Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters obviously do not belong to me. I am writing this purely for non-profit entertainment. No infringement intended, so don't sue me!

A/N: Well, this chapter is shorter than the usual ones because it is actually less than half a chapter, but the original chapter was more than twice as long as the usual ones so I decided to split it up.

Angel Of Darkness231 – My trip was really relaxing, so it was great. Yep, some action coming up soon, but only in the next chapter. Thanks for reviewing.

Mel11 – Hmm…I think you know by now what my stories are like, so you can guess how this will end, -:grins:-! Thanks for reviewing.

Calistra – The escape coming up soon. Thanks for reviewing.

Kungfuchick – I FEEL like I got writer's block, lol! So I am happy you said what you said, thanks!

Aotearoa Hiphop Grl – Hmm, you'll find out what Alec was going out there in the next chapter. Next chapter's up so I hope you are pleased. Thanks for reviewing.

W1cked angel – Ah, Biggs could do worse! She needed to get it hammered into her head anyway! Thanks for your review.

Mystic Fayth – Thanks for your review. Cute eyes, lol!

Sarah – Thanks, I feel so touched reading your review -:smiles:- Well, this was supposed to be the last chappie but it grew too long, so it got split. Not too sure about a sequel though!

Alana84 – Yep, Renfro is growing bitchier and crazier by the second, and will soon have her plans ruined -:maniacal cackle:- Ahem…I am getting carried away! Thanks for reviewing.

X5898 – I know I told you this is the end, but -:sigh:- chapter grew too long! Lol! Alec have a plan and it will come to light in the next chapter, so not long more before you find out if what you think is right! You are right about Max. That girl needs to be forced to listen, lol! Thanks for reviewing.

Lakergirl08 – Yep, it's time for Manticore to go down…in a manner of speaking -:winks:-. Thanks for your review.

Lotamoxie – Vacation was very relaxing, just what I needed. Thanks for asking! As for Max, she will start to thaw soon, as you will see in this chapter. Thanks for reviewing.

Gamegirl452 – Thanks for reviewing! ;p

Vkitty – Thanks for your review. Oh, yeah…no Max/Alec interaction in the last chappie, huh! Sorry! There's some in this one, so hope you'll enjoy it! -:winks:-

Angelofdarkness78 – Hehe! I am sure you can sleep soundly without reading this, lol! Glad you liked the chapter. And yeah, Renfro is in for it soon – next chapter, though. Thanks for reviewing.

NoAngell – What happened to your connection? Anyways, glad it's back. I had no internet on vacation and I thought I was going to die of withdrawal, lol! ALL your questions will be answered by the next chapter -:grins:-

HoneyX5-452 – Yup, almost the end. Hope you'll like the ending I have planned! Thanks for your review.

L80bug – Thanks for reviewing. And the update is here!

Moving on to…


Deception - Chapter 10

(by elle6778)

Max's Manticore Cell

Max had just been returned to her cell after being given a shot by one of the Manticore's doctors. Apparently this one was to cure her of the mutated virus. She had doubts about it initially, but she did feel much better after the shot. She heard them saying that it would take a couple of days before she healed completely.

Max sat up as the door to her cell slid open. Her eyes narrowed as she noticed the two transgenics who were standing there looking at her. She was not too happy to see them.

"What do you want?" she asked in a rather hostile manner.

Biggs let his jaw drop in mock horror, "Is that how you greet a friend, Max? I am hurt,"

Max rolled her eyes, "Oh, stuff it," she said in a more neutral tone. She could not keep up her hostility in face of Biggs's comical look. Not that she would ever admit that to him.

"Grouchy, I see," Biggs said, nodding sagely, "Not used to the food in here yet, I bet,"

Max bared her teeth, "I prefer to eat outdoors," Max retorted sweetly.

"We need to discuss something," Alec interrupted, ignoring their words. He refused to think of why Max was treating Biggs much better than she was to him. Biggs was his friend; he wouldn't betray him that way.

Max turned to look at him, her hostility evident in her cold voice, "There's nothing to discuss, Alec. You guys completed your mission, so congratulations. Now leave me alone,"

Her behaviour was beginning to get on his nerves; Alec snapped impatiently, "Will you stop that, Max? I didn't mean you any harm. And now I have a suggestion for you," he waited until he got Max's full attention before continuing, "I have a plan for us to leave this place," He forced himself to ignore the hurt he felt at the way she was treating him.

Max's eyes widened, "Huh?" she exclaimed, surprised, "You want to escape?"

Exasperated, Alec replied, "Yes! Did you and Biggs rehearse this or something? Both of you sounded just the same,"

"Why?" Max asked, curious as to what had turned Alec around. She was not sure whether she should trust him or not. What if this was another one of Manticore's plan?

"Why? Because I had enough, that's why!" Alec said, as if it was such a logical explanation that Max shouldn't have bothered asking.

Max narrowed her eyes, "How do I know you are telling the truth and this is not another one of your lies?" she asked sceptically, not daring to hope that Alec actually wanted to escape for real.

