It was a day like any other. A day that looked the same as yesterday, that
would involve the same boring routine as yesterday. There was only slight
comfort in knowing that, although tomorrow would be another boring day, at
least it was a Saturday, and he wouldn't have to go to work.
He could remember being young, dreaming about what he would do when he grew
up. It was always something different, something exciting. If someone had
told him that he was going to be a bike messenger, he wouldn't have
believed it. He thought he was destined for something better.
Sketchy shrugged. Life wasn't so bad, really. At least he had a job. Many
didn't. in fact, he had two jobs, as a bike messenger, and as a freelance
writer. And he had good friends. Strange friends, granted, but loyal. Yeah,
life could be a lot worse. He turned his bike into the entrance to Jam
Pony. Another day, 8 hours before he could go to Crash, drink, and forget
about his life for a while.
Alec stood in the shower, letting water run over him. the water had long since gone cold, the hot water cylinder that he had. acquired. wasn't particularly big. He didn't even notice the change in temperature, as he leant his head against the wall. Finally, even the cold water ran out, but he still stood there for several minutes, until he felt his body start to shiver uncontrollably. Alec sighed, and stepped out of the shower, reaching for a towel to rub his hair dry. Late again. He would have to apologise to Normal. Great, just great. He quickly threw on some clothes, and brushed his hair back with his fingers as he grabbed his bike and set out for his day job.
"Hey Boo" Cindy greeted Max as she casually crossed the main room at Jam Pony to the lockers. Max nodded a greeting as she opened her locker, searching for something. "Whats up" she asked.
"Not much. Seen your boy this morning?"
"Logan? No, why would I?" Max grabbed a hairbrush and ran it through her hair.
"Not Logan, Alec. Boy don't look good today"
"First, he's not my boy" Max slammed her locker and faced Cindy. "And second, why would I care if he's sick?"
"Come on, girl, Original Cindy know you two play games, but she also know you do care about each other."
Max sighed. "I wouldn't care if he dropped dead today, my only concern would be pullin' the double shifts here to cover his ass. As usual"
"Uh huh" Cindy nodded, smiling. Like that was the truth. She knew better. Max cared about Alec more than she would ever let on. Probably even to herself
"Alec" Max stood in front of his locker, waiting for him to close it. Alec took a deep breath. He didn't feel that great, last thing he wanted to do was show weakness in front of her. "Hey, Max" he spoke, his voice almost steady as he closed the locker and leaned against it, facing her.
"You okay?" she asked him, noting immediately his pale face and slightly bright eyes.
"Concern for me? Max, I'm touched." Alec forced a grin.
"Just concerned that you're not going to be able to pull off the job we're doing tonight"
"No problem" Alec told her. He felt his arm begin to shake slightly, and he clenched his fist, shoving it into his jeans pocket.
"Alec?" she saw only the slight flicker of panic cross his face, but it was enough. Cindy had been right, there was something going on. And it was typical, completely typical, that he wouldn't tell her. If he screwed up the mission tonight, then she would. her train of thought stopped dead as Alec turned to walk away from her.
Alec knew the symptoms, had felt them only twice before, but they were two times that had been firmly rooted in his memory. His arm was shaking, his body tensing up, and the room was starting to spin. He had to get out of here, away from anyone who might see what was going to happen. He pushed himself off the locker, and walked away. Or tried to. He took two steps before the room began to move in front of him, like he was standing on a boat, everything moving towards him, then away, wave after wave, forward and back, side to side. It was too much for his brain, and it partially shut down. The shaking started in his leg, and he collapsed towards the ground, his whole body convulsing.
Max saw him fall, and reacted, blurring forward to grab him before he hit the ground, not caring who might see her. She lowered Alec to the ground, keeping her arms tight around him as his body shook. He gasped as the tremors increased, forcing Max to hold him tighter. She moved one hand to his face, stroking his hair back off his forehead as she prevented his head from jerking with the shaking of his body.
"Max? Alec?" Cindy had been heading to her locker, when she saw them, Max kneeling on the ground, holding Alec in her arms, her head bent next to his, as if she was whispering to him. then she noticed Alec convulsing, the force of the attack shaking not only his whole body, but Max's as well. She quickly knelt beside them. Alec was moaning lightly, and Max whispered something to him, as she pulled him close to her. Cindy quickly glanced around, to see whether anyone else had noticed what was going on. It didn't look like it. "What can I do?" she asked, putting her hand on Alec's shoulder, trying to help Max stop him from shaking too much.
