Thanks to all of you, who made me want to go on with my story since you liked it!
I'm deeply touched.
***********************
The first week that Max was gone was Hell for Logan. Bling decided not to pursue his physical training for only 2 days, just to let him some time to
absorb all of this, he knew it wasn't the best thing to do for his physical status, but the guy needed a break. Usually, Bling would have
given him a kick in the butt, but Max's subject was a delicate one. All week long Logan was grumpy, not smiling, yelling about nothing to
anything, brief, he wasn't in a good mood.
Original Cindy came to see him a few times after work, trying to make him feel a little better, but it didn't really work. She was missing Max a lot
too, so it wasn't easy for her to try to cheer up her Boo's sweetheart, when she herself was feeling like crap. 'Take care of my boy.' Max had
asked her, so that's what she was doing.
Cindy did it for Max, at first, but then she began to really like him, and she found herself spending more time with him. Sometimes, Kendra came too,
but usually, it was her and Logan, alone. Original Cindy was living with Kendra now, and the latest was often at her boyfriend's place, so Cindy
didn't have much trouble staying with Kendra, she was never there.
She and Logan were often having dinner, about 2 times a week, and she was even eager to go there, to her own surprise. At first, they tried not to
talk about Max, because she sensed that Logan was still too emotionnal about it, but one night that they were playing Chess togheter, he won, and
that made him laugh because Max wasn't letting him win. Like EVER. So, he started to tell the story to Original Cindy, and it opened the flow of all
sorts of memories about Max each other shared. They talked until they were both so tired they fell asleep on the couch. It was a deliverance to both
of them to have talked about Max like that, the burden seemed less heavy. Their friendship grew stronger weeks after weeks, and it made Logan less
sad and deep into thoughts. He still was walking on the moon from time to time, but the pain was fading gradually.
It took him a month before being able to do Eyes Only's streaming videos again. When he started his research, he opened his drawer and saw Max's
medical chart. 'Damn! I forgot I had this!' He started to read it, everything about her medical conditions and the experiments they made on
her was there, as her DNA mix. His eyes came across Lydecker's name. 'Shit!' There was Lydecker's name where the father's name was supposed to
be. Logan fixed the wall in front of him, thinking that Max's own Personal Anti-Christ was her flesh and blood. He continued his reading, learning
that Max's mother had a spontaneous abortion at 2 months, and that they had to do something fast to not let the High Comander know about its
failing. And since there wasn't any donor left, Lydecker, being the good samaritan he was, donate his sperm to science. Plus, he wanted to know if
2 normal people could do a great soldier, since the other X5 had perfect donors with great skills, who had to pass tests.
Logan closed the file, thinking that maybe it was better for Max not to know about this. 'If I ever see her again, I wont tell her, but if she
asks me about it, I'll tell her the truth.'
It was about 2 days later that Detective Matt Sung called Logan, telling him there has been a mystery death, that the guy seemed to have some
military training since the outfit he was wearing looked like one, but it wasn't owned by any military base known to the people.
"We don't have anything on him." Matt said to him.
"What does he look like?"
"I'm faxing it to you right now, but Logan, he's dead on the picture, so maybe you wont be able to see him well." Logan heard the fax
machine and took the picture in his hand. 'Shit! Lydecker.'
"Matt, I'm telling you to drop the case, drop it and don't ask questions or you'll end up dead before tomorrow."
"What? Who is he?"
"I can't tell you, but find anything to close the case. This is dangerous, and they will win over you Matt. Trust me, forget it. You know
I usually want justice, but this? No, drop it." Logan waited impatiently for his friend's answer.
"Fine Logan, if you tell me this, you must have good reasons."
"Thank you Matt." And he hung up.'Damn it! If they killed Lydecker, it's because of Max and Brin's escape. So, who's the boss now?
Was Lydecker the only one knowing how Max really looked?'
The phone rang one night out of the blue. Logan woke up, and rolled fast to the phone. 'Max?'
"Hello?" He asked, eager to hear Max's voice.
