AUTHOR'S NOTE: Got two more chapters of my "Choices" series posted. I just ran across this challenge and wanted to give it a shot.
*****
Foggle Towers
8:35 p.m.
"You want to move a little faster?" Logan snapped to the woman who was trailing behind his quick pace.
Max shot him a scowl "I'm sorry if me being hurt is slowing you down." she kept a firm hand on the laceration in her leg, limping in the direction of the elevator.
The pair soon reached the metal doors. Logan pressed the button and waited. He turned towards Max who had finally caught up with him, and was leaning against the wall. "I'm sorry you got hurt, but I DID say that there were large metal spikes sticking out of the ground."
"I heard you the last fifty fucking times you reminded me in the past ten minutes." she shot back venomously. "I wouldn't have LANDED on them if a certain Eyes Only CEO had made sure the car was in the right spot!"
"For the last time Max" he stated irritated "Those spikes would've punctured holes in my tires, and we would've been stuck back there."
They had both driven in Logan's Aztec to meet one of his informants. The meeting turned sour when the man pulled out an Ak-47 and aimed it at Logan. Max had tried to nail the creep but he had started firing on her, so that she had to jump for cover on the fire escape stairs of a nearby building.
Logan had managed to get back in his car and sped it around to the building where Max was at. He yelled at her to jump, but then read the sign that warned against backing out. He called out for her to watch out, but she didn't hear him. Needless to say she made the twenty foot leap. She caught sight of the spikes, but didn't have much time to maneuver out of their way. Her right leg struck hard against one of them, ripping a wound that started in her calf and ran to just above her knee.
The man was still shooting so, despite her pain Max hi-tailed it into the car. She started chewing Logan out for not being in the right spot. They fought with the issue all the way back to Foggle Towers.
"Yea. But at least I wouldn't have this damn hole in my leg!" she shouted back.
The elevator dinged, and the doors opened. Thankfully no one was there, otherwise their current situation would have aroused suspicion.
"Ladies first." Logan said with over coated sweetness.
Max glared at him "Don't even." They stepped into the elevator.
Neither of them said a word as the car began the descent.
"How's your leg?" Logan asked, facing the metal doors and not her.
"Hurts like a bitch." Max told him straight out. "But if it's any consolation THIS didn't happen to those precious Firestones."
Logan was about to respond to that when the car jumped. The lights flickered on and off, and the car jerked once, hard before stopping completely.
Max was thrown to the floor from the movement, landing right on her injured leg. "FUCK!" she hissed grabbing at the wound.
"Are you okay?" Logan knelt next to her. He started to reach for her, but she smacked him away.
"Don't touch me." she spat. "Just see what's wrong with the damn car."
Logan knew that she was hurt and tired, but he was at the end of his rope tonight. "Fine, push people away who are trying to help you." his words were bitter "Just like you always do." he climbed to his feet and walked the short distance to the elevators emergency phone.
"Spoken like the true veteran of that area." she returned his fire.
Logan didn't say a word. He opened the small red box and pulled the phone out of it. "Hello? Can some one tell me what the hell is going on?" he listened for a few minutes. "Great." he stated angrily, and hung up.
"Bad news?" Max asked.
"Transformer blew. There working on it, but it'll take at least an hour." he leaned against the wall.
"Great end to a shitty night." Max muttered to herself. She took off her jacket and ripped a sleeve off of her green sweater.
Logan turned towards her "What are you doing?"
"This thing isn't just gonna stop bleeding on it's own." she informed in a clipped manner, placing her makeshift bandage over the laceration. She bit her lip against the pain.
Logan moved away from the wall and took a seat next to her on the floor. "Does it hurt that much?" he noted the trickles of blood that ran down her leg, and how gingerly she held herself.
She blew him off "I'm a big girl Logan. I can handle it." her grip slipped and her arm grazed over the wound, and this time she screamed.
"DAMN IT ALL TO FUCKING HELL!" she swayed for a moment, loosing her sense of equilibrium.
"Take it easy." Logan caught hold of her shoulders, before she slid down the wall.
"That'd be simple if my leg didn't feel like it was on fire." she gritted out through clenched teeth. She tried to keep up her facade of the big, tough solider, but the pain was almost unbearable "It hurts." she finally admitted in a soft voice.
Logan rubbed her shoulder "Bling's still in my apartment. When this metal box gets moving, I'll ask him to take a look at it." he knew how much she loathed hospitals. Reminded her to much of Manticore.
"Thank you." she stated simply, trying her damnedest to stay mad at him, but with the pain, and his show of concern it was almost impossible to do.
He noticed that she was shivering slightly, most likely from shock. "You're cold, put your jacket back on."
She shrugged back into the leather gingerly, trying not to jar her leg in the process.
