Disclaimer: I do not own anything, nothing significant at all. My net worth is a negative number. Nothing to sue here people. Move along. (imagine a hand waving).

Chapter 6: Morning

Logan woke, reluctantly, to find the power was back on. After days of miserable cold, he should have been happy; instead his first thought was that he would no longer have an excuse to have Max so near. Then, as he tried to sort out what really happened last night from what he had dreamed, he thought that, maybe, he wouldn't need an excuse after all. He reached out to stroke her hair and she lifted her head up to look at him.

"Hey," she said.

"Hi," he said. They smiled as their words tumbled over each other.

"How are you feeling?" Max asked.

"Fine. Good. Actually, I feel great. It . . . It's just taking a little while for me to get my head around … last night."

"Is that good or bad?" she asked, her old insecurities apparently back in the light.

"Good. I just need to sort out what really happened. Convince myself it wasn't all just a dream." He wrapped his arms around her.

"You should go in to see the Doctor." she stated. "You were pretty out of it."

"No, I wasn't."

"Yes, you were. You couldn't wait two minutes for me to get back to get the forks! That was definitely poor judgment. Classic hypothermia symptom. You should get checked out."

"I feel fine," Logan insisted.

"Oh, really? How do your toes feel?" Max pulled no punches.

"Same as always!" Logan wasn't letting Max brush any of this off because she was emotional. He held her face in his hands and looked into her dark brown eyes. "I am not 'out of it'. I do not remember ever feeling more lucid." He pulled her toward him and kissed her and for a moment she let him.

She pulled away. "First, you go see the doctor and make sure you are OK. Then …we'll talk."

With an acquiescent sigh, "Do you at least trust me enough to let me make you breakfast?"

"Hmmm," she pretended to think the matter over. "Okay, but I am watching you around the hot and sharp stuff."

"Okay." he repeated, and waited. He needed her to get off him before he could get up, but he was not about to ask her to move for anything. They just stared at each other, content. Eventually Max realized why Logan wasn't moving and got up.

"Oh. Sorry," she said.

"I'm not," he smiled at her. Max smiled back shyly. Logan remembered how young she was. It was difficult to reconcile the tough, confident soldier that always knew what to do even in the most precarious situations, to the caring, uncertain young woman that had probably never let anyone this close to her before him; the beautiful incongruity that was Max.

Logan made breakfast with Max dutifully watching his every move. Logan kept his amusement (that a genetically enhanced killing machine with DNA worth millions was guarding him against accidentally burning himself) to himself. Max tried to keep her concern (that a potentially impaired ordinary man was handling dangerously hot objects) to herself.

"So," they said as soon as Logan set the last plate of food on the table. Max let out a soft laugh; Logan simply smiled. Breakfast was eaten quickly in a silence that neither of them was quite sure if it was comfortable.

"So," they said in unison again when they were done.

"You said that you were having trouble sorting out what actually happened last night. What do you remember?" Max finally asked.

"You brought a hot dinner for us, well mostly for me. And you brought some for Mrs. Moreno. I got up and tried to get the plates while you took her dinner."

"That was poor judgement, classic hypothermia." She stated.

Logan looked at her sitting there, so unsure, and understood. She was worried that everything last night was just his 'poor judgement' caused by the cold. "I have never seen anyone move so fast."

"You saw me?" she challenged.

"Well, there was kind of a blur. I figured that had to be you." He smiled, hoping to reassure her.

She did smile back "Yep," she replied.

"We had dinner. I was feeling sorry for myself." He reached out and put his hand on hers. "You told me we were friends; that we had moved beyond quid pro quo."

Max only nodded but she did not look away from him.

"You said you didn't think of me as a cripple."

"I don't."

"You purred." he paused. "For me." Logan wheeled back so that he was facing Max and gently pulled on her hand. She came to him, curling up on his lap. He wrapped his arms around her and began gently caressing her. He was rewarded with a soft purr as his hands gently explored her body. For a few moments she surrendered herself to his ministrations; then she remembered the most prominent reason for her doubts.

"First, you need to have your doctor make sure you are OK." She stopped his hands, but did not leave his lap. "What else do you remember?"

"You said you had never purred before."

"Okay, yeah, after the purr stuff." she said impatiently.

"My gender has a one track mind." he teased her.

"Well that is true, but .."

"I love you." Max froze. Last night, when she was so worried about Logan was one thing, this was … so real.

"You saw all the …stuff when I had to go to the bathroom, but you already knew it." Max nodded so he continued.

"You investigated my …injury, more than I have." Logan almost laughed at the irony that she cared more about him than he did. Max just nodded to confirm the events, but said nothing.

"You read my medical file. Dr. Carr has very good handwriting for a doctor." Logan smiled and looked to Max for affirmation.

"Yes." she confirmed.

"You know I may never be able to …" Logan paused, surprised at the difficulty.

"I know." Max tried to quietly reassure her love.

"You knew." He repeated. His hands moved to hold her face. "But for some reason …you love me anyway."

"I love you," she confirmed.

He hesitated. Now, it seemed so implausible that they really shared a dream. Perhaps Max had probable cause to suspect his mental facilities after all. No matter how far-fetched it seemed, he had to know. "We were at the cabin."

Max just stared at him, shocked.

Logan fervently hoped that was because she remembered the dream as well, rather than because she thought he was crazy. Regardless, he pressed on. "You were taking a bath by candlelight. …I joined you."

"Then you carried me to the bed." Max's voice was quiet, uncertain.

"We made love." Logan smiled at her, elated.

"That's an understatement! WOW!" Max seemed to be regaining her composure.

"Wow." he repeated. "You told me about your cycles."

So much for Max's composure. She paused, doubtful, then ventured "But for some reason …you love me anyway?"

"I love you," Logan confirmed and pulled Max close in for a kiss. Max once again yielded to her love. Logan was pleased that the dream had been accurate reconnaissance and proceeded do what he knew Max loved. He was rewarded with a very loud PURRRRRR.

To be continued …

Coming soon: Chapter 7 Dammit!