Chapter Three: Too Close to Call

Logan and Max were still shaken about the run in several hours later sharing their dinner in tense silence. That had been a situation that was too close to call. The man had to have been Manticore, there was no way around it, and he had Max within arms reach of him. Logan swallowed a lump that had formed in his throat, at the thought of how close he had come to losing her again. If the man had known… somehow he hadn't recognized Max on sight, only after he had seen her barcode, and luckily they had the distance between them when that had happened. Max glanced up at him a moment before returning silently to her meal. His mouth thinned she was probably wondering what he was thinking. The incident was playing over and over in his head.

Flashback:

Logan looked back at Max as she paused again at the flower booth, unsure whether he was humored or annoyed at her constant stops to check out the booths. It seemed they would stop at every other one. Now he remembered why he had always loathed shopping with a woman. His Ex had been the same way, so many years ago now. Anything and everything caught her attention, a trip for food would turn into a four hour ordeal through every knick knack shop she would come to.

He smiled to himself, happy to be able to have that thought, yet again he was reminded just how much he had missed Max in his life. She drove him crazy sometimes no doubt, but it was all worth it in the long run. All the pain that he had been through after her disappearance and all the tough times that they had gotten over since she had come back to him were all worth it.

Logan looked up and back down the alley where the market was placed as a familiar pang went off in his stomach. His smile faded as his eyes more earnestly searched the crowd for the source of that heightened sense of trouble. His restless gaze stopped as he made eye contact with the tall man that had nearly run Max over. He was staring directly at Max looking somehow as if he recognized her, and call it coincidence but the man was following the exact same path that they were.

Logan's sense leapt again, assuring him that he had found the source of his own unease. Logan looked back at Max drawing in a frightened breath as he saw that her barcode was showing from under her long hair. Logan looked back up again to find the man looking directly at him now. There was a measuring gaze there, a sign of familiarity, Logan's breath came faster as the feeling in him began to intensify. This man was going to be trouble if he and Max stuck around. Logan, not wanting a confrontation of any sort out here, leaned over touching Max on the shoulder.

"Max we gotta move," Logan said to her in a low tone.

"Why?" She looked up at him and the contented look on her face slid off as she saw the fear in his, "You're having one of your premonitions again aren't you?" She whispered.

"You know that man you had an abrupt meeting with earlier," Logan said.

"Yeah, behemoth," She grumbled.

"Well let's just say is not going to be our closest friend," He replied, "He seems to know about one or both of us."

"Crap," Max said, "When are we ever going to catch a break?"

Logan looked back at the tall man again as he hurried Max down Market Street. Once in a clear alley they both put on a burst of speed to put as much distance between them and the tall man as possible. They zig-zagged through the alleys in an effort to confuse their trail before backtracking to the Aztec.

They did the same as they drove home, not taking the most direct route, wasting precious gas as they did, to ensure that their pursuit was lost.

"Who was that guy?" Max asked suddenly breaking the silence that they had been traveling in.

Logan shook his head from behind the wheel, "I don't know. I can't say I recall ever seeing him before."

"Well he sure seemed to have seen us before."

"Or one of us," Logan added, "He saw your bar code, Max."

"Yeah, well it could have been someone from any of your trips into Manticore too, Logan." She said testily.

"Could be," He agreed thoughtfully, diffusing her mounting anger, "When I rescued Tima maybe? They were all in riot gear, didn't get a look at any of their faces. But how much could they have seen? I mean it was dark, I was inn and out that quick." He said snapping his fingers still intent on the road.

"More than you think," Max said sternly, "And you know it."

Logan's face flattened out his mood grim and he nodded solemnly. He knew all too well what a Manticore could see in the dark and how clear details were to Manticore eyes even when it was a blur to everyone else. They were abilities he himself was capable of since Max's blood, the DNA in it, had rewritten his cellular programming to more resemble hers. That pang went through him again, Lydecker knew… He knew exactly what Logan was capable of, with the exception of maybe the radar/ danger sense. The possibility then existed that the man had been sent specifically to track Logan down. He voiced the thought, "Do you think that he was after us? Do you think Lydecker sent him to…"

"To find you?" Max finished the thought eerily, "I'm not sure but I want to say no," Max replied.

