A/N: We meet Max in this chapter! This Dark Angel part is set around the beginning of Season 2, where Max is in Manticore and then escapes. The details around her escape are somewhat different, though – Manticore didn't get burnt down and the rest of the transgenics didn't escape, it was only her. The rest will be explained in the rest of the story.

Chapter Six

"Uh oh, here comes trouble, boo," Original Cindy warned from her spot by the locker.

"What is it?" Max said distractedly, rummaging through her bag for her pager.

"Look. New girl," she nodded her head at the pretty woman at the front desk talking to Normal. "Hope she isn't one of those goody two shoes that actually does what she's told. Coz she's not bad looking."

"Give her a break, OC, we don't even know her yet. Maybe she's just like the rest of us delinquents," Max grinned, finally retrieving her pager and held it up triumphantly in the air. "Got it."

"Expecting a call from lover-boy?"

"If you're talking about Logan, then yes," Max looked at her sternly. "Said something this morning about the........CIA? Or something? I dunno, the line went dead. He'll call again -"

"Whoa!" Original Cindy interrupted, horrified.

Max watched wide-eyed as her friend marched up to the 'new girl', who was about to shake Normal's hand, and, grabbing poor woman by the shoulders, jerked her away protectively.

"Hey, hey, hey, now what's going on here?" OC exclaimed loudly. "You're obviously new around here, girl," she addressed the other woman. "Otherwise you'd know never to make skin to skin contact with him." She glared accusingly Normal. "You don't know what trash can he's crawled out of."

Max chuckled to herself.

Then her pager suddenly erupted with loud beeps. Logan.

She walked over to the pay phone and dialed his number. When his familiar voice answered, she said, "So are you going to finish what you were telling me before?"

"Yes. It's important."

No how-are-you's or do-you-wanna-have-dinner-Max's. Must've been really important.

"There's a rumour going around that the CIA is looking for the X5s that escaped from Manticore."

Max took a moment to register this. "What? Oh please, what would the CIA want with us?"

"I dunno. Maybe conduct experiments, extract information from you? Take your pick, Max. The CIA may be fighting for the good of the country but you never know what they might do to a genetically engineered soldier."

"So there's another government organisation after my ass. What's new?" Max drawled. "Where'd you here this rumour anyway? It's not like the CIA broadcasts their missions on Good Morning America."

"This is serious, Max!" Logan berated her. "Promise me you'll be careful."

"Alright, alright," Max sighed, to appease him. "Aren't I always?"

"They could be more of a threat than Manticore," Logan warned. "They have more resources and more power. So just watch out." He hung up, leaving Max shaking her head in disbelief.

She could understand that he was worried about Manticore being on her tail - considering she had only just escaped from the wretched place – but the CIA? Surely they had more important things to worry about, such as world espionage, than twelve escapees from a not-so-normal 'military training facility'.

"Hey, Boo!" OC called. "Come here!"

Max turned back to her friend, momentarily forgetting about Logan and his insane theory. "What's up?"

"Meet my new friend here. Nicole," Original Cindy introduced the woman she had just rescued from Normal. "This is my best Boo, Max."

Nicole smiled shyly. "Hi."

Max returned the gesture. She seemed sweet – the demure wallflower. Completely harmless. Original Cindy probably thought she'd need someone to look out for her. "Nice to meet you, Nicole," she said, extending her hand. Taking a closer look at her, though, Max realised that she looked vaguely familiar.

Those sad brown eyes.

"You can shake her hand, girl," OC informed her, making Max realise that she was staring. "Max doesn't contract any diseases. Unlike Normal here."

Nicole giggled nervously and shook Max's hand. "Nice to meet you too."

"Oh, I have to go," OC cried, looking at her watch. "Met a girl at Crash last night; she was hot."

"Date?" Max grinned.

"You got it. Maybe she'll be the perfect girl for me, you never know. If not, she's certainly fine to look at. Can you cover for me?" OC asked.

"Of course." After the many times OC had covered up for her in the past, she couldn't refuse. "Have fun."

"I will!" OC ran off, waving.

Max watched her retreating back, while Normal yelled, "And where do you think you're going, missy miss?"

Of course, he was blatantly ignored.

Max looked at her companion, who had a slightly bewildered look on her face.

"Oh, um, OC likes girls more than she likes boys," she offered, by way of an explanation.

"Oh." Nicole nodded in understanding.

"Yeah."

An awkward silence now that they were alone. Max attempted to make some conversation. "So, where are you from, Nicole?"

Nicole seemed grateful for something to talk about. "Um, LA. I just moved here."

"LA, huh?" Max said enviously. "I've always wanted to go there. Nice and warm."

"Yeah. It's kinda cold here. No offence," she added quickly, as if she had mortally insulted her.

Max blinked. "Uh – none taken. So do you need anyone to show you around? I mean, you just moved here so you probably don't know where all the streets are -"

"Oh, yes, thank you so much. I was worried about how I was going to deliver those packages -"

As if on cue, Normal walked by, thrusting a rather large amount of packages in their hands. "Get a move on guys, bip bip bip! I don't pay you to have a gossip session! Oh, and Max," he said in a tone that was supposed to be intimidating, but failed to be so, "If Original Cindy doesn't get her parcels delivered, tell her she's fired. For the fifth time this month!"

Max rolled her eyes. An empty threat. "Come on, Nicole, I'll show you where the bikes are so you can get one for yourself."

Her new friend followed her to a room filled with an assortment of bikes. "Here, pick one," Max instructed.

Nicole didn't move. "I'm really sorry about this, Max. You seem like a nice person," she said, her voice sounding uncharacteristically confident. She swiftly took out a tranquilizer gun and shot her, without a moment's hesitation.

