For pairings, rating, disclaimer, etc., please refer back to Chapter 1.


RELEGARE IRA, REPERIRE CARITAS

Zack rose at the crack of dawn and checked out of the little Red Mesa motel, grabbing a breakfast of potato chips and a chocolate bar from the lobby's vending machine. Outside, he climbed onto his motorcycle and looked at his watch. It was 0730 now and it would take him approximately eight hours to get to Santa Fe, setting his ETA at about 1500 hours. Right on time. Zack, pleased with his efficiency, gunned the engine of his motorcycle and rode off toward New Mexico. It was soothing driving through the uniquely-pretty Arizona landscape, with desert-like sandstone cliffs and scrub all around the endlessly stretching roads.

Zack was on a mission... he rarely went anywhere or made any decisions without being on a mission. But really, this time, he had two. When he'd first heard that Jondy and Zane were staying together, he momentarily considered allowing them to continue to do so. Momentarily. Then he'd realized that though to the best of his knowledge Manticore and Lydecker were both gone, someone had been after Jondy in Texas after the facility's destruction. Zack wanted to know who the hell would be looking for his sister, and if anyone else was in danger. Also at the back of his mind was what Max had told him, about others from Manticore being out in the world now. Zack intended to look out for them as well, but his twelve siblings came first, even though that wasn't very logical. Zack didn't care. He'd had the duty of protecting them for the last twelve years, and he wasn't about to let any new mission take precedence over it now. After Jondy told him everything she knew about the people who'd been following her, which Zack hoped was enough, he was going to send them to opposite sides of the country. He'd already set up a place for Jondy in Pennsylvania and one for Zane in California; all he had to do was get them there. If there was someone besides Lydecker looking for them now, then it was way too much of a operational security risk for them to stay together.

Zack passed through the Santa Fe Section Three checkpoint at 1427 hours, ahead of schedule, and stopped someone to ask for directions to the Hyde Park area of the city. It was a region dominated by cul-de-sacs and very little traffic, with children playing in front yards, teenage girls watching them, and young men who stared at Zack's motorcycle with longing as he drove by. He found the dead-end road called Camino Del Este and stopped in front of the little house numbered 763. Removing his helmet, Zack slowly dismounted and took a huge breath as he walked up the front walk of the house. There were flowers growing in the front garden, and a leash tied to the mailbox. Zack shook his head as he realized Zane must have bought another dog since the last time they'd seen each other. He loved German Shepards; the rest of Zack's siblings had been traumatized by them so much in Manticore that they would never dream of owning one, but they'd never really seemed to bother Zane.


Jondy flicked through the channels of daytime television, disgusted with most of it. She had been watching it since Zane fell asleep downstairs and, about twenty minutes before, the Eyes Only broadcast he'd told her about had come over the broadcast. Jondy had many questions for Zack.

Over the blaring sound of the television, Jondy's heightened hearing picked up the sound of a roaring engine cutting out outside. She held her breath and slowly rose from the bed, moving to the window. A man was walking up the sidewalk of the little two-bedroom house; she couldn't tell who it was because she was above him, but his hair was dirty-blond, and he walked with purpose and determination. Zack. Jondy's heart caught in her throat as she turned and ran down the stairs, making it to the door just as the bell rang. Zane was still sleeping on the sofa. Jondy threw the front door open and he stood before her as though it was the most natural thing in the world, as though he hadn't just practically returned from the dead. Jondy gazed at him.


"Zack, get up."

"I'm sleeping."

"Get up, get up!"

"Go away."

"Zack..."

"Jondy, go away already."

"We're bored."

"Go play with her, then." But Jondy didn't want to play with just Max; she wanted Zack to play with them, too. She climbed up onto his back and tickled him. Zack yelled in surprise and bolted upright, tumbling her onto the floor. She blinked, then just giggled at him; she knew he'd never hurt her.

"You got him up!" Max was happy to see him awake, too.

"Come play with us," Jondy said cheerfully. Zack tried to look annoyed, but she saw the loving smile in his eyes as he followed her over to Max's bed to play.


Jondy sat next to Max behind the log in the forest outside Manticore. Before them, Zack was pairing her siblings off and sending them in different directions and out of her life forever. When he'd paired everyone else off and dispatched them, only Jondy and Max were left. He motioned for them to head south. She nodded, ready to obey, though she gazed at him sadly because she was afraid. She wanted him to come with them; there was no child left to pair off with- he could come with them, couldn't he? Max seemed to think so. But Zack just glared at Max, repeating the signed order to head south more harshly this time. Jondy stifled a sigh and gave her sister a push, and they left Zack there alone by the log with the helicopters closing in on him. Jondy's heart was pounding, afraid for herself, for Max, for Zack... for all of them.

