Chapter 18 "Don't Want Just a Memory"
A/N: It's back again everyone, hope you like. The title was taken from one of the lines of one of my favorite books; and I just thought it fit here.
*****
Before I get started, this is an original penned poem by me on sex slavery
I was going to post it separately, but it will go better here ...
Shackled to the Dark
The light is non-existent, my body is sore
The man who was just with me has now walked out the door
The blood pools around me, my skin is full of heat
I have been abused again, a rented piece of meat
My breath is in my ears, it hurts so much to think
Fifteenth or twentieth time today, I cannot find the link
Men come in lines, cash money on the table
They don't care that I'm bleeding, don't care that I'm not able
Dark and darker hours, they dip into my well
Ride me hard and fast, and leave me chained in hell
Dignity is gone, love no longer has my link
Lying in my chains, all I do is think
Will this one get me pregnant? Will the baby die 'cause it's weak?
Conceived in a scank hole, fathered by a freak
The door opens once again, the next ride to hell has come
I can't even feel it when this time is done
I never see the money, I never see the light
The job that I was promised, has never filled my sight
Listen to me quickly, before this time goes by
Slavery still exists, people tell you lies
Women lie in shackles, hell has found its fame
Sex crimes are real, girls are put to shame
Please don't believe the lie, alert people to the truth
Before another girl dies, another looses her youth
The lies fall somewhere else, this is all true
And with all due respect, this girl-
She could be you.
*****
LOS ANGELOUS, CALIFORNIA
10:08 PM
SECTOR NINE
Ming watched the movements in a crack house from the patrol car; observing the people inside's silent exchange of baggies filled with the narcotic.
Beside her, her partner Officer Dalton also watched the exchange through his binoculars. "Guy's got more crystal on him then Home Shopping" he dropped the binoculars and looked at Ming "Time to bust it wide open"
Ming radioed back to HQ that they were about to bust down the deal before joining Dalton outside the patrol car.
Both partners removed their 9 mm from their holsters as they ascended the old white wooden house the two men had just gone into.
"FREEZE!" Dalton was the first one inside, aiming his gun at the two men "LAPD, Hands where I can see them!"
"Do it!" Ming shouted to the kids "Raise'em up now!" she approached him slowly, "Move'em behind your back" she took out her handcuffs and cuffed the teen's hands behind his back
"Wasn't doing anything wrong!" the second kid argued to them as Dalton hauled him out the old rickety front door while Ming dealt with his buddy.
"Decided to hold up in this old shack to read your Catechism?" Dalton pushed his charge down the stairs where his squad car was parked. He searched the kid's pockets, pulling out three small bags of cocaine crystals from the pockets in his cargo pants. "Let me guess, sugar for the lemonade after youth group" he threw the baggies on top of his hood before opening the back door "Watch your head" pushed the boy into the back and shut the door.
"Whatcha got?" Dalton approached Ming, who was searching the other kid against the other side of the car.
"Kilo of crack" Ming threw the plastic bag next to the others "Thirty-five cash money"
the bills landed next to the bagged crystals "And some insulin syringes" she looked to her charge "You were out for a good time tonight huh buddy? Shootin' and snortin'"
"Nothing wrong with that" the youth argued
"Fraid US law thinks there is" Ming informed "How long you been dealin' here?"
"Here?" he paused "Goin' on my third year baby"
"Not gonna make it to number four though" Ming told him opening the back car door of the officer's squad car who had been dispatched out to the crack house as back up.
"Minor set back" the kid returned climbing into the car unassisted "Keep the daughters off the streets ya'll" he spoke as if he were talking to a large group of people "playa's gonna be back on the streets soon enough" the last word were muffled by the closing of the patrol car door.
"Guys seem to be gettin' younger each year" Dalton stated "Little boys thinkin' they thugs. Keep daughters off the streets-" he blew the thought off "Man my little girl could kick his ass" it was then that he looked up and noticed Ming staring into the sky blankly. "Hey Ming"
Ming turned when Dalton addressed her
"You okay?"
Ming didn't answer right away, looking at the stars that decorated the black sky above them "You and the other guys think I'm crazy huh?" she looked back down to her partner "Kids go missing and turn up in months by rural highways, three years is a dead chance"
"You honestly believe that?" Dalton asked her "That what you go to sleep at night thinking 'oh it's hopeless, just drop it and move on"
"I'm tired of not going to sleep at all 'cause I stay awake thinkin' what she looks like now" her voice which was barking and strong a minute ago became sad "All I have are memories"
"They're good though" Dalton told her
Ming shook her head "They suck when all you want is the real thing" She climbed into the passenger side of the patrol car without saying anything else.
