Dark Angel: Flawed Perfection
By: Deanangst
Fandom: Dark Angel
Characters: Alec, Logan, Cindy, Max, Joshua
Rating: PG
Summary: Logan realizes Alec is not indestructible.
Disclaimer: I own nothing but my love of the characters.
No Beta because I'm just too eager to post.
It was nearly noon and Jam Pony was alive with activity. Cindy stood by the sliding metal door and kept watch for her two missing co-workers. They should have been back twenty minutes ago. She wasn't worried though, the heavy rain always screwed with travel time, not only did they have to deal with road conditions but the rain also meant delays at sector checkpoints. Alec had convinced Normal to allow the use of personal motorcycles so he and Max now pulled most of the long distance runs, which meant even more checkpoints and more delays. Cindy was turning to head inside out of the rain when she heard the unmistakable sound of two highly tuned engines. One minute everything was fine, she could see the two riders approaching. The next minute it was as if time slowed down, like watching a slow motion replay on the evening news. A delivery truck rounded the corner too quickly and the rain slick street prevented the driver from maintaining control. When the truck came to a stop it was positioned crossways on the road blocking both lanes of traffic.
Alec poured on enough power to escape Max and her nagging. What was the fun of having enhanced reflexes if you never got a change to use them. Okay so maybe never was a strong word, but this was different, this was fun. The motorcycles had been a necessary addition to Jam Pony. The added speed helped with delivery efficiency but it also allowed the two transgenics to assist their kind when needed. Alec considered the endorphin high he got when going fast an unexpected bonus. Max was just being a kill joy as usual telling him to slow down, be careful but there was only so much he could take. He glanced back over his shoulder to give Max a smirk when he saw her expression change from annoyance to fear. Facing forward again Alec saw the truck blocking the street. There was no time to stop, instead he laid the bike on its left side and tried to not to tense up as his body made contact with the twisting metal of his handlebars and rough asphalt road. The bikes forward momentum dragging him under the truck and through to the other side.
Alec came to with a start, the metallic scent of blood in the air and what felt like fire burning his left side. As he fought to move away from the pain he could feel hands trying to hold him still. He wanted to scream but refused to give in to the pain.
"Don't move idiot, you're bleeding." Max ground out moving the tattered remains of his leather jacket aside and pushing up the torn tee-shirt. She could see the white of bone where a broken rib had ripped its way thru muscle and skin.
"Ah Maxie, I didn't know you cared." Alec wheezed out as he tried to push himself up into a sitting position only to have Max hold him down.
"I said don't move Alec. This is serious, you need to stay still."
Original Cindy came into view, kneeling above his head. "Normal is on the phone with emergency services right now, County General has an ambulance in route. "Here, I grabbed these from the first aid kit." Passing a handful of gauze pads to Max Original Cindy turned her attention to Alec. "Hey Boo, you just relax, help is on the way okay." She said as she placed a pad against the gash on Alec's forehead. OC wasn't sure who she was trying to reassure more, Alec or herself.
"No Hospital Max." Alec began to protest.
"Alec we don't have a choice, you need treatment. I'll call Logan, don't worry everything will be okay." The gauze OC provided had already soaked thru with blood.
Logan tossed in a fabric softener sheet before shutting the dryer door and starting the machine. 'Ah what would the public think if they knew the great eyes only had to do laundry and scrub the toilets like everyone else'. Shaking the thought from his head Logan walking back into the kitchen smiling at the two fifty dollar bills hanging on the fridge. His mom had told him once to never feed the stray animals that wondered up to the house because if he did they would keep showing up at meal time. Well obviously Logan hadn't taken her advice to heart but at least the stray he was feeding contributed to the grocery fund.
Looking over the list he started the night before Logan smiled. Alec was not picky he would eat anything you gave him without complaint but it seemed Alec had made a few alterations to the list. Liver, Spinach, and Brussels sprouts had been carefully erased and replaced with Mac and Cheese, peanut butter, and noodle soup with snack cakes tacked on at the end of the list. The scary thing was Alec had managed a perfect match to Logan's handwriting. Logan guessed he should not be surprised, there really was no end to Alec's 'talents'.
The ringing of the phone pulled him from his musings, taking his cell from his pocket Logan checked the caller ID. "Hey Max, what's up?" Their breakup had been amicable which allowed them to continue to work together, so it was normal for Max to check in every few days.
"Logan…there has been an accident. I need you to call Dr. Carr and get him to County General."
