Fic: Time's a Wastin' (Dark Angel)
Genre: Hurt/Comfort, sick!fic
Rating: T
Characters: Alec, Max, Logan, Original Cindy, Joshua, Normal, Sketchie.
Warnings/Spoilers: Vivid description of illness. Near death. *Not a death fic.
Word Count: 5310
Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or the characters... but I love them.
Summary: Something is killing X5's. Can Max save Alec before it's too late? Or will she face the same fate... Time's running out.
A/N: This is set during the episodes where Max and Logan are not together and Max has let Logan believe her and Alec are in love... without telling Alec. I like to think that maybe she wasn't lying...
Time's a Wastin'
8:17am Wednesday. Jam Pony.
Alec muffled a cough into his sleeve, sniffed once hard.
"Ladies," he greeted, his voice scratchy.
Cindy raised an eyebrow at him, "What's up with you, boo?"
"What?" He looked at her, still shoving stuff into his locker, "Oh," he realised he looked and sounded a little rough, "long night." He accompanied that with a cheeky grin and suggestive eyebrow waggle that had both Max and Cindy rolling their eyes in disgust.
The girls returned to their conversation.
“So, how is Logan anyway?”
Max shrugged, “Keeps calling.”
“Maybe you should talk to the guy. I know you don’t want to see him, but you gotta help each other out, right? Could be important,” Cindy said, hands on her hips.
“I can’t,” Max sighed.
Beep, beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep, beep.
“That’s him again, isn’t it?”
Max stared at her pager.
“Call him.”
Max huffed, “Why are you always so diplomatic?”
Cindy smiled, “That’s how I do.”
Alec sneezed behind them.
"Bless you."
"Thanks," Alec said, throwing his backpack over his shoulder and heading off to grab his bike.
Cindy and Max watched him as he walked away before Max tilted her head.
"You ever heard Alec sneeze before?"
"Never."
~
8:32am Wednesday. Jam Pony.
“You wanted to talk to me?” Max folded her arms as she leaned against the wall, payphone of the Jam Pony workroom pressed to her ear.
“Max.”
“The one and only. What is it, Logan?”
“Not good.”
Max uncrossed her arms, “What’s going on?”
“They found two bodies, one yesterday, one this morning. Both had barcodes.”
“How did they die?”
“Looks like some kind of virus, or genetic encoding… Max, they were both X5’s.”
“Well, is it contagious?”
“Don’t know. I’ve got some people looking into it. But, in the meantime, you and Alec stay safe, and stay away from other X series, just in case.”
Max took a breath, “Thanks for the heads up.”
“Look, Max…”
“Is that all you had to tell me?”
…
“Just be careful.”
*Click*
~
5:46pm Wednesday. Jam Pony.
“Crash tonight, anyone?” Alec called to the gang at Jam Pony. His voice caught and he coughed against his shoulder.
“Yeah, crash,” Cindy muttered, “As in you’re going to. Go home and sleep, boo,” she said, patting his arm.
“Ah, come on,” he shrugged, “Max?”
“No going out, Alec. Not tonight,” her face was pinched.
Alec sidled up to her, “Max, what’s wrong? Something going on?”
“I dunno… Logan said some X5’s showed up dead. Some kind of virus or something.”
“Shit, Max, and you think to tell me this now?”
“He has some people looking into it. I’m sure it’s fine. We just need’a lay low for a couple’a days. Stay away from other X series just in case,” she shrugged.
“Alright,” he nodded, “Okay, no Crash then.”
Max smiled, “You really should get some sleep though. You look like crap.”
“Gee, thanks, Max,” Alec groaned, grabbing his bike and rolling out the door, coughing again.
~
9:07pm Wednesday. Joshua’s House.
“Joshua!”
Joshua poked his head out from behind his latest painting, “Hey, little fella.”
“Hey, big fella. Why’re you whispering?”
Joshua gestured with his paintbrush in an upward motion, “Alec.”
“Huh?”
“Sleeping upstairs.”
Max folded her arms, “What’s Alec doing here?”
“Came to visit,” he pointed again to alcohol bottles on the table, “Tricks and treats,” he grinned.
“He got you drunk?” Max said, raising her voice.
Joshua put a finger to his lips, “Didn’t drink any. Alec didn’t drink any either… He was tired.”
“Huh.”
Joshua went back to painting.
“Well, I brought you food and some more books.”
“Gotta blaze?” he asked, taking the bags.
She furrowed her brow, “I’m sorry, but Logan says there’s this thing killing X5’s… could be a virus.”
“Virus bitch going down?”
Max smiled a little, “It won’t know what hit it,” she frowned, “You gonna be okay by yourself?”
“Not by myself,” Joshua smirked as a muffled cough came from upstairs, followed by a sneeze.
“Right,” she nodded, “Bye, big fella.”
~
1:53pm Thursday. Jam Pony.
"Hey! Has anyone seen golden boy?" Normal shouted, coming out from behind his desk, "He's been on the same run for two hours."
Max shrugged, "You know Alec. He probably stopped in for a quick hookup on the way."
"He better not be on Jam Pony time. I know the women probably find it hard to resist that physique, but I'm not paying him to get his rocks off."
Max made a disgusted face and Cindy cringed, but right on schedule, Alec strolled in.
He was awfully pale and his face was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, the skin around his eyes slightly pink.
"Ah, speak of the devil and he shall appear," Normal had his head down, ruffling through papers.
"Huh?" Alec's voice was strained and he bowed his head to cough against his arm.
"What's the matter?" Normal's head shot up, "My star employee isn't getting sick, is he?"
Max narrowed her eyes at him as he brought a shaky hand up to wipe his brow.
"Of course not," Alec chirped with less enthusiasm than usual, "I'm fine."
"You don't look fine, boo," Cindy frowned.
"Alec?" Max said, as his eyes seemed to lose focus and rove around the room before rolling back in his head. "Alec!"
Max's transgenic reflexes had allowed her to get to Alec before he hit the ground.
"Alec, hey. Wake up. Stop messing around," Max muttered, shaking him in her arms.
"I'll call an ambulance. I'm not letting anything happen to my rock star," Normal said, approaching the phone.
Max looked up at Cindy, her face saying one thing.
Cindy stepped in front of the phone, "Let's not go too crazy, a'ight? He probably just got the flu or somethin’. Right, Max?”
Max looked down at Alec as his eyes began to open.
“Well, hey, Max,” he croaked.
“See. He’s fine,” Cindy went to help Max pull Alec to his feet, as Normal stood on in worry.
“We’ll take him home,” Max grunted, throwing Alec’s arm around her shoulders.
“You see he gets some rest! Don’t come back until you’re better, superstar!”
And just like that, Normal was back to handing out packages. Bip, bip, bip.
Alec looked confused, “What’s going on?”
“He’s burnin’ up, Max,” Cindy said, grabbing his other arm around her shoulders to help support him as his legs shook like jelly.
“We gotta get to Logan’s.”
~
2:27pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
*knock, knock, knock*
Logan pulled the door open and saw Original Cindy standing there, looking flustered.
“Cindy, what -“
“Hiya, Logan,” Alec groaned, as Max pulled them both into view.
“We didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Max explained, adjusting her hand around Alec’s waist.
Logan stood back as Max brought Alec into the apartment. He was stumbling and white as a sheet. Max deposited him on the couch and he hugged himself like he was cold.
