Dog Will Have His Day
Summary: Alec is trying to catch the man who made him hurt Max, but he has to save her first... MA. Sequel to Loose the Hounds and Dogs of War.
A huuuuge thank you to those of you who have reviewed. You're the reason for another chapter today...
So, last chapter, Alec had just walked in on Kincaid... On we go.
Chapter Seven
"You can't kill her if you're already dead," Alec said coldly. His finger tightened on the trigger, aching to end the man who had caused so much pain and hardship, but in the back of his mind he remembered Max's worried expression, her jittery reactions, and the doctors saying they didn't know what she'd been given.
"Go ahead and shoot," Kincaid replied, a smug expression on his face that made Alec want to kill him on general principle. "Max won't thank you for it."
Alec took a measured breath and eased off the trigger, setting his finger back on the guard. "What did your people give her?"
"Something that will ensure you cooperate."
Alec's eyes narrowed. "Cooperate with what?"
"We'll get to that." Kincaid uncrossed his legs and stood in one smooth movement. "Why don't you call Terminal City and check on her?"
"What?"
"Check on her," Kincaid said again. "I can wait," he added offhandedly.
Alec hesitated, his instincts warring inside of him. Half of him itched to put a bullet in Kincaid, but the other half was desperate to check on Max. Kincaid looked too smug, too sure that he had Alec where he wanted him. Finally, he came to a decision. He would speak to Max and reassure himself that she was all right, and then he would shoot Kincaid. It was a win-win.
"Slick?" Alec called and waited for the other man to step up beside him. "Shoot him if he moves."
Alec backed into the hallway and pulled his cell phone out of his pocket. He dialed Command, and silently prayed it would be Max who answered.
"Alec?"
Alec's stomach immediately started churning with dread. It was Mole and he'd used Alec's name. He only did that when the crap had hit the fan.
"Yeah. Is Max-"
"It's bad. Get your ass back here. Make it soon." Mole didn't bother to elaborate, just hung up.
Alec stalked back into the room and once again had to fight the urge to just shoot Kincaid. "What have you done?" he demanded.
"Don't worry," Kincaid replied blithely. "I'm sure we can come to some sort of arrangement."
"If you want the UN spy back-"
Again Kincaid cut him off. "Kill him. Interrogate him. I don't care," he said with complete disregard for his fellow Familiar. "Getting caught once is bad luck. Twice? That is simply… bad breeding. That is unforgiveable."
"Then what-"
"You should go see Max. Make sure you fully appreciate the situation you're in. When you do, call this number." He held out a card with a phone number scrawled on it. He pushed past Alec and walked toward the front door of the apartment, casually stepping over the bodies of his fallen comrades.
Alec gritted his teeth. "Let's go."
Alec strode through the gates, a man on a mission. "Where is she?" he demanded, not even pausing in his stride.
"Your place," the guard at the gate called.
Alec broke into a run, not bothering to play it cool. This was too much, too many disasters in too short a time. The hours on the plane had been an interminable torture. His heart was clamoring in his chest, terror pushing him almost to the point of panic. One would expect at a certain point that he would be incapable of reacting to yet another catastrophe. A body only had so much adrenaline, and yet where Max was concerned, it didn't matter.
Alec blurred into the apartment building, ignoring his aching, over-stressed body as he pounded up the stairs. There were guards outside the door, Fred and Barney, a pair of wolves. Their eyes widened as they realized Alec was approaching and Fred held up a hand to stop him.
"You can't go in!" he said at a stage whisper.
"Why not?" Alec would have bellowed if he hadn't been so winded. His abdomen was on fire and he had to wrap an arm around his middle, refusing to look down for fear of seeing blood appearing through the dressings he knew were still in place.
"Because if you go barging in there you'll hurt her," Fred whispered.
Alec asked at the same volume, "Why are we whispering?"
"We don't know what's wrong with her, but it's like she's on overload. All of her senses have gone haywire. Too much light, too much sound…"
"Out of the way," he ordered, still whispering, and both transgenic guards obeyed immediately.
Alec stepped to the door, and carefully opened it. Inside it was almost pitch black, with just a hint of light peeking around the edges of the blinds. He heard a sound that was close to a whimper and froze.
