Waking Tears, Bleeding Hearts

Disclaimer: Anything you could sue me for isn't mine

This is an AU story


The building that was formerly Manticore smouldered in the thick smoke, its compound littered with corpses. Logan's head was pounding as he stumbled through the wreckage. The creatures which lay in the field where sliced into various parts, some of them children, others being varieties of animal like creatures. No matter what it was underfoot the pattern remained the same, death. His eyesight was beginning to flicker as he ambled after Max, whom was seconds away from the tree line where he had seen the reflection of metal. He felt faint, but had no idea why. Going down to one knee he moaned as he clutched his head. He saw something in the corner of his eye move, a blur. Somebody was coming up behind him, and as he fell to the floor his eyes flickered before he felt hands on the back of his neck, tearing his shirt. After a few seconds he heard heavy footsteps moving away from him. He hadn't heard them coming towards him though, which was puzzling. He saw black and then went down into the cold waters of unconsciousness.


Max stopped when she saw the figure in front of her. He was in the shadows of the trees and she saw a glint of metal in the sun which danced through the foliage as it rustled in the wind. Her hearing picked up his heavy breathing, jagged and choking. She also heard the cocking of a gun and the ignition of a bullet in her direction. Spinning behind the large tree trunk next to her she watched as the bullet swam through the air she only seconds before occupied. Burning on her feet around the circumference of the tree she snapped her assailants wrist and floored him as he screamed. His hands were dripping with blood, and the awkward angle of his hand after her disabling attack didn't help his seemingly already wounded status. She looked down at him as he twitched on the floor, clutching his able hand to his face in an attempt to stem the flow of blood. Upon closer examination she realised he had blacked out from a lack of blood and serious injury. As she heard the approach of vehicles with her enhanced hearing she flicked his coat to the side and pulled his Manticore registration badge from his blazer chest.

"Donald Lydecker eh?" Max stated to aid her memory, which couldn't recall having ever seen this man before.

His eye was a real mess, looking like it had been knifed, but not deep enough to kill, or maybe it had and he was just abnormally lucky, but she didn't have the time to examine him. There appeared to be nothing here but this one man and a burning memory. This was no ditch and move show, someone had taken her creators apart and this man was seemingly the sole survivor. She lifted him onto her shoulders and started to carry him towards Logan's car where the sound of approaching vehicles got louder. She couldn't administer the medical attention he needed to keep him alive, so the best she could do was to leave him close to the entrance to the Manticore compound and hope that the impending arrival of an ambulance was enough to drag him from the gates of hell. She needed answers from this Lydecker guy, and she would be damned if he would die and take them with him.

As she got half way across the expanse she could smell the ghastly odour of burning flesh and looked to her left as she saw the cindering arm of somebody trapped under a piece of concrete that had collapsed. Within his open palm was a test tube, and from the distance of 12 feet she could make out the miniscule markings that read 'X7- 781'. Her stomach churned as she thought about it reading X5-452, feeling so full of a feeling unmentionable she had to turn away and plough on towards the car. It was at about this time she realised that Logan was no where to be seen, and in a potentially hostile environment as this she began to worry almost immediately, she thought that was most unusual to worry about him, but then forgot as she saw him lying face down in the ash not far from his vehicle. She speedily got to him and dumped the Manticore employee on the grass in plain view before blurring over to her fallen friend.

"Logan! Logan!" She shook him and then rolled him over to look at his face, which was pale as bone china. His head flopped as she held him up towards her. "Don't you fucking dare!" she spat as she felt for a pulse, which she felt raging through his veins. His condition was strange, she had never seen anything like it, but no matter what she couldn't let herself be discovered, and she wouldn't leave him behind. Picking him up she felt how cold he was as she carried to his car. Fastening him into his passenger side she jumped into the driver's seat. Looking forwards she took once last gasp look at the cindering building, looking just as horrific as she remembered, finding the brimstone an apt end for the pit of fire in which she was forged. Burning into reverse she sped back to the road the came from and accelerated towards the on coming traffic, it being just far enough away in order not to find them suspicious. As she raced towards the city Max realised that she had cleanly forgotten about all things Manticore and was now on a mission to get her friend back to his house. Colour seemed to be returning to his skin as time progressed and so the immediate worry that she would have to place him into a hospital subsided.

Upon passing the sector checkpoints she fobbed off the guards with her sexy smile and a casual yet feigned flirty eyes telling them that Logan was asleep. She hated doing it but in her current position she had to consider her having trouble and how it would look if her associate wouldn't rouse from his slumber. She parked up when she got to his penthouse and slung him over her shoulder as she walked towards the elevator, making her own wise crack about having had enough of carrying men in her life, literally as well us not.

