A Second Chance

by Br1ght Ey3s

Rae had never believed in fate or destiny. Her father had once said stories were shaped by choice, that she had the power to carve out her own path. So when a yautja enters the picture, she's faced with a very difficult decision. She must choose between two paths, two worlds, and two lives. But which would she choose? (Yautja x OC; POV Third Person Omniscient)

28. You Are Mine

Having come from Price's office, she felt shaky, every step unsure, knowing what she had to do.

Immediately upon her return, there had been whispers of the boy's death, but nothing had been confirmed. And noticeably, very few words had been shared about Rae. So she decided to check on her for her own sanity.

It took one look to know what happened to her. The girl was shaking, her injured arm held weakly against her chest, and her eyes darting about the room.

At first she couldn't believe what her eyes were seeing. They actually did it. They had gone and let that ravenous beast out on her.

They could have lost her, she realized, biting her cheek in anxious rage. They had basically gambled with her life, the company's most valuable asset, treated as if she were nothing.

She hardly spent one minute watching her before going to speak with the Director personally. She had stated it before in previous conversations with him, the xenomorph was too dangerous. It was of a warrior class, not one of the simple drones she had seen in files, a much more volatile breed meant to protect the Queen. To put Rae in the ring with it, with no prior knowledge of the species or of their weaknesses, was homicide. The fact that she was still alive astounded her. All odds had been against her, and yet she won.

Before entering Price's office, she attempted to clear her head, putting on a face to numb the real emotions she was feeling bubbling under the surface. After having a few choice words with Price, she was shown the recording taken from the hidden camera inside Damon's cell.

He really thought her seeing it for herself would change anything. He was wrong. The footage only made her path clearer.

Watching the perfectly captured altercation, she hardly held back a gasp as she witnessed the xenomorph claw through the narrow opening on the far side of the cell and gallop after the boy. Her nails bit into her palm when it finally caught up to him, its barbed tail retching right through him. Her eyes shut, thankful that there was no audio associated with the footage, the sight being plenty.

But what had happened next, gnawed at her insides.

Not a moment later after the boy's gruesome end, there was a commotion on the other side of the cell. Rubble collapsed inwardly as a smaller, more human form, fell through.

The vein in her forehead pronounced itself as she began to put it all together. They baited her, made her waste precious energy to break through a dense wall, and then sat back to watch her fight a monster almost twice her height and three times her speed? Were they insane?

Thinking back to what she saw, Amanda knew for certain that she would never be able to unsee Rae's desperate movements as she crawled to the boy, turning him over to find his mortal wound. Everything about it was wrong.

She almost couldn't watch when the xeno finally attacked. It wasn't hard to tell that the girl fled for her life, merely fighting to preserve herself, not to avenge, not to conquer.

Price and some of the other scientists somehow numbed themselves to the truth, but she couldn't lower herself to that. Rae was not a thing. She could not be owned. She was a person. A young girl with heart, with a personality, with a future. And they were robbing her of it.

Staring at the screen, Amanda could not fight the tears building up in her eyes at the absolutely heart wrenching vision of Rae falling to the boy– Damon's side. The way she cradled his head in her arms, her head bowed, and her mouth agape, it pulled at something deep within her. Something that was at the cusp of breaking.

Price was not the only one to blame. She did this to her too. She was as much of a monster as the rest of them. She ruined this poor girl's life, and did nothing to stop what was happening to her friend. She couldn't have stopped the experiments, nor the xenomorph, but she could have gotten them out. She could have made a stand.

She could have, and she should have. Now it was too late. Looking up to her boss, she was appalled at his lack of emotion to the scene that played out before them.

The recording stopped when Rae had collapsed from sheer exhaustion, catching her up to where they stood now.

She then learned, much to her dismay, that all the damage to the cells, all the trauma put on that poor girl, and the life of the boy was simply to impress the Secretary of Defense, in hopes that it would earn them more funding towards the program, and more time to perfect the serum.

Her stomach twisted and churned uncomfortably. If she was honest, she felt faint, and nauseated. This hadn't been the plan. But even with her uneasiness, the word 'perfect' did not miss her notice.

It would seem what she heard from some of the other scientists was true, they had the serum, or the closest thing to it. And from Price's basic explanation, although it did not change his cells to appear like Rae's, it had adjusted them to give him an immunity and rather drastic healing component.

This had her heart beating in hope, and it took everything she had to not show an outward appearance to this fantastic news. It had come just in time too. But that excitement lasted for only a short moment when she realized what came next, something she was dubiously unprepared for.

Her anxiety ran high as she hurried her pace down the bright hallway, repeating the plan in her head again and again, making sure she had it down to a tee. She needed to leave, hand off the baton to her partner, if she could even call him that, and leave him to carry out the succession.

But there couldn't be any holes to the plan. She was well aware what failure looked like. The few scientists that still worked at the facility remember the events of Rae's escape.

A lot of people died, and the repercussions inside the company itself had been astronomical.

But all of those warnings that had been going off went silent as she took her next corner. Instantly, she stopped dead in her tracks.

At the far end of this hall was the large high-security door that closed off easy access to the creature and its blood bank, the cornerstone of this very project.

In spite of the clear alarms blaring in her head to just leave it be, she flicked her eyes to her perimeter, uncertain.

Hesitantly, and every bit silent, she made her way down to it, stopping just short of the access panel. Hearing footsteps in the distance, she hurried the process, flashing her identification, followed by a retinal and fingerprint scan. To her relief, despite her rushed movements, it properly identified her and accepted her, the border of the panel turning bright green.

However, the large latch mechanism inside the door churned at a snail's pace, making her insides bubble up uncomfortably in apprehension. Leaving the door open just a tad, and making absolutely sure it appeared to be closed, she hurried back the way she came, anxiously hoping no one would notice.

Entering the main corridor, Amanda was relieved to find no one was near, despite what she previously heard. Deciding not to press her luck further, she hurried to the lab, thankful to find that it too was empty. But she did admit that her fortune was not a coincidence. It was late in the night, which meant the majority had gone home, leaving mostly security to patrol.

Price never left though. The facility was practically his home, which meant there were very few instances to do anything behind his back. Today however, she forewent all her reservations, knowing how little time she had. And how little time Jamie had. And from the report Price had given her, this newly acquired serum did exactly what she needed it to do.

Opening the refrigerated capsule that held the serum, she held it up to the light examining how the once bright green blood lost its fluorescent property, leaving it a dull green fluid. It was remarkable.

Looking down in the refrigerated compartment she counted five test tubes, each held securely in an upright position. It was enough. Taking all five, she placed them in the pockets of her lab jacket, and turned to leave, only to be stopped short.

Lilith stood stock still, staring at her with wide eyes.

"Lilith," she spoke slightly out of breath from almost colliding into the girl. Shaking off her surprise, she tried to speak naturally, "Did you need something? I thought you had left for the day."

