Disclaimer: Again I own nothing, nothing at all, not even my soul, which I sold in a desperate attempt to gain a third season to this show. It didn't work.
Authors note: Well I'm back after an extended hiatus of Christmas break and various other events. I still need a beta, if someone would like to offer or something I would be happy.
Story notes: Well wasn't the last chapter too long? You're damn right, I was running out of things to write then bam I went much longer than expected. In reference to the last chapter I'm really sorry for leaving another person in a pool of their own blood I will change the end to chapter 3 when I post chapter 5. That's right chapter 5 has already been started, amazing isn't it. I hope you enjoy this one. Don't hate me for my attempts to write Original Cindy.
Chapter 4 – Shampoo
Logan had arrived about 10 minutes after Max and found a small walkway into the alley where he could hear the angry screams of people trying to catch an opponent who completely outmatched them. This made Logan smile a little, knowing that his Max was so special, so perfect. His Max, he really enjoyed the sound of that.
Logan walked in to the small arena, hands in his pockets. Feeling slightly cocky that it was his friend out there, doing all that damage and making it look, well, quite easy and a little boring. It seemed to be something that Max could have been doing whilst having a conversation with him, or even beating him at a game of chess or something similar.
He just stood there and watched Max for a while, he came along to help out but there was nothing he could do at the moment except get in the way. Logan was amazed at the speed Max was moving and the graceful flows of her body as she danced around her opponents and then knocked them out. He kept forgetting she could do stuff like this, he always just saw her as a normal girl – not entirely normal, as she was without doubt the most amazing creature he had ever seen – he supposed it was similar to the way she would comment on forgetting how tall he was.
"Well at least this wasn't anything big." He exhaled. When he answered the phone there was a gut-wrenching chill that splintered his stomach, he had expected something Manticore to rear it's ugly head, he knew Eyes Only stuff would be put aside but anything to do with Max's siblings was always a matter of immediate concern and a sure way to ruin a night. He wasn't impressed with the whole situation however, what he saw appeared to be a primitive form of match-up fighting 20 against 1. Not very fair. Then there was the fact that the moment between him and Max was, once again, completely destroyed and he knew that was a problem. This time was different to every other time they had been that close, they meant to be there they knew entirely what they were doing, they knew that when it finished they were still going to be there.
"Well there's the nice destruction of a fine pivotal moment." He commented, there was however still the niggling sense of joy. He knew that it could – and if he had anything to do with it – would happen again, and soon since they had to be home in time to get the food out of the oven.
'Look at it on the positive side Cale, this is passing the time until you can eat.' He thought
'But we were about to kiss, that would have passed the time.' He was a little concerned with all these internal battles he seemed to be having lately, maybe he was insane.
"No, it's just an affective method of sorting out a situation." He told himself aloud, his conscious seemed to agree with him, so the battle continued inside his head and outside with Max and the few remaining gangsters.
'If you tried to pass the time kissing… There is only so much kissing you can do before it leads to something else.'
'And what's wrong with that?' This response caused Logan to smile slightly, he knew he wasn't insane now, this wasn't a struggle between to separate parts of his brain, it was between his brain and his libido. Now that he knew this, he was quite able to beat his libido into submission.
'Because it's Max, and I respect her more than to do something like that the first time she gets involved in a relationship. That would destroy her and I'd never see her again. I couldn't do that to someone I love.' The realisation sunk in very quickly, everything made sense now. Logan's levels of happiness and satisfaction skyrocketed.
'I love her.' He thought, yes it did make sense. It was so perfectly simple that he couldn't believe it.
"I love her." He said quietly with a broad smile on his face. However as he came to the end of this sentence he felt something cold and hard pressed against the back of his head.
Hemall, a small weaselly character who was a new recruit to the gang and trying to make an impression for himself noticed Logan arriving. He decided that he wouldn't try taking on the girl since she had already broken all the hands of people that approached her with a gun and thought he might be able to sneak up on the new arrival who appeared to be quite captured by the girl who was beating up the entire gang.
