Title: Recognition
author: jmaria
tth100 prompt: Kit
Crossover fandom: Dark Angel
Characters: Kit, Zack, Max
Prompt: 083. Picture
Word Count: 406
Rating: FR-15
Disclaimer: Joss owns Kit, James Cameron & Co. own Zack & Max
Summary: If only she had tried, maybe he'd be here with her now.
Set: Mommy's Little Angel (3/5)

Recognition

I never told Carlos about Nicky. Never could bring myself to say the words, "When I was fourteen, I had a kid. Oh, and by the way, I was a virgin when I had him." There's never a good time to tell your husband of fourteen years that you had a kid before him. The world was always too crazy to bring that up. I only told one of my friends about Nicky, and that was Dawn. I told her when I found out I was pregnant with my oldest girl, Angie.

About six months after the whole X5 Eyes Only broadcast, the Council sent us to Seattle. A few days after we arrived, something kinda strange happened. I still remember the girl who brought the package, mainly because there was something about her that struck me. It was probably because she would have been Nicky's age.

"Jam Pony -" She started to say, her eyes hitting mine.

"Oh my god. Anita?"

"Sorry, lady, I'm not Anita." She held out the form for me to sign.

"No, you wouldn't be. Anita'd be at least twenty years older than you," I frowned. Something about this girl was tugging at me. "Could you come in for just a few minutes?"

"I'm not supposed to -"

"There's something I think you might like to see."

She hesitated but followed me into the living room. I pulled down the file I'd hidden in the bookcase. Carlos rarely went into the ancient slayer lore texts, so I figured it'd be safe. A few years back, Dawn offered to help me try and track down anyone involved in Manticore, from the doctors to the birth mothers to Lydecker himself. I carefully pulled the drawing of Anita out and held it out to her.

"You remind me of a lady who was really nice to me during a bad patch in my life. She lost a daughter when I lost my son."

"Your son?" the girl breathed, staring in awe at the picture in her hands.

"He was one of the Manticore kids, born in May of '99. Anita's daughter was born a few months later. We - we never got to see the babies again."

"599?" the girl whispered.

"Yeah."

"That was Zack's -" she started to say, before bolting.

I knew then for sure that the Zack who'd been captured had been my Nicky and that this girl was Anita's baby.