Because it took me ages to update chapter 71, here is already chapter 72!
I must thank my beta OpenPervert-Chan for her help. Now she's too busy to edit my texts, so I officially say goodbye to her and thank her for her corrections on the last 16 chapters.
Hurry up
Lucas didn't give Alexandra any time to get out of the car. The second they arrived at the colony, he took her from the car and carried her into the infirmary. She had repeated many times that she could walk on her own but he had not cared. His goal was to bring her to the safest place he knew and to save her.
Once he entered the infirmary, Dr. Shannon spotted him immediately and worry instantly invaded her when she realized who he was holding in his arms. Alexandra contested a lot all the way to the bedroom where Elisabeth started to exam her.
"Please Lucas. Just go. I don't want you to see me like this," she grimaced as Elisabeth helped her to put a hospital gown on.
"I'll stay with you. End of discussion."
"I don't feel well," she suddenly breathed out as the room started to spin in her eyes.
"Lay down," Elisabeth ordered her. Alexandra had difficulty to inhale and her vision started to blur. "Alex? Alex? Talk to me!"
But Alexandra couldn't. She wanted to but it was like her jaw was tightened too much. Her eyes were blankly staring at the ceiling. Her head was moving quickly from side to side. The movement fastened and suddenly all of her body started shaking violently.
Lucas stayed speechless as panic settled over him like a dark cloud. Dr Shannon kept calm and grabbed a syringe quickly, injecting a strong medicine to calm the convulsions. Alexandra's quivers slowed down and soon she was able to breathe properly.
"Alex?"
"Yeah, that's me," she joked in a croaky voice when she saw Lucas' concerned face staring at her.
"That's not funny," he said with a smile. It was not something he wanted to joke about. Yet, he couldn't suppress this warm sensation he always had when she would smile at him, leading him to smile too.
"If I can't have fun now, when am I going to have some?"
"You're gonna be fine," Lucas swore, his hand gently stroking her hair. He could feel the heat of the fever on her burning skin.
"The probabilities are thin."
"And how thin do you think they were to walk into a portal almost 2 years ago? How thin to meet me in that jungle? How thin to survive all of this? I believe we have the probabilities on our side. I want you to believe it too."
"I have so many things to tell you and now I'm running out of time to say it right."
"You'll have plenty of time to tell me later."
"No, Lucas, please, I need…"
"Alex, no," he stopped her. "You stay calm, you have some rest and then we'll talk."
Alexandra felt frustrated that he didn't want to listen to her. She had very important things to tell him. She needed to tell him those things. As she could see he was determined not to waste time listening to her, she walked out on her idea and found another plan. She would find a way.
"If I'm not here anymore, I want you to be as strong as you can be. I know you can do that. Promise me you'll do it. Swear it," she begged. Lucas tilted his forehead down to rest against hers, his eyes shut, and sighed.
"You're killing me," he whispered in a tone Alexandra wasn't able to define. Anger? Sadness? She couldn't be sure and actually, she didn't want to know. She put her hands on his cheeks and placed his face in front of her.
"I hope not," she grinned, her eyes sparkling with mischief. The fact that he hadn't swear he would not do anything reckless if she was gone didn't stay unnoticed. Yet, she didn't want him to leave gloomy. He looked at her and a smile started to spread on his face, his beautiful green eyes full of laughter.
"You're mad," he teased her.
"That's more like me," she beamed before kissing him tenderly. "I'm madly in love with you."
"So am I," he swore against her lips, pouring all the love he had for her into his kiss.
"Lucas, I love you just the way you are, you know that right? Never forget it. You are perfect. Never change. Stay true. I'm proud of who you are."
Her confession made his heart clenched. How could he let her die after that?
"Do you trust me?" He asked her very seriously. She looked straight in his eyes.
"Yes," she answered quickly without thinking. She was sure. She had always been.
"You're not going to die."
"Okay," she answered, but her voice was blank, betraying her doubts.
"Alex, I need you to believe I can do this," he pleaded her.
"I do. I do believe you Lucas," she stated, her eyes locked into his, proving to him that she trusted him. "Tell me you love me."
