"Where did I put that stupid monitor?" Dr. Nigel muttered to herself as she dug through one of the many crates filling the cramped storage unit. What had once been a storage room for experimental terraforming equipment and genetic samples from Earth plants & animals had been transformed into a fully functional, top-of-the-line Xenomorph Habitation and Monitoring Lab. At least functionally.

Visually it looked like a drunk tornado tore its way through an electronics junkyard. She suspected that just looking into this room would give most of her IT staff a heart attack. Tangles of wires and cables snaked across the floor, up the walls and dangled from the ceiling. Pieces of equipment were stacked haphazardly on top of each other, and dangerous looking containers and generators were packed together in ways that they definitely should not be packed. Still, it was the best she could do in the amount of time that she had been given, which was no time whatsoever.

To say that she was in hot water with the higher ups about her decisions thus far would be an insult to the word understatement. It was more like she was being dipped into a sea of boiling oil. After she had reported Julius to the Ethics Board for 'gross ethical misconduct', she had been the interim, now acting, Director of Research for the entire Bernard Research Station. It wasn't bad enough that she had to deal with all of the work that Julius used to do, but she also had to do all of her work with Kirchoff and Valen on top of that. She didn't trust anyone else to deal with them directly.

Even worse, if she didn't start producing tangible results for the board soon then she, Kirchoff, and Valen would all be in some serious shit. She shook her head. Now wasn't the time to dwell on possible consequences. It was time to get to work.

Kirchoff's back was killing him. And so were his arms. And his legs. And the rest of his body too, now that he thought about it. Despite his physician's insistence that the physiotherapy exercises that he had given him to do were easy and simple to do, that didn't stop them from making him ache like hell the next day.

"Why did I agree to do this stupid physical therapy in the first place?" He asked no one in particular. He tried again to lift himself from his position lying against Valen's side, but his muscles protested so much that he gave up.

Because I would make you if you didn't. Now get up Kirchoff, Valen squirmed, trying to free himself. I'm hungry.

"Sorry, no can do. I'm pretty sure all of my muscles have turned to jelly."

And how is that different from how your muscles normally feel? Valen asked and poked him in the stomach. You were already soft and squishy before you started exercising.

A loud beeping noise from his pocket cut Kirchoff off before he could come up with a suitably devastating retort. He fished around in his pocket and pulled out his now thoroughly scratched phone.

"Hello, who is this?" He asked the person on the other end of the line, already knowing exactly who was on the other end.

"You know, that joke stopped being funny the first time you told it," Ursula replied, not sounding in the least bit amused by his attempt at humor.

Kirchoff wrinkled his brow, confused. "I've never told that joke before."

"Exactly." Valen let out a loud hissing snort, and Kirchoff shot him a withering look.

"So what exactly are we in store for today Doc?"

"A lot. I need you two to get over here as soon as you can."

"And where is here, exactly?" He asked her.

"Look at the map I gave you, it should be marked as Storage Unit #4."

"Right the map. The map that I definitely have. I'll go look for it once I work up the strength to move."

"Valen," Ursula raised her voice loud enough to make Kirchoff pull the phone away from his ear. "You have my permission to drag Kirchoff here by his ears if he doesn't get up and find that map in the next thirty seconds." Kirchoff all but leapt off of Valen's chest and began to desperately search one of the crates. He thought he last saw the maps of the facility there buried under a pile of music discs.

Although he couldn't see it, Kirchoff felt the mischievous grin that Valen was giving him.

Unfortunately for Valen, he didn't get to drag Kirchoff to the makeshift lab by his ears. In fact, he had to give Kirchoff a ride most of the way there. It was further away than the door that Kirchoff normally used to go in and out of the forest, and despite his teasing he could feel that Kirchoff was almost sore to the point of immobility by the time they reached the halfway point.

"Are we there yet?" Kirchoff asked, only half as a joke. He was laying between Valen's dorsal tubes, his arms wrapped loosely around his neck.

Well judging by the fact that I'm still walking, probably not. Valen snarked.

"Damn," Kirchoff groaned. "Are you sure?"

