Part ten
AN: Thanks to Dancinstar: her betaing skills are amazing and her support is very much appreciated.
By the time they reached the cabin, the tension had become unbearable for both of them. This was the place where they had shared their first kiss, the kiss that had expressed all the emotions they had buried deep inside - friendship, respect, desire, passion, love . hurt. Now all of it seemed an eternity away: their chances of finally being together were at an all-time low.
Memories, awkward feelings and heated spirits stopped being important as Max and Logan glanced at the open cabin door, fleetingly taking note of Sam's car in the driveway.
Max went in first, but not before shooting a disapproving glare at Logan's drawn gun. She found the main room of the cabin empty, shattered vials and dismembered equipment strewn everywhere.
Logan silently picked up the phone that had fallen to the floor and placed it on the nearby table. He began to look through the mess, searching for any clues that would tell him what might have happened to Natalie and Sam.
Suddenly an eerie sensation took hold of him. Every muscle in his back tensed, every little hair on his neck stood up at attention. Something told him he was being watched. Natural instinct told him to run to run, but he stopped in his tracks. He debated whether he should quickly turn around to confront his adversary or continue searching as if nothing was wrong.
Deciding for the first option, he jerked his head around. Blue eyes met brown.
He sighed in relief. Max. It was just Max. Then why had he felt like prey about to be swallowed by a giant predator?
"Have you found anything ?", Logan tried to concentrate.
But she just continued staring and he couldn't help feeling ogled.
"Max, we need to find them, help me out here. I need you..."
"Yeah, me too", she murmured.
Logan felt his cheeks grow hot and threw her an embarrassed look.
"What ?" she snapped only seconds later, noticing Logan's befuddled expression. "I'm looking".
Puzzled, Logan tried to decipher her mood. The way she was looking at him ... could it be ? She knew the dangers of the virus, she wouldn't stare like that unless...
"God, Max, stay with me here. Are you in heat ?"
"I'm not hot, but you seem to be".
With an almost desperate gesture, Logan ploughed a hand through his already messy hair. Of all the times this could have happened...
She squirmed, unable to peel her gaze away from his hand.
"What can I do?" But as soon as the words were out, he realized his mistake.
She started moving towards him.
"Max, get a grip! We need to find Natalie and the cure and then we can spend the rest of our lives in this cabin as far as I'm concerned."
She continued to approach him with light, liquid steps, her deep brown eyes never leaving his.
"Max !"
It was like trying to reason with a cobra. Or a panther. A tiger ? She was none of those. It's just Max, he tried to tell his panicky heart. Hell, who was he trying to fool ? There was no such thing as "just Max".
Her slow movement forward seemed so. right. The scene of their one dance together flashed before his eyes, sweeping him away in a blissful whirl. He forgot to breathe, losing himself in the dizzying depths of her eyes. She was his angel, his Max, and he belonged to her, body and soul. It was Max, his Max, his dark angel, gracious, beautiful Max, Max, Max.
It was the slight purr mere feet away from him that jolted him out of the admirative stance.
Shit! He had no choice. With a jerky move he grabbed the water pitcher on the table and threw its contents at her, careful not to get wet with any of the liquid that had touched her.
No matter how serious the situation, the wet cat look on her face as water dripped down the curly strands of her hair was too much even for level- headed Logan. He broke into a light chuckle, to which the thoroughly humiliated Max responded with a killer panther glare.
"You better stop laughing before I kick your ass, virus or no virus. Stop checking me out and start looking for clues."
The passion she put into her anger didn't cover the state of her rebellious hormones.
"Ditto, Max," Logan answered and turned his back to her. It might not have been a smart move, but the sight of her pouty lips curled in rage and the water droplets slipping down the curve of her neck were doing things to him he didn't want to acknowledge. Besides, he could barely suppress a mad bout of laughter as it was. Seeing her shake her curly head to get rid of the water would only make things worse.
