This is a S2 based story involving a curious X-8 who sneaks out of Terminal
City to find answers to questions he wasn't sure how to ask. He wasn't
even sure who to ask, but a chance meeting in a market gives him more than
he ever thought possible.
This is part of my S2 universe so some characters are involved that weren't in the series. As always, read, review and enjoy the story. Let me know that you enjoyed it. Tell me why you enjoyed it. Tell me you want more. Heh heh heh. There I go again.
Also, look for chapter four of Shadow of the Cat later this week. It'll be posted one way or another in the next few days so keep your eyes out for it.
Later!
A Boy Named Vin
Logan walked to the grocery on the far corner of the street. He needed some supplies. Things had been tight lately and having lost his apartment recently left him lacking certain amenities he had been used to for so long. Max had helped though when she delivered a briefcase full of money she had taken from some drug dealers before she called the cops.
He noticed a small child following him. The young boy, no more than nine or ten years old was shadowing his every move. The boy was carrying a bag over his shoulder that appeared to be mostly empty. Logan had a feeling about the boy so he waited for the right moment when the boy was distracted momentarily, then turned and walked right up to the child.
"Who are you?" Logan asked.
"Vin, Sir."
"Why are you following me, Vin?" Logan asked.
"I thought you looked familiar. You're him, aren't you?" He asked.
"Who?"
"You're the one that brought down Manticore. You're the one she believes in." The boy said. "You're the one that set us free." The words were sobering to Logan. It was what Max had wanted all along. It was the goal she had strived for. In that fatal moment when he almost lost his life to a virus, she had pressed the button that forced his hack. It was that hack which allowed the Children of Manticore to go out into the world.
Questions hit Logan hard, his knowledge of Max and what she went through forced them to the surface and he searched the boys eyes for answers he knew the boy didn't have. How much can you truly understand at only ten years of age? How many criminals, how many enemies of Manticore have you hunted? How many have you killed? How much blood have you already seen spilled? "I assume you're X-8? You're what. ten? Eleven?"
"Very accurate, Sir," Vin answered. "I'm eleven. I was the oldest in my group, Sir."
"What are the chances I can get you to call me Logan?" He asked the boy.
"I couldn't do that, Sir. That would go against regulations. It is appropriate that I address a superior officer as Sir at all times. It's in the regulations." Vin explained.
Logan looked at the boy and decided that he didn't want to argue with a child. "When was the last time you ate?"
"Yesterday," The boy said.
"I'm going shopping, why don't you come with me? I'll fix you dinner and you can get back to Terminal City." Logan said leading the boy into the store.
Twenty minutes and a hundred questions later, Logan was leaving the store with the boy. He had tossed the boy a large red apple to munch on hoping it would shut him up. It didn't. The boy quickly finished and tossed the apple core down an alley as he followed closely on Logan's heels. When they got back to Joshua's house, Max and Jondy greeted them at the door.
"Been waiting long?" Logan asked.
Max shook her head. She smiled, happy to see Logan was all right and that he had found the stray X8. "Just a few minutes," she said. Vin stepped up, his jaw hanging slack as he looked at Max and Jondy.
"You're her." Vin said. He was staring at Max, almost stunned. "You're Rogue." He said. The awe in his voice was evident as he turned toward Jondy. "You both are." He snapped to attention and saluted. It was obvious how excited he was by his attitude. Max grabbed Vin pulling him into the house as Logan stepped behind the boy, blocking him from the street. It was only a boy saluting someone inside of a door, but Max didn't want to take any chances with Logan's new residence. There was no telling who could be watching.
"C'mon soldier, let's get you inside and explain a few things." Jondy said pushing the boy into the living room as Logan closed the door. Max looked up to Logan's eyes. It was all they had right now.
"How are you doing?" She asked. "I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. It's pretty busy over in Terminal City." She tried to smile, but it just didn't quite resemble one, at least not a genuine one.
"I'm glad you came by tonight. I miss you." He said. He didn't care if it sounded pathetic. He was tired of being away from her. He wanted things to get back to the way they should have been. Perhaps, at least, back to the way things had been when Max would come over and have dinner and laugh and play chess. Maybe then, they could start something that should have been started a long time ago.
"I've got another briefcase for you but I left it over at Cindy's yesterday. Jondy called last night and I went over there to just get out of the mess at TC for a night. The big lizard thinks I'm out hunting down money and supplies tonight but when Jondy said she was coming over here, I thought." She dropped the thought, still ashamed of the Alec thing.
"She's been coming over a lot, and reading the books in Father's library. I know why you like her. She's a good person."
"I heard that." Jondy shouted from inside. Max and Logan laughed. "Don't go spreading any rumors about me."
"Hey Max. Hi Logan. It's been a long time." Syl said bouncing up the steps with a smile. She wrapped her arms around Logan and hugged him. "Don't be such a stranger. There you are." She said spotting Vin and Jondy. "You were supposed to get some information, not leave Terminal City." She said to the boy.
