Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel, and I don't mean to violate any copyright stuff. This fiction
does not gain me any profit.
Okay. First of all, I realize now that I was writing mottos for "Salsa Fever," AKA "What A
Day!" currently known as "Break Stuff." But they're fun, and I figure, what the hell, might as
well write them for this story as well.
Second, did my last chapter suck or something? Or is nobody interested in this story anymore?
Should I even be bothering? After finally updating, I got zero reviews last chapter. Are you guys
mad at me for taking so long to update? Or do you just not care? Or are the A/A shippers
disappointed that in the last chapter I didn't focus all that much on Alec and Asha's relationship?
'Cause what's going on with the new characters is very important to the A/A, and provides an
actual plot. A good story needs a bit of a plot. I'm sad now. There's absolutely zero interest in
MY original characters. :( Or my story. But I'm gonna keep writing, for me at least. Please,
people, if you're reading my story, TELL me what you think of it, otherwise I don't even know
you're reading it. And that pretty much takes away the entire point. The point of posting stories
on the net is for people to read them.
Today's Motto: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It's pointless to write one. Nobody's gonna read it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as the word was out of Alec's mouth, 397 charged at him.
Alec ducked right under him and flipped him over his back. 397 twisted in mid-air and grabbed
Alec under the shoulders. As 397 fell to the ground, he used the momentum to flip Alec as well.
Alec grunted as he smacked into the ground, and leapt to his feet to meet 397's renewed attack.
397 tried to punch Alec in the face, but Alec blocked and threw a punch back, hitting him square
in the face. 397's head snapped back painfully. Before he had a chance to regain his balance,
Alec hit 397 again. 397 nearly fell over from the force of the blow.
397 retaliated by leaning forward and charging at Alec, much as he had when they were twelve.
Only this time, Alec couldn't get out of the way in time, and 397 tackled him to the ground. He
pinned Alec down and punched him in the face, over and over.
Alec went slack underneath 397. 397 stopped, thinking he had knocked Alec unconscious. Alec
used his momentary lapse to flip him off. Alec jumped to his feet, and faced 397 with a cold
glare. "What the hell is the matter with you?" he asked.
"Nothing. Not anymore," 397 replied, and twisted sideways, attempting to kick Alec in the side
of the head. Alec grabbed his foot just before it hit and shoved 397 onto his back. Alec walked
up to 397 to kick him, but 397 swung his feet out, knocking Alec's out from under him. Alec
cracked his head off of the pavement.
"I thought you were better than this, 494," 397 said, rising to his feet. "Are you out of practice,
or are you still holding back?" 397 kicked Alec in the ribs. "I told you not to hold back!" he
roared. He kicked Alec again. He leaned forward and looked Alec in the eye. "And I also told
you what would happen if you did." He kicked Alec in the head and stepped toward Asha.
Alec turned his head toward 397, his vision swimming. He saw 397 preparing to kick his
girlfriend, and he filled with anger. "No!" he yelled, leaping to his feet, and blurring over to 397.
He grabbed the man viciously by his shoulders and tore him away from Asha, throwing him hard
into the wall behind him.
397 smacked into the wall, his head bouncing off the bricks, and fell to the ground, not moving.
Alec's eyes widened at seeing his fellow X5's motionless form. "No," he whispered hoarsely,
staring at him, frozen in place.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Flashback
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Don't hold back!" screamed X5-413 as he fought with X5-494 in the woods. "I'm NOT weak!
I can't be weak!"
X5-494 punched him in the face, almost knocking him to the ground as the rest of the unit
watched, faces emotionless. "Shut up!" 494 yelled back.
"Don't hold back and I will!" 413 spat at him, blood spraying from his mouth. "I can take it!
Don't let your emotions hold you back!"
"Emotions are a weakness!" X5-240 pitched in from the sidelines, where he stood watching, with
most of the other members of the unit.
"DON'T HOLD BACK!" 413 screamed.
"SHUT UP!" 494 screamed back.
"DON'T! HOLD! BACK!"
