Thanks: Special Thanks to Midnight Calling, who reviewed last chapter. It was my only review so I was very glad you are still reading :). (I think you're also the same Midnight Calling who favorited my story, THANK YOU.)
To the other 2 who added this story to their alerts, thanks for the interest, it would be super nice of you to also leave me a short review ;) Thanks!
A/N: I really didn't think I'd be able to update this week, not with a crazy work week as I've just had, but hey, that's 2 Chapters for this story and another One-Shot fic. I'm amazed.
Max and Alec were walking down the street, on their way to Terminal City.
"So, what's the deal with this place?"
"Used to be a bunch of biotech labs out there, and then when the Pulse hit, the power went down. A few of them lost containment. Some pretty nasty stuff got out."
"Kinda like you and me, huh?"
"The City couldn't afford to clean up the mess, so they just sealed off the area. Nobody goes out here unless they got nowhere else to go and nothing to lose."
"Well, lucky thing they made us immune to your common bio-warfare agents. Hey, speaking of bio-agents, how's that thingy with you and Logan?" Max gave him a murderous look. "I was just asking."
"Don't. What about Lily? What's the deal with her? She really can't fight?"
"Oh, I'm sure she could, she just didn't get a lot of training in that area. There's no question she could defend herself against any human, but she wouldn't stand the shadow of a chance against you or me. Her training was mental, not physical. And seriously Max, if you want details, just ask her."
"I don't trust her, I don't know her and I don't even think I like her. If she's working for Lydecker, she can only be trouble."
"Come on Maxie. She's only listening to him because they both want the same thing right now and that he helped her. Trust me, she is no evil puppet controlled by Lydecker. You really hate him, don't you?"
"Spent 10 years running from the guy, of course I'm not a fan. Although now I almost trust that he wants to keep us safe. But that's not the point. I want to know what her deal is. What does mental training means?"
"Well it means whatever sick psychological training Psyops had. I don't know the details."
"That lab tech creep we met called her a "reader", said a lot of people wanted her back and that they were willing to pay a lot of money for her."
"I really think you need to put aside your little "I don't trust her so I don't like her" attitude and discuss this with her, but to put it simply, she can read minds. Don't panic, I'm not saying she knows every little detail about us, it's more complicated than that. She can read minds, but that doesn't mean she wants to or that she even does. My turn for questions now; what lab creep and what do they want with Lily?"
"Nothing, he just said that people were looking for her and for me. The usual crap, nothing special. Alright we're here, Welcome to Terminal City!"
Alec looked up to a sign that read: "BIOHAZARD - DO NOT ENTER - BY ORDER OF THE CITY OF SEATTLE.
"I can already tell this is going to be fun." He grumbled.
Logan just looked at Lily, trying to slowly get his hand on his gun. He stopped when she let out a crystal laugh.
"I'm so sorry Logan, but you should see your face! I swear, that was a joke. I couldn't resist. Max's questioning got me all tense and I wanted to break the ice. Here, you keep my phone until I leave, if that helps."
Now Logan really didn't know what to make of her. He took her phone and kept it near his gun, out of her reach.
"Again, I'm sorry. Alright, how about I sit down and then you ask me whatever question you can think of? If we're going to work together, I'd really rather you trust me. And to be honest, if you trust me, then it'll get a bit easier with Max for me."
For nearly 2 hours, Logan asked her questions. Could she help with the virus? She didn't think so, unfortunately, but she could try. Did she know where Lydecker was? No. He got really fascinated about her training and what she could do. She had been told that humans would mostly dismiss her abilities, call her a psychic and a fraud. But Logan was genuinely interested and curious. It was great to be able to explain all the nuances, how she could "hear/read" minds yes, but only what he was thinking about right now. And only if she wanted to, that she usually tuned everyone's thoughts out. Feelings and emotions were a different story though, those she would almost physically feel, and there was no way to tune that out. She wasn't really comfortable talking about Psyops though; it was hard for her to explain it.
"All I can tell you was that the other kids, X5s were sent to Psyops as punishment and when they needed to be de-briefed or re-indoctrinated. You know, Paranormal research Division. For me, it was normal, it was what I knew. It was hard, yes, but I didn't know any better. I thought the X5s had it easier, being outside and all together. Turns out, didn't matter if it was mental or physical, torture is still torture and we were just kids. But in a way, for me being an X5 made it all worse, because I longed to be with them, not observe them. You know that they fed us data on all of the X5s? To predict battle behavior and psychological behavior and all that. It's funny how they seemed to forget I was an X5 too, that once, I had been part of that unit and called them family."
"So Manticore made transgenics that can screw with people's heads. Huh. I guess killers weren't enough, they needed spy and psychics as well."
"Yup. Although, I was almost an "accident". They thought I was defective at first, but I turned out to be very useful. But there were others who could do so much more than I can. You got your IT concentrates, Hypnosis, Telepathy, there were even rumors on Telekinesis."