“Am I dying?” he muttered, small smirk on his face.
“You’re not dying,” Max snapped, a little too aggressively.
“We’re going to figure this out,” Logan said, grabbing a thick blanket.
Alec coughed again, flopping onto his side and curling into a ball.
Cindy grabbed the blanket and handed it to Max, who tucked it tightly around Alec’s shivering frame.
“Max,” Logan said, “What if it’s contagious?”
Max looked from Logan back to Alec, whose eyes were wide and panicked.
“Then I’m already infected.”
~
3:52pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
“It’s not a virus, it’s a toxin,” Dr Shankar came out into the living room, folder in hand.
“What are you saying?” Logan asked, hands in pocket.
“Somebody poisoned him.”
Original Cindy sat on the arm of the couch, dabbing Alec’s forehead with a wet cloth.
“So, we got an antidote?” Alec croaked, before rolling onto his side to cough some more.
Dr Shankar pursed her lips, “This isn’t like anything I’ve seen before. Whoever created it knew exactly what they were doing. They probably have a background in genetics. They might even be from Manticore.”
“And I bet dollars to doughnuts they’re the only ones with a cure,” Logan said, sitting down at his desk.
Max stood with her arms folded, watching as Alec winced in pain and shuddered violently. A whimper passed through his lips as he gripped the pillow.
“Shhh,” Cindy soothed, as she continued to wipe his face.
When Max looked up Logan was staring at her. She wished she hadn’t had to tell him her and Alec were together, but she needed to stay out of his life for good. To protect him.
“Just point me in the right direction,” Max cocked her head, looking to Logan.
“We can’t just go rushing into this, Max. You gotta give me time to figure out a connection.”
“Not to interrupt, but we don’t exactly have a lot of time,” Dr Shankar said, closing her folder, “Alec’s going to get worse.”
“Gee, thanks, doc. Sugar coat it, why don’t ya?” Alec muttered, teeth clattering together.
“I’ll find something,” Logan said, as he swiveled round on his chair and began clicking away at the computer.
Cindy looked up as another violent shiver ran through Alec, “There’s gotta be somethin’ we can do for him now. The boy’s sufferin’.”
“OC, do you mind going to Alec’s apartment and getting him some clothes?” Max said, her voice tight.
“Sure, boo,” she said, stroking Alec’s hair one last time.
Dr Shankar looked down, “Just try and keep him warm. I’m going to study this, see if I can find something to fight it, but, Max, we really need to find who did this,” she looked at Alec, “and soon.”
~
5:13pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
Max sat on the coffee table in front of Alec. He’d been in and out of consciousness since the doc and OC left. His cough was sounding worse and his chest rattled when he breathed. She’d never seen Alec like this, so pale, so… quiet. It worried her. She’d already lost Ben. She wouldn’t lose Alec too.
“Max?” Alec whispered, opening his eyes a crack.
“Yeah, right here,” she said, dabbing the washcloth across his brow again.
“If we don’t find a way…”
“Shut up,” she huffed, “Don’t talk like that.”
Alec stared at her with weepy, bloodshot eyes.
"Why are you helping me? Why do you care?"
Max paused, eyes glistening, "Because this is my fault. I let you out. I let them all out."
Alec curled in on himself coughing into the blanket.
Max put a hand on his forehead, "I'm not going to let you die."
Alec didn’t respond.
“Alec?”
Max sat listening to his labored breaths in and out while he slept.
“I mean it… You’re not going to die.”
Logan watched her from the doorway as she stroked his face. He knew he had to let go. He just wanted her to be happy.
“Max,” he whispered.
Max looked up, and with one final pat, made her way across the room.
“You got something?”
Logan cleared his throat, “The other two X5’s that, uh…”
Max nodded.
“They were drinking at Crash two days before. Witnesses said they saw them leave with a girl. That’s the only link I can find.”
“Sounds like a good place to start,” Max said, zipping up her jacket.
“Max… be careful. Whoever’s doing this, they’re not messing around.”
She nodded, “I know. I’ll be careful.”
~
5:26pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
A crash came from the kitchen, followed by coughing. Logan went through to see Alec on his hands and knees, one hand reaching up to the table where he'd knocked off a plate.
"Hey," Logan called, hurrying over to help him stand, avoiding the pieces of broken ceramic, "What're you doing up?"
"Where's Max?"
Logan led Alec back to the couch.
"She's finding a way to get you better."
"Logan... don't hold out on me."
Logan sighed, busied himself tucking the blanket around him.
"Both transgenics were infected at Crash, I assume the same happened to you. Max has gone to check it out."
"So... how long do I have before I," he clicked his tongue, "kick the bucket?"
"If Max has anything to do with it, you're not going to."
Alec sighed, "Come on, Logan."
Logan adjusted his glasses, looked down at the ground, "A few hours... tops."
Alec groaned, pulling the blanket around his face to sneeze several times. Logan rubbed his back. He was hot and clammy, his face white, his eyes red.
"Listen, Alec... about you and Max."
Alec rubbed a hand down his face, "What're you talking about?"
"You don't have to explain. I get it. You two... share something. You can protect each other."
"Logan, it's not what you..."
"No, it's okay. I have to let her go. I have to let her be happy. And if you make her happy... Alec?"
Logan pressed his fingers to Alec's neck, feeling for a pulse. It was feeble, but it was there.
Logan let out a breath, let the wave of panic wash over him.
"Hurry, Max," he whispered.
~
5:38pm Thursday. Crash.
Max took a seat at the bar and ordered a drink. She hadn’t even started to scope out the place yet when a woman appeared beside her. She was thin, tall, blonde. She was definitely a “fine sister”, as OC would have called her.
“You’re Max, right?” she asked, tilting her head.
Max furrowed her brow, “Who’s askin’?”
“I’ve seen you here with Alec before.”
Max rolled her eyes. It was impossible to get away from girls that ‘knew’ Alec. He certainly had a way with the ladies.
“Well, Alec’s not gonna be out tonight, so…” Max said in her snarky way, trying to brush this girl off.
“Oh, that’s okay. I knew he wouldn’t be here.”
Max turned to her.
“It’s you I wanted anyway,” she sighed, planting a kiss on Max’s lips before she could even move away.
Max froze, literally, whatever this girl had done to her, had stopped her on the spot. She was paralyzed.
“Now that I have your attention, I’m going to give you a little tip… You’re all going to die.”
Max wanted to scream, ask her why she was doing this, how she was doing this, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t move.
“You’ll be dead in 48 hours, Max. And you’ll join your pretty boy Alec, and the rest of the X5s. ‘Cause I’m going to kill them all. All with just a kiss…” she leaned in again, grabbing Max ‘s hair, and kissed her. She pulled away and took a breath in, “Say hi to Alec for me… if he’s not already dead.”
~
5:42pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
“Logan!”
Logan had heard the door open and close as Original Cindy returned from Alec’s apartment. He’d gone into the bedroom to get Alec another blanket and a few more pillows. He’d been tossing uneasily, his body racking with fever chills. Logan was buried in the closet when he heard her call. It sounded panicked. He rushed out to see her standing there, large bag over her shoulder staring at the couch.
“What is it?” He stopped, looking at her.
She pointed to the couch, blankets strewn on the floor and… empty.
“Where’s Alec?”
~
6:04pm Thursday. Crash.
"Alec?"
"Sketchie, hey," Alec mumbled, stumbling to the table, almost losing his footing.
