Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters do not belong to me. This fan-fiction had been written purely for entertainment purposes. No infringement intended and no profit had been made out of this.

A/N: A great big hug to all of you who had reviewed – you made my day! Thank you so much!

Rules Can Be Broken - Chapter 11

(by elle6778)

His eyes pinned on Zack and Max, Sky stated flatly, "You two are the '09-ers." He studied Max and Zack with a mixture of wariness and uncertainty.

Max gave him a droll look. "Tell us something we don't know," she said, resting her hands on her hips. So what if they were '09-ers. They had been out of Manticore so long, so why should Sky care?

"So, I take it that you remember who you are now?" Zack asked, his eyebrows raised in query.

Sky looked at them, his warring emotions displayed in his eyes. After a moment, he nodded abruptly and said, "Yeah."

Impatient, Max asked, "So? What are you waiting for? A written questionnaire?"

Sky looked confused at her words. "Huh?"

Max rolled her eyes and turned to Zack. "I think you've shaken a few screws loose when you knocked him out."

Sky gave her an offended look.

"What's your designation?" Zack asked, sounding every inch the CO that he had been bred to be.

"X5-206, sir," Sky replied crisply before he could stop himself, obviously falling back into his ingrained Manticore training. He glared at Zack accusingly when he realised what he had done.

Zack waved a dismissive hand at Sky's formal tone. "Just tell us what's going on, Sky."

"Sky?"

"Yeah, that's your new name. Can't have two Zanes running about so you got yourself a new name," Max explained to him.

"So?" Zack prompted impatiently.

Sky exhaled loudly. Getting off the bed, he walked to the window, staring out into the street which was bathed in a reddish hue of the setting sun. After a few minutes of silence, he spoke, "Last thing I remember was some evaluation in psy-ops. Regular stuff before deployment. I think it was a psychological test. They didn't tell me if I made the mission or not at that time. Next thing I remember was waking up in the hospital."

"That's all you can remember?" Max asked incredulously. She was not sure if she believed him. It all seemed rather vague. And Sky seemed a bit more reserved compared to a few days ago. Obviously he had remembered something which he did not want to tell them.

"What else do you want to know?" Sky snapped back, his eyes flashing.

Max recoiled at his tone. This was no longer the easy-going transgenic she had known. This Sky was very much a Manticore soldier. Except for the evasive look in his eyes, which would never pass Manticore's inspection.

"What was that mission you were down for?" Zack asked.

Sky regarded them cautiously before saying, "It's confidential."

Max made an exasperated sound. "Oh, come off it! It's probably something to do with capturing us, right?" Why else would Sky be reluctant to tell them about it?

Sky remained silent.

"Is that right?" Zack asked tightly.

"You know as well as I do that it's against protocol to discuss the specifics of a mission," Sky replied, his jaw set in a stubborn line.

Max could see Zack's body tense as his level of alertness increased. She could guess what Zack was thinking. Now that Sky had regained his memory and remembered his mission, what was to say that Sky would not resume his mission? Unlike the '09-ers, Sky had been in Manticore all these years and had been trained to place their mission objectives as the priority. It was a shame, really, because she kind of enjoyed Sky's company prior to this.

"I see…" Zack said slowly as his eyes searched an uncomfortable looking Sky. "Well, since you've picked your side, I suppose there's no need for us to remain together."

Sky just looked at him with an unreadable expression.

"Zack?" Max said in a worried tone. Zack sounded as if he was just going to leave Sky behind. Max supposed that it was the logical thing to do, considering that they could never be sure where Sky's loyalty lies. However, it did not stop her from feeling a bit sad.

His voice hard, Zack confirmed Max's thoughts, "Sky's not one of us. We can't risk him betraying us to Manticore." Turning away from Sky, Zack started picking his things up from around the room, stuffing them into his rucksack.

With wide eyes, Max looked uncertainly between Zack and Sky. Then sighing in resignation, she followed Zack's example.

When he was done, Zack said crisply, "Let's go, Max."

Her eyes flicked momentarily to Sky before they landed on Zack, and Max started to say, "Are you sure…"

"Yes, Max. He can't be trusted," Zack said adamantly, purposely avoiding eye contact with Sky.

Sky stood watching them silently as they exited the room.

