The High Place
Part Two
Her pager sounded startling her and she became woozy, but held her balance and shook off the effects of the link these men seemed to be extending to her. Looking at her pager, she saw it was Original Cindy calling her to Crash. She headed off at a good pace keeping her senses on overload to see anything out of the ordinary. She was not safe yet but had one less hunter to worry about it seemed.
Max arrived at The Crash about twenty minutes later and found Cindy standing at the bar talking with a cute blonde goddess.
"Not interrupting anything am I?" She asked as she walked up.
"Not at all, boo." OC said. "How are you?"
"I am having the strangest day. You remember those guys fighting on the needle a couple weeks back?"
"Yeah."
"I ran into the tall one today. He is apparently a military Colonel." Max explained so that Cindy would understand, but the Blonde wouldn't get any classified information. She ended it. "It's just been a weird day. Can I get a beer Nick?"
"Sure thing Max." The bartender said.
"Max, this is Candice. Candy, this is my roommate, Max."
"Nice to meet you." Max said. "I'll let you two continue your conversation while I go check in on Herbal and Sketchy." Max nodded to the two girls as she picked up her beer.
When Cindy walked over to the table a short while later, Sketchy, Herbal and Max all looked up waiting for the good or bad news. Original Cindy looked at all of them until Sketchy broke the silence.
"I didn't know you went for blondes?" Herbal asked.
"Don't usually, but that is one fine female." OC said.
"Did you get the digits?"
"Better than that. I got me a genuine date with a fine ass lickety-chick. Max honey, could you maybe crash at your boy's pad tomorrow night. We're going to fix dinner and watch a movie and stuff." OC said for the benefit of the men but Max knew there would be no movies on the TV. Sketchy groaned.
"Sure. I'll make Logan fix me dinner." Max said. She looked at Sketchy who was staring at something over by the pool table. Max had her back to it.
"What's up Sketch? You've been distracted all night."
"I want to play some pool, but those old guys won't let anyone near the table." Max and OC turned to look at them. Max recognized them immediately. The Colonel and Ramsey smiled and nodded. She knew they had been aware of her all along, but cursed herself for not realizing they were here. She walked over to the table and stood a few feet away sizing up the third member of the party as she approached. He looked at her when she stopped walking.
"This is her?"
"This is her." The Colonel said.
"She's cute. I'm Pete." He offered his hand. "I have heard much about you."
Max looked at The Colonel. The Colonel looked at Max. She looked at Ramsey.
"Pete won't hurt you. We are in a bar. This is his sacred ground." Ramsey said. Pete and the Colonel laughed.
Max watched the man drain half a bottle of whiskey in one long gulp.
"That's not exactly healthy." She said noticing a collection of bottles on the table against the wall. "Neither is a soldier's life." Pete spoke quietly. "Walk away, Max. Go to that boyfriend of yours and raise some fat babies. Live happily ever after. You know we know that is what you really want from him. A life you can be proud of. A happy life without strife. You two can make it work from what The Colonel tells me. I would suggest you do it."
Max was stunned as this man chatted calmly about her personal struggle in the war of emotions regarding Logan. It wasn't really possible with Manticore and Eyes Only.
"This is not about Eyes Only Max nor is this about Manticore. We speak of your heart and its connection to Logan's. Your blood is inside of him. That links you two completely." Max thought of the dream. She thought of the dance as she first transfused him on his deathbed. "Exactly Little One. You pulled him from the depths of the abyss he was falling into at great personal risk to yourself. You love him and he loves you. I picked up on that when I first saw you two together. You'll be alone with him tomorrow night. You should tell him, talk it over with him." Ramsey said.
"How did you know..." She stopped remembering the Psionic thing. "Right."
"So is that your unit over there so confused about why you are talking to old grunts like us?" Ramsey asked.
"I would hardly call you grunts. I saw your war records. You guys are the stuff of legend."
"We do what we have to." Pete said. "I like you. Colonel. She is safe from me. I will not attack her, but I cannot speak for the Zukini."
"The Zukini?"
"He is the last of us so far accounted for here in Seattle. We can communicate, but we do not know his location although I believe..." Pete turned and faced east. "Yes definitely."
"I'll go." Ramsey said. "I'm not into this tonight anyway." With that said, he turned and walked off without a word.
"Where's he going?" Max asked.
"To Kill the Zukini." Pete Said.
Max sat down and watched Pete shoot pool. He seemed unconcerned that his buddy was about to kill another one. It was all so cold. She shuddered at the thought trying not to think about Ben. The Colonel looked at her.
