Hormones
By: lfbrox
Rating: R
Timeframe: A couple of month after Freak Nation. Logan can of course walk.
AN: Hey guys. Didn't think I would be back so soon, huh? Well, I want to finish this as much as you want it to be finished. So I'm pushing myself. Thanks to my incredible beta sammi, who gives me ideas and works as quickly as possible, this fic will end in no time. Thanks to all of you that reviewed or that have read it. I know, that the story has mutated to something else than what I had initially in mind. But to round things up, I will get back to it in one of the last chapter.
I agree. It's kinda funny that this fic is in production for a longer period than Dark Angel was actually on air. Imagine if they would have slackers like me as writers the show would still be there – working on Episode 5 J
Anyway. Hope you have fun reading this. Here goes:
Chapter 16: Departures
…………With grim determination on her face she pressed the button to open the sliding doors that lead to the command center. It was time to issue some orders – and let the people pay that were responsible for letting 452 escape……………
"First Stop Inn" Motel, Queensborough
A few minutes of cuddling turned into an hour before both of their stomachs growled so loudly that Max had to force her way out of Logan's embrace. She quickly dressed, then scored some food from the nearest fast food chain.
Now they sat comfortably on the bed, Max only in her t-shirt and panties and Logan still naked with the sheets covering him from the waist down. Burgers, fries, ketchup and coke were spread out on the bed and they both dug in hungrily.
"So, any ideas on how to get to that safe house?" Max asked around a mouthful of fries.
"Seeing as I don't know how to reach my contact," Logan replied after swallowing, "we need to score a car or something. I'm not really up to taking the bus."
"So when you say 'score' a car," Max grinned, "Do you mean taking a car that does not belong to us. As in 'stealing' a car, Logan?"
"Yes Max. I guess that's what I meant." Logan said, a little unnerved, knowing that a comment was to follow.
"Logan Cale - defender of everything that is righteous and good and legal in this world is encouraging theft? What has the world come to if such an honest and law-abiding man suggests such crooked methods?" Max asked him, clearly enjoying herself.
"Are you done?" Logan replied tersely. When Max nodded in amusement at his uneasiness, he continued. "Well, we have no other choice. And sometimes bad situations justify some desperate measures."
"Chill Logan. I was just teasing. So. I've gotta go 'score' a car, clothes and crutches. Then we can go." Max said, finishing the rest of her burger. She was still very hungry so she eyed the rest of Logan's burger with vast interest.
"You had 3 burgers and two loads of fries and onion rings. How can you still be hungry?" Logan asked, incredulous at her appetite. He had no intentions of sharing his food. God knows when they would next eat. But then Max started pouting. And Logan tried to ignore it.
After successfully avoiding her for 25 seconds, Logan shoved his burger over to her and concentrated on his fries. She leaned over, kissed his cheek softly and happily grabbed the burger and started to eat.
"Where do you wanna get some clothes and crutches?" Logan asked, watching in amazement as Max devoured his burger.
"Don't know," Max answered after swallowing the rest of her food. "Maybe I should try the hospital, or a shelter or something."
Logan didn't like the idea of Max going into a hospital. Only bad things happened there. But he decided to keep his concerns to himself and instead concentrated on squeezing the last bit of ketchup from the little bag onto his fries.
"What?" Max asked when she didn't receive an answer from Logan.
Logan's thoughts were interrupted by Max's sudden question and he accidentally squeezed the ketchup onto himself rather than the fries. "Damn!" Logan yelped, seeing the red substance land on his chest. "Did you bring any napkins?" He asked Max, while disposing of the ketchup bag and searching on the bed for the napkins.
"Yes. In the bag," Max answered. But instead of reaching for the bag that lay next to her on the floor, she got up on her knees and crawled over to Logan, her swaying figure reminding him of a cat. She straddled his thighs and placed a delicious kiss on his lips. "But who needs napkins, Logan?" She licked down his neck, softly biting his shoulder on her way and moved even lower, licking towards the red substance that slowly trickled down his torso.
Logan was surprised at first, but became more and more excited the closer Max came to her destination. She took her time, teasing his nipples on her way down until she reached the ketchup. Instead of licking it off in one smooth motion, she spread it all over his abs with her tongue before starting to clean him up tortuously slowly.
She moved further down, licking around his bellybutton. Logan knew what was to come and he watched in amazement at the beautiful woman who was about to go down on him. Max eagerly licked her way lower. She moved her hands to the sheet that covered Logan's body and inched a little further back to gain better access to her 'prize'.