Max felt her cheeks grow even redder than before. Being in the same room with Logan reminded her too much of the humiliation. She went out to the front porch, disregarding his furtive glance at her backside. Let him look for clues. *She* needed to clear her head.
Seeing the cabin again had sent waves upon waves of memories to her. She and Logan, they had always been like that: he blah-blah woof-woofed all the time, concerned about the fate of humans, while she prowled the roofs of Seattle, looking out for her own well being. She had never been designed to be man's best friend. But that one kiss through the window of a car had changed everything. His world had become hers and her world had intruded upon his, everything merging into that one desperately passionate exchange.
She had meant it as "good-bye", as "thank you", as a token of what she would always feel for him wherever in the world she might be. She hadn't counted on it tearing down her perimeter defenses and dispelling the fog bank. She hadn't known that with one kiss she would forever take leave of her Manticore-bred carelessness. They should have warned her. One kiss could induce the loss of your heart. Too bad those things didn't come with an instruction manual. Or maybe she had counted on a certain immunity, considering that Manticore had exchanged the defective part with Zack's.
"Yes, Max, think mechanics", she murmured to herself. Spare parts, anatomy ? No! Mechanics! It was no use. The warm, fuzzy feeling was still there, even though she felt she had mastered her hormones enough to be near Logan again.
With a last look at the surroundings, Max frowned. There were no signs of a vehicle recently passing by. Sam's car was still there and Natalie didn't have one. How had they gotten away with two hostages ? Unless there were no hostages... She shivered.
She was just about to voice her concerns when Logan called from the backyard.
Max surrounded the house in no time. She forcefully threw open the door to the wooden shack behind the cabin only to be greeted by the sight of Logan bent over Sam. Max slowly wet her parched lips, losing focus on anything else but the gorgeous display in front of her.
"Max, help me untie him!"
Logan's fingers were trembling and he felt he couldn't control his anxiety anymore. In his state it would probably take forever before Dr. Carr got free. The older man didn't seem to be seriously hurt, but he wasn't conscious either.
Alas, it seemed Max wasn't much better on the job than him. In such a confined space seconds trickled by like eons before they were able to break him free and haul him to the couch in front of the fireplace. The man's pulse was strong and regular. There were no signs of injuries. Why wasn't he waking up ?
Logan was startled from his musings by a sudden move from Max. She had risen from her chair and approached Sam. After feeling for his pulse she began to shake his head back and forth, lightly slapping him here and there.
For a few seconds, Logan felt an incredible surge of anger washing over him. What was she doing? Her curls were brushing Sam's face ! That would have to wake up even the dead! He wasn't used to being jealous and in this situation it seemed ridiculous. But he just couldn't help himself. After wondering briefly if he should use the water pitcher on both Sam and Max, Logan got a grip on himself. He noticed that the slaps Max was dishing out were not of the gentle kind. In fact, her eyes blazed with despair and frustration. He should probably intervene before she bruised Sam more than his attacker had.
Just then, the doctor opened his eyes and closed them immediately as a rather rough slap made contact with his cheek.
"Max, stop, you'll just knock him out again."
"Ouch! Max, is that you ?"
Dr. Carr carefully opened his eyes again, simultaneously raising his hands to the face as if to block any more blows. But this time Max helped him get up to a seated position and Logan offered him a glass of water.
"Sam, are you all right ?"
"I guess so. I feel like I overslept."
"You mean you were just taking a nap bound and gagged on the floor of the shack?", Max retorted. "Maybe we should have left you there to dream."
Amazed by the resentment in her voice, Sam looked at Logan. "What happened to her?"
"Don't mind her, she's just upset that Natalie is nowhere to be found. What happened?"
Sam frowned, his eyebrows almost uniting. He hesitated: "I don't remember. I don't know what happened. It's all very foggy. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, the story of my life." Max felt an inexplicable bout of anger grip her. "Call me when you know something", she spat without even looking at Logan and went out to sit on the porch.
Embarrassed, Logan tried to make amends. "Sorry for that, she is just not herself today." Sam nodded absently.