"You almost sound excited about it."
"Well, forget that they try to burn us alive, and look at it from a scientific side, they weren't afraid to experiment, that's for sure. I'm not saying it's a good thing though, but it was certainly different."
"What about Max? If you've been part of her unit, do you consider her your sister or something?"
Lily threw her head back and laughed. "Oh gosh, no. Well, maybe I could describe her as a cousin I've lost contact with or something. I'll tell you a secret Logan, my ability to channel and feel everybody's emotions works against me most of the time. It makes me way too sensitive for my own good. So, with Max, I'm up against her tense defense mechanism and attitude, so all that tension between us, I can never be sure if it's more her or me. We'll have to take it slow, she will get used to me and she will eventually believe that I am not the enemy. And I'll work on my unresolved feelings towards her myself too. Everything will work out in the end."
"That's a very positive attitude, how do you do that? Other X5s I've met were so doom and gloom, so intent on the mission and always being on the move. You're different."
"I'm not a soldier. There lies all the difference. Besides, ever since they escaped, that's all I could ever think about, getting out in the real world too. I've wanted to be free pretty much all my life, might as well make the best I can out of it, otherwise it's just another cage."
Logan looked at his watch and saw that it was getting late. "Wow, time flew by today. How about we get the work out of the way and exchange all the needed information, then we can get back to the conversation?"
"Fine with me." She said as she grabbed her laptop again. "You know what Logan, I really like you. You're… peaceful and focused, I like that a lot. It helps me keep focused too. Alright, let's get to work then."
She grinned at him, happy that she probably made a friend today. She wasn't sure if it was going to make things worse with Max or better. They will have to see. One day at a time.
After they couldn't find any trace of Joshua in Terminal City, Alec and Max went their separate ways. Alec had a fight to get to, and money, and Max was itching to go make sure Logan was ok. So she made her way back to his place and was incredibly relieved to find him at his usual spot, in front of his computer. She smiled. Sometimes, while she was in the room with him and he didn't know, she could almost pretend everything was back to normal. But it was never for long; she was always reminded that they could never be together now. A simple touch from her would be fatal for him. She sighed and knocked softly on the open door of the office. "Hey."
"Hey yourself." He turned around and he smiled at her, happy to see her, relieved she was OK. "How was Terminal City?"
She shrugged. "Still a mess. Dirty, filled with desperate and crazy people. It's kinda sad actually. But no Joshua. Alec had to go and I didn't feel like going in the sewers tonight. I'll go take another look tomorrow if we don't get any other info. Wanna go to Crash? I could use a drink and OC and the others said they'd be there tonight."
Logan looked back at his computer. "How about we have a glass of wine here instead? I got a lot of work to finish. You can go to Crash without me later."
He got up and went to the kitchen, to find them a bottle of wine. She followed in, keeping her distances, and hopped on the counter. Logan filled 2 glasses and they cheered, being careful not to touch. After a couple sips, he grabbed an envelope full of cash and handed to her.
"What the hell is that?"
"The creep called, says that he analyzed the blood sample you gave him. Thinks he's close to a cure."
She widened her eyes, afraid to believe it. "Are you serious?"
"Yup, he wants you to come by tomorrow."
Max took the money and put it in her jacket pocket. "Whether he comes through or not... I'm kicking in for half of this."
"It's okay." Logan couldn't help smiling over his glass of wine.
"I want this too, you know." She said it so softly and so seriously, he couldn't refuse her.
"Get it to me when you can. We have all the time in the world."
They clank their glasses happy, daring to hope it was true.
"Alright, now, tell me what you found out about Lily, can we really trust her?"
Alec was sitting in the dirty room that served as a locker room. Annie, the one in charge of the fighters came in, holding a wad of money.
"As promised, Monty Cora, 5,000$ your prize for the win tonight. When can I schedule you again?"
"Ah Annie, you know what? I'm done, this was my last fight." He took the money from her and shoved it in his pockets.
She frowned at him and crossed her arms on her chest. "What do you mean, this is your last fight?"
"I'm done. I'm going to retire undefeated." He took a bottle of water from his locker and gulped it down.
"Retire? They love you out there. We've done twice the business since you showed up. Come on kid, there's a lot of money to be made here, for the both of us."
He smirked. "Look, Annie, as much as I enjoy beating people up, I've got bigger plans for my life. And this is gonna help me get started."
She shook her head, then his hand, defeated. "If you change your mind, you know where to find me."
She left and Alec resumed changing. He was putting his jacket on when he heard someone behind him. Two men in suits were standing behind him.
"What do you guys want? Didn't you hear? I'm retiring. So, I will not be needing an agent."
He was still smiling when he closed the door to his locker. That's when they both tased him at the same time. He fell to the floor, unconscious. A third man wearing a suit came in the room.
"Take him out the back. Make sure no one sees us."
Please review ;) The next chapter won't be up until I get at least 1 hehe :)
