Restive Nature
Rated: NC-17
Disclaimer: I in no way, shape or form own the characters of Dark Angel or X-Men or anything related to them. I simply like to play with them for a short while.
Timeline: This is a slightly AU story. It takes place more in Max’s timeline, with the pulse occurring. It begins after the episode ‘Blah Blah, Woof Woof" It doesn’t affect the X-men much, as Professor Xavier is affluent enough to afford the best in life. It also takes place after the first X-men movie, but as I haven’t seen the second one, I’ll leave that stuff alone.
Pairing M/L
Summary: Once again Max is on the run. But this time she is led to a safe haven.
Chapter Five
"Where’s this information at that your friend needs?" Logan yelled in her ear over the sound of the engine.
"There’s an office building downtown that has the file we need," she yelled back, turning her head slightly. He liked the way she kept her eyes on the road. He helped her along, giving her the occasional direction once she’d repeated the address to him. All too soon, they pulled along side other vehicles in the parking lot.
"How do you propose to get in?" he asked, clambering off the bike as she pushed the kickstand down. She smiled at him and opened up her backpack. She reached in and pulled out a manilla envelope and hat. She copied the address from the sheet of paper onto the envelope. She placed her hat on her head and hurried into the building. Logan decided to follow. ‘Just back-up in case she needs it.’ He told himself. It wouldn’t be seemly to allow her to get into hot water on her first day here. He saw her march up to the administration desk.
"Hi, where can I find David Lancaster’s office?" she asked politely. The receptionist pointed at the elevator and said a few words that Logan couldn’t make out. He moved swiftly to follow her, catching the elevator just before the doors closed. "Couldn’t bear to see me go?" she mocked him.
"Seems I’m playing bodyguard for the day," he parried. She rolled her eyes.
"Save me from overprotective males," she grumbled in a soft voice. They reached the floor she’d indicated and exited carefully. Max checked the door leading to the fire escape. Logan eyed her warily as she first opened the door, looked up the stairs, then shut it again. She turned and headed down the hallway at a brisk clip. He was only mildly surprised that the exit alarm didn’t go off. Max came to the door marking Lancaster’s office. She walked in as if she owned the world. He caught up, but didn’t go in after her. He’d wait to see if he needed to haul her chestnuts out of the fire. "Jam Pony messenger," he heard her announce. "I have a priority package for David Lancaster. Is he in?"
"I’m afraid Mr. Lancaster has left for the day," the secretary replied. "I can take that though."
"I’m sorry ma’am," Max ad-libbed. "It’s our company policy that all priority packages must be signed for by the recipient only. Will Mr. Lancaster be in tomorrow?" The secretary indicated that she would. "Then I’ll leave you a delivery notification slip and come back tomorrow."
"This is a Seattle address," the secretary noticed.
"That’s our main office," Max explained. "The phone number will connect you to the service office in this area. But I’ll come by tomorrow and get this to Mr. Lancaster."
"Oh, thank you very much," the secretary’s suspicions were quickly put to rest. Max reappeared before Logan. He eyed her warily, impressed by how quick she was on her feet.
"Let’s go," she said quietly. "I need to pick up a few things."
"Is that a real package, or just a fake?" he asked of her when they entered the elevator. She handed it to him with a shrug. He opened it and pulled out a copy of the New York Times. He grinned. "What if he was there?"
"Hey, it’s my job to deliver the package, not make sense out of them," she retorted. "You know, my coworkers and I deliver a lot of strange things to people. We’ve learned not to question it."
"You mean you actually work for a delivery company?" he scoffed.
"I don’t wear this hat for its killer fashion statement, you know," she laughed. They reached the ground floor and exited the building. Max stuffed the package, her hat and her backpack into the sidesaddle. She climbed on and waited for Logan.
"Don’t you wear a helmet?"
"Don’t you?"
"Well, you were in such a hurry, I didn’t have time to grab one," Logan decided.
"I’ve never had an accident on this thing," Max informed him. She made sure he was settled before heading out of the parking lot. "Where can I find some decent clothes around this town?"
They spent the rest of the day wandering around town. Logan noticed that Max wore a quiet air of readiness about her. Every once in a while, he caught her looking around and listening, as if waiting for something. She wasn’t exactly nervous, just on guard. And he did notice as well that she avoided the sheriff’s officers like the plague. But he couldn’t fault her. He was just as wary. He directed her to the nearest mall, following after her reluctantly. He shared the general male outlook on shopping with females. To his surprise, Max shopped smartly, and swiftly. In a very short time, she’d made her purchases and they were leaving the mall.
"Buy you a cup of coffee?" she asked, nodding towards the café on the corner. He nodded. He couldn’t think what else they could do to kill time. After ordering, they snagged an outdoor table. She glanced around, taking in the scenery. "Boy, it’s amazing that there are places like this, after the pulse."
