CHAPTER THREE

Disclaimer, Summary, Timeframe refer to Chapter One

*****

Back in Seattle, they crashed at Logan's penthouse. Bling was over making hot chocolate, banging around in the kitchen. Max sat silently on the couch staring at her hands. Logan stood awkwardly to one side, whilst Eva sat by Snuffy on the floor.

At least she'd settled a bit in the past few hours. But no one had said a word since they left Danes Isle.

"They've probably torched the house by now. I have nothing." Eva turned her face into Snuffy. Her voice was muffled, "At least I still have you, boy."

Snuffy turned at licked his master's hand. It was a small hand that clutched at the dog's fur, like a child's clinging to a mother's dress.

"Here you go." Bling passed a mug of steaming chocolate into Eva's waiting hands. "Hope it's not too hot." He smiled at her gently. She managed a tiny smile back.

Everything was just so confusing. Maxie…she just couldn't believe it. She'd escaped and she was alive,. Eva wondered if Max knew where the others where if they were all right. And what was her connection to Logan Cale? Boyfriend, husband… Somehow none of those ideas matched. Eva looked between the two. Logan was staring at Max and Max was staring at the floor. She suppressed a giggle, despite all the craziness that had just occurred, she was sure that these two had problems on a daily basis.

Logan decided it was time to clear the air. "Eva, why don't you have a barcode? And how is it that you're alive and all the X5s thought you were dead."

Eva took a deep breath, here goes, she looked at Max who was looking in her direction now. Waiting.

"I do have a barcode. Here." She reached up and rubbed her finger over the back of her neck.

Logan watched, it seemed like her skin was loosening, like a snake shedding it's skin. She peeled what looked like a layer of skin off and there it was, the Manitcore brand. Twelve digits.

Max got up from where she was sitting and studied Eva's code. "What happened?" She looked at Eva her eyes filled with sadness. "We thought you were dead but you weren't and we left you there."

"No, you didn't Max, don't ever blame yourself for that. I made a decision; I wouldn't let them take you. Lydecker was so mad, he hated that we were more loyal to each other than to him. In a way I did die that night, because when I woke up everything had changed. Lydecker told me that everyone had escaped, that you'd all left me behind. He tried to brainwash me, saying all that mattered was the mission and everything else was a lie. He said there was no such thing as family, that I had no family. Manitcore was creator and it was my home. They had repaired the damage to my lungs. The bullet had gone clean through, I was in the infirmary for all of three days. I never knew of the escape or how many had made it. Lydecker kept me with the X6s and made me his special project. I finished training with the X6s and after that he stuck me with the scientist and doctors. They wanted one of their own to learn everything. They felt they had more control that way," she scoffed, and looked up at Max. "I'm glad you made it out, baby sister, nothing else really mattered to me."

Max had tears in her eyes and she slipped of the couch and sat on the floor facing Eva.

"You never tried to contact any of us. Not even Zack. Or he just didn't tell me."

Eva hesitantly reached for Max, seeing that she wouldn't pull away Eva enfolded her in a tight hug.

"I thought it was safer for everyone if I just stayed away. I only got out four years ago." She paused, her own tears were running now and she wiped her cheeks. "Security was minimal because we were working on a sensitive project. I saw my chance and took it. I didn't like my life, being told what to do every waking minute. Never having freedom to do what I wanted. I was the only doctor who never once got to leave the lab." Eva released Max as she laughed and looked at Logan. "You know that no one I worked with knew I was a freak. Manticore made sure that I had a fake background and all my credentials before releasing me into a government laboratory, hence the skin patch." She waved the flimsy bit of skin she held in her hand.

Logan stood up and grabbed the nearest wastebasket. "Here."

"Thanks"

He dropped the bin beside his chair. Running his hand through his hair, he wracked his brain for the thousandth time. With all the disappointment he'd already faced, he'd still be stupid enough to hope that Dr Eva Tate would be his savior.

"Do you mind if I take Snuffy for a walk? He's been cooped up long enough today. I usually let him run loose for most of the day, he's starting to get restless." Eva smiled at Max. "A little like us, huh?"

"Yeah…. Um, Eva…Mind if I tag along?"

"No, come on." Eva gave her sister a hand up and they both walked to the door and let themselves out.

The door closed behind them and Logan sighed. "So much for that."

Bling who'd been hovering in the walkway the whole time finally broke his silence.

"You know, Logan, it could have been a whole lot easier if you'd just told Max."

