A/N: This is my very first Fanfic.
What if Alexander did not die young?
- Save the World, save Hephaistion
2015 – New York
When the Doctor stepped out from the booth, he could not believe what he was witnessing. The scene in front of him was nothing but chaos. People dressed in nice business suits were frantically walking around to get some signals for their cell phones.
Some of them were running up on top of the building, and others were rushing down to the subway station. However, nobody seemed to be successful in getting any signals, no matter what kind of service providers they had. The billboard updated with the most current stock exchange prices by the minute was displaying nothing but one boring dotted line.
In 2001, terrorists had had a first success in letting world know what they were capable of, by using most unconventional weapons to terrify the world, an incident known as 9-11. In 2008, they got smarter, and shook up auto industries by controlling oil prices, which led to even more damage to the economy, and massive failure of financial and credit industries.
And now, they got even smarter and finally found a way to destroy a world, and they didn't even have to use nuclear bombs to do this. They simply figured out how to shut down the whole communication systems.
'It will be a matter of hours, no, minutes before the whole world comes to a crash.'
The thought terrified the Doctor.
'I have to get to the bottom of this to eliminate the cause, otherwise there will be no world, at least not a civilized one.'
The Doctor hurried back to the booth, and start scanning history, looking for the very start of this terrorism.
'If I locate Osama bin Laden and kill him, will it solve the problem? No, the culture is already there. Eliminating just one source may slow them down, but does not stop them.'
He kept scanning, going deeper and deeper in history. As he already completed scanning the whole AD, and had almost given up hope, he came to this one theory, Alexander the Great. He ran the hypothesis in his mind.
'If Alexander did not die so young, and his heir reigned as a king of Asia, long after Alexander's death, kept uniting those countries tight together, it may not have given a soil to grow those terrorists.'
He ran more data and became convinced that his theory was actually correct. The Doctor was now excited, as he believed that he had found a way to save the world. Now, the question was how to keep Alexander alive?
He went back to the history, and finally revealed a secret code. To save the world, he had to save Alexander. And to save Alexander, he had to save Hephaistion. As it seemed that Alexander could not survive long without his beloved. With all confidence, the Doctor set the destination to Ecbatana, 324 BC.
324 BC – Ecbatana
Hephaistion has been sick almost a week. But today, he was feeling better, much better. As a matter of fact he sent everybody away who have been tending him for the last five days. He even sent Alexander off to the games telling him that he will be all right, and will see him at supper. Now he noticed that even his appetite was back, and he found himself craving some solid food. He had not been eating hearty food since he fell ill.
He called one of the pages, and ordered him to bring some food with a cup of wine mixed with water. The young page hesitated.
"But Hephaistion, the doctor ordered no solid food nor wine until your fever is completely gone."
"Do not worry Aries, I am feeling much better today, and I am sure that a little food and wine should give me more energy, don't you think?"
Hephaistion flashed a smile, and Aries gave in. When it came to an argument, not many people could win over Hephaistion, especially when he was determined to make his point and gave such a brilliant smile as a most effective weapon. The page bowed to Hephaistion, and retired to prepare some food.
When Aries returned with some boiled chicken, bread, fruits and wine mixed with water, Hephaistion sat up and asked Aries to put the tray on the bed.
"Do you require any assistance?"
"No, I think I can manage. Thank you Aries."
Aries sighed with relief and a little bit of disappointment, but he left without a word. He wanted to be with his beautiful Chiliarch, but also understood that Hephaistion needed some privacy.
As soon as Aries left his room, Hephaistion took a cup, and brought the rim to his lips. He had to hold it with both his hands, but it felt good to be able to do things by himself without having any aides. It was then, he saw bright lights dancing around at the corner of his bedchamber. The lights were so bright that Hephaistion had to look away.
As the lights dissipated, a strange object started to materialize. It looked almost like a big wooden box with strange handles attached. Hephaistion gasped when he saw a man appear from the box. He was not old, rather young, but Hephaistion could not guess this stranger's age or origin. He was also wearing such strange cloths, clothing Hephaistion had never seen before, even in Persia.
However, it was the Doctor, who was more astonished when he saw Hephaistion. He had never encountered such a beautiful being. He has met not only beautiful human beings but also other beings, but compared with Hephaistion, none of them came even close.
The Doctor looked into his eyes; the color of the deep Mediterranean Sea, and saw a fear in them, but at the same time, he noticed something very calm behind the fear, the kind of calmness, which could sooth even the most troubled soul on earth. The Doctor now truly understood why Alexander loved Hephaistion so much, and died shortly after losing Hephaistion. Hephaistion was the keeper of Alexander's soul. He was the reason for Alexander's sanity.
"Are you here to take me to Hades?"
The trembling soft voice brought the Doctor back to reality.
"No."
He approached the bed and gently took the cup from Hephaistion's slightly shaking hands, and set the tray away on the stool near by.
"But if you eat or drink any of those, you will be crossing the river Styx very soon."
Although the Doctor spoke perfect Hellenic, Hephaistion sensed something mysterious about him.
"Are you a God?"
"No, I am more like an Oracle."
With this answer, Hephaistion felt more at ease. No wonder he looked and acted so strange.
"What knowledge did you bring here to share with me?"
Hephaistion asked. The Doctor was relieved with Hephaistion's rational state, and replied.
"I am here to save your life and Alexander's. "
Then the Doctor took out a small bottle from his pocket. The Doctor was pretty much sure that Hephaistion was suffering from some kind of bacterial infection, so he had prepared an antibiotic mixed with grape flavored syrup, knowing Hephaistion liked sweets.
"First, you have to have one big swallow of this."
He handed the bottle to Hephaistion. Hephaistion hesitated for a moment, but took the bottle from the Doctor and had a swallow. He actually liked the taste.
"You have to drink it three times a day, morning, afternoon, and before you go to bed for the next seven days, then you will be cured. Even if you feel better after a couple of doses, you have to finish them all. Can you do this Hephaistion?"
Hephaistion nodded in agreement. Then the Doctor continued.
"After you become healthy again, Alexander will have a boy with Queen Stateira, and you will have a girl with Drypetis. As they grow they will become inseparable like you and Alexander. "
Seeing some color already returning on Hephaistion's once pale cheeks, the Doctor was satisfied and started walking back to the booth. His job to save the world was successfully done. Hephaistion was so grateful to this stranger who brought such a joy to him.
"What do I owe to you?"
The Doctor turned around and answered with smile, "Just make sure that you and Alexander keep the kingdom safe until your children are ready to reign as king and queen."
"Thank you."
That was all Hephaistion could say feeling a swell of emotions inside.
In the booth, on the way back to 2015, the Doctor whispered to himself.
'It is we who have to say 'thank you' to you, Hephaistion. As you are the one who saved the world, at least the human world I have been keeping a keen eye on'.
End