Nicole stood in her bathroom, staring into the mirror. Her face slowly morphed into Vicki’s face as she checked the details, turning back into Nicole and back to Vicki to see how quickly she could do it.

“Jack, it’s me, your wife.” She said several times, changing the mannerism a little to get it right, the little voice in her head silently screaming as she literally became what she feared the most, giggling as she got the voice down and started to convince herself it seemed right. There was a knock on the door, she smiled and hollered “come in” as Nicole again. Vicki entered the room, gun behind her back and acting suspicious.

“You said it was an emergency.” Vicki said.

“Yeah, I’m gonna need you to just wait a second right there," she said, taking her time as Vicki stood unknowingly under the memory cone at the top of the doorway.

“Look, I think Gizzy is conspiring against me. I know I’ve done some things in the past but I wasn’t myself. You have to understand that. Gizzy is volatile.”

“O,h she’s always been volatile, that’s who she is. Her conspiring is nothing new and trust me, I understand you weren’t yourself.” She said, stepping out and remotely locking the door. “I’m gonna need some things from you. Can you say the phrase: Jack, I’m your wife. Like your life was about to end?”

“What?” Vicki asked,

“That’s an order, actually. And if that wasn’t motivating enough…” she said, drawing a gun and pointing it in her face. “You’re a killer, so you know what kind of bullets I’m carrying. Dee doesn’t even know the difference between my gun and hers if you gave her a hint. You’ll thank me for that later, actually. Well, maybe not.”

“You’re not Nicole.”

“I am, I’m just improved. 5 seconds or we find out if these silencers work with soul bullets.”

“Jack… I’m your wife.” She hesitantly said, slowly reaching for her own gun.

“See, that’s what I was missing, that little breathy F at he end. You always did have that weird inflection on some words. Jack, I’m your wife.” Nicole said in a nearly perfect copy of her.

“What are you?” Vicki asked as Nicole pulled a syringe from her pocket, removing the cap and displaying a tube of black and white swirling liquid.

“I’m US… or about to be.” She smiled as Vicki quick drew and put 2 rounds in her chest. Nicole rolled her eyes and sighed in annoyance, stepping closer as Vicki’s eyes went red and she took a defensive pose.

“Yeah, that’s not going to help anything. You’re familiar with why. You were a good host but… damned if you just don’t make people like you or trust you. It’s almost like you’re kind of a bitch and everyone knows it. Even Jack, and… we’re his wife.” She said before lunging and stabbing Vicki with the syringe, giving her a dose and then stabbing the needle into a different spot on her back, drawing blood and holding her up.

“You…” Vick wheezed.

“Oh, now stop being dramatic. Big tough vampire like you unable to stand up after a tiny dose like that? Even little Nicole handled it better. You aren’t as strong as you think, you just rely on everyone else. You let Jack fight your battles and clean your messes, you let Gizzy back you up and then you let her down and turn on her. The only thing you ever had that made you anything but a sad lonely girl with cancer was the venom that made you special. And you resented that. So I’m taking some of it.” Nicole said before squirting the syringe into her mouth and closing her eyes. When she opened them, her eyes were bright red.

“Oh now that’s the final little ingredient. Impostor, Raven, Pitch, and now Vampire. I’m everything you ever were at your finest, and without the uncontrollable stupidity to display it like a target," the creature posing as Nicole said as her eyes encircled in blue and her skin turned black, flowing like liquid armor, while glowing blue wings unfolded from her back as the beautiful blue angel of death causally propped Vicki up, now wheezing and eyes red.

“You gotta learn that even when you have a winning hand, you don’t just show it to everyone. That’s how you lose the game. And you just lost again. Oh Vicki, I really wish you could get to remember that I won, and you weren’t enough, and that Jack chose you over me, and the last thing he’ll remember is me, as you… drain him dry." Vicki limply clawed her arm and tears dripped from her face as she tried to fight the cocktail of drugs in her veins. “But again, always keep your cards hidden and your anger under control. Nicole is so much more intelligent, focused, and precise than you ever were. You’re a loose cannon like Gizzy, just smaller and weaker. Bye now.” the creature said while pushing Vicki against the wall and retracting the wings, returning to a normal looking Nicole. The memory cone stopped humming.

“Like I was saying… Vicki are you listening? I’m worried about you. Go rest up, have a shower, get some sleep, but get something to eat. You really look unhealthy.” She said, opening the door as Vicki staggered out in a confused daze. Her eyes were still red. Her thirst for blood was in full swing and barely under control. She knew with Vinn dead and no serum, someone needed to get bitten and the choice was clear to her.

...

Jack heard the door open mid sip and the footsteps made him almost question of it was Nicole or Vicki. He turned to see Vicki standing there looking rather fetching in her straps and tactical pouches, but missing most of the other clothing.

