Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners (Dark Angel, Fox, etc.)The original characters and plot are the property of the author. No copyright infringement is intended.

Author's Note: Thanks to Kita for checking the grammar and to Jenna for pointing out some interesting facts that I had missed. Also thanks to the ones who reviewed the previous chapter, it's always a rewarding experience to read people thoughts about the story.

Now about this chapter, it's still Friday and in order to avoid confusions I've added small fragments of past chapters at the beginning to remind you what had been going on with the story. However if you want to read again the chapters where those come from, feel free to do it ;).

Previously


Embassy of Georgia

Max laughed at the tone and offered her hand. "I'm Emily Michaels."

"Nice meeting you Emily. I'm Tyler Scott." Neil had been watching Max as she stood closer to the corridor that led to the studio. If things get out of control, he wanted her as clueless as possible about Alec's relation with the whole ordeal. That was the reason why he decided to interfere, and introduce himself with the alias for the night, Tyler Scott at your services.

Saint Mathews Hospital

Tonight Evgraf Sokolov decided that politics and diplomacy could easily go to hell. "I'm not having a good night so let's make it quick, who are you?"

"I'm Thomas Hathaway, NSA Deputy Director of External Affairs."

Evgraf looked at the younger man; there was something familiar about him although he was quite sure he had never seen the man in his whole life "You're in the NSA too?"

"No Sir. I'm in the MI-5" Neil felt the older man inquisitive gaze fixed on him.

Sokolov let out a tired sigh. "He left a while ago."

"We know Mr. Sokolov; he wasn't supposed to be there in the first place." Neil replied in a flat tone.

NSA safe house

"Freeze it." The footage paused on a shot of Alec's face as Evgraf Sokolov took him into the studio.

Hathaway's attention was successfully caught at White's annoyed tone, "What is it Agent White?"

"Sir, that's 494, an X5 that's supposed to be dead." Ames White was ready to kill someone, that man should have been already dead. Someone was going to lose his job after this.

The Deputy Director only snorted in response before replying.

"Agent White, take him out of your list of subjects to detain or eliminated immediately." Thomas Hathaway learned years ago that messing up with the people from Prometheus was equal to ask for death sentence. Prometheus might have started as a project but usually had been considered as an agency, and that had been the reason why he briefly met the man he had come to known as Jason.

Thomas wondered if Tyler was still around the town and if he would be able to get something from the MI-5 agent who apparently was well aware of the other man's exploits.

Chapter 09
If You Play With Fire, Then You'll Get Burned

Alec's Apartment

The cold water fell over his back as he rested his forehead against his arms; his body was getting numb after being exposed to the chilly water. He couldn't place the exact moment when it changed from hot to cold, even now he was barely aware of his surroundings. He couldn't shake the feeling that he was losing the grip of things, his life seemed to be slipping between his fingers.

After seeing the glass of vodka untouched on the floor he had what he now recognized as a panic attack. He had never felt something like that before; it was intense and frightening, the feeling of being trapped on his own skin had been one of the most uncomfortable situations he ever experienced.

Alec shuddered remembering the way his heart had increased its rhythm, the dizziness and lightheadedness that caused him to trip and fell on the floor. It had been so difficult to breath; he had felt as if he was drowning all over again. For almost a minute he couldn't see anything, eyes wide open but temporary blind; he couldn't mutter a single word, couldn't call for help. He thought that was it; that he was dying.

It had lasted barely ten minutes but he felt it like if it had been hours. Helpless…that was what he felt. Helpless and out of control; powerless to gain command of his own body, nothing more than a victim of his own mind.

He lost track of the time he had been under the cold spray of water. His frustration was getting the best of him, and he resisted the urge to punch the closest thing in an attempt to release some of his annoyance, instead of that he closed the water tap and grabbed a towel before walking out of the bathroom without even glancing at the mirror.

He got dressed in less than five minutes and walked out of his room and into the lounge were he picked his cell phone and wallet, he avoided looking at the sofa or better at the floor around the sofa, there was no way in hell that he would provoke another episode like that one.

He moved his wrist and caught a look of the hour, 09:30. On the top of everything he was already late for work; if he wouldn't hurry up he was going to be as late as Max and he was not looking for a round of questions from her this morning.

As he held the handler of his door he realized that his hands were still shaking, he hoped that by the time he arrived at Jam Pony things would be back to normal.

