Just Acting?: Part 4
By Lissa Mahon
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the regular Dark Angel cast including: Max, Logan, Bling, Original Cindy, Sketchy, Lydecker, etc. The only characters I own are Logan's family and any other characters mentioned in this section of the story besides the previously mentioned people, so if you want to use them for a story, please let me know. Thank you. ~Lissa.
Just so you all know, the point of this story is to show that every character has a soft side -yes even Max and Logan- and to show the reader (that's you) that when in a disguise, sometimes we are more free to act the way we want. Just read the fanfic and you'll understand, but just remember, Max is acting okay!
Authors Note: Thx to everyone who left a review last time. I was just wondering how many people are M/L shippers so I know which way to make to story turn. If you have a
~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*PartIV~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
As soon as Max had finished talking to Logan and she recognized that he wasn't completely with them, he was snapped back to reality by Max smacking him over the head.
"Hello! Did you hear a word I just said? There are signs up all around the city. We have to leave now," she shouted at him.
Logan just stared at her, like a puppy being reprimanded by its owner, quite intimidated by the beautiful, outspoken girl standing before him.
"Uh Bling," he said turning toward his friend, "You're going to have to leave. Max and I have somewhere we have to go," he said looking over at him and then up at Max.
"Well okay then," Bling answered getting up and trekking to the doorway looking slightly confused. Before he left, he looked at the two of them and said, with a sly grin,
"Now play nice you two," and exited the building.
Max looked down at Logan not really believing that Bling had the audacity to say what he said and asked him,
"Did he just say what I think he did?"
"I think he did," Logan responded still looking straight ahead in complete disbelief that his friend had said that.
Once they recovered from the shock of Bling's crude statement, they started to talk about the trip.
"Are you actually gonna wear that?" Logan asked Max referring to the rather tight fitting sleeveless black shirt she was wearing. She only glared at him before replying.
/Omigod. I think she might actually try to kill me for that./
But Max had other ideas.
"Why?" she inquired. "Don't you think it looks good on me" she questioned him innocently as she walked over to his wheelchair and leaned over so she was right in his face.
/Heh. That'll get him. He looks like he's gonna lose consciousness just from looking at me./
"Of co-course it looks good on you M-Max," he stammered, "It's just that...."
"Just what?" she asked only a few inches from his face.
"No- Nevermind," he replied desperately trying to end the conversation before she actually killed him.
"Yea right," she said with a smile, backing away from Logan's wheelchair.
"Okay, just let me grab some stuff to bring with me and we're out of here," he told her, wheeling into the sanctity of his bedroom.
--15 minutes later--
Max and Logan were in his car driving to the airport. Not much was spoken amongst the two of them until they were about a mile away from the airport when Logan finally spoke up:
"Okay, we leave from gate C13 of the Seattle-Tacoma Airport on flight 8344 at 1:35 P.M. and get to the O'Hare Airport in Chicago around 6:45 P.M. From there, we pick up flight 7692 at gate D14 at 7:15 and arrive at Montreal International Airport around 10:20."
"Gee thanks for the itinerary dad," Max answered sullenly.
She turned and looked directly at Logan and sharply told him:
"If any of Lydecker's men show up, just get on the plane and get out of here. I'll take care of them."
Without even taking his eyes off the road, Logan coolly and calmly responded to that with,
"I'm not leaving you there Max, so don't even start talking about it."
The rest of their trip to the airport was as silent as the calm before a tempest. As soon as they arrived at the airport, they checked their bags in and headed toward the gate.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile, back at the Jam Pony~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Kendra walked into the Jam Pony and started looking around for Cindy. She spotted her in a corner as far away from Normal as possible talking to Herbal.
"Cindy," she called. Cindy turned around and looked at Max's roomy like she hadn't seen her in years.
"Hey girl! What's up! You know Max ain't around here today. She had to go somewhere."
"Yea I know I talked to her."
"U believe her story?" Cindy asked giving Kendra this look that told her that she knew something was up too.
"Not a word of it. Wanna know where she really went?" Kendra said with an evil grin on her face.
As if she even had to ask Cindy! Just then, Normal walked past giving them an angry look.
"Bip, bip, bip," he hollered at them, "I don't see any progress being made her," he continued shaking his head and walking into his "office".
The girls decided to continue their discussion outside of the garage to prevent further wrath from Normal. As soon as they were outside, Kendra proceeded with the story.
"Well, we both know for a fact that Max has no family, so that story was obviously not true. But. .yesterday got a page from Logan and she went to call him back. I guess she didn't know I was home 'cause she had a nice, little chat with him. And guess what!" she told Cindy who looked like she was going to burst if she didn't tell her soon.
"Don't just stand there girl. Tell me what she said."
"Max told him she'd be right there and that she'd be ready to leave tomorrow that she just had to tie up a few loose ends at work before they left. Apparently, she agreed to be his date to some family thing of his," she told her. The two girls just looked at each other until Kendra's eyes narrowed and she slyly said,
"You think they're gonna hook up?"
Cindy nodded her head knowingly.
"Mmmhmmm," she said quickly before the girls started laughing.
"Someone's getting hooked up!!!" shouted Kendra.
"Yea baby," screamed Cindy.
