While You Were Gone….
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
A/N: Please read and review. I am reposting all of my one-shots. I'm editing them for errors and making some changes.
He should have known that something had changed when she didn't come to the airport. He should've known when he discovered that her but pager number didn't work. He should've known when he invited her to a romantic dinner and she didn't come. Cindy had served as his messenger to Max.
Logan had been gone for a year. It hadn't been his choice. His father had been gravely ill and his mother had asked him to come to Florida. Then he had had legal problems with Val regarding their daughter. He had never told Max about his and Val's daughter, Maureen.
As his father's coffin was being lowered, Logan thought of Max. While his mother clutched his hand and sobbed, Logan thought of Max. While he signed away his rights to Maureen, Logan thought of Max.
He had the ring in his pocket. He had asked his mother for his grandmother's ring. It was an antique and unique. He would marry Max in a few months. By next year they would have a baby.
But Max's lack of response worried him. At first he reasoned it was because she was busy at TC. Then it was because she wasn't getting his messages. He didn't want to admit that too much time had passed.
Logan made a decision. He was going to TC. He needed to see his Max.
Alec was busy in his office. He and Max had gone through several meetings in the past few days. They were trying to get some good publicity regarding transgenics. It was difficult and really boring. They seemed be getting nothing accomplished.
Sometimes Alec wondered if it was all worth it. He just wanted to take his family and leave. He wanted them all to settle their own nation. It made more sense that way then by trying to deal with ordinaries. Speaking of ordinaries, Logan was entering the room.
"Logan," Alec said curtly.
"Alec," Logan responded in a near sneer.
"What do you want?" Alec asked barely looking up from his paperwork.
"I came to see Max."
"She's not here," Alec answered looking at Logan.
Logan was wearing a tux and dress shoes. He had a bouquet of flowers in his hands.
"Take my advice," Alec said. "Go home. Max has her own life."
"I can't do that. I made some decisions while I was away. I need to tell Max about our future."
Logan proceeded to go to Max's TC apartment. He was going to surprise her.
Alec looked at Logan. Should he tell the guy? Nah, it would be more fun this way. Alec turned back towards his paperwork. It was going to be an interesting night.
Logan walked into Max's apartment. There he found a pregnant Max curled up on the couch reading a stack of reports. Max's chocolate eyes met Logan's blue ones.
"What are you doing here?" she demanded standing up putting her hands on her hips.
"I came to see you. I take it the baby Alec's," Logan said accusingly.
Max groaned. She regretted spreading the rumor about her and Alec. "Alec and Gem are expecting a baby together," she answered briskly.
Logan stared at her. Suddenly everything made since. "You went into heat and had sex with another transgenic. It was all an accident. Max there's no need to be ashamed. I'll raise the baby with you."
Max's face went white with rage. "You think I would be that careless?" she demanded./
"In heat you have no control."
"I haven't been in heat since I was back at Manticore. They fixed that little problem. The guy you bought the cure from told you that."
Logan nodded, "So you conceived the baby while you were drunk or the father abandoned you. It doesn't matter. I'm going to be a daddy."
Max smacked Logan hard across the face. "This baby has a daddy. It doesn't need you."
Logan was shocked. Max had gotten involved with someone. Max was a child with someone other than him. It surprised him even more that Alec wasn't the father.
"You owe me an explanation," he demanded sitting down on the couch.
"You were gone," Max said simply. "You were gone and you didn't know when you were coming back. At first you called regularly and then you just stopped. I didn't bother calling after that. Life went on. Then Alec and Gem decided to get married."
10 MONTHS AGO
Max walked into the wedding reception. Why had she attended this stupid thing? She didn't want to be here.
She stared at Alec. His face was beaming as he looked at Gem in her wedding dress. For a second his eyes met Max's. They both felt the loss. They would always be friends but they both knew that they could've been something more.
It wasn't that Alec didn't love Gem. He loved Gem a lot but he and Max were connected. Max too felt loss and she looked at Gem enviously. Gem was in the position that Max would've been in if she hadn't rejected Alec months ago.
She had made a mistake in choosing Logan over Alec. Part of her had thought that Alec would always be there. He would always wait for her. Now she faced the bitter reality of being alone.
Logan was gone. She hadn't heard from him in over two weeks. She didn't expect him to come back.
Max glanced at Alec, Gem and baby Eve. Gem and Eve were going to be Alec's family and Max would be on the outside looking in. She had lost Alec because she had been stupid.
TWO WEEKS LATER
"I can't be here anymore, OC," Max said.
Cindy stared at her boo. "What's wrong?"
"I'm happy for Alec but—"
"You're jealous."
"Yeah, and I just want to get away for a while. I need to be somewhere where I'm not the head of TC."
"I understand boo. Did you tell Alec?"
