Thanks again to all those who were kind enough to review – it's very much
appreciated and very inspiring!!!
Thanks once again to my beta, Alaidh who has been rewarded in this chapter for her efforts!!
Chapter 16
"So, did you find anything upstairs?" asked Logan, as they drove away.
"Uh uh, you were right. They had more cameras than bathrooms up there, and they had a 'lotta' bathrooms."
Logan looked at her curiously.
"Well, every time someone stopped me, I said I was lookin' for the bathroom," she explained ingeniously, smiling brilliantly at him. "Tonight went well," she added contentedly.
"I'll feel better when we talk to Byron in the morning. Wish we'd been able to make it for tonight," he mused aloud.
"He sure was messed up," said Max quietly, thinking back to their conversation with Byron.
"I just hope he doesn't bail out on us, that's all," worried Logan, slowing down to stop at a set of lights.
Max was feeling good with the world. "Not everybody is like Melody," she said without thinking.
Logan's silence hit her like a brick wall.
"So, you got that list for me back at your crib?" she asked, hoping to cover the moment.
After a slight pause he answered, "Yeah. There's at least four that are good candidates for housing MacFarland's vigilantes. It's probably gonna take you a while, the four are spread all over Seattle."
"On the bright side, it'll make the night pass quickly." Max was determined to stay cheerful.
******************************************
Once back at Logan's, Max changed into her black catsuit, while Logan called up each site to show her on the computer.
Coming noiselessly back into his study, she walked in to find him with his glasses off and rubbing his temples.
Catching sight of her, he put his glasses back on, saying, "Here's site 'A'. It's an old warehouse, currently owned by Byron/Phillips. According to the company's records, a security guard checks it twice a night, no fixed time."
Max nodded.
"Site 'B'," Logan continued, "is a three acre property, used to be some sort of a guest house from what I can gather, and I don't have any security details at all for that one."
"Site C?" asked Max, standing close to him on his right, her right hand on the desk as she leant forward to look at the screen.
"'C', Logan," she repeated, waiting for the next screen to come up. "I gotta do this 'tonight', not tomorrow."
"Site 'C', another warehouse, down by the wharf this time. Definitely security checks, once again, no set time."
"Three down, one to go," Max popped in.
"I hope you're taking this seriously," Logan said, mildly rebuking her.
"Don't I always?" Max said, turning her head to smile at him.
Meeting her eyes with his own slightly cynical ones, Logan called up the details of the last site.
"Site 'D'," piped in Max, mimicking his tone.
"Site 'D', "Logan repeated, slightly louder and narrowing his eyes at her to show his annoyance when he was being serious.
"Is another warehouse," Max guessed, trying to beat him to it.
"Is a disused 'factory'," shooting her a look of triumph this time, "owned by a subsidiary of Carmichael Logging."
"Security checks, twice nightly, no set time?" Max tried again, deliberately provoking him.
"Actually, security officer on site, 24/7," he finished smoothly.
Max turned around to him. "You just got lucky," she excused her own performance.
"'You' are a sore loser," he accused her mildly, unlocking his brakes to give her the print outs of each of the sites.
"I'm a sore loser?" she went to say, about to take the printouts Logan was handing her, when he stopped suddenly.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Recovering quickly, he said. "I'm fine ... really," he added, as she still regarded him, handing her the printouts this time.
"You need to get going," he urged her. "You'll need to be done before daybreak."
Max considered him for a moment.
"I'll have breakfast waiting for you when ya get back. So don't be late!" he threatened her.
With a slight smile, she grabbed her jacket, and headed for the door.
******************************************************
Logan sat, chin in hand, staring at his computer, in his darkened apartment, most of the light coming from his computer screen as he continued his search into the activities of Stuart MacFarland.
Max had been gone two hours now, and Logan felt a familiar tension.
His body seemed to be screaming at him to go to bed, but he felt sure that once there, sleep would be a million miles away.
"So, you haven't pulled this together yet," said a voice to his left.
Turning his head quickly, Logan looked up to see Zack.
"Guess not," replied Logan, unlocking his brakes and turning around to face him.
"Max here?" the X5 asked, a slight edge to his voice.
"She's out doin' some recon for me," responded Logan, wondering why Zack had shown up again.
As if having read his mind, Zack said, "It's been in all the news that a girl in a black catsuit was wanted for questioning over the death of Melody Banks."
"And?" asked Logan, in a neutral tone.
"Snapped neck, black catsuit," said Zack, "has me thinking Manticore."
"Or maybe you think that 'I' sent 'Max' to kill her."
Zack shook his head at that. "I know you'd never do that," he said simply.
"Well, that's refreshing," said Logan mildly, "So, why did you come?"
"We both know it's dangerous for Max if Manticore is involved. Thought she might need my help."
He waited some time for Logan to answer.
"I need some coffee," said Logan eventually. "You want one?" he asked, wheeling himself through to the kitchen, and turning on the lights.
Zack, following him, was surprised to see him stop. He heard something that sounded like a stifled grunt of pain.
