A/N: Sorry it took me a little longer, busy busy…:) But now: ENJOY! (And maybe leave a review? Would be awesome)
And to answer a question: There is no Logan in this story. Sorry.
Chapter 4
"We got the body," Gibbs knocked at the car window. "Tony is checking him for anything that might help us. We should have brought Abby and Ducky."
"Boss?" Tony's voice penetrated the silence that had surrounded them for a moment after Gibbs' statement. Wordlessly the older man turned around and disappeared into the darkness again.
"What?"
"I think there's something underneath his finger nails. There must have been some sort of fight, might be skin and a little blood."
"You pay attention when Ducky does his job, huh?"
Tony shrugged, one of his trademark grins threatening to spread on his face. "Better paying attention to what he's doing than listening to what he's telling."
"We send it to Abby, maybe it really is a hint. Anything else?"
"I'm not the expert, boss."
"We take him. I'm sure Ducky knows somebody working somewhere around here we can trust."
Together they carried the body back to the car and placed it in the trunk. Tony tried not to think about who that was, he knew very well what this guy had meant to Max. He couldn't go there, not while on the job. He had to focus.
xx
An hour later the group was back at Max's apartment. Gibbs had been right, a long term friend of Ducky's worked in Seattle and he had agreed on examining the body without asking questions. They had stopped by there and now couldn't do anything but wait for the autopsy results.
"I think I'll go to bed. It's been a long day," Kate announced mere minutes after they had entered the apartment.
"Yeah, me too." Gibbs agreed. "Night." The two agents disappeared into the only other room and left Tony and Max behind. Tony watched the young woman hesitantly for a moment before he got up and walked to the window, staring out at the dark city.
"Thank you for coming here," Max's voice was soft.
"Of course."
"Tony, I…"
"Max, can we please just concentrate on solving this? You know that it's important to focus, don't allow emotions to interfere." Tony turned around to look at her. "We'll find them, Max."
"Yeah."
"And now let's go to work," he gave her one of his brilliant smiles before he sank down on the sofa, opening his lap top.
"What do you think you can find?"
He shrugged. "Check out the government buddies here, see if we can tie one of them to Manticore or find some other odd things. I mean, we can probably find a lot of odd things when it comes to government guys, it might get interesting. You got some potato chips?"
Max shot him an amused glance. "You haven't changed at all."
"Yeah well, guess I just didn't grow up."
While Tony was working on the computer Max paced the living room nervously. She didn't like being the one chased, she hated that feeling. It wasn't what they had been taught, hiding. She was supposed to go out there, face the danger and win the battle. Only this time it had seemed too huge. Who ever was behind them had been able to take out Zack and all the other well trained super soldiers, apparently without breaking a sweat. She couldn't do this on her own, not this time.
"Ha!" Tony's voice interrupted her dark thoughts.
"What?"
"It's not like it says Manticore in his bio, but it sure seems odd that around the time you guys were…born, there is a gap. No data."
"So we found our guy?"
"Yeah, him or he two other guys with similarly weird information." Tony yawned. "Sorry, Max. All I could come up with. But it at least minimized the amount of suspects. Now we know which DNA Abby has to check out first. I think I'll get some sleep," he checked his watch. "An hour should do." He slipped his shoes off and, groaning, let his body fall sideways on the sofa. "Night."
"Night."
"Max?" Tony's voice was heavy with sleep. "Get some rest." Then his breathing eased and found its own slow rhythm while he drifted off.
Max sat down on the comforter across from Tony and also closed her eyes. There was nothing else she could do right now, and a little bit of sleep couldn't hurt. The soft breathing her enhanced ears easily picked up lulled her into a light daze soon.
xx
Tony stirred when the sun was shining on his face, groaning he sat up, his whole body stiff. A little shocked he noticed his co-workers and Max already sitting at the kitchen table, intently reading some notes.
"Morning." Kate's voice made him groan again.
"What time is it?"
"Way past eight." Max's voice sounded a lot more upbeat than the day before. "You've never been a morning person."
Mumbling something that wasn't meant for the others to be understood Tony retreated to the bathroom in order to take a much needed shower.
xx
"What is it?" Tony had a towel around his neck, his hair still dripping.
"I can't reach Alec. He doesn't answer his phone, or when I beeped him" Max's voice was filled with panic. "They have him, I know it. Damn it, I told him to get out of the city."
"Okay, take it easy. We don't know if he was really aught. Maybe he still sleeps, doesn't hear the phone ringing."
"I'll go over to his place." Tony announced. For now his feelings towards the guy who had taken his girl were forgotten.
"I'll go with you." Max decided immediately.
"You shouldn't…" Kate tried.
"No, I know the shortest way and I can't just sit around and wait."
"We'll be okay." Tony assured his friends. "I have the files of the three guys I thought looked suspicious on the laptop. Maybe you can send their information to Abby. Have her check them first."
"Okay. Call when you found something." Gibbs decided.
xxxx
TBC…