Disclaimer: Sigh

Disclaimer: Sigh . . . all right, fine!!! :Reads from prepared script: The show Dark Angel does not belong to me, nor do any of the characters or actors! There – are you guys happy now? :Throws up hands and stalks away muttering to self about unfairness of life:

A/N: Ok, peeps, here's chapter 2! I'd like to thank profusely everyone who reviewed – all five of you, LOL! Ok, so maybe there were more than five people who read it, but how would I know? Come on, I know you're out there; leave words in the box, let me know what you think! How else will I know if I'm any good?

A/N 2: I'd like to throw big virtual hugs and kisses at my beta readers, afan and angel_gurl; without you guys, this story would frankly be cheesy and half-baked! Thanks, chicas, for correcting all my mistakes without making me feel too dumb about it, LOL! Ok, that's it – for goodness' sake, PLEASE read and review!!!!!!

Finding a Way Back, chapter 2

"X5-656?" The director's lips quirked into what looked like a smile. Privately, Brin wondered what was so amusing. 'Stop it!' she told herself. 'Soldiers don't question their superiors!' 'But you did . . .' a voice whispered back from deep inside her. Giving herself a mental shake, Brin returned her attention to Renfro.

"X5-656 is being treated for a genetic condition," the blond woman said coolly. "I thought I explained this to you already." There was a patronizing tone to her voice that Brin suddenly realized had always irritated her.

"That was over a week ago, ma'am," Brin pointed out, fighting to keep a respectful tone. "With all due respect, what's taking so long?"

"Enough!" Renfro snapped, her hand slamming down on the desk for emphasis. Rising to her feet, she leaned over her desk and glared at Brin. "The X5's, and especially X5-656, are my concern – not yours. Do not question me again, X5-734, or I will make sure you regret it. Dismissed!"

Automatically, Brin spun on her heel and left the office. Once outside, she wandered for several minutes before she realized that she had no idea where she was going. 'Not my concern?' she wondered. 'Tinga's my sister; how can she not be my concern?' A sudden thought froze her stock-still in the middle of a hallway.

'What if Max is right?'

Looking up, she saw that she had stopped outside the archive room, where all the records were kept on the X-series. It hadn't been that long since she left Renfro's office, but there was already a guard posted outside the door where none had been before. 'That's strange,' Brin thought. 'Why post a guard now? What could have happened since . . .' The thought trailed off as realization set in. 'There's something in there she doesn't want me to see; something to do with Tinga.'

The guard looked at her curiously, and Brin realized she was still standing in the hallway. She continued on down the hall, giving a 'carry on' nod to the guard as she went past. Once around the corner, she stopped and peeked back at the guard, sizing him up. He wasn't an X5, but one of the regular soldiers assigned to the base. 'She underestimates me,' Brin thought smugly. There was no other way into the room, but unless the guard was an X5 or higher, she would have no problem gaining access. 'All I need is a plan . . .'

- - - - - - - - - - -

The mind-altering drug they had given her was strong. Really strong. Max struggled to maintain her defenses against the words flashing on the wall and the drill instructor pacing in front, reinforcing the words as he had done when they were children.

His voice seemed to come from far away, repeating the words over and over. To Max's horror, the wall that she had constructed of memories of Logan's eyes crumbled almost immediately, and she found herself fighting each attack tooth and nail, desperately trying to preserve her sense of self.

:Objective:

"The only thing that matters is accomplishing the objective! . . . The only thing that matters is accomplishing the objective . . .the objective . . .objective . . ." The phrase sparked a memory from deep inside Max . . .

"The only thing that matters is accomplishing the objective," Jace stated, parroting the Manticore dogma she'd been fed since birth.

"You stay out here long enough, you find out Manticore had it all backwards," Max replied, moving closer to the bed. "Everything matters except the objective."

'Everything matters except the objective . . . Everything matters except the objective . . .' Max repeated the phrase over and over to herself, trying to counter Manticore's propaganda. Relief washed over her as her mind shook off the attack.

'Manticore's objective can go to hell!' Max hurled the thought against the attacking dogma with renewed vigor. Then the next word flashed on the wall, and the struggle resumed.

:Loyalty:

"The only loyalty is to Manticore, to your fellow soldiers! . . .The only loyalty is to Manticore . . .your fellow soldiers . . . loyalty . . . Manticore . . . soldiers . . .' 'No . . .' Max thought. 'Loyalty . . . is to my friends . . .to Logan . . .' She searched for a memory to fight back with, and almost panicked when none appeared.

