A/N- Ok guys, here ya go; finally the next chapter of this fic. I hope you all actually remember what this thing was about. ;) From here on out though, hopefully I'll be posting pretty regularly because I generally have this thing done.
And of course a big thank you to Aimee. Thank you for all those notes you give me girl. Without them, so many things wouldn't make sense in this fic.
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Agent Travers ascended the Calgary Tower in one of the few still functioning elevators in the city. The once thriving metropolis was hit hard by The Pulse. Especially the affluent downtown area in which the Tower stood. The trains that once ran from the north end of the city to the south end now housed many families during the harsh mountain winters. Another popular spot for the homeless were in the tunnels that the train sometimes passed under. Even the one that was supposedly built under a graveyard was consistently full.
Agent Travers stepped out of the elevator as it came to a stop and walked out into the open area. No matter how many times he was up there, the view always managed to take his breath away. He quickly looked out over the broken city. As far as he could see, there were small shacks lining the streets. Garbage cans were on fire, providing warmth to those who were able to huddle close enough to the flames. A few cars drove through the streets, a sign of those who somehow managed to keep their money even after the banks had lost everything. Off in the distance, the ever-burning fires provided an almost blood red hue to the sky as the sun set over the mountains.
Snapping back to reality, Agent Travers proceeded to the opposite side of the observation deck, which was underneath the now defunct revolving restaurant. Now, it was an empty room, ransacked by god-knows-who, but brought back to a quasi-order by his current employer. Rounding the corner, Agent Travers came across the old souvenir shop that now served as the meeting area. There, standing with his back to the room, overlooking the city, was none other than Andrew Silver. Andrew Silver was feared throughout western Canada. He owned nearly everything, and everyone. If he wanted something, he got it. Silver was in his late thirties, and was just starting to show some gray hairs in his slicked back, jet black hair. His chilling blue eyes could draw anyone in, and once that happened, those people never got back out. He was wearing a very expensive suit, one that was more than likely imported, because even before the pulse, Calgary was not well known for having a lot of good quality things.
Travers stood on the other side of the table from Silver, and began to speak. "We have a civilian in custody sir."
"I gave no order to take any civilian in custody. What is the meaning of this?"
"He seems to be the owner of the apartment that X5-599 alerted us to. It appears that this civilian, who goes by the name of..." Travers looked down into the file folder that contained a full report of Operation Trackdown. "....who goes by the name of Logan Cale. He is the main benefactor of Cale Industries in Seattle. Parents died in '09; married to a Valerie...last name unavailable, they have since divorced. Hmmm, this is interesting. Apparently this Cale, is none other than Eyes Only. A cable hacker in Seattle that seems to expose corrupt public officials and helps victims of unjust law."
"That is interesting, and I'm sure a lot of people would kill to get their hands on that report, but I don't care about that. What is his relationship with X5-452? I spent a lot of money on this serum that we released, and I want it to come to some use. If this Cale can help us find the girl, I need to know."
"Right." Travers quickly scanned the report to the area concerning X5-452. "Agent Joshua writes that Cale denied any knowledge of the girl. However, he did have several pictures of her in the apartment. As well, clothes that could only belong to her were found on the premises."
Silver turned towards Travers. "How did Agent Joshua determine that those clothes could 'only belong to her'? Hmmm?"
"It says here that all clothes found were of a size 4, waist 26, length 30, size small or medium, depending on the shirt. These sizes match up perfectly with the knowledge we have already gained of X5-452."
"If this is all true, why do we not have the girl?"
Travers closed the file, and grabbed his wrist behind his back, standing at ease. "There was no one on the premises except for Cale. We do not know what happened to X5-452. There was a small hypodermic needle found near the entrance to Cale's bedroom. Tests are being made on it now."
"When you get the results, give them to me immediately."
"Yes sir. Is that all sir?"
Silver turned back towards the window, overlooking his broken city. "Prepare Cale for transport. I want to meet him."
"Yes sir. He'll be in town tomorrow."