Max and Logan headed into the living room. "I told Vin he could stay for dinner." Logan said. "I expect the rest of you to stay for dinner as well. I promised I would answer some of his questions." He said.
"What Kind of questions?" Max asked. The other girls turned and looked at Logan. Then they looked at Vin and the boy grew visibly nervous, almost trying to hide behind Logan. Logan noticed the boy's uncertainty and smiled as he looked at Max. She smiled as she settled into the big chair she would sometimes sleep in when she came to visit Joshua. She would sometimes sleep in this chair when she came to visit Logan.
"What are we having, Logan?" Jondy asked. Max had pulled her legs up, comfortable in the big chair, and watched Logan as he moved about the room. She noticed two things about him. First, he was comfortable in a room full of beautiful women and seemed completely at ease in himself around them. Second, he seemed to be somewhat put off by the small boy named Vin, though whether it was the Manticore connection or just the boy himself, Max couldn't tell. Either way, she had to admit that Logan was a good man, no matter what.
"It's a vegetable dish and I bought some fruit for a healthy desert." Logan said becoming the consummate host that he enjoyed being. He noticed Vin stood there in the room, in awe of what he saw. The women, talking of things Vin did not understand, were laughing and joking about the situation in Terminal City. It wasn't frivolous laughter, but just a moment in which those on the inside found themselves with time to relax and look at some of the more positive aspects of a naturally dark situation. Logan realized that Vin, an X-8 was probably not privy to information that he and Max dealt with daily, that the Rogues and Alec, Mole and the others had no choice but to deal with as it happened. The boy hadn't moved since he entered the apartment, or had been pulled inside by Max. He was practically standing at attention. This wasn't the military life he was used to. He had never seen such things. He didn't know how to act in a non military environment. "Vin. I'd like you to relax and make yourself at home. This is not Manticore. You don't have to stand at attention on any account ever in this home. Do you understand?"
Vin nodded his head. He walked around Logan's desk and sat down in the chair nearby. He noticed Jondy was reading a book by Robert Anton Wilson called The Illuminatus Trilogy. The cover was missing, and to his keen eyesight, he could tell it had been ripped off the book. Max and Syl were talking, discussing situations involving people named Zane, Krit and someone referred to as Big Brother. The boy wasn't sure who Big Brother was, but he knew the other two names. They were Rogues, 09 escapees from Manticore.
The man called Logan had disappeared into the kitchen; occasionally shouting things into the room at certain points in the conversation, each one seemed to Vin to be relevant to the current topic in the conversation. He understood there was a reason the leader Max trusted this man. Eventually Vin wandered into the kitchen, still unsure of what he found himself in the center of.
Vin stood in the doorway to the kitchen watching Logan move around the room. He seemed to know his way around a kitchen, but there was an odd noise reaching Vin's ears. He heard the noise earlier. He hadn't connected it to Logan, but here in the almost silent kitchen, the boy's hyper sensitive hearing picked up the strange whirring sound coming from Logan. Vin focused his hearing and noticed the origin. Logan's legs were making the sound.
"Sir, may I ask you a question?" Vin asked.
"Only if you stop calling me Sir," Logan said.
"Why do your legs make noise?"
"Well." Logan stammered for an instant. He didn't know how to answer the question. "I, umh, I got shot." Logan said. "I wear an exoskeleton that allows me to walk."
"Spinal damage would cause paralysis." The boy said. Logan smiled. "So they shot you in the back?"
"Yes," Logan said. "Point blank range..."
"Why did they shoot you?" Vin asked.
"I was trying to protect a girl not much older than you are right now." Logan explained. "I tried to get her away from the men that were trying to kill the girl and her mother."
"They shot you in the back for this?" Vin asked. "There is no purpose served or honor in such an act." He concluded, or perhaps quoted something he had learned.
"Is there anything else you'd like to know?" Logan asked.
"Yes Sir." Vin said realizing what he had done. "Sorry. What is Love?" The boy asked.
"Why would you want to know that?" Logan asked.
"There are others talking about it." The boy said.
"About what?"
"You and the leader," The boy whispered as if this was a taboo subject. "They all talk about you and her. They say you two have this thing between you. They say she is in Love with you and you are in Love with her." Vin said. Logan noticed Max had moved into the shadows of the hallway to listen. She knew Logan had noticed her, but didn't want the boy to notice. "I don't know what Love is."
"Love is a hard thing to explain." Logan started. He had no idea where to go from there. "One day you will meet a woman and you will have feelings about her that you have never felt before. You'll want to risk your very life for her happiness." He said. "Love can make a man do some very foolish things. It can make a man take ridiculous risks for a bowl of whipped cream and some strawberries. Love makes a man and a woman more than what they are alone. Do you understand?" Logan asked.
"Not really. Are you saying that you would die so that Max can eat?" Vin asked. He held a puzzled look on his face for a minute, before he seemed to realize something. "You risked your life for the girl and her mother. You loved them?"
