Disclaimer: you know how it goes, i don't own the characters that are on Dark Angel, yada yada yada
Timeline: after blah blah woof woof and goes on a complete tangent from there.
E.T.A.
*****
"Damn," Max whispered to herself as she fingered the newly ripped whole in her favorite leather jacket. The sun was just coming up as she got to the building and it had been a very long night indeed. Logan warned her not to go, and she knew she shouldn't have either, but she was itching for some action. It was that time of the year again, when her more feline aspects wanted to come out and play. What is a girl to do?
'What else were you gonna do Max?' she thought to herself as she quietly wheeled her motorcycle into the living room, 'It was either that or stay at Logan's and...' She bit her lip at the thought.
"Max." Without turning around she knew the origin of the hushed voice.
"Zack, what's going down?" Max asked, guiding her ninja further into the corner. For no apparent reason she could feel blood rushing to her skin. Something strange was in the air tonight.
"Max," his voice was right behind her now, and he had a strange tone, something more feral growled beneath. She could feel the heat radiating off her skin, overpowered only by the warmth that Zack seemed to be giving off as well. "Max...keep me away...I can't..." he turned her to face him and held her arms tight, nostrils flaring to inhale her scent. In the pit of her stomach, Max could feel a strange warmth that seemed to stem from some primal urge. He held her tighter his face only inches from her own, his breath hot on her cheek. But Logan...
"What the hell are you doing?" With a quick shove Zack was off her.
"Shit Max, get in the shower, lock the door, douse yourself, and your clothes."
"What are you talking about? What's going on?"
"Don't question my orders. Just go damn it!" Blue eyes ablaze, Zack looked like he could tear down the building with his bare hands. So Max found it in her best interests to take action first, ask questions later. Fifteen minutes later, hair, clothes and everything soaked to the bone Max cautiously stepped out of the washroom. Zack was sitting on the couch elbows on his knees, hands in his hair. "Alright you better tell me, what the fuck that was all about. You're trippin' out on me here guy."
"Pheromones," was his simple answer and with that Max understood. Throughout all these years she had experienced these "heats" and they made her damn edgy. But never had she been in the presence of another Manticore prototype, especially not a male.
"Sorry, I wasn't sure of your cycle. I wouldn't have come by if I'd known."
"Something else the Manticore brains forgot to think about, I presume?"
Zack stood up now, definitely back to his normal self. "They probably didn't consider it because, like most animals, it doesn't develop until maturity. Shit that was a strong one, I didn't hurt you did I?"
"Naw. With that girly grip of yours?" she tried to joke around to shake off that weird encounter. She had never lost control like that before, if Logan wasn't on her mind she might have...she didn't want to go there.
"Damn it, I can normally contain myself..."
Feeling uncomfortable thinking about how this night could have gone, Max cut him off, "So you get these 'heats' too then?"
"From what I gather it isn't really like that. All the time I was edgy, thinking military style is the only thing that keeps me sane sometimes. I started to notice it when I was with the other guys: Josh, Bryce, Damien ... We would just get on each others nerves, picking fights whenever we could. And then when I was around you girls, Brin, Lily, Kat ..." his voice trailed off. "That's why I'm here, Max. They got Kat. I couldn't do anything. She didn't want me to do anything."
"Kat? They got Kat? Why didn't you just tell me where they were I would have helped. How could you keep them away from me?"
"It's not that simple. She was developing the aging syndrome we saw Brin with. She chose life over freedom and it was her call. But she left me something. Something that I need your help with."
What could she say to that? Zack, needing help? Showing weakness? This must be something major, but what could possibly get Zack like this?
Without another word he stepped toward her bedroom.
"What? Should I take another shower or something?" It was futile trying to lighten the mood with Zack around, but more so today. She joked around more for her sake then anything. But what could be in her room? She was just in there. All that was different was the secured window (he obsesses) and his jacket dropped on the floor by her bed. Maybe a code card to get into Manticore. Maybe they could free Brin and Kat and maybe more genetic experiments from Lydecker's control. The plans were already constructing themselves in her brain, hundreds of possibilities, thousands of actions to take, to predict, to compensate for.
