It was just another day to Robert, sure the
Red's tried to make Swiss cheese out of my hide last night, but it�s hardly
the first time for that. Robert thought as he left the guest room but he was
still going to mention it to Logan. He was still pissed that he couldn't find
Jon, his only friend, was god-knows where, and his patience was wearing thin,
even with his almighty senses, he couldn't find one man, than again, if Jon
didn't want to be found, the problem was magnified by a great margin. Robert
hoped Logan had a new target to get info from or destroy, if there was one thing
Robert knew, it was fighting, trained in ten forms of hand to hand combat,
demolitions qualified two years into his service as a Delta Force operative.
Robert decided to check in on Logan, a cursory check through his nostrils had
assured him Max had left hours ago, so he was in the clear for walking in on
Logan.
"Robert, I didn't hear you come in last
night, good morning." Logan said as Robert walked into the kitchen as Logan
worked away at breakfast, then noticed that Robert had that I've got something
on my mind look.
"Something wrong, or are you just working
on your facial expressions?" Logan said as Robert sat down.
"The Red's took a shot at me last night,
nothing major, but they nailed me a few times, however they�re all going to
report back in body bags." Robert said, used to giving out damage reports,
but street carnage was not his element, and he was getting sick of it.
"I see, did they want your genetic code,
Max's location, or just want a corpse?" Logan said as he flipped the
pancakes.
"A corpse, they got out of the van, and
started shooting, I showed them the meaning of pain, unfortunately for them they
won�t be able to take a second semester." Robert said as he retold last
night's tale, bothered by the fact that he had to defend himself from the Red's.
"I see, how many were there last night,
and when did this happen, I need to check with my friend at the Metro police,
help cover it up a bit." Logan said, making sure word of someone who could
absorb bullets, have the strength of superman, and the senses of a wolf, was not
announced.
"Three Red's, four regulars, they must be
considering me pretty dangerous to assign that much of a hit squad to a single
man.� Robert replied as he remembered his encounter.
"Alright, I have another target for you,
it's not in a restricted zone though, should be easier getting in and out, I'll
tell you later, I assume you're going back to Jam Pony?" Logan said,
wondering if Robert was to bothered by the job to do it, and if he was still up
for these covert missions.
"I guess so, I have to keep an eye on
Max, and I've got nothing else to do, I'll see you later, or in hell�s waiting
room." Robert said, and Logan looked a bit aghast.
"Oh, sorry, sometimes the humour from Delta Force slips
in, it was kind of murky the humour there." Robert said as he walked out
the door, but paused for one last comment as he strode out the door.
"I take it you enjoyed yourself with Max
last night." as he tapped his nose and closed the door.
He's
right, I wish he didn't find it so easy to tell what I was up to last night, but
he's right, I enjoyed it, and why should I feel guilty about that? Max told me
she wanted to upgrade the relationship, she did, the chair doesn't matter to
her, and she's fantastic, so why do I feel guilty? Because you still are tying
her down with that chair, whether she cares or not, you're still a liability,
you've got to get out of this damn hunk of metal Logan. Logan
thought as he finished breakfast, put it on a plate, and wheeled into his
computer room, his own world, and searched for the Red menace.
**********
Well,
I did it last night, I told Logan I�m in love with him, and he said the same,
he still thinks he's tying me down with his chair, how do I convince him it
doesn't matter? Were Max's thoughts as she got dressed for the day, she had arrived home
late, and the elusive "Mr. Multiples" was in town, so Kendra was
nowhere to be found, and then went out the door, heading to Jam Pony. Upon
arriving she saw Robert already getting a package from Normal, it was kind of
hard not to see Robert, he stood a good six inches above even the tallest of the
other employees, and he mounted his bike and rode off, already on his first run.
"Damn girl, where were you at last night,
army boy came in, had a few beers, than left, but at least he showed his face at
Crash, where were you?" Original Cindy said as she came up behind Max and
patted her on the shoulder.
