Ok, so if you follow me and are reading my other stories I know I have a lot open right now, but this just popped into my head and I wanted to share it. I haven't forgotten my other stories, so don't worry about that! This is an AU set before season one of Dark Angel-set five months after the Berrisford mission. Let me know if you guys like it and would like to see more!

His brother was going downhill fast. He was losing his mind, but he couldn't stick around 24/7 to watch him. Ben had always had the most imagination in the unit, but he always thought his stories were real, and not just stories to get him through to the next day. He should have known he wouldn't be able to handle the outside world on his own. He should have sent one of their brothers or sisters with him, but it was safer to split up. Now though…now Ben needed someone.

"Zack, what're you doing here?" Ben asked, his voice soft and his head down. He'd just walked in, but Ben hadn't looked up at his arrival. He still had his training, so that was something. He was sitting on a stool in the corner, his forearms resting on his knees, his bloody hands shaking between them, but not from their deficiency, but from what he'd just done. He wouldn't have believed it, except he saw it with his own eyes. Ben had murdered a man in cold blood, etching his barcode in the back of his neck and stealing his teeth. They'd killed the prisoner and taken his teeth back at Manticore, but that was because they had to.

They had been out for ten years; they didn't have to kill anymore. He didn't know what Ben was doing, but he needed help. He needed to find someone that could help him. He had someone in mind, but he didn't know how he was going to pull this off.

"I'm just checking in," Zack said, leaning against the wall of the shack Ben was hiding in. His siblings weren't exactly thriving out in the world, but they were still alive, so that was something. This shack though…it was bad. It was cold and dark and lonely. He wanted to get Ben out of there and try to get something else going for him. "I'm keeping track of everyone just to be sure we're all doing ok."

"I'm fine," Ben answered shortly. He stood up and walked over to the sink, if it could even be called that. It was a pipe that was coming out of the floor with a bucket lying below it. Ben twisted the knob to start the water, and then started scrubbing the blood from his hands.

"What happened?" Zack asked, though he already knew. He saw what happened, but he wanted to hear it from Ben. "Are you injured?"

"No," Ben said. "I was offering a sacrifice to The Blue Lady." He turned the water off and dried his hands on his legs, turning to face him again.

"Ben…" Zack said with a sigh. He couldn't keep doing this; he couldn't deal with his brother's crazy, but he couldn't leave him alone. "Stay here. I'll be back and I don't want to come looking for you again. But be ready to move."

"Where are you going?" Ben asked, a lost look crossing his face briefly before his mask fell back in place.

"I'm going to get someone. Just pack up what you need, because you won't be staying here," Zack said. Ben nodded once, which reassured him that he would do what he was told. He slipped out to go find someone that might actually be able to help his brother. He just hoped they were still alive.

He waited three weeks, and was just about to give up on Zack, when he finally came back. But he wasn't alone. He had someone, who was unconscious by the looks of him, draped over his left shoulder.

"We gotta move," Zack said as a greeting.

He grabbed his one bag with his few belongings in it, and followed Zack without question. He didn't recognize the man that was hanging from Zack's shoulder; he was wearing fatigues and seemed familiar, but he couldn't see his face. It didn't matter. He didn't know what Zack was doing, and he didn't care. He had his orders and he would follow them.

Zack ran as soon as he was outside, and he matched his pace. He didn't know why they were running, but Zack was in charge and there was no time for questions.

They ran to the outside of town, and then Zack finally slowed. He stopped completely next to a beat up four-door and ordered, "Hotwire this car. Don't break the window though. It'll look too suspicious"

Zack turned to look behind him, while he quickly and efficiently broke into the car. "I'm in," Ben announced once he had the door open. Zack came back over and opened the backdoor, unceremoniously dumping the unconscious man onto the backseat.

He worked on getting the correct wires to spark as Zack slid into the passenger seat. "Hurry Ben. They can't be too far behind…"

"Who?" Ben questioned.

Zack did a hit and run with his eyes before he admitted, "Manticore."

He froze, dropping the wires in his hand, before he snapped his focus to the backseat. "Who the Hell is that?!" Ben asked in shock. He wouldn't have even noticed, except the man had his face. His freckles, over his nose, his mouth, his hair…he was completely identical to him. "Zack?!" Ben asked, his voice rising in panic.

"Move," Zack ordered, sliding over to take the wires from him. Zack had to push him out of the way to get him moving, and he wordlessly walked around the car to sit in the passenger seat. His eyes never left the man that looked like him.

He had a million questions running through his mind, but he didn't know how to voice any of them. Who was this man? Why did he look like him? How did Zack know where to find him? Why did he bring him here? How did he not know about him before? Was this man his brother? His real brother.

