Next chapter, there's nothing much to add, just building for the main event in the next chapter and giving a bit of introspection from our two leads. I appreciate all comments, even critical, follows, and favs. Again big thanks to my Beta- Eff Dot.

Guest- Thank you for the review. I hope you continue to enjoy the story since it will only get more interesting from here on out.

Chapter One: Peeping Tom

Seattle, Washington (2018)

Ben maintained his discreet vigilance upon the Blue Lady, attempting to attract as little attention as possible. Outwardly, he displayed nothing but a remote calmness, but on the inside, he felt broken, torn apart, nothing but jagged edges waiting to break. Every time he tried to do better, he inevitably failed; Jack, Eva, Alec, Skip, Bruce, Kelly, and now, it seemed, the Blue Lady had finally given up on him. Because what else could he believe after briefly touching the Good Place, only to have it stripped away?

'You're nothing but a freak!'

Kelly's words still beat through his head, reminding him of what he was: a predator. He'd been created to kill. Raising his hands, he looked at them with contempt.

With these hands, he'd torn apart those that Lydecker charged him to hunt down and execute. He'd snapped Skip's neck after he was hit by a car. His hands had exterminated the gang that killed Bruce without mercy, had crippled Nathan when he tried to hurt Kelly. Killer's hands, that inflicted pain with pleasure, and which had made the love in Kelly's eyes change to terror. Afterward, Kelly, who claimed to love him, gazed at him with terror and said those painful words that continued to reverberate through his mind, freakfreakfreak.

That's all he was, a predator: good for nothing but killing.

Refocusing on the Blue Lady, Ben began to consider the possibility that he should stop fighting his true nature and embrace what he was: a killer. Would she look upon him with love again if he followed this path? Would she protect those he cherished with all his heart, the only ones that still mattered? His family and brother? The only ones that knew what he was but still looked at him with love?

Remembering the love of his family made the pain of the past few months fade a little, except memories of Skip, Bruce, and Alec still hurt. Could all of it be forgiven? Maybe. Yet when Ben refocused on the Blue Lady, he understood maybe was better than nothing.

It was this idea that settled the storm crashing through his mind. Ben wasn't going to fight it anymore. Keeping his gaze focused on the Blue Lady, he knew what needed to be done. He wasn't an ordinary, and it was pointless to keep pretending to be something he was not. Besides, if he proved his worthiness, the Blue Lady would extend her protection to everyone. But how could he illustrate that his devotion was sincere?

Standing up, Ben pulled his jacket tight, nodding to the pastor as he walked out of the church. He ignored Seattle's surrounding noise and bustle. Instead, he considered ideas to appease the Blue Lady and earn her protection for himself and those he loved. Turning a corner, his mind jumped between scenarios with rapid-fire precision, discarding most but pausing on a few ideas that held merit. It was a chance that diverted his attention to the couple exiting a grand house. "Simon, please come to dinner." A girl's voice, "I'd like to see you tonight." Merely another distraction, and he was about to tune them out but paused at the response.

"I don't know Rachel," that voice, it… it was his voice, but that was… wait, could it be Alec? "Let me make sure I have no other obligations, and if not, I'd be happy to join you and your father for dinner."

His thoughts ground to a halt Ben redirected his full attention to the couple. He eyed them cautiously as he stepped behind a nearby gate, beyond their notice if they were ordinaries. And if not…?

He left the question hanging as he watched them. A glance showed that the girl was beautiful in a unique way, with long dark hair and pale skin. Although her clothing was simple, he could see it was custom-tailored and expensive. However, when he dropped his attention to the man, taking in his height, weight distribution, and hair. Ben noted that it matched his, much like the stranger's voice, but would his face? Could it be Alec? He could see no barcode since the collar was too high and likely covered the genetic marker identifying his twin.

The man shuffled in place as he squeezed the girl's hands before dropping them and stepping away from her. He shifted his briefcase and began to dust off his suit jacket, taking the opportunity to look around casually. Ben caught sight of his face and felt himself stiffening because that was his face. Alec's face.

For a few seconds, his mind went blank, no reaction coming to mind as he stared at his twin brother, but training and Zack's inner voice made him focus. His twin was scoping out the area, a hunter looking to find the quarry he felt at his back. He made no overt moves but subtly pushed himself further into the foliage surrounding the gate as he continued to survey Alec, looking for any differences or traces of the boy who liked to smile and always made him laugh and… who he abandoned nine years ago.

