Here's another chapter. We caught a break in our schedule and got one done sooner! We hope you enjoy the next bit of our story and keep reading and reviewing! We also accept e-mail at twosmartgirls@hotmail.com if you have any questions about the story.
^^^^^^^
Max watched as Logan leaned forward in his chair to pull the last sheaf of papers off of his printer. He had managed to put together a new identity for Hannah, the woman who had helped Max escape from Manticore.
"So, your boyfriend seems like a nice guy," Logan said.
"He's not my boyfriend," Max responded, looking sharply at Logan. My god, why would he think that? Especially if he knew about…
Max shook her head, trying to remove the vision of Eric in her bed.
"You don't want to talk about it...fine," Logan said, interrupting her self-cleansing.
"There's no reason for you to get jealous," Max snapped, more annoyed with herself than Logan.
"Of course there isn't. You and I don't have that kind of relationship," Logan countered.
No, of course they didn't. She didn't do that with guys. Guys were a means to an end. But Logan…there was something different about him. There was something different about the way she felt about him. It was different than her usual non-heat attraction to a guy. It was…visceral.
Maybe they needed to do something…have an experience.
"Have you ever been up on the Space Needle?" Max asked, fixing her eyes on Logan, seated in his chair in front of her.
"No, and it's not on my list of things to do," he answered.
"How come?"
"Actually, I've always been terrified of heights," he responded.
"Really?" she asked, a little surprised that he would admit to that weakness. She expected him to use his condition as an excuse, but it would be easy for her to help him up there.
"Really," Logan answered.
"Oh, we're going to have to do something about that," Max replied. She could see it now…carrying him up the steps, helping him out onto the roof of the needle…sitting up there looking over the entire city. If they could overcome his inability to walk, they could certainly overcome his fear of heights…
"Well, gotta blaze," Max said, breaking the silence.
"Have a good day, Max," Logan replied quietly.
She smiled at him, and then left.
^^^^^
Max pushed open the door to the apartment and found Kendra in the living room painting her nails.
"So, will Eric be a recurring character in our lives?" she asked Max.
Max shrugged off her coat and hung it up. "No, I'm sorry to say, he had to break up with me," Max answered seriously, then burst into laughter. "Oh man, dodged a bullet on that one!"
"So, did you…hook up?" Kendra asked, curiosity filling her face.
Max crossed the room and sat down on a stool next to the kitchen counter. She started to explain and then stopped, then shook her head.
"What happened?" Kendra asked.
"Well, I was in a bit of a mood…" Max began.
"Yes, that was apparent," Kendra answered.
"So I brought him back here, sent him to my bedroom, went to get ready and when I got in there…it was…well, weird…but the bottom line is, he was asleep, so no, nothing happened."
"Weird? Like how? Was he trying to do something kinky?" Kendra asked.
"No, it was just…I must have been a bit out of my mind."
"Spill, Max," Kendra responded.
Max got up and headed for the kitchen, opening the refrigerator and pouring herself a glass of milk. "I had like…a vision…a hallucination."
"And it was?"
"This is too embarrassing," Max replied.
"You know... nothing you can dream up can compare to my situation. I've done it all and seen it all... you can't faze me," Kendra answered.
Max looked over at her, still not sure she wanted to share.
"Can't even come close…I told you about the twins, the time in my dad's car when he was driving, at work…turnabout's fair play and heck, I might be able to help. It may have happened to me."
"That's pretty unlikely," Max answered, "but, well, it's like he was Logan. But he wasn't Logan. But he had a chair. But it was Eric."
"Logan…the guy in sector 9?"
"Yeah."
"And a chair? What do you mean by that?" Kendra asked.
"A wheelchair. Like Logan's," Max answered. "How messed up is that? I mean, cause, we're not like that. He's an associate. We're not…"
"Logan's in a wheelchair?!? I mean, what happened to him? You never mentioned that," Kendra exclaimed. "He was fine at Crash. When did this…Geez, that's too bad. He was so hot... I mean I guess he still is...it really wouldn't affect his ... tell me... what happened?"
"He had an accident. It happened. You know that guy that got shot up, that they showed on TV? It was him."
"Oh," Kendra answered. "And now you're fantasizing about him in his chair?"
"No, I didn't say that!" Max insisted. "I just said that when I was with Eric, and he was in a wheelchair. So, am I twisted?" Max asked.
"Nah, not twisted," Kendra answered. "Preoccupied, perhaps, but I think you still have your head on straight."
^^^^^^
"I don't know about this, Max," Logan said, looking up at the Space Needle.
"It's important to face your fears, Logan," Max answered. "And there's no rational reason to be afraid of heights."
"Maybe there isn't for genetically enhanced killing machines, but for us mere mortals, heights can be a big deal." Logan wheeled his chair closer to the boarded-over door. "Besides, I'm assuming the elevator doesn't work any longer."
"Not a problem," Max answered.
"Really?" Logan looked skeptical.
"I'll carry you," she said.
"Like hell you will."
Max laughed as Logan began to turn to go back to the car. She liked it when he got feisty, when he fought against her or anyone else doing anything for him, even though she liked to help him.
"There are other ways," she told him.
Logan stopped and turned back to face her. "Like what?"
"Didn't Bling teach you how to scoot up steps?" she asked.
"Yeah, but I don't think this is what he had in mind when he did," Logan answered.
Max led the way as she lifted the board off the door so Logan could wheel into the area that once served as the lobby of the Space Needle. She moved easily to the steps. Logan followed more slowly.
When they reached the steps, she watched as Logan lowered himself from the chair to the bottom step. Her eyes locked on him as he pulled his limp legs from the footrests, tucking them alongside his body. His limp legs fell over at the knees. Logan pushed his arms down and swung his body slightly to the side, trying to straighten out his legs.
"This will be too slow," he said as he slowly lifted himself up to the next step and then scooted back.
Max leaned forward and picked up Logan's legs. "Does that help?"
Logan moved up another step and then paused to catch his breath. "Yeah, a little bit, but it's probably better if I turn so I'm on my arms and then you hold my legs. You know, like a wheelbarrow?"
"Yeah, I get that," Max replied.
She held Logan's legs as he swung around, now bracing himself on his hands. They continued up the steps, slowly but surely.
^^^^^
Max pushed the door open and walked out onto the roof of the Space Needle. The stars were bright and it would be a good time to sit, think and try to figure things out.
What the hell was going on with her? Where were these feelings coming from? And it wasn't getting any better. If anything, the fantasies were coming more often. It was getting hard to even be around Logan…because she was thinking about him all the time.
Max slowly sat down and pulled her knees up, wrapping her arms around her. She'd figure it out. She always did. That's what made her a survivor.
To be continued…