Wishing just makes trouble

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Chapter 10
Wishing just makes trouble
Title: C24
Author: Merkat
Fandom: BTVS/Doom
Pairing: Xander/Reaper
Summary: Xander goes to Willy’s bar after the wedding that wasn’t. He makes a new friend and says something he shouldn’t. Now Xander has to adapt to his new surroundings. Slash.
*Hi* People thought
~ Hi ~ computer voice
“Hi” speaking
(Hi) other

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Sarge and Dr.Grimm’s little yelling contest caught Xander attention when she mentioned Dr. Carmack, the guy Xander was supposed to guard.

“Look at the left ear.” Dr. Grimm said as she pointed at the creature stuck in the nano wall. Xander looked over Reaper shoulder. The creature was missing an ear, the same ear Dr. Carmack had torn from his head. Xander didn’t need it spelled out for him. Goat rising again . . . The one eared beast. They were fighting humans. Fucked up humans, but humans none the less. Cursing his luck Xander let Reaper finish stitching him up. Xander would be a Frankensteins stitch covered bride by the end of this mission.

Sliding his shirt back on Xander stood by Duke and Destroyer, the later was now wearing a cast. He listened as Duke and Samantha explained how the tongue of the creatures infect people by bitting them in the neck. It sounded a bit like the vampies from the Blade series. Xander was just glad it was not THAT easy to make a vamp for real.

He watched as Sam checked Mac and Portman for open wounds on their necks. They were clean Xander knew that already, the bodies didn’t give him the creeps like Carmack did. Leaving the others to their drama Xander looked through the counters and cabinets. Sam was yelling about a virus or something environmental causing the mutation. It could be possible. But why now? People have been living on Mars for years! Why would a virus activate today? What could have been the catalyst? What in Mars’ dead atmosphere could bring about such a strong unnatural change?

Xander didn’t think either theory was the cause. No. Man is his own worst enemy. This was their own damn fault. As Xander looked through files he met Reaper’s eyes. Xander was happy to see his own suspicions reflecting in Reaper’s gleaming eyes.

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Xander watched Sarge with wary and tired eyes. With each new obstacle the man seamed to tighten up like a guitar string, soon the man would most likely snap. He stayed out of the way as Sam started talking about trying to reverse Dr. Carmack’s condition. Xander would have giggled, but he didn’t want to draw attention. The thing in the nano wall that used to be Dr. Carmack went from being a old mad scientist to a damn ugly scarecrow monster with what looked like yellow puke colored wax for skin. It resembled crunchy mummy then a man. At least a vamp still looked like the man it once was. Xander wasn’t the smartest man in the world but he found it hard to believe that there was a way back from that.

Xander didn’t bat a lash as Sarge pulled his hand gun and shoved it into the trapped screaming creatures mouth. The shot rang through the room, Sarge turned to everyone a scowl and the creatures blood covering his face.

Sarge had ordered The Kid and Duke to go out and make sure the scientists were really dead. After-all if Goat could raise up from the dead-ish thing why not the scientists. Xander was sitting down, his ankle hurt like a son of a bitch. Getting pressure off it helped, Xander just hoped it wasn’t broken. Running for ones life was harder to do when the bones do that.

He felt bad for Dr. Grimm as Sarge and Reaper started to interrogate her. After-all both men were a force, like gravity. Under the pressure of their glares one might feel a bit crushed.

“What were you sent here to protect!” Said Reaper as his eyes locked with his twins.

“Th-the research data!!!” She yelled, her very blue eyes watering up.

“Research into WHAT.”

Xander was never one to like seeing a pretty girl cry so he spoke up. “M-maybe you could show us ma`am. Every little bit we could learn about this threat would really help.”

He gulped and nearly flinched as all eyes fell on him. Though the thankful look Samantha sent his way was worth it.

“Ok.” Said Samantha with a sniffle.

Everyone followed Dr.Grimm into the next room where a computer laid. Sitting stiffly in her chair Samantha placed a green disc into the computer. Xander stood behind Reaper and watched with morbid fascination, it was just something you couldn’t turn away from. Car crashes and animal slaughtering had nothing on this.

On the computer screen was Dr. Carmack and his oh so lovely team. They surrounded a man that was manacled to a table. They looked at the bound man like a thing, this Curtis was just another piece of equipment to them. Everyone watched as the struggling man was injected with C24 then placed into the circular cage. They listened as Dr. Carmack talked so causally about the man mutating into something less then human. It was sick. Sick in a Initiative type a way.

“We were never going to do human studies!” Said Samantha as she looked at her brother.

“They lied to you Sam. They used you!”

“If they had perfected-” She tried to say.

“Don’t you see Sam it’s this place!! It’s cursed! It always was. This shit ends here!” Reaper gathered all the data disc’s, a look of intent on his wary face. Xander agreed. If they brought the data back it would just be used again, then more bad shit would happen.

“What are you doing Reaper?” Sarge growled.

“Sarge don’t you see? We need to destroy these. They’re just going to-”

“I didn’t see SHIT! I’m not payed to see SHIT. That’s UAC property. We have orders to protect it and this facility!”