*****
SEATTLE CITY JAIL
SECTOR TEN
Detective Sung locked the door to one of the cells lined up for drying up drunks, peering at Jack through the spaces in-between the metal bars. "Enjoy your stay"
"Deal better be legit" Max stood beside the cell, staring its occupant down
"Swear it on the fact that you'll still be scank ass hot in the morning" he leered at her, looking around his new quarters for the night "Funny, this don't meet the qualities of a safe house to me"
"Safe from me for the time being" Max returned "Be a good boy and you might get an exercise wheel in here" she turned and walked over to Sung who stood about a foot to her right
"Thanks for agreein' to the deal" she now stood face to face with Sung
"Not a problem" the man agreed, looking at Jack sitting in the one man cell "One of our regulars black jacked his way outta here tonight to get tainted some more, worked out for the better this time."
Max took another look at Jack, who looked like he was blatantly ignoring her, except for the sleazy glances he shot her out of the corner of his eye "Don't forget to feed him" this remark was addressed at Sung "Don't want you to get charged with animal abuse" she looked at the detective in a quick glance and left down the hall.
*****
9:30 PM
Logan killed the lights of his Aztec when he caught sight of the rickety old warehouse where Jack said it would be.
"Why is it that sleazes always do their shack ups in dumps like this?" Max looked out the passenger side window at the rundown warehouse
A lone rat scurried out from the building, flicking its whiskers in the air. "Probably want to be close to their family" Logan looked at the rat when he said this
Max opened her door and stepped out onto the curb, hearing the front car door slam as Logan joined her a few seconds later.
Max took the lead. She wasn't trying to insult Logan's masculinity, it was just an instinct to her.
The warehouse had a large sliding aluminum door that was padlocked, but had already been broken by whoever came here tonight.
Max slid the door open with her hands, trying to make little noise, which didn't work because the metal gave way with a creaking that sounded like nails against chalk board. She waited for a second, peering inside to see what effect her loud entrance was causing.
Stepping inside, she was greeted to the sight of nothing but dirt floors and one large suspended dome light fixture hanging from the ceiling. She stepped more into the room, now seeing that the space wasn't completely empty, old scrap metal and a single crow bar were leaning against a structural support beam.
A gunshot broke the silence, echoing off the aluminum walls, making the rattle in protest to the sound.
"Max!" Logan hurried over to where she had dropped to the dirt, obviously hit.
Blood oozed out of the contact point in her side, dripping onto the grit below. "Is it still there?" Max asked through gritted teeth.
Logan understood what she meant and gently felt with his hand at the back of her torso "Think it went all the way through" his hand brushed an exit wound. He took off his jacket and sweater, revealing a white cotton t-shirt underneath, which he also discarded to use as a bandage "Direct pressure-"
"I know" she returned, placing his shirt to her wound, hissing. It just wouldn't be right if she didn't have her bad ass-ness even when she was injured.
Logan began putting his outer layers back on, the warehouse had no heat, and it felt like a refrigerator, and Max was noticing the results of Logan's rigorous work out schedule.
Injured or not, it was affecting her.
"Who the hell are you?" a voice came out of the shadows, followed by it's owner, aiming an automatic rifle at them.
Logan stood back up, offering a hand to Max who used it to pull herself back on her feet, gripping the cotton shirt to her side.
The nameless man stepped closer to them, looking up from the the scope, still aiming the rifle on them.
"Well maybe you should let us answer that before you open fire again" Logan stated "Just a thought"
This made the man angrier "Best watch your words before I do up your girl with the shells again" he stepped even closer.
"You've done up enough girls already" Max growled to the man
"You no nothing about me bitch!" he spat back
"Know enough bout your slimy ass, ass" she kicked the gun out of his hand with amazing speed, and threw him to the floor.
"Getting a little sick of being called a bitch" she stared at him from the barrel of the rifle, aiming it at him on the floor. "Came to inform you that your little rendezvous dealio ain't goin' down, cause somethin' came up, mainly me"
"Girl whatcha talkin' bout?" he acted all innocent "I don't know nothin' about no rendezvous"
"You're not in a position to lie" Logan stated next to Max "I'm sure the name Jack Warren rings a bell with your demented brain"
"Warren?" the man tested out the name "He's a looser who was doin' a deal with me, just business"
"I know what kind of 'business' your into" Max informed "and my girl ain't commodity for it"
"What I do ain't none of your business, and she ain't your girl she's mine, I make the sales"
Max became incredibly pissed. She lunged forward and grabbed the man by his neck "She don't BELONG to anyone. I ever catch you wanting to shake down my girls again your gonna be peeing through a catheter" she squeezed harder for a second and then released him.
The guy gasped from the sudden change of pressure "You-" the gun was now in his face
"What I tell you bout that?" she stared him down, grimacing slightly when Logan picked up the shirt she had dropped and re-applied pressure to her gunshot wound. She tried to look all bad assed with the gun, but in reality it was all for show. She hated guns.
"What the hell do I do with you?" Max asked to herself
*****
SECTOR TEN
"Boo what happened?" Cindy jumped to her feet when she saw Max enter the apartment clutching at her side with a bloody cloth
"Someone just decided to open fire" Max informed
"Yeah, and looks like you were the target" Cindy said helping Max to sit on the sofa.
