Declaimer, I don't own dark angel, I'm using some of the characters and
some of the dialogue
Warning: there is some graphic descriptions in this, not the worst, but still graphic
I'm going to skip scenes in this, so if you don't know the pilot that well, I suggest you look it up and read it, otherwise it won't make sense
(thought) ~~~~~~~~ scene change, flashback
I've changed some things, hope you don't mind
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Previously in Go:
The stinging cold of the ice against bare feet had long since faded into numbness.
The sounds of dogs barking and the commanding shouts of the Colonel could no longer be heard.
The fence was far behind, and everything familiar had vanished
"My name is....." it hesitated, remembering "Logan," that's what Joshua had called him.
"Logan, huh?" the male said.
"Yes," he replied, "My name is Logan"
"You're a thief?" he asked, giving her a serious look.
"Girl's got to make a living." She replied with a smirk.
"Thank God."
She raised her eyebrows in surprise, "First time I ever heard that one."
"I was expecting someone else."
"Guess it wasn't the pizza delivery guy."
Max resisted blushing and turned to look at him, "Expensive gifts, surprise late-night visits, over-the-top flattery. Do you always come on this strong? "
"Only when I meet someone I have to know everything about." He said as he moved her hair and realized exactly who she was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now chapter three: Building A Mystery
"And now I think I know pretty much everything. Suppose I could help you locate the other ones?" he said slightly backing away from her.
"The other ones?" Max replied turning around and fallowing Logan's lead in making distance between them.
"The other ones like you....." he said "the X5's" he added cautiously unsure of what or who she would consider 'like her'.... he wondered if he was in that category in her mind.... (doubtful, you're a nomlie, remember....)
(......all too well)
"You lost me," alarm bells went off in her head but she displayed no emotions. (assess the situation, this guy knows too much, form escape plan.... don't know how much he knows - he knows about 'the X5's' , that's enough it's time to haul ass out of here..... but the others.... how much does he really know.... I've got to find out)
"Now, come on Max, who are you trying to fool? First I watch you take out a 250-pound ex-cop bodyguard without breaking a sweat. Then I watch you dive headfirst out a window like you're Rocky the flying squirrel." (She hasn't bolted yet, good sign, continue with caution)
"Girls kick ass. Says so on the t-shirt" (could always dive headfirst out another window, but I need to find out how much he knows)
He smiled, but chose to ignore the comment, "Then, I found these in your apartment." He held up the plastic container. He had known instantly what was in the bottle when he found it in her apartment, he knew exactly what a bottle of triptophan looked like - he needed to or he would die. People used to sell the stuff in health food stores as an energy boost, but he didn't need an energy boost..... He had enough trouble sleeping as it was.
"You went through my stuff," (okay I was creeped out before, but this is ridiculous)
"That's when the light bulb went off," he hadn't been surprised when he'd found the triptophan. A majority of the X5's had been born with the same neural condition as him, their condition was less severe then his own, but their seizers had been more frequent. It had pissed the hell out of The Colonel; he was probably embarrassed that he'd made the same mistake twice. He'd had one of the geneticists killed and he had taken out the rest of his anger out on Logan - by beating the shit out of him and using him as a guinea pig for the drugs and surgery they would develop, before trying it out on the X5's.
Max had had enough, "Look, I don't know what kind of game you're playing here, but I'm out, because you're a wack-job"
So had Logan, "Don't play games with me 452,"
That freaked Max out, she hadn't been called her number designation in a long time, and she knew none of her siblings would call her that.... Who the fuck was this guy.... Well, Max wasn't going to wait around to be knocked out and wake up in a lab to find out.
She threw a punch; it hit him square in the jaw. Logan stumbled, he hadn't expected a blow to the face. His face ached, that was dumb, ('expected the unexpected solider'). (Damned voice in my head, can't just shut the hell up)
She threw another punch, but he blocked it. She brought her leg up to kick him, faster than humanly possible, but again her attack was blocked. They backed away from each other, both in the signature Manticore fighting stance.
She studied him, searching for weaknesses, waiting for the bump into a piece of furniture, the faint turn of the head hearing a noise, the slightly off balance step. It didn't come, so she decided to take matters into her own hand. She came at him, a blur of punches and kicks he met her attack, matching her every move, blocking as well as hitting in turn. If Peter or Lauren or anybody who wasn't made in a lab with genetically enhanced vision was to come out into the middle of this battle, all they would only see two dark blurs kicking the crap out of each other.
Caught up in the fight Logan almost allowed himself to forget about the alliance he had been trying to form, it was exhilarating, facing an opponent who could match him blow for blow. He hadn't fought anyone like that for a long time, not since manticore, not since that fateful night when he had been pinned to the ground by the girl he was facing now. The majority of the thugs he had come into contact with over the past few years had usually been all brawn and no brain, thinking steroids and pumping up at the gym could make them powerful. But this women wasn't a thug, or a mob boss, or any of the other usual suspects, this was 452 - the gatekeeper in front of the exit of hell that had let him go anyway. For years he had wondered about the girl and who or what she might have grown up to be and now he knew. She was Max
So why the hell was he fighting her?
Realization came to him, he needed to stop this. He hesitated; she took advantage - kicking him hard, in the gut. He gasped for breath, holding his stomach and stepping back. She backed a way still in soldier mode, waiting for him, ready for a trick or an assault.
"Stop," he gasped.
"Who are you!?!" She yelled
"Max hold on, just listen to me," he gasped again, (damn, that girl can kick.... duh, what did you expect, a hug?)
Max didn't want to wait anymore, she came at him, full force, and ready to knock him out and get the hell out of there. But Logan had gained his breath, and wasn't caught off guard again. He blocked her attack and grabbed her wrists, his grip firm, and pushed her against the nearest solid object - the wall.
"Who the fuck are you?!" Max squirmed, not liking being unable to kick ass and be done with it.
"Just calm down," he said as calmly as a person holding captive a pissed off genetically enhanced super girl could, "I'll let go of you and explain if you calm down and cooperate with me,"
"Let got of me!" she yelled, some secret part of her was panicking, no one could hold her like this, no one.... no normal person could....
"I will," he said "okay, I'll explain everything, just calm down okay?"
She glared at him angrily, she didn't like taking orders, and she especially didn't want to take orders from this guy.
"Let go of me now," she said, her voice dangerously low, sounding almost like a growl.
"Okay," he said quietly, letting go and stepping away quickly. Max rubbed her wrists, eyeing him suspiciously as he moved away from her. He wondered why she hadn't run the moment he let go of her, she wondered as well.
"Just hear me out, okay,"
"Fine," she spat.
"Will you cooperate?" he asked.
"Yeah, whatever,"
She stayed where she was, deciding to listen if only to find out what kind of threat he might pose.
