Author's Note: As Dlgood pointed out (thanks for the review) Robin Wood was obviously born before his mother was called as the Slayer. It was never mentioned in the show, but seeing as he was at least five or six when she died (as seen in 'Lies My Parents Told Me') I pretty much assumed that as given, otherwise Niki would have held the title of longest-lived Slayer ever. So the whole "Slayers can't have kids" thing doesn't apply in Robin's case. I probably should have mentioned that somewhere in the last chapter. Sorry for the oversight.

Zack debuts in the chapter below and the rest of the 'fucked Brady Bunch' (tm by Sith Sora Jade) will make an appearance in chapter 10, so it's not far away now. How will they react to Faith and she to them? You'll have to wait and see, I'm afraid. And no, I can definitely say that the stupid plot device known as the 'Max-Logan-can't-touch-virus' will not make an appearance in my story.

As for pairings, this is not a shipper-story, so apart from Faith-Robin and some Max-Logan there won't be much in the way of romance or couple-interaction. And no Max-Alec, either. Sorry, Kida9, but I could never get into that ship. Too much like incest for me, considering that they are basically siblings.

And now, on with the show!

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Chapter 9: Big Brother Calling

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Zack was hovering somewhere between concerned and furious. Appearances to the contrary there were times he felt guilty for excluding Max from the network he had put up for the Manticore escapees, but right now was definitely not one of them. Max was reckless and her actions put them all in danger.

Case in point his current predicament.

No one but an X-5 could have caught it. And even Zack had only seen it because, ever since that do-gooder Logan had helped him contact the other X-5 in time to warn them about Lydecker, he made a point of watching each and every Eyes Only broadcast that went out over the airwaves. If nothing else it told him where trouble was liable to spring up and helped steer himself and the others clear of it.

During the broadcast he had seen a message. No one with merely human eyesight would have seen it, but Zack's genetically enhanced vision had no trouble. It was only a single frame, set between two pictures of a drug lord Logan was currently targeting. It was visible for about a sixteenth of a second.

It read: Zack, please contact me! It's urgent!

For quite some time he considered not responding to the message. Yes, Max had saved him and the others from Manticore, but her presence in Seattle also put them at risk. And pulling stunts like this ... Lydecker knew that the X-5 were somehow allied with Eyes Only. He would be watching every single broadcast, would try to track Logan down.

Granted, even if Manticore had caught the message, they wouldn't know how Zack was supposed to contact Eyes Only and from where. Logan seemed to be remarkably capable of erasing his tracks, seeing as he had made a number of enemies and never been caught. Still, everything inside him rebelled from calling, from getting caught up in what promised to be another of Max' insane stunts.

Finally, though, it came down to the fact that she was his little sister. If she needed his help then the least he could do was take a look and see if he could provide it. He had taken it upon himself to keep his siblings safe after their escape from Manticore and that included Max, whether she followed his lead or not. He didn't like it. In fact, he hated it. Still, she was his little sister. So he called. Grudgingly.

He didn't have Max' number (he didn't even know whether or not she had a phone in that hole she called an apartment), so he called Logan. That number he had made sure to remember. One never knew when one might need the aid of the person who might just be the most talented hacker in America today. An idealistic fool, certainly, but capable.

"Cale residence?" an unknown voice answered. Probably that physical therapist Logan employed.

"Can I speak to Logan please? Tell him it's Zack."

There was some silence on the other end, then Logan's voice sounded from the receiver.

"Zack, that was fast. I thought I might have to send out a dozen broadcasts before the message reached you."

"Where is Max?" Zack asked, not in the mood for chit-chat.

"She isn't in town right now. Hang on, I'll relay you to her cell phone."

Max had a cell phone? Since when?

"Just give me the number, I'll dial it myself."

"No, Zack. For some reason Max doesn't want you to have her number. God alone knows why she would want to withhold such information from her brother."

Zack kept his quiet, not caring for the sarcastic tone Logan adopted. This was some kind of payback for changing the contact number, wasn't it? Max was mad at him, didn't understand that such a precaution was necessary to ensure the safety of everyone involved. Damn hotheaded fool.

After a long moment another person joined the call.


"Hi, big brother," Max said, her voice carrying a kind of cheer that made Zack instantly suspicious. Something was up and he was pretty sure he wasn't going to like it.

"Max, what is the matter? Are you in trouble?"

"Straight to business as always, right? You really do need to learn how to relax a bit."

"I'm not in a joking mood, Max. Things have gotten more difficult since we all had to go on the run again. Get to the point!"

"To the point then," she said, still cheerfully. "I want you to come to Los Angeles, Zack. And bring as many of the others as you can gather on short notice."

Zack's eyes widened and for a long moment he waited for his sister to tell him she was just joking again. Only she didn't.

