FANDOM: Dark Angel
TITLE: A Pound of Flesh
GENRE: Gen
CATEGORY: Angst, Drama, Hurt/Comfort, Episode Related, AU
RATING: R
SEASON: Two
PAIRING: none
WORD COUNT: 35,123
SUMMARY: An episode tag for "Two" that leads into an AU from the second half of "Some Assembly Required" : Acting under their original orders, the Steelheads known as Bird and Tuck kidnap Alec from Crash in an effort to find and regain control of Zack. By the time Max and Logan realize that Alec is in trouble, he's already been made an unwilling participant in British Eddy's organ smuggling ring. What begins as a search and rescue mission to recover a missing X5 will become a battle for survival – one that pits Alec against his own failing body and fractured mind.
DISCLAIMER: Dark Angel, its characters and situations, are copyright James Cameron, Charles H. Eglee and 20th Century Fox Film Corporation. No infringement on, or challenge to, their status is intended. This piece of fiction was written strictly for the entertainment of other fans, and I am gaining no form of compensation for it.
MORE DISCLAIMERS: This is a work of fiction. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or actual places and locations, is purely coincidental.
AUTHOR'S NOTES:
Eternal thanks and gratitude to whisper99, without whom this story wouldn't exist. And I mean that sincerely. The bunny for this sprang forth from her brain, and so did several of the details. On top of that, she gave me inspiration, pokes, prods, and advice all the way through. If not for her, I'd have probably given up a long time ago.
Also thanks to moonshayde and switch842, two of the best betas on the planet. They kept me honest, kept me writing, and above all, kept me sane. Oh, and yeah, they read the crap that I pumped out and helped me make it readable. :)
Enormous thanks to forcryinoutloud, for not only being such an incredibly kickass admin and giving us the smallfandom_bb to play in, but also for being an amazingly talented artist and making for me an incredible cover image for this story.
Also, to seramercury, for swooping in, in true superhero style, and saving my story from going unclaimed for art, and for making me a great trailer vid set to some killer music.
You can find both at the Small Fandom BigBang website (linked from the smallfandom_bb LiveJournal).
WARNINGS: dark, disturbing, and potentially triggery content, violence, kidnapping, torture, forced drugging, mental anguish, control and consent issues, a rather descriptive scene of surgery being performed on a conscious person, and allusions to/discussion of non-consensual sex (not explicit, not shown)
Prologue
We know what you are.
The words echoed in his mind long after the Steelhead girl called Lux had left the bar. He knew there was a threat there, but exactly how serious that threat was, and what he should be doing about it, he hadn't yet decided.
We know what you are.
"We know who you are" would have been a completely different story. It might still have surprised him, but it wouldn't have been a big deal. As far as the rest of the world was concerned, Alec McDowell was nothing more than a bike messenger. Logan's contacts did good work – almost as good as Manticore did – and it would take more digging than most people were either willing or able to do to find out that Alec McDowell had only existed for six weeks. "We know who you are" wouldn't have really been a threat. "We know who you are" could have been dealt with.
But she hadn't said "who." She'd said "what."
And she'd said it after she'd seen his bar code.
Alec swallowed hard and turned back to the bar, running his finger around the rim of his beer glass absently as his thoughts swirled round in his head. He could still feel the cold steel of her spiked fingernails against the back of his neck, the warmth of her breath against his skin as she whispered in his ear.
We know what you are.
He shuddered involuntarily at the memory, reaching up with his right hand to pull the collar of his jacket just a bit higher.
He had to tell Max.
At least one ordinary in Seattle claimed to know "what" he was, though how "ordinary" Lux actually was could be debated. And going by the words she'd used, she wasn't the only one. She'd talked about her friends, the ones that he already knew. And she'd said "we know," not "I know."
So, there was a group of people who knew about him. Three of them were Steelheads that he'd happily thumped on earlier in the day, and the other one vibrated when she touched him.
Alec let his head fall forward and closed his eyes as another thought occurred to him.
Max is going to kill me.
She already held him responsible for everything from his own training at Manticore, to the orders he'd been given while he was there, to people he'd never even met double-crossing her. She would definitely blame him for running afoul of a group of Steelheads in a turf war over drugs, getting Sketchy involved and beaten up, pounding on them in return, and risking the exposure of all Transgenics in Seattle because now there were people out there who knew "what" he was.
Okay, so that last part really was his fault, but that wasn't the point.
He couldn't tell Max.
