Title: E r a s e  a n d  R e w i n d

Author: Mysticalmyst

Email: ochbas@msn.com

Spoilers: Medium is the Message and Borrowed Time (partial spoilers)

Disclaimer: I own nothing! Don't Sue!

Rating: PG13 (Just to be safe)

Summary: This is the sequel to 'You Complete Me'.  You don't have to read it (but I'm not stopping you ;).  I noticed there was hardly any M/L fics about, so I wrote this! This story is for the shippers out there! Anyway both Logan and Max are trying to find cures for the virus and are becoming emotionally closer to each other.  But will a transgenic with a mysterious power and hidden abilities post pone their romance? Enjoy! 

Chapter One:  Too Late

Max rolled out of bed eager to start the day.  'Why do I sleep anyway?  I always wake up even earlier than usual.'  She strode to the washroom and checked herself out in the cracked mirror that hung lopsided there.  Max brushed her teeth, splashed water on her face and began to brush her long, straight hair.  Once that was done she stripped off her pj's and pulled on a pair of black jeans and a dark blue long-sleeved shirt.  Max then headed into the kitchen after she was dressed and saw that Original Cindy hadn't woken up yet. 

She quietly made a cup of coffee and sipped it while she watched the sun rise in a glorious array of color, ranging from deep reds to bright golden yellows.  'I would have never been able to see this if I was back at Manticore.'  Max thanked whatever higher power there was out there that had allowed her to escape Manticore twice and live the life she led now.

Soon the sun was up and Max had grown restless, pacing the apartment repeatedly she soon decided to get outside and enjoy the morning sunlight.  Grabbing her leather jacket she pulled it on as she swung open the door and out of the apartment.  Max wasn't sure where exactly she was headed but walked anyway figuring that her feet would decide for her.  She walked down the garbage-covered sidewalk and passed by an alleyway.

"Hey sweet thang, how bout you pass some of that sugar this way baby!"

Max shuddered almost imperceptibly and turned her head toward the direction of the voice.  A grungy looking man stood gawking at her in the alley; he was wearing pants so old they looked like they could crumble off him any second, a once white now black hat and a white shirt covered in stains from only God knows what.  He swayed from side to side with a beer bottle in his hands his eyes roving over every inch of her body.  'I need a shower.  Just looking at this guy makes me feel dirty.  Maybe I should put him out of his misery.' 

She thought grinning seductively at the man and swaying her hips as she walked slowly over to him.  The man had a surprised but knowing look on his face, as if he knew what was coming next.  Max was now so close she could smell his rancid breath coming in quick gasps out of his mouth and he reached out his arms to touch her.  She moved out of the path of his hands quickly but he persisted and succeeded in grabbing her arm.  Max smirked and faked a punch to his head; he stumbled backwards, letting go of her arm and because of his drunken state, almost falling.  Taking advantage of his imbalance she pressed her index finger to his forehead with the slightest amount of pressure and he fell in a heap not getting up.

Max shook her head in disbelief at the stupidity of the man and was once again, on her way.  It seemed that her feet had been leading her in the direction of Joshua's place.  'Hmm…if I'm going to Joshua's, I might as well bring him something to eat.'

Joshua had been sitting on an armchair reading a book but when Max came in to the room, he jumped up and immediately enveloped her in a bear hug that no regular human could have survived.

"Hey little fella!" 

"Hey big fella" she echoed his greeting.  "I brought you something" She took out a slightly crushed "Little Debbie" box. 

Joshua grabbed it hungrily and looked at Max with a grateful expression on his face that soon turned in to regret.

"Max, Joshua really sorry about virus bitch papers-didn't mean to wreck them" As he said this his large bright blue eyes stared in to hers expectantly. 

"Don't worry about it Joshua, me and Logan will find another way to get rid of the virus."  Joshua visibly perked at her words "Max and Logan gettin' busy?" he asked eagerly. 

She smiled but didn't answer. 

F l a s h b a c k

"Will you look at us?" Logan began playfully.

"Pathetic." Max played along.

"Hopeless." Logan said smiling.

"Lucky we hooked up." Max smirked and leaned closer.  

"Happy anniversary." Logan closed the distance between them and kissed her softly then with greater passion.  

"Maybe, uh... maybe we should wait. You know, until you're yourself again." Logan said awkwardly, pulling away from her.

"This isn't Manticore. This is me." Max replied softly and leaned in kissing him hungrily and digging her fingers in to his hair.

E n d  F l a s h b a c k

'I wonder what would have happened if Zack hadn't interrupted us.  Would we-'  "Max? Max?"  Joshua waved a hand in front of her face snapping her out of her thoughts. 

"You ok little fella?"  His voice was laced with concern. 

"I'm fine-listen I gotta get to work, I'll see if I can come by later tonight ok?"

"Ok" Joshua smiled and opened the box of snack cakes.

