Bound

The sun hung lazily behind the grey clouds covering every inch of the endless sky, giving the ground a shadowed lightness. It brought images of old black and white films to mind, but stunted the imagination all the same, endless grey for tired eyes. Alec felt the weight of reality more heavily recently, when the weather chose to coincide with his dreary outlook it only amplified the unwelcome feeling in his stomach. The cold wind was complimenting their lack of conversation with its striking and audible thrashing. The survivors had been walking in silence since their arrival in this new city.

Dust covered every inch of the abandoned warehouse Jace was so eager to force upon their small group. He insisted it was secure with its heavy stone walls intact, and more importantly, it showed no signs of any human life. It was no different than any other place they had stayed in the past year; they only made camp in secluded, easily protected locations while traveling across the country in this fight for their lives. Alec didn't like it here though, it was damp, chilled and had a smell that set his body on edge. He personally could not wait until they would move on, something he could not place his finger on, was off.

He looked at his sister, whose expression was indifferent, as it often was these days. Neither Simon nor Clary spoke either, letting Jace take the lead in a brief investigation of the premises. Alec brought up the rear as always, keeping a watchful eye out for surprises. The group navigated this world's challenges seamlessly, but morale had been low and Alec was the worst offender. They were a well oiled fighting unit with grave communication problems and a narrow outlook. It was hard to find happiness in the apocalypse.

Life Before

It has been nearly two years since the initial outbreak, nearly two years since the lives they had all known were ripped from under their feet and all hell broke loose. Alec remembered that time, when his sister, brother and parents lived in a spacious suburban home. Being doctors, his parents had been exposed almost immediately, before the medical community even had a name for it, of course the sickness took a few months to show. He remembered the first time his father had coughed blood, and how they knew then what was happening. Both his mother and father left before the symptoms became unbearable, leaving the three siblings to fend for themselves. Alec was left in charge of keeping Isabelle and Max safe and healthy, for the former college freshman it was a lot of responsibility. He could only be so thankful for how close the three were already and how distant they had been from their parents. Anything as simple as a hug could have infected any one of them, for the first time in his life, Alec was thankful for his parent's lack of affection. It was finally for the best that their 'Barely there' parenting took place.

They had been chased from their home, looters making their way through. The infected spreading the sickness at an alarming rate, almost any contact with the infected would guarantee a gruesome, slow death. No one was to be trusted, nothing was clean and no where could be assumed safe. Within the first year of the pandemic, Alec figured around sixty percent of the global population had dropped dead. At least, that's what he gathered from what he had seen. There was no media source, little news; you only knew what you saw with your own eyes. Groups banned together, collecting fire arms and claiming land, Alec and his siblings were no different at first. They had managed to hot wire a car and began traveling out of the city, holding up in more rural areas, keeping a low profile. Food was scarce and clean, filtered drinking water nearly impossible to come by, still the three managed.

It was a mistake, one small falter in judgment. He and his sister left Max behind while they made a run into the city in search of food. The barn they had been living out of had seemed so safe back then, of course Alec knew better now. At nightfall, when they returned, they found Max, terrified and hiding behind an old bailer, blood smeared across his cheekbone. Max was only nine then, and only just ten before he passed. One of the infected had come, in seek of help, instead she found their youngest brother.

They say the pain is unbearable, that it drives those with the sickness to madness before it finally kills them. It didn't really matter why she had bothered to touch Max's face, what mattered was that she had.

Quarantine; It's all Alec could think to do. He couldn't very well leave his brother behind but he also could not risk exposing himself or his sister, they were all each other had. For Max it took almost the full two months for the symptoms to show. Alec had watched countless strangers fall to it, but Max was different, he was his brother. First he would cough blood, but he pretended he was not in pain. It wasn't until his skin began to peel that Max finally cried.

Alec wretched every time he remembered the hopeless look his brother had adopted in those last few days.