"I love you Alex. I really do." He rested his hand on her cheek and paused, then asked. "Do you love me?"
"I love you Lucas. I will always love you." He pressed his lips against hers, kissing her as if it was his last. "I got to go," he sighed before standing up and going to the door.
"Lucas… Be careful, would you?" Lucas nodded his head solemnly and left the room.
Damon was waiting for him outside. Lucas looked at him and tilted his head silently in the direction of a room located a little further away. Damon moved his head slightly to confirm that he had understood and followed him without a word into the room. Lucas closed the door behind them and talked immediately once he was sure they were alone.
"Damon, I don't like you and you don't like me. I think we both agreed on that a long time ago. But here, it's about Alex. And if there is one thing we have in common is our desire to keep her alive, right?"
"Right."
"Alex trusts you, so I believe I have to trust her on this. I need someone to explain my plan to and I guess that you're not as stupid as you look."
"Should I feel insulted?" Damon frowned.
"If I wanted to insult you I would've referred to the so many flaws you've got, like how useless you can be, how normal, pathetic, incompetent and insignificant you are."
"Maybe I should have felt flattered after all," he grimaced. "Yet, I can see that you are asking me to help you. I must be a little bit competent after all," he mocked him.
"Well, that's what Alexandra thinks. She sees a lot of goodness in people that don't seem worth it.
"You know how to ask for help, don't you?" Damon smirked.
"Can I trust you?" Lucas asked him seriously.
"Can I trust you?" Damon replied earnestly.
"You don't need to trust me. But you can trust my plan to be the best. Can I trust you not to tell anyone? Not my father or Alex?"
"Of course you can. I think we better keep this secret so it won't be compromised. The less people to know about it, the more efficient we are going to be."
"See, on this point, I have to agree with you. You might be a bit clever in the end," Lucas taunted. "My plan is to interfere as little as possible with the time. The world is a really fragile place especially when it comes to time fractures. I'm going to find Sean in the future and ask him to work on the cure before Alexandra is even exposed to the radiation. It will give him more time to succeed. Alex said he needed something like two weeks to finish it. I'll give him a month."
"How are you going to do that?" Damon asked eagerly.
"Here's the trick. With the data Alex brought back with her from 2150, it's now very easy to create a portal. I'm gonna create 3 of them, every portal will be unique, almost undetectable. I'm gonna use the first one to go to the future and shut it once I'm there. I'll use another one to come back with almost the same parameters, except I'll come back exactly 5 minutes after, so I won't interfere with the first time travel. I'll give the same unique device to Sean. He will only have to use it when he's ready and he should arrive 5 minutes after me. For you, it will be like we just left. For me, it might be few days, a week, maybe more. For him, a month. But I need you to stay where the portal will be. I need someone to watch my back, just in case. Can you do that?"
"I'll do it. For Alex," Damon replied firmly. Lucas seemed to be deliberating something in his head and eventually talked again.
"If something goes wrong, if I'm not back after 5 minutes, you call for reinforcements," Lucas said gravely. Damon didn't joke this time, noticing how serious Lucas was. "If I don't come back… Then I'll count on you to protect her." It was horrible for Lucas to ask Damon such a favor but he knew at least Damon would do whatever it cost to keep her alive.
"I'd give my life for her, you know it. You can count on me."
"Good. Meet me at the gate tomorrow at noon. We'll drive to a safe place."
"Wait. I have one question. Why aren't you going just after Alex left so you would be sure you don't meet her and Sean will still have the time he needs to finish the cure."
"No, I can't do that. It's too risky. We don't know what happened after Alexandra arrived. There are big probabilities that her father has questioned Sean, or worse, killed him… Gate, tomorrow at noon?"
"Ok, I'll be there," Damon shook his head in agreement.
They were leaving the room when they saw doctors running in and out of Alexandra's bedroom. They ran to it to find Alexandra convulsing again. In the chaos of the scene, Lucas ran to her and seized her arms to restrain her movements.
"Alex!"
"Han…"
"What?"
"Han… You… Han…" She babbled incoherently.
"Hon?"
