Disclaimer: All things Dark Angel belong to James Cameron and Charles Eglee. No copyright infringement intended. Blah, blah, woof, woof
Spoilers: occurs after "Freak Nation"
Rating: PG-13 for some swearing and possible dark/adult situations that may arise later, but likely to be quite tame.
Authors Note: Finally, I hear you cry, we actually get to a main character. Stay with me guys, cos it's more difficult to write Max and Logan. I think it's because staying faithful to them is daunting, so they might change slightly from your perception of them, but not wildly so, I hope. Max will be along in a while.
A/N 2: A little explanation. Tried to keep format pretty simple. Actual thoughts will be written in italics without parenthesis(?), and will be fairly freeform to reflect thought process, jumping off at tangents. RR to tell me if you think this works.
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The week before
Logan scanned his e-mails absently, day-dreaming of Max, of the brief warmth he had felt in holding her gloved hand in his as the Transgenics raised their flag that cold dawn morning. He was startled from his reverie by a message from his lawyer.
"I wonder what Larry wants?" he muttered absent-mindedly to himself as he opened up the message.
Logan,
Tried to contact you at the apartment but couldn't get a hold of you. Instead, I hear from Croft, that you are no longer a resident there. Is this true? You know, you really should tell me things like this, I am a friend as well as your lawyer.
Anyway, are you considering selling your apartment? I know you said no before but since you're not going to be there from now on...circumstances might have gotten worse? God knows, you can't have that much more in the way of artwork to sell.
I have a contact, a Miss McKenzie, who might be interested. Actually, you two have a mutual acquaintance in common I think. Remember Professor Griffiths from Yale?
It's worth checking out at least. I've included the number so you can speak to her yourself. If you decide in the affirmative, get back to me to so we can go over the details.
Hell, get back to me in any case, I'd like to know you're still alive!
Larry
Logan thought about it. He was really strapped for cash, that was undeniable. His apartment was a complete wreck, and he couldn't use it again as it was probably being watched round the clock by White's goons. But at the same time, he didn't want to part with it. That's why he'd said no before. It held some great memories, some not so great ones too, come to think of it. It was Max, though. That's where he'd first met her, where they had shared so many diners together, where they'd kissed, where they almost...But sentimental memories didn't pay the bills, or more accurately, fund Eyes Only and the transgenic cause. No harm in calling her anyway, he thought as he picked up his cell phone and headed out to find somewhere with better reception.
"Hello"
"Hello, is that Miss McKenzie. This is Logan Cale, Laurence Wilson contacted me. I heard you were looking for an apartment in Seattle."
"Oh, yes that's right, Mr Cale. I am. Looking for a quiet place to get lost from the world for a while, you know?"
"I wouldn't exactly call Seattle quiet, especially not at the moment." Logan replied with a smile, thinking the phrase a little odd.
He heard the pleasant laughter of the woman on the line before she answered,
"Well, perhaps not, but I guess its all relative. Tell me, do you know of a place that might interest me? I would prefer an apartment with a nice view, preferably fairly isolated. I'm afraid I like my solitude at times." her voice sparkled with warmth and Logan immediately felt a connection with her. He was intrigued, not least by her accent.
"Actually, my apartment is a Penthouse suite. It has the a great view, reason I bought the place myself. But, I no longer live there." He sighed almost imperceptibly at that, but the woman noticed it all the same.
"I am sorry. Times are hard." she stated simply.
"Yes"
"Well, I must admit that Laurence did wax lyrical over your place and I would be happy to take it if that would seem acceptable to you. Or, I could rent, if you'd prefer." she hastily added, judging he might be reluctant to part with the apartment which obviously meant something more than just place to live to him.
Logan felt the hidden meaning behind the suggestion and appreciated the subtle kindness of the woman. He suddenly recalled Larry referring to his old collage professor and became curious as to how Miss McKenzie came into the picture.
"I understand we have a common acquaintance, Miss McKenzie. Professor Griffiths?"
There was a slight pause.
"Yes, that's right. He was....sort of an uncle, you could say. He passed away some time ago now", she stated briefly, attempting to sound detached.
"I'm terribly sorry to hear that, he was a great mentor of mine from college, I've always regretted losing touch with him after he went back to England", mentally kicking himself for sounding so cold, so artificial, God, just like Jonas.
"That's ok, Mr Cale, it was a long time ago now."
He felt her shut down, gone was the friendly banter of mere seconds ago. 'Great, she thinks you're a completely unfeeling, fucking idiot! I got one shot'
"Please, call me Logan". It was trite, he knew it. Still, hopefully he managed to get his real sympathy across, his apology.
It worked, he could almost hear her smile as she answered.
"Well Logan, I guess you'd better call me Meridian then. How do you want to do this? Should we meet or something?"
"Ah, that might be difficult. I think we'll have to do this through Larry if that's ok."
"Sure, no problem. Listen I gotta go, I got another call. Can I ring you back?"
"Sure, anytime", was all Logan could reply before the she hung up.
That was abrupt. Wait, Meridian? Meridian McKenzie? Why is that name familiar to me? Maybe old Griff mentioned her to me. And was I being too friendly, flirting with her? God, I hope it didn't sound like that. Max. Beautiful, wonderful Max! My Angel. How could I flirt when there's Max. Except there isn't, is there. You can't even touch her, and she doesn't even want you! She wants Alec! Why the fuck would she want you!
But she let me hold her hand, she smiled at me. And I haven't seen them together, thank God, but then I have been avoiding them. For Christ's sake Logan, pull your self together, you've got work to do.
With that Logan pulled himself from his thoughtful reverie and wandered off to help Dix with the computer systems.
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