A/N: Things get kinda steamy between Joshua and Skye in this chapter, hence the change in rating.

Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel or any of that show's characters. They belong to James Cameron and Charles H. Eglee, geniuses both. No disrespect is intended to either of them in the writing of this fanfic.

The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere

The ceremony of innocence is drowned;

The best lack all conviction, while the worst

Are full of passionate intensity.

-"The Second Coming" by William Butler Yeats

2001

9/11 happened only days before my father died. He tried to shield me from the news footage—the plane crashing into the tower, panicked men and women leaping to their deaths to escape an even worse one in the fire, people running and screaming while massive buildings collapsed like houses of cards—but my mother said I needed to see these things to help me grow strong for the Coming. I was too young to understand either way, but my four-year-old mind grasped enough of the concept of death to wonder why anyone would want to cause so much of it.

I asked my father, who I thought was the wisest man alive. He smiled sadly, glanced at the little manticore figurine on the coffee table, and said, "I don't know, love. Maybe they forgot how precious life is."

2022

I sniffled drew back to wipe my nose on my sleeve. That's attractive, I thought sardonically.

Joshua didn't seem at all put off by my emotional outburst. He patted my back. "You okay now?"

"Yeah," I smiled up at him, "I'm fine. Considering." Considering I was a traitor to my kind and surrounded by people who probably hated me now.

I must not have hidden my thoughts from my expression very well; either that or Joshua was getting real good at reading me. His large hand cupped the side of my face. "It'll be okay."

"I don't know," I sighed.

"I do," he said with the confidence I didn't feel, "Things might suck for a while, but they always get better. Did for Transgenics. Now we're free, government isn't hunting us, we have our own home." He gestured around him, indicating the city beyond the walls of my room.

I smiled a little at his optimism. If it weren't for the fact that he'd survived his own tragedies, I would have thought he was being naïve.

"I can't go back to my home," I said, "I can't even leave Terminal City. Not after the Conclave figures out I double crossed them. But the thing is, once Max doesn't need my help anymore, I don't think I'll be allowed to stay. I'm not one of you." I rolled back my sleeve, looking at the symbol on my arm. "As far as at least some of you are concerned, I'm one of the enemy."

"Max knows different," Joshua said without a trace of doubt in his voice, "Others will know, too."

I thought about the look in Mole's eyes when I revealed the truth about myself. "Not everyone's as forgiving as you, Joshua."

He took my arm in a light grip. His thumb brushed against the raised scar tissue of the symbol. His hand was warm, the thick pads of his palm rough against my skin. I was amazed how my emotions rose at that simple touch.

"Joshua..."

His clear blue eyes met mine and I forgot what I wanted to say. I was pretty sure it was to tell him he should go before his friends started getting ideas about us. Ideas they wouldn't like. But I couldn't make myself push him away. I didn't want to be alone anymore. And I didn't want to lose him.

I rose up on tiptoe and kissed him. He reacted almost immediately, parting his lips and meeting my tongue with his. His arms slid around my waist and pulled me against him. My heart sped up and heat rose in my face. The kiss finally ended as we both came up for air. Joshua's eyes were glassy and a goofy grin was spreading across his face. The sight of it made me laugh. I loved how he could be so wise and mature one moment and so innocent the next. His inexperience made me a little jealous; my first time with a man hadn't been all that great, mostly because it wasn't my choice. In a way I guess that meant I was still a kind of virgin. There were a lot of choices in my life I never got to make for myself. Decisions that were made before I was truly ready.

In a strange moment of clarity I realized I wanted Joshua.

He's not even human, the appalled voice of the good little Familiar cried out. I ruthlessly stamped it down. I didn't care about his mixed DNA, that he had a dog's face and sometimes a dog's behavior. None of these things disgusted me. They were all part of what made him special and he wouldn't be Joshua without them. I looked at him and I didn't see a freak; I saw a man.

But a man who'd had his heart broken before and who never even kissed anyone before me. I didn't want to just throw myself at him and risk hurting what we already had.

I reached up to cradle his face in my hands and drew his head down until our foreheads touched. "Joshua," I whispered, "please tell me what you want."

His breathing was so ragged. I could feel him trembling and my own body shook in sympathy.

"I w-want," he stammered, then swallowed and tried again, "I want to...to touch you."

His hands slid up and down my sides, wanting to go other places, but too uncertain to go through with it. I kissed him lightly, then took a step back and reached for the hem of his shirt, tugging it up. Joshua's eyes widened, then he raised his arms so I could slip the shirt off and let it drop to the floor. This time it was my eyes that went wide. I knew he was solidly built, but I had no idea he was so fit. His torso looked like it had been sculpted, the muscles well defined, but not too bulky. The freckled stripes that ran down the sides of his neck continued down his chest, then curved out to his sides and eventually disappeared into the waistband of his jeans. As I followed them with my eyes I saw that below his nipples were four others, giving him six in total. His chest and belly were lightly dusted with brown hair.

