Summary: Well theres some sort of evil lurking in harmony, that's all Logan and Max know, so they take a road trip across the country. Buffy enters later, and if there's ever a point where the story gets serious trust me it shouldn't last.
Spoilers: none I believe.
A/N: 1. ok so your gonna have to imagine with this one! Everybody is the same, but their lives are shifted up to the year 2019, and the pulse is on, so imagine a downtrodden harmony.
2. I tried not to get too serious and I feel for the most part I didn't, but there tends to be a bit of M/L shipperness occasionally, how could I avoid that?
3. There's no passions or Buffy yet, I'm thinking of even maybe mixing in some DC, y'know kill off a few characters I can no longer stand *evil grin* let me know what you think. Oh and I'll be adding in a couple of my friends, because one of them gave me the best idea.
Please Review! Aiight have fun!
Part One- Dirty lil' Road Trip
Logan sat in his computer room, the little book again in his lap. Max crept up behind him. He placed down his pen and sighed. She crept right up to him, her face by his neck. He noticed her shadow before he felt her hot breath on his neck. "You took my page." He shut the book quickly as he spoke. Max was startled but didn't let it show. //Max...too close...// He willed his hormones not to take over.
"So what's so important that Eye's only had to tear me away form Original Cindy?" //God he smells good, back away.//
"Yeah, how's she doing?" He rolled over to his computer.
"She's doin'." She leaned up against the wall with her hip jutting out. "So what's this all important mission?"
"There's some sort of evil lurking in Harmony, New England. I can't get much about it but there's something." His fingers punched a few keys and three new windows on the screen popped up. "One Tabitha Lenox," He enlarged the window on the screen.
"Yeah so? She's an old bitty without any fashion sense." Max studied the picture and Logan smiled and chuckled a little at her. "What's she got to do with this?" //Gotta love the Manticore wit.//
"Well when I pulled up the records there's been only one name in her family line."
"Tabitha Lenox." Max said nonchalantly.
"You guessed it."
"So? They passed on it on as a family name."
"But the record is from the seventeenth century all the way to today."
"So, it's probably just a fluke." //Cale you better feed me or go somewhere good with this otherwise I might as well bounce.//
"Maybe, but all the other records are correct and wouldn't 'they' have siblings? Fathers? Sons?" he asked condescendingly. "Or even if it was a tradition wouldn't one of the Tabitha's break the line?" Logan was in journalist mode now.
"I guess your right."
"Of course I am." He grinned at her. //It's good to outwit Max...her head is else where though...//
"Typical male." She uttered underneath her breath.
"I heard that." Logan's eyes darted up to her.
"Sorry." She muttered.
"Subservient." Logan now began to utter under his breath.
"Hey!" She hit is arm.
"Ow!" He rubbed the affected area. "No need for violence, it doesn't solve everything Max."
"Well it's not like I kicked your ass till it was dead." He smiled a little. "'Sides violence does a bad guys body good." She quipped, Logan chuckled at her remark.
"Miss Guevera, you never fail to amaze." //Shit Cale, get your brain in check, think before you speak.// His eye's anxiously darted from her face back to the screen.
Max was silent for a second then spoke. "So, what sort of evil's going down?" She asked uncomfortably. There had been more behind his words. Something more than 'just friends'.
"Like I said, I'm not sure. But I think this Tabitha has something to do with it."
"More than just the fashion victim bitty?"
"Seems so."
"We got any victims?"
"Well apparently there's a one Charity Standish, one Miguel Lopez-Fitzgerald and one Kay Bennett 'in trouble'." He tapped the words on the screen as he spoke them.
"Oh, so whatcha thinkin'?"
"Road trip?"
"ACROSS THE COUNTY?" Her words filled the apartment.
"Beat's the bus."
* * *
"I can't believe I let you talk me into this." Max muttered loud enough for Logan to hear her. She sat stiff and straight.
Logan chuckled a little. "Hey loosen up there Max," He flashed her a sweet smile. "Want some music?"
"Sure she said coolly."
