Loose the Hounds

Summary: A deadly riot is the catalyst for all kinds of change in Terminal City. MA.

This chapter is probably what y'all were expecting last chapter… So, without further ado…

Chapter Ten

Max didn't slow until she reached the hallway to Alec's apartment. Xs and transhumans lined the walls, all grim-faced and solemn. A few were whispering, but conversation abruptly stopped when they saw her. They bowed their heads, unable to make eye contact with her as she passed, and Max realized why they were there. They were standing vigil.

Max stopped outside Alec's door where Mole was blocking her way. "Move."

"Alec locked the door."

"So?" she shot back, unnerved that Mole had used Alec's name instead of any of a dozen nicknames. It was just another sign of how grave the situation was.

"I know you weren't around back in the day," Mole grunted in annoyance, "but sometimes injured animals go off alone to die."

"Get out of my way, Mole."

"If he doesn't want to die with us watching that's his call," he warned and it sounded close to a reprimand. "For once just do what he asks."

"He's not dying," Max snapped.

"Yes, he is," Mole answered with certainty.

Max looked back down the hall to all the waiting transgenics. They'd been watching the proceedings but quickly looked down again. She could tell they agreed just by their carefully Manticore-blank faces. They must have seen something like this happen before.

"There's no chance?" she managed, barely above a whisper. "If his system can clear the drugs before they kill him…"

Mole didn't even blink. "Manticore meant for the drugs to kill him, Max."

She pursed her lips and nodded, her heart pounding so hard she knew everyone in the hall could hear it. "Then he's not dying alone. Get out of the way."

This time Mole complied. He produced a pick and had the door unlocked in only a couple of seconds. "You need anything, just say the word." Max saw several others nod.

She put a hand on the knob, took a deep breath and then opened the door. She stepped in and closed it behind her. Alec was on his knees, leaning back against the wall, just to the side of the door. He'd simply walked in and collapsed.

She heard him sigh out a shuddering breath. "Not gonna let me die in peace, are you?"

"And let you screw that up, too? I don't think so."

"Don't worry, Max. I think I'll manage it just fine with or without you."

Alec's head was bowed in defeat and Max had no clue what to do. She'd never seen him just give up like that. She accused him of it all the time, but she'd never actually seen it. Even when his head had been about to explode, he'd been chasing her right up to the deadline and then been loud and threatening, urging the doctor to move faster. When Berrisford had been pointing a gun in his face, Alec had been determined to go out on his own terms, thinking he deserved it. He'd ordered the guy to shoot him.

This… this was Alec just crawling into a hole to die.

"You're getting dirt on the floor."

"Huh?"

Alec was still covered in muck from lying in the alley. "I spent hours cleaning up your mess and you're getting the place all dirty again." It had been as close to Alec as she could get during the five days he was gone. She'd obsessively cleaned the apartment from top to bottom, scouring the city to replace the things he'd broken.

Alec's head came up slightly and he looked at the floor around him with those deeply sunken eyes, although she had doubts he was actually seeing anything. "Always wanted room service," he said, his mouth turning up the tiniest bit on one side.

Max huffed out a light laugh, although she didn't feel it. "Let's get you cleaned up, ok? Honestly, the stink's kinda bothering me." And now that they were alone, away from the smells of the city, it wasn't pretty. Alec smelled like stale sweat overlaid with whatever had been in the alley.

Max leaned over him and put her hands beneath his arms to pull him off the floor. She had him halfway up when she lost her grip and he went back down hard on his knees. She expected him to fall over, but instead he wrapped his arms around her waist and held on, pressing the side of his face into her chest.

"Max, you should go," he said quietly, completely at odds with his actions. His arms tightened around her slightly. "You don't need to see this."

Max smacked him lightly, then soothed it away by lazily running her fingers through his hair. She looked down at him, but could only see the top of his head. She pushed on his shoulders and he drew back, settling his hands on her hips to steady himself as he looked up at her. His eyes were taking too long to focus and Max set a hand on the side of his face to let him know she was there with him whether he could see her or not.

"Quit looking at my boobs," she ordered.

Alec blinked in confusion and then a grin began to appear. "Sorry, Maxie. They're kinda at eye level right now."

