"I don't want to go to bed, Daddy, I wanna play with the fireflies."
"No, baby, it's time to sleep. Maybe tomorrow night, before we go back to the city."
"But..." McKenzie's protests were futile, as she was already falling asleep. Logan tucked her in and went into the main room of his uncle's cabin. He started a fire and sat in front of it, thinking. McKenzie didn't know the true reason behind their journey to the cabin. It had been almost exactly five years to the day, of when she arrived in his doorway. Remembering the first few days caused Logan to laugh, but he had good friends then and now who helped him through.
Logan remembered her first night in his apartment. He had been feeding McKenzie when he looked into her eyes "Max…" he whispered, looking into the fire. He had seen Max in those baby eyes. It had been almost six years since he had last seen her. Four months after it had happened.
She had come to his apartment, having a bad bout of seizures and nothing was helping. It took two days for her to get better, for her fever to break and her seizures to calm down, letting the Trytrophen work. Finally when she was almost better, she realized she was in heat again. Trying to get away, Max had another bad seizure. Logan had been out, when he came home and found Max on the floor; he helped her back to bed. He sat by her for what seemed like an eternity, and when she woke up, that's when it happened.
Both realized their mistake, but surprisingly it didn't change their relationship. They were still friends and coworkers in his fight for the world. Then she just disappeared four months later. No trace. He had never even thought until that night…
He had brought McKenzie to the cabin before, but this time, he wanted to tell her about her mother. Max. Logan had not heard a word from her since a small letter about an hour before McKenzie had arrived. Why she had named her daughter McKenzie Alexandria, he didn't know, and why Max had felt she would be safe with Logan… He was always afraid that someday Lydecker would find out about McKenzie, and try to take her. He didn't want to have her live a life on the run, and so far, there had been no trouble.
Logan went into his bedroom and opened his suitcase. He pulled out the only picture of Max he had. Standing in front of an unknown building, in an unknown city with a fake smile on her face. He had never told McKenzie who the person in the picture was, and she had never asked. It just sat on his nightstand in a gold frame, where he could see it every morning and night.
"Where are you Max?" he whispered, tears forming in his eyes. He heard McKenzie roll over and mumble in her sleep from the next room. Ever since she had come into his life, Logan had found he could hear every little noise or movement she made. He mentioned this to Bling once, who said it was all part of being a parent. He took the picture into her room and just sat, staring at her. McKenzie had Max's eyes, but her hair was like Logan's. She reminded him a lot of his mother, but she had Max's temper and love for life. So far, she had shown no sign of Manticore genes, although she did seem to be really agile and coordinated compared to other children her age. The barcode that was etched into Max's genetic code had not come out in McKenzie, though Logan still checked every morning when he braided the five-year-old's hair.
She had never asked about her Mommy. All her friends had Mommies; in fact they were the only father daughter combo in her play group. Because of this, Logan rarely talked to the other children's parents. He had never seen a father at the park, and the other mothers were always too involved with catching up on the gossip to pay any attention to him. He didn't care. He usually just sat with his laptop, watching the children play and catching up on work. McKenzie didn't know her Daddy was Eyes Only. She had only seen his 'show' on the television once or twice, but she did not recognize his eyes. Logan was thankful for that, it was too much for her to handle at the moment, and he didn't want her to slip about it someday and end up in trouble.
Logan sat and watched McKenzie sleep, thinking of Max, and oblivious of the passing time. He finally fell asleep where he sat, Max's picture in his hands and tears running down his cheeks.

The next morning, Logan woke suddenly. He was still sitting in McKenzie's room, and aching. He glanced at the bed, but McKenzie was not there!
"McKenzie, Where are you?" When there was no answer, he left the room and started around the cabin.
"McKenzie, are you in the bathroom, honey?" He checked every room, but she was not there. When he got to the main room, he noticed the door was open. Logan started panicking. If she had gone into the woods, she could have easily gotten lost. Going out the door, Logan quickly glanced around the yard and towards the lake. She was always told to stay away from the lake, but she had really wanted to play with the fireflies she had seen down there last night. He started towards the lake, shouting "McKenzie! Where are you baby!"
"Daddy?" Logan quickly turned towards the cabin, where he heard McKenzie's voice, but he didn't see her.
"McKenzie?" Then he looked up. There she was, perched on the edge of the porch roof. Sitting and swinging her legs as if it were an everyday occurrence.
"What's wrong, Daddy?"
"McKenzie Alexandria Cale, get off that roof! How did you get up there?"
"I climbed." He watched as she stood up and walked to the corner, then swung down onto one of the poles holding it up, then slid down it like a firefighter would.
"Please don't do that again, you really scared me. Why did you go up there?"
"To think. Who is this, Daddy?" She held up a picture. It was the one of Max. "You had it in your hand when I woke up, she's pretty, but who is she?"
"Let's go inside, baby, and I'll tell you."
Logan told McKenzie about Max, but he decided not to tell her about how she came to live with him. Rather, he told McKenzie her mommy had to go away, and nobody knew when she would be back. She wasn't too worried about that, but she thought her mommy was really pretty. She wanted to keep the picture, so Logan decided to give it to her. Instead of waiting to go back into Seattle the next day, they decided to go home that day. Logan didn't want McKenzie climbing any more roofs.

Later on that night, after Logan put McKenzie to bed, he went to the window. The one Max broke through when they first met. It was raining again, and Logan felt miserable. Hopefully this morning's incident didn't turn into a habit like Max's.
'She never did get me on top of the Space Needle.' Logan thought. He stared out the window for what seemed like an eternity, just thinking. After a while, it felt like someone was watching him. He turned around, but didn't see anyone, so he went to check on McKenzie, she was still asleep. Going back to the window, Logan still had the creepy feeling that he was being watched. He tried to shake it off, but it wasn't working. He saw Max's face in the rain droplets running down the window. It was like she was standing behind him, looking out the window too. He quickly turned around, hoping to find Max, but there was no one. The creepy feeling was still there, so Logan checked out the entire apartment, made sure all the windows and the door was locked, then he went to bed. But he still couldn't shake the feeling that he was being watched...

To Be Continued...