Alternate Season 2 sequel to Wild Card. Todd, Farah, and Dirk are searching for Amanda while they battle being hunted, Todd's advancing disease, and a new plot from Blackwing. I do not have access to Season 2 so this is spoiler free. Any similarities between this story and Season 2 are coincidental (or possibly proof that everything is connected). If there is overlap, please don't tell me. I'm trying to avoid spoilers. I do not own these characters or make any money off this. I'm just a fan who is waiting to watch the new season.

Todd woke up to the smell of bacon. He opened his eyes and stretched. He could feel Farah's arms still wrapped around his chest. While he hated that she had to hold him at night because they were afraid he'd have a pararibulitis attack and be unable to call for help, he loved the feeling of her sleeping form against him.

It was rare for Todd to wake up first. As he gently pulled away, Farah woke and immediately tensed up.

"It's ok." He said "I'm fine. Just awake. Go back to sleep." He leaned down and kissed her forehead. She smiled, yawned, pulled the blanket up to her chin, and drifted back to sleep.

Todd walked into the kitchen and saw Dirk standing in front of the stove.

"Good morning!" said Dirk sunnily. "I made pancakes and bacon!"

"Since when do you cook anything besides Pop Tarts?" Todd asked.

Dirk grinned with a happy secret. "I do today! It's a very special day!"

Todd chuckled. "Oh, is it? What kind of special day?"

"The kind of special day when I decide it's time to forgive my loser brother and come home."

Todd froze. The voice came from behind him, but he had no trouble recognizing it. He gulped, suddenly afraid to turn around.

"You going to ignore me all day?" Amanda asked. "Because I can leave."

"No!" Todd cried as he whirled around. There she stood. Dressed in leather and wearing dark eyeliner that made her glare even more intense. His baby sister.

"Amanda." He said. "We've been searching for you."

"I heard." She said "I've heard a lot about you from the Rowdies. How you helped save them. Save Dirk. You're with Farah now. She's way out of your league, so try not to screw that up."

"Yeah," He said as he shifted his weight. "I'll try my best."

Amanda nodded. "They say you're sick too."

Todd looked down. "I guess it was only a matter of time before the universe bit me in the ass for that one." He paused. "I know I deserve it."

"No." Said Amanda "No one deserves this. But if someone did, it would be you."

Her words were harsh, but he saw a hint of forgiveness in her brown eyes.

"I'm sorry." Said Todd "For all of it. For everything. Ever. I'm so sorry."

"I know." She said simply.

Todd cautiously approached her. "I was so scared. I just want to keep you safe. I love you."

Amanda smiled as she stepped towards him. "I love you too, Todd."

And then she shoved the cattle prod into his ribs.

Todd woke up screaming.

Dirk was sound asleep in the chair next to Todd's hospital bed. Since Todd was recovering from being stabbed during Dirk's rescue, he had a hard time leaving his assis-friend's side. Even if Todd did find it annoying.

Dirk had fallen asleep listening to the hypnotizing rhythm of Todd's heart monitor.

He wasn't sure what woke him up first, the blaring alarm or his screaming friend. Dirk fell out of his chair, briefly confused by being in the state between dream and reality. Then he saw Todd. Todd's body was jerking and spasming in a way that can only be caused by electrocution. It was as if he were being attacked by tasers all over. His blue eyes were huge and terrified as Dirk stared in stunned silence.

The door burst open as Farah, Dr. Hubert, and a nurse raced in.

"Hold him down!" the doctor barked.

Dirk leaped up and tried to tackle Todd's right arm. It swung up and hit Dirk in the nose. He saw stars, but made another grab and had to use almost his entire body weight to pin Todd's arm down. Dr. Hubert was grabbing Todd's left arm, which was tangled in his IV tube. Farah was laying on the bed, using her entire body to pin his legs. The nurse was rapidly trying to strap Todd down in the bed restraints.

Dirk saw bright red rapidly spreading across the front of Todd's hospital gown.

"Blood!" Dirk cried "Blood!"

"He's blown his sutures!" the doctor shouted.

The nurse had successfully tied Todd to the bed, but his body was pulling so hard against the restraints that Dirk was sure he was going to dislocate something.

The nurse gave Todd a grand total of four shots before he even started to calm down.

"Prep him for surgery! Now!" the doctor barked as they wheeled Todd away.