His fingers tightened on her hips as he tried to stay upright. Max dropped her hands and once again grabbed him beneath his arms to pull him up. She kept a better grip this time, and Alec, too, put a little more effort into staying up. "Shower," she said. "Definitely. You stink."

Keep him moving, she said to herself. She had to keep him going. She couldn't just let him sit down and die.

Alec sighed. "Max, I don't think-"

"Well, I do and I'm the boss." She helped him into the bathroom and stood him in the walk-in shower. "Don't fall down," she ordered. "I'll be back in thirty seconds." There was no response and she jostled him very slightly to get his attention. "I mean it, Alec. Thirty seconds. Don't fall down."

Finally, Alec nodded and she saw his lips start to move. It only took her a second before she realized he was counting. Max released him and raced toward his room where she pulled out a clean pair of boxers and a t-shirt then ran back to the bathroom, throwing the clothes down just as Alec began to sag.

"Was that thirty?" she asked.

"Thirty two. Gonna tell the CO," he warned.

"That's me, so suck it up." She was standing in front of him, propping him up. She kept one hand pressed to his chest and knelt. She awkwardly managed to get his shoes and socks off and threw them to the floor outside the shower. She then stood and more efficiently stripped the rest of his clothes, giving Alec minimal orders which he obeyed robotically.

Max very distantly took the time to appreciate his physique. He was beautiful. But then she already knew that. She would have to keep him alive, though, if she had any plans to appreciate it at her leisure.

Max turned on the shower, then moved behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist to support him as he stood beneath the spray. She'd claimed it was the smell, but her real goal was to bring his temperature down if she could.

They were silent as she stood with him, letting the water run over them both. Max could feel the muscles in his abdomen shifting beneath her hands as he moved slightly to keep his balance. When the effort became too much for him, he braced his hands against the front wall of the shower to hold his head beneath the tepid water.

After a minute or so, she brought her hands to his hips and exerted enough pressure to let him know to turn. Alec complied, grabbing her shoulders when he began to falter. Max wrapped her arms around him, holding him to her tightly. The water ran over his neck and back, over her arms and then downward, washing away the stench of whatever horrors had been forced on him in the last few days. He rested his forehead against hers, his eyes closed, and they simply stood there, matching their breathing patterns. That he was naked and she was clothed didn't seem to bother him.

She saw him swallow heavily and his mouth quirk up on one side. "This… is so not how I imagined this happening."

"You imagined us in the shower?" she asked, for the first time since she'd stripped him a blush beginning to spread across her cheeks.

Alec grinned. "Eventually. After a lot of other imaginary fun." His grin abruptly died. His arms tightened around her. He gave a pained grunt and he clenched his eyes tightly shut. A shudder ran through his body as some pain she couldn't see overtook him. She felt all of the muscles that she was in contact with contract as he fought against it. His head dropped to her shoulder and his arms tightened to the point that she could barely breathe. It lasted several seconds, then finally he let out a hissing breath, hot against her neck, and relaxed his grip.

Max reached behind him and shut off the water. She grabbed a towel from the shelf and wrapped it around him. She side-stepped out of the shower and helped him sit on the closed toilet lid. "Just… stay there for a second," she ordered. "I'm soaked and I gotta get some dry clothes before I can help you."

"M'k," he said distractedly. She saw his lips begin to move and realized he was counting again.

"I'm gonna need a minute this time, ok?"

She saw Alec reset his count and she blurred toward the door. The hallway was still full, although most of them were sitting now, and if they wondered why she was soaking wet, no one said anything as she hurried past them into her own apartment, already stripping off her wet shirt. She grabbed the first things that came to hand and was headed back out the door just as she finished zipping a clean pair of pants. She didn't bother with shoes or socks. Alec was dying. She didn't have to worry about cold feet.

Max walked back into the bathroom to see Alec still sitting on the closed toilet, although he'd somehow managed to get his boxers on. His t-shirt was in his hands, as if he'd tried to put it on, but run out of energy.

"I coulda helped you, ya know," Max said almost accusingly.

"Gotta save some mystery for the wedding night," Alec quipped.

Max rolled her eyes and helped Alec pull the shirt down over his head. "Now you're imagining a wedding night? Didn't know you were that creative."

Alec's expression turned suddenly wolfish. "You have no idea."

