A/N: hey guys... sorry this took so long to update, I honestly in no way
forgot, or gave up on this, ive just had one of those times where life just
comes up and slaps you hard in the face ya know? and yea... left me stunned
for while but I think its safe to say its all good now, and I do have a
couple of extra chapters waiting in the wings for all my fics, just gots to
find some time to post them is all.
Anyways make my day and review :O)
Out Of Breath
Chapter Three
Her head feeling like it was about to explode was the first thing to register as her brain and body slowly and painfully dragged her out of sleep. The second thing was that she was not alone. Feigning sleep for an extra few seconds, Max slowly breathed deep – she was at home, the scent of Joshua wafting in through her bedroom door, and in closer proximity, the musky male smell that could only be Alec hit her nose. For a second she felt relief, relief that he was there and that he hadn't let anything happen to her, and then, her mind waking up just that little bit more, she was horrified for pretty much the same reason. She sat upright with a start, ignoring her aching and still shaky muscles.
"Hey Maxie, slow down" She heard him say gently from the chair he had been sitting in beside her bed, and feeling the slight pressure of his hand on her shoulder she turned her head, her wide panicked brown eyes meeting his own worried green ones for a fleeting second before hers skittered away, and she began the struggle with her own limbs to get out of bed.
"Max, sit and rest for a moment will ya" Alec added, a frown creasing his features when her only response was to shrug his retaining hand off of her arm and push herself to the end of the bed. Hearing the sound of a throat being cleared the two transgenics both looked up to see Joshua standing in the doorway, huge brown eyes smiling with uncertain relief and Max looked up, giving him a small smile. Sensing the uneasiness in the room, Joshua ducked him head, his eyes following his foot as it scuffed at the floor.
"Lil' fella okay now?" he asked, meeting her eyes briefly before ducking his head again. Max took a deep breath and let it out slowly, her thoughts moving between the two boys. Her head still pounded, but the thing that worried her most was the concerned looks both boys kept sending her, she could literally feel the sympathy flowing off of them in waves and the way they looked at her, like they were sorry for her, there was no wayshe could have that, she was the One dammit, the leader, no one should be looking at her like that, she had to be strong and in charge and...
"I'm fine Josh" She said brightly, finding the biggest 'im fine' smile she could muster. Max heaved herself up to the edge of the bed and, seeing Alec twitch beside her, shot him a death glare before he could move to try to help her again, she swung her legs over the side of the bed with a huge effort stood up.
Gritting his teeth and shaking his head Alec sat back, letting her stand and watched her skeptically as she wobbled. Honestly he was just glad she was awake. She had been asleep now for over three hours, Three hours, twenty four minutes and thirty six seconds to be exact, and his worry had grown with each tick of the clock. Even now, he could see through her effort to disguise how sick she really was, her face still looked pale, her brown skin clammy and her body although having calmed down considerably while asleep still shook slightly every other second. Exchanging looks with Joshua as Max walked softly and carefully past them out of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen, Alec shook his head and sighed, then getting up he stretched his cramped muscles and followed them out.
"As I said before, it was just a seizure" Max said over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge. "Don't tell me you haven't seen plenty over the years back at manticore" she added, closing the fridge door and setting a container of milk and a glass on the bench, glancing up at Alec who nodded and winced, remembering.
Taking a seat on the other side of the bench he sat, while watching Max pour herself a drink, distractedly frowning, his green eyes clouded and unreadable.
"We used to get them when we were kids" he offered, quietly reaching out and placing Max's tryptophan pills next to where she was resting her glass. Not looking up he felt Joshua take a seat next to him and heard him grunt his agreement, and knew that he was remembering also. Frankly Alec didn't want to remember those days, had spent a good part of his adult life forgetting, but with Max just saying the word seizure sent tingles down his spine and an uneasy apprehension settled across his chest. He had only ever had one, and he was one of the last to do so. Witnessing many of his unit disappear behind the metallic doors of the med bay shaking uncontrollably had been a terrifying time for him, some had returned, some hadn't. By the time he had felt the telltale symptoms of his first seizure Manticore had trigged as to what was wrong and had researched successful treatments.
"They eventually decided on a cure, a readjustment of sorts I guess" he shrugged, looking down at his hands. "That was a long time ago though" he added, "They pretty much had it under control after our series" He shuddered and then his brow furrowed as his thoughts came back to the one fact that made his blood run cold.
"You've been having seizures the whole time you were out?" he half asked, half stated, looking up sharply to where Max stood quietly listening to the somber man infront of her. Seeing her eyes peter away from his straight gaze and her small nod he frowned and shifted uneasily, not quite knowing what to do with the protective sort of anger and the kind of helplessness he felt growing deep within him. Heaving a deep sigh he scrubbed his face with his hands, pushing everything to the edge of his mind, forcing himself to concentrate on the problem at hand.
