Disclaimer: Blah blah blah, not mine, blah blah blah, no sue, okay?

A/N: Yea, the group that's in the story the Weyland corporation. Ambitious little buggers, aren't they?

I appreciate all the feedback guys! I especially like when you guys point out parts that you liked and whatnot. -grins-

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Before: As they tracked the ship, Scar and Rave managed to get into a little fight, sparked by Scar's anger and worry and Rave's incredible nack for saying the wrong things at the wrong time. As further evidence of that fact, Jet gets reined into the fight when Rave accidentally bumps into her, and he mistakes her aggressive advances for a more intimate manner than she intended. Scar manages not to laugh his head off at the entire situation, but only barely. When Jet declares that they've found the Piper Maru, Scar is serious within a heartbeat, all but throwing Jet out of the way when she stands stock-still at what the readings show her. The huge Ooman ship (huge by Ooman standards) was under attack. Meanwhile, Lex sensed the attack before the ship's alarms were activated. She is startled when Mr. Winston barges into her room, frightened and with the Queen's claw in hand. She instantly takes the claw out of his hands, angry and suspicious of his intentions. He pleads for her help, attempting to retain as much dignity as possibly, but doesn't manage to impress the black woman. Disgusted with the selfish, manipulative man before her, Lex leaves Winston to his own devices as she steps out, declaring that she never wanted to see him again. Back on the Yautja transport, Scar is too impatient for Jet to land their vehicle and demands the doors be opened before he rips them off. Jet voiced her concerns at first but didn't dare to hesitate to open the doors when he roared angrily at her. Scar and Rave make the dozen meter drop without flinching, Scar even managing to kill a hard meat with his bone-crushing landing. Once they make their way inside the bloodied Maru's interior, they practically plough through all that stand in their way. Rave catches sight of Grid and growls his intent at Scar before rushing off in pursuit. Scar picks up Lex's scent and it leads him to a dead body. Unbelieving, Scar howls his denial throughout the ship. Apparently Lex hears him, because Scar hears her respond. She shouts his name, her tone filled with desperation. Scar shoots off before he even realizes he's running.

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The body wasn't hers.

It wasn't hers.

That was the thought that ran through Scar's mind even as he forced his legs to put him on a faster pace. It must've been someone who she had been in close contact with recently. Scar should've noticed the smell was faint. But it was all too distracting. The blood everywhere. The thought that she might be dead.

And she still might get killed if Scar didn't go faster.

He skidded to a stop at an intersection. There were three paths he could take.

Left. Right. Or forward.

His head whipping to look and scent at each one, Scar could only growl in impatience and irritation.

There were too many smells!

He was so close but the newly spilled blood and the reek of the kainde amedha was more recent and layered itself above all other smells. Scar clenched and unclenched his fist as he stood there, knowing he was wasting precious time as he tried frantically to decide which way to go.

He neede-

"You BASTARD!"

It was the Ooman's voice. Lex's voice. Her tone had been woven with rage, a sliver of fear, and a small dose of disbelief.

Scar growled and took off down the left corridor.

(If someone is hurting you...) He clicked angrily under his breath.

-o-o-o-

"You bastard..." Lex repeated breathlessly, her eyes narrowed to slits as she struggled to breathe.

She had fallen into a rough fight with the hard meats the moment she had stepped out of the door. There had been two of them, startled and eager to kill as she suddenly appeared.

She had fought them fiercely, using the Queen's talon as a weapon. Surprisingly, the talon had a strange effect on them. The moment she had held it out threateningly, the two hard meats had stilled, almost frozen in place. They snapped out of their shock the moment she swiped forward. But throughout the battle, they continuously avoided touching or getting touched by the dead Queen's talon. Almost as if they feared or revered it too much to have it touch them. This was how Lex managed to corner them and have the large metal netting fall over them. Trapped as they were, Lex managed to make quick work of them, but not before the last one standing tumbled forward against her.

This resulted in her being vulnerably pinned, her back pressed against the wall as her legs were twisted in an uncomfortable position under the bulk of the kainde amedha's dead body. Her hands were ensnared within the net, having been clutching its hardened skull as it had tried the stab her through with its inner jaws. This wouldn't have been as much of a problem if her arms hadn't been pinned as well.

The chords were metal cable and she dropped the talon beside her to stave off the dying hard meat's last attack.

