A/n: Thanks for your reviews, guys. Sorry this took me so long, I've had major flu this week. Hopefully the next one will be a bit quicker.

This is a bit of an odd chapter, but it kept popping into my head and I just had to write it before I went mad. Blame my fevered brain.

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Chapter 25: Ripples

Logan was lying flat on his back, gazing up at the few fluffy white clouds in the bright blue sky above him. The smell of crushed grass and roses filled his nostrils as the sun caressed him with its warmth. He felt at peace; content not to think for once.

"You going to lie there all day?" A woman's voice asked, causing him to turn his head.

"You have a problem with that, mom?" He replied lazily, squinting against the strong light to see her. He drank in the image of his long dead mother, standing before him in a dress so white it hurt his eyes, looking as beautiful as he remembered. The gold locket sparkled and flashed at her throat and he smiled, remembering the last time he'd seen it; around Max's neck.

"It's not time yet, Logan," she said sorrowfully. "You're still needed."

"I needed you, and it never stopped you leaving," Logan said.

"I'm sorry, sweetheart, but that was something no one could change. You can change this, if you're prepared to fight it."

"Whatever happened to 'the universe is right on schedule?'"

"Turns out it needs a little help from time to time," she replied with a smile.

"I don't wanna fight any more, mom. I've been fighting so long... Don't I deserve a little peace?"

"Of course you do, honey, but you still have so much left to achieve."

"Like what? Manticore is gone. We got rid of the familiars. The transgenics are free now."

"Free in a broken world, that wants to destroy them. You have to save them, Logan; only you can make the ordinaries believe they're human too."

"Max can more than cover anything I could ever do," Logan replied disbelievingly.

"You think so?" Linda Cale reached out a slender hand to her son, inviting. "Come with me, and I'll show you exactly what she can do without you."

Logan willingly took her hand and followed, letting her lead him from the bright garden into a dark, rainy night.

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"Where are we?" Logan asked. A brilliant flash of lightning illuminated the scene in answer; Logan recognised the imposing dam at once.

"New TC," his mother replied. "We're here to see Max." She led him over to a makeshift building and the pair entered.

Max was inside; alone, silent. She stared fixedly at a painting on an easel before her, clutching the locket around her neck.

Logan was appalled by her condition. She'd shed weight until she resembled nothing so much as a walking skeleton. Her once golden skin was sallow, and her hair hung lank and tangled down her back. The indefinable spark that had once resided in her dark eyes had been extinguished; they were empty, desolate.

"Max..." he breathed. "Max, what happened? Who did this to you?"

"She can't hear you, Logan," his mother said sadly. "But it was you who did this. You left her; you broke your promise. And you took her heart and soul with you."

"But... but I'm nothing..." Logan stuttered, the first tear running down his cheek. "She shouldn't have... I was never worthy of her..."

"You were in her mind. You were everything that mattered in her life, everything she was fighting for. But you wouldn't fight for her; and it's killing her. She's broken now, and the only way she can be whole again is to join you."

As Logan stared in horror at the ruins of the woman he loved, the door opened behind him and Alec, Jondy and Zack entered.

"Max, we have to leave," said Zack brusquely. "The ordinaries are closing in fast; we need to evacuate before it's too late." Max didn't respond.

"We tried, Max," said Alec more gently. "We tried, and it didn't work. They'll never accept us for who we are; the best we can do is go into hiding. That way at least some of us get to live."

"Max, don't you think we've lost enough?" Asked Jondy desperately. For the first time, Logan noticed she was carrying a baby in a sling across her chest. "Joshua, Logan, Mole, Krit, Dix, Luke, Zane, Gem... this child is going to grow up without her mother now." At last, Max turned and fixed her cold eyes on her sister.

"Then go," she said, tonelessly. "I'm not stopping you. Most of the X-series have deserted anyway; and I don't blame them."

"We can't just leave you here, Max," said Alec.

"Sure you can," she replied. "Logan did," she added more quietly.

"I'm not going anywhere without you, Maxie," asserted Zack.

"That's what he said," she continued. All the others exchanged panic filled glances and then looked up as one.

"Bombers again," said Alec. "They've found us. Come on, Max, we have to run, now!"

"Can't run, can't walk. Can't even breathe without him," Max said. "Leave me. It's quicker this way."

