Project X

All Rights Reserved

© 2015 Luna Black

~*~

"Good morning!" Alexa chirped, smiling at him happily after she finished getting dressed.

Xander chuckled, kissing her temple gently and said, "Good morning, mielle. Are you ready for your appointment?"

She sighed, nodding and muttered, "As ready as I'll ever be."

He laughed, taking her hands in his and said, "Aw come on, it will not be that bad. Dr. Naveer will give you the bracelet and you will not have to worry about the pen anymore."

She slouched her shoulders, leaning into his chest as he began messing with his watch and closed her eyes. When he teleported them somewhere, it felt as if her stomach was dropping down to her toes and skyrocketing back to its place. It was horrible, but as her body slowly began to adjust to the PX the effects were less harsh, but she still closed her eyes to block try to block them out.

Xander released her waist as they stood in Dr. Naveer's office and she sat down on the bed. "I hope it's quick; I want to go to the beach today and tan."

He nodded, flashing her a small smile.

"Plus we need to finish building the sand people their home," she added, making him laugh heartily.

Dr. Naveer pushed the door open, smiling at the brightly as he entered the room and said, "Good morning! Sorry that I called you in during your weekend, but all the women are getting these substitutions and the faster we get them done, the faster we can tell if they work."

Alexa nodded, eyeing the silver bracelet he was holding in a glass container.

He smiled at her, clicking some buttons on the screen of his computer clipboard and said, "Have you two been sexually active yet?"

She blushed, but said, "We just consummated our relationship yesterday."

"Good," he kept a straight face, even though she seemed mortified by the question, "Xander did you ejaculate-"

"-oh god," She groaned, covering her face with her hands.

Dr. Naveer frowned, but continued speaking, completely unaffected by her embarrassment, "-inside of her?"

"Yes," Alexa scrounged her nose in distaste, "he fertilised my baby eggs. Can we not talk about this?"

"Ms. Dominick," he chuckled, pushing the rim of his glasses up his nose, "I am your doctor. These are conversations that we must have."

Xander laughed as she groaned. "I don't exactly like talking about my sexual life that much...we did it, it was great and he made sure to leave his possible children in my vagina. Can we skip to the next question now?"

He chuckled, nodding and said, "Have you been eating healthy?"

"Yes."

"Breakfast every day before training?"

"Yep," she nodded.

"Sleeping for eight hours?"

"Well..." she drawled, "does yesterday count? Because if it does then no..."

Dr. Naveer laughed and returned to his professional tone of voice. "Very well. I am glad you are healthy. The reason for this check-up is to change the way we have been infusing PX within your body. Our scientists have found a more efficient and easier way to do so." He grabbed the silver bracelet from the glass container and held it in front of them, "This bracelet will be attached to your wrist. Inside, there are around 100 doses that will be automatically infused when they are needed."

Xander nodded as Alexa stared at the bracelet in wonder, but tried to keep listening.

"Whenever your body feels that it needs PX, the bracelet will turn the number 37 into a red colour, which notifies you that you need to stop whatever you are doing because the side effects seem to be quite...dangerous."

"What are some of the side effects?" Xander frowned.

"The women hallucinate and feel a certain high when they are injected with the PX. The effects it gives off are similar to drugs in their planet." Dr. Naveer held his hand out so that Alexa could give him her wrist and watched with curious eyes as he snapped it open. Two thin needles about the size of an ant were sticking out to puncture her veins. "This will sting a bit, but afterwards it will not bother you."

Alexa nodded and hissed in a breath when he snapped the bracelet on. It was gentle, but in her eyes it seemed like he had broken her wrist. She wasn't a fan of needles.

Xander watched with curious eyes as her eyes flashed black, no pupil in sight. A slow smile grew on her lips and she hummed in delight; the Xrionian blood was rushing through her veins, almost rejuvenating her.

She felt a sudden burst of energy that overtook her senses. It was amazing; stars even danced in front of her eyes.

Dr. Naveer cleared his throat; quickly copying down the effects the blood was leaving on and turned to look at Xander. "All of the women have been acting like this; it is becoming a sort of high for them. It is very strange."

He frowned, placing his hand around Alexa's arm. "Will she be alright? Do I need to worry about anything?"

He shook his head. "Not at the moment. As long as they keep their bracelets on their wrists and relax whenever it notifies her of a new dosage, she will be fine. However, we have noticed that through brain scans, they are releasing endorphins and we must make sure that they do not become addicted."

Xander nodded, watching as Alexa blinked slowly and transformed back to normal. She flashed Dr. Naveer a small smile and entwined her fingers with Xander's.

"So, when the bracelet flashes red, I need to stop what I'm doing?"

"That is correct, Ms. Dominick."

"That's pretty easy," she muttered, "it's better than the Epi-Pen you guys gave us. I lost it on the bed five times."