Half-asleep, Alec opened the window at Ben's signal. "We're leaving tonight. You need to follow me."

"What? What do you mean?" Alec took in Ben's expression and instantly came awake.

Alec's unit leader, 387, stopped next to him at the window. "Lights out. Return to your unit, 493. With me, 494."

"His name is Alec," Ben stated with heat. "Now come on, we have to go." A movement above caught his eye and he waved up at Zack to wait. Ben had persuaded them to give him time to grab Alec, but they weren't going to stick around much longer.

Following his gaze, Alec leaned forward to see out the window, eyes widening at the group on the roof. Then he stepped back gaze downwards, closer to 387, who had remained silent. Finally, Alec met Ben's gaze. There were tears in his eyes. "I can't leave them, Ben. They're - my family." He glanced over at 387, who seemed almost torn.

Ben's tone turned pleading. "We can't stay here. Max is in trouble. They'll feed her to the nomalies. You've got to come with me."

The tears spilled over, running down Alec's cheeks, and Ben registered he was also crying as he realized he was going to have to leave his brother behind.

Before he could say anything else, there were shouts from the hall, and the group above him waved frantically to get his attention. Glancing over his shoulder, 387 took charge and shielded the window from view. "Time to go, 493. We'll cover for you."

With one last look at the sorrow mirrored in his brother's identical face, Ben shimmied up the pipe, leaving him behind.

Now, thirty feet from his position, nine years later, stood Alec. How? Was it a coincidence? Traveling to Seattle was not part of his original plan. It had been a split-second decision. But that decision had led him to his lost twin… Could it be the Blue Lady's doing? Did this mean she'd not abandoned him as he initially believed? At this implied possibility, Ben couldn't suppress the tremor that ran along his body as he looked over at his twin, curiosity and apprehension building on whether he escaped from Manticore or was on an assignment?

Ben remained as still as possible, watching Alec refocus on the girl. "Hopefully, I'll see you tonight," he stated evenly, a friendly smile gracing his features before dropping a kiss on her cheek. That smile seemed genuine, and Alec's eyes lit up with happiness as he looked at the girl… did his twin love her? With that, Alec turned away, a frown covering his previous smile as he moved further from the girl and started down the block.

Ignoring the girl, he waited until Alec was a reasonable distance from his location but still within sight before falling in behind. Careful with his movements, Ben used every bit of Manticore's training and outside knowledge that he possessed to keep pace with Alec. Making sure he remained invisible, since his twin continued to look over his shoulder. Eventually Alec began to use standard Manticore evasive tactics as he made his way further down the street. However, Ben was resolute and followed him cautiously, sometimes losing sight of his twin but always keeping pace from a safe distance.

All the while, he was wracked with indecision. Should he walk up to him? Zack would call this thinking idiotic. Wait and ambush Alec? Kidnap him? Leave him be? No, that wasn't an option because it was Alec who liked to laugh, cause trouble, and was always there for him. After all, they were brothers. Who met him by fate or random chance in Manticore, and now fate had… No, he realized it wasn't fate but reaffirmed that it had to be the Blue Lady because she had not abandoned him.

But when Alec cut a sharp corner into an alley, Ben pushed his questions aside and forced himself to focus, since if he followed his twin into the alley, it would leave him visible. Looking at his options, Ben found a building to the left that would give him an excellent tactical advantage without leaving him open to exposure and used the drainage pipe to crawl up to the roof.

He looked over the edge to refocus on Alec. His breath caught when he found Alec getting into a Manticore Humvee, Lydecker addressing him from the driver's seat. He quickly ducked back as the instinct to flee from his former CO nearly overpowered his desire to remain close to his twin. Forcing down his fear, Ben refocused on his objective and looked over the edge of the building, tuning in to better understand their conversation. Alec was giving Lydecker a full debrief. Berrisford was his target; his cover was that of a music teacher. Simon Lehane. So he was on a mission, which meant he was still loyal to Manticore. How to best initiate contact?