"No, I didn't," Logan said. "I risked my life for the girl and her mother because she had no other choices. I was her last hope and I couldn't live with myself knowing that I stood by and did nothing to help her."
"But you fed them?" Vin started, but Logan interrupted.
"Not quite so simple. Think of it as a metaphor." Logan stopped for a second. He thought hard momentarily forgetting Max was listening. Absently he checked the food on the stove and decided the meal could simmer for a few more minutes without harm. He didn't notice Syl and Jondy had also begun listening from the doorway. He thought a story might help illustrate the answer for the boy.
"Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away there lived a beautiful princess. This princess was sad because her King and Queen were evil manipulative rulers with devious intentions and twisted, evil goals. They abused the princess and her brothers and sisters for their own amusement and enjoyment. The princess had heard rumors of the horrible life outside the kingdom but even those dark tales weren't as bad as what she and her family had to endure under the reign of the mad King and his Queen.
"One day an opportunity presented itself and the princess escaped. She ran for many days far from the kingdom until she was free of the influence of the mad man who had tortured and abused her. But the king was a persistent man. He sent soldiers after the princess and for a long time she was on the run. They tracked her everywhere until she had no where else to go.
"A day came when she was in a bad place, she had run out of options and she had no choices left to her. The king's men were almost upon her and she was tired of running. She found her way to a secluded garden and prayed to her goddess for salvation. While she prayed a glint caught her eye and she realized she was standing outside of a great tower."
"What kind of a tower, Sir?" Vin asked.
"The tower was rumored to belong to a great and powerful mage of some renown. The princess had heard rumors of the Guardian in the tower protecting the downtrodden but like all the peoples of the realm she had never seen him personally. Like so many others, she didn't actually believe in him." Logan continued his story.
"The princess' goddess led her to the guardian's tower?" The boy asked. He seemed to understand it was only a story but as with all the children of Manticore he had never heard a story before. It was hard for him to not be caught up in the tale. "How can the princess not see a tower?"
"The tower appeared because of her prayers to the goddess." Logan said. "Stay with me here, Vin. It's just a story." Logan smiled as he glanced down the hall to the shadow leaning against the wall, watching his every move and listening to his every word.
"So the goddess led her to the tower without her realizing it because she was running from the evil king and his army?"
"Yes, Vin. The goddess led her to the tower and the princess climbed to the very top looking for the mage that was rumored to live there. She found him in his secret chamber conjuring spells to protect the less fortunate who counted on him because they couldn't protect themselves. She spied on him at first, watching him, but he discovered she was there and before she could run away, the guardian confronted her."
"Just as she had run away and was living a life in hiding and always on the run, the guardian was not what he seemed. Both had secret lives. Both were mysterious individuals and living in relative anonymity, never able to tell the world who they truly were. They had much in common." Logan motioned for Jondy and Syl to grab some dishes and set the table in the kitchen as he continued his story. Within minutes, the food which had been simmering was set out. Jondy was spooning out portions of the veggie stir fry Logan had fixed.
"They talked and became friends. The princess told him of her brothers and sisters trapped in bondage to the evil king. The guardian told her of the people suffering in his land because of others like the evil king. Realizing he was a source of good in the evil world and that he alone had stood against not just his own enemies, enemies that were too numerous to count, but that he would gladly take on her enemies as well. She knew he had powerful Magick that could protect her. He knew she needed protection. She offered to help him since he could not easily leave his tower without being found out. It was a great personal risk for him to go out in public. He offered to help her free her brothers and sisters and defeat the evil King and Queen, ending the reign of terror they had brought to their land.
"The princess and the guardian spent a lot of time together and with each others help they made life easier for the people of the land oppressed by the mad king and his queen. It had come to pass the king had put an order out to the public and offered a reward for the princess. So it was the nature of people in general that stood against the princess and her guardian. The reward was too great and soon the princess was captured and returned to the evil Queen by her evil King and the guardian mage could do nothing to protect her.
"What about all of his Magick?" Vin asked. "The guardian was powerful. Couldn't he save her?"
"He tried, but the evil King and Queen had an army that the guardian could not strike out against alone. He worked hard putting together a plan, but the evil castle was too well guarded and he had very few allies willing to stand with him against evil." Logan said. "He tried. God, how he tried to figure out where she was and how she could be freed again."
At those words, Max gasped realizing for the first time that Logan, even thinking her dead, had still tried to bring down Manticore to avenge her. She knew he had been running a hack when she returned to him from Manticore, but she did not realize the extent to which he had risked his own life trying to bring down Manticore. It was there in the hall that she realized a cold hard fact of her life. Logan was indeed her guardian and even after her death, he still fought for her.
