A/n: Everyone seems to be busy right now, I've only had 3 reviews for chapter 6. This just means I appreciate X-318, jrfaninaustin, and Maria656 even more. If anyone else would like a mention, you know what to do…

Chapter 7: Sibling Rivalry

"Zack…" Max breathed, getting over her shock.

"Oh, so you do know who I am. Why did you do it, Max? Why did you send me away to that ranch, not even remembering who I was, not able to look out for the others? Do you have any idea how much danger you could have put them in?"

"Zack, I…"

"Is there a problem here?" Said Alec, approaching from behind her.

Zack's brow furrowed. "Ben? I thought you were dead."

"No, not Ben, Zack. This is his twin, Alec, designation 494, and my SIC."

"Well, at least you got rid of Wonderboy…" Even Zack noticed the pain shooting across Max's face at his comment. Before he could say anything further, he found himself flat on the floor with Alec standing over him, a foot on his neck.

"Do not insult our brother in front of me." Alec's usually jaunty voice was low and threatening. His resemblance to Ben in psychopath mode was disturbing.

"That's enough, Alec," called Max. He ignored her, so she stepped forward and grabbed his arm. "I said that's enough! He may be a pain in the ass, but he's still family." Reluctantly, Alec backed off.

"Jondy, you and Alec go consult with Mole and Dix about the supplies situation." She gave Jondy a look that said 'don't let him out of your sight.' "If you need me, I'll be taking a tour of the perimeter while I fill our big brother in on… the situation."

White opened the door of Logan's room, a very comfortable suite that just happened to have the locks on the outside. He was sitting in an armchair in the corner, reading. He barely glanced up from his book as his enemy entered.

"Ok, Cale, let's see what you're made of," the familiar smirked.

"Oh, good. I was getting kinda bored in here. What exciting activity do you have planned for me today?"

"The techs tell me that it would be impossible to hack into the military special ops mainframe. If you want us to believe your story, you have to prove it can be done."

"Sure, whatever. It'll take me a while without my software, but at least it'll keep me occupied."

"Don't worry, Cale, we have plenty of hacker software set up for you."

"Not like mine. I wrote most of it myself." Logan rose and stretched, unhurried. He refused to let White intimidate him; being five inches taller was just a bonus.

"Might as well get started, I guess." He strode past the shorter man as if he was a servant, playing the rich, arrogant Cale role to the hilt.

White followed, forced to almost run to keep up with Logan's long legged gait.

"Oh, sorry, Ames, you want me to slow down?" Logan smirked after several minutes.

White seethed under his calm exterior and ignored him.

Logan just kept going, still smiling to himself. Pissing White off probably wasn't the smartest thing he could do, but what the hell, it was a lot of fun. He had to have some entertainment in here; Thula drooling over him was making him nauseous.

"So, come on, Max, explain the situation to me. What the hell's going on? Why did you send me away?"

"I sent you away because I had to make the hardest decision I've ever made. I had to choose between Logan and you."

"And surprise, surprise, you chose him, again. I don't believe it. How could a man who couldn't even walk mean more to you than me? I died for you, Max!"

"But he lived for me, Zack. Every day for eighteen months, he had to wake up and remember that he'd never walk again. Do you know how much paraplegics have to learn to deal with? It's not just the chair, the pity, the fact that one step could stop him doing what he wanted. He lost his independence, his control over his life. Could you deal with that?"

"Do you know how Logan lost his legs? He purposefully put himself between a rifle and an eight-year-old girl. Blew a hole in his spine the size of Kansas, through kevlar. And if I had just agreed to help him when he asked, it never would have happened."

"So what, you chose him because you felt guilty?"

"No, I chose him because it was the best thing for both of you. You got the normal life you'd always wanted…"

"Normal life? Manticore put more metal in me than the space needle!"

"Manticore did more than that. They screwed with your mind, Zack. They tried to make you kill Logan. If I hadn't stopped you…"

"I don't remember that."