He'd just have to figure out how to fix the problem by himself. How hard could it be? He'd been trained since he was nine years old to deal with problems on his own, and he functioned best when he was alone. No one around to distract him, no one else to worry about if things went sideways or if he screwed up somehow.
So, alone he was and alone he would stay, at least until he'd solved his Steelhead problem. He'd have to make sure that Max never caught wind of anything that had happened to Sketchy that morning or what Lux had just said to him. Sketchy's silence should be easy enough to buy, and he knew that he wouldn't be ratting himself out.
Everything was going to work out just fine.
He felt the hand on his arm only a fraction of a second after he realized someone was standing beside him, and he snapped his head up. He caught the man's scent and immediately shut down the hyperalert state that he'd shifted into. He was so mixed up by his own thoughts that his reflexes were off; he'd have to work on that. By the time he turned to face the man at his side, he'd plastered a smile on his face and wasn't giving any indication of what he'd been thinking about only seconds before.
"You okay?" Logan's question sounded sincere enough, and Alec couldn't help but wonder why he asked it. Never mind that no one ever asked him if he was okay – not that he'd ever really answer them anyway – but that made the second time that Logan had asked him in one day. It had to be some sort of common conversation starter for him, because Alec doubted very highly that Logan was actually worried about him.
"Yeah," he answered with a quick grin before he turned back to his beer. "I'm fine. Why?"
Logan leaned his left elbow on the bar and seemed to be making himself comfortable there. He certainly didn't look to be leaving any time soon. "You looked a million miles away for a few minutes, there. You sure you're not hurt?"
Alec lowered his eyebrows in equal part confusion and suspicion. "Why would I be?"
"Well, Isaac threw you around pretty good. And besides, I know my hearing's not as finely attuned as yours, but I do recognize the sound of a fight when I hear it. Even over a cell phone."
Alec nodded his head briefly before turning away again, hoping that Logan hadn't seen the worried expression that he knew had flashed across his face. He'd forgotten that Logan had heard him pounding on the Steelheads earlier. He'd have to think fast to come up with an explanation that would not only be acceptable to Logan but would convince him to leave it be. His silence wouldn't be nearly as easy to secure as Sketchy's; Alec doubted that fifty bucks would mean as much to Logan as it did to Sketch.
As all these thoughts flew through his mind, outwardly Alec only shrugged and said, "It was nothing."
"Something to do with those 'bad guys' you got the money from?"
Alec shrugged but didn't say anything. Was Logan really going to make it that easy?
Logan nodded once before turning his head toward the bar. "As long as you're all right."
This time, Alec's grin was real. Yes, Logan really was going to make it that easy. "Yeah, I'm good." He picked up his beer and took another long drink.
Logan pushed the beer Lux had left on the bar away from him and motioned to the bartender for one of his own.
"How'd you get my number anyway?"
Logan handed the bartender a few bills before picking up his beer and turning to lean his elbow against the bar again. "I called JamPony, thinking you might have been there. You were already gone, so Normal told me how to get a hold of you."
Almost as if anticipating Alec's instinctive need for isolation, Logan continued. "I was going to wait until it scrolled off, but I can delete it now if you want me to." He pulled his cell phone out of his pocket and flipped it open, preparing to do just that.
Alec had reached out with his hand, bringing it down on top of Logan's and stopping him before he'd even fully realized that he'd moved. "No," he heard himself say softly. "Keep it."
He had no idea why it suddenly mattered so much to him that Logan keep his number in his phonebook. Sure, it could be a practical step for Logan to take, having two Transgenics at Eyes Only's beck and call. That could only be a good thing, right? That had to be the only reason he was wanting it.
Logan tilted his head, obviously confused by Alec's behavior.
Alec shrugged one shoulder and grinned again. "Might come in handy some day. Ya never know when you might need another X5 around." He lifted his beer to his lips, but didn't take a drink. "Might save someone's life."
Logan seemed to consider that for a few seconds before nodding in agreement. "You know, you're right. And you keep mine, too. Because that 'might come in handy' thing works both ways."
Alec raised his glass in mock-salute, and Logan did the same.
"Just don't call me on Friday night. Or Saturday. Most of Sunday's out, too."
Logan took one more swallow from his beer before sitting it back down on the bar and pushing himself away. "Don't worry about your weekends," he said with a smile, clapping Alec lightly on the arm as he stepped away. "I know how you are."
And then Logan was gone. But his absence didn't come with silence, because the voice he'd almost forgotten was suddenly back, echoing through his mind again.
We know what you are.
Crap.