Cree, who came out of the bathroom from all the noise was shocked at what she found.
"My god Max, who the hell did that to you?" her voice was protective of her new friend, just like Max was to her.
Logan had entered the apartment right after Max and headed over to where they all were.
"Boy you best tell me how this happened to my suga" Cindy didn't look at Logan when she said this.
"We went to check out this warehouse that Jack said he had a meet up and some ass decided to play with guns" Logan's upset/pissed off tone was enough to drop Cindy's defensive state, which just happened naturally to her when something happened to Max when she was with Logan.
"Ass just shot me" Max broke in, hissing when Cindy removed the shirt to get a look at the wound.
"Girl this looks nasty" dried blood mingled with fresh, caking on to her skin "I'll get some gauzes or somethin' " she stood back up and headed towards the bathroom.
"What did Jack want with this guy?" Cree asked after handing Max a bunch of waded paper towels to serve as a makeshift bandage for the time being.
"Were lookin' for you" Max answered her honestly "Jack was gettin' paid to find you and bring you back"
Cree went silent for a moment "Damn thing's never over" her voice was full of malice
Cindy came back with some gauze and first aid tape. She triple layered them on each side of the wound and adhered them to Max's skin with first aid tape "You might need stitches or somethin'"
Cindy went on, looking at her girl "I ain't no doctor boo"
"Should be okay" Max reassured, "Shot was clean" She winced as she shifted her body to stretch out on the length of the couch. The action itself hurt more then Max was letting on, but she wasn't use to broadcasting her emotions, not even to her best friends, it was just the way she had been taught.
Logan however picked up on the change, and silently moved to stand in front of Max, pulling her legs up on the couch cushions.
Max took a moment to settle into her new position, and a few seconds afterwards her eyes locked on his "Thanks"
Logan didn't respond, lowering himself to sit on the coffee table beside the couch. The pair shared a silent, one second look before Logan moved his hand up to Max's face and brushed back a loose lock of her long brown hair with delicate movements.
"I'm sorry I got you into this Max" Cree apologized "You shouldn't be taking hits for me-"
"You didn't ask for this to happen girl" Max interrupted "I don't desert my friends, no matter what shit comes up"
Cree looked at her in silent thanks, almost about to cry, but she bit it back. She was more like Max then she knew "What happened to Jack?"
"Seattle lock up" Logan answered her question, turning to face the young woman "Know a detective down there who threw him into a drunk cell for the time being"
"Yeah, but how long's that gonna last?" Cree asked, addressing Logan, Max, Cindy and the shadows in the room. She was more or less thinking out loud. "Jack's a prick, but he's got escape routes more extensive then the underground railroad. He could easily get some crooked cop to take a bribe for freedom, he's done it before"
"Can't say" Logan answered her previous question "But Det. Sung has him under twenty-four hour guard, and the officer assigned to him has a flawless no-breaking level"
"I'm tryin' to believe you Logan" Cree informed "Your the only decent guy I've met in a long time, but I've been screwed over too many times"
"Hey that's okay" Logan analyzed "It's understandable to feel like that"
"I don't want to though" Cree argued "I'm sick of being scared of every man I see. Know probably none of them are gonna screw me over, but I can't help that damn feeling. Don't know if I can even have a relationship with a man again."
"Don't know bout the mens" Cindy spoke up "But this woman's luvin' her relationship with you"
Cree smiled slightly "Thanks Cindy but I use to always see myself finding some guy, falling in love, maybe getting married, whole normal deal, no dissin' meant or anything"
"Take no offense to it suga. I'd be all over that if you swung my way" Cindy stated "Your the whole package"
"Defiantly" Logan complied
"You best stick to my boo Logan" Cindy notified "But listen to da man Cree. He ain't frontin'"
A few seconds of silence passed between them "Just wonder if my family will feel the same way" Cree broke the quiet "Wonder if I'LL feel good bout myself again. Hard not to look at myself and not feel dirty even if I had no choice who got on top"
"They'll feel for you" Max stated from her lying position "Sure they'll be more thankful that you survived then the morality that got piled on 'cause of it"
"Can't remember a time when they didn't 'feel' for me." Cree agreed "But this is different, 'cause all I have now are memories. Nothin' but thoughts of them."
"Good things to hold onto boo" Cindy broke in
Cree shook her head sadly "don't want just images of them in my head. I want them in front of me, I want them for real. I want to feel them." the word 'feel' was said with such sad emotion it broke a single tear down her cheek.
Despite her pain Max pulled her body up in a sitting position, scooting towards the end of the couch to where Cree had sat down cross legged in front of the coffee table. "Can't give up on that thought" Max's words were soft as she leaned her forehead against the other girl's in a gesture that Cindy had often done for her when she was upset. A moment of supportive, yet sad emotion for a Manticore bred soldier who was not suppose to feel at all.
