Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel so don't sue me. Thanks. :-)

A/N: Oh my gosh, I've never had this many reviews on one chapter! A humongous thank you, thank you, thank you to Alexa, x5 416, Dark girl, Sandra, Jo, Stargate fan, Deanna, Just a girl, Samantha, Winchester girl, Kay, 452max, and Crystal Moon Magic!

Ex Multus Familia

Chapter 10

It was dark when Max finally came out. Logan had fallen asleep slumped against the door, his head angled in an odd way that guaranteed he would have a crick in the morning. Max smiled at the way his glasses were slightly askew and falling off his face. Suddenly, violently, she suppressed the urge to right them. She couldn't touch him. Never, ever. Now there was no hope of ever curing the virus.

She leaned against the wall and fought hard against the tears that were trying to gain control over her. She won, but a few escaped her defenses. She hastily brushed them away, and even as one part of her mind registered the feelings the tears represented, another part was coldly calculating what she would have to do now.

Staying with Logan would just be torture for the both of them, like pouring slat into an open wound. She had seen Asha and Logan, she had had flings with other guys before Logan. She knew they had a chance of moving on if they were far apart. But if they were together, in constant contact, they would never move forward.

Max had been persuaded once before that leaving was an act of cowardice, that running away from the situation wouldn't help anything. But this time she didn't think so. Circumstances were different. This time it would be better for everyone if she left.

She could at least do it properly she supposed. Make formal goodbyes, let everyone know that it was time for her to move on. She'd helped get Terminal City on its feet, and it would be okay without her now. There were plenty of leader types waiting for a chance to show what they were good at anyway. And she knew Logan would always keep an eye on it for her.

Her mind was just about made up when Logan stirred. "Max."

Max's legs went became slightly jelly-like at the sound of his warm voice, softened with sleep. Her heart and every muscle and bone in her body ached for him, to be able to crawl next to him and have him hold her, comfort her, stroke her hair and tell her everything was going to be all right. But if he was able to do that, then she wouldn't be nearly as upset as she was right now.

Damn Sandeman! She had needed him. He had created her, designed her for some stupid unknown purpose, and then left her to deal with one of Manticore's most horrible creations, this virus. He should've been there to help her out of it, it was only right. But he had to go and get himself killed.

"Max, you okay?" Logan asked, even though he knew the answer. He stood up and put his hand on her arm, and Max had to control an automatic flinch. He was wearing gloves; he always did now when he came to Terminal City. But touching each other through gloved hands wasn't going to be enough for long.

She smiled sadly as one of Logan's fingers traced the creases in her cupped palm, "I'll be ok eventually," she said softly, avoiding looking at him.

He put his other hand to her face and tilted it until she had to look at him, "Max, don't let this get you down. We've got plenty of leads, there are still Manticore geneticists around and other higher-ups who worked with Sandeman himself. We'll figure the virus out, we'll find out what your code means. It may take longer, but it's not impossible. We can do it, Max."

Max hesitated. Logan sounded so reasonable. Like always.

"I could be of use and keep you safe," Max started, wrapping her hands around his as she lowered them from her face. "I could go look for the geneticists, for connections to Sandeman…"

Logan shook his head. "You know why we've been saving those leads, Max. Terminal City can't spare you yet; it'll descend into chaos if you leave. There's no one else here that everyone will listen to." His face became eager as his own arguments started to sound more and more logical to him. "And you know I'll be fine, Max. We've got a better idea of how this virus works, and we know what we can and can't do. And I've made it through several scares already. Next time we mess up, a little transgenic blood and I should be fine." He grinned at her, and Max couldn't help but chuckle. Logan was practically half-transgenic already.

"It'll be ok," Logan promised, squeezed both her hands. He released one but kept hold of the other.

Max wished she could agree with him, but she wasn't sure. If Terminal City needed her so badly, how would she ever have time to go check out their leads? The trails would get cold eventually. The longer they waited, the less hopeful she and Logan could be of ever finding a cure to the virus.

But she would put on a brave face for Logan and the others right now. She would reassure them, and then she would think about this later, on her own. There were still some decisions to be made.