Shutting the door with a final click behind them, Max and Zack missed the look of longing in Sky's face.

Lydecker kept his eyes fixed on Renfro's in a silent battle of stares.

He wanted to tell her to quit that annoying tapping of her pen against the desk between them, but he refused to let Renfro think that she had gained the upper hand in their 'discussions' today. He could hardly believe that the woman had the nerve to come barging into his office demanding to know what was happening to Operation C-206.

This operation was his alone and intended to keep it that way. Renfro could just go to hell as far as he was concerned.

Lydecker had known that one of his kids had been trying to find the others by using Vogelsang, namely X5-452. And that was when he had worked up a plan to lure X5-452 back to Manticore.

The transgenic, X5-206, the twin of one of the 09-ers, had been brought in. His initial mission was to pretend to be hurt and then ensuring that his identity was exposed to attract the attention of X5-452. As a back-up, if Lydecker failed to catch them in time, this guy was to spy for Lydecker. Identity wise, he was supposed to have lost his memories from the injuries he had.

Lydecker's only fear had been that X5-206 might blow his cover. The initial assessment of his profile told Manticore that he harboured some hatred towards the '09-ers due to the extensive time he had spent in psy-ops for evaluation following the escape in '09. So Lydecker had decided to go a step further. He had ensured that X5-206 had no recollection of Manticore. The tracer he had implanted in the transgenic had been one with multi-purpose. The tracer had been coated with a solidified serum which would release a certain dosage of memory suppressant each day. The mix had also included a DNA modificator which temporarily force the transgenic's system to display his clone, X5-205's barcode.

Lydecker had expected X5-452 to turn up, but what he had not expected was that she had reinforcement; another male transgenic. None of the soldiers had been able to identify the male. Lydecker himself had wondered who it was.

The fact that he had lost track of not only the two '09-ers, but also X5-206, irritated Lydecker to no end. When the tracer had stopped transmitting a few days ago, Lydecker knew that he was in trouble. It meant that 206's cover had been blown. In addition to that, Lydecker did not know how 206's system would react to the loss of the memory suppressant which coated the tracer. The transgenic would no doubt go into some sort of withdrawal. The only hope Lydecker had was that once 206 regained his memory, he would be smart enough to contact Manticore.

But it had not happened. Too many days had passed, and yet Lydecker had not heard anything from 206. He hoped that the transgenic was still alive. It would be disastrous if Manticore had lost another transgenic. Lydecker's shaky position in Manticore would no doubt become even worse. And it did not help that Renfro had decided that it was time she stepped in to deal with his 'failure'.

Renfro's voice brought him back to the present. "So, Deck, what's your excuse this time?" she asked with a snide smile.

Gritting his teeth, Lydecker replied, "I don't need an excuse. We're waiting for 206 to make contact. Once he does, then we can re-evaluate the mission parameters."

Renfro raised a disbelieving eyebrow. "Are you sure he'll make contact? It had been what? Four days? Four days since he disappeared off our radar?"

"He could be suffering from withdrawal brought on by the memory suppressant," Lydecker said tightly.

Renfro shook her head, a small smile hovering over her lips. "He's an X5, Deck. It should not take him that long to flush out the residues from his system."

"It's an untested substance. We have no idea how long it would take," Lydecker said, fighting to stop himself from wiping that snide look off Renfro's overly painted face with his fists.

"Well, whatever it is, the committee believes that it would be beneficial for me to step in and take command of this mission, you'll be glad to hear," Renfro said, her eyes gleaming with triumph.

Lydecker glared at her. "Yeah, I'm ecstatic. But you can tell the committee to go to hell. This is MY mission and those X5s out there are MY kids, so hands off."

"Tsk…tsk… You have to remain impartial, Deck. You're too close to it all. It clouds the mind."

Lydecker snorted. "I'm not giving up command."

"You have no choice."

Lost in their own thoughts on Sky, Max and Zack had spent a good part of the night riding before Zack realised that they urgently needed to refuel. Unfortunately it did not look as if there was much chance of them finding a fuel station.

Signalling his concerns to Max, Zack continued riding, watching out for anything which resembled a place where they could get fuel. He cursed himself for not thinking of it earlier when they had passed one. His mind had been on Sky.

