Title: Second Chance

Author: Max Tyler (a.k.a. Max452)

Email: Max_01_09@yahoo.com

Rating: PG-13

Spoilers: Dark Angel Season 1 and half of Season 2. Stargate SG-1, until about Season 3, 'cause Carter's a Major.

Disclaimer: I do not own any Dark Angel nor Stargate SG-1 people or places. The former belongs to 20th Century Fox, and James Cameron. The latter belongs to MGM Worldwide Television, Jonathan Glassner and Brad Wright. I do not make any money off this, it is strictly for enjoyment only.

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Seattle, Washington

2020

"So what you talking about exactly?" Max asked, standing by Logan Cale, but as always, careful not to touch him.

He tapped the screen, "It's some sort of secret facility, very hush-hush, just like Manticore. All I know is it's located in Cheyenne. I have the coordinates right here. But Max, I don't think this is a good idea."

She put her hands on her hips, "If it's another Manticore, then I gotta check it out."

"But it's dangerous," Logan sighed, "Fine, at least don't go in alone."

"Okay. I'll get Alec right now, can you get me a scrambled cell, and then put the number out on a "Eyes Only" hack for Syl and Krit? They'll help me too."

Logan nodded, and picked up his phone, "Kay. Go get Alec."

She stood for a moment longer though, staring at the coordinates at the computer screen, her eyes hard, "All I know is, if it is another Manticore project, it'll get the same damn thing."

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It was two hours later when Max finally returned with Alec.

To her surprise, Syl was at Logan's, lounging on his couch, eating a sandwich.

"Hey sis." Syl said, grinning, her brown eyes twinkling.

"Hey yourself. How'd you get here?" Max hugged her tightly.

"I don't want to break up the family reunion here, but do you wanna tell me what's going on here Max?" Alec asked pointedly.

Syl's face drained of color as she finally noticed him, "Ben? Max, I thought you said he was dead."

"No, this is Alec, X5-494. They were twinned." Max said quickly.

Syl looked down at the floor, "Oh."

"Sorry," Alec said to Syl, and Max was surprised, she thought she heard a note of sincerity in his voice, "About your brother."

Syl nodded quickly, deftly hiding her emotions. She was a pro, after all. Lots of practice over the years.

Max turned to attention to Alec, "There's a facility in Cheyenne, very similar to Manticore."

Alec narrowed his eyes, "Similar to Manticore, how?"

"We can't find anything on it, or what we can, is false." Logan spoke from his computer.

"So we're going to do a little reconnaissance. See if it needs torched too." Max said cheerfully.

"Hey, no way. And you say my plans suck! If this is another Manticore... or a Manticore-in-the-making, you're just asking for trouble. You wanna get put back in a cage?" Alec's eyes were afire.

"Yeah? And what if they snatched some kids already?" Max countered.

Syl, who was silent up until now, spoke, "I'm with Max. Come on, Alec, you wanna live forever?"

"Yes."

"Pussy." Syl jeered, flipping her back-length light blond hair, her beautiful, perfect features distorted as she made a face at him.

Max was amused. For the first time since she had known him, Alec was speechless.

Finally he managed, "Did you just call me a pussy?"

She beamed, "Yep."

Max stood back by Logan, who whispered, "Are all of you smart-asses?"

She smiled at him, "Yeah. Family trait. It's in the genes."

They listened to Syl and Alec bicker until a voice interrupted.

"Don't tell me you dragged me all the way here for this. To listen to Syl bitch out... Ben? I thought he was dead."

"He's a clone, his name is Alec, and he's an ass." Syl grumbled.

Max beamed, "Krit!" and threw herself into her brother's arms.

He smiled, and returned the hug, whispered in her ear, "I'm glad you're not dead sis."

Max nodded, "Thanks."

He sat, running a hand through his dark, curly hair, "So, what is going on?"

Max filled him in.

His handsome face hardened, "I see. So when are we going?"

"Ah man, you're nuts too." Alec said.

"No, they're just people who care about something other than themselves." Logan gave Alec a sharp glance.