"Logan? It's Sera Dwaine. I need to see you right away, it's urgent." She seemed in an hurry, and scared.
"Sure." Logan told her his address, and waited for Sera. 'What's going on?'
When Sera walked in, she was surprised to see him in a wheelchair.
"I'm sorry for my behavior...I didn't know."
"It's okay, I got shot over a year ago." He said to her.
"Oh." He made her sit on the couch in the living room.
"What can I do for you?" He looked at Sera, who was about 5 to 8 years older than him, has brown hair, short cut, and green eyes. She
wasn't a beauty, but she was fine.
"I need to get out of here, and fast. They killed Deck, and I think I'm next, they're having suspicions about my loyalty to the experiments.
Max told me you could do pretty much anything."
"I can't ovulate." He said, smiling at the idea of Max saying he could do anything. Sera smiled back.
"Can you help me?"
"Sure, I can get you out tomorrow if you want." He went to his computer and after 10 minutes, came back. "How about London, as
Amanda Vartan?"
"Great, and I'm good with the English accent too, it wont be a problem." She took a breath of relief. Logan explained to her how to
be careful, and what she would have to do. And the day after, she flew away on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
As the days went by, Logan started to come back to his old self. Bling had to get him out of his thoughts often, but it was all good. The
downtroddens still needed him after all. 'And who knows, maybe she'll come back when everything will calm itself and settle down?' Hope of seeing her
again was what made him get out of bed in the mornings.
One day, he recieved a call from Sebastian, telling him that the new boss of Manticore had ordered a search all through Seattle. They were going
East to West, so one night, Logan, Bling and Original Cindy took all computer machineries in the car to bring them to Sebastian's, so that they
couldn't find anything at Logan's. Bling even pretended to be Logan to them. They were probably still looking for a guy in wheels, since they
aren't millions in Seattle. After the search, they transfered all his electronic stuff and Sebastian's to Logan's apartment. Everything went
very well.
After this little adventure, Logan and Bling got to the point where it was for the best to put a security camera system in the place to know if and
when someone gets in. And so they did, and Logan was very proud of him, because the careras were so tiny and well placed that even a professional
eye could be fooled.
One night, Original Cindy won a bet and Logan had to go out with her. They were going to Crash. And he made her swear that she wouldn't try matchmaking him with anyone.
"I promess you Boo that I wont do it."
"You better." It finaly ended that he was the one helping her with a chick she wasn't sure was into females or not. So Logan decided to go ask the chick and yes,
she was into females. Her name was Nell, but she and Original Cindy didn't last a month.
"Why can't I just find a nice chick with no wires crossed in her head? This one was a crazy bitch!" She said laughing. "I think she's freakin' taking 5 pills a day to
stay in this world instead of seeing flying cows in the sky!" She took a bite of the dinner Logan had made.
"Don't worry Cindy, he said to her smiling, you'll find a nice 'chick' one day, it's just that maybe you're looking too hard."
"Me?! Are you turning wacko on me?" She paused, knowing perfectly well he was right. Everytime she saw a girl, she wanted to know if she was into females or not. "Well,
you sure is going to find one soon, because you're not looking at all!" She wanted to kill herself the moment she said those words.
"I'm sorry Logan, I didn't want..." He looked sad, staring at his meal.
"I know, it's okay, you're forgiven." He lightly smiled back at Cindy.
"I can be such a bitch sometimes! Original Cindy gotta learn to hold her tongue!" 'Before someone cuts it!' She thought.
********
They were now having dinner every week, it has become some kind of ritual. But yesterday, Original Cindy wasn't at Logan, so she didn't have any clue who the lipstick girl was.
When Kendra came back, she left Max with her, and ran to Logan's apartment, furious. She knocked on the door and didn't wait for him to open, and stormed inside.
"LOGAN?!" She yelled. "WHERE THE HELL IS YOUR SORRY MALE ASS?"
Logan appeared in front of her, looking surprised at Original Cindy's attitude towards him. He opened his mouth to talk but she let him no time to speak.
"Where's the bitch?" She asked Logan, in a tone that said 'Don't lie to me bastard, I know there's a bitch here!'
