Disclaimer: I hardly have any money to my name, what would make you think that I could own Dark Angel? Oy vey!

Zack's Penny

By Be Boring

Chapter 3: Out of the Dark

*~* Penny

It was so dark, but I wasn't in the least disorientated. Although I can't exactly see in the dark, my other senses more than make up for the temporary loss of sight. In fact, I almost would rather be in the dark than in the light. It's the only thing that makes me better. I'm the only one that can do what I do. The others can make their way around in the dark well enough, but for me it's almost second nature. Out in the light I would be as good as gone in a fight with one of my siblings, but in the dark I'm in charge. My other senses come to life, and I can hear the slightest breath, the smallest movement, even the rush of air that comes with the fast movement of an X5 attack. Even Zack could never beat me in the dark.

Zack's ragged breathing gave away his position ahead of me. I knew he was nervous, he'd never attempted something like this with me. A soft shuffling noise from upstairs seemed to indicate a scuffle. I knew Zack couldn't hear it, his senses didn't grow like mine in the dark, but it was like an alarm clock to me. Kari had to be just upstairs.

Somehow Kari had gotten herself into a bit of trouble with one of the local gangs. She was one of the best cat burglars of my siblings, but even she couldn't pull this one off. For some reason she had decided to go after a whole set of stolen watches that the gang had. Apparently they were worth millions of dollars, but getting to them was risky. Some of the members of the gang used to be soldiers at Manticore. They weren't genetically enhanced, but they had been one of the earlier experiments. Manticore decided to try training normal young children from birth to see how they turned out. They had been pretty strong by normal standards, but once Manticore started producing transgenics there was no need for their original experiments. The people in charge of Manticore in those days were gentler than their successors and went through what they thought was a very thorough process to get rid of their experiments' memories. The only problem was that their method was rather new and not very successful. The memories later returned to the released soldiers and they decided to put their considerable knowledge to use. They had gathered up anyone that showed potential for intelligence or strength, and taught them how to become exceptional cat burglars. They aimed for jewelry and antiques and gathered them together, selling them bit by bit over the extremely successful black market that had risen after the Pulse.

These people weren't stupid. There were those here and there that knew about the gang's collection and chose not to say anything, but they still knew nevertheless. That's why the soldiers decided to booby trap the hell out of their storehouse where they kept their stolen goods, and they did it very thoroughly. It's because of this that no one had ever gotten to the goods, but Kari decided to give it a try. She should have seen at first glance that it wasn't going to be an easy task, but apparently she was too set on the collection to care. It's that recklessness that got her into trouble.

I know she had managed to get close to her target, but that's when she had come across the live sentries near the door. After seeing everything that these people had gone through to protect their loot, I guess she just didn't think they would bother posting guards there. That was her mistake. They took her by surprise in the dark and moved her to a different location. She managed to grab one of their cell phones and give Zack a call, but she had barely been able to give him any information about her whereabouts before she was forced to turn off the phone because someone was coming. Thank God Zack is one hell of a tracker, otherwise we might never have found where they had taken her. Unfortunately, this was where he was forced to include me in the rescue mission.

Knowing the kind of people that he was facing, Zack knew that he needed to be on the top of his game. His best chance to get to Kari would be in the middle of the night, but that would mean going through a very heavily guarded and booby-trapped building to get to her. Although this place wasn't as dangerous as their storehouse, it wasn't going to be a piece of cake either. He would need to know when something was coming, but he wasn't going to be able to rely just on himself for that. To make it safely through that building, he was going to need me.

The silence as we walked through what seemed to be a corridor was almost eerie. I knew something had to be coming, they were most surely expecting us. Kari had told Zack that they were questioning her to see if anyone knew what she had been up to. She had let them believe that the answer was yes because that meant they would keep her alive to try and get some names out of her. They didn't want to take any chances. Zack just hoped that they hadn't lost their patience with her and killed her since the time she had called him.

The shuffling I had heard earlier led me to believe that Kari was still alive and apparently still fighting. At least that seemed to be a good sign. I reached up and tapped out that message in Morse code on Zack's back. Thank you, Manticore, I thought wryly. Almost immediately he picked up speed. Just as we reached the stairs I was forced to grab his arm. I could hear something at the top of the stairs. There wasn't a lot of movement, but there was definitely something there. My guess was that there was someone standing guard and the movement was due to the fact that whoever it was was getting tired. Although they probably hadn't noticed us yet, we probably weren't going to get that lucky while we passed them. We're X5s, not ghosts.

