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It was some unearthly hour of the morning when Logan finally crawled into bed. The exhaustion completely took over and he had fallen asleep before his head hit the pillow. His sleep was not restful, though. His dreams had started to become nightly reigns of terror in the last week or so and he had no idea why. Like a horror movie playing over and over again. Max dying in his arms, the sight of her lapsing into a seizure. The worst part seemed to be where she was in a glass cage sobbing her heart out for a reason he could never find out. The glass was unbreakable and he couldn't reach her to hold her and let her know everything would be alright. Just as he got to the point where he was practically screaming Max's name even though she couldn't hear him, a calming voice broke through his dream. "She's alright. Max is safe Logan. Don't worry, just sleep." The voice was so familiar. Slowly the nightmares faded and he fell deep into a dreamless sleep. When he awoke the next morning, Logan felt more rested than he had in ages. Rolling onto his side he found himself looking at Max. "When did you get here?" The sight of her sitting on the floor against the wall next to his bed was more than he could take at this hour of the morning. "About an hour ago." She had a huge smirk on her face. "Jondy called me early this morning and said you were having a nightmare." She had never seen him look this rumpled before. "Bed hair. Not a look I envisioned on you, but I guess it works." She giggled at the exasperated look that crossed his face. "What's Jondy doing in Seattle?" He was still half asleep but he instinctively knew that Max would have woken him if Jondy had a cure. "Is everything alright?" Max nodded. "Yeah. Devon and Kera took the girls camping and Jondy couldn't work with the house so quiet. Plus her boss at the bar has shut shop for a few days to fumigate." Logan propped himself up on one elbow. "So she came to Seattle and broke into my place, then called you to watch me sleep?" "Something like that." Jondy walked in with two steaming cups of coffee and a cup of tea for herself. Handing Max and Logan their coffee, she sat down on the floor beside Max. "That must have been one hell of a nightmare you were having. You were practically screaming when I got here." She thought it best to leave out the fact that he was screaming Max's name. Logan's eyes narrowed. "It was your voice I heard." He waited for Jondy to nod. "Thanks. That's usually the point where I wake myself up." He suddenly became aware that he had been so exhausted the previous night that he had just stripped off and climbed into bed. "If you two will give me a minute, I'll get up and make you both breakfast." "Sounds good to me." Max stood up and reached down to help Jondy up. "I have to make another donation to the blood bank anyway." Jondy had asked her for a blood sample when Max had arrived but they had both gotten side tracked. "Who the hell called you at that unearthly hour this morning, Boo," Original Cindy demanded as she and Max put their gear away in their lockers. "It better had been an emergency." Max shook her head. "It was Jondy. She arrived in Seattle this morning and decided to work in that lab she has set up at Logan's place. She said he was having some sort of nightmare and was yelling loud enough to wake the dead." Original Cindy was confused. "So she what? Thought you could give him something better to dream of?" "I don't think so." Max brushed her hair off of her face. "Logan was asleep when I got there. Jondy just said to tell him everything was alright if he started yelling again and not to wake him." "Strange." Original Cindy slammed the locker shut. "I guess sister girl knows what she's doing. Why's she in Seattle anyway?" "The hotel she and Devon brought is too quiet." Max giggled. "It seems my sister got used to the noise of the girls moving around the place. Devon took everyone camping and now it's too quiet." "She needs noise around her to be able to work on a cure?" Original Cindy shook her head. "Whatever works for her." Logan had started clearing away the breakfast dishes when he heard Asha entering the apartment calling his name. "In here." He had left Jondy working with Sebastian over his computer, so the apartment appeared almost deserted. "What's up?" He threw over his shoulder as he finished washing the dishes. Asha leaned against the bench. "Does something always have to be up for me to visit?" When Logan raised his eyebrow suspiciously, she knew she couldn't fool him. "The S1W have a lead on some Vets being targeted for extortion. I was hoping you could get 'Eyes Only' to do a broadcast. I don't have to remind you that S1W have helped him out on numerous occasions." She knew that she was pushing her luck with that last comment. Logan dried his hands on a towel and turned to face Asha, throwing the towel aside. "They haven't helped him often enough for you to keep using that line." He saw Jondy leaning against the doorframe behind Asha, just like Max always did. "You know you freak me out when you do that." Jondy just shrugged her shoulder and smiled at him. Asha had turned around to see who he was talking to. "Was Sebastian any help?" She simply nodded. "So I guess you want another cup of tea." He chuckled when she grinned and held her cup out for him. "I'll bring it in to you." He took her cup and watched her walk away. "Chatty little thing, isn't she?" Asha had a feeling there was a lot of hidden meaning in that conversation. "So do you think 'Eyes Only' will help or what?" She tried to place where she had seen the redhead before, but was coming up blank. Logan boiled the kettle for Jondy's tea. "I'll ask him to look into it, but I'm not promising anything. This is the last favor I'm calling in for you, Asha." Asha hugged him. "Thank you." She couldn't help but feel the rippling muscles underneath his shirt. She took a step back and handed him the file she had brought with her. "Here's all the information we have." Logan put the file on the counter and finished making Jondy's