Disclaimer: The usual rant, don't own DA and still waiting to here if we get a third season, for details see my forum. I do own the DVD set of Season One and Two of Dark Angel though. And the ideas, plot, story and any characters not recognized from the show is mine, and Anya belongs to Mage Alia. This takes place during "Out"

Chapter Three-Wish upon a Star

Nevada, 2012

A young girl ran, out of breath and tears tracked down her face. The desert night was cold and harsh, but the girl's fear made her go on.

Her light pink dress was stained with sweat and blood and her neat hair was now a mess.

Finally she fell to the ground, exhausted. She crawled on her knees and curled underneath a rock and hoped that the bad man would not find her.

Sandoval addressed him in the office. Have you been briefed on your target, X5-494?

" Yes, sir. Robert Berrisford." 494's answer was straight and proper

" Our intelligence indicates that Berrisford's been curious lately about the work we do here--asking questions he shouldn't be. Close surveillance has become a necessity. "

" Yes, sir. "

Sandoval seemed pompous, enjoying the command and control over him." We've established a cover for you. Initially, your primary contact will be with his daughter."

" Yes, sir. According to the file, her name is Rachel. She's seventeen. Only child. Mother died when she was ten. She's a good student"

Miami, Florida. 2019

Alec woke up, the room was still dark and there was the barest hint of morning in the sky, and dark clouds on the horizon obscured even that. The aches and stiffness returned from being almost constantly restrained. At first he had though it would be easy to escape from Jaye/600's clutches. But Jaye was using the evil knowledge called Medicine to restrain him, to sap his strength and speed. Source it was of his evils. Rae/478 was no better and would glare at him every time he as much as looked in her direction when she was watching him. Alec supposed it didn't help that he had almost killed her. But that was days ago and she still held it against him, anyway it was partially her fault. If she had gone in voluntarily, none of it would have happened. Somehow Rae seemed to get even more irritated when he had mentioned that. Go figure. One of their human friends Scott had watched him once and that was worse than the two rogue X5s.

Scott would try to run comparisons between Alec and some stupid character on some science fiction. And talking about redemption and the dark side of the force, and that was just plain disturbing to Alec.

Redemption, something Alec hated hearing. It was 478 and 600 who needed to be redeemed, to do what they were meant to do and do the right thing and return to Manticore. Instead they both seemed to be on this bloody pathetic crusade as doctors, to somehow make up for their Manticore years. What did a solider need with redemption

"Once you have children, everything changes. You try to do the right thing, because you want them to be proud of you, but sometimes the right thing can go so wrong. Anyway...I envy you." Sandoval. "Take them both out. That's pretty decisive. You'd better get back there. Lesson starts at four, doesn't it? " Rachel smiling that smile that lit up the room.

Alec clenched his fists, Rachel was dead, because of his failure, his attachment to her and because he had forgotten the objective. It was his fault.

Alec heard Jaye get up and he wiped the expression from his face as the other X5 came out, dressed already. Jaye had made the mistake of once coming out in only a top and boxer shorts-Alec had made a comment that had said how his choice of colors just screamed 'needs to come out of the closet'.

"Ready for another day at the office chap?" asked Alec with a mock English accent in his voice. Jaye ignored him and pulled open the cupboard and pulled down a medical case. Alec glared at it and then Jaye for good measure.

Jaye approached Alec with the syringe filled with the clear liquid that unknown to the unwilling patient was some kind of enhanced version of Librium, not enough to knock him out, but enough to restrain him.

He injected straight into the vein and Alec felt a now famillar nausea come over him. When it had past, Jaye undid his restraints.

"I hate you" Alec said darkly.

"Thank you" Jaye replied with a mock affectionate smile on his face.

---

Piper was sitting on her morning post of the bench when Rae came out of her room. Her best friends knowing the truth about her and accepting her, barcode and all was something Rae still was coming to terms with. It was great and something she had always wanted them to know.

But it all felt too perfect and easy, Rae felt as if she was still waiting for something bad to undo it. An old insecurity that nothing could go right for her was close to the surface. Lydecker's continued presence in Miami was also under her skin. It chipped away at the old fears she had and was causing her nightmares to be more vivid, real feeling than usual.

"Good morning my little ray of sunshine" Piper said, hopping of the bench observing the green eyed transgenic. "Scott left ten minutes ago, Higginson from Cardiology took him".

"That's great" Rae said, her voice distant. Piper leaned over and flicked the young woman in the face. "Hey!"