"How can you deal with it?"
"How do you deal with it?" He asked her knowing she meant killing a brother.
"Somehow, I think it was different for me." Max said. "I took Ben's life to protect him from Manticore. They would have taken him and locked him in a basement back at the facility and used him for experiments until he was nothing more than an organ donor. I couldn't let that happen. With you guys, it just seems so matter of fact like you have always known when you were going to die." She watched Pete finish his bottle of whiskey in a second long gulp and then walk toward her. He held out his hand as a slow song started playing on the Juke.
"Would you dance with me?" Pete asked. "I have to go soon and I would like to go away happy. It's just one song."
Max smiled as the man spun her onto the open floor and began a comfortable and gentlemanly dance. When the song ended, he bowed low and smiled. With a quiet thank you, he turned and left telling the Colonel he would be outside… waiting.
"You're going to go kill him." Max stated.
"No. He is going to take a meditation as his exit. I will sit with him until he is gone."
"Can I come?" Max asked. She sounding like a little girl asking her father if she could go with him.
"Not this time." When The Colonel phased out of the room, Max could hear OC over the music. "What the hell!"
"What the hell is going on?" OC asked as she rushed over behind Max. Max seemed nonchalant about the whole thing. "Who were those guys? Are you in danger? We've got to get you to Logan."
Max reached out and hugged OC with a smile. "I have to go talk to Logan anyway. I will be home in about two hours and I promise I will explain everything to you when I get there. Please. I am in no danger. You are in no danger, but the next few days are going to be very dark."
"I don't understand." Original said.
"I don't either really." She said with a soft touch to her friends shoulder. "I'll see you in a little bit."
Logan was pouring over records on his computer screen when Max pushed her head around the corner. She smiled weakly and said 'hi.' He looked up at her with concern on his face as she suddenly found herself flashing back to all the personal moments she had with this man and she realized she was indeed in love with him. Her soldier's training kicked in and she fought with herself to control it and just enjoy the feeling of the moment. Logan turned away from his computer and looked deep into her eyes.
"Something happened."
"Something did happen, but I'm safe." She glanced at his computer screen and saw a picture of Pete. "He is dead now also. The Colonel said there were only a few left. Ramsey killed one they call The Zukini and the rest of them however few there may be are apparently not making themselves known. Their Psionics seem to only be effective in the city or at least an area of approximate size."
"I know this Zukini guy. It is his alias. He is or was a very highly trained operative before the experiment, mainly assassinations. He has deleted several hundred corrupt and dangerous officials over the years. He is an expert at several forms of combat and has even worked on the development of some new military weaponry. He seems to be very dangerous."
"Ramsey went after him."
"I thought Ramsey was the one after you."
"He was testing The Colonel. I get the feeling that those two are orchestrating this whole thing so it comes down to just the two of them. They seem to be even older friends than Colonel and Pintauro."
"Max." Logan said. She knew the tone. He was worried about her and her safety and he was the one stuck in a wheel chair. She would never get sick or fall victim to minor injury and she could wipe out a whole room of trained operatives and this wheel chair bound genius of a man was worried for her safety.
"I know Logan, but The Colonel has been there three times now to protect me. Ramsey turned out to be a good guy and Pete and The Zukini are gone or will be very soon."
"Do we know whose left?"
"Can we check the files?" She asked pulling up a chair and putting an arm on Logan's shoulder. He looked at her as she smiled and squeezed his shoulder gently. He smiled as they searched the files together.
"It seems The Colonel was not a military man. He has three PHDs from very prestigious university core programs. He has undergrads from ASU and graduate degrees in Philosophy, Psychology and Theoretical Physics from MIT, UC Berkeley and ASU in reverse order. He is the oldest of the group and apparently he volunteered for the assignment as a personal favor to a friend of his family. He was 28 when he joined the program. The others were much younger except for Ramsey. He seems to be the only real officer among the group. The others were promoted after the training mostly to Captain. Two of them died in combat early on in the program. Two more were killed by a group of X-6 in the lower elevations of Madagascar and we know that three more have died here in Seattle which leaves five."
"Two of which we know to be Ramsey and The Colonel." Max said. She had absentmindedly begun gently rubbing Logan's back. "Ramsey is starting to show signs of weakness. I could see it in his eyes under the Space Needle. He is weak."
"How weak?"
"I don't know. He seemed fine as he left Crash, but..."