I tapped this message to Zack, but I wasn't expecting the reaction I got from him. Instead of pulling me away so he could formulate a plan, which is what he usually did, he tapped out a question to me. He couldn't exactly ask something word-for-word, but I could get the general idea. (Where do you think the guard is?) I listened for a moment, then replied (I think he's at the very top of the stairs, a little off to the left. That's probably the direction the hall goes in. Kari should be no more than ten yards straight ahead once we're in.) Instead of asking another question, he just shot up the stairs and I heard a muffled cry and a snap as Zack broke the guard's neck. Maybe he was a little more worried about Kari than I had suspected.

I followed at a distance, I wasn't interested in getting in the middle of a fight. I could hear Zack break down a door up ahead. It didn't take long for gunfire to ring out. I tried to listen to what was going on, but the gunshots were throwing off my concentration. It was hard to focus on just one thing. I heard someone approaching the door, but it didn't strike me as being a soldier on the attack. Whoever it was was clearly injured, for there was an irregular beat to the footsteps. However, I still backed away instinctively. I didn't want to take any chances.

*~* Zane

I was close to panic when I reached the hospital. Penny was struggling in my arms, but she was nowhere near being conscious. The only thing I could guess was that she was dreaming, but it had to be something big. Her body would go completely rigid, then all of a sudden she would start snapping her arms and legs around like she was having a seizure. It was all I could do to hold onto her.

I know I was getting some pretty strange looks from the other people in the ER, but I didn't care. I had to set her down, otherwise it was likely that I would drop her. I had just set her down on the ground when she threw an arm into my face. I felt my nose break from the sudden pressure, but I had other things to worry about. She was going to hurt someone if she kept carrying on like this, or worse, she would hurt herself. An older woman grabbed a box of tissues and handed them to me for my nose, but I just muttered thanks and brushed the box aside. I threw myself on top of her and tried to hold her arms down, I didn't need her damaging her broken bones anymore than they already were. The lady that had given me the tissues looked positively horrified, but I just shouted, "Hold down her legs, she's having a seizure!"

In all truth, I didn't really know what was going on, but I knew we had to make her stop. I only hoped that once her body couldn't keep moving, she would just relax. I felt a little relief when the old woman and who I guessed to be her husband dropped down onto Penny's legs and tried to help me hold her still. It was still about five minutes before her struggling subsided, but I nearly passed out from exhaustion when it did. That girl had more strength than I had ever given her credit for.

By the time a doctor showed up, I wasn't even sure if Penny was breathing. She seemed to have gone from one extreme to the other and now she was hardly moving at all. The doctor crouched down beside her and studied her up and down.

"How did you get her here?"

"I carried her."

The look on his face made me wish I hadn't said that. "What! There are obviously some broken bones here! Carrying her would just make it worse!" He took a deep breath and gingerly touched her right arm, feeling the swelling beneath his fingers. "What happened?"

"A car hit her. It wasn't going too fast, but the driver didn't have time to come to a complete stop before he hit her."

"Do you know her?"

"She's my wife." That'll be a newsflash for her when she wakes up.

The doctor looked down at her left hand. "Where's her wedding band?"

"She's a waitress at a flashy restaurant, and they want all their women to appear available." I can't wait to see her reaction to that!

That story seemed easy enough to believe for the doctor though. After all, Penny was a knockout. "I'm Dr. Wilseg. I'm the Chief of Staff of this hospital, so anyone you ask about the condition of your wife should be able to answer you. From what I can tell, there's been nothing bad enough to have caused internal damage, but you can never tell with a car accident. No matter how slow that vehicle was going, she could still have suffered serious internal injuries. You might not see her again for a few hours, but I will make sure you find out her condition."

I barely had time to say thanks before Penny was taken from my sight.

*~* Penny

The first thing I saw was a flash of red hair, which had to be Kari. For being a cat burglar, she sure was easy to see. The light that was coming from the room let me see the blood flowing from her hip, practically gushing from a gunshot wound. I could see an exit wound on her chest, so she must also have been shot in the back. Before either one of us could do much, Kari was tackled from behind by someone who was obviously a soldier. Although I knew I was at a disadvantage because there was enough light to see by, I threw caution to the wind and lunged forward. I managed to take him by surprise, he had been so focused on Kari that he hadn't noticed me standing there, but he recovered quickly. I had just managed to drag him away from Kari to give her time to escape when I felt a searing pain in my leg. Looking down, I realized he had pulled out a knife and buried it in my thigh. My body's first reaction was to make sure the pain would stop, which meant that my hands clutched either side of his head and twisted hard.

