Title: The Painter
Author: Seza
Disclaimer: I own no part of dark angel and this story is purely for
entertainment.
Rating:PG-13
Summary: Alec engages in a relationship with an X-5 painter.
Chapter One. She carried a mass of plastic bags each containing a stiff piece of canvas under her arm. She was a soldier, or at least she use to be. She had been made to kill created in a test tube, brought up in a cell. She was an X-5, a genetic killing machine. But she was free from all that now. They had taught her to paint for a field mission, but she enjoyed it gave her the control, and now she was making a living out of it selling to homes and galleries. She was selling paintings around the neighbour hood when she smelt the particular scent of paint and linseed oil. It was coming from an old abandoned house, but they seemed to be the trend of this day and age. She went up to the steps leading up to the door. She thought for a moment about going back down the steps, she could smell dog, which with her feline DNA made her feel like running for her life. But she was curious and so she knocked on the door.
"Hello anybody there? Look I'm an artist myself and I would really like to see some of your work I've got some of my own paintings here if you would like to have a look. Hello?"
Inside the building.
Alec and Joshua were lounging around the room, Alec was watching the t.v while Joshua was reading. Alec enjoyed spending time with Joshua, maybe because he didn't judge him the way like Max or Logan would. The sudden knocking on the door startled them both, normally Max would just barge right in, not really bother to knock. They heard the woman's voice. Joshua's ears pricked up when he heard 'paintings'.
"Paintings Alec, some paintings."
"Do you want to go up to the door and answer it." He stepped in front of Joshua when he took his statement seriously. " I don't think so Josh. Remember the reaction you usually get"
"Running, screaming. But you could get them. I'll hide no one will see me. Please Alec." He looked into the pleading eyes it just wouldn't be fair not to let Joshua have something. He was always isolated he needed some thing to boost his spirits.
"Okay but keep quite okay?" Joshua moved quickly down below to the basement waiting.
Billie could hear shuffles within the building someone was defiantly home. She heard them come closer to the door. It swung open. Alec stepped out into the opening. "Hello?"
"494" She was surprised to see him standing there.
"482"
"I thought I smelt something, although it smelt more like dog then rat."
"You always had such a way with words."
"So what you paint now? A bit of a break from all the backstabbing I suppose."
"I don't paint, my friend does this is his house. I'm not really the artistic type."
"Well its been really, really great seeing you again." Her tone dripped with sarcasm. She then heard a voice coming from one of the rooms inside the house.
"Alec, paintings!"
"Is that your roommate? Well I might at least get something out of this." She stepped by Alec into the old house. Joshua sneaked out from his hiding place. Billie spun around to look at Joshua then Alec. "You're living with a nomalie? Well I wouldn't of seen that coming. I thought they were the very lowest of the low, I believe lower then the ordinaries."
"Just show him the paintings." He snapped back at her.
"Calm down 494." She opened the plastic bags and emptied the contents onto the table. There must have been about twenty different paintings. Joshua began to look through the paintings before grabbing one. He ran to the basement. "Um where's he going?"
"To the basement its where he keeps all his paintings."
"So Alec, nice name too nice for you."
"And what show stopping name did you give yourself?"
"Billie. Is he coming back or what?"
"Look I'm sorry about what happened at Manticore. I was just following orders. I didn't think they would do anything to you just stop you."
"Well they didn't just stop me." They heard Joshua coming back up, he was now holding a large canvas as well as the smaller one.
"Trade got no money."
"Sounds fair" he handed her the large canvas. It was mostly dark large black shapes, it was so dark and in so much chaos.
"Come on then Josh lets see her handy work" He peered around Joshua to se the painting he was holding. He was shocked to see a portrait of himself. It was simple. Just him against a pale background with faint mountains in the distance.
"It's not that bad." Billie could see the look on his face. "You never liked my paintings." She snatched the painting that Alec was now holding. She felt the blood drain from her face.
"My Alec for your Alec. Swap." Joshua said across to her. "No money, so we trade Alec for Alec. Much more fairer this way." She practically threw the painting back to Joshua.
