A/N: Ready for a little comfort?...Thank you very much for your review, recicup!after all this time...:o)


FEAR AND LOATHING IN SEATTLE


Chapter 11: FIX YOU


This time the airflow on her ninja cooled down her anger much faster.
Why did he have to be stubborn like this? All she wanted was to help him. Make sure that he was okay. Yeah. OC was right. Because she cared.
Reluctantly she agreed with Logan, too. She did recognise her former self in Alec. The way he was pushing everybody away, his defences up like a concrete wall to protect himself, not trusting anybody. Enemies everywhere.
She knew all too well how he felt. Alone. Trying hard to block everyone out. And he was especially good at that. Driving everyone around him mad, so they wouldn't come to close.
Logan had managed to break through her shell in the end. Taught her to trust again.
Now Alec needed her to teach him that he could trust his friends. That among friends showing weakness was not failure.
No, she wouldn't let him go this easily.
Max turned her ninja around, accelerating. He wouldn't succeed in scaring her away once more.

A few minutes later she was back at his door, knocking.

"Alec, come on, open the door!"

Nothing happened. "You know I can simply break it," she stated.

Just in when she readied herself to knock the door down, he opened it a crack.

"What do you want?" he asked wearily. He looked tired.

Innocently she answered: "Just wanna make sure you're okay."

With a scornful snort he tried to close the door once more, but this time Max was prepared and stopped the door with her boot.

"Be careful. Makes you sound like you care."

"I do," she answered him, catching his gaze.

His eyes turned to the floor and he shrugged: "You won't give up?"
But it was more a statement than a question and he backed away, letting her into his apartment, where he slumped down on his couch, burying his head in his hands.
Slowly she sat down next to him and softly placed a hand on his back. He froze at her touch, but didn't recoil.

She sighed. That was going to be much harder than she preferred. If she wanted him to open up, she had to open up herself first. Quietly she began to speak: "Of course I do care. You are my friend. And you're important to me. So I need to know that you're okay. What you tried to do for Logan and me, that's…it could change everything…," she fell silent, lacking words. "…but I don't want that. Not at all costs. I can't lose another friend. So please let me help you." Her words lingered in the air between them. She felt nervous. Exposed.

He raised his head, a cocky smirk on his face: "Huh, a little overdramatic, don't you think?"

She smiled. So he felt safer with not being too serious. She definitely could deal with that. "Overflow of hormones," she shrugged. "Not my fault."

He gave her a brotherly shove. "Yeah, I forgot big, bad Manticore. Poor girl!"

Prompting she looked at him. "So, did it work? Will you tell me what happened out there?"

He nodded, finally giving in. "I better will, before you break down in tears." His smile widened. The picture of Max crying like a girl. A lot more had to happen until that dream came true. But he began to talk, telling her every single detail.


His report left her clueless. "That minor explosion did this? But after all these days your body should have healed already. Let me take a look at those injuries." She simply couldn't believe it. Alec observed her unbelieving face. Was it true? Did she care? For him, who totally screwed up her life?

Tediously he took off his sweater, revealing all those bruises on his upper body. Max had to repress a horrified yelp. She had to use all her strength to maintain a neutral face. There was not a single spot of untouched skin to be found on his body, black and blue everywhere. Gently she probed his ribs, without looking him in the eye.

"Broken?" she asked. He shook his head, clenching his teeth. It had to hurt like hell.

"No just bruised."

She believed him. Manticore soldiers knew the difference.

Continuing with her examination, she undressed the wound on his right forearm. It looked bad, hot to the touch and swollen, bandages bloody. Her stomach cramped with empathy.

"This should really look much better by now. Unless the explosion hasn't caused much more damage than you're telling me."

Alec took a quick look himself. "No. It has been pretty much looking the same for the last few days."
Jokingly he continued: "Maybe Manticore screwed up. I'm changing back to normal." He laughed, but Max could hear the fear in his voice.

"Perhaps you should go see Dr. Carr..." she prompted, but Alec immediately interrupted her:

"I will not expose myself to any kind of doctor!"

She felt helpless. There was nothing for her to do; she had not been trained for this weird loss of healing abilities. There was something else she had been trained for though. So she started with the acquainted parts she was perfectly trained to handle.
Getting Alec's med kit from the bathroom, she cleaned the wound and changed the dressing, then strapped up his ribs, so he could breathe more freely. Those routines were soothing, something she could hold onto. Patiently he waited for her to finish her work. He was exhausted. His body felt so tired he almost didn't notice the pain. Several times he had to fight against his dropping eyelids.

Max pretended to be unaware of his struggles. Knowingly she added his behaviour to the dark circles under his eyes and the even more prominent paleness of his face. After she had finished her work, she nonchalantly place two little pills in his hand. "Painkillers. Get some rest." Without waiting for a response, she tousled his hair, ignoring his protest and left the room, giving him some space.

When she came back, he had vanished to his bedroom and she made herself comfortable in his chair, turning on the TV. It couldn't really drive away all those questions in her head, but at least it kept her distracted for the rest of the evening.