Chapter One: Sins of the Father
'I may not be
able to touch him, but at least I can watch him sleep,' Max thought idly as
she stood in the doorway of Logan's bedroom. He was lying, atop the covers dressed in a t-shirt and
boxers, the exoskeleton having been abandoned by the bedside. 'He needs a haircut,' Max mussed as
she watched him turn towards her in his sleep.
"Mmmm,
hey Max," Logan called out without opening his eyes.
'Shit,
guess he wasn't asleep after all.'
"What
are you doing here so late?" He continued as he sat up in the bed.
"Actually
it's early."
"Since
when is," Logan paused, reaching for his glasses on the nightstand and glancing
at the alarm clock, "four thirty in the morning early?"
"Well,
technically it is morning," she replied with a slight grin.
Logan
had to smile at that, he always loved her sarcastic humor. "So what are you doing here?"
"The
truth?" Max asked as she pushed away from the door and carefully approached the
bed.
"Please."
"I
missed you," she said softly.
"You
just saw me four hours ago."
"It's
not the same Logan, I miss you.
It's not fair, I just got back and I can't even touch you," Max ranted
as all her feelings started bubbling to the top. "You can't imagine what it's like to want to kiss you and hold
you, knowing all the while that I can't."
"Actually,"
Logan began, "I do know. But now, we
can suffer together."
"Our
lives suck Logan."
"They
do right now, but I wouldn't trade a moment of the time we've had together,"
Logan stated. "Now may not be the best
time to tell you this Max, but I l—"
"Not
now Logan," Max quickly interrupted, "I just can't handle hearing you say it
now. It's too soon."
"I
thought it was kind of late," Logan replied with a look of sadness.
"No,
it's not too late."
"I
wish I could hold you in my arms," Logan said as longing filled his eyes with
need.
"Me
too," Max whispered. "How close is
Sebastian on the DNA sequencing?"
"He's
got you mapped out to the last chromosome.
They were right, no junk DNA." Logan
explained, "Sebastian just hasn't figured out what you're coded for yet."
"Ah,
that's the sixty-four million dollar question, isn't it? What is Max programmed to do?" Max laughed bitterly.
"We'll
find out, and we'll deal with it," Logan said softly.
"You
don't have to say that Logan. You
deserve a shot at a normal life."
"Max—"
"No,
Logan," Max interrupted, "let me finish.
I see the way Asha looks at you.
She's pretty. She has morals and
values. She wants to fight the good fight. Now maybe she can't take down a
squadron of military personnel or scale a building, but she's normal."
"Since
when do I want normal?" Logan
questioned
"I'm
just saying, I wouldn't hold it against you."
"Asha's
not the woman that I love. I'm tired of
second-rate relationships," Logan said.
"I want the real thing. You're
the only that I want Max, and I'll wait forever if I have to. I won't settle for second best. I love you."
"Logan—"
Max began, but was interrupted by a loud pounding on the door of the apartment. Casting a puzzled look at Logan she mouthed
asking him if he was expecting anyone.
After a negative reply she stealthily made her way to the door, Logan
reaching for the exoskeleton in preparation to follow her. As Max approached the door she looked back
down the hallway to see Logan walking quietly up the hall as he loaded the
gun. At Logan's nod, she threw open the
door.
"Joshua?" Max asked the hooded figure as she saw the
distorted hands of the person before her.
She motioned Logan to put away the gun, as she drew him into the
apartment. "How did you find me?"
"Smell,"
Joshua replied sniffing the air, "cat."
Max
grinned, "Like I said, don't hold it against me." Turning back to look at Logan she noticed his puzzled
expression. "Joshua this is my friend
Logan. Logan meet Joshua, he helped me
escape."
"It's
nice to meet you Joshua," Logan replied feeling a little apprehensive about the
nomaly standing before him.
Joshua
looked curiously at Logan, and then growled baring his teeth. "You left me. Why did you leave me Father?"
"Joshua,"
Max said stepping between the two of them, "this is Logan."
Joshua
glanced at Max and then back to Logan, "He looks like Father," sniffs the air,
"Smells like Father."
"Logan
looks like Father? Like Sandman?" Max
asked incredulously.
"Yes,
but no age." Joshua answered still
looking at Logan warily.
"Max,
what's going on?"
"Hang
on a sec Logan," she replied without looking at him. She took Joshua by the hand and led him into the kitchen, "Are
you hungry? Why don't you find
something in there," pointing to the refrigerator, "that you want and I'll go
to talk to Logan for a minute, okay?"
After watching Joshua for a moment, she returned to Logan, who was still
standing in the same place she had left him.
"Who's
Sandman?" He asked noticing her return.
"Sandman
was the original creator of the X-series.
Joshua called him Father. What I
want to know is why Joshua thought you were him?"
"That's
a good question," Logan said. "When I
was researching Manticore I never found any references to a Sandman."
Max
looked at Logan for a moment, debating on whether or not she should bring it
up, but after all curiosity killed the cat, "What did your dad do Logan?"
"He
was research and development for a technology company," Logan responded.
"Are
you sure?"
"Why
would I lie Max?"
"You wouldn't. I'm just wondering if he lied to you," Max
said gently. "Think about it Logan,
Joshua thinks you look and smell like Sandman.
You said yourself, that there was no reference to him in the Manticore
databanks."
"No,
Dad was many things but not—"
"Not
what Logan?" Max asked suddenly defensive.
"Not into creating genetically engineered killing machines?"
"Max,
slow down. That's not what I meant,"
Logan answered. "All I know is what Dad
told me. He worked for Hartwell
Technologies Incorporated."
"Hartwell,"
Joshua said mournfully startling Max and Logan with his silent entry, "home."
"Hartwell
is home?" Max asked, "You were born in
a place called Hartwell?"
"Hartwell,
home with Father, with Sandman."
"Okay,
Joshua," Max said as she took his hand and gently led him around Logan, into
the living room. "Why don't you lie
down here for a little while, try to get some rest while Logan and I do some
investigating." She said in a motherly
tone, as she helped him lie down on the couch.
"We won't leave you, okay?" He
nodded his head and closed his eyes.
Max stood looking down at him until his breathing evened out and then
went to check on Logan in the computer room.
"Dad
wouldn't be involved with Manticore," Logan said upon feeling Max's presence in
the room. "He was a man of principles,
he wouldn't get involved with them."
"People
do crazy things sometimes Logan, if they have the right incentive," Max
replied.
"No,
not Dad. I'm sorry Max, I just refuse
to believe it," he responded as his screen jumped from page to page of research
relating back to Manticore. "I can't
believe Dad would be messed up in all of this."
Max
came up to stand behind him, wary not to get to close to his chair for fear of
infecting him again. "What is
that? Hartwell industries acquired by
the Delfry Institute." Max asked pointing at a paragraph on the screen. "But Delfry is, or rather was, a subsidiary
of Manticore."
"Are
you sure?" Logan questioned, "I didn't find any connections between the two
before."
"They
are," Max answered, "we had specialized classes at Delfry once a week. It was pretty close to the grounds, but then
it was destroyed when one of the nomalies torched the place."
"Let
me do some background work on these two facilities then, I'll page you when I
come up with something viable," Logan said.
"I
guess that's my cue to leave, huh?"
"I
just need some time alone, okay?"
"Sure
Logan," Max said quietly. "But can
Joshua stay here for a while? I have a
feeling he's pretty tired, he probably won't wake up for a while."
"Yeah,"
Logan answered not looking at her, "he's fine here. Go to work and I'll page you later."
"I'll
be back around lunchtime okay?" Max asked before leaving the room. "I love you, Logan."
