Disclaimer: If, in a perfect world, I owned Dark Angel, I would be writing episodes for cash, not fanfic for fun…So no, if you're still wondering, I don't own Dark Angel, but I do own Justin, Dalianna, her family and all her X-siblings, but I'm more than willing to share. If you'd like to use them, please just ask. Thank you.
Timeframe: After "Freak Nation", end of Season 2
Author's note: I just want to say thank you to my public (sniff, sniff) for all of the wonderful reviews. You are what keep me writing (sniff, sniff). And I just want to thank God, and my parents…and all of the little people…
Chapter 9
Heartbreak at the Hospital
The sun sat low over Seattle, though it was only around 4 pm. Winter had definitely set in, though the planet was only a week into December. People spent less and less time outside if at all possible, and the world itself seemed bleak. Max hadn't been to Logan's since her confession, and each time he'd come to Terminal City, she'd disappeared. It was hard for Dali to see the distress in his eyes when he realized she was just trying to avoid him, so she tried to explain it to him. But Logan knew Max better than Dali had expected, he already knew why she was doing what she was doing, he just wanted to know when she would trust him enough to come face to face again.
Dali knew what she had to do, and she knew she didn't have a lot of time to do it. But she hoped she was doing the right thing, when she knocked on Alec's door. He opened it swiftly, as though he had been waiting for her.
"You ready?" she asked calmly.
"As I'll ever be," he replied.
"How far away is it?"
"Normally, an hour. The way I drive…roughly 20 minutes."
"Perfect," Dali said facetiously.
A few moments later, they sped off into the night. The wind passing caused her hair to whip back, but she hardly felt the sting as she was lost in memories of the past. Flickering lights in the windows they passed caused one specific memory to jump to mind, something that she hadn't thought about in a long time. Her first birthday party…
Dali's mom, her dad, and her little brother all stood around her as Justin brought in a birthday cake with 8 candles in it. "Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Dali, Happy Birthday to you." They sang. The chorus was music to Dali's ears. He set the cake before her, and whispered. "Make a wish and blow out the candles." Dali thought for a moment, and closed her eyes. She could still hear the wish flowing through her mind as she took a deep breath, and in seconds, the candles were extinguished. I wish that I will always be as happy as I am right now…
Apparently wishes were nothing but hopeless exasperations. For if her wish had come true, she would be with her family and friends right now, instead of riding on the back of Alec's bike, on her way to do something she never thought she'd have to do again. And I still don't get to drive…
A few minutes later, they pulled into a full parking lot; a worn, torn "Welcome to Harrington Hospital" sign leaning dangerously on a sign post. The building was pretty shabby-looking, but far better than several other hospitals they had seen. Perhaps that was why the parking lot was so full. People came from far and near to receive good medical care; which of course, Harrington was a distant cry from being, but it was as close as you could get. They hid the bike in a clove of trees nearby and stood watching the comings and goings of several people. Alec pulled out a small hunting knife.
"Are you sure about this?" he asked cautiously.
"Let's just get this over with." She took the knife from him, took a deep breath, and sliced her hand until blood ran freely. "Ok," she winced, "let me lean on you." They stood, and he took her arm and let her lean on him to give limping effect. They approached the door and went inside.
"Showtime," Alec whispered. The receptionist actually seemed genuinely concerned upon their arrival.
"What's happened?" she asked standing up.
"My friend," Alec began breathlessly, as though they'd run the whole way there, "she fell and cut herself, and I think she sprained her ankle."
"Have a seat," the nurse instructed them. "I'll try to have someone to see you right away."
Great, Dali thought, she'll try to have someone see me while I sit here and bleed to death. She put pressure on her wrist in hopes of stopping the free flow of blood, which had drizzled continuously the entire way inside, and was now pooling deeply in her palm. She closed her eyes against the throbbing in her wrist, and tried to think of something else, anything else to take her mind off of it. She never had been one to ignore pain, at least not outside Manticore.
