Sorry for the delay again, I was arguing with myself over this chapter for some time, that's why it took a while to post it.

Taeniaea: Thx and welcome back!

tylee17: Yes, Max will be back at Manticore. It would be too easy to let her escape already. Don't worry, she'll make it. Thanks to you again!

roseyangel: Welcome on board. Yes, as I said to tylee17, Max is back home. It won't be the most enjoyable time but, well, you'll see.

Thanks to all of you for reading and reviewing. Now: Don't hang me for the changes I made for example in Lydecker's attitude. As I have said earlier in this story he will have time to change and so he won't be the son of a b**** we all hate and love.

For any other mistakes: please note and review. Criticism is always appreciated.

Read and enjoy!

Matt Sung was a very busy man. Being one of the few honest detectives in a city where corruption was a daily occurrence didn't make his life easier and a day out in the streets wasn't something that brightened his mood either. He had just made it through the night and only wanted to leave his office and go home to see his son before he had to go to school when his cell phone started ringing. He swore silently before answering it.

"Detective Sung."

"Matt, it's Logan." The police officer immediately stopped in his tracks; Cale sounded stressed.

"Logan, what happened? You don't sound good."

"I can't tell you on the phone. Can you meet me at the docks in half an hour?"

"Look, I just…" Matt's voice trailed off and finally he sighed. It really seemed like his friend needed help so he forgot about his tiredness and agreed: "Okay, half an hour, I'll be there."

Twenty-nine minutes later Logan was sitting in his car at the Seattle Docks and looking out for his friend to arrive. The weather seemed to be a mirror of his worried thoughts; it was cloudy and about to rain again. He had a throbbing headache and was asking himself what he'd done to deserve to be knocked out by a transgenic twice during the same night. Sure that female X5 easily could have killed him and he should be glad to be alive at all but with your head feeling like it had a heart of its own you don't feel too grateful for the one that hit you.

When he had woken up in that safe house Max and the two X5s had been gone. It didn't take him much imagination what they were going to do with her; bringing her back to Manticore and Lydecker was the only thing that made sense, so he had done the first thing that came to his mind and called Matt Sung. Logan smiled as he was thinking about the Asian detective: He was one of the rare rays of light in this dark world; morale and trusting and one of the few law enforcement types not on the take. Logan hoped that his friend could help him this time, too.

The cyber-journalist looked up when Sung's car rounded the building in front of him and slowly rolled towards his own. Sung stopped and lowered his window, Logan did the same.

"Logan", Matt began with a wry smile. He looked tired and definitely needed a bed. "It's always a pleasure to meet you. But could you tell me why I'm here while I could spend time with my family?"

Logan cringed inwardly. This was the second time he had to ask a friend a very big favor in less than twenty-four hours. "I'm really sorry, Matt, but I didn't know who else I could ask."

"Calm down, it's not the first time I'll be home later than I promised" Matt tried to assure him. "What happened?"

"Somebody took Max."

"What? Who?" Matt didn't know much about Logan's friend but she seemed to be a nice girl.

"I don't know why and who." Logan didn't feel comfortable about lying to Matt, but what should he do? He couldn't just say: 'Ah, you know, she's a genetically enhanced super soldier who escaped ten years back and know her creators want her back. Could you please help me find out about the location of the most secret military base in our country?' No, that did not sound like a good idea. "All I know is that they seemed to be something military. I hoped you could perhaps help me find out where they are taking her. Don't you have some contacts to the sector police?"

"When did they take her?"

"Couple of hours ago."

"And they were military, you say?"

"It seemed so, yes."

"That makes things difficult." Matt mused.

"Why?"

"If they were from the military sector police has no authority to stop them", Matt explained. "You know the rules: If it's wearing a green uniform it's more important than you. I can try to find out which posts they have passed. Where did they take her?"

Logan gave him the address; after all he couldn't use that safe house anymore. "Thank you, Matt."

"No problem. Just don't get your hopes up too much" the detective warned Logan. "I call you as soon as I can."

"Thanks again, Matt, and be careful."

"As always. See you!"

