Disclaimer: you know i think you get the idea that if this were mine i would probably be all rich and famous but seeing how im all broke and stuff, its still not mine

Also thank you to everyone who reviewed, it is greatly apprectiated.

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One Month later

"Okay, so we could put your Aunt Georgia at table seven with whats-his-face, that guy from the Christmas party who told those weird stories." Max said as she wrote down the name on the piece of paper in front of her.

"What, with Jonathan? We don't want to torture the poor woman, do we?" asked Darien with a slight grin playing on his features. Max studied him as he went through the wedding invites. He was tall, about as tall as Logan, standing at 6 foot 2, with black hair and brown eyes. He was in his late 20's and he had money. Lots of money that he, as Logan had, inherited from his parents. She went down to the paper in front of her.

"Well where else do you want to put her, there isn't much space left."

Darien waved his hands around. "What about next to that guy, what's his name, Sketchy?"

"I thought you didn't want to torture the poor lady?" she asked with a smile.

"Well, what's wrong with you friend, I mean from the stories you've told me, he has a certain allure about him."

"Trust me, we don't want her sitting next to him. From what you've said, they would not get along. He's a stoner and she's a stone cold... anti-stoner... what ever, she can deal with John and his stories. Now how about your sister, she might fit nicely at table two with your parents and your friend Tim."

Darien looked up from the invites again and turned towards Max. "What about your friend Logan?"

She froze. "What?"

He turned back to what he was doing, oblivious to the battle raging inside of Max. " Logan, where are you going to fit him?"

"Oh, Logan's not coming." she stated plainly. "Now if we move Crissy from table four to table-"

"Well why not, I thought you guys were really close."

"We were, then... something happened and we're not now. Listen lets just drop it, k?" She was trying to change the subject, gods couldn't he see that?! She looked at the paper and pulled off a random name, was that his aunt or cousin? She was sure it was his cousin, "I still have no idea where we're going to fit in your cousin Amy..."


"Hey Darien? Can you watch Jason for a while?" Asked Max as she walked confidently into the office, her son close at her heels.

"Why? Can't he just go with you?" Darien scowled. As soon as we're married that little brat's off to boarding school. Why can't the father, whoever he is, take care of the stupid kid? It's not my problem.

"I gotta go out somewhere and he doesn't want to go." She said, annoyed, ignorant to his thoughts.

"Are you going to a strip joint?"

"No."

"Then why can't he go, I mean, he loves hanging out with you-"

She sighed inwardly " Darien, he is going to be your son in a few weeks, the least you could do is spend some time with him. It won't kill you."

She left the room and Darien gave the kid a nasty glare. "You just sit down and don't say a word, you hear me?" Jason nodded, he wasn't looking forward to this either. If he had known, he decided, he would have rather gone with his mother than put up with his man. He was bright for a 5-year-old, and dangerous in Darien's eyes. If that kid spoke one word against Darien to his mother, the wedding would be off. "So, do you, um, want to, I don't know, play a game or something?" asked Darien with great difficulty.

"No. Can I do one of the puzzles on the floor?"

"I don't have any kiddy puzzles, go read a book." Darien went back to his work while Jason, intrigue, stared at the wondrous bookshelf in the office in the end deciding on Moby Dick.


By the time Max got home three hours later, Jason was already half way through his book. She walked into the office and kissed her son on the head. "Whatcha readin' there little man?"

"Moby Dick." Darien huffed, like the kid could do that.

"Yea, is it any good?"

"It's alright once you get into it but the beginning is slow. And I don't understand why the caption guy is so obsessed with that whale... it doesn't seem healthy."

Max laughed, "No it doesn't does it?" She turned to Darien. "Was he good?"

"Yea, sure." he replied distractedly.

Max turned to her son and gestured that they should go. He closed the book and placed it where he had found it on the book shelf and followed his mother out. As soon as they were out, Max turned and picked her son up, placed him on her hip and continued down the hall. It was elegant with tapestries here and there, it all just reminded her of a castle... like the castle from her stories...

She tucked in Jason, after telling him the story of course. She felt tired and glanced at the clock, it was only 10:30 but she was still so very tired. It was weird, foreign to her almost, but she knew what she was and she was tired. She sat on her bed and lay down to sleep. But she didn't want to sleep, she didn't want to dream. But she hadn't slept in, what, seven days, eight, she couldn't remember. She thought of getting up to get coffee but was asleep before she got to reach over to get up. She dreamed about when Zack had come back...

Flashback

Zack had come back but she was confused at why. Why he was there, what he remembered, was he going to try to kill Logan again. She had found him before he could get to Logan and cornered him in an abandoned warehouse.

"Max, he can't be trusted."

"No, Zack, they did something to you back at Manticore."

"Why won't you believe me?!" he yelled "Whose idea was it to send me away?!"

"Me! I sent you away." she yelled back. "It was my idea. I watched you leave at the hospital because it was my decision" her voice softened. "I couldn't deal with losing Logan so he helped me find a place for you to have a normal life... away from me and Logan and Manticore... I'm sorry Zack, I really am but I just couldn't do that to you again. I couldn't risk Logan's life again."

"Yea? Then why are you still with him? Every moment you spend with him puts you and him in danger. Someday your gonna get him killed, without my help. You kill everything you touch, don't you?! It's only a matter of time before he's killed." He whispered. He was trying to hurt her and it was working, she could feel the tear fall but she couldn't do anything to stop it and she didn't want to give him that satisfaction. All of a sudden the memory of Ben burst into her mind, and then Tinga, Seth, Brin, and finally Zack, dead on an operating table over her body. She felt a serge of pain and then anger. The fire burst in her and she wanted to hurt him. She wanted to punch him, to hit him, to make him feel what she did in any way possible.

"I'm pregnant." She watched has he looked confused for a second and she could just see it dawn on him. "It's his. He loves me and he wouldn't do any of those things that you said, that why I'm stay-" The gunshot was deafening and everything turned red. There was so much blood everywhere. She thought of Logan and the baby and the life they should share together.

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A/N: TBC evil grin