A/N: Hey, everyone. I have to state this before I let you all read this chapter. I did not write this out of spite or bitchiness... it just seemed to work well into the plot at the time. I actually took a lot of consideration when deciding whether or not to listen to my muse when she whispered this into my ear: talked it over with folks, thought about it, and then wrote it. Honestly, honestly, this wasn't in the plan when the story first formed, buuuuuuut... it worked, so it's here.
Anyway, hate me for this if you want to, love me for it if you have the mind to, but please, please don't think I did this out of any personal reasons. It just kinda... clicked.
**sniff** Leave me comforting messages would ya? LOL Three VCRs in three different rooms managed to screw up in three different ways tonight, so now I'm stuck waiting until some kind soul uploads tonight's episode to their fserve so that I can dl it and finally get over these withdrawal pains. I'm not a happy girl right now, that's for sure. What's worse? I was even supposed to be home in time for the show... but no.. I'm a good employee and stayed behind to make sure a deal got out with no problem, so I didn't get home until five minutes after the show ended. Found out my kid took the tape out of the VCR in his room to watch a movie and didn't bother putting mine back in after. Some kind soul **cough - dog** stepped on the remote to the VCR in my living room and turned the power on, so the timer didn't go off. The VCR in my bedroom decided to eat its tape. So now I'm DA-less for at least two more days. Not a happy girl doesn't even BEGIN to describe my mood right now. **sigh** Okay, there's my rant for tonight. LOL
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 Twelve: The Bubble Burst
By: Danae Bowen
Email: logansfox@rogers.com
//God, I could get used to this.//
A slow smile spread across Max's features as she watched Logan sleep peacefully beside her. She'd moved away from him when she realized tonight would be one of those nights she wouldn't be closing her eyes and slipping away, no matter how much energy she'd expended.
His eyes were blinking rapidly as he dreamed, a small smile pulling at his lips. Max brushed his hair off his forehead, her fingers tender as she stroked his cheek. He was so peaceful, all the lines of the day having faded away, and the slow burn inside her desperately wanted to wake him, bring him to life so he could please her in the ways only Logan knew.
She laughed softly, turning to lie on her back but keeping her eyes on his face. She knew she was in love; just laying there instead of finding something to keep herself occupied proved it, to Max at least. Of course, the desire that blazed through her at his every glance, the stupid smile that she'd only just learned existed that crept across her face every time she caught sight of him, and that queasy, nervous turning her stomach performed whenever he stood just a little bit too close were pretty good indications as well. All in all, Max knew she was screwed, but she couldn't bring herself to worry; as long as she was lying next to Logan, what did it matter anyway? Next to Original Cindy, Logan was probably her best friend; he knew just about everything there was to know about Max, and none of it seemed to bother him. In fact, Max was pretty damn sure that Logan loved her back.
Needing to do something other than stare at Logan until he woke up, Max reached over to the desk and picked up Logan's laptop. Careful not to shake the bed any more than necessary, Max eased her back up against the headboard and pulled the computer onto her lap as she booted it up and online. For a long while, Max ignored the email message icon, not wanting the real world to intrude on their time away. She knew they had more important things to worry about than horny twenty some things hitting on her, or discovering how many times a night they could make love before passing out, but in the middle of the night, so far away from Seattle and the trouble there, Max just couldn't bring herself to care. Alec had Sketchy and Joshua's backs, Original Cindy was safe with them, there was just no one left that Max truly cared about. She doubted that the big bads were going to go after Normal, after all, what kind of punishment would that be? Kendra hadn't been hanging around since Max got back from Manticore, so Max doubted that any one who didn't know Max personally knew Kendra had been a friend. There was no one left in Seattle that was in danger.
Max chuckled softly, she hadn't, until that moment, realized exactly how small a circle of friends she and Logan really had. Most of his acquaintances were Eyes Only contacts, no one that could really be put in danger by associating with them more than normal. Most of her friends were already taken care of; the circle was small enough that it rested in the capable hands of one quasi-insane X-5. She supposed if they hid out at the cottage long enough, the villain of the week would lose interest, or make a mistake, and the whole mess would be forgotten about, but something didn't sit right with her.