Suddenly Logan yelped in pain, as Max's ass bumped against his propped up knee. Max's head shot up as she realized what she had just done and quickly moved away from Logan's legs. The spell was broken.
"I'm sorry Logan. I didn't think about…I mean I didn't mean to hurt you. Sorry." Max apologized and moved the package of ice back onto his knee.
"It's okay Max. Only hurt for a second." Logan tried to erase her concerns and pulled her closer, attempting to shut up any further apologies with a passionate kiss. But, after kissing him back for a few seconds, Max pulled away, not in the mood anymore for kinky games.
"We should get moving if we want to leave today." She said, while getting up and gathering the empty food cartons together.
"But Max. I'm okay. Really." He pointed at his knee with an innocent grin. "Doesn't hurt a bit."
"I know. But we should be careful for now." Max said, and moved closer to him. "We play later. Let's get outta here first. Okay big boy?"
"Alright. Alright. Guess you should really get going." Logan gave in. He knew that Max had a lot to do and it was already noon. With one last kiss, she let go of him, jumped into her jeans and got ready to go.
"Sunnyside Motel", Sunbury
"What about the helicopter?" Clemente suggested, after listening to Syl and Alec strategize for a few minutes.
"I don't think that's gonna work." Alec turned to look at the man, "First off, we don't have gas, second, we would just attract attention, third, they are looking for that helicopter, and fourth, we could never cross the border without alerting someone. And even if we could across the border without getting caught, we would just tip them off that we have entered the US again and heading back to Terminal City. If they haven't attacked yet, they will certainly do it then, before we could warn them that something is up." Alec finished, dismissing the idea and signaling Clemente to leave the planning to them.
"Let's see what other options we have," Syl started the chain of logic, strategic thinking. "We could take a car and head back to Vancouver and take a plane. That would be risky – they'll be waiting there for us. If we take the car and cross the border by foot, it'll take way too long, but it would be an option." Syl glanced around the room to get some feedback.
"Yeah, and if we get stopped we just say it's a family trip through Canada. Only me, my little sister, our petrified African-American father and our cigar smoking lizard." Alec dismissed the plan with his usual sarcasm.
"Fine. What do you got?" Syl challenged him, clearly annoyed by his attitude.
"Okay. Let's see." Alec started when suddenly the door burst open and a still pissed Mole stepped into the room grunting something that nobody understood. Alec just looked at him quickly and continued. "No helicopter. No plane. Car would be too slow. How about we take a boat from the harbor in Vancouver to Seattle, or near Seattle? There are a lot of boats leaving every day. We could just hide on board. That'll take us about one or two days to get there." Alec explained, already thinking about how to get to the harbor.
"That could work," Syl mused then she turned to Clemente, "Do you have cash or a credit card with you?"
"I still got my wallet but I doubt the credit cards will be of much use after crawling through the mud." Clemente answered and handed his dirty wallet to Syl.
"It should work. We'll rent a car and drive over to the harbor. Mole you can hide in the back. If we leave tonight, we could be there in the morning." Syl explained.
"Great. I get to sit in the trunk like a dog. Why can't I just stay here?" Mole grunted.
"Yeah. Why don't we leave you here? That would make it much less complicated to get around here. We're sitting here trying to think of something so we can ALL go." Alec yelled, fed up with Moles constant bitching.
"Oh don't hurt your head thinking for me pretty boy," Mole bitched back.
"You fucking asshole." Alec yelled and lunged at Mole, bringing him to the floor beginning to hit him with his fists.
Mole quickly recovered from his initial shock and spun them around so he was on top of Alec. He blocked Alec's fists and landed some of his own punches. Clemente looked at them in shock. Syl merely rolled her eyes and watched, waiting for them to stop. She really didn't wanna be involved in this fight.
Warehouse outside of SeattleAs the sliding doors of Renfro's chambers opened for the first time in 7 hours, every movement in the command center stopped for a split second, before the busy typing and coordinating started again. None of them dared to turn around to look at her, but out of the corner of their eyes everyone saw Renfro roll out – her face blank, showing no emotions.
Victor was the only one who looked up from what he was doing. The only one who dared to, and the only one who was allowed to look at her directly. Renfro maneuvered her chair through the command center and came to a stop right in front of him.
He took one last deep breath, preparing himself for what was to come, and stood up. "Director Renfro, ma'am."
