An Emergency Change of Command, 18
by pari106
pari106@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/pari106/damain.html
Disclaimer: See part 1; Code: M/Z, Logan/Syl; Zane, Krit, All; Rating: PG-13
A/N: Yea, Gods, an update! ? See…I told you I hadn't forgotten about this. I found
that sorting out the tangled web I wove for Max and Zack was a lot more fun, and a lot
easier, to tangle than to untangle! But I finally did something with it. Hold tight…one
more chapter to go! Thanks for stickin' around! And please review!
A/A/N: Eternal thanks to afan for betaing this :)
An Emergency Change of Command, 18
by pari106
After Zack stormed out of the cabin he headed for the lake, not really realizing it. He was just walking. Walking away. Trying to put some distance between
himself and the conversation he'd overheard between Jace and Syl.
Distance wasn't doing the trick. He just kept hearing the same words repeat over and over again
in his mind.
"Max is living with Logan…she told me herself…"
What the hell?
What the hell was going on? Max living with Logan? Zack felt like he'd fallen asleep in the middle of one of those stupid spy movies Jondy liked so much and had woken up at the very end. What the hell was Max doing?
What the hell was Zack going to do?
Zack's fists clenched and unclenched. His heart raced.
Hell, his eyes stung.
And that pissed him off.
"Max is living with Logan…she told me herself…"
But she'd also told Zack that she loved him. She hadn't denied it when he'd told her that
he'd heard.
And when she'd kissed him, in front of the lake, on the porch…she hadn't kissed him like
she was used to kissing someone else. She hadn't kissed him like she was thinking of
someone else. She hadn't held back as though she were thinking of someone else. Of
Logan.
And when Max had first approached Zack, by the lake, she'd been worried about him; relieved to see him alright, just like Krit or Syl. But it hadn't been just worry or relief that had made Max look at him the way she had.
So what had made her decide to move in with Logan while they were apart? Second thoughts before the third thoughts she'd obviously had before coming to Zane's cabin? Loneliness; uncertainty? Love? Heated looks and confessions of Love aside, Zack didn't know how Logan fit into the situation where Max's feelings were concerned. So he didn't know what the hell to think about it.
Then he realized he was walking towards the lake, and thought 'Good.' Max was there. He would ask her his questions and get this shit figured out.
But then he saw her.
She was sitting by the lake, at the end of the pier where she'd found him earlier, and she…
Was she crying?
**** ****
Max sat by the lake, just staring at the water.
Her conversation with Brin kept running through her mind.
It couldn't be true. Now that Max thought about it, she just couldn't believe it was true.
That Zack and Brin…
Max took a shaky breath, then laughed at herself.
Jeez, she was turning into a basketcase.
She had to have misunderstood.
There's no way Zack and Brin…
But then, Zack hadn't actually said anything about wanting to be with her. He'd talked
about mistakes, differences. He'd said he loved her. But what if she'd misinterpreted which kind of love he was talking about? Then Max shook her head. Even in the midst of this emotional breakdown, she felt a thrill at the thought of their kisses earlier. There was no way she'd misinterpreted those.
What had she been thinking?
Except that Zack had left with Brin. And he'd spent all this time with her.
"…I don't think he'd have been able to develop the kind of
relationship we developed if what you said hadn't made him think about doing things
differently."
Max tried to shake off the odd thoughts.
"Hey."
The soft word spoken was so unexpected that it startled Max. And she looked up, her
heart leaping into her throat when she saw that it was Zack standing beside her.
"Zack…"
He sat down by her.
"Max."
It was funny, Max had waited to be alone with Zack all night. But now that she was the
atmosphere was decidedly different than she'd expected. She wondered if all the tension
that had surrounded them was coming from just her. Or had something happened?
They just sat there a moment.
"So…" they then said, simultaneously.
They both had something to bring up, but neither knew how. Finally, Max shot with:
"Why didn't you tell me you left Seattle with Brin?"
Zack blinked. He wasn't sure if he was really expecting her to ask him anything. From
his point of view, he was the one with the questions. But this one threw him off.
"I…guess I didn't get the chance."
Max nodded. She would have said something more, but Zack beat her to it.
"Why didn't you tell me you were living with Logan?"
Zack tried to make the question sound non-accusational, but by the widening of Max's
eyes he wasn't sure that he had.
