Disclaimer: Seriously. I really don't own AvP. If you don't believe me by now... then I don't know what else to tell you.

A/N: -grins evilly- I know something about this chapter that you guys don't...

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Before: Tracking the Ooman gets on Rave's nerves while Rave amuses himself by irritating Scar. Lex manages to elude the hard meats chasing her and takes a quick nap. The Queen, in the meantime, takes out her anger on one of the Drones before appointing Grid responsible for leading the other hard meats. The first thing on his list is to free the Queen. As the pyramid shifts, Lex literally drops into the Yautjas' paths and gets partly dragged along. After some disagreement and reassurances made (that Lex wouldn't run and that the Yautjas' wouldn't kill her), Scar realizes that Lex killing Aliens hand-to-hand during the Hunt had a surprising result. Without meaning to, Lex had just gained entrance into Scar and Rave's Clan.

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Lex just gaped.

After a while of silence, the Yautja's exchanged worried glances and wondered if the Ooman had turned into a statue without them noticing. Shrugging, Rave began to repeat, (Welcom-)

"WHAT?" Lex, cutting him off, finally managed to utter.

Frowning at her seemingly sheer stupidity, Rave gave a small snort before beginning to say once more, (I said, welco-)

"I DON'T understand!" Lex, throwing her hands up in the air, began pacing in a small manic circle.

Once more, the two Predators exchanged worried looks as the Ooman continued to rant. Rave was starting to get frustrated. Here he was, trying to explain it to the Ooman, but she just KEPT interrupting him. Scar, on the other hand, began to see the hilarity of the situation despite his persistent worry developing from her behavior.

As one, both Hunters tuned into what the pacing Ooman was saying. It was incredible that they understood what she was saying at all. She just spoke THAT fast.

"-just unbelievable. I do NOT understand. Why? WHY? Why is this happening to me! What did I ever do! This is crazier than the time I had that drink with my dad on top of that mountain right before he died on the way down! I just can't think. I can't breathe! Oh my god, I forgot how to breathe! This cannot be happening to me. But it IS and there's nothing I can do about it. Oh MY Go-"

At this point, both Yautja tuned back out of her loony ranting and just blatantly and bleakly stared at one another.

(SHE is the one I owe a life debt to?) Rave questioned with a jerk of his head towards Lex. He was, in fact, questioning his own sanity. How could someone as MAD as Lex was at the moment have saved him at any one point in time? Had he been hallucinating? Deep down, the big Yautja desperately wished this was all a horrible nightmare and he would wake up back on their home planet, ready for some head-bashing at the local bar.

Attempting to hold back his laughter, Scar's face twisted into strange mix of seriousness and pain. Seriousness in the face of the situation Rave was faced with. Pain at holding back the laughter. So in the end he just let it all out. Roaring with laughter, Scar doubled over in an attempt to keep his ribs intact. Taking a step forward, he placed a sympathizing hand on Rave's shoulder. After shaking off a few more bursts of mirth, Scar barely managed to say, (YES.) before he collapsed into laughter once more.

Looking at his incompetent companion with a look akin to disgust, Rave crossed his overly muscled arms across his chest.

Hearing the threatening growl from the bigger Yautja, Scar hastily tried to gather his composure. Unfortunately, his look at the situation was simply too hilarious to ignore. Here they were, Rave having practically run them RAGGED trying to find this Ooman, and NOW... now Scar began to see that Rave just may seriously reconsider having been saved by her in the first place.

Rave's mandibles twitched in irritation. He did NOT like being laughed at. And for Scar, his acceptance would only go for so long. Giving one final growl of warning, Rave was a flash of motion as his fist swung out. Scar saw the fist coming and steadied himself for it.

But Rave pulled back his blow in a split second, Scar blinking in confusion, as they both found the Ooman female standing between them.

The insane look was gone from her eyes and she looked as normal as the Yautja had seen for someone of her species.

"I'm sorry, but I don't think I can accept." Lex said, her breath shaky at the beginning, "I just want to go ho-"

(It can't be taken back.) Rave said simply.

