Legal Disclaimer: I don't any of the characters in this story that appear in the hit syndicated TV show, Dark Angel, which are owned by James Cameron. I do, however, own the original characters featured in this story. If you wish to use them, please ask me.

A/N: Ah! Fluffiness! You'll have to excuse my shameless romance ploy in this chappy, because I'm a girl and I just couldn't help myself =o)

Binge

By

Brin

"The deepest definition of youth is life as yet untouched by tragedy." - Alfred North Whitehead (1861 - 1947)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

bend·er (bĕn'dr)

n.

Slang. A spree, especially a drinking spree

Chapter 4: Bent

Pick grumbled to himself as he trudged through the forest. That goddamn anomaly! Now he was going to have to hike the fifty or so miles to the nearest town, jack a car, and make it to San Francisco before the others got worried enough to go out looking for him. He kicked a stone and glanced at the stars to reassess his direction. Predictably, he hadn't strayed from his path since the last time he looked. X6s had an especially keen sense of direction, especially in the forests. It was the wolf DNA.

The night was pleasantly warm with the onset of summer, so Pick shrugged off his jacket and slung it over his shoulder. In front of him, the forest stretched out as far as he could see, which wasn't very far considering the thickness of the brush. He kicked another stone.

He had gone about five miles when he first noticed something a little odd about the forest. Unless he was going crazy from all this stress, he thought he saw the shadows moving. Once or twice, the X6 could've sworn he saw two pinpricks of light in the branches, like eyes glinting in the moonlight. Another mile passed with no events other than the mysterious movements, then they disappeared altogether.

"Creepy," he mumbled aloud, then froze as he heard… a sob? The X6 paused. There it was again. Yep, definitely someone sobbing. He strained his ears. It was either a girl or a pre-puberty boy, because each sob was accented with a high-pitched whimper.

Following his ears, Pick veered off his path. He moved about a hundred paces, then the trees abruptly broke and he stopped to peer through the darkness.

A young woman was sitting on the edge of the river, naked from the waist up. Her shirt was laid out on the grass beside her. From where he was, Pick couldn't see her face at all. She was dabbing her back with a wet cloth, and Pick could see that she was covered in swollen red scratches. Occasionally, she would sob or whimper, but it seemed as though she was trying to hold it back the best she could. It wasn't working very well.

Quiet as his X6 genes would let him, Pick moved forward until he was right behind the young woman. After taking a deep breath, he said quietly, "Hey."

The young woman gasped and whipped her head around, arms instinctively crossing over her bare chest. Her eyes glinted green in the moonlight like a cat's.

She was a cat.

"You!" exclaimed Pick, gaping.

"And you!" responded the cat anomaly, gawking.

"What are you doing here?" they blurted at the same time then, also at the same time: "I'm just leaving."

Pick narrowed his eyes. "You stole my bike."

"You left me to die," spat the anomaly.

"You ruined my week."

"Yeah well my life is ruined, and it's no one's fucking fault!" shouted the young woman, getting to her feet. "I just fucked a complete stranger because I was in heat, I can't feel my back because it's gone numb – not to mention other various, unmentionable parts of my body, and there's a ninety percent chance that I just got myself pregnant with a litter of kittens, all while being forced to live in the fucking woods for the rest of my goddamn life. Now tell me how your day's going!"

Pick shut his mouth. "I… uh…"

"Mmhm. That's what I thought," snapped the cattish young woman. She took a step closer to the X6 – so close that her arms, still crossed over her breasts, touched his chest – and whispered, "You have no idea what my life's like. Back off." And with that, she began to walk away.

Something happened inside Pick's mind as he watched the young woman walk away from him. Later he would say that something just… clicked. A strange feeling of desperation came over him and he blurted, "Wait!"

The anomaly stopped, but didn't turn or give a verbal response.

"Wh… wh…," he stuttered for a moment before finding the words, "What's your name?"

"Why?"

"I need to know."

"My name's Eddie. And you are?" Now she turned around.

Feel an inexplicable urge to do so, the X6 walked over to her and held out his right hand as he answered, "The name's Pick."

She stared at his hand, then glanced down at her hands, which were busy covering her breasts. "Uhh…"

"Oh, right. Sorry. Here, take my jacket," suggested Pick, handing over the item.

Eddie pulled it over her shoulders and zipped it up. "Thanks."

