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THANKS for the kind words and the interest. All input invited and sincerely appreciated.

RURAL WASHINGTON: February 8, 2020; moments later
Cale Family Cabin

Tony had been an investigator for his entire adult life, and was well aware of the factors one had to keep in mind, investigators being human and all – hell, he'd taught this stuff, both as a team leader and in several academies and universities along the eastern seaboard. But he personally hadn't had many cases in which the emotional connection factor had colored the investigation for him – in his career, there had been only a very few cases in which he'd found himself having to gather information in circumstances where his own connection to events could skew his assessment.

True, this wasn't murder or kidnaping or terrorism – but it was Logan, and as Tony watched the others over the course of the evening he had to remind himself more than once to watch for objective signs, and to weigh them fairly. It wouldn't do to make a wrong call, to press on incorrect information and in doing so, make matters worse ...

As he'd come back downstairs he tried his best to watch Max, watch Logan, and not let anyone know he was doing just that. He might be a professional, but he'd seen his cousin at work – and he was keenly aware of Max's training and abilities. They weren't the typical civilians who might miss his scrutiny. He just hoped that their own preoccupation with events would make him the last of their concerns...

He needn't have worried.

Over the rest of the evening, each of them made him crazy with their insecurities and defensiveness, and he found himself seriously considering knocking their heads together, sitting them down and insisting they get with it. As it was, it was an evening of averted eyes and self-conscious smiles, awkward moments where one caught the other looking their way, and, to Tony's amusement, Marianne's increasing awareness of the adolescent awkwardness between the pair.

She finally stood to come up behind her husband, gently bumping her knee into his shoulder as he sat on the floor in front of the fire. "Bennett ... I left a couple things in the car..." She began, sweetly. "Would you help me bring them in?"

"No, honey, I got everything..." Bennett smiled up to her reassuringly before turning back to the others, as they worked on another round of s'mores, which, for him, had combined with the surroundings to throw him back to summers long past, when the last thing on his mind was the intricacies of adult relationships – his own or others'.

Her tone didn't waver. "No, my overnight bag and your shaving kit; I'm sure..."

"Mari, you're ... oh. Oh..." Watching him, Tony began to suspect that, by the time this youngest Cale had been conceived, the Cale genetic well of duplicity and deceit had run dry – Bennett was bright, no question, but, despite his upbringing, was simply too sweet and guileless himself to expect anything else of others, forgetting the developing dance between their cousin and Max that he himself had described to Tony brief weeks before. In truth, Bennett still hadn't caught on to events past the fact that his beautiful bride was working to get him alone for a minute – and he'd managed enough of the Cale genes that that was good enough for him. "Oh, right, yeah..." he grinned, blushing slightly.

As he scrambled up and went to follow his wife outside, the others, each long aware of the awkwardness in the air and the relative protection that had been afforded by Bennett's cluelessness, continued in silence until Tony finally spoke. "We've sort of taken over your bedroom, haven't we, cuz? Maybe we should all get on upstairs, if you want to turn in..."

The main drawback of the cabin for Logan, despite the ramp and other additions which made the cabin nearly perfect for him, was the lack of first floor bedrooms – or a convenient side room to convert. As it was, he'd be camping on the couch. "I don't mind. I usually don't get to bed til much later than this; it's no problem."

"Still, maybe if we set up your bedroom they'd take the hint." Tony challenged, half distracted. Along with his matchmaking activities, he'd been mulling since his arrival where and how a ground-floor bedroom could be added, and he still didn't have any particularly brilliant ideas. That's what professionals were for, he reckoned...

But Logan shook his head. "Actually, uh... let's wait. I was kind of enjoying being forgotten."

Tony would not show them what Logan's words did to him at that moment. "Suit yourself," he leaned back against the couch, staring at the fire ... so Logan still felt that awkward, Tony noted, even now ... the silence in the room seemed to echo Tony's thoughts back to him, reminding him of the changes he was learning to overlook. What must it be like for him? he wondered again...

But his thoughts were interrupted after only another moment of silence, when Max stood, unexpectedly, and announced, "Well, I think I'll turn in." So far, she'd been able to keep a hold on the confused emotions she'd been feeling since the porch, her desire and self-consciousness and curiosity for what had nearly happened there, but she knew that there could be no resolution with the others around, the chances of another interruption too great. Neither she nor Logan seemed to be able to get past their insecurities even when they were alone – and from their performance this evening, it was clear that the chances of their moving closer in the presence of others were not too good. So she mustered a smile for the cousins and managed to look to the green eyes raised in question to her – both pair. The surprised expressions she saw in response to her sudden declaration, the similarities – and differences – suddenly broke the tension for her and she laughed, sounding almost relieved with the release. "Do you two have any idea how much alike you really are?"

