Disclaimer: All characters belong to Cameron and Eglee, except J.C. Don't sue me, is pointless, have no money…
Author's Note: Sorry about Chapter 7. My floppy disk decided to have a meltdown and bar me from every file I saved on it, so I had to rewrite the whole chapter. I know everyone's probably pissed about how I left off… so here goes…
Walking on Eggshells
Part 8
~Max's POV~
I cradled Logan's head in my arms and stroked his hair. "Bling, get the damn car ready! We're going to the hospital." I picked Logan up and handed him off to Bling. Then I grabbed J.C. by the shirt and slammed her against the wall. "What the fuck did you do to him?"
She plucked the tube out of her arm, then kicked my legs. My knees locked and I fell down. She leaned down and grabbed my hair in her hands. "I might tell you when we get back home." She began to drag me towards the doorway, but I saw Bling stand in her way with Logan still in his arms.
"There's no way you're going to leave this apartment without telling me how the hell you knocked a grown man unconscious without lifting a finger." Bling said menacingly.
While Bling was talking, I reached for a fork Logan was using while he was cooking. I quickly stabbed J.C's hand and she yelled, pulling back her hand to cover the area I stabbed. I jumped to my feet and grabbed the handcuffs that were on the counter. I guessed J.C. brought them along and got them out when she encountered Logan in the kitchen. I easily snapped one side on one of her wrists, then snapped the other cuff to the handle of one of Logan's kitchen chairs. "You're staying here until we get back from the hospital." I leaned in close to her face and narrowed my eyes. "Then we find out what the hell you did to him." I quickly searched her for any microphones or tracking devices, then I sat her down in the chair. "We'd better hurry, Bling. Don't worry about speeding, just get him to the hospital." I said as I bent the chair arms around J.C. to prevent her from dragging the chair to freedom. Her eyes went wide and she looked at me.
"He never told us you could do that." She said, fear apparent in her voice.
I rolled my eyes and took Logan from Bling. "Hurry, Bling." I almost sobbed. We got into the car and raced to the hospital. I held Logan in my lap the whole time, stroking his face on the way there.
We rushed into the emergency room and a doctor finally noticed us. "Can I help you?"
I gritted my teeth, resisting the urge to grab him and shake him until he was less oblivious. "This man is unconscious. A young woman gave him a transfusion and he started having seizures, then he blacked out." I wondered whether he really meant what he said before he blacked out. Probably not. No one would fall in love with me; I'm a freak. Yet when he said it, he sounded-
"Miss? We need to run some tests on him and try and revive him." I snapped out of my thoughts and glared at the doctor.
"So? Do it! What are you telling me for?" I snapped.
He looked taken aback before he smiled gently. "You're going to have to let go of his hand with that death grip of yours." He tapped my hand and I looked at it. I was holding onto Logan's hand so tightly that my knuckles were white. I quickly released it and bit my lip. "Sorry." I stifled a cry when they took him away.
Bling put his arms around me and I buried my face in my hands. Bling held me to his chest until I stopped crying. "Max, it's alright. He'll be okay."
I turned away from him and sat in a chair in the waiting room. All we could do was wait.
~Zack's POV~
I watched from the window as Max and Bling left the apartment with Logan unconscious in their arms. I turned my attention back to the girl held captive in the chair. J.C, I think her name was. I quickly climbed to the roof and broke into the apartment through the skylight. I peeked around the corner into the kitchen and saw her talking on a small cellphone. Funny, I thought, I saw Max sweep her for everything. I also wondered about how J.C. got the phone into her hands when her arms were pinned to her sides.
"Yeah. I'm at the guy's apartment." She paused, listening to the person on the other end. "She bent the fucking chair handles! Come get me out… and bring an extra key for the handcuffs." She hung up and waited.
I sat in the shadows until I heard the door of the apartment splinter.
"Why the hell didn't you transform? And how the hell did she bend the chair arms?" I recognized the speaker. He was one of the two other kids that were with J.C. when we rescued Logan from her clutches.