Seconds of silence came and went before Max pulled back from Cree whose eyes were now damp from tears that had escaped because of Max's sisterly gesture.
*****
LOS ANGELOS, CALIFORNIA
IBIS LANE
"Hon" Peter came down the stairs to find Ming sitting on the couch, out of her uniform, now dressed casually in her police academy sweatshirt and jeans.
Peter neared closer to his wife and noticed an open photo album resting in her lap.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" the couch cushion dipped from his weight as he sat next to her. He got his answer when he saw the photos of their daughters decorating the opened plastic protected pages.
"There's that jacket she loved again" Ming pointed to the picture of Cree wearing the leather jacket that had been a 14th birthday present" she smiled in memory, looking at her husband.
"Something about youth and leather" Peter agreed "turns something on"
"You know she got if from me" Ming went on
Peter cocked an eyebrow, amused "Oh really?"
She looked back at him, matching his gaze "You know when I strap on the leather I can turn your something on" this time her smile was more on the sexual innuendo side. Being forty-three years old with two kids didn't affect her. She was a wild woman, always had been, always will be.
Peter smiled back "Hey you don't have to tell me" he kissed the side of her face.
After pulling apart Ming went back to looking at the photos, her expression turning sad at the same image of fourteen year old Cree in her leather jacket. Her hand brushed the picture, wishing to physically touch her daughter through the photo. "Guys at work think I'm loosing my mind" she paused "But I just can't give up on her" her gazed traveled upwards to look into Peter's brown eyes "Even if the chances are small at finding her-"
"I know" Peter interrupted before she finished saying every parent's worse nightmare. "But she's gonna make it Ming. She's a fighter baby. We're not suppose to give up on her"
Ming sighed heavily "I can't give up, just hate the son-of-a-bitch who hurt her." a pause "I want her back Peter, I don't want just a memory" she fell into the hug her husband offered, feeling her cop street attitude exterior fall away, leaving the hurt of a mother with a missing child.
"We can't ever give up" Peter repeated his words, hugging his wife "We'll find her"
*****
SEATTLE
SECTOR TEN
Logan checked his watch again. It was getting late, he really should be getting home. That's what he kept telling himself. But it was hard to do since Max was laying on him. After consoling Cree Max had shifted back to lay on the couch, which Logan had moved on. Rather then making her move again he played the part of a nice guy and stayed put so he wouldn't hurt her by moving, even though she wasn't a genteel lady but a soldier who could lay out Ali's nuts if she wanted to.
Her lower back and most of her torso was spread across his legs. Though they were comfortable enough with each other to invade personal space almost like lovers, their was an uncomfortable 'first date' sense that always crept up on them at times like this. It was one of the reasons of their lack of moving to the next level.
But now, their guard was down, and it made the line of warning blur.
Logan looked down at her again /I should move, staying like this too long will just- Just what Cale? What will it do except unearth feelings you already have/ "I should go" his thoughts won out over his conscious.
Max looked up to him, knowing that they were in deep territory. There was no "just friends" line anymore. Her comfort level at laying in his lap was way too high for a friend. /Tell him to go Maxie, he can't stay, there's too much emotions, emotions make you weak./ "It's late" she agreed.
"Yeah" Logan answered back, but made no move to get up, hoping Cindy or Cree weren't watching this to add fodder to their fire.
"Sector cops are startin' bitchin' hours" Max spoke again
"Defiantly" Logan agreed /Go, just get up and go/
"You could stay"
Logan looked at Max, surprised at what came out of her mouth "You want me too?"
Max shrugged a look with her eyes "Don't hafta risk a sector cop and jail time"
"Right" Logan agreed
Several seconds of silence
"What about-"
"She sleeps in Cindy's bed"
"Oh" Logan spoke a single word
Silence again
"So-"
"So-" their words tripped on each other
"You can crash here" Max spoke up "I don't sleep anyways, it's a waste of couch space"
"You don't have to move for me" Logan argued "This is fine-" "I mean for me"
"Yeah" pause "S'okay" she looked at him again with a hint of a smile. "I might fall asleep on you, getting nailed with iron makes me a little zonked sometimes"
"It's fine" Logan reassured "If you don't drool"
"Manticore doesn't drool Logan" she returned
"Your not Manticore, your Max" Logan answered back
A look passed between them
"Logan?"
He looked down at her again "Yeah?"
"Stay with me" the same words repeated from the night of her revealing her seizures to him
He nodded, touching her forehead completely with the palm of one hand, watching her eyes close "I will"
*****
Sorry for getting this up so late but first I had writer's block, then college started again and I currently have about a million and one papers to write for my classes. I added more M/L to this one, and it should reach it's high point in the next few chapters.
Cree will reunite with her family somewhere two or three chapters from now. I have to set up the reunion in context, not just pull it from nothing just to have a scene.