"Okay," he said "I'm going to turn around okay, and I'm going to show you something, alright?"
He looked at her, his hands still up, eyes pleading with her to cooperate. She was standing very straight almost in an attack position but not quite, she would be ready if he tried to pull anything, but still, against her better judgment she nodded. She didn't know why. Maybe it was his eyes. When she looked into them, she felt a little secure and trusting. They were beautiful shade of blue, but she had a sinking feeling that they would cause her trouble. She felt drawn to them, drawn to him.
"Okay" he said quietly to himself as he slowly turned his back to her ("Never turn your back on anyone soldier") The Colonel's voice rang in his ears making him uneasy.
"See that," he said, pointing to the mass of lines on the back of his neck, "barcode - Manticore, just like you."
"But that wasn't there before," she said defiantly. She knew what she had seen. She'd checked the back of his neck; it had been clean - not even a freckle, let alone a barcode.
He took something out of his pocket and threw it back to her. She caught it, effortlessly; it was a round tin can and on lid there was a yellow label, with bright purple lettering on it.
"Madam Ramona's Instant Skin Imperfection Concealer?" she read, slightly amused.
"Good stuff, stays on all day, doesn't sting or burn or anything, it's even waterproof. When I have people over I tend to use it, the last thing I need it someone seeing the damn barcode and telling someone."
"So how come you're not wearing it now, you got plenty of people over," She looked up from the can, and saw that he was facing her now.
"I've a lot on my mind lately, I never got around to it," he smirked
"Okay fine, you're another fucked up lab rat from Manticore, hooray for you. How do I know that while I'm standing here, wasting my time, talking to you, that Lydecker isn't in a van on street waiting for you to drag me down to him," she didn't return the smirk, this guy still hadn't given her a reason to trust him.
"Because I've hated him even longer then you have, and for some reason twelve years ago you let this fucked up lab rat climb over that fence to freedom and I don't think it would be appropriate to turn my liberator over to the man who tested out his torture devices on me when I was five years old to make sure they were working correctly."
(I let him...) realization dawned on Max "Your-"
"X4-320480617569, at your service,"
The designation didn't mean anything to Max, but his comment from before did.
"It's you," she said quietly, almost whispering,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her face changed as she looked into its eyes.
"It's you," she whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's you," he replied as he had so long ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's you," it whispered back as 452 got off it and backed away a little - holding her gun up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He smirked, "Déjà vu all over again,"
She stared at him in awe. No, this couldn't be him, this couldn't be the scrawny looking boy with long unkempt hair and tattered clothing that she had let climb over the fence back at Manticore. This man was a far cry from that boy; he was tall and muscled, his hair was short and spiky, and he looked healthy and strong. The boy had been sickly and weak..... but boys often grew up, why shouldn't he? His eyes were the same, the same deep blue that had shown so much fear as she held him to the ground waiting for the others to come and take him back to Manticore. Those eyes had gotten her in trouble, when he had escaped the Colonel had punished all the X5's. Now here she was staring at those eyes again and the man that came with them, threatening to get her into trouble again.
"Are you freaking insane," she said suddenly shaking him out of his own observation of how she had changed. Dark, mysterious, beautiful...
"What?" he asked, startled,
"You're Eyes Only? Do you have a death wish or something? We have enough people looking to put us in cages and you decide make enemies with every dumbass with a gun in Seattle."
"Someone has to, why not me?"
"Because one of these days you're going to piss off Lydecker's brother or something and wind up in that cage I mentioned before,"
"I think I can handle myself Max.... but if you're so worried about my health you could always help me,"
"Are you high? I've got people looking to lock me up for the rest of my life, turn me into a science project, or kill me. Probably all three. We both do, in case you haven't noticed. But unlike you, I've managed to drop off the radar screen and I plan to keep it that way." If he wanted to get himself killed that was fine with her, but she wasn't going to risk her life and her freedom for some stupid cause.
"I could help you; thirteen of Manticore's finest, including us two, have ever escaped from that hell hole. So that means that there are eleven X5's out there, surely you must want to talk to one of them,"
"Eleven...." Max paused she hadn't seen any of her siblings since she had fallen under the ice during the escape, she never found out what happened to them, "I never knew how many of us made it out, we got separated right away,"
"I'll help you find them if you agree to help me," Seeing her bothers and sisters again would be good, but being killed for this guy would be bad. (But he's the X4, he's Logan. Doesn't matter, he's insane, fighting for people who wouldn't give him the time of day if they knew what he really was.)
"I already don't like the sound of this,"
"The woman you met, Lauren? She supervised workers removing cortodiazapine from gel caps by hand and replacing it with powdered sugar. Real drug was shipped out of the country. Placebos were distributed to the county V.A. Hospital and veterans' clinics in the area."
"My pal Theo's on that stuff. You've got him scared silly he's going to die."
"Your friend's got reason to worry. Lauren's prepared to testify that she was working for one of Edgar Sonrisa's managers and I'm sure you're aware of the lengths he'll go to keep her quiet."(Here comes the big finally) "I've arranged to put Lauren into witness protection. If you were to go with her..."
"Oh no you don't, I didn't make it this far by looking for trouble,"
"She's put her life on the line and her faith in me,"
"Her first mistake and yours. I still can't believe you would willingly get yourself caught up in this; the risk of exposure is too high. Doing this is just plain stupid. Besides, you're just as revved up as I am. Why can't you go with her?"
"I could, but this is two man job."
"Get your apeman to do it for you, I've heard enough of this crap, I'm out of here," she pushed past and him and made her way to the front door, deciding it wasn't necessary to crash through a window again, as much as she'd like to, just to piss him off.
Logan sighed as he watched her go. He was disappointed and sad to see her go, because even though he knew he could handle taking care of Lauren and Sophie by himself, but it would have comforting to know that someone as fast and powerful as himself had his back. Or at least that was the reason he made himself believe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max rode her bike to work in a daze..... How could so many things go wrong in one night? First all that drama with Logan (dumbass), then Vogelsang turned into a coward and the possibility that manticore was on to her location, and then this morning she found out about Theo.
She couldn't believe it, Theo was dead. He had always been a good friend, he was the one that got her a job at Jam Pony, introduced her to Original Cindy. Some insane part of her wanted to go back to Logan and help him just so that the scumbag responsible for Theo's death could get what he deserved. But Max wasn't that stupid.
She made it to Jam Pony without being hit by any cars, although any mere mortal would have pummeled you'd think the drunk drivers would lay off just a little bit, after all it was only seven in the morning.
"Oh, oh. Lovely of you to join us. Yes, how very lovely." Normal's irritating voice rang out, signifying the beginning of another wonderful freaking day at Jam Pony, "Here, I have a hot run to 842 Beulah. You can tell your pal, Theo, he just got himself fired, all right? Not that he cares, but, you know...his wife and kid might."