As he started considering the best possible option to approach Alec, his twin looked up, nearly sighting him before he could duck back. Remaining still and forcing his breaths to be even and slow, Ben waited, letting the sounds from below drift up to guide his moves. When he heard the vehicles start up, Ben slid closer cautiously, watching the two Humvees roll forward and eventually disappear into Seattle's traffic, Alec aboard.

Again the question surfaced: what should he do?

He discarded the question quickly since the answer was obvious. The Blue Lady had given him another chance. This time he would not fail his twin. Ben would not abandon Alec. Which meant he needed to prepare accordingly and strategize. His twin was still part of Manticore, and getting to him wouldn't be easy. Alec was on an assignment. Working from that angle could give him a place to start and possibly an advantage to use later. Standing up, Ben dusted off his clothes absently as he began to analyze what he'd uncovered.

Despite the risk of imprisonment or other variable ends awaiting him if Manticore recaptured him, Ben felt content. That feeling of hollowness that had been hounding him since Kelly - no, before that - was becoming less painful as purpose set in. Because after all this time, he'd found Alec, and he wasn't going to fail him or the Blue Lady. Not this time.

Seattle, Washington (2018)

494 paused outside Rachel's home when he noted the trembling had resurfaced. He grimaced and forcefully stilled the quiver running along his hands, which had continued to plague him since Rachel said those three words:

'I love you.'

No one had ever said that to him, not beyond an empty platitude. However, he understood the basic concept of love and what it entailed. The emotional responses it brought about were a valuable tool that, when properly applied, could be advantageous when he needed to manipulate a target. However, he only genuinely experienced that emotion around his unit. And Ben…

494 squashed that thought, his old anger resurfacing as he considered 493, knowing it was pointless to dwell on the actions of the 09ers. Or that because of them, he'd spent six months in Psy-Ops, then another three months in solitary and reeducation to be reset to Manticore's new standards. Now it seemed after all this time playing house, as 647 joked, 494 found himself dwelling upon the emotions he swore would never affect him, not since Ben - 493 - betrayed Manticore. Swallowing hard, he clenched his hands, tightening them until he felt the bite of leather from his briefcase against the flesh of his palm, willing this emotional upheaval to evaporate like so many other things forcefully removed by Psy-ops.

Except, every time he tried to push aside Rachel's words, images of her face and the sincerity in her words made him wish this wasn't a mission and that he was Simon Lehane. A music teacher who enjoyed teaching music to a lovely girl who cared for him without question. No 494 reminded himself that she cared for Simon Lehane, not a transgenic that wasn't even fully human. Funny, whoever thought he'd be jealous of an ordinary, and a dead one at that? 372 would call that emotional response pathetic, Lydecker would find it pointless and therefore useless, and 319 would be sympathetic.

Taking a deep breath, 494 refocused his cluttered thoughts. This was just a mission, another assignment. He merely needed to follow his objective and continue playing house… And when necessary, eliminate the target, Robert Berrisford, a good man…

He realized he just categorized his target into the territory he only associated with his fellow X5s instead of leaving him as an objective that required a distant outlook. 494 frowned at his foolishness; this type of thinking had seen his Psy-op visit extended from three months to six after the 09 escape. Six painful months.

However, with that reminder, 494 could focus his attention on the mission, pushing aside Rachel's words and his conflicting sentiments on the assignment to the back of his mind, where they belonged. This was a mission, nothing more. With that point firmly in mind, he began to make his way to the designated rendezvous. His handlers would be waiting for a report and then escort him back to Manticore. During the weekdays, he was allowed stay in Seattle, but this was a weekend, so he was required to return to base.

But as he made his way further down the road, another annoyance for the last three weeks cropped up, his shadow, as he dubbed the vague recognition that he was being followed.

At first, it was merely a suspicion that he let go. This was Seattle. However, as the weeks progressed and his shadow remained a constant irritant, 494 acknowledged that his suspicion was more than mild paranoia. He was being followed. Trying to pursue his shadow unobtrusively had proven fruitless. He lost him at a sector checkpoint. Taking evasive actions and sidestepping his pattern by changing or being spontaneous (even Lydecker commended his ingenuity in the field) proved to be another waste of effort. As did police security, since their video recordings showed nothing useful nor pinpointed who his shadow was.