"I know you don't think it's a good idea, but are you sure you don't want a Med Team up here just incase?" looking up again he caught Max's shake of her head, her annoyed frown causing him a brief smirk as he figured she now realized that he didn't believe her 'im alright' act. 'Takes one to know one Maxie' he thought running a hand through his already tousled hair. He also supposed he couldn't blame her. He understood her need for privacy, not wanting to show weakness was a specialty among Manticore creations, Max among the more stubborn of those. Raising his hands in an 'I give up' type gesture he looked quizzically at the silent girl infront of him. "So what do you want to do, oh fearless leader?"
Not having the energy to contribute too much of the conversation Max had just remained silent, a fact that had not gone unnoticed by both men. Upon this last comment she finished swallowing the last of her tryptophan pills,
"I for one am going to have a shower" she started, ignoring Alec's raised eyebrowed interest and placing the empty pill bottle back on the table,
"You two can get you asses back down to HQ and get on with some work" she finished, giving Alec a pointed look which he returned with an innocent smile and looking over at Joshua she gave him a reassuring smile of her own, "Ill be down soon".
Not bothering to wait for the reactions of the two boys she turned and walked gingerly in the direction of the bathroom, gritting her teeth on the pain the effort caused her. All the while she had been standing, listening to the two boys she had also been praying that the seizures she could still feel simmering below the surface would dissipate, that the milk would ease the pain. Then she had realized that Alec had known, the fact that he could see that she wasn't ok had only escalated her desire to prove that she was and she had swallowed the last of her tryptophan tablets, to help, if not force herself to get better. Staggering a little in the hallway Max reached a hand out to steady herself and closed her eyes. Now she could only hope, could only pray that the pills would be enough and that she would be back to normal after she had had a shower.
'You heard Max, gotta get back" Joshua gruffed, nudging Alecs shoulder as he passed on his way to the door. Alec remained seated, not moving as he watched Max go, his green eyes piercing her back he frowned as he watched her stumble.
"You go on ahead buddy" He mumbled just loud enough for Joshua to hear him, and reaching out, used the glass and milk Max had left to pour himself a drink. "Ill be there in a sec".
Nodding in understanding Joshua left the apartment, and Alec taking a large swig of the milk, sat back to wait....
Anyways make my day and review :O)
Out Of Breath
Chapter Three
Her head feeling like it was about to explode was the first thing to register as her brain and body slowly and painfully dragged her out of sleep. The second thing was that she was not alone. Feigning sleep for an extra few seconds, Max slowly breathed deep – she was at home, the scent of Joshua wafting in through her bedroom door, and in closer proximity, the musky male smell that could only be Alec hit her nose. For a second she felt relief, relief that he was there and that he hadn't let anything happen to her, and then, her mind waking up just that little bit more, she was horrified for pretty much the same reason. She sat upright with a start, ignoring her aching and still shaky muscles.
"Hey Maxie, slow down" She heard him say gently from the chair he had been sitting in beside her bed, and feeling the slight pressure of his hand on her shoulder she turned her head, her wide panicked brown eyes meeting his own worried green ones for a fleeting second before hers skittered away, and she began the struggle with her own limbs to get out of bed.
"Max, sit and rest for a moment will ya" Alec added, a frown creasing his features when her only response was to shrug his retaining hand off of her arm and push herself to the end of the bed. Hearing the sound of a throat being cleared the two transgenics both looked up to see Joshua standing in the doorway, huge brown eyes smiling with uncertain relief and Max looked up, giving him a small smile. Sensing the uneasiness in the room, Joshua ducked him head, his eyes following his foot as it scuffed at the floor.
"Lil' fella okay now?" he asked, meeting her eyes briefly before ducking his head again. Max took a deep breath and let it out slowly, her thoughts moving between the two boys. Her head still pounded, but the thing that worried her most was the concerned looks both boys kept sending her, she could literally feel the sympathy flowing off of them in waves and the way they looked at her, like they were sorry for her, there was no wayshe could have that, she was the One dammit, the leader, no one should be looking at her like that, she had to be strong and in charge and...
"I'm fine Josh" She said brightly, finding the biggest 'im fine' smile she could muster. Max heaved herself up to the edge of the bed and, seeing Alec twitch beside her, shot him a death glare before he could move to try to help her again, she swung her legs over the side of the bed with a huge effort stood up.
