Reunions (Logan)

Max entered the penthouse of Fogle Towers the way she always had, via the roof. After deactivating the alarms she opened the skylight and jumped down, landing silently. Moving through the shadows she made her way towards the living room. When she reached the sliding glass doors that separated that room from the rest of the house, she paused. I thought getting up the nerve to visit Cindy after all this time was hard, but that was a piece of cake compared to this. I mean, really, what am I going to say to him? "Hi Logan, just wanted to drop by and tell you that I'm alive and headed back to Manticore. By the way, thanks for the letter but I'm in love with someone else now!?" Maybe it would be best if I just go, he's already dealt with the idea of me being dead. Maybe it'd be best if he never knew the truth. She turned to leave, but stopped when she heard his chair swing around.

"Hello, Max. Welcome back."

Alec and Original Cindy sat on her sofa drinking their umpteenth cup of coffee and laughing hysterically. Alec had just finished telling her about how Max had tried to kick his ass when she found out they were assigned to be breeding partners.

Setting his coffee cup down, Alec looked over at the clock on the wall and a concerned look flashed across his face. "So, I've pretty much figured out that Max went to see Logan. Shouldn't she have been back by now though? I mean it's almost noon."

"Relax, boo. She'll be here. They probably just had a lot of stuff to work out. After Logan came back from that mission to Manticore he was pretty messed up. He sat on his sofa for almost a year doing nothing; he barely even got up to eat. Even had me worried about him for a while. I checked up on him from time to time cuz I knew that's what Max would have wanted. Then one day I drop by and out of the blue he's sitting at that computer of his, working like a mad man again. That's when he started doing all those broadcasts about Manticore. Guess he'd finally worked past the grief stage and moved on to revenge." Original Cindy paused to take one last sip of her coffee.

Alec thought about this for a moment and then his eyes got large as he put two and two together. "Oh my god, Logan's Eyes Only, isn't he?"

O.C. looked at Alec with a bewildered expression on her face. "Yeah, you didn't know that? I thought you said Max had told you all about Logan."

"She failed to mention that part." Alec replied. "Actually that was probably wise. Manticore's had a hit out on Eyes Only for a long time, but I don't think they ever knew for sure who he was. Who knows what Renfro would have done if they'd known Max was romantically involved with Eyes Only." Images of Rachel Berrisford flashed though Alec's mind and he started to get a very bad feeling.

Alec jumped to his feet and started pacing around the room. "Cindy, I need to know where Logan lives, right now. There's no time to explain!" Alec said suddenly. He grabbed his jacket and pulled it on once again. This time the pain in his arm didn't even faze him. He was too worried about Max.

Cindy rattled off the address and Alec tore out the door and down the stairs. "Wow! Wonder what that was all about," she thought as she gathered up the coffee cups and headed towards the kitchen.

Alec arrived at Fogle Towers in record time. He noticed that Max's motorcycle was still parked downstairs. Well, that's a good sign. It means she hasn't left yet; At least, not of her own free will. Alec's uneasy feeling grew and he raced inside. He didn't bother waiting for the elevator but rather blurred his way up the stairs towards the penthouse. When he reached the top floor he paused to look for any signs of danger. Not seeing any, he used his enhanced hearing to listen for voices inside. What he heard made his blood run cold. Max was crying!

Max sat on the floor of Logan's living room cradling his head in her lap. She gently stroked his hair as the tears rolled down her face. She heard someone standing out in the hall, but she made no attempts to move when the front door crashed open. She didn't even bother to look up.

"Max!"

The sound of Alec's voice brought Max back to reality. She looked up at him through red, puffy eyes. "He's dying, Alec. He's dying and I don't know why."

Alec looked at the man lying in Max's lap. His eyes were closed and his breathing was barely noticeable. There was a sheen of perspiration on his face and his clothing was wrinkled and dirty and torn. It looked like he'd been thrashing on the floor for quite some time before finally lapsing into a coma. Alec remembered seeing something similar during one of his missions, but he couldn't be sure. "What happened, Max?"

"I came to say 'goodbye', just goodbye and to let him know that I'm ok. But he got angry, he didn't understand and he kept saying that Manticore had brainwashed me. When I turned to leave he grabbed my arms and tried to kiss me. That's when he collapsed and started seizing. I tried giving him some tryptophan but it didn't help." Max broke off and started crying again. Sobs wracked her small frame and Alec dropped down on his knees beside her, wrapping his arms around her.

"Max honey, you have to let him go."

Max started to shake her head, "Nooo!"

"I didn't mean like that, Max. I meant physically; you have to let go of him. I've seen this before. It's a virus targeted to a specific DNA type. It's one of Manticore's favorite assassination techniques. They must have tagged you with it during one of your physical exams."

"Why would they do this?" Max asked, but she already knew the answer.

"Probably because he's Eyes Only and they've been after him for a long time. Or maybe just because they knew you cared about him. Possibly a little of both and that's why they chose to use you. They are just mean that way!" Alec's voice was bitter. It was bad enough that they made him kill Rachel and her father, but to use Max the same way, without her even knowing it was too much. "It's not your fault, Maxie. Manticore did this, not you." Logan's body began to convulse again and Max turned to hide her face in Alec's shoulder.

"Max, you don't need to see this anymore. Let me sit with him for a while. You go get a drink of water and wash your face. It'll be alright." Alec gave her a small kiss on the forehead and led her out of the room.

He prayed that she'd forgive him for lying to her. He knew how the virus worked, and there was no recovering from it; it only got worse towards the end. What a horrible way to die. I can't let Max watch that. Alec looked again at the man shaking on the floor and he knelt down beside him."Logan, I doubt if you can hear me, but if you can I want you to know that Max really cared about you. She still does. And I care about her, which is why I don't want her, or you, to suffer. I'll take good care of her, Logan. I promise." With that, Alec reached out and covered Logan's nose and mouth with his hand. He held it there until he saw that Logan had quit breathing and there was no longer a pulse. Rising to his feet again he got a blanket off the sofa and draped it over the body on the floor. Then he turned towards the door.

Max stood in the doorway staring at the two men that she had loved. One living, and one dead.

"I'm sorry, Max. There was nothing else to be done..." Alec began.

Max walked over and placed her hand over his mouth to silence him. "It's ok, Alec. You did the right thing. I knew it had to be done, but I just couldn't bring myself to do it. Thank you for doing it for me."

Alec wrapped his arms around Max's waist and leaned his forehead against hers. He was so tired of being a soldier, so tired killing. "Let's go, Max. Let's leave and never look back. We could go anywhere we want, anywhere but here."

A/N: "Ding, dong, Logans's dead. Evil Logan, Logan's dead" (tune from the Wizard of Oz).

You know, I was a big fan of Max and Logan in season 1, but after he started treating her with such disrespect in season 2 I decided that he would have die in order to make room for Alec. For some reason, the writers disagreed and they refused to kill him off; they just kept bringing him back over and over again so I decided that it was up to me.

Here's to all the Logan haters out there, join me in song "Ding, dong, Logans's dead. Evil Logan, Logan's dead"