Disclaimer: Despite me forgetting to place these on every chapter – I think… - I do not own Dark Angel.
Author's Note: This chapter has been done since the third, but this is the first time I've been able to access my account here at FFN, let alone Mr. Document Manager thingie. . I have an archive on my site specially designed for 'Reverse,' in case of FFN outages or just my sheer laziness to log onto FFN and go through all the hassle. All updates are also posted there. Link?:
http://www.angelfire.com/wa/DesertRose/reverse/index.html
I hope everyone isn't too mad at me for the delay. I seriously worked hard on this thing, even though I deleted about two and a half pages. . More detail at the site, but essentially Insane!Zack transformed into Nice!Zack, and it snowballed. Needless to say, my muses got a harsh kick, lemme tell ya.
Love ya all for reviewing! ^^
Lanna
Logan looked up distastefully at the looming purple clouds. It was going to rain – again.
Not that he wasn't used to it - quite the opposite, really. He'd been living in Seattle for a month, and the sky seemed to pour every two days. The electric in what the local populace deemed his "apartment" was shoddy, to say the least. Brownouts were becoming increasingly more frequent as the seasons started to change, bringing more and more lightning.
Finding no use in arguing at something that he had no control over, Logan just tucked his hands deeper into the pockets of his beaten-up old jacket that he'd "rescued" out of a dumpster and continued on towards his destination. If he didn't get this job, their money would be gone and Maybel would be forced into waiting up late at night worrying while he skulked around the penthouses.
Thinking of penthouses brought his mind to focus onto last night's events. Carefully avoiding his more… basic thoughts, he let loose a small smirk as he thought of the hangover Max and her friend would be receiving when they woke up this morning.
That's why I never drink. He ducked into the ramp's opening of his prospective employer's building. Glancing at the sign, Logan mentally composed himself and was ready when he reached the center of activity, looking for the owner.
"Excuse me." A person behind the counter spun at his voice irritably. "Sorry to interrupt," injected Logan hurriedly, "but I have an interview with the owner at 3:30. Do you know where I might find him?" He glanced around at the rushing people.
"I am who you seek." The ex-soldier turned in almost a surprised manner. "Welcome to JamPony. Logan, is it?"
When Mercedes stumbled into the kitchen that morning, she couldn't help but grin at the sight before her. On barstools sipping the biggest mugs of black coffee she'd seen since her college days sat Max and Cindy. Upon the counter in-between them an open bottle of Advil was located.
"Have fun last night, girls?" Tying her light purple terrycloth robe tighter around her waist, Mercedes walked to the fridge and rummaged about for something she could eat without disturbing the walking advertisements for Why Not To Drink Alcohol. She left the kitchen, grabbing a cold loaf of garlic bread. "Don't forget about the outing with Zack, Max. You've had it planned for weeks." And with her reminder completed, she shut herself in the computer room.
"Totally not cool…" This came out through a mouthful of hot coffee, much to the friends' dismay – especially to Max as it landed on the counter and down her front.
"You just lost some prime juice, girl. Mmhmm, but that's a shame." Slurp. Head clutch.
"I don't need your advice on this, Cindy." Snapping quietly, she was in the process of mopping up at the mess she'd made, all the while holding her head. "I would appreciate your advice on how to avoid Zack though. As we both know, I'm not in the best shape to go out on a shopping trip."
"Original Cindy thinks that you should tell him you lost your credit card somewhere by the Space Needle. That'll get him away fast enough." There wasn't enough coffee in Cindy to act completely normal. There was, however, the minimal amounts required to allow her to use semi-rational thought.
"Nah. You forgot" – gulp – "that he 'absolutely loathes the inner city.' He thinks the locals'll jump out of nowhere and ruin his manicure." The resulting snicker from her drinking buddy gave way to a grin from Max. "I'll deal with it as it comes, I guess. Maybe I'll just have him stay here and plead sickness. It was right this morning, eh?" She laughed softly, feeling better by the second.
"You mean you'd rather have him here? What about that whole, 'Zack will not cross the threshold of this house while I'm still alive' promise?" Cindy eyed her friend shrewdly as Max walked towards the fridge.
Wait a sec – did I just see her go –"Max, no! No food, please, I'm still dyin' over here, and so will you be, if you go a step closer…!" She watched, horror-struck, as her best friend and comrade continued on her path…
…and took a bottle of water out. Cindy could only sigh in relief and glare at the brunette laughing at her unfounded worry.
Max finally decided on which course of action to take with Zack, after talking with Cindy for a few hours while they waited for the hangovers to disappear. She would invite him over, claiming that she wasn't feeling well, and her university professors were really packing it on this month. She wasn't lying, she reasoned with herself. I'm just not telling the entire truth.
As she waited for her sporadic best friend to show up, she pondered over their 'relationship' that they'd had for the past ten years or so. They were almost completely opposite of each other, gender not withstanding. Zack was, every once in awhile, more girlish than she, always planning shopping extravaganzas, parties, and hunting for furniture. She still didn't get that last one figured out.
But Zack… Max sighed. Zack could also be so strange sometimes. She remembered one day after they'd gone shopping and were walking back home that he'd suddenly ducked into a run-down side street in the middle of her sentence. Confused, she'd gone after him, and had found him crouching, staring upwards. Following his gaze, she discovered one of the police 'bots hovering above them.
