When Alec opened his eyes again, the first thing he saw was an odd looking man fumbling nervously with a map or some such thing that had begun to look pathetically out of shape. It wasn't exactly the kind of scene he would have wanted to wake up to. A cute girl sitting by his side, ogling him worriedly, on the other hand, now that sounded much more pleasant.
Then again, he was probably lucky to still be alive...
"Alec!" Josh's voice suddenly blurted, and only then did Alec's brain process the fact that the "man sitting by his side" was indeed none other than the Big Fella. He sounded oddly worried and for some reason, Alec felt the need to apologize. Yet his throat was sore and the words simply wouldn't come.
"Alec feeling better?" the dog-faced transgenic asked, patting Alec's arm awkwardly. Creases had appeared on his broad forehead, creases of true and heartfelt… worry. Alec couldn't help but think that there weren't many people he had seen looking at him with that expression carved onto their faces. Only two, actually: Joshua — and Max.
It was then that the events of the night finally caught up with him. The walk to the Town Hall where he had been supposed to meet the others; those conspicuous looking strangers… The pang of a bullet going through his body, before he had had a chance to run and hide. How he had immediately known something was wrong about that bullet wound when a searing pain had numbed him instantly. It had nearly paralyzed him. He had felt so woozy quite suddenly that he hadn't been able to fight off the arms that had come up around him and dragged him away. The bullets had to have emitted some toxin or other, or else he wouldn't ever have let them capture him. He still didn't understand how things could have gone south so quickly. Where had he messed up? Or when?
"Alec?" Josh's worried voice entered his awareness and he smiled awkwardly, trying to reassure his friend that he was okay.
Then he realized that Max was nowhere to be seen. She had said she'd be there. She had said she'd get him out of the hospital as soon as the bullet was out. So where was she? Uneasiness gripped him and he tried to get out of the bed. He had to talk to her, stat.
But Joshua put his heavy paw-like hand onto his chest and said, "Alec wait here for Max. No moving. Max said to take care of you."
"Come on, big guy, there's no need for that. I'm alright now. The bullet is out, right? So let's just go. Where's Maxie, eh?" He started to get up again only to fall back against his pillow almost instantly. Wow, he thought, everything still felt strangely blurry…
"Alec in — pain? Alec need Joshua to call the doctor?" Josh patted Alec's arm again, even dared to place one warm hand on Alec's forehead for a short while.
The younger one looked up at him skeptically, his stare boring into Josh as if he were an alien. "I'm fine, Josh," he insisted, though he knew he really wasn't. Whatever the bullet had released into his system, it was still there. For how else could the persisting pain be explained, or the fact that he was still feeling so out of it? He was an X5 after all, he should have felt better as soon as the doc had extracted the stupid piece of metal. He decided to ignore his current state and not let on how he was really feeling, for Joshua as well as for his own sake. It was always better to worry about others than about yourself, he figured.
"Where is Max, Josh?" he therefore changed the topic and resumed his task of getting out of bed. He nearly gasped as the pain returned full force to the home it had found in his stomach, lodged deep inside of him, threatening to take over his senses and claim his consciousness. Stupid bullet wound!
He really needed to speak to Max. He had waited too long to tell her everything, and now time was running out. That's why he so desperately needed to know where she was.
"Where is she, Josh? I really need to…" Before he could get out the question, everything started swimming, blurring, vanishing yet again and he saw Josh grab his arm. Dammit, he thought, this was not good.
"Alec sleep now. Joshua will wait and watch," he heard his friend say and thought, no Josh, I need to talk to Max! But his body didn't obey him and he drifted off.
"It's Asha…," Logan had announced what felt like a lifetime ago.
Asha
Max's heart was beating too fast in its cage, her thoughts going a mile a minute, chasing each other. This felt a little like a showdown; surreal and yet more real than anything else had felt in the past few hours. Max felt her skin begin to prickle uncomfortably, the bristling feeling making her feel strangely alive.
Was this it; the call that would end everything? Would Logan give Alec's whereabouts away? Would he give Alec away; give them away? In the blink of an eye everything could change, for better or for worse, she couldn't know.
"Listen, Max. I'll have to answer this. But don't run away again, please." Logan looked at her imploringly, begging her to stay. How could she do that, though? How could she stay and do nothing? After what Alec had said about the S1W…
Later, Max would never be quite able to say where her next thought had come from. She would never know where her sudden bold trust in Logan had come from, either. But seeing the ordinary get ready to talk to his S1W friend, Max eventually put all her eggs in one basket, hoping for the best.
"No, Logan; listen to me!" she called out. "The S1W were somehow involved in what happened to Alec. He never managed to tell me much, but they must have captured and shot him - and I don't know whether Asha is involved or not, but I just can't risk it. Logan, I can't," she blabbed, continuing without pause, "He said they are still looking for him. You can't tell her anything about this; please. Logan. You can't. Not yet."
