Genetically Empowered Chapter 5: Ep 4 'Back to Normal', a dark angel fanfic

TITLE: Genetically Empowered (My Finale & Season 3)
EPISODE: 4 "BACK TO NORMAL"9/13/02
WRITTEN BY: Heather Ferguson (fergus80)
EMAIL: hferguso@niu.edu
WEBSITE: http://eric_greta.tripod.com (Jensen)
RATING: PG-13 (For now, will post alternate chapters if ratings change)
SUMMARY: How 'Freak Nation' and S3 should have been. M/A
SPOILERS: Everything!
DISCLAIMER: All Dark Angel characters belong to James Cameron, FOX, etc. etc. etc.
FEEDBACK: PLEASE!!! I CRAVE IT!!! It makes me want to write more.
DEDICATION: To all the Nuns at the Church of Alec, and the Blue Lady! And a special thank you to those who read, and corrected my spelling, grammar, tenses, etc. You know who you are, you wonderful nuns you. ;)
_________________________________

Original Cindy took another sip of her beer, and leaned against the table. She watched Sketchy talking on his cell phone, and writing something down on a napkin.

"Are you sure about this?" he asked into the phone, "Uh, huh… okay. Sure. I'll see what I can find out," he said shaking his head and turned off his phone.

"Who was 'dat?" Cindy asked.

"My editor. He's got a new story for me." Sketchy took a drink of his beer, and then poured himself some more.

"What is it?"

He shook his head, and let out a breath, "Some weird, ancient breeding cult or something."

Cindy sat up, her eyes wide, "You've got to talk to Max and Alec."

He swallowed, and set his mug on the table, "Are those the people that attacked Jam Pony?" OC just nodded her head. He shook his, "Maybe they'll give me a good scoop."
_________________________________

The phone rang and Normal picked it up inside his office, "Jam Pony. If you need a pick-up it will be …"

{{Mr. Ronald,}} the voice interrupted him.

Normal straightened at the sound of his name, "Yes?"

"Uh, yes… hello."

{{The station has scheduled the appearance of Reverend Terry Caldwell…}}
_________________________________

Alec sat at his desk, maps and blueprints were scattered over it, but he wasn't looking at them. He leaned his forehead against his fist, his elbow resting on the metal surface. His eyes drifted over to the wall. The dent there still visible from where he had punched it after the last heist with Max, a week ago. He closed his eyes at the thought, his jaw tightening.

He ran his hand through his hair, and sat up straight in his chair, as his mind played back that kiss. His body remembering how she felt against him, how she smelled, how she tasted. His eyes closed again, as his fists clenched and then banged on the desk as he stood up. "Get a grip on yourself!"

He started to walk back and forth in front of the desk, as he tried to stop the thoughts that were going though his head. He didn't want to do this. He didn't want to think about this, about… her. He tried to remember all the bad things… all the terrible things. The times she hit him, called him names, and treated him like shit. Which, not surprisingly, were very numerous and easy to do. But every smack, every insult, almost seemed like a joke, a game.

'I'm sorry I let you out of Manticore. I'm sorry I inflicted you on the world.' Alec's mind cringed at the memory, even as it continued to play out.

'You really think I could do it? You think I could murder someone in cold blood?'

'Yes, Alec, I think you could.' The pain those words had inflicted had hit him harder than he let her realize, harder than he even wanted to admit himself. But even though she had said that, seemed to believe it, later on… she had trusted him… trusted him with the secret she had about killing his twin.

He stopped in his pacing, both hands moving to his hair, gripping it in frustration, and then dropped his hands back at his sides. His pacing starting all over again. "You have to stop this," he told himself even though nothing inside was listening to him.
_________________________________

They designed her to be the perfect soldier--a human weapon. Then she escaped. In a future not far from now, in a broken world, she is haunted by her past. She cannot run; she must fight to discover her destiny. --- DARK ANGEL
_________________________________

Max walked over to the corner of headquarters, the little area of the room, that Joshua kept to himself. He was there, and was painting something. She smiled, glad that he had managed to find another canvas, and found time to relax and do something he loved. She walked up behind him, and watched for a minute, a smile growing on her face at seeing what he was doing. The portrait that smiled back at her, didn't surprise her at all. "Perfect," she said softly knowing that he already knew she was there.

Joshua turned to her with a smile, "You really like it?"

She nodded, "Yeah, it's great."

"Do you think she'll like it?"

Max smiled, looking back at the half finished painting, and then at Joshua, "Gem will love it."

