Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

Alexander J. Mercer had a sister. That was the first clue he'd gotten a hold of.

Manhattan had been ravaged by the greatest disease mankind had ever known. For several weeks, the situation on the streets could only be described as hellish, nightmarish, a scene from a horror movie made real. Living corpses covered in rashes and boils, flesh melting off their bones, shambled toward anyone left uninfected. Military men, some even innocent, died in droves and killed in droves, bullets spraying like confetti into infected and uninfected flesh alike. And in the middle of it all was Alex.

For the past twenty-four hours, he'd been wandering empty streets and back alleys, fading in and out of consciousness. Though he'd put enough distance between himself and the nuke that he hadn't been completely atomized, large tracts of his body - virions, infected cells, and uninfected cells alike - had been terribly damaged by the radiation. He would feel sick, tear a chunk of his own body off, find fresh, healthy biomass to replace it with, and repeat the process - a hellish cycle that finally let up around the break of dawn. As he rebuilt the decentralized nervous system he used in order to have higher-order thought, the fabric of consciousness began to return to him.

Alex Mercer - the real Alex Mercer - was dead. It was his body, his brain, his thoughts, that had formed the scaffolding upon which ZEUS had grown his own identity. It was difficult to tell exactly where one ended and the other began. Alex had woken up with vengeance in his heart. This, he now recognized, belonged to the original, who had died cursing the whole world. The next thought he had was that he had begun his journey not caring who lived and who died. This, too, was a blackheartedness that belonged to the original. Dr. Alexander Mercer would not in a million years risk his life to save innocent people from a nuclear bomb.

And finally… there was Dana.

Oh, shit, Dana.

The last time he'd seen her, he'd escaped with her from one of MOTHER's hives and left her in the care of Dr. Ragland. Was she still there now? Alex put everything else on hold and looked around him. Right now, he was in Chinatown. He was weak, and so it was best to stay disguised. He needed to go north.

He ran to her. Over rooftops, over streets, as the crow flies. He contemplated bursting through the hospital wall, but he might damage the equipment Dana might need. He still nearly tore the morgue's backdoor off its hinges.

"Dr. Ragland."

Dr. Ragland froze, then turned slowly, hands up near his head. Alex quickly sloughed off his disguise, which did nothing to assuage the doctor.

"How is she?"

"Where have you been?" Dr. Ragland asked.

"Not important. Dana. How is she?"

Ragland knew better than to argue, though he looked like he wanted to. Alex wondered if he was within Blackwatch's sights enough to have been notified of the nuke. Probably not.

"It's… not looking good, Alex."

Alex felt his stomach drop. "I need details."

"She's been infected. It's… not a typical infection. The symptoms are different. It's doing… something to her body. I don't know. I just know it isn't good."

Alex didn't need to hear anymore. He shoved past Ragland to get into the room that had Dana lying on it. The tubes sticking out of her had multiplied since he saw her last. It had only been an IV then; now there was a nasogastral, a catheter, diodes on her head…

"I put her in a coma to try and slow it down," Dr. Ragland said, "but that's all I can do for her. Once it hits her brain, that'll be it for her…"

Alex swallowed. In infected vision, she was lighting up the same way MOTHER did.

Alex slammed his hand into the wall, holding back so as only to leave a crater and not send the building tumbling down. Damnit!

This was his fault. If he hadn't led the hunters back to her… if he'd been fast enough, strong enough to catch it… if he'd gotten into the hive sooner…

"Isn't there anything you can do?" Alex asked. Dr. Ragland tensed, fear creeping into his voice.

"No, Alex. I'm sorry. I might be able to wake her up so that you can say goodbye."

"No."

He wouldn't be able to face her.

"I can also euthanize her," he said, quietly. "It'll probably be a better fate than what's waiting for her."

"No," Alex said again, stronger this time. "No. I'll figure something out."

There was a heavy silence between them, one that told Alex that there was probably nothing that he could do.

But he had to do something . For Dana. Something.

He had all these minds inside of him. He had so many scientists who'd worked on the virus, made the virus their whole career.

Someone had to have an answer for him – they had to.

"I need to think," Alex said, abruptly turning around and pushing Dr. Ragland out of the way again.

He left before Dr. Ragland could tell him any more bad news.

The problem was, despite all his thinking, he was no closer to a solution than when he'd left the hospital half a day ago. The sun was setting and all Alex had accomplished was giving himself a headache.

Divesting information from a mind was much easier said than done. First, he had to know that said mind knew what he wanted to know. For every person who could sing professionally, there were five people who believed they could, but had no skill. It was easy enough to isolate scientists who had worked at GENTEK and Blackwatch, but then came the hard part: actually finding what they knew, when they knew it, from who, from what, and separating it from future misremembering, from other people telling them lies. And even when he did procure a tangible piece of information on the virus, that was all he had. If he had a snippet of the virus's genetic code… he didn't know what to do with that. And if he knew what methods were used to manipulate these viruses, he didn't know when to apply them. He could probably work it out, given enough time, but he didn't have time.

