AS202 Breakdown Chapter Nine, a dark angel fanfic

Breakdown by Star24

AN: This is the conclusion of Breakdown but not the end of AS2. I have a new story almost complete and will be posting it in the very near future. In the meantime if you want to read Smoke & Mirrors and Breakdown in the format I originally wrote them in (not the chaptered one for fanfiction.net) they can be found in the AS2 section of my website.

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Safe House

Logan continued to advance on Max, even as she stood there poised to attack him. As he came closer, the fierce look on her face wavered.

"Come on, Max. It's now or never, because I'm not going to stop." Logan pushed her hard with his words. "Do what you have to stop me."

Max just stood there, unmoving. Finally, Logan stopped in front of her, just inches away. He looked down into her eyes. Max remained motionless, caught up in his intense gaze. Brown eyes locked with blue in a staring contest that neither one seemed able or willing to break.

"Forever eyes, dark. Somebody's angel." Logan said to her softly. "Do you remember those words, Max?"

Max continued to stare up at him without responding.

Logan wouldn't let up on her. "How about …I know who you are?"

There was a brief flicker in Max's eyes, but then it died, and she stood there clearly undecided as to what she was going to do. Logan could see the conflict within her as it played out in her eyes.

Logan thought hard. He reached out and gently took her unresisting hand in his as he said quietly, "We have all the time in the world."

"Logan…" Max choked out his name when she heard those words, but then she started to turn away from him. Logan refused to let her go. He pulled on her hand, turning her back to face him. Gripping her chin in his free hand he forced her to meet his eyes once again.

"I don't…I can't… what do you want?" Max cried out. Despite her words she made no real move to free herself from him. Logan knew she could have easily pulled away, and he was encouraged that she hadn't.

"I want you to remember who you are. You're not X5-452, loyal Manticore soldier. You're Max Guevara. You escaped from Manticore in 2009 and lived on your own in the outside world until we met in 2019. You work for Jam Pony bike messenger service and for me, for Eyes Only. Original Cindy is your roommate and best friend. Your brother, Zack, gave up his life so that you could live and be free of Manticore."

"Why should I believe any of that?" Max challenged him desperately. "Why should I believe you?" Her last words were almost a plea, as if she was begging him to convince her.

"Because of one more thing. The most important one of all." Logan took a deep breath and played his final card. "I love you, Max."

Max stood frozen at his words. Logan could see the struggle going on in her eyes, and he knew the time for words was past. He reached out and pulled her into his arms, sealing his mouth on hers. Max didn't resist, and after a few seconds she began to respond. But then she broke the kiss, and pulled herself out of Logan's arms. They were both breathing heavily. Logan could feel his heart racing as he watched her warily, waiting to see what she was going to say and do.

Max was silent and he felt a pang of despair that he had been wrong in his guess about how to break the conditioning, but then to his relief, she smiled. A soft, genuine smile. She reached out a hand and gently touched his face. "Logan." Recognition was shining in her eyes.

"Max, is it really you?" He was almost afraid to ask.

"It's really me. I'm back." The truth of her words was in her eyes as they met his,

Logan sighed in relief, and pulled her back into his arms, hugging her close. "Damn, Max, you had me scared." His hands began to slide down her back, caressing her gently.

Max hugged him back for a moment, and then reluctantly stepped away. She sighed. "Logan, do you think we can maybe get outta this dump? I feel the need for a hot shower and some food." She looked around the dingy room.

Logan smiled at her and held out his hand. "I think I might be able to provide those. Let's blaze. Where'd you stash my car when you brought me here?"

"In the shed out back, of course." Max grinned back at him as she took the proffered hand and twined her fingers with his.

Fogle Towers, 1:00 AM

The mood in Fogle Towers was grim as Syl reported on what she had seen to Bling and Original Cindy.

"No one inside the place could have survived that inferno. Unless they somehow got out before the fire. But I doubt that. With a Directive 399 in force, it looked to me like the Tac team didn't make much of an attempt to take them alive. They probably set up around the building to shoot anyone who tried to get out, and then used incendiaries to burn the building down around them. I tried to follow what I think was the Tac team van but I lost them at the sector checkpoint. They obviously had a prior clearance set up – the cops just waved them right through. By the time I got through the barricade they were long gone."

Original Cindy had tears running down her face, and Bling placed an arm around her shoulders, offering what comfort he could. Syl looked like she wanted to hit someone or something.

"We can listen in to the frequencies if you really want to know." Bling suggested, not sounding particularly enthused at the idea. Before any of them could make a move, a new voice sounded.

"We come back expecting a party and it's more like a wake? What's the dealio?" Max broke into the somber mood.

Syl turned in shock, and Bling and Original Cindy stood there with their mouths open as Max and Logan stood in the doorway, hand in hand, looking at them curiously.

"We thought you were both dead." Original Cindy was across the room hugging Max, as Bling walked over to slap a hand on Logan's shoulders.

"How did you get out of that inferno?" Syl demanded.

"What inferno?" Max gave her a confused look.

"The location that Manticore tracked you to. There was a 399 on and they burned the place to the ground. Spectacularly I might add. Five alarm fire at least."

"They never tracked me anywhere."

"Let me see your arm." Syl examined Max's upper arms, probing gently as she looked for an implant. "There's nothing there." She was quiet for a moment. "It was a setup. Someone at Manticore supplied the Tac team with a phony tracking signal, supposedly leading to you. The question is who was it, and what was the purpose behind it?"

Logan and Max exchanged looks with Syl. "It seems like there are wheels within wheels in this game." Logan mused. "Tomorrow I'll get to working on it and see what I can find out. But Max has been through a lot; she needs to get some rest tonight."

