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They parted at the base of the Needle. Max's Ninja was parked on the south side, Alec's Duka across the street.

Max watched as he walked across the sleet slick road, shoulders slightly hunched in his leather jacket against the cold February drizzle that had finally blown in off the ocean. She remembered when she used to watch Logan like that -- when he didn't know she was looking -- studying the man she loved. Now, she stood there wondering why she'd never noticed before how Alec moved with the grace of a big cat.

The sudden sound of a large car's engine made both transgenics look up. From the right a huge black SUV rounded the corner, its tires squealing even on the wet road.

"Alec!" Max screamed.

But he'd seen the danger -- knew what was happening. Reacting on instinct, the X5 sprang into the air as the Ford bore down on him, leaping with incredible athleticism, touching one foot briefly on the car's roof before landing safely in a catlike crouch on the other side.

Max turned quickly, her eyes zeroing in on the SUV's license tag, but the numbers were blocked out. And then she heard the second car.

Peeling around the same corner, a grey sedan with black tinted windows barreled straight into Alec. Still shaken from his previous near miss, the young transgenic wasn't quite quick enough this time. He jumped again -- made a valiant try -- but his foot caught on the car's bumper. A single cry of pain escaped his throat as Alec was thrown bodily into the windshield, the glass cracking with a chilling splinter at the impact. Then the laws of physics took control, spinning the X5 up and over the roof to tumble helplessly off the rear bumper and land brutally on the asphalt.

"Alec!" Max screamed hoarsely as the second vehicle sped out of sight.

*****

Her first thought was that he was dead -- and she wondered why God hated her so much.

When Max reached Alec's side he was lying very still, face down on the street, his head turned slightly to one side at an angle. She was terrified that his neck was broken, but shaking fingers found a pulse at the base of his throat.

"Alec?" she called out to him softly as she carefully tried to check the damage. His eyes were closed. He looked like he was asleep. But then a thin trickle of blood oozed from the corner of his mouth and Max knew she had to get help fast.

Looking around, she realized that an ambulance would take way too long to get here. This wasn't a very nice neighborhood, and, emergency or not, the drivers wouldn't be eager to make the run. Cabs, too, avoided the streets around the Needle like the plague, and with good reason. The blocks here were controlled by the various clans and gangs, the sector police only a cursory presence.

She turned her eyes to the parking lot, and the vehicles there. Max knew what she had to do.

Five minutes later she had Alec lying on the back seat of a Plymouth four-door convertible and was driving as fast as she possibly could to County General Hospital. She had an awful feeling that the X5's injuries were beyond the capacity of the Terminal City medics to treat.

*****

There was some kind of commotion going on in the E.R. examining room where the doctors had rushed Alec.

Max looked up. She'd been told to wait in the chair area while the medics assessed her companion's injuries, but the seats were unbearably uncomfortable so she'd been leaning against the wall. "What's happening?" she asked, grabbing a passing nurse by the arm, a nice looking young black woman with a worried expression on her face.

"That your man in there?" the nurse asked, indicating with a nod of her head the direction of Alec's room.

My man? Max hesitated. She could say she was Alec's sister, couldn't she? Yeah, right, we really look like brother and sister ...

"He's my boyfriend," Max lied. "Is something wrong?"

Two hospital security men came running past.

"We need some help in here!" a nurse screamed out into the hallway.

"Sounds like your boyfriend's on a bad trip," the nurse said with a shake of her head. "But don't worry. They'll pump him full of Narcan and it'll wash all that junk out of his veins."

"Alec's not on drugs!" Max shouted at the woman. "He was hit by a car!"

The woman just looked at her and shook her head. "They always deny it," she said under her breath as she walked away.

Max sprinted down the corridor to Exam Room 2. Through the glass window she could see four security guards trying trying to get restraints on Alec's thrashing arms and legs. She realized Alec must have regained consciousness, seen all the medical equipment, and panicked.

"Hey!" Max shouted, bursting through the door. "Leave him alone!"

"I'm sorry, miss," a nurse said, grabbing Max by the arm. "But you're going to have to leave. Don't worry. We'll take good care of him."

A doctor was approaching Alec with a very large hypodermic needle in his hand.

"What are you doing to him?" Max yelled, barely managing to not slug the nurse who was still holding onto her.

"Sedating him, honey," the nurse said, urging her out of the room. "Just a little Halidol."

"He was hit by a car, you idiots!" Max screamed. "He's not on drugs!"

"Max?" Alec shouted, hearing her voice. He spotted her by the door. "What the hell's goin' on?"