"He was at Crash?"
"Three of them were. Pete and the Colonel and Ramsey but he left to confront the Zukini. It was hard to look in his eyes as he left. It was like I wasn't allowed to see he was weakening. Logan, I don't know what to do. I am sick of the killing. I am tired of the battles and then I find out about this. These guys were the guinea pigs for the prototype I became. These guys went into this knowing they would just stop one day and yet they go on each day living it to the fullest. The end is coming and they don't even seem phased. Logan I don't understand." She said. Now it was his turn to recognize the tone. He reached up and took her arm sliding his hand along her forearm until he was holding her hand. She wanted to smile, but couldn't.
"Max. I thought you were gone once and I gave up. I didn't try to fight and when I was lying on my deathbed, you came to me and gave yourself to me by way of a transfusion. I had accepted death. I can still feel it coming for me but I know that as long as you are here with me, I will not give in to it. Death comes to all living things. It is inevitable. You just have to accept it and move on. These warriors know what they are doing and they know what is coming. They are dealing with it as warriors do. I don't like it anymore than you do, but what is there for us? We are lesser beings compared to them but at the same time, they are lesser beings compared to us. We have lives to live for a long time to come and they are at the end of theirs."
"It sucks, Logan. It's all bullshit. Manticore types in the pre-pulse government destroyed these men, gave them a distinct lifespan and then released them to the world."
"They escaped, just like you actually." Logan stopped when Max's pager blipped. Max looked at it.
"It Cindy. She's waiting for me."
"Be careful. There are still a few of them left and WE don't know where they are."
"I will. You know I will. Hey, Logan. Can you fix me dinner tomorrow night. Cindy got a new girl and wants to be alone in the apartment."
"I think I can whip something up."
"Another Cale masterpiece."
"For you, always a Cale Masterpiece." They laughed and hugged and Max left. Logan just sat there staring after her as she walked out the front door reveling in the hug she just gave him.
She walked into her house and found Cindy sitting on the couch. She was watching the television but turned it off when Max came in. Max sat beside her on the couch and explained the whole situation right down to the few that were left.
"So these guys are after your adrenaline?"
"Not exactly."
"But you said..."
"I know, but The Colonel has assured my safety. I really don't think I am in any danger. Twice now, he has phased in from nowhere to protect me when his men got close to me."
"You mean like he did at Crash when he just sort of disappeared."
"Yeah." Max said. Cindy grabbed her hand and started to work on her nails.
"What are you doing?" Max asked.
"I already did mine for tomorrow and you have a date tomorrow night. I told you that guys aren't obvious about this stuff, but they like a woman who minds the details. So tell me about this Colonel of yours. What's he like?"
"He is a great man and a magnificent warrior. He has three Doctorates and he actually volunteered for the program as a favor for a friend."
"Are you telling me he gave up his freedom to be a guinea pig for your Manticore project? Because that's just ridiculous."
"Yeah. He is basically going to die now. I wouldn't be here without him,
though." Max
said.
"That's pretty deep." OC said. "Do you really believe that?"
"He gave his body so they
could see what could be tweaked in human DNA..."
"Actually." Ramsey said as he walked heavily into the room. "That's not exactly what they were doing." He collapsed on the floor in front of the kitchen counter. Max had jumped across the table and was standing over Ramsey.
"What happened?" Max asked. "Where are you hit?"
Ramsey laughed, coughing up something not quite blood or bile. "I need..." he coughed again. "I need adrenaline..."
"Not from me..." Max was unsure.
"No. Not from you but I need your help. In my pocket is a case. You will have to do it..." he started coughing. Max demanded to know where The Zukini or The Colonel were. Ramsey demanded she get the needle first. "Please." He said.
"What do I do?" She asked.
"The needle. You know anatomy. Slide it in and withdraw 50 ccs. Then you will have to inject it into my shoulder. Hurry..." Max looked to his exposed neck and inserted the needle. She withdrew the clear viscous fluid and immediately injected into his shoulder. He started shuddering and shaking violently and Cindy started to freak out. Max stepped back and Cindy grabbed her shoulders as she stood safely behind the strangely calm prototype that was her roommate. After a few minutes Ramsey passed out and stopped shaking. Max stepped over to him and checked his pulse. It was running about a hundred beats a minute but felt strong. As she held her fingers on his neck she could feel it slowing to a smoother pace. She pulled away when he opened his eyes.
