Author's Note: Sorry it's been so long, but I just got the season 1 DVDs and I've been completely wrapped up in them. After watching that season again, it's hard to go back to writing season 2. I'm changing my summary a little bit again, it seems that my writing has taken a whole different direction from where I originally thought it was going to be. The main goal will still be the same, but getting to it is going to be a little different, especially the whole storyline with Minx. Just figured I'd tell everybody.

Disclaimer: I thought I saw a magic lamp yesterday, but it was just my imagination. I'm still looking though.

Dust In The Wind

By Be Boring

Chapter 5: Only Chance

Alec sat back in his seat in the Rec Center as he listened to Mole tearing into the trackers that he had sent after White. "Are you telling me that you have no idea which direction he headed in? Dammit, he was escaping with the leader of Terminal City! He had to have at least left skid marks as he was driving!"

Derek, the male X5 who had led the expedition, rolled his eyes. "I'm sure he did, but you have to realize that practically every ten minutes in Seattle there is someone tearing around in a crappy old vehicle to escape from one thing or another. There's so many idiots these days that steal vehicles or rob someplace big that go through the same general area that White took Max through. After all, the police aren't too keen to come near Terminal City, so it's a great escape route for most criminals. In fact, just about an hour ago the police chased a street gang through our area that had stolen marijuana and cocaine out of the police station's evidence room. Or, as I like to refer to it, their own personal store. We heard the whole thing on one of our police scanners. My point is that there's almost no way to determine which skid marks belong to White and which ones don't."

Now it was Mole's turn to roll his eyes. "Haven't you ever heard of asking bystanders? There's so many homeless people around this area that you should have been able to make a map of the exact streets White has been on ever since he started his little campaign."

Derek turned his head and pointed to the barcode on the back of his neck. "I can't just walk up to people with this thing still on me. Even the homeless are too careful these days, I wouldn't be able to keep this hidden from them. Plus, we don't have any equipment to remove it."

Mole raised a wrist and glanced at the watch on it. "Fine, we'll handle things my way." Not caring to explain further, he turned on his heel and walked out the door. With a weary sigh, Derek and the other trackers got out of their seats and followed him. Alec wanted to follow out of sheer curiosity, but something at the edge of the doorway caught his eye. It looked for a moment as if there had been a large pair of eyes watching the scene. Making sure to be completely silent, Alec made his way to the door and grabbed the intruder by the throat. A moment later, he let go in disgust.

"Don't you ever mind your own business?"

Minx crossed her arms and glared right back at him. "I wasn't aware this was a private meeting, and besides, this does concern me. It concerns everyone living in Terminal City. Max was the leader here, and finding her is a priority to everyone. Do you have a problem with that?"

"I don't have a problem with anyone else trying to find Max, but I do have a problem with you."

Minx's fist tightened as though she wanted to throw a punch, but at that second Logan came around the corner. "What's going on here?"

Alec's eyes rested on the other man for a moment, then he shrugged. "I'm not the one to ask. Talk to her. Then again, it might be better if you avoided her."

Standing behind Minx, Logan pointed to his own eyes. Ever since the incident during his last time in the Rec Center, he didn't like being without his glasses. It made him feel somewhat vulnerable because he wasn't at the top of his game. Before he could say anything out loud, Alec patted the pocket on his jacket and shook his head. Obviously he didn't want to give the glasses back yet. Logan got the feeling that his reasoning had something to do with Minx.

Minx turned in her spot and saw the look that passed between the two. "Did I miss something?"

Alec smirked at her and started walking down the street. "You've missed everything. You may as well not waste your time trying to catch up." He couldn't help but give a sigh of relief once he was out of the woman's sight. There was something wrong about her, but he couldn't put his finger on it. The only thing he knew for sure was that he didn't like the thought of her being around Logan. Who knew what she would find out? Worse yet, what would she do with the information?

Minx's eyes never left Alec until he was out of her sight. She could sense his hostility towards her and she didn't like it one bit. Shrugging it off, she turned to Logan. "Do you find that guy as annoying as I do?"

Logan shrugged. "Sometimes, but he's been useful before. You wouldn't think so, but Alec knows what he's doing when it really comes down to it. Then again, I guess that goes for everyone in Terminal City. All that training has to pay off somehow."

********************

Strangely enough, Mole was saying something similar to Derek and the other trackers as they walked through the streets just outside Terminal City, but not quite with the same meaning. "That training you idiots received in Manticore should have helped you out somehow. Do you have any idea what you're doing?"