494 let out a feral roar of anger and planted both hands, palms flat, on 413's chest. 413 flew
through the air and smashed into a tree ten feet away, with an audible crack. He fell to the
ground, and didn't move again.
494 stared at him, eyes wide with surprise and fear. "No," he rasped, voice hoarse at the sight of
blood pouring from the back of 413's head.
X5-240 crept silently to 413's still form, and crouched down to check for a pulse. "He's dead,"
he whispered.
X5-494's knees gave out from under him, and he collapsed to the ground, taking short and
shallow breaths.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
End flashback
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Alec moved slowly and stiffly towards 397. He crouched down next to him, and felt for a pulse.
Alec sighed with relief. He felt one, and it was steady and healthy.
Alec collapsed on the ground next to 397. Suddenly, and without warning, 397 reared up and
shot out his hand, grabbing Alec by the throat and squeezing.
***
"So, you here alone?" Max asked Lynn.
"Nah," Lynn replied, "I got Ronan with me." At Max's questioning look, she elaborated, "397."
"Ah," Max said. "Someone else new."
"You?" Lynn asked.
"Well, you met OC and Sketchy, they're only human, but there is . . . Oh!" Max sat up suddenly.
"You'll probably want to see him, he was in your unit!"
"Huh? Who?" Lynn asked.
"Alec. Uh 494, but he just left a few minutes ago."
Lynn's eyes widened nearly to the point of popping out of her head. Ronan hadn't come back
yet. . . . "494? Where'd he go? Where?" she demanded forcefully.
"Uh, out the back way with his girlfriend," Max replied, features clouded with confusion.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Lynn said. She jumped to her feet, grabbing Max by the arm. "We gotta go!
Come on!" She dragged Max out of her seat and towards the back door. "Hurry!"
"What the hell is going on?" Max asked as she was dragged away.
***
397 rose to his feet, lifting Alec with him, by the neck. "Don't think it's that easy, 494," he
snarled.
Alec struggled as 397 lifted him right off of his feet, squeezing his throat more tightly. He tried in
vain to pry 397's hands away from himself.
397 slammed him into the wall, pinning him there.
Alec barely heard Asha's faint groan as she came to.
"You're not gonna win this time," 397 informed Alec. "It's my turn, after all these years."
With a loud bang, the back door to Crash slammed open. "Ronan!" Lynn yelled frantically. "Let
him go!"
Max appeared right behind her. "Alec!" she yelled, and pushed past Lynn, blurring to Ronan and
pulling him away from Alec. Alec collapsed to the ground, taking in giant gulps of air. Ronan hit
the wall behind himself and glared at him and Max in turn.
Asha slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, and took in the scene around her. Ronan, who
she had never seen before in her life, leaning haphazardly against the wall, Lynn, who she had also
never seen before, holding him there, Max crouching at Alec's side, and Alec himself, sitting on
the ground, quickly developing an ugly bruise on his neck. "Unh . . . what the hell?"
"What the hell is wrong with you, dammit!" Lynn yelled at Ronan.
Max whipped her head around to hear his reply, as Alec fought the urge to cough, so he could
hear as well.
"He's what's wrong!" Ronan yelled, pointing at Alec. "He always held back, like he thought he
was better than the rest of us! I don't need his goddamn charity! I can beat him just fine on my
own!"
"You deranged psycho!" Max hissed at him.
"Shut up!" Lynn yelled at her. "You don't even know him!"
"I'm not weak!" Ronan yelled at Alec.
"We get it!" Lynn shot at him. "Grow a brain and realize that!"
"Everyone shut up!" Alec roared. Then, more quietly, he said, "You don't even know why I did
it."
"No, and frankly, I don't care!" Ronan said.
"Because you weren't there!" Alec screamed. "You don't even know! She was there," he said,
gesturing to Lynn. "Why don't you tell him?" he asked her. "Why don't you tell him about that
field mission? You know, where 397 got *shot*, and 545 had to bring him back to base. We had
to search and destroy ten ordinaries. 413 got caught by surprise when he was killing one of them.
