The Blackest White
By Inzane
Disclaimer: I lay no claim to Dark Angel or its characters. I do this only for fun.
Summary: The best way to destroy an enemy is to strike at his heart. Sequel to "The Friggin' Cure."
A/N: This chapter came to be massively, bleeding-eyeballs-type long, so I decided to break it up. (I was hitting the 10K mark on word count, and it still wasn't done.) It makes this chapter more transitional than anything else, but it was all for the sake of your eyeballs, my friends. Good news is, Chapter 9 is fairly close to being finished already.
Warning: My characters swear a lot.
Chapter 8: Bittersweet
Dalton sat slumped in a chair, scowling at a random spot on the floor. He figured he was less likely to get a smack upside the head if he chose to aim his scowls at a neutral target, so he kept his eyes down. It was a good plan, since his head already felt like it was about to fall off anyway. He still had a headache from the drug Alec had hit him with, but he was trying not to think about that too much, because thinking about it just made him angrier, which made his heart rate increase, which made his head pound even more. It was a vicious circle.
He'd come out of it rather abruptly when Shane, the last sentry he had helped to take out, gave his face a couple of slaps to bring him around. Still half drugged, Shane had hauled him none-too-gently to Medical. Deets, the other sentry, had already been there, and he'd hadn't been happy. After breaking up a very loud argument/shoving match, Vash has decided that Dalton had deserved to suffer and had the two sentries escort him—without the benefit of painkillers—into the main building, where they turned him over to the Command staff. Since then, he'd been sitting in the conference room, surrounded by Mole, Dix, Wil, and Zev, each of them taking turns grilling him about Alec.
He should have told them everything, and to hell with brotherhood. The bastard had left him… drugged him. It was clear that Alec didn't trust him, and Dalton figured he'd been given plenty of reason to sell his brother out.
But he couldn't. He was hurt and angry and betrayed and, most of all, scared, but he kept his mouth shut. As mad and as scared as he was, he couldn't turn against Alec. Not after everything that had happened. Not after everyone else had already turned against him. Even if it meant that the closest thing he had to family was out there alone because he was too stubborn to put a well-trained, perfectly capable teenager in the line of fire.
The idiot was probably out there getting himself killed. He might be dead already.
Dalton sniffed, eyes blinking rapidly. He continued to stare at the floor and tried not to think about it.
Wil paced rapidly in front of the young X6. He was seriously pissed off. He'd lost Terminal City's SIC (or former SIC, if you took Alec's resignation seriously). Not only had the man managed to get out of TC after his best efforts to lock it down, he'd taken out several of his sentries in the process without so much as breaking a sweat. On top of that, Wil's arm—the one that Alec had broken a couple of days ago—was itching like crazy underneath the cast that ran from elbow to knuckles, and it was driving him insane. Then, of course, there was the fact that he had completely blown it with Zev the other night. She'd made a pass at him, and he'd been too nervous to take her up on it.
His life sucked—professionally, personally… pretty much any way you looked at it.
His arm would finish healing in a few more days, and there was nothing he could do about the Zev situation right at the moment, but he sure as hell could do something about the Alec situation. They'd already lost one leader, and he'd be damned if they'd lose another on his watch.
Mole had taken his turn going through another round of questions, but so far they had gotten nowhere. The kid hadn't told them anything that they hadn't already known. It was all a big waste of time, and the longer they stood around doing nothing, the greater the chances were that they'd never see Alec again.
Wil slammed his good hand against conference table. "Tell us where he was going, you little shit, or, I swear, I will beat it out of you!"
Dalton stared up at Wil, startled and a little worried by his un-Wil-like outburst. Everyone was on edge; that much was painfully obvious. He was beginning to think that the four of them weren't going to let him out of the room unless he gave them something.
As he thought about it, it made him wonder if he should he really bother keeping his mouth shut. Everyone knew that Alec was gone. Everyone knew that he'd gone on what they thought was mad crusade to rescue someone that couldn't be rescued. What harm would it do to tell them where? He was positive what the results would be if they followed up on it, and it would maybe shorten the ass-chewing.
