Then there was this... [I think a lot of this kinda just "plays out" in the mind, in the interstices... But who knows. It could always be built upon later...]

...The video was only a few minutes short. It didn't show everything; but what it did show was enough.

Three dark figures: one male, two females.

Lithe movement, so quick it seemed blurred at times.

A fight, very... violent. Broken bones, lots of bruising, blood.

Then: a neck was broken with such force, such brutality, that the head immediately dangled at an unnatural angle, dark blood oozing out somewhere.

The screen froze on the image of the dead woman hanging from the arms of the only male. He looked up and into the camera, his eyes dark and unreadable: Alec.

And looking straight at him from behind: Max.

Logan looked up from his computer and cast a glance at Max, who stood with her back pressed against the doorpost, arms crossed in front of her defensively.

"Geez, it's almost like he tore her apart, like an animal or," feeling guilty, he stopped himself and muttered, "I mean... I'm sorry, Max."

He tried to make up for his harsh words. But really? The evidence was right there. He had seen it with his own eyes: the surveillance camera showed almost everything. Max herself hadn't even been fit to face the recorded material. Of course she had seen it all with her own eyes, earlier. He knew that. He knew those awful images would be ingrained in Max's mind forever from that day on.

"It's... a nightmare..." His voice ebbed away. Sighing, he turned back to look at the screen.

The damage was done. Max looked even more devastated than before. Because he couldn't keep his mouth shut, because he had not stopped her from watching the video, from suffering through everything again.

Why couldn't he have left well enough alone? Why hadn't he actively stopped her from watching? And why did he always have to comment?

Because he was Logan Cale, Eyes Only, servant of Truth.

How he wished he could simply be Max's knight-in-shining-armor instead of good old righteous, predictable Cale-the-romantic-fail.

"Please, Max," he begged, finding it hard to look her in the eyes. She had that tough, untouchable air about her that always intimidated him slightly. It made him catch a glimpse of the Manticore-created soldier she had once been - and maybe still was...

"Say it, Logan: I told you so." Her voice sounded exhausted and dead. "It was a stupid idea. I shouldn't ever have tried it in the first place. You were right all along." Briefly, she paused. Logan shifted in his chair and a beam of light from his desk lamp illuminated her face briefly, making her eyes flicker and seem almost dangerous. Logan felt his skin prickle.

"Well," she drew the word out, contemplating. "You got one thing wrong: bringing Alec didn't make it better, it only made things worse. Seems like I did what I'm best at, I endangered those I love. I nearly got Alec killed; and I'm not sure I didn't manage to destroy the rest of his soul tonight," she said disgustedly and stared past Logan at the image on the screen behind him.

He quickly turned to shut the computer down, then got up and walked closer to her, making her shift uncertainly before placing herself in front of the open door in a protective stance.

He caught a glimpse of Alec lying on the couch in the living room, shifting uneasily in his troubled sleep. Logan couldn't help but feel sorry for the kid. Okay, so he was a genetically-engineered transgenic killing machine, just like Max. He had just seen him kill a woman in a most cruel fashion.

But Logan also knew how breakable Max was. Of course she hid it well but Logan knew her better; and Alec was just like her.

Manticore sure had messed it all up, had messed them up. It was a shame.

It was sad.

He sighed and lightly touched Max's stiff shoulder, cursing the virus yet again for preventing him from hugging her. She sure looked like she needed another body's touch and warmth. She looked bruised, desperate, and so very upset. Of course she blamed herself for what happened. She wouldn't be Max if she didn't. She didn't even flinch when he touched her.

"I wasn't going to say that, Max," he said, his voice firm and reassuring. "Well, maybe I did warn you. But I also advised you to ask for Alec's help. So, if you want to blame someone for what happened, you might as well blame me."

"Logan…"

"You couldn't know, okay? You couldn't know this would happen."

"You knew. You warned me not to try and free her. Of course you were right. I knew Brin was Manticore, yet I thought I could save her. I thought…" She faltered, her eyes taking on a lost expression. "She is my sister. I thought, maybe, if I could get her out, get her to TC, I don't know, that I might reverse the effects of the brainwashing and…"

"…get your sister back," Logan completed her sentence. He nodded sympathetically.

She hadn't tried to shrug off his hand that was still lightly resting on her shoulder, the thin membrane of his glove an insurmountable barrier between them.

A weary sigh escaped Max and she finally turned to watch Alec sleep. She let her head rest against the doorpost. She looked tired herself, tired and in pain. She had been hurt more than she let on. Typical.

"Max."

"You knew it would be in vain. You knew she was lost; but I wouldn't listen... and look where it got us."

She turned away from him eventually. She was crying, Logan could see her shoulders move ever so slightly. He didn't dare touch her again, though. He was certain that if he even so much as breathed too loudly, she would stop talking right away, never to mention any of it again.

"Look at him, Logan. He's never like this. He never lets anyone see him like this, ever." She hugged herself, not taking her eyes off Alec's sleeping form. "I screwed up. Big time. I didn't wanna see that she wasn't Brin any more. And when you followed that lead on her... I honestly believed I'd get her back." She sighed. For a moment Logan thought she wouldn't speak again. Then he heard her continue, "It's so hard, you know? Taking care of everyone and everything back at Terminal City. I always felt so alone, although he was always there with me, always by my side. He never complained. Well… not really, just in his smart-Alec kinda way. Never seriously complaining. Only when I talked him into retrieving Brin did he… he was so against it. And still he came along."

Logan waited a few seconds, but Max remained silent.

This was going to be a long night. He should better prepare himself to stay awake a while longer, to keep Max company.

"He loves you, Max," he eventually stated and gave a start when she whirled around to face him, utter bewilderment showing on her face. "What?" he asked, a small smile spreading. "You thought after our little hand-holding, after you admitted this Max-Alec-thing had been nothing but a hoax, that everything would just return back to 'normal,' to the way it was before? – See, Maxie. I am the last one to deny that I always loved you. And you did love me, once, too. Never mind our weird little notion of a relationship, I always knew it to be true. But. Things have changed, and not necessarily for the worse, I don't think." He paused and looked at her expression. He saw affection there, and sorrow. "I still love you, Max. In a way... - But I'm not blind and I'm not stupid. I can tell when two people are meant for each other."

"Logan," Max crossed her arms again, her shoulders hunched uncomfortably.

"Please. Let me finish this, Maxie, or I never will..."

She merely looked at him, and he sighed. "I can see it in the way you guys interact with each other. It's called chemistry, I guess. ... Well, seeing as you two are transgenics I wouldn't even be too surprised if it really was." He cleared his throat embarrassedly before he went on, "Look at you, Max, you love him – don't try to deny it. There's no need. – And he loves you. Why else would he have done it? Why else would he be so deep in shock now? It's because he loves you. He saved your life by killing your sister. He thinks you'll hate him for it. He could probably live with that if he didn't care for you the way he does… And if he weren't so scared that killing Brin like that - with you watching - turned him into some psychopathic killer just like your brother Ben."

He tilted his head slightly, watching as dawning realization seeped into Max's pretty features.

Somehow he got the terrible impression that he had just pushed her further away from him, that maybe, if only he had remained silent, there might have still been a chance for them. Despite the damn virus.

He smiled to himself wistfully, knowing it wasn't true as Max turned away from him and entered the living room, approaching Alec silently, taking care not to wake him. His battered face looked troubled. When Max placed a cool hand on his brow he stirred again, then seemed to calm visibly.

Poor kid, Logan thought again. Somehow Alec had grown on him. He would always watch out for Max, even if he'd break trying…