For a moment Genblade did not move, just stared blankly at the wall of his cell as he almost always did.
The guard frowned, shuffling his feet and getting ready to join the others against the wall when Genblade did not respond.
Finally, he acknowledged that the guard had spoken, turning his head toward him. The motion was slow and unnatural, turning just a little further than any normal person should have been able to. His eyes were wild and crazy. “A visitor? For li’l ol’ me?” he exclaimed in a mock-southern accent. He smiled wide and sinister, showing all of his teeth. It chilled all the guards to the marrow, each one of them sharpened to needlepoint. “Well, I wonder who it could be?”
Xander heard the stuttered rapping of his nails against the desk he sat behind, gnawing at the inside of his cheek as he stared into the glare of the plate glass. On some level he was aware of the sound his nails were making, but could not have stopped it if he had tried. In fact, he had all but lost motor control in his right hand from the elbow down.
His eyes were locked on the vault-like steel door that stood a few feet beyond the other side of the glass. It stuck out like a postulant sore against the cracked plaster and chipped paint that dotted the walls around it.
Shunk. Genblade stabbed Xander in the arm. The creature’s head raised, fully awake for the first time in several moments and really listening now, wanting to scream but unable to make the right sound.
Shunk. He stabbed it through the other arm.
Shunk. He stabbed it through both feet, pinning them to each other and the wall.
“... Nobody, I repeat, nobody escapes death.”
Genblade stepped back and admired his work. Black Womb stood there, his body pinned into a cross position.
Xander’s mind reeled. He couldn’t focus on anything, his vision was blurry, and black around the edges. He felt the healing factor cut out. He lifted his head to face his attacker.
“A crucifixion,” Genblade sneered, stroking his chin as he admired his work. “It’d almost be poetic, if it wasn’t so damn funny.”
Xander winced, slamming his open palm flat against the table to stop it from shaking.
As if on cue, something heavy slid to one side inside the door, then it began to creek open. It seemed to move unbelievably slow, as though he’d stepped out of reality and into some pivotal scene within a movie. He wasn’t sure if it was actually happening that way or if it was all in his head, but either way it gave him chills.
Genblade stepped out of the bright light that illuminated from beyond the door, shimmering off the shoulders of his prison jumpsuit as he was led to his chair on the other side of the glass from Xander. Chains bound his hands and feet close together, an extra one holding both sets together so that he could not raise his hands over his head to strike.
At the sight of his twisted smile, pointed nose and wild blue eyes, Xander’s skin set on edge as though it were ready to leap from the chair and flee at any given moment, with or without the rest of his body in tow. Deep in his right side, the mass of grey flesh and black ooze that made up the Womb organ surged and convulsed until it felt like it had jumped up into his throat. It sent hormones and testosterone shooting throughout his system, screaming at him to smash through the inch-thick glass and rip Genblade’s head from his shoulders. Despite his urge to end it now, he swallowed it back.
Genblade smiled, his shoulders moving up and down in a snicker rendered soundless by the glass. It was unendingly creepy. He stared at Xander through the glass with those pale blue eyes, sizing him up. Smirking, he picked up the white stained phone alongside his cubicle and put it to his ear.
For a moment, it occurred to Xander that he could just turn, leave, and not look back. Forcing control, he picked up the phone and clenched it against the side of his face.
“How ya been, buddy?” Genblade said in a shrill, condescendingly cruel voice. “Long time no see.”
At the sound of his voice Xander was there again. He was nailed to the stainless steel walls of Alpha Quadrant, blood pouring out of his veins into a drain in the center of the floor. He could smell the coppery tang as it overtook him. He could feel Genblade driving knives through his wrists, legs and stomach.
“So,” Genblade said, taking pleasure in the pained look on Xander’s face, “to what do I owe the pleasure?”
Xander stared silently into the glass, squinting in contempt. He clamped the phone tight until he heard the plastic crack.
Genblade heard the snap on the other end of the line and smiled. “So, how’s the family? Mike... Cathy... Sara?”
Xander furrowed his brow even more, his eyes barely visible as he stared down the person who had haunted his memories for weeks now.
“Oh, wait, that’s right,” Genblade chuckled, pantomiming slapping himself on the forehead. “You’re down to a threesome now. Sorry.”
“You won’t get to me like that, Genblade,” Xander drawled, finally speaking.
“Sure. Why your pupils getting so bulgy, then? Light bothering you?”
Xander turned away for a moment, swallowing hard to force the Womb away. He could control it, at least for now. After a second he looked back, his eyes returned to normal. “What can you tell me about the Black Womb?”
Genblade tilted his head to one side,
