Chapter 8: Escape

No one seemed to be paying much attention to what was going on at the edges of their loose circle. No one seemed to notice Logan as he watched from the sidelines. He winced as he watched Lydecker approached Tima, feeling his blood rise. He focused closely on their conversation as his danger sense went into overdrive. He tried to tell himself that it was his own want for vengeance that was tainting what his senses were telling him. Logan was trying to convince himself that it was goading him into a fight that he wasn't a part of. After all what loyalty did he really have toward this girl? They had only just met anyway.

He was still trying to deny what it was telling him eve though somewhere deep down he knew that it was telling him the absolute truth.

Logan tensed as he saw the gun come out and train on Tima.. Logan went into action before he even considered thinking the odds of success through. He leapt high sailing over the surrounding guards and landing very near Tima, but even closer to Lydecker. He was privy to the look of utter shock on the older man's face as he realized what was happening. Logan had just taken over control of the situation, and he didn't give Lydecker time to recover.

He immediately clapped both hands onto Lydecker's wrist, knocking the gun free, and listening to it thud dully in the dirt. Logan followed through with a mule kick to the gut, hearing Lydecker grunt in pain and knocking him to the ground. He smiled maliciously at the sound, giving him only a little of the pain that he had dealt Logan over the years, and enjoying himself in the process.

Before the soldiers around them could react, Logan grabbed a struggling Tima and leapt over the circle of soldiers. He had not even felt his feet touch the ground beyond the circle when he gathered himself and leapt again, easily making the rooftop before he took another breath.

Tima was struggling with all her strength against him and he ducked back as a fist lashed out his direction. He snagged her arm and pinned it to her side.

"Tima!" He admonished her.

"Let me go!" She said still struggling, trying to claw her fingers under his grip.

"Tima he was going to kill you!" He growled.

"He didn't want to! I can convince him to take me back!" She moaned, "I want to go home!"

Further argument was curtailed when one of the Manticore soldiers made the roof very near them. Logan let Tima go and they both reacted immediately, rolling clear of the line of fire. Tima regained her feet a split second before Logan sweeping out and toppling the aggressor. She then pushed him from the roof. There was a heavy grunt as he hit the ground below them.

Logan left her to tangle with the two others that had just gained the roof. He instead sprinted toward the end of the building nearest the perimeter fence. He looked back satisfied that she was in self-preservation mode and not trying to ditch him and rejoin. He screeched to a halt as he came to the edge of the building, never having gotten completely over his fear of heights.

Tima yelled, "Go!" at his back which spurred him on.

Logan quickly judged the distance, leapt, and knew immediately that he was going to fall short of clearing the fence. He cried out as his foot tangled into the razor wire and he fell forward against the chain link hanging upside down.

He reached up trying to free his foot, cringing as a shadow passed over his head. His heart was beating fast fearing the worst, that the Manticore soldiers had overcome Tima and now were after him. He was therefore relieved when he looked back to find that it was Tima.

She was looking at him with a mixture of amusement and impatience crossing her face. He returned his attention to freeing himself. Shortly he untangled his foot from the razor wire, hopped down, and limped to Tima's side. As he did the other two pursuers landed in front of them circling slowly to divide their attention. Neither Logan nor Tima gave them a chance to gain the upper hand, working back to back they took them down quickly. When they realized that no more immediate threats were presenting themselves they both sprinted for the car.

They quickly got into the Aztec and Logan gunned it squealing tires as they sped off into the fog. Logan made his way with no lights ensuring that they had not been followed, thanking Max again silently for all that she had taught him and the gift that she had endowed him with.

When he was sure that there was no pursuit, he looked over at Tima. She was curled up on her seat, back to him and she could hear the heavy sobs that wracked her. He wanted to comfort her but could think of no good way to do it, so he remained silent the rest of the way back to Seattle.

They had been lucky. Logan had been prudent in his positioning of the escape vehicle. There had been only five Manticore's in the group and Kito had refused to be a part of the posse. That had left Logan and Tima at an advantage in their fight to win free. That did not make Logan feel any better, knowing how heartbroken Tima was about the chain of events that left her stranded yet again. He glanced over at her once more seeing how she was fairing. She was silent now, and it looked as if she was sleeping. Logan's mouth thinned again, not agreeing with her want to return but feeling her pain none the less.

