AN: We want to thank all who read and reviewed, especially Dutch, Mari83, charmichael5, brina2468, nattylovesu, and Alan Grey for their insightful comments and support.

Also, one reader brought up the issue of the use of profanity on this story: while it won't reach the level that's usually found on my stories, we do have a teenager testing her boundaries, so it's apt to get a little messy. Rest assured, it wont get too far, though. :)

Disclaimer: Nope, still not ours.

Chapter Three

Logan was still a little dazed by the time he arrived back at the penthouse. The check was burning a hole in his pocket. It was a lot of money...

The ride up seemed longer than usual. Or perhaps it was that he had so many things going around in his head that it seemed that way...regardless, the stress and excitement of the day hit him as soon as he stood in front of his door, keys poised. He let out a long tired sigh, and leaned against the door. He was so tired.

After last year's run in with Manticore they had gathered a ton of information and research from the facility's mainframe, and one of the things they had discovered was how this new iteration of their old nemesis had funded itself. They had used the last of the X-3 and -4's and some X-7's as guinea pigs, with two main goals in mind: radical gene therapy and the development of a 'super soldier' serum, a targeted retrovirus designed to alter and enhance a regular human after birth, as opposed to genetic manipulation of fertilized eggs. This had made him laugh, but sadly, his Captain America jokes had been completely wasted on his girls..

.On the plus side, the experiments in gene therapy were aimed at the rich and powerful, who as usual, wanted to keep living as long as possible, sparing no cost on their quest for longevity. Max had laughed at that, until she noticed that some of the work was based on Dr. Adriana Vertes; the one that had offered Logan a chance to walk again, almost twenty years before. They read the research carefully, and finally found what they were looking for to get Logan on his feet again. It had taken Logan almost a year to get together the necessary equipment and money, but with Sebastian's help he managed, and three months later he had received the first treatment in order to walk again.

It had been hard. Hard, long and painful.

A few times he had almost given up, but Max and Evie kept him going, kept him strong. They didn't need him to walk, he didn't need to walk. It had been years since he had thought about it. Logan didn't need his legs to be a man, to be a father, to make love to Max. If he had to, he could use the exo. But it would be a lie to say that he didn't want to try it. He didn't need to walk. But he sure as hell wouldn't mind being able to do so.

These days he could move around on his own for a while, and using the Exo actually helped him develop his legs and lower back muscles again. He had not worn the exo to his reunion with Bennet, however. He really didn't want to let it be known that he had it, and he would be on his own two feet in a couple more months, anyway...

Now all he had to do was to break the news to Max. To tell her about this fat check that was tugging on his pants, about his absurd, yet flattering offer from Bennet, everything. That was not going to be fun...

Logan opened the door carefully, as if Max wouldn't hear it, and entered the apartment, walking distractedly towards his thinking spot by the window.

And then he came face to face with Max, standing in his way. She had her arms crossed, deep brown eyes narrowed in a mixed expression of fiery annoyance and suspicion that he had come to dread. Logan saw that she held Bennet's letter crumpled inside one strong fist. Even in her fieriness, Logan still couldn't stop thinking about how amazing she looked. How hot she was when she got angry. Then, Logan remembered again, how pissed she was…

"Logan. Tell me, oh love of my life, father of my child, when were you planning on letting me in on the news?"

'Oh, crap...'

***

Max had been restless since Ben's birthday.

The days that followed were hard on her. On Logan too, of course, but he had other things to occupy his mind. She on the other hand...Since Evie was born she had devoted most of her time to her and Logan. She'd done the occasional Eyes Only job, of course, but Logan had cut back a lot since then, and most of his work was related to Manticore. On staying one step ahead of them, to be precise. But after taking down the facility last year, and with Evie going all teenager on her she'd had way too much time on her hands. It wasn't boredom, not exactly. And she didn't love her family any less, but they just didn't need her as much. She was just restless.

So when she started thinking about Jam Pony and maybe paying them a visit, she decided enough was enough. She would get a job.

'As if it would be that easy...'

Max soon found out that she was either overqualified or didn't have the necessary skills; at least, she couldn't prove she had them. It would've been all too easy to just have Logan make her a new identity, but she wanted to do this on her own, and more importantly, in her own terms. She wanted to get a job by herself, on her own merits. So she spent many hours searching online for the perfect job.

It was during one of her long, sleepless nights in Logan's office that she came by a report on Cale Industries first year's earnings after the government gave control back to the family. She had known about the trial and it's importance, of course, but since Logan didn't mention it she decided to let him be. It's not like they were strapped for cash or anything. But according to the report the company had made an obscene amount of money, citing 'Foreign Investments' as their main revenue source. That didn't sound too good. Max kept quiet, and tried to let it go, but the cat in her just couldn't help herself for long. She eventually decided to snoop around Logan's files a bit, see if he was onto something. She didn't think it could do anyone harm…

That's when she found the letters.

Letters!?

