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 32: Max (X5-452)

I stretched out on my new bunk in my new cell—okay, so the cell wasn't exactly new considering that it had belonged to Jeff's sister 252 before she had died—but you get the idea. Having your own cell did have its advantages, though I would miss having Jondy right next to me if we wanted to talk when we were both kept up at night because of our shark DNA. I mean, she's not even in a cell next to me. I've got Zack in Jeff's old cell on my left and Jace when she gets back from her mission on my right. Heck, it's no big dealio. If I'm bored at night now all I have to do is to get out of my cell and to go across and just down the hall to talk to Jondy or for her to do the same. I guess both the advantages and the disadvantages of this kind of sleeping arrangement are going to have to take some getting used to.

Once the lights had gone out and the guard had done his checking up on us thing, I got up from the bunk and walked over to the wall near my cell's bathroom. I loosened a block and pulled it free and pulled out a book on motorcycles that Zack had gotten for me when he'd gone on a solo mission a few months ago. I looked sadly at my contraband hiding place for a few moments before I replaced the block and went back to my bunk and sat down on it. That had been where 252 had stashed her contraband as well. I had discovered it this morning when I was looking for a place to stash my stuff and had realized that the block was loose. I'd pulled the block free and had discovered a notebook which turned out to be a journal, a romance novel, a copy of a Stephen King novel, and—naturally—a handgun. I realized that it was 252's things. I mean, it's not like the girl planned to have been killed on that mission. I'd temporarily stashed my own things in one of the drawers of my desk and just a little while ago, when I knew that the kids would be back in their own block, I'd taken 252's things and went over and had given them to Jeff. The poor guy had gotten teary eyed and I didn't blame him at all. I had cried a little bit when I had realized that the stuff that I had come across belonged to 252. It's hard when you come across a reminder of a fallen sibling, and even though 252 technically hadn't been one of my sisters, she had been Jeff's, Ralph's, Layla's, Wes', and Christian's and I felt horrible for them. I still feel that kind of pain a little bit when I see something that reminds me of Kyle or even of Dash and it's been so long since he died.

I wiped my eyes and tried to focus on my book. I really did love it. I've loved motorcycles ever since I had first read about them in my mechanics class when I was a kid and had driven one for the first time in that class when I was twelve. I've since gotten opportunities to use them on a couple of the missions that I've gone on and they are so much fun. There's something that's borderline spiritual about riding down a road at high speed with the wind in your face or at your back and it's just you and the bike. I don't know if it's just me since I've always been one of our family's adrenaline junkies, as Wayne likes to put it, or if it's an X-series thing since Alec had mentioned that he, Biggs, Sasha, and several other members of his unit like to ride motorcycles when they could and I know for a fact that every other member of my family loves it as well. At any rate, I'd been thrilled when Zack had gotten back from that mission and he'd handed the book to me when we were all back in our old barracks that night after lights out. And contrary to what many of my siblings had said, I did not blush when our fingers had accidentally brushed when Zack had given me the book. I think that I would know if I was blushing or not. I swear, sometimes I just want to strangle my family members.

A few moments later, though, I heard some footsteps coming from the direction of the nearest stairwell and I put my book down and waited. Maybe it was Sasha coming to see Rena, Jondy, and I for a chat or maybe it was Alec and Biggs coming to get some mayhem going with the guys. I frowned when I realized that as the footsteps got closer to our block that they definitely did not sound like either Alec or Biggs and another moment later it was crystal clear to me that they also did not belong to Sasha, though they sounded like they belonged to a woman. An uneasy feeling decided to make its home in my stomach as the footsteps stopped nearby. A few seconds later, I heard somebody knock on Zack's cell.

"Who is it?" Zack asked.

"It's just me." I felt my temper fly up to the top of the Space Needle out in the city itself. Guess which slut decided to give our guys another try even though they all turned her down flat on the rescue and destroy mission in Poland last year? "May I come in, 599?"

"No," Zack said flatly and I quickly covered my mouth to keep from laughing. Well, to keep from laughing too loud. It sure was easy to see why Alec, Biggs, and especially Sasha give 786 a hard time so often.

