Previously on The New Addition
"I know, Maxie, and I'm sorry." Alec slid a hand up to trace her backbone and shot a glance over at the girl. "But we do have a bigger problem to worry about." She stiffened and looked over at the girl. "She hasn't choosen what she wants to eat, so I was hoping that you could help me with that." She shot him a smile, as she wiped the tears off of her face and moved towards the girl, only to have the front door of the apartment burst open.
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Both Transgenics spun around with their fists drawn in attack formation only to drop them the second their recognized their attacker. "Sketchy," Alec called out to him, as he moved over to their friend's side. "What are you doing here? It's the middle of the night?" Sketchy looked up at the X5 with a drunken look.
"What did you guys do to piss Logan off?" Sketchy asked in a slurred tone. "He's really pissed off." He then noticed the girl sitting on the counter. "Hey, there's a kid here. Cool." He headed over towards her. "Hey, how old are you?" She held up a hand, telling him that she was five. "You're five. Wow. You look like Max, but you got Alec's eyes." He then froze and turned to face the X5s. "Did you guys get busy and have a kid?"
"Yeah, Sketchy, Max and I got busy and had a kid." Sketchy's eyes then went sky yard a second before he collapsed to the floor, the information too much for him to take in his drunken state. "Poor Sketchy." The girl shot a glance down at him and then looked up at them. "Hmmm, this is our friend, Sketchy. We'll introduce you to him better when he's sober and awake."
"Do you have a name?" Max asked the girl, as she went up to her side, tucking a loose strand of her hair back behind her ear. "Like I'm Max and he's Alec."
"I'm 946," the girl responded as she looked up at them. "That's the only thing I've ever been called. It's the only thing I know to respond to. Anything else would be wrong."
"No, it's not wrong. 946 is your designation number, you are more than that. You need a name. So you can either pick or we can you pick one."
"I can't just be a number?" They shook their head no. "Why not?"
"Because there are bad people out here who are looking for our kind who look for those who still think they have to be their numbers." Alec hopped up on the counter next to the girl and Max looked up at him for support. "Want to add anything, Alec?"
"Plus it's cool to have a name. A name gives you a personality. When you were a number that's all you were. Just a number. You were a subject, property of Manticore. They didn't give you a name because they didn't want to know you as you, they only wanted to know you as the solider they were training you as." She looked over at him with fear in his eyes. "But we don't see you as a number. We see you as a person. That's why we want you to have a name. Trust me, Max is one of those people who just love to give people names. She gave me mine. I'm sure if you can't figure out one for yourself she can help you figure out one for you."
"I would like a name," she said after a short while, looking over at them. "Can I have a little while to figure out what name I want though?" They both shot her a smile, as Alec hopped down and began to look through the counters. "I take it that he's still hungry."
"Alec, is always hungry," Max replied, as she leaned next to him. "When you pick a name, I'm sure it'll be a good one. It doesn't matter how weird or exotic name it is. Since the Pulse, names have been strange."
"Yeah, we've even had a girl named Ralph," Alec pointed out, as he shot them a smile only to pause to shot a glance over at Sketchy. Max looked over to see that he had rolled over and was snoring loudly. "Zero, Fix-it, Bugler."
"Those were good names."
"I didn't say that they weren't." Max moved over to stand next to him. "So, you're five years old?" She nodded. "You read?" She nodded again. "Write?" Another nod. "Swim?" Nod. "We all ready know you can blur." Max then turned to face Alec. "You remember being that young. I don't remember all that we did when we were that little. It was a lot of training."
"Yeah, I remember the training," Alec said, as he looked over at the girl, as she got off the counter and went over to sit on the couch. "I just can't get past the fact that she's our daughter, that they made her. Could there be more like her? More made from the DNA of the others?" Max caught his eyes and shrugged. "We could never know."
"So what are you cooking?" Max quickly changed the subject not wanting to talk about the idea that there might be more children out there. "Cause there is no food being cooked at all."
"I have no idea." Alec looked down at his hands and shot her a smile. "I thought I would make mac'n'cheese and corn dogs. It's fast and easy, plus it taste good. Hopefully with a full stomach maybe she'll open up more to us about what all has happened."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Boil the water." They fixed the food while trying to figure out how to get her to talk to them without making it feel like an interrogation to her. They didn't need her anymore scared of them as she was already. As soon as the food was ready, they served it up on four plates and set it out on the counter. Alec woke up the drunk Sketchy and they ate in silence.
"So who is she?" Sketchy asked between bites, as he looked over at the girl, sitting next to Alec, as Max tried her best to keep Sketchy in his seat. "And why again does she look like you and Alec?"
"I'm Dakota," the girl replied, as she took a drink of water, causing Alec to chock on his drink of water. Max shot him a glance and he waved her off. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Sketchy."
"Dakota?" Sketchy asked, as he looked over at the X5s. "And she is whom?"
"A friend," Max answered quickly as she began to eat her food. "A close friend of ours."
"So Sketch, do you think you're sober enough to get home?" Alec asked, as he looked over at his friend. "Because we do have to get some sleep before work today?"
"Good, Max, can walk me home," Sketchy said, as he look over at her.
"Actually, she's staying her. Dakota asked her to stay over."
"Oh. Then I think I can manage on my own." Sketchy got to his feet and headed for the door. "Well, I guess I'll see you guys at work." Then he was gone.
"So I see you chose a name," Alec said to Dakota as he shot a glance over at her, as he gather up their dishes and put them in the sink. "Dakota's a unique name."
"I like it," she said in a soft whisper, that both X5s barely caught. They both looked at each other, before Max hunched in front of her. "I can change it if you don't like it."
"If you like it, then we don't want you to change it." Max reached out and tucked back a loose strand of her hair and Dakota shot her a small smile, and Max smiled back at her. "We're not going to judge you. We've been through what you've gone through so we know how you feel." Tears soon were running down Dakota's face and she threw her arms around Max's neck. Max looked over at Alec who shot her a sympathetic smile, as he sank down next to her.
"Hey, Dakota," Alec began, as he ran his hand down her back. "It's going to be okay. We're here. We'll protect you. With us as your parents, you're going to have a very interesting life, it's not going to be a very easy one, but it'll be an easy one. Max and I won't always get along, but we'll be there for you."
"Promise?" Dakota asked, looking up, at the two X5s. "I know that you both have your own opionions about each others and you guys fight a lot. But I do need you to be at least friends around me."
"Yeah, We'll be there to watch your back, squirt," Alec smirked, as he ruffled up Dakota's hair. "And I'm sure that you'll watch ours."
"You bet I will."
"You're right, Max, she is like me. She's betting all ready." Alec shot a glance over at the clock on the wall. "We better get some down time. We do got to get some sleep before work today or Normal is going to can our behinds."
"Come on, Dakota, you can I can take the bed, Alec can take the couch," Max said, as she ushered the girl towards the bedroom. "Don't worry Alec, it's only fair. Two against one. See you in a couple of hours." She shut the bedroom door and Alec let out a loud sigh as he laid down on the couch and tried to fall asleep. In a couple of hours, their entire world had been changed, by a tiny girl named Dakota. How Funny life was. Alec let out another sigh before rolling over and finally falling into a light sleep.
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TBC
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