"What? Max are you okay? What's going on?"
"Look I can't really talk, they are getting ready to load him into the ambulance, just call Dr. Carr."
"Him? Max where is Alec? Max… MAX!" Logan yelled but was greeted with a dead air. He was Dialing Sam's number while he rushed thru the apartment trying to locate his Jacket and car keys. It took four tries before he got an answer, by that time he was already in the elevator heading down to the underground parking garage.
"Logan, Sorry it took me so long to answer, I was just going through a checkpoint. " Sam stated.
"Sam, I need your help. There's been an accident can you get to County General?"
"Yeah, I just finished up a house call. I can be there in about 10 minutes. Is it Max?"
"No, I think it is Alec. Max called said there was an accident. I don't know anything more right now."
"It's okay, I'll call ahead. I did my residency there, they will talk to me."
"Thanks man, I owe you one."
"More like ten. I'll see you in a few minutes."
***
When Logan arrived he found Max in the ER waiting room, she stood when he entered. "Logan!" Max rushed forward as if to hug him, but caught herself at the last moment. Logan wasn't sure what she remembered first the virus or the fact that they weren't a couple anymore. It spoke volumes about her fear that she would forget either.
"What happened! Did White find you!" It came out more a demand than a question. Logan had been running worse case scenarios through his head ever since he received Max's call. It didn't help seeing the dried blood on Max's hands and the front of her grey jacket.
"It was just a stupid accident. We were coming back from a run, one minute the road was clear, the next this truck...it was blocking the street. Alec just didn't have time to stop. He laid the bike over to keep from slamming into the side." Max filled him in quickly.
"What aren't telling me?" Logan gestured to her jacket.
"The accident, it messed him up. He couldn't break free of the bike, got tangled up on the handle bars. I know of a compound fracture of at least one rib on his left side with possible internal injuries. "
"Have you seen Sam?"
"He stopped long enough to tell me not to fill out any paperwork. He'll be back as soon as he knows anything."
***
Several hours passed before Sam made his promised appearance. It didn't help to settle their nerves when he came through the emergency room doors in blood stained scrubs and a serious expression on his face. "He's stable." Sam began, knowing their concern. Motioning them toward the corner of the waiting room they each took a seat. "He's got two cracked ribs one rib is a compound fracture. We realigned the bone and did our best to stabilize it. The lower left lung was punctured but it didn't collapse. Right now our biggest concern is the trauma that his spleen and kidney suffered. There were signs of bleeding with each but the transgenic clotting factors are significantly faster than that of humans. "
"What does all this mean?" Max asked.
"Like I said earlier he is stable, but there is a chance that the patch job his body is trying to perform won't hold. If he was human I'd say several days in ICU for observation but the standard tests needed to monitor him would throw up all kinds of red flags. "
"What do you suggest we do?" Logan asked, already suspecting Sam had a plan.
"Right now the staff thinks Alec is Senator Murphy's son."
"What! Won't that draw the attention of the media. I thought the idea was to maintain a low profile."
Max hissed.
"Senator Murphy's son is being transported to a drug rehab facility out of state. I was actually meeting with Sanford when you called. It's almost election time and he's asked me to help him come up with a cover story to keep the media from having a field day. Murphy's Anti-Drug policies are the cornerstone of his campaign. Alec bares enough of a resemblance to the kid that I called Murphy after I spoke with you, he has agreed to my plan and will assume all medical expenses. We'll pretend to move Alec to the Senators home. I've already requisitioned for the transportation paperwork, and the pharmacy is putting together the necessary medical supplies for home treatment. We just need to come up with a safe location to move Alec. It needs to be somewhere I can make house calls without drawing attention. There is a chance of infection since we had to open him up so preferably someplace clean with access to fresh water and electricity."
"We're immune to infections, so that shouldn't be a problem." Max supplied.
"Well the spleen plays a big part in the immune system helping the body fight off bacterial infections. The fact that Alec's temp is starting to climb makes me think it plays an even larger part in a Transgenic."
"We can get him to my place, it's secure and clean. You're in the area enough that it won't flag anything on the sector grids if somehow White gets wind of this." Logan offered, knowing that he wouldn't be satisfied if he couldn't keep an eye on Alec himself.
"We are talking at least 5 days before I'd even consider another move. Are you sure you want to have your life disrupted for that long." Sam asked, the last time he'd had any contact with Max and Logan they were working to find a cure for the virus, neither had seemed fond of Alec at the time, but it was clear that something had changed.
