Chapter 8: Reunion for Two
It must have been about two in the morning by the time Alec pulled up outside a slum like house. The rain had finally stopped but the damage had been done; mini-streams rushed along the sides of the pavement, gathering pace and picking up bits of stray litter before they disappeared down the drain. Cracks on the road were now filled with water and looked like small ponds. The car windows were steamed and sprinkled with little droplets of rain and a light fog had descended upon the sleepy city.
Alec let out a sigh as he noticed the carcass of Terminal City rising up above the grey horizon. What an idiot; Logan had chosen to setup shop were he could be reminded each day of what happened all that time ago. Alec wasn't too surprised though, he always kind of figured Logan would be the sort to torture themselves about everything that went wrong in their lives, even things they had no control over.
Alec looked over to the passenger side where Max sat sleeping. She had fashioned herself into a little ball, her legs tucked into her body and her arms clamped around them. Her breathing was a little hoarse but she seemed peaceful. Thankfully the damage to her face had been drastically reduced. The bruise on her jaw had all but disappeared and by some miracle her nose seemed perfectly normal, no evidence to suggest it had been broken. Her lip was still cut, but even that was healing at an unnatural rate.
Although he would never admit it out loud, Alec had always been amazed by Max's abilities. They were, unfortunately, far superior to his own. He no longer felt bitter about it though. Sure he and Max had had their differences in the past but that's what it was: history. He now considered her a close friend; someone he could depend on which, in this day and age, was something to be treasured.
Looking in the car mirror, Alec wished he had Max's ability to heal; his own face still a battered mess of cuts and bruises. It took a lot to scare Alec, but that Gray had achieved the feat without a problem. Alec's mind reluctantly replayed his encounter with the savage man-monster.
He had watched in staggered disbelief as Gray effortlessly took Max out of the game in one fluid movement. He had rushed to help her but all he got for his trouble was a brick like fist in the gut that caused him to slump instantly to his knees. Gray had then struck him with a right uppercut that sent him hurtling through the closed door of the watering hole, the splintered wood and glass tearing through his clothes ripping at his tender flesh. That had been it for Alec, he awoke a few hours later and was relieved to find Max alive.
Dragging himself back to the present, Alec decided it was time to wake the sleeping princess and reunite her with her prince. Gently, partly out of fear of the repercussions, Alec shook Max gently by the arm trying to coax her awake. Moaning, she pawed at him like a cat with a ball of string.
"Come on Max, we're here." Alec spoke softly.
"I don't want anymore cheese, Logan can you pass me the whipped cream." was Max's response.
Alec doubled back in his seat, a look of abject horror scrawled on his face. Max began to giggle before muttering something about hitting the right spot.
That was it; Alec grabbed her by the arm and proceeded to violently shake her awake. Startled, Max swung her right arm in defence, catching Alec in the face.
"Jesus Max, that was my eye!" He cried, furiously rubbing at his supposed injury.
"What?" Max said confused as to what was going on.
Alec looked at her with mild fascination; Max felt like she was on naked display and so tightened her arms defensively around her body.
"Alec…what?" She clenched her beautiful features into a grimace. Alec stared at her another moment before answering:
"Its nothing, I just never knew you were such a…"
"Such a…"
"Well I hate to say it."
"What?"
"A slut," Alec finished.
Exasperated, Max punched him hard on the arm, pleased that a look of pain exploded on his face.
"I'm sorry," he cried, "but you have been talking absolute filth all the way here." Alec decided to bend the truth, a sort of payback for the dead arm he was now trying to resuscitate.
"Alec shut up…I was not." Max cried unimpressed.
"I'm telling you were all like, Oh Logan there that's it and oh aren't you a big…"
Max decided to cut him short by striking him on the arm again. Alec huddled up in his seat, a little annoyed that his hard work at bringing his arm back to life was now set back a few more minutes. Alec offered a truce with a cheeky smile which she accepted with a grin of her own; it was time to attend to more pressing matters.