Alec raised his hands in surrender, "Hey, hey, take it easy. As always, you guys lead, I'll follow."

He paused, "So, do you have a plan?"

"Yeah. We're just kinda going to investigate the perimeter. Watch the comings and goings, see if anything stands out. If it does, we go in." Max said.

Alec gave her a sarcastic power salute, "And as I said before, you say my plans suck."

Logan stood, "So let's go."

"Logan?" Max asked, surprised.

"Yes, I'm coming. Last time we did something like this, you almost died. It isn't going to happen again. I'm going with you." Logan said firmly.

She opened her mouth to say something, but recognized the look on his face. The familiar, stubborn

look.

"Okay." Max replied, surprising Logan with no arguments.

"Okay."

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Cheyenne, Wyoming

Max lay on her stomach next to Syl. Krit sat cross-legged nearby, with Logan and Alec laid on his back, staring at the sky.

"See anything?" Krit asked, keeping his voice low, even though they were a mile away from the facility, which now had a name. Simply Cheyenne Mountain.

"Yeah. Lots of soldiers. Bunch of them coming in and out, and two armed sentries at the gate." Max murmured, peering through binoculars.

"Soldiers, huh? Sounds familiar." Syl said sarcastically.

Krit crossed his arms, and looked at his two sisters, "So, what do you wanna do now?"

Max thought about it for a moment, considering the risks. But she knew she had to do it.

"We're going in."

Alec sighed, "How'd I know you were gonna say that."

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George Hammond, the general in command of the Cheyenne Mountain, had a problem on his hands, and had no idea that another one was on it's way. His premier team, SG-1, had been taken hostage on PZ-5375, which was made up of horned, furry creatures known as Rheans. Apparently, they had considered SG-1 gods (a common misconception) and wanted to use them for breeding. Even though the commander, Colonel Jack O'Neill, had politely declined, the Rheans had taken it as an insult... a serious insult. After heated words, SG-1 tried to return home, but was fired upon. Colonel O'Neill was wounded, and they were taken hostage.

Dammit.

Hammond rubbed his temples wearily. He had no idea how serious O'Neill was wounded, or how he was going to negotiate their freedom. He only knew of their capture because a team found a recording they had made shortly before the Rheans caught them.

It basically said that the Rheans had wanted them for breeding, had been hostile, and had fired upon them when they attempted to return to the gate. Jack was hit.

End of transmission.

He was about to speak to young Lieutenant Simmons about calling Colonel Makepeace in the briefing room when the door burst open.

Annoyed, not worried, Hammond swung towards the door, "Who the hell is..." he trailed off when stared at the people at the door, realizing that they weren't from the SGC.

Two beautiful young women. One with dark brown hair, and dark brown eyes, high cheekbones, and full lips. The other one with equally perfect features, light blond hair, and brown eyes.

Accompanying the women, were three men. All three were handsome, one with spiky blond-brown hair, and wire-rimmed glasses framing blue eyes. The second was broad-shouldered with longish blond hair, and electric green eyes. The third was tall and lanky with curly dark brown hair, with equally dark brown eyes and full lips.

They stared at him for a beat.

"You in charge?" the dark haired woman asked.

"Yes. I'm General George Hammond, and I'm wondering what in the hell you're doing here." he said, his voice hard.

The dark haired woman smiled, and within a span of two seconds, she was standing beside Hammond, her slender arm around neck. An arm, that despite it's appearance, felt like steel.

"Okay, we're gonna ask you a question, and you better answer truthfully, 'cause I'm not a patient guy. What the hell is this?" the blond man asked, crossing his arms, and leaning against the wall.

Even though it was slightly difficult to breathe with the woman's arm around his neck, Hammond stared at him, "An army base."

"Try again." the blond woman suggested.

"Why do you want to know? Who are you people?" Hammond demanded.

"Have you heard about the stories 'bout the freaks that got loose? From Manticore?" it was the dark haired man who finally spoke this time.

"Do you think this is a good idea?" the blond haired man murmured.