Derek's hand nearly went for his gun, Mole was starting to really piss him off. "I've spent most of my life being trained to track people, I should think I know how to do it better than you."

Mole shook his head irritably. "That's not what I meant. Seeing as how you couldn't find any answers the regular way, you have to become a little more unorthodox in your tracking. Sometimes you have to come out from under cover and try things a different way. Didn't you at least learn how to intimidate people?"

Derek sneered as he studied Mole. "I don't need to bother. I could just walk over there with you by my side and they'd go into cardiac arrest."

Without any warning, Mole backhanded the X5 with all his strength. "I don't need a smartass right now, I need someone useful. Then again, sometimes you just have to do things yourself." Shaking his head with disgust at the other man, Mole approached a group of teens that were huddled near a barrel with a fire in it, making sure to keep his face in the shadow of his hood.

"Have you kids seen a black car with tinted windows come through here? It was probably moving pretty fast."

One of the kids turned around, chewing on a rather large hunk of gum as he studied Mole's frame. "We see a lot of black cars go through here going fast, none of them exactly stand out."

Mole could tell this kid wasn't going to make things easy for him. "What about the tinted windows? There's not quite as many of those running around."

The boy turned and looked at the open box that apparently held the last of their food supply, then smirked. "My memory's not so good. I might remember more if you gave me some incentive."

At this, Mole smiled. "I don't have cash or food, but is this enough incentive for you?" Keeping one hand on the gun in his jacket, he reached up and pulled down his hood. Their reaction seemed somewhat delayed, for several seconds they could only stand there and stare at him. Simpletons, he thought with some amusement. This would be too easy.

"It w-went th-that way," a girl on the other side of the barrel stuttered. Mole mockingly pretended to bow.

"Thank you, my lady," he joked, then walked back to where one of the other trackers was nursing Derek's head. "Well? You guys heard the lady, let's get moving!"

********************

Max's stomach growled so loudly that it made her jump, then she sighed and flopped back down on the cot that was in the room. White hadn't been kidding when he had said he wouldn't give her any nourishment. Not so much as a crumb of bread had entered her cell since he had left her in it yesterday. Of course, she knew she could last quite a while yet. The only thing that really surprised her was that nobody from Terminal City had found this place. She was sure that she was still in Seattle, and she knew that Terminal City was the home of some of the best trackers in the world. Even though she knew it could be a long time before there was even an attempt at a rescue mission, they should have at least found her.

Perhaps she had become too dependent on outside help. Honestly, she really couldn't remember when that had happened, but it had. For a long time now, she had always had someone watching out for her back, helping her out. Logan, Zack, Alec, Joshua, and even the crew from Jam Pony had helped her out in almost all of the dangerous situations she'd been in for the last couple years. It had never used to be like that before. Before she had come to Seattle, she was always looking out for herself. There was never any thought of someone else coming to the rescue, it was a do-it-yourself world for her.

If she couldn't depend on anyone else for help, then how was she going to get out of here? That door was way too thick, she would never be able to get through it. Why did she feel so damn helpless? The only thought that kept running through her head was that all she needed was a little more strength. Just a little more strength. Suddenly, she sat bolt upright on the cot. Maybe there was a way.

Max leaned back against the wall and pulled her knees up to her chest nervously. What if they didn't believe her? Did they know the steps that Manticore had taken to fix all her little quirks? Did they even know about her former flaws at all? As long as they didn't know, this might work out. Still, she couldn't even be sure that their equipment gave out the right kinds of wavelengths. Shaking her head fiercely, she stood up and crossed to the other side of the room. This had to work, it just might be her only chance.

********************

White groaned and shoved his head under his makeshift pillow, which was actually just pile of work shirts. What the hell was all that banging? He had been trying to take a short nap on what passed for a couch in the dingy little office that was above Max's cell. Despite not needing as much sleep as normal humans, he did need some level of it. His body needed a break every now and then.

A knock on the door ruined all chances of getting a few peaceful hours of rest. "Sir? There's a commotion in 452's holding cell."

White rolled his eyes as he sat up and reached for his gun. "I don't suppose any of you idiots standing guard happened to take a peek at what was going on?"

Otto shook his head as he opened the door. "No sir, she could overpower us too easily." He tried not to let the expression on his face change as White stood up and shoved his gun into his belt. He couldn't help but feel afraid of this man, he had seen his temper on several occasions, none of which had been pleasant. Apparently he wasn't the only one who felt that fear, judging by the way that the guards cringed as he threw open the door to the basement level.