Xander turned away in disgust as the feed ended, he rolled his eyes at Samantha’s feeble attempt to defend C24. But a lead weight lodged in Xander’s stomach at Sarge’s words. Did the man not care at all? If scientists couldn’t work on their experiments on Mars they would have to do it on Earth! And they would need lab rats, human-ish ones! Yes, Xander realized if C24 was perfected people would no longer get sick, would be as strong as slayers, it would have been great. But since it turned men into monsters . . . Any good that could or would of happened was empty. Hollow. If the things get to Earth . . . Xander didn’t want to think about that.

On Earth Xander had a family that loved him. He would get rid of the monsters now. The less damage this shit did the better.

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Xander glared as Sarge marched off with his big fucking gun, he resisted the urge to stick his tongue out. So his ankle was fucked up! So what! Why did he have to stay and baby sit Dr. Grimm? Destroyer had a broken arm for gods sake and he didn’t have to stay.

Reaper patted Xander on the shoulder.”Thanks. It means a lot to me that you are protecting Sam.” Xander nearly yelped as the man past him. Unless it was his imagination, which he didn’t think it was, Reaper pinched his ass!!

With that unusual good bye Reaper left a frowning, but no longer angry, blushing Xander. Giving a sigh Xander walked over to Samantha to see what she was doing. Standing behind the blond Xander watched her bite her lip as she down loaded more data on C24 and the skeleton woman known only as Lucy. Picking up one of the tubs of C24, he shook it. It didn’t look like anything special. Just a clear, harmless, and boring liquid. Then it struck him. He was alone with a person that knew John Grimm best!

“So . . . You and Reaper close?”

“Use to be. He changed a lot after our parents passing.” Mumbled Samantha as she focused on her work.

“Does he I don’t know? Date?” Xander asked as he tossed the tub of C24 in the air.


“No he was never really interested in anyone. This can’t be right . . . Lucy wasn’t a monster.” Said Samantha as she jumped out of her chair making the damn thing fall to the ground with a loud clatter. Frowning Xander followed the mumbling woman. He watched her put on rubber gloves and grab a pair of tongs.

“Um . . . Dr. Grimm what are you doing?” She jumped like she had forgotten Xander was even in the room.

“Pup? Oh, well I’m looking for the tongue.” She said as she followed the blood trail to under a desk.

“A tongue?”

“Mmmhmm . . .It’s how these creatures infect us. Through the neck, remember. I want to study it while I can.” Xander backed up as she pulled the thing out from under the desk. It was still . . .juicy. Xander watched but didn’t interfere as Samantha took brain matter from Portman, but was mildly annoyed that she would bug Mac’s corpse. He was a friend after-all.

“What are you doing. Haven’t you ever been told to respect the dead. Don’t want someone to come back to life and bite limps off do you?” Samantha looked at Xander like he was the weirdest man she had ever met. He shrugged, Xander was pretty sure the title of weirdest man she ever met belonged to Duke or Portman. Or maybe Goat. The man did take the bibles words way too far to be healthy.

She sighed. “This is the tongue-”

Xander nodded. “Yeah got it. It’s not like its Carmack’s naughty parts. Cause that would just be on the yuck side!”

Sam rolled her eyes. “You weren’t the best student in school were you? This is the tongue.” She pointed at it for good measure. “And this is brain matter from Portman . .” Xander watched as she squirted some on a cotton, then held it over the tongue. Xander was slightly startled as the thing jumped up and hissed.

“And this is from Mac . . .” She held the other one over the tongue. Xander was prepared for it to hiss but it didn’t.

“Huh. Why didn’t it react?”

“Do you remember Lucy and the baby? The ones in my office?” Xander nodded. “She had the 24th gene. She didn’t turn into a monster! She was a super human. Lucy died protective her baby not devouring it. Think about it. All those that were attack and infected were violent in some way. It’s choosing who or what it should infect.”

Xander groaned. “Grrrrreaaaaaaaaat so it’s smart. Why couldn’t we get the stupid world ending pathogen? Why-”

Xander stopped expressing his unhappiness as the sound of Sarge yelling through the coms. The creatures were at the ark. At the ark that they had left unprotected. After-all Pinky looked like a coward. Xander doubted he could protect a donut much less their only way home.

“Dr.Grimm it’s time to go.” Xander could hear the count down through the his ear piece. The shit was going to hit the fan soon and hard. Xander had just gathered all his weapons when Reaper came running in.

“Why didn’t you two answer your radio’s!!?” Xander blinked then groped at his belt for this radio. He had his ear piece but it seamed his radio sprouted legs and left him on his lonesome. Reaper glared at Xander for an answer.

“I don’t have mine. I must have lost it during the struggle with that thing in the cage room.” Reaper nodded then glared at Sam.

“It’s in the other room. I have something to show you! Just give me ten minutes!”

Reaper shook his head. “We don’t have time for this! We have to go now!”

“Then give me thirty seconds!”

Xander left Sam to explain to her brother what she had already explained to him. Digging in a cabinet Xander smiled as he found some strong pain pills. From how everything was going he was going to be doing a lot of running really soon. Swallowing two he pocketed the rest for later. Hopefully there would be a later.

“Oh my god Sarge is going to kill them all!” The horror in Reaper’s voice made Xander feel a bit . . .Ok a lot sick! Surely Sarge wasn’t that off the handle? Could he?

Xander didn’t hesitate. He ran for the ark.

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