Episode Two
SISTA TWO

Chapter One 
SHALLOW END

< JAM PONY >

Max and Original Cindy are walking towards their lockers.  “Logan spoke to you yet, boo?”

Max slammed open her locker door, it's hinges nearly giving in. She said sarcastically, “Oh yeah.  The oh so mighty save-the-world-by-Tuesday foundation is needing a cat burglar to dump some garbage in the lake.”  She turned to look at the entrance of Jam Pony to see Alec entering. Max and Original Cindy went on getting their things from their lockers with Max’s packages for the night on the bench.

“Hey Normal.  What a great night, we’re having, huh?” pausing at Normal’s desk, asking for his packages.

Normal is looking onto some sheets and signing some.  “You’re early.”

Alec gave him a lopsided grin, but this went undetected by Normal who is currently signing some papers.  “And that’s a bad thing.” 

“Max is earlier than you.”

Alec looked at Max and then at Normal,  “Oh.”  He tried to make up some excuse, “See, Normal this sector cops were outside -”

Normal looked up and gave Alec a level look, “Spare me.  SHE,” indicating Max with his pen, “just came from your part o’ town.” Then he turned back to signing papers again.

“Naw!  She came from her crib.”

Normal stared at Alec, “For the love of Mike! Get your packages to their destination detected.  Wouldn’t want the company insurance to take you in.” 

Alec grabbed his packages and turned to leave, “Thanks Pal!” He hopped onto the desk and gives Normal a pat on the back.  Then he went to the locker area.

Original Cindy placed her arm around Max’s shoulders and said, “Gotta give the man some time, boo.  Original Cindy knows her role in this bitch, bitin’ your back so you’d tell him.  Original Cindy gotta take some o’ the blame.”

Max merely stared at the entrance and said, “He does have a right, you know.  After all, this is on me hundred percent.” 

They’re about to walk out when Alec called, “Hey Max, Logan knows huh?!”  he could not quite keep his smile from showing.  Max gave him a pissed off look.  He remembered Terminal City as well as all that has been on Max’s shoulders for the past couple of months and sobered, “Oh.  Got me there.”

“Just go with your deliveries, Alec.”  Max said bitingly before turning to go out of Jam Pony with Original Cindy.

“Don’t forget to that hotrun in -” Max turned to Normal, her gaze alarmingly furious.  “Uh… just go.” Normal flipped his hand to ward off Max, a bit nervous at seeing her look at him as if ready to kill the next person who pisses her off.

< JOSHUA’S PLACE >

“…Stay strong in the struggle.  This has been an Eyes Only streaming freedom video bulletin. Peace. Out.”  Logan clicked the broadcast off, reached over to turn off the video cam and other devices leaving only 2 monitors turned on.  He stared at his equipment – the others salvaged from his apartment and the others taken by his cat burglar… No!, he did not want to think about her.   Not the lie… putting him through that pain, while she and her… “Dammit!” he cursed.  He cannot think about those things now.  He had a mission to do and it sure won’t get done if he continued torturing herself… trying to find the reason… Why, Max?, he thought.  Has he really been reduced to some dumbass who didn’t know the difference?  Did she really think he was that dumb to pull her trick on him? Logan’s lips made a thin line.  No.  Now is not the time to think about -

“ - Hey.”>  Max was standing there at the back of Logan, her body resting on the door frame, hesitantly smiling at him.

Startled, Logan had to calm himself down as he felt his breath catch  - weather in her sudden greeting or simply her presence he didn’t know.  Probably both.  He turned, just stared at her and then went back to look at his monitors.  He didn’t know how much she had heard, but he hoped that he wasn’t talking aloud whenhe thought about her lie.  He could still not accept that Max lied to him.  But as she said countless times in the past, shit happens.  Only this time, he was the shit head. 

He took a deep breath and controlled breath before asking, “Need anything?”

Max nearly winced at his hard words, an excruciating pain washed over her before she caught herself, relieved that Logan was facing his computers.  “Not really.”  She walked towards Logan, hesitantly, not knowing whether she should come closer.  She took her other hand hidden behind the wall by the doorframe and said lamely, “I scored us some gas.”

