TITLE: Genetically Empowered (My Finale & Season 3)

EPISODE: 18 "LOVE'S EPIDEMIC" 1/20/03

WRITTEN BY: Heather Ferguson (fergus80)

EMAIL: hferguso@niu.edu

WEBSITE: http://eric_greta.tripod.com (Jensen)

RATING: PG-13 (For now, will post alternate chapters if ratings change)

SUMMARY: How 'Freak Nation' and S3 should have been. M/A

SPOILERS: Everything!

DISCLAIMER: All Dark Angel characters belong to James Cameron, FOX, etc. etc. etc.

FEEDBACK: PLEASE!!! I CRAVE IT!!! It makes me want to write more.

DEDICATION: To all the Nuns at the Church of Alec, and the Blue Lady! And a special thank you to those who read, and corrected my spelling, grammar, tenses, etc. You know who you are, you wonderful nuns you. ;)

GO TO: NWP: http://nunswithpens.hyperboards.com/

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"Hey, can I get a doctor or at least a nurse to look at my friends?"

"Are they going to die in the next five minutes?"

"Uhhh… I don't think so," Sketchy said looking perplexed at the woman behind the desk.

"Then go sit back down, and we'll get to them, when their number comes up."

He sighed looking around the room, seeing nurses and doctors running in and out of exam rooms. Some were talking with patients out in the halls because the rooms were filled up. He walked back over to Normal and Original Cindy. Both wrapped in a blanket from home. Cindy was shaking with her eyes closed and resting her head on Normal's shoulder.

Normal looked up at him, his eyes were cloudy, and sweat was dripping down his forehead. "This isn't just the flu."

Sketchy shook his head, "No man. This is something much, much worse. I think I'm going to call…" but he didn't finish his sentence as he grabbed his side, and started coughing along with many others who were in the hospital.

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She could barely move, but it seemed like his name from her lips echoed through her office. Her eyes scanned him. He was standing there, looking at her. His whole body and face looked as if he didn't know what to say. And that is precisely what was happening.

He had no clue where to start. What to tell her. Should he start with the truth? Should he start with why he was there? Why he left? Or with an apology? He swallowed, taking a breath, but didn't have time for any one of those options.

Max was on him in an instant, once her brain returned to function, that and her fists. Her hands hit into his chest, his shoulders, his arms, and one came up quickly with an upper cut to his jaw. "You bastard!" She yelled at him, and he never once tried to stop her onslaught.

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They designed her to be the perfect soldier--a human weapon. Then she escaped. In a future not far from now, in a broken world, she is haunted by her past. She cannot run; she must fight to discover her destiny. --- DARK ANGEL

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"You left!"

Another blow to his side connected hard.

"You never told me!"

A hard hit to his left shoulder.

"Then you just come back!" she screamed again, both her fists hammering against his chest. Then she stopped suddenly and took two steps back from him, realizing he hadn't spoken or moved since she started.

His eyes were closed, his body tense as if he was waiting for the next blow. Then she knew he was letting her take her anger out on him. Saw the hurt on his face, but not from the physical pain she had caused. *Oh no!* she screamed at herself, *Don't even let him make you feel sorry for HIM!*

"How dare you?" her eyes blazed at him, as his opened to look at her. "How dare you just leave then come back weeks later?"

He swallowed, "Max… I'm sor…"

She cut him off, "I don't want to hear it! No apology will ever make up for what you have done."

Alec nodded, "I know."

"You just leave. Don't tell anyone that you are. Don't tell anyone where. Don't tell us why!"

He started to talk, to try and explain, but she held up a hand. She didn't want to hear it.

"No! No. You don't get to talk." She was mad, angry, enraged… hurt. "Just up and leave! I should have known. I should have stuck with my first impression of you."

His whole stature seemed to droop even more under her words, but she didn't care. He had hurt her more when he left than any of her words could hurt him, right? "Everything gets too tough so just leave huh?"

"No, Max… I left because…"

She cut him off shaking her head, "What? To protect me?" his eyes widened at their words. "What? You thought I wouldn't find out?" She sighed and thought, *Like I would let Vin keep what you told him a secret.*

Alec looked at her in shock, *She knows. She knows about my job.* He swallowed hard once again, "Just let me explain."

"I don't want an explanation. You told me exactly how you felt, what you thought of me, when you left." She shook her head, *Yeah, when the going gets tough, he gets going.*

His head sank down once again, moving back and forth. How was he ever going to be able to convince her now?

