AS 2.08 Pong by Star 24
Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters are copyright 2001-2002 Twentieth Century Fox Studios and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is copyright 2003-04 Star24.
Chapter Ten
Apartment building near the Docks
By the time Logan took the step that brought him around and into the doorway to the apartment, Max was long gone. Logan stood there, gun held at the ready, and surveyed the scene in front of him.
The apartment was small, poorly furnished and dimly lit. It smelled of cigarettes, liquor and old food. There was a dilapidated couch on one side of the room, and the man they had seen entering the building was slumped on it. He was clearly the worse for drink. He sat watching the scene in front of him with a dazed expression on his face, an empty beer bottle dangling from his left hand.
Directly in front of Logan, a metal box stood in the center of the stained and threadbare carpet that covered the center area of the room. Just past the box, a young girl was sprawled on the floor, leaning against an armchair that had seen better days. Max stood over her offering her a hand up.
Logan swung his gun around to cover the man on the sofa, even though he doubted he was any kind of a threat in his condition.
"It's okay," Max said softly to the girl who was cowering back from her extended hand. "I didn't mean to hurt you, but I had to stop you from opening that box. It would have killed all of us."
The girl who was dressed in what amounted to rags didn't respond. She simply looked up at Max and then glanced at Logan. Fear shone in her eyes as she looked at the two of them.
Max sighed and knelt in front of her. "My name is Max and this is my friend, Logan. We've been looking for this box for a while now. We aren't here to hurt you, we just need to take it somewhere safe." Her voice was soft and her manner was gentle.
"It's worth money," the girl finally said. "That's why you want it."
"There is a reward for it, that's true. But it's still deadly. The box contains plutonium. Do you know what that is?" Max responded patiently.
The girl nodded. "It's radiation. Like in the bomb that made the Pulse."
Max smiled at her. "Yes it is. The people who lost it want it back, so they are offering a reward."
"I found it, not you," the girl said.
"Thash true. Reward should be ourshh," the man finally chimed in, slurring his words drunkenly.
Max and Logan exchanged glances. Logan looked at the girl and then at Max, and nodded.
"How would you like to come with us and we'll make sure you get the reward for the box?" Max asked the girl. The girl looked fearfully over at the man, a look Max didn't miss. "Hey, can you get me a glass of water?" Max asked her. "I'm really thirsty." She held her hand out once more, and this time the girl took it. Logan watched as Max let her lead her into what he assumed must be the kitchen.
Once Max and Mina were out of the room, he stepped over to the man. "Roll onto your stomach," he said harshly. When the man didn't comply immediately, Logan reached down and gave him a shove. The man blinked and then slowly laid on the couch on his stomach. Logan pulled a length of rope from his pocket and quickly bound his hands behind him. By the time he finished, the man was fast asleep, snoring drunkenly. Looking disgusted, Logan rolled him over onto his back and covered him with a dirty afghan that lay on the floor next to the couch. He had just finished when Max and the girl returned to the room.
"Logan, this is Mina. She's going to come with us." Max said in a tone that made it clear she wasn't going to argue with Logan about it. "Mina, get your things, quickly. We need to leave here." Max gave the girl a gentle push and watched as she went over to a curtain that separated a corner of the room and ducked behind it.
"Max?" Logan said to her softly, a question in his voice.
"He isn't her father. He's some kind of uncle or something. She isn't sure. Her parents are both dead. He's drunk most of the time, and he hits her. Logan, I'm not letting her stay here." Max's tone was fierce.
"I wasn't arguing with you," Logan said mildly.
Max relaxed and sent him the first genuine smile he'd gotten from her since she'd come to fetch him at the farm. "Thanks, Logan."
"I should be able to find her a foster family without much problem." Logan mused, warmed in spite of himself by the smile from Max.
Before they could say more, Mina emerged from behind the curtain with a small backpack and a grubby teddy bear dangling from her hand. At the same time Max suddenly came to full alertness and ran to the window overlooking the alley that ran along the rear of the building.
"Logan, we have to get out of here. We have company. Luckily they're coming in from the back of the building."
On her words the three of them were out of the apartment, Logan pulling Mina along, and Max scooping up the box. When they reached the hallway they heard a banging noise down below.
"Hurry before they break in that back door." Max took off down the stairs with the box, and Logan and Mina hurried in her wake. By the time they reached the ground floor, Max was back, minus the box.
"Get her to the car. I'll play rearguard. Wait for me on the next block over." Max directed.
Logan didn't waste time arguing with her, but hurried Mina out of the building. Within moments they were in his car and pulling away from the building.
Left behind, Max melted into the shadows. The rear door to the building burst open and she watched from her place of concealment as three bulky thugs carrying semi-automatic weapons headed for the stairway. She waited a moment and then looked around the hallway. She spotted a fire alarm pull box and a smile crossed her face. She crossed the hallway, broke the glass and pulled the lever down, then held her breath waiting to see if it still worked.
Within seconds the noise of a loud clanging alarm bell split the air. Doors began to open and residents of the building started to pile out into the hallway. Max darted to the open front door and slipped down the stairs, a dark shadow among many shadows. She heard the distant wailing of fire sirens. Still grinning she ran across the street and into an alley that led through to the next block.
Logan heard the fire sirens as he and Mina sat waiting, for what seemed like an eternity, for Max to arrive. He never saw her coming but suddenly the passenger door opened and Max was there.
"Let's blaze."
Logan needed no further urging to pull away. As they sped down the block several fire engines passed them from the opposite direction, lights flashing and sirens at full blast. Logan shot an inquiring look at Max. "You wouldn't happen to have anything to do with that?"
Max smiled. "Well no one is going to be coming and going from that block anytime soon. Makes for an easy getaway doncha think?"
Logan laughed. In the back, Mina looked from one to the other curiously.
Max turned and reached a hand back to her. "It's gonna be okay, Mina. Logan is going to make sure you have a nice family to take care of you again."
Mina smiled shyly. She reached a hand up to brush her hair out of her eyes and her ragged sleeve fell back, revealing finger shaped bruises on her wrist. Max frowned and turned forward again. Logan had been watching in the rear view mirror and he reached a hand over to her. He took her hand and squeezed it gently. "I know," he said simply when she looked at him with a question in her eyes. "We'll take care of her, I promise."
Max felt a frisson of warmth as Logan looked at her with the first approval she'd seen from him since they had awoken together in the Steinlitz Hotel. A trickle of hope made its way into her heart.
"What now?" she asked him.
"First we drop Mina off in a safe place, and then we go collect a reward." Logan said.
"Collect a reward?" Max asked wondering what he had in mind.
"I have reason to believe there's a welcoming committee waiting for me to show up looking for that box. I thought we might arrange our own little return of it, along with a surprise party for them."
"How do we do that?"
"Tell me that you don't think a certain Colonel has an interest in what's going on?" Logan said to her. "Mysterious emails and notes showing up giving us information we needed at opportune moment?"
Comprehension dawned on Max. "And despite everything he is, he's not going to want this materiel loose in Seattle or in the wrong hands. Gotcha."
"We're going to pull some strings of our own this time, Max, instead of dancing on his."
Logan smiled grimly.
"I like it." Max settled back into her seat as Logan expertly threaded the Aztek through streets on a night that somehow didn't seem quite as dark to her as it had earlier.
End of Chapter Ten