Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, and I don't own the show.

Authors note: Another large delay before the chapter came up. This is primarily due to my complete lack of inspiration, and the amount of time Uni is consuming. I already have the next chapter mapped out - pretty much - in my mind, so it shouldn't take too long, but I do have a few presentations soon… so we'll see.

Story note: I was quite fond of this chapter. Mainly because of the time of evening and the weather I am hopefully portraying. Also because of the lead up to the next few chapters, which should be a bit of fun. I bet no one can guess who the visitor is, seriously.

Special thanks: Maximum Girl Milla, the amazing beta, using her powers for good.

Chapter 3 – Late Night Visitors

Max was nervously seated on her couch, knee cocked up with her chin resting on it. The fear from her nightmare was still lingering in her system, and she hadn't even begun to think how this would be affecting Logan. The realism and graphic nature when she had seen and heard Logan dying in front of her still haunted her mind. She dreaded closing her eyes because even a blink would show images of Logan shot and dying in her arms. Max knew it wasn't real, but she was still panicked and it still felt as if it could happen. The door burst open and she snapped around ready for action, her face taut and pained.

"What the hell did that male do to you? Wait, Original Cindy doesn't even wanna know. I'm goin' to kill him," Original Cindy immediately ranted as she entered the apartment and saw the look on Max's face. Original Cindy had in fact started to turn around and storm down the hall; fully intent on getting Logan. Max was up in a flash and grabbed her arm, then pulled her inside. She then did something that Cindy had never seen her do before; Max stuck her head out the doorway and surveyed the hallway, before quickly pulling it back inside and closing the door.

"Max? What the hell?" Cindy questioned sharply as Max returned to the couch and sat down again. Max had only realised what she had done whilst she was doing it, and there was no way of hiding it from her friend. She couldn't believe that she was getting so concerned with this dream, and the fact that the feelings of complete loss were still weighing heavily inside of her.

"Max, what's goin' on? What did Logan do to you this time?" Cindy asked in an aggressive manner, which Max could tell was being directed entirely at Logan.

"Logan didn't do anything wrong." Max said honestly, her big eyes shining with moisture up at Original Cindy, who didn't really believe what she was hearing.

"I'm gonna make us some coffee, and you are gonna tell Original Cindy what happened." Original Cindy walked into the kitchen and started to boil some water. Max sat for a while, comforted by the distracting presence of Cindy; she had returned to the position she was in before and was back to worrying about Zack coming to kill Logan.

"You betta start talkin', boo," Cindy threatened as she poured the drinks and started walking over to the couch. Max knew the best way to get through this was for Cindy to tell her she was being a complete idiot, and it was only a dream. Something she knew Cindy would do.

"Well… we were in bed, and I had this really bad dream about Zack coming in and shooting Logan. It was awful. There was nothing I could do, and Zack dragged me off with him, and Logan died." Max's voice was weak and sad as all the images from her dream continued to repeat themselves in her mind. Max slowly looked up to see what Original Cindy's reaction would be, and was surprised to see her eyes wide open, mouth hanging down, and the mugs in her hand going unnoticed as they steadily spilt their contents onto the floor at her feet. Cindy had been muted with Max's sentence. No, just the first five words 'Well… we were in bed'. She couldn't believe it. She quickly snapped out of her trance, and decided it was best not to address this first because of the earnest and pained expression on Max's face. Cindy put the half empty mugs down, and sat on the couch next to Max, placing a comforting arm around her.

"You know it was only a dream, boo," Cindy said reassuringly, squeezing her friend a little closer.

"I know. It was just so real. I keep seeing him dying in front of me. It's terrible," Max said weakly, as she briefly glanced at Cindy, and then looked out the window again. She was surprised to see that it was a perfectly clear night for a change, and she could actually see many stars in the sky. Original Cindy, however, wasn't paying any attention to the weather, as she was too busy debating with herself what to do with Max.

"So what're you doin' here? Don't you think it would be better if you were with Logan? You know, so you can realise that he isn't dead. Hell, even to protect him from this big brother of yours." Cindy was very close to slapping Max over the head for her stupidity, but instead she just stared at her blankly for a few minutes.

"So… You spent the last three days with Logan, huh?" Cindy eventually inquired, with a slightly victorious tone to her voice. Max looked at her slyly with a small and embarrassed grin on her face; she knew what was coming next.

"Um… yeah," Max admitted coyly. She was feeling better about herself, now that all the memories from the past few days had come flooding back.

"So what did you two get up to?" Cindy asked happily. The small smile on her face broke into a giant grin when she noticed Max's cheeks getting redder with each passing second. Max glanced at her again, this time with a more mischievous expression. Cindy leapt to her feet in excitement and pushed Max.

"You didn't! Did you?" Original Cindy was practically screaming at Max with enthusiasm. Max couldn't help but smile with her friend's reaction, and the way she was waiting with baited breath for some form of response. Max simply nodded, as her mouth uncontrollably parted into a huge smile and she let out a small giggle. It had only just dawned on her how exciting it all was. Max was beaming as she got up and took the now empty coffee mugs back into the kitchen; it appeared Original Cindy had knocked them over in her excitement.

