My first Dark Angel fanfic! It's set after the last book written by Max Allen Collins. If you haven't read the books, here's the important information you need before you start reading this: the virus keeping Max and Logan from touching is gone and the residents of Terminal City have a store on the other side of the fence where they sell their artwork and other handmade pieces. I hope you enjoy it and don't forget to review!
Max and Logan finally get a break from keeping Terminal City up and running, but it's soon interrupted when someone bursts in with a problem for Max that cannot wait.
Lost & Found
Terminal City was buzzing with activity, and at the center of all of it was the command center filled with its usual suspects: Dix, Luke, and Max Guevera. There was always a lot to do in their little city with keeping the supply level high and the store running successfully, but lately it seemed that the work was piling up more than usual.
With Max's eyes glued to the screens in front of her and her mind focused on her conversation with Dix and Luke, she didn't even notice when Terminal City's most frequent visitor walked in. Being an Ordinary, Logan Cale couldn't live in Terminal City. The radiation would likely kill him with constant long-term exposure. So he lived in a building just outside the fence that was connected to the city by an underground tunnel.
He approached the command center and said to Max, "I think it's time for a break."
Max practically jumped out of her skin. She turned around and replied, "What?"
"I said it's time for you to take a break," he repeated.
"Logan, I can't," she said, "There's too much work to do."
"Max, how long have you been staring at these screens?" She hesitated. "You haven't eaten anything or gotten any sleep in days. C'mon. You need to take a break."
"I'm fine. I can't just shirk my responsibilities and go off and do God knows what whenever I feel like it," she insisted.
Logan directed his attention toward Dix and Luke, who were engrossed in their interaction, and said, "Guys, help me out here."
Dix said, "He's right, Max. We can handle it without you for a while. You need some rest. In fact, we all do. This stuff can wait."
"No, it can't. If you guys want to take a break, go ahead. I'll keep working and – Hey!" Max exclaimed when Logan scooped her up and began to carry her out of Terminal City.
Logan calmly replied, "You left me no choice, Max."
"Logan, put me down! Put me down now, or I'll…"
"You'll what?" he asked skeptically.
Max looked at Logan's determined expression and decided it would be much easier to just go along with whatever he was up to. "Fine," she said reluctantly, "Put me down and I'll cooperate."
"Good," he said, setting her feet back on the ground, "Follow me."
Logan began walking toward the door he came in through; the one that led to the underground tunnel. Max followed a step behind looking like a wounded puppy until, that is, they were safely in the tunnel, hidden from the residents of Terminal City and their prying eyes and ears.
"What the hell, Logan!" she exclaimed, "You know I try to stay professional in that place. I can't afford to lose any respect and that stunt you just pulled…What was that!?"
Logan didn't bother to respond. He knew nothing he said would get through to her and besides, she just needed to vent. He continued walking through the tunnel as she yelled at him.
They had just reached the door to Logan's new digs and were stepping inside when Max yelled, "Logan, what the hell are you…" She was cut off when Logan kissed her and she suddenly realized what the scene back at Terminal City was all about. "Oh my God," she said, "It's our anniversary. Logan, I'm so sorry. I've been so wrapped up in working and keeping Terminal City running and everything…"
"It's okay," he replied, "I get it. I just wish you wouldn't push yourself so hard. I know you're a genetically engineered super-human but that doesn't mean you don't have to step back and rest every once in a while."
"I know," she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him again.
When they parted, Logan asked, "Are you hungry?"
"Starving," she admitted.
"Good, because I made dinner," he replied.
"Another one of Logan Cale's culinary masterpieces?" she asked, "Count me in."
….
Logan was sitting at the table across from Max, swirling the wine around in his glass. Dinner had been over with for quite some time and the two of them were content in their comfortable silence.
Suddenly, Max said, "You know that whole carrying me thing?"
"You mean 'that stunt I pulled?'" he asked.
She looked slightly ashamed, "Yeah, that one."
"What about it?" Logan asked before he took another sip of his rare, pre-Pulse wine.
"It was kind of sexy."
"Really?" Logan asked, "Because I believe your exact words were 'What the hell.'"
"Well, just because I don't want it happening in the work-place doesn't mean it can't happen in the privacy of your own home."
"I see," Logan said, draining his glass and setting it down on the table. He stood and walked over to Max, who showed no resistance when he went to lift her up this time. Cradling her in his arms, he headed to the bedroom, walked in, and closed the door behind him.
…
The sun was shining through the bedroom window, making shadow patterns on the sheets. Max stretched and rolled over to face Logan, who was also awake.
"Good morning," he said, "Sleep well?"
"Mmmm-hmmm," she replied.
Logan reached across her and opened the drawer in his nightstand. Her eyes followed his hand as it lifted a small box from the drawer. "Happy Anniversary," he said, handing it to her.
"Logan, you didn't…I didn't even get you anything," she replied.
"Just open it."
She propped herself up on her elbow, kissed him, then settled back into the bed before opening the box. Inside was a necklace that looked all too familiar. It was his mother's. The one she snaked from his aunt's neck at his cousin's wedding. "Logan, no. I can't accept this," she said as she tried giving it back to him.
Instead, he put it back in her palm and folded her fingers around it. "I want you to have it. I think she would want you to have it. She would have loved you," he said, stroking her cheek.
She cupped his face in her hand and kissed him again, his fingers in her hair, ready to continue their romantic weekend alone when the door was flung open. There stood a dog of a man over six feet tall and looking very nervous.
Max flung around to face him, conscious to keep the bed sheet around her body, and hissed the word, "Joshua!"
Joshua, realizing what he'd done, quickly turned around, his hand covering his eyes, and said, "Sorry Max."
"Joshua, get out of here," she said.
"Max and Logan get it on?" Joshua asked.
Max turned back to Logan. Logan simply shrugged. She grimaced and said to Joshua, "Yes, now will you please get out of here?"
"Can't," Joshua replied, "Max and Joshua gotta blaze."
"What? Why?" she asked, barely able to contain her frustration.
"Emergency. Have to go now."
"Can't this wait until tomorrow?"
"No…sorry, Little Fella," Joshua replied.
"Joshua!"
"Max," Logan interjected, "Go. It's okay. I'll be right here when you get back. He's not going to stop until you go with him."
"But what about our weekend?" she asked.
"We'll extend it," he replied.
She smiled at him, before she turned back to Joshua and said, "Alright Big Fella, give me five minutes."
"But Max, we have to go now!" he exclaimed.
"Joshua, seriously, get out!" she said as she grabbed a pillow from the bed and threw it at his back. He took enough steps forward for Max to shut the door behind him. She then turned back to Logan, apologized, and proceeded to get dressed.
"I'll be back as soon as possible," she said, kissing him good-bye. "I really don't want to go," she groaned.
He pulled her back for one more kiss and said, "Hurry back."
She opened the door to see Joshua pacing outside. "Okay, Big Guy, let's go."