She heard the door to the roof entrance creak open behind her and shoved her hands in her pockets. A few seconds later, Aaron was by her side and staring up at the moon with her. "Beautiful, isn't it?"
"Yes, it does illuminate nicely." Aaron said in a way of agreement.
"So, did you find anything out?"
"I found a man willing to pay thirty-thousand for a Pollock." Aaron reported. "He doesn't care which one."
"Still short." Max frowned.
"I also found two men both willing to pay ten thousand for a Rockwell." He continued. "One doesn't care what one, but the other wants the one that's on the third floor of the Beckley Arts Museum."
"How long do you think they'll take?"
"I know they'll each require a day." Aaron told her. "A few hours in the day of scouting the museums, and a few hours in the night to acquire them."
"I wanted to -"
Aaron held up a hand to silence her. "Just a hug."
* * *
The next morning, as the X5s lined up in front of the large room that had been turned into a makeshift cafeteria, Max walked past them all and into the room. Instead of cutting in line, she moved over to the transgenic that supervised the cafeteria, an X5 called Russ, her clipboard firmly in her grasp. For a minute the two just watched the X5s move past them, grabbing their allotted amount of food and going to find some place to eat it.
"We're not doin' so hot." Russ told her. "We're low in supplies, real bad."
"How much longer do you think it'll last?" She asked.
"Maybe a month or so more, but that's it." He told her. "We even cut back, but it's not looking good."
"I'll ask Aaron about it." Max mumbled and scribbled it down on her clipboard.
"Havin' that guy around is pretty useful, isn't it?" Russ remarked.
"You've got no idea." Max mumbled.
She then looked at her watch, remembering she was supposed to be having breakfast with Logan that morning. She cursed, said a quick good-bye to Russ, then rushed out. She came back in a hurry a few seconds later, grabbed a brown paper bag that had an orange in it, then ran out again.
* *
She dropped her clipboard off on the way, not wanting to have reminders of what was in store for her that day. She was already stressed enough as it was, and just wanted some time to relax. When she reached his room, she wondered for a minute if she would ever be allowed that time. She pushed open the door, not bothering to knock, and found Logan and Aaron staring at his laptop.
"Knock, knock." She said.
The two turned around and Logan smiled at her. "Hi. We were just looking up some things."
Aaron straightened, then walked over to Max. Before leaving, he mumbled to her, "I just needed to check a few things before I went out tonight."
"Strange guy." Logan remarked.
"Yeah, but he's not bad." Max shrugged. "You ready?"
"As I'll ever be."
"Before we go, I brought you a gift." She said and tossed him the bag. "The last one."
Wondering what she brought, Logan opened the bag and pulled out an orange. He looked at her and grinned. "You really like bringing me fruit, don't you?"
* * *
Dix sighed in frustration and slapped the machine he was working on. So far he was having no luck in fixing it, and Mole's comments weren't really helping.
"I bet Max could use a paperweight."
"Well that's a shame, cause I don't see a paperweight around anywhere, do you?" Dix bit back.
"I don't."
Mole and Dix turned, both seeing Aaron watching them with interest.
"And of course you would know." Mole said.
"Well, yes." Aaron replied and moved over to the machine Dix was fixing. "I also know how to fix this. Do you mind?"
Dix shook his head and Aaron went to work on the machine. Instead of using any of the tools Dix had spread around in hopes that one of them would work, he crossed two of the wires then closed it up. He turned to Dix with a smile. "It should be fine now."
He walked off, leaving Dix a bit stunned.
"He's really useful."
"He's really annoying." Mole grunted.
* * *
"Don't peek."
"I'm not."
Max pushed open the door to the roof and walked out. She stopped at where she had set up a picnic scene. Granted, she was missing the wonderful view and comfy atmosphere, but she had decided it was the thought that counted.
"Okay."
Logan opened his eyes and looked around. He smiled at her. "Wow."
"Great, isn't it?" She said. "Of course, it could be better, but no matter how nice I asked, the cops wouldn't go away."
His smile widened. "Shame."
"Ya know." She agreed with a smile, then situated herself on the blanket. She was careful to move the basket next to her so that there would be at least a small barrier between her and Logan when he sat down.
"Prepared any Guevara culinary miracles?" He asked with a grin as he sat down.
"No, no boiled water today." She replied. "Just what I could grab from the food locker."
He gave a little nod, then pulled the orange from the bag and began peeling it. He peeled a piece off and rested it on the basket, knowing Max wouldn't take it from his hand. He frowned a bit at that, but decided to forget about the virus and just relax.
"Thanks." She mumbled and picked up the piece of fruit.
"So," He said and bit into a slice of orange. "Aaron seems like a good guy."
"Yeah." She replied. "He's helping me... around the City with supplies and stuff. It's nice having a genetically engineered brain around. I swear he could solve any problem anyone brought to him."
"Maybe, but he was quite keen to tell me his success rate."
"Only 97%." She said, then opened the picnic basket. She pulled a small box of Frosted Flakes out, then opened it and began snacking on them. "So, what were you helping Dix and Luke with?"
For a minute he wondered if she knew he had been lying to her when he said that, then realized that she probably did and was just trying to keep the conversation light and comfortable. "Just, uh, some communications plans. Nothing special."
"Fun." She replied and popped a handful of cereal in her mouth. "Ya know what I miss?"
"Not a clue." He replied, though he could've probably made a list of the small conveniences of pre-Terminal City life.
"Hot baths." She said. "I haven't had one in forever. Cold water sucks. Oh, and coffee. Oh, oh, toast. I haven't had toast in months. Funny the things you miss, huh?"
"Yeah." He agreed and pulled a small carton of milk from the basket. "Wine. I haven't any of that in a long while."
"That was nice." She agreed and dug two plastic cups out of the basket. She balanced them on the basket and watched him fill them.
"Pop Tarts." He said. "Man, I miss those. They stopped making them a little after the Pulse. They were good."
"What were they?" She asked and picked up one of the cups of milk.
"They were pastries." He tried to explain. It wasn't until then that he realized how odd Pop Tarts sounded. "But they had fruit filling in them. Some had frosting, and some were gimmicky, like chocolate chip."
"Logan, that sounds unbelieveably disgusting."
"They were good, I swear." He said. "You just can't describe 'em."
He then held up his cup, for a toast. Max hesitated, but decided since she hadn't had a drink yet it would be okay, then lightly touched her cup to his.
"To toast." He grinned.
"And to Pop Tarts." She added. "No matter how disgusting they sound."
A/N: And there's an undertone for ya. I think. Yeah. Maybe. I'll be quiet now. :p