"Thank you." He coughed as he sat up and reached into his coat. He pulled out about ten thousand dollars. He handed it to Max, but she held up her hand.
"You don't need to..."
"It is from The Zukini. He won't need it anymore." He interrupted Max. "I don't need Zukes money anyway. He looked down to where he had slobbered. "Buy yourself a new carpet."
"Sounds like a plan, boo." Cindy said. "You're the guy from the Crash." She took the money from the man then added. "You want something to eat or drink?"
"Food would be good. Anything is fine." Ramsey looked up into Cindy's eyes. "You are not afraid of me." He said.
"Not really, just startled. My girl could have handled you easily enough when you came in. I don't get any bad vibes from you. It's all in the attitude."
"It's a shame really." Ramsey said when Cindy walked into the kitchen.
"I could really fall for a girl like that, but..." he trailed off as Max connected the lesbian thing to the Psionics. She laughed.
"That's Original Cindy. She is my best friend. You're safe here but you have to tell me what happened so we can tell The Colonel."
"The Colonel already knows but he is still with Pete. It will be over soon." Ramsey said.
"Why did you come here?"
"I knew you would be here." He lifted himself from the floor and Max grabbed his arm.
"Easy." Was all she said as Ramsey walked over to admire the Ninja. "The Colonel and I used to ride."
Max looked at him as she bent to pick up the needle and case it had been in. "Does the Colonel get his supply the same way?" Max asked handing him the small black case.
"Yes. It is why we will go on but the others will not. As the CO of Team Two I decided along with the Colonel that we should let the others go until such a time as is upon us. We made the decision for our men. The violent seizure is enough to kill weaker folk and the heart feels like it will explode during the whole thing..."
"Why do you do it then?" OC asked.
"I want to live. So what if I endure a little pain every few months. I will at least be alive until such a day as my heart cannot take it and stops one day. It is the path I have chosen."
"How long have you known The Colonel?" Max asked.
Ramsey smiled. "We were three I think. Maybe four. It was 1971. I was at the cemetery with my mother visiting my grandpaps grave. My dad was getting drunk at a bar called Frogs Place in our hometown. I saw the Colonel climb out of the car with his mother. The graves were side by side. He and I wandered off while our mothers spoke. We have known each other ever since. Best friends. Perfect enemies. You know, old stumping buddies."
"Sounds like you really like the guy." OC said. "Foods ready."
"I do." Max laughed as she sat down next to Ramsey at the kitchen counter. The phone rang and Max answered.
"Hey."
"Hi Logan. Whassup?"
"Uh I found something you should probably want to look at." He said as Max stood up. Ramsey reached out and took her arm. He shook his head and pulled her back into her seat. "Max? Are you there?"
"Yeah, Logan. I'm
here with Cindy
and a friend." She put her hand
over the phone. "What?"
"He found out something about your genetic makeup. Where you came from. Ask him if it has something to do with the male donor of your DNA."
"Logan. Is this about my DNA?" She asked.
"Yeah? How did you know?" He asked. "Is The Colonel with... oh, Ramsey." He said. "I know you are safe, but there is something you should know."
"What the hell is going on?!?" Cindy had dropped her fork into her food when she heard Logan's voice.
"Hello Cindy. This is hard to explain, but these warriors have this Psionic ability and they can open up peoples minds at will."
"Not exactly Logan, but close enough for jazz."
"That is how you phase out." Logan said suddenly. Max realized simultaneously with Logan. Cindy picked up on the thoughts as well but did not fully understand them.
"It's like a Magick trick. You phase out when you make people forget you are there. You make them think you disappeared when you are actually still there beside them." Max thought.
"This is trippin' Boo. OH MY!" OC yelled as Ramsey just disappeared right in front of her without leaving the chair. Max saw it too, but she reached out and grabbed his arm even though she could not see it. Logan started to laugh as if he was in the room. He wasn't even holding the phone to his ear anymore.
"What should I know Logan? Ramsey, what's going on?"
"Your DNA." Ramsey thought.
"What about my DNA?" Max thought back with urgency. Logan was startled when he realized she was getting the hang of this Psionic thing.
"You're DNA Max. The DNA for the whole X-5 series. Manticore bought The DNA and Sperm of a group of soldiers that had taken part in a secret government experiment back in the late eighties. Max. Your genetic makeup and the sperm that fertilized your egg at Manticore came from The Colonel. Max. He is your father."
'MAX!' Cindy
thought frantically as Ramsey
caught her lightly shaking form in his arms.
