Shadows of the
Past
Chapter 3: The
Key
~ I'm sorry that it took me so long to update, but it's
been crazy here. I was almost done then Sept. rolled around and you know the rest…Anywho,
read and review, let me know what you think of this crazy little project I've
got goin' on.
~I'm sick and tired of the usual disclaimer so I'm just
doing this: If they really were mine would I be writing fan fiction?
~PG13ish
As Max opened the guest room door early the next morning, she was hit by the smell of pancakes and bacon. \For a guy who was exhausted he didn't sleep very long. //
Max paused at in the den to watch Logan prepare breakfast with a smile tugging at the corners of her mouth.
"You didn't have to do all this." Max said sitting down on a stool. Startled by the unexpected company Logan jumped, splattering grease on his shirt. "Ah, oh, Damn!" He yelped when the splatters hit him. "Max, I didn't hear you come in." He said spinning around.
"Sorry, I do that a lot." Max apologized.
"Don't worry about it." Logan put the finished bacon on a plate and set it on the counter. "You're up early." He said turning around to pickup a plate of pancakes
"I don't sleep much." Max took advantage of Logan's back being turned and stool a piece of bacon from the plate.
"That would make two of us." He said over his shoulder as he walked to the table where he put down the pancakes. "And I saw that."
"What?" Max said feigning innocence. Logan simply smiled.
"Do you take syrup on your pancakes?" Logan asked as he passed by Max to get the butter.
"No. It just gets in the way of the butter." Max said as she reached for another piece of bacon.
"No you don't." Logan said pulling the plate away from her out stretched fingers with a chuckle.
"Come, sit." Logan said putting the bacon on table beside the plate of pancakes.
"Do you have any O.J.?" Max asked opening the refrigerator.
"Yeah, top shelf." Logan called as he set two places on the table. He put two pancakes on each of their plates as well as two pieces of bacon on his plate and four on Max's.
"Want any?"
"Please."
"Good, cause I already poured you some." Max said walking in with two large glasses of juice.
"Thanks." Logan said taking one glass from her. Logan watched the smile form on Max's face when she noticed the extra bacon he had given her. As she stuffed a piece in her mouth her eyes met his with a silent thank you.
"Logan that was soooo good!" Max said bringing him the last few dishes from their breakfast.
"It was only pancakes and bacon." He laughed while rinsing a glass.
"I can't make them. My cooking abilities range from turning on a burner to boiling water." Max laughed as she picked up a dishtowel and began to dry.
"You don't have to do that." Logan said finishing the last couple of dishes in the sink.
"It's the least I can do."
"Really Max, you don't have to." He said turning to face her.
"Logan, you cooked for me, you're helping me with a hopeless situation, you're trusting me with your biggest secret, your letting me stay here for as long as I need to deal with this thing. I think I can handle drying a few dishes. Max said trying to keep the seriousness out of her voice, but failed miserably. Up to this point Max had never truly admitted how hopeless her situation was. The realization brought tears to Max's eyes, against her will.
"Max," Logan began, placing his hand on the side of her face, "Your situation is hardly hopeless." As Max lifted her deep brown eyes to meet his piercing blue a tear spilled over on to her cheek.
"You think?"
"I know." Logan whipped the tear with the pad of his thumb, as a small smile formed at the corners of her mouth.
"Thanks." Max had a hard time pulling her eyes away from Logan's but she did, eventually.
"Just let me change my shirt – because someone caused some 'spillage' – and we'll get started on finding your past. Okay?"
"Yeah, but that 'spillage' was on you 100%." She added walking off towards Logan's office.
Max and Logan had been wracking their brains trying to find something that could help in their search, but had found nothing and both of them were on edge.
"I don't know Logan! I don't remember my childhood, so how can I give you anything to go on?" She shouted.
"Well then what exactly do you want me to do? I can't just pull this out of tin air! I need to start somewhere." Logan yelled back.
"We have been starting for the past 6 hours!" Max yelled throwing her hands in the air. "I need something to drink." Max sighed waking out of the room. Logan watched as Max pulled her hair into a ponytail on her way to the kitchen.
"Max!" Logan called
as an idea struck him. \\ I can't believe I didn't think of it sooner. //
"What?" Max said completely exasperated, turning around to look at him.
"I have an idea."
"So?" She said sidestepping towards the fridge.
"I need your help."
"Fine." Max stalked back in to the room and sat back on the desk where she was sitting before.
"Can I see your tattoo?" Max eyed Logan oddly as she slowly turned so her tattoo was visible.
"It is a barcode." Logan said triumphantly.
"Yeah?" Max said with an attitude.