R/R please
A/N: It's back again everyone, hope you like. The title was taken from one of the lines of one of my favorite books; and I just thought it fit here.
*****
Before I get started, this is an original penned poem by me on sex slavery
I was going to post it separately, but it will go better here ...
Shackled to the Dark
The light is non-existent, my body is sore
The man who was just with me has now walked out the door
The blood pools around me, my skin is full of heat
I have been abused again, a rented piece of meat
My breath is in my ears, it hurts so much to think
Fifteenth or twentieth time today, I cannot find the link
Men come in lines, cash money on the table
They don't care that I'm bleeding, don't care that I'm not able
Dark and darker hours, they dip into my well
Ride me hard and fast, and leave me chained in hell
Dignity is gone, love no longer has my link
Lying in my chains, all I do is think
Will this one get me pregnant? Will the baby die 'cause it's weak?
Conceived in a scank hole, fathered by a freak
The door opens once again, the next ride to hell has come
I can't even feel it when this time is done
I never see the money, I never see the light
The job that I was promised, has never filled my sight
Listen to me quickly, before this time goes by
Slavery still exists, people tell you lies
Women lie in shackles, hell has found its fame
Sex crimes are real, girls are put to shame
Please don't believe the lie, alert people to the truth
Before another girl dies, another looses her youth
The lies fall somewhere else, this is all true
And with all due respect, this girl-
She could be you.
*****
LOS ANGELOUS, CALIFORNIA
10:08 PM
SECTOR NINE
Ming watched the movements in a crack house from the patrol car; observing the people inside's silent exchange of baggies filled with the narcotic.
Beside her, her partner Officer Dalton also watched the exchange through his binoculars. "Guy's got more crystal on him then Home Shopping" he dropped the binoculars and looked at Ming "Time to bust it wide open"
Ming radioed back to HQ that they were about to bust down the deal before joining Dalton outside the patrol car.
Both partners removed their 9 mm from their holsters as they ascended the old white wooden house the two men had just gone into.
"FREEZE!" Dalton was the first one inside, aiming his gun at the two men "LAPD, Hands where I can see them!"
"Do it!" Ming shouted to the kids "Raise'em up now!" she approached him slowly, "Move'em behind your back" she took out her handcuffs and cuffed the teen's hands behind his back
"Wasn't doing anything wrong!" the second kid argued to them as Dalton hauled him out the old rickety front door while Ming dealt with his buddy.
"Decided to hold up in this old shack to read your Catechism?" Dalton pushed his charge down the stairs where his squad car was parked. He searched the kid's pockets, pulling out three small bags of cocaine crystals from the pockets in his cargo pants. "Let me guess, sugar for the lemonade after youth group" he threw the baggies on top of his hood before opening the back door "Watch your head" pushed the boy into the back and shut the door.
"Whatcha got?" Dalton approached Ming, who was searching the other kid against the other side of the car.
"Kilo of crack" Ming threw the plastic bag next to the others "Thirty-five cash money"
the bills landed next to the bagged crystals "And some insulin syringes" she looked to her charge "You were out for a good time tonight huh buddy? Shootin' and snortin'"
"Nothing wrong with that" the youth argued
"Fraid US law thinks there is" Ming informed "How long you been dealin' here?"
"Here?" he paused "Goin' on my third year baby"
"Not gonna make it to number four though" Ming told him opening the back car door of the officer's squad car who had been dispatched out to the crack house as back up.
"Minor set back" the kid returned climbing into the car unassisted "Keep the daughters off the streets ya'll" he spoke as if he were talking to a large group of people "playa's gonna be back on the streets soon enough" the last word were muffled by the closing of the patrol car door.
"Guys seem to be gettin' younger each year" Dalton stated "Little boys thinkin' they thugs. Keep daughters off the streets-" he blew the thought off "Man my little girl could kick his ass" it was then that he looked up and noticed Ming staring into the sky blankly. "Hey Ming"
Ming turned when Dalton addressed her
"You okay?"
Ming didn't answer right away, looking at the stars that decorated the black sky above them "You and the other guys think I'm crazy huh?" she looked back down to her partner "Kids go missing and turn up in months by rural highways, three years is a dead chance"
"You honestly believe that?" Dalton asked her "That what you go to sleep at night thinking 'oh it's hopeless, just drop it and move on"
"I'm tired of not going to sleep at all 'cause I stay awake thinkin' what she looks like now" her voice which was barking and strong a minute ago became sad "All I have are memories"
"They're good though" Dalton told her
Ming shook her head "They suck when all you want is the real thing" She climbed into the passenger side of the patrol car without saying anything else.
