A/N: Thanks to those who reviewed! Here' s the next chapter…ENJOY!

Fire and Blood

By: human28

Chapter Nine

Ever since she had arrived in Seattle, one single thing had caught her attention. And that was the Space Needle. Although she had pushed it into the back of her mind, having more important things to deal with, she never forgot about it. How could she when every single minute of the day, she could see it towering over the hundreds of dilapidated buildings in Seattle.

Being part-cat, the inner feline in her had a penchant for high places, and she had sworn to herself the second she saw the Space Needle that she would take time to climb it. And now seemed to be a perfect time for that. She was tired, irritated, and very, very pissed.

She and Alec had lost track of 453, and the both of them decided to get some rest before going out again to search for her. You'd think that it would be easy for them to find their target since they were transgenics. But 453 had been running and hiding from Manticore for almost twelve years of her life. She was practically an expert when it came to that.

It was going to prove to be a very difficult task.

"I just wanna crawl into bed," Alec said, not bothering to stifle a yawn. "What number was OC's apartment again?"

"331." Max replied absently, her eyes fixed on the Needle. "You go ahead. I'll catch up with you."

Alec followed her gaze. "The Space Needle, huh?" he shrugged. "I'll come with you if you like."

Max shook her head no. "That's okay. I just need some time with myself, is all."

Alec nodded. "See you later then. But be careful, alright?"

Max stared at him, surprised. He shrugged and smiled tiredly. The sun was beginning to dip, and the night was slowly crawling back to cover the city in darkness. "We've just lost so many already, back at Manticore…I don't want to lose you too."

Max smiled. She knew that Alec cared for her. How many times had he stood by her back at Manticore? But it was rarely when he actually told her how much he cared. "Don't worry. I promise I won't fall off."

He laughed. "Hell would freeze over before that happened."

She watched his retreating back before making her way towards the Space Needle.

…

"This is a streaming freedom video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly 60 seconds. It cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped and it is the only free voice left in the city…

Sam could only stare at the television screen in silent shock. Those eyes. She thought with a frown. She knew those eyes.

…there are certain men who move through the world with impunity. Their actions, no matter how vile are immune from consequence. Edgar Sonrisa is such a man. You've seen him, smiling at political fund-raisers…"

She did not wait for Eyes Only to finish, as she hurriedly switched off her TV. Grabbing her jacket, she exited her apartment and made her way to Foggle Towers, her mind filled with thousands of questions.

Eyes Only was the one who exposed Manticore. The place where she had been created and designed. The place that had haunted her dreams at night. The place that was now laying in burnt ruins. So many questions…and she knew that only the cyber-terrorist could answer them. It was ironic how she had almost stolen from the man who held answers that she so badly needed.

She braked to a stop in front of the upscale apartment-building. Raising her eyes several floors up, she couldn't help but smile at the golden statue still sitting there – waiting for her. Now is not the time for that, Sam. She scolded herself, before climbing up the building using her trusty tools. The hole in the window was still there, temporarily covered by plastic and tape.

Shaking her head in amusement, she ripped it off and made her way in. As she stood in the middle of the living room, brushing the imaginary dust off of her clothes, she failed to notice that someone was in the room – again.

She looked up to see – a mirror?

"Hi."

Sam staggered several steps backward. No – it can't be…impossible.

"I guess we haven't been properly introduced," her mirror image said with a smile that was neither cold nor cheerful. It was strangely crooked…almost empty. "I'm Max. X5-452. You're twin."

Sam opened her mouth to speak but was at loss for words.

Max's smile vanished. Sam watched warily as her twin started to circle her like a hawk circling it's prey. She didn't know why she couldn't move, couldn't speak. Shock had overcome her senses. Something within her told her that X5-452 was very angry.

And she knew why.

She had lived with that guilt for so many years. Her siblings had convinced her that it was the right thing to do. That escape was the only way out of the painful vertigo that was Manticore. But the soldier in her, the X5-453 in her, told her that what she had done was wrong.

After all, it had been drilled into them since day one. Loyalty always comes FIRST.

Sam slowly raised her gaze from the floor to the woman who had her exact same face. And before she knew what had happened, Max's fist came out of nowhere and hit her straight in the face.

And she didn't fight back.

…

Now, on the other side of the opaque wall that separated the living room and the computer room, two males sat quietly on their seats, watching two black silhouettes stand face to face in overwrought silence. The tension radiated from the two women in massive waves, setting Logan and Alec on an edge. They had chosen not to interfere.

