A hard blow stunned Bree,

Despite Max's rather glib comment about food and a shower, Bree was clearly her number one priority. She held the younger girl in the protective circle of her arms as they all made the ride up the elevator and plainly refused to let anybody else near her. As Bree was still out cold, Max, Syl and Jani quickly spirited her off to Logan's bathroom to clean her up. And it was only with some coaxing from Logan and (surprisingly) Zack that Max would even let Bling look at her.

Knowing that there was little that she could do, and that she was only in the way, Original Cindy took the opportunity to use the guest bathroom and change into some fresh clothes. (She still had on the ones she'd been wearing the day before.) Zack grabbed the bathroom as soon as Cindy was finished with it and Logan retreated to the kitchen after offering the services of his washing machine and dryer.

Jani grabbed Logan's shower just before Syl was able to kick Zack out of the guest bathroom and Cindy went to help Logan in the kitchen. Bree, having been placed on the couch, rather than in the guest bedroom on the theory that it was easier to keep an eye on her, was completely unaware of anything. Unconscious as she was, Bree was trapped in her own version of hell. The cold, white, Manticore version.

Max paced and watched her until Cindy brought her over a cup of coffee and talked her into sitting down. "Now c'mon Boo." Cindy said gently. "You know she's gonna be jus' fine."

Max nodded and sighed and then looked at her friend. "You've got fresh clothes." She noted with some surprise.

Cindy laughed lightly at that. "So 'ave you an' Bree, Boo. Zack told me to grab some stuff an' I did."

Max gave Cindy a hug. "I'm sorry I got you into this Boo."

"Hey now, Original Cindy recalls we already been ov'r this bitch. I'm in for the duration homegurl. An' believe me, e'en if all ya sistah's are straight it's worth it, jus' for the perving."

Max laughed at that and then frowned. "What if we can never go home again? I've left so much stuff there."

"You can always get more stuff gurl, an' anyhow what's there that's so special? Ya 'baby' is here, what so ya loose a few tools and some nice clothes. Big deal."

Max sighed as she remembered the six-thousand-dollar dress that she'd worn to Logan's cousin's wedding. "Some really nice clothes." She muttered with a sigh.

Cindy raised an eyebrow at that. "How stupid you think I am Boo? I grabbed da dress. Zack nearly had a hissy fit but I saved ya dress gurl."

"You did?" Max asked in surprise.

"Aha." Cindy replied nodding. "'Tis hangin' up in da guest bedroom wardrobe as we speak. Now you gonna eat or what Boo?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Zane sighed as the guard at the checkpoint gave him a hard time.

"We don't need any more wild animals in this city boy." The guard replied in a condescending manner.

"What Griff?" Zane replied lightly as he scratched her ear. "She's not wild, are ya girl?"

The guard held his hand out looking for a bribe. "Still," He replied. "If I let her in I'd be bendin' the rules."

Zane pulled a few bills out of his pocket and handed them to the guard. "Well rules were meant to be bent, weren't they?" He replied with a smile.

"Glad we see eye to eye young man." The guard replied as he raised the barrier.

Zane laughed and gave the guard a wave. //Glad I didn't have ta kill ya.// He thought in reply. //After all, I already need a shower. Ah well, can't be far now.// "We're going ta see your aunts and uncles Griff." He told his dog. "Taking the Griffin to meet the Chimera that I'm goin'to help take down the Manticore." Zane laughed. "I think I'd been listening to Zack complain about Risha to much the day I named you. Let's just hope they've got hot water, huh Griff?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Only a few minutes after talking to Original Cindy, and waiting for the guestroom to clear out, she entered, looking around. Surprisingly, although everyone had used it, it was still neat and clean.

//Product of Manticore training,// she thought bitterly.

She opened the closet gently, just hoping that Original Cindy had said was true, and it was. The dress fell softly, hanging on the door and flowing with the slight disturbance in the air. A smile lit her lips, and she just stared, thinking of t hat night.

Of happier times. When she wasn't running quite so hard, or watching her back so much. But it was worth it. She could hear the constant chatter of the X5's out in the hall, living room and beyond, glad that her family was once again all together.

It was as if a part of her she'd been missing since dropping through that ice had come back to her. A piece of the happy past. The terror of the first few moments of the escape came back to her, but now it only gave her a thrill. Sure, she could have been killed, but no sense drilling on the 'what could have been' situations.

"Max!" someone called outside the door.

She recognized Zack's voice.

Instead of answering through the door, she closed the closet wistfully and opened the guest bedroom door, venturing in to the hall.

"What?" she asked.

"Just wondering if you were gonna have some food, that's all," he said.

She noticed then that the constant chatter was dying down to a dull roar, and there were few words as her family began to tear up Logan's food.

"Yeah, give me a few minutes to clean up." She said gently, still lost in happier memories. Zack nodded and she again retreated to the guestroom and her thoughts. But her stomach didn't allow her to do so for long.

