Disclaimer: I own Dark Angel, and am solely responsible for its ratings and subsequent cancellation. ;)
Actually, I am a poor suffering student. I own nothing.
A/N: I apologise to all those out there that were looking forward to Logan and Max's meeting. I'm leaving you hanging until the next chapter. I am truly sorry. I've had Kia in my head for a while, and wanted you to meet her. I had fun writing this, and fun with Brianna's character, which pretty much came from nowhere. I've been putting off posting this chapter, as it's different from the last few, and I didn't know if anyone would like it. To make up for it, I've been stalling until I have more of chapter seven (Max and Logan's reunion) finished so that if you are disappointed, the wait for M/L shouldn't be too long- should be up before Wednesday. Fingers crossed!
New CO chapter six – Kia
*** Sacramento, DAY ***
Zane gave a frustrated groan and shut the phone book. He'd spent two days in Sacramento, reading phonebooks and riding through the city on a stolen motorcycle, but still had no clue on how to find Kia. He opened the local paper and settled back in his chair, thinking to himself that he didn't have the patience to be a commanding officer. He flicked through the pages quickly, wondering how long it would take him to get back to Seattle.
A smile slowly spread over Zane's face as his eyes fell on the ad at the bottom of the page. He glanced at the address briefly, sat back in his chair, and grinned.
Zane approached the building, forcing himself to walk at a regular pace. The newspaper ad was in his back pocket. He'd memorised the information in the ad almost instantly, but felt somewhat comforted by having it with him. He stopped in front of the address and looked up at the sign above the old and crumbling building entrance that read 'community centre' in faded letters. Taking a deep breath, Zane walked toward the entrance.
In contrast to the outside, the inside of the building was well maintained, looking bright and inviting. The walls had been painted in the last six months, no lights needed replacing, and there were plants in the corners. A small sign was the only indication that the building had been converted into a martial arts school. The X5 looked around, taking in details. The community centre had once been bigger, with post-pulse renovations evident. The ceiling was lower, the centre now appearing to accommodate a second floor.
Zane approached the desk, which doubled as a kiosk. There was nobody behind it. He picked the top sheet off a stack of yellow flyers and read it. On the sheet were the details of all of the classes that were held at the school, their times, rooms, and instructors. Zane grinned as he read Kia's name, and checked his watch. According to the schedule, his sister was teaching a women's self defence class in the blue room. He took a few steps away from the counter-kiosk and towards the rooms.
There was no blue door. Zane walked down the wide, well-lit hallway, looking for evidence of a blue room. He could hear the sounds of several classes going on, muffled by the doors, at least two of them led by female instructors. He looked back at the flyer in his hand. It was ten to five, and, according to the schedule, there were four classes underway, two of them close to finishing. Zane listened carefully, then chose one of the rooms with a female instructor.
He ran his hands over the door. The conversion, and subsequent renovation, of the centre to the small school had obviously included the doors. Zane smiled to himself, wondering why he had been looking for a blue door when this one was clearly the one he was looking for. The door was a work of art. It was a design that incorporated newspaper headlines and clippings, all having to do with women's rights and reports of attacks on women. A large painted symbol had been drawn over the top of all of the clippings, and lettering foreign to Zane was painted around and over the newspaper. If any of the doors led to a self-defence class, this one was the one. He slowly turned the handle, and pushed the door open.
The blue room was a fitting name for the martial arts class. Each wall was painted blue, with mirrors lining the wall adjacent to the wall with the door. There were posters with tips on self-defence around the room, and a blackboard mounted on the wall opposite the mirrors. The instructor was standing at the front, the class having finished, and was addressing her students. Zane frowned briefly. The flyer had said this was a women's self defence class, but instead the class was filled with children, both male and female. The wall at the back of the room was lined with parents, watching the class and waiting to take their children home. As the class broke up, and the children began heading to the back of the room to find their parents, Zane took a position against the wall, and turned his eyes to his sister, now talking to one of her students.
Zane had waited his entire post-escape life for this moment. He was about to talk to one of his siblings, and watch the signs of recognition and realisation spread over Kia's face as she realised who he was.
The instructor was still talking to the young student, so Zane briefly considered what the first thing he would say to his sister should be. The door to the blue room opened, and a man, who Zane assumed to be the student's father, stuck his head in and smiled. The girl grinned at him, and rushed off, yelling thanks to her instructor. Zane looked back to the front of the room. Kia, for the moment choosing to ignore him, was wiping the back of her neck with a towel. She took a drink of water, and Zane took the time to study her.