/Yea/ thought Cindy /we're onto you girl./
Suddenly, Kendra grew rather serious and turned to Cindy and said,
"Well maybe that was a lie too. Maybe their eloping," she said only half-jokingly before they blew up laughing again.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Meanwhile at the Seattle-Tacoma Airport~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Five vans in military colors pulled up in front of the door to the airport. An average height man in approximately his mid-40s stepped out and began speaking to the troops,
"Okay men. We're here to find a girl about 19 years old. She has brown hair and brown eyes, probably answers to the name of Max. You'll especially know its her if you see a barcode tattooed to the back of her neck. If anyone sees this girl or any girl matching my description, you are not to go near her. Alert me at once and follow her until I arrive there. Is that understood?" he bellowed.
"Yes sir!" shouted his troops.
"Proceed men," he responded and barged into the Seattle-Tacoma Airport. He was going to find Max and the rest of her Manticore sibling escapees if it was the last thing he did.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~At the same time,~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Logan and Max boarded the plane early, because of Logan's temporary disability. After a 10 minute struggle, they managed to get into seats A and B of row 6, Max in the window seat and Logan next to the aisle. The other passengers would begin boarding in about 15 minutes, so they had a few minutes to talk about the charade they were about to pull off.
"So," Max began, "You never told me what your family was like."
"Well," Logan said taking a deep breath as though this was a long and complicated story, "My Aunt Meredith was my mother's sister and unfortunately, she didn't inherit her disposition. She has 4 children, my cousins Rachel, Felicia, Jeffrey, and Kaitlyn," he told her. He turned toward Max and said, "You'll like Katie, she's a lot like you.
In fact, you both remind me a lot of my mother." Max looked at Logan and saw that tears were starting to well up in his eyes. She was about to console him, when the rest of the passengers began boarding the plane.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~At the same time outside gate C14~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Sir," came a report over Lydecker's transmitter, "we've found out that a girl matching your classification has boarded the plane at gate C13. It should be right near you sir."
"Thank you soldier." came the reply.
Lydecker rushed up to the doorway to the passage that lead to the plane when he was stopped by a stewardess who said,
"I'm sorry sir, but you can't go through there without a ticket."
Lydecker held up identification and said,
"I'm with the United States army. We have reason to believe that a dangerous escapee is on this plane and we have authorization to determine the truth."
The stewardess only glanced at his license before nodding to him to go back.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~Back on the Plane~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Logan was looking down the aisle at the oncoming travelers when he thought he spotted an unwelcome face.
"Max," he began sounding alarmed, "Lydecker is-"
"Logan don't worry," Max started trying to calm him down, "He's not going to find us he's nowhere near-"
Logan cut her off, "No Max. I mean Lydecker's here. He's in the front of the plane and he's coming this way!"
"Ah shit. What am I going to do Logan?" Max asked trying not to panic.
Lydecker was waiting for the man sitting in row 3 to store his briefcase in the overhead compartment. As soon as he finished, Lydecker continued to prowl down the aisle looking to the left and the right to see if Max was there. He approached row 4.
/I am not going to let him get her/ thought Logan.
Had the situation been different, Logan probably would have thought a little more before his next act. Just as Lydecker turned his head to look at Max and Logan, Logan turned, leaned Max's head against the plane window and kissed her long, hard, and passionately. Max placed her hands on the side of Logan's face and returned the kiss. Every emotion Logan felt for Max came out of him during that one kiss. Inevitably, when Lydecker walked by he never saw her face and continued walking to the back of the plane.
After scrutinizing the face of every passenger onboard the plane, Lydecker exited the same way he came in. He didn't even bother to stop and check the faces of the couple in the front of aircraft. And it was because he was so cocky, that he missed catching her.
Max didn't want to be the one to break up the kiss, but if she didn't, it could have become something more powerful. Something she wasn't sure she could stop if it ever started. She broke her lips away from Logan in complete awe
"Wow," she whispered so softly that not even Logan heard her. Logan was about to kiss her again, but Max put her index finger over his lips to prevent him from saying anything that might make her reveal her true feelings for him.
"We can't do this" she told him sounding somewhat disappointed in herself.
She couldn't and wouldn't let herself fall for him. Part of being the soldier that she was, was being stolid and never showing any emotions or feelings. Emotion was a weakness and Max never showed any signs of weakness unless it was absolutely necessary and this wasn't an exception to the rule. They both retired to their regular seats and were silent for a long time.
Logan's spine burned from moving his back that way, but it was worth it if Max was safe. If Lydecker had seen her, he would have never forgiven himself for letting her get hurt. He wanted to continue kissing her, but Max was right, now wasn't the time. Part of what made them such a good team was that their relationship remained strictly platonic. They could in no way be romantically involved. Besides, they still had to deal with the fact that Lydecker might still discover that Max was on the plane.
Given different circumstances and a different situation, their kiss would have meant something more. Something much much more, but for now, they just sat in their seats in silence as the plane took off and began its trip to Chicago, the first stop on their trip. Neither of them said a word until they were cruising high above the Jam Pony, high above the Space Needle, high above Seattle. They were leaving all that behind for the next 3 weeks and maybe, just maybe, they were leaving a part of themselves back there. The part that separated falling in love from just acting.