Author's Note: Sincere apologies for taking so long to update; my obsession with AvP went away for a few months but now it's back. I thank you all for your support through the first chapter of this story, but I've received a recurring question from people: "I thought Reed was dead? Why is he back?"

Well, the story before this, Sacrifice Theory, had two endings. In the complete ending (the first ending), Reed was butchered by Scar. In the second, alternate ending (the ending that lead directly to this story), however, Reed was left alive; the last thing that happens in that chapter is Scar pushing Lex out of the way of the grenade Reed himself threw …

I hope that clears it up for you, but if you have any more questions don't hesitate to ask.

XIX

When I woke next my first thought was that I hadn't dreamed, and I found that fact disheartening. My memory was still a mass of jumbled confusion, and I thought that maybe through dreams some semblance of order would come to me and would make my recollections whole once again. Instead I found myself besieged again with doubt and uncertainty, staring up at the plain white ceiling with darkened fluorescent lights. For a long time I remained motionless, my only movement the blinking of my eyes, as I attempted without success to sift through the jargon floating through my mind in order to piece fragments together. When the strength of my focus gave rise to a steady, dull, consistent throbbing in my temples, however, I gave up trying to recall anything with a discouraged sigh. Minutes passed; I began to count the tiles in the ceiling, knowing that soon someone would come—perhaps Dr. Taves?- and then maybe I could get some of the answers I needed. I had reached forty three tiles when the knob set in the door rattled, and I sat up swiftly as it opened, wincing as every part of me I could name and some I couldn't protested the movement.

I was expecting my visitor to be the doctor; when I saw it wasn't but was in fact a woman, I frowned. She swiftly and carefully shut the door behind her before turning to face me, and for a moment we stared at each other in silence. Studying her form, the short dark hair that rose from her head in attractive spiked disarray and the warm chocolate eyes that regarded me unblinking, I felt recognition well up within me, and without knowing where it came from I blurted out a name. "Ana?"

"Thank God," she breathed, and hastened to my side. "You do remember."

I shook my head as she reached me, "Not everything. Bits and pieces."

She stared down at me for a long moment, brows creased in a pensive frown. "What," she asked me slowly, "exactly do you remember?"

It took me a moment before I could answer adequately, rummaging through all I could recall and tying it together in order to make my response coherent. "Stafford," I told her then, "and Weyland. The Piper Maru. You … and you have a daughter …" I had to pause here a moment, fishing about to retrieve yet another name. "Cora. Your daughter is Cora."

Ana nodded, and I continued. "There was an expedition, wasn't there? That's why we were on the ice breaker …?"

My words drifted off and I looked at Ana for support. The expression on her face instantly rendered me apprehensive; she was watching me through wide eyes filled with concern. After a moment she said softly, "You don't know what happened to you. You don't know any of it."

I felt icy dread creep over me at her words. "What did happen? Why am I here?"

Instead of answering me, she began to speak quickly in a hurried, hushed voice. "You have to listen to me, Lex. Cora- she told me about the monsters, and God have mercy on me but I'm starting to believe it." I opened my mouth to interrupt, to question, but she shook her head fiercely and continued, not allowing me to speak. "You're not safe here. Reed refused to let me look at you when you all arrived back on board, and even now he won't allow it. I snuck in here, which is why I don't have much time. Lex, something happened down there, something important, and that's why he has you in here. He won't let you go until he gets what he wants, and I don't know what that is."

"Reed," I said, remembering my conversation earlier with Dr. Taves, "Reed Weyland?"

Ana nodded. "Lex, I'll get you out of here. I don't know how, but I will. I don't know what he wants but it can't be good—whatever it is he brought back with him from down there, it's very important. Security around here has been tripled. I'll be lucky if I can get back in to see you again-"

At that instant the doorknob began to turn; Ana swiftly leaned down and whispered harshly in my ear, "You're not safe!"

