A/N: Many thanks to the lovely Chan for taking the time to go through the story and correcting my mistakes! Thanks sweetie!

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!

Chapter 4 – Retraining

Over the next few weeks, Max sneaked out into the indoor training room, which resembled a gym, trying to gain some much needed training. She ran, climbed, rolled, flipped and jumped, generally pushing herself to the limit. It was exhausting, but she knew it needed to be done. She had no idea how much she lagged behind in training until that first day back sparring with 547.

One night, as she inflicted kicks and punches onto an unfortunate sandbag, she heard a sound from the door. Not knowing what to expect, she turned apprehensively towards the door. She let out the breath she was holding at the sight that greeted her.

547 was leaning against the wall adjacent to the door, watching her train. He had noticed her absence from her bed for the last few weeks and was growing curious as to what she was up to. They have become what he considered friends in the past few weeks, not that Manticore taught them much about friendship. Ever since that first day they sparred, he had been trying to help her, knowing that she missed 3 years of training. From the training trend in the last few weeks, it appeared that he would remain as her self-assigned training partner. It is beneficial to both myself and the unit for her to perform well, he thought to himself.

"Hey, 547. What are you doing up so late?" Max asked, wiping the sweat off her brow. She was pleasantly surprised to see him there. She did not know what she had expected to see when she turned towards the door, but it definitely wasn't her training partner.

"I should ask you the same question. What are you doing training at this hour? Whole day of training is not enough! Sucker for punishment!" he said, walking towards her, his face set in its customary smile he always sported when they were out of Manticore's watchful eyes.

"I cannot sleep anyway, shark DNA. Might as well try to catch up with you lot. Can't believe how much difference 3 years of training makes," she answered, flopping down on the floor for a break.

"Really? I have shark DNA too, but I just stay in bed. Extra training doesn't appeal to me," he said. Up to now, he was the only one in Unit 4 with the shark DNA. He was glad that there were two of them now. They could keep each other company on those sleepless nights. He sat down in front of her, nudging her foot out of the way.

She jokingly tried to kick his feet away.

"Hey! What's that for?" He asked, a mock offended look on his face.

"For being you," Max retorted, laughing.

They sat down quietly for a while. 547 flicked his eyes at his neighbour. She was staring intently at the ropes dangling from the ceiling hooks, seemingly trying to decide if she should attempt that exercise next.

He hesitated before approaching her with the question which had been on his mind since she joined them, "Been meaning to ask you – what happened to your unit? Why did you all escape?" he asked tentatively, not knowing how she would take it. In their short acquaintance, he had come to realise that had a rather short fuse.

Max turned to look at him, eyebrows raised at the unexpected query. It was not a subject she wanted to talk about, "It's a long story" she said edgily, inspecting her hands. Her knuckles were a bit sore from all the punching, but at least it doesn't hurt as much anymore.

"Hey, I got all the time in the world. And I am not hurrying off anywhere." He said, taking in the appearance of his new unit member. She is really pretty, he thought. But it was hardly surprising considering Manticore designed them that way.

Max cast her mind back to the days before the escape. It now seemed so long ago. All she knew at that time was Manticore, training and her siblings. Her siblings were her whole world. As she remembered Jack, she started telling 547 the story, "My brother had a seizure one day. We were all lined up for one of those routine inspection. He just started shaking, jerking uncontrollably. Then he collapsed. They took him away."

After a slight pause, she continued, "I couldn't sleep as usual, so that night I got up and walked to the labs. I saw them taking him there earlier. When I got there, he was lying on the operating table. They were slicing him up. It was horrible. He was lying there so pale and still. And they were just slicing him like he is some kind of experiment, like a piece of meat. Lydecker was there, looking, sipping his drink," Her voice cracked. She swallowed to clear the lump in her throat.

574 stared at her silently, stunned into silence at the picture painted by her words. Then she continued, a far-away expression on her eyes, as if she was seeing it all over again.

"One night not long after that, I started seizing. It started with my hands, then the rest of my body. I fell off my bed. Zack and the rest of my siblings got up to help me. We must have caused quite a commotion. Because the guards came in with their guns. My siblings fought them. Eva got hold of the gun and we ran out to the hallway. They were holding me up, and Eva was leading the way. I had no idea what we were doing. Lydecker suddenly appeared, blocking our path. We stopped and Eva pointed the gun at him. Lydecker was faster, he shot her. He SHOT her, right in front of all of us. She fell in front of me, the gun she was holding slid away from her. It slid right up to my feet,"

Feeling her throat constrict, Max forced herself to take a deep breath to calm herself. Even now, she could never speak of that night without choking up. Eva DIED trying to protect her. She could not help the feeling of sadness that washed through her as she thought of her sibling's premature death. It all seemed so wasted.