“Ummm…”  Logan still focused on his computer, his mind wanting to shout at Max, but his whole being wanting to just be able, for the tiniest bit of a second, to touch. “You going anywhere?” he said curtly.

“Well… you got those sector passes, kinda waste if we don’t use it…”

He had forgotten about that - of course she knew he had it.  She was there when Clemente gave it to him.  “I’m not in a hurry.”  Was all he said, his back to Max.

Max walked over and tapped her gloved fingers onto Logan’s desk as she felt more than saw Logan slightly move away from her.  She didn’t know what to do.  She knew he had every right in this freakin’ world to shout at her, get mad at her, heck, even throw her butt out of the window… well if he could… but this was not getting them anywhere and the word patience has not been invented for Max's vocabulary. She stood beside Logan, readying herself for battle – meeting the adversary.

“Heads up.  You wanna kick my ass, be my guest…  blow your head off of me, I’ll give without a fight.  Just don’t go freaking silent on me.  If I wanted the silent treatment, I could have up and gone to work!”  With that, she dropped the container and head out onto her baby to drive through the dangerous Seattle streets.

Logan closed his eyes and stared at his monitors blankly.  Dammit! He has every right to get angry at her.  So why does he feel such a jerk now?  He turned and looked at the gas container, stared at it before walking into the living room – to find not one, but 5 containers of gas.  Now THAT was definitely a feat – even for Max. 

 ~ FASHBACK ~

BLING: …maybe you can go raft up with her.

LOGAN: No. It was the right thing to do – let her go.  For a thousand different reasons.  And I always do the right thing, right?

 ~ END OF FLASHBACK ~

Now he felt even more of a loser for not just talking to her about it.  He walked into the kitchen his fist hitting onto the wall by the doorframe as he hit his head onto the wall and groaned in frustration, “Dammit!”

< SPACE NEEDLE >

Max sits on the needle, looking at the sky, not at the people.  Her eyes staring blankly.  She had no clue what to do.  She knew Logan has every right to be upset.  She knew it was her fault.  Zach had been right… sentimental lies!

 ~ FLASHBACK ~

ZACH: You’re gonna miss him, aren’t you?

MAX:  You think that’s stupid.

ZACK:  No.  A part of me wants the same things – friends… A place where I belong… Someone to care about.

MAX:  Thought it was a sentimental lie.

ZACH:  Even I have my moments of weakness.

 ~ END OF FLASHBACK ~

She sat there thinking, But I can’t go.  No matter what I do, I can’t go… can’t leave him.  Max sighed.  Coming up the Space Needle, looking down on everyone… she knew now that she could never be ordinary.  If she were to face reality, she had known even then.  She came up here to get some perspective, not dream about being normal.  Hope is a con job people trip behind till they finally get a grip on the cold hard truth.  The truth is, no matter what she does, “…it's always there, the darkness… right on my tail.”

“But you got moves.”

Max suddenly turned to see Logan, fear in his eyes, hesitating to go anywhere beyond the broken window he was standing at.  She was shocked to find him here…  That he would bother.  Yet he had come up…  alone… afraid of heights.  She turned her head and looked down on the Seattle streets. 

Logan, seeing that as an opening, tried to walk down on the needle as carefully as he could and decided to sit down next to Max, bracing himself.  They were both silent, not knowing how or when to break the silence.

Logan cleared his throat.  He wasn’t looking at Max, but staring at the people below the needle.  “I came here… right after you… after Manticore… I had to get some perspective.  I didn’t know what else to do… If all of it were real… or if it was all a dream.” Max continued to look down on the people, not moving, just listening to Logan.  “When you told me… about Alec… I could not understand.  I still don’t… not entirely.  I only know… this.”  Logan uttered no other words.  He’d give up everything just to kiss Max right now, but he can’t.  He won’t.  It wasn’t the virus.  It was an understanding. 

“The universe is right on schedule,” was all Max could say.  She would have kissed Logan.  She wanted to, but she can’t.  She won’t.  It wasn’t the virus. It was an understanding… a beginning.  They did not want to break the fragile moment.

***********

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