Project X ✔ [O L D V E R S I O N] - Chapter 17: Chapter 17

"Lieutenant Xander?"
He turned around, frowning and apologised to his squadron for the interruption. "What is the matter, Finn?"
He cleared his throat, bowing his head in respect and quietly said, "Lieutenant Dram requests your presence in Field Three."
Xander frowned and said, "I am in the middle of a training session. Do you know what he wants?"
"It is about your partner; Ms. Alexandra Dominick?"
He tensed his shoulders, clenching his fists at his sides and gritted out, "What did he do to her?" The man opened his mouth, but Xander held his hand in the air and said, "Never mind." He turned to his regiment and said, "An emergency has come up, I leave you in the charge of Tomasz."
They nodded, widening their eyes at his sudden change of humour, but turned to look at his second in command. Xander took a deep breath and quickly transported himself to Field Three, ready to crack Dram's skull open if he had hurt Alexa.
His heart was pounding in his chest. His hands for the first time, in twenty-five years, were sweating nervously and he was willing to lose his temper. But he controlled himself and waited for Dram to explain himself.
"What did you do to her?" He seethed, frowning as he realised that there were no women in the field. His entire group of females were gone.
Dram narrowed his eyes, cleaning the blood on his pants and said, "I did nothing to Alexa."
"Then, where is she?" He raised an eyebrow, turning his attention back to him.
"At the XISC; we just sent her there."
Xander gritted his teeth with so much force it almost shattered them. "What happened?"
He ran his fingers through his hair and sighed, "We were jogging around the field before we got the weapons and she stopped running. I ran to her to ask her why she had stopped and she started bleeding from her nose. She started coughing and holding her chest as if she could not breathe. Then fell to the ground. I sat her up because she seemed to be drowning in her blood and she passed out." He gulped, "The rest of the women started passing out too."
"Is she alright?" He gritted his teeth, glancing down at his watch then back at Dram.
"Sorry, Xander, I am not sure. She hit her head on the gravel when she fell, so I am not sure. You are going to have to-"
He was gone before he finished his sentence. Dram rolled his eyes and walked back to his troop.
Xander scanned his hand on the entrance before quickly running into the room and frantically looked around for any Doctors who were willing to give him answers. But the XISC seemed to be in chaos with different men running around looking for their partners with as much hysteria as he felt.
"Dr. Naveer!" Xander grabbed him as he ran around with a clipboard. "Where is Alexa?"
"Xander?" He frowned, looking down at the blue images, "I-I am not sure. There are too many women in the hospital for me to know exactly where she is."
"How can you not know where she is?!" He growled, his hands shaking in anger, but he tried to remain as calm as possible. "Is there someone who does know?!"
"I apologise, son," he sighed dejectedly, "but we have most of the women coming in with strange sicknesses. I would allow you to look through the rooms, but the General strictly said not to let anyone roam around."
He clenched his fist tightly, almost breaking his skin and said, "Is she alright? That is all I need to know. Just tell me if she is okay."
Dr. Naveer sighed, pushing his glasses up the bridge of his nose and said, "The women are okay, we just need to find the source of the bleeding and get some blood transfusions."
Xander frowned. "Do we need human blood?"
"I am afraid not," he gave a dry chuckle, "their bodies are rejecting their own blood. That is why they seem so sick. Now I really have to go, there is a girl in Floor H that is having convulsions and according to human doctors, that can end horribly."
"Wait!" He held his shoulder. "How can I help? Is there a place where I can donate blood or something?"
The doctor smiled and patted his shoulder. "Lieutenant, we have enough blood stored in our drive to pass around hundreds of times. The most you can do is wait patiently and try to see if the men are willing to listen to you."
His shoulders fell and he nodded, releasing his hold on the doctor and watched him walk past more desperate men. It seemed unbelievable that one moment he was kissing her goodbye and wishing her good luck throughout her day and the next she was in hospital bed.
He could only hope that everything was alright with her because as he had told her many times, he did not want to wake up without her every morning.
Xander sat down across from men who were in the same preoccupied state and watched the hands on the clock above, as they slowly ticked by. He closed his eyes, leaning his head against the wall and tried to keep his thoughts in a positive light.
Dr. Naveer had said that the women weren't in any danger, so it meant that she had to be alright. But Dram had said that she had hit her head on the gravel when she fell; she was fragile and the smallest injury to her head could end fatally.
He groaned, mentally arguing with himself and tapped his fingers on his knee impatiently. Most of the men in the waiting room seemed as impatient as he was and there was more rushing into the hospital with their bloody partners.