"Are you all right?" he asked hesitantly, knowing that Logan had had trouble in the past, and not sure know if this was some ongoing problem that Logan may prefer he didn't mention.
Not answering immediately, Logan eventually said, "I'm fine. Must have been something I ate."
"I'll boil the water for the drinks," said Zack, walking past him to get the kettle.
"I think I might pass on the drink," Logan struggled to reply, swallowing hard. He could see Zack looking at him, and his only thought was to appear as normal as possible wishing that Zack were anywhere but there in front of him.
Suddenly the pain stabbed at him again, sharper this time and he had to bite down hard on his lip to keep quiet.
Beginning to feel really quite strange, Logan became aware of Zack standing over him.
"There's something wrong," he stated to Logan, a hint of concern in his voice.
Whatever it was, it was hitting Logan fast, because now he was barely able to look up at Zack.
Logan felt the first inklings of fear, thinking back to the time he'd collapsed before and wondering if this could be the same thing. It certainly didn't feel like it.
He heard Zack speaking to him. Trying to concentrate, he struggled to focus and process the words he knew Zack was saying, but he could feel himself slipping further away.
********************************************************
Max was quite pleased with her progress. She had managed to check two of the sites on Logan's list without meeting any opposition, which was probably due to the fact that both sites were exactly what Logan had said they were: disused warehouses, and they were both, clearly still disused.
The next site she was about to check out was the old guesthouse. This was a little further out of town, but she had a good feel about this one, so she'd decided to do it third.
Thankfully, it was a dry night, and she was thinking if they all turned out to be duds, she'd be back for breakfast in record time. In fact, she doubted Logan would even be awake considering how tired he had looked when she left.
Stopping at a crossroad to double-check her route, she was surprised to hear her pager go off. She smiled to herself, wondering if it was Logan checking up on her, although he didn't usually call when she was out on recon.
Checking the readout, she was very surprised to find that it was not Logan, but Zack.
What was he doing back in Seattle?
Max sat on her bike, very still, staring into the distance. She suddenly felt very uneasy.
She remembered passing a diner about two miles back and making a quick decision; she decided to go back there and see if they had a phone.
Max was only a short way from the diner when she saw the neon sign announcing its name to the world go black.
Cursing her bad luck, she revved harder, breaking several road rules in her attempt to get to the diner before the owner left.
When she pulled up outside the diner, she was relieved to see a man inside, sweeping the floor.
"Impressive," she murmured, thinking you didn't see that too often nowadays in some of these rundown places.
Quickly swinging a leg over her bike, she hurried to the door, relieved to find it was still unlocked.
As she stepped inside, the man, who looked to be in his fifties, looked up as if he were going to yell at her, but on seeing a strikingly attractive girl, he obviously thought better of it.
"Sorry, I can see you're closed, but I really need to use a phone. You got one anywhere?" asked Max, flashing one of her 'sure to please' smiles at the man.
It seemed to work, because he straightened up and said, "Sure thing, over there in the corner."
Thanking him with another megawatt smile, she took out the required coins, and dialled the number Zack had left on her pager.
It was picked up almost immediately by Zack himself.
"Zack, what are you doin' back in Seattle?"
In a manner very unlike Zack, she noticed a slight hesitancy in his voice.
"Max, it's Logan."
Three words were all it took for something icy cold to wrap itself around her heart and slowly squeeze it with a constricting tightness.
"What's happened?" she asked, immediately thinking of MacFarland.
"I'm not quite sure. You'd better get over here. I've got him at Metro Medical."
Without another word, she hung up, her only thought being to get to Logan.
The man sweeping the floor cast a look in her direction.
"Not bad news I hope," he said kindly, seeing the stricken look on her face.
Max mumbled something in reply, and made her way out to her motorbike, the words of Stuart MacFarland echoing in her mind – "I'll do anything to achieve my ideals."
"Did that include ...?" Clamping down hard on the thought, she drove with single-minded purpose to the hospital.
The main entrance was closed this time of night, so she headed straight for the Emergency Department.
It seemed to be a busy night, or maybe they were always like this, as an assortment of generally unhappy looking people sat wherever there was a spare seat, or even space on the floor.
People with tired faces, worried faces, ill faces, all waiting for the interminable line to finally go down so that their name could be called.
Max stepped over some of them to make her way to the front desk, where a nurse on duty, looking as tired as the faces around her, put her head up as Max approached.
"Can I help you?" she asked, in the manner of one well used to dealing with distraught relatives.
"A friend of mine was brought in. Logan Cale."
"When would that have been dear?"
Max thought frantically. "I'm not sure. Maybe an hour ago or less."
She saw a look on the nurses face that she couldn't quite read as the woman consulted her computer.
Her eyes went to Max again.
"Are you a relative?" she asked, not unkindly.
Oh God, thought Max, why are they asking that? It must mean it's something serious.
The nurse took one look at Max's face and knew she was more than just a friend.
Gently squeezing Max's hands that gripped the counter, she said, "He's in ICU, third floor."
