A/n: Sorry this took so long, guys! An attack of RL. And after all this time, the chapter has no plot content whatsoever. Oh well. At least it's not cliffy.

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Chapter 4:

Max led her three siblings into Crash, scanning the crowds for her Jam Pony friends. She spotted Cindy, Kendra, Herbal and Sketchy at a table but kept looking, wondering if Logan had gotten her message. Only when she was sure he wasn't there did she lead them over to meet her workmates.

"Cool place, Maxie," said Krit approvingly.

"You ain't even met my peeps yet, Krit," she replied. "Hey, guys," Max called out.

"Hey boo," Said Cindy, looking Syl over appreciatively. "Who's your fine new friend?"

Sketchy was just staring, mouth hanging slackly open as he stared at the beautiful blonde X5, while Kendra was trying to decide whether she wanted to drool over Zack or Krit.

"Actually, they're very old friends," she said, giving OC a pointed look. "Syl, Krit and Zack, this is Original Cindy, Kendra, Herbal and Sketchy." Zack watched the dawning understanding on OC's face with a mixture of disbelief, anger and exasperation.

"Zack? Aren't you that guy Sam?" Slurred Sketchy, just barely looking away from Syl.

"No," said Zack evenly. "You must be thinking about someone else."

"You do have one of those faces, bro," said Krit with a grin. Zack glared at him.

"Oh, don't listen to him, honey," said Kendra seductively. "I think your face is very memorable." The object of her affections looked uncomfortable, muttering something about getting in a pitcher and vanishing towards the bar.

Max, Syl and Krit took one look at Kendra's face and burst out laughing.

"Hey!" She said, sounding hurt. "Are you laughing at me? Don't tell me... he's gay, isn't he?"

The three X5's only laughed harder, tears of amusement streaming down their faces.

"Kendra..." Max managed eventually. "Zack's just not really a friendly guy, ok?"

"Yeah," added Krit, trying desperately to look serious. "He's shy." This brought fresh merriment from his sisters.

"Then he's straight? And single?" Asked Kendra hopefully.

"Yeah, as far as I know," choked Syl. "Although he's always been kinda... sensitive..."

"Aww, I like sensitive guys. They're great in bed," said Kendra.

Abruptly, Max stopped laughing, just as Krit collapsed on the floor, clutching his ribs.

"Ugh!" She said. "That is so not an image I want in my head ever again."

"I feel ya, boo," said Original Cindy, holding up her glass.

Zack arrived back with two pitchers of beer, looking around (and in Krit's case down) at the expressions on everyone's faces.

"What'd I miss?" He asked, as they all dissolved into laughter again. Only Kendra wasn't laughing; she was far too busy admiring his pecs with a predatory smile.

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Renfro leaned casually over a terrified tech in Manticore's computer lab as if he were part of the furniture, totally focussed on the screen before them.

"Report," she said curtly, tapping a long acrylic fingernail on the desk.

"Well, ma'am, as far as we know there are one thousand two hundred and seventy six males called Logan in Seattle. That is first, middle and last names; we don't know which applies to our guy. The tech was babbling in fear of his boss. If she found out that he'd been helping the rogues...

"Excellent," said Renfro approvingly. "Eliminate those under fifteen and over fifty." The tech typed a command swiftly.

"Nine hundred and twenty two left, ma'am."

"Get that unit of X7s in here and show them all the mug shots. They should be able to narrow the field a little more even if they didn't get a full image download."

"Yes, ma'am." It seemed the safest thing to say.

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"Don't think I haven't noticed, Max," said Syl softly. The two female X5s were sitting with Original Cindy, watching the antics of Zack, Krit and a drunken Kendra.

"Noticed what?" Asked Max, trying for nonchalance. Obviously her sister didn't buy it.

"You're watching the door. Are we in danger, or are you just hoping a certain someone is gonna show up and join us?"

"I... it's complicated," Max hedged.

"No it's not, boo," said Original Cindy. "You're still feelin all insecure about that man of yours. What's his problem this time; don't tell me it's the chair again?"

"What chair?" Asked Syl, confused.

"Long story," said Max dismissively. "No, it's something else." She dropped her voice to a barely audible whisper. "He killed an X7 to protect me."

"Why is that a problem?" Asked Syl.

"Because Logan doesn't see us as soldiers; he sees us as human beings. Which means that in his mind, he murdered a child last night. And I don't know if he's going to be able to deal with that."

"The boy has a way overdeveloped conscience," Cindy explained to the confused X5.

"Damn. You sure can pick 'em, Maxie," said Syl. "Hot, rich and sympathetic."

"He's not rich any more; and it's not sympathy. It's compassion, and understanding, and empathy... and... Logan..."

"And you're scared you might lose him because of it," finished OC. "I'm tellin ya, boo, the man is crazy about you. He'd risk everything to protect you; and he has, plenty of times. He'll come around, if you just give him some time to get his strange little male mind into shape."

"Original Cindy's right," said Syl. "I've only known the guy five minutes and even I can see he's crazy about you. Give him some space for a couple days and then the two of you can get back to knockin boots." Max blushed beetroot.

OC held out a fist for Syl to bump. "Aiight, my sister. I've been sayin that for the past year; those two are slower than gas lines in winter."

"You're kidding," said the blonde X5 incredulously. "Are you saying the two of you have known each other for a whole year and you haven't..."

"Speaking of slow," said Max, trying to divert their attention from her love life. "You think we should go rescue Zack before Kendra does somethin she'll regret?"

"Nah," said OC. "Our girl Kendra may be a little too into anything in pants but she never regrets it in the mornin. Sides, it'd break Krit's heart; he's gonna tell everyone he ever meets about the great Zack being 'shy and sensitive'."

"Yeah, although I think he should stop using buying more beer as an excuse to get away from her, or she's gonna ralph all over him," said Max. "Sketch and Herbal are already paralytic."

"Too late," said Syl. "Guess now he has to take her home."

"Can't. Walter would love that. He'll just have to spend the night with her at our place," Max grinned evilly.

"Good as that sounds, boo, Original Cindy is not sharing our apartment with a male. Even overnight."

"You don't have to; you can come back to the safe house with us. I'll just go break the good news to Brother Dearest."

"Oh yeah," said Syl to OC with a grin, seeing his expression. "Krit is gonna milk this for the next decade."

"Longer than that, boo, longer than that," the girl replied, taking another swig of beer.

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Tell me what you thought.