Title: Secrets, Lies and Betrayals
Rating: PG, for now, may contain a few swear words
Disclaimer: I am in no way affiliated with Dark Angel, Cameron & Eglee, etc. I own nothing and I'm gaining only valuable writing experience.
Summary: Logan has a secret, which ultimately puts both Max and Alec in danger. M/A
A/N: At the moment, I've been writing a chapter a day, however I've got all of my final assessments coming up in the next two weeks so I might be a lil slow updating. But after that I'm on hols so it will be update central! Having said that and knowing what I'm like I'll probably end up updating my story instead of doing my assignments. Lol I just can't seem to help myself! Anyway…
Chapter 4: Your Worst Fear Realised.
Logan struggled to even keep Max in sight as she sped away from him faster and faster on the dark deserted road outside the city. Max had seemingly forgotten that Bessie could only do so much and was nowhere near as fast as her ninja. But she had more important things on her mind, like saving Alec.
"Max" Logan screeched in her ear. Max shook her head as if trying to rid him from her brain. She didn't want to think about him at the moment, as all that did was make her even angrier than she ever thought possible. She certainly didn't want or need him invading her thoughts while she was preparing to rescue Alec.
"Max, slow down" she heard again. She sighed in defeat.
She just knew that bringing Logan with her on the mission to rescue Alec was a bad idea. Everyone in T.C had prior engagements so Logan was, unfortunately for Max, the only help that was available at such short notice. That might not be so bad but there was a major problem. Logan wasn't helping. They weren't even at the complex yet and already he was being a major hindrance. Max had done some rough calculations from what Logan had told her and from knowing that Alec had left early from work yesterday. She concluded that Alec had been missing for over 12 hours now. That just wasn't good. Why hadn't Logan called her sooner? But more importantly to Max was why hadn't Alec asked her to go on the mission with him? While all she felt when she thought of Logan was anger, it was a completely different set of emotions when she thought of Alec. She was disappointed that he hadn't even considered asking her to go on the mission with him. Was she really that bad? Max was really worried about him and both disappointed and angry with herself that she hadn't trusted her gut instinct, when it had told her something bad was going to happen to Alec.
Max eased back on the throttle of her motorcycle waiting for Logan to catch up. While she waited, she took the time to go over the rough plan she had formulated in her mind so far. Logan had told Max what Alec had planned to do or at least what he told Logan he was going to do. Max had also reviewed all the information that Alec had looked at in Logan's apartment. From that she had gotten some sort of idea as to what she would do in his situation and therefore thought she had a good idea as to how Alec would handle the situation. Now all she had to do was get to the complex and rescue him, preferably without Logan getting in the way every two minutes.
Max slowed as she came closer to the complex. She planned to park the vehicles about 3 miles from the actual complex, that way they wouldn't be spotted. Max checked to see if Logan had seen her as she pulled off the side of the road. He followed her in and parked his car under the cover of some trees. Logan and Max made their way through the mass of trees and bushes in the woods in search of the complex perimeter.
"It sure is dark tonight," Logan commented, more to himself than to Max. Max has amazed that he was trying to make idle chit chat. She glared at him, her anger still blatantly obvious.
"Don't talk unless I talk to you first" She said rather forcefully.
Logan sighed and fell into step behind Max. She sure was angry and it wasn't going to be as easy to fix as he had originally thought. Logan hadn't even entertained the idea of Alec being hurt since that would surly spell disaster for him trying to get back in Max's good book.
They finally found the edge of the woods and were now crouching down surveying the perimeter of the complex in front of the southern building.
"So what's the plan?" Logan asked softly as he rubbed his hand together and glanced around the woods nervously. 'Is it just me or are these woods getting darker' he thought to himself.
"The plan," Max spat out, scolding him with a look as he had already broken the only rule she had set in place, "Is for you to stay here, near the perimeter and keep watch while I go and get Alec."
"You want me to stay here?," he asked and then added, "alone"
Max simple gave him another poisonous look. Did he think this was some sort of romantic outing for the two of them to share?