Shaken, I stared at her as she stepped away from the bed. The door swung open, emitting Dr. Taves. He looked from Ana to me and back again, and when he spoke his voice was sharp, "I don't believe you have the correct clearance to be in here, Ms. Benson."

"I was just leaving." Ana said coolly, and without another word or backward glance swept past him and out the door. For a moment the doctor stared after her as though contemplating pursuit but instead shook his head and turned his attention to me.

"Was she bothering you, Ms. Woods?"

"I—no."

"What did she tell you?"

Although it was subtle, I didn't like the demanding edge his voice took; instinct told me to tread with caution. "She said she was worried about me," I said, "and that she wasn't allowed to come and see me."

My half-truth seemed to assuage whatever concerns he had; he nodded his head perfunctorily and stepped up to the foot of my bed to retrieve my charts. "It's for the best," he said, as if that answered everything.

Still riled by Ana's last, whispered warning, I waited only a moment before asking, "Doctor? I need to know what happened to me. Can you tell me?"

He lifted his eyes from my charts only briefly, but even that space of time was enough for me to notice once again the way they became guarded and shuttered. Evasively, he answered, "Mr. Weyland will have all the answers you need, Ms. Woods. I'm afraid I'm neither authorized nor know enough to tell you what it is you wish to know."

"When will he be here?" I persisted as he let fall the charts and stepped around the bed.

"Later on this morning." The doctor's tone had changed, become almost brusque, and without further ado he set about checking me to see how I was healing. I answered his questions dutifully, sensing it wouldn't be wise to be obstinate, and when he gently removed the IV from my wrist I leaned back against the pillows and watched in silence. After slipping the cold disk of the stethoscope just under the collar of my shirt and listening to my heartbeat, he straightened and gave me again his quick, cool smile.

"You're doing well, Ms. Woods. Almost better than expected. I think it's safe to let you get up and walk around."

And so I did, with his aid; he lowered the metal railing and assisted me in slipping down from the bed. The moment my feet touched the ground I realized that my muscles had atrophied to a degree; my legs wobbled and if it hadn't been for the doctor's arm around me I would have certainly fallen. "Careful now," he murmured, moving his arm to my waist, and with his support I was able to walk. It took only four steps for me to become winded; we turned around and made it back to the bed. As he helped me back up, he said, "In the closet over there, you'll find some clothes. Standard hospital issue; not much, but better than your gown." I nodded my thanks and he continued, "The fastest way to get your body in shape again is to work your muscles. Try walking on your own, and if you can't do that I'll send an orderly to help you out. Now, I've got others to check up on, so I've got to go. Will you be okay until Reed gets here?"

"I think so," I said, and he gave me another small smile.

"Good. I'll check in on you later today." And with that, Dr. Taves took his leave.

Sitting on the bed with my legs hanging over the side, I found myself in my isolation replaying all that Ana had said over and over again in my mind. Her obvious fear had instilled me with the same, and I hated the fact that I didn't know what it was I was afraid of. Dr. Taves had said that I had been in a cave, and that that cave had collapsed because of a grenade explosion … what in the holy hell had gone on down there below the ice?

There were, of course, no answers forthcoming, and so after a moment I grit my teeth and slid down once more from the bed. Being this weak was something I fervently hated, and so it was with agonizing slowness and awkward, trembling steps I made my way to the closet on the opposite wall. When I reached it I had to rest a moment, leaning my head against its cool surface and breathing hard. Inside, as the doctor had said, I found a pair of surgical green scrubs, and I donned them in a shaky, haphazard manner. The return journey to the bed was nothing short of a nightmare, and when finally I reached it I sprawled myself across it, utterly exhausted and depressed by how much strength my body had lost over the last few weeks.

"I used to climb ice falls," I muttered to myself. "I used to climb mountains." With a weary, disheartened sigh I rolled onto my back and leaned back against the pillows, throwing one arm over my eyes. The doctor had said Reed Weyland was coming to see me, and so I settled in to wait.

XIX