"What is the last thing you remember?", he prodded.
Sam leaned back on the couch and eyed Logan wearily.
"Natalie called me. She was very excited. She said she had found something highly unusual."
"You mean other than the genetically engineered DNA?"
"You remember, I said I had no idea if the virus could be cured. It keeps mutating and everything we apply grows useless when the virus adapts after a few hours."
"Yes.". Logan was getting impatient.
"Well, Natalie wanted me to bring previous samples of the virus and the notes I had taken. She said it eerily resembled something she had worked on before."
"And ?"
"And I grabbed the samples and came over. I don't remember arriving or anything after that."
Logan could barely contain his disappointment. By now he could understand why Max had chosen to step out before getting violent. He had to keep in mind that Sam was the good guy. However, that didn't mean his memory loss was any less annoying.
Sam looked at Logan and cringed at the pain he could read in the younger man's features. He tried again to remember, but everything was so fuzzy. It seemed like he was just about to spell out what had happened when everything retreated into a black fog of nothingness. If it was frustrating for him, he could imagine what Logan felt. And somehow, he was glad Max was not around right now.
Logan decided to try again.
"Sam, you are the neurologist. You know best how memory loss functions. Do you have any ideas on how that could have occurred? I mean, did you hit your head?"
"Not that I remember." Sam cringed again. This was more than embarrassing. And by now he could almost feel the pain emanating from Logan.
"Maybe if we found something to physically remind you of the moment of your arrival...", Logan mused. "Can you get up ?"
Sam shakily got on his feet and stretched. At Logan's concerned look, he hurried to reassure him: "I'm fine."
Logan nodded, his eyebrows knit together.
"Let's see, what do your notes look like, help me find them. The samples, too."
"It's a notebook with a brown cover. It's pretty worn out."
"Max, could you get over here and help us, please ?!"
Logan wasn't sure he did the right thing calling her back in, but he imagined doing something would help her more than just sitting out there moaning over spilt milk.
She came in, still flushed, her eyes bright with something Logan refused to identify. At least she had calmed down.
"Anything?" Her voice was subdued. Nothing of the predatory wild cat remained in her stance.
"No. But we're looking for a brown notebook. I figured six eyes were better than my eyes only." Logan gulped at his lapse as well as at the large smile she gave him before starting to rummage through the piles upon piles of paper strewn around.
Sam sported a puzzled look on his face and then he suddenly grinned.
"Wait, I remember asking Natalie about Eyes Only."
Both Max and Logan froze at that statement.
"We were over there at the table, she was telling me something about hormones and I asked her if she had ever met Eyes Only."
"And?", both Max and Logan exclaimed at once.
Sam contemplated them both for a moment, before his intense look fell on Logan and he made a decision he knew he would never regret.
"I probably remember this because it came as a shock. She said he was a great guy and if she were any younger she wouldn't let him slip away". Sam continued to observe the two people in front of him, watching how one grew quite flushed, if not beet red, and how the other's eyes became slits through which angry blazes flared.
Logan caught himself first. "What did you say those samples looked like ? I found some stuff over here."
Sam did not feel guilty for his lie. Not one second. Memory is a tricky thing. You try to remember something and search for it with all your might, only to be rewarded with other details, completely uncalled for, suddenly clicking into place. Natalie had indeed mentioned that Eyes Only was a great guy, but she hadn't elaborated on it. Sam didn't know what had prompted him to add to that and observe their reactions. It was enough that he had.
He approached Logan, careful not to let anything slip out again.
"Yes, these are the samples I brought over." Seeing that Logan had reached for them, he almost yelled: "Pay attention with that, you don't want to touch it !" He grabbed the slides from next to Logan and glared at him for his carelessness.
Hearing the commotion, Max looked up and bestowed upon Logan another glance that seemed to seductively whisper:
"Next time you want to get close to that virus, just come to me, ok?"
Logan shivered. He sure hoped her heat was not something transmissible. He probably wouldn't survive it.
