Title: An Answered Prayer
Written By: Drea Jackman
Email: DreaJackman@Literati.co.uk
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Are Logan's prayers finally answered when Max returns?
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters involved (much as I wanna have Logan all to myself).
All Dark Angel characters belong to Cameron/Eglee Productions and Fox...the lucky *ahem*!
Archive: Sure, just email me to lemme know where first. Thanks!
Feedback: Hell yeah! It's another of the small pleasures of writing.
Author's Note: Just a little post-AJBAC fic in anticipation of Season 2.
___________________________________________________________
It was just another stormy night in Seattle. The rain beat down in droves and crashed against
the large windows of Foggle Towers. Behind the free flow of water cascading down over the
panes a shadowy figure sat in stillness. Logan. His eyes were closed tightly, his hands clasped
before his mouth. With a sigh he lowered his forehead to his hands and poured every drop of
focus he had into his silent words. A few moments later his plead became audible in the faintest
of murmurs.
"...I can't do it without you, I miss you so much, please..."
Logan had never been a praying man, but these last few months without Max had been an
impossible struggle. As the days turned into weeks it had finally become a little easier to lose
himself in Eyes Only. But he couldn't escape the pain forever. He was human, he had to rest
and he dreaded that time every night where he had to surrender and try to get some sleep.
That's when everything came back. The memories of it all. The feel of her body dying in his
arms, the whisper of her last words as she slipped away from him forever. Then came the
incredible feeling of loneliness and despair.
Each night Logan would cry himself to sleep or, when he had no more tears left to cry, stare
blankly up at the ceiling watching the memories replay inside his head until he thought it'd drive
him insane. That was always the point that sleep claimed him and he'd be able to wake up the
next morning and bury himself in something else that wasn't pain.
"Amen."
The whisper was lost into his clasped hands as he opened his eyes, focusing them on the
blurred view out of his penthouse windows. With a sigh he pulled himself up to his feet, the
gentle whir or the suit a little comforting to him, knowing that at least something else was there to
support him right now. As he turned around and walked over toward his blinking computer
screens he realized how tired he was.
Shutting down all the computer equipment in his office space, Logan removed his glasses and
walked back towards the sofa. Stretching his arms way out then up behind his head he
interlocked his fingers and breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the muscles pulled and stretched
out. Shaking the kinks out he sat down on the soft cushions and leaned over to uncouple the
stirrup-like parts of the suit around the instep of first one foot, then the other. Sliding his shoes
off he clicked the suit back into place and brought them up onto the sofa as he laid back, setting
his glasses down on the coffee table beside him. Slowly but surely Logan's eyelids grew heavier
and heavier until they closed to make way for some much needed rest.
* * *
A few hours later, as Logan lay in the blissful depths of unconscious, a dark figure silently
passed behind one of the screens by his computers. The apartment was dimly lit and the figure
moved with cat-like stealth as it reached the end of the screens and peered around to see the
sleeping man where he lay. Their eyes narrowed as their objective was spotted. Silently they
made their way across the room stopping by the edge of the sofa and kneeling down. Head
lowered to Logan's ear the intruder whispered quietly to him.
"Eyes Only," the voice almost sang.
Logan never budged. The stranger grew more impatient and placed a firm grip on his shoulder
as they repeated their words again.
"Eyes Only."
Logan's expression twisted into a slight frown as he was roused from his slumber. But the voice,
it was familiar. Before opening his eyes the disbelief was already setting in and the realization of
his pending dream was enough to make him sigh aloud and lay there in silence a few moments
longer. But, there was another presence close by, he could feel it. Suddenly Logan's eyes shot
open and he almost leapt up off the sofa. Sitting round quickly his bleary focus fell upon the
haze of black standing across the floor from him.
Reaching down he grabbed his glasses and slid them on his face as the stranger became less
and less estranged to his vision. His eyes roamed up the figure before him. Up over the black
combat clad curve of their legs, the flare of their hips and the smooth indent of the waist.
Realizing the intruder was female, his eyes shot up to fall upon her face. The same face that
held the place of the most beautiful face he'd ever seen, framed by her dark, tousled curls.
