Author's Note: Sorry it took so long, I was procrastinating majorly. This is one thing I hate about writing stories: finishing them. As far as I'm concerned, no story should ever have to end, but I think people would be a little upset if they came onto ff.net three years in the future (if the DA fandom is still going by then) and find a story with 5,768 chapters. This one's kind of long, but I decided against splitting it into two shorter chapters because I couldn't find a good place to cut it in half without making it seem stupid. So you got the whole damn thing! :)

Disclaimer: DA and its characters aren't my property. I acknowledge and accept that, but I'm still writing my own stories. So there!

Dust In The Wind

By Be Boring

Chapter 12: At Long Last

Max stared distastefully at the nearly-mirror image of herself. "How can I be sure that you're not just trying to kill me off? After all, you might be killed after I die, but you'll still have guaranteed your people's 'world domination' crock. Do you have any proof that this is going to really work?"

Minx crossed her arms, something she had been doing frequently ever since they had removed her bonds. "There'll be proof after you survive and the virus is gone, but until then you're just going to have to take my word for it."

Everyone in the room, particularly Logan, looked unsure about Minx's plan. He finally shook his head as he studied the woman who might be his and Max's only chance of being together, or the one who would get rid of Max and ruin everything. "I'm with Max on this. As much as I want this virus to be gone, that sounds too risky. Even if you're being honest and that's the only way to get rid of it, it sounds as though it's going to be very dangerous for Max."

She once again shifted her arms so that her hands were clasped together and resting on her knees. "I never said it wouldn't be dangerous, but it's the only way you're going to be free from it. It will take a couple days to make sure the virus has been completely removed from her system, and you could do exactly what you had been doing to revive her from the coma: give her transfusions from other X series to keep her body's defenses up. It may not be the most pleasant experience, but it's necessary. Besides, I don't think there's much of a chance she'll die if you keep providing her with fresh antibodies from new blood. The most discomfort there should be is a fever, and maybe some flu-type symptoms such as headaches, weariness, nausea, and most things that regular humans easily make it through every day."

Alec had remained silent for the entire time he had been in Max's hospital room, but this whole plan really bugged him. "Let me get this straight. This virus just needs to be allowed to run its course, so we're going to take as much blood out of Logan as we can without killing him, divide it into a few equal portions, and put it into Max at regular intervals until the virus has spent itself? That's ludicrous, no matter how many transfusions she gets from other transgenics, I think this is still more likely to kill her than not. It'll be like World War III right in her bloodstream, and while I might not have much medical experience other than the basics, that still doesn't sound like a good idea to me."

Dana nodded her agreement. "It sounds the same way to me. The only thing I can come up with to increase her chance of survival is to get blood donations from transgenics other than X series with high healing capabilities. Variety worked well last time, even if it was just the difference between an X6 and an X5. Maybe having the blood of something completely unlike an X5 would be beneficial. I know of a few different transgenics that could help us here, should I ask them?"

Max stared down at her lap for a few minutes. This wasn't something she could take lightly. As much as she wanted the virus to be gone, did she want to do it if there was only a slight chance she'd live through it? Although Minx acted confident that she'd be fine, Max was more inclined to believe Dana, who was more familiar with how she was set up. Her own medical training was minimal, but she was frantically trying to come up with something that would improve her chances. Only one thing seemed to come to mind, though. "Does it really matter if we do it bit-by-bit or all at once?"

Dana shrugged. "I don't see why not. You'll get sicker if we do it all at once, but your body will be fresh and ready to attack the virus immediately rather than getting worn down after each dosage. What did you have in mind?"

"What about giving me a little bit of the transgenic blood every so often until you think my system is tough enough to handle Logan's blood? I'd get as much rest as possible up until that point, so my body will be in the best condition possible. It may be a hard blow to my body, but I think it would be better than going the other way since I think I'd be all used up by the time you gave me the last transfusion from Logan."

Her eyebrows remained scrunched together for a few minutes, but eventually Dana nodded thoughtfully. "That might actually work better than what we were planning. If we're going to do it this way, however, it'll have to be done in one day. The virus will start multiplying and moving to the new blood if it's left in you too long, so I'd say we should steadily drain out an equal amount of your own blood to counter what's coming in. By the end of the day, the virus shouldn't have been able to duplicate too much so there will be at least a little bit less of it in your system. You might be ill throughout the night, but by the morning we should be able to tell how well it's working. Is this the way you want to go?"

