~ * ~ * ~No One But You~ * ~ * ~
Disclaimer: Dark Angel belongs to James Cameron and Charles Eglee. Not Me.
Timeline: After And Jesus Brought A Casserole, before Designate This.
A/N ~ ~ ~ Logan can walk.
A/N ~ ~ ~ I know that in the real Designate This, Logan gets accidentally shot by Lydecker, but this veers off the track, y'know, with not actually being Designate This and all.
Rated R for Sexual Content and Adult Themes
Please R & R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Logan turned left into a crumbling warehouse in Sector 3, wondering what awaited him inside. He was scared, taking on Manticore was dangerous, Lydecker had warned him of that, but he pushed the fear to the back of his mind, instead picturing the comfort he always found within Max's smiling face.
"Lucky we hooked up." She said, looking into his deep eyes and smiling softly. Logan leant forward and kissed her on the cheek, his lips lingering as she turned her head to him and they found their lips joined sweetly.
"Wait." Logan pulled away. "Maybe we should wait, until you're, you know, yourself again."
"This isn't Manticore." Max murmured gently, shaking her head, with a soft smile alighting upon lips. "This is me."
Once again they found their lips joined, more passionately the second time, for they were both in the only place they wanted to be, and nowhere else.
He had to do it for Max. Avenge her death until it killed him. She had been his, for a few short hours and they had taken her from him, cruelly stolen her without a second thought. And they would pay.
Logan stopped the Aztec, looking briefly into Lydecker's even eyes as he stood waiting, before Logan turned off his car and climbed out.
"You said you had some information for me?" Logan asked cautiously, taking a quick look around at his surroundings.
"I did." Lydecker confirmed, nodding slightly as Logan walked forward to meet him.
"I'm trying to find Manticore."
"Looks like Manticore found you!" An unfamiliar voice joined the conversation.
Logan turned sharply to the sound of the voice. James McGinnis, tall, cocky, Negro and a black eye patch over his left eye beneath sunglasses emerged from behind a pillar and walkd to stand next to Lydecker. He held a gun to Logan, as two soldiers approached Logan from behind.
"Sorry, son." Lydecker said, not looking or sounding at all redemptive.
"So this is the great and powerful Oz. Hold on here. Let me get a good look." McGinnis said cockily, removing his sunglasses. "I wouldn't do that, Jim." Lydecker said calmly, elbowing the confident McGinnis in the mouth and grabbing the hand with which McGinnis held the gun as McGinnis shot quickly. Logan, seeing this happen quickly fell to the floor and ducked even before Lydecker yelled at him to. A bullet flew past Logan's face as he sat against the Aztec, watching the two soldiers that had been too slow to process what was going on get shot and go down. Lydecker pulled the gun from McGinnis's hand and shoved him to the floor. "Are you alright?" Lydecker asked Logan, not taking his eyes of McGinnis. "Yeah. Fine." Logan nodded turning to look at McGinnis who was glaring daggers at Lydecker. "We had a deal!" He exclaimed. "What's Renfro doing with the X5s?" Lydecker asked, ignoring McGinnis. "I don't know." McGinnis claimed, getting up. Lydecker grabbed one of McGinnis's arms, twisting it behind his back, then pulled out his own gun and holding it to the back of McGinnis's head. "She murdered one of my kids! That BITCH murdered one of my kids!" Lydecker yelled, thinking of Tinga, pale, sickly and alone in the extraction chamber. "All right." McGinnis says as Lydecker pushed the gun into his head harder. "All right!" Deck shoved McGinnis to the ground. "Now don't play stupid or I'll take your other eye." McGinnis rose, complying. "The tank is some kind of extraction chamber. She was trying to find something out about the girl's D.N.A. "What?" "I don't know, but whatever she wanted, she wanted it bad. But it wasn't there." McGinnis winced slightly as he touched his lip, feeling the large cut. "Damn Deck, I'm gonna need stitches. Could you please take me to the hospital now?" "There's a small problem with that, Jim. You got a good look at my friend here." Lydecker said boldly, gesturing widely to Logan. "No. . . No, no I didn't." McGinnis protested modestly. "I hardly laid an eye on the guy. My depth perception's all shot. Besides, all you white boys, you know, you all look alike to me. Come on, Deck. We're old friends." As Lydecker turned to Logan, asking him what he thought, McGinnis lunged for his gun lying on the floor behind Lydecker's back and was immediately shot by Lydecker, coolly, still looking directly at Logan. Logan finally stood up after watching the scene unfold in front of him and stepped toward Lydecker. "We never really liked each other, did we?" Lydecker said casually to McGinnis's dead body. "So you want to know about Manticore?" He asked Logan as though he hadn't just shot three men dead. Logan nodded. He was going to get Manticore for snatching his sole reason to live.
~~~
A day later, Max and the newly named Alec were in the basement, filing away at the bars on the window as Joshua sat quietly watching. Max, after deciding she couldn't take anymore 'breeding' and after Alec discovered she had been planning to escape, had formulated a plan so that she could get back to Logan. Alec was all for it, desperately wanting a new breeding partner, and Joshua had said he would help too.
"Kinda makes you wonder what else is down here. I mean, would you get a look at that thing?" Alec snubbed, stopping momentarily to look at Joshua.
"He's not a thing! His name's Joshua." Max said sharply.
"Yeah, yeah, Sasquatch. Hey, why don't you make yourself useful, and, uh...quit mumbling and come over here and help us out with these bars?"
Joshua rose, and motioned for Max and Alec to move away. They watched him carefully as he pulled the bars out of the brick in one fluent motion and Max almost kicked herself for not asking for Joshua's help sooner. She asked if Joshua and Alec know the plan, and then she climbed through the window, waiting for Alec and Joshua to climb through after. Joshua sprinted into the forest first, with Alec following at a slower pace, waiting for his cue to distract the X7's from Max, and Max waited patiently at the edge of the forest.
In no time at all she was jumping over the fence, trying to dodge a bullet from an X7 gun, as she landed and turned back to see Joshua staring forlornly after her.
"You blaze!" He yelled hoarsely, and Max nodded, disappearing into the thick brush.
~~~
She ran through the night, stopping in the morning to drink from a clear water stream and then rested for a couple of hours in the morning, and ran as soon as she felt up to it. It took her almost 8 hours to run the 1350 kilometres from Gillette to Seattle, stopping once or twice when she saw a river of fresh water.