Max had thought about the people she and Logan had faced over the last two years, and then considered who among them would have the ability and cash flow to get their hands on such a large amount of explosives, not to mention the small army that had been set on their trail. Alec had mentioned at least ten henchmen that attacked him; add on to that the unidentified number of people that had entered her apartment, as well as those that set up the bomb threat at Logan's. She shook her head, chewing on her lip softly as her mind did the calculations. If they'd seen the entire force as of now, that likely meant they were going up against two dozen armed goons, on top of whoever was the brains of this operation.
Unfortunately, knowing that the person coming after them had a large supply of cash didn't narrow her list of suspects by much. Most of the people Eyes Only went after were more than just well off, which meant it could be any one of them, or a relative of any one of them, and that left Max with more questions than answers.
She clicked on a program that would leave notes on the computer's desktop and typed in a few thoughts, ending with a note to tell Logan to hack into the Seattle records of parole. The easiest way to narrow the list would be to find out who had motive, access, and means to get it done. For that, she needed Logan's more than capable fingers.
She grinned, a slow blush creeping up her neck as she thought about everything Logan's long fingers were more than capable of doing to her. She'd discovered a lot of things about Logan that surprised her in the last thirty hours; the man had an imagination that would make most of the old Harlequin romance writers blush. Max almost regretted the two years that had passed between the day she met him and the last few days, but part of the thrill that filled her now was knowing that she and Logan had survived too many trials to fall apart as easily as she and Darren had. This time, things were going to be different.
Max causally sifted through Logan's computer files, entertaining herself with the few games that were loaded onto the desktop as the sky began to lighten outside their window. When another hour had passed, and Max was sick of beating the pathetic computer version of Battle Chess, she finally clicked on the blinking icon and accessed Logan's email.
The first email was from Matt. They'd made some progress in the case and had a list of suspects that they were currently looking into. Matt also made mention that if Logan should want the list, email him and the cop would have the list copied and sent out as soon as possible. It, however, was the second email that captured Max's attention, making her gasp aloud. Her face grew pale and she bit down hard on her lower lip, trying to will her hands to stop the shaking that had suddenly affected her entire body.
"Logan." Her voice shook as her eyes showed horror at the message she was looking at. There was one person she'd forgotten about, one friend they'd forgotten to warn, and the worst part of it all was that she was the one most obvious to be the next target. "Logan, wake up!" She didn't take her eyes off the screen as her hand swung out, striking his chest hard. "I need you awake now!"
His eyes fluttered, a frown creasing his features when moments ago he'd been at peace with the world. "Max? What's wrong?" His voice was fogged with sleep, his eyes bleary as his hand came up to run over his face, trying to fully bring himself awake.
"We have to go home. Today. Now." Her voice was cold and toneless, causing the haze on Logan's face to clear away instantly. He pulled himself upright, leaning against the headboard for support as he pulled the computer onto his own lap.
The images that were included in the email open on screen were horrifying, but not enough so that Logan didn't instantly recognize the face, features distorted by agony, of his old friend. The message itself was very simple. "One down, how many more to go before you give up, Eyes Only? You can't really think I'm going to stop here? Don't worry, though. She died quickly enough. The rest we just did for fun."
"Oh, shit, no." His face paled as quickly as Max's had, his throat working heavily to swallow the threats his stomach was making against what remained of the food and liquid he'd consumed the night before.
"We didn't tell her. She didn't know." Max's eyes blazed her horrification, regret and guilt. Her fingers gripped his arm hard as she came to terms with what she was seeing. Max may have been raised as a soldier, a killer, she may have seen things far worse than what she was looking at now, but it had rarely been someone Logan called a friend.
"Asha." Logan's voice was deepened by regret, his sadness apparent in his eyes. "Goddamnit!" His arm came back hard, connecting his elbow with the headboard, using the pain to bring his mind out of the cloud of anger, among other emotions, threatening to overwhelm him.
"It's not your fault, Logan."
"The hell it's not! Goddamnit, Max, I should have warned her! If he was going to come after you, why the hell didn't I realize he would come after Asha next? I'm a goddamn idiot!"
Max slid the laptop out of his grip as his actions threatened to send it crashing to the floor. He struggled to pull himself out of the bed and into the wheelchair, moving himself over to the exosuit and quickly donning it with rapid, jerky movements.
