by Kirsten Tapp
Disclaimer: Dark Angel doesn't belong to the author, but to James Cameron, etc. No copyright infringement intended.
Summary: What happened after And Jesus Brought A Casserole.
Spoilers: And Jesus Brought A Casserole, Designate This
Rating: PG
Category: Drama/Romance
Author's Notes: Here's the next chapter in the Inbetween series. I won't be doing a chapter for inbetween Meow and aJBaC since they were linked together anyway.
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Max lay listening to the sound of her brother's beating heart that now lay inside her chest. She couldn't believe he was gone or that he had given up his life for her. One thing was for sure, she would not let it all have been in vain. She would not let Manticore break her like they had Brin.
All she had to do was keep an eye on the prize: Her freedom. She blocked out the sound of the heartbeat and recalled the night Logan had stood with the aid of the exo skeleton. She had expected him to be angry and feel betrayed when she told him about being in Heat, but he had been caring and understanding. When she thought back, she had known for a while that Logan cared about her as more than just a friend. He knew her sometimes better than she knew herself.
The memory of his lips on hers was as clear as if it had happened a few seconds ago. Logan would get her through this. Thought's of what could have happened that night if Zack hadn't interrupted them filled her with hope for a future outside of Manticore. It also filled her with a little guilt over the loss of her brother.
Zack wouldn't want her to mourn him. He'd want her to fight for her freedom in any way she could. She had to do that for him.
Unbelievable as it seemed, even in the safe confines of her mind, she knew that Logan would somehow know she was still alive. She had to get back to him. She needed to get back to him. She had never loved anyone the way she loved Logan. "I'm coming back to you Logan. Wait for me." She murmured.
Logan sat on top of the Space Needle staring into the darkness. He had woken up in the back of the van in the empty warehouse after the break in at Manticore. His head throbbed from where Lydecker had knocked him unconscious. Still, he felt the warmth of Max's body lying in his arms as he watched her die, helplessly begging her not to leave him. Even now, he felt that somehow she was still alive, though he knew that was impossible.
Judging from the emptiness of the warehouse, he had guessed that Krit and Syl had gone back into hiding. Who knew what Lydecker was now up to. One thing was for sure, he wasn't back at Manticore.
Logan had driven himself back to his apartment, sat down on his sofa and that was where Bling had found him the next morning. Bling had taken one look at him and guessed that something had happened to Max. Losing contacts or even innocent strangers that he tried to help, Logan always dealt with that by getting angry and going after those responsible. This numb state that Logan seemed to be in was a worse version of what he had been like when Max had left Seattle with Zack.
"Logan." Bling tried to break him out of his stunned state. "Where's Max?" He knelt in front of Logan. The man looked as though he had just come back from hell. "What happened to Max?"
"She's dead." Logan barely blinked. The words hurt too much to say, let alone pair them with any sort of expression. A solitary tear fell down his face and dropped off of his chin onto his hand which was resting on his knee.
Bling could understand Logan's zombie like appearance and actions now. Although his employer and friend refused to admit it, he had been completely in love with Max. "What happened?" He was in shock himself. What could have possibly happened to kill an X5.
"Someone from Manticore shot her. The wound was too bad. I couldn't save her." The tears streamed down Logan's face now, yet he still sat completely still and numb.
A loud and persistent knocking temporarily shifted Bling's attention from Logan to the visitor. "I'll see who that is." Bling stood and went to answer the door.
"Those two better be banging the gong 24/7 cause that's the only thing that's going to stop me from putting the smack down on Hot Boy's ass. I haven't seen my Boo for the past three days." Original Cindy pushed her way past Bling, but came to an immediate stop when she saw the state Logan was in. "Oh my God. What happened?" She looked over her shoulder at Bling. "Where's Max?"
"She didn't make it." Bling gently explained. "From what little I managed to get out of Logan, she was shot and died in his arms."
"How long has he been like that?" Original Cindy felt as though the wind had been completely knocked out of her. Despite her own shock, she realized that Logan was in pretty bad shape.
"I'm not sure." Bling admitted. "This is how I found him this morning. Apart from a few sentences he hasn't moved or spoken."
Original Cindy carefully sat down next to Logan and took hold of his hand. She wasn't sure if it was of any comfort to him, but at that moment it was all she could think of.
The following few days Bling and Original Cindy took turns looking in on Logan. Finally Original Cindy decided something more drastic had to be done. Logan had barely moved from the sofa. She wasn't sure that he had even eaten anything since Max had died.
"You think you're the only one suffering over losing Max?" She started yelling at him. "What do you think Max would say if she could see the sorry state you're in? She'd be disgusted that you were using her as an excuse to feel sorry for yourself. Not to mention there's a really bad stench coming off of you. When was the last time you took a shower?"
