DISCLAIMER: Dark Angel borrowed, no profits realized.

A/N: The original Asylum popped in the middle of another story, and I really had fun with how it developed -- a Max & Logan AU told entirely through only one character's point of view, that of an original character who knew Logan only from his public personas, and didn't know Max at all.

The AU and the POV idea wouldn't let me go, so this too popped up in the middle of another couple ongoing stories. (Oh, well.) So here begins the same basic Asylum AU, around the same events as the original, told from another character's POV– this one, not an original, but an old friend... (and some backstory about this "old friend" is borrowed from Still Waters...)

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Asylum: Book II

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March 6, 2023

Bling sat in his car, outside the penthouse, for another few moments before going inside. Once he'd made his decision he knew he'd stick with it, but it didn't make this any easier.

He'd left family before; left brothers he'd made in the service ... but this was different. Logan had played too many roles in his life to make this easy: first, just another street warrior for Eyes Only, he'd thought; then patient, employer ... inspiration ... friend. Now it was mostly friend; he still did some rehab work with Logan but almost more as a reason to find time to get together and talk; Logan was perfectly capable of doing all the PT or training he needed now, either alone or with Max's help, and the training Logan did with Bling these days was more shooting hoops, playing one on one, than anything. Once Logan had been outed as Eyes Only, Bling had been to the Penthouse far less often than before, and did next to nothing for the Informant Net, in the hope that his connection to Logan in that capacity wouldn't be discovered. And as far as any bodyguard position, the times he'd filled that role – well, hell, he looked like an amateur next to Max.

So Logan wasn't dependent on him; he'd long before passed the point where he was needed as a therapist or assistant of any sort. And it was clear that he'd come to his own cross-roads: Sandra was out in the Heartland for good, it seemed, and he found he wanted her in his life badly enough to go join her. Her life there was a good one; the town, a picture of contentment and peace almost pre-Pulse in its appearance. It was quiet, clean ... surviving. And Bling decided that after all the ugliness he'd seen, both before and after the Navy, after the stress of living in a broken-down, still struggling Seattle, there were too many reasons to join her. Permanently.

But this was the part that would make the move painful. He'd miss Logan, more than about anyone he'd left behind: no one had challenged him as much as Logan had; he'd rarely had friends or colleagues who could keep him on his toes, keep him thinking ... inspire him to do the right thing, as Logan did again and again ... as Logan himself had done, at great personal cost. No one had spoken to his inner sense of balance, not since his beloved Granny had passed away, as strongly as Logan did, even if the man was often spun off his own equilibrium, tilting at windmills, cranky or stubborn or on a wild goose chase...

Bling got out of the car and headed toward the building's entry. There would be promises of visits and staying in touch, but he knew how often those panned out. With a sigh, he pulled open the lobby door. He hoped that Logan would face this better than he was facing it ... but suspected that it would be otherwise. Even in the elevator, riding up to the top floor as he had done so often these past few years, he wasn't sure what he could say to do this right...

Letting himself in the penthouse, Bling immediately heard Logan's voice, carrying frustration – a sound he suddenly realized he'd heard more often in recent months than he had even in the worst of times, once he'd been let in on Eyes Only. "No, look, Reef, I understand – you can't keep it going; I know..." A pause. "No, you're right – it could lead back to the others, and that whole section will collapse." Bling walked in, softly, to see Eyes Only on yet another disposable cell phone, the only ticket he had these days, along with the signal scrambling technology he'd had added to the penthouse, that allowed some assurance that he wasn't under surveillance and his conversations 'overheard.' Logan's brow was drawn. Glancing up to see his friend come in, he tried a smile, but failed miserably. "What about your contacts?" he asked the person on the other end of the line, and his face fell even more. "Oh ... right. Right." He sighed, and summed, "look, you have to pull out, I know. Give me a couple weeks and I'll leave one more packet in the drop for you, alternate plans for down the road if you want to start up again. Yeah, man. Thanks for everything." He snapped the phone shut and shrugged, helplessly. "Our last insider in the state office building. No one left as inside eyes, now that Eyes Only is a publicly traded commodity. Reef was seen with me, so is being watched; his sources were seen with him so are being watched, too. We're out of business in that franchise, Bling."