His first thought was that she was perfect, and beautiful. Perfectly beautiful. Her hair, currently in a ponytail, was a deep red-brown colour, and her eyes a gorgeous shade of green, framed by long eyelashes. She was taller than he'd thought she would be, only slightly shorter than he, with long legs, and curves and muscles in all the right places. Zane stood, looking at her, and allowed his mind to wander.
*** Flashback, Manticore ***
"Zane. Zane. I don't know." Max repeated his new name over and over. He started to get annoyed with her. She already had a name, after all. What was wrong with him having one? He liked it. He'd heard it on the – he searched for the exact word for the contraband – portable television one of the guards had. A lady had been talking about someone with a 'zany sense of humour.' Tinga, who had been standing next to him, straining to see the television, had repeated the word. 'Zane.' They'd argued, he'd thought that the woman on the contraband had said 'zany,' but Tinga insisted that it was 'zane.' For the next day, every time he had passed Tinga, he hissed out the word 'zany,' and she'd say, in as loud a voice as she dared, 'zane.' The others had picked up on it, one by one, and now each said 'zane' whenever they encountered him. When they'd started talking about names, it was the only one that he could think of. He was a soldier. He was a number. What did he know about names? When he'd suggested it, Tinga had laughed and immediately agreed. Now Max wasn't sure, and X5-205 knew that he wanted the name more than anything.
"Zane, where is beta group?" Max asked suddenly, and Zane thought he'd burst with pride at having her use his name. She was one of the youngest, but all of the X5s in their unit craved her approval.
"They- they're not back yet. Max." Zane remembered to use her name. She smiled briefly. "I'll get Zack." He continued, then left her watching the door to the barracks. Today, alpha group had finished their escape and evade exercise early, and were waiting for the other half of their unit to arrive. On his way out, Zane collided with an X5 male, who had yet to think of a name. The X5, X5-792, was from beta group.
"792, what's the rush?" Zane asked in as commanding a voice as he could manage. The soldier was shaking, and looked terrified.
"Where- is- 599- Zack?" The boy gasped out, correcting himself mid-sentence when he remembered about their names. He was looking around frantically.
"Zack is in a briefing with Colonel Lydecker." Zane answered. "I'm SIC. What's the problem?" X5-792, still shaking, breathed in deeply.
"It's 426, she's- she's- K.I.A." he answered. Zane and Max exchanged a glance, then, without words, followed 792 back out of the door. They got half way across the yard when they encountered Zack, returning from his briefing, and 792 started sobbing out his story.
"…and now, she's K.I.A." he finished. None of the X5s had noticed two more members of the beta group approach.
"Who's KIA?" One interrupted, and the four X5s turned to look at her. It was X5-426.
"You are." 792 answered, looking like he'd seen a ghost.
The joke of 426 being KIA quickly spread around the small unit, and 792, embarrassed by his mistake, vowed to slow down. The other 5s had found this funny, as he was the fastest of all of them, and was always in a hurry to do everything. Brin, in a fit of laughter at hearing his vow dubbed him 'Rush,' which stuck. As for 426, she'd been known as Kia from the second the words had first left Rush's mouth. It became a fitting name for the small but strong X5, as she was mistaken as K.I.A. twice more before they escaped from Manticore. They had joked that they should have called her Phoenix, as she kept 'rising again.'
*** Phoenix School of Martial Arts, DAY ***
"I said, can I help you?" The voice broke into Zane's thoughts, startling him. He blinked, and looked at the woman in front of him. Kia. He searched her face for signs of recognition, but didn't see any. In fact, Zane didn't recognise her either. She looked nothing like the young soldier he had known, and her voice sounded nothing like the young Kia, or the Kia that had checked in on the contact number.
"Kia?" he asked with uncertainty. The woman in front of him shook her head and smiled.
"We switched rooms today. Kia's working with the attack dummies in the dark room. I can take you there if you'd like." Zane suddenly found he couldn't speak, something extremely rare for him. He nodded instead.
"My name's Brianna. I teach the children's self defence class." She smiled again, and Zane was desperately willing his voice to return.
"Zane." He squeaked out, instantly wishing he'd remained silent. He coughed, clearing his throat. "It's nice to meet you, Brianna. I'm Zane." He smiled back at her, briefly wondering where the 'take-charge soldier' in him had disappeared to. Probably ran away when it saw that smile, he thought dryly. Brianna led Zane out of the blue room and down the hallway. "Kia's class won't end for another half an hour" Brianna explained. "You can wait if you like, but maybe I can help you?" she asked. Zane shook his head, not trusting his voice yet.
"It's not urgent, is it?" Brianna asked, looking concerned. She looked Zane up and down, nervously. "She doesn't like her classes interrupted, but if it's urgent…"
"No, no, it's not urgent." Zane withheld a sigh of relief that his voice hadn't squeaked. "It's personal, not business." A frown crossed Brianna's face briefly before she replaced it with a bright smile. Zane didn't notice. They had stopped in front of a red door, which Brianna opened with a key.
