Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Jondy, 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 (Elle/X5-164, etc.).

Chapter 7: Zack (X5-599)

I sat back in my seat in the van and closed my eyes for a moment. None of us were saying a word. The driver wasn't talking but they never talk. Kenny was sitting next to me, but I knew why he was quiet. Ben and 509 were sitting on either side of 836 on the second seat. Ben was silent for the same reasons and Kenny and I, 509 just wasn't much of a conversationalist to begin with, and 836 was too angry at all of us to talk. 272 and 016 were sitting next to each other in the rear seat and I don't know why they were silent, but I didn't care.

I opened my eyes and looked at the scenery that was passing us by and then I turned my head so I was facing the others except for Kenny. "We should be back to base in a few more minutes."

"Great," 836 said sarcastically. "Back to hell."

I wish that I could tell her that Kenny and Ben and I all felt the same way. "Please stop the attitude," I said gently. "You're only going to make it harder on yourself if you keep it up, 836."

"Why do you care, 599? You were the one who captured me," 836 snapped.

I know. Don't remind me. I couldn't bring myself to reply, but Ben saved me.

"He was under orders," Ben said, also without any malice or venom in his voice. "Every mission-qualified soldier back at base as well at the other two facilities plus you when they clear you for active duty, is under a standing order to bring in any of the rogues if they happen to see them while on a mission once the primary objective is completed."

"Why are you being so nice to the traitor?" 016 asked curiously.

"I am not a traitor!" 836 shrieked.

"836, calm down," I ordered. "016, she's going to be in Psy Ops and reindoc for at least six months." My eyes hardened as I recalled those horrible three months that I had spent in Psy Ops. "She will be going though enough there. They will take care of her."

016 couldn't help shuddering. She herself had spent a week in Psy Ops after nearly botching the first mission that she had been on after her probation mission so she knew very well how bad Psy Ops was. "Point taken, sir."

"Good point, sir," 272 said. 509 also nodded in agreement.

We were all quiet again and soon, we arrived back at Manticore. When the driver parked the van, I opened the side door and we got out and marched to Lydecker's office with Ben and 509 still escorting 836. We waited for the guard standing outside of the office to open the door and then we marched in and stood at attention. Even 836 stood as much at attention as she could in cuffs. "X5-599 reporting as ordered, sir."

Lydecker nodded. "It's good to see that you all accomplished the mission in such an efficient manner. It's very good that you also managed to spot one of the rogue X5s and bring her back." He walked around his desk until he was standing in front of 836. "836, do you have anything that you have to say for yourself before you are escorted to Psychological Operations?"

"Sir, no, sir!" 836 replied.

"Very well," Lydecker said. He walked back to his desk and pressed a button on the phone. "Escort X5-836 to Psychological Operations and then notify me when they begin with her." A minute or two later, two guards entered the room and took 836 away and Lydecker turned his attention back to us. "As for the rest of you, report immediately to Room 20 for your debriefing. You are dismissed."

"Sir, yes, sir!" We saluted Lydecker and marched out of his office and to our debriefing.

The debriefing was the same. Since I was the commanding officer on the mission, I had to do the most talking. I outlined what had happened and I presented the trainers that were debriefing us with the information that we had gathered and we all picked it apart piece by piece. It was tedious, but it was eventually over and we were dismissed. I actually had the rest of the day free.

"We're going over to the rec room," Kenny said. "Do you want to join us?"

"No," I said. I shook my head. "I need to be by myself."

"We'll see you at dinner, then," Ben said. They walked off.

I turned around and left Room 20 and headed down the hall to the library. I hoped that nobody would be in there. I went inside and sighed in relief when I didn't see or hear anybody else. I sat down and rested my arms on the table and rested my head on my arms. I still just couldn't believe that I had actually brought 836 back to Manticore. How could I have done that? I hated Manticore so much and 836 obviously hated it just as much. I wouldn't want to subject anybody to this kind of life that didn't have to be. I really thought that I was going to be sick. Suddenly, I looked up at the doorway and saw a young girl standing there silently. I recognized her a split second later. "405?"