What could he even do? Alex squeezed his eyes shut, all his muscles tensing. Dana was quickly on her way to becoming a Runner, the infection stymied and slowed by Ragland's interference, but only just. And here Alex was, useless! Useless! So many scientists and geneticists and virologists inside of him, but they were nothing more than screaming records. He could tap into their knowledge, but could not synthesize the conclusions they could from their data. Never had Alex felt so separate and discrete from the minds inside him. Never had he so understood his own limitations.

Only one was different. Only one was not screaming, and that was only because it was deliberately kept silent. Every time it did intrude into Alex's space in his composite mental collective, it brought with it screaming pain. So Alex hardly touched that mind, locking it away deep inside him. He could even now feel it rattling its bars.

The original Dr. Alexander J. Mercer. The man that Alex both was and was not.

He shuddered. Not only that, but a virology savant, a man who could work miracles with the redlight virus. Alex knew this much from the opinions of Dr. Mercer's coworkers and McMullen's own reports. He was also a monster who had signed Manhattan's death warrant with his own blood, the catalyst for the entire ensuing strategy. No one could achieve his results with the virus. No one could even come close. He did in five years what Blackwatch could only dream of in fifty.

If anyone could save Dana from the virus, it would be him. Normally, Alex was happy to be discrete from the monster that started this disaster. Now, he desperately needed that monster's insight. Wasn't that funny? That a monster was seeking out a greater monster, to save a human better than either of them?

Alex reached out a thread towards that horrible mind, and he felt an electric pain as something seized it.

"Augh!" Alex yelled and hit the concrete of the rooftop he'd been brooding on. The sudden electric pain his whole body was wracked with sent him into involuntary fits. Still, he held onto this feeling, as a rush of memories flitted past his eyes too fast for him to process. A dingy room. The sound of a baby crying. The smell of cigarette smoke. His own face in the mirror.

Memories. Yes, he needed memories. He needed all of Dr. Mercer. He needed what Dr. Mercer knew about the virus that no one else knew, what cunning wisdom Dr. Mercer held that had allowed him to grasp at miracles.

As something clawed toward him, Alex pulled it in. As something manifested inside him, Alex gave it form. He didn't know how long he had been burning in a hell that felt like gunshot wounds, but the sun was rising when finally - exhausted and starved - he was free of the last of the excruciating tremors running through his body and mind. Instinctively, he began to seek out human warmth and biomass, his hand reaching out towards something lying on the roof next to him. As he made contact with skin, he heard a yelp and came to his senses.

He bolted upright, realizing that there should not be another living entity on the roof with him. It took his eyes - vision still swimming and tinted with a red, bloody haze - a second longer to process what he was seeing. He froze when he realized who he was looking at.

Alexander J. Mercer, naked and wild-eyed, stared back at him.

Then that monster cracked a smile.

"Good morning," he said, cradling the wound Alex's momentary contact with his skin had left him with. There was a crooked smile on his face, an expression marred by obvious fear in his eyes. "You're not gonna kill me, are you?"

Alex stared. The other Alex stared back. Then Alex erupted into spikes and claws, and the other Alex shrank up against the edge of the roof.

"Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa! Hold on! I come in peace! Sprechen sie English?"

"How are you alive? What are you?"

"Jesus Christ! Uh, human, I'm pretty sure, and I have no idea." He was holding up his hands in surrender, blood dripping down one. "Look, I'm harmless, I swear. I'm even fucking naked. Please don't kill me. I'll do whatever you want."

"What's the last thing you remember?"

"Being shot dead in Penn Station." The answer was immediate, Dr. Mercer meeting his eyes. "Look, I will answer any question you have, so you can put those, um, claws away. Please."

Alex growled, then cycled through his thermal vision, his infected senses. Thermal vision came back normal, but infected… it was a reading he'd never before seen. Dr. Mercer read as… not as Redlight-infected, not even as Dana-infected.

Dr. Mercer read as a part of him. His own viral code was embedded in the nuclei of this person's cells, but they weren't active. Dr. Mercer wasn't infected enough to trip a sensor, but there was still a definitive link between them, a vague and almost unnoticeable tug at the edge of Alex's consciousness. It felt a little like tapping into a hive when he focused on that feeling.

"Hey, hello? You, uh, you doin' okay, there?"

Alex felt himself tense as the reality of the situation dawned on him. "You're Alex Mercer."

"Um, yep. And if you don't mind me asking, you are…?"

Alex didn't even know where to begin. Somehow, he'd drawn the Alex Mercer in his head out into the real world, given a body made of his own flesh. He could just barely piece together a hypothesis if he tried - his own body was essentially built on Alex Mercer's cells; he had the ability to differentiate and un-differentiate them at will. It wasn't impossible that he'd been able to reconstruct a human, including their brain at time of death, since he did store whole minds inside him. And it was probably only possible for him to do this for Alex Mercer, since he was built on that man's DNA. However, unlike the minds that lived inside his head, this externalized Alex Mercer was able to think independently, reach new conclusions, connect disparate pieces of information together, because recognition seemed to dawn on his features as he looked up in Alex's direction.

