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 9
A lone man stood by his car, parked in a secluded area by the river. He was wearing a long overcoat, despite the sun beating down.
Moments later, another car pulled up and a lady, in her mid-forties, stepped out. She was severe looking, with pale skin that contrasted heavily with her short dark hair, shrewd dark eyes, and crimson lips. At the moment, those lips were pressed tightly in displeasure.
The man stood a bit straighter, sensing the discontent radiating from the woman.
"Fe'nos tol." He greeted.
"Fe'nos tol." She replied, but her tone was abrupt. She wanted to get straight to the matter.
NSA Special Agent Ames White understood what this meeting was all about. "I tested the transgenic. The damn thing got sick, but it pulled through." He reported, not mincing on words.
"Then that girl's survival wasn't just a fluke?" she asked, needing confirmation of Max's seemingly miraculous survival of the poisoned snake blood she had been infected with.
White sighed. "I'm afraid not," he said softly, knowing his confirmation would only displease the woman more. "Though there is something different about 452. She never exhibited any symptoms."
"What should I tell the Conclave?"
"I think it's time to accept the possibility that Sandeman made the Manticore transgenics immune." He said, his voice grave.
The woman's expression went from displeasure to disbelief to anger. White could understand. He had felt the same set of emotions after he found out about 452's brush with the snake blood and lack of reaction to it. She was ruining thousands of years of work. He had no choice but to recommend her elimination.
"This changes everything. It's time to make a move."
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Someone was at the door. Who could it be? Max and Alec never knocked. And they were the only people who visited him in daylight hours.
Joshua walked hesitantly to the door and opened it.
"Joshua?"
"Annie." He said, his blue eyes lighting up at seeing her. He couldn't believe that she was here! She was beautiful. And kind. Kind—she was kind…that was the most important thing. She had a good heart, he could tell.
Annie smiled tentatively at his general direction. "It's the funniest thing," she said, her tone light and friendly. "Billie and I were walking past, and Billie just veered up your steps again. She really likes you."
Joshua smiled broadly at her statement. "I like her, too."
Annie tilted her head at him, her smile getting warmer. "She's usually a really good judge of character." She paused, suddenly looking slightly uneasy. She was shifting her weight from one foot to the other, and Joshua wondered if she was okay. Then Annie smiled again, this time shyly. "I hope you don't think I'm being forward, but I wanted to invite you to dinner."
Joshua was stunned. Nobody but Little Fella had ever tried to be friends with him. Much less invite him to dinner. His heart was beating rapidly, he did not know why. Joshua was…crushing on Annie? He had heard Alec mention that word before when talking about a girl named with a V. Alec said V crush on Alec. Joshua crush on Annie. Annie crush on Joshua?
Before he could formulate an answer, a woman walked past his house down on the street. He ducked behind the wall, making sure she didn't see him. Annie could not see Joshua. Annie didn't run away screaming.
"Are you there?" asked Annie, after an incredibly long and awkward silence.
Joshua popped his head back out of the door, making sure the coast was clear. "Yeah, I'm here." He reassured her, his voice slightly flustered.
"I thought with you being new in town and all.." But Annie trailed off when Joshua still remained quiet. She tried to hide her hurt and disappointment. She was used to it. "That's okay." She said, her voice deceptively cheerful, "You're probably really busy."
Joshua realized Annie was mistaking his silence for a 'no'. "I...I…I'd love to." He stammered quickly, excitedly.
"What?"
"I'd love to have dinner."
Annie exhaled in relief. "Great! I live down the street, across from-"
But Joshua stopped her rather abruptly. "No. Here…" Then Joshua noticed her frown. Maybe he sounded to mean? "Uh, because I love to…cook," he said quickly. "Do you like macaroni and cheese?" He asked, hoping she would say yes. He only knew how to make macaroni and cheese the way Little Fella showed him how. Little Fella also only knew how to make macaroni and cheese. She burned everything else she tried to cook.
Annie was smiling nicely at him. "It's my favorite," she said. But suddenly she frowned slightly and sniffed the air. "Is that turpentine?"
