Disclaimer: -Hobbes looks into her pockets and pulls out pocket lint-
If I owned them, you think I would have empty pockets?

A/N: Thanks to Meka, for being a wonderful beta reader; BlackWolf-for all his weapons knowledge; and Zig, for his wonderful plot twist idea in later chapters. :)

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The Enemy Within

Chapter 4
Bad to Worse


Dr. Carr heard the door open behind him and turned around. Max stood in the doorway, nervously biting her lip.

"So, what's the verdict, Doc? What's happening with him," she asked softly, her brown eyes wide with concern.

"Well, right now, I still have to run some more tests. To be honest, I still don't know. It may take a while." Dr. Carr eyed her carefully. "You going to wait around?"

"Yeah, I'll be here for him," Max replied.

Dr. Carr turned around and started walking toward Logan. Suddenly, he felt a sharp, blinding pain in the back of his skull, and bright white stars began dancing before his eyes. Then, blackness took over as his body crumpled to the floor.

Behind him, Max snarled ferociously and looked down at the injured doctor before setting the vase aside that she had hit him with.

"Enjoy your nap, Doc. Guess you didn't realize that you had a Supergirl with super hearing in the waiting room."

"Max? Max?" Logan's raspy interrupted her reverie over the body on the floor. Logan was waking up groggily and sounded confused.

"I'm right here, Logan." Max rushed to his side while he struggled to sit up. His body was still seizing, but it seemed a little less severe than when she had first brought him in. Max handed him his glasses from their place on the table beside him. "How you feeling?" she asked, concerned.

"I'm alright." It was obvious he was anything but alright, but Max was going to leave that alone for now. They had more pressing matters to deal with at the moment.

"Logan, listen," Max began urgently. "We are at Dr. Carr's office right now. I think you're body is rejecting my blood, and that's why you are seizing. Carr has informed Lydecker that we are here, and Lydecker is on his way with his goons. We have to move fast. Bling is waiting outside with the car. We can't go back to your place, Logan - Carr has your address on file somewhere here, I'm sure. Can you get up and walk around with me?" She moved to put her arm around his waist. "We need to get outta here, and fast."

"Yeah, I can." He slung his arm over her shoulders and managed to get on the floor. He was feeling weak, and he couldn't help hunching over. With her free hand, Max grabbed Logan's file from where the Sam had left it by the phone. A card with Lydecker's name on it sat by the folder and it grabbed her attention. As always with seeing Lydecker's name, Max felt a cold pit of fear settle in her stomach. Shaking it off, she grabbed the card and they walked out of the office, with Dr. Sam Carr still unconscious on the floor.

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Max sat in the passenger seat of Logan's Aztec staring out at the soggy day, the stormy weather outside reflecting the turmoil going on inside her head. Bling was driving and in the backseat, Logan was fading in and out. Right now, they had no clear destination of where they were headed. Max knew she would have to figure out something before long, because Logan couldn't stand much more of this. 'Please let me find a way to help him, please' she thought silently. She didn't know if it was a prayer or a wish or just hope-things she never allowed herself to believe in before-but she couldn't stand the thought of losing Logan. Not now. Maybe not ever.

They sat in a dreary quiet for the next half hour, no one knowing what to say, all knowing the situation was grim. Max was deep in thought, unsuccessfully trying to come up with a solution that would help.

"Max," Logan's gruff voice from the backseat disrupted her thoughts. "I think there's a problem."

Max looked back at Logan and her face immediately paled. "Logan!" she exclaimed. Bling looked back at Logan and caused the car to swerve. "Oh my God", he said with wide eyes. He jerked the Aztec back onto the road, but kept glancing back towards his backseat passenger.

Max jumped over into the backseat and pulled a half-sitting, half-laying Logan's head to her lap. She brushed Logan's hair off his forehead-a forehead along with a body that had aged ten years in a matter of an hour. She felt a tear slide down her cheek as she looked into his wary eyes.

"Max, don't cry. I'll be alright. Just stay with me." Logan whispered.

She said nothing in return, just stared at him for what seemed an eternity. Neither seemed able to break each other's gaze and words unspoken passed between them. They poured their heart and soul into that one eternal look. Finally, his eyes began to grow heavy and fluttered close.

"I can help you," she spoke tenderly. "You just have to trust me. Do you trust me Logan?"

"I do," he replied sincerely before succumbing completely to a restless slumber.

With that, Max leaned down and kissed Logan almost imperceptibly on his lips. Then her face went cold, becoming the face of a soldier preparing for battle.

"Bling, let me see Logan's cell."

"You gotta plan, girl?" he inquired as he handed it to her over the seat.

"Yeah, I do." Max pulled the card from her pocket that she had picked up at Dr. Carr's office and began dialing the numbers printed there. Then she held her breath and waited for her personal anti-Christ to answer on the other end.