Title: anything and everything

Author: sue

Rating: PG

Show: DA

Genre: Angst/Romance/Adventure

Type: WiP

Summary: under the chaos of a failed mission, somehow Logan had managed to do the impossible- infect Max with the deadly virus. Now, it's up to Alec to stop her from plunging into the bottomless crater of death. And he would do anything.. and everything to make sure of that.

*

Mel, thank you for your great help!!

*

Chapter 8- The Impossible Task.

Dawn usually signifies the beginning of something. It was the beginning of a new day as the sun slowly rose from its slumber and covered the world with its warmth and light, replacing the haunting darkness with comforting heat. Alec was very quiet and extremely still as he balanced himself on a tree, looking down over the big building sprawled over vast land. He turned his head a little and caught sight of one of the most beautiful sights nature had ever created, the sunrise. He watched passively, his empty green eyes devoid of any emotion as the sun majestically ascended over the mountain, spilling in its wake swirls of color that merged together perfectly to stain the horizon with its unique masterpiece. He silently watched the sheer beauty in front of him when it struck a chord deep within his tortured soul; that the one person who would have really appreciated the timeless beauty of nature wasn't here to share it with him. He swallowed painfully, the formerly blank eyes rapidly filling with sadness and pain as the sun gently rose and enveloped the land with its radiance.

He closed his eyes tightly, bracing himself for the fresh burst of agony as an image of a smiling Max filled his vision.

'Oh Max… hang on, just hang on…' he whispered ruefully as he recalled his anger, his pain and dozens of other emotions that had fused together to form a giant ball of desperation as he walked out from the lab. For the first time in his life panic had hit him right in the face and at that moment his mind had gone blank. Completely void of any thought whatsoever. He had shaken his head hard, tried to focus and he knew what he had to do.

He had planned this more than a month ago, which means he already had most of the necessary Intel and the rough idea of how to execute the plan. Although he was very particular about his break-ins, he didn't have time to calculate the risks or perfect his timing like he always did. Tonight, too much was at stake to waste precious time doing that. He'd just have to wing it and hope for the best. And he knew he would need all the luck he could get because the fact that he was genetically engineered to be perfect was only a small help; what he was about to do would make 'Mission Impossible' look easy. He was about to do the unthinkable. A month ago, the challenge had seduced him. Back then it was a personal duel with his mind and wit, now it was an absolute necessity. Even with proper planning which now he sorely lacked, this gig had been extremely challenging. Now, it was near impossible.

He was about to steal the Premier Rose, one of the largest diamonds in the world.

He took a very long, deep breath as he let his mind settle on the job at hand. The 'Premier Rose', the second largest pear shaped diamond in the world, weighing a whopping 137.02 carats. But compared to the largest diamond, it was just a baby. The 'Golden Jubilee' weighed an outstanding 545.67 carats after it was cut and polished, while The Great Star of Africa or also known, as 'Cullinan 1' was a 530.20 carats oval shaped diamond. It was set in the scepter of King Edward the VII and was kept in the Tower of London. If it wasn't because of the distance, Alec might have been tempted to give it a try. But for now he would just have to settle on the Premier Rose. His mind swept back to when he'd seen the diamond in the paper. Even on paper, he could almost see the way Premier Rose caught and captured rays of light, as though it shimmered with a hot inner fire. He had taken one look at the defiant beauty and he knew he would have to have it. Even for a second, he just had to hold it. Only now he realized with shock that someway somehow Premier Rose had reminded him of someone and subconsciously the similarities had beckoned to him.

Premier Rose.

Max.

