I was very upset when I went to finish my story on Sunday, only to find that, even though I had saved it, all but one sentence was lost to the ether. I wasn't too eager to rewrite it, but did. It has changes as I couldn't remember word for word what I had written before.
In this part, Lex has to find out why she was kidnapped. Does Scar find her in time? Will things change for them? Make a little war, make a little love, it's all here. Hope you enjoy.
I don't own AVP, just having a bit of fun.
When an enemy becomes a friend chapter 9
Lex got off the bed, and stood before her captor, hands clenched tightly in a very controlled anger. "Who the hell are you, and why have you taken me against my will?"
"The man smiled and said, "You're not being held against your will. You have complete freedom here."
"Prove it. Let me go...now!" Lex stared down the oh-so-innocent looking being, determined to show no fear. She just wanted out of here.
"Not just yet. You have a nasty bump on your head, and we wanted to be sure..."
"Considering how I got that bump, I'm surprised you care." She rubbed the still painful protrusion on her head.
"It was necessary. You were fighting us." His hands were behind his back now. He seemed so relaxed, as if this incident was nothing out of the ordinary. Lex had had enough, however.
"Where are the other hunters? Did you kill them all?" It was all she could do not to rush the guy, but she no longer had her combi-stick. Probably taken by her captors.
"The Others? Some are dead, some are alive. They are most likely back on their ship by now. Please, come with me. We'll get you something to eat." He pressed a spot on the wall, and the well-hidden door slid open.
Dead? Back on the ship? Lex wondered if Scar was among the dead or the living. Would he have left her behind? If the ship was no longer in orbit...
"My name is Proclus. I am steward of this place. And you are...?"
"Alexa." She said nothing more than that, not even giving him her nickname of Lex. She kept looking around as they moved down a long corridor. One thing missing that she hadn't seen yet were windows. "Do you live underground?"
"How observant of you to notice. Yes, we do. We venture outside, as you and your hunting party saw. But we prefer being in the safety of the this underground complex. We have everything we need here, protection, a controlled environment and peace." Proclus stopped and turned to Lex. "You are not like the Others. Are you their slave?"
Lex protested, "No, not at all. They saved me, well, one did. I was given permission to go along with them. They just forgot to mention that they were leaving Earth. That's where I come from." She had no desire to give him much information. "Look, it's a long story, one I don't care to explain to a stranger. So who are you people anyway?"
"That's not important. What is important is what we can offer you."
He held out his hand, leading Lex into a side room. There she saw several other humanoids cooking, with still others choosing food and sitting at tables. Many were speaking with one another in a language she didn't recognize. Yet Proclus was speaking to her in perfect English. He picked up a small platter and asked Lex if she saw anything to her liking. She was only a bit hungry. Her main desire was to look for an escape route. She chose some fruit, at least it looked like fruit, and nodded that it was enough.
They sat down at an empty table. Lex ate a bit of the fruit and then asked, "Now you mentioned something about what you can do for me. What exactly does that mean?"
Proclus stopped eating and looked at Lex, as she waited for an answer. "We can send you home," was all he said.
Home. Lex's eyes looked up in surprise at him, her mouth open as she started to ask him how, but she shut it, and looked down at her food. "Home. Back to Earth?"
"Don't you wish to return to your world? You won't have to spend anymore time with those disgusting creatures."
Lex jumped up from her chair. "They're not disgusting!" She realized everyone in the room was looking at her, and she sat back down. "They're just...different. They never hurt me." But she thought a moment, finally saying, "Going home would be nice, but how can you do that? I haven't seen much mechanization here."
"Again, it's of no importance. We can make it possible." He seemed to be waiting for something from Lex. She didn't say anything else. She was thinking of Scar, and wondered what he would do if she left him without a word . For all she knew, he had left her on this rock, the ship taking off without her. She had no idea that that was the furthest thing from Scar's mind.
*********************************
Scar continued searching for Lex, but soon the infrared reader lost the footprints. Now he was on his own. He scanned the countryside, looking for any sign of Lex or the humanoids who had taken her. He kept the ship updated on his progress, or lack thereof. The elder told him that they would give him a little more time before he would have to return.
Scar was not giving up, and so kept up his search. His scanner started to give him very odd readings, as if the rock face of this mountain had nothing behind it. That couldn't be, he thought, and headed in that direction. He came upon an odd looking boulder. Scanning it with his computer, he didn't read anything solid behind it. Stepping back, he took one sonic explosive, set it and fell back behind some rocks, waiting for the expected concussion. The boulder was blown into thousands of pieces, and Scar saw what his computer had already shown him. An empty room, cut into the rock face, and most definitely artificial.
He entered the room that was behind the now blasted boulder. It had obviously been disguising this entrance. He kept his finger on the arm blade release, moving slowly into a corridor. He heard nothing, and saw no one. He sniffed the air, but it was as if no living thing had been here in awhile. He moved stealthily onward, on constant alert.