"Holy shit," he breathed.

In fact, this might have been exactly what Alex needed, loathe as he was to admit it. There was nobody in the world, as far as he knew, who could do with the virus what Alex Mercer could.

"If you don't do what I tell you, I'll kill you," Alex said.

Dr. Mercer conceded immediately. "No arguments here. Like I said, I will do whatever you want."

Alex grit his teeth, feeling ill at ease for what he was about to say. The words felt like glass being pulled over his tongue.

"I need your help."

Dr. Mercer paused for a moment, as if surprised by that request, before his expression melted into a smile.

"Of course," he said, sounding for all the world like he meant every word. "I'd love to be of use."

"Not exactly Paris Fashion Week," Dr. Mercer grumbled as he threw on the clothes Alex had scrounged for him. Despite Alex's best efforts, Dr. Mercer had insisted on clothes before anything else, even hearing Alex's request. He seemed to have spent the time Alex was gone looking out over the city, because the moment he had his new white shirt buttoned up, he commented on the view. "I see the Empire State, so I guess we're still in Manhattan, but the city's a total wreck. What happened while I was out? How long's it been?"

Alex glared at him. "It's been four weeks since you … died. The date is November 7. Nearly ⅚ of the city was wiped out in the outbreak you caused. It's been contained to militarized Red Zones that make up about a fourth of the island, and the military will shoot you on sight. Both of us."

"Jesus Christ. Five-sixths? How is that even possible?"

He ran a hand through his hair, smoothing it back. "How is that possible?"

"What do you mean?"

Sharp blue eyes darted up at him. "The virus is spread through direct contact and vehicle transmission, in this case warm, standing water. It can't survive open air or direct sunlight for more than a few seconds, and it hardly sheds at all. If aerosolized, everyone symptomatic in the radius will die rapidly, but it's not about to reach pandemic levels anytime soon since it's not great at spreading on its own. What the hell happened?"

Alex growled and Dr. Mercer jerked back, immediately raising his hands in surrender.

"I'm not lying. It's safe enough that you can poke around infected subjects without even wearing a mask, although I wouldn't recommend it. How the hell did it reach that many people?"

"I don't think you're lying," Alex managed to say, through grit teeth. He had seen Ragland work on bodies like that before. "You feel nothing for all the people who died?"

Dr. Mercer looked taken aback. "I'm still trying to process it. I found out just now."

"Whatever."

The doctor took a step closer, studying Alex with eyes as blue as his own. "Look, I'm sorry, but words of remorse can't bring back the dead. And it looks like you've got other problems. You asked for my help because I'm good with the virus, right? What do you want me to do?"

Being stared at by his own face - or rather, being stared at by the face he stole - felt like being examined on a microscope slide. It made him uncomfortable, so he averted his gaze.

"Dana has been infected."

Only to realize that that meant he'd missed Dr. Mercer's reaction. By the time he looked back, Dr. Mercer had smoothed over his expression into a look of total neutrality.

"I see. So she's a dead man walking?"

"No," Alex said, forcefully. Dr. Mercer flinched back, and Alex forced himself to calm down. He already knew what Dr. Mercer was like. He already knew the man was a monster that felt nothing about the plight of anyone besides himself. "No. There's still time. Not much. It hasn't reached her brain yet; we caught it fast enough. She's in a medically-induced coma and is being given immune boosters to slow it down…"

"So you want me to save her."

"She'll become a Runner if we don't."

Dr. Mercer blinked. "Um, I'm sorry. I'm not familiar with the term."

He wasn't… Alex realized, having been given pause, that Dr. Mercer knew almost nothing about the conspiracy. He had been deliberately kept in the dark by GENTEK and McMullen, his investigation only taking him as far as "something happened in Hope, Idaho." There were so many things Alex knew that he did not. Alex was in charge here. He could kill and re-absorb Dr. Mercer's body at any time, even if he didn't have some sort of viral hold over it. He was in control of the situation. He could face this man, this monster.

"Elizabeth Greene. Codename MOTHER, she was one. A hive queen, and a living womb - an incubator - for the virus."

Dr. Mercer didn't need to know about Pariah. The doctor took a second to think about it.

"I see."

"Dana will die if the infection spreads too far. It'll destroy her brain and make her a vector for the virus."

"Right. Do you have any estimates on how long she can hold out before it gets past the point of no return?"

Alex frowned. "The doctor working on her said she could last two months. Maybe three."

"I see." He leaned against the fence separating the roof from a ten-story drop. "What happens if you can't fix her in time?"

"Then I'll have to kill her," Alex said. "Even if it's… even if it's Dana, I can't let another Runner loose. By that point, I guess there wouldn't be enough Dana to save."

Xander let out a long breath. His body still looked totally at ease, and his sigh could be exasperation as much as it could be concern or trepidation. "And our lab conditions?"

"The Saint Peters hospital."

"Jesus. So we're slumming it."

"If you need equipment, tell me. I'll find some way to get it. There's dozens of new labs that have been set up to study the virus."

"What, are you just going to go in and rob them?" Dr. Mercer asked, incredulous. "I thought we were 'on sight' targets."

