Chapter 39: Being Honest

There was nothing more the queen could do as she watched her daughters tend to the king's cocoon. They had struggled with its creation; it was rather difficult with a ten tonne xenomorph convulsing violently. The Queen had done her best by hold the king still. It had still been quite the task despite having an extra set of arms.

Jolene watched as, even now while fully covered with resin, Amun twitched back and forth which created large cracks on the outer surface of the protective shell. The drones that were tending to him would patch the surface quickly, trying to keep as much of the ooze that had formed inside the shell within its walls.

Jolene had stayed beside the king's cocoon, not wanting to leave his side in case anything went wrong and they needed her. As she rested beside him, her time was filled with the memories of the human Jolene and how she would check on Amun each day while he was within the barn on her family farm. She felt how excited the woman had been to head out and see him, getting to tell him all about her day. It had become a nice routine that was much needed in her life.

Other memories of her day-to-day life began to manifest. Ones of Jolene's sister that was always rude to her, of her dead-end job that was all she could find because of her stutter. One that she could work and be alone so she would not have to deal with men who would constantly hound her because of her looks. She did not enjoy the cat calling. She did not mind cleaning up garbage if it meant she was left alone. However, it was not enough to feel fulfilled in her life.

Memories started to flow into her mind of her child hood, of growing up on her farm, of living in the city with her parents. Of going to school where she became a physicist, which was a tough few year when you had to communicate with your lab partners. Hard for someone who could not form words under stress. She got through it though, and was so proud that she had. However, when she started applying for jobs and everyone was put off with her 'communication skills', life started to seem dim. It was especially hard when there were emergency situation and her words froze all together. No one enjoyed hearing that.

Then, she remembered the first time she laid eyes on Amun, covered in garbage, hiding in the back of her work truck. She had felt scared at first, but then excited that she was not going to die. It also brought sorrow when she had noticed he had been hurt in his escape and had nowhere to go. A human turned into a horror movie monster with no help in the world. He had been beyond lucky that she was an alien super fan. The Queen remembered how excited she was that something was happening in her dull life. That she was now face to face with a friendly xenomorph, something that only happened in the fan fictions she would read online.

Part of her felt bad for the human Jolene, that she had gone through so much pain. Then to suddenly come across such a gentle monster who was the perfect fix for her broken life, only to lose her own not soon after. She remembered the last moments, in the cold forest air as Amun ran with her in his hands, to escape the brutal guns of the company. She remembered a warm feeling taking over her body as the king scrambled to find help. She remembered the pure feeling of happiness as she looked up and the king's face as her life slipped away into darkness. Glad that she had meet such a gentle giant.

She had been nothing but happy once she came across this man who had changed into something beyond human. Something that should have scared her to death. She let out a mental laugh when she realized how ironic it was that such a kind and gentle heart now had the body of a monster. One who always thinks of others before himself. Who considers other people's happiness before his own.

It brought a smile to her xenomorph lips. She felt only happiness when she went through these memories.

But now...now it was her turn to save him. It was her turn to fight for the one that she loved. She knew that she was not his lost love but she could not deny these feelings that she had for the king. She had to be honest with herself. They were too real inside her mind, to real to deny. She had tried, heaven knows that she had tried, to snuff out the feelings that she had for this alien that she had never truly known. It's hard to erase something that is in your DNA.

Time and time again these feelings would blossom from where she had hidden them and would take over. They were so strong! She could also not deny that it was these feelings that helped her through the darkest time within the Weyland labs. When her daughters were stripped from her side, when she knew they were being sold to the highest bidder. When she knew they were dying and the cold hands of people who only saw them as profit. Being cut and sliced into pieces to be studied and sold.

It was those dark times that Jolene could feel the monster within her taking over. The monster that wanted nothing more than to kill every human she could for the wrong that had been done to her. The xenomorph side of her. It was those times that the memories of Amun helped suppressed that monster. To put the rage she felt back within her mental cage. Part of her know that if she had not had these memories, that the monster within would have taken over and that would have been the end of her humanity.

The queen let out a large sign as she stayed curled up beside the cocoon.

A few hours later, the cocoon finished and completely hardened, a weight felt as if it had been lifted from her. The hard part was finished and now the worst part began. She would have to wait. Thankfully her focus was taken from the king by an approaching drone that she recognised as Amun's first born, Bobby. She created a low thrum in her throat to welcome her. Bobby approached and came within a few feet of the resting queen and let out her own thrum.

"How is he?" She asked as she looked at the huge cocoon. Jolene found her gaze and followed it back to the cocoon. She looked over the large mound of hard resin that now held her father.