Joshua nodded, as his brush went back to the fabric, painting the reddish curls of the baby's hair, "Littlest Fella has the biggest smile when she plays bumble bee with Joshua."

She smiled up at him, and nodded. "Yeah, that little girl loves you Big Guy." Joshua nodded with a large smile, his brush moving back for more paint. Max watched him for a few more minutes, and then looked around the room. She turned back to Joshua, not wanting to really ask, but knowing she needed too. "Hey, have you seen Alec?"

He nodded, "In his office. Been there since early morning."

She nodded, *Avoiding me,* she thought, *Just like he has been ever since…* her mind trailed off. She took a deep breath and looked at the shut door. She walked over to it, and was about ready to knock. But before her hand pounded on the door, she took a step back, sighed, and then quickly moved to her office. *No, I'm not going to do it.* She just wasn't ready to deal with it yet, she didn't want to deal with anything until she absolutely had too.
_________________________________

Alec sat back down in his chair, his hands trying to go over the blueprints once again, but his mind wouldn't let him. Why was he letting this bother him so much? Why couldn't he get her out of his head? Why did the memory of that kiss keep popping up in his head? He tried to push it away, but it kept coming. That, and other memories. Him comforting her about Ben. Him finding the runes on her arm at Crash. Taking the pictures of those runes on her. Her taking care of his bullet wound at Jam Pony. Her in his arms as she fainted there. Her scared face looking down at him, holding him as he lost consciousness from being shot again. The sounds of her cursing and then the sight of her relieved face when he woke up back in Terminal City. Her leaning back against him, watching their flag go up.

But that memory made him wince slightly, and his fist hit the table. That damn phone call. He sat back up. That was why he couldn't let this affect him. Why he couldn't let her affect him. He stood up, and took a deep breath. "Alec… 494… get a hold of yourself." His jaw muscles clenched.

His mind remembered her hands on his chest, as her dark eyes looked up at him, his head leaning down… so close… so close until the phone had rung. Of course it was Logan. Then back at headquarters, she was leaning in against him, on the couch, her hand back on his chest, her eyes looking at him… so close... until… again… Logan had come in. He clenched his fists. If he had been able to kiss her those other times… would she have reacted the same? Would she have still yelled at him?

His mind replayed the kiss in his head again. Didn't she kiss me back? Didn't she respond to it? Even if it was for a short time? His hand went out, and cleared the maps off it quickly, both hands resting on the clear tabletop. His arms, shoulders tensing, flexing in frustration. "What does it matter?" he asked himself. "You can't do this, don't even go there… it doesn't matter."

But it did matter, it did matter to him, and that was the problem… He shook his head again, turning around and leaning back against the desk. "Don't do this to yourself… don't do this to yourself… NOT again."
_________________________________

Max sat on the couch in her office, going over some of the lists that Vin had given her of the new arrivals at Terminal City. She then reached over and picked up the list of supplies that Joshua and Mole and put together, and wrote down added quantities to make up for the new arrivals. A knock at the door interrupted her, "Come in," she said lifting her head to see who it was.

She sighed when she saw that it was Luke. And he saw the disappointed look on her face. "Wasn't me you were hoping for, huh?"

He was right, but she wasn't going to admit it. Instead she just went on, "Whatcha got for me?"

"Cindy and Sketchy are on the phone for you," he said walking over to her with a cell phone.

Max quickly stood, and took it to him, mouthing her thanks, as she put the phone up to her ear. He nodded, and left the room, shutting the door behind him. "Hey," she said into the mouthpiece.

Max's smile got even bigger, "Oh, Cindy. It's so good to hear your voice."

{{What about mine Max?}} Sketchy's voice echoed in, making her grin more.

{{Shut up fool. I'm talkin' to my girl,}} a distinct slap could be heard through the phone.

Max laughed, "I missed you too Sketch."

{{Listen Boo, we have a ton to catch up on. But this ain't no girlie girl call.}}

Max instantly tensed, waiting for bad news, "What's wrong?"

{{Sketch's boss wants him to dig up info on that breeding cult deal'eo.}}

She heard Cindy's words, and her first reaction was to sigh and slump her shoulders, but then a light bulb went on in her head. A large smile starting to come across her face, as an idea was starting to form.
_________________________________

Joshua dabbed at the light pink paint, and then moved the brush to the canvas. He moved the bristles over the portrait, coloring the image of the babies dress. "Oh wow," he heard the feminine voice say behind him and he turned.

"Sonya," he said at seeing her.

