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SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: February 11, 2020; 9:40 a.m.
SECTOR 9: Bling's Apartment
As promised, the morning after their dinner, Tony returned to Bling's home, this time with Matt Sung for the local prosecution, and one of the assistant D.A.s from the federal prosecutor's office. The locals knew they had first crack at prosecuting the mother and son team now gaining some national attention, and they were going to be sure to get everything they needed as quickly as possible, before memories started fading – or a jurisdiction with more powerful friends had the pair transferred to their custody, and the Seattle-based law enforcement agencies lost their chance.
Tony's own information and his reports for each incident had been thorough, and, as a witness to most of the same events as DiNozzo, Bling had little in the way of new information to provide the investigators. He did, however, verify the details of his shooting and provide the connections between his attacker's father and each of Parks' victims. All of his information had been expected; Tony's initial work had made the process remarkably easy on him. Within an hour of their arrival, the small contingent who had come for his statement were getting to their feet and thanking him for his assistance.
Bling rose with the group. "I'd like to have a word with Tony, if you wouldn't mind..." he said to the others.
"Sure, Bling," Tony agreed immediately, looking to his associates. "You guys go on down ... I'll just be a minute?" At Bling's nod in confirmation when Tony looked back to him, Matt and the ADA thanked their witness again and went on toward the elevator.
As they did, Bling turned to the now-familiar green eyes, so like and so different from Logan's. "Look, Tony – I didn't know if I'd get to see you again before you left – at least not without Logan or the others around. I just wanted to thank you again for all that you did for the team, and ... I appreciate the fact that you have some concern for what Gregory went through."
The agent's expression settled slightly at the man's words, and he shrugged, "Not a problem. I'm glad that Logan called me about this. There's no way we would have put the connection together so fast – or even been involved at all – without someone catching onto the fact both Halladay and Palmer had been Navy and served together. It was lucky for everyone that you thought to call us in."
"That Logan did..." Bling reminded him, gently.
"Yeah." DiNozzo agreed, and the men were silent for the moment. Tony finally admitted, "under the circumstances, it seems wrong to say how much I enjoyed the trip – at least parts of it. But I'm glad I had a chance to meet you, and Max and Matt, and to see how many good people Logan has in his life – especially now."
"Well, your visit was the best medicine he's had for a long time." Bling mused. "He'd never mentioned having someone in the family so close to him, or I would have tried to get him to call you months ago. The circumstances could have been better, but ... I think the time you two were able to spend together, and your easy acceptance of his injury had a big effect. He looks better than he has in a long time, Tony. I think that your seeing him as the same old Logan did more for him than anything else has."
"...but I don't." Tony admitted, his voice low, not proud of his words. He managed to look back to the dark, calm eyes and sighed. "I'm trying like hell not to show him, Bling, but damn it..." DiNozzo hesitated, swallowing the emotions still raised by the thought of his cousin so dramatically injured. "I'm trying to get used to it – and I think it's getting easier. But of all people, Logan..." he frowned, "I'd give anything if I could trade places with him."
Bling's initial surprise at Tony's response gave way to admiration. "Well, then, you're one hell of an actor ... anything I've seen from you, you've seemed to take it in stride, faster than most family members do..."
Tony glanced up at him quickly, as if for confirmation, again surprising the therapist. "You think so?" At the encouraging nod he saw in response, DiNozzo drew a deep breath, his relief apparent. "Good. I wouldn't want him to think that I'm worried about him ... or to misunderstand, and think I saw him as ... changed ... or diminished, because of it..."
"Not a chance," Bling assured him.
"Good." Tony repeated, finally starting to trust Bling's impressions of what he'd seen. He sighed, shaking off the last worries, and smiled. "Well, I'm glad, if I can't be around, that he's got you to keep his head on straight."
Bling smiled softly. "I try."
DiNozzo snorted. "With him, I suspect it could be a challenge." He was quiet another moment, then added, "talk him into coming out to visit, will you?"
"Sure," Bling grinned, both of them knowing the job that would be.
"All of you come – of course you know you're welcome, Sandra too, but especially – have him bring Max..."
"I'll see what I can do." Bling considered the agent for a moment, then asked, "Were you heading back to Logan's now, or did you have some more work to do?"