Max stared at her, stunned, before she dropped to the floor.

Her world faded to black.

Julia leaned against the door frame, watching Sark as he worked. "Are there any places that sell ice cream around here?" she asked suddenly.

Sark looked up at her curiously. "Why? Do you want to smash the unsuspecting owner's head into a wall?"

She glared at him before dismissing his insult. "No. I want ice cream."

"There's some in the kitchen," he said, and returned to working.

"I don't want that kind of ice cream. I want to be able to choose from all the flavours. It's more fun that way." She knew how much she sounded like a little kid, but she figured after spending all of her childhood at Manticore, she could afford to. "So........are there?"

He gave it a bit of thought and admitted, "I really don't know, actually. I don't exactly have time to explore the neighbourhood."

"Well, I do have time. Too much time. I'm dying of boredom here."

"What are you getting at?"

"Can I go out and get some ice cream?" she asked hopefully, putting on her nicest smile. She knew too well that Sark wasn't going to fall for that, but it was worth a shot.

Sark gave her a look that clearly told her that he thought she was insane. "What, so you can disappear again? Certainly not."

"Please?" she pleaded.

"No!"

"You can come with me," Julia suggested hastily. "Make sure I don't go anywhere........"

"If you think that I'm going to just follow you around all day -" Sark started crossly.

"Fine. I'll buy you an ice cream too, ok?" Julia compromised. Geez, talk about bargaining.

"I don't -" Sark stopped as he realised what she was saying. "You buy me ice cream? Do you even have money?"

"Yes, I do, actually," she replied shortly.

Sark frowned suspiciously. "Where did you get it?"

"Hey now, Sherlock Holmes, I didn't steal it from you, ok?" She pouted, feigning hurt. Then she added quickly, "I stole it from someone else. Some guy on the street tried to hit on me, so I played along, flirted a bit, and pinched his wallet. Serves him right, stupid sleaze."

He stared at her, his gaze unreadable.

"Don't you look at me like that, Mr. I-Kill-For-A-Living." Of all people, Sark was getting all moral on her.

To her surprise, Sark let out a laugh. "I knew there was a reason a liked you better than Sydney Bristow. You're so much more fun." He got out of his chair and started to walk off. "Come on," he called back to her when he realised she wasn't following.

"Where are we going?" Julia asked, confused.

"To find a bloody ice cream store, you idiot. Now hurry up."

"Oh!" She raced after him, too excited about her little achievement and the thought of getting an ice cream to care that Sark had called her an idiot. As she fell into step with him, she nudged him, "So you think I'm fun, huh?"

"If fun means annoying, than yes, you are."

"If I'm so annoying, then why are you coming to get ice cream with me, huh?"

"Because you owe me one for nearly giving me brain damage yesterday," Sark replied smoothly.

Julia winced guiltily. "Yeah, I suppose I do."

They made it outside, the sunshine warming their backs. Sark steered her towards where he thought the shops were, while Julia looked past the trees into the clear waters of the beach across the road.

"Since when have you had such a fetish for ice cream?" Sark asked her.

She shrugged. "Whenever I get out of Manticore, I make sure that I eat as much nice food as possible. If you saw the food they give us at Manticore, you'd know what I mean."

"So you would've done anything for that ice cream?" he said slowly, his brow furrowed in thought.

She stared at him. "OK, now what are you getting at, huh?"

"I was just thinking how I could have used that to my advantage. I should have refused to let you get an ice cream until you gave me a lap dance -"

Julia gasped, appalled, and swiped at him. "In your dreams, buddy!"

Sark laughed and jumped out of reach. "It's such a shame. I passed up a perfectly good opportunity," he baited her.

"Oh, why did you have to go and say that?" Julia grumbled, ignoring him. "You were actually being nice for a little while, and then you have to go and spoil it."

"It's just one of my character flaws, Julia."

She looked at him sharply. "I thought I told you not to call me that," she said softly, the light and happy feeling she didn't realise was there suddenly disappearing.

"Sorry," Sark murmured, actually seeming sincerely apologetic. "I can't help it. I call you Julia in my head."

"You do?" Everyone else only thought of her as X5-475. She hadn't been Julia for a long time. Until now. "You know what? It's OK. You can call me Julia if you like. I – I don't mind," she said hesitantly.

Looking surprised but pleased, he said simply, "OK." He seemed to know what it took for her to say that to him. Maybe it was stupid, but it was a big deal for her.

Julia sighed heavily and tucked her hair behind her ear, wondering if she had done the right thing. Had she made herself more vulnerable?

"Why didn't you like being called Julia?" Sark asked suddenly.

She faltered, not really sure if she wanted to tell him. "It's – it's nothing earth shattering, or anything." She paused. "My brothers and sisters gave me the name Julia. They betrayed me. And when people call me that, it just reminds me of them, that's all. It's just –" She looked at the floor, suddenly angry at herself. She shouldn't have told him. "This is stupid."

"It's not stupid," Sark interrupted fiercely. "It's not."

At that moment Julia Thorne saw a very different side to the usually cold- hearted Mr. Sark. Yes, he was intriguing, alright.

Julia nodded.

"Come on, I can see an ice cream store right over there," Sark said gently. "What flavour do you want?"

"Coffee."

"Let's go get some, then."

A/N: Not too much action in this chapter; mostly Sark and Julia fluff ( if you can call it that, I'm not sure what else to call it ) – but I hope you liked it. Please review and let me know what you think. And thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far, especially those who review every chapter. I like to see which readers haven't gotten bored of the story and have kept reading. : ) Thanks so much!