They both look cool on the exterior but underneath that icy hard shell, hot fire leapt ferociously yet failed to break through the cold barrier. Only at the right moment with the right condition, they seemed to glow and sparkle and you could almost see how much they exuded that air of exotic beauty. They both look hard and unreachable but on the contrary, the reality was that both of them were very brittle, so easy to break. So fragile but you wouldn't know that until you knew them. Alec smiled softly at the thought but the smile held a hint of sadness. But for him, Max was more irreplaceable than the priceless diamond. He won't have any qualms handing it over after he had it in his possession. ]

Although it was undoubtedly a treasure, people always found it's quite hard to imagine that The Premier Rose had sisters, each one of them as valuable as the other. The rough uncut stone was 353.9 carats in weight. It was then cut into three diamonds, later known as the Premier Rose family. The largest of the three took the name Premier Rose, which would be his mark for tonight.

The Diamond Exhibition was making a tour around the globe, making it possible for people to feast their eyes on the beauties, which were rarely shown in public. Seattle was one of the few places where the exhibition would be held. The Director for this exhibition felt, that given the fact that the US had failed to regain it's former glory after the Pulse, he was highly skeptical when told that his prized possession would be safe in such a place. In order to let him sleep peacefully at night, he had chosen a location that didn't get too much traffic and demanded extra maximum security. Each and every single one of those diamonds was under heavy security. There was a saying that followed the diamond everywhere. It said that even if you just breathed on the diamonds, the security guards would know instantly. Hopefully, for Alec's sake, that wasn't true.

The Premier Rose, being the star of the show was heavily guarded. It was placed in a bulletproof and airtight room with surveillance cameras covering every inch of the room. The diamond was placed on a hexagonal pedestal made from thin but strong strips of stainless steel and legs of silver. It was strong, it was secure but it was not plain. Each leg for the pedestal was engraved so that even when viewed from afar, one had the impression of moving back through time; the handmade resting place was that extravagant. On top of this magnificent handiwork, lay the precious treasure. A stand was made for Premier Rose from platinum. The twirling strand seemed like shots of silver as they danced around each other before they separated and branched out. And like a regal queen, Premier Rose rested between the streaks of ivory, looking down aloofly from her lofty throne.

These were usually what the eager visitors saw. A beautiful jewel encased in a glass case on top of a grand pedestal. From each corner of the clear case, a tiny spotlight was placed with care, almost hidden from the eyes of the awe-struck crowd, sending rays of light right into the heart of the stone. The lights flew into the jewel, crashed into one another and were bounced back and in the process of all these, it would appear that Premier Rose was a living creature as it throbbed with life interlaced with the fire within. They could also see that on each corner of the large room stood a guard with a rifle, alert on every moment as they watched the moving crowds flock around the diamond. Right beside each guard was a button. When pressed, it would seal the whole building shut within seconds, eliminating the all escape routes for would be thieves. The crowd was warned that the case was wired, even a light touch could set the alarm off so they were forbidden to touch the glass case.

At night when the guards were gone the whole room was crisscrossed with laser beams, making it impossible to even take a step without tripping one of these beams. The combined effects from the beams, the cameras and the airtight room had made the huge chamber like a tomb, impenetrable and completely impossible to break in without getting caught.

Alec continued to watch over the building carefully as behind him the sun slowly but surely was spreading the needed warmth and a second later he jumped down gracefully, and without a second thought he walked towards the building.

It was time to get Premier Rose.

*

Original Cindy sat stiffly in one of the hospital chairs, her arms wrapped tightly around her middle as her dark eyes stared towards the unmoving patient, her gaze straight and unwavering. She sighed sadly and started to untangle herself from the chair, tentatively stretching her stiff limbs before moving awkwardly towards the bed. Although she had been in the room for a couple of hours, she still cringed as she saw how pale and lifeless Max looked as she lay there. Trying to reassure herself that Max was indeed very much alive, she glanced towards the beeping machine. But those blinking lights and changing numbers told her absolutely nothing as she gazed with untrained eyes.

She was not supposed to be here. No one was, but she had begged desperately for Carr to let her stay with her boo. Carr had taken one look at her wild eyes and agreed, albeit reluctantly but then he recalled that there was a likelihood that this would be the last time the two friends would spend time together. And with heavy heart at the future loss he had let OC have her way. But he had warned the relieved Cindy to get out of the way of the busy doctors and nurses. With a nod and a smile OC agreed and turned to watch over her boo.