Jam Pony

Neil had arrived at his usual observation spot at 09:15, after following Alec for almost two weeks he was well aware of his CO habits, the guy would probably be inside of the building chatting with his boss. Watching closely for two minutes he sighed frustrated, Alec was not inside of Jam Pony. He should have left May's apartment earlier, he was becoming careless and that was not an available alternative.

He contemplated his options, going to Alec's apartment or staying where he was right now. Jumping from the rooftop to the next building he decided to go for the first option, Alec's place wasn't so far away from Jam Pony and this shortcut might ended up being useful.

He arrived ten minutes later, and thanked the god who was on duty at the time that Alec had never showed a strong inclination for privacy. The man never closed the blinds of his living room, although he rarely opened the curtains of his bedroom but he suspected the reasons for the latter had more to do with the sunlight than with anything else.

Alec crossed the distance from his bedroom door to the living room, retrieving what looked like his cell phone and wallet. When he turned around Neil's eyes widened, Alec looked sick, his skin was extremely pale and there were dark shadows under his eyes. As he walked to the door Neil realized that Alec's hands were shaking. His glare hardened as he retrieved the phone from his pocket.

"Stop it."

May was confused after hearing Neil's greeting, "Stop what, what are you talking about?"

"Whatever it was in the chemical compound, undo it, give him another shot. Do something." Neil voice was anything but composed, his breathing was erratic and his emotions were getting the best of him. He had not at all liked what he saw and he questioned himself for the first time if it had not been selfishness on their part not letting Alec go on with his new life. Did they really have a right to meddle now?

May knew that this moment will come; she had prepared herself during the past months. It was going to be tough, and if she could, she would have spared Neil from that particular experience. But there was not turning back; even if they tried to undo the process, it would kill Alec for sure.

There was no place for emotions, even if they wouldn't have speeded up the process, the chemicals would have eventually run of Alec's body; the difference would have been only the moment, a couple of months, a year at most, but at the end Alec will ended up in the same situation.

"Get a grip of yourself and explain it, you're not making any sense at all." May's voice sounded flat and controlled, she was also following her own command, and she was getting a grip of herself.

A deep breath was heard on the other side…"He's looking pale and stressed, his body shows clear signs of anxiety and his hands are trembling." This time his voice was controlled, May was right there was no turning back, and panicking had been a childish reaction. Emotions, those had always been his weakness and one of the reasons why he was not a part of the current D1 despite his strength and capacities.

A sigh was the prelude to her reply, "It could have been anything from a psychotic episode to a panic attack, there's no way to tell from the current symptoms. We need to watch him closely; do you need me to go over there?" May was already returning on her steps when she heard his answer.

"No, I need that at least one of us keeps the rational thinking. Besides, CeCe is scheduled to arrive tomorrow. Both of us should be enough to keep up until tomorrow." He was back in control and he better kept it that way. This was definitively not the place, nor the time to have this kind of episodes; the scold from May stung deeply on his pride but made him react, and for that he was grateful.

"Of course. Call me if there're more symptoms." Or if you need me to go there with you she wanted to add, but she didn't. They needed to be objective and adding sentimental notes was not the way to go. She knew he trusted her judgment about the process as well as she trusted his abilities. Both of them realized that his first reaction had been a fluke, it won't happen again.

Two lines were disconnected without a single farewell, they were on mission mode and there was no place for pleasantries.

Jam Pony

Reagan Ronald spared a quick glance at his watch, 09:45 and missy miss and golden boy were the only ones missing from work. Max absence didn't shock him at all; the girl had no idea about the concept of punctuality. Alec on the other hand had made a habit of arriving on time, the boy may spend an hour talking to the other guys or even to him, but he was always on time.

The constant motion of people walking in and out of the building relaxed him. Their laughs, whispers and shouts were part of his world during the day. He couldn't pinpoint the exact moment when Jam Pony Messengers had turned into his life; it was supposed to be a temporal job, something he would do until he could be back on his game, until he could get back his life. Temporal became years and years turned into a decade, now when he looked back he realized that it has been more than twelve years since the first time he walked through that same doors.

This was not the life he could have ever dreamed, for a start it was the complete opposite of the life he had before the pulse.

