I remember how Zack used to stay up with me at Manticore. When we couldn't sleep, we would crawl into one of each other's beds and just talk about anything and everything. It's kind of weird how we formed a relationship like that. Then when we broke out and we all went our separate ways, I thought I lost him. I remember feeling that hole in my heart that made me just want to crawl up in a ball and lay there for days. It wasn't until I moved on with my life that he waltzed back in.

Sam, he posed as. I let out a laugh and shook my head. I sat there at the junky coffee joint with him- staring at his face and I never once noticed. It wasn't until I found out where he was staying and put the pieces together that I knew the real him.

From then, we had the on and off heartbreak. Him thinking all I wanted to do was stay in Seattle for Logan, while me thinking he was always just going to be about the mission. I guess in a way, we were both right though. Zack hurt me the first time he left, so I began finding support and trust in Logan, while Zack was trying to keep his focus on the safety of all of us instead of his emotions and feelings for me.

I let out a snicker when my thoughts continued to drift.

"What was that noise for?" A voice asked behind me, wrapping a pair of arms around my waist.

"I was thinking about that time in Logan's cabin- when my face was plastered all over Seattle..." I said with a smile.

He let out a small sound, which I was not sure if it was a laugh or a sigh.

"You came and saved my ass and then we headed to Logan's cabin."

At the mention of Logan's name, Zack held his grip on me a bit tighter. Rubbing my hands over his arms that encased me, I tilted my head up to smile at him.

"You told me that we could rest for a night, and pulled out some wine to celebrate me finally leaving Seattle," I said with a bit of drama in my voice. A smile began to appear on his lips.

"Then you finally let me in the mind of a leader; well… a bit," I smirked. "You brushed a strand of my hair away from my face, and we almost kissed."

"If only I made the move then," Zack sighed, kissing my temple.

"The wait was worth it I guess," I said looking back out the window. It was dark and rainy. Pretty beautiful out there…

"Food's here," he murmured disturbing my thoughts.

"'kay," I smiled, pulling my arms away from his.

"You comin'?" he asked pulling at one of my hands.

"I'll be there in a minute," I told him with a smile and then turned back to the window. Letting my hand drop he walked off and I was alone again. It was crazy how we both got here- finally here.

I guess in a way Tinga's visit and death didn't go down in vein. She brought Zack and I together and gave us the motivation to take down Manticore.

"Love you girl," I whispered.

Zack and I ate our Chinese food together as we watched some sci fi movie on TV.

"See, now that a power I would like to have" I told Zack, watching this girl do cool things with her eyes.

"Shoot fire through my eyes, x-ray vision, blow things up…that could be useful," I told my boyfriend as I picked at my Lo mein.

"I think you are pretty useful already, don't you think? Being a human super soldier counts for something right?" he asked as he used his chopsticks to steal some of my noodles.

"Hey!" I laughed, pulling away my food from his reach. He shot me a smile and then dropped the noodles in his mouth. Sitting back up, I carefully leaned over him and stole a piece of his sweet and sour chicken with my chopstick.

"Its fair," I laughed before he could try and attack me.

The phone rang and I quickly evaded Zack by getting up off the couch.

Laughing at him, I walked over to the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey Boo its me."

"Hey OC what's up?" I asked.

"We are all meeting at Crash in about an hour, wanna come?" Original Cindy asked.

"Sure sounds good." I told her.

"Alright then, see you soon girl."

Putting the phone back in its place, I walked over to Zack and plopped down on the couch.

"That was OC, she wanted to know if we were game for Crash."

"What time do we have to be there?"

"'Bout an hour," I told him as I laid my head on his shoulder. His arm came around me and we snuggled together. When we were both done with our Chinese food, I went to go take a shower while Zack cleaned up dinner. Turning on the stereo, I let the music play as I made my way into the bathroom. When I was done, I quickly dried off and opened the door to let Zack take a quick shower.

It was perfect timing I guess- he was walking into the bedroom as I was waking out of the bathroom.

"Go shower," I laughed as his eyes roamed my toweled body.

"You're right, those superpowers like x-ray vision could come in handy right now."

My jaw jokingly dropped and I shoved him lightly into the bathroom. While he was in there, I put on some light makeup, did my hair and went to pick out something to wear. I ended up picking out a short glittery top and a short black skirt. Not my usual, but hey, things can change.

