"Float Like A Butterfly"
Chapter 10: Just Revenge
by: Mochaije

Disclaimer: I do not own Dark Angel or its characters. Other than that, the story and characters are mine.
Summary: Ima's captor goes after the rest of the gang.
Rating: PG 13

Asha's POV

I wait, then pound on the cell-phone's buttons again. Who the hell picked up and then hung up? Drawing my knees to my chest while I sit in the bathroom cupboard once again, I try not to fall asleep. The Indiglo watch on my wrist tells me that it's 10:43 in the evening. I don't have a problem staying awake, but staying up without anything to do is a chore--even when there's guards waiting for me to break and pop out of the nooks and crannies of my squeaky-clean apartment. Oh, it's ringing, it's ringing! Someone picks up at last.

"How did you get this number?" The voice on the other end sounds like a stripper and I hear a male chuckle in the background and say Max's name. Max straightens up a bit and says hello, asks who's calling.

"It's Asha," I'm as quiet as possible. "You wanna come throw some big guys around like dolls for me? I've been siting here for three hours..."

"Poor dear. You're at the apartment, right?" Max sighs, her exaggerated exhale dripping with dissappointment. I nod, then realize she can't hear me nod and say yes. She says goodbye and I hit the End button on the phone, resting my head on the wall of the cupboard.

Max's POV

"Asha's in shit. "Sighing, I put my shirt back on and Logan dresses as well. That stupid twat went home, obviously, even though I told her not to. She lied to me, screwed up what might be my last chance to sleep with Logan, and is basically a twat. I make a mental note to wipe the floor with her sorry ass later.

"So, what are we going to do?" Logan puts his pants back on and looks wistfully at the exoskeleton. I shrug, and start to get the jist that we're both pissed at Asha. Stupid, stupid, stupid... I go downstairs, break into Logan's Aztek, and speed away. Well, I try to, but I'm not comfortable with the hand controls. Logan is parapalegic after all, and parapalegics can't use gas and break pedals. I ram the Aztek into Asha's Cavalier and wince, then throw it into reverse and back out of the underground lot.

The drive to Asha's is uncomfortable. The adrenaline rush before a spectacular ass-kicking isn't there, more like a deep, worry feeling in the pit of my stomach. I feel like throwing up; something just isn't right. I reach Asha's place and take a look at the humvees, zooming in à la enhanced vision. They sport the Manticore signal and I backpedal Logan's car and speed back to his apartment. Emotion is weakness. Emotion is weakness. Emotion is weakness.

Logan's POV

Max barges in again, not fifteen minutes after she left. I'm not really in the mood any more--Asha's in trouble because Ima and the rest of us dragged her into all of this. Max looks like she's going to cry as she walks past, into the kitchen, and pulls out a bag of chocolate chip cookies, helping herself.

"Max..."

"It's... It's Manticore," her voice falters noticeably as a tear runs down her cheek. I move to put my arms around her but she backs off. Her eyes lock into wide-open-and-glaring position for almost ten seconds then. I know I look worried because she returns my expression. "I told Asha to stay put for as long as possible," she whispers. "I... They'll take me back there. I c-can't." She lets me comfort her this time and convulses in my arms, more out of worry than from crying.

I never realized what a horrible place Manticore was for them until now. Max, drop-dead gorgeous, super-intelligent, fearless, powerful Max shaking so much from worry about going back there that I'm suprised she hasn't thrown up on me yet. I've heard awful stuff about Manticore... Breaking Max's arms and legs to help people like me, sending adults into fields so Max and her siblings could kill them, sending away kids with seizures... It's more real when the girl you love had to go through that hell. I rub her back and she calms down a bit, resting her head on my shoulder and wiping the tears from her face.

"You okay?" I look down at her. She looks up, sniffs, and nods.

"Just promise me you won't put yourself back in the chair if your legs give way." Her eyes lock on mine and I know she's serious.

"I thought you didn't care," I swallow. She doesn't want me back in the chair? That's nice and all, but it doesn't follow the fact that she said it didn't matter.

"I don't care about the damned chair, I'd still love you anyway... I'd love you if I couldn't touch you, I'd love you if you couldn't tell me that you love me back... I know this sounds cheesy, but Logan Cale isn't just a body.. But I'd never let you end up in that chair again, not if my life depended on it," she continues, pulling away and going to get her jacket. "But your ex is in Manticore's clutches." She leaves then, and I'm left a little dizzy in the kitchen. She loves me?