"What?" What is she talking about?
"One day you're still in love with her, and the day after you're seeing another chick? Have you lost your fucking mind? Original Cindy is furious right now! What's with you?
She came back for your freakin' birthday, and THAT's what she's getting when she opened the door? Some lipstick glass and female's stuff all over the place? WHAT THE HELL IS
WRONG WITH YOU?" Original Cindy stoped talking, the smoke going out of her ears as she calmed down. Logan's face was blank.
"What?..." He repeated, uncertain of what she was talking about, but afraid to learn it.
"Max! You jerk! She's in Seattle, at my place right now, but before, she came right here, and when she found woman's stuff all over the place, I don't have to tell you she was crying her
heart out when I opened the door." She realized Logan had trouble breathing and that he was as white as milk.
"Max...here?" He finaly said.
" Are you deaf? That's what I just said, and Original Cindy is no liar. Who's the bitch?" She pointed the wine glasses on the counter.
"Oh! no..." He now understood what the allusion to the 'bitch' was all about. "That is so wrong...it's Bella, she came here alone yesterday because of work, and I offered her to crash
here!" He looked like a kid who had lost his puppy. "She left about an hour ago." 'Max...Max is here!...'
Original Cindy started laughing.
"Of course! That was SO obvious! Why didn't I think of it?...And here I thought you were joining the Wacko-Nell Club!" The phone rang and she answered. After a few minutes, she shouted: "Shit!
Kendra! I leave you with her for only 30 minutes and you manage to fuck everything!" She hung up and turned towards Logan. "Max's gone, she decided she wasn't about to stay another
second in this damn city, and left. Kendra wasn't able to stop her." Original Cindy stared at Logan, who was about to have an aneurysm. 'It stinks.' He looked helpless.
"How could she think that...I...I..." He couldn't finish his sentence, feeling on the verge of a panick attack.
"Breathe Logan..." Said Cindy to him. "I thought it too...How could she have known? Neither of you said you couldn't see other people..."
"Just go please." He asked her, more like an order though. He stared at his feet. She looked at him, not sure if he should be alone or not. "Please go." Logan repeated.
When Original Cindy left, he went to his computer room looking for footage of Max in the apartment. He clicked on the security system file and the images of Max appeared to him. 'Oh my god,
it's true.' His blood was raising high in his veins, and his heart was pumping at an olympic rate. He saw everything since there was cameras everywhere. Logan stood there, watching Max as
she came in, and the face she did when she smelled his sweater, and the was she reacted to the lipstick on the wine glass. He almost jumped in his chair when he watched her seize on the
floor, wanting to put his arms around her. 'Oh! Max, how could you have thought I would ever be seeing someone else?' He wiped away the tears in his eyes, and closed them, trying to calm himself.
'And now she's gone, thinking I replaced her...'
Days after days, the pain didn't go away, it was like the old wound was re-open.
Three months later, he got a call from Sera.
"Hi Logan, I was talking to a collegue of mine about your situation, and I think he could help you getting some function in your legs again. That is if you're interrested." Who wouldn't?...
"Who cares if I'm in the chair or not?" He said back, grumpy.
"You do." She waited for an answer, but it was a dead silence. "It's still experimental and working only on those who used to walk before their injuries. I think it could work Logan,
it's worth trying...what do you have to loose?"
"Hope. I could loose hope." He answered back.
"It's true, but to loose hope, you have to do something, and NOT coming, is doing nothing. It's your decision to take." Sera patiently waited.
He thought about it for 5 minutes. 'It's been harder for me to do Eyes Only's research since Max left, and walking again could be great. Yeah, I could try I guess. Why should I want to stay in
the chair if there's an opportunity to walk again? It would be stupid. I can do it, at least for me. Yeah, for me.'
"What the hell, I could try..." Why not?
Logan took the address of the British Medical Research Center where Sera 'Amanda' was working, and started packing his bags. He told Bling to watch the place for him, and got in
the plane. "What do I have to loose?' He asked himself again, staring through the porthole.
