Disclaimer: Same applies.
A/N: Many thanks to alaidh and catherder for the beta. Stick with me now, coz we're in the home stretch – just a couple of chapters to go.
Chapter 11
Logan hit a single key on the computer, severing the satellite link, and half turned to face whatever came in the door. Max swung around and up onto her feet, her elbow connecting hard with the first man in the door. He collapsed to the ground outside the van with a gasp. She wasn't so lucky with the second. He hit her with a blast from his taser that sent her flying back into the table.
"Max!" Logan was reaching for his gun, but he was too late. Two more men boarded the vehicle, one holding a gun to Lydecker's head even as he reached to free his weapon, and the other knocking Logan out with a quick blow to the side of the head.
Max came around a few minutes later to find herself securely tied to a chair. She shook her head and looked around, seeing Logan still unconscious in his wheelchair and Lydecker, also tied to his chair, watching her with shrewd blue eyes. She ignored Lydecker and concentrated all her strength and energy on one heave in an attempt to break her bonds. The plastic ties bit into her flesh painfully, but held for the time being, although she thought they might have stretched a little. They had not only tied her hands together behind her back, but also to the stem that held the seat back. They had, however, left her legs free, and she reached out a toe and kicked at the wheelchair, trying to get Logan's attention. "Wake up!" She waited hopefully. "Hey, wake up!" She gave the chair a harder kick. This time it creaked and rocked slightly. Logan's eyes slowly opened.
"Well, this is another fine mess you've gotten us into, Stanley," Max smiled at him ironically.
Logan winced and attempted to straighten up – no easy matter with his hands tied behind his back.
"Anybody got any thoughts on how we can get outta here?" Max asked. Logan shook his head in response, while Lydecker maintained his stony silence. Max was slowly working at her bonds, gradually stretching the tight bands of plastic, but it was tough going, even for her.
The door of the van slid open and all three turned their heads toward the sound. "Well, what do we have here?" the speaker smiled coldly. "How are you doing, Don? Sorry you didn't join us now?"
Lydecker snorted derisively. "I'll never join your little group, and you know it."
The intruder was a trim guy in his late forties with curly light brown hair, and dressed in fatigues. He stood alertly just outside the van, out of range of Max's feet, studying the three of them with cold blue eyes. "I must say, I never expected to find you in company with a cripple and a breeder." Max winced at the description and glanced briefly at Logan, who was staring at the man impassively. She knew from experience that he didn't really care what anyone said about him, but as soon as they passed a comment about her, his blood pressure started to rise.
"You won't win," stated Lydecker firmly.
"Really? My team is already rounding up your strike team inside the building."
"Yeah, right." Max's tone was heavily sarcastic.
"Sorry we missed you in the market the other day. I believe you and your friend put on quite an impressive display. You'd have been spared a lot of discomfort if you'd come along quietly."
Max rolled her eyes. "Who the hell are you?"
The man nodded at Logan. "I take it you're the one who hacked into our system. That was good work." Logan's face remained expressionless. "Pity it was all for nothing."
"If you say so," responded Lydecker.
The door slid shut again, and the three of them were alone once more. "You have such nice friends," commented Max dryly.
"He was never a friend of mine," Lydecker responded, his loathing rising to the surface.
"Who is he, exactly?" asked Logan finally.
"Name's Reid. Formerly of Manticore. He's one of Renfro's pets from across the country."
"Ah, now that explains his bubbly," Max grunted, "light-hearted," she continued, "personality." Max's shoulders heaved for a third and final time, and she finally extracted her hands from behind her, shaking them to restore circulation and giving a triumphant grin. There were bleeding strips on her wrists where she'd forced her hands apart, stretching the plastic ties. Logan frowned at the sight, but didn't comment, as Max seemed totally unconcerned. All she did was rub her wrists and say, "They gotta get a better supplier for those things. The one they're usin' just ain't cuttin' it." She raised an eyebrow. "Either of you got a knife?"
"Front right pocket," responded Lydecker. "On the keychain."
"They left you your keys? Tsk tsk, how inefficient."
Max stood up quickly and almost immediately put out a hand for support as she was assailed by a wave of dizziness. She found the edge of the table and stood there swaying, her face drained of color. Logan caught the change and asked, immediately concerned, "You okay?"
She closed her eyes and nodded, choking back the bile that threatened to erupt. "I'm fine…just got up too quickly."
