Disclaimer: I don't own any characters from Dark Angel. Some dudes named James Cameron and Chic Eglee created them. I have to give them props though, because Logan is a hottie.

Author's note: Okay, this is the deal. I get bored at work, so I write fanfic. This is my first one EVER, so if it sucks, you know why! :) Also, I write short chapters, but I try to update at least once a week. I hope that helps.

Special thanks to: 'Meka, for her wonderful beta-ing talent, BlackWolf, because his knowledge of weapons helped me with details of this story, and Zig for giving me a really neato idea for this chapter!

Now, without any further ado, Chapter 9!

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Chapter 9
Common Interests


Zack walked inside the apartment and took his surroundings in. It was a mix of Max's no frill taste and Original Cindy's slightly eccentric touches. It was easy to see Max living comfortably in here, being as close to a regular girl as she can be. He turned his attention back to Cindy.

"When was the last time you spoke with her," he said, making the sentence a demand, not a question.

She raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips, not appreciating his rather short manner. But she wanted to find her friend, and she knew that he was probably her best bet right now.
"Well, since you asked so nicely, it was two nights ago. She went over to rich boy's and I haven't heard from her since."

Zack's eyebrows drew together in anxiety. Two nights ago was too long.

"Does she do that often?" he asked.

"No, never. She'll call me if something comes up 'cause she knows I'll worry. You heard about the fire."

"Alright, that's all I wanted to know." Zack turned as if to leave, and Original Cindy reached out and grabbed his arm.

"Look, you may be a genetically enhance whatever, but don't think you can come in here and ask Original Cindy questions, but not help out with the answers. I know you have an idea of where she could be. You think this is about your black helicopter guys, don't you?"

Zack looked down, clearly shocked that she knew about Manticore. 'What the hell has Max done now?' he wondered. Inside, fury briefly battled with worry. Not only did wheelchair boy know about Manticore, but now Original Cindy did as well.

"Yeah, that's right. Original Cindy knows about yours and Max's sordid past, but that's beside the point right now. The point is that you can't just come in here and not let me know anything. I want to find Max just as much as you do, cause I know something's horribly wrong. So don't think you can just come up in here and ask questions then leave Original Cindy out in the dark like that. You better think again. Wherever you are going, I'm going with you."

Zack looked down at her, speechless for a moment. The girl had some brass, and she was obviously a very dedicated friend to Max. That didn't mean that she could tag along and slow him down while putting her own life in danger as well. "Look, I don't know what Max told you about us, but that doesn't entitle you to come along. This isn't a game of cops and robbers, and the good guy doesn't always win. Plus you wouldn't want to break a nail having to shoot someone, would you? So, you can just stay right here." Seeing the worry on her face, he added "Look, I'll get in touch with you as soon as I find out something, okay?"

Original Cindy just stared at him, an incredulous look on her face. How dare he patronize her!

"Listen up here, Cap'n." she started in a low and even tone, trying really hard not to lose her temper. The guy must be okay if Max trusted him unconditionally. The guy was practically her brother. She just had to keep herself reminded of that. Right at this moment, though, it wasn't helping much. "Original Cindy knows this ain't child's play, but if you don't take me along, I'm going to follow you. And you wouldn't want to worry about looking over your shoulder for me? That would slow you down even more. Plus, I'm a weapons expert. I know a thing or two about shooting guns without breaking a nail. If Max is really being held by the Gestapo, then you are going to need more than just one person going after her, right?"

Zack exhaled a slightly frustrated breath and rolled his eyes. He knew that if Lydecker had Max-and he believed that's exactly where Max probably was- then Original Cindy was in danger if she stayed here. Lydecker would more than likely find out all about Max's daily life- including the people she associated with and what those people knew. It was obvious that Cindy knew too much. Zack may be trained to be a soldier, but he couldn't live with it if something happened to Original Cindy and he did nothing to prevent. Another thing was she may get a hair up her ass to start doing some investigating on her own, and who knows what that would turn up. If he could keep her in his sight, then he could monitor what she did. Plus, she was right- if they needed to go after Max, the more people on their side, the better.

"Alright," he said finally. "You can come. But I swear, the first time you screw up anything, anything, you're coming right back here. You could end up dead."

"Don't worry about me, Original Cindy can take care of herself. Where we going first?" she asked.

"Well, Logan has this cabin that's not far from here, and I want to check it out. It's possible they could be laying low there." Although neither of them really believed it could be that simple, they were going to exhaust every possibility before deciding to take Manticore head on.

"Aiight" she said. "Let me grab some stuff real quick and then we can leave."

"Do you have a car?" he questioned. When she shook her head no, he continued. "Well, I hope you have nothing against borrowing someone else's without their knowledge."

She scoffed and gave him a wicked smile. "Hell, I could teach you a thing or two about taking a car without the owner's permission."



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Max lay on a cold slab of unrelenting steel, completely unclothed and held down with leather straps that bind her wrist and ankles. She was having even more trouble focusing on reality. Everything was foggy, almost as if there was some sort of barrier between her eyes and the rest of the world. She could make shapes out in front of her. There was a doctor, two - or was it three? - guards that had large tazers in their hands. Then there was Lydecker, who paced slowly back and forth in the small, barren room, continuing to throw questions at her.

"What does Logan Cale know about you? About the others?" He asked for what had to be the fifth or sixth time.