"Are you okay?" Alec asked her. She opened her eyes to see him staring at her. Surprisingly, he seemed to really care. Before she could answer, he took his jacket off, and ripped his shirt into a strip. He then tied the strip around her hand, the blood seeping through the white cotton reminded her of fruit punch being soaked up by a paper towel. She wanted to tell him that she was fine, and he didn't have to worry about her, but as she opened her mouth, the world blurred before her, and everything went dark.
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"Dali? Dali?" a voice whispered. "Wake up." Dali's head was pounding, as her eyes slowly opened to reveal darkness all around her. She gave her eyes a moment to adjust to the lack of light, and saw that Alec was kneeling over her. She sat up quickly.
"What happened?"
"I knew this was a bad idea. You lost too much blood, you must've hit a vein or something. Generally, it wouldn't have bothered you that much, but you just got over being sick. How deep did you make that cut anyway?"
Dali looked down at her bandage, which she could still see the blood soaking through, and shook her head. "It doesn't matter. Where are we?" She looked around, and for the first time, noticed buckets, brooms and mops all around her.
"We're in a janitor's closet. I had to get you out of the waiting room before someone noticed you'd passed out."
Dali opened the door and peeked through. "Why are there sector police patrolling the hallways?"
"Duh, to stop thieves like us."
She gave him a look. "We're just going to have to wait until shift change."
Alec looked at his watch. "But that's probably not for another 2 ½ hours!" he hissed.
"What can I say? Take a nap."
Alec sighed. "I'm stuck in a closet with a female transgenic fugitive breaking and entering, not to mention stealing, so that Max and Logan can get hot and heavy…Anybody else feelin déjà vu?
Dali heard his fugitive remark, but chose to ignore it as she rolled her eyes. "We're not doing this so Max and Logan can 'get hot and heavy', as you so eloquently put it. It's just something I have to do for her. She deserves it." She settled back against the wall. It was going to be a long night.
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Dali was sitting at a table. She looked up, and saw a young boy with braided hair and honey brown eyes just like hers. She smiled.
"What's up Shorty?" she said. He just looked at her. "Dominic?" The boy smiled, and stood to walk over to her. He held up his hand, palm first, and she put hers up to his.
"Angels in heaven, from up above…" he started.
"…are looking down on me with love…" she whispered back, smiling. The surrounding silence was then broken by the familiar sound of a gun barrel being spun. Dali looked around, but saw nothing. Two seconds later, a silenced gunshot could be heard, and Dominic took his hand from Dali's. He put it on the growing spot of blood on his shirt. He looked up at Dali.
"Am I in trouble?" he gasped, and fell to the ground.
"No! Dominic!" Dali felt a hand over her mouth, and her eyes flew open.
"Shh!" Dali panicked. She felt her heart race, and her breath quicken; she tried desperately to sit up, forgetting where she was. "Calm down," Alec hissed. "They're gonna hear us." Dali stilled as she remembered where she was and what she was doing. Nonetheless, a flashlight shone through the glass pane in the door to the closet.
"I heard it from in here," said a male voice into a walkie. "I'm going to check it out. Over."
"Oh crap, now look what you've done." Alec looked up at the pipes above them.
"Sorry," Dali whispered. They both stood, leapt into the pipes, and hung there watching as the door opened, and a sector policeman entered. He took a few steps into the dark room and looked around. Then he walkied his backup.
"I got nothing. Must've been a rat or something. Over."
A rat…in a hospital? My, we've sunk low. Dali thought to herself, as the blood began to rush to her head. A wave of dizziness passed over her, and she felt as though she might pass out again. That's it. If I keep hangin up here, we're definitely going to get caught. She swung her legs down, and wrapped them around the guard's neck. He never even saw it coming, and in seconds, was unconscious on the ground. Dali released the pipes and knelt to the ground.
"Let's go," she said to Alec in a soft voice. She turned and as soon as she heard the low thud of Alec's feet hitting the floor behind her, she opened the door and peeked out. There wasn't a soul in sight. They crept out the door and down the hall. "I think the supply room's on the 3rd floor. What floor are we on?" she asked.