*****
SEATTLE CITY JAIL
SECTOR TEN
Detective Sung locked the door to one of the cells lined up for drying up drunks, peering at Jack through the spaces in-between the metal bars. "Enjoy your stay"
"Deal better be legit" Max stood beside the cell, staring its occupant down
"Swear it on the fact that you'll still be scank ass hot in the morning" he leered at her, looking around his new quarters for the night "Funny, this don't meet the qualities of a safe house to me"
"Safe from me for the time being" Max returned "Be a good boy and you might get an exercise wheel in here" she turned and walked over to Sung who stood about a foot to her right
"Thanks for agreein' to the deal" she now stood face to face with Sung
"Not a problem" the man agreed, looking at Jack sitting in the one man cell "One of our regulars black jacked his way outta here tonight to get tainted some more, worked out for the better this time."
Max took another look at Jack, who looked like he was blatantly ignoring her, except for the sleazy glances he shot her out of the corner of his eye "Don't forget to feed him" this remark was addressed at Sung "Don't want you to get charged with animal abuse" she looked at the detective in a quick glance and left down the hall.
*****
9:30 PM
Logan killed the lights of his Aztec when he caught sight of the rickety old warehouse where Jack said it would be.
"Why is it that sleazes always do their shack ups in dumps like this?" Max looked out the passenger side window at the rundown warehouse
A lone rat scurried out from the building, flicking its whiskers in the air. "Probably want to be close to their family" Logan looked at the rat when he said this
Max opened her door and stepped out onto the curb, hearing the front car door slam as Logan joined her a few seconds later.
Max took the lead. She wasn't trying to insult Logan's masculinity, it was just an instinct to her.
The warehouse had a large sliding aluminum door that was padlocked, but had already been broken by whoever came here tonight.
Max slid the door open with her hands, trying to make little noise, which didn't work because the metal gave way with a creaking that sounded like nails against chalk board. She waited for a second, peering inside to see what effect her loud entrance was causing.
Stepping inside, she was greeted to the sight of nothing but dirt floors and one large suspended dome light fixture hanging from the ceiling. She stepped more into the room, now seeing that the space wasn't completely empty, old scrap metal and a single crow bar were leaning against a structural support beam.
A gunshot broke the silence, echoing off the aluminum walls, making the rattle in protest to the sound.
"Max!" Logan hurried over to where she had dropped to the dirt, obviously hit.
Blood oozed out of the contact point in her side, dripping onto the grit below. "Is it still there?" Max asked through gritted teeth.
Logan understood what she meant and gently felt with his hand at the back of her torso "Think it went all the way through" his hand brushed an exit wound. He took off his jacket and sweater, revealing a white cotton t-shirt underneath, which he also discarded to use as a bandage "Direct pressure-"
"I know" she returned, placing his shirt to her wound, hissing. It just wouldn't be right if she didn't have her bad ass-ness even when she was injured.
Logan began putting his outer layers back on, the warehouse had no heat, and it felt like a refrigerator, and Max was noticing the results of Logan's rigorous work out schedule.
Injured or not, it was affecting her.
"Who the hell are you?" a voice came out of the shadows, followed by it's owner, aiming an automatic rifle at them.
Logan stood back up, offering a hand to Max who used it to pull herself back on her feet, gripping the cotton shirt to her side.
The nameless man stepped closer to them, looking up from the the scope, still aiming the rifle on them.
"Well maybe you should let us answer that before you open fire again" Logan stated "Just a thought"
This made the man angrier "Best watch your words before I do up your girl with the shells again" he stepped even closer.
"You've done up enough girls already" Max growled to the man
"You no nothing about me bitch!" he spat back
"Know enough bout your slimy ass, ass" she kicked the gun out of his hand with amazing speed, and threw him to the floor.
"Getting a little sick of being called a bitch" she stared at him from the barrel of the rifle, aiming it at him on the floor. "Came to inform you that your little rendezvous dealio ain't goin' down, cause somethin' came up, mainly me"
"Girl whatcha talkin' bout?" he acted all innocent "I don't know nothin' about no rendezvous"
"You're not in a position to lie" Logan stated next to Max "I'm sure the name Jack Warren rings a bell with your demented brain"
"Warren?" the man tested out the name "He's a looser who was doin' a deal with me, just business"
"I know what kind of 'business' your into" Max informed "and my girl ain't commodity for it"
"What I do ain't none of your business, and she ain't your girl she's mine, I make the sales"
Max became incredibly pissed. She lunged forward and grabbed the man by his neck "She don't BELONG to anyone. I ever catch you wanting to shake down my girls again your gonna be peeing through a catheter" she squeezed harder for a second and then released him.
The guy gasped from the sudden change of pressure "You-" the gun was now in his face
"What I tell you bout that?" she stared him down, grimacing slightly when Logan picked up the shirt she had dropped and re-applied pressure to her gunshot wound. She tried to look all bad assed with the gun, but in reality it was all for show. She hated guns.
"What the hell do I do with you?" Max asked to herself
*****
SECTOR TEN
"Boo what happened?" Cindy jumped to her feet when she saw Max enter the apartment clutching at her side with a bloody cloth
"Someone just decided to open fire" Max informed
"Yeah, and looks like you were the target" Cindy said helping Max to sit on the sofa.
