Disclaimer: If I owned Dark Angel, I would be swimming in Benjamins. But alas, I am a lowly ff.net writer, and I own a couple of numbers and names. Plot idea is mine, too.
****Prequel****
Vada did not like the uniform.
It was so, plaid.
But she was supposed to be here. She was on a mission.
But this time, it wasn't from Manticore. She was trying to find him. X6 528.
Naturally, she had found him annoying. But he was the key to her survival. She read it somewhere. She had found a financial source for the time being- A foster family like his, rich and basically needing someone for the debutante ball.
Sure, she was fourteen. But with her intelligence and outer appearance, nobody would doubt that she was sixteen.
And with all the confidence the best genetics had given her, Vada was still very nervous.
Word about her arrival spread through the walls of Canterbury Prep like a virus. Those exact words from the mouth of one of his jock friends told Tristan that she was back.
She hadn't exactly been in his unit. But he knew who she was. She had attitude and a cocky sort of confidence. The staff and Lydecker loved her. She was the ideal.
Until she had escaped.
She had escaped a year before he had. He had made it out when Manticore exploded. He was sure she had heard about that. But no need to explain, he knew that the Virus was back.
Tristan had done fairly well. Now he was masquerading as the blonde James Dean of Canterbury Prep, the senior. Sure, he was only sixteen. But nobody knew the difference.
He had a new last name. Tristan St. Clair. It was the first time he had ever had a last name. He belonged to the prominent St. Clairs of Hartford. He was on the track and football teams and his life was perfect.
But the Virus was back.
He had never actually worked with her, but she was gorgeous. He could tell that if she ever let her hair down and wore clothes that weren't gray (even though she looked ravishing in gray) she might actually be worth looking at. Hell, she was probably worth looking at while they were at good old Manticore. But in the field it wasn't about that. It was about destroying her.
And he supposed, now that it wasn't the field anymore, it wasn't about destroying her anymore.
Vada did a quick check in the mirror and brushed her long, straight, dark brown hair once more. She knew that 528 had none of her classes. But he did practice football after school on the team field, and she was just going to happen to be studying in the bleachers.
She didn't know 528 very well. In fact, she didn't know many X6s very well. They were taught to hate her and want to destroy her. Her only friend at Manticore had been her surrogate father, her trainer, X5 494. She heard that he was going by the name 'Alec' nowadays, and that he lived in Seattle.
But she knew what he looked like. Eyes- Blue. Sapphire blue. Hair- Golden blonde. Messy. Very messy. His brown roots showed and he was supposed to have been tan and muscular. The average American dream boy.
Average wasn't quite the word. He WAS the American dream boy.
Tucking the last strand in place, Vada was ready.
"Vada. Vada Castellanos. Sounds like some sort of movie star." Jack murmured.
"Sounds like a way to puke." Tristan replied.
"Gorgeous sophomore I just spotted. I think her name is--." Leon interjected, having just joined his two friends.
"Vada Castellanos." Tristan and Jack chorused. While Jack was enthusiastic, Tristan was sarcastic.
"I know why St. Clair isn't affected, Jack." Leon announced proudly. "Where he comes from, all the girls have personalities, they're gorgeous, smart and have great families. They're athletic and they always share your interests."
Tristan knew he was joking, but just to shut him up, Tristan told the truth. "You're right. Girls I'm used to do have great personalities, they're gorgeous, smart, athletic, and they share your interests. And you know their families well, and they wouldn't mind if you guys hooked up."
Jack and Leon's jaws dropped.
"Hey, it's the truth." Tristan said with a shrug.
"Not that! Her!" Jack exclaimed. Tristan turned around to face the bleachers.
And there she was. He had been right. She would be decent looking if she let her hair down and wore something that wasn't gray camouflage. Not only was she decent looking, she was gorgeous.
Vada giggled in spite of herself. The girls in his unit had called him unaffected. Boy, were they wrong. The strong CO that never let anything get in his way was falling for her.
So the plaid was okay.
He didn't catch up with her until the next day. She was walking towards study hall. He had that elective, too.
"Vada, eh?" Was all he had to say. She didn't even look at him.
"X5 494 used to call me that. He was my surrogate." She replied coolly.
"What brings you to Canterbury?"
"You're not that clueless." She drawled.
"No, I just didn't want to be too cocky in proclaiming that you're here because of me." He smirked at her. "Now, tell me. I never quite got a straight answer. What exactly were you designed to do?"
"Kick the asses of arrogant bastards like you." She said with a sweet smile.
"Playing hard to get, are you?" Tristan asked. "The name is Tristan St. Clair."
"Pleasure meeting you. Goodbye." She walked briskly into the library and did something she was excellent at doing. She hid.
