Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners (Dark Angel, Fox, etc.) The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: Chapters from 01 to 04 had been reposted, due the fact that now I have a Beta Reader who did the amazing job of correcting grammar errors and typos on the texts.
Thanks to Kita for the great job.

Chapter 1
Your Own Disaster

The loud music drifted in his mind; bass cords, guitar strings and drum beats. There was no way he had slept wearing earplugs again, he was quite sure of that. Nope, the off key voice could only belong to someone and that someone was about to be on the receiving end of his raging tantrum.

Or... maybe he would shut up.

And for a couple of seconds it did seem like that.

However, the day was refusing to cooperate with Alec and after seconds of blessed silence the same off key voice started singing another part of the lyrics. He learned years ago that wishful thinking doesn't apply when considering the 'Finn Situation'. This was pure torture; especially on a damn Sunday morning.

Giving up on the last remains of hope, he slowly opened one eye, glaring at the white ceiling that seemed to be mocking him. There was no light filtering inside the room and the darkness surrounding him was definitely comfortable, inviting him to go back to sleep and forget this was their last day in the city. It was the perfect set up to close his eyes and surrender to the tiredness, if only that damn voice would stop interrupting his slumber.

"I really hate Finn" he muttered dejectedly.

Groaning as he sat up in his bed, starting his morning routine of stretching his limbs and cracking his neck, preparing himself to confront the reason of his current state at being successfully woken up at 6.03 a.m. X5 – 529 was going down for this.

Pushing off of the mattress, he walked toward the closet and picked a discarded shirt from the floor before going out. Back at home he would usually be more of a tidy person, but as usual in outside missions, all of them had a tendency to loosen up on their learned behavior. For him it entailed messing up his usual flawless organization.

He wasn't a neat freak about everything, just on things he considered important to him. As an afterthought he picked up the worn down tennis ball from the bed table, feeling that it was a safer choice than picking up his Glock. After all, he reasoned, a dent caused by a ball was easier to explain than a hole caused by a bullet.

The music had changed again and now instead of hard rock accords it sounded suspiciously like a pop song. He had heard that song before, somewhere he couldn't place, but he was sure it did not accompany like the current male voice singing it, or at least trying.

This was amazing, just wonderfully amazing. He imagined the faces of the committee members if they ever got a glimpse of what their million dollar soldiers actually do in their spare time.

The science, money and time spent in research and development had created nutcase kids; and in their specific case what was already a revved up version, upgrading a notch not only the senses but craziness as well. That was indeed ironic. He could actually see the file in his head...

Case Study No. 890
Subject: X5 – 338245712529 (aka Finn)
Psychological Evaluation: Completely and utterly insane

If he hadn't known the specific punk since they were toddlers and been well aware of what he was capable of doing, Alec might be easily convinced that Finn was a basket case and that he would more than likely end up in a mental institution sooner than later.

Back to the matter at hand, he walked straight towards Finn's room and opened the door forcefully, only to be greeted with a scene solely possible when you were the unlucky soul dealing with the First Lieutenant's misdeeds.

Biggs was sitting on a chair in the middle of the room, chains around his body and a lamp flashing straight into his face. He looked tired, pale and extremely annoyed, muttering what could had passed for a prayer but if paying close attention was in reality a string of insults and curses in four different languages, besides English.

His eyes were firmly shut trying to block out the bright light. His ears however weren't that lucky; it was a pity that Manticore hasn't find out a way to block disturbing sounds, when it came to the sound proof barriers X5s were in disadvantage, their enhanced hearing was a con more than a pro.

Finn was standing directly in front of Biggs wearing a Beretta 9000 like an improvised microphone on his right hand. His voice was pushed to the limit in an attempt to imitate the female high notes from the original singer, complementing the look a blond wig rested lopsided over his head. He was performing what could be considered as the most terrible and hideous version of Fever in all mankind history, completed of course with Finn's version of a sexy dance.

Alec made a mental note to avoid Kylie Minogue music at least for a month, better two, if only to keep at bay the disturbing image and sound association branded in his mind.

In order to complete the perfect picture of all the members of his current mission, Nicole was sitting on the floor near the bed with a book resting over her knees as she moved her head in rhythm with the music, completely lost in whatever she was reading, ignoring both Biggs' muttering protests and Finn's singing recital.

Alec was quite aware that he should be surprised, but sadly he's not, at least not that much anyway. And while this is a little bit extreme from whatever he could and should have expected, the scene certainly has the crazy and delusional elements that have become a characteristic for the handy work of Finn and Nicole.

Together on a mission those two were a deadly accurate combination that succeeds in the worst scenarios with the most inventive resources and plans. However, X5 – 529 and X5 – 678 with idle time or in looking for revenge were the recipe for disaster. The two soldiers were firmly stuck in their terrible 2-year-old phase with all the issues that dealing with toddlers involved.

