Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Jondy, 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 (Elle/X5-164, etc.).

Chapter 24: Biggs (X5-511)

I was happy to hear when Alec and Zack had checked back in with Colonel Lydecker that we didn't have to return right away and that we were going to return on our scheduled departure date of two days from now. It's always nice to have some down time and go do some...normal things. It's good to relax once in awhile. I don't think they quite get that concept back at home. Yeah, we do have a few rec rooms back at the old place, but our rec time is only an hour or two at night. It's not that I don't believe in hard work, far from it. It's just that how do they expect us to keep going at that kind of a pace without burning ourselves out?

I'd just taken a shower and had finished getting dressed when Alec came back into the room. "Hey, buddy. What took you so long?"

"908 decided to pick yet another fight with Sasha," he replied. "I got the two of them to cool it down before it could get out of hand. What are you up to?"

"I don't know," I said. "I was thinking of grabbing some lunch. You wanna come with me?"

"Definitely, I'm starving," Alec said. "Just let me clean up and I'll be right with you."

"Gotcha," I said. I turned on the TV and watched it while Alec showered and changed. He didn't take too long, though, and we were leaving the room not even twenty minutes later. There was a pretty decent diner-type place just down the block from the hotel so we went in there. When we entered, we saw a few of the people in Alec's twin's unit sitting over at a large table and we made our way over to them. "Mind if we sit here?"

"No, go ahead," Zane said. "Pull up some chairs. We haven't ordered yet."

"Thanks," Alec said. We grabbed some chairs from a nearby table and pulled them up to where the others were sitting and sat down. We grabbed menus and looked them over. A waitress came by a few moments later and we gave her our orders. "Where's the rest of the gang?"

"The kids are back at the hotel," Zack said. "Wes, Ralph, and Layla are catching up with 941 and 111. I'm not sure what the rest of them are doing. Kenny, Rena, Krit, Syl, Wayne, Parker, Jace, Brin, Elle, and Eva are going for a swim in the hotel pool. What about the rest of your people?"

"Sasha wanted to go for a swim also," Alec said. "I don't know about the rest of them." He shook his head. "I know, it's kind of sad that I don't keep track of my unit the way that you have. But we've never been as close as you guys with the exception of Biggs, Sasha, and myself. I don't know what it is, but we never were a family like you and it got worse after '09 when that unit from your facility tried to escape. Most of us aren't the most mentally stable bananas in the bunch to begin with and with all the tension and other shit that was in the air, it really pushed it, especially with 908. She's the oldest in our unit and she held onto C.O. until a year after she got out of Psy Ops. Since then, she in particular has been a mess." He shrugged.

"Sounds like a blast," Reese said dryly.

"It's a barrel of laughs," I agreed in the same tone of voice. I lightened it up a bit. "Speaking of blasts, Zane, that was some blast that you, Matt, Suzanne, 237, and 665 made this morning."

"Oh God, don't get him started on anything that has to do with explosives or mechanics," Max said, groaning. "He's so gung-ho about it that it drives me crazy."

"I'm not that bad," Zane said. "I just happen to like fixing vehicles and blowing shit up. Is that a crime?"

"Children, behave," Tinga said.

"Yes, Mommy," Max and Zane said in unison, but they dropped their argument.

"Nice," I said. "They still listen to you even though one of them outranks you?"

"I'm still their big sister," Tinga said, laughing.

"How old are you?" I asked. "When were you born?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "Biggs, you moron. If there's one thing that I've learned it's never to ask a woman her age."

"Yeah," Ben agreed. "I made that mistake on my off hours on a mission a few years ago and I had to let her slap the crap out of me."

"It's okay, I know that you didn't mean any offense," Tinga said, smiling. "I was born sometime in December of 1995. I don't know the exact date. I'm twenty-two years old. What about you?"

"Twenty-one, maybe," I said. "I mean, I was born in March of 1997. I've most likely had my birthday by now, but I don't have a clue."

"Won't be the first time," Alec remarked.

"That stings," I said. I rolled my eyes.

"It does, huh?" Alec said. He smirked. "Good, that means that I've done my job."

"And I thought that you two actually got along," Tinga said.

I smiled. "Don't worry, we do."

"This is how I am with Krit and Wayne," Zane pointed out.

The waitress came back with our food, so we were quiet for a few minutes while we were eating. "So, what is it like over at your own facility?" Jack asked. "I mean, Wes and Ralph and Layla have told us a little about it. What about the trainers? Are they different or worse than the people over in Gillette? What about the director of your place?"

"Wow, you're more full of questions than Sandy usually is today," Jondy teased.

"Hey, I am part cat and cat's are curious animals," Jack said.

"The trainers are pretty much just like they seem to be in your home," Alec said. "Now, the director..." He whistled. "She is a piece of work."

"Good or bad?" Gale asked.