Logan continued his narration. "The Princess however had learned much from her time with the guardian and combined with knowledge she learned from childhood, she was able to escape from the evil castle, eventually returning to the guardian to continue the fight for the realm and salvage what was left of all that was good in the world. When she returned to her guardian, she found he was prepared to set out against the armies of the evil King and Queen alone. What neither of them knew was that the evil queen had been prepared for her escape this time and sent out a demon from the abyss to track her and destroy the mage once and for all.
"The princess had other plans though and she fought against the minion. With help from the guardian, she was able to defeat the minion of the abyss, but not before the demon poisoned the guardian. The guardian had unleashed his Magick upon the castle during the combat and her family, still trapped within the halls and dungeons, were in jeopardy. She had no choice but to return to the castle for an antidote to the poison and to save her family."
"She got there, though, right?" Vin asked hopefully. "She saved her family and found the antidote?"
"She did." Logan said. "She rescued her family, killed the evil queen and saved the guardian when she found the antidote. She returned to him in the nick of time and administered the proper mixture of fluids to him and he recovered."
"What about the evil King?" Vin asked.
"Yeah." Jondy smiled. "What happened to the evil King?" Logan realized that Jondy hadn't heard a fairy tale before either. One look into Syl's eyes and he realized that she was just as wrapped up in the story as everyone else.
"He is still out there doing evil things to those who cannot stop him. The Guardian is using all the Magick at his disposal to fight the demon the evil king has sent. The evil king has opened a direct portal to the abyss and many demons have now been unleashed upon the realm. The guardian and his princess continue to fight them, but they are strong and the guardian, made stronger with the princess at his side and the love they share, still are only two people. They are in constant risk, always watching over their shoulders and searching in the shadows for the next demon that has come for them."
"There are a lot of demons after the guardian and his princess?" Vin asked.
"The demons are everywhere." Logan said.
"So the Dark Angel was in a dark place, but she escaped, but because she loved the guardian, she returned to the place of her nightmares to wield the guardians Magick and destroy the evil castle." Vin said. "Love gave her strength to defeat more powerful enemies. Together they stand alone against evil, trying to do the right thing for everyone so that all will live happily ever after, not just them."
"That's right. Love can give a man power he never knew he had." Logan said. "It can also give a woman strength she didn't know was inside of her."
"They aren't alone." Syl said.
"They have allies." Jondy added. "They will always have allies." Syl nodded, confirming Jondy's statement.
Syl and Jondy were staring at Logan. They had not heard this particular fairy tale before. They had never actually heard any fairy tales before. Manticore wasn't big on them. "Max. Dinner's getting cold." Logan shouted, but his phone rang. He didn't see her walk into the room with her eyes all puffy and swollen from crying. She hadn't realized until that moment jus what Logan saw when he looked at her. Syl and Jondy noticed it.
"When did all this happen?" Syl asked. She had figured out the truth behind the story early on.
"It was after the DNA lab." Max said.
"I figured." Syl said. "He never gave up. He didn't know you were alive, but he was determined to bring down Manticore. Krit and I tried to help, but he wouldn't speak to us again. He kept saying something about not want to risk anymore of our lives."
"He does realize that we were designed to risk our lives."
"Logan's stubborn." Max said. "She wasn't really paying attention as she was trying to eavesdrop on his phone call as he headed into his desk and sat down at his computer.
"So the Guardian protects his Dark Angel and vice versa without any thought to their own safety?" Syl asked.
"He loves you." Syl said.
Jondy smiled. "Sounds like the perfect man to me." She smiled. Syl raised her wine glass in a toast.
"Yeah." Max said still distracted by Logan's call, now an argument. She was listening for Logan on the phone in the other room. "He always saves me."
"I've been waiting for this info." Logan said. "I'll be right over." He said. "YES, NOW!" He shouted. "Not your choice, I'm on my way." Logan said. He poked his head into the kitchen and looked at Max. "I have to go. I'll be back." He turned and walked away.
"Logan." Max said running after him.
"What is it, Max?" He asked with a smile.
"You need help?" She asked. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him like the world was ending. but she knew better. She knew he wouldn't drag her out after she came over to relax and get away from the battle for a little while.
"No. I'm just picking up some information from an informant. No danger, but I need this. I'll show it to you as soon as I get it all sorted out." He said. "I promise." She stared into his eyes for a minute.
Do you know what you mean to me? She asked him. Do you know how you affect me, good and bad? Do you understand that you saved me, from myself as much as from Manticore? Can you hear my thoughts Logan? She asked him. He smiled. She wondered if he did understand her thoughts when she stared into his eyes this way.
"How does the story end?" Max asked.
"The princess and her guardian will live happily ever after." Logan smiled.
"What if it doesn't end that way?" She said suddenly, not expecting the words herself.
"It will, Max. I promise. This story WILL have a happy ending." Logan said. He turned with a smile and walked out the front door. "Or I will die trying." He said mostly to himself, but knowing she could hear him.
So did Vin who had wandered out of the kitchen to use the bathroom and had stopped in the room behind Max. He understood the tear on her cheek. The princess loved her guardian and she would not be happy until they were together, free to live... forever, happily ever after.
