AUTHOR'S NOTE Okay, here goes. I have created a Manticore history for Max. In canon, the following 09 escapees are mentioned: Max, Ben, Brin, Zack, Tinga, Jondy, Krit, Syl, and Zane. That's nine. In Before the Dawn, a Dark Angel novel, Seth is also added. That leaves two escapees that are never mentioned. In After the Dark, another DA book, they are called Kavi and Vada and they're both captured and/or dead. However, I wrote this chapter before I read that book, so I named the last two escaped siblings Rhett and Sari.

I also created the rest of their unit back in Manticore. Besides the canon Eva, Jack, and Jace, I added Kora, Vee, Creb, Etta, Han, Del and Add. Del and Add are like Ben and Alec – clones. I decided that Del is the one who gets the bullet in "And Jesus Brought a Casserole." I'm basing the "22 to a unit" idea on the numbers mentioned in canon: Jace + Jack + Eva + Del (the death in AJBAC) equals 4 who never made it out of Manticore. In the pilot episode, Lydecker gets the report that they've "got" 7 of the escapees, 3 of which are wounded and 2 of which are dead. I figure that that leaves 2 being captured, Zack being one of them. That's 11 so far. Besides Zack, 11 others made it out and that makes 22.

I plan on writing quite a few stories that reside in my "Max's Family" world – her and her unit that I've created. I hope you like them!

DISCLAIMER I own Rhett, Sari, Del, Add, Kora, Vee, Han, Etta, and Creb. No one else.

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Chapter Seventeen: In Which Max Gets a Surprise

Mole stood stonily by the door. He had his assault rifle trained on Illyria, who had since woken up and was sending icy glares at everyone in the room. He did not approve of reasoning with these supernatural things. The blonde girl, Bucky or something, was still stuck to the wall by the glowing light. The witch had let Max down and was bracing her and Alec.

Logan had found chairs and set them up in the middle of the bare room. Now he, Alec, and Max faced Willow, Angel and Spike. Willow looked at Max. "What can you tell me about Manticore?"

Max shrugged. "You already seem to know more than me. We were there, then we escaped and got thrown out into this horrible place."

"You think this world is horrible?" Buffy asked incredulously. "You have no idea what horror is!"

Willow turned around. "Buffy, be quiet! You're not helping." She turned back to Max. "Can you tell us anything?"

Max took a deep breath and nodded. "There were twenty-two of us in the beginning. We were a unit in the X5 class – created to be trained as officers. We were born in three waves: some in 1998, some in 1999, and some in 2000. Zack was the oldest boy and Kora was the oldest girl. Eva, Etta, Zane, Del, and Add were also born in '98. Most of the unit was born in the middle: Seth, Krit, Syl, Sari, Tinga, Brin, Ben, Rhett, Han, and Jondy. The rest of us, me, Jack, Creb, Vee, and Jace, were the youngest. Our unit was our family. All of them were brothers and sisters to me."

"Go on," Willow said.

"They trained us to be perfect soldiers." Max closed her eyes. "It was dangerous. Del was the first one of us who died. Syl accidentally shot him on a training mission."

"Syl was your sister?" Spike asked.

"Yeah. She didn't mean to do it…it just happened. After that, well, there was something wrong with me, Jack, and Vee. We got these horrible seizures. I mean, we all got seizures, but the three of us had them uncontrollably. They took Jack away and killed him. I watched them do his autopsy." Max shuddered at the memory. "After that, we escaped."

"How?" asked Angel.

Shooting a wary look at the vampire, Max nodded. "Eva did it. I had a seizure and they came for me. They were going to take me off and cut me open, too. She grabbed a pistol and held off the guards."

"What happened to her?" Buffy asked quietly.

Max looked at the Slayer, about to spit out a reply, but softened when she saw that Buffy was serious. "Lydecker shot her. That was the last straw and we escaped. Only eleven of us made it out that first night. Zack was captured trying to help the rest of us, but he got out later. He was our CO. He always looked out for us."

"So only twelve?" Willow asked.

Again, Max nodded. "We had to leave Jace behind. She couldn't get up the nerve to come with us. Zack broke the rest of us up into pairs. Vee had a seizure during the escape and Kora stayed with her. The guards shot them both on sight. Creb and Add were together but something went wrong. They were captured at the fence. Who knows what they did to them back in Manticore."

"You never say them again?" Angel asked.

Max shook her head. "I'm sure they were punished and brainwashed again and probablykilled."

"Why didn't they make it out?" Willow pressed.

Max shrugged uncomfortably. "Don't know. Although Del and Add had been twins and I don't think Add wanted to leave his brother behind."

"But you said Del was already dead," Spike said, tactless as usual.

"I know that!" Max bit out. "That doesn't mean Add could just leave him!" She took a deep breath. "Han was shot at the fence too and taken back inside. Etta was his partner, but Eva was her best friend and she was so upset about her death that she just let them take her back. She barely put up a fight." Angrily she tried to hold back the tears that came every time she talked about her siblings. "I'm sure that they're dead too."

