OK for those of you who read the story in it's original form you will note that this is two chapters rolled back into one. It only seemed fitting, as I could not build on the information that I had as chapter five enough to make it plausible and still remain true to the genesis of this particular story.

Thanks to those of you, who have reviewed, and for those who have not yet please do so I know how you like this souped up version!

Thanks!

Darwin

Chapter five: Introductions

Tima stood defiant in the middle of the living room, while the man stared at her arms crossed over his chest. Her mind was racing as she went over possible avenues of escape. There had to be a way out of here and away from this man who had beaten her twice now…only she didn't see any. As much from indecision as anything she remained standing, defying this man whom had thwarted her twice now.

"Sit Down!" He barked sounding on the edge of losing his patience.

Tima jumped, not something that she was prone to, but the voice had held such authority. It was a tone that she had not heard in some years, and despite herself her body responded, like a good soldier. She watched as the man's stance relaxed ever so slightly at seeing her settle into the chair. He had obviously expected more of a fight out of her than he had gotten. Tima's eyes continued to dart about the room as if an escape route was going to magically appear.

When no avenue presented itself like a gift from God Tima shifted her search. She took in the details of her immediate area. Perhaps there was a weapon readily available or something else that would give her back the advantage he had taken away. Unfortunately the man had positioned her well out of reach of anything that could be used against him. Tima sighed heavily realizing that she was not dealing with an ordinary man, not physically and definitely not mentally.

His bright blue eyes continued to bore into her, gauging her and her last act of defiance was to meet that gaze steadily. The man shifted slightly and then sighed, "So you're from Manticore," he stated, and her chin rose a fraction, she wore what she hoped was a look of confusion. From his expression she could see that she had given him his answer without even saying a word. She watched as he nodded, "I thought so."

Tima cursed herself for allowing that confirmation to come through.

"And you're not?" she retorted, her anger with herself bleeding heavily into the statement.

He laughed shortly, "No…I'm not," The man looked down for a moment and then asked, "Lydecker sent you didn't he?" It was in a tone that told her that he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

Her breath caught in her throat at that name and she missed the reluctance in his voice, "How do you know about Lydecker?" Tima hissed.

He shrugged evading her question with, "I have my sources," There was a drawn out pause where he returned to staring at her, "Why did Lydecker send you here?" He suddenly demanded of her.

Tima looked away her thoughts churning inside, "Why is he so adamant about Lydecker coming here? Hell, how does he know Lydecker?"

His patience ran short with her as he growled, "Look you either answer my question or I get security up here."

Her eyes were daggers as she looked back on his face, and she wondered silently what damage the truth would be. She finally answered, "No, Lydecker didn't send me here."

"Then why are you here?" He pressed his eyes narrowing.

She would not meet his eyes remaining silent. After a moment when she decided he was not going to let her out of giving an answer she said, "You were simply a payday, a girls gotta live," she met his eyes then, "You weren't supposed to be able to defend yourself."

The man laughed again, "No I suppose not. It must have been as much a surprise for you as it was for me to find another Manticore trying to steal from me," He was smiling broadly.

Tima's eyes shot to his face, "Another?" she breathed. Logan's brows knit together as he noticed the hunger and loneliness in her eyes as she searched his face, "You knew others like me?"

"A few," The man said cautiously, "Max introduced me to a few."

"Max?" Tima asked in confusion.

He nodded slightly, "She was an X-5."

Tima froze, "X-5?"

Again he gave a tight almost nonexistent nod, "She was one of the twelve that escaped Manticore in 2009. Max and I were partners for a while, she was a friend..." And something more Tima saw in his eyes. A hollow expression crossed his face just then and there was something else there as well, she wanted to say it was buried pain.

"But... If you are not Manticore how do you explain your speed... your strength, those are Manticore traits. How?"

"That is a long story," the man said looking at his hands.

"Well," Tima sighed, "Unless you're telling me I can go, I think I got the time," she stated dryly, much to curious to want to leave now.

He was silent for long moments turning a ring on his finger over and over again. He nodded and she thought she heard a small laugh escape him. He looked up at her, a smile turning up one corner of his mouth, "And yet another Manticore wit," He said then motioned her forward, "Come here."

He turned away and moved back down the hall for about ten feet. The man stopped in front of a room she had yet to pilfer before getting caught.

Logan wondered why he was divulging all of his secrets to a complete stranger. They had only just met and under dire circumstances, and yet here he was trusting her, completely with his life story.

"She reminds me of Max so much," Logan admitted to himself. Her mannerisms were very similar, and well her line of work was identical to Max's. He wondered silently if every escaped Manticore turned to stealing, just because they could. He smiled inwardly at that thought.

"She hasn't set me off either," He thought suddenly, "She poses no danger to me, now that I have found her out."

And it was that reason for which he was so forthcoming with the details of his life.

"By the way, my name is Logan, Logan Cale," He said looking down at her, "Just so you have a name to go with the face. You know for the next time you feel it necessary to break in here."

She smiled despite herself, "Tima."

Logan's head quirked to one side, "Tima? That's unusual." And without any further discussion slid the door open to the room and motioned her to look inside it.

