A/N: Here you go, folks, part three of fifteen. :) Hope you all enjoy. ;)
There are very mild spoilers for second season in this, but only up to Some Assembly Required, and most of them are only vague allusions to past events.
I welcome all reviews, both here and by email, so please feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you're thinking. I can't improve my writing if I don't know what people want to see. :P
They're not mine, I just borrow them sometimes and mutate their inner voices. What can I say? It's fun. But Cameron will always own the good stuff. :P
Towards the Sunset
Part Three: Crashing Down
By: Danae Bowen
Email: logansfox@rogers.com
When Max finally walked through Logan's door, the first thing to assault her senses was the undeniably mouth watering scent of the penthouse. She couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was she smelled, all she knew was that her stomach growled loudly and she had to resist the urge to go straight to his kitchen for a sample.
"Knock, knock."
She leaned against the doorframe wondering what was going through Logan's mind as he glared out the window, completely ignoring the television humming behind him. She watched as his shoulders stiffened as if he were bracing himself before turning to face her. She frowned. She had known something was wrong during their phone conversation, but Logan had never braced himself in her presence before. At least not since their strange employer/employee relationship grew into friendship... and more. She sighed softly as he finally turned to face her and, even from across the room, Max couldn't miss the smothered disappointment burning in his eyes. Furrowing her brow, wondering exactly what it was she'd done, Max walked deeper into the room and flashed him a tentative smile.
"My nose tells me you're ready to feed me." She grinned teasingly, trying to bring out the lighter side of Logan. "Food before being serious, Logan. C'mon."
He gave her a small smile, the first step in the night his overly rational mind had created coming into reality, making his eyes dim further. "Yeah, it's a little overcooked, but should be fine. I was expecting you over an hour ago, so it's not my best work."
She lifted her eyebrow, realization dawning in her eyes as she began to figure out Logan's problem. //He's upset because dinner is overcooked??? Men!// "No big dealio, I'm so hungry I probably won't even notice." She flashed him another smile. "You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to get this file." She pulled the file out of the back pocket of her jeans and dropped it on the coffee table.
"Anything in it we can use?" Logan slipped into business mode as he moved to the kitchen. He began setting the food on the plates, carrying them to the dining room table. He relit the candles he had extinguished earlier and dimmed the lights. No matter how he may feel about this evening now, his original plan had been a good one, and he'd be damned if he was going to give up on it because, as usual, Max had been late. In the back of his mind he wondered when he had become this petty; he was used to Max running behind schedule and it had never bothered him before. Not really. It wasn't like recon was a nine to five job, his mind insisted on explaining. He sighed. It was too confusing trying to figure out why things that never bothered him before now became a matter of annoyance, or why Max's regular routine now disappointed him.
She settled down into her regular seat and waited for Logan to pour their wine and sit beside her before digging into her dinner. They ate in silence, but Logan's mood began to lift as he watched her. Since gaining her freedom, Max had learned to savor small pleasures. Everything he'd ever cooked for her was consumed with gusto and appreciation, making the amateur chef inside him stand tall with pride. He had to admit, as he ate his own dinner, the steaks hadn't come out as poorly as he'd expected. That helped his mood lighten further, and by the end of dinner he found himself laughing at Max's exploits of the day. She scowled at him as he chuckled, but her eyes betrayed the warmth that flooded through her now that all was right with Logan once more.
"So I ended up hanging there for almost the entire two hours. Aren't cops supposed to go out for donuts every hour or something?" Her eyes twinkled, letting him know she really wasn't upset.
He chuckled, picking up their empty plates and returning them to the kitchen. "I guess they forgot about cat burglary etiquette. You know, that rule that says to make sure to leave all possible information of interest out where any one can pick it up."
"Funny, Logan." Max tossed a good-natured frown in Logan's direction. "So you got dessert too, or does a girl gotta make her own?"
"Ah, I knew you'd not be satisfied with my gourmet creations." He flashed her a smile as he popped his head back into the room. "I have something I'd be willing to bet you've never tried before."
Max was on her feet in an instant, prowling towards the kitchen. "Is it rich?"
"Extremely." Logan backed away from her, grinning from ear to ear.
"Creamy?"
"It'll melt on your tongue." He took up a defensive position in front of his fridge. "Are you planning on going through me to get to it, Max, or do I get to serve it to you?"
