Like Livin Wid Out Love Wasnt ard Enuf
Disclaimer: Anything you could sue me for isn't mine
This is an AU story
Life bled into Logan like a blood transfusion, is eyes flickered in the blinding morning sun. His head was ringing like a large alcohol fuelled bell, and his memory of the previous night hazy at best. A face was piecing together in his head, an attractive face. Audrey? His redheaded ex girlfriend? No, that wasn't it, all thought he did have the misfortune to have seen 'it' last night. Lying on the verge of regaining consciousness, Logan strained his mental vision at the person residing behind his mind fog. Max? Who? That? Her? When? Shit! His eyes bolted open in mute distress, did he really? Nah, no way...
Turning his head ever so slowly to his right he looked across the empty expanse of white bed. Nobody there. He sighed in relief, or was it disappointment? He remembered most of it now, but there was no signs of her anywhere, it just looked like Logan had had a rather large spasm in his bedroom, the sheets thrown everywhere and his exoskeleton laying on the floor next to the bed in a heap of steel. No she had been here, but she had already gone. His mind clearing more and more by the minute, he had two questions on his mind.
1: How could a cripple like him pull her?
2: Was that barcode for real? Was she one of those kids that escaped in '09?
It had to be, she had to have been one of the two kids that escaped that night, he was sure of it. Genetically enhanced killing machines, and this one he guessed was a slight bit feline, at least she purred like a cat anyway, he remembered that all right. The other of the two was believed to be dead, or at least that's what he had heard. So much for the urban myth, it was true. He had found one of the elusive X series, but she had left him. Hang on, shouldn't that be 'it' and 'got away'? Saying that, he didn't exactly plan on keeping her, not like that anyway. Wait...was he wishing she had stayed? Get a grip Logan, you don't have a relationship with a killing machine.
Having raised and got to the kitchen in his sweats and exo, Logan opened the unit door and retrieved an earl grey teabag and his favourite mug, his only relic of his childhood. It was a simple black mug; emblazoned with the Autobots symbol, "Robots In Disguise" he hummed to himself as he completed the brew. He jumped up onto the stainless steel counter and looked across his domain. She had made quite an impact on him, but he had known that since he had met her during that investigation in the free housing and corrupt cop. All had ended well except that he thought he would never see her again, until he found out she had been delivering packages to his pigeon hole for god knows how long she had been working at that Jam Pony messenger place. God had a wicked humour to him. But despite all these chance encounters and that eventuality that had been last night's actions, she hadn't stayed around to even slap him. She had just disappeared.
Maybe he should feel used, but he didn't. Sat there he just stared across his room and out of his penthouse's window, across the city in which she was. So close yet so far, just like him from the city. Living in it for years and being relatively unknown had its benefits but mostly made him so lonely he was almost suicidal. So for that one night in the crowd, to be picked out of it by the most beautiful girl he had ever seen in his life and to experience a connection on some level, it was gutting to wake up and find that connection broken without even so much as a "Fuck off" or "Goodbye".
Maybe that's how he should think of it, as one night. Sure girls her age were entitled to one-night stands, and he had just been in the right place at the right time. If only it felt that coincidental. If only he would stop thinking about her. Maybe...
Iknow where she works, where she lives and where she hangs out. Why shouldI let it end at one night? Jumping off the counter he walked towards the door and grabbed his coat, putting his hand on the door handle before shutting his eyes and dropping his head.
You should leave it at one night because if she wanted you or anything to do with you then she wouldn't have bailed before you woke up. His hand slid from the handle and he turned back, walking to his computer, walking towards his self inflicted prison.
Cindy cradled her friend's head as she lay on the couch, the shaking subsiding now. Max lay on her old sofa in her apartment, having felt the seizure coming on as she woke in that man's apartment. She wasn't sure if she had wanted to stay to be used one more time and then kicked out or to leave early and not get another chance to see his eyes. But no matter which she had wanted to pick the decision was made for her by her fucked up genetics, the last thing she wanted to do was have a seizure in a guys bed whom she hardly knew but just made love to. "Made love"? what the flying fuck was she thinking? Shagged, fucked, screwed... all more appropriate by far, but seemingly ill fitting. Anyways enough of that crap, she now had to decide how to get out of work.
"Its fine boo, Diamond said she would do your shift today, let you kick it back here, you must be tired" she smirked at her joke
"Take a hike Cindy" she said as she struggled but managed to sit up. "Thanks a bunch Diamond, I think I'm going to sleep all day"
"That's what you get when you don't sleep all night" Diamond said from their kitchen area, putting deliberate emphasis on 'sleep'. "Ah go to hell both of you" Max complained as she stumbled off into her bedroom. The two lovers left for Jam Pony and Max collapsed in a heap onto her bed, moaning about stupid brain malfunctions.