"Barcodes were used for identification and other similar functions before the pulse and still are today in some places." Logan said as he dug through a drawer.
"You think," Max ventured hoping that Logan would finish her thought.
"Your barcode has some information stored on it. Yeah, I think it might. Here it is." He said pulling out a scanning gun and hooking it up to his computer.
"And you're going to use that?" Max said cynically pointing at the gun.
"Yeah."
"Okay…" Max stood and moved her ponytail out of the way so nothing would be in the way of the scan. "Wait. Where did you get that thing?" She said turning to face Logan.
"I have a friend that used to work in a department store and he took it with him after the pulse for a book end." Logan said shaking his head slightly in amusement. Max turned back around moving her hair out of the way exposing her barcode. Logan put the gun up to her neck and pulled the trigger to activate the scan.
"Alright, let's see what we get." Logan said a second later. Nodding, Max stood to get a better view and watched the computer screen barely breathing. Suddenly a black and white military photo of a small child filled the screen with a red stamp across it that said 'Top Secret'.
"Logan, that's me." Max breathed as tears formed in her eyes.
"Are you sure Max?" He asked in shock and turned to look at her.
"Yeah. That's me." Max said as she sat down on the edge of the desk trying to stop the room from spinning.
"You okay?" Logan asked putting a hand on Max's to get her attention. All she could do to answer was nod.
"We have to get in there." She told Logan with desperation in her eyes. Logan slowly began typing. A few minutes later the picture of Max was replaced by numerous reports and file headings.
"Where do you want to start?" Logan asked.
"The beginning." Max said pointing to a file called 'Project Manticore'.
Leaning up against the wall Max sat on the floor reading and re-reading the files on Manticore Logan had printed hours earlier. Logan was doing the same in his chair, reading the files slowly so he could fully comprehend what he was reading. Hearing a long shaky sigh Logan glanced over the papers he held to look at Max.
Max's eyes darted
across the pages. Words like killing machine, bioengineered, Chimera,
bar code, seizures, and '09 escape. Tears sprung to her eyes, blurring her vision so badly she could
no longer make out the words that were burned into her memory. She wasn't sure
what to think. And she wasn't sure how she felt. Was she mad, hurt, scared,
disgusted? Max honestly had no clue what she was feeling because at the moment
she was numb.
\\ How can I
be one of these kids? I don't remember any of this. Well, can you blame
yourself? What am I going to do? How can I look at myself in the mirror ever
again? //
"Max, are you okay?" Logan asked softly. Max sat unresponsive, never taking her eyes off the paper. Logan moved out of his chair and kneeled down beside Max.
"Max?" He asked again kneeling down next to her.
"What do you think?" Max hissed, her eyes containing the same venom her voice did.
"I think you need a break." Logan said gently, reaching for her. "Come on, let's get something to eat."
"No. I want to read the rest of the files." She said stubbornly, pushing Logan's hand away.
"You've read all of them at least twice. Stop torturing yourself." Logan said softly feeling completely helpless. There was nothing in the world that he hated more than feeling helpless.
"Stop torturing myself? And how exactly do you think I should do that?" Max jumped to her feet angrily and began pacing around the room.
"I don't know Max. Just calm down." Logan said with his voice still in a soothing tone.
"Calm down. Calm down? You want me to calm down?" Max shouted, stopping in her tracks to look at Logan.
"Everything I have ever known is a lie! My name probably isn't even my name! It's X5-452. Or better yet, 332960073452. That's my ID number isn't it?"
"I am a freaking test tube baby Logan!" Max shouted throwing the files in her hand at Logan, only missing because he ducked.
"How the hell do you expect me to calm down? I'm not even human. I'm a…. a…. I'm a freak." Max choked out through sobs.
"Max."
"I wish I never came here. I wish I never wanted to find my past. I wish I never got that stupid phone call. I was perfectly happy being in the dark about who I really was, but I had to screw it all up didn't I? " She said losing her battle for control.
"Max," Logan stood slowly and reached for her hand. "Come on, let's take a break."
Slowly Max began to stretch out her hand towards Logan's, but she stopped seeing the barley visible shaking of her hand. \\ Oh God, not now. Please, not now.//
"No. I just need
a drink." Max said turning on her heel and walking to the kitchen hoping all
she needed was some fresh air. Logan flopped back down in his chair with a sigh.
\\ Way to go Cale. //
\\ Maybe it's
just adrenaline. Yeah, it's just adrenaline.// In mid-step Max lost her
balance and had to grab onto the edge of the counter for support. \\ Ok, so
I was wrong.//
"Hey," He called seeing her stumble. "You okay?"
