Disclaimer: Any characters that appear in Dark Angel are not mine. I have
no association with the show and I'm not making any money from this story
Spoilers: Season 1, Between "Camera" and "Meow." Sorry for the confusion about this. Thanks to Amy Lock for setting me straight. I got "Heat" and "Meow" confused – the titles that is. I've gone back and fixed this on the previous chapter spoilers.
Reviews: Please!
Thanks to those who've reviewed. Feedback is wonderful. Constructive criticism and suggestions are very welcome – I'm new at this.
If you like you can e-mail me at gilenagile@hotmail.com.
A/N: Wow, you guys are really keeping me on my toes – keep up the good work. For further clarification: 1) Logan has the exoskeleton but hasn't got it working yet. This is probably part of the reason why he didn't want to take this trip.
2) He has seen his grandmother since the shooting, but in Seattle not at her home.
Not too sure about this chapter but deadlines are looming at work and I need to get a move on if I'm ever going to finish this.
__________
Max followed Anna into the bedroom, taking in the white paneled walls, the lace bedspread, the simple dressing table on which rested a clear glass vase of wild flowers, and the cushioned window seat. She dropped her bags, walking toward the window as the last trace of sunlight filtered in through the old windowpanes. She stood, entranced, watching as the moonlight caught the surface of the water in its silver embrace.
"I hope you'll be comfortable here Max."
"It's perfect." The two women stared silently at the scene before them, both lost in their own thoughts.
Finally, Anna spoke." Logan is in his Granddad's old room downstairs. We had a room added there when Jim got sick. Anyway, it's at the back of the house, just follow the hallway past the sitting room." Max smiled at the woman she was beginning to quickly regard as a friend, as she extracted her running shoes from her duffle bag and slipped them on her petite feet.
Following Anna downstairs, Max stopped halfway, a picture hanging on the wall of a smiling woman with three laughing children catching her attention. The youngest had to be Logan, there was no mistaking those crystal blue eyes and disheveled blond hair. Looking back up at her Anna smiled. "Logan with his Mom and brother and sister."
"Brother?" He mentioned a sister, but I didn't know he had a brother."
Anna's face clouded, her voice tinged in sadness, "He died when Logan was eleven. The boys were playing at a quarry a couple of miles from town. Logan's brother got to close to the edge and fell onto a ledge a hundred feet below. By the time Logan got help it was to late to save him."
"And he blamed himself." Max's eyes had softened, her desire to escape forgotten for now.
"You know Logan. Many nights he'd wake up crying saying it should have been him who died. It was enough to break your heart. Truth be told, his brother was always a daredevil. He loved to scare Logan. I still think that was what he was doing when he fell. Of course, Logan never told, to this day he never speaks about it. In his eyes Ben could do no wrong." Anna stopped talking at Max's sharp intake of breath.
Max slid by Anna, a look of panic on her face. She ran unseeing into Logan, who had come around the corner from the kitchen and was sitting at the bottom of the stairs as his grandmother had finished talking. The front door slammed shut as she fled the house.
"Logan, …what did I say? Ididn't mean to upset her. I…"
"It's OK grandma."
"No it's not."
Logan couldn't stand to see her standing there looking confused and upset, and suddenly old. "Max had a brother named Ben also. He died recently." He spoke to the point, hoping to placate her with the truth, partial though it may be.
"Oh, Logan. I'm so sorry. There I was rambling on like an old fool I never thought…"
"How could you know grandma? Look, she'll be fine. She just needs some time alone to deal with it." In his heart he doubted that she would ever be fine as far as Ben was concerned. Although she hadn't spoken about what had happened he had know enough to put the pieces together. If he felt he had let his brother down, how much more must she feel like she had betrayed her's. He understood she had done what had to be done, all that she could have done. He also understood, from bitter experience, that these feelings were beyond the scope of understanding, of ever being made sense of and of ever being reconciled with.
"So grandma, did you put my superman blanket on the bed." He focused on the woman at his side, trying to put her at ease. Right now he could do little to help Max.
Anna had to laugh. "That disintegrated about twenty years ago, remember? One too many trips through the washing machine." She turned in the direction of the downstairs bedroom and he followed.
"So will the whole clan be out here over the weekend." He tried to sound casual.
"Actually, Helen and Patrick have taken their families up the Spring Fair in Glenadoon. They won't be back until Monday."
"Hope I didn't scare them off."
Anna looked a little guilty. "They decided to go before I called you." Logan raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "One of the benefits of age, I get to be a bit selfish every now and again. And if I want you all to myself for a couple of days, I'm entitled."
Logan covered the wrinkled hand resting on his shoulder with his. She always knew what to do to make him feel at ease. When he was younger, he could never figure out how she did that, if it was accident or if she knew him so well she could read his soul. He had finally realized that the ease and grace with which she treated those around her had nothing to do with accident and everything to do with design.
"Max will be all-right, won't she? Maybe I should wait up for her. " The worry was still in her eyes.
"She's had a hard life. She's not used to family and home-life and dealing with relationships, so she takes time out now and again to clear her mind. She'll be fine by morning, in fact I hope you have a lot of food in for breakfast."
Anna smiled remembering the quantity of food Max had consumed at supper. "You never mentioned how pretty she is Logan."
"Grandma, like I tell you every time you call, we're just friends."
"I know, but there's something special about her isn't there?"
