Fiction Anything To Zipper- Girl

Series Title: Anything To Zipper

Chapter Title: Girl

Author: Restive Nature

Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel. This show belongs to Fox and Cameron/ Eglee. No infringement is intended and this fiction is for reading pleasure only.

Rating: PG-13

Genre: Dark Angel

Type: friendship

Pairing: Cindy Alec, hints of Max/ Alec

Summary: The differences between the sexes grows more and more apparent over time.

Spoilers/ Time line: About mid season 2.

Feedback: Always welcome.

Distribution:Ask first, please.

A/N: I couldn't really find an idea that I liked for this segment and it was difficult to write. But I went ahead with this to get it done.

A/N2: For those of you who prefer Season 2, this fiction makes reference to a Season 1 storyline, in which one of Cindy's old girlfriend's returned. Hopefully there's enough info in the story itself to explain it all.

Girl

“I've never really thought about it,” Alec answered honestly. He held his beer aloft for a moment, his gaze absently landing on whatever what was off in the distance of the bar, where he and Cindy were companionably situated. She had just finished regaling him with the tale of her first disastrous date with another woman. The first in her lifetime. A little digging about why the woman had been so blue that week had yielded information that a girlfriend of hers had passed in a not entirely ungruesome manner the year before.

The group as a whole, those who were aware and those who were not, had been trying to cheer Cindy up. Sketch had recalled that it had been about this time last year that the woman, Diamond, had come back into Cindy's life. Intrigued at the name, Alec had probed and discovered that Diamond had convinced Cindy to run away with her, but a day or so later, Cindy had returned, saddened, because it wasn't the fairy tale that it had supposed to have been.

Diamond had been terminally ill and wanted to spend her last days with the woman she loved.

And while the others had tiptoed around the subject, Alec had bluntly sat down at Cindy's lonely table and asked about the girl. Cindy of course, had been surprised and then suspicious, until Alec revealed his source of information. Cindy had confided that if it hadn't been for Max and Logan discovering the truth about Diamond, who had been a convict at the time, a fugitive, and the nature and cause of her illness, Cindy would most likely be dead too. Alec had shot a look at the supposedly happy couple, appearing to argue over something at a table in the opposite corner of the bar.

Disregarding the last few days, since he had a pretty good idea that knowing all these details obviously wouldn't change the outcome, Alec had found the tried and true method of helping a woman he considered a friend. He had asked to hear about Diamond and while Cindy went back and forth through their often tumultuous relationship, she had finally settled on telling Alec how it was Diamond that had helped Cindy come real about being a lesbian.

That hadn't been an eye opener. Alec had figured, if he'd really thought about it, that there had probably been someone, either personally involved, or that Cindy had fixated on that had opened Cindy's eyes. But after a long silence, and a few tears wiped from her eyes before they ever really fell, Cindy had turned things back on him. Asking him when he had really noticed the opposite sex in a way that mattered.

“You know, females were always around,” he shrugged. “We weren't really encouraged to think of them as separate entities, we were a unit, were all soldiers.” Cindy nodded her understanding, but then Alec had to grin as an untouched moment of memory came to him. “I think I realized girls were different when I was about six.”

“Precocious, huh?” Cindy teased and he was glad to see a smile upon her face at last. One that wasn't laced with sadness and regrets.

“Nah,” he shrugged. “I guess what I meant was that girls were pretty much girls, but they'd certainly grow up to be something else.”

“How you mean?” Cindy demanded softly, leaning forward to lean her elbows on the table.

“Well, the trainers, doctors, the adults, usually had their own quarters,” Alec explained quickly. “But one of the techs, she had some chemical or something spill on her. It wasn't toxic, but not something you wanted to have on you.” Cindy nodded again. “And so she used the showers closest to the lab, where I just happened to be.” He grinned again as the memory flowed over him. Too bad he'd been to young to appreciate it for what it was. “Anyway, she came rushing in, stripping off her clothes. We were supposed to be in class and she never even noticed me, until I told her that she was in an unauthorized area for the techs. Oh hell, did she scream,” he chuckled, and Cindy did as well.

“How far she get before you interrupted?” she wanted to know and Alec's eyes glinted.

“Coat, top, bra,” he listed. “She was just kicking off her shoes and unbuttoning her pants, when I spoke up. Damn my idiocy!”

“Baby boo got a show, huh?” Cindy teased and Alec tilted his head slightly, holding up his drink in salute.

“What about you?” he fired back. “High school gym class musta been heaven.”

“Separate shower stalls,” Cindy shrugged. “and I ain't no peeper. Now or then. Had too many little boys tryin' ta pull that on me and Max.”

“Well can you blame them?” he asked, his eyes sparkling again. “You've got a damn nice rack.”

It was testament to the friendship that they'd developed that she smiled and thanked him for the compliment, rather than slapping him upside the head. “So,” she continued, “ that got you noticin' the female of the species. That incident?”

“Not really,” Alec hedged, shaking his head. “It took anatomy class, hormones and some real growing pains to get my attention.”