For the past hour she had not uttered a word as she sat stiffly, willing frantically for Max to open her eyes but it didn't happen. She stood beside the bed, looking down on her dying friend as hatred and anger surged through her body for the one who was responsible for Max's one way ticket to the other side. She trembled for a moment, shaken to the core at the intensity of her feelings before rationality took control once more.

Alec's somber voice rang in her head, 'I'm sorry I stopped you. Frankly, I wanted to do the same thing but killing Logan will not help Max. She's our priority now. We could finish Logan off later after Max's back on her feet and bitching as usual, is that a deal?'

She knew he was right; right now the important thing was to concentrate on helping Max to get through this. She pushed those murderous urges to the back of her mind as she hovered solicitously by the bedside not knowing what to do before walking back to the corner and quietly dragging the heavy chair nearer to the bed. She sat and started to talk, trying to comfort Max and herself with her words.

'You do love to be in the center of attention, don't ya boo?' OC chuckled weakly, trying hard to stay cheerful. 'You have no idea what a mess you've caused. Original Cindy thought she'd never the day when irresponsible and unreliable Alec moved heaven and earth for ya. Still in shock over it, sista. But there you go, you can't judge a book by its freakin' cover…' She was silent for a moment, collecting her scrambled thoughts as she mulled over today's event.

'Under all that oozing charm and smooth talk, that boy do care about you Max. Maybe a lot more than you could ever imagine,' she sighed as her eyes started to get that faraway look. 'Dog boy was right; there is more to Alec than meets the eye. Talk about layers, you 'Manticoreans' could keep a shrink busy just trying to find what you're gonna do next,' she said with a small chuckle, 'let alone what makes y'all tick.'

'And Wonder Boy,' OC said sarcastically, her disgust obvious in her tone. She clenched her jaw tightly as her eyes started to harden with fury, 'I know you thought highly of him, being Eyes Only, protector of the downtrodden and all but I can't begin to imagine how anyone could behave like such an ignorant fool and expected to get away with it. It's not my fault... Now, tell me Original Cindy, how could anyone look after someone who had a hole in her shoulder without the first aid kit?' she mimicked Logan's whiny voice perfectly as her face scrunched up in distaste.

'Ya need to start opening those huge eyes wider, boo,' Cindy sighed tiredly. 'But enough of that. Just come back and ya could be as thick headed as you want. Original Cindy won't say a word 'bout that, just come back…' She blinked rapidly as her eyes filled with tears.

She turned and saw a nurse standing at the door. Without a word, she stood and wiped her tears before she retreated to her corner and watched as the kind faced nurse did what she could to keep Max comfortable. The nurse turned towards the machines as she noted all her vital signs and saw that she was stable. For now at least.

OC kept watching as the tears kept falling down her cheeks.

*

Daniel de la Vega sat behind his mahogany desk, busy finishing some paperwork even though the sun was lingering over the horizon, waiting for its cue to rise into the sky. He had pulled an all-nighter so he could enjoy the rest of today with the lovely and delectable Marguerite. He threw down his gold fountain pen as he leaned back in his chair. His face broke into a lustful smile as he imagined Marguerite's soft curves in revealing lingerie. He still remembered the day fate had presented him with Marguerite.

It was more than half a year ago. He was in Rome as The Diamond Exhibition was making its way across Italy. If anyone were to ask if he was happy with his life at that time, he would've answered yes without hesitation. And he was extremely contented with what he had. He had a lovely family, a beautiful and caring wife and two adoring daughters, and he had his flourishing career. He had been promoted as the director for the exhibition, making sure everything ran smoothly as the world gaped with wonder at the glittering jewels in his care. That is until he laid his eyes on the most precious gem of all.

Marguerite Germain.