cup of tea. "I'll call him in a minute. I think Jessica's using the computer and phone at the moment." He was careful to use Jondy's alias. "I'll let you know what I find out later." He walked past Asha to take Jondy her tea. He was eager to see if Jondy and Sebastian had come up with anything. Asha watched him leave, consumed with envy. "What's she got that I haven't got? Apart from red hair." She knew Logan still loved Max, but they couldn't even touch, so why shouldn't she get a shot at him. Unfortunately, it looked as though Jessica whoever she was, had beaten Asha to it. "Damn." Asha stamped her foot and headed for the door. "Why does he have to be so damn sexy." Jondy smiled to herself as she picked up with her feline hearing, Asha muttering to herself. Taking the cup Logan offered her she punched a couple of keys on the computer to try out the theory she and Sebastian had worked out. "You know Sebastian's sort of cute." She rolled her eyes at the look Logan gave her. "In a strictly platonic way." The patterns on the screen moved and regrouped as they watched. "Good. That looks as though it will work." Jondy sipped her tea. "Sorry. Did you want to use your computer?" She looked up at Logan. "No hurry." Logan was actually a bit annoyed that Asha kept trying to use S1W's help as a bargaining chip with 'Eyes Only'. "What you're doing is more important. Care to explain what might work though?" He pulled up a chair and sat beside her watching the screen. "I don't want to get your hopes up in case this doesn't work. I'll want to test our theory on the blood samples you and Max have given me first." Jondy saw the hope in Logan's eyes and decided she couldn't dash his hopes. "Oh alright, but don't say I didn't warn you." She tapped another couple of keys and pointed to the screen. "Ok. This is Max's DNA and this is yours. Now so you can get a better idea of what Max's DNA should look like, here is also my DNA and Zane's." Logan looked at the four structures. "They all look different although your DNA and Zane's have more likeness." Jondy nodded. "Here's the problem with Max's DNA structure. She has no junk DNA and from what I can work out from the file Lydecker gave me, she never has had. Everybody has junk DNA, even X5s. When that lab tech created the virus he had to make sure it matched up in pairs so that it would mould perfectly into Max's DNA. It also made it harder to track down." "But you've tracked it down and found a way to separate it." Logan knew Jondy was reluctantly telling him this for fear that it wouldn't work. "But you want to make sure by trying it on the blood samples first." He looked her in the eye. "I'm not giving up hope." "Good." Jondy smiled kindly at him. "When we've finished fixing this little problem, perhaps we can find a way of stopping those nightmares about not being able to reach Max." She giggled when she saw Logan wince. Suddenly she turned serious again. "I know Asha's a friend of yours, but be careful. There's something that's not right about her." Zane's words rang in Logan's ears. "Jondy doesn't trust anyone, but I have to agree with her about Asha. Something's not right there." "I'll be careful." Logan looked at his watch. "You want some lunch?" He hadn't realized how late it had gotten. "Hell yes." Jondy uncurled herself from the chair. "I'll go and start the tests on the samples and be right with you." She headed for the make shift lab. "Logan! You here?" Max pretty much knew where he'd be. As usual he was working on his computer. "Saving the world again?" Logan looked up and smiled. "Just double checking some information I've been given. Do you want to stay for dinner? I was just about to go and disturb Jondy so that she could eat." Max nodded. "Sounds good. I was going to try and convince Jondy to take a break and join me and the gang down at Crash later." "I can do both." Jondy appeared behind them. "I've gone as far as I can with these tests. It's just a matter of waiting to make sure the results don't have a time limit on them." "But you think you've found a cure." Max eyed Jondy cautiously. Her caution slipped away when Jondy nodded. "Really?" She didn't wait for an answer. Instead Max grabbed her sister and hugged her. "Thank you. You have no idea how much this means to me." Jondy glanced at Logan over Max's shoulder. "Oh I think I do. Besides I didn't do this by myself. I had a lot of help from Devon and Sebastian. Not to put a dampener on everything, but we still have to wait to make sure the cure holds." "Well, we'll just have to celebrate twice." Logan headed into the kitchen to start dinner. He knew his faith in Jondy hadn't been in vain. All thoughts of helping Asha vanished as he prepared to have dinner with his family. He had realized he was closer to the X5s than he was to his blood relatives. Later that night Max and Jondy waited for Logan to pulled the car around the front of Crash. Max suddenly burst out giggling. When she saw the puzzled look on her sister's face she struggled to stop laughing so she could explain herself. "I'm sorry, but doesn't this seem like something you'd see on TV." She deepened her voice. "Wait here Honey while I get the car." Jondy started giggling as well. "You'd better be careful, Logan may want you in the kitchen wearing an apron next." Max's sides were aching from laughing so much. "He knows I can't cook. If he tries that we'll both end up with food poisoning. Maybe you should stay in Seattle, sort of an on site Doctor." Jondy shook her head in utter disbelief. "Well, as appealing as that sounds, I think I will decline your offer in favor of my twelve adopted daughters and Devon in San Francisco." A scream coming from nearby stopped their giggling abruptly. Stopping for a second to silently confirm their next move, Max and Jondy split up and went in opposite directions. Max ran straight into the screamer. She grabbed the woman by the arms and made her stop. "What's wrong?" The woman pointed behind her. "There's a monster hiding in the alley." She grabbed Max's arm as she started to walk down the alley. "Are you insane. That thing is