The dark eyes assessed Logan. He was tired, clearly, the unraveling of Eyes Only unraveling him. "I'm sorry, man. I know how much work you put into all of it, to see it torn away like this."

Logan sat unmoving for only another moment, before raising tired eyes back to Bling. "Look– I'm sorry. That's a hell of a way to welcome you back. How's Sandra? Did you have a good trip?"

"She's fine. She loves it there," Bling found himself starting to lay the groundwork. "The school's great, and the town's welcomed her with open arms."

Logan's smile, even if still showing his pain, was genuine. "I'm glad. And she's how far from Chicago?"

"About ninety minutes. Not far." Bling looked at his friend, looking beaten, alone, and wondered how he could tell this man that he, too, was pulling out on him, bugging out. Not today, Bling decided. Another day or two, maybe... His eyes fell on the now-familiar stacks of mail on the table, pleas for money and help, that Logan insisted on sorting into piles he labeled "impossible," "possible" and "do it." All stacks seemed higher than he'd ever seen, the latter two far outsizing the first. "You backed up on things?" he asked, gesturing to the letters.

"No, I..." The look in Logan's face again was pained, exhausted. "They're just coming in bigger batches now. The more people hear that we've gotten something accomplished, they want us to help – finding lost relatives, lost children ... proving some conspiracy or solving crimes..." He passed a hand over his face. "Or just desperate people wanting money. There's got to be some way, Bling, that I can invest and get more dividends, maybe get a bigger income source..."

"Logan..." Bling got his attention. The green eyes, red-rimmed, looked back up at him. "When was the last time you slept? Where's Max?"

"She's at work." He half laughed, "you sound like her. She saw that I didn't quite get to bed last night and said she's coming home tonight and pulling the plug, no calls, no computer; she's dosing me with tryptophan and making me sleep twelve hours..."

"No joke, man..." Bling said softly, "you need it."

"No... I need to find a way to keep Eyes Only going, even if they know who I am. Look at these, Bling," his voice was just a whisper as he grabbed a handful of letters. "Pleas for help... rumors of babies sold on the black market after being kidnaped from their families ... young girls sold overseas ... water sources being drugged so towns don't have to hire as many cops. Crazy accusations or legitimate problems?" He sighed. "There's got to be some way..."

"The Free Press can pick up a lot of that..." Bling reasoned.

"Not everything can be done above ground."

"But you said it yourself – the Net's crashed, here. No one in the existing system is safe from scrutiny." He looked at the man before him and urged, gently, "You've become more of a liability than a help to the Net, Logan, as terrible as that is to face. You've got to let it go, and let the Press handle things. It's time to shut it down here."

The hurt in his friend's eyes was deep, but Bling barely registered it as his own words suddenly echoed in his head. An answer, after all? Is there any way he'd agree...?

"...it took years to develop all this..." Logan was saying.

"I know," Bling agreed, softly. "But you know what I'm saying is true." He considered Logan for another moment, then, eyes narrowing, trying to keep a rising enthusiasm in check, he leaned forward, voice low. "And when you started it all, you were one guy, who then quietly made a couple contacts, and a couple more – and, behind the scenes, things started to grow. What have you said about missing those times, working in true anonymity?"

Logan shook his head, still pained, but clearly had caught Bling's drift. "C'mon, Bling, realistically – how can I do that? Name recognition, I'm recognized on the street ... between the press Eyes Only has gotten, and the years of my family's visibility here – not to mention that being on wheels cuts an easily identifiable silhouette..."

Bling allowed a small smile to creep over his features as he lifted his eyebrows in challenge. "Here, maybe..." Logan looked back to him in question, apparently still unaware of the hope he'd offered Bling. "You gonna offer me some coffee?"

TBC...