“Vicki, I’m just not in the mood.” He said finishing his drink and staring out the view window.

“But Jack… I’m your wife.” She said sadly. “Don’t you love me anymore? Is there something else bothering you?” she said running her hands over his shoulders.

“Killing Vinn and carrying that guilt isn’t enough for me to be a little bit depressed and not exactly just jumping at the chance for sex?”

“What if I was Nicole?” she asked him darkly. His heart skipped a beat.

“You know I almost just said something like, I don’t know what you mean, but you know when I’m lying and that’s a pretty direct statement to lie to.”

“You never did love me, Jack.” She said tightening her grip on his shoulders. And leaning closer. “Just admit it.”

“I did once. Before you changed."

“Then it’s probably going to hurt a little telling you this, but I never did love you at all.” She whispered.

“Bullshit. That’s just the thing you are now talking. Vicki loved me before we left Delmar. After that, everything isn’t as clear."

“Jack, you were an escape. You were a hunky, dreamy ticket out of dying. The moment we met I could see you were a kind heart, and I used that because I wanted to live. You got me to Delmar. You got me to technology to cure my cancer and you saved my life. And that’s all you were. A survival ticket and a kind heart who couldn’t resist someone in distress. The moment I found out you were a killer, I was afraid of you, too afraid to leave you, thinking you might just put a hit on me.”

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“How can you think I would do that?” Jack asked, cut to the core.

“Because you kill people, Jack. You killed me once, you just don’t remember it, but I promise you I do. You’re not a hero, you’re a hired gun with a family curse of insatiable death-seeking behavior, with no parents and nobody to love you. So I pretended to love you and the day I got bitten and turned I realized I’m no longer weak and need to pretend. I was as dangerous as you. So I wanted it to work Jack, but I just never truly loved you and you stopped loving me long ago, if you ever did love me at all. Face it Jack, we’re both just heartless monsters that hunt and survive. You’re a survivor, aren’t you? You adapt, you do the mission and you move on. You saved the dying girl and when she could take care of herself without you, you didn’t want her anymore.”

“That’s not true.”

“Just because you don’t believe it doesn’t make it a lie, you just convinced yourself you deserved me. You were gonna leave me and go on this mission alone, but I convinced you to tag along. You wanted to escape, deep down. Find someone else and be the hero again. When Dee was alone, when Nicole was alone. Jack, you’re a predator, you just don’t know it. You don’t kill and eat your prey, you just leave them lonely and sad, wondering why they weren’t enough. You’re no better than me, you’re just less hungry.”

“So… whether or not that’s true and whether or not I believe it, does it help to say I’m sorry and I never meant to hurt anyone?”

“You never meant to hurt Vinn but you knew where he was standing and you took the shot and followed orders. Does that make Nicole feel better? She loved Vinn. You took that from her and presented yourself, and you would get bored with her and break her heart too. I’m just making it quicker for her and painful for you. You’ve never been the hero, Jack. Only in your own mind. So tell me why, knowing that you deserve to die for everything you did, do you still tremble in fear from me?”

“Because you know how to hurt me. Dying isn’t what scares me, It’s everything you do before that moment that does. I’ve feared you a little bit since you turned vampiric, and I knew you were capable of killing me if you wanted. I just never thought you’d want to. And now I gave you a reason to want to. I don’t suppose even asking to make it quick will help me at all?” he asked as she playfully and softly bit his neck.

“Not in the slightest.” She whispered.

...

Dee jumped a little as the doors shut. She turned around and saw Vicki looking ravenous, pulling the gun and aiming at her, thinking it was loaded with something useful, never checking the barrel or the magazine to see the smaller caliber that Nicole carried.

“Vicki, I know we don’t like each other but you don’t have to do this. I don’t WANT to kill you, I don’t WANT to do that to Jack, but I want to live and I’m ready to defend myself if you force me. So don’t force me.”

“It’s not personal, I just need to feed.”

“Yeah, well, you always feed on me so it feels personal, and after that little speech last time, I’m loaded with nastier ammo. So vampire or not, if you get closer, I’ll put you down and apologize to Jack. He won’t like it but he’ll forgive me.”

“You and him really did fuck around when I was gone, didn’t you? The rumor, the conspiracy, it’s just the truth. Memory wipes and lies, nobody can trust anyone anymore. Vinn is dead, and I’m hungrier than I should be. What would you prefer, I go after Nicole or Jack, kill them, or just repeat what we’ve done before?”

“I wasn’t a person before. I have rights and feelings now and Nicole may be a pacifist and unable to kill people but the last time someone cornered me with a gun, I defended myself and I don’t regret it. You scare the hell out of me. You always have, and the only thing scarier than knowing you wanna kill me is knowing that afterwards you’ll go kill Jack.