"Max?" His brown ruffled into a frown of confusion.
"Is that you?" The words were filled with a kind of hope he knew only existed in the fleeting
memory of dreams long passed. Logan stood slowly and took a few steps toward her, but then
stopped quickly as if afraid that if he got too close he'd find out it was just another day dream
he'd become lost in.
With a sigh Max shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she stood before him, examining
what she remembered of her objective. As she took in the presence of the exosuit one thought
occurred to her.
'This is going to be easier than I thought.'
"Yeah, it's me." Her voice was falsely tainted by emotion, her lips curved ever so slightly into a
smile at the corners. Her eyes had all the emotion and enjoyment as that of a cat playing with
it's prey before finally giving in to the inevitable.
Logan didn't have words as he realized that this time it wasn't a dream. Max was really standing
before him now, she'd really come back to him. In seconds Logan had crossed the distance
between them and wrapped his arms around her in a desperate hug. The elation and joy that
seized his entire being was indescribable as he finally held the woman he loved in his arms
again. His words were in a jumbled rush as he tried to say everything he'd longed to say for
such a long time.
"...Thank God! I, I never thought I'd see you again."
His hand slid up into her hair as he cradled her closer to him, his face buried in her soft curls.
"I missed you...God I love you so much."
Max rolled her eyes as she reached breaking point with her games and pushed Logan away
suddenly. As Logan looked back at her, his smile faded as it became tainted with confusion.
"Max, is everything okay?"
Max didn't answer verbally. Instead her first move was to land a solid uppercut to Logan's jaw,
sending him sprawling back onto one knee a few feet across the floor. As Logan felt the searing
pain impact with his jaw, all the air seemed to leave his lungs at once. This just couldn't be
happening, not now and not with Max. His eyes could only search hers for some kind of reason,
any explanation for what was happening.
Max's expression took on all the appearance of being carved in stone. There was no more
emotion reflected in her eyes, sentimental lie or pretense, it was gone. Instead she stood there,
stance readied, completely dressed in her blackened military gear.
"X5/452, Mission: To seek and destroy Eyes Only."
Her voice was now dead of everything Logan had been used to hearing. It was lifeless, almost
machine like. Logan's heart sank to depths he hadn't thought possible as he realized that it
wasn't his Max that had returned to him. How could the soldier standing before him now be the
answer to his prayer?
"They reprogrammed you, didn't they," he said neither questioning or stating as fact.
"They helped me, gave me my family back," she said almost angrily.
"You once said I was part of your family."
Max could only laugh bitterly as Logan stood up, the audible whir of the suit breaking the
uncomfortable silence. She gestured to the source of the sound and looked him straight in the
eye.
"Like a family of genetically superior soldiers would have any place for a pathetic cripple in their
lives."
The words cut deeper than Logan would've liked to admit. After all, they were thoughts he'd had
about Max. All the reasons he could come up with for her not wanting to be with him the way
he'd longed to be with her, all the insecurities he felt about himself that had only been amplified
by being stuck in the wheelchair. His stance faltered as the words stung his ears and sank in
deeper and deeper.
Max took the moment of weakness as opportunity. She launched a series of punches at Logan
before finishing with a swift, but powerful kick that caught him square in the chest sending him
crashing back onto the floor. As he lay there gasping for breath Max continued to circle him with
catlike prowess, taking in the rest of the surrounding apartment.
"Nice place you got here. Don't remember it being so, small, before." Her tone was casual,
almost like she was enjoying torturing him.
A small statue caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and she picked it up.
"Now, this I like."
Logan inhaled deeply and pulled himself upright and slowly stood, this time his stance loose and
unstable. If it hadn't been for the suit holding him upright he was sure he'd have fallen back to
the floor in his first attempt.
"You don't remember?"
"Remember what?" she asked, her tone cold.
"Bast. You tried to steal it the night we first met." he said, his voice almost begging her to
remember what they had, how they'd felt.