"We'll keep in contact via the headsets" Max said before blurring across the remaining ground before the perimeter fence and jumping over it. She expertly landed on the other side and quickly made her way to the side door. Logan simply watched her go, trying not to let the thought that he was now alone in the dark in the middle of the woods in the middle of nowhere enter his mind. He knew that if he did let that thought be mulled over in his brain that he wouldn't be able to handle it. As it was the woods were already starting to make him nervous and edgy. He saw Max pick her moment when the guards were occupied and sneak inside the building. Logan sighed. He really was alone now and his fear increased as the seconds ticked by.
Max made her way down the corridor. She knew that Alec was sent to locate the contact situated in the end office on the second floor so that's where she had decided to start her search. Max made her way up to the second floor and entered the end room. She saw the large metal door open at the other end and made her way over to it. She glance around the corner of the door carefully and spotted a short man with glasses hunched over a table scribbling profusely on some paper in front of him. Max slipped into the room silently and cleared her throat. The short man peered up at her through his glasses. He instantly thought of the young man who had entered his room in much the same way, some 15 or so hours ago.
"You're here about the young man aren't you?" he asked in a concerned tone.
Max was not surprised but still taken aback somewhat. Logan had said the contact had a squeaky voice when he had talked to him on the phone, but the man in front of her spoke with a soft and gentle voice. Something was definitely wrong.
"Yes" Max replied after a minute or two of debating whether she should stay or go.
"Can you tell me where he is?" she asked the short man.
He shook his head sadly. "They took him" he replied
"Who" Max managed to get out, the worry and doubt rapidly filling her mind and her heart.
"White" the short man answered
Max felt her knees go weak and she stumbled forward, grabbing onto the desk to try and steady herself. The short man came around to the front of the desk and placed a comforting arm around her shoulder. Her momentary lapse passed and she resumed her solider mode, immediately shrugging his arm off. He was not surprised.
"Where is he now?" she asked in a serious and cold tone. The short man shrugged.
"They usually take prisoners to the building in the north, I think." He gave her a weak smile, silently offering her his condolences for not being able to offer her more. Max spun on her heels and headed towards the door before the short man stopped her.
"Wait" he cried, causing Max to spin round and face him once more
"He left this and they didn't take it," the short man said, whilst going over to his desk and removing Alec's bag from the drawer. He handed the bag to Max who simply stared at it for few seconds, unsure of what to do, before she came round and said
"Thanks"
She headed to the door once again.
"Be careful," the short man offered sincerely. Max snorted as she slipped through the door.
As she made her way back to the second floor stairwell, Max slipped Alec's bag over her head and let it rest neatly against her chest. The strap crossed her heart and she swore her heart got louder and faster that instant that it touched her heart. She bent her head slightly and could smell Alec on the bag. A single tear escaped her eye before she once again pulled herself together and focussed on the task at hand. She quickly re-assessed the situation and brought the layout of the northern building into her mind. Having quickly decided on a new plan, Max descended the staircase and made her way to the outside wall of the southern building. She faced the northern building and decided she had better radio in her new destination to Logan.
"Logan you there?" he heard her voice crackle in his headset unexpectantly, causing him to jump.
"Shit Max, you scared me" was the response Max got in her ear. She rolled her eyes, even though Logan couldn't see her.
"White's got Alec" she stated simply, trying not to let her voice quaver with the emotion she felt and the implications saying those particular words referred to.
"What?" Logan said a little too loudly. Max winced, hoping that the guards hadn't heard him. It would not only be bad for him but also bad for her and she needed to rescue Alec now more than ever.
"I didn't know White was here, Max, honest," Logan pleaded with her desperately hoping she would believe him.
Max could feel her temperature starting to rise as she spoke with Logan. She listened to him whine about himself rather than be concerned for Alec who was in obvious danger now that White was in the equation and found that she was quite disgusted by his selfish actions. She certainly didn't have time for this.
"We'll talk about this later" she said curtly before switching her headset down to low. At least then Logan would still be able to warn her if anything went wrong but she wouldn't have to listen to him whine quite so loud in her ear.
