AN: Mainly the original characters, I made up the surnames, couldn't find them anywhere and may have changed their ages. Camille is my character and has briefly dated them but broke up. Made up some of their past as well. Any other queries just ask.
Liana Chiang paused in the doorway of the house, she felt a hand slide into hers and turned to see Paulo also eyeing up the boy a few meters away at this moment in time both Li and Paulo were glad their friends had locked them in a room together as they had with Alex and Camille all those months ago. She needed someone there for her. They turned and saw two others approaching hand in hand.
"Hey Amber, Hex." Li greeted then returned to looking at their last friend. Alex Allende was standing by the window as still as a statue. It was unnatural. He was watching the raindrops slide slowly down the window, it was clear from his stance and physique that he had been working out. He still blamed himself for John Middleton's death obviously.
Yet despite this he was pale, look fragile and deeply distraught.
"I haven't ever seen him like this." Amber sighed pained "He looks like I felt my my parents died." she whispered "At least I knew mine had each other." she added thinking back to when she had been given the news that her parents had gone down in a plane crash, the only comfort had been that they had had each other.
"I can't imagine what it has been like. We were at a party, he at the hospital and we didn't even know." Li sighed. Alex's parents had died two days ago, his mother due to a failed quadruple heart by pass, his dad in a plane crash flying home to be there with him. The events had happened not seven hours apart. Amber squeezed Hex's hand and slowly walked towards her friend, their leader.
"Alex." her voice was quiet, the boy flinched as though she had physically hurt him. He turned to her and she gasped, his eyes were dark, she hadn't seen them that dark until he had left them fourteen months ago, despite all he did to shield his feelings from them, pain, opinions the works she could clearly see the pain, and blame in them.
"Sorry, I didn't see you." he murmured, Amber slid her arms around him
"I am so, so sorry." she whispered smoothing his hair, Alex sighed slightly
"Do you want any drinks?" he asked when they pulled apart, Amber smiled sadly
"Sure." she led the way to the kitchen Hex clapped his shoulder as they greeted each other
"You look awful mate." he commented
"That's what everyone want to hear." Alex replied drily "Thanks for coming." he added
"Alex, no worries. Boston was getting boring anyway." Li replied, four out of the five laughed, Alex stayed silent.
"Do you need any help with the funeral?" Paulo asked, ever practical.
"Its sorted, I am used to doing that." Alex replied, this confused his friends but they made no comment
"Are your family coming?" Li asked handing him a mug of strong coffee which he accepted gratefully
"No." he replied, they four exchanged shocked looks, what?! "It would be quite hard." Alex added "They are all dead you see." Hex chocked on his coffee "Sorry, I thought you knew." Alex apologised
"Don't apologise amigo, but, do you mind if I ask how ?" Paulo asked, Alex grimaced slightly, his friend regretted asking.
"Incidents here and there. My dad had three brothers, one joined the SAS with him, he died when I was eight, for getting shot, his wife got cancer and their two children died in a car accident with my dads other brother and his wife and three children. I was nine then. The third bother married, had four children, he died in the bombings on the London underground, my aunt from a plane crash with those children.
"My mother had two brothers and four sisters, and hated every moment of it, she was the youngest. Two sisters, their husbands and seven children, and one brother, his wife and three children died in an earthquake, they were travelling in caves on a holiday. It was a prize from a raffle. I was twelve. The other brother married, and died of a heart attack, his wife and six children, I think the numbers of children in my family is ridiculous," Alex added, his friends had to agree, "They died in rapids on the grand canyon a few weeks later. I was thirteen.
"One of my remaining aunts was gay, she and her girlfriend went on holiday and were caught in the boxing day tsunami with their four adopted children. The final aunt married and had two children, a small number for my family, and he died from kidney failure, she from a heart attack, then the children were adopted and went travelling with their new 'parents'. One was bitten by a snake the other got malaria within four weeks of their parents they were dead. I was fourteen. Then my grandparents, all four of them died from cancer. I was fifteen." he sighed and took a deep breath. He stood and walked to the window and looked out across the misty moors
"My three sisters and two brothers-" everyone gasped "all died. Lucy when I was three from a weakened immune system. They couldn't stop the infection she was five. James caught the measles and, also with a weak immune system died. That was when I was five he was eight. Aggie and Phoebe were twins. They caught cancer. When I was seven they died within a few hours of each other, I didn't do enough. They were eight." he broke off and his friends looked on shocked, Alex was always so close and secretive when it came to family, now they knew why
"What about your other brother?" Paulo asked quietly eyes wide, Alex shut his eyes as if physically pained. He sat back in his seat.
