When Ali awoke the aliens that had been responsible for the attack were clustered around the Queen. Ali couldn't hear what she was telling them but by the way they occasionally flinched the Queen wasn't happy. Ali looked around and saw Jordan lying in a corner of the room. There was a facehugger still on her face and she was breathing slowly.

"Why?!" Ali shouted as she forced herself to turn away from Jordan, "Why did they attack her?"

The Queen turned to look at her before saying, Because I told them to.

"You told them to attack Jordan?!" Ali shouted

No, I did not tell them to attack Jordan specifically, I simply told them to bring me hosts, the Queen replied, They must have met up with Jordan on her way back and since they could not recognize her, confused her with prey.

"But then why didn't they stop when you told them to?" Ali said

Because they were only relying on their instincts at that point.

"What does instinct have to do with this?" Ali asked

I asked them to go get hosts, when they found one they instinctively attacked. Even if though I ordered them to stop, they could not. They could not stop their instincts. You did the same thing.

"When?" Ali shot back

A long time ago, when you had first brought Jordan to the Hive and was given the task by the former Queen to go bring her hosts. When you offered to take Jordan along, Jordan passed out from the beating that her father had recently put her through. You told the former Queen to look after Jordan because you wanted to get the hosts the Queen needed. But when she protested, you did not listen and went right along.

"How did you know about all that?" Ali asked, slightly amazed.

The Queen let out a gurgle and Ali realized that she was laughing,Mother, have you forgotten what happens to a Queen when she bursts out of her host? She gets all the memories and thoughts of the host. The only reason I knew all of that was because you had been my host.

"But what I did was different," Ali said

Oh? How so? The Queen asked when Ali didn't reply the Queen continued, You instinctively left Jordan because you wanted to sustain the Hive and help out the Queen. That is the same thing that the aliens that attacked Jordan did.

Ali tried thinking of ways that she could deny any similarity between what she did and what the other aliens did, but she could think of nothing. Finally, with tears in her eyes, she walked away from her daughter and went to a spot clear of eggs. Sitting down she hugged herself and cried softly. As she cried the Runner Alien walked up next to her and lay down, wrapping his tail around her body. "Timothy," Ali whispered.

For the rest of the day Ali ignored her daughter and the other aliens around her. The Runner Alien stayed with her the whole day. Every time she would start crying the Runner Alien would hiss gently and nudge her with his head. After a while Ali decided to name the alien. She thought for a moment on what would be a good name for it and then she thought of one, "I'll call you Timothy Junior, or TJ for short." TJ hissed and nodded, "I guess you like it," Ali said with a giggle.

Just then a loud cough split the quite air. Ali's head shot up to see Jordan with her face bare. Ali ran to her as Jordan tried to stand up. As Ali reached her, Jordan collapsed back on the ground, breathing hard. Ali found a tattered old blanket and wrapped it around Jordan as she let out a shiver.

"Jordan, I'm so sorry," Ali said as a tear fell down her cheek.

"What are you sorry for?" Jordan asked, "You didn't send those aliens on me. And I really don't blame them either. They were just reacting to me when they found me upstairs. They couldn't recognize me and so they just did the first thing they do when they see a stranger."

"But you're going to die!" Ali shouted and then added, "again."

"But, you see, I am actually not that worried about it," Jordan replied, "I mean yeah, it is a little nerve-racking that I am going to die again, and this time it will be very painful. But I'm just glad that I didn't get eaten by an alien or something, I mean at least I'll be benefiting the Hive."

"Yeah, but still," Ali replied but she didn't finish as Jordan suddenly leaned over and gasped. She placed her hand on her chest which jerked sharply. Jordan's face was suddenly contorted in pain as her body jerked again and she fell forward. TJ hissed and hurried over to Jordan and Ali just as Jordan began going into convulsions. Jordan rolled over onto her back and the blanket fell off her shoulders. Jordan's eyes flew open and her pain was easily reflected in them. She turned her head and looked over at Ali but her eyes held no recognition that it was Ali. Jordan screamed again as blood shot out of her chest. Ali screamed too as her friend went still and the chestburster forced its way out of her chest. The chestburster let out a screech and pulled itself out of Jordan's body, jumping into Ali's lap.

Ali stroked the baby alien's head as she cried. She turned around to look at the Queen. "Will this alien have Jordan's memories?" she asked.

No, the Queen replied, Only Queens inherit the memories and thoughts of their host.

Ali hung her head and stared at the chestburster. Suddenly, she stood up, surprising TJ and the chestburster in her arms which ran off with a screech. "I want to bury her," Ali said, "I want to bury Jordan."

The Queen looked at her for a minute and then said, If that is what you wish. TJ will help you.

"How did you know that is what I decided to call him?" Ali asked, slightly surprised.

I heard you giving him his name, Timothy Junior. Besides I think in the way you think, which means I would have named him the same thing.

Ali smiled, but then she said, "Thanks, but I want to do this by myself." TJ nodded in understanding and turned away, walking over to a group of aliens.

Ali bent down and picked up Jordan, surprised at how light she was, and made her way up the stairs. She reached the top and continued out to the front garden. Setting Jordan down, Ali started to pull out the weeds. It was really easy, especially with her alien strength. Within minutes she had cleared a large patch of dirt. Ali looked at the cleared out space and gasped. She had subconsciously been clearing a space next to the dead facehugger she had buried when she had been reunited with Timothy. But she forced herself to stop thinking about Timothy as she started to dig. It didn't take long before she had a shallow grave. Picking up Jordan she gently placed the body into the grave and pushed the dirt back over Jordan's lifeless form. She sat there for a few minutes, crying at having to lose her friend for the second time.