Joshua looked around him, realizing that the house was a mess. And stinky, too. "Uh, yes. I paint."
"You're a painter?" she asked, her tone rising a notch. She sounded interested.
"Yes." Joshua was beginning to like Annie more and more.
"Wow. A painter from Mantia Coro. Right here on my little street." She said. But her voice was nice. She meant everything kindly. Joshua liked Annie a lot. He tucked his hair shyly behind one ear, suddenly feeling warm.
"So, I'll see you at seven, okay?"
"Okay," he said, and watched her make her way down his front porch with Billie guiding her. Good Billie. Good Billie, he thought,for bringing Annie to Joshua.
xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
"So, you did it?" asked Original Cindy, referring to the big official break-up with Logan. She was leaning casually against the bar at Crash, her elbows propped behind her.
Max had laid her head despondently down on the bar. She didn't answer her best friend.
O.C. glanced at Max's sprawled figure and turned around to face her Boo. "It's over?" she prompted again. She knew it helped to say the words out loud.
Max folded her arms on the bar and rested her chin on them. "Yeah, it's over," she confirmed with a huge dramatic sigh.
Suddenly, Sketchy squeezed himself between them, handing an empty pitcher for a refill of beer to the barkeep. He was indecently close to Max, and it was a sign of Max's depression that she hadn't tossed Sketchy on his ass as soon as his body was touching hers.
"Ladies, did you hear what happened to our bud Alec?" he asked.
Max rolled her eyes at the mention of Alec's name. "Don't care," she mumbled.
Sketchy chose to ignore Max's little mood. "He's in jail."
"Hm. Whatever." Max snorted. It served him right. Just standing her up last night was enough reason for her to justify Alec's jail time.
Sketchy frowned slightly at Max. He didn't believe for one second that she didn't care about their friend Alec. As far as he could tell, they just had a slightly more violent version of his friendship with Max. Maybe even more, he thought, remembering the scene from the Blowfish Tavern. Max was just…complicated, and trying to figure her out was dangerous to his health. Maybe that was why she kept on hurting Alec, because Alec was always trying to figure her out. But that wasn't his place to say
So, he just continued with his story. "You know Hummer, the bartender from last night? Saw him get pinched right outside of here."
The barkeep returned the pitcher of beer in front of him, and he stood up to leave with it and bring it back to his other friends. "Kinda makes you wonder what he did, huh?" he asked rhetorically.
To be honest, he was always in awe of Alec's ability to get into trouble, but somehow miraculously get out of it, too. Heck, Alec made getting into trouble look like fun. Adventure. Very macho. When Sketchy got into trouble…well, he was just in trouble. Yep, getting his ass hauled to jail just sent Alec a notch up in his estimation of the guy.
Max looked away briefly from Sketchy and Original Cindy. She did wonder what he had been up to last night. But she let it go. "Not really," she said, dismissing her random thoughts. She took a swig of her beer, avoiding Original Cindy's gaze, which she could feel like laser beams directed at her.
"You're not gonna help him?" demanded O.C.
Max shrugged. "I got my own problems," she replied off-handedly. "Alec can take care of himself."
Original Cindy just shook her head sadly. Her Boo got some serious issues. She really didn't get why Max worked so hard on being mean to Alec. It was like she made an extra effort everyday to bring the guy down. Lucky for them all, Alec was a cool enough dude to just let it slide and bounce right back into the game. "Now, you know you gotta come correct on this."
But Max still had that stubborn look on her face. Original Cindy resisted the urge to smack her girlfriend upside the head. She wished she didn't have to, but now she had to pull out the big guns: guilt and conscience. "Suppose they tip to his bar code? Exposure, the whole thing." She reminded Max. "Bad for Alec, bad for you, bad for Joshua…bad for everybody."
She could see that she was getting through to the girl. Max's face was softening, a sure sign that she was capitulating.
Max shrugged. Original Cindy was right. Damn, Alec! "Not like saving his butt isn't already my full-time job," she sighed. She got up to leave—Alec's ass needed saving, after all. "Thanks for the beer," she called to O.C. before heading out.