A/N: Happy Holiday Season! Here's a little more - I've had some time to watch, read, and write. Hope you enjoy. Reviews are encouraged as they make me want to get with it!

Chapter 12

Max had just finished another lunch with Marianne when she arrived back at the penthouse. Logan was bent over the computer while obviously on the phone. He looked tense or intense. She wasn't sure which. Probably both. She dropped her bag in the spare room before she headed into the office. She heard him ending the call as she approached.

"Hey," she breathed as she ran her fingers through his hair and then down his shoulders before she kissed him.

"Hi," he managed back once they'd untangled a little bit. "How's Marianne?"

She settled on his lap. "Oh, you know. She said to tell you hello." She glanced over the folders on the desk. "Productive day?"

"Kind of. Nothing I need legwork for just yet, though." He flipped the closest folder closed. "Makiko emailed back."

"Yeah?"

"Her analysis corroborated what you and Sebastian found, but she can't do anything further without samples from Bennett or Jonas."

"What are you thinking?" She was learning to ask questions like this now.

He shrugged. "I don't know. I can't see what difference it would make knowing either way. Even if it was Jonas, that doesn't mean my dad wasn't involved. And if it was him, well, I don't know if I really want to know that."

She twisted his hair absently as she spoke. "We can do whatever you think. Whatever you want."

"I think I just want to sit on it for now."

"Okay." She didn't move just yet. "You gonna be here a little longer?"

"Yeah. I thought we'd do dinner out tonight if that's okay with you. Bling was tied up, so I didn't get a market run in like we'd planned."

"Sure, that's fine."

"You want to see if Cindy and some of the others want to come, too? My treat."

She nibbled at his ear this time as she whispered close to him. "You're sweet. I'll see what they say, but I'm guessing it will be yes."

He laughed and pushed her off his lap. "Stop that. I have to get some work done first."

She stood with a little chuckle of her own. "I'll call the others."

He nodded and handed her the phone from the desk beside him. "Makiko thinks she can be ready in about a month. She found a place on Kauai we can use. It used to be a nursing home, so there are living quarters and some basic medical and rehab supplies there. She's already started moving her equipment there."

"Wow. That's, um, fast." Max decided on a neutral adjective.

"Yeah. I didn't know she could put things together so quickly." He pivoted to grab another file. "She's the real deal."

"Yeah," Max echoed. She played with a strand of her own hair for a moment, completely thrown off her previous train of thought.

He glanced up at her as he grazed her leg. "Go call your crew and set up dinner. I'm getting hungry, and I've got at least an hour here."

"Okay." She nodded as she headed into the living room with the phone. She plopped into an armchair and started dialing.

"Herbal and his lady aren't gonna make it," Sketchy announced as he slid into a booth beside Original Cindy.

Kendra frowned. "Well that's no fun."

"I think they're having their own fun, if you know what I mean," Sketchy stage whispered with a wag of his eyebrows.

"Speakin' of which, where is your girl tonight?" Cindy asked, a scowl planted firmly on her face.

"Working. I offered to wait until she got off, but she's pulling a double until the morning."

"Well, we're glad you guys could make it," Logan interjected. "I've been keeping Max busy. But you guys still need time together, and I wanted to get to know you all better, too, so I hope you don't mind me tagging along."

"As long as you're offerin' to pay, you can do whatever your little heart desires," Cindy pointed out. The others nodded in agreement.

"I told him the guy who pays for dinner is always in the clear," Max grinned as she shoved Logan playfully with her shoulder. "I have been missin' things, though."

Cindy's eyes narrowed into slits as she gazed over her glass toward Max. "Don't even tell me you miss Normal yelling like a crazy person and freezin' in the rain all day while getting' stiffed on tips."

"Not even. I miss spending the days with you guys. The rest of it I can definitely do without."

"Especially when your days are spent in that swanky penthouse," Kendra added.

"Ugh. As if." Max rolled her eyes toward Logan. "He's all work and no play. I'm usually out on the street chasing down some lead for a story or something, and there's no use dreaming about a tip because there isn't gonna be one."

The others laughed, and Logan blushed. "She's not embellishing. It's really a pretty dismal gig, but she likes me." His hand slipped into her lap. "And I take advantage of her love of hot water and chicken. Separately."

The small talk flowed easily. Logan noted how at ease Max seemed around her friends. It wasn't as though she'd been openly nervous with Bennett and Marianne, but he couldn't deny the difference and openness in her demeanor. He made a mental note to help her continue to foster relationships with these people who obviously meant so much to her.

She was quiet on the way home, and he feared he'd said or done something wrong in front of her friends that he hadn't realized. But as soon as the elevator door closed behind them, she was in his lap kissing him, her fingers raking through his hair. He had to press the door open button when she came up briefly for air. He pushed them into the foyer before she stood.

"Thanks for doing that," she managed as he adjusted his glasses and tried to smooth his hair.

"I enjoyed it, and if that's going to be your reaction after hanging out with your friends, invite them over tomorrow."