"No problem."

They shared a strangely shy silence, then said at once: "I'm sorry."

"You're sorry? For what?" asked Eddie, eyebrows raised.

"That your life is turning out so bad. I wish I could help," replied Pick with all the authenticity he could muster. He put one hand on her shoulder and gestured to a nearby log, which they sat on. "What are you sorry for?"

"Well, there's the obvious – stealing your bike… which you're not getting back, no matter how charming you are." She smiled. "And I'm sorry for yelling at you like that. It's not your fault my life's so bad. It's all because of those fuckers at Manticore."

Pick laughed. "I should hope that they didn't fuck and end up with the likes of us."

Eddie chortled in spite of herself. "Yeah."

A companionable silence followed, and they both found themselves staring up into the stars. Time slowed for them as they sat, feeling oddly serene in each other's presence.

"When I was a kid, I used to sit on the roof of the barracks and name all the constellations as I saw them. Once, on an outside mission, I saw this movie where a guy picked out a star to call his own so, naturally, I did the same," said Pick amusedly. "It's that one." He pointed it out.

"I never saw the stars as a child. Not until they let me out for experimental training," replied Eddie softly.

Pick looked at her. Tears were shimmering in her glowing eyes, which would've seemed disconcerting to some, but entranced him. "Are you okay?"

"No," she answered truthfully, then sniffled. "No, I'm not okay."

Almost instinctively, Pick's arm snaked out and around her shoulders. He gently pulled her body to him, letting her rest her head on his shoulder. "You'll be fine, Eddie. Everything will be okay."

"I don't know what to do," she sobbed, wrapping her arms around his neck. "I can't stand being me right now; I can't handle it. Help me, Pick. You've gotta help me. I want to die."

"Hey, stop that! Stop talking like that," scolded the X6. He kissed the top of her head and rocked her tenderly. "I'll help you, Eddie. I promise, I'll help you. You're not gonna live in the forest for the rest of your life. Don't even worry about it. I promise you'll be happy someday, okay?" He craned his neck to look at her.

Eddie stared up into his eyes, her face red and puffy from crying. She clung to him more tightly and whispered, "Okay."

And they stayed like that all night.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pick felt warm… which was strange considering the cold droplets of water hitting his face. He cracked open one eye and then the other, surprised to find himself looking out over a wide river instead of his bland bedroom back at headquarters. The sky overhead was overcast with white-gray clouds that were currently emptying themselves upon the world.

He looked down and everything from the night before came rushing back with startling force. There was an anomaly cuddled in his arms. An anomaly who, for the most part of his life, he had been taught to fear and hate for what they were – genetic failures; real life monsters; hideous, unmerciful, repulsive, savage…

She was purring.

In that moment, watching her sleep nestled in his arms, Pick knew true compassion for the first time in his life. This was no monster. She wasn't the gruesome beast that most X series made anomalies to be. In fact… she was quite attractive, at least in his eyes. Living in the dark for so long had given her a fair complexion, and a few freckles splashed the end of her nose. This, combined with her pointed ears and dark hair gave her a decidedly Elfin look, like Liv Tyler in Lord of the Rings; his favorite Pre-Pulse movies.

And to top it all off, it felt good to hold her. Unlike his many one-night flings and weekly top tens, he felt a genuine ease in having this girl in his embrace. Her head was resting on his shoulder, her two petite hands holding onto one of his large ones.

"Hey," whispered the X6, nudging her gently. "Hey, it's morning. Wake up."

Eddie's eyes fluttered open, unfocused, then settled on his face. She smiled in an embarrassed way, laughing softly. "Hey."

"Sleep well?"

"Very well," replied the young woman, sitting up. She fingered the fabric of his leather jacket as she said, "This is really comfy."

"You can keep it. I can get another one, and it looks a lot better on you," said Pick with a grin as he stood up and stretched.

Eddie got to her feet and did the same, then looked at him and flushed red, suddenly feeling uncomfortable.

"Look, about last night," they said in unison.

"I'm sorry you had to see that," said Eddie with a quiet laugh.

"Ah, don't even worry about it. I'm glad I could help. Kinda freaked me out at first, but it's all good now," replied Pick coolly. He couldn't wipe the silly grin off his face as he added, "It was… nice."

"Yeah, it was," she said, then there was a long pause. "Look, I better be getting back to the camp. I don't want anyone jeopardized by searching for me."