Lydecker walked into the office of Madame X, standing in front of her desk she stared a hole in him before speaking. The room was a dark, lit by two spot lights which only illuminated her desk, leaving her free to sit back and disappear from view completely.
"You yet again failed to bring in 57 didn't you?" she asked already knowing the answer. It had been the same for a long time.
"Yes mam" he stated bluntly.
"And let me guess, he killed every X7 and X5 with you?" She said admiring her fingernails.
"Yet again" He smirked. She looked up
"What's so funny? What happened this time that doesn't happen every time?" she actually showed interest now.
"He's coming for you. For us, for Manticore." Lydecker spoken softly these words, and just as had expected he head gunshots ringing around the building and the screams of the last X series in their possession.
"Oh shit, we have to get out of here!" She panicked, her usual stony façade shattering. She started the download of a file onto minidisk on her computer, waiting a second before it popped out and she threw it at Donald. "Keep this on you, it's the only copy of 57's origins and purpose" she said before she ran for the door. Lydecker stepped back into the corridor and looked out the window.
Outside the fence had been chopped down in a controlled manner, only a large enough hole for one figure to move through, but the carnage on the inside of the fence wasn't controlled at all. The scared guards had released the early X series, or nomalies as his kids had once called the. These warped and insane creatures lunged at Specimen 57 with a blood lust unmatched by any opponents 57 had known, but he still slaughtered them mercilessly. His hatred for Manticore's creations had not dimmed at all since his escape all those years ago. Deck grinned.
"The prodigal son returns"
Max had gotten dressed and fed herself with scraps from the kitchen. Now she stood up and looked at her bike. She wanted to go to him, she felt like she need to go, the sickly feeling you get when you long for nothing but the simple presence of a particular human being. But she knew by his penthouse he was probably a rich playboy only interested in her for the good sex she knew she gave. It had been a while since she had been with anybody fully, but it wasn't a sex thing. The best wayshe could put it was she wanted closure, she needed it. To prove to herself that he wasn't what she had been fantasising about since she laid eyes upon him, he wasn't the one she so felt he was. He was a rich playboy who didn't care about anybody but himself.
She had the day off work, she had enough fuel in her baby to go anywhere within the city, so why was she rooted to the spot in fear? The very reason she needed to go was why she couldn't bear the thought of it. What if that feeling he gave her was false, what if all he was was a rich bastard who just fucked and moved on? Could she take the fact she could be that wrong about somebody? Moving towards her bike she started to wheel it out of her apartment and towards the street. Max Guevara was a good judge of character, or at least she hoped she was.
Logan sat at his computer emotionally exhausted and sighed heavily. He was staring at a security camera photograph of her that he had removed from the Internet, for her own safety. Too many people would give too much for a genetically enhanced killer, a chimera. He was pretty sure he was right, all his sources and data pointed towards a girl of roughly her age being one of the two that escaped the 'Manticore' thingy in '09. He looked at his busted hand, it was healing well but he still felt like a git for loosing his temper. He sat and stared at the picture, before turning it off and turning on his video leak equipment. Sitting up and looking into his camera he started to talk about a morgue tech that was selling the property and more sickeningly organs and identities of those whom had the misfortune to be dead in his general area. It was a very good job that these videos were recorded two hours prior to broadcast, because somebody had just appeared behind him, staring intently at his eyes on the screen as the coloured boarders and text framed them.
Ok... so much for a great judge of character, I never saw that one coming. The great Eyes Only, protector of the down trodden was some jackass in a tower. He turned around and looked at her in mute terror. This was going to be fun, I can hold this over him.
"I've never met a crusader for the innocent and downtrodden before, let alone slept with one" Max started, before being cut off.
"I've never met a chimera either, so I guess that makes us even" He stated in his defence, or was that defiance?
Max was going to say something, but couldn't quite remember what it was. What? How did he know? This was so not a good thing!
"Coffee?" he asked brushing past her to the kitchen, while her eyes never moved from their position looking at his monitor. Stalemate.
Dozens of genetic freaks lay dead, and he was enjoying it so much. Pity he had whittled their numbers so much over the years, but sweet things like their destruction needed to be drawn out and savoured. Rumandello stalked the corridors and barracks of Manticore, his own personal hell turned hunting ground. The lights were flickering and he had cut down everybody he had come across so far, so what joy it gave him when his main target ran around the corner. He lowered his blade.
Renfro was running for her life, as fast as she could she was running on instinct. Rounding a corner she saw the door, and felt a burning pain in her chest. Looking down she realised she had ran onto a sword, his sword. She screamed. She screamed remembering how she had been told this day would come, by this creature in front of her when he was still a boy. He had warned her but she still went ahead with the procedure...
"Greetings my dear," he whispered into her ear as she slid further down his sword and towards him.
"Remember me?"
