Part 2. On My Way. Silently she slipped though the hallways, her escape wasn't as easy as she had hoped it would be, but then if something was easy, it probably wasn't worth doing. Once she was out this would be so worth doing. Her time back at Manticore had served only to refine her skills, too bad for them her refined skills would be the thing that got her out of here. Silently as a shadow she slipped out of the building, and into the deep shadows. This was just like the games of escape and evade that she used to play with her brothers and sisters as a child. Soon she'd be seeing them again. Finally she made it to the fence, clearing it with one leap. The forest was cool and dark, she moved swiftly and silently through the undergrowth, like a jungle cat. Soon she was clear of the forest, but she stayed in the underbrush on the sides of the road, in case they were after her sooner than she had hoped. Of course with the massive explosion she had rigged, she was hoping that there would be no free personnel to follow her. She grinned wickedly, if she had planned it right the genetics lab would be blown up again, with all available personnel directed to the lab to put the fire out. Whilst they were all up the lab end of the compound, the generator, at the other end would explode. Instant chaos. With the generator and the computer mainframe knocked out, she hoped that they would be busy enough that they would not realize that she was gone. And once they did she would be long gone, with no trail left for them to follow. She stopped running in front of a sign. Seattle - 23 miles She grinned like a mad woman. "You see this, you ice-veined witch! I made it! I'm going home, and you can kiss my transgenic ass!" she called out. Suddenly Max began to laugh. Then she took off running once more. At this speed she was moving faster than any normal human could. Her footfalls drummed out the words, "Home, I'm on my way home." As the sun rose, she kept going, her pace unchecked. But lack of sleep, stress and constant physical exertion finally caught up with her around mid- morning, forcing her to a walk. She had only been walking for as short while when a car pulled up beside her. The woman driving called out to her. "Excuse me, do you need a ride? I'm headed for Seattle." Max flashed her a huge smile, "Only if you don't mind, I need to get to Seattle, I'm in a hurry." She jumped into the car and closed the door. "So why are you in such a hurry to get to Seattle?" the woman asked, she seemed nice enough. "I have to get home to my family. They'll be missing me," Max answered simply. "What's your name?" The woman smiled. "I'm Megan. You must be one of the people who got stranded in Portland." Max had no idea what she was talking about, she just nodded. "I'm Max." They drove in a companionable silence for the rest of the journey. It was early afternoon by the time they pulled into the city. Max said her good- byes to Megan and thanked her for the ride. It didn't take much for her to sneak through several sector points, and soon she was standing outside Foggle Towers. She took a deep breath before she entered the building. She knew that he was home; she could feel it in every fiber of her being. Once outside his front door she paused. Should she knock, or just pick the lock as usual? She elected to pick the lock. Once she had done so, she moved silently inside. Pausing she could hear the conversation filtering in from the lounge room. "Logan, you have to let go of her. She's can't come back." Max heard Syl say. "She's dead, Logan, we can't change that," Krit added. They both sounded like they were trying to comfort him. Then Logan began to speak and she felt her heart, Zack's heart begin to race. "I just, I can't believe that. I know I watched her die. God, I held her. But I just can't shake this feeling, she's alive. I know it." Syl began again, "Logan, be practical, we know you loved her but--" Max leaned against the doorway. "Miss me?" She smiled at them. Syl dropped her glass, which smashed all over the floor. Within seconds she was engulfed in a series of huge hugs. "Maxie, you're okay, you're okay," Syl sobbed in to her hair. Max smiled, stroking her sister's hair in an effort to calm her. "Syl, sweetie, I'm fine. It's okay, calm down." Krit untangled Max and Syl, pulling them both into his arms, before sitting Syl down on the couch to calm her down. Logan smiled at her, a million things left unsaid. Silently he pulled her into his arms, she stayed there listening to the beating of his heart. A long moment passed before they let go. Max sunk down onto the sofa, she was exhausted. Logan looked worriedly at her. "Can I get you something?" His voice was thick with concern for her. She smiled at him, knowing his need for something to keep him occupied. "A glass of milk would be great. I'm about to start trippin' over my own feet." He left the room swiftly to fetch it. She leaned back into the sofa and closed her eyes for a few seconds. When she opened them again, she was looking directly into three worried faces. She smiled, and accepted the glass. Krit cleared his throat nervously. "How are you doing?" "Okay," paused, knowing that his question was deeper than that. "I'm alive. I can't really ask for more, can I?" Logan asked the question that was on everyone's lips. "How did you escape?"

Max picked up the television remote, turning the TV on. It only took her a second to find a news program. "We're coming to you live from the Olympic Mountains, where a veteran's home was blown up in the early hours of this morning. There are no reports of casualties and it is assumed that these explosions were the work of terrorists." Footage of the blasts filled the screen. Max laughed. "Manticore is no more." she paused to take in their reactions, "Everything's gone, the new DNA lab, the generators, and the computer mainframe. Which means all of their records." "You are one serious piece of work, baby sister. It took one of us to accomplish what four of us couldn't." Krit eyed her admiringly. Max downcast her eyes, "At least we're free of them now. Maybe this means that we can have normal lives." Syl looked at her, despite Max's light demeanor, she knew that there was something bothering her. "Maxie, what happened?" Max's tone became bitter. "I was fatally wounded, but Zack..." her voice trailed off. Syl moved beside her, putting an arm around her baby sister. "What did Zack do?" "He shot himself to save me. I don't even have my own heart anymore. I have his." Tears made their way down her cheeks, but she made no effort to brush them away, or check their flow. "Zack is dead, and it's my fault." Her voice was almost void of emotion, but it was easy to see that she was in pain. Logan crouched down in front of her, wiping her tears away with his fingers. "Hey, Max. It is not your fault, Zack loved you so much that he couldn't imagine a world without you in it." He shook her shoulders gently. "Before the raid, Zack said to me that if he didn't make it back, I was to tell you to be brave. He made me promise to take care of you. And he made me promise to give you this." Logan pressed an envelope into her hands. She turned it over in her hands. It was addressed simply, just 'Max', nothing else. Slowly she placed the envelope down on the table. "I'll read it later." She spoke in monotones, her voice husky and full of emotion. Syl looked at her baby sister, her concern written all over her face. "Are you sure, Maxie?" Max nodded, and leaned back into the sofa cushion. "How are you?" Logan's tone was gentle. He knew that his question was simple, but maybe that's what she needed. She looked up at him, through tortured eyes. Her hurt, pain, grief and anguish were plainly visible. "I- I've been better. Zack is dead. He's gone." She looked at them as though the thought had just occurred to her. "At Manticore I promised myself that I wouldn't let them see how much they hurt me. And I didn't..." her voice trailed off. "Shhh." Logan reached out his arm, to comfort her. She pulled away, getting to her feet and moving over to look out the window. "All I let myself think of was you, and Seattle, and the crew, even my job. Every night I would lie awake and think of you all. I'd force myself to remember, because I was afraid to forget. Every morning was like waking up from a bad dream only to find out that it had gotten worse. I was so afraid that they'd do something to me while I slept, that I didn't. I let myself remember all of the good times and all of the bad times. And even all of the times in between. Sometimes I thought that I was going to go mad." Despite the warmth of the room she shivered. "I hated it. Every single minute of it. All I wanted was to be free. And Manticore wouldn't give me that. So I blew them up."