She picked his lock and let herself in with him, placing him on his bed before she checked his pulse and forehead. This strange affliction seemed to be clearing up just as suddenly as it had taken hold of him. The other strange thing was the large tear down his shirt collar. It was straight down his spine to between his shoulder blades, and it was too precise to have been an accident. Somebody had done this deliberately, but she had no idea why. Somebody had attacked Logan as she had ran off after that Lydecker guy. She kicked herself repeatedly for not taking better care of him, also wondering where his assailant had gone, because she never saw anybody but Lydecker, and didn't see any puncture wounds, bruising or footprints or anything else which hinted to a struggle. Logan seemingly had been blindsided and put down by something biological. Whatever it was it was effective, but short lasting.


Their loud siren's irritated him, their drone unpleasant upon his sensitive ears. Moving through the woods Rumandello contemplated the appearance of those two human's who had appeared just after his victim appeared alive. He had not paid much attention to the female but had instead sought confirmation the man was 452, yet he wasn't. Departing upon seeing Lydecker being carried towards their vehicle he assumed they where there to rescue him, and he no longer cared. If Lydecker seemed to feel so strongly about living then let him, he had been marked now and would not quickly forget it. The twigs that snapped underfoot rung like notes in his ears, like randomised music which stopped upon his arrival at a roadside. The road was empty and desolate, nowhere near as beautiful to behold as the colours and lighting of the woods, but it served a purpose unlike the trees. It would carry him to the city, and to 452.


Max refused to let herself leave until he had awakened, which gave her to much time for introspection. Having had 2 glasses of that 'Cherry coke' stuff she found so Moorish, she had spent the last hour sat at his kitchen island; trying to think about the last man she cared about enough to flirt with sector police scumbags. By all means it was only a smile, but even that sickened her. In fact the more she thought about it she had never known a man who had put her in that position, but if it had arrived at that, most would have gotten their marching orders immediately. It was quite scary that this guy whom she hadn't known for very long at all seemed to hold such sway over her actions and approach to things. It worried her that he might turn around and let her in on the secret she hoped he wasn't hiding; he was an ordinary male. The cheating, beer-swilling shit heads that she despised so.

He seemed so different, she had never met anybody like him before in her life, she hadn't even imagined anybody like him. That's what she found the most worrying aspect, that he was unpredictable and new. Being so used to regulations and set methods as a child she had taken years to get away from trying to organise everything, but even so it had not completely removed the urge to control from her. He was uncontrollable in all aspects, even his consciousness was untrustworthy. Sure he seemed to have his vices, but they were admirable ones and small things that amused her. His desire to help those just because it is right was so unfathomably odd to her it was almost insane. If she was him she would have looked out for number one and fucked the rest of them. She doubted he had the experience down in the city to realise most of the people he helped where part of the problem, but she could see that there where good people, people that deserved their guardian in the skies. His little appearance issues drove her crazy too, like his stubble and his 'flicked in all directions bed head' hair. He didn't seem to care what he looked like except for his clothes, which where all of dark tones and deep shades. He seemed to pull it off so well, and his cooking. That was unbelievable to say the least, and couldn't be hindered by the fact he seemed to be able to get his hands upon things that Max didn't even know existed, such as this flavoured beverage he introduced to her.

That was one of the main reasons that she was sat thinking about him, the fact that he was unnervingly sweet and unmistakably nervous around her. Not nervous in a bad way, but like his reaction to her silence when he confessed he remembered her lip balm. Max thought she would let him sweat a little and gauge his reaction. Most of the men she had known would want some form of reward for something so heart warming, but he just became shy and introverted, which she knew meant he had just done it for her.

'All this stuff is messing with my head' Max thought as she sat up. Walking to his bedroom door she looked over at him sprawled out, the smudges of ash on his face suddenly raising Max's attention. Walking over to him she sat on the bedside and admired his sleeping face, the picture of a troubled mind. Since meeting him she had wondered what made him tick? He was so individual and alone it was nothing so obvious she could form a good guess on, but what ever it was she wasn't sure he would ever tell anybody, it seemingly still there even in his dreams.

She licked her thumb and rubbed the ash marks from his cheek, to which his skin was returning to normal temperature by her touch. His head moved slightly into her caress, and she stood up sharply, afraid.


Logan watched as they moved out of the double doors. The three shadowy figures departing from the four blood red walls he was stood in, and he ran after them. They all got into a black funeral car, and the boot was open. Running as fast as his working legs could carry him he dived into the boot as the car took off, but upon entering the boot of the car he began to fall, and as the light grew dimmer in the sky it became increasingly blinding as his descent into the boot continued, until he hit the source of the light hard, its blood soaked concrete surface unforgiving.


Max stood there, her hand at her side clutched into a fist. She couldn't take this, he didn't even care about her, and nobody could care about a genetic fuck up like her. As she turned to leave she heard a cough, and then sheets contracting under his slight movements. Turning around she saw his eyes flickering in the light of the morning sun. It was now an acceptable hour to awaken, around 10am, which wasn't bad considering where they had been and back already today.

"I gotta go to work, hope your okay. See ya" Max called as she walked away, needing to get out and away from him. Her head was on the verge of imploding with confusion.

Logan lay there for a few minutes more, wondering what he had done to piss her off. He couldn't remember much after they had arrived at the compound, so it was beyond him why she reacted to his awakening like she did.

