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This is a stand-alone story following the events of Max Allan Collins' DARK ANGEL novels SKIN GAME and AFTER THE DARK, and incorporating information revealed in D.A. Stern's THE EYES ONLY DOSSIER. -- author's note

Artwork courtesy of Valjean & JensenAckles.org

*****

"She's not up on The Needle?" Logan said, pacing the length of his apartment's living space, exo servos whirring in a way that slightly set Alec's teeth on edge. "You're sure?"

"Yeah, she's made herself a little camp up there, coffee pot and all to keep her warm in this lovely Seattle winter weather," the X5 replied sarcastically as he unzipped the front of his black leather jacket and drifted toward the window to look down at Terminal City's front gate. Sobering, Alec glanced back over his shoulder and added, "She might have been up there a couple of days ago -- no way to tell. I would have checked, but no one bothered askin'." The expression in his hazel-green eyes was reproachful. "What'd you two kids fight about anyway?"

"None of your business," Logan snapped as he shrugged deeper into his blue wool sweater then turned away, removed his glasses, and began nervously polishing the lenses.

"It is if it has any bearing on where Max has disappeared to," Alec shot back as he faced the man and crossed arms in front of his chest. "Any information you can provide might be the key. You know that as well as I do."

Logan opened his mouth to respond, but was interrupted by Mole and Dix's bustling arrival through the door that led down to the tunnel connecting his abode with Terminal City proper. Dix was carrying a disc.

"Take a look at this," the monocled mutant said as lizard man Mole stood to one side glowering and glancing from Alec to Logan and back again. Dix popped the disc into one of Logan's players and the four gathered around the monitor.

"This was recorded on the side gate security camera around one a.m. three nights ago," Dix said, pointing to the time stamp in the corner of the picture.

"There's Max," Alec said, watching the unmistakable figure of his Manticore sister and partner in crime as she walked confidently toward the chain link fence, obviously intent on leaving the compound.

"That would be just after we had our fight," Logan said. "I thought she'd gone back to her old place in TC because she left through the tunnel."

"Well, apparently Max decided to head outside," Dix said. "But watch."

Max opened the gate using her code on the electronic lock, slipped through, turned around to shut it, and suddenly whirled, obviously hearing something behind her. From out of the black shadows a blond haired man stepped forward, his face difficult to distinguish due to the lack of light. However, Max obviously knew him because she relaxed, then the two began speaking.

"Who is that?" Alec asked. "He doesn't look like one of ours here in TC. In fact he looks like--" He stopped talking, realizing that what he'd been about to say was highly unlikely.

"He looks like Zack," Logan breathed. "But what would he be doing in Seattle? He's supposed to be on Buddy's ranch over a hundred miles from here.

"Maybe Zack remembered who he really is," Alec said. "And decided to come lookin' for old friends."

"There's more," Dix said quietly as they all watched Max and the person who might (or might not be) Zack. "It gets better."

The blow from the X5 male (because by the way he moved it was obvious he was, indeed, X5) came so fast it was hard to follow with the human eye. One second he was talking to Max, the next he'd struck her hard on the jaw, dropping 452 cold to the ground.

Logan's sudden intake of breath was audible in the room, and Alec's eyes narrowed dangerously.

The blond male looked around cautiously -- showing his face clearly for the first time and revealing that it was, indeed, X5-599 -- saw he hadn't been observed, then slung Max's limp form over his shoulder and strode out of sight down an adjacent alley.

"So, she's been kidnapped," Alec said, stating the obvious. "Zack got back some of his memory and decided to use the Neanderthal approach to wooing the lady he loves." He sighed heavily, and looked over at Mole. "Question is, where'd he take her?"

Logan had visibly paled, and his hands were shaking slightly as he hit "replay" on the security camera footage. "Max isn't usually caught off guard like that," he said quietly.

"She trusts Zack," Alec pointed out. "And that was a sucker punch -- real dirty play." Once again, the young transgenic's slightly feral eyes narrowed. "Trouble is, he's got three day's head start on us. They could be anywhere."

Logan was already reaching for the telephone. "I'll call Buddy," he said. "Find out when Zack left the ranch. Maybe he'll have some idea where they could have gone."

Alec conceded the logic of this, then moved off to one side with Mole and Dix in tow. "You catch anything on our other cameras?" he asked, knowing his friends would have already checked this possibility. "The garage maybe? Or the back alley?"

"Nothin'," Dix said, shrugging. "Zack must have done surveillance and knew our blind spots."

"He also must've known Max would be coming out through that gate," Mole pointed out. "But how?"

"Good question," Alec said, shivering slightly at thoughts of the kind of surveillance Zack must have had on Max in order for him to intercept her that night. It was the act of an obsessed, probably insane, stalker. No doubt about that. There was also no doubt in his mind that Max would be resisting whatever overtures Zack might be making to her -- verbally at first, then physically if necessary.

"Zack's one of them muscle-enhanced Units, ain't he?" Mole said, puffing vigorously on a freshly lit Cuban and enveloping the trio in a cloud of smoke. "You can tell by his build -- sort of stocky and he don't move the same way you lighter weight stealth Units do."

Alec waved the fumes out of the way, his nose wrinkling as he gave a slight cough. "Lane had increased muscle fiber density, so I guess that means Zack -- his twin -- does too," he said, remembering his life back at Manticore with his Unit-mates. He knew what Mole was getting at, and regarded the lizard man worriedly. "Zack could overpower Max one-on-one easy. But remember -- our Maxie fights dirty. And more important, she's smart. Don't count her out yet."

"Well, if she got away, then where is she?" Mole snorted.

The guy had a point, and it was something Alec had already thought about. Chances were, since they hadn't heard from Max at all, Zack had her buttoned up good somewhere, although he couldn't believe X5-599 would ever really hurt his baby sister.

Logan hung up the telephone, his face ashen.

"Any luck?" Alec asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Not exactly," Logan said. The older man turned weary blue eyes on the three transgenics. "Zack ... or rather Adam Thompson as he now goes by ... is safe and sound on Buddy's ranch right this very minute, and, according to my friend, has an airtight alibi for last Friday night. He was on a date with Buddy's daughter in Spokane.

Alec planted hands on lean hips and cocked his head to one side, processing the information Logan had just hit him with. Then his eyes went to the computer monitor. "Are we sure it's Zack?" he asked quietly.

"I've enhanced the facial pixels," Dix said. "No doubt about it. That's X5-599 with Max."

"Or someone who looks exactly like him," Alec said quietly.

"You mean a twin?" Logan said.

"Zack had one. I know 'cause I grew up with the bastard. X5-600 was one mean son-of-a-bitch and if I didn't have revved up healing abilities I'd have the scars to prove it."

Logan was shaking his head. "But Lane -- X5-600 -- is dead. He assassinated the Pope Leo XVI on Christmas Day in 2020 then blew himself to pieces in front of thousands of witnesses."

"Or so it seemed," Alec said. "Believe me, when I was training for my solo missions one of the most important things I was taught was how to misdirect attention so I could escape. Manticore spent billions on its supersoldiers. They sure as hell didn't want to lose one unless they absolutely had to."

"The DNA evidence at the Vatican disappeared before it could be analyzed," Logan said, obviously thinking back to the case he'd once investigated.

"Christmas 2020 was after Manticore burned," Mole pointed out. "If Lane was the assassin, who's orders was he followin' anyway?"

"I've wondered that too," Alec said. "Renfro was dead and Lydecker was supposedly on our side, and certainly not in a position to be commanding an X5 operation overseas." But then 494 remembered something. "Unless--"

"Unless what?" Logan asked, for once giving Alec his full attention.

"Unless Lane was operating under S6 orders."

"S6? What's that?" Logan said.

"Essentially on his own," Alec said. "An X5 operative would be given initial commands, sometimes for an assignment months in advance, then set loose to mingle in society until the time came to strike. In the meantime, he'd have no contact whatsoever with base -- running silent so to speak." He glanced at Mole. "And before anyone asks, no, I was never trusted with that kind of job, but I knew guys who were. It's one of the ways I learned so much about the outside, talkin' to 'em after they came back in."

Dix was the first to comment, asking the obvious questions. "You think Lane killed the Pope, faked his own death to elude Manticore, then came back to the states and what? Laid low for a couple of years then decided to kidnap Max? He doesn't even know her."

"He has no motive, at least that we know of," Alec agreed. "And believe me, if there's one thing Lane needs, it's a motive. But once acquired, that becomes his whole life until the mission's accomplished."

"We're guessing wildly," Logan said, gesturing toward the screen and the enhanced face that might, or might not, be X5-600. For all we know there could have been a third twin ... a triplet."

"Not the same age," Alec said quickly. "The lab boys wouldn't split the embryos more'n once, or so I was told. It's risky. They didn't wanna lose a viable embryo unless they absolutely had to, and one set of twins usually sufficed for what they wanted to do with us."

"Could it be an X6 with Zack and Lane's DNA?" Dix asked.

"Too old," Logan said, and the man was right. The face on the screen was of a male at least Alec's age -- mid 20s.

"So," Alec said, his eyebrows rising. "What now? If it is my dead bro come back to life to carry Max off into the sunset for God knows what nefarious purposes, how can we even begin to know where to look for him?"

"We do what we always do," Logan said heavily. "Go to the ultimate source for information." He reached for the telephone and began dialing.

Alec made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat. "You're gonna ask Lydecker, aren't you? Go to that bastard yet again beggin' for info about one of his precious 'kids.' Lane was the old man's favorite, you know -- at least in my group."

"Jealous?" Mole sneered, jabbing Alec in the ribs with an elbow.

"No," the X5 said defensively. "It's just that it was difficult all those years knowin' no matter how hard I tried or what I did I'd never live up to what 'Deck saw as Lane's perfect standards. X5-600 was the most dedicated, brain-washed soldier boy I ever saw. Worse than Zack even -- and one of the meanest, too. I learned to just stay out of his way most of the time. Then he got sent to Quantico in '17 on assignment, and I didn't. I never saw him again."

Logan hung up the phone. "Lydecker will be here in half an hour," he said.

"When he'll tell us we're all nuts?" Alec quipped.

"No," Logan said. "When he'll tell us what he knows."

*****

She had a feeling she'd been unconscious for a long time. Opening gritty eyes slowly, she squinted in the gloom of what was obviously a cell -- stone walls and floor, no windows, iron door, the only light coming from a single low wattage bulb recessed behind mesh in the ceiling. Moving her arm, she felt the tug of shackles and realized she was chained to a cot.

Manticore! her mind screamed. This felt like Manticore. But that was impossible.

Closing her eyes again, Max tried to remember. Then suddenly, her lids flew open. "Zack!" she gasped out loud. Zack had come to Terminal City, and he'd--

"He hit me!" Max said to the emptiness. Her jaw still hurt from the blow. Which made her test her shackles in earnest. However, as hard as she tugged on the bands encircling her wrists and ankles, she couldn't make them give. Whoever had imprisoned her knew the limitations of X5 strength well.