"Same here." The X6 put his hand on her shoulder. "Hey listen… if you ever need me… you know, to talk or a favor or whatever, just call me. Here." He reached across and pulled a cell phone from the jacket pocket. "You can have this. It's an extra. The number to my beeper and my real cell is in the memory."

Eddie nodded, smiling up at him. "Thanks. Thanks a lot."

"You're welcome."

"Well… I guess this is where we say goodbye."

Pick kept grinning at her, didn't move. "Yeah."

"Yeah."

They laughed as they realized that neither of them were very willing to move.

"You first," suggested Pick.

"Nah, you first."

"Alright. Here I go." The X6 started moving backwards – in a southerly direction, of course. "Bye, you."

"And you," she responded, laughing as she watched him go. "Be careful."

"Always."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Pick! Where you been, man? Hank and Junky said you left yesterday morning. I was just about to go looking for ya!"

Pick smiled and laughed as he clapped his old friend on the shoulder. "You mean you were going to send out a lackey to search for me, eh?"

"Got that right, buddy boy," replied Dodd, winking as he tapped his artificial legs.

"How you been?" asked Pick as he sat down on an offered chair. He and Dodd had been on an away mission together to Italy when they were sixteen. After accomplishing the base of the mission – killing a prime minister of some South American country in his vacation home – they had been caught in the crossfire of another mission to terminate a rebellious anarchy group. The X5 on the mission was killed after terminating her target and they were ordered to retrieve her body. On the way out of the building the body was getting kept in, they were spotted and a grenade was thrown to stop them – incinerating the body and destroying Dodd's legs. Pick, on the other hand, got out fine by pure luck.

"Well, when the going gets tough, the tough find people who will do their chores for them," replied the blonde X6 amusedly. "Things are okay. The little munchkins are about to drive me crazy." He nodded his head toward the group of X8s playing tag outside.

"Don't even try it with me, Dodd. You know you love it," joked Pick, hitting his friend on the head.

"Eh, eh, don't touch," protested Dodd. He settled in his overstuffed chair and took a deep breath. A pause, then he sniffed the air. "Do you have a cat?"

Pick shifted uncomfortably. "No. Why?"

"You smell like one. It's all over you. Have you… hugged a cat lately?"

"No."

"Fine, whatever. Suit yourself. Just lay off the felines, man – you smell like a giant fur ball!" Dodd laughed, not noticing his friend's uneasiness. "Anyway, can you hook these kids up with a place to stay? Three meals, a roof, and playtime is all they really need, and I can't guarantee it to them."

"We got everything. Don't even worry about it," reassured Pick. "There's a whole bunch of females that'll take care of them."

Dodd grinned. "X5?"

"Oh yeah. Lots."

"X5s are hot, man! Ever seen them train? I'd love to get myself a piece of that!" joked Dodd, laughing.

"Yeah, well adults have communal showers back at my place in Seattle."

Dodd's jaw dropped. "You're kidding."

"Nope."

"I think I might come visit someday. I imagine that I'll develop some mysterious disease that will require me to stay in the shower as long as there are females in there."

"It's called being horny, you ass," replied Pick.

Dodd sat up. "Speaking of being horny, how about we go for a bender tonight? This new strip club opened up downtown and they're giving out free beer to celebrate their grand opening. I hear the girls are classy."

"Classy strippers? There's a new one."

"We're not ones to judge, my friend. All that matters is their willingness to dance upon your lap for the duration of a song," explained Dodd with feigned seriousness. "Now, are you in or not?"

"Would I pass up a chance to spend quality time with you and buyable, half-naked, beautiful ladies? Never."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Eddie! Where the hell have you been?" shouted Tegan as the cat anomaly strolled into the area. "We've been looking all over for you!"

"Sorry, sorry. After I…" She paused. "Well, I just freaked out, okay? I'm fine now."

Tegan stared at her friend for a few seconds, then abruptly grabbed her into a fierce hug.

"Hey, hey… I'm fine, Teg. I promise," reassured Eddie, patting the monkey anomaly on the back.

"Don't you ever scare me like that again, you hear me? You're my friend, Eddie – one of my best friends around this place… but don't ever tell anyone I said that out loud," said Tegan with a grin. "Wouldn't want people to think I'm a softy or anything."

"It'll be our little secret," replied Eddie with a smile.