He almost got killed, but I was his partner, so I took out the guy. And when we met back up with
the others, 413 was scared shitless that he was weak and was gonna get thrown in Psy. Ops. He
asked me to fight him to make sure he wasn't weak. I didn't want to do it, because I knew I was
stronger than he was. But he wouldn't let up, and he forced me to fight. And he screamed at me
not to hold back. He needed to know he could take it. And he screamed it and screamed it and
screamed it. I didn't want to hurt him! I told him to shut up, but he just kept screaming that he
could take it, and everyone else just watched, telling me not to hold back. They said my emotions
were getting in the way. Emotions are a weakness! Don't hold back! He just wouldn't shut up."
Alec paused, breathing heavily, tears streaming down his face. Everyone stared at him. "He told
me not to hold back, and he wouldn't shut up, and I just . . . I just hit him." Alec rubbed at his
eyes. "And he smashed his damn skull against the tree. And he didn't move. I . . . I killed him. I
lost my control and I killed him!" Alec punched the ground.
"We couldn't exactly tell everybody back at Manticore what had really happened, they would've .
. . they would've . . . I don't know, but it wouldn't have been good. So we told everyone,
including you, that the guy snuck up on me, and 413 saved me, jumping on his back. And we said
the guy rammed him into a tree and cracked his skull, and then that I killed the guy. They still
thought there was something wrong with me, that I was weak, so they sent me to medical for
testing and then to solitary for two damn weeks! Do you remember that part, 397?"
Ronan nodded, but said nothing. "And do you remember when I got back? How I wouldn't let
anyone go near me, and everyone was happy to oblige? Why don't you tell him why, 628? Tell
him why none of you could even bring yourselves to look at me!" Alec yelled at her.
"You . . . you wanted to be left alone . . ." Ronan said, almost pleading with Alec to tell him just
that.
"Tell him!" Alec screamed.
Lynn stared at him, mouth opening and closing, trying to form words and fighting back tears.
"TELL HIM DAMMIT!"
"We were afraid!" Lynn screamed, snapping. "You had killed him without even trying, and we
were afraid we'd be next!"
"I held back, because I didn't want to hurt you," Alec said quietly, voice hoarse, cheeks wet with
tears.
"But- but you still beat us . . ." Ronan said, sounding like a little lost child.
"I held back just enough so I wouldn't hurt you, you wouldn't look too bad, and I wouldn't get
sent back to medical for testing for being weak." Alec looked to all the world like he was broken.
"494, I-" Ronan began.
"Don't," Alec said. "Don't even."
"Alec?" Asha whispered tentatively, rising to her feet and stepping slowly toward him, swaying
slightly, still a little disoriented.
Alec's head shot upward and he looked at her. He studied her face, seeing the large bruise
forming around her eye. Alec chuckled bitterly. "What did I tell you. Being around me only gets
people hurt." He glanced over at Ronan.
"Alec, that's not true, just-"
"No, Asha. Look at yourself! You can barely stand up without falling over! Stay away from me.
For your own good." Alec stood up and walked away from the group, limping a little.
"Alec!" Asha called after him.
"Alec, wait!" Max said, jogging after him as he rounded the corner. When she turned it, he was
gone.
Ronan turned toward Lynn. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked quietly, sounding betrayed.
"You're kidding, right?" Lynn asked. "You were *always* trying to upstage 494. You always
thought that no matter what he did, you could do better. When we got out, you were obsessed
with finding him so you could beat him in a fight. If we told you the truth, you'd probably freak
out, blaming him and saying he couldn't beat you, and you'd try to fight him!"
"Well, you got what you came for," Asha sneered at Ronan.
"I- I didn't mean-"
"Let me get this straight," Max cut in. "He held back when you two fought, and he still beat you,
and you get mad at him for holding back at all? What are you, suicidal?"
"I-"
"I'd tell you to go to hell, but I burned it down," Max said. "Come on, Asha, I'll take you home."
Max stormed away with Asha in tow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please, if you're reading this, let me know what you think.
does not gain me any profit.