"Yeah." Max said dismissing the tremor with a wave of her hand as she took the last few steps to the cupboard. Normally Logan would have gone back to his work the second her got a response, but for some reason he couldn't take his eyes off of Max. It was more than her stunning beauty, her energy, her 'spit fire' nature, he wasn't quite sure what it was but he did know something was wrong.
Standing up on her tiptoes, Max reached for a large glass on the top shelf. But before she got to one a strong wave of tremors swept through her body, throwing off her balance and sending her crashing to the ground shaking violently.
"Max!" Logan shouted shooting out of his chair and running towards the seizing form on the floor. He dropped down on his knees beside Max and looked for any obvious injuries. There were none as far as he could tell.
"Max, are you okay? Can you hear me?" Logan asked franticly while gently brushing Max's hair out of her face, desperate to see her eyes. If her could just see her eyes everything would be okay.
"Logan…" Max said looking up at Logan's concerned face through tear filled eyes.
"Shhh. It's ok. Shhhh" Logan whispered as he tried to hold Max still until the current wave ran its course.
"Logan…milk…" she breathed just as another long and painful wave of tremors hit. \\ I wish Noah was here. // Logan who was obviously confused by her request just nodded in response. When the wave of tremors once again receded Logan slowing rose to his feet to get a glass of milk. Max had pushed herself up to a sitting position and was leaning against the wall for support. Logan sat down next to her, handing over the glass to Max. Even thought the seizures had died down for the time being Max was still incredibly weak and shaking a great deal. Taking the glass with both hands Max slowly tried to bring it to her lips, but she couldn't because of the remnants of the seizure.
"Logan I can't…" Max began but couldn't seem to get the rest out because of embarrassment. Gently taking the glass from Max, Logan held it up to her lips so she could drink.
"Thanks." Max said quietly a few minutes later. The worst of the seizure was over now but tremors remained.
"Max, are you okay?" Logan asked putting an around her shoulders. Almost instinctively Max leaned in and rested her clouded head on his shoulder.
"I will be." She murmured.
"Is there anything I can do?" Logan asked with the side of his face on Max's head.
"Help me nail the heartless monsters who did this to me." Logan simply nodded his head in agreement. He still couldn't believe what they had found today. The truth of Max's past was worse than anything he could have imagined. Logan easily picked up Max, carried her to her room and placed her on the bed, quietly tucking her in. As he turned to leave thinking that she had already fallen asleep, Max's hand found his.
"Don't leave me Logan. Please." Max pleaded. \\ What is it about her? I don't think that I could refuse her anything sometimes. // Logan slipped his hand out of Max's grasp and moved the overstuffed chair in the corner next to the nightstand. When he sat Max took his hand once again.
"Thank you."
"Try and get some sleep Max." Logan said with a slight smile. Adjusting the blankets one more time Logan placed a feather soft kiss on Ma's forehead.
"Good night Max."
Logan sat watching Max sleep while hundreds thoughts raced through his head; each one centered on Max. \\ Don't ever do that to me again. I've never been that worried about someone in my life. I've only know you for a day but for some reason you mean a lot to me. It makes me sick knowing what happened to you and we don't even know the half of it. I just met you Max, there is no way that I'm going to let you be taken away from me. I'm not going to lose you Max. I'm not. //
***
Max woke a few hours later with a start. It took a moment for her to remember where she was, but when she picked up on Logan's scent the past 24 hours came back to her.
\\ Oh God, it
did happen. Yeah, that's great Max, you're here for a day and you have one of
your worst seizures to date. He probably thinks you're a freak. But why should
I care what he thinks? He's just an arrogant rich boy. Isn't he? I defiantly need
to call Noah; he can help me sort this out. Anyway, I promised that I'd let him
know what we found. He deserves to know. // Max looked over to see Logan
asleep in the chair with the Manticore files on his lap and a smile tugged at
the corners of her mouth. Max slipped from under the sheets without a sound and
picked up the blanket at the foot of her bed. After taking the files off of his
lap Max gently covered Logan with the blanket. \\ He looks so cute. Maybe we
could have been something if I wasn't what I am. But I didn't come here for
that, so it doesn't matter. //
"Thank you Logan, for everything." Max whispered gently placing a kiss on his cheek. \\ A girl can dream can't she? // Max turned off the lamp and climbed back into bed still exhausted from earlier.
\\ You're
welcome Max. //
~ There you go! I just have one last thing to say: In light of what happened on the 11th, I thought that I should remind you to tell those you love that you love them, and don't let the sun go down on your anger.
~I love all of you-especially those who review.:~}
~ And one more
thing, I'm not sure I like how this chapter turned out, so it is subject to
change. But I promise there will be no massive changes if any.
