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 Four
"I’m twenty," she scoffed, rolling her eyes. Logan stared at her, figuring that she was pulling his leg. He didn’t press further, as he was a little sensitive on the matter of his age, among other things. Just then, Scott and Jean strolled by, their respective classes having been dismissed
"Hello Logan," Jean greeted her teammate, including Max with her smile.
"Well, that can be confusing," Max looked at Logan as well. "You never did introduce yourself."
"You asked for the professor, not me," Logan shrugged. "What’s the point?"
"The professor should be done shortly," Scott directed his words to Max. "I’ll just tell him you’re here, Miss…?"
"Gueverra," Max supplied. "Max Gueverra."
"Oh," Jean exclaimed. "We weren’t expecting you for almost a week."
"That’s what I heard," Max grinned. "I was already on the move when Logan, my Logan that is, told me where to head."
"Well then," Scott slipped into the role of host rather well. "I’m Scott Summers, this is Jean Grey and you’ve met Logan. Maybe to save on confusion, we’ll just all call him Wolverine."
"So where’d you come up with a nickname like that?" Max demanded lightly of Logan. He shrugged, not wanting to go into the details of his long-term amnesia.
"About the same place everyone else gets nicknames," he growled. "Right Cyclops?"
Max turned to Scott. "I take it most of you have nicknames?"
"For the most part," he smiled shyly. "The kids kind of gave us these names. It’s cooler than calling me that instead of Mr. Summers."
"Did you ever get tagged with a nickname," Jean asked congenially. They were all startled when Max burst out laughing.
"Not really," she gasped. She watched their reactions carefully, thinking of the barcode like tattoo at the base of her neck. She shook her head, dismissing their puzzlement. "It’s Max. Always has been, always will be."
Logan had the strange impression that she was somehow testing them. Whatever she garnered from their reactions to her words, she seemed content. Jean motioned towards Charles’ study and the group moved in that direction. Scott knocked quickly on the door, waiting only a moment before opening it.
"We have company," he announced. He stood back and motioned the group in. Students milled around for a moment, gathering their bags and papers before exiting the room. "Professor, allow me to introduce Max, the young lady we were expecting."
"You must have driven straight through to make it here by now," Charles smiled at her, putting her a little more at ease. "Either that or you were already on your way when your friend made arrangements for you."
"The second," she assured him, smiling back.
"Have you just arrived?" he asked, testing her in his own way. He’d been aware the moment she’d entered the vicinity of the school.
"No, I’ve been here for a while. Logan was kind enough to show me the kitchen so I could get a bite to eat. Then a quick tour and now I’m meeting you," she related. Logan was surprised that she covered for him. She hadn’t exactly lied, but she didn’t rat him out. "You’ve really made the most out of the space you have. Logan tells me that Scott pilots that jet you’ve got tucked away." She turned to Scott with a grin.
"I’m surprised that Logan took you down there," Scott grimaced. Charles watched with a thoughtful eye. He had sensed more of what was going on than either Logan or Max had related and knew perfectly well that she’d explored on her own. The pair had more in common than they knew yet and he wondered how that would play out.
"Oh, I can be pretty persuasive," Max chuckled, watching Logan squirm slightly. "I just prefer to be able to find my way out of tight spots. It helps to know the lay of the land." Unfortunately, that little comment served only to put some of them on guard.
"We can hardly fault that logic now, can we?" the professor decided, mostly addressing Jean and Scott. The pair was apprehensive about a person they knew next to nothing about discovering the secrets they housed. But Charles had no qualms about it. While he sensed that Max had her share of secrets, none would intrude on their mission. His eyes glazed over momentarily, and his office door opened once more. A stunning African American woman with shockingly white hair entered. "Ah, here you are, Storm." He made the introductions between the two women.
"Did Logan show you to your room?" Jean asked of Max. Logan was already making excuses.
"I didn’t know where you wanted her," he told Jean. She nodded.
"I forgot to mention it," she apologized in general. "We just weren’t expecting you yet."
"I kind of got that," Max scolded gently. "Don’t worry, I don’t need much room. And I didn’t bring a lot with me. I’ll have to do some shopping soon. Maybe even right now. That way I’m not interrupting your school day any more than I already have."
