A/N: Sorry it took so long to get this chapter up. I would have had it up yesterday, but it just got so late, and I wanted to get home in time for the season premier of SG-1.

Chapter Two: Unwanted Developments

To say that this was inconvenient was an understatement. No one liked it when the base was quarantined. And when you sent men in to explore unknown worlds across thousands of light years for the first time, you always risked carrying home some kind of deadly virus. And in light of the report from Doctor Frasier, and everyone else who was in sickbay at the time, General Hammond had no choice but to follow his standing orders and close the base off. If that meant that everyone in the mountain had to die then so be it, so long as the rest of the planet could be safe from the ravages of the unknown disease. In his off time, Hammond often wondered if the Russian Stargate Command followed a similar set of protocols.

In times like this the main priorities of all personnel stuck on the base were very simple. First, ensure security at all costs. No one comes into the base, and no one leaves it, at any cost. Not even the president could override that mandate. Second priority, was to find out everything about the disease or infection in hopes that the slightest bit of information would lead to a cure.

Doctor Frasier spent the next two days analyzing the samples of saliva and blood originally found on Lt. Reed's body. Fortunately, she was also able to isolate samples of the lieutenant's saliva, which she obtained from Cyan Rayne, the nurse who got bitten. At this point the nurse was beginning to suffer from similar symptoms, and to avoid further incidents, she was placed under restraints and sedated as often as safety allowed. Two on duty airmen were also stationed right outside sickbay in case of any trouble. Doctor Jackson and Col. O'Neil took turns trying to get through to the lieutenant, who struggled to break free of the straightjacket.

"You're doing it all wrong," Col. O'Neil joked, looking in through the plate glass. "When they put it on you, you're supposed to tense your muscles. That way it slackens when you relax. That's how Harry Houdini always did it."

Lt. Reed glared at the colonel. A primitive and animalistic growl could be heard through the speakers. And even though the room was dimly lit, Col. O'Neil could see his bared teeth and penetrating eyes.

"So, been to Transylvania lately?" O'Neil continued, using the only vampire quip he could think of. "Nah, me neither. Nothing's better than good old Minnesota."

The lieutenant muttered something weak and faint.

"What's that?" "I need blood," Reed repeated himself, a little louder.

Col. O'Neil raised an eyebrow and exchanged glances with one of the guards. That was a new one.

"Don't we all?" He responded, keeping his sympathetic tone.

"You don't understand. With out blood, my body feels like its taking over, like I have no control over my actions. And this pain...it feels like there's nothing left inside of me but a lot of dead weight."

"What happened to you out there?" O'Neil asked. "What happened to the rest of SG-14, and to Sam?"

Lt. Reed shook his head. From the light glistening off his forehead, Col. O'Neil could tell he was suffering. "You have to get me the blood first. Get me the blood and I'll tell you everything."

Col. O'Neil thought on this for a second. Lt. Reed was obviously not in his right mind. But perhaps there was pay dirt here. "Tell me everything, and I'll get you the blood."

"Not the way this works."

Col. O'Neil took his tone up a notch. "This may be a bad time to pull rank, but you don't have much of a choice but to make it work."

"You don't out rank me any more," Reed growled. "I know the lights are dim in here. But I can see the veins in your neck. I can smell the warmth of your blood right through the plate glass. The aroma is overwhelming, like the smell of a Thanksgiving turkey when its in the oven. Without blood, I can't think straight, and until I get it, I can't tell you anything about Major Carter."

Without saying another word, Col. O'Neil saluted the guards and walked away as calmly as he could. He felt the tips of his fingers digging into the palm of his hands before he even realized that his fists were clenched.


"Janet, tell me this quarantine doesn't have to last too long."

"I don't know what to say General," Dr. Frasier answered honestly. "This infection has the most extraordinary makeup I've ever seen." The doctor lead General Hammond to a microscope. "This is a sample of saliva, which we found on Lt. Reed's neck wounds upon examination."

Gen. Hammond gazed into the microscope and noticed the greenish-yellow color of the saliva. With limited medical knowledge he could only assume that it was the cause of the infection.

"This bacteria was also found in the blood samples I took from Lt. Reed, before he became aggressive." Janet explained, gesturing to another microscope. "Now I noticed the bacteria in the saliva right away, but it wasn't until a few hours had passed that it showed up in the blood."

"What blood?" Hammond asked. As he looked at the slide beneath the microscope, all he could see was the same bacteria, covering the area beneath the plastic strip.

"Exactly."

Before the general could ask if Dr. Frasier was making some kind of a joke, Janet showed him samples of blood and saliva taken from the nurse.