"Bad," I said. "Well, that's the feeling that we're getting from her. Her name's Renfro. She uses the title Director with us though I know that she has a rank within the army, I believe its Lt. Colonel, but Director is the title that she prefers. She hasn't to this point acted any better or worse that the guy that she replaced right after New Years of 2010, but I just have the feeling that beneath the shitty makeup and the unnaturally blond hair and the designer suits..." I grinned when I saw Tinga giggle at my description of Renfro. It's true, though. "...is a psychotic bitch who can even give 908 a run for her money and possibly even beat her in that department. Trust me. It's one of those things that you can just tell."

"She sounds charming," Max remarked.

"Oh, you'd be crazy about her," Alec said sarcastically.

"If she loves Lydecker, then I'd say there's a good chance of it," Ben said in the same tone of voice. I had to shake my head as I laughed. They've only known each other for a few days and they're already doing these weird twin things every so often. Man, I wished that they were both in my unit. It'd be hilarious, not to mention that it would drive everybody else even more insane than they already are.

"Ben, please stop it," Zack said.

"Stop what?" Ben asked innocently. Oh yeah, this guy is definitely Alec's twin.

"Being you," Max said sweetly. "Please?"

"It sucks to be you. No offense," Alec said. "I don't have anybody lording over my head to tell me to stop being me." He smirked.

Ben smiled and flipped Alec off. "None taken."

"The beginnings of sibling rivalry. It's such a beautiful thing," I said.

"Boys will be boys," Tinga agreed.

"God bless that Y chromosome of ours," I concurred. I took a sip of my juice and turned to look at her again. "So, Tinga, what's your favorite subject back home?"

"Good question," Tinga said. "I've always loved learning the supplemental mission skills such as cooking and dancing and things like that. I also enjoy hand-to-hand combat, but I think my favorite class is probably infiltration. I love knowing that I could be a part of so many different things if I wanted to be, you know?"

"I hear ya," I said. "I also love hand-to-hand, but one thing that I really loved doing was learning how to operate aircraft. The first time that I actually got up in the air for real and not in a simulator---"

"---was the biggest rush ever," Zane finished.

"It's just you up thousands of feet in the air and the only thing between you and splatsville on the ground or in the water is that piece of machinery," Reese agreed.

"I guess it's confirmed," Max said. "It's definitely a guy thing."

"Au contraire, I know plenty of women back in Seattle who also claimed that learning to pilot and actually piloting aircraft was their favorite," Alec said.

"One thing I also don't mind doing is re-assembling complicated weapons," Tinga said. "It's like a puzzle. I love puzzles."

"So do I," I agreed. "It keeps the ol' mind sharp." I smiled at her again and she smiled back. I suddenly felt a little nervous.

"You couldn't be any more obvious if you went right out and said 'I love you,'" Alec said.

"Huh?"

"You were making puppy-dog eyes at Tinga," Jack clarified.

"I was not," I said.

"You were. Trust me, dude," Zane said. He grinned. "But don't feel too bad about it. Tinga was giving you the same look right back at you."

"Hey!" Tinga said. She blushed, which made me smile a little.

"See? She blushed and he smiled. He's got a crush," Alec said. "Trust me. I know Biggs like the back of my hand."

"Then you should really know me pretty well, considering---"

"Speaking of possible crushes," Jondy said, cutting me off. "Rena told me before she headed off to the pool that she saw Sasha and Kenny almost flirting with each other too when we were getting ourselves set up at our camp in the woods."

"That's interesting," Alec said. "Sasha's not a big flirt at all."

"Neither is Kenny," Zane said. "I mean, he has flirted with other girls occasionally before, but he's not what I would define a man-whore."

"He's been quiet, hasn't he?" I said, pointing to Zack.

"It's how he is," Tinga assured me.

"Yep, the strong and silent type," Max said. I saw Ben start to talk, and I knew that look, but Max caught him out of the corner of her eye and glared. "Ben, if you were going to make some kind of smart remark about Zack, save it."

Ben looked surprised. "I wasn't going to make a smart remark about Zack," he said honestly.

"Yeah, sure..." Max said slowly. She didn't look entirely convinced, but she decided to let it go.

We finished eating and paid for the food and went back outside. "So, what's next on our agenda, fearless leader?" Zane asked Zack.

Zack shrugged. "We're free until we have to leave in two days. It's up to you as long as it's within reason."

"In other words, you're screwed," Max said. That got a laugh out of most of us.

"I think I'll join the others at the pool," Alec said. "You in, Biggs?"

"Of course," I said. "What do you think, Tinga?"

"That doesn't sound too bad at all," Tinga said. She grinned mischievously. "Let's see if they're all behaving themselves over there." We laughed and headed back towards the hotel.

TBC

Notes: Thank you so much to sirena1, angelofdarkness78, and CrimsonReality for their reviews and support!