"So when did this happen?" Cindy asked cheekily, and Max was beginning to wonder if her friend was more excited about this than she was as she saw the delirious expression on her face.

"Thursday afternoon…" Max said, trying to sound calm, and like it was no big deal.

"What have you been doing with the rest of your time? It's Saturday now," Cindy asked incredulously. Max came over and placed the coffee over Original Cindy's shoulder onto the table but didn't move away and spoke into her ear.

"Until this morning." She finished off her previous comment, smiling like an idiot. Original Cindy sat there dumbfounded with a very stunned expression on her face. Max laughed a little at her friend, then curled her legs up underneath her on the bed and began to sip her coffee. After a few minutes Original Cindy had recovered from the shock, and was observing Max with a small smile on her face.

"Max. Why are you here and not with your sugah?" Cindy asked plainly, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Max's smile faded quickly and her face tensed again.

"I told you. I had that dream," Max said in a small voice. Cindy observed her for a few more minutes, and when Max didn't seem to be doing anything about it, she knew she had to say something.

"Max, does Logan know you're here? I mean, you told him why you left didn't you? You didn't just run out of his place or anything?" Cindy asked cautiously, studying Max intently.

"Oh god," Max exclaimed in a panicked voice, as her eyes widened in realisation.

Logan had sat on the bed for a while, in denial with what had just happened. He couldn't believe she had just run. That was his greatest fear with their new-found intimacy; that she would find it too much and just run. He had thought they had gotten far past that stage, but apparently he was wrong. As he still lay on the bed, one question continued to run through his head. 'Why?' He thought over and over again, as he moved his hands across his face and rubbed his eyes a little. Logan had never been this confused before in his life, and he wasn't even sure if that's how he felt. It was a mix between emptiness and sheer shock. He studied his ceiling for a long while, before a defeated laugh broke out.

"W-Why is this happening." He pleaded with his ceiling, and after it gave no answer, he shook his head and stood up. Logan made his way through the house, suddenly realising how dark it was. He considered turning some lights on, but decided against it. At least in the dark he could pretend he wasn't alone. He made his way to the kitchen and got a drink; red cordial. Again he let out a bitter laugh and sighed deeply as he sipped the cool liquid. Logan walked over to Max's window and looked out at the night sky, which was amazingly clear. Clear enough that he could see a great deal of stars in the sky, which was a rarity, but one of his most favourite things. The irony stung at him, since he had always wished of lazily stargazing with Max, and just recently assumed he would be, since they were to be going away next weekend. The more he thought, the more depressed he became. So instead he flopped down on the couch, slightly amused he was still in his robe, and looked out at the stars. Logan was expecting to feel angry and upset, and was incredibly surprised that he didn't. Well, not as much as he anticipated to at least.

"Better to have loved and lost, than never loved at all," he proclaimed proudly to the night air. He had realised that the events of the past few days could not be quelled by Max's actions, when they were actions that defined Max as a person. Always hanging around, then shooting off at the last moment. Logan felt strangely confident that Max would be back soon. Why he wasn't too sure, but he just had a feeling.

"You know. You never actually told her you love her," Logan said to himself, since it was easy to speak with yourself when you were alone.

"Yeah, but come on. Look at what how we've been acting for the past five days," he reasoned with himself.

"You still didn't say anything." He stopped there, not only because he had made his point, but also the fact that his open thinking was showing such clear bias with sides. Logan began to think that he actually was losing his mind.

"And a mind is a terrible thing to waste." He smiled a little. He was most definitely losing it.

Max was heading back to Logan's apartment with a thousand different apologies running through her head. Cindy had helped Max realise that it was just a dream so there was nothing to worry about, and so Max wasn't worried about Zack coming to kill Logan anymore. All she was worried about now was if Logan was going to accept her back after the way she had just run out on him with no explanation. She rounded the corner and saw Fogle Towers, and immediately felt anxious. 'It's going to be okay, Max. Just tell him the truth, Logan's always accepted you for who you are.' Max was surprised at how positive her inner-consciousness was being for a change. She felt a little better as she approached the building. Looking up at Logan's apartment Max noticed there on the rooftop, moving smoothly around, was a dark figure clad in black, making their way with purpose toward Logan's skylight. The ease and fluidity of the character's motions were very disconcerting, since normal people usually shy away from running around the edge of the top of a skyscraper, at night, and with fierce winds blowing. Max's heart stopped dead and stomach dropped in pure fear as a chill ran through her body.

Logan was still sitting on the lounge, looking out the window at the stars in the sky, when he heard a noise coming from his roof. He moved to the skylight and stood in the shadows, expecting Max to slide down the rope that had just dropped through. The person slid smoothly and calmly to the floor, but Logan was pretty sure it wasn't Max by their build, but since it was dark he couldn't really tell.

"Max?" Logan questioned from the shadows. The figure froze momentarily before turning to Logan's voice.

"I am not Max," a male voice replied in a curt business-like tone. Logan's blood froze.