.x.

It was on numb, wobbly legs that I left the deck of the Piper Maru and descended into the hold. At the bottom of the stairs my knees finally gave way and I lurched up against the wall. I rested there for long minutes, eyes closed and fingers unconsciously turning the alien tooth over and over in my hand. Is it so much to ask, I beseeched of whatever higher power reigned over me, that this nightmare be over? That I could forget all of this and go on to live a normal life? No answer came, of course, and so I shoved myself away from the wall and cast a quick, furtive glance back up the stairs. Nothing loomed at the top as I half-feared. I sighed then, a sound of mingled weariness and desperation. I was torn between wanting to lock myself in some small cabin of the ship and the desire to search out the predators and demand to know why they were here. The insurmountable language barrier between us, however, made the second option impossible. And so I turned and began to make my way back into the depths of the ship, glancing behind me at intervals to ensure I wasn't being stalked. The fact that my paranoia was this bad already was not a heartening indicator of what state I would be in as time progressed. The one thing I took solace in was that the hunters had no weapons on them. Though I couldn't be certain, though I couldn't coherently explain why I felt this way, I was almost positive that they weren't here to kill anyone. The implications of that led to the conclusion I'd arrived at previously, but because it focused mainly on me I had no wish to dwell on it.

I'd just rounded the corner and passed the mess hall when a small form darted out in front of me, startling me. It was Cora. She skidded to a halt in front of me and regarded me with wide, frightened eyes. Her hood was askew, revealing a head of curly, tousled red hair, and her scarf trailed over one shoulder and onto the floor.

"Did it hurt you?" she asked me breathlessly.

"No," I said, kneeling painfully before her. I cast a swift look around to endure that the corridor we stood in was in fact empty. "I'm all right, Cora."

She sniffled and ducked her head and I saw then the sheen of recent tears on her cheeks. "I'm sorry I ran away," she mumbled.

"It's okay. I should have ran, too." For all the good it would have done.

"Why didn't you?"

That was an excellent question and the fact that I didn't have a plausible answer made me angry with myself. I rose stiffly to my feet and began to walk at a slow enough pace so that Cora could keep up. Perhaps prompted by my silence, Cora said hesitantly, "Alexa?"

I remained quiet, trying to formulate a response. She spoke again, her words lilted by apprehension. "You did see it, didn't you? The monster? I'm not crazy!"

"I know you aren't," I replied quickly, stopping and turning to face her. Her eyes were brimming with new tears. I felt a new, ludicrous type of panic spill over me. I had faced ferocious, vile creatures from a different planet and survived, but when confronted with a child on the verge of tears I felt absolutely helpless. "Cora, I saw it too. You're not crazy."

She was sniffling again, obviously fighting not to cry. "Why didn't it hurt you?"

"I don't know," I answered honestly. I heard voices approaching from the corridor I had just left and said, not wanting to be seen, "Come with me, back to the infirmary. I'm supposed to meet your mother there."

Cora's gaze snapped back to me, eyes wide. "Are you going to tell my mom?"

"No," I sighed impatiently. I could hear footsteps now along with the voices. "I won't tell her anything. Please just come with me?"

She nodded her head, and as I stood and began to walk she caught hold of my hand. Though startled, I wrapped my fingers around her own. I wasn't entirely comfortable around children. I never had been. Perhaps it was because I was an only child, or maybe the reason stemmed from the fact that I'd never in my life had a maternal instinct. Either way, children made me distinctly uncomfortable.

But not as uncomfortable as the knowledge that there are three hunters on board this ship, watching you, waiting …

I scowled, silenced that insidious line of thought, and kept walking. Cora remained silent as if sensing my inner turmoil, but when finally I came to a halt and looked around me at the unfamiliar hallway in confusion, she spoke up.

"I know the way," she said, letting her hand slide free of mine. "Follow me."

She darted on ahead of me, glancing back, and so I hurried to keep up with her as best I could. My battered body wasn't quite up to the task, and after several minutes of stopping repeatedly and waiting for me to limp to her side she slowed her pace considerably. True to her word, she did know the way, and when we rounded yet another corner to find her mother standing outside the infirmary door I was relieved.

"Cora?" Ana said, and then her eyes flicked to me, "And Ms. Woods?"

"I found her above deck," Cora said.

Ana arched an eyebrow at me. "Wanted fresh air?"