The pain did not last long; the pair agreed that it would be better to end his suffering. After much inner debate and tears, Alec had owned up to the responsibility. Max had died at his hand, down the barrel of a simple hand gun. Then it was only the two of them.

They survived that way for a while, just the two of them. Existence had settled into a pattern of sorts, the rules outlining chaos for those still alive. Sadly, this new world promoted the notion of kill or be killed, a concept Alec had never had the stomach for. He made it work though; he was strong, fast and handy with guns. Avoiding others was probably their biggest problem that first year. The infected crowded the streets of larger cities, making scavenging for food nearly impossible. Anything they did find was inspected, and then inspected once more. Other survivors were often hostile, in some of the worse times; inhumane. With no governing system and no hope in sight, people were turning dark.

It was after one particularly hair rising run in that the pair met Jace; their current leader. Alec and Isabelle came across a group of nearly thirty men, holding fort in a subway system. The pair had hoped the use the tunnels to avoid people in their traveling, they did not see the fires until it was too late.

The men tried to take Izzy, demanded that the girl be handed over in exchange for safe passage. Of course Alec wasn't going to agree to that, he couldn't take all thirty of them but he was prepared in that moment to go down trying. Isabelle, of course was also not about to go anywhere with them, the two exchanged looks, silent telepathy only close siblings share, both dived for the corners and their guns came out blazing. It was a losing battle; they were going to run out of ammunition before the end. The group of men had their own substantial artillery and numbers. Everything looked bleak, until the explosion.

Pieces of rubble flew every which direction, the blast enough to cause temporary deafness for Alec and he looked frantically for his sister across the way. She was there, looking back at him, terrified. A grenade, that was the only explanation, somewhere in the pit of the group's camp spot, a grenade had gone off; finishing the fight with an alarming bang.

Cautiously, they came from their hiding positions, looking for who may have thrown it. The others were for the most part dead, and those who were not, would be soon. Alec took a second to thank a god he did not believe in anymore that he and his sister had been out of the blast range.

A blond man was there, walking towards him, on his own and he was covered from head to toe in blood. At the time, it had scared them both. Blood was something you quickly came to fear in the new world. It was dirty and it was the fastest way to ensure your own death by contact if the one who bled was infected. Drenched, blond hair dyed red and his clothes soaked, as if it had rained the crimson liquid over him.

Alec never did ask how he became so completely covered. It wasn't common practice in this new life at ask what one had done, so much of the person you become in the breakdown is something most preferred not to reflect on. Jace was no different, he was clearly thriving on his own but his eyes held that glassy sheen of a man who had seen more than he was ever prepared for.

After little conversation Isabelle and Alec learned a bit about Jace. He was a nomad of sorts, a wanderer who had not bothered to form a group. It was rare to find people alone, not nearly as rare as his other quirk though. Immunity.

It was unheard of; no one was immune to the sickness, at least not to their knowledge. After Jace agreed to temporarily join their travels, he eventually explained how he knew he must be immune. Having been in direct contact with the contagion plenty of times and never displaying symptoms, it was unbelievable. Needless to say, after learning that bit of information, both he and his sister kept a little extra distance from the walking time bomb. Naturally the blond was less hygienic than the two of them; he had no reason to recoil at the smallest amount of blood or sweat.

At first, Alec had found the bronzed blond attractive; back in his old life he might have called it a crush. But realizations that he could never touch him safely helped him suppress that feeling. There would never be a time or place for him and Jace, and he had accepted that. Also, Jace had said his alliance was only temporary, he would eventually leave.

Jace never did leave them though; they had formed a unit of trust. A few months after the blond found them, they ran into a short red head named Clary, another immune and her friend Simon. Initially both struck Alec as useless, but after a while they grew on him - as much as one could grow on another when you're ready to leave someone for dead at the drop of a hat. Clary was alright with the weaponry they had collected, plus having another immune member gave them an advantage in scavenging. Simon was unnaturally upbeat most of the time, it seemed to have a calming effect on Isabelle, and he could only be thankful for that.