As if the memory had indeed resurfaced ever so slightly, Max blinked and immediately refocused
on her objective. But she wasn't fast enough. Logan had caught the momentary lapse as
something else had flitted across her eyes. He wasn't ready to give up on her yet. He'd left her
behind once, he wasn't going to do it again, not while he lived.
"Junk," she said plainly before smashing the statue through the screens separating the living
room area from the hall and watching it fly into small pieces as it came into contact with the solid
wall on the other side.
Logan only watched in silence as she reacted. He needed a game plan here and he was coming
up empty. All too soon, as if sensing he'd recognized a brief sign of weakness Max turned on
him and silently walked toward him. In seconds she'd landed several solid punches to his face
and gut. Finally she decided she'd had enough of playing with him, at least for now. Leaping
forward Max locked Logan's right lower leg with her left one and brought her right heel up to hit
the servo-motor. The suit immediately whirred and choked as it was deactivated. As well as
crippling her prey now, she figured that bringing in a little new technology for the techs to play
around with wouldn't be a bad catch.
Logan bent double to the pain tearing through his tired body and crashed to the floor once again
as his support finally gave out, taking his punishment in silence. Max slid her fingers through
his hair almost soothingly at first, then tightened her grip pulling his face up to meet hers. His
face was already showing signs of bruising and blood stained his handsome features. It flowed
freely from a cut just above his right eye and from the left side of his mouth. His eyes were half
shut to the intense pain Max could only imagine he was feeling. Before Max could deliver her
final blow, she took a few moments to look Logan in the eye again. His eyes were closed now,
but a single flicker of light caught her attention and made her stop.
The lonely tear gently welled up from beneath his long eyelashes and broke free, sliding down
over his cheek and becoming lost in the scruff of his beard. Max's resolve faltered once again
and she released her grip on Logan, letting his head fall forward. She leaned back on her
haunches for a few moments, just silently watching the broken man in front of her. Logan's
breathing was deep and unsteady. He gasped for breath and everytime he did so another bout
of pain seized him. His head hung as he sat half upright, hunched over the floor, his useless
legs stretched out before him.
It took Logan a few seconds to realise that his punishment had stopped. Maybe this was it.
Maybe now was the time. Maybe he could reach her in time.
"Max," he gasped.
"Shut up," she replied quickly in a cold monotone.
"Max, please..."
"I said shut up!" she said, her voice raised this time.
In anger for his disobedience Max once again seized her hold on him, gripping his hair tightly as
she pulled his face up to once again meet hers. His eyes were open this time, the bright blue
catching Max off guard slightly as Logan raised his hand in the same fashion she had, toward
her hair. Gently he slid his fingers through the dark curls as he inhaled deeply. With that Logan
did the only thing he could think of. Something he was sure he'd die for, but if he had to at least
he'd leave this world with something other than pain. He pulled her face toward his with a
sudden burst of renewed strength and captured her lips with his.
Max didn't protest. Something else was going on, way deep inside and while she focused on
that battle, her body was oblivious to the actions of her would-be objective. Or so she thought.
Logan poured everything he had into his actions as he kissed her fiercely. All the love he'd kept
locked up inside for the best part of a year, all the joy he'd felt when she'd finally returned his
feelings and all the loss he'd felt in losing her.
As Max returned his kisses, the final walls that Manticore had erected around her memories and
emotions began to crack and crumble away. She found herself kissing Logan back with more
and more intensity until something else tainted her senses. The metallic taste of blood entered
her mouth and brought her back out of herself.
"Logan!" she exclaimed more out of desperation rather than anything else.
"Max?" His words were tentative and unsure, still worried that another of her Manticore mind
games would tear him apart.
Max's eyes darted quickly all over his body, his upper half precariously hunched over the floor
trying to stay upright while his lower half, his long legs, stretched out beside her. As her eyes
came to rest once again on his face, she took in all the damage she'd done. His skin was a
sickly pale shade with severe bruising already starting to appear. His features were bloodied
and she saw the stain that led from the left side of his mouth downward. Her fingers tentatively
reached out to touch the site of his pain as her other hand moved to the severe cut that still bled
above his right eye.