Tima tore her gaze from his handsome face to look where he was pointing. She took in a nicely decorated study lined with very expensive looking computer and recording equipment. If she had more of a set up and the means by which to get this stuff out of here she knew she could get bank for what she saw here. In the middle of the room standing out like a weed in a flowerbed was an electric blue wheelchair.

"What's this? And what does it have to do with you?"

"That... is a reminder, of something I never want to lose again," Logan said enigmatically. She looked at him in confusion, "That used to be my mode of transportation," he clarified.

"What you do break your legs?" Tima said sardonically.

He laughed again shortly but not as if he was amused, "I took a bullet in the back trying to protect a witness. Instant paraplegia."

"No way!" Tima said unconvinced.

"Yes way," He said with a straight face.

"That is an irreversible condition," Tima refuted him. If it was one thing she knew for sure it was medical knowledge.

He shrugged, "So the doctor said," Logan agreed with her, "And so it was for nearly a year. After the incident they did surgery and removed all but one bullet fragment from my spine. The one they left behind considered too high a risk to remove it, and too close to the spine and two major arteries.

"That fragment came back to haunt me. It shifted putting pressure on my spine and began causing seizures. I scheduled myself for a surgery the morning after they started, but I never made it to my appointment. I had collapsed when the fragment caused internal bleeding. I was lucky that my friend found me in time to get me to the hospital. I underwent emergency surgery there and then to repair the damage.

"The fragment was removed but I lost a lot of blood during surgery. The timing was really bad too as the blood bank had been tapped out.

Max had been going out of country at the time to avoid the wrong kind of attention and I had not mentioned the impending surgery. I knew that Max would have stayed if she had known and at the time I was more concerned about her safety than my own.

"Somehow, I am still not sure how, Max found out I was in trouble and risked getting caught to come to my aid. Max gave me a lifesaving transfusion," He looked away a moment, "We thought that was it, she had saved my life, and I was very grateful.

"One day when I wasn't paying attention I happened to hit my foot on a table leg... and I felt it. I hadn't felt anything in nearly a year from the waist down. The idea that sensation had returned was…exciting to say the least. The doctor tried to convince me that I was imagining things, 'Phantom Pains' he said. But he mentioned that there were massive amounts of Pluropotins, undifferentiated stem cells, in my bloodstream. He didn't put it together but I did. The transfusion Max had given me had begun to repair the damage done by the bullet, slowly erasing the paraplegia.

"After many months, many setbacks, and lots and lots of therapy I was able to walk again. And again, it slipped to the backs of our minds. We were both happy.

"About six years ago, I began to get terrible headaches and eyestrain. When I went to my eye doctor she told me that my glasses were the cause of my problems because my eyes had returned to 20/20," Tima looked confused, "Tima... I've worn glasses my entire life. It was only getting worse as I got older. Miraculously they had returned to normal? It was only the beginning of a long list of things that began to change for me. I was breaking stuff I had handled every day for years. I was typing faster than my computer could keep up. I would walk through my place in the middle of the night with no lights on and see perfectly everything around me.

"Max had first suggested the correlation between the two. I... I didn't want to believe it. It seemed the DNA in the Pluropotins, Max's DNA not only repaired the damage sustained when I was shot it also began to reengineer my DNA and improve pretty much everything about me.

"Neither of us had anticipated this possible outcome. Once the reality of it sank in Max became my teacher, and showed me how to control myself, and how to fight. Can't say that I was ever comfortable with the whole action hero routine but Max insisted... in case Lydecker ever got through her to me," That sadness that she had noticed before passed fleetingly over his face again. Tima hoped ferverently that he would explain what was so painful to him.

Instead and in a famous Logan Cale change of subject he said, "So what about you? What does TIMA mean exactly? And what are you doing in Seattle?"

Tima was startled by the sudden change of subject, "Uh it is more of a designation really," she started. It was Logan's turn to look confused. Tima smiled coyly, "It means 'Third in Military Assessment'" she took a deep breath, "I'm an X-10, and I was two years ahead of my classmates, but Military Assessment was my worst subject. The others were so astonished that they took to calling me by the title. Soon after they shortened it to the acronym and the name stuck." she looked up to see him smiling in mild amusement.

"You're not still in Manticore?" he asked.

She looked away again and shook her head, "As I said I was way ahead of my class... Lydecker made the decision to move me to a group of other exceptionally talented kids like me. I was moved that very night.

"In transit the truck was bombed, my escorts killed and I was badly injured. But I stood by the wreckage, thinking that they would come and find me once they realized that I hadn't made it to my destination. I waited for a week, only stumbling away with the realization that I was in bad shape and in need of medical attention.

"A couple found me passed out on the side of the road, and took me to the hospital for the attention I desperately needed. I was there for several weeks, but as soon as I was better I moved on," she pursed her lips, "I never thanked them for their help. I was that determined to return to Manticore. I searched for years until I arrived at the base I had been originally scheduled to be sent to, only to find it deserted. From that point on I just wandered, town to town and city to city, hoping to find someone like me…someone who could take me back and return me to where I belong. I never came across a soul who would help me. Most people treated me like a freak because of my eyes and the bar code on my forehead. By the time I was seven I realized the prudence of hiding the mark just to keep from singled out. People only did it once though, after that I was left alone."

"No friends made along the way?" Logan asked shaking his head.

She looked him dead in the eyes, "NONE."