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 virus. Now, it's up to Alec to stop her from taking an unplanned journey across the tunnel that ends with the bright lights. And he won't stop at nothing to make sure of that..

*

Thanks to Heather for the fast betaing ;) isn't she just amazing?

I have a little announcement to make. :) ok, from now onwards The Alternative Space-- is going to host fics (fanfic and original) rated all the way to NC-17. So, if anyone of you are interested in posting at tAS, head over there and get acquainted with the rules at the Welcome Wagon. Yes, Syrai the Rulemaker has a thing with making rules ;) Then, PM her if your fic is rated PG13 and below or me if it's above PG13. Hope to see you soon! ^-^

*

Desperate Time Calls for Desperate Measures.

The hallway was unnaturally deserted as Carr hurried through. In his worried mind, Mindy's announcement was just like a bomb. A cure? Alec had find the cure? Is that even possible?

These questions kept banging around in his head, demanding to be answered and Carr walked faster towards Max's room. He walked past the blinking television without giving it so much as a glance. He had other things in his mind to realize that Eyes Only was broadcasting. A couple of minutes passed before he caught sight of Alec as the younger man was making his way towards Max's room. Carr frowned a little as he saw that Alec had brought along some company, an older man who looked faintly familiar.

'Alec!' he called out, trying to get Alec's attention.

Alec paused as he turned around and then he waited for Carr to close their gap.

Carr walked quicker and without missing a beat, he asked, 'Mindy said you have a possible cure. Is that true?'

The stressed out young man nodded, and then he turned to include Fowler into their conversation, 'He had a temporary cure. It should work for up to 4 to 5 hours. During that time, the virus was inactive and we'll take the opportunity to strike. We've combine his enzyme with my stem cells, I think the combination are strong enough to kill the virus.'

Fowler nodded his head rapidly, 'Yes, we've done the simulation and everything looks really good on the computer. I think that girl really had a good chance to survive.'

'Wait a second. Both of you found the way to kill the virus, is that correct?' Carr asked for clarification. After seeing the positive answer, he went on, 'But even after the virus was terminated from her body, her beaten immune system can't be expected to take it right where you left it, and continued to work as usual. As of right this minute, she had no immune system to speak off and she can't accept blood transfusion every few hours. Repeated transfusion is extremely risky for her right now. I'm sorry to say this but everything looks really hopeless,' he said dejectedly.

Alec closed his eyes as the next obstacle reared yet again. He pushed the cold tendrils of desperation and tried to think of a way out of this predicament. No repeated transfusions, which means...

'What if we transplant some stem cells into her? After the virus was eliminated, we'll transplant the stem cells to rebuild her blood and immune system. That should hold until her body could create her own,' he said triumphantly.

His joyous feelings were trampled to pieces as yet again, Carr shook his head, 'Harvesting stem cells took time, Alec. Usually we need at least 5 to 7 days before the body could mass produce enough stem cells for a transplant. The crucial factor here is time, and that is something we didn't have right now. Even if we have a donor, it still won't work. Alec, we didn't have enough.. time.'

Alec clenched his teeth tighter as he tried to unscramble his thoughts, trying to find something to break through from this predicament. 'For a human, yes. It usually took that long, but what if the donor is a transgenic. We have a relatively higher metabolism rate and if you gave a higher dose, it might quicken the process.'

Carr's jaw almost dropped opened as he stared at Alec in surprise before he asked hesitatingly, 'you do understand what 'harvesting' means, do you? I mean in this context for harvesting stem cells?'

'Of course I do,' he answered impatiently, 'What did that have to do with anything?'

'Because what you're suggesting is completely impossible. I have to know if you understand what you're proposing. You want me to blast someone's bone marrow to pieces, with very powerful chemotherapy drugs in the next couple of hours so that it would kick into high gear and start pumping stem cells,' he paused as he stared unblinkingly at Alec, 'Your metabolism rate my be higher but frankly, I don't think any of you could take it, either. From 5 days to 36 hours may be possible, slim chance yes.. but still within reach, but not in the next 12 hours. No, that would be too dangerous. Theoretically, your idea may still work,' he continued after seeing Alec's stubborn expression, 'but who would willingly put his life on the line for something this jeopardous?'