"Five days? Even with the increased transgenic healing rate?" Max asked.
"I'd rather err on the side of caution so without the aid of testing equipment I'm going to follow the
Guide lines of a human. So 3 to five days bed rest, six weeks of light activity. At least 6 months without extreme physical activity, which I know will be hard given the nature of your existences. The time could be shortened if we can get him in for testing once his ribs and lung have healed, but this is my outside figure. "
"Are you sure you want to do this Logan. I can get in touch with the guys. They can get a room ready at TC."
"And how long do you think Alec could stay out of trouble there Max? They would have him up at headquarters planning their next supply heist tomorrow. Within a week he'd be going on the runs himself. At least at my place I can keep an eye on him and you, OC, and Josh can help me. "
"Look while you two discuss this I'm gonna go check on the patient. Murphy has a private ambulance on the way. I'll let you know when it gets here. Logan do you think you can arrange to have it dropped at Whitehaven afterwards?"
"Yeah that shouldn't be a problem."
"We are going to need some help getting him settled."
"I can get OC to bring Joshua to the apartment. Afterwards Cindy and I will drop the ambulance off." Max offered, knowing that there was no point in arguing any further about where they would be taking Alec. She'd known all along that Logan would want Alec close but she felt she had to offer an alternative.
***
Alec moaned as the gurney was jostled when it rolled over the door tracks and out of the elevator. Logan already had the Penthouse doors open and was pulling back the comforter on the bed in his room. Although his eyes were still closed it was clear Alec was coming to. Tears leaked from his eyes and his chin and bottom lip trembled, the drugs in his system hampering his normal ability to hide pain. "I think Alec waking up." Josh called out. Alec's head turned toward the sound of the familiar voice and he fought to open his eyes when the gurney came to a halt. Trying to preserve as much of Alec's dignity as possible considering his state of dress in the hospital issue gown and various pieces of attached medical equipment Joshua lifted Alec. The smaller mans cry of pain hurting the dog man more than if he had been the one injured. "It's okay little fella, it's almost over." Joshua reassured his friend as Max pulled the gurney out of the way allowing Joshua to step forward and place Alec on the waiting bed. Joshua tried to step back but Alec refused to release his death grip on the front of his jacket. The tears were falling freely now from pain filled hazel eyes.
"Ah crap Josh it hurts man." The younger man panted out on shallow breaths.
"Alec, I've got something here to help with the pain but you need to let go of your friend so I can give it to you okay?" Dr. Carr prepared a syringe and moved toward the IV port in Alec's left arm.
Logan saw Alec begin to tense having never officially met Dr. Carr the younger man viewed him as a threat. Logan really couldn't blame Alec and was relieved to see understanding in Sam's eyes as well. They knew that any previous medical treatment Alec had received came from the hands of uncaring Manticore Doctors who viewed their wards as objects, never as human beings with feelings.
"Hey, relax Alec, Dr. Carr is a friend." Logan spoke softly before he slowly eased himself down to sit on the right side of the bed, being careful not to cause unnecessary movement of the mattress. Reaching out he brushed the tears from Alec's cheek and temple. Alec gradually released his hold on Josh as his attention focused on Logan. Giving the older man a relieved smile that showed, more than words ever could, just how much Alec valued his presence. Logan could see the inner conflict raging behind tired eyes. The pain the younger man had admitted to moments before, when held by one of his own kind, Alec now fought to hide.
" 'm fine, don't need any drugs." Alec spared a suspicious look at Dr. Carr before looking back at Logan. Even Alec could admit that it sounded more a whine than a statement of fact.
"Alec, you trust me right?" Logan waited until he got nod from Alec. "Well then trust me now and let Dr. Carr help you. You've been through a lot and you need to rest. You can't do that when you are hurting and I know that you are. Let Sam give you the medicine, I swear I will be right here when you wake up."
Logan knew that Alec hated to feel vulnerable and that was the reason he was trying to hide his pain. He hoped that his promise, not to leave the younger man alone, would be enough to gain Alec's consent.
They had barely prevented a major setback when Alec started to come to in the recovery room at the hospital. He was in pain and didn't know why, that combined with the sterile white setting and unfamiliar faces caused Alec to believe he was back in a Manticor facility. In his weakened and drugged state Alec hadn't succeeded in harming anyone but himself. His struggles to get free from the bed and tubing caused freshly stitched wounds to reopen and bleed. Logan didn't think he would ever forget the wild fearful look in the younger man's eyes when he and Max had been called to the recovery room. It had been like looking into the eyes of a cornered animal.
