"Inbetween Flushed and C.R.E.A.M."
by Kirsten Tapp

Disclaimer:

Dark Angel doesn't belong to the author, but to James Cameron, etc. No copyright infringement intended.

Summary:

The happenings between episodes 3 and 4 of Season One.

Spoilers:

Flushed and C.R.E.A.M.

Rating:

PG

Category:

Drama, Romance


As Logan whipped up a quick meal for he and Max, he couldn't help but feel as though he had achieved a small victory. Ever since he had first met Max, while she was trying to rob him, he had been trying to get her to have dinner with him. And here she was tonight, demanding that he feed her.

Watching Max out of the corner of his eye, Logan saw that she had perched herself on one of his preparation benches. She looked so much like a pedigree cat he had, had when he was a child, just waiting to be fed.

Shifting himself from his wheelchair to a barstool so that he would be level with the bench to chop the vegetables he had removed from the fridge, he tried to make small talk. Now that he had Max here, he didn't want her to run off screaming because he pushed his luck.

"So did Cindy tell you that she and Kendra thought that I was dealing drugs to you." Logan chuckled. It was funny to be accused of being a drug dealer now that Max was safe. If Original Cindy had seen the battle that Bling had, had trying to get Logan to take his pain medication, she would have realized what a ludicrous suggestion it was.

Max giggled. "You're kidding. What made you the prime suspect?" She could just imagine Original Cindy demanding an explanation from Logan concerning her behavior.

Logan grinned at the sound of Max's giggle. It was like music to his ears. "It appears that Cindy noticed a lot of strange things started happening with you around the time you and I met. So she put two and two together and got five."

"What can I say, I have loyal friends." Max became serious for a moment. "I tried to tell them the truth, but they thought I was making up some cock and bull story to avoid telling them the truth. I can't blame them for not believing me. My life does sound like something out of a sci fi movie."

"Maybe it's safer for them to be kept in the dark." Logan busied himself making a stir fry while listening to Max. "Safer for you as well." He attempted to lighten the mood again. "At least your friends don't think that I'm your drug dealer anymore."

Max rolled her eyes, remembering the good natured ribbing she had gotten from her friends before she had left for Logan's place. "No, now they think you're my sugar daddy." She had to bite her tongue to stop from laughing at the expression that crossed Logan's face.

"You're kidding." Logan was glad that he hadn't been in the middle of eating when Max laid that particular comment on him. It was a sure bet that he would have choked if he had been. "I suppose that's a step up from drug dealer. What did you tell them?"

"I told them we were just friends." Max shrugged her shoulders. "I'm pretty sure they don't believe me." Dinner was smelling pretty good, but Max wasn't used to sitting around doing nothing for too long. "Can I do anything to help?"

"Yeah, can you set the table." Logan pointed to the cupboard where the plates were kept. "Do you do much cooking?"

Max hopped down off of the bench and started to set the table. "No. I can barly boil water. The best I can come up with is a sandwich. Being able to cook wasn't a requirement at Manticore. They were more concerned that we would be able to take the enemy down just using our thumbs."

"That's a nifty skill to have in the big wide world." Logan tired to joke, but Max's comment just served to remind him that she wasn't just the girl next door that she appeared. "You can never have too many thumb wrestlers in the world."

Max nodded. "I don't think the folks at Manticore thought that far ahead. I'd even bet they never considered that any of us might try to leave." She walked over to the fridge and grabbed the bottle of wine that Logan had recorked and put away from the night she had stayed because of her seizures. "Is this alright to go with dinner?"

Logan looked up from where he was dishing dinner onto some serving plates. "Yeah, that's fine. We probably need to use it up anyway." Seeing that particular bottle of wine reminded him of how Max's hair had felt like silk beneath his fingers as he stroked her hair. She had looked so small and helpless as she lay shaking on his sofa. It had almost broken his heart to hear her beg him not to leave her.

Despite being concerned about Max being ill, Logan had felt a sense of pride that she had felt safe enough with him to let her guard down long enough to fall asleep on his sofa. She hadn't stopped him from stroking her hair and forehead. In fact, she seemed to get comfort from his touch.

Over dinner they joked about the lame excuses that Sketchy kept coming up with to explain Max's absence at work. Logan had briefly seen Sketchy when he had gone to Jam Pony looking for Max when she hadn't responded to his pages.