Reagan had went to one of the best Colleges following the steps of his father and grandfather, had graduated with honors and received the best work proposals, had got a great job and a promising career. The young man who had his future planned out since the moment he was a baby could have never suspected how things were about to turn or ever suspect that in the end he will be found behind a dispatch counter.

He wasn't ashamed of his current life, nor did he consider himself a victim of the events that were set on motion when the pulse hit America. He as well as thousands of people had to adapt themselves to a new life, truth it had not been fair but life could hardly be considered fair.

When the pulse hit the country his family financial stability was severely compromised, all the investments were gone and in the end there was nothing left. His father had been unable to overcome the loss of the life he used to have and died three months later victim of a heart attack. His job had a similar luck, the company where he had been working for the last five years declared bankruptcy and he found himself back on the street, it wasn't long after that when he received the divorce papers from Jenny.

It was then when Reagan Ronald decided that he needed a fresh start, a new place, he was still young, intelligent and with a mind set for the business, he could start all over again somewhere else where there won't be constant reminders of all the things he had lost. And he did it; he packed what was left of his life and left Boston without looking back.

Seattle had not been waiting for him with arms wide open and he was forced to change himself and become a different person, it had been the first of many changes to come.

He stopped existing as Reagan Ronald, the executive with the promising career and former CEO of the Tyler Financial Group and became just Reagan or some other derivation of his name or if he got lucky enough they would settle for his last name and he was simply Ronald.

He did not regret his current life, but sometimes he couldn't help but feel melancholy about his former self, the original Reagan Ronald, the man who almost made his dreams come true. A man whom once upon a time used to have everything, the good job, the pretty and caring wife, the friends and the stable position in life.

It became a cycle for him, once or twice in the year he would get in a fool mood and might be bitter about how his life had turned; sometimes, he would miss the sharp conversations about topics different than the latest gossip of one his employees and the shadow of depression could be seen in his eyes; but usually he was thankful with the things he had achieved, and those were the most part of the days in the year.

He had succeeded on his goal, he re-built himself and by his second year in Seattle he managed to acquire the messenger services company he had been working for, he also got the nickname of "Normal" which in the long term ended up being more used than his real name. The circle was complete new life and also a new name, from then on life had followed its own course and Jam Pony Messenger had become a successful business on its own.

The involuntary gasp from one of the lazy bums he called employee made him raise his head away from the receipts on his hands and the memories that plagued his mind. He cranked his neck enough to be able to check what could have probably happened. Normal found himself fighting down the desire to gasp as well at the sight that welcomed him.

There were good reasons of why he called Alec 'pretty boy' or 'rock start', the chiseled features of the boy's face were closer to perfection, the athletic built complexion, the character and attitude, everything about Alec was attractive and like mops to the flame people had a tendency to gravitate around him.

He simply acknowledged that, even if he did not swing that way. But today, Alec's appearance was closer to resembling a marble statue than his usual happy-go-lucky self.

His skin was so pale that it could have been translucent, his cheekbones were accentuated as well as the defined lines of his jaw; the dark shadows under his eyes gave him a dangerous look as the hazel irises had what could only be described as golden flecks on them, the black attire only heighten and magnified the differences between this new person and the Alec all of them knew.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Alec could feel all the eyes on him as he stepped inside of Jam Pony; he had caught a sight of his own reflection on a cafeteria window about two blocks from there.

He might be looking like hell, and wearing black had not been his brightest idea; but, it didn't deserve the amount of attention he was getting. Although, the good thing was that none of his coworkers had tried to approach him yet; still, he could feel their eyes as they depicted every little part of him. It was nothing more than a meet market; he thought with distaste.

"Morning boss, sorry for the delay I wasn't feeling ok this morning." His voice sounded different even to him, void of emotions. It wasn't like he wanted to share his feelings right now, but he was usually better at masking his real mood.

"Its ok rock star, you can take the day off." Normal was not a man who offered sick leaves or permissions freely, in truth he didn't offered anything at all. Seeing Alec like that was unnerving him, it couldn't be helped; the change was too obvious to be ignored.

"I'm better now, got a package?" And he had succeeded, this time his voice sounded almost as normal, not as cheerful as always but slowly getting there. He might be able to do it.

Normal nodded and accepted that the boy was dealing with his troubles in his own way and he didn't want anyone's help. And for now, he wouldn't pressure him. In a way he learned to respect some of Alec's decisions, a show of respect was to agree with the other person decision without making a fuse and he was willing to do it, at least for now.