"Zack gave us the command to escape. I was confused. I mean, escape to what? We jumped out of the window, ran to the woods and split up. Zack said that it was tactically safer that way. Less risk of tactical exposure. I was paired up with Jondy, but I fell though the ice and by the time I got out, I lost her."

"I escaped. But I was alone. It was a prolonged exercise of Escape and Evade for 3 years. Then somehow Manticore found out my location, and sent two X5s to collect me. They succeeded in bringing me back here, obviously. So here I am now!"

Max looked up to find 574's eyes on her, full of sympathy. 574 have no idea what to say. He could almost feel her pain at the loss of her sibling and her failure to stay free, after all they had done. He took a deep breath and let it out.

"None of us really knew what happened that night. Obviously no one told us anything. We just saw you all running from our dorm window. By that time, the alarm came on and we were in lock-down. Next thing we knew, it was re-indoctrination and psy-ops. It wasn't pleasant, but bearable. We lost a lot of freedom, and they were much stricter afterwards. I would guess that you must have gone through worse since they brought you back."

"Yeah. Manticore wasn't too happy that their million dollar R&D prototypes ran away." Max said wryly.

"You called your unit members Zack and Eva, 452? Why not use their designation?" 574 asked curiously.

Max smiled, "We heard the guards call each other names. It was Zack's idea to give us all names. It started off as some sort of game, a secret only our unit knew about. We were pretty close. Zack is my CO. Eva is our 2IC."

"What is your name then?" 547 asked, curious.

Max hesitated. Knowing instinctively she could trust 547, she began to relax, letting her guard down in front of 547. "Max. My name is Max"

"Max," 547 tested her name out loud, "Suits you,"

"You should have a name too. 547 is a bit of a mouthful" Max said.

"Hey, great idea. Hmm…what should I call myself" 547 rubbed his chin, thinking.

"How about Brat?" Max suggested in a straight face.

He started at her, aghast.

"Hey! That's not nice. Maybe Tank? Brings to mind a strong young man like myself," he said, turning his head sideways to look at his muscles, flexing them.

Max snorted and laughed, "Yeah, right! I think the name has to reflect how much you like to talk! And the way you could talk your way out of anything. How about Chat or Yap? Maybe Gabby, for having the gift of the gab,"

"Gabby sounds effeminate! Its an insult to my masculinity," He frowned.

"Gab, then! Better?" Max suggested.

547 paused, considering the name. Then he smiled, "Gab. I like it. Gab it is then!" He said, standing up, stretching. As usual, he couldn't sit still for long.

"You are going?" Max asked, slightly disappointed, her eyes following him as he stood up. She found that she liked his company. The rest of unit 4 (she was still unable to call them her unit) was friendly enough to her. Although she still felt somewhat removed from them. She suspects that the distance was just because she was a new-comer to their unit.

She looked up to see Gab offering her his outstretched hand.

"Nah... So are you going to train or what? I'm more challenging than that sandbag over there! You should pick on someone your own size anyway, not a helpless sandbag. Okay, Max?"

Over the past week Max and Gab developed the habit to train in the gym every night. It started off rather painfully for Max as she tried to improve her fight techniques. Gab enthusiastically threw her around while giving her pointers. Unfortunately for him, Max was a quick study. Within a week, the tables were turned. Max had improved to the point where it was Gab who was being thrown around, much to his disgruntlement.

THUMP

A small foot landed on his back. A groan was issued from the body under said foot.

"Max, do you have to do that?" Gab complained.

Max had mastered an amalgamated Manticore plus street fight technique which of course, involved some dirty moves. She aimed her leg forward in a move to plant a foot at her assailant's groin, giving just enough time for the assailant to notice the move. Obviously the assailant will then try to block her kick or move away, slightly bending down in doing so. Max was then able to blur to his side while he was distracted, grab him from behind in an inverse headlock and smash her knees into his guts. Releasing the headlock, she then brought her elbow down to his neck while he was bent over. He would fall, letting her plant her foot on his back. This all happened in split second.

Feeling no remorse at all, Max grinned, "Sorry. Had to get back at you for all these time you were bullying me! Come on, I didn't even hit that hard. Don't be such a sissy,"

"You could have caught me in a real important part of my anatomy. I could have turned into a real sissy," He mumbled irritably. He was beginning to regret getting involved in Max's training sessions.

"Yeah, yeah… You are like what? 13? You are in Manticore. What do you think you need that part of your anatomy for?" Max said, reaching out a hand to pull him up.