"Just get me the fuck out of here! I can't feel my fingers!" J.C. snapped. "Where's Sherena?" She said as the guy took out a small device from his jacket pocket. A tiny red light shone from the device and it cut through the metal of the chair arms easily.
"In the car. Was the girl with him when they took him to the hospital?" The guy asked as J.C. rubbed her arms and stood up.
"Yeah."
"What about that other blond-haired guy?" The guy asked.
J.C. ran her hands through her hair and groaned. "I don't know, Paws. Okay? Let's just figure out a way to get her to come to us first all right? I say we get that Logan guy again and then blackmail her into returning to Manticore by insuring his safety."
Paws nodded and I watched them run out the door. I swung back up to the roof and followed the car they had gotten into. As I ran from roof to roof, I questioned why I was doing this. I wondered why on earth I was following people who were going to kidnap a man who's in love with someone I care about. I came to the conclusion that it was for Max. She may not have said it or admitted it to anyone yet, but I could tell that she loved him back. She didn't have the courage to say it straight out to him before he blacked out, but I knew that if he was killed, she would never be the same. I also knew why she loved him. Don't get me wrong, I didn't know it in that way, but he seemed like a good person and anyone who helps the other X5's to safety is fine by me.
They stopped outside a hospital and all three of them ran in. I dropped to street level and found a back entrance. I quickly grabbed a janitor's uniform and a mop and bucket. I caught a glimpse of them sneaking into the patients ward, so I followed, muttering, "Just going to do the floors," to anyone that looked at me curiously.
I appeared to mop as I moved from room to room, looking for any sign of them. I turned around a corner, then quickly ducked back after I caught a glimpse of the three of them entering one of the rooms. I was about to toss the mop and bucket when three doctors walked up the hallway and I had to assume my role of janitor again. They entered the room the others had gone into and I heard a few crashes. Three doctors walked back out, but their scrubs didn't seem to fit them as well. As soon as I saw them round the far corner, I ducked into the room. The three actual doctors were all sprawled unconscious on the floor and there was a splintered chair lying on its side by the window.
I ran through the hallways, towing the mop and bucket behind me. I grabbed the first doctor I saw. "Where is Logan Cale's room?"
The doctor, who's nametag read, "Dr. Jim Stinson", looked shocked. "I'm sorry, do you work here?" He quickly grabbed a telephone that was on the near wall and spoke into it. "Security."
I heard the word and took action. I swung my fist and he flew backwards. I stepped over him and ran down the hallway. I turned a corner and saw the three "doctors" enter a room. I assumed this was Logan's room and strolled up to the door. As soon as I put my hand on the handle, however, the door swung open and hit me square in the face. I flew backwards into a drinking fountain and hit my head so hard that I blacked out. When I regained consciousness, the doctors were no where to be seen. "Fuck." I said as I felt a large bump on the back of my head. I got to my feet and went to the door of the room. It was empty, of course.
~Max's POV~
"What do you mean he's in a coma?" I cried. The doctor, a Dr. Smith, pushed me down into a chair and knelt in front of me.
"I'm very sorry Miss, but the new blood in his system has tampered with his own blood structure and caused him to slip into a coma. We're not sure when he's going to come out of it or what condition he'll be in if he comes out of it at all." He looked up at me with sympathetic eyes.
I stood up angrily. "What do you mean if? He's going to get out of it! Stop talking like that! You just said that you don't know when he'll come out of it. That means there's a chance he will, so just shut up!" I paced the waiting room. "Please, can I just see him? I really, really need to tell him something. Even if he's in a coma, I know he'll hear me and I need him to hear this." I took a deep breath and the doctor shook his head.
"I'm sorry, but only family members are allowed to-"
He was cut off as I grabbed his throat. "Let me see him or I'll do something that will make your fellow colleagues wish they never went into medical school."
He glanced at Bling, who was standing behind me. "She'll do it." I heard him say.
