When I started this, I figured I'd lose interest quick… but I haven't. :D Hope everyone is enjoying reading it as much as I love writing it.

Aaaand after receiving a couple complaints about the orientation of the text, I decided I'll change it. I liked the way the centered looked, but if everybody can read it easier this way, then it's fine.

Enjoy!

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Three hours.

It had been over three hours since she had last seen the Engineer. Ellie couldn't help but pace around. She had already picked over the counter top, and all the random strange objects strewn across it. She felt hungry, but wouldn't dare try anything without the Engineer being back. She had paced the room many times, laid down and tried to relax, but couldn't. The curious doctor even poked through the small doorways, and the tiny rooms they led to. Each smaller doorway, led to a personal bedroom-like area. It had a cot looking structure, and a small table. Nothing really worth noting.

She had no idea where he had gone, or what he was doing. She wasn't even sure if he was coming back, but his small nod made her think he would. David tried repeatedly to comfort her, explaining that he just was probably getting supplies. No matter what he said, it didn't matter to her. It was dangerous out there, and this small fear in her heart wasn't something David cold truly appreciate it.

She was now laying on the couch in a huff, her arms supporting her head and neck. This couch structure wasn't very comfortable, and it made her back ache. Her eyes were locked on the intricate ribs of the ceiling, she just wondered what he could be doing. If he was even okay.

All of these thoughts buzzing in her head made her nervous, she didn't want to entertain the idea that the Engineer could have abandoned her. Depressing thought.

The sudden opening of the doors made her jerk upwards and leap to her feet, eyes on the Engineer. He had something large in his arms, but she ignored it as she made her way up to him. He seemed almost surprised to see her.

"Where have you been?"

Her words meant nothing as the Engineer slowly set down the large folded objects in his arms. Her eyes were locked on his as he stood up again, towering over her. He rolled his heavy shoulders around, stretching out the muscles as he straightened his posture. After a few quiet moments, his eyes fell to hers.

The alien then seemed to take a sudden interest in something on her head. He carefully reached out and very hesitantly, very gently, touched the hair on her head. Her body tensed up at the contact. She made no movement, but was tickled that the alien was so fascinated by her. He too must be curious, like her. His strong fingers slowly felt around her head, ruffling her hair. His expression seemed to fall to confusion, like he didn't understand what he was feeling. Although this made her nervous, she decided to see what he did, and how he reacted. It was only fair she let him explore like she did to him earlier.

The huge hand covered the side of her head as he ran it over her hair, smoothing it down. The Engineer then took a half step forward, making her feel more rigid in front of him. She still felt slightly nervous about being so close to him, especially after watching him slaughter her crew members so easily. His hand was warm, like the hand of a man. Well, that wasn't fair to think, he had the same DNA as her, so technically speaking, he was a man.

A man? What an odd thought.

The towering space jockey then removed his hand, making her furrow her eyebrows together in a questioning way. She dismissed her thoughts of him as a man as she observed his new actions. His huge body sunk down, his right knee holding his weight as it settled on the ground. He was now down on one knee in front of her, making him just a tiny bit shorter than her now.

Ellie stared for a few moments, confused. David stared at them as best he could from the angle he faced. The android was wondering about the situation as well.

She reluctantly reached out to the kneeling Engineer, his eyes seemed to be looking passed her. He looked so… Tranquil. He was just going to let her touch him? He seemed to understand she was as curious as he was, and it baffled her to see that he felt the same way. She knew it shouldn't confuse her, the thirst for exploration was a quality they both had. Regardless of the reason, this was an opportunity to take a closer look at him.

Ever so gently, she put her hands on the sides of his face and traced her finger tips over his jaw and scalp. This skin was smooth and soft like on his hand, she couldn't believe how perfect it was. It was warm too, despite the fact it looked cooler than human skin. Her hands ran over the back of his head gently, her eyes following the perfect curve of his skull. He didn't move, it almost seemed like he was holding his breath because he was so still. A part of her wondered whether he was as nervous as she was.

The dainty palms of her hands slowly moved over his skin on his jaw, and onto the sides of his neck. The collar of the uniform was almost perfectly seamless, but it was rougher than his skin. These space suits seemed like a second skin for them, a small smile curved on her lips as she admired the profound masculine features on his face. She didn't, however, dare put her hands on his face, for fear of crossing any boundaries. His brow rested low above his eyes, giving him a naturally aggressive looking expression. She didn't notice herself leaning in closer, looking at the bone structure of his face in detail. High cheekbones protruded out under his eyes, giving him a slightly elegant appearance.

The Engineer then made her recoil and step back as he suddenly pushed himself back up to a standing position. It a was brief observation on her part, but nevertheless very intriguing.

