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 5: Forks
A week, that was how long it took for the doctors at Manticore to treat the psychosis and be confident by a percentage of 99.9% that he would stay in his right mind at all times. It was apparently caused by a chemical imbalance in brain, a different one than the usual deficiency of serotonin that the X5 series suffered from.
For some unknown reason Ben had too much of a certain neurotransmitter causing his brain to emit messages to commit violence, specifically murder. These messages were random and no cause was explained so the rest of the brain took that message and added onto it to make sense of it hence the serial patterns he'd shown when he killed.
Ben hadn't suffered from any kind of relapse while getting treatment which was a mystery to Manticore's doctors and a relief to Ben. All he had to do now was take pills containing a certain enzyme to keep the messages of violence at bay and he was home free. At the moment Ben and Bella were enjoying their last nightly rec time with their transgenic friends and family at Manticore for what would be, at the most, a month.
During the week Ben had spent at Manticore he had joined in on Bella's Unit's exercises when he wasn't in for tests or further evaluations. Needless to say he was definitely not used to it after being on the run for 10 years, but he enjoyed it, especially sparring sessions. He'd especially enjoyed sparring with his twin even if he didn't always win. Thankfully though he won their first par, something which Alec attributed to his underestimating his brother, and he always rubbed it in his twin's face.
Now they were just enjoying a night bantering with their friends with no care in the world.
"Ben, Bella, where are you guys planning to go anyways?" Biggs asked. Huh… that was a good question. Neither transgenic had ever thought about it before.
"Are you going to stay in Seattle with Max?" Zack asked knowing that Max was really the only escapee whose position Ben and Bella knew. Zack still wouldn't reveal the other escapee's locations, despite knowing that Manticore had stopped searching for them, saying that it was just better that way. He had contacted them though to tell them of Manticore's situation just in case they came across any trouble they couldn't deal with alone or they couldn't run from.
Bella shook her head. "Max has problems of her own and while I know we would be welcomed I don't really want to intrude. Plus she's still wary of Manticore," Bella said explaining her reasoning.
"She has Bella's cell number anyways oh and she has yours too Zack," Ben added. Zack nodded but frowned, probably because they hadn't told him about giving Max his cell number earlier.
"Don't go too far. We still want you to visit more often than three times a month," Brin said.
"Well where would you guys go?" Bella said asking for suggestions. She really had no idea where to go and it seemed like Ben had no idea either.
"Vegas baby! Tons of girls and booze and rich slobs that you can con or steal from for money," Alec piped in licking his lips imagining himself in his form of heaven.
"Thanks but no thanks Alec… That's your ideal home not mine. Thank the Blue Lady that I'm not like you," Ben mumbled the last part to himself which Alec heard anyways. All Alec did to retaliate was stick his tongue out which Ben had to roll his eyes because of his immaturity.
"I can't believe we're related…"
"You're just jealous because I'm the hotter one."
Ben looked at Bella knowingly before replying, "Why would I be jealous?" Bella couldn't help but blush remembering their conversation from a week ago. She cursed herself for her lack of control; she'd blushed more times this entire week than she had the rest of her life.
"Get back on topic. I knew this would happen so I got a map of Washington, Oregon, Montana, Nevada and California seeing as those are the closest states to this facility," Zack said pulling out 5 different maps from his military jacket.
"Sir, yes sir," the four friends said at the same time mocking the overly serious CO.
Zack glared but continued on, "Which state do you want to live in?"
Ben and Bella exchanged a glance before simultaneously saying, "Washington." Zack placed four of the five maps back into his jacket before proceeding to open the map of Washington.
"Seattle's a no," Zack said crossing the city off of the map with a pen he took out of his jacket making Bella wonder what else he kept in that jacket of his.
"Great," Alec said rolling his eyes as he looked at the map. "That just leaves you with, oh I don't know, maybe 200 other cities and towns."
"Hey guys look at this town, Forks," Biggs said pointing at a small dot on the Washington Peninsula.
"What kind of name is Forks," Brin asked to no one in particular. Shrugs were seen within the group with exception of Biggs who was grinning, obviously finding the name cool.
"If you go there there'll be less cops and generally less crime to get you two into trouble," Zack said thoughtfully.
"Hey! Are you sure you're not mistaking me for my smart ass of a twin?" Ben looked at Zack weirdly. He and Bella in trouble with the cops? Ben highly doubted that it would ever happen, well as long as he stayed sane.
"I resent that!" Alec said glaring once again at his older brother.
"It's true that there'll be less cops, but since it's a smaller town the inhabitants will probably be more intrusive too," Bella said ignoring the twins' banter.
"It's approximately three and a half hours away from Manticore as well as from Seattle and obviously 5 hours away from Seattle if you pass by Manticore first," Biggs said examining the ETA for the possible destinations and routes Bella and Ben would take if there was a situation.
