Disclaimer: The usual applies.
A/N: Many thanks to alaidh and catherder for the beta.
Chapter 10
Max sat in one of the hard wooden kitchen chairs, a dishtowel over her shoulder, and stared out of the grimy kitchen window at the gray sky. It was a typical late winter's day – cool and overcast. Perfect weather for what Lydecker planned, provided he didn't expect help from a weather satellite. Too much moon was certainly not going to be a problem.
They had spent two days on preparation and on just keeping busy. Syl and Krit had cleared a path across the yard for Logan, who could now freely come and go from the house. Zack and Alec had taken another drive into town and managed to bring the Aztek back with them. It wouldn't be used on the raid, but at least it meant that they wouldn't have any problems getting home when the time came. They had also left Beverly's car parked on a side street. Logan had called her and told her where she could find it. Being a Seattle ME, it wasn't hard for Beverly to get out of the city.
Max put her feet up on another chair and leaned back comfortably for a few minutes, enjoying the peace of the morning. She could see Alec and Krit installing equipment in the interior of a dark-colored van. They had the back off a large device and were peering into the workings. There was a pair of hand-held radios on the table. One suddenly crackled to life and Krit's voice came through loud and clear.
"Max, can you hear me?"
"Loud and clear. Looks like you got it working again."
"Yeah, for sure. Out."
Max gave a small smile and left the radio on the table. She tossed the dishtowel over to the sink, and walked inside. "Can I come in?" she asked, knocking on the bathroom door.
"Sure." Logan reached back and unlocked the door. She squeezed past him and sat on the closed lid of the toilet. It had taken several months for Logan to get over his embarrassment at having someone other than Bling witness his bathroom rituals. He had blushed bright red the first time Max had walked in on him, and since that time, Max had always made a point of knocking first. On this occasion, however, he was just packing away a tube of toothpaste in the small zip-topped toiletries bag he carried in his backpack.
"Mind if I use some toothpaste?" Max asked, picking up a new toothbrush from the sink.
"Go ahead."
"They fixed the radio, by the way."
"Looks like we're good to go for tonight."
"Yeah."
Max stood up and leaned over the sink, studying Logan's face in the mirror as she brushed her teeth. He looked strained – tired. His eyes were red-rimmed and his usual scruff was fast becoming a full beard. None of them had slept much in the last few days, and Logan, when he had slept, had had his rest interrupted by a series of nightmares. Either Max had woken him when he started to thrash, or he had woken himself. The tension of waiting had taken its toll on all of them.
Zack had spent most of his time closeted with Lydecker, putting together a detailed plan, while Alec, Syl, and Krit had checked and rechecked equipment and come and gone on various errands, leaving Logan to his computer and Max feeling almost completely useless. It was frustrating to Max that the other X5s were treating her like an invalid. She had helped with checking the gear and packing it securely, even with cleaning guns (much as she hated to handle them), and as a last resort, had attempted to repair the exoskeleton, but the burnt out circuit and damaged board had defied her efforts and she eventually just packed it into the back of the Aztek – out of sight, out of mind.
"Max?" Logan's voice brought her back to the present. She had spaced so long that even he had noticed. "Are you with us?"
"Hmmm?" She finished brushing, rinsed the brush and her mouth and handed it to him to put in the bag.
*~*~*~
Logan braced himself against the metal table in the back of the van, holding on tight with both hands. The laptop slid alarmingly. He wedged it between his chest and the bolted down radio, regretting the bad decision that had made him get it out so soon. The engine of the van strained as it bumped up the dirt track, the occasional branch swishing along the roof and sides, until they reached the designated rendezvous. It was a relief to stop. He heard the other vehicles pull up behind them. Max flung open the sliding door, making him start.
"Hey, you okay in there?"
"Yeah, sure," Logan replied, hands flying over the keyboard.
There was a frisson of electricity in the air outside the van. Lydecker crouched on the ground beside the doorway, lighting the diagram of the facility with a torch, and going over the plan one last time, while Logan hacked into the system and set up the fake camera feeds.
"Okay, I'm done," Logan said over his shoulder. "I've disabled the security system and set up the fake camera feeds. You'll be invisible to them." He released his brakes and turned to face the doorway, maneuvering cautiously in the cramped confines of the van. Just getting in had been a nightmare. He had stubbornly refused any assistance. Max and Alec had both rolled their eyes but left him to it. They hadn't even watched as he grabbed the doorframe and pulled himself awkwardly up.
Lydecker nodded curtly and continued his dialogue, while Logan again pivoted and sat in the doorway facing out. Max, leaning against the van, reached up a hand for his and squeezed for a moment, her mind drifting back to another time and place – before another mission.
"I know you're not too chill with what's going on tonight and I thank you for keeping your concerns to yourself. It's a bitch psyching yourself up for battle when people are throwing around words like 'deathwatch.'"
"Well, I think I know you well enough by now. There's no stopping you if there's something you need to do, especially when it comes to your family."
"You're my family as much as anyone, only we're never going to be any kind of anything if it keeps on like this."
"I know."
"One way or another, after tomorrow the world's going to be a different place for me, for both of us."
"Everything's going to be all right."
Max's head screamed at her. It wasn't all right at all, not then. This time? Well, I'm not going in, am I? I can only hope it'll all work out. She wondered briefly if the others had similar thoughts. The faces were grim, almost expressionless. Even Alec looked serious. She wondered at his willingness to stay and help out and then realized that he did care, that he wasn't as flaky as he often appeared; he had a past he'd rather forget as well. She forgot that sometimes. He'd been there longer than any of them.