"I can get you what you need," Alex said, sternly. "You just need to tell me what."

Dr. Mercer's expression stayed disbelieving, but there was a hard edge in it, now. "Even if it means killing for it?"

"Would it mean killing for it?"

"I don't know yet," Dr. Mercer said. "But I know there used to be lab equipment I'd have killed to get my hands on. I'm mostly asking how far you're willing to go for this single life on the table."

"It's not just any - it's Dana." Did Dr. Mercer really feel nothing for Dana? Was she really just another life to him - that was to say, meaningless?

Dr. Mercer nodded. "No expense too great. Alright, and what happens to me afterwards? Do I get to do all this work just to die a second time?"

Alex felt his hands clench into fists.

"I can't let you live, either."

Dr. Mercer narrowed his eyes, though his expression smoothed over in the next instant. "That so?"

"You're the cause of this… of all of this."

"From a certain point of view. Still, do you think it's a good idea to tell me that? You want me to give this my all, right?"

Alex closed his mouth, his lips pressing into a thin line. Dr. Mercer offered him a wry smile and turned back to look at the city.

"I mean, I'll do it. Just knowing you can pull me out like this means that I still did the impossible and cheated death. That's not a terrible accomplishment to take to my grave. Still, I have something I want in exchange."

Alex did not trust him at all. "Let me hear it first."

"I want to have 24 hours with Dana, whether I succeed or fail. If I succeed, it has to be 24 hours with her conscious and cognizant."

Alex raised an eyebrow. "To do what?"

Dr. Mercer gave him an incredulous, wide-eyed look. "Why would anyone want to sit with their sister's dead body after failing to save them? Are you fucking kidding me?"

Was he being sincere? It was impossible to tell. His expression wasn't just wry, wasn't just impatient. Something like regret seemed to linger on it. Maybe he was just that good of an actor. Maybe he really did feel something akin to regret.

"What is Dana to you?"

Dr. Mercer exhaled. "Christ, you're really asking me that? I used to change her diapers and warm up her formula. 'Alex' was her first word. What do you think?"

Alex noted, silently, that he had not actually answered Alex's question. However, if it was talking, then Dr. Mercer could talk circles around him.

"Fine," Alex said, wondering if he would regret it. Dr. Mercer's expression softened, though for all Alex knew, that, too, was an act.

"Thanks. I mean it."

And those words, a lie.

"Do you think you can fix her?" Alex asked.

A long pause. Alex prompted him again. "Do you?"

"Since you've been honest with me," Dr. Mercer said, grimly. "No. The timeframe is too short, even if we weren't talking about the world's most complex virus. I can't guarantee anything except my best effort. I don't know if that'll be enough. I'm sorry."

Those words felt like a crushing weight on his shoulders. He had suspected as much, but had somehow still hoped beyond reason that Dr. Mercer would be able to pull a solution out of whatever magic trick let him come back to life. Alex could feel his frown deepen.

Dr. Mercer either didn't notice or pretended not to notice. "That isn't to say I won't give it my best shot. You don't seem to like me much, but I hope you can at least trust me on a professional level. I've never half-assed a job before."

That, at least, was true. It was not by chance or nepotism that Xander had become head of his lab within two years of being hired, with no prior job experience. It was not by accident that he was decades ahead of his peers in cracking open Redlight's secrets.

"Hey," Dr. Mercer said, taking a step forward. "I have some things I want to ask you. Simple yes or no will do."

Alex didn't like the sound of that. He took a step back. "I'm only answering what I want to."

"Good enough for me. You're fully sapient?"

"Yeah." No one had questioned that before, but the answer was definitely yes. Alex felt like it was obvious, but apparently not.

"You have the capacity to shapeshift?"

"Didn't you see?"

"Yes or no answers, please."

Alex scowled. "Yeah."

"So that means that the cells in your body can differentiate and un-differentiate at will?"

"Yeah."

"Seems like control must be rather fine. Then I'm correct in assuming your body is based in human cells? Specifically mine?"

"Yeah."

What was he getting at with these? They were all simple questions, factual ones, things he ought to know without needing to confirm them.

"What do you eat? I know that's not a yes-or-no question, just humor me."

"Human cells."

"Uh, okay. I guess there's a lot of us, but do you have any alternatives?"

"I can grow cancer cultures and sustain myself that way. I have an intact digestive system if I need it."

Dr. Mercer looked visibly relieved. "So you can survive off normal people food."

"Yeah." Though he definitely didn't prefer it.

Dr. Mercer's blue eyes looked him over again. "Your mind is not based on mine, aside from using my brain as hardware. Yes or no?"

Alex had to consider that one for a moment. "Yeah."

"Am I correct in identifying you as the unified consciousness of the virus?"

"Yeah."

"You've stored a copy of my mind inside of you, hence you were able to reconstruct me like this?"

"Yeah. Probably."

Dr. Mercer narrowed his eyes. "If you have access to my mind and my memories, how come you aren't certain of that answer?"

