10. Chapter 10
Disclaimer: I do not own any part of BtVS, Prototype or any of the mentioned characters in this story. They belong to Joss Whedon and Dark Horse comics, Activision Publishing Inc and DC comics was involved because their banner is seen throughout the game and they're publishing the comic book version of the game. Alien belongs to Ridley Scott, Brandywine Productions and Twentieth Century-Fox Productions. Stargate SG-1 belongs to MGM.
[subconscious talking] seeing as his subconscious can communicate with him it's better to not see it as regular 'thought'
Anything not according to canon is intentional. (I hope)
Xander drove though the night and arrived at Jack's place in Colorado Springs early in the morning. Jack warmly greeted him on Xander's arrival at his home.
"Welcome Xander to casa O'Neill. Now I propose we have some breakfast first before going to the base. Once there we let old doctor Frasier take the necessary samples. After that you can come back here and rest. At about seven I'll be back and we can have some takeout for dinner and by this time tomorrow morning we leave for my cabin in Minnesota," Jack suggested while offering the boy his hand.
Shaking the offered appendage Xander said, "sounds great. Breakfast will be great, I'm starving. Although instead of resting I might check out the town." His subconscious had immediately examined some of Jack's epithelial calls for his DNA and gave Xander the results, [yep, he's our dad.] 'Cool.'
After breakfast they both went in their cars with Xander following Jack to the base. After signing in and going through two security checkpoints they reached the base's infirmary where Xander was introduced to Dr. Janet Frasier.
"Janet this is Xander. Xander this is Janet. Now if you'll excuse me I have some work to do. Xander I'll see you later tonight."
"See you tonight Jack." Turning to the Doctor Xander decided to be polite to the lady who had acces to all the sharp and pointy things. "Hello ma'am nice to meet you."
"Likewise, Colonel O'Neill has informed me of the circumstances and all I need from you is a swab from the inside of your cheek. The results should be in by tomorrow," Janet said politely.
Grateful that the good doctor was using the expected technique Xander took the offered swab and swabbed it on the inside of his mouth where the specifically for the occasion grown cells were deposited on the swab.
After receiving the swab back Janet gave the sample to one of her assistants. "That will be all. You can go back to the surface and enjoy the rest of the day. I'll have an airman escort you out," Janet continued in her very polite and friendly tone.
Unknown to Xander it was only at the promise that Xander would not be left alone on the base that he was allowed to come down for the paternity test.
"Thank you ma'am. Have a nice day." Xander said while walking away.
Just as Xander and the airman reached the elevator the alarm started to blare. 'I thought you made sure those cells only contained my original DNA,' Xander thought quickly thinking he was the cause of the alarm. [Yes, I made sure. The correct cells were harvested. It might not be us that caused it,] supplied his subconscious.
"Does this happen often?" Xander asked, trying to get some more information.
"I'm not at liberty to say. Although according to regulations no one is allowed to leave the base after the alarm has been sounded until the all clear has been given or you're given a direct order by the base commander to leave," the airman said.
After waiting for fifteen minutes the all clear still wasn't given. But, at least the alarm had stopped blaring. Xander was escorted to the guest quarters where he waited for another seven hours. Every hour he would ask the guard at his door when he would be allowed to leave and what was going on. Each time the guard answered with 'soon' and 'classified'.
'This has gone on for long enough,' Xander thought while walking towards the door. Xander lightly knocked. An airman opened the door. But before he could say anything Janet walked in carrying her doctor's bag.
"Ok, I've waited long enough. What's going on? I wanna talk to Jack," Xander said with a clear tone of annoyance.
"I'm sorry, Xander. But, I've got to give you a shot. A nasty infectious bacteria has spread throughout the complex and I'm treating everyone. Jack also asked me to tell you that he's sorry about the trip you guys had planned but he won't be able to leave anytime soon," Janet said. Her weariness shining though her bedside manner.
"Ok, two things. One why doesn't he come and tell me himself and two how did a germ that would cause this base to go into lockdown get here?" Xander asked while thinking, 'I don't trust this and I'm not letting her anywhere near me with that syringe.'
A sad look appeared on Janet's face before she answered, "he's busy right now. Now I need your arm."
"No thank you. I haven't know you long enough to let you inject me with anything," Xander said while becoming nervous about the doctor's sad look.
