Disclaimer: The TV show Dark Angel, all of the characters that appeared on it (Max, Zack, Jondy, etc.), and everything else that has to do with the show belong to their respective owners, not to me. No money is being made off of this fic. I only own the original characters (Elle/X5-164, etc.).

Chapter 53: Max (X5-452)

I'm not happy. Actually, I'm a couple of years beyond not happy. I'm ready to tear somebody's head off...or if it was Zack, lock myself in a room with him, and...you guessed it, boys and girls. I'm in heat. I'm almost done with this round, thank goodness. Those ordinaries don't know what they're missing. Nothing says fun that being ready and willing to jump any male in the immediate vicinity every three months...or, if you've found your guy like I have, rock his world until...you know, a cold shower sounds great right about now.

"Okay, where the hell is the shampoo?" I muttered. Over the past month, Mia had absolutely fallen in love with this herbal shampoo that we'd found in a local supermarket when we'd gone shopping there our first day on this assignment. I've got to admit, it really makes my hair look and smell great. But, since both of us like to use it, the stuff doesn't exactly last very long in the crib. I sighed in exasperation when my search came up empty. Yep. Out of shampoo. Note to self: tell Mia to get more when she gets back from work. I turned around and frowned when I heard footsteps in the hallway and then a knock at the front door. Whoever it was had the world's crappiest timing. I really did not want to be bothered by anybody. "Who is it?"

"It's just me." I groaned. Wonderful. "Can I come in?"

"No, not really," I informed him. "This is a bad time. I'm not feeling well."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Logan said sympathetically. "I'm just going to be a few minutes, though. I wanted to drop off those CDs that Marie wanted to borrow."

I closed my eyes, took a deep breath, and counted to ten. He probably did have the CDs of his that Mia wanted to listen to, but he wanted to be around me and he was way down on my 'People to See' list right now. The jerk better make it quick. "Fine, give me a moment." I walked into the living room, opened the door, and stepped aside so Logan could come in. "There, door's open."

Logan looked mildly surprised as he entered the apartment. "That was a little rude, Erica."

I shrugged. He thought that was rude? It was painfully obvious that he'd never seen Zane, Krit, and Wayne goof around with me, Rena, and Jondy. Either that or he was just plain stupid. "Sorry. I told you that I'm not feeling well and I'm not the greatest person to be around when I feel like crap."

"You look pretty good to me," Logan observed.

I tried not to bang my head against a wall. Lovely. Have I ever mentioned that ordinary men can be affected slightly by the pheromones that I give off when I'm in heat? It doesn't affect them nearly as much as it does an X5 male, but it's enough to make guys a little bit hornier than usual. "Trust me, Logan, I'm running a fever, I'm achy as hell, and I'm nauseous." A little more time around you and that last one won't be a lie. "I'm sick."

"I'm sorry," Logan apologized. He set down the CDs that he had with him on the coffee table. "I didn't mean to be rude myself."

I wonder if he realizes his talent with backhanded apologies. "No harm, no foul. Can you please leave? I don't want to get you sick."

"I'll be fine. I drink my orange juice and eat my spinach," Logan said. He smiled and I tried not to groan out loud. Did he really think that was funny? "Really."

I coughed. "Excuse me, I need to get myself a glass of water."

"I'll get it for you, Erica," Logan offered.

"It's okay, Logan, I can get it by myself. I feel like shit, but it's not as if I'm on my deathbed."

"It's not too much trouble," Logan said. "I was getting thirsty, anyway."

"Well, you can come in the kitchen with me," I finally said. "Just grab one of the bottles of water in the fridge, though. Just in case."

"Sure, no problem," Logan agreed. He gave me a smile, which I tried to ignore, and followed me into the kitchen. He grabbed a bottle of water from the fridge while I helped myself to a glass of tap water. "How has your job been, Erica?"

