A/N: Thanks so much for the reviews! I know there wasn't any explanation
about the drug trafficking, but there will be in this chapter, and as some
of you guessed, it is going to be an Eyes Only plotline.
I also had someone notice Logan's sudden hands-off manner when it comes to
Max. And yes, that is intentional. It's not meant to torture you guys and
it won't be long-term at all, so if anyone else was concerned, don't worry!
Pretty soon, chapters may, and probably will, become less frequent, as I
will be starting school on Tuesday. Hell, I even got homework at
orientation. Which reminds me, I need to get started on that damn essay.
But anyway, this'll be my first year up at the high school building (even
though I'll be a sophomore), and I don't know what my workload will be like
or anything. So through the months of September and October, just bear with
me and don't freak out if there is as much as two weeks between new
chapters, but rest assured that I won't just leave this story all together.
________________________________________________________________________
Chapter 7: Now and Then
"Hey stranger," Max wrapped her arms around Logan's neck as Lex ran into the kitchen ahead of her.
"Hey," Logan returned, a little uneasy.
"So how'd it feel to have your ass handed to you by a teenager?" Max laughed, having heard the story of the pool game from Lex.
"Well, she hasn't beat me at chess yet," Logan remarked.
"Forget your dignity, she can even kick my ass at chess," Max leaned in to kiss him, but he pulled back just her lips brushed his.
"You hungry? There's still leftovers from dinner?"
"Sure," Max agreed. She sensed that something was up, but decided to wait to question him about it until he'd had some sleep; it was the wee hours of the morning, after all.
After they'd all eaten a late midnight snack, Lex headed off to her room and popped a CD and headphones into her laptop. Jondy yawned and followed behind Lex saying that she was going to crash as well.
"You can have the couch if you want," Logan offered.
"No, no, the floor is my friend," Jondy laughed. "Night."
"Really, Logan are you ok?" Max asked as they sat on the couch. "You seem so tense," she worried as she snuggled into him.
"I'm fine," Logan lied, shifting slightly.
"Liar," Max saw through him. Tilting her head to the side, she began to form a trail of light kisses along his jaw. Reveling in the feeling of his scruffy beard beneath her lips, she snaked her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer.
"Max," Logan subtly tried to stop her advances. "You know there are those of us who tend to get tired at three in the morning."
Sighing, Max pulled back, "Yeah, I guess so," she smiled slightly. "I guess I'll crash, too," she curled up in Logan's lap and closed her eyes.
"Right here?" Logan asked.
"Uh-huh," Max mumbled from her half-asleep state.
Yawning for the first time that night, Logan decided that he didn't have the energy to carry Max all the way to their bedroom, and that seemed to be the only way he'd be getting off the couch. Shifting slightly, he moved out of his upright position, but kept on top of him as he closed his eyes.
From her place at on her bed, Lex inwardly sighed to herself. She'd been observing Logan all night and concluded that it was time for another little talk with him when he woke up.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Awww, how cute," Lex's voice startled Logan as he began to open his eyes. Seeing Lex standing above, his cheeks flushed several different shades of red when he felt Max stir on top of him.
"What time is it?" Max mumbled as she stretched herself awake.
"Six," Lex held up her watch. "I started the coffee, it should be ready in a few minutes."
"Good," Max yawned as she stood up and headed for the pot.
Logan went to follow her, but Lex held him down, "Not yet, I need to talk to you."
"Huh? About what?" Logan wasn't sure he was conscious enough to have a coherent conversation this early in the morning.
"Look, I'm fourteen, not four. You don't have to be afraid to talk to Mom just because I might be in earshot," Lex brazenly stated. "It doesn't take a genius to notice that last night you were afraid to even look at her whenever I was around."
"And what makes you think that?" Logan stalled as he tried to think up a believable lie to contradict Lex's accusations.
"The fact that it's true. Alright, lemme put it this way- did your parents sleep in separate rooms when you were growing up?"
"No," Logan slowly answered.
"And did that ever bother you? Let alone, did you even think about it?" Lex crossed her arms.
"Well, no- " Logan started, only to be cut off.
"Exactly. You're not going to make me go blind by sitting next to her," Lex lowered her voice as Max walked by back into the living room. Lex nudged Logan's shoulder with her hip as she walked over to the doorway and took one of the three coffee mugs Max had brought out, "Thanks."