"Yes trade. I think that I got the better deal though, you have to keep something that looks like him. I better go. I'll be back when I have some new stuff, and when he's not here." She motioned towards Alec. She picked up the rest of her stuff and headed towards the door. On the way out she bumped into Max who had come up with supplies for Joshua. "Excuse me." She said as she pushed past Max and went out the door. Max continued to the room where Joshua and Alec were still standing. She dumped the things on the table.
"Who was that Alec? She better not have seen Joshua. If he gets hurt because you can't control your girlfriends."
"She wasn't my girlfriend she saw Joshua and it doesn't matter because she's an X-5 and once again not my girlfriend." His voice had become slightly raised.
"So what was she doing here? Friendly house call? A nice little reunion."
"She was selling paintings, smelt the paint here and wanted to see some of Joshua's work. That's all" Alec stormed away down to the basement where the piano could soon be heard playing. Max shrugged and started to unpack the food she had managed to scavenge.
"What you got there Joshua?" Joshua was still holding the painting turning it around and around, looking at it from different angles. She knew this was something that he really enjoyed.
"Traded painting" He handed the painting to her. "Swapped, my Alec for her Alec, no money, traded fair." Max examined the painting, it was a portrait of Alec, smiling or more so smirking, it seemed to be set in a forest, as mountains could be seen in the distance.
"Joshua, I'm just taking this downstairs, okay?" Joshua nodded and started to go through the packages of food. Max walked down the stairs down to the basement. Alec was pounding on the keys. "Playing the piano again?" He gave no reply. " Who was she, really Alec?" She moved around the piano so that he could see her. She looked at the painting again. "You obviously meant a lot to her." She placed the painting down on the piano. Alec stopped playing.
"The only thing that I mean to her is betrayal. She hates me."
"I don't think so, I mean this painting. Nobody could paint something like that if they hated the person. Why would she only think of betrayal anyway, what could you have done to her?"
"At Manticore, after you left we continued training and went on missions and objectives, right?"
"Yeah they kept you guys on a pretty lead."
"I was on a mission in the Colorado Hills, there was another squad of X- 5's. 482, I mean Billie was one of them. During the mission we became close, and remained as close as possible afterwards. It was a way for us to remain as human as possible, keeping that bond between us."
"So you guys were pretty close, what's wrong with that?"
"You don't understand after you're group broke out, we weren't kept 'close' any more we were split up, and were constantly on missions to keep us busy, as we got older though they couldn't stop us from building bonds and making plans. Me and Billie we saw each other a lot, and well things happened. We had a plan to get out, Billie was always smart, but I sacrificed her for my own safety and she was taken away."
"Why the hell did you do that?"
"They knew something was going on so they took us in both of us. To save myself I told them we were going to escape and that it was all Billie's idea. She got put in solitary confinement with the nomalies, I got put back where I was."
"You betrayed her."
"I did. Just another one on the list of things I've messed up."
"But she cannot completely hate you, look at the painting. It's way to good. Listen Alec you may have stuffed up a lot of things, believe me, but this is something you could at least try to fix, go find her. Talk to her. I think that she would definitely listen, at least then you tried, right?"
"I suppose. You ever thought of taking your own advice?"
"I'm not talking to Logan, okay. Talking leads to meeting leads to touching leads to Logan dead."
"That simple, huh?"
"More simple like this then going to see him."
"I think you're making a mistake."
***
Billie set down her paintings on the bench. She stood near the window looking out observing the people on the street. They had it so simple. They didn't have people hunting them down, people afraid to be around them and they hadn't just seen the guy who had put them in a dark hole for a year. She didn't want to remember what it was like down there, in the darkness, the noises, the howling, but most of all the screaming. Sometimes it was them, sometimes it was her screams. Screams of pain, loneliness and captivity. She didn't want to remember, she still had the nightmares about it. She couldn't forget. She walked over to the bench and pulled out the painting she had traded for. It was so dark like the hole. She remembered Alec and the way they used to be, until he betrayed her. His touch, his kiss everything seemed familiar like it had only just happened. She remembered him so well. She tried to put away these thoughts but she just couldn't. She couldn't believe that she had seen him again. She felt the hate, the lust the anger everything. It was all so confusing these conflicting feelings and emotions. She'd moved to Seattle to settle down hoping to find some of her own kind, but no him. She put the painting down and went to have a shower.