AN: Thanks to Dancinstar: her betaing skills are amazing and her support is very much appreciated.
By the time they reached the cabin, the tension had become unbearable for both of them. This was the place where they had shared their first kiss, the kiss that had expressed all the emotions they had buried deep inside - friendship, respect, desire, passion, love . hurt. Now all of it seemed an eternity away: their chances of finally being together were at an all-time low.
Memories, awkward feelings and heated spirits stopped being important as Max and Logan glanced at the open cabin door, fleetingly taking note of Sam's car in the driveway.
Max went in first, but not before shooting a disapproving glare at Logan's drawn gun. She found the main room of the cabin empty, shattered vials and dismembered equipment strewn everywhere.
Logan silently picked up the phone that had fallen to the floor and placed it on the nearby table. He began to look through the mess, searching for any clues that would tell him what might have happened to Natalie and Sam.
Suddenly an eerie sensation took hold of him. Every muscle in his back tensed, every little hair on his neck stood up at attention. Something told him he was being watched. Natural instinct told him to run to run, but he stopped in his tracks. He debated whether he should quickly turn around to confront his adversary or continue searching as if nothing was wrong.
Deciding for the first option, he jerked his head around. Blue eyes met brown.
He sighed in relief. Max. It was just Max. Then why had he felt like prey about to be swallowed by a giant predator?
"Have you found anything ?", Logan tried to concentrate.
But she just continued staring and he couldn't help feeling ogled.
"Max, we need to find them, help me out here. I need you..."
"Yeah, me too", she murmured.
Logan felt his cheeks grow hot and threw her an embarrassed look.
"What ?" she snapped only seconds later, noticing Logan's befuddled expression. "I'm looking".
Puzzled, Logan tried to decipher her mood. The way she was looking at him ... could it be ? She knew the dangers of the virus, she wouldn't stare like that unless...
"God, Max, stay with me here. Are you in heat ?"
"I'm not hot, but you seem to be".
With an almost desperate gesture, Logan ploughed a hand through his already messy hair. Of all the times this could have happened...
She squirmed, unable to peel her gaze away from his hand.
"What can I do?" But as soon as the words were out, he realized his mistake.
She started moving towards him.
"Max, get a grip! We need to find Natalie and the cure and then we can spend the rest of our lives in this cabin as far as I'm concerned."
She continued to approach him with light, liquid steps, her deep brown eyes never leaving his.
"Max !"
It was like trying to reason with a cobra. Or a panther. A tiger ? She was none of those. It's just Max, he tried to tell his panicky heart. Hell, who was he trying to fool ? There was no such thing as "just Max".
Her slow movement forward seemed so. right. The scene of their one dance together flashed before his eyes, sweeping him away in a blissful whirl. He forgot to breathe, losing himself in the dizzying depths of her eyes. She was his angel, his Max, and he belonged to her, body and soul. It was Max, his Max, his dark angel, gracious, beautiful Max, Max, Max.
It was the slight purr mere feet away from him that jolted him out of the admirative stance.
Shit! He had no choice. With a jerky move he grabbed the water pitcher on the table and threw its contents at her, careful not to get wet with any of the liquid that had touched her.
No matter how serious the situation, the wet cat look on her face as water dripped down the curly strands of her hair was too much even for level- headed Logan. He broke into a light chuckle, to which the thoroughly humiliated Max responded with a killer panther glare.
"You better stop laughing before I kick your ass, virus or no virus. Stop checking me out and start looking for clues."
The passion she put into her anger didn't cover the state of her rebellious hormones.
"Ditto, Max," Logan answered and turned his back to her. It might not have been a smart move, but the sight of her pouty lips curled in rage and the water droplets slipping down the curve of her neck were doing things to him he didn't want to acknowledge. Besides, he could barely suppress a mad bout of laughter as it was. Seeing her shake her curly head to get rid of the water would only make things worse.
