A/N: Wow! Two chapters in one day! Don't you guys feel lucky? :) Erm... this might be really choppy, so please hang in there. Like I said before, I don't write a lot of action sequences...

Oh, just for future reference, I guess I can be classified as a shipper. :) Always been a bit of a romantic. Don't fret too much, though. I'll try to keep the mushy stuff to a minimum. I've never been very good at writing that either. :) Anyway, on with the show!


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Chapter 9: Double or Nothing


Rendezvous Point

Next Day


Lydecker watched the approaching black hummers through a pair of binoculars from the driver's seat of the van. The two vehicles produced a cloud of dust in their wake as they sped across the rocky landscape. He heard the faint sounds of the three X5's preparing themselves for the eventuality of a fight. Everything was proceeding according to the instructions he had given McGinnis the day before. Not that it meant they would continue to do so...

"Everything's okay so far," Logan said as he studied the surveillance monitors in the back. Nimble fingers commanded the cameras that fed the screens their information.

"Good... I don't want any surprises," Lydecker set the binoculars aside and exited the van. He was eager to get the exchange over and done with. Delays would only make it easier for Manticore to pull something slippery.

Sliding the van's rear door open, Krit and Syl hopped out to join Lydecker. Zane hunkered down next to Logan, an automatic rifle at the ready. If anything went wrong, he could provide cover for his fellows outside.

"Everyone ready?" Logan asked into the headset's microphone.

"All's go," Syl responded, gently touching the accompanying ear piece she wore. Her other three comrades wore identical equipment, "Looks like we're gonna get this ball rolling..."

The humvees pulled to a halt opposite the van as a tall young man in black fatigues jumped out. Krit and Syl glanced at one another, recognizing him from their years at Manticore.

"Who's this?" Logan looked at Zane who watched the monitor intensely.

"Jared... An X4... I remember him... He trained with us sometimes..."

"This could be bad..." Logan murmured, not liking the turn the situation had taken.

"X4-841," Lydecker seemed relaxed despite the danger. He understood how the minds of his children worked. If he seemed agitated, it would only serve to put them more on edge.

"Colonel Lydecker, sir," Jared automatically saluted, "Do you have the data?"

With a smirk, Lydecker slowly reached into the pocket of his jacket, "Of course. Do you have X5-599?"

"Yes, sir," Jared glanced over his shoulder at the eight people still in the vehicles. One of them was gagged and blindfolded, steel cuffs and chains binding his feet and hands. All that could really be seen of the person was short, blond hair. Several of the soldiers wore protective head gear that obscured their faces.

"Zack..." Logan zoomed the camera on the roof of the van to focus on the young man.

Two soldiers gripped the blond youth's arms and practically hauled him out and on to his feet, "Satisfied?" Jared asked.

"Extremely," Lydecker produced a set of diskettes and held them out for the X4 to see, "Let's get this over with."

Zane frowned as he watched the bound, blond young man's image, "Something's wrong here..."

"What?" Logan glanced from him to the monitor, "What's wrong?" Just as Lydecker was readying to hand the disks to Jared, he paused as he heard Logan's voice in his ear, "Lydecker, Zane thinks something's fishy... Hold off for a second. Try to stall them..."

"By the way... " Lydecker began.

"That's NOT Zack!" Zane shouted suddenly. As if his voice was the cue, the black clad soldiers sprang into action. Krit tackled Jared, knowing they had to put the X4 out of commission to stand a chance. Lydecker rapidly retreated to the other side of the van, firing several shots at their attackers. With incredible speed, the soldiers leapt into the fray, one of them attempting to pull Krit off of Jared.

'Zack' deftly removed his cuffs, letting the heavy metal fall to the dusty ground with a thud. Free of his blind fold and gag, Syl got a good look at his face, "Warren?!"

The young blond man smiled at her, "Good to see you too, sis."

"Fuck!" Zane snarled, "We need to get out of here!"

"No arguments here..." Logan moved for the driver's seat. An instant later, the door was torn from its hinges by Jared who was now free from Krit's frantic assault.

"Well, well. Who do we have here?" the X4 smiled as he grabbed a startled Logan by the front of his shirt and tossed him out to the ground.

"Son of a bitch!" Zane shouted, firing towards the door of the van. Jared dropped to the ground, but not before being struck several times.

Krit hurled one of the nameless soldiers towards the others. He was angry. //They sent WARREN after us! Bastards! I can't believe it! And he's fighting WITH them!//

"Syl... Don't try to fight me. You're only going to get hurt. Why are you working for Lydecker anyway? You HATE him, remember?" Warren circled his sister warily.

"I'm not working FOR him!" She hissed, tracking him with her eyes, "I want my sister and brother back!"

"Brother? You mean Zack..." Warren's eyes flickered with an unreadable emotion, "He's dead, Syl."

"What...?" She stared at him in shock.

"LIAR!" Krit roared as he drove his brother to the ground.

"Krit!" Lydecker barked, still firing at the soldiers who he had belatedly realized were wearing kevlar body armor, "We need to retreat!" He watched helplessly as Zane dove out of the van to help his siblings, "Damn it to hell!"

