AN: Please disregard all information about White, Sandeman, and the cult given in 'Love amongst the runes' when reading this fic - if you don't it will become very confusing - not to mention possibly incestuous. (Although the last part is more of a threat then a hint.)

Chap 4

Connections

"Hey Logan, we found some more photos." Max and Alec strolled into Logan's apartment as casually as if they had just dropped by from work though in actuality they'd strolled in at two am. Logan sat where he'd been when they'd left, toiling away at the computer with the photo that they'd given him earlier.

"I've got something too." He turned around slowly, still working on the computer with one hand as he spoke. "I was able to tap into a phone call White got about half an hour ago. Apparently a woman they captured today escaped - the thing is no one can figure out how. White sounded upset but way to calm considering how the person on the other end of the line sounded. If I had my guess I'd say he's got her." Max handed Logan the photos cautiously, making sure their hands didn't touch. Their eyes met for the slightest second, but both immediately averted their gaze.

"Then lets mobilize." Alec started preparing to move almost as soon as the words were out of his mouth. He was almost out the door by the time he noticed that neither Max nor Logan had made a move.

"Alec, we don't where she is yet. White's old place hasn't been lived in for months and we've been up all night. We move now, we give White the advantage. It was the mistake Manticore taught us not to make - remember?" Alec looked at Max like she was a bug when she said that. Didn't she understand that he'd already lost one friend today? If he didn't at least try to save Anastasia, what kind of person would he be? Max saw this and walked over to where Alec stood, putting a friendly hand on his shoulder. "Go home and get some sleep, we can regroup in the morning." Alec hated what she was saying and the logical part of his mind refused to acknowledge the ring of truth. Without another word he slammed out of the apartment and out of the building. For a moment after he'd gone Max and Logan stood in a somewhat tense tableau, unsure of whether or not they should follow him, at last Max shrugged and turned back to Logan. "Guess he needs his space."

"Yeah, kind of reminds me of you." Logan attempted a smile, but it wasn't much of one, and after about a millisecond he gave it up. Max saw the sad look that flitted through his eyes, and while all she wanted to do was run and hug him but instead she did what came instinctively and turned completely business.

"There's more to this then Alec's aware of Logan. Look at those photo's - the one we brought earlier too, they were taken at least ten years apart - but Anastasia didn't age a bit." Logan looked over the photographs carefully and an idea began to form in his mind, connecting the dots like every good reporter did.

"So she must've been someone important to Sandeman. Someone he cared enough about to keep photographs of - and go through the trouble of cloning." Max nodded slightly, and Logan continued. "And this one, the photo with the X5 it was taken recently, within the last few years at least, which tells us that Sandeman's been back in Seattle - and at his old place."

Logan stopped speaking then; from the look on Max's face he could see that the full magnitude of their discovery had hit her with its full force at last. Like lightning her mind darted from one point to the next connecting each person and event. "She knows where Sandeman is - that's why she matters so much."

Logan nodded sagely, looking at Max with gravity. "Yeah, she knows where Sandeman is, but the question is does White?" The two contemplated the thought for a second, but another thought soon took over. Find Anastasia and they would find Sandeman, find Sandeman and find the cure to their virus.

***

Anastasia awoke at around four in the morning. There were no clocks and no sunlight in the room where she'd been locked but common sense told her that she'd been out for at least six hours since she last woke. Remembering the man that had stood over her when she last woke brought a haze of confusion to her mind. Not one to sit around and brood she quickly got up and did something with her time by showering and trying to reverse the after effects of all the tranquilizers she'd been given with some unopened cosmetics she found in the vanity.

Once she was finished she sat quietly down on the bed and tried desperately to place the face and voice of her mysterious captor, looking for any advantage at all.

***

Groaning slightly, Ames White slammed the front door of his apartment closed behind him. He had spent the entire night testing the limit of his acting skills by appearing furious over the loss of Anastasia. He did not necessarily need the hours of sleep he had missed, but after being married to someone who did for ten years it had become a habit he disliked having to do without. Home at last he threw aside his suit jacket and tie with little of his usual care, not at all distressed that his appearance was no where near it's usual level of neatness.

Unlocking Anastasia's door he knocked twice before opening it. "May I come in?" Anastasia looked up at him with disbelief in her eyes - was he mocking her or did he simply not see how ludicrous it was for him to be asking permission from her. Giving him an icy stare she shrugged, not bothering to get up from where she sat. "You're mad at me aren't you?" Once again she didn't reply and continued to stare at the wall behind him. "Did you at least sleep well?" Hearing the note of apologetic desperation in his voice Ana at last relented.