She growled softly, considering pulling Logan out of the way, not wanting to end one of the teasing moments of which they'd had so few in the last months. Still, the fear of what may happen should she touch him intruded, and she eased away, leaning back against his kitchen island, pouting at him softly.
He grinned as he used his back to shield her view and pulled from the fridge a fresh New York style cheesecake. He could feel Max's presence at his back as her insatiable curiosity got the better of her and she slinked up behind him, trying to get a better view. Sensing her moves as she made them, Logan managed to stay in front of her as he placed a slice of the cake onto a plate before turning around to face her. He'd not expected her to be standing mere inches behind him and had to react quickly to keep from knocking the cake to the floor, off her arm.
Before he realized what had happened, Max's nimble fingers relieved him of the plate and she'd stepped backwards. She looked at the dessert for a moment before picking off a small corner of the cake and popping it into her mouth. Her face glowed with pleasure, her eyes darkening as the rich, creamy treat melted on her tongue. "Oh, God." She moaned quietly. "Logan, what is this? It's incredible!"
She'd slid her small body onto the island and retrieved a fork that he'd laid out earlier. In moments she was digging into her slice with barely a thought to Logan's presence. He laughed softly, turning back to cut his own slice before leaning against the island and joining her in enjoying the dessert. "Cheesecake, Max. I found it at the market this morning and couldn't resist picking it up. I knew you'd like it."
She nodded with a smile. "I've never had anything like this before. Logan, you've done some amazing things in the time I've known you, but damn!"
Before she realized what had happened, Logan's hand dropped to her knee and was caressing her softly. She tensed suddenly and pulled away, slipping to the floor. Her eyes met his warily, darkening as the pleasure fled from her features. Logan's face fell and he stepped back, away from her personal space.
"Sorry," he mumbled, casting his eyes to the floor.
"No big." Her voice was soft but she placed her plate on the counter and glanced at the door. "I gotta blaze. Original Cindy's probably trippin' about the explosion 'n everything."
"Yeah." He didn't raise his eyes as he felt her begin to move away.
She paused, biting her lower lip as she shifted her weight uneasily. "Think you'll get a look at that file tonight?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I've got nothing else to do now."
His words were like a slap in the face and Max's eyes blazed hurt. "Logan…"
"Just go, Max. I'll page you if I find anything that needs your particular touch."
"Right. Leg work." She paused again, not wanting to leave him with his eyes so shadowed over in yet another display of disappointment. "I need time."
"Don't worry. I probably won't need you until tomorrow if I do find anything. Judging by the size of the file, the cops didn't get much done. It'll take my contacts some time to come up with any information that'll be useful." He turned his back to her and began pouring water to do the dishes.
"Not that." She hesitated and frowned. "I need time to know this is gonna work, Logan. I've spent so much time afraid to touch you, I can't just get over that in one night."
Finally, he turned. "I did."
She sighed, running her hands through her hair in frustration. When she spoke, her voice was cold and bitter. "Yeah, well, I'm not you, am I? I'm just some mutated strand of DNA that a coupla freaks made into a soldier, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm not gonna fall into your arms at the first sign of hope."
"It's not hope, Max, it's a cure." He took one step forward, but stopped again, far out of her reach. "I'd be dead now if Sebastian had been wrong. You can't deny that."
She muttered something Logan swore had been, "I can try," before she swung back towards the door. "You got my number. Call me when you get something."
"Yeah." He waited for the sound of the door closing behind her before he brought his hands to his face, smoothing back his hair in muted irritation. "Well, that could have gone better."
Leaving the dishes to soak, Logan picked up the police file and returned to his computer room. If spending the night with Max was out of the question, he figured he might as well lose himself in his alter ego for a few hours before going to bed.
Somehow sleep didn't seem as inviting when Max wasn't going to be in his bed.
*****
"Smooth, Max, really smooth. Can tell Manticore didn't bother with lessons in delicacy. Could've handled that better, girl."
Max verbally berated herself as she rode the darkened streets of Seattle, her bike purring beneath her, heading for home. She hadn't planned on backing off as quickly as she had, but the thought of being able to touch Logan again terrified her. This is what they'd been fighting for, everything they'd worked towards for the last eight months of their lives, but suddenly having it given to her caused her walls to slam back into place.
Making a sudden turn, Max decided she wasn't ready to go home and have Original Cindy drag out of her all the gory details of the night, so she headed for Crash. At least there she'd have her peeps, cold beer, and maybe she could find some hotboy to reduce to tears when she shot him down.