'I need to be careful, he could be just as nasty as she is though.' He sneaked around through the rubbish that was always lying all over the place and managed to come out right behind Logan.
Assuming Logan was one of these ninja freaks he decided to shoot first and ask questions later, he swiftly moved up behind him and pushed the gun against the back of Logan's head.
"Ah, Max." Logan was panicking, there was a gun pointed at the back of his head and he could hear it being cocked as a bullet slid into the chamber.
Logan saw Max's head snap around, there was a small battle grin on her face which quickly faded when she saw him. Their eyes meet and Logan saw she was panicking as well, she was worried for him.
'Well at least she's the last thing I'll see.' He thought defeated, then he noticed the amazing speed Max was making towards them, he couldn't actually focus properly on any part of her body, it was a blur. Then someone tried to fight her, this slowed her down, not much but enough.
Logan heard the gun go off, his legs collapsed and he hit the ground. Everything went black.
'Ha, these ninja guys are pretty easy. You're next girly.' Hemall thought as he pointed his gun at Max and started to pull the trigger to his gun again. This time however there wasn't anyone in the way to stop Max. Hemall's finger was only halfway back by the time she reached him. He didn't understand what was going on, one second he is looking down the barrel of his gun at this girl who is 20 feet away, the next thing he knows is she is right in front of him and under his extended gun arm.
Before he could feel the pain he heard his arm break, then all the wind was knocked out of him and his gut suddenly boiled. The pain from the arm had just caught up with him. He screamed in agony, she wasn't finished however. She grabbed the arm and dislocated it, then broke both his legs at the kneecaps. He was done, he lost consciousness.
When Max had arrived Cindy's body flooded with relief, all the adrenaline that was keeping her standing faded, she fainted.
When she regained vision, sound, and motion she noticed that instead of the 20 something jeering onlookers to her torture, there was now mostly unconscious bodies strewn around the place. She looked up and noticed Max finishing off another few, she couldn't quite focus yet and her hearing was hazy. She blinked and Max had disappeared, she looked over and noticed that in the time it had taken her to blink Max had moved 30 feet, she was in a hurry for some reason. None of it made sense, so she closed her eyes for a bit and tried to stand. She was halfway up when she was jerked back into the real world by a gun shot, she heard Max scream and tried to focus on where it came from. By the time she looked over Max had moved again. This time however she was stationary, well except for the fact she was laying into someone. Cindy made her way over, not taking her eyes off Max. She started to run when she saw what Max was doing, she had completely lost it, the guy she was beating on was being punished like nothing she had ever seen before, it was making her feel sick she could hear the bones and sinew snapping.
By the time she reached her, the guy was on the ground and Max was still laying into him, hitting and kicking him repeatedly. This had to stop.
"Max!" Original Cindy wasn't sure what to do. Max looked out of control, she might hurt her. 'No this is Max, she knows who she is and she knows who Original Cindy is.' Original Cindy told herself.
She grabbed her arm and pulled her around, she could see the tears staining her face.
"He killed Logan." Was all she said, although it was more of a whimper.
Original Cindy looked down and saw Logan lying on the ground, the small pool of blood spreading from his head.
"Oh boo. I'm so sorry." Original Cindy said, trying to comfort Max, as she embraced her. Max just sobbed into her shoulder.
"It's… not… fair." Max squeezed out between sobs. Original Cindy just held her and rubbed her back.
"He's my friend. I need him." This last part stunned Cindy a bit, she knew Max liked Logan but she never thought she'd see the day Max admitted it.
Max heard movement and a moan coming from the ground. She got angry again and was ready to put this guy to sleep permanently, she noticed however that he hadn't moved.
"Logan?" Max asked tentatively. She moved over to him and slowly rolled him over, running her fingers through his blood soaked hair and placing his head in her lap.
"Logan?" She asked again. Just as she was moving her fingers to feel his pulse, something she didn't want to do because it could only tell her for certain that he was dead, his eyes fluttered open.
"You're so pretty Max." Logan said, smiling slightly and looking into her eyes, all pain was gone, all he could sense were her eyes and how they were looking at into his.