He'd never thought about having a real brother before…He had his unit, but they were all scattered now and had been since they escaped. Zack checked in every once in a while, but he never stuck around long. He hated being alone. Being alone let the bad thoughts in. It was easier to push them away when he was around someone else, but none of the ordinaries could ever understand what he'd been through. He was alone.

Except…maybe not now.

"I'll answer everything once we lose the guys that are following me," Zack said, finally starting the engine and peeling out of the parking lot.

Ben forced his eyes away from the man to look out the back window. He didn't see anyone following them, but that didn't mean they weren't there.

Zack didn't relax until they were out of Oregon and into Washington. They'd switched out the car twice, stopped to get food and use the facilities, and even took a small break at a park to stretch their legs and to check their surroundings. The man had remained unconscious the entire time, not even rousing when they'd stopped at the park and left him in the car with the windows cracked. Zack found a hotel, and actually had money to pay for it. He didn't know where his brother had gotten the money, but he wasn't going to ask. A hotel was a lot nicer than the shacks he'd been staying in and it'd be nice to have a shower again instead of a sink and a washcloth.

"Do you need help?" Ben asked, keeping an eye out for anyone walking by while Zack carefully got the man out of the backseat. Along with all their similarities he'd also noticed the bruises and swelling on the man's face, and figured the rest of him was probably injured as well. He wanted to know what happened, and hoped that an explanation would be coming soon.

"I got him," Zack said, lifting the man easily in his arms instead of just tossing him over his shoulder again. "I'm gonna ditch the car as soon as I get him settled, and then I'll tell you everything," Zack said, walking past him and to the door he'd left open at the side of the building. "If he wakes up, do not let him leave. He wouldn't be able to get far, but he'll hurt himself more trying to do so. Just try to keep him calm and on the bed. He shouldn't wake up, but…I don't know…He shouldn't even be alive."

Ben nodded, wordlessly following his brother down the hall and to the room he had booked. Zack gently laid the man on one of the beds, situating his arms and legs so he'd be more comfortable.

"How injured is he?" Ben asked, scanning the man to try to find where he was hurt.

"Broken ribs and left leg. I still need to stabilize his knee, but I put in some stitches in his side before I came back. He took a bullet for me…" Zack said.

"Did you give him a name?" Ben asked, unsure what to call the man, but he suddenly needed to know. He didn't want him to go without a name.

"Alec," Zack said with a small smirk. "I'll let you figure out why once he wakes up."

"And he's my brother?" Ben asked, even though the proof was pretty undeniable.

Zack nodded, "X5-494. Yeah, he's your brother. Your twin, actually."

"Alec…" Ben whispered, testing the name. He looked at his brother and nodded to himself. He had a brother, and his name was Alec.

His memories were a little fuzzy, but he was pretty sure Manticore hadn't upgraded their cots for mattresses in the last 24 hours. He started to open his eyes, but stopped when he realized there was another person in his room. They were pacing, so not one of the doctors and not Lydecker.

The person's footsteps were muffled, so they were walking on carpet. He definitely wasn't in Manticore anymore.

It hit him suddenly; a man had come in and told him he was there to get him out. Zack. That was his name. Zack said he could get him out. He'd scoffed, saying that it was impossible, especially since he could barely move. He'd been lying on his cot, only half conscious and sort of thinking Zack was a hallucination, but he'd played along.

He let Zack help him up, and keep him up as he led him out of there. He'd thought it was a joke until the bullets started flying. His adrenaline had kicked in and he'd managed to hold his own and help in his own escape. He'd stupidly pushed Zack out of the way and took the bullet intended for him, but it was probably better that he was the one who got hurt instead of Zack. At least one of them should be functioning at all levels if they were going to get out of there.

He must have passed out after that, and somehow Zack got them both out of there and brought him here.

Having connected the dots, he slowly opened his eyes, expecting to see Zack pacing across the room. His eyes widened when it wasn't Zack he saw, but a man identical to himself. He ran his hand through his hair as he paced, and then he looked over at him.

The man jumped in surprise seeing that he was awake, but then quickly started towards him only to stop before he got too close. "Zack didn't think you were going to wake up," the man said. His voice was soft, like he was afraid he'd hurt him if he were too loud.

"Where'd he go?" He asked. His voice was weaker than he liked, especially in front of this stranger, but he couldn't do anything to change that.

"He went to go hide the car," the man said. He nodded in understanding and tried to move to sit up, but quickly abandoned that idea when his entire body protested the movement. Two hands were suddenly at his shoulders, gently easing him back down. "Try not to move," the man whispered. "Zack said you got shot and we braced your left knee before he left, so it'd be a bad idea to try to walk until we find some crutches."