She would have ignored him normally, she was used to his of insults, but it wasn't right to talk about Theo like that.
"Theo's dead,"
"Two men are dead and another critically wounded after a shoot-out near the superior court building today." Normal might have tried to say something, but Max didn't hear him, she didn't want to hear his stuttering apologies.
"This dramatic footage was captured by police hover drones," besides the graphic image on the TV screen had caught her attention.
The Jam Pony television old and fuzzy but still the images was clear.
Logan's body guard going down hard.
Lauren running to safety.
Logan grabbing Sophie and running after her.
(You're faster then that you idiot, what are you waiting for, run, go)
And then it happened, there was no sound from the TV - hover drones didn't record sound, but there must have a loud crack right before the bullet pierced Logan's back. Logan stumbled, any normal person would have stopped and fallen to the ground, out for the count, but Logan continued to go, continued to run. Another crack must have rang through the air; another bullet hit him in the back. Logan slowed, but continued to move, continued to try. A bullet ripped through his shoulder, he dropped Sophie. Another hit him in the thigh, he dropped to his knees. Then the final one, another in the back, and he was down on the ground. A faceless man ran across the screen, grabbed Sophie and ran, leaving Logan lying there in his own blood.
The tape ended with the news reporter coming on to the screen, blabbing out the hospital where he was staying. (Great, why don't you just tell the mob boss that did this to him, his room number as well, so that he can finish the job).
No one else in Jam Pony probably even saw how many shots had been fired how many bullets had gone into Logan's body, the tape had been too fast, probably speeded up to spare the public from the gory details. As if they thought public could to be sheltered from dirtiness that surrounded them.
Sketchy's voice cut through the silence.
"Whoa, man did you see that one guy get sh-"
"Shut up" Max cut him off,
"Gotta blaze," she said to no one in particular, getting up and walking over to her bike.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"23 computer hits from one detective browsing Wyoming DMV records from ten years ago. Employment files on health care personnel working in the Gillette area around the same time. He searches prison records for unidentified males and females approximately 18 to 20 years old and you want me to believe its happenstance?" Lydecker glanced over at the two imbeciles sitting across from him. Why were all the people working for him such idiots?
"Since the pulse, there's been how many thousand missing person searches? This could be one of them." Said one of the nameless agents nervously.
"And nothing in those searches connects him with Manticore." The other agent added, as if on cue. Maybe they had rehearsed this little chat before he came into the room, he wouldn't put it past them to do so.
"No. He's trying to track down these kids and we're not going to do anything to get in his way." Lydecker looked back of the photo of a young 452 on the board. For too long he had searched for his kids to no avail, and now he was close to finding one, he could feel it. And nothing, not even his incompetent employees were going to stop him from getting every last one of them back to Manticore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max checked the chart at the end of the bed and rolled her eyes in mild annoyance and amusement.
"'Minor guns shot wounds' you know I don't know whether to be relieved or pissed off that you have friends here. I mean, everybody seems to know who you are. You might as well just turn yourself in to Lydecker right now,"
She stared down at his unconscious form in the bed, as she placed the chart back in its place and walked over to the table by the bed. He looked different when he was asleep, not peaceful or innocent or any of that crap, just different. He looked less worn or stressed or something; she couldn't decide what.
(He looks asleep you idiot, stop overanalyzing everything)
She picked up his wallet and plopped down into the chair next to the bed.
"Nurses beat me to it. Can't say I'm surprised," she smirked as she looked up from the wallet.
"Take a header into the deep end when the pool's empty, you're going to go splat. Law of gravity. And even Jesus Christ himself had to obey the law of gravity...for a while, anyway."
She stopped, frowning now, "The one I feel sorry for is the poor woman with the kid. She should have told you to stick it like I did, but she bought your crap about doing what's right. And just so you know, I don't feel the slightest guilt about not watching her back. That's on you hotshot, one hundred percent,"
She got up and walked over to the window, not surprised to see the sniper on the building across the street.
"Your friends in high places can't protect you forever you know. One day your gonna slip up and get yourself and everyone involved with you killed. I probably ought to let him finish the job. Save Lydecker the trouble and save some innocent people from getting killed on account of some cause that doesn't concern them or you."
She sighed and walked over to the bed pulling it away from the wall. Pushing the bed into the hallway Max wondered why she even cared.
"On the other hand, you did lay that statue on me, which I was able to fence for a couple of bucks. I've been wanting to buy myself a new motorcycle. Thinking about stepping up to a 1200."
There was an explosion behind her; Max kept pushing the bed, not fazed in the slightest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"....The shooter who tried to finish off Logan works for Sonrisa. Surprise, surprise."
Max looked at the mug shot of the man who would have killed Logan if she hadn't come for a little visit, "Bruno Anselmo. Born in 1990, served in Iraq, dishonorable discharge, convicted of armed robbery, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, arson, attempted rape. Your basic Renaissance dirt bag."
"What can we do?" The woman hadn't asked for her husband to die or for her daughter to get kidnapped, or to get involved with this Sonrisa creep in the first place, so against her better judgment Max decided to help her. (You're going soft Max)
She looked up at the women and shrugged "This isn't my regular line of work. I'm making it up as I go,"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heads turned as she walked down the stairs into the party; which was nothing new, heads turned when she walked anywhere really.
"Girl you work that dress," someone said, and she smiled. For once getting noticed would be a good thing, it would lead her straight to where she needed to go.
(Cavalry should be here soon) she thought as she glanced up at the camera on the wall.
(That was quick) Bruno Anselmo, the sleaze, in all his glory came up to her.
"Mr. Sonrisa saw you on the camera. He wants you to come see him."
"I'm on Break," she said,
"Guess again,"
He looked her over, took her arm, and as he led her to wherever Sonrisa was, Max held back the urge to throw up. This guy had tried to kill Logan, he was probably the guy that had shot him in the street in the first place, and now he was staring at her like a piece of meat. She decided that this man was going to pay; she would make sure of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...Quite a mouth on a girl so young. My guess is, talking isn't what it does best."
The man who was responsible for theo's death was hitting on her, she felt sick..... and pissed.
"Only way you're ever going to find out is reincarnation. Fact is, I am going to provide a service and, uh...you are going to pay me. You're going to pay me $50,000."
The ass laughed, he wouldn't be laughing in a minute if he kept it up.
"And I'm going to give you Lauren Bragenza,"
That shut him up, it shut everyone up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(All too easy) Max thought as she pulled herself out of the pool, as the sound of Bruno's car pulling away was heard in the distance. (wish I hadn't gotten all wet though)
She hurried to the pay phone; there wasn't much time this had to be done quickly.
"Yeah?"
