The room seemed unnaturally cold, and Max shuddered against Alex. Her fingers felt numb and so did the rest of her she realized as she tried to move. She leaned back into Alec's embrace, trying to get at his warmth. Her body was shivering, even though Alec seemed fine, she decided it had to be the night air. His body felt almost hot next to hers and she struggled to move.

Alec moaned lightly as she leaned against him. He could feel her side of the bed moving and figured she was just dreaming. He smiled to himself, and held onto her tighter. At least while she was asleep, she wouldn't mind him touching her. Making contact with her skin, Alec noted that it was icy cold and she shook slightly. He opened his eyes slowly, watching her struggle to move.

"Max!?" He said, in a deep sleepy voice. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing. Go, back to sleep." Her voice came out unsteady.

Alec removed his hand from around her waist and turned his back on her. "Fine. Whatever."

"Alec!? Alec, stop hogging all the blankets," Max told him, through chattering teeth.

"In case you hadn't noticed, you have all the blankets," he reported, blatantly hurt that she wouldn't let him help her.

Alec closed his eyes trying to ignoring Max's sporadic jerks and shaking as she lay next to him.

Slowly but surely and with great effort, Max had turned herself around and was presently facing Alec's back. She couldn't control her body nor the chill that seemed to penetrate all the way down to her bones. Watching the steady rise and fall of Alec's shoulders, Max assumed he was asleep, and allowed herself a few muffled cries. There was no way of telling what was happening to her. It could be another side effect, but she feared it was something more. Her body began to convulse more violently, until she couldn't control it anymore. She tried to suppress the wild urges that twisted her body, but it was overpowering.

Alec lay there, pretending to be asleep, listening to her as she tried to be brave and strong. He knew deep down she wanted his help but would never ask. Sure, she was going to give him grief for trying to help, but listening to her tiny whimpers was torturing him. All he wanted to do was reach out and hold her, help her through whatever it was that was happening to her.

Max closed her eyes and tried to will the cold to go away, but it wasn't working. Her skin felt colder than ever and the shaking was racking her body hard. She reached her hand to lightly grab a hold of Alec, but stopped just short of him, afraid to ask for help. Max feared she was having a seizer, but if felt different than any other seizer she had ever known. Somehow, she knew Alec would be able to help her, even if it was just through his support. Before he had time to regret it, Alec turned over to face Max, scared by what he saw. Her eyes were pinched together tightly and her hands were fisted holding onto the sheets for dear life.

Finally, after he couldn't stand to see her struggle anymore he spoke softly. "Max, please tell me what's wrong."

Max opened her eyes, surprised to find herself face to face with Alec, and even more surprised by the tenderness and concern in his eyes.

"I...I think I'm having a seizure...I'm cold so...so cold."

"A seizer? What do I do?" Alec asked sitting up.

"I don't know...it's not like before," Max told him, still freezing as she scrunched her body into a tight ball.

Alec made a motion to leave the bed, but Max grabbed his hand. "No. Please...don't leave me," she told him, tears brimming in her darkened eyes. She sat up, despite the way her body seemed to protest.

Alec saw nothing but fear when he looked back at her. Max, his Max was afraid. He'd never known her to be so vulnerable and he sensed she'd never let anyone see that side of her either. It touched him that she was so willing to share herself with him. Looking down at their entwined hands, he gave her a light squeeze. "I'm not going anywhere," he told her soothingly. "I'm just going to get more blankets." Alec walked over the closet and pulled out a large, warm comforter. He came back to the side of the bed, taking off his shirt. He kneeled against the bed and handed it to Max. "Here put this on." Max's shaking limbs reached for the shirt and she struggled to put it on. Alec came completely on the bed then and helped her slide the shirt down. "That's a little better now, isn't it?" He asked as he covered her in the quilt.

Max nodded her head, still feeling the chill. Alec came back into the bed, resting his head on his pillow and looking her in the eye.

Max looked back at him with huge doe eyes and made a request that he could not deny here. "Will you hold me, Alec?" Her voice was small, and very un-Max like, while she waited for his answer.

Without question, he moved closer, taking her in his arms and pulling her tight to his chest. He ran his fingers through her hair and then down her back.

Her body shook against him and he held her tighter. They needed a distraction to get their minds off of the present situation. As scared as Max was, he was double that. As he held her in his arms, he let his lips gently brush her forehead.

"Did I ever tell you about the fist time I saw a naked woman?" Alec asked, chuckling to himself.

Max only shook her head, she was too tired from fighting against her own body to come up with a witty come-back for him. Part of her knew what he was trying to do and she smiled inside, thinking he was trying to make her more comfortable.

"I must have been eleven, no wait, I was twelve. Anyway, a bunch of the X-5 males snuck out one night, and we went down to the stock room, we were goofing around and someone knocked over a box. Inside was the greatest thing any twelve year old male could ever stumble upon, transgenic or otherwise. Dirty Magazines!" Alec told her with a smirk.

Max shook hard against him and the smile quickly left his face, but not for long as he continued his story. The last thing he wanted Max to know was that he was afraid for her and what this next round of side-effects were doing to her, if that's what they even were.

"Now, I know what you're thinking, but come on, we were curious. It's not like Manticore told us much about our bodies at that age or anything. That all came later. So there we were, sitting around reading dirty mags, and these women are perfect. You'd almost think they were made just like us, in a lab without flaws."

Another violent shaking attack ripped through Max and Alec held her tight, gently stroking her back and arms. She was feeling warmer and Alec took that as a good sign.

Max tried to laugh but as soon as she did, she was hit by more waves of shakes. When she felt Alec's hands gently massage her, she seemed to relax and the shaking subsided.

"So anyway, all of a sudden there was this huge commotion. We all gathered around this one boy. All the guys were disgusted and I couldn't figure out why. They actually had to point out the tiny scar on the woman. It was just below her belly button," Alec told her, moving his hand under his shirt that she was now wearing, and touched her mid-drift. "Just about there." He indicated with a small circle on her skin. Max shuttered from his touch this time, but Alec took it as another shaking fit, holding her tighter. Max was surprised when he left his hand right where it was, slowly running his fingers over her abdomen.

"So they all left and I stayed right where I was, holding the magazine in my grubby little paws. I was intrigued by it. I remember sitting on a nearby crate for hours, just looking at that tiny scar," Alec told her shaking his head.

Max was dumbfounded. While the story had distracted her from what her body was doing she failed to see the significance. Alec looked down at her clearly puzzled face, and knew he had to explain why it was so important.

"See Max, it really wasn't about dirty magazines or even about a scar. It was about imperfection. It was the first time I realized how different we were and that we weren't normal. There was an outside world of people, full of flaws and I realized that's what sets them apart. We didn't have any of that. It was my first taste of what freedom must be like."

Alec looked down at her, and watched the realization dawn on her. "You gave me the kind of freedom I dreamed about when I was twelve, Max," he told her quietly, moving a stray piece of hair from her forehead and kissed her sweetly. "You let me see the world and even though life out here isn't perfect, it's still a life better than Manticore."

A slow smile spread across his features and he pulled her closer. Max smiled too and snuggled against him. The seizers or whatever they were, slowly died down and Max found her eyes grow heavy as she began to drift off into a deep slumber.

"Thank you," Alec whispered against her ear, before he closed his eyes too, hoping that tomorrow Max would be better and that there wouldn't be more symptoms they would have to deal with. But then again, he feared it was just the beginning.

TBC