Max was ecstatic to see Logan looking at her again.
"You say that every time your head is resting on my leg." She didn't really know what to say, this seemed like a nice way to break the silence.
"Hey I was hallucinating then, that doesn't count." Logan smiled at her.
"You… What? I should smack you." Max stammered, she couldn't believe it, he knew what he was saying.
Original Cindy just stood there and looked at the two. They were happy together, they fit so well with each other, and everything seemed so natural. She could see now, the way Max looked at him, she did need him and he needed her. Perfect.
"What's this Original Cindy hears? 'Every time your head is on my leg'? Have you two been getting busy and not telling me. 'Cause girl if you've been hiding this from me after denying it for so long, I'm gonna put the smack down on yo' ass." Original Cindy crashed into their world.
"We're not like that." They both said in unison.
"You what!? Don't even try that on me. Look at you." Cindy couldn't believe what she was hearing, she was yelling at them.
"Fine, whatever. I know you are lying. I'll be waiting in the car." Cindy just walked off in the direction Logan had come in from. Leaving Logan on the ground, head on Max's leg and in her arms.
"So…" They both said at the same time after an extended silence.
'Oh, this is ridiculous.' Max thought.
"Logan. Why aren't you dead? That guy had the gun right against your head and there's all this blood." Max asked, a little confused. Without realising it, when she asked if he should be dead, she pulled him closer protectively.
"Well…" Logan began, he seemed a little embarrassed.
"It's nothing spectacular, just these stupid legs of mine, they gave out at the last moment and I fell over, I decided to go with the flow so our friend here." He pointed to the unconscious form on the ground a few feet away. "Would believe he had actually got me. The only problem was I seemed to hit something on the ground or my way down, I'm not too sure, which knocked me out and apparently cut my head open a little." He finished, starting to sit up slightly, with the help of Max of course. Not because he needed it really but because he liked to be close to her.
Max let him sit up then she examined the cut in the side of his head, it was fairly substantial and would require a few stiches.
"Right, you need some stiches in that head of yours." Max said to him.
Logan wasn't really paying attention he was looking over at the man laying near him. He could see he was in a very very bad way.
"Yeah, ok we can get it done at the hospital." Logan said a little distant. Max didn't notice this.
"Hey, I can do it myself, you've got all the right stuff at your place." Max pointed out, unsure as to why he would want to go to hospital. Logan got up very cautiously and approached the man on the ground. He bent down and examined him.
"Max, what have you done?" Logan whispered, barely audible.
Max could feel a huge black pit open in her stomach, she had turned back into a Manticore monster. Logan was never going to want to look at her again, knowing what she had done.
"I was upset." She tried to defend herself.
"I thought he killed you. I kind of lost it."
She knew this wasn't a good excuse, not now Logan was alive.
"We need to get him to a hospital pretty quickly." Logan stated.
"I'm so sorry Logan, I didn't mean it." Max had completely broken down, something she never thought she would do in front of Logan. He was taken aback by the sorrow in her voice, she was pleading with him. He didn't really understand.
"Max, come on it's alright. All we need to do is get him to a hospital and he'll be alright." Logan said, trying to reason with her.
"Logan, look at me, look at what I did. I'm a monster. You see it now, don't you? You've just realised that I'm a genetically engineered killing machine, now you know I'm a freak. How can you even look at me with out feeling sick?" Max was going through another shift of emotion during this statement. She was angry to start with yelling. Then towards the end, she softened and looked completely lost and hopelessly upset.
"Max… I…" Logan wasn't quite sure what to say, sure he was shocked with what she had done but he didn't think she was a monster and he most certainly didn't feel sick when he looked at her.
He made his decision and walked over to Max to confront her. She just stood there, arms hanging by her side and head bowed awaiting her conviction.
"Max." Logan simply said.
She looked up, into his eyes, dreading what she was going to she. She was so nervous she didn't even notice Logan wrapping his arms around her. Max looked deep into Logan's eyes, expecting to see disgust and… compassion, worry? What was going on she is a freak she just destroyed this man, and Logan was looking at her with compassion and worry for her well being. It was then she noticed Logan had his arms wrapped around her. He pulled her in closer, then bent down and kissed her.
