Chapter 5: Arbor

Chapter 5: Arbor

Mitad saw them together as they gazed out the window, {Uhh…}

{Do something tactful! Clear your throat, or… something!} Jason looked at her, gesturing with an impatient hand.

{Yeah… but they're having a 'moment'…}

{Let them have a moment on their own time! Or, have you forgotten what we're here for?}

{Killjoy.} Mitad cleared her throat.

Instantly, Max whirled around, giving them a less-then-genuine smile. Her eyes were still red from crying, but Mitad and Jason pretended not to notice. Logan smiled at them, though the skin around his eyes was tight, "Feel better?" He asked.

Mitad and Jason both appreciated the fact that he addressed them like adults, not pitching his voice high or asking if they needed assistance, {He catches on quick.} Mitad said approvingly, out loud she voiced, "Yes, much. Thank-you."

"I'll go get your clothes and throw them in the washer." Max brushed past them, keeping her head down, trying to hide her eyes. Turning to watch her go, Jason couldn't help feeling guilty for being the one to bring up all her painful memories… But it was for the best… At least, that's what he told himself.

"Now," Logan folded his hands over his stomach, still smiling at them, trying to make them comfortable, "What do you need?"

Mitad smiled and voiced a thought Jason was too shy to say, "Clothes that we can't swim in."

Grinning, Logan responded, "Well, if you're staying a while, we have plenty of time to take care of that. What I meant was: What is it that you need our help to accomplish?"

"We…" Mitad shared a look with Jason, {Why didn't I notice before how impossible this sounded?} "We want to shut Elekon down. For good."

"They train soldiers who can… who will warp the human mind… And surprisingly enough, they are starting to succeed." Jason rubbed the scar on his face, a painful reminder.

Hopping up on the couch, careful to keep the T-shirt over her knees, Mitad continued for Jason, "At first, they were making, well, for lack of a better term, they were making telepaths. People with the ability to read and manipulate thought. But because of that, none of the soldiers would perform their duties. We all—of the five pairs—wouldn't work for Elekon, we were too smart, we had the knowledge of what our teacher's wanted us to do, and we refused to help destroy. Having such an intimate knowledge of the human mind, we were loathe to hurt others.

"So, they started creating soldiers, manipulating their minds before they were born, as they grew…" Mitad stopped, rubbing her temples, "It was a sorry mess, it was… Using all their research, they managed to find a way of teaching these children… Words, language, thoughts, an environment… in a way that would make them pliable. They grew up to believe that the truth was contained in only a few minds—"

"The minds of those that taught them." Jason finished, his hand on his cheek, stroking the mangled texture of it.

"So what you're telling me, is that… they've succeeded?" Logan asked quietly. The pair of children could feel the waves of horror closing in over him.

"Yes…" Mitad responded, just as quietly.

"And, they have the same other advantages as the X-5's?" Max asked, entering the room. The children had been aware of her standing in the doorway, but let her think she still retained the element of surprise.

"Yes." Said Mitad, "If I wanted to, I could throw him," Mitad gestured to Logan, "Across the room, wheelchair, and all."

"You'd have to get her pretty riled up first, though." Jason added, his eyes downcast. He was picking at his fingernails, hunched over.

"And you want us to stop them for you?" Logan queried.

"No! We need your help to stop them. We'll be there with you and everything, but… Well… We just can't do this by ourselves." Mitad stared at her hands, which were now folded in her lap.

Max and Logan shared a look above the children's head's, a look that went on forever, "Alright." Logan said finally, "You two go to bed, and we'll discuss this in the morning."

"Before or after we get decent clothing?" Mitad asked, smiling sweetly.

"After." Logan said, smiling, in some strange way, this girl reminded him of Max, "Now go to bed… I'm assuming you can find the way yourselves?" Logan was very much aware of the fact that they probably knew every single thought running through his head.

"Sure. Come on, Jason."

Max waited until she heard the door close behind the two, then she threw herself down on the couch and buried her head in a pillow. Groaning, she clamped her hands down on the back of her head, "I thought this was gonna be a quiet week…"

Smiling ironically, Logan countered, "A week with you in it is never quiet…"

"Can't keep a girl from hoping…" She dragged herself up to sit cross legged, staring at Logan, "So, what're we going to do?"

"Same thing we always do… Help the weak and down-trodden, 'blah, blah, woof, woof.'" The comment should have been accompanied by one of Logan's devastatingly gorgeous grins, but he looked solemn. Out of nowhere, he looked down at his hands and addressed her, "I don't think they'll eavesdrop, and now is as good a time as any to talk…" He fixed his piercing gaze on her, "Are you going to be alright?" Why did he always have to look her straight in the eye at the exact moment she was about to try and lie?

"Why wouldn't I be?" Max asked, grinning.

"Stop lying." Logan told her, in a voice so intense it made her pause, "If you're not going to tell me, fine. But have the decency to be honest about it."

Any other day, she would have begun a tirade, accusing him of any number of things, but they were both simply too tired. It was easy enough to see through him, anyway, he was just trying to take care of her, in the best way he knew how.