To make matters worse, Mr. Winston had found her.

The same, conniving little man that now stood before her, brandishing the Queen's talon in his pale hands.

She only hoped Scar had heard her earlier calls for help. She had certainly heard him.

"It's NOT yours to take." Lex spat, shifting her shoulders in her twentieth attempt to free herself. Still, the body wouldn't budge.

Worriedly, she noticed she was starting to loose feeling in her legs.

"I do not think you are in a position to have any say." Mr. Winston chuckled, indicating the dead hard meat with a wave of his hand, "I must say, I was impressed to see you holding your own against these... monsters... but I doubt you would have done so well without this little trinket."

"Give it back or face the consequences of breaking the Code." Lex snarled.

"Code?" Winston raised a skeptical eyebrow, "What code?"

Lex found that she was as flabbergasted as he was. She had no clue where the idea of the Code have even come from, but she knew it all the same and repeated it slowly to the man, "...The... the Code that-uh, forbids... the taking of another's trophy..."

Mr. Winston gave her a look which clearly said he thought her insane as he replied, "You must have received a larger blow to your head than I thought."

Lex kept a glare aimed at him as she struggled against the hard skull pressed against her rib cage, making it very hard to breathe.

"Once I get out ..." Lex growled, twisting her shoulders jerkily as she attempted to free her arms.

"Oh no..." Mr. Winston frowned as he thought aloud, "that would not do at all. No, that option will just have to be taken away."

He advanced immediately, his grip on the claw tightening.

Lex blanched the moment she realized his intentions. But she quickly replaced the look of surprise with one of anger, "You think you can kill me?"

"Yes, as a matter of fact, I do." He replied with a satisfied, malicious curve to his lips.

"Have you ever killed before?" Lex demanded, her gaze scrutinizing.

Stopping half a foot from her, Winston declared nonchalantly, "It shouldn't be too hard."

As he kneeled beside her, Lex's lip twitched in rage, "Think you're a big tough guy, don't you? Unable to kill a woman unless she's all trussed up for you? Are you afraid, Mr. Winston? What are you afraid of? You thi-"

Lex interrupted her rant to cry out in pain, her body jerking of its own accord as the icy fire jolted through her senses.

-o-o-o-

Scar heard the scream.

He was close now, but the shout had come from the other corridor.

Cursing, he backtracked and continued at a fast sprint.

He could feel his muscles trembling. But it wasn't from exertion or pain.

He was trembling with rage.

Someone was hurting the Ooman. He didn't care who it was.

That someone was going to die.

-o-o-o-

He STABBED her!

The damn coward stabbed her!

Lex's mind reeled from intense pain. She barely registered that Winston had stabbed at the exact spot on her shoulder that the Queen had, reopening the healing wound.

A stream of obscenities poured out of Lex's mouth as she forcefully willed herself from the darkness and pain.

When the world was not so tilted and spinning, Lex turned her focus back on the grinning man beside her.

"Hurt did it?" Mr. Winston looked like he was enjoying her pain, his voice arrogant as he stated, "You should have worked with me from the beginning, Ms. Woods. You should have just went along as planned. Are you regretting your decision now? Do you still doubt I wouldn't hesitate to kill you?"

Clenching her teeth to get the pain under control, Lex spat on his face, her grin fierce as she declared, "You stab like the pathetic weakling you are."

Lex's grin grew as his face turned a livid purple, his knuckles white as he gripped the talon harder in his growing anger. His other hand wiped her spittle from his face with disgust, his earlier smirk all but gone from his twisted expression.

"I barely felt that," Lex continued, shifting her gaze to her shoulder as she scrutinized the wound she recieved, "I mean, just look at it. You barely pierced the surface. I wouldn't doubt if the talon didn't even go more than a couple centim-"

"SHUT UP!" Mr. Winston demanded, worked up from her statements. The man couldn't believe she would talk to him like that. Truthfully, he knew his anger stemmed from the fact that her words struck home. Mr. Winston didn't fancy himself a very strong man, at least not physically. But that didn't mean he liked it when the fact was rubbed in his face.

Mr. Winston was so mad he didn't even notice her gaze flicker towards something coming up behind him. He said viciously, "The next strike will be fatal. I swear you will never live to see another sunrise!"