***
It was night time now, but the streets were still alive buzzing with activity. Billie brushed her hand through her golden curls, pulling the ringlets in her hair. She walked along the street she needed somewhere to relax have a drink. She'd been cooped up for most of the day. Understandably from prior experiences she did not like being confined. She found a bar that seemed to be pretty busy. She looked at the entrance and stepped into Crash.
***
Max, Alec and Original Cindy sat at one of the tables within the bar. They were talking about work at Jam Pony, all the jerk's that they had met that day and Max's relationship with Logan, mostly that last one.
"Girl you need to talk to him, he'd understand you were scared that's all."
"I have good reason to be scared, he's almost died twice. I think that's pretty clear it's not meant to be."
"C'mon you know you want to go back, Boo. It's just a matter of time."
"Not this time this is it. I'm not going back ever, never, ever."
"Alec can you try and talk some sense into her?"
"I did try but." He stopped mid-sentence taken in by the girl who had just entered the bar. "Billie." He muttered out. No longer interested in the conversation.
"Hey Alec you still with us?" Original Cindy waved her hand in front of his face.
"Yeah what is it?" He snapped out of his daze.
"Who is that anyway?"
"Transgenic." Max answered for Alec. He wasn't really completely all there at the moment. "Showed up at Joshua's selling paintings, she use to know Alec, he betrayed her, she hates him. That's the short story anyway. But I'm not so sure she hates him that much. She traded a painting with Joshua it was of Alec. She painted him really well. I mean could you really paint someone you hated like that. So beautifully?"
"I doubt it although I'm not a very good painter."
"You hearing this Alec? Go and talk to her, your chance to make things better is right here."
"She'll leave as soon as she sees me coming. You watch." He finished his drink, slammed it down on the table. "Here goes nothing."
Billie sat down at one of the bar stools, she ordered a drink and sat there playing with her hair. The bartender came back with her drink, she paid him and took a sip starting to relax. She felt someone coming closer towards her, but it was a crowded place. She felt someone grab her shoulder and instinctively she spun around and twisted their arm around their back pinning to the bar. People moved quickly away from her.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Billie, it's me I just wanted to talk."
"Alec?" From a distance Max and Original Cindy watched.
"Well looks like that went well." Original Cindy stated. "Should we go break them up before she kills him?"
"Nah he'll be right just caught her off guard."
"Alec I don't want to talk okay, you hurt me, you put me in that hole. For a year I was down there. You don't understand what that was like." She released him, grabbed her coat and headed for the door.
"Billie, wait. Don't worry people just a misunderstanding get back to your drinking." He ran after Billie. He saw her heading down the alley. He ran to catch up to her. "Billie, wait we need to talk." She spun around.
"Why so I can listen to some excuses about why you did what you did? I already know why you did it. You were scared \, it was me or you and you chose yourself. I went through the same interrogation, but I didn't give up. I wouldn't turn you in because I thought you were something special, but you weren't." She started walking away again. Alec kept following her.
"I know what I did was wrong okay, I know that. You think I haven't felt sorry for what I did. Until today I didn't even know you were still alive."
"I don't want to talk, get that through your head."
"Then don't." he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Just listen. I'm sorry. I could say it a million times and it would never be enough. I know that. But I am sorry and I'm not asking for you to forget what happened I just want another chance."
"Why?"
"What? Why, because I do."
"To make yourself feel better. That you've done your bit and now it's up to me. I get to be the heartless one this time, well I suppose it makes a change for both of us."
"Why do you hate me so much?"
"That's a stupid question. You put me in a hole, remember?"
"Is that it?"
"Is that it? Does there really need to be more? I hate you because you did that to me, because I'm not the same person any more, because I can't sleep at night and I hate myself because although I should hate you I don't. Those feelings they don't go away, I want to feel that seething hate when I look at you but I can't, I can't." she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Why can't I hate you?" She turned and began to walk away again, Alec knew not to follow her this time, there was nothing more he needed to say.