Max broke the gaze they shared first, "What am I supposed to say?" she asked, trying to sound nonchalant, "That I'm royally fucked up and probably always will be? That I never had parents to call my own, or a decent home? Am I supposed to always be pissed that I never got a fenced in yard and a pet dog?"

"Maybe. How about being angry that all your life you've been used, and now they're using more little kids, treating them like you, and it's making you crazy? Or how about the fact that you can't be honest with anyone, and now you have people who care about you, who you could be honest with, but you've lied so long you don't know how to tell the truth anymore? Or maybe…" His voice got very quiet, "You're just exhausted, like the rest of us."

Max tried to crack a smile, "Hey, I already cried once today, isn't that enough?"

"I'm not trying to hurt you, Max, but I'm tired of you not letting me help."

That made her angry, "Hey, it goes both ways! Don't you try to tell me that you like being stuck in a wheelchair! And don't try to tell me that you enjoy making me go out and do your legwork for you! And don't… you… dare try to tell me that you're perfectly fine with suddenly being a killer. Because I know you're not." Max saw how much hurt she'd put in his eyes, but this had all gone far enough, "Next time you wanna preach to me about honesty, think long and hard about where it's coming from!" Normally, this would be her cue to grab her coat and leave, to make him think about all this (actually, to run away from the counter-attack that would leave her dazed and hurt and confused, but, why bother with details?) but tonight, it was different. She was going to hold her ground… She was going to help him, dammit. He was too inverted for his own good. Besides, they were both on the verge of tears, and she didn't want to go home like that and have Original Cindy getting all concerned and blaming Logan and all men… "Logan…" He lifted his eyes to meet hers. God, he looked so tired. This man was Atlas, with the weight of an entire world on his shoulders… He'd been so busy trying to save the world, he'd forgotten about saving himself… If he could still stand… He would have collapsed by now. How many times had she sneaked into his apartment, only to find him fast asleep, still fully clothed and in his wheelchair, in front of a computer, Manticore files displayed on the screen in front of him? "Logan…" Her voice was hoarse with a sudden wave of compassion, "Why won't you…?" But after all the imaginary conversations she'd had, the question wouldn't come.

There was a few moments pause. "I had to save you." Logan's voice came out of the void they were wrapped in, "For the first time, you were helpless, absolutely helpless… Those bastards… Those bastards…! Pushed me out of my chair--I try to tell myself it wasn't about that… They were going to hurt you…" He scraped a hand through his hair, "They were going to hurt you, do God-knows-what to you… The boy, that fire… What kind of monsters—would do that, to a kid?" He ground the heel of his hand into his forehead, "Manticore, and them… Those goons… I've wanted to punish those kinds of people for so long… But not like that, never like that… And I… And I…" He looked up at Max, and even though she knew he was going through a mental breakdown, she thought his eyes had never been clearer, "And I did." The clarity disappeared and he stared down at his hands, "And I had to try not to enjoy it. Beating them… It felt good. It felt right. It felt… justified…

"What kind of a person thinks that?" He put a hand over his eyes, trying to shut them against everything he'd seen lately. She stayed silent, knowing far to acutely that she had nothing to say.

The room was soundless…

Then, there was a hitch in a breath.

Her head snapped up at the sound, she had never thought… Would never had dreamed… He was so together, so intensely private-- sometimes she thought he was better at hiding then she was… He was wiping away tears, and he hadn't turned around. He was still facing her, not looking at her, but not bothering to turn away, either. Slowly, trying not to startle him, she moved over to him, her wide brown eyes never leaving his face. She was fascinated by this man, she would never admit it, but she was, and to have him expose himself like this was so… Amazing. Not good, but amazing just the same… She knelt by his side, took one of his hands in hers.

"Max…" He looked her in the eye, and she had to turn away, she wasn't ready for the emotions she saw there. "Max…" The word was a caress, "We should go to sleep." The change in subject was so abrupt—Max yanked her head back up, "There's always another time… You're tired, you need rest." His hand slipped out of hers, and she let her own hand fall, "You can sleep in my room, I'll take the couch."

"Nuh-uh," Max stood, "You mean you'll sit out here doing your 'Eyes Only' crap until God-knows-when trying to help out those kids. No. You're going to your own bedroom. I'll sleep out here."

"But—" But if I let you stay out here, you might leave me again… "I'm a gentleman… You're going to have to take the bed. I won't be able to sleep knowing you're uncomfortable." He smiled with his teeth only.

"And I won't be able to sleep knowing you're uncomfortable."

"I see we're at a standoff."

"Damned right."

Logan raised an eyebrow, "Last one to the bed is a rotten egg?"

"Nice try."

"You aren't gonna give up, are you?"

"Nope."

Logan sighed, "Alright, have it your way—"

"Wow. How many times does a girl get to hear that?"

"Don't get to used to it." He responded dryly, turning to leave, "Just don't—" He caught himself just in time.

"Just don't what?" She prompted.

"Nothing. Good night."

Just don't leave.