"This is your punk ass client..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You...Stop," Max turned; she didn't know what the hell Lydecker was doing here or why. Despite herself she felt a tremor of fear run through her upon hearing his voice, the soldier inside her almost made her snap at attention when he had called to her.
"Put the girl in my car," relief and disgust ran threw her; she had vowed that she would never take orders from him again, and yet here she was.... It didn't matter; there was no time to think about it. She turned and hurried away from him.
"Tac one, what's your status? Do you have her or not?
"Negative," came their garbled reply, "We do not have the subject. Repeat, we do not have the subject."
Lydecker frowned angrily, as the sound of a motorcycle revving, filled the air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max leaned against her motorcycle watching as the Lauren and Sophie embraced.
"Mommy!"
"Sophie!"
For a moment she allowed herself to wonder what it was like, having someone run to you like that. So happy to see you that they forgot about everything, about all the trouble in the world and pain they had suffered through, and to run back to them feeling exactly the same.
But she didn't dwell on those thoughts. Thoughts like that weren't healthy, smart, or safe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"47 people paying $20,000 each to be smuggled into Canada so they could earn enough money to eat...are dead." (this seems familiar) "They were marched overboard last night by their ruthless handlers who operate with the knowledge, support and active collaboration of government officials only too happy to look the other way for a piece of the action." (too familiar, why am I even here?) "This must never happen again. Those responsible are on notice. Their power and privilege will not protect them." (curiosity?) "They will be held accountable. This has been a streaming freedom video bulletin...via the Eyes Only informant net." (remember what they say about curiosity and that cat)"Peace...out." (I'm smarter then your average cat; let's see how this goes)
"See your back at it. Rocking the boat," He turned; he hadn't heard her come in. He needed to work on that.
"Somebody's got to. What did you expect? A few bullets to take down a genetically engineered Manticore killing machine?" He stood up and took a step closer to her, as she was reminded of how tall he was.
"We're not invincible Logan. I was surprised to find out you weren't dead after..."
"Getting shot in the spine a few times? I've dealt with worse pain." he scowled, (if I wanted to be lectured on my physical limitations, I would have stayed at Manticore with the Colonel, he spared no details when it came to telling me all about how much I couldn't do)
"I'm sorry," she said quietly looking up into his eyes. He looked away.
"There was this woman who took me in once, closest thing I ever had to a mother, she used to say 'The universe is right on schedule. Everything happens the way it's supposed to.'"
"You believe that?"
"I've never been much for trying to figure out why bad things happen. I just know they do and innocent people get caught in the middle of it all and are given the job of figuring out how to deal with the consequences, and they shouldn't have to," He paused thinking for a moment and then looked back at her.
"Why are you here? I wake in the hospital in a not-blown-up-room, hear a few stories from the doctors and Lauren and then nothing, thought maybe you'd left town. And now suddenly, three months later you show up. I know the wait at the check points is a bad but I didn't think they were that terrible."
She shrugged "I would have come sooner but..." she smirked "I didn't."
"So have you decided to help me then?"
"Fat chance, I don't go for that whole Robin Hood, save the innocent crap,"
"You've got a funny way of showing it, keeping Lauren safe, taking that son of a bitch Sonrisa out-"
"-Not me personally-"
"Saving that little girl,"
"It wasn't her fault the world turned to shit."
"Exactly, it wasn't anyone's fault except for some selfish terrorist bastards, and yet people are paying the price and getting hurt, while cops and government officials are being happily paid to look the other way."
"And you still think you can do something to change that?"
"With your help,"
"Look Logan, a friend of mine died on account of Sonrisa, that's all."
"Oh, I'm sorry," She looked up, and once again found herself lost in his gaze. He actually cared.
She looked away "yeah, well, these things happen,"
"They shouldn't," he said quietly. He turned to his desk and picked up a box.
"This is for you," he said, giving her the box, "open it."
She looked inside the box and smirked. Bast, the cat god, back where she belonged, back to cause her trouble.
"Ended up on the black market, somehow."
He smiled, and she looked up and smiled back, "thanks,"
He handed her a file, "Joel Solinski. This guy's got a wife with three kids, an ex-wife with two kids, a mistress, and two girlfriends. The wives get houses, the mistress a condo, and everybody gets a car...all on a harbormaster's salary."
She sighed, "I caught the tail end of your hack. The guy's on the take. He's paid to look the other way while the smugglers deep-six their cargo."
"He's made I fortune, as an accessory to murder,"
Max rolled her eyes, "Okay, so the guy's a beast, doesn't mean I have to get involved. You can keep this," she handed him back the statue, "I really don't have anyplace to put it."
He sighed, looking down at the statue, walking over to a cabinet. "You're involved. By being alive, you're involved."
"Whatever-"
"On another matter," he cut her taking another file out of the cabinet, and looked into it, "federal corrections used to keep records on distinguishing marks. Scars...tattoos. I did a search and came up with this: ID-ed as a Michael Hanover, booked for armed robbery nine years ago, he escaped custody after four hours. Hasn't been seen or heard from since."
Max took the file from his hands, and looked down at the picture paper clipped in the corner.
"Zack," she said quietly
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"But Zack-"
"But nothing, a solder fears nothing, now get back in line."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Zack," he said, "I saw him, he yelled at one of the younger X5's, that time, when you came down," He looked at her remembering how she had stared at him, it had been so long since anyone had looked him in the eye, and there she was staring at him, through him.
Max looked up, remembering the first time she'd ever seen him, well his eyes anyway. She didn't remember Zack yelling at anyone, she remembered seeing him through the bars on small window of his cell. He'd fascinated her, he wasn't scary or ugly like the other nomlies.... he was beautiful.
"He called her Johndy," he said, "I didn't know what it meant, the names they called each other, it had always been numbers before that,"
She shrugged "Zack named us, we didn't question him,"
"He was the C.O.?"
"He was more then that, he was our big brother, he took care of us. Can I keep this?"
"Sure," a brother, he wondered what it was like, having family, to know that they're out there somewhere, maybe even looking for you, "just think about that offer I made before. The quid pro quo, it could work out, for both of us,"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I knew it. I always knew Zack was out there somewhere, but you know, just my luck Logan had to be the one to find him. As if my life wasn't crazy enough, now I've got an X4 with delusions of grandeur on my hands. And now he figures I'm going to go and do the right thing because I owe him...like I even care...... still.... it's nice to know..... that I'm not the only one here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wonder if she'll come back. She will, the X5's were a tight group. The way her eyes lit up when she saw that picture of her C.O.... her brother..... you don't give up the chance to find someone that makes your eyes light up like that, at least that's the impression I get from most people. It was nice having her around, even if she was yelling at me for being stupid the whole time.... liked she cared what happened to me....