"God, Logan, don't you think I feel this, too? If I'd stayed in town, he'd have just kept coming after me and damnit, I could've taken him!" Max's eyes blazed with anger as she tracked his movements in a solid stare.
He sat down on the foot of the bed, laying his head in his hands as his shoulders shook. He wasn't crying, but the force of guilt wracked through him harder than even grief. "You never liked her, Max. You don't know what kind of person she really was. She was good and she cared. She was a friend."
Max moved down to the end of the bed, kneeling behind him and taking him into her arms. "I may not have liked her, Logan, but that doesn't mean I don't care. I'm not as cold hearted as you seem to think."
He sighed, leaning back into her arms, shaking his head. "I don't think you're cold, I'm sorry. I just keep thinking what I could have done to stop this."
Max answered his sigh, resting her chin on his head. "She's dead, Logan. There's nothing we can do about that now. What we can do is go home and get this guy."
"You have a plan?"
She nodded and shifted, sitting beside him on the bed. "We go back to Seattle and make our arrival as public as possible."
He looked at her, his eyes burning in concern. "He'll come after you."
Her face was blank, the cold soldier expression of determination having instantly taken over. "I know. When he does, I'll kill him."
"Max, this isn't your fight."
"Yes, it is. Some asshole goes and threatens my friends' lives and my own, it's my fight. He does it to get at the guy I love? It's my fight. He kills someone I know, then Goddamnit, it's my fight!" She captured his face in her hands and made him look into her eyes, for the moment not caring that she'd just told him how she felt. This wasn't the time or place to discuss matters of the heart, all of that could wait until later; all that mattered right now was getting through to him. "I can do something about this, Logan. Alec and Joshua'll get my back. We can't fix it, but we can finish it."
Logan stared at her for long, quiet minutes, gathering his thoughts, coming to terms with what had happened and what could still happen. He'd lost Max for three months, believed her dead, tried to move on and had failed. Now, he realized exactly how deeply in love with her he'd been every minute of the two years they'd been friends. Losing Asha was hard, his heart clutched at the thought of her and how responsible he was for the loss of her, but losing Max would be unsurpassable. How could he let her go into yet another battle knowing that he loved her and could very well lose her permanently?
Could he let her walk into this situation, hearing her words repeating in his mind forever, "The guy I love"? Could he let her go, again, when it really mattered, and trust in Max to come back? Or if he let her go would she end up like Asha, cold and dead, immortalized by the callous use of a digital camera and the information super highway?
Still, her brown eyes met his with a challenge of her own. Max wasn't Asha. Max didn't need guns and knives to make her way out of sticky situations. Max didn't want or need any more back up than a phone call to Alec would secure for her. Max wouldn't allow herself to be killed by someone who wasn't her equal, and very few people in this world could equal the power she held deep inside. His gaze softened as he met the determination in her eyes, and he nodded.
"You'd better wake up Original Cindy. Give her a choice. She can come back with us, but it'll be two days in the car. We'll switch off driving and sleeping. Or she can stay here. Peter's given us the cottage for the month. He won't mind if it's just Original Cindy staying, hell, he won't even know. Let her know she'll be safer here anyway, but whatever she wants to do, we're leaving in an hour."
Max blinked, expecting a fight against her plan, and was left momentarily speechless by having him acquiesce as quickly as he had. She shook herself slightly, clamping down on her confusion as she nodded and climbed to her feet. "So we're doing this my way?"
He nodded again, his expression only slightly reluctant. "Your way, Max." He sighed, getting to his feet and pulling the suitcase off the floor. "We finish this, now."
Max left Logan deep in thought as she made her way upstairs, heading first to Original Cindy's bedroom. She couldn't claim to know exactly what was going through Logan's head at that moment, but she knew his thoughts were unkind. She'd been responsible for too many deaths over the years to not understand what he was feeling. The least Max could do, as a soldier and a friend, was put an end to the whole thing as fast as she could. Terrorism didn't go over very well with her, and that's what this basically amounted to; they were being held hostage by fear, and now by guilt and pain. That was all going to end when they got back to Seattle. She'd make sure of it.
