What Happens when one rock starts to crumble...?

Sitting on the couch, hunger sated, they lie intertwined and content watching the fire; the occasional idle kisses and gentle caresses transpire. It seemed, the universe was finally giving them a chance, and they were going to enjoy it for as long as they could.

As their kisses became deeper and more frequent, Logan's hands moved from her hips to slide under her shirt, revelling in the silky smooth skin underneath. He felt her shiver with pleasure as his hands gently raked at her sides and she let out a gasp of appreciation. Encouraged, his hands became bolder as they moved to tease the underside of her breasts, and then gently cup each one. As they moved to undo the clasp of her bra, he felt her stiffen and wondered if he had crossed the line. Retreating, his hands moved back to their position on her hips. He heard her gasp in pain. Breaking the kiss he looked down at her confused. It was then that the he noticed the slight trembling that seemed to have taken over her body and was getting progressively worse.

"Shit." Was the first word out of his mouth as he quickly got off her and headed to the bathroom to get her pills.

"I'm sorry Logan." She said as she curled up into foetal position. "I'm so sorry…" she muttered repetitively as her hold on this reality began to wane.

Coming back into the room with the bottle in his hands and a glass of milk, Logan sat on the couch and pulled her into his lap. "Hey, don't say that. You didn't do anything you need to apologise for."

Swallowing the pills he offered, she laughed dryly. "Look at me, I doubt all your other girlfriends started seizing in the middle of a make out session." Her voice was shaky.

"Granted, but then again, I don't think any of them were as special as you." Logan replied with a smirk.

She just looked at him with a frown and indicated that she needed more pills. As time passed, her tremors seemed to get worse, regardless of the amount of pills, and Logan started to get worried. Carrying her into his bedroom, he gently deposited her on the bed and moved to retrieve the vial of Liquid Tryptophan. Injecting her, he held her close and watched, pained, as he was unable to take away her pain.

"It hurts Logan… My God it burns."

"I know, Max, I'm so sorry, I wish there was something I could do."

"What you're doing is just fine." There were tears in her eyes as she braced herself for a new wave of seizures. As they came, she felt herself lose consciousness.

Logan braced himself with Max as he felt the seizures come, and felt her go extremely lax as they passed. Looking down at her, he realised she had lost consciousness. Small tremors still passed through her body, but the worst of it was over. He did a quick check of her vitals, and satisfied that she was in no immediate danger, tucked her under the covers. Heading into his office, he placed a quick call to Sebastian to book an appointment with his neural surgeons.

----------

He returned to the room to find Max shivering and running a high temperature. Gauging the time it would take him to fill a tub with ice and put her in it, he quickly decided that it would probably be better to hold her up under the cold shower if he was to get any type of immediate result. Taking of his socks and shoes, he lifted Max into his arms and headed towards the large specious shower that resided at the far end of the bathroom. Stepping inside, he tried to balance Max on her feet while supporting her full weight, as one hand attempted to turn on the cold water. As the first biting spray of cold water hit his face, Logan nearly yelped as the icy water trickled down his spine. Readjusting himself so that the full blast of the shower head landed on Max, he couldn't help but see the irony that this version of him and Max in the shower hadn't popped up in any of his fantasies before.

Twenty minutes passed, and as Logan felt the lack of sensation that occurs when one is in contact with the cold for a long period of time, he made an informed decision to switch off the water. Looking down, he realised that Max had regained consciousness, but was still looking very dazed. He placed a hand to her forehead; it was cool to the touch.

"Hey, sorry about the impromptu shower, but you were burning up and I didn't know what to do."

She looked up at him, but that was the only indication that she had heard anything he had said because she promptly returned to the land of the unconscious.

Carrying her back to his room, he placed her on the bed, dripping clothes and all, and proceeded to strip her of her clothing and change her into a comfortable sweatshirt and shorts, and though he couldn't help but stare at her flawless body, he quickly came to his senses and chastised himself for disrespecting her. As she was changed, he carefully placed her on the mattress and moved to retrieve a quilt from the guest room to replace the now sodden one that was on his bed. Assured of her comfort, Logan moved to his own dresser to look for something to wear himself, deciding on grey draw-string pants and a green t-shirt. Once all the sodden clothes were wrung and placed in the drier, and his hardwood floors mopped up, Logan climbed into bed beside Max, feeling her inch instinctively closer to him as she had the other day. Much too happy to comply, he held on to her, pleased to note that her temperature had returned to normal, and all too soon he felt himself begin to drift off into a fitful rest.

