Disclaimer: Dark Angel does not belong to me, instead it belongs to 'King
of the World' James Cameron and his steadied on old chap, Charles Eglee.
Thick n' Thin
Chapter One
Summary ~ After Freak Nation, Jondy tries to get by in a seemingly even crueller and colder world.
San Francisco, 2021
"Zoggs! Wake up!" Jondy heard as she squinted her eyes into the sunlight at the figure who had thrown open her curtains.
"What?" She asked groggily, throwing her blanket completely over her head and curling up in a little ball inside it.
"Hello! 5am! Wake up call, remember!" Jondy's roommate and best friend Lexy yelled. They were going to be bridesmaids for their friend Dione's wedding.
"Sorry. Too much alcohol last night. Haven't slept so much in years."
"You're forgetting New Years Eve." Lexy replied smartly, walking over to Jondy's bed and trying unsuccessfully to pull her blanket off. "You better be ready for make up in 10 minutes."
"I'm ready now! Just gotta splash some water on my face." She walked into the adjoining bathroom that she shared with Lexy and Lexy's twin brother Scott. They had pretty much adopted Jondy after meeting her at a bar when she was 17 and had been looking for a trustworthy roommate at the time. After talking with her for just 10 minutes, they knew they had found a true friend. They had discovered she was a transgenic after the constant news reports as they had known about her barcode 'tattoo' but they had grown up with a lot of money and people wanting to use them and their evil money- hungry, and Jondy had looked past that, looked past their harsh relatives when others wouldn't. So Scott and Lexy, after a nanosecond of thinking, had easily been able to look past the cruel factor of Jondy's existence.
Jondy walked into the kitchen when Lexy walked in, having just woken up her brother who had to be ready to be Best Man. The threesome's best friend's, Dione and Greg, fondly known as Catch were getting married after a three year relationship. They too knew of Jondy's past but their unpleasant upbringings made them immediately not care. They too were of high social standing in their families and had grown up being best friends, as their mothers were. They had run away together when they were 18 and met Jondy, Lexy and Scott soon after. After small prods from their friends, they had become a couple, a happy one at that, and the rest as they say is history.
"That brother is going to be the death of me." Lexy said, shaking her head as she poured herself a cup of coffee in their above-average apartment.
"What did he do this time?" Jondy asked grinning. She loved how close Lexy and Scott were, it felt so comforting and reminded her of her own siblings, although sometimes it made her yearn for them. As Lexy raved on about Scott's hangover and the stripper asleep on his floor, Jondy couldn't help but wonder how Max was doing. She had seen her on TV and only Dione's wedding and the constant media attention as well as the threat of being captured was keeping her away from Seattle. Okay, Jondy admitted to herself, that was a lot, but Maxie meant so much to her and only those possibilities kept her away.
"Hello? Wakey wakey Zoggs!" Lexy snapped her fingers in front of Jondy's face as a magician might do in front of a hypnotized person.
"Sorry. Zoned out." Jondy apologized. She couldn't remember where the nickname Zoggs had come from, she suspected it was the result of a late night drunken talking fest she, Lexy and Scott normally had and she was now fond of the nickname.
"Aiight, Scott has to be at Catch's by 6 and Dione should be arriving any second with her mother and the hairdresser slash make up artist.
"Hairdresser slash make up artist?"
"The hairdresser IS the make up artist. After Dee made up with her mum she insisted she use her aunt as the hairdresser, slash make up artist."
"Right." Jondy nodded, never really understanding the strange things families seemed to value. She knew she valued nothing as much as she valued her Manticore siblings or her friends. She looked up from her bowl of mushy porridge as the stripper from Catch's bucks party the night before failed at getting out of the apartment unnoticed. Scott wandered out of his room soon after, dressed in loose blue cargo pants and a t-shirt and carrying a black zip-up bag containing his perfectly straight suit Jondy had ironed compulsively the night before. Dee's pre-wedding jitters had rubbed off on her and she wanted everything to be perfect almost as much as Dee did. Scott left for Catch's after being thrown an apple for breakfast from Jondy and Dee arrived soon after, nervously clutching three long white zip up bags, and standing in front of two impatient looking older women.
"Let's get suited up then!" Jondy said excitedly after being handed her bag.
***** "Cheers!" Everyone chorused as Scott finished his loud speech and toasted the bride and groom proudly. Jondy, who was sitting on Catch's left stood up nervously, mentally preparing herself for the 'mission.'