Original Cindy was deeply asleep when Max sat on the edge of her bed, a hand moving to rest on her friend's shoulder.
"Hey, girl, wake up. Got some bad news."
End Part 12: The Bubble Burst
Anyway, hate me for this if you want to, love me for it if you have the mind to, but please, please don't think I did this out of any personal reasons. It just kinda... clicked.
**sniff** Leave me comforting messages would ya? LOL Three VCRs in three different rooms managed to screw up in three different ways tonight, so now I'm stuck waiting until some kind soul uploads tonight's episode to their fserve so that I can dl it and finally get over these withdrawal pains. I'm not a happy girl right now, that's for sure. What's worse? I was even supposed to be home in time for the show... but no.. I'm a good employee and stayed behind to make sure a deal got out with no problem, so I didn't get home until five minutes after the show ended. Found out my kid took the tape out of the VCR in his room to watch a movie and didn't bother putting mine back in after. Some kind soul **cough - dog** stepped on the remote to the VCR in my living room and turned the power on, so the timer didn't go off. The VCR in my bedroom decided to eat its tape. So now I'm DA-less for at least two more days. Not a happy girl doesn't even BEGIN to describe my mood right now. **sigh** Okay, there's my rant for tonight. LOL
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 Twelve: The Bubble Burst
By: Danae Bowen
Email: logansfox@rogers.com
//God, I could get used to this.//
A slow smile spread across Max's features as she watched Logan sleep peacefully beside her. She'd moved away from him when she realized tonight would be one of those nights she wouldn't be closing her eyes and slipping away, no matter how much energy she'd expended.
His eyes were blinking rapidly as he dreamed, a small smile pulling at his lips. Max brushed his hair off his forehead, her fingers tender as she stroked his cheek. He was so peaceful, all the lines of the day having faded away, and the slow burn inside her desperately wanted to wake him, bring him to life so he could please her in the ways only Logan knew.
She laughed softly, turning to lie on her back but keeping her eyes on his face. She knew she was in love; just laying there instead of finding something to keep herself occupied proved it, to Max at least. Of course, the desire that blazed through her at his every glance, the stupid smile that she'd only just learned existed that crept across her face every time she caught sight of him, and that queasy, nervous turning her stomach performed whenever he stood just a little bit too close were pretty good indications as well. All in all, Max knew she was screwed, but she couldn't bring herself to worry; as long as she was lying next to Logan, what did it matter anyway? Next to Original Cindy, Logan was probably her best friend; he knew just about everything there was to know about Max, and none of it seemed to bother him. In fact, Max was pretty damn sure that Logan loved her back.
Needing to do something other than stare at Logan until he woke up, Max reached over to the desk and picked up Logan's laptop. Careful not to shake the bed any more than necessary, Max eased her back up against the headboard and pulled the computer onto her lap as she booted it up and online. For a long while, Max ignored the email message icon, not wanting the real world to intrude on their time away. She knew they had more important things to worry about than horny twenty some things hitting on her, or discovering how many times a night they could make love before passing out, but in the middle of the night, so far away from Seattle and the trouble there, Max just couldn't bring herself to care. Alec had Sketchy and Joshua's backs, Original Cindy was safe with them, there was just no one left that Max truly cared about. She doubted that the big bads were going to go after Normal, after all, what kind of punishment would that be? Kendra hadn't been hanging around since Max got back from Manticore, so Max doubted that any one who didn't know Max personally knew Kendra had been a friend. There was no one left in Seattle that was in danger.
Max chuckled softly, she hadn't, until that moment, realized exactly how small a circle of friends she and Logan really had. Most of his acquaintances were Eyes Only contacts, no one that could really be put in danger by associating with them more than normal. Most of her friends were already taken care of; the circle was small enough that it rested in the capable hands of one quasi-insane X-5. She supposed if they hid out at the cottage long enough, the villain of the week would lose interest, or make a mistake, and the whole mess would be forgotten about, but something didn't sit right with her.