"It's okay, 599," 786 said sweetly. "I just want to have a word with you." I rolled my eyes. Did this bitch need to learn a few things or what? First of all, that tone of voice never worked with Zack. I know that I've occasionally used it with him and I've actually had some success, but none of my sisters have and I'm damn sure that neither me nor my sisters have ever sounded that syrup-y or skanky.

"I'm not interested in having any words with you, 786," Zack informed her. I cheered silently. "Would you please leave? I'm scheduled to run a round of Capture the Flag against another X5 unit tomorrow afternoon immediately after lunch and I would like to get back to working out some strategies. I'm sorry."

"Oh, 599," 786 said. I've got to give the bitch points for tenacity. "We're both adults. Can't we have a talk from one adult to another? I promise that I won't bite." This is her idea of being cute? Unbelievable.

I heard Zack sigh in aggravation and get up and open his cell door to tell the skank whore off face-to-face. "For the last time, 786, I said no. I would like some peace and quiet right now while I'm working. Can you leave?"

"It's not that big of a deal," 786 said. I heard her somehow squeeze past Zack into her cell. Maybe I shouldn't be surprised that she managed to do that. From what I've heard, she must have had plenty of practice with that particular maneuver. "I promise."

"786, I will not repeat myself again," Zack said.

"You are a challenge," 786 said. I heard her move closer to Zack. That's it. I got up and blurred from my cell over to Zack's, yanked 786 from where she had just pounced on a startled and resistant Zack, threw the whore into the hallway, and decked the crap out of her. She fell to the floor, unconscious.

"Didn't your test tube ever teach you any manners?" I said.

"Thank you, Max," Zack said. "But was knocking her out really necessary?"

I shrugged. "You're welcome and it's not like I knocked her lights out on purpose or anything like that. I just wanted to give her a good hit."

"You definitely did that," Zack said dryly.

"What the hell was—oh shit!" Wayne said as he left his cell. He smirked. "Nice work, Maxie."

"Thank you, Wayne," I said.

"How did you know that it was Max that hit 786?" Zack asked.

"Because I know that you don't like to hit women unless it's necessary," Wayne said. "I also heard 786 try to come on to you and…well…" He looked too damn smug for his own good.

"Would you like for me to put the smackdown on your ass, too?" I asked.

"No," Wayne said. "Thanks for asking, but I'm not in the mood to have my ass kicked."

"I don't believe it," Rena said as she left her cell and walked over to us. She shook her head. "Man, Sasha's going to be really pissed off. Not because you hit her, but because she missed all of this action."

"What, she's not in Kenny's cell as we speak?" Wayne said.

"Very funny," Rena said. Just then, 786 stirred and groaned. She blinked a few times before looking up and seeing Rena standing over her.

"Oh, wonderful," she moaned sarcastically. "What the hell are you doing here, 121?"

Rena grinned. "Hello, 786. The reason why I'm here is because you went into a cell that you were not supposed to go into and were definitely not welcome in and now I've got to drag you to the infirmary." She patted 786 on one of her cheeks. "Oh, don't worry. There's plenty of new fish in the sea. You don't have to limit yourself to just this one." How did Rena managed to sound sarcastic, patronizing, and yet cheerful at the same time? She turned and looked down towards Ben's open cell door. I could hear Ben snickering inside the cell. "Oh, 494?"

"Yeah, coming," Ben said. He quickly joined Rena. "Well, 786, did you enjoy your nap?"

"Fuck you," 786 said.

"Nope, not desperate enough," Ben said. "Come on, 121, let's drag her back upstairs." He and Rena exchanged grins before they helped 786 up and led her over to the stairs.

"I can only imagine the look on 786's face when she sees both sets of twins standing there in a few minutes," Wayne said. He laughed. "That's gotta be priceless."

"Don't you have to get to sleep, Wayne?" Zack asked pointedly. Wayne grinned and went back to his cell and closed the door behind him. Zack turned to me. "Thanks again, Maxie."

"No problem," I said. "Anytime." Our eyes met and we started to move towards each other before the footsteps of nearby guards startled us and we quickly went back inside our cells. I sat back down on my bunk and sighed before I picked my book back up and resumed my reading.

TBC