The last thing Zack wanted to feel was remorse. But for some reason, the feeling had been clinging on to him ever since they had left Sky in the motel room. Zack knew he had done the right thing, considering that they did not know the direction of Sky's loyalties.

So why did he feel so bad about it?

Zack sighed and shook his head in an attempt to clear his doubts. It did not serve any purpose to dwell on it. He had made his decision and he intended to stick to it. At least Max had not protested as much this time when he had told her earlier that they were heading for San Francisco. Come to think of it, Max had been suspiciously respectful of his decisions these last few days, Zack thought with a frown.

A glow of light in the distance caught his attention.

Before he could say anything, Max yelled over the wind to him, "Hey, Zack, there's something in front of us. Maybe we could get some fuel there."

"Okay," Zack replied, instantly speeding up.

A few minutes later, they found themselves in front of a bar. A few bikers were standing outside the bar, watching their arrival with interest.

Zack dismounted next to Max. Shaking his head, he said in a tired voice, "Doesn't look like we'll get much in the way of fuel here."

"Well, since we're already here, I think I could do with a beer," Max said brightly, her eyes pinned to the entrance of the bar.

"We need to move on, Max. We're already close to San Francisco," Zack objected, not liking the look of the place or the bikers who were now ogling Max openly ever since she got off her bike.

"Aw, Zack, it's just one beer. Come on. Anyway it's not like we could go much further without fuel. Maybe someone here could tell us where to get some," Max said persuasively.

Seeing the sense in her words, Zack finally said in resignation, "Alright. Just one beer. And maybe they have some food as well."

Max grinned and gave him a small hug, not noticing when he stiffened at her touch as he tried to keep himself from responding. When she let go, his body protested at the loss of her warmth, but she was already halfway to the door.

Get a grip, soldier! It's just a hug, he chastised himself irritably and proceeded to follow her into the bar. The bikers nudged each other and wolf-whistled as Max passed them on her way in. Zack's eyes narrowed, clenching his fists at his sides to keep them from grabbing the bikers. He had this incredible urge to smash their faces into the ground. As he passed the group of bikers, one of them called out.

"Nice piece of ass you've got yourself there, man," the biker leered as his friends laughed.

Zack gave them a threatening look. "As you said, she's mine."

The biker held his hand up. Even through his alcohol-induced mind, he could sense the threat in Zack's posture. "Hey, chill, man. I didn't mean no harm."

Zack relaxed slightly, but he was mortified at his over-reaction. Giving the biker a curt nod, he walked in after Max.

The music blasted straight into his face the minute he stepped in. The bar was dimly lit, masking the actual appearance of the aging décor and stale cigarette smoke hovered in the air. The place was not too crowded, hence it was not hard for him to see that Max was already at the bar, talking to the barkeeper. The barkeeper was obviously having a good time talking to her, Zack noted irritably. This flirting of Max's was getting out of hand.

When he stepped up next to her, he tossed a glare in the direction of the barkeeper, who apparently had enough sense of self-preservation to move away from Max. Oblivious to his interaction with the other man, Max turned around and handed him a bottle of beer. Grinning widely, she toasted him and took a long swallow of her beer, sighing appreciatively.

"Aren't you glad we're here?" Max asked over the music.

Zack nodded as he gulped a mouthful of the beer, feeling the alcohol hitting his bloodstream. "Did you ask about the fuel?"

Max shook her head. "You ask. I need the washroom," she said, walking off in the direction of the small neon sign which indicated her destination.

Turning to the bar, he signalled for the barkeeper. The young man walked over, looking nervous.

Zack forced a smile onto his face. "Do you know where we can get some fuel?" Zack asked, watching with amusement as a look of relief crossed the man's face.

Eagerly, he replied, "Yeah. About two miles down the road, there's a shop which does motors."

"Any chance that it might be open now?"

The barkeeper shook his head. "You've got to wait until noon tomorrow. That's when they open. Sunday, you see."

"I see," Zack said, frowning, wondering what they should do for the next fourteen hours.

Noting the look of displeasure on Zack's face, the barkeeper offered, "We have rooms upstairs if you want to stay overnight."

Zack sighed. He supposed they could do that. "Yeah, do you have two rooms?" he asked, not daring to risk another incident with Max. Not that she would do anything anymore, considering that she had 'moved on'. He was more worried of what he might do to her.