494 briefly considered informing his handlers of 'the shadow,' except, call it ego, but he wanted to clear this up by himself, without Manticore's interference. He also understood what would happen if he approached his handlers without evidence. His reliability in the field would be questioned. And he would be placed on standby until his dependability was reevaluated because only the best were allowed to operate alone in the field. 494 considered himself the premier example of Manticore's finest, despite 372's and 510's claims to being the superior model.

It's how he eventually implemented a strategy to catch his shadow. 494 recognized that he wouldn't be able to throw off his stalker unless he was at his A-game. Which meant he had to tackle this problem as 494, the premier example of X5s, because Simon Lehane had failed, and so did Manticore's standard tracking techniques. Upon further consideration, 494 concocted a simple yet effective strategy, one that came about after his second attempt to track his shadow had failed. By luck, he ran into a man that loosely fit his description. 494 helpfully dubbed him "fake-494" to give the guy some context. After observing fake-494 for a week, carefully since his shadow hadn't let up, he had a plan. Switch with fake-494 using misdirection, and when his shadow continued to follow his double, 494 had every intention of reversing their current relationship.

After all, he was the alpha; his shadow could suck it.

With that, he began to make his way towards fake-494. Though his handlers would question his lateness, they would make no protest as long as he had a good excuse, and he had plenty to spare. Moving with assurance, 494 felt his earlier tension dissipate, pleasure resurfacing at the promise of permanently removing one annoyance from his routine and life.

Something was off with Alec, Ben couldn't put his finger on it, but after Alec exited the gym, his movements weren't right. This oddness could be attributed to his twin's assignment. Because even he could see the assignment was beginning to affect his twin more than Alec probably wished. It became evident after the girl declared her love for Alec, inciting emotions from his twin, which seemed legitimate, at least as far as he could tell. However, Ben recognized that he wasn't the best at understanding emotional reactions. After all, he had believed Kelly loved him.

Ben pushed aside the painful reminder and refocused on Alec. If his twin's earlier reaction proved true, perhaps he should approach him. Over the last three weeks, his observations told him little to nothing about his twin's present disposition, only signifying that as far as Alec was concerned, he was the perfect Manticore soldier. This was a disheartening contrast to the twin he remembered, who enjoyed laughing and was free with his affections. Alec had become a man who assumed one mask with ease before donning another with cold efficiency and caused Ben's irritation with himself to rise.

He shouldn't have abandoned Alec that night; he should have knocked him over the head and dragged him from Manticore. Little wonder the Blue Lady had nearly forsaken him, and that Kelly… believed him to be nothing but a monster. Although his present actions wouldn't make up for his error nine years ago, nor mistakes beyond that point, Ben reminded himself that it was a chance, and he would not fail the Blue Lady or his twin.

Still, Alec's movements made no sense as he continued to study him. They were not the cautionary steps of a soldier or even the civilian he was attempting to pass himself off as. In fact, it was like he was following an ordinary without a care in the world.

Because early on, when his twin discovered he was being followed, Alec stopped attempting to act like a civilian after leaving his target's residence, instead making repeated attempts to catch him. He never succeeded, of course. Ben had years of experience dodging Lydecker, and though Bruce had been retired, he used to be a tracker for the FBI. He'd taught Ben things even Manticore remained ignorant of when it came to pursuing a target, and over the years, those skills had proven useful.

But when Alec paused, his back still to him, Ben frowned since he hadn't caught sight of his twin's face, but something was off with his appearance. Zeroing in with his enhanced vision, Ben's eyes widened when he grasped upon closer inspection that it wasn't his twin he was following, but another man. Similar in appearance and from the back, a damn near flawless copy, but someone else entirely. Shit, how could he… at the gym, when he first began displaying a different pattern.

Of course, Alec must have switched out with the ordinary in the gym to lose or perhaps even reverse their roles? A perfect deception since he hadn't thought much of Alec entering the gym since he'd started doing it last week, never perceiving his twin had a purpose behind it.

Swallowing his anger at being turned aside so foolishly, his stress and despair came forward as he berated his stupidity. However, Ben took a deep breath and quickly reoriented himself, ceasing his self-flagellation. It wouldn't serve him presently, and right now, he needed to focus on saving his twin and following the Blue Lady's will. These objectives were all that mattered. His fist, which had clenched inwards to the point that his fingernails were biting into the meat of his palm, causing bursts of pain, helped him refocus, and after a moment of careful thought, Ben continued walking.

