(Logan)
Author's Note: If you're reading, PLEASE REVIEW.

We still need new writers for Zack, Det. Sung, and Normal. Please visit the RPG folder at www.delphi.com/darkangelfans/start for information, or contact me at jennem@bigfoot.com _______________________________________________________________ Point of View: LOGAN *****************************************

My apartment hasn't been this wrecked since the last time Tread was here. Remind me to stop inviting that guy over. Oh, wait, I didn't.

Looks like Max cleaned out the equipment pretty well. She missed the surveillance tapes, though. Possibly because I never mentioned them. I can't watch them with all the equipment gone, but I take them with me. I'd really like to know exactly what went on here. Matching Tread's story up to the visuals might help me figure out what his deal is.

Only thing I can do in the meantime is keep an eye on him.

I head down to the bar, and open the door to the last scene I expected. Tread is cleaning the face of some little girl, Lydecker is eating chocolate cake, and the entire scene is being recorded by...

"Lacey."

D*mn. I turn and leave the bar. Lacey is the last person I need to deal with right now. I could grab the car and Tinga...

And leave Lacey alone with Lydecker and Tread. Like Tread, she's better off where I can see her. I can always have Tread knock her out.

I did not think that. I didn't. I know she's annoying. But there's no way I allowed myself to contemplate asking a genetic mutant with no conscience to injure someone in cold blood. No matter how many times she's screwed up my work.

I turn back into the bar. Lydecker is muttering something about getting back to base. Guy doesn't look too good. Once again, it's going to be a case of keeping him where I can see him.

"Tread, we should get going. Bring your military friend..."

"Zackdecker," he replies. Oh, a sense of humor too.

"Right. Zackdecker, we can help get you closer to your base. And Lacey, we're heading out of the city. Might be safer for you to come with us than stay here."

Lacey looks speculative for an instant before her face goes innocent.
"Well thank you, I certainly appreciate the invitation."

"Let's go then," I tell Tread.

"Sandy's coming too," he tells me, gesturing to the kid.

I consider arguing, but his expression shows there's no room for negotiation. Seems he's got a soft spot for her. That could be an advantage.

"Fine, just get everyone into the car."

Tread works on arranging a limp Tinga, an excited Zackdecker, a chocolate-covered Sandy, and a sweet-faced Lacey into the back of the cramped Humvee while I call the cabin again. Bling answers.

"We're on our way. We have an injured Tinga and Zackdecker, as well as Lacey. Let me talk to Max."

"She's not here. Went to go find you," Bling says.

"Well, we'll catch up to her. By the way, don't let Cindy touch my computers, will you?"

I can hear her in the background. "Too late," Cindy mutters, "and it was Kendra, not me."

"What???" D*mn, I hate it when my voice goes up like that. But either of those women touching my computers...d*mn.

"No harm done," Bling assures me. I'm not buying it.

There's sounds of a commotion and a female voice in the background.
"Remember me?"

It's not Max, so it can't be good. I hear Bling again. "Brin."

"What?? Brin??" I say, although it sounds like he's too far to hear me. There's a crash.

"Hello, Logan. Bling's a little occupied right now."

Brin. Brin, Bling, Cindy, Kendra, and my computers. And Max is gone.

D*mn.

Point of View: BLING*****************************************

My head hurts… again… still… more…!
I'm dizzy and nauseous. Sure sign of a concussion. I try to get up but I realize my arms are tied behind me. My legs are tied too. Brin has Cindy and Kendra tied back to back.
She's laughing and spinning around in the only office style chair up here.

"I can't wait to dangle you in front of big sister."

I try to get to my knees… but I just fall over.
If I live through this I have to have Max show me a way to block a punch from an angry X-5.

"Wakey wakey?" I hear Brinn say.

I feel the cold edge of the shotgun barrel dig into my cheek.

I roll over and look up at her… she smiles sweetly at me.
She flops down on the floor next to me face to face.

"Hey stud… think you and I could go to dinner some time. Ya know, since Tinga's out of action." She chuckles.

"B*tch!" I manage to get out.

She rolls on her back arching it slightly and pouts at me.

"What's a matter… You don't like me? Not attractive enough?"

It's not intentional, it's the concussion. But it is a fitting reply…

I throw up.

She's on her feet before my vision is cleared…

"Oh gross!!! A 'No' would have been fine you sonava…"

A boot fills my vision and I'm back in darkness.

