Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show Dark Angel, owned and created by James Cameron. I do, however, own any and all original characters appearing here. If you wish to use them, please ask me first.
Time Period: Before Cold Comfort, AU.
Summary: Information is shared, and trouble brews within the 'family.'
A/N: Max is not coming. No. No. No. No. She's staying at home. Takin a break from the ficcie world. This fic is Max-less. Dark Angel isn't just about Max, it's about all the characters! It's about what's happening in the world in the year 2019. Well okay, Max might be in later chapters, but at the moment she's gooone!
332340090210
by
BRIN
Why does it feel like night today?
Something in here's not right today…
Why am I so uptight today?
Paranoia's all I got left
I don't know what stressed me first
Or how the pressure was fed / but
I know just what it feels like
To have a voice in the back of my head
It's like a face that I hold inside
A face that awakes when I close my eyes
A face watches every time I lie
A face that laughs every time I fall—Linkin Park, Papercut
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Chapter 4: Hot in Herre
The X5s regrouped back at Jondy's apartment, hearts beating wildly as their veins pulsated with adrenaline from the fight. After fights, animals tend to be agitated and anxious. It was no different for the X5s, who felt like fighting each other if it would relieve their aggression, which was pestering to the point where they were almost in pain.
Ben, eyes on fire, gripped the wall to prevent himself from collapsing. "Alright… maybe we could hear that information you got?" he said slowly. "Maybe to get our minds off of… things?"
Zack glanced up with glazed eyes as if he were in a daze and replied, "Okay. Just give me a moment." He took a deep breath and let it out slowly, glancing around at his 'siblings' warily. Something was a tad bit… off; the air had shifted since they had last been here. With suspicious blue-green eyes, he studied each of his siblings carefully. There seemed to be nothing wrong, but he decided to be on his toes nonetheless…
"Alright, alright. The man I met worked for a former sponsor of Manticore. Thing is, he's one of those Manticore flubs—they killed the main man, but never got him. So he knows things… a lot of things. Jay Black's his name, and for what lacks in size and physical power he makes up with influence on the street. That guy could get a kid to shoot you in the back for free," explained the oldest X5 solemnly. "Now that we've crossed him, we're going to have to watch our backs, got it?" He looked around at them as they nodded. "Alright, what I got from him is, basically, the day-to-date routines of Manticore. He relayed to me the hiring/firing pattern they have with some of the personnel; the times of guard changes; the times of day when all X-series return from their outside missions; the—"
And here he stopped, for now he could tell that something was definitely wrong. He looked at each of his sisters. Jondy was fine. Syl was fine. Tinga was fine… but then his eyes settled upon Brin. His body reacted, fire racing through his veins as a sensual, intoxicating scent filled his being—pheromones.
"Brin," he said, looking at Jondy helplessly as he moved towards her.
Krit and Ben had noticed it too. They were clustered around the young woman, bodies half-turned towards her, eyes glazed over as if they were in a trance. Brin was staring back at them with a similarly inebriated look, her pinkish lips swollen and her cheeks flushed red. A sheen of sweated formed on her brow and, totally overcome by her instincts, the latched onto the first male she could reach—Krit.
Zack growled as a wave of territorial aggression came over him. He rushed forward and yanked Krit away from Brin, giving the younger X5 a punch on the face for good measure. Immediately, she replaced Krit with Zack—kissing, touching, gasping; her body pressed into his.
Jondy gasped, her eyes widening to the size of saucers as Zack and Brin went at it in the middle of her living room. She knew what was going on in Brin's mind, having been through it many times herself, of course. As soon as the pheromones take over, a female X5's mind turns almost totally animal. They seek out the biggest and the strongest males they can give—which drives the males to fight to prove their worth… because nothing is more enticing to a male X5. They would probably fight each other to the death if they didn't have that tiny bit of their human mind still with them. Jondy snapped out of her thoughts as Ben suddenly stepped forward and pulled Zack away from Brin with a lion-like roar that made the apartment tremble.
"Zack!" shouted Tinga, grabbed the oldest X5 as he snarled at Ben. "Zack, stop it! Syl, get Krit!"
Syl, who had already made several attempts to get Krit under control and had bruises forming on her arms and legs as a result, yelled in response, "Jondy, get Brin and Ben out of here! Now!"
Jondy nodded and ran up to Brin and Ben, who had already succeeded in getting each other's shirts off. There was no separating them now; it was way too dangerous. She pushed them into the hallway. Several other residents stuck their heads out of their apartments at the commotion, not too shocked at seeing two people nearly naked in their hallway. In fact, most of them just shrugged and went back inside. Jondy looked up and down the hallway, remembering that the apartment two doors down was empty. She somehow shoved them over to it and kicked the door open.
"IN!" she ordered firmly.