"There's some Tryptophan in my locker. It may help. Can you get it?" "Yeah" Cindy moved quickly, and Max returned her attention to Alec.
"It's okay" she whispered. "It'll end soon. I'm right here. It'll end soon" he groaned, moving closer to her, as if realising that she could stop him from shaking so much. "Max?" he whispered, his mind really not understanding what was going on, but instinctively knowing that she was there.
"I'm right here, Alec. Take it easy"
"God" he gasped, fighting to control the tremors, which simply made them worse. Max ran her fingers lightly through his hair, trying to calm him.
"Here" Cindy returned, kneeling quickly, and handing Max a small bottle. Max took it from her, and opened it with one hand. "Alec, you have to swallow this, okay? Can you do that?"
he didn't reply, but he opened his eyes slowly and looked at her. Max took a pill from the bottle, and put her fingers to his lips. He opened his mouth, and she slipped the pill inside, moving her hands to massage his throat to help him swallow it. Slowly, the convulsions lessened, then finally stopped. "It's okay" she told him, keeping her arms around him as he lay there weakly. He reached up and touched her arm with him hand, trying to thank her without words. Max smiled down at him. "Just relax" she told him.
"How you doin' Boo?" Cindy asked, touching his shoulder lightly. Alec slowly turned his head in her direction. "I'm alright" he told her weakly.
"We need to get him out of here" Max told Cindy. "He needs to rest, and if anyone sees him like this." Cindy nodded. "Take him out the back door. I'll cover for you"
Max nodded her thanks, then turned her attention to Alec. "Can you stand, if I help you?"
"No problem" he whispered. Max helped him to stand, taking as much of his weight as she could. She moved his arm around her shoulder, and wrapped hers around his waist. Alec's head fell down against his chest, but he managed to stay standing. With an anxious look at Cindy, Max led Alec towards the back door.
Sketchy ducked back behind the lockers as Cindy headed back over to dispatch. His mind raced. What had just happened? It looked like Alec had had some kind of seizure, but he didn't have epilepsy, did he? Surely, he wouldn't have been able to box with a condition like that. Seeing him lying like that on the floor, his whole body shaking, was strange to him, and he had been frozen in shock for a few seconds. Yet it hadn't appeared to faze either Max or OC. It was almost as if. well, as if they had seen it before.
And Max had seemed to know what to do. She had gotten Cindy to get his medication, got him to take it, and it had seemed to work. He looked at the lockers. The medication. Cindy hadn't grabbed it from Alec's locker, but from Max's. It was then he noticed something lying on the ground, and he moved over to see it. A small pill bottle. He had seen Max put it in her pocket as she helped Alec stand, but it must have fallen out. He picked it up and read the label. The name on it, the patients name, was someone he had never heard of. And what was Tryptophan? Why did Max have it?
Somehow, Max got Alec to her apartment, which was closer than his, and to her room. Gratefully, he sank onto her bed, covering his face with his hands in an attempt to stop the room from moving so much. "I've got some milk" Max told him, keeping her voice down, knowing from experience that the convulsions usually led to migraines. "It'll help you. I'll go get it"
"Thanks" Alec gasped, shaking slightly, but from cold more than anything. he curled up on the bed. Max grabbed the milk, then sat down beside him on the bed.
"Drink this" she told him, putting her arm around him to help him sit up. He drank briefly, then handed the bottle back to her.
"Lie down" she told him, and he nodded, moving down onto her bed. Max grabbed a blanket and covered him, trying to keep him warm. She stroked his hair lightly, then stood.
"Max" he whispered. "Please, don't go." She stopped. It was the first time he had ever asked her for anything. she sat back down beside him, touching his leg to let him know she was there. "Sleep" she told him
Sketchy stared at the printout in front of him. he had sent a message to his editor at NWW, asking if he had heard of Tryptophan, and what it did. He had tried doctors at first, but they had told him nothing, saying that if a friend was ill, then it was up to the friend to tell him. His editor had sent him something interesting. There had been several hospital break-ins in recent months, and in most of them the only thing taken was one drug. Tryptophan. His editor was following a lead, a source from one hospital revealing that in the break-in there, the burglars had had barcodes.