huge. It'll eat you alive." When Max pulled her arm free, the woman just shrugged her shoulders and ran in the other direction. Jondy looked down into the alley. She could see a huge man with long hair and a shorter man who was hitting him with a plank of wood. She couldn't figure out why the bigger man wasn't trying to defend himself. "This had better not be something kinky." She muttered to herself as she dropped down onto the man armed with the plank of wood, knocking him out cold. As she rose to stand up, she came face to face with a face that looked like a dog. The dog man started to growl at Jondy as she pulled herself into a standing position. Jondy hissed back in response. The man stopped growling and looked quite surprised. He took a step forward and cautiously sniffed her. Carefully, he pushed Jondy's long hair aside to look at her neck. "Jondy. Max's sister." He reached out his hand and shook her small elegant hand. "You must be Joshua." Jondy took a lucky guess. Just then she heard Max race up behind her. "Looks like you interrupted a hooker and her pimp, Joshua." "Man was hitting woman. That's not right." Joshua replied simply. Max gave Joshua a hug. "I see you've met my sister, big fella." She grinned at Jondy. "I think I'll go get Logan to bring the car around here." She raced back down the alley. "So how are you finding life outside of Manticore?" Jondy looked up at Joshua, who towered above her. "Big" Joshua replied. Logan had remembered once they had dropped Joshua off and got back to his apartment, that he had promised Asha to look into the file she had given him. From what little work he had done before dinner, all the information looked correct on the surface. Once you dug a little deeper it was quite obviously a setup. In the background he could hear Max and Jondy giggling and talking like two little girls. Logan smiled to himself. It was the most wonderful sound in the world to him at that moment. Logan woke the next morning slouched over his computer. He winced as he sat up. All of the muscles in his back and shoulders arched from sleeping in an unnatural position. Turning in his chair he found Asha standing behind him a cup of coffee in her hand. "Morning." He stood and made his way to the kitchen. "That information you gave me is all a hoax. Whomever gave it to you is either setting you up or just playing a stupid joke." He poured himself a cup of coffee and switched the jug on for Jondy, whom he guessed was working in the lab again. Asha leaned her elbows on the counter. "I thought that might be the case. We've had a few false leads just lately." She looked around her before returning her gaze to Logan. "Your little friend gone out or is she still in bed." Hopefully not yours. The thought had so quickly sprung into her mind. "Jessica doesn't usually sleep. She's probably working in the back room." He sat down on a stool and saw Jondy come into view behind Asha. He still marveled at how quickly and quietly Max and Jondy could move. "Is she staying for long?" Asha inquired, trying not to be obvious and failing miserably. "No, not long." Jondy walked over to where Logan was sitting and put her empty cup down beside him. "Try and sit up straight." She moved behind him and ran her hand up his spine. "You know you're your own worse enemy when you fall asleep like that." She carefully kneaded the muscles in his back and then moved onto his shoulders. "Yeah, I know." Logan felt his aches and pains start to fade away. "Hey, you're pretty good at that." He felt her hands leave his shoulders. He turned to find that Jondy had moved over to get herself a cup of tea. "How are those tests going?" "Good. I should have a definite answer for you tonight. Can I use your phone? I want to see how Devon and the girls are doing on their camping trip." Jondy could practically see Asha turning green with envy in front of them. "Sure. Did he take his cell phone with him?" Logan never thought of Devon as the camping type. "Cause depending on how far out he is, you may not be able to get hold of him." Jondy smiled at him. "We've got it covered. The mosquitoes have probably driven them mad by now and he's booked them into some kind of motel." She giggled. "The first time I took him camping, he was convinced that he wouldn't survive one day without hot and cold running water." She was still giggling to herself when she took her tea with her to use the phone. It suddenly clicked in Asha's head that Jessica was Max and Zane's sister. "So why is Jessica staying here instead of with Max? Did they have a fight or something?" Asha always found the members of Max's family that she had met a bit strange. She was sure that Jessica wasn't using that name the last time she had seen her. Logan finished his coffee and went to get Asha's file. "Everything Jessica needs is here so it made more sense that she stay here." He handed Asha the file. His cell phone rang in the next room. "Did you need anything else, cause I'd better get that." He waited for her to shake her head before going to answer his phone. Asha made her way to the door rather disillusioned. It was one thing to try and get Logan's attention off of Max. It was entirely a different thing to try and do it with Max's siblings turning up all of the time. Logan finished on his cell phone about the same time Jondy finished speaking to Devon. "How's the camping trip going?" Logan had started to wonder why Jondy hadn't gone with them. He and Max wouldn't have begrudged her taking a break from finding a cure for the virus. The look on Jondy's face looked wistful. "They're all enjoying themselves. Devon remembered to take the insect repellant this time, so they are still out in the wilderness in tents at the moment." "You wish you were with them." Logan tended to forget sometimes that Jondy's life was just as tough as Max's. Probably because Jondy always appeared so up beat. Jondy gazed out of the window at the Seattle rain. "There will be other camping trips. I'm needed here for the moment." Logan stood behind her staring out the window as well. "Don't think for a minute that we don't