Lilith didn't respond at first, her brown eyes zeroing in on the very pocket she had just filled with the serum.

Crap. Amanda tried and failed to relax her chaotic thoughts. There was no covering this up. She knew.

The girl's voice hardly spoke above a whisper, but to Amanda it felt as loud as a fog horn. "What are you doing with those?"

Amanda's mouth felt as dry as sandpaper, unable to read the girl's clouded expression.

Having not responded fast enough within the allotted time, the girl stepped forward, blocking her escape. "I didn't want to believe what Price said about you, but you're making it very hard for me to take your side."

Breaking out of her frozen, wide eyed expression, she suppressed her trepidation and tried to reason with Lilith, "You can't tell me you actually approve of what Price is doing here."

The girl's eyes lowered, and Amanda noticed the way she drew her bottom lip into her mouth.

Capitalizing on her guilt-ridden expression she went further, "Just look what was done to that boy." That was when she saw the chord snap in her assistant, her body winding tighter.

"I know it's wrong, doing this to innocent people," she met her eyes, "but the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few. If we don't do this, if we don't find a way to protect ourselves, thousands, maybe millions more could die."

Do you really believe that? Amanda wanted to say, but couldn't.

Lifting her hand, Lilith beckoned for her to give it up, promising, "If you hand over the vials, Price won't find out. I'll make sure of it."

"I can't do that."

Lilith breathed slowly, disappointment lit within her gaze. "Then I'm sorry. Security!"

Without second thought Amanda rushed forward and struck her elbow into the girl's face, sending her sprawling on the floor. Acting fast, she dove on top of her, only to receive a fist to her nose.

Gasping at the sudden dizzying pain, she straddled the fighting girl and placed one quick and precise hit to her temple, taking her out.

She slumped in relief, relaxing for only a moment when she heard hollering in the distance. Security.

"Please help!" she called for them, hoping to play it off as if she had been the one to call. "In here!" she held the girl down harder, as one of the guards came bursting into the room.

The man only briefly paused, his eyes flashing in alarm at the sight of them. "What happened?!" he rushed to her side.

Pulling out one of the vials she had taken, she held it up to the guard for him to see, "I found her with these," she spoke, still out of breath. "She was trying to steal them," she huffed, wiping her bloodied nose as she rose to her feet, allowing the guard to properly restrain the unconscious girl.

Speaking into his handset, he called for more help, before looking up at her. "We'll keep her in the holding cell," he assured, tightening the cuffs around Lilith's slender wrists.

Quickly, Amanda cut in, "No, secure her in the office on the south side, away from the labs. Price will want to have a word with her."

The security guard nodded, wiping his sweat glistening forehead. Seeing her shakily, wipe her nose with a tissue from her lab jacket, he jutted his chin out in gesture. "You okay?"

Amanda smiled appreciatively, "Yes, a little shaken. I need to secure this in the blood bank, but I'll inform Price of what transpired here on my way back. Thank you again for coming to my rescue."

"I'm glad I was in the area," he took a steadying breath, still kneeling over the girl.

She heard the sounds of the cuffs being tightened further as she swiftly exited the lab, patting her pocket in a soothing manner.

She had what she came for, now all that was left was to reach the checkpoint she had promised to meet at. But that wasn't such an easy task. It was only a matter of time before security caught on to what really happened.

As she slowly left the hall leading to the lab, she took a sharp turn bumping into two more guards. She took a step back, brushing herself off and quickly apologized for not seeing them, to which they hardly reacted.

Clearly not perturbed by her actions, nor her apology, they hurried past, rushing towards the scene she had left behind.

When they were out of view, Amanda breathed a sigh of relief, twirling the newly acquired access card specially made out to security, between her fingers.

Walking briskly to the checkpoint, she pressed the card into the man's hand, briefly feeling him grasp it as she passed by. Her part was done. There was nothing left but the chaos that was about to erupt.

Oh she knew of the national guard and their imminent arrival, she just hadn't predicted that it would all come together so soon. She should have though. Afterall, she had been the one to hire Mr. Brown in the first place, knowing exactly who he was and what it meant for the company.

She had slipped him information to feed his superiors, passing notes on schematics and guard rotations. They were quick meetings, never lasting more than a minute. They couldn't. Everything came down to precision and utmost secrecy.

And now it came down to execution. The trap had been set, now all that waited was the prey to step afoot.

---

Smoothing his thumb reassuringly over the newly acquired keycard, his eyes checked each intersecting corridor as he passed.

Breathing a little heavier than normal, he walked at a quick pace through the halls, dead set on not getting caught, especially when he was so close to finishing his time in this hellhole.

Luckily, prior to reaching the checkpoint, he had managed to disable one of the security cameras without alerting any alarms. It had been a low risk one, situated in one of the break rooms. Nonetheless, it was serving its purpose as a distraction. Already, he had watched two guards pass him, heading in that very direction.

And thanks to the boss lady, he now had access to anything security did, including their office, his first stop. He only hoped that her diversion would spread the guards thin enough to make it an easy slip in.

But entering the security's office, he was stopped short as he met the eyes of a rather large guard, blocking the view to the very computer screens he needed to get to behind him.

His eyes widened minutely before he tipped his baseball cap, "Evening," he chuckled, wheeling the bucket and mop in. He thought he had counted correctly, but apparently he had been off by one guard, and of course it had to have been the biggest of them too.

He cleared his throat. "Um, duty calls," he gestured for the burly man to step outside, but the man didn't so much as move. He smiled again, "I won't get much done with you standing there, sir. And I can assure you, it's been ages since these floors have been thoroughly mopped."

Unexpectedly, the big fellow leaned forward in his face, "You're going to mop carpet," he mocked.

Idiot. Playing it off, Gabriel acted surprised as he looked down at the carpeted floor, "Would you look at that?"

Not a second too late, he shot his fist up directly under the man's chin, snapping his head back. It didn't knock him out like he'd hoped, but he was distracted enough.

Acting fast, before he retaliated, Gabriel grabbed for the guard's stun gun and pressed it directly to his side. The burly security guard yelled out and after several prolonged seconds, slumped to the floor.

Sniffing self-assuredly, but mostly out of relief, Gabriel chuckled to himself, "Still got it." He tossed the stun gun, letting it skid to the far side of the room.

Bending over, he grabbed the guard by the ankles and dragged him into one of the hardly-used side rooms. "Look at the favor I'm doing you guys," he joked, "cleaning your floors and taking out the trash."

Entering the main security panel, he looked back and forth between the infinite number of screens until he located what he was looking for. "Bingo."

He found her, the girl he was ordered to locate, the same one he had pulled over all those months before.

Zooming in, he was disgusted to see the state she was in. Her clothes were torn and tattered, her hair strewn about messily and she was lying on a white cot, her blood soaking the area beneath her shoulder. She did not look good. And he really hoped she wasn't dead.