"Earth to Alec. Anyone in there?" Jace waved his hands around in front of his companion's face, a lopsided smirk gracing his features. The brunette hadn't realized he had zoned out staring at their fire. He looked up to meet the other's golden eyes.

Alec let out a sigh; Jace was the only one taking this world with any grace. He was probably the exact same before it all happened; happiness came so naturally to him. "Yeah, I'm fine. Just distracted."

Jace poked the fire with his stick, the two of them were alone at the moment, and the other three were sound asleep. They took shifts of guard duty in pairs; Jace was his partner recently. "You look like you could use ice-cream. But since I don't think that luxury exists anywhere anymore, would you like some rat?" Jace lifted his metal stick to show an impaled, dead rat, badly burnt, then waved it over towards Alec's face.

Alec recoiled slightly and Jace let out a muted laugh. "Looks delicious right? I was saving this baby for myself, but I think I could let her go for you."

"You're sick, you know that right?"

"On the contrary, you and I know very well how untrue that to be." Jace pushed the rat off of his stick by the heel of his boot. It must have gotten caught in the fire, Alec would have felt bad for, but sympathy was hard earned now.

"Very funny." Alec muttered.

The golden boy lifted the stick, which was now clean, and poked Alec's foot with it. "Really though, you've been extra depressing lately."

"You're the only one who hasn't been." Alec knew he was the worst for it though, dragging down the entire group's mood.

"I can't afford to be; Leader, remember?" He gestured to himself. Jace did tend to over assert his power. It was all with good intention though; he was by far the most cut throat in their group and that was a necessity.

Alec kicked away the fire poker and forced a smile. "Just feels hopeless, nothing new."

"You just need to embrace the world the way it is now, hope for the best and all that other mushy sentimental crap. The world's a bitch, it's probably best to just – "

He was cut off by the echo of something falling, back into the dark distance of their current camp. The warehouse had been empty when they inspected it only hours before and they were held up close to the entrance, their supplies hidden a ways further in. Jace lifted a finger to his lips, signaling Alec to remain quiet, and then signaled him to follow. He grabbed the only flashlight they had that still worked out of the knapsack next to him and tossed it to Alec.

Following Jace was sometimes challenging, the blond was fast, and could climb things with ease. Over their time together Alec had gotten better at keeping up, but he still broke a sweat.

Tap tap tap

Footsteps, someone was in here with them. Jace took off in a sprint towards the noise, Alec was about to shout at the blond to stop but realized it would only draw more attention to them, who knew what was lurking in the shadows of this old building. He chased after Jace initially but skidded to a halt after realizing he had lost the other man. He hid away the flashlight in his pocket, not wanting to bring extra attention to himself either.

Finally a cry of pain was heard into the distance and Alec used that as his guide, praying that the noise had not escaped from his companion's lips.

They were by their supplies stash, or rather, a few rows of old wooden crates over. The place was filled with the old rickety things and all they contained were spare parts for electronics. Alec supposed it would have been too much to hope for a warehouse full of timeless canned goods or Twinkies.

"Jace?" He whispered harshly into the dimly lit area, he could see two figures, one clearly pinning the other to the ground.

A laugh, thank goodness, Jace was alright. "About time you caught up. Help me, he's strong." The figure beneath the blond thrashed a bit, setting him off balance, but Jace recovered quickly. "Feisty, I like it!"

Moving to assist Jace, Alec could barely see the intruder but he held the shadow figures arms together so Jace could quickly tie him. Even with the protective gloves, Alec still felt reluctance in his gut over touching a stranger, so he tried to keep the whole length of his arms between them.

"What was he doing?"

"It looks like he was going to run off with our food." Jace nodded towards the two familiarly shaped duffle bags they used to carry spare food and gear that wouldn't fit in their regular packs. The blond finished tying his intricate boy scout worthy knots, effectively binding the stranger's wrists and ankles. Backing away to admire his own handy work Jace sighed appreciatively, though how he could see in this dim lighting was beyond Alec.