"Yeah, I guess you're right," Max said, smiling at Logan. She looked away quickly. "Hey, is it anywhere around a meal time? I'm starving."

Logan laughed, "Actually, I think it is. Let's go see what they've got cooking."

The mess hall was crowded; all of those who had been hanging around HQ had shifted to the mess hall at about the same time. No one noticed Max at first, but after a minute or two a hush spread around the hall. The conversation sprung up again quickly a few seconds later.

Max grimaced. "Wonderful."

"Well, when you go and lock yourself in a tiny little office for a long time you're sort of asking for attention."

Max snorted. "So what, now I'm an attention seeker?"

"Well, you do have a habit of stealing the spotlight…"

"You're just jealous," she said, smirking at him as they moved into the line for food.

Logan's reply was lost in the flood of greetings.

"Max, hey!"

"Max, how are ya?"

"Want extra servings, Max? You've been in there for quite a while, haven't you?"

"You ok, Max?"

Max just smiled and nodded, not really ready to answer anything but the most basic questions. "Hey! Nah, My stomach still holds the same amount of food even if I've denied it for a while. But thanks!"

"Hmm, where to sit?" Max said, surveying the room. She really didn't want to be pestered right now, but she knew she should sit with everyone in the mess hall instead of retreating to her office. She didn't want to be labeled the anti-social, hermit leader.

"Well, if you're willing…" Logan hesitated and Max looked at him, curious.

"You don't have to if you don't want to," Logan said quickly, "but Seth and Robin drove by the hotel last night when Sandeman was being attacked. If you want, they could probably tell you what they saw."

Max stopped and looked at him, stunned. She had forgotten that Seth and Robin made a run in that area where Sandeman was killed.

"Oh," she said, her thoughts flying internally. She wondered what they had seen. If they had seen anything, they would be feeling terribly guilty, especially after Max made such a big deal out of it.

"Let's sit with them," Max said, looking around for the two. She had to convince them that they couldn't have done anything to prevent Sandeman's death. Even if they could've, she knew what feeling that type of guilt could do to a person. She didn't want anyone to feel that because of her.

Max spotted Seth and Robin at a table with Sidda, Alec, Dalton, and Gem. She pointed them out to Logan, and they started making their way there. She stopped short of the table and spun around to look at Logan, almost upsetting her food.

"Logan, what about Joshua? Oh, no, he must be miserable, I have to go see him!" She started to hand Logan her plate, but he shoved it firmly back into her hands.

"No, Max, you need to eat first. You said you were starving."

"He's doing ok, Max," Max turned to look at Alec and was surprised by how exhausted and worn-out he looked. She hadn't really expected Sandeman's death to really affect him. Or was this guilt over her virus problem too? How many people had she brought pain to?

"Then why isn't he here?" Max asked, concern over Joshua making her voice sharp.

"He wanted to stay in the studio," Sidda said, "But he's eating. He's upset, but he's ok."

"See, he's eating, you need to eat too," Logan said, sitting down at the table.

"Men," Max muttered with a small smile as she sat down next to him.

"We know what's important," Alec said, nodding at Logan.

Max rolled her eyes. She probably would have gone to see Joshua anyway, if she didn't have some people to talk to here too. She looked at Sidda curiously. So she'd been in the studio with Alec and Joshua… that was interesting. Something else to think about later.

She looked at Robin and Seth, noting how quiet they were. She took a few bites of her food, speeding up the rate she was eating as her stomach demanded more food.

Robin noticed Max's attention. "Max, there's something you should know," Robin said. It was obvious how miserable she was feeling; her plate of food had barely been touched, and she was twisting her paper napkin to shreds.

"I know," Max said, sparing the poor girl the long explanation. She glanced at Logan. "I mean, I don't know the whole dealio, but I know you guys were there. And I don't care. If I'd been driving by that night, I probably wouldn't have stopped either. You had no way of knowing that was Sandeman, no one could've." She smiled at Robin and then Seth. "It's ok, I promise. It wasn't something any of us could've known we needed to prevent. We had no idea Sandeman was here."

Robin slumped a bit, relief obvious in her more relaxed posture. "You sure?" she asked, looking up from her shredded napkin.