"William would be eighteen." Alex stated, that was the same age as Alex "He was my identical twin." the four friends looked at each other then at Alex who had his head in his hands, they had never imagined this. "He too got cancer. We were twelve, it was the day before our thirteenth birthday, we were going to take him to the beach, he loved the feel of the wind on his face, even without the hair we were practically identical. I had given so much and was so worried I was even the same build, I barely ate and worried so much I hardly slept. After he died I was kept in the hospital because I stopped caring. Three weeks later dad entered my room in the hospital and handed me a leaflet. 'A trip of a lifetime.' I was accepted and found a purpose in my life." Alex lifted his head out of his hands and looked into the shocked faces "You saved me. I didn't realise how far I had fallen until I had to get myself out of there again." Alex stood suddenly
"I need to run. Make yourself at home." he left the room and was running as he left the house.
"Shit." Li drew the word out "Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit."
"Took the words right out my mouth Li." Amber agreed
"His family." Paulo breathed. Hex was working his jaw up and down trying to get something out
"Alex." he managed
"Yes..." Li prompted
"Is a twin." he finished
"Had five siblings, eighteen aunts and uncles, forty one cousins, four grandparents alive when he was born, and they are all dead." Paulo concluded
"We need Camille." Amber summarised pulling out her phone, she rang the girls number, then frowned "Voice mail." she sighed dejectedly
"Have they talked?" Paulo asked curious
"We gave Alex her number, but who knows. That boy be crazy." Amber replied, Li laughed humourlessly
"With what we just learnt of his family, can you blame him?" they all agreed she had a point.
The girl in question was sitting in a plane waiting for take off. It had taken four hours of pleading with her boss to let her heave the field and go to the funerals. It was only because a message had come through about reinforcements during the 'discussion' he had let her go. She wasn't doing much either. She thought back to the phone call
"Hello?" she had spoken softly to avoid waking the other members of her tent
"Camille its Alex..." a voice she knew well drifted over the phone, her breath caught in her throat
"Alex." the hope was not disguised
"Sorry." his voice caught in his throat.
Then the words had started flowing freely, Alex apologised profusely several times, told her all about Canada and the attempts on their lives, wanted to make sure she was OK and safe. The conversation had gone on for hours, Camille telling Alex what she had done, also apologising.
After that there were no issues or awkwardness, they phoned each other every night when she was not in the foreign lands and company, and when that happened she always phoned him to talk and tell him all that happened. Then she had had a phone call out of the set times for calling each other so they knew they would be safe and not put the other in trouble or danger.
"Alex? What's wrong?" she asked worried
"Its my mum." he gasped out, she could tell he was deeply shaken and upset
"Is she OK? Did the operation succeed?" Camille asked worried
"She died." Alex gasped out, Camille took a sharp intake of breath
"No, Alex..." she trailed off not sure how to proceed
"My dad is flying in, he should be landing soon, his car is a the airport though so I can't pick him up." she heard Alex sighed and deeply wanted to be there to hold him, there was a beeping and Alex sighed again "Sorry, I will be with you in a second." the line went dead, she waited and a few minutes later she heard the line switch back, there was silence
"Alex, breathe." she reminded him feeling that he was still there, she heard a shaky deep breath "Are you OK? What was that about?" she asked thinking he had had to deliver the news again
"His plane crashed." she heard the younger boy choke out "There were no survivors." time seemed to slow down as Camille realised the implications of this
"Alex, oh Alex." her heart went out to him
"Cam, I need you." again his voice broke, she knew how much it must have pained him to say that, he had never admitted to really needing help, he took it when offered but never asked. They talked for a few more minutes then Alex had to go. Camille waited for him to hang up then redialled, her boss picked up the phone and the one and a half day negotiations began.
"Pardon." the French word jolted her from her reminiscing "Can I get you a drink?" the hostess asked in broken English
"Coffee would be lovely thank you." she replied in fluent, flawless French, the hostess smiled and poured her a plastic mug,
"Anything else?" she asked "Water? Alcohol?"
"Water please." the plastic, sealed pot of water was handed over with another plastic mug
"The food trolley will be along shortly mademoiselle." the lady moved away and Camille cupped her coffee, the rest of the Alpha force should be there by now. How would Alex be?
Alex was running, his heart and head pounding, his feet aching, his throat burning and his lungs exhausted, his legs felt like jelly from the lactic acid from anaerobic respiration. His phone rang in his pocket but he ignored it he kept running letting the icy, wet Northumbrian rain soak him and chill him to the bone. He stumbled in a rabbit warren entrance and his ankle protested painfully.
Yet still he ran.
