Disclaimer: We don't own any of the original characters and just borrowed them.
A/N: Maybe it's a little slow going and there isn't that much action, but we had a lot of fun writing hose chapters, and it would feel like a waste to just leave them out. So you have to deal with all our fluff!
Thanks to Alaidh for her patience!
Uncertainty
Max stood in line again when she discovered Julie and Eric looking around, searching. She waved until they saw her. Eric made his way over. "Beth is sitting on a bench over by the water." He motioned in the general direction. "Can you get us some ice cream, too?"
"Sure, but you'll have to wait with me; I can't carry that much."
"So how did Sean behave?" Eric asked Logan, picking up his son from Logan's lap.
"He's got lots of energy, but he was good." Logan answered, not wanting to explain what had just happened.
"You bet he has! Both of them do. They certainly know how to keep us busy! So, you got a ride? " he addressed his son, who nodded eagerly. "Did you like it?" Sean just squeaked as an answer.
"He really loved it, but ask Logan what he thought about it," Max laughed.
The conversation was interrupted, as it was Max's turn. "Do you know what the others want?" she asked, while she examined the different flavours.
"I think I'm gonna go for cherry vanilla," she said.
"Vanilla for the boys, Beth'll go for tin roof, Julie likes chocolate ripple."
Eric gave Sean back to Logan so he would be able to carry the ice cream.
Max chuckled. "Now were holding up the whole line...Sorry!" she said a little louder for the other people to hear. "So it will be two single scoops of vanilla, one tin roof, one chocolate ripple, one cherry vanilla and one chocolate in a dish," she said to the vendor.
Finally Max paid for all the ice cream and they made their way to the bench where Beth and Julie were waiting with Nick. The boy let out a piercing scream when he saw his dad and brother coming over with ice cream. His Mom had to fight hard to keep him on her lap. "Finally! Where have you been for so long?"
She accepted the ice cream from her husband, nodding a thank you. "Here you go, Nick. Try not to get all dirty, okay?" she sighed. "I guess that's just wishful thinking."
Max stepped closer to the railing, leaning on it and looking at the ocean, while eating her ice cream.
She enjoyed the sweet taste, the wind, the feeling of freedom when overlooking the endless ocean. Logan stopped next to her setting the brakes on his chair, trying not to spill the ice cream. "What are you thinking?" he asked, watching a sailing boat in the distance.
"This seems so peaceful." She shrugged. "So endless and mysterious. I like it."
She looked down at him and smiled. "You know, this is not exactly the way I expected this to turn out. I mean, this doesn't feel like an escape at all. And it kinda makes me worry, it can't be this easy." She took another bite. "Eventually we will have to face those guys, Logan."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about; I don't like the idea of staying here too long, putting my family in danger." He brushed his fingers through his hair and looked out over the ocean. "I should never have brought us here," he added. "It's just too risky. I made that mistake once. You'd think I'd have learned!"
He looked back at his grandmother who was wiping some ice cream from Sean's face.
Max just stared ahead, unconsciously eating her ice cream. Maybe Logan was right. Maybe it was even too much for her to handle. What if those bastards actually found them? Would she be strong enough to defend everybody? Max suddenly had a weird feeling. This was the first time she was having doubts about her abilities. And she didn't like it one bit.
God, Lydecker had been right when he'd warned them about not getting personally involved with anybody. It would only cloud their judgement and make operations riskier.
Logan abruptly turned back to Max. He would miss all this once they moved on. The past few days had felt so ...right...despite the emotional rollercoaster ride. It had woken something in him...something he only now realized had been missing for a long time.
Max was lost in thoughts, too. Her mood seemed to have changed within seconds. Now her face was serious again, unreadable, more like that of a soldier.
"Max?" he asked carefully.
Max snapped out of her thoughts and noticed Logan looking up at her, worry clearly etched in his features. "Sorry, I was just thinking." She tried to smile at him, but realized that he probably knew her too well.
"So what do you think we should do?"
"I don't know," she admitted. She suddenly felt helpless and vulnerable. It was her job to come up with a plan; this was what she had been trained to do! And she couldn't. "What do you think? Do they have a reason to be really pissed?"
She suddenly realized she hadn't even asked him the reason they were after him.
Pretending they were on vacation and doing nothing but enjoying themselves wasn't going to bring them back home. And Max intended to go back to Seattle one day-one day soon, actually.