"Hannah…"
"Hannah? Who's Hannah?"
"Sauve-la!" She suddenly said in French, her eyes wide opened as if she was awake.
"What? Alex? Alex, I don't speak French! Alex?"
"Fais-le! Promets-le!"
"Hey, sweetheart! Hey! Alex, talk to me. I don't understand."
"Il faut la sauver, la sauver… Hannah," he heard her mumbling. All of a sudden, she fainted in Lucas' arms.
"What's going on? Doctor Shannon! DOCTOR SHANNON!" Lucas shouted, suddenly uncontrollable.
She was moving her head from side to side, moaning like she was in pain, causing Lucas' heart to race in anguish. Tears were running down her cheeks while she was grimacing and mumbling inaudible things. All of a sudden, she coughed blood and her whole body started quivering again.
"She's convulsing again!" Dr. Shannon shouted to the nurses that were with her. This time, Elisabeth had no other choice than to definitively stop Alexandra's convulsion. "Nurse Ogawa, sedation!" She hollered. The woman handed her a syringe that she grasped before plunging the needle into Alexandra's arm.
The shaking stopped in an instant. Lucas felt Alexandra's body soften under his hands and terror caught him. Was she dead?
"Alex! Wake up!" Lucas called vigorously, rocking her violently.
"Lucas, she's in a coma," Elisabeth stopped him, grabbing his arms tightly.
Alexandra's last words were echoing in Lucas' head. For a moment, the horror of Alexandra leaving him seemed a reality. Every breath he brought in hurt him, tearing a hole deeper in his chest.
"How can this be? It's only 47 days! She was supposed to have more time!" He said forcefully.
"I'm sorry Lucas. You know as much as me that this is not the kind of thing we can work out precisely," she calmed him. "She left this for you," Elisabeth said, holding him a plex.
Lucas made a strange face when he turned it on. An image was lighting up, indicating that a video had been recorded. Lucas stared at it, hesitating. What should he do? Watch it now or wait to watch it later? He wanted to wait, but he couldn't. He needed to see her awake and alive one last time.
He walked to the corner of the room, kneeled down and turned the video on. A small grin appeared on his face when Alexandra's blue eyes appeared on the screen. They were bright and shiny because of the fever, but it was obvious there was something more in them. Mischief. That was mischief and that was exactly her.
'Lucas, my dear love, my soul mate. I know I have not been very nice to you lately. I really don't want you to think that I wanted to push you away. You're the one that I've kept the closest. Because you're the closest person I have. The only one I want to be that close with. You're my better half.'
Lucas felt a tear escape from the corner of his eye. Her better half, her soul mates. She meant so much to him and only now he understood that he meant the same to her.
"Lucas, there is a leader in you. You'll succeed in everything you'll undertake. I know it. I have no worries about that. You can be proud of who you are, but… don't brag too much. You know how much it irritates people,' she smiled.
Lucas' heart clenched at her words. She meant it and that was exactly why he loved her. She was strong, determined to do what was good, even if it meant she had to die. It comforted him in his first idea. He would follow his own plan.
'If your plan doesn't work… If you don't come back with me... If you don't save me… Please, promise me you'll move on. Don't frown, I can see you from here! Don't think I don't know what you're thinking right now. I don't want you to even think about that. You can live without me. You can,' she scolded him gently. 'Don't do anything stupid like dying. If I don't survive this, I want you to live, to enjoy your life as much as possible. I want you to start a brand new life, a long and happy life. I want you to do it, because I love you. And you'll do it, because you love me. Never forget how much you count for me. You'll stay forever here,' she confessed, pointing her index finger to her heart. "Forever," she insisted one last time. Then the video froze on her, her finger still pointing to her heart.
Lucas' eyes were stuck on the screen for few minutes now, observing the last image of the one he loved, when Elisabeth walked to him. Lucas tilted his head up to glance at Elisabeth, then his eyes darted to Alexandra.
"She won't wake up, not on her own… I placed her in ice so the fever doesn't burn her brain, but it's only temporarily. You need to find this cure Lucas, you have to."