Logan nodded. He had been just as amazed at the time, when the terrorist group had attacked the States. But since then, he’d gone through more amazing situations and rarely gave it thought anymore. "I think the smaller towns survived better than the bigger ones. Much more laid back about things. They aren’t about rushing and the almighty dollar." She nodded.
"So, tell me about your friends," she suggested.
"What’s to tell?" Logan shrugged. "They’re a bunch of teachers."
"Okay," Max drawled as she stiffened in her seat. She could tell that there was more to the story. "So what exactly do you do?" She had been mentally going over everything she could remember about the place Eyes Only had directed her to. While it wouldn’t normally register on her scale, there’d been quite a lot on the news recently about the mutant threat. It was just another reason to keep a low profile, lest someone mistake her for one.
"I travel," he replied casually.
"How’d you end up at Xavier’s?" she asked pointedly. He didn’t seem inclined to answer, so she tried a different tact. "He said earlier that you have little to fear about injuries. What’s that about?"
"What’s with all the questions?" Logan growled. She leaned forward, arms on the table, staring at him intently.
"I’m sure you realize by now that I am not dumb," she smiled coldly. "I do pay attention to the news. Probably not too many mutants with a name like Xavier who run a school for gifted children, are there?" She leaned back. "But if you don’t want to talk about it, that’s fine." Logan watched her, gauging her possible reaction.
"What do you think about mutants?" he asked finally.
"Couldn’t care either way," she replied flippantly, shrugging one shoulder. "They’re born, probably had no say in how their lives would turn out. Deserve a fair chance, just like anybody else."
"You don’t think they’re dangerous?" he dug a little further.
"Hardly," she scoffed. "Sure, I bet some of them are powerful," she stressed the word. "But being dangerous is a choice you make. Just like being good or evil. So, no, I wouldn’t turn and run in the other direction were I to knowingly encounter one." Logan smiled at that. "You however, I’m still on the fence about." His face fell a little and she grinned saucily at him. "So, are you gonna own up to it now." He sighed.
"Mutants, yeah," he grimaced. "Let’s see, Scott, also known as Cyclops, shoots beams from his eyes. Storm can control the weather. Jean is telekinetic with some psychic ability. The professor is completely mental."
"Oh, that’s a polite way of putting it," Max giggled. "What about you?"
"I heal fast," he hedged, unsure about revealing his more noticeable mutation.
"So do I," Max interjected. "Does that qualify me as a mutant?"
"Depends on what you mean by fast," Logan mused. He took a sip of coffee. His mind moved to a new topic, not wanting to allow her a chance to delve too deeply into his life. "You know, earlier, when I asked how long you were AWOL, you said we. How many went over the wall?"
"Twelve of us," she answered shortly. Logan could see the pain etched on her face, though she tried to hide it. "There’s fewer of us left. Brin went back," she mused, then seemed startled that she’d said it out loud.
"If you left willingly, how come this… Brin went back?"
"She was ill," Max shrugged, trying to appear nonchalant about it. "Dying in fact. It was her choice. We couldn’t argue with that."
"You keep saying we?" Logan wasn’t exactly confused, but he was interested.
"My brother, Zack and I," Max explained.
"Your brother, huh?" Logan mulled that over. "Is he older than you?"
"Um yeah, I guess so," Max wrinkled her brow. This line of questioning was getting too personal for her taste. "We’re not blood relatives. We’re…"
"Adopted?" She didn’t answer. "What happened?"
"My mother gave me up at birth," she whispered.
"Ouch," Logan replied gently. "I’m sorry. Didn’t mean to be nosy."
"Don’t worry, I’ve had plenty of time to deal with it," Max waved her hand airily, hoping now that he’d back off the topic. She grinned. "So what about your family?"
"Don’t have one," now it was his turn for shortness.
"Not that it matters," Max muttered. "Sometimes they can be a real pain in the ass."
"You got that right," Logan smiled fondly. "Actually, I’ve learned over the years that blood does not a family make." He grimaced. "The idiots at the school have been trying to pound that into my head."
"How’d you get involved with them?" Max asked. "If you don’t mind me being nosy now?"
"Storm and Cyclops saved me and Rogue from another mutant," Logan explained quickly. "I agreed to stay put and protect Rogue in exchange for some help dealing with some stuff in my past."
"Rogue’s a mutant as well?" He nodded. "And did you get the help you needed?"
"The professor gave me some information, but it didn’t pan out."
"Maybe my Logan could give you a hand," Max suggested carefully. It wouldn’t do to offend him, now that she knew a little bit more about the situation she had dropped it on. "He’s pretty good at cracking mysteries."
"Maybe," Logan shrugged, unwilling to commit to anything. "We should probably get back to the house. The others will be waiting," Logan decided, swallowing the last dredges of his coffee. He stood, waiting for Max to do the same.
Chapter Six
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