"Jackson will liaise with you at the lookout point," Lydecker was saying. "He and Morrison will stay there. Zack and Alec – will go in the front. Syl, Krit – are you ready to take the back door?"
"We're good to go," responded Syl, adjusting the straps on her backpack. She carried an assortment of gear that they'd need to climb over the wall and breach the rear doors in order to set up a diversion, if it was required. Otherwise, they were just there to guide people out of the building.
"Okay, move on out, people. Time is wasting." Lydecker and Max watched the two teams go. Max marveled at Lydecker's stony expression, devoid of all emotion – the man was totally under control. She turned away to find Logan offering his hand to help her up into the van. For once, Max didn't bat it away, but gripped his fingers and lightly stepped up. Logan looked at her in surprise for a moment, then turned his attention back to the computer screen. A few minutes later, Zack's voice came through his headset. "We're goin' in. You ready to guide us through?"
"I'm ready, Zack."
"And so am I," added Max, donning her own headset.
Lydecker climbed in and slid the door shut. He grabbed a third headset and settled in the chair on Logan's left.
"We're knockin' on the back door." Syl's voice came through loud and clear. Logan quickly switched cameras to catch Syl and Krit at the rear – Krit dealing with the door lock.
"Logan, we're at the main corridor. Can you override the locks so we can get in?" Alec's voice was crisp – efficient.
Logan's fingers flew. "You're in. Hit the switch." Logan zoomed the camera in both directions along the corridor and saw Alec's satisfied grin as the reinforced glass and steel security door slid open. Zack could be seen putting the final touches to trussing up a guard. His final move was to drag the man's inert body out of sight behind the security desk. His presence would be missed, but with luck, there would be a big enough window of opportunity between patrols for them to get the job done.
Logan scanned the passages ahead of them, checking the side entrances and crossing hallways. "Unfriendlies, second corridor on the right, 'bout half way down."
"What're they doing?" Alec asked.
"Having a meeting," Max grinned faintly.
"Talking outside a door." Logan's mouth twitched at Max's response.
"Syl, Krit?"
"We're in the kitchen," Krit responded. His voice sounded strangely muffled.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing," responded Syl. "He's stuffing his face."
"Krit, get your mind on the job," Lydecker interrupted.
"Okay, we're at the storeroom. We'll have the charges ready in a few minutes."
"Good," said Lydecker. "As soon as you're done, get upstairs and help out Alec and Zack."
Krit tossed his apple-core into a convenient trashcan and wiped his hands on his pants. Syl rolled her eyes. "Come on, Porky, gotta roll."
*~*~*~
"Logan, what're they doing now?" Alec whispered into the headset.
"Still yapping," Logan responded. It was the faintest hint of a joke. "Wait. One of them's gone back in. The other is headed your way."
Alec nodded at Zack and slipped off his backpack. As the man stepped into the corridor, Alec grabbed his arm and sent him flying into the wall opposite. His head connected – hard – and he slumped to the floor, out cold.
"One down," Zack said into the mic. "Logan, how's it look up ahead?"
Logan hit a few keys and scanned the next couple of corridors, while in a smaller window he watched Alec strip the man laid out on the floor of his white coat and put it on himself. "Nice disguise, Alec," commented Max.
"I'm the chameleon," he responded. "Watch me vanish."
"All clear, Zack," interjected Logan, wondering briefly if things weren't going too smoothly so far.
Alec and Zack turned at the second corridor, which was the designated location of the first group of female transgenics in the building, according to earlier investigations. They almost immediately found the passage blocked by a steel security gate, located in the blind spot between two cameras. "Logan, got another door here. Can you open it?" Zack asked.
"Give me a…"
Zack grinned as the gate swung open and flashed into view. Alec had found a security swipe-card in the pocket of the coat. "Never mind – we're in."
"Looks like I'm redundant, you gotta key."
"Syl, Krit, check in," grated Lydecker.
"We're in corridor D17 approaching the fire stairs."
Logan's fingers flew over the keyboard, changing the view on the monitor yet again. He was just in time to see Alec enter a side room, then managed to swap to the camera inside the room. Alec officiously walked up to a male on duty. Logan heard him say suspiciously, "Who are…" before Alec knocked him out with a quick swipe of his fist.
"Your worst nightmare, kid," Alec responded to the inert form.
Zack slammed open an internal glass security door. "Okay, ladies, up and at 'em!"
There was a collective stirring of heads from the ten or so beds in the room, then a voice said from the back, "We're handcuffed to the beds."
Zack looked at the roomful of expectant faces and thought, Oh hell! "Alec, need your help here."
"Zack, what's up?" Max asked. The microphone hadn't picked up what had been said.
"They got 'em handcuffed to the beds."
Logan and Max exchanged concerned looks.
"No keys," said Alec, frisking down the guard-cum-nurse. He shrugged at Zack. "This is gonna take awhile the old-fashioned way."
"Syl, Krit, we need you up here now!" Zack's tone was urgent.
"Nearly there," Syl replied.
Max half-turned her swiveling chair, looking toward the door of the van. Logan and Lydecker both looked at her. "What's the matter?" Logan asked.
"Thought I heard something."
"They knew we were coming," Lydecker stated matter-of-factly.
Max and Logan both looked at him aghast.
"Alec, Zack, Syl, Krit – abort!"
"What's the matter?" Zack asked urgently.
"It's a trap. Get out of there, Zack." Max's tone was grim. She flinched as the van door was flung open.