Max blinked in surprise.
"How did you find out?"
"Syl," Zack said easily. It was close enough to the truth.
Syl.
Max relaxed. Syl had told Zack. Max felt selfishly relieved to have the burden taken off
of her own shoulders. She hadn't known how to bring the subject up to him. But now Syl had taken care of all that for her. Max would have to remind herself to give Syl her undying appreciation.
But wait...
When Max would have spoken, Zack continued. "Syl said things were...different between you two, after the raid on Manticore." Which was an understatement. Things were very different. Max and Logan's relationship had gone from a badly kept secret, apparently, to a verified fact.
Zack watched Max's face fill with relief that her secret was out, and his jaw tightened. Without Max right there in front of him, Zack had been able to convince himself that anger was what
he'd been feeling the most since he learned about Logan. But now, Max did what she
always did to Zack – she stripped all the illusions away. It was hard for Zack to admit,
but it *hurt*. Knowing Max had been with Logan *hurt*. He was absolutely certain
there was no physiological basis for his pain, but it was there all the same. And as Zack watched Max, he looked at her like she held all the answers. To him, she did. She would ultimately decide where they went from here, and that
was the only question Zack cared about at the moment.
Then Max started to speak.
"I'm sorry, Zack," she told him. She knew how he felt about having things kept from
him, regardless of the fact that he kept things from others all the time. It was something
they'd have to work on. But not right now. "I should have told you. Me and Logan…"
"It doesn't matter," Zack suddenly said, cutting Max off.
"Zack…"
Zack took her hand. "What's happened in the past, Maxie, happened. But I'm not going
to let it interfere with our future." He captured her eyes with his. His future with Max was what mattered.
"I love you, Max."
Finally, those words again.
For two people who had never heard those three words enough, being able to hear and
say them now was unbelievable.
"I love you, too, Zack."
Zack pulled her into his arms and their lips met. That was all he'd been looking for. All
he'd hoped for ever since that night of the raid had been given to him with Max's
affirmation.
"I know it'll be hard, breaking off the relationship…" he told her, feeling the softness of
her hair with the side of his cheek.
Max was enjoying the feeling, as well. So much so, that she didn't hear his words right
away. Then she did.
"What do you mean?" she asked, pulling back so she could look up at him.
What relationship? Did he expect her to break off her friendship with Logan?
"I'm sorry if someone has to get hurt…," Zack was saying. He really was. He didn't
really have anything against Logan. But it was either him or Zack. "I'm sorry I ran. That I didn't stick around after the
night you told me you loved me, to work things out. If I had there wouldn't have been
anyone else between us."
Max froze. 'Anyone else between' them? A sudden realization occurred to her.
'Oh, God, he's not talking about Logan.'
"And now?" Max asked, pulling back a little. Zack sensed her tensing and tensed in
response. What had he said?
"What do you mean?" he asked, the way she had moments before.
"And now that someone has, what's next for us? And…them?"
Max frowned, trying to take everything in. She felt like she'd suddenly woken up from a
long dream to find she wasn't in the same place as she'd been when she'd dozed off…
Which was a pretty good analogy, she decided. Since she'd thought that having Zack
confess his love for her had seemed too good to be true… Had she been right in the first place? Was Zack with Brin. All this
time she'd thought they were going somewhere with the things they'd admitted to one
another this night; she'd thought they had a future together. And all this time he'd been
with Brin. Would still be with Brin tomorrow, and the day after, from the way Brin had
talked. It couldn't be over between him and her. Or if it was Brin certainly
didn't seem to know it.
Meanwhile, Zack let his gaze wonder over Max's shoulder to the scenery beyond. The
treetops and the sky… Some would call it peaceful. He realized that's what Max was to
him; his one chance at peace. And the questions didn't bother him anymore. Because even though he didn't know all the answers, he
knew the most important one. The answer to what he really wanted. What he really
wanted was Max.
Zack turned back to Max and found her watching him. He reached up and touched her
face…
"When I told you I loved you, Max, and that I wanted to be with you… I meant it. Did
you?" he asked.
Max replied with certainty. "You know I did."
Zack smiled. "Then that's all I care about. *You're* all I care about."
