A/N: As promised, here's a quick next installment. If you have any thoughts, one way or another, PLEASE REVIEW!

Two hours later, very early Christmas morning, Penthouse, Fogle Towers.

"Tell me again about how you shot him through the back of the desk?" Max was running cold water onto the ruined pan of burnt mushrooms in the sink.

Max and Logan had finally returned to the kitchen mess. Despite being shot twice, the intruder had turned out to be not quite dead. So, Max had dragged him into the bedroom and unceremoniously applied some duct tape to his mouth. The man's two rather substantially sized bullet holes proved not to be fatal, so, in the end, Logan had called Bling, who had volunteered to anonymously drop the man off on the Metro Medical ER "doorstep" on his way to pick up Mrs. Moreno. With a little distraction by Max, he had managed to get the injured crook out of the service elevator and into the back of the Aztek. Bling had just bundled the man off to the hospital, when Logan's doorman arrived in the other elevator. He had come to inquire about the fire alarm that had been going off for such a long time. Logan had finally managed to convince him that his burnt lunch had set off the alarm and that he was all right.

Finally, the apartment was quiet again. Logan took stock of the damage. The whole apartment smelled of burnt mushrooms and the walls and ceiling of the kitchen were black. Foam from the fire extinguisher had seeped between the stove and the wall and had dripped onto the floor. Max had been trying to wipe the black soot off the wall, but had succeeded only in making the dark, damp spot bigger.

"How did you shoot him through the desk, again?" Max paused a moment.

"Thanks for reminding me about ruining my desk too, Max. Not to mention my favorite frying pan."

"I can't believe you're complaining about a desk. What about my precious mushrooms? Do you know how long I had to search the market for those?

Max leaned against the counter to survey the blackened kitchen.

"Maybe you should just come over to my place for Christmas dinner," Max sighed as she laid down the sponge and wiped her forehead with a sooty hand. She smiled at Logan.

"Original Cindy was planning to fix a mean macaroni and cheese for today."

Max folded herself onto a bar stool and cocked her head to catch Logan's eye.

"Cheer up, Logan. Everyone's safe…" Max's hair, made even curlier by the heat of the kitchen, hung in ringlets around her soot-stained face. Logan reached out a hand to wipe a spot from her cheek.

"I guess you're right, Max"

A knock sounded at the door.