Disclaimer: I think we all got it.

Zack's Penny

by Be Boring

Prologue Part 2: Zane

I've never laughed so hard in my life. I guess most other people would be thinking of this as a serious situation, but I've known Krit and Syl too long to treat it as such. I was sitting there on the roof of an apartment building, laughing my ass off at Krit as he hung from a window on the next building. King of Grace, he calls himself. According to him, he's a great acrobat. I guess technically he's pretty good, but compared to other X5s he's seriously lacking that particular talent.

Syl hit me over the back of the head in disgust. She hates it when I laugh about things like this. What does she expect me to do when my brother looks like some sort of drunk, swaying crazily ten stories over the ground? This is how things usually go, Krit does something stupid and Syl is forced to either save him herself or call Zack. In this case she called me because she couldn't reach our beloved bloodhound.

I haven't seen these two in nearly five years, but Syl has a strange talent of persuading people do what she wants. In this case it was convincing Zack to let her know my phone number. She also has Tinga's, which she has taken advantage of several times so she could see Case. That girl is crazy about kids, in fact, she's just plain crazy. She can be hysterical at times, then turn into a mother hen protecting those around her. I always laugh when I think of her saving Krit's ass countless times, she's so much shorter than him that you would think things would be the other way around. Of course, nothing is usual when it comes to those two.

Syl grabbed the front of her harness and gave a hard tug at the rope. It nearly slipped through my fingers because of the rain, but at least it didn't break off the harness. I rubbed my hands quickly on my pants to dry them, I didn't want my sister to slip through my fingers when her life depended on me. Her plan was to jump out to Krit, then grab him and I would pull them both up. Of course, if she didn't make it at least I had her. She ran her fingers back through her light blonde hair, took a deep breath, then backed up to give herself a running start. I chuckled to myself as she shouted out to Krit while preparing herself to run towards the edge of the roof.

"I hate you, you know that? My shoulder is still sore from the last time I had to get you out of deep shit, and now you expect me to catch myself over there, grab you, and hold onto you while Zane pulls us up?" At this point she started running towards the edge. "I just know I'm going to feel this in the MOOOOORRRNNNIIIIINNNNGGGGGG!!!" Her last word stretched out into a scream, but it wasn't exactly a scream of terror. I know my sister too well for that. No matter how much she's complaining, she's getting a huge thrill out of this.

"OOF!!" came her startled noise as she hit the opposite building. Krit rolled his eyes at her.

"Took you long enough!"

"At least I came!"

He rolled his eyes again as he grasped her hands and clung to her, wrapping his legs around her so she didn't have to do all the work of holding onto him while I was pulling them back up. As they dropped away from the other building and their full weight came to the mercy of the rope, it nearly slipped through my fingers again. I braced my feet against the ground and tightened my grip, praying silently the entire time. I don't know who exactly I pray to since I don't believe in the Blue Lady anymore and I don't know much about God, but I pray nevertheless. I only do it when I'm in a situation like this, but I seem to be in a lot of these. It's usually Brin or Jondy I'm saving, but I haven't talked to either of them in a while. Brin just hasn't been answering my calls for the past couple months, and Jondy moved somewhere and Zack refused to tell me where.

"What's taking so long?" Krit shouted up to me.

"You two aren't exactly lightweights!"

"I told you to lose some weight," I heard Krit hiss at Syl. A loud whack let me know what she thought of that. I don't see how she could get lighter, she only weighs 112 pounds. At least, that's what I guessed from holding the rope before she got Krit. The equipment might have added some weight.

I couldn't have been more relieved when I saw Syl's head pop up over the edge of the roof, then Krit's right behind it. It was a relief to see them, I was thoroughly exhausted. It's not easy to pull approximately three hundred pounds up a couple stories, not even for genetically enhanced individuals like myself. Krit noticed the sweat running down my face, although it would have been impossible for a normal person to distinguish it from the rain pouring on my head.

My face twisted into a disgusted scowl as Krit picked up Syl and kissed her. As much as I like them, I don't like to see them kissing. The last time I saw them they had just been starting a relationship, but now it was obviously a lot more serious. Despite being a lot more easygoing about my family relations, I still agree with Zack that it's disgusting for us to date each other. Whether we're related or not, we've grown up thinking of each other as family and for me that feeling still holds true. I'm not saying I've never thought of my sisters in a sexual way, what breathing male wouldn't? Every last one of them is drop dead gorgeous. I've thought more than once about running my fingers through Tinga's hair, or kissing those full, beautiful lips of Jondy's, but that doesn't mean I'm going to do it. They're my family and that's that for me.

Syl laughed when she saw my face. "Come downstairs, little brother. We'll have to feed you for your help."

At the mention of food, my mood picked right back up. I've never been able to hold a girlfriend long because of my tendency to eat them out of house and home. Of course, as Jondy often told me it wasn't for lack of looks. According to her, I'm one of the best looking men gracing the face of this planet. I don't know if I believe that. Still, I do seem to get a lot of female heads turned in my direction when I'm walking through a room. Also, women don't seem to like my dog. Keisha just seems to put people on edge, but I happen to think she's sweet. Of course, that's because she likes me and all the other X5s she meets along the way. Normal people, including girlfriends I've brought home, have been forced to run out of my apartment screaming. It's a big apartment for just one person, so it takes them a while to reach the door. By then Keisha usually has managed to get in at least one good bite.

Well, Syl sure as hell can cook. Even though it was just heating up some leftovers, those leftovers were damn good. It's not take out either, she actually cooked it herself. Turkey, stuffing, potatoes, corn; I felt like I'd been invited to the grandmother of all Thanksgiving dinners. Syl's face blushed furiously red when I told her so.

Some noises outside seemed to catch Krit's attention. He strode over to the window and poked his head out, then pulled his head back in and chuckled. "There's a ton of people down there who got caught in the rain and want to be let in, but the watchman isn't letting them."

Syl walked over to join him. I could already see the mother hen blossoming from where I sat. "Oh, those poor people! It's freezing out there, why isn't Jake letting them in?"

"Because he doesn't want this place overrun with hobos?" Krit suggested.

She slapped him upside the head. "I'm going down there to let them in."

Krit gave me a look that said all too clearly 'Do you see what I have to put up with?' , then he walked after her. I set down my fork and went for the door. I may as well go down and get my dog, she's been waiting patiently in the car this whole time. I get the feeling we'll be staying here for a while.

_____________________________________________________________________________________

A/N: Since I got more feedback from the first chapter than I've ever gotten, I hurried up on this one for everyone. Please review!