Facing Death
By: lfbrox
Story: Set in early second season. Logan can walk (just because I like him to). And lots of transgenics are on the run and the other X-series are all out too. Lydecker, Renfro and White are the enemies – as a team this time.
Rating: R
AN: Here you go. Another update. I still couldn't figure out what they do on their next date so I decided to prolong this date until I come up with something for the next. I hope you likey.
Thanks to Sammi for betaing this. Hope your computer is well. I look forward for your next fic. Also thanks to all the guys that reviewed the last chapter. Especially X-318. A very long and very nice review. It's those reviews that make me sit down and write more. So here it goes.
Chapter 8: Room-Sharing
"Who says we can't see each other? We made those rules, we can breake them right?" Max answered, thinking it was cute that Logan wanted to spend so much time with her.
"Right."Logan agreed and they resumed their previous activity watching the moon mirroring in the water.
Manticore, Seattle HQ:
Renfro rushed back to the laboratory where the observation team simultaneously surveyed Logan's apartment and the team that was out to capture 493. Having After Renfro quickly assembled and briefed a team of doctors and psychologists they would need for X5-493's immediate indoctrination as soon as he returned to the base, she needed to make sure that 452 and her friends weren't going to interfere in this operation.
"Report status." Renfro said without making eye contact with any specific operative.
"Suspect's apartment empty and dark, ma'am." One of them answered her. "Colonel Lydecker and the special-ops team are currently searching the woods. If 493 is there they will find him. He has no chance to escape ma'am."
"Good. Keep monitoring the progress and contact me as soon as anything new comes in." She ordered and, without waiting for the 'yes ma'am', she left the lab and hurried back to her office.
Once inside she closed and locked the door behind her. No-one would ever dare to come in her office without having the permission, but it was better to be safe than sorry. And she was never sorry about anything.
She pulled out a cell phone from her private purse and dialed a familiar number.
"White." Came the short but very immediate answer.
"Ames. Haven't you learned that answering your phone too quickly gives away the fact that you have nothing to do than to play golf and wait till your services are needed?" Renfro said with a little humor in her voice.
"Elizabeth." White said and Renfro could almost hear the smile she knew was on his face. "If I weren't so available how could I be of any service to you whenever you need me?"
"What could be of a greater importance to you than to be available for me?" Renfro said, enjoying talking to someone outside the military chain of command for once.
"So I'm guessing that operation 'Reunion' is moving along?" White asked, putting away his golf club to give her his full attention.
"You could say that. Lydecker is out to capture another one of his long lost children. But most of his time he's chasing 452 and Eyes Only." Renfro explained and heard White chuckle when she mentioned Lydecker's obsession with 452.
"You're truly evil Elizabeth. You use Lydecker's obsession with capturing 452 to make him do all the dirty work when in fact he has no idea how special she really is." White said in an almost teasing voice.
"Why should I get my hands dirty if Lydecker searches for 452 with a passion that almost exceeds ours?" Renfro asked but as she didn't really expect an answer to the question she continued. "It shouldn't be too long till he delivers us 452. Possibly with a little cherry on top; Eyes Only. So we should get the regroup coordinates fixed so we can lead the other transgenics there once 452 is delivered there." Renfro said all business like.
"Consider it done. It shouldn't be much of a problem. Besides, maybe we don't need a lot of time to observe 452 with the others. If her lack of junk DNA gives her abilities that the others don't have we will be able to see for ourselves what kind of abilities those are." White concluded.
"Maybe so. And if not we'll just cut her open and see what she's hiding." Renfro finished, said her goodbyes and ended the call.
She sat down behind her desk to study 452's file from her last 'visit' to Manticore. She needed to be prepared.
Fogle towers:
Close to midnight Max shot into the parking garage of Fogle towers with Logan following close behind. They had raced all the way home and neither was surprised that Max had one the race. But Max was surprised, thrilled and even a little proud that Logan kept up with her.
She parked her baby next to Logan's car. Before she could kill the engine Logan was already by her side parking Alec's bike next to hers.
"Wow, that was fun." Logan said after taking off his helmet. His hair was even more messed up than usual, his cheeks were rosy from the wind and the exertion, his smile was wide showing the dimples Max loved and his eyes held that sparkle. That special kind of sparkle Max imagined he only saved for her.
"Yeah it was." Max agreed eagerly. They both dismounted their bikes and walked to the elevator. Max knew she had to go up to his apartment again to get her bike. Logan knew that too. And both were grateful for that. Neither of them wanted this evening to end just yet. And neither of them had to say the words – they both knew.
Once they were upstairs Logan walked straight to the kitchen as if it were a given that Max would stay a little longer. And Max followed Logan as if it were a given that she wasn't going to just get her bike and go.
He grabbed another bottle of wine and looked at it thoughtfully. Then he put it back in the rack and went to the fridge. Max followed him with her eyes wondering what he was doing.
"How about champagne?" Logan asked, presenting the bottle.
"Champagne, huh?" Max asked, raising her eyebrows. "What's the occasion?"
