A/N: Ahhh sorry it took so long, you guys! There's been much hectic-ness in my life and, well, I'm having some trouble putting together the last few chapters. Many many apologies.

I should have it done by next Friday, though. In fact, I'm pushing for next Friday cuz I want to qualify for the Pulse Awards, lol. Love them, for they shall help provide you with quicker updates! Tee hee.

Anywho...the purpose of this chapter is pretty to clear some things up, so be confuzzled no more.
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"...so I changed my name from Kristina Santos to Deleana Hererra and I've managed to keep one step ahead of them ever since. Until now, that is."

She sucked in an emotional breath and looked down into her coffee cup, the liquid within certainly cold by now. It rested between shaky palms that she no longer trusted and so after a quick gulp she rested it safely on the end table by which she sat.

For nearly half an hour she had been sitting anxiously in this armchair in the apartment of the great Eyes Only himself, going quietly over the events that had led to now; her reasons for entering the program, Manticore's idea to keep the surrogates indefinitely for future use, the escape of she and four others with the help of a sympathetic guard. And it had been difficult to relate it all but she had gotten through it, relieved to have finally found an outlet for everything she had kept inside for so long and overjoyed, of course, to have finally found her daughter. Since the first time she had felt Max kick - hard and strong like the woman who now sat before her on the edge of the couch - she had known a driving and intense brand of motherly love. And since she had given birth, gone through the motions but never allowed even the chance to hold the child that should undeniably be hers, she had wanted to rescue that child and become a family. She had known at that point what kind of life Max would be forced into and for the first couple of years all that mattered was taking her away from it. So now she was proud. Her efforts might have failed, but Max had gotten out anyway and learned to be human on her own, and for that Deleana loved her all the more.

That's who she was now; Deleana. Kristina had been left in the mock-up of a doctor's office in which she had waited before the nightmare began. The road to Deleana was paved with misery but it must accepted. Who she had become must be accepted.

She raised her eyes to meet those of Max, the daughter for whom she had longed for so long, who leaned furtively toward her as Eyes Only tenderly rubbed her back and looked as though he felt wholly out of place - which he did. For Max he had finally allowed Deleana to come here, for Max he had forsaken his identity, for Max he now sat as what amounted to an awkward bystander. Some pretty heavy-duty stuff was involved, stuff with which he would have to deal if he expected to keep Deleana safe, but the sharing between she and Max that had gone on for the last hour or so seemed a very personal thing and he didn't think he belonged. Reverently, he had moved to stand and walk away and leave the two women alone, but Max had grabbed his hand and implored that he stay, "for support." Yeah right; he felt more like a third leg, a nuisance.

Max was thankful for his presence, however; it was hard to feel but just his being there somehow gave her the strength to do so. And now she reached for the hand of her mother, her MOTHER, and squeezed it and was so overcome that she had to lean back slightly into Logan and borrow composure from him. It was remarkable and unbelievable and wonderful and terrifying, the revealations that compounded and filled this day; she had a mother, a real mother who cared about her and now she knew her and as it turns out they'd even met once before this. This woman had risked severity to see Max, and though it had grown quite foggy Max still held the memory of that meeting deep in the catacombs of her mind.

"I...I remember you," she eventually whispered, still holding her mother's hand. "That night in the hall when you came to see me, after I came back late from a lesson."

Deleana shook her head in disbelief. "How could you remember that? You couldn't have been much older than two."

"Remember what I am, Mom," Max replied simply with a sad, ironic smile. Deleana smiled in the same manner.

"Oh...right."

"I was always so confused about it," Max continued as the events of that night came flooding back. "I thought I made a new friend, and I couldn't understand why they dragged you away and why you were screaming. Someone grabbed me and pulled me into my barracks and then he smacked me and told me I was only supposed to talk to officers and medical personnel. I asked him about you and why I wasn't supposed to talk to you, and he smacked me again and told me if I wanted to be a good soldier I had to mind my own business. So that's what I did. I put it out of my mind and I didn't think about it again until you showed up. I guess...in some ways, I recognized you at the library, but I didn't really pay attention to that cuz it never seemed important."