appreciate all you're doing for Max and me. Don't push aside your own life for us Jondy. You have a right to be happy too." Jondy smiled up at Logan while chewing her lower lip which made her look even more like a little girl. "When we broke out of Manticore and split up, none of us knew where we were going or what we were going to do. Twelve years later, I'm still trying to work out what I really want out of life. Don't get me wrong, I have a great life." She went back to staring out the window. Logan had seen Max do this so many times. State the obvious and then close the subject. "But you don't know if it's the life you want. You always seem to be helping people, Jondy. When is it your turn?" Jondy giggled. "Soon." She heard the apartment door open and decided to change the subject. "Who was on your phone?' Logan saw Max and Bling walk in out of the corner of his eye. "Matt Sung. He has all the information to arrest a major crime boss, but so far they haven't been able to actually lay their hands on him." "What's the problem?" Max propped herself against the desk beside where her sister was sitting on a chair. "Why doesn't he just get a search warrant?" "Well, this particular crime boss owns a night club and every time somebody tries to get inside they end up dead. The police don't have the resources to send an entire team in." Logan could hear Matt's request going over and over through his head. He needed a couple of female officers to do the job, but unfortunately the one's he had sent in, had never come back. Logan was not willing to risk Max or Jondy, not even to save the world. "I've got time to kill." Max looked down at her sister. "Want to take a break and join me?" "Fine with me. Just let me get my purse." Jondy walked into the spare room and came back a few seconds later with a shoulder bag. Logan didn't like this idea one bit. "Hold on one minute. This is way too dangerous. Let Matt find someone else." Bling had a feeling that it would be a lot less dangerous for the two X5 women to attempt the job, than it was for a mere mortal. "How about I go with them? We can take the van and if there's anything they can't handle, then I'll pull them out." Logan still wasn't convinced, but he felt better with Bling watching the two women. "Alright, but be careful." White practically growled into his cell phone. This wasn't the answer he wanted to his question. He was passing the time making phone calls until either the entertainment started or his favorite crime boss finished upstairs. "What do you mean X5-210 was caught on camera but you can't tell me what she looks like." The voice on the other end of the phone started to shake, obviously realizing White was not impressed by this news. "Well, Sir, it appears she's a bit camera shy. None of the footage actually show her face. Eye witness reports claim she is anywhere from five foot four to five foot eight tall. Some say she has blue eyes, some green. There's no clear description of her. I have found out that her X5 siblings refer to her as Jondy." White's reply came out as a snarl. "I don't care if her name is Mae West. I want photo ID's on each of the twelve X5s that escaped in 2009. They're the trouble makers and I want them destroyed." He abruptly switched off his phone unaware that Alec was behind him trying to discreetly stay out of his sight. Matt met Bling and the women in the alley beside the club. "I've managed to delay the entertainment a couple of blocks down, but you're probably only looking at about ten minutes." He handed Jondy a dress. "I think this should fit." Jondy frowned as she held the dress up by the thin shoulder straps. "What the hell is the entertainment? A stripper?" The deep blue dress had a long flowing silk skirt to it with slits up both sides which finished about mid thigh. The bodice, what there was of it left the back exposed except for the lace up ties that crisscrossed, holding the material together. The sides also had panels that existed only of strips of material criss crossed. Most of the material existed on the front of the bodice which had a sweet heart neckline. Matt tried not to laugh at the distressed look on Jondy's face. "No. A singer." "You want me to sing?" Jondy looked back down at the dress. "What? I'm not such an innocent girl? There's not going to be any doubt about that if I wear this dress." Max had to agree, there certainly was a lot of material missing from the dress. "Look at it this way, if you can't sing, nobody's going to care with you wearing that dress." She gave her sister a gentle shove towards the van. "Come on, I'll help pour you into that thing." She closed the door to the van and grabbed Jondy's bag. "Just out of interest: Can you sing?" Jondy looked terrified. "I have no idea. I've never really tried. I guess we're about to find out." She turned around so that Max could lace the back of the dress up. "So what's the plan? I go in the front door and start singing while you climb up the outside of the building and toss this guy out the window?" Max nodded as she handed Jondy a pair of black high heels from out of her purse. "Pretty much. Matt gave me a photo of this guy." She showed Jondy who was pinning her long hair up. "Ain't he pretty?" She giggled when Jondy screwed up her nose. "What? You don't find that long jagged scar that runs down his cheek attractive?" "Maybe in a few months time, he'll appeal to me." Jondy left enough of her hair down to cover her barcode. "Ok. I'm as ready as I'll ever be, but I would just like to point out, being the distraction bites." Max nodded. "Your statement has been duly noted. Let's go." She climbed out of the van with Jondy behind her. Using her feline vision, she managed to get a good look at the crowd inside. "Damn." She spotted White and Alec. "This just got 100% more complicated." It was obvious that Alec was trying to stay out of White's sight. Jondy shot Max a puzzled look as Bling slipped his leather jacket over her shoulders. "What's wrong? We only have about five minutes to pull this off." Max pointed out White and Alec. She would have to change the plan a bit to