****Six Months Later: Castellanos House: February 14th****
Vada sighed. She had been living in Hartford for a total of six months. Her 'Sweet Sixteen' party was going horribly. She had been avoiding Jackson Canterbury the XVIII fairly well, she noted.
Bam.
"Vada Castellanos. The princess of the ball." He seemed to murmur and drawl at the same time.
"Jackson Canterbury the XVIII. What a pleasure." Vada lied through her teeth. She clutched her glass, filled with a virgin martini, tightly. He inched closer, letting one of his fingers feel the skin of her bare lower arm, working it's way up to the short, fluttering sleeves of her wine-colored dress.
"The pleasure is all mine, birthday girl." He whispered. "Why don't we--."
"I need to go to the bathroom." Vada muttered. She downed her drink and handed it to him. She walked to the foyer and past the stairs to the nearest bathroom.
"Well, hello, Vada." Tristan St. Clair wore his usual smirk.
"Urgh! Not you!" Vada shouted.
"Thanks for knocking." He replied with a smile.
"This is my house, in case you haven't noticed." She replied with a scowl. Her eyes, heavily circled in Bobbi Brown and her lids were made up in a smoky fashion, narrowed. "What are you doing here?"
"Can't I wish my favorite birthday girl happy fifteenth birthday?" He asked innocently. She noticed that he was clutching a martini glass in his hand, half empty.
"It's my sixteenth birthday." She muttered through gritted teeth.
"Not according to your actual birth certificate." Tristan put his drink on the bathroom counter and shoved his hands in the pockets of his pants.
"What are you doing here? I don't buy the happy birthday crap." Vada said flatly.
"Well, since I have been annoying you for the past few months, and it is your birthday, I thought I'd give you a little gift." Tristan leaned in, and Vada shoved him away. With her strength, she managed to slam him into the wall.
"I don't think so." She muttered. "I'm leaving."
She opened the door and bumped right into Jack Canterbury. She backed into the bathroom and slammed the door.
"Alright, alright." She muttered, rolling her eyes.
"I didn't even know this house had a planetarium." Vada whispered. "Amazing to look out on something that wasn't intentionally created."
"It's even more gorgeous when you let the roof split and suddenly you're out on this great balcony." Tristan murmured, pulling her closer. "You're cold."
"No, I'm not." She replied coldly.
"Of course you're not." Tristan said sarcastically. "That's exactly why you're shivering."
"Yep."
Tristan went over to flip a switch, and silently the roof opened to reveal the stars.
"It's gorgeous." Vada whispered.
"Like you."
"Excellent maneuver."
"Always thought so myself."
"How exactly do you know this house better than I do?" Vada asked, turning around to face Tristan.
"You wander around at parties, you know? Our foster families were very close friends before you came along." Tristan whispered, pulling her even closer and his arms snaked around her waist. "It's a great place to be alone."
"And make out." Vada added dryly.
"Don't know why they call you the Virus. You seem perfectly normal for a transgenic, you know?" Tristan planted a kiss on her forehead and pulled her so close the expensive fabric of their clothing rubbed softly together.
"You haven't seen anything yet." Vada whispered into his shoulder.
"Spur of the moment idea." Tristan said after a few moments of comfortable silence.
"What?"
"We're leaving." Tristan got up.
Vada sat up. "What?"
"Simple. Grab a couple of your parents' statues and paintings and we go. Nobody notices and we're just going to be a couple of lost causes." Tristan explained, offering his hand. She didn't take it.
"Are you nuts?" Vada asked, her eyebrows arched and a frown tugging at her lips.
"No. Living here will turn us into—Well, normal people. We need somewhere urban."
"Close." Vada murmured.
"Totally hit by the Pulse." Tristan added.
"New York City." Vada looked at him and he nodded.
"My motorcycle is outside." Tristan told her.
"No BMW?" Vada's eyebrows were still arched, but now for a different reason.
"Couldn't manage it." Tristan told her.
"Eh, your persuasive skills could use a little work." Vada shrugged.
"Let me guess, you've got a pony?" Tristan drawled.
"With pink ribbons." Vada chirped.
"Why did I not figure you'd get a vintage Harley? Even after the Pulse?" Vada asked, swinging a leather-clad leg over the motorcycle.
"Because I give off the gorgeous, rich, James Dean vibes?" Tristan suggested.
"More like I figured you stole it." Vada said with a shrug.
"You got what we need?" Tristan asked.
"If there's one thing you can count on, is my willingness to make my revenge on the woman who gives me a pony with pink ribbons." Vada told him. "They're in the pack."
"Take one long look at the place, 'cause we aren't coming back." Tristan said.
Vada looked at the house that she had just ransacked. She shook her head. "Go."