"So what are we going to do with him?" He hated asking that question, it was rare that they had to capture someone or do anything like this, but Jace had proven to be the sort of leader capable of killing off loose ends.

"Hard to say, he was trying to steal our supplies. Which he obviously wasn't able to do, but he might have a group nearby he could go alert." The stranger had struggled into a sitting position and was trying to push kick himself backwards with little luck. "He's got some fighting spirit though, not sure if he might be useful to us yet." Jace kicked the man, not gently at all. "Anything to say for yourself?"

Silence, but the stranger had groaned audibly when Jace kicked him, and he was obviously aware of the situation.

"No? No input of your little predicament?" Jace lifted his hand to Alec but continued looking towards the figure on the floor. "Where's that flashlight?"

Alec almost forgot he had had the damn thing. He dug it from his pocket and handed it over to the blond, who quickly switched it on and held it to his own face in a joking, menacing manner, making a scary face.

"What are you doing exactly?"

"Instilling terror in our guest." Jace then pointed the bright light towards Alec momentarily before moving it to the stranger.

Alec was in the middle of stifling a snort of laughter at Jace's demeanor when he first laid eyes on the man they had captured, who was now properly lit. His jaw nearly hit the ground as he looked him over. Suddenly he was thankful for the darkness; no one would see the blush he was undoubtedly sporting.

He had dark, shoulder length hair which was pulled into a small tie, flawless tan skin and captivating, green and gold olive shaped eyes which gave off an illuminated look when met with the flashlight. The stranger was dressed in tight black jeans which were tucked neatly into lace up leather boots, an open leather jacket and black muscle tank beneath, which displayed the shape of his chest nicely.

"Well are you going to talk or not?" Jace kicked a piece of rubble at the man, who moved his hand to brush it away, still not saying anything.

Alec struggled to pry his eyes off the stranger and looked to Jace instead. "Maybe he doesn't understand English."

"Oh, he understands fine." Jace closed in on the man, fisting the jacket's collar and looking him in the eye. "If you're not going to talk, you're not worth keeping alive." The man spat at Jace, who in return backhanded him. "It's like you have a death wish."

Panic set into Alec, his body breaking out in a slight cold sweat. Something about killing this man felt wrong, looking at him now, so full of life, it would be so wrong to take that fire from behind his eyes. Jace would do it though, he knew, the blond had no real reservations and to make things worse he had just been spat at.

"If he is keeping quiet intentionally, there is probably a reason; one I'm sure would be worth finding out." Alec offered. It made sense, in a way. For whatever reason the tanned man was not talking and if they could get him to cave, it might be of interest. Information had a valuable place in local conduct. "It might be worth keeping him alive until we figure out what's got his tongue."

"If we keep him alive we're going to have to babysit, Alec. I don't want to waste time watching over a thief." Jace took a few steps away from the man and lifted his flashlight, pointing it now at Alec. "I know you're not fond of the whole killing thing. But desperate times y'know."

The light burnt Alec's eyes and he raised a hand to shield them, noticing the stranger was now staring at him for the first time. "Give me two days, maybe we can use him."

"I don't know. . ."

"You won't have to do the 'babysitting'." Alec made air quotations around the last word. "If it's useless then we've lost nothing and I've found a way to kill two days. If not, we'll have new information or maybe something else."

"Alright, but this is your responsibility." Alec hated it when Jace acted like a parent, especially since he was actually younger than him. "You could probably get some of the others to help share the load, but leave me out of it. Two days, that's all, and then I slit his throat." Shivering, Alec nodded and Jace hauled the stranger up and over his shoulder. "So where are we going to put him?"

"There was an office near the garage doors; I'm betting there aren't any windows."

"Lead the way." With that Jace handed Alec back the light, a struggling figure fighting over his shoulder.