"No, I'm going back to the DA's office. It will probably take til 5 or 6 to wrap everything up..." Tony saw a new thought shine in the man's eyes, and tried, "why?"
Bling considered for a moment, then offered, "I wasn't imagining things last night, when I saw you prodding Logan to get things moving with Max?"
Tony's eyebrows popped up a bit, and his mouth tweaked in anticipation. "No, you weren't."
"So I assume you sat him down and tried to tell him the same thing, before last night?"
"That, too," DiNozzo agreed.
"Well, then, it's my turn." Bling smiled faintly. "And if you'll be going back downtown anyway ... this just might be a good time to take care of some business I have with your cousin."
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON: February 11, 2020; 11:47 a.m.
SECTOR 9; Fogle Towers
When Logan heard his front door he wasn't too concerned – whomever it was knew how to disarm and rearm the system immediately, he'd heard – but he really wasn't expecting Max or Bling, the only ones other than himself who should know how to work it so quickly. Within moments he heard Bling's soft tread in the hall, and frowned his surprise at the face appearing in his doorway. "Aren't you supposed to be recuperating?"
Bling chuckled quietly, and came in to sit against the computer table. "If I want to get any errands done, I've got to do it while Sandra's at work. She's pretty serious about wanting me to stay in one place at the moment." Remembering, he added, "and thanks for covering for me last night – I know she wouldn't have approved of my going to a basketball game."
"Or coming over here today, probably," Logan agreed, chuckling at this new image of his highly-trained, powerful bodyguard- therapist ducking the tiny Sandra. "How'd you get here, anyway?"
"I talked her into trading cars with me, 'til I can work the gearshift again. I told her we ought to just trade right away – you know, in case there was some emergency, and I needed transportation..."
"That's the kind of sneaky stuff that women don't usually like, you know." Logan grinned his warning.
"Only when they catch you." Bling agreed. After a moment, he spoke again. "I just had a couple things I'd left here the other day I that wanted to pick up..." when I left so abruptly, he didn't add, "but I also owe you another thanks, for last night," his words softened slightly as he expressed sincere appreciation. "Your bringing over dinner and all. I'm glad we could do that while Tony's still here."
"It was a good night, wasn't it?" The green eyes still sparkled with the memories of recent days, the new level of comfort he felt in himself and the enjoyment of getting to know his cousin all over again. "They took your statement this morning?"
"Yeah, they left a little while ago. Tony came with Matt and some guy from the DA's office. They thought my information was helpful, but with Tony involved in everything out here they said he could practically carry the case himself. The only independent thing I could add, really, was what Parks told me on the phone."
Logan nodded, and with a guilty look, asked, "So ... you think they might go without taking Max's statement? Especially when they have mine, too, for Gayle?"
Bling understood the reaction and assured him, "I suspect that both Tony and Matt knew you'd prefer they leave Max out of things, even if they didn't know why. Her name is in the reports, but neither of them have said they want to talk with her. In fact, they're under the impression that there will be so much on both Parks and his mother, with the two murders on top of the attack out here all tied to the rifle they took into evidence, that any defense lawyer with some sense would try to find a way to deal the cases, just to avoid the worst."
"Good." Logan's brow cleared a little, and he apologized, "you know she would have made a statement in a heartbeat, Bling, even testified if it was necessary – but especially now that it's on the national news..."
"I know, Logan; it's okay. It really sounds as if we'll all be off the hook." The spiky head of hair nodded in response, his concern for Max apparently quieted a bit with Bling's belief that she'd be safely out of the spotlight. Looking at his charge with a bit of his own guilt for being unable to keep up with his therapy, Bling asked, "what about you? Doing your ROM, as directed?"
The dimpled smile returned, slowly. "As directed. And getting better with practice."
"Good." Bling felt himself smile too at the touch of pride he heard in Logan's voice. "In a day or two I can stick around and at least supervise."
"Look, I don't know that it's all that necessary for you to..." Logan stopped talking as he heard his door yet again, and again heard the quick handling of his security system. "Max, too?" His eyes lightened, anticipating another chance just to see her. "Here I thought it would be a quiet morning..."
In the next moment, Max appeared in the doorway to the computer room, looking fresh and happy. The crisp February air had brought roses to her cheeks as she rode her Jam Pony bicycle to his place, and now, at the welcoming look on Logan's face, her brown eyes warmed for him. "Hey," she smiled, speaking to Logan first, then managed to tear her eyes away to look at the trainer. "Hey, Bling."