It took each of them a moment to process her words and the sudden clearing of the tension it brought her, but nearly in unison their surprised expressions shifted to smiles –Tony's, a wide, hopeful grin of conspiratorial agreement; Logan's, while hopeful too, was quieter in his self-conscious affection for the woman before him. "Must be that all the housework you did tired you out, getting here so early," Logan suggested, his voice gentle. They were the first words he'd managed to say to her in the two hours since they'd come inside – and all three were keenly aware of it.

"Yeah." She finally let her eyes meet his to acknowledge the evening's words, promising in her gaze that she wouldn't retract her earlier admission ... and the understanding and hope she saw rise in his to see it made her smile beam even brigher...

Looking on, Tony came to the conclusion that it might just be enough for now; enough for them both, as timid as they were in this. The looks they shared could only be appreciated and fully understood dead on between them, but Tony caught the drift. Patience was never his strong suit, but sometimes things had to happen in their own time. With all the baggage these two carried, maybe it was all he should ask. At least they seemed to be moving ahead...

Still. He had a couple days. And he had some matters to raise with his cousin before he left. Maybe this situation with Max could be a part of his campaign...

RURAL WASHINGTON: February 9, 2020 12:20 a.m.
Cale Family Cabin

Despite his earlier words that he didn't want to run everyone off, Logan found he was tired enough to be glad that the others had wandered up to bed not long after Marianne had bustled Bennett outside to enlighten him ... whatever she said, whether it was pointing out that Max and Logan might like a little time too, or that she wanted a little newlywed quality time herself, it worked; they'd barely stopped on their way upstairs from outside. And not long after Max's own pronouncement, she'd gone to the linen closet to pull out the bedding Logan needed to make up the costly and surprisingly suitable couch. Despite Logan's protests that he could handle it all, Tony hung around to help his cousin roll out the foam "egg crate" that would convert the sturdy couch to a bed that even Bling would approve. With the three of them tossing sheets and pillows and quilts every which way, Logan's "bedroom" was ready in moments. Not long after, the others leaving him the downstairs to himself, the quietly snapping embers of the fire there to lull him to sleep, Logan nestled into the bed they'd made for him and leaned back into sweet-smelling sheets, daring for the first time since it happened to let his thoughts replay the day...the evening ...and Max's words to him, on the porch. He didn't dare analyze or speculate, extrapolate or infer the first breath past what she'd actually said...

But he didn't have to. What she had said was enough to move mountains...

And without much more thought than that, Logan drifted off into a soothing, restorative sleep, the smile lingering on his lips for quite a very long time afterward...

RURAL WASHINGTON: February 9, 2020 1:03 a.m.
Cale Family Cabin

Max had brought something to read, anticipating a long night of staying quiet, of convincing the others she was sleeping, just as they were. But she found her eyes skipping along the text with her thoughts far from the page, returning to the same paragraph with a small grunt each time she did so. It didn't bother him, she nudged herself, after hearing the gentlest of snores drifting up from the floor below. But maybe this was better, she allowed...she'd seen the look in his eyes and dared to believe that her words, with everything else in his life the past couple days, had actually helped the beleaguered man find a little peace...

Unable to read and not yet ready to sleep, Max got up and silently paced to the window, seeing the large, bright moon still shimmering overhead. From here, she could see it play along the gently rocking surface of the lake. It might not be the Needle, she decided... but it might be even better...and she opened the window overlooking the roof of the porch to quietly slip outside and sit in the stillness and peace that Logan so loved. Staring at the stars and the moon, listening to the night creatures gently calling to one another, Max made up her mind right then and there that if Logan did ask her to run away with him and escape to this place...she would tell him yes...

RURAL WASHINGTON: February 9, 2020 9:18 a.m.
Cale Family Cabin

He'd been dreaming, music and warmth and sweet scents in snatches of memory as he began waking in a place not his bed but familiar...Logan's thoughts came together in patches, the comfort of the soft quilts around him ... a wafting scent of coffee in the cool, pristine air ... a sense of contentment, deep inside him, brought by those with whom he'd shared his evening ... the comfort of having Bling safe and the killer, captured ... the brown eyes and the astounding words on the porch, last night...

"...hey..."

...the voice of an angel, so close, beside him...