He could not have known that his every step was being watched. As soon as he reached a fork in the corridor, he felt a sharp painful buzzing in his head, and collapsed hard to the floor. Darkness quickly followed.
**********************************
When he came to, he saw that he was locked in a small bare room. There was only a small bed, too small for him, set off to the side. His weapons had been removed, even his arm blade. He looked around the room visually, seeing no apparent entrance. He used his wrist computer to scan the area, his captors having left him that, but it just read that there were empty rooms beyond this one. How would he get out? He ran his hand along the entire room, but he found no break in the wall indicating a doorway. In frustration, he pounded on the wall, roaring out at his invisible jailers. His mandibles flared as he paced, thinking of a way to escape this cell.
**********************************
While Lex sat with Proclus, another man came over to them, and whispered into Proclus's ear, then left. "Come. I want you to see something." He rose, and with Lex in tow, went out into the corridor. It seemed to Lex that they were headed in the same direction of the room she had been in. They stopped in front of a bare wall, where Proclus pushed a spot on the wall. A door slid open and he held out his hand for Lex to enter. She leaned in, and saw to her shock, Scar pacing the floor. The door slid shut behind her. She stood there, unable to believe that he was really here. "Scar?"
He turned at the sound of her voice. It was Lex. She is alive. He looked her up and down, making sure that she was unharmed. She seemed to be happy to see him, if his judgement of her past behavior was true.
For her part, she was so happy to see him, she ran to him and embraced his body tightly. "You didn't leave me. You stayed here." She pulled back but did not let go of him. Lex looked into his amber eyes, seeing what, relief? Or something else?
Scar let Lex hug him, as he was loathe to let her go. He had found her, that was all that mattered. Why had her captors let her be with him, after having taken her away? Part of him wanted to destroy each and every humanoid here. They were no longer just prey. He wanted vengeance now. But part of him only wanted to get Lex away from here, while she was safe.
"Scar, these people didn't hurt me," she said, knowing he would want to kill them. She had seen that look in his eyes before, and she saw it now. "Scar, they want to send me home." She stepped back and waited for his reaction.
His computer put into words, what his own mouth could not do. "You want to go home." It was more a statement of fact than a question. "Do you wish to leave me?" Never before had he indicated in so blatant a way, that she was with him, that he saw her as a part of him. Almost losing her made him realize how important she was to him. But now that he had found her, he may lose her anyway. This did not make him happy. He stormed at where he remembered the door was, and roared in anger. "I will kill them all!"
Lex ran to him. "Please, Scar...," she cried, as she grabbed his arm.
He turned to look down at her. He purred as he reached out and caressed her hair. He ran a finger along her cheek, careful not to scratch her with his nail. His hand slid down to her shoulder, feeling the smoothness of her skin. He pulled her to him. It was then that he decided that this female was important to him. He then thought with surprise, that this was the first time he hadn't included the word ooman with the word female. Lex frowned at him, but he felt it was more that she was unsure how to react. He had never openly touched her this way, reserving such actions for when she was asleep next to him. He would keep her with him, but would she be willing. If these aliens could offer her a way home, would she accept their help instead? "Lex, I want you to stay with me, on the ship. We must escape. If you choose not to come with me, I will not stop you."
Lex looked up at the giant alien creature who had been her constant companion these many weeks, or was it months. She'd lost track of time. Now he was telling her he wanted her with him. They weren't of the same species and yet, she often wondered if a friendship could be more, even if unconsummated. Like a cat and dog who are best friends, but never mate. She wiped an errant tear from her cheek before Scar could see it. She thought of home, Earth. What would people say if she were to suddenly turn up after being gone for so long? Would they believe her story? Could she say no to even the slightest possibility of getting back? These people still hadn't answered her questions very clearly. How would they be able to send her home, and why were they so eager to do so? It was all very confusing. But one thought crept into her brain amongst the confusion. She would miss Scar.
"I don't know what to do", she said desperately. "I care about you, Scar, I do. But your way of life is not one I want to live the rest of my life. Can you understand?" She saw him as he tilted his head, to peer down at her. He nodded once. "This might be my only chance to get home."
It was then that both Scar and Lex heard the sound of what both knew to be Yautja explosives. Lex looked at Scar. He grabbed her arm gently and said, "I called for help when I found this place. There will be many warriors. You must tell me now. Do you want to be with me?"
The thought in Lex's mind was that he had pretty much taken the choice from her, as surely as the Jautja would kill everyone here, or die trying. But even so, would she have accepted their offer, even if it proved to be a fake. Looking at Scar, remembering all he had done for her and with her, she didn't think she could bear to leave him, not yet. In that brief moment, she had made her decision.
"Let's go!" she said.
To be continued