A/N: I'm glad to see that most of you seem to be enjoying the fic so far. :) Many thanks for all your kind reviews; it's a great pleasure to pop in and see so many kind words for Fight or Flight. :) I do apologize again for the slow rate at which this story is being posted, but hopefully my muse is picking up so the rate of posting should pick up too at some point in the future. I'm aiming to have this poor little fic finished within a month or so, but we'll just have to see what happens.
As always, reviews here or by email are welcomed, encouraged, and desperately craved. I'm only doing a base beta on these first chapters until the story is better situated in my mind, but things should be fairly well checked over. Also, any ideas that you may have regarding small M/L scenes for future parts would be greatly appreciated as well. I don't tend to write fun stuff, I tend more to dwell on the traumatic psychological fun, so ideas for fluffy parts are always welcome. :)
They're so obviously not mine. I just like to borrow them sometimes and mutate their inner voices. What can I say? It's fun. Meanwhile, Cameron, Eglee and Fox are still getting all the cash.
Fight or Flight
Part Two: The Games We Play
By: Danae Bowen
Email: logansfox@rogers.com
Candlelight flickered in the tiny bathroom as Max slowly lowered herself into the luxurious hot water, filled with an over flow of soapy bubbles. A low purr built in the back of her throat as she sank deeper, allowing herself to fall below the surface before coming back up and easing her head back against the rim of the tub.
As always, while she allowed herself to relax in the scented water, her mind drifted to Logan. Max's world had changed upon her return from Manticore; she was harder, tougher, and that much more bitter, but she'd spent months counting on the fact that Logan would be there when she got out. Her feelings hadn't changed during her time away, if anything they'd grown stronger.
Even now, as she closed her eyes and sighed into the warmth surrounding her, Max could remember every detail of that moment when she was at last able to set eyes on him once again. She relived every tingle of pleasure that swept through her body as he turned towards her. She could see every emotion he possessed as it flickered across his beautiful face. She could almost taste the disbelief that passed through them as his hands rose to her face, his blue eyes searching her brown for answers to questions she could barely begin to understand. Her heart beat quickened as he pulled her to him, thudding so loudly in her chest she felt both pain and exhilaration as his lips swept down to claim hers in a soul wrenching kiss filled with three months worth of pain, desire, sorrow and blessed joy.
No matter what Manticore had done to her, nothing, not even the virus bitch from hell, could take that single moment away from Max. Yes, the virus had changed everything only minutes later, but they had those few seconds to convey every thought and feeling each possessed, and Max treasured that memory.
Even now, months later, endless doctors and blood tests merged into one long period of research and failure, Max held onto those brief moments as a lifeline. Somehow, no matter how hard she tried to make it otherwise, a certain pair of piercing blue eyes continued to haunt her dreams and possess her thoughts. When she should have been thinking of Rafer, it was Logan's voice she heard. When she could have been out making the night of some random hotboy, it was Logan's penthouse to where she turned. When it came down to her brother or the man she couldn't have, it was her brother she'd killed. Sure, technically Zack's body was out there somewhere, living and moving on, but Zack, himself, was trapped far out of reach, dead to Max, and hopefully Manticore and all others interested, for life.
Max allowed herself to sink back under the water once again as thoughts ran rampant through her mind. As confusing as it was, Logan was the only constant in her life: her beacon, the prize waiting for her when they finally came to the end of this biblical test of patience, and Max couldn't fight that. Try as she may, she couldn't stop the leap in her heart when he invited her over, though she tried to cover her excitement with her general sarcastic demeanor. Logan wanted to see her. Tonight, there would be no Asha, no Manticore, no Ames White, no psychotic transgenics, and no Eyes Only. Maybe for a few hours they could just be human, enjoy each other's company, if from a distance, and have one single normal night.
Max broke the surface and climbed out of the tub.
//A normal night. Exactly what I need.//
Still, her conscience picked at her. //We'll never have a normal night. Not when it comes down to a single brush of skin being the cause of a violent, painful death.//
She sighed. Somehow, virus or not, she was going over to the penthouse and she was going to enjoy herself.
