Author's Note: I figured I should warn everyone that there's a not-so-pleasant section in here that involves Alec and White. I don't know the age-range of everyone who's reading this story, so just be aware that there's some intense violence with those two.
Disclaimer: I've actually run out of different ways to say what we all know: I don't own DA. I was wrong though in my last disclaimer, Minx isn't the only one I own. I also own Dana, and she's a good one. Hey, I'll take what I can get.
Dust In The Wind
By Be Boring
Chapter 11: Nasty Negotiations
The last few days had been the longest that Logan had ever had to live through. Every day consisted of sitting by Max in the infirmary, watching her face and praying for her to wake up. The blood transfusions had been done as soon as the volunteers had shown up, so, according to Dana, Max should begin improving soon if they had any effect. Since the X series were made so that they could give blood to each other in an emergency, there wasn't much fear about the transfusions being rejected like they had been with him.
Alec and Joshua were the other frequent visitors, but Alec never stayed long. He only popped in occasionally to ask how Max was doing, then left again. Joshua, however, would sit by Max's side and hold her free hand, the other one was usually being held by Logan. He could see how difficult it was for Joshua to look at her in this condition, but the canine transgenic never seemed to let how he felt get the best of him. Still, he had come straight back to Terminal City when he'd heard all that had happened. Sketchy and Original Cindy had already gone back to their own homes, so there was no reason for him to stay in Sandeman's house. Unlike the vast majority of transgenics here, he liked being in Terminal City. It was a comfort for him to be around others like himself.
How will Max react when she wakes up and finds herself back here? Will she be angry with everyone for dragging her back, or will she be happy to be with us again? Logan always thought in terms of when, not if. For him, there was almost no doubt that Max would wake up again. As far as he was concerned, she was practically invincible. It was a feeling shared by pretty much everybody in this miserable little portion of Seattle. In this day and age, they needed someone to believe in. Unfortunately for Max, who had always preferred to stay out of the spotlight, that someone happened to be her. Maybe Terminal City felt even more like a prison to her than Manticore. At least when she was at Manticore she was just part of the crowd and wasn't expected to do any more than anyone else, but here she had the most pressure out of anyone because she was the one that everyone recognized. She wasn't actually in charge, just more of a popular bystander, while Mole, Luke, and Dix did the most work in keeping Terminal City running smoothly.
Dana's entrance was a nice break from the monotony. "Have the test results come back?" he asked automatically. There had been a short series of tests earlier that morning to see if Max was accepting the blood and how it was affecting her.
Dana nodded, handing him a file with a few papers that he managed to recognize as test results, but couldn't completely understand. "Even though you might not be able to interpret what you're seeing, it's very good news. The new blood is working faster than I'd expected it to, and her injuries are healing at an almost normal rate for an X5. I think it might be because of the X6 blood, because they were made from the DNA of various big cats, rather than just your average domestic cat. It's still perfectly compatible with hers, but maybe the variety is good for the healing. I've never actually exchanged blood between the two groups, so this is all rather new territory for me. All in all, I think the improvement is quite impressive and it honestly wouldn't surprise me if she woke up today or tomorrow."
Logan's eyes shot back to Max. She could wake up soon? He couldn't think of anything that would make him happier. Then he looked down at his gloved hand holding hers. Maybe he could think of something.
********************
Alec's patience was quickly running out. He had been trying to persuade Minx to share whatever she knew about the virus in Max, but she was being even less cooperative than usual. It seemed like she had panicked slightly, she was under the impression that she would be killed as soon as he got what he wanted. Actually, that was what Alec had been planning to do. This woman had seen too much of the inside of Terminal City, it would be downright stupid to let her share what she knew with the Conclave. As soon as everything was settled here, Minx would no longer be a plague on them.
"For the last time, just tell me whatever you can, and I promise you won't be hurt." Alec was just barely restraining himself from rubbing his temples. Although his words didn't mean anything, he was still forcing them out. Ever since White had woken up, Alec had decided to use him as a last resort. It was more than obvious that he wasn't going to be very much help, but Alec didn't know if that would change if he baited him with information on his son. Because of how loud he had become while Alec didn't want anyone to find him yet, Alec had bound him from head to toe with anything he could find; ropes, chains, sheets, shoelaces, etc. Now White could barely move himself two inches, much less find a way out of the closet that he'd been locked in.
"Those words are as empty as your head, I know that you'll get rid of me as soon as you're sure that your precious Max will be safe."
Alec rolled his eyes. "Precious? I think you have Logan and I mixed up. I'm just looking out for my own best interests here."