While it was true that none of them had experienced a normal childhood, all his unit was well aware that the environment and conditions where they were growing up were by far the best compared to the rest of the Manticore's military facilities and even an average family in the outside world. And although common childish behavior was not seen inside HQ, the Committee and higher ranking officers usually overlooked the strange situations surrounding their outside missions; they were given free reign as long as the parameters were respected, targets obtained and expectations surpassed.

But really, waking up your CO at 06:00 am on the last day of an outside mission was crossing the line for him, basically because he was the CO and he would have preferred not to be disturbed and slept happily through the morning rather than being awaken by Finn's singing abilities which held an amazing resemblance of the desperate meowing of a dying cat.

He pondered which could be the best approach in order to make his presence known. He sighed inwardly, he should have picked the Glock instead of the ball; eventually, he would have found a good explanation for the bullet wholes in the wall. Finally he opted for using the ball and sent it flying against the wall at Finn's back, barely grazing both Biggs' ear and Finn's cheek. The ball bounced off the white structure and flew towards Nicole's face. It probably would have left her with a black eye if she hadn't caught at the last second.

"Now that I have your attention, is there a chance of a logical explanation of why you are singing and looking like a drag queen? Or why you're chained to a chair, practicing derogative terms in 5 languages? Or better yet, why you're letting them do it without stopping this madness?"

Alec's sarcastic and bored tone cut off the singing, swearing and reading activities and three pairs of eyes looked back at him; one amused, another grateful and the last one relieved.

"You're here…finally. And yes, before you say it we all know that evil things happen to morning people. Come sit down and I'll tell you a story. By the way, what took you so long?" Nicole's voice brought him from his internal musing, as she patted the empty space on the floor next to her.

Alec wondered where all his anger and frustration had gone. It would be so much easier to yell at them if they wouldn't set up the most bizarre situations so early in the day. Sighing, Alec finally gave in and sat on the floor.

"This better be a good and logical story or none of you will have any kind of spare time the next three weeks. And Finn, loose the wig. It's...creepy."

"So true, blond is definitely not my color. It doesn't favor my skin or my eyes. But before you start on the future list of punishment, pain and torture, you need to know all the facts and who better to explain those than our lovely SIC." Finn replied, placing the wig over Biggs' hair.

The latter complained instantly shaking his head until the blond thing fell on the floor.

"Aren't you forgetting something Finn? Let's see…uh oh yes the chains!"

"Not really. The boss here complained about my wig not your chain situation. Therefore the chains stay. Now keep quiet boy, its story time!"

Alec couldn't help but smirk at the antics of his first and second Lieutenants. He doubted they will ever mature according to their age and also wondered if he might need to start worrying about Finn's never ending stock of women accessories. Where the hell did he score the blond wig? Nicole's voice was once again his ticket back to reality.

"Last night, as all of us remember, we successfully completed the Harrison's mission. As an obvious result of working in two separate teams some of us had to write a more extensive report than others. So, in order to save some time, Finn and I traded notes and wrote down our report about the pretty gadgets we saw inside the facilities. We also started to check and order the data downloaded and... Well, it took us a while to complete it".

"It's probably the first time I ever started a report of my own will, without external advice." Finn complained, cutting on the story.

"Quiet Finn!... So we finished about 03:30 and left my computer at the kitchen table. We didn't send the data because we usually do that when all the reports are done. At 04:45, Biggs here decided to go the kitchen, apparently for a glass of water but because my computer seemed to be lonely he decided to give it company..."

"You shouldn't have left the damn thing lying around if you didn't want it to be used," Biggs replied.

"Hush. I'm not sure how it happened, Biggs might provide you the details on that, but the computer ended up crashing on the floor, which woke Finn up who ran downstairs and apparently surprised Biggs whose glass of water fell from the table and over my laptop making the poor thing fry its circuits. Finn yelled, I woke up, came downstairs and agreed to be part of the 'We-Hate-Biggs' party here. That's basically the story." Nicole stared at Alec during the last part, stifled a yawn, and rested her head over Alec's shoulder

"Just for once guys could we try and behave like the normal and mature 13 year old soldiers we are. We leave at 1900; I expect reports completed by that time, and the computer to be repaired." Alec rose from the floor and offered his hand to Nicole, muttering close to her ear. "Come on, let's go back to sleep for a couple of hours."

She nodded and took his hand as she stood up; she ruffled Biggs' hair and smirked at Finn before walking outside and into his room.

"I'm trusting that you two won't kill each other in the next four hours. Correct?" Alec asked both of them.

"You take away all the fun."

Green eyes shined in mischief and Alec couldn't help but sigh at Finn's attempt to look chastised.

"Can I get out of the chains?" Biggs asked tiredly

"Apologize first" Finn replied stubbornly.

"I'm sorry. Are you happy now?"

Finn seemed to ponder this for a couple of seconds before sighing.