Walking through the door at Crash, Max was instantly assaulted by Sketchy as he attempted to balance three pitchers of beer in his arms as his body weaved. It was still early, but Sketchy had already passed from amusingly drunk to fully intoxicated. Max sighed, and resisted the urge to give him a slap in the head. If Sketchy had that much beer, obviously Alec was hanging around and dolling out large amounts of cash once more.
"Sketchy, you idiot, you're gonna drip all over me. Gimme those." Max took two pitchers out of his arms, and stepped away from him. "Do you realize how hard it is to get beer out of real leather?"
"Sorry, Max." His words were mumbled and slightly slurred together.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll kick your ass tomorrow when you're sober and it's more fun." She glanced around the front room quickly. "Peeps in the back?"
Sketchy didn't have time to reply, however, as a deafening explosion rocked the bar, throwing him forward into Max's back, the pitchers of beer flying out of their hands as Max struggled to maintain balance. She watched in shock as one of the sidewalls in the bar crumbled away, sending bricks and dust scattering out over the crowd. She braced herself for a second explosion, but when nothing happened after several moments, she untangled herself from Sketchy and quickly began to search for the doer. She ignored the calls of people around her as everyone ran for the exits at the same time, climbing over rubble to get themselves to perceived safety.
Again, as she sifted through bricks and dust, Max was unable to find anything that would help either her or Logan get closer to the bomber. Obviously the person responsible hadn't been out to harm anyone, since whatever took out the wall had done it in such a measure that the main supports remained standing, holding up the roof. However hitting Crash was a definite step up from the attack on the apartment building earlier, if the doers were the same person. Still, Max had a feeling that the same person was responsible even if she had no proof to back it up; it was too much of a coincidence that both her home and her hangout were attacked in the same day. Something was definitely up.
Five minutes later, after having found absolutely nothing helpful, Max realized her jacket and jeans were dripping and her mind flipped back to the beer she'd been carrying. A quick sniff at her jacket confirmed the worst, and Max groaned. "That's it. I'm gonna kill someone."
She shook her head. Logan had once told her about something he called "Murphy's Law": "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong". Max found herself wondering for how long that law applied.
End Part Three: Crashing Down
There are very mild spoilers for second season in this, but only up to Some Assembly Required, and most of them are only vague allusions to past events.
I welcome all reviews, both here and by email, so please feel free to drop me a line and let me know what you're thinking. I can't improve my writing if I don't know what people want to see. :P
They're not mine, I just borrow them sometimes and mutate their inner voices. What can I say? It's fun. But Cameron will always own the good stuff. :P
Towards the Sunset
Part Three: Crashing Down
By: Danae Bowen
Email: logansfox@rogers.com
When Max finally walked through Logan's door, the first thing to assault her senses was the undeniably mouth watering scent of the penthouse. She couldn't put her finger on exactly what it was she smelled, all she knew was that her stomach growled loudly and she had to resist the urge to go straight to his kitchen for a sample.
"Knock, knock."
She leaned against the doorframe wondering what was going through Logan's mind as he glared out the window, completely ignoring the television humming behind him. She watched as his shoulders stiffened as if he were bracing himself before turning to face her. She frowned. She had known something was wrong during their phone conversation, but Logan had never braced himself in her presence before. At least not since their strange employer/employee relationship grew into friendship... and more. She sighed softly as he finally turned to face her and, even from across the room, Max couldn't miss the smothered disappointment burning in his eyes. Furrowing her brow, wondering exactly what it was she'd done, Max walked deeper into the room and flashed him a tentative smile.
"My nose tells me you're ready to feed me." She grinned teasingly, trying to bring out the lighter side of Logan. "Food before being serious, Logan. C'mon."
He gave her a small smile, the first step in the night his overly rational mind had created coming into reality, making his eyes dim further. "Yeah, it's a little overcooked, but should be fine. I was expecting you over an hour ago, so it's not my best work."
She lifted her eyebrow, realization dawning in her eyes as she began to figure out Logan's problem. //He's upset because dinner is overcooked??? Men!// "No big dealio, I'm so hungry I probably won't even notice." She flashed him another smile. "You wouldn't believe what I had to go through to get this file." She pulled the file out of the back pocket of her jeans and dropped it on the coffee table.
