Timebomb Central

By Rowe

A/N: Thankyou goes to the woman who wields the tazer for getting my muse in line and betaeing this.

Disclaimer: The DA concept belongs to Fox and James Cameron

Chapter 3: Confusion in the cloisters…..

Joshua cradled the X5 gently in his arms. What he had just told him didn't make a hell of a lot of sense. He brought one large paw up to stroke Alec's hair, attempting to soothe him, calm him, into a more rational state of mind. As he felt Alec's body relax he loosened his grip slightly but quickly tightened it again as the weight of the X5s body slumped bonelessly. Sleep had finally claimed the troubled mind, Joshua breathed a sigh of relief. Unbeknownst to the big transhuman, it was the one of the things that had terrified Alec the most.

The tremors started almost immediately after Alec lost consciousness. As did the muffled groans and horrified whimpers. Joshua tried to hold him still but could see that all he would end up doing was hurting Alec. He couldn't tell what was going on in the man's mind but quite clearly it was killing him. Alec had lost a tremendous amount of weight in a short time. If something was frightening the X5 into feeling so out of control that he wasn't eating, this was serious. Picking his gaunt body up effortlessly, Joshua made his way out of the apartment. His friend needed help, more help than he was going to be able to give him.

Max was slumped dejectedly against the opposite wall in the corridor. She was up quickly and alert when she heard the door open. Her senses had been focused on the room trying to pick up a clue as to what was happening in there. When Joshua came out carrying Alec, she was quickly at his side. Taking in the unconscious man she immediately needed answers from Josh. She had been mulling over Alec's reaction to her and it made no sense. Why would she scare him?

"Is Alec alright?" She looked at the whimpering man and watched with concern as his body continued to twitch uncontrollably in Joshua's arms. Her hand reached up to try and soothe the furrowed brow on Alec's face, but Joshua turned him away from her. Somehow, he sensed Alec would not want her to be showing pity to him, he had shown his need for space from her earlier and Joshua was going to respect his wishes now.

"Big Fella need to get Alec to the infirmary. No time to talk to Max now." Joshua brusquely brushed aside her inquiry, more intent on getting the man in his arms to medical help as quickly as possible. The convulsions were getting stronger and carrying the man without dropping him or injuring him was getting increasingly difficult. He didn't have time to explain it all to Max at the moment.

"But Josh…." Max stood a little stunned as she watched the retreating back of the canine Transhuman. He normally indulged her when she wanted information, this did not bode well if he was so worried about Alec that he could dismiss her so easily. Shaking herself out of her musings, she ran to catch up. Maybe she would get answers from the med team. At the very least, they would be able to calm him down enough to let her talk to him, to let her work out was going on. The way Alec had reacted to her had cut deeply. She hadn't treated him that badly, surely. Moments flashed through her mind. Times when she knew she had been less than fair to him about things. With a grimace, she realised that the mood she had been in when she had gone looking for him had been fairly hostile as well. Maybe she would have to rethink about how she treated him, maybe give him a little bit more respect. Especially of late, he had earned both her respect and trust, but she had been rather slow in showing him her gratitude for his presence.

Seeing her catching up to him, Joshua indicated for Max to go on to the infirmary and alert the medical staff that he was coming. At least that way they would be ready when he got Alec there. As she blurred ahead, Joshua let out a sigh of relief. He had things he needed to think about before he talked to her about what had happened. There were a lot of things he had to try and sort out in his own head. Alec was obviously dazed and confused when he had blurted out his claim. However, with the current climate of paranoia that had seized Terminal City, it would do well for such things to be kept quiet. He would need to talk to the med team about keeping anything Alec said quiet too. It would be just the thing to set off chaos if one of their leaders was telling everyone he was the killer.

***

Joshua lay Alec down on the examination table and backed away as the med team moved in. He caught sight of Max hovering and took hold of her arm to pull her out of the way. Now was not the time for her to be trying to act in control. The medicos needed to be able to do their work without either of them getting in the way. Joshua winced as he saw them take out a needle and fill the syringe with fluid before injecting it into Alec. He had an innate fear of hypodermics from Manticore and their sadistic experiments. The convulsions racking Alec's body quickly eased till he was lying quietly on the table. His face had gradually relaxed also till he looked to resting in peaceful slumber. Whatever demons had been chasing him had lost their control over his mind for now, though that was only cause the drugs had taken him out.

The head of the med team, Angel, approached Joshua and Max with a very perplexed look on her scaled face. "We have sedated him for the moment but he seems to be locked inside a rather horrific place in his mind. He needs to be kept sedated till his body recovers a little from the extreme sleep deprivation he is suffering from….that alone could be enhancing his hallucinations. Leave him with us for the next 24 hours. Then we will bring him back to a more conscious level. Do either of you have any idea what could have brought this on, or how long he has been in this state?"