"We can always kill him." the blond woman said, her tone serious.

Hammond nodded, "Yes, I've heard of them. Genetically engineered soldiers?"

"Well, you're looking at four of 'em." the dark haired woman said, and nodded her head at the others. The blond haired woman, the curly haired man, and blond haired guy all lifted up their hair to reveal a barcode on the back of their necks.

In spite of himself, Hammond was intrigued. Barcodes on people.

"Well, what does the Stargate program have to do with this?"

All of them froze.

"Stargate program? What the hell is that?" the blond woman asked, frowning.

"That's what this is. It's called the Stargate program. We have a object that allows people to travel to different worlds all over the universe." Hammond said and quickly filled them in about the basics about the project.

"Bitchin'." the blond haired woman breathed, her brown eyes alight with excitement.

"So...will you let me go now?" Hammond asked the dark haired woman.

"Huh, oh yeah."

"So...do I get to know your names?" Hammond asked, after a moment's hesitation.

At first, he didn't think he wasn't going to get an answer. But then the dark haired woman said, "I'm Max, the blond girl is Syl, blond guy is Alec, curly haired guy is Krit, and the guy in the glasses," she smiled, "Is Logan."

"And he isn't a transgenic?" Hammond asked.

"No, just a friend."

"So why are you here?"

"Making sure this wasn't another Manticore, or a another one in the making." Max said, her voice and eyes hardening.

Seeing her expression, Hammond asked, "What did they do there?"

Syl, who had taken a seat at the long table, but by no means had relaxed, said, her voice cold and dead, "They broke our legs, locked us underwater to see how long we could hold our breath, they tortured us with lasers... and those were good days."

Hammond looked shocked, "In all my days, I've never heard of such atrocities. These people should be shot."

The group exchanged glances, "Well, I think most of them are pretty much deceased. After they tried to torch us, you seen the news, right?" Max asked.

"Well, the director, Elizabeth Renfro, locked the kids in the barracks, and started the fire. Cauterizing the site, she said. Because I escaped, and let Eyes Only do a broadcast revealing their position. I went back to let the kids out, and I kinda got into a confrontation with her... but for some reason, perhaps I'll never know, she took a bullet for me. She's deader than a doornail." Max said cheerfully.

"Did she say why?" Hammond asked.

"That I was the one they were looking for, and to find Sandeman," Max answered, "He founded Manticore, only he had better ideas for the program before the Military took over... before Colonel Donald Lydecker took over, to be exact."

Logan cleared this throat, "By the way Max, before we left, Lydecker called."

Max turned, "He called?"

"Yeah, he said something about a DNA profile they ran on you back when you were at Manticore, and they found something unusual. Something he didn't even know about."

"So maybe that's what old Renfro meant." Alec said.

"Well, we have the best equipment here to run a DNA profile, and it could tell you what you need to know. Doctors, the works." Hammond offered.

Max stared at him suspiciously, "Why would you offer to help us after we tried to strangle you?"

He hesitated, "I need your help."

Max turned to Logan, 'Doesn't that sound familiar? Quid pro quo?"

He grinned.

"My best team is being held hostage off-world, and one of the members...my second in command, Colonel Jack O'Neill, had been wounded. I don't know how badly, but if it is serious, I need to get him out quickly. Do you think you could do a rescue mission for me? And when you get back, I will arrange full use of the medical lab for you Max, and anything for the rest of you."

"Hold on a sec General." Max said, her dark eyes lighting up.

"Logan, can I talk to you? Outside."

"Sure thing."

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"Logan, if this guy has such a great medical lab, maybe he can cure this bug bitch!" Max whispered triumphantly, her smile lighting up the room.

Logan was a bit slower, "Do you think the military will want to bring "Eyes Only" up on charges though? I am wanted on local, state, and federal levels."

"If he does, I'll refuse to save his team then," Max nearly squealed.

Logan stared at her, "I've never seen you like this before."

She smiled, "I've never had this much hope before. Come on, I'm gonna go give my terms to General Hammond."