TITLE: FINDING THE LOST 

AUTHOR: SARGE

E-MAIL: SARGE2525@HOTMAIL.COM

SUMMARY: MAX AND LOGAN BEGIN A PLAN TO TAKE DOWN LYDECKER AND INSURE THE SAFETY OF THE
MANTICORE ESCAPEE'S FOREVER.

RATING: PG-13

DISCLAIMER: I DO NOT OWN DARK ANGEL. SEE PREVIOUS PARTS FOR FULL DISCLAIMER.

When Max returned to Logan's apartment she was spinning hundreds of ideas through her head. She just couldn't come
up with a plan that would work without getting someone hurt. Anything that would tip Seattle off to the fact that Lydecker
had some reason other than being a crazed maniac with way too much power and time on his hands wouldn't work.

"Max what are you doing here?" Logan asked her. "I mean, shouldn't you be at Jam Pony trying to figure out what's
going on?"

"I already did," Max told him triumphantly. "It's all Lydecker's doing."

"Max, I know you don't like him, but don't you think you're jumping to conclusions a little fast?" Logan asked. "I mean, did
you even see the guy?"

"I did. I even talked with him," Max answered. "When I got back from his errand I heard him talking about Eyes Only, who
by the way is now going to be arrested, assuming that they ever find out who you are. Anyway, moving on. He was
ranting and raving about how he hadn't blown up Seattle just to be trashed by you, but instead to find the Manticore girl he
knew lived here." 

"Are you sure that's what he said?" Logan asked her. "I mean, it sounds a little strange that he would blow up Seattle for
one person, even though you are a really smart and valuable person."

"I'm worth eight million on the Chinese black market," Max told him. Logan gave her a look worth gold. He was clearly
skeptically about this statement and wondered where she had gotten her information. "Michael pissed me off one day, so
I was looking for a way to get rid of him," Max answered. "Oddly enough, he didn't like the idea of moving to China and
being a government project."

"Gee, I wonder if it has something to do with the fact that he escaped from that life young? Before they could corrupt him
enough for him to be under the mistaken impression that it was a good thing."

"It could be. Most likely it was because I wouldn't come with him," Max said rolling her eyes. "He's attached."

"So, getting back to Lydecker and his apparent obsession with the Manticore project..." Logan said. " He nearly sent the
entire population of Seattle on a one way trip to being dead because of one person."

"I don't even get why," Max told him. "I mean, if you think about it, what good does blowing up a city do when you're
looking for someone? It just means you've killed people. In fact, had I wanted to I would have slipped out of Seattle. So
what does he know that we don't?"

"Maybe he got the 411 that you were helping people for awhile," Logan suggested. "Not to mention that Jam Pony does
have the highest Eyes Only support group."

"There are support groups?" Max asked in surprise. "You've got this city under your spell Logan. What happens if
someday you're wrong?"

"I won't be wrong," Logan told her. "Then again, what did Lydecker say about the Eyes Only broadcast?"

"I believe I made the earlier statement about how he now officially hates you and has ordered your arrest. After that he'll
probably have you killed."

"See, now I believe you," Logan told her. "So what do you want to do about Lydecker. It's not exactly safe to just let the
situation be, is it?"

"No, we have to find a way to take him down," Max replied. "I mean down in a big way. We also have to make him and
the public think that Manticore has been destroyed. Completely with no remaining traces. Otherwise the next high-minded
Lydecker-wanna-be is going to go after us again."

"How exactly are we going to get the needed proof to complete this task of yours?" Logan asked her. "You're asking a
lot."

"Well, we need to get our hands on some explosives," Max answered. "Because if we don't then I can't get us all 'killed' in
the explosion Lydecker accidentally orders."

"How will he bomb you on accident?" Logan asked skeptically. "He gets one clue on your location and all he's going to do
is bring in 8,000 troops to haul your sorry butt back to Wyoming."

"Not if he thinks that he's blowing you up," Max said smiling. "No one knows that Eyes Only is rolling in it except me. You
could be just another squat. He blows up an abandoned building. Eyes Only broadcasts that he just killed his kids, and
poof we have instant lynching."

"Max, I don't think your plan is all there," Logan told her. "Yes, I can see the benefit of getting Lydecker to believe that
you're dead, but I don't see how blowing up a useless apartment building which contains no proof of your existence is
going to do anything."

"Then please tell me you have a better idea," Max pleaded. "Because that was my idea. I know it's not a great idea, but it
might work. Even if it doesn't, none of us will be in Seattle once Lydecker is taken care of, so I don't think that it's going to
be a problem." 

Logan winced at the idea of Max leaving him again. She'd only been back for two days and he really didn't want her to
leave. He had gotten the use of his legs back and now he felt he had a better chance with her. Yeah, he'd had a chance
with her before, but being mobile definitely increased his odds. One of the things that Logan had learned while in his
wheelchair was that your type of mobility didn't say who you were or what kind of person you were. It just showed that you
couldn't jump off a five-story building; you could only roll off it.