"Wouldn't that be to leave the virus in her? That way she can't be with Logan, and she could see you as the next suitable male. Don't tell me that's never occurred to you."
"I'd be lying if I said that it hasn't, but I'm not stupid enough to think that any virus would ever keep Max and Logan away from each other. Besides, I'm not interested in a world that only consists of transgenics and familiars, because it would be all out war and that's what would happen if we let your little pathogen destroy humanity, so to speak. At least there's a chance of it not happening if Max is virus-free. I know you prefer the way she is now, but your people can still try to kill her after you get your ass out of here."
Minx was silent for a few minutes, but in the end she still shook her head. "Not only would my people be outraged with me helping the enemy, but I know I won't be getting my ass out of here like you said. Keeping quiet is the only way I can be sure of staying alive."
"And what a wonderful life it will be here in this rotting basement," Alec snapped, slamming the door as he stepped out only to open the one a few feet away. White's head lifted off the ground as far as he could move it as he strained to hear Alec's movements. Alec didn't even bother sneaking around him. He reached down and picked up White by the hair, lifting him all the way to his bound feet. "You and me are going to have a little talk."
********************
"No no no no. No, we're going to get you out of here. Okay, it's going to be alright," Logan choked out. Max could sense his body shaking, but everything was so fuzzy that it was hard to sort much else out. She could remember her own childhood face and the strange sight of a gun in those hands. Why had she felt so happy afterwards? Had that happiness been a dream? If it was, then she needed to get something straight with Logan right now.
"There's something I've got to tell you. I should've said something a long time ago." She needed to tell him, there was no way she could go without letting him know. She just needed to get it out. The urgency of what she was feeling was starting to turn into a sense of helplessness as everything seemed to grow darker. Tears started to burn in her eyes, but unlike usual she didn't even bother to hold them back. In fact, it was something of a relief as they started to flow.
"It can wait." Didn't he understand? She needed to say it now; it couldn't wait any longer. It was so hard to breathe. So hard.
"Logan…" Her breath caught in her throat as she tried to force the words out, but his face was fading so quickly. She barely heard him say her name.
~~~~~~
"That year we wasted, dancing around each other, afraid of actually admitting how we felt…If I had that time back, I would do that so differently." She could see the regret in his eyes; wondering how things would have been if they had actually managed to be upfront with each other. She had wondered that many times too.
The pager was the last thing Max had ever expected to go off. Why now? Why couldn't it have waited even five more minutes? She could see the disappointment written all over his face. "I guess that's it, then." She had expected him to leave, but the feel of his lips against hers came as a complete surprise. Although they had only kissed a few times in the past, it felt more familiar than the taste of food. Why had she wasted all that time today? It had seemed to be the right thing to do at the time, but now it felt as though she had made the mistake of a lifetime. She had given up the only chance she had to be with Logan, and it was killing her now. The look on Logan's face as he backed away from her and climbed out of the car assured her that he felt the same.
"I love you, Max."
Was there such a thing as hearing your own heart break? She wouldn't have said so five minutes earlier, but now she wasn't so sure. It was almost unbearable to watch him walk away. "I love you, too." The words were out, but there was no one to hear them. Something told her that might always be the case.
~~~~~~
Not many of Max's memories seemed to make any sense. Many just blended into each other without allowing her to get much out of them, and others looked as though she was seeing them from miles away. Still, there were some that stood out more than the rest. It was like she was reliving them, and the pain was as fresh as it had been on the day it had happened. The strangest thing was that despite her regret at the time, she knew now there really wasn't anything she would have done differently on those specific occasions. As much as she would have loved to stay with Logan that night they had found Tinga's dead body, it wasn't in her heart to do it because then she had thought she had more time with him. Strangely enough, even when she knew she didn't have time to spare, she had still gone off to get rid of that Gossamer creature. Maybe she had taken Logan's patience for granted. Maybe she thought that no matter what she forced him to wait through, he would still be there afterwards. How could she expect that of anyone? He was only human; an incredible human, but still a human nevertheless.
"Logan." The voice was hardly audible, but Logan's head shot up from its resting place on his arm. Everything was still the same, but he could have sworn he'd heard his name. It's just wishful thinking. There's nobody here but Max, and she's not about to start talking. Still, his eyes never left her face as if he was expecting her to open her mouth and say his name again. No, not again. She couldn't have said it in the first place. I'm just a little sleep deprived, that's all. Then again, the more he thought about it, the more he realized it was possible she had spoken. Dana had said Max could wake up today or tomorrow, and he had never seen her wait until the last minute for something this important before.