"Have a seat." Renfro rasped. She wanted him at eye level, even if that meant that he was staring her right in the face, something she hadn't allowed anyone to do since the 'accident'.
"452 is gone." She said. Victor didn't know if it was a question or a statement, so he simply nodded.
"We need to find her. As soon as possible." Renfro ordered.
"May I ask why the capturing of 452 is such a pressing issue, ma'am?" Victor carefully asked her. He needed to know what was the urgency to capture this particular transgenic in order to act accordingly.
"Were you taught to question orders?" Renfro barked back at Victor's inquiry.
"No ma'am. I'm sorry ma'am." Victor apologized hastily, regretting even asking the question.
"We have helicopters and ground troops spread in a 100 mile radius. If the teams don't come up with substantial evidences on the whereabouts of the escapees within the next hour, we are going to expand the radius to 150 miles. Ma'am. Also the borders are secured, giving them no chance to cross without being detected. All outgoing and incoming frequencies are under surveillance. Police in every major city nearby have been alerted and is communicating the warrants to every community." Victor reported his actions of the past 10 hours.
"Double the efforts. We need to find her. The quicker the better." Renfro ordered. She could see in Victor's face that he did not understand why this was such an urgent matter, and while she thought it best if he didn't know he was in charge of communicating her orders to the search teams. Somehow she doubted that he communicated the urgency to them as vehemently as she did to him. So she moved her chair closer to him.
"Victor," she said and saw him flinch. She never used anyone's name; never spoke directly to anyone. But now she was close to him, speaking with such a low voice, that he was the only one that could hear it. "This is a matter of life and death. We don't want 452 because she's the leader of Terminal City. Or because she's an X-5. She, or, rather, the genetic code she carries, is the key to a project at Manticore that has nothing to do with the situation in Seattle. This project has a deadline. Time is almost up. If you get me 452, I will see that your life is spared – when the time has come." With those words she rolled her chair back again.
"Now. Get me 452." She ordered, turning her chair and disappearing behind the sliding doors, leaving a pale and irritated Victor behind.
What the hell was that? Victor thought. What project is she talking about? When what time has come? What special genetic code? Who knew about this? Did he just make a deal with the devil?
Queensborough
After letting the clerk of the motel know that they would leave today instead of staying another night, and after some serious threatening – collecting the 40 dollars she paid upfront for the second night, Max strolled around the neighborhood of the Motel.
This area seemed to be the heart of Queensborough, with lots of Motels, – even some decent looking ones – lots of restaurants and stores. Max took out Logan's wallet and counted the money. Including the 40 bucks in her jeans pocket, she had 120 dollars left. Not a whole lot considering all the things she needed. Well the first thing I need is a car. Max thought and walked towards the more trashy looking part of the city, hoping that a stolen car would not be noticed too quickly there.
After rounding some corners and avoiding some gangs that were hanging out on the street, Max found herself in a dirty and quite deserted alley. It looked like a cemetery for broken down cars. It would have to do. Stealthily she made her way to the most decent looking car, a rusty black Pontiac Phoenix, and opened the unlocked driver's door. She popped the hood open and moved in front of the car to take a closer look.
Not that she knew a lot about cars – motorbikes were more her thing – but she could tell whether it would drive for a while or die after the first few miles. Satisfied that it looked fairly okay, she closed the hood silently and climbed back into the car. She fumbled for the cables underneath the steering wheel and pulled them out slightly. She stripped the coding of the cables and touched them together. After a few times the car coughed a bit, then started running. Not too bad, Max thought as she shifted into first gear and drove out of the alley.
"Sunnyside Motel", Sunbury
After watching Mole and Alec fight for a while, Syl had had enough. She grabbed Alec, who was currently on top of Mole and threw him on the floor next to Mole.
"Cut it out guys!" she yelled at them. "We have too many other problems for you two to be fighting about who is the alpha-male here. We need to get out of here – quickly. I don't care what issues you two have, but deal with them later. We need a car, we need to get going and we need to do this as a team. If we start killing each other we might as well call Manticore and tell them where we are, because that would be much quicker. Now get up and get a grip." Syl pulled them both to their feet, and shoved them into opposite corners of the motel room.
"Better. Now. Alec, you and Clemente go and rent a car. I'll go and get some food. And Mole, you stay here and cool down. Clear?" Syl ordered in a strict tone.
