AN: Not a particularly interesting chapter, warning you in advance…Sorry, but thanks for reading.

Chapter Twenty-One

Max smiled pushing her bike into Jam Pony and seeing her sister seated up at one of the tables with Sketchy. Maybe her sister could provide her with some mindless time that she had tried to seek out with OC and Kendra this morning only to be confronted of questions of 'Is everything okay?' 'Are you sure everything's okay?' and 'Positive?' Not to mention Original Cindy's 'You know you can talk to me right?' as they'd ridden over to work. Apparently she was as off to others as she felt to herself.

She couldn't shake the dream, they always seemed to linger, but this one was worse than the rest. They were never going to be free, never going to be safe, everyday he was with her Logan put himself in jeopardy. She'd never leave him though, just as he'd never leave her, things like living didn't matter quite so much when it was without the other person. Didn't make her feel any better about it though, didn't shake free the underlying feeling that she truly was poison, which her mind repeatedly told her was a lie.

She'd hoped so hard that Will being free of Manticore's grasp would stop them, it hadn't though. They were never going to stop because she'd never be free, someone would always be hunting her and those she loved.

"Afternoon Maxie," Sketch said with a nod as he flung a gangly leg over the chair to stand. "See ya later Sylvia," Sketch said in his normal slightly flirting manner towards her sister, which of course to the world was actually her brother's girlfriend, since Max and Krit looked a hell of a lot more alike than her and Syl, Krit was of course Christopher to the outside world. Subtle name changes in this city, they'd been Damian and Bianca in New York, Luis and Maddie in Miami, James and Susan in Boise, but since they'd accidentally run into one of Max's friends early on it made sense to just go with names similar to the 'nicknames' that had been overheard.

"Please don't tell me he was hitting on you again," Max said reversing Sketchy's position and taking his seat.

"He doesn't hit on me, he's just friendly," Syl defended.

Max made a disbelieving face.

Syl laughed, "He's really coming around to with this whole baby thing," she nodded thinking back to the conversation she'd just spent the last twenty minutes having with Max's friend, who had become hers too.

Another look, Sketch always tried to make himself seem mature to others, only she, Herbal and OC seemed to get the real him, "I'll believe it when I see it." The smells of other people's food hit her and she cursed herself for bailing out of the apartment before making lunch, "Let me grab some lunch," she said with a nod and hopped out of the seat before her sister could respond.

"You didn't bring lunch?" Syl asked once her sister had returned and settled three different types of chips down on the table and two cans of cola, she took the soda that was pushed towards her and opened it.

"Left the apartment too early this morning."

Her sister continued to look at her awaiting a further explanation.

"My guilt finally got the better of me and I fixed Kendra and OC's can."

"Oh," Syl responded with a nod and ignored the fact that leaving the apartment early for Max was uncommon. She normally lingered with Logan until the last possible moment, especially since she'd spent hours without his company and had normally thought of half a dozen things she kept wanting to wake him up to say.

"So anything special bring you by? Somehow I doubt it's the lovely environment," Max smiled hoping to get her sister off whatever train of thought that had just made her frown.

"Nah, just wanted some sister time." She shook her head, "I kept trying to leave the house yesterday and Chris kept stopping me, your brother is seriously weird."

Max paused briefly before responding, "If there's one thing I've never doubted is that my entire family is weird," she smiled as she made the joking dig at her sister.

"Haha," she rolled her eyes sarcastically, "seriously he was weird all of yesterday…he was fine when I left for work." She shook her head remembering the guy she'd come home to, "He's keeping something from me."

Max avoided pausing this time, but just barely, "Like what?"

"No idea," Syl answered plucking a chip out of one of the opened bags; Max had gotten all the basics, corn, potato and some wheatish type product. "It's why I wanted to come by, see if he and Logan were up to anything stupid."

Krit knew, Max knew he knew, "Not that I know of."

Syl pouted, she'd been sure Krit and Logan were up to something, since Logan was the only person Krit was supposed to have seen yesterday. Then again Logan had been pretty much out of the stupid business since Max had come home, actually more like since he'd known there was a possibility of Max coming home.

"You find out what's wrong with her yet?" Original Cindy came upon them, startling them both, so much for being ever alert soldiers.

Max couldn't help but roll her eyes at having that question posed for the nine millionth time in less than five hours.

"Something's wrong with you too?" Syl tilted her head and shot her sister an accusing look, something was definitely going on and she was the only one out of the loop.

"Something with her and Logan," OC said pulling up a chair and pulling the potato chips towards her.

"Nothing is up with me and Logan," Max defended for the millionth time.

"You're lying," OC stated matter-of-factly.

"What the hell's going on with you and Logan?" She shot a look at her sister before turning to Original Cindy, "What's going on?"

"No idea," Cindy said slowly raising a chip to her lips and intently looking at Max waiting for her to break, "She's been off since he came home."

"Well in her defense she was off while he was gone."

"Thanks," Max said sarcastically with a nod.

"Hey it's not my fault, you eat drink breathe Logan." Her sister pointed out the obvious, attached at the hip was an understatement when it came to those two. Not that it wasn't understandable that they hated being out of each other's sight, that whole death thing and whatnot.

"I'm not that bad."

"Yea you are," OC nodded, "but he's the same so don't feel so bad. So once more what the hell is going on?"

"Nothing," Max answered again with a shake of her head.

"Then why were you so weird this morning?"

"No sleep finally caught up to me this morning and I got to see Logan with his eyes wide open and a bullet hole in his forehead," she spit out to shut the two other females up, "there now do you feel better? That's the reason I was so off this morning, there are a few images and noises I can't get out of my head."

"Sorry boo," OC said suddenly looking down at the table instead of Max's pained eyes.

"So guessing that means it has nothing to do with why Chris has been acting so weird," Syl jokingly said.

Max lied with well practiced ease, "Probably not." She refused to allow her mild to dwell on wondering about her brother's reaction, what was going through his mind now. Shame she couldn't get that linger cry of Mommy out of her head. Maybe then she'd have some idea what was being said between her sister and OC as she slowly sipped her soda.