"I wouldn't call him army boy to his
face, he takes it kind of personal, and he doesn't like taking things
personally, and I was out last night, that's all." Max said as she grabbed
her bag out of her locker.
"You were at your rich boyfriend's again
weren't you? Come on, tell Original Cindy what happened." Original Cindy
said as Max gave her a scowl and started walking to the dispatch desk.
"I went over, we talked, he gave me some
info, watched some pre-pulse movies, that's all." Max said, but she had
flushed a bit, and she knew it was out.
"Ah ha! I know you girl, now what really
went on their last night, you two were playing more than chess!" Original
Cindy said as Max looked at her, knowing her secret was out.
"Fine, Logan and I agreed to move the
relationship up a notch, but we're not banging the gong, does that satisfy you,
and don't tell anyone, or I will hurt you." Max said as she walked up to
the desk, as Normal sent Sketchy scurrying off with his annoying "bip bip
bip" and turned to Max.
"Hot run to East End, get a signature,
53$ C.O.D." Normal said as he handed Max a package, and she grabbed it, put
it in her bag, and started to ride.
Normal tossed another package to Original
Cindy, heading for the same vicinity, and tailed Max.
"You're gonna tell Original Cindy what
happened last night, or everyone at Jam Pony is gonna be talking about it."
Original Cindy said as they were returning from delivering their respective
packages.
As Max told her, Original Cindy made some
faces, went "Ha!" As she went on, and then was satisfied as she told
the whole affair.
"I knew you and your rich boyfriend were
starting to connect, just would've thought you would be bangin' by now!"
Original Cindy said as Max finished the story.
"I'm going to take it slower than that,
he's got to many self-esteem problems because of his chair, I've got to help him
work through that first." Max said as she grabbed another package from
Normal, and began riding again.
"Fine, but the minute you two are banging
that gong, you have got to tell Original Cindy!" She yelled to Max as she
rode off.
**********
As the day wore on, as Robert and Max
delivered packages, and Logan searched for information on the Red menace, Robert
came into Logan's first, wanting to get some early mission information.
As Logan turned around, hoping it was Max, but
as the giant frame that was Robert came into view, he was disappointed on the
inside, but happy that at least someone was here to take care of business.
"I've got the info on the Red's location, it's about six
streets over, they've got the 8th, 9th, and 10th
floors of a building, and are using it to run their operations and store
equipment. There is an office on the 9th floor, which has a disc on
ALL of their operations, but the floors are heavily guarded, and security cams
in all areas, I've already set up fake cam footage for their cameras. However
men and the occasional Red do patrol the halls, can you get in and out without
setting off the alarms?" Logan asked as Robert looked at the screens,
seeing what was before him.
"Can you do this alone, or do you need
Max to slip in and out while you deal with security?� Logan asked as he
punched up the floor plans for the office on another monitor for Robert to
study.
�With ease, the Red�s don�t stand a
chance against me, and I can be just as quiet as Max, they trained me to do it,
and should I be attacked�� Robert made the age-old slit-throat sign with a
finger then continued.
�If you can time your security cam hack for
thirty minutes from now, I will get in, eliminate sentries if I can't avoid
them, get the disc, and get out. I'll have to make a side trip to the basement,
in this age, all alarms run through phone lines, but if I snip two wires down
there, the alarm does nothing except buzz to a busy signal. Provided Max will
think you�re just trying to protect her, but just explain that I wanted to do
this solo, and you want a little more quality time with her." Robert
said as he got up, and put on some shoulder holsters from the case he had, and
attached a silencer to each of his H&K USP Tactical .45's, with two spare
clips for each of weapons, preparing himself in case alarms were sounded.
"You and that damn nose, are you sure you
can do this quietly?" Logan asked as Robert put his jacket on and started
walking out the door.
"Have some faith Cale, and should that
happen, I'm just as fucked as you are, what do you think people would pay for a
set of genes that can make you survive what I can?" Robert responded as he
opened the door.
