I'd like to welcome you to the short and final chapter of Who I am. This story is finally over and I, for one, am very grateful. I know it's been a bumpy ride, but thank you to all who have read and reviewed this story. And for another shameless shipper plug… M/L 4ever!
After dropping of Sketchy, Max went directly to Logan's penthouse. She wanted to see those pictures again. When she went through the files those were the only things she left behind. She just couldn't take it with her. It hurt too much. Now she felt like she was ready to face her past. She entered his apartment silently, thankful that he wasn't there. She quickly made her way to his office and then stopped as she noticed the moonlight reflecting off of Logan's full-length French mirror.
She walked toward it and stared at her reflection in the darkness. From feet to head, her gaze went up her body. She had to admit, Manticore did good work. From the outside, no one would suspect a thing, until they took a good look in her eyes. She looked at her reflection until she couldn't see the woman she was anymore. In the mirror, she saw the girl inside her. The child-solider. It smiled back at her and now she recognized the voice that was in her head. The voice that made her doubt. It was that killer was inside her, apart of her. She wanted to close her eyes so that she couldn't see it, but she couldn't be blind anymore. She couldn't run from the darkness that was inside her. It was there, constant, never changing. She had to learn…had to learn to…had to learn…
Then the door opened and the light switch came on. Max instantly reacted, but made the decision not to hide. She continued looking into the mirror until he saw her.
"Hey," he said surprised, finally turning the corner.
"I hated myself for a long time, Logan," she said, ignoring his greeting.
She nudged her head to the side, "Take a look at this."
Logan rolled over to her, not quite sure what he was supposed to be seeing.
"You know what I see when I look in this mirror?" she asked rhetorically. She rolled her head to the right looking that him.
"A lie."
She walked into his office and grabbed pictures. She looked that them for a moment.
"Underneath it all," she stated and held the pictures in her hand, "This is who I really am to you."
She walked around him to the door.
"Max, you're wrong," Logan stated, finally finding his voice.
"Those pictures don't lie, Max, but neither your reflection," he stated with strong conviction in his voice.
"Your past is apart of you, but it isn't all of you and I'm sorry that I ever doubted it."
She turned around and faced him, "When you look at me, what do you see?"
He pushed himself closer to her.
"A good person," he said and moved closer, "A good friend."
When he reached her, he took her hand, "And a great partner."
"What took you so long?"
"I guess I'm so used to lies and conspiracies and looking for the truth, I couldn't see it when it was right in front of me," he replied honestly and squeezed her hand.
Max shrugged her shoulders a bit, "I did kinda hide from you though."
Logan exhaled, "It's mutual."
"Maybe we should work on that," said she with a half smile.
Logan smiled back at her, "I will if you will"
Max nodded, "Deal."
"So…" Logan started and grabbed wheels of his chair, "You staying here for a while?"
She shook her head.
"Not tonight, but let's find something to do with these," Max stated pointing to the pictures her head.
"I have a paper shredder."
She cocked her head, "Really? Let's go."
Logan turned and led them to his office. He rolled in front of the trash can as Max sat in a chair next to him. One by one she handed him the pictures and he shredded them into the trash. With each picture he destroyed, Logan hoped to mend their relationship. It's one thing to know who a person is and another to accept it, fortunately both Max and Logan were learning to do both, for themselves and each other.