There where about a dozen of them, evenly spaced over the last two years. The first ones were just reports on the status of the lawsuit, but then she found the one that informed Logan of the verdict on their favor, and another confirming that he was again in control of a substantial amount of C.I. stock. Apparently Logan not only had recovered his original portfolio, but it seemed that Jonas had been screwing him up: he had paid Logan less money than he should've, and had abused his nephew's trust by using Logan's shares to consolidate his position as CEO. It turned out that Logan had the same amount of controlling stock that Jonas did. Max felt a wave of anger at the man. She wished the prick hadn't been dead for twenty years so she could hunt him down and kick his ass.

Then she got to Bennet's letter, and she knew why Logan had been so distant the last couple of days. On a hunch, she went to the bedroom and checked the closet. First she noticed the suit that Logan wasn't fond of was gone, and the exo sat on its stand, clearly unused.

So he had gone to see his little cousin, to get back his money. And he had not seen fit to mention any of that to her. It brought her anger and betrayal; she was so going to kick his ass!!!

'Well...it's a nice ass, maybe I'll just make him squirm. But he's not getting any for at least a month!'

As she was contemplating fiendish ways to make him pay, she heard the elevator open up on their floor. She was waiting for him…

***

Logan stared back at her, caught completely off guard by her intimidating presence. Max was not one to waste any tactical advantage.

"Logan? I asked you a question, dear. Care to tell me why I didn't hear anything about this?" She shook the crumpled piece of paper in her hand, "Or why you're running around the city alone, without the exo? WELL?"

Logan flinched at her tone. While he knew she loved him, and would never physically hurt him, he had developed a healthy respect for her temper. He'd seen her moody, pissed and flat-out angry, but the look she was giving him was usually reserved for Sector Cops eyeing her baby... and Alec. Knowing he was one wrong word away from sleeping on the couch for the next month, he did the only thing that came to mind…

He gave her the check.

Max's expression turned instantly to one of surprise, then amazement. Her posture relaxed a bit, and Logan finally breathed in relief. Maybe he would be able to talk his way out of this one.

"Logan?"

"Yeah?"

"Would you like to explain to me why you have a check for fifteen million dollars?"

Logan's shoulders slumped in defeat. He should've known better...

***

"Oh Fuck!" Gage yelled above the oncoming sirens. His black eyes frantically searched for an escape, but to him it looked as if there were none. He crouched quickly, ducking away from the windows; it made them all more vulnerable if they were visible. He motioned to Greta and Dallas to follow his lead. The only ones still standing were EJ and Hal. They were frozen shitless.

"Shit, shit, shit!" Hal roared as he grabbed at his hair, tugging on it, attempting to release his fury. He was scared and Evie could tell that, because she was scared too. She knew they shouldn't have gone and tried to rob from this shop. But they all insisted that they'd slip in and out without a worry…

"What do we do!?" Greta wheezed, from the corner. She gripped onto Gage with a deathly clutch. She obviously hadn't been caught like this before. Her face was pale and sickly.

"I don't know! We just have to get out! I can't get caught! I just can't!" Hal punched his fists together, a common thing he did to get his mind working. His green eyes turned to Evie; his plead for help in his eyes caused Evie's blood to run pure ice. She was on the spot instantly.

"Uh…" She began, her voice barley audible above the oncoming sirens and the shop alarm. Every second the cops grew closer. She breathed in quickly and snapped out of her frozen fear. She tapped into her transgenic abilities, eyeing the room in the dark for anything useful or easy to escape out of. She followed the perimeter of the walls, tracing over the cases filled with expensive high-end jewelry, looking for a door or anything that could help them escape. Nobody else in that room with her could do such things.

"Dammit! Hurry, do something!" Dallas shrieked as the flashing lights of cop cars became visible around the corner of the street.

Hal forcefully pushed him against the wall, his strong arm pinned under the kid's neck. "Shut up! Shut up! What do you think we're doing, fuck head!? 'Sides this is your fault!" Gage pulled them apart quickly before matters got worse.

That's when Evie saw it. "Hey! Yo!" They all clambered and yelled at one another over her. She tried louder, "Hey! SHUT UP!"

They silenced instantly. All eyes were on her. Each petrified and begging pair of eyes stared her down, waiting.

"What EJ!?" Gage begged.

"Look! I know a way for us to get out, but we all need to help one another in order to escape unscathed." The lights of their enemies flickered against the shop's windows. They all tensed and nodded. Evie took off towards the back of the room, pushing all chairs and displays out of her way. That's when her conscience kicked in. "Wait!" She twisted her direction quickly, facing all of her frantic crew.

"Put everything we stole back right now. We're already in it deep!" She began to pull out lengths and lengths of necklaces out of her pockets.

They began to follow her lead, all except for Hal. She noticed that he pretended to pull out his stolen goods in the dark. She knew that nobody could see that except for her in this pitch, black room. She didn't bother wasting precious minutes to argue with him, for the cops were coming too damn fast. Her hyper sensitive ears heard them slamming their doors 258 yards away, she estimated.

