Max's entire body trembled and shook. These were much worse than any of the low-creatin induced seizures she'd had in the past, and she was scared by their severity. Her head felt as if it were going to become unattached from her neck as she suffered from the whip-lash of her head rocking back and forth. Involuntary tears streamed down her face as she tried to use the techniques Manticore taught her to block out the pain.
Logan sat in the dark corner of the room, his head placed on his folded hands, as if praying to a God he didn't believe in. He couldn't bear to watch Max like this, yet he couldn't leave her. She was doing this for him; for them. To attack the virus meant to attack Max's entire body, and they had promised Max and Logan that her body was strong enough to endure the treatment. She was a genetically enhanced killing-machine that was designed to undergo multiple life-threatening situations.
Then again, so was the virus.
48 Hours Earlier
"They shouldn't be allowed to be so disgustingly cute together," Alec announced to anyone nearby who would listen. "Walking around holding gloved hands like they own the whole city is rude and unnerving. Am I the only one who will stand up for what's decent in our squalid town?"
"Pretty whack?" Joshua asked, not quite sure if Alec was kidding or not. Joshua still didn't quite understand when Alec just wanted attention or if he was being serious.
"Yeah, it's pretty whack. They're never going to find a cure to that virus. But they act like it doesn't matter, like they can live the rest of their lives without ever actually touching anyone sexually. I give it a year, tops. A couple of weeks if Max has the genetic defect that makes her act like a sex animal for 36 hours." Alec yawned and checked the monitors for further action. The police force was still surrounding Terminal City, not letting anyone in or out, and the Transgenics were doing the same on the inside. Same old same old. It had been like this for four days.
"Anything new?" Max asked with a slight nod while she and Logan strolled in. They had stopped holding hands, Alec was pleased to note.
"Hi Max, nice to see you too," was Alec's reply. "No, everything is still the same, just another standard, old fashioned stand off. You know, I think there are more guns and weapons out there than there are on the 49th Parallel in Korea, even after the 2nd Korean War."
"Huh. Well, keep us updated," Max answered casually. "We're off to go check on the future of the Transgenic race."
"No problem, it's not like I want to do anything else today. Nope, there's nothing like watching a bunch of TV monitors when you don't even have popcorn or a chick around, just a big talking man-dog and some cockroaches."
"Thanks Alec, you're a big help," Logan retorted. Alec responded with his usual smirk.
"We'll send some relief soon," Max told Alec to ease his worries. Everything was tense around the city, but she had to keep moral up some how. Life was going to get better eventually. It had to…
Logan grabbed her hand and glanced at Alec's face, just as his eyes were beginning to unsquint. Logan was wary of Max's relationship with Alec, even though they had come clean and told him they weren't really in a relationship. Despite their relationship being fake, Logan knew that Alec really did like Max, and he didn't like the idea of someone Max could touch socializing with her too much. Especially someone as good looking as Alec. And someone who understood Max better. And could actually keep up with her. But no matter…he and Max could get through anything. Well, except for the virus.
"You two still going through the plastic route?" Alec shouted over.
"Yeah, seems like. Although next time Logan wants to try and die, we'll be sure to let you watch us touch without the gloves, k?" Max snapped.
"Sounds good. See you then. And say 'hi' to Nadia for me," Alec yelled as Max and Logan walked off.
The streets were filled with all types of Transgenics, X-series and others. Some of them glared at Logan out of spite for him being an Ordinary. There were a lot of harsh feelings going around, and with the food supply running lower every day, things weren't getting much better.
"Hey boo, where you headin'?" Original Cindy came up behind Max and put her arm over her shoulder. Logan looked on jealously as the two hugged.
"We're off to see how Gem and the baby are holding up. As of yesterday, there was still no barcode, so that's a good sign. Kid could actually have a normal life if we ever resolve all this," Max answered. "Want to come with?"
"You know I do, but Sketchy is working on his little interview plan and I gotta go with him to make sure that fool don't get himself killed askin' the wrong people the wrong questions, you get what I'm sayin'?"