****
Logan set the last touches to the table in the dining room, lighting the row of candles that decorated the table's center. He filled the wine glasses, carrying them with him as he returned to the kitchen, setting them on the island, which he cleaned off while he waited.
He heard the elevator begin climbing the stories of Fogle Towers long before the doors opened and as he spun to greet Max his heartbeat quickened. She greeted his open gaze with a grin, admiring the loose fitting slacks he'd slipped on over the exosuit, and the dark turtleneck sweater that adorned the muscles of his upper body. At the same time, Logan's numbed mind took in the low cut, form fitting red sweater Max wore over her hip hugging jeans. For a moment they stood in silence, allowing the mere presence of the other overwhelm their senses, before Max's grin widened and she stepped into the apartment. Her bomber jacket was casually slung over one arm while she ran her free hand through her dark hair, shaking loose stubborn snow turned water in the heat of the building.
"Streets are a bitch."
She walked past Logan into the kitchen, glancing curiously over at the stove, taking note of the glorious hint of garlic in the air, and the bubbling sauce on the burner. Her eyes turned to the glasses of wine as she dropped her jacket onto the island, and she lifted an eyebrow.
"Mine?"
Logan blinked and found his voice once more, shaking his head as he smiled at her. "Yeah. Dinner should be ready in a few minutes." He watched as she picked up a glass and made a graceful jump to sit on the island. She held the glass out to him and cocked her head to the side.
"You drinkin' or they both for me?"
He chuckled softly and reached out for the glass, allowing one long finger for a brief moment brush over her fabric covered wrist. Unable to help themselves, they both sighed at the slight contact.
"Careful." She warned softly, the humor fading from her dark eyes as she met his gaze.
"Always."
"Bullshit."
He grinned. For long minutes, silence once again filled the penthouse. Logan cleared his throat, moving to the stove in a pretense of stirring the pasta sauce that was beginning to pop and spurt. "So you were saying Normal was being his usual charming self today?"
"Yeah." Max glanced down into her glass, finding her day to be a most uninteresting topic of conversation.
"So how'd you manage to get out early?" He tried again, moving to stand behind her as he reached for several spices that remained on the island.
She shrugged. "Cindy covered for me." Max smiled suddenly, spinning on the counter, startled to find Logan mere inches away. "I... oh!"
She stumbled backwards quickly, trying to avoid touching Logan directly. In pure reaction Logan reached out, gripping the front of her sweater as she began to slip over the edge of the island. He held onto her firmly, however, as she wrestled to stabilize herself without risking Logan's life. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered how he could be so calm, but when her hands found her weight and she was again sitting solidly on the island, and Logan didn't move away, intelligent thought became more and more difficult to maintain.
He smiled down at her, his fingers releasing her sweater but still maintaining contact with her body. Max's every nerve screamed as Logan's thumb began to move in slow, lazy circles across her stomach. She shivered quietly, her eyes drifting shut as she allowed herself the momentary pleasure of Logan's touch, even through the soft fabric of her clothing.
It took long moments before her mind registered the loss of his hand, and with a sigh her eyes fluttered open once more. Logan's sparkling blue gaze met hers, her own eyes deepening in color as her heart ached to regain his sweet caress. Instead, she sighed.
"I don't know what your definition of careful is, oh, great journalist, but if that was it, remind me to buy you a dictionary."
Logan shook his head, a half smile gracing his features. "Sometimes you're too sarcastic for your own good, Max. Relax and let yourself enjoy a minute here and there, might do you some good."
She shrugged. "And might get you killed."
He turned away, his eyes still sparkling as he desperately held his tongue against informing her of the cure. If all was to work out the way he hoped, Max had to stay in the dark for a while longer. Logan planned on making sure that Max remembered exactly what it was they had between them before he let her know that everything they'd dreamed was finally possible. He had no intention on allowing her to walk out of his life when her fear of happiness overwhelmed her; when he finally told her, when he finally allowed what was building up between them to bubble over into all that they had been waiting for, there would be no room for fear. Max would know only love.