Before her thoughts could become delusions of grandeur Zack stepped back out cradling his jacket in his arms as though it might, at any moment, shatter. What Max saw far outreached anything her mind could have imagined. It was a baby. Zack was holding a baby, wrapped in his jacket. Its hair was a muddle of orange and black, like a tiger.
"Zack..." she reached to stroke the baby's cheek. Its face was that of a typical infant, yet more. It had a more feline quality to it.
"His name is Cole. He's Kat's son," he hesitated, letting Max hold the child as if he couldn't bare being anywhere near it. She took him up in her arms, a smile creeping to her face despite herself. Not only was this kid adorable, but it also gave her hope that she could one day have kids. It would be along way off, and a huge danger to her safety, but the thought of child raised with love always drifted through her mind. She would make sure that her kid grew up with the childhood that Manticore had robbed her. Her thoughts began to fill with images of her and Logan with a happy, safe, normal family and without her even knowing she began to hum a lullaby.
But Zack's voice brought her crashing back to reality, "He's my son."
Max choked on her own song. It was all she could do not to drop Cole. "Wha? Whe? How?..." She was taken so off guard she could barely spit out a proper question.
"It was about a year ago, most of you were turning about eighteen. I went to check on Kat, I was just outside her window when I couldn't control myself. I didn't know what was happening to me, and she didn't know what was happening either, but we didn't stop ourselves. We should've. When we figured out she was pregnant it was a huge risk to everyone. I told her to take care of it..."
"Abortion?" It hurt Max's newfound maternal instinct to hear him speak so casually of abortion.
He continued as though she said nothing, "...but she refused. So I refused to associate with her and risk my own safety. I guess it was curiosity that sent me back, and when I got there..." he nodded his head toward the child.
"Logan. Logan can take care of Cole. It could be the safest place for him."
"Don't you think I would have brought him there if I thought it was safe? I brought him here Max, Logan can stay out of it."
"What will I do with him?"
Zack turned away, knowing he had no answer. This was the first time ever in his life where he didn't have a plan of execution, where he couldn't predict the outcome and because of this he was lost.
Timeline: after blah blah woof woof and goes on a complete tangent from there.
E.T.A.
*****
"Damn," Max whispered to herself as she fingered the newly ripped whole in her favorite leather jacket. The sun was just coming up as she got to the building and it had been a very long night indeed. Logan warned her not to go, and she knew she shouldn't have either, but she was itching for some action. It was that time of the year again, when her more feline aspects wanted to come out and play. What is a girl to do?
'What else were you gonna do Max?' she thought to herself as she quietly wheeled her motorcycle into the living room, 'It was either that or stay at Logan's and...' She bit her lip at the thought.
"Max." Without turning around she knew the origin of the hushed voice.
"Zack, what's going down?" Max asked, guiding her ninja further into the corner. For no apparent reason she could feel blood rushing to her skin. Something strange was in the air tonight.
"Max," his voice was right behind her now, and he had a strange tone, something more feral growled beneath. She could feel the heat radiating off her skin, overpowered only by the warmth that Zack seemed to be giving off as well. "Max...keep me away...I can't..." he turned her to face him and held her arms tight, nostrils flaring to inhale her scent. In the pit of her stomach, Max could feel a strange warmth that seemed to stem from some primal urge. He held her tighter his face only inches from her own, his breath hot on her cheek. But Logan...
"What the hell are you doing?" With a quick shove Zack was off her.
"Shit Max, get in the shower, lock the door, douse yourself, and your clothes."
"What are you talking about? What's going on?"
"Don't question my orders. Just go damn it!" Blue eyes ablaze, Zack looked like he could tear down the building with his bare hands. So Max found it in her best interests to take action first, ask questions later. Fifteen minutes later, hair, clothes and everything soaked to the bone Max cautiously stepped out of the washroom. Zack was sitting on the couch elbows on his knees, hands in his hair. "Alright you better tell me, what the fuck that was all about. You're trippin' out on me here guy."
"Pheromones," was his simple answer and with that Max understood. Throughout all these years she had experienced these "heats" and they made her damn edgy. But never had she been in the presence of another Manticore prototype, especially not a male.