“I ain't surprised,” Cindy chortled.

“And then of course,” he continued with a grin, “there was the difference between the girls at,” he paused as another bar customer neared and waited on Alec's other side for the bartender to attend him. “... home versus the big city,” he finished, seeing that he'd either have to speak in code or stop altogether. He threw Cindy a wink and she nodded infinitesimally.

“What was so great about that?” she wondered.

“Well,” Alec shrugged, and settled his elbows on the bar, “the girls back home, we all grew up together and saw each other through the worst of things. Girls in the city, they were excited over a fresh face, especially if it was a good looking one. And pretty quick, I figured out that was pretty much it. With a few exceptions of course.”

“You got bored quick, huh?” Cindy realized.

“Gossip, make-up, raggin' on other people,” Alec listed, ticking the items off with fingers. He shook his head. “It was hard to find, pardon me, an original thought among them as a group.”

Cindy nodded and giggled slightly. “Well, teen girls do resemble herd animals on occasion,” she tilted her head and Alec nodded. He'd seen that before. “Standin' out among the crowd ain't an easy thing to do. Takes a strong person.”

He pursed his lips as he thought on that a little. “I suppose that's true of the girls back home too. Attention for being different was not a good thing. That's one thing. Being different back there was a total ostracism, by everyone. Here, usually a person can find a niche, somewhere or with some group to fit in.”

“An' even if it takes a lil time, you country boys find yo way too,” Cindy teased, lifting her shot. She gulped it down and then gave a delicate shudder. Alec mimicked her actions, without the shudder though and since the bartender had neared, caught his eye and gestured for two more. Cindy didn't protest. They were quiet for a moment as the orders were filled and then their unwanted possible eavesdropper moved away and the bartender took Alec's cash that he'd dropped to cover the next round.

“That's one nice thing,” he agreed with Cindy's last statement. “We've learned how to assimilate quickly. Not all ordinaries have that ability. A lot of you flounder and wonder and get in over your heads way too fast.

“Can't argue wit dat,” Cindy shrugged easily, her gaze on another co-worker. Alec glanced over his shoulder and saw her smirking at Sketch. She gestured with one perfectly manicured and French tipped finger, “case in point.”

“No arguments.” They watched for a moment longer and then as one turned back in their seats. “So here's a question, no offense, but why was Diamond so special? I mean, imagining all the lesbian sex is top notch in my mind,” he grinned as Cindy rolled her eyes. “No, all kidding aside, what was the thrill?”

“You know,” Cindy sighed, “I gave it some thought. One of da worst things humans do is yearn for da good ol' days.”

“I've seen that,” Alec nodded. “So you were trying to relive the good stuff?”

“I s'ppose,” Cindy shook her head slowly. “See, what I saw in Diamond? She was the first girl, I mean the feminine form. She was a woman, wit' thoughts beyond what we talked about. When she laid her thang down, it meant somethin', because she held it in her heart. They's a difference between women and girl's dat don't come at the same time for all of 'em. Just like goin' from child to teen, they's growin' pains. And one of thr worst was learnin' that sometimes ya have to make the hard choices. I made one wit' Diamond. I chose her, to make her happy, knowin' I'd lose her. And when thr time came, she didn't ask Max to save her, because she already knew in her heart she couldn't be saved. She chose vengeance, because it was too late for anythin' else.”

“That's heavy,” Alec grunted after a moment, but Cindy noticed that his eyes had strayed back to Max and Logan once more. “But, a process, you say?”

Cindy nodded and gave a harrumphing noise. Alec swore silently, biting at the tip of his tongue as he tried to keep his face neutral. It wasn't the first time that Cindy had given him that look that seemed to see straight through him and to some of the dark places in between. It was almost like she could see the truth written plainly on his face. But normally, she didn't press the subject. Maybe because Alec was coming real on his own.

Seeming to take pity on him, she leaned forward and braced one hand on his shoulder. “Ya wanna know the truth Baby Boo?” His uneasy grin seemed to prompt her. She settled in a moment and then continued. “Underneath all thr fancy clothes, thr make-up, thr attitudes, all women are scared lil girls. Just like the men have their stupid lil boy moments. The battle of the sexes has always boiled down to each group tryin' to prove they's the most grown up.”

“Well, no one likes being dismissed, for whatever reason, do they?” he tried for lightness, but even he could hear the tinge of bitterness in his voice.

“And that's the otha lesson 'bout it all,” Cindy chuckled, pulling her hand back. “Ya can't force it.”

“It?”

“Growin' up, learnin' ya strengths and how ta shore up anotha instead of tearin' 'em down,” Cindy instructed gently. Her voice gentled and she waited until she had his full attention. “Ya jus' don't force it.”

Alec held her gaze evenly, not just listening, but truly hearing her. A slow grin curved his lips and then he nodded once. He turned to reach for his shot and hers, handing one to her and then held up his own. “To growing up,” he toasted.

“And growing' wiser,” Cindy added before clinking her glass on his.

“Amen to that,” Alec agreed fervently before tossing the drink down.

Jealous