Summary: AU starts from the middle of Prodigy where Max is recognised at the genetics conference by Deck as he knows what Sam (X5-453) looks like and would have known how a grown up Max would look. MA at later date.

Disclaimer: All characters from Dark Angel belong solely to their creator, which is most definitely not me, I'm just playing around.

Authors Note: Spoilers and some dialogue from Prodigy included in this chapter.

Prologue: Discovery

As Max watched the young boy on the stage start playing the speech that Dr Tanaka had made allowed her mind to drift back to her early years trapped at Manticore. After all Lydecker used to tell them the same thing 'there are no limits, what the mind can conceive the body can achieve with the right training.' And he'd certainly tried to put that theory to the test. Her mind continued to drift to their different training such as that which occurred in the tank as she continued to listen to the beautiful music that young Jude was playing.

"Is this seat taken" she heard a man's voice ask her. Without looking at him she replied "No" almost whimsically as her thoughts continued to be consumed as the man settled himself into the seat next to her she turned to glance at him. Fear gripped at her heart as she recognised who he was. Her own personal Satan, Colonel Donald Lydecker in the flesh.

She lost track of time as she sat there trying to figure out what her best course of action was. She almost never noticed that they'd stopped for a break until she realised she was sitting in a near empty room. She made her way carefully back into the lobby, and there he was by the stairs with his back to her, as he spoke with an older brunette. If only she could escape past him. Just as she drew near the woman left and he turned to look at her once again.

She couldn't take her eyes off of him as he spoke to her, but she couldn't seem to hear exactly what he was saying. His words seemed to be muffled as though she was underwater.

"Excuse me?" she said as he finished speaking and she realised that she would need to give him some kind of response.

"I said 'You're not leaving? You can't have possibly gotten your story.'" He said to her casually. Relief flooded through her as she realised he couldn't have possibly recognised her.

"No" she replied before listening to him as he continued talking about the conference and how truly amazing Dr Tanaka's work was before he introduced himself.

Hesitantly she shook his hand before introducing herself as Rachel Glasser her cover. After some more small talk Max made her excuses and walked away from him to allow time to clear her head. Her head was so full of all her childhood fears and her thoughts that she never noticed him withdrawing the phone from his inside pocket as he called in his team for retrieval.

He'd had his suspicions when he'd seen her. He knew he recognised her from somewhere, but when he'd stopped her to talk to her. He'd known instantly who she was. He would never forget those eyes. The picture of X5-453 only helped. His Max was obviously suffering from her seizures if she was here looking for answers. Well she'd get them. He just had to be careful he didn't tip her off until his men arrived to grab her. They'd be here in 10. He'd feared that she would have escaped when she was walking towards the stairs, only to feel relief that she'd headed the other way after he'd spoken to her. He knew she was trying to figure out what to do. Her best bet was to escape and evade but Max was always more stubborn than that.

To keep things natural he made his way back into the conference hall feeling relieved when she sat back down next to him.

Max knew she had to see this through. Know your Enemy. Was one of the lessons she'd been taught. She started by making small talk with him about his job before the conference restarted and Dr Tanaka and Jude took to the stage again.

As the conference continued Max couldn't help but scan the room as she saw a man stand. Her instincts were on high alert. As it dawned on her something was drastically wrong. She caught site of numerous people around her with guns. Were they Lydecker's men, had he made her? The doors opened as men dressed casually made their way into the conference room and declared themselves as members of the May 22nd movement. Max thought just as she heard the sound of gun fire and men in special ops gear also flooded the room. Within seconds the terrorists were all down, and she could hear people screaming. Her eyes scanned the room quickly as she realised all of the exits were blocked.

"Nowhere to run Max" the voice next to her said as she felt a sharp jab at her neck. Lifting her hand she managed to pull out the tranquiliser dart that had embedded itself in her flesh although she already knew that there was nothing she could do. She tried to stand but her body quickly slumped to the ground. Her eyes started to feel heavy and she could feel the drug pulsing through her system before her eyes fell closed she could hear people continuing to scream all around her either from pain or fear. Her last thought was that she should have escaped while she had the chance before everything around her went blank as she drifted into unconsciousness.

AN: First attempt at a story so please r&r as it can only help me improve.