"Close the door," Barney hissed, and Alec realized he was letting too much light into the room. He closed the door and after a few seconds his eyes adjusted to the darkness.
Max was standing in the middle of the room, completely naked, her arms held out slightly away from her body. Alec moved as soundlessly as he could toward her. When he was near enough, he saw that her eyes were closed and her head was turned away from the windows.
Normally, the sight of a naked Max in the middle of their apartment would have filled him with all sorts of exciting ideas, none of them fit for polite company, but this… This was like a scene out of a nightmare. He knew something was wrong and yet he couldn't look away.
Max was clearly exhausted. There were dark circles under her eyes, and she was trembling with the effort to stay upright and immobile.
"Max?" he whispered faintly.
She winced, and Alec instinctively reached out toward her, anxious to soothe her.
"Don't touch me," she begged, so quietly he almost didn't hear. Alec let his hands fall, although he wanted desperately to wrap his arms around her.
"What is it?" he asked and this time her face twisted in pain at the sound of his voice.
"Hurts," was all she said.
"What?"
"Everything."
They'd said it was like she was on overload. The light was too bright, sounds were too loud. She must have taken off her clothes because the sensation was too much for her to bear. She was shaking like a leaf, holding her arms away from her body as if even that amount of touch, or pressure was more than she could take.
"What happened?" he asked. He hated to hurt her, but he had to know.
"Just got worse until I couldn't take it," she said on a breath.
He remembered now the wince when he'd set his hand at her back, how his beard had scraped her cheek. He remembered how she'd reacted when he'd taken her arm.
"I'm going to fix this," he promised.
"How?"
Her voice was a hushed, agony-filled plea for mercy and Alec knew he had to do something to alleviate the pain. It would take time to make this right and he couldn't bear for her to be in such torment while he worked.
"I'm sorry, baby."
He hit her. It was barely a love tap, but in the state she was in, it was enough to send her immediately into unconsciousness. Her shaking body sagged, but Alec caught her before she hit the floor. He gently lifted her in his arms, ignoring the strain on his abdominal muscles, yet wincing along with her when she moaned even in her sleep.
As always, he remarked at how light she was, so at odds with how he felt about her. Max was so full of life, so passionate, so fierce, that it seemed impossible that all of that fire and energy were in this one slip of a girl. Light as she was, as Alec carried her to their bed, he felt like he was carrying the weight of the world, at the very least, his world.
Alec lay her down and arranged her in the bed, but did not pull a cover over her, guessing the added friction would hurt her. Eventually, the nerves on the underside of her body would deaden with the constant pressure and they wouldn't hurt her anymore. He could only hope her exhaustion and overwrought system would keep her asleep.
Alec strode to the door, new purpose in his step. He walked out, closed the door behind him and stood there for a moment between the two guards, Fred and Barney. They were hand-picked men, loyal to him and to Max, and some of Max's usual guards whenever there was trouble.
Right now... they were in trouble. They had insurrection breeding in the ranks, and with Max down, again, even if it had happened because she was defending the rest of them, things were going to get ugly, and fast, if their disastrous luck held. Alec didn't have time for this. He needed to rip Kincaid's lungs out... right after he told him how to fix Max. In the meantime, however, Alec had to keep Max safe from their own people.
"No one in or out. Is that understood?"
"Yes, sir," they said in chorus.
"Anyone make a play while I was gone?"
"Sig is still nosing around, seeing if he can drum up support," Fred answered gravely.
Barney added, "He's stepped it up since Max got sick again."
Alec nodded his understanding. "He getting anywhere?"
"He has a few people, mostly from his old unit." Fred grinned, flashing his wolf-like canines. "But most of us know he's an ass."
"Worse, he has a temper, like... eat-his-own-young kind of temper," Barney observed. "If he takes over, the rest of us will desert like rats on a sinking ship. He'll get us all killed, if he doesn't do it himself for insubordination."
Alec gritted his teeth and pulled the card that Kincaid had given him out of his pocket. "Watch Max."
"Yes, sir," they once again chorused.
"If Sig comes anywhere near her," Alec's voice was barely a growl, "kill him."
"With pleasure," Fred said, teeth flashing. "We've got old business I'd love to settle."
Alec looked down at the card. "I've got to make a call."
More soon... Either tomorrow or Monday depending on my motivation...