A/N: Sorry if I confused anybody, wasn't my intention. To clear things up: Tony is not Logan. Tony is Tony from NCIS, Max is Max from Dark Angel. I thought about getting Tony in connection with Eyes Only but decided against it. He somehow doesn't seem like that kind of guy:- )
If this story goes well, maybe I (or somebody else!) will write a crossover with Logan and Kate or something like that- who knows:- ) But for now, enjoy this one.
And thanks for the reviews! They really help a lot in terms of motivation! So keep'em coming.
I'm also terribly sorry about spelling, grammar or vocabulary errors, mistakes and slips. English ain't my first language!
Chapter 3
"Tony, are you okay?" Kate frowned worriedly when her partner returned to the bullpen. "Did you find her?"
"Yeah." He tiredly sank down in his chair, rubbing a hand over his eyes.
"Yeah, what?" Kate pressed.
"Listen, I…I need to take a few days off." Why didn't he want to tell them? In front of Max he had made them seem like people he trusted, and now he couldn't tell them? He didn't want them involved, didn't want them to risk their jobs, let alone their lives for this. On his way back up to the office he had thought about it, and it just wasn't fair to make them a part of this chase. He had to do it alone, with Max. Just like it used to be.
"DiNozzo, what the hell's going on?" Gibbs stepped closer, his gaze intimidating but Tony didn't even notice.
"Nothing, I just have to take care of a few things."
"There's something going on and you will let us in," Gibbs stated firmly.
"It's nothing, alright?"
"Tony, please." Kate tried. "Maybe we can help."
Tony shook his head. "You have no idea who you would be up against. I don't want you to take those risks," he hissed, trying to keep his voice low.
"DiNozzo," Gibbs stepped even closer. "You tell me what's going on, now. We're a team, right? You and or your ex girlfriend seem to be in trouble, and I want to know."
"Tony?" Max had returned to the bullpen as well, now standing behind Kate and Gibbs, swallowing hard. She shook her head almost imperceptible. "I…I'm leaving. I shouldn't have come here in the first place. It was a mistake. Just forget I've even been here." She turned to leave.
"The government is after her," Tony hastily admitted, making Max stop in her tracks.
"Why?" Kate asked, feeling awfully sorry for the girl. She didn't look like she had done anything wrong.
Tony looked around. "Can we go somewhere else?"
"Okay, what's up?" Gibbs asked once he had closed the door to Abby's room behind him. She had worked late the other night and had yet to show up for work.
Tony sighed. "You sure you want in on this?"
"DiNozzo!" Gibbs warned.
"Okay, here we go. Max is the product of some government program. They intended to engineer the perfect soldier."
"Genetically enhanced?" Kate asked. ""They really did this already?"
"Yeah." Tony raised his eyebrows. "About 14 years ago a few of those kids escaped. She was one of them."
"And now they are coming after us, killing us." Max explained, her voice lacking all emotions.
"Why only now?" Gibbs leaned against the desk, intently looking at the young woman.
"Maybe it took them that long to find us, I don't know. All I know is that there are only three of us left, five already died by the hands of those sadists."
"And you think Tony can help you?" Kate asked.
Max shrugged, looking up at the younger man. "I didn't know where else to go. I know that we haven't been close and we haven't parted on good terms, but…he's the only person I can still trust. Listen, my sister has a little boy, I don't anything to happen to them. I don't care about myself, but Jace and Max…And Alec…"
Kate had her eyes fixed on Tony and registered the barely visible tensing at Max's last word. Maybe Tony really had a more serious side to him than she would have guessed.
"So what can we do?" Gibbs pressed.
"I'll go to Seattle with her. I'll just have to take a vacation leave."
"Kate and I will come. There isn't much going on here anyway, and I'll deal with the big boss."
"Gibbs, it's too…"
"Dangerous?" The older man snorted. "Shut up, DiNozzo. Kate, book a flight, the earliest we can get. Then head home to pack a few things. We'll meet at the airport."
"Thank you." Max smiled gratefully.
OO
Tony looked the familiar buildings pass by on their way into the city. It's been a while since he had been here, but it still was vivid in his memory. It had been the best two years of his life- until Max had destroyed all his dreams. It had taken him a long time to get ready to move on, but in Washington, D.C., with NCIS, he had finally found his peace again. And now she had returned, turning his whole life upside down again. Why had she done that to him?
