A/N: Happy Almost Monday, everyone! I know I've been waiting until midnight to post lately, since it is so much fun to wake up to reviews, but alas, it is late and I am impatient tonight. In thirty minutes it will be Monday, so technically, in everyone else's timezones, it's fine, right?

O

Alex returned just as Yassen was moving the now unconscious woman into the janitorial closet. He froze. "What did you-"

"I knocked her out. Her assistant will find her in the morning," Yassen informed him, dropping her inside and pulling the door shut. Spotting Alex's expression, he shoved it back open and snapped, "You can check her pulse if you'd like."

"I believe you," Alex said, shifting on his feet. He watched Yassen close the door again and seal it with some medical ties he'd found in the laboratory. "What did she say about the test results?"

Yassen didn't glance up from where he began gathering everything that had Alex's DNA on it: the needles, the sharps, bloody cotton balls, the vials in the machine. They'd likely be identified anyway, but he didn't want to make it easy for them. He had to make it look like he'd made the effort not to get caught. Delays in discovery would only play in their favor. "She printed them off. I'll explain them in the car." He glanced up at Alex. "Go back into the exam room and search for your girlfriend's San Francisco address. Then, go into the browser history and delete the search."

"My girlfriend," Alex repeated, voice flat.

Yassen worked very hard not to roll his eyes and failed. "Or however you'd care to describe the girl Cray kidnapped."

"Why?"

"I want the FBI to think that's where you're headed."

Alex folded his arms. "No. They'll go bothering the Pleasures about whether or not I've been in contact with them or put them under protection. They've been so kind. I've troubled them enough as it is."

Yassen straightened long enough to jerk a hand in the direction of the supply closet. "That's the point. If we don't misdirect them, I have to kill the nice doctor. I can do that instead if you-"

"Nevermind, I'll look it up," Alex sighed and ducked back into the exam room. Yassen heard the clattering of keys a second later. "There. Done. I deleted it. Anything else?"

"No. We need to go." Grabbing an antibacterial wipe, Yassen quickly ran it over every surface in the lab that Alex may have touched before joining the boy in the exam room to repeat the action. "Do you have everything you brought with you?" he asked, grabbing the pad of paper the doctor had been using to take notes before grabbing her purse and digging around for her car keys.

Alex nodded and stood, face pale and tense as he pulled out his iPod to double check the signal interception. The boy waited patiently in the car, stroking Trouble's bobbing head, while Yassen moved the doctor's vehicle out of sight of the road. All he needed after a day like today was someone finding her too early. He didn't know if the woman had family, but hopefully they'd take at least another hour or two before they went looking for her. Without stopping, it would only take five hours or so to reach Las Vegas. Yassen had every intention of changing cars again and doing some proper reconnaissance to locate his identities man, but even an hour or two could put them out of a tactical response range if it just so happened that the FBI or CIA was in the area.

Yassen shoved down the mess of emotions twisting in his stomach and began mentally listing as he returned to the car. First, he'd have to give Alex some kind of explanation. Much of it he'd overheard, but Yassen had deliberately kept control over how much Alex knew about the seizures. His reactions could be unpredictable and Yassen wanted the chance to tailor his information to Alex's emotional state. Next, the little dog had to go- tonight. Alex would be upset, but Yassen wanted to get to Vegas and get their identities started within the next 24 hours. That meant moving quickly and discreetly. Third, Yassen now had to find a pharmacy to rob. He consulted the list the doctor had scribbled for him before shoving it back into his jacket pocket. Hopefully, these chemicals would be fairly ubiquitous.

He tugged open the door and looked in at Alex. The spike of dread that lodged in his throat startled him, but he swallowed past it. Alex wouldn't be happy, but he would cope. Somehow.

O

Alex didn't speak as Yassen climbed into the front seat and pulled them out of the lot. Trouble drowsed on his lap, enjoying the head rubs without seeming to pick up on any of the tension in the car. A distant fear coiled in Alex's chest. Not as much as he expected, however. He supposed there was really only so much anxiety he could offer the world in any given day. He'd have answers soon enough. Yassen wasn't liable to lie to him- that was one of the reasons Alex trusted him at all.

So why had he pushed Alex to leave the room with that nonsense about Trouble? It wasn't until Alex reached the car and found the pup napping that he realized that the assassin and the doctor were alone together. Reluctantly cracking the window and taking Trouble out to relieve himself, Alex had been half-convinced that Yassen was going to break his promise and kill the woman anyway. Obviously he hadn't, so what other reason did he have to make him leave?

Sick of wondering, Alex took a deep breath and decided to just get it over with. "What did you talk about when I left?" Ten minutes had passed since they'd gotten on the nearest highway. The tension in his body felt like it's own entity- the twisted coils of a snake in cruel armor, sent to kill him. He shut his eyes against the bright metallic tang of blood in his mouth. Great. Another flashback. "You wanted me to leave the room, so how bad is it? Am I dying? Do I have cancer?"

Yassen didn't bother denying the accusation. "You don't have cancer. Your health is bad, but not in the emergency sense. We'll stop and get you some medicine in an hour or so. Most of your problems can be traced back to the nausea, so once that's resolved, you should feel much better."

Alex's lips thinned. "And that's it?"

"No, there's more." He paused. Rather than stalling, Yassen seemed to consider his words carefully. "You also have a light form of epilepsy, at least for the time being."

"What? Are you joking?"

Yassen shook his head.