"The old rail yards down in Tacoma. That's what he told me," Dalton admitted.
"Are you telling the truth or just feeding us a bunch of bullshit so we'll get off your case?" Wil asked heatedly.
"That's what Alec told me," Dalton repeated honestly. Then he shrugged. "But it probably is bullshit, considering he was planning to ditch me."
"Great. So you really have no idea where he is?"
Dalton's only response was a shrug. Dix shook his head at his attitude; the boy just didn't get it. "You're in a lot of trouble, kid. You know that, don't you?"
Dalton's upper lip curled and he replied with a surly, "What else is new?"
"I've about had enough…" Wil snapped, advancing angrily on the X6.
"Easy, Wil," Zev said, grabbing him by the arm and pulling him back. She was kind of surprised. Wil was so even tempered; she'd never seen him like this. She wasn't ashamed to admit that it was kind of turning her on.
Mole stepped in front of Wil to break his line of sight with Dalton. He didn't need anyone else going off the deep end, and definitely not Wil. If even the level-headed Wil started falling apart, then Terminal City was official screwed.
"You're confined to quarters until further notice," Mole told Dalton. He held up a hand to silence Wil's coming protest, then added, "Don't think this means we're letting you off easy. We'll figure out what to do with you later."
"Fine by me." Dalton said. He shoved himself out of the chair and stalked off with the requisite amount of attitude for a pissed-off teenager.
He wasn't out the door five seconds when the power went out.
Terminal City had tapped into city power not long after the siege. It gave them a steady source of energy, but it also made them dependent on the city. If a grid went down, they went down. Considering the unusual winter storms they'd been having, they were probably lucky that it hadn't happened sooner.
"What the hell else can go wrong?" Mole growled.
Dix headed for the door. "I'll grab Luke, see about getting the generators fired up 'til we're back online."
Mole stood there for a moment, shoulders sagging. "The universe hates me," he said tiredly. If one more thing went wrong, he was going to barricade himself in the Armory and never come out. Until then, he still had to be a leader. He walked out the door, leaving Wil and Zev alone in the room.
Zev turned to look at him, and Wil was pretty sure the temperature went up about ten degrees.
"So…" she said, taking a not-so-casual step toward him as she openly eyed him. "Alone in the dark."
"Yeah." Wil swallowed. His mouth was suddenly bone dry; he'd gone from pissed off to nervous as hell in two seconds flat.
Zev continued to move toward him, and he had to force himself to stand his ground. She had him wound so tight, he felt like his muscles would start snapping left and right. He wanted her so badly at that moment, but it the timing was all wrong. Besides, he was thinking beyond just the here and now with Zev, and he didn't want to screw it up. Premature screwing was definitely one way to screw things up with a girl. The problem was, he was pretty sure she was about to kiss him, and he wasn't exactly sure what he should do about it. Kissing could lead to so many other things…
He was over-thinking it. A kiss was just a kiss, right? Their lips were almost about to touch when Mole yelled out, "Zev! Wil! Quit screwing around and get your asses on the Border!"
Zev rolled her eyes and broke away. "We'd better go," she said, and headed for the door.
Wil held on to the edge of the table, trying to a grip on himself. He'd never had anyone affect him like Zev did. When she turned back, that brilliant red hair framing her perfect face, he almost found himself confessing his undying love. Fortunately, she saved him from embarrassing himself and asked, "You coming?"
That set off a series of fantasies in his head involving Zev and the big table behind him. "I wish," he muttered under his breath.
"Huh?" Zev said, looking at him quizzically.
Wil shook his head. "Never mind," he said, and followed her out the door.
Even though they were in a hurry, they drove two miles under the speed limit the entire way back to Seattle. Max was stable enough, and they couldn't afford to attract the attention of any gung ho Staties. Once they reached the outskirts of Seattle, they wound a circuitous route through the various checkpoints, hitting the ones where they knew the sector cops could be easily bribed to look the other way.
They were about to turn onto the street that led to the Garage when Asha slowed.