************************************************
To be continued...
Anna
I'm deeply touched.
***********************
The first week that Max was gone was Hell for Logan. Bling decided not to pursue his physical training for only 2 days, just to let him some time to
absorb all of this, he knew it wasn't the best thing to do for his physical status, but the guy needed a break. Usually, Bling would have
given him a kick in the butt, but Max's subject was a delicate one. All week long Logan was grumpy, not smiling, yelling about nothing to
anything, brief, he wasn't in a good mood.
Original Cindy came to see him a few times after work, trying to make him feel a little better, but it didn't really work. She was missing Max a lot
too, so it wasn't easy for her to try to cheer up her Boo's sweetheart, when she herself was feeling like crap. 'Take care of my boy.' Max had
asked her, so that's what she was doing.
Cindy did it for Max, at first, but then she began to really like him, and she found herself spending more time with him. Sometimes, Kendra came too,
but usually, it was her and Logan, alone. Original Cindy was living with Kendra now, and the latest was often at her boyfriend's place, so Cindy
didn't have much trouble staying with Kendra, she was never there.
She and Logan were often having dinner, about 2 times a week, and she was even eager to go there, to her own surprise. At first, they tried not to
talk about Max, because she sensed that Logan was still too emotionnal about it, but one night that they were playing Chess togheter, he won, and
that made him laugh because Max wasn't letting him win. Like EVER. So, he started to tell the story to Original Cindy, and it opened the flow of all
sorts of memories about Max each other shared. They talked until they were both so tired they fell asleep on the couch. It was a deliverance to both
of them to have talked about Max like that, the burden seemed less heavy. Their friendship grew stronger weeks after weeks, and it made Logan less
sad and deep into thoughts. He still was walking on the moon from time to time, but the pain was fading gradually.
It took him a month before being able to do Eyes Only's streaming videos again. When he started his research, he opened his drawer and saw Max's
medical chart. 'Damn! I forgot I had this!' He started to read it, everything about her medical conditions and the experiments they made on
her was there, as her DNA mix. His eyes came across Lydecker's name. 'Shit!' There was Lydecker's name where the father's name was supposed to
be. Logan fixed the wall in front of him, thinking that Max's own Personal Anti-Christ was her flesh and blood. He continued his reading, learning
that Max's mother had a spontaneous abortion at 2 months, and that they had to do something fast to not let the High Comander know about its
failing. And since there wasn't any donor left, Lydecker, being the good samaritan he was, donate his sperm to science. Plus, he wanted to know if
2 normal people could do a great soldier, since the other X5 had perfect donors with great skills, who had to pass tests.
Logan closed the file, thinking that maybe it was better for Max not to know about this. 'If I ever see her again, I wont tell her, but if she
asks me about it, I'll tell her the truth.'
It was about 2 days later that Detective Matt Sung called Logan, telling him there has been a mystery death, that the guy seemed to have some
military training since the outfit he was wearing looked like one, but it wasn't owned by any military base known to the people.
"We don't have anything on him." Matt said to him.
"What does he look like?"
"I'm faxing it to you right now, but Logan, he's dead on the picture, so maybe you wont be able to see him well." Logan heard the fax
machine and took the picture in his hand. 'Shit! Lydecker.'
"Matt, I'm telling you to drop the case, drop it and don't ask questions or you'll end up dead before tomorrow."
"What? Who is he?"
"I can't tell you, but find anything to close the case. This is dangerous, and they will win over you Matt. Trust me, forget it. You know
I usually want justice, but this? No, drop it." Logan waited impatiently for his friend's answer.
"Fine Logan, if you tell me this, you must have good reasons."
"Thank you Matt." And he hung up.'Damn it! If they killed Lydecker, it's because of Max and Brin's escape. So, who's the boss now?
Was Lydecker the only one knowing how Max really looked?'
The phone rang one night out of the blue. Logan woke up, and rolled fast to the phone. 'Max?'
"Hello?" He asked, eager to hear Max's voice.
"Logan? It's Sera Dwaine. I need to see you right away, it's urgent." She seemed in an hurry, and scared.