Isabelle had found the office earlier in their searching of the premise. It was just a small closed off space with boxes shoved up against the far wall and a couple of toppled over chairs covered with dust. Alec suspected this place had its own power generator, it seemed likely, so when they reached the room and he flicked on the light he was not surprised to hear the low humming of florescent lighting. For the most part, only large industrial building like this one had power anymore but it was useless, it only brought unwanted attention. This one room though, no one could see from outside and he couldn't very well watch this stranger in the dark. Alec made a mental note to check all the drawers for spare batteries to use in their other flashlights.

Tossing the handsome stranger down on top of some old, damp boxes in the far corner, Jace turned back to Alec. "I'm going to go tell people about our guest. Stay here." With that Jace left, closing the door loudly behind him, leaving Alec alone with the leather clad man.

Alec tried not to stare; he looked everywhere but directly at the man as he straightened one of the fallen chairs and sat on it. Those interesting eyes were fixed though, watching Alec, taking in his every move and it was almost as if he could physically feel the other's stare.

"You know, if you would just talk, we might be able to let you go."

The stranger just shook his head slightly and positioned himself into a slight sitting position, leaning heavily against the wall behind him. His eyes coy, almost holding a sense of amusement or humor while looking his pale captor over.

"Can you talk?"

He didn't respond, his eyes met Alec's and held the contact for a moment before he let out an audible sigh and straightened to stare at the ceiling instead. Not a moment later, Jace was coming back into the room followed by the other three travelers. Clary and Simon looked tired but Isabelle looked furious, her eyes fixed on their newest addition.

"What is this?" She bit angrily, her attention now on Alec. "For all we know he could be contaminated! He comes here and tries to steal our food and you won't let Jace kill him?" She yelled at her brother.

"That's not exactly –

Isabelle cut him off; "I don't care about the technicalities! He's dangerous Alec!" She stared between the two, eyes wide. The stranger let out a noise which sounded suspiciously like a laugh and lulled his head to look away from the group and rest further against the wall.

Alec moved towards his sister. "You know how I feel about killing Iz. . ." Alec whispered. "Besides, I didn't say Jace couldn't kill him, I just asked for two days to find a reason not to."

"Two days you could become infected during." She muttered then turned her attention back to the man in the corner. "You, are you infected?" She asked forcefully but did not advance at all.

The man looked back at the group and raised an eyebrow. By now Alec knew the stranger understood and could probably talk, if not communicate in some other sense. It confused him to no end why he wouldn't just comply. Isabelle probably wanted to go assault him and ask again, but her fear of infection would stop her. The only people who could safely touch unknown people here were Jace and Clary. Jace apparently had, had his fill and was in the process of slowly sneaking back out the door and Clary looked too tired to even comment.

"Izzy, what if he's clean and not so bad and this is all just a stupid misunderstanding?" Finally Simon spoke up; he yawned slightly but moved forward. "I'm not volunteering for a hug or anything but it might be worth figuring out."

"Nu uh, I'm with Jace on this. Two days Alec, and don't you dare let him touch you." Isabelle stormed out of the room, Simon chasing behind her. Jace had already snuck away from the commotion and Clary gave Alec a thoughtful look before following the others, closing the door softly behind her.

It was just the two of them again, Alec moved back to the chair, sitting forward he rested his arms over his knees and watched the man. "You're giving me trouble." He sighed, knowing he was more talking to himself.

The stranger just smiled.

"Please, just say something?" Alec asked in defeat. He was not expecting a response.

"There's that magic word I was waiting for."

You have got to be kidding me. "Are you serious right now? They almost killed you and you were waiting for a polite invitation to talk!?" Alec stood, wondering if the others could hear him.

The other man just shrugged his indifference somehow even more infuriating. Alec slouched further, letting his head hang low in his hands as he let out a weak laugh. The stranger re positioned him self once more so that he was now facing Alec, his long legs hanging awkwardly over the boxes and still bound together. When Alec finally looked up again, those green eyes were watching him intently and even though the other was tied up and helpless, it still make Alec's skin crawl.

"So what's your name then?" Alec tested his luck, his voice slightly uneven.

"Does it matter?"

