Disclaimer: The usual, I do not own Dark Angel or any of its characters. This is purely a work of fantasy and no infringement is intended.

*A.N. Took me so long to post this, and this chapter is much shorter than I intended... but here it is! Hopefully it's still enjoyable! Just a quick refresher, Jenna is the courier who Max covered for the day before. I don't why, but I felt like this would create an interesting dynamic between Max and Cindy.*

CRASH

10:30 p.m.

Max and Cindy were sitting in one of their usual tables, already through a pitcher. Around them the Jam Pony crew was enjoying their night, bitching about Normal, and subjecting their new members to less than friendly tasks and tribulations. Taking a look at the bar, Max decided she was going on another run.

"This rounds on me," she told her friend. "What are you thinking? The usual? Or... the watered down usual?"

"How about a bottle of 1996 Dom perignon?" Cindy asked.

"The usual it is," her friend replied. They laughed softly and Max peeled away, making her way through the crowd with plastic pitcher in hand, only stopping at the bar. "One more of your house special barkeep," she declared, handing the jug over to the well built man. He smiled at her and moved down the bar to fill her order.

As she waited she noticed someone move in beside her. Her body reacted instinctually as her muscles tightened and her hand under the bar balled into a fist. She told herself to calm down, and slowly turned her head to look at the new comer. It was just the rookie that she had been telling Logan about earlier. Jen or something like that...

"Hey," she squeaked out, looking at Max with a timid grin.

"Hey," Max replied, sending the other girl a guarded glance. It wasn't that Max didn't like other women. Hell, she got along with Kendra and O.C, just fine. She just wasn't sure how to talk to women like the one standing in front of her. She was all blonde and perky, and just so happy to exist. It was sickening.

"You're Max right? I'm Jenna, we met at work earlier," she informed the darker girl. She smoothed down her denim crop top nervously before continuing, "so do you come here often?"

"You could say that," Max replied. She took a long look at the blonde girl and only then realized how pretty she really was. She was short but leggy and was wearing an outfit that flattered her minimal curves. More than that, she was showcasing it. She wouldn't last long, Max thought to herself...

"This is the first time I've been here," she divulged. "It's nice though."

Nice? Max thought, with a sick grin. Sure, that was a word for it.

"Are you here by yourself?" Jenna asked, barely taking a breath between her words.

"I guess so," Max said with a shrug, "Unless you include my girl Cindy."

"Cindy... she was the one who beat up Sketchy?" The blonde demanded.

"That's her," Max confirmed with a grin.

"She's very pretty..." Jenna said, her voice faltering.

"Yeah, I guess she is..." Max responded, feeling increasingly uncomfortable. Just then the bar tender returned with her full jug and she slapped the money on the counter, giving him a generous tip for interrupting their painful conversation.

"Thanks," he said, sending her a grin.

"Well gotta drink while the beer's still cold," She declared in a cheery voice. "Later." With this she was off through the crowd, purposely attempting to shake Jenna off, and leave the awkwardness in her wake.

Once she was seated by her friend again she glanced at Jenna, who was with a few of the other rookies, looking decidedly less bubbly. "What's your read on this Jenna girl?"

"You mean the blond, leggy diva? She a'ight," O.C. responded, searching out the girl in the crowd so she could give her a once over or two. "Why you ask?"

"Just wondering where you thought she was radar wise," Max explained. "Cause I'm thinking she plays for the all girls team."

"If so, that just made my night," her friend replied with a sigh. Max laughed and then they fell into a companionable silence. While O.C. tracked the blond's movements, Max's mind was somewhere else... While she knew the trip with Logan was bound do be a disaster, she couldn't wait. Getting out of the city, in the fresh air was always a sought after endevour. Hell, if gas prices weren't on the hike she'd going roadtrippin' every weekend she had off.

"Where would one find long johns in this city?" Max said, thinking aloud.

"Excuse you Boo?" O.C. replied, her attention pulled from the hunt.

"You know, long johns. Those really uncomfortable long pants people where in cold climates..." Max said, pulling a sour face.