For some reason, Max has an extremely good feeling about this. Her gut instinct was telling her to do it, right along with her heart. Dana sounded much more positive about this, and the slightly disgruntled look on Minx's face was another push towards saying yes. It occurred to her for a moment that she might want to wait a couple days before starting this, but she wasn't exactly known for her patience. If she was going to go through with this, it might as well be sooner rather than later. My chances could be better if I let myself completely recover from the ordeal with the implant. Then again, Dana had told me that I'd pretty much recovered during the coma. Why wait? "Let's do it."

~~~

This had all happened earlier that morning, but now butterflies were stirring in Max's stomach as she watched the bags of blood being brought in. Her eyes widened as she saw the amount of it. Dana caught her expression and smiled. "We weren't sure how much of Logan's blood it would require to completely remove the virus, so we started another line giving him transgenic blood through one arm as we withdrew his own from the other. We didn't do that until we absolutely had to, so if there's any transgenic blood in here, it's very minimal."

Max glanced at the clock by her cot, which read 5:57 PM. "When are we going to start this?"

Dana scanned the room, watching a few other medics bring in the needed equipment. "As soon as they get all of this set up. Nervous?"

She smiled peevishly. "A little. Just don't tell anyone else I said that."

"They won't hear it from me."

********************

White watched as Maria's and his guard walked out to alert the person for the next shift. They really never stayed all that long, it was a two hour shift. The only time the prisoners were left alone for a longer period of time was in the middle of the day and at the end when the last guard left for lunch or supper, and the next one didn't come until after they'd finished theirs. This only left them alone for about ten minutes because of how the schedules were set up, but it was nice not to feel someone's eyes on him, if only for a little while.

"What are you doing back there?" Maria whispered. "I've heard you fidgeting around every time they leave."

"What business is it to you? You'll probably be getting out of here tomorrow, while I don't think I'll ever leave this basement alive if it's up to them," he snapped.

"You say that like I didn't at least try to get her killed! I gave them a plan that sounded reasonable, but there's almost no way she'd survive. Unfortunately, they managed to turn my idea into something that she'll almost definitely live through."

"So you're telling me that not only will she live, but she'll also get rid of that virus? Are you completely fucking stupid? Why didn't you give them a plan that sounded reasonable, maybe she'd survive through it, but it wouldn't get rid of the virus?"

She rolled her eyes in exasperation. "I've been here longer than you, and I've met the doctor that's been treating her. That freak may not be human, but she's smart enough to figure it out if I tried to pull a stunt like that. I didn't have any choice but to give them something that would cure the virus."

"You may be getting out of here soon, but I don't think the Conclave is going to be too happy about all of this. As I think you know, saying that you tried doesn't exactly cut it. They'll just see the fact that it didn't happen."

She didn't say anything, but her ears managed to pick up on something during the silence. He had been moving around behind her the entire time they'd been talking, and she could have sworn she'd heard his breathing change. It was almost like a soft puff of breath, but it sounded triumphant. If he gets loose, is that good for me or not?

********************

Logan didn't really know why he was in the Rec Center. Ever since Dana had told him she didn't want him in the infirmary while Max was undergoing the transfusion, he had come here to watch everyone work. It seemed to make his situation so much less important when he saw how hard they had to work to not only stay alive, but stay at least somewhat happy. Tensions were going through the roof around here. If the rest of the country didn't kill them, they just might self-destruct. Nobody here was made for sitting around and waiting, they were all made for action.

As his feelings became more positive about Max's impending physical trial, he realized that he needed to get back to the rest of his life as well. It would be so much easier without the weight of the virus on his shoulders. It was so hard to remember that he couldn't touch her, especially when he took into account how often they had used to touch. It hadn't seemed like they had touched so much back then, but now that he looked back he realized just how often they had accidentally brushed against each other or sat leaning against each other. All those simple little touches would have killed him if they'd happened in the last year.

Now it was almost a burning need in him to get back to being Eyes Only. It had been his entire life before he'd met Max, and only now that he'd been away from it for a while did he realize how much he'd missed it. The little hack Alec had done for him didn't count, he needed to be doing it himself. There was so much more that he could do now. He could expose the cult so that the main focus of the country wasn't on the transgenics, he could try and get as many people on the side of the transgenics as possible, and he could expose all the companies who appeared to be taking advantage of the country's fear. Some companies that weren't even involved in medicines were selling little more than sugar pills while claiming that they would protect everyone from the "diseases" that the transgenics carried.

