Title: "The Road Less Traveled"

Summary: Alexa Woods' courage was enough for a Predator to take notice and mark her as a warrior. What if such a mark, noticed by another of its kind, opened up a choice for her to make? An alternate universe take on the ending of the movie.

Rating: PG-13 (violence)

Spoilers: Aliens vs. Predator movie

Author's Notes: I finally caught the movie and thought it was okay. A lot of things were taken from the Dark Horse Comics series of the same name that came out back in '89. When I reread that comic, I had the idea for this fic, which diverges from the ending. Hopefully, this one is slightly better. I've only seen the movie once, so I hope I to kept Lex in as much character as possible!

Dedication: To my cousin, who recently made his own decision to take the road less traveled and leave everything behind to go to college.

Please read & review!

Alexa Woods scrambled as far from the lake as possible. She'd just seen the Queen (it was larger than the other creatures, so that's what she assumed it was) get dragged into the water. However, she also saw it recently emerge from under several tons of collapsed ice and snow, so she wasn't taking any chances. When she reached the lip she nervously stared down, wondering if it would erupt again. Her heart thundered in her ears and breath came in short gasps. It didn't help that the frigid Antarctic air cut into her lungs like a sharp knife.

After a minute or two, nothing came out and she slowly sagged down to the ground, physically and emotionally spent. She started shaking not only from the adrenaline rush that had been leaking into her system, but also from the extreme cold around her. Lex chuckled nervously when she realized that such reactions were normal in extreme situations. However, scaling sheer ice cliffs knowing that you could fall was one thing...battling creatures that gestated inside human hosts alongside alien Hunters that used them as rites of passage was something totally different! Her eyes widened and her hand went to her cheek that still stung from being marked with acidic blood.

The hunter!

She scrambled back up and looked around in the dim light. Not much could be seen in the moonlight, but her eyes caught something faint and she almost missed it if she hadn't been looking in the right place.

Green blood, glowing pearlescent in the night, was flecked here and there. She followed until it led to a clearing. The hunter lay there in the snow, its body outlined – almost halo-like – by phosphorescent blood. It coughed several times and took notice of her as its eyes, half-hooded, looked up as she approached.

Alex sat on her knees and had to grimace at the massive wound in its gut. Even if it were human, she doubted she could have done anything. The fact that it still clung to life was testament to its sheer alien-ness...or simple bullheadedness. Its eyes flickered to the mark it burned into her cheek and slowly dipped its head again, one warrior acknowledging another. Even near death, it still showed honor, she thought. Unsure if she was doing the right thing, Lex nodded as well. It coughed weakly as it looked past Lex's shoulder, shuddered, and then lay still.

Lex could only stare at the dead creature, not knowing quite what to feel. These beings had used humanity for untold generations as breeding stock for their rites of passage. Whole civilizations were destroyed if the young warriors were found wanting. Survival of the fittest: it was the one tenant that these creatures followed almost religiously.

Lex snorted a laugh, her breath misty in the frosty air. Why did this hunter help her then? It could not have been because she gave back its weapon, since anyone could have done that out of pure fear. Why else did it take valuable time to arm her with shield and spear, when it simply could have walked away? Why even blood her? Although it still stung from the acid, she gently traced the two marks on her cheeks. Maybe...maybe it saw a possible kindred spirit in her?

She frowned as he she unconsciously wrapped her arms around her for warmth, and started to shiver as the cold really began to seep in. Lex thought she could spy a set of lights from one of the tractors used to bring them here. She turned briefly, about to get up, when something shimmered behind her.

Before she could even gasp, there, not several feet away, stood the largest hunter she'd seen yet. Immediately behind him, a smaller quartet of his kind also stood by. Her amazement did not end there when something immense uncloaked behind them all. It had sleek lines and curves with lights flashing here and there. A massive ramp had been extended to the ground and Lex numbly figured out that it had to be some kind of ship.

She looked back at the hunter before her as she slowly stood up. Regally dressed in a dark robe, she noted that it had trophies hanging all across its chest. In one hand it held its face mask and in the other it had a rather long and viciously elaborate spear. His face was riddled with fierce looking spikes and the normally black 'dreadlocks' were extremely gray and very long. Lex couldn't even imagine how old this particular hunter was, especially if his kind had been coming here every hundred years.

It looked down at its fallen kin and turned slightly to summon the other four when it stopped suddenly. Its head snapped back and it frowned, mandibles clicking, as it peered at Lex's cheek. In two steps it was right next to her. The aged hunter flicked a finger out and slowly traced the marks. She held her ground since she got the idea that any sign of weakness would look bad. Although Lex had no way of knowing, especially when it came to how different species gave non-verbal cues, but she got them impression that something similar to incredulity flashed in her 'inspector's' yellow eyes.