"Mercer St. 890"

"Got it." Was Alec's easy reply, he was feeling better and the shakes were gone. He picked the package and placed it on his backpack before retrieving his bike and moving to the exit. And that was the instant when he ran out of luck.

OC gasped audibly at the sight in front of her, the boy definitely looked shaken and in a weird and twisted way the pale skin and dark shadows gave him a whole different attractive. Trust Manticore to make them look pretty even when they were feeling miserable. The deer caught in the headlights expression that Alec sported for a second was enough for Cindy to infer that she was one of the two people he would be avoiding today.

As Alec passed by she caught his forearm, "Are you ok pretty-boy?"

Onyx irises fixed on his face, the question had sounded almost real, like if she really cared about him. Maybe she did, his lips curled into an easy smile as he chuckled at her expression.

"I'm always all-right Cindy", or maybe she didn't, he wasn't going to bet on that. He didn't turn around, just kept going until he got to the street and jumped on his bike.

He was always all-right, even when he wasn't. That was the way life worked.

NSA Seattle's Safe House

"Sir, we found the address you requested." A young agent on his late twenties informed the Deputy Director of External Affairs, Thomas Hathaway.

A satisfied smile curved Hathaway's lips; that had taken less time than expected, or maybe he gave the MI-5 too much credit on covering better the tracks of its agents. Maybe now he would be able to find out what was 'Jason' doing on Georgia's Embassy two days ago.

He looked expectantly at the younger man that was still standing in front of him, "Well done…give it to me already."

New agents were always a wreck when they had to interact with their superiors; Hathaway supposed that his physical appearance didn't help the matter at all. His 6' 4'' towered over most people plus he was known to have little tolerance, but today he was feeling good and satisfied with the early results.

"Sir, yes sir. Belltown, 1818 East Denny Way." The man stuttered and handed him a card with the printed address.

It was time to pay a visit to Mr. Tyler Scott.

London
Prometheus Data Center
Hollister Tower, 24th floor, Office 15 B

The red light blinked on her screen, one, two, three times. A grin crossed her face as she typed at a fast speed on her keyboard tracking the intrusion on her system.

"Pete, we've got a bug." She told his partner in a sing-song voice.

The young man sitting on the desk closer to her raised his head interested, the screen filled with codes was forgotten for the moment, the green hair strands made him look more like a punk rather than the competent Data Analyst that he was.

"Who's the target?"

"Boreas, but believe me that's not the interesting part. Guess who the bug is" she was practically laughing.

"Blood Skull, March 15th, FP… come on Anna, who is it and don't dare say Duffy the duck'"

The black haired girl snorted in response. "Closer but different pet, its Bugs the bunny."

Honey eyes widened in surprise as Peter laughed out loud. It was probably the handy work of a new agent, who was not aware of the parameters of security that he breached the moment he started his search. Although, it was quite unusual for the NSA to track down Prometheus' agents, it was even stranger that they will specifically focus on an Elite member.

"Are you calling him, or should I do it?" He asked her after a second.

Both of them were assigned to Boreas and Circe, usually a data analyst worked specifically with an Elite member but because Boreas and Circe had a tendency to work together most part of the time he and Ann worked indistinctly with the two Elites.

The equation changed when the Elites were also D1 members, then it was two data analysts for one Elite member, if a mission implied the participation of three D1 members it was common to see the six analysts working together in the same space, even though those were rare occasions the D1's worked mostly on pairs or alone.

"It's ok I'll do it. I need an update on the NSA head honchos currently staying on Seattle." She requested as she connected herself with Boreas. It had been two minutes since the intrusion, the Protocol requested that she informed the agent whose cover was in danger of being compromised during the first 5 minutes, the ideal was always three and today she might get the perfect timing.

The phone rang two times before she could hear the voice on the other side of the line and the standard greeting of her assigned Elite member.

"Hey sis, what's up?"

Neil's voice sounded casual but she could bet that he was running all the possible reasons for her call. She met him once and she was glad for that, it was not abnormal for Data Analyst working with the Elite to never met their assigned partner and kept all the communications through voice calls.

"Condition Gray on your location bro." she told him, the clock on her screen indicated that she deliver the information during the first three minutes.

