Title: anything and everything

Author: sue

Rating: PG

Show: DA

Genre: Angst/Romance/Adventure

Type: WiP

Summary: under the chaos of a failed mission, somehow Logan had managed to do the impossible- infect Max with the virus. Now, it's up to Alec to stop her from taking an unplanned journey across the tunnel that ends with the bright lights. And he won't stop at nothing to make sure of that..

***

well, here I am!! In The Abbey! *grin* wow, still couldn't believe it, it's a dream come true! Ok, I would like to say thank you to Spikeswench, who had started the chain reaction- thanks to her.. I'm standing at the threshold of this incredible place. ^-^ And to Infie, who had been very patient with me as she had literally given me the step-by-step guidance to post this. lol And I really hope you'll like the story.

And this chapter was beta-ed by heather (",)

***

Chapter 1. Running for their lives.

The dark forest was unnaturally still that night. Very still and heavily blanketed in darkness. Not even a whisper of cool summer breeze was in the air. Even the half moon was hidden behind dark unmoving clouds. But suddenly something broke the silence of the night. The sound of a car crashing through the undergrowth of the forest.

Logan frantically plowed his car further into the thick forest, missing tall, almost invincible trees by mere inches. Just barely. His gaze went to the rearview window, fearfully looking everywhere for his pursuers. Finding none, he let out his pent-up breath, silently congratulating himself on his skill in losing those Familiars. And in less than an hour that is, he grinned, very pleased with himself. Well, maybe slightly longer, he shrugged while trees blurred by. It didn't matter he thought, grinning to himself, the point is we got away safe and sound. His happy train of thought was suddenly derailed as he heard something in the back seat. A groan. Again he glanced at the rearview window. His worried gaze stumbled upon a pale, very still and noticeably wounded Max. She was holding his shirt that was almost soaked in blood to her shoulder.

'Max, you're okay right?' Logan asked with a frown. They were miles away from civilization and he shuddered to think what he would've done if she passed out. Max getting shot was bad enough, thankfully it was only a shoulder wound and the bullet had passed through cleanly so he didn't have to dig for one. Thank God for small favors. His frown got deeper as his question was answered with prolonged silence.

'Max!' he said sharply and he had his response.

*

'Yeah. I'm fine,' Max mumbled without opening her eyes. The hand that was putting pressure on her wound started to slacken with the combination of exhaustion and loss of blood. Realizing this, Max pushed the shirt harder against her shoulder. The bleeding had finally stopped, but she had lost considerable amount of blood while being chased by White's men and bounced like a tennis ball by Logan's car. Her head started to spin, so she tried resting it against the glass panel but the car suddenly turned to the right and her head bumped sharply. She grimaced with pain as the car ran over something, resulting in her head's encounter again with the glass panel. An extremely painful encounter. The sudden movement, which nearly jolted her to the floor, had made her shoulder felt as if she had been shot again and again, all in the same place. Suddenly she had no idea what she was really doing here. Did she actually need to put her life on the line every time she helped Logan? And if she remembered correctly, he said that this was an easy job. Get in, retrieve, and get out. Easy as pie. So, what went wrong?

Sadly, that was never answered as the car started jerking and lurching violently. Before she could even open her eyes, the car started to slow down and then came to a complete stop. Although her shoulder was hurting like hell, she pushed herself toward the front seat. Easier said than done, but somehow she did it. Then, before she could even opened her mouth to ask, Logan turned around in his seat slowly to face her. The one thing you do not want to hear while having a crazed White on your tail came out of Logan's mouth.

'Umm… I think we ran out of gas.'

For a moment, Max just stared at Logan. Then, her brain started to understand the meaning of his words and with that, unfortunately its implication. Refusing the urge to scream or throw something at him, Max let her head fall softly against the panel. Now she had to nurse a throbbing head as well as a throbbing shoulder. Trying valiantly to push the pain to the back of her mind took so much effort, her brain couldn't even think of a way they could get out of this mess. Preferably, in one piece and with their lives intact. At that very moment, Max wished desperately that Alec was there. Even though he was a pain most of the time, she knew she could count on him. He would've taken care of everything, she mused smiling softly to herself. That thought confused and unnerved her. This somewhat foreign emotion turned to anger, and this sudden fury was unfortunately turned loose on Logan who had the misfortune to open his mouth at that exact time.

'So Max, what did we do now?'

'Oh shut up Logan! For once in your life, did you ever do anything right? How could you say we ran out of gas! I …' she stopped her angry tirade as she saw his expression.

*

Logan almost jumped in his seat and bumped his head when he heard Max shouting at him. Why, Max never shouted at him. He was still her almost-boyfriend right? Anyway, being shouted at was a privilege saved exclusively for Alec! Alec? Logan suddenly recalled the usual expression Alec always had at the time like this. Failing to think of another way to diffuse her anger at him, Logan mentally shrugged his shoulder. Why not give it a try? It'll be a breeze right? After all he was the elusive Eyes Only. Logan was positive and dead sure that the 'adorable lost puppy look' would look even better on him. He turned on his newly found weapon onto Max and waited expectantly for her apology. It's not like he did it on purpose, the running out of gas thing and he understood perfectly that it was the stress talking. Max would never have shouted at him on usual circumstances. Of that he was very sure.