"The sun is probably shining real bright outside." She answered with a thick voice, completely ignoring the question as she had throughout the whole interrogation. She loved answering him with pointless and completely asinine responses, loved seeing the way his chin would clench, as he grew more and more frustrated with every ignored question. She could play this game and win. In fact, Lydecker was the one who made sure all of his precious X-5's could take a session such as this-and worse- without giving away anything they didn't want to. Max concentrated on nothing and started slipping into the place where she wouldn't remember anything that could give away something to him.

Lydecker didn't fail to notice that Max was using his own techniques against him. He had trained her well in some aspects. She was blocking everything out. Soon, she wouldn't even remember the answers to his questions. He wanted to get as much helpful knowledge out of her as he could.

"Where is Jondy? Tinga? Krit?" he asked, calling each of them by the names they had given themselves.

"I never did care much for Wyoming," she stated in an almost childlike voice. This time, however, it took a bit longer for her to reply.

He leaned over her and snarled. "I will get information about the others from you dammit!" He looked over at one of the guards and jerked his head toward the television monitor that was set in the corner of the room. Max briefly wondered why she hadn't seen it before.

"Turn it on!" Lydecker barked, his irritation very obvious in both his manner and his voice.

The guard did as he commanded, and the set was on. Max stared in shock at the screen, and Lydecker gave a small, somewhat sad, smile.


***

Zack and Original Cindy had luck with an older truck that had been parked about three blocks down from the apartment. Zack drove them up to Logan's cabin, his memory giving him no trouble with recalling the way. They both kept to themselves on the journey there, not having much to say to each other and lost in their own thoughts. As they pulled closer to the cabin, they both noticed the Aztek parked in front of it, and they each felt a little spark of hope.

"Maybe my girl just needed a weekend getaway with her man," Original Cindy mused softly as she looked Logan's car.

"Well, we'll see." Zack responded tightly. Original Cindy raised an eyebrow smirked at the obvious jealously that tinted his answer.

They got out of the car and headed onto the front porch. Zack went to knock on the door, but before he could, it swung open. There stood a large, muscular black man holding a double-barreled shotgun right at Zack's face. On instinct, Zack kicked the gun out the man's hands, then punched the man in the stomach. The man doubled over and Zack took the opportunity to twist the man's arms around behind him, taking the man's neck in a chokehold. Original Cindy picked up the gun and swung it toward the man's face.

"Who the hell are you, and where is Logan and Max?" Zack spat out as he tightened his grip around the man's throat.

***

Max's heart twisted in her chest at the sight of a battered and bloody Logan on the monitor. In that one instant she hated herself for having turned him in, even knowing that if she hadn't, he might be dead by now. He lay in a hospital room with eyes bruised, nose swollen and lips bloody and cut. It was obvious that he had been battered very recently. His head was lolling to the right side, as if he could didn't have enough energy to keep it straight. However, he was awake-even if just barely. A man stood beside Logan with a gun in his hand. She guessed that the beatings had been this man's dirty work. His clothes and hairstyle should have made him look civilized, but his eyes showed the truth. This was a cold, heartless man, and he not one to be messed with. She quickly blinked back tears, but her eyes were even blurrier now than they had been.

"Max, say hello to Major Andrews. He's a good friend of mine, and has recently become acquainted with your Mr. Cale." Lydecker told her. "Now, seeing as you are having a problem answering my questions, I have decided to guarantee that you will cooperate. For every unanswered question, one of our dear fellows fingers will be broken. Then his hands, then his arms, until you decide to come to your senses. Do you understand, Max?"

Max said nothing, not being able to get anything past the lump in her throat.

"Now, once again. Where are the other X-5's?" he questioned. Max didn't know what to do. On screen, Major Andrews took one of Logan's hands, and gripped his pinky finger.

"I don't know," she said. Immediately, Andrews smiled nastily and bent Logan's finger at an odd and excruciating angle. Logan tried to suppress a cry of pain, but was unsuccessful.

"Noo!" she tried to shout, but it came out as a raspy whisper. "It's true, I don't know! Zack never told me! He wouldn't tell me, no matter how much I begged him." Max began openly crying now. She felt so helpless. On screen, Logan was writhing, trying to reach for his injured finger with his other hand, but Andrews kept him down.

Lydecker studied Max and knew immediately that she was telling the truth. He was sickened by how much she had let herself come to care about this Logan Cale. He was her weakness, and he despised any weakness-especially in one of his kids. But, at the moment, he was just going to focus on using Cale against Max.

"What about him?" he said, getting down in Max's face and pointing at the television. "What does he know?"

Max couldn't answer, afraid to give too much away. She didn't know what they would do if they found out he was Eyes Only, and he had successfully gotten information about the X-5's.

"Max" Logan begged. "Please..." Max wasn't sure what exactly he was pleading with her for. After ten seconds of silence from Max, Andrews took Logan's ring finger and cracked that too. The sound was sickening in her ears and it seemed to echo there for a long while. Logan gave another loud groan of complete pain, and she broke down when she saw the tears flowing down his cheek.

"Okay, okay," she wept. "I will tell you. Logan is Eyes Only. I'm sure you've heard of him. He's done some research, but the only info he was able to find was of Zack and a little bit about the other X-5's. I don't know what else he knows. I don't think he knows much more. Please...let him go!"

Lydecker nodded, seemingly satisfied with her answer. With that, he turned to the monitor and spoke to Andrews.

"Kill him," he said, and then turned to leave.

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A/N: Okay, I hope to have the Chapter 10 by the end of this week. Please R & R!!! Reviews mean the world to me!!