Seth, sitting next to her, gently pried the napkin pieces out of Robin's hand with his free hand. Max smiled as she realized that little Taylor was held proactively in his other arm. She didn't think it'd be long before the two X5s got together. That was one thing to be happy about.

"She's sure," Seth said, looking at Max. Max nodded.

"You're just being a stubborn dork like usual," Sidda said bluntly to Robin, "No more excuses about not eating your food. If you don't eat it…"

"You won't eat it," Robin said, putting a protective arm around her plate.

"No, but I will," Alec said, leaning across the table to eye her food.

"Hey, back off!" Robin said, very protective of her meal now that the others wanted it.

Sidda laughed and shoved her friend lightly. "Just eat it already and you won't have to worry about Alec."

"But you might have to worry about me," Dalton said, grinning. He had no qualms about trying to steal Robin's food.

"You do, you die," Gem said sternly. Dalton made a face at her and Gem rolled her eyes in response. "You're such a kid," she said.

"Am not!" he protested, sitting up a little straighter as if extra height would grant him manhood-status.

"Hey, Max," Seth interrupted, "Robin and I were talking about something earlier today, and we wanted to see what you thought of it."

Max nodded and lay down her fork; her plate was clean anyway.

"We want to do something for you." He held up a hand to stop Max's protests. "I know you don't blame us for Sandeman's death, but there are more people than jobs around Terminal City, anyway. We want to make ourselves useful."

"We want to trace Sandeman," Robin said, getting to the point. She looked at Logan. "Maybe you could help us with that."

Seth jumped in again. "We figured Sandeman probably left a lot of important notes back at his home. Maybe even a close associate who knows a little bit about his work. What if we went and checked it out? Maybe we could get you some useful stuff."

"You know, Seth's right," Alec said, listening to the conversation, "I wouldn't mind having something else to do either, and I still owe you, Max."

"Yeah, for life," Max muttered, but she was wearing a half-smile.

Alec rolled his eyes. "Anyway, I could go track down one of the Manticore geneticists for you or something. Or join Seth and Robin's mission, whatever you want."

"I'll go too!" Dalton jumped in.

"Ha, I don't think so," Gem said.

"You can't decide for me!" Dalton protested.

"Nothing's decided yet," Max said. But she was leaning forward and her eyes were bright and eager. No matter what she said, it was obvious that Seth's proposal had excited her.

"We probably could do it, if you give me a few days to see what tracks I can find," Logan said, looking at Max. He was actually relieved that Seth and Robin had come up with this idea. That meant that Max could stay in Terminal City and not fret about never finding the cure. With Sandeman coming to Seattle, it also meant that he might actually have something to work with when trying to trace the guy. And being able to send people after some of the leads he'd found… well, he couldn't help but be excited as well at the prospect of a cure. It would seem so much closer if he knew some of the transgenics were really going after it.

"Are you sure though?" Max asked, trying to not sound like they were fulfilling a desperate wish of hers. "You'll always have a job here as a medic, Seth, and Robin, you just arrived. Alec, I know it'd be hard on Joshua if you left."

"We're sure," Seth and Robin said.

"Joshua's got you, Max, and I can call. And it's about time I saw a little more of the world," Alec said, smirking, "The United States isn't exactly utopia."

"No kidding," Dalton muttered, glaring at Gem.

"You better not plan on leaving Taylor with me," Sidda said. "I am not being left behind while you all go on adventures. And the kid needs her mom, anyway. In fact, I think I should go. You can stay here and raise Taylor."

"People travel with babies all the time," Robin protested, "She can come with me!"

"Well, we'll see what Logan finds before we decide anything," Max said, forestalling several arguments. She couldn't completely commit to this crazy, randomly-hatched plan yet. It would hurt too much if she let her hopes get raised too high.

"Fine, but you can't just push this to the side, Max," Alec said, "All right?"

"Because we're definitely going to do something," Robin said. She had to get rid of this guilt somehow, and she knew she couldn't sit back and go with the flow when something this monstrous was eating at her.

Max was about to reply when a pair of arms draped around her from behind, and a warm cheek pressed against hers.

