New World (Dis)Order
Disclaimer: Again, don't own don't sue.
A/N (1): I am going to try and add a tiny bit of Max into this chapter but I am not sure how much, Don't worry Dark Angel fans she will soon play an important part. However in this fic she will be more a recurring character than a main feature. Imagine her like the other X5s were, they weren't there much but they were talked about and when they did show up they were the main focus of the episodes or actually Asher may be a better example. For you non-Dark Angel watchers that is like Jeanne, Hollis Mann or Paula Cassidy... or Ari.
A/N (2): Also this is still set between Flushed and the following episode of Dark Angel. The DA episodes will play a big role in the progression of this story.
A/N (3): This chapter goes out to my fellow NCIS tweeps who read my rants about this chapter and helped me get through it, I definitely would have gone insane without you guys! THANK YOU!
A/N (4): References to (so possible spoilers for) NCIS episodes: 6x25 Aliyah,
Chapter 4: Blast From The Past
It was late by the time Logan, as well as his new companion Bert, arrived back at Fogle Towers. Normally he would have jumped straight back into Eyes-Only mode and worked the remainder of the night but his visit to the McGee's had been tough on him and it had left him drained emotionally, causing a sudden onset of exhaustion. The exhaustion had hit so quickly and unexpectedly that on the drive back he had almost fallen asleep at the wheel. Luckily for him years of pulling all-nighters on cases, both in his new life and his old one, had given him enough staying power to make it home in one piece, or at least in the same condition he was when he left.
In a rare occurrence for the journalist he fell asleep as soon as his head hit the pillow. Despite all that went on earlier in the evening his sleep was surprisingly uneventful. If he dreamt it didn't stay with him afterwards.
When he awoke the next morning he had no recollection of having gotten into bed, or even changing, and he had no clue what had woken him up. Laying in bed, eyes still closed, listening for some clue as to what aroused him from his slumber, Logan almost jumped out of his skin when he heard the familiar farting sound. Forcing his eyes open and scrambling for the much needed glasses that lay on the bedside table to his right, he was shocked to see Bling seated in his wheelchair beside the bed, a humorous grin on his face. In his two massive hands he clutched Abby's stuffed friend.
"I see sleeping beauty has finally come too!" The man in the bed just rolled his eyes as Bling gave off a chuckle. Turning to look at the clock on his bedside drawers Logan was shocked to see that it was almost half past eleven in the morning.
"Why didn't you wake me sooner? Weren't we supposed to start at seven-thirty? You must have other people you need to see..." with a second chuckle from the other man Logan began to get frustrated. Pulling himself up from the bed he gave Bling a glare to rival that of someone he wanted to forget.
"Don't worry about anyone else for once in your life Logan. I came in earlier, you were a sleep so I reorganised my morning a bit. No one else minded and I don't think I have ever seen you sleep in since I met you." As Bling stood to let a more awake and alert Logan transfer out of bed his face became serious "In fact, I don't think I have ever seen you sleep full stop. You do realise sleeping helps aid the healing process, don't you?"
Logan rubbed his eyes under his glasses and moved to get his sweats ready for his session with the PT. "Of course I do... I do sleep you know Bling, not as much as the average person but I never have. Sometimes there just isn't enough time... and no I don't need a lecture."
"No rest for the saviour of the not-so-free world" Bling's sarcasm couldn't cover his concern for his friend but this time he let it slide, knowing Logan like he did, there would be enough chances to lecture him in the future. "You got five minutes to do what you have to do then you have to get to work." Without another word the ex Navy seal turned and left the room. Working up the energy to change Logan rubbed his eyes again, despite his extra long sleep he still felt exhausted. He also couldn't deny the gnawing feeling in his gut that it was going to be a long day, one he should have skipped by staying in bed asleep.
They had worked for a solid hour, only stopping when Bling had realised that Logan hadn't eaten anything all day. The pair sat down and ate lunch together, it wasn't anything that would have wowed a certain young lady, but what could one expect from a salad sandwich, and he knew Bling didn't care either way just as long as it was healthy and the other man ate something. When they had finished Bling went around tidying up the equipment in room now designated as the personal gym while Logan had seated himself comfortably on the dark leather couch by his favourite window, fingers flying away at the keys of his laptop.