"Much better. I can tell...that his primary... h-heart is working again. It's…weak, but…working. He will...be…be alright." Jolene watched as the drone leapt onto the cocoon and started inspecting its surface. Jolene could tell that she was doing so to be close to her father rather than checking the work of the other drones. She found it heart warming that she was so close to her father. It was one thing that Jolene did not have with her daughters because so many of them were taken away for her so fast.

"How long?" The drone asked while crawling over the cocoon. Jolene shook her large crowned head.

"I… don't know...Bobby. That's u-up… to him."

Just then, the cocoon began to shake. Bobby almost lost her footing but managed to hold on. Something was wrong. Jolene shot to her feet and approached the mound, looking for any new cracks.

"Daughters!" Jolene quickly called out and within no time her daughters from within the room, flocked to her side once more.

Bobby stayed upon the rocking mound and started to call forth her own resin in preparation of any crack that might come forth. She watched and waited, but nothing happened. No cracks formed as the mound of resin shifted from side to side. She looked to Jolene, looking for an answer to what was happening. However, Bobby was meet with a feeling of confusion from the queen. All the other drones also looked to their mother, not really knowing what to do.

Bobby looked to the rocking cocoon. That's when the idea came to her. She looked to Jolene and sent her a mental smile.

"Dream with him." She told the queen.

Jolene looked to the small drone with confusion. After a moment to think, she knew what she was hinting at. She simply nodded and laid down beside the king upon the cold lab floor.

She relaxed her mind and reached out to find Amun's. It was almost like finding an invisible cable that was connected between the two. She simply had to find it and focus on it by following it back to where it was tethered. Before she knew it, she could feel herself being taken by the comatose state that the xenomorphs called sleep. A wave of warmth rushed over Jolene's body as she entered Amun's mind as well as his dream. She felt her human body begin to take shape. Her large head was gone, her mind felt her smaller limbs and torso take shape. When she felt her self become complete, she opened her eyes, happy with anticipation to see Amun. What she saw next stripped her of any happiness she had felt.

Bodies. As far as she could see. Dead bodies, limbs and all manner of gore now covered the once golden fields that had taken up Amun's dreams. The golden color of the wheat had been replaced with that of red blood. It covered every stalk of grass, every head of wheat, every inch of the dirt. Jolene felt her heart start to race and her breath quicken as the horror began to seep into her very soul. She looked from body to body, torn to pieces and scattered in every direction. There were bits and pieces everywhere between the patched of tall grains.

Jolene looked to her feet and froze in fear as she saw a pair of eye balls looking back up at her, nothing else attached. Their black pulps fixed on her, almost forcing her to stare back. Her stomach tensed, she wanted to throw up. Her gaze was torn from the eyes by a bloody scream off to her left. Her head snapped over to find the source. It was a man, in some sort of military uniform! He was running towards her in a frantic panic, arms flaying to move the wheat out of his path.

Jolene began to take a step backwards, getting ready to run, but stopped when she noticed a black shadow leap forth from the grass beside the man. It impacted him hard, knocking him to the ground with a loud thump. Jolene could not see what was happening directly, her view obscured by the tall plants. She could still hear it though. The bloody scream of a man who knew he was about to die, it was cut short and replaced by the sound of bones breaking and a disturbing squishing sound.

Jolene began to shake as the crunching continued. Jolene's mind went wild with what could be happening and it made her even more sick.

"O...god." She whispered as the shadow continued to eat the man, piece by piece. Her hand shot up to cover her mouth in terror. Not wanting to attract the attention of this monster.

She had to get out of here, she had to find Amun. She slowly took a short step backwards, trying to put more ground between her and whatever creature was in front of her. However, as her foot came down on something soft, it made a loud squishing sound. She froze, looking towards the shadow position. She feared the worst.

The crunching sound stopped and she knew that she was in trouble. She froze as she watched a black mass rise up from the wheat. With its elongated head and long tail, it turned towards Jolene and starred at her with its eye-less gaze.

Something was odd about this shadow, something that seemed to be familiar. That's when she realized who it was that now stood before her. Jolene did not run, knowing that it would not end well.

"A….a…amun?" She said quietly. Something was off about him, like something else was controlling his body. She could feel his anger and his rage radiating off of him like heat from a fire. She watched the xenomorph started towards her, moving through the tall grass, teeth exposed. Jolene brought up her hands in front of her, wanting to show that she was no threat.

"A…a-amun..." She called out louder, hoping that he was still in fact the man that she knew. The words seemed to have some effect as the xenomorph froze in place upon hearing them.

"A-mun?" His lips slowly covered his sharp teeth, his claws slowly un-flexed, his posture changed.

"Amun...its...me...Jolene." She said as she placed her hands upon her chest, giving him a large smile. One that she knew he would recognize.