Chapter One. She carried a mass of plastic bags each containing a stiff piece of canvas under her arm. She was a soldier, or at least she use to be. She had been made to kill created in a test tube, brought up in a cell. She was an X-5, a genetic killing machine. But she was free from all that now. They had taught her to paint for a field mission, but she enjoyed it gave her the control, and now she was making a living out of it selling to homes and galleries. She was selling paintings around the neighbour hood when she smelt the particular scent of paint and linseed oil. It was coming from an old abandoned house, but they seemed to be the trend of this day and age. She went up to the steps leading up to the door. She thought for a moment about going back down the steps, she could smell dog, which with her feline DNA made her feel like running for her life. But she was curious and so she knocked on the door.
"Hello anybody there? Look I'm an artist myself and I would really like to see some of your work I've got some of my own paintings here if you would like to have a look. Hello?"
Inside the building.
Alec and Joshua were lounging around the room, Alec was watching the t.v while Joshua was reading. Alec enjoyed spending time with Joshua, maybe because he didn't judge him the way like Max or Logan would. The sudden knocking on the door startled them both, normally Max would just barge right in, not really bother to knock. They heard the woman's voice. Joshua's ears pricked up when he heard 'paintings'.
"Paintings Alec, some paintings."
"Do you want to go up to the door and answer it." He stepped in front of Joshua when he took his statement seriously. " I don't think so Josh. Remember the reaction you usually get"
"Running, screaming. But you could get them. I'll hide no one will see me. Please Alec." He looked into the pleading eyes it just wouldn't be fair not to let Joshua have something. He was always isolated he needed some thing to boost his spirits.
"Okay but keep quite okay?" Joshua moved quickly down below to the basement waiting.
Billie could hear shuffles within the building someone was defiantly home. She heard them come closer to the door. It swung open. Alec stepped out into the opening. "Hello?"
"494" She was surprised to see him standing there.
"482"
"I thought I smelt something, although it smelt more like dog then rat."
"You always had such a way with words."
"So what you paint now? A bit of a break from all the backstabbing I suppose."
"I don't paint, my friend does this is his house. I'm not really the artistic type."
"Well its been really, really great seeing you again." Her tone dripped with sarcasm. She then heard a voice coming from one of the rooms inside the house.
"Alec, paintings!"
"Is that your roommate? Well I might at least get something out of this." She stepped by Alec into the old house. Joshua sneaked out from his hiding place. Billie spun around to look at Joshua then Alec. "You're living with a nomalie? Well I wouldn't of seen that coming. I thought they were the very lowest of the low, I believe lower then the ordinaries."
"Just show him the paintings." He snapped back at her.
"Calm down 494." She opened the plastic bags and emptied the contents onto the table. There must have been about twenty different paintings. Joshua began to look through the paintings before grabbing one. He ran to the basement. "Um where's he going?"
"To the basement its where he keeps all his paintings."
"So Alec, nice name too nice for you."
"And what show stopping name did you give yourself?"
"Billie. Is he coming back or what?"
"Look I'm sorry about what happened at Manticore. I was just following orders. I didn't think they would do anything to you just stop you."
"Well they didn't just stop me." They heard Joshua coming back up, he was now holding a large canvas as well as the smaller one.
"Trade got no money."
"Sounds fair" he handed her the large canvas. It was mostly dark large black shapes, it was so dark and in so much chaos.
"Come on then Josh lets see her handy work" He peered around Joshua to se the painting he was holding. He was shocked to see a portrait of himself. It was simple. Just him against a pale background with faint mountains in the distance.
"It's not that bad." Billie could see the look on his face. "You never liked my paintings." She snatched the painting that Alec was now holding. She felt the blood drain from her face.
"My Alec for your Alec. Swap." Joshua said across to her. "No money, so we trade Alec for Alec. Much more fairer this way." She practically threw the painting back to Joshua.