Logan struggled to get to his feet, still somewhat winded from the impact with the ground. The fact the exoskeleton was protesting the rough treatment it had received wasn't helping. //Why are they having so much trouble with these soldiers? X5's should be able to take them out with no trouble...// Behind him, Jared pulled himself up using a grip on the van's side view mirror. He was bleeding from the bullet wounds inflicted by Zane, but it was hardly a mortal injury.

"Liar! Liar!" Krit was screaming as he pummeled Warren, "Zack's not dead! You could never kill him!"

"We didn't kill him! He killed himself!" Warren gasped out, attempting to block the powerful blows.

"He'd NEVER do that! You're lying!"

"Krit!" Syl decked one of the stray guards. Another threw something at her which she instinctively moved to deflect with her hand. She cried out as the object punched through her skin, burying itself in her hand. //What WAS that?// Distracted by the pain in her injured hand, Syl had no chance to avoid the tazer dart that struck her in the side a second later. Convulsing she crumpled to the ground.

"Syl!" Krit lunged towards her body, but was stopped by Warren's powerful grip on his leg. The two struggled on the ground, each trying to get the upper hand.

Lydecker searched for an opportunity, something that could turn the tide of the fight. So far he wasn't having any luck... Years of training and a highly developed sense of his surrounds warned him a second before a bullet sped past him that someone was behind him. Throwing himself to the side, Lydecker rolled as he fired two shots. Only one of them found their mark.

The soldier behind him moved with amazing speed and accuracy. Even wounded in the chest, he planted a bullet expertly into Lydecker's gun arm which immediately went numb. A moment later, he gasped the same arm, twisting it until he disarmed him and punched the ex-colonel in the face, driving him to his knees.

"Guess you trained us too well..." The soldier loomed over Lydecker's wounded form.

"Wha...?" Peering up, Lydecker suddenly recognized the soldier. X3-112... Geb if he remembered correctly... One of the only survivors of the X3 series. //Shit... No wonder we couldn't fight them...// He found himself staring down the barrel of a gun. Point-blank. The orders were to kill him on sight, and yet... Geb was just standing there, looking at him.

Lydecker let his eyes drift to the man's face. He knew that face. He'd MADE that face. And that face registered a strange kind of apprehension, as if Geb wasn't quite able to pull the trigger. If he had tried to escape, if he had begged... if Lydecker had done anything other than stay still, Geb would have killed him. As it was, even wounded, Lydecker carried himself with a certain strength, with authority. This was the man who had made him what he was... X3-112 couldn't kill him.

Logan watched in horror as Zane went down under a hail of tazer darts, electricity coursing through his body. //It's all happening too fast... I have to do SOMETHING...// He was reaching for the gun under the driver's seat when Jared struck him in the back. The blow connected with the exoskeleton's battery power supply, driving the metal box against Logan's already fragile spine. He gasped as he collapsed, struggling to breath. //Nononononono.... This ISN'T happening... there has to be something I can do... Oh god... can't.. breath...//

"That's enough!" Jared pulled a gun from his holster and aimed the weapon at Logan's head, "Krit, give it up."

Staggering, exhausted from his battle with Warren, Krit glanced around him. His companions were either unconscious or badly wounded. X3-112 was forcing Lydecker to his feet and pushing him towards where the others were. Three of the Manticore soldiers lay dead, either from broken necks or well placed bullets. //At least we took a few of them with us...// Krit let his hands fall to his sides, grudgingly admitting defeat.

"Damn... You put up one hell of a fight," Jared said with a smile, his weapon still pointing at Logan's head, "I didn't expect there to be THREE of you."

Krit glowered at him, "You bastards... It's not enough to get your hands on us, you have to screw with us too?"

"Zack IS dead..." Warren said quietly, "He killed himself for Max..."

"You... You're lying..." Krit's voice shook slightly, his fear rising. He knew how much Zack cared about Max. He knew how long and hard Zack had searched for her after the escape. Could it be true...?

"Max needed a new heart," Warren let the pain he shared with his brother show for once, "Zack gave her his..."

"No..." Krit breathed, "NO!" He lunged at Warren, unable to contain his rage, but was brought down by the remaining soldiers before he could get that far. "NO!" he howled, frustrated, angry, and also frightened.

Logan lay on his stomach, eyes wide as he watched them chain and bind the struggling X5. //Zack... is dead?// True, there had been no love lost between he and Max's overprotective older brother, but he had never really wanted... He squeezed his eyes shut. //This is a dream... Let this be a dream...//

"Damn it..." Lydecker muttered, cradling his wounded arm against his chest. He reluctantly allowed himself to be shoved into the second hummer along with Krit and Logan. The unconscious X5's were dragged to the other vehicle, having been also chained up. //Not taking any chances...// As the two humvees peeled out, he watched over his shoulder as two of the remaining soldiers climbed into the van, following soon after.

