An Emergency Change of Command: Chapter Nineteen
by pari106
Disclaimer, etc, found in chapter one.
"What the hell was that for?"
Zack came up out of the water sputtering…for a moment. Zack, as a rule, did nothing quite so
ungraceful as sputter for any longer than he could help it.
Meanwhile, Max stood on dry land with her hands on her hips and an evil glint in her eyes.
Trying her best to keep her temper under control.
Even with her own feelings aside, this was Brin they were talking about; her sister. After all
Brin had gone through, how could Zack treat her like this? How could he treat anyone like this?
Mess around behind someone's back; talk about them like they weren't even important. She
would have expected so much better from Zack. It was unreal.
"What do you think that was for?" Max told him. "That was for Brin!"
"What?"
Zack stomped out of the lake, trying his best to keep his temper under control
"After all she's been through, you're just gonna lead her on and them dump her like that?" Max
asked, incredulously. She gave Zack a look of disgust. "I would have expected better from you,
Zack. How could you do that to her? And to me?"
"What? Wait a minute, what are you…hey!"
Zack ducked just as Max tried to send him back into the lake with a right hook, then grabbed her
arm as she tried again with a left.
"Max, will you just wait a minute! What the hell are you talking a…Damn it, Max!"
Finally, Zack realized Max could not be reasoned with using words… So he thought that
perhaps water might be a more successful tool. So he scooped Max up in his arms and turned
towards the lake.
Max immediately went still.
"Zack! Don't you dare…"
Then he tossed her in.
She came up with a yell.
"Zack!"
"Now will you tell me what the hell you're talking about?!" Zack asked, finally able to get a full
sentence in.
Max glared, pushing wet strands of hair out of her eyes. The dunking seemed to have done her
mood, however, because her anger had abated somewhat. Or perhaps it was just that she was
exhausted and couldn't rant and swim at the same time. But either way, she sighed.
"I'm talking about you and Brin, Zack…I know you're together," she confessed.
Silence followed. During which Zack simply stared at Max. And then…
Max wasn't sure what she'd expected him to do next. But laugh wasn't it.
Still, Zack laughed, as Max looked on with confusion. Then he sobered, shaking his head as he
lowered into a crouch next to the lake.
"Max…where did you get an idea like that?" he asked.
'Okay…'
"If you weren't talking about you and Brin, then who were you talking about just now?" Max
asked instead of giving an answer herself.
"I was talking about you and Logan." Zack told her, and he shook his head. "After the mission
to take down Manticore…" Zack squirmed, uncomfortable using the word "friend", but doing so
anyhow, "…we became friends, too. What made you think we were 'together'?"
Realization hit Max like a humvee. And her earlier doubts, along with Brin's words by the
fireplace, came with it.
'…the relationship we developed…' Brin had talked about her relationship with Zack. Her
"friendly* relationship? Is that what she'd been saying, after all – that she and Zack had become
friends? But then why…
"What made you think me and Logan were together?" Max asked suddenly. So Zack had been
referring to her and Logan… He thought she and Logan were together. None of this made
sense, but Max was starting to think how it might.
Meanwhile Zack looked surprised at Max's question. "Syl said you were living with him now,"
Zack replied finally, tense. He continued trying to act nonchalant as he said this, although the
very concept of Max and Logan living in the same place made his fingers itch to strangle
something.
'At ease, soldier,' he mentally commanded himself.
Max frowned and shook her head, drawing nearer to where Zack was. "Is that all Syl said?"
"Uh…" Zack squirmed again. "More or less," he told her. He'd been tossed in the lake twice
today by a woman a full head shorter than himself. And he'd been accused of dating someone he
considered his own little sister. *And* he'd been peed on. Repeatedly. That was enough
humiliation for one night – the thought of confessing that he'd been eavesdropping, and as a
soldier that he was guilty of flawed reconnaissance, as well, did not appeal at the moment.
"But Syl knows Logan and I are just friends…" Max saw the disbelieving look on Zack's face
and reached up to take his hands in hers. She held onto him, and he looked down to where their
fingers were linked. "We are just friends, Zack," she told him, drawing his eyes back to her
own. The heated look that suddenly passed between them filled the air with a chemistry that had
become muted during all the misunderstandings that had occurred throughout the night. Now the
misunderstandings were being swept away and there was nothing muted about the signals Max
and Zack were sending one another – they were loud and clear.