Logan managed a bleary eye toward the smiling face kneeling at his side. Did she ever look like everyone else did in the morning, or were the genetics that good? He opened his other eye and found himself returning the smile. "Hey," echoed, pulling up and back a bit, to rest higher against the pillows. He glanced at his watch – 9:20...

"I heard you waking up – ready for some coffee?"

"Always... thanks..." He took the proffered cup and brought to his lips, blowing a little before testing the heat.

"Sleep well?" she tried.

"Yes– very well, in fact... did you sleep at all?" he lifted an eyebrow, still unable to know how she did it, to go without sleep for days in a row and not be fazed by it...

"A few hours, yeah. It wasn't hard, as quiet as it is out here." She watched as he started to sip the dark brew, and offered, "I got out the fruit you brought for breakfast, but didn't know what else you had in mind. I could have gotten it started, so breakfast wouldn't be too long a wait..."

"No problem," he remembered his duties as host, and grudgingly told himself he needed to get the day – and himself – moving. "Actually, it's all made, just needs to go into the oven to bake..." He started to throw back the covers but she covered his hand with hers lightly, stilling his movements.

"Something even I can do?" She offered, winsomely.

He relaxed into a smile. "Sure, if you want..." He leaned back again and said, "just set the oven for 375. It can go from the 'fridge to the oven, but it's going to take almost an hour, so we might as well start it ... I bet it won't be done before the others are up."

"Okay." On her feet immediately, she bounced into the kitchen and, as he pulled on his glasses, watching her in the bright light of morning, Logan was struck by the reminders of how great were their differences: she was vibrant, alive; he was ... encumbered... She was young, so young and full of readiness for life ... he was older than his years and grim with the life he'd seen ... she was healthy and deserved a partner who could...

"What am I looking for?"

He focused back on the scene before him as she called across the open area between them, part of Max hidden by the open refrigerator door so that only her cute, round derriere peeked around at him... Silently groaning at the temptation thrown at him when he was trying to guilt himself back to the high road, he saw her straighten and her face peek around the door, waiting.

"A covered glass dish, rectangle...there's foil on it," he said absently, mind light years away. He'd done the right thing once, not so long ago by the count of days but lifetimes, in their lives... Where was that man, the one who had said to Bling "...it was the right thing to do, let her go...for a thousand different reasons. And I always do the right thing, right?" He'd done the right thing then but it didn't stick; she hadn't played along – just came back, instead, to save his life...literally.

...and here they were, the 'thousand different reasons' just the same now as they were then...where was the man who was strong enough, then, to do the right thing...?

Max had leaned into the refrigerator and pulled out the casserole dish, frowning down at it in some confusion. She looked back up at him, lifting an eyebrow. "We're not having lasagna for breakfast too, are we? It was good, but I mean..."

In spite of it all, he chuckled, Max being Max and getting to him, even as he believed his dream of the evening before was evaporating. "No, not lasagna," he explained, a quiet smile lingering. "It's a breakfast dish-thing."

Watching her put the dish in the oven and move back through the kitchen to head back his way, Logan felt his smile soften even further, helpless, as she said, in typical attitude, "Logan Cale, you would never serve something just called a 'breakfast dish-thing.'"

"No, I guess I wouldn't." No, it was the right thing to do, let her go...for a thousand different reasons. And I always do the right thing, right?

As Max walked back to join him, Logan pulled up again so that he was sitting upright against the pillows and couch cushions, waking a bit with the coffee she'd brought and feeling as if he might be able to find some sense of right, somewhere in the caffeine. "It's called a strata," he said, seeking focus, as she came closer.

Her grin was quick, easy. "A 'strata'–another Italian dish, for your favorite cousin?"

Logan blinked, surprised at the thought that took him out of his mood, for the moment. "Hm. I don't know. The name seems to fit..." He looked back to the woman sinking gracefully to kneel again at his side, and mused, "We could tell Tony it's Italian, made especially in his honor..." He cocked his head to ask, "Think he'd buy it?"

"I think he'd buy just about anything you told him." She laughed.

"Oh, no–he's a pro; no special pass for family." Logan balked at the implication, afraid to assume the depth of feeling he carried all these years might be mutual...

"Maybe not just anyone in the family–but for you..." Her smile softened, and she offered, "you guys are really good for each other, ya know?" After the near-connection of the night before, Max had been watching Logan closely to see what had survived the night. He looked happy to see her, but...even so...sad, somehow... She knew better than to try to figure out what was going on in his head, but it didn't stop her concern and care for what it might be... Them? The weekend? Max wondered if talking about his connection with Tony was treading on tender ground for the man who didn't spill too much of himself to her, even after all this time, but he had been candid about his aunt's petty larceny and his uncle's disapproval ... and this was so good for them both... "I may not know Tony very well, but it just seems as if he's got such a soft spot for you. And you..." she grinned. "It's flat out hero worship, from you..."

