Spent a few minutes today looking at old stories of mine and I'd like to share with you I have no idea when I lost my total fluff side and became a realist. That's my explanation for this story. Thanks for reading.

Chapter Six

He slept beside her. He'd fallen asleep with her in his arms, her face resting above his heart listening to the strong and steady beat. She'd stayed for hours as he slept, just feeling his warmth, the protection that only Logan could offer her. She'd moved into her current position of knees pulled up against her body, resting her cheek on them and watching him not long ago, as she examined all of the physical changes that had occurred over the past two months.

Funny how long two months could seem.

Then again, years had seemed to pass in her dreams. That one dream came back to her, that hallucination/dream that had started in the box and followed her out. Not being able to touch Logan…

She wondered what Original Cindy would say about that. What she would say about all of that dream...Being poison to Logan, turning her brother into a monster, bringing Ben back to life in the form of a twin…

Then again she supposed it wasn't really that hard to figure out what that all meant. She was afraid of hurting Logan, convincing herself that maybe it really was best she was locked away and kept from him. Zack was a means to deal with her guilty conscience; after all if he was a monster than him sacrificing his life for hers wasn't that big of a deal. And Ben…that was just that she hadn't wanted to leave her brother in the woods, she hadn't wanted him to be gone, she wanted to keep him with her no matter what, even though he had become a monster, she hadn't wanted to let him go, she loved him regardless.

There was even that giant dog, he was an extension of herself, canine instead of feline that couldn't be hidden as it could most times in her, blatantly standing out, being a freak in the world. Her twin with the name her brother had used…That was easy, she and Zack were no longer separate individuals…And the world hating her, out to get her, looking at her as if she were a freak…Yea that was kinda obvious too.

She tuned away and buried her face into her knees and caught a glimpse of the top of her scar. She raised a hand to it as Logan had done as the towel had fallen.

He'd become so still at the sight of it, the heat and the passion fell away as he raised a finger up to touch where they'd cracked her ribs. He ran his thumb along it, focusing only on it and not her face or her body, just the scar, his fingers found the small other one, only the faintest trace of the bullet wound remaining. That almost non-existent little scar was all that remained of what took her from him, what had almost taken her from the world. She'd whispered his name, " Logan"

His eyes shot up with his name, the soft green eyes seeing hers, seeing she was still here, he raised a hand up to cup her face.

"I love you." She whispered as she'd tried to the last time his hand had been there.

He nodded, his eyes still lost in the memory of losing her, "I love you too."

Her stomach finally grumbled, forcing her away from his exhausted form. She stepped over their clothing as she made her way to his closet, over the boxer briefs she'd ripped clean off of him from under the exo. She'd check later to see if any of her old clothing still remained in the other room, for now she slid her arms into a blue button down and made her way into the kitchen.

-o-o-o-o-o-

She made a face looking into the bare fridge and scrunched up her nose as she pulled out several things well past their expiration date, finding only the ham and Swiss edible. She settled behind the table with the sandwich and realized not for the first time just how surreal this was. Halfway through the sandwich, the phone started to ring and she dove for it not wanting to risk waking Logan.

"Hello?" she said only seconds after the first ring.

There was a moment from silence from the other end and just as Max was about to repeat herself she heard Bling's unsure voice, "Max?"

She smiled at the familiar voice, "Got it on one, guessing that means he hasn't had a bunch of floozies over here while I've been gone."

"Uh"

She laughed silently, never knowing Bling to be at a loss for words, "Our boy's sleeping. He'll explain everything later."

"Uh, so just tell him I called?"

"Will do" she nodded

"Max?"

"Yea?"

"It's really good to have you back." He had no idea how she was back, but he was glad she was.

"Trust me; it's pretty good to be back."

-o-o-o-o-o-

He came awake slowly and aware of one thing, she wasn't there. He knew she was though. He could still feel her hands and her lips all over his body; he could still smell her on the sheets surrounding him. He'd woken up every single day that she was gone and he'd had to remember she was gone. Force his mind to remember she'd died in his arms. She hadn't felt gone though, that feeling that she was still out there had stayed with him.

It was a numbness, a disconnection from what he thought was reality. She had died. She had died in his arms. He couldn't get his mind around it though. It was only when he forced himself to think about what that meant…To think about never seeing her again that he would break.

Getting that call from Original Cindy though, hearing that Druid had found 'Max' walking around the streets of Seattle…He'd rushed over to Jam Pony positive she'd come back to him until he saw her face, there had been something missing, he'd known from the first moment it wasn't her.

He wrapped an arm around her and promised Original Cindy he'd keep her safe as he led her out of the building and brought her back to his place. He double-checked as he called her 'sweetheart' handing her tea full of sedatives, she'd looked up at him sweetly and he knew once more it wasn't her.

There was something in her eyes as she awoke to find herself tied up with himself, Krit and Syl watching her. The tears that had glistened in wide eyes, it had been Max. Those eyes, that moment, it was Max, but still in his heart, he knew it wasn't her. The barcode that read her number wasn't hers.

He heard the phone ring, once and only once as he was getting up to slip on some clothing before joining her outside.

-o-o-o-o-o-

"The phone wake you?" she asked as he walked into the room.

He shook his head as he took in the sight of her, not only was she finally back where she belonged, she was in his apartment, sitting behind his table, a sandwich in hand wearing only one of his blue button downs.

"Your fridge is seriously pathetic." She smiled raising the sandwich.

"I'm sorry" he laughed as he opened the fridge. "Figured you'd rather be busted out of Manticore a day early rather than come back to a stocked fridge." He said pulling out the cold cuts.

"Good call" she nodded.

"So who was on the phone?"

"Bling, actually stunned him into silence. Wonder if I'll be able to do that with OC."

"I think she said she dropped a package." He supplied the knowledge of her twin's entrance into their lives, "Druid found her outside a coffee shop on Van Drake and brought her back to Jam Pony."

"Oh" she returned her attention back to her sandwich as he started walking over with hers.

"Do you want to know Max?"

She shook her head, "Not right now. I'm here. That's what matters right? Not what happened in between."

"Max?"

"Later Logan, not now."

He wasn't going to push, not now, a lot had happened in less than twelve hours. He knew the basics, her twin was sent here to kill him and Max had known that, he knew they had been planning on using her eggs to create a future line of soldiers, he couldn't imagine her dealing with that.

They continued to eat in silence before she finally asked, "What happened to her?"

He turned lowering his sandwich and wondered how much he should share, how much she wanted to know. Did she want to know the various attempts he and her siblings had made to get her to talk? Did she want to know the brutal methods Lydecker had succeeded with? The discussion that had followed with what to do with her even though there had only ever been one true way to secure their own safety? How Lydecker had finally and thankfully taken the decision out of their hands? Probably not, so "Lydecker" was all he said, he knew she'd understand.

She just nodded, before saying "We need chips, hurry up and eat so we can go shopping."