Title: Resentment, Recuperation and Resolution
Rating: R (Due to issues of rape, torture, violence and sex scenes later on).
Disclaimer: Designate This Re-done. Okay I know this has been done so many times now, and everyone's probably getting bored of it. But I've had this story in my head for a while now, and I just had to post it. I hope you all like this version I've created, and please review, it will make my day J. There is NO virus in this story but will Max and Logan be able to recover what they had missed out on, for being separated for so long. Enjoy!
Name: X-318
Chapter 1: Future Scars
Max looked up at Foggle Towers, looming over her. She felt so much smaller and weak compared to all the vague memories she had of the place. Relief flooded over her when the realization hit, that she had made it. Only a few more steps and she would be in Logan's arms, a place she had dreamed of being for so long now.
She reached out to press the button for the elevator, when a wave of pain coursed through her body, whatever drug they had pumped her with at Manticore was starting to ware off and the fact that she was standing still now was not helping. It seemed like the elevator was taking ages and when what seemed like a lifetime was over the doors opened. Max staggered in leaning against the wall to support herself from falling over. She looked down to see her injury from before had started bleeding again, probably a stitch had pulled whilst she was running for her life. Her eyes started to close when she was brought back to reality with the noise of the doors opening.
When Max eventually arrived at Logan's door she was thankful to find out that he had left the door open, turning the knob slowly as to not make the pain any worse in her arm. She slid through the opening and leaned back against the closed door when she could feel another surge of pain coming on, it was like someone was stabbing her in the stomach and was slowly twisting the blade.
Once her strength had returned she reached out to the wall opposite her so she could lean against it as she made her way down the corridor towards the room she knew Logan would defiantly be in. She had taken only a few steps when an overwhelming stabbing pain shook her so hard that she could no longer hold herself up and she collapsed to the floor with a thud. She could feel herself slipping away slowly, just before everything around her went pitch black, as if a blanket had been placed over her head.
Logan sat at his computer staring at the image on the screen of Max. He was imagining her returning to him, as if like a miracle she would appear in front of him. He always knew deep down inside that she was still alive, he couldn't face up to the truth that he had been faced with. He was so busy in his thought he nearly didn't hear the loud bang that had come from the hallway. His initial thought was, whom could it be at this time, then his mind started to wonder. He opened the draw to his side and pulled out the gun he had for protection. He pushed the chair away from the table and stood up, thankful he hadn't decided to take the exo-skeleton off yet. Logan stepped round the partition but couldn't see any shadows at the moment. Then it hit him, he remembered that he had left the door unlocked, he decided the best thing for him to do would be to get his keys by the door and go get security from downstairs to check things out. When he stepped round the corner he was not expecting to see what was in front of him.
On the floor was a young girl from what he could see. Her hair had fallen to cover her face and the clothes she was in were torn with dirt and blood stains all over. It was obvious to Logan that he had to get this woman to a doctor as soon as possible, he kneeled down besides her taking her into his arms. As he turned her over, her hair fell back out of her face. Logan couldn't believe what he was seeing, was this really Max he was looking at. Her hair had grown nearly double its length and she had lost an awful lot of weight, the curvaceous Max he once knew and loved was now just muscle. He brushed a stay lock of hair away from her face. At the slight contact her eyes fluttered open, to reveal these dark depths, all the life had been drawn from her. The sparkle of life Logan used to be able to see was now gone, replaced with something much more hunting. Theirs eyes meet for a brief second, as Max found enough energy to whisper "Logan", before closing her eyes again, all of a sudden content that she had arrived where she belonged and that she was safe in his embrace.
Logan looked at the floor to see a trail of blood leading from the door to where Max had landed. There was a smudged handprint on the wall, and where Max was holding her stomach there was blood seeping through the fabric. He picked her up and carried her over to the couch, gently placing her on the furniture. Her limbs were heavy and just collapsed around her. He gently propped her head on the arm of the chair, studying her intently.