She was looking over his shoulder at the painting, "It looks just like Ruby." She then turned to look up at him, "You are really good. Where did you learn how to paint? Cause I know they didn't teach that at Manticore, unless it was for a special mission."

He grinned, "Taught myself at Father's house."

"Father?" she asked slightly confused.

"Sandeman, he created us." Joshua motioned around the room, with the brush still in his hand, "All of us."

She tensed slightly, "He created Manticore?"

He could see the slight venom in her eyes, and quickly spoke to calm her, "Yes, and no. Father was good. He didn't make us for soldiers. Wanted to help. To make the perfect person. He was a scientist."

Sonya nodded her head, but her bright blue eyes showed that she didn't truly believe it. She dismissed the thought and turned back to the painting. "So, you paint portraits…"

Joshua smiled and nodded, "Paint lots of things. Landscapes. Abstract. People." She nodded as he put another stroke of color on the canvas. He then turned to her, a smile on his face. "When I'm done with this one…" he paused, slightly shy. "I could paint you."

A large smile came across her face, "I'd like that."
_________________________________

Alec was still leaning against his desk, his hand running though his hair. He took a deep breath, and turned to the maps lying on the floor. He shook his head at himself, and bent over to pick them up and put them back on the tabletop. "Okay, just push it away. And focus on the job at hand." He tensed slightly, cursing himself for using at word. "Damn it, just get the work done."

He leaned over the table, and started to map out the plan once again. This time trying to focus his entire attention on that one task. The only problem was that Manticore had easily perfected the ability to do many things at one time. And no matter how much he tried to focus on that task, the rest of his mind was still there plaguing him. His hand moved to his neck and the tense muscles there, his hand moving up and rubbing the spot behind his ear once again without him realizing it.

His head turned instantly to the couch when he heard his cell phone ring from his jacket pocket. He walked over, taking it out, and turned it on, "Hello."

His back instantly straightened almost in salute, and he cussed himself out mentally. *Like they can even see me,* he thought rolling his eyes at himself. "Yes sir?"

{{We know that 452 is still in Terminal City, that is correct, right?}}

"Yes sir."

{{Things are starting to heat up on the outside. You must watch her carefully.}}

He rolled his eyes. *Like I don't already.* But instead he just replied, "Understood."

This was new, a very new development. They had never asked anything like that before, "Yes sir."

This tore at him. Should he tell them? Tell them everything they had found out? Or just enough? "There is still a lot to go." He answered, but then tried something else. "They speak of another. Who is it?"

He could almost hear the pause on the other side of the phone, and his enhanced hearing could hear papers rustling and some typing. {{It's none of your concern for now 494.}}

Alec could feel his muscles tighten again, "The hell it isn't. Tell me what's going on."

{{494!}} The shout echoed in his ear, and a slight pain rang through his head, his jaw tensing, his hand going to the back of his head. {{If you can't handle this job, we will find someone else who can. Someone else who will not have trouble following our orders. Following 452.}}

His shoulders straightened once again, a blank expression coming across his face, "Understood."

"Yes sir."

{{Good. Keep us informed. We will be in touch.}} With that the phone went dead. His eyes closed, his hand gripped the phone tightly, the casing of it cracking slightly under the pressure. And in one swift motion her threw it against the wall, the plastic shattering, flying across the room.

"Alec?" the voice behind him made him spin around.

His eyes widened, he hadn't heard her come in, "Max…" he blinked a few times, taking a breath… "What are you doing…" He actually saw a worried look in her eyes, and it made him cringe.

"What's wrong?" She asked taking a step closer, her eyes darting over to the broken phone laying on the floor then back to him.

He shook his head, he almost wanted to laugh at the situation. "Nothing, nothing." He looked back towards her, "What did you need?"

She could tell that he was lying, that something indeed was wrong. But she could tell from his expression, and the tone of his voice that she wasn't going to get it out of him, at least not then. She wanted to push, but she wasn't going to. At least he had spoke to her, and that was at least progress. She was still upset over what happened, for many reasons she wouldn't let herself explore, but she couldn't fathom why he was. Granted, she might have over reacted to what he did, *But, doesn't he always take me bitchin' at him?* She pushed the thoughts away, and moved to the reason she was actually there. "OC and Sketchy called."

"Are they okay?" he immediately asked, concern written on his features.

She waved her hands in front of her, "No, no. Their fine." His expression immediately showed relief as she went on, "It seems Sketchy's newspaper wants him to do a story on the breeding cult."