"I am getting worried, its been what? Four, nearly five, hours, he had not stopped moving for more than ten seconds. Its not healthy." Li sighed and paced the opposite way through the living room, Amber put her phone down again
"Alex is not answering and Cam goes straight to voice mail." she sighed, Li groaned and paced the opposite way
"We could go after him." Paulo suggested
"No, it wouldn't work." Hex sighed
"He needs to find a way to cope, its when he stops caring you need to worry, Alex is coping by running at the moment, to far he is doing better than me." Amber admitted
"Oh yes, you turned diabetic in denial." Paulo commented
"No, I was a diabetic that didn't care." Amber corrected, her phone rang and she whipped it out a frown crossed her face
"Hey Camille." she said into the phone, there was a pause, "Yes, we're at his house... Of course... no, no no! Its no problem, thank you so much for coming! Yes... OK...see you there in twenty minutes if you are on time." Amber hung up
"So..." Li prompted as Amber started readying herself for the rain
"Camille has flown in, but has no money for a taxi, she is about twenty minutes out, takes about that to drive to the airport so I am going to pick her up. If Alex is still not back, we go searching because he has gone past the not caring." she instructed
"I'll come." Hex announced standing
"Thanks." Amber replied, he slipped his hand in hers and they left.
"How do you think he'll cope?" Hex asked waiting for Camille at the airport, her plane was delayed by the storm
"I don't know. With the five stages of denial DABDA, he skipped Denial and may be at Anger, but I wouldn't bet on it. He could be at the end, Acceptance, but I really don't know." Amber groaned and Hex wrapped his arms around her soothing her
"Is 'B' blame?" Hex asked
"No, bargaining, but for Alex... probably, oh Hex, his eyes." she despaired
"Camille." Hex smiled over Ambers head
"Hey. Long time no see." she smiled slightly, Amber let go of Hex and hugged the girl she hadn't seen since her uncles funeral
"Hey. Hows the UN?" Hex asked after a brief hug as well
"Hot, how was Canada?" she asked in return
"Oh, so he did use the number we gave him!" Amber exclaimed
"You gave it to him! He didn't say. So Alex." Camille paused "How is he?" she asked cautiously, the smiles left the couple's faces
"Not good. Come on, he should be back by now." Hex picked up two of her bags
"Do you have enough stuff?" Amber teased getting anther one, Camille took the last one
"I came straight from the field, no house, this is all my stuff I had to bring it, my boss is grumpy enough with me as it is for coming." they reached the car and Hex grabbed the keys, Amber let Camille sit in the front
"When you say 'back', where from?" she asked confused
"Running," her phone beeped Amber glanced at the screen "Still not back, that's five and a half hours. The most he has stopped was for about ten seconds. We guess he stumbled." Amber informed her
"Did you know about his family?" Hex asked curious
"What about them? They're all dead are they not?" she asked confusion filling her
"We didn't know that." Hex explained
"Oh, he didn't tell me either, I researched him. An obscene number of aunts, uncles and cousins." Camille told them
"Oh, hadn't thought of that. What about his siblings?" Amber asked, Camille turned to face the back seat where the teen was sitting
"He has siblings!" she exclaimed
"Oh, nice to know we were not alone. And yes, he did." Camille noted the past tense in Ambers statement
"Not them as well." she groaned "I heard how broken he was on the phone about his dad, and mum." she sighed
"When did you find out?" Hex asked
"He was still at the hospital I think. Then as I was on the phone another call came through and he was told his dad had gone in the plane crash." Camille shut her eyes "God." she cursed
"We were at a party in Boston, Alex had to fly home early, he never came to the party, his mum was going in for the quadruple heart bypass surgery and he wanted to be home. He made us all stay, we wanted to leave but he wouldn't let us. Said we had to stay for the others. Bloody UN Greenpeace party. So Alex." Hex stated
"The next day we called him to ask how it went, the phone went to voice mail. I guess it was you Cam." Amber continued "We called his home, his mobile, everything, but the home phone went to answer phone." she sighed "Eventually that evening we got through, he didn't pick up his mobile though. We guess he left it at home when he went for a run. Then we stopped, damn time zones." Amber sighed "The next morning we all sat and phoned one after the other, eventually of Li's third call he answered. He told us his mum was dead, and his dad. I booked flights and we all left. We arrived, saw him, heard about his family, then came to pick you up." Amber finished. Camille sighed
"We're here." Hex announced pulling into the long drive, a few minutes later the car stopped in the house, Paulo and Li were outside
"Oh, they're still together, looks like locking people in rooms helps sometimes." Camille commented dryly. They all left the car and lugged Camille's bags to her room after the round of 'hello's and 'I haven't seen you in ages!'. Then they all sat in the kitchen and caught up, the computer beeped
"Six and a half hours. We need to go look for him." Li sighed eyeing the rain outside, as if he had been summoned the door opened and shut, there was a pause then a sodden Alex traipsed past the doorway and straight up the stairs dripping the whole way, the five friends looked at each other
"Coffee." Camille ordered standing and grabbing some towels, Hex stood and made coffee while Paulo grabbed the first aid kit, they handed all of this to Camille "Thanks." she smiled slightly and started towards his room, he knocked lightly and slipped inside, she saw the bathroom door open and walked in, she saw Alex standing as still as death with the odd shiver he saw he in the mirror and spun around
"Cammie!" he whispered eyes wide,
"Hey." she smiled sadly, she held her arms out and Alex hugged her tightly, she hugged him back smoothing his soaking hair not caring he was soaking her as well, after a few minutes she heard him crying, it broke her heart but she just held him.
