Disclaimer: Not mine.
A/N: Many thanks to the ever faithful betas, catherder and alaidh.
Chapter 12
Cassie jumped down from the van and immediately walked across to Zack, who nodded and smiled, a quick flash of white teeth. Logan looked at him anxiously, then was distracted as Max climbed out of the back of the van and walked across to him. "You gonna travel steerage again, or would you prefer first class this time?"
Logan looked at her enquiringly, not quite grasping her meaning, "And that means…"
"We're bustin' outta here, baby…homeward bound," she grinned.
Alec walked over to them, having been approached by Zack. He held Logan's computer in his hands. "This was in one of the other vehicles."
"Thanks, Alec."
"You people ready to go?"
Logan gestured with his hand. "Sure. Just give us a minute." He looked back at Max. "So, you're good to go?"
"Yeah," she looked away quickly as Zack called her name. Logan took this as his opportunity to check the logistics of climbing into the front of the van. It was going to be a tight squeeze for the three of them, but doable.
*~*~*~
Logan relaxed into the drive back as soon as they hit the blacktop. It was tight in the front of the van. Logan was squeezed into the middle of the seat with Alec and Max on either side, but it was better than traveling in the back.
The sun was well and truly up on a crisp morning by the time they were ready to go. It was with a kind of wonder that Logan started up Bessie's engine and started down the dirt track. Alec immediately scrunched up a sweater to use as a pillow and stretched out across the back seat. He was asleep – lightly snoring, if it could have been heard over the roar of the engine – within minutes. She sat quietly beside Logan, her hand resting on his thigh. He couldn't feel it, but the glance he flicked down and the quick upward turning of his lips when she put it there meant he knew. She closed her eyes. God, I'm tired, she thought. I don't know how Logan's still functioning. She wriggled in the seat, making herself more comfortable. Even without following Lydecker's convoluted directions, it was going to take some three or more hours to get back home. The roads were not what they were in the early days of the century. Home. How soon do I tell him we're not actually going home yet? she pondered. Just breathe, Max. It'll all be good. I just hope we get back to Seattle on time. Cassie said it'd be hours yet – just the early stages, but you never know. She couldn't help the intruding thought that a long night was going to become an even longer day.
*~*~*~
"Bip bip bip." Original Cindy could hear Normal's voice even before she entered the building. She almost turned around there and then, but for the fact another messenger pulled up behind her.
"Ah, look who decided to grace us with her presence – late as usual," Normal commented as she walked the bike down the ramp. He tossed her a package. "458 Madison…scoot."
"In a minute, Normal," she responded automatically, heading for her locker.
*~*~*~
"You wanna stop and get a bite?" Logan asked.
Max shook her head, "No thanks."
"What, you're not hungry?"
"Not right now."
He looked at her quickly and caught her looking at him oddly. "You okay?"
"I'm fine." She shifted uncomfortably, smothering a grunt. "At least, I will be…" she looked at him hesitantly.
Logan pondered her statement for a moment. "Okay…" he said slowly. He pursed his lips and stared at the road ahead. "Besides, it'll be good to get home."
Okay, Max, here goes. "We're not going home – at least, not yet."
Logan pursed his lips again. "We're not?" He glanced at her curiously again. "Where are we going?"
Max paused before speaking. "Metro Medical," she replied, with half a smile.
The car swerved sharply.
"Squirrel?" she asked, her smile broadening.
"Ah, no, no squirrel…just…" Logan had to think for a moment, half stunned, then he broke into a glowing smile. "You do mean?"
"Yeah, that's exactly what I mean," she smiled shyly in reply as Logan upped the speed a notch. It was starting to rain. The downpour increased in strength the closer they got to home.
"Hey, what gives, man?" asked Alec, pushing himself back onto the seat of the car, from which he'd partially fallen when Logan swerved.
"Nothin', Alec," responded Max. "Go back to sleep."
"Sure, Max." He yawned, adjusted the sweater he was leaning on, and closed his eyes again.