"Yes trade. I think that I got the better deal though, you have to keep something that looks like him. I better go. I'll be back when I have some new stuff, and when he's not here." She motioned towards Alec. She picked up the rest of her stuff and headed towards the door. On the way out she bumped into Max who had come up with supplies for Joshua. "Excuse me." She said as she pushed past Max and went out the door. Max continued to the room where Joshua and Alec were still standing. She dumped the things on the table.
"Who was that Alec? She better not have seen Joshua. If he gets hurt because you can't control your girlfriends."
"She wasn't my girlfriend she saw Joshua and it doesn't matter because she's an X-5 and once again not my girlfriend." His voice had become slightly raised.
"So what was she doing here? Friendly house call? A nice little reunion."
"She was selling paintings, smelt the paint here and wanted to see some of Joshua's work. That's all" Alec stormed away down to the basement where the piano could soon be heard playing. Max shrugged and started to unpack the food she had managed to scavenge.
"What you got there Joshua?" Joshua was still holding the painting turning it around and around, looking at it from different angles. She knew this was something that he really enjoyed.
"Traded painting" He handed the painting to her. "Swapped, my Alec for her Alec, no money, traded fair." Max examined the painting, it was a portrait of Alec, smiling or more so smirking, it seemed to be set in a forest, as mountains could be seen in the distance.
"Joshua, I'm just taking this downstairs, okay?" Joshua nodded and started to go through the packages of food. Max walked down the stairs down to the basement. Alec was pounding on the keys. "Playing the piano again?" He gave no reply. " Who was she, really Alec?" She moved around the piano so that he could see her. She looked at the painting again. "You obviously meant a lot to her." She placed the painting down on the piano. Alec stopped playing.
"The only thing that I mean to her is betrayal. She hates me."
"I don't think so, I mean this painting. Nobody could paint something like that if they hated the person. Why would she only think of betrayal anyway, what could you have done to her?"
"At Manticore, after you left we continued training and went on missions and objectives, right?"
"Yeah they kept you guys on a pretty lead."
"I was on a mission in the Colorado Hills, there was another squad of X- 5's. 482, I mean Billie was one of them. During the mission we became close, and remained as close as possible afterwards. It was a way for us to remain as human as possible, keeping that bond between us."
"So you guys were pretty close, what's wrong with that?"
"You don't understand after you're group broke out, we weren't kept 'close' any more we were split up, and were constantly on missions to keep us busy, as we got older though they couldn't stop us from building bonds and making plans. Me and Billie we saw each other a lot, and well things happened. We had a plan to get out, Billie was always smart, but I sacrificed her for my own safety and she was taken away."
"Why the hell did you do that?"
"They knew something was going on so they took us in both of us. To save myself I told them we were going to escape and that it was all Billie's idea. She got put in solitary confinement with the nomalies, I got put back where I was."
"You betrayed her."
"I did. Just another one on the list of things I've messed up."
"But she cannot completely hate you, look at the painting. It's way to good. Listen Alec you may have stuffed up a lot of things, believe me, but this is something you could at least try to fix, go find her. Talk to her. I think that she would definitely listen, at least then you tried, right?"
"I suppose. You ever thought of taking your own advice?"
"I'm not talking to Logan, okay. Talking leads to meeting leads to touching leads to Logan dead."
"That simple, huh?"
"More simple like this then going to see him."
"I think you're making a mistake."
***
Billie set down her paintings on the bench. She stood near the window looking out observing the people on the street. They had it so simple. They didn't have people hunting them down, people afraid to be around them and they hadn't just seen the guy who had put them in a dark hole for a year. She didn't want to remember what it was like down there, in the darkness, the noises, the howling, but most of all the screaming. Sometimes it was them, sometimes it was her screams. Screams of pain, loneliness and captivity. She didn't want to remember, she still had the nightmares about it. She couldn't forget. She walked over to the bench and pulled out the painting she had traded for. It was so dark like the hole. She remembered Alec and the way they used to be, until he betrayed her. His touch, his kiss everything seemed familiar like it had only just happened. She remembered him so well. She tried to put away these thoughts but she just couldn't. She couldn't believe that she had seen him again. She felt the hate, the lust the anger everything. It was all so confusing these conflicting feelings and emotions. She'd moved to Seattle to settle down hoping to find some of her own kind, but no him. She put the painting down and went to have a shower.