"Whoa, man, are you alright? I heard you passed out at work today. You sure you should be out?"
Alec shook his head, waving a hand, "M... Max," he breathed, then turned to cough into his arm.
"Jesus, Alec, sit down. What's going on?"
Alec didn't want to sit down, but he did before his legs betrayed him.
"Where's Max?" He panted.
"You just missed her. She was sitting over at the bar with a girl, and, dude… they kissed."
"What?" Alec asked, face in his hands, “Where did they go?”
"Well, the chick left and Max just sat there for about ten minutes like she was in some kind of a daze. Then she took off out the back… I think Max might be gay."
Alec fought unconsciousness.
"Hey, let me take you home."
Alec peeled his eyes open, "Nah, it's okay. I'll get a cab," he said, with his signature smirk, although it didn't look so cocky this time.
"All right," Sketchie said, eyebrows drawn together, "Get some rest, okay?"
Alec gave a sloppy salute, "Sure thing."
It was hard. It was one of the hardest things Alec had done. Transgenics didn't get sick. They were immune to all kinds of viruses that would bring a normal person down in an instant. He'd never felt like this before. It felt like he was moving through quicksand. His own body dragging him further and further down. It had gotten worse too. Now his eyes burned, and felt full of grit. It was getting harder and harder to see. It was probably a stupid idea to leave Logan’s, but he wasn’t going to die there. No, sir. If he was going down, he was going down in the line of duty.
Alec didn’t know who the chick was that Max had kissed, but he had a pretty good idea. For him to become infected like this, he would have had to be poisoned two nights ago, and from his recollection, there was only one girl that night. He hadn’t met her inside Crash, he’d met her out the back. Long honey blonde hair to her waist, soft tan skin. She was absolutely gorgeous, almost too gorgeous… like she’d been genetically engineered that way. Dammit, Alec.
He struggled to get up the stairs that led out the back. He gripped the handrail tightly, pulling himself up. He bent forward, coughing. People were avoiding him, casting dirty eyes at him, and muttering things. He just knew he needed to find Max, because she was infected now too.
~
6:31pm Thursday. A dark alley.
"Hiya, Maxie."
"Alec!? What the hell are you doing here?"
Alec turned to cough into his arm, pressing it hard against his mouth.
"Crap, Alec," Max grabbed him by the arm and sat him down against the wall. "My god, you're burning up."
"Knew you thought I was hot," he winked, coughing again.
"Can you keep it down?" she said.
"Trying," he croaked, wiping the blood away from his mouth.
"Why are you here?"
"Thought you could use the backup." He shrugged, folding his arms and shivering hard, “Especially now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know,” he coughed, “I know she kissed you. Your number’s up, Max.”
“Shut up,” she scoffed.
“Where is she? I’m gonna kick her gorgeous ass.”
Max shushed him again, “Well, this is where she lives.”
“I know,” Alec smiled dopily, “I’ve kind of been here before.”
“Oh my god…” Max sighed.
“Guy has needs, Max.”
Alec started coughing again, hard, bringing up more blood.
Max tore off a piece of her sleeve and handed it to him. He pressed it against his mouth to muffle the cough and catch some of the blood.
“We’re gonna break in. Find the antidote.”
“That’s the plan?” he croaked, his voice giving out.
“You got a better one, let me know,” she shrugged, standing up, and pulling Alec along with her.
“Max,” Alec muttered, as he leaned into her, “I don’t have much time left.”
“I told you, you’re not gonna die, alright?”
He sighed, “Yeah, alright.”
~
6:52pm Thursday. Inside the building.
“Wait, Alec. I gotta put you down for a sec,” Max panted, as she leaned him up against the wall.
He slid down till he was sitting, “Getting tired?”
“Huh?” she said, rubbing her face.
“That’s how it starts,” he pressed the cloth hard against his mouth and coughed as quietly as he could, his chest bubbling.
“Shut up,” she groaned, “I’m tired from lugging you around.”
They were in the hallway of an apartment building, working their way up. They had to break in at the basement level.
Alec usually would have had a snarky reply to that but he was quiet, his eyes half closed and his face milky white.
“Hey, don’t go passing out on me.”
He startled a little, coughing freely.
“Shhh,” she hushed, grabbing his cloth and pressing it over his mouth. Her hand came away bloody.
“Max,” he whispered.
“Come on,” she said, bending to scoop him up.
“No, I can’t…” he sighed.
“Yes, you can. Get up.”
Alec shook his head, “Max… I can’t move my legs.”
He sounded strangled, afraid.
Max’s eyes were wide and she stared at him.
“Hey, you promised you weren’t gonna let me die,” he chuckled, coughing again, blood flecking his lips.
“I’m not,” she said, firmly, “I’ll come back for you. Just hold on.”
Alec nodded, “Hurry back, Maxie.”
~
7:21pm Thursday. Her Apartment.
Max left Alec slumped in the hallway, legs stretched out in front of him, blood on his face and unable to move, unable to defend himself if he was in trouble.
She hurried.
She broke into the apartment. Number 13, as Alec had told her.
She was quiet, swift, like a cat. Cat, cat in your cocktail.
She heard the shower running and moved quickly throughout the apartment, searching for an antidote. As luck would have it, she found a room containing vials and medical equipment. A lab, of sorts.
She was clinking through the bottles when the shower stopped.
“Crap,” she cursed, but it was too late. The woman was standing in the doorway, naked and dripping.
“Spider caught a fly,” she smiled.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Max barked, “Why are you doing this to us?”
“You wanna know why?” she shouted, “How do you think you X5’s are immune to all viruses?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I spent my days in Manticore, being infected with so many different illnesses, every day. That’s how they developed all the vaccines. I spent my entire life, chained to a bed, sick and dying…”
“I’m sorry…” Max said. Her disgust for that place grew day by day.
“You were the “special” ones. You were the soldiers. I was a lab rat!”
“You’re an X5?”
“I was a guinea pig!”
“Please,” Max begged, “Manticore is the real enemy here, not us. We didn’t know.”
“No, you were blind. You were stupid.”
“Maybe we were,” Max nodded, “We were just kids.”
“So was I.”
Max looked around the room, “How did you do it?”
“Well, they made a mistake, didn’t they? They made me smart,” she smiled, “I was in the research wing when the fire started and everyone got out. I grabbed everything I could. And I made my own disease.”
“Did you make a cure?”
“You can cure anything with the right ingredients,” she shrugged, “But who says I want to help you.”
“We weren’t “special”, okay? We were used too. Brainwashed. Everyone at Manticore was. They controlled us, forced us to do things we didn’t want to do. Alec, for example, he won’t even talk about the things they made him do! We didn’t even have names. We were just a number. We were all just a number to them! Please, killing us is not the answer. I don’t want to watch anymore of my friends die. I can’t do it. I won’t do it.”
She stepped back, blinking rapidly as if holding back tears.
“Alec is dying… let me help him.”
She turned away, “It’s the blue vials… take one for Alec and one for you. Drink all of it.”
Max turned and grabbed the antidote, when she turned back the girl was gone. Max didn’t have time to think about that though, she needed to save Alec.
~
7:48pm Thursday. Inside the building.
Alec was in darkness. It swallowed him whole. He couldn’t see or feel anything anymore. But he could hear something. In the beginning it wasn’t even words, just muffled sounds, like someone banging on his head, waking him from a deep sleep.
