Hi all! Sorry for the long wait between chapters, but I've had a lot going on lately!

Thanks to all my reviewers, and I hope you like this update!

Title:The Rift

Rating:PG13ish or R

Characters:Max, Alec, Logan, Joshua, a few baddies, and a little of the Jam pony crew threw in occasionally.

Genre:Drama, angst, romance.

Summary: Slightly Au due to Max being cured of her virus. Max gets what she has always hoped for from Logan. Question is, why does it seem to effect her fellow X5 in such a negative manner?

Author's note:First DA fic, so be kind and R&R!

Disclaimer:Not mine.

The Rift

Ch.5

Rolling over onto his back with a groan, Alec briefly wondered what the hell he'd drank the night before to give him such a vicious hangover. After the difficulty of achieving this small task he seriously contemplated going back to sleep and trying this whole waking thing again later.

The decision not to do so was made for him when he heard a small clattering sound, followed by a whispered curse of,"Dammit."

His eyes automatically snapping open, he sat up quickly in reflex, ignoring the feeling of discomfort that shot through his abdomen from doing so. Seconds later his gaze fell upon the person responsible for the noise.

"Who are you?"he asked in a dangerously low voice, glaring through slitted eyes at the unfamiliar male with messy black hair and glasses who stood in front of his bed, a tray holding several needles, alcohol, and cotton swabs in his hands.

"Um...just chill man, I'm a friend."the man, who couldn't have been much older if as old as Alec himself, said with an awkward smile, his eyes darting towards the door leading out of the room, all body language showing he was seriously considering making a run for it.

Though Alec was definitely not at 100 his demeanor gave the man no doubts that he could still rip off, and beat him to death with, his own arms if he saw fit.

"I don't have friends, especially geeky ass looking ones with trays of needles."Alec growled as he sat up, his face not showing the lingering discomfort or effort it took as he swung his legs over the side of the bed and rose to his feet.

He was in defense mode, and this little shit was about to be taught a lesson about trying to sneak up and do whatever he had been caught in the act of attempting.

"Uh, a little help here?"the guy requested in a high squeaky voice, his eyes wide with alarm as the sick X5 approached him slowly. Repeating it louder when Alec was standing right before him, fist drawn back to hit him with a smile on his face."I said a little help here!" he yelled, the tray falling from his hands and clattering to the floor as he instinctively raised his arms up in front of his face, his eyes closing clenched tight in anticipation of what was to come.

"Alec stop!"Max shouted as she and Joshua came rushing into the room."Don't you dare hit him!"

"A friend of yours?" Alec asked Max, his fist stopping just inches from the face of its intended target, but not dropping."Should have figured as much since you seem to have a thing for nerds."

"He's here to help, you idiot."Max said through clenched teeth.

"Tell me something, are you scared?"Alec asked, turning his attention back to the man standing in front of him.

"Yes, yes. Very much s-so."he admitted, peeking out at Alec through splayed fingers.

"Good. You should be."Alec said to to the man, a predatory grin on his face as he pulled his fist back once more.

"Alec, did you not hear the words that just came out of my mouth? Greg's a doctor who is here to help, and if that fist moves any closer to him I swear I'll kick your ass!"Max threatened in a loud angry tone.

"Alec not hit Greg. He is friend."Joshua echoed with a low growl of warning, not that he would have even actually considered doing anything to his roommate if he hit the other man.

Alec studied the man contemplatively. A doctor? That would explain the needles. Oh well.

He finally dropped his arm with a shrug right as his adrenaline drove burst of energy depleted, his legs giving out beneath him.

"Joshua!"Max exclaimed in alarm, something she need not have done, for the big man had already reached Alec, catching him mere seconds before he hit the floor.

"Joshua not let Alec fall."he proclaimed, helping him back to his bed, where instead of laying down, he chose to sit on the edge,leaning over with a weary sigh and burying his face in his hands.

"I'm really sorry about that Greg."Max said, giving him a sheepish grin and reaching out to ruffle his already unruly hair.

"Go figure, she tells the person who was standing over my bed with a tray of needles she's sorry."Alec muttered, the sarcasm easily discernible though his words were slightly muffled by his hands.