"Oh, I hear you. But you gotta give it to Sketchy. Makin' a video about how Transgenics and Ordinaries can live along side peacefully is fully supporting the cause, and shows that we're real people with feelings and…stuff," Max offered.
"'Cept people won't get that if the only Transgenics they see are the ones that look like hot, ordinary females who don't have heads or legs," OC noted.
"Good point. I think you should help him. Maybe ask Joshua some questions too. Show people he's gentle, even if his face looks…different."
"I'm on it sugar," OC said as she walked off in the direction of the flag, the space needle looming in the background. "This video will be rockin', don't worry boo." Max smiled and turned back to Logan. He wanted to suggest that Sketchy interview the two of them and show that Transgenics and Ordinaries could fall in love, but he knew Max would have to admit her love to him before she would do it to whoever might watch that tape. Even if it was only going to be Sketchy.
They walked the few blocks to where Gem was staying with some of the higher educated X-4 series. They had been trained in medicine and were making sure the baby was completely healthy and running checks on its DNA to discover if it was really ordinary or more special than that.
"Max!" Gem called, as she too gave Max a hug. "How's everything going?"
"Pretty good, all things considered. Nobody's started shooting yet, so I guess nothing more could be asked of the world. OOMPH!" Max answered right before she was tackled by Dalton, the little X-6 who had become Gem and Nadia's unofficial protector. He also seemed to have an added interest in Max as of late.
"Can I help?" he eagerly asked Max, completely ignoring Logan standing next to her.
"Sure you can," Max smirked. "Alec's complaining about watching the cameras. Think you can go make him happy?"
"What a baby. Of course," Dalton responded, perhaps too quickly. He raced outside and dashed out of sight.
"How's the baby?" Logan asked Gem.
"Oh, just a normal little girl. No barcode, no genetic markers, nothing extremely extraordinary. She seems really curious for someone her age, but that could just be me bragging about my kid."
"What's wrong with you?" one of the X-4 doctors asked, indicating Logan's gloved hands.
"Oh, um, nothing, really, it's just Max has been given this genetically targeted retro-virus that can kill me if she touches me," Logan said awkwardly.
"Oh yeah, I've heard of those. Ever try to get rid of it?" This statement raised both Max's and Logan's eyebrows as they wondered if the man was being serious or not.
"Well, yeah, we tried a protein barrier, but the virus mutated and ate its way through," Max decided to answer.
"Oh, you already made it mutate. That makes fighting it harder. But it can be done. Good luck!"
"We can fight it?!" Max and Logan said simultaneously. "HOW?"
"You mean to tell me that you've got all these Manticore people put into one place, you've got the whole operation set up, and you haven't even thought to ask around to see if anyone can help you get rid of this virus?" the X-4 asked incredulously. "I thought you X-5s were supposed to be smarter than us."
"We are, but we never got into the hard-core biotechnology training before breaking out in '09," Max defended. "Plus, we've had a few other things on our mind in recent history."
"Yeah, whatever. But I could have an antivirus ready to go for you in 36 hours if you both give me a blood sample. I'm afraid I'm no good in a fight anyway," he said as he pushed away from the table, showing an amputated leg.
"Happened the week before Manticore blew up," he explained. "I was scheduled to be euthanized the next day, but you know how that went. They sewed me up first to see if anything special happens to an X-4 when they lose a limb. It doesn't."
"Oh," was all Max could say as the prospect of her and Logan being able to touch again allowed itself to linger in her brain before she pushed it away. But it was no use; the thought had already left a slight amount of hope behind. "How much blood do you need?"
After giving 5 mL of blood each to the X-4 doctor, named Craig, Logan and Max split up as Logan went back to working on his computer equipment and Max went to confer with the other elected leaders of the Transgenics. Logan had been trying for the past couple of days to hack into the radio systems of all the different law enforcement groups that had gathered around Terminal City, and was trying to contact one in particular. The Seattle Police Detective Ramon Clemente was the one who had tried to end the Jam Pony catastrophe peacefully and was consequently Max's best bet in finding an intelligent, logical and reasonable person with whom to negotiate. Logan had been trying to find Detective Clemente, but he feared that Clemente had been taken off the case by everyone's favorite breeding-cult disaster, Ames White.