Alec shrugged, "You don't. But even without my help, I am sure you'll find a way to leave by yourself anyway,"

"This is a bad idea, man," Biggs said, shaking his head worriedly. When Alec had shared his plans with him, Biggs had his own misgivings about it, but now he felt even more worried.

"Biggs, think about what happened to your breeding partner. Tell me if you want to continue like that endlessly,"

Biggs sighed, "I don't know, they'll be absolutely furious if three of us disappeared suddenly,"

"Who cares! They are always pissed off about something or other," Max remarked, "And Renfro has some strange secret plan for me. I tried to pry it out of her but she's not telling. The weird thing is, the doctors seemed to be in the dark as well,"

"That's odd, you would think that the staff would at least have a hint of what is happening," Biggs said.

"Unless this whole thing is not to do with Manticore," Alec said thoughtfully

"What? What do you mean?" Max frowned, wondering what was on Alec's mind.

"You see, if the whole thing is Manticore's plan, wouldn't you think that someone would have heard something. The guards, for example? But I have not heard a thing from them, and believe me, I have asked," Alec said, frowning.

"Why would you ask anyway?" Max queries, confused.

Alec hesitated before answering nonchalantly, "Actually, it just came up at the time, that's all,"

"Oh," Max said flatly, brushing away the feeling of disappointment when she heard Alec's words. Of course, what did she expect him to say? That he was asking around because he cared for her? Not that she actually wanted him to feel that way, she tried to convince herself.

Exasperated as his friend's reticence in admitting his feelings for Max, Biggs remarked, "Oh man! You sure know how to impress them, don't you?"

Alec shot a glare at Biggs, and turned to look at Max's questioning look. He sighed, "Okay…okay…I am worried alright. I don't want anything to happen to you,"

Max softened at his words, then when she remembered what he did in the past, her lips curled into a sneer. Her disbelieve evident in her face, she said, "Yeah, sure, I believe you. You don't want anything to happen to me so you deceived me and let Logan die when you could have stopped it,"

"Max…" Alec started but was interrupted.

"Save it, Alec. I don't want anymore excuses," Max interrupted, dismissing his words. She did not want to hear it now, because later she might find out that the whole thing was a farce anyway. She did not want to be hurt again.

Biggs, who had had enough of listening to the same topic over and over again, decided that he could not stay out of it anymore.

"Will you shut-up and listen for a moment?" he waited until he had Max's full attention, "Alec did what he did because he figured that it was the best he could do. I don't know the details, but it sounded like Logan would die whichever way he chose to go. The only option was to either let him be tortured to death, or have a relatively quick one. Secondly, Alec had to pretend to be Ben because that was part of his mission. He was told to do it BEFORE he knew you. And by the time he knew you better, it was too late to tell you without jeopardising your relationship. So get over it already, will you? We have bigger things to worry about now and this is no time for grudges,"

Max and Alec were stunned into silence at Biggs outburst. Max for once, remained silent as she contemplated Biggs words. She had a nagging feeling that it was the truth. Combined with what Alec told her, it did sound as if he did not have much of a choice.

But Max wasn't ready to admit that to Alec just yet, so she said dismissively, "Whatever,"

Knowing that it was the best he could get out of Max for now, Alec nodded.

"So, here's what I think we should do…" Alec started.


In the Lab: 0400 hours

It was 0400 hours in the lab. The Dr Simms stood waiting nervously as he watched Renfro peruse the report in her hand. It was the results of the blood-work done on Max after he confirmed that the virus was no longer present in her system. He had worked hard the entire night and finally he had the results for Renfro. He had a bit of trouble subduing Max when he tried to extract a sample, but after a couple of shots of sedative, he got what he was after.

Renfro's lips curved into a smile as her eyes took in the results, allowing the doctor to exhale a breath of relief.

"Well done. The results are just perfect; just what I wanted to see," she looked up at the doctor with a strange gleam in her eyes, "But no one else should know,"

As with the previous doctor, she extracted her gun and released a shot straight into his heart. His mouth rounded into an 'o' of surprise before the light faded out in his eyes. He did not expect to be rewarded for his good work by a shot in the chest.

Renfro shook her head, her smile still in place as she said under her breath, "Deja-vu…"

She picked up her office phone and dialled an extension. When the person on the other line picked up, she said, "I need you to prepare for a high security transfer of a subject tonight," she paused as she listened to the questions from the other person, then replied, "Yes, at 2200 will do. It is a female transgenic; 452. Make sure this is kept under wraps. We cannot afford to let anyone know,"

She hung up the office phone and reached for her cellphone. She walked behind her desk and sat down, preparing to relish the phone call she was about to make. They had waited so long for this moment. And now everything will be as they wanted.

"You'll be glad to hear that I got the results. It is confirmed; she is the one we have been looking for. We are moving her tonight at 2200. You know what to do,"

She listened to the voice at the other end, nodding as she spoke, "That's right, we would carry on as planned. The conclave would be pleased at this development. I'll speak to you later. Fe'nos'tol,"

Renfro leaned back against her chair and sighed in satisfaction.

Their plans would finally be realised.

Who would have guessed that the one they had been looking for all these time was 452?