Giving no sign that he knew the ordinary was not Alec while expanding his senses just as Bruce instructed, he began to tune out everything else as he hunted for the familiarity of his twin's scent. Ben detected it further back but weak due to the masses surrounding Alec, making it challenging to hold. However, after learning how to track solely through scent and his other enhanced senses, Ben recognized him despite the surrounding odors that washed over the city, drowning out nearly everything else.

Alec had put enough distance between them that if he had been an ordinary, he could have easily lost him, especially with how heavy Seattle's traffic was at this time of day. However, it was Alec following him, and Ben came to the uneasy conclusion that to lose Alec, he may need to reveal that he was a transgenic.

This could lead to recapture.

This thought made him pause because he didn't want to return to Manticore. Just the idea of returning to that awful place that took Jack, destroyed Eva, and contained the nomlies, made Ben want to turn about and run. But he couldn't do that, Alec needed him, and this task had been given to him by the Blue Lady. If he was successful, not only would he prove his devotion was sincere, but Ben could finally do right by his twin.

It would give Alec another option outside of Manticore, because the outside was not perfect. The violence ordinaries visited one another had expanded significantly after the Pulse struck. Sickness and starvation, having become mere happenstance across America, were slowly spreading worldwide. These were only a few of the problems humanity faced.

Yet despite these issues, he'd experienced many good times that proved his decision to leave Manticore had been the right one. Skip and himself running through the park free and happy, Bruce teaching him how to hunt and fix cars, giving him a room, with an awkward show of affection — and dancing with Kelly.

The reminders helped, and he began considering his options while remaining a step behind the ordinary to keep up appearances. Spotting an alley that led to the sewer system, which held a sewer pipe that could work as an escape for himself. However, if he used it, Ben knew that route would leave him injured and smelling like a sewer rat for the next few days. Still, the inconvenience would be worth it since it would leave Alec with the impression that he killed himself, as a fall from that pipe would kill an ordinary, but not himself. And unless his twin had proof that he was transgenic, Manticore would never act on his suspicions.

With this plan in mind, he cut a corner and began working his way to the utility hole, catching the faint but familiar scent he knew was Alec following in his wake, and began to move faster.

Grunting in annoyance, 494 watched as his shadow cut another corner. Though he didn't recognize the alley, he was aware this area of Seattle held little in the way of escapes. Too many alleys led to dead ends, so where was his shadow leading him?

Admittedly, his erratic pattern wasn't the only annoyance he felt for his resident stalker. The fact that he couldn't get a solid read on his person, other than his general size, and height, meant his shadow could either be a man or a large woman. Apparel consisting of a bulky jacket, ball cap, and loose cargo pants that obscured all details that would make him recognizable. This guy or gal knew how to remain anonymous, lending credence to his theory that his shadow could be transgenic. Unfortunately, this also meant even if he wanted to keep that information to himself, 494 would have to notify his handlers of his resident stalker.

But first, he needed to catch the bastard or gather viable evidence to support his claims.

Except even as he cautiously followed behind his shadow, keeping sufficient distance between them, 494 pondered the question of how his shadow realized their positions had been reversed. About a mile back, he stopped following fake-494 altogether and started zigzagging annoyingly through Seattle's back alleys. He might have recognized the deception if his stalker knew about his superior makeup. No, that still didn't make sense. He'd been following fake-494 all week and knew the guy's routine by heart; his shadow shouldn't have been able to guess the con just by appearance. Fake-494 kept his back turned to his apartment. This and their similar appearance are why he selected fake-494 as a decoy. In fact, their similarity was enough to fool anyone that didn't know him by sight or at the distance his shadow kept, which was beyond an ordinary's capability - again making him believe that his shadow was transgenic. If it was a transgenic, this meant two possibilities: Manticore was questioning his effectiveness, and this was a test. Highly unlikely, which led to the other possibility and likely outcome. It was one of the O9ers, maybe even 493….

If it was one of them or 493, it was 494's lucky day since he wouldn't mind letting his fists do most of the talking. Give back a little of the love he received during his stay in Psy-ops. And as he reconsidered this option, Ben crossed -

No, not Ben - 493, who was nothing but a traitor.

