There He Was, Part Deux
Disclaimer: I own nothing and I am getting no money
A/N: I got a better response to "There He Was" than to any other story I have written. People seemed to want the story to go farther, so I did my best.
There he was- alone at the bus station. Zack couldn't believe it. Max wasn't coming. Max had caught her man in bed with another woman, and she still hadn't come to him. Zack growled and slammed his fist into the wall, drawing curious looks from the few lingering commuters who were also waiting for the bus. He paced madly, now he was becoming livid. "What the hell dose this ex-cripple have that he didn't! Why did she stay with him!" She was from Manticore, the ultimate soldier and yet she loved this pathetic little journalist, a man with a completely fruitless cause to rid the world of evil.
Furiously walking up and down the sidewalk he continued muttering until the bus arrived. Zach looked at it as it slowed in the station. Should he get on? Leave Seattle, and Max and not look back? Just pick up, leave Max to be with Logan and start yet another new life somewhere far away. "No" he smiled cruelly. Logan did not deserve Max and he wasn't going to let him keep her. Zach growled deep in his throat. He and Max belonged together. She could learn to understand that. In fact with Logan out of the picture she would come around. Who knew what lies he had already polluted her mind with. He had to be doing something; she had found him in bed with a hooker this morning, but she hadn't left Seattle.
Zach squinted a little at the bright morning sun as he turned and started walking. He was walking towards Foggle Towers. Now fueled by disbelief and rage his mind raced on. Should he come up with another plan? Try and break them up and hope Max would come running to him? It hadn't worked last time and really, that was a plan any Manticore strategist would have been proud of. "I mean there he was- in bed with a whore. Nearly naked!" He said to no one in particular
Just because he had said it to know one in particular didn't mean no answered. "Lucky man" responded a smiling street dweller.
"Yeah, he's just too damn lucky" Zack rumbled. Something had happened; his plan should have worked. As he looked up he found he was only a few blocks away from where the devil lived.
He had a new plan, a considerably simpler plan. Fewer moving parts meant this one wouldn't have a chance to break down. The plan was genius in its simplicity. Go to the apartment, take out Logan, get Max weather she wants to come or not, leave Seattle on the 2:00 bus to Northwestern Canada. Max had to leave; it just wasn't safe here anymore. Lydecker was lurking somewhere, he knew she was in Seattle, and if he ever put 2 and 2 together he'd know she was connected to Logan Cale. He was doing this for her own good. When she saw that she would love him for how much he cared for her. He smiled to himself. This was an even better plan.
In Logan's apartment Max sat, munching on her gourmet breakfast. Logan was quite a cook. She watched him as he finished buttering the toast and hand it to her, smiling. His smile could melt ice. "That makes eggs, bacon, hash browns, and finally…toast with lots of butter. Just as you requested malady."
"I deserve this."
"Yes you do"
"I'm glad you recognize that" they continued to smile at each other for another minute. Then Max's mind drifted back to Zach. He had gone off the deep end. He had tried to manipulate her into going with him, to make her love him. She loved him, but as a brother, not a lover. Kissing him was like kissing her big brother, just wrong.
Logan rolled out of the kitchen as Max finished the "Begging for Forgiveness" Breakfast. She put her dish in the sink and then went to find him, back at his computer.
"What are your plans for today?" he asked her
She was shocked; he had been manipulated just as badly as her. He'd been drugged, hauled around like an inanimate object, and made into an object in Zach's plan. Yet he was just going back to his work. "How can you be so laid back about what happened!"
"What else can I do? Zach wants us apart and for you to be with him. He tried, but you saw through his plan and so he failed."
"And you're just going to let him get away with that stunt!"
"I take it you aren't fond of that idea"
"No!" Then she sighed "But he no doubt ditched town when I didn't show up. Retreated to strategize his next move."
"Maybe he'll give up" Logan smiled
There he was, pounding away at his computer. Was that all Logan did? Little did Logan know Zach was once again waiting outside his window. He was waiting for his moment, waiting to surprise them. He immediately noticed his rival was back in the wheelchair. Zach smiled at that. He had always figured Logan would be an easy kill, but as a wheelchair bound man Logan was even less of a concern. He could see Max lounging on the couch. Max would put up a fight; she'd be tough. He wouldn't expect any less from her. That's why he still had his chloroform. When she woke up on the bus they'd be far from Seattle. Eventually she'd forget about Logan, and see how much he loved her. Zach smiled wider, still quite mad. He pulled his handgun from its holster and felt it's weight. The gun would take Logan out of the picture. What bliss that would be.