Cree, who came out of the bathroom from all the noise was shocked at what she found.
"My god Max, who the hell did that to you?" her voice was protective of her new friend, just like Max was to her.
Logan had entered the apartment right after Max and headed over to where they all were.
"Boy you best tell me how this happened to my suga" Cindy didn't look at Logan when she said this.
"We went to check out this warehouse that Jack said he had a meet up and some ass decided to play with guns" Logan's upset/pissed off tone was enough to drop Cindy's defensive state, which just happened naturally to her when something happened to Max when she was with Logan.
"Ass just shot me" Max broke in, hissing when Cindy removed the shirt to get a look at the wound.
"Girl this looks nasty" dried blood mingled with fresh, caking on to her skin "I'll get some gauzes or somethin' " she stood back up and headed towards the bathroom.
"What did Jack want with this guy?" Cree asked after handing Max a bunch of waded paper towels to serve as a makeshift bandage for the time being.
"Were lookin' for you" Max answered her honestly "Jack was gettin' paid to find you and bring you back"
Cree went silent for a moment "Damn thing's never over" her voice was full of malice
Cindy came back with some gauze and first aid tape. She triple layered them on each side of the wound and adhered them to Max's skin with first aid tape "You might need stitches or somethin'"
Cindy went on, looking at her girl "I ain't no doctor boo"
"Should be okay" Max reassured, "Shot was clean" She winced as she shifted her body to stretch out on the length of the couch. The action itself hurt more then Max was letting on, but she wasn't use to broadcasting her emotions, not even to her best friends, it was just the way she had been taught.
Logan however picked up on the change, and silently moved to stand in front of Max, pulling her legs up on the couch cushions.
Max took a moment to settle into her new position, and a few seconds afterwards her eyes locked on his "Thanks"
Logan didn't respond, lowering himself to sit on the coffee table beside the couch. The pair shared a silent, one second look before Logan moved his hand up to Max's face and brushed back a loose lock of her long brown hair with delicate movements.
"I'm sorry I got you into this Max" Cree apologized "You shouldn't be taking hits for me-"
"You didn't ask for this to happen girl" Max interrupted "I don't desert my friends, no matter what shit comes up"
Cree looked at her in silent thanks, almost about to cry, but she bit it back. She was more like Max then she knew "What happened to Jack?"
"Seattle lock up" Logan answered her question, turning to face the young woman "Know a detective down there who threw him into a drunk cell for the time being"
"Yeah, but how long's that gonna last?" Cree asked, addressing Logan, Max, Cindy and the shadows in the room. She was more or less thinking out loud. "Jack's a prick, but he's got escape routes more extensive then the underground railroad. He could easily get some crooked cop to take a bribe for freedom, he's done it before"
"Can't say" Logan answered her previous question "But Det. Sung has him under twenty-four hour guard, and the officer assigned to him has a flawless no-breaking level"
"I'm tryin' to believe you Logan" Cree informed "Your the only decent guy I've met in a long time, but I've been screwed over too many times"
"Hey that's okay" Logan analyzed "It's understandable to feel like that"
"I don't want to though" Cree argued "I'm sick of being scared of every man I see. Know probably none of them are gonna screw me over, but I can't help that damn feeling. Don't know if I can even have a relationship with a man again."
"Don't know bout the mens" Cindy spoke up "But this woman's luvin' her relationship with you"
Cree smiled slightly "Thanks Cindy but I use to always see myself finding some guy, falling in love, maybe getting married, whole normal deal, no dissin' meant or anything"
"Take no offense to it suga. I'd be all over that if you swung my way" Cindy stated "Your the whole package"
"Defiantly" Logan complied
"You best stick to my boo Logan" Cindy notified "But listen to da man Cree. He ain't frontin'"
A few seconds of silence passed between them "Just wonder if my family will feel the same way" Cree broke the quiet "Wonder if I'LL feel good bout myself again. Hard not to look at myself and not feel dirty even if I had no choice who got on top"
"They'll feel for you" Max stated from her lying position "Sure they'll be more thankful that you survived then the morality that got piled on 'cause of it"
"Can't remember a time when they didn't 'feel' for me." Cree agreed "But this is different, 'cause all I have now are memories. Nothin' but thoughts of them."
"Good things to hold onto boo" Cindy broke in
Cree shook her head sadly "don't want just images of them in my head. I want them in front of me, I want them for real. I want to feel them." the word 'feel' was said with such sad emotion it broke a single tear down her cheek.
Despite her pain Max pulled her body up in a sitting position, scooting towards the end of the couch to where Cree had sat down cross legged in front of the coffee table. "Can't give up on that thought" Max's words were soft as she leaned her forehead against the other girl's in a gesture that Cindy had often done for her when she was upset. A moment of supportive, yet sad emotion for a Manticore bred soldier who was not suppose to feel at all.
