Smoke & Mirrors by Star24
Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24.
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Chapter Eleven
Fogle Towers
Logan was working at his computers when Max arrived, and there was the aroma of something cooking in the air.
Max sniffed appreciatively, "Smells good enough to eat."
"I thought you might be hungry after the mission. It's no big deal, just a thank you for helping out. Looks like my tip was right. Judge Jergens would have been a dead man if not for you tonight." He swiveled his chair around and smiled at her.
Max shrugged, "Whatever. I needed the exercise anyway. Oh I almost forgot…" She reached into a pocket and pulled out a computer disk. "I took this from the assassin. Thought there might be something on it you could use."
Logan took the disk from her and placed it next to his pc. "This can wait until after we eat."
Max looked like she was about to protest, but she refrained and quietly followed Logan as he stood and walked out to the kitchen.
When they finished eating, Logan didn't head to the computers, but instead went into the living room and stood staring out of the window. Max followed and watched for a few minutes.
"Aren't you going to load the disk and see what's on it?"
"I think it can wait until the morning. I'm kind of beat. In fact, I think I'm going to turn in. You can crash in the guest room if you don't want to deal with the curfew. The Sector Police might be a bit jumpy tonight." His voice was detached, almost dismissive.
"There might be important information on there. Maybe information on another assassination. Do you really think you should wait?" Max's tone was insistent and Logan turned to look at her curiously.
"It'll keep. Even if there was something else going to go down tonight, there's not much we could do about it."
"So you really aren't going to load the disk tonight?"
"I just said that, Max."
"Then I guess I have no choice in the matter. I'm sorry Logan." Max's tone had changed and he looked down to see her holding a gun on him. "Let's take a walk into your computer room where you are going to load that disk now."
Logan's tone was level as he met her stare, "Max, would you like to tell me what the hell is going on here? Since when do you do guns? And since when do you pull a gun on me?"
"I've done guns since I was about four years old. As to why pull a gun on you, that's simple, Logan, or should I say, Eyes Only? Manticore wants the information on your computers and that disk is going to give it to us. You're going to load it for me and then you're going to open up the Informant Net files. Now."
"After I do that what happens? Are you going to use that gun on me once you have what you want?"
"Eyes Only can't be allowed to continue his crusade against Manticore. I know we were friends before, but this time you went after the wrong people. I'm sorry, but I have my orders." Her voice was cold and detached, and Logan felt a cold chill moving down his spine.
Max motioned with the gun and Logan moved in front of her towards his computer room. As they reached the entrance to the room there was a soft thump behind them, and Max whirled to be met by a swift kick from Syl, who had dropped down through the skylight. The gun went flying out of Max's hand, and the two X5s stood face to face. Logan stepped back out of the way of the women, as they began to slowly circle each other, each one looking for an opening.
"So Max, do you remember me by any chance?" Syl asked casually.
"Should I?" Max sneered at her.
"I would think you might, since we spent every day together for the first nine years of our lives."
"So you're another renegade? Why stay out here in the cold? Why not come back with me? Things are a lot better in there than out here in this screwed up world."
As Max spoke, she kicked out and knocked Syl back into the partition. Syl quickly recovered and lashed back at Max, landing a hard strike to her chest. Max staggered and Syl followed up with a sweep kick taking out Max's legs and sending her to the floor. Syl launched herself at her but Max rolled to the side, and as Syl came down, Max quickly straddled her back, grabbing her hands and pulling them behind her.
"You've been out in the world too long, without the benefit of any good training exercises it seems." Max laughed as she sat on Syl's hands and reached for her neck. "I'd like to take you back but my orders are no delays, and you're too much of a delay. Sorry."
"Max! Don't." The tone of command in Logan's voice startled Max, and she paused for just a second. That minute hesitation was enough to allow Syl to throw Max off of her, and jump back to her feet. Max started after her, but once again she was stopped by Logan's voice.
"Max, I don't want to use this on you, but I will if I have to."
Max turned to see Logan holding her own gun leveled at her. Something in his eyes told her that he wasn't lying about being willing to use it. Syl went to stand next to him, ready to stop her if she made a move to take the gun away from him. Max didn't really believe Logan would shoot to kill her, but training dictated that she retreat for the present and wait for another chance to complete her mission.