Max was in pain. Her left upper thigh hurt like hell and her right wrist felt like it was broken. Of course she had pulled up a fight when Lydecker's two toy soldiers tried to get her up and out of the room; she was pretty sure she broke the one's nose and the other one shouldn't feel too good either. During the fight 301 – Kyla – didn't intervene and Max was quite sure she had seen a spark of amusement in her eyes when the two Manticore special ops soldiers went down but as soon as she turned towards Lydecker that spark had vanished and Kyla had been the cold X5 again. Max hadn't even managed to get to him before Kyla caught her and twisted her wrist until she could hear a sickening crack. The pain had been too much and the female X5's grip too strong so Max had stopped fighting. When they had left the building and were walking towards the four black Humvees her strength had returned and one last time she had tried to get free. This time 301 seemed to be more than just annoyed; with a low kick she had brought her captive down onto the wet asphalt and held her until one of the other soldiers approached and Max felt a stabbing pain in her left upper arm and everything started to blur.

'Well' she had thought 'at least she didn't hit me on the head this time.'

And then it had been black again.

When she woke up she was sitting in the back of a Humvee with 301 beside her. The other X5 had made it clear that she would hurt her again if she tried anything and the usually so bold Max was smart enough to believe her. She needed her strength if she ever wanted to escape, but she also needed to be patient. So she sat still during the following hours which was not a good thing for she had too much time to think. Most of the time her thoughts were circling around Manticore and what was waiting for her there. But then also she thought about Logan, OC, Kendra, Sketchy, even Normal and all her other friends. Would she see them again?

She frowned when Kyla turned around once again and looked for the Humvee that was behind them. She'd done this a few times and it started to annoy Max.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked.

"Didn't I tell you to keep your mouth shut?" 301 growled with an angry glare towards Max.

"No, you told me not to try and flee", Max retorted for which the other woman shot her another warning glance. "We'll be in here for some time, so talking would be a nice distraction, don't you think."

"As if I would need that" 301 muttered under her breath. Louder she answered: "I was checking if the vehicle behind us is still there or if there are any problems, happy?"

"And in which vehicle is 451?"

"In the Humvee behind us." Kyla's voice was stern and she looked at Max with a mixture of annoyance and anger.

Max on the other side only smirked at that last bit of information and her eyes held a message that was loud and clear: 'I know'

Kyla narrowed her eyes and leaned closer to her captive until their faces were only inches apart.

"I don't know what you've seen, 452", she whispered in a dangerously low voice, "and I don't know what you're thinking, but whatever it is, forget about it immediately. Even at Manticore accidents happen sometimes, understood?

Max nodded but was still smiling.

Kyla got back into her original position and looked out of the window. She wasn't about to deliberately injure 452, after all she would be in her unit in a few months, but she had to prevent that the colonel or one of the other instructors ever found out how she felt about 451 or she would never be able to see him again. The two of them had never broken the rules, never something had happened and as far as she could see it 451 didn't want anything from her that went further than just being her military partner. And that was fine for her just as long as she could work with him, see him almost daily and go on missions with him. She didn't fully understand those feelings and there was nobody she could ask about it, but she knew any sort of affection was something Manticore would not tolerate.

"We're almost there", the driver announced. "About five minutes to go."

Kyla only nodded but Max was immediately brought back to the harsh reality. She looked out of the window and she felt a shiver running down her spine. Yes, they were close. She could sense it. The forest around them seemed to be like any other forest she had seen but there were those small signs of déjà-vu she couldn't deny. She knew – her subconscious mind knew – that she had been here before, a long time ago in another life. She felt her heart rate rise and her breathing quickened. 301 felt the change and looked at her warningly.

And then they reached the fence and the first checkpoint. The convoy stopped and she could hear Lydecker talking to one of the guards. Shortly afterwards they continued their journey. Max felt like her body was frozen as soon as the car she was in had gone past the barbed wire fence and was now definitely within the compound she knew and feared as Manticore. Outside she could see things she had tried to forget during the past ten years. There they had trained escape and evade when she had been caught and injured badly by the X5 of the other team. Behind that small hill was the shooting range where Jondy had almost been shot by Jack during an exercise with life rounds. She pressed her eyes shut and tried to block out all these images and memories, her body trembled. Suddenly she felt a light touch on her shoulder and looked at 301 in surprise. The other X5 looked at her but instead of anger all Max could see in her eyes was – compassion? For a moment she was too astonished to say anything.