"Shortly after Cathy Moran was bitten, she began to exhibit the same symptoms as Lieutenant Reed. Low pulse and heartbeat, and by the end of the day she was beginning to try and break free of her restraints. The only thing that keeps her calm is the IV bags full of blood we keep on the base, and even those don't hold out for very long."

General Hammond was baffled by these new revelations. Even after five years of sending people off world and dealing with any number of strange afflictions, or devastating diseases, each time was a whole new experience. Nothing ever ceased to amaze him.

"Sir, what we're looking at, is a bacteria that actually devours blood." Dr. Frasier summed up. "And as a side effect, it forces them to become thirsty for blood like a...a..."

"Like a vampire?" Col. O'Neil suggested, approaching the pair.

"How's Reed?" Hammond asked, genuinely concerned.

"A little resentful at being strait jacketed. But other than that he's promised to cooperate if we give him a few pints of blood. I told him we'd think about it."

"There's nothing to think about. We still have teams off world and you know we need every ounce of blood in that bank. We have an on base blood drive every six months or so, and even adding that to what the military provides us is never enough to cover all of the unplanned emergencies."

"General, he says he can't think straight without the blood." O'Neil protested. "Now I know this is a bit over the top, but its not like we haven't dealt with weirder. And since the Tokra are taking their sweet ass time as usual we need every bit of information we can get on the whereabouts of our people."

"There's a possibility that they may all ready be dead," Gen. Hammond pointed out. "Or if not, they may be as good as dead. As is I'm going to have a hell of a time explaining to the president that two people under my command have turned into vampires."

Dr. Frasier cut in. "Sir, you know as much as I do that we can be caught short at any time. But communicating with Lieutenant Reed maybe the only way I can find a cure for this thing. Any bit of information I can get would be helpful in developing the antibody. Even if he could simply tell me what it was that attacked him."

The general knew he was backed into a corner. But at least he knew Frasier's intent was for the good of all the SGC. At this point, Col. O'Neil's mind was focused on only one person through out all of this.

"All right," He said, speaking more to O'Neil than Frasier. "He gets no more than two pints from the blood bank. After that, if you can find any willing donors then be my guess. But we aren't sending any more people to P- 2985 until we're absolutely sure that this bacteria can eventually be cured."

"Yes sir."


It was around three am. The IV bag was nearly empty. Cathy was wide-awake, and thoroughly aware of the emptiness within her. The scent of blood was so strong, coming from a small desk near the bed. It was Lindsey, the male nurse placed on night watch.

"I could use a glass of water," She said, innocently.

Lindsey looked up from his work and got up. He filled a paper cup with water from the cooler, and brought it to the side of her bed. Her hunger increased as he brought the cup to her lips and helped her drink. The restraints were made of plastic instead of nylon, and not as easy to break.

She made a show of spilling the water.

"Oh, sorry."

"That's all right."

Lindsay placed the cup on the nightstand and grabbed a sponge to dab the droplets.

"Do you think you could undo the restraints for just a moment?" Cathy asked, her mouth watering as Lindsay leaned over her.

Lindsay was uncertain. "My orders were not to."

"I won't tell anyone," She promised. "Come on Lindsay, I just want to drink water with some dignity."

Lindsay glanced back at the entrance, as if expecting to get caught. Then he began to undo of the straps. Cathy waited until her other arm was free before grabbing Lindsay and pulling the curtains around the bed. She cupped his mouth with one hand and held him in place with the other as he struggled, and buried her teeth into his throat.

It wasn't as easy or as seductive as it was in the movies. Hell, she didn't even have real fangs to do it with. But when the warm blood filled her mouth the emptiness seemed to fade away. She knew it wouldn't last long. Before the night was through she'd have to feed again.

Lindsay stopped struggling, and she could feel his heart shutter to a stop. No one from outside seemed to notice anything. Cathy placed the body on the bed and covered it up with the sheets. Somehow it seemed so natural to her, as if she hadn't just killed a person she'd known for a few months.

Something was calling to her, and she knew she couldn't resist it. She knocked on the door and stepped to the side. A moment later, one of the guards kicked open the door and slowly entered, presumably with the second guard watching his back.

Not a problem. Cathy could feel the presence inside her, guiding her actions.

Cathy yanked the guard towards her, shocking him enough to loosen the grip on his gun. She bit into him and only drank a little blood before guard outside managed to hit the panic button. Cathy threw the guard aside and bolted out the door, slamming into the second guard and knocking him on his back.

"Cease and desist!" A third man shouted.

Cathy looked up and saw four more soldiers blocking her way to the elevator. All of them were pointing guns at her. She looked from them to the soldier on the floor. He was writhing in pain from her blow.

Acting on the instincts of the outside presence, Cathy dived onto the fallen soldier. He was able to raise his arm to protect his neck, but she simply bit into his wrist. Powerful arms pulled her away, but not before the infection was successfully passed.