Erin stepped towards Max and Max took a step back only to find there wasn't anywhere for her to step back to. She was suddenly falling, the air rushing from her lungs, her breath hitching, her arms reaching for and missing the edge of the rim by a mere fraction.
Her body jerked and her shoulder felt like it was being ripped from it's socket. Max looked up into the covered eyes of Erin as the other girl gripped her wrist with a blood covered hand. She was no longer a child, and she was no longer wearing jeans and a t-shirt. She was wearing all black- black combats, black tank top, black shades. It was the same thing she had been wearing when she was killing White's team, right down to the blood covering her body and the tattoos on her arms. It was a drastic change from the little girl that she had been. Max stared at her reflection in Erin's shades and wondered if this terror was what White had felt before Erin knocked him out cold.
She glanced briefly down at the ground so far below her and blanched. She wasn't as strong as her brother.
He had been injured, he would slow her down, he would not go back to Manticore. He'd made a choice and it was a choice that Max could not forget. His choice was death. As he held onto the rope, Max had seen the decision form in his eyes, she had seen the exact moment when he had weighed his options and come up with the only suitable conclusion.
"Sorry Max" was all he said as he let go of the rope and fell.
'No!' Max reached downwards over the edge of the space needle, knowing it was too late, knowing that she was watching her brother die. Seth looked up at her, giving her a smile, a smile that would stay with Max forever as she watched him fall. Was that a tear running down his face? Was he crying? Or was it just the rain? Unable to watch the moment when her brother hit the floor, Max turned away and cursed her enhanced hearing as she heard the excruciating sound of her brother hitting the concrete so far below the space needle.
No, she didn't think she was that strong.
"Think Max" Erin spoke, pulling her out of her memories, "Think. Why would I leave? Why would I be able to do this and not tell you? Why did I get with Alec? Why didn't I kill you all in your sleep? Why? Why? Why!"
"You didn't because you didn't know!" Max yelled out desperately as she felt Erin's grip slipping, yelling the first thing that popped into her head. "You didn't know!"
It was true, it had to be.
"I'm sorry, Max." The voice was still there in her head.
Max swayed as her dangling body was battered by the rain. "You wouldn't kill us! You can't kill me now! You're their friend! You're MY friend! That's why!" Her heart was pounding in her ears, she couldn't breathe, she couldn't tear her gaze from Erin's face.
Erin smiled, a twist of the lips that was bitter, mocking. "Time's a changin', Maxie. You don't trust me, they don't trust me. I'm in a world alone out here and you deserted me. I'm just a killer, right? Someone to be used by you or the cult. What d'you think I'm gonna do now, Maxie? Huh? What so you think I'll do now I have nothing left? No one left?"
"I'm sorry, Max."
Suddenly Max knew. She knew the desperation that Seth had felt. She knew his determination. She knew his fear. She knew what Erin would do. She couldn't do it, she couldn't let her do it. Her heart slowed and she could breathe again.
"I trust you, Erin" She told the girl simply, "I trust you with my life. I trust you with my family."
Erin's face shut down as she replied quietly, "Too late."
Max tried to swing herself up, but Erin let go of her grip on her wrist and she fell… only, she didn't.
Max found herself crouching on the roof of the needle, looking down into Erin's face as she gripped her hand in a slippery grasp. Erin's face was changing constantly. One second she was her child self, the next the adult Erin, the next face made Max's heart truly stop for a second.
Green eyes, soaked black hair, square jaw, ruggedly handsome features. Her brother Seth stared up at her for a brief moment before turning back into Erin's child self again and going through the three images over and over.
"You can't die!" Max gasped as her grip on the girl's hand began to weaken. "You can't die!"
Erin looked up at Max calmly as they were battered by the rain. Was that a tear rolling down her cheek or just the rain? "Sorry Max" was all adult Erin said and then let go of Max's hand.
Max reached downwards, watching as Erin fell, knowing it was too late, knowing someone else she cared about was about to die, just like her brother. "No!"