"Please don't be difficult. I've got more people to treat after you," the CMO said. Upon seeing Xander's reluctance she called for the airman who was stationed at the door. When he entered and tried to restrain Xander, Xander threw him into the wall. Knocking him out. Janet was about to call for help but was stopped by Xander who covered her mouth with his hand. He went through her bag and took out a syringe and a tranquilizer he knew from his memories. After a short struggle he was able to inject Janet knocking her out quickly and lay her softly on the ground. He quickly took the ID card of the unconscious airman and took his form. 'Let's go find dear old dad.'
Xander opened the door and saw no one in the hallway. 'Okay, what the hell is going on here?' Walking back to the main hallway of the level Xander encountered what appeared to be a Sergeant. "I'm sorry have you seen Colonel O'Neill around here? I have a message for him," Xander stated.
Staring at what appeared to be an airman the sergeant turned to Xander. "Haven't you heard? Colonel O'Neill has been pinned to a wall in the gate room by that artifact they brought back yesterday," the Sergeant said.
"No, I hadn't heard thank you," Xander said politely while thinking, 'pinned to a wall by an artifact! What are these people doing here?' [No idea. And how can he be in a gate room when we're 18 levels below the ground.] When he reached the stairwell Xander decided to go in the direction of where the most noise was coming from, down. Once he reached level 21 he left the stairwell and explored it. He found several labs and in one he found scientists and soldiers discussing and studying strange symbols and what appeared to be pictures of bacteria.
'So there is a germ. Oh my god there's an outbreak and I just tranquilized the senior medic on base,' Xander realized.
"I'm going to check in the gate room," said a blond woman not too far from Xander. Hearing the blonde say those words gave Xander hope. He followed her and joined her in the elevator. They descended to level 28 where the door got stuck. The blonde started hitting the doors
"Allow me," Xander said while moving towards the doors. But before he was about to pull the doors open a man with glasses opened it for him.
"Thank you Daniel," the blonde said.
Leaving the two Xander went down the hallway. Until he came to an open door. Inside he saw his father impaled to the wall by a rod that came out of some kind of orb that was suspended in the center of the room by other rods sticking out of it. The most disturbing thing was the fact that florescent veins of what could only be the bacteria spreading from the points where the rods met the walls. Certain parts of his father were also fluorescing meaning that he was infected on a massive scale. Next to the orb stood a ramp leading to a giant metal ring inscribed with all kinds of symbols. Also in the room was a tall black man using a torch to kill some of the bacteria. But, Xander's attention was focused solely on Jack to the point of ignoring everything else. Taking back his normal form Xander approached the man he met earlier that day and whom he knew to be his father.
"Dad?" Xander nearly whispered while approaching his father, "how did this happen?"
"Xander? You shouldn't be in here. Teal'c get him out of here," Jack spoke in obvious discomfort.
"Remove that boy from the gate room immediately," said a voice of authority with a slight Texan accent. For the first time Xander noticed his surroundings and saw the bald general, the blonde and the man with the glasses from the elevator looking down at him through the observation window across from the metal ring.
As Teal'c approached Xander he turned to the window and screamed. "I'm not leaving him like this." Turning towards the rod Xander grabbed it and started to pull it from his father's shoulder. Slowly at first but soon at a steady pace. [Wait a second.] 'Why? We have to get it out of him.' [The germs. They're sentient.] Closing his eyes Xander heard an unfamiliar deep voice in his mind.
{We only wish to survive. They were about to return us to our planet. We could not go back.}
'Then why did you impale my dad to the wall,' Xander thought back.
{We are trying to communicate. Originally we would have been able to talk trough him. But our progress has been slowed down by a chemical that was introduced in his bloodstream. Currently we are sending signals though this base's computers to attempt to communicate. But, now thanks to you this is all unnecessary,} the voice stated.
Opening his eyes Xander realized that only seconds had passed. Teal'c was still headed towards him. Suddenly the orb started to emit a high-pitched whine. The rod impaling Jack retracted. Xander quickly caught him and held him in his arms. The florescent veins across the walls started to detach from them and move towards the orb where they formed a human shaped body. Turning towards the observation window of the control room it started to speak. "Greetings, This is truly a strange feeling. We wish to apologize for the problems we have caused."
Turning on the microphone the general addressed the florescent being. "My name is…"
"Hammond, yes. We have learned this from O'Neill. We know everything he and his son know."