"Hey, you're insulting my masculinity again! What's your problem? And anyway, I think I am more like 14. Not sure though. Manticore never bothered to tell us when we were born!" Gab said, grabbing her hand.

And yanked her down while he bounced up.

They both laughed. Max got up, moving into a fighting stance. "Come on! Again!"

"I am a sucker for punishment. But no more dirty tricks from you, soldier!" Gab said, eyeing his adversary warily.

They traded kicks, punches and blocks. As it continued, they both realised that they were almost evenly matched, for now at least. Max tried harder to break the tie.

"Ready to give up, Gab?" Max said, blocking a chop to the neck, ducking and shouldered Gab in the chest.

Clap, clap, clap

Both Max and Gab swivelled round to the sound from the door.

422 and 481 was standing there. 481, their 2IC, was clapping.

"Well…well… What do we have here? Sparring? So early in the morning?" he asked, with a small smile on his face.

"Hey 481. You are up early. Bugles not starting for a couple of hours. And with 422? What are you up to?" Gab retorted, waggling his eyebrows. Sweat dripping down his face as he wiped it.

Ruffled at what he was implying, 422 frowned at Gab, "What are you talking about? We were on our way back from Med Bay. 593 was having seizures."

"Is he okay?" Max asked, concerned. She knew what it was like having the seizures. Sad really. So much for being designed as a perfect soldier. They couldn't even get the serotonin balance right.

"He should be fine. I guess he will be there for a couple of days till he recovers" 481 answered. Changing the topic, he said, "452, you are doing well. You couldn't really tell from the way he usually behaves, but 547 is one of our better fighters. You all been doing this for awhile now?" He walked into the gym, 422 trailing behind him.

Max nodded, "Had to catch up with the rest of the unit. It's much harder that what it was before…" before we escaped, she thought. "Can't let unit 4 down, you know," She continued, not wanting to remind them about her past.

481 looked between her and Gab, "You were calling 547 Gab? Your old unit used names with each other, didn't you all. I see you are starting to do the same here,"

"Yeah, much as we love our designation… Gab seems suitable for him. Gift of the gab, you know" Max explained, rather warily. She was not sure where exactly she stands with 481. She hoped he would not report them,

Oblivious to her feelings, Gab slapped her playfully her on the arm. "It's your bad influence,"

"He's in denial about his gifts," 481 said with a smile. He detected the wariness in Max's eyes and said reassuringly, "Don't worry, we won't tell anyone. We understand,"

422, who had been silent throughout the entire exchange, shot a look at 481 out of the corner of her eyes and said hesitantly, "481 and I had names when we went on an away mission couple of years ago."

"Her cover was Valerie. She was supposed to be my sister. And I was Matt. But it was just a cover" 481 said and shrugged, not wanting to make it sound like a big deal. "Anyway later I thought, what's the harm in having names, right? So when we got back here, we continued using those names. I called her Val and she called me Matt. Not in front of anyone though. Didn't think of telling the others – not sure what they think of it."

Nodding in understanding, Max said, "I know exactly what you mean. Sometimes I wonder if all of us feel the same. Maybe the rest have names as well. We just never tell each other. Oh, you can call me Max, by the way." Max grinned.

A couple of nights later…

"He is so damned infuriating," Max grouched. A frown marred her features as she recalled the incident earlier that morning before dawn. She was in the gym training as usual. Gab had enough abuse for the week, so she was training alone.

-Flashback -

A sudden noise which sounded suspiciously like a snort startled her into loosening her grip on the ropes. Not the smartest move, she thought as she landed painfully on the ground, the wind knocked out of her. She remained still, trying to catch her breath. Damn, she thought. She need to improve her focus.

A voice drawled, "So 452… Enjoying life in captivity?"

Max looked up from her position on her floor, and wish she hadn't. 494 was standing a few metres away, arms folded across his chest. She frowned in annoyance.

"Go away, 494," she said, brushing off the dirt from her clothes as she got up.

Showing no signs of hearing her words, he took a step towards her, "Catching up with all the lovely training you missed, I see," 494 had seen her in the gym as he headed back to his dorm after the debriefing from one of his assignments.

"Yeah, thanks to you. Without you, I'll still be in Seattle, FREE. Now, do you mind leaving me in peace?" Max spat at him. She was wishing he would just go away and leave her alone. He was now standing only a couple of feet in front of her, invading her personal space.

"Well, I was just following orders. It was nothing personal, you know. Even if you runaways were responsible for my time in psy-ops," 494 said with fake sincerity. His large hazel eyes took in her sweaty form. As his nose caught her scent, he wondered how she could manage to smell so appealing after all that work out. Outwardly, he wrinkled his nose in an exaggerated show of disgust, making sure she noticed that he found her smell offensive.