She stood very still and watched as the drone slowly stood taller, getting out of the more aggressive stance. He looked down at his own claws, to the blood that now covered them, then back to the woman who now stood before him.

"Jo...Jolene..." The words ran through her mind as clear as day and almost without a direct source. She did not question though, she recognized Amun's voice.

"Yes...it's me." She responded. She stayed very still, wanting Amun to see her as a friend and not a threat. "I'm...here you big...big bug." The phrase caught the alien's attention, causing him to snap his large head towards her. It made the woman to jump a tiny bit, still not knowing if he would attack her or not.

After a tense moment, and her not being killed, Amun slowly made his way towards her. Jolene noticed that his tail was being dragged on the ground behind him, a very good sign that he was feeling calm. Once he was in front of her, he looked her over very closely, perhaps to make sure it was her? She could not tell what he was thinking. Regardless, she stayed very still, letting him do as he pleased. A second or two later, he pulled his head back and looked right into Jolene's eyes.

"Jolene?"

"Y-yes?" She asked, her hands still trembling a bit. Amun then turned and surveyed the area and looked upon the dead that now littered the ground. Jolene watched as his shoulders slumped. She knew that he was starting to realize what he had done. Eventually his gaze came back to meet hers.

"Did...did I do this?" He asked after surveying the carnage behind him. His voice was almost childlike with innocence, as if the river of blood was nothing out of the ordinary. Jolene did not know how to respond.

"I... I don't...know Amun." She did not want to tell him the truth, but didn't want to scare him. She watched as his head fell to the ground, she then felt the sadness within his mind.

"I... I think I did. I... they needed to die. They were...they were hurting my family. I needed to kill them. I... I couldn't stop. The blood… the hunger… they just kept coming." His words began to fill with sadness and regret. " I just...lost control!"

"Shhhhh it's... ok, I'm here. It's ok." She moved forward to hold Amun, but he jumped back and away from her embrace.

"No! Stay back! I don't want to hurt you!" He said as he scrambled back a few feet from the human woman. He then sprinted off to the right, disappearing into the field.

"Wait!" She tried to call out, but it was too late. She watched the movement of grass and was surprised when she followed its path to see it heading towards her family's farm house that was now a hundred feet in the distance. She had not even noticed it. She paused for a moment before making her own way towards it.

She kept her eyes up, not wanting to know what she was walking past on the blood-soaked ground. However, her imagination ran wild as the crunching and squishing sounds followed each step. It sent shivers down her spin. She had to keep going, she had to get to Amun. One step after another, she made her way towards the home. As she looked towards the house, she noticed a dark shadow run through the open front door. She was glad that he had decided to go inside rather than staying out in this nightmare.

It took her a minute or two but she managed to make her way to the front porch and went up its steps. Leaving bloody foot prints upon the pure white paint behind her. She paused in front of the door, looking within the house for any sort of movement. It was quiet, there was not even the usual warm wind that was common in Amun's dreams.

She made her way to the door frame and pushed open the door the rest of the way open. She poked her head in, looking side to side for Amun. All she could see were shadows, black and deep. It was rather surreal. The harsh contrast from the darkness to everything else. It almost seemed to be holes in space that lead into nothingness.

Jolene continued to scan what was in front of her. No lights were on inside, the only source being the warm sun from outside that seemed to be more gray that white. She took a few steps into her old home that now seemed so different from the one she once knew.

Slowly, step by step, she looked for her friend. Looking at every dark spot, thinking that he might be there. As she made her way down the main hall past the stairs, a dark shadow suddenly darted across the door way at the end of the hall.

"A...Amun?" She walked quickly down the hall and into the kitchen where the shadow had been. She looked to the left, nothing. She checked the right side and still found nothing. Had she been seeing things? This was a dream after all, Amun could create anything he wanted here. She decided to follow the shadow and went to the left, towards the open-door frame to the living room.

Peaking her head around the wooden wall, Jolene watched as nothing in the living room moved. There was an eerie stillness to the house that she did not enjoy. As if she was stuck in a painting. There was no sound, no movement, just stillness. Shadow to shadow here eyes darted, looking for any sign of her friend. Nothing.

Suddenly, something moved to her left, something behind the book self. She stared at the shadow and noticed the familiar shape of a xenomorph head, something she swears had not been there before.

"Amun?" She called out. No response. She took a step forward and was taken back when the dark shape turned and bolted out of the opposite side of the room. Once Jolene righted herself, she took off after him. Not wanting to lose him in the large house again.

She ran through the living room, and turned to the door way that led back to the front door. She rounded the corner and could not see anything. The front door looked like it had not been moved, so he was probably still inside. She turned quickly to look up the stairs just in time to see a tail wrap around the wall at the top. She ran up the fifteen or so steps and came to the T section and followed the tail to the left, towards the master bed room. She went through the open door and came to a halt, not wanting Amun to be able to get past her.

