---

A/N- I do not own the songs used in this chapter. They are the sole property of the people who wrote them.

 Chapter 5: A Problem

**************************

No one came to the door. Max, was thoroughly confused, because Jondy had said that Logan was going to be there tonight. Max rang the bell again. Still, no one answered the door. That�s odd. Maybe he�s just expecting me to come in. Max decided that this was the best plan, so she squatted down and proceeded to pick the lock. Once inside, she walked around, surveying the place for any kind of life. �Logan! Hey! Logan! Are you here?� Max went to each room, but found no one. She ended up in the kitchen, hoping that maybe Logan was just brooding, and was waiting until she saw him to start laying it on her for hurting him so badly. But, just like in every other room, there was no one in the kitchen. There was however, a note on the table. Max went over to pick it up, and started to read. There were two separate sheets. One with a letter printed on it, and the other had some kind of song. Max read the letter first.

Max,

Max was reeling from the words in Logan�s letter, but she had to read the song that he said described his feelings.

Romantic Fool

Sometimes I lay my heart on the line too easily,

it�s romantic fool

I turn into.

Sometimes a risk has got to be made,

I feel with you,

this is trouble to get into.

If you feel the same, please just say,

because I can�t play the games people play,

when it comes to love.

So many times throughout my day,

thoughts turn to you,

and people catch me smiling.

And I know not many words have passed between us,

I feel alive

when you pass on by.

And if you�re feeling sad

you gotta say,

because I can�t play the games people play,

when it comes to love.

If you feel so inclined

to give me some time,

I won�t waste time, just get on, get on, get on with love.

Oh I lay my heart on the line so easily,

so easily to you,

so easily with you.

If you bring on all this trouble, and I�m willing to be

just with you,

just with you.

And if you feel the same, you gotta say

because I can�t play the games other people play

when it comes to love.

Come on baby.

Tell me the words I want to hear.

Tell me you�re willing to give your love right on back to me,

right on back to me.

Come on, just say it,

stop, stop delaying it, tell me the way you feel,

are you a romantic fool too?

Max couldn�t believe the words to the song. If it was true that these lyrics were what Logan was thinking, that meant that he was waiting for her to come to him to tell him that she loved him. How could he do that to me? He knows that I have trouble with the whole emotion thing. I can�t come right out and say I love him. I don�t even know if I do. Wait a minute. He didn�t tell me, he just left me a song. I could do that too. Max started to pace around the apartment. She had to think of some kind of song that expressed her feelings. Her incredible memory certainly came in handy in situations like this. After about an hour of pacing and pondering, Max came up with the perfect song. She went into Logan�s computer room hoping to find something to write on. By the phone she spotted his pad of paper that he used to take notes down on when he was talking to his informants. Max first wrote down the song.

Hanging by a Moment

Desperate for changing
Starving for truth
I'm closer to where I started
Chasing after you

I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held on to
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hangin by a moment here with you

Forgetting all I'm lacking
Completely incomplete
I'll take your invitation
You take all of me now

I'm falling even more in love with you
Letting go of all I've held on to
I'm standing here until you make me move
I'm hanging by a moment here with you
I'm living for the only thing I know
I'm running and not quite sure where to go
And I don't know what I'm diving in to
I'm hanging by a moment here with you

There's nothing else to lose
There's nothing else to find
There's nothing in the world
That could change my mind
There is nothing else...

After finishing with the song, Max left Logan a small note.

Logan,

Max left the two sheets of paper on the pad, and left, hoping that Logan would find the note the next time he went to do some work, which would more than likely be sometime later on that night.

****************************

One week later:

Max sat at the top of the Space Needle, dejected and disappointed. Not only had she not seen Logan for the past week, she hadn�t even talked to him. He wasn�t even calling her to do any Eyes Only missions. After what seemed like forever, Max had finally almost given up waiting for Logan, but she knew deep down, that she could never do that. And that was why she found herself here, on the Space Needle at four in the morning. She needed to get away from everything, and get to a place where she could be alone with her thoughts. As dawn broke, Max descended the Needle and headed straight to work. Still feeling down around lunch, Max decided to pay Jondy a visit. She hadn�t heard from her either, and Jondy had said that she wanted to know how things turned out with Logan. Max biked over to Rapid Delivery Service and walked in. She walked over to the front desk and rang the little bell. A short, bald man jumped up at the sound of the bell.

�Hi, can I help you?�

�Um yeah, I�m looking for my sister Jondy. Do you know where I can find her?�

�Oh, you�re Jondy�s sister? She talks about you all the time. She�s one of my best riders you know, and she hasn�t even been here that long!�

Max smiled at the man. �Yeah well, that�s my sister! So, do you know where she is? I was hoping to have lunch with her.�

�Well, there�s a coffee place a couple blocks over that a lot of my riders go to, you could try there.�

