Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel so don't sue me. Thanks. :-)
A/N: Thank you, thank you, thank you to: Marcus Sylenus, nattylovesu, Dark girl, Callie, Unknown x5, S a i r a h i n i e l. I appreciate all the reviews, you guys have no idea how much they mean to me! XD
Ex Multus Familia: Part 2
Chapter 3
Dawn rose hazy and grey over Seattle as a small group of transgenics gathered on the street outside of the T.C. headquarters. An army jeep was parked nearby, and a couple of rugged, no-nonsense Special Forces soldiers were standing at the back of it, waiting for the transgenics leaving on the mission to climb in. The five who were going on the mission were dressed in old desert uniforms that had been used back in the War on Terror. They were a lot different for the X-series troops than their Manticore issue urban warfare grays, but Jane and Mole, the two Desert-Acclimated Commandos, seemed more comfortable than ever. They were standing stoically near Joshua and a couple other transhumans while Anica, Krit and Seth finished saying their goodbyes.
Robin had her arms around Seth's waist while his chin rested on top of her head. With dark-dyed skin and black hair, Seth almost looked Middle Eastern; Robin had already made him swear to dye his hair back to its original color for the wedding. Squished between her parents, Taylor gurgled and clapped her hands, not comprehending the situation at all.
"Last chance for me to back out," Seth murmured. Robin shivered as she felt his chest rumble with his words, and she clung on to him tighter.
"Like you would do that," Robin replied. She rested her cheek against his chest and wished that the jeep and the mission would just disappear.
Seth chuckled. "If you told me to, you know I would." His thumb rubbed comforting circles on the back of her hand.
Robin shook her head. "They need you. Besides, it'll be nice to have you out of my hair while I get the rest of the wedding together."
"You don't mean that." Seth placed a row of soft, warm kisses across her forehead. Robin let out a long sigh and looked up into his blue eyes.
"No, I don't."
He kissed her cheeks, the corner of her mouth, her lips, and then pulled back. "Good. Otherwise, I might be sad."
"Wouldn't want that," Robin said, attempting to smile at his joke. She put her hand on his chest. "Watch yourself out there, understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," Seth said. He saluted her loosely, a smile on his face, before he reached and brushed his fingers down her face. Looking down at Taylor, he took the baby from her mother and held her close. "Hey, sweetheart. You look after your mom, okay?"
Taylor responded by becoming serious, her grey-blue eyes resting on her father's. Seth smiled, kissed her cheek and handed her back to Robin.
"You're going to be careful, right?" Seth asked, cupping Robin's face with one hand while the other rested on her waist.
She gave him a cheeky smile. "We'll see about that."
"Robin," he said, shaking his head. He leaned forward and put his forehead against hers. "Don't do anything dangerous. Stay away from the humans, the walls, the sewers—"
Robin laughed, interrupting him. "Seth, I think I know how to take care of myself. What else were those years of training for?"
"Learning how to protect everyone but yourself, it seems," Seth said, his voice and eyes going dark for a moment. Robin looked down at the ground and then up at him. Smiling, she leaned her head back and kissed his jawline.
"What if I promise to try and not get shot while you're gone?" she teased, "I'll try really, really hard."
"Don't even joke about it. The line of fire is a no-go zone for you, understood?"
"Got it, sir," she replied, grinning at him. He kissed her forehead again.
"I'll be back in a few weeks," Seth said, holding her to him, "It probably won't even seem that long, you'll be busy."
Robin pulled back and frowned at him. "And I'm certain it'll be interminably long."
"Think positive, love," he replied, smiling at her, "I'll call you when I can."
They shared another kiss before breaking apart, but Seth kept his hold on Robin's hand.
"Hey, Seth," Sidda exclaimed, appearing beside them, "Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on her and Taylor." She threw a bright smile at her best friend's fiancé and then put an arm around Robin's shoulder. "Don't want her to have to plan a wedding and take care of the kid all by herself in a cold, lonely apartment."
"You always make me feel so much better," Robin said sarcastically, making a face, but she had to admit, it would be nice having Sidda around to help out. Besides, every now and then she did miss her old roommate. At least when Sidda wasn't bent on trying to drive her crazy.
Standing nearby, Alec glanced over at Sidda and then gave Seth a longsuffering look. "You owe me an apartment mate."
"I think you mean bed mate," Syl said as she and Krit broke through to the front of the group. Her eyes teased Sidda and Alec, but the two of them only smirked at each other. Syl rolled her eyes and turned her attention to Krit.
"Hey, you, don't fall for any cheap gizmos with nice facing, got it?" she said, a smirk on her face. Krit snorted as he bent down and kissed her cheek.