But when he looked at the tired and exhausted young woman sitting next to him in the rented car, he knew the answer. She hadn't seen another way to get out of this mess, she really needed him and there was no way in hell he was going to let her down.
"You are welcome to stay at my place," Max offered. "It's not big, but it could do the trick. You can of course check into a hotel as well. I'll pay for all your expenses."
"Staying at your place for a few nights is fine by me." Kate decided. "What do you think?"
"No problem." Gibbs agreed. "Not like we will spend a lot of time hanging out."
"What about Cindy?" Tony asked.
"She isn't there."
"Oh, you live with Alec now?" His voice had a dangerous edge.
"No, Cindy, she just moved in with a friend the other week. I asked her to."
"Okay, let's get started." Gibbs accepted a cup of coffee and then walked over to the window, leaning against the frame. "What do we have?"
"Not much." Max sighed. "Actually that would be an exaggeration."
"Can you tell us about when and how your …siblings…died?"
Max rattled off the information, but there was no pattern at all.
"But you are sure that they are after you?"
Max shrugged, for the first time in weeks feeling like she was safe again. Tony, who was sitting on the couch, gave her that feeling. With him around she knew she was going to be fine. It had always been like that.
"Yes."
Tony got up and walked over into the kitchenette, opening a drawer without hesitating and got bag of crackers. "The only thing the victims have in common is the connection to Manticore," he offered before showing a cracker into his mouth. He slowly seemed to lose some of the tension and return to normal Tony-behaviour. At least Kate hoped so. As much as her partner tended to annoy her, it was far more disconcerting seeing him all serious and tense.
"Where are the bodies?" Kate asked.
"We only got Zack back," Max's voice almost broke.
"He was the CO," Tony explained. "You think they gave you the body on purpose?"
"He was the first," Max fought back the tears. "I guess it was their sick way to warn us. We buried him in the woods. Nobody knows where it is but us."
"Can you take us there?" Gibbs asked.
"Of course."
OO
"It's over there." Max stopped, indicating a triangle of bushes. "Right in the middle. It's just…don't make me go there, please."
"Okay, Kate, you go back to the car with her."
She wordlessly handed her boss the shovel she was carrying and laid a hand on Max's shoulder. "Come on."
Tony looked after the two women for a long moment.
"You comin'?"
"Sure boss." He had never seen Max weak like that, not in front of other people. This had shattered her to the bone and he didn't feel anger against her anymore, not right now. His feelings had to wait.
OO
Max wordlessly sat down in the backseat of the car, hugging herself tight, stoically staring ahead. She hadn't been forced to think like a soldier for years. She couldn't just leave all her emotions behind and concentrate on the task at hand, not anymore. If she had to, she would blame that on Tony. He had been the first person in the world she had been able to open up to, and with that the walls had crumbled.
"You know," Kate started, sitting down in the front seat, staring out the window into darkness. "I've never seen Tony like that."
Max looked up in surprise.
"He usually is a lot more annoying," Kate tried to explain without being negative. "He always jokes around, has witty comebacks." She shifted in the seat so she was looking at Max. "Do you mind telling me what happened? I mean, if you don't want to, it's okay…"
"He didn't tell you guys anything about me, huh? That's just like him. Bottling his emotions up." Max smiled sadly. "There isn't much to tell though. You see what's going down right now. I knew this was going to happen eventually and I couldn't have him involved. I love him, Kate. Always have and always will. But pushing him away was the only way to protect him."
"You hurt him a lot, you know."
"Yes, I do." Max swallowed. "And it's been the hardest thing I've ever done in my life."
"But when you say you love him that much, why did you hook up with another guy?"
"Alec?"
"I guess so, according to how Tony reacted every time his name fell."
Max bit her lip. She didn't know why she was doing this, but somehow it felt right to confess in this woman. "I've never hooked up with Alec. I…I just didn't object when Tony assumed that…"
"Oh." Kate raised her eyebrows.
"He wouldn't give up. I didn't know what else to do."
"So you had him think you were with another guy so he would leave you alone?"
"And save his ass." Max added trying to sound convinced.
Kate nodded. "You said you wanted to protect him from all this- but now, what you feared is happening. And you came to him and asked for his help. He's right where you didn't want him to be, Max." She didn't sound accusing at all, but it still stung.
The younger woman looked up in shock, unable to find an answer. Kate was right! "I…" Max stuttered. "I need him," she confessed tonelessly.
TBC
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