Thank you for all the comments people! xD

Shadowglove: Hmm... Lex and Stealth probably won't become exactly friends, but i'm sure that even a small hint of that possibility would make Scar insanily jealous. starts to plan such a scene right away :D

Pampers Baby Dry: You're right, Stealth just must get an ooman female at some point. That would be so fun to write. ;p

katz579: I'm glad you think like that of Stealth. The general opinion seems to be that he's an asshole, but i actually didn't mean to make him appear that bad. xP But good point, Scar really is the damsel in distress this time. xD

blood shifter: I would run and scream too... actually i already did that when i was six years old and getting a vaccination. When i saw the needle i started running around the building screaming like crazy, all the nurses chasing me... managed to continue that for a while, but then my mom caught me over a table. And that was just an ordinary needle. :p

Taladarkiejj: I don't think Scar's going to have much trouble explaining the slave thing to Lex. If she gets angry he could probably shut her up by repeating what he did in the cave. ;D

The more Lex got to know the predators, the less she understood them. Stealth at least was a complete mystery to her. The woman watched impatiently, but quietly as the warrior fiddled with his wristdevice. He had refused to go anywhere before he would get it fixed.

"I want to… see the looks… on those cowards'… faces…. when they see… their doom… appearing in front of them."

Lex had made a face at the comment, but couldn't entirely deny the temptation of the thought. Still, she didn't want anyone to die, even if she was angry. Unfortunately Stealth didn't share her thoughts. He seemed determined to spread lots of death.

The woman sighed trying to figure out how to reduce the predator's hunting enthusiasm. After all, she didn't know much about their customs or anything, so it wouldn't be easy. Maybe she should start by finding out a few things.

"Umm…" Lex cleared her throat and saw Stealth taking a quick glance at her. After helping the warrior she had taken some distance to him, but strangely enough it felt shorter every time he looked at her.

"This might sound like a stupid question, but…"

Lex paused for a second. "Why do you hunt?"

Stealth stared at her with a face that was without a doubt telling: yes, that was a stupid question.

"I'm serious. Why? What do you gain from it?"

The predator pondered the reason for the woman's sudden curiosity and came to the conclusion that she was simply bored. Either that, or she was trying to dig up information so she could tell it to the other humans. Stealth had half-seriously suspected that the woman could be working with them, until she had come back by herself. From that he had known she was too foolish to be planning anything like that.

"Honour."

Lex had anticipated that kind of an answer. Now she could lead the conversation to right direction.

"So, many kills bring much honour? No matter who you kill?"

Stealth noticed the judgemental tone in the woman's voice, but didn't care about it. He got back to repairing the device, hardly concentrating on answering.

"Strong opponents… bring more honour."

"But you kill weaker ones too?"

"If they get in the way."

Lex had a vivid flashback of Antarctica and Charles Weyland, standing in front of approaching Scar, willing to die to buy her and Sebastian the time to escape. She remembered how the predator had effortlessly lifted the deathly ill man by his throat and then just dropped him like he had been garbage. Only after Weyland had attacked for the second time, Scar had taken the time to end his life.

The memory was so strong that for a moment Lex couldn't remember anymore why she wanted to risk her own life for the hunter. For a hunter Scar was and would be, even if they had… whatever feelings they had for each other.

Snapping out of her thoughts, the woman realized that the silence had continued for sometime already. It however looked like Stealth couldn't have cared less if she was talking or not. Lex would have wanted to ask more, but she didn't know how long she could question the warrior without making him either curious about her motives or plain irritated.

At least she had figured out something. Vincent and Antonio were in the biggest danger since they had already challenged Stealth, but if the others could be made to seem weak enough, maybe they would be left in peace. If only they wouldn't do anything to make Scar mad. Lex feared that after a certain limit, even she couldn't calm the quick-tempered warrior.

Darkness. The first thing that the predator realized. Impenetrable darkness and silence. Forming thoughts was difficult. So was moving Scar tried to open his eyes, but failed. Where was he?

Lex.

What had happened to her? Everything was still blurry in Scar's mind.

"W… ged… ke…. les."

Discontinuous voices seemed to be coming from somewhere far away.

"… mens… re… lent… can… gin… soon."

More talk and this time he could almost make out the words. If only he could have opened his eyes and see who were talking.

"…ntinue, doctor."

He recognized that voice.

Without even knowing how he managed to do it, Scar reached his hand out with lightning speed, aiming to where the voice had come from and grabbed the human he hated by the lapels. Despite that he felt weak he drew the man easily closer to his face.

And finally opened his eyes.

Antonio looked very surprised.

The unforeseen awakening caused quite a stir as other humans were rushing to help their comrade. None of them would have been strong enough to break the hunter's grip, but they didn't have to. Surprising Scar as well as the humans, Antonio stopped the helpers with one gesture. Then he returned the warrior's glare with a wide smile.

"Already awake, are we now? Impressive, considering that we were counting on you to be out cold still for at least a couple of hours."

Scar growled threateningly at the man, deciding that sooner or later he was going to add that human's skull to his collection. He tried to get up, but could merely rise an inch before collapsing back. His vision blurred for a moment, so he couldn't see Antonio signalling to one of the humans. A brief sting in the arm and Scar felt his grip loosening as his mind slid back into the dark.

"We are truly sorry, we had no idea…"

"You couldn't have known he'd wake up this fast. Prepare for the next phase and make sure it's tied up this time. It has to be conscious when we begin."

The long wait was over at last. Stealth's wrist computer was working again. The whole time Lex had been sitting with her flashlight in hand, meditating and worrying about the future. If she had known where to go, she would have gone ahead, but she didn't have a clue. She was going to have to trust in Stealth in that matter.

The predator stood up, put his mask on and started to leave.