The man couldn't believe it when, in the next instant, he found himself dangling in the air.

The claw was torn roughly from his grasp right before Mr. Winston was hurled with unforgiving force against the far wall. He crumpled into a groaning mass the moment he touched the floor.

Scar's chest was heaving, one hand gripping the talon as the other flexed, trying to get his anger-filled tremors under control.

No one... NO ONE messed with Lex. NO ONE!

Growling, Scar started to advance on the crumpled form that was Winston.

But a softly spoken voice pierced the enraged cloud of red that shrouded his thoughts.

"Scar."

It was her voice. The Ooman's voice.

Lex's voice...

How could he ignore the call that tugged at him deep in his very bones?

He paused in his steps, his muscles tense as the rage seeped slowly from his mind, freeing him slightly from its unrelenting hold.

-o-o-o-

Rave cursed loudly as he whipped his head left and right, his dreadlocks lashing angrily through the air with his snappy movements.

Had he lost track of the kainde amedha? AGAIN?

-o-o-o-

Lex had never felt so relieved to see him. Well... besides when she had thought he was dead earlier and... yeah...

His dreadlocks swung loosely as he turned his head, his movements slow and measured, to look at her.

After a few breaths of silence, he inquired with a soft, almost hesitantly drawn up, trill.

Speechless from his sudden appearance, Lex drank in the sight of him for a moment. His tense stance, the worried tilt of his head...

The obvious anger emanating from his very core...

Hoping fervently the anger wasn't directed at her, Lex replied sheepishly, "I'm just... a little, uh, a little stuck."

Scar felt a huge wave of relief roll across him, feeling his tense muscles relax slowly as he felt a clicking chuckle arise from between his mandibles. He just couldn't stop staring at her. And it was not just so his mask could scan for more fatal injuries. He was just...

He was so glad she wasn't dead.

As much as he wanted to render the male Ooman piece by agonizing piece, Scar had control of his mind enough to realize it was safer to free Lex first. Who knows when something could come out and attack in this battle zone.

(Let me hel-) Scar started to say.

But almost as if the mere thought had derived it, a hard meat slammed into the Yautja's muscled form. Flying across the room, Scar could hear Lex shout his name as he skidded across the floor, the hard meat slashing at him.

The talon flew out of his grasp and Scar raised his forearms to protect his vitals and his neck from the kainde amedha's onslaught.

"Scar!" Lex shouted again as she struggled to free herself, another kainde amedha Drone appearing from a side passage.

It was advancing, slowly, sure of its victory as it discovered its prey couldn't move.

"Shit!" Lex cursed, her struggles renewing in vigor as the hard meat snarled and continued its slow stalk towards her.

Catching sight of the Ooman's predicament, Scar cursed as well. He had to get up and help her.

Slugging the hard meat square in its jaw, Scar took an instant to recognize the yellow pattern across its chitin armor.

It was Grid.

And if Grid was here, then Rave shouldn't be too far behind.

Twisting as the hard meat attempted to plunge its tail through him, Scar shouted, (RAVE! Get your big ass over here! RIGHT NOW!)

-o-o-o-

Rave's head jerked as he heard the other Yautja's voice.

(Fuck!) Rave cursed as he realized his quarry had managed to lead him through a maze of corridors.

It had totally led him in the wrong direction.

The big Yautja wasted no time in pivoting and rushing off towards the direction Scar had shouted from.

He needed to reach Scar's position. And fast.

-o-o-o-

Lex's breath was shallow as the kainde amedha Drone brought its face millimeters from her face, almost as if scrutinizing her.

"What are you waiting for?" Lex snarled with a confidence she barely felt.

She darted her eyes in Scar's direction, only to discover he was still occupied with Grid. Her nerves were taut.

The hard meat was RIGHT there. What was it waiting for?

That's when she caught sight of the tail. It was not poised to strike, as she had first thought when she flinched instinctively. But no... it was snaking towards her. Almost gently.

The end of the tail was being guided, but that could only mean-

"No." Lex's voice was numb.

It was going to plant her with one of those eggs!

She didn't want to have one of those things burst through her!

Her breathing increased as the tail drew nearer, her mouth unable to form coherent words.

As it came a hand's-breadth from her, she did the first thing that came to mind. She snarled and snapped her teeth at it.