Logan
thought about tryptophan and Cindy
found herself running into the bathroom and returning with her pills. Ramsey
wanted to know what it was but Logan
assured him she needed it. Cindy
got Max
to swallow two pills before she passed out and he carried her to the
couch. He turned and walked over to
Original Cindy. She stepped back as he
reached out for her.
"I'm fine. No need to be comforting me." She thought.
"You won't be when I sever the link." Ramsey's thoughts came to her.
"Logan?" She thought. "It's true Cindy. I was out for an hour the first time this happened. You'll be fine in about an hour. I promise."
Cindy collapsed into Ramsey's arms when he severed the link and he carried her toward the Xena poster and found a bed behind a makeshift wall of plywood and old blankets. He set her gently into it.
"She's going to be fine, right?" Logan's thoughts betrayed his concern for the girls.
"No harm will come to them. I swear, Mr. Cale. I will protect them. Do you always just dump information on her like that?"
"How else am I supposed to tell her?" He turned defensive. Ramsey was surprised when parts of Logan's mind closed off from him suddenly showing a level of control that he didn't know existed. "We have an agreement. I tell her what I learn about Manticore and how it involves her..."
"But you don't tell her everything do you, Mr. Cale?"
"Not always." Logan admitted.
"You may not have that choice in time." He severed the link and went to check on Max.
Max opened her eyes and saw Ramsey standing over her. He seemed concerned. Max got a wild look in her eyes when she couldn't hear anyone, but relaxed when Ramsey told her to do so.
"Where's Cindy?" Max asked. Ramsey explained.
"Is it true and how was Cindy involved in that?"
"I opened the conversation to her when I realized what it was that your boyfriend was going to tell you."
"Why didn't the Colonel tell me?"
"Until a few
minutes ago. He didn't know. They took those samples from us when we
entered the program. We never heard of
them again. They have such samples from
all of us as well as millions of other soldiers." He said.
"I'm sorry. I didn't
know."
"Can I see the Colonel?"
"Yeah. I'll take you to him. Bring your bike."
A few minutes later, Max was pushing her bike out into the street. She climbed on and told Ramsey to get on, but he was already turning down an alley at the edge of the building. She revved her ride and could hear something louder and heavier and Ramsey rode out on a very old Panhead red and black with royal blue stripes on either side. She rolled up beside him with a huge smile on her face. He smiled back.
They rode for an hour through two checkpoints and into Logan's district. There was a small park across the street from Logan's. She and Max had walked there several times. She was surprised to see Logan sitting in his wheelchair as she approached the small fire burning in the eerily lit patch of trees at the center of the park.
Logan reached out and touched Max as she walked by him. She smiled down at him and went over to kneel by the fire. She watched as The Colonel wrapped Pete in the blanket he had and covered his head. Ramsey squatted by the two men and Max knew they were communicating. Logan rolled over to her and she leaned back into his legs as he gently stroked her hair with his right hand. Ramsey picked up the body and started to walk off.
"Why is Logan here?"
"It will be easier. I didn't know and I figure it will be easier if you have someone familiar near. I sent for him after I found out."
"I was here as Pete took his last breath..." Logan said. He understood Max a little better now. He also understood something about himself that he never really accepted.
"What do we do?" Max asked.
"I don't know."
"I never had a father before. At least I never believed I would find out my genes came from a single man."
"I've never had a child and now I find I have one. It's not exactly easy for me to grasp the concept either. I don't really know what to do."
"Why don't we go inside and
you two can talk about it while I fix dinner.
I'll Call Cindy since she was in on the whole thing. It might make it easier for all involved if
we are around to get over the first hurdle."
The Colonel was suddenly standing. His eyes were cast off in no particular direction as he seemed to be analyzing a situation of some kind only he knew about. He looked down at Max. There was a pained look in his face.
"I'm sorry. There is a situation and I have to go."
"What situation?"
"The Last three of us have
arrived. Akira
intercepted Ramsey
and Pete
and now they are fighting. The other two
are around here somewhere. You two get
into the penthouse immediately."
"I can help." Max protested.
"No you can't." It was a flat emotionless remark he made before running about twenty yards and then stopping as he looked around toward building tops. He shook his head and ran off in a northerly direction.
Logan was wheeling himself up to a path at the crest of the ridge. Max helped him but stopped turning around as if trying to connect herself to her new found father or Ramsey. She looked at Logan.
"Something is wrong."
"Let's get inside, Max."
"I have to follow him."
