Author's Note: College is keeping me from writing when I want to, I apologize for making you wait, and of course thank you for doing so patiently.

Warning: Gore

Disclaimer: You and I both know I don't own anything except my Ocs.

Haven

As time finally came that the Yautja felt it was now or never, Lex stayed behind in the science wing, Scar volunteered to stay behind with her. The human warrior argued that they would need every available warrior for the plan to work, but Scar simply refused to leave his mate alone, just in case on of the Predaliens decided to explore the area its mother was held prisoner. Javelin convinced Lex that it was best she had Scar with her. With a final nod of good bye, and shaking shoulders, the hunters could only hope that everyone made it back alive.

Now Lex wished she had gone with them. Even if it was dangerous it wouldn't have been nearly as terrible as the waiting. Waiting. Waiting…

The silence…

Other than the occasional beep of technology in the lab there was utter silence. Scar paced around her protectively; his head turning every which way, searching for any sign of intruders. The waiting was getting to him too. The silence. Lex wished they could talk, more than anything she wanted to hear his voice right now, but words would not come from her throat.

Silence.

Lex pressed her knees as close to her chest as possible, starting at the floor, listening to the pounding of blood in her ears. She strained to hear something, anything besides this awful silence.

Nothing…

Wait.

Something made Lex's head rise, not so fast as to alarm Scar, but enough to make her heart skip a beat. What was…?

She heard it again.

Creeaak.

It sounded like a footstep on a rickety floor. The sound of someone trying to sneak up on them. Lex's mouth opened, ready to request that Scar stop and listen, but just as her vocals found her voice, a shape appeared out of the darkness "Look out!" She cried.

Scar whirled around, faster than his opponent had expected, parrying a blow aimed between his shoulder blades, meant to pierce his heart from behind. Alien metals clanged loudly against each other, Lex could make out the heat signature of an invisible Yautja, possibly the one that had attacked the scouting party earlier, the one who gone mad with panic?

Scar twisted, the force of the movement knocked his opponent's spear clean out of his hands and the newcomer grabbed for a sheathed dagger at his waist. Scar didn't allow that. Using only his bare fist, he struck the other Yautja across the face, grabbing for the wiring on his mask, knocking it loose and leaving his opponent blind. With amazing speed Scar clicked on his own cloaking and vanished from sight. Lex could just make out his outline when he moved, but her mate danced across the floor and held perfectly still, disappearing fully.

Lex stood and raced passed the intruder still recovering from his blow to the head, switching on her own invisibility as she did. She stopped behind the cover of an over turned table and froze, as invisible as her mate and waited.

It wasn't as awful as the previous waiting, but it still filled her with dread.

Their attacker shook himself and snarled, shaking away his invisibility, finding it no longer useful to him. Lex hand to cover her mouth to keep from gasping, she recognized the maddened Yautja. Dart. Who else? Part of her mocked, bits of memory flashed through her mind's eye. The feeling of being watched, knowing someone else had been in her room, the fight for the right to mate her, sabotage against their right to mate, and now this…

Dart was intentionally trying to destroy them.

Well not them, just Scar probably. But Lex was one of the dearest things in Scar's life, and she carried another with her right now. Dart wanted him to suffer, and was willing to sacrifice anything in order to do so. With a stunning realization, Lex wondered if he had let the other Queen out of her cage to prepare for this moment. To keep everyone busy while he hunted Scar?

Dart was mad alright, but not with panic. His madness went deeper, beyond hope. Beyond forgiveness. Lex bristled where she ducked, truly hating him for the first time. It was time to end this game.

Tonight, either Dart would die, or they would.

Dart looked around, searching for any sign of movement, knowing that he would not see them no matter how hard he looked. He backed toward the opposite wall. There were only so many places they could be hiding, and any movement would give them away. He'd have time to grab a weapon to defend himself. Lex glanced slowly over to Scar, wishing she could give him some sort of signal. They were at a stale mate, Scar and Lex could not move, and Dart would not unless they did.

There was only one thing she could do.

"Hey,Dumbass!" Lex shouted as she stood from her hiding place. "You want me come and get me you bitch!"

Dart growled in fury, Lex wasn't sure how much English Dart actually knew, but insults were easily recognized no matter the language. Dart hurtled forward with amazing speed. Lex ducked below the table again and rolled, silently praying that such a maneuver wouldn't hurt her baby. Dart, saw her movement, but could do nothing to stop himself, his momentum undoing him as he tripped over his own feet trying to stop and kill her. Lex grabbed a dagger off her own belt and threw it with accuracy that she never would have believed she was capable of back on Earth, into Dart's shoulder.

