DADDY'S GIRLS


Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel. Fox does. Although they don't seem to know what to do with it, so maybe they should just give it to me?


Author's Note: Sorry, this is soo late. If you need somebody to assign the blame to, blame Syrai … or Forsaken – two of our beloved little tAS Rulemakers – they've had me writing non-stop HR fics, so I've had no time for this one. 8-)

Oh, but also, since so many of you were so relieved at my playing with the timelines… can I just point out that originally I was simply gonna do a lot of flashbacks, so you would have got the childhood anyway. All that happened was that I just got bored with that idea. There are too many flashbacks in DA fanfiction as it is… wanted something different for a change...

As for the pairing, which is also being asked about a lot … I've simply not made my mind up yet…Well…I have…but I'm not quite sure whether I've got the courage to actually do it… You'll just have to wait and see. ;)


Chapter 4 – Thinking Further

"Ben?" she repeated, stumbling backwards.

"W-what?" the male transgenic stared up at her. His jaw hanging slackly on its hinge as his large hazel eyes stared up at her. Rachel had sat up on the bed. Her own bright eyes darkened as she took in her sister's sudden weird behaviour.

"Ben?" Maxine repeated. The back of her shins hit the bed. Her breath came in short, rugged gasps. "Ben?"

"Who?" The male transgenic asked. His brows knitted in confusion as he tilted his head slightly, staring his companion.

Maxine saw this. The air she had trapped in her lungs rushed out, her face relaxed and her expression closed. "Nothing," she shrugged, turning away… and then, realising that her companions would never settle without an explanation. "You just reminded me of someone I knew once, that's all…" she sighed, sitting down on the bed. She brought one leg up to rest sideways on her knee and took off her shoe, gently massaging her foot.

Behind her, Rachel gave an impatient snort and collapsed backwards against the pillows, folding her arms over her face. Any other day she might have interrogated her sister until she found out who 'Ben' was, why he seemed to be such a touchy subject and how exactly Simon reminded her of him … but, for the first time in her life, Rachel found that she just didn't care … Too much had happened tonight already. All she wanted now was to be left in peace … to think … to grieve … to cry …

The young male stared bewildered from one female to the other. He had never meet two more confusing women in his life. First they were crying and screaming at him, then they were calling him weird names … and now they were just silently sitting there. Almost as if nothing had happened and they were just … going to sleep? He rolled his eyes in exasperation. Couldn't they just pick one mode of behaviour and stick to it? Please?

Maxine dropped her shoe on the floor and turned around slightly to adjust her pillows so she could lie down herself. As she turned her dull brown eyes caught sight of her sister's unanimated state. She understood at once, because the same dead feeling was cruising though her. Numbing her. Making her feel sick.

Wordlessly she replaced her shoe and reached across to give her Rachel's hand a comforting squeeze. "I'm going out," she exclaimed, standing up, "Need to … work things over … we'll be back in a bit."

Rachel made no acknowledgement, but the male raised his head. "We?" he asked.

Maxine turned on him, her eyes narrowing as she took a few threatening steps towards him. "Yes we," she growled, "What? You didn't think I'd leave you alone with her after everything you've done, did you?"

Wordlessly the male transgenic got to his feet and pulled on the jacket he'd taken from the Berrisford's house.


The two figures emerged silently from the motel lobby into the dusky haze of the night. There were no streetlamps in this part of town and there was no moon, so the only light they had to see by were few stars that weren't obscured by the heavy grey clouds that hung ominously in the sky above them. A cold night breeze rushed though the street, disturbing part of the layer of litter that lined the pavement.

Maxine sighed, glancing down at her attire. She wasn't exactly dressed for this. Admittedly her dark figure-hugging jeans and her black slip-on shoes might just do at a pinch, but there was no way she fail to attract attention strolling down a cold street in the middle of the night wearing a silk low-cut blouse – and besides that her entire outfit was far too high-quality for an area like this. If anyone saw her they could only assume one of two things, she was either a high-class prostitute – or worse, they'd think she was exactly what she was, a rich kid who'd strayed too far from home, in which case, word would almost certainly get back to their pursuers. She seriously needed to cover up.

Right on cue, she felt a hand touch her elbow. She spun round, to see be greet by the sight of the light-brown trench coat the male transgenic had taken from her home. She took it in silence – her good manners preventing her from biting his head off for the kind gesture simply because the coat had been her father's favourite. 'Had been,' she flinched inwardly at her own thought.