Had her eyelid just twitched? Logan took a deep breath to calm himself down, there was no point getting worked up about this if he was just imagining it. Watching her face carefully, he squeezed her hand. There was dead silence as he waited for a reaction. It's all in my head, I really need to get some sleep. He sighed with disappointment and dropped his head back onto his arm. Suddenly, Max's hand tightened around his. Logan was upright in an instant.
"Max, can you hear me?" He squeezed her hand again, and this time the gesture was returned almost instantly. Now her eyelids actually fluttered and opened slightly, but it was obvious she wasn't seeing much. "Max, I'm right here, can you hear me?"
Her eyes didn't move much, but she whispered, "Logan?" She could hear him, and she could even vaguely smell him, but her eyes wouldn't allow her to see him. The whole room was a blur of colors that she couldn't seem to close in on, but she didn't worry about it too much. Logan was here, so at least she was safe. What had happened since she went to see Dr. Shankar? "Im..Implant?" she choked out, feeling much of her energy drain simply from saying the word.
"It's been deactivated. You went into a coma, so we brought you back to Terminal City so that the familiars couldn't get to you and so that your own kind could treat you. It looks like it worked."
The familiars? Had they been there? White's face flashed briefly through her mind. It wouldn't surprise her if he had called in his people to get her after she was in the hospital. "White…at the hospital."
"Yeah, we heard. I don't know what happened after we got you out, but I know he was being treated for some pretty serious wounds. They made it sound like he'll live, but I don't think he got the chance to contact anyone before we brought you here. If he has by now, then I guess they'll be disappointed."
With her emotions from the memories still very fresh, she knew she had to say something before she lost the courage. "Logan…I really need to tell you something."
It felt familiar to Logan somehow, but unlike the last time this had happened, he didn't put her off. "I'm listening. What is it?"
"I know…it's probably not the best time to say…what I've been waiting to." She was so tired that she wasn't sure she'd be able to finish, but she was sick of something coming in the way of this. "With the virus…it feels more like torture because I can't express everything…but I can't keep putting this off." Why was it so hard to say? She was exhausted, yet she kept saying everything but what she wanted to. It seemed that after all this time, she was still dancing around her feelings. It was time for that to stop. "I love you. I know I can't do anything about it…but that's what I feel."
Logan wasn't quite sure what to say. Did she really mean what she was saying, or was she just a little foggy from waking up from a coma? He really believed that she had loved him at one time, but wasn't it possible that the virus had pulled them apart? Maybe she was just having a memory from before the virus and didn't remember that they could no longer touch. He rubbed her hand gently, staring sadly down at the glove. Max followed his gaze.
"I wish you didn't have to wear that around me. It's like that glove is mocking us."
Well, she remembered the virus perfectly, so did that mean she still meant what she had said? "Listen, I don't mean to sound negative, but are you sure you really mean what you're saying? You've been through a really hard time lately, so I won't blame you if you want to take back anything you said."
Max couldn't believe what she was hearing. The shock actually seemed to give her a little burst of energy. "Take it back? Why the hell would I want to do that? I meant every word, but if you don't want to take it at face value, then maybe you shouldn't be in here."
"No, I'm staying right here whether you like it or not. I just wanted to make sure you weren't confused after waking up from a few days of being in a coma. I didn't mean anything bad by it."
"A few days? Have I really been out that long?"
"You were actually lucky to wake up at all. If Dana hadn't thought of giving you a few blood transfusions to get some fresh antibodies into you, you probably wouldn't have come out of it at all. Dr. Shankar didn't think you had a chance. I can't say it was easy to hear all that, but I'm glad you're going to be okay now."
She glanced at his gloved hand again. "I could be better though. It's hard to admit to something when you know it doesn't matter, nothing can happen anyways."
Logan watched as the anger she had felt earlier left her, leaving her body looking paler and weaker than ever. "You're wrong, it does matter. Just so you know nothing has changed, I love you too. You know, getting rid of this virus used to be so important, at least until you found that temporary cure. Ever since then it's like we've given up. Maybe this will give us the inspiration to keep going. Who knows, maybe some of the transgenic medics will know something about the virus. If Manticore trained them to treat transgenics, then they might have dealt with some of the Manticore viruses. Even if there's no way to cure it, there might be a way to work around it so we can be together."
Max smiled slightly, closing her eyes to get ready for some much needed rest. "I hope so, I really do."
********************
After spending so much nonproductive time with Minx, Alec wasn't about to waste any time with White. He needed cooperation right away, and if he didn't get it then things were going to get nasty. Now White was lying on the floor of Alec's makeshift apartment so that they could talk out of earshot of Minx, enjoying his short time without the gag in his mouth. "I don't see why you're doing this, what are you going to gain?" White finally asked, watching the X5 pace back and forth across the room.