Okay. First of all, I realize now that I was writing mottos for "Salsa Fever," AKA "What A
Day!" currently known as "Break Stuff." But they're fun, and I figure, what the hell, might as
well write them for this story as well.
Second, did my last chapter suck or something? Or is nobody interested in this story anymore?
Should I even be bothering? After finally updating, I got zero reviews last chapter. Are you guys
mad at me for taking so long to update? Or do you just not care? Or are the A/A shippers
disappointed that in the last chapter I didn't focus all that much on Alec and Asha's relationship?
'Cause what's going on with the new characters is very important to the A/A, and provides an
actual plot. A good story needs a bit of a plot. I'm sad now. There's absolutely zero interest in
MY original characters. :( Or my story. But I'm gonna keep writing, for me at least. Please,
people, if you're reading my story, TELL me what you think of it, otherwise I don't even know
you're reading it. And that pretty much takes away the entire point. The point of posting stories
on the net is for people to read them.
Today's Motto: . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
It's pointless to write one. Nobody's gonna read it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
As soon as the word was out of Alec's mouth, 397 charged at him.
Alec ducked right under him and flipped him over his back. 397 twisted in mid-air and grabbed
Alec under the shoulders. As 397 fell to the ground, he used the momentum to flip Alec as well.
Alec grunted as he smacked into the ground, and leapt to his feet to meet 397's renewed attack.
397 tried to punch Alec in the face, but Alec blocked and threw a punch back, hitting him square
in the face. 397's head snapped back painfully. Before he had a chance to regain his balance,
Alec hit 397 again. 397 nearly fell over from the force of the blow.
397 retaliated by leaning forward and charging at Alec, much as he had when they were twelve.
Only this time, Alec couldn't get out of the way in time, and 397 tackled him to the ground. He
pinned Alec down and punched him in the face, over and over.
Alec went slack underneath 397. 397 stopped, thinking he had knocked Alec unconscious. Alec
used his momentary lapse to flip him off. Alec jumped to his feet, and faced 397 with a cold
glare. "What the hell is the matter with you?" he asked.
"Nothing. Not anymore," 397 replied, and twisted sideways, attempting to kick Alec in the side
of the head. Alec grabbed his foot just before it hit and shoved 397 onto his back. Alec walked
up to 397 to kick him, but 397 swung his feet out, knocking Alec's out from under him. Alec
cracked his head off of the pavement.
"I thought you were better than this, 494," 397 said, rising to his feet. "Are you out of practice,
or are you still holding back?" 397 kicked Alec in the ribs. "I told you not to hold back!" he
roared. He kicked Alec again. He leaned forward and looked Alec in the eye. "And I also told
you what would happen if you did." He kicked Alec in the head and stepped toward Asha.
Alec turned his head toward 397, his vision swimming. He saw 397 preparing to kick his
girlfriend, and he filled with anger. "No!" he yelled, leaping to his feet, and blurring over to 397.
He grabbed the man viciously by his shoulders and tore him away from Asha, throwing him hard
into the wall behind him.
397 smacked into the wall, his head bouncing off the bricks, and fell to the ground, not moving.
Alec's eyes widened at seeing his fellow X5's motionless form. "No," he whispered hoarsely,
staring at him, frozen in place.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Flashback
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
"Don't hold back!" screamed X5-413 as he fought with X5-494 in the woods. "I'm NOT weak!
I can't be weak!"
X5-494 punched him in the face, almost knocking him to the ground as the rest of the unit
watched, faces emotionless. "Shut up!" 494 yelled back.
"Don't hold back and I will!" 413 spat at him, blood spraying from his mouth. "I can take it!
Don't let your emotions hold you back!"
"Emotions are a weakness!" X5-240 pitched in from the sidelines, where he stood watching, with
most of the other members of the unit.
"DON'T HOLD BACK!" 413 screamed.
"SHUT UP!" 494 screamed back.
"DON'T! HOLD! BACK!"
