Title: into the wild

Author: sue

Rating: PG

Show: DA

Genre: Romance/Adventure

Type: WiP

Summary: this is a challenge by mely and because it sounds so irresistible, *grin* I decided to take it up. Max and the others failed to blow up the DNA lab but she was recaptured. After months of Psy-ops she was sent to a new unit and her CO is this drop dead gorgeous -- *methinks!* X5494. Then the unit was sent on a retrieval ops in a jungle. Then, the story continues..

**

the amazing addy *grin* has offered me her skills in betaing. Doubtless to say, it's an offer I couldn't refuse :) yes, one more thing.. for any of you that are wondering, the next chapter for 'anything and everything' will be posted very-very soon ^-^

**

Chapter 2.

The long corridor was unnaturally crowded as Max slowly made her way across. But the abundance of people moving along the hallway didn't really matter to her. She was too deep in her own thoughts for that piece of fact to sink in. Too busy debating with herself on her seemingly lucky break.. or something that would undoubtedly break her apart. She grimaced as the battle continued furiously in her head.

A part of her she cautiously named optimist-Max expressed with unbridled excitement, 'yes! Go for it! Your freedom is here.. take it!'

But the other part she tentatively called pessimist-Max snapped angrily, 'Are you kidding? If you failed, you'll get that transgenic ass hauled off to Psy-ops.. again!! And you DO NOT want to go there!! Remember that, Maxie!'

'So, you're suggesting that we spend the rest of our lives HERE?! Have you lost your freaking mind?' optimist-Max cried out.

'Oh, I will.. no doubt about it, if we continue with your immature half cooked plan!' pessimist-Max jeered.

'THAT'S IT!' the real Max shouted, ending the heated. 'Both of you, STOP IT!'

Suddenly the dark brown eyes widen as something hit her with the force of a mad enraged bull. She groaned and slowly lifted her hand and covered her heated face. 'God,' she whispered, 'I'm going mad.. I'm arguing with myself, for god sake! Can this day get any worse than this?'

No, possibly not, she thought. How could anything else top the realization that you're slowly losing your mind?

Nothing.

There's some comfort in that, she mulled. Ah well, every cloud has a silver lining, that's what people used to say. She sighed tiredly, and this bright glorious day is only starting. I wonder what else is waiting for me, she thought with a quick stab of wariness. Oh yeah, the briefing with the new CO. I wonder who will that be? Just hope he'll be as good as Zack, as nice and protective as my big brother.

Zack, she whispered sadly as she recalled her tall blond brother.

Out of nowhere, dark memories decided to come calling. Max trembled as the black cloud pressed down on her, heavily and painfully over her unprotected body and snatched her back into the horrifying past…

**

'This is for Tinga' Max stated clearly, the hidden emotion brimming under the simple statement as the four of them stood staring down on Manticore. Although she was almost trembling as she looked upon the hell of her childhood, nothing was permitted to break free from the iron clad restrain she had on herself. No one, especially her siblings will be able to see how much Manticore had its sharp talon dug into her flesh.

She sneaked a glance at Zack, shocked and surprised as she noticed a ripple of fury dance across his sharp features. With a pang she remembered that he, among all of them, was the one who had suffered the most in the hands of Manticore. Without complaint, he had taken the burden, the responsibility and the torture that had come along, all just to make sure that they would be safe.

Her eyes sought out Syl and Krit, but their blank faces reveal nothing to her. Her jaw tightened as she psyched herself for the battle ahead. This mission will be a success, she told herself grimly, no other outcome will be permitted. Her stiff shoulder straightened as Zack started moving beside her.

They looked at each other for a second, nodded abruptly and with a flurry of movements, they blurred towards the high gate and leapt. Leaping straight into their hellish past. And for the sake of their future, they moved forward, determined to succeed.