Point of View: MAX*****************************************

Of all the things to land in, it had to be mud. Mud. It took me an hour and a half to get the mud out of my hair the last time. I want a hot shower, badly. But I'm out here in the woods, with Tread's Harley, flat tire thanks to Brin. When I get my hands on her . . .

Focus, Max, focus. Fix the tire first. Then catch up to her. Although by the time I fix it, Brin'll be long gone. Damn . . . Tread better have a tire kit, thought I'm not relishing the thought of rummaging in his motorcycle's saddlebags. Who knows what he has in there.

Taking a deep breath, I reach into the first one. Something pointy pokes me. Pulling it out, I find myself holding a key chain made from Red implants. God Damn! How'd he get them?? Not something I'd like a key chain of . . . Reaching back in, I find more of Tread's "treasures"; multi-purpose tools, an empty canteen, some 9mm ammo, a pack of cinnamon Altoids, some papers . . .

Zack's barcode catches my eye. What the hell is Zack's barcode doing on papers of Tread's? They're classified memos and other papers all about Manticorny Gummies . . . apparently Zack's memories are the active ingredient. Explains a lot.

Gotta get these to Logan. Rolling them up and stuffing them in my pocket, I continue to search for a tire kit. My fingers brush all sorts of things, including what feels like a jelly doughnut . . . finally my hand touches a metal cylinder. Fix-A-Flat.

Getting to work, I patch the slash Brin put in the tire. There's a small pump in the other saddlebag, and I refill the tire until the pressure is good. Picking up the Harley, I wipe most of the mud off of it and move it to solid ground. Now where did Brin go???

There are tracks where she wheeled the Aztec out of the mud. She's headed in the direction I came from. The cabin. Damn.

Jumping on the motorcycle, I speed back on to the road. Damn, why'd I leave my cell in the Aztec?? I need to call Bling, call Logan, warn them. Pushing the Harley as fast as it will go, I race to the cabin.

Hiding the bike nearby, I creep up on Logan's cabin. Looking in the window I see Brin circling Cindy and Kendra, waiving a shotgun around. Bling's out cold. I can hear Brin chatting with them in a maniacal manner.

"Three blind mice . . . three blind mice . . . although you're not blind, are you?" she leans down, putting her face in Cindy's.

"I can see you a hot enough girl, but Original Cindy doesn't go in for the whole bondage dealio." She's nervous, but trying to play it cool.

This makes Brin angry. She bashes Cindy in the head with the butt of the shotgun, causing Cindy's head to bump Kendra's. It wasn't hard enough to knock either of them out, but they're both grimacing in pain.

That's it. Taking a running leap through the window - sorry Logan, I'll pay you back for it - I land in a roll, coming up to my feet. Brin swivels around to face me.

"Aw, you got here too quick . . . I wanna have more fun," she says, tilting her head to one side then the other like a demented parakeet.

"Fun's over Baby Sister," I growl, taking an attack position. I kick the shot gun out of her hands. It flies in the air and I go to catch it, but Brin tackles me, and the gun lands on Logan's desk. The impact causes it to fire, and the shot ricochets off the plastic, taking a chip out of it.

Logan's not going to be pleased.

Flipping Brin, I jump to my feet and find Brin on hers. She throws a punch, missing me, but immediately whips a spin kick that cracks me on the shoulder. She's not holding back. Not at all.

She grabs a chair and hurls it at me. I duck and it crashes against the wall. Another chair is flying at me almost immediately. This one hits. While I'm on the ground, she goes for the gun. I jump to my feet, ready to kill. The Brin that was my baby sister is gone.

She's pointing the gun at Kendra, Cindy, and Bling. "Which one, Maxie? Choose . . . you can't have all of them . . . Which one is it? Tinga?" She points the gun at Cindy. "Logan?" She points it at Bling. "Zack?" She points it at Kendra. She's really lost it.

"What's wrong, Brinny? Can't hit a moving target? So you've got to hit the ones that can't?" She's fuming, but her attention has been drawn away from them. "Catch me . . . if you can." I jump over the windowsill and run. I know she'll follow.

Point of View: MAX******************************

50 Miles… Brinn has compromised this Cabin.

Going to take me 45 min at least, that's if I can blow through sector checkpoints without too much hassle.

Plus the damn Hummer is overcrowded. WHY we're taking the civilian in beyond me, but I don't have time to argue.

I sit Sandy on the woman's lap. Prop Tinga up in the middle. And stuff Zackdecker into other side behind Logan.