That was how the two of them were when the call came in, Bling being closer picked up the phone and listened to the voice on the other end.
"Logan, apparently there is an older guy down stairs asking to come up and talk to you... Tom in security says that this guy told him you and he went way back and it seems as though he is not going away until he sees you..." Bling was obviously confused as to who the man downstairs could be, there were only two people who came to visit Logan and he was one of them, the other certainly wasn't older and definitely not a male. He could see Logan was also confused for a moment but the look didn't last long as it was quickly replaced by a growing redness in his cheeks.
"Ask Tom if the guy has silvery white hair, possibly a tan and a bizarre looking beard or a moustache, one that seems to lull people into a false sense of security...Oh and a glare that could not only melt ice but could possibly kill a man." Logan knew in the pit of his gut who the man was, the timing fit perfectly. It also explained the churning feeling he had gotten earlier that day.
Bling relayed the information, or at least an edited version of the information, to the afternoon shift guard and turned toward Logan, his confused look growing. "Tom says that's him to a tee. You want to let him up?"
The question was at first greeted with silence. Logan's face growing an angrier shade of red and knuckles turning white as he gripped the side of the laptop. Bling wasn't sure whether the emotions playing out in front of him were through anger, embarrassment or a mixture of the two, whatever it was, he had never seen the normally emotionally closed man look so animated.
"Logan?"
The man in question let out a frustrated and defeated sigh, he definitely wasn't ready for this but he couldn't escape it. One way or another, the man downstairs would find a way into the penthouse. There really was no avoiding the inevitable.
"Yeah Bling, tell Tom to send him up." at that moment he was wishing he could just get up and runaway to avoid the confrontation that was about to happen. That was when Logan turned his head to look out the window and noticed it. "Bling before he gets up here I need you to do me a couple of things..."
The taller man gave him an inquiring look but nodded anyway "Sure..."
"I need you to close and lock the doors to both the computer room and the workout room, this guy is not to see into either of them."
"Ok, but who is this supposed old friend?" his question was ignored as apparently Logan had not finished speaking.
"I also need you to take my chair and lock it in one of the other rooms..."
"You can't hide from the fact you're in a wheelchair Logan, it's taking a giant step back in your progress and you have come so far in such a short time to let that happen."
"Please Bling..." Even though he didn't agree with hiding away something that couldn't and shouldn't be ignored, the pleading tone and the desperation in his friends eyes was another new side of Cale which he hadn't been privy to before. Something in the two combined made it impossible to refuse and Bling silently went about putting the wheelchair in the computer room and locking all four doors that accessed the two rooms.
Whoever this guy was, he must have been important enough for Logan to hide his true life from. Bling could understand him hiding away the Eyes-Only stuff but hiding his physical condition threw him a bit.
It was moments like these that Bling had to wonder whether he truly knew Logan Cale or not. He'd been there throughout the broken man's recovery and rehabilitation and had seen a myriad of emotions, from frustration to pain, but the man who was before him today was someone completely foreign to him.
Just as he was locking the last door he heard the elevator arrive at Logan's level and was shocked when he opened the massive wooden door to see a man that fit Logan's description perfectly. There dressed in beige khakis and a short sleeved brown polo, was an oddly tanned, silver haired, bushy bearded older man with a glare of death. Bling also noticed that the man didn't appear to have time for pleasantries.
"He in here?" the gruffness of the tone was one not to be messed with. Bling remained silent as he lead the stranger to the lounge where Logan was seated.
As soon as they stepped into the room the tension between Logan and the older stranger was obvious. Both were currently taking part in a staring contest and Bling, the odd man out, could sense the was a history between the two that was more than a little bit complicated. Bling wasn't a man that often got uncomfortable but standing there, in awkward silence so thick it was suffocating, he felt the need to clear his throat to snap the two silent men out of there death glare match before one of the penetrating stares actually killed. "Ahem..."