Sketchy shook his head, staring at the pill bottle. Harbour Lights Hospital. One of the hospitals reporting a break-in. the name on the prescription, one he didn't know. he did not like being left out of the loop. He wanted to know what was going on.
Max looked up as OC knocked lightly on her door. Gently, she lowered Alec's hand to the bed, and stood, following Cindy out of the room.
"How is he?" Cindy asked. "Sleeping" Max replied, shrugging. At Cindy's gaze, she continued. "It's different for all of us. For me, it was never this bad. Not this strong. He's exhausted"
"But, he'll be okay?" she asked.
"He should be. I don't really know. the Tryptophan seemed to work, and I got him to drink some milk."
A Banging on the door got both their attentions. Sketchy entered the room, not waiting for an invitation. "Shut up" Max hissed at him, glancing towards the bedroom, hoping that he hadn't woken Alec.
"Didn't see you at work this afternoon, Max" Sketchy commented, his voice dull. "Nor Alec. Where's he?"
"Sick" Max replied.
"Yeah, I saw." OC and Max started, looking quickly to Sketchy.
"Yeah" Sketch continued. "His little fit. What is he, epileptic?"
Max glanced at Cindy, then nodded. "Yeah. Look, Sketch, he's kind of really self conscious about it. Embarrassed, you know?"
"Yeah, whatever, Max. I'm not stupid" Sketch began to get annoyed. Before, they were just hiding things from him. now, they were lying.
"But the Tryptophan works well, huh?" he asked, tossing the pill bottle at Max. "You dropped these, thought he might need them."
"Yeah, he will. Thanks." Max shoved the bottle in her pocket quickly.
"Its dangerous to take someone else's prescription" Sketch spoke slowly. " And Cindy grabbed these from YOUR locker, Max. only thing is, the name on them isn't yours either."
Max shrugged, not really knowing what to say.
"You're one of them, aren't you?" he accused, suddenly angry. "And Alec too? You're both transgenics."
"You're insane" Max bluffed. "Smoking a lot of Herbal's secret blend, are you Sketch?"
"No, I'm right" He told her. "There's been a lot of weird shit going on, lately. It all makes sense. You're one of them."
"Sketch, come on."
"Don't lie to me, Max."
She looked over at Cindy, unsure at what to do.
"Yeah, she's one of them." Alec commented, and all three turned to see him leaning in the doorway, his face still pale. "And so am I. So the only question left is, what are you going to do about it? Turn us in?"
"You're Freaks" Sketchy accused, unable to take his eyes off Alec. This was his friend, his drinking companion, and he was a Transgenic freak.
"We didn't ask to be born" Alec said heavily, walking slowly to the couch and sitting down, putting his head in his hands. Cindy grabbed a bottle of milk and offered it to him. Alec drank slowly, then looked back up at Sketch. "Yes, Sketch, we were born. Just like you. And we grew up, like you. Went to school."
"Where you learnt to kill"
"We had no choice!" Alec stood up, his face becoming more pale. "We never even knew there was anything outside of Manticore, not until Max and her friends escaped. And then, they had ways of making us not care."
Max moved across to Alec, pushing him gently so that he sat down again. "They knew how to get inside your mind" he spoke slowly. "Shit, you have no idea what they could do. Yes, they taught us to kill. But I haven't killed anyone since escaping. Nor has Max."
"But you killed while there. How many people were you ordered to assassinate?"
"Too many" Alec closed his eyes, and shook his head. The pain of remembering was clear on his face. Max rested her hand on his knee as a gesture of support. He looked at Max, then back up to Sketch. "So, now you know. what are you going to do?" he asked slowly.
Sketch looked down. He didn't know what to do. He had been fascinated by the transgenic news cycle. And he had believed Eyes Only when he had said that they weren't a threat. So why was it so hard to hear that Alec and Max were part of the transgenics? He looked over at Cindy.
"They're still the same people, still the same Max and Alec we work with, and hang out at Crash with. So they have some weird DNA, you should see some of the freakish people in my family" she commented.
"The way you always beat me at Pool" Sketch spoke to Alec. "That's because you have superhuman powers, right?"
"Nah," Alec laughed briefly, "It's because you suck."