There were even several Eyes Only matters springing to mind that didn't involve anyone in Terminal City. What about the obvious lack of staff at Harbor Lights Hospital? With a few well-placed threats, he could have wealthy corporations donating enough money to actually hire a few more doctors and maybe replace some equipment. When he thought of all he had missed ever since White had shot his apartment to hell, he realized just how much had already gone on in his absence. There was too much to make up for, but he was ready to start on it.

Rubbing his hands together nervously, Logan glanced up at the clock on the wall. How can it only be 6:35? Time couldn't possibly be moving that slow. Why couldn't it be AM? He finally just resigned himself to watching Mole clean a large pile of guns, some of which looked as though they could have been over forty years old. Mole didn't look too happy about it, but he didn't have much choice. Terminal City's armory was rather empty.

Mole finally looked up with an exasperated expression on his face. "I know I'm not pretty, so is there some reason you find me so fascinating?"

Logan chuckled and shook his head. "Sorry about that, I'm just trying to keep my mind off everything."

The transgenic went back to cleaning his gun, but it was obvious he hadn't ended the conversation just yet. "It's kind of hard to keep your mind off everything, it never works." There was a long period of silence, but Mole finally added, "I wouldn't worry about it, Max is a pretty tough little shit. She can be idealistic at times, but for the most part I think she might be the scariest thing to have walked out of Manticore. She'll be fine."

Logan wasn't quite sure how to respond, but he didn't have to. A loud explosion of static burst from Mole's walkie-talkie, making them both jump. Mole pulled the walkie-talkie off of his belt and pressed down on the side button. "This is Mole, what's going on?"

A rather frightened voice came from the other end. "One of the prisoners escaped, sir. There's seven dead residents in the building, two more on the street just outside, and the other prisoner has been killed."

"Do you have any idea how long ago this occurred? ..... Soldier, answer me! ..... Is anyone there?" Mole frowned and reattached the walkie-talkie to his belt. "Minx might still be in the building."

"Minx? You think she's the one who escaped?"

Mole's face was incredulous. "Who else? Have you seen the condition White is in? There's no way he's escaped and managed to kill seven perfectly healthy transgenics.

"I wouldn't put it past him. I've seen him get up and walk away right after getting hit by a truck, without even taking a second to heal. He's had around twenty-four hours to recover somewhat from Alec's 'discussion' with him, he might be ready to get out. Besides, Minx has no motive to try and escape, she'll be set free tomorrow if all goes well. Why would she escape and make everyone here angry by killing a few people?"

"I don't know why she'd bother to escape, but I don't think the killings were just because she felt like it. They were probably just people who got in the way and she didn't want them to raise the alarm."

Logan didn't say anything as Mole started making calls to other guards situated around the city. Mole could think what he liked, but his gut was telling him that it was White who was out. I'm sure he knows the layout of this place, even if it's just from maps and pictures. I don't think he's going to leave just yet, not in the shape he's in. My bet is he'll head to the infirmary for Max. There was no doubt that he knew what Minx had done to ensure that Max's virus would be cured, so maybe he was going to try and get rid of her. She was more vulnerable right now, especially since the transfusion had to have started by now and she'd be starting to get sick. She wouldn't be able to defend herself, and the medics had spent most of their lives training in medicine, not fighting.

As Mole finally left to head over to the scene, Logan strayed behind. Should he go to see which one was really loose, or should he head straight to the infirmary? God, why am I even debating this? The worst that can happen if I go to the infirmary and White's not there is that Dana will be angry at me for not respecting her wishes. He hesitated for a moment, then walked back to where Mole had been cleaning the guns and picked up a handgun. It had to have been one of the newest models on the table, whoever had found it had probably received a rare smile from Mole. He grabbed a clip off the table parallel to the cleaning area, which contained all of the ammo that everyone had managed to scrape up. He may have a physical advantage over me, but he's not invincible. If I have to do something drastic, I'll do it.