Seeing a microphone attached to the dashboard, he wondered if there was a way to communicate with her. His eyes scanned the panel for a minute, astounded by the many buttons and toggles to choose from.

"Where's a manual when you need one," he grumbled, his hand hovering over each one as he scanned the board. He then quickly took note of the letters and numbers above each toggle, each one corresponding to a letter and number on the screens.

Flicking the toggle attached to the number on her screen, he held the button down for the mic and tried speaking through it. "Hello?"

He watched the camera, waiting for her to move or respond. "Can you hear me?" he asked, his gut swirling apprehensively.

There was a twitch of her leg, her head slowly panning to face the ceiling.

The sight made him smile glad that she was still alive.

"Hi there, um, my name is Gabriel. We met briefly at that ski resort," he watched as her mouth began to move. "I… I can't hear you, it's a one-way system, but I've been given orders to keep you alive by Admiral Harrigan."

Her eyes seemed to get bigger at the news and he smiled, "Yes, a rescue operation is underway. Reinforcements will be here within the hour, just hang tight, we're going to get you out of there."

Shakily so shakily, he watched as her hand weakly rose to her chin, her finger touching briefly before moving outward. She was signing, 'thank you.'

He smiled, "You're welcome."

Flicking the toggle off, he went through the other cameras, finding that security was still busy taking care of the other downed camera. They might be occupied long enough for the soldiers to get here, but he was almost certain the big guy would not be unconscious for as long. Going through the drawers and cabinets, he managed to find some good quality duck-tape.

This might work, he thought, at least for a while anyway.

He stared down at his handiwork, the KO'd guard now thoroughly bound and gagged with the adhesive tape. It would take him a while to get through that, if he even could.

The security cameras and safety systems were secured, now he just had to keep it that way until the cavalry arrived.

---

Naomi was getting real tired of Tomak and his attitude. She knew he was worried for Rae, that she could accept, but dammit, a girl had to make stops. And they were for legitimate reasons too! Gas, bathroom, food; she hadn't even stopped to sleep yet! Slowly she could feel her sanity begin to leave her.

The last stop she made though, had to have been the most memorable.

Making a quick stop at a well known fast food joint, Naomi asked him if he wanted anything. His answer was a stare with an engine-level growl. So heeding his potent command she ended up only buying herself a burger and large fries, choosing to skip out on a drink for bathroom reasons.

But it turned out she only got to eat the burger, since a certain someone stole the fries. Go figure, he was one of those people.

No, I'm fine! I don't want anything! she mocked him in her head. He didn't even ask. Just slowly one by one she started to notice that the box was getting empty, his large fingers moving ever slowly to grasp another one of the large salty fries. He acted as if she didn't know what he was doing.

Keeping her eyes on the road, she huffed, "Have at 'em," stretching her arm over the seat.

It actually wasn't long after that, when he was stuffing his face that she snuck a peek at him.

Her eyes widened, "Holy crab!"

She would have stared longer if the sound of a car horn hadn't brought her focus reeling back to the road.

"Crap!" she swerved back into her lane, almost sideswiping the oncoming car. Her heart had been pattering furiously in her chest after that near-death experience. And to make it worse, Tomak saw what she did. His deep chuckling laugh never exited her memory.

That had been two hours ago, but even so, her mind was still reeling from what she saw.

It now made sense why he kept the mask on for her sake. He had one of those faces you could never forget, and not exactly in a good way.

It was then that she wondered about Rae's sanity. For sure, the guy had a beautiful body, but the face was something completely different. How would she even be able to kiss that? It had been a very quick glimpse, but she saw the mandibles, the tipped tusks, the sharp teeth. There was nothing to kiss!

Tensing her jaw in punishment, she scolded herself for thinking that way about Tomak and questioning her best friend. She admitted there was more to a relationship than looks, but she still couldn't begin to fathom how that even worked.

When she took the final exit, Naomi felt immensely relieved, the tension in her shoulders loosened, as did the strain on her eyes. She didn't think she could stand another second sitting with her eyes glued to the road, and a back seat driver staring at the back of her head.

Tightening her grip on the wheel, she breathed a sigh as she leaned forward to see beyond the frame of the windshield, cautiously shifting her eyes from the vast forest to the paved road ahead of them. "Well we're here," she announced quietly, nervous at what they might or might not find.

She felt Tomak's large clawed hand grasp the passenger seat next to her, his massive masked face leaning into her view as he stared ahead at the forestry. "There is a road coming up."

"A road?" she frowned, slowing down in case she would miss it. "I don't remember seeing a road on the map."

The lenses of his mask flashed before he pointed up ahead, "There."

She smiled, rather impressed with their find, "Would you look at that." She turned onto the hidden paved road. It was one of those winding roads that went on forever, but it was something at least.

Naomi peeked up into her rearview mirror meeting Tomak's intense gold lenses. "Well?" she gestured to the landscape before them, "Are you picking up on anything?"

The lenses flashed, making her wince. They must be sending him a reading, she realized.

"Keep driving," he ordered, seemingly inputting something in his wrist gauntlet.

Glowering at his commanding tone, she mocked him with an, "Aye-aye captain," continuing the trek forward.

Eventually, much to Naomi's amazement the road up ahead came to a guarded fence, and beyond that was a large clearing void of any trees at all.

"I think you were right, Tomak," she breathed in relief. Turning around, she hoped that hadn't been seen and pulled off to the side of the road. Turning around she had noticed that Tomak was already getting ready to go.

She picked up Rae's now fully charged phone, while he was gearing up, holding it out for him to take. "In case things get bad, at least we'll have a way to communicate."

He was still for a moment, staring at her offering as if she were crazy, but very slowly he reached out for it, dwarfing the smartphone in his hand. Nodding in acceptance, he placed it in one of the compartments on his belt.

"Stay here," he growled, "I will be back," he forcefully slid open the van's sidedoor.

"Wait, what's our plan?"

"There is no 'our,'" he growled ominously, biceps flexing as he attached smaller, silver disks to the back of his belt. "You will remain here, just as we agreed. And you will hide the vehicle, make it less noticeable."

Naomi withheld giving him a venomous look and cooled her growing temper by biting her tongue and taking a deep breath. "But what if it gets bad in there?"

"It will," he met her eyes, the gold lenses to his mask flashing in promise, "but not for me."

Although he didn't seem overly concerned, it mattered very little to her how confident he felt. Problems could still arise. "I'm being serious," she fisted her hands, "something could go seriously wrong while you're in there."

He shook his head. After securing his wrist gauntlets on, he fastened his compact spear to his side. "I will be in and out," he attempted to reassure her.

Naomi had twisted around to stare at him solemnly, her arm wrapped around the head rest. "And if you're not?"

He looked at her briefly from over his muscled shoulder. "Then pray. You do not seem to have trouble doing that." And in the blink of an eye, his invisibility cloak washed over him, camouflaging himself completely. With the darkening sky, it made it almost impossible to see him as he threw himself out of the van and into the dense forest.