"You know they don't have anything worthwhile out there," he said as he straightened up, "American-made is the best."
"Damn right," Syl replied. She grabbed the front of Krit's shirt and pulled him down to her level so she could kiss him full on the lips. There were catcalls all around. Krit's eyes widened until he closed them in utter bliss. That contentment ended a moment later when Syl roughly pushed him away and hit him up against the head with the palm of her hand. "And don't you forget it!"
"I won't," Krit said, rubbing at the place she had hit him, "How could I with love like that?" While he pouted at Syl, Max stepped forward and hugged him.
"I wish we didn't have to do this," Max said, burying her face for a moment in her brother's shoulder.
Krit patted her back. "It'll all work out, Maxie. It always does."
"Yeah, but that doesn't mean I have to like it," she said as she stepped away.
While everyone was finishing up with their goodbyes, Dalton rounded the corner of the building and blurred toward the group, almost crashing into Syl and Krit. Luckily, the tall X5 male grabbed Dalton's shoulder and brought him to a halt before he could run anyone over.
"Going somewhere?" Krit joked as Dalton, still dressed in his night clothes, looked around, his dark eyes searching the group. He found what he was looking for, and a blush crept into his cheeks.
Alec followed Dalton's stare and found Anica at the end of it. The pretty girl was hugging a couple other X6s, both girls and most likely her apartment mates. Ah.
Alec walked over to where Dalton had stopped as if someone had shot him with a stun gun. What a goof-up. He was Alec's favorite X6, if he had to pick one.
Alec glanced back toward Sidda and saw her looking at him, her gaze amused. She flicked her gaze at Dalton and looked back at Alec, questioning. He nodded, and she smiled, turning back to Robin and Seth who were now talking with Max. Damn, it was nice to be understood without having to speak. He stepped behind Dalton and clapped a hand around his shoulder. "If you're going to say anything to her, I'd start saying it."
Dalton jumped and turned his head to look wide-eyed up at Alec. "I can't."
Alec pinched the shoulder of Dalton's faded black t-shirt and gave it a gentle shake. "Then why'd you come here in your pajamas?"
"Got lost," was Dalton's surly reply, "Sleep-blurring."
"Yeah, right." Alec shoved the kid forward. "Just go say goodbye and get it over with. It won't kill you."
"It's not that easy," Dalton said, "I'm not you." He whipped back around and tried to go back, but no luck. Sidda was suddenly at his side, steering him in a tight circle back to face Anica.
"Nope, you're not Alec. Consider it a good thing," she said. She tightened her hold on Dalton's arm and gave him a reassuring smile. "Just go be yourself, and tell her goodbye."
"Hey, tell her you wanna go out when she gets back, as a victory celebration," Alec suggested. He and Sidda made a wall blocking Dalton's escape as Sidda moved to stand beside Alec.
The X6 stared at them, his mouth half open. "Unfair."
"Tough love, kiddo," Sidda said, winking at him. "Now go."
Dalton frowned at both of them before slowly turning around, his shoulders tensing up. Robin and Seth walked over to Alec and Sidda, and Robin pointed toward Dalton as the X6 trudged up to Anica, his feet dragging.
"What's gotten into him?" she asked.
"Puppy love," Syl declared, "Bad case."
"Have you suddenly become the relationship guru around here?" Sidda asked, her eyebrows lifting.
Syl tossed her a smile. "Sure, if that's what you want to call it."
Robin smiled and twisted her fingers through Seth's. It didn't seem like such a bad idea to start loving someone when you were young; it meant you got to love them longer.
The last of the goodbyes and good-lucks were made, and the team started to load into the truck. Seth turned around one last time before climbing into the back of the truck and saluted Robin. She managed to smile back and mouth to him, "Come home." He nodded his reply before disappearing behind the flap. The jeep rumbled to life and rolled out toward the gate, leaving Robin with an uneasy feeling but her friends beside her.
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A couple day's after the mission team left, a small meeting was held in Max's office to discuss how they were going to handle the growing human vs. transgenics relations crisis.
"Community outreach, huh?" Sidda spun the office chair around so that she was facing the door, then spun it back so that she was looking at Max again.
"Joshua's already been selling paintings, but now he wants to do painting lessons. Gem's going to offer some cooking lessons, and I was going to teach a martial arts class. Syl's offered to read to local children…" Max grinned at the looks on their faces. "Don't worry, Sy'ls good with them. Surprisingly, I know." She tapped her pen against the sheet of paper she'd been taking notes on. "Do you have anything you're good at, Sidda? Or Alec?"
"Alec could give piano concerts and lessons," Sidda said, grinning up at him.