"Too much, be careful, the Red's may be
looking for you now, keep it quiet on that floor, and you're golden, loud, I
hope you know how to use those things." Logan said as Robert shut the door,
preparing himself in his mind for combat, and Logan set a program to hack into
the security footage, and alter it, no point in his timing being off. For if
Robert clung to his past at all, he would believe in split-second mission
timing, which is what Logan would provide.
*********
Well,
back to business, hasn't been that long has it Robert? Ah well, you know your
stuff, so get to it. Robert thought as he jimmied open the back door to the building, and
slipped in, taking the stairs to the basement, and proceeded to cut the alarm
off for the 9th floor, and the rest of the phone lines, faxes, and
net connections. As he arrived at the 9th floor, taking stairs the
whole way, and looked at his watch, forty
seconds Robert thought as he prepared for Logan's security hack, then as the
second hand approached, he went into action. Cracking the door open, he sniffed
the air for hostiles, two guards were coming by, not Red, so he waited, then as
they passed, came up behind them, and cracked their heads together, knocking
them out. He dragged them to a small supply closet, put them in there, and broke
the handle off from the inside, making sure if they woke up, they weren't
getting out. As he sniffed again for any more threats he noted that no guards
were in evidence or anyone in the halls in general. Robert stalked silently
through the corridors until he reached the office Logan had described as the
target. Using his acute hearing and sense of smell, he detected that no one had
been by recently, and no one was in the office at the moment, he chose a small
lock pick from his kit, and deftly picked the lock, and slipped in. It was a
spacious office, with a flat screen and keyboard on the desk, a hard drive under
the desk, Robert scanned the room, knowing one didn't just leave a disk like
that in the CD drive of a computer. He sniffed, looking for something out of
place and noticed something off about a piece of one of the two bookshelves that
ran the length of either side of the room, and he went up to it, and sniffed
again. Think you fucks can hide a stash
from me? Robert thought as he sniffed, and found a constant presence of a
scent, then pulled the novel that was at that presence. The books pulled in and
a small safe was revealed, using his enhanced hearing, he cracked the safe, and
found the disc, it was a DVD, which indicated this had a wealth of information
on Red operations.
"Better get this back to Logan, someone's
bound to be by here sooner or later." Robert said to himself as he closed
the safe, and reset the bookshelf. Robert slipped out of the office and silently
shut the door, he stopped himself as he turned back to the stairs, he had picked
up a scent, and it reeked of the constant release of adrenaline only a Red could
release.
"Drop the disc, and hands above your head
now or I shoot." were the Red's words as Robert stopped in his tracks.
Funny,
I never thought those fucks ever talked, but I'm gonna make sure this one does
feel something. Robert thought as he dodged to the left, several shots from a pistol
flew by, but he reached into his coat and drew one of his sidearms, turned
around, and fired, nailing the Red in the left leg, then tracked his fire
higher, and shot him neatly between the eyes. At least the idiot had enough sense to silence his gun! Robert
thought as he checked the body, hauled it into the supply closet where the other
two guards were still unconscious, and checked the bullet holes left by the Red.
It wasn't blatantly obvious, three shots had hit the far wall, but Robert moved
a plant that was near it cover the holes, and then took the stairs back out of
the building, and then proceeded back towards Logan�s apartments, blending in
with the street crowd.
**********
"Logan, you home?" Max asked as she
walked into his apartment, after picking the lock, how does he ever keep
anyone out with that cruddy lock?
Max turned the corner and Logan was getting a
drink from the fridge, obviously taking a break from his Eyes Only work. She
walked over to him as he turned his wheelchair, and bent over and kissed him,
casually. Logan looked up at her and smiled, relieved that he finally had a good
relationship under his belt, and you couldn�t have picked a better woman to
hit it off with.
Logan smiled at her, happy that she was so
willing to actually go with the relationship, and was taken in by that beautiful
face of hers, absorbed by it almost to the point where it made him lose control.