“Alec, open your eyes now! Please, Alec…. Please.”
That was funny. That sounded like Max’s voice. Why would Max be in his dream?
“Wake up, dammit. Alec!”
He tried to talk, tried to open his eyes, but it was really hard for some reason. The darkness was wrapped around him like sticky, heavy limbs, pulling him down, pulling him back under.
“Open your mouth… you have to drink this. Don’t die…”
Whoa, hang on a sec. Who’s dying?
“Don’t die, don’t die… please.”
Max, I’m not dying!
“That’s it, Alec. Open your eyes, come on.”
Alec peeled his eyes open and was hit with the fire in his chest, he bent over, coughing up about a litre of blood onto the floor beside him.
“Oh, god…”
“Max…” he whispered, his voice catching and coughing some more blood onto the floor.
“I have the cure, Alec. You have to drink this.”
He felt the small glass bottle touch his lips and Max tilted his head back. He focused all his energy on swallowing that antidote, even if he was swallowing it with a mouthful of blood.
Max cradled his head in her arms, pressing the side of his face to her chest and rocking back and forth.
“It’s going to be okay, Alec. I promise…”
~
11:11pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
The next time Alec opened his eyes the darkness was gone, the heavy, suffocating weight shifted off his chest. He felt wrung out, dehydrated. His eyes were sore and his vision was hazy. He looked down at his arm and saw a red line. He followed it with his eyes until it connected with Joshua’s arm. The blood going from Joshua to him.
“Hey,” his voice squeaked, dry vocal cords rubbing together like two pieces of sandpaper, getting nothing but a harsh whisper.
He licked his lips and painfully swallowed.
“Hey.”
Joshua’s big eyes found him and he closed his eyes against the assaulting grunting of his excited voice.
“Alec! Alec alright?”
Max, Logan and OC suddenly appeared around him. Hands on his face. Voices in his ears. He couldn’t deal right now. He was too tired.
~
5:15am Friday. Logan’s Apartment.
“Hey, you’re awake,” Max said, sitting on the floor in front of the couch.
“Yeah,” he croaked, “How long have you been sitting there?”
Max felt his forehead, “You’re still a little warm,” she said, not answering.
Alec swallowed, which forced a cough out of him. His chest ached. He felt like he’d been hit by a bus.
“Max, I don’t remember…”
“Don’t worry about it. Go back to sleep.”
“Was Josh here?” he asked, wetting his lips.
“Yeah,” Max bowed her head, “You lost a lot of blood, were going into shock.”
“Why didn’t we use your blood?”
“I’d been infected too… I don’t know. We thought this was better.”
Alec nodded.
“Saved your ass, so…”
Alec chuckled, coughed again.
“God,” he put a hand on his chest.
“Ya’alright?” Max asked, rubbing his arm.
“Yeah,” he grunted, rolling onto his side.
“Get some sleep,” she ran a hand through his hair in a moment of rare affection.
Alec’s eyes closed and his breathing evened out. Rough, raspy breaths scraping through his torn up throat and lungs.
“Is he awake?” Logan asked from the doorway.
Max pulled herself to her feet, “He was. He’s out again.”
“You think he’ll be okay?” he said, not moving, hands in his pockets.
“He’ll be fine. This is Alec we’re talking about,” she shrugged.
Logan sighed, “Max, we should talk about this…”
“Really not the time, Logan.”
“It’s never the time, is it?”
“I almost had to watch him die tonight,” she said bitterly, pointing to Alec.
“I’m sorry,” Logan looked down.
“Whatever, I should go,” Max began to panic, looking for a way out.
“You’re going to leave him?”
Max wrinkled her face, “I have to go see Joshua. We’ll move him when he’s doing better.”
Max bent down to kiss Alec on the forehead, keeping up appearances for Logan’s sake. When she looked up he was looking away. It hurt.
She left.
~
4:33pm Friday. Joshua’s House.
“Alec hungry?”
“No, thanks, man.”
“Here, you need to eat,” Joshua said, shoving the plate of macaroni and cheese in his face.
“Josh, I’m fine.”
“Alec want me to call Max?”
“No! God, here,” he whined, grabbing the plate.
Joshua grinned from ear to ear and slumped down on the couch next to him.
“Need another blanket?”
“I think 12 is enough, buddy.”
Joshua smiled again before gasping, “Water!” he jumped up. “Max said you need lots of water!”
Alec rubbed his forehead, “I need to sleep,” he whispered to himself.
The front door opened while Joshua was in the kitchen.
“Big fella? Alec?” Max called as she came in.
She walked through and saw Alec sitting up, “Hey, you feeling better?” she asked, hand immediately on his forehead.
“Yeah, but you got get me outta here, Max!” he pleaded in a desperate whisper.
“Why? What’s wrong with you?”
“Here! I have water!” Joshua came in with a bucket full of water in each hand.
Alec raised his eyebrows and looked at Max.
“Okay, Joshua, he doesn’t need that much water. He’s not a fish,” Max said in that calming voice she always got when she was taking to Joshua.
Joshua smiled, but looked a little confused, before returning to the kitchen.
“See what I’m dealing with?” Alec said, before jack-knifing with a painful, wet coughing fit. He grabbed a bunch of tissues from the box and pressed them to his mouth. Max’s hand was on his back.
The tissues were full of brown mucus, left over dried blood. His chest muscles cramped in spasm.
“Okay, so you’re not that much better then?”
“God, it hurts,” he groaned.
“Hey, Joshua,” Max called.
Joshua appeared in the doorway.
“I think we need to get Alec upstairs to bed.”
~
9:17am Sunday. Jam Pony.
“Ah! The valiant return!” Normal welcomed with open arms as Max and Alec arrived at Jam Pony to start the day, “You sure you’re ready to be back, superstar? You gave me one hell of a scare.”
“Couldn’t keep me away,” Alec smirked.
He was still drained and a little anaemic, but his voice was the biggest giveaway. He’d made some progress since the poison tore up his respiratory system, but he still sounded hoarse, gravelly, and he still had that cough, but nowhere near as bad as it had been.
Normal raised an eyebrow and glanced at Max, “You don’t sound great.”
“I’m fine, I promise,” Alec said, patting Normal on the shoulder.
“Now that is the kind of work ethic I admire! I’m sending you home at lunch today though. Don’t want you overdoing it,” he said, pushing a parcel into Max’s hand.
“What are you waiting for?” he said, eyeing Max, “Bip. Bip, bip!”
Max rolled her eyes and continued walking with Alec towards their lockers where Original Cindy was strapping on her gloves.
“Hey, Boo. How you feeling?” OC asked, as soon as she saw them approaching.
Alec coughed into his arm, “Like someone tried to kill me.”
OC huffed a laugh, then looked at Max, “What happened to the girl?”
“I went back to her apartment last night, the place was cleaned out. She’s gone,” Max shrugged.
Alec sat heavily on the bench, resting elbows on knees.
“Think she’ll do something like this again?”
Max shook her head, “I don’t know… I think she realised that we weren’t the bad guys. She just wanted someone to blame, you know?”
Alec pursed his lips and looked down, shoulders shaking as he stifled a cough.
“You alright?” Max said after a while.
Alec smirked and looked up at her, taking her hand to help him stand, “I’m always alright.”
End.
Rating: T
Characters: Alec, Max, Logan, Original Cindy, Joshua, Normal, Sketchie.