She tilted her head to the side, "I guess really the only question is why the hell are you back?"

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"Hello? Whoah, whoah. Slow down."

Luke turned from the news reports towards Dix, as the other transgenic looked up at him. "What's wrong?"

Dix shrugged his shoulders, "Sketchy are you okay?" He nodded a few more times, and then turned to Luke. "Get Mel."

Luke nodded, signaled to an X6 in the corner, and the teen ran out of headquarters.

"How many people?" Dix asked his voice shocked by the number he was told. He looked back at the other transgenic, "Has the televisions said anything about a huge flu epidemic?"

Luke nodded, "Well, flu yeah. But they haven't said anything about it being huge."

Dix looked at him puzzled, "Well Harbor Lights is flooded with people. Normal, Cindy, and now Sketchy are sick."

"What?" Mel asked as she hurried into the room hearing the last bit of the conversation. Vin and the X6 were right behind her. She walked up to Dix, and motioned for the phone. He gave it to her, and she put it up to her ear. "Sketch, it's me, Mel. Okay, tell me what's happening."

Mel listened to the symptoms he was listing, and to his occasional sneezing and coughs. Her ears were also picking up on the sounds of the others in the background, her eyes widened. "This isn't normal, this isn't good," she said looking up at Vin.

The dark haired X5 turned his worried look to Dix, "This wouldn't have anything to do with Max's runes would it?"

"You actually had to go and say what we have been dreading, didn't you?" Mel asked him.

Dix sighed as he pulled up the last bit of information that he had been trying to decode. "Well, if it is…." He looked over the information in front of him, "This unfortunately makes a lot more sense."

Vin put his hand on the transgenics shoulder, "Well let's figure this out."

Mel nodded as she listened to another strained cough from the guy on the other side of the phone, "And the sooner the better."

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He heard her question, but he didn't want to start with that. He wanted her to understand his point of view. Maybe not agree with it, maybe not be happy with him, but at least know why he had done what he did.

Otherwise he just knew that she wouldn't listen to him, wouldn't do what was needed. "I didn't tell you because…"

She shook her head, "I don't care Alec. I don't care anymore."

He looked up into her dark eyes, and saw all the venom in them. All of it directed at him, and he could feel his heart breaking even more than the night he had left. Actually seeing the anger, the hurt, the pain from her was a hundred times worse than what his imagination had envisioned. And the pain it caused his heart was a million times more than that.

"You left me. You left TC. You left all your responsibilities behind without so much as a why. You never even said if you would be back."

He looked up at her, his jaw slightly tense, "I left things in capable… trustworthy hands."

She laughed slightly, "Oh… yeah. Brush off your responsibilities onto your best friend. Great way to take charge Alec!"

He shook his head, his hazel eyes staring into hers, "Vin's not my best friend."

Max was shocked still for a minute as the meaning of his words hit her, and then she laughed. "Good one. I almost believed you. No wonder you had it so easy with the ladies Alec. You can whip off those lies and at the same time look and sound completely convincing."

The stab of her words hit hard, but her next ones almost floored him.

"But you know, I thought you said the word love was a cheap ploy and you didn't go there. Guess that was a lie too."

"Oh God…" His dark green eyes started at her in disbelief, "Max I do lov…"

She shook her head and cut him off, "Save it! I don't want to hear it. Just tell me why the hell you are here now. What the heck do you want from me?"

He knew she was gone, and he could feel the hollowness starting to eat him whole. It didn't matter anymore what he said. He could tell from the look in her eyes that anything she had felt was gone. The only thing he had left was his mission. Was he going to be able to not screw that up too?

Alec took a slow breath, "I need…"

She stared at him in shock, stopping his speech once again, shaking her head. "YOU? You need?" She couldn't believe it, *Of course… he would only return because he needed something. Not because he wanted to come back for you.*

Max's dark eyes turned back to him, "Oh no. I'm not going to let you screw up my life anymore. I've got enough problems that you left me with." She said moving towards the door.

"Where are you going?"

She turned on her heal back towards him, "Well unlike some people. I have things to take care of. Appointments to keep. And I'm not going to run out on them." She had enough. Enough of everything, and she headed back for the door.

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"Okay, this symbol could mean elixir or weapon depending on how this part of it is curved. And as you can see the symbol isn't perfect."

