Rating: PG 13
Disclaimer: Not mine. James Cameron et al. No money being made.
All other notes in previous parts.
Author: It's been a real long time since I lasted posted chapters of this (for reasons I'll explain at the end) so why not go back to where it all strated and refresh your memories by read all other chapters before this one. Just a tip.
Today 'They' Won the Battle Part 11
by Rhasa
"You should get some sleep," Mole's voice called softly from the doorway.
Alec didn't bother turning around to face him. "Can't sleep," he said.
"You look like Hell," Mole said frankly. "I'm bettin' you feel like Hell too."
"I'm fine."
"Are you?" Mole pressed.
"No," Alec admitted with a small sad chuckle.
Mole nodded silently to himself and moved to take a seat next to the
troubled X5. The infirmary didn't have much in the way of furniture, so Mole found himself pulling a crate up to Alec's side.
For the first time in a long while, Alec noticed the quietness that
surrounded him and wondered how long he had been sitting there. He continued to stare straight ahead, but after a few more moments of uncomfortable silence, he sighed heavily and turned to his friend. "I can't close my eyes," he said softly as a tightness suddenly took hold of his throat, choking his words.
"Whenever I do, I see her lying there...broken...bleeding. I see that look of pain and... fear...in her eyes... That look she gave me right before she closed them..." Alec looked down, before raising his eyes to Mole's. "I don't want to see her like that," he whispered.
Something in the X5's eyes tugged at Mole's heart. The lizardman had never claimed he knew much about emotions but he knew enough to know that his friend was hurting bad. Finding Max in the tunnels the way they did - seeing the fear on Alec's face – affected him a lot more than he would ever let on.
"Alec.... I'm sorry," her pained voice cried. "I couldn't save him."
Alec struggled to breathe when he heard those words. He took in
huge wrenching breaths, but felt himself suffocating despite of them. A part of his brain had fought earnestly against the panic that rose up
inside of him as everything before him began to sway; while another part tried to rationalise that there was nothing really wrong. The dust, from the last exploding mortar shell that had exploded close by, had settled long ago.
If it had not have been for Mole's gruff voice shouting, his barked "Help me!" then Alec doubted if he would have roused from his stupor. He had looked ahead towards Mole who was bending
over in front of him, putting all of his strength and will power into moving the large concrete slab that blocked their way and immediately went into action.
And then he had cried "Hang on, Max," as he finally came to his senses and took three steps forward, placed a hand under one corner of the slab, and looked down into her face.
"Alec," cried a soft voice from underneathe the slab.
"Hang on, Max," he had said again in a strained voice as he put all of his strength into helping Mole lift the seemingly immovable slab.
They had only managed to move it a few centimetres before Max let out a shrieking cry of pain which forced them to release their grip.
"We need Joshua." Mole said. "He could move this."
"White took him," came a voice from the surrounding darkness of the
collapsed tunnel.
Alec turned and noticed for the first time a shaken Gem standing before him. He glanced quickly to the buddle in her arms, saw it move slightly and immediately knew that at least Eve was all right. "Took him? Whaddya mean took him?" Alec asked.
"They had tasers," she said.
"But Joshua is the strongest one of us all," Alec said in disbelief.
"He couldn't fight back," she sobbed.
"Why?" Alec asked. "Why, Gem?"
"Alec..." she choked through sobs.
"Gem? What aren't you telling me?"
"Joshua, couldn't fight back, because... because he had Jed in his arms."
"Alec... I'm sorry," Max' voice cried again. "I couldn't save him."
Looking down at Max, who now lay still before them, too pale for anyone's liking, Mole had to hand it to her. There she had been, most likely dying, and she was worrying about a kid. Alec's kid. To the lizard man that said something about humans. Just what it said, Mole was still trying to figure out.
"How's she doing?" Mole asked, as a way of making conversation, his concern dragging Alec out of his memories.
"She'll need another transfusion," Alec replied solemly
"How many does that make?"
"It will be her third. Kyra says she's still bleeding internally. The rod
she was impaled on... did dama-...damage to her liver," Alec stuttered.
Mole knew it was worse than that. He had asked Kyra for the straight up just before he had sought out his friend. Couldn't say he was all that surprised to hear the diagnosis given the state she had been in when they had found her.
Collapsed lung.
Six broken ribs.
Massive blood loss.
Vital organ damage best possible case.