She reached Seattle at four o'clock that afternoon, and snuck past a Sector Checkpoint, where two sector cops sat watching a pathetically overacted soap, only to be interupted by an Eyes Only broadcast. They groaned as Max gasped, smiling broadly as she stared into the soft blue eyes that seemed to bore directly into hers.
"This is an Eyes Only streaming Freedom Video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds; it cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this city. The covert project Manticore will come crashing down in a relentless struggle. Eyes Only has been researching the top-secret government project in a fight for the many soldiers that traded their lives for their freedom. Manticore will be given 24 hours to cease their cruel operation; otherwise Eyes Only will reveal their location. Manticore has been trusting in their friends and not in their foes, a true mistake. Eyes Only has found Manticore, and Eyes Only will not let the poor young children be tortured in the name of war protection. Eyes Only puts this to Manticore: You will be revealed. You will suffer for those you made suffer and you will get what has been coming to you. This has been a streaming freedom video via the informant net. Peace, out."
Max shuddered as she remembered what Renfro had promised to do if Logan revealed their location. And he would, no matter what. She had to go back, she had to return and free the transgenics, all of them, even those that didn't want to be freed.
~~~
Logan switched off the camera feed and picked up the only photo he had of Max. He suspected it was the only posed photo anyone had of her. The only one where she was actually looking into the camera. It was from Original Cindy's birthday last year, with Max and Cindy, their arms round each other casually; Original Cindy giving a large birthday girl grin, and Max, looking straight into the camera with her soft smile and mysterious eyes. The eyes that saw depths into her soul. Logan loved looking into those eyes so much. If you looked close enough, you could see that those eyes held a secret. He stared deeply into the photo, looking at the incredible creature he had known and loved. . . did love. She was smiling slightly, as if she knew Logan was watching her. He stroked the glass of the frame. He had the picture blown up to several different sizes and copied about twelve times, and now there was at least one framed photo of Max in each room of the house, and a large one hanging in the kitchen. Call him obsessed, but when he walked into a room, she was there. And he wasn't alone.
Original Cindy had given Logan a copy of the photo after she had found out what had happened to Max, the truth. She had taken it hard, but understood how much harder it must of been for the man who was in love with Max and had taken pity on him, now she came over once a week for lunch, where they talked about Max, stories of her hardships, jokes and the things that made her smile. Logan had already known the real Max, the Max locked deeply in her soul, but after talking with Original Cindy once a week for the last four months, he knew Max's past too. There were a lot of girly things Max could talk about with Original that she couldn't talk about with Logan, and she had told Logan often how lucky she was to be friends with Original Cindy, who was a true friend, so Cindy and Logan swapped glory stories. He felt so close to Max after their lunches, so close that when Cindy left, Logan could do nothing else but smile gently, thinking of the new stories about Max he had learnt, and he would slump on the hard kitchen floor and cry for hours, thinking of what he had lost. He just wanted her back. His Max, everyone's Max, the world's Max, just Max. He just wanted Max.
~~~
Max sprinted as fast as she could, the thought of getting back to Logan after taking care of Manticore keeping her going. She was running on empty, running on nothing but Logan, but just the thought of Logan could of kept her going for weeks. She reached Manticore and saw the North West wing being blown up, and she immediately sprinted to the barracks. She found the computer lab, and unlocked all the locked-down doors so that all the transgenics could escape. Max figured Renfro must have given the okay to detonate the place, after Logan's hack. Manticore couldn't risk the world discovering where Manticore was. Max ran to Renfro's office, she wasn't leaving without giving that bitch a serious kick up the ass. Renfro was packing up all her accumulated data, all her important discs and new D.N.A results from the spinal tap from 452. She had seen 452 unlocking the doors and knew she had to get out before 'Max' came for her. She shut her briefcase, but it was too late. Max grabbed her from behind, and slammed her against the wall. "You aren't getting away that easy!" Max yelled at her. Max turned to see an armed guard in the doorway, but as he shot at Max Renfro threw herself over Max, causing her to be shot in the stomach. The guard looked at Renfro, stunned, then quickly ran away before he was killed for shooting his boss.
"You just ate a bullet for me! Why?" Max asked confused, scrunching up her face and kneeling on the floor next to Elizabeth Renfro's shaking body.
"You are the one. . . the one we've been looking for. " Renfro breathed, before the excessive blood loss made her lose consciousness. Max handcuffed the newly unconscious Renfro to her desk, picked up the silver briefcase Renfro had been packing things into and got the hell out of there. She ran until she reached the fence separating Manticore from the forest and turned to look back at the flaming place she had known as home for the first nine years of her life. For some transgenics it had been their home for almost thirty years. Max silently said goodbye, then turned and ran for Seattle, for home, for Logan. . .
~~~
Max cried as she ran, all she could think about was how much she had missed Logan. She wondered if he had found somebody else. She cried even harder at the thought. Logan was what had kept her going, throughout all her time at Manticore. While they had attempted to reindoctrate her with video flashes and pictures of Eyes Only above words like traitor and enemy, Max had just concentrated at staring into the video, but not watching it. She appeared to be looking at it, but all she could see were memories of her and Logan.
"Just come back." He had begged softly.
She hoped he still wanted that. She couldn't bear to not have him. He was all she lived for; She lived for Logan. She had missed her friends immensely too, what the hell, she was even willing to admit she'd missed Normal, but the thought and memory of Logan was what had kept her alive and sane. Without him, Max would be an empty shell. Tears flew down her face as she ran, not feeling the hardness in her lungs or the soreness in her legs. She just kept running, memories of Logan once again flowing through her head.
She reached Fogle Towers after running for 9 straight hours. She took the elevator into Logan's apartment, butterflies fluttering within her stomach. She soundlessly picked the lock on his door, almost collapsing from exhaustion. She tiptoed through his apartment, hoping to find him but he wasn't there. She had wanted to be silent in case he was there with a girl, or anyone for that matter but he wasn't home. She wondered if he was on a date? It was 3 in the morning but. . .She wondered if Logan still even lived there, and then noticed a photo of herself sitting on the coffee table. She wandered into the kitchen and saw an identical photo, only much larger hanging above the table. She smiled gently. So Logan hadn't forgotten her. But what if he was on a date? What if he had gotten over her, and only kept the photos as old mementos? What if he was totally in love with someone else? Would he even care that she'd returned? Max breathed in sharply; all the running had made her feel tired. She walked into Logan's room, and not thinking at all, took off her shoes and camouflage pants, and then flopped into his bed, pulling the covers up to her chin as she fell asleep almost instantly.
