"Ly…Lydecker

"Ly…Lydecker." Max's eyes were empty. "Lydecker."

"Max…"

"No. No." Max shook her head. "No."

"Yes. But it's not like that. It's more complicated than that."

Max drew in a ragged breath. Suddenly, she started to cry. Just silently, tears ran down her cheeks.

"Max…" Logan reached out to her. She didn't resist. He pulled her towards him until she was practically sitting in his lap and then he stroked her hair, gently. It was tangled from riding her bike all day. He tried to think of something to say. Usually, he thought, people say 'shhhhh, it'll be okay,' but Max wasn't making any noise and it was most definitely not okay, so it didn't make any sense to say that. He let her cry for a while.

"Max, X-5 is over. After you guys escaped, the project was, for the most part, cancelled. The boards decided it just wasn't worth the risk. . The really young kids were placed in foster care - they don't remember any of it, really. Eva and a few others stayed at Manticore. Lydecker treats them fine. He has them convinced he just wants you all together again, so he can officially close the project. He has Eva convinced. Eva had me convinced."

"But it's not true." Max looked up. She wiped her tears on the back of her hand.

"Probably not. But if Lydecker suspects Eva isn't being straight with him….that's it. She's not safe. After I found you…and then I met Zack…"

"Does she know you're Eyes Only?"

"No."

"Are you going to tell her?"

"No."

"Are you going to get her away from Manticore?"

"Yes. But not yet."

"Why not? If she's not safe, then why not now?"

"Because I don't know how."

"Well, we have to find a way," Max paused. She was calming down. "I can't believe it. I mean, I saw it. I saw her die. I saw Lydecker shoot her."

"Max, you were a kid. You were scared. You were running. You were so hopped up on adreniline, you can't say to one hundred percent certainty what you saw that night. You didn't even know how many escaped until I told you.

"But I saw it. I know I did."

"He shot her, but she didn't die. They were right there - right where they could save her."

"How come she trusts him? After he shot her? He really shot her?"

"He really shot her, Max. She's got a big scar. But…she doesn't think it was him. She sees it different. She sees everything different. She doesn't see how Lydecker is using her."

"So why didn't you tell her about me? What tipped you off that Lydecker is Satan-on-earth?"

"I started to do a little research. I found what I found. Any person on the outside could see that Lydecker's up to no good. I decided to never look for you, that it would be safer if I kept Eva occupied…but then Fate flipped me the finger and you stole that statue. And here we are."

"Here we are."

They paused again.

"So," said Max, measuring each word, "is there anything else I should know? Do you know where any of the others are?"

"Max, no, I honestly don't."

"Why should I believe you? You never told me about Eva."

"Please, don't think I'm holding out on you. I'm on your side."

" You told me you were looking. You looked for Zack...and Brinn…But you never tried to find them. Because of Eva. "

"No, I looked for them. All of them. Tinga, Jondy, Crit…I really did try."

"What?" Max said, surprised. She was sure he'd never looked.

"After I found you. Then I started searching. For you."

"Why?"

"Because you deserved to know. Because you…because it was you, and you needed it so badly, and I felt like if I could do that for you…" Logan trailed off.

Max rolled this thought across her brain a few times. She smiled.

"Thank you," she said thinly, fervently. He smiled back. They sat quietly for a minute.

"When's the last time you ate?" Logan asked.

"Um…maybe…"

"Come on," Logan said, nodding toward the kitchen. "We'll see what we can find."

Max leaned in and kissed his forehead gently. She smiled again, stood, and sauntered toward the kitchen.

"Why are you so good to me? Huh?" she said lightly, laughing.