Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel or Twilight

Summary: What if Lydecker realized what was really important? The happiness of his 'kids'. Over the years since the escape of Unit 2 he has changed Manticore's conditions to become more humane while remaining a government facility. X5-481, Bella, is the first to try out a new regiment where soldiers are free to be outside of the facility but they must still perform their duties as a soldier (go on missions). PS None of the bad encounters with Lydecker happened (Prodigy and Cold Comfort did happen).

Chapter 4: The Twin

After getting Ben a bike, a Kawasaki Ninja like Max's, midnight blue in colour, they headed off to Manticore base, 1 and a half hours away from Seattle. Much like the ride to Seattle when Bella was on her way to save Ben, they arrived before their ETA. Unlike it though was the need to save a family member, instead it was filled with anxiety and hope for Ben's part.

When they arrived they were met with guards at the gate. Bella showed them her pass and said, "He's with me," motioning towards Ben. The guards opened the gate for her but before she entered she asked one of them to tell Colonel Lydecker to be expecting her and X5-493.

"Alright ma'am, he's expecting you in 10 minutes," one of the guards told her after talking in his radio. Bella nodded her thanks before leading the way inside the facility to the garage where she and Ben parked their bikes.

They walked out of the garage and then headed for Lydecker's office 7 minutes away. Then entire duration of the walk Ben was fidgeting with his hands and jumpy at every corner they turned. Bella looked at him with concern hoping that Ben wouldn't fall back into his state of psychosis. She reached for his hand and stroked it the rest of the way there.

"Are you ready Ben?" Bella asked him softly as they stood just outside of Lydecker's office. Ben took his hand away from Bella's and took a deep breath steeling himself for the rush of memories he would get form seeing their… guardian as children. A determined nod told Bella he was as ready as he was ever going to be.

She took a step forward and pushed open the doors before standing aside to let Ben in. She let the door close before turning to face Lydecker and standing to attention. At the corner of her eyes she saw that Ben had already did so which almost made her smile but instead she just said, "X5-481 and X5-493 reporting for duty sir!"

"At ease," the siblings changed their stance.

"I wasn't expecting you back for another month 481 and I wasn't expecting to see you at all 493. Report mission status 481," Lydecker said examining the two transgenics in front of him with curiosity.

"Mission status is complete sir. X5-493 has been stopped."

"Then why are you here?" Bella wanted Ben to say why they were here so that he'd have the courage to face his memories but after a few seconds of silence and Lydecker slowly becoming suspicious, Bella opened her mouth to speak. She was however interrupted by Ben.

"Permission to speak sir," he said confidently, though Bella knew it had taken all his courage to say that.

"Granted 493."

"At the moment I am functioning… properly sir but I do not know if I will revert to my previous state. I do not want that to happen again."

"And what is it exactly you came here for?" From Lydecker's eyes, Bella knew that the colonel already knew what Ben was asking for and she also knew that the colonel would do it from the care in his eyes. He really had become a changed man… for the better too.

"…I am requesting your aid sir, to stop me from killing again." There, Ben finally said it, what he came here to accomplish. A great sense of relief washed over him.

"Very well, but on one condition," Lydecker replied. Here it was, Ben thought, the moment of truth. He hoped that the condition wouldn't be anything too hard to accomplish. He figured that he'd do anything except harm his siblings to be cured of his psychosis.

"You will stay with 481 for at least a year after your treatment to avoid any occurrences should the treatment not last, and you will accompany her on any missions that she will be assigned. Understood soldier?"

Whatever Ben was expecting, it was not this. This was a gift not, at all the burden which he was expecting. Ben couldn't help but let a small smile filter through his mask.

"Sir yes sir."

Lydecker nodded his head approvingly before saying, "481 check 493 into Medical for his evaluation. You will be staying here for the duration of his treatment. While here you will be joining your Unit mates for training. 493, I will have your universal pass ready in two days. Dismissed." The two transgenics saluted before turning and exiting the office.

"Wow… I just… wow," Ben was speechless as he followed Bella to Medical. He had heard from Bella, Zack, and Brin that Manticore had changed, but to actually witness it for himself. It was just… incomprehensible.

"I knew in my head that I should have been expecting this if what you and the others said were true but still… It's so odd being back here after believing it to be hell for 19 years of my life and finding out that it's not."

"It will only get better from here," Bella smiled. "Hopefully your evaluation will end before dinner. I want to introduce you to my friends and my CO, who's your clone. His designation's 494 but we call him Alec."

"I have a twin…" Ben said shocked.

"Actually we all have twins. It's odd but you get used to it. I haven't met mine and but I hear that her name's Marie."

"So… are you and my twin together?"

"Huh?" Bella had to stop mid walk at Ben's question. What the hell gave him the idea that they were together?

"No we're just friends… Why do you ask?"

Ben shrugged nonchalantly. "By the way you said his name; I could tell that you two were close." Bella resumed walking more flustered than before.

"Why? Are you jealous?" It was Ben's turn to stop and look at Bella incredulously.

"Why would I be jealous? No one can ever be as close to you as I am," Ben whispered into Bella's ear. Bella's blush became even more noticeable to which Ben only smiled.

"Yeah… our relationship is unique that's for sure," Bella muttered under her breath as she turned around and kept walking towards Medical no longer saying a word. Ben followed her, the smile still on his face.

