COMM ID: [color=#99FFFF]David Hale TARGET ID:Evelyn Foster SUBJECT:Willows ENCRYPTION:HIGH PRIORTY:HIGH
Hello Evelyn... I'll put a few men at strategic locations. They're under orders not to shoot to kill, so you can relax, although I'd rather they weren't put in a position where they have to shoot at all... Lets try to bring him in eh?
Any more information you can get would be much appreciated.
[font=Palatino Linotype]Initiating Connection...
[color=#FFFFFF]Source: Barrier Gate - Coronado system To: Evelyn "Fierce Lady" Foster Encryption: Very High Connection Established... Transmitting Message...
How are ya' darlin'? Still keepin' up with your Logan-dissin'?
Hah!
I would like to hear some more of that, that's for sure.
Guess what, that's right, I'm comin' back to home sweet Liberty again.
Now, my ship needs some maintenance an' I could use a real goddamn rest from... well, I will tell ya' once you arrive. I hope ya' know where Barrier Gate is right? 'Course ya' do, if you are anythin' ya' was before - I'm sure ya' can handle things on ya' own. That's what I like 'bout you see.
Evelyn gazed out of her window as Barrier Gate slowly appeared through the Barrier Nebula as her Eagle drifted closer. She kept a close eye on her sensors, afraid Logan may have set a trap for her. She was still surprised to have gotten a message from him requesting this meeting. He hadn't once tried to contact her since he disappeared a month and a half ago, and that he had now was something she found suspicious. She had just learned two days prior that he had left Malta en-route for Liberty, now in the employ of the Outcasts. That little tidbit of information had taken all night to get out of the Outcast she found on Freeport 10. Money didn't get a whole lot out of these people.
As Evelyn brought her Eagle into one of Barrier Gate's hangers, she glanced around, looking for the Eagle Hale said he'd use to get to Barrier Gate. It was a pointless exercise, considering the mass of Freelancer and Mercenary-owned Eagles in attendance. At least she wouldn't stand out, a needle in a stack of needles. She did see a Guardian tucked back into a corner of the hanger and wondered at it. It couldn't be Logan's, he'd have adopted one of the Outcast's fighters to replace his. Maybe Hale brought his Navy ship after-all..
Shortly after receiving Logan's message, she had sent another transmission to Hale's private line telling him that Logan would be on Barrier Gate and that she was going to meet him. During her flight down to Coronado, he had sent her a message saying he'd arrive on Barrier Gate to try to capture Logan to take him back to Liberty, as the two had discussed a few weeks back when he had approached her due to her relationship with Logan.
I still can't believe that bastard told David about us.
The plan she and Hale had put together was to capture Logan and bring him back to Liberty, where he'd be isolated from mainstream life so long as his physical addiction and mental affliction persisted.
She climbed out of her cockpit and dropped to the hanger's deck. She made her way towards the tunnel to the station's central area, and from there towards the commercial quarter of the station. It took her very little time to reach the station's largest bar. She pushed her way through the crush of bodies towards the counter where the bartender was handing out drinks. The smoke-filled air made her eyes sting and stopped her from seeing more than a few meters in either direction.
She didn't see Logan anywhere, so she took a seat at a stool in the back corner, where the bar counter made an L curve, and she could look around the rest of the room while nursing the drink the bartender deposited in front of her.
Logan kept searching for a familiar face and finally managed to spot Evelyn standing there next to the bar counter on the far right. He quickly rose from his seat and moved towards her, trying not to reveal himself until he was right next to her.
"I'll take one of 'em Sidewinder Fangs." He spoke rather loudly and startled Evelyn who had immediately turned her head towards Logan as he began ordering for a drink.
Evelyn turned back to her drink and took a sip as the bartender set Logan's drink in front of him. After the man had stepped away to serve another patron, she, without looking at him, whispered; "Logan, what the hell is going on?" Though she kept her voice low, she projected all of her anger and frustration into it.
Logan took notice of the hostile tone and grinned before answering her in a playful manner. "What is goin' on is that I'm, as ya'see, havin' the desire to meet ya'."
Evelyn growled back, "I'm not playing your games Logan. What the hell do you think you're doing?"
Logan had trouble restraining himself from laughter as he continued replying in the same playful manner as before. "Ya' sure get to the point quickly, don't ya'? Hehe. Well as you wish darlin', I will tell ya' everythin'. But first, why don't we get ourselves a lil' more comfortable, yeah?."