"Very good work Agent Travers. You can go."
Agent Travers turned and left, walking around towards the elevator. Once inside, he opened the file again, and read down the page. He stopped at the sentence that he neglected to tell Silver. "X5-452 was seen being carried out of the building by X5-599 and a yet undetermined individual. They are no longer in Seattle." No matter how much we torture this Cale, he won't be able to tell us anything. My guess is, he was just in the wrong place at the wrong time. Now, that is going to get him a one on one with Silver. God rest his soul.
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Laying there in bed, feeling the worst of the seizure fall away, she was finally able to relax. There was still a slight tremor running through her body, and she didn't think that anything would be able to stop it. Taking a deep breath, she remembered that someone else was in the room with her. Or rather, in the bed with her. She turned her head to see his sleeping body beside her. Then, almost as if he sensed that she needed comfort, he rolled over onto his back, and held out an arm to her, inviting her into his soothing grasp. She smiled and snuggled closer to him, curling up beside him. As his arm draped over her shoulders, and pulled her close, she could finally feel the tremors easing away.
"Ok, I can honestly say that this is not the way I pictured this confrontation at all."
Max snapped her eyes open at the sound of Jondy's voice. Only then did she realize that she wasn't in Logan's bed. And only then did she realize that the person she now had her leg and arm draped across was certainly not Logan. Max reeled back, and jumped out of bed. "Zack! What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Jondy dissolved into a pile of giggles. After Zack had knocked Max unconscious for the second time that day, and both he and Jondy had piled Max back into the car, the three of them set off down the road. When they arrived in the next town, Jondy had convinced Zack to stop over. They had been driving all day, and with all the events that had been going on in the last few days, neither of them had gotten a whole lot of sleep. They had checked in to a small hotel, and after finding their room, Jondy had left Zack to sleep while she went to find some food. After what had happened during the day, the *last* thing that she expected to witness, was the scene that she had walked in on.
"Max, I..."
"No! I do *not* want to hear a single syllable come from your mouth.
"Max, before you start, why don't you put some actual clothes on before you start yelling at Zack because you woke up straddling him." Jondy had to stifle another fit of laughter as she spoke.
Max glared at Jondy and then looked down at what she had on. Since Zack had drugged her before she had started getting ready in the morning, she was still clad in her underwear, one of Logan's old t-shirts, her fuzzy red robe, and a pair of fuzzy slippers. "But I..." the slight rustle in the air stopped her from talking as Jondy threw some clothes at her.
"Here. I swiped these while getting our chow." Jondy held up a small bag which had to have held some kind of Chinese cuisine judging by the smell emanating from it. "And why don't you take a shower while you're at it. Give you a chance to wake up a bit."
Max narrowed her eyes and looked directly at Zack who had jumped off on the other side of the bed, and had remained motionless since Jondy had walked in. "Right." Max clenched the clothes Jondy had thrown to her in her right hand, and walked towards the front of the small hotel room towards the bathroom. When Max got inside, she closed the door, turned on the fan, and proceeded to peel off her clothes as the shower ran. She stepped in, and let the water beat down on her. Everything that had happened in the past day came rushing back to her. Emotions flooded her consciousness, and the one that pushed its way to the surface first was anger. After muttering obscenities for as long as she could muster, and after calling Zack every name in the book, and a few choice others that she made up, Max finally began to calm down. As she did, more coherent thoughts began to make themselves known. Logan. Oh my god, Logan. Did Lydecker take you? All of this is my fault. I should never have gotten involved with you. I should have just remained friends with you. Then I wouldn't have been there to let you get taken. I should've been stronger. I'm better than Zack. I should have been ready for that. I can't believe I let him drug me. I can't believe I didn't get to you. Oh my god Logan. I'm so sorry. Max put her hands on the shower wall, and lowered her head under the water. Tears began to fall from her eyes. Sobs began to wrack her body, and it seemed as if they would never stop. Finally, after a long while, as the water began to run cold, Max pulled herself together, turned off the water, and stepped out of the shower. She wrapped herself tightly in a towel, and moved over to the counter. She stared into the mirror at her reflection, and she looked deep into her own eyes. They looked different. Less lively almost. It looked as though something was missing. And that's when she realized what was gone. A small piece of her heart had been broken away, and it would take a lot to get it back.