Managing to stumble out, "Thank you," Max left the kind woman behind and went to navigate the hospital corridors, following the signs that read, Intensive Care Unit.
Ping.
The elevator doors opened, and with relief, the first person she saw was Zack.
"What happened? Where is he?" were her first words.
Zack motioned towards one of the doors. "They're working on him in there."
Holding herself in control, but her dark eyes looking unnaturally wide, she shot out, "Tell me what happened."
For once, Zack didn't have an answer to give her. "I turned up at his apartment ......... looking for you," he added, a little self-consciously. "Logan was talking to me one minute, the next he was ..." he stopped at that, not wanting her to know the state Logan had been in.
"Have you seen the doctors?" Max asked, unable to keep the worried tone from her voice.
Zack shook his head. "They started working on him as soon as I brought him in."
Max stared intently at the doors that led to where Logan lay.
"You don't have X-ray vision," Zack told her with the smallest of smiles.
Max looked to him, unseeingly at first, then she said determinedly, "I've gotta find out what's happening."
As if in answer to her prayer, a doctor came out that she recognized. It was Sam Carr, Logan's doctor, who Max remembered from the day she had transfused Logan with her own blood.
She wasn't entirely sure how Logan had explained that whole episode to him, but looking at him now, she had a terrible sense of déjà vu.
Seeing her, the doctor came directly towards her and Zack.
Max just stared at him, for once her genetically engineered bravery deserting her.
Sam gave her a gentle smile, then said without preamble, "I think we got him in time. We'll need to keep an eye on him for a while, but I'm reasonably confident he's going to fully recover."
Max felt an unimaginable relief sweep through her, for the moment not caring who knew how she felt.
Surprised to find her eyes blurring, she blinked rapidly a few times, before managing to say, "Can I see him?"
Sam looked at her, and said in his kind manner, "Logan's been heavily sedated. He won't know much for a while yet."
"What was wrong with him?" asked Max, finding that her mind was beginning to think a little clearer.
Sam looked from Max to Zack, shaking his head slightly as he spoke. "It was touch and go for a while there," he admitted. "At first I thought Logan had the classic symptoms of some type of poison, but after some blood tests we discovered it was one of those new lethal drugs that are flooding the market. They're hard to detect because they mask themselves by other symptoms."
"How was it administered?" asked Zack.
Sam shook his head again. "It certainly wasn't ingested. I would say by syringe." The doctor looked at Max purposefully as he spoke, his blue eyes meeting hers. "This was no accident, someone meant to do Logan harm," he finished seriously.
Max returned his look. "I'll keep that in mind," she told him.
Holding her gaze for a moment, the doctor then turned his attention to Zack. "You're the one who brought him in?"
Zack nodded briefly.
"You did a good job. Probably saved his life."
Max looked at Zack suddenly and smiled.
At that point, Max noticed another two nurses came out from Logan's room.
Seeing her look, Sam said in his calm way, "You can go in now."
Without hesitation, Max headed straight for the room, stopping on the threshold as she entered. Logan was hooked up to various machines, and an IV was inserted in his arm.
Her eyes went to his face that was very white against the pillows.
Max sat by him on a chair that was next to the bed, a small frown on her face. It was upsetting to see him like this, when only a few hours ago she'd been joking with him at his apartment.
Her eyes suddenly went to Zack, who was standing at the end of the bed watching her.
"Thank you," she said deliberately, giving him a serious smile.
Turning back to Logan, she pulled back the blanket from the end of the bed, exposing the bottom part of his leg.
"What are you doing?" asked Zack.
"I'm checking to see how MacFarland injected this bitch into Logan."
******************************************
"I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?"
Logan looked at her confusedly.
"You're in the hospital. Zack brought you in. I don't wanna sound melodramatic or anything, but he probably saved your life," Max added warmly.
Logan continued to squint at her. He wanted to say something, but even the act of swallowing was a huge effort.
Feeling like he'd come into a complex movie half way through, Logan looked around, grimacing when he saw the IV in his arm.
"Zack?" Logan managed to ask. This was getting weirder by the minute, he thought.
"MacFarland injected you with some drug that would have shut down your whole system. Remember, at MacFarland's, the waiter who spilled the drink on you?"
Slowly things were coming back. It seemed like days ago, but Logan could remember the incident. He nodded at Max.
"The whole thing was a scam Logan. The waiter must have injected the stuff into your leg when he was supposedly wiping the wine or whatever off." The tone and look on Max's face boded ill for that waiter if she ever came across him again. "I got Sam to check your leg. We think we found the entrance point where it was a bit inflamed."
"I remember driving home with you ... " muttered Logan vaguely.
"I went off to check the sites, and Zack showed up at your place lookin' for me. Just as well he did too."
A movement at the door made them both look up to see Sam Carr coming in.
He looked Logan over with a professional eye. "You're looking a lot better," he smiled.
Max handed Logan his glasses. He put them on, and with one of his ironic smiles, said to Sam, "When can I get outta here?"