~~~
Logan took the elevator to the penthouse, he had been to a meeting with an informant this morning at 2.30, and then had gone for a ride on Max's motorbike while it was still dark. By the time he got back it was 4.30 and he was pretty tired, but he wanted to make a hack before bed. The informant, Greg Liens had told him of a mental hospital where the patients disappeared after 6 months and then turned up with amnesia, but perfectly sane. Logan suspected the owner of the hospital, Worth Fentree' was kidnapping average people off the streets, getting money from the government for the patients and then dumping them back on the streets again. He walked into his study, not realising that door had been unlocked, and sat down at his computer chair, preparing his information for the hack.
~~~
Max woke up, feeling well rested and comfy in Logan's huge bed. For the first time in four months, she felt safe. She wondered what had disturbed her and noticed it was still dark outside, but through the crack in Logan's heavy curtains were tiny rays of sunlight. She guessed that it was about 5am. She heard Logan's voice and her breath caught in her throat. She realised he was making an Eyes Only hack and walked quietly to the study, quieter even than a mouse. He took her breath away as she stood in the doorway, watching him completely focused on his hack.
"This has been a Streaming Freedom Video Bulletin via the Eyes Only informant net. Peace, out." He finished. He pointed his remote at the screen, turning off the camera and moved his chair in front of the computer. As he was reaching for the computer mouse, his hand froze.
Max stood still, too scared to even breath as she watched him stop what he was doing, as though he had sensed her watching him. She looked at him, both of them unmoving, a scared look on Max's face as Logan swivelled slowly in his computer chair. As he turned to face her, his eyes widening at the sight of her, Max swallowed the large lump that had formed in her throat.
"Max?" Logan screwed up his face, not believing she was really there. It could be a trick by Manticore. Logan took one look into her eyes and saw the pain and fear there, and immediately knew it was her.
She didn't do anything, just continued staring at him as sadness flashed through her eyes. She had missed him so much, a part of her had disappeared, and now there he was standing in front of her but she couldn't believe it.
"Max?" He asked again, walking over to her and taking her hands in his. She nodded, lifting her face to meet his and she noticed his scragginess, the unshaven beard and the baggy clothes. "You haven't been taking care of yourself, Logan." She said simply, her quiet words filled with the sound of care and love, her face showing no expression, just caution.
Logan couldn't stop staring at her rich, supple lips, her perfect skin, the long brown hair that looked silky and shiny and flowed over her shoulders, her tiny figure which seemed to have decreased in weight by a tiny amount, Max had been thin to begin with but now she looked almost anorexic, and he stared into her eyes, the centre of her being, the part of Max which told endless stories and said volumes of her. He couldn't stop staring at every part of her. It was all Max; she was here, gripping his hands tightly as he ran his thumbs sensually over hers. Their eyes met, neither looking away.
"You're even more beautiful than I remember." Was all he could say.
That was all it took for Max to start crying, small tears flowing unrelentlessly on her cheeks. Logan leant down and softly kissed them away, then wrapping his arms around her waist, he kissed her, tenderly at first but then as she put her hands on his cheeks, pulling him to her desperately, the kiss became more intense and passionate as they both cried out to the other in loneliness and desperation. They pulled apart, breathing heavily as Logan tucked Max's long hair behind her ear. The action told depths of kindness, gentleness and care and Max found herself openly sobbing as she felt strong arms wrap themselves around her body, pulling her to him so that she could cry into Logan's chest, let out all the pent up feelings she had wanted to but not been able to the last few months.
"Logannnn." She sobbed, wrapping her arms around him as if he were her lifeline, the only thing she needed to live.
"It's okay. Everything is going to be okay. I won't let them take you back. I promise you'll be safe forever, Max. I'll make sure of that. . . Come on." Logan said soothingly as he swung her into his arms and sat down on the couch, with Max sideways on his lap, cradled in his arms, her head still pressed against his chest. She stopped crying and raised her head to him, staring intensely into his eyes full of loving concern, then she dropped her head back onto his chest again, seeking the comfort she knew he held.
"Where did you go, Max?" Logan whispered into her hair. "You left me. I . . . felt so. . . lost."
Max started to cry again. She hadn't been able to cry that freely in months, and she'd never had anyone hold her when she cried before. "Logan. . . I have to tell you. When I was . . . dying, and I was, in your arms I had to tell you, and then . . . I, I . . . I woke up and you were gone. You, you were gone and I couldn't tell you!" Max cried out, shaking. Her face was scrunched up, as though it took great effort to say what she was.
"Max, it's okay. I promise you, everything will be okay!" Logan wasn't sure what he was saying, but he meant it and it was calming Max down. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her, that he loved her but she had been locked up for four months, in a place that showed no love, care or empathy.
"What happened to you, Max? Was it hard?" Logan asked, hoping the question wouldn't upset her.
"Re-indoctrination." Max shuddered. "They had the typical shit they tried on Zack, the stuff like 'Eyes Only is a traitor', 'a snake', 'plague'. Except I knew they were trying to break me and I knew I had to stay strong for you. I just watched the banners and all I saw was your smiling face. It was disturbingly fun, they had no idea what was going on inside my head but I stayed strong. I just had to be careful not to smile back at your pictures, because then they'd know that their lame-ass attempts weren't working." Max lifted her head and smiled lightly at Logan. "Yeah, it was hard." Max admitted, tilting her head, a soft smile playing over her lips. "But it was okay, you were there with me. And I was here with you."
Logan couldn't help smiling proudly. He was having a hard time getting around the fact that he had seen Max die, her pulse had stopped completely, she'd left him, and yet here she was. She had come back to him. He'd never fully believed she was dead, but he hadn't really thought she was still alive, either.
"Are you a dream, Max?" Logan asked honestly, wondering what the answer was and silently praying it wasn't affirmative.