She entered the kitchen, surprised to find everyone seated around the table, having grabbed some extra chairs from somewhere in the apartment. (Or maybe even somewhere outside of the apartment knowing Logan.)

Bling and Bree weren't in the room, but she could see Bree's blond hair still falling over the arm of the couch. And she could hear Bling pacing at the door, waiting.

Logan's eyes warmed at the sight of her in new fresh clothes, ones that weren't quite so torn or dirty.

She gave him a wistful smile and grabbed a seat that was free, Zack grabbing one across from her. She saw he hadn't gotten himself anything to eat yet, waiting for her first. //Always were the stubborn one,// she thought as she grabbed some food, glanced back in to the living room and frowned.

Original Cindy, sensing this, put down her fork and grabbed her girl's hand, giving it a squeeze. "Don't make me.." she began to whisper.

Max looked back to the table, picked up her fork and began to chow down. Who knows when they'd be eating again, right?

It was after everyone had been fed that the room once again was filled with voices talking. No one wanted to move from the table first, and so they all sat there, clearing the dishes aside and drinking whatever was passed around and there was enough of.

Max was watching Jani pour herself a drink, and she couldn't help but say something.

"Jani.." she began, watching her pour juice in to a glass that already had some milk in it.

Jani looked down, then grinned. Original Cindy pressed her lips together tight, but a laugh escaped anyways, and soon Jani was passing it around, daring them to try it.

It got to Max and she grabbed it, looking at the milky-purple froth it had formed and flinched,

"Too much for ya Maxie?" Syl teased, having just taken a sip.

"No, not enough." Max replied back, grabbing the pepper from the table and popping off the top with a quick movement from her thumb.

"Oh, gross." Logan said, Max looked up at him, meeting his eyes and challenging him.

"I'm not drinking that. Not if my life depended on it," Logan replied, staring back at her.

She grinned, raised the concoction to her lips and took a mouthful, just to attempt in a gross-out.

"Would you drink it if it were for Max's life here?" Jani asked, teasingly. It still had it's effect.

Logan promptly turned beet red, unsuspecting. Max tried to breathe in to calm herself, and tasting the suddenly overpowering nasty taste of milk, grape juice and pepper, she spat it out, watching the spray land all over the table... and Logan.

Everyone paused for a second, looking at Max, then to Logan, who was now wet and covered with this mixture. Then they began to chuckle.

Even Max couldn't help break a grin. She'd turned to hide her face in her hands when it flew out of nowhere, landing on her lap.

She looked down, and although she'd seen and felt it land there, she could barely believe her eyes. They darted across the table to find Logan lowering his hand, then she looked down at the bun in her lap.

Without thinking she grabbed the buttery roll, without taking aim, and let it fly. It landed across the table in Syl's soup, splashing the formerly hot liquid across the table and herself. For a moment, she didn't know what to do, then she shook her head, grabbed what ever she could grab, and started throwing.

With the occasional comment in between tosses, Logan managed to get out about how this probably wasn't such a good idea.

"You started it!" Jani yelled from under the table where she was ducking.

The room went quiet suddenly, and Jani peered over the table. Her eyes flickered to the entrance of the kitchen and her very short cut red-dyed hair brushed the top of the table.

Zack, who'd surrendered, rolling his eyes and leaving the room, had come back in. He'd managed to dodge all the flying food. Until this point.

She followed Zack's gaze, and grinned widely when she saw who must have thrown it.

"Logan," Max choked out, hiding back tears of laughter. He looked stricken, and almost panicked now, covered in bits of food.

"Uh.." he faltered for a second, "I guess I must have missed," he shrugged.

Syl burst out laughing, "Good miss, Logan!" she cried out, looking at Zack framed in the door. "Very good miss."

Logan turned beet red for the second time that night, until, of course, a butter tart came flying across at him... from where Zack stood in the doorway.

It had been an all-out war from there. The eight of them were afraid to emerge from the tiled floor where it would be easy clean up.

Stepping in to the kitchen at the wrong time soon afterwards, Bling had gotten a face full of whipped cream, and hadn't bothered to wipe it off yet. He stood there, smiling but shaking his head, wondering what these kids had ever done with out each other.

Then the door rang.

Bling went to run to the washroom.

"Wait, where are you going?" Max asked him. He stopped and turned around.

"I can't answer the door like this!" he exclaimed, looking down at all the whipped cream.

"Well, we can't answer the door like this." Logan replied, looking around him.

"Don't let them stand out there," Max almost whined.

Bling rolled his eyes, brushed as much off as he could with his sleeve and went to answer the door.

Max could sense the dog before she even saw it, and tentatively emerging from the kitchen, she saw someone standing in the doorway, a bag slung over his shoulder and a dog at his side. Zane.

"And just what have you been up to Maxie?" he demanded playfully.

Max smiled, looking back in to the kitchen. She began to throw her arms around him but he backed up slightly. "One change of clothes here." he said, keeping his tone almost serious until he finally threw his arms around her.