Alex furrowed his brow. That wasn't a yes-or-no question. "It isn't perfect recall. I need to know what I'm looking for, or else I have to look through it all from the inside, pick it apart…"

"I see. Well, I guess that's a plus." Alex didn't like the sound of that. Dr. Mercer continued. "You care deeply about Dana Mercer?"

"Yeah."

Xander regarded him carefully after that last question, before stepping away again, looking out over the city. "That's all. I just needed to confirm some things. Thanks for putting up with it. One last question. This other doctor you already have looking at her… are you sure you can trust him?"

"He hasn't betrayed me so far."

"What, are you paying him or something?"

"No. I find food and water, but other th-"

"What sort of leverage are you holding over him?"

Alex paused. "What?"

Dr. Mercer's eyebrows shot up. "Oh, Christ. Don't tell me he's helping out on pain of death."

"I don't - I haven't had to threaten him."

Actually, now that he thought about it, he also didn't really know why Ragland was helping him so much.

Dr. Mercer held up a hand. "Take me there. It'll be faster if I scope out the situation for myself."

"Hello, Dr. Ragland. I'm Dr. Alexander J. Mercer. I've heard about you from our mutual associate, and it's very nice to meet you. I hear you're my predecessor on the Blacklight project at GENTEK."

Dr. Ragland was immediately put off when he saw Dr. Mercer, and even now was eyeing his proffered hand with suspicion. He didn't take it, instead looking in Alex's direction.

"What the hell is happening?" he asked.

Dr. Mercer stepped aside, looking up at Alex as if he was curious about the answer, too. Alex struggled to put the words together.

"I… reached inside and pulled out… one of the people inside me."

Dr. Ragland only seemed more confused, but Dr. Mercer then pulled him aside.

"From what I can tell," he said, in a low voice, "our friend there appears to have recorded and stored not only my genetic information, but my brain map. It seems like, without being conscious of the full mechanics, he's restored my CNS in a synthetic body in order to secure my assistance with the current… situation."

"I… see."

Dr. Mercer smiled. "It's freaky stuff, I'll admit, but for whatever it's worth, I feel like my old self. I promise that I'm here to help."

Dr. Ragland did not seem persuaded by that, so Dr. Mercer turned to Alex. "Do you mind waiting outside for a moment?"

"Why?"

Dr. Mercer's smile tightened. "Just trust me, okay?"

Alex didn't trust him at all, but his hearing was good enough that he could eavesdrop if he stood outside with his head pressed against the wall. As he closed the door behind him, he heard one of them sit down.

"I haven't been awake for long, but I'm coming to understand that our friend there isn't exactly a social creature," Dr. Mercer said. "On his behalf, I'd like to apologize. I heard he isn't even paying you."

The other person also took a seat, probably Ragland.

"I'm not helping him for money," he said. "If anything, it would make me suspicious."

"Oh? Then, please forgive my asking, what are you doing it for?"

A long sigh. "I quit GENTEK because I smelled something rotten. Now I know I was right. All these pop-up labs they've set up, I don't trust anything that comes out of them. I want to know the truth. Alex has been able to provide me samples and information. In exchange, I help him solve his problems. Our goals are usually the exact same, or at least aligned in the same direction."

A silence followed that. Dr. Mercer was the one to break it. "I see. You've been working very hard. I'm sorry for harboring suspicions toward your intentions, but I hope you understand why I would."

"No, that's fine. That's how things are these days. So what about you? What prompted you to unleash the greatest viral disease on the planet?"

"Does the whole world know about that?"

"It might've been buried by now. You were publicly named as a suspect of the Penn Station terrorist attack, but then the outbreak hit proper, and all this news started being leaked online about the government's involvement…"

"Right… well, I don't know if you'll believe me, but I was trying to blow the whistle."

"Is that so."

Thankfully, Ragland didn't sound like he believed him.

"I swear I'm telling the truth. GENTEK spent my entire career lying to me, and when I started sniffing around, I uncovered something that made me decide to get out of there as fast as I could. I genuinely didn't think they'd be willing to antagonize me when I had a sample of the world's deadliest virus on me. I put in too much faith that the government had its citizen's best interests in mind."

That was the truth, even if it made him sound much better and less complicit than he was. It annoyed Alex to hear him dress up facts that way.

"So you deliberately released it."

"While facing down two guns. I'll also be perfectly honest with you, Dr. Ragland, I wasn't exactly in a proper state of mind, though I know that absolves me of nothing. By that point I had been three days without sleep and two days without food. I can't really say I was thinking rationally at the time, but I think I realized on some level that the government didn't care if the people at Penn Station died, and I could at least ensure they wouldn't be able to cover it up. What would've happened if a stray bullet had hit the vial?"

"I see." Dr. Ragland sounded unhappy, not at all buying what Dr. Mercer was selling. Alex felt some relief. It wasn't just him that thought the doctor's words rang hollow, despite him somehow not telling a single lie. Everything he said was technically true, as far as Alex could tell. Honestly, Alex had expected him to tell blatant falsehoods.

"I heard that my sister is sick," Dr. Mercer said, quietly.