494 let out a feral roar of anger and planted both hands, palms flat, on 413's chest. 413 flew
through the air and smashed into a tree ten feet away, with an audible crack. He fell to the
ground, and didn't move again.
494 stared at him, eyes wide with surprise and fear. "No," he rasped, voice hoarse at the sight of
blood pouring from the back of 413's head.
X5-240 crept silently to 413's still form, and crouched down to check for a pulse. "He's dead,"
he whispered.
X5-494's knees gave out from under him, and he collapsed to the ground, taking short and
shallow breaths.
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
End flashback
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Alec moved slowly and stiffly towards 397. He crouched down next to him, and felt for a pulse.
Alec sighed with relief. He felt one, and it was steady and healthy.
Alec collapsed on the ground next to 397. Suddenly, and without warning, 397 reared up and
shot out his hand, grabbing Alec by the throat and squeezing.
***
"So, you here alone?" Max asked Lynn.
"Nah," Lynn replied, "I got Ronan with me." At Max's questioning look, she elaborated, "397."
"Ah," Max said. "Someone else new."
"You?" Lynn asked.
"Well, you met OC and Sketchy, they're only human, but there is . . . Oh!" Max sat up suddenly.
"You'll probably want to see him, he was in your unit!"
"Huh? Who?" Lynn asked.
"Alec. Uh 494, but he just left a few minutes ago."
Lynn's eyes widened nearly to the point of popping out of her head. Ronan hadn't come back
yet. . . . "494? Where'd he go? Where?" she demanded forcefully.
"Uh, out the back way with his girlfriend," Max replied, features clouded with confusion.
"Shit, shit, shit!" Lynn said. She jumped to her feet, grabbing Max by the arm. "We gotta go!
Come on!" She dragged Max out of her seat and towards the back door. "Hurry!"
"What the hell is going on?" Max asked as she was dragged away.
***
397 rose to his feet, lifting Alec with him, by the neck. "Don't think it's that easy, 494," he
snarled.
Alec struggled as 397 lifted him right off of his feet, squeezing his throat more tightly. He tried in
vain to pry 397's hands away from himself.
397 slammed him into the wall, pinning him there.
Alec barely heard Asha's faint groan as she came to.
"You're not gonna win this time," 397 informed Alec. "It's my turn, after all these years."
With a loud bang, the back door to Crash slammed open. "Ronan!" Lynn yelled frantically. "Let
him go!"
Max appeared right behind her. "Alec!" she yelled, and pushed past Lynn, blurring to Ronan and
pulling him away from Alec. Alec collapsed to the ground, taking in giant gulps of air. Ronan hit
the wall behind himself and glared at him and Max in turn.
Asha slowly pushed herself into a sitting position, and took in the scene around her. Ronan, who
she had never seen before in her life, leaning haphazardly against the wall, Lynn, who she had also
never seen before, holding him there, Max crouching at Alec's side, and Alec himself, sitting on
the ground, quickly developing an ugly bruise on his neck. "Unh . . . what the hell?"
"What the hell is wrong with you, dammit!" Lynn yelled at Ronan.
Max whipped her head around to hear his reply, as Alec fought the urge to cough, so he could
hear as well.
"He's what's wrong!" Ronan yelled, pointing at Alec. "He always held back, like he thought he
was better than the rest of us! I don't need his goddamn charity! I can beat him just fine on my
own!"
"You deranged psycho!" Max hissed at him.
"Shut up!" Lynn yelled at her. "You don't even know him!"
"I'm not weak!" Ronan yelled at Alec.
"We get it!" Lynn shot at him. "Grow a brain and realize that!"
"Everyone shut up!" Alec roared. Then, more quietly, he said, "You don't even know why I did
it."
"No, and frankly, I don't care!" Ronan said.
"Because you weren't there!" Alec screamed. "You don't even know! She was there," he said,
gesturing to Lynn. "Why don't you tell him?" he asked her. "Why don't you tell him about that
field mission? You know, where 397 got *shot*, and 545 had to bring him back to base. We had
to search and destroy ten ordinaries. 413 got caught by surprise when he was killing one of them.