//Hell...// How had this happened? Lydecker leaned his head back and closed his tired eyes. He'd been prepared for this... But everything went so wrong. He should have known that something was amiss when he saw how complacent 'Zack' was as they dragged him out of the hummer. Maybe he was losing his edge...

A cold lump began to gather in his chest. This was it. It was all over. Years of sacrifice, of setbacks and triumphs, all for nothing. All the things he had ever done were wasted. Lydecker had thought he had prepared himself for death a long time ago, but he could still feel it... fear. He didn't want to die. He wasn't READY to die. There was so much left to do... But here he was, facing the end.

Lydecker would never call himself a sentimental man. A good soldier avoided such things. But there were a few memories he allowed himself to cherish, if just a little... His first kiss, his wedding day... Those funny little moments that somehow stuck with you and bubbled to the surface in times of crisis to remind you of what you were fighting for. Strange how hard he had fought those feelings after his wife's death... murder he corrected himself. Not that it mattered now.

He'd been lost after Anne had died. Alcohol had become his closest companion. Lydecker hadn't been a fool, like many who turned to drink. He knew exactly what he was doing. He knew that the liquid couldn't erase his problems and that it only caused more. It had gotten him kicked out of the military, his only other foothold in sanity. But it had let him forget, if only for a short time. And he hadn't really wanted anything else then.

Manticore was his saving grace. He had been give the chance to do something incredible. Lydecker knew what made a good soldier, the ultimate warrior, and he knew he could create them. And he had. Watching his kids grow had been what kept him going at times. There had been plenty of failures along the way, but that was par for the course. It had never really bothered him when he had to destroy the defects, though. The perfect soldier could afford no weakness...

No weakness... His children were his weakness... Not that he ever claimed to be a 'perfect soldier...'

The sound of squealing tires assaulted his ears and his eyes flew open as he was jolted out of his seat. The hummer swerved as a camouflaged truck appeared in front of it.

//What the hell is this?// Lydecker felt the cool metal of a pistol muzzle pressing against his neck.

"Don't move," Geb warned.

Logan and Lydecker exchanged glances, neither sure what was happening.

"What...?" The driver of the hummer was suddenly pulled from his seat. Guards in camo flooded out of the truck, briefly battling with the Manticore soldiers.

Someone grabbed Geb from behind, disarming him with a quick twist to his wrist. The X3 yelped in surprise and pain and he was tossed backwards.

Lydecker looked at Logan again who shook his head.

//Who are these guys? How can they be strong enough...// Lydecker looked up into the face of a tall guard who was standing next to the vehicle, "Colonel Lydecker, I presume?" Lydecker didn't answer, but was plucked from the seat and set on the ground. Krit ended up being dumped on the ground as he fought with another soldier who was trying to move him. An instant later, Logan was set next to him but promptly collapsed, the exoskeleton no longer operating. The guard blinked in surprise.

"He can't walk, you idiot," Lydecker snarled, hating the confusion and lack of control he was presently experiencing.

"That's no way to talk to the people who just save your ass, Don."

Lydecker spun to confront the speaker. His eyes widened with shock and his jaw went slack. "Philip!" he choked out. Logan decided he would have to remember the expression for later when he needed something amusing to cheer him up...

A lean man wearing the same camo as the guards leaned against the side of the mysterious truck, arms crossed and a gun in hand. Mousy brown hair was peppered with silvery strands and dark eyes sparkled with humor, "Glad to see you too. Oh... pick that poor kid up," Motioning with his chin, he indicated Logan. Someone promptly complied.

Lydecker took a moment to look around. All of the Manticore soldiers were lying on the ground, some covered in blood. He spotted Warren, Geb and Jared being dragged towards the truck. Syl and Zane, however, were no where to be seen...

One of the guards ran up to the man, "Sir, two of them escaped. They overpowered us."

Looking pointedly at Lydecker, Philip smiled, "Two of yours?"

"What the fuck is going on here?!" Lydecker snarled.

"What? You're not happy to see me again, Don?" Philip feigned injury.

"The last time I saw you, you were trying to put a BULLET in my head!" Lydecker spat furiously.

"Just following orders, Don," Philip smirked, "Just like I am now." He suddenly fired a shot at Lydecker who numbly glanced down at himself. A tranquilizer dart protruded from his abdomen.

//Shit...// Looking up again, Lydecker frowned, "What are you...?" Sliding to his knees, he struggled against the effects of the drug. A moment later, Lydecker ended up on his face, unconscious.

"Well, this has been an eventful day, hasn't it?" Philip smiled at Logan's stunned expression. "Your turn, kid." He aimed the dart gun at him and fired. Logan dimly heard Philip speak as he slid into darkness, "Nothing personal, right?"

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A/N: Phew... How was that? Not too confusing I hope. It was a lot to get out. I may end up revising this chapter at some point. I think there may have been too much going on.

So what's next? Just who are these mysterious new people and what do they have planned for our crew? How does Lydecker know Philip? Where have Zane and Syl gone? Let's not forget about Manticore and Max! Ah... so many questions!

Stay tuned for Chapter 10! It might be a little while, though. Real life intervenes sometimes. :)