by: iluvaqt@hotmail.com
Author's notes: Thank you Somebody's Angel, Roxy21 and Black Rose9 for reviewing. Your comments impressed me to rewrite the final chapter to give Max and Logan a few extra moments. I'm grateful for your input because I'm much happier with the end result. I think it has a bit of a soppy romance feel (which I'm a huge sucker for) without it being too cheesy (I hope). ;P
Part 15: Reflections
When Logan opened the door, Syl marched straight past him and toward the kitchen.
"I don't know about you guys, but I would kill for a burger with the works, right now," Syl moaned.
Logan didn't get a chance to protest. Syl pulled open the fridge door and took out a bowl of cut vegetables. And without some much as a 'do you mind?,' proceeded to bang around his kitchen, open draws and cupboards grabbing out all the other utensils she required.
"Before I was rudely interrupted, I was preparing dinner." She shot Logan a warning look that said, 'butt in now and I'll fry you for dinner.' "It's still salvageable, a twilight supper will be served in 30 minutes."
"But Syl…" Krit started.
Syl flashed him a dirty look. "Frozen dinners are for people with no culinary skills and poor taste. Suggest it again, and you'll be eating at 'Junky' Joe's for the next century."
Max swallowed back a laugh at the look on Krit's face. Joe's must be some diner in Idaho and from Krit's expression, she guess it was a sentence he'd rather not serve. Her brother's mouth opened in protest, but then he frowned and decidedly closed it. He stomped from the room and Syl smiled triumphantly at his retreating back. How those two survived living together was still a mystery to her. They couldn't be opposite if they tried.
Alec followed the group up to the apartment and walked through the front door behind Krit. He listened to the blonde's playful banter before slipping away quietly. Nobody noticed him as he took a seat by the window in the lounge. Finally getting a chance to properly tend to his arm.
Max tilted her head toward the huge gaping hole in the screen door. "I'd say you're missing a screen door." There was a crunching noise as her boot ground glass into the floor, and Max cringed. Knowing how Logan must be silently screaming at the damage to his polished wood floor. Glancing at him, she realized he hadn't even noticed. He seemed lost in thought, a flicker of pained emotion crossing his features.
Logan shivered. Thinking back, he realised just how bad things could have been had Syl and Krit not been there. Sam had been determined to complete her objective. Even if it meant killing Syl to get to him. In his mind's eye, he saw the two women wrestling on the floor, glass strewn everywhere. There was a graze on Sam's right shoulder and it was bleeding, the offending weapon near the window, stained with her blood. Syl's hair was covered in tiny slivers of glass and there was an angry welt across her cheek. Her hands were also bleeding with little cuts all over them. The first impulse had been to put himself between Max and Syl. Or who he thought was Max. It would have been a fatal mistake. Sam had been sent to kill him. And she would have.
Max caught the brooding look in Logan's eyes and followed the direction in which he was staring. He was studying the floor just outside the kitchen. Resting against a wall column, was a kitchen knife. Wordlessly, she walked over and picked it up. "Don't blame yourself for not knowing. Nobody was more surprised than me to see Sam. Well…maybe Zack," she added as an afterthought.
She hadn't known their intent at the time, but Sam had been beaten as part of a malicious plan to manipulate Zack. She now understood why Zack had been so determined to go after Sam back at Manticore. If it had been her, she would've been hot to kick some ass too.
Which is why she had been all too happy to leave Sam at the hospital. Why Zack had stayed, she couldn't understand. They didn't owe her anything. She nearly killed Logan. She was loyal to Manticore. Or was she? The concern she'd shown for Zack's twin had made her reconsider her prior judgement of the girl. Maybe she wasn't completely under their control. Dropping the knife in the sink, she went to Logan's side. "If it's okay with you, I think I'd like to take a shower."
The soft touch on his arm, on his arm brought him back to the present. And he was glad to see that the woman beside him was the real Max. He felt relief wash over him all over again. She was really here. Nodding, he said, "I'll get some towels."
While Logan went for towels, Max went for the broom in the storage closet. When she returned, she started sweeping the broken glass. Logan got a dustpan and scooped the mess into the trash.
Krit poked his head around the corner. "Thanks Logan." He grabbed a towel off the table and made a dash for the shower.
"I'm…" Max heard the door slide shut, "first." She stomped her foot and stared resentfully at the glass at her feet.
Logan took the broom from her and handed her a towel. When he got close, he said quietly, "You can use the bath."
A broad grin lit up her face and he smiled. She looked breathtakingly beautiful when she smiled. He made a mental note that he'd find out what else she loved, so she'd do so more often.
After Max had left the room, he turned his head to find Syl narrowing her eyes at him. "I heard what you said."
Logan held up the broom between them. Making his best standoff impression. "Sorry, I'm claiming use of my bathroom after Max."
Syl gave him the once over and snorted, "Well you do need it more than I do."