This is part of my S2 universe so some characters are involved that weren't in the series. As always, read, review and enjoy the story. Let me know that you enjoyed it. Tell me why you enjoyed it. Tell me you want more. Heh heh heh. There I go again.
Also, look for chapter four of Shadow of the Cat later this week. It'll be posted one way or another in the next few days so keep your eyes out for it.
Later!
A Boy Named Vin
Logan walked to the grocery on the far corner of the street. He needed some supplies. Things had been tight lately and having lost his apartment recently left him lacking certain amenities he had been used to for so long. Max had helped though when she delivered a briefcase full of money she had taken from some drug dealers before she called the cops.
He noticed a small child following him. The young boy, no more than nine or ten years old was shadowing his every move. The boy was carrying a bag over his shoulder that appeared to be mostly empty. Logan had a feeling about the boy so he waited for the right moment when the boy was distracted momentarily, then turned and walked right up to the child.
"Who are you?" Logan asked.
"Vin, Sir."
"Why are you following me, Vin?" Logan asked.
"I thought you looked familiar. You're him, aren't you?" He asked.
"Who?"
"You're the one that brought down Manticore. You're the one she believes in." The boy said. "You're the one that set us free." The words were sobering to Logan. It was what Max had wanted all along. It was the goal she had strived for. In that fatal moment when he almost lost his life to a virus, she had pressed the button that forced his hack. It was that hack which allowed the Children of Manticore to go out into the world.
Questions hit Logan hard, his knowledge of Max and what she went through forced them to the surface and he searched the boys eyes for answers he knew the boy didn't have. How much can you truly understand at only ten years of age? How many criminals, how many enemies of Manticore have you hunted? How many have you killed? How much blood have you already seen spilled? "I assume you're X-8? You're what. ten? Eleven?"
"Very accurate, Sir," Vin answered. "I'm eleven. I was the oldest in my group, Sir."
"What are the chances I can get you to call me Logan?" He asked the boy.
"I couldn't do that, Sir. That would go against regulations. It is appropriate that I address a superior officer as Sir at all times. It's in the regulations." Vin explained.
Logan looked at the boy and decided that he didn't want to argue with a child. "When was the last time you ate?"
"Yesterday," The boy said.
"I'm going shopping, why don't you come with me? I'll fix you dinner and you can get back to Terminal City." Logan said leading the boy into the store.
Twenty minutes and a hundred questions later, Logan was leaving the store with the boy. He had tossed the boy a large red apple to munch on hoping it would shut him up. It didn't. The boy quickly finished and tossed the apple core down an alley as he followed closely on Logan's heels. When they got back to Joshua's house, Max and Jondy greeted them at the door.
"Been waiting long?" Logan asked.
Max shook her head. She smiled, happy to see Logan was all right and that he had found the stray X8. "Just a few minutes," she said. Vin stepped up, his jaw hanging slack as he looked at Max and Jondy.
"You're her." Vin said. He was staring at Max, almost stunned. "You're Rogue." He said. The awe in his voice was evident as he turned toward Jondy. "You both are." He snapped to attention and saluted. It was obvious how excited he was by his attitude. Max grabbed Vin pulling him into the house as Logan stepped behind the boy, blocking him from the street. It was only a boy saluting someone inside of a door, but Max didn't want to take any chances with Logan's new residence. There was no telling who could be watching.
"C'mon soldier, let's get you inside and explain a few things." Jondy said pushing the boy into the living room as Logan closed the door. Max looked up to Logan's eyes. It was all they had right now.
"How are you doing?" She asked. "I'm sorry I haven't been around lately. It's pretty busy over in Terminal City." She tried to smile, but it just didn't quite resemble one, at least not a genuine one.
"I'm glad you came by tonight. I miss you." He said. He didn't care if it sounded pathetic. He was tired of being away from her. He wanted things to get back to the way they should have been. Perhaps, at least, back to the way things had been when Max would come over and have dinner and laugh and play chess. Maybe then, they could start something that should have been started a long time ago.
"I've got another briefcase for you but I left it over at Cindy's yesterday. Jondy called last night and I went over there to just get out of the mess at TC for a night. The big lizard thinks I'm out hunting down money and supplies tonight but when Jondy said she was coming over here, I thought." She dropped the thought, still ashamed of the Alec thing.
"She's been coming over a lot, and reading the books in Father's library. I know why you like her. She's a good person."
"I heard that." Jondy shouted from inside. Max and Logan laughed. "Don't go spreading any rumors about me."
"Hey Max. Hi Logan. It's been a long time." Syl said bouncing up the steps with a smile. She wrapped her arms around Logan and hugged him. "Don't be such a stranger. There you are." She said spotting Vin and Jondy. "You were supposed to get some information, not leave Terminal City." She said to the boy.
Max and Logan headed into the living room. "I told Vin he could stay for dinner." Logan said. "I expect the rest of you to stay for dinner as well. I promised I would answer some of his questions." He said.