"He told us to get back to my place. Max you are not a match for these guys. You cannot expect to do anything but get in the way."
"What do you know, dammit. That's apparently my father out there and what if I don't follow him. What if he doesn't make it and I never get to know the man that I came from."
"Max... I, please be careful."
She was off like a shot when she got the blessing he didn't want to give her. "Be careful!" He shouted. But he had never seen her move so fast before and she was gone in a second. He rolled back toward Fogle towers coming up on the playground when he realized there was someone watching him. He spun the chair and surveyed the area but saw nothing. It was then he felt something cold reaching out to him from the small crop of trees behind him. He turned, instinctively rolling backwards from his present location as he saw a dark figure enshrouded in tattered rags jumping from the tree tops and heading for him at tremendous speed. He fell back in his chair as he rolled down an embankment to a grassy area as another figure moved from out of nowhere to intercept the flying assailant.
The fighting was furious and Logan could do nothing but lay there and try to watch the activity of the two warriors. The movements were untraceable and there was no way Logan could tell which one was which as the techniques all blurred into the movements and the punches became kicks which spun into blocking and more movement. Logan did not even consider anyone was behind him when he felt something hit the back of his head and then he knew only blackness.
The fight was over quickly and the Colonel caught the slight movement under the hill as he saw the third one of the group move into the scene and take Logan away unconscious. The Colonel threw an awkward foot swing with precise timing and the energy of the flow allowed him to launch himself unexpectedly at his assailant. The rag man knew almost instantly he had lost. That he had not seen the relative simplicity of the energy flow as three fingers punctured his neck. His head whipped impossibly, the Colonel ripping his throat clean from the man's neck and landing softly on his feet behind the collapsing lifeless body.
"JOHNSON!" The Colonel shouted. He knew Johnson heard him. They all heard him.
Max climbed the fire escape on the outside using her arms and legs instead of climbing the looping stairs. She could hear the voices of Ramsey and another man on the roof.
"So old buddy. Timons is dead and The Good ole Colonel is after Akira. Where's that leave us?"
"I'm going to kill you. Simple. Isn't it?"
Max
could hear the scuffle as she approached the rooftop from the fire escape. She reached the top just as this Johnson
hit Ramsey three times real
hard and Ramsey went down. He walked around behind Ramsey
and stood there. His hands came out to Ramsey's
neck after he muttered something to the man below him.
"NOOOOOooooooo!!!" Max screamed as she charged the two men. Ramsey took the opportunity to mortally wound the enemy. He would be dead soon, but was not gone, yet. Johnson moved his hands on Ramsey and snapped his neck. Ramsey's body slumped as he turned to the approaching attacker.
The man dodged Max's first attack and turned to face her. She stood stalking him in a circular pattern. She could see the blood almost pouring from his side where Ramsey had wounded him.
"You must be the girl."
"Yeah. Never seen one before?"
"Smart ass little bitch. You are no match for me."
"Maybe not, but you are mortally wounded. You killed my friend and now I am going to kill you." Max attacked with a flying spin kick to his head. He dodged and spun her in the air. She landed and threw a spinning windmill style kick in three successive spins to him. He only dodged one kick and was knocked to the roof.
He kicked up spinning to a stance and returned the same technique on Max. He only connected once before he fell to one knee.
"Attack now. Hurry!"
The words come to her from somewhere else. Her only thought was a single word. One she didn't understand. "Dad..."
"ATTACK NOW!!!" The voice commanded and Max launched into the kneeling man spinning his neck and breaking his jaw in the process. She stood holding his body by the head in her arms as The Colonel came up to the roof. She looked into his eyes as he approached her. Her hands let go dropping Johnson's body and she ran over to the Tall Man. Her Father.
"Little One has so much more meaning now. You're okay, kiddo." He said as they walked over to look down at Ramsey's body.
"Dad." Max said again noting the absurdity of its sound but loving the way it made her feel. 'I have a father.' she thought. 'I actually have a dad of my own.' He let go of her then and knelt beside his oldest friend. Max stepped back when he made the horrible screaming sound she had first heard up on the Needle what now seems so long ago.
"Why do you do that?" She asked when he stood
"To warn the old gods that a warrior of the ancient ways is coming to bring CHAOS to their peaceful existence." He said with a smile and a hand to Max's cheek. "We have to go. Akira took Logan. I was fighting someone. It was a distraction, but there can only be one reason he took Logan. He will string him up and drain the man's adrenaline."
"Where are they?"