"But I just want to go HOME." Lex replied.

(It's not that sim-) Scar began to say.

But Lex, a little frantic as she realized she might not be able to back out of this situation, interrupted, "You don't understand. I JUST want-"

A little fed up at being interrupted by the little soft meat, Scar butted in with a growl, (No. YOU don't understand! This is the Hunt. THE HUNT. YOU killed the hard meats with your bare hands. YOU, therefore, have been marked as we have. You are part of the Clan whether you like it or not!)

That said, the yellowish-greenish Yautja stormed off. He was a little pissed that a soft meat would go so far as to dishonor her acceptance into their Clan. Passing the Hunt was a trial that was NOT taken lightly. And to have this soft meat, this... Ooman, attempt to turn down the offer was like her spitting on his mother's grave. If he hadn't trained his body and his own emotions for this very day, Scar wasn't sure he would be able to stay his hand from killing her on the spot.

Feeling she had made a grave error, Lex slowly turned her widened eyes towards the bigger Yautja that remained.

His deep sage eyes studied her without expression. In a low, deep rumble, Rave said, (You have offended him greatly. You... have offended US greatly as well as our Clan.)

"I..." Lex stood, dumbfounded. She glanced around Rave's huge body towards Scar's form, which was diminishing as he continued storming away. Looking back up at Rave, Lex said softly, "I... I did not mean... I am so sorry... I..."

Glancing around her worriedly, Lex took a step back, "Maybe... maybe I should go-"

(No.) Rave said instantly, his large hand dwarfing hers as he grasped her arm, (Sometimes, Scar's anger is as quick as mine. But... he will come around. And when he does, I am sure he would not wish to go running after you again.)

Surprised at how quick he had moved, Lex blinked before focusing on Rave's words. She had a feeling Scar may dislike her for some great reason. And though the amber-eyed one clearly still held some anger against her, the bigger one seemed just as adamant to have her along with them. Lex didn't think she could leave them right now even if she wanted to. In this place, the Aliens were definitely a large threat. Hanging around with the Predators just may save her life. IF Scar didn't plan on killing her first, that is...

Scar grumbled softly to himself. He was angry. And not only that, but he was angry at just how quickly he had become angry. No one had ever been able to shake his resolve like this. NO ONE had ever managed to surprise him so completely...

Shaking his head, which sent his dreadlocks tumbling around his shoulders, Scar let out a deep sigh. This was not good. He should keep his calm. He NEEDED to keep his composure. This was the Hunt after all, and not paying attention could cost someone's life at any mome-

With a sickening jerk, everything came to a slow stop in Scar's mind. With a huge amount of disbelief, the Yautja's gaze met with the barbed tip of the hard meat's tail. The tail which was currently... stuck THROUGH him. He had been impaled. In his carelessness, Scar had spelled his own end.

The Ooman's eyes were wide. Rave almost snickered. But that was before he turned his head to see what had caught her attention. Eyes widening beyond proportion, blood chilled at the sight of his childhood friend run through by the hard meat's tail, Rave felt an enraged cry tear at his throat.

Suddenly, the silent cavern was shaken by a tremendous roar that could not be matched.

Lex had to cover her ears. And even THEN there was a ringing in her ears from the effects of the sound.

Scar, in his slowly weakening state, could not miss the furious outcry from the bigger Yautja. Tasting blood on his mandibles, Scar did not attempt to stave off the grin that graced his pain-filled face.

(You... will wish... you were never BORN.) Scar chuckled painfully around the ebony tail jutting out of his chest. His half-lidded amber eyes were staring deep into the black face before him. The hard meat seemed reluctant, maybe even frightened after the terrible cry. If Aliens could feel regret, this one was certainly at the edges of it.

Rave felt his vision go red. The hard meat did not just do that. The bloodlust Rave was renowned for filled him faster than lightning bolt could flash in the trembling night sky. The hard meat did NOT just do that. Rave could feel his arms pumping, his legs already swift to bring him closer towards Scar. Closer towards the one he would most definitely KILL.

The hard meat DID. NOT. JUST. DO. THAT!