Deep breath, relax, make eye contact, smile. "When I first met Greg and Dione, I had never known such emotionally desperate people. They were two beautiful beings, but they both seemed so lost. That immediately changed when they found each other. Their love has touched us all, never has there been something so innocent, so beautiful, so pure. I cannot imagine them being without each other, their souls are linked as one and I'm sure they will be for many years to come. To their love." Jondy finished, smiling broadly at making it through her carefully planned speech without error.
Go Jon, she silently praised herself. If only dear daddy Deck could see me now. Soft brown hair in angelic curls, strapless baby blue gown bringing out her eyes, an accented figure. She patiently sat through the other toasts, even those by the pathetically lame Scott and Catch, who could cause murder when they got together. They had decided to toast everyone from the wine maker to Eyes Only. Thankfully for them, the wedding guests were quite tipsy and those who weren't, such as Jondy were just naturally tolerant. She had swapped from champagne to water after their first three toasts, to Catch's dog, his grandfather and the maker of his bow tie. She felt a pang in her bladder and caught Lexy's eyes, signalling she heads to go to the bathroom. Lexy nodded and smiled, as though to say she'd cover for her. Jondy made her way down the stairs from where the function centre was on the second floor to the bar on the first, where the toilets were located. She escaped to the bar for a martini, "very dry" and sat watching the TV. She widened her eyes as she saw live coverage of Terminal City. The number of reporters and camera crews had died down considerably. I guess maybe the media frenzy is finally coming to a halt. About time. Maybe now I can contact Maxie. She'd been craving to see her sister ever since she fell thought the ice and for years Jondy had a sick feeling in her stomach, as though something was wrong and Max was dead. But, as she later realised, that feeling was there because Max was alive. It was Jondy worrying about her little sister. That feeling had increased when Max had become involved in the 'Jam Pony Hostage Crisis' but had settled down as she saw the live footage of a man throw himself into the line of fire for protection of her sister. She was sure Maxie was in good hands.
"There you are!" Scott exclaimed, coming down the stairs at the far end of the bar causing the ten or so other people in the bar to turn and stare at Jondy. She blushed, but as usual Scott the loudmouth didn't notice. "Come on, Jon, you gotta come shake your ass on the floor."
"I will not shake my anything." Jondy said, turning back to her glass and swirling around the olive absentmindedly. She had quickly become accustomed to the world outside of Manticore and could fit in almost anywhere with as much knowledge and class to be a such 'Lady of the Manor.' Scott came and sat down next to her, ordering a shot of vodka and downing it as soon as it sat in front of him. He looked up to the TV as a picture of Max came on, describing her as a 'patriot without a cause'. "Hot one. She's big news, her. All about the fairness and bouncing, shaking it with her homies. I'd love to scoop her."
"That's my sister." Jondy said dryly, wondering why Scott didn't know.
"No shit." Scott said, thinking she was joking and then seeing the picture of seriousness on Jondy's face. "Serious? Ouch. Sorry. But your parents musta bin hell good looking."
"Parents. Yeah." Jondy snorted, swallowing her olive then getting up. "Let's go join the party upstairs. Maybe I'll even give you that dance."
Scott smiled softly and followed, wondering why she seemed so sad. He stopped her at the top of the stairs. "Your sister, you miss her, don't you?"
"Like hell."
"Bet you do. Don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see Lexy every day."
"I just wish things had been different, that I'd found out about her without her face being plastered over the news everywhere. It sure makes things hard. It'll be hell for me to get into the compound."
"I'll help." Scott offered.
"Really?" Jondy asked, not sure whether he was actually offering or just trying to make her feel better.
He nodded. "Tell you what. You go up there and party like it's 1999 with me, we finish the reception on a happy note, tell Lex the plan, wait for the honeymooners to leave and then you ride shotgun to Seattle."
"Road trip?" Jondy asked, her face breaking into a soft smile that made her eyes seem like endless tunnels of light.
"Road trip!" Scott yelled, throwing his hand into the air for a high five which Jondy complied with a smile. "All right then Zoggs. Let's loosen you up. Champers should do it."
***** Three hours later, Scott had retired to the table and Jondy was stirring things up on the dance floor. She wasn't drunk or even tipsy, but she felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. A good road trip was always what she did to clear her mind, normally on her motorbike, and Scott knew that. She felt blessed at having such a great friend who would take her to another state just to visit her sister. But it was more than that. She saw the way Scott looked at her; it was the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn't looking. The way she wanted to study every part of his face, and watch how his mouth creased up at the corners when he smiled. She finally felt carefree, she was gonna get out and see her sister. Road trip, she thought happily.
