Disclaimer: Nope, none of them are mine.

Dealing With It

by Gatekeeper

Someone sent Logan photos of that day in the woods with the rest of the X-5s.

Max had known something was up from that look on his face after she'd apologized for shutting him out. But it was only after Logan had gone to bed that she actually saw them, tucked away in a corner of his desk where he actually thought they'd be hidden from her. Whatever - Logan should have known by this point that you can't hide anything from a genetically engineered cat burglar.

But he hadn't thrown them away. And that, Max thought, was worse than anything.

So she ran. Oh, not out of Seattle - not even Logan was gonna make her give up her territory - but away from the apartment, from the home it was becoming. Away from Logan, from the home that he had been becoming. This X-5 was going to be an independent little killing machine once again.

There were several reasons, but the one she would give if asked is that Logan no longer trusted her. Therefore, he could no longer be trusted. It was harder to admit to herself that Max was afraid Logan might be right, and when she finally snapped he might be the one she ended up hurting.

Practically impossible to come clean with was the fact that she was too afraid of how he would look at her now that he knew the truth.

The phone rang.

Max took a deep breath. Even if it was Logan, it'd be cool. She'd been doing his legwork by phone and pager for the past couple of weeks. No reason she couldn't just do that again. It was no problem.

The fact that Original Cindy had commented earlier that Max had been especially bitchy these last couple of weeks had nothing at all to do with it.

She picked up the phone.

"Max."

She kept her voice light. Gotta keep up that image, even when your heart is breaking. "Got some new info you want me to scout out?"

"No." His voice was unreadable. Damn him. "I've got something back at the apartment I want you to look at."

Uh-oh. Max knew that she should be delivering some smart-mouth comment about here, but nothing could get past the sudden fear that grabbed her throat. Though she wouldn't have admitted it for anything.

He was going to tell her about the photos. That meant they were going to have to deal with it, and not even avoiding him would be enough anymore.

"I had plans ..."

"This is important, Max."

Damn. No, that was not her heart breaking.

They needed to talk. Not, of course, that Logan had any idea what he was going to say.

He should have destroyed them, possibly even burned them in effigy somewhere. If Lydecker hadn't sent them, someone from his team did. They were meant as an attack.

Logan was ashamed to admit that it hadn't completely missed its target.

He knew she wasn't like that. He knew it. There had been plenty of opportunities for something like that to come out even during the time he had known her, and it hadn't.

So why hadn't de destroyed them? Why had he felt himself getting that look on his face when he had first seen them? She must have seen the look. That was why she was avoiding him.

But it had been a natural reaction, at least initially. A man couldn't help but be disturbed to see the woman he loves in that condition.

Wait - where the hell had that come from?

It didn't matter. No matter why he had done it, he had to fix this. Tonight. Completely. He grabbed the packet of photos and wheeled over to the stove.

"Logan! You here?" A part of her prayed that he wasn't.

"In here." Damn. She followed the sound of his voice into his computer room.

The packet of photos wasn't around. That was good. Maybe she could bluff her way out of this one. "Watcha need me to look at?"

Logan shook his head, his expression sober. "Nothing. We need to talk." He took a deep breath. "I take it you found the photos."

She would not cry. She would not cry. Ah, to hell with it. "So you no longer trust me enough to do your legwork? Fine." Max rushed on, unwilling to let him say anything. She had never enjoyed being hurt. "I might have left some stuff here. You can keep it. I can't reimburse you for the dress, but I can return it or give it to you or whatever you want." She turned quickly. Feline DNA, don't fail me now.

He grabbed her arm. The man was faster in that chair than she thought. "Stop. That wasn't it." There was a slightly desperate edge to his voice.

Max allowed herself to get angry. It was either that, or burst into tears. "What else could you have meant? I saw that look on your face after you got them. You think I'm a monster."

Dammit, he knew it was his fault. He couldn't lose her to this.

"I don't think you're a monster! I know you're not." He grabbed her other wrist forcing her look at him. "I was just a little shocked."

She tried pulling her wrists away, but they wouldn't come. Wasn;t she supposed to be the super-strong one here? Maybe love did strange things to your biochemistry.

Wait - where the hell had that come from?

No. "Why not? The feeling would be right. I'm no different than Ben. There was no sign he would lose it like that before we escaped. Who says it couldn't happen to me? It's smart of you not to trust me, to keep me away." She tried to free her wrists again.

Suddenly there was a jerking motion, and she was on his lap, in his arms. The tears coming even harder now - this felt so good - Max buried her face in his shoulder. His lips were centimeters from her ear. "No one ever said love was smart, Max."

Love. Love, love, love. He said he loved her. She should be panicking.

Instead, she lifter her tear-streaked face to his. "Dammit Logan, you were determined to make me cry, weren't you?"

He chuckled. All was forgiven. He didn't have to think about his not-exactly-intentional declaration just yet.

She moved her head back to the crook of his neck and they enjoyed themselves in silence for a moment. Then there was a small whisper from Max.

"Logan?"

"Yeah, Max?"

"If I ever get like Ben, promise you'll stop me."

His heart twisted at the thought, making his voice rough. "You won't get like that."

She lifted her head to look him in the eye again, her expression determined. "Promise me."

He closed his eyes. "I promise."

Max laid her head back down, her voice content. "Thank you. I'd want it to be someone I loved."

Nothing really needed to be said after that.