Logan added, "The escaped happened in February of '09. The Pulse hit later that year and made it easy for the kids to hide."

"How did you find them then?" Spike asked.

"Max paid me a friendly little visit one night." Logan glanced at the X5 tenderly before continuing. "She came in through the skylight and tried to rob me."

Angel laughed. "I seem to recall ending up flat on my back the first time I met Buffy. What happened after that?"

Max shrugged. "We worked together. Logan was a journalist and when he lost the use of his legs, I did the legwork for him. The others…" She looked at Alec and her face contorted in pain. "Zack was the first to find me. He was keeping tabs on all of us, to keep us out of trouble. He wanted me out of Seattle, but I wouldn't go. Then he and I tried to save Brin from this wasting disease and we had to ship her back to Manticore." She angrily hit the arm of the chair she was sitting in. "They brainwashed her all over again. My brother Ben had lost it after we escaped and…" Her eyes shone with just a hint of tears. "When it was either die or go back to Manticore, he begged me to kill him."

At that, Alec put a reassuring hand on her shoulder, but Max shrugged him off. "Manticore killed my sister Tinga because there was something they wanted in her genes. She had a husband and a family and they murdered her. Zack and I decided that Manticore needed to be taken down, so we found Krit and Syl and blew up the genetics lab. Brin showed up, but I don't know if she ever made it out. I was taken prisoner and we lost Zack in the battle too. It took months for me to escape again and that was only after I was tricked." She briefly glared at Alec, who looked away guiltily.

"So there are only eight left?" Buffy asked. "I mean, including you?"

"Nine if you count Jace. She eventually left. Last I knew she was in Mexico. I know Zane and Jondy are alive, but I don't know where they are. Sari, Seth, and Rhett I never heard from again." Max looked guiltily at Buffy, then turned to Willow. "You can let her down, you know."

Willow nodded and waved a hand. The light pulsated for a moment, then faded and Buffy landed hard on her feet. "Thanks Will," she grumbled.

"What do you know about the science behind Manticore?" Willow asked as Buffy came to stand near the group. "How did they make you?"

Max shrugged. "They weren't big on sharing secrets."

Willow opened her mouth to ask something else, but was cut off when another X5 and the half dog creature that had appeared on the tabloid entered the room. "Hey there Big Fella!" Max said to him. "Where've you been?"

"Hey there Little Fella. Been up on the roof."
"Yeah? What are you doing up there? You missed all the fun."

"Thinking. What fun?"

Max turned to the Slayer. "Joshua, these are our guests. This is Buffy, Willow, Angel, Spike, and over there is Illyria."

"You cannot hold me forever," the Old One said. It was the first time she'd spoken since being electrocuted.

Max rolled her eyes. "They're special, like us."

"Manticore?" Joshua asked.

"Nope. They're something different."

"Different like Joshua." The creature smiled. "Someone here to see Max," he said.

"Oh!" Max stood up and looked at Willow. "You don't mind, do you? I'll be right back."

"Sure."

Once Max had gone, everyone sat in silence. Finally, Buffy turned to Alec. "Max looked pretty uncomfortable back there when you tried to touch her. What's with that?"

"It wasn't me, it was her brother Ben," Alec said. "He and I were clones." Upon seeing the blank faces, he added, "Identical twins if you want – like her brothers Del and Add. Whenever she talks about him, she doesn't look at me. I think it hurts."

"Oh." Willow furrowed her brow. "I can't imagine what it would be like to have siblings and have no idea where they were."

"You're an only child?" Logan asked. Willow nodded. "What about you?" he asked Buffy.

"I have a little sister, Dawn," Buffy said. "But she's…never mind. She's complicated."

Logan laughed. "I imagine little sisters always are."

Buffy laughed ruefully. "Not this complicated."

Suddenly the door opened and Max burst into the room, grinning from ear to ear. Behind her, a tall blond girl, a dark-skinned girl, and a dark-haired guy followed cautiously. "Logan, Alec, everyone, there's some people I want you to meet. This is my sister Jondy, my sister Jace, and my brother Zane."

…

The Answer to the Last Trivia Question(s)

Angel explained how "otherworldly" is a misnomer to Kate Lockely after she discovered that he was a vampire.

Darla told Buffy about bullets' effects on vampires in "Angel" in Season One of Buffy.

Today's Trivia Question Is:

While I did create Creb the character, I borrowed the name from a book series. What book did I borrow the name from and extra credit if you can tell me who he was?

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Sneak Peek

I'm trying something new. Human28, who writes "Fire and Blood" (Great Buffy/DA cross) puts a line from the next chapter at the bottom of each of her chapters to give readers a sneak peek. I credit her with the idea. Let me know if I should keep doing this or not!

Max followed her gaze and immediately her heart sunk. She couldn't bear it when Jondy whispered hopefully, "Ben?"

…

Review Responses

General Mac Thanks for reviewing!

Lizzie Nithile Walker You got the second one right. I too enjoy "Angel," but I'm most partial to Season Three.

Littledrusilla Yeah, I like Willow when she's being strong.