AUTHOR'S NOTE Sorry for the delay! I hope you all enjoy!

DISCLAIMER Don't really own anyone. I made up a name for Sari as one of the never-mentioned '09ers, but that's it.

…

Chapter Twenty

"Max! Oh God," Logan cried as he ran to Krit's side. Krit was hesitant, but handed his sister to the blonde man. Logan held her close to his chest, pressing his cheek against her dark long curly hair. "It's really you, Max."

Dawn was right behind him, taking a mental note of her Slayers. Then she grinned. "Well, here we are. All of the Slayers together."

Jace, Jondy, Sari, and Syl shared a look and smiled. "Look at us," Jondy remarked.

"What's a Slayer?" a woozy voice asked.

Logan smiled down at Max joyously. "Max! You're awake!"

She looked up into his eyes. "Logan?"

He was so full of emotion that he could only nod. Max smiled and nestled into his shoulder, still shaky from Willow's spell.

Willow was suddenly very aware of the sirens blaring around them. "I think we need to leave. Like, right now."

"Good idea," Logan said. "Let's get back to the van."

"If they haven't found it already," Jace mumbled as they headed through the woods.

Tara gave her a look. "Come on, Jace. Don't you think we've thought of that?"

Jace blushed and muttered an apology. She was shocked, to say the least, when the thin air before her shimmered slightly and their van appeared before them. "You cloaked it even from us?" she asked.

Tara shrugged. "Cloaking spells aren't selective. It takes a lot more effort to hides something from only a certain group of people instead of everyone. But now it's not hidden from Manticore either so the quicker we get out of here, the better."

Krit already had the door pulled open. "Don't have to tell me twice."

They heard the soldiers searching the forest getting closer as they loaded themselves into the van and Willow's eyes clouded gray as she made them invisible to Manticore again. Within moments, they were speeding away from the installation.

Sari, Krit, and Jondy took turns driving, allowing Logan to stay by Max's side. She was awake and coherent, but residual electricity still made the hand that had once born the cuff spasm every once and a while. She looked at it disdainfully. "Any way you can make this stop?" she asked.

Willow just smiled. "It will slow down on its own. How do you feel?"

Max shrugged. "As well as can be expected I supposed, seeing as how you just zapped a hunk of metal off my wrist." She was leaning tiredly against Logan. He had his arms around her, looking like he still couldn't believe she was really there. "Not that I'm unhappy or anything, but someone want to tell me why you all came to break me out?"

Jondy and Jace, who were on Max's left, shared a look with Syl on her right. Sari caught Krit's eye in the rearview mirror as she drove. Max looked around suspiciously. "What? What's going on?"

Dawn sat down next to her and Logan. "Max, I'm Dawn Summers. I found your sister and brother in Vancouver last week."

"Why?" Max asked.

Tara put a reassuring hand over Max's. Max jerked her hand away. "Max, we're not going to hurt you," she said.

"They really won't," Jondy put in. "I swear. And what they have to say will sound really strange, but it's true."

Max looked trustingly at her sister – her best friend. "I've been having dreams," she muttered reluctantly. "About the Slayer." She narrowed her eyes at Tara. "And you were in them! Who are you?"

"This is Tara," Syl explained. "She and Willow are here to help us, just like Dawn."

"Help us do what?" she asked, exasperated.

Logan hugged her a little. "Max, have I ever told you about the Slayer?" he asked her. Max gave him a look that plainly read, 'Of course not, why would I ask otherwise?' He sighed. "The Slayer is a legendary warrior. One girl in every generation is chosen and endowed with superpowers to fight against evil."

Max frowned and shrugged. "Got superpowers all on my own. I don't need any help from any magical power."

Willow laughed. "The Slayer's power comes from much more than just magic."

Max glared at her. "And you know this how?"

"Willow's a witch," Syl explained. "And so is Tara. Dawn is our Watcher."

"I don't understand," Max said. "Our Watcher? Witches?" Her eyes widened. "Cloaking spell. Witches! Oh God."

"When one Slayer dies, another is called," Tara explained. "Many, many years ago, I bonded with the essence of the first Slayer. She is the root of the Slayer's power. Since then, after every Slayer dies, the first Slayer helps me find the next and bring her to her mission."

"The dreams," Max said quietly. "Right? That's what those were about." Tara nodded. "But I couldn't hear you. What good are you to future Slayers if they can't hear what you say?"

Syl sighed. "Max, you aren't the Slayer. At least, not the full Slayer." She straightened just a little. "I am."

"What?" Max looked back and forth between Tara and Syl. "You're the Slayer?"

"One of them," Dawn added with a smile.

"You see Maxie, all of us in the unit had similar DNA. And not only that, but Manticore put these little psychic links or something in our brains so that we could keep track of each other during battle. I'm the one who was called as the Slayer, but our unique DNA has made it so that all of us have been endowed with Slayer powers," she finished slowly.

To everyone's surprise, Max smiled. "So that was it. Oh what Renfro would give to know about this!"

"Maxie," Krit asked. "What are you talking about?"

"The reason I was stuck out there in the graveyard was because Renfro noticed a sudden, unexplained spike in my fitness reports. I was more agile, faster, stronger, everything. She didn't know why and that pissed her off. She thought I knew what was going on, so she was looking for ways to get me to talk."

"So she imprisoned you with all of our dead brothers and sisters," Jace said bitterly. "What a bitch."

Max laughed ruefully. "No kidding." She sobered. "I have to tell you guys something," she said sadly. "It's about Brin."

Jondy put a comforting hand on Max's shoulder. "We know, baby sister. We know all about it."

"How?"

The blonde transgenic tapped the side of her head. "Freaky Manticore links, remember?"

Max was able to crack a small smile. "Oh yeah. I'm so sorry, Jondy. It was my fault. She died because I chained her up and left her to burn."

Krit forced her to look him in the eye. "She died because Manticore killed her. They brainwashed her and forced her to fight you. To fight all of us. This is not your fault."

It was clear to everyone that Max didn't buy it. Instead, she burrowed into Logan's embrace and muttered, "I'm really tired, you guys. I think I'm just going to go back to sleep."

"All right," Jondy said quietly. "We'll wake you up when we get home."

Max smiled sleepily. "Home," she muttered before drifting off to sleep.