Max, on the other hand, was trying to set up a list of terms with other well-respected Transgenics, such as Mole, Alec and Bug. First on their list was food. Some of the X-series had been trained in botany, in case they were ever caught in hostel territory and needed to lay low without a food supply, but in order to grow any food they needed to improve some soil and get some detoxed water, both of which were hard to come by in a nuclear waste site. Once that was done, it would still take a few weeks to grow enough food to start sustaining the Transgenic community. They had inventoried everything they had stored before Terminal City became a prison, and it was only enough to last everyone only a week and a half longer. The Transgenics could last up to a week without food, but the few Ordinaries in there with them wouldn't do so well, so they needed to get some supplies. Furthermore, they need basic medical supplies and some extra computer equipment to run the generators. Everyone's skills were coming in handy when it came to improving the quality of life within Terminal city, including the installation of indoor plumbing, but more was needed to keep everything running. The small group had decided that if they could get these requests onto reasonable ears, they would see that the Transgenics could be self-sustaining and would then maybe leave them alone. Fat chance, thought Max, but they still had to try. She let everyone leave to get back to their posts and stuck around to draft their lists of needs by priority and into a nice paragraph format, in case anyone in the surrounding area was interested in listening.
After their meeting, Max went to check on the monitors again and was surprised to see Alec and Dalton playing a nice game of Texas Hold'em, using their rations cards as betting chips.
"Dalton! I told you to watch the monitors for Alec, not to help him stay distracted!" Max moaned.
"You said to help him!" Dalton defended. "I watched the monitors while he was gone and then when he got back, he pulled these out! What could I do?" The innocence on Dalton's face was enough to make anyone soften up, but Max was too tense for it. Those monitors needed to be watched in case anyone made a stupid move and quick actions had to be taken.
"This isn't a joke…" Max tried to explain, but with lightning-quick speed, Alec was next to her and he nudged her shoulder. Max fell immediately into a defensive stance, ready for a fight.
"Jeez! Lighten up a little bit! You're going to burst if you keep all of that inside of you!" Alec joked as he slid closer to Max as she slightly relaxed her arms. She glared at him warily. "Max, I'm not trying to hurt you. I'm just trying to get you to realize you've got a stick the size of the Space Needle up your ass and you need to take it out. Sit down, have some tea, maybe take a nap or something. Get your mind off the impending doom that will soon befall us all and have some fun. Get down with your bad self!" he declared, emphasizing the last bit with a little hip twisting and arm movement.
"I would if I knew there was someone competent to take over for me when I'm done…" Max growled, and started to walk off, but Alec caught her by the arm. If there was one thing Max hated, it was a guy grabbing her by the arm, and her face made sure Alec knew as much.
"Woah, don't freak out on me," Alec said as he dropped her arm, and Max smiled for a split second as the memory of their first encounter crossed her mind. At the time she was angry, horrified and disgusted, but in hindsight the situation was pretty funny. She tried to hide the smirk from Alec, but he caught it and smiled back as Max went back to glaring at him. "I just want you to know that the whole weight of the world doesn't have to be on your shoulders. You should be happy; you've done a lot to further our cause. In the next few days, you should take some time off to do what you need to do. Because everyone knows, a grumpy negotiator is a bad negotiator. And lover, but you know…" he grinned as Max hit him square in the arm and walked away. "You're welcome!" he shouted after her and smiled. He knew Max found him funny, even if she didn't.
"Now where were we?" Alec asked Dalton as he sat back down and picked up his cards.
"Any luck yet?" Max asked Logan as she walked into his room.
"Nope, not yet, but I'm using some of my Eyes Only contacts, and so far it seems that our favorite detective is being held behind a lot of red tape. Turns out White is trying to blame him for how poorly the Jam Pony episode went down." Logan looked at Max and could tell the ominous feeling was back, the one that signaled hope of them getting together was back, and neither one wanted to address their hopes or fears. He decided that if Max was going to ignore it, he was fine with ignoring it as well.
"So…about the virus," Max started.
"Yeah. What about it?" Logan thought that maybe Max would open up this time.
