With the late night wind biting her face, Max looked on at the smoldering ruins of what used to be her apartment. While the building hadn't been completely destroyed as she thought initially though, the flames had gutted the entire infrastructure. Firefighters, dressed in bright orange, sifted through the ashes, extinguishing the last of the glowing embers.
Max stood in a small huddle with Kendra on her right and Cindy on her left. Herbal and Sketchy were behind them, as they came with Cindy from Crash. Logan stood a polite distance behind, keeping to himself. He had arrived minuets after Max, but he still had not exchanged words with her. The only information that he had he had gotten from a sympathetic Cindy, who had relayed information as they got it. All they knew so far was that the fire had started in the basement, and the fire investigators were still down there. The slow, cold drizzle that had started a half hour before was soaking his hair, running down his neck, and trickling down his spine.
When Logan saw the fire investigator exiting the building, he walked after him. "Excuse me, Mr. Batterman. Do you know how the fire started yet?" The man turned and looked at him with weary eyes. "Son, since your bound to find this out from those vultures over there," he gestured to the group of TV cameras filming, "But this is the 6th fire this month, all the same style, all the arsons, all the same person." Batterman ran his hand down his face in a vain attempt to brush off the water. "Are those your friends over there?" Logan nodded. "Tell them they can come back tomorrow, when things cool off, they might be able to salvage some stuff since they were on the third floor." Logan again nodded, and he silently turned on his heel and walked back to the group. After arriving behind them, he cleared his throat. They all turned and looked at him.
"I just talked to one of the investigators, they've done all that they can do for tonight. If we come back tomorrow, you can go up and see what you can save." They were all silent a moment, standing there in the rain. Logan studied the faces of those in front of him. Sketchy and Herbal looked solemn, while Kendra and Original Cindy looked shaken up, Logan was more worried about Max, who just stared blankly ahead, appearing not to have any reaction at all. "Do you all have places to stay tonight?" Logan asked. After a brief discussion, it was decided that Kendra would continue to stay with Walter (which Logan's only thought was "ooookkkkkkkk…"), Cindy could stay with Herbal and his girlfriend, and Max could stay with him. "Max, your going to stay with me, is that ok?" Logan asked in a placating voice, designed to sooth a child. She finally blinked back into focus, "Hmmm? What? Oh, yea, that is fine." She murmured, and then she went back to whatever world she was living in at the moment. Logan narrowed his eyes at her. She had long since abandoned her coat to Kendra, who had only been wearing a short, thin electric blue dress. The only thing protecting her from the rain was her cotton turtleneck, which was now soaked, as was her hair and the rest of her body.
Making his decision, he pulled Cindy aside. "I think Max is going into shock, so I am going to get her out of here. You have my number if anything happens or you need anything, right?"
"Yeah, boo." She said quietly. Cindy looked over Logan's shoulder at Max and sighed. "You take good care of my homegirl now. You treat my boo right. If I find out you didn't, you'll have the wrath of Original Cindy to deal with." Instead of taking offense, Logan laughed. "Thanks, you just reassured me that you are going to be fine." He turned to walk back to Max, but Cindy stopped him.
"It was that arsonist, wasn't it?" He looked at her and nodded. Logan returned to Max, pulling off his jacket as he went. Logan gestured a farewell to Kendra and then draped the heavy coat over Max's shoulders. "Come on Max, time to go." When she didn't move to put the coat on, he lifted her arms and pushed them into the sleeves. He then fastened the zipper and took her chilled hand. "Let's go to the car, ok?" Max finally focused on Logan's face and asked, "Where are we going?"
"We're going back to my house, remember?" She simply nodded. He opened the passenger door, and got her into the seat. He put on her seatbelt for her then walked around the front of the car to the passenger side.
He glanced at the group of 4, two guys, two girls, as they walked arm and arm down the street.
He quickly turned the ignition, flipping on the heat to high. Logan adjusted the vents so that that all hit Max's face. Studying her, he observed that she was becoming more alert, rubbing her hands in front of the heater in front of her, and she was getting more color in her face, he was still concerned with hypothermia.
She never said a word on the ride home; she just sat there, her head resting against the window, rubbing her hands to get them warm. Logan's large coat dwarfed her, making Max look smaller, and more venerable than she was. The same girl that had kicked countless @ss before now sat shivering and unspeakably tired. She fell asleep against that window, her mind blank, and her heart cold.
