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 25: Sasha (X5-121)

I stepped out of the locker room and put my towel down and jumped in the water. I'm lucky enough to spend a full hour making sure that I don't forget how to do something that I've been told that I'd learned to do when I was a year old. It's not that I mind swimming that much—when the occasion dictates that it's necessary, that is. But I guess that it is necessary now. Gotta love this feline DNA, huh?

"Are you going to do laps or are you going to just float all afternoon?" a male voice said teasingly. I turned my head and grinned when I saw Kenny standing on the side of the pool.

"I don't know, I haven't decided yet," I said.

"Need help?" Kenny said.

"987! Your schedule says an hour in the aquatic center, not talking to girls," the trainer nearby snapped.

"Sorry, ma'am," Kenny apologized. He jumped into the water next to me and we began to swim laps alongside each other. "Lucky you, you'll be away from her tomorrow morning."

I nodded and tried to ignore the weird feeling in my stomach. "Yeah, but they're a dime a dozen. There's plenty of trainers just like that old hag in Seattle." I concentrated on my laps for a few moments. "The trainer that I probably like the least, though, is this one nimrod Johnson. He's so damn sadistic that it's scary. I think he's at the bottom of everybody's list."

"Except for 786's list?" Kenny asked.

If there weren't trainers around, I would have laughed. "You read my mind. No, I'm pretty sure that he's her least favorite trainer as well. That's one of the few good things about 786. She is perfectly capable of making sure her sleeping around doesn't interfere with her day-to-day activities."

"I'm almost glad that I'm back to my normal day-to-day activities," Kenny remarked. We finished another lap and paused at the end of the pool to catch our breath. "Don't get me wrong, I really am happy that we managed to get at least 941 and 111 away from those bastards relatively unscathed and we took those jerks out, but…"

I gave Kenny a smile. I knew what he'd meant. "Sometimes, you have to grit your teeth and hang on and hope for the best. That's how I usually get through a day back at my lovely home." I shrugged. "I'm as thrilled about everything as you are. You know that. There are days occasionally still that all I have to get me through a day with my sanity still intact are Alec and Biggs. They've been my best friends and my brothers since we were babies. And my other friends, too. I'm friends with two X5s from Unit 4 back home. I think you'd like 849 and 228. They're pretty cool."

"I know how you feel," Kenny said. "Thank goodness for my family." We pushed off from the side of the pool and began to swim more laps. "We've had good times with each other and hopefully we'll have many, many more. Did I ever tell you about the time when Wayne, Krit, and Zane tried to blindfold Zack and tie his hands behind his back when he was sleeping early one morning back in September of '08? They damn near got it and I think they would have if Krit hadn't sneezed and woken Zack up." He grinned. "Do not fret, because they made a second attempt at it a year later and they succeeded that time."

"And Zack didn't kill them?" I said incredulously.

"Well, big brother claims to be above and beyond getting revenge on somebody," Kenny said. "Though the trainer for our martial arts lesson later that day really commended Zack for being on point when he'd had to spar against those three." He smiled. "As much as I rag on Zack, I wouldn't know what to do without him. He's my brother, you know?"

"Yeah," I said. "Tell me another story. Something is telling me that you've got some great ones."

"For the beautiful lady, I'd do anything," Kenny said, dropping his voice enough to the point where it sent thrills through me from head to toe. Focus on the swimming, Sasha. Don't focus as much on that sexy voice. "I remember when I had gotten back from my first solo mission almost five years ago, my brothers minus Zack, of course, and Parker who was off on a mission himself but with Brin, decided to welcome me back in their own special way. What sucked for them, however, was the fact that I was inadvertently tipped off to them when I heard Ben and Jack talking about it from one hallway as I was passing though another on my way to my debriefing. They were going to rig something in my bunk that when activated…okay, you probably don't want all of the details but they were going to rig it up at a certain time so it would be ready for me when I would go to bed. Well, I managed to get back to the barracks after they had done the set up, disassembled it, and then re-assembled it back in Zane's bunk since it had apparently been his idea." He winced. "It sort-of backfired on me, though. Once the guards were out of earshot and after he'd gone into the showers to clean up, Zane decided to show me and the rest of us that the dye hadn't completely washed off of his ass."