"Pan's been worried," said Tegan nonchalantly, glancing over to where the panther anomaly was standing. "He feels really bad about the whole thing. Maybe you should go talk to him."

"Maybe I should." The cat anomaly nibbled her lip. "But I don't want to…"

"Come on. Get it over with," prodded Tegan with an exasperated look. "You'll thank me later. Now move it!" She pushed the cat anomaly in the general direction of Pan.

"Fine, fine!" snapped Eddie, slapping away her friend's hands. She took several calming breaths and approached Pan. "Hey."

He turned and smiled down at her. "Oh, hey. Where've you been? I thought I scared you off."

Eddie idly fiddled with the hem of her jacket as she answered, "Nah. You couldn't get rid of me if you tried." She paused long enough to take another deep breath. "Listen, Pan… I just want you to know that you don't have any obligations as a result of yesterday. None whatsoever."

Pan looked uncomfortable. "Eddie, I can't just pretend like it didn't happen. We had sex, and I'm going to take responsibility for that."

"Well isn't that noble of you," responded Eddie with a sigh. "Look, I don't want you to take responsibility for it, Pan. It's my fault the whole thing happened… and I just want to forget about it, okay?"

The panther anomaly looked surprised and relieved. "Well… I mean… if that's what you want. I wouldn't want to put pressure on you or anything…"

Eddie nodded and kissed him on the cheek. "It's all good."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

For some reason or other, Pick wasn't enjoying himself. He wasn't enjoying himself despite the immense amount of alcohol he had consumed. He wasn't enjoying himself despite the three gorgeous, near-naked women dancing on his lap. He wasn't enjoying himself at all and couldn't quite put his finger on the reason why.

Pimp juice - oooooooooh-ooooooooh-hoooooooo

I think I need to let it loose (might think I need to let it loose)

Let her loose, let her loooooose

She only want me for my pimp juice (that's all she want me for f'real)

Not my pimp juice, I'm talkin new pimp juice

I think I need to cut her loose (it's time for homegirl to recognize)

Yes I do, yes I doooooo-hoooo

Dodd, on the other hand, was enjoying himself almost too much. He had four women dancing in front of him, was drinking champagne bottles like they were Kool-aid. A few other X6s had joined them, but Pick hadn't bothered listening to their names. 888, 234, 106 – it was all the same to him.

One of the girls was noticing his lack of enthusiasm – the smartest one, most likely – and had a slightly concerned, slightly offended look on her face.

I'm in that, seventy-four, Coupe DeVille

With the, power seats, leather, wood on my wheel

One-touch sunroof BUT leave it alone

Hoes see it can't believe it - "It's goin back on it's own"

Oooooooooooooooh, shit, that's how we do it baby

"Every day like this?" Seven dayy-ayyys

I tell you three-sixty-five

"Look, ladies, you're very beautiful and all, but I'm really not in the mood right now. Why don't you take the money—" he handed them each a large wad of bills "—and give my friend there a free dance, how about it? He's the one with the fake legs."

The young women nodded and moved away, hips swaying and hair bobbing.

Pick slumped in his chair, rubbing the bridge of his nose. He was not only not enjoying himself now, but a migraine was coming on. What was wrong with him? Usually he'd have one of this girls at home and in a bed by now, but tonight he felt so… guilty for even being here at all – which was strange, because there was nobody to get him in trouble for it; there was no woman to nag at him for being there.

Winter spring and fall, in the summer we ride

You actin' like you never seen it befo'

Like them country boys ain't got no dough

Bitch please GET OUT but don't you slam that do'

DUST YOUR SHOES OFF befo' you touch that flo'

Cause you wanna put your feet on my rug, don'tcha?

You really wanna put your feet on my rug, don'tcha?

You're in a hurry - SLOW DOWN - and I might letcha touch it

You ain't from Russia, so bitch why you Russian?

That is, until she walked in.

Pick jumped up as if he had just been burned. No. It couldn't be. He stared. Pointed ears, glowing green eyes. She turned and started walking the other way, not seeing him, and he all but ran forward to catch her. He grabbed her shoulder, saying, "Hey," but then stopped. Her ears weren't pointed. It was just an effect of the dim light and her hairclips. Her eyes weren't glowing green. It was contacts that glowed neon in the black light. His heart dropped.