Ben, who had a bit more of his mind with him than Brin, picked her up and carried her into the room as her legs wrapped tightly around his waist. They then fell against the wall and Jondy slammed the door shut.
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Tinga was tending to a large bruise forming on her cheek from where Zack had struck her when Jondy returned. Syl had more bruises, but they were smaller and wouldn't give her a killer headache like Tinga's would in a while. Tension came off the male X5s in thick waves that could've been slashed with a knife. Jondy could still smell the pheromones still hanging in the air due to the little ventilation in her apartment, so she remained on her guard.
A loud thump was heard from the next apartment… or, more likely, the second apartment down… and they jumped. To break the silence, Zack stepped up and said, "Sorry about that, you guys… You okay, Tinga?"
"It's alright, Zack," she replied, though she looked like a wounded bird. "Nobody knew that was coming."
"While we're on the subject," interrupted Krit. "When's the last time you girls had heat? Ya know, just to be safe…" He shifted from foot to foot restively.
"A month ago," said Tinga quietly.
"Five weeks," stated Syl.
"About 9 weeks," said Jondy.
"Good, but we might wanna watch you, Jon," declared Zack, scratching the back of his neck thoughtfully.
Jondy nodded, but didn't feel good about being labeled a liability. This would cause a problem later when that inevitable situation would arise where they'd have to draw straws over something or other. She shrugged it off nonetheless and said, "Anyone hungry?"
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Time passed, almost ignored by the X5s, who had an uncannily accurate sense of time. They didn't want to think about the precious moments that were slipping away, or what would happen when their comrades finally returned. No matter how important time was, they couldn't continue without Brin and Ben. If they did, it'd only result in having to repeat themselves later—and have the risk of the other two X5s getting the less-detailed version.
Jondy had ordered some Chinese, and they sat eating it while attempting to make small talk with each other.
"So whatcha been up to lately?" Krit asked Jondy nonchalantly.
"Nothing, really. Been savin' up to move outta San Francisco… up to Seattle," she replied with a shrug. "I hear it's better there than anywhere on the West Coast, and Max is there."
Krit peeked at Zack before responding, "Yeah, I wanna go up there too. I'd give anything to see Max."
Jondy nodded, then leaned forward and whispered, "You want to call her?"
Brown eyes, mirror images of Max's, widened. "Are you serious?" he lowered his voice to below a human's range of hearing.
"I have her number."
"Well shit! Let's go for it!"
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Mumbling excuses akin to 'I need some fresh air,' Krit and Jondy exited the apartment building and traveled to the nearest pay phone—three blocks down. Krit inserted the right amount of change and Jondy dialed the number. Their hearts were pounding as the phone rang once, twice, then came, "Hello?"
"Is Max there?"
There was a hesitant pause, then, "Who's this?"
"Who's this?"
"I asked you first."
"I asked you second."
"Yeah, well you called me!"
Jondy sighed and said, "Tell her it's… Jenny." She shrugged at Krit, who frowned at the name.
"O…kay. Jenny. I'll get the suga," said the young woman.
Jondy listened intently and could make out the obvious argument being held while a hand was over the mouth piece.
"Gimme the phone, Cindy."
"Who is this Jenny girl?"
"Cindy, I don't know who Jenny is. Just lemme see the phone."
"You can see it from right here!"
"CINDY!"
There was a brief rustling of cloth as if the two women were scuffling, then a familiar voice rang in over the line. Static made her sound crackly and hoarse, but there was no mistaking that voice. "Max."
"Jondy!" Max's voice raised a few notches in surprise. "Jondy, is something wrong?"
Good ol Maxie, thought Jondy with a smile. "Hey, Max. Krit and I are just calling because we wanted to… to just talk, ya know." She paused. "So we didn't get the whole story. Why aren't you coming?"
"I'm so goddamn sorry about that, Jondy," said Max quietly. "But something came up. My friend Logan works… against the government, if you know what I mean. A sector cop beat a woman to a bloody pulp all over national television and I gotta go teach that sucker a lesson, but he's skipping town so I have to find him fast. But I swear as soon as I take care of him, I'll be down there helping you guys."
Jondy smiled. "So Logan didn't beg you to stay like Zack said?"
"No. Zack isn't too fond of Logan."
"Ah. I see… well, Krit wants to talk to you. Bye, baby sister."
"Bye, Jon."
"Love ya."
"Love ya too."
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Jondy and Krit returned to the apartment about twenty minutes later. When they entered, they found Brin wrapped in Tinga's arms and Ben sitting on the couch, staring off into space as if in a trance. Nothing needed to be said, for everyone understood the situation. Animosity and animal tendencies were not things ignored by the X-series, and their animal instincts all knew the same thing: from now on Brin belonged to Ben, and vice versa.
…then there was always that problem that Brin was most likely pregnant.
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A/N: NOT the best chapter of this story… sorry, momentary writer's block.