That's another thing…

I walk back around to Logan who's on the drivers side. He's got that look like some one put him in charge of all this. I open the drivers side door for him.

"You wanna drive? Boss." I glare at him. He's been talking down to me like I'm some kind of sidekick.

"I can't." He glares right back at me.

"ReeeeaAAAlly?" I reply with sarcasm and slam the door.

I walk around behind him and start pushing his wheel chair around to the passenger's side.

"Wait!!!" He says, slightly P.O.ed! "Can I unlock the wheels first?"

"Sorry… Didn't notice." I respond.

"Freak." he whispers sort of under his breath. I let that slide. He's got major cajones talking to ME like that. I admire that. Lucky him.

"Logan, don't call him Zackdecker. The Manticorny is laced with copied memory engrams from … the real Zack I guess. I fed Deck a full bag. He probably knows 90% of what the real Zack does."

"Are you insane!!! Zack knows where all the X-5's are."

"The memories are unstable, probably won't stick. In the mean time call him Zack. I convinced him he had plastic surgery to make him look like Lydecker. Let's keep him on our side at least till I have to kill him."

Logan looks at me a little taken back. I open the Passenger door and start to load him in.
"I can do it myself!" he barks at me.
"Fine." I say calmly, "But we're in a rush and I have to pack your chair."
I dump him out of it onto the street by the car gently enough to not damage anything but his ego.

I fold the chair and walk off in one motion, dumping it in the storage area in the back as I go around.

I get in as Logan struggle onto the seat, red faced and bordering on rage.

"Good job! And you did it ALL by yourself."

His glare focuses from me tot he road ahead.

"Drive!"

"Fasten you seat belts people… Cause we ain't stopping!"

Point of View: KENDRA***************************************

It didn't take long to set up the rest of the computer stuff. I haven't really been around computers before so I decided to press the little green button to see what it did. As soon as I did it, Original Cindy screamed at me, and the phone rang. Bling answered it, I figured Logan was on his way back. Just then, someone came in, I thought to myself, is that Brinn, just as Original Cindy said her name.

Brinn immediately attacked Bling. She ran up to him and punched him so hard he went flying across the room and knocks him out. The she turns to Original Cindy and me. At this point I'm starting to get a little scared. She grabs Original Cindy and starts to tie her up. Original Cindy tries to fight back, but Brinn is to strong. When I go to help Brinn kicks me out of the way and I land practically on top of Bling. I shake him to try to get him to wake up and all he does is let out a moan. I decide to try and run for it. I should warn Logan so he doesn't get caught by surprise on his way back.

Brinn seems to know what I'm thinking. She runs to me and throws me over by Original Cindy. I think to myself dam this girl is strong. The next thing I know I am tied up behind Original Cindy and Bling is tied up too.

Brinn grabs a shot gun and starts chanting "Three blind mice ... ". I don't think she could get anymore annoying. And then Original Cindy starts talking to her. She's got the right idea by playing it cool; however Brinn seems to be getting annoyed. Just when I'm about ready to tell Original Cindy to shut up, Brinn hits her, and her head slams into mine. Dam I'm going to have a headache for a while.

Then Max jumps through a window and kicks the gun out of Brin's hand. I'm so glad to see Max. I'm kind of getting the feeling that whatever going on here is the past Max didn't fill me in about. I'm going to have some questions for her if we ever get out of this.

Brinn somehow got ahold of the gun again and poinst it at Original Cindy and me. I don't really remember what happened after that but, Max was out the window and Brinn was following her.

I sigh with relief that Brinn is finally gone.
"Hey are you all right Original Cindy?"

She replies "Yeah, ... sure."

"I think we should try and find a way to untie ourselves before anyone comes back. I don't want Brinn to have any more fun."

"I'm with you girl"

We start trying to scoot over to the desk that is near by in hopes of finding scissors or something sharp that we can cut the ropes with. We hear something move. It sounds like Bling is awake.

Point of View: LOGAN***************************************

All I want to do at this moment is lock Tread and Lacey in a room and let them do each other in.

Tread's determined to humiliate me at every opportunity. And right now he's getting too many opportunities.

He's driving like a maniac. Fitting since he is a maniac. I should have done it myself. But considering the number of head traumas I've had this week, driving seemed like a bad idea.

At least I can get us through the sector police. When I was in the penthouse I grabbed all the passes I had stashed away. Fortunately there were some left from Lauren and Sophie's tenure, so there were no questions about the kid. Tread almost had a look of respect there, for a second, when I got us through the sector. Almost.