Wise-guy, she shook her head disapprovingly, thinking his comment over.

Pensively watching for any sign of his shimmering cloak, Naomi eventually turned the car off and followed his instruction, moving the car further away and covering it with shrubbery to make it less noticeable, which was kind of difficult to do. It was a red van afterall. It stuck out like a sore thumb with the varying shades of green in the background, but she supposed it could have been worse. It could have been that time of the day when there was full daylight.

As she worked to hide the van better, she said a silent prayer that he would find success. Rae wasn't the only one counting on him, she was too.

---

Staring readily at the large human structure, Tomak felt a vengeful growl bubble up within his chest.

If this was indeed the place that stored his female, he wanted to watch it burn. He wanted to claim the spine of every human that kept her from him and lay them at her feet as a gift.

He felt it was the only way he could calm the raging storm inside him.

But although he was riveting to show his prowess in battle, that would not come first here. He had spent the last several hours cooped up in that infuriating little transport, planning exactly how the extraction would go. And an extraction there would be.

Only after she was safe would he gladly rain fire on these pathetic life forms. They would know no mercy from him, only pain.

Part of him worried though that Rae would see him differently than she had while they had been entangled in bed. Visions of her soft, luring eyes turning fearful and upset at his presence lashed ruthlessly across his mind, further setting afire his all-consuming need for blood.

It mattered very little how she saw him though. Even if she did feel differently, it would change nothing. He still intended to save her and he had grown far too attached to her to let her enemies live.

Rolling his shoulders and setting himself in that subconscious zone, he leapt over the fence landing silently in a crouch, his hand splayed in front of him. Slowly rising to his full height, Tomak stalked toward the human structure, his mask cycling through visions that were best suited for seeing inside.

Long winding corridors were sighted, some bustling with heat signatures more than others. Switching from thermal to a basic vision, he activated the electroreceptors in his mask allowing him to detect varying fields and currents of energy.

Immediately he was alerted to those with automatic firearms, their weapons standing out like yellow beacons to the dark blue surroundings. There were several, but not nearly enough to challenge him. Those without weapons mostly walked in groups, but those with were moving in a continuous pattern. It was predictable, a weakness he could exploit.

Eyeing the rooftop from afar he noted several guards. There must have been a way inside from up there, he reasoned, which meant getting inside would not be an issue.

But first, a distraction.

He turned his attention to a large vehicle carrying some sort of load on its bed. His mask scanned the contents. Whatever it was, it was highly flammable.

It was almost too easy.

Unclipping a flat, silver, disc-shaped device from the back of his belt, he pressed the center console, watching with eagerness as it lit up red. Running swiftly by the vehicle he threw the device that magnetically connected to the side of its cylindrical structure.

Launching himself up the side of the building and onto the roof, he landed with a heavy thud.

"The hell was that?" several armed men turned in his direction, their weapons pointed defensively.

Clicking rhythmically, Tomak dropped his cloak and stood tall, pressing a button on his gauntlet.

Before the men had time to pull their triggers, a fiery explosion went off right behind him. He felt the warmth at his back as all the men's faces were lit with the orange light. Their eyes were wide, and their scent tainted with fear.

They didn't stand a chance.

"Fire!"

Moving with incredible velocity, he barrelled his way through the guards, his wrist blades dropping at the last second.

Bodies hit the ground one by one, their screams drowned out by the sound of the roaring fire below.

Slicing through the last of the guards, Tomak whipped around, scanning for any remaining life sources. After finding none on this level, he let his cloak envelop him once more, moving towards the roof access hatch.

Not wanting to make his location known quite yet, he ran his claw curiously over the identity scanner. He had seen ones like this before in his previous hunts on Earth. Humans would use a rectangular piece of plastic to open it.

Picking through the clothes of one of the corpses, he found exactly what he needed.

Swiping it through, the panel lit green and the door clicked open.

Slipping through, he decided to hold onto the card. Perhaps it would prove useful.

Skipping the stairs, Tomak dropped down to the landing and went through the ground level's door. It was bright inside, far too bright for his liking. Silently stalking through the halls, his mask filtered through different visions as he scanned each passing room in search of Rae.

As he swept the level, looking through the walls. A signature lit up his mask and he had to resist a sinister growl from forming. He could see her, or at least her energy. She glowed like a star compared to the rest of the place, but her usual signature was weaker than it had once been.

What had they done to her?

As much as he wanted to break her out right this instant, he was unsure of her condition. He didn't want to put her through any more stress, and there were still too many guards to be concerned with. Although he did not doubt his abilities in protecting her, the risk of a stray bullet hitting her was too great. She was not as resilient as he was to them, at least he did not believe she was, and he did not want to find out.

Marking this area to memory, he turned and searched for the next target in his overall plan. But as he followed the winding current of energy, he was stopped short of seeing something. Something far too familiar.

He stood at a three-way intersection, the corridors still much too bright, but ignoring his main mission, he felt the muscles in his shoulders and back coil tight at the sight of yautja technology kept within the wall's casing. A rattling hiss could not be helped as his eyes ran from a few melee weapons, to his old mask. But as he kept going, he felt something sink in his chest at the sight of something he had seen used many times in the hands of his old instructor.

It was a whip made of interlocking pieces of d'lex. Different from the rest of its length, the handle was a bronze color, etched with characters stating it was earned by one of an elite rank. A well-known Elite.

Ze'ev, one of his previous instructors, a legendary warrior, known for going solo in the heart of even the most fierce of serpent hives.

Before he went missing, Tomak had fought his way through The Rivals, a sort of competition meant for the future of the clans. Ze'ev had been there to witness his victory and had even took the time to commend him after. It was a memory he had reflected on many times.

Warriors like Ze'ev had been the reason he worked so hard to be an Elite, one of the youngest to have done so. He owed much to his old master.

With a metallic ring, his wrist blades dropped from his gauntlet. Ramming them into the glass, he ignored the shrill sound of the alarms as he collected the weapon he had longed to touch when he was a young pup. But as he strapped it to his hip, a new sense of responsibility and honor flooded through him.

Raising his head, he went to leave only to stare curiously at the large door ahead of him. For some strange reason, it was left open, and the scent of the room on the other side was both foreign and familiar. He couldn't understand why, but it felt like whatever was in there was calling to him.

With ease, he pulled the door open the rest of the way. Immediately a dark growl pulsed within his chest.

The anger he had before was quadrupled, coming to a boil. Entering swiftly, his eyes bore into the glass tank holding the very yautja he idolized, only he could hardly be recognized aside from his acid tainted face, and missing mandible.

An angry snarl was pulled from his throat as he whipped his head to look at the second tank full of his blood.

They are ic'jits. All of them.

None should be left alive, they knew too much. If Ze'ev had the chance, he would not have hesitated to sacrifice his life to keep their existence a secret. What they have done to him has tainted his honor. And now that he had seen it, his mask recording every moment, he was under obligation to finish what Ze'ev never got the chance to.

