Future Readers: Not at all necessary to Ponderings. Feel free to skip. Just a glimpse into their normal life, that so belongs in my snippets section instead of here, but seeing as I'm already posting in that today, it's going here.

Fic related details: Hmm I'm gonna go with this is like 2.5 years after When Gray was Yellow and Ponderings. Logan is walking unaided once more, following Sebastian's successful treatment. ML's daughter around a year.

The fic begins with Zack in the apartment.

Never Again Mellow, but Always Yellow

The apartment was quiet like it hadn't been in quite some time. Boxes scattered the hallways only half filled, bookshelves becoming bare. The only sign of inhabitance breakfast dishes in the sink and half a pot of cold coffee.

No phones rang, no pings signaling an email's arrival, no chatter, no baby's cries or gurgles…

The few stray cheerios underneath one of the islands made him wonder…

Wonder if something, someone had finally caught up to his little sister and her family. So many years ago she'd tried talking him into staying as he'd tried talking her into leaving.

She'd made her opinion on the matter clear with each visit. As long as Seattle was safe, she and hers were staying there. Despite so many knowing the truth about her and hearing the rumors about Logan, she refused to go. As stubborn as she was beautiful, that had been clear about her from the start and hadn't changed with time.

A bubble of fear coursed up through him that he couldn't suppress.

Had they been tipped off to something going down and they'd tried to pack and made it out in time or had someone surprised them? Taken his sister and her family?

No no, there would be more evidence of a fight, his sister wouldn't have gone down quietly, especially not when it came to the kid.

His mind sought out the possibilities, considered someone could be watching the apartment and had seen him enter through the skylight, despite the numerous security updates Logan had installed since his first trip down.

Check in at Terminal City? See what they knew?

Try to track down Original Cindy or the guy with Ben's face that would never be anything more than a pale imitation of his brother?

Then the lock turned and he jumped and prepared himself for anything.

"And what do you think you're doing Miss LizzieBit?" his sister's light and teasing voice asked.

A jumble of childish words followed, none of which Zack could make out for certain, maybe something involving a bunny and a foot?

"I know there's a bunny on your foot, Miss Thang, but how about we keep it there instead of in your mouth?"

Logan's deep laughter finally joined in the chorus of noise that had overtaken the previously silent apartment.

"The better question is," Zack began with a few large strides towards the hallway before his sister freaked realizing there was someone in the apartment "is why she has a bunny on her foot?"

"Zack," Max smiled and shifted the toddler as she turned to greet him.

His smile, which Max used to smile and stare at for hours in Terminal City in shock and awe, fell. His eyes widened and forgotten was his sister's stunning face, his niece's cherubic one despite having too much Logan in it and certainly not Logan's which always took him awhile to notice. His eyes widened and focused downwards at the bunny foot resting on the mound of what had to be at least a five or sixth month baby bump.

He turned to Logan faster than he ever turned to Logan, "I thought we talked about this," a nod to the side and his sister's stomach.

Logan sighed and shook his head, "You of all people should know how your sister feels about siblings."

"You mean the sister that's right here?"

"She goes insane," Zack said continuing to look at Logan.

"Still right here," she reiterated.

He turned, "You're not Max, you're the evil alien that takes over her body and doesn't let go until the kid's three months."

"Actually," Logan said easily recalling the past few years, "it was more around 2 months, a month in wasn't too bad."

"You guys are so melodramatic," she shook her head, used to the ribbing she started to receive somewhere around Elizabeth's third month of life once they had deemed it safe once more.

"That's my cue to go put the ice cream away," Logan said lifting the canvas bags up, as if to show he had a valid excuse to run.

Max remembered a time she would have fought with Logan about something as trivial as carrying the bags up that was well before she discovered something worthwhile in carrying in the form of the soft, warm body of her daughter, whose hair smelled like the talcum powder her daddy had an issue with earlier that morning.

Zack shook his head as he stared at Max as Logan walked past him unheeded. He took a few steps forward, "Your husband's insane," he said with a shaking head and went to lift Lizzie out of her mother's arms.

The little girl was trusting, though Zack always swore it was just for him, positive when she was a newborn that she remembered him from his visit while she was in-utero.

"Nice to see you too Big Brother," she called out after him as he trailed after Logan. She could understand how she rated second to her daughter, but seriously third to food? Then she remembered that loaf of French bread they just bought and that big tub of fresh sweet cream butter and she took off after them.

Dammit, it died. All I got was another 2 damn paragraphs that were totally nothing like the one line I had started for them. Bah! Umm yea that being said sorry this got posted 2 years after your bday Mari, there should have been more. Dark and angst filled, but well apparently June 1st is gloomy enough without that. Sorry Mari. :-(