"Could a dream do this?" Max asked playfully, lifting her head and toying her lips on his, seductively planting soft kisses on his lips, barely touching them but arousing so much lost emotion in Logan. He responded in kind running his hands through her silky hair, as they broke apart. They stared intensely at each other for a moment, before both plunged forward, in fiery passion. As Logan felt Max's soft lips open slightly, he slowly pushed his tongue in, feeling her respond with her own tongue, running it over his. She ran her hands over his bare neck and legs, pulling back for a second to lift his blue sweatshirt over his head. Max threw her arms around Logan's neck, twisting her tongue around his own, and he ran his hands over the gentle arms that were wrapped around his neck. She moved her hands to run them over Logan's smooth back, drawing circles and tensing the muscles while their tongues drew them together sweetly. Logan had never felt so much passion emerge from him. He quickly drew back, keeping his hands on her arms as he looked to startled face.
"Wait, Max, are you sure about this?"
She lifted her small grey t-shirt over her head in response, a knowing smile shining on her lips. Logan chuckled, taking the gesture as a 'yes'. He ran his hands over her smooth shoulders, pulling her to him as their tongues tangled intimately. Max felt shivers down her spine as Logan moved his hands over her body, unseen electricity passing between them. He moved his hands to her large, creamy breasts, circling each nipple with his thumbs as Max gasped and straddled him, sucking and kissing the skin on his bare shoulders. She felt the pressure in Logan's pants with her groin as she circled over it, rubbing hard against his pants and the hardness she felt there.
Logan took in a deep breath and she knew that what she was doing, arousing him in such a way, was torture. She looked up at him, as he opened his eyes and saw the mischievous glint her eyes contained. She had completely calmed from the sobbing heights she had expressed before, once Logan had showed her his feelings she had immediately felt safe, loved and warm. Logan lifted her off his legs and pulled off her pants, ignoring the puzzled look she had given him when he pushed her off. He was guessing she understood now, as she sat at the end of Logan's legs, looking incredibly young and innocent, a look of pure youth on her gaunt face. He was pleased to see it had regained some colour since he had first seen her. Her cheeks were now flushed with a pink tinge, her once pale skin returning to it's natural caramel colour.
He dropped his eyes down to the gorgeous sight her chest held, her full breasts and perfect abs. He looked up at Max again as she undid the buttons on his jeans and slid them off his hips, throwing them over her shoulder into the kitchen. Logan stood up in his boxers, and holding Max's hand pulled her up to stand in front of him, almost naked apart from her tiny black underpants. He picked her up gently and she played with and nuzzled his neck as he took her into his bedroom and dropped her into the already open covers, which his bed held. He lay her flat on her back, and pulling the covers over them with one hand ran the other through her hair as once again their lips joined, softly, tenderly. He lay on top of her as their legs entwined, Max running her foot up and down the back of Logan's leg as both tongues that had originally fought over supremacy of their mouths, joined as one.
Max ran her hands through Logan's short spiky hair as she felt pure glee and pleasure when Logan moved his mouth down to suckle Max's right breast. It felt so good to have human contact again, with Logan at that. The way Logan was slowly and tentatively circling her nipple with his seductive lips was making Max go crazy, hanging on the edge of pleasure and a world of seemingly infinite bliss. She clutched the bed sheets as Logan's hands moved to her underpants sliding them down her legs, erotically rubbing his warm hands over her smooth thighs.
"Max." He murmured into her neck, his husky voice resulting in tingly goose bumps appearing on her arms and legs. Logan noticed and led a trail of kisses from her wrist to her collarbone, making Max shiver appreciatively. He moved his body closer to hers, relishing in the comfort that the closeness she provided gave him. He continued to massage her thighs gently, moving his hand upwards and placing it between her legs, which she easily opened for him. He pulled Max onto him, her back to him as he cupped her from behind, planting small kisses on her neck as he licked the skin behind her ears in a random pattern.
Max felt moisture leak out of her and she could tell Logan felt it by the way his hard erection pressed into her back harder than before, and he groped her hard, his thumb pressed hard against her clitoris as Max whined in pleasure, opening her legs even wider, a silent invitation. She turned her head to face his as he caught her voluptuous lips in a sensual kiss. The kiss was licentious and full of passion as Logan dipped one of his long fingers inside Max, making her writhe. She rubbed anxiously against his hard length, pulling his boxer shorts down awkwardly from on top of him, running her hands down his legs, gripping tight as she pushed against his finger, deep inside her. Logan lifted it out, and connected it with another finger, putting them both inside Max. She pushed urgently to them, her hips leaving his hungrily. Their insatiable kiss deepened, both yearning for more physical contact than they had already obtained.
"Now." Max whispered in a hushed voice, as though she didn't want to break the charming lullaby of a spell that had been cast over them. Logan turned her over, not withdrawing his fingers, keeping her at height, but not stopping his glorious journey deeper and deeper inside of her.
He slowly and artistically took out his fingers, rubbing them against her clitoris as he pulled her over him, Max straddling him, hovering above his hard length before drawing herself down to it, making them both gasp and shudder. Logan, by cupping his hands over Max's butt, pulled her to him, making him fill her almost to the point of their passion consuming them. He flipped them over as they were about to reach their height, wanting to continue their play, and he began to ride her. Slow at first, but quickening his pace as they both grinded hard against the other in want and a strong desire. With each push, Logan felt as though he was deeper and deeper inside of Max, and their grunting ended as he filled her completely, their hearts and souls also joined uniquely, both more a part of the other than ever before.
They arrived together, breathing heavily in each other's arms. Max rested her smooth head on Logan's chest until he flipped them over, both lying on their side's, Logan's body spooned protectively against Max's as he wrapped his arms around her, her hands resting on his with their fingers linked. He threw his leg over hers; pulling her closer as she turned slightly to meet his love-filled gaze.
"It's nice to know you didn't forget me." Max spoke shyly. Being with someone she was actually in love with was new to her, but she felt so comfortable around Logan, and she resumed their playful banter, how it had always been.
"I could never forget you. You were all I though of." He told her truthfully, loving how her eyes lit up when he spoke of how important she was to him.
"No one else?" Her voice was level but her gaze held an insecurity that had always been in her soul, but never really emerged in front of him.
"No one but you."