As Lex disappeared back into the kitchen, Max sat back down on the couch. "What was that all about?" she asked Logan with a suspicious smile.
"Nothing," he shrugged. As Max reached down to grab the remote, Logan caught Lex's eyes in the doorway. As he reached draped one arm around Max's shoulders, Lex winked at him and slinked away. "Nothing," he repeated as sipped his coffee.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that morning, after Max had left for work, and Lex had left to meet up with Tera, Logan turned on his computers and began reading through his emails. Most he moved into various folders, intending to deal with them later, but there were two that caught his eye. The first one was about the apartment he had been trying to get for Jondy.
"Hey Jondy", Logan called out to her. "Come here for a minute."
Kicking a path through the pile of boxes she had been unpacking in Lex's room, Jondy made her way to Logan's office, "Yeah?"
"Got that apartment for you," Logan printed out the information and handed the email to Jondy.
"Logan, really, you didn't have to do that," she smiled as she read over the paper.
"Yes, I did. Finding a decent place in Seattle is impossible, and this guy owed me anyway."
"Whoa, hold up," Jondy shook her head as she read the description of the place. "Just how am I supposed to afford anything in this sector? I don't even have a job yet."
"You don't have to," Logan answered matter-of-factly. "Like I said, this guy owes me; big. In fact, if I hadn't have helped him out a few years ago, he wouldn't even own the building anymore. So you won't be paying anything, it's yours."
Jondy was speechless as a huge smile spread across her face, After standing frozen for a minute or so, she let out an appreciative squeal, "I think I love you!" she gushed as she laughed and threw her arms around Logan's neck. "When can I go check this place out?"
"Now, if you want. It's two blocks down, third building on the right. The key is waiting for you at the front desk."
"Thank you so much!" Jondy shouted as she grabbed her shoes and ran out the door.
Smiling to himself, Logan closed out that window and moved on to the second email. He hadn't heard from this particular informant for months. And now this seemed to be about a new chapter of the same drug ring he'd been looking for information on. Apparently several emergency rooms in Beijing had been reporting an influx of critical and fatal injuries connected to the use of an unknown drug.
"Ruptured blood vessels, severe nose bleeds, comas, blindness" Logan read through the list in his head. It whatever it was had the same effects as the new drug that was sending Seattle drug addicts to the hospital by the dozens. Sending out an email to all his informants to look for leads on how the drug was turning up in China, Logan shook his head, "Just great, some new bastard trafficking dangerous drugs overseas."
Next he picked up the phone to call Matt Sung, "Hey, Matt; it's Logan."
"Logan, haven't heard from you in while," Matt was glad to hear from him again. "You know, I heard the funniest rumor last week; something about you finding Max again and having a teenager living with you."
"Well, that's true actually. Max is back, and as it turns out we have a daughter together, Lex," Logan still couldn't get used to those words coming out of his mouth.
"You're serious," Matt said in shock, more to himself than to Logan. "Well, I thought that that was just a joke." After a slight pause, he jumped back in, "But I'm guessing that's not why you called me. What can I do for you?"
"I just got an email that suggests some illegal overseas drug trafficking. I wouldn't make a huge deal out of it, but this drug is deadly. It's the same one that's been causing so many deaths in America, Seattle especially, over the past few months," Logan turned the conversation back to business as well.
"And Eyes Only wants me to try and get some cops who might know something to talk?" Matt was familiar with the drill by now.
"You know the informant net too well, Matt," Logan laughed. "Any use of abandoned harbors or unidentified planes, activity in warehouses, those things should give Eyes Only the leads he needs. Thanks for your help."
"No problem. I'll be in touch," Matt nodded and hung up the phone. "Logan with a teenager," he mumbled to himself and laughed. "God help him."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well what is this? You, on time?" Normal asked in sarcastic shock as Max strode into Jam Pony. "Trying to kiss up now that you came crawling back?"
"No, I just get here faster now that I don't have to pedal my way to work," Max retorted.
"So do I wanna know where the kid is from?" Normal asked; trying to sound disinterested even though the question had been eating away at him since he first saw Lex.
"Since when do you give a crap?" Max took the can of soda sitting out on the counter and popped it open.
"I never expected to see you again in the first place. And to just show up with a kid after fifteen years. I don't think anyone expected that," Normal shifted through some packages.
"Surprise," Max said in a monotone voice as she took a few deliveries and headed out the door, never answering Normal's question.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I still say we should be using a more secluded harbor," one of Clasin's men warned as Clasin cut off a phone call with a contact in Beijing.