"Would anyone care to tell me just what is going on?" he snapped as he made his way to Max's door. He could hear her slamming around, it sounded as though she was trying to tear the bed off its hinges.

One of the guards finally spoke up. "We think she's having some sort of an attack," he mumbled.

"You think? You mean that you don't know for sure?" White didn't even have to wait for a response, he already knew what the answer would be. None of these hooligans had the courage to open the door and see what was going on. Of course, they didn't have the strength that he did, so it was probably wiser on their part to stay out of 452's reach. It was hard sometimes to remember that he was different from these people. Then again, most of the time he was glad about that.

Gripping his gun tightly, he pulled open her door and stepped inside. He was honestly surprised to see that she wasn't standing there waiting for him. As a matter of fact, the guards were right. 452 was laying on the bed, gripping the sides with all of her strength as sweat poured from her. Every muscle in her body was tense as her figure snapped around on the bed, struggling to stop the seizures. White froze as he watched her. If something goes wrong with her, I may never get the answers I need about Ray, he realized.

"Call the lab and tell them we need every doctor there to be waiting when we get there!" he shouted into the other room, then moved to Max's side. How long had she been seizing like this? He vaguely remembered hearing about a serotonin deficiency in the X5s, but wouldn't Manticore have fixed that? The only thing he did know was that if her serotonin problems weren't dealt with soon, she could go into a coma and eventually die. He'd never find out if his son was alive if she didn't make it.

********************

Logan sat in a booth at the Black Knight, eating one of the cheap cheeseburgers that they served out. It actually wasn't half bad, some of the transgenics had apparently learned to cook pretty well. He was just squirting more ketchup onto it when a familiar voice came from behind him.

"I never thought I'd ever see the great Logan Cale eating fast food."

Logan turned his head slightly to see Alec standing there with his own cheeseburger and beer in hand, obviously planning on sitting at the same table as him. "If you're going to sit down, then you may as well do it."

Alec slid into the other side of the booth and plunged into his own meal. "You make it sound like you don't want company."

Logan shrugged at took another bite. "I only just managed to get rid of Minx, so I was kind of enjoying some alone time."

"That's her name? Sort of a coincidence, don't you think?"

"What do you mean?"

Alec sat back and took a quick drink of his beer. "It's just that... as soon as this chic shows up, Max gets kidnapped and the woman zeros in on you. Plus, she's way too much like Max."

"Max is her clone, isn't that the point?"

Alec shook his head. "We look the same as our clones, or originals as the case may be, but looks don't mean much. Do I seem much like Ben other than looks? I know you never met the guy, but come on, he was a serial killer doing his stuff because he believed in the Blue Lady. He was practically lost in this world, but he also didn't want to go back to Manticore, so he was basically screwed. Ok, if we throw my example aside and just talk about clones in general, it's common sense. If you've ever known twins, have they always been like each other?"

Logan nodded, seeing where Alec was headed with this. "Just because DNA is identical doesn't mean that their personalities are the same because who you are depends on how you grew up, not what's in your blood."

"So don't you see why it's kind of strange that Minx is so much like Max? Even the name is similar. Plus, there's something bugging me about her story. Now, don't take my word for this because I'm not entirely sure, but I was under the impression that the X5s were the first successful group of the X series, so why would they have cloned the older units? That just doesn't make any sense to me."

Logan could see where the X5 was coming from, that really didn't make much sense. "You don't think that she's a familiar, do you?"

Alec's cheeseburger froze halfway to his mouth. "I never thought of that. It would the smartest thing to do. She's probably working for the military, getting a good look at how things operate in here, while also passing on information to the cult. Think about it, it's a win/win situation for the familiars. They get all the info they need, but they let the military go in and get themselves slaughtered. They'll only go in if the military fails. How are we supposed to get her out of here?"

Logan glanced at the clock on the wall, then let a slightly triumphant smile make its way to his face. "Remember before everything happened with Max, when we were discussing how close I was to getting my Eyes Only operation up and running again?"

Alec nodded. "Yeah, I almost forgot about that. Why are you bringing this up now?"

Logan slid out of the booth and grabbed his jacket. "Are you up for a run to Sandeman's house?"

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A/N 2: As always, please leave me a little review. I was kinda depressed after my last update because ff.net was updating and deleted all the reviews from the day I updated, so I didn't get them all. Of all the days I could have picked to update, it had to be that day. :(