After what seemed an eternity Alec extended his left arm in Dr. Carr's direction. The Doctor took that as his cue to step forward and inject the pain medicine into the IV port. The pain medicine was combined with a sedative and it was clear that Alec was quickly being pulled back into the blissful land of slumber. Logan rested a hand against Alec's cheek and felt as the younger man leaned into the touch, his blinking slowed until finally his eyes remained closed.
Once Dr. Carr was sure Alec was fully under he proceeded to show everyone there how to hook up a fresh saline bag and antibiotic. Dr. Carr then checked the drain on the chest tube to make sure the movement hadn't caused any significant increase in bleeding. Satisfied that everything was okay he moved on to check the Cath. Bag for signs of blood before securing it to the makeshift stand beside the bed.
"It looks like he tolerated the move better than I'd expected. The pain meds should allow him to sleep through the night. I'm going to leave a few prepared syringes to be on the safe side but you'll need to space them out at least 6 hours apart. Keep the IV's going until I tell you otherwise, hang a fresh antibiotic every 4 hours. I need you to monitor his temp and urine output. I know there is a little blood present but that should clear up soon, if you notice an increase I want you to call me right away. His base temp is 101.8 he is reading at 103.6 if it starts climbing I need to know.
"What about food?"
"If he's thirsty, small sips of water. Too much too soon could make him sick. Nothing solid for at least another 24 hours we can talk about it more then."
"I know that tone of voice, what's wrong?"
"Nothing's really wrong I guess. It's just that sometimes I forget how it is in some of the poorer sectors. Then seeing Alec today I'm reminded that there are still people struggling o keep themselves fed. "
"You let me know what he needs and I'll make sure he gets it."
Sam nodded, if he'd had any questions about the change in relationships between the three they had been completely answered by Alec's current location and Logan's statement.
Despite his reluctance to leave his perch on the bed Logan walked Sam to the door, Cindy and Max had already headed down to the garage. The three were going to make the run to the Senators home for appearances sake. Joshua was going to stay behind until Max could return, just in case Logan needed help.
"I'll stop by in the morning, but remember if you have any concerns just call me."
"I will, thanks again Sam."
"Don't mention it. It's nice knowing that Eyes Only owes me a favor. "
Logan began to protest but stopped when Sam nodded at the various computer equipment littering his workstation. "I've know for a while, you've trusted me with Max and Alec's secret I think you can trust me with yours as well."
The Penthouse was quite. Max and OC, who reappeared after dropping off the Ambulance, somehow wound up sleeping in the guest room. Joshua, being too tall to lie comfortably on the couch, was sleeping on a pallet in the master bedroom. Logan would have preferred it if Joshua would have stayed in the living room but he could understand Josh's need to be close to his injured friend. Logan lay on his side with his head propped on his hand and looked down at Alec, silently keeping watch for any sign of distress.
Logan tended to think of Alec as younger than Max, if not in age than in experience, although at times he suspect the former as well. Without the cocky attitude and bulky layers of clothing to hide him Logan was forced to admit just how young and frail Alec looked. Despite the amount of food Logan had been forcing on Alec since they started their relationship the younger man never seemed to gain an ounce. It was hard to deny it after Dr. Carr's comments. Logan assumed it was a genetic trait Manticore intentionally bred into Alec. Perhaps their intent was to lure targets into a false sense of security. Sam hadn't come out and said it but Logan knew that the lack of 'meat' on Alec's bones had greatly reduced the amount of protection to internal organs. He wondered if Manticore realized what a fatal flaw they had built into their creation.
Crap he was so scared. Terrified was more like it, not only might he lose Alec in the war against Manticore and the breeding cult, but Alec could just as easily be killed in a random accident. Sliding closer Logan pulled the blanket up tighter around the younger man's shoulders before he took Alec's right hand in his and placed his own head on Alec's pillow. "Just so you know, I don't intend to let you out of my sight for a long time. You might as well relax and not fight me on this because I'm 1pretty sure I've got backup if I need it." Logan whispered into Alec's ear. He took the slight twitch of the younger man's hand as agreement and allowed himself to it drift into a light slumber. After all, he knew he'd need all his strength to follow through with his earlier statement.
TBC