"I know where they
are." The Colonel said. "So do you."
"The High Place." She said.
"What's the quickest way there?" He asked
"Try to keep up old man." Max said with a last look to Ramsey's body. She was off the roof and onto the streets at tremendous speeds dodging and shifting and jumping with the Colonel directly behind her following every step without effort. In minutes they were both below the Needle looking at each other. Max had picked up Logan's jacket and had a look of worry on her face. "He'll know your coming."
"He has known I was coming for some time now, but he doesn't know you are here. Go up slowly. I will not let him harm Logan." He said and with that, he phased out. Max knew he would be halfway up the tower before she started her climb. It was then Logan's mind entered hers.
She crouched at the sudden pain wracking her body.
"Max!"
She climbed some more and then felt it again. She realized Akira was torturing Logan.
"Max. I'm sorry." Logan's thoughts reached her.
"I'm coming, Logan! I'm coming!" Her thoughts screamed out to him. "I'm almost there."
She almost fell with the pain she felt. It was so intense and she looked down to the ground so far below her. She could hear his physical screaming at the tortures he was receiving at the hands of the sadistic bastard that had kidnapped her best friend and only man she could ever love.
"LOGAN!" She screamed swinging herself into the old restaurant area. She landed on her feet expecting to see The Colonel and Akira fighting but they had apparently moved to the roof. She looked around and saw Logan's limp body hanging shirtless and bloody from an exposed I-beam in the ceiling. She ran over and pulled him down into her arms. His breath was erratic and choppy, but he was alive. She pulled his jacket from her waist and wrapped it around him. She left Logan's unconscious body on the floor as she climbed up to the roof.
The Colonel was circling, stalking Akira and vice versa. Both men were bleeding from wounds and The Colonel's arm pulled tight to his left side. He was wounded.
"You cannot win." Akira said.
"I have a secret weapon." The Colonel said.
"You mean the girl. I have just fed on the man's adrenaline. I am pure now and I know you Colonel." The words spilled sarcastically from the small Asian man. "You haven't fed for days. You are weak. I will kill you and then drain her and what will you have then? Nothing!"
Akira lunged in perfect rhythm with the battle's energy. Max tried to move, but found that she could not. She was outmatched and she knew it.
The battle raged for a few minutes as each man attacked and countered. Akira was fast and furious and his attacks were relentless but The Colonel seemed to understand where and when Akira would be. He matched each technique perfectly with his own counter-attack. Both men jumped and dodged and twisted as they fought on the edge of the space needle. One would meet their end tonight. Max hoped, prayed it was the Colonel.
Akira stepped back and pondered his Colonel. He was smiling. He believed he had won. Max could see it in his eyes. The Colonel was hunched and breathing heavily. His left arm was practically useless at this point. Akira was bloodied and beaten but he didn't seem to be in immediate danger. With a shout, Akira lunged and the Colonel rolled to the side at the last minute sticking his foot into Akira's where his lunge had taken him. Max could hear the bones crushing under the tall one's heel. She could hear Akira screaming as he tumbled over the edge of the Space Needle. The Colonel rolled and pulled himself up to his feet near the edge. He looked down to see Akira hanging there looking up at him.
"Let go." The Colonel said.
"Do you really believe she's your daughter?"
"She believes. That is enough for me. Now let go." Max was standing beside him looking down also.
"SIR! YES SIR!" Akira shouted as he saluted, his body falling into the darkness below. Max looked up at The Colonel. Her Father had snapped to attention and saluted. A very dull thud sounded and both knew he had died on impact. Max suddenly realized she was saluting as rain started to fall about them.
"Go to him girl. He needs you right now."
"What about you?"
"Go."
"I can help you."
"Logan needs you right now. He needs you close to him. I'll be okay."
Reluctantly, she walked away.
She was beside Logan in a few seconds as she pulled him up into her arms. His breathing had steadied somewhat but he was still unconscious. Max felt miserable as she remembered what had brought her here. She believed she had failed him. "Oh God, Logan. I'm sorry. I should never have left you. You don't deserve this. I'm not worthy of you."
When she started to shake, she cursed herself for being a genetic failure. She struggled to get to her tryptophan while trying to hold onto Logan. When she finally took the pills amidst her tears and anger at the last few minutes of her life, she drifted off as she always does after heavy seizures. She never let go of Logan, though.