"Sure." Logan told her his address, and waited for Sera. 'What's going on?'
When Sera walked in, she was surprised to see him in a wheelchair.
"I'm sorry for my behavior...I didn't know."
"It's okay, I got shot over a year ago." He said to her.
"Oh." He made her sit on the couch in the living room.
"What can I do for you?" He looked at Sera, who was about 5 to 8 years older than him, has brown hair, short cut, and green eyes. She
wasn't a beauty, but she was fine.
"I need to get out of here, and fast. They killed Deck, and I think I'm next, they're having suspicions about my loyalty to the experiments.
Max told me you could do pretty much anything."
"I can't ovulate." He said, smiling at the idea of Max saying he could do anything. Sera smiled back.
"Can you help me?"
"Sure, I can get you out tomorrow if you want." He went to his computer and after 10 minutes, came back. "How about London, as
Amanda Vartan?"
"Great, and I'm good with the English accent too, it wont be a problem." She took a breath of relief. Logan explained to her how to
be careful, and what she would have to do. And the day after, she flew away on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean.
As the days went by, Logan started to come back to his old self. Bling had to get him out of his thoughts often, but it was all good. The
downtroddens still needed him after all. 'And who knows, maybe she'll come back when everything will calm itself and settle down?' Hope of seeing her
again was what made him get out of bed in the mornings.
One day, he recieved a call from Sebastian, telling him that the new boss of Manticore had ordered a search all through Seattle. They were going
East to West, so one night, Logan, Bling and Original Cindy took all computer machineries in the car to bring them to Sebastian's, so that they
couldn't find anything at Logan's. Bling even pretended to be Logan to them. They were probably still looking for a guy in wheels, since they
aren't millions in Seattle. After the search, they transfered all his electronic stuff and Sebastian's to Logan's apartment. Everything went
very well.
After this little adventure, Logan and Bling got to the point where it was for the best to put a security camera system in the place to know if and
when someone gets in. And so they did, and Logan was very proud of him, because the careras were so tiny and well placed that even a professional
eye could be fooled.
One night, Original Cindy won a bet and Logan had to go out with her. They were going to Crash. And he made her swear that she wouldn't try matchmaking him with anyone.
"I promess you Boo that I wont do it."
"You better." It finaly ended that he was the one helping her with a chick she wasn't sure was into females or not. So Logan decided to go ask the chick and yes,
she was into females. Her name was Nell, but she and Original Cindy didn't last a month.
"Why can't I just find a nice chick with no wires crossed in her head? This one was a crazy bitch!" She said laughing. "I think she's freakin' taking 5 pills a day to
stay in this world instead of seeing flying cows in the sky!" She took a bite of the dinner Logan had made.
"Don't worry Cindy, he said to her smiling, you'll find a nice 'chick' one day, it's just that maybe you're looking too hard."
"Me?! Are you turning wacko on me?" She paused, knowing perfectly well he was right. Everytime she saw a girl, she wanted to know if she was into females or not. "Well,
you sure is going to find one soon, because you're not looking at all!" She wanted to kill herself the moment she said those words.
"I'm sorry Logan, I didn't want..." He looked sad, staring at his meal.
"I know, it's okay, you're forgiven." He lightly smiled back at Cindy.
"I can be such a bitch sometimes! Original Cindy gotta learn to hold her tongue!" 'Before someone cuts it!' She thought.
********
They were now having dinner every week, it has become some kind of ritual. But yesterday, Original Cindy wasn't at Logan, so she didn't have any clue who the lipstick girl was.
When Kendra came back, she left Max with her, and ran to Logan's apartment, furious. She knocked on the door and didn't wait for him to open, and stormed inside.
"LOGAN?!" She yelled. "WHERE THE HELL IS YOUR SORRY MALE ASS?"
Logan appeared in front of her, looking surprised at Original Cindy's attitude towards him. He opened his mouth to talk but she let him no time to speak.
"Where's the bitch?" She asked Logan, in a tone that said 'Don't lie to me bastard, I know there's a bitch here!'