There was a sound at the door, and she quickly closed her eyes again, feigning unconsciousness. Creaking hinges ... firm footsteps ... then the feel of a calloused hand gently caressing her cheek.

"I know you're awake," he said.

Max opened her eyes to look up into a face she'd known all her life. "Zack," she said softly. "What are you doing?"

He smiled at that, full lips twisting in a cruel way that made the handsome, lantern-jawed face frightening. "Not Zack," he said. "X5-600."

"Lane," Max breathed, suddenly understanding a little bit more than she had. "But you're--"

"Dead?" he said, the word barked in a short laugh. "Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated little sister." Once again he caressed her face, his fingers then moving through her hair, ruffling it with an intimacy that made Max's gut clench.

"What do you want from me?" she said. "Why did you kidnap me?"

"Would you like some water?" he asked, taking a flask from the pocket of his khaki military jacket.

"Yes," Max said, realizing suddenly just how dry her throat was.

He held the bottle to her lips as she propped herself on elbows and drank eagerly. When she'd had enough, he screwed the cap back on the container and put it away. Then he stepped back and just looked at her in a way that was beyond disturbing.

"What do you want?" Max repeated hoarsely, not liking at all the gleam in those brilliant green eyes.

"You," Lane said softly. "All I want is you."

"What are you talking about?" Max whispered, her heart speeding up with fear.

He reached out to her then with his big hands, and in a single quick move took hold of the front of her black t-shirt and ripped it open exposing her bra.

"What the hell are you doing!" Max snarled, fighting the chains as she tried futilely to reach him.

The X5's only answer was to draw a small wickedly sharp knife from his belt and slit her bra open, exposing her naked breasts. He fondled her then, totally ignoring her struggles and screams of protest, squeezing her nipples with his big fingers in a possessive way that made Max want to vomit.

"I'll kill you!" Max shrieked. "I'll kill you for this!"

"No you won't," Lane said casually as he unbuckled the belt of her jeans and proceeded to yank them down to her ankles. Reaching beneath the elastic bank of her red silk panties, he stroked dark curls and her privates.

"Why?" Max said through gritted teeth as she arched her back in a vain attempt to get away.

"Because you're mine," Lane said simply as he inserted a finger, probing deeply a moment before tearing the panties off of her completely. And then, as his hands continued fondling her breasts, he lowered his mouth.

Even though Max knew what was happening to her body a small corner of her mind refused to believe it ... refused to accept that this could happen to her ... that she was helpless. Even when her molester unbuckled his jeans and unzipped himself ... even when he forcer her legs apart, mounted, and his huge hardness mercilessly, painfully penetrated her ... even when the thrusts began ... she couldn't quite make herself think that this was truly real.

No one did this to Max Guevera ... X5-452. No one defeated her this way.

But Lane did. He raped her. And he continued doing so for almost an hour, taking every liberty with her naked body that he wanted as he used brute strength to force his new sex slave to do his bidding.

And when he was finally finished ... when he gave a last grunt of satisfaction after cumming inside of her for the third time ... he gently patted her moist pubic curls, kissed her mouth brutally, and stepped back so she could had a full view of his magnificent naked body in all its still semi-aroused glory. "Better than anything that ordinary ever gave you, isn't it?" he said with an obsequious smile.

"You're dead," Max mumbled through bruised lips. "I'm going to kill you for this."

"No, you're not," Lane said lightly as he wiped his privates with a Kleenex then reached for his khakis. "What you're going to do is learn to enjoy it because from now on, until you're pregnant, you and I are going to do this every night."

Max's world started to darken at the words as she finally realized why the X5 had brought her here. Breeding stock ... Lane wanted her for breeding stock ... just like Manticore had.

"If I can't kill you, then I'll kill myself," she threatened, fighting against the helpless tears that were filling her eyes.

"No, you won't do that either, 452," Lane said easily, buckling his belt. His bright eyes roved salaciously over her nakedness. Her clothes completely gone now -- ripped from her body during their violent coupling -- he seemed to very much like what he saw. "I'll send food in awhile," he said. The brutal lips curled in a sneer. " And someone to unchain you. Until then be my good little girl."

*****

Dix and Mole left before their distinguished visitor arrived -- Lydecker wasn't known for his tolerance regarding transhumans and nomalies, and they'd all agreed there was no need to deal with prejudices right now -- so only Alec and Logan were there to greet the colonel and show him the evidence.

"Zack?" the former Manticore CO said when he viewed the videotape as the other two men waited in silence.

"No," Logan said, pursing his lips and leaning back in the swivel chair he'd pulled up beside the computer monitor. "Lane."

"We don't know that for sure," Alec said quickly, uncrossing his arms and straightening from where he'd been leaning against the wall a few feet away.

The colonel turned and looked at the X5, a faint smile on his lips and acting as if he hadn't noticed the transgenic before. "Hello, 494."

Alec's jaw clenched just at the way Lydecker said his designation, old habits dying hard. He remembered all too well the pain this bastard had caused him his whole life. Max and Logan might think the guy was reformed and now on their side, but personally, he didn't trust his former commander at all. "Greetings," he said in a deep voice, not sounding like he meant it at all. "Now, take a good look at that video and tell the truth for once in your life. Could that be Lane?"

"X5-600's dead," Lydecker said innocently. He looked at Logan. "And don't tell me Max's boyfriend here hasn't shown you his file on the Pope's assassination."

"I've seen the file," Logan said. "But I know how good Manticore is -- or rather was -- at covering the tracks of its supersoldier assassins. Lane's death could have been faked. That isn't Zack on the screen, Donald. X5-599 has an airtight alibi. But whoever it is kidnapped Max. That, at least, ought to tweak your interest since you always seemed to have a special place in your heart for 452." This last was said with a sarcasm that made Alec smirk.

"Don't we all," Lydecker murmured, taking another look at the screen and the enhanced image. "When did this happen?" he asked.

"Three days ago," Alec said. With a guilty look at Logan he added, "We only just realized she was gone."

"One of your Unit-mates is missing for three days and you just now start investigating?" Lydecker chided. "You've gotten sloppy 494. I thought I taught you better."

"This isn't the military," Logan said harshly. "People in Terminal City are free to come and go as they please. Max and I had a disagreement. We all thought she'd just gone someplace to cool off. Certainly none of us expected a dead X5 to come back from the grave and snatch her right out of her home."

"Is it Lane?" Alec asked, his voice hardening along with the look in his eyes. He was getting tired of the foreplay going on in the room, and knew he needed to pin Lydecker down. Oh, Logan would try -- but in the end it would come down to the colonel and one of his kids, just like always ...

For the first time Lydecker gave his full attention to the X5, his chilly eyes sweeping Alec from head to toe and apparently finding him lacking. "She could have done better than you for her second in command," he said scathingly. "I'm surprised she didn't enlist one of her fellow escaped siblings -- Zane maybe, or Krit."

"Yet still, here I am," Alec replied coolly, refusing to let himself be baited, "just like I was after Max rescued your sorry ass from the Breeding Cult last Christmas. When, by the way, I recommended we not just let you go. But you know Max," he added glibly. "Taking advice isn't her strong suit. She does things her way. You couldn't intimidate me then, 'Deck, and you can't intimidate me now. So cut the crap and answer the question. Could that be Lane on the video?"

"Yes," the colonel said simply. "It could. In fact, I'm sure it is."

"So much for X5-600 being dead," Logan said coolly after a long accusatory silence.

"Shit," Alec spat, banging his fist against the wall hard enough to knock a hanging picture askew. Then he turned on the colonel. "Why would he kidnap Max?" he asked. "And more importantly, where did he take her?" He eyed the older man speculatively, the gleam in those hazel-green orbs not pleasant. "You know, don't you?" he continued in a softer, more menacing tone of voice. "You know all about this."

"Yes," Lydecker said, facing the X5 with hands hanging loosely at his sides and chin in the air. "I know all about 600's whereabouts and motives. I know because, up until a few weeks ago, he was technically still under my command."

Alec blinked at that, not understanding. It was Logan who voiced the question on both men's minds. "But you were captured by the Breeding Cult in the fall of 2020, shortly after Manticore went down," he said. "They held you prisoner for over a year. How could you have been commanding Lane? Or anyone else for that matter?"

"I said technically," Lydecker replied with a sly smile. "In actuality, 600, as well as some of his Unit-mates, have been operating autonomously ever since their base was destroyed. Like 494," he nodded at Alec, "Lane and a number of his brothers and sisters who were on outside missions at the time were far too smart to answer the satellite recall signal and fall into White's trap. They knew someone inside Manticore had betrayed them, and so instead of reporting in for certain extermination they did what they were trained to do. They survived on their own."

Alec understood. "I always figured a lot more X5s probably made it out than we thought," he said quietly. "We weren't designed to be chumps. The cult's data base that we got hold of showed only 29 X5s killed by White and his merry band of transgenic hunters. That had to leave ... what? ... a couple of dozen unaccounted for? We know some of 'em are in TC, and some died like Biggs and Cece, but there were others, including Lane apparently."

"There are eleven X5s currently living in Terminal City," Logan said, getting specific. "Including you and Max. Jace is in Mexico--"

Lydecker looked at Logan sharply.

"Don't even think about it," Alec said softly, and the colonel let it drop.

"Sam's in Canada," Logan continued, and we all know where Zack is."

"I don't," Lydecker snapped.

Alec just smiled. "Krit and Syl keep in touch with Max," the X5 said. "We've never heard from Jondy or Zane, but we assume they're out there somewhere livin' the dream. Which leaves ..." He shot the colonel another look. "A few of my own dear brothers and sisters unaccounted for including Lane, Devon, Keema, and Jewel -- if they're still usin' the names we went by as kids before it was forbidden."

"They don't," Lydecker said, "use names that is. Lane has lapsed into complete military mode. Only designations are used in his squad."

"Squad?" Logan said. "So some of the X5s have banded together?"

"The best and the brightest," Lydecker said with a heavy sigh. "For the most part," he added. "Do you mind if I sit down? This is going to take awhile to explain."

"Be my guest," Logan said coolly, indicating an arm chair.

Alec, however, continued leaning with one shoulder against the wall, arms crossed, his eyes wary.

"There were originally 300 X5 embryos created," the colonel said, taking the seat and leaning back like someone about to tell an entertaining story. "Of those, approximately half resulted in live births with fifty percent of those children reaching adulthood."

Logan glanced at Alec. "You were lucky," he said dryly. "A twenty-five percent survival rate isn't great."

"No," Lydecker said. "But it was sufficient for The Committee's supersoldier program. We ended up with approximately seventy-five excellent bioweapons systems that were the envy of the military world." His eyes went to Alec, just like Logan's had.