Max had thought about the people she and Logan had faced over the last two years, and then considered who among them would have the ability and cash flow to get their hands on such a large amount of explosives, not to mention the small army that had been set on their trail. Alec had mentioned at least ten henchmen that attacked him; add on to that the unidentified number of people that had entered her apartment, as well as those that set up the bomb threat at Logan's. She shook her head, chewing on her lip softly as her mind did the calculations. If they'd seen the entire force as of now, that likely meant they were going up against two dozen armed goons, on top of whoever was the brains of this operation.
Unfortunately, knowing that the person coming after them had a large supply of cash didn't narrow her list of suspects by much. Most of the people Eyes Only went after were more than just well off, which meant it could be any one of them, or a relative of any one of them, and that left Max with more questions than answers.
She clicked on a program that would leave notes on the computer's desktop and typed in a few thoughts, ending with a note to tell Logan to hack into the Seattle records of parole. The easiest way to narrow the list would be to find out who had motive, access, and means to get it done. For that, she needed Logan's more than capable fingers.
She grinned, a slow blush creeping up her neck as she thought about everything Logan's long fingers were more than capable of doing to her. She'd discovered a lot of things about Logan that surprised her in the last thirty hours; the man had an imagination that would make most of the old Harlequin romance writers blush. Max almost regretted the two years that had passed between the day she met him and the last few days, but part of the thrill that filled her now was knowing that she and Logan had survived too many trials to fall apart as easily as she and Darren had. This time, things were going to be different.
Max causally sifted through Logan's computer files, entertaining herself with the few games that were loaded onto the desktop as the sky began to lighten outside their window. When another hour had passed, and Max was sick of beating the pathetic computer version of Battle Chess, she finally clicked on the blinking icon and accessed Logan's email.
The first email was from Matt. They'd made some progress in the case and had a list of suspects that they were currently looking into. Matt also made mention that if Logan should want the list, email him and the cop would have the list copied and sent out as soon as possible. It, however, was the second email that captured Max's attention, making her gasp aloud. Her face grew pale and she bit down hard on her lower lip, trying to will her hands to stop the shaking that had suddenly affected her entire body.
"Logan." Her voice shook as her eyes showed horror at the message she was looking at. There was one person she'd forgotten about, one friend they'd forgotten to warn, and the worst part of it all was that she was the one most obvious to be the next target. "Logan, wake up!" She didn't take her eyes off the screen as her hand swung out, striking his chest hard. "I need you awake now!"
His eyes fluttered, a frown creasing his features when moments ago he'd been at peace with the world. "Max? What's wrong?" His voice was fogged with sleep, his eyes bleary as his hand came up to run over his face, trying to fully bring himself awake.
"We have to go home. Today. Now." Her voice was cold and toneless, causing the haze on Logan's face to clear away instantly. He pulled himself upright, leaning against the headboard for support as he pulled the computer onto his own lap.
The images that were included in the email open on screen were horrifying, but not enough so that Logan didn't instantly recognize the face, features distorted by agony, of his old friend. The message itself was very simple. "One down, how many more to go before you give up, Eyes Only? You can't really think I'm going to stop here? Don't worry, though. She died quickly enough. The rest we just did for fun."
"Oh, shit, no." His face paled as quickly as Max's had, his throat working heavily to swallow the threats his stomach was making against what remained of the food and liquid he'd consumed the night before.
"We didn't tell her. She didn't know." Max's eyes blazed her horrification, regret and guilt. Her fingers gripped his arm hard as she came to terms with what she was seeing. Max may have been raised as a soldier, a killer, she may have seen things far worse than what she was looking at now, but it had rarely been someone Logan called a friend.
"Asha." Logan's voice was deepened by regret, his sadness apparent in his eyes. "Goddamnit!" His arm came back hard, connecting his elbow with the headboard, using the pain to bring his mind out of the cloud of anger, among other emotions, threatening to overwhelm him.
"It's not your fault, Logan."
"The hell it's not! Goddamnit, Max, I should have warned her! If he was going to come after you, why the hell didn't I realize he would come after Asha next? I'm a goddamn idiot!"
Max slid the laptop out of his grip as his actions threatened to send it crashing to the floor. He struggled to pull himself out of the bed and into the wheelchair, moving himself over to the exosuit and quickly donning it with rapid, jerky movements.
"God, Logan, don't you think I feel this, too? If I'd stayed in town, he'd have just kept coming after me and damnit, I could've taken him!" Max's eyes blazed with anger as she tracked his movements in a solid stare.