Now I'm clean as a whistle sharp as a razor

In anythang from Timberland to Gaines

Now listen I play the haters like they should be played

And uhh I love the ladies like they should get laid

That's why I - I got my fade everybody had braids

And now they switch to fades and I'm thinkin 'bout braids

"Sorry, I thought you were someone else," he apologized, letting his hand drop from her shoulder.

The young woman smiled at him jauntily. "Well, that's the thing big guy – if you want me to, I can be someone else. Just for tonight."

Pick stared at her. She was about that height… same build… similar voice… He grinned at her. "Ever dressed up as a cat for Halloween?"

Just an example of hoochieless jackin

If we were hoopin, I'd be yellin "They hackin"

I see you momma, in my Dolce Gabbana

Gucci and Prada baby I gotta lotta

The Luciana ain't a problem for poppa

That's all you want then baby girl I'm a-holla

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Eddie was just about to turn in for the night. She trudged through the trees in the general direction of the sewer entrance. Jackie had had a little boy – a red, wrinkly, squirming bundle of joy. His name was Huru, Swahili for 'free person'. Eddie had tried to stay away from the gruesome scene – which, as reported by Tegan, had involved Jackie nearly twisting the hand off of Axle. When it was all over, though, the cat anomaly had visited. She had never seen a newborn baby before, and his tiny size had thrown her for a loop at first. He fit snugly in the crook of her arm and, until he started crying and turned even redder than before, she considered him to be a beautiful baby.

"So did you talk to her?"

The cat anomaly froze in her tracks as the voice interrupted her thoughts. Two shadows passed, through the trees and, since she was a cat, she could see that it was Pan and the only male cat anomaly around.

"Yeah," answered Pan with a grin. "She said I didn't' owe her anything. Thank the Blue Lady for that. I might've thrown up if she got all mushy-mushy, lovey-dovey on me."

"The things we do for women," replied the male cat anomaly, laughing.

Eddie followed them quietly.

"It's just 'cause she's hot, you know? Otherwise I wouldn't even consider saying all that 'taking responsibility' shit, you know? She's the finest piece of ass around here – except for that X5. When she gets back into shape from being pregnant, I don't know if I'll be able to control myself. Genetically engineered hoochie – my favorite kind," laughed Pan.

Eddie stopped, staring after them. Her legs started shaking, so she sat down. Her throat tightened. Her eyes swelled with tears. Why her? Why always her? Did someone in power hate her? Holding her head in her hands, she stifled a sob. This was great. Just fucking great. She was a 'hoochie'. How flattering. "Goddamn it, why can't I avoid these situations?" moaned Eddie aloud, hugging herself, then becoming very still. The jacket. She was still wearing his jacket, and his cell phone was in the pocket.

She pulled the item from the pocket and opened it. Its greenish glow illuminated her face and a chipper greeting of "HI THERE" appeared on the screen. Jackie had a cell phone, and had taught her how to use one once. She scrolled through the address book and finally found the number marked "PICK'S CELL". Without hesitation, she pressed "TALK" and put it to her ear.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Pick stared at the face of the young woman next to him. Her features were pulled into a pleased afterglow smile even in sleep, her dark hair spread over the pillow lazily.

His phone rang, so he turned on the lamp next to the motel bed and sat up to answer it. "Hello?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Pick?" said Eddie tentatively. "Were you sleeping?"

"No, I'm wide awake," came the reply. "What's up?"

"You know who this is?" asked the cat anomaly, more than a little bit surprised.

"Yeah. This is Eddie, right?"

She smiled in spite of herself, then remembered her reason for calling and frowned.

"Is… something wrong?" he questioned.

A pause. Eddie took a deep breath, imagining him sitting up in his bed, leaning against the headboard with a content look on his face – and, though she didn't know it, she was absolutely right. Quietly, she spoke, "I… I need to talk to you."

"Alright. Shoot."

"Could you… stay on the phone with me?"

"Stay on the phone? Why?"

"I, um… I had a bad day. Again. I… wish you were here." She could've sworn she heard him smile, as crazy as it sounded.

"Yeah, well truthfully, I wish I was there too. I feel like shit."

Another pause.

"Pick?"

"Yeah?"

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Eddie."

They smiled through the line as they both curled up – Eddie against a tree and Pick in the bed – and went to sleep without ending the call; content to just hear the other breathe as they drifted into dreamland.