"Gee, I feel so special," the X5 snarked.

"You are special, son," Lydecker said quietly. "So is Max and all the rest of you who survived."

"Get on with it," Alec said, his voice tinged with darkness.

"Of those seventy-five, thirteen escaped in '09, leaving sixty-two on base. Of those sixty-two, twenty-nine were killed by White's people shortly after Manticore went down, including Brin in case you're wondering."

Alec looked away a moment, then back. Max would be upset when she heard that ...

"Eleven X5s are in Terminal City," the colonel said. "Which technically leaves twenty-two Units unaccounted for."

"Yeah," Alec said. "They're probably scattered all over the world by now -- if they're smart that is."

"Some did disperse," Lydecker admitted. "However I know for a fact that fourteen of those remaining X5s, plus Lane, have formed a special forces Unit of their own. I told you that technically Lane was still under my command up until a few weeks ago? Well, he reported in to me shortly after Max released me from my imprisonment with the Cult -- filled me in on his activities. However, he also then declared himself, and his fellow X5s, free agents. I wasn't exactly in a position to argue with him," the colonel added wryly. "Their base of operations is located in Colorado, up in the mountains. They're creating their own military society sustained by mercenary work."

"So you think Lane kidnapped Max and took her back to his Fortress of Solitude or whatever?" Alec said, his brows drawing down at the notion.

"Yes," Lydecker said. "In fact, I'm sure of it." He leaned forward in the chair. "Because -- you see -- for all their military expertise and ability to make money, there's one thing 600 and his brothers and sisters up there are in need of."

"More X5s," Alec said, beginning to see the whole picture now.

"More female X5s to be exact," Lydecker corrected him. "Lane wants to create an empire, and for that he needs breeding stock. A lot of the X5s are sterile, or have low fertility rates -- male and female alike." He stared intently at the young transgenic. "You and Max are the exception -- you have the ability to reproduce -- hence your inclusion in Renfro's breeding program. Of Lane's group, or at least the group I suspect he's gathered, they have a less than twenty percent fertility rate. It's going to be damn hard for him to father an empire of X5s. Max would be of incredible value to him in that respect." He continued staring at Alec. "So would you, for that matter, since the males in his group -- for the most part -- have low sperm density. But a male would be harder to ... force."

"Lane wants Max to have his baby," Logan said, speaking for the first time in several minutes, his tone hushed. He dropped his face into his hands. "That means he's--"

"Max will fight him," Alec said quickly. "You know she will. Hell, she might even have escaped on her own by now."

"We'd have heard," Logan said. "She'd have contacted me."

The other two men said nothing since essentially it was true. Then finally Alec spoke the obvious. "So," he said, straightening up and stretching like a cat. "When do we leave for Colorado?"

*****

Logan would rescue her. Max was certain of that ... if only he could find her.

Wherever she was it was cold. X5-600 -- when he paid his nightly "visit" sometimes had flakes of snow on his jacket and boots. The air also felt thin, indicating high altitude -- the mountains somewhere, although whether she was still in the U.S. or overseas Max had no way of knowing.

They never let her out of her cell, and had only released some of her chains after she'd promised to be a "good girl" as her captor put it. However, he still shackled her when he--

Then again, if he hadn't, she'd have killed him.

Her original clothes having been torn off, he'd given her a hospital gown and a single coarse blanket. However, her shoes were taken away, leaving her barefoot -- another way to insure her captivity.

The cot where she slept had a thin mattress pad and pillow, much like her bed back at Manticore. Other than that the cell was bare except for a stinking hole in one corner for use as a toilet. Usually they brought her water twice a day, and the food was ample but plain ... canned goods and dry bread ... rations really.

"Where am I?" she'd tried asking the second night as Lane was removing his clothing. Tugging on her chained wrist, she added, "Why are you doing this to me?"

"You're in my compound," the X5 said with a cruel smile. "You don't need to know where. Suffice it to say you can't escape. And you might as well get used to it little girl because you're going to be spending the rest of your life here."

"Doing what?" Max had implored as he lowered himself on top of her.

"Having my babies," 600 replied as his coarse lips crushed hers and his heavy arms embraced her trembling body in a suffocating grip.

The penetration was painful with no thought to her own pleasure or comfort. As she lay there, her mind numb and distant as he grunted on top of her, Max couldn't help remembering how she'd once before been assigned a breeding partner. Only X5-494 ... Alec ... would never, ever have treated her this way.

Alec was, in his own selfish quirky way, a lover. He might use women to an extent, abuse their trust in him even, but it wasn't in his nature to ever physically hurt or force his sex partner. After all, 494 had had plenty of opportunity back at Manticore to rape her ... had been ordered to in fact -- but he hadn't. Instead, he'd left her alone, and in the end become a loyal ally and friend.

Alec ... Max kept her mind on her handsome X5 brother as a distraction to what was happening to her body. Logan would find her location, but it would be Alec -- and maybe some of the other guys -- who would lead the rescue mission. Because Alec loved her just as much as Eyes Only. Of that she was certain. Not that he'd ever say such a thing aloud -- but still, those hazel-green eyes were expressive ... the window to his soul ... and there were things deep in those eyes that were there even though left unsaid.

X5-600 finished with one final brutal push and grunt, and Max relaxed as his weight left her body. He wouldn't unchain her -- that honor would go to a trio of his minions in a few minutes, just as they'd stripped and restrained her earlier in preparation for his visit. Lane wasn't taking any chances with her ... not giving her any opportunity to strike against him.

Logan will find me, Max thought forcefully as she lay shivering and naked and bound on the cot. Logan will find me, and my brother will kill the son-of-a-bitch who's doing this to me.

*****

"No transhumans," Lydecker said adamantly, thumping a fist down on the desk top to emphasize his resolve.

"Look," Alec said, with difficulty keeping his patience, "Mole's the best squad mate I ever had. He's smart, tough, and won't back down in a fight. I'd trust him with my life any day. And Joshua may not be soldier-trained, but the big guy's saved our bacon more'n once, plus he's so loyal to Max it's almost an obsession."

"No," the colonel said without looking up from the maps he was pouring over.

"You told me to pick my two best men," Alec said, gritting his teeth.

"Men being the operative word," Lydecker said, finally gracing the X5 with a withering look. "As in X5s, soldier. Is that so difficult?"

"Yeah, actually it is," Alec snapped. "As you pointed out, we've only got eleven X5s left in TC, ten without Max, nine not countin' me. Of those nine, four are pregnant females and two have young kids."

Lydecker raised an eyebrow at that. "Something in the water?" he asked dryly.

"No," Alec said, shifting uncomfortably and glancing away out the window of bare room they'd given the colonel to use as a temporary office/headquarters. "More like the fact that since Manticore and its magic supply of birth control meds is no longer in the picture we had a bunch of ladies come into heat awhile back. He shrugged elaborately as the ghost of a smile crossed his lips and he added, "I guess you could say a good time was had by all."

"Careless," the colonel said in a low voice. "Not to mention sloppy, unprofessional, and dangerous."

"Hey!" Alec said. "If some of us wanna have families there's no reason we can't."

"No reason except the high rate of birth defects and infant mortality if the sires are human," Lydecker shot right back at him. "And don't try and tell me that all of the fathers are X5. That's impossible, what with the low fertility rate, especially among the males. Those of you in Renfro's breeding program were the exception ... hand picked ... not one out of eight of you is capable of siring offspring."

"No," Alec said levelly. "Not all of the father's are X5s. Cade's already had a miscarriage, in fact. Her boyfriend's an ordinary. So's Maria's. She's four months along so we don't know anything yet, and we don't know for sure who the father of Alexis' kid is." Again the ghost of a smile. "There are quite a few candidates for that one. Mindy's with Stoop though -- X5-573. She's due in May."

"So that means you've got three X5 soldiers left who can accompany us."

"Not really," Alec said, squaring his shoulders and prepared for a showdown if necessary. "I need my men in place here, in TC. We're the leaders ... the ones who make the big decisions and who the others rely on. With all of the X5s either gone or encumbered by motherhood -- impending or not -- we'd be too vulnerable.

"No transhumans," Lydecker repeated. "Or nomalies," he added as Alec opened his mouth to argue again.

"Mole and Joshua could wear helmets or hoods," the X5 had to try, both because it was true, and because he was really not keen on tackling this mission solo. "No one has to see what they look like."

"We'll be taking a commercial flight," the colonel returned sourly. "No way would a dog boy and a lizard man make it through airport security without drawing undue attention -- attention, I might add, that X5-600 with his inside contacts would certainly notice."

"So," Alec said. "Let me get this straight. You're proposing that I go alone to rescue Max from a gang of what? Fourteen or fifteen mercenary X5s who checked their souls at the gate a long time ago?" He rolled his eyes. "I wouldn't even get past their perimeter -- not if Lane's as good as he used to be."

"Maybe, maybe not," Lydecker said, eying the young transgenic speculatively. "As I said, 600 is seeking breeding stock as well as more men, so there's a fair chance he'd simply take you captive then try and turn you. However, that wouldn't really help things, would it?"

"No it would not," Alec replied dryly.

"But don't worry, son," the colonel said a bit too flippantly for Alec's liking as he adjusted his reading glasses and went back to his map. "You're not going alone. I'm accompanying you."

Alec narrowed his eyes.

"I was 600's last official commander," he continued as he picked up a magnifying glass. "If he'll listen to any human, he'll listen to me.

"So, you're proposing that just the two of us go up into the Rocky Mountains and try'n rescue Max?" Alec said, gesturing with his hands. He wanted to be perfectly clear before declaring his former CO insane.

"Make that three," a new voice said from the doorway.

Both the X5 and Lydecker turned to see Logan Cale standing there, backpack slung over his shoulder and dressed for travel.

"Great," Alec muttered. "Just great."

"I won't be a burden," Logan said evenly. "And I can get you through any red tape we might encounter while traveling. I've also contacted a friend of mine in Denver who's agreed to outfit us for a trip into the mountains." He cocked an eyebrow in Lydecker's direction. "That is where Lane's camp is located, right?"

"How'd you come by that information?" the colonel barked.

"Once you indicated a rogue X5 was running a covert military operation somewhere in the wilderness, it wasn't hard to check a few news websites and my supply-line informants. It's pretty obvious someone with a strong paramilitary background is holed up in the mountains north of Boulder. There have been shipments ... a few raids on local ranches ... some disappearances ..." His voice trailed off.

"So naturally you assumed it would be transgenic bogeymen," Alec snarked.

"No," Logan said quietly. "I didn't assume that at all, but it all adds up when you put things together with what the colonel has told us."

"You're in no shape for a mountain climb," Alec said, deciding to switch subjects since he seemed to be losing the argument. He eyed Logan's exo-skeleton-encased legs.

