"What do you think you're doing?"
Lydecker was blown from his state of inner excitement and jubilation as his head flew up to meet the angry face of the infamous Eyes Only. He couldn't believe it...couldn't fathom how close he was to the man he'd wanted caught and finished for months now. He felt like a giddy schoolboy and wanted to shout his knowledge to the world, but he knew better than that. He had to be cool, play his cards right. If he went about this the right way, he could get Logan to confess, admit who he really was.
"I'm just admiring your equipment here," he answered smoothly, running a hand over the top of one of the monitors. Logan's eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"Well, I'd appreciate it if you kept away," he muttered after a few moments of apprehensive silence. Lydecker raised his arms defensively and backed off, as if to say "hey, I wasn't gonna do anything, but whatever." He made his way back to the couch and returned to eating his sandwich, all the while keeping steady eye contact with his host. Logan shifted uneasily under the gaze, much to Lydecker's delight, and finally couldn't take it and moved quickly into the kitchen.
"I'd also appreciate it if you didn't snoop around my kitchen," he said, acknowledging the sandwich. "If you're that hungry, I'd rather you wake me then try to make something yourself."
Lydecker grinned. It was all far too perfect. "Why, you haven't got anything to hide, have you Logan?"
Logan stopped dead what he was doing and lifted his head to nervously study the wall. He didn't like the way this conversation was going; Lydecker was up to something, and for perhaps the millionth time in the past 33 hours Logan cursed his own kindness and wished he'd had the guts to toss out his little uninvited guest.
"And what in the world do you mean by that?" Logan spat a little too defensively. Lydecker could hear the edge, the fear in his voice and grinned inwardly. Things were progressing nicely; this man was untrained, undisciplined and strikingly easy to break. Curious, considering his profession, but oh well. It might have been much too soon for another, but Lydecker sensed quick and easy victory and decided to go for the throat.
"You don't seem cautious and secure enough to be a hacker of...your prominence."
//Somebody shoot me,// Logan thought to himself as the realization sent his adrenal glands pumping overtime. It took his all not to let the carton of milk slip from his hands, and suddenly he didn't feel like wasting the rare and expensive substance. He shakily returned it to the fridge as he struggled not to telecast his fear. Lydecker had figured it al out. He'd done the math, put it together, discovered the truth and now Logan felt like a bumbling, oblivious idiot wandering into a minefield. Why did it seem he'd been cursed with such bad luck recently?
"You might as well spit it out," he said. He turned to lean against the counter, folding his arms across his chest and setting his features into the usual angry scowl to cover his true emotions. "I may have made some stupid mistakes, but I'm still smart enough to know exactly what you're getting at."
Lydecker's grin doubled in size. "Well, if you're such the detective, what AM I getting at?"
"Don't try to trick me," Logan chuckled bitterly as he turned to face the wall again.
"I have no reason to trick you," Lydecker assured him. "I already know for certain all that I need to." This was just too easy...he couldn't usually be like this; he'd done so well keeping his identity secret all these years. The grief of Max's death must really be affecting him...
Logan's fear and rising anger got the better of him at that moment. "If you already know I'm Eyes Only then..." His jaw dropped, his eyes widened, and his mind screamed. //Oh god, Cale, what did you just do?! You fool! You idiot! Of all the times to lose your nerve...//
The grin broke into a full-fledged smile, a rarity for Lydecker. "And now it's confirmed." He happily popped the last of his sandwich into his mouth while Logan's face fell into his hands.
//All these years, Cale...you've been so careful, covered yourself so well...why now? Why...HIM? Erg...Max would be so disappointed...//
"It's really not so bad," said Lydecker. "It's not like I'm your foe any longer. We're on the same side. I could help you, you could help me."
Logan removed his glasses and pressed his hands against his face, pulling them down to rest alongside his jawline. He set to work fast to get his mind operating coherently again, to retrieve the sanity he'd apparently lost moments ago. "It won't surprise you to know I can barely tolerate you...I'll never be able to trust you..." He sighed heavily. "How could we ever..."
"I'm not asking to be your friend, Logan," Lydecker interrupted. "Just your ally."
"That's laughable."
"Why?" he asked. "There's a lot I have to offer your cause. My military experience and knowledge, my involvement in some of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups...combine that with your obvious skill, and there's not much we couldn't accomplish. Why do you say?"
Logan struggled to find an answer. If ever one was caught between a rock and a hard place, it was he at this very moment. This could be a massive set-up or a sincere attempt to get on his good side. If it were the former, it didn't matter whether or not he agreed...he'd find himself on the wrong end of a plot to put him out of business either way. But if it were the latter, Lydecker WOULD be a powerful informant, one who'd happen to know more about Manticore than anyone and who would thus be invaluable in finding out if Max was really dead. Oh god... He sighed again and decided to avoid the question a little longer.
"Alliances are easily broken," he pointed out. Desperate attempt to get out of it. No luck.
"All the more reason for you to jump at the offer while it's pending. So what if we break ties someday? You'd have gotten far more than your effort's worth by then, I promise you."
He clenched his eyes shut and ignored the guilt and the reason. //You're gonna hate yourself for this...//
"All right," Logan finally agreed. "You and me. Allies."
Colonel Donald Lydecker beamed with the satisfaction of victory while the great and powerful Eyes Only braced himself against his kitchen counter and tried not to puke.