They ran through the snow together, Max just behind Jondy, their bare feet freezing. They hit the perimeter fence and jumped onto it, climbing quickly toward the barbed-wire top. It would mean their freedom from Manticore forever, if they could just get over it. And they did, but Max suddenly stopped and stared fearfully behind them. Jondy followed her gaze, and froze as she saw Zack on the other side of the fence, lying in the snow, convulsing with men all around him. Tasers were the only thing Jondy was more afraid of than the dogs.

With no hope of saving him, Jondy bit back her tears painfully and grabbed her sister. They kept running. She knew she had to get them to safety so Zack wouldn't have been recaptured for nothing; by his proximity to their position she was almost positive that he had to have been shot saving them. He would have never allowed himself to be captured otherwise. He loved them so much, but sometimes she wished he didn't.

"Down on the ground, now," he ordered. Jondy's eyes widened as she looked at the boy, the way he held his shoulders, the firm determined lines of his face, his blue eyes...

"Zack?" she breathed, but he didn't hear her, his eyes fixed on the man, who slowly laid on the floor of the kitchen. Jondy joined her brother ecstatically, wanting to hug him but knowing it was not a good time. It had been five years, and now here he was, just in time to save her! She dropped the baseball bat and he turned to look at her.

"You okay, Jondy?" he asked her, turning back to the man on the floor. She smiled.

"I'm fine." Fine now, she thought. "How did you know?"

"It doesn't matter." He continued to hold the gun on the man. Jondy supposed he was right. She'd been in trouble, now he was here, and she was safe. That was how it had always been, her whole life. It was the way it was; it didn't matter why.


A shake in Jondy's voice as she spoke over the phone, ten years older than the last time he'd been with her but still sounding the same, "You're really coming?" The smile in her soft voice as she said it... he could almost see it.

"Of course," he answered gently. "Don't worry."


Zack stood in the doorway, a small smile on his lips, the blue eyes of the boy from her childhood gazing at her through time. Jondy stared at him; she felt like an child, in awe of a great work of art.

"Can I come in?" he asked, humour touching his voice. Jondy was too happy to blush, but stepped back from the doorway. He entered the house and looked around as she closed the door behind him. He turned back to her. "Nice place."

Jondy couldn't wait another second. She threw herself at him, catching him off-guard as he stumbled slightly. He chuckled and brought his arms up to encircle her slight form; she clutched his shoulders as though they were a lifeline. They could have stayed that way for two days and Jondy wouldn't have cared, but Zack released her after a few moments and kicked his shoes off.

"Where's Zane?" he asked. Jondy motioned to the living room and led him there, heading to the sofa and shaking her little brother awake. He stretched and yawned, looked up at her, slightly irritated. Then he caught sight of Zack behind her and practically fell of the sofa before standing up, grinning, and rushing over to him. Zack held out a hand, put Zane ignored it and hugged his brother tightly. Zack rolled his eyes over his brother's shoulder, but it was obvious to Jondy that he was enjoying their reunion almost as much as she and Zane were.

"What the hell are you doing sleeping in the middle of the day?" Zack asked with amusement once Zane had let him breathe again. He crashed into an easy chair and Jondy joined Zane on the sofa across from him. "Don't you have a job?"

"Yeah," Jondy said pointedly. "Don't you have a job?" Jondy worked nights, as always- three a week. Zane started to protest, then shrugged his shoulders.

"What I want to know is where you've been, Zack," he told their brother. Jondy was instantly all ears as they both waited expectantly for Zack to speak, but he sat there for a moment, just gazing back at them. Then he stood and walked over to the window. "How long have you been living here?"

"Zack-" Jondy began; he turned back to them. She recognized that mission-look in his eyes.

"About seven months," Zane answered. Zack nodded, crossed the room to the phone, picked it up and listened for a moment, then set it down and crouched on the floor, examining one of their wall sockets. His siblings watched him for a moment, and Jondy leaned over to her brother.

"Has he gone insane?" she whispered to Zane.

"That's not funny," he said. Then Jondy remembered the Eyes Only broadcast and winced; she hadn't meant that.

"Do you have a screwdriver?" Zack asked. Zane, not missing a beat, motioned to the hall closet. Zack walked over and searched it, then came back and removed the screws from the outlet. His body was blocking Jondy's view, but she couldn't even begin to imagine what he was doing. After a moment, though, she heard a sigh and stood with Zane, walking over to him. The outlet was now removed from its box, and Jondy could see a tiny, strange piece of metal that looked somewhat like a large computer chip stuck on the inside of it.

"What is that?" she asked, leaning down next to Zack to get a better look.

"I bought it on the way into town," he said; Jondy looked at him strangely as he rose to his feet and made a motion like writing. Zane motioned to where the phone was, and he grabbed a piece of paper, scribbling on it. "It's nice, isn't it?" he asked, showing them the paper. SAY YES, it said. THE HOUSE IS BUGGED.

"It's great," Zane said.

"Yeah." Jondy slowly got to her own feet and swallowed hard. Zack walked over to the window and parted the blinds, staring out at the normal-looking street with suspicion. He turned back to them and made several hand signals. They nodded.

"Well, now that you're here I think I'll go out and get us some beer," Jondy said, as per his instruction.