"What?" What is she talking about?
"One day you're still in love with her, and the day after you're seeing another chick? Have you lost your fucking mind? Original Cindy is furious right now! What's with you?
She came back for your freakin' birthday, and THAT's what she's getting when she opened the door? Some lipstick glass and female's stuff all over the place? WHAT THE HELL IS
WRONG WITH YOU?" Original Cindy stoped talking, the smoke going out of her ears as she calmed down. Logan's face was blank.
"What?..." He repeated, uncertain of what she was talking about, but afraid to learn it.
"Max! You jerk! She's in Seattle, at my place right now, but before, she came right here, and when she found woman's stuff all over the place, I don't have to tell you she was crying her
heart out when I opened the door." She realized Logan had trouble breathing and that he was as white as milk.
"Max...here?" He finaly said.
" Are you deaf? That's what I just said, and Original Cindy is no liar. Who's the bitch?" She pointed the wine glasses on the counter.
"Oh! no..." He now understood what the allusion to the 'bitch' was all about. "That is so wrong...it's Bella, she came here alone yesterday because of work, and I offered her to crash
here!" He looked like a kid who had lost his puppy. "She left about an hour ago." 'Max...Max is here!...'
Original Cindy started laughing.
"Of course! That was SO obvious! Why didn't I think of it?...And here I thought you were joining the Wacko-Nell Club!" The phone rang and she answered. After a few minutes, she shouted: "Shit!
Kendra! I leave you with her for only 30 minutes and you manage to fuck everything!" She hung up and turned towards Logan. "Max's gone, she decided she wasn't about to stay another
second in this damn city, and left. Kendra wasn't able to stop her." Original Cindy stared at Logan, who was about to have an aneurysm. 'It stinks.' He looked helpless.
"How could she think that...I...I..." He couldn't finish his sentence, feeling on the verge of a panick attack.
"Breathe Logan..." Said Cindy to him. "I thought it too...How could she have known? Neither of you said you couldn't see other people..."
"Just go please." He asked her, more like an order though. He stared at his feet. She looked at him, not sure if he should be alone or not. "Please go." Logan repeated.
When Original Cindy left, he went to his computer room looking for footage of Max in the apartment. He clicked on the security system file and the images of Max appeared to him. 'Oh my god,
it's true.' His blood was raising high in his veins, and his heart was pumping at an olympic rate. He saw everything since there was cameras everywhere. Logan stood there, watching Max as
she came in, and the face she did when she smelled his sweater, and the was she reacted to the lipstick on the wine glass. He almost jumped in his chair when he watched her seize on the
floor, wanting to put his arms around her. 'Oh! Max, how could you have thought I would ever be seeing someone else?' He wiped away the tears in his eyes, and closed them, trying to calm himself.
'And now she's gone, thinking I replaced her...'
Days after days, the pain didn't go away, it was like the old wound was re-open.
Three months later, he got a call from Sera.
"Hi Logan, I was talking to a collegue of mine about your situation, and I think he could help you getting some function in your legs again. That is if you're interrested." Who wouldn't?...
"Who cares if I'm in the chair or not?" He said back, grumpy.
"You do." She waited for an answer, but it was a dead silence. "It's still experimental and working only on those who used to walk before their injuries. I think it could work Logan,
it's worth trying...what do you have to loose?"
"Hope. I could loose hope." He answered back.
"It's true, but to loose hope, you have to do something, and NOT coming, is doing nothing. It's your decision to take." Sera patiently waited.
He thought about it for 5 minutes. 'It's been harder for me to do Eyes Only's research since Max left, and walking again could be great. Yeah, I could try I guess. Why should I want to stay in
the chair if there's an opportunity to walk again? It would be stupid. I can do it, at least for me. Yeah, for me.'
"What the hell, I could try..." Why not?
Logan took the address of the British Medical Research Center where Sera 'Amanda' was working, and started packing his bags. He told Bling to watch the place for him, and got in
the plane. "What do I have to loose?' He asked himself again, staring through the porthole.
************************************************
To be continued...
Anna