She didn't even have to give the order – it was obvious what we were doing. One of the security guards Zack across the face with a taser and Zane, Tinga and I knew we were stuck. We couldn't leave Zack here to be taken in by a slightly different Manticore set up. We couldn't move. There was virtually no way out of here.

"Don't move a muscle," the lady ordered, her black eyes glinting.

Suddenly I saw Krit behind the guards and motioned for me to throw the bag. I did and Krit caught it and both he and Syl sprinted off.

"Capture them!" yelled the woman suddenly, as she bashed Zane over the head with a taser. No one was prepared, so Zane crumpled into a heap at Tinga's feet.

"Zack? Jondy? Tinga? Zane? Everyone else is back. Where are you?" I heard Logan say into my head piece.

"Give me those headsets," the lady ordered, brandishing her taser. Tinga and I exchanged looks before disconnecting our headsets and handing them to her.

She handed them to her bodyguard. "I think we've found ourselves some of the original Manticore experiments, George, don't you?" she smiled at her bodyguard.

George nodded "Yes Ma'am."

"Excellent. Escort these two ladies to Section 345-001/600. Allow them to remain together in the same cell. Prep these gentlemen for transport to same section. Same cell, but when they regain consciousness, tell them nothing about either of the ladies. Understood? Steven, remain with me."

I felt George (who was a standard security soldier – tall, bulked up, muscles, crew cut) grab my wrists. Tinga was grabbed by the one who knocked out Zack and we were dragged off.

We were put in the old basement where they used to keep the Anomalies. Rows and rows of white, padded cells with glass doors and digital security locks. Each labelled with designations.

"In here ladies," George pushed me into a cell. "Don't bother trying to smash the glass – it's shatter proof."

"What's that lady's name?" I demanded to know, as he slid the door shut.

"That's the creator, owner and director of ViviSys Technology – partner in ChemiLabs, Ms Lavender Black.," George said proudly. "Now, you can shut up. Ms Black will want to see you shortly."

Tinga and I sat back, leaning against the walls of the cell. Tinga had her eyes closed.

"This is a disaster," she said, looking at me. "What went wrong?"

I shrugged. "We got careless and got caught."

Tinga nodded. "How do you think Zane and Zack are?"

"Either unconscious or worried; especially if that Black woman won't give him any details. He hates not knowing where we are," I said, twisting a lock of hair around my fingers. I was beginning to hate the colour and wished it was back to its natural hazel brown colour.

"Yeah. Especially for the last four years, Jondy," Tinga retorted. "Four years trying to trace you and we could have traced Charlie or Case."

I blinked.

"I'm sorry Tinga," I said, looking at the ground. "I thought Zack would understand that I needed…"

"Zack wanted to make a couple of calls to make sure you were all right. No, Logan insisted on tracing you via EO informants, the computer, anything."

I rolled my eyes and got up and wen to over to her. "Look, once the others save us, we'll trace him. We'll get your baby back for you Tinga," I put my arm around her shoulders. "You need to protect him from these bitches anyway."

Tinga nodded, still looking…like she'd given up.

"C'mon, lets have a girl talk," I said. "Spin around and let me braid your hair."

Tinga began laughing and did as she was told. "So what do we talk about?"

I began to laugh as well. "I'm not sure. Max always talks about having 'girl talk' – Syl and I tried and all we ended up talking about was who's motorcycle was the best."

Tinga was laughing so hard she was shaking. "Fine…how do you really feel about Alec?"

I blinked. "I beg your pardon?"

"Seriously, you've been all over each other since he got here. I personally don't blame Zack for punching him," Tinga said.

"After that 'CO's whore comment?" I raised my eyebrows. "I probably would've decked him."

"So?" Tinga turned back around to face me.

"So what? He's fun and all but…" I shrugged. These padded cells were extremely comfortable.

"Would you go back to Zack?" Tinga asked hesitantly.

I thought about it for a moment. "I don't know. I honestly don't."

Tinga nodded and lay back, closing her eyes. "Did you ever think we'd end up like this? I mean, think back to the first time Max, Zack, Syl and Krit attacked Manticore. How long ago was that?"

"Oh, the time you were rescued from dirty bath water?" I asked.

Tinga grinned. "Yeah. Did you ever think this was how our lives would end up?"

I shrugged. "I always knew I'd end up somewhere like medical school and I always knew, no matter how hard we fought, that we'd always have to run. Not nessecarily from Manticore, but from our past."

"What was his name?"

"Him and her. Colin and Dakota. Friends before Zack and I broke it off. Lydecker was onto me and tried to…Colin vanished and Dakota was found in our flat with her throat slit," I shrugged. "They were good, normal friends whom I thought I'd have forever. Last normal friends I ever made."

Though Dakota and Colin were hardly ordinary. Colin was gay and wore fluoro coloured spandax and leather every day of the week.. Dakota was often found preforming life-saving operations on rabbits and mice. And on more than one occasion, all three of us 'rescued' the experimental mice from the science labs and set them free.

Needless to say, our flat had a rat problem.

Maybe they were completely ordinary. Just the quirky clothes and out of the ordinary things they did made them special.

"I know baby sister," Tinga sighed. "Did they ever find Colin?"

"No."

Tinga sat up. "He'd understand, Jondy."

"Colin? Yeah, he would. Dakota would too. I miss them. They gave me perspective."

"So did Charlie and Case. One of these days…" Tinga looked sad.

"One of these days, I'm gonna punch Charlie out," I said happily. "And Case'll be back with you." And Zane. "Though, I probably could trace the records to find out where they think the other X10 is…easier than tracking them down by their names…"

Tinga looked up. "You could?"

"Risky, but yeah. Life isn't worth living without a bit of risk. Besides, Case is old enough to be careful."

"Yeah."

"No worries, Tinga, the others have the stuff, we're alive. We just need to get out," I said cheerily.

"Oh, easy peasy, huh Jondy?" Tinga rolled her eyes. "And how are we going to do that…?"

"Well…"