Disclaimer: I only own Maru, Syd, Cam, Tor, and Quinn. Fox owns the rest.

Rating: G

Note: Sorry it's taken so long to get this chapter out. I've had major writers block. I started this story in school, and without school I just don't have any ideas for it. Anyho, enjoy.

After hours of trying to figure out who has Max and Maxie, no one was any closer to an answer. Everyone's patience was wearing out. Especially concerning Maru. Maru is a well known mischief maker, and at Manticore there's a lot to get into. Everyone was ready to put her in a cell to keep her out of the way, but the one thing that everyone forgot was that Maru has excellent hearing and she never tells anything without prompting.

"Dammit. We're never going to find them."

"Don't worry Daddy, you'll find Mommy and Maxie. I know you can. If you ask me to help I will."

"I don't think there's anything you can do, Sweetie."

"I could, I could, I could help a lot. Just ask and I could help." Everyone who knew Maru knew that she had something she wanted to say, but wouldn't until she was asked.

Jace crouched down and decided to ask Maru, "So, how could you help?"

"I herd the bad people talking while we were sneaking out of the house," Maru whispered into Jace's ear.

Zack herd what Maru said and decided to keep her talking, "What did they say?"

"They said that they had one of the X-5's and one of the kids. They said She would be happy, but what they got to help Her wasn't fair. They didn't like Her who ever She was."

"She?" Jace repeated. "They couldn't be talking about Her? Could they?"

"No, She's dead," Zack replied.

"You sure?"

"No." Zack looked concerned and decided to continue interrogating his daughter. "Did you hear anything else, Sweetie?"

"Nope."

"Are you sure?"

"Yupe."

Jondy had listened to this whole conversation and was totally lost, "Who's She?"

Zack and Jace both gave Jondy a 'use your head' look. Jondy realized who 'She' was and all that Jondy could say was, "Oh. That's not good."

Later that day all the Rouge X-5's meet in the lounge to discuss everything. The Rouge X-5's are the ones who escaped and hadn't been reindoctrinated. Those X-5's included Zack, Max, Jondy, Syl, Krit, Zane, Jace, Syd, Cam, Tor, and Quinn. Maru, Charlie and Case were there, too.

"How can She be the one behind the attack? Isn't She dead?" asked Quinn. Quinn wasn't there when they killed Her and so he was confused.

Krit answered, "Yeah, She should be dead. I saw and heard Max snap Her neck."

"Who are we talking about?" Charlie asked.

The hate was obvious in Zack's voice as he answered, "The bitch that killed your wife, the former director of Manticore. Renfro."

Charlie nodded his head. Max had told him about Renfro. After She was dead the council was willing to listen to what Lydecker had to say. When the Rouge X-5's escaped, it nearly destroyed Manticore. So, after they willingly returned, funding for the project skyrocketed. Now the Rouge X-5's more or less work for Manticore. They don't get paid but they're allowed to come and go as they please. They also work in the areas that they like. Jondy works in the labs, Zane works with mechanics, and so forth. Max and Jace are the only X-5's that don't work at Manticore, but they aren't on the run either.

"Ok, Now that we all know who we're talking about. The question comes back to the fact of is She or isn't She dead?" Jace said steering everyone else back on track.

Case might be the second youngest in the room, but he pointed out the most obvious thing, "If She's dead, wouldn't her body be somewhere? Like buried or records of her being cremated?"

"There was a fire in the building where she was killed. The building was totally destroyed before we could get the body out."

"Still, Case is has a point. I should've realized this sooner."

"What is Syl? Spit it out."

"The bones should've been found. They don't burn to ashes."

"But her neck was snapped!"

"Maybe… umm… I don't know. People break their necks in accidents all the time. It was a crazy night. We might not have realized She wasn't totally dead. One of her loyal henchmen might've gotten her out."

After Syl finished talking the others realized she could be right. No one had proof that Renfro was dead. And Renfro would've had motive behind capturing Max and Maxie.

"I'll go talk to Lydecker," Zack said getting up. "You guys should get some sleep."

"But I don't sleep, Daddy."

"Maru! Just go relax in your room!"