It took only a second before Logan responded "Sorry Bling, this here is the one and only, formerly legendary, Leroy Jethro Gibbs..." Gibbs' death glare grew, whether it was at the use of his full name or the snide tone in which Logan had said "formerly legendary" the PT wasn't sure. However neither man refused to break the gaze. "Jethro, this is Bling my..." he was unsure of how to continue and Bling could see the slight fear that flashed in his friend's eyes. Gibbs must have seen it too because his brow furrowed in confusion.
Bling knew that Cale would be uncomfortable saying that he was the physical therapist hired to help him keep his body in shape after loosing the ability to walk, after all he had hidden the evidence away from the visitor's sight, so he stepped in. "Friend. I'm Bling, Logan's friend." he had offered his hand in greeting to the other man but was brushed off with the slightest hint of a nod. "Okay then... I think I will leave you two to it. Logan, I'm just going to head to the market quickly, anything you need?"
"Ah, yeah, there's a list on the kitchen counter... thanks Bling" The appreciation was evident in the journalists voice and the taller man gave a little smile and left in hurried silence. Bling had a feeling one of them was about to explode and he didn't particularly want to be there when it happened.
Gibbs stayed silent as he watched Bling exit the penthouse, making sure the door was fully closed before starting. It didn't take a genius to guess the older man was annoyed, however even if he hadn't been the only other person in the room Logan still would have been the only one to pick up the underlying curiosity and something barely there, 'Is that concern?' the bespectacled man wondered 'Impossible he didn't give a damn 10 years ago, why now?'.
"You want to tell me why I received a damn phone call from a certain forensic scientist, who was in tears the whole time, saying I needed to catch the next Red Eye to Seattle because a Logan Cale needed me here?" Even though it had been a long ten years since they had last seen each other Gibbs got straight to the point and Logan couldn't help but wonder what right the older man had to be pissed when he was the one that split.
"I don't know, did you ask her? Maybe she was in tears the whole time because you abandoned her about ten years ago without so much as a goodbye. Oh and by the way she is no longer a forensic scientist for a living, she's a high school science teacher... but of course you wouldn't know that because you didn't once bother to pick up a pen or phone in a hundred and twenty or so months since you split." there was such a vehemence in the calm way he verbally attacked Gibbs that the older man was sure his once senior field agent would leap off the couch at any minute and physically attack him.
"Oh don't give me that bullshit DiNozzo, Abby called me for a reason and I want to know what it has to do with you and why now?" Gibbs always had a pretty short fuse but this was beyond anything Logan had ever seen before. "And also I would like to know why the hell everyone keeps calling you Logan Cale?"
"You know, you can't just show up here and demand answers, you gave up any rights to that when you took off..." his voice was still eerily calm "and I'm not some perp that you can interrogate with a stare. It doesn't work any more, you might have had some power over me once but guess what Jethro, I'm not scared of you now." The two men were still locked in an epic stare down, it seemed Logan had won though when his opponent's frustration got the best of him and he broke away and began to pace. "But to answer you one question, they call me Logan Cale because that's my name, or it should've been. You know Cale being my mother's maiden name and Logan being the name she would have called me had my bastard of a father not insisted on having a mini replica of himself as an heir."
The pacing man paused for a moment looking over his shoulder towards the couch. He had known Tony, or the man that used to be Tony, was pissed at him but he was surprised that it took the mention of his father for his voice to raise to an angry level. He was even more surprised at the fact DiNozzo Sr. had been brought up at all, let alone so soon. Gibbs watched as the younger man shook the last comment off and returned to the way he was only moments before.
"What I want to know is why did you come here now Jethro, why not say a month after you left and Tim and I were the only ones remaining on the MCRT, drowning in work and cases trying to deal with the fallout of the Pulse?" he closed his laptop and folded his hand together on top of it, he could see that it annoyed Gibbs immensely that he was beating the older man at a game that he had taught him back when he was Special Agent DiNozzo. The stare down was something Gibbs had once come to expect, but back then the Italian would have been right up in his face, trying to restrain himself from throwing any punches.
'Surprised he hasn't mentioned the second secret Abby promised she would keep...' that thought struck Logan as rather odd, Gibbs hadn't mentioned a word about knowing that his ex Senior Field Agent was paralysed from the waist down. He couldn't help but hope he could get through this confrontation without him finding out at all.