"Yeah, save myself the trouble." Logan gave Bling a sarcastic look. "You know you always know how to make a man feel better."

Bling slapped Logan on the shoulder. "Hey, it's my job. No, don't do anything stupid." With that said, he left.

"Yeah whatever…" Logan muttered to an empty room.

******
"Maxie, now your gonna tell me why that room was positively buzzing. And don't tell me it was Bling."

"There's nothing going on."

"You could never lie to me, Max, what's between you and Logan? I'd have to be blind, deaf and dumb to not notice how he feels about you. And I know you're in love with him."

"I'd die for him Eva, the thing is I'm dying without him. Dying on the inside."

Eva stopped walking and she looked at her sister, underneath that strong composed exterior of a soldier was a caring young woman. One that was hurting terribly.

"Why do you both fight each other when it's obvious that you both love each other?"

"I got myself caught, Manticore used me as a tool to kill Logan. Only I can't kill him and to save him I have to stay away from him." Tears were rolling down her face and she did nothing to stop them. "It's hopeless, I've search for a cure but there just isn't one. If I so much as touch him I'll kill him."

Eva was stunned. Rage built in her heart, anyone looking at her now would have seen it in her eyes, they were flashing cold as steel. It seemed that they would never be free of Manticore, somehow they would always do everything they could to ruin all of their lives, till they were all either captured or dead.

Well this time, you will fail again. Because now that I've found my family, I'm going to make sure they are happy as well as free from your hell.

"Max, is there a place where I can get access to a lab?"

"I'm not sure, I could ask Logan? Why?"

"It's been awhile but I'm willing to try if you are?"

"Try what?"

"I'm going to get that crap out of your body."

******
Max had been on runs all morning and hadn't had one spare minute to look into searching for a safe laboratory. She didn't want to ask Logan, she couldn't explain why but she just had to sort this mess on her own. She'd left Eva at Logan's place, she'd be safer there and she wasn't up to explaining things to Original Cindy at the moment. Just how did you explain your dead sister turning up?

"Hey, girl, haven't seen ya all day. Normal bin on your back?"

"No, just the usual." She grabbed her lunch and was about to sit down and eat when a familiar face caught her attention. "Zack?"

Zack didn't break his stride till he was standing right in front of her. "Where is she?"

"Yeah, nice to see you, too." Zack seemed to turn up whenever he felt like it, though to Max it seemed that like trouble was always not far behind.

"Eva, where is she?"

Max shoved her lunch back in her locker. "How did you know she was here? No, answer this, since when did you know she was alive?"

"I didn't till this morning. When I saw this." He whipped out a missing persons poster, it was a scanned photo of Eva, a recent one.

"We have to get her out of Seattle."

"I didn't get this from around here, I saw it in Portland but you're right. It's best if she doesn't stay here. Can't have two X5s in one city," he said that with heavy undertones and Max knew what he was referring to.

"They obviously didn't track us. I need Eva for a few days, then I'll help make sure she gets to a safe place. Where ever you think that is." She couldn't help but roll her eyes.

Eva, I hope you've got cold weather gear because your gonna need it.

It had taken months but Zack had finally regained most of his memory. A bullet to the brain and rigorous Manticore brainwashing couldn't help your thought process too much. Sometimes when Max looked at him, she still felt guilty. It was her fault that Zack had sacrificed so much, he'd given up everything to ensure she lived. He loved her more then life itself and she could never return even half of those feelings.

After there blotched Manticore raid, both Zack and herself had been captured. She's been shot in the heart and whilst in recovery Renfro had tormented her with the knowledge that Zack was dead and that his heart was beating in her chest. Every minute that passed while she was trapped in that living hell, she prayed that she had the strength to fight them, fight the demons and keep herself sane. Promising that she would get out before they turned her back into a good little soldier.

When she did escape she wasn't thinking about anything but Logan. She was sure that somehow Renfro had dragged out of her, the location of Eye's Only. It wasn't till later she realized that it was all a trap, they'd let her escape so she could unwittingly kill Logan. She got Logan the cure for the virus before it killed him and for a while everything returned to normal. Or as close to normal as they would ever get.

After Manticore learned that Eyes Only was still alive, they had somehow resurrected Zack from his dormant half-life state and programmed him to kill Manitcore's number one enemy. Max had been able to stop Zack before he killed Logan but not before everyone had been given a full and through wake up call. It seemed Manticore would never stop trying to destroy everything in her life. She just had to make sure she always stayed one step ahead in the game.