Warnings/Spoilers: Vivid description of illness. Near death. *Not a death fic.
Word Count: 5310
Disclaimer: I don't own Dark Angel or the characters... but I love them.
Summary: Something is killing X5's. Can Max save Alec before it's too late? Or will she face the same fate... Time's running out.
A/N: This is set during the episodes where Max and Logan are not together and Max has let Logan believe her and Alec are in love... without telling Alec. I like to think that maybe she wasn't lying...
Time's a Wastin'
8:17am Wednesday. Jam Pony.
Alec muffled a cough into his sleeve, sniffed once hard.
"Ladies," he greeted, his voice scratchy.
Cindy raised an eyebrow at him, "What's up with you, boo?"
"What?" He looked at her, still shoving stuff into his locker, "Oh," he realised he looked and sounded a little rough, "long night." He accompanied that with a cheeky grin and suggestive eyebrow waggle that had both Max and Cindy rolling their eyes in disgust.
The girls returned to their conversation.
“So, how is Logan anyway?”
Max shrugged, “Keeps calling.”
“Maybe you should talk to the guy. I know you don’t want to see him, but you gotta help each other out, right? Could be important,” Cindy said, hands on her hips.
“I can’t,” Max sighed.
Beep, beep, beep, beep. Beep, beep, beep, beep.
“That’s him again, isn’t it?”
Max stared at her pager.
“Call him.”
Max huffed, “Why are you always so diplomatic?”
Cindy smiled, “That’s how I do.”
Alec sneezed behind them.
"Bless you."
"Thanks," Alec said, throwing his backpack over his shoulder and heading off to grab his bike.
Cindy and Max watched him as he walked away before Max tilted her head.
"You ever heard Alec sneeze before?"
"Never."
~
8:32am Wednesday. Jam Pony.
“You wanted to talk to me?” Max folded her arms as she leaned against the wall, payphone of the Jam Pony workroom pressed to her ear.
“Max.”
“The one and only. What is it, Logan?”
“Not good.”
Max uncrossed her arms, “What’s going on?”
“They found two bodies, one yesterday, one this morning. Both had barcodes.”
“How did they die?”
“Looks like some kind of virus, or genetic encoding… Max, they were both X5’s.”
“Well, is it contagious?”
“Don’t know. I’ve got some people looking into it. But, in the meantime, you and Alec stay safe, and stay away from other X series, just in case.”
Max took a breath, “Thanks for the heads up.”
“Look, Max…”
“Is that all you had to tell me?”
…
“Just be careful.”
*Click*
~
5:46pm Wednesday. Jam Pony.
“Crash tonight, anyone?” Alec called to the gang at Jam Pony. His voice caught and he coughed against his shoulder.
“Yeah, crash,” Cindy muttered, “As in you’re going to. Go home and sleep, boo,” she said, patting his arm.
“Ah, come on,” he shrugged, “Max?”
“No going out, Alec. Not tonight,” her face was pinched.
Alec sidled up to her, “Max, what’s wrong? Something going on?”
“I dunno… Logan said some X5’s showed up dead. Some kind of virus or something.”
“Shit, Max, and you think to tell me this now?”
“He has some people looking into it. I’m sure it’s fine. We just need’a lay low for a couple’a days. Stay away from other X series just in case,” she shrugged.
“Alright,” he nodded, “Okay, no Crash then.”
Max smiled, “You really should get some sleep though. You look like crap.”
“Gee, thanks, Max,” Alec groaned, grabbing his bike and rolling out the door, coughing again.
~
9:07pm Wednesday. Joshua’s House.
“Joshua!”
Joshua poked his head out from behind his latest painting, “Hey, little fella.”
“Hey, big fella. Why’re you whispering?”
Joshua gestured with his paintbrush in an upward motion, “Alec.”
“Huh?”
“Sleeping upstairs.”
Max folded her arms, “What’s Alec doing here?”
“Came to visit,” he pointed again to alcohol bottles on the table, “Tricks and treats,” he grinned.
“He got you drunk?” Max said, raising her voice.
Joshua put a finger to his lips, “Didn’t drink any. Alec didn’t drink any either… He was tired.”
“Huh.”
Joshua went back to painting.
“Well, I brought you food and some more books.”
“Gotta blaze?” he asked, taking the bags.
She furrowed her brow, “I’m sorry, but Logan says there’s this thing killing X5’s… could be a virus.”
“Virus bitch going down?”
Max smiled a little, “It won’t know what hit it,” she frowned, “You gonna be okay by yourself?”
“Not by myself,” Joshua smirked as a muffled cough came from upstairs, followed by a sneeze.
“Right,” she nodded, “Bye, big fella.”
~
1:53pm Thursday. Jam Pony.
"Hey! Has anyone seen golden boy?" Normal shouted, coming out from behind his desk, "He's been on the same run for two hours."
Max shrugged, "You know Alec. He probably stopped in for a quick hookup on the way."
"He better not be on Jam Pony time. I know the women probably find it hard to resist that physique, but I'm not paying him to get his rocks off."
Max made a disgusted face and Cindy cringed, but right on schedule, Alec strolled in.
He was awfully pale and his face was covered in a thin sheen of sweat, the skin around his eyes slightly pink.
"Ah, speak of the devil and he shall appear," Normal had his head down, ruffling through papers.
"Huh?" Alec's voice was strained and he bowed his head to cough against his arm.
"What's the matter?" Normal's head shot up, "My star employee isn't getting sick, is he?"
Max narrowed her eyes at him as he brought a shaky hand up to wipe his brow.
"Of course not," Alec chirped with less enthusiasm than usual, "I'm fine."
"You don't look fine, boo," Cindy frowned.
"Alec?" Max said, as his eyes seemed to lose focus and rove around the room before rolling back in his head. "Alec!"
Max's transgenic reflexes had allowed her to get to Alec before he hit the ground.
"Alec, hey. Wake up. Stop messing around," Max muttered, shaking him in her arms.
"I'll call an ambulance. I'm not letting anything happen to my rock star," Normal said, approaching the phone.
Max looked up at Cindy, her face saying one thing.
Cindy stepped in front of the phone, "Let's not go too crazy, a'ight? He probably just got the flu or somethin’. Right, Max?”
Max looked down at Alec as his eyes began to open.
“Well, hey, Max,” he croaked.
“See. He’s fine,” Cindy went to help Max pull Alec to his feet, as Normal stood on in worry.
“We’ll take him home,” Max grunted, throwing Alec’s arm around her shoulders.
“You see he gets some rest! Don’t come back until you’re better, superstar!”
And just like that, Normal was back to handing out packages. Bip, bip, bip.
Alec looked confused, “What’s going on?”
“He’s burnin’ up, Max,” Cindy said, grabbing his other arm around her shoulders to help support him as his legs shook like jelly.
“We gotta get to Logan’s.”
~
2:27pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
*knock, knock, knock*
Logan pulled the door open and saw Original Cindy standing there, looking flustered.
“Cindy, what -“
“Hiya, Logan,” Alec groaned, as Max pulled them both into view.
“We didn’t have anywhere else to go,” Max explained, adjusting her hand around Alec’s waist.
Logan stood back as Max brought Alec into the apartment. He was stumbling and white as a sheet. Max deposited him on the couch and he hugged himself like he was cold.
“Am I dying?” he muttered, small smirk on his face.