Yes, we're already there, He stopped in place. I was just lying to mess with you.

"Wait, really?"

No.

"Have I told you that I hate you sometimes?"

You might have mentioned it once or twice. Valen snorted a laugh and picked up the pace again.

"What about Dr. Nigel? Have you thought about what you're going to say to her?"

No, I haven't. In fact, you could say I've been trying my hardest NOT to think about it.

"Why not? You knew you'd have to see her again soon."

Kirchoff, are you really going to lecture me about avoiding my past?

"As an expert on the subject, I think I'm more than qualified to lecture you."

...You have a point there.

"Exactly." This time Kirchoff asked the question in his head, knowing that Valen would be listening to his thoughts. Now tell me, what are you going to do when you see her?

If you're concerned about me ripping her face off, and Valen could feel that Kirchoff was worried about it, just a little bit. Then don't worry. I'm not going to harm her.

"Well that's a relief." But…

Yes?

How are you feeling about it? Meeting her?

Valen pondered the question for a few silent minutes. He'd never liked Ursula Nigel, even after all she had done for them, and especially for Kirchoff. She was ambitious, intelligent, driven, and wasn't afraid of getting her hands dirty herself. He'd been living his entire life under her charge, he'd never been free of it from the moment he was born. Even when she wasn't watching and studying him directly, she was directly in charge of who interacted with him, how long they would be with him, and anything that he did she would know about. Suddenly, a thought occurred to him. Kirchoff, have you ever wondered what happened to all those people who were assigned to me before you?

Valen could feel the answer before Kirchoff could even think of the works. Honestly, no. I've been more concerned with our wellbeing the past few months.

He couldn't argue that. His life had certainly been a lot more hectic ever since he met Kirchoff. That's one thing that's been bothering me for a long time. If she was willing to dispose of all those others, then she might do it again.

Do you really think she'd do that now? Kirchoff asked. She's done so much for us now, I doubt she'd screw us over now.

It's not about what she is or isn't going to do to us right now, Valen explained. It's what she is capable of that I'm worried about. Neither of us really know her well enough to know what she's capable of. I think we need to get answers out of her.

...Agreed.

When they finally arrived at Storage Container #4, Valen was surprised to see Dr. Nigel standing out in the clearing in front of the large, reinforced door.

"Doctor Ni… Err, Ursula," Kirchoff stuttered, caught off guard by the unexpected appearance of his former boss. "Um, what the hell are you doing in here? With us?"

With Valen? Valen caught the unspoken question, but said nothing.

"It's a show of good faith." She said as Valen walked them over to her. Despite her calm exterior, Valen could still feel the tension rolling off of her. Hell, even Kirchoff could feel it. She was almost quivering with nervous tension.

"Are you okay Doc?" Kirchoff asked, and Valen could feel him trying to keep the smile out of his voice. "You look a little tense."

She shrugged. "You could say that. Unlike you, I've never actually been in the same room as a Xenomorph before, so this is just a little bit terrifying."

I'll choose to take that as a compliment instead of an insult. Valen snarked, giving the good doctor a glare.

Ursula jumped a little and swung her head towards Valen, slightly shocked that he had chosen to talk to her himself instead of responding via Kirchoff. Her mouth opened and closed a few times, but no words came out. She cleared her throat and managed to say, "It's… it's good to see you again Valen."

As much as it pains me to say it, it's not horrible to see you again too.

"Well, that's a start I guess." Valen shot Kirchoff a look, but Kirchoff ignored it. Instead he patted Valen on the neck and tried to slide gracefully off his back, but his legs were so shaky he almost toppled to the ground.

I'm not a pack mule you know, Valen told him.

"You keep telling yourself that." Kirchoff grinned and scratched Valen behind his crest, drawing out a soft purr from the big alien.

"Alright boys," She clapped her hands together. "Are you ready to get started?"

What happened to the other people who you assigned to study me? Valen was coming out of the gate swinging. None of his usual clever snark or sass this time, he was getting right to the point.