When they'd finally gotten out of the alleyway, Max had pelted him with questions, and to each of them he just laughed and said, "It's a game that my brother and sisters play. Don't worry about it, Max." And with that, he ruffled her hair and changed the subject. She hadn't thought much about it until she'd seen Logan do the same thing, but only he'd use his cap.
It was a mystery she'd have to figure out, but at a later date.
"Zack!" she exclaimed, putting on a pleased countenance and standing up to embrace him. "Sorry I couldn't make it; you know how college is." She made a face and sat back down, cheering up a little.
Max and Zack were talking about inconsequential things – at least, to Max's point of view – when the doorbell rang. Puzzled at who else was going to show up, Max excused herself to Zack, who was okay with it, and answered the door.
Oh, God, she thought, suppressing a groan. This is totally not cool…
Logan, on the other side of the threshold, was having a pretty good day. He got the job, which was simplicity in the highest form, and it would allow him a greater knowledge of the city. The only thing that would make his day even better was any information that Mercedes could have on his siblings. The problem? It wasn't a Mercedes that answered the door.
"Miss Guevara."
"Mr. Cale!" Max replied with obviously false cheerfulness. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit?"
I don't know what brought this on, pondered Logan suspiciously, but I know that two can play this game. "I just wished to get an update on my case," he responded in an equal tone, flashing her a grin. Deftly stepping around the now-stunned Max, he walked into Mercedes's office, not seen by Zack in the living room.
Max, upon finding herself returning to some sort of conscious thought, was disgusted by how she'd acted. She shut the door rather forcefully and returned to the couch across from Zack.
Observing her as she flopped back down on the sofa, Zack couldn't help but smile wryly. "Unwanted visitor?"
A groan came from Max. "Ugh… Talk about 'master of the obvious.'" This earned a grin from both. "Yeah; but there's nothing I can do for it, though." At her friend's puzzled look, she continued. "It's one of Mom's clients." A nod of understanding followed this, though Max had the nagging suspicion that she had never told him about her mother's business.
Suddenly, there was a yell from the computer room before Logan came storming out and into the living room. He almost missed the new presence sitting across the coffee table from Max. Pausing abruptly, he stopped mid-stride. The outrage suddenly evaporated away from his countenance, being fast replaced by surprise. Now ignoring Max, he turned his full attention to Zack, smiling.
"Zack! Wow, you've grown!" It sounded lame to all involved, but Logan didn't care. He'd just found his brother, even after reports that no one had yet been discovered. He stepped forward, arms extended. Zack stood, also with a grin on his face, and the long-lost brothers embraced amidst lots of back thumping.
"Logan!" Zack laughed, releasing him. "What took you so long, huh? Everyone's been worried about you!" He didn't seem to notice the subtle changes in Logan's face to show that he wasn't particularly happy with this new change of events.
Everyone?… Zack just went on about it all. "Our mighty CO was gone, and Kelly wasn't anywhere to be found, either, so we were all high and dry, y'know…?" There was an awkward silence for about two seconds, before he laughed again, this time nervously. "Um…" He not so subtly gestured to Max. "Did I uh… reveal too much?" There was a nondescript glint to her eye that Logan didn't quite like. He couldn't do anything about it, though, because at that point she butted into the conversation."So, wait a second." She glared at both of them, most definitely confused. "You mean to tell me… that Zack, Mr.-I-love-to-shop, is an X-5?" She turned to Logan, accusation clear in her voice. "And you knew this?" She moved again so both were in her field of view. There was a pause, before she threw up her hands and stomped into the kitchen. The brothers could only glance at each other before there was the sound of a slamming refrigerator door. She stomped past them, each hand filled with a wine cooler, as she ignored them both. For seconds only, the sound of her feet echoed throughout the house. Then, out of nowhere, her door slammed, rattling the remote on the coffee table.
There was a brief silence in which the two soldiers could breathe normally. Zack opened his mouth to speak –
- and shut it, corresponding with the frazzled appearance of Mercedes.
"Just what is going on in here?!"
Slightly daunted by an outraged mother, Logan and Zack exchanged glances, before deciding that they had two choices: flee, and return to fight another day, or stay, tell everything, and help out with supper.
"Um, Logan?" Zack looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an oncoming train. Said brother noted this carefully, and announced his decision.
"Flee."
Meanwhile, in Max's room…"I totally cannot believe it, Cindy! Ugh! This hurts. I mean, I knew Zack was probably gay, what with the masses of shopping excursions and obsessing over manicures, pedicures, and credit card amounts, but this is just too much! They're both gorgeous!"
Yeah, well, Original can't help ya wit' dat, boo. Y'know dat she swings the other way, babe.
"I know, I know…" Max mumbled quietly into her bottle of alcohol before tipping it back for the last vestiges of liquid. She repositioned herself on her bed, tucking her pillow under her arms so she was propped up. "But think of it this way. What would you do if you were introduced to the most gorgeous girl you've ever seen, with all the things that you look for, but then you found out that she was a super-soldier from a corrupt government facility with the knowledge of a score of geniuses…" Max trailed off, allowing her friend to supply everything else of which she could think.
There was a brief silence on the other end of the line, before Cindy cleared her throat, drawing Max's attention back. Original Cindy would be all over her in two seconds flat.
A frustrated yell tore itself out of the back of her esophagus. "Dammit, Cindy! You're not helping!"