Lucas stopped staring at Alexandra's almost lifeless body at her last sentence and looked intensely at the woman. He didn't know how, but he was sure she knew. She knew all of his plan and was granting him to do it. He nodded and stepped to Alexandra. He needed to feel her. He needed to hear her. He needed her to stay alive. He simply needed her.
"How far would you go for love?" Lucas heard Elisabeth ask him from behind. He looked one last time at Alexandra, pressed a deep kiss on her forehead and turned to meet Dr. Shannon's concerned gaze.
"The farthest," he responded very seriously.
"Then go," she ordered him firmly.
The fear that had been fueling him before was still there, but a wall of determination had suddenly come down out of nowhere and blocked it off. Lucas was determined to follow his own plan. He had lied to Alexandra but this time he didn't care. He was going to the future, but not to save her in that future, he would save her in the past, their actual present.
He would go and find Sean before she got infected. He would find him and convince him to work on a cure before she was infected. It was a risk he was willing to take, he knew it could also not work, but he had no choice. If he wanted to save the one he loved, he had to stick to this plan. He was a genius, it would work. Lucas had been racking his mind for hours. There was no other solution. His theory could only be right, it had to be. The idea had been at the back of his mind for some time. Now, he had no other choice. Her life was depending on him.
Lucas glanced at Damon who had stayed at the door, determined. Damon didn't say a single word and just nodded to Lucas, his jaw clenched tightly. He knew how dangerous this mission was and how important the results were. For the first time, Damon had to believe in Lucas' ingenuity and for once, he was willing to trust his abilities. He had no other choice than leave his best friend's life in Lucas' hands.
Lucas walked outside the room, left the infirmary, his visage emotionless, Damon following him silently like a shadow. Ten minutes later, they both left the colony, the vehicle laden with the three portals. Thirty minutes after, in the middle of the jungle, Lucas stopped the rhino. Fifteen minutes later, everything was ready. There was no turning back.
Damon nodded solemnly to Lucas who nodded in response. It was time. Lucas' grip tightened around Alexandra's blood sample he had in his pocket and he walked into the portal, ready for his mission.
The second he was gone, the second Damon's walkie-talkie emitted a sound.
"Is he gone?" The Commander's voice asked.
"Yes, Sir."
"Good. Let me know when he comes back. I'll talk to you soon."
"Sir?"
"Yes, Lieutenant?"
"I still don't understand. Why did you not want him to know that you agreed with him?"
"Because I know my son. He always works better on his own."
Tick-tock tick-tock the clock is on for Lucas! Be careful dear future, Lucas Taylor is coming for you!
Feel the music, feel the story
Lucas' part
"They don't own me. I'm not a piece in their game. Can't control me. They're the only ones to be blamed. I'll never breakdown. I won't give up this fight. I'll give them nothing. Nothing Nothing. Just one kiss and I will be hooked to her fire. Her flames are surrounding me now. As we watch as they light up the sky. We must stand up and fight. Cause this love is not a game to me. We'll survive. And start an uprising. You can ignite. Stand and fight. Don't cave in. So Let the Games begin. Notice me cause I've been here all along. I've been waiting. Since you sang me your song. It's our moment to turn things around. And show them something. With nothing, With nothing. And now our star-crossed love has materialized. We've locked our fate right here, right now. […] She doesn't know the effect she can have. No she doesn't know the effect she can have." Girl Of Fire - Arshad
Alex's part
"I'm bleeding out. So if the last thing that I do is to bring you down, I'll bleed out for you. So I bare my skin and I count my sins, and I close my eyes, and I take it in, and I'm bleeding out, I'm bleeding out for you. When the day has come that I've lost my way around, and the seasons stop and hide beneath the ground. When the sky turns gray and everything is screaming, I will reach inside just to find my heart is beating. You tell me to hold on, oh you tell me to hold on, but innocence is gone and what was right is wrong. 'Cause I'm bleeding out […] When the hour is nigh, and hopelessness is sinking in, and the wolves all cry to fill the night with hollering. When your eyes are red, and emptiness is all you know, with the darkness fed, I will be your scarecrow." Bleeding out - Imagine Dragons