"Please feel free to come and go," Charles offered. "Logan doesn’t teach any of the classes as yet. Perhaps he could continue as your guide and take you into town today."
Both of them offered protests immediately. One look from the professor silenced Logan. "I don’t really need a babysitter, " Max told them. "I can take care of myself. If the people after me come sniffing around here, I don’t want to have to worry about saving anyone else. It might be better if I don’t associate with you. Save you all a lot of trouble."
"Look kid," Logan growled, "I don’t need any kind of that crap. Whatever your training, I could kick your ass and make you wipe up after. Care to try me?"
"Maybe instead of running off at the mouth," Max’s eyes went dead, "you could straight up realize that there are some badasses out there gunning for me that I’d rather deal with and save you the aggravation. Nobody here is saying that you can’t deal, Wolverine," she sneered his name. "But these are the type of people that you don’t want hunting you. Because there’s enough of them that they just don’t quit."
"All right," he backed off a little. "But I can handle anything they want to dish out."
"Whoa up on the testosterone," Max sighed. "Have you ever thought that you might want to bone up on the enemy before blithely deciding that you’ve got their numbers?"
"Wolverine has very little to fear in the way of injuries," Charles interjected cryptically. "Please believe me when I assure you that all of the people here can take care of themselves. That is part of what we’re teaching our students."
"All right," Max relented. "It’s your ass on the line if you want to follow me around."
At that moment, the phone on Charles’ desk rang. Turning away with it, he spoke quietly, then held the phone out to Max. "It’s your Logan."
"What’s up?" she asked merrily as soon as she had the receiver.
"Just wanted to see if you made it okay," came the reply.
"Yeah, sector police in the area were distracted from their route," she laughed.
"I imagine you had something to do with that," Logan Cale chuckled. "Could you do me a favor while you’re still in that area?"
"What is it?" she asked warily. Logan launched into the information he needed. She dutifully wrote down the addresses that she would need to visit. "That it?"
"It is kind of important Max," Logan sighed. "Relay that back to me as soon as possible so I
can-!"
"Yeah, I’ve got it," Max grunted. She listened to his humanitarian slant on the world for a moment before wiggling her eyebrows playfully. "I know, I know! Blah blah, woof woof! Okay, I’ve got to go now. Uh huh. Yep. Bye bye. Gotta bounce!" With that she slammed the phone down. "Man he never shuts up!" Jean tried to hide a smile. Max glanced at the paper in her hand. "I’m here an hour and already he wants me to get him info."
"What does he do?" Storm asked politely.
"He’s a cyber-journalist," Max replied, folding the paper and tucking it into her jeans pocket "He reports on the dealings of important people, revealing scandals and the like. He’s actually pretty good at ferreting out big things."
"What kind of scandals?" Scott asked casually, but inside his mind was whirling with the possible implications that Logan Cale had possibly sent her here to investigate them.
"You know the governor of the state of Washington?" Max asked.
"Not personally, no," Scott shook his head. Then he recalled something he’d read recently.
"Wasn’t he just indited on fraud charges?" Charles was a step ahead of him.
"Logan caught wind of the scheme and exposed the whole operation."
"An admirable job," Scott frowned. "And dangerous, I would assume."
"Yes, so dangerous," Max agreed with a lilt in her voce. "If he couldn’t hole up in his penthouse, the masses of downtrodden might overwhelm him."
"And let me guess, you’re his intelligence gatherer?" Wolverine snorted.
"That’s what I was bred for," Max quipped cryptically. "Like I said though, gotta bounce."
"Maybe I’d better come along and keep you out of trouble," Wolverine worried, his brow drawn together. Max shrugged indifferently and then waved genially to the rest of the company. She led him out to the driveway, where her motorcycle was parked. Logan took a moment to admire its sleek lines. He was about to suggest that they take a different vehicle when Max slung her leg over it and motioned for him to climb on. "If I’m going with you, then you’d better let me drive."
"Nobody drives my baby but me," Max snapped, pulling her glasses down over her eyes. "You’ve got about five seconds to decide what you’re doing." She started the motor, counting down from five as she did. Logan thought quickly about the reprimand he’d receive from Charles and decided it wasn’t worth the argument. He slung his leg over the set behind her and barely settled in before she roared off. She slowed momentarily at the end of the drive as the gates opened for them, then sped up again and headed into town.
Chapter Five
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