Vin nodded, it was hard to tell which of the two it could actually be. "Okay, the sentence is basically… whatever the hell that is and 'of life.' So I would assume it's supposed to be the first one."

Dix agreed, "But what does that…" he was cut off by the sound of a door opening and then slamming shut.

Everyone turned around to a very angry Max. She glared at each one of them. Her temper was flaring. Had they just let her go into her office, knowing that he was there waiting for her? Her hands turned into fists and she started to walk towards the door.

Vin started after her, but she raised her hand at seeing him out of the corner of her eye, "Don't even start with me. Nothing you can say is changing my mind!" And with that she was out of headquarters.

His head dropped and his shoulders slumped. Mel's hand rubbed his shoulder, but it was of little comfort. He knew he had failed his friend, and there was nothing he could do about it. He looked up into equally defeated blue eyes. Eyes that he could see were slightly misty.

Vin wrapped his arms around her, and she moved into them, resting her check against his chest. "We tried," she said softly, "But we can't worry about that now…"

He nodded. She was right, there were bigger things to worry about. And he was determined not to fail at everything his friend had asked him to do. "Right." They both turned back to Dix and the computer.

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He watched the door slam shut and every ounce of his being told him to run after her, make her understand. But something held him back, and told him to let her cool off. She was probably going to take a ride on her 'baby' to cool off, and then she would be back. He could just wait for her. Wait and try again.

Alec collapsed onto the couch, his face in his hands. The emptiness and pain was creeping into his body, into his heart. It felt like it was slowly starting to suffocate him. And worse of all, he knew it was his own fault.

It was his fault, but no matter how many times he tired to think of a different way of doing what he did, he couldn't think of a better option.

If he wouldn't have accepted the mission when he was captured he would have been more than likely brainwashed into doing it anyway. Which would have meant that he would have lost himself all over again, and more than likely never have loved Max.

If he would have told her about the mission when he first met up with her again. She would have more than likely blamed him for it, and leave him. Thus not letting him protect her, watch over her, and then do what had to be done.

He sighed, his fingers rubbing over his forehead. If he had told her when they had become closer, she would have felt betrayed. Hurt, and then left again. If he would have told her when he found out they wanted him to bring her in, she would still have felt betrayed, and then either have left or tried to find the people. Which at the time he had no idea who or what they were. Neither option was appealing to him.

Then Alec realized the only option that had a good ending was if he had never feel in love with Max, and hadn't have cared what happened to her. His body almost wanted to laugh at that. Because he knew that had never and could never have been a real option. Because he had loved her almost since the minute he had met her.

He tilted his head back down. His eyes stared at the old, dirty floor. None of that mattered anymore though. He would just have to accept it because other more important things needed to be done and soon.

He took another deep breath, as he decided to wait for her to return. *And then she will come with me…* he sighed again, *One way or another.* His head dropped again, his hands covering his face once more.

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The anger was still flowing through her veins as she pulled her bike up outside of the hospital. She quickly chained it up, and headed towards the building with a herd of others. Her brain barely registering the influx of people around her, crowding the hospital.

Slowly she made her way through the sick crowd and worked her way up to the third floor. The floor was also crowded with people as Max walked towards the nurses desk. "Is Dr. Carr here? I have an appointment."

The woman looked up at her, "Uhh... he's working around the hospital right now. We are a little behind schedule with everything that is happening. Please have a seat, and I'll page him for you."

"Thanks," she said and walked over to the waiting room. Seeing all the seats taken, she walked back out into the hall. Then noticing people all around her, she leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor, her hands coming to rest against her face.

A small tear streaked down her cheek, as a stab of pain went through her heart. *Oh please, let's just hurry and get this over with.*

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"I'm hallucinating now."

Cindy looked up at Normal, her vision blurry. He was wiping at his damp forehead. "Why's that Boo?"

His hand went to his head, "I swear I just saw Missy Miss walk through here."

Cindy would have laughed if she could, but instead she started coughing. Once she stopped she looked at Normal, "Max hates hospitals, this is the last place…" Then she stopped her eyes widening as something dawned on her. "Oh no."

"What?" Sketchy asked next to her, as he wiped his nose on his sleeve.

Cindy tried to stand up, but swayed on her unsteady feet. Sketchy and Normal both caught her and sat her back down between them. "Where the hell do you think you're going?" Normal asked her as if she was nuts.

