TIME

Alec watched as Max left the room. His thoughts drifting back to the night before. He still couldn't believe that Max had actually slated Logan and told him to get lost. Maybe not in those exact words but close enough, the meaning was pretty clear. Did this mean that she had finally broken up with the cyber jerk? He'd had so much fun with Max and he didn't think he'd ever seen her quite so carefree. Ok maybe carefree was slightly the wrong word. The point is that Max had been happy. She had genuinely smiled when she was with him. Better yet, he had been the one to illicit that smile from her. He wasn't quite sure how to take this new revelation. Maybe there was some hope in there for him after all.

As Max walked towards the makeshift infirmary, she refused to let herself think about the events of last night. She wanted to, her mind was screaming at her to remember everything. But she wouldn't let herself. She couldn't. Not just yet anyway. She needed to see how Bugler was doing first. Even though she'd never admit it in front of the others, she had taken an immediate liking to the kid. He had seemed so innocent, which is a pretty stupid comment considering that he had been raised in Manticore. But standing there with his bugle not quite knowing what to do was cute. Max smiled ruefully at the memory, though the smile faded as the memory began to play. Alec walked in 'When the going gets cute, the cute get going'. There had been a few more words exchanged then he had left. Granted he had come back for her and stuck around ever since, but she had a feeling that after last night things were going to change between them. Max let out a long sigh as she reached the infirmary. She'd figure everything else out later. With a deep breath, Max pushed the door open, steeling herself for the sight she was about to encounter.

Bugler was lying on a stretcher on the far side of the room. His face was pale, and he looked so unbelievably small under the weight of the thin blanket that lay over him. Cass was in the middle of taking his pulse, presumably checking his vital. There wasn't much choice considering that they didn't have any kind of heart monitoring equipment. Max stood in the doorway, not wanting to interrupt until Cass was finished. She noticed Joshua sitting in a chair in the far corner and approached him slowly so as not to startle him. That needn't had been a concern, Joshua's nostrils flared as he turned to look at her.

"Still sleeping" he said, "Cass hopes he will wake up soon" he looked towards the boy then back to her. There was obviously something he wanted to say but for a moment he hesitated. "Little fella okay?" he asked, concern written over his face.

Max paused a moment before answering. "I will be once I know he's in the clear."

Cass paused a moment to address her. "I've done everything I can for him Max, but were not properly equipped to deal with these types of situations. I've removed the bullet and patched him up as best as I can. He's had a couple of transfusions the rest of it is up to him. I'm sorry" With one last sympathetic look Cass finished checking his vital and quietly walked out of the room.

Max inhaled deeply before taking again "This should never have happened Joshua, I should've known that White would pull a stunt like this, I left this place too open and now he might die" she turned her glistening eyes towards him "and it's all my fault".

Joshua approached her without a moment's hesitation, engulfing her in a hug with his huge frame. Silently cursing him self for not killing White when he had the chance. "Not Max's fault. Everyone knows that. He'll be okay little fella. Trust me, Joshua knows these things." Max allowed a small smile to grace her lips.

"I hope your right big guy. You'll come get me if anything changes right?" Looking once more at Bugler then back to Joshua's nodding head she removed herself from the dog man's comforting embrace and with a small sigh exited the room.

Meanwhile, on the other side of head quarter's Alec was still sat in the meeting room deep in thought. He knew that this situation with Bugler was tough on Max, maybe he could do something to help her. With that thought in mind he went in search of Dix.

To be continued………………