"You win this round," Max shrugged as Syl cautiously moved toward her, taking care not to get between Max and the gun. When she reached her, she pulled Max's hands behind her back and secured them with a pair of handcuffs. She pushed Max over to the couch and down onto it. Logan tossed her a piece of rope and Syl quickly bound Max's ankles then pushed her into a horizontal position on the couch.
"What do we do with her now?" Syl looked at Logan.
"I was hoping you'd have some ideas for me about how to break down her conditioning." The pain in Logan's eyes was evident as he looked over at Max who was glaring back at the two of them.
"It's not going to happen." Max spat back at him. "I know who I am and where I belong, and it's not out here. My designation is X5-452. Max, as you call her, is dead and she isn't coming back."
Syl ignored Max and touched Logan's hand reassuringly. "I'm still trying to get in touch with some of the others. Psyops was never my strong point, but Krit or Zane might know more than I do. Let me work on it, Logan. There has to be a way."
"In the meantime, I'm going to trash that disk. No telling what's on it, but it's not going into my drive that's for sure." Logan walked over to the computer room and picked up the disk Max had brought to him. As Max continued to shoot daggers at him from her eyes, he picked up a piece of equipment and quickly ran it over the disk. Then he brought the disk into his kitchen where he dropped it into his sink. He ran water over it and then shoved it down his garbage disposal. There was a harsh grinding noise followed by silence.
"Whoa. Grind up heavy duty trash normally, Logan?" Syl asked.
"It's an industrial strength shredder and disposal unit. There are times when certain information needs to be disposed of safely. The first thing I did was to wipe the disk but I don't want to take any chances…"
"Yeah, I don't blame you."
"I'm going to hit the sack. Will Max be okay where she is for tonight?" Logan asked.
"She's not going anywhere. I'm going to use your guest room and make those calls, if that's okay with you?"
"Go for it."
Syl nodded and headed off to the guest room.
* * * *
Logan walked over and looked down at Max as she lay on the couch. Kneeling down, so he was at eye level with her, he reached out and gently brushed her hair back, away from her face.
"So now what?" she snarled at him. "You can't keep me here forever. Even with your pet X5 renegade in there."
"Max, don't you remember anything at all about…us?" Logan's eyes caught hers and seemed to drill into her very soul. Max shivered and turned her head away. He reached out and took her face between his hands, turning her to face him once again.
"You saved my life so many times, and I saved yours as well. Don't you remember jumping off the roof of the Steinlitz Hotel after me when Darius' goons threw me off of it? Or the time Bronck was about to kill both me and Matt Sung, and you came blazing in like an avenging angel to the rescue?"
Max stared at him stonily, refusing to answer.
Logan tried another tack. "Then what about this, Max, Forever eyes dark. Somebody's angel." His voice was soft as he recited the words to her.
There was a faint flicker in her eyes but she remained stubbornly silent.
Logan sighed. "Have it your way. But I swear to you Max, I'm going to make you remember me --remember us -- remember this." With that, he leaned down and caught her lips in a long kiss, cradling her face between his hands so that she couldn't turn away from him. After a few moments he pulled back. "Good night, Max." He rose and left the room, leaving Max staring after him.
* * * *
Syl jumped up as the first rays of dawn washed across her face. She had spent several hours the night before talking to her siblings. They had suggested several techniques that she and Logan might use to try to break through to Max, and she was anxious to get started. She didn't know if Max had compromised their position, but she was going to recommend to Logan that they all move to a safe house as the first order of business. No sense in taking any chances.
"Good morning, sunshine," she quipped as she moved into the living room and glanced at the couch. It was empty. The handcuffs lay open on the floor, and the frayed remnants of the rope lay next to them.
"Damn." Syl raced down the hall to Logan's bedroom and flung open the door. It was as she feared. The room was empty; the bedclothes flung on the floor as if there had been a brief struggle. The exo-skeleton was missing from its stand in the corner.
Syl pulled out her cell phone and quickly dialed a number. "It's me again. We have a situation. Max is gone and she's taken Logan with her…"
End of Smoke & Mirrors
To be continued…
A/N: This is the end of the first part of my AS2. Before you all throw rotten tomatoes at me, rest assured that the next part is already written and just finishing up being beta'd. Look for a story titled "Breakdown" which I will start to post in the next day or so. Hope you're all enjoying the ride.
Star