The look on Joshua's face was closed and shuttered. He shook his head in response to Angel's questions. Alec had always been really closed off about personal problems. Whatever had happened to him this time was unknown to him. It would not be the first occasion he had imploded with his friends not knowing the cause. Once again he had put himself in danger by not sharing with them. The boy needed to learn to trust them more. To admit he wasn't 'always alright'. Medium Fella needed to realise they were there for him, always, even Max.

Max also shook her head in response. She had been too wrapped up in what was happening with these strange deaths to have taken more than perfunctory notice of Alec's behaviour. Admittedly she had seen less than normal of him this last week. It was as though he had deliberately been avoiding her. Most probably was, given the reaction she had received earlier from him. A wash of guilt rushed over her, she was supposed to be the man's friend and he had fallen apart without her even noticing it. Maybe he had given off a cry for help that she hadn't even realised. She was so going to kick his ass for not telling her more clearly when he was okay. Looking over at his still body, she shuddered, that was if he was going to be okay. The question must have formed on her face cause Angel went to reply to her unspoken question.

"We can't be sure but he is caught in a tight mind fugue. He needs to be snapped out of it. If we can't work out what is going on when we get him out, there is no telling whether he won't just drop right back into this mental abyss he has fallen into." She hated relating bad news to anyone but Max was especially bad at taking the hard facts.

"Leave him with us and we'll do what we can." She ushered the two worried companions out of the cubicle. Concerned friends were good but they sometimes got in the way of the healing.

***

Headquarters was deathly quiet when the two of them entered. Word had already passed around that something had happened to Alec. The stories, of course, had been blown out of proportion till he was now being counted as the latest victim to the death count. Realising that she had to do something to clear the air and get people back on track, Max called out to them all to listen.

"Rumours are not the answer people. Alec is safe in the infirmary. I know that this thing has us all scared but the only way we are going to deal with this bitch is together. Don't fall apart on me now. We are all soldiers, we will beat this." Her attempt at morale boosting was only partially successful. The clap of Joshua's hand on her shoulder as he stepped up to the plate to attempt to help was welcome.

"Friends, we are strong, Alec is strong. Let's stop this bitch, work as a team to solve the mystery. Who is with us?" His more motivated tone revved the crowd up and a chorus of more enthusiastic reactions echoed around the room. People dispersed to carry out their assigned task, and the air in the room had turned to one of confidence. They needed to believe that they were capable of stopping this.

Joshua signalled to Mole to accompany him and they moved over to the corner to talk.

"We need to keep an eye on Alec. Our friend is confused and maybe needs our help. Don't want to let Max know. Alec most definitely does not want her help." Joshua relayed a little of what had happened to the lizard man, who stoically listened.

"Boy is loco, sure that crazy strain was proven to not be genetic? He is not our killer. There is no way in hell he is. He left Manticore behind a long time ago and is definitely no killer these days. The boy's too soft. No problems Big Guy, we look after our own". Mole took his cigar out to signify how serious he was about what he was saying.

***

They had moved him into another bed when she came back. She hadn't been able to stay away the 24 hours. That nasty little niggling worm of guilt was still present in her gut tormenting her. As she moved into the room, she cautiously hugged the walls. She hated seeing him like this, strapped down and sedated. His normal vitality seemed to have been sucked out of him leaving a grey lifeless body in its place. He was almost as colourless as the flaky walls of the infirmary. Alec could be one hell of a pain in her ass but she preferred that to seeing him like this any day.

Moving closer to the bed she reached out her hand to stroke Alec's cheek. He was cold and clammy to touch. The overwhelming sense of despair she felt surprised her. She had never given up before. This time however, she knew she was missing a vital part of her new-found post-Manticore life, he was lying on a hospital bed totally out of it. Bending down she placed a gentle kiss on his forehead before leaving the room. A bemused smile crossed her face as she contemplated her softening attitude to the smart Alec of a breeding partner that she had been assigned, oh so long ago. Who had changed most, him or her?

Joshua hadn't been very forthcoming on what had happened after she had left them alone in the apartment. He knew something, she could sense it, but he had been deliberately vague about what was wrong with Alec. She had been made more suspicious about his reluctance to tell her when he and Mole had gone off into a corner to talk. They had conversed at a level that they knew that she, even with her enhanced hearing, wouldn't be able to pick up.

"Alec is fighting Alec. Medium Fella is all lost and confused." That was the extent of what she had managed to get out of him after they had left the infirmary. All very ambiguous and most of it she had worked out herself. Well she certainly knew Alec was fighting something, but she needed him now, more than ever. She hated to admit it to herself but she did need him, a lot. What rotten timing.

Dix had come back to her with information and she needed Alec's help to get out there and deal with the leads she had. She couldn't leave TC totally leaderless, especially with morale at such a low ebb. Her instincts told her that it was all relevant to what was happening to Alec. Problem was she didn't know what the connection was. She hated to think on top of all this that Joshua was keeping her out of the loop about something. The paranoia was definitely contagious, but she needed to maintain her trust in her friends. Her own words from earlier came back to haunt her.

"….the only way we are going to deal with this bitch is together."