"I can't let her do it," Cindy said through chattering teeth. "She's going to regret it."

Normal sighed and shook her head, "There is no getting through to that woman."

Sketchy nodded, and pulled out his phone again. "I'll let them know she's here."

Cindy nodded and started patting Normal's back as he started coughing again.

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Vin listened to Mel, Dix, Luke, now Mole and others talking at the computer. All of them trying to figure out exactly what the runes meant. Each trying to use what they had learned to come up with the answers. Because they all knew time was going to run out for their 'ordinary' friends, and soon.

His head was swimming with everything, and he needed to think. He sighed and headed for Max's office. He opened the door, walked inside and closed it behind him. Leaning back against it, he closed his eyes, trying to let his mind sort things out. But he instantly sensed something, and his eyes sprung open.

And they couldn't believe what they saw. "Alec?"

The eyes that looked up at him were not of the friend that he knew. They were hollow, empty, lost… defeated. Then Vin remembered Max storming out, where she was going, and knew why they looked like that. *I guess he couldn't even talk her out of it.*

Then he remembered everything that happened, "Where the hell have you been?"

Alec swallowed, his eyes closed and his head dropped once again.

Vin stopped. No matter how angry he was at his CO for leaving without telling him, he could see that wasn't what was needed right now. He walked over to the other man and sat on the couch next to him. He was about to talk, when the other man started.

"I left to protect her."

Vin nodded, "Figured. But from what?"

"Me."

The dark haired transgenic did a double take, "What?"

Alec tensed at the question, his jaw clenching. "They wanted me to bring her to them."

"They?"

Alec's hand covered his face, as he leaned further over the couch, his elbows resting on his knees. "I didn't know who they were."

Vin was really confused, "Then… What?"

Alec shot up from the couch, his hands in fists, anger bubbling in his blood, anger at himself. "God Vin… Max… she was my Job again!" His hazel eyes searched his friends face. "It was happening all over again."

Vin saw the fear in the other man's eyes. That and the pain, the self-torture. He stood up and moved towards him, "Rachel was not your…"

Alec held up his hand, "It doesn't matter. None of it matters. Because somehow Max found out… and she left." He sighed closing his eyes once again, "But when she comes back, I'm going to have to somehow convince her…"

Vin looked at him strangely for a second, "Max knows about this? How?"

Alec's head quickly shot up, "What?"

"I thought one of the reasons she was so pissed at you was because she didn't know why you left. It would have been nice of her to tell us."

Now he was really confused, *Maybe she doesn't know.* But that didn't make sense. "If she doesn't know, then what the hell was she talking about?"

Vin's eyes widened, "Oh my God. You don't know. She didn't tell you."

"Tell me what?"

"Max is pregnant."

Alec's world seemed to whirl around him, "What?" His eyes closed and his heart felt like it was breaking even more. *Oh God… no wonder…* But he was stopped by his friends next words, and then staggered backwards as they hit his brain almost like a physical punch to the gut.

"And she just left here for Harbor Lights to get an abortion."

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"Elixir of life is blood."

Dix nodded at Mel, and the elixir is from the 'messenger,' so that means…"

The crowd around the computer turned at the sound of Max's office door whipping open. This time the door actually broke off it's hinges and flew across the room, as a blurred figure ran through the door of headquarters.

Mel looked from the door with wide eyes back to the person standing in the now empty doorframe. "Was that?"

Vin nodded back at her as he walked towards the group, "She didn't tell him."

"He was here?" she asked.

"Yeah," he could see her about ready to ask another question and he put up his hand, "Long story. I don't even understand most of what he said." She nodded and he continued. "Good news is…" he motioned for the door, "He's going after her."

"Hopefully he stops her in time."

Vin nodded in agreement putting his arm around her. He looked back at the computer, "Okay, what have we found out?"

Mole took the cigar out of his mouth, "Looks like our bitchy little leader's blood will cure this 'ordinary' epidemic."

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Scenes from an All New DA on 2/03/02:

*IN TWO WEEKS ON AN ALL NEW DARK ANGEL*

CAN THEY STOP IT

Dix nodded, "Listen Sketchy. You three have to go find Max."

BEFORE

White's smile grew again, "Flu cases springing up in Chicago, Huston, DC, and Miami."

IT'S TOO LATE?

Alec's heart crumbled even more if it was possible, and he felt like he was going to be sick to his stomach.