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.

***

OMG! I was going through the thread the other day and suddenly I realized that I haven't posted a new chapter for this fic for more than two months! :o guys, I'm so sorry for that!! And since classes had started, I've been a little lazy 'o_0 a sad fact but undoubtedly true, and if it wasn't for dear Panda who keep asking about this fic every few days, I don't think I could post this now ;)

And thank you so much for reading and thank you even more for reviewing! Your reviews were one of the reasons I keep writing :)

And a very warm thank you to my valuable betas who had been slaving hard to make this chapter readable ;) Mel, Heather and Cheeza, you guys are the greatest!! I didn't know what I'd do without you :)

***

Chapter 14- Is the end?

The white hospital room was humming with tension. As the saying goes, the tension that was surrounding the room was so thick you could slice it with a knife. But Alec seemed oblivious to everything as his blank eyes trained toward the tiny window, looking out into the sun-drenched lawn. But he was completely unaware of the beautiful way soft rays were bounded off from the sparkling dews as they bobbed lightly on the wet green leaves. A weary sigh escaped his lips as he thought about Max, lying so still in the next room. He closed his eyes as waves of sadness washed all over him, breaking up into a foam of gloom and he swallowed a groan as depression started to sink its hooked talons into his already wounded body.

He gritted his teeth before forcefully pulling his gaze away, as if he was breaking contact with his tormented thoughts. He was quite startled to see that the usually absent sun was out. Slowly, he looked upwards, straight into the clear blue sky adorned with the shining ball of fire, and his hope bloomed a little more. Maybe it's a sign; he reflected hopefully, that the sun chose to show its face today after an array of rainy days. His eyes followed a ray of sunlight as it made its journey past a very thick tree, forcing its way through the leafy barrier before pooling among the unearthed roots. He stared at the bright pool of sunlight and again, he sighed softly as his mind started to drift away, thinking about the uncertain future. Not if I could help it, he thought as unconsciously he clenched his teeth, determined to make this work.

The only uncertain thing around here is whether I survive this or not, something whispered eerily in his head but he pushed it away, intent on finishing what he had already started. His mission now was to make sure that Max would be standing on her own two feet and that he would do whatever it took to make that happen.. and if it meant endangering his life, tough then. But since he was the one who had to live with the consequences, no pun intended, and that he didn't have any misgivings about his actions, he couldn't see why the hell everyone else had to question his decisions.

He thought briefly about Fowler, hoping the older scientist had everything under control and would not require any additional nudges in the right direction, since he wouldn't be around to nudge and prod anymore. He tore his gaze from the sunny lawn and suddenly remembered that he was not the only occupant in that silent room. Swiftly, he turned slightly from his place on the hospital bed and started watching the busy Carr.

He sat at the edge of the bed, his hazel eyes watched silently as Carr made sure that everything was ready for the upcoming procedure. As the doctor busied himself with the bags of drugs, he seemed agitated, as if he was doing something very nerve wracking. Alec frowned as he saw that the doctor's hands were shaking slightly. Maybe just a little, but his sharp eyes detected the faint tremors. His eyes narrowed as he continued to scrutinize the nervous doctor. But before he could say anything, the door was pushed opened slowly and a worried Original Cindy filled the doorway. His eyes flicked to her face and without difficulty he read the tension and fear, the two dominant emotions that were etched deeply into her dark eyes.

'Hey, come on Cindy. No one's died yet, so what's with the long face?' he asked lightly, one brow arched as if nothing earth shattering was about to take place.

Original Cindy heaved a heavy sigh, stole a glance towards Carr before looking back at Alec. 'There's nothing I can say to make you change you mind, right boo?' she said as she perched herself beside him on the bed.

There was no answer except a raised eyebrow from him.

'In that case, I won't say anymore then. Just take care, okay?' she said nervously.

'Cindy.. Cindy,' Alec said, shaking his head at her, 'I'm going to be just fine. Don't worry about me, you have enough on your platter with Max as it is.'

'I can't help it boy, that's what happens when you cares about someone,' Cindy said, pushing stray hairs away from her face.
Alec swallowed hard as he heard her reply, someone actually cares about him, he thought dazedly. That was a first all right. And somehow, those simple words warmed his insides and that made him smile.

'You know what Cindy, because of you; I'll make sure I'll be back. How's that for a lil treat?'
Despite her worries, Cindy snorted and a hint of a smile started to light up her tense face. Damn, that boy is a charmer all right.

'Ya better make sure of that or Original Cindy will put a smack down on that pretty ass of yours,' mocking a heavy frown, she looked down into his hazel eyes.