Alec shrugged and gave a resigned sigh. "But only if she gives dance lessons," he said, looking down at her. He remembered how good she'd been back at Italy.
"Long as I have my partner to help me demonstrate."
Max ignored their bantering, instead writing down the necessary information. "Dance…piano…good." She looked up. "Robin, how about you?"
Robin hesitated. "I guess I could teach drawing…" she said slowly.
"Hey, Robin, you do some interior decorating, right?" They all looked up at the sound of Logan's voice. He was standing in the shadows of the doorway, arms crossed as he leaned against the doorframe.
"Yes…." Robin said, looking at him curiously. Robin glanced at Max. "I guess I could do some of that, but I didn't think that was what…"
"No, no, that's not what I meant." Logan waved an idle hand and moved into the room. "More like set design…" He paused and thought for a moment, then continued. "Giving lessons is a good start and all, but it's not enough. It doesn't get past the local community." His eyes flicked to Max as if this was something they'd been talking about already. From Max's guarded expression, it was something she hadn't necessarily agreed with either.
"What'll work better?" Alec asked, genuinely curious. He hadn't noticed Max's expression.
"Well, I was talking about this with Krit before he left," Logan was getting excited now, standing up straighter, hands moving energetically as he talked. "We were thinking about a T.V show. Everyone watches T.V, no matter who they are or what their station in life is. They're more sympathetic to unusual ideas if the ideas are presented as part of some sort of story. If we introduce the people in Terminal City as characters they should care about…"
"Wait, you mean like a reality TV show?" Alec asked. He fiddled with his jacket uneasily, as if he couldn't decide if this idea was a brilliant one or a terrible one.
"Well, yes, I guess you could call it that, only we wouldn't have contests or anything like the game shows. It would be just one of those shows that follows some of the day-to-day activities of people here in T.C. To show that you're just like everyone else."
Sidda snorted, understanding completely why Max looked so tense about this. "Logan, that's the problem. We're not like everyone else. What do we show them? Us crawling through sewers, beating up a crowd of humans when we're outnumbered 10-1? Transhumans who can withstand extreme temperatures? I don't think that will go over well."
Logan nodded, then shook his head. "No…but yes." He smiled as everyone gave him a confused look. "Look, if we have everyone doing all these community things… why not start with that? Then show the fallible side of transhumans. Show us dealing with normal problems, like trying to cook, attempting to renovate apartments, figuring out how to take care of kids…I know we've got a lot of charismatic people." He grinned at Max, "I bet a few of the younger guys here could probably win their own fan clubs."
"Oh, I dunno, Logan, all that fame would be a bit tough to handle…" Alec chuckled as Sidda shoved his arm.
"Let's try to keep the fame part low-key," Max said, rolling her eyes at Alec. "That's one of my biggest concerns, actually. If we're all recognized, that could put many of us in a lot of danger."
Robin shuddered, thinking with her bodyguard-tuned mind. "It would be a security nightmare," she said.
Sidda had to agree. "How would you fix that, Logan? Assuming we went with the idea, we absolutely can't compromise our identities like that."
"Well, actually, that's what I came here to talk to Max about, before I found you all here," he said. "I've come up with a few options, each wither their advantages and disadvantages. We could try gelatin masks… something Ms. Doubtfire-ish…oh, wait, never mind, you don't know that reference…" He shook his head. "Anyways, it could look realistic, but it'd be uncomfortable. If you all didn't mind the community knowing who you were, we could simply CGI your faces before broadcasting the TV show so that you'll look like someone else."
They all hesitated, looking at each other. "We'll discuss it," Max finally said. "With everyone. This is something the whole community has to agree on."
Logan nodded, still looking very determined. "Well, until tonight then I'll keep working on it."
"Alec! Little fella! And everyone!" They all turned at the sound of the familiar voice as Joshua entered the room, looking beside himself with joy as he went around the room bestowing hugs.
"Either the population of Terminal City has become very small, or we're everyone that matters," Alec whispered in Sidda's ear. She laughed and turned to look at him.
"Dork."
Once Joshua had released Max, he snatched up the list that Max had been keeping and scrutinized it closely, nodding his head in agreement with the contents of the list.
"Hmm, yes, many good ideas." He nodded his head at Max. "I take list now, ok? I get everyone together."
Max smiled. "You do that, Joshua."
Joshua eyed each of them sternly. "You come to the meeting tonight. I've got lots to talk about. I'm in charge of making people love us." He looked at Max. "Right little fella?"
"Right, big fella."
Joshua nodded brusquely and then strode out, mumbling under his breath. It was obvious that he loved having such an important job, especially one that pertained to the artistic stuff he loved so well.