The door slammed shut and Dirk and Farah stood in Todd's now empty room breathless and in shock.

"You're bleeding." Said Farah.

Dirk reached up and felt the warm liquid gushing from his nose.

"Oh." He said shakily "It seems you are correct."

"Sit down." Said Farah as she grabbed some gauze. She tipped his head back and gently pressed the cloth against his nose. "Hold this here."

She paced the room while Dirk held the gauze. When the bleeding slowed, he tipped his head back to a normal position to look at her.

"Is… is it always like this?"

"Is what always like this?" Farah asked without slowing her stride.

"The attacks."

Farah froze mid-step. A pained look came over her face. "Sometimes they're worse."

Dirk swallowed hard. It tasted like blood and caused him to have to fight his gag reflex. Then he reached out to her. Farah looked at his hand for a long time. Then she clasped it and sat down in the chair next to him. They sat in silence for what felt like ages before Dr. Hubert came back.

"The good news," he said "is that it wasn't as bad as it looked. He ripped open his stitches, but we were able to sew him back up with minimal issues."

"What's the bad news?" asked Farah. Her grip tightened, and Dirk gritted his teeth as he felt like the bones in his hand were about to snap.

"The bad news is, he shouldn't have had an attack to begin with. The medication we had him on should have been more than enough to prevent this. And even then, one of those injections should have neutralized it. He needed several before it took any affect."

Farah's posture stiffened.

"What does that mean?" asked Dirk.

"It means his disease is progressing." Said Farah.

"And quickly." Said Dr. Hubert. "He's becoming resistant to medication."

Dirk's mouth went dry. "What… what does that mean?"

"It means," said the doctor "that we move on to the stronger stuff. Keep an eye on him. These will be harder on his body. And if he keeps progressing, these will eventually stop working too."

"Then what?" Dirk asked.

"Then you pray someone discovers a new treatment.

Todd's brain was pulled out of anesthesia fog by the sounds of alarms, gunfire, and yelling. He was still more asleep than awake as he felt himself being lifted off the bed and sat onto a wheelchair. It took all of the little strength he had to keep his head lifted. He could hear Farah's voice.

"Get him to the van! Wait exactly two minutes and then go! If I'm not there by then, I will be heading towards another way out! Just get him out of here!" she barked.

Todd turned his head to look at her. She was holding a large gun as she turned and ran down the hall. Todd wanted to reach for her, but his arms hung heavy and useless at his sides.

The wheelchair was moving. Someone was pushing it. And fast. Every turn made Todd feel like he was about to tumble onto the floor. Somehow, they made it to the van.

"Come on!"

He heard a voice with an English accent, along with the sound of keys jingling.

Dirk.

"Wha…" Todd said. His face felt so numb that it was hard to speak. "Wha… hppnin..?"

"Blackwing found us!" Dirk said as he threw open the back of the van. Dirk reached down and began trying to lift Todd up out of the chair. Though Dirk was a little larger, Todd was dead weight and Dirk grunted as he struggled to get his friend into the van. He laid Todd on some sort of cot and began strapping Todd down with restraints.

"Just think of it as a seatbelt." Said Dirk "It's bolted to the floor, so you won't go anywhere. Even if we crash. Not that we will crash. But you'll be secure either way."

"Farah…" said Todd.

"She's coming. I hope." Dirk looked at his watch.

"Don leave er." Todd grunted.

"No, no. Of course not." Dirk smiled nervously. "She has plenty of time." He looked at his watch again.

"Wait." Said Todd in a slurred voice.

Dirk was starting to sweat.

"Wait!" He was louder this time.

"I am! I will!" His eyes darted around nervously. "I'm just going to… start the van."

"Wait!" Todd cried as he pulled against his restraints.

"I'm waiting!" he yelled back over the roar of the starting engine. "Though you should know she threatened me! She said she would be fine and if she got delayed she has an alternate escape and she would meet up with us and if I didn't get you out exactly as planned she would be very angry and frankly I'm afraid of what that means!"

The gunfire sounded closer.

"I see her!" Dirk cried. "I see her!" He threw the van into gear.

The side door opened, and Farah leaped in. "Go!" she shouted as she slammed the door shut behind her.

The van raced forward as Farah pulled a device out of her pocket. She pressed the button and Todd heard an explosion.

"Did you just blow up our old hideout?!" Dirk yelled back to her.