"Is this it?" Max asked casting an eye across the cracked litter coated street that lay before her. Most of the surrounding houses seemed uninhabited and were lying on their death beds begging for the bulldozer to put them out of their misery. The street lamps that lined the pavement were all broke except for the one that lingered aimlessly outside Alec's window. It was pretty inept at its task; only producing a few feet of orange glow, seemingly afraid to venture to far from its source.
Max's heart sank a little as she too noticed the dark silhouette of Terminal City. "Rest in peace," she said softly to herself in quiet remembrance of her fallen friends.
"Its right there," Alec said stretching his arm across Max's front, pointing at the gloomy house on her left.
Max turned to look upon her destination. It wasn't that pretty. Like the rest of the houses on the street, Logan's was probably built before the pulse as it had that typical suburban look to it. Made from a crumbling brick, the house had two floors one sitting uneasily atop the other. A dim light came from the bottom floor window positioned to the left of the green front door. A small gravelled path led up to the door and there was unattended, bushy grass on either side of it turning it into a sort of jungle trail.
This place was a far cry from Logan's previous residence; a lush apartment in the richer part of Seattle. It didn't matter to Max though; as long as Logan was inside this dump then it was perfect.
"Well I guess this is it." Max sounded distant, turning her attention back to Alec as she spoke. He gave her a smile.
"Yeah, I guess it is. Look, I'm gonna try hook up with Asha, leave you two guys alone. Let me know if the cure works…tomorrow of course."
"Yeah," Max nodded, "thank you Alec." She reached across and gave him a tight hug. Alec winced a little; Gray probably broke a few ribs as well.
"Can't be a bastard all my life," he said relishing the warm feeling that he now held inside of him, the kind of warmth you get from helping a friend…it felt good.
Max laughed and turned to leave the car, she paused half way out the door:
"How do I look?"
This time Alec laughed. "You look fine, don't you worry. Hurry up; Logan will be waiting and Max…" She turned to face him, "I hope you two...well you know." She gave him a knowing and appreciative nod before stepping out the car.
The air outside was cold and bracing but it still maintained a distinct freshness. Max took a moment to accustom herself with the familiar city atmosphere, sucking in deep breaths. She felt a little reluctant, unsure about what to say when she was again in the presence of the man she loved. Max turned to see Alec in the car, he was encouraging her to go inside. Shaking her head, Max proceeded up the gravel path, feeling it crunch and separate under her weight.
Upon reaching the door, Max saw that there was no doorbell or knocking apparatus. Stealing a glance at the lit window, she quickly inspected her appearance. Alec was right, from what she could make out her wounds had mostly healed. Quite remarkable, she thought, fairly surprised at how quickly they had healed. In fact if she had time to think it over properly, Max would have realised that such recovery was nigh on impossible – even for a powerful X-5.
Max again felt a little awkward; like she was going out on her first date. She looked down at her clothes: tight fitting black jeans, a red turtle neck jumper and her black leather jacket. Look fine; smell fine, everything is go. Taking a deep breath, Max slowly and quietly opened the door and slipped inside.
For every minute that passed in real time, a year had passed in Logan's time. He had woken this morning feeling better than he had in ages. Granted there had still been one minor problem; something had been bothering Asha the night before. He had wanted to help at the time, but he had been too wrapped up in the jubilant news that Max was well and coming back to Seattle.
As the day trundled on at a very sluggish pace, the niggling feeling of guilt soon deserted Logan, diluted by Max's imminent return. Although Asha did not actually guarantee that Max would be back tonight, Logan had convinced himself that she would be. The afternoon had been spent cooking dinner and cleaning the house, the evening spent concerned that Max had not shown up and cursing that a perfectly good meal had gone to waste.
And so the hours passed and now Logan stood in the dim light of a fire, sipping on a glass of red wine. With one hand on the mantle-piece that ran along the top of the fireplace, Logan stared into the flames until his eyes began to water uncontrollably. He would then look away before doing it all over again. It was a pointless pursuit, but it kept him occupied which was his priority as the clock shouted at him: "It's past two in the fucking morning! She aint coming so just give up you love sick moron!"