When she completed her task, Logan drew her closer to him with his arm.
"What are you doing?" Max asked in confusion "This is hardly the time for you to put the moves on."
"You're in shock Max." Logan pointed out in a no nonsense tone. "You need to keep warm, and one of the best to generate that is from body heat."
"I know how to deal with shock Logan." Max pointed out "I went on many training missions that didn't end without their share of broken bones."
"Just shut up, and scoot closer." he ordered.
She shot him a death glare for a moment, but did as he said, drawing her body right next to his, so that the only visible space that existed between them was Max's injured leg that she kept lying straight.
Once she was situated Logan looked down at her "Better?"
Truth be told she WAS warmer then she had been a few minutes ago. "I'm not shaking anymore. Which is good, 'cause it was starting to make me nauseous. But now all I feel is the pain."
"Lesser of the two evils." Logan stated, trying to inject a little light heartidness into their situation.
"Kinda like the way, *I* got ripped a little instead of your car." she looked at him "That way we didn't get trapped there."
"You're not the 'lesser' factor in this Max." Logan objected "I would have rather my back tires be ripped to shreds then you get hurt like this." his words were completely serious "As for getting away, we would've managed."
"Logan Cale. Man of a thousand contradictions." her words were bitter.
"I was wrong." he admitted honestly "I was just pissed that the deal had gone sour." he started to stroke her hair, happy when she didn't pull away. "I shouldn't have taken out on you."
"Damn right." she returned, not forgetting her snappy comebacks. But then added "I wasn't exactly Ms. Congeniality myself. You DID tell me that those spikes were down there." she paused briefly "I just didn't hear you."
"I should've just backed over those damn things." he stated out of the blue "There might have been a way to patch them up before-"
"There wasn't any time." Max broke in "Do you think that perp would just sit around and wait until you patched your tires? Hell no, he would've blown you away right there." she couldn't help keep the quiver out of her voice. That guy had aimed that 47 point black at Logan's head. She had reacted before she even had time to think.
Logan noticed the change in her voice pitch "Are you still cold?" he began to rub her arm.
She shook her head "I just think a little too much for my own good." she burrowed into him, laying her head on his shoulder.
He obviously didn't believe her because he took off his own leather jacket and placed it over her upper body like a blanket.
She raised an eyebrow "Knight in shinning armor?"
He shook his head negatively "Concern from someone who loves you."
At the word 'love' she looked at him long and hard "Oh." Her head moved closer to his chest.
Logan raised his arm so she could move closer and draped it across her shoulder.
"Glad it wasn't just an act of chivalry." she stated with a slight smile.
"You're no 'damsel in distress.' he said this to address a point. There wasn't a trace of anger or teasing in his tone.
"Never could see myself wearing one of those medieval gowns." she said randomly. "All to much lace and silk for me."
Logan smiled to himself at the way that had fallen into their usual banter. Even on temporarily de-commissioned elevator. He couldn't picture her like one of those women either. Maybe if those gowns had been made of leather. He could see her standing there, her hair unbraided, like the true rebel she was. Wearing a dress of black leather fashioned to the style of the medieval era. She would look dark, dangerous. But her eyes, they would show that she was no witch or temptress, but an angel. One who fell from grace, but never fell out of it.
"Logan HELLO, are you listening?" Max's voice interrupted his thoughts.
"What?" he shook his head slightly to clear it "Sorry, just thinking. "What did you say?"
"If you had been here on earth instead of wherever the hell you were just then, you would've heard me." she stated. "I said I was sorry for being bitchy."
"You weren't." Logan argued "I mean not REAL bitchy." he looked at her knowingly. "It's been a long night, you're hurt, and tired. You shouldn't apologize. If anything, *I* should be asking forgiveness from you for claiming that you push people away." he looked at her sincerely "That was over the line." he touched her face "I'm sorry."
She shrugged it off "Don't worry 'bout it. I'm a big girl."
"Big girls don't cry?" he sighed at the phrase she used again for the second time.
She could sense the underlying meaning of his words. He was being sincere, she should've just said thank you or something. "I accept your apology." she grasped his hand where it rested on her face "If you'll accept mine."
He smiled "More then done." he leaned over ever so slightly and kissed her.
She responded by drawing him closer with her hand on the back of his neck.
The car jolted again, and the motors came alive.
"We're moving again." Logan pointed out.
"Damn!" Max hissed
Logan was confused "Is that a bad thing?"
"No." she gasped out "Your leg is right on mine."
"Oh god, I'm sorry." he removed the leg that had gotten spooned with hers. "Are you okay?"
"Fine." she gritted out "Nothing a few sutures won't cure. Maybe a blood transfusion wouldn't hurt either."
Logan looked at her worriedly. Thankfully the elevator dinged on the floor number he had pressed forty minutes ago. He gently shifted out of the embrace he had with Max and stood up just as the doors opened.