"We can wait in here for the class to end." She smiled as they entered. "Would you shut the door? I don't like the sound of the shouts that come from next door." Had Zane been thinking clearly, he would have remembered that in the hallway, he couldn't hear shouts. He could hardly hear talking. Had he been watching Brianna carefully he would have noticed that her smile wasn't touching her eyes, which were filled with hate.
"How long have you known Kia?" Zane asked, closing the door and turning around to face Brianna. The smile that had followed his question died on his lips as the brunette in front of him grabbed him in a headlock, applying pressure to a pressure point in his neck. Zane, knowing enough about this particular pressure point to stay completely still, was utterly confused by the movement. He knew that he had speed enough to overpower her before she could do any damage, but was curious to know what was going on.
"Listen here, you piece of shit" Brianna began, in a low voice. She spat every word, leaving Zane to wonder what had happened to the friendly children's instructor he had met only minutes before.
"This pathetic obsession you have for Kia ends here, you got it? No more three a.m. phone calls, or any more of the sick letters you keep sending. She doesn't like you. She doesn't want you. And she may not care enough about you to want to break your neck, but I can tell you, I do. Stay away from her. And stay away from here. If you even think-" Brianna's last words were cut off as Zane ducked out of the headlock quickly, and crossed the room before she realised he had moved. She looked at him in surprise, and with fear.
"How did you…?" She stared at him, now standing across the room from her, watching her. She composed herself quickly, and stood in a fighting stance. "I'm a teacher at a martial arts school, buddy. I have a few talents of my own." Her words were thick with hatred, and Zane took a second to admire her fighting spirit, also admiring the way her eyes danced with anger as she watched him.
"Look, Brianna…" he started. A low growl came from her throat. He looked at her in surprise, briefly wondering if she could be an X5. The growl had been pretty cat-like. He shook off the thought, and tried again.
"I don't know who you think I am, but I'm not a stalker, or an insane murderer, or whatever you were thinking. I just want to see Kia." Brianna hadn't blinked, and Zane entertained the possibility of her being X5 once more.
"Why?" she snarled angrily, still staring at him.
"It's complicated." Zane answered. He looked at his watch. Kia's class would be ending in just over ten minutes. He didn't like the idea of a fight with one of her employees before he talked to her, especially not when he was getting over a bullet wound. X5s may heal fast, but he still didn't want to risk re-injuring his arm.
"Tell you what." He began. Her expression didn't change, but she appeared to be listening. "You can take me to her class, like you said you would. If I turn out to be a stalker, you can both beat the shit out of me. What do you say?" Brianna considered it for a moment.
"I'm going to start walking over to you now, so we can leave through the door and go to her room." Zane spoke slowly and clearly. Brianna nodded.
"If you try anything, if you even breathe wrong…" She hissed, and Zane resisted the urge to smile. It was good to know his sister had friends like this. He finished crossing the room, and let her take him in a headlock again. She applied pressure to the point on his neck, and he tried to recall all that he knew about acupressure, and how dangerous the point was.
They reached a door painted black, and Brianna released the headlock and pushed him roughly forward.
"Open the door." She said harshly. Zane's sensitive hearing heard the catch in her voice, briefly allowing the fear to show through her rough exterior. He opened the door.
The dark room, as Brianna had called it, was actually a brightly lit room that was slightly smaller than the blue room. The lights hung low, and there were several 'attack dummies' set up around the room. A poster reading 'know your weapons' was propped up against the wall, showing pictures of everyday items found in women's purses, and detailing how they could be used as weapons. Zane took in the details quickly, more concerned about getting a look at his sister than memorising the room. He grinned when he recognised her. The women had been sitting in a circle, debriefing the lesson, and were talking quietly. They had all looked up at the interruption to their class, and were now watching Brianna and Zane expectantly. The woman Zane recognised as Kia jumped up from her spot on the floor.
"B? What's up?" She asked, eyebrows raised expectantly. Her eyes fell on Zane, and she frowned, as if trying to place him. She looked at the members of her group, struggling to remember whose husband or brother this could be. She stared at him for a moment longer, and then her face went through the expressions Zane had longed to see earlier. Recognition and realisation. The smile on his face grew wider, and he stepped forward toward his sister. What he hadn't been expecting was the wicked grin that spread across her face.
"Ladies," She began, turning to face her group. "As a final treat for you today, I have a little something special. I'd like you to meet your real life attack dummy. Now, who would like to volunteer to be attacked?"