"Good to see you came out of the closet, Maxie," Syl said, briefly squeezing Max in a hug.

Max rolled her eyes as Syl let her go. "It was an office, Syl, not a closet."

Krit pulled out a chair between Logan and Alec and sat down. He smirked at Max. "She thinks she's insulting you in a clever way." He picked up a roll from Logan's plate and bit down on it. "Just ignore her. I always do."

Syl snorted. "You couldn't ignore me to save your life," she said as she walked over behind his chair. "And besides, if you ignored me, I'd kill you."

"Yep, you're totally Max's sister," Alec said, grinning at Max who had turned her narrowed chocolate eyes on him.

Syl looked over at him, her dark green gaze dangerously mischievous, as always. "Oh? And how's that?"

Alec was either not one to be deterred by possibly angering a couple women or he was just in a stupid mood. "There's something seriously screwed up about your logic," he said, turning his smile from Max to Syl. "See, if Krit doesn't ignore you, he dies. If he does ignore you, he dies. Either way, Krit gets completely spun, and you get to bounce off, happy and insane as ever."

"Dude, thank you," Krit said, turning to Alec. "I thought I was the only one to see it."

"Us guys have to stick together against the crazy," Alec said, nodding solemnly as he raised his fist. Krit pounded it, wearing the same serious expression on his face.

Behind their backs, Syl and Max glanced at each other, faces tight. Syl tilted her head in a silent question, and Max nodded a smug confirmation. With one swift move, Syl knocked Krit and Alec's heads together before they could even think to move. Tossing a glare at them, she walked over to Max, and they shared a victorious high-five while the guys complained and declared they hadn't done anything.

"Oh, stop whining," Sidda said, grinning at them from across the table. "You know you shouldn't mess with X5 girlies. We'll get you every time."

"Why though, is the question," Seth said. "I mean is it a general rule that you have to win, and we have to lose?"

"Nope, it's a law of nature," Max said, smirking at him. "And it's all women over all men."

Logan raised his eyebrows in amusement and turned to look at her. "So, you're saying that there's some secret code of womanhood that we don't know about?"

"If it's a secret, then we won't tell it," Gem said. She winked at him before looking down at Crystal. Max felt a brief surge of jealousy and immediately squashed it. Gem was Logan's friend, too, she was allowed to wink at him. Besides, it wasn't like there was anything between herself and Logan anyways. They were just friends, especially right now when T.C. was just getting off the ground.

"So is it world domination or just subversive acts that your group is into?" Logan asked, smiling at the silly direction the conversation had taken.

"Subversive acts with the intent of world domination," Sidda said, "We're underhanded overachievers."

"Ah, good choice," Logan said. "Cover of night or in-sight-out-of-mind theory?"

"Plain sight with night cover," Sidda replied, "We work the clubs." She took a sip of her drink and grinned as she set the cup back down. "Think about that for a while."

"No, thanks," Krit said, grimacing. "It makes my head hurt."

"Well, that's not hard to do," Syl said from where she was sitting on the side of Max's chair.

"As witnessed earlier," Krit said, rubbing the side of his head that bashed into Alec's temple. "I know you like beating me up, babe, but couldn't that wait 'til later?"

"I don't like waiting," Syl replied. She stole a chip off Max's plate and nibbled at it. "It's my prerogative to be impatient."

"And my prerogative?" Krit asked.

Syl shrugged. "To get beat up."

Krit sighed and shook his head. "How come I always get the raw end of the deal?"

"The secret code of womanhood says it must be so," Max said seriously, folding her hands and resting them on the table. The other were quiet for a moment before they started laughing, realizing she was joking. Max felt hopeful as she looked around the table. These were people who wanted to help her, no matter how much the danger was to themselves. There were old friends, new friends, her siblings and her…her Logan, whatever he was to her nowadays.

Her stare met Logan's, and the corners of his eyes wrinkled with a smile. Underneath the table, his gloved hand touched her bare one. Imperceptibly, she cringed at the contact before gently squeezing his hand, finding in his touch a reassurance that she hadn't felt all day. They were going to get through this, no matter what.