I nodded, leaning gingerly against the wall and watching as Cora went forth to give her mom a hug. Ana knelt, smoothed back stray tendrils of her daughter's hair and straightened the lopsided scarf. "Are either of you hungry?"

"Yes," Cora replied instantly. After a moment, I nodded. I wasn't really, but it was probably time I ingested something solid in light of the fact that I'd received all my nutrition for the last several days in liquid form.

"Good." Ana straightened up, looking at me. "We'll go to the mess hall. It's still early, so there shouldn't be that many people there. I expect you'd like to avoid all their questions for the time being?" I nodded again, because facing hordes of curious inquiries about my survival was something I'd rather not do at all, ever. Ana continued, "I thought so, but I should warn you—Reed wants to talk to you first thing tomorrow morning."

Reed … Weyland's son. Of course he'd want to talk to me. I had expected as much. "That's fine." I said.

"Cora, run ahead and get us a table, will you please?" Ana told her daughter, and Cora waved at us both before taking off down the hall. When she was out of sight Ana stepped closer to me and said in a low voice, "I'm going to give you a head's up, Ms. Woods. Reed is nothing like his father. He's arrogant, pretentious, and in my opinion he is the epitome of the perfect asshole. He's going to want to know everything, even the things you can't remember, and he's not going to be nice about it."

I closed my eyes wearily; I would be busy formulating lies and explanations all night, it seemed. Opening them again, I gave her a brief smile. "Thanks. I appreciate it."

She nodded, with a ghost of her own smile. "You're welcome. Let's go get some food."

.x.

The mess hall I 'd already found on my own merit, as it wasn't that far from the infirmary. As I stepped through the double doors behind Ana, I found that it was empty but for Cora and two men and all three were seated at the same table off to the side. It was a large room—I counted four rows of five tables each, and each metal table looked as though it seated eight people. Towards the back was the serving area, a cafeteria style counter with trays. Ana headed directly for her daughter and the unknown men, and feeling suddenly very nervous I followed.

"Ms. Woods," Ana said as I slid slowly into the chair at the end of the table that was beside Cora, "This is Sam Thorne," she pointed to a man with short dirty blonde hair and friendly blue eyes who smiled at me with a nod. "And this is Ray Gerdol."

My gaze moved to the other man. He was older, with a touch of grey in his longish dark hair and his short cropped beard. His eyes, the same color of his hair, flicked to me as he uttered a brusque greeting before returning to the plate of food before him. I recognized his name a second later—this was the man, according to Cora, that had seen the "monsters".

"You look much better, Ms. Woods," Sam said, poking halfheartedly at his own meal with his fork. It was his voice that clued me into the fact that I had in fact seen him before—he was the man that had been with Ana when I'd first come aboard the Piper Maru. "How do you feel?"

"Terrible," I said honestly.

Sam grinned. "I'd be worried if you didn't."

Ana, who had left briefly, returned with two trays of something that looked like vegetable stew. She set one down in front of me. "Doesn't look like much, but it tastes fine."

"Thanks," I said, taking the fork she handed me. As she sat down on the other side of Cora I began to eat,and found that it was, like she had said, palatable.

"Have you talked to Reed yet, Ms. Woods?" Sam asked around a mouthful of food.

"She hasn't," Ana answered for me, and her voice was firm. "And she won't be answering any questions tonight either."

Sam held up his hands in mock surrender. "Ok, ok. I wasn't going to ask anyways."

"Reed'll make you wish you were back on the island," muttered Ray Gerdol, eyes not leaving his plate. His voice was heavy with a definite accent—German, I guessed.

"He's right," Sam said sympathetically.

Ana interrupted then, making a pointed effort to steer the conversation away from where it had been headed. She and Sam spoke about the salvage operations and from time to time Ray would insert some sort of disparaging remark. I watched him carefully, the way his gaze would upon occasion dart back and forth, as though searching for something. I knew just what he was looking for. Cora began a conversation with Sam about penguins and I could tell by the tone he used with the child that he was fond of her.