"I'll manage."

"You'll hold us up and maybe get us killed," the X5 said bluntly. "No, you can help all you want with reading news articles and making 'contacts,' but I'm not gonna be stuck on some cliff face haulin' your exo-ass up by a rope." Alec glanced at Lydecker. "Providin' I agree to go at all, that is."

"You'll go," the colonel said. "You'll go because you love Max, too."

Alec snorted. "Yeah, right." But he swallowed hard and looked away a moment, his mind finally going where he hadn't wanted it to go -- to a childhood he well-remembered that included a very mean-spirited X5-600 who now had his cruel hands on Max. Lane would beat her ... and rape her ... cripple her if she resisted too much ... If Max hadn't escaped by now she probably never would. She needed rescued, in the worst way ... just like he'd needed rescued a time or two in his own past.

"Look," Alec said, turning back to the other two men. "The only way this is gonna work is if I go in alone. I can move twice as fast by myself, and you know damn well that when it comes down to it it's gonna take an X5 to get Max away from Lane."

"In a direct confrontation he'll kill you," Lydecker said bluntly. "You wouldn't have a chance. Lane's a battle-unit, built for mass and power. You're a stealth-unit, designed for covert operations and speed. One-on-one he'll break every bone in your body."

Alec smirked. "I think you underestimate me, 'Deck -- as usual."

The colonel smiled right back, almost paternal. "Tell me, 494, in all the years you trained with X5-600, how many times did you best him?"

Alec glanced quickly at Logan who was listening intently. "I beat him a few times at sparring," the X5 tried. "Like you said, I'm faster ... and I like to think smarter."

"Brains have nothing to do with this," Lydecker said sharply. "Lane used to whoop your ass on a regular basis just like he did all his other Unit-mates. It's he was squad leader. He'll take you down so fast you won't know what hit you, and then he'll probably kill you because he won't want any competition for Max. Only my knowledge and influence will let us get in and out of his camp alive."

"I'm not competition," Alec said softly, even as Logan looked hard at him again.

Now it was Lydecker's turn to snort derisively. "Of course you're not," he said sarcastically. Then he turned to Cale. "And as for you, it's out of the question for you to accompany us. I know the exo gives you a great deal of mobility, but we're talking fifty miles of horseback riding followed by a mountain trek that would tax the strength of an expert climber." He squared his own shoulders. "I'm not in the best of shape myself," he admitted, his eyes darting to Alec. "It's going to be tough enough for me to keep up with 494. But like I said, I'm the only one Lane might listen to ... the only one who might be able to convince him to give Max up without a fight."

"And if he won't?" Logan asked. "Give Max up that is? What then? You send Alec in to get slaughtered?"

"We'll think of something," Alec said quickly. "Preferably something that won't include my death because I may be a lot of things, but expendable ain't one of 'em."

Lydecker smiled grimly and shook his head, his blue eyes twinkling with what almost looked like mischief. "The boy's right," he said. "No one's expendable on this trip, including you, Cale."

"So that's your final word?" Logan said. "You won't let me go along?"

"Exactly," the colonel said while Alec nodded in agreement.

Eyes Only shrugged elaborately. "All right then," he said. "I guess I'll just have to mount my own rescue on my own. Too bad though. I really do have good contacts in the area who'll provide all the supplies and help we need, not to mention a local private pilot willing to fly us into the area bypassing airport security checks."

"We could take Mole along then?" Alec said quickly.

"A DAC soldier who hates the cold going on a mission to the Rockies in the winter?" Lydecker said derisively.

"The plane only seats three," Logan said. "Usually two, in fact, but we can squeeze. Like I said, it's flown by a private pilot.

Alec's face fell, then he sighed heavily in resignation. "All right," he finally said. "I'm in. And it's fine by me if you go. But if you can't keep up, Logan, you drop out. Agreed?"

"Agreed," Logan said, now watching Lydecker.

The colonel looked from the X5 to Eyes Only, then up at the ceiling of the shabby room as if imploring a higher power for help. "All right," he finally said. Then, with a stern look at Cale, "But like 494 said, if you can't keep up, you stay behind."

Logan nodded. "Let's go get Max," he then said softly. "She's waiting for us, you know ... for her family to rescue her."

"I'll pack my stuff," Alec said simply, moving toward the door. The X5 looked one last time to his former CEO. "What time do we move out?"

"My guy will meet us at the airport at dawn," Logan replied. "We'll be in Denver mid afternoon, supplied by dark, and can move out the following morning."

"Sounds like a plan," Alec said with a nod of appreciation at Logan's efficiency. But then he felt compelled to add -- for old times sake. "Let's just hope it doesn't suck."

*****

Horses. They didn't like him.

"They smell the feline," Lydecker said, checking the cinch on his own mount.

The gelding Logan's guide had picked out for Alec snorted loudly and jerked its head away when he tried to stroke the side of the animal's neck.

"That's nice," the X5 commented dryly as he attempted to calm the skittish beast, letting it sniff his hand and trying to reassure the animal he wasn't a predator -- at least not one that craved horse flesh.

"He'll get used to you," the wrangler said -- a short, stout, dark skinned boy of obvious Native American ancestry dressed in typical cowboy garb -- although he'd raised an eyebrow at the "feline" comment. "What is it?" he added, his hard hewn hands securing a pack and lariat onto his own sorrel mount. "Some kind of new aftershave that smells like cat musk?"

"Something like that," Alec said through tight teeth as he swung a leg over the back of his gelding, then tried to get his balance as the horse pranced beneath him still not liking the smell of his rider. The X5 tightened the reins, keeping control. He knew how to ride ... been taught that once upon a time back at Manticore. But it had been a long time ago, and it was on horses already accustomed to the odor of feline/human hybrids.

Meanwhile, Logan was having his own difficulties. "I can do it myself," Eyes Only insisted, attempting to get a foot into the stirrup of his own rather placid mare. However, the exoskeleton limited his range of movement and he was having trouble making the steel frame bend enough to get his boot where it belonged. Holding onto the saddlehorn and reins with one hand, and the back of the saddle with the other, he hopped several times, then finally managed to get enough leverage to swing his other leg over. Once mounted, however, he made a face. Obviously the seating was uncomfortable -- but he didn't complain.

"You all right?" Lydecker said, the only one of the trio who seemed completely at ease on his mount -- a black gelding with enough spirit to roll its eyes when downwind of Alec.

"I'll be fine," Logan said, his jaw set firmly.

"494?" Lydecker inquired, ignoring the funny look the guide was giving them.

"Just call me the lone ranger," Alec quipped as he once again tightened the reins when his horse decided to buck a little bit.

"We've got almost fifty miles to ride," the colonel warned. "Sanchez will take us the first thirty -- to the edge of the national park -- but after that we're on our own."

"No one goes into the mountains this time of year," the swarthy young man warned. "You're crazy."

"Agreed," Alec said lightly. "We're crazy. But what else is new?"

"All that matters is that we get to Max," Logan said tersely, shooting Alec a withering look -- probably for daring to be lighthearted at a serious time like this the X5 thought tiredly.

"We'll get there," Alec said, catching up his horse one more time as the gelding shied violently to the right in a move that would have unseated a less skillfully crafted human. "We'll find her."

"Or die trying," Lydecker added grimly.

Alec rolled his eyes. "I don't know about you fellas," he said. "but I don't intend to do any dyin' this trip. Or get shot either -- for a change I might add."

"We need to move out," Sanchez said loudly. "The sun is getting high and I want to reach our campsite before dark. We only have ten hours of daylight left."

And so -- with one last longing look back at the civilization represented by the ranch where they'd obtained their supplies and mounts -- Alec turned his head toward the east and the mountain range where his sister was being held captive. It was going to be a long day ... and an even longer one tomorrow when they had to leave the horses and continue on foot, the terrain becoming too steep for riding. Eventually, they'd have to climb and God knew how Logan was going to hold up to cliff faces and high altitude. Deep inside, Alec had a feeling that in the end he was going to be the one who'd have to do the actual rescuing of the damsel in distress, Lydecker too old and out of shape to complete the journey, and Logan too crippled. But there was no use telling the other two this -- not yet.

Still, Alec was glad for the comfortable feeling of the Sig Sauer tucked in his belt beneath his heavy winter jacket, and the extra clips of ammo weighing down his pocket that Mole had slipped him just before they left Terminal City for the airport. Because in the end, genetically empowered body or not, bullets were probably the only thing that were going to let him beat X5-600 ... bullets and a whole lot of luck.

*****

"I'm fine."

"You're exhausted."

"I said I'm fine!" Logan tossed another piece of wood onto the campfire and drew knees up to his chest, glaring through the sparks at Lydecker.

"We haven't even started the climb yet," the colonel continued. "Not really. Today was nothing."

"I can make it," Logan insisted, taking off his glasses and polishing them viciously on the soft flannel of his plaid shirt.

Alec glanced over at the two arguing men, then back out into the darkness. His two companions were blind -- the Colorado night black as pitch to them with the moon lost behind clouds in an overcast sky. His feline night vision, however, was serving in good stead. The landscape might not be quite as bright as day to him, but he could see quite clearly. Drawing his own legs up and wrapping arms around his knees for warmth, he cocked his head and listened to the sound of rustling leaves and a distant stream. He still wasn't so sure it had been a good idea to build a fire, but the two humans would have succumbed to hypothermia without it.

A half hour passed ... Snuggling deeper into his fleece-lined leather jacket, the X5 let himself doze, following the old Manticore adage of "sleep when you can." Having left the horses ten miles back, they were headed on foot up the back side of the mountain to get to Lane's enclave. There was a road of course -- one on the other side of the cliffs that stopped a mile short of the actual site. However, it would be heavily guarded and closely watched. The back door was by far the safest way in, even if it did mean a thousand foot climb -- a climb that a paraplegic -- exoskeleton or not -- had no business trying to make.

"I'll be damned if I'm going to let him rescue her!" Logan spat petulantly.

Alec's head popped up, and he glanced back toward the fire, pupils irising tighter against the bright light. They were talking about him ...

"You're jealous of him, aren't you?" Lydecker said, nodding knowingly. "And with reason I suppose. He is, afterall, her designated breeding partner ... her natural mate."

"Alec and Max have never been like that," Cale said, shooting a quick look toward the far side of the clearing where the subject of their conversation was sitting. He lowered his voice. "She's never been interested in him that way. In fact, for a long time she'd as soon have killed him as looked at him. Remember, 494 was an enemy long before 'Alec' was her friend."

True, Alec thought. Not that Max thought of him that poorly any longer. The two of them had saved each other's butts too many times for there to be anything except mutual respect, admiration, and affection between them now. That, and a whole lot of tolerance, he added to himself with a quick grin. But love, at least the romantic kind ... even just sex ... His mind skittered away from that scenario.