Logan didn't move, he simply let Max do what she felt she had to, his eyes darting back and forth
between her hands and the pained expression on her face, her eyes filled with confusion and
something else he couldn't read. He only flinched as her soft touch came into contact with the
source of discomfort up past his eye.
"I'm sorry," she said, but her apology wasn't merely meant for the pain her touch had caused.
Logan didn't reply. Instead he struggled to pull himself into an uncomfortable sitting position. As
he sat up in front of her, he reached up and took her hands in his and looked her in the eye. He
still couldn't recognize the other trespassing emotion that still flitted through her eyes, but he
knew what else he saw there. Tears began to well up as she shook her head and tried to pull
out of his grasp. Immobile as he was, Logan still managed to prevent her from pulling away.
"Max don't." The broken edge in his voice surprised even him as his words echoed in his own
ears.
"I, I did this," she said, her words muffled by the onslaught of sobs breaking her down. She
pulled her right hand from his and reached out to his beaten and bruised face again, her
fingertips gently shadowing the injuries she'd inflicted, not wanting to hurt him again. "I hurt
you."
Logan knew now that it really was true. Max, his Max, she was really back. Nothing else
mattered to him. Not the beating, not the fact that because the suit had been deactivated he
couldn't move to hold her the way he'd like right now and not the aches and pains that still held
his body captive. He raised his own free hand to brush her tears away as he tilted his head to
meet her timid touch.
"Max it's okay," he said, his voice whisper-soft and gentle.
Max accepted his response to her touch and gently slid the rest of her hand up to cup his cheek,
her thumb absently tracing the line of his cheekbone as she lost herself in the blue depths that
claimed her as his once again, in the self same spot she'd allowed her feelings to claim her with
the bold statement that led to their first steps into their new relationship. The words floated back
to her like some kind of day dream. 'This isn't Manticore, this is me.' Then came the memory of
the kiss. A kiss that had broken down walls back then, the same kind of kiss that had brought
her back tonight.
"It's not alright. Look at what I did to you."
Logan tightened his grip on her other hand and slid his fingers up into her hair as he moved his
hand towards the back of her neck. His hand then splayed out and his thumb began tracing
gentle strokes over her concealed barcode.
"It wasn't you."
"Yes it was. Manticore,"
"Manticore reprogrammed you," Logan cut in. "They did this, not you."
Max lost all words she'd been ready to speak as she realized how close she'd been to killing
him. She'd been seconds away from delivering her final move as that weird feeling had seized
her. It hadn't only seized her, it had consumed her whole as she perched above him, ready to
end his life. With these last fleeting coherent thoughts Max lost control and broke down.
"Shhh," Logan breathed and pulled her into his arms.
Leaning back against the wall he'd earlier been kneeling at looking out of the window, Logan
pulled Max into a tight hug. His weakened arms encircled her body as she gripped onto him, her
hands fisting in the folds of his shirt to hold him close. She felt like she'd been trying to get back
to him for months and now that she'd finally made it, she felt drained beyond belief. Her sobs
wracked her body as she buried her face in his chest and felt his arms supporting her.
After a silence that lasted almost half an hour, only broken by the sounds of Max's quiet sobs
and Logan's soothing whispers, did she finally speak.
"Logan," she whispered quietly, her voice broken by crying. "I love you."
Logan breathed a sigh of relief as he heard her finally say the words he'd been longing to hear
for so long. Right now he had her back. Back from the dead, back from where ever Manticore
had kept her prisoner and back from the dark place that had held her mind captive for months. It
was all he could have hoped for and more than he'd ever dreamed possible in the last few
months without her.
"I love you too." he uttered quietly, tucking her head underneath his chin as he rested his head
gently against hers.
As she lay there curled up with Logan's beaten body encompassing her, Max finally gave in to
the exhaustion that loomed over her and fell asleep. Logan stayed awake for a long time after
just staring out at the darkness of his apartment, the broken screens across the room and finally
he remembered something. Looking straight up at the window above him he inhaled slowly.
"Thankyou."