Silence descended on the trio, enveloping them with its icy fingers. Carr turned and looked at Fowler and together they spun towards Alec. Both of them could see the hard determination shining from the hazel eyes and they knew without a doubt that Alec was dead set on his decision.

'NO!' Carr shouted, 'I won't let you! Are you insane, you might get yourself killed!'

Alec shrugged his shoulders nonchalantly, 'If you won't do it, then I'll find someone else who will. Or better yet, I'll do it myself. How difficult can it be?'

Carr shook his head again, 'No, please don't put me in that position!' he turned pleadingly towards Fowler, 'Talk some sense into him!'

Fowler turned towards Alec and come into contact with that pair of unblinking green eyes. He threw his hands, discouraged, 'I give up! There's no talking to him.'

The younger doctor stared in amazement before he started arguing with Fowler. Rolling his eyes, Alec stopped the arguments and interrupted, 'I believe that decision is mine?... and I stand by them. I'm gonna do it.'

'Listen to me, Alec. When you wanted to 'harvest' stem cells, you attack the bone marrow first and it will stagger your immune system. Your white-cell count will drop towards zero. When it hits bottom, then your bone marrow will mass produce those stem cells.. but you wanted this process to be faster which means dangerously higher dose. The normal dose was considered high enough for humans; higher dose might be fatal for you. Remember what happened to Max with the Red Army? That's what I'm talking about. Think about this.. very-very carefully, I beg you! We're going into unknown territory here.' Carr appealed desperately.

'I know what's going to happen, Doctor Carr,' Alec answered calmly, 'and the answer is still yes. I'm going through with this. Why don't you go and start the procedure, I want to go and see Max first.' Then, he turned and started towards Max's room, leaving behind two bewildered and preoccupied doctors.

Carr and Fowler turned as one and watched silently as Alec disappeared from view, fear staining Carr's hooded eyes.

*

He was blessedly calm as he walked into Max's room. He wasn't as stricken as the first time he sat foot in this same room hours ago, because now he knew what he had to do. He also had the reassurance that Max would make it, she would be fine. And that was the most important thing now, and he refused to think about anything else. He shoved Carr's frantic plea out of his head as he pushed the door open silently. This time, he didn't hesitate, even though his heart was racing like a maddend thing in his chest. The bruised heart contracted painfully when he saw her. Hours ago, she was flushed with fever, which means that she had some colour even if it was from her high temperature. Now, she had looked as good as dead with her gray, pallid skin. His eyes stared worriedly and his hand started to tremble slightly from dread. He torn his painful gaze away from Max and turned towards Cindy.

'Cindy,' he said softly, 'How is she?'

The startled OC turned and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw it's him. The panic that had been evident in her eyes instantly put Alec on edge.

'What happened, Cindy?' he asked quickly, 'What's wrong?'

'Alec, you're here!' she ignored his rapid question as she rushed towards him gratefully before wrapping her arms around his tense body. She wanted to tell him about Max's deteriorating health, share her fear with him but she didn't know how to begin. Her heart stopped earlier, and it will happen again... and again... before it stops… for good didn't seemed like a very good idea.

Alec raised his arm hesitatingly, wearily and then he rubbed Cindy's stiff back. 'Everything will be fine, don't worry Cindy,' he whispered softly, reassuringly, even though his heart had dropped down and throbbed painfully by his feet, waiting for the inevitable to come out from Cindy's lips. 'Tell me,' he said gently but his pain filled eyes were closed, braced for the impending agony as he rests his chin on her head.

'Max... she... earlier,' Cindy sniffed and then she wiped her tears away as she tried to hold her thoughts together, 'her heart stopped beating... but Carr revived her. Bless him for that...'

The taut jaw clenched as he heard the news and the pair of green eyes snapped opened as fire almost leapt out from the burning pair of emeralds. No one can stop me now... he vowed to himself, not until I die and there's no way I'm gonna let that happen. Not until she's standing on her own two feet first. The shaking OC grabbed his straying attention. 'Cindy, listen to me. Max will make it,' he nodded as Cindy's tearful eyes looked up into his own, 'I've found someone and he's working on the cure. She'll be fine in a couple of days.'