"Well if someone was not a grumpy gills this morning, I would not have to hurt her" Piper said without any trace of remorse. Rae rolled her eyes slightly and crossed her arms. "You were talking your sleep last night and you… mentioned Brin".

'It was just a dream that is all" Rae said. Piper's look of concern did not fade and she folded her arms.

"Sounded more like a nightmare to me". Rae just shook her head and opened the fridge, hiding her face from view. It had been a nightmare, every moment of it had felt as if she were standing there and it was real. In the start it had seemed okay, like one of her dreams being reunited with the others. This one had been of Brin, but not the sister Rae remembered. X5 734, the cold, dark Manticore automaton who was trying to take her back and she just remembered how in that dream; being frozen, unable to move or fight back, just standing there.

The dreams made sense and that what Rae hated about them the most- it represented what she feared would become of her sister stuck in that hell. She picked out a container partly filled with tuna mixed with baked beans.

Piper grimaced and gave a weak smile." How can you eat that?"

"They messed up one of my genes, so I need to eat things that are to most others, pretty inedible". Rae shrugged and her voice was neutral. "Or I like this and love the added bonus of making you go green". Piper stuck her tongue out. "You know it's not too late to back out of Alec sitting if you don't want to- this is your day off".

"I'll cope" Piper said, grinning. "Race ya to Jaye's apartment?" Jaye's car had bit the dust two days earlier after someone had stolen the engine. Which made a car pretty hard pretty hard to drive. But it made a pretty good lawn ornament. Rae matched the speed freak smile of Piper's.

"You are on".

---

Jaye smiled as Piper and Rae walked in the apartment. Alec who had one arm chained with strong chains to a solid metal beam was sitting on the floor with a bored expression on his face.

Alec looked at the satisfied look on Rae's face and the slightly disappointed look on Piper's face." Did you get to be on top 478?"

"You are so immature, I can't believe sometimes you are a transgenic" Rae spoke with a disgusted note in her voice. Piper's face was shielded, not showing any emotion and Jaye just pointed at Alec, muttering a threat as he walked out the door.

Rae waited a second putting a hand underneath her dark blue coat and withdrew a tranquilizer gun. She passed it to Piper who looked it and put it on the bench.

"Last resort, but the stuff will lay him out for hours. It only works on transgenics, so don't try anything Alec". Rae walked to the door and gave a small wave to Piper and left.

"So, want to play Go Fish?" Piper said smiling at Alec who had an all suffering look on his face and didn't answer her. Piper walked over to the window and saw Rae and Jaye leaving.

"They are gone" Alec said, more of a statement really. Piper nodded not really paying him close attention. Alec stood as best he could with an arm chained to the wall and Piper turned around. " Then we need to talk". Piper perked up and sat on the edge of the windowsill.

"You want to talk about your life". Alec rolled his eyes.

"No about, why you should do the right thing" Piper looked slightly apprehensive now.

"What are you talking about?" Piper was liking this thread of topic less and less. Alec sounded serious and she had no idea where he was heading with this.

"Come on, you seem to be a smart woman with a good sense of the correct course of action. Your, friend Rae is not some poor little stray on the run from a big bad monster. She is a solider". Piper's smile was more tired now and she crossed her arms.

"I am not going to listen to a pro Manticore is safe for bunnies speech, got that, cause I am sure that it has not been all lollipops for you either".

Alec reached the driveway just in time to see Berrisford's car explode into flame. "RACHEL!" screamed Alec in horror.

Alec's eyes darkened for a second and Piper straightened up in slight amazement at his reaction. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"It does not mean anything. So go ahead, try to go on about my dark past" Alec started sarcastically. " It makes no difference to me".

---

"It's getting really windy out there" Rae said darkly to Scott, looking out through window at the dark clouds. The weather had gotten progressively bad and at midday when the sun should be brighter than ever, the sky was dark and foreboding. "I just hope the weather will hold together until tonight"

"Now Larter it is going to get bad and you two are going to have such fun going home". Rae and Scott looked at each other and then at Larson.

"Now" Larson said, enjoying the fact he had their attention. "Larter go and 'help' Krieghen, I believe he just told some elderly patient some really bad joke about her imminent death".

Rae winced and bolted off. Larson rocked back on his heels and laughed, not pleasantly either. Scott had a theory that Larson was really a snakehead and now that he had no territory thanks to SG 1, took his frustrations out on everybody else. Upon hearing this Piper had teased him mercilessly for a whole week and still mentioned it occasionally.