"Ready?" I asked Zack as I came back into the bedroom. He gave me another look over and cleared his throat.

"Yea lets go."

With a hand on my lower back, he guided me through Crash to get to our table.

"Hey girl," OC said giving me a hug.

"Hey," I smiled.

"Zack," Original Cindy acknowledged with slight smile. She knew Zack was a great guy, a bit problematic and hot headed when it came to Logan, but she said he had good intentions.

I gave hugs to Sketchy and Herbal and listened to everything. Both of them unfortunately had to work overtime since they mixed up packages.

"I need more beer," Sketchy exclaimed.

"I believe it's my turn to buy," I told them all, hopping off my stool and to the bar.

Zack watched me go and I gave him a nod.

As I waited for the pitcher, my pager went off. Looking at it, I sighed and found it was Logan. Bringing the alcohol back, I gave them all a look. I held up my pager and they all looked disappointed.

"Tell me it ain't him Boo," Original Cindy said frustrated.

"It'll be quick," I said giving them all a sympathetic look. Glancing over at Zack I found him slightly pissed.

"Be back," I said and then went to find a pay phone. It was at the side of the bar that I found one and called the well known number.

"Hey stranger," he said.

"Logan, what is it? Im kinda busy." I said.

"Just wanted to say happy anniversary- for Tinga I mean."

Sadness washed over me and I sighed. Happy was not the word.

"It wasn't your fault Max," he said. My jaw clenched as I remember holding a dead Tinga in my arms. "There was nothing we could do," he added.

"Was there something you needed Logan?" I asked.

"Think you can stop by later?" he wondered.

"I don't think so. Busy."

"Right, that's okay. Next time."

"Yea, maybe," I said softly, "Bye Logan."

Hanging up the phone I bit my lip. The memories hit me and the weight of Tinga's body made my arms feel heavy.

It was hard to believe it was a year ago that I lost my sister- and her son lost his mother. Reminding myself that, I made sure that I would check up on them later.

"Hey, you okay?" Zack asked, surprising me with his presence.

"Hey, yea," I tried smiling, but I knew he could see past it. "I'm going to get some air okay?" I told him moving out of the club, before he could even respond.

Once I was outside it was like I could breathe again. Leaning against the brick wall, I crossed my arms and wished the feeling of Tinga's heavy body to go away.

"Its Tinga isn't it?" Zack asked coming to stand in front of me. Only he would be persistent enough to follow me out here.

"Yea," I let out. Sighing, he stepped forward, taking me in his arms and holding me close. I held onto him, letting all the memories and visions cloud over my mind. Pulling myself together, I pulled back a bit, now resting my forehead against his chest.

"You okay now?" he asked kissing the top of my head. I nodded, glancing up at him to flash him the smallest of small smiles. Taking it as a good sign he grazed his thumb down my lips and to my chin.

"Good," he breathed. Finding him mesmerizing, I tiled my head up and waited for his lips to descend on mine. Our lips brushed lightly against each other a few times, giving each other small kisses. It wasn't until my hands slid up to his neck that he began deepening the kiss. His tongue slid gently into my mouth and we both explored our feelings.

The sound of a door shutting hard startled us both. We quickly pulled away from each other and blushed. "We should get back in there," I smiled, still a bit bewildered.

"Right," Zack breathed, gathering his own composure. Taking my hand, he opened the door and I led us back inside.

"Took you guys long enough," Sketchy commented. Herbal and OC just snickered and passed me a wink. After a few hours, Zack went off with Sketchy to play some foosball while Herbal took off.

"So what did Mr. Money bucks have to say?" OC questioned.

"He wanted to give his condolences to Tinga's death."

Original Cindy raised an eyebrow and let her mind wander.

"What did you say?"

"Thank you. I let him ramble on about how her death wasn't my fault and these things just happen- that there was nothing we could do."

"I see," she said shaking her head at the situation. "Sometimes, I don't know how you don't punch the man, or at least let your buff and tough over there, kick his ass."

I let out a chuckle and turned my head to see Zack in an intense game of foosball with Sketchy.

"I know he wants to, but it wouldn't do any good."

"It would do good for me- and your boy toy. It would give us some piece of mind," Original Cindy commented.

"You think he's gunna try and make another move on you again the next time you go over there?" OC asked.

"He better not or I will kick his ass."

OC smiled and put her fist up to hit mine. "There you go girl, that's the spirit."