"S'okay Max."Greg stammered. Her actions resulting in his cheeks reddening once more, this time for an entirely different reason than Alec's dismembering of his pride.

"Better not touch him again Max, or he might do more than turn red."Alec interjected, briefly raising his head to look at Greg and snicker.

"Shut up Alec." Max ordered, before looking at Greg once more with an apologetic smile, saying," His barks much worse than his bite, I can attest to that." Then walking over to crouch down in front of Alec, she touched his leg briefly to gain his attention, smiling gently, as she asked,"Hey, how you doing?"

"Oh, I'm just great Max."he snapped , looking up with narrowed bloodshot eyes to glare angrily at her. "After all, there's nothing like waking up to find your pal, Greggie the Geek there, standing over me with a bunch of needles."

"First of all Alec, his name Greg Oleson. He's a friend of Logan's, and an ex-Manticore doctor who luckily for you knows all about our... "

"Wait! Stop there, I don't need to hear anymore. If he's a friend of Logan's then I know he's a geek. And ex- Manticore ? Not my idea of an appealing combo."he interrupted, distrust flaring through him at the mention of his former home.

"Look here, I'll have you know I am not a geek!" Greg proclaimed indignantly, having finally composed himself enough to venture closer to them and actually defend himself." Just because someone has an extremely high IQ doesn't mean they should be type cast as such."

"Whatever you have to tell yourself."Alec said with a smirk, then unable to stop himself, added,"Geek."

"Will you grow up dumb ass?"Max asked Alec, shaking her head in disbelief at his immaturity." Why is it that, despite the fact he's here to help your ass, you still feel the need to insult Greg with your little derogatory remarks." she said with a tight lipped smile, tilting her head in the manner that Alec had always found so damn sexy.

To soften her words, she rose from her crouch and sat down close beside Alec on the bed, so he decided that for the time being he'd play nice.

" Greg, so maybe you're not a geek, but some advice, you might want to consider a new 'do and some less nerdy looking glasses if you want people to buy it. Might want to trash the pocket protector too while you're at it. "Alec suggested, watching with satisfaction as the man looked down with a frown at said protector sticking out of his shirt pocket. Alec then turned to Max, who he could tell by her facial expression ,was about to defend the man once again, saying before she could"And if you want to be the great defender of all, you might want to practice what you preach Maxie, cause last time I checked, its pretty derogatory to call someone a dumb ass."

"Fine. I won't call you names if you promise not to insult Greg anymore. Deal?"she asked, putting her hand out for them to shake on it.

"Deal, but let me warn that I'm not much at keeping long term commitments."Alec agreed, taking her hand in his and sealing the deal with a firm shake while trying not to scoff at the absurdity of doing so.

"Now who would have ever guessed you had problems making..."she started, but he cut her off, still having yet to release her hand.

"Uh uh. No insulting remember?"he asked, shaking his head.

"Sorry." she immediately apologized then asked."Now, think I can have my hand back?"

He winked at her, then did as she asked.

"Well doc, what's the verdict? Am I going to make it or should you call out the meat wagon?"Alec asked turning his full attention back to Greg.

"What is your malfunction Alec? How can you be joking about something as serious as this?"Max asked with a groan.

"Excuse me... Anyway, it's just fucking seizures. It's not like it's something the doc could give me a shot for to make it go away now is it Max?"

"Um... if I might interrupt."Greg said after clearing his throat." That would be true, we actually tried religiously for years to come up with something to cure the seizures. Each time we wound up empty handed. There's something about your physiology that made it always just within reach, yet still unable to achieve, but being as how what you've been experiencing isn't seizures, that would be a moot point ."

"Hmm. Can't say that really surprises me. Truthfully I kinda figured as much, with the whole bleeding, stomach pain, and headaches thing."he said with a shrug, trying to maintain his macho act despite the fear and need to throw up he felt just thinking about the seemingly endless agony he'd been put through, raising his hand and swiping beneath his nose where the blood trail had been earlier."So, then what caused it ?"

"Well, that's the funny thing, the initial blood analysis I ran came up showing nothing unusual..."he started, only to be cut off by Alec once again releasing an incredulous snort, then saying,

"Nothing unusual? You're fucking kidding me right? Because, let me tell , what happened is about as unusual as it gets."