She grinned and kissed him again. "Bath?"

"We're getting predictable."

Her eyes widened in astonishment. "Oh, I can change it up a little if you'd like."

He laughed and rolled his eyes. "Bubbles this time?"

"Dang," she frowned. "We are getting predictable."

"I'll check the messages and be in there in a minute."

She was leaning over the tub adjusting the water temperature when he found her. He held the phone in his hand and extended it to her.

"What is it?" she asked, suddenly on guard.

"There was a message from Zack with a number for you to call. I'm guessing it's a message line." He paused and attempted to slow his racing thoughts. "I'm guessing he knows he's the best match and he's willing to help." He sighed. "And if that's not the case, I don't know if I want you to tell me."

She reached forward and kissed his cheek. "Why don't you go ahead and try to relax here while I make this call." She motioned toward the tub.

"Yeah. That's totally going to happen."

She squeezed his shoulder as she stood. "Okay. I'll be right back."

He nodded and followed her out of the bathroom. She headed toward the spare room and he turned right into his bedroom. He tried to busy himself with picking up the clothing strewn around the room and moving them to the hamper, but he couldn't even concentrate long enough to separate whites from darks. He finally camped out in the living room, pacing in front of the wall of windows until she finished.

"Well?" he asked as she approached.

"It was a message line, so I left him a meeting place for midnight tomorrow night if he doesn't get back to me before 7 pm tomorrow."

"Are you sure that will work?"

"We have a system, and he'll be in contact one of three ways."

"What's the third way?"

"It's the backup for the other two. You don't need to know that now."

He glanced at her, eyes questioning, almost painfully.

She sat on the arm of the chair beside him. "It's okay. He'll keep to the protocol."

"What if they scrambled his brain more than we thought the last time they brought him in?"

She reached over so that their foreheads were touching. "Trust him. You're asking him to put a lot of trust in you."

Logan nodded against her. "I'll try."

She sat up. "He'll come through. He's been taking care of my family for the past 10 years, and you're my family now. He won't let you down."

"He won't let you down. I'm just collateral damage. Or damaged collateral in his mind."

She slipped back into the chair and crossed her arms, frowning just slightly. "Logan, we've been through this."

He threw his hands up in surrender. They had discussed this repeatedy. "I know, Max. I know he's trying and that he says he's willing to help, but he still sees me as a liability when it comes to you."

"He sees everyone as a liability when it comes to our family." She sighed as she reached out her hand, resting it on the wheel closest to her. "And it doesn't have anything to do with this. You're a regular human, and in Zack's mind, that puts me in danger. I refused to go with him, Lydecker knows that I'm here in Seattle, and I chose to stay with you. That's a lot for Zack to take in."

Logan knew what she said made sense, but this still felt like a personal affront. "The others have settled down; Tinga even got married and had kids. But, this is different for him. I make this different." He knew he sounded self-centered and insecure, but Zack had a way of bringing out the worst in him.

"Tinga ran when he asked her to go. Apparently the others have as well. I didn't. It's not the way we were trained. It's a big deal that I stayed here with you when they were on the run from Lydecker. I'm trusting that you can keep me safe, but Zack hasn't ever done that before. He's never had this kind of attachment to anyone other than our brothers and sisters. It's his choice, I understand that, but you have to try to see things from his perspective."

Logan knew she was right. He dropped his eyes as he nodded.

She stood and reached her hand toward him. "Come on. I'll run some hot water and we'll finish where we left off."

"Okay," he finally agreed as he followed her down the hall. "But he has to realize that if this works out, I'll be a little bit less of a liability than I have been until now. He has to give me that."

She leaned down and kissed his lips. "I'm sure you two will have plenty of time to discuss all of that and plenty more."

"Right. Because there's more." He closed his eyes and exhaled a long breath. When he opened them, she had situated herself at his eye level.

"Oh, Logan. Don't you know by now that when it comes to Manticore, there's always more?"

He gave his head a stubborn shake. "This is my stuff, Max. My insecurities, my inadequacies. It doesn't have anything to do with you. Okay?"

Her hands ascended his forearms. "I thought we decided that we're in this together."

"I'm not trying to put this on you," he protested.

She kept her arms and eyes in contact with him. "Let me take some of it. Let me help you." She grinned suddenly, breaking the seriousness of the moment. "It's what you're paying me for, anyway."

He laughed, his shoulders finally relaxing. "I should have known you'd bring that up."

She smiled again as she stayed kneeling beside him. "But I'm serious, Logan. You don't have to keep everything inside anymore. We're a pretty great team, but you gotta let me play."

He nodded. "I'll try to let you in, but that's a two-way street." He extended his hand to her. "Deal?"

She shook. "Deal. Now get out of those pants and in this tub with me. Immediately."

He pulled her into his lap. "You know, for a superhuman, you're getting really good at the human pep talks."

She kissed his neck. "I'm trying, too."

TBC