"What Kind of questions?" Max asked. The other girls turned and looked at Logan. Then they looked at Vin and the boy grew visibly nervous, almost trying to hide behind Logan. Logan noticed the boy's uncertainty and smiled as he looked at Max. She smiled as she settled into the big chair she would sometimes sleep in when she came to visit Joshua. She would sometimes sleep in this chair when she came to visit Logan.
"What are we having, Logan?" Jondy asked. Max had pulled her legs up, comfortable in the big chair, and watched Logan as he moved about the room. She noticed two things about him. First, he was comfortable in a room full of beautiful women and seemed completely at ease in himself around them. Second, he seemed to be somewhat put off by the small boy named Vin, though whether it was the Manticore connection or just the boy himself, Max couldn't tell. Either way, she had to admit that Logan was a good man, no matter what.
"It's a vegetable dish and I bought some fruit for a healthy desert." Logan said becoming the consummate host that he enjoyed being. He noticed Vin stood there in the room, in awe of what he saw. The women, talking of things Vin did not understand, were laughing and joking about the situation in Terminal City. It wasn't frivolous laughter, but just a moment in which those on the inside found themselves with time to relax and look at some of the more positive aspects of a naturally dark situation. Logan realized that Vin, an X-8 was probably not privy to information that he and Max dealt with daily, that the Rogues and Alec, Mole and the others had no choice but to deal with as it happened. The boy hadn't moved since he entered the apartment, or had been pulled inside by Max. He was practically standing at attention. This wasn't the military life he was used to. He had never seen such things. He didn't know how to act in a non military environment. "Vin. I'd like you to relax and make yourself at home. This is not Manticore. You don't have to stand at attention on any account ever in this home. Do you understand?"
Vin nodded his head. He walked around Logan's desk and sat down in the chair nearby. He noticed Jondy was reading a book by Robert Anton Wilson called The Illuminatus Trilogy. The cover was missing, and to his keen eyesight, he could tell it had been ripped off the book. Max and Syl were talking, discussing situations involving people named Zane, Krit and someone referred to as Big Brother. The boy wasn't sure who Big Brother was, but he knew the other two names. They were Rogues, 09 escapees from Manticore.
The man called Logan had disappeared into the kitchen; occasionally shouting things into the room at certain points in the conversation, each one seemed to Vin to be relevant to the current topic in the conversation. He understood there was a reason the leader Max trusted this man. Eventually Vin wandered into the kitchen, still unsure of what he found himself in the center of.
Vin stood in the doorway to the kitchen watching Logan move around the room. He seemed to know his way around a kitchen, but there was an odd noise reaching Vin's ears. He heard the noise earlier. He hadn't connected it to Logan, but here in the almost silent kitchen, the boy's hyper sensitive hearing picked up the strange whirring sound coming from Logan. Vin focused his hearing and noticed the origin. Logan's legs were making the sound.
"Sir, may I ask you a question?" Vin asked.
"Only if you stop calling me Sir," Logan said.
"Why do your legs make noise?"
"Well." Logan stammered for an instant. He didn't know how to answer the question. "I, umh, I got shot." Logan said. "I wear an exoskeleton that allows me to walk."
"Spinal damage would cause paralysis." The boy said. Logan smiled. "So they shot you in the back?"
"Yes," Logan said. "Point blank range..."
"Why did they shoot you?" Vin asked.
"I was trying to protect a girl not much older than you are right now." Logan explained. "I tried to get her away from the men that were trying to kill the girl and her mother."
"They shot you in the back for this?" Vin asked. "There is no purpose served or honor in such an act." He concluded, or perhaps quoted something he had learned.
"Is there anything else you'd like to know?" Logan asked.
"Yes Sir." Vin said realizing what he had done. "Sorry. What is Love?" The boy asked.
"Why would you want to know that?" Logan asked.
"There are others talking about it." The boy said.
"About what?"
"You and the leader," The boy whispered as if this was a taboo subject. "They all talk about you and her. They say you two have this thing between you. They say she is in Love with you and you are in Love with her." Vin said. Logan noticed Max had moved into the shadows of the hallway to listen. She knew Logan had noticed her, but didn't want the boy to notice. "I don't know what Love is."
"Love is a hard thing to explain." Logan started. He had no idea where to go from there. "One day you will meet a woman and you will have feelings about her that you have never felt before. You'll want to risk your very life for her happiness." He said. "Love can make a man do some very foolish things. It can make a man take ridiculous risks for a bowl of whipped cream and some strawberries. Love makes a man and a woman more than what they are alone. Do you understand?" Logan asked.
"Not really. Are you saying that you would die so that Max can eat?" Vin asked. He held a puzzled look on his face for a minute, before he seemed to realize something. "You risked your life for the girl and her mother. You loved them?"