*

The rest of what Max wanted to say, or shout precisely dried up at the very instant Logan turned and looked at her. Her anger turned quickly to surprise and not to mention bafflement and bewilderment as she stared at him stupefied. Why did he look at her like that? She had the nagging feeling that she was suppose to know this _expression. Then, with a sinking feeling everything was crystal clear and it turned unexpectedly to disgust as she stared at him. How could Alec look so cute and lovable when he did that while Logan looked simply... awful. When she realized what she had been thinking, she quickly pushed it aside, out of guilt and necessity, (how could she think something like that about Logan? And they had to move now!) and struggled to get out of the car.

'We have to move. Now. Maybe we'll find some sort of shelter for the night.' With that she started walking deeper into the night, leaving a very puzzled and disappointed Logan behind. Quickly he grabbed a couple of things and started to follow in her wake. Max was slowly scanning the area for a possible shelter as she walked unperturbed into the engulfing darkness aided by her feline DNA. After quite a while, she saw something. Must have been some sort of shed, she thought with a relieved sigh. This will have to do. She needed to lay down now. She had started getting dizzy and she needed to look after her wound. Logan wouldn't know what to do with her shoulder, she tiredly thought. Even if he did, there's the virus thing to worry about. Who would've thought that one day she wished that Alec was here with her instead of Logan? She shook her head slowly at the irony of it and resumed walking towards the shed, without even a glance towards Logan who was stumbling every few minutes as he try to keep up with her.

*

'Hey Max, wait up!' Logan called out, after he fell for the third time in two minutes. It was so dark he can barely see his own hand in front of him. But Max was walking with ease, as graceful as if she was in beautifully decorated ballroom instead of a dark dangerous forest. Grumbling softly under his breath, he closed the gap between them as she was standing still, looking at some sort of shed. If you can call it a shed, he thought skeptically. That thing looked ready to fall apart at the first nudge.

'Are you telling me that we're going to spend the night in this pile of junk? God Max, it looks ready to fall any moment. Are you sure it's safe Max?' Logan asked with concern and a bit bewildered that she had chosen this as a place to hide for the night. He had serious doubts whether this thing can last through the night without collapsing, with them underneath it of course.

*

By the time she reached the small shed, Max heaved a huge sigh of relief. Although it looked a bit shabby and unattended, this little thing was definitely sturdy. The owner definitely had 'to last a life time' in mind when he had it built. It was perfect. They would lay low for a while here before moving out tomorrow morning. Maybe they'd reach civilization by afternoon and she could call Alec to come and pick them up. Yes, by tomorrow they'd be fine. She turned around to see what had taken Logan so long, then waited with mounting impatience as he slowly strolled towards her. Her anger and irritation was quick to dissolve as she suddenly had to fight waves of dizziness that threatened to wash over her. She glanced at her tightly bandaged shoulder, courtesy from Logan who insisted that she used his shirt. She closed her eyes tightly as beads of sweat started popping on her brows and neck. This can't possibly be good, she thought desperately as she started swaying slightly on her feet. Then something Logan said pierced through her clouded mind.

'…spend the night… pile of junk… sure it's safe?' Why in the name of God is he criticizing? It's not like they have a pick about their accommodation tonight. They're in the middle of nowhere, for goodness sake! Furthermore, can't he see that the shed was fine? Doesn't look like it's ready to fall to pieces in the next few minutes. Max bristled with wrath as she turned slowly to face him. She opened her mouth, ready to tear him to pieces for that last remark. But nothing came from her lips as she felt as if the whole place started spinning, merging and fusing together leaving a very distorted image. Logan's surprised face almost seemed comical. She even managed not to laugh before her whole world turned black.

*

Logan was waiting for an explanation as he saw Max turning towards him. She opened her mouth, to apologize for the inconvenience she had to put him through no doubt. But the apology never came as slowly she fall to the ground with a dull thud and lay like a lifeless doll. The first few seconds dragged on as Logan was rooted to the ground, staring at her, not really believing what he was seeing. Did she just pass out? She's fainted? Then he rushed towards her and with some difficulty tried to find a pulse. His gloved finger encountered cold flesh and he shuddered, hoping violently that she was still alive. After awhile, he found her pulse, slow but there. His worried face broke into a small smile, glad she was fine. With great difficulty he managed to get her into the shed, almost dragging her still form as he had to make sure they didn't make any skin-to-skin contact. Then he shrugged out of his jacket and smoothed it over her, remembering her cold skin. He laid down himself, as far from her as possible, and got ready for sleep. He glanced at her, and he could just make out the faint movement of her chest under his jacket. She'll be fine, he thought to himself, she's an X5 and they healed quickly right? By tomorrow morning she'll be back to her old self. With some resignation Logan tried to let sleep take over him. Everything will be better by tomorrow, and with that last thought he was off to dreamland.

to be continued..

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