Disclaimer: Dark Angel belongs to James Cameron and Charles Eglee. Not Me.
Timeline: After And Jesus Brought A Casserole, before Designate This.
A/N ~ ~ ~ Logan can walk.
A/N ~ ~ ~ I know that in the real Designate This, Logan gets accidentally shot by Lydecker, but this veers off the track, y'know, with not actually being Designate This and all.
Rated R for Sexual Content and Adult Themes
Please R & R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Logan turned left into a crumbling warehouse in Sector 3, wondering what awaited him inside. He was scared, taking on Manticore was dangerous, Lydecker had warned him of that, but he pushed the fear to the back of his mind, instead picturing the comfort he always found within Max's smiling face.
"Lucky we hooked up." She said, looking into his deep eyes and smiling softly. Logan leant forward and kissed her on the cheek, his lips lingering as she turned her head to him and they found their lips joined sweetly.
"Wait." Logan pulled away. "Maybe we should wait, until you're, you know, yourself again."
"This isn't Manticore." Max murmured gently, shaking her head, with a soft smile alighting upon lips. "This is me."
Once again they found their lips joined, more passionately the second time, for they were both in the only place they wanted to be, and nowhere else.
He had to do it for Max. Avenge her death until it killed him. She had been his, for a few short hours and they had taken her from him, cruelly stolen her without a second thought. And they would pay.
Logan stopped the Aztec, looking briefly into Lydecker's even eyes as he stood waiting, before Logan turned off his car and climbed out.
"You said you had some information for me?" Logan asked cautiously, taking a quick look around at his surroundings.
"I did." Lydecker confirmed, nodding slightly as Logan walked forward to meet him.
"I'm trying to find Manticore."
"Looks like Manticore found you!" An unfamiliar voice joined the conversation.
Logan turned sharply to the sound of the voice. James McGinnis, tall, cocky, Negro and a black eye patch over his left eye beneath sunglasses emerged from behind a pillar and walkd to stand next to Lydecker. He held a gun to Logan, as two soldiers approached Logan from behind.
"Sorry, son." Lydecker said, not looking or sounding at all redemptive.
"So this is the great and powerful Oz. Hold on here. Let me get a good look." McGinnis said cockily, removing his sunglasses. "I wouldn't do that, Jim." Lydecker said calmly, elbowing the confident McGinnis in the mouth and grabbing the hand with which McGinnis held the gun as McGinnis shot quickly. Logan, seeing this happen quickly fell to the floor and ducked even before Lydecker yelled at him to. A bullet flew past Logan's face as he sat against the Aztec, watching the two soldiers that had been too slow to process what was going on get shot and go down. Lydecker pulled the gun from McGinnis's hand and shoved him to the floor. "Are you alright?" Lydecker asked Logan, not taking his eyes of McGinnis. "Yeah. Fine." Logan nodded turning to look at McGinnis who was glaring daggers at Lydecker. "We had a deal!" He exclaimed. "What's Renfro doing with the X5s?" Lydecker asked, ignoring McGinnis. "I don't know." McGinnis claimed, getting up. Lydecker grabbed one of McGinnis's arms, twisting it behind his back, then pulled out his own gun and holding it to the back of McGinnis's head. "She murdered one of my kids! That BITCH murdered one of my kids!" Lydecker yelled, thinking of Tinga, pale, sickly and alone in the extraction chamber. "All right." McGinnis says as Lydecker pushed the gun into his head harder. "All right!" Deck shoved McGinnis to the ground. "Now don't play stupid or I'll take your other eye." McGinnis rose, complying. "The tank is some kind of extraction chamber. She was trying to find something out about the girl's D.N.A. "What?" "I don't know, but whatever she wanted, she wanted it bad. But it wasn't there." McGinnis winced slightly as he touched his lip, feeling the large cut. "Damn Deck, I'm gonna need stitches. Could you please take me to the hospital now?" "There's a small problem with that, Jim. You got a good look at my friend here." Lydecker said boldly, gesturing widely to Logan. "No. . . No, no I didn't." McGinnis protested modestly. "I hardly laid an eye on the guy. My depth perception's all shot. Besides, all you white boys, you know, you all look alike to me. Come on, Deck. We're old friends." As Lydecker turned to Logan, asking him what he thought, McGinnis lunged for his gun lying on the floor behind Lydecker's back and was immediately shot by Lydecker, coolly, still looking directly at Logan. Logan finally stood up after watching the scene unfold in front of him and stepped toward Lydecker. "We never really liked each other, did we?" Lydecker said casually to McGinnis's dead body. "So you want to know about Manticore?" He asked Logan as though he hadn't just shot three men dead. Logan nodded. He was going to get Manticore for snatching his sole reason to live.
~~~
A day later, Max and the newly named Alec were in the basement, filing away at the bars on the window as Joshua sat quietly watching. Max, after deciding she couldn't take anymore 'breeding' and after Alec discovered she had been planning to escape, had formulated a plan so that she could get back to Logan. Alec was all for it, desperately wanting a new breeding partner, and Joshua had said he would help too.
"Kinda makes you wonder what else is down here. I mean, would you get a look at that thing?" Alec snubbed, stopping momentarily to look at Joshua.
"He's not a thing! His name's Joshua." Max said sharply.
"Yeah, yeah, Sasquatch. Hey, why don't you make yourself useful, and, uh...quit mumbling and come over here and help us out with these bars?"
Joshua rose, and motioned for Max and Alec to move away. They watched him carefully as he pulled the bars out of the brick in one fluent motion and Max almost kicked herself for not asking for Joshua's help sooner. She asked if Joshua and Alec know the plan, and then she climbed through the window, waiting for Alec and Joshua to climb through after. Joshua sprinted into the forest first, with Alec following at a slower pace, waiting for his cue to distract the X7's from Max, and Max waited patiently at the edge of the forest.
In no time at all she was jumping over the fence, trying to dodge a bullet from an X7 gun, as she landed and turned back to see Joshua staring forlornly after her.
"You blaze!" He yelled hoarsely, and Max nodded, disappearing into the thick brush.
~~~
She ran through the night, stopping in the morning to drink from a clear water stream and then rested for a couple of hours in the morning, and ran as soon as she felt up to it. It took her almost 8 hours to run the 1350 kilometres from Gillette to Seattle, stopping once or twice when she saw a river of fresh water.