"I'm going to gain a better chance of freedom. Let me explain how this whole chain reaction works. Minx's whole purpose of being in Terminal City was to find information on your son, and now she's the only one who can get it for you. She knows how to get rid of a little problem that Max has had for a while now that's been making life uncomfortable for her and everyone close to her. So, here's what is going to happen: you'll tell Minx to fix Max's little problem in exchange for whatever we can tell you about Ray, and things will improve here. Understand?"
"You're not going to tell me anything about my son. I know one thing for sure, you and 452 are completely different. I actually think that she would honor an agreement of this kind, while you would have no problem getting rid of me once everything's said and done. If anything like this is going to work, I'll need to speak directly to 452."
Alec kneeled down in front of him, cracking his knuckles to keep his anger in check. "I'm afraid that's not possible. I'll be the only one you will deal with, and you're just going to have to accept it. If we can't work together, then life will become very uncomfortable for you." He reached out and grabbed White's broken ankle. Since the cast had broken off during the escape from the hospital, there was nothing keeping him from causing a lot of damage. His fingers dug into the swollen flesh until he heard the joint grinding under the pressure. All the color left White's face as he struggled to keep the pain from showing. "Do you at least understand that?"
White took a deep breath as his mind tried to force the pain away. "I understand, but I'm not agreeing to anything. I'll need to think this over."
Alec jerked his hand sideways, resulting in a loud crack from White's ankle. "Why don't you let your leg do the thinking for you? There's many ways that I can break your bones, and I have all the time in the world to do it. I'm not going to wait for you to waste my time by thinking over everything only to tell me you're not going to be any help. So I'm going to speed up the process. I can tell you're already to the point where you can feel pain, so I think you'll learn very quickly about how to respond when I ask you something."
Every muscle in White's body was tensed, waiting for more pain to come. "I don't take orders from filth."
Alec chuckled darkly, pulling a pocketknife out of his jeans. This was almost fun for him. Now I can see why Ben got a rush from this. He was right about one thing, we were always meant to be predators. "Filth? Does filth usually hurt you this much?" He flipped out the blade of the knife and tilted White's head to the side so that the stitches where Max had slapped him were facing up. The other side would have worked just as well, but this wound was larger. He dug the end of the blade under one of the stitches and jerked up violently. White's body bent in half in an attempt to pull his head away from Alec's grasp.
"Oh no you don't," Alec growled, grabbing White's hair and dragging him back. Without any hesitation, he set to work digging up the stitches. He pressed a knee into White's chest to hold him still as he worked, and he felt a rush of satisfaction at the pain in the other man's eyes. The blood seeping out over White's cheek and the fact that the same amount had to be running into his mouth was like a sign of victory. Alec knew White could hold out for a little while, but without being used to this kind of pain, he'd cave in eventually.
"You're not going to get anywhere," White spat, feeling the blood pooling on the other side of his mouth. "You've only made me more set against helping you."
Alec grabbed his shoulder and rolled him onto his left side. "I can change that." He tore the hospital gown that was covering White's side so that he could see the stitches holding together the stab wound on his side. White's arm, which was tied behind his back to the other one, tried to move over to cover the wound. Alec rolled his eyes at White's pathetic attempt to protect himself. Rather than just shoving it out of his way, he grabbed the elbow and shoved both arms up as far as they would go on their own. White froze, not even taking a breath. Alec studied his face, then asked, "Are you going to change your mind anytime soon?"
"Not a chance."
Alec shrugged without much concern. "Well, that kind of decision is going to hurt you a lot more than it's going to hurt me." With that said, he pushed both of White's arms all the way up. White's jaw clenched as both arms popped out of their sockets. Alec let go and started digging at the stitches. At this point it wasn't just about getting White to cooperate, it was more about getting even for those twenty-four hours that he had been running around with a tiny explosive in the back of his head because of this man. It was also about what he symbolized. Although the entire cult was a danger to them, White was the one that had done the most damage and that most of the transgenics recognized as their enemy. He had killed that man from Luke's division by letting him loose by the cops in front of several news cameras, held that mermaid-type woman captive, and his men had shot Alec in the arm. What wasn't to hate?
"This is more personal than you're letting on, isn't it?" White gasped, feeling a trickle of sweat make its way down his back. All this tension was wearing him out too quickly, especially since he was recovering from the fight with Max. He couldn't see how Alec could be doing this all for someone else, not with the way he was enjoying it. This was some kind of revenge for him.
"It'll become a little less personal if you just tell Minx to help us." Alec paused in his rampage on White's body to see what he would say.