"I left him a note at his office. I didn't have the heart to tell him. I mean he loves Gem and—" she paused, "I don't want to be the other woman. I don't want to tempt him. I love him to much to hurt him like that. I can't believe I threw away any chance that Alec and I had to be together."
Max smiled sadly as she left Cindy's apartment. She needed to figure out her life. And she needed to do it quick.
9 MONTHS AGO.
"Maxie, come on. Please go to the club with me. There will be other transgenics there," Jondy begged her sister.
Max and Jondy had run into each other in New Orleans. Ever since then the pair had hung around each other. They had developed a well placed routine. Jondy would go out late at night and party. Max would stay home.
"I don't want to go," Max said not looking away from her book.
"Please Maxie, you never go anywhere. You just stay here. You don't have to stay all night," Jondy said while making puppy dog eyes.
"Fine," Max groaned, "but you owe me."
An hour later the two girls headed towards the South Side Club. It was crowded with lots of twenty-somethings. Max headed towards the bar while Jondy started dancing.
"Clubs not your thing?" asked a young man.
Max turned towards him. He smiled at her softly. His eyes were a deep brown and his hair was the same shade as his eyes.
"I haven't been to a club in a while," she answered.
The two of them started talking. It came natural for them to have a conversation at the bar. Max realized right away that she liked this guy. He was funny but also seemed somewhat shy. He didn't volunteer any information. Max could understand someone having secrets.
Jondy came over with Krit after a few minutes. Max stared at Krit in disbelief as he sat down next to her companion.
"I know you two after seen each other in twelve years but honestly," Krit said, "can't you socialize with other people?"
Max and the young man stared at each other for a second.
"Jack?" she asked quietly.
He nodded before sheepishly admitting, "I didn't recognize you, Maxie. How goes it baby sis?"
"Not good, but how are you still alive? I saw them cut you open."
Jack smiled sadly before answering, "They didn't kill me during the operation. They fixed me. Then they sent me through reindoctrination."
"We all thought that you were dead," Max said quietly. "We left you there."
"You didn't know," he said softly as he clasped her hand.
TWO WEEKS LATER
Jondy's apartment looked like it had exploded. Max was running around the apartment. She was packing all of her things up. She was heading back to TC. She had realized now that she could go home. She was needed there and missed her friends and family.
Jack walked in the door. He said nothing as he watched Max pack. For the past two weeks, he and Max had been inseparable. They spent a lot of time catching up. Jack was curious about the outside world and Max wanted to know about Manticore. Jack never said too much about his childhood. Max understood his need for privacy. While Krit and Jondy went clubbing every night, Jack and Max stayed in. Sometimes they rented a movie or watched TV. They became friends.
"Want to help me pack?" Max asked Jack.
"I'm going to miss you," Jack said as he helped her.
"I'll miss you too."
7 MONTHS AGO
Dix and Luke had been working on the Manticore disk for weeks.
"We need a trained a hacker," Dix said.
"Manticore trained hackers?" Alec asked.
He was really stressed. Gem was three weeks pregnant. Between the morning sickness and the weird food cravings, Alec's home life had become chaotic. Not to mention the fact that he had a daughter who was less than a year old to take care of. Eve was quite the handful.
"Yeah, there were about twenty of them. X5-417 was the best of the lot of them. He was put into the program at ten but he's the best hacker Manticore ever had," Luke answered.
"We don't even know if that guy's alive," Alec said.
"Actually we do," Max said cutting of her SIC. "He used to be in Unit 1. I saw him while I was in New Orleans."
"You know 417?" Dix asked incredulously.
Max nodded.
"Can you reach him?" Alec asked.
"I have his cell phone number," Max said. "I'll call him right now."
1 WEEK LATER
Jack groaned. His eyes hurt from looking at the computer screen. He had gotten into TC two days ago. For two days now he had been trying to break through the encoding on the disk. He was three-fourths of the way through.
He was glad Max had called him. He hadn't told her about being a hacker. It seemed that his reputation had preceded him. Hacking was very easy for Jack. Strategy was easy too. He had been trained to think more than to fight.
He could defend himself and he wasn't a bad shot. It was just fighting had never been Jack's strong suit. He wasn't cut out to be a medic either. He knew enough to get by and that was good enough.
Alec walked into the room. He noticed how fast Jack was typing. "Slow down buddy. Aren't you worried you'll screw up?"
"No, I just want to finish. I can only last so long without sleep."
Alec nodded. "So you were in the same unit as Max and Ben?"
"Yeah, I was in the same unit."
"Were you and Max close as kids?"
"No, Max was close to Ben, Zack, and Jondy. I was close to Seth and Eva. Though Ben was one of my favorites. He made shadow puppets while I had seizures. It gave me something else to think about instead of the pain I was feeling."