She reached Seattle at four o'clock that afternoon, and snuck past a Sector Checkpoint, where two sector cops sat watching a pathetically overacted soap, only to be interupted by an Eyes Only broadcast. They groaned as Max gasped, smiling broadly as she stared into the soft blue eyes that seemed to bore directly into hers.
"This is an Eyes Only streaming Freedom Video bulletin. The cable hack will last exactly sixty seconds; it cannot be traced, it cannot be stopped, and it is the only free voice left in this city. The covert project Manticore will come crashing down in a relentless struggle. Eyes Only has been researching the top-secret government project in a fight for the many soldiers that traded their lives for their freedom. Manticore will be given 24 hours to cease their cruel operation; otherwise Eyes Only will reveal their location. Manticore has been trusting in their friends and not in their foes, a true mistake. Eyes Only has found Manticore, and Eyes Only will not let the poor young children be tortured in the name of war protection. Eyes Only puts this to Manticore: You will be revealed. You will suffer for those you made suffer and you will get what has been coming to you. This has been a streaming freedom video via the informant net. Peace, out."
Max shuddered as she remembered what Renfro had promised to do if Logan revealed their location. And he would, no matter what. She had to go back, she had to return and free the transgenics, all of them, even those that didn't want to be freed.
~~~
Logan switched off the camera feed and picked up the only photo he had of Max. He suspected it was the only posed photo anyone had of her. The only one where she was actually looking into the camera. It was from Original Cindy's birthday last year, with Max and Cindy, their arms round each other casually; Original Cindy giving a large birthday girl grin, and Max, looking straight into the camera with her soft smile and mysterious eyes. The eyes that saw depths into her soul. Logan loved looking into those eyes so much. If you looked close enough, you could see that those eyes held a secret. He stared deeply into the photo, looking at the incredible creature he had known and loved. . . did love. She was smiling slightly, as if she knew Logan was watching her. He stroked the glass of the frame. He had the picture blown up to several different sizes and copied about twelve times, and now there was at least one framed photo of Max in each room of the house, and a large one hanging in the kitchen. Call him obsessed, but when he walked into a room, she was there. And he wasn't alone.
Original Cindy had given Logan a copy of the photo after she had found out what had happened to Max, the truth. She had taken it hard, but understood how much harder it must of been for the man who was in love with Max and had taken pity on him, now she came over once a week for lunch, where they talked about Max, stories of her hardships, jokes and the things that made her smile. Logan had already known the real Max, the Max locked deeply in her soul, but after talking with Original Cindy once a week for the last four months, he knew Max's past too. There were a lot of girly things Max could talk about with Original that she couldn't talk about with Logan, and she had told Logan often how lucky she was to be friends with Original Cindy, who was a true friend, so Cindy and Logan swapped glory stories. He felt so close to Max after their lunches, so close that when Cindy left, Logan could do nothing else but smile gently, thinking of the new stories about Max he had learnt, and he would slump on the hard kitchen floor and cry for hours, thinking of what he had lost. He just wanted her back. His Max, everyone's Max, the world's Max, just Max. He just wanted Max.
~~~
Max sprinted as fast as she could, the thought of getting back to Logan after taking care of Manticore keeping her going. She was running on empty, running on nothing but Logan, but just the thought of Logan could of kept her going for weeks. She reached Manticore and saw the North West wing being blown up, and she immediately sprinted to the barracks. She found the computer lab, and unlocked all the locked-down doors so that all the transgenics could escape. Max figured Renfro must have given the okay to detonate the place, after Logan's hack. Manticore couldn't risk the world discovering where Manticore was. Max ran to Renfro's office, she wasn't leaving without giving that bitch a serious kick up the ass. Renfro was packing up all her accumulated data, all her important discs and new D.N.A results from the spinal tap from 452. She had seen 452 unlocking the doors and knew she had to get out before 'Max' came for her. She shut her briefcase, but it was too late. Max grabbed her from behind, and slammed her against the wall. "You aren't getting away that easy!" Max yelled at her. Max turned to see an armed guard in the doorway, but as he shot at Max Renfro threw herself over Max, causing her to be shot in the stomach. The guard looked at Renfro, stunned, then quickly ran away before he was killed for shooting his boss.
"You just ate a bullet for me! Why?" Max asked confused, scrunching up her face and kneeling on the floor next to Elizabeth Renfro's shaking body.
"You are the one. . . the one we've been looking for. " Renfro breathed, before the excessive blood loss made her lose consciousness. Max handcuffed the newly unconscious Renfro to her desk, picked up the silver briefcase Renfro had been packing things into and got the hell out of there. She ran until she reached the fence separating Manticore from the forest and turned to look back at the flaming place she had known as home for the first nine years of her life. For some transgenics it had been their home for almost thirty years. Max silently said goodbye, then turned and ran for Seattle, for home, for Logan. . .
~~~
Max cried as she ran, all she could think about was how much she had missed Logan. She wondered if he had found somebody else. She cried even harder at the thought. Logan was what had kept her going, throughout all her time at Manticore. While they had attempted to reindoctrate her with video flashes and pictures of Eyes Only above words like traitor and enemy, Max had just concentrated at staring into the video, but not watching it. She appeared to be looking at it, but all she could see were memories of her and Logan.
"Just come back." He had begged softly.
She hoped he still wanted that. She couldn't bear to not have him. He was all she lived for; She lived for Logan. She had missed her friends immensely too, what the hell, she was even willing to admit she'd missed Normal, but the thought and memory of Logan was what had kept her alive and sane. Without him, Max would be an empty shell. Tears flew down her face as she ran, not feeling the hardness in her lungs or the soreness in her legs. She just kept running, memories of Logan once again flowing through her head.
She reached Fogle Towers after running for 9 straight hours. She took the elevator into Logan's apartment, butterflies fluttering within her stomach. She soundlessly picked the lock on his door, almost collapsing from exhaustion. She tiptoed through his apartment, hoping to find him but he wasn't there. She had wanted to be silent in case he was there with a girl, or anyone for that matter but he wasn't home. She wondered if he was on a date? It was 3 in the morning but. . .She wondered if Logan still even lived there, and then noticed a photo of herself sitting on the coffee table. She wandered into the kitchen and saw an identical photo, only much larger hanging above the table. She smiled gently. So Logan hadn't forgotten her. But what if he was on a date? What if he had gotten over her, and only kept the photos as old mementos? What if he was totally in love with someone else? Would he even care that she'd returned? Max breathed in sharply; all the running had made her feel tired. She walked into Logan's room, and not thinking at all, took off her shoes and camouflage pants, and then flopped into his bed, pulling the covers up to her chin as she fell asleep almost instantly.