"If you don't like it here, then leave." Logan snapped. "Nobody's asking you to keep coming here."
Bling was watching from the kitchen. "Come on Man. Fight back." He muttered under his breath. If Logan couldn't be bothered fighting for himself, they would lose him as well as Max.
"You don't get rid of me that easily." Original Cindy snapped back. "Max would never forgive me if I let your sorry ass rot in self pity. I wouldn't insult her memory that way."
It was as though a damn broke inside of Logan. He stood on shaky legs despite having the assistance of the exoskeleton. "Max is dead. I can't do any of this without her. If she's not here, what the hell do I have to live for?" The tears were running down his face like waterfalls, almost blinding him.
"Her memory. The fact that she would want you to go on." Original Cindy stopped yelling. "You managed to live before you met Max. Now you have to live for Max."
Logan stopped yelling as well. "I don't suppose there's a chance that Max will come back to kick my ass personally."
Original Cindy chuckled and hugged Logan. "Sorry. I don't think that's going to happen." She screwed up her nose. "I'm serious about the stench Boo."
"Fine. I'll go and take a shower." Logan laughed.
"Then what are you going to do?" Bling asked from the kitchen.
"I'm going to live for Max." Logan replied.
"I'm glad that worked." Bling told Original Cindy. "Cause I thought I was going to have to carry his sorry ass into the shower myself."
"I think he still has a long way to go." Original Cindy stared at the closed bathroom door. "I'd sure hate to be the person who was responsible for Max's death when he gets angry."
Bling knew she was right. Logan would not stop until he had destroyed Manticore or Manticore killed him.
Logan had taken to sitting on the Space Needle every night. He was still terrified of heights but up here he felt closer to Max. There was a sense that she was still alive. He didn't know if it was wishful thinking on his part or if it was just because he knew how much she loved to sit on the Space Needle and pretend she was a normal girl.
He had contacted a former informant who was also part of a group called the S1W. If he helped their cause, they were willing to help him take down Manticore. If it was the last thing that he ever did, he would destroy the people who took Max from him.
The stitches hadn't even been removed when Manticore put Max back into training. She had forgotten how much she hated the feel of the cold metal of a gun. They subjected her to tests, increased battle training and any form of torture they could think up, but she would not break. She was not X5 452. She was Max and she had someone waiting for her outside the fences.
Instead of focusing on the words Betrayal, Deceiver, and Traitor flashing on the screen before her, she thought of the times Original Cindy had done her nails for her. The times she and Logan had eaten dinner together and played chess. The magical kisses they shared. She would not be broken as long as she could hold onto those memories.
"You're a fool if you think there's anyone waiting for you out there." Brin's voice was so bitter and angry. It was hard to believe this cold woman in front of her used to be her sister. "They all think you're dead."
"Maybe. Maybe not." Max had come to terms that her beloved sister Brin was gone. The person that had replaced her was as much the enemy as Renfro.
"Why don't you just give up. You can't win." Brin gave her a cruel smile. "This in here, is all you've got. Zack's not even around to save you. His heart is wasted on you."
Max refused to let Brin see how much her words hurt her. "I've got more than this dump. You're the one who has nothing. After what you let Renfro do to Tinga, you don't even have the love and support of our siblings." She saw the shock Brin tried to keep hidden. "Oh, that's right. That bitch told you Lydecker was responsible." She gave an unladylike snort. "Yeah, this place is a palace." She walked away leaving a stunned and shocked Brin staring after her.
Every time Renfro had barked 'State your designation.' Max had always responded, 'My name is Max." Not even starving her and trapping her in a space a third her size had broken Max. Max had always got satisfaction from the frustration that Renfro couldn't keep hidden.
When Max was moved to a cell, she started working on a way to get free. She memorized the patrols, watched the X7's for any signs of weakness and at night started chipping away at the concrete blocks beneath her bed.
When she closed her eyes to pretend she was sleeping when the guard checked on her, she always saw Logan's face. His beautiful blue eyes and dazzling smile. She could see him so clearly. He had to know she was still alive. There was no way she would be able to see him so clearly if he had given up on her.
Unknown to Max, Renfro's frustration was more about the constant 'Eyes Only' broadcasts than Max's refusal to be broken. She was getting phone calls from her superiors complaining about her lack of progress with the X5 she had captured and the possible exposure she hadn't prevented.
Renfro was running out of ways to try and break X5 452. Still, there might be a way she could kill two birds with one stone. It was becoming rather obvious that the 'Eyes Only' broadcasts were an attempt to avenge the believed death of X5 452. A plan started to form in Renfro's mind. She would get X5 452 to kill 'Eyes Only'.