"Max," Bling nodded.
"What's up?" Logan asked Max, expectantly. "I didn't think I'd see you 'til dinner."
Puzzled, Max looked from Logan to Bling, then back to Logan, who, clearly, was surprised to see her. "Bling called," she said, "and asked me to meet him here." At the initial surprise and drawing of eyebrows she saw on Logan's face, Max looked back to Bling, in a mix of question and apology. "Did I miss something? I just assumed..."
At Bling's neutral expression and continuing silence, Max looked back to Logan and saw that his eyes and mouth had started to gape, in slow, parallel movement, as the color seemed to drain from his face. At that, before Logan could thwart him, Bling calmly drew a breath to say, "Max – Logan wanted me to talk to you about sex."
"Bling..." Logan managed to gasp, the word barely audible.
"Oh, right, sorry; that wasn't quite it – he wanted me to talk with you about post-SCI sex."
By this time, Max's eyes were nearly as round as Logan's, although she looked far less horrified than he did. Involuntarily, she looked to Logan, as if for verification that he had indeed asked Bling to broach that topic with her – just as unintentionally, he looked up to her as he felt her glance – and immediately turned away, his face burning. Max wasn't sure what moved her more deeply – the unnecessary shame he felt, so plainly etched into his expression – or, with his failure to deny Bling's words, his tacit admission that he indeed wanted Max to know what sex with him might entail...
"I figured if you both had some time now..." When Logan sat back slowly, shaking his head in a slow, stunned refusal, Bling raised an eyebrow. "What, you forgot that you agreed to get the talk, too?" Logan stared at his therapist, dumbfounded at his audacity, literally unable to speak. Bling, still calm, went on, "when you asked me to talk with Max, you didn't specify..."
"I wouldn't have thought I had to!" The hissed, tight words came easily enough then, as the green eyes sparked with the heated anger fueled by his humiliation and his feeling of entrapment, unable to run, literally and figuratively. The color had returned to Logan's face, and then some; he flushed a bright crimson to his ears.
"I wouldn't have thought you'd ask me to have the conversation with Max that ought to be yours...and hers... to share..." Bling didn't give an inch, meeting Logan's glare, but a softer, gentler tone had colored his voice, and he said, quietly, "you knew when you asked me this wasn't my job."
Unable to respond, Logan's eyes snapped back to the spot on the floor ahead of him, wishing he could drop through all thirty five floors below him. No one moved; Max was silent, and he couldn't gauge her reaction without looking to her, something at the moment impossible for him even to consider. Other options depleted, Logan screwed his eyes shut, hoping they'd lose interest and just go...
Bling watched cooly as, burning with his mortification, his employer sat rigidly in place, head tipped down away from them, his breathing rapid, shallow. In the oppressive silence, no one moved, until, finally, Bling shifted his gaze to Max. She stood motionless, unabashedly taking Logan in – with her brow knit only slightly, her eyes had softened in compassion for his suffering. Neither saw the shadow of a smile that crossed Bling's lips, as he felt his own, hidden tension ease, hopeful at the sight.
"Well, it looks as if my work here is done – and yours is just beginning." He rose and without more, started walking toward the hallway. "Oh," he stopped and turned to add, "after the two of you talk – if you have any physiological questions for me, you know where to find me – I'll be at home, catching up on the soaps." Not waiting for a response, Bling went on down the hall, letting himself out the front door.
A frozen stillness settled back over the penthouse, as Max and Logan remained, unmoving, the hum of the computers a roar in the quiet room. After several long moments, Logan's drawn breath seemed to shatter the icy silence, and his voice, ragged, scraped their ears. "Max ... please ... just go..."
The small air currents that had carried his words trailed and dissipated, but Max stood as she was, rooted, mute. Logan's breathing was still audible to them both; she could hear her own heartbeat... And at that moment, she completed her own leap of faith that she started a few days before, then as daring for her as Logan's request of Bling.
With soft, quiet grace, Max came around in front of the man who sat bowed in his pain, unwilling to look at her, and knelt before him. Reaching to slip her fingers under his, she dipped her head a little to try to make eye contact as she spoke one, simple syllable...
"No..."
...to be continued...