"I'll go with you," Zack agreed. "You can show me around the place. Zack turned to Zane and made a few more hand signals of direction, and when he nodded he and Jondy turned and left the house, climbing into Zane's truck and pulling out of the driveway.

Zane stood there for a moment, then slowly headed upstairs calmly to his bedroom, grabbing a few things he wanted to keep and packing them into a duffel bag. He headed into Jondy's bedroom, throwing the few things he knew she wouldn't want to part with into the bag, then headed back downstairs and grabbed the bottle of tryptophan from the cupboard. He headed for the door and pulled on his shoes. Something brushed up against his leg and he jumped, then looked down sadly at Wenna.


"Do not attempt to adjust your set. This is a streaming freedom video bulletin." Zane ignored the television and continued to work on the carburetor in front of him. He didn't see why most mechanic shops he'd worked in had to have a televison blaring all the time. It always annoyed him. He liked to work on his cars in peace and quiet, fully absorbed.

"This cable hack is being beamed to you right across America," the television continued. "It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped. This is a message to those known as X5." Zane's hand froze on the carburetor. He couldn't have hear that right. He slowly turned to the television and his heart caught in his throat as he saw the Manticore chimera symbol on the screen, with the X5 written over top of it. "You've been compromised," the voice seared into him as five barcodes scrolled across the screen: Tinga's..... He dropped the wrench he'd been holding and it clattered to the floor. "You're in danger," it continued. "You know what to do."

"Hey, uh, Zane, hand me that 3/ 16th, will ya?" He heard Jamie, his coworker, say from underneath the truck he was working on. Zane ignored him as he stared at the television.

"I repeat: you've been compromised," the voice of the eyes said. Zane turned and left the shop.

"Zane?" the call came again. He kept walking.

"You know what to do," he heard the voice as he climbed into his truck parked outside.

"Zane?" he heard Jamie call once more.

"This message will repeat..." he heard, just as he tore away from the mechanic shop in his truck. He glanced at the clock as he headed home to get some stuff before he left Hollywood. His place was only a short drive from where he worked, and he was there momentarily. Zane's heart caught in his throat as he saw his building surrounded by police, their car-lights flashing. He sped past the apartment block and toward the checkpoint to leave city, finding that all he could think about was his old dog Kia. Poor girl; he loved that dog. He'd had her for years. But he couldn't go back for her now. It might already be too late to get out of the checkpoint. Still, though... he loved that dog.


"I'm sorry, girl," he said softly to Wenna as he pulled open the door. She whined from behind him. Don't look at her, don't look at her, he told himself, knowing he'd be lost if he did. Then suddenly, he found himself looking at her. Her little puppy-face stared up at him with love and sadness at being left behind.

"Oh, hell," he said, grabbing one of her leashes from the closet and snapping it onto her collar. "Let's go for a walk!" he said, getting her all excited. Her tail slapped against the wall. Zane smiled and led her outside, not bothering to lock the door. He thought briefly about leaving her with some neighbours, but he knew that would be way too obvious to whoever was watching him. Besides, he thought belatedly. The neighbours could be the ones watching me. Zack and Jondy had driven off in his truck, and he was supposed to take Zack's motorcycle. But you can't take a little puppy on a motorcycle, and he wasn't going to leave her on the streets to starve. Zane ignored the bike and headed down the street with Wenna trotting happily at his side. He walked ten blocks and stole a car out of someone's screened driveway and drove it to the motel where Zack had said they should meet, intending to take one quick detour before meeting his brother and sister there.


Zane showed up at the motel in Albuquerque three hours later, after having discarded the car and dropped Wenna off at an animal shelter. At least her chances of getting a good home would increase there; Zane knew that if Zack knew he'd risked op-sec for a dog he'd get a serious reprimand, so he didn't tell his brother what he'd done.

"Were you followed?" Zack asked when he entered the room. Jondy smiled up at him, relieved, from the motel room's single chair.

"No," Zane said, sitting down on one of the beds.

"Okay, good." Zack relaxed slightly. Zane noticed that Jondy was wearing a brand new set of clothes and he assumed that Zack had driven his truck into a lake, switching it for the '03 blue sedan that Zane had noticed parked in front of their room. That would mean that now they were now almost definitely free of listening devices, but Zane had really liked his truck.

"Okay," Zack said, going back to business immediately as though they hadn't just fled their home and taken refuge in a disgusting little motel, uncertain of where they would go next. Then it occurred to Zane that Zack likely knew exactly where they would go next; he just wished that his brother would share that information. The shabby motel room had two single beds in it, and there was another single in an adjoining room that Zack had rented for her sister, though she didn't sleep. Jondy brought her knees up and hugged them to her chest. "Tell me exactly what you remember about the people after you in Austin," Zack continued.