Knowing exactly what Ze'ev would have wanted, he turned to his gauntlet and began typing in his commands. It may have been damaged, but it would still work. When all slots on his gauntlet lit with red flashing characters, he unhitched the device and dropped it before both tanks with a clang.

Now with limited time to work with, he fisted his hand over his chest and bowed respectfully to his former master.

Leaving at the sound of the timer's countdown, he ran back the way he came, and after following the pulsing current of energy he managed to locate the source of it all, only stopping to find that the door to it was locked.

Slipping out the small human card, he swiped it through, flicking it off to the side after the door popped open.

Entering boldly, he let loose a roar at the sight of another guard.

Lowering his cloak, he basked in the male's fear, its potent stench winding him up tighter, as he recalled what they had done to Ze'ev. The man had hardly the time to adjust his gun, before Tomak's hand clamped around his throat, throwing his body up against the wall.

"Please!" the puny male wheezed, his hands wrapping around his wrist, as if that would prevent him from choking him further.

Growling fiercely, Tomak let his masked face loom over the man, before clicking, "M-di h'chak." No mercy.

Squeezing tighter, he watched with satisfaction at the sound of the male's spine crunching under his hold, the loud snap signifying his death. Dropping him, he watched as the body slumped lifelessly to the ground.

Every human deserved to pay. Not just for Ze'ev, but for Rae.

Remembering his purpose here, he turned toward the wall of electrical, his eyes scanning the circuits.

There was only one condition he preferred to work in.

Stabbing his wrist blades in the circuit boards, he watched with pleasure as the electricity crackled before completely going out, along with every light in the compound.

Swiftly he was enclosed in a cocoon of darkness.

Now this felt right.

It was time he finally took back what was his, what they had taken from him. And he had every intention to kill whoever got in his way.

---

"No-no-no-no-no-no-no-no!" Gabriel watched in horror as all the screens went black, as well as every room in the facility.

Standing amidst darkness, he frantically tried all the switches and toggles hoping for something, anything to come back online.

Fumbling in the dark he managed to find a flashlight in one of the drawers.

Flashing the light around the room, he looked for something that could bring the power back. Moving toward the filing cabinet he felt on top, grasping large rolled up papers. He looked them over briefly.

"Building schematics," he whispered. What luck!

Bringing the diagram to the table he spread it out, putting weights on the corners to keep it unfurled. Taking a pen and tucking the flashlight in his shoulder, Gabriel shined the light as he traced where the circuits ran throughout the building.

He managed to locate the back-up power generator, but he didn't like where it was.

Digging in his back pocket, he pulled out the emergency flip phone he had been given and quickly dialed for the Colonel. He waited for about two rings before there was a reply.

"Brown, what have you got for me?"

Gabriel wiped furiously at his brow, "Sir, we've lost power. I'm blind up here. Everything is down."

"Is there a back-up power source somewhere?" he asked next.

Staring down at the diagram he confirmed, "Yes, but it's outside on the far side of the building," he explained. He didn't want to risk losing his position, but he would if that was the only way to restore power.

To his relief he was ordered to stay where he was. "We're five klicks south of your position, so leave the power to us. Just be ready for when the lights come back on."

Gabriel breathed out a solaced sigh, "That's an affirmative, sir."

---

Rae was still running the man's words over and over in her head as she laid on her uncomfortable cot. There was something familiar about the voice of the man, a sort of comfort, but not entirely.

Are reinforcements really a good thing? she thought for not the hundredth time. And were they coming to free her or move her to a new holding cell? She didn't want to imagine what they intended to do once they found her.

A hiss escaped her mouth as she put too much weight on her arm. Her attempts at sitting up were futile, her breath coming out in shaky huffs as her shoulder protested any and all movement.

It was no longer bleeding, but the healing process was taking much longer than she had hoped, likely thanks to the extent at which that monster bit her. She couldn't shake the remembrance of those needle-sharp teeth cutting into her flesh. And really, she was both surprised and grateful that it hadn't snapped her collarbone under the crushing force of its jaws.

The only solace she found was the knowledge that it was dead.

And so is Damon, her mind plagued her. Damon was dead because of Price, because of that monster, and because of her.

She didn't deserve to be alive, not if Damon wasn't. He was a better person than her, he deserved to live a long life well into his 90's.

With stinging eyes and a trembling lip, Rae felt all her hate towards herself swell within her chest. She failed in the worst way possible. She had the power to save him and she couldn't even do that.

Useless, her mind condemned. Damon needed you!

"I know," she answered, sniveling softly. "I'm so sorry, Damon." She deserved to die the most excruciating death.

As if the world heard her thoughts and wanted to punish her, she was plunged in darkness. A haggard cry left her mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut, sitting up taut on the cot, her shoulder crying out in agony.

How she hated the dark. Why did they do this to her? Why did they enjoy torturing her so?

"Why?!" she haggardly cried to anyone listening.

Were they watching her? Laughing at her fear?

With angry tear-filled eyes and no one left to blame, she looked up in the direction of the sky to the only one she could accuse. "Why God? Why do you tolerate such wicked people? Why do you ignore my suffering?"

Feeling empty and sorry for herself, she sagged down, off the cot and onto the cold, hard floor, sobbing with everything she had left in her. There she bowed her head, clasping both her hands shakily. "Please," she begged on her knees, "please, just take me away from here. If you hear me," tears bled from her eyes, "if you care," she lifted her head, "save me."

Several seconds passed with complete silence being her answer.

Like always, there was never a reply. Selfishly she wanted a sign, she wanted to be seen. But in the end she was just a monster, just like that creature. She didn't deserve anything more than this.

Suddenly a sound from the far side of the room, just outside of the cell, captured her awareness. Slowly, so slowly she turned her head, squinting in the darkness, her heart pounding faster as flashes of that monster haunted her.

There were several screams, all male. It chilled her because they reminded her of Damon's. They were the sounds someone made when they were in pain.

Not again, she couldn't do it again.

Staying completely still, she hoped that whatever was happening outside would not be brought inside her cell, that whatever lay out there would not find her.

Silence quickly followed the pain-filled cries, leaving her feeling exposed and vulnerable. Her lips quivered as she frantically swept her eyes down the length of the far side of the cell, searching for a sign of something opening. She didn't know what scared her more, the dreadful sounds of carnage or the silence.

Staring in the direction of the door, she waited, almost expecting another one of those monsters to come through. Was this how Damon felt before he died? Did he feel as helpless as she did?

A loud bang sounded, and she flinched. She feared whatever it was could hear her heartbeat, taste her fear.

Then it sounded again, louder this time. It was trying to break down the door!

Scrambling as far away as she could get, with one good arm, Rae huddled against the wall, her back pressing uncomfortably into its metal framework as she tucked herself in the furthest corner of the room.

As the pounding continued, she could only imagine Tomak's look of disgust at how pathetic she looked in this moment, cowering like she was. Somehow she could feel this was it, her last existing moment.