But Max drew back, shaking her head. "Why would Syl tell you…"
Then it occurred to her.
It wasn't so unbelievable that Syl would tell Zack she and Logan were together… Come to think
about it, Max realized she'd never told Syl that she and Logan weren't together. She'd just
assumed that it was understood. She'd told Krit… But, then, that didn't mean much. Especially
if Krit had decided to nettle Syl for developing a "crush" on Logan by keeping the information
from her. Considering the way she…
"Oh, Syl's gotta be pissed at me," Max suddenly mused aloud.
Zack frowned in confusion. "What?"
Max grinned, shaking her head. "She doesn't know about me and Logan. And she's crazy about
him."
"She's *what*?"
Zack looked so floored Max had to laugh.
Syl was crazy about *Logan*? The same Logan Max had risked death and reindoctrination for
on various occasions?
That made two sisters in the last year to succumb to the Logan Cale charm. Whatever that was.
"What the hell do you all see in him?" Zack asked with comical incredulity.
"Hey!"
With one quick movement, Max grabbed Zack by his ankles and pulled him off the pier and into
the water with herself. And she laughed as she did.
"Be nice!" she warned.
Zack shook his head, and slicked his hair back out of his eyes.
"Nice? This from the woman who's tried to drown me three times today?" he muttered. Then
he grabbed Max before she knew what he was about to do, quickly dunking her.
This time Max came up laughing, but with a gleam in her eye that promised payback.
"What the…"
But before she could make good on that threat, Zack grabbed her again, his hands on her hips,
and turned, pressing her back against one of the posts on the pier nearby. And then he kissed
her.
Max linked her legs around Zack's waist, and her arms around the post behind her, keeping them
both from going under. And she kissed Zack back with everything she had.
When Zack pulled back – to let them both breathe – she slowly smiled. And he smiled back.
Passion, but also tenderness, radiating between them.
"What I'm wondering is what I see in you," Max teased in a soft voice.
Zack's smile grew, then faded away, as a gleam entered his eyes that promised payback, as well.
But of a totally different kind than the one Max had had in mind earlier.
"Maybe I can help you out with that," he told her, in a voice turned low and suggestive.
Max laughed before Zack captured her lips with his own yet again.
'I'm sure you can,' she thought happily.
by pari106
Disclaimer, etc, found in chapter one.
"What the hell was that for?"
Zack came up out of the water sputtering…for a moment. Zack, as a rule, did nothing quite so
ungraceful as sputter for any longer than he could help it.
Meanwhile, Max stood on dry land with her hands on her hips and an evil glint in her eyes.
Trying her best to keep her temper under control.
Even with her own feelings aside, this was Brin they were talking about; her sister. After all
Brin had gone through, how could Zack treat her like this? How could he treat anyone like this?
Mess around behind someone's back; talk about them like they weren't even important. She
would have expected so much better from Zack. It was unreal.
"What do you think that was for?" Max told him. "That was for Brin!"
"What?"
Zack stomped out of the lake, trying his best to keep his temper under control
"After all she's been through, you're just gonna lead her on and them dump her like that?" Max
asked, incredulously. She gave Zack a look of disgust. "I would have expected better from you,
Zack. How could you do that to her? And to me?"
"What? Wait a minute, what are you…hey!"
Zack ducked just as Max tried to send him back into the lake with a right hook, then grabbed her
arm as she tried again with a left.
"Max, will you just wait a minute! What the hell are you talking a…Damn it, Max!"
Finally, Zack realized Max could not be reasoned with using words… So he thought that
perhaps water might be a more successful tool. So he scooped Max up in his arms and turned
towards the lake.
Max immediately went still.
"Zack! Don't you dare…"
Then he tossed her in.
She came up with a yell.
"Zack!"
"Now will you tell me what the hell you're talking about?!" Zack asked, finally able to get a full
sentence in.
Max glared, pushing wet strands of hair out of her eyes. The dunking seemed to have done her
mood, however, because her anger had abated somewhat. Or perhaps it was just that she was
exhausted and couldn't rant and swim at the same time. But either way, she sighed.
"I'm talking about you and Brin, Zack…I know you're together," she confessed.
Silence followed. During which Zack simply stared at Max. And then…
Max wasn't sure what she'd expected him to do next. But laugh wasn't it.
Still, Zack laughed, as Max looked on with confusion. Then he sobered, shaking his head as he
lowered into a crouch next to the lake.