Written By: Drea Jackman
Email: DreaJackman@Literati.co.uk
Rating: PG-13
Summary: Are Logan's prayers finally answered when Max returns?
Disclaimer: I own none of the characters involved (much as I wanna have Logan all to myself).
All Dark Angel characters belong to Cameron/Eglee Productions and Fox...the lucky *ahem*!
Archive: Sure, just email me to lemme know where first. Thanks!
Feedback: Hell yeah! It's another of the small pleasures of writing.
Author's Note: Just a little post-AJBAC fic in anticipation of Season 2.
___________________________________________________________
It was just another stormy night in Seattle. The rain beat down in droves and crashed against
the large windows of Foggle Towers. Behind the free flow of water cascading down over the
panes a shadowy figure sat in stillness. Logan. His eyes were closed tightly, his hands clasped
before his mouth. With a sigh he lowered his forehead to his hands and poured every drop of
focus he had into his silent words. A few moments later his plead became audible in the faintest
of murmurs.
"...I can't do it without you, I miss you so much, please..."
Logan had never been a praying man, but these last few months without Max had been an
impossible struggle. As the days turned into weeks it had finally become a little easier to lose
himself in Eyes Only. But he couldn't escape the pain forever. He was human, he had to rest
and he dreaded that time every night where he had to surrender and try to get some sleep.
That's when everything came back. The memories of it all. The feel of her body dying in his
arms, the whisper of her last words as she slipped away from him forever. Then came the
incredible feeling of loneliness and despair.
Each night Logan would cry himself to sleep or, when he had no more tears left to cry, stare
blankly up at the ceiling watching the memories replay inside his head until he thought it'd drive
him insane. That was always the point that sleep claimed him and he'd be able to wake up the
next morning and bury himself in something else that wasn't pain.
"Amen."
The whisper was lost into his clasped hands as he opened his eyes, focusing them on the
blurred view out of his penthouse windows. With a sigh he pulled himself up to his feet, the
gentle whir or the suit a little comforting to him, knowing that at least something else was there to
support him right now. As he turned around and walked over toward his blinking computer
screens he realized how tired he was.
Shutting down all the computer equipment in his office space, Logan removed his glasses and
walked back towards the sofa. Stretching his arms way out then up behind his head he
interlocked his fingers and breathed a heavy sigh of relief as the muscles pulled and stretched
out. Shaking the kinks out he sat down on the soft cushions and leaned over to uncouple the
stirrup-like parts of the suit around the instep of first one foot, then the other. Sliding his shoes
off he clicked the suit back into place and brought them up onto the sofa as he laid back, setting
his glasses down on the coffee table beside him. Slowly but surely Logan's eyelids grew heavier
and heavier until they closed to make way for some much needed rest.
* * *
A few hours later, as Logan lay in the blissful depths of unconscious, a dark figure silently
passed behind one of the screens by his computers. The apartment was dimly lit and the figure
moved with cat-like stealth as it reached the end of the screens and peered around to see the
sleeping man where he lay. Their eyes narrowed as their objective was spotted. Silently they
made their way across the room stopping by the edge of the sofa and kneeling down. Head
lowered to Logan's ear the intruder whispered quietly to him.
"Eyes Only," the voice almost sang.
Logan never budged. The stranger grew more impatient and placed a firm grip on his shoulder
as they repeated their words again.
"Eyes Only."
Logan's expression twisted into a slight frown as he was roused from his slumber. But the voice,
it was familiar. Before opening his eyes the disbelief was already setting in and the realization of
his pending dream was enough to make him sigh aloud and lay there in silence a few moments
longer. But, there was another presence close by, he could feel it. Suddenly Logan's eyes shot
open and he almost leapt up off the sofa. Sitting round quickly his bleary focus fell upon the
haze of black standing across the floor from him.
Reaching down he grabbed his glasses and slid them on his face as the stranger became less
and less estranged to his vision. His eyes roamed up the figure before him. Up over the black
combat clad curve of their legs, the flare of their hips and the smooth indent of the waist.
Realizing the intruder was female, his eyes shot up to fall upon her face. The same face that
held the place of the most beautiful face he'd ever seen, framed by her dark, tousled curls.
