Who is saving who?

[alec_mcdowell]

When he'd had enough of seeing Logan looking like a zombie (and zombies are much more lively), he did his own research. So maybe he was a little selfish not doing the run with Max and the others on Manticore... but he had someone to keep in mind other than himself. They couldn't expect it of him. Maybe it was better anyway... so he could go get Max's ass out himself. Before Logan did something stupid or starved to death... or Ben decided he wanted to go spring his Maxy. And seriously? He was never letting Manticore get their claws in Ben ever again.

So he left a note with Logan... addressed to Ben. All it had said was, 'I'm sick of both of you looking like someone ran over your puppy. So... I'm going to get her out. You can thank me later, I know I'm an awesome little brother. Ben... don't go near Manticore. I mean it. Yours Truly, Alec' And for all the irritation it would cause, it was just the way Alec was. He didn't want to go. But he'd make light of it... and cross his fingers that he wouldn't get burned for it.

He should have remembered that the best laid plans always seemed to walk him straight into hell. And he'd almost made it too. He'd forgotten how freakin' creepy X7s were. And after fun filled events of re-indoctrination... Manticore decided to have a little more fun and tie up loose ends. Which landed him back here... the one place he never wanted to be ever again. Psy-Ops. But the jerks could all burn in hell... cause he wasn't going to tell them anything about Ben. And by now... that was the only thought he could actually recall as even his own pain and possible screams were blurred out.

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[onlyoneworthy.livejournal.com]

If he'd had the presence of mind, he would have been counting down the time till they would stop for the day. But after the first round or two... was it two now? Alec was numbed out. Manticore had ways of making you not care.... So it was no surprise that when everything stopped, all he could do was stare blankly at the ceiling.

It was the feeling of being curled up in pure warmth that had him blinking his eyes and finally focusing. Bodies. There were bodies on the floor. It nearly made him laugh in a sick disturbed way. When had his mind gone over that ledge? But then he saw the still living and breathing body pressed against him.

Finding his mobility, he slid one hand up to press against the warm chest. The frantic heart beat had him slowly tipping his head up. "Ben?" His voice cracked a little... hoarse and stripped from screaming. But the furrow of his brow gave away the burning in his eyes. The glassiness came from unshed tears as his fingers coiled in his shirt. "What... what are you doing here?" What if they caught him?

Everything hurt like they'd cut into every nerve ending in his body, but he still found the presence of mind to turn his head and look around. Make sure his twin was safe... A shaking breath was taken as he turned back to his brother and pushed his face into his neck, arms curling tightly about his waist. "Ben..."

[findingworth.livejournal.com]

Ben couldn't hold back the wrecked sigh that escaped from his chest at hearing his brother's voice, pulling him tighter against him as he finally registered the heart beating against his own. Lifting a hand he slid it smoothly along his twin's face, brow furrowed as he took in the pain he could still see etched in his face, making him wish he hadn't killed those that had touched his brother and made them regret every single thing they'd done to him.

Slipping his thumb along his cheek he tried to erase those marks with just his touch, a weak imitation of a smile curling about his lips. 'My turn to save your ass, right?' Pressing their foreheads together with a soft sigh he let his eyes close and contented himself with the fact that his brother was still alive and breathing.

Hand moving to wrap around the back of his brother's head, he let him press his face into his neck for a few moments, before he was pulling him to his feet and checking his connection with Logan to make sure they were alright. Sliding his hands along his twin's body he tried to make sure nothing was broken or hurt before pulling back to look him in the eyes. 'We don't have much time, I still have to get Max and then get us out of here..' Later, he'd check his brother over carefully to make sure nothing was wrong with him, but they didn't have time for that right now. 'You okay to move?'

[onlyoneworthy.livejournal.com]

His face had felt so numb... no expression beyond the first... until those fingers slid over his face. And it felt like nerve endings were waking up. Old bruises, half healed cuts in normally flawless skin stung with the return of feeling... and he welcomed it. Half closing his eyes, he watched his brother's face utterly entranced just to see him. There was nothing he wanted more than to curl into him and not ever come out. "Guess so..."

Lifting fingertips, he brushed along the line of Ben's jaw. It hurt like liquid fire to move, but he'd be damned if he let his brother down. And that moment of just breathing Ben in, ended way too fast. Swaying on his feet as he was hoisted up, his hands suddenly gripped tight into Ben's shirt as he almost lost his footing. "Need... need to get to her cell. She's almost gotten out." And before they drug her to Psy-Ops... he'd heard them talking about that.

She was next on their list. Focusing hard on stepping back from Ben, he had planned to move on his own. Pride dictated that he would do this. But that simple motion had his body weight tipping backward... and he just caught the edge of the examiners table. "Shit..." Breathing in sharply, he closes his eyes and reorganized himself.

Regaining a semblance of control he pushed up and found enough balance. "Yeah... yeah, lets go." Breathing in deeply and slowly, he moved to the door and checked the halls. Turning his head to look at Ben, he attempted a smile, and couldn't even tell when his lips didn't move. "Thanks..."

[findingworth.livejournal.com]

Glancing over his shoulder his eyes turned distant briefly as he remembered the blueprints of the building, recalling where the other Psy-Ops rooms were and the fastest way there. It was enough of a distraction to let Alec pull away from him and stumble, barely catching himself on the table Ben had just pulled him from. Ben clenched his hands helplessly at his sides, wanting to help his brother, but knowing that this was something he needed to do on his own, at least for now.

His brow furrowed even more at the look on Alec's face as he looked back at him from where he walked into the hall. Nodding his head briefly he reached up to press a hand in the center of his back, voice soft in the stillness of the room, 'Let me lead...' With that he slipped through the door and into the halls, checking any enemy approach before motioning for Alec to follow.