She smiled up at him as he looked down to her,

"Thank you."

…

After their awkward moment together, they had sat down on the couch structure. While the Engineer fiddled around with the computer, Ellie had dozed off. Nightmares plagued her sleep. Scenes of Charlie burning alive and laying beside her frightened her. Dreams of that alien trilobite choking her made her flail around a bit in her sleep. However, the most prominent nightmare she had, was seeing her father. He was calling to her as he stood down a dirt road in the middle of an african savannah. He called out to her over and over, making her run towards him, the golden light of the setting sun glowing from behind him. She cried heavily as she ran towards him, but could never reach him. He finally smiled and waved to her one last time, before turning and walking over the hill ahead of her. She screamed out to him as he disappeared into light of the horizon. A chill shot through her whole body as a heavy hand grabbed her shoulder, and turned her around.

The sky was dark on this side, lightning struck around the huge beings in front of her. Hundreds of Engineers stood behind her, all of them looking identical and staring at her. Instantly she felt cold, like the weight of an ocean was above her. The one who held her towered almost five feet above her, and spoke to her angrily in its own language. She whimpered as he shook her, shouting in her face. She shook her head, gasping through her tears as she looked up to him. Then, she instantly froze as he pushed her from her shoulder. She fell back, and just keep falling. She fell over a cliff and down into a dark ravine. An abyss. She opened her mouth to scream, but no noise came out. It seemed to go on forever, making her feel more and more afraid than she already was. The voice of the Engineer that pushed her echoed in her mind, but as she closed her eyes, silence engulfed her.

With a small nudge from the Engineer, Ellie jerked out of her sleep. Her hair was wild from laying down for so long as she turned her head in a panic to who woke her. The messy strands hung around her face as she looked through the hair wide eyed. She had almost forgotten where she was. The Engineer was standing beside her, no real emotion on his face. His hand retracted from her shoulder as he stood more upright. She rubbed her eyes and shook her head,

"What is it?"

The huge space jockey motioned for her to get up, grudgingly, she did so. She stretched and yawned as she looked up at the muscular figure as he moved towards the door. She followed him with her eyes as he picked something off the floor and turned back to her, holding it out with one hand. She slowly took a few steps and reached out and took the folded material from him, thinking of what it could be. A hand gesture from him made her realize that it was a suit like his. His hand gesture toward his body earlier then made sense now, but had he really trimmed a suit down for her in that two hours?

"He crafted you a more fitted suit, that rescue ship seems to have begun it's descent."

David, again, made her flinch. She glanced over at the android and blinked a few times. It was like what he said didn't click in her mind. Rescue? That word felt strange to hear, especially after she had become so accustomed to the dank ship. The Engineer made a move to his left, and turned towards the door. She looked at the back of his head, as if he was going to turn around and tell her what was going on. David spoke up once more,

"Dr. Shaw, you must get dressed in order to get out to the ship."

"I-I don't believe it. His people came here? They actually came to rescue him?"

She began moving the uniform around, trying to figure out how to put it on. After shedding her robe, she held it up to get a better look at the heavy suit. The Engineer was giving her some privacy, how chivalrous, she thought as she moved the black suit around to figure out which way it went. She found a long slit in the thick leathery material, and struggled to step through. The android continued speaking to her casually,

"Yes it would seem that they did. Are you frightened to meet them?"

"Not frightened, just a little nervous."

She then figured out how to fully get the suit on, and pulled it up over her hips. It was very tight, and had that bony ribbed material on the outside like the Engineers. It felt rather stiff as she struggled to pull it over her head. As she fully got into the suit, she pressed the large slit on the right side of the uniform together, looking for a zipper. As soon as the edges touched, the pieces seemed to fuse together. She yanked her fingers away and gasped, studying the strange sealing mechanism. Before she could try to poke into it, the Engineer moved forward, making her look at him. He opened the huge door and her heart picked up, she stared as he turned and motioned for her to follow.

She couldn't believe she had slept so long, they were really here? As the Engineer moved to exit the room, she piped up, darting over to the two parts of the android. Her small hands picked up the android and she turned to the space jockey, her eyes pleading for him to help her. The alien hesitated, looking from her to the body. David observed the Engineer as he seemed to contemplate even bringing him. Relief blanketed her as the large being scooped David up like he had before, carrying the body for her. The Engineer seemed to understand she really did need David, she was thankful for this.