His watery blue eyes gleamed as he thought back on that fateful day. Marguerite was among the guests for a little welcoming party that was given the night before the grand opening in Rome. She had been one of the late arrivals, and had made such a ripple among the guests with her grand entrance. Every head turned to watch as she floated down the stairs in her gorgeous ruby red gown, baring her perfectly tanned shoulders with its alluring neckline. The hem of her skirt was encrusted with tiny crystals, and it sparkled as she moved. Her blond hair was twisted in a messy chignon with soft tendrils framing her heart shaped face. Monsieur de la Vega had taken one look at that entrancing beauty and vowed to have her, no matter what the consequence.

Later that night he had presented himself to her and within minutes of meeting each other, Marguerite was enchanted by the gentleman who intrigued her with his sensitivity and soft smile. As they talked and danced, Daniel de la Vega learned that she was recently divorced from her husband after he had been involved in a sleazy affair with his assistant. He also learned that this femme fatale in front of him hated men who cheated on their wives with such passion that he had faltered in his desire to have her. But he ignored what his conscience was telling him as they promised to meet tomorrow for dinner. After that dinner, came a string of brunches, lunches and teas before Marguerite agreed to accompany him as he moved with the exhibition from one city to another. Their relationship was a tremendous success and this went on until now.

And Marguerite never knew that he was already married.

The Director was still thinking about his mistress before the thought about his wife wormed its way in. He paused in mid-thought, eyes narrowed as he pondered upon the idea of the two women knowing each other's existence. His wife, Camilla would probably throw him out by his ears, as he was only a struggling curator in a local museum when he first met the innocent heiress. He had wooed the blushing girl with his gentle words and beautiful flowers until a year later they were married, even though her parents disagreed to the union wholeheartedly. What most people didn't know is that under that sweet smile and beguiling eyes, Camilla was as stubborn as a mule. There was nothing her parents could do once she set her mind to have something… or someone.

De la Vega frowned as thought about his wife. But just for a second because he knew both of them moved in different circles. There's no way either of them would ever find out the truth. After that little worry was taken care of, he sighed happily as he began thinking about his fiery goddess. He was pondering what he was going to do to her when he saw her before his door was unceremoniously banged open and his disheveled aide burst through.

Before he could even opened his mouth to reprimand the man on his behavior, his personal assistant cried out, 'Fire! There's fire in one of the showrooms!'

De la Vega felt his jaw drop before, in a flurry of motion, he leapt to his feet and together with Kent, the assistant, ran towards the said room. His heart nearly stopped beating as he saw that the showroom, raging with fire was only a few doors away from the chamber where the Premier Rose was held.

Frantically, he rounded up his managers and ordered them to see that every single stone was relocated to safety. He ran quickly, desperate to save the valuable diamond as a few firemen followed suit. He punched in the code to deactivate the alarm before his burning eyes saw that Premier Rose was still in her glass case. He started to breathe freely as slowly he lifted the casing and with gentle hand he lifted the glittering diamond and placed it in a velvet-lined box. He then proceeded to lock the heavy box with the key in his possession. The key then returned to its usual place, on a necklace the Director wore around his neck. The firemen were busy checking the entire room, making sure that the fire wouldn't spread as the gaunt Director clutched the box possessively to his chest.

He had started to leave the room when suddenly his phone rang. He ignored it before he realized that it was the cell phone he used exclusively for Marguerite. Happily he patted his pocket to find the phone before he answered. He was bursting to tell Marguerite the recent horrifying event as he held the box in one hand and the phone in the other. He was too excited to notice that the firemen had left the room, leaving only one of them to continue working.

Before he could utter a word, he heard an undeniably female voice screaming in the other end. He frowned with bewilderment. Is this a prank? He thought to himself. But suddenly he recognized the voice. It was Marguerite.

'Marguerite, ma belle, what's wrong?' he asked in a soothing tone.

'Don't you ma belle me, de la Vega! You lied to me! All this time you never told me you're married!' she screamed, her voice rose a few decibels with each word throbbed forcefully with anger.