As Logan finished his last words he grabbed a hold of his Sidewinder Fang and proceeded to move towards the empty table that he had abandoned earlier, signaling at the same time for Evelyn to follow.
Evelyn followed closely behind him as he snaked through the crowd. She had left her drink on the bar counter, and so her hands were empty when they arrived and Logan set his glass on the table. As he turned to face her, she snapped her hand through the air. A loud smack rang out as the palm of her right hand struck his face. "You deserved that."
Logan blinked the second before the strike and kept his eyes shut. He then slowly opened his left eye whilst at the same time raising his left eyebrow followed by a slight smile. "Maybe I did... Now, can ya' please take a seat?"
Evelyn dropped into the chair and kept her glare aimed at Logan. "If you want me to stay here, you'd better explain yourself quickly."
"Fine, fine. Shesh! Aren't ya' all worked up? Can't blame ya' tho'. Anyways, I will get straight to the point.
Ya' probably already know 'bout my growing cardamine addiction, hell I remember ya' blackmailed me once upon a time. As I was sayin', this cardamine addiction eventually forced me to seek out a certain fella named 'Doc'.
Ya'see, apparently the orange juice had caused me huge fertility problems. I didn't wanna say this before since, ya'know, it kinda is a hard hit towards ya' manhood. Luckily for me tho', Doc had come up with a magical solution. All it required was for me to inject myself with somethin' called 'Liquid Cardamine'. I don't know if ya' have heard 'bout it before, hell I don't even know myself what it is, all I know is that it apparently fixed my problems.
Then this 'ole issue with the Liberty Navy and Hale came up. What was I supposed to do? Turn myself in like a moron? No way Evelyn. I tried reasonin' with Hale, I gave him an offer to talk but he shot it down. So what was I supposed to assume? I quickly hurried my way off with Doc to Omicron Alpha. That's right, home of the Outcasts. There we cleaned my record straight, patched myself up an' were given some objectives. The only thing I asked for in return were a safe place to crash in, and the promise to come back to Liberty one day.
That promise, Doc gave me, an' 'ere I'm, on my way back to sweet home Liberty. The only difference now is that I'm workin' for 'the other side of the law.' However, despite all that there was even a bigger reason I wanted to return to Liberty, a reason I never told Doc but I don't think he would mind regardless. That reason was you, that's right, Evelyn, you. I wanted to see you again. I don't know why exactly, but I just wanted to see your face again.
Any more questions before ya' start slappin' my face again?"
Evelyn wished she hadn't left her drink at the bar, it'd be nice to have something to cover her face.. Without looking like she was covering. Of all the emotions she was feeling, shock was by far the strongest. Of all the things she expected from Logan, some sentimental comment like that wasn't one of them. Partly to buy time to talk, and partly because it was something she was still sore about, she asked; "And leaving for a month and a half without telling me where you were going, sending me a message? If you cared enough to return here for me, I'd think such a simple task would have been done at some point."
Logan took a moment to observe Evelyn's face, noticing that his words had had a deep impact on her feelings. He didn't expect this at all and was slightly thrown off guard. "Well, I guess ya' have a point there. But ya'see, I had no idea, hell I don't even know now what ya' think of me. I guess, my reasonin' was based on pure shame. Shame, to tell you the truth 'bout what was happenin' to me - to my body, to my mind, to my very identity. I'm sorry Evelyn."
Evelyn just stared, shocked and surprised Logan was even capable of speaking those words. As her mind raced to find a response, she noticed his eyes flicker towards the bar, and his expression set into angry lines.
"The hell? That bastard is 'ere? In frickin' Coronado? How!? Oh, Evelyn, if ya' are part of this then I swear I-" Logan suddenly got interrupted as Hale approached the two of them.
Evelyn frowned sadly as she looked at Logan. "I'm sorry Logan, but it's for your own good. I..." She stopped herself before saying something she'd regret.
"I was hoping you'd be here Logan... Wasn't entirely sure if you would be." Hale looks hard at Willows, noting the anger and aggression. "Sit down Logan, please. I'm not here to fight."
"Sit down? SIT DOWN?! Ya' gotta be frickin' kiddin' me. Give me one good reason why I shouldn't punch ya' in the face right 'ere, fella."
Hale sighs and shakes his head slightly. "Logan... You could hit me, but it honestly wouldn't make any difference to anything. I wanted to give you a chance." Hale hesitated for a second. "Again... And I wanted to understand why..."
"Give... give me? Aha. Haha. Hahahahaha! GIVE ME A CHANCE?!" Some of the people in the bar began turning their attention towards Logan who was now standing up and shouting with a furious temperament.