We're getting closer to the cabin and I have no idea what to expect.
Lydecker's looking out the window, pointing out landmarks on his way back to "base." Tinga's still out, although she's occasionally muttering something I can't quite hear. The kid is sitting on Lacey's lap, covering her with chocolate and pestering her with ten questions a minute. Lacey's starting to look less complacent by the minute. In fact, panic seems to be creeping in. Good.

We're getting closer. Tread's still doing seventy.

"Tread, do you think we should try to approach quietly, see what the situation is before we burst in there?"

"Nope."

Guess not then. Tread roars up to the cabin, slams on the breaks, and jumps out. He goes straight for his bike.

"Ly...Za...you, can you get my chair please? We need to stop here before we move on to base."

Lydecker nods eagerly. Yanking out my chair, he comes around to my side of the car and throws me into it.

"I could have done that....never mind. Why don't you get the women out of the car and stay here for right now?"

Lydecker gives me some sort of strange salute and grabs Sandy from Lacey. I head to the cabin. Don't know what I'll find, but seems like there's no one else to look until Tread stops fondling his Harley.

What I find is Cindy and Kendra reviving a half-unconscious Bling. Cindy looks up.

"About time you got here."

"I was delayed. What happened?"

"Someone named Brin or something showed up, took Bling out, and tied us up. Max shows up, the bad chick threatens to shoot us, Max jumps out the window, and she follows. Kendra and me got ourselves untied and..."

I don't hear anything past the part about Max out there with an armed Brinn.

Until I hear the gunshot.

Point of View: MAX***************************************

"What's wrong, Brinny? Can't hit a moving target? So you've got to hit the ones that can't?" She's fuming, but her attention has been drawn away from them. "Catch me . . . if you can." I jump over the windowsill and run. I know she'll follow.

Sure enough I hear her growl low in her throat and give chase. Good, got her away from Cindy, Kendra, and Bling. Now I just need to hold on until Logan and Tread get here.

Brin is out for blood. She's gone off the diving board into the shallow end. She's not holding back. I don't want to kill her, but I'd rather it be her than Cindy, Kendra, Bling, Logan . . .

Something hits my back, sending me sprawling. I roll, just in time to get out of the way of a shot. Thanks, Sis, but I'm not looking to accessorize with a shot to the head.

Jumping to my feet, I spin kick, and the gun once again flies through the air. This time I catch it. "Fist fight, no toys," I say, throwing the gun into the woods. She watches it go, then turns on me with a malicious glare.

"If you say so," she drawls, then her hands claw for my throat, my face, my eyes. I grab her wrists. She tries to pull, trying to get my to move my center of balance so that she can flip me. 'Angle, base, leverage,' I remind myself. That's all there is to Siljat (Javanese Martial Art). Planting a foot between hers, I dig my hip into her lower back and I can feel her shift, pulling harder. A foot sweep takes her to the ground.

But she grabs my ankles and I go down on to the cold ground. Ouch, that's gonna be a nasty bruise where my leg hit rock . . .

Brin leaps up, and throws her self on to me. We grapple, rolling over and over, each one trying to stay on top, while she tries to strangle me and to scratch out my eyes. Planting my feet firmly in her stomach, I kick, throwing her off me and using the momentum to propel myself to my feet.

Brin's on me in an instant, hitting and kicking and clawing. I kick her, but she grabs my ankle and throws me back against the side of the cabin. I can hear something crack. This is not good. Ignoring the pain, I go after her.

Sh!t! She's searching the woods . . . she saw exactly where that gun landed. I start after her, but I stop, clutching my arms to my chest and dropping to my knees. Not a seizure . . . no . . . I'm shaking violently . . . Getting to my feet, I stagger after Brin. She turns, shotgun in hand, and cracks the butt of it against my head.

Ignoring the throbbing in my head, I launch my self at her, tearing the gun from her hands. I can feel my nails ripping below the skin as I pry it from her fingers. I toss it aside.

But it's not enough. Brin backhands me, sending me sprawling dizzily on the ground. Every inch of my body aches, showing the marks of the battle. My lip is split in two places, there's a bruise on one cheek, a possible broken rib . . .

Black spots swim around my field of vision. They start to group, threatening to block out all my vision. I can barely see Brin standing over me, shotgun aimed.

"Goodbye, Big Sister," she sneers.

I'm vaguely aware of what sounds like a Humvee driving up. Someone's yelling . . . sounds like Logan . . . And then there's a loud crack that splits the air and everything goes black . . .