Chapter 1

Escape and Evade

Max took one more look at the guard rotation, she couldn't understand why the conclave had left her alive but they had and Max needed to make the most of it. She had been with them for months without a possibility to escape but she had noticed new runes appearing on her skin and she knew she needed to get back to TC and soon. Despite the fact that her family hadn't come to save her as she thought they would have she still felt loyalty to them.

Max could see a lot of people moving around outside her window but none of them seemed to respond to her presence. No one had spoken to her in all the time she had been here, no one had tried to torture her, nothing. Max had been left to fend for herself. They had conducted experiments on her, dropping her in different environments to see if she'd survive but nothing else. Even White hadn't returned after those first few hours.

Turning her attention back to the movements outside she could see the ladder that lead up to the surface. She wondered what the surface would be like here. Last time they had let her out she'd been in the jungle. Smiling she let her mind drift back to the time she had spent in the jungle. By the sight of the stars she'd known she had been somewhere in Panama but the jungle had been beautiful. She had enjoyed hunting for small game, living in trees and relying on her instincts. In her old life she would always suppress her instincts but they had become valuable survival skills.

Unfortunately when she had come close to civilization she had been picked up by familiars. They had been waiting for her as she tore out of the forest, she still didn't know how they had known to find her there.

As the door opened and 4 guards entered the room Max assumed a defensive stance but she didn't bother to attack. Her last three encounters with them taught her she couldn't win and punishment was more time in the sensory deprivation tank. She accepted the pills given to her and swallowed. She sighed knowing full well that these pills indicated another experiment.

The X5 flopped onto her bunk and closed her eyes. She could feel someone checking her heart rate. They must've been satisfied because Max could feel she was being picked up and carried away. Forcing herself to stay absolutely still she imagined the actions happening around her to occupy her thoughts.

Up the elevator, hmm too lazy for the stairs huh? Open the doors, down the hallway into the motor pool. Yep, that's motor oil I'm sniffing. Now start the truck and ease it out of the building. Stop to talk to the guard. Drive to the gate. Stop at the gate, more yapping. And out the door. Now let's count down from 60 for distance.

three, two, one, "GO!" With that shout Max moved at incredible speed to take out the guards in the truck. She kicked out the rear doors and jumped out hanging on to the gun she had swiped from the last guard.

Turning she aimed at the tires and shot them out. The truck swerved in response and the driver fought to keep the truck on the road. The truck was slowly making a 180 turn coming about to face Max. Before it was completely at that position Max fired her gun again aiming directly at the driver. Shortly after the driver of the truck slumped over the wheel, while pushing his foot down on the accelerator. The truck flew down the slope and came to a standstill against a tree.

Max cocked her head to one side shouldn't that thing go…

Below her the truck exploded with a loud bang. Max turned, a feral smile on her face, spitting out the pills and crushing them under her boot. Holstering the gun in her belt at the small of her back she continued on in the direction the truck had been taking her. After about a mile she ducked off the road and followed it out of sight from passing cars, already making plans of getting back to Seattle.

"Yes sir, yes I completely agree. These people need proper protection. Yes sir, our alpha squad would be honored to assist in the relocation. May I assume that compensation? … Right thank you sir. I will be in touch when we arrive at the scene."

Alec tossed the phone at his desk and leaning back in the chair turned to face Biggs still grinning. "The High Commissioner decided he needs our help to keep the rebels at bay. Suit up, you're going to Africa."

"You know boss, offering our services to the UN was a streak of genius. We get positive exposure, we get sweet equipment to work with and we get paid like kings."

"Plus the idiots don't even realize they are giving us full access to their intelligence. Yeah, this rapid deployment force has been very good to us. Now let's get out of here before Delta team realizes I handed the plushy assignment to you."

Biggs gave his 'boss' a mock salute and headed off in the direction of the barracks he shared with Alpha squad. Alec turned the other way and headed to junior barracks. Most of the X7's joined in a hive mind hadn't made it. They had remained loyal to Agent White and he had most of them terminated when he no longer needed them. Some had managed to escape but they had been unable to adapt to a life outside the hive mind. But the second generation X6's, and the few X8 that had made it, were still young and needed supervision.