Finished with my meal, I pushed my plate away and listened for a moment to the idle chatter surrounding me. I was starting to feel drowsy and every part of me was aching in harmony. I opened my mouth to ask Ana where I would be sleeping when I saw behind Ray something fluidic, something moving

I was on my feet so quickly that my chair clattered to the floor behind me. Everyone fell silent, staring at me, and I fought to tear my eyes from what lurked there. I began to stammer an apology. "I-I'm sorry. I … I'm not feeling well …"

"We'll get you back to the infirmary," Ana said immediately, clearly concerned. I made a pointed effort to look anywhere but at what had frightened me so and for a moment my eyes were met and held by Ray's. I saw in them a speculative and apprehensive gleam. He was wondering what I'd seen to have affected me in such a manner, and a moment later he swiveled around in his chair to observe for himself.

The cloaked hunter had moved on—to where, I didn't know, but all that was there now was the plain, unadorned white wall of the cafeteria.

"I hope you feel better tomorrow," Sam was saying, waving to me as Ana ushered me towards the door while simultaneously telling Cora to stay put and finish her meal. I let Ana pull me down the hallways, telling me she'd give me something for the pain, and that after another good sleep I'd feel better. I wasn't really listening. My eyes moved frantically from side to side, trying to discern shadows from shadows and light from light. Once we were inside the infirmary Ana pushed me toward the bed, and without resistance I climbed into it and sank back against the pillows. My gaze was fixated on the closed door, waiting for it to fly open, for it to emit one of the hunters.

A pinprick of pain jerked my attention around to see Ana emptying the contents of a syringe into my arm. Alarmed, I asked her, "What is that?"

"A sedative," she told me, removing the needle and daubing at the blood left behind with a cotton ball. "To help you sleep."

No! I couldn't sleep, I had to stay awake! I couldn't voice this, of course, because then she'd want to know why. Dismayed, I watched as she pulled the blankets up over me, saying, "I shouldn't have let you wander around today. You need more rest."

"Stay with me?" I asked her desperately, feeling the first beckoning tendrils of whatever it was she'd given me.

She smiled warmly. "Of course, until you fall asleep."

And after, I wanted to say, but I couldn't. My eyelids grew unbearably heavy, and I slowly fell back against the pillows. She was saying something else, taking my hand in her own, but the words were lost to me. Though I struggled to remain awake, remain alert, it was for naught; seconds later my eyes drifted close, and then I was firmly in the grasp of sleep unwanted.

xXx

My slumber wasn't peaceful. Wraiths rose from the depthless chasm of my memories, snaking themselves around me and dragging me relentlessly down, down, into a place I knew I didn't want to go. How long I struggled with nightmares, I don't know, but I was tugged from my troubled slumber by the sound of a child's voice saying my name again and again.

"Alexa?"

My eyes fluttered open to find a familiar and fierce masked visage peering down from directly above my own, thick tresses falling like a curtain all around me. Startled, disconcerted, I screamed and leapt from the bed. Scar reared back in turn with a snarl. My dreamtime thrashing had wound the sheets around my legs; two steps was all I managed before I stumbled and toppled to the floor. Twisting around awkwardly so I was facing my unwelcome visitor, I scuttled backwards until I felt the wall against my back.

Scar remained where he was, head cocked to one side as he observed my ungainly flight. It wasn't long before I heard the telltale gravelly trill of his laughter. Willing my heart to sink from where it was lodged in my throat to where it belonged, I clutched the sheet that bound me and glared at the hunter.

"Don't do that!" I snapped when I finally located my voice. My pulse was thundering so fast I could barely hear for the roar in my ears. The adrenaline racing through my veins made me more angry than afraid, but I was still distantly aware that fear was the most appropriate emotion at this point. For a long moment we merely regarded each other, I huddled in the far corner, he looming incongruously near the bed. The urge to strike him over the head with something heavy and sharp had manifested itself and was growing.

"Why are you here?" I demanded, struggling free of the sheet and climbing to my feet. Scar ignored me, turning to examine the medical paraphernalia laid out on the counter to the right of my bed. How dare he? How dare he and his people come aboard this ship and haunt me like giant murderous ghosts? How dare he intrude on my solitude and frighten me half to death? Furious, terrified and on the verge of tears I fumbled with my hand to find something on the counter next to me, anything, that I could throw. My fingers closed on something heavy, something cool, and without thinking I hurled it with all my might at the hunter. It struck him on the back of his shoulder and shattered. It was a bottle of some sort of fluid, I realized as it dripped in clear rivulets down his armor and onto his mottled skin.

If I'd wanted his attention, I most definitely had it now. He spun around with an unpleasant growl and began to approach me with deliberate menacing steps. I was reminded very suddenly of the first time I'd ever encountered him. I stood my ground, though I wanted nothing more than to bolt through the door and run screaming through the ship. He didn't stop until there was less than an inch separating us.