Warning: there is some graphic descriptions in this, not the worst, but still graphic
I'm going to skip scenes in this, so if you don't know the pilot that well, I suggest you look it up and read it, otherwise it won't make sense
(thought) ~~~~~~~~ scene change, flashback
I've changed some things, hope you don't mind
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Previously in Go:
The stinging cold of the ice against bare feet had long since faded into numbness.
The sounds of dogs barking and the commanding shouts of the Colonel could no longer be heard.
The fence was far behind, and everything familiar had vanished
"My name is....." it hesitated, remembering "Logan," that's what Joshua had called him.
"Logan, huh?" the male said.
"Yes," he replied, "My name is Logan"
"You're a thief?" he asked, giving her a serious look.
"Girl's got to make a living." She replied with a smirk.
"Thank God."
She raised her eyebrows in surprise, "First time I ever heard that one."
"I was expecting someone else."
"Guess it wasn't the pizza delivery guy."
Max resisted blushing and turned to look at him, "Expensive gifts, surprise late-night visits, over-the-top flattery. Do you always come on this strong? "
"Only when I meet someone I have to know everything about." He said as he moved her hair and realized exactly who she was.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
And now chapter three: Building A Mystery
"And now I think I know pretty much everything. Suppose I could help you locate the other ones?" he said slightly backing away from her.
"The other ones?" Max replied turning around and fallowing Logan's lead in making distance between them.
"The other ones like you....." he said "the X5's" he added cautiously unsure of what or who she would consider 'like her'.... he wondered if he was in that category in her mind.... (doubtful, you're a nomlie, remember....)
(......all too well)
"You lost me," alarm bells went off in her head but she displayed no emotions. (assess the situation, this guy knows too much, form escape plan.... don't know how much he knows - he knows about 'the X5's' , that's enough it's time to haul ass out of here..... but the others.... how much does he really know.... I've got to find out)
"Now, come on Max, who are you trying to fool? First I watch you take out a 250-pound ex-cop bodyguard without breaking a sweat. Then I watch you dive headfirst out a window like you're Rocky the flying squirrel." (She hasn't bolted yet, good sign, continue with caution)
"Girls kick ass. Says so on the t-shirt" (could always dive headfirst out another window, but I need to find out how much he knows)
He smiled, but chose to ignore the comment, "Then, I found these in your apartment." He held up the plastic container. He had known instantly what was in the bottle when he found it in her apartment, he knew exactly what a bottle of triptophan looked like - he needed to or he would die. People used to sell the stuff in health food stores as an energy boost, but he didn't need an energy boost..... He had enough trouble sleeping as it was.
"You went through my stuff," (okay I was creeped out before, but this is ridiculous)
"That's when the light bulb went off," he hadn't been surprised when he'd found the triptophan. A majority of the X5's had been born with the same neural condition as him, their condition was less severe then his own, but their seizers had been more frequent. It had pissed the hell out of The Colonel; he was probably embarrassed that he'd made the same mistake twice. He'd had one of the geneticists killed and he had taken out the rest of his anger out on Logan - by beating the shit out of him and using him as a guinea pig for the drugs and surgery they would develop, before trying it out on the X5's.
Max had had enough, "Look, I don't know what kind of game you're playing here, but I'm out, because you're a wack-job"
So had Logan, "Don't play games with me 452,"
That freaked Max out, she hadn't been called her number designation in a long time, and she knew none of her siblings would call her that.... Who the fuck was this guy.... Well, Max wasn't going to wait around to be knocked out and wake up in a lab to find out.
She threw a punch; it hit him square in the jaw. Logan stumbled, he hadn't expected a blow to the face. His face ached, that was dumb, ('expected the unexpected solider'). (Damned voice in my head, can't just shut the hell up)
She threw another punch, but he blocked it. She brought her leg up to kick him, faster than humanly possible, but again her attack was blocked. They backed away from each other, both in the signature Manticore fighting stance.
She studied him, searching for weaknesses, waiting for the bump into a piece of furniture, the faint turn of the head hearing a noise, the slightly off balance step. It didn't come, so she decided to take matters into her own hand. She came at him, a blur of punches and kicks he met her attack, matching her every move, blocking as well as hitting in turn. If Peter or Lauren or anybody who wasn't made in a lab with genetically enhanced vision was to come out into the middle of this battle, all they would only see two dark blurs kicking the crap out of each other.
Caught up in the fight Logan almost allowed himself to forget about the alliance he had been trying to form, it was exhilarating, facing an opponent who could match him blow for blow. He hadn't fought anyone like that for a long time, not since manticore, not since that fateful night when he had been pinned to the ground by the girl he was facing now. The majority of the thugs he had come into contact with over the past few years had usually been all brawn and no brain, thinking steroids and pumping up at the gym could make them powerful. But this women wasn't a thug, or a mob boss, or any of the other usual suspects, this was 452 - the gatekeeper in front of the exit of hell that had let him go anyway. For years he had wondered about the girl and who or what she might have grown up to be and now he knew. She was Max
So why the hell was he fighting her?
Realization came to him, he needed to stop this. He hesitated; she took advantage - kicking him hard, in the gut. He gasped for breath, holding his stomach and stepping back. She backed a way still in soldier mode, waiting for him, ready for a trick or an assault.
"Stop," he gasped.
"Who are you!?!" She yelled
"Max hold on, just listen to me," he gasped again, (damn, that girl can kick.... duh, what did you expect, a hug?)
Max didn't want to wait anymore, she came at him, full force, and ready to knock him out and get the hell out of there. But Logan had gained his breath, and wasn't caught off guard again. He blocked her attack and grabbed her wrists, his grip firm, and pushed her against the nearest solid object - the wall.
"Who the fuck are you?!" Max squirmed, not liking being unable to kick ass and be done with it.
"Just calm down," he said as calmly as a person holding captive a pissed off genetically enhanced super girl could, "I'll let go of you and explain if you calm down and cooperate with me,"
"Let got of me!" she yelled, some secret part of her was panicking, no one could hold her like this, no one.... no normal person could....
"I will," he said "okay, I'll explain everything, just calm down okay?"
She glared at him angrily, she didn't like taking orders, and she especially didn't want to take orders from this guy.
"Let go of me now," she said, her voice dangerously low, sounding almost like a growl.
"Okay," he said quietly, letting go and stepping away quickly. Max rubbed her wrists, eyeing him suspiciously as he moved away from her. He wondered why she hadn't run the moment he let go of her, she wondered as well.
"Just hear me out, okay,"
"Fine," she spat.
"Will you cooperate?" he asked.
"Yeah, whatever,"
She stayed where she was, deciding to listen if only to find out what kind of threat he might pose.
"Okay," he said "I'm going to turn around okay, and I'm going to show you something, alright?"