~~~
Logan took the elevator to the penthouse, he had been to a meeting with an informant this morning at 2.30, and then had gone for a ride on Max's motorbike while it was still dark. By the time he got back it was 4.30 and he was pretty tired, but he wanted to make a hack before bed. The informant, Greg Liens had told him of a mental hospital where the patients disappeared after 6 months and then turned up with amnesia, but perfectly sane. Logan suspected the owner of the hospital, Worth Fentree' was kidnapping average people off the streets, getting money from the government for the patients and then dumping them back on the streets again. He walked into his study, not realising that door had been unlocked, and sat down at his computer chair, preparing his information for the hack.
~~~
Max woke up, feeling well rested and comfy in Logan's huge bed. For the first time in four months, she felt safe. She wondered what had disturbed her and noticed it was still dark outside, but through the crack in Logan's heavy curtains were tiny rays of sunlight. She guessed that it was about 5am. She heard Logan's voice and her breath caught in her throat. She realised he was making an Eyes Only hack and walked quietly to the study, quieter even than a mouse. He took her breath away as she stood in the doorway, watching him completely focused on his hack.
"This has been a Streaming Freedom Video Bulletin via the Eyes Only informant net. Peace, out." He finished. He pointed his remote at the screen, turning off the camera and moved his chair in front of the computer. As he was reaching for the computer mouse, his hand froze.
Max stood still, too scared to even breath as she watched him stop what he was doing, as though he had sensed her watching him. She looked at him, both of them unmoving, a scared look on Max's face as Logan swivelled slowly in his computer chair. As he turned to face her, his eyes widening at the sight of her, Max swallowed the large lump that had formed in her throat.
"Max?" Logan screwed up his face, not believing she was really there. It could be a trick by Manticore. Logan took one look into her eyes and saw the pain and fear there, and immediately knew it was her.
She didn't do anything, just continued staring at him as sadness flashed through her eyes. She had missed him so much, a part of her had disappeared, and now there he was standing in front of her but she couldn't believe it.
"Max?" He asked again, walking over to her and taking her hands in his. She nodded, lifting her face to meet his and she noticed his scragginess, the unshaven beard and the baggy clothes. "You haven't been taking care of yourself, Logan." She said simply, her quiet words filled with the sound of care and love, her face showing no expression, just caution.
Logan couldn't stop staring at her rich, supple lips, her perfect skin, the long brown hair that looked silky and shiny and flowed over her shoulders, her tiny figure which seemed to have decreased in weight by a tiny amount, Max had been thin to begin with but now she looked almost anorexic, and he stared into her eyes, the centre of her being, the part of Max which told endless stories and said volumes of her. He couldn't stop staring at every part of her. It was all Max; she was here, gripping his hands tightly as he ran his thumbs sensually over hers. Their eyes met, neither looking away.
"You're even more beautiful than I remember." Was all he could say.
That was all it took for Max to start crying, small tears flowing unrelentlessly on her cheeks. Logan leant down and softly kissed them away, then wrapping his arms around her waist, he kissed her, tenderly at first but then as she put her hands on his cheeks, pulling him to her desperately, the kiss became more intense and passionate as they both cried out to the other in loneliness and desperation. They pulled apart, breathing heavily as Logan tucked Max's long hair behind her ear. The action told depths of kindness, gentleness and care and Max found herself openly sobbing as she felt strong arms wrap themselves around her body, pulling her to him so that she could cry into Logan's chest, let out all the pent up feelings she had wanted to but not been able to the last few months.
"Logannnn." She sobbed, wrapping her arms around him as if he were her lifeline, the only thing she needed to live.
"It's okay. Everything is going to be okay. I won't let them take you back. I promise you'll be safe forever, Max. I'll make sure of that. . . Come on." Logan said soothingly as he swung her into his arms and sat down on the couch, with Max sideways on his lap, cradled in his arms, her head still pressed against his chest. She stopped crying and raised her head to him, staring intensely into his eyes full of loving concern, then she dropped her head back onto his chest again, seeking the comfort she knew he held.
"Where did you go, Max?" Logan whispered into her hair. "You left me. I . . . felt so. . . lost."
Max started to cry again. She hadn't been able to cry that freely in months, and she'd never had anyone hold her when she cried before. "Logan. . . I have to tell you. When I was . . . dying, and I was, in your arms I had to tell you, and then . . . I, I . . . I woke up and you were gone. You, you were gone and I couldn't tell you!" Max cried out, shaking. Her face was scrunched up, as though it took great effort to say what she was.
"Max, it's okay. I promise you, everything will be okay!" Logan wasn't sure what he was saying, but he meant it and it was calming Max down. He wanted to tell her how he felt about her, that he loved her but she had been locked up for four months, in a place that showed no love, care or empathy.
"What happened to you, Max? Was it hard?" Logan asked, hoping the question wouldn't upset her.
"Re-indoctrination." Max shuddered. "They had the typical shit they tried on Zack, the stuff like 'Eyes Only is a traitor', 'a snake', 'plague'. Except I knew they were trying to break me and I knew I had to stay strong for you. I just watched the banners and all I saw was your smiling face. It was disturbingly fun, they had no idea what was going on inside my head but I stayed strong. I just had to be careful not to smile back at your pictures, because then they'd know that their lame-ass attempts weren't working." Max lifted her head and smiled lightly at Logan. "Yeah, it was hard." Max admitted, tilting her head, a soft smile playing over her lips. "But it was okay, you were there with me. And I was here with you."
Logan couldn't help smiling proudly. He was having a hard time getting around the fact that he had seen Max die, her pulse had stopped completely, she'd left him, and yet here she was. She had come back to him. He'd never fully believed she was dead, but he hadn't really thought she was still alive, either.
"Are you a dream, Max?" Logan asked honestly, wondering what the answer was and silently praying it wasn't affirmative.