"No, I didn't," Logan said. "I risked my life for the girl and her mother because she had no other choices. I was her last hope and I couldn't live with myself knowing that I stood by and did nothing to help her."
"But you fed them?" Vin started, but Logan interrupted.
"Not quite so simple. Think of it as a metaphor." Logan stopped for a second. He thought hard momentarily forgetting Max was listening. Absently he checked the food on the stove and decided the meal could simmer for a few more minutes without harm. He didn't notice Syl and Jondy had also begun listening from the doorway. He thought a story might help illustrate the answer for the boy.
"Once upon a time in a kingdom far, far away there lived a beautiful princess. This princess was sad because her King and Queen were evil manipulative rulers with devious intentions and twisted, evil goals. They abused the princess and her brothers and sisters for their own amusement and enjoyment. The princess had heard rumors of the horrible life outside the kingdom but even those dark tales weren't as bad as what she and her family had to endure under the reign of the mad King and his Queen.
"One day an opportunity presented itself and the princess escaped. She ran for many days far from the kingdom until she was free of the influence of the mad man who had tortured and abused her. But the king was a persistent man. He sent soldiers after the princess and for a long time she was on the run. They tracked her everywhere until she had no where else to go.
"A day came when she was in a bad place, she had run out of options and she had no choices left to her. The king's men were almost upon her and she was tired of running. She found her way to a secluded garden and prayed to her goddess for salvation. While she prayed a glint caught her eye and she realized she was standing outside of a great tower."
"What kind of a tower, Sir?" Vin asked.
"The tower was rumored to belong to a great and powerful mage of some renown. The princess had heard rumors of the Guardian in the tower protecting the downtrodden but like all the peoples of the realm she had never seen him personally. Like so many others, she didn't actually believe in him." Logan continued his story.
"The princess' goddess led her to the guardian's tower?" The boy asked. He seemed to understand it was only a story but as with all the children of Manticore he had never heard a story before. It was hard for him to not be caught up in the tale. "How can the princess not see a tower?"
"The tower appeared because of her prayers to the goddess." Logan said. "Stay with me here, Vin. It's just a story." Logan smiled as he glanced down the hall to the shadow leaning against the wall, watching his every move and listening to his every word.
"So the goddess led her to the tower without her realizing it because she was running from the evil king and his army?"
"Yes, Vin. The goddess led her to the tower and the princess climbed to the very top looking for the mage that was rumored to live there. She found him in his secret chamber conjuring spells to protect the less fortunate who counted on him because they couldn't protect themselves. She spied on him at first, watching him, but he discovered she was there and before she could run away, the guardian confronted her."
"Just as she had run away and was living a life in hiding and always on the run, the guardian was not what he seemed. Both had secret lives. Both were mysterious individuals and living in relative anonymity, never able to tell the world who they truly were. They had much in common." Logan motioned for Jondy and Syl to grab some dishes and set the table in the kitchen as he continued his story. Within minutes, the food which had been simmering was set out. Jondy was spooning out portions of the veggie stir fry Logan had fixed.
"They talked and became friends. The princess told him of her brothers and sisters trapped in bondage to the evil king. The guardian told her of the people suffering in his land because of others like the evil king. Realizing he was a source of good in the evil world and that he alone had stood against not just his own enemies, enemies that were too numerous to count, but that he would gladly take on her enemies as well. She knew he had powerful Magick that could protect her. He knew she needed protection. She offered to help him since he could not easily leave his tower without being found out. It was a great personal risk for him to go out in public. He offered to help her free her brothers and sisters and defeat the evil King and Queen, ending the reign of terror they had brought to their land.
"The princess and the guardian spent a lot of time together and with each others help they made life easier for the people of the land oppressed by the mad king and his queen. It had come to pass the king had put an order out to the public and offered a reward for the princess. So it was the nature of people in general that stood against the princess and her guardian. The reward was too great and soon the princess was captured and returned to the evil Queen by her evil King and the guardian mage could do nothing to protect her.
"What about all of his Magick?" Vin asked. "The guardian was powerful. Couldn't he save her?"
"He tried, but the evil King and Queen had an army that the guardian could not strike out against alone. He worked hard putting together a plan, but the evil castle was too well guarded and he had very few allies willing to stand with him against evil." Logan said. "He tried. God, how he tried to figure out where she was and how she could be freed again."
At those words, Max gasped realizing for the first time that Logan, even thinking her dead, had still tried to bring down Manticore to avenge her. She knew he had been running a hack when she returned to him from Manticore, but she did not realize the extent to which he had risked his own life trying to bring down Manticore. It was there in the hall that she realized a cold hard fact of her life. Logan was indeed her guardian and even after her death, he still fought for her.
Logan continued his narration. "The Princess however had learned much from her time with the guardian and combined with knowledge she learned from childhood, she was able to escape from the evil castle, eventually returning to the guardian to continue the fight for the realm and salvage what was left of all that was good in the world. When she returned to her guardian, she found he was prepared to set out against the armies of the evil King and Queen alone. What neither of them knew was that the evil queen had been prepared for her escape this time and sent out a demon from the abyss to track her and destroy the mage once and for all.