Though her mind was screaming at her to run the other way, Lex found herself hard-put to stay a step behind the big Yautja. Each great bound in his anger was three or four running steps of Lex's. She knew it would be suicide to try to stop him. She knew he just may kill HER in the blind rage she could see him in. But despite all that, Lex continued heading in the same direction. Towards the weakening Yautja still impaled on the tail of the hard meat clinging to the wall.

Seeing the oncoming mountain of muscle charging towards it, the Alien whipped its tail, slamming the blood-slick Yautja against the wall. This wrenched another blood-filled cry from Rave even as Scar lolled his head, groaning in pain. Rave bull-rushed into the hard meat, pile-driving it into the stone wall with enough force to create a small crater.

The Alien shrieked, caught off-guard at the sheer force even though it had seen Rave coming.

Through half-lidded eyes, Scar watched his titanic comrade clash against the huge black Alien form. Much to his relief and utter horror, the Alien that had killed him was not a Drone, but a Warrior. The older, tougher breed of the Queen's hatchlings.

'How is that possible...?' Scar wondered sluggishly. Though he was grateful to have been done in by a battle-hardened Warrior instead of the younger and weaker Drone, Scar could feel a nagging in the back of his mind that this could not be right. The Alien eggs had not hatched long enough for the Drones to grow into Warriors. What was wrong with this picture? But he was struggling just to stop the oncoming darkness. He could not think straight.

Then, all of a sudden, the Ooman female was there by his side.

Jerking at another bone-jarring slam from the ongoing battle between Rave and the Warrior hard meat, Lex fixed her eyes on the fading amber ones before her. She reached out with trembling hands, her eyes filling with unbidden tears.

This was HER fault. If she hadn't made him angry... if she hadn't driven him away... then Scar wouldn't have gone in this direction by himself. He would have paid more attention to his surroundings. His death, ultimately, was her fault.

She watched those amber eyes watching her own. He was dying. She could see the life draining from the form before her. It was as clear as the neon green blood which pumped through the hole in his chest. Lex attempted to staunch the flow with her hands, not caring as the blood covered her hands. His blood covered her arms, and as she wiped sweat from her brow, it covered her face. But she didn't care. All that mattered was that this dark pyramid was going to take yet another life.

It had been painful enough to watch the archaeologist, Sebastion, get dragged away to death while she remained safe only because he had saved her from falling. And now... and NOW another would die. Another would die because of her...

It was all her fault.

"I'm sorry..." Lex's voice trembled, her shaking hand lowering to rest on his cheek. She didn't care that she might get impaled herself from the raging Yautja and Alien fighting behind her. She didn't care that she might die by just standing there. Scar was dying. And it was HER fault, "I'm sorry. I'm so SO sorry. I didn't mean to- I'm sorry. I didn't mean to offend you. I didn't MEAN it."

Scar watched her, wanting to lift his own hand to stroke the tears from her cheek. But he could barely keep his eyes open. Instead, he relished in the feel of warmth from the hand she had placed on his cheek. He leaned into it without thinking. Never had he felt such a tender touch for so long. Not since he had been a youngling had Scar been embraced so caringly. And then it dawned on the Yautja. The Ooman wasn't just touching his cheek now. She was, in fact, embracing him. Bloody chest and all.

Lex's lithe form shook with the force of her choked sobs. She was letting it all out. Through her tears, she let out her fears. The dark engulfing fear she had shuttered inside since everything in the pyramid had started to go wrong. The anger she felt at herself for letting Sebastion die like that. She didn't even TRY... she could have tried HARDER to pull herself onto that ledge. She KNEW she could have. She was a goddamn CLIMBER for goodness sake! She cried and cried.

Without a sound, the Yautja's arms wrapped around her small form. Her shivering stopped instantaneously and Lex was content to just let the tears slide down her face silently, burying herself into the Yautja's burly arms and strong chest. She was so afraid. For Rave. For Scar. For herself.

And ironically, Lex found she had never felt safer than right now in Scar's arms. HE was the one dying. SHE should be comforting HIM.

