Hey guys, sorry I'm late! Life has been crazy lately. There was a major fire nearby and lots of projects and essays due this week along with one awesome Thanksgiving weekend. I hope you all had fun too. Please leave me a review to let me know what you think. I hope you like it.

Max spent the night at Alec's apartment. They figured, hey, he already had four people staying over. What was one more? Alec graciously surrendered his bedroom so Max and Jo shared that while Bobby, Sam, Dean, and Alec crashed out in the living room.

The apartment was quiet as everyone started to settle down for the night.

"Alec?" Dean whispered in the darkness.

"Yeah?" came an equally quiet response.

"What was up with Max when she first met us-met me?" Dean had been struggling to work out a reasonable answer to that question all day and nothing seemed to fit.

Alec swallowed hard. He should have known that Dean was too smart not to notice how oddly intense Max's reaction was. He scratched the back of his neck and tried to come up with the words. "Um, Max had a brother. He looked just like us. His name was Ben, and uh, he… he lost it. He couldn't handle life outside or something and started-" he nervously cleared his throat and hoped that Max's shark DNA had taken a vacation day and she wasn't awake and eavesdropping, "He started killing people. He'd hunt them down, pull their teeth out, and tattoo his barcode on them." He paused and Dean could tell this was hard on him.

"He died and Maxie took it hard." Alec just couldn't bring himself to share Max's secret.

Dean didn't know how to respond to that. He just nodded slowly, almost reverently, and rolled onto his back to stare at the ceiling until sleep claimed the weary hunter a few minutes later.

Alec awoke the next morning to find that Dean had kicked all of his blankets down around his ankles in his sleep and Sam had shifted into a sideways position. Bobby, Alec noted, looked just the same as had the night before. All the hunters were still resting peacefully but Alec knew that even if he tried, he wouldn't be able to slip back into unconsciousness. Luckily for him, he wasn't alone in his predicament. Max was already up so the two transgenics began working battle strategies. By the time the others came to, they had worked out a pretty decent plan. Somewhere amidst Renfro's taunting threats of doom and destruction, she had inadvertently given them the key to be rid of the horror that was Manticore. With Max and Alec's combined knowledge of the lay out and security features in addition to Logan's plans, the group had a pretty good amount of information at their disposal. They divvied up assignments and made to strike at dusk.

After a quick breakfast, Alec led the Winchesters out to the alley behind his building.

"Okay guys. There are some things you need to learn to fight a transgenic effectively. First of all, we're faster."

Dean scoffed.

"We're stronger."

Eye roll

"And over all, just better than you guys."

Alec saw a flash of motion dart across his vision but couldn't react before he was tackled to the ground by an arrogant hunter. He coughed as the wind was knocked out of him. The handsome transgenic was lying on his back on the pavement with Dean smirking down at him with an outstretched hand. He accepted the offer not because he needed the assistance but to assure Dean that there were no hard feelings. He laughed a little bit as he brushed himself off. These guys were good and had a knack for surprising him.

"'better than you guys' my ass." Dean mocked. "Winchester rule number 1, never get caught off guard."

"I'll have to remember that." Alec smiled.

He showed them how best to strike against a transgenic, the different tactics used against transhumans, and vulnerabilities to exploit. He noticed the way Sam and Dean's mannerisms changed when he was teaching them and having them spar one another and against him. It was like everything put aside during the mission. It reminded him vaguely of Manticore and the laser focus they insisted upon. He was about to demonstrate the most effective way to defend against a group of X7's when Max peeked around the corner to check on the training. Alec made eye contact with the brunette and winked and felt a sharp pain on the back of his head for his troubles. He turned to see Sam rubbing his hand smugly.

"Winchester rule number 2, never get distracted from the mission."

"Who's teaching who here?" Max laughed and disappeared around the corner once again.

Inside, Jo, Bobby, and Max were going over the folder of intel Logan passed their way with a fine toothed comb. They marked where each sensor would be and guard station was. They knew that they couldn't even begin to predict the amount of guards or their patterns. They couldn't even guess where the X7's would be stationed in the forest or whether the interior guards would be human or transgenic, but they did the best they could.

The two groups reconvened at lunch and spent the rest of the afternoon finishing up training the ordinaries for transgenic/transhuman fighting with plenty of worrying and pacing thrown in for good measure.

Dusk came sooner than any of them would have liked. They all piled in the bed of Bobby's truck with Jo and Bobby in the cab and headed out of town.

Max crept silently through the dense forest that made up the outskirts of the Manticore facility. She couldn't help thinking back to her escape with her unit so many years ago and cringed. Looking to her right and left and seeing Ben's face again just threw her further into the sense of déjà vu. She mentally shook herself. Now was not the time to get lost in mourning her dead brother. This was vengeance.