'Oh, god. My last kiss from this amazing person. Why do I have to be so different.' Max was upset, knowing this would be the last time Logan would ever touch her again, he was merely saying goodbye Wasn't he? After a few seconds Logan broke the kiss. Max had to know.
"What was that for?" She asked, voice full of worry expecting an answer she knew she wasn't going to enjoy.
"For being, 'real emotional'." Logan stated quite happily.
"What?" Max asked, completely confused.
"Well remember the first time we kissed, then you put it down to being 'real emotional'? Well I figured you were being real emotional again because what you were saying wasn't make a whole hell of a lot of sense. So I figured I should kiss you, since that's what happened last time. It's also a nice way of shutting you up, you can rattle on sometimes." Logan finished, apparently quite pleased.
Max just stood there and considered him for a moment.
"But… what I did, I'm a monst…" She was halfway through saying this when Logan kissed her again.
"Look I'm going to keep doing this as long as you keep rambling on nonsense." Logan said after breaking the kiss.
'Wow, could he mean it. He doesn't see me as a monster, my god he is a great guy. I love the way…Wait, love the way, what is that all about. Since when have I used that word with Logan in the same sentence? Well I'll just sit on that one for a while. In the meantime…' An idea came to mind.
"I don't know Logan… " Max began, this time in mock seriousness.
"I'm pretty sure I'm the greatest most hideous monster ever to be placed on this planet." She was a little nervous but smiled slightly at him.
"Oh, you are going to pay for that…" Logan said. And she did.
A good five minutes later the kiss finally broke. Max noticed blood on her hands – she had been running them through Logan's hair – and a stirring in the background. Some of the thugs were waking up.
"We'd better go." Logan stated, a little out of breath and feeling very flustered.
"Yeah." Max agreed, sounding and feeling a little goofy. It was the longest she had ever kissed someone, a record she felt needed to be broken.
"Can you…" Logan pointed to Hemall, who was stirring slightly.
"We don't have to stay with him or anything, just drop him off." Logan finished.
Max nodded agreement and picked up the man carefully, she could tell immediately that he would be feeling this for the rest of his life.
"Sorry." She whispered, the man attempted to recoil from the person who had done this to him but being in her arms made it difficult. He just let himself succumb to the pain coursing through his system and lost consciousness again.
When they got back to the car Original Cindy was already sitting in the passenger seat asleep. Logan opened the hatch and Max put the man in, he was still out of it. Now that Max wasn't encumbered with the man she moved closer to Logan, who had just shut the hatch door. Logan turned to face her and was pleasantly surprised to see her right in front of him, on her tiptoes again with her head inclined and looking at his mouth. This however could wait for the time being. They still had to get the man to hospital and more importantly back to their meal and movie. The mob were also on the move again.
"You can follow us there on your bike." Logan said, he could see Max was disappointed but he knew they couldn't spend all night in this place.
"Ok." Max simply said, she was a little worried with the way Logan treated that situation, then she remembered what she had done and was just happy he didn't say. 'You can just get on your bike, ride off and never see me again.'
On the way to the hospital Max was in a reasonably playful mood thanks to Logan. She was making slow deliberate circles around Logan's car. Overtaking him, then moving over to the other side, slowing down then moving back to the other side and overtaking again throwing in a wheelie or nose stand here and there.
Logan was horrified, he knew Max had perfect control of her bike, but when she went passed waving at him apparently not paying attention to the road in front, only on the front wheel of her bike he worried for her safety.
"You like her don't you?" Cindy was awake. She had been watching Logan for a while a small grin spreading across her face when she noticed how concerned he was with what Max was doing.
"She's a good girl." Logan said a little facetiously, while a small grin played his features.
"So explain this." Original Cindy said, producing a photo of Max and Logan in the shower, kissing.
Logan almost ran off the road.