"I say we get nice clips of him admitting to his bombing tendencies. You'd have to go in as someone else, of course. If you
went in and said 'hi everyone, I'm one of the 12 kids that escaped' you'd be asking for them to kidnap you."

"Logan stop babbling," Max ordered him. "So we get clips, we air clips, and we move on with our lives. Of course, now
the public hates Lydecker and wants to hunt down Manticore because Manticore caused Lydecker to turn into a crazy
bomber psycho."

"Well no, not quite. Then Eyes Only, after airing the clips about Manticore and Lydecker, will air news of the deaths of the
Manticore kids at the hands a mob in the town that they lived in. We have to get Lydecker to give identifying marks.
Lydecker will believe they are dead and so will everyone else - because Eyes Only is never wrong and he never lies." 

Max hugged Logan with a smile on her face. This was a wonderful plan. Logan was a genius. Sure, things might go
wrong along the way, but they could solve those minor problems. The best part was that he wasn't Michael. No one here
was telling her that it was a stupid thing for her to do because she was too important. If only Logan was Michael and
Michael was just another one of the blips on the radar screen of "normal" people. 

At first Logan was surprised by Max's hug, but he returned it, grateful that she wasn't busy being cold any longer. He held
her close to him for as long as he dared without her getting mad at him. He was enjoying it a lot. Hugs from Max were a
rare thing. 

"So we take Lydecker down and you leave again?" Logan asked after he released her. "I don't think that's a good idea.
Max, people here missed you, and I know you missed them too." 

"Logan, I did miss you guys. And I did feel guilty, but they are family. I guess it feels like betrayal to leave them. Who
knows? Maybe we were engineered with the longing to always stay together as long as we were alive? A split unit is a
weak one." 

"Max, Lydecker may have done all sorts of things to you and to your team that make you feel certain things. However, the
important thing to do is what you want to do. Don't do things because you feel like you have to. Do them because you
want to." 

"This coming from the man who semi blackmailed me into working for him," Max said rolling her eyes. "Where would
you and I be if you hadn't done that?"

"Well, I doubt we'd be here," Logan answered. "However, it wasn't really that bad, was it?"

"No. Helping people, finding my siblings. It was all worth it," Max answered. "So tomorrow we start taking Lydecker
down. We are writing a chapter in history Logan."

"I'm sure the first chapter of this history book will be about the Presidential race in 2000 that just went really wrong. Then
we'll have a chapter on the Pulse, and then comes the historic entry: 'In December of 2019, underground cyber-journalist
Logan Cale also known as 'Eyes Only' and the military project Max from Manticore planned the destruction of prominent
military figure Donald Lydecker.'"

"That wasn't really what I had in mind," Max told him, smiling. "If we go down in history like that little kids will grow up
reenacting the battle. Only who will they want to win?" 

"Max, we are doing the right thing," Logan told her. "Lydecker is a scum bag who's a few sandwiches short of a picnic
basket."

"Logan, I hate to break this to you, but we're all a few sandwiches short. We can't help it. We just are."

"Fine, then he's missing the sandwiches all together," Logan told her. "We have to move on with the plan. I'll find the
equipment that you'll need. Then we set him up and take him down."

"Just like bowling," Max answered. "So sound bugs. Hidden video. Oh, gotta go see Kendra again, and to visit Sketch
and Cindy at the hospital."

"You're a busy girl," Logan said. "How do you plan to get these devices into the Jam Pony office when you've gotten
yourself fired?" 

"Logan, I know I've stressed you out over the last few days, but let's try to keep an open mind. Security isn't that tight."

"Right," Logan said nodding. "Breaking and entering. I should have remembered that. I left my door unlocked based on
that theory." 

"That is in fact the way we met. You know, generally people who carry bags when they break and enter don't have the
bag because they're planning to kill someone. Just steal things." 

"Well, I had a job to do," Logan objected. "Plus, you punched out my security guard." 

"I didn't like him," Max shrugged. "Yes, I did feel bad when he died, but I was a little busy at the time thinking what a jerk
you were."

"You thought I was a what?!" Logan exclaimed in shock. 

Max found this reaction to be quite interesting. Max never went out of her way to be that nice. Logan should have known
this by the way that she had blown him off at first. Then again, some people just didn't see what was right in front of them.
After she had gotten over his ridiculously idealistic plans to save the world, or what was left of the world, Max had started
to warm up to him slightly. And now... No girl, Max warned herself. Don't go there. There are way too many thoughts
there, and you don't have time to go through them.

"Well, what was I supposed to think?" Max asked him. "You broke into my house and stole my pills. That was a nice
statue by the way. Then you did a very nice job of finding out what I was and using it to your tactical advantage." 

"Well, you broke in first. Not to mention that you would have gotten it if Peter hadn't jumped in," Logan reminded her.
"How did you manage to kick his butt so fast anyway? I mean, he was like 400 pounds."

"Logan, I think your brain is having a power shortage," Max told him. "I'm superhuman. It was like swatting a fly." 