The Yautja howled in pain, and Lex skirted off to a new hiding spot while bright green blood splattered the ground. She held still, going invisible once again, Dart ripped the dagger from himself and threw it back to wear she had been a moment before, but the dagger stabbed only air, and clattered to the floor uselessly. Dart snarled and searched again for Lex. His eyes caught movement and he turned, another dagger, thrown by Scar this time, caught him in the chest, not close enough to his heart to be fatal, but still piercing between two armor plates, an incredibly throw.

Though Scar wouldn't be able to see, Lex flashed him a proud smile.

Dart turned his attention the where the weapon had originated. His eyes looked right at Scar, not seeing him, but knowing he was there. He started forward, not removing the knife from his chest. Lex tensed where she stood, but allowed herself to relax and stepped forward on silent feet. Without a single sound she cross to Dart's forgotten spear, and without even a whisper of metal against the floor lifted it.

Time to end this.

She followed him toward Scar, prepared to thrust the weapon between Dart's shoulder blades, to pierce Dart's heart from behind as he had intended to do to Scar. It was not the way of the Yautja, not an honorable execution, but Dart didn't deserve honor after all he'd done. Dar stopped feet from Scar, daring him to move and give himself away, only now did the Bad Blood remove the weapon in his chest. Fresh blood splattered against the floor.

"Cowards. Come out and fight me." He snarled. Lex's blood boiled, as did Scar's she was sure, to be called a coward when Dart was the one who had used his invisibility to hide himself as he snuck up on them.

It didn't matter though. Lex was steps from being in range to pierce his heart and end it. She lifted her foot soundlessly, and lowered it to the ground with just as much silence, not a single sound was heard…until her weight fell upon the floor.

Creeaak.

The same creaky floor that had alerted her to Dart's presence now alerted him to her. Dart whipped around, slicing with his dagger at the air behind him, catching Lex's cheek with its tip, another few centimeters and she would have lost an eye. Though the cut was not deep, it was painful, leaving her face stinging and making tears form at the corner of her eye. She thought for sure that Dart would strike again, knowing she was there, and try to finish her off. She despaired, knowing that at such close range she would be dead in seconds. But Dart did not continue his assault.

Instead, he ran.

He pushed passed Lex, knocking her to the ground, making for the doors back out into the rest of the ship, trying to escape.

Scar roared in rage and ran to Lex's side, quickly checking to see if she was alright.

"I'm fine, it's just a scratch, seriously, and it doesn't even hurt anymore." She explained, only half lying about the pain.

Scar got to his feet again, hauling Lex up. He glanced to the door, a trail of blood marked Dart's path. "Stay here." Scar said firmly, and dashed toward the door after Dart "I'll finish him."

"Stay here?" Lex repeated angrily, "Bullshit! I am not staying here!"

She stood, and ran after both of them. The tail of blood was so easy to follow that Lex could have tracked Dart even before her training as a hunter. She ran through the halls of the ship, passed a few stray facehuggers, which were ignored in the race to catch Dart. Lex heard the sound of another ship docking at the launch area, more hunters returning, more soldiers for the war.

At last the halls opened into a large area, where Lex's feet were forced to a halt at the sight in front of her. The large Queen and Xeira were locked in combat. Acid had eaten through the floors above them, dropping them to this level which had reinforced metal resistant to the acidic blood. Two Predaliens danced on the floor with the Yautja, and face huggers came from every direction. Bodies were strewn across the room, both Alien and Predator, entrails steamed from the bodies, hanging out of vicious wounds. Despite all she had trained for, all the hunting she had done, Lex was not prepared for this. Without thinking she threw her mask off and retched, both at the sight, and at the smell.

She heard her name shouted, Javelin warning her of a facehugger heading her way. She fire at it with her cannon, she regretted instantly leaving the science wing, she was caught in the battle now, and her retreat was being cut off by more facehuggers. God, how many of these fuckers were there?

Lex kept her eyes on the battle, searching for Dart and Scar. She saw her mate helping with one of the full grown Prealiens, not by choice, but by necessity, as it stood between him and Dart. And between Dart and the Predalien, with his back turned, was Crusade.

"No!" Lex screamed. But it was too late.

Dart took the dagger, still wet with his own blood, and thrust it into the back of Crusade's head, cleaving his skull. Crusade roared in surprise, and toppled to his knees, he sat there for a moment, but then dropped completely to the floor, the dagger's force and reach, making it passed flesh and bone, and penetrating his brain.

Crusade was already weak from fighting the hard meats, and with this attack he was dead in moments.

An outraged cry escaped Scar's throat, it was heard across the room, giving pause to more than a few of the fighting soldiers. Lex's own vocals were too shocked to make anything but a strangled squeak, but in her heart she matched Scar's bellow of hatred. Scar grabbed a spear out of the hands of his fighting companion, thrust it into the Predalien in front of him, and flung it aside. He ignored all other threats, his eyes on Dart alone. The murderer, with witnesses to his crime, began to flee again, Scar chased him, Lex wanted to follow, but was surrounded by Facehuggers. Did they ever end?

