Disclaimer: Attention important lawyer people: I do not claim to own any of these characters, the background story, the title of the show, or anything that could end up with me sitting at the defendant's table. I make no money off the possessions of others.

A/N: Okay, this one takes place sometime after the siege at Terminal City has been (somehow/magically/ignoring it) resolved. Life is getting back to normal, and everyone's back at Jam Pony. Cheers!

Something's Sketchy

Chapter One: Dazed and Confused

It didn't start out as a particularly unusual day for the Sketchster. He woke up wondering where the hot chick he'd picked up at Crash was, and then realized that it was only a dream. That wasn't unusual. He'd then proceeded to realize he'd forgotten to do his laundry and spent ten minutes trying to decide which was the t-shirt that smelled the least. Then, on the way to work, he'd been rammed off his bike by one the messengers from the rival courier service that had, for some reason, declared war on Jam Pony. Still, he'd continued into work in a fairly good mood. He'd finally finished another freelance article for one the many liberal weeklies emerging on the West Coast, and he was hoping Max would give it to Logan to proofread before he sent it in. All he had to do was stay on Max's good side until 5:00, though that was often easier said than done.

As he rolled into Jam Pony, however, still nursing his sore head, he was immediately met by Normal's usual harangue about how they were all lazy slackers or whatever, and temporarily forgot his mission in order to rightfully defend himself. After all, he'd been injured preserving the honor and integrity of that great and respectable institution known as Jam Pony. His employer scowled, but no further comments were forthcoming. Termination averted, and feeling a little dazed, he began to look for a friendly face. He spotted Original Cindy by the lockers, and remembered that he still owed her a rather large sum of cash from the night before, and the night before that, but that wasn't unusual either. He put on his biggest, most charming smile, and prayed to the good Lord that she was in a lenient mood.

A group of messengers were clustered around the television, and Original Cindy was watching them, and mumbling under her breath at the same time. She turned to Sketchy when he approached, and, not even bothering with a greeting, gestured to the television, her voice raising in volume and aggression.

"Silly fools, waiting for something that may or may not happen. Original Cindy's not about waiting around all day for a little excitement. She's about making the money so she can go home on time and get her excitement there." She looked at him expectantly. Slightly wary of his friend's hostile tone, and having no idea what she was talking about, Sketchy approached hesitantly. He tried to keep his smile on his face, but knew it faltered.

"Uh… hey, OC. Have you seen Max?"

"Nope. I'm not sure she's gonna come in today." Well, at least Original Cindy was appeased for the moment. She no longer looked angry, but rather disappointed instead.

"Really? Why not?" He lowered his voice. Even though every single person in Jam Pony knew that Max was a transgenic, and that occasionally she had to ditch work in order to save the world, or whatever, he still felt the need to whisper when he talked about the less public side of her life. Original Cindy seemed to feel the same way, because she lowered her voice as well when she answered.

"She and Logan got into a huge fight last night. It was ugly. I know, 'cause she slept at our place instead of his." She scoffed then, and turned back to her locker to pull out a styrofoam cup of coffee, "Except by 'sleep' I mean she was up all night driving this girl nuts with all her pacing."

Over by the television set, one of the messengers shouted, "Turn it up!" but Sketchy and Original Cindy barely noticed. She continued to rant on about how she ordered Max to take the day to clear her head, but Sketchy soon zoned out as he realized that he was hearing another voice nearby – a voice he recognized. Sweet! Logan must have come in to see if Max was around! Sketchy dove into his backpack to retrieve his article, and jogged out from behind the lockers. To his surprise, however, Logan was nowhere in sight.

"Weird," he muttered, scratching his head, only to wince in pain as his fingers hit the quickly swelling bruise on his forehead.

"Sketch?" Original Cindy asked, sounding concerned. "You okay?"

"Yeah," Sketchy answered, feeling really dumb, which wasn't unusual. "I just thought I heard Logan, and I want him to look this over for me…"

"Shut up!" One of the other messengers shouted. "Eyes Only's on!"

Sure enough, when Sketchy focused on the television he saw the familiar red, white, and blue screen. Weird. Original Cindy turned to him, cocking an eyebrow, but a look Sketchy didn't recognize clouded her eyes. It was gone in a second, replaced by concern, but it still left Sketchy confused.

"That's some head wound you got there," she pointed out. "How'd you get it?"

"Stupid turf war," Sketchy muttered, seriously beginning to wonder if he'd hit his head harder than he'd initially believed. He'd heard Eyes Only and thought it was Logan? That was weird.

A/N: Surprise! This is what I've been occasionally been working on instead of Grazia. It's just something new that captured my interest. TBC...