"There isn't a lot to tell," she said apologetically. He waited. "I was in Austin, had been for about three months, and I started to notice these guys following me. At first I thought I was imagining things, because they were pretty sneaky about it, you know? But then they started showing up where I work, and I saw them parked outside my apartment one night, too. I had called you about a week after I first started seeing them, but you didn't come." She looked over at him apologetically, as it was obvious her words had hurt him slightly. "I tracked Zane down in Kansas and he came over and got me. We've been staying in Santa Fe ever since then, waiting for you. Sorry I can't tell you more." She narrowed her eyes in confusion. "It was weird though, because I'd heard earlier that Manticore was gone. I don't know who it could have been, unless Lydecker decided to keep chasing us even after all his funding was gone..." Jondy trailed off, shrugging.

"Lydecker's gone," he told her. "Presumed dead. He disappeared."

"Great," Zane said, smiling. There was no love lost between Lydecker and Zack's siblings. "But then who was chasing Jondy?" Zack thought for a moment; he was confused, frustrated.

"Max never told me anything about anyone else being after us after she saw Manticore burn down," he muttered. Zane and Jondy perked up at the mention of their littlest sister's name.

"Max?" Jondy asked excitedly. "When were you with her?"

"Not too long ago," Zack answered distractedly.

"Where?"

"In-" He paused. "Well, it doesn't matter where. But she told me all about Manticore being burned down, the others getting out..." he looked at his surprised siblings. "You didn't know that?"

"I knew Manticore was gone but I'd heard that almost everyone died in the fire."

"Max said she got everybody out," Zack answered. Slowly, Jondy smiled.

"She was always such a good sister," she said softly. Zack allowed a short pause before he got the conversation back on track.

"Look, the point is that someone was looking to take you in after Manticore and Lydecker were gone. That worries me." That was quite obvious to Jondy and Zane; it worried them, too.

"What are you going to do?" Zane asked.

"Well, I'll have to track them down, won't I?" Zack said heavily. "We don't want these people running around." He sighed. "But first I'm calling Max. I don't think she told me everything."

"Max?" Jondy's eyes were glowing; Zane grinned. "You're phoning Max now?" Zack hesitated for a moment, but he didn't see how he could avoid it.

"You have to let us talk to her," Zane said. Zack really didn't like the idea of that; Max was a rogue, and he a hard time keeping her away from the rest of her siblings once she found out anything about them. He hadn't been able to prevent her from meeting up with Tinga, Ben, Brin, Krit, Syl... and three of those siblings had hurt her deeply. He didn't want that to happen again. He wanted everybody safe and everybody happy, in that order. But that meant that he had to keep everybody apart. And Max was always a security risk in that department.

"Zack, you can't just call her and not let us speak to her, that's ridiculous!" Jondy was right; it was ridiculous. Besides, he reasoned with himself. They won't know where she is because I'll dial the number, and we'll be out of here tomorrow. What harm could it do? It was when he started thinking like this, Zack knew, that he was getting weak. He shook his head, disgusted with himself, but picked up the phone and nodded over to Jondy. She almost clapped her hands in excitement as he dialled the number without letting her see. Zane was grinning.


Max sat on the sofa of her little run-down apartment, Original Cindy cooking them a late dinner in the kitchen. She was gazing out the window at the rain, wondering if it ever stopped. It seemed to be raining every day in Seattle. The telephone rang and Original Cindy grabbed it off the wall.

"Hello?" she said absent-mindedly, checking the stew on the stove-top to make sure it was bubbling properly. It actually didn't smell half-bad.

"Where's Max?" a curt voice came over the phone. Cindy paused, then turned slowly to her roommate, holding out the phone.

"It's for you, boo," she said. Max glanced up, not feeling like taking on any missions from Logan just now.

"Who is it?"

"Zack," Cindy said. "I think." Max hurried over and took the phone from her.

"Hello?"

"Max," he answered. She smiled into the phone.

"Zack. Where are you?"

"Doesn't matter. Listen, I need to talk to you about-" His voice suddenly cut off, alarming Max.

"Max?" a woman's excited voice asked over the line.

"Who is this?" Max asked warily. "Where's Zack?"

"Max, it's me." Tears shook in the girl's voice. "Jondy."


Max sat with Jondy on her bed, playing one of the games they'd made up that Max found out were strange only after she got out into the Real World. They didn't speak, but used hand signals in the game, as they did in missions, instead. Every so often, one of them would giggle at a particularly fun part of the game. Jondy smiled at Max, her blue eyes sparkling with happiness and love.


Max sat down hard in one of the chairs; Cindy looked at her worriedly, but she just stared ahead of her with a slow smile spreading over her face.

"Jondy?" she whispered. Cindy's eyes widened; she'd heard loads about Jondy. "Max!" her voice came, shaking with happy tears. Max brought a slow hand up to her mouth in shock and happiness.

"Jondy," she breathed again. "How- how did you... Jondy..."

"It's so good to hear your voice, Max," she said. "How are you?"

"Fabulous," Max said. "Zack let you call me? I'm shocked."

"We had to convince him." There was a smile in Jondy's voice.