The doctor nodded and I let him go. He showed me down a hallway and I glanced at the drinking fountain in the hallway. It was dented in one side. I suddenly sensed that something horrible had happened. The doctor pointed to a room and I opened the door.
"You know, I'm not really in the mood for jokes right now." I grabbed his throat again. "Where the hell is Logan Cale?" I growled.
The doctor glanced behind me and his eyes went wide. "I… this was the room we put him in! I swear!" He choked out. I let him go and searched the room. There were no telltale signs of anything. I heard a small noise in the bathroom and I threw open the door. There was a janitor in there, basically tearing it apart. "Hey! Where is the man who was in this room?"
He turned around. "Max, they took him! They beat up a few doctors and they took him… probably back to Manticore." Zack replied as he rushed past me and into the hallway. He saw Bling and the doctor. "Do you have a car? We need to get back to Logan's apartment right now. They probably left us something to tell us where he is."
I put my hands on my hips. "Now why in fuck's name would they do that?" I spat out.
He spun around. "They're using him to get to you. Don't you see that? They're going to use him to get you to go back to Manticore. You go back and he lives basically."
I crossed my arms. "And how the hell do you know all this?"
He grabbed my arm and pulled me towards the exit. "We can talk as we go." We ran out into the parking lot and got into the car. "I got to the apartment just as you guys were leaving and I saw the other two teens help J.C. get out of the chair. I also overheard them talking about their plan."
"Why the hell didn't you stop them?" I started hitting him.
He grabbed my hands. "I tried! I tried so hard, Maxie. I didn't realize they had disguised themselves as doctors until I found the unconscious bodies in a room. When I got to Logan's room, they swung the door open into my face and I got knocked into the sink."
"That's why it was dented." I narrowed my eyes. "Why were you looking for him? You don't like him."
"No, but I can see why you do." I looked into his eyes and could see that he was telling the truth. "Whatever. We have to hurry."
We got to the apartment a few minutes later and crept into the computer room. "They probably sent us an e-mail." I snorted sarcastically.
Zack went to the computer and clicked on the e-mail icon. "Waddaya know." He said as he scanned the text in front of him.
Dear X5-452,
Come home and we'll find out where your loyalties lie.
~Lydecker
I put my head in my hands and sat down on the couch. I wiped away my tears and took a shaky breath. "Looks like I'm going home."
"What? Are you insane?" Zack stomped out of the computer room and confronted me. "You can't go back there, Max. I won't let you." He crossed his arms and set his jaw.
I shrugged. "I have to go back, Zack. I can't let him die because of me. I know you and him will get me back out. Maybe we can kick Lydecker's ass in the process." I smiled and he frowned.
"He's not worth it, Max."
I shook my head. "You don't understand and you probably never will. He is worth it because of everything he's done for me, for everything we've shared and for everything we've done together, he's worth it."
"I don't like this at all." He said simply.
I got up and patted him on the arm. "No one said you would, Zack."
~Logan's POV~
I slowly opened my eyes and tried to lift my head. I groaned when I felt pain shoot through my body.
"So, we're awake, are we?" I heard a voice from nearby and I shifted my head to find the origin. Lydecker was sitting in a chair across the room. I had regained enough consciousness to take in my surroundings. I was strapped onto a hospital bed in a cold-looking room. I had no idea where I was.
"Where am I?"
"I think you can guess, Mr. Cale." He got up from his chair and stood beside the bed. "I'm very grateful for your disability. It will bring one of my kids back home."
I raised an eyebrow and racked my semi-conscious brain for some sort of explanation to what he was talking about. I then remembered the events of the previous night. I stared at him wide-eyed. "No. She would never do that."
He reached into his pocket and held a piece of paper in front of my face. It was an e-mail.
Lydecker,
I'll come, but if you hurt him, I swear to God I'll kill you.
~ X5-452
I gritted my teeth and closed my eyes. She was returning to the place that almost killed her because of my stupid disability. I opened my eyes and saw Lydecker smiling evilly.