get Alec out as well. Unfortunately, Jondy would have to make sure all of White's attention remained on her. Bling walked up to the front entrance, clearing people aside so that Jondy could walk through untouched. He looked the bouncer straight in the eye. "The entertainment in here." The bouncer looked Jondy up and down. She looked so tiny and fragile with Bling's jacket swamping her. "Gotta search you before you go in." Jondy looked highly irritated but gestured for Bling to remove the jacket briefly. "Where would I hide anything in this outfit?" She did a slow twirl which made the skirt to her dress expose quite a bit of her long legs. Bling struggled not to laugh as the Bouncer's jaw dropped. Jondy certainly did fill out the dress well. As he was being searched, Bling could see Max climbing up the side of the building. Everything she had needed was in Jondy's purse. Finally the Bouncer moved aside and let them pass. Jondy moved towards the stage, still covered with Bling's jacket. Bling stood close enough to the stage to be able to help Jondy if she needed it, but far enough away not to crowd her. As the music started up the crowd's focus moved to the tiny red head. Max had managed to position herself on the balcony above where Alec was hiding. Max dropped the end of the rope that she had tied around her waist over the balcony and signaled for Alec to climb up.
First impressions can be wrong At that point Jondy whipped off Bling's coat and tossed it to him leaving a clear view of the sexy dress. She looked back over her shoulder at White. Baby, I'm not who you think I am. She wiggled her hips. "Ok, he's hooked." Max made her way towards a closed door but realized that Alec wasn't with her. Looking over her shoulder she saw that Alec was watching Jondy. Shaking her head she grabbed his shirt collar and dragged him with her. "I swear they forgot to give you a brain at Manticore." She wrapped the rope around her waist, then stopped to listen at the door. Jondy had no idea what she was doing. This was definitely a case of winging it. It seemed to be working. All she had to do was try not to fall out of this damn dress she was almost wearing.
I'm not made of China She swayed her hips.
Would it shatter your illusion, She twirled around to give the audience a full view of her dress. You can touch me I won't break Slowly she ran her hands up her sides. White was practically drooling and it was giving Jondy the creeps.
Don't think of me that way Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Max picking the lock to a door and pushing someone who looked remarkably like Ben inside.
Don't wrap me up As uncomfortable as this was making Jondy, Bling was never the less impressed at how well she was covering her unease. He had positioned himself so that he had a clear view of the front door. He would have to get Jondy out of there fast once Max gave him the signal. A partially ugly man turned to face Max and Alec when they walked in the room. "Who the hell are you?" They didn't look old enough to be police officers. He reached for his gun. "Never mind, I really don't care." Before he could fire the gun, Alec had disarmed him and Max had unwound the rope from her waist and had tied it around the man. "Hope you're not scared of heights." Max quipped before she shoved the man out of the window. "Never mind, I really don't care." Alec hung onto the end of the rope with Max. "Why are we doing this when we could be watching the vision in blue downstairs?" Max looked out of the window and watched Matt taking the Crime Boss into custody. "First of all that vision in blue downstairs is Jondy. Don't even think about hitting on your sister. Second, I just got your worthless arse past White and third, Jondy and I actually came here to do a friend a favor." She tied the rope to the desk and gestured out the window. "After you." Bling saw Max's signal just as the real entertainment turned up at the door. Luckily Jondy had just fininished her song and was trying to get off of the stage without looking as if she was about to break into a run. "You have quite a voice." Jondy and Bling froze and turned slowly around. Being this close to White was the last thing Jondy had ever wanted. When White's gaze traveled down her body, Jondy fought hard to resist flinching. "Jessica, we're running late." Bling placed his jacket back round Jondy's shoulders. "It's bad enough you wasted your voice at the wrong club." White took a step in front of Jondy. "I'll be seeing you again, Jessica." He smiled at her before taking a step to the side and letting them pass. Jondy looked White straight in the eye, her own eyes like ice. "God, I hope not." She allowed Bling to lead her out the door. She could feel White watching her as they walked away. White chuckled to himself. "That's one Ice Princess I'd like to melt." He heard the ruckus up upstairs. Rolling his eyes, White walked outside. The person he had come to see had already left the building. Instinct told him that. Logan was just finishing up with Matt on the phone when the group walked in. "Everyone alright?" His eyes just about fell out of his face when Jondy took off Bling's coat to reveal the dress she hadn't had a chance to change out of. "Is that the dress Matt says you can keep? Where's the rest of the material?" Jondy shot Logan a filthy look. "This is the last time I do you a favor." She shuddered. "We ran into White, so if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and degrease myself." Logan watched her stomp towards the bathroom. "I gather he didn't see you or Alec." He turned to face Max. "No." Max sat on the arm of the sofa. "He was too busy watching Jondy sing." She giggled at the shocked look on Logan's face. "I guess White has no idea what Jondy looks like cause he tried to pick her up." "No wonder she's in a bad mood." He frowned slightly. "Can Jondy actually sing or were you all relying on the amount of skin that dress is exposing to distract everyone's attention?" Max shrugged her shoulders. "She's not bad." She glanced over at the bathroom door. "Lucky the crowd didn't pick up on how