Scott left the older doctor and counted to three before he opened a patient's door. A man, only a few years older than Scott was laying in the bed. The man- Christopher Ogilvy had a tumor in his brain but refused to get treatment saying that he would rather die with dignity than trying to cling on to false hope.

And unfortunately the guy had rich relatives who were hell-bent on getting him to change his mind, so this room which would have been better suited for someone who gave a damn about saving their own life.

"How are you today Chris" Scott asked politely looking at the chart. The man's condition was declining and within weeks even if Chris changed his mind, it would be too late to do anything.

Scott had seen it before, people who were obsessed with going out with pride and then took a look at Death's door and then changed their mind, running back screaming.

'Same as I was yesterday Doc, dying". Scott knew better than to try again but he did.

"It does not have to be this way, you can fight this- the survival rate may not look so great but you still have a chance if we take that tumor out, and start the drugs and chemotherapy".

Chris shook his head. "No way. After people get their tumors taken out, they can die from all kinds of complications like an aneurysm. And the cancer grows back in the majority of patients".

"Not everyone has cancer again, and not everyone dies from a brain aneurysm either".

Chris looked away and didn't answer. Scott sighed. It was times like this that being a doctor just didn't seem worth it.

"Why am I doing this again?" asked Jaye and Rae just gave him an incredulous look. Rae was making him write out a hundred times, no jokes with the patients because obviously all the other times she had told him had gone over Jaye's genetically enhanced mind. They were sitting in the main reception area of the hospital and just beyond the glass doors was the patient waiting area. Some people had sleeping bags; if waiting in a hospital had been bad pre pulse it was nothing compared to now.

"You just told that poor little old lady straight after telling her that she is on the verge of mass organ failure, 'All swell that ends well'". The old lady had burst into tears and Rae had spent the next fifteen minutes calming the woman down.

"I was just trying to make her feel better, doesn't humor put patients mind at ease?"

Rae's eyebrows went straight up." Humor works with some patients- properly time as well as the appropriate humor. And-" Her next words were cut of by screaming out in the waiting area. A group of armed men ran in, and smashed the door dividing the hospital from the waiting room.

They were not a TAC team, Rae could tell that from the way they were dressed, the armed men were dressed casually mostly, and some of them had tattoos.

They were from a gang, but what gang Rae did not know. She put a hand on Jaye's arm to stop him attacking them.

A man strode in. Michael Vercetti, and he was supporting his wife who was alternating between regulating her breathing and glaring at anyone who looked at her.

"Anya's in labor, would someone please help her before I reduce this place to rubble?" His voice had a very dangerous edge to it and most of the doctors and nurses looked absolutely terrified.

Rae growled in frustration and stormed out into the foyer. "Yes we will help her. But tell your men to wait outside, this is a hospital and not your territory. Otherwise, regardless of the consequences no one in this entire hospital will help you and on that you have my word".

Michael looked at her with a very shielded expression and then turned to his men. "You heard the female doctor, leave". Rae smiled slightly and turned around.

"Someone get a wheelchair for this woman!"

---

Alec looked at his face in the bathroom, and clenched his hands. His strength was returning, he had to fake the last week that it did not as to have Jaye find a better way to stop him. It had not mattered with the two rogue X5 because they would dose him up again just in case. But Alec had a window of opportunity here, one he didn't intend to waste.

"Can you stop admiring yourself and come out already" Piper said, poking her head in, she was holding the tranquilizer gun loosely.

Alec came out and Piper smiled with relief. Then Alec blurred and shoved the dark haired woman in the bathroom and closed the door. He then put a chair under the handle.

"Hey!" Piper cried out and tried to slam her body on the door, only succeeding on hurting herself. Alec shook his head and laughed, opening the gun making the darts all fell out. He stomped on them breaking them. He then went to the cupboard where the medical things were and pulled out the gun her had seen Jaye put there.

"I'll be in there in a second, and then we are going to take a little trip so I can tell exactly where your little friends are. If you are good, Manticore might not kill you"

In the bathroom, Piper dug in her pocket and pulled out her cellphone and furiously pressed the buttons. Just after she sent the message, there was the sound of the chair being pulled away from the door. Piper put her cell on the ground and without hesitating brought her foot down on it.

The door opened and Alec sighed. "So much for calling for a ride" There was no phone in the apartment. "Looks like we are walking, it's only a few clicks away". He pulled Piper's arm holding the gun. "Come on".

