I do not own Aliens.

I've had a crush on Michael Biehn just about forever. And Sigourney Weaver is a badass goddess.

The Survivors of LV-426

Last Left Alive

So they're dead, they're all dead.

Vasquez. Drake. Childhood in the ghetto, grunts in the field.

Gorman, wound so green and tight, he could eat coal and shit diamond.

The Sergeant, whose job it was to point and yell and chew a cigar he never lit.

Even Hudson, with his loud-mouth, dick-swinging, annoying-as-shit attitude.

Burke the asshole, he hoped one of those things hurt like a bastard ripping its way out of his chest.

They were all dead and he was alive.

Just like Rachel.

Except this time, . . .

"Rest up, soldier. We'll be home before you know it."

. . . it isn't just him.

The next time she comes to, the attendant, or one dressed like the one before, is still there.

Eyeing her warily as Ellen Ripley attempts to sit slowly up in the bed.

"How are you feeling?"

She doesn't even try to smile.

"Awful."

"That's to be expected. Your body's been through a lot."

"Are you going to dope me again?"

"No. We just needed you to rest."

"I've been resting."

She is offered no response to this.

"I need to see the people I came in here with. Please. I need to see that they're okay. Hicks. Newt. Bishop."

"The man and girl are fine. They're in quarantine, just like you."

And she feels terror fluttering in her chest cavity, stuttering her heart, just where a Chestburster might be.

"Why? What's wrong with them? What's wrong with me?"

"Nothing. Standard procedure."

"Are you sure? We've been x-rayed?"

"Yes. You're all clean. It's just standard procedure. Please lie back and relax."

And she sags back against the pillow.

"What about Bishop?"

"Bishop?"

"The android."

"Oh. The synthetic was deactivated and disposed of upon arrival."

And she feels physically struck by this unexpected blow. Begins sitting up again.

"What?!"

"There was too much damage. The decision was made to decommission him rather than expend the resources to rebuild him."

"What?! Why?! No! He wasn't just a synthetic, he was a person, he saved our lives, goddammit! We would have died without him!"

Rage courses through her, she's on the edge of hysterical, destructive tears.

"Ma'am,-"

"Don't fucking call me 'ma'am', who the hell do you people think you are that you can just make decisions like that without-"

Ready to tear the entire white, sterile room apart.

"Please. If you don't calm down, we'll be forced to dose you again."

And this.

This disregard for people's autonomy-

"You can't just treat people like this! We are human beings, goddammit! You gonna 'decommission' me too while you're at it?!"

She's irrational, she's lashing out, she's not in control of herself, she's ready to tear this entire thing down, after all this time of being in control of herself-

And with a kicked-over tray and scattered medical supplies and a room suddenly full of attendants in suits, . . .

"NO! NO! I have to see my friends!"

. . . they send her down into darkness again.

May seem un-Ripley-like.

But she's been through some shit, man.

And, for her, in, like, a year's time. 'Cuz cryosleep doesn't let you experience the passage of time. And I'm guessing there was six months or so while she was trying to be a civilian with the job hunt and the loaders, etc then back to everything again.

So she's finally a little crispy.

My opinion anyway.

Thanks for reading!