"Come on, lover boy," Max said indulgently. "Let's get you somewhere more comfortable." She levered him up and pulled his arm across her shoulders before heading out of the bathroom.

"Feel like luggage," Alec muttered. "Keep haulin' me around."

Max briefly considered the sofa, which was closer, but decided against it. She headed for the bedroom, carrying most of Alec's weight by the time they got there. He fell onto the bed and allowed Max to raise his feet so that he could turn and stretch out.

Alec sighed and closed his eyes. He rested his hands on his chest. It was like she could see him shutting down again right in front of her. Faint tremors raced up and down his body and Max quickly pulled the covers up over him. She stood back and was immediately at a loss for anything else to do.

"Max," Alec said quietly.

"Yeah?"

"You really don't have to stay with me."

"Alec-"

"I can do this alone," he said with finality, and Max got the feeling he was telling himself as much as her.

"Maybe you don't have to. Maybe I don't wanna leave you here alone," she answered, letting her annoyance show in her voice since his eyes were still closed. "You ever think of that?"

"You can't fix it this time." He clenched his teeth together tightly as pain shot through him again, leaving him breathless. "Just… just…"

"Just suck it up," she said harshly, then her voice softened. "I'm not leaving. I can't let you give up."

"Nothin' left… to give."

Looking at him, Max wasn't sure he was wrong. Alec was gray. His skin was waxy, drawn too tight, and he looked thinner than he had five days ago.

"How…" Max had to force the question out. "How long… do you think?"

Alec was silent and she thought maybe he was unconscious, but finally he sighed. "Not long."

"Not long like… hours? Or not long like… I shouldn't bother to find you some socks?"

"Don't need socks." She saw him wiggle his toes slightly beneath the covers. "Like to be free range."

Max just looked at him. Alec was born to be free range. They all were. The bastards just kept trying to take it away from them.

She walked around to the other side of the bed and sat down with her back against the headboard, stretching her legs out in front of her alongside Alec's arm. "What happened, Alec?" He raised an eyebrow in question. "You've been gone for five days. What happened?"

"Had a party." He smirked. "Met some real nice people."

Max frowned. "Alec, I have to meet with the mayor tomorrow. I'm guessing there will be a representative from the military there, too. I need to know what happened so I'll know whose ass to kick."

Alec groaned suddenly and turned on his side toward her. His arm wrapped around her thigh, holding on for dear life, and he buried his face against her hip. Max set one hand on his arm and the other on his back, rubbing in circles, desperate to try and console him somehow. The problem was that she just wasn't any good at it. She wasn't really the mothering type. She defended the people she loved, fought for them with everything she had, but actual, physical comfort wasn't really in her repertoire.

Finally, the pain seemed to ebb and he eased his grip, shifting back a bit, his breath coming in gasps. "They…" He coughed dryly and Max wished she'd thought to bring some water with her. "They wanted… to know our limits."

"Transgenics? They wanted to know what we can do?"

Alec nodded. "How fast, how high we can jump… tolerance to… the usual."

"It's like Manticore never left," Max said bitterly. The regular military wouldn't be able to get their hands on Manticore's records, so Alec had been poked, prodded and tested for five days so the military would know what they were up against if it came to a full scale 'cleansing' of TC. "They wanted to know what kind of weapons we are."

Alec's fingers tightened where they were still wrapped around her leg. "Yeah."

"Why the interrogation?"

"Wanted to know the layout here. Fortifications, defenses… Got mad when I said no."

Max continued to rub slow circles against his back. "Anything you wanna talk about?"

"Nope. M'good."

"I don't believe you."

"Wouldn't lie to you," he said, and she heard just the slightest bit of hurt in his voice.

Max snorted. "No, but you and shades of gray…"

"M'good with gray." He smiled, amusement replacing the hurt.

"Get some rest, Alec."

He made a derisive sound low in his throat. "Wish I could."

She remembered him having much the same reaction in the car. "What do you mean?"

"Can't sleep."

"Why not?"

Alec rubbed his cheek against her hip before settling more comfortably against her side. "Too many drugs. Don't know what they were testing for. Immunity maybe… bio-warfare… Dunno… Couldn't sleep."

"You can sleep now," Max assured him. "It will help if you rest." She kept her voice calm and soothing despite the urge to track the bastards down and rip their needle-wielding arms off.