“You’re not dying,” Max snapped, a little too aggressively.
“We’re going to figure this out,” Logan said, grabbing a thick blanket.
Alec coughed again, flopping onto his side and curling into a ball.
Cindy grabbed the blanket and handed it to Max, who tucked it tightly around Alec’s shivering frame.
“Max,” Logan said, “What if it’s contagious?”
Max looked from Logan back to Alec, whose eyes were wide and panicked.
“Then I’m already infected.”
~
3:52pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
“It’s not a virus, it’s a toxin,” Dr Shankar came out into the living room, folder in hand.
“What are you saying?” Logan asked, hands in pocket.
“Somebody poisoned him.”
Original Cindy sat on the arm of the couch, dabbing Alec’s forehead with a wet cloth.
“So, we got an antidote?” Alec croaked, before rolling onto his side to cough some more.
Dr Shankar pursed her lips, “This isn’t like anything I’ve seen before. Whoever created it knew exactly what they were doing. They probably have a background in genetics. They might even be from Manticore.”
“And I bet dollars to doughnuts they’re the only ones with a cure,” Logan said, sitting down at his desk.
Max stood with her arms folded, watching as Alec winced in pain and shuddered violently. A whimper passed through his lips as he gripped the pillow.
“Shhh,” Cindy soothed, as she continued to wipe his face.
When Max looked up Logan was staring at her. She wished she hadn’t had to tell him her and Alec were together, but she needed to stay out of his life for good. To protect him.
“Just point me in the right direction,” Max cocked her head, looking to Logan.
“We can’t just go rushing into this, Max. You gotta give me time to figure out a connection.”
“Not to interrupt, but we don’t exactly have a lot of time,” Dr Shankar said, closing her folder, “Alec’s going to get worse.”
“Gee, thanks, doc. Sugar coat it, why don’t ya?” Alec muttered, teeth clattering together.
“I’ll find something,” Logan said, as he swiveled round on his chair and began clicking away at the computer.
Cindy looked up as another violent shiver ran through Alec, “There’s gotta be somethin’ we can do for him now. The boy’s sufferin’.”
“OC, do you mind going to Alec’s apartment and getting him some clothes?” Max said, her voice tight.
“Sure, boo,” she said, stroking Alec’s hair one last time.
Dr Shankar looked down, “Just try and keep him warm. I’m going to study this, see if I can find something to fight it, but, Max, we really need to find who did this,” she looked at Alec, “and soon.”
~
5:13pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
Max sat on the coffee table in front of Alec. He’d been in and out of consciousness since the doc and OC left. His cough was sounding worse and his chest rattled when he breathed. She’d never seen Alec like this, so pale, so… quiet. It worried her. She’d already lost Ben. She wouldn’t lose Alec too.
“Max?” Alec whispered, opening his eyes a crack.
“Yeah, right here,” she said, dabbing the washcloth across his brow again.
“If we don’t find a way…”
“Shut up,” she huffed, “Don’t talk like that.”
Alec stared at her with weepy, bloodshot eyes.
"Why are you helping me? Why do you care?"
Max paused, eyes glistening, "Because this is my fault. I let you out. I let them all out."
Alec curled in on himself coughing into the blanket.
Max put a hand on his forehead, "I'm not going to let you die."
Alec didn’t respond.
“Alec?”
Max sat listening to his labored breaths in and out while he slept.
“I mean it… You’re not going to die.”
Logan watched her from the doorway as she stroked his face. He knew he had to let go. He just wanted her to be happy.
“Max,” he whispered.
Max looked up, and with one final pat, made her way across the room.
“You got something?”
Logan cleared his throat, “The other two X5’s that, uh…”
Max nodded.
“They were drinking at Crash two days before. Witnesses said they saw them leave with a girl. That’s the only link I can find.”
“Sounds like a good place to start,” Max said, zipping up her jacket.
“Max… be careful. Whoever’s doing this, they’re not messing around.”
She nodded, “I know. I’ll be careful.”
~
5:26pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
A crash came from the kitchen, followed by coughing. Logan went through to see Alec on his hands and knees, one hand reaching up to the table where he'd knocked off a plate.
"Hey," Logan called, hurrying over to help him stand, avoiding the pieces of broken ceramic, "What're you doing up?"
"Where's Max?"
Logan led Alec back to the couch.
"She's finding a way to get you better."
"Logan... don't hold out on me."
Logan sighed, busied himself tucking the blanket around him.
"Both transgenics were infected at Crash, I assume the same happened to you. Max has gone to check it out."
"So... how long do I have before I," he clicked his tongue, "kick the bucket?"
"If Max has anything to do with it, you're not going to."
Alec sighed, "Come on, Logan."
Logan adjusted his glasses, looked down at the ground, "A few hours... tops."
Alec groaned, pulling the blanket around his face to sneeze several times. Logan rubbed his back. He was hot and clammy, his face white, his eyes red.
"Listen, Alec... about you and Max."
Alec rubbed a hand down his face, "What're you talking about?"
"You don't have to explain. I get it. You two... share something. You can protect each other."
"Logan, it's not what you..."
"No, it's okay. I have to let her go. I have to let her be happy. And if you make her happy... Alec?"
Logan pressed his fingers to Alec's neck, feeling for a pulse. It was feeble, but it was there.
Logan let out a breath, let the wave of panic wash over him.
"Hurry, Max," he whispered.
~
5:38pm Thursday. Crash.
Max took a seat at the bar and ordered a drink. She hadn’t even started to scope out the place yet when a woman appeared beside her. She was thin, tall, blonde. She was definitely a “fine sister”, as OC would have called her.
“You’re Max, right?” she asked, tilting her head.
Max furrowed her brow, “Who’s askin’?”
“I’ve seen you here with Alec before.”
Max rolled her eyes. It was impossible to get away from girls that ‘knew’ Alec. He certainly had a way with the ladies.
“Well, Alec’s not gonna be out tonight, so…” Max said in her snarky way, trying to brush this girl off.
“Oh, that’s okay. I knew he wouldn’t be here.”
Max turned to her.
“It’s you I wanted anyway,” she sighed, planting a kiss on Max’s lips before she could even move away.
Max froze, literally, whatever this girl had done to her, had stopped her on the spot. She was paralyzed.
“Now that I have your attention, I’m going to give you a little tip… You’re all going to die.”
Max wanted to scream, ask her why she was doing this, how she was doing this, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t move.
“You’ll be dead in 48 hours, Max. And you’ll join your pretty boy Alec, and the rest of the X5s. ‘Cause I’m going to kill them all. All with just a kiss…” she leaned in again, grabbing Max ‘s hair, and kissed her. She pulled away and took a breath in, “Say hi to Alec for me… if he’s not already dead.”
~
5:42pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
“Logan!”
Logan had heard the door open and close as Original Cindy returned from Alec’s apartment. He’d gone into the bedroom to get Alec another blanket and a few more pillows. He’d been tossing uneasily, his body racking with fever chills. Logan was buried in the closet when he heard her call. It sounded panicked. He rushed out to see her standing there, large bag over her shoulder staring at the couch.
“What is it?” He stopped, looking at her.
She pointed to the couch, blankets strewn on the floor and… empty.
“Where’s Alec?”
~
6:04pm Thursday. Crash.
"Alec?"
"Sketchie, hey," Alec mumbled, stumbling to the table, almost losing his footing.