8 days had past and Logan hadn't heard from her at all, which he didn't know how to take. He had no idea what had transpired during their trip, he couldn't remember a damn thing. Since he had woken up he had wondered why she seemed angry at him, he hadn't done anything wrong. 'Maybe I should go and say sorry' he kept thinking, but he didn't want to. He figured now that she wanted nothing more to do with him, he had served his purpose and now she knew Manticore wasn't after her she could go on living a normal life.

I guess I'm just another 'useless guy' to her, I just wish I knew why. Maybe it was because she knew he was a cripple. Once his valuable information went down the drain and she was reassured that he wasn't going to sell her to the highest bidder on ebay then why keep a paraplegic around to slow you down? What ever the reason was then he still had to find out what happened to him on that trip, he had felt weird ever since he got back. Maybe it was just the pain of knowing you're a broken toy and you had just been thrown away.

He had to go and find out what had transpired that morning, and with any luck find out why she ditched him like she had.


"Boo, why you avoiding the question?" prompted Cindy, arching an eyebrow at the look of distant thought on her friend's face.

"I'm not avoiding anything, you just won't seem to take my answer!" Max stated in almost annoyance, but she wasn't in the mood for an argument, and not even she could convince Cindy she was wrong, She didn't think that person existed, not even Diamond could manage it.

"Boo, you telling' Cindy that its all over between you and Hot boy, and that was just a one night dealio? Cindy ain't down with that bullshit for a number of reasons, two of the main ones being your attitude since you came home and that night in the club"

"What are you talking about? My attitude is the same as always!"

"When was the last time you went out except for work? You ain't even come to crash with us!" Cindy stated, waiting for the same excuses as she had gotten when she asked her a few days ago.

"I told you, I had a headache, and I said I would go next time. As for going out I can't find any petrol for my baby"

"Yeah yeah yeah, that be crap right there. That night me and home gurl saw you to up an' at it wasn't no drunken shit, cos I know you don't get that drunk. That was genuine hot shit and you know it. Now Boo I suggest you stop hiding around this joint lazzying it up like you have been and go patch your shit up with this Logan guy, because believe me, if you saw yourself you would recommend it too"

"I...I'm" Max sighed, "I'm just not used to this" She smirked

"Believe me Max, when an opportunity like this comes a' knockin', you don't blow it off and go hide. Cindy knows men and from what I have heard and seen this Logan fella is a straight up guy, and he deserves an explanation at the very least, permanent rights to yo ass wouldn't go a miss either..." Cindy mused, trying to rouse a reaction from Max.

"We're not even like that, the other night was.."

"Amazin'?" Cindy cut her off before she could finish

"No, I was going to say..."

"Mind blowing?" She cut Max off again

"An accident" She finished, reading Cindy's facial gesture and knowing her reaction

"Boo if you two was an accident god knows I wanna see the deliberates"

"Shut it" Max laughed. Her friend was right, Max had freaked and ran, but Logan deserved an explanation, even if that was the last time she saw him. She just couldn't cope with how she felt around him, it was too good to last, and no matter how much it hurt to admit her weakness to herself even silently, she had freaked because she was scared of her starting to care and then it ending. Having stayed detached through out her life when someone starts to demand something she isn't prepared to give then it gets hairy to say the least.

Either way Max would have to see him again, just because she had this aching feeling of loss that she knew only one person's presence could fill.


Logan was gritting his teeth as he lifted the 76th of his 80 reps. His arm's were burning and he was pushing himself further than he probably should, but he wanted to tire himself out, that way he could sleep, and that beat sitting around waiting until he had the guts to handle the rejection he was avoiding. It had now been 9 days straight without word, and his hope was all be abolished by his own self destructive mind.

At 79 his telephone rang, showing it as a payphone number from sector 4.

"Hello?" He asked cautiously, if somebody knew his real identity he would have to ditch the phone and server the line via his contacts to avoid being found.

"Logan, it's me, no need to sound so worried" Max laughed, sensing the tension in his voice.

"Er Max hi, long time no...talk" He grinned like a goof, he didn't quite know what to say. She had called him and sounded friendly, not at all like he had imagined.

"Yeah I guess it has been. Hey listen, I'm sorry I freaked the other day, I just... realised I was like super later for work an..."

"It's okay, I thought I had done something wrong" said Logan carefully, half expecting her to agree with him.

"No you didn't, I guess I just have to watch the time better in future" Max smirked, covering her trails, but she had a clue that he would guess why,

"Yeah so I was thinking, do you want to fill me in on our little expedition? I can't remember anything courtesy of me being out cold, and I can't be of much help if I don't know anything. He wanted to ask her out for coffee or something but he had the feeling that they should do business first, in case everything went nasty again.

"Yeah okay, How about tonight? About 8?" Max prompted

"Yeah that sounds good to me" he said before arching his eyebrow, "Max where did you get my number?"

"Girl can't tell you everything, trade secret" She chuckled. "See you at 8 then"

"Yeah"

"See ya"

"Later"