"Junior, if you don't have the balls for this you should have stayed home," Clasin polished one of his handguns. "It's your own damn fault if you got yourself in over head. You wanna leave now, you know how it's done," Clasin played with the gun's safety. The man gulped quietly as he tried to swallow his fear. "Now you go line up those dealers again. These Asians are loving whatever shit I sent over there; we're up five grand already. And junior," he called out as the younger man started to walk away, "you wanna keep your ass safe, don't tell anyone about our little operation," Clasin threatened.
Backing out before Clasin had a chance to say anything else, the man left the room to do what he was ordered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Have you made any progress?" the high priestess asked Senator McKinley as he approached her at their meeting place.
"No, not yet. But I need more time; it hasn't even been three days yet," McKinley begged.
"Work faster; if 452 senses us there's no doubt she'll flee the city and send us on a wild goose chase again," the priestess ordered. "Here is White's file we recovered from his office. I want every location White spotted her in to be under surveillance. Have familiars combing the high school in sector five, too."
"You think that's where the girl would be enrolled?"
"According to the file, that's the sector in which 452 lived and the girl should be fifteen this December. Implying that she'll be freshman in the fall," the priestess said.
"I'll get people on it right away," McKinley nodded.
"You have one week or I call in a new team," the priestess left as an ultimatum. "Fe'nos tol."
"Fe'nos tol," McKinley obeyed. Turning around, he headed for his car, pulling out his cell phone to get to work. Ordering his driver to wait outside, he slid into the back seat and punched his speed dial. "Fe'nos tol," he greeted the woman on the other end. "I need you to watch the enrollment records at your school. You still teach at the high school in sector five, right?"
"Yes, I do," the woman, Anna, answered. "Who are what am I looking for?"
"The conclave has reason to believe that a girl named Alexa Guevara should be coming when school starts again. She's the offspring of 452."
"I'll check and let you know. What's to be done with the girl if I find her?"
"She'd wanted alive, for experiments. If we're fortunate enough for 452 to show up with her someday, the transgenic is wanted alive as well," McKinley explained.
"Very well," Anna made a mental note of her orders. "Fe'nos tol."
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Ok, now I'm off to do my homework. As always, please please please leave me a review, even if it's just to you're reading this. Any questions, comments, and nitpicks are also always more than welcome! I will do my absolute best to get chapter eight up as soon as possible, but it might take some time depending on what my teachers decide to dump on me. And how much love the holy purple button is shown. Thank you in advance to all my reviewers!
Chapter 7: Now and Then
"Hey stranger," Max wrapped her arms around Logan's neck as Lex ran into the kitchen ahead of her.
"Hey," Logan returned, a little uneasy.
"So how'd it feel to have your ass handed to you by a teenager?" Max laughed, having heard the story of the pool game from Lex.
"Well, she hasn't beat me at chess yet," Logan remarked.
"Forget your dignity, she can even kick my ass at chess," Max leaned in to kiss him, but he pulled back just her lips brushed his.
"You hungry? There's still leftovers from dinner?"
"Sure," Max agreed. She sensed that something was up, but decided to wait to question him about it until he'd had some sleep; it was the wee hours of the morning, after all.
After they'd all eaten a late midnight snack, Lex headed off to her room and popped a CD and headphones into her laptop. Jondy yawned and followed behind Lex saying that she was going to crash as well.
"You can have the couch if you want," Logan offered.
"No, no, the floor is my friend," Jondy laughed. "Night."
"Really, Logan are you ok?" Max asked as they sat on the couch. "You seem so tense," she worried as she snuggled into him.
"I'm fine," Logan lied, shifting slightly.
"Liar," Max saw through him. Tilting her head to the side, she began to form a trail of light kisses along his jaw. Reveling in the feeling of his scruffy beard beneath her lips, she snaked her arms around his shoulders and pulled him closer.
"Max," Logan subtly tried to stop her advances. "You know there are those of us who tend to get tired at three in the morning."
Sighing, Max pulled back, "Yeah, I guess so," she smiled slightly. "I guess I'll crash, too," she curled up in Logan's lap and closed her eyes.
"Right here?" Logan asked.
"Uh-huh," Max mumbled from her half-asleep state.