"Yes! All our people got out and we needed to erase the evidence and buy us some time. Keep going on the North road."

Todd didn't realize he had passed out until he woke up. He was laying on a bed, under a thick quilt, and staring at a cabin ceiling.

"Oh good!" said Dirk "You're finally awake!"

Todd lifted his head and saw Dirk sitting on the edge of his bed.

"Where are we?" asked Todd.

"New safehouse. Out in the middle of bloody nowhere. Farah estimates we have two days before Blackwing catches up."

"Did… did we blow up our old hideout, or did I dream that?"

"Oh, we blew it up. Farah got Dr. Hubert and the others to the tunnel. They're halfway around the world by now. They're safe. Sorry we don't have a doctor and nurses on retainer for you anymore."

"They did more than enough." Said Todd "I'm glad they're alright."

"There wasn't much else they could do anyway." Said Dirk sadly.

Todd had suspected this. "I'm getting worse. Aren't I?"

Dirk nodded. "We have some stronger pills, but we don't know how long they will help. And you need to be careful with those stitches. That is unless you want me to sew you back up."

"It doesn't hurt much." Said Todd.

"That's because we gave you the good drugs. You'll feel it when they wear off."

Farah entered the room with a fast food bag. "Everyone eat. Especially you." She said as she looked at Todd. "You haven't eaten in over a day."

"That explains the hollow feeling." Said Todd as he began pushing himself into a sit up position. Dirk and Farah assisted and propped him up with pillows behind him. Todd realized he was wearing a black shirt instead of a hospital gown. He lifted the quilt and saw he was also wearing jeans.

"Did you… dress me?"

Farah shifted her weight. "We felt that in the event that we have to move quickly, we would be less conspicuous if we were all dressed normally instead of wearing a hospital gown. We were unsure how long you would be unconscious or how quickly you could get dressed once you woke up, so we decided to prepare for a split-second evacuation."

Todd could feel the embarrassment rising to his cheeks. "Yeah. Um… that makes sense."

"I'm sorry." Said Farah "We probably should have waited. It was a tactical decision and…"

"No." said Todd "You're right. Seconds count right now."

"We didn't look." Said Dirk in a failed attempt to relieve the tension.

"So what food did you bring?" asked Todd with slightly exaggerated volume.

"Burgers." Said Farah as she tossed a wrapped sandwich in Todd's direction.

Todd's stomach announced just how long it had been since he had last eaten. He unwrapped the bacon cheeseburger and said, "I love you so much right now."

He froze, suddenly hyper aware of what he had just said to the woman he was involved with and the incredibly unromantic way he said it. Unable to think of anything to say to make it less awkward, he instead shoved as much burger as possible into his mouth.

After an uncomfortably quiet meal, Farah stood up.

"We leave at dark." She said.

"Dirk said we had two days." Said Todd.

Farah shook her head. "I can't figure out how they found us. We can't risk them catching up again."

"She's right!" said Dirk excitedly "It's time to head East!"

"No," said Farah "we are continuing North."

Dirk shook his head. "No. East. Towards the water."

Farah's jaw tightened. "The ocean is West of here."

"Oh sure," said Dirk "that ocean is. But there are literally oceans all over the world!"

"Why are we heading towards water?" Todd asked.

"Can't you feel it?" Dirk asked "The pull? Water. Amanda. Pararibulitis. It's all connected!"

Farah rubbed her temples. "Because everything is connected?"

"Yes!" Dirk cried "Exactly!"

"You really think Amanda is there?" asked Todd.

"The Rowdies went searching for her." Said Farah "And we have no idea where they went."

"Water." Said Dirk "East towards water."

"Do you have any idea how long it would take us to reach the ocean?" Farah asked in an exasperated tone.

"Maybe it's not the ocean." Said Dirk "Maybe it's a lake. Or a river!"

"Or a bucket." Said Todd.

His joke went over Dirk's head. "See! Todd gets it!"

Farah glared at Todd. "Not helping."

"What do we have to lose if we try it?" Dirk asked.

Farah crossed her arms. "It makes… no sense. Why would we go East? What possible tactical advantage would we have by going East?"

"Exactly!" Dirk exclaimed "Blackwing had no reason to expect it!"

"He has a point." Said Todd.

"Fine." Farah said "At nightfall we go… East. Towards water, apparently."

Dirk's smile was huge. "You won't regret it!"