Max awoke abruptly when the car stopped. She jerked up and away from the seat, inertia causing her to hit the windshield. Logan looked at her startled. She was certainly more alert now, because her eyes were darting around, like a deer caught in headlights. He reached out and took her hand from where it gripped the armrest. "Max, relax…your fine. We just got to the parking lot. Are you alright?" She quickly stated "Yeah, yeah, its all good." Logan got out of the car and walked around to Max's door. She had already opened the door when Logan reached her. When she stood, she almost immediately pitched forward. Logan caught her in his arms. Putting his arm around her waist, he supported her weight. "Max, let's take it slow now." She wrapped her right arm around his shoulder. The slowly made there way to the elevator, with Logan murmuring reassurances. When they made inside the elevator, Max brushed Logan's arm from around her waist. She leaned weakly on the back wall of the elevator, closing her eyes. When the bell signaled they reached Logan's penthouse, her eyes popped open and she waved off Logan, who was moving towards her to help. Understanding her resistance to help all to well, he backed off and walked behind her, prepared to catch her is she collapsed again. When they got to the door, he slid the key in the lock and quickly opened the door. She walked in behind him and sat, more or less collapsing, in a chair. Logan moved rapidly into the bathroom, turning on the water in the bathtub. He dumped in some soap, mainly for a lack of anything better to do. He grabbed two towels out of the closet, taking them with him as he went back to the room where Max still sat unmoving. He was convinced of mild hypothermia at the least, thrown in with a heavy case of shock. Of course if I watched my apartment burn, I'm sure I'd be a tad upset to, Logan thought with a scowl.
"Come on Max, let's go." He watched her stand and steady herself on the arm of the chair. He met her halfway and took her hand. Leading her to the bathroom, he unzipped and pulled of the jacket from her body. The soaking turtleneck clung to her skin like a second skin. Logan dropped the coat unceremoniously on the floor. He was half angry with Max, half angry with himself. What was she thinking, giving up her coat in the rain. She wasn't wearing anymore than Kendra! Then he started on himself. Why didn't I get her out of their sooner? Why didn't I at least give her my coat? The mental ranting continued as he started to pull up the hem of the sopping wet shirt. She shoved his hand aside and said, "Get off of me!"
"Max, I am not going to try and cop a feel, for Christ's sake! You have hypothermia, you need to get out of your wet clothes!" He snapped frustrated. She shoved his hands away again, "I'll do it, get out!" She said hotly. Logan didn't know whether to be happy she was getting back to her old self, or smack her upside the head for being stubborn. He turned and walked out of the room, muttering about stubborn women and shallow graves in the woods.
Shutting the door behind him, Logan continued into his room. He walked over to a chest of drawers, jerking one open and pulling out a pair of flannel pants. Turning and opening another, he grabbed a heavy sweatshirt. Logan then turned and stalked out of the room.
He stopped, dead in his tracks, starring at the hallway, absorbed in thought. Until this moment he had not allowed himself to think about what had happened in that very hallway just a few hours before. He stood there, silent for several minuets thinking about what he was feeling, what he wanted, and what he needed. Finally, after he heard the sound of sloshing water from the bathroom, he walked up to the door and stopped. She's naked in there. As in, not wearing any clothes. As in, NO CLOTHES. These thoughts traveled through his head feverishly. Snapping out of his thoughts, he briskly knocked on the door. "I've got some dry clothes for you to wear." He looked at the door, waiting for a response. When he didn't hear one, he instantly became worried. What if she passed out and slipped under? With that in mind, he grabbed the door and burst in.
At the sound of Logan entered the room, Max popped one eye open. Her head was resting on the back of the tub, bubbles gathered around her. "What…" Max snapped annoyed. Logan just stood there looking at her, making her want to sink farther into the water. Logan stared at her another second before stammering "I thought…I mean…I thought" he repeated. He then turned his back to the tub and blushed furiously. "I brought you some um…. Dry clothes." He held them out, then realized where she was, and put them on the counter. "I'll just…err…take your other clothes…" he bent down and scrambled to collect them from their heap in the floor. "I'll just put them in the…. the…washing machine." He practically ran from the room, leaving the door open then turning and quickly shutting it behind him.
Seeing Logan, Mr. Eyes Only, Mr. "I want to save the World", so completely flustered made Max want to laugh. Almost.
Logan stood, just having put Max's clothes in the washing machine, slowly and methodically hitting his head against the wall. He'd just reverted back to his shy, nervous high school years, as if he was asking the most popular girl in school to prom. He'd stammered, and then blushed like a 14-year-old adolescent, then ran like a whipped boy out of the room.
I didn't even remember to shut the door. Logan thought when he entered his room and changed out of his own wet clothes. Logan continued to mentally scold himself as he put his own clothes in the machine, then added the soap and started it.