"What's going on?" Alec asked, leaning forward as much as Max's limp body would let him.
"Sector cops. Looks like they're busy rousting transients. It could be a while."
"Should we hit another entrance?" Logan asked.
"No," Joshua said. "Must get Little Fella back now. Shortest route is through the Garage."
"Then we need a diversion," Alec added. He would've offered to be that distraction, but no way was he letting go of Max. Not until they were safe back in Terminal City and he personally turned her over to Vash.
It was Asha who spoke up. "You guys pile out," she said. "I'll take care of it."
"Asha…" Logan said, his voice concerned. He'd found that the one thing that was really different about dating an ordinary woman was that he worried about her a whole lot more. Especially when that woman was the leader of S1W.
"Relax, Logan," she said, smiling broadly at him. "I've been dodging the cops for years. These guys won't be any trouble."
Alec solved the argument by stepping out of the Rover, turning away from the wind so he would shield Max from most of it. "Let's go," he said.
Joshua and Logan piled out. The transhuman quickly removed all of their weapons from the back in case Asha did manage to get caught; a speeding ticket was a lot easier to deal with then an arrest for illegal arms possession. Once they were clear, she started down the street, accelerating until she was well over the safe limits. She blasted past the cops, purposely sideswiping the side of one of the cruisers before tearing around the corner. The cops scrambled for their vehicles and took off after her.
"That's my girl," Logan said, smiling.
They moved quickly down the street and slipped into the garage. Joshua moved over to the small communications station against one wall, where they had a secure line into TC. They couldn't risk the radios. The Familiars had already breached their tunnels once, and there was no telling if White had left a small group to keep an eye on things. The transhuman picked up the line and punched a few buttons. He hit them again with no result.
"Lines are down," he said. They couldn't call for help.
"One of the power grids must be out," Logan said. "I noticed it as we were coming in. Parts of the city looked dark. Probably the storm."
"Great. Just perfect," Alec said sarcastically, shifting Max in his arms so he'd have a better grip on her. "I guess we do this the hard way."
They climbed down the ladder into the tunnel, Alec moving awkwardly as he tried to carry Max without jostling her too much. Once they reached the tunnel floor, they headed toward home. Joshua took point, making sure the tunnels ahead were clear. Not only did they have to watch for Familiars, but there were also sector cops and soldiers and the random vagrant trying to escape the cold to worry about. They had to take it slow, and it about drove Alec crazy. They were so close, but he felt like they'd never get there.
Their precautions paid off when they were a couple of blocks from the Terminal City border. Joshua held up a hand to stop them, tilting his head to listen.
"What is it?" Alec whispered, coming up behind him. Logan drew his gun, scanning the tunnel for whatever had spooked Joshua.
"Listen," said Joshua, then fell silent so they could hear. After a few seconds, he asked, "Hear it?"
"Hear what?" Logan whispered, mildly frustrated. It was tough hanging around people that were better than you at damn near everything.
"Soldiers," Alec whispered back.
"Are they on to us?"
Alec shook his head. "I don't think so. Sounds like they're just patrolling. Probably SOP in situations like this, with the power outage… you know, in case the freaks decide to bust out and take over Seattle."
"So how do we handle this?"
"Joshua lead them away, let them chase for a while, same as Asha," the transhuman said quietly, handing Logan his guns. He didn't want to give the soldiers a reason to shoot him.
"If they catch you..." Alec said in warning. Things were already a mess. They didn't need the added trouble of explaining things to the military.
Joshua patted him on the shoulder. "Have faith. Joshua will be all right. You take care of Little Fella."
Alec gave a sharp nod of acknowledgement. "Watch your ass."
Logan took over point, swinging his flashlight back and forth over the tunnel. There was a possibility it could give away their position, but once they'd hit the area where the power was out, even Alec couldn't see in the pitch black of the tunnel.
He rounded the last corner and could see a yellow-orange glow at the other end of the tunnel. Someone had set up emergency lanterns at the exit. They'd made it, without incident. The home stretch was completely clear. Logan turned back and called out softly, "I'll run ahead and get help." Without waiting for Alec to respond, he ran toward the exit.