"Could a dream do this?" Max asked playfully, lifting her head and toying her lips on his, seductively planting soft kisses on his lips, barely touching them but arousing so much lost emotion in Logan. He responded in kind running his hands through her silky hair, as they broke apart. They stared intensely at each other for a moment, before both plunged forward, in fiery passion. As Logan felt Max's soft lips open slightly, he slowly pushed his tongue in, feeling her respond with her own tongue, running it over his. She ran her hands over his bare neck and legs, pulling back for a second to lift his blue sweatshirt over his head. Max threw her arms around Logan's neck, twisting her tongue around his own, and he ran his hands over the gentle arms that were wrapped around his neck. She moved her hands to run them over Logan's smooth back, drawing circles and tensing the muscles while their tongues drew them together sweetly. Logan had never felt so much passion emerge from him. He quickly drew back, keeping his hands on her arms as he looked to startled face.
"Wait, Max, are you sure about this?"
She lifted her small grey t-shirt over her head in response, a knowing smile shining on her lips. Logan chuckled, taking the gesture as a 'yes'. He ran his hands over her smooth shoulders, pulling her to him as their tongues tangled intimately. Max felt shivers down her spine as Logan moved his hands over her body, unseen electricity passing between them. He moved his hands to her large, creamy breasts, circling each nipple with his thumbs as Max gasped and straddled him, sucking and kissing the skin on his bare shoulders. She felt the pressure in Logan's pants with her groin as she circled over it, rubbing hard against his pants and the hardness she felt there.
Logan took in a deep breath and she knew that what she was doing, arousing him in such a way, was torture. She looked up at him, as he opened his eyes and saw the mischievous glint her eyes contained. She had completely calmed from the sobbing heights she had expressed before, once Logan had showed her his feelings she had immediately felt safe, loved and warm. Logan lifted her off his legs and pulled off her pants, ignoring the puzzled look she had given him when he pushed her off. He was guessing she understood now, as she sat at the end of Logan's legs, looking incredibly young and innocent, a look of pure youth on her gaunt face. He was pleased to see it had regained some colour since he had first seen her. Her cheeks were now flushed with a pink tinge, her once pale skin returning to it's natural caramel colour.
He dropped his eyes down to the gorgeous sight her chest held, her full breasts and perfect abs. He looked up at Max again as she undid the buttons on his jeans and slid them off his hips, throwing them over her shoulder into the kitchen. Logan stood up in his boxers, and holding Max's hand pulled her up to stand in front of him, almost naked apart from her tiny black underpants. He picked her up gently and she played with and nuzzled his neck as he took her into his bedroom and dropped her into the already open covers, which his bed held. He lay her flat on her back, and pulling the covers over them with one hand ran the other through her hair as once again their lips joined, softly, tenderly. He lay on top of her as their legs entwined, Max running her foot up and down the back of Logan's leg as both tongues that had originally fought over supremacy of their mouths, joined as one.
Max ran her hands through Logan's short spiky hair as she felt pure glee and pleasure when Logan moved his mouth down to suckle Max's right breast. It felt so good to have human contact again, with Logan at that. The way Logan was slowly and tentatively circling her nipple with his seductive lips was making Max go crazy, hanging on the edge of pleasure and a world of seemingly infinite bliss. She clutched the bed sheets as Logan's hands moved to her underpants sliding them down her legs, erotically rubbing his warm hands over her smooth thighs.
"Max." He murmured into her neck, his husky voice resulting in tingly goose bumps appearing on her arms and legs. Logan noticed and led a trail of kisses from her wrist to her collarbone, making Max shiver appreciatively. He moved his body closer to hers, relishing in the comfort that the closeness she provided gave him. He continued to massage her thighs gently, moving his hand upwards and placing it between her legs, which she easily opened for him. He pulled Max onto him, her back to him as he cupped her from behind, planting small kisses on her neck as he licked the skin behind her ears in a random pattern.
Max felt moisture leak out of her and she could tell Logan felt it by the way his hard erection pressed into her back harder than before, and he groped her hard, his thumb pressed hard against her clitoris as Max whined in pleasure, opening her legs even wider, a silent invitation. She turned her head to face his as he caught her voluptuous lips in a sensual kiss. The kiss was licentious and full of passion as Logan dipped one of his long fingers inside Max, making her writhe. She rubbed anxiously against his hard length, pulling his boxer shorts down awkwardly from on top of him, running her hands down his legs, gripping tight as she pushed against his finger, deep inside her. Logan lifted it out, and connected it with another finger, putting them both inside Max. She pushed urgently to them, her hips leaving his hungrily. Their insatiable kiss deepened, both yearning for more physical contact than they had already obtained.
"Now." Max whispered in a hushed voice, as though she didn't want to break the charming lullaby of a spell that had been cast over them. Logan turned her over, not withdrawing his fingers, keeping her at height, but not stopping his glorious journey deeper and deeper inside of her.
He slowly and artistically took out his fingers, rubbing them against her clitoris as he pulled her over him, Max straddling him, hovering above his hard length before drawing herself down to it, making them both gasp and shudder. Logan, by cupping his hands over Max's butt, pulled her to him, making him fill her almost to the point of their passion consuming them. He flipped them over as they were about to reach their height, wanting to continue their play, and he began to ride her. Slow at first, but quickening his pace as they both grinded hard against the other in want and a strong desire. With each push, Logan felt as though he was deeper and deeper inside of Max, and their grunting ended as he filled her completely, their hearts and souls also joined uniquely, both more a part of the other than ever before.
They arrived together, breathing heavily in each other's arms. Max rested her smooth head on Logan's chest until he flipped them over, both lying on their side's, Logan's body spooned protectively against Max's as he wrapped his arms around her, her hands resting on his with their fingers linked. He threw his leg over hers; pulling her closer as she turned slightly to meet his love-filled gaze.
"It's nice to know you didn't forget me." Max spoke shyly. Being with someone she was actually in love with was new to her, but she felt so comfortable around Logan, and she resumed their playful banter, how it had always been.
"I could never forget you. You were all I though of." He told her truthfully, loving how her eyes lit up when he spoke of how important she was to him.
"No one else?" Her voice was level but her gaze held an insecurity that had always been in her soul, but never really emerged in front of him.
"No one but you."