The two of them proceeded to run down the hall, she followed the Engineer as he made turns and opened doors for them. It felt easier to keep up with the long stride of the Engineer now for her, she felt energized. It was the moment she had been waiting for her whole life, to meet them. She now could get a look at their culture and understand how everything worked. A clunk from above them made her come back to reality, looking up just as the grate of a vent looking structure fell. It fell on her. The large vent cover was unbearably heavy, a shrill scream escaped her throat as she collapsed beneath the coffee table sized grate. Her hands pushed desperately at the floor, her back pressed into the cold bone-like metal of the grate. The Engineer immediately spun around to see what had happened, and a large tan tentacle dropped down out of the ventilation system.

Another scream filled the hall as she flailed around beneath the heavy grate upon seeing the familiar creature out of the corner of her eye. The space jockey dove down over her, his large hands grabbing each side of the heavy grate that crushed down on the red haired woman. He struggled to avoid the tentacle and get a good grip on the edges of the metal. The tentacle felt around on the walls close to him, searching for the prey that it had sought out earlier.

As the grate lifted, there was no way around marveling at how powerful the Engineer actually was. Ellie jumped to her feet too soon, as the tentacle swayed over and knocked her down into the wall to her right. The smack to the wall made her head spin, she stumbled around for a few seconds, trying to get her bearings. She blinked a few times, trying to get her head to stop swaying back and forth. She wasn't sure if it was actually moving or not, but her vision was definitely shaky. A snarl from the Engineer made her look up from the ground and to her left, the scene blurry for a few more moments. A smaller, longer tentacle had erupted from the vent. The tentacled creature couldn't fit completely through the hole in the ventilation grate, but it had that thinner tentacle around the pale alien's arm. It was going to do anything to pull them up there with it. An instantaneous lurch in her stomach made her jaw drop in horror. She immediately jumped over to him, not a second thought before grabbing and yanking at the tentacle frantically.

The Engineer pulled and leaned away as it tried to pull him up into the ceiling, gritting his teeth visibly as he arched his back away from the ravenous creature. The petite human had leaped over to him and was pulling wildly at the tentacle wrapping its way around his arm. Fear of being touched by the creature flew out the door for Ellie, this space jockey was her savior, and she would fight to keep him with her. The threatening appendage was slick in her hands as she grabbed wildly at the end of the slimy tentacle. The larger tentacle swayed around uselessly, too short to wrap completely around anything. Leaning his large body away from the creature allowed the Engineer to stretch the thinner tentacle out, causing it to strain to hold him. In a panic, small human hands yanked repeatedly on the tentacle, trying to loosen it. The only thought that rung in her mind:

You are not taking him, I won't lose him too.

With frantic pulls and small twists, the Engineer's arm began to slide through the grip of the creature. She stood in front of the muscular humanoid as they both pulled, feeling that the tug of war was now leaning in their favor. Her hands almost slipped off as the tentacle's grip began to loosen. The tentacle then completely slid off the Engineer's arm, causing he and the woman to fall backwards. She collapsed back onto the abdomen of the burly alien as they fell to the floor in a messy heap. The tentacles flailed around above them, trying to pull the creature down into the hall. The movement of the Engineer beneath her made Ellie realize where she was sitting, on his lower body. She quickly scooted off the body of the Engineer, ignoring the embarrassment to focus on the tentacles still waving around.

The bold doctor crawled forward on her knees, and grabbed David's head, pulling it back with her as she recoiled back to the side of the Engineer. The muscular body she had fallen onto was now standing, hauling the android's larger half up and backing towards the door. The woman immediately followed suit, backing out of reach from the tentacles. Both of them looked in utter shock to each other at what had just happened. Neither of them wanted to stick around to get caught again by the creature lurking in the vents. The Engineer turned and began jogging down the hall, the doctor quickly followed behind him. They ran as fast as their legs would carry them, not wasting a second.

As they made their way down the last chamber on the ship, the Engineer made a small stop on his left. Ellie panted beside him as her wild eyes followed his every movement.

He used his free hand to pull out a helmet from the small rectangular section in the wall. There were at least four more on the shelf alongside the one he pulled out. The alien motioned with his head toward the helmets to the woman behind him, she frantically grabbed one and and put it on her head with little hesitation. It was difficult for her to see out of, but she managed to wiggle it on after setting David's head down. The android spoke up to her from the floor,

"Make sure you seal it tight doctor, it is probably still pretty windy outside."

Ellie felt around until she found what she thought were latches, and pulled them against her suit. It amused her that David was constantly pointing things out to her along the way. She knew she had to reassemble him once they got onto the ship.

The helmet locked in place just as the Engineer turned to inspect her helmet, making sure it was on properly. The red head picked up the head of the android as the alien put on his own helmet, she thanked David quietly,

"Thank you for the heads up David."