Sketchy looked at him for a long time. "The milk" he nodded at the bottle Alec had been drinking from. "It helps?"
"yeah, a bit" Alec nodded, taking another mouthful of it.
"Want me to go get you some more?" Sketchy offered, smiling slightly.
Alec closed his eyes with relief, and leaned against Max, who quickly put her arm around him. Sketch watched them both with interest. What else were these two keeping from him.
Alec stood in the shower, letting water run over him. the water had long since gone cold, the hot water cylinder that he had. acquired. wasn't particularly big. He didn't even notice the change in temperature, as he leant his head against the wall. Finally, even the cold water ran out, but he still stood there for several minutes, until he felt his body start to shiver uncontrollably. Alec sighed, and stepped out of the shower, reaching for a towel to rub his hair dry. Late again. He would have to apologise to Normal. Great, just great. He quickly threw on some clothes, and brushed his hair back with his fingers as he grabbed his bike and set out for his day job.
"Hey Boo" Cindy greeted Max as she casually crossed the main room at Jam Pony to the lockers. Max nodded a greeting as she opened her locker, searching for something. "Whats up" she asked.
"Not much. Seen your boy this morning?"
"Logan? No, why would I?" Max grabbed a hairbrush and ran it through her hair.
"Not Logan, Alec. Boy don't look good today"
"First, he's not my boy" Max slammed her locker and faced Cindy. "And second, why would I care if he's sick?"
"Come on, girl, Original Cindy know you two play games, but she also know you do care about each other."
Max sighed. "I wouldn't care if he dropped dead today, my only concern would be pullin' the double shifts here to cover his ass. As usual"
"Uh huh" Cindy nodded, smiling. Like that was the truth. She knew better. Max cared about Alec more than she would ever let on. Probably even to herself
"Alec" Max stood in front of his locker, waiting for him to close it. Alec took a deep breath. He didn't feel that great, last thing he wanted to do was show weakness in front of her. "Hey, Max" he spoke, his voice almost steady as he closed the locker and leaned against it, facing her.
"You okay?" she asked him, noting immediately his pale face and slightly bright eyes.
"Concern for me? Max, I'm touched." Alec forced a grin.
"Just concerned that you're not going to be able to pull off the job we're doing tonight"
"No problem" Alec told her. He felt his arm begin to shake slightly, and he clenched his fist, shoving it into his jeans pocket.
"Alec?" she saw only the slight flicker of panic cross his face, but it was enough. Cindy had been right, there was something going on. And it was typical, completely typical, that he wouldn't tell her. If he screwed up the mission tonight, then she would. her train of thought stopped dead as Alec turned to walk away from her.
Alec knew the symptoms, had felt them only twice before, but they were two times that had been firmly rooted in his memory. His arm was shaking, his body tensing up, and the room was starting to spin. He had to get out of here, away from anyone who might see what was going to happen. He pushed himself off the locker, and walked away. Or tried to. He took two steps before the room began to move in front of him, like he was standing on a boat, everything moving towards him, then away, wave after wave, forward and back, side to side. It was too much for his brain, and it partially shut down. The shaking started in his leg, and he collapsed towards the ground, his whole body convulsing.
Max saw him fall, and reacted, blurring forward to grab him before he hit the ground, not caring who might see her. She lowered Alec to the ground, keeping her arms tight around him as his body shook. He gasped as the tremors increased, forcing Max to hold him tighter. She moved one hand to his face, stroking his hair back off his forehead as she prevented his head from jerking with the shaking of his body.
"Max? Alec?" Cindy had been heading to her locker, when she saw them, Max kneeling on the ground, holding Alec in her arms, her head bent next to his, as if she was whispering to him. then she noticed Alec convulsing, the force of the attack shaking not only his whole body, but Max's as well. She quickly knelt beside them. Alec was moaning lightly, and Max whispered something to him, as she pulled him close to her. Cindy quickly glanced around, to see whether anyone else had noticed what was going on. It didn't look like it. "What can I do?" she asked, putting her hand on Alec's shoulder, trying to help Max stop him from shaking too much.
"There's some Tryptophan in my locker. It may help. Can you get it?" "Yeah" Cindy moved quickly, and Max returned her attention to Alec.