After he heard the mechanical whirl of the machine, he poured a glass of wine, then thought of Max, lying in the tub. Logan downed the glass in several gulps, and then leaned back against the counter, resting his head on the cupboard behind him. He was rapidly becoming extremely tired, the adrenaline he had previously been running on quickly dissipating.
After sitting in the bath till the bubbles had gone flat and the water had started to cool, Max finally got out. She quickly wrapped a thick towel around her, briskly rubbing her skin dry. She pulled on the soft cotton pants, but had to roll the waistband several times to keep them from falling down. She pulled the large sweatshirt over her head, simultaneously picking up a towel. Max next flipped her head over and rubbed her hair dry. She noticed a comb on the counter top and made quick use of it.
When she cracked the door open a few moments later, she scanned the rooms in front of her, looking for Logan. She finally spotted him in the kitchen, standing against a counter, asleep.
'He looks so innocent when he's asleep.' Max thought. Studying him for a moment, she felt guilty. Glancing at a clock she realized that it was close to 3 am, of course Logan would be tired. She slowly eased the door open, trying to figure out how she could get Logan to bed without waking him.
The mental debate ended up being irrelevant, as when Max shut the door behind her, even the quiet click had Logan looking up, blinking rapidly. "Oh, hi. Sorry, I guess I nodded off there. How are you feeling?"
"I'm good."
"Want me to re-heat dinner?"
"No that is ok. Unless you wanted some." Max quickly added.
"No, I think we should both get to bed…that is sleep…in our own beds." Logan stammered.
"Yea, I think I get it." Max replied sarcastically. "Anyways, if you'll get me a blanket, I'll crash on the couch."
"No, you can take my bed. It's warmer in there." Logan said as he pushed her towards the bedroom door. She turned on her heel and walked towards the couch. "No, that's quite alright, I'll take the couch." Max said, vaguely uncomfortable at the thought of sleeping in Logan's bed. "Max, seriously, take the bed, you'll be more comfortable." Logan said, becoming frustrated as he grabbed Max's elbow and turned her towards the bedroom door. "Logan, cut it out, I'd rather sleep on the couch."
"Max…just take the bed!" Logan snapped peevishly.
"Fine! I'll take the f^&%ing bed if it means that much to you!" She yanked her arm free of his grasp, and then stormed into his room, slamming the door behind her.
Logan smiled after her. At least she was getting back to her normal, b^tchy self.
Max stood in a small huddle with Kendra on her right and Cindy on her left. Herbal and Sketchy were behind them, as they came with Cindy from Crash. Logan stood a polite distance behind, keeping to himself. He had arrived minuets after Max, but he still had not exchanged words with her. The only information that he had he had gotten from a sympathetic Cindy, who had relayed information as they got it. All they knew so far was that the fire had started in the basement, and the fire investigators were still down there. The slow, cold drizzle that had started a half hour before was soaking his hair, running down his neck, and trickling down his spine.
When Logan saw the fire investigator exiting the building, he walked after him. "Excuse me, Mr. Batterman. Do you know how the fire started yet?" The man turned and looked at him with weary eyes. "Son, since your bound to find this out from those vultures over there," he gestured to the group of TV cameras filming, "But this is the 6th fire this month, all the same style, all the arsons, all the same person." Batterman ran his hand down his face in a vain attempt to brush off the water. "Are those your friends over there?" Logan nodded. "Tell them they can come back tomorrow, when things cool off, they might be able to salvage some stuff since they were on the third floor." Logan again nodded, and he silently turned on his heel and walked back to the group. After arriving behind them, he cleared his throat. They all turned and looked at him.
"I just talked to one of the investigators, they've done all that they can do for tonight. If we come back tomorrow, you can go up and see what you can save." They were all silent a moment, standing there in the rain. Logan studied the faces of those in front of him. Sketchy and Herbal looked solemn, while Kendra and Original Cindy looked shaken up, Logan was more worried about Max, who just stared blankly ahead, appearing not to have any reaction at all. "Do you all have places to stay tonight?" Logan asked. After a brief discussion, it was decided that Kendra would continue to stay with Walter (which Logan's only thought was "ooookkkkkkkk…"), Cindy could stay with Herbal and his girlfriend, and Max could stay with him. "Max, your going to stay with me, is that ok?" Logan asked in a placating voice, designed to sooth a child. She finally blinked back into focus, "Hmmm? What? Oh, yea, that is fine." She murmured, and then she went back to whatever world she was living in at the moment. Logan narrowed his eyes at her. She had long since abandoned her coat to Kendra, who had only been wearing a short, thin electric blue dress. The only thing protecting her from the rain was her cotton turtleneck, which was now soaked, as was her hair and the rest of her body.