"Where… How?" Logan was spluttering, this was a completely unexpected occurrence.
"The other night, when you and Max were out doing your whole 'save the world' bit. Original Cindy went to her home after a night out at Crash, to find an eviction letter. So Original Cindy goes over to Max's place to see if she can crash the night, only she ain't there. Then it occurred to me that she was most likely at your place and since Original Cindy now knows where you live, I went over to see if my girl was there."
"So you decided to sneak in and snoop around with a camera." Logan said, not really meaning to sound as accusing as he did.
"No, Original Cindy was about to knock when she noticed blood on your door and on the floor leading to it. Thinking something bad might be going down I came in quietly instead of knocking. When Original Cindy got inside there was all this blood and funky smelling stuff all over the floor, then another blood trail to somewhere else."
"So you followed the trail of blood?" Logan asked, it was starting to sound quite reasonable.
"Well what would you do? As Original Cindy followed the blood she heard a shower going. Original Cindy walked in to your bathroom and noticed that you and Max were having a nice little shower and everything seemed to be under control."
"And you happened to have a camera with you and decided to take a photo?" Logan said, again it was a little more scathing than he really intended. He just felt slightly invaded. Max was the only one allowed to break into his apartment. It bothered him that someone else had done it, he wasn't quite sure why but he knew it did.
"No. Original Cindy noticed the little camera of yours on the way in and decided to get some proof of this 'just friends' and 'convenient business relationship' rubbish that you two keep spurting. Original Cindy was just hoping to get a picture of you two together, then when I walked back in, you two were well and truly together." Logan smiled slightly at this and reddened considerably, the memories pleasantly flooding back over him, he could also see Max riding her bike around, which helped to reinforce the image. He could see the girl existed it wasn't some wonderful dream. He pinched himself furtively just to make sure.
"So Original Cindy took the picture then used your computer to make some copies." She finished off. Logan was a little worried about the copies part.
"How many copies." Logan asked seriously, apart from the embarrassment a photo of Max floating around usually wasn't a good idea. Original Cindy knew this also so she reassured him, although it wasn't that reassuring.
"Enough… Don't worry Original Cindy hid them. Ain't no black helicopter dudes going to get them." Just as she finished her statement they pulled into the hospital, Logan hadn't really noticed the cut in his head, but when he got out of the car, his legs failed again. He put it down to being hit in the head.
Max was already there and nearly caught Logan before he fell, she got him about halfway then hauled him up again.
"You probably shouldn't have driven with that bump on your head." Max said playfully. Logan just smiled and enjoyed the closeness of their bodies. They stood together for a while, then Original Cindy walked over bringing Logan's wheel chair. Logan looked angry at the sight of this.
"Look roller boy, Original Cindy knows you don't need this but for the sake of going into the hospital just sit. Otherwise they is going to think that you put the hurt on this boy.
Logan sat down, it made perfect sense but he hated it. Hated being back in the chair.
"What's to say I couldn't have done this to him anyway?" Logan asked, a little defensive.
"Well all the foot marks for one." Max said, trying to lighten the mood and get this over and done with.
"Ok, well I think it's best if you pretend to be his girlfriend…" Logan began talking to Original Cindy, it was time for a little pay back for that photo. Original Cindy looked disgusted with the prospect.
"And you were coming out of the club and got jumped by a group of gang bangers."
"And where do you two fit in?" Original Cindy asked.
"We are just concerned citizens who happened to be passing by and offered a hand." Logan stated, Max was a little disappointed with this, she was hoping that for the charade they might have been a couple returning from dinner or something nice like that. Of course it wouldn't make much sense why she was on bike and he was in a car, she just like the idea, for a charade she told herself. She knew it was for more than a charade however.
"And why do you have blood all over your head?" Original Cindy asked.
"Um… I was there first helping you up and Max here thought I was an attacker so she knocked me on the back of the head with a brick or some other device." Max was slightly hurt by this but it did make a good story so she decided to go with it, she would however have to complain first.
"Sure make me out to be the bad guy." Max pouted at Logan. He nearly fell over, which was a considerable impact since he was sitting in a wheel chair. He recovered nicely however and responded with a joke.