Feeling rather self-conscious, she glared at him and retorted, "Obviously all that time in psy-ops did nothing to improve your personality,"

494 raised his eyebrows, "My personality does not require improvement. I even have been told that I could be very charming when I want to. I just don't see the point on wasting it on traitors like you," he sneered condescendingly.

Max's lips compressed as she fought to keep her temper in check, clenching her fist to stop them from lashing out at him. She will not let him have the satisfaction of seeing her lose her temper. Not to mention it would probably alert the guards. Forcing her face into its Manticore mask, she waved a hand and said dismissively, "Whatever, Jackass. I am not going to waste anymore of my time talking to you," Max decided to leave before she did something she regrets. Throwing him a final glare, she brushed past him and walked towards the door.

"Just what we expected, running again," she heard him say snidely as the door swung shut behind her.

She bit back the urge to growl.

-End Flashback-

"Who?" Joshua asked, startling her out of her thoughts.

"494. That's who!" Max spat out in disgust, "It's like he's got a personal grudge against me or something, that creep! Keeps coming out with all sorts of smart-ass comments,"

She was at the basement with Joshua and some other so-called anomalies. Now that she knew them, she wondered why they were called such a thing. True, their appearance would not be what you call pretty, but most of them were as normal as any of the other transgenics where it mattered.

Since her reintroduction back to the normal Manticore schedule, she had found a way back to the basement. With her newly acquired standard issue Manticore 'toolkits', she managed to jam the visual monitors and fool the locking devices of the cell doors into thinking that the anomalies were still safely locked up in their cells. Thus allowing the anomalies some degree of freedom at night, between guard patrols. They were still confined to the basement, but at least they were not locked up in the tiny cell.

"The one who brought you back here? Tell me where he is and I'll beat him to a pulp," Hulk growled menacingly, cracking his knuckles. Max named him after the character in the pre-Pulse show, Incredible Hulk. It was really suitable for him. Hulk was one of the many X3s prototypes whose DNA were modified to produce a much stronger, tougher breed of soldier. The result was that he and other similar prototypes ended up being 2m tall generally, and were built like, well, the Incredible Hulk.

With a thoughtful look, rubbing his chin, Kelpy the chameleon said, "Actually, we should thank 494. Because without him, Max wouldn't be here and we would still be sitting in that cramped cell. So we shouldn't really punish him for it!"

Max groaned, "Yeah, letting you guys out really was worth all the torturous training they put us through,"

"But," Kelpy continued, ignoring Max, "I also fully support Hulk's idea! I could even help. I could blend into the surrounding and catch him unawares," To demonstrate the point, Kelpy blended to match the crate he was leaning on. He turned brown to match the wooden shades, complete with the all the fixings.

"Make up your mind who's side you are on, okay Kelp?" Cammy joined in. She is one of the other chameleons in the basement. Quite a few of them were bred, until Manticore decided that they were a failure. The chameleons never satisfied Manticore's tests as they were not able to blend into their surroundings and unblend on command. Hence the stamp of failure. The fact was that the chameleons couldn't help blending into their surroundings during the tests as it was an automatic reflex for them when they were nervous. And the Manticore lab techs and guards always made them nervous. However, under normal circumstances, they have control over their blending, like the way Kelpy blended into the crate.

Max giggled as Kelpy snapped back to his own human shade as Cammy jabbed him painfully in the arm. It always amazes her how Manticore never picked up on the potential of the basement dwellers. On the other hand, it is probably better for them if Manticore didn't.

Kelpy rubbed his abused arm, and said to Max, "Seriously, I'll be more than happy to get back at 494 for you. After all, if its not for you, we will still locked up all the time. Now at least we get to move about a bit," He put his arms around Cammy, and added mischievously, "And you introduced me to my soulmate,"

Cammy smacked his arms away from her shoulders in mock irritation, "Uh…yeah, thanks Max. For introducing me to this irritating creature,"

"Fun for Kelpy to trick 494," Joshua said excitedly.

"Nah," Max said, shaking her head, "Its not worth the risk. Thanks for the offer anyway,"

"You sure? I think Kelpy should do it. It will be fun," Cammy said, eyes twinkling. As an idea popped into her head, she said, "I read somewhere about these tricks people play on each other…"

t.b.c.-

A/N: Okay people, reviews and constructive criticisms would be appreciated. I am beginning to have niggling doubts about this story due to the lack of reviews ;P

Many thanks to HoneyX5-452 and angelofdarkness78 for taking the time to review. Much appreciated!