The male seemed to sense her distress because he reached a hand out to touch her shoulder… but she batted him away angrily. "Thanks," she muttered angrily, "But look, you, erm… Do you have a name?"

The male raised an eyebrow in response. "Well…" he finally mumbled, "I assumed the name of Simon La'Hane for the miss…"

"I meant besides that!" Maxine snapped irritably, then paused her voice softening slightly as she tried to explain, "I just mean … that … I've heard that erm... Manticore kids sometimes give each other names and I was wondering…"

The male shook his light brown head. "I dunno where you get your sources from," he shrugged, "But if that went on at all – well, not in my unit…" He frowned suddenly. "How do you know so much ab…"

"Then what's your barcode?" Maxine interrupted quickly.

"I'm X5-494," he replied.

A sudden distant look spread over her face at this news. Her jaw hung slightly open and her eyes seemed to glaze over as she seemed to stare at the wall directly behind 494.

"What?" he snapped in exasperation, advancing upon her, "What is it Maxine? You keep doing this! What the hell is the significance of my barcode? How do know so much about Manticore? Who is Ben?"

Suddenly he felt a fist collide with his jaw. His back slammed into the dirty concrete behind him, knocking his head against a metal dustbin as he fell.

Slowly his vision cleared again, and he sat up, rubbing the newly formed bump on his head, as he glanced up and down the street. He scowled, throwing a few newly learned cruses at the empty street in front of him. Maxine was gone.


Panting the dark-haired girl collapsed against the grimy tarmac of the empty street. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she sobbed bitterly into the unforgiving gravel. A single name choking over and over again though her raw lips. "Daddy, Daddy, Daddy, Daddy…"

She lay there for ages, oblivious to her surroundings, until suddenly she felt a hand on her shoulder. "Are you alright, Miss?" She glanced up into the toothless wizened old face of a homeless old man. Instantly she leapt to her feet, knocking the ancient creature to the floor, as she raced though the night. Soft choking sounds still escaped her lips, as she ran wildly through the city, blinded by her tears. Anxious to find some place to be alone.

A car swerved and screeched to a halt around her as she emerged into a main road, but she ran onwards oblivious to the driver's yells as she searched for a place of solitude. Anywhere were she could be alone. Where she could think. Where she could cry. In peace.

She didn't know what drove her there in the end, all she knew was that she eventually found herself perched many miles above the city, her head resting on her knees, tears streaming down into the dark denim, on the edge of the space needle.

Suddenly her head shot upwards. Wild brown eyes staring into the night as she whispered, she murmured, she prayed, she called, she screamed, "Daddy, Daddy! Daddy! Daddy! DAD-DEY!" Her face collapsed against her knees again and she cried, losing herself in the grief that had been tormenting her all day, the loneliness that had been eating into her all her life, the loss that she had gained now that the last person who had ever really come close to filling that void in her life was gone from it again forever.

Then out of the blue she felt something warm and light spread over the tips of her shoes. She glanced up and her breath left her, as her glistening eyes suddenly shone in a brilliant mauve. Her skin was glowing bright pink. Even her hair had gained a bluish tint, as she stared breath taken into the gorgeous sight of sunrise over Seattle.

She suddenly realised that she had been here all night.

It was like a row a of dominos had been set up in her mind and somebody had just pushed the first one over. She couldn't believe what an idiot she'd been. She'd been here, howling at a figurative moon, while in the meantime her unprotected baby sister was left all by herself in a motel room in a city that was being searched by hostiles. Worse, she'd allowed 494 to room free though the city without assessing his loyalties first. In fact she'd even punched him in the face to practically make sure he betrayed them. What if he decided to go rat to Lydecker about them? He knew exactly where Rachel was. She could be taken by a tac-team in just a few minutes. She'd been here for hours, it had only been around ten when she left 494… Was it already too late?

Before she even knew what she was doing, Maxine bolted back towards the entrance to the Space Needle stairwell.


As soon as she reached the road she heard them. Then saw them. Men. Navy blue uniforms. Guns. Soldiers. Manticore.