------------

Morning came soon, and with it, a panicked and writhing Max. Logan was first clued in to the fact that all was not well by a kick to the shins and an elbow in the ribs. His automatic response was to move from the source, but as the pain slowly set in and he realised what had happened, his eyes shot open and he immediately sat up.

"Max." he said her name gently trying not to startle her.

No reply. Just quiet mumbling.

"Max!" this time the words were said with a little more force.

The mumbling just seemed to become more agitated.

Realising that calling her name wasn't going to induce any valuable result; he moved to shake her awake. He felt his back colliding with opposite wall of his room before his brain even had enough chance to register the texture of her skin.

Feeling the side of his jaw, he realised that he had probably been punched too. It all happened too quickly, he didn't have enough time to acknowledge each sensation before a new one took over. Slightly confused and hurt by her harsh treatment, Logan looked up to find Max staring at him in horror.

Her mouth opened and closed, attempting to mimic the motions of speech, but no sounds came out. He had just enough time to note the paleness of her visage before she shot off the bed and into the bathroom where the sounds of acute vomiting could be heard. Picking himself off the floor, he rolled his shoulders to ease out the kinks and made his way into the bathroom.

----------

Max sat on the floor beside the toilet bowl, gazing at the contents of her dinner. What the hell is wrong with me? The fear that coursed through her was real. This is the worst the seizures have ever gotten. As she felt a new wave of nausea overcome her, she leaned over to puke into the bowl, and felt the soothing touch of someone moving her hair out of the way and rubbing her back in calming circles; she didn't need the added bonus of his voice and scent to know it was Logan. Spent, she wiped her face with the damp washcloth he handed her, and rinsed out her mouth with the cup of water.

She leaned into him for a while, neither of them saying anything. So many questions were going through Logan's mind. What is wrong with her? Will she be okay? Can Sebastian fix this? But he knew now was neither the time nor place to give rise to all those questions. He knew that at this moment, his entire being should be focused on making sure she was all right. Rising gently to his feet and carrying her with him, Logan gently deposited her back unto his bed and raised the previously disturbed sheets to cover her. She looked at him weakly and smiled.

"Thank you."

"You have nothing to thank me for, Max. Believe me I have my own selfish reasons for taking care of you."

She turned to look at him amusedly with tired eyes, "Really, and what would that be?"

"Well, contrary to popular belief, I happen to like the pleasure of your company, and would do whatever it takes to see that I get what I want for as long as is humanly possible. Plus, it doesn't hurt to have you in my bed all night long" A gentle smirk accompanied his teasing tone.

"Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought having to deal with a genetically enhanced super soldier whose body is trying to spontaneously combust was generally a faux pas when it came to pleasant company. Not to mention it is completely psychotic to actually want one of these twisted creatures as a girlfriend."

"Well then, I'm happy to be psychotic."

"Loga-" she couldn't finish saying what she wanted to say because of the sudden tightness in her throat. She appreciated him trying keep things light, but that didn't mask the reality of what was happening. She tried in vain to curb the wave of fresh tears welling up in her eyes, and as she they fell, she felt him lean down and brush them away with a gentle hand.

"Max, don't do this to yourself. I want to take care of you, and that's all there is to it. There's no use beating yourself up about aspects of your personality that you cannot control."

"I know, but-"

Cupping her cheek in his hands and running a thumb across her lips, effectively silencing her, Logan placed a gentle kiss upon them. "Go to sleep Max, we'll talk about this later.

"Stay with me."

"The devil himself couldn't drag me away." His heart-stopping smile seemed to fill the room.

"No, I mean stay with me." Seeing his confused look, she tried to tap the spot on the bed in front of her, "Lay with me."

Comprehension dawning, Logan willingly climbed into bed beside her and gathered her into his arms, Sore back and aching jaw forgotten. It was a matter of minutes before they both found themselves knocking at the door to dreamland.

-----------

Thanx Sammi for a speedy job well done.

People! Leave a review to keep me happy…. Please…. :-)