The lights of the city began to light the horizon and Logan sighed heavily glad to be home finally.

Epilogue: Consequences

Logan sat in his apartment trying gingerly to peel his sock away from his ankle now caked with blood and pounding with dull fury. He sucked air through his teeth as a section stuck tearing at the already raw nerves. Once that was complete he set to soaking it with a warm washcloth to soak the clots out and clean out whatever dirt the razor wire had managed to insert under his skin.

Logan looked up to where Tima sat with a sense of Deja Vu yet again. She was sitting looking out the large bay windows that enclosed his living room. He could see from where he sat that her eyes were red and puffy from crying. That was one thing that he was not used to, Max had rarely cried, Tima on the other hand was not near as emotionally strong. She was still silent and glum and hadn't said a word to him since they had returned. In fact he was unsure why she had even hung around. She had followed him up to his place like a Zombie, as if she had no will to even try to make a decision at this point.

It was much the same place that Max used to sit when she was having problems in her life, staring out at the fog or the skyline. A shiver ran though his body as he looked at her. It seemed preordained that he would be involved with the complicated world surrounding Manticore, ever effecting his life it seemed.

So he had been drawn back into the life he had been trying so hard to avoid these past three years. He wasn't sure if he was happy about that, but another part of him was more alive than it had been since Max had died.

He finished treating his leg shortly and stood limping nearer where Tima sat. Logan was unsure what to say, finally clearing his throat he said, "There is an extra bedroom if you want to hang around."

Tima started, obviously lost in her own indiscernible thoughts. She turned her startling green eyes up to his face smiling thinly.

She shook her head as she looked away. Standing, seemingly reluctant, and said, "No I need to go back to my place," there was no enthusiasm to her response.

"Are you going to be OK?" Logan asked genuinely concerned. She may have been on the streets her whole life but she was still only a sixteen-year-old who had just suffered a major blow to the whole structure of her belief system.

She nodded again, smiling with a little more feeling, "Thanks... I'll be OK."

Logan only nodded, "If you need anything..."

"I'll drop by. Thank you for your help."

"I'm sorry it didn't turn out better."

"How could you know?" she shrugged.

Logan walked her to the door. He wanted to say more, but knew that now was not the time, that she was still too shook up.

Several weeks later:

Logan stood out on the balcony looking out onto the skyline of the city. He took a deep breath trying to calm his racing heart at the sight. He was still uncomfortable with his proximity to the 35-floor drop to the street below. He forced himself to do this, sooner or later he was going to be free of his fear of heights, as he had overcome every other hurdle placed in his way.

Logan heard the thump behind him and slowly turned around smiling, "Hello Tima."

She stood up and walked slowly toward him, "How'd you guess?" she said sarcastically.

Logan shrugged not giving any definitive answer. None was expected, "How're you doing?"

She looked away, "Better, I guess. I've decided to hang around a while longer. Pickin's good around here."

"Don't get any ideas," he said with a laugh, "I kicked your butt before and I will do it again."

Tima smiled, "No, it's nothing like that. Just stopped in to say hi... and thanks. For knocking some sense into me back at the base."

Logan nodded, "You sure it's a good idea for you to hang out here? I mean now that Lydecker knows your alive your life may be in jeopardy. I told you how obsessive he was about keeping the tech to himself."

Tima's face darkened, "Let him try," She growled, "He's abandoned me twice now. I have a score to settle with him."

Logan looked away himself, "Tima, it's probably best if you just drop it. Revenge is not going to make you feel better about it. I should know. Looking for that kind of trouble will only get you captured or killed.

"You would not believe how badly I wanted to kill Lydecker when we were at his base... But I found an even better revenge… to get you away from him. That is going to eat at him more and cause him more suffering than killing him straight away."

Tima smiled again, "You know you're right."

"Of course I am," Logan said jokingly.