In Rae's locker, her cellphone buzzed.

---

"Okay, you have to push with the next contraction, not before okay Anya?"

Anya gave Rae a look that promised a lot of pain. If Rae had not been preoccupied she would have laughed at one of the most ruthless gang leaders in Miami history holding his wife's hand and wincing with the pressure it was under.

For a wisp of a woman, Anya was pretty strong.

In the locker room, Jaye was leaning against his locker alone when Scott came in. The weather was sounding worse by the minute.

"Can I ask you something?"

Scott looked at him. "What?"

Jaye crossed his arms. "Did Rae ever do anything well, not so good when it came to taking care of her patients" Scott frowned.

"Not really, the main problem she has is playing nice with idiots who get themselves and others hurt. Low tolerance and it has gotten Rae in trouble a few times. She is a great doctor, but Rae just doesn't understand why you have to be nice to all your patients".

Jaye smiled. "She probably gets it from Manticore, there is a real lack of tolerance for incompetence there, not that I'd ever say that to her".

Scott swallowed hard and the X5 looked at him with concern. "What's wrong?"

"It's just thinking about that place. I never used to know what gave her the nightmares that kept her awake at night. I know as a doctor, I have sworn to do no harm but when I think of … Manticore and everything they did to her, to you- I just want to…" Scott looked away. "I know I am better than that".

There was a long silence, interrupted only by the sound of an incessant cellphone chirping from Rae's locker.

"It does that" Scott said, changing the subject and going into the unlocked locker. He pulled out the cell. "Rae did it so she couldn't ignore it, and… " He broke off in shock and passed the cell to Jaye.

"Damn!" Jaye swore violently with words that Scott didn't think Manticore would have taught him. "We need to go now". He pulled out Rae's keys from her locker.

"Shouldn't we get Rae?" Scott asked pulling on a jacket. Jaye shook his head, a dark look of resignation.

"We give Alec anymore time, and it won't matter". Scott followed Jaye and the pair ran out into the staff parking as the wind picked up blowing everything around them.

Jaye slipped on the motorcycle and inserted the key, Scott hopped on behind him. One of the older nurses who had just come out of an ambulance looked at them with disgust and shook her head , walking back inside the hospital.

"I don't want to know what she thought" Jaye said, brushing it off. He started the motorcycle and it roared to life. Scott put on his helmet and the pair rode off. Jaye just hoped that they were not too late.

As they rode past a street, they passed a small café near the place they knew Alec was heading to. Donald Lydecker looked at Jaye and pulled out his radio.

---

There were very few times that Piper could say, absolutely were completely without redemption without any way around it. This was one of those times. She was being held at gunpoint, being forced by Alec to go to his base, so that Manticore could go after and capture Jaye and her best friend Rae. So they could use her and probably Scott too against them. The wind from the approaching storm, which judging by the gray sky was what it was had blown her hair so badly it was in all directions.

She stopped walking and Alec sighed.

"Don't force me to have to shoot you, cause then I have to carry you and that would really suck and we are almost there".

Piper gave him a self-satisfied smirk. "Then do it, cause I am not going any further, you and secret wacky government agency can just bite me". Alec waved the gun.

"Don't think I won't".

"Can you at least tell me about why who hesitated when Scott called Rae, Rachel. At least tell me why, I'll keep going but I think I should know- especially since you are destroying my life, and everyone else's that matters to me ".

For a second, Piper thought that Alec was going to shoot her and the he just sighed.

" Her name was Rachel Berrisford. I was on a mission to stop her father from exposing Manticore. Only I got in too deep".

"You loved her". It was not a question.

Alec looked away. "Her father was going to alert his friend in the Senate. I was told to eliminate her father and Rachel. I… couldn't go through it , I tried to save her"

"But you didn't". Alec had a look of self-loathing on his face that Piper had not seen on anyone's face for a long time.

"No, I didn't, the bomb I had planted- Manticore set it off. I never got to see what happened after the car blew up I tried to go to her but they took me. Then they spent the next seven months screwing with my mind until I was their happy little solider again. So now you know, it was my fault, so let's go".

Piper shook her head. "It was not your fault, okay?" That had come out more emotional than Piper would have liked it. She not that long ago had put that night in Nevada seven years ago to rest. "Wish upon a star and you hope it will fix everything, by following what you are told but it doesn't. Will it bring her back by doing this? Will it make what they did go away?"

Rachel.