The sound of a breaking neck seemed to attract Zack's attention. Unfortunately, when he looked over to see what had happened, the other inhabitants of the room saw me too. I threw myself back into the hall, but one of the soldiers had already reached me. His eyes immediately landed on the knife in my leg, but instead of pulling it out and plunging it in somewhere else, he grabbed it and twisted it hard. I let out a cry of pain and slammed my elbow into his face. Now that he had opened up more space on my leg, blood was shooting out from around the handle of the knife. Still, I figured it would just bleed more if I removed the knife. I could see the concern in Zack's eyes, but his attention was drawn away as he was attacked again.

I took a deep breath and forced myself to run out into the hallway. I was limping heavily, and all the blood made me think that I had severed the artery in my thigh. The knife was long and had gone practically all the way through my leg, so it wouldn't have surprised me much. I could hear Kari somewhere downstairs, but it didn't sound like she was fighting anyone. It was strange though, none of the noises she was making were natural. I dragged myself to the stairs and started descending them. My leg was going slightly numb, so I wasn't in excruciating pain as I headed downstairs. The strange noises continued, now her voice was added to them. She was making short, guttural sounds that made it clear she was in pain.

In my urgency to get to her, I wasn't paying nearly as much attention to my surroundings as I should have been. I also wasn't being quiet enough. That cost me big time. I had barely set foot in the main corridor before someone crashed into me from the side. This time it was a woman, and she was set on taking me out. She was obviously one of the original Manticore soldiers, her fighting was too good for her not to be. The dark definitely gave me the advantage over her, but I wasn't on the top of my game. My balance was off because of my leg and I knew that if I calculated her position wrong by even the slightest inch I would wind up on the floor, giving her the advantage over me.

I heard Kari grunt from somewhere to my right. I judged that she was about twenty feet away, near the left wall. If only I could get away from this woman, I could possibly get Kari to a place where I could see how badly she was hurt. It was obvious her pain was getting worse, I just had to get to her to see why. I decided to use the simplest fighting style possible: using my opponent's momentum against her. When she pushed against me, I threw myself backward. We crashed into the wall, and my good leg was crushed between my attacker and the wall. We had landed completely wrong, my leg was twisted in an awkward position as her weight came down on top of it, and I was sure it was broken. There was no way it couldn't be.

It seemed that the soldier had noticed, because she brought her fist down hard on my cracked fibula. I yelped in pain, but she wasn't done with me yet. Her hand brushed against the knife, but instead of twisting it, she pulled it out and jammed it into my other thigh. Similar to the last time, the knife went nearly all the way through my leg. Now I was sure that both arteries in my legs were severed. To hell with Kari, I was in more trouble than she was at the moment.

The soldier stood up and grabbed the top of my shirt, trying to drag me to my feet. Apparently she had no thoughts of ending this fight. Just when she leaned back to put some real effort into lifting me, I braced both feet against the ground and flung myself onto her. As soon as she landed on her back with me on top, I pulled the knife out my leg and slit her throat.

I was shaking uncontrollably as I pulled myself away from her body. It was half from the horror of having someone's blood all over me, and half from the effort the fight had taken while I was losing blood. I knew it was a bad idea to put pressure on either one of my legs, particularly the left one, but nevertheless I staggered towards where I had guessed Kari to be. Crawling wasn't an option, many of the booby traps that Manticore trained us to use were set up to be triggered on the floor. The less contact I had with the floor, the better.

*~* Zane

I hated being so helpless. Sitting around twiddling my thumbs is not something I'm very good at, especially when there's something this important going on. I knew Penny's injuries weren't life threatening, a nurse had been sent out to tell me that much, but they still were going to take a while. They had to try and repair as much damage as possible on her ribs, and they had to set her in a cast for her arm. This meant that I could be sitting out in the waiting room for quite some time.

It was nearly 2:00 PM when Dr. Wilseg came back out. I don't know when the last time it was that I was so happy to see someone in a white coat, but it had to be a long time ago. I just hope that he tells me that I can get Penny out of here soon. I hate hospitals.

"She'll be just fine if you can get her to calm down. We have already sedated her as strongly as we dare to, but she's still struggling in her sleep. We're hoping you can help us. At the rate she's going she'll hurt her arm worse than it already is. Do you have any idea what could make her act this way?"