A man ran into the XISC with his partner in his arms - bride-style, making Xander grit his teeth at the memory of Alexa's want to be married - and screamed for help. She was experiencing coughing fits and blood was splattered all over her shirt.
Xander quickly got out of his chair and held the girl in upright position to allow her lungs to receive air and not drown in her own blood. Her skin was turning a sickly pale colour and she collapsed in his arms.
As he waited for the medics to take her away, he glanced down at her and immediately pictured Alexa's face. At the mere thought, his heart clenched and grew furious that the doctors seemed to take so long to give him answers.
He just wanted to see her and make sure that she was alright. He couldn't take another loss. He couldn't lose another person that he cared for deeply, especially the way he was caring for Alexa.
"Lieutenant Xander?" A quiet voice spoke from beside him, making him jump from his revere.
"Yes?"
"You can see Ms. Dominick in Floor C. She is in room 12."
Xander nodded, thanking the nurse and walked towards the elevator as soon as he could. He zoomed by the hallway of rooms, searching for his beloved like a madman and as soon as he found the room, his heart dropped.
Alexa was on the bed with her hands on her stomach, tapping her arms with an annoyed look on her face. Her overall colour wasn't the usual radiant colour she had, but it was better than pasty white. "Did you people finally get my boyfriend?!"
Her eyes widened as she realised that it wasn't a nurse and the heart monitor began to beep quickly. "Xander!"
He chuckled, closing the door behind him and walked towards her side. "Your boyfriend?"
"Well," she blushed, "I didn't know what else to call you..."
"It is okay," he whispered, leaning down to caress her cheek, "I like it."
Alexa smiled, taking his hand in hers and said, "You better; I like it too. Say it."
He raised an eyebrow, the corners of his lips turning up in amusement, "Say what?"
"That I'm your girlfriend," she flashed him a grin.
Xander leaned down, softly rubbing the tip of his nose against hers and whispered, "You are my lovely girlfriend, Alexa."
"I am pretty rad," She whispered in return, brushing her lips against his before he almost kissed her. His lips pressed against hers, but she turned her head away from him.
Hurt quickly flashed across his eyes and he lowered his hand from her cheek.
"Sorry," she mumbled, "but I was coughing up blood and no matter how many times I've washed my mouth, it still feels gross."
He narrowed his eyes, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead and said, "You are unbelievable. I thought I lost you and now that I know you are alright, I want to kiss you, but you do not want me to because you were coughing up blood? Unbelievable."
"Ugh," she groaned, covering her face, "when you put it like that it makes me feel guilty!"
"You should!" He laughed, sitting down on one of the chairs before taking a hold of her hand. He pressed a soft kiss to her knuckles and said, "How are you feeling?"
"Like a cat that lost twenty lives," she groaned.
Xander frowned, but before he could voice his confusion, she laughed and said, "Never mind. I just feel tired. They hooked me up to this machine that's been filling me up with blood and it makes me feel grossed out."
He tilted his head to look at the blood transfusion machine that was connected to her arm by a small needle and crinkled his nose in distaste. "I am happy you are alright; I felt helpless knowing that you were not okay and I could not do anything about it."
"You're so cute," she cooed, squeezing his cheek with her right hand. "I love it."
"I am handsome; not cute," he narrowed his eyes, shaking his head at her.
"Well," Alexa laughed, "excuse my French, but you're pretty fücking hot. Like you could melt the sun."
He quirked an eyebrow and glanced down at his arm. "I am guessing that this is a slang term used in your planet, correct? Because it is impossible to be hot enough to melt the sun..."
She snorted, laughing hard enough to rupture her insides and tears began to slide down her eyes. "X-Xander," she giggled, trying to stop laughing so she could talk, "it just means that I find you really attractive."
"Okay," he muttered, his ears turning a slight shade of pink from embarrassment.
Before she could reply on how adorable he looked when he blushed, the door opened and Dr. Naveer walked in, holding his infamous holographic clipboard. "Hello, how are you feeling, Ms. Dominick?"
"Well," she drawled, "now that my boyfriend finally got his arse in the damn room to keep me company, I'm feeling pretty dandy."
He glanced at Xander and he shrugged in response, not even trying to comprehend what just left her lips. She giggled at their clueless looks and he said, "Does that mean you are feeling well?"
"Yessir!" She grinned brightly.
"Alright," he muttered under his breath and checked off the box next to the 'strange emotions'. "Would you both like an explanation of what occurred?"
"Duh," Alexa blurted out, rolling her eyes.
The doctor chuckled and cleared his throat. "When the women first got here, we made sure that they fit the healthy qualifications. We then proceeded to infuse their blood with ours to make sure that the chances of a healthy pregnancy occurred, but we did not know that our blood would overpower theirs."