"With all the tranqs you doped me up on? How could I not have?" Ana raised one eyebrow and gave him a mocking look that he remembered all to well. Feeling as if they had fallen back into familiar rolls White rolled his eyes at her and sat down facing her. Watching him she tilted her head slightly and rested the side of her head on two of her fingers. At last she lifted the side of her mouth in a half smile. "Damn Ames, I've never seen you so awry." He seemed to start, it was the first time she'd used his name or acknowledged that she recognized him.

"Oh?" He wasn't sure exactly what to say, especially since he didn't know how much of their past she remembered.

"Yeah, you obviously haven't shaved yet and your shirts all wrinkled. I'd say you've been up all night. Covering my disappearance most likely, and figuring out whether or not to turn me over to the conclave." His jaw tightened, and she saw him tense. Remarkably she just laughed. "Will you?"

"Will I what?" He seemed angry, but she seemed to know just how to diffuse his anger. Sitting just a little straighter she leaned in until her hair brushed against him.

"Will you hand me over to the conclave or do you plan to keep me around for your own entertainment." Angrily White threw her back into the pillows, but once again she giggled, knowing that every moment she kept up her careless façade she would keep him off balance. Unfortunately, he knew enough of her game to play.

"I don't know - what would Sandeman do?" She seemed to sober up the minute he said that, her laughter evaporating in an instant. "Or maybe you could tell me what Manticore would do if this little situation were reversed."

"We'd kill you." The statement was plain, driven out with a malicious calm. "Just like we'd kill anyone from the conclave." The two glared at each for a second, until White decided that this wasn't how he wanted this to go.

"How much do you remember?" The question was unexpected and in truth it was the best he could've asked because it was the one question she couldn't answer.

"I… we went to school together, before Manticore… I think we were friends… I remember you playing with my hair in science class… and I remember your voice." It wasn't much of an answer, and it sounded as if she were drudging it up with difficulty. Absently she pulled her hair to one side of her shoulder, then remembered that she had nothing to tie it with. Blinking she shook of the feeling and looked up at him with an earnest expression in her eyes. "But tell me, will you turn me over to them?"

He studied her for a second - he himself wasn't sure of the answer. "So long as you stay here, you're a contained threat. But if you leave I'm going to have to tell them I found you."

"So I have to stay." She kept her voice soft, not liking the prospect much. But at this point she didn't see any other option, much as she needed to get home staying was her only option. At that moment she smelled something she hadn't in days food. She was suddenly reminded that she hadn't eaten in almost four days, at first because she didn't need to and then because the opportunity never arose. "At least say you'll feed me while I'm here?" This time White was the one to smile, reaching his arm out to her he pulled her up to a standing position and led her to the kitchen where breakfast sat waiting.

***

Alec sat in a corner of the torn up room, angrily staring down at the beeper in his hand. He had been here for hours, tearing up every inch of White's house trying to find a clue to Anastasia, and still he had found nothing. Desolation welled up in his heart, its tides carrying with them the waves of long buried guilt. After everything, all the lessons, the training, and all the missions - he couldn't even find one woman. He owed her a debt of honor, and Jon a debt of friendship. So why couldn't he do it this time - was he really as incapable as Renfro had thought? Renfro - suddenly a memory fell into his mind and with it an idea. As he worked it out in his mind the sun began to rise outside. It filtered into the room and into his mind. Bringing with it the hope that new chances always did.

***

The running water in his kitchen brought pleasant memories to Ames mind, memories that he'd buried year ago. As he shaved and changed, he listened to Anastasia's quiet humming, glad that he'd trained himself to listen to sounds beneath the obvious. From the doorway to his bedroom he watched her do the dishes and wondered where she'd hidden and what she'd done in the last twenty years. "Ana." Getting her attention, he walked out into the living room and grabbed his coat from the rack. "I'm leaving now, if you want to read there are books in my study." He grabbed his keys and was about to walk out the door when she stopped him.

"Wait a minute - aren't you forgetting something?" Ana crossed her arms and raised one eyebrow at him. It wasn't a look he liked and he only shrugged at her in response. "Ames I have no clothing except what I'm wearing now. Which means I have nothing to wear to bed, no underclothes, and no normal clothing either. Not to mention, no combs, hair bands, or shoes. "

Ames was taken slightly aback - he hadn't actually thought about this much. His 'wife' had always taken care of herself, and despite how long they'd been married he'd always been so busy working that she'd always taken care of this type of thing. "So what - you want me to pick some stuff up from your apartment?"

Ana rolled her eyes and looked at him with a sour expression. "I need clothing - not for you to know where I live. Can't you just take me shopping or at least buy something I can wear?"

"Take you shopping? Anastasia, do you have any idea how many people are looking for you? How many people are keeping their eye on me? If you need clothing, I'll think of something, but please - try and remember that walking out that door is not an option." White walked out the door fast enough to avoid the plate that she threw in his direction. A half smile could be seen on his face as he walked down to the parking lot. Looked like this really was his Anastasia after all.