Alec rolled his eyes. "I guess not . . ." He thought to try convincing him but realized it would probably be a wasted effort. Sitting back down he scooted the chair a bit closer, hoping the stranger would talk again. His voice had an accent Alec couldn't quite place, but it was interesting to him.

"Magnus" The stranger surprised him, laughing at the shocked look Alec responded with. "My name is Magnus, how about you blue eyes?"

Burying his face in his hands again, Alec tried his best to hide the blush that was spreading from his cheeks. "Alec."

Magnus nodded, leaning forward and removing himself from the wall. "So the screamer, can I assume that was your sister, you look alike."

"Yeah, that's Izzy."

"She's quite the spit fire, beautiful too." Magnus stated aloud and Alec could no longer hide his blush. When Magnus saw the look of embarrassment mixed with anger on the other's features he followed up; "But then, it's the entire gene pool I suppose." He looked Alec over suggestively, laughing when the boy shied away. "Why so serious darling? I'm the one tied up here, no need to look so wounded."

"Is this just a joke to you?" Alec asked honestly, Magnus had only been with them for roughly and hour, yet somehow in that time he had almost been killed, threatened, beaten and tied. How was it that he found the time to make fun of Alec when what he should be doing was begging for his life or bargaining off information? It just didn't make sense. "You realize if you don't give us a good reason not to kill you, in two days Jace will do it. I'm really sticking my neck out for you here."

"Ah, yes. Why is that anyways, what do you care if I live or die?"

"I – I. . ."

The door swung open again and Clary walked back in, still looking half asleep. "It's my and Isabelle's shift. Jace seems to think you should get some sleep Alec." She walked over and patted the boy on his shoulder. "I can watch our guest."

"Oh, umm, alright." Was the lame response, Alec came out with. He was tired; he hadn't slept in nearly twenty four hours. "He's started talking by the way, not that he says anything useful." He heard Magnus snort indignantly. "His name is Magnus, that's pretty much all I got. I'll see you in a few hours." He spoke to Clary and moved from the chair so she could take his place as he left the small office and closed the door slowly behind him.

Magnus had asked a good question, 'why did he care'? Sure he hated all of the killing but that was just everyday life now, what made this stranger seem more important than so many of the other lives before him. He had never protested Jace's decisions to kill before, not seriously anyways. What made Magnus different from the others? He was attractive, devilish, and interesting but none of those things explained his inability to just let it go. It was so rare for Alec to go against the group, in fact he could only think of one other instance where it had happened in the past year, and that had involved an elderly woman and a matter of humanity.

Curiosity perhaps, the man's eyes held a story. But now that he had begun speaking, Alec had a feeling he wasn't one to divulge in the stories of his past. Whatever it was, hopefully he would figure it out within the next couple of days.

Alec rolled out one of the blankets, about an equal distance between Jace and the fire where Izzy now sat. The second his head hit the ground he was out like a light.

The Dream

"Iz, I don't know, I just. . . I don't know anymore." Alec let his tears fall freely, crumpling in front of his younger sister, their ill brother in the next room.

Isabelle held his shoulder but tears of her own were beginning to tumble down her cheeks. "We can't just leave him like that Alec, he's in pain. He's so small and we can't help him. . . we can't just leave it."

Max could be heard sobbing through the thin walls, they had kept him in a room lined with plastic and scrubbed to the best of their ability. When either older sibling went in to see or play with the boy they had to dress in makeshift body suites fashioned out of stray garbage bags.

Alec's shoulders shook violently. "I know that. . ." He whispered, helpless. "I failed him, I failed you both." A slight scream of pain suddenly chilling the room; Max must have tried to move. "His skin is peeling Iz, he's dying and it's entirely my fault." His eyes clouding, misery visible in ever fraction of his being and he couldn't take his eyes away from his sister who was trying desperately to control her own tears.

"We failed, Alec. It's my fault as well. He needs us now, he – he needs us to be s – strong." She choked on her sobs, trying to calm. "You know what we have to do." She leaned against her brother, compelling him to understand, to indicate that he was thinking the same.