Alec watched as Jack finally cracked through the encoding. "The guys weren't lying when they said you were good," he commented.
"It's what I was trained to do," Jack answered.
"Listen about Max—"
Jack cut him off, "Don't worry about Max. She understands your choices."
"You sure?" Alec asked.
"Yeah, I'm sure," Jack answered before heading out the door.
5 MONTHS AGO
Max had gotten used to having Jack around. She had expected him to leave right after he cracked the disk. Jack, however, had other plans.
"Do you have any idea what it's like traveling with Krit?" he asked. "It's pointless. Krit doesn't like to stay long in any one place. Then he and Syl meet up. If I stay here then I don't have to hear them. A guy can't sleep with all the noise they make."
Max just smiled. She was glad Jack liked TC and was willing to stay. She and Jack still spent a lot of time together. They had never been close as children but as adults they got along well. A lot of people commented on how much time pair spent together.
"You sure you don't have a thing for Jack, boo?" Cindy asked one afternoon.
"He's just my brother," Max answered.
Max was surprised to find Jack wearing a dress shirt and slacks when she entered his apartment.
"Got a hot date?" she teased.
"Something like that," he answered.
"Are you serious?" Max asked her jaw popping open.
"Yeah, I'm going to meet this ordinary at Crash. She asked me out while I was in the city today."
"What's her name?" Max asked as she turned her face away from Jack.
"Kendra," Jack answered.
Max whipped her head around. "I know her. She used to be my roommate."
"Then she's alright?"
"She's nice and all," Max mumbled.
Jack looked at her for a second. He moved closer towards her and tilted her head up. He looked into her eyes searching for something.
Max trembled slightly at his touch. She had no idea why she was acting this way. It was just Jack after all.
Slowly Jack bent his head down towards hers. Max moved closer and soon her mouth was on his. She didn't know what she expected from that kiss. She hadn't expected it ignite anything in her but it did. A million things went through her mind as the kiss became more passionate. When it ended it was as if the world had ended.
Max said nothing as Jack pulled out his cell phone. She wanted to run but she remained rooted to the floor. Jack dialed the number easily.
"Kendra?" he said into the phone. "Listen, this is Jack. I have to cancel. No, I can't reschedule. Remember I told you about? The one I said might have feelings for me? It turns out that she does."
Max leaned her head down on Jack's shoulder as he finished the call.
"What do we do now?" she asked.
"After that we decided to date. Then one thing led to another and we became serious. Now I'm four months along and quite happy," Max said to Logan.
Logan felt his heart contract sharply. "Do you love him?" he asked. "If you don't then you can come back to me. I'll protect you from him."
Max's eyes grew cold. "Logan, you left. You have a life out there."
"I gave up everything for you!" Logan shouted. "I signed away rights to my daughter so that you and I can be together!"
"Daughter? I didn't know about your daughter. If you wanted us together why did you stop calling?" Max asked in a low voice.
"My father was dying," Logan answered.
"That doesn't mean you couldn't call," Max answered.
"I had to think about his needs before my own. I want you back."
"I can't Logan. I love Jack. I really do love him. You need to go."
"Don't come crying to me when it doesn't work out," Logan said as he walked out the door.
Max went back to the couch. "How long were you listening?" she asked Jack who had been hiding in the shadows.
"Long enough," he answered coming to sit beside her.
Max rested her head on his shoulder. "I love you, Jack. I really do love you."
"I know," he whispered as he kissed her forehead. "I love you too."
Max nodded as she fell asleep. Slowly Jack moved her into their room.
1 HOUR LATER
Logan sat at his apartment typing on his computer. He needed to get Eyes Only up. He tried to be surprised when he heard someone drop from his skylight.
"I knew you would see it my way, Max," he said.
"She didn't see it your way," a male voice answered.
Logan stared at the man in front of him. "We haven't met before have we?"
"No, but I know about you. And you heard about me."
"You're Jack?" Logan asked.
Jack just smiled in reply.
"Are you here to kill me?" Logan asked.
Jack just looked at Logan puzzled. "I'm here to tell you to move on with your life."
"Or you'll force me to move on?" Logan demanded.
Jack just shook his head. "Listen Cale," he said coldly, "I'll protect Max anyway I can. She's my mate. She won't leave me and I won't leave her. You had a chance with her. Move on. Go see your kid."
Logan just stared as Jack headed back to TC.
THE END
A/N: I know that a Jack/Max pairing is a little odd. I tend to write Max/Ben. I have read pairings between Max/Alec, Max/Zack, Max/Zane, and Max/Krit. I can't stand the ML pairing. I always thought that Max would end up with someone from Manticore. I figured if Max could end up with these people then there was a possibility that she could end up with Jack.