A/n: sorry it took so long, personal issues, here's the next chapter!

TO SERVE AND TO PROTECT

"Za-Lance!" Anika growled out, glaring at her twin, catching herself from calling him by his real name.

A set of twinkling green eyes, so much like her own, peered back at her, blinking slowly. The ultimate picture of innocence. Anika didn't buy it one iota. She cocked an eyebrow toward her twin, and the Manticore damned male just smiled cherubically.

"Don't play innocent, Lance," Jessikah rolled her sapphire eyes. They were so dark at times they looked purple or black depending on her mood.

Sika as she rebelliously insisted she be known as, was from Unit 8 in the Seattle, Washington facility. She had quickly bonded with the twins from Wyoming, and a day wasn't complete without one of the handlers shouting her designation, 'X5-333'. She knew all about them naming each other, the Massacre, and had heard all about each of Wyoming's infamous Unit 2 X5s.

The sassy transgenic laughingly took her 'discipline' in stride, always quick with a word, first to smile, ever willing and able to cause trouble where she saw fit.

But she was one heckuva soldier, and when she snapped into X5 mode, watch out! That's why she was still twic despite her casual rebellion. She kept the rest of Zane and Anika's detail straight and in line when the situation warranted it with a fierce devotion that rivaled Zack's in some aspects.

She was fun-loving within reasonable bounds, gaining the trust, respect, and more-ever, the general goodwill from those under her command. The handlers jokingly caller her Triple X or Trinity, based upon their mood, but they seemed to let her have her fun as long as she didn't get too carried away, a direct result of her amazing abilities.

Zane also had a sort of crush on her.

Hence the reason why he stopped rolling the discretely hidden paper 'ammunition' he'd been using to torment the rest of the class, the substitute teacher in particular. He turned in his seat to smile charmingly at the Seattle raised twic, who merely shook her head, though she couldn't help but smile back.

Unbelievable, Anika, aka Annie, shook her head.

She was amazed at the power her new second in command held over her brother, and she wasn't the only one. Anika shared a look with one of Sika's unit mates from Seattle, a tanned male named Diego, designation 986.

He gave Anika a shrug, but something in his body language, some hint in his eyes, a subtle change in his scent told Anika that he wasn't happy. She didn't know whether it was because he liked Sika or if it was because he didn't like Zane as an outside transgenic dealing with one of his own.

Turning away from Diego, she couldn't help but risk another glance over at her brother, who was still paying more attention to Sika than his schoolwork.

Anika didn't know how to feel about the fact that Zane was so obviously enjoying flirting with Sika. It wasn't like he was taken…but why then did she feel as if he were betraying one of their own with this attraction? Visions of fiery Jondy, her grayish-blue eyes snapping cold flame, her tiny fists raining deadly accurate and forceful blows, her lethal grace and agility, flashed through Anika's mind.

Jondy, curling up with Zane when she couldn't sleep and Max was busy with Ben; Jondy and Zane pairing up for field exercises, their skills complementary.

Lips pursing and holding back a sigh, Anika looked down at her work, staring at but not seeing the words and questions.

This situation would never have happened if we hadn't been split, Anika reflected, not exactly unhappy, but neither was she leaping for joy.

Tapping her pencil against the desk in time with her thoughts, Anika finally shrugged them off, pushing them aside to be analyzed later. Right now, she had a mission, and that was to get her work done so she wouldn't be inconvenienced by homework later on.

This time she didn't hold back her sigh, but she focused in on her work, scanning her textbook quickly even as her mind formulated answers to the questions on the paper.


Sika broke eye contact with the intriguing Zane, eyes flicking over to his sister, noting that she was the female to his male. Aforementioned sister gave a sigh, and Sika had been aware of her perusal but gave no sign she knew. Anika didn't look happy, and she didn't look sad, more…wistful, disturbed. And that made the usually lively transgenic concerned.

She brushed back her brunette locks, sliding some behind her ear, and caught Diego's disapproving frown. She gave him a questioning look in return, and he just turned irritable eyes away, ignoring her silent inquiries and that hurt most of all.

She genuinely liked the twins from Wyoming, they were fun to be around, always willing to go along with her wacky schemes, and she'd found a male counterpart in Zane for those troublemaking escapades. It didn't hurt that Zane was pretty cute, with those amazing green eyes offset by that growing ebony hair.

Diego was…well, he was Diego, her friend and 'brother' from her Unit, from Seattle, and that was a bond not unlike the one Zane and Anika had with their own, albeit not as extreme.

Sika made a face to herself at the thought of sharing blood. She loved her unit, loved her commanding officer, but she didn't think she could deal with being that closely connected with her group. And the whole cutting the wrists to share blood thing…it was so gross. She had done a lot of weird, crazy things at the behest of her handlers or trainers, but on her own, there wasn't any way that she wanted part of something of that magnitude.

Really.

Aww…who was she kidding? That might be neat to try and duplicate, but only if she got to pick and choose whom she was bonding to. There were some in her unit she'd rather see tossed in another Unit than be so bound to. A certain bitter individual crossed her mind but Sika shoved it away, unwilling to digress where that anathema had come from.

But Diego's snub hurt her in more ways than one. First off, she didn't understand why he was so against her showing an interest in Zane. Diego's 'he's not one of us' wasn't enough of an explanation for her taste. It wasn't like Diego liked her or anything; he just didn't want her to 'get interested in that Wyoming fiver.' Why Zane coming from Wyoming as opposed to Seattle made such a difference was beyond her.