Feeling his aggravation build at the thought of his twin, 494 had to stop when he perceived that he'd given himself away when he stepped on an empty soda can. Real sloppy. He could easily picture the twin looks of disapproval Lydecker and 387 would be throwing at him for his blunder. When the crunch of metal echoed down the alley, he looked up from his feet to his shadow but noted with relief that his mistake hadn't caught his attention. Maybe he wasn't transgenic, or his shadow was ignoring him. Refocusing, 494 pushed aside the resentment that had led to the sloppiness and continued following his stalker. He paused when his stalker stopped before a manhole, pulled it open, and ducked into the sewer.

Really… couldn't he have gone up a building or something like Batman, not ventured down into the sewers? Stupid freaking shadow, couldn't even stay topside where the air was somewhat fresh. No, he had to go down into the sewers, like a damn rat, and where the air was beyond foul. Sighing, 494 cut over to the manhole, bent down, and pulled up the lid, grimaced at the odor oozing from it before taking a deep breath. Cursing that he'd be smelling like ass until he got back to Manticore, while thanking superior genetics that made breathing less crucial, he took a deep breath of relatively fresh air before following his stalker into the sewer. His night vision made it easy for him to navigate the darkened layout before him and locate his shadow. He was up ahead approximately two klicks, proceeding at full speed with a flashlight in hand, giving weight into the not being transgenic argument. Whatever. 494 was tired of playing this game, and the less time he spent down here, the more his nose would thank him.

Advancing, he pushed for more speed to catch up to his quarry, and when he moved in closer, 494 could hear the vibrations of water. Zooming in, he could see his stalker was entering an opening that led into an area where the sewage spilled out like a waterfall—no wonder the smell was getting worse. Watching him disappear into the putrid room, 494 scowled at the terrible odor that was likely worse than most of the gasses he'd been dosed in during training.

For a few seconds, 494 contemplated turning around, tired of, well… everything. His emotions wouldn't stay silent in regards to Rachel. His stalker could be someone 494 never wanted to see again.

Nevertheless, he pushed aside his frustration and continued following, even as he cursed his shadow and stopped when he reached the opening. He found his shadow skirting along the edge of a drain pipe that looked soaked and slick. Observing his shadow move awkwardly along it, he groaned inwardly, having a good idea where this train wreck was heading.

The drop was steep; it wouldn't be pleasant or survivable if, say, an idiot who his shadow was currently emulating fell. He knew it was pointless to keep up the charade that he wasn't chasing after him. 494 stepped onto the edge of the drain pipe and called out, "what the hell do you think you're doing! You're damned annoying, but not that annoying." His words had the opposite effect of what he hoped, and his shadow slipped. Fuck!

494 moved and lunged forward to grab his shadow as he slipped over the edge of the pipe. He nearly grabbed his hand, only missing it by a second, instead catching his ball cap. He helplessly watched as his resident stalker plummeted downwards before hitting the swirling water below and vanishing from sight. He winced in sympathy since he knew that fall wasn't survivable if his shadow was an ordinary. Even for a transgenic, it would be painful. However, that move and his precarious footing made him slip, and 494 nearly followed his shadow into the sewage below.

Catching his balance, 494 was grateful for the multiple training sessions on balance and his enhanced reflexes. He readjusted his stance, aware that one misstep would send him tumbling after his possibly deceased stalker. He breathed more comfortably when he found secure footing and looked back down. Zooming in with his vision, he tried to locate his shadow and could only see ripples along the surface, nothing to indicate he was coming up.

Still, with the sewage draining into this section, it was unlikely a body would rise. The water pressure from the drainage would push the body to the bottom until taken to another part of the sewer. By then, who knows what would be left of it? The sewer was full of more things than he cared to contemplate. After a few minutes ticked by, he carefully made his way across the pipe to the safety of the ledge.

Taking one more look downwards, he saw nothing moving and turned his back on the mess. Before focusing on the ball cap as he fingered it, after a second, he brought it up to his nostrils and sniffed the cap carefully. But found nothing odd or recognizable. Then again, the odors from the sewer were overpowering anything he could get from the cap, so he tucked it into his pants pocket.

Looking at his watch and seeing how much time had passed, 494 knew his handlers were likely having kittens with his delay, which meant he'd need to make up one hell of an excuse. With that reminder, he began to backtrack, his mind turning over excuses as he deliberately pushed all thoughts on his shadow to the back of his mind for later contemplation.