I let my smile take over my face and was about to say more until an arm slid around my waist.

"Who won?" I asked turning my attention over to the face beside me.

"Who do you think?" Zack grinned.

"Better luck next time Sketch," OC said, patting him on the back.

"So what were you ladies talking about?" Zack asked grabbing the stool next to me.

Looking at Original Cindy, we both shrugged.

"Nothing big," I said and drank some beer.

"Right," Sketchy said, looking between the two of us. OC skipped the subject for us and we were back to silly nonsense.

"So…" Zack said, swinging our hands between us as we walked home.

"Yes?" I asked.

"I was thinking," he started.

"Uh oh, that's never good," I teased. Pulling our entwined hands closer to his body; I let my body collide against his.

"Cute," he commented, looking down at me with those piercing eyes of his. Unable to resist the urge, I brought my free hand to his neck and let our lips met. When I pulled away, I felt a sense of pride as I saw his eyes still closed as if he was savoring the moment.

"So you were saying…"

"Right," he said clearing his throat to pull himself together. "It's been a hard week, and I know things have been difficult…"

I arched my eyebrow. I was not a girl with patience. Apparently Manticore did not teach that.

"I have a surprise for you tomorrow night, but you have to promise me you will be home."

"Why?" I asked suspiciously.

"Because if you're not home then the surprise wont be very good," he said with a light attitude.

Stickling out my tongue, he gave my sides a squeeze and I let out a small giggle.

"Okay, I'll be there."

"Promise?" he tried to confirm.

"Promise," I smiled and moved to continue walking.

The next day came and I was super curious to what Zack had in store. He had left early this morning, giving me a quick kiss and a smirk, as I got ready for work.

The whole day at Jam Pony I couldn't help but think of what he could be up to. I think OC was ready to strangle me, but hey, I was curious.

By the time I got home from work it was around 5 and still no sign from Zack. Was 5 o'clock considered nighttime?

Setting my stuff down, I went to the fridge in hunt for something to eat. Hearing my pager beep, I hopped off the counter top and walked over to my bag. Logan. It read.

Sighing, I walked over to the phone and called the man.

"Max," he said.

"Yea Logan, what's up?"

"I have a mission for you. Its top priority and needs to be done ASAP."

"I cant tonight Logan," I said with a bit of annoyance.

"Did you not hear me Max? This is important."

"Yea well, I have important things that need to be done,"

"Look," Logan sighed, "It umm…it has to do with the Taliban and they are planning this attack so we have to get this piece of equipment tonight or…or they could sell this stuff to the wrong people."
Sighing, I checked the time and gave in. "Fine, I'll be at your place in a few."

Quickly I slammed the phone down and fisted my hands. That man. Calling Zack was going to be hard. Letting out all my anger with a breath, I dialed his cell and waited for him to pick up.

"Hey," he answered.

"You're going to hate me," I muttered.

"You're breaking your promise aren't you?" he guessed.

"I'm here," I supplied, "but Logan just called saying he needed me to do a mission. Something about the Taliban and a piece of equipment."

Zack sighed and my heart fell a bit, "I am so sorry. I will make it up to you. You know what? No. I am going to call him back. His issues can wait-"

"Max, just go," he said. "I'm not mad, the surprise can wait- saving people cant."

"Zack," I said feeling guilty.

"Just stay safe."

"Yea," I whispered, "will do."

I hung up the phone feeling like the worst person in the world. Stupid Logan. Quickly changing, I grabbed my keys to ninja and was off to Logan's.

When I got there he was waiting in the living room. We went over the plan and what he needed me to get. It was so chip thing. I didn't really care what it did or how it worked, I just wanted to steal it and bust this joint.

We took his car and waited for a shift change. The clock was moving slow. We still had like 15 minutes till something would happen and his presence was making me antsy.

"Everything okay?" he asked as I continued to fidget.

"I hate waiting," I muttered.

"Its 15 minutes, not too long."

"Its long when you have plans you have to bail on," I turned to Logan with a raised eyebrow.

"Well Max, I think this is more important than your so called plans," he said looking out the windshield. My eyes narrowed at him and I wondered when he turned into such a big jerk and how the hell I couldn't have seen it sooner.

"Screw this, im going in." I told him, jumping out of the car.

"Max!" he called in a low voice.

