Title: Road Trip

Fandom: Dark Angel / BtVS Crossover

Pairing: Original Cindy/Kendra, one way OC/Max implied.

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters. Joss Whedon and James Cameron do. Lucky them.

Summary: AU. Max and Cindy go on a road trip to California. Along the way they meet an unusual friend, with a history that rivals Max's own.

A/N: If you don't like femslash, don't read on. You'll only get upset/annoyed/aggravated/slightly piddled off. But if you do like it/don't mind it, then please read on and R&R please! Thank you.

Chapter 1

She sighed.

"How much longer?" she complained as she let her head flop and rest on her best friend's shoulder.

"Max, we only just left Washington," said Original Cindy, glancing over at Max for a short second, before moving her eyes back to the long road ahead.

"You know, if we'd taken the bike, we'd be there in no time," grumbled Max as she started looking at her fingernails for entertainment. Cindy nudged Max's head off her shoulder.

"Look behind you shuga," she said. Max did as she was told. In the back of the Landrover there were three full, heavy suitcases and a holdall of food. "You really think all that woulda balanced on your bike?"

"Worth a shot," offered Max, "better than this slow-poke snail-mobile at any rate,"

"And doncha forget that it was your man who even suggested we take his wheels. You seemed all good with it when he was kissing you goodbye" retorted Cindy.

"I didn't wanna spoil a good moment," said Max, defending herself, "and anyway, he said he wasn't gonna be needing it much this week anyway. Better to put it to good use than letting it sit around collecting dust."

"Better than taking your bike?" smirked Cindy, knowing she'd won.

"Aw, shut up," said Max, letting her back fall back onto Original Cindy's shoulder.

The sun had just set. Original Cindy checked her watch. 9:47pm. The motorway that night was almost completely clear. Only the odd car or two drove past the other way now and again. Cindy noticed a sign on the side of the road indicating that the nearest service station was 5 miles away. She looked over to Max, who was asleep. This was a rare sight for Cindy, because Max hardly ever slept. Cindy figured Max must be hella bored. She studied her friend for a minute, taking in the slender beauty of her hands, her long dark curls falling gently on her toned, olive coloured arms and over her soft, elegant face. Cindy paused for a moment, before moving her hand over to sweep Max's hair away from her face. Max stirred a little.

"Wake up, boo, we almost there" whispered Cindy.

"Hmmmm?" croaked Max, squinting as she yawned and adjusted herself to that she was sitting upright. Cindy chuckled to herself.

"We gonna get you a bed to sleep in" she said as she smiled at Max

"No, it's ok, I'm awake" said Max sleepily, rubbing her eyes and stretching her arms out over Cindy's head.

"Naw, c'mon, I could do with catchin' a few Z's myself"

"Ok," said Max, a little relieved. She was tired, and this trip was kinda boring.

"Oh, and Max?"

"Mmm?" "You might wanna wipe your chin a little" said Cindy, digging a tissue out of her pocket and handing it to Max.

"Oh, right," said Max, blushing a little. Cindy looked over to Max and giggled at her embarrassment.

"Oh my God, Cindy look out!" screamed Max. Cindy shot her eyes to the road and slammed on the brakes. In front of her had run a girl, around 20 years old, with skin not too much lighter than her own, hair plaited half way up her head and the rest tied back into a ponytail. She was slim, but she looked strong. She was carrying a huge bag, which looked to be quite heavy. It was pitch-black darkness outside, but with the headlights on full blast, Cindy could see this girl as clear as daylight.

And she was beautiful.

Their eyes met for a moment, and then she was gone. She'd run off as quickly as she'd run out in front of the car. Which was "pretty damn quick" in Cindy's estimation.

"Damn kids" muttered Max, "Come on, lets get moving again, the service station is only a little way down from here, right?"

Cindy could only sit there open-mouthed, her hands clutching the steering wheel.

"Hey, come on. Don't worry about it," said Max, lightly shaking Cindy's shoulder, "she's ok, we didn't hit her, we didn't hurt her. See? She's fine, she just ran off again. She'll be ok"

"Ye...yeah, r...right, ok, sorry" stammered Cindy, shaking her head and putting her foot back on the accelerator.

"My god, that girl was beautiful" Cindy thought to herself.

"We'd like a twin room for the night please," said Max as she walked up to the reception counter, taking out her wallet. "Umm, sorry, we don't have any twin rooms available for tonight," said the young man behind the counter, obviously un-nerved by the two strong women stood in front of him.

"Double?" said Max aggressively, noticing this man's fear, and playing with it. The man quickly tapped something into the computer, then looked worriedly back up to Max.

"Umm, we only have single rooms for tonight available, I'm sorry," he said, his eyes tensely switching between the two ladies on the other side of the counter. Max sighed and rolled her eyes before looking over to Cindy. Cindy shrugged.

"We'll take two," said Max, pulling out some cash from her wallet, "how much?"

Before Cindy could protest to Max's paying, something, or someone, caught her eye. She turned her head to watch this graceful figure glide across the motel foyer, bag over her shoulder, looking slightly rushed and a little shaken-up. The girl walked up behind Max, listened to the conversation between the tanned- skinned woman and the receptionist, pulled a few notes of cash out of her pocket, sighed, and then turned to leave.

"Here ya go," said Max, dropping a key in Cindy's hand and turning to leave, "I'm going to bed, see you in the morning"

Cindy didn't reply. Instead, she carried on watching the girl she had almost killed walk towards the door. Without a moment's thought, Cindy ran after her.

"Hey," said Cindy, delicately taking the girl's wrist in her hand. The girl shot round and snatched her arm back, never dropping eye contact with this stranger. It took a moment for her to realise just who this stranger was, where she'd seen those big brown eyes before. And when she did, she took a step back.

"I...I'm, s...sorry, I just, well, I...I," stuttered Cindy

The girl continued to stare at Cindy, to study her, without allowing any emotion to pass over her gaze.

"Are you ok?" Cindy asked. The girl opened her mouth as if to say something, then looked at her wrist for a moment, before letting it fall back down by her side.

"Yes...thank you" she said, looking back at Cindy.

"Look, I...I'm really sorry about what happened before. I...I didn't see..."

"It's ok, really. I shouldn't have run out like that"

Cindy noticed a Caribbean tinge to this girl's accent. It was cute. "…not the only cute thing about her either…" she thought

The girl looked to the floor before muttering, "…bye then" as she turned and pushed the door open.

"Wait!" cried Cindy, "Where are you going?"

The girl stopped, looked back at Cindy, and said, "Sunnydale, California." Cindy giggled quietly,

"What?" said the girl

"I mean right now," said Cindy, "the second you walk out that door, you going straight to California?"

"Oh, well, no. Right now I'm looking for a place to sleep. This place is too expensive"

"Oh"

The girl carried on through the door.

Before Cindy could even think about what she was saying she blurted out those words that completely overruled all logical judgement and sense.

"Stay with me"

"What?"

"You can stay with me, in my room, that is, if you want."

"Why would you do that?"

"Be...because, I...I feel bad, about, you know, about what happened, o...out there, on the road,"

"Nice recovery" Cindy thought to herself

"O...ok"

Cindy smiled, took the girls bag, and led her up the stairs to her room.

Ok, first chapter done. Nobody ever really bothers with these two characters, so I decided to do something with them.

Tell me if you like it.

Tabsy