"Wow," I said; not the most romantic choice, but certainly honest. And Joshua, bless him, actually blushed.

I placed my hand against his chest. His heartbeat was so fast and strong it felt like a sledgehammer beating against his ribs. I moved closer and started kissing the side of his neck, following the stripe down until I reached a nipple. My lips closed over it and I sucked gently. Joshua gasped, then let out a deep moan. My hands slid down to fondle two of his lower nipples while I lightly bit the one in my mouth. Joshua let out a throaty growl and suddenly scooped me up in his arms. I gasped in surprise and instinctively wrapped my legs around his waist as he carried me across the room and shoved my back up against the wall, pinning me in place. He grabbed hold of my shirt and I barely had time to raise my arms before he all but ripped it off me and flung it aside. My ponytail came undone, spilling my long black hair across my shoulders. Joshua's mouth crashed into mine, kissing me with an aggressiveness he'd never shown before. So much for taking it slow. I gave back just as eagerly, biting his lower lip and tangling my tongue with his. I reached behind me and undid my bra, letting it fall away from me.

Joshua drew back so he could look at my breasts. For a moment he just stared, then he slowly raised his hands and tentatively covered my breasts with his large palms. I sighed at the feel of his hands on me. Then he began to caress my breasts with growing confidence. His thumbs stroked my nipples and he watched, fascinated, as they wrinkled and hardened at his touch.

He raised his eyes to mine and his mouth curved in a tender smile. "Joshua loves Skye."

My breath hitched in my throat. I could see in the way he looked at me that this wasn't just some adolescent crush. He meant it. It didn't matter that we'd only known each other a few weeks. He knew me better than anyone, even my own mother. Just as I knew him.

"I love you, too," I couldn't keep the unsteadiness out of my voice. The intensity of the emotion brought tears to my eyes.

Then there was a brisk knock and the door to my room opened to admit Logan with an armload of papers. He froze mid-step and gaped at the sight of us. Thankfully, what he mostly saw was Joshua's broad back, but with my bare shoulders peeking over his and my legs around his waist, it was pretty obvious what we'd been up to.

Joshua and I were too startled to be embarrassed. Logan, however, turned the brightest shade of red I'd ever seen and stuttered, "Uh...I..." With his free hand, he jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "I'll come back later." He ducked out quickly and slammed the door shut.

I buried my face against Joshua's shoulder and lost myself in a fit of giggles. "Oh my god. He looked like he was having a stroke!"

Joshua's body shook and I realized he was laughing, too. This set me off again and the two of us spent the next couple of minutes trying to regain our composure. Finally, we pulled ourselves together and looked at each other, both of us silently agreeing that Logan's barging in had effectively killed the mood. Regretfully, Joshua set me down and we retrieved our discarded shirts, putting them back on.

"Well," I sighed, "since Logan's brought all his notes and photos I should get started on translating those runes."

Joshua shoved his hands in his pockets and glanced at me from the corner of his eye. "Want me to stay?"

We both knew he wouldn't be able to help me and his presence might even be a distraction. But I didn't want to just send him away, either. Then an idea popped into my head. I went over to the corner where I'd left my bag and rummaged inside until I found the key to my hotel room. I held it out to him. "Could you do me a favor and get my things from the hotel? Obviously, I won't be going back there anytime soon and I'm gonna need a change of clothes at some point."

Joshua grinned, happy to be doing something useful. He took the key and put it in his pocket. "Okay. I'll ask Alec to come with me. Hotel staff might get nervous if they see only me."

I smiled and put my arms around his waist. "There's something else. On the dresser is a black leather case with a camera inside it. It's the first camera I ever owned. I've had it since I was a kid. There's also a photo album with all my personal photos. These things are very special to me, Joshua. I'd be very sad if I lost them."

Joshua ruffled my loose hair. "I'm on it."

"Thanks." I kissed him one last time, then watched sadly as he left. A minute later there was a hesitant knock at the door. I grinned. "Come on in, Logan. It's safe now."

The door creaked open and Logan peered in, just in case, before entering and shutting it behind him. He grinned sheepishly. "Sorry about waltzing in like that. I should've waited till you said to come in."

"It's okay," I chuckled, "It's not like we planned for that to happen."

Logan set the stack of papers on the table, next to the tray of food Joshua brought and that I pretty much forgot about. He turned to face me, hands in his pockets. "Looks like things are getting serious between you two."

I sobered a little. "I'm not sure how the others will take it. Ordinaries aren't all that popular around here, let alone Familiars."

Logan shrugged. "Not too many people are thrilled about me and Max, but we make it work."

Somehow I forgot that he and Max were from two very different worlds. They fit each other so well. "When did you know you loved her?"