"I'm sorry, Max."
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Max sat bolt upright in bed, her hand reaching out to try to grab Erin's hand, her breaths coming in great heaving gasps that filled her chest with searing pain.
The realization that she had been dreaming caused her to groan in frustration. She fell back into bed even as a strong pair of hands gripped her shoulders gently, easing her back down slowly so she didn't do anymore damage to herself.
Max blinked up at Zack as he kneeled beside her with a worried expression that went all the way to his eyes. She hadn't lost everyone…yet.
"What's wrong?" He asked her as she searched his face, gripping one of his large hands in one of her small ones. "Are you hurt? Max, what is it?"
"We need to find Erin. We need to bring her back."
Her words caused him to sit down heavily on the end of her mattress that stood for her bed. He stared at her for a moment, his face becoming unreadable before he sighed.
"You need to think about this, Maxie." He told her gently as he straightened the covers. "Firstly, what makes you think she wants to be found and brought back? She chose to leave last night, Max. You heard it yourself. Then there's the fact that she lied to us- lied to all of us when we trusted her. The others aren't going to forgive and forget so easily."
"I know, believe me, I know" Max sighed and struggled to sit up further in bed. Her injuries were healing faster than a norms but they still hurt. It would take at least a week and a half for her to be back in decent shape, and at least 2 to be back to normal, and that was if she didn't strain herself.
Zack grabbed a pillow and propped it behind her, helping her to lean back gently. Max sank back into the pillow, giving Zack a grateful look before continuing.
"I had a dream" she looked down at her hands in her lap. She hated talking about her dreams, it made her stand out even more amongst her people. She didn't like it. "We were at war, I think. People were dead, murdered, I could hear screaming. But this dream wasn't about us, it was about her." Max ran her hands over the sheet, "We're not the only ones being betrayed, Zack. She trusted us too, and when she changed, we treated her like the enemy."
Zack opened his mouth to reply but Max placed a finger on his lips as she looked him in the eyes. "What do you think she'll do now that she's in a world that's not her own, totally alone with nothing, with no one? What do you think she'll do if she believes that she's being used, or that people want to use her?"
A look of dread began to form on his face at her words. She wasn't the only one who knew Erin to some extent. Since being found by the others, they and his experience on the outside had opened Zack up a lot, made him more human. He'd allowed others to get to know him, he smiled more, and he'd made friends. Erin had been one of them.
Max looked away again as she spoke of something he or the others didn't know. "I was there when Seth died, Zack. She kept changing into him as she spoke to me. He chose death over Manticore. She'll choose death over being used, over having nothing."
"You were there when he died?" Zack whispered, his eyes wide before he swallowed, shook his head and got back on track, knowing Max would tell him about it later. "We don't even know where she is, she could be-"
"She's at the space needle." Max interrupted, "I want you to go with one of the others who wasn't openly hostile towards her. We need to bring her back so we can figure this shit out, and to keep her safe."
"One of the others? Are you sure that's safe? I mean, it would be safer if I took a security team with me."
"No it wouldn't" Max shook her head and then winced at the movement, "it would only make her want to stay away more. Think about it, she needs to know that there's at least a couple of us who still trust her."
She raised a hand before he could make her statement false. "I know you're hurt too, Zack, but we don't have the whole story. Wait until we have that before you pass judgement."
Zack shut his mouth and leaned in to give Max a quick kiss on the forehead before nodding, standing up and walking away.
"Hurry!" Max called after him, "Don't let her die thinking she's alone in this world."
As Zack let the stairwell door close behind him, Max let a tear roll down her face as she put her head in her hands.
"I'm sorry, Max."
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A/N: Am I really thick enough to write a sequel to Erin after the previous story lasted almost 3 years? Guess I am. shrugs Anyway, if you have any questions about this story, they'll either be answered by reading 'The Story Of Erin' or in the coming chapters. Obviously, not everything is going to be apparent straight away, and some things WILL be left unanswered until the sequel to this story. Why did it have to be a trilogy damnit!