"Maria is her own woman, I can't guarantee she'll listen to me. More has happened to her than we planned for, she may feel that she has more than repaid her debt to me. In that case, it's not going to matter what I say."
"Are you saying that you'll at least try?"
White could feel the cold blade against his ribs again. Maria probably wouldn't listen to him anyway, so what was the harm? "Fine, but like I said, she still might not do it."
"Let's go find out, shall we?"
********************
Logan had been sitting in silence next to Max, who was now sleeping peacefully. Dana had checked her out and seemed pleased with her progress. It appeared that Max didn't really have anything in her way on the road to recovery. He was just happy that this particular problem was over with.
"I don't care how many people it takes, but you get him out of here! I'll deal with Alec myself."
Logan stood up and let go of Max's hand for the first time in several hours so that he could walk to the door and look out. Mole was striding angrily down the hall, snapping into his walkie-talkie as he went. Unsure of what kind of reaction he'd get, Logan stepped out to catch Mole's attention. "What's going on with Alec?"
"The dumbass dragged Ames White here from the hospital. They were just spotted heading down to the basement where we're holding that familiar spy. I don't know what he thinks he's doing, the last thing we need is two familiars together here. It's the worst move I've ever seen him make."
He could see why Mole was angry. Why would Alec bring White here? That was the last thing any of them needed. Then again, he must have had some good reason for doing it. If he had been going to kill White, he would have just done it at the hospital, so he must have needed White for something. For some reason, his gut was telling him that he needed to go find out what it was. I can't leave Max, not when she's going to be alright. His instinct wouldn't listen to him, he still felt the insane urge to go see what was happening. After all, Max was well taken care of right now, and she had worn herself out so much during their conversation that she might not even wake up while he was gone. I can't believe I'm doing this. He sighed and followed Mole down the hallway to the stairs.
It wasn't a long walk to Alec's building, but Logan had such a strange feeling about what was going on. For some reason, he felt like whatever was about to happen would be wonderful, but he didn't see how that could be if it involved Minx and White. It didn't matter now though, his legs were almost moving without his consent. When they entered the building, he stepped around Mole and headed down the stairs as fast as he could. A couple X6s glanced up at him as he walked past, but he ignored them and knocked on the basement door. It didn't surprise him when he reached down and found the door to be locked.
"Alec, it's me. Let me in before Mole gets down here." The door opened barely a second later and Logan slipped inside. Alec shoved him out of the way once he was in and swung the door shut and locked it again. "Will you tell me what's going on?"
"Minx might know how to get rid of the virus, and I think she'll tell us what she knows if White orders her to. After all, she's only here because of him." His face was flushed and he was out of breath, Logan guessed that as soon as people had seen who he was with that they had started a chase. It looked like Alec had just barely made it down here, but White was in much worse condition. Logan couldn't believe his eyes when he saw what the familiar looked like. He was tied to the same beam that Minx was, but their backs were to each other so neither one could see the other.
"Do you think that will work? Are you sure she's not lying about what she knows?"
"She was trying to make a different point when she told me, so I think she's telling the truth. Why don't you go by Minx, and I'll focus on White. I'm hoping it won't take long to get her to share what she knows."
Logan went and kneeled down in front of Minx. She raised an eyebrow as she studied his face. "Where did the glasses come from? I've never seen a transgenic with them before."
"That's because transgenics don't need glasses, but I didn't come here to talk to you about my eyesight. All I want is for you to tell me how we can get rid of the virus in Max."
"Like I told your friend, I'm not saying anything. I have no reason to tell you what I know."
Logan heard Alec kick White roughly, and White muttered, "Go ahead and tell them. I'll be getting what I need out of it, so as soon as you tell them you can consider yourself debt-free."
"But the Conclave won't be pleased."
"What they don't know won't hurt them."
She seemed to think it over, then set her jaw and stared straight into Logan's eyes. She's going to make a deal, he realized. "I want free passage out of here as soon as everything's taken care of. I don't trust him," she jerked her head back to indicate Alec, "but I'll trust you. You seem different than everyone else, which I guess is because you're obviously human, so I'm guessing you have higher morals than them. Just guarantee my safety and my freedom, and I'll help your girlfriend."
Logan looked around the beam at Alec, who was biting down on his lip. He finally looked up and nodded his consent. Logan turned back to Minx and gave her a tight-lipped smile. "You help us out, and you can be sure of having many years of your life still to come."
"Then you had better get me a doctor to talk to so we can get this over with, I want out of this place as soon as possible."
**********************************************************************
Author's Note 2: Please review!