Alec weaved through the underbrush of the wooded area that Manticore was so thoroughly surrounded by. He couldn't believe that he was once so blindly loyal to them, even after everything they did. His stomach churned at the memories of his numerous psy-ops visits and even more so, with Rachael. He refocused on the task at hand and tried not to be swept away by the onslaught of rage and despair that washed over him every time Rachael or his reindoctrinization was brought to mind. This was his chance to break free, to avenge her.

Max and Alec were on point. They moved in sync, picking up on one another's subtle clues and heeding their silent warnings. Looking at them, you could see the animal inside them showing itself as they stalked their prey. Beneath the human exterior, the animal and soldier were working hand in hand to make the perfect killing machine. Sam and Dean had to stifle gasps when their eyes beheld Max and Alec leap over a twenty foot fence with ease and land with cat-like grace. Their shocked stillness was brought to an end when the two transgenics turned and broke open the gate for them. Bobby and Jo had stayed back at the road manning the getaway vehicle. They had begrudgingly realized that while four people slipping in may go unnoticed, six was an entirely different matter.

So the transgenics and Winchester's headed out into the compound. Alec and Max quietly broke into the building and led Sam and Dean into the hell hole that was Manticore, in all its concrete and iron bar glory. They split up from there. Alec went with Sam and Max and Dean paired up. Each team knew its responsibilities.

Renfro had once said that she had a contingency plan of burning the place down at a moment's notice. They figured that meant that she must have explosives planted all around the building. It was the only logical way to destroy any evidence of it and still be able to make a quick getaway. Of course, in Renfro's plan, she'd still have her little disk and DNA lab to fall back on so she could start anew elsewhere, making all the current transgenics expendable. She could murder each and every one of them and still have everything she needed to do the whole thing over again.

The DNA lab and disk would have to be taken care of while Sam and Alec made sure to get the genetically enhanced soldiers out safely. All Max and Dean needed was the location of the explosives and a way to detonate them and they'd be well on their way to victory.

Unfortunately, Renfro wasn't stupid. As much as Max despised the cold, spiky-haired tormentor, she had to give her that.

'She would have wanted to be off-site when the explosion occurred. She wouldn't trust anyone else to set it off so that means that there has to be a way to do it remotely. The detonator must be portable. She wouldn't want anyone to know she had this back up or she'd start a mutiny so she'd keep it somewhere she thought was safe. Safe, Renfro's safe!' Max quickly processed. She signaled and took off around the corner to Renfro's office with Dean close on her heels. She made quick work of the lock on the door. Renfro may be smart but even she didn't take into account the possibility of an X5 on the loose making her 'security system' supremely easy to disable for an experienced thief such as Max.

They crept into the office and found the safe in the back corner. Max, using her genetically enhanced hearing, was able to crack it without much hassle. She almost smiled when she saw a fairly obvious detonation device sitting atop some files. She grabbed it and was about to turn and leave when Dean's head snapped up. His entire body was instantly on full alert. Max stilled for a moment and sure enough, the click of high heels was echoing down the hall. Only one person wore heels like the ones making that sound. Max shuddered. How did even her footsteps sound evil?

Renfro typically spent her nights staying late in her office, going over paper work, hunting down 452 and 494 and the other runaways, and making sure no one was aware of Manticore's existence. Today, however, she decided to take a little time for herself. She left just before dusk and was about to head home when she recalled that she left some important files on her desk. She reluctantly pivoted and stomped back towards her office with a scowl. She rounded the corner and her normally squinty eyes went wide as she saw that the door was busted open. She never forgot to lock up before she left-ever. It had been Lydecker's office before he went AWOL and he had refused to have all the alarms and security measures installed like he should have. Now that he was out of the picture and it was her office, she had to deal with having nothing but a dead bolt and an emergency button. Unfortunately, said emergency button was only useful if you were in the office. There was no way she was entering a room unarmed that could possible contain a rouge transgenic just to press a frickin' button! She stopped dead in her tracks briefly before slipping into a side office nearby that was currently uninhabited. As quietly as she could, she dialed the code to summon security to her invaded office.

Max was on high alert the instant she registered the sound of footfalls in the hallway. Now that the clicking had ceased, she was getting a little nervous.