"Well you ride a motorbike, unsavoury bunch you are, motorcycle riders."
"What ever." Max replied.
"Ok, Original Cindy is going to go running and screaming in there now, you guys should probably just wait here or something, they'll bring out a stretcher." Original Cindy headed to the hospital doors, wanting to get this done with.
"So am I really an unsavoury element?" Max asked, she was being quite serious and sounded hurt.
"No." Logan simply said, this was a straightforward question and required a straightforward answer, something that couldn't be misinterpreted in anyway. Max shifted uncomfortably, Logan could tell she still wasn't quite sure. He turned around, grabbed her arm and pulled her down to his height then looked at her, deep into her eyes so she could see the truth.
"No." He said again, this time with a little more conviction. The word didn't really matter it was all spoken in the eyes. He could see she was worried again.
After a small while Max could tell Logan was serious about this, she was still a little worried about being a freak but there was no real concern, she could see the compassion.
Logan knew it had worked, as he was staring into the depth of her eyes he could see the change, she was becoming happy again, there was a small dancing light a vibrancy.
Max wanted to say something but they were locked in each others gaze, all she could do was move forward, closer to him. They were mere inches away, this kiss was going to be different, Max didn't feel the tearing anxiousness in her stomach or the nerves that often made her shake a little. She felt relief, something she didn't expect but understood why. She thought her performance tonight had turned Logan off her completely, that he'd never be able to look at her again, now she knew that was wrong. It felt so right that it scared her. Their lips had only lightly brushed when a screaming and wailing Original Cindy interrupted them. Her performance at the front door had begun, there would be a crew of doctors and nurses rushing to where they were any minute now carrying a stretcher. Max straightened and went to the back of Logan's car to pretend to care for the battered man. Logan wheeled around also but kept his distance from Max so as to appear not to know the girl, one of the hardest things he had to do for a while.
They finished off at the hospital and were heading back to Max's place to drop Original Cindy off.
"Will you be alright?" Logan asked Original Cindy.
"Yeah I'll be fine, I just need to have a shower and go to bed." Original Cindy replied.
"You must be tired." Logan stated a little playfully.
"Why?" Original Cindy responded perplexed.
"That's the first time I've heard you speak that wasn't in third person." Logan said.
"You got a problem with the way Original Cindy speaks?" She asked, back in full swing.
"No, I was making an observation." Logan stated, still quite playfully. He was happy, Original Cindy could see that.
"So what you got planned for my girl?" Original Cindy asked, wondering what was going to happen for the rest of the night between Max and Logan, she had never seen Max so nervous before going out.
"Well, when we get back dinner will just be ready, so I guess we'll eat." He said.
"And then…?" Original Cindy pressed, it sounded as if she was teasing him.
"Maybe a game of chess, then Max will probably leave." As Logan said this he was being perfectly honest and sounded a little depressed. He was so used to Max coming around, eating, playing chess on some occasions, and then leaving when they didn't have something Manticore or Eyes Only related to talk about.
"I don't think Max is going to want to leave after a nice meal and a game of chess tonight." Original Cindy said honestly.
"Why?" Logan asked, he had an idea why but he wasn't sure why Original Cindy would have an idea.
"She really likes you Logan. Look I don't know if I should tell you but you two really need a good shove along. When she thought you were dead, she was really upset. Not just angry but upset. She said it wasn't fair that you died, and that…" Original Cindy wasn't really sure if she should continue but then she decided that these two really did need all the help they could get. Logan was pestering her anyway.
"She said what?" Logan asked. Nervous but a little excited.
"She said she needed you, and she does you can see it in the way you two interact, how happy she was when she knew you were alright." 'There I've said it, I just hope Max doesn't kill me now.'
"She really said that?" Logan was a little shocked, he couldn't understand why or how Max could need him, she was the super being, he was the cripple.
"Straight up." Original Cindy answered. They had arrived at Max's apartment block and Max was approaching the car. Before she got there Original Cindy bent over and spoke to Logan.