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After the meeting, Robin, who had offered to make lunch for a few transgenics in their apartment building, walked into the kitchen to start making lunch. Sidda brushed past Alec as they entered the living room and did a flying leap onto the couch. The blond, short transgenic punched one of the pillows and then lay still, her shoulders still bunched in annoyance. Grinning, Alec grabbed her feet and lifted them so he could sit down on the couch. He let them fall into his lap, but Sidda didn't move.
"Seriously?!" she eventually declared into the couch cushions, her voice muffled, "Did that seriously just happen?"
"Yes, I think it seriously did," Alec said with mock solemnity. He grabbed her feet and held them still as she tried to kick him in the face. With swift movements, he unlaced and pulled off her boots then threw them into a corner. Her feet were a lot less dangerous when they were only armored with soft, frog-covered purple socks instead of her tan hiking boots.
"It's really not that bad," Robin put in from the kitchen. She looked out at them over the counter. "I mean, everything besides the reality TV show idea."
Sidda flipped herself over and shook her head violently. "Oh, don't even get me started on that one. One episode of that show could get us all killed."
"Or make us look like innocent victims," Alec countered. When Sidda glared at him venomously, he laughed and yanked on her ankles, pulling her toward him. "You're looking at the negatives."
"You don't really think that we should have cameras trained on our every move, do you?" Sidda said. She sat up and pulled her legs out of his laps so she could tuck them underneath her.
Alec gave her a positively roguish smile. "Every move? Even night time activities?"
"You're ridiculous," Sidda said, shoving him in the shoulder.
"And you're right, the TV idea does sort of suck," Alec said. He leaned back and played his fingers along her kneecap. "But a little news time with some transgenics couldn't be that bad. Maybe something like day in the life of the transgenics."
"Now we're a soap opera," Sidda moaned, flopping back onto the couch.
"As dramatic as you are, that should be easy," Robin said. She grinned to herself as she dug some vegetables out of the fridge. "Actually, that would work. Our lives are so messed up, we'd make the perfect soap opera." She put a bunch of carrots and celery on the counter and looked expectantly at Alec and Sidda. Sidda was staring at the ceiling, irritation clear on her face, and Alec was pretending not to notice Robin watching them. Robin set the vegetables on the counter with a loud smack, knowing that they would have to get up eventually.
Alec smirked at Sidda. "Robin may be on to something." He reached over and grabbed Sidda's hands. While she grumbled, he pulled her up and into a sitting position. Her pout only made him smile wider. "Unrequited love. Possible incest. Heat."
"I don't think the human world is quite ready for heat," Sidda said. She shoved her hair back from her face and looked over at Robin. The taller blonde cast her gaze over to the vegetables on the counter before looking back at Sidda; her command was easy to read.
Sighing, Sidda slid off the couch and headed over to the counter. She perched on one of the bar stools, grabbed a knife from the nearby holder and started chopping vegetables. It was one of the few cooking chores that Robin would let her do.
There was a knock on the door, rapid and quick. "I'll get it!" Alec declared, more willing to entertain whoever was coming in than help cook.
He rushed to the door and opened it. Two X5s stepped in, the woman in front of the man. Alec grinned at Everett, a reliable transgenic with dark brown hair and striking grey eyes. Everett had been in Alec's unit back in Manticore. He was the same height as Alec, and Mona, his mate, was only a few inches shorter than him, about 5'8".
With dark red hair that had not been cut since Manticore was taken down, Mona was a beautiful, willowy X5 who looked breakable, as if she had not been created to be a killing machine. Everything about her was graceful and delicate, but give the girl some house hold products and she could make an explosive that would take out half of T.C. She was an ammunitions specialist, and she did her job amazingly well. Mona's gently protruding stomach, barely noticeable under her loose shirt, was a new element, one that both of them were immensely proud of, especially Everett. He had already started a betting pool on whether it was going to be a girl or a boy; Alec had instinctively put money on both. Something told him that it was going to be twins, and if not, at least he'd get something out of it.
"Hey, welcome to the apartment that isn't mine," Alec said.
"What, Robin turn you into a doorman?" Everett said, grinning at the other X5.
"She took Sidda hostage. There wasn't much else I could do."
"You could rescue me!" Sidda's voice exclaimed from the counter.
"I'm trying!" Alec replied. He threw a wry smile over his shoulder at Robin who had come out of the kitchen, rubbing her hands on a towel. She popped him with the tip of it as she passed.
"Stop trying to steal my help," she scolded. She immediately hugged both Everett and Mona, exclaiming greetings, and then pulled Mona into the kitchen, a place that was quickly becoming the heart of Robin and Seth's apartment. "Come on, hope you like sandwiches and salads."