"Can you track them?"

Lex hurried after the warrior, forgetting the safe distance. When he was at full strength and had functioning equipment, it didn't really matter how far she was.

Stealth looked over his shoulder at the woman, like he had just remembered her existence. More stupid questions. Not bothering to answer, the hunter continued walking. Lex could only sigh in frustration as she turned the light on and followed him. What a great team they would make.

Stealth was moving at a rapid pace, not waiting at all for the woman who could barely keep up. Lex was tired and panting, refusing to give up however. She knew that she was in better shape than average people, but the predators' endurance was something else. Assuring herself for the tenth time that they would soon reach their destination, Lex tried to concentrate on thinking other things. She ended up spending the rest of the way imagining various methods that fate could have punished Stealth with for making her go through this torture.

The warrior didn't trip on any roots or rabid squirrels, but Lex was happy to see the familiar cottages once again. As Stealth stopped to study the surrounding area, the weary woman dropped on all fours.

"I might… as well… participate… in the next marathon… since I already… have practiced", Lex muttered to herself from between her heavy breaths. She swept the hair that sweat had glued to her face, aside and changed to a sitting position, reaching for her backpack. In a moment she had found her water bottle and was struggling to restrain herself from drinking it empty right away.

That proved to be easier than she had thought. The first gulp went down the wrong way. Stealth had inconspicuously come and crouched beside her, staring her from behind the blank mask.

"W-what?" Lex asked after coughing for a while. "Did you really have to scare me like that?"

The woman was sure that the predator had made a hobby out of teasing her.

Stealth pointed at a building that was slightly separate from the other buildings.

"There."

"There? But that's just a warehouse. How could there be an entire lab?"

"Not… in there. Beneath."

Lex was very doubtful.

"How do you know that, do you have some kind of an x-ray vision?"

"Yes."

The hunter's simple statement left the woman lost for words, as something unpleasant came to her mind. The predator better had not taken advantage of that vision around her. Otherwise she would soon go and borrow a couple of those tranquilizer guns and arranged him to be Antonio's next guinea pig.

Apparently her thoughts were easy to read. Stealth reached his hand to remove a lost lock of hair from Lex's face, letting his fingers linger intentionally long on the shivering woman's skin.

"And it really… helps getting… interesting perspectives… on some things."

Lex jumped up to her still trembling feet, turning red from anger.

"What's wrong with you?! You seriously have a sick sense of humour. Just leave me alone you jerk!"

A terrible silence followed the woman's outburst, during of which Stealth stood up too, towering over her. At that point Lex thought that she might have gone too far. Maybe the predator's relatively harmless teasing would have been better than that ominous silence.

"I'm… not joking", Stealth stated, difficult to interpret what he meant by that.

"Whatever. Let's just try to find a way down then."

Lex picked up her backpack and put the bottle back in it before making her protesting legs move again. She would have to be careful of her own temperament too. The hunter hadn't done anything serious to her since their first encounter so the woman had a good reason to believe that he wouldn't even try anything anymore if she didn't provoke him somehow. She probably should just consider everything he would say to be a dirty joke. At least until they would find Scar, she would have to stay on his good side.

"Really", Lex pondered out loud as she was walking towards the warehouse. "Is there some kind of an explanation to your behaviour or did you just have a crummy childhood?"

Stealth wasn't sure what the woman had meant by the latter, but he answered truthfully, at the same time grinning at the thought of how she would react.

"I'm curious… about your kind. I want to… copulate… with a human female."

A human probably wouldn't have noticed any change in Lex's appearance. She seemed completely calm outwardly. However, she couldn't fool Stealth. Even though he couldn't see her face when he was walking behind her, he could tell that the woman's heart was suddenly pounding a lot faster.

It took a while before Lex was able to suppress her anger and embarrassment about the fact that some primitive part of her had actually gotten a little excited of what the predator had said. She quickly obliterated that part.

"Then you're definitely on the wrong track with the whole thing. Most men declare that sort of intentions by bringing the woman flowers or other gifts."

"Like… that combispear… of yours."

The unexpected observation surprised the woman.

"It… it's not like that."

They arrived in front of the large door of the warehouse. Lex was hoping that the time for talking was over. But no, the warrior had still one important question.

"Why do you… want to save him… so badly?"

The woman pretended that she hadn't heard the question. She bent over to examine the lock on the door.

"If they went in here, somebody must've stayed outside to lock this. Can you see, if…"

The rest of the sentence was silenced by a loud crash when Stealth hit the door with frightening force, sending pieces of wood flying around them. Lex watched, her mouth open, as the hinges gave in and the entire door smashed to the floor. Forgetting what she had been about to say, she stared at the predator next to her, both impressed and alarmed by the sudden display of strength.

Stealth turned back to Lex, believing that he had gotten her attention now. He grabbed the woman by her chin to make sure that her attention would stay focused on him. He still hadn't gotten an answer.

"Why?"

Lex couldn't look straight at the relentless hunter for long so she averted her eyes. Even through his mask she could feel his piercing gaze burning on her face. What could she say? She didn't know what would happen if she told the truth.

An unexpected stroke of good fortune in the form of a young man saved Lex from answering.

"Who's there?!" A man in a camouflage suit emerged from somewhere around the corner and froze when he saw Stealth. He might have brought good luck to Lex, but his own had just run out. The woman saw him take a small handgun from its holster.

"Wait, don't…!" Lex yelled in terror, clinging onto the predator's arm, trying to stop the inevitable. Stealth shoved the woman aside like she was nothing.

"Run! Get out of here!" Lex pleaded.

The man hesitated, aiming his gun at the monster he saw.

Then he couldn't see it anymore.

After two seconds, he couldn't see anything anymore.