Max looked across at Logan, who was smothering a laugh at Alec's total lack of concern. His expression suddenly turned serious as he said softly, "Will this be okay, I mean…it's a little early, isn't it?"
"Cassie said nothing to worry about – two to three weeks is nothing major. And you told me yourself that you were in a hurry to be born."
"Yeah, I was. But I mean…will we get there in time?"
"Logan, it'll be fine. Honest. We've got hours…yet."
"You sure?"
"No, I'm not sure, I'm just hopin'," she quipped.
They drove in silence for a while. Max, studying Logan's profile, realized how tired he looked. His eyes were red-rimmed and there was a deep cut on his cheek where he'd been struck by the gun butt earlier, and his glasses looked a little out of shape. She thought that he badly needed to shave…the scruff was past the point of being respectable. "You okay?" he asked her. "Max?"
"I'm fine."
He glanced at her again, concern replacing the weariCassie in his expression. "You gonna call Sam?"
She nodded and reached for the phone, detaching it from the hands-free unit on the dashboard. Her own phone was in her back pack, which Alec had slung into the back. Max spoke to Logan's surgeon in a soft voice. He'd been the only doctor they trusted to be directly involved – who knew Max's history – and he would see to it that all went well, even though this was not his specialty. "What about Original Cindy?"
Max looked at her watch. "She'll be at work." Max called the number of her friend's pager and keyed in the phone number. "There, satisfied?" she asked.
He nodded and slowed the car, seeing a glimpse of blue in the rear view mirror. It wouldn't do to be pulled over for speeding. The motorcycle whizzed past, lights flashing, and Logan gunned the motor again, re-engaged the cruise control and dropped his hand down to his leg, feeling for Max's hand. He left it there, resting lightly on top.
*~*~*~
Original Cindy's mood, and her feeling that something wasn't quite right, didn't improve as the morning went on. She delivered her packages, but was surly in the extreme.
"Hey, what's up with you?" Sketchy asked, when she'd threatened to put the smack down for the third time. "I didn't do nothin'. You get up on the wrong side'a bed or something?"
"Hmmf," she sniffed. "You wouldn't understand."
"Argh…I'm not gonna put up with this." Sketchy gathered up his sandwich, climbed over the railing and dropped down onto the sofa on the lower level of Jam Pony.
Original Cindy sighed and walked down the stairs to join him. "Sorry, Sketchy. Guess I'm kinda out of sorts today. Just had this feeling in my bones…you know…that somethin's goin' down…"
Sketchy rolled his eyes. "Women!"
She smacked him, not too gently, in the shoulder with her fist, and laughed for the first time all day.
*~*~*~
Logan tapped his hand impatiently on the steering wheel. The line of traffic into Tacoma stretched as far as the eye could see – a combination of construction and a sector point had slowed the mid-morning traffic to a crawl.
Max felt a stronger contraction course through her. Logan quickly looked at her, catching the look of intense concentration on her face. Her fingers grasped his leg tightly, although he couldn't feel it.
"Okay?"
"Logan, I'll tell you when I'm not, right?"
"Okay." He looked hurt by her reaction.
"Sorry, just not used to being…"
"Mothered?"
"Yeah."
Alec stirred. "Hey, guys, what's goin' on?"
"Wow, Sleeping Beauty's awake."
"Ah, construction and we're almost at the first sector point," Logan replied, ignoring Max's sarcasm.
"Sorry, haven't stopped anywhere."
Alec grumbled in response and turned his body to sit up in the seat properly instead of lying across it. He yawned and stretched expansively. Max dialed the number of Original Cindy's pager again, then tried to call Jam Pony, but the line was either busy or there was some other problem, because all she got was a loud buzzing on the line.
*~*~*~
Original Cindy's pager beeped and blinked where she'd left it on the kitchen counter that morning.
*~*~*~
"What's with the phones today?" Max asked, slamming Logan's phone shut. She'd just left a third message on the pager and tried Jam Pony again.
"Ah, gotta love Post-Pulse technology."
Max glared and reached forward to put the phone back in its bracket.