Nobody said a word, but they all mumbled something that sounded like 'okay' or 'alright'. After handing Syl some bills for the food, Alec grabbed Clemente and walked out of the room to search for a rental car agency – being so close to Vancouver they decided to do it the legal way.
Queensborough
Max cruised the streets of Queensborough. She was surprised how little attention she was attracting. All the cars that drove around the streets looked like they were about to break down. She opened the window, turned the radio on – which was surprisingly still working – and searched for a shelter or a hospital to get some crutches and some clothes.
After only a few minutes she saw the sign for the hospital. She parked the car close by and walked in. Her pulse sped up immediately after entering the hospital. The smell alone brought back so many bad memories that she wanted to turn around and get the hell outta there. But this was for Logan. She could do it.
"Can I help you?" the friendly nurse asked from behind the reception counter.
"Ahm, yeah actually you can. My boyfriend has sprained his ankle. I was wondering if I could get some bandages, painkillers and some crutches here?" Max asked sweetly, playing the innocent, helpless, ditzy girlfriend.
"Where is your boyfriend? A doctor needs to see him before we can give him anything." The nurse answered, not as sweet anymore.
"See, he can't move. There was no way I would have gotten him here." Max explained, her patience quickly ebbing.
"In that case Miss, I'm sorry but I can't help you." The nurse explained and then turned around to busy herself with something else – the conversation was over for her.
"Listen. If you could only give me some crutches, then he could at least walk and come here." Max pleaded.
At that moment, the front doors burst open and an ambulance team ran in supporting a heavily bleeding man. The nurse shot up from her seat and directed them behind a curtain where they laid the man on a bed. The nurse shut the curtain and ran down the hallway to find a doctor. That was Max's chance, so she hurried down the corridor in search of the room where they kept their supplies.
As it was a small hospital, the few nurses and doctors were all busy with the newest patient, so the hallways were nearly empty. Max found the supply room very quickly, picked the lock and sneaked in. She quickly found what she was looking for. Some painkillers for Logan, some more tryptophan for her – just in case –, some bandages, ice packs and – just because it was stored there – a little nurse outfit. With a big grin, she stuffed the supplies into a linen bag and walked carefully out of the room. The hallways were still almost deserted, and luckily the nurse from the front desk was still busy with the new patient, so Max got out of the front door without any problems.
She stored the bag in the trunk of her car. Now she had medical supplies and a car. She could not believe that she hadn't found any crutches in the supply room, but maybe she could carry Logan to the car. That would have to do. Max decided to get back to Logan so they could get going. The sooner the better. She turned back onto the main street towards the motel, when a sign caught her attention. "Retirement Home Queensborough."
With a smug smile she slowed the car and followed the sign. If I don't find crutches there I'll give up. She thought and parked the car close to the home. Through the glass front door she could see the reception desk. But she decided not to go in and ask. Would cause too much attention if someone walks around looking for free medical supplies all across town. So she walked around the building to check out the situation. It was quite a warm day, so most of the patients of the home, were in the back yard, enjoying the rare sun.
Most of them sat in wheelchairs, so Max figured they must have left the crutches for short distances in their now empty rooms. She smiled to herself and walked back the way she had come, this time checking out the windows. She found an open one and carefully climbed inside. She quickly scanned the room in search of some clothes and crutches. She found some pants, a button-down shirt and some t-shirts in the closet. Then her eyes landed on something next to the bed. No crutches, but that'll do, she thought as she grabbed it and hurried back to the car.
"Sunnyside Motel", Sunbury
When Syl returned with the food, Mole sat on the couch, still fuming about the fight with Alec. Syl didn't say anything. She had no intention of getting involved in that fight or take sides of either one of them. She simply gave him a sandwich and a can of coke from the bag, walked over to the little table in the corner and spread the food there for the others.
She had just sat down and was digging into her sandwich when Clemente and Alec walked through the door. The tension was thick and no one spoke a word.
"The car is waiting outside. Let's eat and then get going." Alec informed Syl, shutting Mole completely out. Then he and Clemente sat down next to Syl and started eating.
This is going to be one long day, Syl thought but she was still determined not to get involved. So they just sat there and ate in silence. After the last bite of food was swallowed and the cans of coke were empty, they all got up, grabbed the few things they had and left the room.
While Alec went to the front desk to return the key, Syl sent Mole inside the trunk with a few threats and an icy glare. Clemente took the passenger seat and Syl hopped into the backseat. Alec arrived a few minutes later, got behind the wheel and stared the car. Without a word he sped away towards Vancouver.