"She belongs with her own kind," Lydecker said calmly. "You know that. Especially if she ever wants to have children. 494's the natural choice. I warned you long ago that X5s weren't like puppies and kittens that you could adopt, Cale. I know you and Max have gone through a lot to try and be together, but tell me truthfully. How is it working? It's not, is it? Working that is? She's drawing away from you ... absorbed in her own world."

"Max and I are in love," Logan snapped, throwing another branch into the fire, the shower of sparks reflecting red in the lenses of his glasses. "That's all that matters. We overcame the virus and we can overcome anything else, so long as--"

"So long as 494, or someone like him, doesn't get in the way?" Lydecker gently prodded.

With a whir of the exoskeleton Logan got awkwardly to his feet. "I'll rescue Max alone if I have to," he said through set teeth.

"Don't be ridiculous," the colonel snorted. "He's the only chance she has. It's going to take an X5 to accomplish this mission and we both know it."

"Alec's not so special," Logan said petulantly, kicking dirt into the fire now as he dug hands deeply into the pockets of his grey wool coat.

Lydecker tugged the collar of his own flight jacket tighter. The temperature was dropping fast, although Alec, with his high transgenic metabolism and body heat, hardly felt it. His two human companions, however, were starting to shiver.

"You're lucky to have him ... to know him ..." the colonel said. "You're lucky that 494's one of the more tractable ones."

"Meaning?" Logan snarled.

"Meaning that if it was Zack or Seth or one of my other male kids you'd probably have been a dead man a long time ago. But 494 always had a gentler side to him ... what I saw as a flaw during his training, but something I'll admit that's allowed him to function quite well on the outside. Alec's instincts to kill aren't quite as close to the surface as a lot of X5s. However, don't make the mistake of thinking he's tame, Cale. He's not. And one of these days -- if you stay with Max and he decides he wants her -- you're going to find that out."

Oh good grief, Alec thought, shaking his head. As if Logan needs any more reasons to be jealous of me. He wondered if he should get up and stroll over there to break-up the conversation, but a part of him was fascinated to hear what his former CO really thought about X5-494.

Logan glanced his way and Alec quickly looked back out into the night.

"He could very well let us down at the worst possible moment," the older man said sourly. "Alec's not the most reliable person in the world you know. The kid's unpredictable as hell ..."

"He won't give up on Max," Lydecker said quietly. "He owes her too much, and one thing about 494 -- he always pays his debts ... or at least he used to. Like I said, we couldn't do this mission without him, so quit trying to think of reasons to not trust 494 and instead just thank your Maker we've got him along."

Praise from the Devil? Alec thought, grinning to himself. Would wonders never cease?

"I thought you said Lane would kill him if they fought," Logan said as he clapped gloved fingers together for warmth.

"He would, if the fight were one-on-one," Lydecker admitted. "No way could 494 -- a stealth Unit -- overcome a muscle-enhanced combat Unit. However, what 494 lacks in brawn he makes up for in brains."

Alec's eyebrows rose at that as he took a small pill bottle from an inner jacket pocket and shook out the daily dose of tryptophan that he'd forgotten to take earlier, the faint stirrings of an emerging headache a painful reminder of his carelessness.

"You're saying that Alec's smarter than Lane?"

"494 has a high I.Q.," Lydecker said. "Even for an X5. But he's more than smart. He's savvy, and a free-thinker ... someone who operates outside the box. Traits, I might add, that nearly got him euthanized back at Manticore. Here though ... now ..." Lydecker glanced his way and once again Alec feigned deafness as he took a swig of water from his canteen to wash down his meds. "He's the best weapon we could have against X5-600 -- provided we can keep him alive."

"Max would never want him that way," Logan insisted in a voice so low Alec had to strain to hear the words. "No way ... now how. She'd never--"

But then Alec felt Logan Cale's eyes boring into the back of his head and he couldn't help himself. Turning around slowly, he stared straight at the man, eyes wide and reflecting golden green in the firelight -- and winked.

*****

There was no way in hell the other two men were going to be able to make the climb, Alec thought as he craned his neck to see the top of the cliff the following morning. Which meant -- as he'd always suspected -- that he'd end up rescuing Max on his own.

So much for back-up.

"Well this sucks," Logan said under his breath as he, too, scanned the cliff face and realized his exoskeleton wouldn't let him get so much as ten feet high.

As for Lydecker-- Alec glanced at the colonel, both eyebrows raised.

"Ten minutes?" the colonel said. "Fifteen tops?"

"Sounds about right," the X5 replied, shrugging out of his backpack and flexing gloved hands as he checked for handholds.

"I could try," Lydecker said uneasily. "I never intended for you to go in alone."

Alec shook his head. "Take Logan and go around to the road," he said to Lydecker. "Wait there. I'll try'n take out the guards so you two can gain access."

"And if you fail?" Logan said tightly.

Again Alec shrugged. "Then figure I'm dead and come up with a new plan for rescuin' the girl."

Lydecker put a hand on the younger man's shoulder. "What's your plan, soldier?"

Once again Alec looked at the cliff face and sighed. "I'm not worried about the climb," he said. "Hell, you know as well as I do that I was tacklin' stuff like this when I was ten years old. But Lane's got to at least have a look-out posted above. It might have been better to have done this in the dark ... last night."

The colonel shook his head. "Too dangerous, even for an X5," he said. "You're good, son, but that's still one hell of a cliff to take on."

Alec flashed him a cocky smile, then shoved back the hood of his sweatshirt and brushed hair out of his eyes, tucking a couple of errant long strands behind his ears. "I'll be fine," he said, flexing his fingers. "Meet me at the front gate." And then he leaped upwards to catch the first handhold.

The climb took exactly 11 minutes, Alec's feline enhanced muscles and sense of balance letting him climb the rock face in a preternatural manner that no human could have achieved. Only once did he slip slightly, for a second dangling by one hand 800 feet above the ground. However, he quickly found another piece of rock outcropping and seconds later was once again tightly glued to the cliff wall.

Only when he'd almost reached the top did Alec risk looking back over his shoulder where his telescopic vision zoomed in on the worried faces of the two men watching from far below -- or at least Lydecker looked worried. Logan just looked kind of ... miffed.

They should have already been headed around to the road, the X5 thought to himself. But even as he mentally chastised them, his two companions turned and headed into the underbrush. It would take them at least four hours -- maybe five -- to make their way to the other side of the mountain. Until then ... Alec knew he was on his own. In the meantime he'd reconnoiter, and try and find out where Max was being held.

Peeking cautiously over the rim of the cliff, Alec clung tightly ... listening ... and when he was fairly certain the coast was clear, he levered himself onto the level land. Staying low, concealed by underbrush, he then turned and looked one more time back out into the vast open space behind him, and sighed deeply with self-satisfaction at a job well done as he brushed his gloved hands off. Now comes the hard part.

The sound of a gun being cocked has a certain psychological effect on anyone. For an X5, the alarm induced by that sharp "click" was magnified tenfold. Fine hairs standing up on the back of his neck, Alec slowly turned around. "Devon," he said calmly, holding both hands out to show he didn't have a weapon himself (or at least not one in his hands).

"My designation's 472," the dark-haired X5 said sharply. "And you'd do well to remember that 494. We don't use human names around here. It's considered a sign of weakness."

"Okay," Alec said slowly, recognizing a zealot when he saw one.

"If you weren't X5 I'd kill you right where you stand, 472 continued. "But I have orders to bring in any of our own kind that are captured. The commander will decide what to do with you."

"The commander?" Alec said. "You mean Lane ... X5-600 he quickly corrected himself."

"Our leader," 472 said with a slight nod of his head.

"Aren't you even gonna ask what I'm doing here?" Alec wondered, not quite believing what an automaton his brother had become. Back at Manticore, Devon had always been a bit of a company man, and a toady to Lane, but he'd also had a sense of humor and could think for himself when pressed.

"That's not my business, or my mission," 472 replied crisply. "Now raise your hands higher."

Alec knew he was going to be patted down, and that the gun concealed in the back of his waistband would be discovered. However, in order to do so, Devon would have to come a lot closer. Glancing around, the X5 didn't see or hear any signs of other guards.

He waited ... complying meekly ... holding both arms up until his brother was only a foot away ...

Devon was built on the lighter side, like Biggs. He might be quick and sharp, but Alec knew that he, himself, was the better fighter. In a blur too fast for the human eye to follow, 494 knocked the rifle out of 472's hands and whirled into a high spinning hook kick that connected with the other X5's head before the young transgenic even registered that his prisoner wasn't quite so meek as he'd seemed. Staggering back, Devon shook himself, and tried to recover, holding both hands up defensively. However, Alec wasn't about to lose his advantage. (The only way to take out an X5 was to do it quick.) Landing gracefully, 494 immediately leaped like a cat pouncing on prey, his jump side kick breaking his sibling's knee even as his fist connected with jaw bone in a "crack" that resounded as loudly as a gunshot. Head jerking violently, 472's eyes rolled back in his head and he fell to the ground.

"You never could take a punch, bro," Alec breathed heavily as he picked up the rifle and headed for Lane's main camp.

Fifteen minutes later he was lying flat on his stomach in the snow, peering out at the main compound from a cover of scrub bushes when a voice behind him said heavily, "You always were overconfident, brother. That ego of yours is your greatest flaw."

Cold steel pressed against the back of the X5's head, and Alec forced himself to breathe slowly, not panicking, even as his fingers inched toward the rifle lying on the frozen crust beside him. "Guess I'm losing my touch," he said easily. "If you didn't stay down any longer than that."

"You should have killed me," Devon said, kicking the rifle aside viciously with his injured leg, and pressing the barrel of his handgun harder into the base of his former Unit mate's skull.

On the ground, flat, unable to reach the Sig Sauer tucked in his belt, Alec knew he was at a terrible disadvantage. Weighing his options, he considered trying to flip over and disarm Devon before the other X5 could pull the trigger -- and just as quickly abandoned it is a really bad idea. Him lying dead with a bullet in his head wouldn't do Max or anyone else one bit of good.

About fifty yards away down a lightly sloping hill a number of X5 soldiers -- all male -- were mustering in a yard. Alec counted eight. Lydecker had said there were 14 X5s under Lane's command. Were the rest females? Or were there some out on assignment?

Only one way to find out now

Easing his hands slowly upwards, Alec said in his most friendly voice. "All right, bro. You've got me. I surrender. Take me to your leader." He glanced up at Devon. "Sorry, didn't mean to sound so cliche."

X5-472 wasn't amused -- which was the last thought Alec had before the violent blow on the side of his head sent him falling into total blackness.

*****

"You think he got in?" Logan asked as he and Lydecker crouched in a ditch beside the primitive dirt trail that only a highly efficient four-wheel-drive vehicle could have managed. Up ahead about 20 yards was a heavily built wooden gate blocking the way. There were no guards in site, but close inspection revealed a sophisticated video surveillance system in place.

