"Alec?" Max stepped out into the alley, looking around for him. She had no idea what she was going to say to him, but she knew that they had to talk. She was worried about him, he had been acting strange the past few days. The way he had spoken in the woods, she would have done anything to make him feel better, to get him to smile at her in that annoying, sarcastic way he had. She caught sight of him sitting on the ground, his eyes closed, and moved quickly over to him.

"Alec?" she asked, worriedly touching his shoulder. He opened his eyes and looked blankly at her. Mission he thought to himself. Focus on that. "Max" he commented, moving his head to look at her hand, still on his shoulder. He kept his gaze there for a few seconds, then turned his head back to hers. Max moved her hand back quickly. "Alec, we need to talk" she told him.

"About what?" he asked, standing up.

"Alec" she moved in front of him, so that he couldn't leave.

"Max" he mimicked her tone, smiling sardonically.

She shook her head. She had no idea what to say to him. somehow, it was easier when he wasn't pretending to be someone else, someone he wasn't.

"We talking or not?" he asked her, shifting slightly in the direction of the door.

"You tell me" she replied, watching him closely.

"Not" Alec replied, pushing past her and heading back inside.

"Cindy!" he greeted his friend, giving her a quick hug. "Sorry about before"

"No Hassle" she told him, hugging him back. "You a'ight?" she waited for Alec's usual "I'm always alright" instead he shrugged, biting his lip. "Yeah" he muttered, turning away from her, grabbing a package off the desk. "Work calls" he grinned, reaching for his bike.

Max walked back inside in time to watch him leave. "Original Cindy's guessin' you two di'n't talk?"

Max shrugged. "He looked right through me."

"Boy's all confused. Messed up. Needs someone to talk to."

"Don't look at me," Max told her. "He brushed me off before."

"Kissed ya too"

"Don't even go there"



Alec skidded his bike into the building. It was after 6, long after he should have packed it in for the night. He should have had about 3 drinks right now, and won about $20 off Sketchy in Crash. His last delivery had been a nightmare. First, the address had been wrong, and he had spent about half an hour trying to communicate with an Asian, who did not speak English. Then, when he had finally delivered the damn thing, he had been stuck in a sector queue for another 45 minutes. All he wanted to do was drop off his folder and get the hell out of there for a while. There were still a few people there, even that late at night. Normal behind the desk, and a few messengers, getting changed, putting stuff in their lockers, packing up for the night. Alec ditched his bike, threw the folder at Normal, and crossed over to his locker.

"Hey Alec" he glanced in the direction of the voice, and smiled. "Emma. Working late?" he asked. She was a new messenger, hired just a few days ago, blonde hair, pretty smile. Any other time, he would have flirted with her, invited her out for a drink, then back to his place. And she would have accepted, that much was clear from the smile she was giving him.

"Work hard, party hard" she told him, placing her hand on his arm. "So, I was thinking, how about we."

her voice faded out. Alec could no longer hear what she was saying. He could see her lips moving, but couldn't understand what she was saying to him. he reached out to touch her, and felt the room spin around him. She mouthed something at him, but he couldn't hear it. Then he was on the ground, and he could hear her screaming, screaming for someone to help, for Normal, anyone. Alec forced his eyes to open, and saw her kneeling beside him. she took his hand in both of hers, and turned to speak to someone he couldn't see. "He's really shaking. I think he's in shock or something."

Normal moved into Alec's view, placing his hand on his shoulder. "Easy, Buddy" he told him. "Just relax" Normal's fingers gently massaged Alec's shoulder.

Alec could feel the shaking start. He couldn't actually feel his body move, but he could feel the vibrations as his hand shuddered against Emma's, and the varying pressure exerted by Normal's hand as his shoulder moved up and down against it. "All right, take it easy." Normal commented soothingly, looking down at his favourite worker. He saw an expression of panic cross over Alec's face. That would make sense, the boy was real proud of his physique, would hate to admit to any slight amount of weakness, any illness.

All Alec knew was that he had to get out of there. Now. before the shaking got too bad. Right now, he could make something up, explain it. If they saw him when he got really bad, there was no way he could talk his way out of it.

"Emma, go call an ambulance. Now" Normal ordered, shifting closer to Alec, putting his free hand on Alec's other shoulder. Emma squeezed his hand, then left. Now. he had to move now. while he still could. Alec moved to sit up, and two things happened at once. Normal tried to push him gently back down to the floor, and the convulsions hit. Alec's body jerked up, and his head slammed back down against the concrete floor. his eyes closed.

Normal looked at him in horror. Alec's face had gone grey, and he was convulsing like he was having some kind of attack. "Alec!" he cried out, trying frantically to hold him down.

"Max" Alec whispered, as his head moved from side to side. Normal stared. Why, of all the people he knew, would Alec call out for Her? "It's alright" he told him, trying to hold his head steady.

"Max!" Alec cried out, gasping for breath. "Get her!" Normal told Emma, as she returned. "She'll be at that bar, they're always there. Go!"



"So, what do I do?" Max asked Cindy, taking a mouthful of beer. "Talk ta him"

"I tried. He walked away. And what do I say to him, anyway?"

"What's in ya heart, Boo"

"I don't know what that is."

"Max!" Emma raced into the bar, shoving a guy out of the way to get to her table.

"What's up?" she asked her.

"Alec!" Emma gasped. Max felt her blood run cold. "He's sick, having a fit or something"

"Where" Max demanded, standing up. "Jam Pony" she barely finished speaking before Max was out the door.



Max sprinted through the entrance to JP and saw Normal kneeling on the ground. She hurried over. "Alec?" she asked quietly, kneeling beside him. his whole body was shaking, hard, and his eyes were closed.

"I called an ambulance" Normal glanced at her briefly, before turning his attention back to Alec, muttering something softly to him. "No!" Max reacted, spinning around to look for Emma. "No ambulance, okay? Get rid of it" she told her, turning back to Alec. She placed her fingers on his neck, trying to feel his pulse. It was fast. Really fast. "Relax" she whispered to him. "I'm right here"

Normal glared at her, not liking the way that Alec reacted to her voice, his head moving in her direction as if he heard her. "he needs an ambulance. He's sick" Max glanced behind her, and realised that Emma hadn't moved. She stroked Alec's hair back from his forehead, and thought quickly.

"Yes, he is sick. He's been sick for years" she looked up at Normal. "He's spent a lot of time in hospitals. Too much. he hates them." She lied easily. "He'll be okay. The attacks go away by themselves. Normal, you have no idea how much he hates hospitals. He's." Max bit her lip, looking down. "He's scared of them." If the matter hadn't been so serious, she would have laughed, both at what she had said, and the expression on Normal's face as he gripped Alec's shoulder lightly.

"But if he's sick.?" Normal asked uncertainly. "He'll be fine. Really."

Normal looked down at Alec. His poor boy, so scared of hospitals that he would hide an illness this severe from his friends. He nodded. "Tell them it was a false alarm" he told Emma, who turned away.

Max sighed with relief, turning her attention back to Alec as she heard him groan.