"Sorry, I wasn't sure of your cycle. I wouldn't have come by if I'd known."
"Something else the Manticore brains forgot to think about, I presume?"
Zack stood up now, definitely back to his normal self. "They probably didn't consider it because, like most animals, it doesn't develop until maturity. Shit that was a strong one, I didn't hurt you did I?"
"Naw. With that girly grip of yours?" she tried to joke around to shake off that weird encounter. She had never lost control like that before, if Logan wasn't on her mind she might have...she didn't want to go there.
"Damn it, I can normally contain myself..."
Feeling uncomfortable thinking about how this night could have gone, Max cut him off, "So you get these 'heats' too then?"
"From what I gather it isn't really like that. All the time I was edgy, thinking military style is the only thing that keeps me sane sometimes. I started to notice it when I was with the other guys: Josh, Bryce, Damien ... We would just get on each others nerves, picking fights whenever we could. And then when I was around you girls, Brin, Lily, Kat ..." his voice trailed off. "That's why I'm here, Max. They got Kat. I couldn't do anything. She didn't want me to do anything."
"Kat? They got Kat? Why didn't you just tell me where they were I would have helped. How could you keep them away from me?"
"It's not that simple. She was developing the aging syndrome we saw Brin with. She chose life over freedom and it was her call. But she left me something. Something that I need your help with."
What could she say to that? Zack, needing help? Showing weakness? This must be something major, but what could possibly get Zack like this?
Without another word he stepped toward her bedroom.
"What? Should I take another shower or something?" It was futile trying to lighten the mood with Zack around, but more so today. She joked around more for her sake then anything. But what could be in her room? She was just in there. All that was different was the secured window (he obsesses) and his jacket dropped on the floor by her bed. Maybe a code card to get into Manticore. Maybe they could free Brin and Kat and maybe more genetic experiments from Lydecker's control. The plans were already constructing themselves in her brain, hundreds of possibilities, thousands of actions to take, to predict, to compensate for.
Before her thoughts could become delusions of grandeur Zack stepped back out cradling his jacket in his arms as though it might, at any moment, shatter. What Max saw far outreached anything her mind could have imagined. It was a baby. Zack was holding a baby, wrapped in his jacket. Its hair was a muddle of orange and black, like a tiger.
"Zack..." she reached to stroke the baby's cheek. Its face was that of a typical infant, yet more. It had a more feline quality to it.
"His name is Cole. He's Kat's son," he hesitated, letting Max hold the child as if he couldn't bare being anywhere near it. She took him up in her arms, a smile creeping to her face despite herself. Not only was this kid adorable, but it also gave her hope that she could one day have kids. It would be along way off, and a huge danger to her safety, but the thought of child raised with love always drifted through her mind. She would make sure that her kid grew up with the childhood that Manticore had robbed her. Her thoughts began to fill with images of her and Logan with a happy, safe, normal family and without her even knowing she began to hum a lullaby.
But Zack's voice brought her crashing back to reality, "He's my son."
Max choked on her own song. It was all she could do not to drop Cole. "Wha? Whe? How?..." She was taken so off guard she could barely spit out a proper question.
"It was about a year ago, most of you were turning about eighteen. I went to check on Kat, I was just outside her window when I couldn't control myself. I didn't know what was happening to me, and she didn't know what was happening either, but we didn't stop ourselves. We should've. When we figured out she was pregnant it was a huge risk to everyone. I told her to take care of it..."
"Abortion?" It hurt Max's newfound maternal instinct to hear him speak so casually of abortion.
He continued as though she said nothing, "...but she refused. So I refused to associate with her and risk my own safety. I guess it was curiosity that sent me back, and when I got there..." he nodded his head toward the child.
"Logan. Logan can take care of Cole. It could be the safest place for him."
"Don't you think I would have brought him there if I thought it was safe? I brought him here Max, Logan can stay out of it."
"What will I do with him?"
Zack turned away, knowing he had no answer. This was the first time ever in his life where he didn't have a plan of execution, where he couldn't predict the outcome and because of this he was lost.