Making his decision, he pulled Cindy aside. "I think Max is going into shock, so I am going to get her out of here. You have my number if anything happens or you need anything, right?"
"Yeah, boo." She said quietly. Cindy looked over Logan's shoulder at Max and sighed. "You take good care of my homegirl now. You treat my boo right. If I find out you didn't, you'll have the wrath of Original Cindy to deal with." Instead of taking offense, Logan laughed. "Thanks, you just reassured me that you are going to be fine." He turned to walk back to Max, but Cindy stopped him.
"It was that arsonist, wasn't it?" He looked at her and nodded. Logan returned to Max, pulling off his jacket as he went. Logan gestured a farewell to Kendra and then draped the heavy coat over Max's shoulders. "Come on Max, time to go." When she didn't move to put the coat on, he lifted her arms and pushed them into the sleeves. He then fastened the zipper and took her chilled hand. "Let's go to the car, ok?" Max finally focused on Logan's face and asked, "Where are we going?"
"We're going back to my house, remember?" She simply nodded. He opened the passenger door, and got her into the seat. He put on her seatbelt for her then walked around the front of the car to the passenger side.
He glanced at the group of 4, two guys, two girls, as they walked arm and arm down the street.
He quickly turned the ignition, flipping on the heat to high. Logan adjusted the vents so that that all hit Max's face. Studying her, he observed that she was becoming more alert, rubbing her hands in front of the heater in front of her, and she was getting more color in her face, he was still concerned with hypothermia.
She never said a word on the ride home; she just sat there, her head resting against the window, rubbing her hands to get them warm. Logan's large coat dwarfed her, making Max look smaller, and more venerable than she was. The same girl that had kicked countless @ss before now sat shivering and unspeakably tired. She fell asleep against that window, her mind blank, and her heart cold.
Max awoke abruptly when the car stopped. She jerked up and away from the seat, inertia causing her to hit the windshield. Logan looked at her startled. She was certainly more alert now, because her eyes were darting around, like a deer caught in headlights. He reached out and took her hand from where it gripped the armrest. "Max, relax…your fine. We just got to the parking lot. Are you alright?" She quickly stated "Yeah, yeah, its all good." Logan got out of the car and walked around to Max's door. She had already opened the door when Logan reached her. When she stood, she almost immediately pitched forward. Logan caught her in his arms. Putting his arm around her waist, he supported her weight. "Max, let's take it slow now." She wrapped her right arm around his shoulder. The slowly made there way to the elevator, with Logan murmuring reassurances. When they made inside the elevator, Max brushed Logan's arm from around her waist. She leaned weakly on the back wall of the elevator, closing her eyes. When the bell signaled they reached Logan's penthouse, her eyes popped open and she waved off Logan, who was moving towards her to help. Understanding her resistance to help all to well, he backed off and walked behind her, prepared to catch her is she collapsed again. When they got to the door, he slid the key in the lock and quickly opened the door. She walked in behind him and sat, more or less collapsing, in a chair. Logan moved rapidly into the bathroom, turning on the water in the bathtub. He dumped in some soap, mainly for a lack of anything better to do. He grabbed two towels out of the closet, taking them with him as he went back to the room where Max still sat unmoving. He was convinced of mild hypothermia at the least, thrown in with a heavy case of shock. Of course if I watched my apartment burn, I'm sure I'd be a tad upset to, Logan thought with a scowl.
"Come on Max, let's go." He watched her stand and steady herself on the arm of the chair. He met her halfway and took her hand. Leading her to the bathroom, he unzipped and pulled of the jacket from her body. The soaking turtleneck clung to her skin like a second skin. Logan dropped the coat unceremoniously on the floor. He was half angry with Max, half angry with himself. What was she thinking, giving up her coat in the rain. She wasn't wearing anymore than Kendra! Then he started on himself. Why didn't I get her out of their sooner? Why didn't I at least give her my coat? The mental ranting continued as he started to pull up the hem of the sopping wet shirt. She shoved his hand aside and said, "Get off of me!"
"Max, I am not going to try and cop a feel, for Christ's sake! You have hypothermia, you need to get out of your wet clothes!" He snapped frustrated. She shoved his hands away again, "I'll do it, get out!" She said hotly. Logan didn't know whether to be happy she was getting back to her old self, or smack her upside the head for being stubborn. He turned and walked out of the room, muttering about stubborn women and shallow graves in the woods.