He removed the jacket that had been covering her, and simply picked her up off the floor.
"Logan I can walk." she stated.
He looked at her "I saw how you could do it earlier remember? Don't argue." he carried her out of the elevator and down the hall to his door.
Bling must've heard them approach, because the door opened before Logan could get out his key.
"What the hell happened?" Bling demanded.
"Long story." Max pointed out as Bling moved aside so they could enter the building.
*****
Thirty minutes later Max was propped up against the arm of the couch. She had changed into the spare tank top and cream colored drawstrings she kept in Logan's bedroom. Her injured leg was resting on a pillow. It had taken thirteen stitches to close the wound. Despite the size of the laceration, her blood loss was minimal, so Bling didn't feel the need for her to have a transfusion. Besides, not many hospitals carried hyped up Manticore blood. Max may be the universal donor, but only another X5 could transfuse her.
"Are you sure there was nothing else to it?" Bling asked of Logan's story.
Logan handed him a coffee mug "What else did you think there was?" he left nothing out, even told him about kissing her.
"The two of you alone on an elevator for an hour, and all you did was kiss *once*?" his voice was doubtful.
"She was hurt." he reminded his friend "And in shock, I didn't do anything but try and keep her warm." at the look in Bling's eyes he added: "by *holding* her." he took the other two mugs and left the kitchen.
"Here." he stood in front of her and held out the mug. "This should warm you up some more."
She took the mug from him. "I was pretty warm in the elevator." she sipped her coffee. "Even with a one sleeved sweater."
He sat down across from her on the coffee table. "I'll buy you another one."
"You don't half too." she took another sip. "I'm the one who ripped it."
"I want too." he stated simply.
She shrugged "Not my twenty dollars, so okay."
He smiled "Good." his expression changed "How are you feeling?"
"Sore." she admitted "But the good news is I don't have to come into work tomorrow. Gonna call Normal and tell him I got mugged." she smiled "Oughta throw him for a loop."
"I guess there's a small upside to every situation." he stated. "Normal might by into your charade, but what's Cindy gonna say when she gets it out of him about why you aren't there in the morning?"
"She'll know I'm full of shit." she responded matter-of- factly. "And when she blows on my pager at lunch break I'll tell her the truth."
"She's bound to give me a verbal lashing." Logan pointed out.
"Can't help what my boo does." Max stated "But I'll defend you if she starts talkin' bout smackdowns."
"Thanks." he replied, setting his coffee mug beside him on the table, and placing hers there as well when she handed it to him.
Max stifled a yawn in her hand.
"Tired?" Logan asked She nodded "Must be the blood loss. Only thing that can knock me down this much, well besides a seizure."
"Why don't you take a nap?" he suggested.
"I gotta call my boss-" "I'll do that." he interrupted "You said he doesn't trust you that much, and this way it'll make it more believable." he helped her scoot further down and put a pillow behind her head.
"You sure this isn't chivalry?" she asked sleepily.
He shook his head "Just compassion and love, no strings attached." he leaned over and kissed her forehead.
"Normal's got a voice mail box at work" she said softly "555-2434."
He nodded, kissing her quietly on the mouth this time "Get some sleep."
Pulling back he saw Bling's eyes on him "NOTHING else happened." he answered the unspoken question.
He got up and made his way over to the phone and dialed the number Max had given to him. "You have reached the Jam Pony Voice Mail. If you have a customer service question, press one. And if you are any of my kids who are calling to skip work, state why so I know what I'm docking your pay for." *beep*
Logan shook his head at the message Normal left on the machine. "This is Logan Cale, a friend of Max's. Max won't be in tomorrow due to an injury she sustained during a mugging. The doctor advised that she stay off her feet for at least twenty-four hours, because of blood loss." he hung up, saying nothing more.
"Lying for your woman?" Bling asked with a raised eyebrow.
"I wasn't lying, per se." Logan pointed out making his way back over to the couch. He covered Max with a blanket he had draped over the back of the couch, making sure the blanket didn't fall on her leg. "She DID suffer blood loss. Getting mugged might have stretched the truth a little, but there was a man with a gun involved." he sat down next to her again. "And she isn't 'my woman.'"
Bling looked at him "Uh huh, and all those kisses were just friendly." he came over to where they were. "One of these days you're gonna tell me the truth boy." he stole at glance at Max, before walking over to retrieve his jacket "Goodnight."
"Bye." Logan replied as Bling left the apartment, closing the door behind him.
*****
End
That may seem like a weird place to end this, but if I went any further, it would've either ended all sappy or dragged on and on. Hope you like it anyway. I've been writing Max and Logan married stories for so long I kept having to make sure I didn't mention those babies in this story.