"Am I interrupting you, 599?" she asked. She frowned. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine," I said. "You can come in if you want."

"Okay," 405 said. She walked inside the library and sat down next to me. "You look sad. I heard that you were going to come back today from a mission, did something go wrong?"

"It depends on your perspective," I said. "Are you supposed to be in a class or on an exercise or training mission?"

"My unit had a training mission, but we ended up finishing it early so they gave us the rest of the time until dinner off," 405 said.

I nodded. I took a good, long look at her. "405, can you keep a secret? You can't tell a single person about this, not even 115."

405 nodded. She looked very serious. "I can keep a secret."

"Thank you," I said. I took a deep breath. I had a feeling that I could trust 405. She never struck me as being like most of the other X-series. "While we were on our off hours yesterday, 987, 493, and I spotted one of the rogues."

"Whoa," 405 said. "Which one?"

"836," I told her.

"Did you bring her in?" she asked.

"We did, but…I didn't want to," I said.

"Why not?"

I sighed. "I hate Manticore. I've hated it here for so long. It's all I've ever known and I guess I just accepted it when I was little, but then I started to realize how wrong everything was. Why were we hit and even beaten occasionally when we had an off day during training? If we were soldiers and so were the guards, how come none of the guards were our age or even the age of the X3s and X4s? Why were we tortured in Psy Ops? Why would they rather let us possibly drown in the tank rather than let us out when we were having trouble?" I saw how 405's grey eyes hardened when I said that. "405?"

"It wasn't possibly," she said. "Not for my unit. A year ago, when we were in the tank, my unit mate 607 drowned. Our target time that day was three-and-a-half minutes and about two-and-a-half minutes in, I saw that 607 was starting to have trouble. I signaled to the trainers that he was struggling, but they just shook their heads and by the time they released us, 607 just floated up to the top of the tank and I remember 115 tried to give him CPR, but it was too late by then."

"I'm so sorry," I said.

"Thank you," 405 said. "Since then especially, I've been starting to wonder about things along the same lines that you have been. I just don't get it, 599."

"Maybe one day we will," I said. "If we're lucky."

405 nodded. "Are you sure that you'll be okay?"

"I think I will be okay eventually," I said honestly. "This guilt isn't going to go away for awhile. I still just don't know. I don't know how long it's going to be before I can think of this or not look at 836 or even 272 from Unit 4 since we wouldn't have brought 836 back if 272 hadn't seen her as well. It's going to be a long ride."

"Well…you can talk to me again if you like," 405 said helpfully.

I couldn't help smiling. "Thank you, 405." She really was a great kid. "Can you keep another secret?"

"Sure," 405 said. "What is it?"

"My unit and I, we're more than a unit," I said. "We consider ourselves a family. Brothers and sisters."

"Like a real family?" 405 said.

"Almost," I said. "None of us are related to each other by blood." I paused for a moment. "Except possibly Max and Krit. They look so much alike, I wouldn't be surprised if they turned out to be related by blood."

"Who's Max and Krit?" 405 wondered.

"That's the other part of the secret," I said. "We gave each other names, just like real people. We are soldiers, but soldiers are also people and people have names. Max is 452 and Krit is 471." I smiled. "My name is Zack."

"That's nice," 405 said honestly. She also smiled. "That fits you." She looked at me hopefully. "Can I have a name, too? I promise that I won't tell it to anybody."

"Of course," I said. I looked at her for a few moments before the right name came to me. "How about Becky?"

She thought about it and smiled even wider. "I love it. Thank you, Zack."

"You're welcome, Becky," I said. I looked at my watch. "The bell for dinner is going to ring soon. We should probably start walking over to the cafeteria."

"Okay," Becky said. We smiled at each other again and we left the library.

TBC

Notes: Thank you so much to lady marauder, Geminangel, and angelofdarkness78 for their reviews and support!