Images - Epilogue
"When you and me hooked up…it was like, all of a sudden, there was this part of my life where I didn't have to be hiding, or…fighting…or anything else, except…trying to make a livin' and kickin' it with my homegirl. I never had that before—a friend."
Max with blood dripping from her eyes…
"See, that's the problem. You're not being yourself."
Max rubbing makeup on her neck…
"That's okay. There'll come a day when you and me will be sittin' somewhere and the fog will lift. And you know what'll be left?" "What?" "You and me. And that's enough."
Bruises and a large scabbed injury…
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to worry you. It's just… something came up."
Max disappearing…
"Who hurt you, baby girl?"
Ligature marks on Max's neck…
"Max is still in there!"
Max attending a scientific conference…
"I'm kind of in my own headspace."
Knowing the rotational velocity of a roulette wheel, pulling a straight flush during her deal…
"What if I told you I was a genetically revved-up female?"
A mysterious medical condition…seizures…
"It was all just a strange and beautiful dream."
Max jonesing over every guy at Crash…
"Sorry about your window."
A shooting, and a new friendship…
"2-0-6-5-5-5-0-1-3-5-7-6-3-3."
Mysterious nature, and secret agendas
"My name's Max."
Max…
Max.
Original Cindy slowly opened her eyes and looked around. It took a moment for her to place herself, but she soon realized that she was lying on the floor of her apartment. Her destroyed apartment. She sluggishly sat up, and tried to rub some of the sleep out of her eyes. It's funny what the mind likes to rub in the soul's face sometimes, she thought to herself. I feel so blind. It was always there, but any time Original Cindy came within two feet of the truth, she leaped eight feet back. Who'da thunk she'd be shy? She laughed at the incongruity of the truth, and slowly stood.
"Well, it's time to leave this dream world and trip back to reality." She looked around at the disaster her apartment had become, carefully ignoring the blaringly blank spot on her refrigerator where the picture had been. "I think I'll wait on this for a while, and get ready for work. It's time Original Cindy went back to where she belongs."
She dressed mostly in black – a symbolic mourning of the losses in her world – and stepping carefully over the body in her doorway, headed off to Jam Pony.
It hadn't taken much begging, but Normal gave Original Cindy her old job back. Sketchy and Herbal Thought welcomed her back with open arms, as Max watched from the lockers with a knowing smile. The four of them went to Crash that night, although both Max and Original Cindy stuck to water. As the evening got later, Max's pager sounded, and she looked up to Original Cindy, and both smiled.
Logan.
"Gotta run," Max told them all before quickly escaping the noise of the bar.
Watching Max leave, Original Cindy slowly stood as well. "Original Cindy should bounce, too. She's got a bit of a mess waitin' for her back at the crib." A quick wave, and she too left.
When she got back to her apartment, the first thing she noticed was that the body in her doorway was gone. "And right quick, too," she said to the empty hall. "He was probably gonna be gettin' a little funky soon." The second thing she noticed was a large envelope taped to her now closed door. She opened it, and pulled out a letter from inside.
Cindy –
We found this in the office this morning, and I thought you might want it back.
I don't know what happened last night, but I hope you're doing well.
Don't worry about the office – we have insurance.
- Tammy
Original Cindy laughed at the note. It seemed that the obscenely cheerful woman from Washington-Meridian Insurance was more than she'd seemed, too. The joke was totally unexpected. Original Cindy reached into the envelope and pulled out…
…the picture.
Her breath caught in her throat as she examined the singed edges of it, but overall, it was alright. "Yeah. We're aiight, aren't we?" She swallowed back the tears that threatened to fall, and opened the door to her apartment. She carefully stepped over the mess within, and walked to her refrigerator, hanging the photograph in its rightful place. She stroked the image of her and Max, turned away and walked to the window. Staring out at the dark city, she heard the roar of a motorcycle. A man's voice cheered, "Woohoo! Ha ha!"
Original Cindy smiled.
Life is funny, isn't it? We are confidently walking along one path, and fate shoves us down another, letting us see if we can handle stumbling along the new one. But we need to realize that the paths are really the same, aren't they? After all, wasn't the first just the image we saw, when the second was the reality? That's all that life is: an image. It is up to us to search it for the true meaning that lies beneath. And when we find that truth for ourselves, and discover that we are indeed capable of handling it, only then can we finally cheer.
Woohoo! Ha ha!
A/N: Wow, it's really finished, isn't it? I just wanted to thank everyone who has stayed with this story. It's held a special place in my heart for a long time, and I'm glad a lot of people seem to have enjoyed it. I also owe extra thanks to Alaidh, who did an awesome beta of this story, and to Kyre who helped me with some technical details ("Do you see a light switch anywhere?"). Also thanks to Cameron and Co. for letting me borrow their characters for a while without suing me.
It all started with me wondering why Original Cindy didn't kick Logan's ass in "Red." I hope what it ended with was worth it.
Peace! Out.
- Denise