"I know what they are, what the hell you need 'em for is another matter," Cindy said, sending her friend a curious look. "Don't even try to tell me you're takin' up campin' or some shit."

"It's not even like that," Max said with a grin, looking down into her beer. Then she shrugged, "I'm doin' a favour for Logan is all and thought I might need them."

"What kinda favor?" O.C. asked, surveying Max with a heavy look. She hadn't really liked Logan at first. But she knew now that he was a good guy, with a good heart, and he really cared about her boo. Even though Logan had helped saved both their lives more than once, she couldn't help but think of him as a playa playa. He was a man after all.

"Just a short trip," Max said evasively. She took a sip of her beer and then looked toward the bar where the hazing continued. "Nothing big."

"Right," Original Cindy said with narrowed eyes. "How is hot boy doin'?"

"Oh, you know Logan, everyday is a fight for the righteous and downtrodden in the world." Max replied, rolling her eyes. While she feigned disdain, her friend wasn't convinced. The softening of Max's eyes and the twitching in the corner of her mouth whenever she talked about Logan and his crusades betrayed just how much she admired her friend.

"What about you two? You cool?" O.C. demanded.

"I think so. I don't know... its so hard to tell with Logan," Max said, letting out a sigh. "It's like there's always this screen between us, but lately its just been getting thicker, no matter how many times I try to take it down. But I suppose it's never simple with men and their stupid pride."

"Ain't that the truth," O.C. said, nodding sagely. Next she turned in her chair and motioned to Sketchy who was pitching his bike onto the bar. "Take that foo' over there. Now he knows he gonna fall on his thick skull every time he get up there. But does that stop him? No! He still gets up there, tryin' to prove to every sista in the house that he all that."

"Sketchy is hardly a good example... for anything," Max replied, watching as he inevitably crashed to the bar floor, clearing a circle of spectators in the process.

"I'm just sayin' your man is still that, a man. It's gonna take time before he gets over his pride," O.C. explained.

"I'm not asking him to, " Max replied, rearranging herself in her seat. "It's not like he owes me anything. And he's not my man, we're not like that."

"There you go again, lying straight to your own face," Her friend said, shaking her head slowly. "You ever ask him what he think about that?"

"No, and I never will," Max replied forcefully. "Can we just get off this subject now? Not everything in my life revolves around Logan Cale."

"You right," Cindy said, nodding. "So how that thing goin' with the big men and black helicopters? They still on your ass?" Max sent her friend a long look before sighing into her beer.

"Nothing I can't handle..." Max said, threading her arms into her jacket that was hanging on the back of her chair. Just then Herbal and Sketchy descended upon their table, Sketchy nearly falling into his chair. Without a word Max slid her half full beer toward Sketchy and he accepted it with a nod.

"Where are you going?" O.C. asked pointedly.

"I'm gonna bounce. It's been a long day and I think I just need some air," Max said, shrugging as she zipped her jacket.

"But they're just about to unleash the new guys, fully make-uped, and brassiered," Sketchy informed her, leaning forward and holding his hands in front of his chest, as if he himself were wearing one.

"I will never understand the male obsession with dressing like a woman!" Max declared, with a shake to her head. "You guys enjoy. I'll see you later tonight," she said to her roommate in a small voice.

"Late," O.C. responded.

"What's up with her?" Sketchy asked.

"She has some thinkin' to do," Cindy told him.

"An acourse you don't make it easy on her," Herbal pointed out.

"One way or another, she has got to face her demons. So what if I give her a little shove? What do you think sisters are for?" Cindy demanded.

SEATTLE CITY STREETS
11:55 pm

Max knew that Cindy hadn't meant to alienate her. Hell, she was just trying to show that she worried. But sometimes it just reminded Max about how much of a freakshow her life was. Normal girls could sit in a bar, shoot the shit and not leave feeling like they were hoarding some big bad secret. On the bright side, she thought as she sped down a curving side street, it meant more alone time for her, and her motorcycle.

And there were few things in life she loved more than her motorcycle.