Max felt her cheeks grow even redder than before. Being in the same room with Logan reminded her too much of the humiliation. She went out to the front porch, disregarding his furtive glance at her backside. Let him look for clues. *She* needed to clear her head.
Seeing the cabin again had sent waves upon waves of memories to her. She and Logan, they had always been like that: he blah-blah woof-woofed all the time, concerned about the fate of humans, while she prowled the roofs of Seattle, looking out for her own well being. She had never been designed to be man's best friend. But that one kiss through the window of a car had changed everything. His world had become hers and her world had intruded upon his, everything merging into that one desperately passionate exchange.
She had meant it as "good-bye", as "thank you", as a token of what she would always feel for him wherever in the world she might be. She hadn't counted on it tearing down her perimeter defenses and dispelling the fog bank. She hadn't known that with one kiss she would forever take leave of her Manticore-bred carelessness. They should have warned her. One kiss could induce the loss of your heart. Too bad those things didn't come with an instruction manual. Or maybe she had counted on a certain immunity, considering that Manticore had exchanged the defective part with Zack's.
"Yes, Max, think mechanics", she murmured to herself. Spare parts, anatomy ? No! Mechanics! It was no use. The warm, fuzzy feeling was still there, even though she felt she had mastered her hormones enough to be near Logan again.
With a last look at the surroundings, Max frowned. There were no signs of a vehicle recently passing by. Sam's car was still there and Natalie didn't have one. How had they gotten away with two hostages ? Unless there were no hostages... She shivered.
She was just about to voice her concerns when Logan called from the backyard.
Max surrounded the house in no time. She forcefully threw open the door to the wooden shack behind the cabin only to be greeted by the sight of Logan bent over Sam. Max slowly wet her parched lips, losing focus on anything else but the gorgeous display in front of her.
"Max, help me untie him!"
Logan's fingers were trembling and he felt he couldn't control his anxiety anymore. In his state it would probably take forever before Dr. Carr got free. The older man didn't seem to be seriously hurt, but he wasn't conscious either.
Alas, it seemed Max wasn't much better on the job than him. In such a confined space seconds trickled by like eons before they were able to break him free and haul him to the couch in front of the fireplace. The man's pulse was strong and regular. There were no signs of injuries. Why wasn't he waking up ?
Logan was startled from his musings by a sudden move from Max. She had risen from her chair and approached Sam. After feeling for his pulse she began to shake his head back and forth, lightly slapping him here and there.
For a few seconds, Logan felt an incredible surge of anger washing over him. What was she doing? Her curls were brushing Sam's face ! That would have to wake up even the dead! He wasn't used to being jealous and in this situation it seemed ridiculous. But he just couldn't help himself. After wondering briefly if he should use the water pitcher on both Sam and Max, Logan got a grip on himself. He noticed that the slaps Max was dishing out were not of the gentle kind. In fact, her eyes blazed with despair and frustration. He should probably intervene before she bruised Sam more than his attacker had.
Just then, the doctor opened his eyes and closed them immediately as a rather rough slap made contact with his cheek.
"Max, stop, you'll just knock him out again."
"Ouch! Max, is that you ?"
Dr. Carr carefully opened his eyes again, simultaneously raising his hands to the face as if to block any more blows. But this time Max helped him get up to a seated position and Logan offered him a glass of water.
"Sam, are you all right ?"
"I guess so. I feel like I overslept."
"You mean you were just taking a nap bound and gagged on the floor of the shack?", Max retorted. "Maybe we should have left you there to dream."
Amazed by the resentment in her voice, Sam looked at Logan. "What happened to her?"
"Don't mind her, she's just upset that Natalie is nowhere to be found. What happened?"
Sam frowned, his eyebrows almost uniting. He hesitated: "I don't remember. I don't know what happened. It's all very foggy. I'm sorry."
"Yeah, the story of my life." Max felt an inexplicable bout of anger grip her. "Call me when you know something", she spat without even looking at Logan and went out to sit on the porch.
Embarrassed, Logan tried to make amends. "Sorry for that, she is just not herself today." Sam nodded absently.
