Here I am again. Yay, I'm getting faster. Hope I can keep this up.

Well, not much to say, it's a more calm chapter despite that you'll get a glimpse of Renfro's character.

452max: Sooner than last time, as I promised. There is a little bit of Alec and Max, but not much yet, at least on the emotional level. You'll have to be patient with me here, you know I like to take on those things slowly. Thanks again.

tylee17: No offense taken. As a matter of fact I'm glad you mentioned that. I'll try to keep it in mind, but perhaps one little scene in this chapter will help with that fact a little bit already ;) And you'll get to see a little bit of Logan in this one too. Yeah, Lydecker's really getting it. A little bit slowly, as usual, but hey, we all know how he feels about his kids, right? Oh, and before I forget, tylee: reviews can never be too long! :) Thanks a lot to you, too.

Divine Fighter: Well, if you think Renfro was evil in the last chapter I believe you're really gonna hate her after this one. And a name for Max? Hm, never thought about it actually. Interesting thought, we'll see about that. And yes, as I said to tylee 17: Of course he loves them, dammit. You could clearly see throughout the show. But hey, he's a man AND a soldier, so he must be a little bit slow, right? Just kidding! Thanks to you, too.

Okay, nothing more to add, here we go.

"We must take immediate action!" Cullins insisted. "The download has taken place not even an hour ago, they must still be close to the Ramstein facility! If we are lucky we can get them before they leave the country!"

Renfro listened to him attentively. While she didn't like the man - she didn't like any sort of soldier, to be honest - she had to acknowledge that he hadn't wasted time in discussing possible ways of action after the first shock of the council leader's announcement; instead he was trying to persuade the council that an immediate armed response was the only possibility with a conviction that almost earned him Renfro's interest. Almost.

The blond Director of the Wyoming Manticore facility hadn't said a word since the heated discussion had started almost immediately after the first wave of shock had faded away and instead had been sitting still and listened to the various opinions and plans that were shouted inside their meeting room.

"Sir!" Cullins tried again, addressing the council's head directly. "Authorize me to take command of our TAC teams in Germany and I will start the search immediately. They won't have gotten far until now and our forces in that area are more than powerful enough to deal with a transgenic unit."

The white-haired man looked at him for a few seconds until he nodded.

"Very well, Major, in that case I order you to…"

"Sir!" Renfro interrupted him and rose from her chair; an unthinkable breach of protocol and the surprised and angry glances she received from everybody in the room told her that she was walking on very thin ice. But she had to stop this. "Sir, with all due respect, but I don't think we should do that!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" one of the other council members exclaimed. "We have to get that data back before any transgenic even gets a chance to look at it!"

"It is already too late for that." Renfro shook her head. "I don't want to offend you. You are the leaders of our Alliance and if you order me to stand down and let Major Cullins here play cops and robbers I will do so, but honestly I still think you are underestimating the transgenics power and experience."

"And perhaps you are overestimating them!" Cullins shouted. "Perhaps all that time with them in Manticore has made you soft?"

"You egoistic, unseasoned, selfish amateur!" For the first time Renfro now finally lost it and screamed at the young Major as well. "I've been dealing with those beasts long before you even knew something like a genetically enhanced soldier existed. I don't know how you got in your position and I honestly couldn't care less if you were not constantly trying to get us from one big mess into an even bigger one. The only time you've seen a transgenic was probably while it was behind bars or on a picture but never in combat. You have no damned idea what you're dealing with and it's finally time to realize that and let those take over who actually know what they're doing! And now shut the hell up!"

Everybody in the room had fallen silent at the sudden outburst. They all knew the blond director as a cold and calculating tactician. Sure, she was dangerous but she was it in a calm and almost silent way, never before had anybody witnessed her in such a fit of rage. She was deathly pale, her eyes were wide and if looks could kill Cullins would not only be lying dead on the floor but his body parts would have been scattered all around the room. But obviously the young Major was more courageous or more stupid than it was good for him and after a few seconds of surprise he opened his mouth to protest but Renfro cut him off, her voice but a mere whisper again but deadly cold and as sharp as broken glass.

"Be quiet now, Major!" she ordered him almost whispering, which made her voice sound even more dangerous after her outburst. "Sit down and be quiet. And if you ever again suggest I could have developed some kind of affection towards those…those abominations I will kill you!"