"Just practicing for when this is all over." He glanced over his shoulder and his eyes twinkled brilliantly in her direction.
"Damn, Logan, were you bit by a happy bug or something? You're almost giddy."
"So?"
She grimaced. "So, you're scaring the hell outta me. Stop it."
He chuckled softly and turned down the heat on the sauce. He quickly drained the pasta and slid it onto the waiting plates. A flick of his wrist added sauce, and one last quick movement adorned the sauce with grated cheese. Max relaxed as again she inhaled the delicate scent of the well-cooked pasta, and her stomach grumbled loudly. Logan lifted an eyebrow as he gave her one last grin.
"Sounds like the food's ready right on time."
Max paused, bit her lip, and then shrugged as she jumped down from the island. "You know me, insatiable."
Logan coughed softly on a sip of wine, his eyes watering as he fought his immediate response to the many ways the word insatiable could be taken. When he finally glanced over at Max, meeting her gaze with his own, her eyes were sparkling mischievously. //So that's the way you want to play it, Max? Tease and run?//
"Mmm, between you and Asha, I've now known a few women to share that particular attribute." //Chew on that for a minute.//
Matching grins spread across their faces as at first Max's eyes darkened with momentary jealousy before she caught on. //Got me that time, Cale.// She walked up to him, removing her plate of pasta from the counter, a low sound building in her chest, increasing in volume as she passed him by. Unable to find another word to describe the noise, Logan swallowed hard, his fingernails digging into the flesh of his palms as he allowed her purr to wash over him, seducing his mind.
//Very good, Max. Play me in a way I can't strike back.// He sighed, taking his own plate in one hand as he approached her, allowing his free hand to settle against her back, making sure the fabric of her sweater came between their skin at all times. He stroked his hand slowly over her spine, his fingers sending shiver after shiver through her body as she struggled to control her suddenly extremely active hormones. Logan leaned in close to her body, his breath whispering against her flesh. "You win this round, Max, but I'll win the game". His voice was controlled when he spoke next, his sparkling eyes the only clue he gave to prove the last minutes had indeed happened. "So, aside from Normal, how was your day?"
Max glanced at him incredulously, unable to find her voice as she sat down hard behind the table, resting her food before her.
//What the hell are you up to, Logan Cale?//
Bereft of any other response, Max met his gaze, allowing an unsure smile to cross her features as she shrugged.
"Yeah, mine too. Things have been pretty quiet on the Eyes Only front lately." He sighed.
"Streets too. I think it's that "good will to all men" shit leftovers. Or maybe it's the snow. Who knows, but I'm not complaining. I haven't had this much downtime since I broke into this joint." Max flashed him a smile to make sure he knew she was kidding.
"Does that mean you'd have no objection to joining me for dinner tomorrow night, then?"
Max paused, a forkful of pasta frozen en route to her mouth. "I guess. Was just plannin' on kickin' back with Original Cindy, 'n maybe taking the bike for a winter blaze, but I suppose one more night ain't gonna matter much."
"Good, because I've got a surprise for you, but if you're not going to come to dinner, maybe I won't give it to you."
At that, Max's eyes lit up, undisguised curiosity filling her features. "What kinda surprise?" Her eagerness was drastically muted in comparison to the last time Logan had enticed her to dinner with a similar line, but the sparkle in her gaze was enough to relay her excitement at the concept of a surprise.
"Are you coming to dinner?"
"Yes! Now what's my surprise?"
"You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out, Max."
She sighed, pushing her pasta around her plate before taking another bite. Logan's surprises were nothing like those of her youth; there would be no midnight crawl through ice water filled mud trenches, no death and no pain, and the thought of Logan thinking enough of her to arrange something special warmed Max thoroughly.
Logan knew the first step in his plan had been a success when Max met his gaze a moment later, and her warm brown eyes were filled with pleasure. She didn't know what he had in store for her, but her thrill in him making the effort was a step in the right direction.