"She is. Alex managed to rescue her in time for us to induce a medical coma. This is slowing down the virus's replication, but not stopping it."

"A spin on the Milwaukee Protocol?"

"More or less."

Dr. Mercer let out a long breath. "Can you show her to me?"

"I haven't agreed to this yet. She's in a delicate state…"

Dr. Mercer suddenly rose from his seat, the sound of it skidding across the floor as he took several long strides towards Dr. Ragland. Alex was about to burst into the room to stop him, but once more, he defied Alex's expectations as he dropped to his knees instead.

"Please, Dr. Ragland. That's my fucking sister. Every second we spend speaking to each other, another cell is lysed. I will do whatever you want in order to prove my sincerity - I'm begging you - let me do something, anything for her."

His voice cracked from the desperation contained within it. It sounded like he was genuinely pleading for his life - he hadn't even begged for his own life with so much feeling.

Did he actually care about Dana?

… No. If he did, he wouldn't have released the virus in the first place. Wouldn't have used her, placed her in danger. However, he was necessary to help Dana here. And so it was with mixed and muddy feelings that Alex listened to Dr. Ragland answer with a reluctant "alright."

Dr. Mercer's expression didn't change at all under his face mask and scrubs as he viewed Dana's body, covered in wires and tubes, on the medical table. He reached for her and Alex reached out to stop him, grabbing him by the wrist. His eyes flickered upward.

"You go by Alex, right?"

"Yeah."

"Alex, if you want me to work on this patient, you need to let me examine her."

Dr. Ragland, too, gave him a nudge, and Alex let go.

"Thanks," Dr. Mercer said, proceeding to gently poke and prod at Dana's body, turning her head, inspecting the inside of her wrist, where the infection had begun. He'd already received an exhausting brief from Dr. Ragland, asking questions until Ragland's voice gave out, and now he was walking slow circles around Dana's body in the room that had been cleared out specially for her, casting glances over the equipment. Every now and then he would scribble something into a notebook he'd been given, the scratching of his pen and the hum of medical equipment the only two sounds in the room.

"Alright," he said, stepping back. He looked over at Alex. "You said you would get us any supplies we need?"

"That's right."

"Good. Give me half an hour and I will get you a list, sorted by priority. Dr. Ragland, I need a blood sample from the infection site and a spinal tap."

"I already analyzed her fluids yesterday, as I told you."

"I need to see them myself."

"The results - "

"Do you need to take more blood from her?" Alex interrupted, feeling concerned. Dr. Mercer narrowed his eyes.

"Dr. Ragland. Would you say the virus is exhibiting A-type, B-type, or C-type behavior?"

Dr. Ragland was clearly taken aback. "I don't know what you mean."

"The virus appears to behave sporadically at first glance, but this isn't actually the case. You cannot bring assumptions to the DX virus that you would make with its ilk. Its behavior changes in response to not only its host, but the host's environment and even the concentration of other viruses in its vicinity. This causes it to approach different types of cells, and even to encode different segments of its genetic sequence. So I'll ask again. Is it exhibiting A-type, B-type, or C-type behavior?"

In Dr. Ragland's silence, Dr. Mercer spoke again, voice becoming gentle.

"I genuinely cannot overstate how grateful I am for your work up until now, and that you probably saved Dana's life by initiating the Milwaukee Protocol. Honestly, from the bottom of my heart, I thank you. You've done everything right. Please believe me when I say that I have no intentions to diminish your work or your efforts. But for Dana's sake, let me make my own judgments. I know this virus better than anyone on the planet."

Dr. Ragland didn't seem happy about it, but he also seemed to recognize Dr. Mercer's expertise. "I understand. Don't worry, Alex. Taking a little more blood or cerebro-spinal fluid won't hurt her."

"Alright."

Dr. Mercer spoke up again, already furiously scribbling into his notebook. "Also, given that we both have the name Alex, I'd like to ask you two call me Xander. Confusion in a critical moment could be fatal, so let's get used to it early."

As Ragland moved to provide Xander with his requested samples, Xander finished making his list, tearing it out of the notebook on one swipe and handing it over. Several items had been bracketed off and he came closer to explain, pointing to each bracket in turn.

"These are high-priority," he said. This section of the list included cell cultures, incubators, and bioreactors. "Any decent virology lab trying to deal with this virus ought to have them, and we need them as soon as humanly possible. You won't believe how fast we'll burn through culture, so make sure to keep the supply coming."

He pointed to the next set. This included specific brand names and models. "These are ultra-high priority, but not likely to be found. If you happen to see one, drop everything to bring it here. Don't go out of your way to look for them, though."

"Alright."

Xander glanced up at him. "You recognize the items on this list?"

At least he was able to factually identify the equipment. It was generally highly-specialized and expensive stuff, some items not even necessarily available outside their countries of manufacture, but he did at least know of them, drawing on all the scientists inside him. "Yeah."

"Well, color me impressed. I was worried I needed to print out info sheets." He pointed to the next bracket. Food and general supplies like hypodermic needles and petri dishes dominated this area. "Medium priority. We either have some already or don't need it immediately, but we probably will run out or require it at some point. Just keep an eye out if we're running low. I'll probably remember to tell you, but it never hurts to have more people keeping tabs."