"Max?" His brown ruffled into a frown of confusion.
"Is that you?" The words were filled with a kind of hope he knew only existed in the fleeting
memory of dreams long passed. Logan stood slowly and took a few steps toward her, but then
stopped quickly as if afraid that if he got too close he'd find out it was just another day dream
he'd become lost in.
With a sigh Max shifted her weight from one foot to the other as she stood before him, examining
what she remembered of her objective. As she took in the presence of the exosuit one thought
occurred to her.
'This is going to be easier than I thought.'
"Yeah, it's me." Her voice was falsely tainted by emotion, her lips curved ever so slightly into a
smile at the corners. Her eyes had all the emotion and enjoyment as that of a cat playing with
it's prey before finally giving in to the inevitable.
Logan didn't have words as he realized that this time it wasn't a dream. Max was really standing
before him now, she'd really come back to him. In seconds Logan had crossed the distance
between them and wrapped his arms around her in a desperate hug. The elation and joy that
seized his entire being was indescribable as he finally held the woman he loved in his arms
again. His words were in a jumbled rush as he tried to say everything he'd longed to say for
such a long time.
"...Thank God! I, I never thought I'd see you again."
His hand slid up into her hair as he cradled her closer to him, his face buried in her soft curls.
"I missed you...God I love you so much."
Max rolled her eyes as she reached breaking point with her games and pushed Logan away
suddenly. As Logan looked back at her, his smile faded as it became tainted with confusion.
"Max, is everything okay?"
Max didn't answer verbally. Instead her first move was to land a solid uppercut to Logan's jaw,
sending him sprawling back onto one knee a few feet across the floor. As Logan felt the searing
pain impact with his jaw, all the air seemed to leave his lungs at once. This just couldn't be
happening, not now and not with Max. His eyes could only search hers for some kind of reason,
any explanation for what was happening.
Max's expression took on all the appearance of being carved in stone. There was no more
emotion reflected in her eyes, sentimental lie or pretense, it was gone. Instead she stood there,
stance readied, completely dressed in her blackened military gear.
"X5/452, Mission: To seek and destroy Eyes Only."
Her voice was now dead of everything Logan had been used to hearing. It was lifeless, almost
machine like. Logan's heart sank to depths he hadn't thought possible as he realized that it
wasn't his Max that had returned to him. How could the soldier standing before him now be the
answer to his prayer?
"They reprogrammed you, didn't they," he said neither questioning or stating as fact.
"They helped me, gave me my family back," she said almost angrily.
"You once said I was part of your family."
Max could only laugh bitterly as Logan stood up, the audible whir of the suit breaking the
uncomfortable silence. She gestured to the source of the sound and looked him straight in the
eye.
"Like a family of genetically superior soldiers would have any place for a pathetic cripple in their
lives."
The words cut deeper than Logan would've liked to admit. After all, they were thoughts he'd had
about Max. All the reasons he could come up with for her not wanting to be with him the way
he'd longed to be with her, all the insecurities he felt about himself that had only been amplified
by being stuck in the wheelchair. His stance faltered as the words stung his ears and sank in
deeper and deeper.
Max took the moment of weakness as opportunity. She launched a series of punches at Logan
before finishing with a swift, but powerful kick that caught him square in the chest sending him
crashing back onto the floor. As he lay there gasping for breath Max continued to circle him with
catlike prowess, taking in the rest of the surrounding apartment.
"Nice place you got here. Don't remember it being so, small, before." Her tone was casual,
almost like she was enjoying torturing him.
A small statue caught her attention out of the corner of her eye and she picked it up.
"Now, this I like."
Logan inhaled deeply and pulled himself upright and slowly stood, this time his stance loose and
unstable. If it hadn't been for the suit holding him upright he was sure he'd have fallen back to
the floor in his first attempt.
"You don't remember?"
"Remember what?" she asked, her tone cold.
"Bast. You tried to steal it the night we first met." he said, his voice almost begging her to
remember what they had, how they'd felt.