********************

White could hardly take the pain that was tearing through him, but he forcefully ignored it. He could already see what was going to happen if he stayed: they'd perhaps tell him a tidbit about his son, then kill him. What good would that do him? He needed to be able to actually get some closure, whether he heard good news or bad about Ray. The only thing that he could do was talk to 452 while she was weak. If he could get in safely, it wouldn't be hard to kill her, but perhaps she would tell him what she knew before she died in exchange for him leaving the transgenics alone. For once, he was actually prepared to make a deal like that. He'd have what he needed to find Ray, and their people would be guaranteed victory in the end without her there to stop them. What were the other transgenics to him? He still harbored a deep loathing for them, but they weren't important without 452 around.

The infirmary was very quiet when he stepped in. Apparently the staff here had later mealtimes than everyone else. He hadn't expected to find no resistance, but this lack of obstacles was almost heart lifting. It almost made him forget about the burning in his blood and the occasional dizziness. He just might pull this off.

Stumbling around the building was really draining his energy, but he kept forcing himself onward. His only coherent thought was of finding 452, the rest was all a jumble of nonsense. His son was the only thing left for him, and he wasn't about to give up just because of a hard week. Actually, the hardest thing for him right now was keeping his breath silent. It was hard only breathing with one lung, Harbor Lights hadn't been able to start trying to fix the other one before he was taken out.

I wish my father could see what his own creations were doing with his family. They've stolen his grandson and are trying to kill his eldest son. Are you happy, Father? Do you like tearing apart your family? You've always been good at it, ruining everything for us has been your favorite pastime. I wish I had killed you back when you started telling us stories about her. I knew you were doing something wrong, treacherous, blasphemous. C.J. was too young to know that what you were telling us was not good, but I knew. You even abandoned us, your children, for something you'd made in a test tube. Why was she so special? What made her more important than your family? She's done nothing but destroy us from the moment you created her. She took you away from us, made our family the laughingstocks of our people, and now is trying to get rid of the next generation of our family. My son was strong, I'm sure he lived through the initiation. If he died, it was at her hands.

Finally, White sank against the wall; the exhaustion had become too much for him. He reached out and opened the nearest door, which turned out to be covering an empty patient's room. He practically crawled in, fighting back the waves of blackness that were threatening to take him over. As much as he didn't want to admit it, he was too tired to go after 452 right now. Besides, he reasoned that she would probably be sicker later on that night. It was still fairly early right now, only quarter after seven. It might be wiser to wait until he was sure she couldn't fight back before he started anything. His body desperately needed some sleep, and he knew he could no longer deny it that. 452 could wait.

********************

Dana's arms were crossed as she watched Logan pass by her room for at least the tenth time that night. It was impossible to get any work done with him prowling the corridors, opening doors at random. Mole had stopped by earlier to give everyone the news that it was indeed White who had escaped, but they couldn't find him anywhere in the city and the guards in the sewers had sworn that they hadn't seen anyone pass by. Now Logan hadn't left the infirmary, and he was becoming rather annoying.

She finally popped her head out of her doorway and snapped, "If you're so worried, I'll let you go sit in Max's room so you can be sure she's not alone. Just stop all the damned pacing!"

Logan flushed slightly, he'd never seen Dana this angry, and the fact that it was aimed at him was rather daunting. Of course, he had to respect the fact that his constant movement could be disturbing the sensitive hearing of any patients. He nodded gratefully for her offer and immediately set out for Max's room. It would be nice to sit down anyways, he'd been walking around this infirmary for nearly two hours now. He almost wished he had put on the exoskeleton this morning, but with how worried he had been about Max lately, the exoskeleton was the last thing on his mind. Now that he had been walking around in this slightly toxic atmosphere for so long, his legs were starting to get a little shaky. He at least felt comforted by the cool weight of the gun in his hand.

Max was asleep when he walked in, but sweat had lathered her body. It was showing through the sheet that was covering her, as well as plastering her hair to her head. Her breathing was harsh and raspy, not to mention faster than usual, but he supposed that was to be expected. At this point he was usually much worse off than this, so he decided to take her condition as a positive sign. Staring down at her peaceful face, despite how sweaty it was, his resolution to protect her only strengthened. If White dared to harm her...

He jumped and tightened his grip on the gun as he heard the door behind him open, but let all the breath out of his lungs when he saw that it was just Alec. "How is she so far?"

"Not bad, especially compared to how I would be doing right now. If I remember correctly, I've been worse than this within fifteen minutes. What are you doing here?"