Maxine drew back a little, her hands flat against the wall behind her, her pupils dilated as she stared, trying to get all the information she could about the treat in front of her. There were fifteen of them, all obviously soldiers, well armed, gathered round two black vehicles at the front of the motel. They seemed to be waiting for something… 'What?' Maxine wondered, frowning slightly as she bit her lip, 'Orders? Reinforcements?' She shook her head. Then suddenly it struck her… 'Perhaps these were the reinforcements? Perhaps they were merely waiting for the call from some unit inside? From someone inside. Someone incredibly strong with genetic enhancements … like 494 …'

Maxine gulped, and pressed herself against the wall a little harder as her mind ruthlessly ploughed further into it's conspiracy theories, 'What if they weren't reinforcements at all? What if they were simply waiting for redeployment … after the mission had already finished?' A fresh deep crimson pearl of blood began to form on her lip at that idea. No…she didn't even want to think about that…

She burst forwards, free of the wall straight down onto the hard concrete. Her spring-like hands, either side of her head, protecting her face from the fall. In one swift movement she pulled herself forwards, behind the shelter of a nearby car. Relaxing slightly, she let a mischievous smirk flitter over her face, as she was now fairly safe from detection by the soldiers.

Maxine inched backwards. Shuffling each tiny step. Faster and faster, until suddenly she spun around and darted towards the end of the street in an awkward crouch, driving behind the safety of the building at the end of the row.

In less than five minutes, Maxine had circled around the block of houses and located the bare dirty piece of concrete calling itself the motel's backyard. She stole herself forwards softly, her eyes regarding the tall concrete wall. Slipping her shoes from her feet, she climbed up onto a metal dustbin, keeping her balance with catlike grace.

She took a deep breath and jumped. The dustbin clattered to the floor, causing an awful racket. Maxine's fingers seized on the edge of a windowsill, breathing a sigh of relief, she kicked against the wall and pulled herself upwards.

A piercing scream came from inside the room. Maxine's eyes went wide as she stared through the open window.

A blonde was staring at her from the motel bed, clutching the blanket over her chest to preserve her modesty. Max couldn't quite work out why, since shooting her head up at transgenic speed had meant she'd seen everything already anyway. Though, unfortunately for him, the blonde's actions did leave the butt-naked guy beside her completely uncovered. Maxine wondered for a moment if he'd catch a cold. Nah, he had all that flab to protect him.

"Don't mind me," she smiled at them, "I'm just passing." She freed one hand and gave them a small wave.

Very slowly, the poor bewildered guy raised one of his own and jerked it in a limp waving motion.

Maxine's grin broadened. "Carry on then," she quipped, reaching up for the top of the window frame to climb further. She paused and lowered herself down again.

"Oh and by the way," she told the bewildered man who was still sitting still as a statue gaping at her, "Don't forget to top up her money. We all know watchers cost extra." Maxine smirked cheekily and hurriedly climbed out of sight.

Finally, about two stories later, she found herself directly underneath the window she knew to be the room she had shared with Rachel and 494. Straining her enhanced ears she heard … nothing.

Maxine let out a breath she hadn't known she'd been holding. Nothing… no screams, no sounds of a struggle, no gunshots. That meant nothing was going down in there at the moment. So … was she still in time for the party? Or had everything happened already, and there were no sounds because the room was empty? Either way – Maxine decided she wasn't going to hang around out here waiting.

Her hands shot up, closing on the sill. Her arms tensed, and she kicked off against the wall, swinging upwards in a wide arch, until her behind smashed against the cold glass and she tumbled ass-first though the window, landing in a heap against the radiator.

"MAXIE?!" a shrill voice gasped, "What the hell are you doing?!"

A stupid grin spread over Maxine's face as she caught sight of her sister, safe, sitting up in her bed doing a remarkably good impression of the woman three floors below. She jumped to her feet and almost blurred as she flew across the bed to hug her.

"Come on," Maxine muttered urgently, as she finally let go of the gasping Rachel again, "Get your things. We need to get out of here. Now."

Rachel frowned. "Why?" she demanded, "What's going on? Tell me!"

Maxine shook her head. "There's no time," she hissed, grabbing her sister's wrist, "Come on! We've gotta go! Now!"

"W-what about Simon?" Rachel asked, sliding out of the bed.

Her sister's face hardened. "Don't worry about him," she half-growled, "I'm pretty sure he's he's gone running home to Daddy to rat on us."

"You should know by now that I'd never betray Rachel, 452," came an answering voice from the doorway.