"What are you in the mood for." //jeez max, relax girl, we awhile till you can go into soldier mode, and too many hours trapped in this car with me...//
"I don't care." Her eyes starred out the window and her back was stiff. Logan's hand flipped on the music and then he looked over at her.
"Max?" His hand slipped across the seat and shook her leg. He didn't wait for an answer. "Were not fighting the bad guys yet." Her head pulled away from the world outside and her eyes looked into his. "Relax a little will you?" His hand was still on her knee and Max became aware of the music.
Sibelius.
She looked quickly back to the window hiding the blush from Logan's eager eyes. His hand came off her knee and back where it supposedly belonged.
"So I was thinking that once we get down there I'll have to do some research before we know what were up against. Maybe you'll get a little vacation?" Max looked at Logan quickly and lightly smiled then looked out the window again. Logan drove on silently for a while as he listened to the music and he thought of the dream they shared. "Max what's wrong?" He broke the silence after some time. Her only reply was a half-assed shrug. "Max?" He demanded but softly. She looked over at him yet again and he noticed a gleam in her eyes. Yet still she did not say anything. "Max? What is it, what's wrong?"
"I dunno Logan. I just don't feel right." That was all the soldier in her could muster. She turned back to the window to hide from him.
For reasons he could not fathom Logan drove almost nine more miles without speaking to her. After they passed through another sector pass on the way out of a city Logan looked over to her again. He noticed her skin was ashen and pasty. "Max? Is it the seizures?" Again she looked over to him. Her pupils were fully dilated and her hair grew damp with perspiration.
"I don't know...maybe." She said quietly.
"Shh, it's ok." He watched a tear fall down her cheek. "Hey," He grabbed her hand and held it in his. "I don't know what this is, but it's going to be ok. You got that?" Max nodded her head lightly. "Aiight?" He imitated her. Max laughed a little then nodded more. "Hey you look tired. If it's the seizures you might need to be rested right?"
"I don't want to sleep Logan." But that's when it hit. The shaking started in her hand but then consumed her whole body.
Logan let go of her hand and pulled the car over to the side of the deserted road.
"Lo...Logan what are you do...doing?"
"I'm pulling the car off the road."
I'm fi...fine, keep driving."
"It's safest." But the seizure became worse and she didn't protest. "Where's your tryptophan?" Max started to reach to reach for it in the hidden compartment underneath his glove box. "Here I'll get it." He reached over but the compartment was just out of his reach. He shifted his body over a few more inches and had to lean over her shaking form to get in. His body lightly rested over her lap as he pulled out the little bottle of pills. As he was pulling himself back up he felt her fingers in his hair. It was brief and then they were back close to her shaking form. "Here...shh." He handed her some pills and she popped them down her throat.
"Lo...Logan, hold me?" She begged and scooted closer to him. His arms wrapped unnaturally around this poor young creature as she sobbed and sobbed.
"It's ok Max, I'm here." A part of both of them felt this wasn't right but for now it didn't matter. Max needed comfort and she was willing to accept it right now. Logan was more than happy to oblige for his friend.
After a while the tryptophan began to work and max fell into a fitful sleep. Her head lay in Logan's lap and his fingers petted her hair. He decided they needed to go and shifted his body a bit, then started up the car. While they were driving down the quiet roads Logan kept on hand in Max's hair comforting her.
Five quiet miles later Max's sleep started to wear off. Her eyes opened as she bolted straight up and nearly took Logan's hand off. "Oh." She passed through her dry throat.
"How are you feeling?" He put his hand back on the wheel.
"I'm fine." She went back to sitting by the passenger side window. Logan noticed the distance and stayed silent giving her some space.
* * *
"Logan?" Max's voice broke the silence.
"Yeah?" Max shifted a little in her seat.
"How much longer till the next pit stop?"
"About ten minutes, why?"
"I gotta hit the ladies bad" He looked over at her and noticed her whole body was stiff and her eyes were extra wide.
"I told you, you shouldn't have drank all that water." He chuckled a little.
"Oh! Don't mention water!" She half growled.
"You can make it." He smiled at her and their eyes locked.
"I have to piss like a flipping race horse." She growled.
"What the heck is that supposed to mean? Do you want me to pull over and whistle?"