"If you'll shut your big trap for five minutes and let him finish explaining the rest, I'm sure he'll open the floor for questions afterwards."Max chastised, trying her best not to lose her temper. Nudging him playfully with her shoulder, she then asked,"Think you can handle that ?"

"Since you asked so nicely."he replied with a grin, nudging her back before looking at Greg once more and saying graciously,"Continue."

Greg studied them carefully for a moment, before picking up where he'd left off,

"Now, as I was saying the first analysis appeared to be the norm for you guys, but seeing your condition at the time, I just wasn't buying it, so I reran it, successfully coming up with much different results the second go round."he said, chewing his lower lip in thought momentarily before continuing," It showed up right away that time."

"It? What exactly is it?"Alec questioned with a frown. Anything referred to as it couldn't be good.

"It would be the tiny microorganisms that I located traveling throughout your bloodstream."he replied.

" Microorganisms are kinda like virus's or something."Max interjected to clarify the doctors words.

"I know what a microorganism is Max."he snapped at her, then asked Greg,"So doc, what did you do to flush the little fuckers out?"

"That's the other funny thing."Greg started, pushing his glasses back up on the bridge of his nose, reluctant to tell the already unstable X5 what he was about to." I haven't done anything. I can't do anything, because before one can come up with an antidote to counteract something, one must first know what it is they're dealing with."

"Joshua not understand. How is that a funny thing?"the man/dog asked with a look of confusion.

"It's a figure of speech big fella."Max replied, while watching Alec carefully from the corner of her eye, waiting to see his reaction to Greg's admission.

"So it's going to happen again? How about that?"Alec finally spoke up, giving a humorless chuckle."Go figure I would contract a illness that even the geek committee hasn't seen before."

"Do you not realize the seriousness of what he's saying stupid?"Max questioned angrily, finally giving in and reverting back to her usual tone reserved only for Alec, breaking her promise not to insult him since he'd just called Greg a member of the geek committee.

Then shaking her head, looking at him with sad, doe like eyes, she continued on quietly"It's multiplying Alec, and will continue to do so until, well..."her sentence trailed off.

"Wait, don't tell me. You'll get your wish and I'll die right?"he asked sarcastically, recalling her words from earlier.

The feelings of fear and trepidation he experienced at Greg's telling him that he wasn't better as hoped, along with a deep dread at what was surely to come, caused Alec to fall back on his best means of handling things, his sarcasm and anger.

Max hadn't missed the look of fear that briefly crossed his pale face first, and was determined to help make things better, not to take the bait and argue with him.

"I didn't say that Alec. I would never really wish anything bad to happen to you. You're my family, regardless of whether I like to admit it or not at times, and you know that."she said so softly that he almost didn't hear, reaching her hand out and putting it on his cheek, saying emphatically as she stared straight into his eyes ."And you're not going to die. We'll fix this one way or another, I promise."

Looking at her perfect features, he thought that maybe the situation really wasn't so bad, and they would fix it.

Reaching his own hand up, he put it atop her much smaller one, not caring about the fact that Greg and Joshua were both watching them, the latter of which had a big grin on his face.

To his surprise she didn't knock it away and lay into him for touching her as expected. Instead she smiled, their gazes holding one another for several seconds until the quietness that had descended was broken by the sound of a new addition to the group, one who'd entered the room unnoticed seconds earlier, loudly clearing their throat.

Max jumped as if she'd been caught stealing money from an offering plate, jerking her hand away quickly as Logan stood staring silently at them from beside Greg, an unreadable look on his face.

"You sure know how to ruin a moment."Alec stated bluntly, giving Logan a openly hostile glare, both of which he was rewarded a punch in the arm from Max for.

"Ignore him Logan. I was just checking him for a temperature."Max said, rolling her eyes at Alec in annoyance before turning to her fiancée with a smile and asking,"Did you find anything?"

"Unfortunately no. I ran the sample through all available data bases, and just as was the case with ours, they came up with zilch."he replied somberly, putting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing it softly."I did contact Asha though, and she's going to see if her people can come up with anything on their end, but truthfully, that seems doubtful since we share mostly the same connections."