Alec grinned and he looked knowingly at her, 'Don't tell me you're starting to have a thing with my ass too, Cindy?'

A burst of laughter escaped from her full lips before she smacked him lightly on the shoulder, then she stood up, ready to leave.

'In yo dreams, pretty boy,' she said before giving a cheerful wave.

The second the door closes behind her, the lingering gaiety started to vaporize, heated by the quickly mounting tension in the room. Carr who had been very quiet throughout Original Cindy's unexpected visit, turned back to his preparations. Alec's eyes narrowed as he saw that Carr's hand were indeed shaking which meant that the doctor has some unfinished issues with the upcoming procedure. And that was not good news.

'Listen to me Carr,' Alec said seriously, his hard eyes unreachable and distant. 'Do NOT stop this procedure under ANY circumstances. Not until you have all the stem cells you need for the transplant. Do you hear me?'

Heavy frowns creased Carr's forehead deeply, 'What if you...'

'No,' replied Alec in a flat tone, 'Not even then. Acquiring the stem cells in the priority in this operation.' Seeing Carr's look of horror, he cocked an amused brow and drawled, 'Are there any other questions?'

'Yes. I'm going to ask you again, are you sure you want to do this?' Carr asked desperately.

Alec sighed, 'My answer will still be yes. And I really hope that'll be the last time you ask me about it. It's getting extremely tiring and not to mention annoying to answer it time and time again you know?' he replied bluntly, looking straight into Carr's worried eyes.

Carr's jaw clenched at the dry rebuttal but he nodded and with a defeated look aimed at Alec, he picked up a bag of drugs and started to attach it to the stand. Then, he took a needle and with a last look at the waiting X5, he pierced it through Alec's arm before turning around and started working on the line.

Alec lay down on the bed as slowly, the first of the powerful drug entered his bloodstream. He moved his head and from where he was; he could have a glimpse into Max's room next door. A second later, his hazel green eyes were closed as the powerful drug started to attack his system and sped torturously through his blood, going straight to his bone marrow in its mission to strike down his immune system.

***

'What if I move the cell further up in the structure?' Fowler muttered to himself as he started typing frantically. He stared at the simulation and growled as the screen didn't show what he was aiming to do, instead the structure bobbed awkwardly on one side: an obvious failure. In his frustration, he almost swiped everything that was scattered on the messy table and sent it crashing to the floor but somehow, rationality took over and he took a deep breath, as he tried hard to calm himself down. This is only a challenge; he thought sternly, you can get past this!

Fowler leaned back in his chair, closed his eyes, took a deep breath and let his agile mind roam and slowly a new possibility started to take shape in his head. He smiled with pleasure as he let the mental picture build itself, bit by bit and a few minutes later, he was typing furiously into his laptop. A contented chuckle reverberated throughout the room as he looked at the slowly rotating structure. And his eyes continued to shine brightly as he proceeded to tighten a few loose ends and finally.. the cure was completed.

I'm the best; he smiled to himself as he tidied up his notes before heading to the lab to start making the much-needed cure.


A few hours later

Dr Carr was standing near the nurses' station as he went through some files with a nurse. Although he tried to show that he was concentrating on what was being discussed, his frequent glances at his watch gave him away.

'Doctor, are you okay?' asked the worried nurse, 'and when exactly does your shift ends? You've been here for a while..'

'Hmm?' dazed eyes turned towards her. 'Oh, I'm working an extra shift today. Excuse me.' Quickly, he walked away from the station and headed towards Alec's room. He pushed the door open impatiently and walked in and he almost got a heart attack as he saw that Alec was lying so still on the bed. As still as... death. His terrified eyes went to the various machines scattered around the room and he started breathing with relief again as he saw that Alec had only lost consciousness. Again, he heaved a relieved sigh as the monitors showed that his vitals were stable at the moment. But his relieved feelings were short-lived because at that exact moment, the numbers began to drop.

'No! No! No!!' he whispered, terrified by the unforeseen situation as he grabbed the chart from the bed. His wide eyes started to go through the record listed there, the list of the drugs that had been given in the last few hours. Involuntarily, he cringed as he saw the huge amount of drugs and as his eyes went drown the long rows, his brain began compiling them in his head and he shook his head in wonder. It was a wonder that he was even alive. But as he was thinking that, Alec's heartbeat started to descend with an alarming rate.

Carr watched the change with tightly clenched jaw. If he didn't regain consciousness soon, he'll slip into a coma, Carr thought desperately. He has too many drugs. Too much.. too powerful. I don't think his body could handle this much for this long.

