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 39: Krit (X5-157)

Okay, today's the day that Syl's heat is over and she gets sprung from Isolation. Should I wait another day or two before asking her how she really feels about me or should I just do it right here, right now? Seriously, this is driving me up the wall. I'm honestly scared here.

"Everything's going to work out," Ben said from where he sat next to me at the table in the cafeteria. He gave me a smile before he turned his attention back to his breakfast.

"Sure," I said. I forced down a spoonful of my oatmeal. "It's going to be great."

"Stop trying to convince yourself and actually believe it," Kenny said. He turned around to look across the cafeteria to where Sasha was sitting with Alec, Biggs, and their unit and gave her a big smile before he turned back to me. "It'll be fine. I'd never thought that I would hear myself saying this, but listen to Ben." Ben flipped him off and he laughed.

"Considering how big of a miserable bastard you were before we came here back in March because of how badly you were missing Sasha, you've got room to talk." Brin sounded more amused than annoyed.

Kenny looked smug. "That's exactly why, baby sis. Things worked out and so far so good and God willing, they'll continue that way."

I nodded and looked over towards the cafeteria door. I saw two of the other girls who had gone into heat that afternoon enter the cafeteria and made a face. "Great, they get to get sprung early enough to make breakfast. Would it have been too much effort for them to have released Syl as well? Apparently so…"

"Re…freaking…lax," Rena said slowly. "She'll get here when she gets here." She looked up and I followed her gaze to where Syl was coming through the cafeteria door and I felt a mix of relief and nerves when I met Syl's eyes. "You see, Krit? There she is."

"I know," I said. I swallowed nervously and focused intensely on my oatmeal when Syl sat down in her usual place next to me. Wow, Krit, could you act any more like a five-year-old?

"Hey, everybody," Syl said. I glanced up at her and I saw that she looked pretty embarrassed. "I'm sorry about causing that mess the other day."

"No harm, no foul," Max said. "Besides, you weren't the only one responsible for that whole dealio."

"Um, no harm?" Parker said. He pointed to the now barely visible scar on his forehead. Becky looked up from where she was discussing something with Karen, shook her head, and turned back to her conversation.

"He does have a point," Zane said. I couldn't help smiling. Good old Zane. I knew that I could count on him or Wayne at least to liven up this discussion. "From what we saw before they threw Krit and Parker and I into the brig and from what we heard through the grapevine afterwards, the infirmary had one of its all-time busiest days. I heard that one of the guys that Krit was fighting to keep away from Syl had to be kept overnight there before he got thrown in solitary because of a concussion and another had at least two broken bones."

"Really?" I said, grinning. I hadn't heard that before and I felt damn proud. I glanced out of the corner of my eye and I saw Syl trying to restrain a smile, but I knew that look in her eyes and I couldn't help feeling hopeful. "Damn, I'm good."

"And damn lucky that you didn't get thrown into solitary confinement because of the damage that you caused," Zack said pointedly.

Killjoy. "I know," I said.

"Everybody's still talking about that melee," Reese said. "I know that we never had an actual Helo One go down back in Wyoming in our whole lives and Alec and Biggs told me that there apparently had been another one happen here in Seattle, but it was years ago back when the X3s and X4s were starting to hit puberty and going into heat for the first time." He gave me, Zane, and Parker a quick salute. "Kudos."

"Don't congratulate them," Jace said.

"I'm all up for anything that would liven things up here, myself," Ben remarked.

"I think that it's official: the men in this family born in 1996 and later are hopeless," Gale said.

"And the other one is a hopeless—" Max was sitting closer to Wayne than Zack, so she was the one to smack Wayne across the back of his head. "It's sweet the way that you're so willing to defend your boyfriend. It really is." I saw the look in Wayne's eyes and suddenly, I knew where he was going to continue with that line of thought. Not knowing whether to hug or slaughter my brother, I quickly turned to Syl.

"So, Syl…" I kept my voice low enough so that it would be incredibly difficult to be able to understand what I was saying at the absolute best. "…about what happened the other day about what I said before the heat fight broke out. I—do you really feel that way about me? I—I really, really hope that it wasn't just your hormones talking and I know that I must sound like a complete moron, but I want to know. I'm going nuts wondering about it."

Syl blushed, but she leaned forward and she smiled. "I thought about it some more myself when my head cleared up before they cut me loose a little while ago." She leaned even closer to me and I could have sworn that my heart was about to explode. "My hormones were not doing the talking for me, Krit. That's how I really feel about you." Her lips brushed over mine for the barest second, quick enough not to arouse suspicion from any of other transgenics or guards, but I could feel where those soft lips of hers had been long after she had broken that kiss. I looked at her and I didn't think there was enough room on my face for the smile that was there.

"Oooooh, Krit and Syl, sitting in a tree…" Zane, Wayne, Kenny, Ben, Parker, and Jack started to sing. I cut them off by chucking a roll in their direction before sneaking another quick kiss with Syl and exchanging grins with her.

"Considering that two of you actually have girls of your own…" Eva shook her head. "Gale was right. You are hopeless."

"And proud of it," Ben said cheerfully. I laughed and couldn't help getting another sneaky kiss in with Syl. Yep, call me hopeless. Hopeless how they were thinking of it, hopelessly in love…it all works.

TBC