This fanfic is written after the Season 1 finale. I feel there were some slight inconsistencies with the second season, although I did enjoy it, and this is my speculation on what would have happened if the writers had decided to take it in a different direction. I do use some of the references from the second season, as well as the background provided in the books. I obviously don't own the characters.

Manticore, after the final scene with Renfro…..

As her horror at Zack's sacrifice finally began to subside, and as her or as she could only think of it, his heart, began to slow - Max was finally able to comprehend the impossibility of her situation. Strapped to a bed, weakened, and surrounded by hundreds of Manticore-issued soldiers – Max wasn't going to escape. And given what Renfro had said, it seemed likely that she was presumed dead by anyone who would want to rescue her. Were it not for the terrible danger she perceived, Max may have plunged into a state of utter hopelessness and despondency. However, the danger she perceived wasn't just for herself, but as Max surmised, for everyone she loved.

Strapped to the bed, her body mending, she knew it wouldn't be long before Manticore began subjecting her to the re-indoctrination process. But not before its minions did everything they could to learn her secrets. Like Zack before her, Max knew that Manticore's team of specialists would attempt to pry open her mind to find, not only her siblings, but any other potential tactical information they could use.

And as her training had taught her, Max knew Manticore couldn't be resisted, not really, not forever, at least not as she was. They would break her and no detail of her past life would be overlooked, everything from Original Cindy's latest love interest to Sketchy's latest scheme would be probed and handled and discussed. So despite her exhaustion, the pain from the heart transplant still bearing down on her repairing body – Max knew she needed to forget her non-Manticore past. Her life in Seattle: her friends, her job, and most importantly Logan. The task wouldn't be easy, particularly forgetting Logan, but with her love for him, which Manticore would see as a weakness they could use to exploit, came his secret identity as Eyes Only. Despite her desire to hold onto something, keep a part of her past life, Max knew that her love for Logan was tied with her admiration for his deeds. The two couldn't be separated, and so Max closed her eyes; relived their last embrace; and began practicing the blanking techniques that Manticore had taught her long ago….