Amazed by this revelation Hammond said, "then you should also know we mean you no harm."
"You awoke us by bringing us to an environment that we found pleasing," the being answered.
"We have only recently become aware that you are sentient," the general admitted.
The being nodded slightly and spoke, "we understand. But, we cannot return to our planet. Life there became impossible so we created the orb wherein we slumbered."
"Where you slept for a hundred thousand years," Daniel supplied.
Turning to the scientist with its eyeless face the being spoke, "yes, Daniel"
"Waiting for someone to come along, like us, and take you through the Stargate," Daniel continued.
"We determined that the Stargate was a transportation device. But, we could not control it. The number of possible combinations was too large. We did not even know the meaning of the symbols. So the orb was built to be easily transported through it. It was written on the orb. Once exposed to the atmosphere of a living world, we would go forth," the being explained.
"And multiply," Daniel continued.
"So it was written," the being answered. "We cannot go back."
"We cannot allow you to stay," General Hammond cut in.
"O'Neill feels this as well. However, you have allowed us no alternatives," the being concluded.
"This place, admittedly out of our ignorance, is about to be destroyed by an explosion," Hammond admitted.
"Such energy only serves to nourish us. We would multiply and consume your world," the being explained.
"If you would allow us to restore our communications, we could stop that from happening. We would survive," Hammond proposed.
"We would prefer this as well. We do not wish to kill Xander or Jack. But what of us?" the being asked.
"P4G-881! It's primordial, lots of oxygen and sunlight. Like this world was a quarter of a billion years ago," Daniel suggested.
"Sir, we can't open the Stargate without the computers," Carter stated.
"You would send us there? Through your Stargate?" the being asked with a tone of hope. they did not want to destroy the lives of these beings. They also refused to die.
"We would," Hammond promised.
"For what reason?" the being asked. They knew they had wronged these humans.
"So that we both may survive," Hammond answered.
"Agreed." As soon as the alien entity said this all the remaining bacteria cells throughout the base started to come together and move for the gate room. All the computers and the power returned to normal.
"Sir, computers are back to normal," Carter said.
"Start dialing P4G-881 as soon as possible," the general commanded.
"Yes, sir," Carter answered.
As the rest of the bacteria mass enters the gate room the gate starts to dial. The rods retract into the orb and the human form holds on to it. It turns to Xander. "To show our gratitude you now have all that we know and the solution to your greatest fear."
"What do you mean?" Xander asked a little puzzeled.
"You shall see," It stated before turning back towards the gate as it finishes its dialing sequence and the unstable vortex is ejected from the gate. The entire mass and the orb passes through the event horizon. Immediately after the gate shuts down Major Carter and the General disarm the base's self-destruct.
As Carter returns to the gate room O'Neill awakens and checks his left shoulder only to find it healed with no sign of there ever being a metal rod there. Turning to his son he said the first thing that came to mind, "you called me dad."
"After everything you just went through that was the first thing that caught your attention? I really need an explanation here. Because that thing just…" Xander trailed off now that he could really look at his surroundings and look back at the events that had just occurred. "Ok, how about we both sit down and explain everything."
"I would enjoy that very much," a voice stated from behind them. Turning around they saw General Hammond who asked, "I would also like to know how you got down here without being stopped?"
Before anything could be said the alarms started to blare again. "The alarm originated from the visitor's quarters. Dr. Frasier and airman Welts have been found unconscious, Sir," one of the gate technicians said.
"I can explain everything," Xander quickly exclaims.
A half-hour after the incident Dr. Frasier was back on her feet and tending to her patients. One of the first of which was Xander who was getting a full workup and his dad after his exposure.
"I want to apologize for what I did. I'm really sorry. But, I was starting to get really suspicious being stuck there deep underground, not knowing what was going on," Xander apologized to the CMO.
"Apology accepted. Now will you give me your arm," Janet said while holding a suspiciously large needle.
After the full physical Xander was escorted to the briefing room. At the head of the table sat General Hammond and on his right sat SG-1. Across from them sat Xander flanked by two airmen.
"Ok, I know I've got some explaining to do. But, are the guards really necessary?" Xander asked.