One of the orderlies, a thin blonde teenager with a pimply complexion, had hold of Alec's right arm, trying to force his wrist into a restraint strap. Alec, however, was having none of it. Drawing his fist back, he landed a blow in the guy's face.

Blood from the orderly's broken nose spurted everywhere.

"Call the police!" someone shouted.

"Hold it!" a doctor roared, an older, grey-haired gentleman who appeared to have some authority. "Leave the boy alone!"

As ordered, everyone backed away from Alec, except Max who wrenched free from the nurse and pushed through to stand by his side.

"Hey, Max," Alec said, glancing up at her with grateful eyes, although she could tell from the way he was breathing that he was in considerable pain.

"Hey," she returned, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just lie still. You were hit by a car. I'll take care of this."

"No tests," Alec reminded her.

"No tests," Max agreed wholeheartedly, knowing exactly where Alec was coming from. Like her, he'd been tortured by doctors at Manticore, and a place like this brought back all the horrible memories. Besides, they didn't need County General's lab techs pondering Alec's pleuropoten-filled transgenic blood.

"Take it easy, son," the doctor said, holding out a gentling hand. He glanced up at a set of x-rays on the lighted wall. They'd been taken before Alec regained consciousness. "You've got some broken ribs," he said. He moved forward with his stethoscope and Alec winced away. The doctor looked at Max. "I need to listen to his chest."

Max nodded. "Let him, Alec," she said low under her breath. You might have injuries beyond TC's ability to treat.

Alec watched the doctor warily, but allowed the man to listen to him breathing. "Hey, Doc," he said. "Don't bother yourself too much about me. It's not like I have any insurance."

"I'm Doctor Hanson by the way," the man said, looking at Max, his face grim. "And your boyfriend's got a punctured lung I'm afraid."

"If that's all then I'll heal," Alec said tightly. "Good as new in a week or two. And when the hell did I become your--"

"Shut up," Max hissed.

Alec sat up on the narrow bed with a painful grimace, swung legs over the side, and tugged on his hospital gown. "Let's go, girlfriend. Where are my clothes?" But then his face paled and he fell back on one elbow, obviously on the verge of passing out again. "Fuck," he muttered.

"Wait," Max said, her hand on Alec's arm. To Dr. Hanson she said, "What can you do for him?"

"He needs to be admitted," Hanson said. "His right lung could collapse, or an embolism could form."

"Max," Alec said in an uncharacteristically shaky voice. "I'm tastin' blood." He was leaving the call up to her.

Max glanced out into the full waiting room, at all the feverish, coughing people. Some sort of epidemic seemed to be going through the city -- maybe a new strain of flu? She didn't like the looks of that crowd at all.

She made her decision. This was no place for Alec to be. "Let me have the x-rays," she said, grabbing the photos from the wall. "We have our own people who can take care of him now that we know what's wrong."

"What people?" Dr. Hanson asked.

"Transgenic people," Alec said, turning his head to one side, and pulling back the hair that partially covered the bar code on the back of his neck so the doctor could see what he was.

Max scowled.

"Hey," Alec said. "It's not like it's a big secret any more."

The doctor's eyes widened. "You're a mutant?"

Max's eyes met Alec's. "We prefer genetically empowered," she said, echoing the well chosen words she'd heard her X5 partner use a time or two before. "Can you walk?" she asked.

Alec nodded.

"Please," the doctor said. "At least let him stay overnight. You have no idea how much I'd like to study his physiology."

Alec, supported by Max's hand beneath his arm, got off the bed and grabbed his clothes from where they lay folded on a nearby chair. "I just bet you would," he said under his breath. "Let's get outta here, Max."

For once, they were in agreement. Alec wasn't going to be anyone's guinea pig.

*****

Mole came and got them at the hospital, and sent two others to retrieve their bikes from the Needle.

One look at Alec's x-rays, and the TC medic sent him straight to bed, telling him to not move for at least three days.

"A good thing Joshua likes playin' nurse," Alec said tiredly to Max from where he lay snuggled down on a nice soft pillow in his quarters.

"Just ... watch yourself next time," she said. "I still can't believe you got hit by a car."

"I doubt it was an accident," Alec said, thinking about Juarez and the man's threats.

"But we don't have any proof," Max pointed out. "Clemente would laugh at me."

"Well, we did know that whoever represented TC on city council would be a target," Alec said. "But I really didn't expect someone to try 'n make me road kill at my very first meeting. Guess it just goes to show how much some people hate us."

"If Juarez tries anything else, we'll handle him," Max said grimly. "Or rather, I'll handle him."

"We'll handle him," Alec corrected her. "We'll handle him together."

Max held Alec's eyes with hers for a moment, an understanding passing between them. "Good night," she then said softly, and closed the door.