She opened her eyes to find herself standing at the head of a large table. There were many people around. All of them laughing and talking. There were kids arguing at a smaller table further away and she knew it was Thanksgiving and everyone had come over to have dinner at her place. Cindy was there and Herbal Thought and was that Jondy? Jondy looked up and smiled at her.
"Maxie. You guys really know how to do Thanksgiving."
"Yeah, Maxie. I can't get over how much Zachary looks like him since they got older." Brin said.
Max looked at Jondy and Brin. They were all older, in their early forties. She looked down at her hand and looked at the jewelry there. Her left hand was empty except for a simple diamond ring. Twenty-two small diamonds around. It was a wedding ring. She looked around for Logan but he wasn't there.
"Maxie. Is anything wrong?" Someone asked. She turned looking into Brin and Cindy's eyes.
"I'm just worried is all. He said he would be here soon. He said he had an errand to run and would be right over." She looked over Brin's shoulder as Zane walked into the room with Krit and Syl who had been in the living room watching the TV and laughing. They looked worried and came to see if Max was okay. Some kids zipped here and darted there almost too fast for anyone to follow. Someone shouted at them to stop running.
She felt surprised that they were all here but she didn't know what to say to them. She started to feel uncomfortable until she felt something in her mind. He was here. HE was actually here and she could feel him all around her mind. They had no secrets from each other, but today, he was blocking something. Max looked around the room at the kids running as she left the dining room and actually ran to the front door.
She swung the door open. Everyone had followed her out of the room and through the penthouse apartment. The elevator door opened and Zach stood there in the middle. He smiled as he opened the door and held open his arms.
"Maxie." He yelled. A young blonde boy stood stoic and steady beside him. A woman of absolute Italian beauty hung on his arm. He hugged Max. She hugged Max. "It's good to be back, sis." He said. Everyone was talking to Zach.
"Hello, Aunt Max." Said the boy with Zach as the children then ran off into the penthouse to play.
"Hi yourself sport." She said as she rubbed the fuzz on top of his head. She turned back to the elevator just as the doors closed. A tear escaped her eye as she walked back into the apartment. She had been sure it was him.
Max vaguely heard the elevator squeak its door chime. She turned back to the door and found him standing there. He reached out and she felt a hand on her face lightly sliding across her forehead.
"Logan." She said.
"I'm right here, Angel." He said. "I'm sorry, Angel, I didn't mean for it to take so long."
"Logan, you're here." She yelled reaching up and pulling him into her arms.
"You bet, Angel girl. How are you feeling?"
"I'm okay, but I don't know
where you went."
"I blocked you from me for a time so I could surprise you." He said.
"Surprise?" She asked smiling.
"How are you?" The strong voice of an old man standing in her doorway asked. "How is my favorite Little One?" She recognized the nickname right away.
"Daddy?" She said feeling the now familiar sound of the once strange word but knowing it to be true. "Dad. Is that you?"
"Sure is Little One. A little late but no worse for the wear."
Max opened her eyes and looked up to see she was still in the Needle. She looked down into her arms but Logan was not there anymore. He was behind her leaning against a broken wall, holding her in his arms. She turned but he winced.
"Logan!" She said.
"Its okay, Angel. I'm just a little sore. Don't move to fast. In fact stay here with me for a while. It's raining out there and The Colonel is going to rig a harness for me in a little bit since I can't walk. We'll get down soon."
Max looked out over the rain soaked city. She turned her head up to Logan. He smiled. She closed her eyes and they kissed. The moment was almost perfect.
"Logan?"
"I remember. I felt it too. It's our perfect possible future Max. I hope it turns out that way."
"It will if you both work toward that goal." The Colonel said suddenly. "Well, I'm off to get a few things. Rest up Max, I'll need your help getting him down."
"What about you, Colonel?" Logan asked.
"I'll be fine. I just need to move around. Be back before you know it." He winked. Then he jumped. Max and Logan saw the parachute open this time. She leaned up to kiss Logan as he tilted his head down to hers.
'Logan.'
'Yes Maxie?'
'I love you.'
She pulled herself closer to him and snuggled in his strong arms. He pulled her closer still and kissed her forehead. 'I know, Angel. I love you, too.'
Neither had spoken the words.
Pretty shippy at the end huh? Yeah, well, these things happen. I wrote this one night when I was bored during first season so I didn't know about Father and the 'special little one' stuff. It just happened that way.
It's just a story that is connected to nothing in particular that I am currently working on. I wrote in late one night and haven't figured out what I could possibly do with it that makes any sense.
Let me know what you think.
Later…