"Oh your such a prude! Can't you just say 'fuck'?" She smirked at his uncomfort. She was silent for almost a minute and then, "What does that mean anyway?"
"What the whistling?"
"Yeah." She said annoyed as her foot tapped.
"Well race horses are trained to urinate on command," She winced at the word 'urinate'. "And that's a whistle."
"And I thought Lydecker had me whipped." Max surprisingly joked.
"How you holding out?"
"I don't think I'm gonna make it seven more minutes...Pull over."
"What?"
"Like I said I gotta piss. Pull over." Logan looked at her. "Unless you want your car marked PULL OVER!" Logan obeyed, somewhat amused that Max was gonna go to the bathroom at the side of a deserted road. Max jumped out of the car very anxiously.
Logan whistled loudly after her and laughed as her heard her sighs through the open window.
"Better?" He asked smiling as she hopped back into the car.
"Oh yeah." She grinned, then hit him.
"Ow, Guess I deserved that didn't I?"
"Yes you did. Now onward Mr. Cale, onward." He flashed an award winning smile and drove on.
"You hungry?"
"Yeah actually." Max looked at his face watching the road.
"I've got some food in my bag or we can get something at the next rest stop."
"Pass up Cale perfection?" She grinned and leaned over to dig in his bag which lay in the back seat.
"It's nothing much, just a few sandwiches, a few apples and I left a surprise in there for you." At his words she leaned back looking at him.
"What?" She looked like an innocent seven-year-old.
"Max!" He scolded laughing. "If I told you it wouldn't be a surprise now would it?"
"Fine." She stuck her tongue her tongue out at him then turned back to his bag. "You want?"
"I'll just have an apple." A second later her hand was in his face holding the apple he asked for. "Woah!" He took it from her hand, their fingers touched and electricity ran through his body. "Thanks." He watched as she plopped back into her seat with a sandwich in one hand and a Tupperware container in the other.
She eagerly opened the lid and gasped at the big piece of devil's food cake in front of her. "For ME?" Logan looked over at her and nodded. "Where'd you get it?"
"I made it." He said feigning hurt and pouting his bottom lip.
Max laughed. " No I meant the chocolate to make it--of course you made it.
"I have my ways." He was please at her happiness. "There's a fork in my bag, in the front pocket."
"Who needs a fork?" Max was all ready to grab the cake with her hands when she laughed at Logan's horrified expression. "I'm just joking." She giggled as he sighed. "I was right, you are a prude!" her laughter grew as he drove on perplexed and a little bit hurt. When she was finally don't laughing, or almost she reached into the back to get said fork.
Max plopped right back into her seat and dove into the cake. "Oh my..." She muttered with a mouthful of the chocolate heaven. Logan chuckled.
"Good."
"Good? What's better than good...I can't even come up with words."
"Well I'll take that as a compliment." Max took another bite. "I didn't think it was but it's true, at east in one respect." She mumbled.
"What's that?"
"Chocolate is better than sex." But the word was out of her mouth before she could stop it. Neither could look at the other as they blushed heavily. All day there had been uncomfortable thoughts, and uncomfortable actions, now this, and the fact that dusk was upon them.
Max stopped eating, the half-eaten chocolate cake sat in its container on her lap. //Bad move Max!// She berated herself while other thoughts ran through her brain. "Do you want some?"
"What!?" His mind was somewhere else all together.
"The cake Logan." She laughed at him.
"Oh...no." He blushed harder. "It's all yours."
"You sure?"
"Yeah...so we don't need to stop now?"
"Nope, I'm good, unless you need to stop?
"I'm fine."
"So we gonna drive all night?"
"Yes we are."
"What if you get tired?" She asked concerned. //I really don't wanna go through the window Cale, or end up in a ditch.//
"I won't."
"Oh no?" She retorted lamely.
"Well I shouldn't." He was serious. "And if I do I'm sure you could keep me awake."
"Wow, guess this Harmony thing is serious isn't it?"
"Well yeah, since I don't know what's going on." Max turned on Sibelius again and they both smiled.
"I could listen to this again and again." Max grinned.