'Oh shit…'

"Alright!" She started forward again, expertly dodging all obstacles in her path, while the five others behind her, blindly bashed into anything in front of them. They couldn't see anything. Good thing Evie could.

She reached what she needed; a large, almost conveniently large air vent. It was perfect for escaping teenagers. Evie pulled a chair over to the vent and stood on it.

"What are you doing!? How is this going to work!? We're so dead!" Dallas whined from behind Evie. She felt his nerves, and she felt her own.

'I'm so dead…so dead. If Mom and Dad find out about this…oh my good god, I'm so dead…'

Her fingers traced over the vent, instantly memorizing it. She found three central weak spots in the metal of the caged vent.

"EJ, how are we gunna get this open? We have no metal cutter or even a screwdriver!? Nobody can get this op-,"

That's when the first violent pop of the metal was heard. Evie pulled harder, and another satisfactory rip was sudden.

"Holy… are you pulling off that fucking thing!?" Gage whispered, completely appalled.

Another grunt and another pop. The cage cover suddenly flopped over in her hands. Evie sighed, and let it dangle from the wall, now being held on by only one industrial strength nail.

"Hell no!" She shouted, loud enough for everyone to hear. Even though in truth, she had with her bare hands. Evie estimated the height of the vent, about eleven feet. "Hey Greta get your ass over here, we'll heave you up!"

Evie instantly felt Greta's elbow to the eye while she cascaded through everyone. The girl was so scared to save her own ass that she was throwing limbs every which way. Evie and Hal lifted her up easily. Then came frantic Dallas, he was more of a piece of weight. They lifted him to safety.

Evie's ears cocked towards the danger outside. They were on the sidewalk now, their heavy boots stomping the pavement. She heard a police communication radio go off 50 yards away, its buzzing turning into a voice,

"Estimated five to six, possibly armed robbers. Hesitation to fire is not an option."

She felt her precious breath jam inside of her throat. They were so much closer now; she dreaded that there wouldn't be enough time. If all of them were able to travel to the outside air source, which would only be about ten feet, then they could easily escape into the alleys they knew so well. They'd get away with it…But somewhere, something told her that wasn't gunna happen…

Gage heaved himself into the vent, looking back at Evie for a stalled second. The glance was of pure gratitude and fear, his eyes full of apprehension. He knew she pulled that vent off with her bare hands…

Evie heard the police footsteps stop in front of the shop, the alternating red and blue lights lighting up the black room every five seconds. The light hadn't reached the farthest back corner yet. That's when she heard the horrible sound of guns cocking, approximately five of them. She hadn't a clue to the type, she was good but she wasn't her Mother. She knew that her Mom would know what type, the brand of the weapon, the bullets that packed it, everything; just by hearing one simple gun cock. And at this exact moment there was nothing she had wanted more than to be rescued by her, to be held by her. She wanted her Mommy more than she's ever had in the past year…and it scared the hell out of her.

She felt Hal's desperately clamber up into the vent. He pushed her aside as he blundered by, causing her perfect balance to go strangely awry. Evie tumbled back into the glass shards left from the display cases, each sharp flute creating its own painful incision on her hands and arms. But still, Evie was too frightened to really object and scramble to safety like the others. She also waited behind; making sure the crew had climbed into safety. But that's when the doors were shot down by the cops.

The bullets blasted into the glass windowed walls, shattering millions of shard in all directions. She could hear each sparkle and chunk that tinkled onto the cemented floor. It was a symphony all at once, it mesmerized her, and it scared her. She hadn't moved from her guard. The symphony ended its display, and Evie ended her cowardice.

She could see five guns all pointed into the store. Five officers, obviously tangled with a type of sector police, were decked out in the common militia gear. The slender black guns had a blinding flashlight atop each barrel, all sweeping the store for a culprit. They swooped their lights over the shards of glass, the broken jewelry cases, and the medium sized displays. Evie crouched in the corner cradling her right arm. The hot blood dripped along her fingers, she pinched her eyes shut in ultimate dismay and regret, not so much pain.

'This is the end…I love you Mommy and Daddy. I'm so sorry for acting this way…If I could only get out of this…'

She felt thick, hot tears dribble down both of her dirty cheeks. She couldn't get out of this… and she knew it. She wished that she could be five again and in the arms of both of her loving parents.

'If it was only that easy…'

More tears raced along the pained planes of her face. A flashlight raced over her quickly, and then dispersed away. Out of natural instinct, she twisted her body up, still clenching her bloodied arm to the right side of her body. Just as she fully turned to face the frightening militia armed men at the front of the store, she felt it; right in the middle of her vulnerable chest.

She collapsed to the floor gasping for air, and colors swirled in front of her discombobulated eyes. Her body was impossibly heavy, the pain radiated everywhere.

"Sorry…" That's when her esophagus suized up and her eyes closed shut.

'I hope they got out ok…'

And that was Eva Jace Guevara's last thought before the blackness engulfed her into oblivion.

TBC

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