And they both waited to see what would happen.

The cyber-terrorist shook his head. "Max is looking for vengeance, isn't she?"

"Not exactly vengeance," Alec said, his eyes fixed on the two figures. "Max just wants 453 to know the price we had to pay for their freedom."

…

"Well now, that felt great." Max said, shaking her fist with a mirthless smile. "I've always wanted to hit a traitor."

Sam stared at her, anger and regret bubbling inside her. She knew what they had done was wrong – that was 453 talking, but they had their reasons for escaping. Now that was Sam talking.

"Don't call me a traitor," Sam hissed, her dark brown eyes flashing.

"Why not?" Max asked menacingly. "That's exactly what you are. You betrayed Manticore. You betrayed all of us."

"We had our reasons!" Sam yelled, her fists clenching and unclenching. "It wasn't Jack's fault that he had seizures. But they still took him away. They took him away, and they cut him open and dissected him." Sam felt tears well up in her eyes. "Do you know how hard that is? Watching your brother get dragged away knowing that he'll never come back?"

Max continued to stare at her in silence.

"When the seizures hit Jondy…" Sam shook her head, willing the tears not to fall. "We knew we couldn't lose her." She stared her twin straight in the eye. "That's when we decided to escape. I know what we did was wrong…but the thought of losing Jondy…" she trailed off.

"So you ran," Max said, her eyes growing dark. "You think life sucked when we were ten? A little schooling, a little brainwashing, some maneuvers outside? You think that was tough?"

Sam held her ground. "Manticore was hell for us."

Max laughed coldly, and shook her head. "Well it was hell for us too. But when you and your little rugrat brothers and sisters left. The temperature just went about a hundred degrees up. You escaped leaving the consequences to us. We were punished because of you. It was double the training. Double the torture. Double the pain."

Sam swallowed. She didn't know… "I didn't know…"

"Shut up!" Max yelled at her. "It was hell for us." She mimicked, her eyes burning. "Do you know what they did to us? The twins?" Sam saw pain flash through her twin's face. "They sent us to Psy Ops. They had to make sure it wasn't genetic. But we did what we had to do. Then we tried to forget. And if we couldn't forget, Manticore had ways of making us not care."

Sam didn't know whether to apologize or just shut up.

Max seemed to read her mind, because she spat out disdainfully. "Sorry won't cut it, 453."

Sam looked away. "We didn't know. We didn't really think about what would happen if we left. All we cared about that time was saving Jondy's life. We didn't want to go through the painful cycle of grief, again. We didn't want to lose another one of ours."

"You lost one," Max said. Her voice leveled down, it became empty…drained. "We lost dozens."

That stung her. But what she said before was true…they didn't know…

"And it was all because of the '09 escape." Sam could feel her gaze on her.. "Double the training. Double the torture. Double the pain. Some of us couldn't take it. They were sent to Reindoc. Others just didn't survive the training. Like I said, hell just became a whole lot hotter after you ran."

Max shook her head and sighed. A tired sigh. It was almost like she revisited those excruciating days in Manticore, and was left all burnt-out. Physically and emotionally. It was as if all energy had been drained from her. "Let's just call it a stalemate." Max said in not more than a mere murmur. "We suffered back there. You suffer now."

Sam drew in a deep breath. She was suffering. It felt like her conscience was being ripped apart. But she knew it would heal. Like all bruises and wounds would. It would heal. At least she knew the truth. That running away was never the answer. Max helped her understand that, and tiny part of her was grateful for it.

The weak smile that graced Max's features surprised Sam. It was weak, but it was genuine. "So we're even then?"

Max shrugged. "What the hell. Besides, I haven't beaten the crap out of your 'siblings' yet. It wasn't entirely you're fault you know." Sam forced out a smile. She vowed to stay out of the way when that time comes. She already had the privilege of experiencing Max's hot temper first-hand, and she had no intention of getting second helpings. "Let's just start over, shall we? I'm Max, or better known as X5-452."

"Sam," she introduced with a smile. "X5-453."

…

TBC…

…

A/N: I know, I know, Max was a bit out of character, but I couldn't help it! Drama, drama, drama! Anyways, what did you think of this chapter? And I'm SO sorry for the lack of BTVS in this chap….they'll come into play in the next chapter…REVIEW!