"Mole sent a couple more guards over here to keep an eye on Max, and he sent me up to guard her room. White won't be looking forward to coming across me again. Besides, Mole said you were over here, and I figured you'd be in her room so I came in to have someone to talk to. It's damn boring sitting out there with nothing to do, and before you say that I'd be able to do my job better out there, I'm pretty sure that with the shape White's in I'll be able to hear him long before he gets near this door."

Logan nodded, he could see the sense in that. Besides, he couldn't help but admit that he was glad for the company. He looked back down at Max, watching every breath, every flicker of an eyelash. How was she really coping with this? Seeing as how she was asleep, was she really aware that she was sick? Would she wake up in the morning as healthy as could be, and wonder why she hadn't gotten sick? He truly hoped so, this whole experience would be much easier that way. He simply hated the thought of her suffering.

Alec studied the other man's face, noting the concern. "What are you thinking?"

"I'm just wondering what's going on in her head. That's actually something that I've never been able to figure out. I mean, I used to know what she was thinking, at least on some level, but it's become so much harder now. She closed herself off from me about the time that, well, you know."

"That she pretended to be with me? She just thought she was protecting you, and it's not like it's changed much of anything. You're still next to her, and she obviously still loves you because she's getting rid of the virus. I don't think it's because she wants to save the world most of all."

"I know she still loves me, she said so herself. Whether or not she'll ever feel comfortable enough to open up around me again is a whole other story."

The voices sounded so far off, but Max could vaguely hear the conversation. However, she was more preoccupied by the battle going on in her body. She had never been this aware of what was happening in her body before, but it was almost like she could hear some sort of commentary shouting out in her head. Every now and then it was like something in her head would scream out, "We're winning!" and other times she could sense that the virus had taken the upper hand. She hadn't been able to really sleep during this time, just doze lightly, but it also seemed difficult at the moment to wake up. She could hear Logan's voice, but she couldn't answer him. It was like he was standing at the beginning of a runway, and she was on a plane heading in the opposite direction. If she didn't work harder to reach him, the plane would take off and she'd never get back.

********************

White couldn't believe the time when he woke up. How could it be an hour after midnight? Still, he had to admit that he felt refreshed. Everything still hurt, but he had enough energy to walk without feeling like he was about to collapse after five steps. He noticed that there was a guard at the end of the hall when he stepped out, but it appeared that he was falling asleep. Every now and then he could hear the static of a walkie-talkie in the distance, probably just to report that they hadn't found him yet. Fools. I'm hardly able to walk and they still can't catch me. How often is it that I can take a nap when I'm running from enemies?

He waited until the guard's head had dropped down onto his chest and he slowly slumped to the ground before he stepped out of the room he'd been hiding in. Something told him that he hadn't been far from 452's room when he'd fallen asleep, and as usual his instinct turned out to be right. He had only crept down the hall past five rooms before he heard whispering from behind a door. He recognized 494's voice immediately and for possibly the first time in his life he felt a flicker of fear at the memory of what had happened to him. Nobody had ever done something like that to him, and it wasn't something he was going to forget soon.

Stop being stupid, he doesn't even know I'm out here yet, and if he does come out here, I'll have something waiting for him. His fingers closed down on the scalpel he had taken from the room he'd been hiding in. He didn't need to be in top form to use this, he just needed the right opportunity. The problem was that he wasn't going to get that opportunity with the one he wanted to.

Logan was starting to feel tired as he tried to keep talking with Alec. No matter how hard he tried, his eyelids kept wanting to close. I could sleep if I really wanted to, it's not like I'm Max's only protection. The thing was that he really didn't want to sleep. Even if there were transgenics here to watch over Max, he felt a certain responsibility to help protect her. For some reason, he felt like it was going to be up to him. That's ridiculous, the others will take the first shot at whoever tries to hurt Max, and I don't think a second shot will be needed.

"Hey, what's happening to Max?" Alec asked suddenly with alarm. Logan turned to see that she was starting to shake on the bed, not as though she was cold, but like she was having a seizure. "Maybe you should go get Dana." At the look of protest in Logan's eyes, Alec replied, "She's not cured of the virus yet, if anything happens you won't be able to help her." As Max's seizures started to grow in intensity, Logan leapt to his feet and headed for the door. He hadn't even reached it before he heard a crash. One of Max's arms had knocked her food tray from earlier to the ground. Alec rushed over and held her arms at her sides to keep her from hitting any of the equipment nearby, much of which had sharp attachments that were within her reach.