Logan laughed at himself, "I'm going insane," he said out loud, shaking his head and going for another sip of wine.
"You're not the only one," came a familiar voice.
Logan froze, the glass still lingering in his mouth. It was like a distant voice form his past, a voice he had one feared he'd never hear again. With every sense on alert, Logan turned to see Max's shapely, slender figure standing in the doorway to his living room.
"Hey you," she said grinning awkwardly.
"Hey yourself," Logan replied, returning the same awkward smile.
Neither Max nor Logan had ever been too good at expressing their feelings for one another. They had always been thwarted by themselves, a sense of nervousness compounded by the fear of rejection always washed over them at the crucial moment. Of course the only times they did finally manage get the words out, they would be in the most inappropriate scenarios, usually facing an imminent disaster or something similar. The past year spent apart had done nothing but heighten the nervousness that now took over both of them.
"So how are you?" Max asked, feeling a little stupid.
"Well I've been good, how…" Logan let a laugh escape, "…how…" He couldn't hold it in any longer; Logan just started laughing, and Max realising how ridiculous they were being, joined in.
After a couple of minutes of uncontrolled hysterics, the laughter dissipated and Max and Logan returned to the troublesome task of how to get past the unusual awkwardness of this rather unique.
Taking an unsure step forward, Max caught Logan's crystal blue eyes. It was I that instant that she realised nothing had changed; her feelings were the same and she could sense he felt the same as he stared right back at her. Sod it, Max thought, may as well just dive right in.
With that Max and Logan, almost thinking in unison, raced toward each other, their bodies clashing with Max jumping onto Logan knocking him to the ground. Swept away in a sudden rush of emotion, they kissed passionately. Three years worth of feelings were now being exchanged between the two in an almost unbearably intimate moment.
Max could feel the rest of the world being sucked away until God had nothing left to look at but the two of them. Nothing else mattered in this moment of sheer bliss; not Terminal City, not the torment of the past year, not even the threat of Gray returning could worm its way into Max's perfect little world.
After an age they broke the kiss and just gazed at each other in comfortable recognition of their mutual feelings toward each other. Max waited for any signs of the virus but none appeared, her leap of faith had paid off. Letting a smile spread across her face, stretching the skin on her cheeks, Max kissed Logan again before resting her chin on his chest.
"I love you." Max spoke confidently as if she had never been surer of anything in her life.
"I love you too." Logan replied, taking in every inch of her beauty.
Finally they felt complete, each the missing part in the others life. Over the past year they had wondered in darkness, lost without each other. Fate, however, had thankfully taken pity on them. Realising its blunder, it threw them back together. Now as the minutes turned to hours, the world was at ease as the ever elusive right moment, or the right time as it were, had arrived for Max and Logan. For the fist time in a long while, no rain fell on the city of Seattle. The clouds left in a dignified silence, humbled by the power of human emotion on display. The sky was now clear and the stars, once feared to be lost for all time, twinkled proudly like diamonds for all to see.
As the last of the fog finally cleared and morning began to break, the light in Logan's bedroom window went out. Across the street Gray stood in his black trench coat quietly smoking a cigarette. His thick hair danced playfully in the gentle breeze. Blowing out a thick cloud of smoke from his nose, Gray flicked his cigarette away and thrust his hands in his deep pockets. He took one last look at Logan's place; his face bore a sadness as he spoke: "Soon…Max." He smiled weakly before he turned and walked away, leaving Logan and Max lying peacefully in each others arms. They had served their time in hell and earned their moment of happiness, but soon they would have to return and more blood would be spilt, of that Gray was certain.
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Well yup there we go, god how I cringed writing that so I hope you all cringe as well. Chris, if you read this, don't start thinking that I have gone all romantic, when the ice-age does come I'll still be looking to save my own ass rather than going off on some futile hunt for a girlfriend who is miles away!!! Anyways hope some people are enjoying the story cos like its fun to write…even the sort of soppy bits like that. Don't worry more death and despair on the way, maybe, who knows?? Latrz