"Them? Why do you ask?" She tilted her head, as if curious why he would even care about them.

Humor an old friend Doctor. Kirchoff could feel the venom dripping from him when he said the word 'friend'.

"They were shipped off the station." She looked unfazed by both his tone and the question, but even Kirchoff could see her eyes narrow and her back straighten ever so slightly. "Bernard has limited living space, and the company has no interest keeping anyone they deem unnecessary on their payroll."

Kirchoff's eyes glanced over to Valen, who was studying her intensely. She's not lying, but there's a lot she's not telling us.

"I doubt the company would just send them home after what they know about Valen." Kirchoff pressed her. "He seems pretty valuable, and I'm sure Bernard's competitors would love to know what they learned."

She sighed and her shoulders slumped. This was clearly something she didn't want to talk about, but she pressed on regardless. "You're right. This station and all of the knowledge here is too valuable to just let someone leave with it in their heads."

That caught his attention. "So, what happened to them? Were they killed?"

"What? No!" That time she reacted, glaring at Kirchoff. "The company just assigned them to positions on different stations, or doing work for the company elsewhere. So they can keep an eye on them." She explained. "They're under heavily restrictive work contracts and NDAs too. If they so much as breathed a word about Valen, then they would be drowning in lawsuits before they could even close their mouths."

She's telling the truth now.

"So... I wasn't in danger? If I didn't mesh with Valen?" He asked warily.

"Not in any physical sense." She explained. "But that changed once you began bonding with Valen. There was no way that the company, or myself for that matter, would let you leave. You're just too valuable to us."

That must be the real reason they got rid of Dr. Gavin. Valen speculated. He was threatening their precious resources behind their backs, and they didn't like that. Not because the Ethics Board did anything about it...

That was probably just to save face, and now Ursula has to prove that we are a worthwhile investment. So she can keep us safe here. Kirchoff continued. If we don't provide enough value for them, then they basically fired Dr. Gavin for nothing...

"I think we understand now." Kirchoff told her. "You need us to keep the board off your back as much as we need you to keep us safe from them."

"Exactly. There's no way that they'll keep this project going if they think this was all a waste. If I don't give them something good soon. They might bring Julius back, or sack me, or both." She didn't need to tell either of them what that would mean for them. They all understood the implications.

Well no pressure on us then, Valen snarked. That made Kirchoff snort out a laugh. "Yeah, like we were in such a good position before. At least now we get a forest to camp out in and I don't have to worry about my blood being set on fire again."

"Are you done with all the probing questions boys?" Ursula tapped her wrist impatiently. "I'd love to answer more of your questions later, but in case you forgot we're on a time limit here."

Fine. Valen's tone wasn't exactly friendly, but he didn't feel quite so hostile now. So what "experiments" are we going to be a part of? He actually used two of his fingers to make air quotes like he had seen Kirchoff doing on occasion.

"Okay, ignoring the fact that Kirchoff is clearly a bad influence on you, we've got a lot of tests to run today," She told them, the tension on her face melting away and being replaced with her usual calm, focused, if tired, demeanour. "Meaning that we're going to be here for a while. We've got a lot of catching up to do."

"How long is a while?" Kirchoff asked. In response, Ursula gestured behind her. "Come inside, I'll explain while we get you two suited up."

"Most of the experiments we're going to be running involve monitoring brain activity, so you're going to have to wear these," Ursula said, plucking a pair of bulky looking devices out of an open shipping container. Both of them looked like tangled messes of cables that were covered in wires and electrodes. She handed one of the strange devices to each of them. "Strap these on boys."

And what exactly are these? Valen asked as he sniffed at the bundle of cables.

"Those," She told him, pointing at the device, "Are very expensive, so try not to break them. Especially you, Kirchoff. I had to get that one modified for human use, and we don't have any spares."

"These are monitors for analyzing brain activity, right?" He asked, turning the bundle of cables over in his hands.

"Correct," She sounded a little surprised. "I'm surprised you recognized them. Nobody is using this analog junk anymore, I had to go digging around in a bunch of decommissioned equipment just to find this pair, and then it took me a week to find someone to modify it for you."