Alec and Sam cautiously made their way through the darkened building looking for the control room. Alec had bribed enough guards in his day to know that they could open the doors from the room he was currently standing just outside of. However, he also knew that it was one of the most heavily guarded rooms in the compound as well. He pressed his ear against the cold, reinforced metal and tried to gauge how many guards we was dealing with. It was regulation that all guards remain armed with those electric cow prodders in their utility belts in case of emergency. Alec being electrocuted wasn't exactly part of the plan for the evening. He closed his eyes and blocked his senses for everything except the sounds coming from inside that room. He heard at least five guards shuffling around the small room before the sound of an alarm bell ringing from within caught his attention. He blurred into Sam and tore them both away from the door and into a darkened corner just an instant before all five of the guards took off running down the hall. He silently prayed that some nomalie was causing trouble and that was the reason the alarm sounded. His hopes were crushed when he crept into the room with Sam in tow and saw Renfro's office lighting up like a strobe light on the screen. His pulse sky rocketed. Max was in Renfro's office. His entire body stilled and something in his face must have changed because Sam was slowly stepping away from him with his hands raised. Alec would have laughed if it wasn't taking every ounce of control he had not to go racing after the guards to her rescue.

No, focus on the mission. Focus on the mission. We're all screwed if we don't get the doors open soon. Max is a big girl; she can handle herself. Dean's with her. She will be fine. Everything will be fine. Focus, Alec! The soldier part of his mind lectured. He took a deep breath and pulled himself together.

Sam watched as Alec took several deep breaths and got back in mission mode and hesitantly approached him. The room was small and appropriately dark. It had a curved control panel that looped around the edge of almost the entire room save for the entrance area. In the center of the mass of buttons and switches was a lone office chair. Sam sat himself down and efficiently wheeled around the board until he found what he was looking for. In front of him were a series of switches and a large button under a glass case. Beneath the case was written 'Open cell doors. Warning! Do NOT Press without consent of the director.' He figured it was a good bet that this was what they needed. He lifted the clear lid and pressed a semi-large black button underneath the array of switches and another sign that read 'All doors open: Emergency use only.' His efforts were rewarded with the sound of concrete doors pulling open and corresponding warning lights began flashing over every inch of the panel. Alec was satisfied that their job there was done and with only a nod to Sam, they rushed off in the direction of Renfro's office.

Max was in mission mode. Her every muscle was tensed for action and she was acutely aware of every little sound coming from the halls. It hadn't been that long since she broke out and she had become very well acquainted with the equipment Manticore used to keep the X series in line. Even without transgenic memory, she could never forget. Just as that thought was crossing her mind, she heard a flurry of activity right outside in the hall. She quickly weighed her options. She did have the detonator already in hand, but if she had to guess from the sound of things, there were probably six guards out there with electric cow prodders. She had known going in that they would probably have to deal with guards at one point or another but she'd really rather not do it while cornered in a dinky little office (seriously, Renfro? It's like a closet in there.). She shared a look with Dean and saw evidence of the same thought process written across his face. Their eyes met momentarily and with nothing but a small nod from each of them, a plan was born. In the same instant, they turned and stormed out of the office. It was in that moment that Alec blurred around the corner with Sam tagging along a few seconds behind. The guards, who had been being briefed by Director Renfro about the threat housed in her office, looked stunned at the new arrivals. In a matter of moments, transgenics had appeared from either direction. The guardsmen had been planned on trapping the intruders but now the intruders were trapping them. Funny how tables turn.

The few that still maintained the power of mental processing after overcoming their surprise realized that their only option was to dart back into the office they had just exited. Renfro was standing imposingly in the center of the room and she did not look happy at their decision. Even when she had X5's trying to kill her, she still managed to look menacing. They had transgenics outside and an angry Renfro on the inside. Harold, one of the sleazier guards, had never before had such a bitter appreciation for the phrase 'between a rock and a hard place.' For a brief moment, he entertained the thought that perhaps they'd made the wrong choice. While they were so preoccupied with making sure to avoid eye contact with their merciless commander, Max blurred into the office with Alec right on her heels. Harold had a gun stashed in his utility belt instead of the ever popular cow prodder and her drew it out from his holster. He clicked back the safety and with a deep breath and a shaky hand, he pointed it at Max. Renfro's eyes went wide and without thinking, she leapt in front of the infamously rebellious transgenic just as Harold pulled the trigger. The spiraling bullet shot through her side and penetrated her kidney and severed several crucial veins and arteries. She didn't see her life flash before her eyes. She didn't see images of her early years or of what she imagined her children might have looked like had she ever had any. There was no white light or startling revelation either. All she could think of was Sandeman, that bastard, sitting in his worn old chair telling her with such quiet confidence that she would sacrifice herself for the cause. She'd never dreamed that he might have been right. Even now, with blood poured from her side and darkness began to creep along the edges of her vision, she was having a tough time believing it. She'd saved 452. She let out a small smile; she'd fulfilled her purpose. They all froze, transgenics and guards alike. They were shocked into stillness at the sight of Manticore's leader dying for the things that were hunting her. Their hesitation gave Sam and Dean the opportunity they needed to join the fight. In one definitive motion, Dean slammed the butt of his pearl gripped pistol into Harold's temple. He released the dead weight as the guard's knees buckled beneath him at the spontaneous lack of consciousness. Sam took out another before the trance was broken and everyone began scrambling around the cramped office. As they surveyed the scene, two guards unconscious on the floor, Renfro's body, and four enemy combatants, the three remaining guards lost what little courage they had to begin with and bolted out the door leaving Alec, Max, and the Winchesters all jumping between staring at each other and glancing at the door the guards disappeared through. After a moment of silent deliberation, they all followed suit.