That's right, she thought. I've been marked as one of you now, so what are you going to do about it?

She felt almost a perverse pride in being counted as one of them, and wondered if it would be enough to save her. Lex noticed that the same mark on her cheek was the same one on this hunter's helmet, and idly wondered if it were some form of tribal symbol. Would they now go so far as to make a trophy out of someone who, if not one of their own, had been recognized as a warrior?

The hunter straightened, its eyebrows rising almost to the top of its shell-like head. It raised the spear in front of her and with a flick of the wrist, the spear contracted to a third its length. It stood there, spear in hand, waiting. Lex blinked, not quite believing what was being offered. Slowly, tentatively, she gripped the proffered weapon. The hunter released its hold and Lex was amazed at how light it felt in her hand, as if it was made for her. She looked back up and the hunter dipped its head in acknowledgement. Slowly, she tipped hers as well. The warrior then turned to the other four and raised a hand. All walked towards their fallen comrade.

Suddenly, the body shuddered and everyone stopped in their tracks. With an eruption of still glowing blood, something emerged, hissing and spitting. The larval creature coiled and then leaped towards the nearest person. The old warrior coiled slightly as the worm-like larva sailed towards it, jaws open in attack.

Something went shick! and just before the creature reached its intended victim, it was impaled in something gleaming and super fast a mere foot away from its face. It wiggled in agony for a few moments more before it sagged dead on the pike. The aged hunter looked from the dead creature and followed the long metal shaft until its eyes met those of a very surprised Lex.

She had no idea what possessed her. She witnessed the thing coming out of the dead hunter...and felt a thrill of anger. Anger that it had defiled someone she considered an ally. But then she also remembered Sebastian's terror-filled plea, just before she had to kill him:

"They mustn't reach the surface!"

Her hand had tightened on the collapsed spear, unconsciously extending it to its full length. Without thinking, she had lunged forward and ran through the vile thing before it could reach the other hunter.

The old warrior looked from the dead alien to her, its eyes unreadable. Breathing hard, Lex slowly moved the spear away and, with a grunt of disgust, hurled the dead carcass into the lake. She gripped the spear and it retracted once again. All eyes were now on her and she nervously began to wonder if she had just broken some kind of warrior code. The hunter then cocked its head and slowly walked around her, looking up and down. When it finished, it signaled again and the four attendants came forth to carry the body away into the ship. It then gazed back down at the human woman. Lex tried hard not to swallow, but she couldn't help a quick image of her head mounted on top of some alien fireplace. The warrior looked deep into her eyes, came to a decision...and then stepped to one side.

Lex's jaw dropped as she saw the way to the ship and she opened and closed her mouth several times at the implication of what was being offered to her.

No! He...it...can't mean that!

As if to end any further confusion, the hunter looked from her, to the ship, and then back again.

Lex's head began to swim as she now had no other alternative than to consider that she'd just been given an invitation. Hundreds of reasons came up as to why she shouldn't go: differences in culture, language, not to mention they were two totally different species, to name a few!

Then why do you climb?

Lex paused when she heard her own voice in her mind speak that question. It was a question that many of her friends (as well as a few ex-lovers) had asked of her, and she found it hard to really give them an answer they could understand. 'The thrill of it', the 'excitement' were only words and never truly gave the feeling she experienced when she pitted herself against nature. Even when she went to climb Mount Rainier, initially it was to be with her father. But while on the trip, she realized it was the first time where she truly lived.

She glanced back at the waiting tractor. If she chose that path, it would be safe as well as comfortable. She'd be with people she knew, though, granted there would be endless questions about what happened and she wondered if she'd truly ever be believed. Then, when all would be said and done, she'd do what she'd always been doing before taking part in this expedition.

Lex then looked to the ramp leading to the inside of the ship. That path would most assuredly be difficult. Hell, it could be fatal! But isn't that always a possibility every time she made a climb? Everything she knew, everything she'd learned in her whole life up to this point would be thrown out the window. A whole new set of rules would have to be learned.

Lex chuckled silently to herself. 'The last great journey left to man', indeed! Shackleton really wasn't kidding about Antarctica...though she doubted the man would have known it was also a possible start to a completely different journey altogether.

Her entire line of thought had taken a few seconds and the hunter next to her cocked its head and raised a single eyebrow.

Well?

Lex took a single step...then another...and then another...until her stride became more confident as she got closer to the ramp. The ship beckoned and Lex had to smile when she heard the warrior march behind her, its trophies rattling as it walked.

Who knows? Maybe I'll get the chance to pick up a few trophies of my own

Whatever happened from now on, she definitely knew one thing:

It would be exciting.

-FIN-