"We?"

"Yeah. Me and Zane."

"Zane's with you?" Max clutched the phone; this was getting better and better. There was a muffled sound on the phone for a moment, and then a male voice spoke over the line.

"Hey, Maxie," he said. A tear slipped down her face.

"Zane... is that really you?"


"I like them," Zane's happy voice said of the dogs Max and Zack were looking at out the window. Zack turned and Max gazed at her brother from where she rested in Zack's arms. His half-inch of red hair and cheerfully-displayed teeth caught the moonlight and glowed. Max smiled at him.

"You like everything, Zane," Zack said. Max had to agree; Zane was an easy-going child.

"Well, I like dogs most of all," he told them, then turned away from the window. "Brin wants us to come and see the picture she drew with those crayons the nurse gave her yesterday." Max smiled, jumping down from Zack's arms and followed their brother back to the barracks.


"Yeah, it's me." He chuckled. "Hang on, I'm going to put the phone on speaker." There was a click and his voice started echoing slightly.

"Tell us how you've been, Max," he said.

"Yeah, but don't tell them where you live," Zack's mutter came over the line. Max smiled and filled them in on what she was doing while giving as little details as possible, which was actually more difficult than one would have thought. Zane and Jondy gave her information, too, and they could tell her more because it didn't matter if she knew where they were or had been; they would be moving out in the morning anyway, to who-knew-where. Finally, Zack took the phone off speaker and asked Max to explain to him exactly what had happened since Manticore burned down. Max, sensing that he was on a mission and didn't want her to waste time, immediately told him about the night Manticore was destroyed, Joshua and the children she helped get into Canada. She told him about White and his objective to kill the escapees in order to erase all evidence that Manticore ever existed, what Renfro had said when she died about Joshua's 'father,' what White had told her about her own lack of junk DNA, and the memory she'd had of Sandeman picking her up and calling her his 'special little one.'

"I don't remember any Sandeman." There was a frown in Zack's voice.

"I was six," she said. "I can't exactly remember what you were doing at the time."

"I would have been eight. Where the hell was I when you were with him?" It actually annoyed Zack that at some point fifteen years ago he hadn't been watching his sister. She smiled into the phone.

"Don't worry, Zack," she said with amusement.

"I don't understand this White stuff, but if he's trying to kill us then he'll have to be eliminated."

"That could be a little more difficult than you think," Max said hesitantly, then told him about what she'd only recently discovered, that White and his men were members of some strange millennia-old breeding program to create super-fighters even better than Manticore-made soldiers. (Please see the Author's Note at the end of the chapter.)

"Better than us?" He sounded almost offended by the thought, but there was deep worry in his voice as well.

"Yeah," she answered. There was a pause, and then she could practically see him shaking his head in determination.

"It's gotta be done," he said.

"Just be careful," she told him softly. She heard the smile in his voice.

"Don't worry, Max." In the motel room, he glanced at his expectant siblings. "I guess you should say goodbye to them before we hang up."

"Yeah," Max said, smiling. "Put one of 'em on." There was silence for a few moments.

"Hey, Maxie."

"Zane." She sighed, knowing that she might not talk to him for years after this, if ever. She swallowed back her tears, but he heard them in her voice anyway.

"Don't cry," he said gently. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too," she said, and swallowed hard. "I'll see you, right?"

"Definitely," he answered, though she knew he wasn't any more sure than he was.

"Zane?" she asked after a moment, feeling stupid but wanting to know something. He waited. "What... what do you look like? Do you still have red hair?"

"Yeah," he said. "What about you, do you still have those big brown eyes?"

"Yes." Max started crying. "Zane, I love you."

"I love you too, Maxie," he whispered, then handed the phone off to his sister.

"Max, I wanted to tell you..." She took a shaky breath. "That I'm sorry. For leaving you behind. I wanted to save you, but I couldn't see you. The water was dark and they were coming..." She swallowed hard. "I'm sorry, Max."

"I'm just glad you got out," Max said. "I was so afraid you didn't make it." She heard her sister crying softly. "Jondy, do you remember all the nights we played together?"

"Yes..."

"You were always there for me. You always understood me. I've missed you."

"I've missed you too, Maxie," she said softly. "I love you."

"I love you, Jondy." Max wiped the tears from her cheeks, not wanting her sister to hang up. Even Cindy's eyes were blurred, and she'd only heard half the conversation. A moment later there was a click on the other end of the line, and Max breathed a long sigh. She held the phone to her ear for a good few minutes before she let Cindy take it from her and hang it up.


In Albuquerque, Jondy took a shaky breath and leaned back in her chair. Zane sat on his bed, staring silently at the floor.

"What's she like?" he asked Zack after a moment. "Is she still sensitive?"

"Yeah," Zack said. Zane nodded, then raised his head to look up at him.

"Did she have a good childhood?"