Dr. Naveer chuckled. "Well you do not need to worry about losing this one, Ms. Dominick. Unless you pry it off your wrist and risk ripping your veins open, you will not have to worry."

Alexa widened her eyes, imagining the gory scene unfold in her head and shuddered as she stepped closer to Xander. He smiled down at her and kissed her temple gently.

"The bracelet is also waterproof so you do not need to worry about it being damaged or hurting you in any way. It will almost become like a second skin; you will not notice it much."

"That's cool," she nodded, looking down at her wrist. The bracelet was thin and a bit cold, but it wasn't hard and it didn't make her wrist hurt. It even adjusted to her hand movements like clay.

"Any more questions?" They both shook their heads. "Great," he smiled, "I will see you two in one month."

~*~

Alexa let out a sigh, glancing down at her bracelet and placed her hands on her stomach. She blew her bangs out of her face and bit her bottom lip as she looked up at the white ceiling. To say that she was bored would be the understatement of the century.

Xander had been gone the previous night and still hadn't returned. The General called him around 9pm for an urgent meeting and she was beginning to get worried. He had never been gone that long; whatever the meeting was about had to be serious.

She groaned, turning on her side and forced herself to get out of bed. Due to the urgent meeting, they had cancelled training so she was alone for the day because she didn't exactly feel like going out and talking to people. It was one of those days. Not period days; she just didn't feel like leaving her comfortable home.

The door slowly slid open and she stretched her arms over her head. Xander's white cotton t-shirt rode up her thighs, tickling her a bit and she smiled. Wearing his clothes was beginning to be her favourite thing. They all smelled like him and his scent was rich and enticing; it was like a mixture of cologne and woods. It was perfect.

Alexa reached into the fridge looking for something to eat and settled on an apple; she wasn't really hungry. After she washed it, she bit into it and moaned. It was cold and tasted completely fresh; it was delicious. The juices ran down her chin and she wiped them with the back of her hand.

As she made her way towards the enormous glass window adjacent to the large white couch, she crossed her arms and continued chewing on the apple. The day was beautiful. The sun was shining brightly and a couple of clouds were scattered around, seeming like a canvas created by a professional.

She let out a content sigh, breathing the scent of lemon from the air fresheners she placed around the house after cleaning and walked back to the kitchen. When she finished eating the apple, she threw the stem away and pouted her lips, not knowing what to do.

The attachment she had for Xander had grown so immensely that she didn't know what to do if he wasn't around. The TV was nothing compared to the entertainment he could bring her; and it wasn't just sexual. They had some pretty interesting conversations.

After contemplating her options for a bit, she decided to finally finish the painting she had started of Xander. She was almost finished with it, she just needed to add some shading to certain parts and lighten others.

When she had done Corah's painting, she had used colour pencils, but for Xander's she decided that pastels would be a nice way to go. The texture on the water colour paper was strangely amazing to use for their little ridges and it made the painting seem like a picture.

She wasn't one to boast that much but painting was pretty much her thing. That she knew she could do well.

Alexa leaned down to grab her pastels, when Xander entered her room. His hair was dishevelled, as if he had run his fingers through it all night and the bags he had under his eyes resembled those of a shopaholic.

He gave her a small smile and stumbled towards her. Alexa frowned, placing the pastels on the easel and walked towards him. "Baby, what's wrong?" She took his cheeks in her hands and gingerly caressed them. He had never seemed that exhausted.

Xander wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her into him and breathed in deeply. "Just a rough night."

Her frown deepened, but she gave him a soft kiss on his jaw. "Everything alright?"

He nodded, but didn't speak what was truly on his mind. "Did you sleep well?" He eyed the easel and the painting and smiled down at her.

"It would have been a thousand times better if you had been here," she mumbled, but nodded, "it was okay, I guess. Xander," she sighed, brushing her thumbs against the dark bags under his eyes and said, "you don't look so good; I'm going to have to go all ninja on the General's ass if he keeps going with these crazy meetings."

He sighed, leaning down to nuzzle his nose in the curvature of her neck and said, "It was a meeting your President requested." The position was a bit awkward, due to his height, but he was surprisingly comfortable. Being in her arms brought him a sense of tranquillity.

"Oh," she frowned, "what did he want?"

"Did you eat?" He asked, averting his eyes from hers because he didn't want to speak of the matter, "I am very hungry."

Alexa frowned at him, biting her bottom lip, but decided not to press the matter. Whatever had happened, he could tell her on his own time. He would tell her if anything was seriously wrong and they both knew it. "I had an apple a couple of minutes before you came in, but I didn't eat anything major."

He nodded, interlacing their fingers together and said, "Would you like to join me for breakfast?"

She smiled, nodding and followed him towards the kitchen. "I didn't make anything because I didn't think you'd be here and frankly, I felt too lazy to even cook."

