Dark Angel - Chapter 16 - Female Trouble
Title: Female Trouble
Pairing: Alec/Logan
Rating: R/NC-17 in future chapters
Chapter: 16
Summary: An AU to the show in which Alec arrives in Seattle before Max does
Alec frowned as he flicked through the magazine that was in his lap. He couldn’t believe Logan had originally planned to come into the seedier part of the city on his own, without anyone around to protect him. Logan had countered Alec’s argument by reminding the transgenic that every part of the city was now a seedy part of town.
He shivered and zipped his jacket up tighter around his chin. The car heater was almost on full but yet he was still freezing. He wished Logan would hurry up so they could go home and keep warm in front of the fire in Logan’s apartment. He smiled to himself when he heard a song that he loved come onto the radio that was playing quietly, providing light background music to take Alec’s mind off of who Logan was seeing in the building that was in front of the car.
He knew that the female doctor Logan was visiting was a doctor from Manticore and he didn’t like it at all. He hadn’t voiced his concerns to Logan because he knew how high his lovers hopes were and there was no way Alec was willing to be the one to shatter them.
Instead he just swallowed down his fears and hoped that he was over reacting as he reached over and turned the stereo up while he waited for Logan to come back.
~
“Hey,” Jack greeted, looking up when Alec arrived home the next day. “How did Logan go on at the doctors?” he asked.
Alec shook his head. “Not so good,” he whispered, sitting in the chair that was next to the sofa that Jack was lying on. “The doctor told him that his body’s rejecting the new tissue that was formed when me and Max transfused him. If it gets worse he’ll be back in the wheelchair.”
“What did Logan say?” Jack questioned.
“You know what he’s like,” Alec sighed, running his hand through his hair. “He told her that he doesn’t care how much it costs, he wants a cure. There’s no way he wants to go back into that chair.”
“What did you say?”
“What could I say?” Alec asked, leaning back and closing his eyes. “That I don’t like it. That I don’t want him to pay all that money for something that might not even work. That I don’t want him risking his life to get rid of something that doesn’t effect the way I feel about him anyway.” Alec shook his head as he got up and headed towards his bedroom. “The only thing I can do is stand by him, even though I don’t agree with what he’s doing.”
~
“Mrs Moreno, how are you doin’ today?” Logan asked as he left the apartment building.
His elderly neighbour smiled at him. “One foot in front of the other, you know?” she replied. “How is your friend?” she asked. “The charming young man who always stops by with the blond boy.”
“Alec,” Logan nodded. “He’s fine,” he assured her. “Have a nice day, Mrs Moreno.”
Logan turned away from the door and started to walk across the sidewalk, just as Max’s voice spoke up from behind him. He listened as Max asked if he was up to cooking a meal for her. Logan frowned internally and told her that he had an appointment and wouldn’t be able to meet her later. In truth he didn’t feel up to having company from anyone at that moment; not even Alec. Logan didn’t want to admit it to his lover but the situation that he was currently in terrified him. He was afraid that something would go wrong and he would die, leaving Alec alone. But inside he could hear a little voice telling him that if he didn’t get rid of the wheelchair soon, Alec would come to his senses and realise that he could be with people other than a crippled old man like him.
~
“Did you know that Logan was seeing a doctor?” Max asked Alec as the car pulled to a stop.
After they had left the doctor’s practise Max had ordered the doctor to stop at Alec’s apartment. She called up, briefly explained the situation to him and a short while later both him and Jack were sitting in the backseat of the doctor’s car.
“Yeah,” Alec nodded. “I’ve been going with him to each appointment.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Max demanded.
“Because what he does isn’t anything to do with you,” Alec snapped.
“And I suppose you think it’s got everything to do with you,” Max snarled, opening the car door.
“I have known him longer than you have,” Alec called as she exited the car. “Come on,” he said, indicating for the doctor to drive. “Let’s get you out of here.”
~
“Any idea how the money’s being laundered?” Logan’s voice was asking. “All right. I’ll pass this along to Eyes Only, I’m sure he’ll want to get into it right away,” he added as Max stalked across the room and severed the connection. “Hey!” Logan cried, batting Max’s hand away and turning to glare at her. “What the hell did you do that for?” he demanded.
“We need to talk,” Max stated.
“That was an informant with evidence on how the sector police are extorting money from…” he trailed off when he saw the look on Max’s face. “What happened to you?” he asked.
