Here it is...the last chapter. Thanks to all of you who have been reading all along...additional notes at the end.

Max walked into Logan's hospital room. He was struggling to reach for the trapeze over his bed. She pushed the door closed and walked over to his bed.

"Hey, can I help?" she offered.

Logan grunted and eased himself onto his left side facing away from her. She walked around the end of the bed and dropped down into the chair next to him.

"Or I can watch."

Logan shot her a look.

"You had major surgery. You're not going to recover in a day," she pointed out.

Logan sighed.

"And your conversational skills were clearly affected as well," Max teased him.

Logan sighed once again.

Max walked around the bed and climbed up so she was sitting next to him. "You look awfully tense."

She began to massage his back, her hands working over the knots in his shoulders. Her hands moved down where a new scar joined the one that had graced his back since the shooting. Her fingers traced over the pink mark. It still bore the signs of the stitches that had recently been taken out.

"Does it hurt?" she asked quietly, her hand moving from the feeling to unfeeling zone.

"Leave it alone, Max," Logan's voice answered. It was slightly muffled because he had tucked his face into the pillow.

"It's just going to take a few days, Logan. It was major surgery, but they got the bullet out. You'll be fine now."

"Perfectly dandy," Logan spat out.

Max didn't respond. After a moment, Logan grabbed the trapeze again and eased himself so he was again lying on his back. He locked eyes with her.

"Why do you even look at it?" he asked her. "Why did you come back here?"

Max moved across the bed, sliding her right leg across his body and straddled him. "Cause it's hot. Cause it turns me on."

Logan stared up at her. "Seriously. Like, all of this?" He pulled the blanket down so she could see his thin legs, the tubes coming from his body after the surgery. "You like that?"

Max could feel the warmth growing between her legs. She leaned forward and touched his unfeeling skin. "Yeah, it's pretty good for me."

Logan pushed her away. "That's pretty sick, Max. You're sick."

Max looked back at him. "But I want to be with you."

"If I'm crippled? You like that I'm broken? You want to see me crawling along the ground so I can get to the toilet?"

Max slipped from the bed. "No, it's not like that. It's something else. It's something about you, how you are, how you move."

"You have a thing for men who can't do it normally? Is it a power thing with you? Or are you just sick?" Logan yelled.

The tears began to flow down Max's cheeks. She started to respond, then fled from his room.

^^^^^^^
Max sat up with a start, her cheeks still slightly wet with the tears from her dream. No, scratch thather worst nightmare. Was that really how it would go down? Would Logan ever understand if he found out about herissues.

She could never tell him. If she couldn't cover it up, she'd have to take off and leave him, because it would kill her to hurt him.

But that might kill her too.

But things had been different between them, since she had almost left, as well as after the surgery. Logan's recovery had taken longer than he wanted and he had hated being reliant on her and Bling for anything.

And it had made her happy. Excited her. And that bothered her as well.

So tonight she was making him dinner. At her place. It was a new beginning. And this time it would be about Logan the man, not Logan the guy in the wheelchair. Her feelings were for him. She wasn't one of those peopleshe wasn't the guy in the park who followed Logan and stared at his legs.

She loved his grace, how easily he moved like someone would love the movement of a skilled basketball star. It wasn't about the other stuff. She wasn't like that.

Tonight she was going to focus on thaton the things they talked about, Logan's love for wine, the food. Hopefully it would be edible.

^^^^^^^^
QUID

PRO

QUO

Max shook her head as she stormed from Logan's apartment. She was furious. She'd show him quid pro quo.

She had been so stupid, assuming

Assuming that her issues were the thing that could keep them apart. Never had she considered that it could be that Logan Cale was an asshole.

Nothing about him seemed so sexy tonight. Jerk. She had tried to do something nice for him, cook him dinner but instead it was all business. Eyes Only business. She was trying to make a new start. Couldn't he figure that out?

She pushed open the door to Logan's building and walked out into the dark night. Damn. She had come with him. No Ninjano bike.

Max stood there for a moment then turned and started the long walk home.

^^^^^^
Max picked up her beer and headed back across the floor at Crash to the table where Original Cindy sat waiting for her.

"So he totally bailed on you? After you cooked for him? Dayum."

Max nodded. "It was likewell, it was like he needed me to drop off a package."

"Treatin' you like Normalthat's low, Boo."

"I don't understand women who need a man to make themselves feel complete," Max replied.

"Put the bullet right here," Original Cindy answered, raising her pointer finger to her forehead.

Max looked over Original Cindy's shoulder. "Shoot. I told Kendra about last night and now she's here with two boy toys."

"The more the merrier?" Original Cindy asked.