"Back when I was getting my Xenobiology degree we had to use these all the time."

He felt Valen giving him a dirty look. "Hey, don't get jealous of me, big guy. You're the only Xeno I've tested in a long time."

I'm not jealous, He snorted in indignation, affronted at the idea. But Kirchoff could feel the tiniest twinge of jealousy as Valen turned his head away, pretending to examine something in one of the many crates scattered around the place. Interesting.

Ursula butted in before Kirchoff could voice a response, steering the conversation back on track. "Normally we just use our remote monitoring devices built into our observation rooms, but since we don't have one of those here we're going to have to do this the old fashioned way."

Is it bad if I say that I would prefer being back in that lab than having this thing put on my head?

"Only a little." Kirchoff said as he finished attaching the last electrode to Valen's head. "Want to help me put on mine?"

Only if you don't mind it being shredded in several pieces. He flexed his impressive claws to emphasize his point.

"I don't think the good doctor here would appreciate us breaking her equipment," Kirchoff rolled his eyes and did his best to wiggle the headgear onto his own head. It was difficult, the wires kept tangling in his hair and it felt like it was two sizes too big for his head. Eventually, he managed to fit the apparatus on his head and shot a glare at Valen before he could make any sarcastic remarks about his appearance.

"Alright, now that you're hooked up, it's time to get started." Ursula slid off the box she was sitting on and walked over to a console, half buried under a pile of what Kirchoff assumed were food wrappers.

"Ummm, start on what exactly? You still haven't told us what we're going to do yet."

"Oh, right," Ursula rubbed her eyes and let out an enormous yawn. "Sorry. I'm a bit overworked and under-caffeinated at the moment."

She gestured to a small stack of papers laying on top of the box that she retrieved the headsets from. "I have a whole list of different tests that we're going to run, but in the end most of them boil down to studying how you and Valen interact."

Kirchoff picked up the first sheet on the pile and started skimming over the experiment's details. "You mean that you want to know how we talk?" Kirchoff asked.

I think she means more than just how I talk to you. I can feel your thoughts and emotions too. And I can sense living beings without ever seeing them.

"Valen is right," Ursula said. "And it's not only me that wants to know. The board also wants me to get as much information on you two as possible, and the best way for me to make that happen is by doing everything on this list." She waved a sheaf of papers at them.

"Alright, so what exactly are we going to be doing then?" The excitement was evident in Kirchoff's voice. It had been a long time since it felt like he had been a scientist. He couldn't wait to get started. "Oh! How about if we move some of this equipment back to our campsite! Then we could do tests even when you're not here! And we could…"

"Later Kirchoff! We can go over that later," Ursula interrupted, clearly impatient. "Now less talking, and more talking!"

Valen and Kirchoff raised their eyebrows, the former in a much less physical sense than the later.

"You know what I mean you jackasses! We've got work to do!"

Ursula wasn't kidding when she said that they needed to do everything on that list. They were busy participating in tests for the rest of the day and a significant portion of the night, and by the time that Dr. Nigel released them, both Valen and Kirchoff were exhausted.

The multiple brain scans of Valen and Kirchoff that Ursula needed were extensive and time consuming. It didn't help that they had to work with cumbersome, out of date hardware that Ursula described as, "Obsolete pieces of shit." She had them talk, read lengthy passages from books, listen to music, and even had them do several other communication exercises that she had devised herself.

Sometimes she would have Kirchoff look at a picture and have Valen describe it to her, sometimes Valen would be the one looking at the picture. She had Valen read a set of instructions for some kind of building blocks to Kirchoff while he assembled them. However Valen's absolute favorite was when she made Kirchoff play chess with her while Valen sat outside. Valen merely observed as Kirchoff had his ass handed to him over and over again, which he enjoyed far more than he would ever admit to either of the humans.

You're just loving this, aren't you? Kirchoff seethed, trying and failing to keep the frustration at losing the fourth game in a row out of his tone.

What? No way! Valen lied.

