Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Alec, Biggs, Renfro, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me. No money is being made off of this fic. I only own the original characters (Sasha/X5-121, etc.).

494 smiled to himself as he entered the indoor firing range the following night. I can't believe that 786 actually listened to my order from yesterday and had actually not said anything to 121 today. I know that this peace is going to be long gone tomorrow, but I'm definitely enjoying it while it lasts. He walked over to where the weapons and ammunition were kept and selected several handguns and cartridges of ammo and walked over to the range. He was reaching for the protective ear wear when he looked to his left and was pleasantly surprised to see 121 enter. "Hey. You didn't tell me that you'd be spending your free time here tonight, too."

"What can I say? I like to have a surprise up my sleeve every now and then," 121 replied. She also selected her weapons and ammunition and walked over next to 494 and smirked when she saw the look on his face. "What, you're surprised that 511 isn't here with me?"

"You read my mind, 121," 494 said with a grin. "But hey, this would have made quite a romantic activity, huh? You know what they say about sex and violence…"

121 laughed as she reached over and smacked 494 across the back of his head. "You're still a stupid pervert sometimes, 494. 511 wanted to just kick back and read some of that crap that he picked up the last mission that he went out on." She put on the protective ear wear and picked up the Glock, loaded it, aimed, and fired.

"Ah," 494 said. He put on his own ear wear, picked up a semi-automatic, loaded it, aimed, and fired the weapon. When he'd put it back down, and 121 brought their targets forward and they compared them. "Nice job. I think you might have gotten me on this round."

"Never fuck around with a Glock," 121 said. She grinned and selected another one of the guns that she had taken. "I'm going to go with the Barretta for this one. What about you?"

"I'll go with the Glock that I selected," 494 said. They replaced their targets with fresh ones and sent them back. "On three, you ready? One…two…three!" The two of them let loose with their pistols and then brought their targets forward and examined them. "I think I got you this time."

121 nodded. "Yeah, I think that you're right." She shrugged and smiled. "Want one more?"

"Maybe," 494 said. "We should have at least one tie-breaking round." He stretched. "We've been playing this game with each other since they first taught us how to shoot guns when we were little kids."

"It doesn't seem to be growing old," 121 said.

494 nodded and looked between the other two weapons that he'd taken earlier. "Colt or Uzi…Colt or Uzi…what should I use?" He held the pistol in one hand and the automatic in the other. "What do you think, 121? Which one should I go with? Precision or ass-kicking fun?"

"Go with the Colt," 121 said. She picked up an identical handgun. "I took one, myself. Let's use the same weapon this time around." Once again, they replaced their targets and once the targets had been returned, they aimed, fired, and then brought the targets back to them. "I think we might have to call it a tie. It looks like we came out dead even on this one."

"Yeah," 494 agreed. He placed the weapon down and he and 121 took off their protective ear wear. "About the fight that you had with 786 yesterday…" He saw 121 cringe and then he smiled wickedly. "Ignoring the fact that I'm your commanding officer, damn, that was a good fight! I've seen a few unsanctioned fights go down between X-series soldiers before and the one between you and 786 definitely ranks right up there."

"We certainly went after each other with gusto," 121 said dryly. "I'm still really surprised that none of the guards that were watching ratted us out and got myself and 786 into trouble." She shrugged. "Then again, 786 essentially bought them out, you know?"

"I know what you mean," 494 said. "A few of them were giving you some bad looks when 511 and I finally broke the two of you up, especially that one guard. What the fuck was his name…oh yeah, Corporal Nathan Peck." He hesitated briefly as he recalled the rumors he'd heard about that guard. If I tell 121 the buzz that's around about that guy, it'll probably send her mood down faster than an X8 on the obstacle course!

121 smiled tightly. "I've heard the 411 on Corporal Peck, 494. I know that he had spotted 120 down in Texas almost seven years ago but that by the time he'd fully recognized who and what she was, she had evac-ed out of her foster parent's home. He's been giving me dirty looks and made the occasional nasty comment to me since, though he's never gone beyond that." She managed something of a smirk. "I did hear that he'd just been promoted to Sergeant when he'd gone on leave and had traveled to the Dallas area and when he'd gotten back here to Seattle they'd retracted the promotion and told him that it was because of an error in the paperwork, though it was obviously because of his delay in recognizing and reporting in 120." She shrugged. "It's the only thing that I can come close to thanking 120 for. I never liked Corporal Peck before then anyway."