"Maybe we shouldn't try," Max whispered. She wouldn't look Logan in the eye, but if she had she would have seen bewilderment and sadness along with a little bit of anger mixed into his face.
"Why the hell not?" Logan asked, trying to remain as calm as possible. Max always had a reason, although normally it was overly logical and completely unacceptable to Logan.
"It's just…every time we try, we're let down, and it just makes this, us, it makes it so much harder, like you die every time I can't get this virus out of me. I don't know if I can take another let down, you know? Like the time we had those ten hours…we both knew it was a bad idea, but we tried anyway, and it made all the time after that horrible. I just wanted to hug you again, to kiss you, to dance with you, but I couldn't. What if that happens again? What if it's five hours this time? What if it's twenty? Anything shorter then forever would be too short, and I don't know if I can go through that again," Max ended quietly, her normal look of determination and sadness plastered on her face.
"Max, I…I would do anything for you. I would die fifty times if it meant I could hold you fifty-one times. I know having this hope is hard, especially when it gets crushed, but I feel like we have to try. And if it doesn't work, we still have the gloves," Logan finished and then touched her hand with his blue-gloved hand and squeezed it. "Being with you is enough if we can't have anything else. But if there is a possibility of something else, I don't think we can ignore it. I think we have to seize it and run." He looked into Max's eyes and noticed they were glistening. He stood up and wished more than anything that he could give her a comforting kiss on the forehead. He settled for a smile and Max smiled back.
"I've got some duties I need to attend to," Max stammered, backing away from Logan before she lost all of her senses. "We'll worry about this in another 32 hours when Craig gets back to us." She left the room and Logan watched as she walked down the alley and out of sight.
The next 32 hours went by quicker than imagined for Max and Logan. Both of them had their hands tied with their duties, including assessing the Transgenics who were monitoring the border of Terminal City, helping the engineer base work on the water purifier, rebuilding a hard drive from an old, forgotten computer and corresponding with more Eyes Only contacts. Max was able to find some time to hang out with OC and Sketchy, which mostly consisted of the two trying to convince Sketchy to put the camera down, and Logan was able to catch some much needed sleep. The news that Craig had finished his survey of the virus-tainted blood and was ready to try a cure came as a surprise to the two of them. Neither had expected it to happen so quickly, even if Craig had told them it would only take 36 hours. They decided to meet up by the Terminal City flag and head over to the medical headquarters together.
"So what've you got?" Max asked, trying to sound unconcerned.
"Well, it wasn't easy," Craig started, "but I think I've got these little buggers to the point where they'll kill the virus but not you."
"You think? Buggers?" Max questioned warily. These words were never good coming from a scientist.
"Well, yeah. See, these are nanocytes. Basically, they're little robots that will go into your blood stream and attack the virus. The only problem is that I can only make them so strong or they'll kill you too, and you've already made the virus stronger. Now I've run a couple of tests, and with your stem cells and advanced white blood cells and Killer T cells, the nanocytes should only hurt you a small amount. On the other hand, the virus only knows how to hurt proteins and this guy's DNA," he said, pointing at Logan, "so they should have a big problem when it comes to these little buggers. At least, that's what's happened in the tests I've run. Would you like to see?"
Max moved toward the microscope he was indicating and leaned over. It was only when she started to look through the scope that she noticed her heart was about to explode from the sheer excitement, fear and hope that this situation offered. There were two specimens on the stage that she could see. One was labeled "Max, before" and the other "Max, 3 hours after treatment". The second one was completely virus free, and although a couple of the cells in the blood sample were damaged, for the most part it was ok. There was one nanocyte left in the blood, but it appeared to have stopped working.
"I've programmed the nanocytes to shut down when the presence of the virus's capsids have disappeared, which is why they are no longer doing anything. This will prevent any further harm," Craig explained. "It's all relatively safe and will prevent you from killing Logan. I even put some of your treated blood into his and it had no adverse affects."
"So…I can be cured," Max quietly declared in disbelief. "And it will only take 3 hours?"
"Give or take a couple of minutes. But yeah, 3 hours should suffice. You guys got any free time soon?" Craig asked.