"It's gonna be okay, 452" 301 whispered so only Max could hear her.

Max just kept looking at her. Was that a new sort of trap? Gaining her trust only to be able to manipulate her? But the other woman's eyes, voice and body language only showed concern and worry.

"I know it is hard for you to believe but everything will turn out okay", Kyla tried to calm the nervous 452. After a moment of hesitation she added: "You are gonna be okay, Max."

Max stared at her now completely taken aback. Had this X5 just called her by her name?

"Why…?" she began but at this moment the Humvee stopped and Max looked out again. Almost nothing had changed. They had arrived at the main building of the facility and everything looked like she remembered it.

'Here we are' she thought grimly before 301 got out of the car and came over to her side and opened the door.

"Do as I tell you and you'll be fine", she told Max in her soldier-voice but still as gently as she could with the Manticore special ops soldiers behind her. She didn't know why she had called her captive by her individual name; perhaps she just wanted her to be as calm as possible or perhaps it was because she knew what 452 would be going through in PsyOps. Yes, that was it. She waited until Max – no, X5-452 – nodded and then helped her getting out of the car before she handed her over to four of the black clad soldiers who led her into the building. X5-301 turned around and wanted to look after 451 in the Humvee behind her but somebody blocked her way. It was the colonel and he didn't look pleased at all. 301 snapped at attention and saluted.

"Sir!"

"At ease, soldier. What were you going to do?"

"I wanted to look after X5-451, sir." Somehow this answer seemed to upset her CO even more.

"The medical staff has already been informed and will take care of 451." He spoke in a very low voice which usually was not a good sign. "I want to see you in my office in twenty minutes."

"Understood, sir!"

"Dismissed."

301 saluted again and then sprinted towards the barracks. She had about fifteen minutes to shower and change into a clean uniform. She tried to suppress the rising feeling of fear, after all she had known something like that was bound to happen. Perhaps 452 wouldn't be alone in PsyOps.

That sarcastic thought brought a grim smile on her lips when she entered her quarters. It wasn't much; a small room with grey walls, a bed, a table and a locker. Not much, but it was all 301 had ever needed. She quickly undressed, took a towel and wrapped it around her body before she grabbed a clean uniform and made her way to the showers.

"Hey, already back?" a voice behind her suddenly said. It was X5-494. He grinned and eyed her. 301 frowned.

"Take your eyes of me or you'll lose something important", she growled not slowing down. She did outrank him but when not out in the field he usually didn't care.

"Whatever", he answered still grinning. "Where are you going?"

"Showers. I have to report to the colonel."

"Okay, we're out at the shooting range. See you later."

After he had left 301 shook her head. Technically 451 was still unit two's CO and she his 2IC but as they were away on missions most of the time 494 had become sort of the unofficial leader of their unit whenever neither 451 nor she were around. It didn't do good to his ego which had already been big enough before. She sighed and entered the showers. The hot water felt good on her skin and she allowed herself a few minutes without the constant stress she usually felt but she knew she hadn't much time. Four minutes before she had to report to Lydecker she left the showers, two minutes before deadline she had tossed the towel into her locker and was jogging towards his office. Exactly twenty-nine seconds before her twenty minutes were up she stood before his office. She could hear voices from inside; apparently there was somebody with him.

"I tell you again: This is none of your business." This was the colonel and he sounded quite irritated. "I'm the head of this facility and neither you nor your boss are gonna tell me what I have to do, tell her that! Dismissed!"

She could hear footsteps approaching the door and stepped back. A second later the door was opened and a man in a suit came past her. She felt disgust when she recognized him; it was agent Sandoval. He briefly looked at her and there was something in his eyes she didn't like.

"301, enter!" Lydecker barked from behind his desk. It was quite clear his mood hadn't improved. She quickly stepped inside his office and closed the door before she stood at attention before him. The older man examined her for a few seconds before he spoke: "Why did you breach protocol, 301?"