"Should've worn off by now," he said, as if to himself. "Still can't sleep. System's messed up from the other stuff."

His words were badly slurred. Max was nearly to the point of having to translate. "Then close your eyes and quit talking. Relax until your body has a chance to clear the drugs."

"Yeah. Sure," he said, but there was no hope in his voice. And he'd never answered how long he had. He must have an idea, but he wasn't going to share. If Alec hadn't slept since he'd been caught in the cell, it was just another factor taxing his system, and transgenic or not, she didn't know if his body could hold on. Max looked down at him, pain and exhaustion leaving permanent lines around his mouth and eyes.

"Why'd you kiss me?" she whispered.

"Thought you wanted me to shut up," he murmured. She could feel his lips moving against her side through the fabric of her pants.

"Why?"

He shrugged. "Wanted to."

"Why?"

"The black eye was too sexy to resist."

"Why, Alec?" she pressed. There was no time left. If this was all she was going to have then she needed to actually hear it.

Alec sighed. "Because you're magnificent… and I thought I lost you."

Max sniffed doubtfully. "Magnificent, huh?"

"Kinda snuck up on me, too," he said, but sounded amused.

"Only you could wait 'til we're in this mess to decide you like me. You know how screwed up that is?" she accused, but tempered it by gently running her fingers through his hair, petting, soothing as pain made all of his muscles tighten and he pressed closer to her side.

"Spend twenty years… being an… emotional cripple," he panted, "and see… how fast you are… on the uptake."

"Yeah, I have no experience with that sort of thing," Max shot back, trying for a normal tone of voice despite the nearly paralyzing dread filling her.

"Agh… Max." His grip around her leg became bruising. "Please… I…" He twisted beneath the sheets, desperate to find some way away from the pain.

This time the episode did not seem to pass as quickly. Max leaned over him, making soothing nonsense sounds, whispering useless comforting words, trying not to panic at how quickly he was going downhill.

After some time, Max wasn't sure how long, Alec's grip seemed to lessen, but Max didn't think it was because the pain had passed. One look at his face told her the truth. He was simply growing too weak to hold onto her. Max grasped his arm and untangled it from around her leg. He made a pained noise, low in his throat, and immediately pulled the arm closer to his chest as if trying to physically keep himself together.

Max removed the pillow from beneath his head and set it back against the headboard, then as gently as possible raised Alec so that she could slide behind him. She pulled him up so that he was reclining with his back against her chest. His head fell back on her shoulder and she wrapped her arms around him. What little good the shower had done to bring his temperature down had passed and Alec was once again radiating furnace-like heat.

His breathing was shallower than she remembered. "Alec?" she asked. "This ok?"

He patted her knee weakly. "S'good. Not how… imagined… but s'good."

"Back to living in dreamland, huh?" she said, fighting back tears. She wasn't a crybaby, but she didn't know what else to do. She'd lost so many people she loved, some of them dying in her arms, some even at her own hand, but this… She'd never felt so useless.

"Was a… good dream." He let out a tiny puff of a laugh, causing more pain than the little enjoyment the light comment offered.

"Shhh… Don't talk." Max brushed the sweat-dampened hair back from his forehead.

Alec's lips twitched. "Always… tryin' to… shut… me up." His breathing was growing slower, shallower, closer to gasping. "Gonna get… your wish."

Max didn't have the heart to joke anymore. "Not like this, Alec. Never like this."

"S'ok." His hand fluttered like he wanted to pat her knee again, but didn't have the strength.

She set her hand over his heart, laying it flat. She could feel the beat, sat with him while she felt it slow as his breathing became shallower still, his breaths farther in between.

"Stay with me," Max whispered, her mouth next to his ear. "Fight for me, Alec."

She didn't know whether he heard her or not. His head was resting heavily against her shoulder. She rubbed his cheek with hers, pulling his sagging form as closely to her as she could, desperate to hold onto him, keep him with her.

Alec took a breath and she counted.

One, two…

He took another breath, shallower, his exhausted body working to draw the air in.

One, two, three…

"Stay with me, Alec. Just stay with me. I need you here."

One, two, three…

"Just hold on. Hold on. For me."

One, two, three, four…

More soon…