"First Stop Inn" Motel, Queensborough
Max parked the car near their motel room. They would be leaving soon anyway, no need to park a few blocks away, even if that was a safer option. She grabbed all the stuff she had scored and dragged it towards the motel room.
Logan was hopelessly bored, still lying in bed. No TV, no radio, not even a book or magazine to read. He wasn't even tired anymore, so he waited impatiently for Max to return. When he heard the key turn in the lock he breathed a sigh of relief. Finally.
"Honey, I'm home." Max said cheerily as she entered the room.
"Finally. I was bored out of my mind." Logan said and sat up a little more. "So you got everything we need?"
"Yep. And also something we don't need. But I'll save that for later." Max replied with a wicked grin, already looking forward seeing his face when she played nurse for him – this time dressed for the part.
"I can't wait." Logan returned and started to remove the sheet to get dressed.
"Those are not the most fashionable clothes, but they are the best I could find." Max said and threw the pants and shirts on the bed. "I'll just get your boxers," Max called from the bathroom, where they had washed and dried their few items of clothing that were not ripped.
She unpacked the bandages and ice packs and wrapped them around his injured knee while he put on the shirt. Then she helped him put on the pants, socks and shoes and packed the rest of the supplies back into the bag, that still hid the nurse outfit she had scored.
"Now what?" Logan asked after everything was packed up. "Got any crutches?"
"Well, not exactly," Max answered and walked back to the door, opening it and grabbing what she had stored out there. Logan watched her with interest. When she walked back inside his eyes widened at what he saw.
"A walker Max?" He asked, dumbfounded. What on earth was she thinking? First the old man clothes and now the walker. "A walker Max?" He repeated, hoping that it would make more sense the more he repeated it.
"Well, sort of." Max answered, deciding not to say anything else and let him have his fit.
"A walker Max?" He repeated yet again. "What did you do? Rob a retirement home?"
At that Max smiled and shrugged her shoulders.
"I was only kidding Max. But you really robbed a retirement home?" Logan asked flabbergasted. "I can't believe it. I'm not gonna use that thing."
"Logan. It's just for you to get to the car and to the toilet. It's not for you to use for life Logan." Max explained.
"I'm not gonna use that thing. Period." Logan repeated with more force.
"Fine." Max said and let go of the walker, which she had placed next to the bed. Then she spread her arms and looked at Logan expectantly. "Well then. Hop on. I'll carry you to the car then."
"You are not carrying me around Max." Logan said matter-of-factly.
"What then. You don't want to use the walker to 'WALK' and you don't want me to carry you. You gonna fly to the car or what?" she challenged him.
"Fine." Logan said and grabbed the handles of the walker. "Let's go. Just make sure no one is out there to see me."
"Good boy," Max said, grabbed the bag and went to the door. "It's all clear. Get in the car, I'll go and return the key, kay." She said, gave him a quick peck, and walked towards the office.
Logan used the walker and dragged himself towards the Pontiac. He would not admit it, but it was quite easy to walk with this thing. His hurt leg didn't even touch the ground and he still could move somewhat effortlessly.
He stored the walker in the backseat and sat down in the passenger seat and waited for Max, who arrived just a few seconds later.
"Ready to go?" she asked once she was inside the car.
"Yep." Logan answered curtly. Max just smiled and started the car and made her way out of the parking lot. She saw the walker lying in the backseat and turned to Logan.
"So how did it go?" She asked gesturing to the walker.
"Just drive Max." Logan answered and looked out of the window. How much would his poor male ego be able to take? Hasn't he suffered enough humiliation in his life? He let out a deep breath and leaned back and closed his eyes. He was in no mood to talk, especially not if he was being teased. So he decided to take a little nap. After a few minutes of silence Max turned the radio on and gently laid a hand on his left thigh and squeezed it gently.
"Love you." She said simply and let her hand rest on his thigh.
"Love you too," Logan answered and opened his eyes slightly to look at her. "But don't you make me do anything like that ever again." That earned him another affectionate squeeze and they drove on in silence towards New Westminster.
TBC
AN: Thanks for reading. The next one is in the works. Leave a review if you've liked it. Also if you didn't like it. On a more personal note: Where are the oldies: Hav, Sib. Still There? Anyway. I hope you keep reading. Love.
Lfbrox