"Got it."

He pointed to the last bracket. "Low priority. Quality of life improvements, but not really necessary. They might make things more comfortable or go faster, but I wouldn't go out of my way to get any of them until at least all the high-priority stuff has been secured."

This part of the list included things like blackboards and chalk, comfortable furniture, specific brands of protein powder and vitamin pills. Alex nodded and took the list, committing it to memory. Xander stopped him as he turned to go. "What?"

"It sounds like you are just going to straight-up rob other labs," he said. "I thought I ought to point out that any piece of equipment taken from another lab may endanger or end the lives of anyone undergoing treatment there."

Alex narrowed his eyes. "Have a problem with that?"

Xander let go, hand going up in surrender.

"Not if you don't. I just figured I'd make sure we're on the same page, so you can't blame me later." He turned toward Ragland with a wave of his hand. "Go get 'em, tiger."

Alex's gaze lingered suspiciously on him one last time before he, too, turned and made for the door. 

It wasn't easy to locate everything on Xander's list, but he did manage it, eventually. Like Xander had said, many of the items were standard-issue to the pop-up labs, but Alex was hesitant to steal some of the bulkier items from those. Right now, the government believed he'd perished from the nuke, and Dr. Ragland had warned him that that was one of his greatest advantages and not to squander it. Keeping his profile low would keep them from becoming targets. And so Alex had instead ambushed a few key suppliers, a few local doctors, and then used that information to find what he could in the wreckage of the city's hospitals, in the remains of the GENTEK building.

By the time Alex did get back, it was the middle of the night. He pulled into the hospital parking lot with a massive truck stuffed full of supplies and walked inside to let the scientists know.

There, he found only two heat signatures - Xander and Dana. Dr. Ragland must've gone home for the night. Xander had taken up residence at the desk next to the electron microscope, scrawling madly, already surrounded by disemboweled pages from his notebook. Alex glanced over their contents. Chemical symbols, protein structures, behavioral notes. Printouts of diagrams and scientific journals from the internet. Their arrangement, just a little bit, reminded him of Dana's conspiracy wall, and he felt a needling sensation in his heart. He shook it off, reminding himself that this man had put Dana in danger to begin with, so it was only proper that he work hard for her sake to try and fix his own mess.

"Hey."

Dr. Mercer nearly jumped out of his chair, sheets of paper fluttering to the ground. "Jesus fucking Christ! Where the hell did you come from?"

That reaction, too, was like Dana's. It put Alex in a bad mood. "I found all the high-priority items."

"No shit? Bring 'em in. I'll show you where to set them up. Spent all day rearranging the lab. Ragland decided to turn in early, wasn't so good with physical activity."

Alex nodded, and Xander followed him to the truck.

"Did you bring food?" Xander asked, hopeful.

Alex glanced down at him. "It was medium priority. Did you already run out? I brought canned food."

"Yeah, but I hate the stuff we've currently got. Dream come true if you found my favorite brand of tuna."

Once Alex opened the truck doors, Xander was already making a beeline for the stacked cans in the back, ravenously pulling open a tin of tuna and eating it straight out of the can. "Christ, I'm hungrier than I thought. At the rate I was going, I might've eaten Brad."

Alex turned to him in alarm. Xander froze for a moment and then laughed. "Figure of speech! A joke!"

"Not funny," Alex grumbled.

"Geeze, lighten up, okay? Good vibes, positive attitude. For the patient's sake."

Now onto his second can, he was looking around at the tech Alex had scrounged up. "I'm impressed you did manage to find everything. If only McMullen were as generous as you. How is he doing, by the way?"

"Dead."

"No kidding? You're serious? What about Karen? Russel? Walter, god forbid?"

"They're all dead," Alex said, annoyance in his voice. "All your coworkers, all your employees from GENTEK. If I didn't take care of them, the government did."

Xander paused, then tossed his empty can aside. "Well, that's an appetite killer," he said.

"You can drop the act," Alex said. "I know you don't care about them or what happened to them."

"Okay," Xander said, following him back into the hospital as he carried a bioreactor over his shoulder. "Seriously, what did I ever do to you? I have no idea where your hostility is coming from. Put that thing here, by the way."

Alex set it down rattling and turned to go back to the truck. He felt Xander's eyes studying him as he followed him out.

"Alright," Xander said, finally. "Fine, answer me this instead. You've got other people in there besides me, right?"

Alex whipped around to look at him. Xander stared placidly back. "Look, you're not good at hiding it, if that's what you were even trying to do."

"How did you…?"

Xander sighed like the question was stupid. "Considering you had a brainmap of me, it's not much of a leap to assume you can do that for other people. And I never learned how to drive, especially not a fucking truck. I made some inferences. How many, Alex?"

Alex scowled and looked away. "I haven't been counting. Hundreds, thousands maybe."

"And that number includes my old labbies?"

"Yeah. So?"