Meanwhile, the doors to the containment cells of every trangenic and transhuman in the building had been unlocked and their occupants, cautiously at first but rapidly gaining confidence, surged out of their confinement. The guards were too engaged with trying to hold onto some semblance of control over the obviously superior creatures to pay much mind to the original intruders. Said intruders didn't stick around to watch the commotion and booked it out of the building, just barely avoiding the ensuing stampede.

Ames White watched the steady flow of abominations rushing out in utter confusion. His brows knit together in displeasure at the sight of the commotion while the other high-ranking cult members glared daggers at him. Tonight was supposed to be their first and final attack on Manticore, destroying what Sandeman had risked everything to build. Their well laid plans toppled over just like the gate that surrounded the facility did as the first wave of escapees charged it. At this point, any normal man would retreat, regroup, and plan another attempt for another night. Needless to say, Agent Ames While was no ordinary man. His rage began to build. This was his big shot to do his duty to the conclave and destroy the menace of Manticore for good. He'd failed too many times to let this last opportunity to slip through his fingers. He silently led his merry band of lunatics around the back entrance to Renfro's office. They had planned on keeping her around and letting her hunt down 494 for them while they focused their efforts on the troublesome 452, but then they discovered her close ties with Sandeman and decided she had to be eliminated from the equation. Someone possessing the kind of knowledge that she did about 452 could compromise centuries' worth of planning on the part of the conclave.

The fleeing transgenics barely acknowledged White and his people entering the building. For that, the snake worshippers were grateful. The last thing they needed tonight was a fight between them and a six hundred transgenics. They had no issues getting in right after the last 'monster' hurried out.

Max looked back and saw her old friend Joshua tuck out of the building last. He was carrying on of the pregnant X5's in his capable arms. Good ol' Joshua, always the gentle giant. Once they were a safe distance away, Max took a deep breath and with a reassuring nod from Alec, she pressed the detonator button. Every transgenic hit the deck as the sound of the explosion echoed in their ears. Hundreds of eyes turned to see the east corridor beginning to collapse. Renfro wasn't kidding when she said she'd burn it to the ground. A domino effect was taking place, Alec saw, and judging from the damage and pattern of combustion, a chunk of C4 had to be built into the foundation every few feet. Within two minutes of the initial explosion, the entire concrete prison had been decimated and reduced to a smoking pile of debris. It was one of the most beautiful sights Max had ever witnessed.

Max's eyes welled up with unshed tears as she watched in rapture as Manticore was wiped off the map with Alec standing proudly beside her. Soon, Joshua rushed up to them after aiding the pregnant X5 get reunited with her breeding partner. His sharp canine nose had picked up on their scents almost immediately despite the dust and hot ash now floating in the air. He scooped Max and Alec up in a hug that left their feet dangling above the ground. The two couldn't help but laugh at their favorite transhuman's antics. He finally set them down and became distraught as he recalled the message he needed to deliver to them.

"Max, Max. Snake in their cocktail. In building. Building gone. Pretty whack!"

Max had so missed that broken speech. It took her a moment to process just what he had said. Snake DNA? Manticore didn't use snake DNA. In the trial runs, they found that it was had a tendency to make the subjects durable but deceitful, conniving, and over all, too difficult to control. Realization dawned on her and with a quick glance at Alec, she knew he had put it together as well. The familiars! They must have been the ones Joshua was talking about. For a moment, Max wondered what the familiars were doing here but she pushed it out of her mind. Manticore was gone, apparently the familiars were too (even with selective breeding and their high pain tolerance and all that, not even they could survive being blown up). Max figured she could deal with the how's and the why's and the dreaded what now's later. Right now, she wanted to celebrate.

Col. Lydecker watched silently from the depths of the shadows as the flames from the burning Manticore facility licked hungrily at the night sky while the many occupants fled the scene. He saw Max running among them and smiled before he disappeared once again into the darkness.

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