Yawning for the first time that night, Logan decided that he didn't have the energy to carry Max all the way to their bedroom, and that seemed to be the only way he'd be getting off the couch. Shifting slightly, he moved out of his upright position, but kept on top of him as he closed his eyes.
From her place at on her bed, Lex inwardly sighed to herself. She'd been observing Logan all night and concluded that it was time for another little talk with him when he woke up.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Awww, how cute," Lex's voice startled Logan as he began to open his eyes. Seeing Lex standing above, his cheeks flushed several different shades of red when he felt Max stir on top of him.
"What time is it?" Max mumbled as she stretched herself awake.
"Six," Lex held up her watch. "I started the coffee, it should be ready in a few minutes."
"Good," Max yawned as she stood up and headed for the pot.
Logan went to follow her, but Lex held him down, "Not yet, I need to talk to you."
"Huh? About what?" Logan wasn't sure he was conscious enough to have a coherent conversation this early in the morning.
"Look, I'm fourteen, not four. You don't have to be afraid to talk to Mom just because I might be in earshot," Lex brazenly stated. "It doesn't take a genius to notice that last night you were afraid to even look at her whenever I was around."
"And what makes you think that?" Logan stalled as he tried to think up a believable lie to contradict Lex's accusations.
"The fact that it's true. Alright, lemme put it this way- did your parents sleep in separate rooms when you were growing up?"
"No," Logan slowly answered.
"And did that ever bother you? Let alone, did you even think about it?" Lex crossed her arms.
"Well, no- " Logan started, only to be cut off.
"Exactly. You're not going to make me go blind by sitting next to her," Lex lowered her voice as Max walked by back into the living room. Lex nudged Logan's shoulder with her hip as she walked over to the doorway and took one of the three coffee mugs Max had brought out, "Thanks."
As Lex disappeared back into the kitchen, Max sat back down on the couch. "What was that all about?" she asked Logan with a suspicious smile.
"Nothing," he shrugged. As Max reached down to grab the remote, Logan caught Lex's eyes in the doorway. As he reached draped one arm around Max's shoulders, Lex winked at him and slinked away. "Nothing," he repeated as sipped his coffee.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
Later that morning, after Max had left for work, and Lex had left to meet up with Tera, Logan turned on his computers and began reading through his emails. Most he moved into various folders, intending to deal with them later, but there were two that caught his eye. The first one was about the apartment he had been trying to get for Jondy.
"Hey Jondy", Logan called out to her. "Come here for a minute."
Kicking a path through the pile of boxes she had been unpacking in Lex's room, Jondy made her way to Logan's office, "Yeah?"
"Got that apartment for you," Logan printed out the information and handed the email to Jondy.
"Logan, really, you didn't have to do that," she smiled as she read over the paper.
"Yes, I did. Finding a decent place in Seattle is impossible, and this guy owed me anyway."
"Whoa, hold up," Jondy shook her head as she read the description of the place. "Just how am I supposed to afford anything in this sector? I don't even have a job yet."
"You don't have to," Logan answered matter-of-factly. "Like I said, this guy owes me; big. In fact, if I hadn't have helped him out a few years ago, he wouldn't even own the building anymore. So you won't be paying anything, it's yours."
Jondy was speechless as a huge smile spread across her face, After standing frozen for a minute or so, she let out an appreciative squeal, "I think I love you!" she gushed as she laughed and threw her arms around Logan's neck. "When can I go check this place out?"
"Now, if you want. It's two blocks down, third building on the right. The key is waiting for you at the front desk."
"Thank you so much!" Jondy shouted as she grabbed her shoes and ran out the door.
Smiling to himself, Logan closed out that window and moved on to the second email. He hadn't heard from this particular informant for months. And now this seemed to be about a new chapter of the same drug ring he'd been looking for information on. Apparently several emergency rooms in Beijing had been reporting an influx of critical and fatal injuries connected to the use of an unknown drug.
"Ruptured blood vessels, severe nose bleeds, comas, blindness" Logan read through the list in his head. It whatever it was had the same effects as the new drug that was sending Seattle drug addicts to the hospital by the dozens. Sending out an email to all his informants to look for leads on how the drug was turning up in China, Logan shook his head, "Just great, some new bastard trafficking dangerous drugs overseas."
Next he picked up the phone to call Matt Sung, "Hey, Matt; it's Logan."
"Logan, haven't heard from you in while," Matt was glad to hear from him again. "You know, I heard the funniest rumor last week; something about you finding Max again and having a teenager living with you."