"Sounds delicious," Mona said, pulling the carrots toward her immediately so that she could start cutting them. Ever since Seth had left, Robin had been constant holding lunches and dinners in her apartment, as if constant work and talking could make her forget what he was doing. The neighbors had been forewarned by Sidda, but most of them were happy when they got an invite, and some were even hurt when they didn't get one. They were all just glad not to have to cook for a meal, and doing something as simple as helping Robin cut up vegetables was a much easier task that they were only too happy to do.
"Suck-up," Sidda muttered even as she hugged their neighbor. Mona smiled indulgently.
"I'm just so grateful to not have to do all the cooking that I don't mind something as simple as this." She stopped to nibble on a carrot. "Robin, however did you get so good at making food? Everett never says anything, but pretty much anything I try that doesn't come from a strict recipe turns out to be a disaster."
Robin shrugged. "Most of my stuff comes from recipes too. I just read enough to get the general idea of what ingredients work together and what don't."
"She still has a very misguided idea about ham and pineapple though," Sidda informed Mona.
"Mmm, I dunno, that sounds really good," Mona said. Her eyes slid toward the fridge. "You wouldn't happen to have any, would you?" Then she blushed. "Ugh, never mind. Stupid cravings."
Robin and Sidda looked at each other and laughed; they remembered how much of a pain Robin's cravings used to be.
"So, have you heard about the cultural revolution that we have apparently decided to embark on?" Sidda asked, restlessly chopping the celery into tiny diced pieces. "It's absolutely ridiculous, not to mention dangerous."
"If you couldn't tell, it's the topic that's been at the forefront of Sidda's mind for, what, the last hour or so?" Alec called out from the living room. Sidda grabbed a pepper shaker and threw it at him. He caught it deftly and set it down on the table.
"I guess I shouldn't replace those with less durable ones," Robin muttered, eyeing the saltshaker. She carefully moved it out of Sidda's reach.
Sidda rolled her eyes. "There is a reason that most of the stuff in this apartment is unbreakable," Sidda reminded Robin.
"And I was going to be nice and blame that on the fact that I have a baby who will be crawling around in the next few months," Robin said.
Mona sighed happily at the mention of a baby. "You know, I wouldn't mind if we could figure out a way to make Terminal City a little more peaceful," she said, caressing her belly. "It'd be nice for my baby if it didn't have to come into such a rough world."
"Yeah, well, I don't think a reality TV show will solve your problems," Sidda said. She got up from the stool and went to the kitchen window to open it. When Mona and Robin turned to look at her, Sidda shrugged. "I was hot."
"A little worked up from this whole TV thing?" Everett asked, moving into view. He winked at her.
"What is this TV show you're talking about anyway?" Mona asked, tipping the carrots and celery into the bowl Robin had pulled out. "I don't remember anyone mentioning it before."
"It just got mentioned," Alec said. "Logan and Krit's idea."
"Oooo," Mona said. She shook her head and smiled. "Boys and their toys."
"Hey!" Everett exclaimed. "I resent the implication that all we want to do is play with new gadgets. I bet Logan and Krit had some sound ideas for the TV show."
"Oh, sure, it sounds great until you think about the fact that it puts up WANTED posters for every single transgenic that appears on it," Sidda growled.
"That does present a problem," Mona admitted. "Showing our faces in public at all leads us closer to danger every time we do it."
Robin appeared from the depths of the refrigerator, a plate of sandwiches in her hand. "You know…" she said slowly. "What if we mixed humans and transgenics? We could start with those who already support us, then bring a mix to community events. If we never say directly who is who, no one will be able to really tell as long as we don't show the transhumans. And…"
She set the plate on the counter, getting into her idea now. "If we rotated people through constantly and evenly, no one would really even be able to pick out who might be helping us. They can't attack a whole city block just because the people happen to live near and interact with transgenics."
Sidda put her head into her hands. "Please don't give Logan another reason to go with this crazy idea."
"Actually, it sounds kind of logical to me," Everett said. "With all the brains we have, we should be able to come up with a careful way to present that. Maybe not necessarily a TV show, but just a general broadcasting every now.
"Oh, yeah, and here's the update on your local transgenic population," Sidda said sarcastically.
Alec moved behind Sidda and gently rubbed her shoulders, trying to calm her down. He knew the TV show idea bothered her, but even he was a bit surprised at how angry about it she was. Then again, when Sidda got something fixed in her mind, she was usually pretty stubborn about changing it. He actually kind of loved that about her. Except when she was dead-set against an idea of his, of course.