It wasn't her words that let Cullins finally obey. It was the hatred. Her eyes, voice and composure were full of it; pure, burning hatred against the transgenics and anyone who was helping them. Renfro shot him a last threatening look before she turned towards the council members again. She knew she was playing a dangerous game but this had to be done and it had to be done now.

"Honored council" she began, her voice calm and composed again as if nothing had happened. "We won't catch them. As I said before they are too well trained and far too experienced. Even if we could find out where they are heading they will most certainly notice their pursuers and just go into hiding. It may buy us a day or two until they get back to their base of operations, but nothing more. And even if one of our teams could find them on their way out; such an operation requests at least five transgenic soldiers and we don't have the manpower in Europe to send out enough teams of nine or more men which would be necessary to guarantee success in case of a direct confrontation. We don't even know if it's just the rogue X5 unit or if they have support from the SRTU and if yes if it is the German SRTU or another one. I strongly suggest we do not split up our forces for a futile and ultimately dangerous hunt which could us cost even more than this day already has."

"Then what do you suggest?" the council's leader wanted to know. He could feel most of the other council members wanted to punish Renfro for her improper behavior but he knew better; it had been him who had brought her into the inner circle. He knew about her skills and he was well aware of her experience with the transgenics. If she thought they should not try and get the lost data back then she had a good reason and a plan.

"We wait" the blond director of Manticore replied, smiling evilly. "The data won't give them anything they can use against us directly. But it will show them where we keep the separated information cores. They will come for them and when they are we will be ready. We have enough time to set up an impenetrable net of surveillance and so we will be warned and ready for Lydecker and his X5s."

"To what end, Director? Even if we can surprise them we can't be sure we'll be able to neutralize all of them."

"We don't have to" Renfro explained. "Unit two has been on the run for months by now. With Manticore they lost the only thing they ever had as a home and I'm sure they are tired of running and hiding, even X5s can only take so much and the constant stress must have had some effect on them by now. And there are three '09 escapees with them; they surely think about how it would be to end their futile crusade against us, live the lives they had before they were recaptured again and perhaps they will even try to leave their unit. The only thing we have to do is to destroy their morale and that's easy enough if you think about how they consider each other as siblings. One or two of them dead and they'll probably break apart. The driving force behind all of this are Lydecker and the X5 unit two. The only possible allies they could find are the European SRTUs and I doubt they will do anything on their own once Lydecker and his soldiers have stopped their attempt to destroy us; there is simply no reason to do so because until today our organization has never attacked them and they don't know about our ultimate goal. One devastating blow against their morale and we can forget about all of this or if we want pick them off one by one once they've broken apart."

Every council member was looking at her now with interest and the longer the more with a slight approval. The white-haired leader looked around and finally nodded.

"It seems you really did your job, Director. So be it. We trust your superior experience with the X-series and Colonel Lydecker. Major Cullins, close down all outposts we can do without for the moment and relocate whatever forces we can spare to the rest of our bases, primarily to the two Core Facilities. Let's set a trap and hope those cats fall into it. In the mean time we have to find out as much as we can about the SRTU. I have a feeling we have neglected them a little bit too long."

Max impatiently waited, staring at the screen before her. When the code was finally accepted and the video connection established she couldn't help but grin when she saw his face on the screen.

"Didn't I tell you that you look better without this designer stubble?"

"You might have mentioned it once" Logan answered smiling, "but you know me: Little changes make life interesting."

"Sure it does" she agreed. "How are you?"

"I can't complain. Sometimes I'm a little bit bored. Taking down the bad guys has become almost easy since Lydecker isn't trying to hunt me down anymore. But don't tell him that!" Max laughed quietly at that. That was just pure Logan. He had Renfro probably moving heaven and earth to find him but he still played his part as Eyes Only. He grinned as well. "But I still miss the view from my apartment a little bit but, well, that'll have to wait a little while."

"Why? Did Renfro try to get you?"

"Not immediately, but today Bling noticed a few guys lurking around the Foggle Towers when he was passing by. Hey" he added quickly when he saw the sudden concern in her eyes even from the other end of the globe "don't worry, I'm fine. They won't get me, we're all safe."