"It's good," I told him. I was supposedly working nights as the manager at a major nightclub over in Tacoma. I actually wasn't, but Logan didn't need to know that. I hoped he kept this conversation to inane crap like this. "It's never boring, that's for sure. I'm just happy that my dad was able to find me this job. I love that kind of excitement, you know what I mean?"

"I could never work that late at night," Logan commented. "I'm not sure how you can do it at all, never mind for the past two weeks. And at that club..." He shuddered. "No offense, Erica. I've never been that into the club scene."

I shrugged. "None taken."

Logan set his water bottle down on the kitchen counter. "I've got to use the bathroom. Do you mind if I use one of yours?"

I started to tell him to take the two minutes to go down one floor and use one of the toilets when an idea occurred to me, so I shrugged and smiled a little instead. "Yeah, go ahead. Use one of the two hall bathrooms, though. Don't use the one in the master bedroom 'cause that one's mine."

"Sure. Thanks," Logan said.

"No problem," I assured him. I kept the smile on my face until he went inside one of the hall bathrooms and shut the door behind them. I quickly opened a door underneath the sink and reached inside a container that was mounted near the side of the cabinet. I pulled out a vial, uncorked it, and poured its clear contents into Logan's open bottle of water. What did I add to Logan's water? Well, Manticore had tried to come up with a suppressant for us women that we could take if we went into heat while out on assignment, but they couldn't get it to work for all of us, so instead they always gave us a little something that when given to some poor guy or girl, causes flu-like symptoms within eight to twelve hours, thus backing our story about having the flu. It's tasteless and odorless and doesn't get somebody deathly ill. I don't like to use it, but I had to in this case. Okay, maybe I was a little less reluctant than normal this time. Hey, Logan's personality clashes a little bit with mine on a good day and being in heat makes me irritable as hell, especially with Zack not around. I wish... I abruptly turned back to the sink and splashed cold water on my face. Shampoo or not, I was definitely going to take that cold shower as soon as Logan left. I quickly disposed of everything and made sure nothing looked suspicious and nodded towards Logan when he came back into the kitchen. "Glad to see that you didn't fall in the toilet."

"Excuse me?" Logan said.

I shrugged. "The damn thing's so tall and with those claw feet, it kind of reminds me of a lion ready to bite your ass off."

Logan laughed. "I know what you mean. My aunt and uncle have one like that in one of the bathrooms in their mansion. When I visited them with my parents when I was little, I would tease my cousin about it all the time." He picked up his water bottle and drank some more of its contents. "That hits the spot. Thanks for this and letting me use the bathroom, by the way."

"No problem," I told him. I sighed and rubbed my forehead, feigning a headache. "Logan, I'm really sorry, but I think I'm going to lie down now. Do you mind?"

"I understand." Logan took a swig from his water bottle. "Is it okay if I take this with me?"

"Be my guest," I said. "I'll see you later, Logan."

"See you later, Erica." He gave me a smile and I managed to fake one back. He left the kitchen and left the apartment. I heard Logan greet Mia as he walking towards the elevator and I finally let my breath out when I heard the elevator door close and Mia enter the apartment.

"Max? Where are you?" Mia wondered.

"Kitchen," I replied.

"Oh." Mia walked inside the kitchen and set down a couple of grocery bags on the counter. "I got out of work early today, so I stopped at the supermarket on my way back here. I saw Logan in the hallway. You let him come inside even though you're in heat?"

"I'm taken, remember?" I pointed out. "Besides, I gave him a dose of Instant Flu."

"You love Zack that much?" Mia asked. She smiled. "You're really lucky, Max."

"I know," I agreed. "God, I love Zack so much. I miss him like crazy. I wish that he was here and that we..." I paused and felt my face flush. "You get the idea."

Mia reached into one of the bags and handed me a new bottle of shampoo. "I saw that we were out this morning before I left."

"Thank you," I said gratefully. I grabbed the bottle and headed straight for my shower.

TBC