"Sir?" Perhaps there was still a way out of it. X5s were not only highly trained soldiers, they were also very good actors.

"Don't play games with me, 301!" the colonel hissed through clenched teeth. No, acting was not a good idea at the moment. "You should have called me immediately after 451 was shot but instead you followed your target and lied to me!"

301 shuddered invisibly. He knew. Of course he knew; he was an experienced operator and officer, he had probably known the moment she had called him the second time. Suddenly Lydecker stood up and came around his desk until he stood right before her. She returned his piercing gaze but felt a great sensation of guilt inside herself. She had failed him.

"Why did you lie to me?"

"It was my only chance to follow my target and find out where she was bringing 451, sir."

"And after you knew about their new location, why didn't you call me?"

There it was; the one fatal flaw in her story. She decided that it would be best if she told her CO the truth; perhaps she could spare 451 from PsyOps.

"I decided not to inform you because I knew you would have to deploy a rescue team. Their attack would most certainly have led to the death of the target and X5-451. I analyzed the situation and decided I could resolve the problem myself, sir!"

"Which you did", Lydecker agreed but the predatory look in his eyes was not gone. "But I'm still asking myself if you're telling the truth."

"Sir?"

"Would you have acted the same way if you were partnered with, let's say, X5-494?"

"Yes, sir!"

"Are you sure about that, Kyla?"

Her world seemed to freeze. She looked at the colonel in complete horror and shock. She felt like a crushing weight was on her chest, she couldn't breathe anymore, couldn't move. He knew.

"What?" His voice was almost taunting. "You thought I wouldn't find out?"

"How?" she finally managed to choke out.

"That is none of your concern, 301!" he barked and she flinched slightly. No, X5-452 would definitely not spend her time in PsyOps alone. Lydecker sighed and got behind his desk again, sitting down. "I have known for some time that you and X5-451 share a special bond, 301, and until know I didn't do anything because it never was a problem but now…"

He said nothing for about a minute and watched the X5 before his desk. She was still standing straight and all of her composure was a picture of the soldier she was but Lydecker knew his children, he saw the tiny details, recognized the look of defeat and utter fear in her eyes.

"I will report to PsyOps immediately" she finally spoke, her voice but a whisper. She was afraid of that place; he knew that and didn't blame her for it. All of his kids were and to be honest he felt a sensation of discomfort himself every time he was there.

"I gave no such order" he answered. "You will go to your mission debriefing with Major Coleman and after that you report to Captain Anderson on the shooting range. He will give you further orders. Understood?"

301 looked up in surprise. No PsyOps? That was not possible! He couldn't just ignore what she had done, what she and 451 had done!

"I said 'understood'!" Lydecker snarled when she didn't answer.

"Sir, yes sir!"

"Good, dismissed!"

She saluted and Donald Lydecker then watched a completely confused X5 leave his office. When she had closed the door he sighed. By all means he should put her in PsyOps along with 451 but he wouldn't. They were his two best soldiers and he suspected they were always able to carry out even the most complex and dangerous missions because of that special bond they shared. Of course he would have to watch them, now more than before, but as he knew the two of them they wouldn't be a problem, not with the knowledge that he knew about their little secret. He wasn't a cruel man and other than most of his superiors he had found out long ago that his kids were not machines and needed some human warmth from time to time like all human beings did. Of course he would never say this out loud and his subordinates would never know about this opinion but he was sure he was doing the right thing.

After all, he knew what happened when you held the reigns too tight, Max's unit had proven that. It was quite a balancing act, like being caught between a rock and a hard place but until now he had managed to stay on top and as long as both 301 and 451 showed no sign of further problems he would let them do their jobs. He sighed again and picked up the phone. Time to find out how it was going with X5-452.

Max fought the urge to struggle for she knew there was no possibility of escape at the moment. While she was led through the grey and cold corridors she had already hated when she had been a child she felt disgust, anger, discomfort and also fear. But what intimidated her most was that she couldn't deny being here again also let her feel something else.

It felt like coming home.

Okay, Max is back at Manticore. Will she be able to resist re-indoctrination? And what about her brother and 301? Don't kill me, you know I like cliffhangers.

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