"Well there you have it, I'm screwed."Alec grumbled, still seething over Logan's sudden appearance."Might as well turn around, pull down the pants, and get ready for it."

"You're disgusting."Max stated, getting up from the bed to stand with Logan, who much to her chagrin put an arm around, and pulled her away from where Alec sat in a territorial fashion.

"I know."Alec said with a shrug, then suddenly turned his now narrowed eyes towards Greg, all anger directed at the doctor as he said,"Tell me something. How is it that you worked for Manticore but still don't know what something that must have been created by them is? As a matter of fact, how do we even know that you're not still working for them? I know why I left them, being as how they tried to barbecue all of us transgenics, but you? What possibly could have happened to make you abandon the "great cause"?

"Hey...,"Logan spoke up, intending to defend his friend, but it proved unneeded.

"No Logan, let me handle this."Greg interrupted, angrily pointing his index finger at Alec as he exploded,

"You want to know why I left ? I'll tell you why. It was because of how they were treating you guys, that's why. I didn't sign up with them to abuse innocent people, and when I saw the tests they were running, and found out that future ones were going to be even worse, I left after letting them know I couldn't, no wouldn't, take any further part in such unethical mistreatment."

"Hooray for you and your independence."Alec muttered in a bored tone while making the jacking off motion with his left hand.

"Shut the fuck up Alec."Max exclaimed angrily."You're lucky that he even agreed to help us, much less have to take verbal abuse from you!"

"What, we should applaud him in developing a conscience that he should have had in the first place?" Alec asked.

"I seem to remember that not so long ago you lacked one of those yourself, and I honestly wonder if you actually have one now."Max retorted.

"Okay, we've determined no one has a conscience, so can we get to the problem at hand?"Logan ventured in an attempt to diffuse the situation before it got any worse.

"Since we do not know where the organisms came from, the next logical step would be to try and find out."Greg muttered thoughtfully, deciding to let the petty argument drop, asking Alec,"When did your symptoms first occur?"

"After I finished fig...work last night."Alec replied, changing his mind halfway through about mentioning his fight.

"Fighting isn't considered work."Max stated.

"But it's acceptable if you're out playing super hero right? Who asked you anyway?"Alec retorted.

"At least the people I fight with aren't being mislead into thinking I'm a normal person like they are, just so I can make me a few quick bucks."Max threw back with a smug look as she added,"That's even low for you."

"Ahem.."Greg interrupted,"Is there any way that someone might have been able to infect you during a match?"

"They hardly even get the chance to touch me, much less shoot me up with a needle."Alec replied haughtily.

"Please.."Max spoke up once more, scoffing at his words," No one touches you my ass. I know that's a crock of shit since I've been to one of your little fights before. I even competed if you can recall."

"I let you win."he said, his voice carrying a bitter edge.

"Sure you did."

"I did, and you're damn lucky that I didn't know you so well then, or the outcome might have been very different."he growled, scratching absently at his wrist as he spoke.

"I'll grant you a rematch whenever you're ready." she replied, glaring at him."I'm more than willing to defend my title."

"Hey, we can go right now. Microorganisms or not, I can take you down."he shot back, scratching his wrist harder as the annoying itch persisted.

"You're not worth wiping my as..."Max started, but cut herself off when she noticed his actions and saw that he'd drawn blood from scratching so hard."What is that?"she questioned, nodding at his arm."What did you do there?"

His eyes clouded with confusion momentarily at her abrupt change of subject, but looking down and seeing the small line of blood running from his arm he stopped his itching answered her question with a shrug." Oh that, it's nothing. Just a scratch."wanting to get back to the subject of he and she fighting again.

"How did you get that scratch?"Greg asked, stepping over and squatting in front of Alec, taking hold of his arm without asking, and turning it over to reveal his wrist more clearly.

"Hey..."Alec argued, annoyed by the man touching him without his permission.

"I asked how you got this."Greg prompted, unfazed by Alec's behavior as he switched into doctor mode, carefully studying the small red scratch, picking up a cotton swab from the ground and dabbing at it to clear away the small amount of blood that ran from it.

"This loser I fought the other nights last attempt at a comeback."Alec replied with a dismissive shrug."A failed one at that."