After checking Ben into Medical and telling the staff there to contact her and Lydecker if there was a problem, she went to her cell and changed out of her civilian clothes into her military ones. She checked her watch to see that it was noon, just in time for lunch. She walked towards the mess hall and got her food before joining her friends at their usual table. They all stared at her without the usual greeting as if they were expecting her to say something.

"Marie… I know that I'm nice to stare at and all, but what are you doing here?" Alec questioned jokingly, though Bella could see that he wanted to know.

Bella looked at her friends in disbelief, but decided not to say anything to see when they would figure out it was her.

"Hey don't look at us like that! You're the one that just sits there like you own the place where Bella usual… oh Hi Bella," Biggs said quietly after yelling at her.

Bella couldn't help but laugh at the realization on her friends' and family's faces. "You really should see your faces… It looks like someone came and told you all that each of you were pregnant."

"Bella, nice to see that you're back, but it's only been a day… oh no, please don't tell me that the program's been cancelled," Brin said disappointedly. Meanwhile the guys still had disgusted looks on their faces at the thought of being pregnant.

"Men can't become pregnant," Zack finally said getting over the bad mental image in his head. Bella seemed amused at the fact that they chose to ignore Brin's comment but replied to Zack anyways seeing as Brin looked amused too.

"You never know with all the gene splicing they did, maybe they made all the males hermaphrodites."

"DON'T even joke about that kind of thing Bells!" Alec cried out in horror. Bella just shook her head laughing again before calming down and resumed to answer Brin's question.

"No need to worry about the program, the test run is still ongoing; I'm here because Ben needs treatment for his psychological condition…" A grim look appeared on Bella's face as she remembered Ben's fear at reverting back into a killer.

"Why? What's wrong with him?" Zack asked concerned. Bella had almost forgotten that she had only told her friends that she needed to save Ben from danger and didn't mention that she needed to save him from himself.

"He's suffering from psychosis… He's alright when I'm around but he wants to make sure he doesn't suffer from it again," Bella explained leaving it at that not wanting to say Ben's secret without his permission. He'll be able to tell them on his own during dinner if he so pleases. The others thankfully got the message and didn't press the situation.

Their training exercises went the usual, they ran, they swam, they held their breath, and they fought. Bella fell into the usual regiment easily, though it was expected since she had only missed a day, with one difference. Her mind was constantly on Ben and whether he was okay or how the doctors were treating and generally just his wellbeing.

She'd never been so consumed in her thoughts other than when her Unit had escaped the facility. It was a bit worrying but Bella knew that the closest person to her, the person that she wouldn't hesitate to die for, was Ben. It was however incredibly relaxing to see him walk into the mess hall during dinner.

"Ben! Over here," she called out to him. She met his gaze and smiled which he returned. He took his tray of food before heading towards her table. She had gained the attention of all her friends and family when she called out Ben's name, at first wondering if she was going insane, but then followed her gaze to see a replica of Alec heading their way.

"Whoa, what the hell? None of you told me that Ben was my twin!" Alec exclaimed narrowing his eyes at Zack, Brin and Bella, who just shrugged their shoulders.

"You never asked," Zack explained shortly. Alec was about to go on a rant about how he had no way of knowing that Ben was his twin and how people don't normally ask if a stranger is their twin totally blowing the situation out of proportions, but was thankfully stopped when Ben arrived at their table and sat next to Bella.

"Everyone, this is Ben. Ben this is Biggs, and Alec. You already know Zack and Brin. You'll meet the others later," Bella introduced.

"Hey there little bro, welcome back to Manticore," Alec smirked thinking he now had someone else to pick on other than Biggs.

"Sorry little bro, but I came first. My designation's 493 and yours is 494," Ben said as he wrapped his arm around Alec's neck and then proceeded to give him a noogie messing up his perfect hair. Bella was glad to see Ben acting like his playful self again, it made all the anxiety and fear he'd felt due to his coming here worth it to see him like this again.

"Hey that is so not cool Ben! Stop it!" Alec twisted around getting himself free and huffing indignantly, the then began to fix his hair all the while glaring at his twin. The group of friends laughed at his expense only annoying Alec further.

"Admit it Alec, he got you this time," Biggs said through his laughter.

Alec crossed his arms and turned away from his so called best friend. "Whatever, but when we meet on the mat pretty boy, I'm taking you down," aiming his words at Ben.

"You know you just called yourself a pretty boy right?" Brin looked at Alec weirdly.

"Yeah so? I can't help it if I'm genetically superior in looks out of all of the X5's in this facility."

"Can it smart ass," Zack said forever short and to the point.

"What is it? Pick on Alec day? Bella you're on my side right?" Alec turned to face his other best friend with a puppy dog face. She was about to stick up for him when she saw that Ben was giving her one too. Bella blushed unable to pick a side and so stayed quiet.

"Hehe, look bro! We made Bella blush," Alec said triumphantly with a smirk; he high-fived his twin making Bella glare at the both of them.

"How the hell am I supposed to pick between to identically ha… faces like yours," Bella said omitting a word once she realized what she was about to say.

"What Bella? What were you going to say?" Alec teased knowing that once again Bella was embarrassed.

"I believe she was going to say handsome bro," Ben said with an identical smirk to Alec's.

"I thought this was supposed to be pick on Alec day, not make Bella embarrassed day," she mumbled unable to take anymore and just turned and focused on eating her food.

The laughing commenced but Bella couldn't bring herself to frown; instead she smiled knowing that they were laughing with her. Once again Bella was back at home, but it was also different now that Ben was here, it was better.

A/N: I promise that the next chapter has the Cullens in it!