He matched her smile with one of his own, his blue eyes revealing nothing of his plan to her except for promises of many surprises to come.
End Part Two
As always, reviews here or by email are welcomed, encouraged, and desperately craved. I'm only doing a base beta on these first chapters until the story is better situated in my mind, but things should be fairly well checked over. Also, any ideas that you may have regarding small M/L scenes for future parts would be greatly appreciated as well. I don't tend to write fun stuff, I tend more to dwell on the traumatic psychological fun, so ideas for fluffy parts are always welcome. :)
They're so obviously not mine. I just like to borrow them sometimes and mutate their inner voices. What can I say? It's fun. Meanwhile, Cameron, Eglee and Fox are still getting all the cash.
Fight or Flight
Part Two: The Games We Play
By: Danae Bowen
Email: logansfox@rogers.com
Candlelight flickered in the tiny bathroom as Max slowly lowered herself into the luxurious hot water, filled with an over flow of soapy bubbles. A low purr built in the back of her throat as she sank deeper, allowing herself to fall below the surface before coming back up and easing her head back against the rim of the tub.
As always, while she allowed herself to relax in the scented water, her mind drifted to Logan. Max's world had changed upon her return from Manticore; she was harder, tougher, and that much more bitter, but she'd spent months counting on the fact that Logan would be there when she got out. Her feelings hadn't changed during her time away, if anything they'd grown stronger.
Even now, as she closed her eyes and sighed into the warmth surrounding her, Max could remember every detail of that moment when she was at last able to set eyes on him once again. She relived every tingle of pleasure that swept through her body as he turned towards her. She could see every emotion he possessed as it flickered across his beautiful face. She could almost taste the disbelief that passed through them as his hands rose to her face, his blue eyes searching her brown for answers to questions she could barely begin to understand. Her heart beat quickened as he pulled her to him, thudding so loudly in her chest she felt both pain and exhilaration as his lips swept down to claim hers in a soul wrenching kiss filled with three months worth of pain, desire, sorrow and blessed joy.
No matter what Manticore had done to her, nothing, not even the virus bitch from hell, could take that single moment away from Max. Yes, the virus had changed everything only minutes later, but they had those few seconds to convey every thought and feeling each possessed, and Max treasured that memory.
Even now, months later, endless doctors and blood tests merged into one long period of research and failure, Max held onto those brief moments as a lifeline. Somehow, no matter how hard she tried to make it otherwise, a certain pair of piercing blue eyes continued to haunt her dreams and possess her thoughts. When she should have been thinking of Rafer, it was Logan's voice she heard. When she could have been out making the night of some random hotboy, it was Logan's penthouse to where she turned. When it came down to her brother or the man she couldn't have, it was her brother she'd killed. Sure, technically Zack's body was out there somewhere, living and moving on, but Zack, himself, was trapped far out of reach, dead to Max, and hopefully Manticore and all others interested, for life.
Max allowed herself to sink back under the water once again as thoughts ran rampant through her mind. As confusing as it was, Logan was the only constant in her life: her beacon, the prize waiting for her when they finally came to the end of this biblical test of patience, and Max couldn't fight that. Try as she may, she couldn't stop the leap in her heart when he invited her over, though she tried to cover her excitement with her general sarcastic demeanor. Logan wanted to see her. Tonight, there would be no Asha, no Manticore, no Ames White, no psychotic transgenics, and no Eyes Only. Maybe for a few hours they could just be human, enjoy each other's company, if from a distance, and have one single normal night.
Max broke the surface and climbed out of the tub.
//A normal night. Exactly what I need.//
Still, her conscience picked at her. //We'll never have a normal night. Not when it comes down to a single brush of skin being the cause of a violent, painful death.//
She sighed. Somehow, virus or not, she was going over to the penthouse and she was going to enjoy herself.
****
Logan set the last touches to the table in the dining room, lighting the row of candles that decorated the table's center. He filled the wine glasses, carrying them with him as he returned to the kitchen, setting them on the island, which he cleaned off while he waited.