Hissing, the kainde amedha jerked its tail back, taken aback by the soft meat's reaction. Regarding the Ooman warily, the hard meat realized it would need to subdue her further before it could implant the egg.

It drew its slimy lips back in a snarl before it lunged.

But a thickly muscled arm suddenly whipped around its chorded neck, half-choking it before slamming it against the ground, (Bad kainde amedha! No attacking helpless Ooman!)

Relieved as she was, Lex couldn't help but snort an indignant reply, "Hey! I'm NOT helpless."

Rave tilted his head skeptically in her direction, (You're joking. Right?)

"Watch out!" Lex shouted.

Stumbling backwards, the big Yautja barely dodged the diagonal swipe of its tail as the angry hard meat clambered to its feet.

Watching wide-eyed in the flashing red lights, Lex noticed another thing that made the battling pause for a few moments.

An ominous creaking filled the hold.

-o-o-o-

Jet sat huffily in her seat, gracefully muscled arms crossed over her chest.

She yearned for battle! But she was yet to be blooded. And to kill during a Hunt that was not her own was expressly forbidden.

Nevertheless, she was still fidgeting impatiently.

The jet-colored Yautja had landed the transport on the thickest patch of ice she could find, thankfully only a few meters from the huge tanker itself. She had idly drawn her gaze to the sensors and turned it away before she did a double-take.

A huge, creaking vibration filled the chilled air as Jet tried to take in the sight that met her gaze.

The Piper Maru was moving. But not in the normal way.

Rather, it was tilting. And it seemed to be shrinking as well.

Wait, it wasn't shrinking.

It was sinking!

Despite their rather rude departure, Jet couldn't help but hope they came out before it was too late.

-o-o-o-

Everything that was loose in the hold began sliding to one side. Unfortunately for Lex, that just happened to be the side she was on.

A particularly large crate was scraping its way over to where she was pinned.

If it reached her, it would definitely do more than shove the dead hard meat against her. It would crush her.

Having his opponent struck badly on its side by a sliding metal object, Scar spared a glance at his curiously tilted surroundings. He spotted the crate and his eyes widened immensely.

It would crush her!

And judging from the frozen expression on her face, Lex seemed to realize it as well.

Forgetting his dazed opponent, Scar pumped his legs as he made a bee-line to intercept the crate.

Bunching his leg muscles, Scar sprang into the air. His kick landed solidly on the crate's side, making it fly harmlessly off to the side. In a flash he was at Lex's side, his blade whipped out as he severed the netting that trapped her arms with careful efficiency.

Wordlessly, Lex watched him, her brown eyes tracing the features of his mask. It felt like eons since she had last placed her gaze on that mask. But it couldn't have been that long ago, right?

The moment he had slashed the last of the netting, he stood to shove the net and the hard meat's body off her.

The next breath he was kneeling next to her once more, his hands checking her for wounds.

"Why?" Lex asked softly.

He saved her so many times. She saved him before, but she always found him saving her.

There was a time he had wanted to kill her before. But it was obvious he didn't want to now.

Was it because she was part of the Clan? Whatever this Clan was?

Unsure exactly what she was asking, Scar stilled his hands as he drew his head slowly to look her face to face.

"Why?" Lex repeated hollowly. Though she was asking a different question now.

They had left her. They had abandoned her. Just like that.

Would they have come back at all if the hard meats hadn't attacked?

Still confused, Scar started to say, (I don't know what you're aski-)

But Lex didn't let him finish.

She clenched her fist in anger as she demanded once more, "WHY!"

Scar was shocked as Lex hit him on the chest. Her soft expression had hardened, replaced by anger.

"Why? Why? WHY!" Lex demanded, each word punctuated by another hit to his chest.

A growl rumbled deep from his chest and Scar caught her wrists, about to demand what she thought she was doing.

But that was before he looked into her eyes. They were filled with sadness. With pain.

There were those tears.

"I thought you left me!" Lex shouted, her anger twisting into a pained expression as she remembered her waking moments the morning her memory had returned.

She had been alone. So very much alone.

She didn't even notice she was crying. She only felt a bitter anger as she demanded, trying to hit him again even though he still had a hold of her wrists, "WHY did you just leave! Why'd you come back at all!"

Scar felt something strike him deep inside, a painful wrenching he couldn't explain. But why? She had not impaled him with any sort of weapon.