He looked at her, his hands still up, eyes pleading with her to cooperate. She was standing very straight almost in an attack position but not quite, she would be ready if he tried to pull anything, but still, against her better judgment she nodded. She didn't know why. Maybe it was his eyes. When she looked into them, she felt a little secure and trusting. They were beautiful shade of blue, but she had a sinking feeling that they would cause her trouble. She felt drawn to them, drawn to him.
"Okay" he said quietly to himself as he slowly turned his back to her ("Never turn your back on anyone soldier") The Colonel's voice rang in his ears making him uneasy.
"See that," he said, pointing to the mass of lines on the back of his neck, "barcode - Manticore, just like you."
"But that wasn't there before," she said defiantly. She knew what she had seen. She'd checked the back of his neck; it had been clean - not even a freckle, let alone a barcode.
He took something out of his pocket and threw it back to her. She caught it, effortlessly; it was a round tin can and on lid there was a yellow label, with bright purple lettering on it.
"Madam Ramona's Instant Skin Imperfection Concealer?" she read, slightly amused.
"Good stuff, stays on all day, doesn't sting or burn or anything, it's even waterproof. When I have people over I tend to use it, the last thing I need it someone seeing the damn barcode and telling someone."
"So how come you're not wearing it now, you got plenty of people over," She looked up from the can, and saw that he was facing her now.
"I've a lot on my mind lately, I never got around to it," he smirked
"Okay fine, you're another fucked up lab rat from Manticore, hooray for you. How do I know that while I'm standing here, wasting my time, talking to you, that Lydecker isn't in a van on street waiting for you to drag me down to him," she didn't return the smirk, this guy still hadn't given her a reason to trust him.
"Because I've hated him even longer then you have, and for some reason twelve years ago you let this fucked up lab rat climb over that fence to freedom and I don't think it would be appropriate to turn my liberator over to the man who tested out his torture devices on me when I was five years old to make sure they were working correctly."
(I let him...) realization dawned on Max "Your-"
"X4-320480617569, at your service,"
The designation didn't mean anything to Max, but his comment from before did.
"It's you," she said quietly, almost whispering,
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Her face changed as she looked into its eyes.
"It's you," she whispered.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's you," he replied as he had so long ago.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"It's you," it whispered back as 452 got off it and backed away a little - holding her gun up.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
He smirked, "Déjà vu all over again,"
She stared at him in awe. No, this couldn't be him, this couldn't be the scrawny looking boy with long unkempt hair and tattered clothing that she had let climb over the fence back at Manticore. This man was a far cry from that boy; he was tall and muscled, his hair was short and spiky, and he looked healthy and strong. The boy had been sickly and weak..... but boys often grew up, why shouldn't he? His eyes were the same, the same deep blue that had shown so much fear as she held him to the ground waiting for the others to come and take him back to Manticore. Those eyes had gotten her in trouble, when he had escaped the Colonel had punished all the X5's. Now here she was staring at those eyes again and the man that came with them, threatening to get her into trouble again.
"Are you freaking insane," she said suddenly shaking him out of his own observation of how she had changed. Dark, mysterious, beautiful...
"What?" he asked, startled,
"You're Eyes Only? Do you have a death wish or something? We have enough people looking to put us in cages and you decide make enemies with every dumbass with a gun in Seattle."
"Someone has to, why not me?"
"Because one of these days you're going to piss off Lydecker's brother or something and wind up in that cage I mentioned before,"
"I think I can handle myself Max.... but if you're so worried about my health you could always help me,"
"Are you high? I've got people looking to lock me up for the rest of my life, turn me into a science project, or kill me. Probably all three. We both do, in case you haven't noticed. But unlike you, I've managed to drop off the radar screen and I plan to keep it that way." If he wanted to get himself killed that was fine with her, but she wasn't going to risk her life and her freedom for some stupid cause.
"I could help you; thirteen of Manticore's finest, including us two, have ever escaped from that hell hole. So that means that there are eleven X5's out there, surely you must want to talk to one of them,"
"Eleven...." Max paused she hadn't seen any of her siblings since she had fallen under the ice during the escape, she never found out what happened to them, "I never knew how many of us made it out, we got separated right away,"
"I'll help you find them if you agree to help me," Seeing her bothers and sisters again would be good, but being killed for this guy would be bad. (But he's the X4, he's Logan. Doesn't matter, he's insane, fighting for people who wouldn't give him the time of day if they knew what he really was.)
"I already don't like the sound of this,"
"The woman you met, Lauren? She supervised workers removing cortodiazapine from gel caps by hand and replacing it with powdered sugar. Real drug was shipped out of the country. Placebos were distributed to the county V.A. Hospital and veterans' clinics in the area."
"My pal Theo's on that stuff. You've got him scared silly he's going to die."
"Your friend's got reason to worry. Lauren's prepared to testify that she was working for one of Edgar Sonrisa's managers and I'm sure you're aware of the lengths he'll go to keep her quiet."(Here comes the big finally) "I've arranged to put Lauren into witness protection. If you were to go with her..."
"Oh no you don't, I didn't make it this far by looking for trouble,"
"She's put her life on the line and her faith in me,"
"Her first mistake and yours. I still can't believe you would willingly get yourself caught up in this; the risk of exposure is too high. Doing this is just plain stupid. Besides, you're just as revved up as I am. Why can't you go with her?"
"I could, but this is two man job."
"Get your apeman to do it for you, I've heard enough of this crap, I'm out of here," she pushed past and him and made her way to the front door, deciding it wasn't necessary to crash through a window again, as much as she'd like to, just to piss him off.
Logan sighed as he watched her go. He was disappointed and sad to see her go, because even though he knew he could handle taking care of Lauren and Sophie by himself, but it would have comforting to know that someone as fast and powerful as himself had his back. Or at least that was the reason he made himself believe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max rode her bike to work in a daze..... How could so many things go wrong in one night? First all that drama with Logan (dumbass), then Vogelsang turned into a coward and the possibility that manticore was on to her location, and then this morning she found out about Theo.
She couldn't believe it, Theo was dead. He had always been a good friend, he was the one that got her a job at Jam Pony, introduced her to Original Cindy. Some insane part of her wanted to go back to Logan and help him just so that the scumbag responsible for Theo's death could get what he deserved. But Max wasn't that stupid.
She made it to Jam Pony without being hit by any cars, although any mere mortal would have pummeled you'd think the drunk drivers would lay off just a little bit, after all it was only seven in the morning.
"Oh, oh. Lovely of you to join us. Yes, how very lovely." Normal's irritating voice rang out, signifying the beginning of another wonderful freaking day at Jam Pony, "Here, I have a hot run to 842 Beulah. You can tell your pal, Theo, he just got himself fired, all right? Not that he cares, but, you know...his wife and kid might."
