Chapter 2: Mother May I
Max looked at Alec just in time to see his head slide beneath the dark water of the lake. She made a frantic grab for him and scarcely managed to catch one of his hands. With her arm hooked around one of the beams supporting the dock, she pulled Alec to her, chest to chest. His head fell limply forward to her shoulder.
It was difficult for Max to hold him up. She didn't have the best one-armed grip on him and the lake seemed determined to swallow him into its depths. She swung him around until his back was against the pillar to which she was anchored. Then she pressed length of her body against his to try and support him better. To say she was anxious about their current situation would be a vast understatement. Transgenics just didn't faint.
White's voice rang out with more shouted orders to his men. Max held Alec tighter. His breathing was shallow and, despite the cold water lapping around them, his cheek was like a heated brand where it rested against her neck. Max began to panic. She couldn't examine him there under the docks, especially not with White standing above their heads. She had to get him to land.
Her already sharpened eyesight stretched to its fullest as she searched the shore for some sort of refuge. There! An outcropping of large rocks jutted out into the water on the western side of the lake not too far from the expanse of woods where they'd stashed her Ninja. It looked like the safest place for them to go. She judged the distance to be mile, give or take.
No so bad, really, Max scoffed. Only 5,280 feet. Just 1,609.344 meters. Should only take four minutes. Yeah, right.
Of course, if she were to pull Alec across the surface of the lake, they'd be sitting ducks. Max could hold her breath for almost five minutes, and she was pretty sure that Alec could match that under normal circumstances. Of course, the circumstances weren't exactly normal. Of course, having to tow an unconscious Alec through deep water could – would -- add considerable seconds to their time.
The familiar click and pop sound of guns being loaded decided her. With one hand she pushed Alec's head back and tilted his chin down. Taking a deep breath first, she blew hard into his mouth. His lips were soft on hers. She felt his chest rise with the intake of her air and immediately clapped her hand over his mouth and nose. Then she turned him around, filled her lungs, and dove downward.
Max headed straight down until she was sure that their presence wouldn't create any splashing on the surface, then turned and swam as fast as she could toward the rocks. She had never pushed herself so hard before. She ignored the aching in her legs, concentrating on their destination and her hold on the man beneath her. Halfway across the lake, Alec began convulsing. The onset was so sudden and strong that Max lost her grip on him for a moment.
No, no, no, no!
If she could've screamed the words she would have as Alec twisted out of her arms and gulped in a lungful of water. Max snatched at the collar of his leather jacket and swam on. She couldn't help him until she got him out of the damn lake. His thrashing body and the pounding of her heart in her chest made her task all the more difficult.
By the time she reached the rocks, her lungs were burning and Alec had stopped moving. Max surfaced, gasping for new air, on a side of the rocks yet untouched by the morning sun. She hauled herself onto the flat rocks, pulling Alec behind her. Ignoring her own lightheadedness and the fear that was threatening to paralyze her, Max turned Alec over and checked his pulse with two fingers of one gloved hand. Amazingly, there was a pulse – weak yes, but his heart was still beating. She immediately straddled him and began pounding on his chest. Finally, wracking coughs tore through Alec, lifting his upper body from the cold slate. The water bubbled out of his mouth, but he remained unconscious. Max bowed her head and almost sobbed with relief. She took a moment to calm herself and then looked back up at Alec.
"Guess it takes more than a little dip in a lake to kill one of us, huh?"
As her hands dropped from his chest, her index finger caught in the hole in Alec's sweater. She moved his jacket aside and peered down for a better look, but still couldn't tell what caused the hole. It couldn't have been a bullet wound – there wasn't any blood. Only one way to find out for sure. Max shrugged, grabbed the collar of his sweater with both hands, and pulled. The sopping sweater gave with a wet tearing sound to reveal an expanse of golden, unblemished skin. Unblemished, that is except for the small, dart-like object embedded in the left side of his chest.
The hell? Max wrapped her leather covered fingers around the sparse fletching and yanked. It released with a little pop. The puncture in Alec's chest began to close immediately, thanks to healing powers of genetic engineering. Max examined the dart. It looked like some sort of tranquilizer.
Must have been some kinda strong to knock one of us out.
She placed it carefully in her jacket pocket and looked around them for the first time. They couldn't stay on the rocks. Any moment, the surrounding forest would be crawling with White's men. Max walked around to stand at Alec's head. She leaned down and wrapped her arms around his chest, hoisting him up. The heels of his wet boots made a hissing sound on the rocks as Max pulled him backwards toward the tree line.
