Alex & Shiro, late Friday morning

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Shiro drags his sick self to see Alex after the latter returns from spending Christmas away. Worried that it's something serious, Alex convinces Shiro to finally go to the doctors.


This was starting to become a tradition: either Shiro or Alex went away for a few days, Shiro's illness took a turn for the worse, and then he'd all but pounce on Alex once they got back together. Thanksgiving and the trip to Japan were bad enough, but Alex had spent over a week on vacation for Christmas.

"I think you gave me AIDS" was probably not the nicest or most politically correct hello that Shiro could make, but as far as he was concerned, it was an accurate descriptor nonetheless. At least being near Alex seemed to significantly lessen his metaphorical viral load, but Alex being in him nuked it.

Alex blinked before his face automatically fell as he moved his bags into the room. "Please do not tell me you’re sick again." As happy as he was to be home, he'd be afraid of this. After Thanksgiving for one thing, but after Shiro's trip to Japan and now again, something was wrong.

"OK, I won't." Shiro reached his arms around Alex's waist, slipping his fingers into his belt loops and pulling him forward. "What do you want to do to me to make me feel better?"

Carefully, Alex removed Shiro's arms from around his waist. "I want you to see a doctor. Something is wrong." A certain fear was lodged in the back of his mind but he wasn't going to assume anything. This was Shiro after all.

"It is just a cold. It is not even contagious." It almost came out like a whine. "At least I can breathe through my nose now, and that itself is an improvement over when I went home. Nothing is wrong."

Alex paused only for a second before shaking his head to strengthen his resolve. "No Shiro, something is wrong. Every time one of us leaves, you get sick. It sounds like..." He bit his lip not wanting to think about it. "Please, do this for me? Then I promise, I'll do whatever you want..."

"I suppose if it will stop you from being so paranoid." Shiro sighed and pulled up close to Alex again, his body aching in protest to the movement. "You worry too much."

"I have a reason to worry." Alex grumbled to himself as he carefully extracted himself from Shiro, before the other boy could convince him otherwise. "Come on. Let's go see if Jean or Amelia can look at you now. The sooner we do this the sooner we can do…other things."

~*~

When Shiro comes back, Alex makes a distressing revelation. Warning for some potentially disturbing imagery.


There was really no reason that Shiro couldn't get "Everyone has AIDS" out of his head. He'd only seen Team America once, and didn't think it all that funny. Maybe Jean was screwing with him, he thought as he returned to Alex's suite, belt already unbuckled. "'The pope has got it and so do you,'" he sang softly, not even close to the right key. "'Come on everybody, we've got quilting to do.'"

Crush heard Shiro coming first and gave a small whine. Alex looked up from where he was curled up with his dog on his bed, where he had spent the duration of Shiro's trip to the doctor anxiously petting his Golden to calm his nerves. He just hoped he was wrong. Really really wrong.

"What did they say?" Alex asked anxiously, not moving from his spot, though his hand stilled on Crush's neck.

"They do not know." Shiro shrugged his shoulders. "Whatever tests they are using will not be done for a couple of days. At least you do not have to worry about being pregnant. Apparently I have an abnormally low sperm count." For once he finally appeared appropriately chastened.

"Ha ha," Alex said in unusually bad humor but he couldn't help it. A few days? And something about low sperm count was nagging at him. "Did they make any other observations that could point to anything?"

"No. Just 'hmm,' 'oh,' and 'ah.'" Shiro sat down next to Alex and put a hand on his thigh. As disconcerting as the doctors' revelations were, once he came back into the room, all Shiro could think about was what Alex had promised him. "They also said something about how it looks like whatever I had when my powers returned after I had lost them."

Crush picked up on his boy's mood as he nudged at Alex's arm gently, as both his body and his thoughts had frozen at Shiro's words. He swallowed nervously as he asked carefully and slowly, so there could be no mistake. "You mean...the time when I touched you and your powers returned? When we found out our powers were semi-linked?" He had to keep a repeating mantra in his head, This is Shiro, he won't hurt you in his head to keep from bolting then and there.

"I suppose so, yes," Shiro replied slowly. Alex's tone was odd, he noted. "But come on, you promised." His hand found its way to Alex's crotch and he grinned.

Alex violently flinched and pushed Shiro away from him. "No...no, not again!" His fears were right. Shiro was feeding off him. Just like Selene and Vida. He counted to ten in his head to stop himself from panicking. "Shiro...I think you need to leave." His voice was flat as he fought to keep control over it. "Now."

Shiro fell back, taken off-guard by Alex's sudden movement. It didn't make sense. Shiro had been the aggressor before, but Alex had never refused him. Especially not so violently. Shiro didn't know whether to be concerned or angry. "Why? What's wrong? Come on." He pushed himself back up, ignoring the mild ache in his joints.

