Chapter 15: Healing

Alec rode up to Brad's place and killed the engine. He was feeling much better now, but Max still seemed really weak, which stumped him. He knocked on Brad's door and was quickly ushered into his place.

"Hey Brad, thanks for doing this buddy. I knew I could count on you."

"Anytime man. What happened?" Brad asked as Alec gently placed Max on the couch.

"Ran into some trouble, that's all."

"Is she going to be alright?"

Alec ran some fingers through his hair to brush them out of his eyes. For once, his generally playful eyes expressed worry. "I don't know...I think something's wrong. We need to have someone look at her. God knows what White's done to her."

"I'll give Stacy a call."

"Stacy?" Alec asked, confused.

"197. She's a field med. She should be able to help."

Alec nodded. "Alright."

Alec went by Max and checked her pulse rate. It was still steady. He listened to her breathing; it seemed normal. He felt her forehead; it was burning.

"She has a fever; we need something to cool her down," Alec observed.

"There's ice in the fridge," Brad directed. "Stacy says she'll be here in a few minutes."

"Good." Alec went to gather some ice and came back to Max, who was now sweating. "Her temperature won't stop rising," he muttered under his breath. He placed several ice packs around her body and slowly began removing the outer layers. "She'd probably kick my ass for this later," he thought and smirked slightly.

A knock at the door signaled Stacy's arrival. Brad went to let her in.

"Stacy...Alec. Alec...Stacy." Brad quickly introduced.

"Nice to meet you," Stacy greeted. "What's the situation?"

"Long story short, we were caught by White, a crazy cult-guy bent on wiping us out, especially Max. I think he did something to her. She's burning up right now."

Stacy went to Max's side and checked a few things. "The heat emitting from her body is abnormal," she began. She opened her bag and took out a few things, including an IV drop. "She really should be at a hospital right now; they have more equipment to figure out what's wrong. I have a friend at a nearby hospital who should be able to get us a room there. I'll give him a call now. Get ready to move her."

"I'll get the car ready," Brad offered. "You just worry about getting her into the car. I'll be out front in two minutes."

"Thanks Brad."

Stacy made a call while Alec gathered any extra layers lying around. Max would want them back when she woke up. Alec carried Max while Stacy monitored the IV drip. They gently placed her into the car and headed off to the nearest hospital, which was only five minutes away.

Stacy led the way as she met up with her friend, also a transgenic who had found a job at Long Wood Hospital shortly after the siege ended. He introduced himself as 242, otherwise known as Welm. They found Max a room and gently placed her onto the bed. Welm and Stacy quickly got to work as Alec and Brad stood nearby watching.

After some time, with still no news as to Max's status, Alec stepped out of the room to find some bandages to wrap his own wounds. He had not noticed them until now.

When he returned, it was morning already, and Stacy had a frown on her face as she examined some papers held in a manilla folder.

"Don't tell me you have bad news..." Alec murmured quietly.

"Not exactly...but I don't exactly have good news either. We've managed to bring her overall body temperature down through ice packs, but it's only by a one or two degrees. I've taken some blood samples and whatever he did to her, I've never seen it before."

"What do you mean?"

"There's isotopes circulating in her body emitting low levels of radiation. That's partially causing a rise in her body temperature, but other than that, it appears harmless. Then...there's a handful of enzymes circulating in her blood that are meant to repair or break down useless pieces of DNA. Finally, there's a virus, which appears to be dormant, circulating in her bloodstream. I've never seen any other transgenic with so many extra components swimming around in the bloodstream."

"The virus is a present from Manticore," Alec explained. "The isotopes and enzymes must be from White. He knocked me out too, and I'm not sure if he put it in my system too, but I was out for a while, and normal gases don't tend to knock us out..."

"Let me take a blood sample from you as well and see if we can figure out what is going on," Stacy said as she prepared to take some blood from Alec. "In the mean time, we're working on filtering out some of the isotopes to see if it will help bring down her body temperature. Either way, the isotopes will eventually lose their energy; at the rate they're going, it'll only be a few hours more."

Welm was at Max's side preparing to filter the isotopes out. "Would one of you mind donating some blood to prevent blood loss?" Welm asked.

"I'll do it," Brad said, before Alec could offer. "You're hurt, Alec. You need rest if you want to heal properly. You can't afford to lose anymore blood."

Alec shrugged but saw the truth behind Brad's words. If White planned on attacking again, he would need to be able to be by Max's side...he was the only one left to protect her. It was then that the reality of the situation dawned on him. Logan was dead. Joshua was dead as well. Max...he didn't even know if Max would make it. His fist clenched tightly as anger and rage coursed through his body. He had not registered the severity of what had happened yet, and even now, his mind was still in denial that his closest associates were gone. White would pay for what he did, he vowed.

White picked up the tracking device the next morning, pleased to see that the isotopes were working perfectly. The low levels of radiation would be picked up by this handy device while accelerating the work of the Manticle. It was perfect. He cursed when he realized 494 had taken 452 to a hospital – of all places! How the hell would he get to them now without drawing a crowd?

He made a quick phone call so that he would have some back up before entering the building to find 452.