"There hasn't been any sound of gunfire," the colonel said as he chewed thoughtfully on a small twig. He threw the stick away and pinned his companion with cold blue eyes. "That could be a good sign. But it could also just mean he's been captured without a fight."

"And if they've captured Alec?" Logan asked. "What then? Lane wouldn't kill him, would he?"

"No," Lydecker said, his voice assured. "At least not right away. 494 would be a valuable addition to 600's squad, as both a fighter and a breeder. First Lane will try to convince our boy to join him -- and knowing 494's talent for lying, the kid just might be able to put on a good enough show to gain some measure of Lane's trust." The colonel's brow darkened. "But Lane also knows 494. He's not going to be easily fooled."

"Will Lane listen to you?"

Those sharp blue eyes narrowed perceptively. "Maybe. He used to. In fact, there was a time when X5-600 was my most loyal and obedient soldier. It's why he was entrusted with the Pope's assassination back in 2020 -- the crown jewel of assignments. Not that it was my doing. Renfro was in charge then. The call was hers." A sly grin. "But you'll notice Renfro didn't give the assignment to our 494. She didn't trust him to be able to carry out the orders, and neither did I. And right there's the difference between Lane and our Alec."

"Lane was a company man and Alec was a rogue?" Logan said.

The colonel nodded. "Which is what I'm going to keep in mind when I walk through that gate in a couple of minutes."

"And if you don't come back?" Logan asked. "If none of you come back?"

Grizzled eyebrows waggled. "Then I guess the ball's in your park, son. Do what you have to do, or else count your losses and go home, beaten but alive."

"Leaving you and Alec to die, and Max a prisoner?"

Again a shrug. "If it's what's meant to be," the pragmatic colonel replied softly. "494 knew the score full well when he climbed that cliff and went in there alone. So do I. You're not responsible for either of us, Cale. And as for Max ..." He sighed deeply. "I'm sorry about her because her life's going to be a living hell, but maybe someday she'll get the opportunity to escape. Don't forget, she's a smart girl all on her own. Look at all the years she eluded me when I was trying to capture her."

"Maybe Alec will have some luck," Logan said, deflated. "Or maybe you can talk some sense into Lane and he'll let them go."

Lydecker's only reply to that was to say, "I'll give 494 another couple of hours, then I'll go in. If he can't spring Max by dark, he's not going to."

*****

The feel of cold stone against his cheek and the smell of damp concrete greeted Alec as his senses finally began to return -- that and a throbbing pain in his head that had nothing to do with serotonin deficiency. His first thought was that he was going to vomit. His second was that he was also probably going to die.

"Look what idiot thing you did now," a very familiar voice chided from somewhere behind him. "Typical that you try'n be a hero and mess everything up instead."

Swallowing the rising bile in his throat, Alec turned over with a groan. Opening eyes warily, he looked through rusty iron bars to see Max sitting on the edge of a cot in a cell just opposite his. A passageway separated two rows of cages in what appeared to be a natural cavern made larger by man. There was a light in Max's quarters -- a dim bulb recessed in the ceiling above. His cell, however, was unlit. Still, she apparently could see him just fine.

"Did Logan send you?" she asked, her voice oddly dull now that her initial jibe at him had been thrown.

Alec glanced up even as he propped himself on an elbow, willing the world to stop spinning and for his stomach to behave.

"We're not bugged," Max assured him. "Or so I've been told. Outside surveillance takes precedence at the moment until they get more funds."

The other cages were all empty. Apparently they were alone.

"Are you all right?" Alec asked.

"Not really."

He studied her a moment, taking in the fact she was barefoot and wearing nothing but a flimsy hospital gown, much like their garb as children had been back at Manticore. Briefly, he wondered what Lane had been doing to her -- there were ugly bruises encircling her wrists as if she'd been shackled recently -- but then suddenly he didn't want to know.

"Can you run?" he asked -- a practical question pursuant to an escape plan.

She laughed then, a bitter sound. "Run where?" she said. "In case you didn't notice, we're both prisoners, guarded by God knows how many hard-core ex-Manticore X5s."

"We're X5, too," Alec reminded her. "We're as good as they are, which means we have a chance."

"Lane will never let me go," Max whispered, again her voice oddly meek. "Never." She raised tearful brown eyes to his hazel-green ones. "And he'll never let you go, either. If he can't get you to join him, he'll kill you."

"Let him try," Alec growled, levering himself into a sitting position even as he let his aching head sink into his hands.

A door rattled at the end of the short corridor and both X5s looked up -- Alec with curiosity on his face and Max with horror. "Shut up!" she frantically said in a rush. "And no matter what happens ... no matter what you see him do to me ... don't say anything or try to interfere. Just ... stay quiet. Alec--" Her eyes were now imploring him. "I ... I can't lose you. I can't watch him kill you, so please, please, please don't say anything to make him angry!"

Alec wondered what on Earth could get Max so frightened. He'd never seen her like this, and they'd been in some pretty tough situations together before ... hopeless ones even.

And then X5-600 stepped through the door, and the hungry lascivious desire in his cool green eyes as he looked toward Max explained everything.

"Hey!" Alec said, getting to his feet as Lane walked past his cell and opened the door to Max's. "Hey! What's goin' on?" He grabbed the bars with both hands. "What do you want with me? Talk to me, man."

However, 600 wasn't interested in his new prisoner at the moment -- only in his old one. He and Max had "business" to attend to.

"Alec, shut up!" Max screamed as the much larger X5 struck her once across the face with the back of his hand then threw her down on the cot and snapped metal shackles into place, first on her wrists, then around her futilely kicking legs.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Alec shouted as he watched with utter disbelief what his mind told him couldn't really be happening. No one could treat Max like this. No one. It was unthinkable ... impossible ... Max was far too strong to let herself be dominated by any man ... too strong to let herself be--

However, it was obvious Max was weak from hunger and thirst, and that she'd been repeatedly brutalized as well. But surely Lane wouldn't ... not to his own sister ...

"Lane!" Alec screamed as the older X5 -- a leering grin on his face -- pushed up Max's flimsy gown. Then, staring hungrily down at his prize, 600 began unbuckling his jeans.

"Lane, no!" Alec hollered, rattling the bars and totally forgetting about the stabbing pain in his head. "Leave her alone! If you wanna play, come take me!"

And that wasn't an easy thing for 494 to say. Back at Manticore, Lane had been known to have a broad range of sexual desires, as well as a near-insatiable libido. On more than one occasion Alec knew the bigger X5 had looked his way, and it was probably only the luck of 600's transfer to Quantico that had saved X5-494's ass -- literally. In fact, Lane and two of his boys had cornered him in the showers once, and the memory of that night still occasionally haunted Alec's dreams. Only Lydecker's intervention that time had kept the unthinkable from happening ...

However, Lane ignored his shouts and threats, iron bars keeping Alec from doing what he wanted to do -- tear the other X5 limb-from-limb with his bare hands ... rip out his throat with his teeth ... How dare hurt Max? How dare he--

Lane's pants puddled around his ankles, his bare ass glaringly white in the faint light from above, his butt cheeks sculpted and muscular, the shadow of his crack black and deep. Forcing Max's legs apart, he mounted, and as his sister whimpered with pain and humiliation at each brutal thrust, Alec closed his eyes and slumped against the bars.

*****

It continued for almost half an hour -- the big X5 gratifying himself several times on the helpless female beneath him while his younger brother watched through bars and slitted hate-filled eyes.

Eventually, however, he finished. Wiping himself off with a small towel, Lane then pulled up his pants, turned away from a semi-conscious Max, and flashed 494 a big smile. "Want some, brother?" he asked as he zipped his fly. "Not her, mind you," he added, gesturing toward 452's nude form on the cot. "But there are other females, and according to your Manticore file you're one of the rare ones -- a true breeder." He glanced down at his conquest. "Even I have a bit of a low sperm count," 600 added. "But you know what they say -- quality, not quantity."

Alec's mind reeled, the words whisking him briefly back in a flash of deja vu to another conversation ... another world ... a happier time ... He shook his head to clear it ... to get O.C.'s voice out of his thoughts. "Fuck you," he said in a low menacing way that would have warned almost any other male on earth to watch out. "You're nothin' but a rapist, Lane, and I want nothin' to do with you or anything you offer."

Lane shrugged. "And I'm thinking that after a few months in this cell you'll be changing your mind, Dodger."

Alec's head snapped up, the invocation of a name he hadn't heard himself called by in a long, long time ... the name his siblings had dubbed him with way back before the '09 escape and that he'd supposedly left behind after reindoctrination, only designation numbers technically being allowed from then on. Still, Lane had secretly kept his own name ... and Devon ... and the others as well. They'd occasionally used them when none of their human handlers were listening. Renfro had been even stricter about that ... the use of human names for inhuman creatures ... but they'd still whispered them.

"You'll eventually come around, brother," Lane continued, the shit-eating grin still in place. "Maybe by the time she--" he gestured toward Max, "gives birth to my progeny."

"You're using her for breeding?" Alec said, unable to think of anything else.

"Her and a few other choice X5 females," Lane said. "Like I told you, I'll assign you your own bitch if you throw in with me willingly. Hell, next time around I might even let you put a brat in this one's belly, since you seem so concerned about her and all."

"Go to hell," Alec said, his lip twitching in fury as he stared daggers at the brute who'd just raped the woman he loved.

The woman I love?

Alec's mind backtracked, the words coming so easily to him it was almost scary. But of course he loved Max ... had loved her almost from the beginning. If she hadn't been so hung up on her human boyfriend he'd have acted on that a long time ago. However, 494 -- if nothing else -- was a gentleman when it came to a lady's affections. Never in a million years would he have tried to steal Max from Logan, just as he hadn't raped her back at Manticore even though ordered to be Renfro. It just wasn't in him ... to be a brute like--

--like Lane.

"Alec?" Max whispered his name, a sound so low it took X5-enhanced hearing to make out the word.

Lane smiled again, then he turned around and released 452's shackles. "I'll leave the two of you alone for awhile," he said. "Maybe she can talk some sense into your head ... convince you that resistance is futile now."

Alec briefly wondered if Lane had ever watched old "Star Trek" movies, then decided it was a moot point.

"However," 600 added with yet another look down at his "breeding partner, "even if you don't decide to be part of my team, I think there will be other uses for you."

"Uses?" Alec said, cold sweat suddenly dampening his armpits.

"No matter how much I pleasure her," Lane said, referring to Max, "the bitch just won't reciprocate. I'm thinking now that I've got someone she obviously cares about in my power, she might consider doing me a few favors too."

Alec closed his eyes, the nausea rising in his throat again.

"Think about it, kids," Lane said, closing and locking Max's cell door then moving toward the prison's exit. "Because no matter what, one of you is going to give me what I want next time."