He studied the man in front of him, trying to figure him out. He was almost certain this was 493, but he had no idea why he was here or why he would bother trying to help him. If he wasn't flat on his back right now, he would probably attack him, but since he was, he was just going to have to play this a different way.

Except he had no idea what to say to this guy. 493 was the reason he was thrown into psy-ops for six months. His twin escaped and they wanted to make sure he didn't have the same tendencies. It was almost funny now, since he actually did have the same tendencies.

He would have never escaped on his own, he hadn't even thought about it until Zack broke into his cell, but since Rachel…He closed his eyes; even thinking about her was painful.

"Um, do you need ice or something?" The man hesitantly asked.

"No," he replied shortly. "Did Zack say when he was coming back?"

The man looked to the door, but then shook his head no. "He had to scout the area too…"

"Any idea why he broke me out?" He asked.

The man's sharp eyes met his in surprise, "He didn't tell you why he broke you out?"

"No," he replied slowly. "He just came in and said he was busting me out. Said he would explain later."

"He just told me he'd explain later too," the man said.

They sat in silence for a while, and he really wanted to go back to sleep, but he wasn't going to let his guard down around this stranger. This stranger who was the reason for a lot of his pain. But not all of it…He was responsible for most of it. Just like he was responsible for Rachel's death.

They both jumped when there was a sudden knock at the door. The man instantly reached for what he assumed was a handgun tucked in the back of his jeans, and slowly walked over to the door. He checked the peephole, and then opened the door. Zack walked in, his eyes immediately looking for him.

"You're awake," Zack said in surprise. "I didn't think you'd wake up for a while still." He didn't answer, but Zack didn't seem concerned. "How're you feeling?"

"I'm alright," he automatically answered.

Zack nodded, "Well, looks like you two already met…" He trailed off when he saw him and the man look at each other. "You guys did at least say a couple things to each other, right? You didn't just sit here in silence, right?"

"He's just been a little out of it," the man covered.

"Yeah, it's very disorienting to suddenly wake up in a random room with a stranger that looks just like you," he said sarcastically.

"See what I mean about his name?" Zack asked the man with a smirk. The man looked confused, and really he couldn't help his own look of confusion because he had no idea what Zack was talking about. "You know, Alec, as in smart-aleck," Zack explained.

"Ohhh," he and the man said at the same time. He'd forgotten Zack had given him a name. He liked the name, he just wasn't used to it yet. Now that he remembered that he had a name, he kind of wondered what the man's name was. Zack had a name, and had named him, so he assumed the man had a name and didn't go by 493 anymore.

Zack walked over to him and checked his pulse, putting gentle pressure against his neck to check. "Pulse is decent," Zack said. He suddenly pulled down the covers revealing he didn't have a shirt on, but he still had his pants. There was some gauze taped over his bruised right side, just below his ribs, which Zack carefully pulled from his skin. "Bullet wound looks good. How're the ribs?"

"Still broken," Alec said. It was weird to think of himself with an actual name, but he liked it.

"And your knee?" Zack asked, pulling the blanket from his left leg. His pants were cut off at his left thigh, a bandage wrapped tightly around his calf and knee with a metal rod in place to help stabilize it.

"Haven't made it that far yet," Alec said.

"Ok, we'll test it in a little bit," Zack said, pulling his covers back up before he walked over and grabbed two chairs. "Might as well take a seat," he said to the man. "This is going to be a long explanation." He looked back at him and said, "If you need something, tell me. You're not in Manticore anymore, so you don't have to suffer in silence."

Ok…whatever that meant…

"Ben, c'mon, take a seat," Zack said.

So the man did have a name. He looked at Ben again, and decided the name fit him. Ben was looking at him too, but quickly looked away when their eyes met. Ben walked over to the second chair and sat down.

"So, obviously you two are twins, but they kept you separated. They keep all the twins separated as far as I can tell," Zack said.

"How did you even know about him?" Ben asked.

"I saw him about five months ago," Zack said. "I thought he was you, but it became pretty clear that he was still Manticore. He was on a mission…" He paled knowing what mission Zack was talking about. Rachel… "I tried to get him out during the mission, but they were watching him too closely to get him out."

"And then you waited five months to try to get me out?" Alec questioned. He wasn't mad, but if he wanted him out so bad, then why did he wait so long. Besides, he would've really liked to get out of psy-ops a lot sooner.

Zack looked at him and said, "You were too heavily guarded and I wasn't willing to take the risk until I knew I had to." He and Ben shared a look, both confused about what he was talking about. What did he mean 'until I knew I had to'? Zack sighed and looked to Ben, "Ben, what you're doing is wrong, but I can't stick around to make sure you stop, which is why I went and got Alec."

