Disclaimer: I am not making any profit out of this and am using it purely for amusement. The scenes are taken completely out of an episode of Dark Angel (which belongs to Fox, Cameron and Eglee), and most of the dialogue as well.

A/N: The parts that are mine are the "thoughts" behind the scenes and some additional dialogue. This is my version of Hello, Goodbye—one of my favorite DA episodes. It's a step into AU, but that's really what fanfics are, aren't they?

CHAPTER 5

Max paced the halls of the hospital impatiently. Where was Alec?

She didn't know why she had instinctively called on Alec to do this. It had just seemed so natural to turn to him. She paused briefly in her pacing, trying to rationalize why that was the case. Because Alec was technically the only transgenic she knew she could bring here. There. That was the rational answer. That's the only answer, you idiot, she told herself. She resumed her pacing…so, where the hell was he?

Doctor Shankar came out of Logan's room, a concerned expression on her face. "If we're going to do this, your friend better get here soon."

"He's gonna get here, he knows how serious this is, he's a…" she broke off on a ragged sigh. "…a completely unreliable jerk!"

What had she been thinking? This was Alec she was talking about. Did she really think that she could trust him to be here on time…with Logan's life on the line? For all she knew he was probably fitting in a couple of one night stands before showing up here. She frowned even more at the thought. That ass!

"Is there anybody else you can get? Because right now, this is the only shot Logan has."

Max thought for a moment, before an idea struck her. "I'll be back."

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Joshua was taking a nice nap on the porch. The air was pleasantly cool, and it eased the flea bites more.

Suddenly, he felt a dog start lapping away at his face. He chuckled. Dogs were such affectionate creatures. Sometimes, it was easier to belong with dogs than with humans.

"Is someone there?" A woman's voice called out.

Joshua rolled away in panic. She sounded too close, like she was standing right on his porch. Oh no! Joshua thought. The running, the screaming, the looks of disgust that always came with looking at him ran through his head.

Joshua sat huddled in a corner, one arm covering his face.

"Are you hurt?" The girl asked again. She really was on his porch now.

"No, I'm not hurt," Joshua replied. He was looking at the girl. There was something strange about her. Something not right.

"Billie's never done this before. She just pulled me off the sidewalk and up these steps." explained the girl sheepishly.

Billie the dog, was still looking adoringly at Joshua, her tail wagging happily. "Hi, Billie," whispered Joshua.

The girl smiled slightly, "Guess she just likes you."

Joshua crawled a little closer to the girl. She was staring off into space. He waved his hand in front of her, and she didn't blink or follow his hand. It suddenly dawned on him what was not right about her.

"She helps you," he said, talking about Billie.

The girl nodded, "She leads me around. Makes sure I'm safe."

"Makes sure you don't bump into things."

"I guess so." She chuckled.

Joshua scratched Billie behind her ears. "Good Billie, good Billie," he whispered.

The girl put out her hand for a handshake. "My name is Annie. Annie Fisher. I live down the street."

Joshua looked at her hand for a moment. Then he remembered Max teaching him how to shake hands. In fact, they had shaken hands the first time they met in the basements of Manticore.

He took her hand and shook it vigorously. "Joshua, and I'm from…" then he realized that he had to be careful. No exposure. Exposure was bad. "…not here—not here." He finished lamely. "I visiting."

That was the wrong thing to say. Suddenly, Annie's sightless eyes lit up. "Oh, from where?"

"Manti…" Joshua caught himself again. "Uh…Coro."

"Mantia Coro." She repeated.

"Yeah. In France."

"Your English is very good." She remarked.

"Merci beaucoup." He replied, thinking about how useful all the reading he'd been doing was.

That made Annie chuckle in amusement. Then she smiled kindly at the general direction of where he was standing. "Well, we should probably be going." She turned around, and tugged at Billie's leash. "C'mon Billie, c'mon."

They both turned around and walked slowly down the steps. Joshua just stood, watching them. Aside from Original Cindy and Logan, Annie was the first non-transgenic that he had actually talked to…that didn't run screaming away from him or throw things at him.

Annie paused at the corner of the street and called out, "It's nice to meet you, Joshua!"

"It's nice to meet you, Annie!"

He smiled to himself. It was a good night to spend out on the porch. He continued to follow Annie's progress through the streets, until he couldn't see her anymore. There was a slight warming in his heart. His invisible tail would be wagging by now.

Suddenly, a motorcycle came up, and Max was there. "Joshua! I need your help!"

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Joshua was laying in a gurney that was being drawn by Max through a hospital. He was scared. But he trusted his Little Fella. And if Logan needed help, then he would do this for Max.

A voice broke through his thoughts, loud and brash, but with an underlying note of concern. "Hey, I came as soon as I heard."

"Hi, Original Cindy." Joshua greeted her from under the sheet.

"That dawgy-dawg under there?"

Joshua smiled slightly under the sheet. Original Cindy was always so funny. He liked being her doggy-dog.

Doctor Shankar came up to Max, "So, did you find somebody."

Max nodded and lifted the sheet off of Joshua's face. There was a moment of tense silence. Joshua was waiting for the good doctor to scream. Shankar, for her part, was trying to swallow the scream.

"He's got a little canine DNA in him," Max said sheepishly.

Little? Doctor Shankar looked down at Joshua, then up at Max's concerned face, then to Original Cindy's challenging face. If these girls could understand and accept Joshua, then she could, too. She was the doctor here after all.

"Right. Well. Okay. So long as he's got the antibodies." Then she took the gurney from Max and wheeled him into a private room, where Logan was.

They both got hooked onto a machine, and Joshua watched as his lifeblood flowed from his veins into Logan's. He knew that Little Fella cared about Logan very much. And for Little Fella's sake, he was here.

He patted Logan's head softly. "Logan will get better now." he whispered, willing the man to be better.