Xander frowned and leaned forward, but allowed Alexa to continue squeezing his fingers playfully. She needed to be entertained so that she could remain awake and listen to the conversation.
"What do you mean?"
"You could say that our blood was 'eating' theirs. In essence it made their blood thin out until there was none left and their body now refuses it. But since our blood is not natively theirs, they will need to get monthly doses whenever these symptoms begin to show up." He pressed some buttons on the clipboard and a small pen began floating above. "We will be issuing these needles so that they can get doses whenever they need them. Our scientists are trying to find a more efficient way, but for now this is all we have."
Alexa nodded, glancing at the pen and muttered, "Ooh, it's kind of like an Epi-Pen! If a person has an allergy to something and they come into contact with it, they can get the injection from the Epi-Pen and be okay." She let out a quiet sigh and leaned back on the pillow tiredly. "This won't prevent me from having kids, right? Because I really want to get my freak-on with Mr. Hunky over here." She winked at Xander, who stared at her as if she had grown another head.
Dr. Naveer chuckled and quietly said, "It is one of the side effects from the blood transfusion.
Xander nodded, still seeming preoccupied. "Some women even began to hallucinate. But to answer your question, Alexa, it will not prevent you from doing anything. You may, as you so tactfully put it, get your freak on with Lieutenant Xander."
"Mm," she bit her bottom lip and stared at Xander, her glazed eyes flashing with hunger.
"Does this mean that you have chosen how you will conceive?"
"The baby is going to come out of my vagina...I hope...but I chose to have sex. I mean, look at him, Doctor. Don't you just want to eat him up? I do," she continued looking at Xander and gave a light, breathy giggle.
Dr. Naveer laughed and nodded his head, "Sexual intercourse it is. Well you may stay and keep her company if you wish, Lieutenant. If you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask me."
Xander nodded, shaking his hand in appreciation and said, "She will be...okay, right?"
"Yes."
"Thanks," he muttered, turning back to look at Alexa and gave a light chuckle. She was slowly falling asleep and he decided that her peaceful look was better than whatever had happened minutes ago.
~*~
Hours passed. Hours turned to days and those days turned to weeks. She lost track of time.
Her life in the island suddenly gained a purpose, other than being used for her uterus, and she was beginning to love it. No longer did she collapse during the running laps; no longer did her muscles burn in pain the next morning.
She changed. Her blonde hair turned golden, almost a creamy honey colour. Her green eyes became brighter, her lips thicker, redder. She was more beautiful; more confident. Her skin hardened; the pain became almost a whisper against her skin.
Xander swung the staff her way, a droplet of sweat dripping down his forehead as he stomped forward. She gasped, heaving out a breath as she tried to catch the wooden staff with her fingers.
Alexa grinned up at him, as she took the weapon from his hands and threw her hands in the air. "Finally!"
He chuckled, running his fingers through his damp hair and said, "I told you that with practise you would achieve it."
After she spent a week in rest, Dr. Naveer allowed her to return to the training sessions. Luckily, all the other women were in rest as well, so the training had been postponed for them until they recuperated from the side-effects of the blood transfusions.
According to Dr. Naveer, it should have taken their body around 120 days to begin regenerating their new blood, but they didn't think that the human body would neglect it at first. For now, they would get monthly doses of PX and enjoy the positive side effects that came with it.
At first Alexa thought she was going through another puberty growth spurt. She had grown a couple of inches and her skin seemed to glow; she felt more beautiful than ever. Her muscles became more adapted to the strenuous training exercises and although she wouldn't be a carbon copy of a Xrionian woman, she was pretty damn close.
"Is that all Dram told you to work on?" Xander questioned, slowly pulling his shirt over his head and hung it on a nearby tree branch. The cool breeze swept by, tousling his hair and closed his eyes enjoying the refreshing feel against his sweaty body.
Alexa smiled at him, admiring his godly body and said, "He said I could work a little on my self-defence, but I want to keep practising with this stick."
He narrowed his eyes at her. "It's a stálo, Alexa."
"Stick," she grinned, swinging the wooden staff in her hands swiftly.
He glared at her, walking closer and whispered, "Stálo."
"S-t-i-c-k," she replied in a sing-song voice, biting the inside of her cheek to prevent the smile that was fighting its way on her mouth.
Xander rolled his eyes, growing irritated but stalked forward and quickly threw the stálo from her hand. She squealed as he threw her over his shoulder and playfully growled, "It is called a stálo."
She giggled, slapping his butt teasingly and said, "It looks like a stick to me." He sighed, shaking his head, but kept her over his shoulder. "You know?" She mused, "I kind of like the view back here."