Sam raised his eyebrows at the comment, regarding Logan with an amused expression as he proceeded to check his blood pressure.
"Your vitals are good. I want to keep you in here for observation."
"And?" asked Logan, not impressed so far.
Sam considered him for a moment. "I'll make a decision on that this afternoon."
Logan sighed slightly and raised his eyes to study the ceiling.
"Logan, your body's going to need time to recover from this, and I want to be sure the drug is out of your system, so you're going to have to be a little bit patient." He then added with a grin, "I know that will be a challenge for you, but I see you're in good hands." He smiled at Max as he went out.
Logan moodily regarded the IV in his arm.
Hospitals. He hated everything about them: the food, the smell, the needles, the tests, the list was endless.
Max watched him, the hint of a smile playing on her lips. A grumpy Logan was far better than no Logan at all.
She was just about to say something to him when a nurse bustled in.
"We need to change your position Mr Cale," she announced to the world in that loud, bright, efficient, straightforward manner sometimes found in nurses, that either annoys the hell out of you, or makes you cower in submission.
On Logan it definitely had the former effect.
Seeing the look on his face, Max excused herself, saying she'd be waiting outside for him.
With a smile on her face, she heard the nurse say in her bracing manner as she surveyed her patient, "Now, would you like to shave Mr Cale?"
"How's he doing?" asked Zack, sitting in a chair against the wall opposite Logan's room. It was no accident it gave him an extensive view of all people coming and going from both directions.
"He's real grumpy," said Max with a wide grin.
Zack wasn't sure what there was to be happy in that, but he was glad to see Max smiling.
"Nothing suspicious out here?" she asked Zack, her own eyes doing a sweep of the area.
"Not so far."
Max sat down next to Zack. Stretching her own legs out in front of her, she allowed herself to relax for a minute, reflecting on the night's events with something like a sigh. She didn't like to think about how close she may have been to losing Logan.
One thing she knew for sure, she was now, more than ever, determined to take MacFarland down.
Looking at her watch, she saw it was ten past eight, and with Logan out of immediate danger, she was definitely starting to feel hungry. "You want some breakfast?" she asked Zack.
He nodded. "There's a cafeteria on the fifth floor."
Just then the door of Logan's room opened, and the efficient nurse bustled out again.
Max looked at Zack. "I'd really like to stretch my legs..."
"Sure, I'll wait here while you get something," he agreed.
Max hesitated, looking towards Logan's room. "D'you mind?" she asked, her face screwed up as if she didn't want to ask, "I'd feel happier if you were in there with him."
Zack simply said, "Okay, fine by me."
********************************************************
Logan was lying on his side when Zack went in, facing the window, his eyes closed, apparently asleep.
Zack had just sat down in the chair Max had vacated, when he was aware of the green eyes looking at him.
"How're you doin'?" asked Zack.
Logan looked at him, then said thoughtfully, "I feel like I've got the worst hangover I've ever had."
"Without the fun," commiserated Zack.
Logan looked away for a moment, then coming back to Zack he said, "I believe I owe you one."
Zack shrugged, saying easily, "It was self preservation. I figured Max'd kick my ass if I let something happen to you."
Logan smiled a little at his words.
"Be that as it may, I want you to know, I'm ...grateful," he finished.
Zack looked up to see Max returning, which made Logan look over his shoulder.
"Did they bring you some breakfast?" she asked Logan.
He simply pointed to the chart on the end of his bed that read, "nothing by mouth."
Max made a face. "Ouch."
"I don't think I'll be missing out on much," he replied in one of his dry tones.
Max went over to Zack and gave him his breakfast, and then turned her attention to Logan as she sat down in the other chair.
Surprised, she noticed the nurse had been able to talk him into a shave.
"You're beginning to look more human," she complimented him admiringly.
"Mmm," replied Logan, finding that talking was very tiring.
Max looked at her watch again, wondering if he was up to bothering about anything, but her action made him remember anyway.
"What's the time?" he asked her.
"It's eight-thirty," she answered unwillingly.
Logan closed his eyes momentarily as he said, "We were meant to meet Byron at nine."
"I doubt very much if he'll be there," she answered him.
Logan opened his eyes and began looking around. "Where's my chair? I gotta get outta here."
"Logan, you're not thinking straight. If MacFarland did this to you, the chances are he knows about Byron too."
"We can't be sure of that," he argued.
"I don't like ta state the obvious here, but you have a drip in your arm, and it's highly unlikely you can even sit up."
"We have to 'try'," Logan said quietly. He didn't have the strength to snap at her, but the thought of getting Byron MacFarland killed weighed heavily on him. He felt that he'd already failed with Melody and now he didn't want another death on his conscience.
Max looked at him. "I've spent some time thinking about it. I'll go to the diner, just in case he's there."
Logan put his hand up to his eyes and closed them, trying to think. He knew that there was something wrong with this plan, but very much like Eyes Only's problems, his mind seemed to have turned completely to mud.
"Logan?" asked Max, a little concerned for him.
Logan nodded. "Just do it," he said.