He sat down on the foot of the bed, laying his head in his hands as his shoulders shook. He wasn't crying, but the force of guilt wracked through him harder than even grief. "You never liked her, Max. You don't know what kind of person she really was. She was good and she cared. She was a friend."
Max moved down to the end of the bed, kneeling behind him and taking him into her arms. "I may not have liked her, Logan, but that doesn't mean I don't care. I'm not as cold hearted as you seem to think."
He sighed, leaning back into her arms, shaking his head. "I don't think you're cold, I'm sorry. I just keep thinking what I could have done to stop this."
Max answered his sigh, resting her chin on his head. "She's dead, Logan. There's nothing we can do about that now. What we can do is go home and get this guy."
"You have a plan?"
She nodded and shifted, sitting beside him on the bed. "We go back to Seattle and make our arrival as public as possible."
He looked at her, his eyes burning in concern. "He'll come after you."
Her face was blank, the cold soldier expression of determination having instantly taken over. "I know. When he does, I'll kill him."
"Max, this isn't your fight."
"Yes, it is. Some asshole goes and threatens my friends' lives and my own, it's my fight. He does it to get at the guy I love? It's my fight. He kills someone I know, then Goddamnit, it's my fight!" She captured his face in her hands and made him look into her eyes, for the moment not caring that she'd just told him how she felt. This wasn't the time or place to discuss matters of the heart, all of that could wait until later; all that mattered right now was getting through to him. "I can do something about this, Logan. Alec and Joshua'll get my back. We can't fix it, but we can finish it."
Logan stared at her for long, quiet minutes, gathering his thoughts, coming to terms with what had happened and what could still happen. He'd lost Max for three months, believed her dead, tried to move on and had failed. Now, he realized exactly how deeply in love with her he'd been every minute of the two years they'd been friends. Losing Asha was hard, his heart clutched at the thought of her and how responsible he was for the loss of her, but losing Max would be unsurpassable. How could he let her go into yet another battle knowing that he loved her and could very well lose her permanently?
Could he let her walk into this situation, hearing her words repeating in his mind forever, "The guy I love"? Could he let her go, again, when it really mattered, and trust in Max to come back? Or if he let her go would she end up like Asha, cold and dead, immortalized by the callous use of a digital camera and the information super highway?
Still, her brown eyes met his with a challenge of her own. Max wasn't Asha. Max didn't need guns and knives to make her way out of sticky situations. Max didn't want or need any more back up than a phone call to Alec would secure for her. Max wouldn't allow herself to be killed by someone who wasn't her equal, and very few people in this world could equal the power she held deep inside. His gaze softened as he met the determination in her eyes, and he nodded.
"You'd better wake up Original Cindy. Give her a choice. She can come back with us, but it'll be two days in the car. We'll switch off driving and sleeping. Or she can stay here. Peter's given us the cottage for the month. He won't mind if it's just Original Cindy staying, hell, he won't even know. Let her know she'll be safer here anyway, but whatever she wants to do, we're leaving in an hour."
Max blinked, expecting a fight against her plan, and was left momentarily speechless by having him acquiesce as quickly as he had. She shook herself slightly, clamping down on her confusion as she nodded and climbed to her feet. "So we're doing this my way?"
He nodded again, his expression only slightly reluctant. "Your way, Max." He sighed, getting to his feet and pulling the suitcase off the floor. "We finish this, now."
Max left Logan deep in thought as she made her way upstairs, heading first to Original Cindy's bedroom. She couldn't claim to know exactly what was going through Logan's head at that moment, but she knew his thoughts were unkind. She'd been responsible for too many deaths over the years to not understand what he was feeling. The least Max could do, as a soldier and a friend, was put an end to the whole thing as fast as she could. Terrorism didn't go over very well with her, and that's what this basically amounted to; they were being held hostage by fear, and now by guilt and pain. That was all going to end when they got back to Seattle. She'd make sure of it.
Original Cindy was deeply asleep when Max sat on the edge of her bed, a hand moving to rest on her friend's shoulder.
"Hey, girl, wake up. Got some bad news."
End Part 12: The Bubble Burst