It was a full minute before Alec replied; "I know." It was quiet, but he had said it. Isabelle's shoulders fell a bit, it was real now. This was real and there was no going back. Alec knew he was a mess, but this was his responsibility.

"We should do this together." Izzy leaned back, taking her brother's hand and wiping away her fallen tears with the sleeve of her shirt.

Alec didn't want that, Isabelle didn't need to see that, he didn't want her to have to, not because he was too weak to do it himself. "No." He said firmly, forcing himself to stand tall and control his shaking. Inside he was dying, but he needed to be composed now, he needed strength enough for all three of them. "Mum and Dad would never have wanted you to see that Iz, I'll be okay, this is my responsibility." He clenched his teeth to keep his mouth from twitching with the lie.

"A – Alec. . ." Isabelle started but she couldn't finish before he brother was enveloping her in a strong hug. Her body shaking against his as she finally broke down, letting him hold her as she cried.

Alec gave his sister a final squeeze before pulling away. "Cover your ears." He touched her head lovingly, she was stronger than he was, but right now this was his time to be the mature one. She nodded, eyes falling as she moved to sit on the floor and placed her head between her knees, folding her arms over her head; simultaneously blocking out the world and keeping herself from being sick as Alec quietly left the room.

The house was so dark, there was no light this far out in the country, only that of the moon that crept through the windows, casting streaks of brightness across the wooden floor. Alec pulled on parts of the garbage suit, making sure his body was fully covered and tying a cloth mask over his mouth and nose. He pushed open the door to Max's 'room' slowly and cursed when the hinges squeaked obnoxiously.

Max looked up mid-sob and forced a smile that broke Alec's heart. "Hey." Was all the younger lightwood said, trying to sound normal but the pain was written all over his body.

Alec had to concentrate to not throw up; Max's small body was covered in welts of melted looking skin, bleeding and peeling. This was the second phase of the sickness, after this came madness and then death. His younger brother was so brave, how he was still able to force a smile was beyond him. "Hey, how are you feeling?"

As if to answer, Max let out an alarming cough, when he pulled his hand back it was splattered with blood. "It hurts so bad." Looking over his older brother Max's expression changed to fear and tears began falling again. "I'm scared Alec."

Alec's fear of infection vanished in the moment and he closed the distance between himself and the young boy. Not wanting to hurt him more than he already hurt, Alec lightly wrapped his arms around his brother, but Max immediately clung to Alec desperately, ignoring any pain he must have been in.

"I – I'm going to make the pain go away." Alec whispered in his brother's ear.

Max had always been smart for his age, he knew from that what his older brother meant and he only nodded into his shoulder. "What's it like to die?" He asked with a childish innocence.

Alec forced himself to stop crying once more and pulled back to look his younger brother in the eyes. "I don't know Max, no one does. But it will be a whole new adventure where there is no pain." He cupped his brother's cheek and tried to smile in a re-assuring manner but failed horribly.

"I'm scared to die." He looked scared too, but with every move he winced in pain and Alec knew it needed to be done. The last few days had been agonizing, Max couldn't move, couldn't do anything without crying out in pain. Alec needed to remind himself why he was doing this, because he loved his brother and couldn't watch the madness set in.

"Don't be scared, it will be alright. I love you Max, and Isabelle loves you too, very much." Breathing normally was becoming a challenge. "You need to trust me okay? Can you do that?"

Max nodded, and stepped back. "I love you too." He answered.

"We will always love you alright, you will always be our baby brother, never forget that." He helped Max back into the sitting position on the ground and began to shake. He needed to do it now, or it wouldn't get done at all. "Close your eyes."

Max did as he was told and sat back, jumping a little when he heard the familiar click of a bullet being locked in place. Alec ran his fingers through his brother's hair and kissed his forehead through the mask, taking a grand risk with his own health but not caring in the slightest. When he finally sat back, he lifted the gun and took one well aimed shot.

Bang

Continued in Part B