TBC
Thanks once again to my beta, Alaidh who has been rewarded in this chapter for her efforts!!
Chapter 16
"So, did you find anything upstairs?" asked Logan, as they drove away.
"Uh uh, you were right. They had more cameras than bathrooms up there, and they had a 'lotta' bathrooms."
Logan looked at her curiously.
"Well, every time someone stopped me, I said I was lookin' for the bathroom," she explained ingeniously, smiling brilliantly at him. "Tonight went well," she added contentedly.
"I'll feel better when we talk to Byron in the morning. Wish we'd been able to make it for tonight," he mused aloud.
"He sure was messed up," said Max quietly, thinking back to their conversation with Byron.
"I just hope he doesn't bail out on us, that's all," worried Logan, slowing down to stop at a set of lights.
Max was feeling good with the world. "Not everybody is like Melody," she said without thinking.
Logan's silence hit her like a brick wall.
"So, you got that list for me back at your crib?" she asked, hoping to cover the moment.
After a slight pause he answered, "Yeah. There's at least four that are good candidates for housing MacFarland's vigilantes. It's probably gonna take you a while, the four are spread all over Seattle."
"On the bright side, it'll make the night pass quickly." Max was determined to stay cheerful.
******************************************
Once back at Logan's, Max changed into her black catsuit, while Logan called up each site to show her on the computer.
Coming noiselessly back into his study, she walked in to find him with his glasses off and rubbing his temples.
Catching sight of her, he put his glasses back on, saying, "Here's site 'A'. It's an old warehouse, currently owned by Byron/Phillips. According to the company's records, a security guard checks it twice a night, no fixed time."
Max nodded.
"Site 'B'," Logan continued, "is a three acre property, used to be some sort of a guest house from what I can gather, and I don't have any security details at all for that one."
"Site C?" asked Max, standing close to him on his right, her right hand on the desk as she leant forward to look at the screen.
"'C', Logan," she repeated, waiting for the next screen to come up. "I gotta do this 'tonight', not tomorrow."
"Site 'C', another warehouse, down by the wharf this time. Definitely security checks, once again, no set time."
"Three down, one to go," Max popped in.
"I hope you're taking this seriously," Logan said, mildly rebuking her.
"Don't I always?" Max said, turning her head to smile at him.
Meeting her eyes with his own slightly cynical ones, Logan called up the details of the last site.
"Site 'D'," piped in Max, mimicking his tone.
"Site 'D', "Logan repeated, slightly louder and narrowing his eyes at her to show his annoyance when he was being serious.
"Is another warehouse," Max guessed, trying to beat him to it.
"Is a disused 'factory'," shooting her a look of triumph this time, "owned by a subsidiary of Carmichael Logging."
"Security checks, twice nightly, no set time?" Max tried again, deliberately provoking him.
"Actually, security officer on site, 24/7," he finished smoothly.
Max turned around to him. "You just got lucky," she excused her own performance.
"'You' are a sore loser," he accused her mildly, unlocking his brakes to give her the print outs of each of the sites.
"I'm a sore loser?" she went to say, about to take the printouts Logan was handing her, when he stopped suddenly.
"Are you okay?" she asked.
Recovering quickly, he said. "I'm fine ... really," he added, as she still regarded him, handing her the printouts this time.
"You need to get going," he urged her. "You'll need to be done before daybreak."
Max considered him for a moment.
"I'll have breakfast waiting for you when ya get back. So don't be late!" he threatened her.
With a slight smile, she grabbed her jacket, and headed for the door.
******************************************************
Logan sat, chin in hand, staring at his computer, in his darkened apartment, most of the light coming from his computer screen as he continued his search into the activities of Stuart MacFarland.
Max had been gone two hours now, and Logan felt a familiar tension.
His body seemed to be screaming at him to go to bed, but he felt sure that once there, sleep would be a million miles away.
"So, you haven't pulled this together yet," said a voice to his left.
Turning his head quickly, Logan looked up to see Zack.
"Guess not," replied Logan, unlocking his brakes and turning around to face him.
"Max here?" the X5 asked, a slight edge to his voice.
"She's out doin' some recon for me," responded Logan, wondering why Zack had shown up again.
As if having read his mind, Zack said, "It's been in all the news that a girl in a black catsuit was wanted for questioning over the death of Melody Banks."
"And?" asked Logan, in a neutral tone.
"Snapped neck, black catsuit," said Zack, "has me thinking Manticore."
"Or maybe you think that 'I' sent 'Max' to kill her."
Zack shook his head at that. "I know you'd never do that," he said simply.
"Well, that's refreshing," said Logan mildly, "So, why did you come?"
"We both know it's dangerous for Max if Manticore is involved. Thought she might need my help."
He waited some time for Logan to answer.
"I need some coffee," said Logan eventually. "You want one?" he asked, wheeling himself through to the kitchen, and turning on the lights.
Zack, following him, was surprised to see him stop. He heard something that sounded like a stifled grunt of pain.