Where the sewer drained into the pool, Ben finally came up for air, unable to hold his breath any longer. He took a few deep breaths of the rank air as he focused on his surroundings and listened, trying to discern over the noise if Alec was still nearby. Outside of the sewer life and water, he could hear nothing, which meant his ruse had worked. Taking stock, he felt the pain reverberating throughout his entire body and eyed the ruined state of his jacket. Ben wondered if the escape had been worth it since this was his favorite jacket. Then he shrugged that thought aside as the pain reminded him that it wasn't just his jacket that came out of this damaged.

Quickly analyzing his arm where most of the pain radiated from, Ben could see nothing was broken, though if the pain was any judge, he likely sprained the humerus, which should be healed by tomorrow afternoon.

Swimming over to an edge of the pool, he pulled himself up gingerly and looked about. Ben did not recognize anything within sight and sighed since it meant it'd take longer to find his way out of the sewer. Then grimaced as the pain increased along his arm. Dismissing it, Ben began to check himself over but could see no other injuries. Breathing carefully, he discarded his ruined jacket and slowly started to make his way forward, considering what had happened.

Alec's words and actions as he tried to grab him only reinforced his desire to make contact with his twin. 'You're damned annoying, but not that annoying.' Yeah, even after all this time, it was still Alec. Perhaps it was time to throw caution to the wind and take a chance. At this, his eidetic memory supplied the last time he openly faced his twin, when tears had been running down Alec's face, and pain he never wished to cause showed plainly upon his features. Pausing, Ben swallowed hard. This memory and his vow to the Blue Lady reinforced what must be done.

He'd been following Alec long enough, and it had gotten him nowhere, except knee-deep in filth. He'd underestimated his twin, which had been a mistake. Continuing forward slowly, Ben began to reconsider his options. Alec's words to him and his reaction to the Berrisford girl provided proof that Alec wasn't a nameless Manticore assassin. And after thinking on it, he knew the key to making contact with his twin lay in his mission and the Berrisford girl. Only one question remained that bore consideration: when should he make his move?

Manticore Facility, Washington (2018)

494 twirled the ball cap as he ignored everything surrounding him. His thoughts continued to shift over the past few days' confusion, and -he would never willingly admit this out loud - emotional events.

The memory of Rachel's confession, and reaction when she noted that his hands were trembling, beat through his head with persistence, even after numerous attempts to forget. It really made 494 wish his genetic cocktail made it possible to get flat-out drunk since he'd observed countless times that getting wasted made ordinaries seem so much happier with life. And he could use a bit of that blissful happiness right now.

Then there was the possible death of his shadow or, one of the traitors. 494 had said nothing to his handlers and wondered why he remained silent on his resident stalker. It was another question he had no good answer for since he owed the 09ers nothing. After all, he spent six painful months in Psy-ops, relearning everything that wasn't at Manticore's set standards because of them.

Unlucky for him, this consisted of everything within his gorgeous noggin.

And let's not forget that the characteristics he could discern from his shadow matched a few of his traits. This meant there was a high probability his stalker was Ben…. 494 hurriedly pushed away the consideration, having no desire to contemplate it beyond the general anger 493 inspired. Not the touchy-feely emotional responses he was currently rocking.

Lastly, to top it all off, he couldn't forget after his charming tromp through the sewers and delay. His handlers were less than pleased, even with his brilliant excuse, which prompted Lydecker to address him when he returned to base and later inspired 387 to check on him before leaving for training. His older brother subtly reminded him not to do anything that would have him thrown back into Psy-ops. Yeah, he didn't need a reminder on that. Thank you very much.

His ruminations were dropped when 372 flopped next to him on his bunk, forcing him to scoot over as she grabbed the hat from his hands. 494 grinned evilly as she brought the cap to her nose and discovered the lovely odor before throwing it across the room and letting out a noise of disgust. "Ugh, I thought your assignment had you cozying up to the rich and mighty. Where did you get that foul thing?"

"What, you don't like the souvenir I brought you from Seattle?" He placed a hand on his chest. "Oh, my aching heart," he sing-songed with mock regret.

372 snorted at his sarcastic retort as she stood up and shrugged. "Right, when you picked it up, your first thought was 'gee, golly, I bet 372 would love this smelly thing.'" 494 chuckled. On the other side of the room, 467 picked up the hat and tossed it back to him before returning to the manual he was reading.