A half a minute later, he was skidding to halt as an icy female voice called out, "Stop right there."
Zev felt like her nerves were about ready to snap. Max was dead, Alec was gone, and now the damn power was out. Everyone on the Border was amped up since the grid went down. Without power, they had no surveillance coverage. Even though a handful of generators were providing the main buildings with emergency power, they didn't have enough juice to run all of the surveillance systems and motion sensors. Without coverage, anybody and his brother could walk almost all the way into TC unchallenged. Her people were the last line of defense until the power came back on. She'd had to steal all of Wil's people, plus two dozen from other various departments to cover the access points and patrol the fences.
All of this meant that when a man had come charging out of the darkness of the tunnel, she'd almost fired first and asked questions later. She'd caught herself at the last second and challenged him to stop.
"Don't shoot!" the man yelled out, holding up his hands in surrender. He had a gun in one of those hands.
"Trix, call for backup."
"On it," the X4 said, and backed toward the opening of the tunnel to get a clearer signal.
"It's Zev, right?" Logan said, panting from having run the length of the tunnel. He carefully put his gun on the ground, then straightened slowly. "Don't you recognize me? I'm Logan Cale. Eyes Only?"
The transgenic sneered. She'd thought he'd looked familiar. "Oh. Logan Cale. And that's supposed to convince me not to shoot you?"
"Look, I've got Max and Alec with me…"
Zev flicked off the safety and took a step forward, aiming for the center of Logan's forehead. "Alec is off on a suicide mission somewhere, and Max is dead. Try again."
"Trust me, Max isn't dead. They're right behind me…" he said, gesturing over shoulder.
She didn't look. She wasn't stupid enough to take her eyes off her target. They hadn't seen Cale in months, and he suddenly shows up now, when everything had gone to shit? Right. "I don't know what your game is, Cale, but you got 'til three to turn around, or I start shootin'. One."
"Will you just listen to me? Max and Alec are…"
"Two." Her eyes narrowed, and she saw the panic in his eyes. She would shoot him if she had to, and he knew it.
"Wait! Wait! I swear, they're right behind me, you've got to believe me…"
"Three."
Zev actually started to squeeze the trigger, the whole time justifying what she was about to do in her head. This was the man who had almost gotten Alec killed. And he was here now, after they hadn't seen him for months? He had to be working with the Familiars. She was a hairsbreadth from firing when she heard a voice call out from the darkness behind Cale.
"Zev!"
She stopped and looked toward the sound of that familiar voice, and there he was, Alec, not dead, with Max in his arms, also not dead. She was so shocked that she almost fired anyway. Mouth hanging open, she clicked on the safety and lowered her weapon.
Alec walked right up to her, Max held tightly in his arms, barely sparing her a glance as he passed her. "He's with me," he said coldly.
"Holy shit," Zev breathed as she stared after them, still stunned.
Others came running—the backup Trix had requested—and all five of them screeched to a halt in amazement at the sight of Alec carrying a woman they'd thought was dead. Alec didn't look at anyone, ignoring the barrage of overlapping questions.
They hadn't believed him. He had no time for them now.
At the entrance to Medical, Alec paused and turned to Logan. "I need you to do something for me," he asked.
"Name it," Logan replied instantly. If there was anyone he owed a favor, it was Alec.
"I need you to find Original Cindy and bring her here."
Logan nodded, ready to do anything that might help Max. "Done."
Alec gave him a brief nod of thanks, then kicked open the doors to Medical.
Word of Max's return spread like wildfire. The streets were in virtual pandemonium, and it took Mole and his crew fifteen minutes to get everyone calmed down. They were all in emotional overload. Most of them had been just beginning to deal with the fallout from Max's death, and now they found out she was alive.
Mole, Dix, Wil, and Zev met in front of Medical, each of them having the same reservations about going inside.
"He's going to be pissed," Wil said, eyeing the door with misgiving.