The iron door clanked closed, and once again the two X5s were alone. For a long time Max just lay there, still exposed, not coherent enough to even cover herself. After awhile, however, she pulled down the gown and rolled over onto her side, her back to Alec.

"Max?" he tried. "Max, talk to me. We're gonna get out of this. I promise. Help's on the way." Once more he glanced up and around, praying that what she'd told him about the place not being bugged was true before saying in a voice as low as he could manage, "I didn't come here alone."

*****

X5-600 met Lydecker out in the open after he'd been disarmed by the guards, in front of the Quonset hut that was apparently his headquarters. Behind the metal building were several steel doors set into the mountainside -- probably entries to old abandoned mine shafts the colonel reasoned that had been turned into quarters for Lane's erstwhile band of X5 mercenaries. That would also explain the road leading up here.

"Colonel," his prodigy child greeted. The blond soldier, clad in Army fatigues, combat boots, and wearing no hat or jacket, nodded a head in slight deference to his old CO. "We weren't sure you'd survived."

"I almost didn't," Lydecker replied easily, rocking back on his heels as he looked around the compound, taking in the crates of ammunition and weaponry. Someone had been stockpiling. "I'm glad to see you made it out of Italy after all," he said carefully.

Lane graced him with a chilling smile. "That was the plan all along," the soldier said easily. "My death was never truly a possibility -- not so long as I completed my mission properly. I am, after all ... or at least I was, one of Manticore's most important commodities."

"As were you all," Lydecker said. "Where are the females?"

"Inside," Lane said, jerking his head in the direction of the mountain. "Most of them are pregnant so we keep them warm and dry."

"No fertility problems then," the colonel ventured.

"Plenty of fertility problems," 600 said, his voice now obviously controlled. "Thanks to what your fucking scientists did to us. But we're persevering. What brings you here, colonel? Flattered as I am that you decided to pay my little troop a visit, I'm not under your command any longer, nor do I need your advice."

"I came because you have two of my soldiers in custody," Lydecker said bluntly. "X5-452 and X5-494."

"Max and Dodger," Lane said. "I know I have them. And I'm keeping them."

"They're free citizens of the United States, son," Lydecker said carefully. "You don't have the right to kidnap them or force them into your Unit."

"They're my siblings," Lane said firmly. "Which makes them family. And I'm the head of the family, so that makes them mine."

"Not really," Logan said, stepping forward from behind a cover of trees as Lydecker swore softly under his breath. This hadn't been the plan.

Sharp green eyes turned to the human. "And you are?"

"Logan Cale," Logan said, jamming fists more deeply into the pockets of his wool coat rather than offering a hand. "Max is my girlfriend."

The snort that came from Zack might have been a laugh, but it really only sounded derisive. "As if such a fine soldier would ever be with a human," he said, making the word sound dirty. "452 is going to be the mother of my children."

That was more than Logan could take. "Why you--!"

Lydecker grabbed his companion by the arm before Eyes Only could do something rash. "Easy," he admonished. "Getting killed won't do Max any good." Then, to Lane, "And 494? What's his fate to be?"

"Oh Dodger will join me," Lane said easily. "Eventually. You see, I can be very persuasive, and I also have all the time in the world. He'll sire children for me, too. Just not with the beautiful 452. One of the less accomplished X5 females perhaps ..."

"Let me talk to them," Lydecker interrupted.

"Now why would I do that?"

"To prove that no matter how long you hold them, my kids will never willingly join your Unit."

"I never said it would be willingly," Lane sneered. "Now leave." He pointed toward the gate. "Walk back down the mountain and don't look back, or even think about 452 and 494 again. This is your one and only chance. If you hurry, the two of you could make the valley before nightfall."

Lydecker looked up at the swollen grey sky. It was starting to snow again, and the temperature was dropping. "All right," he said.

"What?" Logan yelled, staring with horror at the older man. "You mean we're just going to abandon them?"

"No choice," the colonel shrugged. "One thing a soldier learns early on, son, is when to accept defeat. However," once again he eyed the blond X5, "I could still make your job a whole lot easier."

"How?" Lane asked, his voice faintly curious.

"Let me talk to 452 and 494 and I'll order them to stay with you. I'll tell them that the transfer is official, and that from now on they're to consider you their commander."

"You just said that they're free citizens," Lane laughed. "Why would they care what you said?"

"Because free or not, they're still both my kids," Lydecker said firmly. "What I say matters to them, and unlike you, they still respect my wishes. If I tell them it's in the best interest of their people to stay here and propagate their species, they'll stay. It is, after all, what those two would probably have done together in Terminal City eventually anyway."

"Hey!" Logan yelled. "Max would never ... Not with Alec! She'd never--"

"Shut the fuck up," Lydecker snarled, turning on his companion and viciously grabbing him by the neck. "Just shut the fuck up, Cale! yes, I know you're jealous as hell of Alec and the fact he's in love with someone you consider your girl. But like I told you down the mountain last night, it's inevitable that those two will eventually end up with their own kind." He looked at Lane. "Even if it's not with each other."

He let Logan go then, leaving Eyes Only rubbing his neck and watching him warily through spectacles that were rapidly becoming dotted with droplets from the increasing snow.

Lane, having watched the two men with a bemused expression on his otherwise frighteningly stoic face, crossed arms in front of his chest and cocked his head to one side. "All right," he finally said. "I'll let you talk to them both ... let you order them to stay with me. After all, what harm can it do?" He then turned to his second in command, an X5 that Lydecker recognized as 381 who'd been known as "Roadster," back before names had been forbidden thanks to his proficiency at driving motorized vehicles. "Bring 452 and 494 out here," 600 ordered.

*****

Alec was surprised -- but relieved -- to find they'd left him his tryptophan. Downing a good-sized dose and hoping it would help his throbbing headache, he called across to Max, "Are they giving you your meds?"

She still hadn't spoken, and he was relieved when she rolled over and said in a very small un-Maxlike voice, "It's okay. They make sure I have what I need. Food ... water ... my meds ..."

Alec was about to ask her if there'd be a chance to jump a guard when meals were brought, but the sound of the door opening at the end of the corridor made him throw his attention that way.

It was Devon -- carrying his rifle at ready and a set of keys -- along with four other X5s. No chance of jumping anyone this time around. Not at five to one odds.

"Come with us," his former brother ordered. "Both of you."

"What's goin' on?"

"The commander wants you topside. Now no more questions, soldier. You do as you're told."

"Yes, sir," Alec said, saluting sarcastically as he stepped into the passageway.

Max complied as well, the vacant look in her eyes as well as her meekness still alarming Alec, shuffling between the guards on bare feet. He'd been unconscious when carried down here, and it surprised the X5 as to how deep underground they were, the group taking several minutes to make their way up a steep slope with a set of mining cart rails in the middle before the air finally freshening and faint light looming ahead through an open door.

It was getting dark, twilight, so Alec didn't have to shield his eyes when he finally emerged to see Lane, Lydecker, Logan, and several additional X5 males waiting for them.

"Figured you'd get your worthless ass caught," the colonel scolded when he caught sight of his errant soldier.

"Well, what can I say?" Alec smirked. "600 here just made me this offer I couldn't refuse."

But the colonel's eyes were already on Max who was in turn staring at Logan as if seeing a ghost. "Tell me you didn't bring him here," she whispered, her hands flying to her face as if she could hide behind them. "God, tell me you didn't involve him in this!"

"Easy, Max," Alec said, edging closer to her until he was close enough to put a hand on her shoulder (and was surprised the guards let him). "We'll get out of this."

"Because you've got a plan?" she said under her breath, still looking at Logan who was doing his best to keep his mouth shut.

"Yeah," Alec replied. "Although it sucks."

"What is it?" she asked.

"This," 494 said, taking a deep breath before saying loudly, "I'll make you a deal, Lane! Fight me. You win -- and presuming I'm still alive -- both Max and me will belong to you, no strings attached. But if I win, we both get to go home."

The older X5 looked at his younger brother with amusement, his keen green eyes lighting up at the challenge just as Alec knew they would. Lane had never been able to turn down a dare -- not back in their childhood, and not now as an adult."

"You'll lose," Lane said simply. "You know you will, 494. You always do. There's no way in hell you can beat me."

"Let me try," Alec said simply.

"Alec, no!" Max said sharply, gripping his arm tightly. "He'll kill you."

"Not necessarily," Lane said. "I probably won't have to. But what I will do is break him." His eyes rose to meet hers. "And you, too, if need be."

"No, 494!" Lydecker said. "We'll think of another way. But for now your best option is to stay with Lane. Maybe I can buy you back later on, or make a trade."

"One-on-one, no holds barred, free sparring," Alec said, ignoring both Max and the colonel who really didn't belong in his world right now.

Logan bared his teeth, as if about to protest as well, but then he seemed to think better of it and pressed his lips together. That expression -- and the growing dusk (or maybe the realization that Max had obviously been molested) -- made him look far older than his years.

"One-on-one," 600 agreed with a nod, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt.

Alec shrugged out of his jacket, then pulled the heavy sweater off over his head, leaving him clad only in jeans, boots, and a short-sleeved black t-shirt. He wasn't cold. After all, it was only just a little below freezing. Even Max, barefoot and in just that thin smock, wasn't shivering, their X5 metabolism protecting and keeping them warm.

The other soldiers drew closer, forming a ring around the two combatants as the X5s began to warily circle one another. There would be no rules ... no time-outs ... no mercy. Alec knew that if he lost -- with luck -- he'd be killed in spite of Lane's boast to only wound. No way did he want to spend the rest of his life as 600's bitch. But it's gonna take a lot more'n luck for me to beat that bastard's ass and get us free. If only I had a gun ...

It would take skill ... and cunning ... and a meanness Alec wasn't sure he possessed.

"You first, Dodger," the bigger X5 taunted, motioning with his hands for Alec to charge. "Go for it."

Weight, strength, and genetically altered muscle mass were all on 600's side. However, Alec did have one gift that the other X5 didn't possess -- greater speed and agility. Moving in fast, blurring, 494 hit the larger Unit with half dozen vicious punches to the face, spun into a crescent kick that missed, and danced away.

Lane swiped the blood away from a split lip with the back of his hand, and grinned, the look in his eyes one of maniacal joy. "My turn now, sweetheart," he said in a low sultry voice. "My turn."

A trickle of fear ran down Alec's spine that he tried to ignore, but it was too late. His arm came up to block, and bone hit bone sending pain razoring up to his shoulder. Then Lane stepped closer, pressing the advantage and using his extra mass to the best advantage. 494 tried to dodge the blow (he'd been named "Dodger" for more than one reason back at old Manticore), and partially succeeded, the fist just grazing the side of his head, enough of a hit to ring his bell but not a knockout.

