A/n: Sorry it's taken me so long to update this one. I've had terrible trouble trying to think where this storyline might go. I'm amazed by the amount of positive feedback it's got, so I'll try and continue it when I have time. Shit, I've just realised I've got four stories going at once! How'd that happen?

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Chapter 2

Max stood on the ridge overlooking Manticore. She smiled as she watched another wing burst into flames, knowing that most of its former inhabitants were running for their lives in the forest behind her.

"I hope you got out, Joshua," she whispered. Good luck, big fella.

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"Lydecker." the colonel barked into his cell phone, keeping his eyes on the road as he drove.

"It's me." he recognised Logan's voice instantly and responded with surprise.

"Hello son, didn't think I'd be hearing from you again so soon."

"Neither did I. Max came home tonight."

"She survived? Is she all right? Is she Max?"

"Yes, on all counts. And she wasn't alone."

"Zack?"

"No. Renfro, Brin and another X5. They're here at the warehouse where we met for the first mission. Want to visit?"

"You actually captured Renfro? I'll be there in thirty minutes."

"I thought you might say that. And no tricks this time, ok?"

"Tricks? I don't play tricks."

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Back at the warehouse, Syl finally broached the subject Max had been dreading most. "Did Zack get out too? Is he ok?"

"He's dead," whispered Max, the pain and grief in her eyes all too easy to read. Silently, the three siblings embraced in a group hug, drawing strength from one another.

"Our brother was a great soldier. Shame he could be such a pain in the ass too," said Krit softly. They stood silently together for a moment, each with their own memories, before Max spoke again.

"I … I just wanted to say… Thanks, you guys, for sticking around all this time. I know how risky it was for you…"

"No problem, baby sister," said Syl. "Logan was the only part of you we had left; we weren't gonna let anything happen to him."

"He was a real mess when we first got back, you know," added Krit. "He came home, and sat on his couch for a week until he keeled over. The only way he could find to deal was to take on Manticore. So he did."

"You picked a good one, Max. Don't let him get away." Max smiled at her sister.

"I won't. If Manticore's taught me one thing, it's that there's no such thing as happily ever after. You just have to try and make happily ever now last as long as you can."

"Does that mean we should expect wedding invites?" Syl grinned.

Max flushed. "Now let's not get ahead of ourselves…"

Lydecker chose that moment to roar in in his Hummer.

"Déjà vu," said Krit, lowering his gun as Lydecker climbed out of the car.

"It's good to see you back, Max. Where are the prisoners?"

"Brin and Alec are locked in the van. The good director is right over there, where we can keep an eye on her."

"How the mighty have fallen, Renfro."

"You can't win, Deck. I won't tell you anything. There's no way you'll let me go now I know who Eyes Only is."

"True. We are going to kill you. But it's up to you how painful it's going to be. Give us some answers, and I'll at least make it quick."

"Hey, if anyone's going to be doing any torturing, it'll be me," announced Max. "I want payback for what she did to Tinga. And no one shoots my man and gets away with it."

Lydecker looked uncomfortable at this. "She shot Logan? Was he badly hurt?"

"No, just a flesh wound. She shot him in the leg, so it's not bothering him."

"Why not? Why didn't it hurt him?" Renfro called out from the corner.

"None of your business, bitch. If we didn't need the contents of your peroxided brain I'd have killed you by now. Do not piss me off any more."

"Where is Logan, anyway?"

"Getting together a team to take out the people still tracking the implant in my neck. That was how they found us when I escaped. And here he is now. Logan's car pulled up alongside Lydecker's hummer and he climbed out."

"Hey, everyone." Max hurried over to him and wrapped an arm around his waist. He smiled at her at the gesture. Krit cleared his throat and Logan tore his eyes away from Max's. "I've got a team of explosives experts blowing up those trackers right now. They'll call when it's done. How are things going with Renfro?"

"They're not. She's still not giving us anything." Krit replied.

"I'll talk to Eyes Only. Alone."

"No way. Max pulled Logan possessively closer to her. "You stay away from him or I'll kill you right now."

"It's ok, Max." Logan said in a tone of voice that meant he would brook no argument. "The three of you take Lydecker to see Alec and Brin. Maybe she'll tell me something useful." Reluctantly, the colonel and the three X5s left the prisoner alone with him. He sat on a crate opposite her as she asked him a question.

"So why aren't you in pain, Eyes Only?"

"Very long and complicated story, Renfro. One I'm not going to bother you with."

"Then here's another question. Why help the X5's? For 452, or do you have an ulterior motive?"

"Her name is Max. And Eyes Only doesn't need any ulterior motive to help people, Director."

"Oh, yes, the Batman act. But my query still stands. Why are you on their side? You know they're all murderers."

"Yes. I know. But I also know what people like you did to them to make them that way."

"Oh, no. We didn't have to. It was imprinted into their DNA from day one. They're all predators. 493… Ben, was a great success in that respect."

"Oh, Renfro. Is that all you come up with? The old nature versus nurture argument? If that's all you have to say…"

"It's not. I want to offer you a deal."

"A deal? What could you possibly have that I would want?"

"The ability to call off the hounds from your precious Max." Renfro spat the name venomously.

"No. Even if I believed you, which I don't, you know who I am and what I look like. You'd soon catch us up."

"But I could give you my word… please, Logan, they'll kill me in cold blood…"

"In cold blood? You murdered their sister, a young mother, in a DNA extraction chamber. You tried your best to get your hands on a four-year-old boy so you could experiment on him too. You are a monster, and you plead with me for mercy? You'd betray us faster than I can hack the Seattle PD mainframe." Logan turned to go.

"I know where 599 is," blurted Renfro. Logan stopped, glancing back at her.

Max burst in, incandescent with rage. "Liar! Zack is dead! You played the footage to me over and over again! You made me listen to his last words, listen to his heart beating in my chest! You showed me his body, listed the organs you'd harvested! He's dead!"

"We brought you back, 452, why not him? We were able to keep him on life support for long enough to build him new artificial organs, and our neural implant technology is far more advanced than that toothpick in your brain."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, what's she talking about?" Asked Logan. Max's anger was frightening him; he could tell she was about ten seconds from snapping Renfro's neck. He laid a gentle hand on her tense shoulder. "Max?" She spun around as if she were going to attack him too. Max blinked, recognised Logan, and seemed to sag from her aggressive posture before stepping forward and burying her face in his chest. He could do no more than wrap his arms around her, gentle sobs shaking her body as he held her close.

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Tell me what you thought. And I still need storyline ideas. I don't think I'm going to bother with the whole familiar thing, but what should I do instead? Any thoughts?