The ABO Serum

This Is Happening Too Fast

Shock and strong leadership kept everyone calm through the initial crisis. The coffee shop didn't have a full kitchen, but there was enough room to make sandwiches.

The deli on the other side had some prepackaged foods that sold out early in the afternoon, but all the veggies they'd prepped had to be tossed because they'd been washed in contaminated water, and their larger kitchen cleanup and restock was taking longer. The lab sent a couple of interns to help Trina and she'd be open again soon but couldn't feed the entire lab herself. Sandwiches from the coffee shop took the pressure off.

Keeping his promise, Carey took the first tray of sandwiches up to Daryl's office, along with a pot of coffee. Daryl could eat and feed his senior staff when they came to report, and they wouldn't have to go all the way down to the shop. Neither had time to talk, but they did sneak in a quick kiss.

Techs came and did Carey and Ryan's testing in Carey's tiny office. They were quickly confirmed affected. "You seem a little more advanced than everyone else," the tech said to Carey.

"I get here early and drink tea first thing so I can wake up and open the shop before anyone comes. Maybe that's it." Carey speculated.

"Maybe," the tech answered and made a note in his chart.

Carey asked Ryan if the tech said the same to him, since they opened together. He had not. At two am the lockdown was lifted and Carey sent Ryan home. He stayed to close the shop and took the last of the coffee up to Daryl's office.

A sleeping bag lay on the couch, but Daryl sat behind his desk staring at his computer. He didn't look up when Carey walked in, but he did comment. "That smells amazing. Coffee and something else. It kind of smells like you but floral. Sweet. Jasmine tea?"

"No, just the coffee. But I haven't bathed since this morning and it's been a stressful day so maybe I'm getting ripe," Carey said. He set the coffee up on the credenza he'd stocked with sandwiches earlier, moving the empty tray and urn aside. He'd take it down later. He needed a longer check-in with Daryl right now.

"I wish I smelled that delicious after sweating all day." Daryl smiled and looked up for a second.

"Hmm," Carey sniffed. "You kind of do," he moved closer. "Musk and cinnamon. Like Good Earth Original tea. Spicy. I like it." His body moved of its own accord, closer until he wormed his way into Daryl's lap and wrapped his arms around him. His nose tucked into Daryl's neck and his body squirming, needy against his lover.

At first, Daryl received the affection greedily, but something clicked in his mind and he froze in shock. This was a symptom. But it was too soon for symptoms. The lab that detected the serum in the water ran the same tests yesterday and it was not there. He picked up the phone. "Is anyone free yet to run my test?...yes. Come now."

Carey managed to fall asleep snuggled on Daryl's lap during the five minutes they waited for the lab tech and he made no effort to move his precious mate. If they were already showing symptoms, having each other close would be calming and he needed calm if his guess was correct.

The tech took his sample and processed it. "Wow." He exclaimed at the results.

"Let me guess. It's further along in me."

"Yes, quite a bit. How did you know?"

"Unlucky guess. I need you to do something for me with the utmost discretion. Take a security guard with you if necessary. I want the charts for Carey here and for Dr. Martin. If he hasn't been tested yet, bring him here and do it in front of me. Can you do that?" Daryl's normal authoritative aura intensified to menacing as he spoke.

"Y..yessir. Right away," the tech stammered and scrambled to get on his way. He returned ten minutes later with an exhausted looking Tom. His hair stuck up at odd angles from running his hands through it so often as he oversaw the testing of every employee in the building and members of the public brought back in and sequestered for the mistake of buying coffee or a sandwich. They were mostly done with testing but compiling their notes would take a bit longer.

When Tom saw his boss's lover asleep in his lap it went to his gut. The scents in the room were stifling. "Your test." Daryl was saying, and the tech approached him warily with his kit.

"Sure," Tom murmured and sat on the couch, his head rolled back, and his eyes closed as he tried to calm himself enough to breathe normally. "I hate to say it boss but your office stinks right now. It may need better ventilation."

"Hmmm," was all the response he got as everyone seemed to be waiting for the results of his test. What was with all this drama?

"Is it advanced?"

"Yessir. Not quite as much as yours. Your...friend's there is as close to the same as yours as we can measure. You were exposed at the same time. Looking at Dr. Martin's numbers in relation to yours and the rest who got exposed today, I'd say he was exposed between 12 and 24 hours later." The tech placed all the documents on Daryl's desk. It was as he suspected. "Looks like he fell asleep."

Daryl looked back and forth between his sleeping lover and his sleeping coworker. He'd though Dr. Martin was an okay friend. But it seemed that wasn't enough for the doctor.

"Take notes for me," he directed the tech. "Around four days scent becomes intense. Newly forming male omegas sleep easily. Perhaps they use more energy in converting. Emotions are intensifying but can be soothed by proximity to mate. That started earlier and is escalating. Can the testing we just did tell us who is becoming what? We need to closely screen subjects every day to avoid potential conflicts. Prepare isolation procedures."

"Isolation procedures?" The tech interrupted.

"Alpha rats became aggressive in proximity to omegas when they couldn't mate. We are in the midst of a massive uncontrolled experiment and judging by the progress happening in me, we have less than four days to build some controls."

"Sir?"

Daryl's voice held that menacing tone again. "I'm okay. I've got my omega. But if he weren't here, I might have ripped Dr. Martin's head off for what he did."

"He...?" The tech's jaw dropped.

"Yes. He did this. But we fucking need his expertise to deal with the fallout so you're going to keep quiet about this for now. I'm going to let him think he's gotten away with it while it serves our purpose. Can you keep quiet? Don't drink. Don't confide. You weren't here. You know nothing."

"Yessir."

"Good. The lockdown was lifted. How long before your team is done?"

The tech gestured toward Tom. "Not long or I couldn't have pulled him away so quickly."

"That's good. Check in with me when you get in tomorrow. And send in security when you go out. They can take our friend here back to his own office. I'm sure he's got a sleeping bag there too and he's not fit to drive home." It was all done as Daryl directed. He wanted to go home too, but he'd have to come back so early it wasn't worth it. This happened often enough that he'd bought a convertible couch to sleep on for his office. It was a bit snug for two but if he held his lover close, they'd fit. He unzipped the thick green sleeping bag and pulled it over them like a blanket.

They were showing signs of the change already. He wondered what an ultrasound would turn up in Carey's anatomy. Before long, his thoughts turned to dreams of holding a little baby with Carey's eyes.

Tom stumbled back to his office only half awake with the help of a security guard. He collapsed on his own couch and fell back asleep in seconds. It was such a relief to be away from that oppressive smell.