DISCLAIMER: All DARK ANGEL characters belong to James Cameron and Charles Eglee (Cameron Eglee Productions) and DARK ANGEL itself belongs to FOX.

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Photo courtesy of JensenAckles.org

He wasn't ready to be out of the game yet ... he wasn't that bad, but Max insisted Alec lie down, perhaps delay the effects of the poison. When Berrisford escorted them to Rachel's bedroom, however, both X5s looked at him askance.

"The hospital bed is practical," the man said. "And all of the monitors still work." He lifted the plastic sheeting from the EKG machine. Then, his eyes grim, he added, "You don't know what your doctor will need, and I'm thinking you're not going to be going to a regular hospital."

"Why are you doing this?" Max asked. "Why are you helping him?"

Alec had been wondering that, too. On the jet was one thing, but now that they were in Seattle Berrisford had no reason to do anything except report them to the police or military. Instead, he was opening his home to the man who'd murdered his daughter.

There was the sound of a car outside in the driveway, and Max quickly moved to the window. "Sam's here," she said.

"I'll go let him in," Berrisford said, heading out to the hallway and staircase.

Alec slowly sat on the edge of the hospital bed, testing the mattress rather gingerly and trying not to think about how he, in all likelihood, was going to be dying in it just like Rachel did. But this had been his choice -- to run from Manticore and Lydecker even though it meant his life. However, truly, in the back of his mind the X5 had always believed that Max would somehow come through for him like she always did and save his ass.

She sat down beside him, one leg curled under her, and -- to Alec's surprise -- took hold of his hand. "What did they do to you?" she asked in a low voice even though there wasn't anyone else in the room to hear. Eyes earnest ... pleading ... she studied his handsome face, seemingly begging for him to tell her something that would put her mind at ease.

Unfortunately, that wasn't going to happen.

"'Deck shot me full of some kind of poison," Alec said heavily. "If I don't get an antidote injection every seventy-two hours it starts workin' on my systems ... something to do with neural connections followed by organ deterioration." He sighed deeply and looked away, at the flowered portrait decorating one wall (a picture Rachel must have liked). "The bastard let me go almost four days once, just to prove his point." Green gold eyes came back to hers. "Promise me one thing, Max. Promise me that, if Carr can't help me, you won't let me suffer like that. I mean, you helped Ben, right?"

"Don't say that," she snapped, jerking her hand out of his and turning away, her long dark hair falling forward to hide her face and expression. "Don't ask me to do that, Alec. Not ever."

"You killed Ben because you loved him, right?" Alec said in a heated voice. "Do I deserve less?"

"No," she whispered. "In fact, you deserve more. I loved Ben like a brother, but I love you like--" She didn't finish the sentence.

"You'll still have Logan," Alec said, although the words cost him. But it was true. "I know you can't decide, and maybe this way -- with me gone -- things will be better for you."

"I said don't say thing like that!" she practically shouted, whirling around to glare at him. "I'm not better off without you! The past six weeks have proven that to me. I missed you so badly, Alec. I wanted to come find you. In fact, I had Dix and Luke running a search. Then I found out that Asha had betrayed you and you'd been captured by Manticore. Logan helped me. We knew you'd gotten away. But--"

"But what?" Alec said.

She threw herself into his arms. "I'm just so glad you're here," she sobbed into his shoulder. "And I don't want to lose you again."

Alec wanted to tell her that she wasn't going to lose him. But he couldn't.

"Ahem," a voice said from the doorway.

Both transgenics looked up to see Sam Carr standing there, medical bag in hand, with Berrisford hovering behind him.

"What's going on, Max? the doctor asked, his dark eyes looking from one X5 to the other. "I don't see any blood, so I gather no one's been shot?"

"Not shot," Max said, letting go of Alec and standing up. Then she looked back at him. "He's been poisoned," she said softly.

"Poisoned?" Dr. Carr replied, eyebrows rising as he set his bag down on a small table.

"By Manticore," Alec elaborated. "Some kind of compound that has to be treated every three days or else things get real painful."

Carr got out a stethoscope. "Take off your shirt," he said.

Alec complied, shrugging out of his leather jacket and pulling the grey t-shirt over his head. Max lightly touched his bare shoulder while the doctor listened to his heart. Shaking his head in wonder, Carr said, "I'll never get used to how efficient your X5 systems are. I count forty-two beats per minutes, a strong rhythm, no sign of a problem." He raised his eyes to Alec's face. "You say you're beginning to feel the effects of the poison?"

Alec nodded. "Pins and needles in my fingers and toes," he said. "And pain beginning to run up my arms and legs."

Sam scowled, and took out a blood pressure cuff. A moment later he once again shook his head. "One fifteen over sixty-three. No problem there. I'm beginning to think we're dealing with a neurotoxin as opposed to something that effects the organs directly. Organ failure probably only begins when your brain stem begins to deteriorate, affecting your base body functions."

"Whatever it does, it hurts like hell," Alec said quietly, beginning to feel the faint stirrings of panic in his belly. He knew first hand how bad this could get, and he didn't relish the idea of what Max would be facing with him. Maybe he shouldn't have come back after all. Hadn't Lydecker said it would be selfish ... making her watch him die?

"Get the rest of your clothes off and get in bed," Carr ordered, taking a syringe out of his medical bag. "I'm going to take a blood sample. I'll do the analysis myself at my lab -- we don't have time to go through regular channels. Hopefully, I'll be able to determine just what they shot you up with. But if it's something obscure ..." He looked at Max and shook his head.

"Hey," Alec said. "I'm right here." He'd kicked off his shoes and shed his pants. Dressed only in boxers now, he reclined back on the hospital bed, arms behind his head. "If it's too hard to pinpoint, I'm fucked," he finished for the doctor. "Don't sugarcoat this, Doc. I know what I'm up against." He held out his arm, let the medic tighten a tube around his biceps, and made a fist as the needle went in and drew a sample of his precious X5 blood.

Max watched closely as the syringe filled, biting her lower lip and once again taking hold of Alec's hand. "You'll be fine," she said, her voice trembling slightly. "You have to be."