"You really have to stop barging in like
that, I need to get to a mirror so I can define that beautiful face of yours
more often." Logan said as he continued to smile, and she slapped his leg
playfully.
"You need to stop waving that grin in
front of me, I can't control myself 24/7 you know�" Max said as he kissed
her back.
"Really, maybe I just shouldn't stop, we
men of lower standings don�t have that many pleasures anymore." Logan
said, trying to show Max he didn�t mind his disability that much, but he knew
it was a lie, but if Max knew, she didn�t seem to care.
"I might be enticed by that offer,
provided we see another Cale masterpiece for dinner, you haven't lost 'meal
ticket' status yet buddy boy." Max said as she patted his shoulder, and
grabbed a drink out of the fridge.
"You get involved with a girl, and you
still have to feed her according to a business relationship, is there no
justice?" Logan said as Max laughed, the two were enjoying this verbal
banter.
"We really have to start defining what is
business, and what is personal, for example, you now owe me dinner on a personal
basis, no using failed missions as an excuse not to feed me." Max said as
she cocked an eyebrow at him.
"Ah yes, but if one certain endeavour
were to fail in that relationship�" said Logan as she swatted him over
the head for making such a comment.
"Ow! Can't woman take jokes around here?" Logan said
as he coughed on his drink."
"I told you, I'm a genetically revved up
female, not a woman." Max said
as she stroked the back of his neck, and finished her drink.
"As you keep telling me, but things can
be a bit hazy, you could easily pass for one exceptional and beautiful
woman." Logan said, continuing to banter with her, as he wheeled to his
computer room, and she walked next to him.
"You and your flattery, I'm surprised I
didn't move in you sooner." Max said as she leaned over and kissed him
again, and wrapped her arms around him as he worked at his computer.
"What are you working on anyways?" Max said as she
looked at the screens, not sure as to what to make of it all.
"I attached a hidden file to the police
drone footage of your alley fight with the Red Series, if Lydecker tries to look
at it, we'll be able to track it, and penetrate the Manticore database. I was
thinking with that we could get a good look at Manticore's current activity, and
see if you or Robert have any more siblings in training." Logan said as he
continued to tap away at his keyboard.
"Smooth, just don't tell me who's been
captured, I don�t think I could deal with that right now, and Robert would
probably go charging back their, to save them all." Max said as she stroked
Logan's spiked hair, and sat down next to him.
"I don�t doubt Robert on that one, but
you already know about some people being captured, you aren't completely in the
dark, as painful as that is. But if Lydecker is paying attention�Oh crap, he
just picked it up, I'm in, but now he knows you are in Seattle." Logan
said, Max froze, realising she would have to make a decision about what she was
going to do.
"Hey Logan, I'm back, I've got the disc,
but I head to crack two skulls and blow a head off, no one else saw me
though." Robert said as he came into Logan's apartment, and Max leaned off
of Logan and sat there, losing the relationship attitude. Robert walked in, to
the room, raised an eyebrow, and made an effort not to laugh at their poor
attempt at seeming detached.
"Relax Max, I know all about you two, the nose doesn't
lie, as you were." Robert said as he came in, and gave the disc to Logan,
and winked at Max, she looked at Logan, and he nodded painfully.
"Will you two relax, I don't care if
you're bangin' or not, just don't get killed, and I'm happy for you."
Robert said as he pulled up a chair, then he saw the screen, and was shocked.
"You're in Manticore, what's going on in
there, are there any more like Max, are there any more like me? Come on, out
with it!" Robert said as he realised Logan was now inside the guts of
Manticore.
"What I'm about to tell you two may be a
little unsettling, so prepare yourselves, this is not going to be easy on either
of you." Logan said as he prepared to tell them what he had just found, and
what it could mean for the two of them.
Robert and Max swallowed, they wanted to know
what was going on in the labs that had created them. It didn't take Robert's
sense of smell to know that they were not going to like what Logan had to tell
them, and that it was trouble should they not be able to resolve the situation.