White could hear the sudden movement inside, then footsteps for the door. Who's coming out? I hope it's 494. His grip tightened on the scalpel at the mere thought of sticking it straight down 494's throat. As the door opened, a rush of disappointment flooded through him. It was only the other man, the one he had shot with a dart when he'd taken 452 out of Terminal City. He tested putting his weight heavily down on both feet. Despite his broken ankle, made worse by his time with 494, he could still put enough pressure on them to run.

Logan's back was to him as he came out, but his shout brought Dana out of her office to face them. Her eyes only managed to widen slightly at the sight before her, but White had thrown his scalpel before she could say a word. It lodged itself perfectly into her jugular. Logan spun around and froze, he and White only staring at each other for several moments. White was the first to move, but it was towards him rather than away. Everything seemed to explode in front of Logan's eyes as White's fist made contact with his head.

He's not going to be stunned for long, and this is going to draw too much attention from the guards. Even though it wasn't as fast as usual, White was running for the end of the hall, where the guard was starting to wake up. White kicked him as he went past, not killing him like he had intended to, but knocking him out. He tore to the left and headed for the stairs.

Logan had to shake his head viciously to get any vision back, the colors were swarming in front of him so much that he could hardly tell the ceiling from the floor. Why did I let him get a hit on me like that? Why didn't I just pull out the gun? Well, it was too late for that now. From the sounds of Max's rattling cot, Alec wouldn't be able to come help him anytime soon. Max still needed to be held down, and Logan still couldn't be the one to do it. Making up his mind, he took off down the hall after White. His adrenaline burst gave him more speed than he'd ever had, it felt like he had taken only two strides before he'd reached the end of the hall. As he turned the corner, he could see the door to the stairs swinging on its hinges ahead. He lunged through it and started taking the stairs down three at a time, noting that he was lucky he hadn't broken his neck yet.

White could hear him coming as he headed into the main floor, and something hit him by surprise as he was running. He's not a transgenic, he's an ordinary. He's running too heavily to be transgenic, and I'm sure none of these freaks need glasses. It was strange, he had thought the glasses had been a disguise back when he'd been helping Wendy find Ray, but apparently not. Why had he assumed that this man was one of the freaks? Was it because he was always around 452? It doesn't matter. The fact is that he's human, and he's weak. I can finish him off easily. Rather than continuing on through the floor to the front door, he stayed right next to the entranceway of the stairs. He would kill that man the second he came through.

As he made it down to the main floor, Logan was aware that something was off. He should have still been able to hear White running, yet everything was quiet. He's waiting for me, he realized. He pulled the gun out of his pocket and held it ready in his hand. This was all going to go very fast, he just hoped he'd be able to keep up.

He was right, everything did go in quick succession. The second he stepped through the door, he felt one punch break at least two of his ribs. It was the only attack White managed to make on him though. He raised the gun and fired before another move could be made, and then everything seemed to go dead silent. White slowly looked down at his new wound, which was just barely to the left side of his chest. Logan felt his stomach lurch uncomfortably as White stumbled backward, holding his hand firmly over the blood flow.

I have to finish it, I can't leave him like that, Logan thought in a panic. He remembered the people who had died at Cape Haven. At least then things had gone fast and they hadn't suffered, but he hadn't killed White with the first shot. How could he pull the trigger again? White slumped against the wall, no longer trying to restrict the escape of his blood. It was futile anyways, he could already tell that the hit couldn't have been more dead on. Still, he had to know, he had to find out.

"My son...?" he mumbled dully, getting cut off by a cough that brought blood into the back of his mouth.

Logan took a deep, shaky breath, then raised the gun again and walked forward. White looked up and their eyes connected for only a moment. "He's alive," Logan whispered, and pulled the trigger just as he saw the realization of what he had said dawn in the other man's eyes.

********************

Everything was quiet when Josie, another one of the medics in the infirmary, entered the room. Logan was sitting quietly next to Max's bed, watching her sleep again with the morning sun filtering through the window and onto her face. Alec had gone to get them both something to eat. Max's seizures had calmed themselves in the night, giving them time to go find another medic to treat her. They had tried to save Dana, but she had been dead by the time Logan returned from downstairs. Logan had still been in shock when he'd come up, so he had been grateful that nobody asked what had happened. All that mattered was that White was out of the way.

