Disclaimer and Spoilers: See Chapter 1

A/N: Yep, it's me again. Not much to say, though. Here's the fifth chapter and Max and Logan are up on the mountain top. Enjoy it and please leave a review. Thanks!

And - as usual - thanks to Kasman for her beta.

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5. UP ON THE MOUNTAIN TOP

They drove the car to get to the gondola that would take them up to the real slopes. Since there weren't many people and it was easy to catch an empty box. Logan wheeled in backwards and watched Max enter with the skis. She was so pretty. The cold had colored her cheeks and her curls were even curlier than usual.

Max didn't say anything either and was content with watching Logan. His usually pale skin was red from the cold, too., He still had some snow in his hair and on his jacket from losing his balance earlier. His eyes were hidden behind sunglasses, but she was sure that the smile on his lips reached up to them.

At the upper lift station, Logan found out that here too, people were easy with wheelchairs, as if they'd seen them regularly. Even if it's only Chris they see on a regular basis, Logan thought, it's good to know that they don't look at somebody coming up here in a wheelchair as if he was crazy. Maybe living in a small town is sometimes easier than living in a big city.

Thankfully, he smiled at the man who promised to take care of his chair and followed Max to the chairlift a few yards away.

Since towing and riding the gondola had been so easy, Logan wasn't scared of taking the chairlift. He sat next to Max, waiting for the seats come from behind. She took the ski crutches wordlessly, leaving him with two free hands to push himself up.

Piece of cake, he smiled to himself, as he sat next to Max. Looking around and enjoying the ride, he leaned back and looked into the sky, knowing that looking down from a lift like this wasn't an option for him.

"You okay?" Max asked, searching for what he was looking at.

"Sure, just don't wanna risk looking down," he told her and found himself laughed at.

"That's your trick? That's how you can go skiing? You watch the sky when you're in a lift?"

Logan looked at her, trying to be serious. "Yeah, that's how it works. Being on the slopes is fine, towing is fine and going with a gondola is fine as well, 'cause you can look out of the window without looking down, but chairlifts?"

When Max could restrain herself and started to laugh loudly, Logan couldn't help but join in her laughter.

It feels so good to laugh with him.

It feels so good to laugh with her.

Getting out of the lift was as easy as getting in and soon Max and Logan were again at the top of a slope.

"You're going first?" Logan asked and watched as Max nodded and went down. Whatever horrible things they have done to her at Manticore, they surely created the most wonderful human being on earth. Look at her skiing down this mountain...so much grace and power...she's incredible.

He stared at her frame until he realized that it was time to follow her. Going down a real slope was even better than his first try on the hill. It felt great. He forgot about everything else, it was only him in the snow and Max waiting for him.

She had stopped at the right side, watching him come closer. Seeing how he maneuvered his ski down the slope, her heart filled with pride. She was proud of Logan. Even though he hadn't wanted to try this, even though he hadn't even wanted to come here in the first place, he was now skiing down this mountain as if he had never done anything else in his life.

When he had almost reached her he tried to brake but had obviously not realized that the soft snow had been pushed together in a pile right where he was going to turn around. His ski didn't move like he had expected it to and, without a chance of changing direction, he found himself in a pile of snow he hadn't seen before.

Max couldn't help laughing as she saw him lying down in front of her feet. "You like it down there?" she asked.

"Yeah. You know, you should try it too. The snow is actually quite soft here." Logan pushed himself up again, making sure he wouldn't slide down the mountain while doing so. Once he sat again, he tried to brush the snow out of his hair and of his jacket.

"I like the way you look all snowman-style," Max said, a wide grin on her face.

"Very funny," Logan replied, then added, "You have to admit that being genetically engineered has its advantages."

Max hesitated for a moment. What was that all about? Is he jealous? But looking at him, she saw the grin on his face and realized that he was only making fun.

"What?" he asked, seeing her expression.

"Sorry," she said. "I'm not used to you making jokes. I haven't..."

Logan interrupted her, his expression sad. "I am sorry, Max. I shouldn't make jokes about..."

"Nah, it's not you making jokes about me or me being genetically engineered. That's okay," she interfered. "It's just that you haven't been so silly since..." she hesitated again. "Since the shooting, I think. I'm not used to it, but that doesn't mean that I don't like it." She smiled and her messed his hair affectionately, emphasized her words.

"So I'm free to make jokes about you anytime?" he asked, the smile back on his face.