“Talk to me about Dr Vertes,” Max instructed, folding her arms across his chest.
“I’m sorry?” Logan asked in confusion.
“I know you’re her patient,” Max informed him. “I followed you to her office.”
“Oh, you followed me?” Logan repeated in annoyance. “Can I ask why?”
“You’ve been acting really strange and I’ve been worried. Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded. “You told Alec.”
“Alec’s been coming with me to the appointments and I thank you for your concern, but I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your nose out of my business. Everything’s fine,” he added in an attempt to assure her.
“Really?” Max questioned, following him into another room. “Then how come an X5 assassin tried to kill Dr Vertes just a little while ago?”
Logan spun around, staring at her in surprise. “What?” he asked in concern. “Is she all right?”
“Yes, thanks to moi, her transgenic guardian angel, she’s fine. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in here. She’s from Manticore,” she told him.
“I know,” Logan sighed. Max just stared at him in shock and asked how he knew. “I’ve spent six months digging up all I could about Manticore to help you find the others.”
“And you just forgot to tell me about this?”
“Not everything I do is your business,” Logan sighed, looking out of the window into the night.
“Finding one of the bright young sadists who did experiments on us back in the day certainly is my business,” Max snarled angrily. “And why is something like this Alec’s business but not mine. I’m sick of you sharing things with him and not me. Don’t you think I’m worthy enough to know all the ins and outs of the fabulous Logan Cale’s life?”
“She’s probably the only person on the planet who can keep me from landing back in a wheelchair,” Logan told her as if he was talking to a small child.
“If you need another transfusion just ask,” Max said in confusion. “You’ve got three transgenics on hand. It’s not like finding one is a hard thing for you.”
“That won’t help,” Logan sighed before he explained what the doctor had told him. “Where is she now?” he asked.
“In the safe house,” Max replied. “Alec and Jack are taking her there now.”
~
“Hey,” Alec greeted when he saw Max and arrive at the safe house.
Logan strained a smile at him and he frowned in concern. “I’m fine,” he murmured before Alec could ask what was wrong with him. “We’ll talk later,” he assured him.
“I was recruited by Manticore right out of Johns Hopkins,” Vertes told them. “They said I’d be working at the cutting edge of motor-function research, that funding would never be a problem. Obviously, it was before the Pulse hit.”
“Who did you work with?” Jack asked, taking a drink from the can of soda Logan had brought for him.
“I worked on series X3 through to the preliminary stages of X7. Mostly I treated injuries that they managed to sustain.”
“You did medical experiments as well, though,” Max said quietly. “Like breaking the arms and legs of young children?” she snarled. “Your guinea pigs. You mean, those kinds of experiments?”
“I was conducting research into how to accelerate osteoregeneration,” Vertes admitted. “And that same research is allowing me to help you friend here.”
They all listened as Vertes explained what she had been doing since she had transferred out of Manticore.
“You’re a great humanitarian,” Alec said sarcastically, unable to keep the anger he felt out of his voice. He knew that she had been trying to help Logan, which was fine when he hadn’t had to look at her. But seeing her face brought back memories and the hatred he felt for the woman who had broken his arm in several places as a child, all in the name of science.
Jack looked up from where he was fiddling with the zipper on a pocket of his trousers. “Why do they wanna kill you?” he asked quietly after a moment of silence.
“They’re afraid I could be bought. That I could sell the information I learnt about Manticore abroad,” Vertes informed them. “People have been wiped out in the past six years. I thought I was off their radar screen. Apparently I was wrong. I guess I don’t have to ask you where your stem cells came from,” she commented, glancing over at the three transgenics.
“Jace, that girl earlier, was one of us,” Max said.
“She was an X5 who stayed behind when we all escaped,” Jack said softly.
“And she was reprogrammed,” Vertes said regretfully.
“How do you mean reprogrammed?” Alec asked.
“They felt that they had created you,” she indicated towards the three of them, “with too much independence. The remaining X5’s were simplified in the neuropsych department. I have a friend in Tokyo who’s familiar with my research. And, obviously I’ll refund your money.”
Logan’s eyes widened in horror. “What do you mean?” Alec demanded for his lover.
“Well, I don’t plan on sticking around in Seattle,” Vertes replied.
Jack jumped up in annoyance. “Look,” he said angrily. “There are three of us. We can take care of the X5. Your only concern is to make sure that Logan gets the treatment he needs.”