"So!" Dr. Mercer said, incredulous. "So, aside from me, you have the greatest available knowledge on the virus! Are you kidding? Why didn't you say so sooner?"

He walked up to Alex and jabbed him in the chest with his finger. "Negligence endangers lives, Alex. If I hadn't figured it out for a month, do you know how much redundant work I'd have performed?"

Alex took a step back, somehow feeling like he was being cornered. "What does this have to do with your lack of empathy?"

Dr. Mercer groaned. "Oh my god. You're an idiot. Okay. How do I spell this out simply for you to understand…"

"I'm not stupid."

Xander ignored him. He pointed at himself. "I am highly competent. Right?"

Alex said nothing.

"The answer is yes, or you wouldn't have asked me. However! I am not omniscient. I can't rattle off Blacklight's genome from memory. But you probably can."

Alex pursed his lips. "Maybe." It was possible. He did remember fragments, pieces at least. Perhaps even enough to make a whole. The memories inside him were generally crystallized, preserved. It was hard to sort through them with that kind of specificity, but it could be done.

"Do you even realize how much that would speed things up?"

"Enough for you to cure Dana?"

Xander faltered, his smile fading as he looked away and scratched his head. "Listen, Alex. I think it'd be better for you to set your expectations low. Very low."

Alex's hands clenched into fists. He wanted to shout, become angry at Xander, blame him, but he also knew how complex this virus was. As impossible as the task may be, Xander was still Alex's best shot.

"Still," Xander said. "Now that you're here, I need you to start being honest with me, okay? Even if you can only remember a third, a fourth, of its genome, that's a miracle. Even if you can only name me half of its proteins, how they're folded, that's a couple days of work eliminated."

"Fine."

Xander broke out into a wide smile. "Thanks. I mean it. And you let me know if there's anything more I can do for you, alright?"

Alex growled and turned away. No way he was asking Xander for anything when he already barely trusted him to work on Dana. Xander narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not a bad guy," he said, crossing his arms. "You don't have to keep acting like I'm an evil wizard."

"When I know what you're willing to do? Not likely."

"Even so, I'm not a Saturday morning cartoon villain, Alex. You can chill out. Really."

"Enough," Alex growled, taking a step toward him. "I don't want to play your fucking games. I know what you're like."

Xander stared at him, pressed up against the wall of the truck like a coward. At that, his genial expression finally sloughed off into a cold, cruel sort of fury.

"Okay, asshole," he said, practically sneering. "I was trying to be fucking nice. But if you're going to throw some baby-ass tantrums like this, then you're gonna reap what you fucking sow."

This time, he stepped forward, squaring up to Alex. Alex felt oddly nervous, his fragile body so close, such a scolding tone in his voice. "Let's be very clear about this. If you do not have my help, Dana will die. You got that? If I don't have my lab run my way, Dana will die. If you leave her to that incompetent dropout who calls himself a doctor, Dana will die. If you make me pissed enough, I will let Dana die, and there is nothing you can fucking do about it . Do you understand?"

Alex growled and shifted into claws. This time, however, Xander just grinned and bared his neck.

"Do it, asshole! Do it and let Dana's death be your fault."

Alex bared his teeth, but did not move. It was an effective threat. Xander sneered harder, casually pushing Alex's claws away.

"That's what I thought," he said. "So listen. When I'm nice to Brad's stupid ass, you keep your stupid mouth shut. I need that idiot either under my thumb or out of my lab. When I ask you for information, you give me everything I need to know. I'm trying to help you, you moron! And when you feel like throwing a shitfit about how life's not fucking fair, build me a bridge and get over it. Because for someone who wants to save Dana's fucking life, you sure aren't fucking acting like it!"

Alex felt like he was being stung, a burning sensation crawling up his cheeks. Before he had realized what he was doing, he'd taken a step back as Xander had advanced a step forward.

"You want me to admit I don't give a shit about anyone but myself? Fine, stupid, here you go. I'm glad all those people died, that I killed them. I think they all got just what they deserved! And you know what else? I think the reason you wanted to hear me say that was because you want to think there's even a single human being you've got the moral high ground over. Well, guess what, you shitty excuse for AIDS. You're nothing but a ball of phlegm that wishes it was human. You don't have a sister. You don't have a history. You don't even have a name of your own."

Their positions had been reversed, Xander the one now backing him against the metal side of the truck.

"I'm still infinitely more of a human than you'll ever be. When Dana wakes up, which one of us do you think she'll run to first? It's going to be her brother… and not the people-eating virus wearing his corpse."

Alex's throat felt hoarse. "You put her in danger. You dragged her into this mess!"

Xander's sneer turned into an ugly grin.

"And she's still going to pick me over you."

It felt like his heart was being squeezed. Xander watched his expression with that crazed smile for a few seconds longer, before straightening up and smoothing out his clothes, slicking back his hair. He turned around, labcoat tails fluttering behind him, impeccably spotless and white.

"Well, then. If you'll excuse me, I've got a life to save. Bring the equipment inside. I'll show you where to put it. And then make yourself fucking useful, Alex, so that when I save Dana's life, I'll at least let you tell her that you helped."