"It seems to have something to do with a drug dealer I tracked down in Seattle. He apparently started his own little business. One should think that the big boss didn't like that all too much," Logan finally said, after he had collected his thoughts. He turned back to make sure no one was listening, but the others were busy finishing their ice cream and chatting.
"I made an Eyes Only broadcast a couple of days before they broke into the penthouse, to warn people that he was dealing bad stuff. Hinted that Eyes Only would be putting an end to this soon. So I assume they wanted to get hold of him before I could do so, make him pay his bills, whatever."
"So somehow we have to prove what's been going on there, so the police will be able to arrest the big boss." Max turned around and leaned with her back against the board, crossing her arms in front of her chest and kicking at a lose board with her right foot.
"This is not gonna be easy!" Logan said with emphasis. "What do you think I'd been trying to do? And without the computer and my informants it will be nearly impossible!"
Max sighed. "Couldn't you call Bling for a start, arrange something with him? He could help us get the information we need to nail them down…and what about Detective Sung?"
"To be honest, I don't like the thought of getting Bling involved too much. It's too risky. Let's go for Matt Sung first," Logan answered.
"Okay," Max agreed.
"We have to be careful though. If they had been following Matt back then, they might be able to track us down when we contact him."
"Max! Logan!" Julie came over to where they stood. "The boys are getting restless. They wanna ride the Ferris wheel. Are you coming?"
Logan looked at Max with a questioning look. "You wanna go?" he asked, already guessing what her answer would be.
"Sure," Max grinned. "And we can talk about that other thing later, okay?"
"Okay," he sighed. "The day is much too nice to worry about stuff like that, anyway."
When Max straightened from where she had been leaning against the railing she suddenly felt dizzy and shaky. For a split second she stood there, unmoving. But the weird feeling passed as quickly as it had come.
Logan unlocked his brakes and turned swiftly, grinning at her eagerness. But then he noticed a slight unsteadiness in her movements...or had it been just his imagination? He reached out and touched her arm. "You okay?" he asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Max looked at the hand on her arm and smiled at him. "Come on, let's go." With that she followed the others.
TBC…
A/N: Maybe it's a little slow going and there isn't that much action, but we had a lot of fun writing hose chapters, and it would feel like a waste to just leave them out. So you have to deal with all our fluff!
Thanks to Alaidh for her patience!
Uncertainty
Max stood in line again when she discovered Julie and Eric looking around, searching. She waved until they saw her. Eric made his way over. "Beth is sitting on a bench over by the water." He motioned in the general direction. "Can you get us some ice cream, too?"
"Sure, but you'll have to wait with me; I can't carry that much."
"So how did Sean behave?" Eric asked Logan, picking up his son from Logan's lap.
"He's got lots of energy, but he was good." Logan answered, not wanting to explain what had just happened.
"You bet he has! Both of them do. They certainly know how to keep us busy! So, you got a ride? " he addressed his son, who nodded eagerly. "Did you like it?" Sean just squeaked as an answer.
"He really loved it, but ask Logan what he thought about it," Max laughed.
The conversation was interrupted, as it was Max's turn. "Do you know what the others want?" she asked, while she examined the different flavours.
"I think I'm gonna go for cherry vanilla," she said.
"Vanilla for the boys, Beth'll go for tin roof, Julie likes chocolate ripple."
Eric gave Sean back to Logan so he would be able to carry the ice cream.
Max chuckled. "Now were holding up the whole line...Sorry!" she said a little louder for the other people to hear. "So it will be two single scoops of vanilla, one tin roof, one chocolate ripple, one cherry vanilla and one chocolate in a dish," she said to the vendor.
Finally Max paid for all the ice cream and they made their way to the bench where Beth and Julie were waiting with Nick. The boy let out a piercing scream when he saw his dad and brother coming over with ice cream. His Mom had to fight hard to keep him on her lap. "Finally! Where have you been for so long?"
She accepted the ice cream from her husband, nodding a thank you. "Here you go, Nick. Try not to get all dirty, okay?" she sighed. "I guess that's just wishful thinking."
Max stepped closer to the railing, leaning on it and looking at the ocean, while eating her ice cream.