Mole chewed on his cigar for a moment, then threw it down on the ground and tramped on it. "It's not like we can avoid him for the rest of our lives."
Zev grimaced. "I think I could give it a shot." She'd already experienced being on Max's bad side; she didn't even want to think about what it would mean to be on Alec's bad side.
Dix rolled his eyes at them. "I don't know about you, but there's no chicken in my DNA." With that comment, he pushed through the door into Medical.
Mole, Wil, and Zev all stared at each other, each wondering who would have the guts to go next. Mole straightened his shoulders. "Let's get this over with," he said, and followed Dix into the building.
Wil and Zev stood shoulder to shoulder, staring at the door. Wil leaned over and muttered, "I'm thinking of bailing. You?"
"Oh, yeah."
Fifteen seconds later, they were still standing in the same spot.
Zev let out an exasperated sigh. "Come on," she said, and pulled Wil with her through the doors.
Mole and the others stood in the open doorway, all staring at Max as if they'd never seen someone come back from the dead before. This was the second time she'd done it, but since none of them had been around for the first time, it was natural that they would be a little awed by her return.
Alec was standing next to the bed, gently brushing a hand over Max's hair as Vash began to examine her. Max was still out, but they could all see that she had been through Hell. While they'd all been busy having funerals and locking up her boyfriend, she'd been beaten and tortured to within an inch of her life.
Alec stiffened when he sensed their presence. Vash spared them a quick, warning glance before going back to her patient. From the look in her eyes, they could tell that Alec wasn't going to make this easy on them.
No one knew where to start. Saying, "Hey, sorry we thought you were completely crazy and locked you up for a couple of days," wasn't going to cut it.
Alec saved them the trouble. He turned to Vash and asked, "Call me if she wakes up," before turning on them. He didn't say anything, just brushed past them and out into the hall.
They all stared at each other for a second, then followed. When Alec was further down the hall, he stopped and turned. His eyes lit for a second on the cast on Wil's arm, and there was a flicker of remorse, but it was quickly shut down in favor of cold resentment.
"You wanna talk? Talk," he said, though from the tone of his voice, he wasn't promising he'd listen.
Alec was definitely not going to make this easy.
"You were right. About everything," Mole said gruffly, swallowing his pride. It didn't go down well. "We made a mistake."
Alec crossed his arms over his chest. As far as he was concerned, it was too little and way too late. "Thank you for stating the fucking obvious," he said, his voice completely devoid of emotion.
Mole wanted the X5 to yell at them, get pissed off, lash out… give any kind of response other than this icy detachment. It bothered him so much that he was ready to pick a fight just to get some sort of reaction. "All right, look…" Mole began, but Wil's level-headedness had returned, and he interrupted the transhuman before he said something he might regret.
"We figure now that you've busted Max out, the Familiars might want some payback. With that drug they've got… we can't afford to be caught with our pants down. We need to develop a plan in case they retaliate, and a contingency plan in case they plan to launch a chemical attack."
Alec nodded his agreement, and at first, they'd thought they'd made some progress. "You go ahead and do that," he said, then moved to push by them and head back down the hall.
"But we need more information—numbers, weapons, anything you saw while you were busting her out."
"Someone also needs to speak to the people," Dix added. "There's a lot of rumors flying out there. We put a lid on it for now, but it'll only hold them for so long. We need someone to set them straight about what happened. If you could…"
Alec held up a hand to stop him. "Uh uh. That's not my problem. I quit, remember?"
"You didn't mean that," Wil said, smiling slightly as if it had all been a joke. Wishful thinking, really.
"Didn't I?" Alec responded, raising an eyebrow.
"So, what? You're going to take your ball and go home?" Mole shot back angrily. "You don't get that luxury, pal. We're talking about the extermination of our entire race, here. It's everybody's problem."
Alec drew his head back and put a hand to his chest. "I'm sorry. I assumed that didn't include me. I mean, transgenics are supposed to have each other's backs. Max Law #3, right? Since you guys didn't have mine, I figured I must not count."