Xander chuckled, running his fingers through her blonde hair and tucked a bit behind her ear. "Is there anything you would like to eat? I will cook for us."

She raised an eyebrow. He had never cooked before. "Are you going to burn down the kitchen?"

He laughed, shaking his head and pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. "I would just like to return the favour; you are always cooking for us, I thought I could do something nice."

"I mean...can you cook?" She grinned, loving how his fingers felt against her cheek as he caressed them lovingly.

"I would like to think I do," He chuckled even more, "but just so that I do not ruin our morning, I will order something from the kitchen. What would you like?"

She gave him a sheepish smile. "You can't cook, can you?"

Xander rolled his eyes, kissing the tip of her nose and said, "I cannot cook as delicious as you, but I can survive on the food I prepare."

Alexa giggled, sitting on a stool and said, "Fine, I'm honestly not that hungry, though. So you can order for you and I'll just pick off your plate."

"Alexa," he cajoled, "you cannot survive on a mere apple. I will be content even if you eat that yogurt you are so obsessed with."

She grinned, resting her chin on the palm of her hand as she faced him and said, "I promise that when I get hungry I will eat. Just order something for yourself."

He shook his head, grabbing a loaf of bread and said, "Fine, I will eat bread and butter."

"What?" She laughed, "Why?"

"I do not want to eat something extravagant if you are only eating an apple," He cut almost half of the pound and placed it back in the bag. After grabbing the butter, he sliced the bread open and spread it as he hummed under his breath.

Alexa eyed him warily, biting her bottom lip as she did so. "Is everything okay? You seem...I don't know... weird."

His shoulders tensed for a second and he tightened his hold on the knife, but he turned to her with an easy smile. "Nothing is wrong."

She nodded, knowing that he was lying, but again decided not to press him. If he wanted to tell her, he would. Xander sat across from her, eating quietly and she smiled at him. Even with his dishevelled hair and tired bags, he looked gorgeous.

After he was done with the sandwich, he stood up to pour himself some fruit punch and then washed everything he dirtied. Alexa watched him, holding her chin with the palm of her hand and crossed her heels.

"Alexa," Xander spoke quietly as he dried his hands on the towel hanging from the stove, "non per si viti."

"Err," she frowned, "what?"

He walked towards her and cupped her jaw in his hands before pressing a soft kiss to her lips. There was a meaning behind it, she just couldn't pin point it. "Do you know that I would never do anything to hurt you?"

Alexa raised an eyebrow. "What?"

"Please answer the question," he gulped.

She nodded, frowning at him in confusion. "Yeah, I trust you; Xander what's wrong?!"

He sighed, ignoring her question and pulled her in for a hug. "I am glad you know that I would never do something to hurt you intentionally."

She crossed her arms over her chest, glaring up at him and said, "Are you going to tell me what's wrong?!"

"You are so beautiful," he susurrated and lightly brushed his fingers down her jaw as his eyes stared at her ardently.

"Xander," she bit her bottom lip, her heart skipping a beat in fear, "what's wrong? You are really scaring me."

"Nothing," he whispered, pressing his forehead against hers.

Alexa wrapped her arms around his shoulders, closing her eyes and said, "Then, why are you acting like this?"

"I cannot lie to you," he groaned, hugging her to his chest tight enough to crush her. He took a deep breath and whispered, "Your President gave us an ultimatum last night. He said that we have exactly a month to leave Earth or they will start a war with us."

"What?" She gasped, feeling her heart drop to the pit of her stomach. "That's stupid!"

"Alexa," he gritted his teeth, stepping back to look her in the eyes, "the General has decided to call it quits. He does not want to start a war with Earth because they will not have a chance. We will be leaving Earth in a month."

Her mouth dropped open and she gulped, trying to find the right words to say. "That's okay," she croaked out, "I...that's okay. I just have to say goodbye to my mom and I think I'll be okay."

Xander shook his head, not wanting to meet her eyes and softly said, "You are not coming with us."

"Wait..." she frowned, "what? What do you mean I'm not going with you? Of course I'm freaking going!"

"When the General spoke of our departure, I suggested we'd take you as well, but there are two issues preventing it. Your President wants all the women returned and we do not know if you will be capable of surviving the journey and the different atmosphere."

Her eyes widened as her heart began to constrict in pain and she whispered, "So, we can't go with you?"

He nodded, staring down at their entwined hands in defeat. He had never argued for something so hard in his life. He was in love with Alexa, he couldn't leave her behind. But he would rather she be living and stay in Earth than risk that chance of losing her in his home planet.

"No," she whispered, shaking her head as tears began to well in her eyes, "no! I am not staying here! I'm going with you and that's that!"

"I wish it were that simple," he sighed, "but the President sent an armada to collect the women; they should be arriving shortly."