Present:

Logan wanted to believe Max, that the man hadn't been after him, or her, he wanted to believe that they could start living their lives again like any other normal person. But neither of them were normal, they never would be again. The possibility of persecution was high for them and Logan did not delude himself by thinking that Lydecker would just give up. He smiled sardonically, he was supposed to be the optimist of the two of them. But the last six or seven years had been extremely hard on him, tarnishing his outlook on the world.

Then there was that feeling, a feeling he seemed to have always possessed now, even though it had only been four years, a low constant feeling of anxiety. He shivered involuntarily, there was something big coming down the line, the danger was there, looking for them. But when would it happen? His Danger Sense wasn't urgent, it wasn't immediate, that bothered him because there was no planning for something that would happen in the future. There were times that he hated this ability… times when it near drove him crazy trying to figure out when something would take place. It was invaluable for near future immediate danger situations, it gave him a instant edge over his competition. But on occasion, it would happen the way it was happening now, a vague sense of danger for the future. What exactly was never clear to him, he could only wait for the feeling to intensify, to tell him when the danger was imminent.

It reminded him of a story about a man who could see the future for people, but the only future he could predict for himself was his own death. Now did he go to it willingly, knowing it was coming or try to fight the vision? And which action would lead to the outcome he had predicted?

"You OK?" Max's words cut through the cloud of doom that had started to form in Logan's mind.

"I don't know," He admitted, done being the one who kept everything in. He tried to keep most of his "feelings" to himself, Max was very uncomfortable with his ability to predict danger, even more so that he could track her movements without ever seeing her. He had begun to refrain from acknowledging her until she spoke to him just because she had begun to look at him like a freak, unintentionally, when he did.

"He wasn't after us," Max insisted again not even sounding as if she convinced herself.

Logan just looked back at his food and nodded, picking through what was left of his dinner (which was most of it) with a fork. He didn't look up as Max got out of her chair and moved closer to him. He felt gentle fingers run through his unruly hair as she leaned into him her hip touching his shoulder, "Hey," Logan finally looked up into her eyes. Max caressed the back of Logan's neck, "This has really gotten you shaken up, doesn't it?" She said sounding genuinely concerned.

"Yes," Logan said looking down again, "Something bad is on the horizon."

She almost did it again, she almost rolled her eyes and looked at him with that look. Somehow she kept it in check this time, probably because of the accuracy of his last assessment, "Do you have any idea what?"

"Of course not," He snapped, then he quieted again, "I only know its coming."

"Well Damn that really does a lot of good Logan!" Max said losing her patience, "I am not going to spend the next God knows how many months worrying about a 'feeling'. Damn you and that ability!"

Logan rose quickly from his seat and quicker yet to the bait, already tied in knots inside by this whole situation, "Damn you for giving it to me!" Logan snapped, striding a few steps away. He then whirled to face her again, "Sometimes I wish I was back in that damned chair… that your blood had never changed me," his face pinched hard as he finished with, "There are even times I wish you had let me die in the hospital."

Max sank down to the arm of the chair staring at him with a hurt look, "You don't mean that!" She whispered.

"Life would certainly be easier," Logan said emphasizing with a shake of his head, "I never asked for any of this. I would have been happy to be the normal guy married to the supercharged chick. Instead I became a something more like you, Revved up, able to do what any Manticore can… and evidently by some twist of fate, a few things more. I never asked to be able to predict disaster, Max, most of the time I wish I could ignore it. But I can't and every time… every time I try to let you in on that, expecting support, you treat me like a 'Nomaly." He said pointedly knowing how much she had hated that term and the memories it invoked, "I am your husband, not some freak of nature. I understood the mountains that you had to climb. Your thrice a year 'heat', your seizures, your four year absence, the pain they inflicted on you… I hated some of it, but I understood it and supported you the best way I knew how. Why can't you understand or at the very least accept mine?"

Max's jaw was hanging slack for long moments just staring at him. When she finally looked away her face flushed red and one hand came up to cover her mouth, "I'm sorry," she said muffled to near nonexistence.

Logan resisted the urge to break down on his hard line stance, his jaw set in a hard line. Instead he turned away letting her have some time to think about her actions. It also served to give himself some space before that aggression in him got out of control. There had rose up a certain unbidden and unwanted urge to reach across the table hit her during that exchange. That would be the last thing he needed right now. He went in to the living room and sank onto the couch, resting his elbows on his knees and covering his eyes with his hands, as he wondered again if they were going to make it.