"Are you all right?" he asked hesitantly, knowing that Logan had had trouble in the past, and not sure know if this was some ongoing problem that Logan may prefer he didn't mention.
Not answering immediately, Logan eventually said, "I'm fine. Must have been something I ate."
"I'll boil the water for the drinks," said Zack, walking past him to get the kettle.
"I think I might pass on the drink," Logan struggled to reply, swallowing hard. He could see Zack looking at him, and his only thought was to appear as normal as possible wishing that Zack were anywhere but there in front of him.
Suddenly the pain stabbed at him again, sharper this time and he had to bite down hard on his lip to keep quiet.
Beginning to feel really quite strange, Logan became aware of Zack standing over him.
"There's something wrong," he stated to Logan, a hint of concern in his voice.
Whatever it was, it was hitting Logan fast, because now he was barely able to look up at Zack.
Logan felt the first inklings of fear, thinking back to the time he'd collapsed before and wondering if this could be the same thing. It certainly didn't feel like it.
He heard Zack speaking to him. Trying to concentrate, he struggled to focus and process the words he knew Zack was saying, but he could feel himself slipping further away.
********************************************************
Max was quite pleased with her progress. She had managed to check two of the sites on Logan's list without meeting any opposition, which was probably due to the fact that both sites were exactly what Logan had said they were: disused warehouses, and they were both, clearly still disused.
The next site she was about to check out was the old guesthouse. This was a little further out of town, but she had a good feel about this one, so she'd decided to do it third.
Thankfully, it was a dry night, and she was thinking if they all turned out to be duds, she'd be back for breakfast in record time. In fact, she doubted Logan would even be awake considering how tired he had looked when she left.
Stopping at a crossroad to double-check her route, she was surprised to hear her pager go off. She smiled to herself, wondering if it was Logan checking up on her, although he didn't usually call when she was out on recon.
Checking the readout, she was very surprised to find that it was not Logan, but Zack.
What was he doing back in Seattle?
Max sat on her bike, very still, staring into the distance. She suddenly felt very uneasy.
She remembered passing a diner about two miles back and making a quick decision; she decided to go back there and see if they had a phone.
Max was only a short way from the diner when she saw the neon sign announcing its name to the world go black.
Cursing her bad luck, she revved harder, breaking several road rules in her attempt to get to the diner before the owner left.
When she pulled up outside the diner, she was relieved to see a man inside, sweeping the floor.
"Impressive," she murmured, thinking you didn't see that too often nowadays in some of these rundown places.
Quickly swinging a leg over her bike, she hurried to the door, relieved to find it was still unlocked.
As she stepped inside, the man, who looked to be in his fifties, looked up as if he were going to yell at her, but on seeing a strikingly attractive girl, he obviously thought better of it.
"Sorry, I can see you're closed, but I really need to use a phone. You got one anywhere?" asked Max, flashing one of her 'sure to please' smiles at the man.
It seemed to work, because he straightened up and said, "Sure thing, over there in the corner."
Thanking him with another megawatt smile, she took out the required coins, and dialled the number Zack had left on her pager.
It was picked up almost immediately by Zack himself.
"Zack, what are you doin' back in Seattle?"
In a manner very unlike Zack, she noticed a slight hesitancy in his voice.
"Max, it's Logan."
Three words were all it took for something icy cold to wrap itself around her heart and slowly squeeze it with a constricting tightness.
"What's happened?" she asked, immediately thinking of MacFarland.
"I'm not quite sure. You'd better get over here. I've got him at Metro Medical."
Without another word, she hung up, her only thought being to get to Logan.
The man sweeping the floor cast a look in her direction.
"Not bad news I hope," he said kindly, seeing the stricken look on her face.
Max mumbled something in reply, and made her way out to her motorbike, the words of Stuart MacFarland echoing in her mind – "I'll do anything to achieve my ideals."
"Did that include ...?" Clamping down hard on the thought, she drove with single-minded purpose to the hospital.
The main entrance was closed this time of night, so she headed straight for the Emergency Department.
It seemed to be a busy night, or maybe they were always like this, as an assortment of generally unhappy looking people sat wherever there was a spare seat, or even space on the floor.
People with tired faces, worried faces, ill faces, all waiting for the interminable line to finally go down so that their name could be called.
Max stepped over some of them to make her way to the front desk, where a nurse on duty, looking as tired as the faces around her, put her head up as Max approached.
"Can I help you?" she asked, in the manner of one well used to dealing with distraught relatives.
"A friend of mine was brought in. Logan Cale."
"When would that have been dear?"
Max thought frantically. "I'm not sure. Maybe an hour ago or less."
She saw a look on the nurses face that she couldn't quite read as the woman consulted her computer.
Her eyes went to Max again.
"Are you a relative?" she asked, not unkindly.
Oh God, thought Max, why are they asking that? It must mean it's something serious.
The nurse took one look at Max's face and knew she was more than just a friend.
Gently squeezing Max's hands that gripped the counter, she said, "He's in ICU, third floor."