"X-Xander," her bottom lip trembled, "they can't do this! They don't own me! I can do whatever the hell I please and what I please is to go with you. Please," she felt her teeth shaking as sobs began to tremble through her chest, "please don't leave me here. Stay with me if you have to, but don't leave me."

He clenched his jaw, returning her embrace and said, "I cannot stay here, Alexa. The love I have for you prevents me from doing so."

"Then, hate me!"

"I cannot," he caressed her cheek, wiping the tears that were sliding down her cheeks with his thumb, "if I were to stay here, there would be war against my kind and yours. Because I care for you, I have decided not to fight against your kind; leaving Earth is our only option."

She blinked rapidly, trying to clear up her vision and said, "That's fine with me, but don't leave me here. Take me to wherever you're going; I just don't want to be without you."

"We cannot risk the chances of your survival. What if you do not survive in our atmosphere? Our oxygen levels differ, Alexa, I cannot be the cause of your death."

"How are you so sure that I won't live there, huh? I have Xrion blood in me now!" She held the silver bracelet up to his face, "I'm less human every day!"

Xander nodded, closing his eyes and said, "I have tried that argument, mielle, but it is not up to me. The General has made the final decision; no human female will depart with us from Earth."

Alexa clenched her jaw, shaking her head in anger and said, "No! He has no right! You don't have the right; neither does the freaking President or the freaking General! It's my decision and I want to go with you."

"Alexa," he tightened his hold around her trembling body, "please, mielle, please just cooperate. You must stay behind and live your life without me. It will be like it was before you came here."

"No it fücking won't!" She cried out, desperation fuelling her anger, "You can't just be in my life for seven fücking months and then leave and expect me to be okay with it! I love you, Xander; I can't just wipe that feeling away! You took me from my home - so now take me again!"

He opened his mouth to say something else, but decided against it and said, "You are to leave in the clothes that you arrived. I will get them for you." He turned on his heel, walking away from her and ran his fingers through his hair.

"How can you be so fücking okay with this?!" She cried out, clenching her fists at her sides as she followed him into his room. "Is it because you don't freaking care about me?! Is it really that easy to forget all the shït we went through?!"

Xander pulled out the folded skinny jeans and the grey t-shirt she wore when they first met and placed it on his bed. "You may change here if you wish."

"Don't fücking ignore me!" She hissed, turning red with anger, "Answer my fücking questions!"

His eyes flashed black in a matter of seconds and he stood in front of her, tightly holding her arm. "Non per si viti. Remember that day you told me you loved me, Alexa?" She nodded. "I did not say anything in return. That was because I wanted to make sure you were not just saying that. These past couple of days you have managed to show me that you meant it and I did not say anything because I was in love with you before you realised it."

Her jaw dropped open as her heart began to beat rapidly against her chest.

"I have been in love with you since that day at the beach. It was then that I realised that I would not mind living with you for the rest of my life. In fact, that was all I wanted to do. I wanted to come home from training and spend them with you at the beach. But now I cannot do that and it tears me apart knowing that I am madly in love with you and I cannot have you."

Tears streamed down her face slowly and her lips trembled as she stared up at him. "Non per si viti," he repeated, lowering his hand down her waist and cupped her chin with the other, "in my language we do not have a translation for I love you. Non per si viti literally means that I cannot live without you. It is much stronger than the flimsy I love yous your people share with one another."

A strange noise exploded through her chest as she sobbed and held unto him for dear life. "If you cannot live without me, why are you leaving me here alone?!"

"Because it is what is right," he whispered, rubbing circles against her back, "I am in love with you, Alexa, and for that reason I cannot bear to lose you to death. I will be content knowing that you lived on in Earth even though it was not with me."

"But I won't be," she wept, tensing as he began to take his shirt off her body. "I don't want to be away from you; I don't care that it's wrong or that I might die trying. I just want to wake up next to you every day."

He helped her to get dress into her old clothes and kissed her body gently as he bent down to pull the zipper of her jeans up. She glanced down at him, blinking away the tears that were sliding down her cheeks interminably and hugged him tightly when he stood up.

"Please," she whispered, her voice breaking with pain, "I am begging you, don't leave me."

Xander wiped her tears away, kissing her softly and whispered, "Mielle, please do not make this harder on me. I hate seeing you sad, I cannot bear it. It is taking all of me not to steal a pod and live with you in another planet."

"Who's stopping you?" She sniffled, making him chuckle dryly.

"Knowing that you might be hurt in the process of the voyage is enough to stop me. Alexa, it is one thing for me to leave you alive, but to have you in my arms and have you dead is not something I wish to experience."

Alexa grabbed tightly unto his shirt and whispered, "I love you so fücking much, dammit."

He chuckled, nodding his head and kissed the top of hers, "I love you too, mielle. Non per si viti."

~*~