terrified she was." "I was impressed with her singing." Alec sat down beside Max. "At least what I heard of it before you dragged me away." Max rolled her eyes. "No way, were you listening to Jondy's singing. More likely you were trying to figure out how to get her out of that poor excuse for a dress." She glared at him. "I should have named you Dick." Bling sat down in an armchair. "Gotta wonder what White was doing there. I'm pretty sure he wasn't there for the entertainment." "Probably had a meeting with the guy Max threw out the window." Alec offered. "Well as always it's been a slice of life hanging out with you lot, but." He stood and headed for the door. "Gotta blaze. Nice meeting you, Jondy." "Bite me." Jondy walked out of the bathroom wearing a bathrobe and into the lab room. "Love to." Alec shot back over his shoulder, a cheeky grin on his face. Max decided that she had better check on her sister. It was out of character for her sister to be this bad tempered. "I'll be right back." Logan shot Bling a puzzled look "What am I missing? Did something else happen tonight?" Bling leaned his elbows on his knees. "It was an easy enough job for those two. I think it got slightly more complicated when Max had to get Alec past White and the only way to do that was to make sure White's attention remained on Jondy." "That was a little too close for comfort." Logan knew how important it was to keep the X5's out of White's reach. Although he scolded himself for being selfish, his first thought was: Especially Max. By the time Max returned to the living room, Bling had left and Logan was working on the computer. "Jondy says it takes twelve hours for the antidote to completely destroy the alien DNA strands that the lab tech spliced to my so called normal DNA." She sat on the edge of Logan's computer desk. "But it's not going to reverse its cure as far as Jondy knows." Logan didn't want either of them to get another chance together, just to have it taken away from them again. "Jondy's never let us down before," Max pointed out. She had, had the same concerns but then she remembered how Jondy had insisted they wait to make sure the cure wasn't short term. "So how does this work? Jondy gives you a shot and then we wait twelve hours to see if we can hold hands?" Logan tried to joke about the whole situation. "Pretty much." Jondy appeared behind them dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. "Very few of my little miracles happen in a matter of seconds. Sorry." Logan couldn't believe Jondy was apologizing. "You have nothing to be sorry for. You found a cure. So we have to wait a little while. It's worth it." Max smiled knowingly at her sister. "We're glad you said that cause Jondy's already given me the shot." Patience wasn't a virtue Max had. "I guess I'll see you guys in the morning." Logan had no idea how he was going to manage to wait until morning. He had told Max once that they had all the time in the world. He wasn't about to be proven wrong, but he had to admit, the promise of he and Max finally getting what they wanted scared him. Original Cindy hugged Max. "Sister girl sure came through for you, didn't she." She took a step back, she had expected Max to be happier about this news. 'What's wrong Boo? I would have thought you'd be bouncing off the walls now that you have a cure to this bitch." Max sat down on the sofa. "I'm happy we have the cure and I don't even mind that we have to wait twelve hours. It's just we've gotten close before and something has always gone wrong." Original Cindy could see right through Max. "You're scared, Boo. You're terrified that you are finally going to get everything you ever wanted." Cindy sat down beside her friend and put her arm around Max's shoulders. "You deserve to be happy. In fact, I don't know anyone who deserves this more than you and Logan." Max looked doubtful. "Really?" Original Cindy nodded. "Really." She nudged her friend. "Damn, this is going to be a long twelve hours. Lucky you have the day off work tomorrow." Max giggled nervously. "I guess that means I can't use the 'I have to go to work' excuse, huh?" Logan sat as he had so many times watching the ever-persistent rainfall outside his apartment window. He had tried to sleep, but he just ended up a tangled mess of bed sheets, clothes and limbs. Finally he had given up trying. Although he couldn't see or hear Jondy, Logan had come to realize that she had the uncanny ability to know when she was needed and when to stay out of the way and give people their space. The barely noticeable sound of bare feet padding across the polished wooden floor was right on cue. Logan glanced over his shoulder at the tiny redhead. "Well, I know I didn't wake you." He had never realized how petite Jondy really was. Normally she had some form of high heels on. Jondy pulled a chair over and sat down beside him. "You couldn't sleep. After an hour of tossing and turning in your bed, you decided to get up and come and stare out the window. Here you've been ever since trying to figure out if you're excited about finally being able to kiss the woman you love or if you're scared that what you have in your life that you can't live without, will be taken from you." Her blue eyes twinkled in the darkness. "How far off am I?" Logan rolled his eyes. "Right on as usual." He decided it was time to change the subject. "So what is happening with you and Bling? Don't tell me you haven't noticed the man is crazy about you." "I've noticed." Jondy's face lost its teasing look and took on a sad one. "I wish I felt the same. I know he's a wonderful person and hell he's great looking." "But there's no spark," Logan finished for her. "Bling realized that when he was visiting San Francisco, didn't he?" Logan had noticed that Bling's attitude to Jondy had changed slightly on this visit. He was protective when need be but that was all. Jondy nodded. "I think so. I probably need my head read, turning down someone who isn't trying to use me or cash in on me. The thing is, it wouldn't really be fair to him. Bling deserves some one who feels the same about him as