Ice cold fear trickled into her bones, chilling her when the door made a screeching sound, as if someone were prying it open with their bare hands. Then the sound stopped, as did her heart, when she caught sight of a bulky shape barely slipping through the opening it made, cautiously entering her cell.

Although she was practically blind in the darkness, she could sense its energy. It was wild and ferocious. Not human.

Fearful, she screamed, "Go away!" What little energy she had left began pooling in her hands, a last resort.

The dark shadow stilled. Why would it stop? Or was she imagining it?

She felt light-headed as her hands continued to glow orange. She was weak, much too weak to hold off an attack and they both knew it because it moved again, charging forward.

Squealing in fear and unable to even release her energy, she curled in on herself, accepting death.

"Rae," she heard the voice first, then her whole side was flooded with warmth. His warmth.

"...T-Tomak?" she croaked, her voice rising just above a whisper. Lifting her head, her eyes met the reassuring sight of Tomak's large form hovering over her. But as much as she wanted this to be true, she couldn't be sure if she was dreaming.

"I am here," he purred, huddling close, letting her feel his armored body as reassurance. His clawed hand came up to cup her face, likely feeling the wet tears that stained her cheeks.

"Tomak," she breathed his name as if it were the only thing keeping her alive.

Sensing her disbelief, he went to pick her up, his arms curling under her, but the moment he shifted some of her weight onto him, she cried out in pain, recoiling from him.

Reminded of her injury, Rae bit her lip, drawing blood as she refused to make any more sounds of discomfort. That was when she felt his claws trace the torn area of her shirt, pulling it partly away from her shoulder.

Could he see her injury? Was his eyesight that good in the dark?

His body stiffened next to her, the action not doing her nerves any good, spiking her heart rate. He was grasping her chin again, drawing her eyes back to his darkened, masked, face. "What have they done to you?"

Gripping his arms and just wanting to be physically closer, she leaned forward with closed eyes, pressing her face further against his cold chest plate. Ignoring the white hot pain in her shoulder she wrapped her arms as far as she could around him, making the limb shake uncontrollably.

She was shaking so bad, she felt him help her, tugging her body closer. How she missed his warm embrace!

Thoroughly convinced of his real-life presence, she burst into tears, clinging to him tighter. She didn't want to let go, not now, not ever. She feared that if she did, he would be gone like a swift ocean breeze, never to be seen again, but he disproved her irrational fear, pulling away to look down at her.

"Let me see it again," he cooed, pulling at the fabric of her shirt.

As he examined it further, lightly touching the edges of the wound, Rae found herself whimpering, wishing he would just let it be. He was only inflaming it more.

"Rae, this looks like the bite of a–" he stopped and she suddenly felt his piercing gaze on her again, "a kiande amedha."

Why did that sound so familiar to her? Where had she heard it before? Then she remembered. That had been the beast Tomak described for her, the one that worked as a hive. That thought made her insides clench.

One had been terrifying and almost impossible to kill. A hive? Nothing could survive that, right?

Her thoughts were broken up as Tomak examined the wound, "You are fortunate it did not use its inner mouth."

How was this fortunate? she thought miserably. What did the inner mouth do then? Go right through? That would be ridiculous!

"Did it pierce you with its tail?" he asked next, his mask lenses flashing in the dark as he scanned her body, his hands carefully combing down her.

Her chin wobbled as Damon's chest wound came to mind. Rendered speechless, she shook her head, dropping her gaze as she ignored the overpowering emotions flooding her. She didn't want to cry in front of Tomak again.

His hands gently grasped her wrists, pulling her hands between them. It drew her attention. With a feather-like touch, he ran his thumb over both her palms noting the severe burns.

He knew what she had done to receive these, and she shrunk at hearing his dark growl. He was angry. But he made sure she knew he wasn't angry with her, his hand moving to cup her face again. "You are safe now," he purred, his thumb caressing her cheek lovingly. "You have done your part, now let me do mine."

Still blinded to the dark, she heard Tomak move and grab something. Whatever it was, it released a pressurized hiss that made her flinch.

"Easy," he purred, spreading a foreign substance on both her palms. It took her breath away, it was so cold!

She grunted, feeling it spread and fizz on her hands. She had no idea what it looked like or what it was doing, she could only describe the sensation it pulled from her.

Waiting a moment, she felt Tomak wipe a cloth material over her hands, taking the substance off.

Moving her fingers she realized what he had done. It didn't hurt anymore. The burns were almost completely gone, what remained felt like healed scar tissue.

He shifted then, adjusting her shredded shirt, and she knew where he was going to apply it next.

"Hold still for me," he purred, and for a moment she wondered how she would even be able to move with his body almost pinning her to the wall like it was.

Then she absorbed his words. He was holding her down, she vaguely realized. That could only mean this would hurt, right?

Tensing under his hold, she squeezed her eyes shut feeling him pull back her shirt and not long after she felt the frigid substance being mercilessly pressed against her open wound. She released a haggard breath, fighting with every ounce not to scream or cry as he continued to apply a generous amount.

It sizzled like peroxide, the sensation almost turning into an unbearable itch that she needed to scratch, but he held her firm, his clawed hand caressing her side soothingly.

Then just like that, it was wiped away, the pain almost nonexistent. How did the yautja make such effective medicine?

Cleaning her up, he held her closer, eventually securing his arms around her. He must have felt her melt against him then, because a soft purr erupted from him as he peered down at her.

It was all so sweet. Rae would have enjoyed the moment for longer if overwhelming sadness didn't suddenly coil around her heart, at his question.

"Where are they keeping the male?"

Snapping her out of her temporary relief, tears swiftly filled and blurred her vision as she pressed her face against him. "I messed up, Tomak," she cried, hiding her face in the crook of his neck. "I messed up so bad."

"Nonsense," he rubbed her back soothingly, not understanding why she was suddenly expressing this. "You did what honor required."

But I failed, her breathing hitched, not having the strength to say it out loud. But there was no denying it, failing Damon proved how powerless she really was. She was useless.

"They killed him," she finally croaked, feeling him tense, under her hands. It brought on more guilt at feeling his surprise rather than seeing it.

She could not get over how he died, begging her for help. It had been such a gruesome death, she didn't want to imagine what these people would do to Tomak if they discovered him. And suddenly, she was stiffening in his arms, pushing her hands at his chest to look at him. "You shouldn't be here!"

He shuddered, feeling her small fingers grasp his spines and he had to breathe deeply, grounding himself to focus on her dark round eyes. "Neither should you," a single one of his claws traced her face dotingly. "Forgive my weakness, gorgeous. I should have found you sooner."

Her hands fell from his unique locs and down his chest to rest against his biceps, "I told you to stay home for a reason, Tomak." She was trying to be serious with him, but he didn't care, the dome of his face plate pressed firmly against her forehead.