"What do you mean? You're here, I'm here and we had a great evening. If that isn't occasion enough I don't know what is." Logan said, grabbed two glasses and moved over to the couch.
Max put on some music and sat close – but not too close – to him watching as he expertly opened the bottle without spilling a single drop. He poured them two glasses and set the bottle on the couch table in front of him. He handed Max a glass, careful not to touch her bare fingers, then took his own glass and turned a little more towards her.
They toasted to each other and took a sip of the bubbly liquid. Then they relaxed back in the cushions of the couch. Suddenly Max yawned loudly.
"Hey. I thought X5's didn't get tired." Logan chuckled and emptied his glass.
"Nope. Only the ones with shark-DNA don't tire easily. But I find it very relaxing and soothing when the adrenalin rush slowly fades. Plus the champagne helps a great deal in relaxing me." Max explained and held her glass towards him to get a refill.
"You know you can crash here if you want." Logan offered and poured more champagne. Max looked at him intently waiting for the inevitable 'in the guestroom of course' addition that normally followed this offer. But it didn't come.
"Yeah. I'd like that." She agreed happily, ignoring, for the moment, the fact that there was not a chance in hell she would be crashing anywhere else but in the guestroom. But she decided to just relax and be happy with what she had.
She took her boots off and curled up on the couch, champagne in hand and a content smile on her face. She had no idea that while she was physically alone with Logan in the apartment, there were more than 10 pairs of eyes on them. One pair belonged to Zack, who sat in his usual spot across the street not only watching them but, for the first time, also listening to them. The soldier in him waited impatiently for some information on Eyes Only and his network of informants and helpers. But the man in him wanted to go over there and show her with whom she belonged.
The woods outside Seattle
"There he is. Circle him in. Don't let him escape. Use your tazers once you're close enough." Lydecker ordered after spotting 493.
The members of the special-ops team followed his order quickly and efficiently and had 493 circled in within minutes. They moved closer towards him and the transgenic looked like a caged animal. They hesitated, not sure whether to attack right now or wait till they got closer and gave 493 less of a chance to try to slip away from them.
"493. Give it up. If you struggle it will only hurt you. And that isn't my intention." Lydecker yelled over to him.
"Right Lydecker. And here I thought your sole reason for getting up in the morning was to hurt one of us." The transgenic yelled back, giving Lydecker a hard glare before focusing his attention back on the soldiers that had inched closer.
"You're wrong. All I ever did was try to protect you." Lydecker said, attempting to either calm down the transgenic or make him angry so he would make a mistake. Either way was fine with him. "Give it up 493." Lydecker shouted.
And that did it. Something seemed to snap in him. "My name is Ben." He yelled back and began attacking the soldiers in a blur of motion.
He managed to knock three of them to the ground but in the end it was still only one transgenic versus ten soldiers with tazers. He didn't stand a chance. Within a minute he dropped motionless to the ground and only the sporadic shuddering of his body, caused by the aftereffect of the tazers, confirmed that he wasn't dead.
"Tie him up and bring him to the SUV. We need to have him securely strapped to the indoctrination-chair before he wakes up." Lydecker ordered and marched over to the vehicle, leaving the rest of the work for his men.
He sat down in the divers seat and reached for his intercom. "Lydecker here. 493 captured and secure. We'll be in the lab in about 25 minutes. Inform Director Renfro and have everything ready for indoctrination. Over." He informed the observation team and turned off the intercom again.
He turned his head to see the team dragging 493 to the SUV and he had to take a deep breath. "Ben." He said in a whispered tone.
Logan's penthouse:
"Do you wanna call Cindy and tell her that you're not coming home tonight?" Logan asked pouring the last bit of champagne.
"Nah. She's probably fast asleep, and she'll only get pissed if I wake her to tell her I ain't comin' home. I'll call her in the morning and give her a wake up call. That girl really needs to work and make some money for once." Max said, smiling tiredly.
"You wanna bunk down?" Logan asked, seeing how tired she was and feeling very tired himself.
"Yeah. I guess we should. Before we fall asleep on the couch and – you know." Max said, interrupting herself at the end. They had managed to forget about the virus tonight and she didn't want to be the one to have them start thinking about it now.
"Yeah I know." Logan said and with a sigh he rose from the couch and stretched his sore back.
"Too bad you don't have a room with two single beds in it." Max joked and got up herself.
"I've got another guest bed. It can be folded up so I keep it in the closet of the exercise room in case I have more than one guest." Logan explained, carrying their glasses to the kitchen.
"Really?" Max asked. She wanted to ask him if she could use that one and crash in his room instead of sleeping alone in the guest room. But she couldn't bring herself to ask that. If he wanted her to do that he would have asked. Right?
"Uhm Max. You wanna sleep in the other guest bed?" Logan asked and cursed himself inwardly for not just asking her straight up what he wanted to ask her.
"Is it any better than the one in the guest room?" Max asked innocently after seeing his discomfort.
"Most definitely." Logan answered and marched over to the exercise room to get the bed.