�Thanks.� Max turned around and walked out the door. Thank god I don�t work there. So sterile and clean, everyone is so efficient. And that guy is just too cheerful for his own good. He almost made me miss Normal, as odd as that thought is. Max got on her bike and began to look for the coffee shop. And as always with Max, her mind began to wander. I wonder, since I haven�t heard from either Jondy or Logan all week is because they�re still together. Max frowned at that thought. No, that couldn�t be it, could it? Because I mean, Jondy wanted me to tell her what happened, and Logan left me those lyrics. But why hasn�t he called? I could always just ask Jondy straight up. I could always tell when she was lying. What makes this any different? Max pulled up beside a run down place that had a half-broken sign hanging over the door. The Grind. Hmmm, cute. Max walked in, and did a quick scan of the place. There wasn�t much to it. On her left were a couple of old couches and some chairs around a small table, straight ahead were a few tables with two or three chairs around them, with a small TV overhead, and a door that must�ve led to a back room. To her right was a large case and front desk. The case had a bunch of coffee cakes and treats. Behind it was a wall filled with prices of old specialty coffees, with a large white banner covering most of them that said �Black coffee. $7.00.� The walls of the rest of the place were covered in brown-colored murals of people from the Victorian Age. At first glance, Jondy didn�t appear to be in the coffee shop. There was a couple necking on the one couch, and a group of people surrounding one of the tables near the back that were completely engrossed in a political conversation that was becoming more and more heated every second that went by, and the clerk, but other than that, there was no one around. Max was about to leave when she gave the couple a second look. The girl was facing towards Max, while the guy had his back to her. Max looked closely at the girl first, since she could see her face. Upon closer inspection, it was Jondy! Max smiled to herself. Jondy�s only been here a week and she already has herself a guy. One that seems fairly muscular, with blonde, spikey hair... oh my god, this can�t be happening. I knew it though. �Jondy, I can�t believe you!�

Jondy reluctantly pulled away from her kiss when she heard her name being yelled across the coffee shop. She looked in the direction of the front door, and saw Max standing there, absolutely fuming. As soon as the girls made eye contact, Max spun around, and left. Jondy threw an apologetic glance towards here partner, and flew after Max. She caught up with her just as Max was about to hop on her bike. �Max, wait! It is so not what you�re thinking.�

�How could it be anything else? It�s obvious that you and Logan are happy together, and I�m not going to stop you.� Max looked at Jondy and became even more angry, if that was even possible, when she saw Jondy smiling. �What?�

�Did you see a wheelchair?�

Max thought about it and Jondy could see her going over the event in her mind.

�That�s right Max. No wheelchair. That wasn�t Logan. Come here.� Jondy grabbed the hand of a very stunned looking Max, and pulled her back into the coffee shop, over to the couches. Max saw the back of the guy Jondy had been kissing, and when she walked around to see his face, it was clearly not Logan. Max let out a sigh she didn�t even know she was holding. Jondy sat down beside the guy, and motioned for Max to sit across from them.

Max looked at the guy. He was about twenty years old, fairly built, but it was the kind of build that you really couldn�t see. He wore baggy blue jeans, a tight white shirt, and an orange vest. He had spikey blonde hair, and piercing blue eyes, that were the ones you could just get lost in. Just like Logan�s.

�Max. It�s not polite to stare.�

Max shook her head, and looked at Jondy, who was clutching the guy�s hand, and smiling at Max. Max looked back to the guy. �Sorry, you just look a lot like a friend of mine.�

Jondy turned to the guy beside her. �Justin, this is my sister, Max. Max, this is Justin. We work together.�

Justin leaned over to shake Max�s hand. �Max, it�s so good to finally meet you. I�ve heard so much about you.�

Max looked over at Jondy. �Apparently so have a lot of other people.� Max looked back at Justin. �Nice to meet you though.�

Justin leaned over to give Jondy a quick kiss. �I�ve gotta go. See you tonight?�

�Wouldn�t miss it.�

The pair smiled at each other and Justin got up and left, throwing Max a quick wave. Jondy�s eyes followed him out the door, and looked back at Max, who had her one eyebrow raised and a very bemused look on her face. �What?�

�You�ve only been here a week, and already you�ve scored yourself a guy!�

Jondy shrugged her shoulders. �Well, yeah!�

Max shook her head. �Wow, I wish I had your attitude towards guys, I just can�t seem to get anywhere with them.�

�I take it then, with that revelation and with your little outburst, you and Logan haven�t worked things out too well.�

Max leaned back in the chair she was sitting in. �You could say that. I went to go see him a week ago, like you said I should, and he wasn�t there. He had just left me a note, so I left him one telling him to call me. But the thing is, he hasn�t, and I�m scared to think of why.�

�Well, what did his note say?�

�See, that�s the thing, he said that he could never come right out and talk about our relationship to me, so he left me the lyrics to this old song, which basically said he loved me, but he was too afraid to say it out loud.�

�So what did you do?�

�Well, I decided that I would just leave a note too, so I did. All it said was to call me, and then I left the lyrics to an old song which basically said I was waiting for him... and I can�t believe I�m telling you all this.�

�What are sisters for?�

�I guess so. So what do you think?�

�Hmmm, that�s a toughie, but personally, I�d give him one more day, and then drop by when he least suspects it, and confront him.�

�Do you think it�ll work? I mean, I can�t understand...�

Suddenly the program that was drowning on in the background on the TV set cut off, and both Max and Jondy turned to watch it.

�Whoa! Max! Manticore!�

Max kept staring at the screen, and didn�t want her concentration broken. She put a hand up in the air. �Shut up.� Max knew Jondy was hurt by her statement, but she had to think. His safe house, what safe house? It couldn�t be any of the normal ones, because he said HIS safe house. It wouldn�t be his apartment. His cabin. Logan�s at his uncle�s cabin. Of course. Max quickly stood up. �Jondy, I have to go. Whatever you do, do not talk on the phone or radio. I�ll be back in a couple of days.� Max started to walk out of the coffee shop. Even the sound of Jondy�s complaints did not stop her. She had to get to Logan to see what was going on.

****************************

 Chapter 6