Logan reached out and removed Max's hand from her stomach, slowly he lifted the rim of her t-shirt just high enough to see the huge gash that spread across her abdomen. The cut was at least two inches thick and had been stitched up some time recently from what he could tell. But the wound had stretched causing the stitches to pop. He had to stop the bleeding, so he pulled his jumper over his head and applied pressure to the wound. Reaching for the phone on the coffee table with his other hand he immediately punched in Sam Carr's number, he knew these injuries were too much for him to take care off on his own. After explaining the situation briefly to Sam he hung up and took Max's hand in his squeezing gently. He wished she would wake up just so that he knew she was ok, but he settled for listening to her calm breathing as her chest rose and fell at a steady pace. If he hadn't known better it looked like she was simply sleeping.
His eye's wondered over her sleeping form, noticing further cuts up her arms along with, which to anyone else might have looked like the track marks of a user but he knew that all this pain and suffering was the dealings of Manticore. This poor frail creature before him must have gone through hell being tortured over and over until she'd crack, but Logan knew Max better. He knew she would never give up without a fight, even if it meant her death, she'd proved this all too many times.
Logan sat there staring at Max until Sam Carr arrived, he didn't know how much time had gone by but it didn't even matter at this point. "Logan", Sam called from the hallway, he had made his own way in, from what Logan had told him on the phone and the tone of voice he used, he knew this was an emergency. After getting no response he made his way to the living room and the first thing he saw was Logan crouched down by the couch. Sam couldn't see over Logan's shoulder but he could see a figure sprawled out on the couch. "Logan", he repeated gently as to not startle him.
Logan turned round, his face as white as a sheet. "You look as if you've seen a ghost", Sam said walking towards his close friend to see how he could help. Once he was close enough he could see the reason Logan looked the way he did. Sam's features automatically turned as pale as Logan's, like the life had been drawn from him at the shock of seeing Max in front of him, lying on Logan's furniture. The things that must have happened to this poor girl for her to be in this shape, Sam couldn't even imagine. Logan had explained a few details about Manticore and what had illegibly happened to Max, so this was as much as a shock for him.
"She's bleeding really bad", Logan chocked pulling Sam out of his thoughts. Logan removed his jumper that he had been holding in place over her stomach for all this time now, and it was socked through. The amount of blood she must have lost was unthinkable. Sam immediately got down on his knees to inspect her injuries. To any normal person this would have been critical but because Max was genetically engineered she hadn't slipped into a coma thus far.
"Is there anything I could do Sam?" Logan asked pacing back and forth behind him.
"Actually there is, do you have any blankets? We need to keep her temperature up", Sam said as he started work on repairing the wounds on her abdomen.
Logan took one last look at Max lying motionless on the couch before he rushed off to get something to wrap round her. When he arrived in the bedroom, logical thought was thrown out the window and the simplest of tasks had become something impossible. Where do I keep the extra blankets, he shouted to himself in his head. After realising how stupid that question was he went to the cupboard and started pulling down as many sheets as he could carry. His hands were shaking excessively so he breathed in to calm himself down. He bent over to pick up the blankets from the floor and made his way back to the living room.
"What the hell happened to her Logan?" Sam asked once he saw Logan approaching. Logan's face was blank, and he stood there almost shaking. "Logan?" Sam repeated a little louder this time round.
Logan looked at Sam, searching his face for what he had missed. "Sorry?" he asked, placing the blankets down on the floor and running his fingers through his hair.
"I asked what happened to her?" Sam said not looking at Logan but concentrating on Max completely. Sam was so busy trying to fix the patient he had become close to through Logan, that he hadn't notice her hand move until her eye's slowly opened.
"Logan?" a weak whimper came from beneath him. Sam turned round to look at Logan. He came to the conclusion that he mustn't have heard her because there was no reaction.
"Logan she's calling you", Sam said.
Logan immediately ran to her side taking her hand in his, his thumb was gently caressing her hands as he looked in her eyes. "Thank God", he breathed. Without even thinking on it he kissed her on the forehead pulling back to allow her to speak.
"Am I really here?" she questioned. Truthfully knowing the answer but needed some reassurance. She thought that maybe this was some trick Manticore was playing on her to maybe spill some information about locations, she knew they had used that technique on Zack before. Nothing felt really anymore.
Logan kissed her hand, "Yeah Max…It's really happening, you came back to me like I always knew you would".
"Okay, I'm all done now I'll leave these bandages on for a few days, then I'll check them again to see how everything progressing", Sam smiled at the couple everyone knew belonged together, even if that hadn't occurred to them yet.