Max picked her way carefully through the trees, watching to make sure Alec's feet and calves didn't catch on any of the treacherous roots or protruding rocks. She had just finished maneuvering them around a large, fallen oak when she heard what sounded like a whimper. Setting him back against a tree, she kneeled in front of him.
"Alec?" Another whimper. She slapped him lightly across one cheek. "Alec." His hazel eyes snapped open.
"Huh?"
"Finally," she huffed to cover her relief. "I was getting sick of lugging your ass around."
Alec didn't respond. His eyes were slightly cloudy. She snapped her fingers in his face a couple of times. The haze seemed to lift and he focused on her face.
"W-where are we?" His voice was shaky and unsure.
"In the woods, across the lake from White's warehouse." He looked puzzled by her answer. His head tilted to the side and he blinked at her a few times.
"Why are y-you and the t-trees spinning?"
"You're dizzy?" He managed two nods before a look of extreme queasiness came over his face. "Don't do that."
"'Kay."
"What else?"
"Huh?"
"Symptoms, Alec. How else are you feeling?
"C-cold and wet-t."
"That'd be from the little morning swim we took." His gaze took in her soaked clothing and then moved down to his own. His hand went to his bare chest. Max averted her eyes.
"Sorry about the sweater." She shrugged. "Had to be done." In the distance, still far off but too close for comfort, came sounds of White's men in pursuit. "Come on. We've gotta blaze." She pulled Alec to his feet. He stumbled almost immediately, one hand going to his forehead.
"Head hurts."
"Can you walk if I help?" Alec nodded again, this time turning a little green. "Didn't I say don't do that?"
"Yes."
"Then don't do it."
"Okay." Max rolled her eyes and lifted his arm around her shoulder. Together they moved as quickly as he could manage through the trees to the cave where the Ninja was hidden. The trip seemed to take a lot out of Alec. He was pale and trembling by the time Max pushed her baby out of its foliage camouflage. She helped him onto the bike and then sat herself in front of him.
Turning around to face him, she asked, "Can you hold on to me?"
He started to nod, but then stopped. "I think so." She turned away and felt his arms lock around her waist as she revved the engine.
"Good." They took off toward the city.
*****
Max headed straight for Alec's apartment. She turned off the engine when they arrived and heard a light snoring coming from behind her. Alec had fallen asleep with his head resting just below her neck. She laid a hand on one of the arms wrapped around her waist and shook.
"Alec, wake up." He lifted his head right away.
"I'm awake," he protested. She turned her head to find him surreptitiously wiping at his mouth.
She practically shouted, "Did you drool on me?"
He hid his hand behind his back, eyes wide with feigned innocence. "No."
"Ugh!" She slapped him in the shoulder and pushed at him. "Get the hell off me! Get off!!" He stood and shoved his hands in his pockets. "You are so buying me a new jacket."
Alec squinted and looked around. "Why are we here?"
Glancing at him, Max lifted the seat on her motorcycle and removed a change of clothes from the hidden compartment. "I don't know about you, but I'd like to change into something dry before we go to work."
"Oh."
He was oddly quiet as he followed her up to his place. They reached the door and Max turned to him expectantly. He stared blankly back. She gestured at the doorknob with one hand and rested the other on her hip.
"Keys, Alec."
"Huh?"
"Keys…to the door. You know, so we can, like, get inside?"
"I have them?"
"That would make sense, since it is your apartment."
"Oh." He searched all his pockets before finding them tucked away inside his jacket. With a small smile he held them out to Max. Rolling her eyes, she snatched them up and unlocked the door. Following her inside, Alec wandered around the living room, looking around shyly. You'd think he'd never been there before. Max stared at him for a minute.
"Hey?" Alec glanced at her and she continued, "Are you still feeling dizzy?"
He turned his head from side to side before answering. "Not so much."
"Huh. Well then," she jerked a thumb in the direction of his bedroom, "go get changed." He stared down the hallway before shuffling his feet toward his room. Max looked after him for a moment, then shrugged and headed for the bathroom to take her own advice.
By the time Alec emerged from his room, Max was already dressed and standing in the kitchen making coffee. She nodded at the bubbling percolator.
"You want some?"
"Ew." He shook his head. "Yuck."
Max raised an eyebrow at that and peered at him more closely. His black t-shirt was on inside out and backwards, his socks were mismatched, and…
"Alec."