Gritting his teeth and shaking his head Alec sat back, letting her stand and watched her skeptically as she wobbled. Honestly he was just glad she was awake. She had been asleep now for over three hours, Three hours, twenty four minutes and thirty six seconds to be exact, and his worry had grown with each tick of the clock. Even now, he could see through her effort to disguise how sick she really was, her face still looked pale, her brown skin clammy and her body although having calmed down considerably while asleep still shook slightly every other second. Exchanging looks with Joshua as Max walked softly and carefully past them out of the bedroom and headed for the kitchen, Alec shook his head and sighed, then getting up he stretched his cramped muscles and followed them out.
"As I said before, it was just a seizure" Max said over her shoulder as she walked into the kitchen and headed straight for the fridge. "Don't tell me you haven't seen plenty over the years back at manticore" she added, closing the fridge door and setting a container of milk and a glass on the bench, glancing up at Alec who nodded and winced, remembering.
Taking a seat on the other side of the bench he sat, while watching Max pour herself a drink, distractedly frowning, his green eyes clouded and unreadable.
"We used to get them when we were kids" he offered, quietly reaching out and placing Max's tryptophan pills next to where she was resting her glass. Not looking up he felt Joshua take a seat next to him and heard him grunt his agreement, and knew that he was remembering also. Frankly Alec didn't want to remember those days, had spent a good part of his adult life forgetting, but with Max just saying the word seizure sent tingles down his spine and an uneasy apprehension settled across his chest. He had only ever had one, and he was one of the last to do so. Witnessing many of his unit disappear behind the metallic doors of the med bay shaking uncontrollably had been a terrifying time for him, some had returned, some hadn't. By the time he had felt the telltale symptoms of his first seizure Manticore had trigged as to what was wrong and had researched successful treatments.
"They eventually decided on a cure, a readjustment of sorts I guess" he shrugged, looking down at his hands. "That was a long time ago though" he added, "They pretty much had it under control after our series" He shuddered and then his brow furrowed as his thoughts came back to the one fact that made his blood run cold.
"You've been having seizures the whole time you were out?" he half asked, half stated, looking up sharply to where Max stood quietly listening to the somber man infront of her. Seeing her eyes peter away from his straight gaze and her small nod he frowned and shifted uneasily, not quite knowing what to do with the protective sort of anger and the kind of helplessness he felt growing deep within him. Heaving a deep sigh he scrubbed his face with his hands, pushing everything to the edge of his mind, forcing himself to concentrate on the problem at hand.
"I know you don't think it's a good idea, but are you sure you don't want a Med Team up here just incase?" looking up again he caught Max's shake of her head, her annoyed frown causing him a brief smirk as he figured she now realized that he didn't believe her 'im alright' act. 'Takes one to know one Maxie' he thought running a hand through his already tousled hair. He also supposed he couldn't blame her. He understood her need for privacy, not wanting to show weakness was a specialty among Manticore creations, Max among the more stubborn of those. Raising his hands in an 'I give up' type gesture he looked quizzically at the silent girl infront of him. "So what do you want to do, oh fearless leader?"
Not having the energy to contribute too much of the conversation Max had just remained silent, a fact that had not gone unnoticed by both men. Upon this last comment she finished swallowing the last of her tryptophan pills,
"I for one am going to have a shower" she started, ignoring Alec's raised eyebrowed interest and placing the empty pill bottle back on the table,
"You two can get you asses back down to HQ and get on with some work" she finished, giving Alec a pointed look which he returned with an innocent smile and looking over at Joshua she gave him a reassuring smile of her own, "Ill be down soon".
Not bothering to wait for the reactions of the two boys she turned and walked gingerly in the direction of the bathroom, gritting her teeth on the pain the effort caused her. All the while she had been standing, listening to the two boys she had also been praying that the seizures she could still feel simmering below the surface would dissipate, that the milk would ease the pain. Then she had realized that Alec had known, the fact that he could see that she wasn't ok had only escalated her desire to prove that she was and she had swallowed the last of her tryptophan tablets, to help, if not force herself to get better. Staggering a little in the hallway Max reached a hand out to steady herself and closed her eyes. Now she could only hope, could only pray that the pills would be enough and that she would be back to normal after she had had a shower.
'You heard Max, gotta get back" Joshua gruffed, nudging Alecs shoulder as he passed on his way to the door. Alec remained seated, not moving as he watched Max go, his green eyes piercing her back he frowned as he watched her stumble.
"You go on ahead buddy" He mumbled just loud enough for Joshua to hear him, and reaching out, used the glass and milk Max had left to pour himself a drink. "Ill be there in a sec".
Nodding in understanding Joshua left the apartment, and Alec taking a large swig of the milk, sat back to wait....