The next day followed the same routine of more cleaning, tossing and repairing. Though neither could figure out if duct taping the couch really counted as repairing, but it would do for now. No one came to visit, everyone giving them time to settle in, but she was sure that would leave quickly. Original Cindy had been dying to get her girl back out in the real world.

For right now though, Cindy was at home, Max's former residence with her new boo. She'd moved in a month after they'd met and not the week Original Cindy always claimed happened, mostly because Max had to reassure her it was okay. That had been almost six months ago.

Zack had taken a small group out to Buddy's ranch shortly after they defeated the familiars, smiling to Max as she asked for the millionth time if he was sure he wanted to go, he'd nodded, "Call me weak, but all that sentimental stuff doesn't sound too bad these days."

Alec was back at his old place trying to learn how to coexist with Asha, who had moved in to his newly vacated place a few weeks after Jam Pony after a fight with her roommate. They had a weird roommates with benefits thing going on now, he'd moved out of Terminal City almost a month ago and Max had to admit she was pretty amazed they hadn't killed each other yet and even better Asha hadn't turned up on Logan's doorstep seeking a new place to crash.

Lydecker had disappeared back into the wind with Sandeman, promising to relocate the older man shortly after Alec had left. Sandeman had done everything Joshua had promised, he'd cured the virus two months into the siege and saved mankind with the antibodies he'd created in her body before she was even born. Of course no apocalypse had pissed off White and his friends and the war that followed wasn't pretty. 29 lives were lost. Brin being one of the first and Joshua being the last.

It hadn't been until after that final standoff that people had started leaving Terminal City. They'd stayed together throughout, even though the cops had long since done anything more than patrol the perimeter. After the government quickly recognized that these were not the people they wanted to fight, especially since one was able to do the damage that a hundred other soldiers couldn't accomplish. It was a nervous truce that existed between the ordinaries and them, but still it was a truce and for that she was thankful. So now her brethren were scattered across the country some openly admitting who they were and some being thankful to be able to blend, to do as she had done for all of those years.

She and Logan were far from the last to leave Terminal City, after all it had become a permanent home to many of them. They'd stuck around dividing their time between there and Sandeman's as Logan slowly but surely convinced authorities that he wasn't Eyes Only as White's trail had led them to believe. He set up another trail for them to follow, in the end it would lead to nothing and he didn't doubt that one day they would be back at his door looking for answers, but for the moment he was still anonymous to the public at large and White was just the crazy psycho who had tried to frame him because of his involvement with Max. He hadn't wanted them to move into the apartment until he was sure it was safe for not only them, but the other residents.

By six the apartment was pristine once more, minus a few weird stains they couldn't get off of the walls and a few odd spots of duct tape on the couch. She soaked in the tub for over an hour, leaving Logan to cook to as normal.

-

She left him after dinner. After a Chez Cale creation of lamb chops with artichokes and rosemary, how he found any of those ingredients would forever be a mystery to her. Dinner was accompanied by an 8 year old bottle of Cabernet Sauvignon, which Logan muttered something about not being the right type of wine for the meal, it had however tasted fine to her. Logan's taste buds were more heightened than any x-series.

She'd needed to clear her head, to get out of the apartment, feeling trapped after being enclosed for almost 36 hours straight minus the 45 minutes she'd used getting dinner the previous night.

How Logan had survived all those months in his self-imposed seclusion from the world, not emerging for days she'd never understand. He'd tried to explain it once, late at night lying in his bed at Sandeman's. How it had been easier to hide from the world than to show it what he had become. He didn't want to see anymore pitying looks…he didn't want to risk having to ask anyone for help. She'd never understand how that man could think so much less of himself than what everyone else thought of him, he was getting better though, then again so was she when it came to that.

She kissed Logan goodbye as he worked at the computer and made her way down to the garage and her other baby. She reveled in the freedom her ride brought, the only place she could outrun her thoughts…She smiled as she realized that was a lie, she could forget them now in Logan's arms. For over a year he had been her sanctuary, her place to run when everything else was going to shit. He always seemed to know the perfect way to comfort her. He'd know whether to kiss her until she forgot or simply hold her as she thought and remind her she wasn't alone in the battle.

-

She opened the door to the apartment almost 2 hours later not surprised to find Logan hadn't moved. He did for her though, he turned and smiled as he stood, "I was beginning to think you ran out on me."

She just gave him a look, "Like you even noticed I was gone."

"You look over my shoulder at least twice an hour, trust me I noticed you were gone…Anyway you know what I have waiting in the fridge?"

"Something chocolate?" she asked hopefully, but she was pretty sure that wasn't what awaited her. Dessert to Logan was something that happened once a month.

"Sorry" he apologized, kissing her before he walked out into the kitchen. He pulled out a bottle of champagne, cheap to him, more than decent to the rest of the country. "Thought we could celebrate our first real night here."