"Alec…" Zev pleaded, reaching out to touch his arm. This was getting out of control fast, and if word got out about any of it… there'd be pandemonium.
Alec jerked his arm away. "Don't touch me," he said heatedly, his stony façade cracking a little. His control was starting to slip. The woman he loved had been tortured for days because he hadn't been there to save her. Because of them. They'd better hope that they weren't around when it fully hit him, because he wouldn't be responsible for what happened.
He turned his back on them and headed back down the hall. Max was waiting for him.
"Listen," Mole called out to his retreating back. "You hear them out there?" He fell silent, and they all could hear the murmuring of the crowd gathered around Medical. "They need you out there, Alec. They need you as their SIC. You know they do."
Alec didn't stop. He didn't even hesitate.
"You know," Mole added loudly, "the last thing Max would want you to do is leave Terminal City in my hands. How'd you think she'd feel if she knew you bailed on your own people?"
Alec came to a stop, but he didn't turn around. "That's low."
"Whatever it takes, man."
Alec turned and walked slowly back to them, his movements very controlled. Mole's right, he told himself. It doesn't matter how pissed off you are at them. This is what Max would want of you.
"One condition," Alec said, his gaze traveling over the four of them. "Max comes first. Once I know she's all right, I'll go out and talk to everyone. Until then, I don't leave this building. Any planning you want to do will be done from here."
"We can do that," Wil said quickly, sending the others a look that said they'd better agree with him.
"And Joshua's out in the tunnels somewhere. If he's not back in an hour, send someone looking."
"Shit. He's still in the tunnels?" Zev asked, surprised. In all the commotion, she'd forgotten she'd let him roam.
"He came with me to rescue Max," and they could all hear the slight emphasis on the He. "There was a patrol in the tunnels when we came back. He was leading them on a wild goose chase. Make sure he's okay."
"On it," Zev replied and headed out the door.
"Wait!" Wil called after her. "I'll join you." He took off after her.
"I think I'll go check on the generators. Keep me posted on Max's condition," Dix said, and quickly made himself scarce. He sensed that Mole and Alec were about to have it out, and he'd already dealt with enough uncomfortable situations for one night.
Alec turned to walk away, and Mole found himself overcome with anxiety, which was an unusual sensation for him. He couldn't leave things like this between them. Alec was his friend, and even though their friendship didn't work like most people thought friendship should, he'd kind of gotten used to it. Though he would hardly even admit it to himself, he missed the rough camaraderie he and the X5 had developed. He didn't know if Alec would ever be able to forgive him for what he'd done, but Mole knew he never would if didn't try to set things right.
"Alec," he called out before he could change his mind. "Wait up." It didn't surprise him when Alec didn't stop. He jogged down the hall after him and stopped right in front of him, causing Alec to stop as well. "Look, man, we've been through a lot of shit in the past couple of years, here, so I figure you could at least hear me out."
Alec glared at for a few seconds, then finally relaxed a bit. "Could you make this quick?" he said coldly. "I have to get back to Max."
Mole had to remind himself that he was the one in the wrong. Damn Alec, he sure knew how to push people's buttons.
"You know we were only trying to protect you. We thought you were gonna run off and get yourself killed. What else were we supposed to do? I'm sorry we didn't believe you, okay? I…" Mole paused and took a deep breath and blew it out. Apologies weren't something he was used to making. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you. I should have trusted you."
Mole held out his hand, hoping that Alec would take it. His was shocked when Alec actually did. Their SIC generally wasn't the type to hold a grudge, but what had happened had been more than a simple argument. If Mole had been in Alec's shoes, he knew that he wouldn't have been so quick to forgive.
And, apparently, neither was Alec.
The X5's right hand tightened painfully around Mole's for a second, and it was the only warning he got. Alec's left fist swung around and caught the transhuman across the jaw, knocking him right on his ass.
Alec's gaze was hard as he stared down at the transhuman. "Apology accepted," he said and walked away.
Mole stared after Alec, rubbing his sore jaw. He figured he got off easy.