Shaking his head to clear his vision, his eyes watering, Alec backed away, then made a run of his own hoping to catch his opponent off guard. Once again the X5's fists flew in punches too fast for the human eye to see, and once again X5-600 weathered the storm. Even a low blow to the groin elicited only a faint grunt of pain from the seemingly impervious supersoldier.

"He's gonna lose," Lydecker said quietly to Logan as the two men stood watching the fight. "600's gonna own his ass, and Max's too."

"How many times did I take you down back at Manticore, 494?" Lane taunted as the two males warily circled one another, Alec staggering slightly, still not recovered from the blow to his head. "You never took me out, not once, did you?"

"There's a first time for everything," Alec snarled. Tightening his jaw, he launched into another attack, this time leading with a spinning hook kick that -- if it had landed -- would have broken bone. However, he wasn't quite fast enough. Lane caught his foot in mid air, grabbed his leg with both hands, and tossed Alec violently backwards as if he were light as a feather, sending him flying nearly 30 feet across the clearing and crashing into a snowbank as onlookers scattered out of the way.

He couldn't breathe. Alec thought the wind was just knocked out of his lungs, but he couldn't breathe. All he could do was lie gasping in the slush like a fish out of water while Lane patiently waited, arms crossed and tapping a boot on the frozen ground.

It was beyond embarrassing. It was defeat. If he wanted to the larger X5 could simply come up and stomp the life out of him.

"We done here?" Lane patiently inquired.

Alec clenched his jaw and made himself get to his feet even though he still couldn't catch a deep breath. "Far from it!" he spat, and charged again.

That was a mistake. With a semi-concussion and the wind knocked out of him Alec was in no shape to be fighting anyone, let alone a combat hardened X5 of a caliber he hadn't faced in years. However, he still got in one good hook that landed square on that lantern jaw, breaking teeth and finally eliciting true anger.

"Why you--" Lane roared as he charged.

Alec skipped to one side and the rush missed, but his foot slipped on ice and he didn't quite complete the spin he was attempting, losing his balance so the side kick landed on Lane's thigh instead of his midsection. A human would have suffered a broken leg. Lane only bruised -- and got angrier.

600's speciality wasn't Taekwondo like Alec. Nor was it kickboxing. He rarely used his feet. However, his fists were deadly weapons. The younger X5 tried to block the blow. He saw it coming, but he still couldn't breathe right and his balance was shot to hell.

Alec literally heard the sound of his own ribs snapping as Lane's ham fist landed on his left side -- bone splintering and driving inwards, piercing internal organs.

Lydecker, Logan, and Max heard it too -- Max's hands involuntarily flying to her face as she gasped.

"Shit," Lydecker murmured under his breath as he realized his X5 Unit had just been broken -- probably beyond repair.

Clutching his side, totally unable to breathe now, Alec staggered back as he felt blood rising in the back of his throat. Swallowing the thick liquid, he watched through blurred vision as Lane closed in and grabbed him like a jealous lover. He tried to struggle ... wriggle out of the grip the much larger Unit had on him, but Lane's forearm was around his neck from behind now and his big hand on his head.

X5-600 was going to break his neck. Alec knew the maneuver all too well -- an effective and efficient method of execution.

"You said you wouldn't kill him!" Max screamed. "Let him live and I'll do whatever you want! Just don't kill him!"

"600!" Lydecker yelled. "He's your brother! Don't!"

But Lane wasn't listening. With an evil laugh of aroused triumph, the triumphant X5 possessively kissed the top of 494's head -- a sick gesture of dominance -- brutal thick lips burying themselves in sweaty dark blond hair like a cruel lover.

Alec shuddered at the touch of the male who had mastered him, and knew he truly had only seconds left to live -- which is when his hand brushed past 600's bulging hard-on to touch the knife sheathed on his opponent's belt.

It wasn't fair.

It was cheating.

It was the only way.

On the verge of blackness, Alec closed fingers around the knife hilt, drew the weapon, and with his last ounce of strength twisted in Lane's grip to plunge the blade deep into his conqueror's solar plexus.

For a long second then 600 and 494 simply stared at one another, their eyes mere inches apart, Alec's wide with desperate fear and pain, and Lane's wide with amazement. "You son of a bitch!" 600 gasped. Then a gush of blood poured from the mortally wounded creature's mouth and nostrils, and he fell limply to the ground, those wicked green eyes still open in a sightless accusatory stare.

And Alec wasn't far behind ... As the sound of his own pounding heart overwhelmed his hearing, and Max's cries of his name faded away along with his vision, he collapsed in the snow to lie broken, bleeding, and dying beside his already dead brother.

*****

He was cold ... so very, very cold.

For what seemed like eternity, that was the only sensation he felt -- freezing, darkness, ice ...

He couldn't move ... couldn't see or hear or think ... but he felt the cold. Then, out of nowhere, something warm was beside him ... with him ... and the frozen waste of death began to recede a little bit.

Max held Alec tightly in her arms, his head slumped unconscious on her shoulder, for the entire helicopter ride to Denver Memorial Hospital.

The left side of his rib cage was smashed ... his lung torn. He was drowning in his own blood ... suffocating. A human would already be dead, but because he wasn't human ... because he was an X5 gifted with superior clotting abilities and extra lung capacity, Alec was able to hold on -- barely.

A day later -- much to the amazement of a team of doctors who'd declared him terminal -- the young transgenic, with the help of transfusions and oxygen, was already beginning to heal, the bleeding under control and his lung mending. On day three, he opened his eyes for the first time to see Donald Lydecker sitting upright but asleep in a chair beside his bed.

"Max?" he croaked hoarsely, barely able to speak because his throat was so sore from being on a ventilator.

"Here," her soft voice said from the other side of the bed, her warm hand touching the side of his beard stubbled cheek. "I'm here, Alec. You're going to be fine."

"What about you?" he had to ask.

"I'll be fine, too," she said levelly. She smiled then. "My room's across the hall."

But Alec knew a lie when he heard one.

Later -- long after visiting hours were over and Lydecker had left -- Max crept back to him, awakening him from a sedated sleep.

"Alec," she said, her voice holding a desperate quality he'd rarely heard there before. "I need your help."

"Name it," he yawned. "So long as it doesn't involve physical exertion." Gingerly he stretched like a cat in the hospital bed only to wince at his still healing broken bones.

She smiled -- an odd but welcome sight to Alec -- and raised one dark eyebrow. "I could be pregnant," she said bluntly. "Lane-- He was ... persistent."

"Max--"

"Hear me out, Alec. I know I could have an abortion, but I don't think I could ever kill my own baby, even one who's conception occurred in violence. I also refused a pill they wanted me to take that would have ended a pregnancy."

"So," Alec said, not understanding what this had to do with him. "You and Logan will raise a son or daughter who's father was an X5. At least the kid will probably be healthy, like Eve. And Lane was Zack's twin brother ... someone you loved."

"I'd much rather the baby's father be someone I love," Max said quietly. "I don't know if I'm pregnant ... it's probably too soon to tell ... so there's still time to ... time to play the odds."

Alec still didn't understand.

"I'd ask Logan, but he can't," Max said.

"Can't what?"

"Father a child with me ... at least not without a lot of icky, definitely unromantic, medical intervention. But I want there to be a chance that my baby's father won't be Lane," she continued. Brown eyes collided with astonished hazel-green. "I want there to at least be a chance that -- if I'm pregnant -- the father's you, Alec."

His mouth dropped open. Rarely in his life had Alec been struck speechless, but Max had managed just that. "And if it happens?" he finally said, feeling both insulted and complimented at the same time. "You'd expect me to just stand by and let another man raise my son or daughter. You'd expect me to let my kid call Logan Cale 'Daddy'?"

"No," Max breathed as she clutched his forearm tightly, her nails digging slightly into his skin. "I'd never ask that of you. I'd expect you to be the child's father in every way -- provided you wanted to."

"And Logan's take on this?"

She looked away, out the dark window. "Logan will have to live with it," she said simply.

"A DNA test would reveal the true father," Alec pointed out.

"That wouldn't have to happen," Max said. "At least not for a long time. Meanwhile, I'd look at my baby and know that he or she could just as easily have been fathered by you. Both you and Lane have blond hair ... similar eyes ... you're brothers really ... I'd never have to know for sure. Nor would Logan, or you."

"Max--"

"Please, Alec. Make love to me right now. There's still time in my cycle. If I'm not already pregnant by Lane I could be by you. Plus, you're more fertile ... Lydecker says so."

"Maybe you're not pregnant at all," Alec said softly. "Wouldn't that be better for all concerned?"

"And maybe I am -- and I can't afford to wait to find out."

Alec absolutely hated this, but he also saw the haunted look in Max's tearful brown eyes.

"Make me forget what happened to me, Alec," she said, opening the front of the bath robe she was wearing and leaning closer. "Make me remember what it feels like to really be made love to."

"I don't deserve you," Alec said hoarsely, his body betraying his desire even as his words denied it. "You're too good for me. You're a courageous hero, Max. I'm just a jerk who has to be forced into doin' the right thing."

"No," Max said firmly as she placed a hand on either side of his head and stared straight down at him. "You're the one who has the courage, Alec. You stayed at Manticore. You survived what I ran away from. And that's the man I want to father my child."

Her mouth drifted across his face until she found his lips and he met her eagerly, her fingers stroking his bare arm as one gentles a restive stallion.

He was afraid. She sensed that. He could tell. But he also knew that he had to do this for her ... give her this gift. It was the only way she could live with what had happened ... the only way she could survive.

And Alec loved Max enough to make the sacrifice. He would sire her child if she wanted. He owed her that much, and more. And then if he had to he'd stand aside ... let another man raise it ... give her back to Logan. However, that was easier said than done because as her naked body blended with his beneath the sheets ... as she stretched around him and he slowly slid into her depths ... 494 knew with certainty that he was where he belonged at last, just as he instinctively knew when he panted fast with pleasure and filled her with his seed that he had, indeed, just put a child in 452's belly ... that 600's attempts had been futile, but that his own rich gift would blossom into a new life that would be the best of them both.

Max felt it too ... the beginning ... and her eyes flew open to stare deeply into his as she orgasmed. I love you, she silently mouthed the words she could never say aloud.

"I love you, too," Alec whispered huskily, squeezing her tightly to himself, ignoring the ache in his ribs. "God, Max, I can't let you go back to him!"

But she was already sitting up ... climbing off of him ... picking up her robe ... the magic moment ended.

"Max!" Alec cried out, reaching for her but unable to get up because of the pain in his side and the I.V. tube that shackled him to a bag of antibiotics.

She turned in the doorway to smile sadly at him one last time, and then -- having gotten what she came for -- she was gone. Which is when with a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach 494 realized the enormity of what he'd just done, not just to Max and to Logan, but to himself as well.

THE END