"Is it good news? Is the virus gone?" he asked hopefully. He didn't think he could bear for the entire night to have been a waste.

Josie smiled, even though he knew she was hurting from Dana's death. She was only an X6, but she had been close to Dana, who had been teaching her how to be a doctor. At this point she was probably the most qualified person to treat Max since she was the only one familiar with the case. "Yes, it seems that the virus has been used up. She'll be worn out for a while, but I think she'll be more happy than anything else."

Logan felt like he was in shock when Josie left. It's gone? It's gone. It's gone! Every time he repeated it to himself, he became more excited. He looked down at his gloved hand and almost laughed as he pulled off the glove and reached out to really take her hand. God, he could actually feel her skin again! The heat of her hand was real, not something that took a couple minutes to come through a glove. He squeezed her hand gently, reveling in the fact that they didn't have to be separated again.

Max could distantly feel his hand, but something about it shocked her right out of her sleep. Her eyes didn't open as suddenly as they probably would have if she had been less tired, but they still opened pretty quickly nevertheless. She could see Logan's face, which was slightly surprised but still completely overjoyed. "Logan? Something's different. What is it?" Everything was so foggy that she hardly even realized where she was. Rather than answer her directly, he just squeezed her hand again. Instinctively, she glanced down, then looked straight back up at him with a delighted flush creeping into her face.

"Is it gone? Did it work? God, what am I saying, of course it worked! You're holding my hand! What time is it?"

Logan laughed softly. "About 7:30. How do you feel?"

She sighed and settled herself more comfortably down into her cot, gripping his hand almost too tightly just to make sure it was really there. "A little woozy, but I'll be fine." She studied his face carefully, sure that she could see something wrong in the back of his eyes. "What's wrong? I would have thought you'd be through the roof."

He wasn't quite making eye contact as he ran his fingers back through his hair. "It's nothing, I couldn't be better." Her look told him straight out that she didn't believe him. "Well, I guess in a way it's good news, I just wish I hadn't been the one to handle it. White tried to come after you again last night, and everything was so messed up that I was the one who had to deal with him." He couldn't seem to push himself to continue. Although it wasn't his first time doing it, how could he just say that he killed someone, even a crazed cult member that was out to kill Max, and not feel guilty about it?

Max could see it in his face, he didn't have to put it into words. "I know it's hard whenever you have to end a life, but it's not really your fault. It was either you or him, and personally, I'm pretty happy with the fact that you're the one who came out of it alive. Besides, that's a huge weight off the shoulders of everyone here. They'll probably have a Logan Day sometime in the future."

He finally cracked a smile at that. "At least you don't have to worry about him anymore. You know, I really don't get how you deal with all of it. The enemies, the haters, the virus; how do you do it?"

"It's old hat by now. You know, it really reminds me of this old song that Kendra had in her CD collection. It was called "Dust In The Wind." The whole song was about how we all really only play a small role in everything that's happened in this world, and it's basically saying that compared to everything, we ourselves are only dust in the wind. That's how I feel about all these problems. They just keep coming, and none of them is really any more important than another. As far as my life goes, this whole incident was just dust in the wind. The problems have always been there, and they're going to keep coming, so I just have to go with it."

Logan quietly gazed down at her face, feeling like something had just clicked into place about her. How she kept everything in perspective, how she dealt with things that most people would consider a tragedy. He couldn't honestly say that he knew everything about her, but he had never felt so close to her as he did right at this moment. They were silent for a minute, then as though they were one person, they leaned towards each other for a kiss that that made the entire past year fade into distant memory.

I close my eyes, only for a moment and the moment's gone

All my dreams, pass before my eyes, a curiosity

Dust in the wind, all they are is dust in the wind

Same old song, just a drop of water in an endless sea

All we do, crumbles to the ground though we refuse to see

Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind

Don't hang on, nothing lasts forever but the earth and sky

It slips away, all your money won't another minute buy

Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind

Dust in the wind, all we are is dust in the wind

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Author's Note 2: I don't think I've ever written a sappier ending :P, but I guess someone in my stories has to be happy. It's all over folks! Please review! By the way, the song is "Dust in the Wind" by Kansas.