Seconds of silence came and went before Max pulled back from Cree whose eyes were now damp from tears that had escaped because of Max's sisterly gesture.
*****
LOS ANGELOS, CALIFORNIA
IBIS LANE
"Hon" Peter came down the stairs to find Ming sitting on the couch, out of her uniform, now dressed casually in her police academy sweatshirt and jeans.
Peter neared closer to his wife and noticed an open photo album resting in her lap.
"Whatcha lookin' at?" the couch cushion dipped from his weight as he sat next to her. He got his answer when he saw the photos of their daughters decorating the opened plastic protected pages.
"There's that jacket she loved again" Ming pointed to the picture of Cree wearing the leather jacket that had been a 14th birthday present" she smiled in memory, looking at her husband.
"Something about youth and leather" Peter agreed "turns something on"
"You know she got if from me" Ming went on
Peter cocked an eyebrow, amused "Oh really?"
She looked back at him, matching his gaze "You know when I strap on the leather I can turn your something on" this time her smile was more on the sexual innuendo side. Being forty-three years old with two kids didn't affect her. She was a wild woman, always had been, always will be.
Peter smiled back "Hey you don't have to tell me" he kissed the side of her face.
After pulling apart Ming went back to looking at the photos, her expression turning sad at the same image of fourteen year old Cree in her leather jacket. Her hand brushed the picture, wishing to physically touch her daughter through the photo. "Guys at work think I'm loosing my mind" she paused "But I just can't give up on her" her gazed traveled upwards to look into Peter's brown eyes "Even if the chances are small at finding her-"
"I know" Peter interrupted before she finished saying every parent's worse nightmare. "But she's gonna make it Ming. She's a fighter baby. We're not suppose to give up on her"
Ming sighed heavily "I can't give up, just hate the son-of-a-bitch who hurt her." a pause "I want her back Peter, I don't want just a memory" she fell into the hug her husband offered, feeling her cop street attitude exterior fall away, leaving the hurt of a mother with a missing child.
"We can't ever give up" Peter repeated his words, hugging his wife "We'll find her"
*****
SEATTLE
SECTOR TEN
Logan checked his watch again. It was getting late, he really should be getting home. That's what he kept telling himself. But it was hard to do since Max was laying on him. After consoling Cree Max had shifted back to lay on the couch, which Logan had moved on. Rather then making her move again he played the part of a nice guy and stayed put so he wouldn't hurt her by moving, even though she wasn't a genteel lady but a soldier who could lay out Ali's nuts if she wanted to.
Her lower back and most of her torso was spread across his legs. Though they were comfortable enough with each other to invade personal space almost like lovers, their was an uncomfortable 'first date' sense that always crept up on them at times like this. It was one of the reasons of their lack of moving to the next level.
But now, their guard was down, and it made the line of warning blur.
Logan looked down at her again /I should move, staying like this too long will just- Just what Cale? What will it do except unearth feelings you already have/ "I should go" his thoughts won out over his conscious.
Max looked up to him, knowing that they were in deep territory. There was no "just friends" line anymore. Her comfort level at laying in his lap was way too high for a friend. /Tell him to go Maxie, he can't stay, there's too much emotions, emotions make you weak./ "It's late" she agreed.
"Yeah" Logan answered back, but made no move to get up, hoping Cindy or Cree weren't watching this to add fodder to their fire.
"Sector cops are startin' bitchin' hours" Max spoke again
"Defiantly" Logan agreed /Go, just get up and go/
"You could stay"
Logan looked at Max, surprised at what came out of her mouth "You want me too?"
Max shrugged a look with her eyes "Don't hafta risk a sector cop and jail time"
"Right" Logan agreed
Several seconds of silence
"What about-"
"She sleeps in Cindy's bed"
"Oh" Logan spoke a single word
Silence again
"So-"
"So-" their words tripped on each other
"You can crash here" Max spoke up "I don't sleep anyways, it's a waste of couch space"
"You don't have to move for me" Logan argued "This is fine-" "I mean for me"
"Yeah" pause "S'okay" she looked at him again with a hint of a smile. "I might fall asleep on you, getting nailed with iron makes me a little zonked sometimes"
"It's fine" Logan reassured "If you don't drool"
"Manticore doesn't drool Logan" she returned
"Your not Manticore, your Max" Logan answered back
A look passed between them
"Logan?"
He looked down at her again "Yeah?"
"Stay with me" the same words repeated from the night of her revealing her seizures to him
He nodded, touching her forehead completely with the palm of one hand, watching her eyes close "I will"
*****
Sorry for getting this up so late but first I had writer's block, then college started again and I currently have about a million and one papers to write for my classes. I added more M/L to this one, and it should reach it's high point in the next few chapters.
Cree will reunite with her family somewhere two or three chapters from now. I have to set up the reunion in context, not just pull it from nothing just to have a scene.
R/R please