He gasped with horror as Marguerite kept screaming her fury across the line, and tried his hardest to calm her down. I have to, he thought, or I'll loose her.

'Now my sweet, where did you hear such a thing? That's the funniest thing I've ever heard of!' he injected a dose of amusement in his tone.

'YOU! I heard it from you!!' Again she wailed in distress, but tears slowly creeping into her voice.

'What? Me?!' he sputtered with that unbelievable piece of information. Before he could ask Marguerite further, his other phone rang. Fear slowly slithered up his spine as he recognized the shrill ringing as his other cell phone.

'Precious, can I call you back later? I have another call.' And without waiting for an answer, he ended her call as clumsily he tried to locate the ringing phone. It was quite a scene as the nervous Director fumbled with the phone and the box as he was looking for the other one. The fireman took pity on him and offered his assistance.

'Here, let me hold them for you,' he smiled as he held out his hand.

De la Vega dumped the box and Marguerite's phone thankfully into the fireman's waiting arm as he searched through his clothing. He found the screaming phone tucked away in the pocket of his jacket and retrieved it with haste, before he turned to the fireman and took the box back with a grateful nod. He answered the second phone.

'De la Vega speaking.'

'It's me... Camilla.'

The soft voice, a complete contrast to Marguerite's hysterical screams sent tendrils of dread crawling over his back.

'Is anything the matter dear?' he asked as cold sweats started sliding down, making their way past his suddenly very tight collar.

'I don't know Daniel. Is there anything you should tell me?' she asked in a calm and very much in control voice.

'Uh, no, I-I don't think so dear. Uh…Oh I know! What about having lunch with me today, I'll pick you up at twelve. Why don't you wear that blue dress, it brings out your lovely eyes,' he chuckled, a bit forcefully as he tried to change the subject.

'Tell me about Marguerite Germain, Daniel…' Camilla said, her tone still unbelievably pleasant.

'Who? Afraid I don't know her dear,' he lied through his teeth as he started to hyperventilate. 'Who is she?'

'Your mistress perhaps?' came the dreaded answer.

'What! You're joking right? Who told you that?' he asked, trying hard to sound amused.

'You did,' his wife replied coldly.

The same answer from two different women nearly sent him to his knees. But it didn't. His hand which was holding the heavy box slackened with something much more than fear and it fell with a crash into the hard marble floor. De la Vega stopped listening to his wife as he stared with wide quizzical eyes. After landing on the floor, the locked box had cracked opened as if it was never locked. He gawked as the box hobbled for a few seconds before it came to a rest. The phone he was holding slipped from his sweaty hand as he saw that the box was completely empty.

Premier Rose was gone.

Daniel de la Vega sank limply to his knees as the world he had constructed painstakingly for years crumbled apart in just minutes.

His assistant, Kent found his superior sitting on the floor as he stared with unblinking eyes at an empty and opened box in front of him.

'Sir, what happened?' Kent asked tentatively, on edge at the Director's unnatural demeanor. His eyes widened as he realized that the opened and empty box was the one used to keep Premier Rose when it wasn't on display. 'Sir, where's Premier Rose…?'

'It's.. gone. Premier Rose is missing. It's not here,' replied De la Vega slowly as he turned his empty and dazed eyes towards Kent.

'What?! How did that happen?' Kent cried frantically as he started punching numbers on his cell.

'I don't know! I gave the box to that fireman for about two seconds before taking it back. Then it fell, crack opened and it's empty!'

'What fireman? Did you see his face? Would you be able to recognize him?' Kent asked desperately after he'd finished talking with the Head for Security. The sound of iron shutters closing every windows and main doors reverberated through the whole building.

'No, I only looked at him for a second,' the beaten de la Vega hung his head in defeat.

'Think hard sir! You must remember something!'

After a long interval, de la Vega mumbled, 'Green.'

'Green?'

'His eyes, they were green.'

His two phones had started their dreaded duel together. Daniel de la Vega stared at the screaming phones and the empty box in front of him as people move frantically around him, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

to be continued..