***
It was night time now, but the streets were still alive buzzing with activity. Billie brushed her hand through her golden curls, pulling the ringlets in her hair. She walked along the street she needed somewhere to relax have a drink. She'd been cooped up for most of the day. Understandably from prior experiences she did not like being confined. She found a bar that seemed to be pretty busy. She looked at the entrance and stepped into Crash.
***
Max, Alec and Original Cindy sat at one of the tables within the bar. They were talking about work at Jam Pony, all the jerk's that they had met that day and Max's relationship with Logan, mostly that last one.
"Girl you need to talk to him, he'd understand you were scared that's all."
"I have good reason to be scared, he's almost died twice. I think that's pretty clear it's not meant to be."
"C'mon you know you want to go back, Boo. It's just a matter of time."
"Not this time this is it. I'm not going back ever, never, ever."
"Alec can you try and talk some sense into her?"
"I did try but." He stopped mid-sentence taken in by the girl who had just entered the bar. "Billie." He muttered out. No longer interested in the conversation.
"Hey Alec you still with us?" Original Cindy waved her hand in front of his face.
"Yeah what is it?" He snapped out of his daze.
"Who is that anyway?"
"Transgenic." Max answered for Alec. He wasn't really completely all there at the moment. "Showed up at Joshua's selling paintings, she use to know Alec, he betrayed her, she hates him. That's the short story anyway. But I'm not so sure she hates him that much. She traded a painting with Joshua it was of Alec. She painted him really well. I mean could you really paint someone you hated like that. So beautifully?"
"I doubt it although I'm not a very good painter."
"You hearing this Alec? Go and talk to her, your chance to make things better is right here."
"She'll leave as soon as she sees me coming. You watch." He finished his drink, slammed it down on the table. "Here goes nothing."
Billie sat down at one of the bar stools, she ordered a drink and sat there playing with her hair. The bartender came back with her drink, she paid him and took a sip starting to relax. She felt someone coming closer towards her, but it was a crowded place. She felt someone grab her shoulder and instinctively she spun around and twisted their arm around their back pinning to the bar. People moved quickly away from her.
"What the hell are you doing?"
"Billie, it's me I just wanted to talk."
"Alec?" From a distance Max and Original Cindy watched.
"Well looks like that went well." Original Cindy stated. "Should we go break them up before she kills him?"
"Nah he'll be right just caught her off guard."
"Alec I don't want to talk okay, you hurt me, you put me in that hole. For a year I was down there. You don't understand what that was like." She released him, grabbed her coat and headed for the door.
"Billie, wait. Don't worry people just a misunderstanding get back to your drinking." He ran after Billie. He saw her heading down the alley. He ran to catch up to her. "Billie, wait we need to talk." She spun around.
"Why so I can listen to some excuses about why you did what you did? I already know why you did it. You were scared \, it was me or you and you chose yourself. I went through the same interrogation, but I didn't give up. I wouldn't turn you in because I thought you were something special, but you weren't." She started walking away again. Alec kept following her.
"I know what I did was wrong okay, I know that. You think I haven't felt sorry for what I did. Until today I didn't even know you were still alive."
"I don't want to talk, get that through your head."
"Then don't." he grabbed her arm and pulled her back. "Just listen. I'm sorry. I could say it a million times and it would never be enough. I know that. But I am sorry and I'm not asking for you to forget what happened I just want another chance."
"Why?"
"What? Why, because I do."
"To make yourself feel better. That you've done your bit and now it's up to me. I get to be the heartless one this time, well I suppose it makes a change for both of us."
"Why do you hate me so much?"
"That's a stupid question. You put me in a hole, remember?"
"Is that it?"
"Is that it? Does there really need to be more? I hate you because you did that to me, because I'm not the same person any more, because I can't sleep at night and I hate myself because although I should hate you I don't. Those feelings they don't go away, I want to feel that seething hate when I look at you but I can't, I can't." she tried to wipe the tears from her eyes. "Why can't I hate you?" She turned and began to walk away again, Alec knew not to follow her this time, there was nothing more he needed to say.