Max and Alec nodded their heads in agreement. “I can’t go back to my clinic now that they know where it is,” Vertes reminded them.
“You’ll be safe,” Jack replied.
“You have our word,” Max added.
~
Max looked up from under her hair. Alec and Jack were crouched in a nearby storage cabinet. They had decided that Max should use herself as bait and the other two would lay in wait.
Max had been cleaning up the mess that had been left from the previous attack for almost half an hour. All three of them were doubting whether Jace would show up again and considering giving up.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Alec whispered, moving to stand upright from where he was crouching in the small space next to Jack.
He put his hand on the door handle, just as the roof above Max crashed and Jace fell through it, landing perfectly on her feet. Max rolled onto her back and grabbed the hand that was now wielding a knife at her.
“That’s not very nice,” Jack commented as him and Alec stepped out of the cupboard.
Jace’s attention wavered long enough for Max to shove her to one side and jump to her feet, shedding the white lab coat in the process.
“You really don’t stand a chance against three of us, just FYI,” Max informed her, as they surrounded her.
Jace looked more than ready to take her chances with her three siblings. Max, Jack and Alec shifted closer then, to their surprise, Jace’s facial expression changed and she fell to the floor, clutching her abdomen.
“What did you do?” Alec asked, cautiously stepping closer and looking down at Jace, who was unconscious.
“I don’t know,” Max whispered.
~
“I’m sorry,” Alec whispered, sitting up in the bed and looking down at his lover who was staring up at the ceiling sadly. “I know how much those tests working out meant to you.” Logan didn’t say anything. “You know there are more doctors out there. Someone else might be able to help as well.”
“She was the only one I had access to,” Logan said, his gaze never moving from the tiled ceiling above the bed.
“Then we’ll keep looking for another doctor in Seattle,” Alec said, turning Logan’s head so that the older man was looking at him. “Hopefully we’ll find one that doesn’t want to hand your transgenic lover over to Lydecker. We’ll keep trying. I promise you that I’ll help you. I won’t give up,” he swore.
Logan turned his gaze to Alec and gave him a watery smile. “Thank you,” he whispered.
~
TBC
Pairing: Alec/Logan
Rating: R/NC-17 in future chapters
Chapter: 16
Summary: An AU to the show in which Alec arrives in Seattle before Max does
Alec frowned as he flicked through the magazine that was in his lap. He couldn’t believe Logan had originally planned to come into the seedier part of the city on his own, without anyone around to protect him. Logan had countered Alec’s argument by reminding the transgenic that every part of the city was now a seedy part of town.
He shivered and zipped his jacket up tighter around his chin. The car heater was almost on full but yet he was still freezing. He wished Logan would hurry up so they could go home and keep warm in front of the fire in Logan’s apartment. He smiled to himself when he heard a song that he loved come onto the radio that was playing quietly, providing light background music to take Alec’s mind off of who Logan was seeing in the building that was in front of the car.
He knew that the female doctor Logan was visiting was a doctor from Manticore and he didn’t like it at all. He hadn’t voiced his concerns to Logan because he knew how high his lovers hopes were and there was no way Alec was willing to be the one to shatter them.
Instead he just swallowed down his fears and hoped that he was over reacting as he reached over and turned the stereo up while he waited for Logan to come back.
~
“Hey,” Jack greeted, looking up when Alec arrived home the next day. “How did Logan go on at the doctors?” he asked.
Alec shook his head. “Not so good,” he whispered, sitting in the chair that was next to the sofa that Jack was lying on. “The doctor told him that his body’s rejecting the new tissue that was formed when me and Max transfused him. If it gets worse he’ll be back in the wheelchair.”
“What did Logan say?” Jack questioned.
“You know what he’s like,” Alec sighed, running his hand through his hair. “He told her that he doesn’t care how much it costs, he wants a cure. There’s no way he wants to go back into that chair.”
“What did you say?”
“What could I say?” Alec asked, leaning back and closing his eyes. “That I don’t like it. That I don’t want him to pay all that money for something that might not even work. That I don’t want him risking his life to get rid of something that doesn’t effect the way I feel about him anyway.” Alec shook his head as he got up and headed towards his bedroom. “The only thing I can do is stand by him, even though I don’t agree with what he’s doing.”
~
“Mrs Moreno, how are you doin’ today?” Logan asked as he left the apartment building.