"Damn, how good it is to see you again." He said, backing up. "So tell me," He commented, eyes falling on those behind her, "You get the family together for dinner, and you waste it on each other? " A grin creased his forehead.

"Damn straight, too much food anyways." Original Cindy said, coming up from behind, her dark curly hair covered in what looked like pudding. "This is so going to take forever to get out of my hair." she said, looking at herself in the hall mirror.

"Hi." Zane replied taken slightly aback by Cindy's casualness, she clearly wasn't an X5 and she clearly wasn't phased by the X5's around her. The guy that had opened the door hadn't been an X5 either. Zane knew that Zack wasn't exactly the one running the show but still, he'd be a fool if he wasn't weary of outside involvement.

Cindy quickly took in his cautious expression, a milder version of a look that Zack had shot her on more than one occasion. Giving Zane a big grin she decided to reassure him. "Hey, Original Cindy's the name. An' guessin' by ya friend 'ere I'd say you're Zane." Cindy wiped a hand on her jeans and then offered it to Zane.

"Um, nice to meet you." Zane replied hesitantly as he shook her offered hand.

"'Lax Zane." Cindy said as she took in his expression. "Only three here dat ain't Chimera, or whateva ya call y'selves and we all cool. Bling here's the med, Logan's the brain boy with da money an' I'm here for moral support for my gurls Max an' Bree."

"Ah, Bree would be.."

"Yup." Max replied.

"And she would be..?" Zane asked. After all, if he was going to fight for her he at least wanted to meet her.

Max's features darkened slightly. Cindy put a comforting arm around her. "We had a li'l' run in with da antichrist this mornin'. Nothin' that Zack an' my gurls couldn't handle. But Bree's out cold thanks to a tranquilizer dart, she should be 'round soon. C'in there's gotta be some food aroun' here that didn't get used in the food fight. An' if there ain't we can always send Money-Bags shoppin', ay Money-Bags?" Cindy said brightly as Logan rolled over.

"Well actually, somebody's going to have to go shopping soon." Logan replied ignoring Cindy's nickname for him. "Or more than one somebody, no point drawing attention with large purchases." He eyed Griff suspiciously. "Dare I ask how you got that dog through the front door?" He asked Zane.

Zane immediately dropped to the ground and covered Griff's ears. "Don't call her that." He hissed protectively. "Griffy girl here thinks she's human."

"Your d-" Logan muttered in shock. A dog that thought it was human? Now that was something that Logan, cat person as he was, had never heard of.

"Logan." Max warned before Logan could use the 'd' word again.

"She," Logan corrected. "Thinks she's human?"

Zane laughed at the expression on Logan's face. Somehow that perturbed expression just didn't quite work when covered from head to foot in food. "Yeah, it's a delusion we both share. I just carry it out better."

Logan frowned but returned to his original concern. "So, my doormen? I pray they're alive? Even if temporally unconscious."

"Alive and well and slightly richer, disappointed?"

"Relieved actually. Although if people find out I've got a..." Logan paused, looking for a frame of reference other than 'dog'.

"Her name's Griff, short for Griffin." Zane replied.

"If they find out I've got a Griff in the building it could lead to unwanted attention." Just then Griff walked over to Logan. She sniffed him curiously and then began to lick some whipped cream off of his arm.

"Aww, look at that, she likes you Logan." Max said as she knelt down and rubbed between Griff's ears.

"She's only licking me because I'm covered in food." Logan pointed out stoically.

"Nah, she likes you." Zane agreed.

"She only likes me because she's taller than me." Logan complained.

As if offended by Logan's comment Griff gave him one last lick and then started licking cream off of Max's face. It was quite a comical scene re ally. Zane was still on his knees, sitting back and watching the exchange, Max was on her knees beside Logan's chair getting 'cleaned' by Griff who still had one paw resting on Logan's knee. Logan was sitting looking at Griff as if she was about to attack him and Bling and Original Cindy stood at either end of the group looking on in amusement. Syl, Jani and Zack, having come to see what all the commotion was about were standing behind Logan watching.

"Would it make any difference if I were to mention that I'm a cat person?" Logan asked after a long moment.

Zack glanced at Max and then looked at Logan. "Kinda guessed that one." He muttered.

"Oh c'mon Logan, ya not jealous because Max is lettin' Griff lick her are you?" Cindy asked.

Logan blushed slightly and then turned to glare at her.

"Boo behave." Max replied laughing. "Oh, no, don't lick my eyes Griff!"

"Hmm, hang on a minute. You said that Griff's a she, right Zane?"

"Yup."

"And Max is lettin' her lick her. You sure you not playin' on my team Boo?"

Max laughed and shook her head. "You wish." She gently pushed Griff away and pushed herself to her feet. (By leaning on Logan's chair even though she didn't have to.) "Let's get this place cleaned up. "

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~