"We've got all the time in the world," Logan answered as he silently took Max's hand and squeezed.
It had been two and a half hours since the nanocytes had been put into Max's body. It was 4:00 AM and Terminal City was quiet except for the hum of the generators. Craig had left after the first half-hour, stating that everything was going according to plan. He had told Max it was going to hurt, and she had said she didn't care. She took the shot without a second thought, and now Logan had to sit there and watch her writhe as aminiature invasion of killer robot bugs tried to destroy her body.
"This can't be right," Logan whispered to himself as he looked upon Max again. Her condition hadn't changed from the intense trembling. Logan wished he could hold her and tell her it was going to be all right, but he couldn't be sure the virus was gone. In fact, Max's continued shaking was almost a guarantee that the virus was still alive and well. Maybe we should've told OC or someone we were doing this, Logan thought, but Max had insisted it stay a secret. That way, should anything go sour, they could avoid the pity looks and whispers that would come from the realization that their last hope was gone. Logan looked down at Max and wondered what it would feel like to be with her again. The thought offered a quick refuge from the horrifying scene in front of him.
Suddenly, the door burst in and Alec ran full force into the room, nearly running into Max on the floor. "Max!" he shouted, and upon noticing her trembling on the ground, he quickly kneeled next to her and picked her up, much in the way Logan was dying to do at that very moment. Logan stood up out of rage and curiosity to let Alec know he was there.
"What do you want Alec?" Logan asked, trying to stay calm as Alec embraced his love. This was not how he imagined the night going.
"We needed to ask Max a question about how she wanted the night guards positioned for the next 36 hours—you know, the whole changing the line-up so that the enemy can't remember your positions—and someone said she saw you guys coming up here. What the hell is going on? Why aren't you doing anything to help her?" Alec desperately rushed to say all at once. Logan could barely understand him as Alec started rocking Max back and forth.
"Because it's intentional," Logan grumbled. "We're trying to get rid of the virus and we're using nanocyte technology. Unfortunately, it's not very precise. It's attacking Max's body along with the virus. Her body can take it though," he explained to Alec's worried glance. "She's going to be ok in another…" Logan glanced at his watch, "…23 minutes."
"Can I stay?" Alec asked without even thinking. Max was one of his few good friends and he couldn't imagine losing her because she wanted to get it on with an ordinary guy nearly ten years older than her. The idea didn't make much sense to Alec, but then again, neither did Max. Logan shrugged and went back to his corner. He didn't like it, but Max had started shivering less since Alec had started holding her. He knew it was probably just comforting to know someone was there, but he could barely hold back his jealously.
A couple minutes later, Craig came back into the room to examine Max. She hadn't stopped shaking, although the amount had decreased, and that seemed to worry him. He took a small blood sample and observed it under his microscope.
"Shit," Craig sighed as he looked under the microscope. "I'm going to have to stop these nanocytes. Her stem cells can only work so well, and they're becoming depleted. This wouldn't be a problem if the virus was gone, but it seems that a couple of the strands have mutated to fight off the nanocytes. The nanocytes will win if they keep fighting, but…I don't know if Max can take it. Not without any more stem cells, at least." He looked at Logan to make sure he was going to be ok.
"Can she have mine?" Alec inserted into the silence. "I'm another X-5, a clone of one of her so-called brothers. Will a blood transfusion work?"
"It's worth a shot," Craig said with a shrug. "It certainly couldn't hurt since you're all O-neg. But we'll have to do it right away if we want Max to live. You find a vein on your arm and I'll get one on Max."
All Logan could do was watch as the two men worked to try and unite him and Max together again. He felt so helpless, so useless, and basically just pitiful. He wished he could give Max his blood, or help to find the vein on her arm, or even to just analyze her blood samples. But all he could do was wait on the sidelines as Max was undergoing intense pain in order to save their relationship and his future life.
She is getting one fantastic dinner in the future, he thought. It was all he could do to crack jokes to avoid falling apart.
It took another hour after the transfusion, but Max's body finally started to stop twitching. Craig took another blood sample at that point and analyzed it quietly.