His elderly neighbour smiled at him. “One foot in front of the other, you know?” she replied. “How is your friend?” she asked. “The charming young man who always stops by with the blond boy.”
“Alec,” Logan nodded. “He’s fine,” he assured her. “Have a nice day, Mrs Moreno.”
Logan turned away from the door and started to walk across the sidewalk, just as Max’s voice spoke up from behind him. He listened as Max asked if he was up to cooking a meal for her. Logan frowned internally and told her that he had an appointment and wouldn’t be able to meet her later. In truth he didn’t feel up to having company from anyone at that moment; not even Alec. Logan didn’t want to admit it to his lover but the situation that he was currently in terrified him. He was afraid that something would go wrong and he would die, leaving Alec alone. But inside he could hear a little voice telling him that if he didn’t get rid of the wheelchair soon, Alec would come to his senses and realise that he could be with people other than a crippled old man like him.
~
“Did you know that Logan was seeing a doctor?” Max asked Alec as the car pulled to a stop.
After they had left the doctor’s practise Max had ordered the doctor to stop at Alec’s apartment. She called up, briefly explained the situation to him and a short while later both him and Jack were sitting in the backseat of the doctor’s car.
“Yeah,” Alec nodded. “I’ve been going with him to each appointment.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?” Max demanded.
“Because what he does isn’t anything to do with you,” Alec snapped.
“And I suppose you think it’s got everything to do with you,” Max snarled, opening the car door.
“I have known him longer than you have,” Alec called as she exited the car. “Come on,” he said, indicating for the doctor to drive. “Let’s get you out of here.”
~
“Any idea how the money’s being laundered?” Logan’s voice was asking. “All right. I’ll pass this along to Eyes Only, I’m sure he’ll want to get into it right away,” he added as Max stalked across the room and severed the connection. “Hey!” Logan cried, batting Max’s hand away and turning to glare at her. “What the hell did you do that for?” he demanded.
“We need to talk,” Max stated.
“That was an informant with evidence on how the sector police are extorting money from…” he trailed off when he saw the look on Max’s face. “What happened to you?” he asked.
“Talk to me about Dr Vertes,” Max instructed, folding her arms across his chest.
“I’m sorry?” Logan asked in confusion.
“I know you’re her patient,” Max informed him. “I followed you to her office.”
“Oh, you followed me?” Logan repeated in annoyance. “Can I ask why?”
“You’ve been acting really strange and I’ve been worried. Why didn’t you tell me?” she demanded. “You told Alec.”
“Alec’s been coming with me to the appointments and I thank you for your concern, but I’d appreciate it if you’d keep your nose out of my business. Everything’s fine,” he added in an attempt to assure her.
“Really?” Max questioned, following him into another room. “Then how come an X5 assassin tried to kill Dr Vertes just a little while ago?”
Logan spun around, staring at her in surprise. “What?” he asked in concern. “Is she all right?”
“Yes, thanks to moi, her transgenic guardian angel, she’s fine. You have no idea what you’ve gotten yourself mixed up in here. She’s from Manticore,” she told him.
“I know,” Logan sighed. Max just stared at him in shock and asked how he knew. “I’ve spent six months digging up all I could about Manticore to help you find the others.”
“And you just forgot to tell me about this?”
“Not everything I do is your business,” Logan sighed, looking out of the window into the night.
“Finding one of the bright young sadists who did experiments on us back in the day certainly is my business,” Max snarled angrily. “And why is something like this Alec’s business but not mine. I’m sick of you sharing things with him and not me. Don’t you think I’m worthy enough to know all the ins and outs of the fabulous Logan Cale’s life?”
“She’s probably the only person on the planet who can keep me from landing back in a wheelchair,” Logan told her as if he was talking to a small child.
“If you need another transfusion just ask,” Max said in confusion. “You’ve got three transgenics on hand. It’s not like finding one is a hard thing for you.”
“That won’t help,” Logan sighed before he explained what the doctor had told him. “Where is she now?” he asked.
“In the safe house,” Max replied. “Alec and Jack are taking her there now.”
~
“Hey,” Alec greeted when he saw Max and arrive at the safe house.
Logan strained a smile at him and he frowned in concern. “I’m fine,” he murmured before Alec could ask what was wrong with him. “We’ll talk later,” he assured him.