"Don't give me some bullshit about it being because Abby was crying either. I'm sure you knew all those years ago that the moment you walked away from NCIS she would be inconsolable, I bet that's what got you through those hot Mexican days was the fact that you had that much power over someone's emotions."
He didn't think it was possible but Gibbs' face grew an uglier shade of red as he stopped pacing and returned to the staring match; disgust, anger, hurt and fury all boiling up inside of the cold blue eyes. When he started to speak Gibbs' tone held the same calm level as Logan's but the ferociousness was equal to a wild, rabid animal.
"I don't know why in the hell I came here! What I do know is that I am disappointed and sickened at the way you turned out DiNozzo! Not once in all the years I knew you did I ever imagine you would become a spoiled rich kid living off of his family's money, doing nothing but sitting on your ass all day while you send the hired help out to do your shopping. There are people out there who could use your help and knowledge with the crime rate in this state, but yet, here you are, lazing around, not giving a damn about anyone!"
Logan was beginning to get just as angry as Gibbs, he didn't want to admit it but the other man's words could still hurt him like no one else could, not even Bruno Anselmo the man who put him in the wheelchair, and Logan knew what he was saying was nowhere near the truth.
"You really disgust me, sure you're not wearing one of your designer suits but I bet I bet you still have a whole wardrobe full of them that could have paid for the entire city's meals for a year! You may think those glasses and the unshaven, messed up hair look makes you seem like one of them out there but it just makes you look like a trust fund brat! Think of the people down there on the street struggling while you stand in front of the mirror. The man I once knew would not sit around or stand for all this injustice, the man I knew had an abundance of energy when it came to helping those less fortunate, there were nights when he went without sleep just to do what was right."
During Jethro's entire, long winded, rant Logan had sat there seething, trying to contain his emotions. He had no intentions of correcting the false assumptions, and he didn't want to admit that maybe parts of what he said were true, so he just let him believe whatever it was he needed to believe.
"You're right about one thing, I'm not the man you once knew, that man disappeared when you left three months after coming back from Tel Aviv. You say the man I used to be would not just sit idly by while the world went to hell? Well I once knew a man who would stop at nothing for the same things, a man who got so blinded by capturing a terrorist that took three of his people hostage. What the fuck happened to that man huh?" he was surprised that he had been able to conceal his bitterness so well up until that point, his volume only raising a notch or two since earlier. "You know what Tony DiNozzo also would never have done, completely ignored you and kicked you out of his apartment! You'll have to excuse me if I don't get up off of my rich lazy ass to see you out, being a spoiled rich kid sure does take it out of you." his words dripped with sarcasm and he watched his ex boss turn and storm out before the words had fully left Logan's mouth.
Hearing the penthouse door slam with a great deal of force he rubbed the corners of his eyes with his thumb and index finger "and goodbye to you Jethro."
Believing he was alone he was shocked to hear a voice reply to the almost silent and unnecessary farewell that slipped out with his exhaustion.
"Let me guess, Jethro is the angry old dude that flew past me and almost knocked me on ass as I came in?" even though he was glad to see bike messenger as he always was when she popped by unannounced, after the argument he just had, he didn't feel like entertaining the young transgenic.
"Hey Max..."
"I'm gonna say you aren't up for whipping up one of your run of the mill Logan Cale culinary miracles but no big dealio, just thought I would stop by and see how Maria got on yesterday and if you wanted to join OC and me at Crash tonight?" they both knew that wasn't the reason why she had stopped by but he mentally thanked her understanding. It never ceased to amaze him how a young woman who was tortured and raised as a solider could be so compassionate at times.
"Maria's good. As for Crash don't think I'll be able to make it..."
"This got anything to do with Mr. Giggles who just left? Who is he anyway?"
A/N: I love Bling so I needed to include him a bit here and there. He may end up appearing more than Max but who knows.
Also if you follow me on twitter (thetellyho) then you would have already known how much trouble I had writing this chapter and how many times I have already apologised for it. For those who haven't heard it already, I'm sorry if this sucks! The muse and I were barely on speaking terms when this was written.
Thoughts?