Zack was twelve years old, staying in Sheridan, Wyoming, with a kindly elderly couple who'd taken him in because he done some odd jobs for them and let it slip that he was homeless. Zack was reading, curled up on their sofa in the front room. He glanced out the window at their neighbours across the street, two little girls, one ten one thirteen, playing in the leaves they had spent the last hour raking. Zack watched as the younger girl grinned at her foster sister and took a flying leap into the pile, her thick, dark hair, only a few inches long, sticking up in all directions from her head. Her brown eyes danced with happiness and Zack was glad to see his sister so happy. The front door of her house opened and her foster father came out, gesturing at them angrily. He motioned for Max to rake the leaves back up, and took the other girl, Lucy, inside with him. Zack watched his sister's reaction to the man and frowned.


"Relatively," Zack answered after a short pause.

"I bet she's beautiful," Jondy said softly.

"Of course she is." Zack was slightly uncomfortable with this conversation. "We all are."

"Right," Jondy said, her voice mildly bitter. "I forgot." She hesitated, then looked at him squarely. "What about the others? Where are they?" Zack had their undivided attention; he felt like squirming under their gazes.

"All over the place."

"Tell us about them, please. Something." Jondy's voice was so hopeful. "Anything. How many are there?"

"Ten besides you two." He didn't see how that would be a security risk. They digested this for a moment.

"What are they doing?" Zane asked. "Do any of them have kids?" Jondy perked up at this question; she loved babies, Zane knew. Zack stared into space for a moment.


Zack entered quietly through the open window of the apartment's living room, having climbed down from the roof. He moved through the place, opening a drawer or two to see how things were going financially for his sister. Then he headed down the hallway, past the bedroom she shared with her husband, and into the nursery. He frowned as he saw her standing there, holding her child in her arms, feeding it from a bottle. It was one of the stupidest things she could have done, get married, have a baby. At least she'd called to tell him that it was born, though he noticed she hadn't called before that. Zack knew she'd been married, but not that she was trying to get pregnant. If he had... well, maybe that's why she hadn't called till after the birth. But a baby would only tie her down to one place, and she didn't need that. Zack cleared his throat and Tinga whirled on him suddenly, frightened. She relaxed when she saw it was him and calmed the fussing child in her arms, who'd been startled by her sudden movement. Zack shook his head at her in disappointment. He shouldn't have been able to sneak up on her like that.

"You let your guard down, Tinga," he said to her. She smiled, walked over to him. She moved the blanket away from the child's face to show it to him and Zack gazed down at it emotionlessly.

"Want to hold him?" she asked sweetly. Her face was glowing; it annoyed Zack.

"No."

"Do it anyway, I have to get his changing stuff out." She handed the child to Zack despite his protests, and the bottle with it; the baby looked like it was about to cry so Zack rocked it slightly, calming it down. Tinga looked over and smiled softly at him.

"So, having fourteen little brothers and sisters actually did teach you something," she remarked with humour in her voice. He frowned at her momentarily, then shrugged.

"I used to hold Jondy and Max a lot when they were babies," he told her, putting the bottle in the child's mouth. "You know, they didn't sleep much."

"You were only a toddler when they were babies," Tinga said as she searched for the diapers in the changing table. She sounded surprised. "The nurses let you look after them?"

"I guess so," he said, shrugging. "I remember, anyway." He looked down at the baby in his arms, watched his little lips work around the nipple of the bottle, his tiny fingers coiling in the blanket he was wrapped in, the contented look on his face as he ate. Oh hell, Zack thought as he suddenly realized he loved the boy. Why did he have to love him? He handed the baby back to Tinga quickly.

"Where's Charlie?" He tried not to spit the name. Tinga paused momentarily, but let it go.

"Visiting his sister in Arizona," she answered, laying the baby down in the crib. She hugged Zack in a belated greeting. He gazed down at the baby for a moment.

"That was a mistake, you know."

"Is thirteen so much harder than twelve?" she asked; he looked up at her.

"That's not the point, Tinga."

"Really?" She smiled at him. "I thought it was." That annoyed Zack, but it annoyed her more that she'd left the baby in the crib without anything covering him. He really wanted to leave without covering him, really wanted to, but he couldn't seem to move his feet before he'd tucked a sheet and blanket over the infant. Then he rolled his eyes with disgust at himself and went into the living room to reprimand his sister.


"Yeah," he said softly, answering Zane's question. "Tinga. A son." Zane smiled.

"How old?" Jondy asked. Zack thought about this for a moment.

"Six or seven now."

"Is he gorgeous?" she asked. Zack made a noise that sounded vaguely like agreement.

"She must be so happy," Jondy said softly. Zack looked away.


Zack and Tinga drove in silence all the way to the Canadian border; finally he couldn't stand it anymore and glanced over at his sister.

"What's wrong?" he asked. She looked at him, shrugged.

"So that was Max," she said. "I was just thinking how much she's grown." Zack shook his head.

"No you weren't." Tinga glanced away, heaved a sigh. "How old is he now... four?"

"Five," Tinga said, a smile touching her lips.