"Thanks", Logan said not looking away from Max for even a second.
Sam wasn't sure if he had actually heard what he had said but he decided it was time for him to leave the happy couple to recuperate from the trauma. "I'll be going then Logan", he said getting up after just a, "umm", from Logan. As he left he looked back one last time wondering if Max would be able to get through whatever that place had done to her, the scars were most defiantly not just physical from what he could pick up on the situation.
-
Once Sam had left Max had gone back to sleep and Logan stayed by her side watching her every breath. Now that she was back he didn't think he could ever leave her, he wasn't going to let another year slip past them like before, not again. Whilst she was gone he had come to realise how much he loved her, so now he wasn't going to take anything for granted. What he had said before about, how they have all the time in the world, couldn't have been further from the truth.
He was pulled out of his thoughts when Max started kicking her legs and arms about. At first he thought it must be a seizure coming on but when he heard her start to shout he grasped that she was having a nightmare. Tenderly he took hold of her shoulders trying not to hurt her wounds, but to try and wake her up. Then surprisingly she stopped frozen in place.
Logan looked down at the frail shell of a human being before him, all the life Max possessed before had been extinguished. "What the hell did they do to you?" he whispered reaching out to brush a stray hair away from her face, almost instantaneously he felt Max's long elegant fingers wrap round his wrist stopping him from moving. Her eyes had shot open and possessed an emotionless glaze over them. He looked deep into her eyes, the shock evident on his face at her actions. Then he saw a thin film glistening over her eyes before she burst out crying.
She let go of his hand and he enveloped her in his arms trying his best to protect her from whatever was hunting her mind. The crying subsided and he leaned back to look at her face. He didn't want to ask the question because the answer was obvious but he decided that was the only thing he could say so asked anyway, "Are you alright?"
Max merely rolled over on her side facing away from him, she felt weak embarrassed, not how she was trained to behave, if Manticore saw her now the look of disgust on their faces but she didn't really care about them, she was humiliated in herself for ending up like this.
Logan could tell she didn't want to talk about it, and he didn't want to push her into something she wasn't comfortable with. So instead he said, "I need to check on your wounds". Logan waited until Max made the first move and she rolled back so she was lying flat on her back.
Logan extended his hand to check on Max's bandages, lightly brushing his fingers over her stomach. Max squirmed under his touch remembering what she had been through. "I'm sorry did I hurt you?" Logan asked pulling his hand back and searching her eyes for an answer.
Even though she knew it was Logan and she had wanted this for so long even dreamed about it back at Manticore, the feel of someone's hands against her skin reminded her of the X5's that had been sent into her sleeping quarters by Renfro, she was rendered useless strapped down and sedated so heavily that all she could do was lie there. She had tried her best to block out what was happening to her, forget the pain that it was causing but it was still there, the memories. Now the feel of Logan's hand against her skin, repulsed her in ways she would never have imagined. Before when she was in heat she had felt out of control like she was looking in on what was happening and feeling helpless but what they had done to her at Manticore was nothing if not rape.
Max couldn't stop the tears from escaping, the floods of emotion was overwhelming. Logan looked at Max not knowing what he could do, he felt useless, and he had never seen Max like this before. Yeah he had seen her upset about her siblings and the memories of Manticore from when she was a child but this was different, he had never seen her cry this much before.
"I…I'm scared Logan", Max whispered so quietly Logan almost didn't hear her.
"It's ok Max, you're home now, they can't hurt you any more. I'm right here". Max rolled over, now face to face with Logan. She pulled her legs up to her stomach in the fetal position.
"I don't want to hurt anymore", she almost chocked. Logan took her hand in his and squeezed it to try and reassure her the best he could. Max felt dirty, violated she needed to get out of these clothes that resembled Manticore, all she wanted to do was burn them, get rid of any trace of them. "I need a shower", she said trying to get up, the pain evident on her face.
Logan reached out taking her arm so as to help her up. Logan guided her to the door as she leaned on him for support. "You sure you'll be okay?" he asked worried about her being able to cope on her own. Even though he wanted to help her, it would have been way to fast and even he knew that.