He almost got killed, but I was his partner, so I took out the guy. And when we met back up with
the others, 413 was scared shitless that he was weak and was gonna get thrown in Psy. Ops. He
asked me to fight him to make sure he wasn't weak. I didn't want to do it, because I knew I was
stronger than he was. But he wouldn't let up, and he forced me to fight. And he screamed at me
not to hold back. He needed to know he could take it. And he screamed it and screamed it and
screamed it. I didn't want to hurt him! I told him to shut up, but he just kept screaming that he
could take it, and everyone else just watched, telling me not to hold back. They said my emotions
were getting in the way. Emotions are a weakness! Don't hold back! He just wouldn't shut up."
Alec paused, breathing heavily, tears streaming down his face. Everyone stared at him. "He told
me not to hold back, and he wouldn't shut up, and I just . . . I just hit him." Alec rubbed at his
eyes. "And he smashed his damn skull against the tree. And he didn't move. I . . . I killed him. I
lost my control and I killed him!" Alec punched the ground.
"We couldn't exactly tell everybody back at Manticore what had really happened, they would've .
. . they would've . . . I don't know, but it wouldn't have been good. So we told everyone,
including you, that the guy snuck up on me, and 413 saved me, jumping on his back. And we said
the guy rammed him into a tree and cracked his skull, and then that I killed the guy. They still
thought there was something wrong with me, that I was weak, so they sent me to medical for
testing and then to solitary for two damn weeks! Do you remember that part, 397?"
Ronan nodded, but said nothing. "And do you remember when I got back? How I wouldn't let
anyone go near me, and everyone was happy to oblige? Why don't you tell him why, 628? Tell
him why none of you could even bring yourselves to look at me!" Alec yelled at her.
"You . . . you wanted to be left alone . . ." Ronan said, almost pleading with Alec to tell him just
that.
"Tell him!" Alec screamed.
Lynn stared at him, mouth opening and closing, trying to form words and fighting back tears.
"TELL HIM DAMMIT!"
"We were afraid!" Lynn screamed, snapping. "You had killed him without even trying, and we
were afraid we'd be next!"
"I held back, because I didn't want to hurt you," Alec said quietly, voice hoarse, cheeks wet with
tears.
"But- but you still beat us . . ." Ronan said, sounding like a little lost child.
"I held back just enough so I wouldn't hurt you, you wouldn't look too bad, and I wouldn't get
sent back to medical for testing for being weak." Alec looked to all the world like he was broken.
"494, I-" Ronan began.
"Don't," Alec said. "Don't even."
"Alec?" Asha whispered tentatively, rising to her feet and stepping slowly toward him, swaying
slightly, still a little disoriented.
Alec's head shot upward and he looked at her. He studied her face, seeing the large bruise
forming around her eye. Alec chuckled bitterly. "What did I tell you. Being around me only gets
people hurt." He glanced over at Ronan.
"Alec, that's not true, just-"
"No, Asha. Look at yourself! You can barely stand up without falling over! Stay away from me.
For your own good." Alec stood up and walked away from the group, limping a little.
"Alec!" Asha called after him.
"Alec, wait!" Max said, jogging after him as he rounded the corner. When she turned it, he was
gone.
Ronan turned toward Lynn. "Why didn't you tell me?" he asked quietly, sounding betrayed.
"You're kidding, right?" Lynn asked. "You were *always* trying to upstage 494. You always
thought that no matter what he did, you could do better. When we got out, you were obsessed
with finding him so you could beat him in a fight. If we told you the truth, you'd probably freak
out, blaming him and saying he couldn't beat you, and you'd try to fight him!"
"Well, you got what you came for," Asha sneered at Ronan.
"I- I didn't mean-"
"Let me get this straight," Max cut in. "He held back when you two fought, and he still beat you,
and you get mad at him for holding back at all? What are you, suicidal?"
"I-"
"I'd tell you to go to hell, but I burned it down," Max said. "Come on, Asha, I'll take you home."
Max stormed away with Asha in tow.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Please, if you're reading this, let me know what you think.