They went in pairs as planned. Syl and Krit turned towards the service corridor, 4 alpha, heading towards the auxiliary generators to set their charges. Max trailed behind Zack as they moved through the basement to the east air shaft, making their way carefully to the DNA lab.

Max suppressed a shudder as flashes of her childhood made their presence felt when she saw a unit of young X5's marching through the corridors. As they passed a surgery room, images of her brother Jack intermingled with her own experience fighting hard to resurfaced. Her breath started coming out in short rapid burst of intake as she desperately tried to regain control.

She managed to take hold of her fraying nerves and stepped into an empty hall way. But this particular one brought Eva's murder to mind. Quickly she closed her eyes and shoved the memory away. She needed her full concentration right now and wallowing in the past was not helping. She nearly jumped out of her skin as Zack suddenly spoke to her.

'You okay, Max?' her brother asked, concern evident in his clear gaze.

She nodded, grateful for his presence and motioned for them to start moving again. Silently the two of them blended with the shadows as they crept along the darkened hallway.

**

'You see anything south of corridor 4?' Krit's voice rang out clearly.

'You're clear all the way to the generator' replied Logan as he squinted at the monitors.

'Copy that.'

Logan was watching the video feed and he could see that Syl and Krit had no problems getting to their destinations. He turned quickly as the sound of Max's voice could be heard in his ear-piece.

'Logan?'

He smiled as he muttered, 'I got you, Max.'

He saw that Max and Zack was standing in front of the camera, looking up at him as they waited for his instructions. He typed furiously for a few seconds, surveying their future routes making sure all was clear, satisfied, he turned back to the waiting duo.

'We good to go?' Max asked, a bit impatient by the delay.

'You're clear,' came the prompt reply from Logan's lips.

Without a word, the two X5's turned and started moving down the corridor. Logan kept looking at Max's rapidly fading back until she had completely disappeared from the camera's view. He sighed loudly, earning a mildly irritated look from Lydecker but he ignored the look and turn to the monitor, losing himself among the flickering images once again.

A second later Logan let out a surprised gasp before burrowing his head and typing furiously. Lydecker turned, a little worried with the other man's behavior. He frowned as Logan continued to ignore him but his fingers are moving faster by the second. As if desperately trying to find something before precious time runs out.

'What is it?' Lydecker asked as he slipped his glasses on, the eyes behind them suddenly alert.

'What?' a startled Logan turned, 'Nothing really.' Again he turned his back on the grim Colonel and started with his typing again.

Lydecker narrowed his eyes speculatively as he stared at the back of Logan's bent head. Something crossed his mind and silently he stood up, and he made his way slowly towards the busy Logan. Stopping directly behind Logan's chair, he pushed his glasses upwards and without hesitation he went through Logan's recent work.

As the time slowly passed, Lydecker's frown got deeper, his eyes narrowed even further and he clenched his jaw angrily. Without a word his arm snaked past the preoccupied Logan and pushed a series of button to open the channel with the four X5's.

'Abort! Abort the mission, NOW!' he ordered briskly.

From the monitor, he could see that the four X5's paused for a second before their training kicked in. For Syl and Krit that is. Both of them turned instantly and retraced their steps back. But for Max and Zack, it's a different matter all together.

Max turned and whispered urgently, 'What's wrong?' as quickly Zack flattened himself against the wall and grabbed her along too. He motioned for them to leave but Max impatiently shook her head. No, not yet.

At the same time in the van, Logan turned, completely stunned as he realized what Lydecker had done. 'What the hell are you doing?' he cried angrily.

'I could ask you the same thing, Cale! How dare you let them walk in there!' snapped Lydecker furiously.

'I'm watching their backs! Nothing could go wrong!' he said loudly as he tried to take the mouthpiece back.

'Are you out of your MIND! That facility is crawling with genetically engineered super-soldiers! They're outnumbered! They HAVE to abort!'

