Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or anything on FOX.

Hero On the Run: Jam Pony

The next morning, Zack walked in to the place that he knew Max worked at, Jam Pony. It looked kind of like a dodgy place, and of course he didn't trust it. But the feeling was nothing new. Trust didn't come very easily to him, and that seemed pretty understandable, all things considered.

When he walked in there was a commotion going on. Max was surrounded by her new friends and was looking at a classified ad intently. She looked incredibly intense. He wondered what was going on, but quickly regained his wits.

"Who would I talk to about working here?" he inquired, causing most everyone around Max to look up, including her.

"Well, if you're smart, no one. But if you're desperate and male prostitution is out of the question, talk to that fool," replied a skinny, odd-looking guy, who pointed to another man, who was dressed in the most ridiculous clothes and had an earpiece in his ear.

"Excuse me," he said to the man, clearing his throat. "I was wondering if you had any job openings?"

"Yeah, cuz I'm not warehousing enough dead-beat, no-good bums," came the skeptical reply.

Putting on his best submissive act, because he could tell right off the bat that it would make the guy happy, Zack asked another question, "Okay. Would it be an imposition if I check back with you, sir? I'm not afraid of hard work and I'd be grateful for an opportunity to prove myself."

The man's eyes lit up immediately. "Did you just call me 'sir'?"

Zack smiled, satisfied, and nodded. "Yes, sir."

"I like that. Here. Fill this out, get it back to me in the morning," he said, handing me a crumpled piece of paper. This place is such a joke… why is Max still here? he thought, a saccharine-sweet smile on his face.

He pretended to be grateful. In a way he was, because it gave him an opportunity to make sure Max didn't do something stupid. "Thank you," he said to the man, who he later found out was named 'Normal'.

"You're welcome," Normal said and continued on with his work. Zack left without another word, just taking one last careful glance at Max.


Later that night he tracked Max's movements to a dark alley. It was late at night. What is she thinking? he thought to himself. He was hiding out on a ledge in the shadows, watching as an overweight man (who looked like he'd taken a few beatings as of late) called out to her from the other side of the alley. He could hear their conversation pretty well, thanks to his good ol' buddies at Manticore. Max was on the phone, speaking urgently to some unknown man.

"Well, it's about time you showed up. I've been running that ad for about a week," came the man's voice.

"Where are you?" inquired Max, disappointment clear in her tone.

The voice came out again, and the man left the shadows. "Turn around." She did as commanded, and looked at the man with a smirk.

"Well, it would be nice if you used your pager every once in a while," he said coolly. Zack was beginning to think that this guy was up to no good. He couldn't trust him.

"Yeah, well, I figured you handed my pager number over to the people looking for me same way you gave up Hannah," she retorted quickly. Zack might have speculated on this, but the conversation continued.

The man made a few gestures with his hands and stated matter-of-factly, "Hey, no worries. I took precautions here. We weren't followed. I've got new clothes here in case the old ones are bugged. It's just you and me, all right? We're alone."

"What do you want?" Max asked with a look of pure disgust on her face.

"How about $15,000?"

"Oh, damn, you know… I left my wallet in my other pants," she retorted in a harsh, cynical tone. "In exchange for some information about some fugitives from project Manticore, what's to stop you from taking my money and blowing me to Lydecker for the daily double?"

"Yeah, right, somebody that keeps me in a cage for two weeks, does complicated painful things to my body. I kind of want to stay away from that person, okay? Far away as possible," he replied. There was something off about him. Zack didn't know what or who he was, but he could just sense that he wasn't to be trusted.

"How do I know what you got's real?" Max asked, softening slightly.

"I got your number, didn't I? And there's more where that came from, let me tell you."

"Yeah, like what?"

"What if I were to tell you that a pal of yours from this Manticore is right here in Seattle?"

Zack's stomach sank. He knew right then that he had to do something about this guy. Max wouldn't stop until she knew who that 'pal from Manticore' was. He couldn't risk her finding him, not now. He quickly took the opportunity to snap a few pictures while she was so intent on the tidbits of information this guy was feeding her. "Who?" she asked, peering at the man intently.

"Fifteen grand. Here. Be at this address, 3:30. Day after tomorrow," he replied coldly.

"You're giving me less than 48 hours to come up with 15 grand," she stated, skepticism written all over her face.

"Yeah, if you want the information. As for me, I'm getting out of dodge one way or another. Good luck to you, kid," he replied calmly, "Good luck to both of us," she said and turned away. Zack waited until he was sure the man was out of range and wasn't going to pull any moves on her. Then he followed Max home, as usual.


Zack finished filling out the job application in the most desperate, submissive way that he could possibly fill it out, and headed to Jam Pony. He was partially disgusted with himself, and partially thrilled that he could BS things like this so well. When he got there, the place was dysfunctional. He had a feeling it was like that most of the time.

"Enjoy your little victory, Normal. We're understaffed as it is and you just canned your best rider," said the idiotic-looking guy from the day before.

"Here's the man of the hour," said Zack's new 'boss', Normal. He obviously didn't give a crap about what his employees were complaining about.

"Hey!" came his somewhat-fake greeting.

"Come here," commanded Normal, pulling Zack in front of him and showing him like some sort of dog. "May I present your new colleague, Sam. He's a fine young man. He's got a good attitude and a bright future. I recommend all of you to his example, right? Why don't you grab a locker, my boy? I'll set you up on your first run."

The workers all looked at Zack up and down like he was some sort of axe-murderer-alien. It was clear they wanted their friend back, and weren't too happy with Zack being his replacement. Max was included in this. There were a few audible growls, but Normal paid no attention to this.

"There we go," he said, shoving a package in Zack's hands. "Cheer up."

He could tell life at Jam Pony just wasn't what could be expected… ever.