She tried to decipher what Boreas said, it sounded like a curse but she wasn't sure about it, it had not been English, Spanish, German or Korean and that was all her repertory of languages.

Neil knew that something was wrong when he heard the tune of the call; he had chosen that specific tune for the Office 15 B. Anna or Pete only called him when he specifically requested additional information about something or when they need to warn him. From all the times this was probably the worst, he kept the phone close to his ear as he paid for the coffee and his eyes followed Alec's moves across the street.

He glanced at his watch, 11:08 am; the time he had left will depend on who was following him this time. "Amazing timing. Who's the punk this time?"

There was a yelp of pain and the sound of slap, Neil guessed that Pete's natural lack of coordination succeeded once again on unnerving his colleague.

Anna swore before answering, "Stupid guy, your man is Hathaway, NSA Deputy…"

"Director of International Affairs, yeah I know. Thanks sis, something else?" Neil groaned inwardly, he should have never contacted the man in the first place. But at the time it had been his best option for a clean exit. What was Thomas Hathaway looking for?

Anna's voice got him out of his reverie. "Just that. And Bro… behave."

Neil smiled at the advice, when she met the twenty-six-year-old gal a year ago; she had been clearly surprised to discover that the Elite members were in fact younger than her. Ever since that, she started act as an older sister with him, her standard goodbye line was nothing more than a reference to their inside joke.

"Always."

She had been listening to incorrect diagnosis after incorrect diagnosis for the last half an hour; it was a miracle that sick people actually got cured in a place like this. Did these people go to the university? Have they ever seen a patient before?

May was well aware of what she was doing; she was pushing back the thought of Alec in pain and suffering alone somewhere in this rundown city, with only Neil looking after him but unable to interact with him. She knew the stages, the symptoms and the dangers; this time information was not power, her knowledge of what was going to happen was stressing her out, her mind was a mess and her concentration was a lost cause.

The ring of her phone gave her the perfect excuse to leave the room and her mind swirled once again with the reasons of Neil's for calling her. Did he have a crisis? Were the symptoms more intense?
'Get a grip' she reminded herself.

"How's everything?" her voice sounded as calmed and controlled as always.

Neil could have elaborated and told her that he was looking better, but right now he was running against the clock. "I've got a Condition Gray."

"Anyone we know about?" She asked as she wrote down on a paper that she had a family emergency and had to leave the clinic; she left the note on the nurse station and walked out of the building.

"NSA" Neil replied and was half expecting the second reprimand from her, after all she had been reading all the reports and the Georgia event had been documented. There was nothing he could argue with if she decided to point out that he created the situation, in a way he had.

"Messy, where is he right now?" she questioned as she took a cab, they were running out of time and she knew that Neil was also moving.

"Pike Place Fish five minutes ago" he replied as he left the bike he had been using in front of convenience store. The garage were he left his car was less than a block away.

"I'm on it." Was her reply before she disconnected the phone call. It had not been a wise idea to wear heals today; she was going to need a change of clothes.

Alec waited patiently while the receptionist fumbled with a mountain of papers and a phone attached to her ear, she send him a suffered smile as he nodded and walked to the large window panels, it seemed that this delivery will take longer than what he expected.

The view from the 40th floor was impressive, he guessed that it was probably better when the city did not resemble a war zone; despite the current conditions it was nice view. Down on the street he watched as a man walked out of the building across the sidewalk, his sight got suddenly blurry and he raised his hand to rub his eyes.

A man on his early thirties walked casually out of the building, the tailored dark blue business suit and leather briefcase implied his economic position, the two men dressed all in black who were walking only a meter away from him suggested that it was for better not to mess with the man in question.

40th floors above a sixteen-year-old boy watched the scene unfold without a real interest; laying on the rooftop floor and completely hide from the view of the people his attention was mainly focused on playing idly with a small metallic device.

"Blue Status, target is on mark. Clear to proceed."

The female voice that came from the device successfully stopped his game as he concentrated his attention back on the three men on the street. Setting the earplug back on its place he adjusted his position and fired six shots, two of the bullets were straight shots to the heart that killed instantly the bodyguards, three of the bullets were for distraction and only grazed the suited man, and the last bullet hit the light pole and ricocheted injuring his upper leg and barely missing the femoral artery. His voice sounded calm as he spoke to the person on the other side of the comm. unit.

