For Disclaimers and Summaries, refer to Chapter One.
Chapter Two: Reckoning
"What the hell?" Logan yelled, staring wild-eyed at the sight the two transgenics set before him. The pair quickly split apart, but didn't move very far. "Alec, get away from her! I knew it...you're just the type of guy who would try to take advantage of a girl. Is she in heat? If you-"
"Logan, shut up!" both transgenics said in unison.
"This isn't how I wanted you to find out...I...tried to tell you earlier...but I couldn't-" Max was mortified. She became quickly aware how little she was wearing below her sheet. She tugged it up around her, as if not only could it protect her from prying eyes, but everything else as well.
"What do you mean, you didn't want me to find out this way? How?" Logan couldn't believe his ears. Hadn't she told him she loved him just hours earlier? "What the hell is going on?" He put a hand to his forehead and leaned against the wall, sliding himself down it until he sat on the floor.
Max and Alec shared a silent look, the wordless gesture speaking volumes.
"I...I was going to tell you once we got here...but everything in the car...it all just got screwed up," she said simply. Logan shook his head in disbelief.
"You told me you loved me...how does that get screwed up?"
"Funny story, that," Alec began, not noticing the dangerous glint in Logan's eyes at hearing his voice. "Max forgot to turn off her com-link and I was talking to her." It was then that he caught the other man's expression and realized he should have left this part up to Max. "Okay...so not really all that funny. Guess it was a had to be there thing."
"I was there," Logan growled. "And it seemed to me like she told me that she loved me. How the hell did that conversation have anything to do with you?"
It was obvious that this wasn't going to go well no matter how they tried to deal with it. The only thing they could do was just lay everything out on the table, be completely honest, and then run damage control. Alec ran a hand through his hair and then moved it to rub the back of his neck. Max eyed her clothes, which were in a pile next to the shower.
"Um...do you think...you guys could excuse me for just a minute? I need to get dressed." Alec nodded and Max breathed a sigh of relief. He knew she was just trying to keep Logan from getting any more angry than he already was...and letting Alec stay in the room while she changed while he had to go wait outside was not the way to do that.
Logan didn't say a word or give any acknowledgement that Max had even spoken. He just stood up, flung open the door and stalked out. Alec gave her a quick kiss on the cheek and followed suit...without the hysterical antics of his predecessor.
Max threw the cover off of her and grabbed her clothes hurriedly. Leaving the two men vying for her heart alone together was not a good idea under any circumstances, especially not one so serious. In a mere matter of seconds she was dressed and called for them to re-enter the room.
Alec walked over and sat on the cushioned recliner, glancing at Max as he did so. Her slight nod of approval was all he needed to know that he had done the smart thing in not coming back directly to her side on the bed. Logan took up residence in a small wooden chair that sat in front of a matching desk, if by matching you simply mean that it was also made of wood, and not under any other criteria.
The three of them just sat in silence for a few moments, at all costs avoiding any eye contact. Logan was the first to break the silence. "How could you do this, Max? How could you do this to me, to us?" The pain in his voice hit her hard, but there was also something else there, something that Max didn't like. She couldn't quite put a finger on what exactly it was.
"Logan, it's complicated..."
"How complicated could it be? You were mad about Seth, so you ran to Alec for comfort. I'm sure if you rethink this, you'll realize the mistake you've made." There it was again, that something that Max could identify before. Arrogance.
Max stole a quick glance at Alec who was looking very much like the jungle cat she'd thought of earlier, reading to pounce. The glance pleaded with Alec to hold off, not to make things worse than they already were. He either saw this in her eyes, or decided for himself not to act; either way, he remained seated and silent, but his eyes never left the man seated across from him.
"It's a lot more complex than that. Things between me and you weren't right, haven't been right for a long time. Ever since I got back from Manticore. Alec and I...though we both couldn't admit it, had been having...feelings for each other long before I found out about Seth. Logan, please understand. You and I...we just weren't meant to be. We had so many signs..."
"NO! We were meant to be...still are. You want a sign? How bout all the times he screwed up. All the times you had to risk your life to save him-" Logan said, staring daggers at Alec.
Before Max could even think of warning Alec to stay put, he was up out of his chair and in Logan's face.
"Me? What about you! How many times did you send Max to an almost certain death, just to get the scoop on some crooked politician? How many times did she risk her life for you and got nothing in return but a vague detail about the possible where-abouts of a person who might match the description of one of her siblings? Who got her back into the spotlight where she was found by Manticore, and then White? Sure as hell wasn't me!" Alec had started out yelling and had ended up only slightly louder than a whisper. But the venom in that low voice made Logan more afraid than if Alec had been screaming at him. It was the cold hard voice of a killer.
"Stop it, both of you!" Max ordered, jumping in between the two now silent men before someone got hurt. There was no doubt who that someone would if things got out of hand. 'If things got out of hand,' she thought to herself. 'I think we've blown by that exit.'
"No one is to blame here. No. One. Logan, you and I drifted apart. I wanted to tell you that...I didn't feel that way about you anymore, but so many things happened. You almost died on the roof that day, we found out the virus was cured, you got kidnapped.."
"Shouldn't that tell you something, Max? Shouldn't you be looking at those signs? Everytime you tried to tell me we couldn't be together, something kept you from it." Logan prayed that what he was saying would strike a nerve.
"And how bout every time that I tried to tell you we should be together? I died, I came back, you almost died...twice. Doesn't that tell you something?" She could only hope she was getting through to him. "Anyways...really it's not about the signs...it's about how I feel. I love-"
"Dammit, Max! You told me that you loved me today!" Logan stood up from the chair quickly, suddenly standing very, very close to Max. Alec's body, every single muscle, tensed, readying itself for action.
"Did you miss the part where she was actually talking to me then?" Alec wore his usual smirk, but the look in his eyes was anything but light.
"Shut-up! I want to hear this from Max. Not you." This was getting ugly fast.
Max took a deep breath, preparing herself for what was surely to come after this. "I forgot to turn my com-link off. Right about when you asked if you were forgiven is when Alec started talking. I...when I said 'I love you'...I was talking to him."
"I don't believe you. This is just another lie. To push me away. You don't have to push me away now, Max. And you certainly could've found a better substitute than him." Logan pointed an angry finger out at Alec. He was lucky he was too blind with anger to realize how close he had come to losing the appendage.
Max had had enough. "Dammit Logan! Get the hell over yourself for one minute, will you? I'm going to tell you this one more time. I. Love. Alec. End of story." Logan opened his mouth to respond, but Max glared at him and held up a hand. "No...I'm not finished. You and I are over. We were over a long time ago, I just wouldn't let myself believe it. Alec and I finally told each other how we felt back at TC...BEFORE you were taken. He's not a substitute. He's not a replacement. He's not a lie. He's MINE. My choice. My mate. I didn't want to tell you this until you'd had some time to recover from all the stress with the Familiars. But you didn't give me a choice. And now, you have to accept it and continue to be my friend. If you can't do that, get the hell out."
Logan stood, mouth agape, initially. "Fine. But when he screws up again, when he leaves you to deal with the mess, I hope you can live with that choice," he spat, turning toward the door, and holding the knob with a white-knuckle grip. "Because I won't be there next time." And with that he was gone. He didn't even bother to go back to his room.
Max just watched as the man she used to love walked out of her life.
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Vamp