It's funny how one's bravado will flee when face to face with a towering eight foot humanoid from another planet. Swallowing the whimper that was crawling its way out of my throat, I said once more in an unsteady voice, "Why are you here?" Why won't you disappear like the nightmare you belong to? Why won't you leave me alone? All the things I wanted to demand of him, all the things I needed to know where reverberating through my mind. I wouldn't get an answer to them anyways; pointing and grunting was a very limited method of communication.

My question, though I had no idea whether or not he understood it, seemed to dissipate his ire. The angry noise he'd been making faded away. "Monster," he said then with my own voice, raising one closed fist and holding it to his chest. He raised the other hand and settled it on my uninjured shoulder, sounding like Cora this time. "Alexa."

"Lex," I corrected irritably. I had no inkling whatsoever what he was trying to tell me and it only made me more frustrated. I stared stubbornly at the small skulls that hung across his chest and mentally willed him to fade into nothingness. He growled impatiently, removed his hand from my shoulder and instead used it to cuff me lightly under the chin.

"What do you want?" I demanded, knocking his hand away and slipping past him. I made my way back to the bed and hopped onto it, wincing as the movement pulled at my tender back and sides. I wasn't really afraid any longer, but I was agitated because I didn't know what his purpose—and that of the two others of his kind onboard—was. He followed me after a second later, padding heavily across the floor. I watched him with a scowl, but when he reached out to run a rough finger over the scars on my cheek I didn't stop him. He pointed then to his own similar mark and said, "Monster," before indicating again my marks and saying—in Sebastian's voice this time—"Lex."

I stared into the mirror-like visor of his mask as I tried to piece together what he was telling me. He repeated the gestures and words several more times, and finally, with an exasperated snarl, he caught my hand, held it up, and covered it with his own. My eyes moved then to the way my fingers were lost in his and comprehension abruptly dawned.

"We're tied together through the marks," I said slowly, removing my hand. A second later the implications of what I'd said hit me, and I shook my head abruptly. "Wait a minute! Is this why you're here? Because you're some sort of … blood brother to me?"

My voice had become rather shrill towards the end of my sentence, a sure sign that I was highly aggravated. Apparently satisfied that I understood, Scar stepped back, bowing his head and rumbling.

"Oh no. NononononoNO!" I was frantically shaking my head. "Look, whatever these," I pointed to my cheek, "mean, I don't understand. I really don't, and I don't think I want to. Everything is over, I'm safe now, you can't just expect …"

I trailed off, because I wasn't exactly sure what he expected. He'd remained silent throughout my rambling, but as my voice died he lifted one arm to tug on the alien tooth I'd hung again around my neck with an appreciative growl. I groaned inwardly. This was like talking to a newborn baby, except this baby only seemed to value bones, violence and battle wounds. He turned then, and made his way to the door of the infirmary. Halting there, he said using Ana's voice, "Sleep."

Sleep? Sleep? After informing me that he and I were bound through the hellish trials we'd endured, after scaring the wits out of me, after invading my privacy and watching me while I was in repose, he wanted me to sleep? I stared at him, incredulous, and an instant later he became one with the air. I watched as the door opened and closed, and quite suddenly I was left alone.

I settled back against the pillows after long minutes, forsaking the sheet that still lay on the floor. I was wide awake now and no amount of sedative was going to change that. I tried to sift through all that had just happened in order to reach some sort of conclusion that made any sort of sense, and when I finally did I sat bolt upright again.

Scar had told me to sleep and sleep was a method of healing. He and the others weren't here to harm anyone, I was fairly certain, but they were here to observe, and they were observing me …

"Oh, no," I whispered, feeling a bitter chill creep over me.

They were waiting for me to heal. They were waiting for me to regain my strength. Whatever this … bond … I had with Scar was, it required me to be healthy.

That in itself, I realized numbly, was not a good thing. And the bond … were we hunting partners, now? Allies through our victory? And then another option occurred to me and I felt my heart leap into my throat once again. Obviously Scar considered me an equal, but had there grown from that respect a certain affection, a fondness for me? Was that what our bond was now? I felt suddenly very dizzy, and so I let myself fall back against the bed as dread and apprehension washed over me.

Things had been so much simpler before I had known that there was life beyond Earth.

.x.