he does about her." "Fair enough." Bling was too good a friend to push him into a one sided relationship. Logan took his glasses off and rubbed his eyes. "I suppose I'd better get some sleep." He reached out and hugged Jondy. "Thanks for helping us out." He got up and went to his bedroom. Original Cindy cursed as she stubbed her toe on the doorframe. She could hear Max pacing back and forth in the living room. "You know, all this pacing ain't gonna make the time go any faster, Boo." She pretended to be mad. "At least one of us needs to sleep." "Sorry." Max was a bundle of nervous energy. "Didn't mean to wake you." She had thought about going for a walk, but then it had started to rain again, so she had decided against it. "Why don't you go and let Joshua in on the good news?" Original Cindy stifled a yawn. Max stopped pacing. "I guess I could. He's probably awake anyway." She brightened up a bit. "I'll catch you later." She walked out the door, leaving Original Cindy to go back to bed. As Max had thought, Joshua was awake. He almost crushed her in a hug when she told him that Jondy had found a cure. "Max and Logan can get busy now. No need to find Father." He seemed happy for Max, but saddened that they wouldn't be looking for Father anymore. Max pulled herself out of his hug, so that she could breathe. "We still need to find Father. We don't know why my DNA is different to the other X5's, why it's supposed to be so special." She smiled at her big friend. "So I'm still going to need your help Big Fella." Joshua seemed pleased that Max wanted his help. "Ok little fella." He remembered they were looking for someone else as well. "Still have to find Lydecker. Zane said, no body, then still alive." Max knew Zane had stopped in to see Joshua before heading back to LA. "He could be right. Maybe once we've found Father and Lydecker, I can take you to visit Zane." Joshua's face lit up at the idea. "Sounds like a plan." Max giggled. "I think you've been picking up too many family phases." She reached into her inside jacket pocket and pulled out a book. "I thought you might need something new to read." The clerk at the bookstore had said it was a classic. "I hear it's supposed to be good." "Great Expectations." Joshua opened the book and started to read. "Looks good. Thank you." "Sure thing." Max wished Joshua didn't have to stay cooped up in this house, but it was too dangerous for him to walk around outside. "Gotta blaze. I'll stop by later in the week." Joshua nodded as he watched her walk out the door, then he went back to reading his new book. "Did you get any sleep last night?" Bling looked at Logan over his cup of coffee. His friend looked exhausted. "Sure." Logan continued cooking breakfast so he didn't have to see the look of disbelief on Bling's face. It also meant that he missed Jondy shaking her head and mouthing No. Jondy was sitting at the kitchen bench reading a book. She only looked up when she heard someone approaching the door. "Bling, how about you take Original Cindy and I out to breakfast?" Bling heard Original Cindy verbally pushing Max into the apartment and took Jondy's hint. "Good idea. You've spent way too much time working in this apartment." Logan looked panicked. "Where are you going? No offense, Jondy, but what if this doesn't work?" "The antidote for your allergic reaction is in the bathroom cabinet." Jondy slipped into the jacket that Bling was holding up for her. "I have my cell phone with me if you need any help, but I don't think you will." Max's jaw dropped when Jondy and Bling walked past, grabbing one of Original Cindy's arms each and walked out the door. "Where are they going?" "Out to breakfast." He offered her a nervous smile. "I think Jondy's had enough of my cooking." Logan busied himself putting away the extra plates and cutlery. Max watched Logan's attempt at trying to appear to be in deep concentration on his cooking. He might have even succeeded if the scrambled eggs hadn't caught fire. Once Logan had put the fire out, he and Max finally managed to make eye contact. With that one look they both burst out laughing. "God, I feel like I'm thirteen years old and trying to pluck up the nerve to ask the prettiest girl in school out." Logan wasn't too sure if Max could relate to that, considering she had practically been brought up in a cage. "Gee, I thought my teens were tough," Max teased him. "Do you have anything to eat that you haven't set fire to?" "I think so." Logan heard his phone ringing in the distance. "Looks as though we have toast and coffee." He was determined to take the day off saving the world. He poured them both a cup of coffee and put a plate of toast on the bench that Max was sitting at and sat down next to her. "You know your phone's ringing right?" Max had rarely seen Logan ignore a ringing phone. Logan merely smiled at her. "The world will still be broken in the morning. A very wise and beautiful woman told me that once." Without even thinking he reached out and took Max's hand and kissed it. Max waited a moment for the panic to hit her. The fears that she might kill Logan never came. Her sister would never have left them alone if she had any doubts that the cure wouldn't work. "I guess Jondy came through for us again." She beamed at his complement. "You sure you don't want to answer that?" The phone was still ringing. Logan nodded. "Positive. Are you on call?" He hoped not. Relief flowed through him when she shook her head. "You haven't broken out in welts or collapsed at my feet gasping for breath." Max felt the need to point the obvious out. "Thank the family miracle worker." Logan leaned forward slowly not wishing to spook Max. "When she gets back I think I will." Max shot him a sexy smile. "When is my darling sister coming back." She stood bringing them closer. Logan stood as well. They were only a breath apart. "I got the impression that we're going to have to phone her to let her know it's safe to come home." Asha was not going to give up. Logan was not going to ignore her this time. She had found the sexist dress she owned and waltzed into Logan's apartment. She