"Anything in it we can use?" Logan slipped into business mode as he moved to the kitchen. He began setting the food on the plates, carrying them to the dining room table. He relit the candles he had extinguished earlier and dimmed the lights. No matter how he may feel about this evening now, his original plan had been a good one, and he'd be damned if he was going to give up on it because, as usual, Max had been late. In the back of his mind he wondered when he had become this petty; he was used to Max running behind schedule and it had never bothered him before. Not really. It wasn't like recon was a nine to five job, his mind insisted on explaining. He sighed. It was too confusing trying to figure out why things that never bothered him before now became a matter of annoyance, or why Max's regular routine now disappointed him.
She settled down into her regular seat and waited for Logan to pour their wine and sit beside her before digging into her dinner. They ate in silence, but Logan's mood began to lift as he watched her. Since gaining her freedom, Max had learned to savor small pleasures. Everything he'd ever cooked for her was consumed with gusto and appreciation, making the amateur chef inside him stand tall with pride. He had to admit, as he ate his own dinner, the steaks hadn't come out as poorly as he'd expected. That helped his mood lighten further, and by the end of dinner he found himself laughing at Max's exploits of the day. She scowled at him as he chuckled, but her eyes betrayed the warmth that flooded through her now that all was right with Logan once more.
"So I ended up hanging there for almost the entire two hours. Aren't cops supposed to go out for donuts every hour or something?" Her eyes twinkled, letting him know she really wasn't upset.
He chuckled, picking up their empty plates and returning them to the kitchen. "I guess they forgot about cat burglary etiquette. You know, that rule that says to make sure to leave all possible information of interest out where any one can pick it up."
"Funny, Logan." Max tossed a good-natured frown in Logan's direction. "So you got dessert too, or does a girl gotta make her own?"
"Ah, I knew you'd not be satisfied with my gourmet creations." He flashed her a smile as he popped his head back into the room. "I have something I'd be willing to bet you've never tried before."
Max was on her feet in an instant, prowling towards the kitchen. "Is it rich?"
"Extremely." Logan backed away from her, grinning from ear to ear.
"Creamy?"
"It'll melt on your tongue." He took up a defensive position in front of his fridge. "Are you planning on going through me to get to it, Max, or do I get to serve it to you?"
She growled softly, considering pulling Logan out of the way, not wanting to end one of the teasing moments of which they'd had so few in the last months. Still, the fear of what may happen should she touch him intruded, and she eased away, leaning back against his kitchen island, pouting at him softly.
He grinned as he used his back to shield her view and pulled from the fridge a fresh New York style cheesecake. He could feel Max's presence at his back as her insatiable curiosity got the better of her and she slinked up behind him, trying to get a better view. Sensing her moves as she made them, Logan managed to stay in front of her as he placed a slice of the cake onto a plate before turning around to face her. He'd not expected her to be standing mere inches behind him and had to react quickly to keep from knocking the cake to the floor, off her arm.
Before he realized what had happened, Max's nimble fingers relieved him of the plate and she'd stepped backwards. She looked at the dessert for a moment before picking off a small corner of the cake and popping it into her mouth. Her face glowed with pleasure, her eyes darkening as the rich, creamy treat melted on her tongue. "Oh, God." She moaned quietly. "Logan, what is this? It's incredible!"
She'd slid her small body onto the island and retrieved a fork that he'd laid out earlier. In moments she was digging into her slice with barely a thought to Logan's presence. He laughed softly, turning back to cut his own slice before leaning against the island and joining her in enjoying the dessert. "Cheesecake, Max. I found it at the market this morning and couldn't resist picking it up. I knew you'd like it."
She nodded with a smile. "I've never had anything like this before. Logan, you've done some amazing things in the time I've known you, but damn!"
Before she realized what had happened, Logan's hand dropped to her knee and was caressing her softly. She tensed suddenly and pulled away, slipping to the floor. Her eyes met his warily, darkening as the pleasure fled from her features. Logan's face fell and he stepped back, away from her personal space.
"Sorry," he mumbled, casting his eyes to the floor.
"No big." Her voice was soft but she placed her plate on the counter and glanced at the door. "I gotta blaze. Original Cindy's probably trippin' about the explosion 'n everything."
"Yeah." He didn't raise his eyes as he felt her begin to move away.
She paused, biting her lower lip as she shifted her weight uneasily. "Think you'll get a look at that file tonight?"
He nodded. "Yeah, I've got nothing else to do now."
His words were like a slap in the face and Max's eyes blazed hurt. "Logan…"
"Just go, Max. I'll page you if I find anything that needs your particular touch."