Alec stood off to the side, nervously chewing on his thumbnail as he watched everything Vash did. When he'd come back into the room, she'd been finishing up her preliminary examination of Max. She told him that she was going to deal with the major issues, then go back and handle all of the minor injuries later, since there were so many.
"So," he said hesitantly, afraid that she might not give him the answers he wanted to hear, "what have you found so far?"
If it had been anyone else, she would've told him to mind his own business, doctor/patient confidentiality and all that. But this was Alec. He was her SIC. He was Max's lover. He'd saved Max from torture at the hands of the Familiars. He deserved to know.
Especially considering that she'd been the one to turn the key when they'd locked him up. She owed him.
"She's severely dehydrated and malnourished. She's also anemic, which isn't surprising considering the bullet wound and the cuts on her arm, but the severity of it is. I would assume that they were bleeding her to keep her in a weakened state. There are multiple cuts, bruises, abrasions, but I haven't gotten to all of them yet. There's just too damn many. She's got some broken fingers for sure, but I need to run some x-rays to see if anything else is broken."
"What about… the drug? Is she… I mean, will she…?"
Vash shook her head. "It was the first thing I checked. Her DNA's fine. There's no trace of it. They obviously wanted to torture her for information, so they couldn't risk infecting her with it."
Alec sagged with relief. He's been afraid that he'd gotten the woman he loved back just to watch her die. He walked over to Max and took her hand gently in his. It had been hours since they'd rescued her, but she still hadn't opened her eyes. "I don't get it. Why is she still out?" he asked.
Vash hesitated, and for a moment, Alec thought she was going to tell him she was in a coma or something equally horrible. Seeing his panic, Vash smiled weakly at him; Widget had been working with her on her bedside manner. "She'll come out of it soon. I'm sure of it. In the meantime, I need to finish patching her up, and I don't need you hovering over me while I do it."
Alec frowned, glancing worriedly at Max. He shuffled his feet, but didn't move.
"You know, you did quite a number on the people you knocked out with the drugs you stole," Vash said, changing the topic. "Shane and Deets shook it off pretty well, but Dalton had one hell of a hangover. You didn't quite get the dose right for his body weight."
She was trying to guilt him into running off and finding Dalton so he'd get out of her hair, but he was still hesitating. Vash put her hands on her hips; she was losing what little patience she had. "You know she won't want you to see her like this."
"All right," Alec said. "You win." Before he left the room, he walked over to Max and brushed his lips against hers. "I'll be back in a little while," he whispered. "I owe someone an apology." At the door, he spared her one last glance before he slipped quietly out of the room.
Vash waited a couple of minutes, making several notes on Max's chart. When she was sure that Alec was out of earshot, she put the chart down and turned to Max. "He's gone."
As she suspected, Max opened her eyes, already wide awake.
"So," Vash said, staring down at her. "You wanna tell me why you were faking it?"
Vash helped Max sit up, pretending she didn't hear her leader's soft whimpers of pain. She knew that Max wouldn't appreciate being fussed over, which was fine, because Vash wasn't really that good at fussing anyway. That was Widget's job.
"I need you to do something for me," Max said hoarsely, her throat still raw from the time she'd spent in captivity without food and water. "And I couldn't have him around for this."
"Okay," Vash drawled, puzzled. She had no idea what or even why Max would want to keep something from Alec. Several heartbeats passed in silence before Max finally explained.
"I need you to see if I was pregnant."
Vash jerked her head back as if she'd been slapped. The words didn't compute until Max slid down the waistband of her pants, showing a small scar, several inches across. So small an insignificant compared to Max's other wounds that the doctor had overlooked it. But it wasn't insignificant. Not at all. Vash looked up, and something passed between them, woman to woman.
"White could have been lying," Max added, her voice quiet and carefully regulated.
Calm. Cool. Cool as ice. Shut everything down. Stay in control. That's what she needed. Control.
The eyes that met Vash's were bleak. "I need to know for sure."
A/N: Not a lot going on here, I know, but this chapter does pose an important question: was Max really pregnant, or was it all some sick, evil scheme cooked up by White?