"The second. We'll have to take the stairs, it's safer." At the end of the hall, was a stairwell. Dali and Alec took the stairs slowly, so as not to notify any more guards, and upon reaching the third floor hallway, found it completely empty. About 4 doors down, they found the supply room. Alec jimmied it open, and Dali walked in, using her hypersight in the dark to distinguish between medicines and chemicals. She walked the aisles, picking up syringes, needles, a bottle of detergent, alcohol and various other medicinal tools and tablets that she needed, and placing them in the small black bag she had brought with her. A few minutes later, Alec's voice broke through the darkness.
"Are you done yet?"
"Nope, I still need one more thing: pineapple extract, or contact lens solution. But I can't find any. Can you help me?" Alec left his post at the door, and came up behind her to help look.
"Well, it's a hospital, they might have contact lens solution, but what do you need it for anyway?"
"It's an enzyme, it's used to extract DNA from cells."
"It's right there." He pointed it out to her. She retrieved the bottle from the shelf, and smiled brightly at him.
"The thrill of victory…"
"FREEZE!" said a voice behind a bright flashlight.
Dali closed her eyes in the intense light, and sighed. "…oh, and the agony of defeat."
The lights in the room suddenly came on, and Dali squinted as her pupils contracted. White stepped from behind the flashlight.
"927," he addressed her.
"Scum of the earth," she replied just as icily.
"Didn't think we'd be seeing each other so soon again did you?" Dali narrowed her eyes, but didn't say anything. "Yeah, me neither. I must say, it did unnerve me when I found out that you were Manticore's perfect creation. Knowing that I had you and let you slip through my fingers didn't sit too well with the board members. But I knew I would find you again, so here we are. And with 494 no less. Good job 494, you're free to go." Dali glared at Alec.
"You told them!" she exclaimed.
"No way!" he denied. "I didn't even know. I don't know how they found out. But I swear I didn't say anything."
"Liar," she seethed. Two of White's men came up behind her and took her by the arms.
"Take her away…and sedate her." White instructed.
"How could you?" she whispered as they dragged her away.
Alec turned on White and slugged him in the face. "You son of a bitch! Bring her back."
White recoiled. "Temper, temper 494. We had a deal."
"I don't want any part in your deal. Bring her back now."
"Or what?" White asked with a mock smile on his face. The lights went out then, and punches, kicks and all kinds of blows could be heard. When they came back on, White's men were laid out on the floor, but White himself was still standing. "What did you do?" he asked angrily, but Alec looked just as surprised as he did.
"I didn't do anything. What did you do?"
Before White could answer, a young golden-haired transgenic boy stepped out. White was clearly outnumbered.
"I see. No matter. I got what I came for. See ya around 494. Oh, and make sure you send my regards to 452." He turned to leave, and suddenly, a gun was pointed at the back of his head. Slowly, he turned to face the boy.
"Bring her back," he said frostily.
"And who might you back?" White wondered.
"The last face you'll ever see if you don't bring her back right now. Not now, but right now."
White stared at him for a few moments, inwardly wondering if the young transgenic who stood before him, that he'd never seen before, could really take his life. White shrugged, he knew he would have his chance again. He took a radio from his waist, and radioed his men.
"This is White. Bring her in." Moments later, two armed gunmen came in carrying Dali's unconscious body and dropped her at Alec's feet. Alec knelt at her side and glared at Ames.
"What did you do to her?"
"SOP, Standard Operating Procedures. She's been given a tranquilizer to keep her from attempting escape…but apparently, that was obsolete." He turned to leave. "Gentleman."
The boy didn't lower his gun until White was completely out the door.
"Why didn't you shoot him?" Alec asked standing face to face with the younger transgenic.
"He serves another purpose. Killing him now would have put us at a disadvantage."
"Yeah, well color me confused, but I thought having him alive was our disadvantage." The boy didn't answer. "Who the hell are you anyway?"
"My designation's 812."
"Also known as…"
"Randy. And you are?"
"Alec," he replied. Randy raised an eyebrow at him. "494," Alec clarified. "Look, we don't have time for this, let's get Dali—"
"Lacey."
"Whoever she is, and get back to Terminal City…Max is gonna kill me." Together, they hoisted the young girl up, and carried her out the door.
Post: Thank you to everyone who has given reviews. Next chapter up soon.