'How... What is he gonna do?' Cindy asked quickly as hope started to dance in her eyes.

'He's still talking about it with Carr,' Alec answered vaguely as he disentangled himself from her. But after seeing the look Cindy threw his way, he conceded albeit reluctantly, 'Fowler had a temporary cure, and he's gonna give it to her. That'll stop the virus from multiplying and then he's gonna use an enzyme to break the virus apart.'

'I see... So, that's it? There's no catch here? My boo will be okay, right?' she asked worriedly as something kept niggling at the back of her head. Something just didn't feel right.

'Yes Cindy, there's no catch. After the virus is history, they'll transplant some stem cells to help her immune system back up on its feet and after a few days, she'll be as good as new,' he finished his little glossed over speech with a smile, so that Cindy wouldn't get too suspicious about the whole thing.

For a few minutes, OC stared intently into the closed green eyes and asked, 'Is that all? Are you saying that there's absolutely no danger?' She sighed softly as the high brick wall was firmly in place as usual, making it absolutely impossible to read his thoughts.

'No,' he replied simply as his brows inched upward, looking as if he's a bit amused by her confounded worries, 'She'll be in no danger, trust me.'

After another long pause as OC tried to make her mind up, she nodded, 'If ya say so, boo,' she smiled, 'I'll leave ya alone, ok?' Before she could leave, she grabbed his hand and spoke earnestly into his eyes, 'You're not alone in this, Alec. Remember that. Ya don't have to keep doing this on ya own, ya know... I'll be more than happy to help out... give those broad muscular shoulders of yours a little break.' With another smile, she squeezed his rigid arm and left the room.

No, you're wrong Cindy; he thought sadly, there's nothing you could do to help Max now. I AM on my own. He turned his tired body towards the waiting bed and walked slowly until he was standing next to her. He looked down as his heavy heart started to beat rapidly, looking at her forlorn and lifeless figure. 'You're gonna make it Max,' he whispered, 'one way or another... I'll make sure of that.'

He sat down, careful not to jolt her and he looked with sad eyes at her limp hand, lying uselessly besides her. Unconsciously, his hand moved and he realized with tremendous shock that he's reaching towards her pale arm. His fingers found hers and he swallowed painfully as he could feel the soft satiny texture of her skin. He ran his trembling fingers softly and lightly over her still and unmoved hand and his heart wept silently as waves of emotions crashed onto his overworked body. Slowly he tightened his hold until their hands were joined securely together. His throat constricted painfully, he lifted their tightly clasped hand and brought them to his quivering lips. 'You will be okay, Max. I won't rest until you are,' he whispered gently, his warm breath brushing against her cold pale skin. He reached out with his other hand and tenderly cupped her soft cheek, his thumb rubbing the icy skin lightly, trying to warm them with his heat.

Outside, everyone was rushing around frantically as another dying patient was wheeled in. Doctors and nurses worked together efficiently as they tried to stop Death from claiming another soul.

Back inside the silent room, the two occupants were still as statues and Alec's hand was still joined with hers as he willed fiercely for her to win this battle.

*

Original Cindy closed the door behind her and took a deep breath, the first easy breath she had in ages. 'My boo is gonna be okay,' she whispered to herself as hope and relief started blooming in her heart. She smiled as she cast a furtive glance towards the closed door, thinking about the two transgenics inside. Maybe when this is all over, they'll realize something, she thought to herself. She looked around her, trying to find someplace to crash for a while before the usually quiet place burst into action. People were scurrying everywhere and OC took a few steps back to let them pass. As she was about to head to the waiting room she saw Doctor Carr who was busy talking to a much older man. She debated for a few minutes as she tried to decide whether or not to interrupt their conversation with her inquiry about Max. 'Well, my boo is the most important thing in my life, so yeah I'll go and interrupt,' she said to herself before walking up to them. She plastered a bright smile on her face and said, 'Doctor Carr.'