Max's POV

I think I love Logan. Do we love each other? That's what I'm not sure about. I take the elevator to get a bit of a refresher course for what I'm about to do, but I don't use the box part--I take the elevator shaft instead, climbing down with my bear hands. It takes a long time, and the elevator begins rushing towards me. I jump on it and realize that I'm going to have to disable all of this, or get someone to rig it so that only the elevator on Asha's floor. I sit down and pop open the cell-phone that Logan doesn't know I have, and place a call to her. I know it's dangerous, but she's going to have to get along by herself for now. It'll be better if the place is locked-down when I get there,

"Hello?" she says in a normal voice. "Max? This is the only hour that I'm sans guard... They switch eevry hour and about an hour ago they were bitching because some Scott guy didn't show up. Hurry." I realize then that she's alone and tell her to get to Ima's room and get her scanner and run it over the back of her neck, and to do it now. She's got no chance against those guards without super powers. Tee. Super powers. The elevator hits the second floor and I say goodbye to Asha, squeeze myself between the elevator box and the wall of the shaft as it tears upwards, and then I let go as I fall the entire two storeys to the basement, a fall that would kill most people but only leaves me momentarily shaken. Prying open the outer elevator doors, the underground parking lot reveals itself to me and I take off for Logan's car. The lights go on, the horn beeps, the engine revvs, and there's a slight unlocking sound. I whirl.

"Hey." Logan tosses me the car keys.

"Hey yourself," I smile, catching his wide throw. He walks over and I meet him halfway, putting a hand on the back of his neck to pull him to me, kissing him passionately. He pulls away not even two seconds after my lips meet his.

"Just go." His voice is a little hoarse, and he turns away, coughs, then turns back. "I think I'm coming down with something."

"You're gonna have to come with me." We look into each other's eyes as I speak. "Someone's gotta bug the elevator... I'm sure Asha has the equipment that I..." I stop talking then, taking my hand off his neck and walking over to the car.

"Let's go."

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Asha's thoughts reach me as we park ye olde Aztek in an alley and stroll over, but I ignore her. We stop in front of the apartment and fake a fight.

"You were supposed to pay me back for that two months of rent!" My voice is shrill and we both hold in the laughter.

"You were supposed to forget about that, remember? I seem to remember paying the lease on your van for four months!" He yells at me and it hurts momentarily, but then I see the fact that he's trying as hard as possible not to break into tears from holding in the giggles.

"Well, I'm not the one who ran over the fucking dog, am I?!" I yell back, a bit louder than him. The remaining humvee full of baddies is paying attention now, even starting to walk over. There might be about six of them. I notice Ben hop over the fence and rush the guards from behind, so I finish up quickly. "It's over!!!" I backhand Logan in the face and storm towards the apartment, holding my angry expression even though I feel bad for slapping him, and even though I feel an intense need to roll around on the ground and giggle.

A guard stops me and I knock him out, throwing the other two that come over to me into the cement wall that doubles as a fence. Zack storms over the wall at the last second, running to the humvee, fighting a goon along the way, and knocking something in the dash--the CB, I'm guessing. Manticore has one in every humvee, along with six radios that connect to it. Knock out the CB, and the goons can't call for back up. I commend him telepathically on a smooth move as another two humvees roll in, and me and Ben slam them together with our minds. I look around wildly for Logan, and Ben tells me that he went inside. I tell Asha to grab some firepower, hooks, and cables, and meet me in the elevator shaft. She seems bewildered about how to even get into the shaft, but my guess is that she'll figure it out.

The humvees crash and it doesn't stop the people inside them, who pile out, guns cocked. Ben and Zack walk over to where I'm standing and place themselves on either side. A slender frame steps out of the left humvee, its silhouette shining around the edges from the light of the humvee just behind it. The silhouette turns out to be Ima, and she walks into view, and then over to us. The guns slip out of the fingers of the Manticore goons, turn around, and shoot them point-blank in the heads. I wince.

"Well, looky looky who I found," she murmers, twirling a copper curl of hair near her face.

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CHAPTER ELEVEN PREVIEW: EYES ON ME

We darted over the hills and came to a cliff, clad only in Manticore-issue gowns. The cold air nipped at my skin and mostly-bald head, and I tried to forget about it, attempting to wiggle my toes in the icy snow. Zack stopped us then and we debated whether or not to go around it and the rock patch, over stream over the cliff to the river bank. They all disagreed with me and ran off, back down the hills, in an attempt to sneak up on our victim, who was also deciding his next move.

I darted over the cliff and landed in the snow on my rickety, frozen legs. A boy, not much older than Zack--who is four years my senior--turned and glanced at me. I was on him in about a second, my hand going to his throat, but he grabbed it in mid-air and locked his eyes on me. I stared at him, struggling. I remember his face, his big blue eyes and his gorgeous, dark brown curls that Manticore had allowed to grow to a decent length just recently--a little longer than a usual boy's cut, to show that his hair was indeed curly. I pushed harder, forcing his arm an inch towards his body...

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AUTHOR NOTE

I just about had a panic attack when I couldn't find this chapter... It was written a long time ago (um, last week) and it had to go this way for chapters 11 and 9 to make sense. So yeah, turns out someone had just copied it to another folder!

Sidenote: It takes some guts to put your work out for others to see and it's a bummer when no one reviews it! Be a good little reader and review, it only takes 30 seconds.