'NO! This is the only chance for them to take down Manticore and I will NOT let you ruin everything! Manticore will not win!' he grabbed another piece and shouted tightly, 'Go Max! I'll cover you! Don't worry about anything. Just go!'

Lydecker's eyes widen with surprise and anger and he roared furiously to the remaining X5s, 'ABORT! The mission's been compromised! Abort! That's an order, soldier!'

In the dim corridor, Max was in a dilemma. She wanted to do what her training had clearly demanded but something was holding her back. She stood rooted to the ground as Lydecker and Logan persisted with their argument in her ear-piece. What Logan had said earlier stuck stubbornly in her mind. The only chance for them to take down Manticore! Manticore will not win! Logan's right, she thought dazedly, if we surrender now, Manticore will win. And that's not something I want to happen. Not now.. not ever. Feeling sure she had made the right decision, she turned to the tautly strained Zack.

'We're moving ahead. Let's go.'

'WHAT! No, mission's aborted. We're going NOW!' Zack replied, looking down with his hard eyes.

'NO! If we do, Manticore wins. We have to finish this Zack,' she implored tensely but her eyes were set. Nothing would make her change her mind about this.

'Listen Max. A good soldier knows when to retreat and when to stick to the plan. This is one of those times to fall back! MOVE!' he said bluntly.

'No, and you're not my CO anymore, remember?' then she turned around and quickly moved forward, leaving one very angry and worried Zack behind.

**

'It is not YOUR place to call the shots, Cale!'

'Oh really? So, whose is it, yours?' sneered Logan distastefully.

'They're my kids! I won't let anything happen to them!' came the heated reply.

'Your kids? But you let Manticore cut them open! Is that what a father would do?'

'They're soldiers. They could handle it.'

'And that was one of the reasons they all decided to run, is that it Colonel? Because they could handle it?'

'What happened? Why did we abort the mission?' Krit asked worriedly as he and Syl burst in.

'Where's Zack and Max?' Syl said as she noticed their absence.

Syl's question remained unanswered as Lydecker nodded tightly towards Logan, 'He knows that the entire facility was filled to the brim with contingents of X5's and an army of X7's too. And yet he kept quiet about it.'

'You said most of the X series have been deployed in various parts of the world. What happened to that?' Krit asked coldly.

'There must've been a last minute change' answered Lydecker tensely.

'What's your excuse?' Krit turned his sharp gaze onto Logan.

'Manticore has to go down and I want to help do it. How could you find fault in that!' Logan slapped his hand down, hard on the control table for emphasis and unknowingly disconnected the audio feed that linked them with the remaining two X5s.

'You let them walk straight into a trap! How could you knowingly let four X5s face hundreds of enemy trangenics? That's suicide!' Lydecker stated angrily, the fury he felt was quickly turning his face dangerously red.

Krit and Syl spun quickly to face Logan and they both stared with wild, dangerous looking, eyes into the human's. Logan faltered for a moment, scared to the wits by the power of their gaze but he obstinately held his ground.

'That is not going to be a problem. I'll monitor the enemy's movements and could get you in and out safely without them knowing you're there. Of course, that's before Colonel here decides on his own to abort the mission,' Logan replied to Krit's abrupt question.

Lydecker threw up his hand in defeat as Logan was explaining his actions to Krit.

All four of them were too distracted by the drama enfolding right in front of them to realize that something was wrong. If any of them were to lift their heads, they would've seen Max as she sneaked slowly down the dimly lit hallway.

And somewhere behind her, hidden among the moving shadows, someone was crouching in the dark corner, black eyes trained towards the back of the moving X5. High above the two of them, the wind whispered softly and blew the clouds that were hiding the moon from view and rays of light fall down towards the somber coverings of the night. It danced slowly past the heavy bars and came to rest upon the hard floor, illuminating the invisible corner. The crouching girl moved and as she turned, the moonlight shone on a pair of dark gleaming eyes.

The same eyes that could be found on Max.

to be continued..