He lead the way down the hall towards where the other Psy-Ops room was, all the while watching Alec for any sign of collapse, knowing he would stop whatever he was doing the instant his brother wasn't able to move. He hated pushing him like this, but they had no other choice. Ben couldn't risk wasting time lifting and carrying Alec everywhere, especially not in the tight quarters they were in, but it didn't help making him feel useless when his brother obviously needed rest.

It only took a few moments for them to reach the room, but it felt like hours as he slowly recognized the sound of the building waking up. Fearing they'd been found out he kicked down the door to her room and quickly took out the guards that were attempting to pin her down to the table. Receiving a relieved grin from his sister, he nodded once before untying her the rest of the way from the table and returning to Alec, wrapping an arm beneath his shoulders. 'Okay, let's get out of here..'

[onlyoneworthy.livejournal.com]

Alec only nodded just a little. He wasn't stupid. He knew that he would not be doing any leading this go round. In fact, it would be a miracle if he followed without falling on his face. What saved him was sheer determination. Shadowing his brother, it took every shred of focus to put one foot in front of the other and do so quietly. His hand hand to slide along the wall for balance, but it was still better than the alternative.

By the time they got to the room, he was panting sharply, working more on being silent if possible. It hurt. But he was a soldier, damn it. And Ben... what was Ben thinking of him right now? Leaning against the wall, darker than normal green eyes watched his brother knock the door in. And he didn't move. Half closing his eyes he listened to his brother move inside making sure he was ok... It was a guard coming around the corner that snapped him to attention. Reacting on stigma and training... and probably a large amount of endorphins, Alec took him down with nearly inaccurate hits. Luckily it was enough.

Ducking down, he reached out to grab the gun off the guard and watched with blank eyes as it slid out of his numb fingers. For one stunned moment, he really recognized what he lacked right then. Shooting his head up to Ben when they came out of the room, he didn't even look at Max. Clawing his way up, he exhaled at the feeling of Ben's arm around him.

Max on the other hand was watching him a little surprised at the over all 'lack' of feeling. She had gotten used to his pure sarcasm and 'wit' for the last week... this wasn't right. "Lets go to my cell. It'll be the quietest way out and we might be able to get some help..." And just like she was prone to, she was already heading down the halls. "What's with the alarms for lockdown?"

Alec vaguely registered what was going on. What she was saying. And somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew this was a bad idea. But he couldn't remember why it was a bad idea. Leaning into Ben, he was starting to mutter softly to himself. "Going numb..." And if it spread and took back over... he wouldn't be on his feet much longer.

[findingworth.livejournal.com]

Ben glanced down at the guard with a furrowed brow, picking up the dropped gun and tossing over to Max with a quick look before he returned to wrapping his arm around Alec's chest. Just seeing his usually vivacious twin like this just made Ben angrier, wanting to hunt down and kill every single person that touched him, but he held off, knowing that getting Max and Alec out of here were top priority. He'd just have to come back later and make them pay, or maybe Logan's plan to out Manticore and distract them would be enough to end this whole charade.

Nodding in agreement he took on more of Alec's weight and started down the halls after her, his steps slowed though at his brother's words, making him stop in his tracks and turn towards him. Clasping Alec's face carefully between his hands his jaw clenched at the look in his eyes. 'Alec...Stay with me. Not ready to give up on losing my twin when I've only just gotten him.' Pressing their foreheads together again he tried to infuse his twin with some of his strength, enough to get them out of there and safe.

Pulling back he ran his fingers soothingly through his hair, sliding down his neck, ignoring the looks he was no doubt receiving from Max and pulled him into another hug. Once he was sure that Alec would at least be able to stand, he wrapped him tighter against his side, and finally tuned into their surroundings, and the fact that the alarms were going off.

Turning to Max, brow furrowed, he moved closer to her and spoke lowly, 'Eyes Only broadcasted all across the country the location of Manticore and what it's been doing to all of us. He figured it would be a good enough distraction to get me into base, but I guess it's got people more riled up than he'd guessed...' Glancing up at the alarms he could faintly hear the sounds of the guards running through the halls, but luckily Ben had killed most of the ones on this floor so they should be good for a few more minutes.

[onlyoneworthy.livejournal.com]

Every step was starting to make him feel like lead. His eyes were half closed as he dug through his memories trying to figure out why he should be stopping his brother from following her. What wasn't he pinning down? Then there were those hands on his face and he was gasping softly... heat running up into his cheeks just feeling Ben so close to him. Feeling. Ben made him feel.

Pressing his hands to Ben's chest, he met his gaze before giving one soft nod. "Not runnin' out on ya..." Not without one freakin' helluva fight. He could feel Max's gaze on them... him. But he didn't want to think about her. Not when he was this close to Ben and needing him so much. Pressing into Ben's side, he poured more focus into just moving. Moving and not passing out.

Max sent Alec a careful look, noting the less than platonic brotherly touches and pinned it off on Alec being ripped apart by Psy-Ops. She'd heard the screams from those rooms... but she'd never felt the procedures herself. But then those words hit her. "He what?!" Reaching her cell, she was about to pull the door open when the locks slid closed. "Not good... Renfro.." Whirling around, she heard different alarms going off now. "She's blowing the place and locking everyone in!"

Turning she ran past him. "The control room! I have to get there! They'll all die!"

Alec's heart had started racing as they reached Max's cell. And a heart beat later the word echoed in his ears. Anomalies. He'd been ready to use all he hand to pull Ben away... until the new alarms went off and the door locked. Thank God for small favors. "Ben... we can't... go out that way... Please... trust me. Don't let her take us out that way..." Because he refused to put his brother through that... He'd walk on his own out the front door before he let his brother go through something he knew would break his entire mind set.