"Yeah?"
"Your shoes are on the wrong feet."
He plopped down on the floor and set about unlacing one boot. Max saw that he was having some difficulty and walked to stand over him.
"And your shirt is on wrong." Alec immediately stopped tugging on his laces and started pulling up his shirt. He managed to get his arms and head tangled and twisted in the cloth.
"Maxie, I'm stuck." She sighed and kneeled down in front of him, yanking off the offending article. "Ow." Ignoring him, Max started righting the shirt.
"Fix your shoes." He pulled one off and stated on the next.
"Maxie?"
"Yeah?"
"Do I have to got to work? I don't feel so good." Startled, Max looked up at him. He was pleading – no, he was whining. Alec was whining. Max dropped the shirt and took off her glove, resting her palm against his forehead. His skin was cool and dry under her hand. Well, he might not have been fevered, but his behavior was decidedly un-Alec-like. He stopped fussing with his laces and met her worried brown eyes. His brow furrowed before he spoke again.
"And I think I'm gonna throw up."
Max used all her transgenic speed to grab a wastebasket and shove his head in before he vomited all over them. As he retched beside her, she shook her head.
"This can't be good."
*****
Alec stuck to Max's side like a burr. She glanced at him as they walked down the hall of Harbor Lights Hospital. His pupils were fully dilated and shifting rapidly as if he were looking for an escape route. He literally jumped when an orderly walked past rolling a gurney. Max took a firm hold on the sleeve of his jean jacket and led him to the nurses' station.
"We're looking for Dr. Shankar," she said to a pretty blond nurse. "She's expecting us." The nurse nodded and picked up the phone, eyeing Alec appreciatively. He shied away from her, hiding behind Max.
"Maxie, we don't have to be here. I feel better. Really."
"I'll believe that after Dr. Shankar takes a look at you."
When the diminutive doctor arrived a few minutes, she led them to a large private room. Max recounted that morning's events.
"Then he took some sort of dart in the chest. I think it was meant for me." She shrugged and pulled the thing out of her jacket pocket. "At first I thought it was a tranquilizer, but now I'm not so sure." Shankar put on a surgical glove and took it from her, examining it closely.
"You said he's had some physical symptoms?"
"Yeah, headache, dizziness, nausea. Though, they seemed to stop after his last horking session by the side of the road. But, he's acting odd." She glanced at Alec out of the corner of her eye. He was sitting huddled on the examination table. "Well, odder than usual."
Shankar looked from the dart to Alec and back again. "Huh," she said. "Well, I'd better run some tests on whatever is in this along with blood samples from you both. Discreetly, of course. Hopefully, that will yield some answers." She walked over to a metal table set against one wall. After sealing the dart in an individual biohazard container, she picked up a pair of syringes with attached vials and turned back to them.
Alec eyed the materials. "What's that?" His voice was pitched higher than normal. "That's not a needle, is it?" He jumped off the examination table and blurred to the other side of the room. Max watched his reaction in shock. Where was the annoying, cocky super-soldier Max thought she knew so well?
Shankar just stared at him curiously before replying. She directed her words to both transgenics. "It's standard procedure"
Alec shook his head forcefully. "No way!" Shankar looked to Max for help. The female X5 uncrossed her arms and took a step toward Alec.
He saw her and backed into a corner. "Uh-uh!" He continued to shake his head as he announced, "Needles suck." Then he made a break for the door. Max got there first and held her arms up to bar his way.
"Alec!" He jumped. She let out an exasperated sigh and attempted to speak calmly. "You have to let Dr. Shankar take some blood, ok. You don't want to keep getting dizzy and passing out, do you?"
"No, but –"
"Well then, you have to let Dr. Shankar take some blood. She's going to take mine too. Okay?" At the fear that remained in Alec's eyes as he stared back at the needle, Max continued. "She'll be really fast."
Alec looked back at her. "You promise?"
"I promise." To her surprise, he reached out and took her hand.
"Okay." The naked trust in his hazel eyes when he looked into hers made Max's heart clench with some unnamed emotion. She turned and led him toward the doctor. Halfway back to the table, Alec stopped again.
"But just the needle, right Max? No lasers?" The quaver of panic in his voice made Max's breath catch in her throat.
"No Alec," she whispered. "No lasers." She gave his hand a quick squeeze and gently pulled him the rest of the way to the table. "Never again."