"When did I know?" he thought about it, "I'm not sure. There was a lot of denial on both sides for a long time. But I guess I knew for sure when I thought she was killed." His eyes got that faraway look that came with remembered pain. "It's funny how all our self-imposed doubts disappear when something terrible happens, often when it's too late to do anything about it."

I swallowed a sudden lump in my throat. "I think I love Joshua."

Logan smiled in understanding. "Terrifying, isn't it?"

"Yeah. But it's also the best thing that's ever happened to me."

He nodded. "I know what you mean."

The two of us stood in silent camaraderie for a moment, then I ventured a question, "How're the others handling this? Me?"

Logan leaned against the wall, his expression thoughtful. "Well, Dix and Luke are pretty subdued. Guess they're still trying to get a handle on things. Alec...he's tough to read at the best of times, but I'm guessing he's trying to work out how he feels about it all. Max is just focusing on stopping the Conclave's plans, so she hasn't had time to get worked up about letting a Familiar walk in right under her nose." He smirked.

"And Mole?" I braced myself for the worst.

Logan pursed his lips. "Mole's...angry. Even for him."

I gazed down at the worn floorboards. "I was just getting him to start trusting me. Now I'm afraid he'll never trust anyone again and it's my fault."

Logan came over and put a comforting hand on my shoulder. "Don't beat yourself up too much," he said, "Mole's issues go back way longer than he's known you."

"I know. I just... I know this sounds silly, but I like him and I wanted to be his friend. He seems so alone."

"And you can identify with that," Logan squeezed my shoulder, "That doesn't seem silly at all."

I sighed and walked over to the table and its waiting stack of papers. "I should get started on translating all this."

"Want any help?"

I looked over my shoulder at him and smiled. "No, thanks. I work better alone."

"Okay. Let one of the guys outside know if you need anything."

"I will."

With a nod, Logan exited the room, leaving me on my own. I pulled up a chair, sat down, and started sorting through the papers.

Like the ancient Minoan it resembled, each rune contained multiple meanings, which made translating them a time consuming process even for the most experienced Familiars. It was more like a code than straightforward writing. The advantage was that a great deal of information could be crammed into a relatively small space. I spent hours filling page after page of yellow legal paper with my translations. I felt like I was back in school again, writer's cramp and all.

The first part was a general history of the Familiars, our culture and the danger we presented to Transgenics, not to mention the threat of the Coming—or rather, the plague. It also told of Sandeman's personal history, how for years he argued over the merits of modern science such as genetic engineering, fighting against thousands of years of tradition. Then discovering that his youngest son was not immune to the pathogen and the epiphany that followed; that all life, not just Familiars', was precious and equally deserving of being preserved. And that was when Sandeman became a heretic and dedicated his life to creating the one being who could save the rest of humanity: Max.

I set my pencil down and leaned back in the chair, flexing my poor cramped hand and rolling the kinks out of my shoulders. I could tell from the complexity of the runes that the rest of Sandeman's message was going to be way more in-depth and probably loaded with technical jargon. I just hope he simplified it enough for me to translate; I'm not a scientist, after all.

The room was windowless, so I had no idea how much time passed until I checked my watch. My eyebrows shot up. Damn, I'd been at it for hours! It was well past nightfall.

An uneasy feeling crept into my stomach. Shouldn't Joshua have been back from the hotel by now? Maybe he was back and just didn't want to disturb me while I worked, I told myself. Still, the worry gnawed at me. I got up and opened the door. The guards were right where I saw them last, looking bored.

"Hey," I said to the closer one, "Has Joshua been by here?"

A strange look passed between the two X5's. They straightened and the one I'd spoken to said, "Come with us."

The worry became a hard stone weighing me down inside. I concentrated on putting one foot in front of the other so I wouldn't freeze from the desire to avoid what was about to happen. The guards led me down to the control center. Even though it was crowded, the place was eerily quiet. Max noticed my arrival and walked towards me. There was something in her expression...

The others noticed me, too. Some of them glanced at me and quickly looked away. Others stared with expressions I could only describe as pitying. Mole was there, his golden eyes watching me, but I couldn't tell what he was thinking.

"Did you finish the translation?" Max asked, though I could tell she was mostly stalling.

"Some," I said, then bluntly asked, "Where's Joshua?"

The expression on the pretty X5's face became more pronounced and I finally recognized it for what it was; guilt. Guilt and sadness.

Panic welled up in me. "What happened? What aren't you telling me?"

Max's mouth opened, but no words came out. I looked around frantically, hoping someone might have an answer, and that was when I saw Alec. He stood alone, his face covered in bruises and scrapes, and his usual laid-back attitude was gone, replaced with something far more somber.

A shudder ran through me. "Oh god..."

"There were men watching the hotel," Max finally explained, "Familiars. They saw Alec and Joshua leaving with your things and-"

My brain struggled to drown out her words with a litany of no's. No no no no no...

But they couldn't blot out Max's last sentence. "Joshua was shot."