"Positive visual confirmation, two hostiles down. The target is clear to pick, go."

He rose from his position and in the process picked the JG BAR 10 from the floor and disarmed it before placing it on a school backpack; he studied carefully the space around him making sure that there was no trace of his presence. He sighed when he noticed a lonely sand blond hair stick on a crack between the old paint and the bricks of the lower part of the wall; turning around he walked to the stairs' door and without looking back he moved his right arm in a fast motion with his palm facing the rooftop.

Red glowing flames covered the floor and adjacent wall, not high enough to call the attention but effectively burning to ashes the hair and any other possible evidence he might had left behind. He didn't need to watch the fire in order to acknowledge its presence; it was part of him an extension of his being.

Five minutes later he could hear the ambulance and police sirens on the street as he jumped into the balcony of the adjoining building and started to go down through the emergency stairs. If he concentrated enough he could even heard the panicked screams of the people.

His part was done, now they only need to pick the package and it will be over.

She was finishing paying for a latte on the coffee shop at the same time the first man fell dead on the floor, 2 seconds later his partner also laid on the sidewalk covering it with his blood. The man carrying the briefcase looked as white as chalk, and it took him a few seconds to react and tried to run. He was stopped on his track as three successive bullets grazed his body. Waiting for the final shot he didn't expect to hear the sound of the bullet hitting the light pole and was even more surprised when a burning pain on his leg made him fell down as he let out a scream.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

The voice on her ear confirmed what she already knew.

"Positive visual confirmation, two hostiles down. The target is clear to pick, go."

The teenage girl joined the commotion as she also screamed in panic, but instead of running from the scene she ran to the fallen men, crying for help and pleading that someone calls an ambulance. She went straight to the man holding his leg and moaning in pain.

"You'll be fine, just hold on. Help is on the way" The man looked at the girl and saw the concern clearly written on her face, he felt relieved.

The pain in his upper leg was killing him but he was alive, the people who tried to kill him did not succeed this time and he will make sure they'll pay for this. His gaze focused once again on the girl holding his hand, when her eyes looked at him his blood run cold.

"Game over." She whispered on his ear and he could have sworn he felt the satisfied smile on her voice.

As his mind tried to grasp the current events the ambulance arrived and he was placed on a stretcher while the doctors stabilized him, for a moment he believed that he had imagined her words and the coldness of her eyes, he almost bled to death and hallucinations wouldn't be that strange.

As the door of the ambulance was closed and the vehicle started to move he started feeling the painkillers effect, in a haze he watched as the paramedic pulled a cell phone from his pocket, the man next words panicked him.

"Clean pick confirmed sir, we're done."

"Well now I'm all done honey, what did you bring me?" The voice had caught him by surprise and he had to blink a couple of times in order to confirm his current location. The middle aged woman standing in front of him smiled and touched his arm in a comforting gesture leading him to her desk.

"I'm sorry for making you wait this longer." He nodded and attempted to smile at her, as he opened his backpack to retrieve the package he noticed the tremors were back.

"It's ok; work is chaotic most part of the time." He commented and gave her the envelope and the sheet for her signature.

"It's a hostile environment." She commented and he flinched at her choice of words.

"Well that's all. Have a good day ma'am'." He retrieved the sheet and hastily put it in his pocket. He needed to get out of there; his heart was beating faster and his blood felt like it was burning.

"You too honey."

Alec waited for the elevator for a whole minute before going for the stairs, he needed air. Instead of going down he went up, the rooftop was in the open and at least he would be able to breathe fresh air.

May felt the hairs in the back of her neck rose, something was going to happen and it would be soon. She watched around herself, across the street a bike was chained to the light pole, a faded logo on the maneuver…was that a J?

Alec, the stress and anxiety she was feeling could only possible came from him. May's appointed name in the Elite was Circe, and like the goddess whose name she shared she had always been inclined towards chemistry or potions as Finn liked to call them. May had always been extremely sensitive and accurate when it came to predict situations in the near future.

Agony, someone was suffering.

She looked at the building and for a second she could have sworn that she saw Alec standing on the rooftop. She walked casually inside the building, finding the stairs she slipped through the doors and run up to the top floor. She only hoped that she would arrive on time.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

Alec felt like if something was ripping him from the inside, it hurt a lot and it felt like he was being burned alive. His throat was dry and his sight was blurry, his heart felt like if it was about to explode. He was not even sure if he was conscious or if it was part of another dream. He wished that it was the latter, then at some point he would wake up and all of these would be part of a memory.