"Definitely not in the mood," Max replied.

"Surprise, surprise. Max, this is Sven," Kendra introduced Max.

"Hello, Mac," Sven replied.

Max laughed at him, half listening to Kendra until the TV program cut out and the familiar voice of Eyes Only filled the room. She made her excuses and then left. Even the sound of his voice made her nuts.

Hopping on the Ninja, Max raced off into the night.

^^^^^^^
The water was pounding on her face, the mud sliding off her body and swirling down into the drain. A shot of cold air swept past her bare body as the door to the shower opened.

"Room for two?" he asked.

She turned and watched as he gracefully slid from his chair to the built-in bench at the end of the shower stall.

His eyes moved slowly over her body, the marks from their adventures that night still evident in the small folds in her skins around her knees and ankles.

"Sorry about the mud," he apologized.

She smiled at him. "Mud's good for a girl's skin now and then."

He held up a washcloth and gestured for her to come closer. She moved so she was in easy reach of where he sat.

He reached down to her knee and lifted her leg so that it rested next to his on the bench. With the washcloth he began to wash away the remaining mud from her skin. The washcloth moved over her knee and down to her ankle, then back up to her thigh and then higher until he was between her legs, using his cloth to abrade her core. She began to pant as the pressure grew. Her arm went out to his shoulder so she could brace herself.

Logan pulled her closer, her leg bending as her foot remained next to his leg. He leaned forward and replaced the cloth with his tongue. He explored her body, sliding in and out of her.

Her back arched away from him as she began to climax. As the pleasure washed over her body, she fell forward, their skin pressed together.

"You enjoying your mud bath?" he asked.

She nodded, her hands laced in the hair on his chest

The car honked behind her again. Max looked up. The light was green. She revved the motor on the Ninja and took off again into the night.

As the cycle raced along the streets, her mind ran through the events of the past few days. She had been committed to trying this again, to working on her relationship with Logan, making it morenormal.

So she tried to make him dinner, but that didn't work. Instead Logan had his "protect the world" armor on again and there was no getting close to him when he was like that.

So she did his legwork with Bronck and for that she'd gotten a mouth full of mud. And no acknowledgment from Logan that she meant anything to him. That night at the airport wasn't the reason she was mad at him, but it was the straw that broke the camel's back. Clearly he didn't care about her the way she thought he did, so why was she busting her butt feeling bad about objectifying him? It's not like he was into her for her soulit was just what her genetically enhanced skills could do for him and his little mission to nowhere.

It was time to take a little break from Mister Logan Cale.

^^^^^^^
And as breaks go, it wasn't bad, except Logan got kidnapped. That was the wake-up call for her.

He drove her crazy. But, there was something about Logan, something deeper than her level of irritation at him. It was the thing that made her jump on her bike and race to rescue him the minute she heard he was in danger.

It was primal in a way.

As they drove back to Logan's apartment she watched him. He was acting like everything was fine, but she knew it wasn't true.

Bling pulled into the garage under the apartment building and turned off the car.

"Your chair's in the back. I grabbed it after they took off with you," Bling said.

Logan nodded.

Bling turned back to where Max sat in the back of the Aztek. "I'm going to head out. You cool here?"
"Yeah," Max replied.

"You think Matt is okay?" Logan asked.

"He'll be fine," Bling answered. "I don't think they did any real damage to him. They would have, if Max hadn't showed up, but he's okay."

Logan didn't answer.

"You need anything else here?" Bling asked.

"Nah, take off," Max answered as she pushed open the door of the car. She met Bling at the back of the car.

"You gonna stick around for a while?" the therapist asked.

Max nodded. "Yeah, he talks big, but I think this one scared him a little bit."

"Thanks, Max. I didn't know what to do," Bling replied.

"You did what any of us would do," she answered as she lifted open the gate of the car. She pulled out Logan's wheelchair and quickly snapped the wheels back on. "Now, get out of here. We're tired and you need to go home."

Bling smiled and headed for the exit. Max pushed the wheelchair up to the passenger door where Logan waited.

"So, shall we go? I know that I need another shower and well, you could use one too," she said as Logan transferred into the chair.

"Yeah, I'm more than ready to wash Gerhard Bronck off this body," Logan answered.

^^^^^^^^
Max waited as Logan took his shower. It hadn't seemed like the right time to join him. She was gazing out the window over the city when she heard him come into the living room.

"You were right about Bronck," she said as she turned to face him.

"Great place, America. Kid's walking home from school...next thing she knows, she belongs to the highest bidder, working in a brothel on the other side of the world someplace. And Bronck's been making a killing every planeload," Logan answered, his voice casual and not betraying the trauma of the day.