"Until we know more I'm afraid so son," Hammond stated before turning to the monitor where he pressed the remote. "Would you care to explain this," Hammond asked while pointing at the screen. On the screen was the security camera footage of Xander in the guest quarters followed by the entrance of doctor Frasier and the fight with the unlucky airman. After Xander took the man's form the general hit pause.
Realizing that he better be honest with these people Xander started to explain, "I'll try to put this in terms that you would be more familiar with. Roughly two years ago I was made aware of the existence of what would normally be called the supernatural." Seeing the faces of the other people in the room Xander quickly said. "Hear me out. Now you must be thinking there's no such thing. But, I've personally encountered vampires, demons, witches and several other things. Now for instance a vampire in your terminology would be a beings from another dimension that can't exist in this one without possessing and animating a corpse. Actually most demons are creatures from another dimension or the spawn of humans and them."
"What does this story have to do with you being able to take the form of someone else or being strong enough to throw a man across the room with one hand without looking like you would be able to?" Jack asked.
"I'm getting to it. So last Halloween I was dressed as a soldier. A chaos mage put a spell on all the costumes and articles sold from his store and this caused me to turn into a soldier version of me from another reality. The problem was that he'd been consumed by Alex Mercer. The easiest way to describe Alex would be a human sized virus/bacteria with full cellular control. With the DNA of any being he would be able to take their form and any of their natural abilities. If he consumed the being in question he would also gain all of their knowledge. So I became Alex, who was using my alternate's form. During Halloween night my body was damaged. But because of Alex's powers it was healed in a matter of minutes and when the spell was lifted a part of me kept the abilities and it changed the rest of my body. So that's how I was able to do those things. I don't care if you don't believe me. But, it's the truth," Xander explained.
During Xander's explanation SG-1's and the generals' expressions went from disbelief to shock the moment another reality was mentioned and even looking at Daniel.
"Now that I've done the explaining thing. Can you please tell me how you got your hands on an alien device that opens wormholes? What did you call it, a Stargate?" The room simply became silent like the grave and they all stared at Xander.
"I might not look it but I'm not an idiot. The being from earlier shared with me all that it knew. I'll admit it didn't have a culture or even a spoken language. But, it understood everything that happened on it's own scale. That includes quantum mechanics and it's observations of the identical device on it's own planet. From that I can deduce that the device you have can't be manmade. Hell, those devices have been around for millions of years according to the rate of decay of the material they're made of," Xander deduced.
Carter was about to start asking questions when General Hammond cut her off. "Airmen escort this young man to the guest's quarters and guard it," the general ordered.
"Oh, come on I spent nearly the entire day in that room. Can't I at least go to the cafeteria and eat something first or have access to a phone so I can tell my friends back home that I got here safely," Xander pleaded.
I'll allow one monitored phone call and I'll have something brought to your room," the general relented.
As her first priority Janet started her analysis of the samples she got from Xander. Almost immediately she couldn't believe what her equipment was telling her. She immediately called in all the other doctors and any microbiologists on base. They worked nonstop till noon the following day. When she notified the general he called for a briefing with SG-1.
"Doctor Frasier has notified me that's she's finished her preliminary analyses of Xander. Go ahead doctor."
"Having seen the unusual abilities of Xander firsthand I treated the samples like we would an alien organism. I was proven right as soon as I started my analysis," Janet started while pressing the remote for the projector an image appeared. On one side were pictures of normal human cells and on the right the corresponding cells from Xander. "As you can see Xander's cells are nearly all identical witch some minor differences according to their task. There are also unknown cells. They're the size of viruses but they're closer to bacteria in structure. We're not even close to understanding what they're for. It was when I got to the genetic analysis that it got really interesting." Another image appeared. "Normal human DNA consists of a single double helix made up of four base pairs. Xander's DNA is made up of five double helixes we cross-referenced it with the sample I got from Xander earlier and it appears that that DNA is the only complete one and that the other four surround it. I can safely say that he really is who he says he is. But, I have no idea how his body underwent such a drastic change," Janet explained.
At this moment another doctor brings in a report and said, "we thought you should see this."
After quickly going over the report Janet turns to the other doctor, "you're sure about this?"
"We double checked it," the doctor exclaimed.
"What's the matter Doctor?" Hammond asked Janet.
"Well General we've been doing a full workup on everyone on base who was infected and according to this Colonel O'Neill's cellular and genetic structure is changing to resemble that of Xander's," Janet informed the general.