"You'll miss him. And... the other one."

"You can say husband, Zack," Tinga said, staring at him. "Of course I'll miss them."

"You did the right thing," he said. "You'll all be much better off now."

"Yeah..." She didn't sound convinced. "I guess so."

"I don't have a place lined up for you yet, but we can stay in a motel for a couple of days until I find somewhere." He glanced at her. "Anywhere you'd like to live particularly?"

"And then you'll leave..." she said, ignoring his question and gazing at him. "Right?" Zack gripped the steering wheel.

"That's right."

"And I'll be alone."

"It's better this way."

"For who?" she asked angrily. "You?"

"Tinga," he warned, not feeling up to getting angry. "We've gotten you over the border, you're not going back. That's suicide." Zack words dissolved into a loud yawn. He hadn't slept properly in months, hadn't been able to in Manticore what with all they'd done to him. He brought a hand up and rubbed his temples, then pulled the car off to the side of the road. The anger in Tinga's voice fell away for a moment to be replaced with concern as she gazed at him thoughtfully.

"You don't look so good, Zack."

"No kidding," he said bitterly. "I want you to drive now, okay?" If he stayed at the wheel he might get them both killed. "I need to get some sleep."

"Why don't we stop for the night?" Tinga asked.

"No, we're just over the border. It's not safe yet, they'll be looking for us here." Tinga stared out the window as cars passed them; it had started snowing. The soft flakes touched against the road in the darkness and her breath fogged the window.

"Okay," she said, turning back to him. "I'll drive." Zack gazed at her; there was something strange in her voice.

"Thanks," he said. She got out of the car and he slid into the passenger seat as she climbed in beside him, taking the wheel. He dropped the reclining seat back a bit and crossed his arms over his chest as she started the car, closing his eyes.

When he woke up the car was parked on the side of the road, its hazard lights on and the heat blasting, a blanket laid over him. Tinga was nowhere to be found. He'd cursed her in his head even as he'd headed back to Portland to save her again, and the boy, whom he loved but really didn't want to.


"Where are they?" Jondy asked him, breaking him out of his reverie. He glanced at her, cleared his throat, spoke hesitantly.

"He's in Canada." There was a momentary pause from the others at this.

"Tinga's not with him?" Zane asked cautiously.


Zack glared at Max and Logan, kissing in the middle of Logan's floor. He'd just witnessed an incredibly sappy conversation that he would have really liked to have erased from his memory, and this was even more disgusting. Thankfully, Max saw him and pulled away from Logan.

"You want to go rescue Tinga, or has something more urgent come up?" He heard Logan let out an annoyed breath and watched smugly as Max helped him into his wheelchair and then leaned against the computer desk. Zack walked over to her.

"Got some info from a pencil-pusher inside Manticore," he told his sister. "Same guy that told me about Tinga."

"Where is she?" Max asked, all-ears now.

"There's a research facility they've set up inside a converted silo near the municipal border," he said. "Pretty sure that's where they got her." Actually, he was positive that's where they had her. Max looked at him.

"When do you want to do it?" she asked. Zack glanced between Max and Logan for a moment, then decided that sooner rather than later was the way to go for more than one reason.

"Tonight," he said. Max stifled a sigh and waved him away. Rather than be annoyed, Zack left the room readily, knowing that she would leave Logan to follow him.


Zack crouched with Max outside the silo and pulled a gun out of his bag, holding it out to her. She looked at it; he knew she hated guns because of what happened to Eva, but it would be stupid not to carry one just in case, and he didn't want her being stupid. This had to go off without a hitch. It was risky enough as it was without her going in there unarmed.

"Take it, Max," he said firmly. "We don't know how much muscle they got in there."

"I'm not going to use it," she said, not making a move to take it.

"Take it!" he said, pressing it into her hand. "I'll go up front and you see what you can find on the other side." He looked at her for a moment where she was staring down at the weapon in her hands, waiting for some sort of recognition that he'd spoken. After a moment she nodded slightly, and he moved out. He hurried down to the front of the silo; some of the security personnel were converging on his position, but he was ready.

"I'm down front, Max," he told her over the comm he was wearing. "Close in." He turned and started shooting the men approaching him, throwing open the doors to the silo. He fired, striking three of the four men on the other side, but the fourth landed a hit and caught him in the leg. He grunted in pain and shot him, then collapsed back against the outside wall.

"Max? Zack?" Logan's worried voice came over the comm suddenly. He'd been watching via the hacked feed off a Chinese spy satellite to monitor the outside, and now he sounded concerned. "Max, Zack, full military convoy." Zack bit down a curse.

"I'm hit," he announced.

"Get out of there," Logan said. Zack rolled his eyes at the man; of course he was on it. He just had to find Max. He tried to shoot his way inside, but there were too many men and his leg was useless, a dead weight at his side. He caught sight of Max down by where they were holding Tinga, gazing at her sister where she hung suspended in some strange liquid, what Zack didn't know. His heart caught in his throat as he saw with his heightened vision Tinga's limp form floating there. Her skin was a clammy white, her body was limp... she was dead. Zack had failed Tinga, and now he had to get out here before he was dead and no use to Max. He just hoped she had the sense to get herself the hell out of there.