Logan wasn't appeased by her words – he still looked at her in concern. She ignored him and stuck a hand into Lydecker's pocket, coming up with a large bunch of keys on a metal ring. She quickly sorted out a small Swiss Army Knife from the bunch and opened out the blade.
She was standing behind Logan, hacking away at the tough plastic wrapped around his wrists, when they all heard the distant sound of a small explosion and some desultory gunfire. It sharpened her resolution and she quickly sawed through the plastic.
*~*~*~
Zack and Alec blurred along the corridor with one of the female transgenics they had already released from her bonds – a tall, striking ash-blonde with lightly freckled skin. They'd left one of the others to deal with the remainder and were now in a race against time to save the babies. The threat had been made to gas them all if any of the females attempted to escape, and Cassie didn't believe that was an idle threat.
*~*~*~
Original Cindy jerked awake in bed, feeling suddenly afraid. The previous afternoon, every second messenger had asked her about Max, and even Normal had asked after her sistah-girl. She didn't have any answers for them. Cindy gave up trying to sleep and made a cup of coffee. She stood beside the big picture windows in the living room of the apartment, looking out at the darkness.
*~*~*~
Cassie launched herself at the locked door of the nursery, bursting the lock. The babies were unattended, and gas was already pouring out of a vent in the ceiling. There was no time for finesse. The three of them started roughly shoving the dozen or so plastic cribs out into the hall, pushing them away from the creeping death.
"This all there is?" Alec asked, as the last squalling infant, a tiny baby labeled 498A on a card taped to the top of the crib, made it outside.
"Yeah," answered Cassie, shutting the door behind them as best she could on buckled hinges. "For a breeding program, they sure haven't had much success so far."
"Certainly looks that way." Alec snickered and rubbed his chest, remembering Max's reaction to another "breeding" program, then he lifted one of the doors into place, sealing the gap a bit more.
A group of freed X-series females rounded the corner, while Syl and Krit arrived from the opposite end of the corridor.
"We need to blow this joint before they start cauterizing," Syl said seriously.
*~*~*~
Max stood on Logan's lap, peering out through the air vent in the ceiling of the van. She'd tried the table first, but had been at full stretch in order to get close enough to push the vent up. There wasn't much she could see – it was dark and her view was straight over the roof of the van, but she could at least hear some of what transpired outside.
She had heard a series of smaller bangs that seemed to come from the direction of the complex. "Sounds like they're blowing the place up," she said quietly, concern etched into every feature. She tuned her hearing, picking out Reid's voice – shouting.
"…I don't care what they did! Lock it down! Now!"
"Oh boy, he sure is pissed," she commented. She shifted her weight, wobbling on her precarious perch. Logan tightened his grip on her legs, steadying her. "You okay down there?" she asked softly.
"Fine."
Max released her grip on the lip of the air vent, put a hand on Logan's shoulder and awkwardly stepped down.
"What's the plan, boys?" she asked, feeling more confident.
*~*~*~
Max quietly slid the van door open and quickly wrapped an arm around the guard outside, dropping him gently to the ground, unconscious. She gestured for Lydecker to get down. Lydecker disarmed the guard, quickly disappearing behind the van and into the woods. Her presence outside the van was quickly noticed, despite the silence of her exit. Three "soldiers" came running. Sorry, baby, this is gonna be a rough ride, she thought, crouching into a fighting stance. Two of the men closed with her, while the third made the mistake of getting too close to the van. Logan launched himself out the doorway, wheelchair and all, bringing him to the ground with a bone-jarring thud, the wheelchair tumbling down on top of them. The soldier immediately tried to heave him off. Logan leaned forward, an arm across his opponent's shoulders and pulled his right arm behind him, bending it up – painfully judging by the grunt – and effectively immobilizing him for the present.
Max still had her hands full with the other two. She could feel that her coordination was off – almost as if she hadn't completely shaken her earlier dizziness. Logan was helpless to do anything but watch as she reeled under a couple of blows, but then she seemed to rally. She threw one of her opponents in a high arc behind her and knocked the other flying with a hard right, then spun around, fist held high, feeling a third presence behind her.
"Hey, Max, it's only me," quipped Alec, putting out a restraining hand to stop her. "There's no need to get violent."