Alec's Manticore Cell: 0500 hours

Alec jumped up from his bed as his door creaked open, wondering who it was. The lights were off in his cell, but he had no trouble recognising one of the guards standing by the doorway. It was one of them who had 'business' dealings with him.

Looking nervously behind him, the guard stepped into the cell and came closer to Alec.

"494. You said to inform you if we heard something about 452. Well, one of the controllers called me half an hour ago," the guard stopped as he looked expectantly at Alec.

Alec knew what he wanted. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a packet, handing it to the guard, "Here, this is the stuff you wanted. So, what did the controller tell you?" he asked.

"452 is being transferred tonight. The whole thing is hush-hush. Renfro did not want anyone to know," then the guard grinned, "But she hadn't counted on our information network,"

Alec returned his grin, "Good job. Thanks, Mike,"

"I should go before they find me in here. I am supposed to be patrolling Block D right now," the guard said, walking towards the door.

Alec nodded, "Leave the door unlocked, will you? I need to go talk to someone,"

The guard rolled his eyes. "You know that your door is never locked, 494," the guard remarked, walking out of the cell and shutting the door behind him.

Alec stood still, giving himself a last chance to back out of the crazy plan he hatched. What if the whole thing went wrong? What if instead of escaping, they were found out and locked up even tighter? What if Max and Biggs got hurt in the process?

He shook away the questions in his mind. It would do them no good for him to have doubts now. They had planned the best they could and now all they had to do was set the plan in motion.

Alec had prepared ahead, knowing that this would come. He extracted a mobile phone from the stuffings in his mattress, brushing away the wool from the phone. He pressed a button and watched the phone light up, sighing in relief as he noted that it was still working. He had another phone hidden in Biggs cell just in case this one died anyway, just as a contingency.

All he had to do now was to go find Biggs so that his friend would have enough time to do his part during the morning drills.


Training Grounds: 1000 hours

The morning drills were nothing special today, except for what Biggs was about to tell the COs of the other units. He waited until official drills are over and the trainers had left them before he approached the COs.

They listened silently as Biggs told them of Alec's plan.

They received his proposal with varying degrees of reaction; mostly shock but all of them agreed that they would go with the plan. Hardly surprising, considering that most of them had suffered one way or another in the hands of Manticore.

When Biggs left them, he felt more confident that the entire thing may work after all.

He did not want to think of the possibility of failure. Failure would be really bad for all of them.

Like what Manticore used to tell them all the time; Failure is not an option.


Max's Manticore Cell: 2000 hours

Max flexed, testing her strength. The doctor was right. It had been two days since the shot, and now she felt as good as new. She no longer felt as if her muscles were made out of jelly.

She felt good enough to attempt to escape.

She sat down on her bunk as she thought over what Alec had told her when he came into her cell two days ago. She was surprised that he wanted to leave. And more surprised to find that he already prepared a plan in advance. When she heard him outline what he had planned, she had to admit that it was a good plan. A plan that could actually work.

In the last two days, she also had time to think about what Biggs said. And she came to the conclusion that he was right. Thinking back to all that had happened since she met Alec, she had to admit that Alec did try to make the best of a bad situation. She felt slightly guilty that it took a third party to point that out to her, but she could not help lashing out at Alec. She could not help taking out her anger and her hurt out on Alec.

She knew that she could not lie to herself about her own feelings; that she had fallen for him. Until she found out about his deception. Even then, when he left, she had missed him. She told herself then to forget about him, but he was never far away from her mind. She can admit it to herself now; his deception hurt her, but his absence hurt her even more.

Max promised herself that once they get themselves out of here, she would attempt to fix things with Alec. She just hoped that he would be more understanding than she had been. She only has herself to blame if he did not forgive her for her distrust of him.

The cell door clanked open, startling Max out of her musings. She looked up to find two guards standing by the door.

One of them spoke, "452, you are being transferred," he said, waiting expectantly for her to get up.

"Where to?" she asked.

"We are not cleared for that information, 452. So, move it!" the guard snapped.

"Well, I am not going anywhere until you tell me where we are going," she retorted, her jaw set in a stubborn line.

The guards held up their tazers, spurring Max to jump up into a fight stance. She continued to look at them unmovingly, daring them to come get her.

The other guard sighed, "We have been told this might happen," Looking out into the hallway, he called out for help. A lab tech walked in soon after, his hand holding a syringe.

Max forced herself not to show her fear. She would bet with her life that the syringe contained some form of sedative. If they stuck that into her, she would be helpless for sure. She watched them as they advanced. Two of them with tazers and another with a syringe.

Max had no where to run. She fought the best she could but the tazers were too much for her; bringing her down onto the floor, writhing helplessly under the shock.

She just hoped that Alec would decide to put his plans into action before she got transferred to wherever Renfro had in her plans. She also hoped that she would have a chance to tell him how she felt.

Those were her last thoughts before she succumbed unwillingly to the liquid coursing through her veins.


t.b.c.

A/N: Okay, next chapter will be the last one. So I hope you all have enjoyed the story so far. In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think of this chapter! -:grins:-