Logan walked over and dropped his arm casually around Max's shoulders, pulling her close to him. Max gave him a slight frown, but her complexion was paler than usual, and her eyes were shadowed with weariness as she leaned against his side, allowing him to support her. Syl's sharp eyes didn't fail to notice, even though she said nothing.

"If that's a hint for us to leave, Original Cindy's not so sure she wants to let her homegirl alone with you again. You sure she's gonna be okay this time?" Original Cindy challenged him.

"It's all good now, boo" Max reassured Cindy. "I'm really home this time. No more Manticore mind games."

Syl looked at Logan, and he nodded in confirmation. "It was touch and go there for a while, but we made it."

"What was the key Logan? Lydecker threw out some cryptic hint but we couldn't figure it out."

"What was it?" Logan asked curiously.

" 'Remember your training. Don't let the enemy's apparent weakness fool you. What appears to be his weak point may actually be his point of greatest strength and conversely, his apparent strength may be his Achilles heel.'" Bling quoted.

Max smiled up at Logan. "You can always depend on Deck not to make things easy."

"Well?" Syl demanded. "Do you know what it means?"

"Logan did." Max smiled at Logan, but refused to elaborate.

Syl looked knowingly at the two of them. "I don't suppose that I'm going to get anything more specific out of either of you, am I?"

Before either one could reply, Bling interjected, "I think we need to leave these two alone. If my guess is right, neither one of them has had much rest in the last twenty four hours."

"You really think they're gonna rest if we leave them be?" Original Cindy couldn't resist. Max shot her a look but Logan just smiled, as Bling and Syl pulled Cindy out the door.

"We'll catch you in the morning to get the rest of the story." Syl called out in farewell. Her voice drifted around the closing door, speaking to Bling and Original Cindy. "You guys want to hit Crash for a couple of brews…"

As soon as the door had closed behind their friends, Logan turned and looked at Max.

"Stay here with me tonight," he said bluntly, getting right to the point.

"Logan, I …" Max hesitated as she looked at him, her eyes pleading with him to understand.

Logan didn't fail her, "I know. You're exhausted and so am I. I just I don't think I can stand to let you out of my sight. I need to keep you where I know you're safe. That's all." For now went unspoken but understood by both of them.

Max couldn't resist the plea in his eyes, and truth be told, she felt like she needed to be with him, as much as he seemed to need to be with her. She nodded, "It's all good then, Logan."

"Why don't you shower while I fix us some food?" he suggested. She smiled, and he leaned in to drop a soft kiss on her lips before she walked away. "Save me some hot water," he called after her and he was rewarded by her laugh.

"Sorry, Logan, but the early bird gets the worm…" floated behind her down his hallway.

Logan smiled to himself at the return of her familiar attitude, and headed to the kitchen to make them some food.

* * * *

Logan's bedroom was bathed in the warm glow of a myriad of candles that flickered on every available surface. For once the curtains were drawn across the windows, shutting out the dark world that lay outside.

Max and Logan lay spooned together in his bed. Max's hair was still damp from her shower. She was wearing one of Logan's t-shirts and a pair of old sweatpants that she had left in his place months earlier. He was dressed in a similar fashion and his arms were wrapped around her waist holding her close. Her hands rested lightly on top of his.

Earlier, Max had seemed exhausted by her ordeal, and he had expected her to fall asleep as soon as they settled in, but he could tell by her breathing that she was still awake. She let out a soft exhalation of breath, and Logan prompted her gently, whispering into her hair, "What is it?"

"Manticore is still out there. They aren't going to go away."

"No, they aren't." He saw no point in denying what they both knew to be true.

"What if they're still inside my head, Logan? How do we know for sure that I'm really okay?" Max rolled to face him.

Their eyes met and he leaned in to brush a soft kiss across her lips, "I meant what I said to you at the safe house, Max. You're not alone in this. We'll face them together … wherever they might turn up."

"Yeah." Max paused. "Logan…"

"What?" he prompted when she didn't go on.

"…thank you."

Logan gazed at her, "For?"

"For always being there for me."

Logan stroked her hair gently. "Where else would I be?" After a moment of silence he asked, "You feeling okay? You took a pretty rough ride the past few days."

Max shrugged, "Just another day in the life of a genetically engineered super chick."

Logan laughed, "Not to mention her trusty sidekick."

Their eyes met once again, but then Max's slowly drifted closed, as she settled back into his arms and finally let sleep overtake her.

Epilogue

Manticore, several days later

Donald Lydecker settled into his desk chair and looked around his office. It was good to be back. There was going to be an inquiry regarding his and Elizabeth Renfro's actions in the last six months, but John had promised that Renfro was out and Deck was back in. The inquiry was nothing more than a formality. Paperwork for the files. The fact that he was sitting here in this office, and not in a cell, was proof enough for him of the truth of that. Renfro was furious about his return, but the word was that she was busy, frantically scrambling to get her ducks in a row in order to face the committee. Deck was looking forward to seeing her performance.

But now it was time to start to bring things back up to speed. He had a lot of catching up to do. Things had changed in his absence, and not all of them were for the better. There was also the matter of X5-452 and Eyes Only. Manticore thought X5-452 was dead which was fine by him, and they wanted Eyes Only dead as well, but Lydecker had other plans. There were uses he could put the two of them to, without them knowing it. He chuckled at the thought of Eyes Only unknowingly working for Donald Lydecker and Manticore as he reached for a folder and began to read.

Finis

Watch for The Puppetmasters, the next Alternate Season 2 story -- coming soon.