"You’re feeding off me. That's why you get so sick when we're separated and why you are so aggressive when I get home." Alex said flatly, unable to meet Shiro's eyes. If Shiro hadn't been his best friend, Alex would be questioning even more, and as it was he had to assure himself that not everything could be related to this, which didn't make him feel any better. He stood up and began pulling things out of his dresser. "We can't do this anymore Shiro. I can't do this."

Shiro's mouth opened and closed, but nothing came out. He couldn't believe it. "B-but our powers have interacted like this for years," he finally managed to protest. "This cannot have anything to do with it. And even if it does, then we cannot change anything. What, are you going to move out? I am not hurting you." He put arms hands on Alex's waist again, slowly moving his fingers to the front of his pants to unbutton them.

Alex's hands immediately caught Shiro's wrists to stop him. "Yes Shiro...you are. I can't do this again. I can't..." His voice cracked slightly from emotion, "I can't be with you and wonder if it's for me or just my power. I just can't okay?" Then he released Shiro so he could continue to pull things out. "Please, just go."

"No!" It came out louder than Shiro'd intended. He moved closer to Alex again. He knew that he could make Alex see reason if they'd just shut up and fuck. His hands itched. "I need you. You can't make me leave. I will not go!"

Alex quickly dodged Shiro and moved across the room. Crush looked between the two and sensing Alex's distress, jumped off the bed and moved in between them, giving Shiro a wary look. And as Alex looked at Shiro, he realized something. "You’re addicted to my power...It's like Kick all over again." He said softly in a voice that trembled slightly. Then he looked up and gave Shiro a firm look. "Shiro, you have to let me go. If you don't...you'll be just as bad as Selene and Vida." It was a low blow but he had to say it, for himself if anything. "You need help, but not from me."

"You are wrong!" The air around Shiro rippled, distorted by heat, and the temperature in the room started to rise. He continued to close the distance between them. "Just shut up! Everything will be OK. You are worrying about nothing. I am not Selene."

Crush began to growl softly and Alex carefully nudged him out of the way so nothing was between the boys now, but he kept a hand on the dog's collar. He'd never heard Crush growl so it was a precaution. Alex himself carefully closed off his power as Scott had taught him, so Shiro would have less to draw from, cursing himself mentally as he should have thought to do it earlier.

"Shiro." Alex said sharply, feeling the air change. "You have to get a hold of yourself! I'd like to think you’re better then her, but right now you’re not convincing me."

The sudden break between him and Alex's powers made Shiro almost physically recoil. He gripped his hands as if they'd been burnt. "I can't believe you would ever think that of me. Do you think I am that desperate and pathetic?"

"Look at yourself Shiro," Alex said honestly. "You practically jumped me and demanded sex when I got home after Thanksgiving and when you got home from Japan and right now after you've been sick with symptoms that match when you got your powers. And we both know it's easier to share power when we're connected like that." His voice was serious. He was not backing down. He was not going to let this happen to him again. "You’re feeding off me. And you know my history with that. I will not let this happen again and Shiro, I love you enough not to let you."

"If you love me, then you will give me what I need." Shiro practically lunged forward and pushed Alex against the wall, his hands going for Alex's pants again. Alex may be bigger, but Shiro was the trained fighter, so he knew he could take what his body demanded.

But then power training wasn't the only thing Alex had been working on with his older brother. He caught Shiro's wrists again in a movement that would help him push the other away but paused. His voice came out strong and sure, with a vengefulness that surprised the easy going skater, even in the heat of the moment. "If you do this Shiro, you'll be worse then Selene. It's one thing to be raped by an evil witch...it's another by the person who you thought loved you." Then he shoved Shiro in the direction of the door. If Shiro continued what he was doing, Alex would be an easy target, but he hoped... "Now, I want you to leave and I don't want to see your face until I've packed my things, taken Crush and left. If I do...I'll go to my brother." It was an empty threat, but Alex hoped maybe, if his earlier statement didn't get through, this would. He hated resorting to threats but Shiro was starting to scare him and while Scott's training had helped, he could only fight Shiro so much.

If Shiro thought that Alex's refusal had hurt before, then this was like a death blow. He looked in Alex's eyes, terrified, and mouthed the word 'rape.' "A-Alex, I-I'm sorry. I did not . . . Alex, please, I'm sorry. P-please do not go. I-I will change, I promise. It is not what you think. Please."

Alex's expression softened, but he didn't back down. Instead, he just shook his head. "I have to. My being here is not going to help you get over your addiction. And I can't face this again Shiro. Not with you. Please...you need help that I can't provide. Get it. Please. I love you...but Shiro I can't...I can't do this again." There was more meaning to those words, as in, their relationship was over.

Shiro backed out the doorway slowly, desperately clinging to the last hope that Alex would reconsider, or at least give Shiro the chance to show him that he could change. "I never meant to hurt you," he said, his voice trembling. "Please believe at least that."

"I know." Alex said softly, as his resolve finally faded as the full reality of what was happening struck him. "I know Shiro."