"And I almost let him get away with it," Max answered. It was one thing to let her irritation with Logan affect their relationship, but this time it had gone much further, and she had endangered other people's lives.

Logan moved closer to where she was standing. "The bottom line is he's out of business. You did good."

"I just wish I could've done something about those kids on the plane that other night."

"Got a lead they're being held by a middleman in L.A. Got some people on it."

Max took a step closer, a smile on her face. "So, do I finally get my Eyes Only secret decoder ring?"

Logan's face grew serious. His eyes dropped to his feet, then he raised them again to meet hers. "Listen...I'm sorry about the other night. I, uh...I guess I have been a little too focused on my mission. I don't know, maybe Eyes Only has been a way of not having to, uh, think about the less...pleasant aspects of my life. Maybe it is a Halloween mask I've been hiding behind."

Max kneeled down and took his hand. "You don't have to. Not from me."

Logan raised her hands up to his lips and kissed them lightly. They sat silent for a moment, then he spoke.

"I've got everything we need to whip up a pasta tricolore."

Max stood up. "I can boil the water."

Logan shot her a teasing look. "You can?"

"Mm-hmm," she answered as she headed toward the kitchen. She paused as Logan's phone rang.

"Yeah...Word on the net is he's a weapons dealer?...Mm-hmm...Okay, this is definitely something Eyes Only's going to have to get into...Really? When?...Tonight? No, I can't. I'll have to call you tomorrow...Yeah. Bye."

"Don't hold up the war on my account," Max said as Logan ended the call.

"The world will still be broken in the morning," Logan replied as he wheeled around her and headed once again for the kitchen.

Max laughed, then followed him. "You really don't think I can boil water, do you?"

"Enough that I'm willing to put off an Eyes Only mission to find out," he retorted.
Max waited as he pulled out a pot and handed to her.

"So, the water goes in here?" she asked, her voice serious.

Logan nodded, trying not to laugh. "Why don't you work on the wine after you get that water going."

Max set the pot of water on the burner and turned the flame up on high. Logan had set out a lovely bottle of pre-Pulse Merlot.

"Careful with the cork. It's old and might crumble," Logan said as he began chopping and onion.

Max carefully began twisting the corkscrew.

"Go slow," Logan warned.

Max glared at him. "I am."

"It's a good vintage," he replied.

Max gave it another tug. Suddenly there was a pop and the cork and corkscrew were propelled from the bottle. Wine shot everywhere, mostly covering Logan.

Max stood silent, in shock, the now empty bottle still in her hands. Logan's shirt was covered with a light pink spatter.

He reached down and slid his finger through a large drop that rest on his forearm. He stuck the finger in his mouth and smiled. "Oh, it was an excellent year."

"LoganI'm sorry," Max apologized.

"Don't worry, like I said, the cork was probably bad," he answered. "I'm going to go take this off and see if I can get the stains out."

Logan pivoted his chair and headed toward his bedroom.

Max busied herself wiping up the wine that had landed on the floor and the fronts of the cupboards. As she finished up, the boiling water began hissing and spilling over on the cook top.

"Logan?" Max called. She waited for a moment, then headed down the hallway toward his bedroom.

She tapped on his door, then walked in. "Hey, I thought maybe you got lost in here."

Logan turned his chair away from his closet and faced her. "Sorry, I was trying to rinse the wine out before I put it in the wash."

"Sorry about the shower."

"No problem."

Max crossed the room and sat down at the end of the bed. "Not that this doesn't look bad."

Logan looked down at his bare chest. "You like that?"

Max nodded. "Yeah, I'm into that."

"What else are you into?" Logan replied, his voice teasing.

"Come over here, I'll show you," she replied.

Logan looked at her, then pressed his hands down on his wheels and propelled his chair forward toward her. He stopped at the end of the bed.

Max inched forward so that her legs were on either side of his. She reach up and placed her hands flat against his pecs. Then she slowly moved her hands up so they were along his shoulders.

Pulling him closer, she leaned in and pressed her lips against his. She never tired of how it felt to kiss Logan Cale. She felt his body against hers and it was good. It felt right. Yeah, it was true there was something about his condition that turned her on, but for all she knew, he was mostly into girls who had a little feline in their blood.

It takes all kinds to make the world run, she thought. And they were running just fine.

The end.

Well, we wondered when and if you'd catch on... We're shippers, but not slaves to the canon. We got the idea one night when we were taking a look at the DA fandom. One of us said "what if Max was a devo..." We both laughed. Then the other one said "you know, that might be a good story." We started tongue in cheek, but our story changed. So, we guess the question still remains...what if Max was a devo?

Two SmartAss Girls ;-)