"Whoa, man, are you alright? I heard you passed out at work today. You sure you should be out?"
Alec shook his head, waving a hand, "M... Max," he breathed, then turned to cough into his arm.
"Jesus, Alec, sit down. What's going on?"
Alec didn't want to sit down, but he did before his legs betrayed him.
"Where's Max?" He panted.
"You just missed her. She was sitting over at the bar with a girl, and, dude… they kissed."
"What?" Alec asked, face in his hands, “Where did they go?”
"Well, the chick left and Max just sat there for about ten minutes like she was in some kind of a daze. Then she took off out the back… I think Max might be gay."
Alec fought unconsciousness.
"Hey, let me take you home."
Alec peeled his eyes open, "Nah, it's okay. I'll get a cab," he said, with his signature smirk, although it didn't look so cocky this time.
"All right," Sketchie said, eyebrows drawn together, "Get some rest, okay?"
Alec gave a sloppy salute, "Sure thing."
It was hard. It was one of the hardest things Alec had done. Transgenics didn't get sick. They were immune to all kinds of viruses that would bring a normal person down in an instant. He'd never felt like this before. It felt like he was moving through quicksand. His own body dragging him further and further down. It had gotten worse too. Now his eyes burned, and felt full of grit. It was getting harder and harder to see. It was probably a stupid idea to leave Logan’s, but he wasn’t going to die there. No, sir. If he was going down, he was going down in the line of duty.
Alec didn’t know who the chick was that Max had kissed, but he had a pretty good idea. For him to become infected like this, he would have had to be poisoned two nights ago, and from his recollection, there was only one girl that night. He hadn’t met her inside Crash, he’d met her out the back. Long honey blonde hair to her waist, soft tan skin. She was absolutely gorgeous, almost too gorgeous… like she’d been genetically engineered that way. Dammit, Alec.
He struggled to get up the stairs that led out the back. He gripped the handrail tightly, pulling himself up. He bent forward, coughing. People were avoiding him, casting dirty eyes at him, and muttering things. He just knew he needed to find Max, because she was infected now too.
~
6:31pm Thursday. A dark alley.
"Hiya, Maxie."
"Alec!? What the hell are you doing here?"
Alec turned to cough into his arm, pressing it hard against his mouth.
"Crap, Alec," Max grabbed him by the arm and sat him down against the wall. "My god, you're burning up."
"Knew you thought I was hot," he winked, coughing again.
"Can you keep it down?" she said.
"Trying," he croaked, wiping the blood away from his mouth.
"Why are you here?"
"Thought you could use the backup." He shrugged, folding his arms and shivering hard, “Especially now.”
“What do you mean?”
“I know,” he coughed, “I know she kissed you. Your number’s up, Max.”
“Shut up,” she scoffed.
“Where is she? I’m gonna kick her gorgeous ass.”
Max shushed him again, “Well, this is where she lives.”
“I know,” Alec smiled dopily, “I’ve kind of been here before.”
“Oh my god…” Max sighed.
“Guy has needs, Max.”
Alec started coughing again, hard, bringing up more blood.
Max tore off a piece of her sleeve and handed it to him. He pressed it against his mouth to muffle the cough and catch some of the blood.
“We’re gonna break in. Find the antidote.”
“That’s the plan?” he croaked, his voice giving out.
“You got a better one, let me know,” she shrugged, standing up, and pulling Alec along with her.
“Max,” Alec muttered, as he leaned into her, “I don’t have much time left.”
“I told you, you’re not gonna die, alright?”
He sighed, “Yeah, alright.”
~
6:52pm Thursday. Inside the building.
“Wait, Alec. I gotta put you down for a sec,” Max panted, as she leaned him up against the wall.
He slid down till he was sitting, “Getting tired?”
“Huh?” she said, rubbing her face.
“That’s how it starts,” he pressed the cloth hard against his mouth and coughed as quietly as he could, his chest bubbling.
“Shut up,” she groaned, “I’m tired from lugging you around.”
They were in the hallway of an apartment building, working their way up. They had to break in at the basement level.
Alec usually would have had a snarky reply to that but he was quiet, his eyes half closed and his face milky white.
“Hey, don’t go passing out on me.”
He startled a little, coughing freely.
“Shhh,” she hushed, grabbing his cloth and pressing it over his mouth. Her hand came away bloody.
“Max,” he whispered.
“Come on,” she said, bending to scoop him up.
“No, I can’t…” he sighed.
“Yes, you can. Get up.”
Alec shook his head, “Max… I can’t move my legs.”
He sounded strangled, afraid.
Max’s eyes were wide and she stared at him.
“Hey, you promised you weren’t gonna let me die,” he chuckled, coughing again, blood flecking his lips.
“I’m not,” she said, firmly, “I’ll come back for you. Just hold on.”
Alec nodded, “Hurry back, Maxie.”
~
7:21pm Thursday. Her Apartment.
Max left Alec slumped in the hallway, legs stretched out in front of him, blood on his face and unable to move, unable to defend himself if he was in trouble.
She hurried.
She broke into the apartment. Number 13, as Alec had told her.
She was quiet, swift, like a cat. Cat, cat in your cocktail.
She heard the shower running and moved quickly throughout the apartment, searching for an antidote. As luck would have it, she found a room containing vials and medical equipment. A lab, of sorts.
She was clinking through the bottles when the shower stopped.
“Crap,” she cursed, but it was too late. The woman was standing in the doorway, naked and dripping.
“Spider caught a fly,” she smiled.
“What the hell is wrong with you?” Max barked, “Why are you doing this to us?”
“You wanna know why?” she shouted, “How do you think you X5’s are immune to all viruses?”
“What are you talking about?”
“I spent my days in Manticore, being infected with so many different illnesses, every day. That’s how they developed all the vaccines. I spent my entire life, chained to a bed, sick and dying…”
“I’m sorry…” Max said. Her disgust for that place grew day by day.
“You were the “special” ones. You were the soldiers. I was a lab rat!”
“You’re an X5?”
“I was a guinea pig!”
“Please,” Max begged, “Manticore is the real enemy here, not us. We didn’t know.”
“No, you were blind. You were stupid.”
“Maybe we were,” Max nodded, “We were just kids.”
“So was I.”
Max looked around the room, “How did you do it?”
“Well, they made a mistake, didn’t they? They made me smart,” she smiled, “I was in the research wing when the fire started and everyone got out. I grabbed everything I could. And I made my own disease.”
“Did you make a cure?”
“You can cure anything with the right ingredients,” she shrugged, “But who says I want to help you.”
“We weren’t “special”, okay? We were used too. Brainwashed. Everyone at Manticore was. They controlled us, forced us to do things we didn’t want to do. Alec, for example, he won’t even talk about the things they made him do! We didn’t even have names. We were just a number. We were all just a number to them! Please, killing us is not the answer. I don’t want to watch anymore of my friends die. I can’t do it. I won’t do it.”
She stepped back, blinking rapidly as if holding back tears.
“Alec is dying… let me help him.”
She turned away, “It’s the blue vials… take one for Alec and one for you. Drink all of it.”
Max turned and grabbed the antidote, when she turned back the girl was gone. Max didn’t have time to think about that though, she needed to save Alec.
~
7:48pm Thursday. Inside the building.
Alec was in darkness. It swallowed him whole. He couldn’t see or feel anything anymore. But he could hear something. In the beginning it wasn’t even words, just muffled sounds, like someone banging on his head, waking him from a deep sleep.