The barkeeper gave him a puzzled look, obviously wondering why he needed two rooms instead of one. Wisely he kept his thoughts to himself and said, "We've got quite a number of vacant rooms. So yes, you can have two rooms if you like."

Zack nodded absently. Turning around, he scanned the place for Max. His eyes found her just outside the washroom, talking to a good-looking leather clad biker. Considering the way she was laughing at the jackass's comments, Zack would say that she was enjoying his company. Zack's lips thinned as he saw the jackass snake an arm around Max. He felt his blood boil when it looked as if Max was in no hurry to remove the offending limb. What was Max doing, allowing him to touch her like that?

Zack stifled the urge to growl.

He knew that Max was 'moving on' and his mind told him to keep out of her affairs. But he did not like the types she was going for. Could she not see what type of guy that biker was? The guy probably picked up girls all over the state. Had she no sense of self-preservation at all?

Well, since she did not see fit to detach the biker's hand from her, Zack decided that he would do it for her. It was his responsibility after all to ensure that she was safe, he told himself. He ignored the inner voice which mocked; Yeah, right! Tell yourself that, Zack.

Just as he was about to stride towards the couple, the barkeeper's voice halted him.

"Hey, you need to fill in this form," the young man said, pushing a small slip of paper towards him.

Irritated at the delay, Zack quickly scribbled down a fake name and address.

"Here're your keys," the barkeeper said.

Zack looked down at the keys thoughtfully and then said, "On second thoughts, one twin room will be fine. We don't need two rooms." At least that way, he could be sure that Max did not end up with a night visitor in her room.

The barkeeper smirked knowingly at him. Reaching under the bar, he took out another key. "No twins. But we have a double if that's okay?"

"Yeah, that's fine," Zack replied shortly and tossed the required amount of cash on the table. Grabbing the key impatiently, he made his way towards Max and the biker to break up the happy couple.

Max laughed, only half listening to the biker standing close to her. Her hands itched to remove the biker's slimy hand from her shoulders, but she knew that leaving it there would add to the effect she was trying to achieve. Out of the corner of her eyes, she spotted the murderous look on Zack's face as he made his way towards her. She grinned inwardly.

"…and so, when I told him what I did for a living, he just went pale and backed off immediately," Dan, the biker continued.

"So what happened next?" she asked, noticing that Zack had almost reached them. She forced herself to keep her eyes on the biker.

"He didn't dare to come back. At least, not while I was there," Dan finished smugly. "Say, what are you doing after this, sweetheart?"

"Umm…" Max started.

"She has a prior engagement with me," a terse voice interrupted.

Max pasted an expression of surprise on her face as she raised her eyes to Zack, pretending not to notice the glare he shot at Dan.

"Hey, Zack. Zack, this is Dan," Max introduced cheerfully.

The biker gave Zack a look of annoyance. Max wondered if he was too drunk or just too dense to notice the dangerous gleam in Zack's eyes.

"Prior engagement?" Dan parroted, and then turned to Max. "You can always change your mind about your 'prior engagement', you know."

Zack stepped closer, yanking Max out of the other guy's arms. Max stifled a grin of satisfaction when Zack wrapped a possessive arm around her.

With an indignant look on his face, the biker said, "Hey, what do you think you're doing?"

Zack did not bother to answer; he just gave Dan a challenging look which spoke volumes. Max was beginning to worry. Getting Zack jealous was one thing. Getting him into a fight with a relatively innocent Ordinary was another matter.

"Zack, leave it," Max warned. "We don't want to attract attention," she said in a voice so low that only someone with transgenic hearing could hear it.

Thankfully, Dan seemed to give up. Glaring at Zack, he turned around and walked away, much to Max's relief.

When she looked up at Zack, she was unsurprised to see that his face was set in a stony expression. Max wondered if she had gone too far this time in trying to provoke a reaction from him.

"Finish your beer and come with me. We need to talk," he said in a clipped tone.

Uh, oh, this doesn't sound good at all, Max thought apprehensively.

t.b.c.

A/N: So much for trying to finish it by this chapter, lol! But I think I might be able to achieve it by the next chapter, fingers crossed. Please review and let me know what you think of the developments!