Thick n' Thin
Chapter One
Summary ~ After Freak Nation, Jondy tries to get by in a seemingly even crueller and colder world.
San Francisco, 2021
"Zoggs! Wake up!" Jondy heard as she squinted her eyes into the sunlight at the figure who had thrown open her curtains.
"What?" She asked groggily, throwing her blanket completely over her head and curling up in a little ball inside it.
"Hello! 5am! Wake up call, remember!" Jondy's roommate and best friend Lexy yelled. They were going to be bridesmaids for their friend Dione's wedding.
"Sorry. Too much alcohol last night. Haven't slept so much in years."
"You're forgetting New Years Eve." Lexy replied smartly, walking over to Jondy's bed and trying unsuccessfully to pull her blanket off. "You better be ready for make up in 10 minutes."
"I'm ready now! Just gotta splash some water on my face." She walked into the adjoining bathroom that she shared with Lexy and Lexy's twin brother Scott. They had pretty much adopted Jondy after meeting her at a bar when she was 17 and had been looking for a trustworthy roommate at the time. After talking with her for just 10 minutes, they knew they had found a true friend. They had discovered she was a transgenic after the constant news reports as they had known about her barcode 'tattoo' but they had grown up with a lot of money and people wanting to use them and their evil money- hungry, and Jondy had looked past that, looked past their harsh relatives when others wouldn't. So Scott and Lexy, after a nanosecond of thinking, had easily been able to look past the cruel factor of Jondy's existence.
Jondy walked into the kitchen when Lexy walked in, having just woken up her brother who had to be ready to be Best Man. The threesome's best friend's, Dione and Greg, fondly known as Catch were getting married after a three year relationship. They too knew of Jondy's past but their unpleasant upbringings made them immediately not care. They too were of high social standing in their families and had grown up being best friends, as their mothers were. They had run away together when they were 18 and met Jondy, Lexy and Scott soon after. After small prods from their friends, they had become a couple, a happy one at that, and the rest as they say is history.
"That brother is going to be the death of me." Lexy said, shaking her head as she poured herself a cup of coffee in their above-average apartment.
"What did he do this time?" Jondy asked grinning. She loved how close Lexy and Scott were, it felt so comforting and reminded her of her own siblings, although sometimes it made her yearn for them. As Lexy raved on about Scott's hangover and the stripper asleep on his floor, Jondy couldn't help but wonder how Max was doing. She had seen her on TV and only Dione's wedding and the constant media attention as well as the threat of being captured was keeping her away from Seattle. Okay, Jondy admitted to herself, that was a lot, but Maxie meant so much to her and only those possibilities kept her away.
"Hello? Wakey wakey Zoggs!" Lexy snapped her fingers in front of Jondy's face as a magician might do in front of a hypnotized person.
"Sorry. Zoned out." Jondy apologized. She couldn't remember where the nickname Zoggs had come from, she suspected it was the result of a late night drunken talking fest she, Lexy and Scott normally had and she was now fond of the nickname.
"Aiight, Scott has to be at Catch's by 6 and Dione should be arriving any second with her mother and the hairdresser slash make up artist.
"Hairdresser slash make up artist?"
"The hairdresser IS the make up artist. After Dee made up with her mum she insisted she use her aunt as the hairdresser, slash make up artist."
"Right." Jondy nodded, never really understanding the strange things families seemed to value. She knew she valued nothing as much as she valued her Manticore siblings or her friends. She looked up from her bowl of mushy porridge as the stripper from Catch's bucks party the night before failed at getting out of the apartment unnoticed. Scott wandered out of his room soon after, dressed in loose blue cargo pants and a t-shirt and carrying a black zip-up bag containing his perfectly straight suit Jondy had ironed compulsively the night before. Dee's pre-wedding jitters had rubbed off on her and she wanted everything to be perfect almost as much as Dee did. Scott left for Catch's after being thrown an apple for breakfast from Jondy and Dee arrived soon after, nervously clutching three long white zip up bags, and standing in front of two impatient looking older women.
"Let's get suited up then!" Jondy said excitedly after being handed her bag.
***** "Cheers!" Everyone chorused as Scott finished his loud speech and toasted the bride and groom proudly. Jondy, who was sitting on Catch's left stood up nervously, mentally preparing herself for the 'mission.'