He chuckled in response, slowly placing her on her feet and said, "Can you please just call it by its name for once?"
"Mm," she placed her hands around his sticky neck and grinned up at him, cheekily, "what do I get in return? Food?"
"When have I not fed you?" He quirked an eyebrow, eyeing her lips with a strange glint in his eyes.
"True," she pursed her lips, standing on her tiptoes - because even her growth in height wouldn't help her reach his mouth - and said, "how about..." She frowned and bit her bottom lip, "Oh my gosh, Xander what haven't you given me?!"
He laughed, shrugging and pressed a kiss to her forehead. "There are many things I have not given you."
"Yeah, but I can't think of any," She pouted her lips and then muttered, "well any I can say out loud."
"Mm, really?" He raised his eyebrows, smirking, "And, what is that?"
Alexa rolled her eyes, hoping that he couldn't pick up on her embarrassed emotions or notice the blush that was creeping up her neck and said, "Do you know the meaning of 'out-loud,' Mr. Nix?" She tilted her head to the side, grinning up at him, "It means that it's spoken loud enough for others to hear. If I said I can't say it out loud, then you won't know."
"Do you realise that I did not comprehend anything you just said?" He laughed, wrapping his arms around her waist.
"Well," she sighed dramatically, "people that aren't as fabulous as me can't understand things I say, either. So it's okay. You're not the only one; do you want to practise one last time and then go back in?"
He nodded, but kept his arms around her waist. He lowered his mouth to her ear and whispered, "Can you please just say stálo?"
"Why?" She groaned.
"Your voice makes the word sound..." He shook his head, trying to find the best words to voice his feelings. "I feel things when you say it."
Alexa snorted, unable to wipe the grin off her face and said, "Things like what?" She stepped closer to him, placing her hands on his sweaty chest.
Xander sighed, shaking his head and muttered, "Never mind, let us begin."
"Aw come on, babe," she pouted her lips and batted her eyelashes innocently, "what things do I make you feel when I say the word stálo?"
"Like you are one of my women," he replied quietly, "like if you were a Xrionian."
His response took her by surprise. Her smile quickly froze on her lips and turned into a frown. She could only hope that he didn't find her good enough to be by his side.
"Do not get me wrong," he cleared his throat, "I am not trying to change you at all; I am content with the bizarre way you are. But when you say certain words in my language, it kind of helps with the sense of nostalgia I feel for my planet."
Alexa stepped up to him and pressed a soft kiss to his lips. "You're homesick."
"Sometimes," he replied and smiled down at her, "but then I have you to anchor me here and I feel comfortable again; it is strange, really."
She shrugged, nodding her head and muttered, "You smell really bad."
Xander laughed, looking down at her with a confused look on his face and said, "Way to ruin a serious moment, mielle."
"Well sorry, mielle," she rolled her eyes, laughing as she mocked the endearing name, "but you really stink. Like sweat."
"Mielle is only for women. You cannot call a man mielle," he shook his head, still chuckling as he took the stálo from the floor and led her to the pathway that led to their home.
Alexa frowned. "Then, what can I call you? And you don't want to practise another round?"
Xander unlocked the door and held it open for her to walk in. "Women really did not use forms of endearments for their partners. There was something my mother always called my father, but I cannot remember the exact words. Let us just go inside now; I am a bit hungry and tired."
"That sucks," she mumbled, placing the stálo on the corner of the room and said, "I need a shower, I reek of sweat and I'm all sandy."
He nodded and closed the back door behind him. "I am in need of one too."
She bit her bottom lip, sliding her dirty hands against her shorts and turned to look at him. Her heart began beating against her chest quickly and she gulped as she fidgeted with her fingers nervously. "Do you...like...want to take one together?"
His blue eyes widened for a millisecond, but he slowly nodded and said, "If it does not bother you, then I have no issue with it."
"Two showers just waste water," she blurted out, feeling the rim of her ears turning a dark shade of red.
Xander laughed, nodding his head and said, "I am all for saving water."
"Cool," she mumbled and pointed behind her, "I'll start getting wet - I mean get the shower ready like wet with water." He stared at her a bit confused, but she turned around and smacked her hip against the granite countertop. "Ouchy," she whispered, laughing nervously at her clumsiness and walked towards her room before he could change her mind.
Once she was in her room, she breathed out in relief and whispered, "You're such an idiot, Alexa. You need to keep your mouth shut if you don't want him to think you're a freak." She shook her head as she grabbed her towel and gulped before entering the bathroom.
That would be the first time they would see each other naked – and hopefully it led to other things.