"Well," he started while still staring into the microscope, and Logan could almost strangle him for his dawdling. "It looks like it's gone. There are no signs of the virus in this blood sample and the nanocytes have shut down, indicating that the virus capsids are completely eradicated. I'm pretty sure she's cured."
"So, I can touch her, and not die?" Logan asked slowly, not quite believing what he was hearing.
"Sure can. These buggers worked wonders. But I fear she'll still be out of commission for another hour or so. Her body needs time to recuperate."
Logan slowly inched toward Max and kneeled next to her. Alec stood up and reluctantly backed away as Logan reached out his hand and touched Max's. For the first time in a long time he felt her bare skin against his. He waited there for a moment, fearing the effects of the virus might begin to sink in, but after a few seconds he felt nothing except the thumping in his chest that told him this all must be a dream. Logan grabbed Max's hand and squeezed, and with his other hand he touched her face. He brushed the hair that had fallen into her face from the seizures to the side and rubbed his thumb against her cheek.
Max slowly came back into consciousness and was surprised to feel the pain replaced with a soft, happy feeling. She opened her eyes and saw Logan's fantastic blue eyes looking down at her, smiling, as she hadn't seen him smile in a long time. And then she felt his hand on her hand, his fingers on her face, and she realized that there were no gloves on his hands. And she knew that it had worked. The last ditch effort, the random, out-from-left-field attempt that no one could have predicted actually worked. She smiled back at Logan and squeezed his hand in response.
"Look at us, we're pathetic," she spoke quietly, recalling the night of their anniversary so long ago.
"Hopeless," Logan recited. He remembered that night just as well.
"It's a good thing we hooked up, then."
In response, Logan just leaned over and kissed Max. Seconds later, Max fell asleep, allowing her body to recover from the vicious battle. But her grip didn't lessen on Logan's hand, and he was happy to finally be able to sit by her side.
Alec trudged out of the room and down the alleyway to deliver the message that Max was incapacitated, so they would go with position set delta. He would keep Max and Logan's news to himself, as he was sure they'd want to be the ones to tell everyone the happy news.
"So is eyes only up and runnin' again?" Max asked as she slid her arms around Logan's neck and down his chest. The two hadn't stopped touching each other since Max had woken up.
"Not yet, but I think I might have gotten most of my informant net back up," Logan explained. He then grabbed on of Max's arms and pulled her in front of him and then down onto his lap to kiss her. They were fully enraptured by the kiss when Logan's computer started beeping and startled them back into reality. Max got off of Logan's lap and he punched in the passcode to receive the encrypted message from an unknown source. After running a scan for viruses and decrypting the e-mail, he read it aloud to Max.
"Dear Eyes-Only,
Your offer to set up negotiations with the Transgenics is honorable and well planned, but I fear you have offered it to the wrong man. After the Jam Pony Scandal, my prestige in the department has fallen, and even if I were to broker a deal with you, I'm not quite sure anyone would listen or adhere to it. Your requests seem fairly simple and reasonable, but I'm noticing there aren't a lot of reasonable people standing outside of those gates. I would be willing to meet up with you at the requested date, time and place, but I feel that you must know that I don't have a whole lot of pull anymore. However, I might be in possession of a few more strings that I can manipulate. I await your response.
Sincerely,
Lt. Ramon Clemente"
"At least he's honest," Max sighed with a shrug. "I'll go tell the others," Max said as she started to head out the door.
"Wait," Logan called after her. "Aren't you forgetting something?" Max looked at him with a confused look on her face, and then he grinned and stood up. "You forgot this," he said as he kissed her on the cheek. She smiled back at him and then rushed out the door to go tell the other lead Transgenics the news about a possible meeting of hope. She was feeling particularly hopeful.
Well, that's it. Btw, I do not own the copyrighted materials of Dark Angel, although I do own this 3rd season since they didn't make one. I hope you enjoyed, and perhaps I'll write more in the future, about White and his stupid breeding cult, about Alec and his troubles, about the face-off between Ordinaries and Transgenics. Or maybe I'll just leave it there. Who knows. Bye (for now)!