" I love you. Your hands are shaking"

"Yeah. I'm all right. I'm just happy."

Alec closed his eyes and paused, trying to find a way to keep this together. "No"

Piper put her hands on his shoulders and shook him slightly and Alec opened his eyes. Her eyes were full of the humanity, the compassion he had seen in Rachel, Robert Berrisford, Rae, and Scott – all of them.

"Don't do this then. Do you think Rachel would want this?" Alec stepped back as if Piper had hit him.

"What's the point, I am what I am. I am not like your friends, this is who I have to be".

"No" Piper said vehemently. "You are whatever who wanna be. It's your choice".

Robert Berrisford," You try to do the right thing…"

Alec's choice, not Manticore's or anyone else's. At this moment the girl in front of him was not trying to save herself or anyone else. She was trying to reach him, and Alec knew now the truth Manticore had tried to hide from him, make him forget. He had loved Rachel Berrisford, been prepared to do anything just for one more moment. That they had taken that away from him.

"Well" Alec started after a minute, "I do look more the part than those two, so I guess it would not be the end of the world". Piper grinned.

"I guess I don't have to kill you" Alec and Piper turned and Jaye was there with a very shell-shocked looking Scott, more from the wild weather bike ride than anything else.

"I so could have taken you" Alec said with a smirk on his face, but he froze and Jaye looked in front of them.

"What is it?" asked Scott concerned, and then he and Piper heard it. The sound of men running from several directions towards them. Three men ran from the side, tazers raised. Jaye launched himself, hitting a brick wall and kicked two of men in the head, knocking them out. Alec punched the other one in the head.

"We have to get out of here" Jaye turned to Alec and threw him the keys. "Get Scott out of here, I will take Piper and we will meet up four blocks away, at where the old railway yard is… unless of course you have changed your mind".

Alec rolled his eyes at Jaye and nodded to Scott. "Come on 'Skywalker'" Scott glared at him and ran in the direction of the motorcycle.

Jaye waited until they were out of sight and he beckoned Piper to follow him down a drain opening. Piper groaned and followed him.

The noise of the wind died as he helped her down and the closed the covering. Jaye then heard the famillar sound of the TAC teams coming down from the right and grabbed Piper's hand and pulled her along around the corner.

When he turned the corner, Jaye froze. Tazers and guns were pointed straight at him and Piper; he turned around to find that men were filling in behind him. Game over.

---

Rae heard a crash of thunder as she watched Michael help his wife into their car. The twin boys (Dante and Michael) were already in the car, and the men who had came with the gang leader were leaving as well. Hopefully the new parents would choose a different hospital to crash next time rather than this one.

Michael gave a kind off wave with his bandaged left hand- it was fractured from the pressure Anya had somehow put on it. Rae watched them drive away. She would have to go back inside, a hurricane warning had just been issued and the sooner Rae got home the better.

If it were anybody else, a normal family it would be sweet, but then what is a normal little family. It makes me think about my mother, just another girl off the streets that they paid to carry me. Not really my mother at all. I do wish that I could have had the fairytale childhood but then I really can't see myself taking ballet lessons.

But there are the moments.

"RAE!" In shock Rae turned to see Scott getting of her motorcycle which Alec was riding. He ran up to her.

"What in the blue lady, what's going on?" Rae asked as Alec joined them and he looked really worried.

"Long version or the short version?" Rae glared at him.

"The short one that is filled with the facts"

"I kind of was going to take your friend Piper to the Manticore controlled base here, only she talked me out of it –" Rae cut him off.

"The end result?" Alec swallowed; this was mostly his fault.

"Manticore has Jaye and Piper" Scott said quietly, and Rae's eyes widened in shock and she stepped slightly back.

"No," Rae murmured." They, they can't- not now…" she trailed off and then looked at Alec and Scott. "We have to save them, Alec you know where Manticore is holed up here don't you?" Alec nodded and Rae lifted her head high.

"We are getting them back". The rain started to fall.

To be continued…

T.B.C

Okay end of chapter for now, meh, next chapter up next week.

Additional Characters, Anya Vercetti/ Sophia Myles, Michael Vercetti/ David Duchovny and Chris Ogilvy/ Brian Krause.

My muses are evil, evil creatures. The cliffhanger was their idea. In any case there was too much for the next part to load it as an entire chapter, as it stands next weeks will be pretty big. Okay. This was not on last night because the site crashed.

-Allison

Chapter Completed on 4/9/2006 or 9/4/2006 for Americans.