"Almost as good as chocolate." she smiled walking over to him and gently kissed him.

He looked down, "Tomorrow I promise I'll find you something chocolate or at least artery clogging or tooth decaying."

She laughed as she walked away to find glasses.

-

"Eight hundred and twenty nine." she said looking out the window.

"Hmm?" Logan walking up behind her, settling his glass next to hers on the coffee table.

She turned, "829 days."

His mind roughly calculated, two years and three months? What was three months ago? "Our anniversary?" he guessed, it was either that or the day they took her back to Manticore.

She nodded, "829 days since we were normal, since everything was normal."

"Normal's a relative term."

She smiled and looked down at the floor where he had fallen after comforting her that night, "It was just you and me. We had this whole future ahead of us."

He titled her face up to look at his with a single finger, "We still have a future ahead of us."

"I know" she nodded slowly, "Not that future though. Are we even still them Logan? I can't remember who that girl was anymore…I thought I was so grown up." She shook her head, "I was so naïve. I didn't have the slightest clue what pain really was."

"The whole world's different now." he reminded her, but he knew what she meant…That guy was so foreign to him now, how had he ever pushed her away?

She sat down on the couch and looked at the spot again, "You know I was so embarrassed, disgusted, scared that night. I was so afraid you'd hate me, then I was afraid you wouldn't care." She smiled thinking back, "Then we sitting on the floor and I was so happy; everything seemed like it was going to be okay in that moment" she looked up at him, "It did didn't it?" she let her head fall again, "I still can't figure out how it ended up all twisted."

She looked around the room, "It doesn't look any different, I mean I look around and I can't understand how so much time has passed, how so many different things have happened." He carefully sat down on the coffee table before her and she smiled taking in his appearance, his hair in a new disheveled look of forcing it to the middle and then slightly back, his face scruffy as usual, the only real difference were a few small lines that formed around his eyes as he smiled. "We still look like those people, but we're not." she shook her head, "I just want to go back to how things were Logan." her words slightly desperate.

"Unfortunately that's not how it works."

"I can almost forget here…I can almost forget all the crap we went through. It's still that moment…It's just you and me." she placed her hand on his face.

"We're still right here Max, it's still you and me." he placed his hands on her knees.

"I want to go back to then. I want to forget Manticore, I want to forget the virus, I want to forget White. I want to forget losing everyone. I want us to be Max and Logan again. Eyes Only and his legman…Superhero and her sidekick…You know I thought things were so screwed up then, all the times you'd shut me out, all the stupid bullshit from Normal and Lydecker. They weren't though, those were the good times. There's just been so much…"

She shook her head and Logan moved and sat next to her, he pulled her close. "I hasn't been all bad Max and it's gonna get better. All the fighting, it's done."

She looked up at him, disbelieving.

"Okay well it's lessened. It's still a corrupt world, bad things still happen to good people, that's never going to change."

She came short of rolling her eyes, "Was that supposed to make me feel better?"

"Didn't work?" he gave a small chuckle as she shook her head no. "Just trust me Max, give it time. The world's still a pretty great place to be."

"Feels like our life was put on hold…I've just been waiting to go back to that moment."

He just stayed holding her for a moment before he kissed the top of her head, stood and walked over the wall unit.

"What are you doing?" she asked as he tossed her a remote and then proceeded to sit on the floor.

"You said it felt like our life was put on hold. So here I am, sitting here, it's that day Max. It's eight hundred and twenty nine days ago."

She shook her head and laughed, "This is what the award winning journalist gives me, this is what I get from a poet? What a remote to hit play?"

"I'm just sitting here Max. Everything else is up to you."

She just sat there for a moment and watched Logan sitting on the floor in black slacks and an olive green button down. Well at least they'd find out if they'd done a decent job cleaning the floors. "You've got to be kidding me." she said shaking her head and standing. "So what I hit play and we're back then? All of this has just been some weird intermission?"

"I don't know" he leaning back on his arms, "You tell me."

She sat on the floor facing him, "This is insane." She shook her head again and sighed before she raised the remote up and pointed it at him. She hit play and they were both startled by music coming out of the stereo.

Logan leaned forward laughing, "I forgot I set that up."

Max suddenly froze as she realized what was coming out of the stereo, "Sibelius" she whispered.

"Yea" he nodded softly.

"This night wasn't sad though."

"It was then" he replied, brushing back her hair. "You stood me up, I thought I meant nothing to you."

"Oh that's right" she said with a funny little grin, "this was the night I fucked another guy on our anniversary…Yea that kinda did blow."

"Nah" he said shaking his head.

"Nah?" she asked perplexed.

"I got you because of it. We would have just kept dancing around each other."

She sighed and looked at him, "So what now?"

"Where we were when Zack interrupted us." he cupped the back of her head and pulled her in close for a kiss.