"Yeah", she said leaving his support to lean on the door and she went in the bathroom closing the door behind her. Logan stood outside listening just encase, when he heard the spray of the shower start up he left the room to give her some privacy.
Max stepped under the spray of water, revelling in the heat it produced, back at Manticore it was short, cold showers, with many cubicles in one room and no isolation or space to yourself, Max imagined that's what prison must be like. As the glass door started to fog up from the steam she remembered the times they had put her in a small confined glass room. This technique they called re-indocunation trying to make her one of them again, as she dismissed their demands the wall started to close in on her. Once they had left her there for two weeks, her muscles had seized up and she had been starved of food and water. As the memories flooded back she moved her head under the water and ran her hands through her hair, trying to cleanse her soul.
She looked down at her flat stomach and her hips that protruded out from her body. The sight was sickly she looked seriously anorexic. As the dirt from the woods round Manticore washed from her body, the feelings to why she had before taking the shower for were still present.
She realised she had been in there for a while now and she didn't want Logan worrying so she turned the water off and stepped out wrapping herself in one of Logan's huge fluffy towels as the cold air hit her body. After drying off she walked out the bathroom to see that Logan had found out some clothes she had left there after going on a mission for him and decided to stay the night because it was getting late.
She changed into the clothes opting to put on one of Logan's shirts instead of her t-shirt though for comfort, thankful that he had saved them even though he thought she was dead. Then sat down on the edge of the bed. When Logan came back in the room she was staring into space, probably thinking about everything that had happened. He could see a teary look in her eyes so decided to bring her out of it by changing the subject. "Hey, I was thinking on cooking up one of my culinary miracles, any preferences?" He asked trying his best at a smile but it came of like it was forced. Now that she was all freshened up she was starting to resemble the Max he knew and loved.
Max looked up at this man that was trying his best to help her but she wasn't ready to deal at the moment, "Actually I was gonna take a nap", she said lying back and rolled to face the wall instead of Logan. She just prayed that even though she was pushing him away now he would stick around for when she was ready to tell him everything.
Logan decided to leave her to it so went back to his workstation.
-
Max shot up in bed automatically scanning the room until it clicked that she was no longer at Manticore. The room she was in had a warm feel about it, something Manticore had never given her. After a quick recovery of her memories of the last few days events she relaxed slightly as the pain returned to her injured limbs. She could feel a sharp pain pushing against her lungs on the right side, she soon concluded that it must be due to a few broken ribs, it was hard to pin point. Her whole body felt heavy and exhausted, it was a struggle for this genetically engineered killing machine to barely lift the covers from off of her before swinging her legs round to the side of the bed.
Bracing herself steady on the edge of the mattress, she pushed off, stumbling a little to regain her balance. Max felt like, she had been hit by a truck, then the driver had backed up to finish the job off. She looked down to see that she was dressed in a lose pair of her combats and one of Logan's shirts with the sleeves dangling down past her hands. As a sudden shiver took over her body causing her to wrap her arms around herself in an attempt to warm up a little.
She scanned the room again, this time realizing it was Logan's bedroom and noticing over on the chair in the corner of the room was one of Logan's old sweatshirts, which had been thrown haphazard over the arm. She silently staggered across the room retrieving the garment and sliding it gently over her head in order to not cause any more harm to the injures she already had. Max wrapped her arms around her body breathing in a shaky breath. She could smell Logan all over the item of clothing. This reassuring sent warmed her throughout, finally allowing all the memories of the past three months to drift away to the back of her mind.
How much she would love to erase those torturous memories from her head all together, the cold hard truth about it was that she knew that would never happen. She knew Manticore had ways of making your life hell but those last few months had been the worst she had ever experienced, because this time she had people she cared deeply about and they did everything they could to use that fact against her.
As all these thoughts were clouding her mind, she was unaware of the seizure that was building up inside her. She felt her head go dizzy and grabbed the chair as her body started to shake uncontrollably. Her legs gave way beneath her as she fell into the chair, her head now between her legs trying to get some oxygen into her blood, so that she'd have the energy to stand. As the seizure gradually subsided she stood up and made her way to the door.
