AN - Okay, so this is the prologue, and just for a head's up it kind of sucks.

Disclaimer - I do not own Dark Angel, Fox, or any other of the material in this story other than that which I have fabricated from my own imagination.

Rating - PG-13 (There are no actual swear words written in, it is just taken to be understood that they are expressing themselves verbally. I thought I'd try doing it without any cussing, but that didn't seem to fit the characters or do justice to the continuation of Dark Angel. Also, I'm kind of brutal to Alec in this series - he gets beat up, nothing graphic, no in depth writing about it you just, again, understand that he's had the crap beaten out of him.)

Spoiler warnings for Season Two mostly - mainly Freak Nation, and Fuhgeddaboudit. And several others . . . really just the whole season two.

Prologue

Transgenics. Mutants. X5, X6, X7; the list of X's and others went on and on, and really no one outside of Manticore really knew how many there were or what their purpose was. Each one bearing their own designation number in the form of a barcode on their neck. No one knew they even existed until they escaped.

Manufactured in labs, refined by scientists, and trained to kill, they were dangerous; highly skilled, highly intelligent super humans who possessed certain DNA characteristics of animals. The X5's were known for their cat DNA, which led to an increase in muscle efficiency, sight, hearing, and speed. X7's were batty, literally; X6's had snake - they could bend farther easier than anyone else ; they also had cat in them like the X5's.

Then there were the special soldiers. Arctic Division, Desert Recon, Desert Strike Force, Aerial Intelligence, the Trench Diggers. Everything Manticore thought up, they cooked up.

And then their lab experiments broke out.

The pulse was a catastrophe for most humans; for the Transgenics it just made the world easier to hide in. Some Transgenics broke out before anyone else; they were the pioneers of freedom for the Manticore soldiers. Max Guevara was among their number.

She spent ten years evading capture and making a living, making friends; then she met Logan Cale, a millionare with a conscious who devoted all his time, money, and life to bettering society and cleaning up the city. Eyes Only was his cover, a layer of protection over himself and his contacts so that no one could find him.

Max was the first solid clue he found to the existence of Manticore; all other information had come from shady sources and whispered conversations.

Logan convinced Max to help him, and she became his cat burglar, his friend, and, in time, his love. But Max's luck, though strong, couldn't last forever.

She was captured, presumed dead, and Logan's world fell down.

But Max was very much alive. Fighting to keep hold of herself she was forced back into the world of designations and orders, a world she hated.
She seized the first opportunity she got to escape, and she forged alliances with anyone she met willing to help her.

Joshua, the first Transgenic, and the only one without a barcode; a soldier with Canine in his cocktail, and love in his heart, he became her loyal guard and helper, aiding in her escape and eventually living in the shadows behind her.

Alec, designation X5-494, named Alec for his smart alec attitude and carefree manner. Originally Max's 'breeding partner', he also aided in her escape, and when Manticore torched the compound to cover their tracks and destroy the evidence that could be used against them, as well as getting back at Max for running away yet again, he escaped.

And so did everyone else.

The world wasn't ready for the truth of Transgenics to come to light, so they hid. They lived in the shadows, in the tabloids, running for their lives from Manticore's remnants and an old enemy, they made a living any way they could.

Alec became Max's worst co-worker; Joshua became her inspiration and brother.

The love between Logan and Max, however, was never to be the same again. Manticore knew who Logan truly was - Eyes Only, a vigilante and do gooder. So they used their knowledge in advanced Gene splicing to create a retrovirus genetically designed to kill one person and one person only- Logan Cale. And then they made Max the carrier.

These friends went through many trials, and in the end they were exposed to the public's knowledge, exposed by an Agent Ames Wight, secret member of a genetic breeding cult that was bent on the destruction of all Transgenics.

But that wasn't all.

Sandiman, the founder of Manticore, was far from a mad scientist - he was a believer in justice, and he knew of a plot - a plot to kill all mankind who weren't considered 'strong enough' to live. The Cult branded him a heretic and threw him out, but he made a saviour for the world, a hope for when the darkness grew.

Her name was Max, designation X5-452.

The Transgenics exposure led to their exile into what is known as Terminal City in the post-Pulse city of Seattle, Washington.

As each side stood on guard against the other, the Transgenics flag of hope, created by Joshua, snapping in the wind; each side waited for the other to act.

Each side waited, to see what the other would do.