I easily passed security. Stealing a white suit from the plant, I put it on and grabbed some radiator detector thing. There were two men doing something with the mechanical arm. I needed that chip I guess.

Giving them some bogus thing about hair loss, they quickly ran off and I grabbed the chip. The mission was pretty easy, except for the part when I got busted. I guess Logan wasn't kidding when he said they had maximum security. I ran down the halls and outside when I was shot with those stun gun things. God those hurt. Unfortunately I got stunned enough to get some shit kicked into me. A few punches here and some kicks to my legs, I was down for the count. That was until I took out those little tazers and kicked some real ass. I noticed that this place wasn't really concerned about the thief, rather than what I had stolen. The siren alarm just kept repeating 'drop the item so we wont have to use deadly force'. Looking up at the building again, it didn't really look like a plant…it looked more like a lab.

More backup was coming, and without a thought, I jumped into this waterfall and swam back to Logan.

"Did you get it?" he asked.

"Yea, I got it," I told him as I sat back in the car. I was a little pissed he didn't see I was injured or try and care.

"Perfect," he said with a grin as I showed him the baggie with the microchip in it.

"What did you say this plant was again?" I asked him before we could drive off.

"Secret government factory," Logan said not looking at me.

"That's funny because it seems to me it's more like a lab. And what's even funnier is that they didn't care what I was doing- rather that I had something important." I said with anger in my voice.

"Max," he started.

"What did I just steal Logan?" I questioned, not allowing him to put his car in drive.

"I need it." He whispered

My eyes widened. "This was for you?"

"Max, wait. Look-"

Before my anger could get the best of me, I got out of the car and slammed the door.

"Max!" he called.

"I'll walk home," I told him and turned around. My body was aching in pain while my thoughts were still developing. How could Logan do this? What had I been doing all this time?

By the time I got home, I could barely keep myself upright. I walked into the door and let my legs fall from under me. Luckily I caught myself on the counter and pulled myself up.

"Maxie?" Zack called hearing someone come in. "Max!" he yelled when he saw me.

"I'm okay," I said. He moved my arm to lie over his neck while he wrapped an arm around my waist.

"What happened?" he asked dragging me to the bathroom like an injured soldier.

I gave a sharp intake of breath as my side was stretched.

"Come on, we need to get you cleaned up," he said careful of my injuries. Helping me sit on the high surface tile of our bathroom tub, he grabbed a first aid kit.

"I'm okay Zack," I told him as he began cleaning up a cut on my lip.

"What the hell happened?" he asked again. My mind flashed back to everything that happened. What I did and who I did it for…

My eyes fell and I moved Zack's hand away that was attending to the cut on my forehead.
"I think I just stole something from some good people," I whispered.

"I thought you said-"

"Yea, well I guess it wasn't as it seemed." I bit out before he could say anything. Calming down, I let out a breath and gave him more details. "Logan had me steal something and I found out it was for his personal use."

"What?" he asked sharply. Before he could go all macho man on me, I grabbed his hand and then set one of my own hands on his set jaw. Looking into his eyes I made him calm down.

His anger in his eyes and posture melted as he saw how much this bothered me. Leaning forward, he gave me a soft kiss, being gentle of the cut on my lip.

"I didn't know," I said as he moved my hair away from my face. "I didn't figure it out till I got back in the car with him."

"Its not your fault Maxie," he said.

"What did I do Zack?" I questioned, breaking eye contact. He let me think in silence as he finished cleaning me up. I guess I had a nasty cut on the back of my leg, along with some bruises and minor cuts all over my body.

After that, we both decided a bath was needed. Getting in the tub together, we let the warm water soothe both our anger problems.

"I'm sorry I bailed on your surprise," I told Zack, playing with our entwined hands.

"Its okay Maxie, im just glad you're okay," he said kissing my temple.

I let my body relax against his and felt so much love. Being around Zack- there was just something about it. He had a bunch of candles lit around the tub while we both soaked in a bubble bath. He made sure our hands stayed entwined together and kept me securely enclosed around him. His cheek rubbed against the side of my head in a comforting manner, and placed kisses wherever he could reach every few minutes.

"So will I ever get to know what the surprise was?" I asked after a few minutes. My guilty thoughts were stowed away for now and Zack could read/see that.

"No," he chuckled, kissing my lips as I turned to look at him.

"Zack," I whined.

"Max," he mocked in the same tone. His eyes were light and that feeling of being one lucky girl washed over me again.

