Max pushed the door to the apartment open and listened. She heard Kendra in the bathroom singing along to a static-y radio station. She wheeled her motorcycle over to its usual spot and gently put down the kickstand. She walked into her room and put together an acceptable work outfit.
She heard the bathroom door open and heard footsteps in the living room.
"Ohhh, Maaaax!" Kendra cried giddily from the living room.
"In here," Max called back.
Kendra bound into the room and grinned.
"Well, well, well," Kendra said. "Motorcycle's finally in the living room at - oh, seven AM when it was missing all night, and you're in wearing the clothes you had on last night. I suppose, what, you had a chaste dinner and crashed on his couch, right?"
Max replied with a shrug, "Nah, we banged the gong all night and I just got home."
"I… I'm not sure if you're making fun of me," Kendra said and crossed her arms. "You serious?"
Max raised her eyebrows and Kendra grinned.
"You are!" her friend exclaimed. "Well, finally, if you ask me."
Max gathered her work clothes into her arms. She replied with a smile, "Well, I didn't ask you."
She walked past Kendra and made her way to the bathroom. She changed and dried her hair then emerged from the bathroom. She found Kendra in the living room reading a magazine.
"You working today?" Max asked as she put her cap on and threw her backpack over her shoulders.
"Not at all this week," Kendra returned with a frown. "There's a convention coming next week though so I guess I'll be all right."
"Well, if you need…" Max allowed the offer to hang in the air, not wanting it to seem like charity.
Kendra nodded and gave her a small smile. "Thanks."
"Well, I better get to work before Normal fires my ass again," Max said. She grabbed her bicycle and left the apartment.
When she got to Jam Pony, all she could think about was lunch. She ignored Normal's yells about no bikes inside and steered her bike in the direction of the lockers. She found Original Cindy and Sketchy near Cindy's locker, going back and forth on Sketchy's latest pyramid scheme.
She just smiled to herself and opened her own locker.
"It's a simple investment," Sketchy explained, "of only two hundred dollars. With that you get -"
"I don't care if it gets me Xena in a Playboy bunny outfit and a free hour," Original Cindy interrupted, "you ain't getting my hard earned cash money."
"I think you're missing the finer points of this," Sketchy said.
"And you're missing some of the finer points of your brain," Original Cindy replied.
Sketchy spotted a new victim - Herbal - and walked over to him.
"So, how was your sleepover, boo?"
Max turned to Cindy. "Now, how do you know about that so fast?"
"I called you last night," Original Cindy explained, "and Kendra said you weren't home yet. That was after twelve and if you weren't home by that point, you weren't going home at all. So, how was it?"
"It was good," Max replied. She shrugged. "You know, dinner, conversation, sex, breakfast."
Original Cindy's eyes widened. "Excuse me?"
Max closed her locker and looked at her best friend. "What?"
"Stop playin'," Cindy said and slapped Max on the arm. "Sex? You and Logan? Well, about damn time if you ask me."
"Why does everybody keep saying that?" Max replied.
Max promised to give Cindy all the details later at Crash then they walked to the middle of the room to save Herbal from Sketchy's pitch.
After being turned down by Herbal, Sketchy turned to Max. "Max, I've got an opportunity for you. These guys didn't take me up on it, but believe me, when they see you flossing after everything's all over, they'll regret it. With a very small investment of only two hundred dollars, you can -"
"Sketch, ya lost me at 'opportunity,'" Max interrupted his pitch. "Nobody in this place has got that kind of scratch to throw around anyway."
Sketchy looked thoughtful for a moment then asked, "How does Logan feel about risk ventures?"
Max rolled her eyes.
"Hey, Missy-miss," Normal called out. "You have a home line - use it."
Max took that to mean she had a phone call and walked over to him. She gave Normal a syrupy smile before taking the phone from him.
"Yeah?"
"Max?"
Max felt her blood begin to boil then freeze instantly.
"Zack?"
"Maxie."
"Zack, what is it?" she asked. "What - Where are you?"
"It's Lydecker."
"Tell me what's going on," she demanded. "What do you mean? Did he find me? What's going on?"
She looked over her shoulder and licked her lips. If Lydecker had found her… Zack was right.
"No, it's Jondy. Max, you've got to come."
"Where are you?"
"Warehouse by the piers. It's got 'Daniel & Hook's' painted on the side."
"I'm coming now," Max said.
She hung up the phone and reached over the counter for a package. She smiled at Normal then walked over to Cindy. She slipped the package into Cindy's bag.
"Can you deliver this for me?" Max said quietly. "That was Logan. He's got this… thing he needs help with. I gotta go."
"What's wrong?" Cindy asked.
"Nothing," Max told her, but even she knew she was showing all her cards. "I'll be back in a little while."
Max grabbed her bike and pedaled out of Jam Pony faster than she ever had before. She pushed herself to the limit and reached Logan's in no time. She rushed to his apartment and threw open the door.
"Logan!"
He met her in the kitchen, now fully dressed and awake. "What's wrong?"
"I - I don't know," she admitted. "But it's something. I think Lydecker has Jondy. Zack called me at work and asked me to meet him at a warehouse by the piers."
"Max, that doesn't sound safe," he said slowly.
"I don't care," she replied hotly. "I came to you for help, Logan. If you're not gonna help me then I'm gonna do this on my own. I can't let Lydecker take my sister."
"Well what if he takes you?" Logan replied just as hotly.
"It's a risk venture," she told him, trying to keep her voice level. "Right now I just have to meet Zack at the warehouse. He's probably got a plan. This is the safest part of it all. I need your help on this, Logan."
"I'll get my keys."
A/N: Oh, what? Like you didn't know I would do something like this. ;)