She scanned the area once more, seeing the thick shadows that could be hiding her friend. This game of cat and mouse was hard when you could not see in the dark.

"Amun p-please. You...won't hurt me." She said with kind words, wanting to ease his stress. "P-please, talk to...me." She was meet with silence.

"You are just...having a nightmare. You were...struggling in...the cocoon we made." Jolene kept scanning the shadows as she talked, making sure she had not over looked anything. That's when she heard the soft breathing inside the room. It was as soft as her own heart beat, but it was there. However, she could not pin point it. It was as if it was coming from everywhere all at once.

"I came in...to make...s-sure you were alright." She reached behind her to feel for the door frame, just to make sure Amun could not run past her. She was glad to find it right beside her. Then, she heard the whisper inside her mind.

"Am...am I a monster? Am... I a horrible father?" She could not tell where the words were coming from, but somehow she could still tell that they were from within the room in front of her. The words of Amun almost stabbed Jolene worst than the knives of the scientists that had poked and prodded her for her entire life as a xeno.

She knew better, she knew that Amun was a good person and that he was only lost in this moment. She had to think of a way to remind him of this. How he lived his life a such a warm-hearted person, not a monster.

"When you...first meet m-me, why...didn't you kill me?" She asked.

"I...why would I? You were an innocent person. I had no right to take your life." Jolene thought for another moment.

"Why...didn't you kill the...police officer that pulled us...over?" She asked while looking to the shadows in the room.

"Him? I did not want to kill him, he was just a man, probably with a family to go home to. I could not take that away. I could not destroy that." Amun responded. Jolene noticed a slight movement from the opposite corner of the room. A black shadow between the windows. Good, she was getting through to him.

"And my...sister? You could have...killed her easy enough."

"No! I would never have done that. I know now that you don't really see eye to eye, but she is still your family."

"But why? Be h-honest...Amun, why don't...you use your power to kill?" She watched as the shadow began to shift and change shape. He was losing focus.

"I don't want to! I...I want people to live their lives and be happy. I want them to laugh with their children. I want them to love the ones they are with. I want them to make their friends happy. I want...I want them to be happy!" The shape of a xenomorph drone slowly took form in the corner of the room from across the bed.

Jolene watched as her friend dropped to his knees, clutching his head. She ran over to him and pulled him in tight to her embrace. She could hear him crying within her mind, but no tears came from the alien. She stroked his long head, feeling the warmth of his glass like exoskeleton.

"And that...makes you...h-human Amun. Not a... monster. You are...more human that anyone...I know. You love your family...and your daughters...they love you so much. How...could you think d-different? They followed...you around the world to...save me. Someone...t-they don't even know." Jolene could feel the xenomorph press hard into her softer skin, probably wanting nothing more than his feeling to end.

"Amun I know...this life is hard. We...know better that...most. But we also know...what it's like to keep our humanity...while losing everything else. We may... look like monsters, but we...are more human than most. And to be honest...I would not...have you...any other way."

There was a short pause of silence after her comment before the alien pulled away from the woman's chest so he could look her in the eye. Jolene could feel the sadness that he was feeling, but also the even present feeling of hope and love. She knew that she had gotten through to him.

"We may look like...monsters. But we choose...the person we want… to be." She said as she pulled his face to hers and kissed him on the lips. Something that felt so familiar and comfortable.

She could hear the loud thrum that was coming from his throat as she held their kiss. She was glad that he was happy and showing it. Jolene felt the alien wrap his tail around her slender body and gently squeeze her like a hug. She returned the gesture as much as she could by wrapping her arms around his shoulders.

They stayed like this for what seemed forever until they both pulled away. Jolene smiled as she opened her eyes to see a male human kneeling before her. His shaggy hair brushed to one side, the stubble on his face outlining his jaw. However, it was his green eyes that had all her attention now. They were so deep in color against the darkness of the room that it reminded her of the forest behind the family house. They were beautiful.

"Thank you...Jolene. I..." He let out a loud sigh. "This is all a bit confusing still, but I have to be honest and tell you. I know you are not the one I lost, but there is a large part of me that does not care. This same part is telling me that who you are is an amazing person, regardless of where you came from. The other part remembers Emilia, and all that we have done together. I...still don't know what to do. My family has been torn apart and I feel that I have been as well."

An idea came to Jolene as she looked to the large bed behind her, then back to Amun with a large smile.

" I know...what you can do."

Amun looked to the bed she had just turned to, realizing what she was hinting at. He smiled as she took his hand and pulled him towards its soft surface.