"No, I don't know what's going on with her. Is she dreaming?"

"Sort of, but I'm guessing she's remembering something. Most of the time your average dream won't provoke such a reaction, but if the person is reliving something traumatic, then their reaction is much stronger. She won't wake up for a while, but maybe just the presence of her husband will calm her down."

"I can try." It's too bad I'm not actually her husband. My presence won't make a damn bit of difference with her right now. I followed the Dr. Wilseg to where they were keeping Penny, and was greeted with the sight of her struggling on the bed, now with a cast to swing around. That's the last thing I need to hit me in the head.

"Good luck," Dr. Wilseg said, then he stepped out of the room. I nervously approached the bed, making sure to walk around so I was on her left side. I didn't want that cast to have a chance of hitting me. I couldn't help but feel bad for Penny, the look on her face told me that her memory had to be something scary. What in the world could she be remembering? She seemed so sweet and innocent, I just didn't see how she could have something so bad to remember.

*~* Penny

I could tell as I reached Kari that she was now unconscious, and she was losing blood fast. Her body was cold and clammy, and also still trembling. She needs tryptophan, I realized. The stress had sent her into seizures. In the state her body was in, the last thing she needed was for her serotonin problems to send her into a coma. After feeling her pulse and listening to her breathing, I realized Zack needed to get down here fast, otherwise Kari wasn't going to make it.

"Zack!" I shouted. There was no time for being careful about the enemy, I needed Zack to get to us and I was in no state to go looking for him. Almost instantaneously I heard footsteps heading for the stairs. The only thing I could do was pray that they were Zack's.

"Penny? Where are you?" Zack's voice came as a surprise only a few feet away.

I reached out so that he'd have a better chance of bumping into me. "I'm on the floor next to Kari, just follow my voice. What happened up there?"

I felt his leg brush my hand and in an instant he was on the floor beside me, running his hands over Kari's body to see how badly she was hurt. "Don't worry, I got them all. If you hadn't shouted, the last one wouldn't have been distracted long enough for me to kill him. How are both of you?"

"I've been stabbed in both thighs, and my left leg is broken. Kari's been shot in the back and in her left hip, but those are only the injuries I saw. She was having a seizure earlier, I think she may go into a coma if we don't get her help soon."

"Is she in more immediate danger? I can't call an ambulance, that's too risky and it could chance someone finding these bodies before we're gone."

I nodded, feeling like lead was filling my stomach. It was true that Kari needed Zack's help more than I did, but what if Zack didn't get back in time to help me? I remembered how I had felt the day of the '09 escape. I had believed that I wasn't going to see my big brother again, and that same feeling was coming over me now. There was so much blood escaping from my wounds, what if I bled to death before he returned for me? I already felt dizzy and lightheaded, not to mention how cold and tired I was. I sensed a seizure coming on as well. I usually don't have a lot of problems with seizures, but when I'm extremely stressed I tend to have more.

"Go ahead, I'll be fine," I murmured, trying to keep my voice as level as possible. I couldn't let myself panic, I didn't want my heart to speed up. The last thing I needed was for my blood to start pumping faster. I wanted to do everything I could to make sure that I was still alive when Zack came for me.

Zack squeezed my shoulder reassuringly before he carried Kari off, which is a pretty affectionate gesture when it comes to him. I doubt many of the others have gotten that much out of him. As soon as the light of the open door was gone, I curled up into a fetal position. I couldn't help being terrified, I'm not a naturally optimistic person. Something in me was screaming that I wasn't going to make it long enough to hear my brother's voice again or see his face. This was enough to let a tear escape and slide down my cheek. I'd never felt more alone. There was no noise around me, Zack had been right when he'd said he'd killed everyone else.

The more time I spent alone, the more afraid I became. Something in me knew that it was silly to get this worked up, Zack would move quickly and I wouldn't have anything to worry about, but all the Manticore lessons of expecting the worst were coming back to me full force. Anything could happen to Zack while he was away. What if the soldiers had called for backup and Zack was already dead? I had to push that thought away, there was no point to getting myself worked up. It wasn't going to do me any good.

After a little while, I had to let some of my fear out. It was almost painful as it built up inside of me.

"Don't leave me, please don't leave me. Oh God, please don't leave me…" The words just kept flowing out of my mouth. Instead of trying to hold them back so I could compose myself again, I just let them keep going. The more I talked, the better I felt. I figured as long as it helped me relax, it should be fine. I rocked back and forth as I spoke, clutching my knees tightly against my chest. I just wanted to be held, for someone to comfort me. Zack would have called it emotional weakness, but I couldn't help it. Zack be damned, I needed comfort.