"What?" Ben asked in confusion at the same time he asked, "Are you serious?"

"Someone needs to stay with him," Zack said to him. "Besides, do you really want to go back to psy-ops?"

He saw Ben flinch at the word, but he ignored him and growled, "You told me I was free, but what you meant to say was that I'm free from Manticore as long as I do what you want me to do."

"Just give it a chance," Zack said. "You guys are brothers and you might actually get along."

He forced himself to sit up, holding in a groan of pain, but glaring at Zack. "Do you even realize how much I hate you?! Both of you?!"

"Alec, I got you out," Zack argued.

"For your own reasons! Not for me!" Alec yelled. "You, your whole unit, you're the reason I went to psy-ops for six months! They wanted to make sure I wasn't going to follow in my twin's footsteps!"

"You can either get over it or hold a grudge, it's up to you," Zack said simply, not rising up to argue with him like he expected. "But you're stuck here for a while, so I suggest you get over it."

He crossed his arms and looked away; he didn't like it, but he was going to be stuck here for a while. He might be able to get out of here after a little more rest, but he knew he wasn't up for it yet. Even transgenics had their limits and he'd been in psy-ops since his last mission.

"What do you mean because what I was doing was wrong?" Ben asked.

Zack's focus shifted back to Ben and said, "Ben, you can't kill people as a sacrifice to The Blue Lady. It's wrong." Ok, his brother was a total nut job. He really hoped crazy didn't run in the family.

"We did it at Manticore," Ben said, sounding slightly lost.

"That was then. Life or death," Zack said. "You can't do that now. And I brought Alec here so he could keep an eye on you since I have to check on the rest of our brothers and sisters."

Ben just nodded, keeping his eyes down. This talk definitely didn't get through to him. He sighed; now it was on him to keep his crazy brother in check. Not really what he'd been planning on doing with his newfound freedom, but if he didn't, then Ben would keep killing and that would be on him. He didn't used to care about that, but ever since Rachel…he'd changed at least a little bit. Had more of a moral compass. He didn't even know what to do with his freedom anyway, so what else was he going to do. "Fine. I'll stay," Alec muttered.

"Great. I'll get something set up for you guys, but until then stay here," Zack said. "I'll be back with some food later."

He looked over at Ben, but he still had his head down, so he nodded to Zack and said, "Yeah…alright."

"Ben, get him some ice," Zack ordered. He must have known that was the only way to get Ben to respond since he wouldn't do anything else. "Alec, stay put, ok? We'll test your leg when I get back."

He barely had time to nod back before Zack was gone. Ben got up without a word and left the room, leaving him alone. He sank back against his pillows and closed his eyes in relief. He was exhausted; his body was broken and his mind was on overload. He's been in the chair with the laser in his eye before Zack showed up. He needed this time alone to just regroup and get his game-face back on.

Too soon, Ben came back and walked over to him. "What hurts the most?" Ben asked, his voice lacking any spirit.

"Nothing. I'm fine," Alec grumbled. He just wanted to be left alone, to endure this pain in solitude. He didn't want witnesses to his misery, especially strangers.

"Ok…I'll just dump this ice then," Ben said.

"No," Alec said quickly. He couldn't help himself; his ribs were throbbing and his knee was killing him. Ice actually sounded pretty good right about now, even if it made him look weak. "Ribs and knee. It's a toss up which one's worse."

Ben smiled just a little bit before he walked to the bathroom, split up the ice into two washcloths, and then came back over to him. He pulled down the blanket and settled the ice on his ribs on his left side. "This side's worse, right?" Ben asked, guessing by the darker bruises on his left side.

He nodded, "Three on this side, only one on the other. Gunshot's on the other, but Zack got the bullet out, so it's not so bad."

"And your knee?" Ben asked, pulling the blanket further away.

"I think it's just strained, nothin' serious," Alec replied.

Ben placed the ice, and then pulled the blanket over him again. "If you want to get some rest, I've got your back," Ben said softly.

He was touched that his brother, who was still a stranger, was willing to watch his back, was willing to try to build some trust with him, was willing to try period…he actually took him up on the offer. Was willing to show the same trust and actually let his guard down enough to at least doze off a little.

"Thanks," Alec said, "Just wake me up when the food gets here." He was willing to show some trust, but he wasn't quite willing to make everything so sappy and share all his feelings. He had to keep some of his walls up; after all, he barely knew this guy. All he had going for him was that they shared the same DNA. But, he was willing to try.

Ben let out a surprised chuckle and nodded, "Sure, you got it."

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