"Don't you dare hurt this girl, she is fragile, more than she seems." Logan was again dumb struck.
"Thanks for the lift." Original Cindy perked up, and opened her door then jumped out.
Max came over to Logan's window, which he wound down.
"I'm going to see her up, make sure she's alright. I'll meet you back at your place. I'm really starving now." She added, then turned on her heel and walked to the building with Cindy.
Logan just smiled then headed back to his place.
When he got there, the chicken still had 15 mins to go.
"Perfect." Logan said to no one in particular.
He went and checked the table was still set, then got the red cordial from the TV room, threw a lot of ice blocks in then laid the glasses out on the table. He was going to select a wine but this seemed far more appropriate and he was getting addicted to it again. He was starting to get nervous. The formality of the dinner was what it was he told himself, even after tonight's events he wasn't sure what was going on between him and Max, he knew something was but it was very scattered.
Max was in the elevator again, nervously shifting from foot to foot.
"Take two." She said to herself.
She had changed out of the clothes she was wearing since Logan's blood was on them, now she wore something far more Max, she felt. She decided the door bell was where she went wrong last time, so she just barged straight on in like she always did, calling Logan's name on the way.
"Logan?"
"In here Max." He replied from the kitchen, he was placing the food on their plates.
"You can take a seat." He said pointing to the table.
Max walked in took her jacket off and sat down, pleased to see the red cordial was served to drink but decided to have a go at Logan again.
"So this is my fancy dinner, chicken and red cordial?" She asked.
"I'll have you know that Prulayshay-Cale goes perfectly with a nice cold glass of red cordial." Logan retorted from the kitchen. He walked in and presented Max with her meal, she gasped slightly at the aroma.
"I'll have to take your word for it."
They finished their meal and Max was well and truly stuffed. She looked at Logan with the intent of asking what was next, when she noticed that his hair was sticking out at strange angles.
"Oh god Logan, I forgot completely about your head, that needs stitching." Max said, rather worried, she was already halfway up out of her chair. She went over to him and picked him up a little out of his chair.
"Max, I can manage." Logan said, laughing a little.
"I'm so sorry Logan, I can't believe I forgot about it. Well I'm going to do a first class job, you be assured of that." She finished, desperately trying to regain some merit after forgetting he had a gash in his head.
"Max when has anything you've done not been first class?" Logan asked seriously.
Max didn't say anything, in response she just grabbed him be the elbow and dragged him into his bathroom.
She noticed the blood was soaked into his shirt collar and most of his hair.
"Right, sit." She said, as she walked out of the room to get the medical supplies.
She came back with a needle, some thread, some spray and a bottle of saline solution. She deftly removed the dried blood with the saline solution and put a towel around Logan's shoulders so the bloody water wouldn't run all over his back and chest.
"You're lucky, the cut is on your part, so you don't get a hair cut." Max said playfully.
Logan just responded with a nervous laugh.
"Don't worry Logan, I know what I'm doing, you won't even feel anything except for a slight tugging sensation." Max was trying to reassure him.
"I just don't like needles." He said nervously.
"What, even sewing needles?" Max responded showing him the needle she had.
"You have to get the anaesthetic in there somehow don't you?" Logan asked, the nervousness in his voice raised a little bit.
"Oh no, we never used anaesthetic, it slows the senses and dulls the mind. It will only hurt for a little bit." Max said quite seriously she was only joking but Logan was in such a state that he believed her.
"Max!" Logan yelled, as he jumped up and spun around to look at her.
She just cocked her hips and held up the bottle of saline solution whilst putting on a tremendous pout.
"Just sit down Logan, it will be alright." She said again joking.
"No, I want something for the pain." He was getting a little hysterical.
"I could just smack you in the face." Max suggested, quite enjoying the game.
"I… What, you wouldn't hit me. Would you?" Logan asked a little concerned, being smacked by Max wasn't something he really wanted.
This statement definitely killed Max's mood.
"You still think I'm a monster, something that only knows violence." Max said, quite angrily, but more than angry she was upset.
