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Not 'Til I See It for Myself
Part 1 of 1
Synopsis:  Original Cindy's reaction when she learns of Max's death: coda to season one finale.

Not 'Til I See It for Myself

    "Hey, you!"

    Original Cindy tried to look as bored as possible when she turned to face Normal.  Here he goes again, she thought.

    "Tell Max to quit playing hooky and get back to work or she's fired," Normal said.

    Original Cindy pursed her lips.   "Look, Original Cindy don't know where Max is.  She straight up walked out one night and I ain't seen her since."

    Normal looked unconvinced.   "Well, when you do see her, tell her to get back to the real world?   In the meantime, deliver this."  He tossed a package to her, then turned around to berate one of the other couriers for laziness.

    How much worse can this day get? she sighed to herself, then looked at the package.  It was addressed to one of the worst slums in Seattle.  I shouldn't have even asked.

    When she finally got home, Original Cindy was ready for a hot bath and a long nap.  Max still wasn't home.  She tried Max's pager again.  Maybe she would answer this time.   When, after her long soak in the tub, Max still hadn't called back, Original Cindy sat down to think.

    The last time Max had been gone this long was when one of her "brothers" had gone on a mad killing spree.  Max had had to stop him by herself, so maybe there was another "family crisis."   If that was the case, then Logan would certainly know where she was.

    She slapped herself on the forehead.  "Max was headed to see her man when she left!"  Why didn't I think of that sooner? she thought.  She dialed his number and waited patiently.  Logan picked up on the third ring, his voice sounding muffled.

    "Cindy?"

    "Yo.  Where's Max?   She's been gone for days, and Normal's threatening to fire her if she don't get her tight ass back to work."

    There was silence on the other end.  "Max is dead."

    Original Cindy's mouth fell open.  "Dead?"   She shook her head.  "No way.  My Boo is not dead.  She's the fastest thing I've seen in my life.   There ain't no way she's dead."

    Logan sighed, and suddenly she could hear the tension and sadness in his voice.  "Max wasn't faster than a bullet... one hit her in the heart.  I held her... while she died.  She's gone."

    Max.  She'd been a great mystery to Original Cindy until that scary incident with the metal thing in the back of her neck.  Then Max told her what she was, and how she'd gotten to be that way.  Original Cindy had always known there was something special about her, but she never knew just how special.  Max had seemed like a living, breathing Mighty Mouse.  And now she was dead?

    "I won't believe it 'til I see it with my own eyes!" she cried, forgetting to talk in third person, then slammed down the phone.

    But Logan had sounded so upset.  Original Cindy recognized his tone in her own voice whenever she talked about Diamond.  She'd seen Diamond for herself, so her death was easier to accept.  But not Max.  Never Max.

    For half an hour she tried to convince herself that it was possible.  She failed miserably.

    "I'll never accept it... not 'til I see it for myself," she vowed.

*      *      *

    "Hey, you!"

    Original Cindy rolled her eyes.   If he asks about Max, I'm goin' to kill him, she thought.

    "When you see Max, tell her she has one more day, then I'm terminating her," Normal said.

    She walked right up to him, put two hands on his shoulders, and shoved him into a locker.  "Max is already terminated, aight?  Somebody shot her.  In the heart.   She ain't coming back... ever."

    "Yeah, well, whatever.  If she isn't here tomorrow--"

    She wasn't even convincing herself very well, so how could she expect to get Normal, the King of Skeptics, to believe her?  The Master of the Conspiracy Theories?  "Look, Normal, Max ain't never coming back, ya hear?  She's dead!   Flat-lined, pushin' up daisies, whatever, she ain't never coming back!"

    Now everyone was looking at her.  Original Cindy stepped away from a stunned-looking Normal and clenched her fists.  "Max was the best friend a girl could ever have.   Part of me will never accept her death, but she's gone.  And there ain't nothin' we can do about it except hope it isn't true."

    She turned away, running out the door and hopping on her bike.  There may not be anything she could do about Max, but she could keep believing.  "I'll never give up, Boo, never.   Not 'til I see it for myself."

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