"Max…where did you get an idea like that?" he asked.
'Okay…'
"If you weren't talking about you and Brin, then who were you talking about just now?" Max
asked instead of giving an answer herself.
"I was talking about you and Logan." Zack told her, and he shook his head. "After the mission
to take down Manticore…" Zack squirmed, uncomfortable using the word "friend", but doing so
anyhow, "…we became friends, too. What made you think we were 'together'?"
Realization hit Max like a humvee. And her earlier doubts, along with Brin's words by the
fireplace, came with it.
'…the relationship we developed…' Brin had talked about her relationship with Zack. Her
"friendly* relationship? Is that what she'd been saying, after all – that she and Zack had become
friends? But then why…
"What made you think me and Logan were together?" Max asked suddenly. So Zack had been
referring to her and Logan… He thought she and Logan were together. None of this made
sense, but Max was starting to think how it might.
Meanwhile Zack looked surprised at Max's question. "Syl said you were living with him now,"
Zack replied finally, tense. He continued trying to act nonchalant as he said this, although the
very concept of Max and Logan living in the same place made his fingers itch to strangle
something.
'At ease, soldier,' he mentally commanded himself.
Max frowned and shook her head, drawing nearer to where Zack was. "Is that all Syl said?"
"Uh…" Zack squirmed again. "More or less," he told her. He'd been tossed in the lake twice
today by a woman a full head shorter than himself. And he'd been accused of dating someone he
considered his own little sister. *And* he'd been peed on. Repeatedly. That was enough
humiliation for one night – the thought of confessing that he'd been eavesdropping, and as a
soldier that he was guilty of flawed reconnaissance, as well, did not appeal at the moment.
"But Syl knows Logan and I are just friends…" Max saw the disbelieving look on Zack's face
and reached up to take his hands in hers. She held onto him, and he looked down to where their
fingers were linked. "We are just friends, Zack," she told him, drawing his eyes back to her
own. The heated look that suddenly passed between them filled the air with a chemistry that had
become muted during all the misunderstandings that had occurred throughout the night. Now the
misunderstandings were being swept away and there was nothing muted about the signals Max
and Zack were sending one another – they were loud and clear.
But Max drew back, shaking her head. "Why would Syl tell you…"
Then it occurred to her.
It wasn't so unbelievable that Syl would tell Zack she and Logan were together… Come to think
about it, Max realized she'd never told Syl that she and Logan weren't together. She'd just
assumed that it was understood. She'd told Krit… But, then, that didn't mean much. Especially
if Krit had decided to nettle Syl for developing a "crush" on Logan by keeping the information
from her. Considering the way she…
"Oh, Syl's gotta be pissed at me," Max suddenly mused aloud.
Zack frowned in confusion. "What?"
Max grinned, shaking her head. "She doesn't know about me and Logan. And she's crazy about
him."
"She's *what*?"
Zack looked so floored Max had to laugh.
Syl was crazy about *Logan*? The same Logan Max had risked death and reindoctrination for
on various occasions?
That made two sisters in the last year to succumb to the Logan Cale charm. Whatever that was.
"What the hell do you all see in him?" Zack asked with comical incredulity.
"Hey!"
With one quick movement, Max grabbed Zack by his ankles and pulled him off the pier and into
the water with herself. And she laughed as she did.
"Be nice!" she warned.
Zack shook his head, and slicked his hair back out of his eyes.
"Nice? This from the woman who's tried to drown me three times today?" he muttered. Then
he grabbed Max before she knew what he was about to do, quickly dunking her.
This time Max came up laughing, but with a gleam in her eye that promised payback.
"What the…"
But before she could make good on that threat, Zack grabbed her again, his hands on her hips,
and turned, pressing her back against one of the posts on the pier nearby. And then he kissed
her.
Max linked her legs around Zack's waist, and her arms around the post behind her, keeping them
both from going under. And she kissed Zack back with everything she had.
When Zack pulled back – to let them both breathe – she slowly smiled. And he smiled back.
Passion, but also tenderness, radiating between them.
"What I'm wondering is what I see in you," Max teased in a soft voice.
Zack's smile grew, then faded away, as a gleam entered his eyes that promised payback, as well.
But of a totally different kind than the one Max had had in mind earlier.
"Maybe I can help you out with that," he told her, in a voice turned low and suggestive.
Max laughed before Zack captured her lips with his own yet again.
'I'm sure you can,' she thought happily.
