Smoke & Mirrors by Star24
Disclaimer: Dark Angel and its characters are property of Twentieth Century Fox and James Cameron and Charles Eglee. This original story is property and copyright 2003 Star24.
______________________________________________________________
Chapter Seven
CRASH
"That's one more for me," Max declared as she twirled the foosball sticks and grinned at Original Cindy. "Ya wanna play one more round? Get your revenge?"
"No thanks. Original Cindy's done gettin' her ass kicked by homegirl, so she's gonna go quench her thirst and check out that fine lookin' lickety chick that just came in."
Max shrugged, "In that case I think I'm gonna blaze, take a ride on my baby."
"If Original Cindy ain't home when you get in you'll know where she is, sugah. I got the feelin' that tonight's gonna be my lucky night." With that Original Cindy winked and headed off to the bar.
Max shook her head, smiling as she made her way up the stairs and out the door to where her Ninja was parked in the alleyway.
Fogle Towers
"…give me a call when you get this. I'm working on arranging that family reunion we all thought would never happen but I need some information from you about some of the missing members." Logan hung up on Syl's voice mailbox and sat back in his chair. Max's picture still stared at him from his monitor, and he ran his hands through his hair in a gesture of frustration as he reached over and clicked a key to minimize the picture.
"So what's the setup in aid of? Never seen so much expensive computer equipment in someone's personal space before."
Logan started at Max's voice, and looked up to see her standing at the entrance to the computer room. He shot a look at his screen, and was relieved to see that the screen saver had kicked in, covering the picture of her.
Max sauntered over and leaned her hips against the desk in a familiar fashion. "What, did I pry into some state secret or something? Or are you always this welcoming to your friends?"
"Oh…sorry Max, my mind was on something else and you caught me by surprise." Logan hedged.
Max just smiled at him and for a moment their eyes locked. Neither one moved, as they were both caught in a staring contest and the room seemed to crackle with electricity.
"You hungry?" Logan rose and started for the kitchen, breaking the tension.
"Sure, why not." Max trailed along after him, letting her gaze sweep over his tall figure. There was a faint mechanical whine and she looked down to see a frame of some type fitted over his boots. A small frown crossed her face, but then she shrugged and continued after Logan.
Once in the kitchen, Logan busied himself pulling bowls out of the refrigerator, while Max perched herself on the center island, watching with interest.
"Original Cindy says I used to spend a lot of time over here with you?" The inflection in her voice turned the words into a question.
"Yes." Logan answered, seemingly absorbed in what he was doing.
"She also said we were just friends?"
"And your question is?" Logan parried, avoiding her eyes.
"Were we just friends, Logan?"
Logan turned from placing a plate in the microwave to find that Max had hopped down from her perch and was standing only inches away, gazing up at him.
"Don't you think you'd know if we were more than that, Max?"
Max frowned as she looked up at him. "You would think so."
She is standing in her apartment and Logan is sitting in a wheelchair facing her.
He smiles and says, "I got a surprise for you. Cover your eyes."
"Is it a new carburetor? It is, isn't it?"
"No."
"Mmm, flowers... jewelry?"
"Since when do you wear jewelry?"
"I'm open to the idea."
"It's not jewelry. Don't peek."
"I'm not"
She senses that Logan is now standing in front of her, and then she feels his hands reach up and gently pull hers down from her eyes. She finds herself looking up into his face with a sense of shock and something else as well. Something she can't put a name to.
"It's like some kind of miracle," she stammers.
"You're the miracle. You did this. You gave me back my life." His voice is husky and the look in his eyes is wreaking havoc on her senses as they continue to stare at each other…
"Max? Are you okay?" Logan's voice jerked her back to awareness.
"Yeah…I just had sort of a weird feeling there for a minute…ya know.. déjà vu, blah blah blah."
The two stood there, eyes locked on each other. Slowly, almost as if he couldn't help himself, Logan began to lower his face to her waiting one. Max didn't move, neither encouraging nor discouraging him. Their lips were within millimeters of touching, when the microwave timer went off. Logan quickly straightened at the sound, and turned to take out the food.
Max stood there watching him as he prepared two plates and carried them to the table. She seemed disappointed, and at the same time relieved, at the interruption.
"Max, grab the bottle of wine on the counter and a couple of glasses, okay?" Logan called over to her. He was busy lighting a couple of candles and placing them carefully on the table, making sure they were centered exactly right.
"Sure thing." Max did as directed, and carried the bottle and the glasses over to the table. Logan had set their plates at right angles to each other, and after Max set down her booty, he pulled out her chair and seated her, before sitting down himself.
"So what is this anyway?" she asked, inhaling deeply and smiling at the aroma of the food.
"Just some leftover Poulet Chez Cale…"
"…and this wouldn't happen to be a Pre-Pulse Nuits-St. George would it?"
Logan looked at her inquiringly. "As a matter of fact it would be. How'd you know?" he asked, a shade too casually. "Never knew you to be that into wines before."
"Guess I read the label." Max shrugged.
"The label is plain white, Max, my supplier likes to protect his sources." Logan pointed out.
"Oh. Lucky guess?" Max offered with a flirtatious smile.
Logan gave her an answering smile. "Yeah, must have been," he responded slowly, never taking his eyes from hers. He finally broke the look and raised his glass in a toast, "Bon appetit."
Max raised her glass in answer. "Back at ya," and they both began to eat.
Seattle Pay Phone, several hours later
Max's voice was harsh as she spoke quickly into the phone. "I told you I haven't been able to get access to the computers yet. I need a few more days."
She listened for a moment. "And if I did that and still couldn't get in who would there be left to give me the passwords?" She listened again a frown on her face then continued on, "I can handle him, but I need you to set something up for me… sort of a guarantee that he won't suspect a thing…here's what I want done…"
End of Chapter Seven