"The princess had other plans though and she fought against the minion. With help from the guardian, she was able to defeat the minion of the abyss, but not before the demon poisoned the guardian. The guardian had unleashed his Magick upon the castle during the combat and her family, still trapped within the halls and dungeons, were in jeopardy. She had no choice but to return to the castle for an antidote to the poison and to save her family."
"She got there, though, right?" Vin asked hopefully. "She saved her family and found the antidote?"
"She did." Logan said. "She rescued her family, killed the evil queen and saved the guardian when she found the antidote. She returned to him in the nick of time and administered the proper mixture of fluids to him and he recovered."
"What about the evil King?" Vin asked.
"Yeah." Jondy smiled. "What happened to the evil King?" Logan realized that Jondy hadn't heard a fairy tale before either. One look into Syl's eyes and he realized that she was just as wrapped up in the story as everyone else.
"He is still out there doing evil things to those who cannot stop him. The Guardian is using all the Magick at his disposal to fight the demon the evil king has sent. The evil king has opened a direct portal to the abyss and many demons have now been unleashed upon the realm. The guardian and his princess continue to fight them, but they are strong and the guardian, made stronger with the princess at his side and the love they share, still are only two people. They are in constant risk, always watching over their shoulders and searching in the shadows for the next demon that has come for them."
"There are a lot of demons after the guardian and his princess?" Vin asked.
"The demons are everywhere." Logan said.
"So the Dark Angel was in a dark place, but she escaped, but because she loved the guardian, she returned to the place of her nightmares to wield the guardians Magick and destroy the evil castle." Vin said. "Love gave her strength to defeat more powerful enemies. Together they stand alone against evil, trying to do the right thing for everyone so that all will live happily ever after, not just them."
"That's right. Love can give a man power he never knew he had." Logan said. "It can also give a woman strength she didn't know was inside of her."
"They aren't alone." Syl said.
"They have allies." Jondy added. "They will always have allies." Syl nodded, confirming Jondy's statement.
Syl and Jondy were staring at Logan. They had not heard this particular fairy tale before. They had never actually heard any fairy tales before. Manticore wasn't big on them. "Max. Dinner's getting cold." Logan shouted, but his phone rang. He didn't see her walk into the room with her eyes all puffy and swollen from crying. She hadn't realized until that moment jus what Logan saw when he looked at her. Syl and Jondy noticed it.
"When did all this happen?" Syl asked. She had figured out the truth behind the story early on.
"It was after the DNA lab." Max said.
"I figured." Syl said. "He never gave up. He didn't know you were alive, but he was determined to bring down Manticore. Krit and I tried to help, but he wouldn't speak to us again. He kept saying something about not want to risk anymore of our lives."
"He does realize that we were designed to risk our lives."
"Logan's stubborn." Max said. "She wasn't really paying attention as she was trying to eavesdrop on his phone call as he headed into his desk and sat down at his computer.
"So the Guardian protects his Dark Angel and vice versa without any thought to their own safety?" Syl asked.
"He loves you." Syl said.
Jondy smiled. "Sounds like the perfect man to me." She smiled. Syl raised her wine glass in a toast.
"Yeah." Max said still distracted by Logan's call, now an argument. She was listening for Logan on the phone in the other room. "He always saves me."
"I've been waiting for this info." Logan said. "I'll be right over." He said. "YES, NOW!" He shouted. "Not your choice, I'm on my way." Logan said. He poked his head into the kitchen and looked at Max. "I have to go. I'll be back." He turned and walked away.
"Logan." Max said running after him.
"What is it, Max?" He asked with a smile.
"You need help?" She asked. She wanted to wrap her arms around him and kiss him like the world was ending. but she knew better. She knew he wouldn't drag her out after she came over to relax and get away from the battle for a little while.
"No. I'm just picking up some information from an informant. No danger, but I need this. I'll show it to you as soon as I get it all sorted out." He said. "I promise." She stared into his eyes for a minute.
Do you know what you mean to me? She asked him. Do you know how you affect me, good and bad? Do you understand that you saved me, from myself as much as from Manticore? Can you hear my thoughts Logan? She asked him. He smiled. She wondered if he did understand her thoughts when she stared into his eyes this way.
"How does the story end?" Max asked.
"The princess and her guardian will live happily ever after." Logan smiled.
"What if it doesn't end that way?" She said suddenly, not expecting the words herself.
"It will, Max. I promise. This story WILL have a happy ending." Logan said. He turned with a smile and walked out the front door. "Or I will die trying." He said mostly to himself, but knowing she could hear him.
So did Vin who had wandered out of the kitchen to use the bathroom and had stopped in the room behind Max. He understood the tear on her cheek. The princess loved her guardian and she would not be happy until they were together, free to live... forever, happily ever after.