jedibuttercup

PG-15; B:tVS, DOOM. 400 words. (Part of the Handle ID Slayer series).

A trail of blood drops led out of the Ark chamber.

Title: Zeroing In
Author: Jedi Buttercup
Disclaimer: The words are mine; the worlds are not. I claim nothing but the plot.
Rating: PG-15
TtH Prompt: #51 - Sin
Summary: A trail of blood drops led out of the Ark chamber. 400 words.
Spoilers: B:tVS post-"Chosen"; "DOOM" (2005)
Notes: Movieverse. Thirteenth in the Handle ID Slayer flashfic sequence.

A trail of blood drops led out of the Ark chamber. Buffy almost wished for a vampire's senses as she followed it. If Duke had any sense he'd have taken Sam through the Ark immediately instead of waiting with Mac and Pinky, which would mean the trail was much too fresh to belong to Xander's daughter, but Buffy had no way to be sure.

Aside from the drops of blood, however, there was surprisingly little damage to the facility. She'd been expecting to see dead bodies strewn around, spattered gore on broken equipment, and staggering people with throat wounds that she'd have to kill before they turned into demons. She wasn't quite as hung up about killing humans as she used to be-- she'd learned the hard way that collateral damage was not always avoidable-- but the thought of killing innocent, still-souled victims who'd done nothing but stray into a monster's path still made her stomach churn.

Fortunately for her peace of mind, someone had managed to clear the facility and hide the scientists away somewhere-- and that meant she'd already changed what would come to pass, what she'd Dreamed. If she could just track down what used to be Stahl before the Ark became active again and Sarge got involved, she might actually be able to prevent... how had Andrew put it? A total charlie-foxtrot.

A burst of gunfire, sudden and loud, echoed through the corridors; Buffy abandoned her tracking and zeroed in on the sound instead. She triggered her radio as she ran-- she'd been maintaining silence in case the Marines were hiding-- and called out to them. "Duke? Mac?"

"Slayer?" one of them replied, sounding startled, but was immediately cut off by a strangled shout. Buffy swore and picked up speed again, tearing around a dark corner just in time to see a huge, stooped shape bending over Mac's sprawled form. She fired at it, baring her teeth in a snarl as it roared in return, but it moved too quickly, escaping around another corner faster than she could correct her aim.

She could not follow it, either; she had to care for Mac first. He was bleeding from several deep, parallel scratches across his upper chest and throat, as though the demon had barely missed tearing his head off, and needed urgent care that she couldn't provide.

"Duke?" she called again, urgently. "Duke, where are you?"

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