"You are my home," he purred. "I have said it before, you are mine, not theirs, mine."

Her lower lip trembled, as she tried to hold back more tears from falling. She exhaled shakily. It was everything she wanted to hear, but the alarm in her head was ringing louder. "If they find you," she whispered to him, "they'll… they'll…" she closed her eyes, forcing more water to stream down her cheeks. She looked up to his face, forcing what needed to be said, "I can't let that happen."

He cupped her chin encouragingly, "If they find us they will suffer a painful and gruesome end. That I can promise you."

There were too many negative thoughts and feelings filling her head to even consider his deadly flirting, she could only see what would come. "They will find us," she gripped his arms nervously, "they always do."

Seeing the fear clouding her eyes, he tilted her head back, touching the crest of his mask against her forehead. "If I could get in, then we can get out. Both of us." Purring gently, he asked, "Do you trust me?"

She looked at him through watery eyes, nodding. He knew she did.

The lights above them suddenly turned on with a hum, flashing a steady yellow. It brought back painful memories. "They know you're here," she whispered.

"We have to move," he agreed, hooking his arms under her.

She hissed in slight discomfort as he stood to his full height. Hitching her higher in his arms, he turned for the door.

A thought suddenly struck her, "Tomak wait! We can't leave! There's something I need to do. Something that needs to be destroyed."

Stalking confidently through the cell, he caressed the skin just above her knee. "I am aware, and it has been taken care of."

She became tense. Did that mean he saw the yautja? The blood? Did he know how it related to her?

Continuing the conversation he rumbled, "I have planted a bomb. The radius of its destructive power will eradicate all evidence of this place. Is that sufficient for you, gorgeous?" he looked at her, his tone of voice teasing and light.

How could he tease at a time like this? "Wait–" then it registered. She looked dead in his lenses, almost piercing straight to his eyes, "are you talking about your bomb?"

He nodded, confirming.

She blinked again, feeling a loss of breath. "But I thought I–"

"Yes," he purred, reassuring her, "you drained it. And for a very long time I have been recharging it."

She blinked twice more. How? When? But she had a more pressing question. "How long do we have?"

"About fifteen of your minutes left."

Fifteen–wait! Oh god. Her brain was a jumble, and before she could organize her thoughts, he was adjusting her in his arms. She just faintly saw him shoulder his way through the dented door already partially opened for them. She half expected the guards to be on top of them, but it was silent. And she understood why when her eyes landed on the floor.

"You–?" her stomach lurched at the graphic sight, blood and body parts were everywhere. Unable to look any longer she hid her face in his shoulder, willing herself not to vomit.

"Of course I did, gorgeous. I was trained for nothing less, do not doubt what I will do for you," he growled boldly, breaking into a run.

It hurt her to see that. To see people suffer. But she was in no place to argue when she was the one being rescued. So she shut her mouth, watching as they passed two more empty cells. Maybe it was a good thing Tomak placed a bomb. No one else would ever be imprisoned like she was, the yautja's blood would be nonexistent, even the ship would–

That's when it came to her. As Tomak sped down the hall, Rae's eyes shot wide. "Tomak stop! We have to go back."

He shook his head then, "No, nothing is more important than your safety."

"Tomak, please listen to me," she begged, clinging to his shoulders. "They have a ship. I think it's like yours! You need to get to that ship!"

He came to a quick stop, going completely silent, as he looked down at her.

"Did you hear me?!" she shook him, or at least she tried. "You have to get to that ship!"

Putting her down on her bare feet, he bent down, holding her shoulders. "Rae, you are my priority. Getting you out and destroying this building is my only concern."

This time she went quiet, only in disbelief. Was he being serious? Did he not understand the significance of this opportunity?! She shook her head, "No! You–"

"Rae-"

"It's a chance for you to go home!" she silenced him, her chest aching almost painfully admitting it. But as much as it hurt, she forced the tears out of her eyes. "I'm not letting you miss out on what could be your only chance to see your family again. You can finally get back to what you love."

She watched him shake his head, causing a slight sway of his dreads.

"Please, Tomak," she touched him, pleading with him. "If you won't do it for yourself, do it for me. I can't let you give this up."

A heavy breath left him, his head turning away from her.

"Please," she whispered to him, reaching up. With a gentle touch of her hand, she turned his masked face back to her.

He rumbled softly in thought, before turning to take his gauntlet off. This made her frown. What was he doing?

Gesturing for her to come forward, he strapped the armor piece around her bicep, (being as it was too large for her arm). "I will do this for you," he purred, but he held her firmly by the shoulders, his voice darkening into a snarl, "But you will leave here immediately. Do not stop. Do not look back. Keep running. Do you understand me?"

A flashback overtook her, Naomi's father filling her vision.

Take it and run away. No matter what you hear, don't look back, keep running.

She stared at Tomak in the present, his face replacing Naomi's dad, and suddenly she was fearful for him. She shook her head, "I can distract them while you slip into the hangar."

"No, you will listen-"

"It's me they want!" her voice rose, then fell again. Her lip trembled as she looked up at him, "Not you. They will want me alive, they can't afford to kill me."

"I will not take that risk."

"No, but I will."

His whole body went rigid, his hands balling up into fists as he rode his sudden rage, standing straight once again, "You are the most stubborn female!"

She knew she was, but she wouldn't cave. "We don't have time to argue!"

"I agree!" he stepped towards her, almost threateningly. "You will do as you are told and run, or I will leave the ship and carry you to safety myself!" The lenses of his mask practically glowed with his agitation.

She hesitated, never having heard him use such a tone with her. Of course he would use that as his leverage. She swallowed hard, looking up into the lenses of his mask, "Okay," she surrendered brokenly, "okay, just…" she looked up at him through blurry tears, her fingertips trailing over his bare arm, still unsure why he took the gauntlet off. She sniffled, meeting his gaze, "Please be safe."

Whether his eyes softened under his mask or not, she'll never know. Instead he pointed a clawed digit behind her, growling, "Go."

Then leaning forward to mess with the gauntlet he gave her, he activated his cloaking technology, rendering her invisible before turning on his heel and running full speed towards the hangar.

He had given her his cloak. So that was why, she realized, looking down at her invisible hands.

Watching him go, she hesitated before she turned to face her way out. The way to safety.

She had just made it towards the end of the hall when she heard Tomak's fierce roar in the distance, making it difficult for her to resist looking back. But when gun fire followed suit, she came to a complete stop.

She exhaled shakily, remembering.

The gun shots. The screams of pain. It was happening all over again, only she had been too young and scared to do anything about it then. Now, however…

She breathed shakily, looking back over her shoulder. She stared in the direction Tomak had gone for a good long minute, remembering his warning. He wanted her safe. He didn't want to have to worry about her.

But right now all she could do was worry about him. She had never seen him in action before, but even if he was capable, she could not stop the 'what ifs' from clambering their way into her mind. She was a slave to them, to her fear of loss. She didn't think she had room in her heart to lose someone else.