And that's how Zack found himself in the lake for the second time that day.
by pari106
pari106@hotmail.com
http://www.geocities.com/pari106/damain.html
Disclaimer: See part 1; Code: M/Z, Logan/Syl; Zane, Krit, All; Rating: PG-13
A/N: Yea, Gods, an update! ? See…I told you I hadn't forgotten about this. I found
that sorting out the tangled web I wove for Max and Zack was a lot more fun, and a lot
easier, to tangle than to untangle! But I finally did something with it. Hold tight…one
more chapter to go! Thanks for stickin' around! And please review!
A/A/N: Eternal thanks to afan for betaing this :)
An Emergency Change of Command, 18
by pari106
After Zack stormed out of the cabin he headed for the lake, not really realizing it. He was just walking. Walking away. Trying to put some distance between
himself and the conversation he'd overheard between Jace and Syl.
Distance wasn't doing the trick. He just kept hearing the same words repeat over and over again
in his mind.
"Max is living with Logan…she told me herself…"
What the hell?
What the hell was going on? Max living with Logan? Zack felt like he'd fallen asleep in the middle of one of those stupid spy movies Jondy liked so much and had woken up at the very end. What the hell was Max doing?
What the hell was Zack going to do?
Zack's fists clenched and unclenched. His heart raced.
Hell, his eyes stung.
And that pissed him off.
"Max is living with Logan…she told me herself…"
But she'd also told Zack that she loved him. She hadn't denied it when he'd told her that
he'd heard.
And when she'd kissed him, in front of the lake, on the porch…she hadn't kissed him like
she was used to kissing someone else. She hadn't kissed him like she was thinking of
someone else. She hadn't held back as though she were thinking of someone else. Of
Logan.
And when Max had first approached Zack, by the lake, she'd been worried about him; relieved to see him alright, just like Krit or Syl. But it hadn't been just worry or relief that had made Max look at him the way she had.
So what had made her decide to move in with Logan while they were apart? Second thoughts before the third thoughts she'd obviously had before coming to Zane's cabin? Loneliness; uncertainty? Love? Heated looks and confessions of Love aside, Zack didn't know how Logan fit into the situation where Max's feelings were concerned. So he didn't know what the hell to think about it.
Then he realized he was walking towards the lake, and thought 'Good.' Max was there. He would ask her his questions and get this shit figured out.
But then he saw her.
She was sitting by the lake, at the end of the pier where she'd found him earlier, and she…
Was she crying?
**** ****
Max sat by the lake, just staring at the water.
Her conversation with Brin kept running through her mind.
It couldn't be true. Now that Max thought about it, she just couldn't believe it was true.
That Zack and Brin…
Max took a shaky breath, then laughed at herself.
Jeez, she was turning into a basketcase.
She had to have misunderstood.
There's no way Zack and Brin…
But then, Zack hadn't actually said anything about wanting to be with her. He'd talked
about mistakes, differences. He'd said he loved her. But what if she'd misinterpreted which kind of love he was talking about? Then Max shook her head. Even in the midst of this emotional breakdown, she felt a thrill at the thought of their kisses earlier. There was no way she'd misinterpreted those.
What had she been thinking?
Except that Zack had left with Brin. And he'd spent all this time with her.
"…I don't think he'd have been able to develop the kind of
relationship we developed if what you said hadn't made him think about doing things
differently."
Max tried to shake off the odd thoughts.
"Hey."
The soft word spoken was so unexpected that it startled Max. And she looked up, her
heart leaping into her throat when she saw that it was Zack standing beside her.
"Zack…"
He sat down by her.
"Max."
It was funny, Max had waited to be alone with Zack all night. But now that she was the
atmosphere was decidedly different than she'd expected. She wondered if all the tension
that had surrounded them was coming from just her. Or had something happened?
They just sat there a moment.
"So…" they then said, simultaneously.
They both had something to bring up, but neither knew how. Finally, Max shot with:
"Why didn't you tell me you left Seattle with Brin?"
Zack blinked. He wasn't sure if he was really expecting her to ask him anything. From
his point of view, he was the one with the questions. But this one threw him off.
"I…guess I didn't get the chance."
Max nodded. She would have said something more, but Zack beat her to it.
"Why didn't you tell me you were living with Logan?"
Zack tried to make the question sound non-accusational, but by the widening of Max's
eyes he wasn't sure that he had.