"Sounds good to me," Ben said finishing his glaring contest with his brother, which he sadly lost (Alec was currently doing a mental happy dance and smirking triumphantly for the world to see). "I'd rather deal with nosy neighbours than idiotic cops and drunkards."
"It's settled then we're going to Forks," Bella concluded before folding the map back up and then handing it back to Zack.
"Just in time too," Brin said as she looked at the clock in the mess hall seeing that it was 11:00 and time for everyone to head back to their cells.
"I guess this is it," said Bella, smiling at the thought of being free to do what she wanted for an entire month, excluding missions.
"Yep, too bad you won't be able to see my handsome face tomorrow morning before you leave," Alec said giving Bella quick hug.
"Of course I will," Bella said returning the quick hug before looking pointedly at Ben.
"Damn, having a twin is really putting a damper on my fun." Mumbling, Alec moved away from Bella letting the others give her a hug before heading to their cell.
"I'll meet you at the garage tomorrow Bella. Goodnight," Ben said kissing Bella on the forehead goodnight. Bella went to her cell dazed and she didn't even notice when she reached it and fell asleep, all she knew was that she woke up feeling the most rested she had ever been.
A week later, Ben and Bella were finally settled in a two story white house and a basement with many windows and a balcony on the 2nd floor facing the forest behind their property.
The house had one master bedroom, which Ben had won in a fair 3 round spar to Bella's dismay, and another bedroom (Bella's) on the 2nd floor. The 1st floor had two guest bedrooms, smaller than Bella's room, a dining room, a living room, and a kitchen as well. Each floor had one restroom and there was one attached to each of the bedrooms too. Each bedroom also had a closet though the master bedroom was the only one that was a walk-in.
The basement was by far Bella's favourite floor though since it was where all of their training equipment was set up and where their weapons were hidden very carefully.
It was an awesome house and what made it even better was that they were a bit further away from the other residents of Forks so they could do their exercises without any suspicion. They'd probably been able to get settled in after 3 days since that was how long it took them to get new identities from Manticore, and paint all of rooms their designated colours, but the darn furniture had been delayed so they had to delay their plans for starting school (Ben and Bella had spent this time training at Manticore).
They were only a 30 minute walk from Forks high and a 25 minute walk away from the grocery store but they're bikes brought that down to less than 5 minutes. They arrived in exactly that amount of time on their first day of school.
Everyone in the parking was staring at them as they parked their rides. "Haven't they ever seen a sports bike before?" Bella mumbled annoyed at the attention they got. One look at the cars in the parking lot and Bella guessed no. The only ride that was almost as conspicuous as theirs was a silver Volvo but still, no one but them had motorcycles. It probably didn't help that they were new in town too.
"So much for staying under the radar," Ben whispered jokingly to Bella as they got off their rides and took of their riding glasses. He'd expressed his feelings on Bella's desire to be invisible in the small town knowing it would be impossible but Bella would not hear of it… until now.
"It was inevitable," Bella sighed, admitting defeat.
"Shall we?" Ben said motioning for Bella to go first. Bella smiled at him saying, "My gentleman," before walking in front and heading into the school. Ben smiled and followed suite; this was going to be an interesting day.
As the two transgenics walked into the school all eyes were on them. Five pars of those eyes were of the Cullens who were standing near the silver Volvo that Bella had spotted while looking over the parking lot
"There's something strange about the two new students," the one known as Edward Cullen said. His siblings looked at him strangely.
"They smell different," he explained.
"I agree," Jasper added a couple of seconds after. "I don't feel the temptation to drink them… They smell appetizing but at the same time unappetizing. It doesn't make sense." He was clearly confused at the existence of the new students.
"All I need to know is that their rides are sweet! Why don't any of us have sport bikes?" Emmett pouted, though it looked quite silly on someone so muscled like him.
"Whatever… Who cares if they smell different? They're still humans who can't find out about our secret," Rosalie reminded the others sharply.
"They're going to be a big part of our lives," the last Cullen, Alice, said cryptically before walking away from the others. She turned back to look at them a few steps away saying, "I'm going to class now. See you all at lunch," before turning towards the school again and then walking inside.
Her siblings looked at each other exasperatedly wishing that she wouldn't be so mysterious all the time.
"Do you know what that was about Eddie?" Emmett asked his brother who frowned at the nickname.
"No, she's thinking of the Japanese alphabet to keep me out." All that admission did was make the siblings even more annoyed. They all wondered what the weirdest member of their family meant by the new students being 'a big part of their family.' One thing was certain: Alice would not be telling them any time soon. With a shake of their heads, the remaining Cullens went inside the school and headed to first class.
A/N: In the next chapter, Bella talks to Alice.