Disclaimer: Me no own DA characters. Me is poor.

Spoilers: All eppies up to "Rising", then spoilers from "Pollo Loco" and "Hit A Sista Back" as well.

A/N: Special thanks to Blackwolf and Zig for helping me out on a couple of key points to the story and 'Meka for her wonderful beta-ing expertise!

Please R&R and let me know if I should continue!!

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The Enemy Within

Chapter 7
Fear

"Sir" the deep voice came from over the radio, interrupting Lydeckers' thoughts. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Max's almost imperceptible tensing, the way her shoulders straightened and her ears perked up. No one else but Lydecker would have been able to notice the subtle changes she was going through as she was becoming acutely attuned to the voice from the walkie-talkie. Her eyes didn't move away from the helicopter's window and the outside sky, and her facial expressions certainly didn't change, but the girl was definitely listening intently. He smiled slightly, reveling in the fact that not only was he taking one of his best soldiers home, but he would undoubtedly get useful information on the other X-5's from the Cale place.

He pressed the button on the radio and answered "Yes, Lieutenant Briggs. What have you found?"

There was a pause before the young Lieutenant replied. "Well sir, there was a slight problem." Even though Lydecker couldn't see him, he knew from the tone of the man's voice that he was very uncomfortable. Something had gone wrong.

"What is it, Briggs?" he asked impatiently.

"Sir," the man began, "there was a slight hitch in the plans. It appears that the apartment was rigged-"

"Rigged?" Lydecker interrupted, speaking very softly, but there was no mistaking the menacing tone his voice had taken. "What do you mean, rigged?"

"Sir, as we were sending our men up, there was an rather large explosion at the Cale location. We estimate that he had around a quarter-pound of homemade plastique strategically positioned at various points in his penthouse. It looks as if a remote device of some sort set it off, probably on a short range because it was an amateur job. Either way, it was well planned and executed. The guy even had the place fireproofed so it was contained solely to his place. Sir, the apartment is a total loss."

As Lydecker listened, the smile that he had been wearing slowly vanished. The corners of his mouth had turned down and his lips tightened; his eyes had become narrowed and hard, causing the smooth forehead to give way to several worry lines; and his nostrils flared as he tried to control his anger. By the time the Lieutenant was finished, Lydecker was barely holding his rage in.

"Sonofabitch!" he swore loudly. " I wanted this! He had information about our kids in there, I know he did!"

"Sir, I-"

"Shut up!" Lydecker yelled. "I don't want any of your half assed excuses! Do you realize the things he probably had in there? Do you?" He warily rubbed a hand down his face, and continued on in a slightly calmer fashion. "You said that the explosion was probably tripped by some short range device. That means that Cale had someone helping him. He probably slipped right under your nose! Dammit! I want you to find this person, and bring them to me. They may even have some of the files we need. In fact, the more I think about it, the more I am sure they were probably able to salvage some. Do you understand this, soldier?"

"Yes sir" came the meek answer from the radio. "I understand completely."

"Good. Then I want you to find this person, soon. No excuses." Lydecker commanded, then ended the connection.

He turned his focus back to the prisoner that sat across from him. Her attention was no longer outside the window, but solely on him. Her face was cold and impassive, showing no emotion, but when his gaze roamed up to her eyes, he saw that they were filled with pure loathing. Suddenly, a smug smile split her face, and it became contorted by the amount of pure hatred she held. In that one glance, she looked like she could murder him, tear him apart limb by limb and torture him in the most animalistic ways. And she would enjoy it. He rapidly turned his eyes away from her and pretended not to notice. For that split second, however, Donald Lydecker had felt a slice of fear- and that was something he hadn't felt in a long, long time.

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Max turned away from Lydecker, forcing her temper back down. She had to keep thinking coolly, logically. The man just seemed to bring out the most primal of hates from her.

They were approaching an airfield of some sort. Max guessed that they would be getting on a plane and heading back to Gilette. Back to Manticore. Her hands were sweaty and her throat tight at the thought, but she quickly forced it away. It had to be done, otherwise Logan would dead.

'Logan, I'm so sorry. It was the only way I could think of. I couldn't let you die. I'm gonna get you out somehow, Logan. I promise you.'

They were going to question him, and they weren't going to be nice about it. Logan wouldn't break easily either, which meant that it would be worse for him. She was comforted by the knowledge that Bling had pulled off the first part off the explosion, and was safe now. He would start getting the ball rolling on the rest of their plan soon. The torturous wait until then was going to kill her. She probably wouldn't be lucky enough to know how things would go from this point out. She would just need to have unshakable faith in Bling, and something else she had never had much use for.

Hope.