halted to a stop when she came into view of the kitchen. The sight of Logan and Max, so consumed with the passion of their kiss that they hadn't even heard her come in, left her gasping for breath. Turning slowly she came face to face with Jondy. The red head raised an eyebrow at Asha's choice of clothing. Her pretty blue eyes turned icy cold as she gestured towards the door. "You know I can explain this." Asha finally managed to stammer, when they got to the lift. "It's not what you think, Jessica." The lift doors opened to reveal Bling and Original Cindy waiting inside for Jondy. Jondy shoved Asha inside the lift. "So this wasn't a final desperate attempt to get Logan's attention, after your fake Vet extortion case plan failed miserably." Jondy didn't miss much. Asha turned bright red. "How did you know the case was fake?" Bling glared at Asha. "Jessica's tight with 'Eyes Only'." His look softened when he looked at Jondy. "Did you get it?" Jondy pulled Logan's cell phone out of her purse. "I unplugged the phone as well." Original Cindy stood glaring at Asha with her hands on her hips. "Looks like we have another person joining us for breakfast. You sure it's safe to have her near Joshua?" Jondy nodded and handed Bling, Logan's cell phone. "I'd rather she was with us. Wouldn't want Asha to stumble on Max and Logan using the kitchen bench for anything other than chopping food up on." Bling and Original Cindy high-fived each other. Cindy hugged Jondy. "Looks like you're staying with me tonight." Asha watched the threesome rejoice in their friends happiness. She felt as though somebody had reached in and ripped out her heart. "When did they find a cure." "Yesterday." Bling pointed to Jondy. "Say hello to the X5 family doctor." Joshua was like an excited child being joined by four people who had brought breakfast with them. He noticed immediately that Max wasn't with them. "Where's Max? Is little fella Ok?" "Sister girl's fine." Original Cindy hastily reassured him. "She's having breakfast with Logan." She could see Asha wince at her comment as she helped Jondy set a blanket out on the floor. Bling started to lay the various bags of food out on the blanket. "Looks like just the five of us to enjoy this indoors picnic." "Got enough to make that six?" Alec let himself inside. He didn't wait for an answer before he sat himself down in between Jondy and Joshua. Jondy rolled her eyes. "Don't bother yourself waiting for an invitation, will you?" Alec grinned at her. "Why didn't Max join in this little family picnic?" "Max getting busy with Logan. Little fella's sister found cure." Joshua munched away at his breakfast, totally unaware that his comment was the source of Asha's bright red face. Bling and Original Cindy had almost choked on their breakfast on hearing his happy outburst. "Joshua." Jondy was struggling not to laugh, which was becoming increasingly difficult considering Alec had fallen backwards in a fit of laughter. "Where did you hear that phrase?" She sounded every inch a mother. When Joshua pointed to Original Cindy, Jondy nearly burst out laughing herself. "Do you have any idea what it means?" Joshua nodded. "Logan and Max busy making breakfast." He looked so pleased with himself for knowing the answer. Jondy smiled kindly at the big man. "Well when I last saw them, it didn't look as though very much breakfast was going to get made. I think you and I had better have a little talk after breakfast. I'll see if I can explain some of Original Cindy's more colorful phrases for you." Bling chuckled. "You sound like such a mom." Logan still couldn't believe this was all real. "I'm gonna wake up in a minute and find out this was all a dream, aren't I?" He brushed Max's hair off of her face as he gazed down at her laying beside him. "It wouldn't be the first time we shared a dream." Max had been thinking the same thing. She reached out and pinched his arm. She giggled when he yelped. "Guess it's not a dream." "You littleā¦" Logan started to tickle Max, laughing when she started to shriek at his form of torture. The laughter soon stopped when they collided at the lips, and ended up a tangle of limbs. Bling laughed as Jondy explained about her little talk with Joshua. "I bet you didn't think that you were going to have to do the sex talk thing this quickly." Jondy shook her head. "I sort of figured I could always just get Devon to take that responsibility. I could just picture Joshua sitting at the dinner table with Logan and Max and announcing 'Did you get busy?' without realizing what it meant." Original Cindy burst out laughing as the picture formed in her mind. "I can just see Logan's face." As the group walked down the street laughing and joking, White watched them from his car. "Follow them," he barked at his driver. The group turned the corner and carried on down the street. As the car turned the corner to follow them, the group had disappeared into thin air. "Damn." White cursed the driver. How the hell had five people disappeared into thin air. Max sat beside Jondy up on the space needle. "I guess that means I'll have to be more careful when I go to visit Joshua." Jondy shrugged her shoulders. "I'm pretty sure White didn't see where we had come from. I think he just stumbled on us." Max nodded. "He's probably still trying to figure out how five people could have disappeared on an open street." She reached out and squeezed Jondy's hand. "Be careful heading home, those scars of yours have only just faded." "I will." Jondy hated to leave, but she had people waiting for her in San Francisco. Even though neither woman wanted to say it out loud, they both knew it was safer for all of them to be split up across the country. "Thanks for everything, Jondy. I don't know how we're ever going to be able to repay you." Max was almost in tears. Jondy hugged her sister. "Are you kidding? The stupid grin that you and Logan have had plastered across your faces all day is more than enough payment." Their giggles echoed out into the darkness about the damp city. Life was looking good.
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