Deep breath, relax, make eye contact, smile. "When I first met Greg and Dione, I had never known such emotionally desperate people. They were two beautiful beings, but they both seemed so lost. That immediately changed when they found each other. Their love has touched us all, never has there been something so innocent, so beautiful, so pure. I cannot imagine them being without each other, their souls are linked as one and I'm sure they will be for many years to come. To their love." Jondy finished, smiling broadly at making it through her carefully planned speech without error.
Go Jon, she silently praised herself. If only dear daddy Deck could see me now. Soft brown hair in angelic curls, strapless baby blue gown bringing out her eyes, an accented figure. She patiently sat through the other toasts, even those by the pathetically lame Scott and Catch, who could cause murder when they got together. They had decided to toast everyone from the wine maker to Eyes Only. Thankfully for them, the wedding guests were quite tipsy and those who weren't, such as Jondy were just naturally tolerant. She had swapped from champagne to water after their first three toasts, to Catch's dog, his grandfather and the maker of his bow tie. She felt a pang in her bladder and caught Lexy's eyes, signalling she heads to go to the bathroom. Lexy nodded and smiled, as though to say she'd cover for her. Jondy made her way down the stairs from where the function centre was on the second floor to the bar on the first, where the toilets were located. She escaped to the bar for a martini, "very dry" and sat watching the TV. She widened her eyes as she saw live coverage of Terminal City. The number of reporters and camera crews had died down considerably. I guess maybe the media frenzy is finally coming to a halt. About time. Maybe now I can contact Maxie. She'd been craving to see her sister ever since she fell thought the ice and for years Jondy had a sick feeling in her stomach, as though something was wrong and Max was dead. But, as she later realised, that feeling was there because Max was alive. It was Jondy worrying about her little sister. That feeling had increased when Max had become involved in the 'Jam Pony Hostage Crisis' but had settled down as she saw the live footage of a man throw himself into the line of fire for protection of her sister. She was sure Maxie was in good hands.
"There you are!" Scott exclaimed, coming down the stairs at the far end of the bar causing the ten or so other people in the bar to turn and stare at Jondy. She blushed, but as usual Scott the loudmouth didn't notice. "Come on, Jon, you gotta come shake your ass on the floor."
"I will not shake my anything." Jondy said, turning back to her glass and swirling around the olive absentmindedly. She had quickly become accustomed to the world outside of Manticore and could fit in almost anywhere with as much knowledge and class to be a such 'Lady of the Manor.' Scott came and sat down next to her, ordering a shot of vodka and downing it as soon as it sat in front of him. He looked up to the TV as a picture of Max came on, describing her as a 'patriot without a cause'. "Hot one. She's big news, her. All about the fairness and bouncing, shaking it with her homies. I'd love to scoop her."
"That's my sister." Jondy said dryly, wondering why Scott didn't know.
"No shit." Scott said, thinking she was joking and then seeing the picture of seriousness on Jondy's face. "Serious? Ouch. Sorry. But your parents musta bin hell good looking."
"Parents. Yeah." Jondy snorted, swallowing her olive then getting up. "Let's go join the party upstairs. Maybe I'll even give you that dance."
Scott smiled softly and followed, wondering why she seemed so sad. He stopped her at the top of the stairs. "Your sister, you miss her, don't you?"
"Like hell."
"Bet you do. Don't know what I'd do if I couldn't see Lexy every day."
"I just wish things had been different, that I'd found out about her without her face being plastered over the news everywhere. It sure makes things hard. It'll be hell for me to get into the compound."
"I'll help." Scott offered.
"Really?" Jondy asked, not sure whether he was actually offering or just trying to make her feel better.
He nodded. "Tell you what. You go up there and party like it's 1999 with me, we finish the reception on a happy note, tell Lex the plan, wait for the honeymooners to leave and then you ride shotgun to Seattle."
"Road trip?" Jondy asked, her face breaking into a soft smile that made her eyes seem like endless tunnels of light.
"Road trip!" Scott yelled, throwing his hand into the air for a high five which Jondy complied with a smile. "All right then Zoggs. Let's loosen you up. Champers should do it."
***** Three hours later, Scott had retired to the table and Jondy was stirring things up on the dance floor. She wasn't drunk or even tipsy, but she felt like the weight of the world had been lifted from her shoulders. A good road trip was always what she did to clear her mind, normally on her motorbike, and Scott knew that. She felt blessed at having such a great friend who would take her to another state just to visit her sister. But it was more than that. She saw the way Scott looked at her; it was the way she looked at him when she thought he wasn't looking. The way she wanted to study every part of his face, and watch how his mouth creased up at the corners when he smiled. She finally felt carefree, she was gonna get out and see her sister. Road trip, she thought happily.