Max blurred across the courtyard that separated the southern and northern buildings and made her way inside. From the plans she had reviewed, the Northern building was the only one that indicated having some sort of basement. 'That's no doubt where White would do his dirty work' Max thought as she headed for the nearest stairwell.
Logan was shit scared beyond belief. He was sceptical enough about the prospect of having to face trained guard, but now these guards had turned into ruthless killer White and his not-so-merry men. On top his fear, he was now beginning to become slightly over paranoid. The trees were rustling slightly as a gentle wind blew through, there were several animals making various noises and there were various different noises coming from inside the complex. Every noise Logan heard and even when there was actually no noise at all was freaking him out a great deal. He couldn't sit still but knew he had to otherwise he would make a noise and alert someone to his presence. It took all the will power he had not to leave. Two guards came into view and Logan froze.
"Hey Charlie" yelled out one of the guards
"Yeah" the other guard yelled back
'Shit' Logan thought. Had he been spotted?
"What's that over there in the trees?" Charlie yelled back
"I think it's a…"
That clinched the decision for Logan and he immediately panicked. He slowly slid backwards, trying to make as little noise as possible. He was concentrating so intently on trying to get away quietly that he didn't notice the low tree branch that hit his head and sent his headset falling to the ground in several pieces. As soon as he couldn't see the guards anymore he got up and ran not even hearing the end of the guards sentence.
"… nother damm squirrel" replied the guard.
Logan ran as fast as he could without knowing for sure if he was even running in the right direction. But he was too scared to care. The night was too dark and there were too many things that Logan just didn't understand. This was his worst nightmare come true. He was living it and realised that it was more terrifying than he ever thought possible. When he had offered to help Max, he thought he would be going inside with her, not having to sit outside in some cold and dark woods. That he couldn't handle. But Max was already so angry and him that he didn't want to add to it by delaying or interfering with the mission because he was afraid of the dark. He could just imagine how Max would react to that.
Logan finally reached his beloved Bessie and hopped in his, without a single thought of Max or Alec and the danger that they were in. The tires screeched and sent bits of tree, dirt and gravel flying in the air as he floored the accelerator and skidded out of the woods and onto the road. Logan took off like a bat out of hell, desperately needing to be far away from the complex, from the woods and especially far away from the dark. He needed to go home, turn on all the lights and sit in front of his computer, to let its warm glow engulf and soothe him.
Max made her way silently down the long corridor, letting her hands gently glide over the surface of the wall behind her and headed in what she thought would be the direction. She heard voices float down the corridor to meet her and she instantly ducked into the nearest nook, flattening her small form against the wall. The words of the guards came down the corridor loud and clear and Max listened intently.
"How's the prisoner doing?" one familiar guard asked another
"He's hanging in there" he paused slightly before adding, "Get it?" Both the men erupted into laughter.
"Yeah, good one" the first guard managed to get out between his fits of laughter. The 2 guards then wandered down the corridor still laughing and failed to notice a very confused Max leaning against the wall. 'What was all that about?' she thought to herself, 'and since when do familiars laugh?'
Max watched the retreating figures of the two guards and decided it was safe to continue her journey down the corridor. From the conversation she overheard from the guards, Max deduced that Alec should be close. She edged her way along the corridor until she reached a slightly open door. The smell was the first thing that hit her and she had to stop herself from gagging, in order to not make a noise. Max stood in front of the door and pushed it until it was fully opened. What she saw made her gasp.
Alec was strung from the roof and he looked like hell. Max couldn't believe this was real and she took a step into the room, another wave of the powerful odour hitting her. She stared at Alec and could barely recognise his face. He was covered in bruises, burn marks, cuts and dried blood. Now Max understood what the guards had alluded to earlier. It was there idea of a joke but she certainly wasn't laughing. Max couldn't fully understand what was she was seeing. How could someone do this? 'And people think transgenics and the bad ones' Max thought to herself bitterly.