During one of their first contacts over the internet he had told her that he and Bling had left his apartment for good only a day after Max and her unit had left the States and were staying in one of Eyes Only's safe houses. From time to time they changed their location just in case Renfro got a lead on them. Sometimes Asha or even OC were with them. Max invisibly cringed when as she thought about her friend and former roommate. She missed her, she missed so much she had to leave behind in Seattle.

"Max?" Even over all this distance Logan could see she was hurting. "Max, are you alright?"

"Yeah" she answered quickly but not trying to hide her emotional pain from him; he knew her just too well. "Yeah, I am. I just hope I'll be able to see you guys again one day, when all of this is over."

"You will" he assured her kindly and somehow - the way he said it - she believed it. "You'll get this done, you always do, don't worry. How are things going on anyway?"

"Well, yesterday we came back from Germany" she replied. "Had to steal some data from one of their bases. It's encrypted but Jondy thinks she can hack it."

"If she doesn't, don't hesitate to send it to me."

"Thanks for the offer, but I think my big sister wants to get this done by herself."

"No pressure" he nodded. Being kind of a computer crack himself he could understand Jondy wanted to do this without his help. "But if necessary, you know where to mail it."

"Sure I do." A week after they had arrived at Fortress Delta Logan had contacted her through the base's computer network and told her how they could stay in touch. Colonel Meyer had breathed fire and brimstone when he learned about this security breach and how easily some civilest had broken through the bases electronic defences. He had only calmed down when Lydecker had sworn Logan was not a risk, being hunted by Renfro himself. Of course they had not told him that Logan was also the freelance cyber-journalist Eyes Only; that would have been a little bit too much. "I'll give her a few more hours and then we will see."

"That won't be necessary, Max." She turned around and got aware of Alec standing in her doorframe. He really was a perfect example for stealth; usually nobody managed to get into the room without her noticing it. "She just did it. Lydecker wants us in the Briefing Room ASAP."

"I'm coming" she answered briskly before she returned her attention to the computer screen and Logan. "Logan, I'm sorry, but…"

"It's alright" he assured her, "I know you're just doing what you have to do. Just be safe, will you?"

"Of course I will." She smiled almost sadly at him. They were not together anymore - to be honest she was almost sure they had never been more than very close friends - but she was glad he could look at her and smile like he had done it before he had really learned what she was capable of. "See you soon, Logan. Goodbye."

"Goodbye, Max!"

The connection was terminated and the screen went blank.

"Still thinking about him?" Alec wanted to know when she didn't turn around immediately. "Cute!"

She turned around sharply and shot him an angry glance. Why could he just never take anything seriously? She knew he had been kind of cranky when he had been told to stay behind during the Ramstein mission but it was not just that; lately he had started to act differently around her and she didn't know why, which bothered her. But today she was just not in the mood for his snide remarks.

"What do you care?" she snapped. Without waiting she wanted to storm out of the room but he held her back.

"Max, please wait."

"What? I thought Lydecker wants to see us?"

"I'm sorry, Max, I didn't want to mock you." To her surprise he sounded absolutely honest and when she looked at him all she could see in eyes was a slight worry. "Max, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I…I think I am" she answered after some seconds. "I'm just feeling quite confused in this matter sometimes. I still see Logan as a very dear friend and I often think about OC, Sketchy and all my other friends. And there is this other mess, too. I mean; I just got used to Manticore again and then we had to run. I had to leave everything I ever knew behind me and not just like before: We are on a different continent now, goddammit! Our own country is hunting us like animals, we have nowhere to go and…"

"Hey, Maxie, hey!" he tried to calm her. She had started to sound almost desperate and the look on her face told Alec she really was confused and insecure at the moment. He gently grabbed her by her shoulders. "Calm down, okay. Look at me. Come on, Max, look at me!"

He waited until she raised her head a little bit and he could look into her dark brown eyes. What he saw surprised him. She wasn't going to break down; those were not the eyes of a soldier that was close to losing it, but he could see a helplessness he had experienced before himself.

"We will make it, you hear me" he said. Despite his words his voice was gentle. "We will find a way out of this. Past Renfro, past those Cyborgs or whatever they are and past anybody else, if necessary even past Lydecker. I don't know yet how but we will make it. Got it?"

Eventually she nodded.

"I'm sorry" she said quietly, looking down at the floor again. Alec always made her feel insecure; she just didn't know how to handle him. One minute he could be a cynical ass and the other one he really seemed to care. "I can't explain why I'm feeling like that at the moment. I'm sorry, I know I'm acting like a stupid schoolgirl."