Alec's eyes widened, "Interesting." She nodded, and he watched the smile work over her lips. His eyes moved to them, and then he turned away his hand moving back to his neck, shaking his thoughts away. But he knew exactly what that smile had meant, "And this gives us the perfect opportunity to tell everyone about White and his loons."

She couldn't exactly figure out what was wrong with him, but she knew it had something to do with her. Nodding to his back, "Yeah. Might take some of the pressure off us, knowing that there are others out there, even more dangerous."

He moved around his desk and sat down in the chair, and then looked back up at her when she leaned on the surface in front of him. "Do you really think people will believe it? I mean… News World Weekly… isn't exactly the most reliable."

"I know… but a lot of people believe it. And they were the first to actually know about all of us."

He nodded in agreement, "What did you tell him?"

She moved and sat on the desk, crossing her legs. "I haven't yet. I said I would get back to him." He leaned back in the chair, putting his feet up on the desk. "I wanted to see what you thought."

He was actually slightly shocked by this, his hand had to reach out for the desk just to make sure he didn't fall out of his chair. "Really?"

Max tried not to laugh at the look on his face. She knew she had surprised him with that, and the truth was she had surprised herself with it as well. "This doesn't just affect me. It affects everyone, and I didn't want to do something rash… like I usually do."

"You? Rash? Never," He said mocking her and she smiled.

Were things going to be back to normal between them now? She wasn't sure, but it at least looked hopeful. She honestly hated to admit that she had missed his constant talking, bickering, and annoying comments in the last week. She reached over and swatted his shoulder, and laughed at seeing him rock dangerously in the chair, "Funny."

His usual smirk went across his features, "I try." Then he turned more serious, "So what exactly are you going to tell Sketch?"

"Not everything. It should probably come out slowly. So we can see how the first bit of information is interpreted by everyone." He nodded in agreement. "Maybe the two of us can come up with some facts to give him." She looked down at the desk, and saw the blueprints. "That is, after you tell me the details of the next raid coming up."

He groaned, "How about we get this thing with Sketchy taken care of first."

She tilted her head, and looked at him, "Why?"

He sat up, "Cause… well… I don't have it planned out yet."

"What?… You… don't have it done yet?" She brought a hand to her mouth, trying to express shock. He gave her a dirty look, "So what's your excuse?"

He could have easily said a number of things that would have easily gotten him off the hook. He could have made a flippant, cocky remark, which would have had her just roll her eyes and hit him. But instead he settled for the truth, "I've had too much on my mind."

She saw the change in his eyes, and heard it in his voice. She swallowed slightly, *So I guess we aren't going to just ignore it.* She rung her hands together, looking down at them as she responded, "What have you been thinking about?"

He watched her, knowing full damn well she knew what he was talking about. "Max…"

But he wasn't able to finish the sentence as the door opened and Luke rushed in, "Guys… you have to see this. Normal… he's on TV." The two looked at each other in shock, and were on their feet in an instant rushing out the door. They quickly followed Luke and broke through the crowd that was forming around the TV. Everyone letting them get in front.
_________________________________

"These transgenics have no souls. They were created in a lab. Made with animal DNA," Reverend Caldwell said from his seat across the table from the news reporter.

Normal just shook his head from the other chair, "So what if they were made in a lab?"

"It's not natural…"

"So anyone who was born through Invitro fertilization for couples that have problems getting pregnant… they don't have souls either?"

"I'm not saying that. They are fully human. Transgenics are not. They are just soldiers, killers."

"Have you ever met one?" Normal asked the other man.

"No, and I hope I won't."

"I have. Actually several. They are as human as either one of us, maybe more so than some of us." He said looking at the Reverend. "They aren't so quickly to pass judgment on others."

The reporter turned to Normal, "Isn't it true that you actually delivered a transgenic baby?"

Normal smiled, "Yes, that's true. A beautiful baby girl. And she was born just like everyone else in this world is."

"But she is a transgenic, with two transgenic parents."

"And what difference does that make? Just because they have a few different strands of DNA than the rest of us? We all have different DNA, that's what makes all of us different."
_________________________________

Alec watched the debate with the two men, a smile growing on his face. He turned to Max, "Can you believe… that's our Normal?"

Max grinned and turned towards him, "Don't you mean, 'Your Normal' ohh Golden boy."

He rolled his eyes at her, and then motioned back at the TV. "Do you think anyone is watching this, or listening to him?"

She shrugged, "I hope so. I really hope so."
_________________________________

"Do you like it?" Joshua asked. The smile on his face was hard not to notice.