Feeling the jibe at his appearance, Logan gave a, 'humph' and pouted. Silently, he quickly finished cleaning and strode from the room. Syl couldn't hold onto it any longer. He might have called it striding purposefully, she would have called it scurrying. She burst out laughing. She could see Logan for the rest of her life and never be surprised by him. It took her all of ten minutes to completely figure him out. He was the great Eyes Only, a wizard with gadgets and technology and he'd faced off against guys like Lydecker without so much as a twitch. But one look from her, and he was reduced to a sulky ten-year-old.
What she found intriguing was that she intimidated him. And it wasn't because she was an X5; Logan wasn't intimidated by Zack, although, in Syl's opinion he should be. It was either that she was an attractive woman and that made him uncomfortable. Or she reminded him of his mother. He had the telltale character of being a mamma's boy. Syl frowned at that thought. Syl wasn't sure she was comfortable with the thought of being comparative to someone's mother. Shaking her head, she brushed the train of thought away. Smiling to herself, Syl pondered whether she should mess with Logan a little. Just so he was forewarned to be careful with her dear sister. It was no fun when the person wasn't afraid of you. Logan on the other hand…
~*~*~*~
Logan nodded his head. A motion that went unrecognised to the person on the other end of the line, but he was lost in thought, and the action came naturally. The pen in his hand traced over the notepad in neat script. Dropping the pen on the desk, he stuck his head around corner to see who had walked through the door. Zack entered, uninvited. As usual, a locked door stood for nothing. A Manticore trait he assumed, as none of the X5s thought much of privacy or etiquette.
"Thanks Sam. I really appreciate it. I'll get someone to meet him first thing."
Flipping his cell phone shut, picked up his mug of steaming coffee and went to greet Zack.
Dr. Sam Carr has called as soon as he gotten in. Will hadn't made it. Sam had moved him to the morgue, he signed off on the claim form himself and told Logan of a guy who could cremate Will in the morning. Logan promised to get someone to bring the money and collect the urn. The sooner they took care of Will, the better. Logan doubted that Renfro would let the disaster at Manticore go over without a full-scale investigation. Everyone would get heat. It was only a matter of time. If Renfro got wind that a body with peculiar genetics had ended up in a Seattle morgue, a containment team would be down their necks so fast they'd never make it out of the city.
They were still in the hallway when Logan met them. Zack was standing awkwardly next to Sam. Her cheeks were streaked with dry tears and her face was pale and drawn.
"I heard and I'm…" Logan started sympathetically.
Zack shot Logan a warning look and Logan cut himself short.
Changing the subject, Logan said, "The bathroom's at the end of the corridor. There are some clothes in the dresser and extra blankets in the chest in the guest room. Make yourself comfortable." Logan handed the mug to Sam. "Here. I can make another one."
"Thanks," she said absently.
She looked so much like Max. Logan felt a sharp pang in his chest, when he saw the haunted look in her eyes and the defeated slouch in her posture. Knowing she wasn't Max, he had to resist the urge to comfort her. Shaking his head, he met Zack's eyes. He had felt the younger man watching him. "Krit and Syl have gone for some gear, they'll be back soon."
Zack nodded and followed Sam to the lounge, leaving Logan alone in the passage. Suddenly feeling out of place in his own apartment, Logan took refuge in his bedroom.
Max was seated on the bed, wrapped in a bathrobe. None of the clothes Logan had put out felt quiet as comfortable as the warm towel robe that had been hanging by the heating vent.
"Hey." Logan smiled as she walked toward him. "How was she?" When he had left her, he'd finally coxed her into calling Original Cindy. Her friend would want to know she was okay. No matter the hour. She'd been hurting just as badly as Logan when she learned what had happened to Max. And like Logan, she refused to believe Max was gone.
Max smiled up at him and wrapped her arms around his waist. "She wants to strangle me. I guess that's a good thing?"
Logan chuckled and hugged her close. Resting his cheek against her damp curls, he breathed her in. "I'd say it's a good thing," he assured her. "First thing I wanted to do was hold you so tight that you could never escape."
"Doesn't sound punishing at all," she murmured, resting her head against the strong wall of his chest. He smelled of soap and aftershave. He just had a shower. Krit and she had tied up the bathrooms for over an hour, and then Syl demanded their presence for supper. Not that they needed much urging at the mention of food. Afterward he'd given her some space to call Original Cindy.
They were finally alone and having him so close almost felt like a dream. He could use a haircut but having him look a little shaggy, made her think of bedraggling him.
When she bit her bottom lip and a cheeky gleam entered her eyes, Logan chuckled. "They could hear us."
"Doing what?" Max teased.
Logan leaned down and kissed her. "Hrmmm, I wonder," Logan whispered against her neck.
Max, reaching under his sweater, planted her hands on his chest and started pushing him back, purposefully in the direction of the bed.