Max watched him roll it out into the middle of the living room. Then he stopped, locked the brakes and started to unfold it.
"What are you doing?" Max asked rushing to his side.
"Setting up the bed." Logan answered, pretending to be totally wrapped up in the task of unfolding the bed.
"Here?" Max said, not having caught his boyish grin.
"There isn't enough room in the guest room to set it up Max. Or would you rather sleep in the kitchen?" Logan asked but this time he didn't hide his teasing tone.
Max caught on but felt stupid that it took her so long to realize that he was just playing with her. Unable to come up with a witty comeback but totally okay with that, she helped him fold the bed back up and together they rolled it into his bedroom.
There they worked together to set up the bed, all the time joking and laughing about sleepwalking and him falling out of bed. Within no time they had the bed ready and disappeared into the bathroom. He in his master bathroom and Max in the guest bathroom where she kept her toothbrush and her other toiletries.
After 10 minutes she returned to the master bedroom just in time to see Logan crawl in his bed. She wanted to join him so bad but was content that she at least could sleep in the same room with him.
"Nice outfit." Max smiled as she walked inside, taking in Logan's half naked form, only clad in a pair of boxers.
"Back at you." He said giving her an appreciative once over.
She crawled in her bed and noticed with satisfaction that the bed was high enough for her to see Logan without having to raise her head.
"Comfortable?" He asked after watching her cuddle up in the bed.
"Very much." She said and finally settled in a comfortable position that allowed her to see Logan and was cozy enough to fall asleep in.
"Let's hope we don't have to do this anymore next week." Logan said with a mischievous grin.
"Logan Cale." Max said and faked shock. "You think that just because we beat this bitch, I'll fall in your bed a second later?"
"Yes." Logan replied playfully but also truthfully. Max pretended to ponder that thought for a minute and when Logan gave up the idea that she was going to reply to this she did.
"Yeah. I guess so too." Max said with a seductive grin and hugged her pillow tighter. Logan gave her one last smile and then turned off the lights.
"Goodnight Max."
"Goodnight Logan."
They lay there in the dark. Only the full moon illuminated the room. Logan tried to stop his heart from pounding fearing that Max might be able to hear it. He tried to concentrate on having Max here in his room, in his life. He wished this wouldn't be a one time thing. He hoped he would have her in his room forever. In his arms forever. That thought helped him relax and slowly he started to drift off into a dream filled with Max. When suddenly Max's voice brought him back to the real Max.
"I asked if you snore." Max repeated hoping she hadn't woken him.
"I don't know. I guess not. But there hasn't been anyone in a situation to confirm this in a long while." Logan answered.
"Okay. Then I will tell you in the morning." Max replied and fell silent again, satisfied with watching him sleep. But after watching him sleep for 30 minutes, she too drifted off to a peaceful, nightmare-less dream.
Manticore, Seattle HQ:
Ben was strapped to the indoctrination chair. A tube was in his mouth that prevented him from swallowing his tongue and provided enough oxygen to endure this strenuous procedure. His head was held in place by two iron clasps. The laser that would burn his new mindset into him was aimed at his left eye. To an unfamiliar onlooker this scene would look scary, shocking right out of clockwork orange. But at Manticore it was just another test on another creature they had once created.
"Are we ready?" Renfro asked the doctors that were attaching more and more electrodes to his body.
"Yes ma'am. We can begin." They confirmed and moved away from Ben to the various apparatuses that would do the work.
"Hang on." Lydecker interrupted and took a step closer to the doctors. "What about his memory? Will it stay intact after the first indoctrination session so we can question him about the whereabouts of the other X5's?" Lydecker couldn't see the annoyed expression on Renfro's face as he voiced his demand.
"Yes sir. His short term memory will not be altered during the first session of indoctrination." The doctor explained.
"Good. Call me after the first session is done and he is awake. I wanna question him before you start with phase two." Lydecker said, turning to leave the lab and join the observation team in the lab next door. Renfro frowned again at his attitude and followed him while the doctors started phase one of indoctrination.
Observation lab:
"What have we got?" Lydecker asked upon walking inside.
"452 is still at the apartment sir. They had a bottle of champagne then set up a spare bed in the suspect's bedroom. They are both asleep now." The team leader answered.
"So the virus isn't cured yet. Good. Any clue on who that doctor is they are seeing?" Lydecker asked.
"No sir. Casual conversation. No mentioning of Eyes Only or the cure. Sir." The leader answered again.
"Keep surveying the scene. Call me when anything happens." Lydecker said and again left the room without saying a word to Renfro who stood in the doorway tapping her foot, growing more and more frustrated with him.
But pissing him off now wasn't an option. Not when he was devoting so much energy to get her what she wanted – without even knowing that he was doing so. So she turned around and left the room too, deciding to give Deck some time to cool off. She didn't know what had gotten into him and, quite frankly, she didn't really care.
AN: Okay. This is it. I know it hasn't been a very long chapter but I hope you liked it anyways. Please read and review. And if you come up with a date-idea lemme know.
Lfbrox