"What is the last thing you remember?", he prodded.
Sam leaned back on the couch and eyed Logan wearily.
"Natalie called me. She was very excited. She said she had found something highly unusual."
"You mean other than the genetically engineered DNA?"
"You remember, I said I had no idea if the virus could be cured. It keeps mutating and everything we apply grows useless when the virus adapts after a few hours."
"Yes.". Logan was getting impatient.
"Well, Natalie wanted me to bring previous samples of the virus and the notes I had taken. She said it eerily resembled something she had worked on before."
"And ?"
"And I grabbed the samples and came over. I don't remember arriving or anything after that."
Logan could barely contain his disappointment. By now he could understand why Max had chosen to step out before getting violent. He had to keep in mind that Sam was the good guy. However, that didn't mean his memory loss was any less annoying.
Sam looked at Logan and cringed at the pain he could read in the younger man's features. He tried again to remember, but everything was so fuzzy. It seemed like he was just about to spell out what had happened when everything retreated into a black fog of nothingness. If it was frustrating for him, he could imagine what Logan felt. And somehow, he was glad Max was not around right now.
Logan decided to try again.
"Sam, you are the neurologist. You know best how memory loss functions. Do you have any ideas on how that could have occurred? I mean, did you hit your head?"
"Not that I remember." Sam cringed again. This was more than embarrassing. And by now he could almost feel the pain emanating from Logan.
"Maybe if we found something to physically remind you of the moment of your arrival...", Logan mused. "Can you get up ?"
Sam shakily got on his feet and stretched. At Logan's concerned look, he hurried to reassure him: "I'm fine."
Logan nodded, his eyebrows knit together.
"Let's see, what do your notes look like, help me find them. The samples, too."
"It's a notebook with a brown cover. It's pretty worn out."
"Max, could you get over here and help us, please ?!"
Logan wasn't sure he did the right thing calling her back in, but he imagined doing something would help her more than just sitting out there moaning over spilt milk.
She came in, still flushed, her eyes bright with something Logan refused to identify. At least she had calmed down.
"Anything?" Her voice was subdued. Nothing of the predatory wild cat remained in her stance.
"No. But we're looking for a brown notebook. I figured six eyes were better than my eyes only." Logan gulped at his lapse as well as at the large smile she gave him before starting to rummage through the piles upon piles of paper strewn around.
Sam sported a puzzled look on his face and then he suddenly grinned.
"Wait, I remember asking Natalie about Eyes Only."
Both Max and Logan froze at that statement.
"We were over there at the table, she was telling me something about hormones and I asked her if she had ever met Eyes Only."
"And?", both Max and Logan exclaimed at once.
Sam contemplated them both for a moment, before his intense look fell on Logan and he made a decision he knew he would never regret.
"I probably remember this because it came as a shock. She said he was a great guy and if she were any younger she wouldn't let him slip away". Sam continued to observe the two people in front of him, watching how one grew quite flushed, if not beet red, and how the other's eyes became slits through which angry blazes flared.
Logan caught himself first. "What did you say those samples looked like ? I found some stuff over here."
Sam did not feel guilty for his lie. Not one second. Memory is a tricky thing. You try to remember something and search for it with all your might, only to be rewarded with other details, completely uncalled for, suddenly clicking into place. Natalie had indeed mentioned that Eyes Only was a great guy, but she hadn't elaborated on it. Sam didn't know what had prompted him to add to that and observe their reactions. It was enough that he had.
He approached Logan, careful not to let anything slip out again.
"Yes, these are the samples I brought over." Seeing that Logan had reached for them, he almost yelled: "Pay attention with that, you don't want to touch it !" He grabbed the slides from next to Logan and glared at him for his carelessness.
Hearing the commotion, Max looked up and bestowed upon Logan another glance that seemed to seductively whisper:
"Next time you want to get close to that virus, just come to me, ok?"
Logan shivered. He sure hoped her heat was not something transmissible. He probably wouldn't survive it.