A/N: I'm afraid this is a bit of a segue chapter. The last line is important, but the rest is sort of... eh. Sorry, but it had to be done.
Chapter 15: The Events Leading Up
As the night quickly approached, Logan found himself once more in his car, once more taking directions from Max, once more looking for a safe place that only she seemed to know how to locate. Alec and Will sat in the backseat, and Will, now more hostile witness than willing participant, was, for once, silent. He was sullenly silent, actually, which didn't bother Logan. William Lucas-Patterson III, for all of his good breeding and corporate training, had absolutely no idea how to behave in a crisis. He'd never even seen a crisis before. Now that his life was, quite possibly, in grave danger, he had absolutely no idea what to do.
Alec, for all appearances, was asleep, which also didn't bother Logan all that much. His amused reminders that whoever had been watching the surveillance feeds the night before had "quite a show" did nothing to help the situation. More than once, Logan found himself wondering if the cheeky transgenic would hit back if punched. More than once, he wondered if it would be worthwhile. He suspected it would be. At the very least, it would be incredibly therapeutic.
It was one of those numerous establishments that one can find at the edge of any major metropolis. It was a building somewhere between seedy and respectable, and, depending on how much you paid, you could get either kind of room. The motel consisted of two buildings of about twenty-five rooms each, and Logan had a feeling that the second building was reserved for the "pay-by-the-hour" crowd. He didn't know how Max had found this place, but he had a feeling she had a whole list of similar motels tucked away in her memory, just waiting for the day when she'd need them. Unfortunately, this was that day.
As he approached the front office, Logan tried not to remember his penthouse in Seattle. He tried to tell himself that this was for Max's safety, that his own hotel room was compromised by the surveillance tapes. He tried to remind himself that he had, in fact, spent the night in far worse places, including in a junkyard (covered in monster spit). Sadly, nothing helped the revulsion in his stomach when he passed by the smelly drunk on the corner doing something to a cat for which Logan didn't even want an explanation.
"Hello, how can I help you, Sir?" the man at the front desk smiled. Well, at least the employees were clean and civil enough.
"Yes," Logan exhaled slowly. "I need two rooms."
The front desk clerk, whose aged nametag might have read "Pete," quoted him a price that was, thankfully, more than reasonable, and Logan, ever thankful for the extra set of IDs he'd thoughtfully stowed under the floormat of his car, was able to secure two rooms within a reasonable distance of each other under the name of Colin Randolph. Well, even if Alec didn't receive the punch in the face he so richly deserved, at least he would have the pleasure of playing roomate and babysitter to Will overnight. That, at least, was something. Of course, that meant that Logan and Max would have the second room all to themselves...
Max truly did not need sleep. If he had ever doubted it before, Logan knew the truth of it after spending two nights in bed with her. He was a light sleeper, unused to the presence of another person in the room, and, when Max crawled out of bed sometime after he dozed off, he felt it. Without a thought, he reached out, missing the warmth of her body. She'd laughed quietly, and obliged him by sliding back between the sheets. He held her as he drifted back to sleep, concentrating on how very soft her skin was beneath his fingers. When she rose for the second time, he didn't try to stop her. He was too tired, and he knew she would only grow restless if she had to lie in bed doing nothing for eight hours. He awoke a few more times that night only to see her sitting by the window, or scribbling on complimentary motel stationary, or digging through her overnight bag. He didn't mind. It was comforting to have her there, and it was easy enough to fall back asleep.
Sadly, after the fourth or fifth time he woke, he stopped wondering what Max was doing. He was just too tired, and he knew that Max could take care of herself. At one point, he almost told her that she could turn on the TV if she wanted to, but he fell asleep before he could even mention it. He was just too groggy to remember how to talk.
When he heard the rustling in the room at 3:00 in the morning, he never thought to open his eyes, never thought to look for Max. He assumed it was her, and the sudden weight at the foot of the bed seemed to confirm his belief. He allowed the comfortable feeling of sleep to pull at him, lulling him away from the harsh reality of early morning. When he felt cool metal pressed against his temple, however, he was immediately awake.
TBC...