Something Alec said earlier rang in his ears, the critical factor is time and that is not something we have right now.

As a heavy feeling of dread descended over him, he realized that Alec was right. All of them were racing against time and he have no idea if they'll win this particular race. Slowly, he put Alec's chart back at the foot of the bed and then he turned as the door squeaked opened.

'The results,' the lab tech said simply as he handed Carr a few pieces of paper and turned towards Alec, preparing the unconscious X5 for another blood sample.

The tired doctor took the papers and scrutinized the results rapidly, hoping for something good. 'Damn!' he gritted his teeth as the paper shows that Alec's white cell count hasn't dropped till zero yet. That means that his system was still fighting the drugs and his immune system won't be able to mass produce stem cells until then. And that also meant that he had to increase the drugs dosage and he had absolutely no idea how Alec will react to such an action. He realized that at that moment, the drugs just weren't enough to knock his system down yet. And that was what was worrying Carr. He couldn't tell if Alec could still withstand the drugs or if the next one would just kill him off. Carr was in dilemma all right. He took a deep breath and systematically went through the options in his mind.

One, he could increase the dosage, even with the mounting risks. Two, leave the situation as it was or three, should he stop the whole procedure before he had a death on his hands, a death that could've undoubtedly been stopped? As he thought about the third choice, a pair of freezing cold green eyes flashed alarmingly in front of his eyes and Alec's icy voice sounded in his ears, 'Listen to me Carr, do NOT stop this procedure under ANY circumstances. Not until you have all the stem cells you need for the transplant. Do you hear me?'

With a sinking feeling he realized that he had no choice the matter, despite the fact that he was the doctor in charge. But he wasn't in charge, not really; the guy who was lying on the bed, unconscious was the one calling the shots. So, reluctantly, he changed the drug with something with a relatively higher dose.

'I'll use this for a while. Just enough to drag the white cells count below zero before switching it back,' he whispered to himself as he attached the new drug into Alec's IV, hoping he hadn't just made a fatal mistake. He watched as the time slowly and torturously ticked past but the good news was that Alec's heart hadn't stopped yet and he was still breathing. But the bad news was that he hadn't regain consciousness, and that was very alarming indeed.

Again, the door opened and the same lab tech appeared, holding a set of new test results. He handed the papers to Carr without a word and as before, he turned to Alec for another sample of blood.

'Dammit!' Carr cursed loudly after running his eyes over the numbers, and he almost threw the new result away, the outcome was still the same. Alec's white cell counts were still hovering over zero. Which meant that his immune system was still under attack but seemed to be holding on. That also meant that his bone marrow wouldn't be mass-producing the stem cells yet and time wasn't something they had in abundance.

Tick Tock.. something whispered eerily in his head.

'I'm changing the drugs,' he said to the empty room, not realizing that the lab tech had already left. 'He can't possibly stand this kind of attack. A normal man would've died the second these drugs entered his system and this is too long.. too damn long.' Carr muttered worriedly under his breath as he stretched his arm, intent on stopping the procedure but something halted his hand in mid-air.

A very loud sound from the room right next door.

Carr spun quickly and rushed towards Max's room, heart throbbing painfully in his throat. No, please no.. He mumbled a disjointed prayer as he ran. His heart stopped for a few seconds as he looked with horror filled eyes at the screaming machine. And fear flitted through his eyes as he saw the straight horizontal line.

Damn! Not now!! He turned towards the nurse who had materialized besides him and barked an order before he started with CPR. A few extremely tense minutes later after the nurse announced that the machine was ready, Carr turned towards her and said edgily, 'Charge to one twenty.'

'Charging.'

'Clear!' Carr said quickly before a second later he turned to the monitor.

Flat line.

'One sixty.'

'Charging.'

'Clear!'

Nothing changed.

This is bad, Carr thought frantically as he called out, 'Make it two hundred.'

'Charging.'

'Clear!' the nurses took a step back as Max's body was lifted from the bed, propelled by the rush of electricity.

But the flat sound droned on and on.

'Two forty,' he ordered desperately as beads of sweat started to form around his temple.

'Charging.'

'Clear!'

'Still no pulse doctor,' the nurse said worriedly.

'Two eighty,' he said as a drop of sweat run down towards his stiff jaw.

'Charging.'

'Clear!'

'Still nothing, doctor.'

'Three hundred,' he gritted his teeth as he thought anxiously, come on Max, you can't die now, come on..

to be continued..