c o m m o n . t h i e f
part 2
"Five minutes late and they start the party without me."
Max bit down hard and threw herself into the melee of flying fists and wayward bullets. She grumbled under her breath for about the fifth time that night that she hoped she wasn't about to get herself caught, killed or turned into a science experiment, and took out one of the guns shooting at Mr Eyes Only himself.
Logan looked up with a bemused smile and his eyes belied his words, "You're late."
Max shrugged before throwing another fist into another face, "A girl's gotta look presentable."
No, the seizure she'd had ten minutes before leaving the apartment hadn't helped her punctuality at all.
From the corner of her eye, she saw Peter toss Lauren into the relative safety of the car, only to see Sophy being wrenched out of her mother's grasp.
Before she could act on that, the telltale red spot of a laser sighting lit on Logan's lower back.
With a shout, Max pushed him out of the way, taking the bullet in her side instead.
Logan swore as he hit the ground and quickly surveyed the scenario. Odds were rapidly falling out of their favour and they had to act fast before any of them got killed.
Taking Max gingerly into his arms, he placed her across the backseat of the car before climbing in himself.
"The kid," she protested, struggling in his arms as she reached for the door handle.
Logan shook his head as the car started racing down the street, "We go back now and we won't be alive to get her back later. We regroup, get you patched up in the safe house outta town and *then* we'll see about taking out the bastards who've taken Sophy hostage."
Logan gently brushed Max's dark curls away from her heated brow before turning to take Lauren's shaking hand.
"We'll get her back, Lauren, I swear."
* * * * *
"Wanna hold my hand?"
Logan Cale almost laughed at Max's expected response. She glared at his offerred hand, but yelped again as Peter tried to apply medical attention to her shot wound.
"Do you *actually* know what you're doing?!"
Logan knelt so he was face to face with Max lying on the kitchen table in the safe house serving as a make-shift surgical bench.
"Max, just shut up and bear it."
Without further pretence his mouth swooped down to hers, catching her mid-gasp. Peter took advantage of the opportunity and was finally able to get the bullet out of her side without a single protest from Max.
Logan finally relinquished his hold on her mouth and released Max from their kiss breathing hard.
"See?" he pointed out, grin smug on his face, "Wasn't so hard."
Max caught the sight of Peter dropping the bullet from his surgical pliers into a metal bowl before snapping off his latex gloves from the edge of her vision. She made an effort to catch her breath before replying to Logan evenly, "Thanks for the distraction."
He stood and shrugged, tossing Max her leather jacket, "It was the least I could do. You took a bullet for me."
Max shied away from his intense gaze and hopped off the table, running a nervous hand through her unruly hair.
"So when are we getting back to town? I got an itching to kick some serious gun-toting ass." She declared, gingerly touching the bandaging on the right side of her back.
"You're not going anywhere." Logan said, backing her into the couch and planting a firm hand on her shoulder to get her to sit down. "Not after the bullet wound and not after you got the shakes in the car. I'm not getting you killed on my account."
"But Logan, I always get-"
"Not hearing it. You're staying put and that's that."
Peter, hovering by the door, raised a brow and then started worrying. If *Max* wasn't going to Sonrisa's...
"Peter," Logan called, as if sensing the man's thoughts, "you'll make sure Max and Lauren stay safely in the house, won't you?"
"Of course."
"Good, cos I got a party to crash." Logan headed outside to the car, turning at the doorway, "Don't wait up."
END PART 2/4
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