The blond synthetic smiled at her gratitude, liking the feeling of being helpful. David couldn't explain why, even after all the events, he wouldn't want to be anywhere but here. This was the most adventure he had seen since he had been built, and it intrigued him seeing what was unfolding. He knew that the doctor would put him back together when she got the chance, and he would dedicate himself to being useful to her. The woman carrying him darted after the Engineer through the exit doors of the ship, and into the base of the pyramid. It was even more grim here, especially when the ran passed the enormous doorway to the chamber where Millburn and Fifield had been killed. They continued sprinting through the dark chambers of the pyramid, hearing the howling wind outside. So many thoughts ran through her head as she ran after the large humanoid. What would his people think of her? Would they welcome her? What about David? How would they treat the Engineer since he was over two thousand years old? So many questions ran through her mind, but none of it mattered. All that mattered was getting as far from this hellish ship as possible.

After what felt like an eternity of running, she could see the gap between the ground and the ceiling of the pyramid. An exit. The Engineer slowed his pace as they reached the exit, the bright sunlight made them both cover their eyes for a few moments. It was blinding out here, especially after they had sat inside such a dark ship for so long. Natural light seemed so enticing to her as her eyes gazed out at the rocky desert. A brief thought of sun basking on a grassy hill with a good book made her smile inwardly. A wave of fear and excitement replaced her smile as she saw the foreign looking ship a couple hundred yards from the entrance of the pyramid. A shaky breath entered and left her lungs, it was hard to stay relaxed.

The wind whipped loudly ahead of them, making Ellie a tad nervous. The woman stood close to the Engineer as they wasted no time going out into the arid desert. The wind nearly knocked her over as they moved away from the pyramid, she clung to David's head like a life preserver as they ran out towards the ship. She blinked her eyes hard, her gaze locked onto the ship ahead of them. She still couldn't believe it. At any moment, the ship would disappear, like a mirage.

Her heart practically jumped into her throat when she noticed Vickers life support module a couple hundred feet to her left. She shook her head, remembering that the creature must have come out of the med pod. Quietly, she hoped Janek and the crew were safe and on their way home. As they came upon the large oblong shaped ship, a large doorway opened up. Words couldn't describe how anxious she felt as these other Engineers appeared before them, standing just inside the door. She was so focused on the door, she hadn't really taken note of the appearance of the ship. There were at least eight other Engineers, all standing with weapons of some sort in each of their hands. They entered the ship, and it was dead silent. As the door slammed behind her, Ellie knew there was no turning back now. Now they were going to do whatever they wanted.

Two of the helmeted beings came forward, quickly taking David's body from the Engineer and David's head from her. She resisted for just an instant, but then realized they probably wanted to make sure no one brought any contaminants on board. David disappeared along with the aliens back into the chambers of the ship, making her feel more alone than before. The Engineer turned back to her, removing his helmet as the pressure returned to normal. He reached back and helped take her helmet off, she almost didn't want to.

The heavy helmet felt like armor, protecting her from those around her. As all of their helmets came off, she realized there were two female Engineers on board. They were not quite as tall as the males, and definitely had a more feminine shape than the men. As her last tiny little piece of protection was set aside, her heart was practically beating into her throat. All of those dark eyes were on her. Her muscles quivered with nervous energy, she wasn't sure what would happen now. She was human, and wasn't comfortable thinking of the bad outcomes of this situation. Without realizing it, she had cowered beside the Engineer she had traveled here with.

A large male alien to her right then began speaking, the room seemed to erupt in conversation between the space jockeys. She felt so out of place among these beings, but it was unbelievable actually being among them. A few other Engineers spoke to the one she stood beside, probably asking him what had happened and if he made any contact with that black chemical onboard. Minutes flew by like seconds, and the conversation was way beyond her. They seemed surprised to see him, just like she expected them to be.

The male alien directly to her right seemed agitated for some reason, making the air tense between them all. The Engineer that had saved her turned toward the more hostile male. The two of them seem to be in a heated argument of some kind. She sunk back, feeling tiny, and almost invisible. Her nervous brown eyes never left the new Engineer, a wary look on her face. One of the females directly ahead of them shouted and got the attention of the friendly space jockey. As his attention shifted to the female alien, a crushing hand wrapped around her upper left arm. A yelp escaped the red head's throat as a hard yank pulled her to the ground, onto her knees. Her pale 'friend' immediately turned and snarled at the one that pulled her over, engaging him in some ferocious words. Ellie cringed as she was held on her knees beside the more aggressive alien. She didn't dare move from the spot she was being held, her left arm awkwardly positioned above her in his grasp. Pleading eyes looked up at the Engineer she trusted, but his eyes were locked on the one that instigated the argument.