Carr turned and his eyes narrowed with confusion at her happy expression. 'Are you ok, Cindy?' he asked worriedly.

'What do you mean? Is anything the matter?' the frowning OC asked as her earlier doubt came rushing back. 'There's nothing wrong with Max, right? Right?!'

'Have you seen Alec? Did you talk to him?' Carr replied, very much bothered with this recent situation.

'Yeah,' she nodded quickly, 'Original Cindy just left my two boos.'

'What did he tell you?' pressed the haggard doctor.

'Everything is under control. Alec said that he found someone to help us and Max will be fine. That's all. What is going on here?' she demanded.

Carr turned to Fowler and his eyes were dire as they stared into the older man's eyes. Then he turned to the slowly panicking Original Cindy and told her everything he knew.

Cindy's eyes grew bigger by the minute as she listened, completely enraptured by what Carr had to say. Her amazement and awe turned to shock and horror as he nearly came to the end of his story. 'What?' she whispered as fear had started to sneak into her voice, 'Are you sure about this?'

Carr and Fowler both nodded their head. Without saying another word, she spun backwards and rushed back towards Max's room, intent on hearing the truth from his own lips. Her earlier relaxed heartbeat started to accelerate as what Carr had just told her started to bounce back and forth, loudly and fretfully inside her head.

'He wants to be the donor. He knows that harvesting took time so he wanted to speed it up, without bothering about the incredibly high risk. He could lose his life Cindy, and he didn't give a damn about it...'

Original Cindy ran faster as she recalled the heavily veiled sadness she glimpsed for just a second and now she understands what it meant. Her throat tightened painfully as she realized what he wanted to do.

*

'Max had been looking for the cure for almost a year, what makes you think you're gonna find it in less than 24 hours. What exactly are you gonna do, Alec?'

'Anything, Cindy. Anything.. and everything.'

*

She stopped short as she saw that Alec was slowly closing the door to Max's room. As she let her frantic gaze roved all over him, her fear quickly turned to anger and she let it out onto him.

'Have ya gone insane, Alec?! Carr told Original Cindy everything! Have you gone out of your freakin' mind? Do you want to get yourself killed, boy?!' she hissed angrily, her hands were tightly clenched beside her tense body.

After a second of surprise, he quickly held up his hand, 'Do you want Max to be ok Cindy?' he asked quietly.

'Of course I do boo,' she replied quickly, glaring angrily with her dark eyes.

'If there's something you could do to make her better, would you think twice to do it? The thing that would save her life, would you hesitate Cindy?' Alec questioned calmly, serene hazel eyes staring down onto dark turbulent ones.

Completely taken back, Cindy faltered as she visibly struggled to find the right answer.

Alec's strained face broke into a hint of a smile as he spoke, 'So do I, Cindy... So do I.' He touched her shoulder gently before making his way towards the two waiting doctors.

Original Cindy was still speechless as she turned her stiff body towards the three men, staring with huge fearful eyes as they talk to each other. A few minutes later she heaved a huge sigh and slowly she entered Max's room.

*

The big office was taut with tension and pressure as one very angry Agent Ames White snapped furiously into his phone, 'What do you mean, they've disappeared? Widen the search perimeter and for god sake, try using your goddamn eyes this time!' He threw the phone and spun back abruptly as the door was suddenly pushed opened. 'I told you no interruption! Can you understand that simple order?' he shouted angrily.

'I'm sorry sir,' one of his aides stumbled back a step, clearly frightened by his superior's outburst, 'but it seems that someone wants to see you.'

'I said no interruption!' he gritted his teeth in fury, 'that goes to everyone!'

'Even... Eyes Only, sir?' came the timid answer.

'What?! Eyes Only?' he asked as his quick mind started to whirl rapidly, thinking about this new and unexpected event.

'Yes sir. He wants to have a meeting with you. There have been a number of broadcasts requesting one.'

'Arrange one right away,' he said as the rage in his eyes started to cool before it started gleaming with glee, 'I want to see what he has to say.'

to be continued..

A/N so what do you think? *grin* tell me coz I really want to know! :)