She relaxed her stance and looked around her. The clearing was suddenly full of transgenics: pregnant and not so pregnant females, mothers with babies (including one with a twin held in each arm). Zack was on his knees trussing Logan's prisoner, while Logan was righting the wheelchair and preparing to climb back in. Max watched him shove the seat cushion into position and roughly lock the brakes with his fist. She caught his eye and was rewarded with smile and a shrug in response. "Those jet thrusters came in handy, Superman," she called.
He shrugged again. "You're the superhero, I'm the sidekick…"
Zack looked up and caught the by-play, initially scowling but then smiling to himself. Max looked around as the others cleaned up, taking a quick inventory. Lydecker was still missing, but his two men, Morrison and Jackson, had two men under guard beside the bus. Syl and Krit were also not present, but a short broadcast on Zack's two-way radio announced that they were heading out of the facility and would be with them in a few minutes.
Alec had one of Max's "victims" on his stomach and was making use of the man's own restraints on him.
A single loud shot rang out from close by. Every head turned in the direction of the sound. That's when the reaction hit Max. She felt her vision close in and put a hand on Alec's shoulder to steady herself as a wave of dizziness swept over her. Her stomach rebelled.
"Whoa, Max," Alec looked up at her curiously, sensing the change as she leaned on him. "Logan!" Alec's call was none too soon, as Max bent over and the contents of her stomach hit the ground. Alec was appalled, and Logan looked across in alarm, seeing Alec supporting a doubled-over Max as she held his shoulder for support. Logan completed the transfer in record time, and quickly trundled across. He became aware that dawn was approaching. It was light enough to see Max's pallor, that she was shaking. She looked at Logan through the veil of her hair, her expression totally miserable.
"Hey, you okay?" Logan asked gently. He gestured for her to sit on his lap, relieving Alec of his role as her support.
"Sorry, Logan," she said softly. She gave a small, sad sniff. "I don't know what's wrong."
"Hey, it's okay." In sickness and in health, Max, he almost added. He rubbed her back as she leaned into him. "I think the sooner we get home the better," he added.
"Yeah, I…I want to go home, too."
*~*~*~
"Ness has some medical training," Zack was saying, introducing Max to a dark-haired, olive-skinned transgenic, who carried an infant on her hip. "Won't you let her look at you?" Zack looked at her in consternation. She'd sat quietly on Logan's lap for a few minutes, then hesitantly walked back to the van, where she sat in the doorway, her head against the cool metal of the doorframe. Her head still swam, and she was aware of flickering lights on the periphery of her visual field, although they seemed to be clearing.
"Zack, I just want to go home," she said, firmly resisting.
His clothing covered in blood, although he seemed otherwise intact, Lydecker marched into the clearing followed by Syl and Krit. They both looked at Max curiously as Zack and Ness both spoke to her.
"Max, what harm can it do if I just take a quick look at you?" Ness asked calmly.
Logan grimly pushed his way over to them. "Max, please?" he asked.
"Go away, all of you." She swung her legs up into the van and sat cross-legged, her back against the wall. "Just leave me alone, I'll be fine."
Logan flicked his eyes to indicate that the other two should leave him. He hoisted himself up into the doorway of the van and leaned back on his hands. Max glanced at him, then looked away.
"You want to tell me what's going on here?" Logan asked gently.
"Nothing. I'm just sick of them all mothering me. I'm fine. I just want to go home." She turned her head to face him, her eyes boring in.
Logan took her hand in his. "They care about you. I care about you." Even in the dim light, he could see how pale she looked. Her hand was shaking. "Look, if you won't do this for Zack, will you do it for me? Please?" Logan's expression was troubled.
"What about all those others out there?" She jerked her chin in the direction of the other transgenics.
"They haven't been involved in hand-to-hand combat with GI Joe and his friend."
"True." She leaned back against the wall and nodded. "Okay, I'll talk to her," she said wearily.
Logan's lips twitched into a tiny grin and he immediately slid back down into the wheelchair. "Thanks, Max."
She shrugged. "No big dealio."
*~*~*~
Original Cindy wheeled her bike out of the apartment and headed off to work. She felt less than enthusiastic after her sleepless night, and almost turned around as soon as she hit the street and felt the drizzle on her face. The rain matched her mood. She was feeling blue. "I hope you're all right, boo," she said to the Space Needle, catching a glimpse of its tall profile. She felt unnerved, as if something was wrong, but couldn't put her finger on it. With one last look at the threatening sky, she mounted the bike and rode down the street.