"Right. Leg work." She paused again, not wanting to leave him with his eyes so shadowed over in yet another display of disappointment. "I need time."
"Don't worry. I probably won't need you until tomorrow if I do find anything. Judging by the size of the file, the cops didn't get much done. It'll take my contacts some time to come up with any information that'll be useful." He turned his back to her and began pouring water to do the dishes.
"Not that." She hesitated and frowned. "I need time to know this is gonna work, Logan. I've spent so much time afraid to touch you, I can't just get over that in one night."
Finally, he turned. "I did."
She sighed, running her hands through her hair in frustration. When she spoke, her voice was cold and bitter. "Yeah, well, I'm not you, am I? I'm just some mutated strand of DNA that a coupla freaks made into a soldier, so you'll have to forgive me if I'm not gonna fall into your arms at the first sign of hope."
"It's not hope, Max, it's a cure." He took one step forward, but stopped again, far out of her reach. "I'd be dead now if Sebastian had been wrong. You can't deny that."
She muttered something Logan swore had been, "I can try," before she swung back towards the door. "You got my number. Call me when you get something."
"Yeah." He waited for the sound of the door closing behind her before he brought his hands to his face, smoothing back his hair in muted irritation. "Well, that could have gone better."
Leaving the dishes to soak, Logan picked up the police file and returned to his computer room. If spending the night with Max was out of the question, he figured he might as well lose himself in his alter ego for a few hours before going to bed.
Somehow sleep didn't seem as inviting when Max wasn't going to be in his bed.
*****
"Smooth, Max, really smooth. Can tell Manticore didn't bother with lessons in delicacy. Could've handled that better, girl."
Max verbally berated herself as she rode the darkened streets of Seattle, her bike purring beneath her, heading for home. She hadn't planned on backing off as quickly as she had, but the thought of being able to touch Logan again terrified her. This is what they'd been fighting for, everything they'd worked towards for the last eight months of their lives, but suddenly having it given to her caused her walls to slam back into place.
Making a sudden turn, Max decided she wasn't ready to go home and have Original Cindy drag out of her all the gory details of the night, so she headed for Crash. At least there she'd have her peeps, cold beer, and maybe she could find some hotboy to reduce to tears when she shot him down.
Walking through the door at Crash, Max was instantly assaulted by Sketchy as he attempted to balance three pitchers of beer in his arms as his body weaved. It was still early, but Sketchy had already passed from amusingly drunk to fully intoxicated. Max sighed, and resisted the urge to give him a slap in the head. If Sketchy had that much beer, obviously Alec was hanging around and dolling out large amounts of cash once more.
"Sketchy, you idiot, you're gonna drip all over me. Gimme those." Max took two pitchers out of his arms, and stepped away from him. "Do you realize how hard it is to get beer out of real leather?"
"Sorry, Max." His words were mumbled and slightly slurred together.
"Yeah, yeah, I'll kick your ass tomorrow when you're sober and it's more fun." She glanced around the front room quickly. "Peeps in the back?"
Sketchy didn't have time to reply, however, as a deafening explosion rocked the bar, throwing him forward into Max's back, the pitchers of beer flying out of their hands as Max struggled to maintain balance. She watched in shock as one of the sidewalls in the bar crumbled away, sending bricks and dust scattering out over the crowd. She braced herself for a second explosion, but when nothing happened after several moments, she untangled herself from Sketchy and quickly began to search for the doer. She ignored the calls of people around her as everyone ran for the exits at the same time, climbing over rubble to get themselves to perceived safety.
Again, as she sifted through bricks and dust, Max was unable to find anything that would help either her or Logan get closer to the bomber. Obviously the person responsible hadn't been out to harm anyone, since whatever took out the wall had done it in such a measure that the main supports remained standing, holding up the roof. However hitting Crash was a definite step up from the attack on the apartment building earlier, if the doers were the same person. Still, Max had a feeling that the same person was responsible even if she had no proof to back it up; it was too much of a coincidence that both her home and her hangout were attacked in the same day. Something was definitely up.
Five minutes later, after having found absolutely nothing helpful, Max realized her jacket and jeans were dripping and her mind flipped back to the beer she'd been carrying. A quick sniff at her jacket confirmed the worst, and Max groaned. "That's it. I'm gonna kill someone."
She shook her head. Logan had once told her about something he called "Murphy's Law": "Anything that can go wrong, will go wrong". Max found herself wondering for how long that law applied.
End Part Three: Crashing Down