"No I don't, I just don't want you to smack me. That's all." Logan pleaded, not wanting to upset Max, he was beginning to understand what Original Cindy had said to him.
"Look you don't even trust me, you're backing away." Max stated, this was true, Logan was backing away.
"Only because I don't like needles and you want to put stitches in my head without anything for the pain." Logan said.
"I was only joking Logan, I've got a spray." Max said, a little angry and still a little bit hurt.
"Oh." Was all Logan said, he sat back down in front of Max again. Max was happy with this.
"Now be a good little boy and stay still. And if you are extra good, you may get a little surprise." She told him.
"What sort of surprise." Logan asked, this statement caused him to completely forget about the needle and the gash in his head.
"Well then it wouldn't be a surprise." Max simply said as she started to sew Logan's scalp together.
"Right, all done, not bad if I do say so myself." Max stated. Logan had been perfectly still the whole time, hoping to get a surprise for being good.
"Was I good?" He asked, trying to sound like a little boy, it worked,
'Oh, he's so cute. What am I going to surprise him with? I could do something a bit naughty, we've been kissing quite a bit tonight. No that wouldn't be appropriate. I know.' The idea hit her.
"Ok mister, stand up." He did, in a fashion similar to a robot. Trying to stay perfectly 'good' until he received his surprise.
Max grabbed the chair he had been sitting on and pushed it over to the sink.
"Ok, sit here and take your shirt off. I'll be back in a sec." Max said, the connotations were endless.
'Whoa, what sort of surprise is this?' Logan thought as he delicately removed his shirt. Max returned carrying a towel.
"Right, head back." He leaned his head over the bowl of the sink, he knew what was going to happen, it wasn't what he expected but he still couldn't believe it.
Max got the detachable hose from the sink and started to rinse Logan's hair thoroughly. Logan relaxed and would have closed his eyes but that would have meant missing out on the sight in front of him. Max, the perfect woman was standing over him washing the blood out of his hair. He couldn't believe it.
Max walked over to his shower and retrieved some shampoo. She began to massage it into his scalp.
"Tell me if you're stitches start to hurt, the anaesthetic might wear off." Max told him. Logan had forgotten he had just had stitches put in his head, he was too busy in heaven.
"Mmmm" was his response. Logan had closed his eyes now, he looked completely relaxed and comfortable with where he was. This made Max happy, since he was willing to relax with her standing over him when he knew that she could easily kill him if she wanted to. She was very happy, all these thoughts of being a freak and a monster held no ground with Logan, she could see it now.
Max got some of the shampoo and dabbed it on Logan's nose. This she thought was tremendously funny and burst into fits of laughter. In response Logan put a finger to his head and got some shampoo and dabbed it on Max's nose.
"Two can play at this game." Was his response. Max had a mischievous idea.
"Not if I do this." She said as she dragged both cupped hands across his head, getting all the shampoo out. She then got her handfuls of shampoo and smeared them onto his chest.
"Oh yeah." Logan replied, with a grin on his face. He grabbed Max by the arm and pulled her down onto his lap. Then he hugged her into his chest. They were both now covered in shampoo.
"You just love to ruin my clothes don't you?" Max said playfully.
"I'll get you some more." Logan responded.
Logan suddenly looked to the doorway. Max noticed this and was a little worried since she hadn't heard anything.
"What is it?" She asked, very quietly and seriously.
"I was just checking that Original Cindy wasn't there again with a camera." Logan said.
"So it was her that took the photo? I'm going to have a word with her." Max replied.
"Max, how did you know about the photo?" Logan asked, he hadn't told her and since she didn't know Original Cindy had taken the photo, he was curious.
"Oh, Bling found the camera they were on and printed off some copies. He showed me one." Max replied.
"So Bling's in on it too huh? I'll need to have a word to him." Logan said.
Then there was that awkward silence again.
Logan had made a decision, he was going to tell Max his realisation from earlier that night. His head was getting light and he couldn't feel his extremities properly. He had never been this nervous.
"Max… I, need to tell you something."