Max walked out of the house and tried to make sense out of the thoughts passing through her head.  'Would we go that far?  If anything had happened would we regret it?  Would he regret it?  Would I?'  After a moments thought she decided.  'No.  I wouldn't regret it because…Max pictured Logan's gorgeous deep blue eyes that seemed to see through her past life at Manticore down to her soul.  She remembered how she felt after having dinner with him in a room lit only by candlelight, when he smiled at her she remembered the way her knees quivered and the way she felt every time she heard his deep voice.  When she had been caught by Manticore the second time, thoughts of him and the last night they spent together kept her sane.  Coming home to be enveloped in his strong healing arms, able to shut out the rest of the world and the pain that it had caused her.  Smooth lips taking hers in one heated kiss… I think I love him.  I'm in love with Logan Cale.' 

Max had stopped walking as she realized this and began to take in her surroundings.  She was at Jampony and as she looked at her watch, was right on time. 

Max walked inside with no emotion on her face, barely registering Normal's, "Hey there missy miss you're here early, guess you're finally getting you're act together!" because she was so immersed in her own thoughts.   

The moment Logan had kissed her she had felt whole, complete.  Everything that she had experienced at Manticore had been washed away as Logan's lips moved over hers, their sweet taste and the warm heat that spread through her body rid her mind of all coherent thought.  In those few seconds she had been happy. 

But it was all bitter sweet because she was too late.

A year ago, Max had denied the unmistakable feeling that stirred within her and spread outwards to every crevice of her being whenever she saw him.  Denying the love that she was unsure of before, scared of before and repeating a now hollow and empty phrase to her friends, "We're not like that."  Her friends had seen through it, seen through her eyes that were carefully masked every time he was mentioned, seen through the stiffness in the line of her body, seen through the quiver of her lip when she said his name.  Original Cindy and Kendra had known it all along.

For a whole year they had danced around the feelings they shared, trying to pull the blinds on the beacon of light that was someday going to peak through and force them to confront it.  Too late.  

'I've always known that I loved him, in some way or another…'

F l a s h b a c k

"This isn't bad." Logan said to Max after looking at the gunshot wound in her heart, his eyes betraying his words, revealing desperation and sadness.

"Logan..." She started smiling softly in spite of her injury.

"It's okay. You're going to be all right."

"I'm sorry." Max said regretfully.  

"No, no, no, no. No, we're going to get you out of here. Okay, it's going to be all right."  Logan replied trying in vain to comfort her.

"There's something I've got to tell you. I should've said something a long time ago."  She began.

"It can wait."  Logan quietly interrupted. 

"Logan..." She persisted.

"Max" He half whispered, half cried as Max's eyes rolled backwards and fell stiff and silent in his arms.

E n d  F l a s h b a c k

That night had been her last chance.  Her last chance to tell him.  To tell him that he was the one man that she would never regret loving.  Tell Logan Cale that she loved him.  The woman that had once been referred to as 'the human fog bank', the tough chick, unwilling to show feeling, black mooded girl; loved him.  Max had been about to pour out what she had kept in the core of her being for a year in three simple words.  Three simple words that held the key.  Three simple words that would give Logan the one thing she had promised never to give again.  Three simple words that would unravel the ropes she had tied tightly around it.  Melt away the cold steel that guarded it.  The one thing Manticore could never take away, she was going to give to another. 

Her Heart.         

But she had been too late.

One year.  365 days.  Not enough time.  But a tangle of paths intertwined with seconds, decisions, moments that would never have happened if done differently. Memories.

If she had not received that package to the high-rise district a year ago, she would have never met him.If Lydecker had not put up wanted posters around the city, she would never have kissed him.

If she had not been in heat on their anniversary, she would not have demonstrated to him that Manticore wasn't her; that it didn't control her.  She controlled her own actions.  Which is why she kissed him a second time.  But she hadn't explained that kiss away.  It had meant something to them that could not be taken away.   

If she had not wanted to take down Manticore, she would never have lost the heart that was not hers anymore but his.  Her heart belonged to him and him alone, even though he did not know it. 

If she had not been resurrected with the heart of her brother she would not be alive.

If she had not been alive they wouldn't have been able to deposit a virus into her veins, to course through her blood and be pumped through the heart that belonged to another.

Time.

Now.

Max soon remembered the night before, eating a culinary miracle created especially for her, Logan's eyes glinting in the light of many candles strewn around the room and the way they had been able to talk without discomfort or fear of touching.  Just enjoying themselves for the first time since Max had come back from Manticore in late September.   But most of all she remembered his soft-spoken words "Don't give up on this Max, don't give up on us".  Logan had been referring to the virus.

The same virus that flowed through her veins, carrying poison that was released by a single touch to his skin.  A "gift" from Manticore.  That had tarnished that sweet kiss. 

Shattering her heart in to tiny pieces, the moment he had fallen to the floor of the apartment.  Blue eyes that had been sparkling with love and passion, now spewing out pain and fear.    