"Thank you for helping get one of my kids back for me." He sneered. I spit in his face. "Pleasant, Mr. Cale. Very pleasant." He wiped his face, then stalked out of the room.
I looked around for anything that could help me get out of my restraints, but there was nothing. I let myself be pulled into my dismal thoughts. I cursed myself for being weak. I knew that if I had full power over my legs I wouldn't be in this position. I also knew that Max blamed herself for my disability, but it was my fault. My own damn fault. I wanted to save America. I wanted to help it out of the shithole it had become. I clenched and unclenched my hands. It was all my fucking fault. I couldn't let her give herself up, not now, not ever.
~Max's POV~
I took a deep breath and looked over at Zack. "So, are you going to help me with this or are you just going to tell me I'm making a bad decision and leave?"
He lifted his head and his eyes met mine. "You have to do this, Max. I'll help you."
I stared at him for a few moments, unable to comprehend what I had just heard. Then I smiled. "Thanks."
I breathed deeply, then stepped out of the car. I turned back to the open window and leaned in. "Lay low for a while, then set the charges all around the compound. Zack will set as many as he can inside." I reached into the car and grabbed Bling's hand. "Don't worry about me."
Bling grasped my hand and nodded. I pulled away and turned towards the one place I never thought I would return to. "Let's do this."
We walked towards the main door and I began swallowing uncontrollably. Zack quickly pulled me into the darkness of a cluster of trees and held my shoulders. "Max, listen. I need to tell you a few things before you go in there. First of all, I'm sorry for the way I acted a few days ago. I never should have tried to take you away from Seattle, I see that now. Second, no matter what happens in there or out here, just know that I'm your brother and I'll always care for you, alright?"
I nodded slowly and averted my eyes to the entrance to my personal hell.
"Max, you need to tell him how you feel."
I looked back at Zack and blinked rapidly, utterly dumbfounded. "What do you mean?" I again averted my gaze, only this time it was to make sure he couldn't see that I was lying through my teeth.
He lifted the corner of his mouth in a half-smile. "Max, it's obvious you care for him as much as he cares for you. Just tell him that you love him."
I gulped, then whispered, "I've never told anyone that before. I've never felt this way before, Zack. It scares me."
He lifted my chin so that I had to look at him. "Don't be scared, Max. You know that he'll be there for you every step of the way. He loves you, you heard it from him. Tell him how you feel." With those words, he stepped away from me and ran quickly to a grate on the cement wall. I watched as he pulled it away and slipped inside.
I took a deep breath and walked up to the two soldiers guarding the entrance. One of them lifted their gun and nodded at me.
"What do you want?"
"I'm here to see Lydecker."
"Do you have a pass?"
I rolled my eyes before punching the soldier in the face and grabbing his gun in one swift movement. The other soldier reached for his rifle, but I butted him on the back of the head with the butt of my gun. "Consider this my pass." I said before strolling into the building. I walked by a few scientists before recalling everything that had happened to me in this place. I turned down a hallway and remembered when Eva was shot. I went through a doorway and remembered the experiments done on all of us. I shuddered when I recalled the day Lydecker hired a man to run from us and we caught him, killing him in cold blood. My breathing quickened and I began to run, afraid they would treat Logan in the same fashion. I ran down another hallway, only to stop at a doorway, seeing Lydecker standing inside. I stood in the doorway and put my hands on my hips. "Did I miss the party?"
He spun around and shook his head. He looked disappointed. Like I cared what he felt like. "I'm disappointed in you, Max. You're a soldier and you've become attached to this man. You've become weak. It's a good thing you came back to us, your family." He spread his arms wide in a gesture of welcoming.
I narrowed my eyes. "Fuck you." I spat.
He shrugged and turned towards a mirror at the back of the room. Suddenly, the image changed and I saw what was happening behind the glass. I gritted my teeth and pulled out the gun I had stolen from the soldier at the front entrance. "Let him go."
Lydecker looked at the scene behind the glass. Logan was sitting in a chair, facing the two of us, and there were two soldiers behind him, one with a gun pointed at Logan's head. Lydecker turned around and pursed his lips. "I don't think so. If you put your gun down, maybe I will let him go. What do you say, Max?"
