A/N:Fabulous news: I'm betead now. A very big thank you to jgrisham for her wonderful work!

All remaining mistakes are mine, evidently.

Thank you to all people who took the time to review (all your comments are very appreciated), and to all people who still read.

Lydecker's Perfidy

Chapter 4: Evolution

Two hours later, Bling woke up startled by his pager and was in his car within five minutes. While he was on his way to the hospital, he concentrated to keep his fears, which was knocking and yelling at the meticulously closed door in his mind to invade his thoughts, away. Dressing mentally the list of steps he will have to go through, he kept repeating to himself that Martin Cage will need a therapist in total control of his own fears. These kinds of emergencies were the reasons he had always worked on this mental discipline he had learned a long time ago.

When he reached his patient's room, Bling knew it would be another long and tough day. The true meaning of his paralysis had finally sunk in and he was overwhelmed by the implications that this would imply. The nurses were overtaken by his deep depression and Dr Carr had to increase once more his medication. The guy was totally out of control; crying, shouting, even yelling.

In the middle of the morning, once the medication had started to calm the patient, Bling left him with the nurse and made his way to the nearest phone. Logan's answering machine caught his message announcing he would have to cancel his visit. After he hung up, a familiar thought came up suddenly: some day, Logan will have to go through that too. And the more he'll postponed it, the worse it will be.

At the very end of the day, Bling, Dr Carr and every nurse had managed to bring Martin from the edge. All of them nearly exhausted.

The morning after, Bling stopped by Normal's desk and waited for Max's boss to finish his last tentative, to hurry up his employees and get them to work, he threw a glance over a crowd of young bickers, without finding who he was looking for.

As Normal stopped yelling and started to throw packages towards the closest one, he had to quickly move back to avoid one of them. His handsome features hardening a bit, Bling moved straight in front of Normal in attempt to get his attention.

" Yes sir, may I help you?" Normal greeted him with a particularly licking inflexion he hadn't used when he was howling seconds earlier. Bling managed to hide a small smirk at this behavior.

"I'm looking for Max." Bling articulated briefly.

The look of annoyance on Max's boss's face revealed that it was the less pleasant part of his responsibilities and his unkindly answer proved it.

"Make yourself at home, and if you find her, tell her that I have lots of urgent packages here waiting for her good will."

Normal took a look on the building muscles of the man in front of him and, in a second thought, he motioned a hand towards a bench lying in between the lockers.

"Usually, when she delights us by her presence, she lays there idly chattering and trading jokes with all the others, not bothering to earn their pay; just waiting as if some little wings could grow on the packages allowing them to fly towards their respective destination by themselves!" Normal couldn't help being ironical while he was imitating the frantic flapping movements of these small wings, his arms stuck alongside his body and his hands beside his shoulders.

"Have you not seen her yet this morning?" Bling insisted again, ignoring his wit.

Normal made a show to look at his watch and then at Bling with a stunned expression.

"So early? It would have been such an event that would have caused me to inquire about her health" muttered Normal as, like he was driven by an intuition, he suddenly looked at the entrance and added sweetly:

"Max! What a great pleasure to see you, everything all right for you? I'm worried."

Max stopped at the middle of her way in, her eyes locked on Bling, fear obvious on her face. Bling remembered the last time he had come to see her at the Crash and that he had to face this same fearful look.

"He's alright" he smiled to her, knowing that he ought to reassure her hastily.

The relief drove out the scared expression of her face and with a mischievous smile she brought her glance on her boss.

"Normal, I'm on break." She spattered to him provocatively, earning only a despaired shaking of shoulders followed by some muted words she didn't bother to listen.

"What's up, Bling?" she asked to the trainer where he came to meet her, with a small nod toward Normal.

"Can we go out and talk?"

"Yep, no problem." She agreed and turning on her heels, she preceded him through the exit.

Once there, she rested her back on the outside wall of the building, folding her arms, and with an inquired glance, stared at him silently.

"Look Max, " started Bling, actually finding it harder than he would have thought, "Something happened between you and Logan. I was thinking we should talk about it. Maybe I could help in some manner."

"Why?" she opposed, no longer rested on the wall, but now standing on both feet, ready to run. "It's alright, nothing to worry about"

"Max, " Bling tried again, hardly keeping an aired tone "you can't dismiss that both of you are in a kind of situation."

"Don't see."

"You were almost shocked when I saw you at the penthouse last time. I just can't stand along without trying to help to sort it all."

An undefined expression grew on her eyes, while Max was replaying in her mind the last time she had met Logan. She had called him to verify some information and he had told her to stop by. While she were there, he had seemed a bit less nervous, but when she had tentatively asked to go with him to see his uncle, he had retreated behind his walls so quickly that she had been incapable of restraining herself to tease him. She had spoken about this man who followed her. As she had expected, he fell in her trap drifted by his concern for her. She had been able to test his improved assurance… and he failed. His stunned look when she had said that she would kill the guy – and his bemused silence – had been an irrefutable proof.

"Logan is okay. He's not scared anymore." She resumed to Bling.

"So, this is good news." Bling stated, not really sure it was.

"Yeah… If I put aside the fact that, now, Eyes-only is on his 'track down' mode." She spilled sadly.

Bling didn't stop Max when she left. He did understand, who could escaped from Eyes-Only…