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"Ok, other than the fact that you owe me *so* big right now."
"What do you mean?" Zack walked over to the small table which Jondy was now loading with the food she had brought.
"What do I mean? Well, let's see. I managed to arrive here before Max woke up on her own. Judging by what I saw, she was dreaming, and was more than likely about to act on that dream. Now imagine how embarrassed, and there for, how angry she would have been if she had woken up with you there instead of Logan." Jondy took the one eyebrow raise she got out of Zack as a sign that she had gotten one point out of the deal. "And secondly," Jondy opened one of the chow mien boxes and dug in. "I brought her food."
Zack let out a small laugh and sat down across from Jondy, grabbing a box of rice of his own to eat.
"And judging by the things that she's calling you right now, it was a *very* good thing that I did both things." Jondy watched Zack as he stopped chewing and lifted his head a bit as he tuned his hearing so that he could listen in on Max. After obviously hearing a few of her choice words, he went back to chewing.
"Maybe I should go out and see if I can find a map or something."
"Yeah, that might be wise."
Zack and Jondy ate in a companionable silence until they could hear the water being turned off. As soon as that happened, Zack took a few more bites, shot back the remainder of his tea, and left the room without so much as a word. Soon after he was gone, Max emerged from the bathroom, clad in the clothes Jondy had gotten for her, with her robe and shirt draped over one arm, and her slippers in the other hand. The jeans and sandals that Jondy had found were a little big, and the shirt was a tad bit more fitting than even what Max liked. Max laid her robe and shirt on the bed, and dropped her slippers on the floor. Finally remembering the food that had been brought in earlier, Max steered herself towards the table and sat down.
Jondy grabbed a Styrofoam cup that was sitting near her and gave it to Max. "Say thank you."
Max took the cup and looked inside. "Mmmm. Coffee."
"I figured you'd want some, or rather, need some. Because you've gone what, like twelve hours or something without caffeine? Isn't that like some kind of record or something?"
Max replied by almost draining the cup. She reached across the table, and grabbed two boxes of food, and put them beside two already open ones.
After watching Max wolf down food for a good twenty minutes, Jondy finally spoke. "How're you doing?"
Max put down her chopsticks, and leaned back in her chair. It was a few minutes before she replied. "Fine, I guess. Considering."
Jondy nodded.
"I guess it was your idea to not have Zack here when I came out. Good plan."
"Actually, it was his idea. I just encouraged him." Jondy winked at Max.
"So, before my 'savior' returns, I want to hear from you what happened."
"Maybe we should wait until he gets back. He can probably explain everything better than I can anyways."
"That may be true, but I want to hear a story without the sentence 'I did it for your own good' or any variation of that in it."
"Well..." Jondy looked nervously towards the door.
Max leaned forward in her chair. "Jondy, you left Logan behind, and I'm having a real tough time dealing with that right now. You owe me an explanation."
Jondy licked her lips, once again looked at the door, and then started her speech. "Alrighty. Where do you want me to start?"
"How about right after me and Logan left you and Zack sitting there in the restaurant."
"Ok. Right after you guys left, Zack took off, and told me to stay put and eat. He said he had some shit to do, or more specifically, as I found out later, had a contact to call. Now, before you ask, I don't have a clue who this person is, but my guess is is that they're from Manticore, but I could be horribly wrong, so don't quote me on that. I finished up, and then Zack still hadn't come back, so I took off to tour the rest of the hotel, and looked in some stores that were near by."
"That must have been when I came looking for you guys, because when I looked in, there was no one there."
Jondy nodded. "Must have been then. But anyways, so then I headed back up to our room, which I must thank you for by the way, cause it was da bomb. So we basically just stayed there until the sector passes arrived. I watched TV, and Zack did, well, whatever it is that Zack does during the day. Then we headed for Seattle, and you kind of know everything from there."