Logan stared at her disbelievingly, his frown deepening. "The S1W wouldn't do something like that..." he muttered, doubtful. "That's ridiculous..."
"Logan," Max hissed imploringly. The cell was chirping on and on.
"Alright," Logan made, still not looking too convinced, "If what Alec said is true... Let me try and...," Without finishing his sentence, he suddenly put his cell to his ear. Max let out a deflating sigh, battling the urge to blur and take it away from him before he could talk to Asha. She forced her arms to go slack at her sides and wait.
What had she done? What would happen to Alec if Logan didn't deserve the trust she had put in him?
Five months earlier...
"Alex! Over here!" the bossy blonde waved a hand at him as soon as he entered her office, and he shot a glance at Greg who quietly followed him in, shrugging.
"Rommie."
"We have a problem."
"Yeah, Greg said that a chick from the Northern cell..."
The woman waved her hand again as she spoke over him, "Remember when you came here, when was that? Three months ago? Remember what you said to me?"
"Uh..."
"You said that you had intel on the S1W being infiltrated, right? You said that you and a couple of others had gotten intel that the infiltration had started back in Seattle."
Alec nodded, unsure of where this was going. He felt uneasiness creep up his spine as his boss was digging right at the heart of his cover story. Had his cover somehow been blown when she had met Fawn? Did Fawn know he was on her? He was just preparing himself for the worst, when he heard Rommie say,
"I trusted you back then, didn't I? Because I had to. After all, I couldn't exactly check back with anyone in Seattle. - If what you said was true it would have jeoparized everything that we've been doing here ever since you came. It would have jeopardized our whole mission of exposing the infiltrators and restoring the S1W..."
"Yeah..." Alec remained cautious. He still had no idea where this was going, and he was trained too well not to let anyone's words lull him into a false sense of safety.
"Alex. That girl, Fawn, from the north? Greg told you about her newest plans of turning us into a bunch of terrorists? Just when we finally got the government and the public, even the idiotic press people, to accept that that's what we are NOT?" Alec was smart enough not to say anything when she paused and locked gazes with him. "Could she by any chance be one of those infiltrators?"
Alec clenched his teeth. If he validated her suspicion, everything would suddenly be out in the open. Fawn would be under close scrutiny - and chances would be that very soon someone found out about her Manticore background. Did he really want that? Since he still didn't know why Fawn was with the S1W and whether it could have anything to do with Manticore, he was reluctant to expose her just yet.
What if he denied knowing anything, though? What if this was a set-up and Rommie was testing him?
Maybe she wasn't after Fawn at all, maybe she was after him...
[The present]
Logan eventually answered the phone...
"Asha, hey. What is it?" He spoke briskly. Nothing in his voice gave away anything that had happened in the previous minutes. He could see that Max, though she wasn't running from him this time, seemed to be more than a little unsure about what to make of him at that very moment. After everything he had just learned he couldn't blame her, really, could he?
"Logan. Where are you?"
He raised an eyebrow, catching Max's gaze. With one hand ruffling his hair, he turned away from her slightly, though making sure not to lose sight of her.
"Why do you ask?"
Max was fidgeting nervously. He couldn't help thinking that a nervous X5 was some sight to see. He felt the need to raise a hand in some calming gesture, though he couldn't be sure she'd read it as such. She was so tense; a miracle that she hadn't up and run, again. Something made her stay… He dared hope it was him. But all of a sudden that thought seemed quite daring; and, strangely, that realization hurt more than Max's previous running away from him.
"Why do I ask?" Asha sounded exasperated. "I came with you to Portland because I thought I could help you guys with whatever is going on. Instead you drop me off at my friend's place, tell me to stay put and that's that? What is going on? Where's Max? Is this really about some politician, or are you just trying to...?"
He rubbed the palm of his hand over his furrowed brow in an attempt to fight off a beginning headache. This was ridiculous.
"Asha," he sighed. "I'm - sorry, I shouldn't have brought you with me. We're a little busy right now, though, okay? I can't really talk-"
"Really, Logan? You're giving me the 'I can't talk' treatment? First Max, now you. What is going on? Listen, this is ridiculous, let me just… I need to tell you something and I…," her voice was faltering, taking on a strange note. Logan figured she was just upset with him. She didn't sound like she was about to spring some life-altering news about the true nature of the S1W on him anytime soon. Alec had probably gotten something wrong, or Max had. She must have...
"I'm sorry, Asha," he told her, "I'll send someone over to come pick you up and drive you back to Seattle, alright? I promise we'll talk later..."
"No! Logan! No, I mean - I just think you should know, in case this has anything to do with your politician or whatever…"
Logan tensed, searching for Max's gaze. "Know what?" he asked, directed at Asha, but looking intently at Max all the while.
"Logan…," Asha began, then sighed. The line went completely quiet for a while. Only a gentle rustle of static reached Logan's ear before Asha spoke again and everything changed.
Uh oh... - More anyone?