"It's okay" he reassured her. "We all have our doubts sometimes."

She still didn't look convinced so he did the only thing he could think about; he embraced her into a tight hug. She tensed up at first but then he could feel how her body relaxed and then her arms came around his upper body and she returned his gesture.

For about two minutes they stood like that, silent, neither of them wanting to disturb the peaceful moment. Alec knew what was going on inside that pretty head of hers. Soldiers often questioned their missions if they were outside for too long and under too stressful conditions. The lack of contact to your base, your superiors and perhaps even to your fellow soldiers could make it difficult to see the reason behind every mission, every battle and fight. It was nothing new, it wasn't even transgenic; since the first days of modern warfare it was a well-known symptom of soldiers who had been out in the fields of battle for too long.

But Alec also knew that there were simple countermeasures; closeness to people you knew was one of the best. Not that he didn't enjoy being near Max all the time but right now he hadn't any other intention than to make her feel a little bit better. Yes, their situation was complicated and yes they were going against a powerful and lethal enemy and they couldn't afford to make any mistake that didn't mean they should stop to look after each other like the family they were. And somewhere deep inside him Alec knew he would never stop looking out for Max although he couldn't really explain why.

After a few minutes it seemed to him like she had calmed down a little bit and he let go of her.

"Better?"

She nodded and for the first time since she had returned from Germany he saw a tiny smile on her lips.

"Yeah. Thank you, Alec."

"You're welcome, Maxie!"

"Don't call me that!" she growled warningly but unlike all the times before her voice seemed to be a little bit less aggressive and her eyes still held that slightly amused spark.

"Yes, ma'am!" He gave her a mock salute before he became half-serious again. "Okay, now come on. Don't want to be too late for that briefing or we'll be in trouble again."

"Our IT experts are still analyzing the data you brought with you from Ramstein" Meyer began without hesitation as soon as they had all arrived at the briefing room. "It will take us some time, probably a few days until we can give you another target, so you'll have time to prepare and relax."

At those words it seemed like there was a silent shiver going through the ranks of assembled X5s and Deltas. They didn't want to wait! They had to strike! Now!

But as the soldiers they were they remained quiet throughout the short briefing until Meyer dismissed them. Some went to the training areas, others to the shooting range and some were walking towards their quarters.

"What are you going to do?" Jondy wanted to know.

"Sleep" was Max only respond. She suddenly really felt tired.

"Hey, what's that?" Alec suddenly wanted to know and Wolf, Kyla, Jondy and Max followed his gaze and they saw Ares and Blade, walking towards one of the surface elevators, smiling and talking to each other calmly and seemingly feeling quite relaxed.

"Oh no!" Alec exclaimed in fake shock when he saw that. "Don't tell me we have another…"

Jondy used the only known but very effective question to shut him up before he could speak out loud what they all were thinking.

"Ouch!" Alec exclaimed when she hit him. "Jondy! How many times do I have to tell you to stop this! Wolf, I swear to you if she does that once again I can't be hold responsible for my actions!"

"What?" his CO grinned. "Can't handle a single girl anymore, Alec? You're really growing old!"

"Haha, very funny! No, but seriously. Are they together?"

"And what would be so bad about it?" Max wanted to know.

"Well…nothing…it's just…" For a moment the brown-haired transgenic was lost for words. But not for long. "Oh come on! I mean: Blade and Ares?"

"First of all, smart-aleck" Jondy began, "they were just talking."

"Yeah, and second" Kyla interjected, "even if they will do more; it's not our business. Most of all not yours, clear? Stay out of this or Blade will tear you to pieces."

"You're no fun, guys" Alec sighed.

"Oh" Kyla suddenly grinned and looked at Wolf seductively. "I can't complain. I have all the fun I need."

Max could have sworn her brother blushed slightly at this but before she could be absolutely sure he and Kyla had turned around and walked towards their quarter, with the latter still laughing.

Okay, not very long, I know and there was not action. Don't worry, it will happen. Information about the data they've stolen in Ramstein will be given later, too.

I wanted to bring in Logan here just to make sure he is not forgotten and he will play a major role later, so yes, you'll see him and a few other characters again.

Nothing more to add here than.

MOTIVAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAATION please :)