Slowly, Scar realized he could hear Lex's voice. It took slightly longer than it should have for him to realize what she was doing. She was apologizing. She was sorry for taking his mask. His gun. And now, she blamed herself for his death. Scar heard her apologies. He could hear the sincerity in her voice. He saw the sincerity in her eyes. As much as he wanted to be mad, he found... he could not.

He heard her apologies. Scar heard them and accepted them.

The gun and the mask he still found was her fault. But he accepted her apologies for her actions. But his death...

His death was NOT her fault.

Straining his throat, Scar's mandibles moved slowly in an attempt to speak. Stilling her own voice, Lex turned her head to listen to him easily. She waited, neither her eyes leaving his mask-covered face nor her warm body leaving his embrace. She held still, and Scar knew she waited to hear his voice.

(Not... not your...) Scar struggled to hold on, even as his vision darkened. He fought off the darkness. Fought to keep his mind and say what he had to say, (Not... your... fault...)

It was then that Lex felt, more than saw him, close his eyes. He was still wearing his mask, but she KNEW he had closed them. She felt the arms around her, holding her... she felt them loosen ever so slightly.

"No..." Lex could not accept it. She repeated in a louder voice, "NO..."

It could not end like this. Lex could not LET it END like this!

Then all of a sudden Lex's cries became edged with more fear. The Alien with the grid-like pattern was suddenly before her, hissing at her. It pried her out of Scar's unmoving form, ignoring her futile struggles. Her crying had gotten more out of her than she realized. She could only fight half-heartedly, her eyes focused on the Yautja's still form.

Rave, in the meantime, was preoccupied with the Warrior before him. If he hadn't been very bloody before, Rave was NOW. And with a glance at the two forms huddled near the floor, Rave caught the moment Scar's mind slipped into darkness. Crying out in grief, Rave barely warded off the ebony hard meat's glancing blow. Trapping the Warrior's arm between his own and his armored side, Rave roared and wrenched in a powerful twist of muscles. It was the Alien's turn to cry out in anguish as he attempted to pull away, its broken arm still in Rave's grasp.

Pivoting, the big greenish-brown Yautja's pectorals bunched as he hurled the huge Alien over his shoulder. The hard meat squealed as it landed not-too-lightly through two stone pillars and into the stone ground. Its dead arm must've brought it immense pain. But Rave did not care. In fact, he relished the very power he held to dish out its pain.

Rave's head jerked to the side as he realized the cries had not all been the Alien. The Ooman's frantic cry had been intermingled in between. His rage had receded enough for him to notice this very slight thing. And there the soft meat was, being torn from Scar's unmoving grasp by the hard meat Scar had called Grid. Rave knew its name. The Yautja also knew that if the Grid did NOT let go of the Ooman, it was a soon-to-be-dead hard meat.

Taking a menacing step towards the hard meat, Rave was surprised to be attacked from the Warrior he had just thrown. Slamming into the ground, Rave's head whipped around to see the Ooman female disappearing down the hall, struggling in the grasp of the Drone. Bellowing his rage, the big Yautja found a surge of strength rippling through him as he grabbed the neck of the Warrior hard meat.

Sensing its death approaching, the Warrior lashed out with its inner jaws, attempting to take the Yautja out before he could kill it. But Rave caught the inner jaw between his other fist. With one pulling motion, Rave ripped out its inner jaw without an ounce of remorse.

Its cry sounding gutted and gurgling from the blood, the last thing the Warrior hard meat saw was the wall into which Rave smashed its skull. This was followed by the sharp cold of the blade Rave plunged into its brain. Then it saw and felt no more.

With a disgusted grunt, Rave stepped back away from the dead Alien, making sure to avoid the rapid spurts of its acidic blood. The huge Yautja glanced at Scar. But one look told him all he needed to know.

There was nothing Rave could do for Scar now.

The only thing he could do was save the Ooman's life. Feeling as if something vital had been ripped from within him, Rave tore his gaze away from the still form of Scar and sprinted down the hall. He had to go after Grid and the girl.

He had a life debt to repay, after all.

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-sighs- Crap... Scar, uh... damn.