Or maybe, it was because he wasn't from their Unit, she thought. Like, I can't even like someone not under 494s command?

Secondly, Diego was her friend. Or he had been she corrected herself, jotting down a reply to one of the questions on her paper, tapping her foot in concentration. Her eyes roved the rest of the class, settling in on Anika and Diego, both making an effort not to look over at her.

Lastly, it stung her pride. They were part of the same unit for goodness sake and assigned to the same year long detail, they weren't supposed to be at odds with each other, especially not over something so petty and trite. With her being the acting second in command, having one of her own so against her it…well, it rankled quite a bit.

Lately, Sika could see that Anika was gradually becoming dissatisfied with her just like Diego had and it completely baffled and annoyed her. Anika still talked and seemed to enjoy her company, but she was more…reserved.

Well, I'm not putting up with it anymore! Sika decided, and, having a set plan of action, she quickly finished the rest of her questions to turn in to the substitute.


"Annie, hold up!"

To any passerby it would seem like a normal request from a pair of friends, but to Anika's transgenic senses, she heard the implicit command and it stood the hair on her neck and arms to attention.

Taking a deep breath, Anika slowed her stride down minutely, all the while praying to the Blue Lady for strength and patience to deal with an irritated X5-333.

"I want to talk to you," Sika announced as soon as she came abreast.

"I know," Anika simply replied and fell silent. She could feel the other girl's gaze on her, but she let it roll off.

The wind stirs up the water, but the disturbing ripples fade away within moments, she thought to herself.

"You know?"

The wry tone in the other girl's voice curved Anika's lips upward in a sardonic smile.

"Yes. And we'll leave it at that until we get home."

With that parting shot, Anika slipped down the hallway on the right as they came to an intersection in the halls, and Sika was left standing there.


"Ouch."

Sika turned around to glare at her traitorous unit mate, who merely gave her a blank face. Not the stone cold Manticore mask, but closely related. It was the look he gave when he was trying to calm the often rowdy members of their unit down, by not taking any sides.

Usually, Sika welcomed that look, but now she found it patronizing and affronting.

"Do not patronize me," she snapped quietly under the noise of the passing students. Diego's raised eyebrows showed how her attitude caught him unawares and how far out the norm this was.

"I wasn't," he replied mildy.

"Yes, you were. We'll discuss this at home."

"Discuss what?" two male voices chorused. Diego sent a frosty look Zane's way, but Zane had eyes only for Sika.

"Discuss what hell has gotten into us these past three months," she managed evenly, eyes flashing sapphire flames.

"There have been problems?" Zane questioned with a smile curving upon his lips so much like Anika's.

"Why don't you make like your sister, and leave, for all our sakes," Diego sniped smoothly, voice never raising above a polite conversational tone.

Bad mistake, Sika thought as she caught sight of the protective gleam in Zane's eye. Not a wise decision on Diego's part to insult the boy's sister. There was also something else, something more primitive and disturbing, that even now hardened the usually easygoing transgenics face into something so cold and remote and…inhuman.

"That was uncalled for," Sika interceded quickly. She didn't like that new, feral look transforming the Zane she knew. This new Zane was X5-205, the soldier and the member of Unit 2 who helped in the Massacre at Wyoming.

"See you around, Diego. Zane, walk with me."

Sika detested how desperate she sounded to herself, but it was a mix of things that made her want to get Zane away before he tore into Diego.

"Yes, ma'am," Zane drawled, eyes meeting Diego's before coming up to offer his arm to his twic, pointedly ignoring the prickling between his shoulders as Diego's gaze bore into him. He managed to go on with Sika hanging on his arm, though every instinct in him cried out to not turn his back, to meet the challenge.


Diego stared after his friend departing on the arm of that, that Wyoming boy, and he seethed.

Danger, his instincts screamed, watching the back of X5-205 as he took his unit mate away. 205 was dangerous, of that much Diego was certain. There was an edge, an untamed wildness, so to speak, that surrounded the twins from Gillette that had him on his guard. Hearing the stories from the other Gillette trained transgenics had given him nightmares and daydreams to which he reacted poorly.

He did wonder what in their training had made them react that way to the other units at their facility, and he had questioned the other three from Gillette about this infamous Unit that one of his own was gradually becoming besotted with. It didn't set well with him that Zane and Anika were from an elite group so favored by their Facility Director. Most of what he heard was speculation on his informant's parts, and the two they confirmed some of it, but Diego hadn't decided which way he was going to lean in this.

He truly wished his commander and friend X5-494 was here to guide him in what to do. 494 always saw other people clearly, could accurately read others, and had an uncanny sense of how the would turn out. But if Diego were truly honest with himself, he'd just admit, that the twins just creeped him out. That, and they had one of their own who was the twin, clone, or predecessor of his own beloved commander, which was completely freaky.

Oh, they were okay separately, and Diego honestly thought Anika was pretty cute, and much more personable than most of the other female transgenics. But no one, transgenic, anomaly, human or otherwise should have the kind of connection those two seemed to share, something which went beyond normal twin bonds. And he'd been around several transgenic twins who hadn't been separated so he knew the difference.

He strongly suspected it had to do with how their training deviated from that experienced by the 'normal' X5s and the incident to which he referred to as 'the Blooding'. To be that closely allied with others not even related, sharing psychic energies, merging of each others personalities, wants, desires, needs. Joining with their inner animals, becoming a little less human and a lot more…something else, it scared him, scared him very much. It boggled his mind, gave him a headache, just thinking about it.

He didn't want 205 anywhere near or so closely involved with one whom he swore to protect and watch out for.