PHASE THREE : REALIZATION Logan Cale understood something was wrong by the angry sound of his girlfriend' footsteps after she closed - or it was better using the term * slammed * ? - the door of his apartment behind her. Nevertheless, he waited, hearing her dump the groceries on the table in the kitchen, to lift his gaze on her face marred with displeasure. '' You will *never* believe it, that idiot screwed up. Again. '' - she hissed through clenched teeth Logan had to smile to that. Some things never changed. '' What has Alec done this time?'' Max threw her arms in the air, as to further demonstrate her already obvious exasperation with her habitual partner in crime, her beautiful chocolate eyes bright with fury. '' So much, where to begin, he is with Lia! That asshole of a cretin brought her with him to the Gathering too, JUST TO MAKE THE DISASTER COMPLETE! '' Logan was pretty much speechless, but only because he failed to see what the point was. '' Well Max ..'' '' Don't Max me! If he had not known it was a mistake, he wouldn't have told me that he was going alone. But Alec being Alec, he just thought with his dick rather than with his head! Lia is an award-winning killer, for Gods-sake! There are stories circulating about it! How does he think it makes us look? We are trying to build a honest reputation for us there and he takes HER to an official meeting with the most important political personages of Seattle WITHOUT TELLING ME FIRST! '' Logan 's first instinct was to try and rationalize the problem. '' I'm certain it isn't as bad as it looks. People know what the Government used the X for. Even Alec is no novice at that and it doesn't keep from being part of the Seattle Council. .'' He would ahve gone on if the woman before him had not interrupted, effectively refusing to be placated. '' But he was trying to change, Logan! He has the *potential * to be more than he was, and instead of capitalizing on that he chooses for himself a woman who will bring him back! It's not only his life anymore, what he does affects us all '' Max inelegantly dropped her weight on the couch, beside her official soul mate, her lips pursed in an angry pout. '' is that really all thats bothers you, Max?'' Max frowned, turning her head toward Logan. He looked calm and collected, but what he felt in that moment was another story entirely. '' What do you mean? '' Logan studied her __expression intense, choosing carefully his words. '' Come on Max, you treat him the same way Aunt Nicole treats her Chihuahua. She smacks him when he bites, but gets angry if somebody does it in her place.'' Max wasn't at all sure she liked the comparrison. Logan's Aunt was neurotic and Alec was a lot less cute and a lot more of a handful than the minion dog. She raised her eyebrows in a perfect picture of indignation. ''Excuse me? '' '' The question is what is the actual problem with this Lia, is it the possibility that she brings Alec back to what he was, or the possibility that she takes your place.'' This was a joke. '' There's no place to be taken. Alec is my friend and the leader of TC, and if he screws up his life I have a right to be angry. He has responsibilities to his family '' '' That's all he is to you, family? Because if there could be more I think I have a right to know it. '' She could see a flicker of suspicion reluctantly resurfacing in her boyfriend's guarded face and adding an edge to his voice. How could he imply something like that and be still so .still? '' How can you tell me this ? '' '' Tell me his face isn't the first one coming in your mind when you have a problem? '' Did Logan sound purposefully ironic? This was crazy. This whole conversation was crazy.

'' Only if I have a transgenic problem. I love you. '' She said it like it was the most natural thing in the world and technically it was. But when she saw his face immediately soften at her words, she felt cheap. Like she had used them to intentionally shut him up. But she had not. Or had she?