One flew at her, only to be blown back again by her cannon blast, another faced its demise at the tip of her spear. She risked looking away, and found Dart and Scar had vanished back into the maze of hallways, her heart followed them, her will joining Scar's in a promise. Dart will die!

Finally the sea Facehuggers surrounding her seemed to be thinning. Lex was almost relieved when she heard a pain filled roar, and the ground shook as Xeira dropped to the ground, bloody and panting. Finished? The other queen thought so, and triumphantly roared, readying herself to make the killing strike.

Lex fired a plasma shot at her face.

Caught by surprise the other queen shook her head in fury and turned to find the hunter who had dared try to take her glory away. Lex backed up, the Facehuggers started to regroup, planning on avenging her mother, but the queen hissed, and they dispersed, allowing her to take her own vengeance. Lex realized with dismay that while she had been fighting the Facehuggers she had backed herself into a corner so that they wouldn't get behind her. Now she had no where to run, and an angry queen approaching. The queen's tail lashed, ready to impale her; the queen paused only to savor the moment, before the strike was made.

Lex closed her eyes, as if expecting to escape the pain and death that was coming. A name was cried out, but it was not her's.

"Jaev'len!"

As Lex opened her eyes, a shape collided with her, knocking her to the ground, and taking the blow for her. The queen's tail caught Javelin, mostly in the side and he hung on the edge of it. Disinterested, the queen flung him aside like a rag doll, he landed against Xeira with a thud, in a lot of pain, but alive...for the moment at least.

Lex was stunned at the sacrifice. The world went black around her, she didn't remember moving, but apparently she had, the human-hunter dashed across the room. The final Predalien was cut down sometime while Lex had been preoccupied with the queen, and the others had turned their weapons on the big bitch herself. The Queen weakened, but it was not Yautja weapons that ended her.

It was Xeira.

The older Queen though tired and in pain, was not finished. She might have been, but Javelin's assault had awakened a new rage in her, the need to avenge a friend. Xeira rose, and collided with the other Queen, ignoring the weapons shot by the Yautja, her double jaws clamped down on the other Queen's throat. All fighting stopped while a struggle between the queens began, Xeira clutching with all her might, and the bitch fought to release herself from her grip. This fighting was what ended her. Xeira pulled in one direction the other queen yanked away. The result was the ripping of hard flesh; the Queen's throat bled dripping acid, and pumping with each beat of her heart.

The Queen screamed, and flailed; only making herself bleed faster, lose more blood. She stumbled, dropping, landing on the floor (and a few of the Yautja warriors). Still she struggled, acid pooled around her. Lex wondered how long it would take her to die…then the Queen began to slow, slow, and stop. She still breathed, but raggedy with a horrible sound, and at last that died away too. Lex knew better than to approach just yet. These things had away of coming back for an instant after death and trying to take you with them.

Instead, Lex turned to the spot where she had seen Javelin fall. He lay perfectly still on the floor, his bright green blood spilt across the floor. Tears stung Lex's eyes; she had already lost Crusade…Javelin too? In response, Javelin's chest rose and fell with a struggled breath. He wasn't dead, not yet. Could he hold out, and how long? She dropped to her knees beside him, his eyes snapped open, bright and strong with life, just tired. This Yautja wasn't done yet, not for a while. Lex let herself smile.

"Did… she get her?" Javelin asked. He was referring of course to Xeira.

Around them the warriors fought to exterminate the remaining Facehuggers. Xeira stood over the body of the lifeless Queen, her tail swaying triumphantly. "Yes." Lex replied. "She got the bitch."

Xeira snarled at the word 'bitch', but quickly understood that the name was not directed at her. The ground shook with Xeira's footsteps as she approached. The massive alien Queen, stood over them, and lowered her head to Javelin, nudging him slightly, to see if he was alive. Javelin trilled in amusement, this satisfied the queen and she turned away, lying down, close enough to show her trust in Javelin, but not close enough that her acidic blood would harm her friend.

Lex stood, letting her smile grow. She turned to see Crusade's body, a pool of acid swept toward him. Lex moved swiftly, grabbing his limp form and dragging it out of the reach of the acid. She wasn't sure how the Yautja attended their dead, but she was sure that letting him be dissolved in the blood of the Kainde Amedha was not their way. Finished moving him, Lex looked up, toward the hall where Scar had chased Dart out.

Only one loose end left to tie…

Author's end note: Annnd, we'll leave of here, let you chew on that for however long it take me to update again. Thanks for reading, I'm sorry it took so long, but its out of my hands, all I can do is hope you enjoyed, and leave you wanting more.