So then why the pain?

"I wish you had just left! Stayed away! Why don't you just leave! Never come back!" She shouted, not knowing what poured past her lips as she continued to let out the bitterness and the anger that had been pent up inside since she had woken in the Piper Maru.

Since she had woken half conscious and scared half to death.

No memory. Feral. Frightened. Lashing out at anything.

Lashing out like she was now.

"I HATE you! I hate you!" Lex sobbed, "Why don't you just leave me alone!"

Scar jerked back at that statement as if he had been struck. He still had his hold on her wrists, though, finding that he couldn't let go. He wouldn't let go.

He looked into her eyes and saw the pain. The hurt. But also something that contradicted the anger. The hate.

She was lying. He could sense it, distorted though her body heat may be due to the previous near fatal events, he could sense that she was lying. And he wasn't afraid to admit what he knew.

(You're lying...) Scar chirped softly, a sad yet satisfied purr rumbling out at this realization.

Blinking at his blunt statement, Lex recovered quick enough to deny it as she tried to pull her wrists out of his hold, "No! NO I'm not! I HA-"

She was cut short as she suddenly found herself jerked forward against his chest. He had released her wrists, but only so he could wrap his arms around her smaller, trembling form.

She sobbed, her voice softer as she struggled to get out of his hold, "...I hate you..."

The words sounded weak, even to her. She tried to say it again, but nothing would come out. Scar didn't do anything despite her words and her tense form. He just...

He just held her.

Her spiteful, untruthful words died on her lips as she found the warmth from his big embrace.

Her breath caught in her throat as her brain tried to register what was happening.

He wasn't trying to crush her. He wasn't shielding her from anything and yet... she felt very much protected.

Safe.

(I'm sorry.) Scar said, his voice purring right next to her ear. One taloned hand was pressed against the small of her back, the other resting softly on the back of her head, (I can't apologize enough.)

Realizing she was holding her breath, Lex let it out in one shaky heave before she relaxed into his grip. It was just so natural. With his arms around her, Lex felt her anger and bitterness evaporate, no matter how much she tried to childishly hold on to it.

Pressing her cheek against his chest, finding his netting and armor only slightly uncomfortable, Lex closed her eyes as she tried to lose herself in his arms.

Feeling the tension ease from her lithe form, Scar began to gently stroke her hair with one clawed hand as he repeated softly to assuage her anger, (I'm sorry. Lex, I'm sorry.)

He meant his words. He meant every single word he uttered and Lex knew he did.

(I never- I just wanted... you were dying. I... I'm sorry for what you've had to suffer.) Scar had to pause in the middle of it and growl, fighting with the warrior side of him that accused him of going soft. Still, he was hoping the Ooman could get the message he was trying to relay to her. He truly was sorry.

Lex knew not everything that happened was his fault. She was not that childish.

But she couldn't bear the wrenching pain of being left again.

She had to know.

As much as she feared to ask, she NEEDED to know.

"Are you... will you leave me again?"

Scar's response was immediate. And though it was still softly spoken, it was filled with an unshakable conviction and a light growl.

(Never.)

A joy-filled tear traveled down her cheek as her arms, which had been dangling lifelessly before, wrapped around his broad torso, her fingertips barely meeting at the small of his back.

Heartened by the fact that she was embracing him back and that she was... just... ALIVE, Scar could only pull her closer to him, never wanting to let go.

His voice ringed with a hardened belief as he promised her softly, (Never again.)

After dispatching the kainde amedha he had been fighting, Rave had glanced around the large room and found that Grid had escaped once more. Sighing harshly in irritation, he had cast his gaze around the rest of the room only to lock it, shocked, on Scar and Lex. He had watched the heart-warming scene with curiosity and a grin tugging at his mandibles.

Granted, he thought the part where she had been hitting him quite hilarious once he realized she wasn't seriously trying to hurt him.

Striding up behind them, he crossed his arms and cleared his throat before saying matter-of-factly, (You know... we're still inside a sinking Ooman vessel. And I don't know about you two, but I'd rather NOT be inside it when this place is flooded with fucking cold water.)

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Haha, thanks for all the suggestions about the pic, guys. I got it handled now, though. I just made an account on DeviantArt under my author name: BlueBastard. Check it out if you want.