She would have ignored him normally, she was used to his of insults, but it wasn't right to talk about Theo like that.
"Theo's dead,"
"Two men are dead and another critically wounded after a shoot-out near the superior court building today." Normal might have tried to say something, but Max didn't hear him, she didn't want to hear his stuttering apologies.
"This dramatic footage was captured by police hover drones," besides the graphic image on the TV screen had caught her attention.
The Jam Pony television old and fuzzy but still the images was clear.
Logan's body guard going down hard.
Lauren running to safety.
Logan grabbing Sophie and running after her.
(You're faster then that you idiot, what are you waiting for, run, go)
And then it happened, there was no sound from the TV - hover drones didn't record sound, but there must have a loud crack right before the bullet pierced Logan's back. Logan stumbled, any normal person would have stopped and fallen to the ground, out for the count, but Logan continued to go, continued to run. Another crack must have rang through the air; another bullet hit him in the back. Logan slowed, but continued to move, continued to try. A bullet ripped through his shoulder, he dropped Sophie. Another hit him in the thigh, he dropped to his knees. Then the final one, another in the back, and he was down on the ground. A faceless man ran across the screen, grabbed Sophie and ran, leaving Logan lying there in his own blood.
The tape ended with the news reporter coming on to the screen, blabbing out the hospital where he was staying. (Great, why don't you just tell the mob boss that did this to him, his room number as well, so that he can finish the job).
No one else in Jam Pony probably even saw how many shots had been fired how many bullets had gone into Logan's body, the tape had been too fast, probably speeded up to spare the public from the gory details. As if they thought public could to be sheltered from dirtiness that surrounded them.
Sketchy's voice cut through the silence.
"Whoa, man did you see that one guy get sh-"
"Shut up" Max cut him off,
"Gotta blaze," she said to no one in particular, getting up and walking over to her bike.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"23 computer hits from one detective browsing Wyoming DMV records from ten years ago. Employment files on health care personnel working in the Gillette area around the same time. He searches prison records for unidentified males and females approximately 18 to 20 years old and you want me to believe its happenstance?" Lydecker glanced over at the two imbeciles sitting across from him. Why were all the people working for him such idiots?
"Since the pulse, there's been how many thousand missing person searches? This could be one of them." Said one of the nameless agents nervously.
"And nothing in those searches connects him with Manticore." The other agent added, as if on cue. Maybe they had rehearsed this little chat before he came into the room, he wouldn't put it past them to do so.
"No. He's trying to track down these kids and we're not going to do anything to get in his way." Lydecker looked back of the photo of a young 452 on the board. For too long he had searched for his kids to no avail, and now he was close to finding one, he could feel it. And nothing, not even his incompetent employees were going to stop him from getting every last one of them back to Manticore.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max checked the chart at the end of the bed and rolled her eyes in mild annoyance and amusement.
"'Minor guns shot wounds' you know I don't know whether to be relieved or pissed off that you have friends here. I mean, everybody seems to know who you are. You might as well just turn yourself in to Lydecker right now,"
She stared down at his unconscious form in the bed, as she placed the chart back in its place and walked over to the table by the bed. He looked different when he was asleep, not peaceful or innocent or any of that crap, just different. He looked less worn or stressed or something; she couldn't decide what.
(He looks asleep you idiot, stop overanalyzing everything)
She picked up his wallet and plopped down into the chair next to the bed.
"Nurses beat me to it. Can't say I'm surprised," she smirked as she looked up from the wallet.
"Take a header into the deep end when the pool's empty, you're going to go splat. Law of gravity. And even Jesus Christ himself had to obey the law of gravity...for a while, anyway."
She stopped, frowning now, "The one I feel sorry for is the poor woman with the kid. She should have told you to stick it like I did, but she bought your crap about doing what's right. And just so you know, I don't feel the slightest guilt about not watching her back. That's on you hotshot, one hundred percent,"
She got up and walked over to the window, not surprised to see the sniper on the building across the street.
"Your friends in high places can't protect you forever you know. One day your gonna slip up and get yourself and everyone involved with you killed. I probably ought to let him finish the job. Save Lydecker the trouble and save some innocent people from getting killed on account of some cause that doesn't concern them or you."
She sighed and walked over to the bed pulling it away from the wall. Pushing the bed into the hallway Max wondered why she even cared.
"On the other hand, you did lay that statue on me, which I was able to fence for a couple of bucks. I've been wanting to buy myself a new motorcycle. Thinking about stepping up to a 1200."
There was an explosion behind her; Max kept pushing the bed, not fazed in the slightest.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"....The shooter who tried to finish off Logan works for Sonrisa. Surprise, surprise."
Max looked at the mug shot of the man who would have killed Logan if she hadn't come for a little visit, "Bruno Anselmo. Born in 1990, served in Iraq, dishonorable discharge, convicted of armed robbery, assault, assault with a deadly weapon, arson, attempted rape. Your basic Renaissance dirt bag."
"What can we do?" The woman hadn't asked for her husband to die or for her daughter to get kidnapped, or to get involved with this Sonrisa creep in the first place, so against her better judgment Max decided to help her. (You're going soft Max)
She looked up at the women and shrugged "This isn't my regular line of work. I'm making it up as I go,"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Heads turned as she walked down the stairs into the party; which was nothing new, heads turned when she walked anywhere really.
"Girl you work that dress," someone said, and she smiled. For once getting noticed would be a good thing, it would lead her straight to where she needed to go.
(Cavalry should be here soon) she thought as she glanced up at the camera on the wall.
(That was quick) Bruno Anselmo, the sleaze, in all his glory came up to her.
"Mr. Sonrisa saw you on the camera. He wants you to come see him."
"I'm on Break," she said,
"Guess again,"
He looked her over, took her arm, and as he led her to wherever Sonrisa was, Max held back the urge to throw up. This guy had tried to kill Logan, he was probably the guy that had shot him in the street in the first place, and now he was staring at her like a piece of meat. She decided that this man was going to pay; she would make sure of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"...Quite a mouth on a girl so young. My guess is, talking isn't what it does best."
The man who was responsible for theo's death was hitting on her, she felt sick..... and pissed.
"Only way you're ever going to find out is reincarnation. Fact is, I am going to provide a service and, uh...you are going to pay me. You're going to pay me $50,000."
The ass laughed, he wouldn't be laughing in a minute if he kept it up.
"And I'm going to give you Lauren Bragenza,"
That shut him up, it shut everyone up. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
(All too easy) Max thought as she pulled herself out of the pool, as the sound of Bruno's car pulling away was heard in the distance. (wish I hadn't gotten all wet though)
She hurried to the pay phone; there wasn't much time this had to be done quickly.
"Yeah?"