As if the memory had indeed resurfaced ever so slightly, Max blinked and immediately refocused
on her objective. But she wasn't fast enough. Logan had caught the momentary lapse as
something else had flitted across her eyes. He wasn't ready to give up on her yet. He'd left her
behind once, he wasn't going to do it again, not while he lived.
"Junk," she said plainly before smashing the statue through the screens separating the living
room area from the hall and watching it fly into small pieces as it came into contact with the solid
wall on the other side.
Logan only watched in silence as she reacted. He needed a game plan here and he was coming
up empty. All too soon, as if sensing he'd recognized a brief sign of weakness Max turned on
him and silently walked toward him. In seconds she'd landed several solid punches to his face
and gut. Finally she decided she'd had enough of playing with him, at least for now. Leaping
forward Max locked Logan's right lower leg with her left one and brought her right heel up to hit
the servo-motor. The suit immediately whirred and choked as it was deactivated. As well as
crippling her prey now, she figured that bringing in a little new technology for the techs to play
around with wouldn't be a bad catch.
Logan bent double to the pain tearing through his tired body and crashed to the floor once again
as his support finally gave out, taking his punishment in silence. Max slid her fingers through
his hair almost soothingly at first, then tightened her grip pulling his face up to meet hers. His
face was already showing signs of bruising and blood stained his handsome features. It flowed
freely from a cut just above his right eye and from the left side of his mouth. His eyes were half
shut to the intense pain Max could only imagine he was feeling. Before Max could deliver her
final blow, she took a few moments to look Logan in the eye again. His eyes were closed now,
but a single flicker of light caught her attention and made her stop.
The lonely tear gently welled up from beneath his long eyelashes and broke free, sliding down
over his cheek and becoming lost in the scruff of his beard. Max's resolve faltered once again
and she released her grip on Logan, letting his head fall forward. She leaned back on her
haunches for a few moments, just silently watching the broken man in front of her. Logan's
breathing was deep and unsteady. He gasped for breath and everytime he did so another bout
of pain seized him. His head hung as he sat half upright, hunched over the floor, his useless
legs stretched out before him.
It took Logan a few seconds to realise that his punishment had stopped. Maybe this was it.
Maybe now was the time. Maybe he could reach her in time.
"Max," he gasped.
"Shut up," she replied quickly in a cold monotone.
"Max, please..."
"I said shut up!" she said, her voice raised this time.
In anger for his disobedience Max once again seized her hold on him, gripping his hair tightly as
she pulled his face up to once again meet hers. His eyes were open this time, the bright blue
catching Max off guard slightly as Logan raised his hand in the same fashion she had, toward
her hair. Gently he slid his fingers through the dark curls as he inhaled deeply. With that Logan
did the only thing he could think of. Something he was sure he'd die for, but if he had to at least
he'd leave this world with something other than pain. He pulled her face toward his with a
sudden burst of renewed strength and captured her lips with his.
Max didn't protest. Something else was going on, way deep inside and while she focused on
that battle, her body was oblivious to the actions of her would-be objective. Or so she thought.
Logan poured everything he had into his actions as he kissed her fiercely. All the love he'd kept
locked up inside for the best part of a year, all the joy he'd felt when she'd finally returned his
feelings and all the loss he'd felt in losing her.
As Max returned his kisses, the final walls that Manticore had erected around her memories and
emotions began to crack and crumble away. She found herself kissing Logan back with more
and more intensity until something else tainted her senses. The metallic taste of blood entered
her mouth and brought her back out of herself.
"Logan!" she exclaimed more out of desperation rather than anything else.
"Max?" His words were tentative and unsure, still worried that another of her Manticore mind
games would tear him apart.
Max's eyes darted quickly all over his body, his upper half precariously hunched over the floor
trying to stay upright while his lower half, his long legs, stretched out beside her. As her eyes
came to rest once again on his face, she took in all the damage she'd done. His skin was a
sickly pale shade with severe bruising already starting to appear. His features were bloodied
and she saw the stain that led from the left side of his mouth downward. Her fingers tentatively
reached out to touch the site of his pain as her other hand moved to the severe cut that still bled
above his right eye.