Shutting the door behind him, Logan continued into his room. He walked over to a chest of drawers, jerking one open and pulling out a pair of flannel pants. Turning and opening another, he grabbed a heavy sweatshirt. Logan then turned and stalked out of the room.
He stopped, dead in his tracks, starring at the hallway, absorbed in thought. Until this moment he had not allowed himself to think about what had happened in that very hallway just a few hours before. He stood there, silent for several minuets thinking about what he was feeling, what he wanted, and what he needed. Finally, after he heard the sound of sloshing water from the bathroom, he walked up to the door and stopped. She's naked in there. As in, not wearing any clothes. As in, NO CLOTHES. These thoughts traveled through his head feverishly. Snapping out of his thoughts, he briskly knocked on the door. "I've got some dry clothes for you to wear." He looked at the door, waiting for a response. When he didn't hear one, he instantly became worried. What if she passed out and slipped under? With that in mind, he grabbed the door and burst in.
At the sound of Logan entered the room, Max popped one eye open. Her head was resting on the back of the tub, bubbles gathered around her. "What…" Max snapped annoyed. Logan just stood there looking at her, making her want to sink farther into the water. Logan stared at her another second before stammering "I thought…I mean…I thought" he repeated. He then turned his back to the tub and blushed furiously. "I brought you some um…. Dry clothes." He held them out, then realized where she was, and put them on the counter. "I'll just…err…take your other clothes…" he bent down and scrambled to collect them from their heap in the floor. "I'll just put them in the…. the…washing machine." He practically ran from the room, leaving the door open then turning and quickly shutting it behind him.
Seeing Logan, Mr. Eyes Only, Mr. "I want to save the World", so completely flustered made Max want to laugh. Almost.
Logan stood, just having put Max's clothes in the washing machine, slowly and methodically hitting his head against the wall. He'd just reverted back to his shy, nervous high school years, as if he was asking the most popular girl in school to prom. He'd stammered, and then blushed like a 14-year-old adolescent, then ran like a whipped boy out of the room.
I didn't even remember to shut the door. Logan thought when he entered his room and changed out of his own wet clothes. Logan continued to mentally scold himself as he put his own clothes in the machine, then added the soap and started it.
After he heard the mechanical whirl of the machine, he poured a glass of wine, then thought of Max, lying in the tub. Logan downed the glass in several gulps, and then leaned back against the counter, resting his head on the cupboard behind him. He was rapidly becoming extremely tired, the adrenaline he had previously been running on quickly dissipating.
After sitting in the bath till the bubbles had gone flat and the water had started to cool, Max finally got out. She quickly wrapped a thick towel around her, briskly rubbing her skin dry. She pulled on the soft cotton pants, but had to roll the waistband several times to keep them from falling down. She pulled the large sweatshirt over her head, simultaneously picking up a towel. Max next flipped her head over and rubbed her hair dry. She noticed a comb on the counter top and made quick use of it.
When she cracked the door open a few moments later, she scanned the rooms in front of her, looking for Logan. She finally spotted him in the kitchen, standing against a counter, asleep.
'He looks so innocent when he's asleep.' Max thought. Studying him for a moment, she felt guilty. Glancing at a clock she realized that it was close to 3 am, of course Logan would be tired. She slowly eased the door open, trying to figure out how she could get Logan to bed without waking him.
The mental debate ended up being irrelevant, as when Max shut the door behind her, even the quiet click had Logan looking up, blinking rapidly. "Oh, hi. Sorry, I guess I nodded off there. How are you feeling?"
"I'm good."
"Want me to re-heat dinner?"
"No that is ok. Unless you wanted some." Max quickly added.
"No, I think we should both get to bed…that is sleep…in our own beds." Logan stammered.
"Yea, I think I get it." Max replied sarcastically. "Anyways, if you'll get me a blanket, I'll crash on the couch."
"No, you can take my bed. It's warmer in there." Logan said as he pushed her towards the bedroom door. She turned on her heel and walked towards the couch. "No, that's quite alright, I'll take the couch." Max said, vaguely uncomfortable at the thought of sleeping in Logan's bed. "Max, seriously, take the bed, you'll be more comfortable." Logan said, becoming frustrated as he grabbed Max's elbow and turned her towards the bedroom door. "Logan, cut it out, I'd rather sleep on the couch."
"Max…just take the bed!" Logan snapped peevishly.
"Fine! I'll take the f^&%ing bed if it means that much to you!" She yanked her arm free of his grasp, and then stormed into his room, slamming the door behind her.
Logan smiled after her. At least she was getting back to her normal, b^tchy self.