“You stupid fucking toaster. I’d never kill Jack. I love Jack. I would kill anyone on this ship to save Jack, and that includes you, which is why I came here. I can’t control this, if I lose myself and hurt Jack I’ll never forgive myself, but if I kill you after stealing him from me… I think I might just get over it. So stop being so selfish and take one for the team, because if you shoot me, you hurt Jack. If I leave and lose control, I might hurt Jack.” She said fighting tears and the urge to kill at the same time. Her mind pivotied from sheer animal hunger to petty vengeance to genuine concern for the man she loved. Dee’s phone went off. She stood, ignoring it as they stared one another down like a hunter and wild animal, debating on who should turn or fight first, and who was defending who for what reason. Dee finally picked the phone up, holding it up so she could see without moving her aim from Vicki’s heart. Dee broke down into a gaze of disbelief, almost dropping the gun as she watched the video play of Vicki dragging Jack’s headless body through his room, her face covered in blood. She approached the camera eyes glowing red and smiling, raising a middle finger and cutting the video. Dee dropped the phone.

“It’s not real.” She said barely forming words. “You’re just fucking with me.”

“What are you talking about?”

“You already killed Jack. That’s why there’s blood on your shirt. Are you trying to trick me? Did you fake it to get me to shoot first? Is that the plan? She shot me first so I killed her, the robot went nuts and poor Vicki defended herself a little bit too hard? You’re insane. He’s not dead, he can’t be dead.” She sobbed.

“Dee, what are you talking about? I went to see the Captain under her orders and on the way back I just got hit with the hunger…” she said pausing to remember what they even talked about, and why she had blood on her shirt. “I would remember if I killed Jack, especially to fuck with you. I’m not a monster who would kill the man I love, just a monster that would kill you to survive.”

“You don’t even remember it? You just blacked out from hunger and killed Jack and came for seconds and you don’t even remember it?” Dee asked.

“Oh my god he's actually dead? We have to clone him back, Vicki. You need to be locked up for everyone’s safety. You can’t control yourself, you don’t even know when you ARE yourself.” Dee said “You know what… I’m sick of it. I’m sick of you and everyone living in fear around you. Jack may be better off without you. I’m gonna clone him back and he’ll be fine, but you’re not. These are the kind of bullets that killed Vinn and you don’t come back from that. So fuck you Vicki. You psychotic blackout murdering bitch. Jack deserves someone better than you. Literally anyone. I’m doing him a favor. All of us.” She said firing two shots center mass as Vicki looked up, both confused and impressed.

“You actually shot me.” She growled. Dee froze with fear, unable to understand how she could survive 2 bullets that can kill a god. She dropped the gun. Accepting her fate, realizing they were all doomed. Vicki sprinted, jumping the table and biting her neck, pinning her to the wall and tossing her aside. “I’m gonna make this one last.” She snarled.

...

Nicole strolled down the hallway with a demented skip to her step, twirling a bag full of grenades merrily. She smiled a fanged grin and began arming them. She started the timer, checking her remote to be sure and checking the security cams, deleting the ones down the hall and leaving the one in front of the cloning machine. She popped her neck and phased into Vicki, rounding the corner and into the camera range, placing the grenades over the machine and securing them with tape. She strolled down the hallway, turning the cameras off as she went and corrupting the data across the ship. She grabbed her bag of supplies and placed them in the escape pod. She tossed a bag of grenades into the next escape pod and stepped into the first one. Checking her trajectory again and making sure it was right. She closed the door and waited with a smile, turning back into Nicole and practicing her crying. Smearing her makeup and looking terrified. She looked in the reflection of the glass and Nicole inside locked eyes with herself.

“Don’t worry sweetie. It’s all an act. We’ll be just fine together, it will all be over soon and we have hundreds of years to get to know each other. This is just the beginning for us, we just have to make it look like the end. But it’s just part of the plan. You’re safe with me… forever.” She said to herself, suddenly going from a smile to a look of horror, pounding on the glass and ejecting both pods together. “HELP SOMEONE HELP ME!!! VICKI IS TAKING OVER THE SHIP!!” she screamed frantically “SHE’S PLANTED BOMBS EVRYWHERE…” she said before curling up and sobbing frantically. “Even in the escape pods.” She whimpered, cutting the feed and pressing the remote. The pod beside her exploded. She watched calmly, wiping her face as the other escape pods popped and ejected, detonating as they cleared the ship, all except hers. The grenades taped to the cloning machine detonated, shattering the glass and trashing the open DNA file and memory ports. She sat down and got comfortable, checking her trajectory path.

“And now that we’re dead, we just take a nice nap until we reach our destination. I know a week in an escape pod seems a bit claustrophobic but you’ll get used to that. Pretty soon you’ll realize how much fun we are going to have, and it will all be worth it. You’ll see." the creature said while admiring her bag of stolen artifacts. “We’re gonna be best friends now. And nobody can ever hurt you again.”