"It's okay" she whispered. "It'll end soon. I'm right here. It'll end soon" he groaned, moving closer to her, as if realising that she could stop him from shaking so much. "Max?" he whispered, his mind really not understanding what was going on, but instinctively knowing that she was there.
"I'm right here, Alec. Take it easy"
"God" he gasped, fighting to control the tremors, which simply made them worse. Max ran her fingers lightly through his hair, trying to calm him.
"Here" Cindy returned, kneeling quickly, and handing Max a small bottle. Max took it from her, and opened it with one hand. "Alec, you have to swallow this, okay? Can you do that?"
he didn't reply, but he opened his eyes slowly and looked at her. Max took a pill from the bottle, and put her fingers to his lips. He opened his mouth, and she slipped the pill inside, moving her hands to massage his throat to help him swallow it. Slowly, the convulsions lessened, then finally stopped. "It's okay" she told him, keeping her arms around him as he lay there weakly. He reached up and touched her arm with him hand, trying to thank her without words. Max smiled down at him. "Just relax" she told him.
"How you doin' Boo?" Cindy asked, touching his shoulder lightly. Alec slowly turned his head in her direction. "I'm alright" he told her weakly.
"We need to get him out of here" Max told Cindy. "He needs to rest, and if anyone sees him like this." Cindy nodded. "Take him out the back door. I'll cover for you"
Max nodded her thanks, then turned her attention to Alec. "Can you stand, if I help you?"
"No problem" he whispered. Max helped him to stand, taking as much of his weight as she could. She moved his arm around her shoulder, and wrapped hers around his waist. Alec's head fell down against his chest, but he managed to stay standing. With an anxious look at Cindy, Max led Alec towards the back door.
Sketchy ducked back behind the lockers as Cindy headed back over to dispatch. His mind raced. What had just happened? It looked like Alec had had some kind of seizure, but he didn't have epilepsy, did he? Surely, he wouldn't have been able to box with a condition like that. Seeing him lying like that on the floor, his whole body shaking, was strange to him, and he had been frozen in shock for a few seconds. Yet it hadn't appeared to faze either Max or OC. It was almost as if. well, as if they had seen it before.
And Max had seemed to know what to do. She had gotten Cindy to get his medication, got him to take it, and it had seemed to work. He looked at the lockers. The medication. Cindy hadn't grabbed it from Alec's locker, but from Max's. It was then he noticed something lying on the ground, and he moved over to see it. A small pill bottle. He had seen Max put it in her pocket as she helped Alec stand, but it must have fallen out. He picked it up and read the label. The name on it, the patients name, was someone he had never heard of. And what was Tryptophan? Why did Max have it?
Somehow, Max got Alec to her apartment, which was closer than his, and to her room. Gratefully, he sank onto her bed, covering his face with his hands in an attempt to stop the room from moving so much. "I've got some milk" Max told him, keeping her voice down, knowing from experience that the convulsions usually led to migraines. "It'll help you. I'll go get it"
"Thanks" Alec gasped, shaking slightly, but from cold more than anything. he curled up on the bed. Max grabbed the milk, then sat down beside him on the bed.
"Drink this" she told him, putting her arm around him to help him sit up. He drank briefly, then handed the bottle back to her.
"Lie down" she told him, and he nodded, moving down onto her bed. Max grabbed a blanket and covered him, trying to keep him warm. She stroked his hair lightly, then stood.
"Max" he whispered. "Please, don't go." She stopped. It was the first time he had ever asked her for anything. she sat back down beside him, touching his leg to let him know she was there. "Sleep" she told him
Sketchy stared at the printout in front of him. he had sent a message to his editor at NWW, asking if he had heard of Tryptophan, and what it did. He had tried doctors at first, but they had told him nothing, saying that if a friend was ill, then it was up to the friend to tell him. His editor had sent him something interesting. There had been several hospital break-ins in recent months, and in most of them the only thing taken was one drug. Tryptophan. His editor was following a lead, a source from one hospital revealing that in the break-in there, the burglars had had barcodes.
Sketchy shook his head, staring at the pill bottle. Harbour Lights Hospital. One of the hospitals reporting a break-in. the name on the prescription, one he didn't know. he did not like being left out of the loop. He wanted to know what was going on.
Max looked up as OC knocked lightly on her door. Gently, she lowered Alec's hand to the bed, and stood, following Cindy out of the room.