"Well, that's true actually. Max is back, and as it turns out we have a daughter together, Lex," Logan still couldn't get used to those words coming out of his mouth.
"You're serious," Matt said in shock, more to himself than to Logan. "Well, I thought that that was just a joke." After a slight pause, he jumped back in, "But I'm guessing that's not why you called me. What can I do for you?"
"I just got an email that suggests some illegal overseas drug trafficking. I wouldn't make a huge deal out of it, but this drug is deadly. It's the same one that's been causing so many deaths in America, Seattle especially, over the past few months," Logan turned the conversation back to business as well.
"And Eyes Only wants me to try and get some cops who might know something to talk?" Matt was familiar with the drill by now.
"You know the informant net too well, Matt," Logan laughed. "Any use of abandoned harbors or unidentified planes, activity in warehouses, those things should give Eyes Only the leads he needs. Thanks for your help."
"No problem. I'll be in touch," Matt nodded and hung up the phone. "Logan with a teenager," he mumbled to himself and laughed. "God help him."
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Well what is this? You, on time?" Normal asked in sarcastic shock as Max strode into Jam Pony. "Trying to kiss up now that you came crawling back?"
"No, I just get here faster now that I don't have to pedal my way to work," Max retorted.
"So do I wanna know where the kid is from?" Normal asked; trying to sound disinterested even though the question had been eating away at him since he first saw Lex.
"Since when do you give a crap?" Max took the can of soda sitting out on the counter and popped it open.
"I never expected to see you again in the first place. And to just show up with a kid after fifteen years. I don't think anyone expected that," Normal shifted through some packages.
"Surprise," Max said in a monotone voice as she took a few deliveries and headed out the door, never answering Normal's question.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"I still say we should be using a more secluded harbor," one of Clasin's men warned as Clasin cut off a phone call with a contact in Beijing.
"Junior, if you don't have the balls for this you should have stayed home," Clasin polished one of his handguns. "It's your own damn fault if you got yourself in over head. You wanna leave now, you know how it's done," Clasin played with the gun's safety. The man gulped quietly as he tried to swallow his fear. "Now you go line up those dealers again. These Asians are loving whatever shit I sent over there; we're up five grand already. And junior," he called out as the younger man started to walk away, "you wanna keep your ass safe, don't tell anyone about our little operation," Clasin threatened.
Backing out before Clasin had a chance to say anything else, the man left the room to do what he was ordered.
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
"Have you made any progress?" the high priestess asked Senator McKinley as he approached her at their meeting place.
"No, not yet. But I need more time; it hasn't even been three days yet," McKinley begged.
"Work faster; if 452 senses us there's no doubt she'll flee the city and send us on a wild goose chase again," the priestess ordered. "Here is White's file we recovered from his office. I want every location White spotted her in to be under surveillance. Have familiars combing the high school in sector five, too."
"You think that's where the girl would be enrolled?"
"According to the file, that's the sector in which 452 lived and the girl should be fifteen this December. Implying that she'll be freshman in the fall," the priestess said.
"I'll get people on it right away," McKinley nodded.
"You have one week or I call in a new team," the priestess left as an ultimatum. "Fe'nos tol."
"Fe'nos tol," McKinley obeyed. Turning around, he headed for his car, pulling out his cell phone to get to work. Ordering his driver to wait outside, he slid into the back seat and punched his speed dial. "Fe'nos tol," he greeted the woman on the other end. "I need you to watch the enrollment records at your school. You still teach at the high school in sector five, right?"
"Yes, I do," the woman, Anna, answered. "Who are what am I looking for?"
"The conclave has reason to believe that a girl named Alexa Guevara should be coming when school starts again. She's the offspring of 452."
"I'll check and let you know. What's to be done with the girl if I find her?"
"She'd wanted alive, for experiments. If we're fortunate enough for 452 to show up with her someday, the transgenic is wanted alive as well," McKinley explained.
"Very well," Anna made a mental note of her orders. "Fe'nos tol."
________________________________________________________________________
A/N: Ok, now I'm off to do my homework. As always, please please please leave me a review, even if it's just to you're reading this. Any questions, comments, and nitpicks are also always more than welcome! I will do my absolute best to get chapter eight up as soon as possible, but it might take some time depending on what my teachers decide to dump on me. And how much love the holy purple button is shown. Thank you in advance to all my reviewers!