Zack took one impatient stride towards Max and the air was filled with a familiar whistling sound. Logan was aware of heat, and blinding light, and then he fell onto the soft cushion of grass, birds singing in the trees around him.

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Logan was still for a moment, his breath coming in sobs, tears still streaming down his cheeks after what he had seen.

His mother kneeled beside him, making soothing sounds he remembered from when he was small and needed to be comforted. Logan leaned into her arms, and breathed in her sweet scent of jasmine as he wept.

When he had himself somewhat under control, he forced himself to ask a question; one whose answer he dreaded.

"Is that... is that the future? Will that happen?"

"The future is written on water, Logan," his mother replied. "One ripple can change the whole pattern. If Logan Cale dies now there is almost no hope for the transgenics, and even less for Max."

"And if I don't? If I keep fighting? Can I change things?" He asked desperately. "Can I save her?"

"You can save them all, if you try, Logan," she told him. "I always told you you could do anything if you tried hard enough. Come and see..." she held out her hand again. Reluctantly, Logan took it.

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Now, they were in Logan's old penthouse apartment. The damage inflicted by White and his goons had been repaired, although the place looked a far cry from the stark, minimalist bachelor pad it had been last time Logan had lived there.

The furniture was all slightly crooked, as if it had been pushed aside by someone running through the room. Small items littered the floor, from socks to spoons to children's toys. Every available surface was covered with photographs. Logan leaned close to examine some.

There was a large wedding picture dominating the coffee table; Logan in a smart grey suit beaming out of the photograph, arm in arm with an equally happy Max in a long white dress. They were surrounded by their friends; Logan recognised several of Max's siblings and the Jam Pony crew as well as the less unpleasant members of his family and some of his closest Eyes Only associates. Evidently Bling was his best man.

Astonished, Logan moved on to the next picture. It showed Max in a hospital bed, holding a bundle in her arms as she leaned back against him. Both were enthralled by the baby, seemingly oblivious to the camera. That explains the toys, he thought, a smile quirking his lips. There were dozens of pictures of the same child, slightly older in each one he looked at. The little boy had Max's huge brown eyes and dark hair, but his features were more like Logan's own.

"My son," he whispered, touching the picture of his first day at school.

"My grandson," his mother said with a smile. "But he's not an only child; see..." she pointed out another picture, depicting him and Max side by side, each holding a tiny infant while their son sat between them.

"Twins? We're going to have twins?" Logan said incredulously. The front door burst open as if in answer, and a small figure charged through to one of the bedrooms.

"Mike!" Max's voice called, sounding slightly annoyed. "If you're not out of there and watching your sisters in five minutes you're grounded for a week!"

"Don't be so hard on him, Max, he's only nine," said a very familiar voice. "Girls, you go and watch TV while we put the groceries away, ok?"

"But daddy! You promised you would play with us when we got home!" The unmistakeable pout in the little girl's voice cut Logan to the core. He stepped forwards so he could see into the kitchen and saw a slightly older version of himself throw a pleading look at Max.

She rolled her eyes. "You are such a sucker, Logan," she said. "Go on. I'll do it. But you're making Pasta Tricoloure tonight."

"I knew there was a reason I married you," said Logan, kissing her affectionately. "C'mon, you two, before Mommy changes her mind." He picked up a twin under each arm and pretended to make a run for it, while the girls squealed in delight.

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Logan was back in the garden, his mother by his side; his children's laughter still ringing in his ears.

"You see, Logan? That is the difference. A happy life, with a wife and children you love, is only possible if you keep fighting now. You have to go back to her, or all of that will never be."

"That could be our future? No worries, no threat hanging over our heads, just left to raise our family in peace?"

"That could be your future," she confirmed. "It will be hard, and there will be sacrifices you have to make, but it is possible."

"Then it looks like I have to go back to fix that broken world," said Logan with determination.

"Oh, Logan..." Linda hugged her son tightly. "I'm so proud of you..."

"I won't remember any of this, will I." He stated sadly.

"Perhaps in part, as some kind of dream."

"How do I get back?"

"You're already going," said Linda sadly. "I love you, Logan; I'll be waiting for you..."

"I love you too, mom," Logan replied, even as the garden dissolved into blackness.

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"He's back," said Sandeman in relief, dropping the crash paddles on the table as the steady beep of the heart monitor resumed.

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Weird, but not too cliffy. Did you like?