“I was recruited by Manticore right out of Johns Hopkins,” Vertes told them. “They said I’d be working at the cutting edge of motor-function research, that funding would never be a problem. Obviously, it was before the Pulse hit.”
“Who did you work with?” Jack asked, taking a drink from the can of soda Logan had brought for him.
“I worked on series X3 through to the preliminary stages of X7. Mostly I treated injuries that they managed to sustain.”
“You did medical experiments as well, though,” Max said quietly. “Like breaking the arms and legs of young children?” she snarled. “Your guinea pigs. You mean, those kinds of experiments?”
“I was conducting research into how to accelerate osteoregeneration,” Vertes admitted. “And that same research is allowing me to help you friend here.”
They all listened as Vertes explained what she had been doing since she had transferred out of Manticore.
“You’re a great humanitarian,” Alec said sarcastically, unable to keep the anger he felt out of his voice. He knew that she had been trying to help Logan, which was fine when he hadn’t had to look at her. But seeing her face brought back memories and the hatred he felt for the woman who had broken his arm in several places as a child, all in the name of science.
Jack looked up from where he was fiddling with the zipper on a pocket of his trousers. “Why do they wanna kill you?” he asked quietly after a moment of silence.
“They’re afraid I could be bought. That I could sell the information I learnt about Manticore abroad,” Vertes informed them. “People have been wiped out in the past six years. I thought I was off their radar screen. Apparently I was wrong. I guess I don’t have to ask you where your stem cells came from,” she commented, glancing over at the three transgenics.
“Jace, that girl earlier, was one of us,” Max said.
“She was an X5 who stayed behind when we all escaped,” Jack said softly.
“And she was reprogrammed,” Vertes said regretfully.
“How do you mean reprogrammed?” Alec asked.
“They felt that they had created you,” she indicated towards the three of them, “with too much independence. The remaining X5’s were simplified in the neuropsych department. I have a friend in Tokyo who’s familiar with my research. And, obviously I’ll refund your money.”
Logan’s eyes widened in horror. “What do you mean?” Alec demanded for his lover.
“Well, I don’t plan on sticking around in Seattle,” Vertes replied.
Jack jumped up in annoyance. “Look,” he said angrily. “There are three of us. We can take care of the X5. Your only concern is to make sure that Logan gets the treatment he needs.”
Max and Alec nodded their heads in agreement. “I can’t go back to my clinic now that they know where it is,” Vertes reminded them.
“You’ll be safe,” Jack replied.
“You have our word,” Max added.
~
Max looked up from under her hair. Alec and Jack were crouched in a nearby storage cabinet. They had decided that Max should use herself as bait and the other two would lay in wait.
Max had been cleaning up the mess that had been left from the previous attack for almost half an hour. All three of them were doubting whether Jace would show up again and considering giving up.
“I’ve had enough of this,” Alec whispered, moving to stand upright from where he was crouching in the small space next to Jack.
He put his hand on the door handle, just as the roof above Max crashed and Jace fell through it, landing perfectly on her feet. Max rolled onto her back and grabbed the hand that was now wielding a knife at her.
“That’s not very nice,” Jack commented as him and Alec stepped out of the cupboard.
Jace’s attention wavered long enough for Max to shove her to one side and jump to her feet, shedding the white lab coat in the process.
“You really don’t stand a chance against three of us, just FYI,” Max informed her, as they surrounded her.
Jace looked more than ready to take her chances with her three siblings. Max, Jack and Alec shifted closer then, to their surprise, Jace’s facial expression changed and she fell to the floor, clutching her abdomen.
“What did you do?” Alec asked, cautiously stepping closer and looking down at Jace, who was unconscious.
“I don’t know,” Max whispered.
~
“I’m sorry,” Alec whispered, sitting up in the bed and looking down at his lover who was staring up at the ceiling sadly. “I know how much those tests working out meant to you.” Logan didn’t say anything. “You know there are more doctors out there. Someone else might be able to help as well.”
“She was the only one I had access to,” Logan said, his gaze never moving from the tiled ceiling above the bed.
“Then we’ll keep looking for another doctor in Seattle,” Alec said, turning Logan’s head so that the older man was looking at him. “Hopefully we’ll find one that doesn’t want to hand your transgenic lover over to Lydecker. We’ll keep trying. I promise you that I’ll help you. I won’t give up,” he swore.
Logan turned his gaze to Alec and gave him a watery smile. “Thank you,” he whispered.
~
TBC