My eyes widened and I had to stop swimming and I quickly put my hand over my mouth to muffle my laughter. "You're kidding me. He actually mooned you?"

"He did," Kenny said, disgusted. "He told me later that it took another couple of days before the dye completely came off." He shrugged. "Who am I kidding? I would have done the exact same thing if I'd not heard Ben and Jack in the hallway."

"You guys sound like you're too much," I said. "I shudder to think what would have happened if Alec and Biggs would have grown up with you. They get along well enough with all of you as it is."

"It's something to think about," Kenny agreed. We swam to the edge of the pool and pulled ourselves up and out of it. He and I walked over to a bench and sat down and observed the other transgenics that were swimming in the three Olympic-sized pools in the aquatic center. "Look at those X9s doing baby training swimming over there. It's almost scary. Not even two years old and they're already doing the freestyle stroke better than most average people. Something about that doesn't seem quite right." He shook his head. "It's hard to believe that was once us."

"We've grown up, haven't we?" I agreed.

Kenny turned his head and looked me up and down. "We sure have." I blushed. Damn, that voice of his! I glanced at him and found myself looking at him in a similar manner. He might be wearing one of those high-performance swimsuits that pretty much covered everything, but it was practically painted on him, so it still left very little to the imagination. I could see nearly every well-defined muscle—not too defined, but just perfect—and I could also see—

"987 and 121, are the two of you going to sit around all day or are you going to be getting back to work?" that same damn trainer yelled at us.

Kenny and I quickly got up from the bench and saluted her. "Sorry, ma'am," I apologized. We jumped back into the water and swam to one end of the pool. "How about we race each other this time? Four laps, two hundred meters."

"You're on," Kenny said. We raced each other several times for the rest of our time in the aquatic center. I actually beat him more than he did me. When we were done, we got out of the pool and got showered and changed in our respective locker rooms before we left. "Our units have got E&E next together."

"Who's on defense and who's on offense?" I asked. "I didn't get a chance to ask Alec earlier."

"You guys are running and we're catching," Kenny said. "We need to be at Yard B fifteen minutes after you guys are supposed to report there." We stopped suddenly when we heard a commotion from farther up the hall. A few moments later, two guards marched down the hall. Immediately behind them were two more guards roughly holding a handcuffed, struggling, and obviously pissed male X5 down the hall. I frowned, not at the language that the guy was using because I'd heard crap as bad from both 237 and 908 when they'd go off, but at his unfamiliarity.

"Kenny?" I asked quietly enough so that the other X5 couldn't hear me.

"311, the last of the rogues," Kenny replied just as quietly. We watched as the guards escorted the guy into the nearby office of Colonel Lydecker. Three of them went inside while one remained outside the door. Kenny made a quick motion to me and we marched up to the guard and saluted him. "What is the situation, sir?"

"Brought back the last of those idiot rogues," the guard replied. "Why?"

"I would like to report it to the squad leader, 599," Kenny replied. "He is my unit C.O. as well and I'll be seeing him shortly."

The guard nodded. "311 was caught on camera yesterday when he was robbing the mansion of one of this place's suppliers. Out the longest of any of the three rogues and this is how he gets caught. What a moron."

"The fact that he's missed nine years of training sure shows, doesn't it?" Kenny said, obviously pretending to agree with the guy. "Thank you for the update, sir. Do you require any assistance?"

"Nah, Colonel Lydecker should be able to scare the piss out of the soldier," the guard said. He nodded to Kenny and me and we saluted him and continued on our way.

"He sure was a lot more combative than when we brought 836 in," Kenny said. "Oh, she was definitely angry about being caught and taken back but she also didn't put up as much of a fight as 311 is doing. Odd."

"Go figure that one out," I said. I smiled at Kenny. "I'll pass the info onto Alec and Biggs and I guess I'll see you after E&E."

"Looking forward to it, babe," Kenny said. I blushed, but kept the smile on my face as I practically glided down the hall. There's that thrill again, but I definitely didn't mind it.

TBC

Notes: I think I mentioned this before, but I'll mention it again to be on the safe side. Even though the characters are the same in this AU as in the "Together" AU, some of the pairings for this fic will be different than in the other AU.