Max retrieved her baby and headed across town. It wasn't every day she started out fearing for Logan's safety and ended up going to talk to him later when everything was fine.
It did happen a lot, now that she thought about it. But not every day.
So Bennett was the Cale the guard had referred to. Max never would have expected him and Marianne to spend their time slumming in an old building in a rotten part of town. Good to know Logan wasn't the only non-snob in the family. Maybe there was hope for them yet.
When she got to 46th and Harvey, she sucked in her breath. Perched on the corner was a beautiful building. New brick and shiny windows gleamed in the afternoon sun. The landscaped grounds along its vast expanse made the building stand out among the smaller, more broken-down apartment buildings in the area.
They really did a good job, thought Max. How they intended to keep it a secret is beyond me.
It must have been nice to think of a gym as a fun place. Her memories were all of training and discipline. Sports had barely even been mentioned at Manticore. Then again, the same went for pool, foosball, and beer, all three of which she now enjoyed. Maybe sometime she would come make some new, better memories in this gym.
Next to the door of the gym in the hallway was a set of double doors, and through them Max could smell chlorine. If she thought the gym had brought back bad memories, she was wrong. The smell of a pool socked her every time. Too many forced speed laps. Too many diving exercises. But most of all, too many hours chained underwater, struggling to hold her breath. Max had rarely stepped foot in a pool since the escape. The Pulse and the resulting lack of available pool facilities had made avoiding them that much easier.
But she couldn't avoid this one. It was the last place in the building she had yet to look.
With a deep breath she pushed through the double doors, entered the locker room, and crept past the showers. She shook her head to clear away the flashbacks and opened the door to the pool.
The sound of one person splashing filled the giant room and bounced from every corner. An empty wheelchair sat perched at the edge of the pool. And this time Max wasn't wincing at the sight of bright blue water.
Her attention was focused on the man in the bright blue water.
Logan was swimming laps, completely oblivious to her presence. She wasn't sure whether that was due more to her silent entrance or to his splashing, but it didn't matter. She was content just to watch him. Every time an arm surfaced and rotated over his head, she admired the strength with which it plowed through the water. Every time his shoulders rotated and took turns surfacing, she admired the power they held. Through the waves of foam created by each splash, she could see the water slide off his skin. The rippling of muscle and water alike was driving her mad.
After a few minutes he paused in his laps to catch his breath, surfacing and swimming to the side of the pool. With a glance upwards he spotted her standing at the door, eyes still on him. "Hey, Max," he grinned, and waved her over.
When she could find her tongue again she said, "Marianne said I'd find you here," and stepped towards him.
"I knew you'd find out everything eventually. It was only a matter of time before she found out I was right."
She reached the side of the pool and crouched down to talk to him. He looked wonderful, wet and breathing hard and grinning at her. God, yes, he's right. Everything about him is right. She couldn't help grinning back. "One thing I don't get. I saw the files you left open. Why did you name them Pierpont?"
"Marianne's mother's maiden name. She's naming the place after her mom, 'cause she was pretty active in this area."
Logan took a minute to duck his head underwater. The sight of him shaking the water off his wet face took Max's breath away. She had to fight to form a coherent thought. "So this is why you've been avoiding me the last few days."
"This is why I've been busy the last few days," he corrected. "I would never avoid you."
Ohhhh...God, even though I know he doesn't mean it that way, it still sounds good. But his eyes weren't leaving hers and suddenly she wasn't so sure how he meant it. Would just a friend look at her like that?
"Can't say I expected to find you here," she said, avoiding the question.
"I don't know why not. This is where I've been spending most of my time the last couple weeks." He glanced around and nodded at the water. "This is one place I actually feel halfway normal."
"You're anything but normal," she said with her eyes riveted on his chest. His eyes snapped back to hers and she wondered if he could see her blushing. Just a friend wouldn't say that. At least not while slobbering.
Logan didn't seem to mind, though. "Neither are you." Those wonderful eyes of his seemed to drift to her lips and she could feel them tingle under his gaze. Without even realizing it she lowered her head to be closer to his, and their eyes met. Just friends wouldn't be doing this. But he wasn't stopping, and neither was she. Her eyes closed and she could feel his breath warm her face as he approached. And then his lips were on hers.
That's where they were meant to be.
The kiss was wonderful, soft, and firm enough to let her know he wanted it. This wasn't just a product of the moment. It had been a long time coming. It took a while ending, too.
When it was over, he looked up at her and smiled. "Join me."
Max shook her head. "I don't do pools."
"You're missing out," he said, and went back to his laps. Max watched Logan swim and realized she had been missing out all this time. He did mean it that way. He had been meaning it that way. And she hadn't seen it.
All this time, she hadn't seen it.
Suddenly the desire to be with him was so great that she couldn't stand to be up on the deck while Logan was in the water. Manticore be damned; she was getting in that pool. Her leather jacket dropped to the floor as Max dove into the water, swimming hard to catch up with him. As he made the turn for his next lap he saw her next to him, and they both smiled.
It wasn't long before they were finally side-by-side, moving in perfect harmony, ready for whatever came next.