"I know," 494 said. He took a good look at his friend and saw that sure enough, 121 appeared to be far less upbeat than she had been just a few minutes ago. "Are you okay, 121?"

"I will be eventually," 121 said. She disposed of the spent cartridges and put back the weapons and unused ammunition before stopping by 494. "I think that 511's got a pretty good idea. I'm going to go back to my cell and do some reading before lights out. I'll see you later, 494."

"See you later," 494 echoed. He sighed and turned back around and just stared. What am I going to do about her? Every time somebody mentions something about 120 or even 493 or one of the other '09ers, she gets almost depressed like that or just flat out angry. When is she going to just let it go? It's going to be ten years in March. It happened and I would be a complete liar if I didn't say that getting at least one good punch in on 493 wouldn't feel good if the two of us ever met, but it's been so long. I don't tense up anymore when somebody mentions those guys. He suddenly turned back around and saw a boy in his mid teens looking at him with concern and he managed a smile. "Don't worry, kid, I'm fine." He shrugged to himself. What do you do in potentially semi-awkward situations? Bring on the introductions. He held out his hand. "X5-494."

"X6-941," the teenager replied. He took 494's hand and shook it. "It's an honor to meet you, sir."

"Thanks," 494 said, giving the kid a once-over. 941 really did seem to be in genuine awe of him, not in the ass-kissing kind of way that he'd seen and heard some of the other male X6s when he'd bumped into them or when he'd had to teach one of their lessons. "Do you have a lesson here or free time?"

"Free time," 941 said. He went and selected some weapons and ammunition and returned over to 494. He glanced over at the doorway. "Um…was something going on with 121? I saw the two of you talking through the entrance as I was approaching and then she left."

494 noticed the nervous stance of the other transgenic. "She intimidates the hell out of you, doesn't she, kid?"

"Yeah," 941 admitted. "And I did have a prime view of what happened yesterday."

"Right," 494 said. He remembered seeing 941 at the head of the line of X6s that had been following them yesterday when the fight had occurred. "Don't worry about 121. She'll be fine eventually. Trust me on this, I've known her pretty much our whole lives." He looked over and watched as 941 placed his guns and ammo on the shelf in front of him and then stealthily took out a nine-millimeter out of one of his pants pockets. 494 raised an eyebrow. "I'm impressed. You sneaked yourself a piece when you were out at some point?"

941 shook his head. "No, but I'm considering doing that the next time that I get sent on a mission. This is a friend of mine's. She did sneak it back with her from a mission and she's letting me borrow it while she's still out there." He saw 494's glance and he shrugged. "Her mission is nearby so she checks back in here on weekends."

"I see," 494 said. He took a closer look at the gun. "What a sweet weapon. That is definitely top-of-the-line quality."

"I know," 941 said. "Let's give it a test run, shall we?" He and 494 both but on the protective ear wear and 941 let off a round at a target. When he was done, he put the gun down and took off his ear wear and grinned. "Not bad. I'm going to have to ask 405 to steal me one of these."

"Let me take a look," 494 said. 941 handed him the gun and he held it, occasionally twisting his wrist to look at it from other angles. "Not bad. It's got a good feel to it." He handed the weapon back to 941 and then turned to look at the target as 941 brought it forward. "Your accuracy isn't bad at all with that thing. You need to adjust, though. See how your shots are going ever so slightly to the right?" He pointed to the target.

"I see it," 941 said. He grinned. "Thank you, 494."

"Not a problem, kid," 494 replied. "I should be checking to make sure that 121 is okay. If you need my help with anything, just let me know."

941's eyes widened. "I will. Thank you."

"You're welcome," 494 said. He nodded towards 941 and then he left the range and headed back towards his cell.

TBC

Notes: Thank you so much to Angel of Darkness231, CrimsonReality, and calistra for their reviews and support!