I hesitated and Logan must have seen it. I glanced at him and he jumped up from the chair. The two soldiers grabbed him, trying to restrain him, but he was putting up a hell of a fight. "Max, get out of here! Go now or you'll regret it!" I heard his words and felt a tear run down my cheek.
"Don't hurt him or I will kill you." I started to put down my gun, when suddenly chaos erupted behind the mirror. Logan had grabbed the gun out of one of the soldiers' hands and pointed it at the other soldier.
"Put the fucking gun down." He demanded. The soldier complied and Logan shot both guards quickly in the legs. They fell to the ground, clutching their legs in agony. Then Logan shot the glass and jumped through. I brought my gun back up to Lydecker and grinned.
"Looks like the tables have turned. Is he armed?" Logan searched him and grabbed a small gun from Lydecker's leg holster. "Now who's weak?" I stared hard at him, wondering what I should do with him. Debating whether to kill him or not, I heard Logan's voice in my ear.
"Think about how much pain he's caused you, Max." We both had our guns trained to him and I could see the fear in Lydecker's eyes. I lowered my gun a few inches and shot him in stomach. He made a small noise before collapsing. We ran to the doorway, but stopped when we heard Lydecker speak.
"You'll never be free, you X5's. It doesn't matter if I die, someone will replace me." He said in a strangled voice.
I turned back to look at him. "Not if the whole damn building is blown to shit." I grabbed Logan's arm and we ran down the hallways. We finally reached the entrance and ran across the large parking area to hide in a group of trees. We turned back to look at the building that had brought me and my brothers and sisters so much pain. I let a breath out and turned to look at Logan, before a pained look spread across his face and he collapsed onto the ground. I knelt beside him. "Logan, what's wrong? Did you get hurt? What is it?"
He closed his eyes and muttered, "Legs. They gave out on me again. Looks like the transfusion didn't work."
"I wouldn't think so after it put you in a goddam coma!" I joked, but I read the seriousness in his eyes and stopped laughing. "Logan, you really have to believe that I don't care if you walk or not. It's you I care about, not your ability to walk."
He reached out and took my hand. "Then you have to believe that this disability is not your fault. It was my decision, so don't blame yourself 'cause I know you do."
I nodded and glanced at a figure jumping down from a window in Manticore. It was Zack. He sprinted towards the trees and knelt down beside us. "It's all set." He did a double take when he saw me. "Max? I thought… You both made it out." He breathed a sigh of relief. "The charges are all set to go off in about 2 minutes. Hopefully it won't take them that long to search the area. Where's Bling?"
I looked over my shoulder at the rendezvous spot. The car wasn't there. Zack stood up and looked over at the compound. "Should be going off any minute." As if on cue, at the end of his sentence, Manticore suddenly burst into flame, a small rumble in the ground was the only indication of the charges set around the building. The flames began to consume the building quickly and no one went in or out of the building.
We watched until the flames died down and I was shocked at the damage. The explosion had consumed everything save a few ashes and rubble lying on the ground where the building used to be. The fire department never arrived because Manticore was built out in the middle of nowhere and no one had survived to use the phone to call them.
I hugged Zack and laughed. "It's over. I can't believe it's over!" I exclaimed happily. He pulled back and nodded.
"I have to tell everyone. Now we can all live normally."
"I hate to tell you this guys, but you two will never be a normal anything." We turned when Logan spoke. He was still sitting on the ground with a large smile on his face. I put an arm around his shoulders and pulled him up. He hugged me quickly, then shook Zack's hand. "We should probably see if Bling is there with the car." I looked again at the spot we were to meet Bling and saw the car sitting there. We ran towards the car. I struggled a bit with Logan because his legs still refused to work.
We reached the car and Zack got in beside Bling, so Logan and I could have the backseat. I helped Logan in before jumping in behind him and the car zoomed towards the main road. I grabbed Logan's arm and pulled it around me before leaning against his chest. "I'm glad you're alright."