Managing to stumble out, "Thank you," Max left the kind woman behind and went to navigate the hospital corridors, following the signs that read, Intensive Care Unit.
Ping.
The elevator doors opened, and with relief, the first person she saw was Zack.
"What happened? Where is he?" were her first words.
Zack motioned towards one of the doors. "They're working on him in there."
Holding herself in control, but her dark eyes looking unnaturally wide, she shot out, "Tell me what happened."
For once, Zack didn't have an answer to give her. "I turned up at his apartment ......... looking for you," he added, a little self-consciously. "Logan was talking to me one minute, the next he was ..." he stopped at that, not wanting her to know the state Logan had been in.
"Have you seen the doctors?" Max asked, unable to keep the worried tone from her voice.
Zack shook his head. "They started working on him as soon as I brought him in."
Max stared intently at the doors that led to where Logan lay.
"You don't have X-ray vision," Zack told her with the smallest of smiles.
Max looked to him, unseeingly at first, then she said determinedly, "I've gotta find out what's happening."
As if in answer to her prayer, a doctor came out that she recognized. It was Sam Carr, Logan's doctor, who Max remembered from the day she had transfused Logan with her own blood.
She wasn't entirely sure how Logan had explained that whole episode to him, but looking at him now, she had a terrible sense of déjà vu.
Seeing her, the doctor came directly towards her and Zack.
Max just stared at him, for once her genetically engineered bravery deserting her.
Sam gave her a gentle smile, then said without preamble, "I think we got him in time. We'll need to keep an eye on him for a while, but I'm reasonably confident he's going to fully recover."
Max felt an unimaginable relief sweep through her, for the moment not caring who knew how she felt.
Surprised to find her eyes blurring, she blinked rapidly a few times, before managing to say, "Can I see him?"
Sam looked at her, and said in his kind manner, "Logan's been heavily sedated. He won't know much for a while yet."
"What was wrong with him?" asked Max, finding that her mind was beginning to think a little clearer.
Sam looked from Max to Zack, shaking his head slightly as he spoke. "It was touch and go for a while there," he admitted. "At first I thought Logan had the classic symptoms of some type of poison, but after some blood tests we discovered it was one of those new lethal drugs that are flooding the market. They're hard to detect because they mask themselves by other symptoms."
"How was it administered?" asked Zack.
Sam shook his head again. "It certainly wasn't ingested. I would say by syringe." The doctor looked at Max purposefully as he spoke, his blue eyes meeting hers. "This was no accident, someone meant to do Logan harm," he finished seriously.
Max returned his look. "I'll keep that in mind," she told him.
Holding her gaze for a moment, the doctor then turned his attention to Zack. "You're the one who brought him in?"
Zack nodded briefly.
"You did a good job. Probably saved his life."
Max looked at Zack suddenly and smiled.
At that point, Max noticed another two nurses came out from Logan's room.
Seeing her look, Sam said in his calm way, "You can go in now."
Without hesitation, Max headed straight for the room, stopping on the threshold as she entered. Logan was hooked up to various machines, and an IV was inserted in his arm.
Her eyes went to his face that was very white against the pillows.
Max sat by him on a chair that was next to the bed, a small frown on her face. It was upsetting to see him like this, when only a few hours ago she'd been joking with him at his apartment.
Her eyes suddenly went to Zack, who was standing at the end of the bed watching her.
"Thank you," she said deliberately, giving him a serious smile.
Turning back to Logan, she pulled back the blanket from the end of the bed, exposing the bottom part of his leg.
"What are you doing?" asked Zack.
"I'm checking to see how MacFarland injected this bitch into Logan."
******************************************
"I can't leave you alone for a minute, can I?"
Logan looked at her confusedly.
"You're in the hospital. Zack brought you in. I don't wanna sound melodramatic or anything, but he probably saved your life," Max added warmly.
Logan continued to squint at her. He wanted to say something, but even the act of swallowing was a huge effort.
Feeling like he'd come into a complex movie half way through, Logan looked around, grimacing when he saw the IV in his arm.
"Zack?" Logan managed to ask. This was getting weirder by the minute, he thought.
"MacFarland injected you with some drug that would have shut down your whole system. Remember, at MacFarland's, the waiter who spilled the drink on you?"
Slowly things were coming back. It seemed like days ago, but Logan could remember the incident. He nodded at Max.
"The whole thing was a scam Logan. The waiter must have injected the stuff into your leg when he was supposedly wiping the wine or whatever off." The tone and look on Max's face boded ill for that waiter if she ever came across him again. "I got Sam to check your leg. We think we found the entrance point where it was a bit inflamed."
"I remember driving home with you ... " muttered Logan vaguely.
"I went off to check the sites, and Zack showed up at your place lookin' for me. Just as well he did too."
A movement at the door made them both look up to see Sam Carr coming in.
He looked Logan over with a professional eye. "You're looking a lot better," he smiled.
Max handed Logan his glasses. He put them on, and with one of his ironic smiles, said to Sam, "When can I get outta here?"