"Nope, that's the worst apology I've ever heard, but because I'm a good boy I'll let it pass only this time. Ah, here's a good tip for you, stay away from her tech devices. You, my friend seem to be cursed. Last month it was her PDA, then her cell phone and now the laptop"

"And one more thing Finn, no more singing...ever" Alec finished as he walked out leaving both guys to clean up the mess.

As he entered what had been his temporary bedroom, he couldn't help but smile at the sight. She was already fast asleep, her right arm hanging from the side of the bed and brown locks partially covering her face.

Sneaking into his room had been a habit of her since she was seven. Whenever she was restless or couldn't sleep, she'd end up with him. They were more than just the CO and SIC of the Elite, they had been best friends since he could remember. She was impulsive and fearless; perfection was her average and the reason why she held the position as SIC. And, despite the fact that Nicole is quite capable of taking care of herself, she still feels safe with him. Alec's aware that besides him, Finn is the only other person she allows to hold her.

Looking briefly at the clock he muttered a curse, the neon numbers blinked back at him announcing that is already 06:34 in the morning. He slides under the covers and feels her turning her body around in order to lay her head on his chest. Alec smiled again as he breathed in the vanilla scent of her hair and kisses it lightly. There is nothing he wouldn't do to keep his unit safe and there's nothing he wouldn't sacrifice to keep her safe.

He knows he has to have a masochist bone inside his body because his last coherent thought is that his missions wouldn't be half as fun without his crazed unit members.

His eyes are starting to open against his own will, he wants desperately to remain there but the image is dissolving itself in his mind. He looks around and for a moment is utterly confused and not quite convinced about the place where he is right now. For a couple of seconds he's not sure about his age anymore and wonders if he's not thirteen again; half expecting to feel the light weight of her head laying on his shoulder. Just for an instant he can swears that he smells the soft vanilla scent and the comfort and peace that she brought to him.

Reality strikes in the form of sound and slowly he feels his mind starting to regain conscious. Knowledge seems to fall from his grasp...

Who were they? He remembers their names, X5's for sure, but he can't remember seeing any of them inside Manticore.
When did all of that happen? He has no clues about it; he can't remember when or better yet, how?
What was going on? At the age of 13 or 14 he hadn't been in long term outside missions without external surveillance.

Alec stops his thought, trying to savor for a little bit more the dream, wishing it was real. Although if the dream was real then the life he is living is more screwed than what he originally thought.

'Jaws' music sounded again through his apartment, breaking at once the silence in the room and his concentration on replaying the dream in every detail is taking place in his mind for later recollection.

Conscious state of mind had made its entrance and after glancing at his wrist he discovers that his short nap after getting from work had actually taken more than two hours; doubling checking his watch he growls, is about 20:20 pm.

Jumping from the sofa he starts the scavenger hunt for his cell phone. By the time he eventually found it, six warnings of sharks had passed, and Max had already given up on getting a hold of him. He remembers now that he was really bored when he decided to personalize the tunes for all his contacts, and really, who could blame him about choosing Jaws music for Max, it just seemed to fit her.

Another day, another fragment of a life he has no memory of having or at least he had not had until two weeks ago. It started on a Thursday morning with brief flashbacks of faces he didn't know and lately had developed in full dreams. The recurrent theme so far had been his childhood. He has always hated not having all the information. Correct Intel was power and he despises the feeling of weakness that surrounds him about these dreams.

He was trying to figure it out; piece by piece the puzzle will begin to have a form it was a matter of time, patience and self reassurance that he was not driving himself crazy.

There were only two possible reasons for these dreams; the first one was based on the fact that he might be suffering a mental break down. The image of 493's trail of dead bodies made him shudder, and for a minute he wondered if his twin had gone down the same path he had just started. The second theory is more elaborated; it implies brainwashing, re-indoctrination and lots of drugs pumped in his body to make him believed that he is somebody else. However, if one considers what Manticore is capable of, that scenario doesn't seem so impossible anymore.

Still, how can you forget a whole different life?

The dreams are too vivid, too detailed to be a figment of his imagination. He's capable of describing the people he dreams about from the designation numbers to the personality traits.

Glancing to look at the watch he sighed, wonder of wonders... it is 21:00 already. He grabs his wallet, phone and jacket before walking out of his temporary residence with an address in mind.

The air in the street is cooling down. He definitely needs a drink and to stop thinking about these dreams. Maybe he is going crazy. At least that possibility is less painful than realizing that you have been living a lie.

Alec walks fast, almost colliding with a man walking out of the building next of his. Muttering an apology, he continues without even glancing at him.

Gray eyes looked back as his figure fades around the block, waiting until he's completely out of view before pulling a phone from his pocket and pressing a number on speed dial.

"He's on his way. It's beginning." His voice is flat and emotionless; but his eyes betray his façade. Those gray orbs have a mixed look of sadness and hope as he presses a button ending the call.

to be continued