We stayed in the tub for a while longer. It wasn't until we were both pretty pruney that we got out. Kissing his lips, my thoughts continued to fade and all I could think at the time was Zack. I wanted him. I needed him.

"We shouldn't, you're hurt," he said pulling away before anything could get too far. My eyes fell and I cursed Logan in my head once again.

I accepted the little kisses Zack gave to ease the rejection and then walked off to put some clothes on. Slipping on some underwear and one of his tee shirts, I found him staring at me in the doorway. I flashed him a smile and waited for him to come to me. When he did, we collided against each other hard.

"What happened to not doing anything tonight?" I joked against his lips and wandering hands. He gave a groan and I pulled away a bit. His face showed disappointment and im pretty sure he was regretting what he had said a few minutes ago. Doing the same he did for me, I gave him small little kisses against his lips and waited till he found some more self-control.

Once my mission was complete, I walked off into our bedroom and slid under the covers. Zack joined me a little while later, in his boxers and a white tee shirt.

"Love you Maxie," he said holding me close.

"Love you too Zack," I replied and then drifted off to sleep. Sleep was good. It was actually better now that Zack was around. I found that I didn't have a problem dreaming and the dreams weren't always about Manticore and people trying to get me. They seemed more peaceful and happy; and I think it was all because of Zack.

The next morning I woke up a bit achy and unfortunately alone. The side where Zack had slept was empty and almost cold. Sighing, I slowly got up and out of bed. It was unusual to hear chatter going on in the morning. I could hear people laughing and talking. My guess was the TV.

Walking out of the bedroom, my eyes went wide.

"Morning sleepy head," Syl smiled.

"What?" I gasped, bouncing over to give them all a hug.

"Syl! Zane! Krit! Jondy! What are you all doing here?" I asked in happiness.

"Well, I believe that it was this week that we destroyed Manticore." Krit smiled.

"Yea, it was blown up at midnight, so I guess the celebration counts for yesterday and today," Syl laughed.

"Happy no more Manticore day sis," Zane smiled as we all laughed and cheered.

Watching them, the smile on my face would never disappear.

"This was your surprise wasn't it?" I questioned to Zack as he sat at the counter watching all of us.

"Like it?" he smirked.

"Love it," I smiled back. We had this moment. Our eyes just went soul deep in each other.

"Pancakes?" Jondy asked breaking it up.

"Smells good," I smiled and grabbed a seat next to Zack. His hand that rested on the countertop came down and grabbed my hand. I flashed him another smile and started eating with my left hand. Something good about Manticore was that they made us ambidextrous. It came to be pretty useful, especially in times like this.

We all sat around talking and eating for a while. It was good to just sit and listen to everything everyone had been up to. It wasn't until my pager went off that everyone rolled their eyes.

"At least he gave it a 15 minute break." Zane commented.

"Logan has been paging you," Zack supplied with a bit of anger. Squeezing his hand I nodded and then left the counter. Before I could reach my bag, the phone rang. Everyone shot me a look and I walked back over to the counter and answered it.

"Hello?" I asked.

"Hey Boo."

"Hey OC," I said in relief. Everyone relaxed a bit and went back to cooking and talking.

"What's this I hear about you taking a personal day?" she asked.

I looked over at Zack and smiled. He was laughing with Jondy and Krit.

"I guess I am."

"Girl, is there something you want to tell me?" she asked.

"What do you mean?"

"Well for one, why are you taking a personal day? And what the heck is going on between you and Logan? Why is he on some mental mission to see you?"

"Logan's there?" I asked quietly.

"Yea, he stopped here looking for you. He's looking pretty down."

"Yea, well he should." I said curtly.

"Everything okay with you two?" she asked.

"No. Hey look, do you think you can you cover for me with him? I really don't feel like dealing with his sorry ass today."

"Sure Boo," she said sweetly. "As long as you are okay."

"I'm great," I said with a genuine smile. "Zack surprised me with some visitors today."

"Ah, he brought them all down here for a reunion huh?" she asked.

"Something like that," I smiled over the phone. "Look OC, I got to go, talk to you later?" I asked.

"Sure thing girl. Hey, we are thinking of meeting at Crash tonight if you all want to come," she pitched.

"Sounds great, I'll see what our plans are and maybe we'll see you there."

"Alright, see you later boo," she said and then hung up.