"I recognized you, too. I thought I was just going crazy, though. And I didn't wanna say anything because I was afraid it was a trap or that you'd think I was crazy and wouldn't want to deal with me anymore."

"I'd never do that," Max assured her quietly. "Well...maybe I would've like a year ago, but..." She looked over her shoulder to glance adoringly at Logan and he filled with pride and love as Deleana assessed their relationship, as she'd been doing the entire time. They seemed to compliment each other well and she was happy that Max had found this, something Deleana herself would probably never get to have. It was too risky and would involve too much drama and it was too late for her to start looking, anyway. She hadn't seriously persued a romantic relationship since high school and now she was pretty much okay with the idea of never having one. Besides, now she had a daughter to love and a legend to cherish and that would be enough.

She smiled at the way the couple looked at each other and then let her gaze fall upon the rest of the apartment, lingering specifically on a room which opened to the hallway and which she was in perfect position to see clearly. The bathtub beckoned to her and she tried to remember the last time she had actually been in one; she must have been only six or seven. Longing both for the relaxation that such were rumored to deliver and for something to remind her of a time when life didn't seem so much like a rotten, endless chore, she stood rather abruptly and grinned sheepishly at Logan.

"Well, if you don't mind...I think I'm going to take a bath. That's all right, isn't it?" she asked, feeling extraordinarily young and silly.

"Go right ahead," Logan replied with a smile and chuckled lightly at the way she headed almost giddily to the bathroom. Then he settled back into the couch and let Max settle into him, relishing the comfort brought by the heat of her body against his. He wouldn't let on, but he was relieved that Deleana had left and that now they were alone, for the same reasons he himself had wanted to leave before. In some ways, he supposed he felt like this because he couldn't really relate to either of them; that, afterall, was one of the reasons he was so uncomfortable with having Zack around. It was obvious how Zack really felt, and since he not only knew Max's history but had also experienced much of it right along with her, if ever he decided to let himself feel Logan feared that it would be to him that Max would run. Whereas Logan could only listen and nod, Zack could actually offer sound advice when Max was having the kind of problem that only transgenics have because he himself was a transgenic. And that scared Logan more than he liked to admit.

As she snuggled against him and smiled contentedly into his neck, though, he realized how silly he was being and tried to shake away the feeling of being left out. He might not be able to relate to her, but it was clear that she wanted him around and that she wanted him to be a part of her broken world. Why couldn't he just accept that and quit acting like a self-pitying fool?

"Thank you," she whispered suddenly. He moved his hand up to tangle in her hair.

"For what?"

"For letting her stay here," she answered. "I know you aren't too cool with it."

He tensed slightly but not enough to cause alarm; he wasn't acting that weird about the whole thing, was he? "Well...she's your mother. It's the least I could do."

She let out a quick, girlish giggle. "Such short notice, too, you poor thing. After we pulled ourselves together, I practically dragged her outta there. I didn't even call 'till we were halfway here. I started dialing on the motorcycle but she flipped out and made me pull over."

"Good thing, too. Wouldn't want you to be road kill."

"Yeah, that would kinda suck, wouldn't it?" she quipped. "Aw shit...ya know, I just realized I was in such a rush that we left all her stuff back at the safe house."

"Guess you'll have to bring her back to get it then." It was a pathetically obvious thing to say and he felt lame for it, but oh well. She was trailing her finger down his chest and lightly nuzzling his neck and that was all that mattered at the moment.

"Mmm hmm," she mumbled. "But, in the meantime..." She then nipped his skin lightly and slipped her hand under his sweater and though he felt himself respond, a wary eye wandered toward the closed bathroom door, his mind rebelling against his nerves.

"Max...your mom," he breathed as her tongue darted out to circle his ear. It always seemed to come to this...he couldn't remember ever having been in a relationship like this, where they seemed never able to get enough of one another, and for some reason that excited him all the more.

Max chuckled. "What, you think she's gonna draw the bath, get in, say 'well that was nice' and get out all in the course of five minutes? We have plenty of time."

He shook his head and then gave in, turning to claim her lips and sweeping her mouth before pulling away with a smile. "Max, you are insatiable."

She put on a feline grin for him and hoisted herself up to straddle his lap. "What can I say? If life is a bathtub, sex with you is the water..."