"You wouldn't, you lost a few days when you got your amnesia. I stand by my decision."

"Then where is he now, huh Maxie? Why isn't he here to help you?"

"Because he's dead, ok? He sacrificed his own life to save us."

Her brother looked up sharply. "What happened?"

"You heard the news about Terminal City? There was only one fatality in the bombing. Logan died there when the command centre collapsed on him. He was trying to stall the airforce to give us time to escape. Alec found him, dying, trapped in the rubble. I never even got to say goodbye."

"I'd be lying if I said I was sorry. He changed you, affected your judgement."

"You're right, he did. He made me human, not just a genetically engineered killing machine. I admired him, I trusted him, and I loved him. I still love him."

"He's dead, Max. Accept it, and move on."

"Move on? To what? He was my life, Zack. My every breath was for him. I survived Manticore's reprogramming because I had him to hold on to. I even told him I was seeing Alec to try and keep him safe."

"Keep him safe from what?"

"From me. That bitch Renfro managed to screw with my life from beyond the grave. She infected me with a retrovirus specific to Logan's DNA to try and kill him. Ten months, of being able to see each other every day, but knowing if we touched he'd die. And he still never gave up on us. He loved me. And it got him killed. And now I have to live with that. For a while, anyway."

"What do you mean, for a while? You're not thinking about…"

"Would I tell you if I was? Anyway, I couldn't if I wanted to. Turns out I'm special. I have perfect DNA. I was designed for a purpose, to stop a big, bad something being planned by Ames White and his Familiars."

"Sounds like a rock band. Who are they?"

"Some whack snake cult weirdoes trying to take over the world. Seriously long story, and we don't even know most of it. And here I am, leader of 600 transgenics hiding out from them."

"Why you? Why are you in charge?"

"No one else wanted the job. I have more experience of the outside world than any of them. The '09 X5's were a legend in Manticore, you know that? The only successful escapees ever until its destruction, when I burned it to the ground. I give them hope, that someday they won't be hunted down and slaughtered like animals. I just wish I still believed it myself."

"You know that this is ridiculous, don't you? You even set free the nomlies from the basement, and you remember how scared we were of them when we were kids."

"Exactly. When we were kids. Come meet some of the nomlies, they're no different from you and me, not really. The transhumans too, you'd get on really well with Mole, he's got a GI Joe stick up his ass just like you."

"Hey, I heard that!" Mole jumped down from a nearby tree. Zack just stared at him in shock.

"Hey, Mole. This is my brother Zack, he's just arrived here. Why don't you go show him your weapons collection?"

"Sure, if you say so, Max. You're the famous Zack, huh?"

"Yeah, uh, Mole."

"Favourite handgun?" Max rolled her eyes. "What? You can tell a lot about a person from their choice of firearm."

"I'll leave you two to your male bonding session. I have things to do." Max kept her hearing tuned to their conversation, grinning as it became more heated over grenade fragmentation patterns. She headed up to the top of the dam to tell Logan all about it.

Sebastian was researching the possible location of the displaced transgenics. It was common knowledge that they had escaped before the destruction of Terminal City, and the public was on edge, waiting for the feared freaks to reappear. His computer beeped, indicating an incoming e-mail. He frowned before opening it, not recognising the sender.

Sebastian,

I know you won't believe this is me, but I can prove it. Defibrillator, penknife, 5,000 volts, Max's head, Red implant, Original Cindy.

I need you to contact Max for me. When you find her, ask Bling to get over there and give her this message. Tell her I'm alive and kicking, and in Highview College, Washington DC. The whole place is crawling with familiars, I don't know if I'll be able to contact you again. All I know about her location is that there's a big dam there in the middle of a forest, probably not too far away from the city. Look out for truck hijackings on the interstate.

Thanks. Logan.

Sebastian smiled. Now this was a lead.

I know, not much Logan in this chapter, I miss him too.

I promise he'll be back with a vengeance in the next one, coming soon - if I can get my geography teacher off my back.