Max snapped out of the torture her mind had brought her to endure and focused on the present.  'Don't dwell on the past Max; it's too late to un- do what's been done.  You just have to deal!'  She pushed all thoughts of the past year to the back of her mind and focused on the present.  Reminding herself that things happen and when they do you have to push yourself to find a way around it. 

"Hey Boo!" Max whipped her head around to be met with the sparkling cinnamon eyes of Original Cindy, her best friend.

"Hey" She continued walking towards her locker and Cindy fell in step beside her. 

"Wassup? Didn't catch you this mornin', figured you'd gone off to see Moneybags" She said with a half-smile on her face.

Max rolled her eyes and popped opened her locker, "I swung by Joshua's to give him some breakfast." 

"Oh" Cindy paused as Max stuffed random items into her locker, "So what sector you workin' today?"

"7" Max replied turning to face Cindy.

"Pretty boy's workin' your sector"

"Who?"  Max was still shaken by the memories that had pierced through her mind, haunting her thoughts.  She couldn't be forced in to figuring out who 'Pretty Boy" was. 

"Your boy Alec" Cindy smirked at Max's look of distaste and horror.

"Don't getcha' self all bent out of shape, Original Cindy's got yo' back. I'll handle your sector."

Max's frown blossomed into a smile, "Thanks boo"

"I knew it wasn't true."  Original Cindy muttered under her breath.

Max easily picked it up with her enhanced hearing and confused asked, "Knew what wasn't true?"

Cindy rolled her eyes, "O yeah forgot y'all revved up"

"What wasn't true?" Max persisted, her earlier thoughts forgotten for the moment.

Cindy sighed and answered with her head down, "Sketchy said he saw you at a strip club with Alec… -She paused for a moment but after a threatening look from Max she continued- said you were givin' him a show"

Max's whole body froze and stiffly she answered, "There was a transgenic inside, me and Alec- As she said his name she visibly winced- were planning on getting her out.  The only way I could get in was by acting like…a stripper."  Max looked ashamed.

But Cindy burst out laughing, "So Sketchy was wrong, he told us…

Max interrupted, "Us?  Who else did Sketchy tell?"  Her rising anger was shown in her voice and the way her eyes had taken on a murderous look.

"Well…" 

"How many people did he tell?"

Cindy still didn't answer.  Max stalked off in search of Sketchy.

She cornered him at the one working pop machine they had at Jampony and slammed him against it, pressing her forearm against his throat.

"How many people did you tell after you saw me and Alec at the strip club?"

"Um…6 or 7"

Max narrowed her eyes at him and increased the pressure on his throat.

"Ok…uh…well it was about…40" Sketchy squeezed his eyes shut and awaited the blow that was sure to come.  When no blow came he opened one eye slowly and then the other.  Max smiled and released him.  Sketchy was puzzled but he smiled, "Thanks Max" Faster than lightening he was on the floor with a large bump rising on his head and Max's foot on his neck.   

"Unless you'd like to press your luck-at this she increased the pressure of her foot on his neck-you're going to do one of two things.  One: You're going to tell each and every person you told that you suffer from a condition that makes you hallucinate.  Two:  You are also gonna tell them that this condition caused you to imagine that you saw me at the strip club with Alec.  Do you understand?"  Sketchy nodded.

"Say, I understand." Max glared at him with narrowed eyes.

"I-I understand."

With that Max removed her foot and helped Sketchy up with an outstretched hand, which he took after a moments hesitation.  He stood up, rubbing the back of his head.  Max stared at him expectantly, "What are you waitin' for?" she motioned with her hand for him to get started.  He hurried off quickly.  Max smirked. Revenge is sweet.  She thought as she watched Sketchy speaking to a group of people, picking up bits and pieces of the conversation, "-suffer from a condition-- hallucinating-- Max and Alec-- strip club"
Max walked over to the front desk where Normal stood barking out orders.  "Hot run!"  He shoved a square package into her hands and she strode out of the building, grabbing her bike and hopping on to deliver the package.

*             *             * 

The day progressed and it was the same, package after package and Sketchy telling person after person in between runs.  Until finally her last run, an extra package to be sent to the high-rise district. 

Logan.

The name popped automatically into her head. With an image along with it: piercing deep blue eyes, spiky dirty blonde hair, stubble on his chiseled jaw and smooth, masculine lips.  Lips that maddened her when they spoke words of only business, saying things that she wished could somehow turn from information in to liquid words of love and desire.  They had only started to speak words that she enjoyed hearing, words that had convinced her to believe in him.  To believe that one day not far from now, his lips could claim hers and they could be one once again.

'Should I drop by his apartment? Or not?' Max bit her lip, as she sought out the answer. 

In light of her sudden realization Max was unsure whether dropping by his place would be a good idea. 

She rolled her eyes at herself.  'It's not like he knows about…it.' 

With that, Max pedaled off to deliver the last package and drop by Logan's. 

~~~

A/N- So you like so far?  Please read and review! All reviews are appreciated. )