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The Fruit of Ambition

By: LonleyMistress

folder 1 through F › Alexander

Rating: Adult +

Chapters: 3

Views: 2,204

Reviews: 0

Recommended: 0

Currently Reading: 0

Category: 1 through F › Alexander

Rating: Adult +

Chapters: 3

Views: 2,204

Reviews: 0

Recommended: 0

Currently Reading: 0

Disclaimer: I own neither the movie Alexander nor its characters. I also earn no money from this story. It's purely for entertainment.

Prologue

Prologue

It had become a disaster if epic proportions, something that had managed to remain the focus of every news broadcast for an entirety of three days. Now, as his eyes stared blankly out of his apartment window to the scant amount of people passing in the streets below, he was unable to hear the roar of the helicopter above the building, and smell the nauseating stench of what he felt was the rotting corpse of the young woman in the apartment next door.

He had usually come here to think far away from where he thought anyone would recognise him in the warm quiet comfort of this small town; and now, as he sat he had become once again slave to his usual fit of abstraction, except that today his mind was only filled with horror and disquiet.

His eyes shifted to the mess of auburn hair that spread out on the pillow on the large antique bed across the room, and almost immediately the sound of a light snore caught his ears. Hephaestion had sprawled out on the bed, and kicked off the sheet again. Alexander laughed softly. At least there was still his Patroklous to lighten his mood, but he could not allow himself to become distracted as yet. There were other important matters to be dealt with.

His eyes shifted back to the window, and the smile faded from his face as the sound of a radio broadcast of the news drifted from the streets. It was a chilling tale of an epidemic that somehow managed to travel across three states in a week.

One week, he mused; and the origins were very far from accountable.

Within the three weeks following its emergence it had both claimed the lives of at least three hundred people, and threatened to plunge a mighty nation in severe economic crisis. Alexander shuddered; not just any mighty nation, the world power that he built.

Alexander turned away as the voices on the radio became deafening. The noise from approaching sirens had drowned out most of what they were saying, but he was still able to pick up the gist of what the two microbiologists were quarrelling about. For a moment, he realised that he wasn't surprised at the raw hatred he heard dripping from their voices, but attributed everything to panic, dark heavy panic that had taken the world as quickly as the first set of people started dying.

He rose slowly and headed to his jacket for the last box of cigarettes. He needed them to think or to clear his mind so to speak, and made a silent prayer to the gods that Hephaestion didn't wake up and see him. He wasn't sure he could take another lecture from his lover about the hazards of smoking. He couldn't believe how much Hephaestion had changed over the years. One day they were teenagers giggling over smuggled weed and beer in the darkness of his bedroom, and the next, Hephaestion is lecturing him on the risks of smoking and heavy drinking. Alexander smiled weakly. He didn't know whether to laugh or to cry. On one hand he missed the fun they had in the old days, and on the other, he was glad Hephaestion's old habits were long gone. He would never forget the day when a terrible cocaine addiction had almost taken his beloved away from him. Just remembering it made him feel more like shit. He glanced at his reflection in the mirror and lit his cigarette. Gods...he looked like shit!

He was brought back to reality by a soft rustling of the sheets, and the soothing voice of a half asleep Hephaestion.

"Alexander, come to bed."

Alexander nearly swallowed the cigarette, and quickly began fanning the smoke away.

"I will be there soon, my love."

Hephaestion sat up slowly running his hand through his long auburn hair. For a moment Alexander's breath caught at ethereal appearance at his lover's iridescent blue eyes in the dark. Then he remembered the cigarette. He still held the goddamn cigarette in his hand.

"Are you still fretting about the epidemic, Alexander?" Hephaestion sighed and turned to his lover. Alexander couldn't help but get aroused as strands of auburn hair lightly caressed his lover's lips. "I'm worried about you. Whenever I wake up you're either there standing by the window, or pacing the room at night. You haven't slept for three days, Alexander; and frankly you're beginning to scare me."

Alexander sighed. Hephaestion was right, but he couldn't allow himself to rest while so many people were dying. If things continued like this, the whole country would probably be wiped out in less than a few months. He wasn't the president, but because of the amount of influence he had, every decision that was made was made by him. The president and the rest of politicians were mere pawns. He ruled this country. His decisions and money kept this country alive.

"Hephaestion, I can't. At least, not right now my love. Everything is so confusing right now. I have tried everything, and spent an ungodly amount of money on research, but they still have no clue about its origins or how to cure it. It's still spreading like wildfire Hephaestion, I can't abandon my thoughts for one minute."

Hephaestion got off the bed and headed towards his beloved. Even in the dark he could tell that his lover needed to be held.

"Do you think it could have been some type of terrorist attack?"

Alexander sighed as he felt his lover's arms around his waist. Warm breath tickled his neck, as Hephaestion rested his head on his shoulder.

"No one is sure yet; but I need to do this because I can't bear to lose you Hephaestion. Everyone else is dying, but if I lose you I am nothing."

Alexander turned swiftly and cupped Hephaestion's cheeks so he could stare into his eyes. Hephaestion shivered as he glimpsed the terror and pain in Alexander's dark eyes.

"Promise me you won't ever leave me Hephaestion! Promise me!"

Hephaestion's eyes began to swim as he stared into his lover's dark eyes.

"I promise you, my Achilles. I will never leave you as long as the gods allow it."

Alexander released a sob, and pulled his lover into a desperate kiss. One thing he had never forgotten was that Patroklous died first.

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