Lydecker was blown from his state of inner excitement and jubilation as his head flew up to meet the angry face of the infamous Eyes Only. He couldn't believe it...couldn't fathom how close he was to the man he'd wanted caught and finished for months now. He felt like a giddy schoolboy and wanted to shout his knowledge to the world, but he knew better than that. He had to be cool, play his cards right. If he went about this the right way, he could get Logan to confess, admit who he really was.
"I'm just admiring your equipment here," he answered smoothly, running a hand over the top of one of the monitors. Logan's eyebrow raised in suspicion.
"Well, I'd appreciate it if you kept away," he muttered after a few moments of apprehensive silence. Lydecker raised his arms defensively and backed off, as if to say "hey, I wasn't gonna do anything, but whatever." He made his way back to the couch and returned to eating his sandwich, all the while keeping steady eye contact with his host. Logan shifted uneasily under the gaze, much to Lydecker's delight, and finally couldn't take it and moved quickly into the kitchen.
"I'd also appreciate it if you didn't snoop around my kitchen," he said, acknowledging the sandwich. "If you're that hungry, I'd rather you wake me then try to make something yourself."
Lydecker grinned. It was all far too perfect. "Why, you haven't got anything to hide, have you Logan?"
Logan stopped dead what he was doing and lifted his head to nervously study the wall. He didn't like the way this conversation was going; Lydecker was up to something, and for perhaps the millionth time in the past 33 hours Logan cursed his own kindness and wished he'd had the guts to toss out his little uninvited guest.
"And what in the world do you mean by that?" Logan spat a little too defensively. Lydecker could hear the edge, the fear in his voice and grinned inwardly. Things were progressing nicely; this man was untrained, undisciplined and strikingly easy to break. Curious, considering his profession, but oh well. It might have been much too soon for another, but Lydecker sensed quick and easy victory and decided to go for the throat.
"You don't seem cautious and secure enough to be a hacker of...your prominence."
//Somebody shoot me,// Logan thought to himself as the realization sent his adrenal glands pumping overtime. It took his all not to let the carton of milk slip from his hands, and suddenly he didn't feel like wasting the rare and expensive substance. He shakily returned it to the fridge as he struggled not to telecast his fear. Lydecker had figured it al out. He'd done the math, put it together, discovered the truth and now Logan felt like a bumbling, oblivious idiot wandering into a minefield. Why did it seem he'd been cursed with such bad luck recently?
"You might as well spit it out," he said. He turned to lean against the counter, folding his arms across his chest and setting his features into the usual angry scowl to cover his true emotions. "I may have made some stupid mistakes, but I'm still smart enough to know exactly what you're getting at."
Lydecker's grin doubled in size. "Well, if you're such the detective, what AM I getting at?"
"Don't try to trick me," Logan chuckled bitterly as he turned to face the wall again.
"I have no reason to trick you," Lydecker assured him. "I already know for certain all that I need to." This was just too easy...he couldn't usually be like this; he'd done so well keeping his identity secret all these years. The grief of Max's death must really be affecting him...
Logan's fear and rising anger got the better of him at that moment. "If you already know I'm Eyes Only then..." His jaw dropped, his eyes widened, and his mind screamed. //Oh god, Cale, what did you just do?! You fool! You idiot! Of all the times to lose your nerve...//
The grin broke into a full-fledged smile, a rarity for Lydecker. "And now it's confirmed." He happily popped the last of his sandwich into his mouth while Logan's face fell into his hands.
//All these years, Cale...you've been so careful, covered yourself so well...why now? Why...HIM? Erg...Max would be so disappointed...//
"It's really not so bad," said Lydecker. "It's not like I'm your foe any longer. We're on the same side. I could help you, you could help me."
Logan removed his glasses and pressed his hands against his face, pulling them down to rest alongside his jawline. He set to work fast to get his mind operating coherently again, to retrieve the sanity he'd apparently lost moments ago. "It won't surprise you to know I can barely tolerate you...I'll never be able to trust you..." He sighed heavily. "How could we ever..."
"I'm not asking to be your friend, Logan," Lydecker interrupted. "Just your ally."
"That's laughable."
"Why?" he asked. "There's a lot I have to offer your cause. My military experience and knowledge, my involvement in some of the biggest conspiracies and cover-ups...combine that with your obvious skill, and there's not much we couldn't accomplish. Why do you say?"
Logan struggled to find an answer. If ever one was caught between a rock and a hard place, it was he at this very moment. This could be a massive set-up or a sincere attempt to get on his good side. If it were the former, it didn't matter whether or not he agreed...he'd find himself on the wrong end of a plot to put him out of business either way. But if it were the latter, Lydecker WOULD be a powerful informant, one who'd happen to know more about Manticore than anyone and who would thus be invaluable in finding out if Max was really dead. Oh god... He sighed again and decided to avoid the question a little longer.
"Alliances are easily broken," he pointed out. Desperate attempt to get out of it. No luck.
"All the more reason for you to jump at the offer while it's pending. So what if we break ties someday? You'd have gotten far more than your effort's worth by then, I promise you."
He clenched his eyes shut and ignored the guilt and the reason. //You're gonna hate yourself for this...//
"All right," Logan finally agreed. "You and me. Allies."
Colonel Donald Lydecker beamed with the satisfaction of victory while the great and powerful Eyes Only braced himself against his kitchen counter and tried not to puke.