"Hey, sorry." Alex's voice was rough, a shiver racked his body and Camille switched into care mode,
"Shower now." she commanded, she reached for the hem of his top but he stopped her
"I can do it." he told her, she nodded confused and turned and handed him his coffee, he drank it eyeing her over the mug "Thank you." she took the mug back, he turned to the shower
"Camille." she stopped and turned "Sorry." his brow furrowed and he bit his lip, she smiled slightly and kissed his forehead before leaving. Alex slid his top off and looked in the mirror, the bruises covering him had gotten worse, the worst thing was that he knew he had not banged himself hard enough for them to form, he had knocked stuff gently, yet he had still bruised. He had seen that before in his sisters. They had cancer.
He stripped and limped to the shower and let the water pound over him and calm him.
"Cam!" Alex called through the door, Camille jerked awake and sat up on the bed
"Yes?" she replied
"Could I have some clothes?" he asked, she bit back a laugh
"Sorry, sure, but only the underwear, I need to check you medically." she replied handing in clothes, Alex shut his eyes and sighed, she was bound to find out sometime.
He slipped on his underwear and gathered up the rest of his clothes, he left the bathroom and looked at Camille waiting for a response, she silently took in all his bruises and picked up the first aid kit, Alex limped to the bed and sat slowly, Cam lifted his foot off the floor and examined it
"I think it maybe broken, I'll bandage it and get Paulo to look at it at a more reasonable time of day." when she was sufficiently content with his examination she yawned, Alex pointed at the bathroom
"Go, refresh then sleep." he commanded, she nodded tiredly and slid into the bathroom, a few minutes later she emerged, Alex slid across the bed wincing as he went and Camille slipped in next to him
"I hear you had siblings." she commented quietly
"Yes. Three sisters, two brothers. Lucy died first, I was three, she had a weakened immune system, she was two years older than me, then James, he was three years older, I was five, him eight, measles coupled with a weakened immune system. Then Aggie and Phoebe within a few hours of each other, cancer. They were twins. Then... William. Will. He was my identical twin. He died of cancer the day before we turned thirteen. I could do enough." Alex sighed, Camille snuggled closer and kissed his cheek,
"Don't blame yourself." she told him. Soon they were both asleep.
"Hello Allende household?" Li spoke into the phone "No, sorry he is not here, can I take a message?" there was a pause then Li scribbled down a message "Thank you, I will tell him as soon as he is back. Bye." she hung up
"What was that about?" Amber called from the kitchen
"Some doctor Nye. He said he had some test results back. I told him I would get Alex to phone back." she sat at the table "When he is awake." she added with a slight smile, she had peeked in his room earlier and found Camille wrapped around Alex, both fast asleep.
"Does Alex seem different to you?" Paulo asked suddenly
"You mean aside from grief stricken?" Hex asked, Paulo nodded once "You mean weaker, more tired... hopeless?"
"You noticed, I thought it was my over active imagination." Li commented "Here they come." footsteps came down the stair slowly, Camille supported a limping Alex
"What did you do?!" Paulo demanded guiding him to a chair
"I tripped." Alex explained wincing as his ankle was prodded
"I told you those damn rabbit warrens would be the death of someone." Hex grumbled having the done the same thing when he visited
"Someone phoned." Li stated getting him a drink
"Who?" Alex asked
"Doctor Nye." Li replied, Alex jerked upright, eyes wide
"What did he say?" Alex demanded
"Some test results were back. Why?" she asked handing him the phone guessing he would want to phone the doctor, he dialled the number
"Alex Allende." he said into the phone, there was a pause "Are they all in?" he asked confusing his friends, he nodded slightly "Half an hour, I can do that. Thank you." another pause "Yes, see you later." he hung up looking noticeably paler
"You are not driving anywhere with that ankle. I don't know what you did but I have never seen a simple accident like a stumble do that before." Paulo commented
"I'll drive, I need to buy some supplies in town anyway." Hex commented
"Me too." Camille added
"Li, fancy a trip?" Amber asked, the anglo-Chinese girl grinned
"Northumbrian shopping again, it was such fun last time." Li replied
"Do I want to know?" Camille asked
"They bought para gliders and went paragliding." Paulo explained with a fond smile, Camille rolled her eyes
"Why am I not surprised."
AN: so, sorry if its really bad, please review and... first story so don't kill me.
Please.