Max narrowed her eyes. She was getting impatient with Jondy's rambling, and she wanted to know about what happened since she was drugged. "That doesn't explain me being drugged at all."
Jondy nervously cracked her knuckles. "Right. Ok. So, that morning while Logan came into talk to you, I went out to talk to Zack. He was kind of upset that you didn't leave with him, which I totally understand you doing, because there's no way in hell I would have left either. So I got frustrated with his attitude, and left him to sulk. I went to my room, and was working my anger off when I heard the two of you yelling at each other. I came out, and you were already unconscious. Then he ordered me to follow him." Jondy looked Max straight in the eye for the first time since she started talking. "I tried to get him to get Logan out too, but he wouldn't listen to me. I'm sorry Max."
Max gave Jondy a weak smile. "Thanks Jondy. I know you did. But why wouldn't Zack let you get him? I mean, I know he doesn't exactly think the highest of him, but even Zack wouldn't let an innocent get hurt if it's preventable."
"Zack said that Logan was working for Lydecker."
"That's bullshit."
"Look Max, I know that you think Logan doesn't have anything to do with this, but..."
"I *know* Logan doesn't have anything to do with this."
"Ok, ok, but still, Zack has a point. No one else could have alerted Lydecker, or whoever this is that's behind all of this crap, to both places you live."
Max looked at Jondy coolly. "Logan had nothing to do with this. Nothing."
"So then who else told them where you would be?"
"There's only one other person I know that knows where both Logan and I live, and that's Zack."
Jondy furrowed her brow in confusion. "Why would Zack tell people where you were? He doesn't want you to get caught."
"I don't know, but he's the only one that could have alerted the right, or wrong people in this case, to where I live. It's the only explanation."
"I don't know girl. That's kind of farfetched."
Max stood up and began walking around the room. "It makes sense though, doesn't it?"
Jondy turned around in her chair so that she could watch Max as she paced. "I guess it does. I just don't understand it though."
"Neither do I, but I don't really care about that right now. Where's the phone? I need to see if maybe Logan is ok. If not, there will be hell to pay."
Just as Max was reaching for the phone, Zack came bursting in the door. "Do *not* call him."
Max took the phone in her hand and began dialing the familiar number.
Zack ran over to her, and grabbed the phone out of her hand.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"Keeping you from making another mistake." Zack nearly shouted his response.
"What?"
"I'm not letting you call Logan. He's the reason that you almost got caught, and I'm not going to sit back and let you call him and tell him exactly where you are again."
"In case you haven't realized it yet Zack, I don't know where the hell we are. We could still be in Seattle for all I know. I kind of wasn't conscious during our car ride. But oh wait, you should have realized that since you're the one that caused my unconsciousness."
"Funny Max."
Max gave Zack a mock smile. "Thanks. Now give me the phone, before I lose what little self-control I have left and give you a serious case of unconsciousness."
Zack looked into Max's eyes, and saw that she meant business. Without speaking, and with giving a quick look over to Jondy, who was emphatically telling him with her eyes that he should give Max the phone, he reluctantly handed Max what she wanted.
Max smiled at him, and finished dialing the number. She listened to it ring three times before she got a familiar greeting. "You've reached the number you dialed." Hmmm, Logan's never usually out right now, but then again, with me suddenly gone, if he's still there, he's probably out looking for me. Max heart filled with a little warmth with that thought, but the dread that something was wrong was still weighing heavy. I'll leave a message. Just to tell him that I'm ok. That'll be the best thing. "Logan, it's me. I'm ok, I'm with Zack and Jondy. I'll keep calling you until I get an answer, so when you get home, *stay there*. Talk to you soon." Max turned away from Zack and Jondy so that her back was to them and she could semi whisper into the phone. "I love you." Max returned the phone to its cradle, and went to sit on the bed. This is going to be one heck of a long day.
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