"So Sketchy really thought that telling Normal that you had been detained by the Sector Police for practicing witchcraft, would really be believed." Logan shook his head and laughed. "When I went to Jam Pony looking for you, he started to say something about you being one of three finalists selected for something before Normal cut him off."

Max rolled her eyes. "Yeah, that would be about right. Knowing Sketchy, he was probably about to tell Normal that I was one of three finalists selected for the Olympic Mud Wrestling Team." She looked up from her empty plate at Logan. "Why'd you come looking for me at Jam Pony anyway?"

Logan shifted uncomfortably in his chair. "Well, I got worried when you didn't answer my pages. Since you had crashed out on my sofa the night before, I thought the seizures might have gotten bad while you were riding and you may have had an accident."

The truth was Logan had just about driven himself mad with the possibilities of what might have happened to Max. When he hadn't got a response to his first page, he just thought that she was ignoring him. He had even considered that she might be a little embarrassed over showing some weakness when her seizures got bad. By mid-morning he had to stop himself from calling the hospital to see if she had been brought in.

"Oh." That wasn't the answer that Max had expected. "I thought you had some 'Eyes Only' thing you needed some help with." She wasn't used to having someone know about her seizures and be worried about her. she started to clear the table so that she would be busy an have something else to thing about.

"Actually, I do have a case that I'm working on." Logan tried to quickly erase the awkwardness that had suddenly settled between them like a thick fog. "I'm just not sure what I'm going to do about it yet."

"What's the case?" Max started filling the sink with water. She figured the least she could do after such a fabulous meal, was the washing up.

Logan grabbed a towel so that he could dry the dishes while Max washed them. "Two years ago a former colleague of mine, Nathan Herrero disappeared. His daughter has contacted a source of mine. She wants 'Eyes Only' to find out what happened to her father."

"So, what's the problem?" Max handed Logan a soapy plate. It seemed safer to talk about work but every time Logan reached for a dish to dry, she remembered what it felt like to have those long fingers of his stroking her hair. "Doesn't 'Eyes Only' do missing persons?"

"Not usually." Logan had been battling over whether or not to actually take this case. Part of him felt that he should, out of loyalty to his friend. Another part warned him that he would be digging up more than the past. "I don't know that uncovering the circumstances behind Nathan's death, would actually be of any comfort to his daughter."

"So don't make your decision until you've met with the daughter." Max couldn't understand why Logan was making what seemed to be a simple case, so complicated.

Logan had looked upon Nathan as his mentor. Somehow meeting with his daughter meant the man he had put up on a pedestal would cease to be the invincible hero Logan had created in his head. "I guess it couldn't hurt to meet with Alina. Still, I wonder why she left it two years before trying to find out about her father's death."

"People mourn in different ways." Max drained the sink of water and reached for the towel to dry her hands. "Could be it's taken her two years to come to terms with her father's death." She tried not to react to the electricity she felt when Logan's fingers brushed hers, when handing her the towel.

"You could be right." Logan wondered if Max had felt the spark that had passed between them when their fingers brushed. "I'll set up a meeting and then make a decision." Logan felt slightly better having made some sort of move towards the case.

Max spotted the chess set by the coffee table in the living room. "So is that just for decoration, or do you actually play?" She pointed to the chess set.

"I actually play." Logan wheeled himself over to the chess set. "Want a game?" He didn't want the night to end and he had a feeling that Max would flee into the night if he didn't find a way to stall her.

Max glanced at her watch. It was getting late, but she knew that Maria was safe with Original Cindy and Kendra. Besides, for some reason she wasn't all that eager to leave just yet. "I guess I've got time for a quick game." She seated herself opposite Logan on the sofa. "I have to warn you though, I learnt how to play chess at Manticore."

"I consider myself forewarned." Logan flashed Max a smile. He was actually pretty good at chess. He played it when he needed some clarity in his thoughts. Playing against a woman of Max's beauty and smarts left him at a slight disadvantage though.

A short time later Max was crowing in victory, although she did acknowledge that Logan was a tougher opponent that she was used to. Before Logan could suggest they play another game, Max stood and grabbed her jacket. "Gotta blaze. I don't want to leave Maria for too long after all she's been though."

Logan tired not to show his disappointment. "Sure. See ya later. Thanks for the game."

"Thanks for dinner." Max shot back over her shoulder. Riding back to Original Cindy's crib, she admitted to herself that Logan was full of surprises. He could cook like a world class chef, play chess and even do his best to save the world. Time would tell if he would follow his heart or his head in regards to the Herrero case.

The End