You have no idea, Logan thought, as his grandmother kissed him goodnight.
Spoilers: Season 1, Between "Camera" and "Meow." Sorry for the confusion about this. Thanks to Amy Lock for setting me straight. I got "Heat" and "Meow" confused – the titles that is. I've gone back and fixed this on the previous chapter spoilers.
Reviews: Please!
Thanks to those who've reviewed. Feedback is wonderful. Constructive criticism and suggestions are very welcome – I'm new at this.
If you like you can e-mail me at gilenagile@hotmail.com.
A/N: Wow, you guys are really keeping me on my toes – keep up the good work. For further clarification: 1) Logan has the exoskeleton but hasn't got it working yet. This is probably part of the reason why he didn't want to take this trip.
2) He has seen his grandmother since the shooting, but in Seattle not at her home.
Not too sure about this chapter but deadlines are looming at work and I need to get a move on if I'm ever going to finish this.
__________
Max followed Anna into the bedroom, taking in the white paneled walls, the lace bedspread, the simple dressing table on which rested a clear glass vase of wild flowers, and the cushioned window seat. She dropped her bags, walking toward the window as the last trace of sunlight filtered in through the old windowpanes. She stood, entranced, watching as the moonlight caught the surface of the water in its silver embrace.
"I hope you'll be comfortable here Max."
"It's perfect." The two women stared silently at the scene before them, both lost in their own thoughts.
Finally, Anna spoke." Logan is in his Granddad's old room downstairs. We had a room added there when Jim got sick. Anyway, it's at the back of the house, just follow the hallway past the sitting room." Max smiled at the woman she was beginning to quickly regard as a friend, as she extracted her running shoes from her duffle bag and slipped them on her petite feet.
Following Anna downstairs, Max stopped halfway, a picture hanging on the wall of a smiling woman with three laughing children catching her attention. The youngest had to be Logan, there was no mistaking those crystal blue eyes and disheveled blond hair. Looking back up at her Anna smiled. "Logan with his Mom and brother and sister."
"Brother?" He mentioned a sister, but I didn't know he had a brother."
Anna's face clouded, her voice tinged in sadness, "He died when Logan was eleven. The boys were playing at a quarry a couple of miles from town. Logan's brother got to close to the edge and fell onto a ledge a hundred feet below. By the time Logan got help it was to late to save him."
"And he blamed himself." Max's eyes had softened, her desire to escape forgotten for now.
"You know Logan. Many nights he'd wake up crying saying it should have been him who died. It was enough to break your heart. Truth be told, his brother was always a daredevil. He loved to scare Logan. I still think that was what he was doing when he fell. Of course, Logan never told, to this day he never speaks about it. In his eyes Ben could do no wrong." Anna stopped talking at Max's sharp intake of breath.
Max slid by Anna, a look of panic on her face. She ran unseeing into Logan, who had come around the corner from the kitchen and was sitting at the bottom of the stairs as his grandmother had finished talking. The front door slammed shut as she fled the house.
"Logan, …what did I say? Ididn't mean to upset her. I…"
"It's OK grandma."
"No it's not."
Logan couldn't stand to see her standing there looking confused and upset, and suddenly old. "Max had a brother named Ben also. He died recently." He spoke to the point, hoping to placate her with the truth, partial though it may be.
"Oh, Logan. I'm so sorry. There I was rambling on like an old fool I never thought…"
"How could you know grandma? Look, she'll be fine. She just needs some time alone to deal with it." In his heart he doubted that she would ever be fine as far as Ben was concerned. Although she hadn't spoken about what had happened he had know enough to put the pieces together. If he felt he had let his brother down, how much more must she feel like she had betrayed her's. He understood she had done what had to be done, all that she could have done. He also understood, from bitter experience, that these feelings were beyond the scope of understanding, of ever being made sense of and of ever being reconciled with.
"So grandma, did you put my superman blanket on the bed." He focused on the woman at his side, trying to put her at ease. Right now he could do little to help Max.
Anna had to laugh. "That disintegrated about twenty years ago, remember? One too many trips through the washing machine." She turned in the direction of the downstairs bedroom and he followed.
"So will the whole clan be out here over the weekend." He tried to sound casual.
"Actually, Helen and Patrick have taken their families up the Spring Fair in Glenadoon. They won't be back until Monday."
"Hope I didn't scare them off."
Anna looked a little guilty. "They decided to go before I called you." Logan raised an eyebrow inquisitively. "One of the benefits of age, I get to be a bit selfish every now and again. And if I want you all to myself for a couple of days, I'm entitled."
Logan covered the wrinkled hand resting on his shoulder with his. She always knew what to do to make him feel at ease. When he was younger, he could never figure out how she did that, if it was accident or if she knew him so well she could read his soul. He had finally realized that the ease and grace with which she treated those around her had nothing to do with accident and everything to do with design.
"Max will be all-right, won't she? Maybe I should wait up for her. " The worry was still in her eyes.
"She's had a hard life. She's not used to family and home-life and dealing with relationships, so she takes time out now and again to clear her mind. She'll be fine by morning, in fact I hope you have a lot of food in for breakfast."
Anna smiled remembering the quantity of food Max had consumed at supper. "You never mentioned how pretty she is Logan."
"Grandma, like I tell you every time you call, we're just friends."
"I know, but there's something special about her isn't there?"
You have no idea, Logan thought, as his grandmother kissed him goodnight.