Gem had taken the responsibility of motherhood very seriously and although she was very young herself, she and the other mothers of the new generation also took on the responsibility of the younger X6's. It was Gem he had a meeting with. Despite the encouragements of exploring other interests most of the X6's had requested to be educated in the military tradition, preferably by Alec. His position at Manticore had demanded respect and his effort for freedom had only increased their hero worship. He was meeting Gem to arrange a training schedule for those that wanted it.

Before he could reach the barracks a very familiar voice greeted him.

"Hey, Boo, wait up for Original Cindy. She's got supplies for the kiddies in there and she could use a hand."

Alec smiled and turned towards the brunette. O.C. was standing at the visitor's gate with a box at her feet. Looking commanding with her hands on her hips as she tried to convince the guard to skip the paperwork that would grant her access to the base.

"O.C., you should know better than to try and corrupt my guards. Just 'cause you managed to convince Layla to swing your way doesn't mean you need to try it on the rest of us." Alec motioned to the guard to grant her access and bent over to pick up the box at Cindy's feet.

The vivacious woman looked at the man in front of her and shook her head a little. She had known this week would be hard for him; the memory of Max still haunted her as well. His I'm-always-all-right-face no longer fooled her one bit. She could feel the regret and grief still inside the blonde in front of him and resisted the urge to put her arms around him to console him. Instead the slid her arm in his and put her other hand on his arm.

Alec felt comforted by her touch and was grateful for it. He felt lucky to have such a great friend in Original Cindy. Cindy had always seemed loyal to Max before but since her disappearance they had become good friends. They chatted about the latest gossip while walking to the barracks.

Jumping the fence with practiced ease Max used all of her honed skills to gain information about the place before her. The place that, even if her stay had been brief, she had considered to be her home. Now it bore a closer resemblance to a ghost town. Max had already taken notice of the lack of protesters outside the perimeter but this eerie silence shocked her to her core.

Walking the now deserted streets she wondered about the fate of its inhabitants. The place didn't look like a battle had been fought and Max knew the transgenics wouldn't have left their refuge voluntarily. She decided to start a systematic search of the most important buildings to try to learn something of the fate of its previous inhabitants. As Max walked the halls of the building that they had dubbed as HQ she remembered the days these same halls had been filled with the hustle and bustle of people making a life. Closing her eyes she could picture Dix and Luke behind the computers while Alec and Mole stood hunched over a table making plans for supply runs, fortifying their defenses and all the other things they had done that Max had taken for granted.

Although her memories were bountiful the places she saw were all stripped clean of their contents. Whatever transpired in her absence, no clues had been left for her to follow. Max could feel the tingling at the back of her neck that had become well known over the last year. Unconsciously rubbing at the spot right above her barcode she moved quickly away from TC hiding in the shadows for protection. She needed answers and she could only think of one place to get them and fast. Max stopped at a payphone and dropping a coin dialed a well-known number.

"Original Cindy's too busy to answer. Leave a message and maybe she'll get back to ya."

Max didn't want to risk her friend by leaving a trail so the dropped the phone back on the receiver. There was another way of contacting her friend, and it would tell her if any transgenics were still in the area evading capture. All she needed was some supplies and with her newly honed skills they were easy enough to come by.

The Next morning – Jam Pony central

"Missy, how many times do I have to tell you, this is a place of business! I am not your personal post office. Tell your buddies to use another lackey."

"Woah, Normal, ease up on Original Cindy or she'll not share Hope's latest picture's with your ass."

Normal walked out into the central area and held out his hand for the pictures Cindy was holding. With her free hand Cindy plucked the package from her boss' grasp and traded it for the pictures. Tearing the strip keeping the carton closed Original Cindy wondered why Alec hadn't handed her the information while she was there yesterday. Her amazement grew when she saw all the box contained was a piece of paper with an illegible code on it. Flipping it over to unearth another clue as to its meaning, O.C. noticed the red substance on the back. Frowning in thought Original Cindy wondered why anyone would use jungle red nail polish on a piece of paper.

Then a memory struck her and she rushed to the nearest phone. Tapping her foot in anxiety the brunette waited for the person on the other end to answer.

"Boo! Guess what, our boo is alive and she's around here somewhere."

A/N: Another chapter completed. To be honest I thought they were going to meet in this chapter already but somehow it didn't happen. Please have a little patience; I'm fairly confident the meet will be worth the wait. Thanks again to Lyra for proofreading this chapter as well.