Max blinked in surprise.
"How did you find out?"
"Syl," Zack said easily. It was close enough to the truth.
Syl.
Max relaxed. Syl had told Zack. Max felt selfishly relieved to have the burden taken off
of her own shoulders. She hadn't known how to bring the subject up to him. But now Syl had taken care of all that for her. Max would have to remind herself to give Syl her undying appreciation.
But wait...
When Max would have spoken, Zack continued. "Syl said things were...different between you two, after the raid on Manticore." Which was an understatement. Things were very different. Max and Logan's relationship had gone from a badly kept secret, apparently, to a verified fact.
Zack watched Max's face fill with relief that her secret was out, and his jaw tightened. Without Max right there in front of him, Zack had been able to convince himself that anger was what
he'd been feeling the most since he learned about Logan. But now, Max did what she
always did to Zack – she stripped all the illusions away. It was hard for Zack to admit,
but it *hurt*. Knowing Max had been with Logan *hurt*. He was absolutely certain
there was no physiological basis for his pain, but it was there all the same. And as Zack watched Max, he looked at her like she held all the answers. To him, she did. She would ultimately decide where they went from here, and that
was the only question Zack cared about at the moment.
Then Max started to speak.
"I'm sorry, Zack," she told him. She knew how he felt about having things kept from
him, regardless of the fact that he kept things from others all the time. It was something
they'd have to work on. But not right now. "I should have told you. Me and Logan…"
"It doesn't matter," Zack suddenly said, cutting Max off.
"Zack…"
Zack took her hand. "What's happened in the past, Maxie, happened. But I'm not going
to let it interfere with our future." He captured her eyes with his. His future with Max was what mattered.
"I love you, Max."
Finally, those words again.
For two people who had never heard those three words enough, being able to hear and
say them now was unbelievable.
"I love you, too, Zack."
Zack pulled her into his arms and their lips met. That was all he'd been looking for. All
he'd hoped for ever since that night of the raid had been given to him with Max's
affirmation.
"I know it'll be hard, breaking off the relationship…" he told her, feeling the softness of
her hair with the side of his cheek.
Max was enjoying the feeling, as well. So much so, that she didn't hear his words right
away. Then she did.
"What do you mean?" she asked, pulling back so she could look up at him.
What relationship? Did he expect her to break off her friendship with Logan?
"I'm sorry if someone has to get hurt…," Zack was saying. He really was. He didn't
really have anything against Logan. But it was either him or Zack. "I'm sorry I ran. That I didn't stick around after the
night you told me you loved me, to work things out. If I had there wouldn't have been
anyone else between us."
Max froze. 'Anyone else between' them? A sudden realization occurred to her.
'Oh, God, he's not talking about Logan.'
"And now?" Max asked, pulling back a little. Zack sensed her tensing and tensed in
response. What had he said?
"What do you mean?" he asked, the way she had moments before.
"And now that someone has, what's next for us? And…them?"
Max frowned, trying to take everything in. She felt like she'd suddenly woken up from a
long dream to find she wasn't in the same place as she'd been when she'd dozed off…
Which was a pretty good analogy, she decided. Since she'd thought that having Zack
confess his love for her had seemed too good to be true… Had she been right in the first place? Was Zack with Brin. All this
time she'd thought they were going somewhere with the things they'd admitted to one
another this night; she'd thought they had a future together. And all this time he'd been
with Brin. Would still be with Brin tomorrow, and the day after, from the way Brin had
talked. It couldn't be over between him and her. Or if it was Brin certainly
didn't seem to know it.
Meanwhile, Zack let his gaze wonder over Max's shoulder to the scenery beyond. The
treetops and the sky… Some would call it peaceful. He realized that's what Max was to
him; his one chance at peace. And the questions didn't bother him anymore. Because even though he didn't know all the answers, he
knew the most important one. The answer to what he really wanted. What he really
wanted was Max.
Zack turned back to Max and found her watching him. He reached up and touched her
face…
"When I told you I loved you, Max, and that I wanted to be with you… I meant it. Did
you?" he asked.
Max replied with certainty. "You know I did."
Zack smiled. "Then that's all I care about. *You're* all I care about."
And that's how Zack found himself in the lake for the second time that day.