Can you at least help me a little? He asked, almost in desperation. She said we can't leave until I win at least one match, and you're supposed to be helping me!

And how is that my problem? He asked sarcastically. He was enjoying laying in the fresh air and artificial sunlight outside the cramped storage room. It's not my fault you suck. I could leave right now if I wanted.

Please? There was a delightful note of pleading in his tone this time.

Fine, but only if you finish two chapters of Space Wars II tonight.

Ugh. Fine, alright. Kirchoff relented. Now can you please help me stop humiliating myself.

Well I'm not sure if I can do that, but I'll help you win at chess.

Hey Kirchoff, have you noticed that you could hear me when I was talking to Ursula. Kirchoff was riding on Valen's back on their way back to the campsite. It had been a long day of mental exercises, and both of them just wanted to get back home and sleep.

"Yeah, I did notice that. I thought that was you doing your normal telepathic thing."

No, I thought I was just talking to her. I wasn't even aware that you could hear me until you started replying.

"Well, you haven't talked to multiple people in a long time. Maybe you're just getting better at it?"

Either that, or you're starting to feel my mind.

"Maybe? I did notice I was starting to get hints and twinges of emotions coming from you. Are you projecting your emotions to me now?" Dr. Nigel would definitely want to know about this. His head throbbed and he rubbed his temple with a hand. "Today has had too many questions and not enough answers."

Ugh, Valen made a gagging sound that sounded like a malfunctioning blender. Tell me about it. My head hurts just thinking about it.

"Do you want to go somewhere to unwind?"

I thought we were heading back to camp.

"We are, but I think taking a detour would be good. I've barely explored out this far before, and I thought we could just go for a little walk together."

I would like that very much. He didn't say anything, but Kirchoff could swear that he felt a little twinge of joy spark in Valen's mind as he said it.

"Ursula, is this all you have to show us?" A blading, wiry man sitting opposite to her across the table looked up from the report in front of him, gazing at her over his glasses. This board representative was particularly annoying. Not that any of them were particularly good, but Goodwin was always a particularly sore pain in the ass. Perhaps there were more diplomatic ways to describe him, but Ursula always found that 'Weasley, condescending, dimwitted asshole' was more apt.

"Like I was saying," She explained patiently, as if to a small child. "This is just a preliminary report from today's calibration testing. I would have had more by now, but Julius completely threw my timeframe off when he…"

"Yes, yes," He waved a hand to cut her off. She bit back a retort, irritated at the man for cutting her off. "We've heard that excuse enough times already."

"Look, I've been trying to explain that the potential this line of research has…"

"Is enormous, yes." Ursula was getting really sick of this stuck up bureaucrat interrupting her all the time. "But we are not in the business of theoretical research, Ursula. We are in the business of practical applications."

"This is a completely new field of study!" She all but shouted. "You can't expect practical results instantly! The implications of real, practical telepathy are extremely complex, it could take years…"

"Exactly. Years. How much time and money have we already allocated to your pet project Dr. Nigel? How much more time and money do you need before we finally get a return on our investment?"

"It's… hard to say. We still don't fully grasp all of the implications of Xenomorph telepathy, but it could be huge."

"You said it again Ursula. ' Could be'. Unless you can give us something tangible, some practical use for your little pets, then we may have to resort to other alternatives to recoup our expenditures. The company does not have infinite resources, nor do we have infinite patience."

Shit. "Are we done here, Goodwin? I have other work to do today." In reality, she just wanted to get away from him.

"Yes, you certainly do. The quarterly financial reports are still not in, and our investors are getting antsy. You'd better get on that." He said as he stood up from his chair, gathering his meticulously organized paperwork back into his briefcase.

Ursula bit back a harsh retort. "Yes sir." How long can I keep this up? Everything she feared was starting to happen. Her workload was only getting more and more overwhelming, despite her delegating as much as she could to the rest of the staff, and now her project was being directly threatened by the Board. If Kirchoff and Valen didn't give her something good soon, then they would all be screwed.

Hope you enjoyed, this one has been a long time coming. As always, let me know what you think. I love feedback.