"This is your punk ass client..."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"You...Stop," Max turned; she didn't know what the hell Lydecker was doing here or why. Despite herself she felt a tremor of fear run through her upon hearing his voice, the soldier inside her almost made her snap at attention when he had called to her.
"Put the girl in my car," relief and disgust ran threw her; she had vowed that she would never take orders from him again, and yet here she was.... It didn't matter; there was no time to think about it. She turned and hurried away from him.
"Tac one, what's your status? Do you have her or not?
"Negative," came their garbled reply, "We do not have the subject. Repeat, we do not have the subject."
Lydecker frowned angrily, as the sound of a motorcycle revving, filled the air.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Max leaned against her motorcycle watching as the Lauren and Sophie embraced.
"Mommy!"
"Sophie!"
For a moment she allowed herself to wonder what it was like, having someone run to you like that. So happy to see you that they forgot about everything, about all the trouble in the world and pain they had suffered through, and to run back to them feeling exactly the same.
But she didn't dwell on those thoughts. Thoughts like that weren't healthy, smart, or safe.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"47 people paying $20,000 each to be smuggled into Canada so they could earn enough money to eat...are dead." (this seems familiar) "They were marched overboard last night by their ruthless handlers who operate with the knowledge, support and active collaboration of government officials only too happy to look the other way for a piece of the action." (too familiar, why am I even here?) "This must never happen again. Those responsible are on notice. Their power and privilege will not protect them." (curiosity?) "They will be held accountable. This has been a streaming freedom video bulletin...via the Eyes Only informant net." (remember what they say about curiosity and that cat)"Peace...out." (I'm smarter then your average cat; let's see how this goes)
"See your back at it. Rocking the boat," He turned; he hadn't heard her come in. He needed to work on that.
"Somebody's got to. What did you expect? A few bullets to take down a genetically engineered Manticore killing machine?" He stood up and took a step closer to her, as she was reminded of how tall he was.
"We're not invincible Logan. I was surprised to find out you weren't dead after..."
"Getting shot in the spine a few times? I've dealt with worse pain." he scowled, (if I wanted to be lectured on my physical limitations, I would have stayed at Manticore with the Colonel, he spared no details when it came to telling me all about how much I couldn't do)
"I'm sorry," she said quietly looking up into his eyes. He looked away.
"There was this woman who took me in once, closest thing I ever had to a mother, she used to say 'The universe is right on schedule. Everything happens the way it's supposed to.'"
"You believe that?"
"I've never been much for trying to figure out why bad things happen. I just know they do and innocent people get caught in the middle of it all and are given the job of figuring out how to deal with the consequences, and they shouldn't have to," He paused thinking for a moment and then looked back at her.
"Why are you here? I wake in the hospital in a not-blown-up-room, hear a few stories from the doctors and Lauren and then nothing, thought maybe you'd left town. And now suddenly, three months later you show up. I know the wait at the check points is a bad but I didn't think they were that terrible."
She shrugged "I would have come sooner but..." she smirked "I didn't."
"So have you decided to help me then?"
"Fat chance, I don't go for that whole Robin Hood, save the innocent crap,"
"You've got a funny way of showing it, keeping Lauren safe, taking that son of a bitch Sonrisa out-"
"-Not me personally-"
"Saving that little girl,"
"It wasn't her fault the world turned to shit."
"Exactly, it wasn't anyone's fault except for some selfish terrorist bastards, and yet people are paying the price and getting hurt, while cops and government officials are being happily paid to look the other way."
"And you still think you can do something to change that?"
"With your help,"
"Look Logan, a friend of mine died on account of Sonrisa, that's all."
"Oh, I'm sorry," She looked up, and once again found herself lost in his gaze. He actually cared.
She looked away "yeah, well, these things happen,"
"They shouldn't," he said quietly. He turned to his desk and picked up a box.
"This is for you," he said, giving her the box, "open it."
She looked inside the box and smirked. Bast, the cat god, back where she belonged, back to cause her trouble.
"Ended up on the black market, somehow."
He smiled, and she looked up and smiled back, "thanks,"
He handed her a file, "Joel Solinski. This guy's got a wife with three kids, an ex-wife with two kids, a mistress, and two girlfriends. The wives get houses, the mistress a condo, and everybody gets a car...all on a harbormaster's salary."
She sighed, "I caught the tail end of your hack. The guy's on the take. He's paid to look the other way while the smugglers deep-six their cargo."
"He's made I fortune, as an accessory to murder,"
Max rolled her eyes, "Okay, so the guy's a beast, doesn't mean I have to get involved. You can keep this," she handed him back the statue, "I really don't have anyplace to put it."
He sighed, looking down at the statue, walking over to a cabinet. "You're involved. By being alive, you're involved."
"Whatever-"
"On another matter," he cut her taking another file out of the cabinet, and looked into it, "federal corrections used to keep records on distinguishing marks. Scars...tattoos. I did a search and came up with this: ID-ed as a Michael Hanover, booked for armed robbery nine years ago, he escaped custody after four hours. Hasn't been seen or heard from since."
Max took the file from his hands, and looked down at the picture paper clipped in the corner.
"Zack," she said quietly
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"But Zack-"
"But nothing, a solder fears nothing, now get back in line."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Zack," he said, "I saw him, he yelled at one of the younger X5's, that time, when you came down," He looked at her remembering how she had stared at him, it had been so long since anyone had looked him in the eye, and there she was staring at him, through him.
Max looked up, remembering the first time she'd ever seen him, well his eyes anyway. She didn't remember Zack yelling at anyone, she remembered seeing him through the bars on small window of his cell. He'd fascinated her, he wasn't scary or ugly like the other nomlies.... he was beautiful.
"He called her Johndy," he said, "I didn't know what it meant, the names they called each other, it had always been numbers before that,"
She shrugged "Zack named us, we didn't question him,"
"He was the C.O.?"
"He was more then that, he was our big brother, he took care of us. Can I keep this?"
"Sure," a brother, he wondered what it was like, having family, to know that they're out there somewhere, maybe even looking for you, "just think about that offer I made before. The quid pro quo, it could work out, for both of us,"
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I knew it. I always knew Zack was out there somewhere, but you know, just my luck Logan had to be the one to find him. As if my life wasn't crazy enough, now I've got an X4 with delusions of grandeur on my hands. And now he figures I'm going to go and do the right thing because I owe him...like I even care...... still.... it's nice to know..... that I'm not the only one here.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
I wonder if she'll come back. She will, the X5's were a tight group. The way her eyes lit up when she saw that picture of her C.O.... her brother..... you don't give up the chance to find someone that makes your eyes light up like that, at least that's the impression I get from most people. It was nice having her around, even if she was yelling at me for being stupid the whole time.... liked she cared what happened to me....