He heard the elevator begin climbing the stories of Fogle Towers long before the doors opened and as he spun to greet Max his heartbeat quickened. She greeted his open gaze with a grin, admiring the loose fitting slacks he'd slipped on over the exosuit, and the dark turtleneck sweater that adorned the muscles of his upper body. At the same time, Logan's numbed mind took in the low cut, form fitting red sweater Max wore over her hip hugging jeans. For a moment they stood in silence, allowing the mere presence of the other overwhelm their senses, before Max's grin widened and she stepped into the apartment. Her bomber jacket was casually slung over one arm while she ran her free hand through her dark hair, shaking loose stubborn snow turned water in the heat of the building.
"Streets are a bitch."
She walked past Logan into the kitchen, glancing curiously over at the stove, taking note of the glorious hint of garlic in the air, and the bubbling sauce on the burner. Her eyes turned to the glasses of wine as she dropped her jacket onto the island, and she lifted an eyebrow.
"Mine?"
Logan blinked and found his voice once more, shaking his head as he smiled at her. "Yeah. Dinner should be ready in a few minutes." He watched as she picked up a glass and made a graceful jump to sit on the island. She held the glass out to him and cocked her head to the side.
"You drinkin' or they both for me?"
He chuckled softly and reached out for the glass, allowing one long finger for a brief moment brush over her fabric covered wrist. Unable to help themselves, they both sighed at the slight contact.
"Careful." She warned softly, the humor fading from her dark eyes as she met his gaze.
"Always."
"Bullshit."
He grinned. For long minutes, silence once again filled the penthouse. Logan cleared his throat, moving to the stove in a pretense of stirring the pasta sauce that was beginning to pop and spurt. "So you were saying Normal was being his usual charming self today?"
"Yeah." Max glanced down into her glass, finding her day to be a most uninteresting topic of conversation.
"So how'd you manage to get out early?" He tried again, moving to stand behind her as he reached for several spices that remained on the island.
She shrugged. "Cindy covered for me." Max smiled suddenly, spinning on the counter, startled to find Logan mere inches away. "I... oh!"
She stumbled backwards quickly, trying to avoid touching Logan directly. In pure reaction Logan reached out, gripping the front of her sweater as she began to slip over the edge of the island. He held onto her firmly, however, as she wrestled to stabilize herself without risking Logan's life. Somewhere in the back of her mind she wondered how he could be so calm, but when her hands found her weight and she was again sitting solidly on the island, and Logan didn't move away, intelligent thought became more and more difficult to maintain.
He smiled down at her, his fingers releasing her sweater but still maintaining contact with her body. Max's every nerve screamed as Logan's thumb began to move in slow, lazy circles across her stomach. She shivered quietly, her eyes drifting shut as she allowed herself the momentary pleasure of Logan's touch, even through the soft fabric of her clothing.
It took long moments before her mind registered the loss of his hand, and with a sigh her eyes fluttered open once more. Logan's sparkling blue gaze met hers, her own eyes deepening in color as her heart ached to regain his sweet caress. Instead, she sighed.
"I don't know what your definition of careful is, oh, great journalist, but if that was it, remind me to buy you a dictionary."
Logan shook his head, a half smile gracing his features. "Sometimes you're too sarcastic for your own good, Max. Relax and let yourself enjoy a minute here and there, might do you some good."
She shrugged. "And might get you killed."
He turned away, his eyes still sparkling as he desperately held his tongue against informing her of the cure. If all was to work out the way he hoped, Max had to stay in the dark for a while longer. Logan planned on making sure that Max remembered exactly what it was they had between them before he let her know that everything they'd dreamed was finally possible. He had no intention on allowing her to walk out of his life when her fear of happiness overwhelmed her; when he finally told her, when he finally allowed what was building up between them to bubble over into all that they had been waiting for, there would be no room for fear. Max would know only love.
"Just practicing for when this is all over." He glanced over his shoulder and his eyes twinkled brilliantly in her direction.