Then Max got up, "I'm going to give work a call, ya know, tell him I'm going to be late"
"OK" Logan mumbled
That was what Zack had been waiting for. She left the room and presumably headed for the phone in the bedroom to have a little privacy. Zach smiled, and silently jumped through the window. Logan had his hand on the wheel but didn't get the opportunity to turn around before he felt the barrel of a gun being pressed into his neck. "Hi Zack" Logan said.
"You have no idea how much I have wanted to say this, Goodbye Logan"
"Yeah" Logan flicked back both his wrists, rolling the chair over Zach's foot.
"Aww!" he fumbled with the gun as Logan turned to face him. Logan tried to get the gun away from the Manticore solider. It was a valiant effort, but ultimately useless. The first shot hit him in the leg and the force knocked over his chair. Because of his paralysis it hurt more hitting the floor than having the bullet just under his knee. Max came running, just in time to watch Logan take another bullet. This time it ripped into his shoulder and he felt it. He gasped and lay back against the floor.
Zach expected Max to attack him now. Zach dropped the gun in anticipation. He was ready with the Chloroform and the mindset that her might have to hurt
her a little to save her in the long term. But, she did a curious thing. She didn't come at him, ready to attack. She did yell, "Zach! How could you!" but instead of attacking her apparent enemy she tried desperately to soak up the blood leaking from her "boss". The stains were spreading too fast.
She wasn't the soldier she had once been. He was a threat; he'd shot Logan after all. He was a threat and yet she hadn't even tried to neutralize him. She was too concerned about Logan. She was a lot farther gone than he had imagined. "Max?" he asked
"Why Zach! I don't feel like that towards you! Why are you doing this!" she was near tears. He could see them in her eyes, threatening to spill down her cheeks at any moment. The perfect soldier was going to cry because of a man down. Zach knew he wouldn't be able to take her away and let her forget about this man as she fell in love with him. He would need a better plan. With one last look of disgust at what had become of Max, he went back out the window.
Max heard Zach go, but didn't watch him leave. Zach had lost his mind. This had impulsive violence. Not the well planed manipulation of last night. She couldn't worry about Zach now; she had to focus. Her field training flitted just out of her grasp. She just knew she needed to stop the bleeding. Jumping to her feet she ran to retrieve the phone and the first clean piece of fabric she could find, a sheet from the linen closet.
Pressing hard against the wound in his shoulder with one hand and dialed 911 with the other. "He's been shot, twice" was the first thing she said when a woman picked up the phone.
"Calm down ma'am. Where are you?" She gave the operator Logan's address and despite the operator's protests, hung up. She didn't want to listen to the woman tell her to remain calm and help would be there soon.
Tossing the phone away she looked down at Logan's face. He smiled at her. The smile melted the wall that was holding back her tears. She felt them rolling down her face as she looked down to the bloody mess she was pressing against. His breathing had become shallow and he was losing consciousness. Moving her hands lower she started to focus on his other wound. It had clearly missed the femoral artery and luckily wasn't bleeding as much as his shoulder. She propped the wounded limb up on the fallen wheelchair and refocused her energy on the slow ooze from his shoulder.
There he was, still lying on the floor. The world was gray and spinning around him so he knew his grip on awareness wouldn't last much longer. He could see Max, worrying about him. That, and the warm feeling that was swallowing him made him smile. Now Max was talking to him. "You'll be OK Logan, the ambulance is on its way."
"Uh huh" was all he could manage
"Don't you dare think about dying" she suddenly yelled at him. "You have too much left to do, there's still lots of bad guys for you to fight, and...and .. we haven't even had one date yet!" Logan tried to laugh but it hurt.
The ambulance arrived and took Logan away. They let Max ride with him to the hospital, assured her first aid ministering had probably saved his life. There he was, laying on the gurney, so pale and with fluids being pumped into his frail body. Max couldn't help but worry anyway. Zach had been dangerous before, now he was crazy.
Sam had been contacted and met them in the ambulance bay. He also assured her that Logan was not going to die. He just needed a transfusion to get his volume up. He was going to be fine. Max stayed with him the entire time. Sam knew better than to try and remove her. She sat quietly in a chair next to Logan's bed, staying out of the way. If Zach had wanted to break them up he had done the total opposite. Max had feelings for Logan and she bet he had them for her. Seeing Logan like this just reminded her how impermanent life was. She was going to tell him how she felt.
The End
(I mean it this time)