"Not anytime," Max told him, "But it's okay every once in a while."

Logan looked up to her and asked, "So it's okay to tease you when you force up me on mountain tops?"

Max nodded laughing. "Yeah, then it's okay to tease me. Are we gonna talk or are we gonna ski?"

Pushing himself further down the slope Logan shouted back at her, "Who's talking?"

Back at the lower station of the chairlift, they decided to have lunch. There was a small snack bar, but Max had brought some sandwiches she had made in the morning and so they sat on a bench, eating sandwiches, drinking water and relaxing in the sun that shone warm wherever there was no wind.

When they were finished, they continued what they had started before. Going up the lifts that were there and skiing back down. Logan landed in the snow a couple of times, but getting up became easier and easier.

It was already late afternoon when Logan, playful as Max had never seen him before, asked her to have a race. "You think you're faster than me?" he teased her.

"Actually...yeah, that's what I think," she gave back. "You sure you wanna risk losing? I don't know how much your delicate male ego..."

"Don't worry about my ego," Logan interrupted. "On three, okay? Whoever's first to the gondola."

Max nodded and together they counted "One, two, three."

On three, they both started to slide down the slope they had gone down several times before. They were close to each other, Max on the right side and Logan on the left, both going down in small curves to control the speed but not slowing down too much.

Max was first to come to the edge they had stopped at on their previous ways down, but this time she only drove over it, then found herself at the very side of the slope, where the snow hadn't been prepared for skiing but was fluffy like powder. She ignored it, hoping that behind the little hill she went around it would be better. But she was wrong. The snow got even deeper. Her pace slowed and her skis pushed more and more snow in front of them, without her having an idea of how to stop it.

Only a second later, she found herself in the middle of all the snow she'd pushed aside, lying in it like children do when they try to make snow angels. The low sun shone in her face and she had to close her eyes. When she felt a shadow fall over her, she opened her eyes again and looked right into Logan's.

"You okay?" he asked worried, and she thought that he had never in his life looked sexier than right now. His worries for her, the snow that was still in his hair and on his jacket, made him look hotter than she'd ever thought a man could look.

"Yeah, just giving you a headstart," she told him from below, trying to ignore her feelings.

"Oh, you are? From my point of view it looked more as if you didn't know how to ski in deep snow, but anyway..."

"Well, yeah, to be honest, you were so crazy about lying in the snow, I thought I should try it," she said, laughing.

Logan reached out a hand. "And what do you think?"

Max took his hand and starting pulling herself up. "Not that bad, but..."

She couldn't finish her sentence 'cause unlike Logan she hadn't made sure to put her skis in the right direction so they wouldn't slide down the mountain. Her skis started to slid, but thanks to Logan sitting there in the way, they didn't get very far. Max, still attached to her skis, of course, followed them involuntarily closer, toward Logan until he reached out both of his arms to stop her. She had reached out her arms too and while he had grabbed her waist, she had put her hands on his shoulders, so that they found themselves in an embrace.

I can't help it, I love having her so close, Logan admitted to himself. I don't wanna let go.

To feel his strong arms around me makes me feel so safe, Max thought. I wish we could stay like this forever.

"Are you okay?" they asked in unison. When both nodded, Logan released his grip, not wanting her to feel trapped.

"Thanks," he said quietly when he finally let go. "I haven't had so much fun in months, I think. I owe you big time."

Max shook her head. "You never owe me, Logan. Thanks for being here with me."

Logan didn't know what to say and instead took his last chance to mess up her hair the way she had sometimes tousled his, before she was out of reach.

She smiled at him, brushing the snow from her jacket and her pants, then tried to shake out the snow of her hair. "I've got snow everywhere," she complained laughing.

"We should go back," Logan told her. "You're gonna get cold and we should be home before dark anyway."

Max nodded and together they continued their trip back to the gondola where Logan exchanged his ski for the wheelchair.

Not much later they were back in Logan's car and on their way back to the cabin, when Max asked, "Do we have everything we need? There's a little supermarket in case we want to buy anything."

Logan shrugged. "I'm sure we're not gonna starve with all you packed but having a look what they sell here won't do any harm."

The supermarket was small indeed, but friendly and with a bigger variety of products than most of the supermarkets Max knew. They bought milk, eggs and fresh meat before returning to the car.

They drove back to the cabin in silence, both lost in their thoughts and smiling at the days events.