He tightened his grip on me and kissed the top of my head. "I can't believe you did that. You hated Manticore, so why would you return?"
I tilted my head to look up into his eyes and knew I had to tell him. I had to tell him how I felt or I would lose my nerve and he would never know. "Why do you think, Logan? I came back because I-"
I was cut off as Bling slammed on the brakes of the car and we were both thrown forwards into the backs of the front seats. "Ow, dammit. Bling, why the hell did you do that?" I yelled.
The car door was suddenly thrown open and I was pulled out by a pair of hands. I felt my feet hit the pavement of the road and I stood up. "What the hell are you doing here?"
The three Zoomorph 8 subjects stood in front of me with angry looks on their faces. "You destroyed it. You destroyed our home and now you'll pay." J.C. said as she lunged towards me. I ducked out of her way and she landed in the back seat of the car beside Logan. She glanced up at him and smiled. "Hey, sexy." She said coquettishly. Logan grinned, then punched her in the face and pushed her out of the car. She fell in a heap beside the car and I grabbed the back of her jacket. I turned her around so that she faced me.
"Stop chasing me. You're free. Manticore was not your home, it was your prison. If you can't see that, then I can't help you." I let her go and looked at the other two. "Think about what they did to you in that place. They weren't your family. Would family experiment on you or cut you up or kill half of your brothers and sisters before getting the perfect soldier? That place was hell and you know it. Accept it!" I yelled at them.
J.C. lunged at me again, her fist catching my jaw and knocking me back into the car. "Don't you ever speak about our family like that again! Just because you decided you didn't belong in Manticore doesn't mean we don't. You killed Lydecker and destroyed our home and you will pay for that."
I grabbed the door and slammed it shut. Bling took the hint and we sped away from the trio.
~Logan's POV~
I smiled as she leaned against me again. I stroked her hair back from her face and sighed. "So no more Manticore." I said simply. She nodded slowly. After a short time, I glanced down at her and saw she was sleeping, something she never did. I wondered if the reason she never slept prior to this evening was because she was always on edge about Manticore. I decided to ask her about it when we got back to her apartment.
Bling dropped Zack, Max and I at Max's apartment before heading back home himself. "This business has tired me out." He had said.
I carried Max in my lap while I wheeled myself to her apartment, Zack following close behind. I knocked on the door, but Zack shook his head and pushed the door open. He sauntered in and sat down on the couch. I peered into the apartment before going in. "Where's Cindy?"
I had no sooner gotten the question out of my mouth when she emerged from her bedroom.
"Doing my nails sugah. What's happened to my Boo?" She said, looking concernedly at Max, who was still lying in my lap.
"She fell asleep on the way home. She's okay, don't worry, just tired." I turned and took Max into her bedroom, closing the door behind me. I lifted her onto the bed before maneuvering myself onto it. Her eyes fluttered open and she smiled sleepily.
"Hey." She murmured before getting underneath the covers. She patted the spot beside her and I gladly moved to it, wrapping my arms around her. She shifted to look up at me and yawned.
"Get some sleep, Max. You've had a long day." I said comfortingly.
She shook her head slightly. "I never sleep. Besides, you've had a long day as well." Despite herself, she yawned again. I gave her a look and she frowned. "I'm not sleepy…" Her eyelids fell and she groaned. "Okay, maybe I am sleepy." She relaxed into my arms, turning her head into my neck. A few minutes passed and I felt her breathing become deeper. I thought she was asleep, but then I heard her voice. "Logan?"
"Yes, Max?"
"I love you, too." She murmured before kissing my neck. I grinned and stroked her hair. After a time, we both fell asleep.
Author's Note: Sorry this chapter took so long, but hey, it is the summer. Anyways, it's not over yet. I still have one more chapter to get through. There are some loose ends to tie up (such as the three amigos- J.C. and the gang, plus what will happen with Max & Logan) so don't stop reading just yet!