Max's ears picked up on the light sound of tapping on a keyboard, as she wondered how long had she been asleep. She ambled towards the sound, bracing her hand against the wall, she still felt weak on her feet, and she hadn't eaten in weeks the thought of food made her hungry as a grumble escaped her stomach. When she got to the room she stood a few feet away from Logan, he hadn't noticed her approach and he seemed busy typing at his computer.
Max's eyes drifted over his body, his hair had grown and wasn't spiked up like he used to wear it before she was taken back to Manticore. He looked as if he had lost weight, resulting from not eating properly, the worry for Max had consumed his whole life and the simplest tasks like eating he had forgotten about. There was a bottle of whisky that rested on the edge of the table, over half the content had gone. Max felt guilty as if she had caused all this pain, physical and mental. But truthfully all this lead back to Manticore, why couldn't they just leave her alone.
Max's attention was drawn to a mark on Logan's wrist, there was a purple discolouration on his skin resembling a bruise. Soon Max realised that it must have been from when she had grabbed his hand from touching her. She hadn't meant to do it, and defiantly not to harm Logan. Max could feel her eyes welling up and her vision going blurry from the tears about to fall. She didn't want Logan seeing her like this so she made her way round the room towards the kitchen. Her head still hurt and her hand was shaking from the seizure about to take over her body. She needed some Tryptophan, if not some milk to tide her over until she found the energy to make it back to the bathroom, she knew Logan had a stash encase of emergency. Then she thought what if he had thrown it, he did think she was dead after all, why would he have needed it now.
Max opened the fridge door on arriving in the kitchen, and started pouring a glass of milk. She could see her hand shaking even more by now, No not now, she thought placing the carton back on the surface. Max grabbed the work surface for stability but it was too late as the shakes took over her body, she knocked the glass to the floor, shattering and sending milk flying across the polished wooden floor. Max tied her hardest to stay standing but the seizure was worse than normal and her body was still weak from all that had happened recently. Her head felt like it was in a clamp and being tightened by the second, the pressure was making her sight blur as everything yet again went black.
Logan was pulled violently out of his thought by a crash coming from the kitchen, he peeked his head round the division to see Max shaking on the floor. He jumped up and ran to her side lifting her into his arms and carrying her back to the bedroom so that she couldn't hurt herself on the broken glass. After placing her on the bed he rushed into the master bathroom, flinging open the medicine cabinet and grabbing the closest bottle of Tryptophan he could find.
He propped Max up with his arms as he gentle shock her to make her open her eyes. "Max…open your eyes…Max, come on you have to wake up now", he pleaded. Her shaking had calmed down significantly, but she was still unconscious. "Max…please open your eyes", he begged again stroking the hair out of her face.
Max bit by bit opened her eyes looking up at Logan, "You have to take these Max", Logan said gesturing with the pills in his hand. As Max opened her mouth he popped them in brushing his fingers over her full lips before closing her mouth. He waited to see her swallow them before he could relax a little at knowing he had done all he could. He could see her breathing slow down to a normal pace, and he couldn't hold himself back from hugging her close.
"Logan, I can't breath"
Logan stopped and pulled back so he could look her in the face, "What's wrong?" Logan said searching for an answer.
Max looked at this caring man before her and wondered to herself, what she had done to deserve him. "I couldn't breath, you were holding me too tight", Max repeated.
Logan smiled after hearing Max speak for the first time properly since she came back, this was the Max he remembered the one with the witty comments. Even though she looked different and her eyes were missing the sparkle they usually had, he knew she was still in there somewhere. He was trying his hardest to hold back the tears.
"Your not gonna cry on me, are yah?" Max smiled up at him.
Logan returned the smile as best he could.
"Finally, I was starting to wonder when I was gonna see those pearly whites again". Logan thought, trust Max to come out with something like that at this moment, his smile spread from cheek to cheek at having Max back. "Good cause I'm staving, and if I remember correctly you're one hell of a cook", Max raised an eyebrow as her stomach almost on cue rumbled to prove her point.
Logan got up from his seat on the edge of the bed, "Sure Max I'll get you whatever you command".
"Oh really…" Max said smiling at the thought, "…you're gonna regret saying that".
A/N: Ok I hope you liked, please review so I knew if it's worth continuing at all. I know it's been done before but I promise I have a spin on the story in mind. I will be posting another chapter for "Created to Kill" very soon. Thank you for reading!