Probable spinal damage worst possible case.
Alec sighed. "Without the proper medical equipment we just don't know how bad it is. Kyra's hoping that her X5 healing properties are enough to pull her through."
Mole simply nodded, grateful that for now Kyra had been sugarcoating Max's condition somewhat for Alec. After being the one to give Max those two transfusions, Mole didn't know how much more Alec could take.
"Promise me something, Mole," Alec asked in a hushed tone.
"What's that?"
Alec pinned him with a glare. "That you'll help me hunt that bastard
White down and kill the son-of-a-bitch."
Mole chuckled. "What? You think you'd need to ask me special?"
"No," Alec admitted, in a tired but grateful voice.
Mole nodded.
"Do you think she'll make it?" Alec asked, clearly not wanting to.
"She's tough," Mole replied.
"She is," Alec agreed quietly. "I think she's the toughest person I know."
Mole looked over at his friend. "Is that why you love her?"
"Does it show?"
"Only on your face since the very first time I met you," Mole told him.
"She's not my type, you know," Alec announced.
"That's funny. I thought anything in a skirt was your type."
Mole's remark got a small smile out of his friend. "Have you ever seen Max wear a skirt?"
"You know what I mean," Mole chuffed.
"God.... She infuriates me, you know."
Mole grinned. "Ah, then it must be love.... "Alec threw him a look. "Well at least that's what I'm told."
"She's annoying and she nags and she has to be right all the time and-"
Mole looked at him. "And you're sitting here tearing yourself up because although you think you should be out there looking for your son you're sitting here, with her."
"I can't leave her right now."
"I know." Mole said, surprising himself.
He felt he really did understand Alec's choice. It had been a hard one. One of those classic connundrums, go with your heart – the one that wanted to tear after White, rescue his son and Joshua, if they were still alive, and then rip the guys heart out – or follow your head, following yuor training, use your logic and stay with Max, help stabilise her, secure Terminal City, attend to their dead and injured, and later when they had regrouped, when he could gather a team together, find where White had taken his son.
"She'd have been better off leaving Jed with Gem on Oak Street," Alec said bitterly.
"She was trying to get them out," Mole told him.
"White was countin' on that, which is something I don't quite figure."
Mole looked up. "What do you mean?"
"The way that mortar fire hit the tunnel, and from what Gem said about what happened, this whole attack was a trap for Max."
Mole shook his head slightly. "I don't think–"
"White knew she was coming."
"What how could he-?"
"He had to know about the tunnels for him to catch her there-"
"That was a fluke. The bastard was coming in the back door that's all.
Getting to Max, that was just a bonus."
"I don't think so, Mole. We both had suspicions about the attack from the first. They were'nt advancing, they were drawing our fire."
"To get our attention away from the tunnels," Mole nodded. "Standard tactical diversion."
"But something's telling me it wasn't," Alec asserted.
"I think you're trying to read too much into this."
"The backdoor was open, so to speak. They breached the tunnels. They ran into Max, took care of business... And then... Well why didn't they advance? Huh? Why not send in the troops and take us all out from behind. It would have been the perfect surprise rear attack. No. They were after something else. I know they were."
"Like what? Max?"
"Stranegly enough, no. She had a part to paay, for sure. But White was ultimately after something else."
Mole shuffled his feet clearly disagreeing with Alec's theory.
"Think about it, Mole," Alec said. "White didn't kill her. He didn't finish the job. Why not? Doesn't that bother you? I think he was after something else."
"What?" Mole looked at him puzzled.
"My son."
TBC
Author's Notes: Avery VERY VERY big thank you to Silvia for forwarding this lost chapter to me. As some of you know six chapters of this story were eaten by a virus. I'm hoping to rewrite them. I wanted to get his one out there though so I would be inspired. I also only have computer access once a week so this may be a slow process but I will do my best. It's also finally getting warmer here. I can't write in winter because we have no heat, and sitting at the computer in –4 degrees C is too hard even for me.
Yeah I know there was a lot of Max torture in this one but there is a very good reason as to why she was so badly hurt – it had to be bad trust me. And don't blame Alec for not rushing off to save Jed he has to get intel on where they're keeping Jed – it's the smart thing to do.
I really had a lot of trouble with the retrospective - describing the past incident in the tunnel sigh . Anyway I hope it works and that you liekd it. I would love to hear from people again.
Till next time
Sarah