Max willed herself to go further into the room as, in the back of her mind, she knew that she could be discovered at any moment. She edged her way close to Alec still not able to fully comprehend the state he was in. It was only until she got up close to him that she saw what looked like a bullet hole in his upper chest. The trail of blood had made its way down to the top of his pants. She used her finger to gently touch the wound and then trace the pattern of the blood trail down his chest. Alec didn't stir. Max then noticed the bullet hole that had ripped through his pants. She gave his figure a quick once over to check for any other bullet holes. She then pulled the chair that was sitting in the corner of the room over and positioned it in front of Alec. She stood on the chair and undid the rope that was tied around the ceiling support beam. Max then hopped off the chair and lowered Alec down onto her shoulder. As he was in no state to stand, let alone walk, she was going to have to carry him. 'At least something good came out of Alec being strung up' Max thought to herself sadly.
Max carried Alec's unconscious body to the door of his temporary torture chamber. She popped her head out the door to check it was all clear. When she saw that it was, Max started the painstakingly slow journey of returning Alec to the safety of the woods. Because he was taller than her and she was slightly hunched over due to his weight, Alec's feet were dragging on the ground as she walked. 'So far so good' Max thought as she made it to the outside the building and across to the other side of the courtyard. She decided to take the outside path and continued to carry Alec around the perimeter of the southern building. Max spied where she had come in over the perimeter fence. She didn't think that would be a possible escape route now though, as she couldn't jump with them both and with Alec in the condition he was, she didn't want to just throw him over first. It was undoubtedly do more damage than good and Alec looked like he couldn't withstand any more damage.
Max saw that the two guards had wandered away from their post at the back entrance to the complex. She decided that would be her best chance of escaping. It just meant that she had to walk a bit further. To be on the safe side, Max thought she should give the guards an added incentive for leaving their post and allowing her to simply walk out the back door. She picked up a large rock from the ground and hurled it in a direction opposite to the one she wished to pursue. The guards fell for it and went to check it out. Max saw that as her opportunity and made a half run/half hobble to the break in the fence. Either Max had misjudged the distance or she was going slower than she had anticipated and the guards caught sight of her.
"Hey you" the guard yelled out as both of them ran to catch up to her
Max tried to speed up as best she could but Alec's weight was starting to get the better of her. The guards saw that she had no intention of slowing down and started shooting at her. 'Typical' Max thought. They obviously had a shoot first, ask questions later policy in place at this particular complex. Max was now outside the perimeter of the complex and she was making her way over to where Logan was hidden in the woods. Maybe bringing Logan and his beloved Bessie along was a good idea after all. There was no way Alec would be able to balance behind Max on her motorcycle.
"Logan? Logan you there?" she called out as quietly as the situation would allow, not wanting to alert the oncoming guards that she had backup. 'Shit, where is he?' Max thought as she got to the spot where she had left him on surveillance duty. Max then spotted the discarded headset lying on the ground in pieces. 'Shit,' she thought again, 'not him as well'. Max really didn't have time for this. The guards were still shooting at her and closing in on her position fast, especially since she had stopped trying to find Logan. She had to make a decision and fast. She then made the decision that she should have been doing a lot more often. She chose Alec over Logan. Alec was in desperate need of some serious medical attention and she had no idea where Logan was or if he was even captured. She may have just got the position that he was in wrong, although she highly doubted that. She decided to get Alec and herself to safety, and then formulate a plan to come and rescue Logan if he indeed did need rescuing.
That was good in theory but before Max could actually initiate the plan, one of the guards bullets hit her in the shoulder blade, narrowly missing hitting Alec for a third time. Max stumbled and fell to the ground. The guards caught up to her and trained their weapons onto her, the red dots of their sights glowing on her skin. Max shrugged Alec off and he fell to the ground with a thud. She then got up to face the two guards. Max didn't have time to stand around, as backup had already been called for. She made light work of disposing of the two guards with a flurry of kicks and punches. They never knew what hit them. She re-gathered up Alec and set off on the 3-mile trek to her motorcycle.
TBC