*~* Zane

I wasn't sure what to do as I lowered myself into a chair next to Penny. What could you say to a person that wouldn't hear you? It was pointless. Then again, I always talk to Keisha and I know she can't understand more than a couple of words that come out of my mouth. Was this any different?

I was about to start saying something completely useless when she suddenly clutched her sheets in her hands and started whimpering something. Her voice was so soft that I couldn't make it out. Keeping one eye on her cast, I leaned close to her head to hear her better.

"Don't leave me, please don't leave me. Oh God, please don't leave me…" I didn't know what to think, but it was obvious that she was terrified. I had no clue what to do.

"I'm not going to leave you." I whispered, feeling completely stupid. She couldn't hear me any more than the bed could. Why was I wasting my time? Well, if I'm gonna make a fool of myself I may as well take it to the extremes. I managed to pry one of her hands off the sheets and I clutched it with my own. It didn't surprise me that she squeezed it, it was just a reflex from the dream she was having.

"Don't leave, don't leave. Please don't leave me," she whimpered again. As though she suddenly realized she was holding onto a hand rather than her sheets, her other hand moved towards me to clutch my hand with both of hers. Ok, ok, maybe she understood a little more of what was going on around her than I thought. Now she was almost desperate in the way she was holding onto me. How scared was she?

Slowly, and with my eyes on her cast at all times, I slid into the bed and positioned myself next to her so I could wrap my arms around her. If holding hands calmed her down a little, then a hug should do even better. Right?

*~* Penny

I was beside myself with panic by the time the sound of footsteps in front of the building reached my ears. Every horrible scenario had played itself out in my mind until I could hardly think straight anymore. It felt like some sort of nightmare. It's amazing what your own mind can do to you in a life-threatening situation.

"Penny?"

The sound of Zack's voice was like a beam of light in the darkness. I could have thrown myself into his arms just to feel safe. "I'm in the same place."

I know it threw him a bit for a loop when I hugged him. Actually, it just threw him. I pretty much knocked him over with how happy I was to see him again. It wasn't just that I would die before returned that was scaring me, it was that maybe it would be because he just wouldn't come back. Every time he goes to one of the other X5s I have to wonder if he'll decide I'm not worth it and he'll just leave me behind. Common sense tells me he wouldn't do that, but my emotional side says it's likely. Zack's right, emotions are completely useless.

"What was that for?" he asked with the usual embarrassed air he usually gets when I show affection around him.

"Just for being here."

His arms scooped under me to lift me up. "Come on, let's get out of the dark."

*~* Zane

It seemed to take forever for Penny to relax, but eventually her struggling ceased and she leaned into my arms. Her whole demeanor had changed in about a minute; she'd gone from sheer terror to utter contentment in practically no time at all. Not knowing what to do now that any danger was over, I slowly started running my fingers through her hair. She was cradled like a baby in my arms, and it seemed all too natural. When she wrapped her arms around me, I realized she was smiling. Her memory must have taken a good turn. I settled myself on the bed as comfortably as I could, preparing myself for a long time of just holding onto her, but my eyes had other ideas. I couldn't seem to keep them open. I finally decided I would just rest them for a moment, but once again my body had different ideas. I was asleep before I knew it.

Finding yourself on a cold tile floor after having been asleep in a bed next to a lovely young woman is enough to wake any man up. Penny's scream of surprise didn't help matters any. All I knew was my ass was sore and I had a headache. It's not the best way to wake up.

"What's going on?" she gasped. I guess waking up and finding herself next to me came as a shock to her.

"Sorry. I didn't know it would scare you that much, otherwise I wouldn't have fallen asleep. Trust me, nothing was going on. How are you feeling?"

"I guess I'm ok. God, I'm sorry for dumping you on the ground like that. You just scared me to death. Why were you on the bed?"

"You were having a nightmare or something, I was just trying to calm you down and I guess I was more tired than I thought. What were you dreaming about?"

Her face seemed pale for a moment, but she shook it off quickly and shrugged. "I don't remember."

So she didn't want to tell me. I can handle that. "Are you up for some food? I promise it won't be hospital food. I'll go get take out." Maybe she didn't want to share it with me now, but I hoped that someday she would. I'd like her to have at least that much trust in me.