Sam raised his eyebrows at the comment, regarding Logan with an amused expression as he proceeded to check his blood pressure.
"Your vitals are good. I want to keep you in here for observation."
"And?" asked Logan, not impressed so far.
Sam considered him for a moment. "I'll make a decision on that this afternoon."
Logan sighed slightly and raised his eyes to study the ceiling.
"Logan, your body's going to need time to recover from this, and I want to be sure the drug is out of your system, so you're going to have to be a little bit patient." He then added with a grin, "I know that will be a challenge for you, but I see you're in good hands." He smiled at Max as he went out.
Logan moodily regarded the IV in his arm.
Hospitals. He hated everything about them: the food, the smell, the needles, the tests, the list was endless.
Max watched him, the hint of a smile playing on her lips. A grumpy Logan was far better than no Logan at all.
She was just about to say something to him when a nurse bustled in.
"We need to change your position Mr Cale," she announced to the world in that loud, bright, efficient, straightforward manner sometimes found in nurses, that either annoys the hell out of you, or makes you cower in submission.
On Logan it definitely had the former effect.
Seeing the look on his face, Max excused herself, saying she'd be waiting outside for him.
With a smile on her face, she heard the nurse say in her bracing manner as she surveyed her patient, "Now, would you like to shave Mr Cale?"
"How's he doing?" asked Zack, sitting in a chair against the wall opposite Logan's room. It was no accident it gave him an extensive view of all people coming and going from both directions.
"He's real grumpy," said Max with a wide grin.
Zack wasn't sure what there was to be happy in that, but he was glad to see Max smiling.
"Nothing suspicious out here?" she asked Zack, her own eyes doing a sweep of the area.
"Not so far."
Max sat down next to Zack. Stretching her own legs out in front of her, she allowed herself to relax for a minute, reflecting on the night's events with something like a sigh. She didn't like to think about how close she may have been to losing Logan.
One thing she knew for sure, she was now, more than ever, determined to take MacFarland down.
Looking at her watch, she saw it was ten past eight, and with Logan out of immediate danger, she was definitely starting to feel hungry. "You want some breakfast?" she asked Zack.
He nodded. "There's a cafeteria on the fifth floor."
Just then the door of Logan's room opened, and the efficient nurse bustled out again.
Max looked at Zack. "I'd really like to stretch my legs..."
"Sure, I'll wait here while you get something," he agreed.
Max hesitated, looking towards Logan's room. "D'you mind?" she asked, her face screwed up as if she didn't want to ask, "I'd feel happier if you were in there with him."
Zack simply said, "Okay, fine by me."
********************************************************
Logan was lying on his side when Zack went in, facing the window, his eyes closed, apparently asleep.
Zack had just sat down in the chair Max had vacated, when he was aware of the green eyes looking at him.
"How're you doin'?" asked Zack.
Logan looked at him, then said thoughtfully, "I feel like I've got the worst hangover I've ever had."
"Without the fun," commiserated Zack.
Logan looked away for a moment, then coming back to Zack he said, "I believe I owe you one."
Zack shrugged, saying easily, "It was self preservation. I figured Max'd kick my ass if I let something happen to you."
Logan smiled a little at his words.
"Be that as it may, I want you to know, I'm ...grateful," he finished.
Zack looked up to see Max returning, which made Logan look over his shoulder.
"Did they bring you some breakfast?" she asked Logan.
He simply pointed to the chart on the end of his bed that read, "nothing by mouth."
Max made a face. "Ouch."
"I don't think I'll be missing out on much," he replied in one of his dry tones.
Max went over to Zack and gave him his breakfast, and then turned her attention to Logan as she sat down in the other chair.
Surprised, she noticed the nurse had been able to talk him into a shave.
"You're beginning to look more human," she complimented him admiringly.
"Mmm," replied Logan, finding that talking was very tiring.
Max looked at her watch again, wondering if he was up to bothering about anything, but her action made him remember anyway.
"What's the time?" he asked her.
"It's eight-thirty," she answered unwillingly.
Logan closed his eyes momentarily as he said, "We were meant to meet Byron at nine."
"I doubt very much if he'll be there," she answered him.
Logan opened his eyes and began looking around. "Where's my chair? I gotta get outta here."
"Logan, you're not thinking straight. If MacFarland did this to you, the chances are he knows about Byron too."
"We can't be sure of that," he argued.
"I don't like ta state the obvious here, but you have a drip in your arm, and it's highly unlikely you can even sit up."
"We have to 'try'," Logan said quietly. He didn't have the strength to snap at her, but the thought of getting Byron MacFarland killed weighed heavily on him. He felt that he'd already failed with Melody and now he didn't want another death on his conscience.
Max looked at him. "I've spent some time thinking about it. I'll go to the diner, just in case he's there."
Logan put his hand up to his eyes and closed them, trying to think. He knew that there was something wrong with this plan, but very much like Eyes Only's problems, his mind seemed to have turned completely to mud.
"Logan?" asked Max, a little concerned for him.
Logan nodded. "Just do it," he said.
TBC