"How is he?" Cindy asked. "Sleeping" Max replied, shrugging. At Cindy's gaze, she continued. "It's different for all of us. For me, it was never this bad. Not this strong. He's exhausted"
"But, he'll be okay?" she asked.
"He should be. I don't really know. the Tryptophan seemed to work, and I got him to drink some milk."
A Banging on the door got both their attentions. Sketchy entered the room, not waiting for an invitation. "Shut up" Max hissed at him, glancing towards the bedroom, hoping that he hadn't woken Alec.
"Didn't see you at work this afternoon, Max" Sketchy commented, his voice dull. "Nor Alec. Where's he?"
"Sick" Max replied.
"Yeah, I saw." OC and Max started, looking quickly to Sketchy.
"Yeah" Sketch continued. "His little fit. What is he, epileptic?"
Max glanced at Cindy, then nodded. "Yeah. Look, Sketch, he's kind of really self conscious about it. Embarrassed, you know?"
"Yeah, whatever, Max. I'm not stupid" Sketch began to get annoyed. Before, they were just hiding things from him. now, they were lying.
"But the Tryptophan works well, huh?" he asked, tossing the pill bottle at Max. "You dropped these, thought he might need them."
"Yeah, he will. Thanks." Max shoved the bottle in her pocket quickly.
"Its dangerous to take someone else's prescription" Sketch spoke slowly. " And Cindy grabbed these from YOUR locker, Max. only thing is, the name on them isn't yours either."
Max shrugged, not really knowing what to say.
"You're one of them, aren't you?" he accused, suddenly angry. "And Alec too? You're both transgenics."
"You're insane" Max bluffed. "Smoking a lot of Herbal's secret blend, are you Sketch?"
"No, I'm right" He told her. "There's been a lot of weird shit going on, lately. It all makes sense. You're one of them."
"Sketch, come on."
"Don't lie to me, Max."
She looked over at Cindy, unsure at what to do.
"Yeah, she's one of them." Alec commented, and all three turned to see him leaning in the doorway, his face still pale. "And so am I. So the only question left is, what are you going to do about it? Turn us in?"
"You're Freaks" Sketchy accused, unable to take his eyes off Alec. This was his friend, his drinking companion, and he was a Transgenic freak.
"We didn't ask to be born" Alec said heavily, walking slowly to the couch and sitting down, putting his head in his hands. Cindy grabbed a bottle of milk and offered it to him. Alec drank slowly, then looked back up at Sketch. "Yes, Sketch, we were born. Just like you. And we grew up, like you. Went to school."
"Where you learnt to kill"
"We had no choice!" Alec stood up, his face becoming more pale. "We never even knew there was anything outside of Manticore, not until Max and her friends escaped. And then, they had ways of making us not care."
Max moved across to Alec, pushing him gently so that he sat down again. "They knew how to get inside your mind" he spoke slowly. "Shit, you have no idea what they could do. Yes, they taught us to kill. But I haven't killed anyone since escaping. Nor has Max."
"But you killed while there. How many people were you ordered to assassinate?"
"Too many" Alec closed his eyes, and shook his head. The pain of remembering was clear on his face. Max rested her hand on his knee as a gesture of support. He looked at Max, then back up to Sketch. "So, now you know. what are you going to do?" he asked slowly.
Sketch looked down. He didn't know what to do. He had been fascinated by the transgenic news cycle. And he had believed Eyes Only when he had said that they weren't a threat. So why was it so hard to hear that Alec and Max were part of the transgenics? He looked over at Cindy.
"They're still the same people, still the same Max and Alec we work with, and hang out at Crash with. So they have some weird DNA, you should see some of the freakish people in my family" she commented.
"The way you always beat me at Pool" Sketch spoke to Alec. "That's because you have superhuman powers, right?"
"Nah," Alec laughed briefly, "It's because you suck."
Sketchy looked at him for a long time. "The milk" he nodded at the bottle Alec had been drinking from. "It helps?"
"yeah, a bit" Alec nodded, taking another mouthful of it.
"Want me to go get you some more?" Sketchy offered, smiling slightly.
Alec closed his eyes with relief, and leaned against Max, who quickly put her arm around him. Sketch watched them both with interest. What else were these two keeping from him.