Logan didn't move, he simply let Max do what she felt she had to, his eyes darting back and forth
between her hands and the pained expression on her face, her eyes filled with confusion and
something else he couldn't read. He only flinched as her soft touch came into contact with the
source of discomfort up past his eye.
"I'm sorry," she said, but her apology wasn't merely meant for the pain her touch had caused.
Logan didn't reply. Instead he struggled to pull himself into an uncomfortable sitting position. As
he sat up in front of her, he reached up and took her hands in his and looked her in the eye. He
still couldn't recognize the other trespassing emotion that still flitted through her eyes, but he
knew what else he saw there. Tears began to well up as she shook her head and tried to pull
out of his grasp. Immobile as he was, Logan still managed to prevent her from pulling away.
"Max don't." The broken edge in his voice surprised even him as his words echoed in his own
ears.
"I, I did this," she said, her words muffled by the onslaught of sobs breaking her down. She
pulled her right hand from his and reached out to his beaten and bruised face again, her
fingertips gently shadowing the injuries she'd inflicted, not wanting to hurt him again. "I hurt
you."
Logan knew now that it really was true. Max, his Max, she was really back. Nothing else
mattered to him. Not the beating, not the fact that because the suit had been deactivated he
couldn't move to hold her the way he'd like right now and not the aches and pains that still held
his body captive. He raised his own free hand to brush her tears away as he tilted his head to
meet her timid touch.
"Max it's okay," he said, his voice whisper-soft and gentle.
Max accepted his response to her touch and gently slid the rest of her hand up to cup his cheek,
her thumb absently tracing the line of his cheekbone as she lost herself in the blue depths that
claimed her as his once again, in the self same spot she'd allowed her feelings to claim her with
the bold statement that led to their first steps into their new relationship. The words floated back
to her like some kind of day dream. 'This isn't Manticore, this is me.' Then came the memory of
the kiss. A kiss that had broken down walls back then, the same kind of kiss that had brought
her back tonight.
"It's not alright. Look at what I did to you."
Logan tightened his grip on her other hand and slid his fingers up into her hair as he moved his
hand towards the back of her neck. His hand then splayed out and his thumb began tracing
gentle strokes over her concealed barcode.
"It wasn't you."
"Yes it was. Manticore,"
"Manticore reprogrammed you," Logan cut in. "They did this, not you."
Max lost all words she'd been ready to speak as she realized how close she'd been to killing
him. She'd been seconds away from delivering her final move as that weird feeling had seized
her. It hadn't only seized her, it had consumed her whole as she perched above him, ready to
end his life. With these last fleeting coherent thoughts Max lost control and broke down.
"Shhh," Logan breathed and pulled her into his arms.
Leaning back against the wall he'd earlier been kneeling at looking out of the window, Logan
pulled Max into a tight hug. His weakened arms encircled her body as she gripped onto him, her
hands fisting in the folds of his shirt to hold him close. She felt like she'd been trying to get back
to him for months and now that she'd finally made it, she felt drained beyond belief. Her sobs
wracked her body as she buried her face in his chest and felt his arms supporting her.
After a silence that lasted almost half an hour, only broken by the sounds of Max's quiet sobs
and Logan's soothing whispers, did she finally speak.
"Logan," she whispered quietly, her voice broken by crying. "I love you."
Logan breathed a sigh of relief as he heard her finally say the words he'd been longing to hear
for so long. Right now he had her back. Back from the dead, back from where ever Manticore
had kept her prisoner and back from the dark place that had held her mind captive for months. It
was all he could have hoped for and more than he'd ever dreamed possible in the last few
months without her.
"I love you too." he uttered quietly, tucking her head underneath his chin as he rested his head
gently against hers.
As she lay there curled up with Logan's beaten body encompassing her, Max finally gave in to
the exhaustion that loomed over her and fell asleep. Logan stayed awake for a long time after
just staring out at the darkness of his apartment, the broken screens across the room and finally
he remembered something. Looking straight up at the window above him he inhaled slowly.
"Thankyou."