"Damn, Logan, were you bit by a happy bug or something? You're almost giddy."
"So?"
She grimaced. "So, you're scaring the hell outta me. Stop it."
He chuckled softly and turned down the heat on the sauce. He quickly drained the pasta and slid it onto the waiting plates. A flick of his wrist added sauce, and one last quick movement adorned the sauce with grated cheese. Max relaxed as again she inhaled the delicate scent of the well-cooked pasta, and her stomach grumbled loudly. Logan lifted an eyebrow as he gave her one last grin.
"Sounds like the food's ready right on time."
Max paused, bit her lip, and then shrugged as she jumped down from the island. "You know me, insatiable."
Logan coughed softly on a sip of wine, his eyes watering as he fought his immediate response to the many ways the word insatiable could be taken. When he finally glanced over at Max, meeting her gaze with his own, her eyes were sparkling mischievously. //So that's the way you want to play it, Max? Tease and run?//
"Mmm, between you and Asha, I've now known a few women to share that particular attribute." //Chew on that for a minute.//
Matching grins spread across their faces as at first Max's eyes darkened with momentary jealousy before she caught on. //Got me that time, Cale.// She walked up to him, removing her plate of pasta from the counter, a low sound building in her chest, increasing in volume as she passed him by. Unable to find another word to describe the noise, Logan swallowed hard, his fingernails digging into the flesh of his palms as he allowed her purr to wash over him, seducing his mind.
//Very good, Max. Play me in a way I can't strike back.// He sighed, taking his own plate in one hand as he approached her, allowing his free hand to settle against her back, making sure the fabric of her sweater came between their skin at all times. He stroked his hand slowly over her spine, his fingers sending shiver after shiver through her body as she struggled to control her suddenly extremely active hormones. Logan leaned in close to her body, his breath whispering against her flesh. "You win this round, Max, but I'll win the game". His voice was controlled when he spoke next, his sparkling eyes the only clue he gave to prove the last minutes had indeed happened. "So, aside from Normal, how was your day?"
Max glanced at him incredulously, unable to find her voice as she sat down hard behind the table, resting her food before her.
//What the hell are you up to, Logan Cale?//
Bereft of any other response, Max met his gaze, allowing an unsure smile to cross her features as she shrugged.
"Yeah, mine too. Things have been pretty quiet on the Eyes Only front lately." He sighed.
"Streets too. I think it's that "good will to all men" shit leftovers. Or maybe it's the snow. Who knows, but I'm not complaining. I haven't had this much downtime since I broke into this joint." Max flashed him a smile to make sure he knew she was kidding.
"Does that mean you'd have no objection to joining me for dinner tomorrow night, then?"
Max paused, a forkful of pasta frozen en route to her mouth. "I guess. Was just plannin' on kickin' back with Original Cindy, 'n maybe taking the bike for a winter blaze, but I suppose one more night ain't gonna matter much."
"Good, because I've got a surprise for you, but if you're not going to come to dinner, maybe I won't give it to you."
At that, Max's eyes lit up, undisguised curiosity filling her features. "What kinda surprise?" Her eagerness was drastically muted in comparison to the last time Logan had enticed her to dinner with a similar line, but the sparkle in her gaze was enough to relay her excitement at the concept of a surprise.
"Are you coming to dinner?"
"Yes! Now what's my surprise?"
"You'll have to wait until tomorrow to find out, Max."
She sighed, pushing her pasta around her plate before taking another bite. Logan's surprises were nothing like those of her youth; there would be no midnight crawl through ice water filled mud trenches, no death and no pain, and the thought of Logan thinking enough of her to arrange something special warmed Max thoroughly.
Logan knew the first step in his plan had been a success when Max met his gaze a moment later, and her warm brown eyes were filled with pleasure. She didn't know what he had in store for her, but her thrill in him making the effort was a step in the right direction.
He matched her smile with one of his own, his blue eyes revealing nothing of his plan to her except for promises of many surprises to come.
End Part Two