"Don't be crazy! Lydecker's got the entire city looking for you!"

Zack's voice floated up out of her memory, and Max grabbed at the surfacing memory like a lifeline.

They stand outside of the cabin, Zack blocking her path back to Logan. "Out of my way or I go through you. What's it gonna be?" Max says, challenging her brother.

"You wanna take me on? Huh, Maxie?" Zack demands, grabbing her jacket. "Go ahead – go ahead."

Max tries to attack Zack, but he grabs her easily by the shoulders and waist. He holds her with her back to him. "You better get your head in the game, soldier." Zack orders. He kicks Max to the ground and goes after her again, but she flips over top of him. Zack throws a roundhouse punch, but Max ducks under it, and blocks two more punches. Zack then tries to kick Max, but she uses her legs to foil the attempts. She grabs Zack by his lapels.

"Think I'm not in the game?" Max demands. She throws Zack for a loop, never letting go of his lapels, and lands on top of him. "Think again."

"Okay," Zack whispers, his hands in the 'surrender' position. Max climbs off him and begins walking back to Seattle, and Logan . . .

:Mission:

"Your mission is to serve and protect Manticore! . . . Your mission is to serve and protect . . . serve and protect . . . Manticore . . . serve . . . Manticore . . . protect . . . Manticore . . ." 'My mission is to serve and protect Manticore,' Max repeated dully, her mind weakening under the relentless assault. 'My mission is to serve and protect – NO!' Max gave herself a hard mental slap as she found herself almost giving in to the dogma. 'My mission is to escape, as soon as possible, and to get back to Logan . . .' His name echoed through her mind, along with more memories, and she steeled herself to fight some more . . .

After an eternity, it was over. The drill instructor was asking her questions, trying to determine her state of mind. The brainwashing drug was still clouding her thoughts, but Max found enough presence of mind to tell him what he wanted to hear, to make him think the process was working. 'It almost did work,' she thought to herself as a sickening feeling settled in her stomach. 'If it hadn't been for Logan . . .'

The instructor seemed to buy it, and left the room. She could see Renfro on the other side of the door as it opened, waiting for a report. "What is X5-452's condition?" she asked.

"She's progressing about how we expected, ma'am," the instructor replied. "I would say her reindoctrination is coming along on schedule. It might take some time – I'm expecting her to be somewhat resistant, given how much time she spent outside – but I'm confident that she'll be back with us very soon." Their voices faded as they walked away from the door.

'I don't know how much more of this I can take,' Max admitted to herself. She looked around the room, at the stark gray walls that had haunted her nightmares for years after the escape, and felt a twinge of real fear, deep in her soul.

'What if I don't make it out?'

- - - - - - - - - - - - Brin lay on her cot, listening to the sounds of the night and of the other X5's who slept nearby. 'Figures that the only two X5's who don't sleep would be among those who escaped,' she thought wryly to herself. She usually needed as much sleep as any of her brothers and sisters, but on those nights when sleep eluded her, Max and Jondy had been there to keep her company. The three of them would stay up and talk, tell stories, and wonder about the world outside.

'I wish one of them were here now,' Brin admitted sadly. 'I need some advice, I don't know what to do . . .' It had been easy enough to get past the guard; a few sleeping pills in his coffee, and he was out like a light. It had been just as easy to get into the computer and find Tinga's file.

Brin had often been glad to have a photographic memory, but not now: images flashed through her mind, cold and precise, and she cursed sleep for not granting her oblivion from them, even for a short time. Phrases from Tinga's file kept repeating themselves over and over until she wanted to be sick, as she had when she first read them: 'X5-656 captured . . . taken to experimentation site 121-A . . . genetic experiments . . . passing on of traits to possible future offspring . . . good candidate for breeding program . . . unfortunate demise . . . body to be dissected for further research . . .'

Even worse than the words had been the security camera footage which documented everything from Tinga's arrival to Max and Zack's rescue attempt. As she watched Max on the screen, holding Tinga's body and crying, Brin's last tie of loyalty to Manticore had broken. X5-734 disappeared, and Brin came rushing back. Now, as she lay in her bunk, Brin made a promise. 'Never again,' she vowed. 'They killed Tinga, they tried to destroy me, and now they're trying to destroy Max. I won't let them do it; not again.' Carefully, she began to formulate a plan.