After a bit of back and forth between the two, her Engineer surged forward. A ferocious punch connected with the face of the space jockey that held her down by her arm. All the other aliens seemed to back away from the scuffle instinctively. Ellie leaned away as the rude Engineer fell back slightly from the punch. The same female that had spoken up before now shouted at them once again, stopping the fight. The Engineer that stuck up for her then put himself between Ellie and the instigator. After few moments of silence, the red headed woman was helped to her feet by her humanoid friend. As soon as she was on her feet, the Engineer walked after the female that had broken up the fight. A hesitant look back to the aggressive Engineer gave her chills, his glare hard as he clasped a hand over his bloody nose. The blood was just a tiny bit darker than human blood; she took note of the similarity. As her attention went back to the two Engineers leading her away from the gate, she couldn't help but ponder about the bald female Engineer.

Both of the women are bald just like the men, but are far more feminine. But she must be the captain, or the superior officer. They listened to her instantly.

Ellie made it a point to stick close behind her savior. He really was protecting her now, it made her feel a strange sort of confidence. It felt like nothing could touch her, the Engineer would protect her now since he had saved her. These thoughts also made her a little uneasy, did he see her as property now? Was she an object?

She followed through many corridors, the female alien led them to a small room in a small hallway branching off from the main one. This ship still had the ribbed design, but seemed so clean, it was all dark gray metal. It wasn't black and dank like the other one, but it was freezing cold inside the ship. Small lights lit along the floor, where the wall met the floor. Her eyes explored everywhere as they walked through the cabin, she kept close to her Engineer.

Her Engineer?

She kicked herself mentally, unsure of why she considered him to be hers. No doubt she felt attached to him, he had saved her, but she wasn't sure how to understand this weird bond they had. The thoughts of the ship flew out the door when she passed a large open door, inside which, she saw David laying in two pieces on a large medical bed. She immediately took note of where this door was, and about how far down the hall from where the female Engineer took them. The tiny branch of the hall split off to the left, and led just a couple yards into a dead end with a single open doorway.

The doorway led to a small bedroom with two bunk bed looking structures on either side of the tiny room. There was barely enough room to get up and move, it was very cramped, but this was a mineral ore ship, not a luxury cruise. After the Engineer spoke to her a bit longer, she left them alone. The female eyed her carefully as she turned to leave them, looking Ellie up and down grudgingly. It definitely made her feel uncomfortable as the female space jockey left them. She couldn't really expect to get treated as an equal, or as a friend right off the bat. She was just a creation of theirs.

Her friend then turned to her, a small half smile appearing on his face. It made her smile in return, he looked almost charming when he smiled. It wasn't an emotion she had really seen on his face before, it made her feel comforted. She felt like she was going to be okay, and that they were safe now. Before anymore interaction could occur, the Engineer sat back on the bottom of the left bunk. The material creaked beneath his weight, his hands rubbed his eyes and a sigh escaped his lips. All of his actions proved to be very human to her, it was making her feel even more attached to him, realizing how much they were really alike.

He looked tired, and as she thought about it, he had only dozed off once when they were in the quarters back on LV-223. She had gotten a few hours of sleep when she had been knocked unconscious, and dozed off in the living quarters too. He must be absolutely spent after all that had happened. The world weary space jockey then laid down, put his huge hands on his chest and closed his eyes.

Ellie sat down across from him on the bottom bunk, just observing him. He was massive. He was also very tranquil, laying there, finally able to relax. She felt happy for him, but couldn't help but notice how big he really was. The Engineer had to be at least seven feet tall, he just fit inside the bunk with only a couple inches to spare. Maybe he was just big for his kind? Maybe he was small?

Realizing that the Engineer wanted to rest, she began to look around, making sure to keep quiet. The room had no door, or if it did, she couldn't see it. She wouldn't have any idea how to close it if she found it. After looking around the dim room for a few minutes in silence, she thought of David again. It was high time she put his head back on so she wasn't constantly hauling him around, especially since they would perhaps be setting foot on the Engineer's home planet. She didn't know too much about wiring, but she would just have to figure it out. She needed David, sooner rather than later.

The red head quietly stood up, being careful not to bother the slumbering space jockey. On her tiptoes, she made her way out into the main steel hall. She could hear voices, but wasn't sure how far down the corridor they were. It was probably best to avoid them for now, especially since the friendly Engineer was resting. With a deep breath, she made her way out into the hall, moving as silently as possible.

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I kind of rushed this one, so apologies for any mistakes…Why do I love this so much?! xD

Please review and let me know what you think! Thanks!