"I think I warned you..." The soft smile was back with his tacit admission. A safe topic, then, she guessed...

"Yeah, you did–but I didn't really get the idea 'til I saw you two, together. And–I suspect that the similarities are a lot more than skin deep..." She considered him. "Once you got Bling looked after, and Parks locked away ... well, before, too, but especially after Bling was safe...you've really been able to enjoy having Tony around..."

Logan glanced away, never finding it all that easy to talk about feeling as deeply as he did for those in his life like his cousin ... or the woman before me, his thoughts teased him. "The big brother I never had..." He shrugged, trying the more neutral admission.

"Well, you're talking to the right girl there– building family from ... family." Max encouraged, eyes light and hopeful. "And you're the little brother he always wanted to look after."

Logan's mouth quirked a little, his expression sad, despite the wry smile. "Don't suppose that has anything to do with the chair, do you?"

She surprised him with her intensity, quiet though it was. "No, I don't – and don't you assume that, either. That's too easy, Logan. It's a lot more than that ... it's because he still sees the little boy who needs his cousin looking out for him. You won't convince me he wouldn't do the same if you were on your feet."

He thought about it for a few moments, and actually relented, thoughts clearly recalling scenes from years gone by. "Yeah," he conceded, his voice soft, his brow clearing. "Yeah, you're right." He lifted his eyes to her, all his battles reflected there amid his gratitude for her and what she meant to him. "Thanks, Max."

This was the secret weapon, she found herself thinking, what Manticore didn't breed out of her and Lydecker failed to train out of her, the chink in her armor, the end of her strength ... and all it took to overpower her was a pair of myopic, endless green eyes that defeated her effortlessly, stronger than anything she could withstand... And all she could manage in response was a nod, looking into those eyes...

Something in her eyes held his, and Logan felt the same sudden electricity that had arisen the night before... maybe the clean air, he thought vacantly, maybe Eyes Only left back in Seattle, maybe just months of coming so close ... all he knew was that her eyes held his, and she was waiting for his response ... he wanted more than anything at that moment to do the right thing ... to hold her and tell her everything he dreamed of saying ... to let go of all the responsibility and let her rescue him ... to send her away to the life she ought to lead, not the one he craved for her, with him...

As he had the night before, he reached out, slowly, but this time found himself gently lifting his fingers to her cheek, tracing along her soft skin. When she lifted her hand to cover his, readily, he caught her fingers in his, and still brushing his knuckles along her jaw line, swallowed, and managed to whisper, "Max..." He wavered again, and losing the battle, finally admitted, "I lied, too..." His eyes looked haunted, sad again, but he offered, "Maybe...when we get back and...there's no house full of people to entertain...maybe it's time we talk..."

So like Logan, to want to talk it out, weigh all the pros and cons... she thought. Talk? It was time to move past the talk...

"...there's so much to consider..." He'd looked away, and for all the world it seemed as if the words hurt him, as he spoke... She saw it then, saw his demons. He was going to try to tell her it wasn't the best, for her, and she felt the fear of losing him rise in her, almost as sharply as when he lay dying, as she offered her blood to bring him back...

She closed her eyes slowly... licked her lips... and nodded, for him, knowing he needed this, knowing why...and knowing that she would do whatever she could to help him see the inevitability and the rightness of this... "I know," she conceded, looking back at him with an encouraging smile, not really 'knowing' but willing to do what was needed so that he could be as sure as she was, now... "As long as we do... consider it, I mean..."

Turning her hand in his, he drew it to his lips, where he gently–yet more sensually than anything Max had ever experienced before from the boys she'd used and discarded in her Heat-crazed wake– kissed her open palm, gently nipping and sucking the flesh at the base of her thumb...

Her breath caught and she shivered, surprised that she could be even more ready to abandon her sanity to this man – and that such an intense desire could be raised in her outside of her insistent Heat cycle. Yet again, another way that Logan Cale demanded that she was not just a freak ...

Not sure how she did, she opened her eyes and stretched the fingers he held to touch his cheek, understanding now. She wasn't afraid anymore. No matter how long it took, no matter their baggage – he had just spoken louder than any words he might try. It was just a matter of his reconciling himself to that fact...

...TBC...