"That was my exact reasoning, honest." His sister snorted as she got up and started towards the female's side of the barracks, stripping off her t-shirt as she headed for the showers. She gave him the finger with a toss of her flaming-red hair before disappearing from view. Looking around, he finally picked up on the lack of noise, which meant only the three of them were here. Sitting up fully, he motioned to the empty bunks surrounding himself and 467. "Where is everyone?"

467 looked away from the manual he'd likely already read many times, since his brother had this odd obsession with reading anything he could get his hands on. Even though they were gifted with an eidetic memory, making it unnecessary to read or do anything more than once, 467 still loved books and regularly reread them. In fact, 494 was pretty sure that if they'd been allowed to live as they wished, his brother would be at home in a library. But whatever, it's not like that development would ever happen, he thought with a hint of bitterness that was quickly pushed down.

Refocusing on his brother, he could see 467 had raised an eyebrow in surprise. "You are distracted." 494 shrugged as his brother continued to eye him curiously, but he didn't elaborate, having no desire to voice the conflicting emotions whirling through his mind that he firmly crammed down. After a second, 467 nodded, accepting his answer - or lack of one. This was one of the many reasons 467 was one of his favorite siblings. He only asked questions if it was necessary or if he was overly concerned. "Most of them were called away for drills with Unit 8; and 283 and 529 were sent on a deep ops mission similar to yours and won't be back till next week." 467 gestured towards the female side of the barracks, "372, 510, and myself are being prepped for a mission in Dubai."

That's right: 510 should return from that extended mission in Europe soon. It was given to him after their mission in Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina, where they watched Tombstone and learned that a pole dancer named Lola was extremely bendable in all the right places.

As if reading his mind, 372 called out from her side of the room, "If you say any line from Tombstone, I will consider that reason enough to initiate extreme violence against your high maintenance ass."

467 attempted not to snicker before he continued, "510 and 372 will be doing the undercover work while I run the backup. And from what 387 said, the drills should only last a few more days." He expected as much; drills were more for show now than anything else. X5s spent most of their time either on assignments or preparing for said assignments. Except for the newer ones, X5s had become something of a one-trick pony, which would have gotten old real fast if half his missions didn't mean interacting with the outside world. And that always entailed fun times. Oh, yes, Lola, good times indeed. Except his mind promptly spun back to the memory of Rachel's smile, or not so much, and a frown quickly replaced his previous grin.

Jesus, maybe he should request a day in Psy-ops. At least he wouldn't have so much trouble keeping his mission priority where it should be. Nodding to 467's answer, 494 considered the conversation closed and refocused on the shadow's ball cap, his earlier ponderings beginning to circulate in his mind again. "494, is everything alright?"

At 467's question, his attention snapped back to his brother, noting that his concern had resurfaced. 494 would typically laugh or brush it off. There were a few within his unit he'd be honest with, and 467 was one of them. Shrugging, he nodded to the cap. "Not sure, but when I get back to Seattle, I'm sure I'll find out."

His brother said nothing, and after a moment, he returned his attention to the manual. Dragging his eyes back to the cap, he lay down and began twirling it again. His thoughts jumped between Rachel, Ben, and his mission, and he started to feel uncomfortable. That wasn't good since the last time he felt this conflicted, he'd spent six months in Psy-ops.

Sleep. That's precisely what he needed. Taking a deep breath, he tossed the cap onto his lockbox and relaxed against his pillow. As he attempted to lose himself to sleep, 494 remained oblivious to the visitor that watched him silently.

He was a tall man with long brown hair who, depending on his mood, wore either a white designer suit or the clothes he had upon his back when he allowed himself to be imprisoned. Although his gaze could freeze grown men or the lowly creatures he created, currently, it held tenderness, one could even say love, as he stared at the transgenic 494. When 467, felt something near him, he shivered and looked around, the unseen being smiled cruelly, enjoying the discomfort his presence caused Daddy's newest creations. It was something to entertain himself while he waited, patiently, he might add.

His gaze moved back to X5-494, eyes glowing with intense light that showed nothing human in that gaze before his consciousness returned to the prison containing his form. Less than a year and a half left, and freedom would be his.