Stacy returned to the room with Alec's blood work. "You have the enzymes circulating in your body as well, but they don't seem to be very active. I took a closer look at the enzymes and they seem to be targeted for an area in the human DNA that's generally known to contain junk DNA, which may explain why it's not affecting you much. Upon first encounter, it breaks down the surrounding DNA strings in order to get to the targeted strand. This may weaken you for a bit, but then it repairs those surrounding strands once it reaches it target, so you feel better after some time. It basically repairs any junk DNA your body has. If your DNA is fine, then it won't need any repairing. I also found traces of a very strong sedative, which you may have inhaled, causing your period of unconsciousness."

Alec nodded in understanding. "I once heard Max say that her DNA was different; Sandeman had made her different," he recalled. "She doesn't have any junk DNA...so those enzymes must be trying to repair those DNA strands, since they think it's not normal."

Stacy nodded. "That's exactly what's happening. These enzymes are trying to 'repair' these strands by breaking them down and restoring it to a standard piece of junk DNA."

Alec suddenly looked worried. He knew Max's DNA was somehow connected to White and his breeding cult buddies, but he wasn't sure how. He also knew by now after meeting CJ and the Phalanx, as well as hearing White's rambles here and there during their previous encounters that Max was their ultimate enemy due to her genetic make-up. If his understanding of biology was correct, White had somehow found a way to destroy the very thing that made her special. "Is it working?" Alec suddenly asked, concerned.

Stacy looked up at him, noticing the look on his face. "Somewhat." She looked at her papers again. "Her body's naturally fighting it. It's quite amazing."

Alec let out a sigh of relief and smiled. "She's always a fighter."

"After we filter out the isotopes, we're going to give her something to destroy those enzymes, permitting she can hold out long enough."

"What do you mean hold out long enough?!" Alec asked, trying to suppress the panic and surprise in his voice.

"The enzymes...they're breaking down the DNA, attempting to fix them, but her body keeps fighting by fixing them back. It's like a tug of war where neither side is dominant. It's what is keeping her body very weak right now. While the isotopes are in her system, the enzymes seem to be working even better, which is why we have to remove as many of the isotopes as we can, but it's not easy."

Alec brought his hands to his head and cursed White under his breath. Stacy's phone rang, so she left the room to take the call. Welm finished the filtering the isotopes as best as he could and was now putting away the equipment. Brad came and sat down next to Alec. "It's going to be ok, Alec. How come you never told me how pretty Max was? And you had her as your breeding partner – talk about lucky."

Alec looked at Brad and forced a smile. "She was already taken. Refused to do anything with me," he admitted.

Brad looked surprised. "But you told Renfro—hell, you made it sound like you two had a great time."

Alec shrugged. "Why not? It's what she wanted to hear."

Brad laughed quietly now. "Guess I didn't know you that well at all. I mean, Manticore presented us guys with the perfect reason to get busy with the girls. If you told Renfro the truth, she might have changed her mind after some time in psy-ops."

Alec looked at Brad now, his eyes rather dark. "Manticore's breeding program wasn't exactly for our benefit, Brad. They were just using us with hopes of getting more super-soldier babies. Everything they did was to further their agendas. Anything that benefited us was just a plus."

Brad was taken aback, surprised by Alec's sudden change in mood. He then smirked, "You like her, don't you?"

Alec looked at Brad, surprised. "W-What?! What makes you think that? We're just good friends."

Brad laughed now. "Sure sure." He got up and stretched. "You think you'll be ok for now? I was hoping to catch some sleep before work."

Alec nodded numbly, his mind still on the words Brad had just said. "She's stabilized for now, so I think we'll be ok. Thanks for helping out Brad. I really appreciate it."

"No problem. Call me when you need a ride back."

Stacy came back in and regrettably informed Alec that someone else needed help right now, but Welm was working on a solution to destroy the enzymes. She would be back to check on Max's condition later on in the day.

Alec nodded warily. He too needed rest. His thoughts once again drifted back to the conversation he had with Brad. He didn't realize how much his words concerning Manticore mirrored Max's when they first met until he reviewed their conversation. She had rubbed off on him, without him knowing it. He sighed as he silently admitted to himself that she was indeed hot, and her personality was one he could admire. Many men could easily fall for someone like Max, but he knew from the start that Max had already chosen, and they would never be together, so he accepted her friendship, which he valued just the same. They had both saved each other from life-death situations more times than either could count. Although she never thought him to be the most reliable person, he knew she could always count on her. With both Joshua and Logan gone, the only two people she trusted more than him, Alec knew she would need someone to back her up, and he knew then that he had to be that person. He would have to prove himself to be more reliable than in the past.

He was snapped out of his thoughts when Welm came in and brought him a solution. "This should do the trick. Give this to Max about two hours from now. The isotopes should be completely inactive by then. She should start feeling better shortly after you administer it. I have some other patients to check up on, but feel free to find me if you need anything."

Alec nodded and watched Welm leave before turning his attention back to Max. She looked so peaceful in her unconscious state. He smiled as he realized that everything would be ok.

...that was, until a familiar voice spoke, "Don't move 494."