"Where did she come up with that?" Alex dug his fists into his pants, gripping his knees so hard it hurt. A disbelieving laugh ripped itself from his throat. "That's insane. I'm not having seizures. I would have noticed. You would have noticed. She must have made it up. Scare you into taking me somewhere else."

"I saw it myself, Alex. A small one, only a few seconds long. They're called absence seizures. Do you remember when she snapped her fingers by your head? She did that for a quarter of a minute before you noticed." Yassen spared a glance at him. It took Alex a second to realize that Yassen seemed… unhappy, for lack of a better word. "I've been mistaking them for panic attacks," he admitted quietly.

Alex reeled. "But… why? How long? Is it the injections?"

Yassen shook his head. "I don't know how long and it could very well be the injections."

"That's what she said?" he demanded. "That it's the injections? What else could it be?"

Yassen hesitated. "It was hard to determine a source for any of your symptoms. Medical nightmare, was her preferred term. The injections have so many unpredictable neurological side effects, we can't rule them out against anything else."

It wasn't exactly an evasion, but he hadn't answered the question exactly. It gave him pause. Alex found himself regularly admiring and annoyed at how precise Yassen could be. If he wasn't...

Something had to be going on.

"What else could it be?" Alex repeated, eyes narrowing. He wouldn't lie in the face of a direct question. Probably. "Yassen?"

"It's possible that you have brain damage," Yassen said at last. He snuck another glance at Alex. "It's fine. I'll take you for extra testing done to rule it out. Don't look so worried. If you do have some form of it, it's unlikely to get any worse."

"How do you know? You didn't know I've been having seizures or when they started," Alex snapped. "What if they started recently? What else has been missed?"

Yassen winced ever so slightly, but at least he didn't pretend everything was fine. "It is possible that it's getting worse, but the doctor said it's unlikely. I asked. If it is, it should be more noticeable and if so, we'll sort it out when we come to that. Focus on the problem in front of you."

"I didn't even know I was having them," Alex moaned, burying his face in his hands. "How can I focus on them if I don't know when they happen?"

Yassen shook his head. "That's why I don't think you should worry. If neither of us noticed them before, it seems that they haven't been seriously impacting you. Tapija said they weren't damaging on their own, so long as you don't drive or do anything that could become unsafe with such interruptions. Simply try to account for any moments where you may be missing time."

Alex swallowed and stared at his lap, feeling tears prick at his eyes. After several seconds of silence, he muttered thickly, "It's not fair. I always think I've finally hit rock bottom and that it's time to get better but then it keeps getting worse. Why me?"

Knuckles whitening against the steering wheel, Yassen took his eyes off the road just long enough to meet Alex's despairing gaze with his own steady one. "It's not worse, it's better. Believe it or not, everything we learned today is a good thing." He continued before Alex could interrupt in fury. "You can't solve problems you don't know about, little Alex. None of these are new and you would have continued to suffer regardless. Now we know why you've had such trouble eating and how to fix it. Now we know why you're tired and cold constantly. Now we know about the absence seizures and can plan for them. You are no worse off than you were before. Now you have choices."

Alex sniffled, mostly to keep himself from bursting into tears. Stupid. It was probably too much to hope for that it was just a mood swing. Damn his life. He dragged a hand across his face. "Like what?"

"Tapija gave me a list of medications that will reduce the number of seizures. However, they have sedative-like effects," Yassen informed him. He drummed his fingers against the steering wheel, obviously planning the rest of their night in his head. "I will get them for you, but it's up to you if you'd like to take them. The seizures aren't very severe and I wouldn't blame you for wanting to remain alert. Also, you would have to go off your xanax. It's your decision, of course."

Alex grimaced, though Yassen's words had actually managed to soothe something in him. Just a little. Rubbing his eyes, he took a series of deep breaths until his voice steadied out. He had options. Not great ones, but he wasn't trapped. Not exactly. "What about the rest of it? How do we fix the nausea?"

"The good doctor gave me a complete list of prescription antiemetics and proton pump inhibitors." At Alex's squint, he added, "Pills to stop you from vomiting and to decrease the acid production of your stomach so the tears can finish healing. Once you can keep things down, we can tackle your dehydration and malnutrition."

Alex frowned. "Okay. And me being cold all of the time?"

"It's likely just malnutrition and weight loss," Yassen assured him. "You'll just need to stay warm."

Alex grumbled, "Well, it's not like you don't nag me about wearing my coat every day as it is." After another pause, he looked back up at Yassen and asked, "That's it?"

The Russian nodded. "Regarding your health issues."

"Bloody hell. Was she really chatty or something?"

Yassen gave him a look. "We have lots to do tonight, little Alex. Switch cars, rob a pharmacy, and find some place to leave the mutt."

Right. A wave of tiredness swept over Alex, tasting oddly of relieved resignation. It was a lot of work taking care of said mutt. He wasn't the best dog owner in the world and Trouble would be better off adopted out to some family who wouldn't keep him in a car all day. He knew this. Accepted it. Or at least thought he had.

It still felt like something inside him was being crushed.

Alex dug around in his pocket and broke another small gummy disc in half and ate it. After a second thought, he popped the second half in his mouth as well. Trouble sniffed at his fingers and tried to do likewise, but Alex pushed his little muzzle away and earned himself a chomp in response. "Already?" Alex asked, rubbing his wounded skin. "Are you certain?"

Yassen gave him a flat look.

"It's almost eight in the evening," Alex pointed out. "Unless you know of any twenty four shelters in the area, we'll have to wait until morning."

Yassen sighed. "Fine. In the morning."