Gem just looked in shock at the painting that Josh had brought to her. She looked down at the baby in her arms, then back at the portrait, "Joshua… it's … it's… it looks just like her." He leaned it against the wall of her small apartment. "It's for me?"

He nodded enthusiastically, "You and Ruby."

She moved over to the small crib and put the baby down into it. Then she walked over to him and gave him a big hug. "Thank you."

They then walked back over to the crib, and he leaned down, patting Ruby on the back gently. He then looked back to Gem, "So how is the mess hall going?"

She nodded, "Good. Really good. We have more than enough helpers, and Sonya is great at organizing everyone. She's also a good cook."

He nodded at her, "I told her I would paint her picture."

Gem tilted her head to the side, and looked at him, a small smile forming on her lips. "That's nice of you. What did she say?"

Joshua smiled, "She said she would like it." Gem nodded, and watched him. She could tell he wanted to ask something, and she waited for him too. "What do you think of her?"

She smiled, "She's very nice." He nodded quickly. Gem smiled bigger and added, "And she has very pretty blue eyes." She watched Joshua look at her quickly, and she swore she could see a small blush creep across his cheeks.
_________________________________

Max sat on the couch in her office, News World Weekly in her hands. Her eyes reading Sketchy's article. Her and Alec had given him some of the information they knew for the story a few days earlier. She just couldn't wait for the reaction. She looked up at the knock on the door, "Come in."

"Hey," Alec said as he walked in.

"Hey," she replied.

He pointed at the paper, as he walked over. "I see you got your copy." She nodded as he sat down on the other side of the couch.

"He did a really good job. I wish I was a fly on the wall in White's office when he sees this."

Alec laughed, and agreed. He sighed slightly, "I have some guys out, keeping an eye of Sketchy for the next few days. Just to make sure…"

She nodded, that was a good idea. Even though they had been careful and had Sketchy use an alias for this particular news story. They knew that White had ways of finding things out. They had also warned him of the possible dangers, but being the good friend, and the good reporter that he was, he had to remind them, he had to do the story.

Max put the paper down and looked over at him, and finally decided to say something, "Alec…"

He turned towards her, "Yeah?"

She took a breath, "I'm sorry."

He blinked slightly, a confused look on his face. "What for?" He couldn't figure out exactly why she said it, heck, she never said it to him.

"About…" She shook her head, *Why am I bringing this up? I should have just let it go, we were back to normal… well... sort of.* "I over-reacted, to everything. Before and afterwards." He gave her another confused look, and she realized he had no idea what the hell she was talking about. "The heist."

Those two words brought everything to clarity for him. She was actually apologizing to him, for that? He looked at her, studying her, and tried to figure out why.

"What?" she asked after a minute. He hadn't said anything, he was just looking at her, and it unnerved her.

"Just trying to figure out why."

She groaned and leaned back against the couch, "Do I have to say why? Can't you just take an I'm sorry and that be good enough?"

He knew that he should, heck, that in its self was huge, but he had to know, "No, it's not."

She sighed and moved her hand over her eyes, she was definitely not going to look at him while she said it. "Because looking back at it. I know you were just there trying to help me, help everyone. And… I know you only … did that… because you didn't know what else to do." She then looked back at him, "So… are we back to normal now?"

He looked at her and nodded, "Yeah Maxie, we're fine."

She smiled at him, and stood up, "Good. I need to go meet Mel with some issues with medical supplies, I'll see ya later." He nodded again and watched her walk out of the room.

He leaned over, putting his elbows on his knees, and rested his face in his hands. *Back to normal…* he thought. *That's where I want to be right?* he asked himself. *No, but that's where I HAVE to be.* He ran his hands back though his hair, knowing the horrible predicament he had gotten himself into. *Again.* He shook his head as he stood up, *Why do I always do this to myself? Falling for the ones I can't have… the ones I shouldn't have.* He almost wanted to laugh again, *I've always been too committed to my job… Always give it my all… * then he continued out loud, "But why do I always have to fuckin' fall in love with it?"
_________________________________
Scenes from an All New DA on 9/20/02:

*ON THE NEXT DARK ANGEL*
The clerk's eyes widened at seeing the barcode on the back of the teens neck.
ALL IT TAKES
{{ Another robbery by the group of transgenics, just minutes ago,}} the television reporter announced.
IS ONE BAD APPLE
"They sent three of the customers to the hospital," Mole said.
TO SPOIL THE BUNCH
"Well Otto, I just got the military under my control. It's time for a little payback," smiled White.