"YA' FRICKIN' BACKSTABBIN' SON OF A BITCH, I SWEAR I WILL RIP YA' GUTS OUT, YA' HEAR ME?! GIVE ME A FRICKIN' CHANCE? GET OUTTA' 'ERE. YA' JUST SUDDENLY FORGOT I GAVE YA' THE OFFER TO TALK, AT THIS VERY FRICKIN' STATION?!"
Logan calmed down a bit but still kept an angry tone in his voice. "What happened eh? Ya' frickin' shot it down. For my good? Since when were you my dad?"
Evelyn glanced around at all the bar patrons who had turned their attention to Logan's outburst. She said quietly, "Logan, please.. Calm down, we're trying to help you."
David moved around the table and sat down opposite to where Logan was still standing. "I'm a long way from being your dad Willows. I didn't forget, I had my reasons for not coming at the time. It's your choice to make, and still one you can go back on... I think"
Hale placed his hands face up on the table. "Alright... I'll go from another angle... Why do you think I'm here?"
Logan nodded to Evelyn before looking dead eye into Hale. "Ya' ask what I think? Well ain't that a first. What I think, Hale. Is that ya' are goin' to arrest me. Think I'm stupid? I saw the news, I'm a 'wanted criminal' now. Haha!"
"Not exactly Logan. We want to bring you in... Yes. Criminal? Well that's still your choice isn't it." Hale reached into his pocket and pulled out a packet of cigarettes. "Smoke?"
Logan looked confused. He was suspicious, angry, but at the same time he felt that Hale was being honest. "My choice to be a criminal? Funny ya' say that. 'Cus I remember just the other day bein' hunted down by LSF Agents. An', sure, I could use one hell of a smoke."
Hale slid the packet across the table to Willows and watched as his hand snatched out a pair of cigarettes.
Evelyn cocked an eyebrow at Logan. "I am not an LSF agent.."
"Here's the truth Logan, it's a lot better to go with that than trying to create some myth for you to believe and follow me back to Liberty... I have sent men out looking for you, yes. They're under orders to disable your ship and deliver you into my custody."
Hale smiled for a second. "Easier said than done though I suppose... I've known about the cardamine problem, if you want to call it that, for a long time. I tend to keep an eye out for the people under my command... But I still don't understand why you made that choice."
Logan glanced at Evelyn before replying in a disappointing manner; "Well after this, I sure as hell will have trouble believin' anythin' comin' out of ya' mouth." He then looked down at the table, tapping his index finger three times before lifting his head again.
"Truth... truth. I always liked the truth, Hale. Ya'see, if ya' accept the truth, ya' accept ya'self. I accepted myself. For who I was, for what I was 'bout to become. Cardamine was the truth. It was reality. Better face it than try runnin' away. I was given, as the boys up there in Malta call it, 'an offer I couldn't refuse'. Sure I had problems, I had 'em big time with the Orange Juice. But the poison could also be a cure.
You talk about choices. There were no choices Hale, it was either to live or die. But I don't see how ya' can help me in anyway, an' even if ya' could its too late now. I'm dependent on this thing. I don't get it, I go kaput. Now if ya' excuse me, I'm gettin' the hell 'outta 'ere before ya' send in the cavalry.
As for ya' Evelyn, I have no words left for you." As Logan finished his last words he lifted himself up from the chair and hurried his way towards the hangar. He didn't even look back or bother to wait for their replies.
Hale's head sunk into his hands, the cigarette hanging from his lip still unlit. "Evasive as ever Evelyn. Maybe I shouldn't have come..." Hale leaned back and ran a hand through his hair. "What now?"
Evelyn kept her face expressionless, hiding the hurt Logan's words had had on her, and turned to Hale. "We can try to capture him, or we can wait until he comes after us. I'm sure as hell not going to settle for the second option." She stood and hurried towards where Logan had walked out.
Hale stayed seated, slowly lighting the cigarette he stood up and walked to the bar. "Whatd'ya want bub? Hey... You remind me of someone..."
"No I don't... Forget it."
Hale turned towards the door, hesitated for a moment then indecisively walked towards the hanger bays.
![[Image: DFinal.png]](http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b328/Luciaden/DFinal.png)
![[Image: DramaticExit.gif]](https://sig.grumpybumpers.com/host/DramaticExit.gif)
![[Image: Willows-1.png]](http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm257/Zeltak1990/Willows-1.png)