“Alec, open your eyes now! Please, Alec…. Please.”
That was funny. That sounded like Max’s voice. Why would Max be in his dream?
“Wake up, dammit. Alec!”
He tried to talk, tried to open his eyes, but it was really hard for some reason. The darkness was wrapped around him like sticky, heavy limbs, pulling him down, pulling him back under.
“Open your mouth… you have to drink this. Don’t die…”
Whoa, hang on a sec. Who’s dying?
“Don’t die, don’t die… please.”
Max, I’m not dying!
“That’s it, Alec. Open your eyes, come on.”
Alec peeled his eyes open and was hit with the fire in his chest, he bent over, coughing up about a litre of blood onto the floor beside him.
“Oh, god…”
“Max…” he whispered, his voice catching and coughing some more blood onto the floor.
“I have the cure, Alec. You have to drink this.”
He felt the small glass bottle touch his lips and Max tilted his head back. He focused all his energy on swallowing that antidote, even if he was swallowing it with a mouthful of blood.
Max cradled his head in her arms, pressing the side of his face to her chest and rocking back and forth.
“It’s going to be okay, Alec. I promise…”
~
11:11pm Thursday. Logan’s Apartment.
The next time Alec opened his eyes the darkness was gone, the heavy, suffocating weight shifted off his chest. He felt wrung out, dehydrated. His eyes were sore and his vision was hazy. He looked down at his arm and saw a red line. He followed it with his eyes until it connected with Joshua’s arm. The blood going from Joshua to him.
“Hey,” his voice squeaked, dry vocal cords rubbing together like two pieces of sandpaper, getting nothing but a harsh whisper.
He licked his lips and painfully swallowed.
“Hey.”
Joshua’s big eyes found him and he closed his eyes against the assaulting grunting of his excited voice.
“Alec! Alec alright?”
Max, Logan and OC suddenly appeared around him. Hands on his face. Voices in his ears. He couldn’t deal right now. He was too tired.
~
5:15am Friday. Logan’s Apartment.
“Hey, you’re awake,” Max said, sitting on the floor in front of the couch.
“Yeah,” he croaked, “How long have you been sitting there?”
Max felt his forehead, “You’re still a little warm,” she said, not answering.
Alec swallowed, which forced a cough out of him. His chest ached. He felt like he’d been hit by a bus.
“Max, I don’t remember…”
“Don’t worry about it. Go back to sleep.”
“Was Josh here?” he asked, wetting his lips.
“Yeah,” Max bowed her head, “You lost a lot of blood, were going into shock.”
“Why didn’t we use your blood?”
“I’d been infected too… I don’t know. We thought this was better.”
Alec nodded.
“Saved your ass, so…”
Alec chuckled, coughed again.
“God,” he put a hand on his chest.
“Ya’alright?” Max asked, rubbing his arm.
“Yeah,” he grunted, rolling onto his side.
“Get some sleep,” she ran a hand through his hair in a moment of rare affection.
Alec’s eyes closed and his breathing evened out. Rough, raspy breaths scraping through his torn up throat and lungs.
“Is he awake?” Logan asked from the doorway.
Max pulled herself to her feet, “He was. He’s out again.”
“You think he’ll be okay?” he said, not moving, hands in his pockets.
“He’ll be fine. This is Alec we’re talking about,” she shrugged.
Logan sighed, “Max, we should talk about this…”
“Really not the time, Logan.”
“It’s never the time, is it?”
“I almost had to watch him die tonight,” she said bitterly, pointing to Alec.
“I’m sorry,” Logan looked down.
“Whatever, I should go,” Max began to panic, looking for a way out.
“You’re going to leave him?”
Max wrinkled her face, “I have to go see Joshua. We’ll move him when he’s doing better.”
Max bent down to kiss Alec on the forehead, keeping up appearances for Logan’s sake. When she looked up he was looking away. It hurt.
She left.
~
4:33pm Friday. Joshua’s House.
“Alec hungry?”
“No, thanks, man.”
“Here, you need to eat,” Joshua said, shoving the plate of macaroni and cheese in his face.
“Josh, I’m fine.”
“Alec want me to call Max?”
“No! God, here,” he whined, grabbing the plate.
Joshua grinned from ear to ear and slumped down on the couch next to him.
“Need another blanket?”
“I think 12 is enough, buddy.”
Joshua smiled again before gasping, “Water!” he jumped up. “Max said you need lots of water!”
Alec rubbed his forehead, “I need to sleep,” he whispered to himself.
The front door opened while Joshua was in the kitchen.
“Big fella? Alec?” Max called as she came in.
She walked through and saw Alec sitting up, “Hey, you feeling better?” she asked, hand immediately on his forehead.
“Yeah, but you got get me outta here, Max!” he pleaded in a desperate whisper.
“Why? What’s wrong with you?”
“Here! I have water!” Joshua came in with a bucket full of water in each hand.
Alec raised his eyebrows and looked at Max.
“Okay, Joshua, he doesn’t need that much water. He’s not a fish,” Max said in that calming voice she always got when she was taking to Joshua.
Joshua smiled, but looked a little confused, before returning to the kitchen.
“See what I’m dealing with?” Alec said, before jack-knifing with a painful, wet coughing fit. He grabbed a bunch of tissues from the box and pressed them to his mouth. Max’s hand was on his back.
The tissues were full of brown mucus, left over dried blood. His chest muscles cramped in spasm.
“Okay, so you’re not that much better then?”
“God, it hurts,” he groaned.
“Hey, Joshua,” Max called.
Joshua appeared in the doorway.
“I think we need to get Alec upstairs to bed.”
~
9:17am Sunday. Jam Pony.
“Ah! The valiant return!” Normal welcomed with open arms as Max and Alec arrived at Jam Pony to start the day, “You sure you’re ready to be back, superstar? You gave me one hell of a scare.”
“Couldn’t keep me away,” Alec smirked.
He was still drained and a little anaemic, but his voice was the biggest giveaway. He’d made some progress since the poison tore up his respiratory system, but he still sounded hoarse, gravelly, and he still had that cough, but nowhere near as bad as it had been.
Normal raised an eyebrow and glanced at Max, “You don’t sound great.”
“I’m fine, I promise,” Alec said, patting Normal on the shoulder.
“Now that is the kind of work ethic I admire! I’m sending you home at lunch today though. Don’t want you overdoing it,” he said, pushing a parcel into Max’s hand.
“What are you waiting for?” he said, eyeing Max, “Bip. Bip, bip!”
Max rolled her eyes and continued walking with Alec towards their lockers where Original Cindy was strapping on her gloves.
“Hey, Boo. How you feeling?” OC asked, as soon as she saw them approaching.
Alec coughed into his arm, “Like someone tried to kill me.”
OC huffed a laugh, then looked at Max, “What happened to the girl?”
“I went back to her apartment last night, the place was cleaned out. She’s gone,” Max shrugged.
Alec sat heavily on the bench, resting elbows on knees.
“Think she’ll do something like this again?”
Max shook her head, “I don’t know… I think she realised that we weren’t the bad guys. She just wanted someone to blame, you know?”
Alec pursed his lips and looked down, shoulders shaking as he stifled a cough.
“You alright?” Max said after a while.
Alec smirked and looked up at her, taking her hand to help him stand, “I’m always alright.”
End.