They spent the next few hours talking playfully about the plan. Max would have said that they were flirting, but she
wouldn't flirt with Logan because that would mean that she liked him. Max knew that if she liked Logan she wouldn't be
able to leave Seattle. While she did feel guilty about leaving them all in the lurch she still felt immense loyalty to her family. 

So Max settled on describing what they were doing as teasing each other. Flirting was dangerous after all; it could lead to
things like kissing Logan, which would be so good. Wait, no, Max corrected herself sternly. Kissing Logan is a bad idea.
Bad. Stick to safe subjects. Like how good his butt looks. I never could appreciate this when he was in the chair. After that
thought Max realized that she needed to stop this or she would end up doing something like kissing Logan. She forcefully
told herself for the hundredth time would be a bad thing. Really, it would. 

Logan however, had no problem calling what they were doing flirting. He actually liked the idea. He knew that Max was
having fun and he wasn't going to let it stop. Hopefully this happy Max would just let go and kiss him. Uh-huh and
Lydecker will knock on the door and announce that he isn't really evil. He just wanted to find Max and the others to help
them; not to bring them back into the government fold where they could all be killing machines. Instead Logan decided to
settle for flirting. He was trying to work up the courage to kiss her, but the knowledge that she could kill him with a flick of
her pinky wasn't helping his confidence. The logical part of his mind was trying to intercede by saying that Max wouldn't
be flirting with him if she didn't like him at least a little bit. His irrational 'I'm in love with Max and I can't help it' center of his
brain just wasn't getting the message though. 

When the conversation did stop because Logan got tired they both headed off to their respective rooms; Logan to his own,
Max to the guestroom. Eventually Logan did hope to show Max his room, but since the best he had gotten out of her so
far was about three hours of flirting and a hug he wasn't holding his breath. 

The next morning Max was ready to infiltrate the Jam Pony building and plant the devices that would lead to Lydecker's
exposure. Logan, as Eyes Only, planned to run another news brief on Lydecker just to piss him off and see what
happened. 

"Good luck, Max," Logan said when he saw her heading toward the door. He was already hard at work on his computer.
"Don't get caught. I don't have time to arrange another prison bust."

"Not a problem," Max told him. "Besides, the way I'm feeling, I'd bust the prison before you could find out what had
happened to me." 

Max headed out the door a smile on her face. She was dressed all in black as usual and wore a slim backpack full of the
equipment. Now all she had to do was convince the guards to let her in. It wasn't going to be that hard. 

Max got to Jam Pony and approached the back entrance into Lydecker's office. The guards' eyes were all on her as they
stopped her.

"This is a military zone. If you work here you have to go in through the front," one of the guards spoke. "If you are a
civilian, you are violating the laws in place by General Lydecker and could be subject to actions that will correct your
behavior." 

"I'm sorry. I got a call from the general himself to come to this entrance. I got my orders." Max told them this hoping that
they would think she was some sort of spy for Lydecker. "Why don't you go ask him?" 

Being the stupid, somewhat sexist guards that they were they turned their backs on her. Max took advantage of it and
slammed their heads together. It didn't take any effort before they were sleeping like babies. They never even got a
chance to cry out. Max put a little camera and a bug on the outside of the wall. Who knew? Maybe Lydecker smoked or
had occasional meetings outside. Plus, you never know what soldiers might say. Max proceeded to check the door for
any kind of security system and found one. Darn! It looked like Normal had upgraded after she left. Well, that or Lydecker
had added it. Max pulled out her cell phone and dialed Logan's number. 

"What happened?" Logan asked right away since he knew that it would be Max. "Lydecker got a security system installed.
I need to know if you can bypass it somehow." 

Max listened to the sounds of Logan typing away on his computer before seeing the red light at the top of the door flash
green. Then she heard the lock click.

"Did it work?" Logan asked her. 

"My hero," Max answered as she slipped inside. Once inside she set to work planting all her devices; phone taps and so
on. 

"Max, maybe next time we should do the exterior of the Jam Pony building first. You have no idea when Lydecker could
walk through that door, do you?"

"I'll hear him," Max promised as she planted the last device. "Now, is he at the back door or not?"

"No. However, your guards are waking up. What did you give them anyway? You've been in there for an hour."

"I just bashed their heads together," Max muttered. "It has that effect." 

Max headed out the back door and then around to the front of the building. The guards there were just as dumb as the
ones in front. Well, not in the sense that they tried to go and get Lydecker. They just didn't realize that after being fired one
needed to clear out her locker. 

"Fine. Go in, but you only have ten minutes," the guards told her.

"Come on! You gotta give a girl more time then that," Max pleaded. "I gotta a lot of stuff in there. Give me half an hour?" 

"Twenty minutes," the guard said. "And don't make us come in there."

"Got it," Max said as she headed inside. She rummaged around through loose papers and dropped things. In the end
she got the job done, and the only notice that anyone took was that she was really clumsy.

"Good. That's the last of it," Logan's voice said with relief over the other end of the phone. "Now get out before Lydecker
gets back."

"Happy listening," Max replied before hanging up.