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Some time later, Logan opened his eyes slowly and looked around. His body felt weak and lethargic, and his throat was scratchy around the tube that was shoved down it. As his eyes focused, he noticed that he was in a different room now, one that was smaller and much more cramped room than before. There were no windows in this room, more medical equipment. He heard the beeping of the heart monitor that was hooked up to him, but nothing else. He was alone in the room, and entrance was shut. He was sure on the outside, however, was a guard that would be ready for anything just in case


They were keeping him drugged, that's for sure. They wanted to keep him weak, however he had to admit that whatever drugs they were giving him was helping his condition. He was no longer shaking and to be honest, he even felt better, though he was still recovering. That meant they were probably going to start questioning him soon. Max had told him they would, but still, he couldn't help but be anxious about it. She had been honest in telling him that they had less than dubious methods of questioning. He remembered the look in her eyes while she was warning him about the interrogation process. A haunted look had come in her eyes at some terrible memory for her, and pain had followed it as she resigned herself to the fact that he was going to have to go through their torture. He had squeezed her hand, but said nothing. There was nothing either of them could have said to make any of this easier. Logan wondered how Max was doing. He doubted they were at the same facility together. He didn't feel her. That should seem crazy, but it didn't. He somehow just knew that he was far away from her.

Thinking about her made his heart feel like it was slowly being ripped out of his chest. Now that she was back in Lydeckers' clutches and it was his fault was making him nauseous. He should have made her leave Seattle without looking back, made her forget about him. If he died, so be it. Nothing could be worse than the not knowing. Not knowing how she was, not knowing if she was still alive, not knowing when or if he would be out of here to get her out. The not knowing was going to slowly drive him insane.

'Stop it! You can't help her if you think this way!' he mentally scolded himself. He had to remain level headed, had to keep hope that he was going to get her back. He couldn't let himself think otherwise. 'Bling will get you out of here; it's a foolproof plan. It just has to be.'

But he was still scared for Max. Every time she had discussed Manticore with him¸ he could hear the fear that was underlying in her voice. The girl was terrified of the place, and now he was truly terrified for her.

Just then, the door swung open and interrupted his thoughts. A guard was stepping aside and letting a man through. The man obviously wasn't a doctor. He was wearing a pressed black suit with a matching black tie. He was in his late thirties or early forties, not tall but not short either. He had dark black hair and was even smiling as he turned to Logan. The man almost looked personable, nice. Almost. The man's eyes were what made him short of being mistaken for a friend. They were cold, flat and undeniably held the knowledge of murder. This man was no one's friend, and anyone who thought so would be sorely-possibly even fatally- mistaken.

"Hello Mr. Cale, very nice to meet you." The man shut the door behind him, and pulled up a stool next to the bed. He sat down on it leaned casually towards Logan. "I'm Major Andrews. How are you feeling? Are the medications helping?"

"Considering I'm drugged and being cared for by Satan's advocates, I'm okay." Logan replied sarcastically.

Anger flickered in Andrews' eyes, but then they softened again. "Well, the drugs are for your own help, Mr. Cale. Your body was rejecting the blood transfusion you were given, and we needed to stop that. You would have died if it weren't for our skilled doctors. Though you aren't out of harm's way yet, your prognosis is good. We aren't your enemy, though I can understand that certain personal acquaintances of yours may have cast a bad light on our institute. "

"I'm very well aware of my condition, Major Andrews." Logan said. "And I am extremely happy to be alive right now, but if you expect me to jump and down and express my thanks to you people, think again. You can all go to hell."

Again, fury shone in the other man's eyes. This time, it took a bit longer for him to tamper it down. He changed his line of questioning, doing away with niceties and cutting right to the chase. "Cale, we know that you have become acquainted with a young lady you know as Max. What can you tell me about her?"

"Well, I don't know you are talking about, Major Andrews." Logan sneered the sentence out, rolling his eyes as he answered.

The back of Andrews right fist struck him hard across the face. For a moment, his vision went even blurrier than it already was without his glasses. His jaw hurt, and he could feel a trickle of blood running from his nose down his lip. He wiped it gingerly with two fingers, but his eyes never left Andrews.

"Don't mistake me, Mr. Cale. I'll make this as hard as you deem necessary. I can be nice, or I can make you wish you were dead."

"I'm dead if I tell you anything, anyways." Logan said.

"That's true, Mr. Cale. That's very true." Andrews said, and smiled viciously. Then he backhanded Logan again, this time catching him on his left eye. Blood started flowing freely from his eyelid and clouded his vision. Tears involuntarily came from the force of the blow, and he heard a loud, high pitched ringing in his left ear as well.

Major Andrews looked down and snarled at him, baring his teeth in the process. Then, leaning in, he whispered in Logan's ringing ear: "Now, are you going to tell me what you know, Mr. Cale? Or am I going to have to continue?"

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Okay, I know I am a bad person for continuing to leave it off on cliffhangers, but it's so much more fun that way!!! :) I will try to have Chapter 8 out next week!!!!