"Are you thinking what..."Logan started to ask Greg as he finally removed his arm from around Max's shoulders and crouched down to get a closer look at Alec's wrist also.

"That's exactly what I'm thinking."Greg interrupted, lifting the cotton swab to reveal the now blood free wound. Studying the puckered skin surrounding the scratch.

"What? You think that's how I was infected?"Alec asked, feeling a slight claustrophobia due to all four people in the room now hovering over him."That little scratch?"

"This man you were fighting, was there anything unusual about him?"Logan questioned the younger man.

"No, not really. He did put up a better fight than most of the others, but in the end I still kicked his ass just like the rest."

"There was nothing else Alec?"Max asked, putting her hand on his shoulder.."Anything he might have said or did?"

"No Max, nothing. Other than the whole wrist grabbing thing...hey, wait a minute."Alec cut himself off, pausing thoughtfully for a moment."He did say he knew what I am, but I've had a lot of people claim that."

"I think we've found our means of infection."Greg stated, reaching over and grabbing an alcohol wipe to clean the scratch before placing a band-aid over it.

"Now all we have to do is find the man and get him to tell us what it is and who paid him to do it."Max proclaimed, standing up in preparation to depart on her mission.

"I don't think it's a good idea for you to go off playing vigilante like this Max."Logan said with a look of concern, grabbing her arm lightly and pulling her to a stop."After all, whoever did this to Alec could very well turn around and do the same to you."

"Don't worry Logan, the difference is Alec wasn't expecting it, and I am."she replied confidently.

"At least let me go with you."Logan argued.

"I have an idea, how about I go with her."Alec spoke up,"being as how I know what the fucker looks like and all."

"Not happening."Max automatically discarded his words.

"Once again, you mistake what I say for being a request, which it wasn't."Alec said, rising slowly from the bed to his feet.

"Get real, all you'll accomplish is possibly getting yourself and Max either hurt or killed."Logan stated matter-of-factly."And I won't allow you to put her in any more danger than she's already in."

"Fuck you man."Alec growled angrily at him."I'll do what I want."

"You will not endanger her life by..."Logan started to argue, but was interrupted by Max saying angrily.

"We don't have time for this shit. I'm going alone, and that's that."

"No, you're not." Logan argued, at the same time as Alec said,

"Like hell you are."

Not even bothering to argue with him further, she stalked from the room without any further words, and was in the living room putting on her jacket in preparation to leave when she heard someone come up behind her.

"Why don't you just raise your leg up and piss on me next time Logan? To mark your territory and all."she said, not having to turn around to know who was behind her.

"I don't know what you're talking about."Logan said sheepishly, pushing his glasses up on the bridge of his nose.

"Whatever."she said with a shrug, her posture showing she was still angry with him as she continued speaking,"I work better alone, and you know that, so trying to talk me out of going will be a waste of breath." Truthfully she was very pissed at not just Logan, but Alec also. After all this time they still treated her as if she was incapable of defending herself, even though she could kick both their asses if she wanted. "I'm going to jet, but keep me posted of anything new, and keep trying to find out what you can unless I can't track down the man that infected him."

"Fine, but be careful."Logan agreed after a pause, knowing it would be useless to try and talk her out of going.

"Always."she replied over her shoulder as she went over and started out the door.

"Max?"his voice stopped her before she could close the door.

"Yeah?"she answered, pausing mid-step to turn and look at him.

She would never have expected the next question he asked. If so, she wouldn't have stopped.

"Do you...have feelings for Alec?" he asked quietly.

"What?"she exclaimed in surprise."I can't believe you're even asking me that now!"

"Believe it, because I am."he stated bluntly before asking once again,"So do you?"

What happened next saved her from having to answer him, something some would have thought as a blessing in disguise, but not her.

Her mouth was open to reply when suddenly a loud yell of agony rang throughout the apartment, and both she and Logan went quickly back into the bedroom, their argument forgotten as they were greeted by the sight of Alec being held down by Joshua and Greg. His body convulsing and bucking as he gripped the cover on each side of him, eyes rolled into his head, with blood once again streaming from his nose.

TBC

Once again, sorry for the long wait between chapters, and I will try my best to update quicker next time!