Zack entered the DNA lab with Max, strangely in awe as he gazed around at the countless vials of DNA, each with its own unique barcode. He walked over to the X5 section and stretched his fingers out, his eyes narrowing as he examined first one half-filled tube of green liquid, then another.

"Max, it's you," he said, laying his hand against the one whose barcode read 332960073452. He moved to another, 330417291599. "And me..." He touched 331280315734. "And Brin..." Lastly, he laid his fingers on the glowing barcode that read 331450074656. "And Tinga."

"No," Max's firm voice came from behind him. He turned to her. "Tinga's dead."


"I don't want to talk about it," he told his brother and sister. Jondy's hands started shaking.

"What about Syl, is she out?"

"Yes."

"Safe?"

"Yes." Both Jondy and Zane breathed a sigh of relief at this.v "Krit?" Zane asked.

"He got out," Zack said. "He's fine."

"What about Ben?" Jondy asked with fear in her voice.


"I couldn't tell you." Max was crying. "I didn't know how you'd react. I wished you could have been there with me, Zack. Together we could have gotten him out of there. I should have tried. But I couldn't. I was so scared. He begged me. His eyes..."

"Max, what happened?" he asked softly, not knowing if he really wanted to hear. Slowly, through her tears, Max related the entire awful story to him. Ben had murdered people, had been so lost, and Zack hadn't been there for him. He' failed him. But worst off all, she'd had to stop Ben herself. Zack should have been there! He should have killed him, and then maybe Max wouldn't feel like she was to blame for what happened to their brother. Ben... he'd loved Max so much, and she'd loved him. He used to make shadow shows on the walls for her when she couldn't sleep. Ben... but that child was gone now.

"I'm sorry," Max whispered. "I'm so sorry." Don't be sorry, Zack willed her, cradling her gently in his arms. It's not your fault, it's mine. It's all my fault. She cried into his shoulder as his own tears fell.


Zack closed his eyes briefly.

"I don't want to talk about it," he repeated. Jondy stood up, her eyes flashing with pain and anger.

"I want to know, Zack," she said shakily.

"Jondy," Zane warned gently. She turned to him disbelievingly.

"I want to know!" she said again. She turned from Zane to Zack as her tears fell; they were both just sitting there, saying nothing, Zane with sympathy in his eyes and Zack with pain.

"I think it's time we all got some sleep," Zane said softly. Zack stood up from his bed and all but stomped into the bathroom, closing the door behind him. Jondy stared at the closed door for several moments, then slowly turned to her little brother. He looked angry.

"Now look what you did," he muttered.

"Don't you want to know?" she asked shakily, wiping at her tears angrily.

"Of course I want to know," he said, a little more harshly than he'd intended. "Just give it some time."

"We don't have time!" Jondy cried, dropping her voice slightly. "You know he's going to split us up the first chance he gets." Zane glanced away from her.

"I know," he said. "But can't you see how much this is hurting him?" Jondy glared at her brother.

"I just want to know where they are, I'm not blaming him!" she yelled. Zane stood up and jerked a finger at her angrily.

"He's blaming him, though!" he yelled back. "Can't you see that?" Jondy swallowed back her tears, not looking at Zane. After a moment of standing there, not knowing quite what to do, she turned toward the door.

"I'm going to bed," she threw over her shoulder as she opened the door. Zane opened his mouth to apologize, but she left quickly, slamming the door behind her. He sighed and sank back down on his bed, putting his hands over his face. That hadn't gone well at all. He rolled over as the bathroom door opened. Zack stood there and looked at him uncomfortably, not meeting his eyes. Zane switched off the lamp on the small table next to his head, and Zack got into his own bed. Zane closed his eyes, willing sleep to overtake him so he wouldn't have to lie in this uncomfortable silence anymore.

Then finally, just as he was drifting off, there was a loud thump from behind his head, where Jondy's room was. Zack bolted upright in bed, listening. Zane assumed that Jondy was just throwing something against the wall in frustration, though she didn't usually have temper tantrums. Zack seemed to think it was something else, however; Zane could see his big brother's eyes narrowed through the darkness. There was nothing for several minutes, but as Zack started to relax again several short popping sounds broke through the silence of the night and a bullet ripped through the wall above Zane's bed, shattering the full-length mirror that was hanging on the opposite wall. Zack shot out of his bed and Zane threw off his own blankets, bolting with his brother for Jondy's room.


Author's Note: I know that all that stuff about White and the freaky breeding program happened post-Some Assembly Required, and that my story sorta follows SAR as though all of the subsequent episodes never happened... but just ignore that little idiosyncrasy, okay? Cause it's important to me to have Max tell him about that weirdness with White, so yeah... just ignore it if it bugs you. Hopefully it won't too much!