She enjoyed the sweet taste, the wind, the feeling of freedom when overlooking the endless ocean. Logan stopped next to her setting the brakes on his chair, trying not to spill the ice cream. "What are you thinking?" he asked, watching a sailing boat in the distance.
"This seems so peaceful." She shrugged. "So endless and mysterious. I like it."
She looked down at him and smiled. "You know, this is not exactly the way I expected this to turn out. I mean, this doesn't feel like an escape at all. And it kinda makes me worry, it can't be this easy." She took another bite. "Eventually we will have to face those guys, Logan."
"That's what I wanted to talk to you about; I don't like the idea of staying here too long, putting my family in danger." He brushed his fingers through his hair and looked out over the ocean. "I should never have brought us here," he added. "It's just too risky. I made that mistake once. You'd think I'd have learned!"
He looked back at his grandmother who was wiping some ice cream from Sean's face.
Max just stared ahead, unconsciously eating her ice cream. Maybe Logan was right. Maybe it was even too much for her to handle. What if those bastards actually found them? Would she be strong enough to defend everybody? Max suddenly had a weird feeling. This was the first time she was having doubts about her abilities. And she didn't like it one bit.
God, Lydecker had been right when he'd warned them about not getting personally involved with anybody. It would only cloud their judgement and make operations riskier.
Logan abruptly turned back to Max. He would miss all this once they moved on. The past few days had felt so ...right...despite the emotional rollercoaster ride. It had woken something in him...something he only now realized had been missing for a long time.
Max was lost in thoughts, too. Her mood seemed to have changed within seconds. Now her face was serious again, unreadable, more like that of a soldier.
"Max?" he asked carefully.
Max snapped out of her thoughts and noticed Logan looking up at her, worry clearly etched in his features. "Sorry, I was just thinking." She tried to smile at him, but realized that he probably knew her too well.
"So what do you think we should do?"
"I don't know," she admitted. She suddenly felt helpless and vulnerable. It was her job to come up with a plan; this was what she had been trained to do! And she couldn't. "What do you think? Do they have a reason to be really pissed?"
She suddenly realized she hadn't even asked him the reason they were after him.
Pretending they were on vacation and doing nothing but enjoying themselves wasn't going to bring them back home. And Max intended to go back to Seattle one day-one day soon, actually.
"It seems to have something to do with a drug dealer I tracked down in Seattle. He apparently started his own little business. One should think that the big boss didn't like that all too much," Logan finally said, after he had collected his thoughts. He turned back to make sure no one was listening, but the others were busy finishing their ice cream and chatting.
"I made an Eyes Only broadcast a couple of days before they broke into the penthouse, to warn people that he was dealing bad stuff. Hinted that Eyes Only would be putting an end to this soon. So I assume they wanted to get hold of him before I could do so, make him pay his bills, whatever."
"So somehow we have to prove what's been going on there, so the police will be able to arrest the big boss." Max turned around and leaned with her back against the board, crossing her arms in front of her chest and kicking at a lose board with her right foot.
"This is not gonna be easy!" Logan said with emphasis. "What do you think I'd been trying to do? And without the computer and my informants it will be nearly impossible!"
Max sighed. "Couldn't you call Bling for a start, arrange something with him? He could help us get the information we need to nail them down…and what about Detective Sung?"
"To be honest, I don't like the thought of getting Bling involved too much. It's too risky. Let's go for Matt Sung first," Logan answered.
"Okay," Max agreed.
"We have to be careful though. If they had been following Matt back then, they might be able to track us down when we contact him."
"Max! Logan!" Julie came over to where they stood. "The boys are getting restless. They wanna ride the Ferris wheel. Are you coming?"
Logan looked at Max with a questioning look. "You wanna go?" he asked, already guessing what her answer would be.
"Sure," Max grinned. "And we can talk about that other thing later, okay?"
"Okay," he sighed. "The day is much too nice to worry about stuff like that, anyway."
When Max straightened from where she had been leaning against the railing she suddenly felt dizzy and shaky. For a split second she stood there, unmoving. But the weird feeling passed as quickly as it had come.
Logan unlocked his brakes and turned swiftly, grinning at her eagerness. But then he noticed a slight unsteadiness in her movements...or had it been just his imagination? He reached out and touched her arm. "You okay?" he asked, concerned.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Max looked at the hand on her arm and smiled at him. "Come on, let's go." With that she followed the others.
TBC…