"I have no doubt you think you have a damn good reason for this nonsense, Max," he began, only to be interrupted.

"You better believe I have a damn good reason, Zack! In case you have forgotten I saved your ass not three weeks ago. If not for Logan and me fully half of us would be back at Manticore by now, having their brains washed, steamed, and hung out to dry. So get off your high horse and listen!"

He sighed deeply, but kept his quiet.

"I met someone yesterday," Max continued. "Someone I think you and the others should meet as well."

"Who?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you, that's why you have to come here."

"Max, I will not jeopardize everyone's safety just because you ..."

"Shut up," she snarled at him, the cheer evaporating from her voice. "You owe me, Zack! You owe me big! Not just for saving your ass, but also for keeping me in the dark about the fate of you and the others for ten years. I know what I'm doing."

Zack felt a strong urge to simply slam down the receiver and end the call right then and there. He owed Max for his life, that was true, but the rest? She still didn't understand, did she? They weren't free. None of them. They had to be careful, they had to keep a low profile. Neither of which Max was good at.

"Give me one good reason," he finally said. "And none of that 'I owe you' crap. Give me one good reason to jeopardize everyone's safety!"

There was a long silence on the other end and for a moment Zack wondered whether Max was going to end the call.

"We might have a chance to end it all, Zack," she finally said, her voice sincere. "I think we finally have a shot of breaking free of Manticore once and for all. To put an end to their atrocities."

After a moment she added "Isn't that worth some risk, big brother?"

Zack said nothing, but his thoughts were racing. Break free of Manticore? Put an end to them? How often had he dreamed about doing just that? Whenever he'd had a free moment he had tried drawing up plans, strategies, tactics, anything that would give them even a remote chance of destroying the bastards who had created them.

It was a senseless undertaking, though. Even if the twelve ... no, eleven ... of them teamed up and used every bit of training and experience they had, it wouldn't matter. Manticore had a hundred of the X-5, no doubt brainwashed into absolute loyalty and ready to kill their own brothers and sisters. Not to mention whatever new generation of transgenics they might have raised in the last ten years. Plus the conventional troops, equipped with the best military hardware tax money could buy.

His one and only hope was that, sooner or later, the government would cut Manticore's funding and put the project on ice. Lydecker's continuing failure to capture the escaped X-5 was the only thing working in their favor. Maybe it was enough to outweigh whatever successes he had employing the other X-5 in God alone knew what kind of missions all over the world.

Only that was a fool's hope. He knew that. America was still struggling to reclaim even a tenth of the power it had once had. Most of its military was gone, wiped out by the Pulse. Nuclear missiles rotted in their silos with all their circuits fried. Hundreds of planes had dropped from the air. Much of the useless military hardware had been looted for spare parts by a populace in blind panic before anything could be done to restore them.

The government needed every advantage it could get and the transgenic soldiers were the only one they had right now. They wouldn't abandon Manticore unless someone gave them a very, very good reason to do it.

Had Max found a way to do that? Most of him didn't believe it for a second. No way someone as foolish and hotheaded as Max could come up with a plan to put Manticore away for good. She had met someone she said? Probably another idealistic fool like Logan, someone who had found out about Manticore and thought he could save America from these dastardly black ops bastards.

A small part of him, though, couldn't quite quench the glimmer of hope he felt upon hearing his sister utter these words of hers. To be free, to be really and truly free. No more running, no more hiding. It would finally allow him to rest, to be free of this self-imposed responsibility. Maybe it would finally allow him to have something like a life of his own.

Wasn't that worth some risk? The question seemed to echo endlessly inside his head.

"I hope you know what you're doing, Max," he said after a minute of silence had passed. "I really hope you know what you're doing."

"When can you be here?" she simply asked.

Zack went through the list of the other escapees in his head. After Lydecker had uncovered the locations of half of them due to Zack's own stupidity Logan's Eyes Only message had sent them all running. All of them had called in by now, so he had some rough knowledge of their current locations.

"I can be in Los Angeles in two days," he told her. "Most of the others should be able to make it, too." He could think of only two who were too far away and one other whom he wasn't really sure about anymore. Ben hadn't been right in his head for a long time now. Zack had no clue whether he would follow orders and come to Los Angeles.

"That should do," Max said. "I'll leave it up to you to name a location for our meeting. Relay it through Logan! Just so you know, I'll be bringing company."

"That person you met? Care to give me at least some hint?"

"Not really, no. See you in two days, Zack. I'm looking forward to this family reunion. I've got a feeling it'll be really special."

With that last comment she hung up, leaving Zack with a growing feeling of concern and frustration. The thought that this was how Max must usually feel whenever she had to deal with him never occurred to him.

TO BE CONTINUED