The tremors had evolved into full convulsions, he felt as his muscles contracted against his own will. Violent spasms cursed his body; it felt like his nerves were on the outside and every movement of his body against the cement hurt as if his skin was being pealed off.

He let out a cry of pain, it was unbearable and he only wanted for it to end.

His face was pressed on the floor, as well as his palms. The heat kept rising; breathing was harder with every passing second.

.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.-.

May opened the door with such violence that two of the hinges were tore away from the wall. The scene in front of her looked as if it had been extracted from her worst nightmare. The smell of burned clothes sickened her and the concrete floor with that suspicious pink hue worried her.

Her gaze found Alec lying on the middle of the rooftop; the convulsions cursing his body were strong and continuous. He was barely conscious and she wasn't able to see his face from her position by the door.

May took a thin cylinder from her pocket and run toward him, she kneeled on the floor and moved his head over her leg in order to get a better access to his neck as she injected him straight on the jugular. His clothes were singed and his body was burning in fever, but the rest of him was intact.

The deep pain on her knees and legs reminded her that it wouldn't be the same for her. She was currently kneeling on an over-heated concrete floor; and she knew that she would end up with second-degree burns after this episode.

Her tears started to fall without her consent as she moved Alec's upper body onto hers, she would have tried to move both of them but there was no way to tell if it was safe for him to be moved in haste. May hated to see him in such a vulnerable position, this shouldn't be happening…not to him. He needed to rest, and the tranquilizer she had injected him with was going to allow him to do that. The tears kept falling down, hurting him was the last thing she would have ever wanted, and if there could have been another solution she would have never approved this one.

"I'm sorry, I'm so sorry Sir."

The pain on her legs had passed and now she was feeling numb. At least he looked better now; Alec never got burn by fire, at least not in the outside. The former commander of the Elite was able to produce higher levels of energy which combined with molecules of hydrogen and oxygen from the air allowed him to manipulate fire at will.

In a battle, Alec's power made him a formidable enemy. His control over energy and fire had surpassed all the expectations and previous achievements of the Elites before him who shared the same element. From a single spark to an inferno extracted from Dante's book, energy flowed naturally through him; it was nothing more than an extension of his being.

However, if all that energy built up inside of him became unstable and he was unable to release it somehow, it provoked his body to go into an overdrive; his blood could practically boil and if the situation was prolonged his internal organs could easily melt. He could die as a victim of the same energy he controlled, although on the outside not even a single hair will be singed.

May couldn't stop herself as she let her fingers run over his hair; she had seen that soothing action being used when trying to calm down a patient, at the moment she wasn't sure if she was trying to calm him or herself. Taking a deep breath she retrieved her cell phone and pressed dial 4 waiting for the other person to answer, skipping the greeting she went straight to the point when she heard the voice on the other end.

"Contingency C. I need help with the extraction."

Her voice sounded tired and she hated that, she was always in control of her emotions, always. The tears streamed down her cheeks as she watched Alec's chest rose up and down.

"May, are you ok?"

Neil's voice sounded worried and she wondered how his own contingency work ended up? She got the nasty feeling that moving from her current position was going to hurt like hell, they were going to need some additional things.

"That's not relevant. HBB building on Sector 5, rooftop. Bring a change of clothes for him, pants for me and bandages. And don't forget the alcohol." May had sounded as professional as always, her tears had also been a fluke; they could not allow themselves more of these weaknesses.

It was going to get worst before it gets better, and they needed to stay focused. She dried her eyes with the back of her hand as her gaze wandered around the place for the first time.

Neil's voice floated on her ear as she finally heard his reply…"I'm on my way."

"I know." She softly replied, not sure if he had heard her or not. It didn't care that much anyway, he knew that she trusted him; there was no reason to repeat it all the time.

Walking out of his apartment, cell phone still in his hand Neil wondered how bad this could possible get. It had already made a crack on May's usual cold demeanor.

To be continued

Condition Gray : Status of a mission where the agent's cover is in danger to be blown.

Contingency C : Mission protocol which allows an agent to request help and retrieval from another agent due injuries or wounds inflicted during the mission