But always, when it came to this point, when it came to choosing between taking a stand and running away, she always chose to run. Even when she had been in Damon's cell, she couldn't fight, she ran.

She was a coward.

I'm not a coward, she heard her own voice say. She had said it to Tomak when he faced her that day, telling her not to give up. What did he say after that?

You are a warrior, not a coward.

A warrior.

All her life she had been a survivor. Survivors ran away from the danger. Warriors ran towards it.

You are stronger than you think, Rae, she recalled Tomak's words.

She exhaled a curse, knowing what she had to do, damned the consequences. Summoning whatever strength she had left, she ran back at full speed, praying she wasn't too late to do something.

---

"You gotta be kidding me," Naomi whispered worriedly, peering from behind the back end of the van.

Several large covered military trucks were heading toward the gated entry leading to the facility.

Sitting tight, she waited apprehensively of what was to come.

Instead of stopping at the gate, like she had expected, they sped up ramming straight through. There were shouts and gunfire, making her squat lower.

Whatever these soldiers were here for, it wasn't to reinforce the security, and she wasn't entirely sure if that was a good thing or not. Sure, this could be why her grandfather wanted her to stay back, to go home, but Tomak was still in there and she wasn't sure either party would respond peacefully upon meeting.

Swiftly, she pulled out her phone, fully intending to warn him of the oncoming wave.

Dialing Rae's number she pressed the phone to her ear, "Come on, pick-up, pick-up," she listened as it continued to ring out. Then there was an automated voice.

"We're sorry, the person you're calling has a voicemail box that has not been setup yet. Please call again later, buh-bye!"

"No," she breathed, staring down at the screen. She tried calling again with the same results.

Tomak had no idea what was coming. With soldiers now in play, things had gotten much more serious. They could interfere with their escape, or worse, capture or kill Tomak.

Edging further away from her car, she grit her teeth at the dilemma. He told her to stay, but how could she now? She couldn't just sit there and do nothing.

She wouldn't.

"Sorry, Tomak. I'm breaking off the agreement." She rushed through the woods, down the steep slope, and through the broken gate, coming to a complete stop in the brush below. There she watched as a couple more army vehicles drove by.

They looked to be setting up a perimeter.

Carefully, so as not to be seen, she swept between the covered vehicles, crouching low as men and women jogged by.

A shadow of a few was seen walking in her direction. Thinking quickly, Naomi managed to crawl underneath one of the vehicles before she could be spotted.

Unfortunately, some must have heard her, because they paused. "Did you hear that?"

She tensed, holding her breath as she stared at their combat boots.

This was not good!

---

Rae was pretty sure she was lost. The next hallway looked identical to the last. And the sounds of the violence had begun to echo, making it harder to discern which direction they were coming from.

But she couldn't give up. Hurrying her pace, Rae flew down the next corridor. A relieved smile pulled at her cheeks seeing that this was the hallway with the alien artifacts. Very noticeably though, glass was speckled all along the floor, making her tiptoe around the shimmering shards.

What she wouldn't give for some shoes.

Quickly examining the glass casing, she noticed that something was missing from the exhibit. Being that she had seen it only that one time, she couldn't remember what it was that had been there before. She did not miss however that Tomak's mask had been left behind.

She was pretty sure he had been the one to come through here, so why did he leave it?

Eventually, her eyes drifted to the object beside the mask. It was a familiar shape to Tomak's spear, only this was a bronze color, decorated with a few beads and trinkets. If it was like Tomak's weapon, she realized that it could prove to be very useful.

The only issue was retrieving it.

She was exhausted as it was, her energy nowhere near where it should have been. And her hands were scarred, having barely healed. She wasn't sure she could use her powers so soon.

But since when did she ever get what she wanted?

Breathing deeply through her nose, she calmed her beating heart and held her hand to the glass panel. With hardly any expectation at all, she closed her eyes and focused on channeling the little energy she did have, and with surprisingly little effort, the glass shattered.

Breathing out slowly, she carefully reached in and grabbed the alien combi-stick, making sure to avoid the sharp edges of the glass frame. Once it was out, she grasped the leather grip firmly and ran her thumb over the hidden upraised button. Tensing expectantly, both sides of the weapon shot out with an audible snap. She smiled with a grateful hum, turning it over in her hands.

Thankful that it still worked, she collapsed it until further use.

Not missing the sound of voices approaching, she rushed out of the hall, and despite knowing she had Tomak's cloak, she ran into the entrance of a different corridor, pressing herself tight against the wall, hoping whoever it was, would miss her.

Three guards, as well Price himself, suddenly came into view. They moved quickly toward the hall she had just been down. Only they didn't stop to inspect the shattered pieces of glass, they entered the room at the end, the one that held the blood and the yautja.

Unlike ever before, Rae had an insatiable hunger for vengeance. Hate had never run so strong within her veins. Just the very sight of Price, well and active, ignited that spark that told her to light him up and give him what he deserved. But the heavy sound of multiple weapons discharging on the other side of the hangar doors, forced her to pause and think.

She had come back not for revenge but to help Tomak, though she couldn't deny the opportunity that was presented to her. She could finish this once and for all, save others from suffering a similar fate as she.

But then there was Tomak. He was without his cloak, one gauntlet short, risking his life trying to get to a ship that could take him home, and he had no guarantee. It was all chance.

She thought about all the chances Tomak took to rescue her. From the very beginning, he made sacrifices, even letting his own ship go, to help them escape. Surely she could sacrifice her chance of getting revenge, couldn't she?

Clearly, she already made up her mind.

Blowing out a harsh sigh, she tore her eyes away from where Price had gone and ran to the hangar doors. Before she changed her mind, she burst through them, going straight to the railing.

Frantically, she looked for Tomak down below. With the flashing shots of gunfire, it was not hard to know where to look.

She squinted, inspecting from afar to see if he had taken any damage, but Tomak seemed to be doing pretty well for himself; dozens of bodies littered about the hangar was a testimony to that, but he didn't seem to be done, currently dealing with several more.

Rae didn't hesitate running down the stairs. As she did, she held the combi-stick away from her body and pressed the button to activate it. It took just a few seconds for her to reach the bottom, but as soon as she did, she was forced to duck as a guard was thrown over her.

On her belly, she looked up in time to see three men closing in around Tomak, attempting to overwhelm him, while a fourth hung back, trying to get a better shot.

Scrambling to her feet, she got up to see an almost horrific sight.

Tomak was acting as if he was being pelted with rain rather than pulse rifles, and on top of that, he was easily taking the men down, as if it wasn't a challenge. And it really wasn't! With his agile movements keeping him in constant motion, and his deadly accuracy with that spear, there was nothing stopping him.

But that still didn't stop her from at least trying to help.

Hauling herself to where he was positioned, she managed to smack the gun of the fourth guy, right out of his hands. And thanks to being rendered invisible, the man yelled and swung at her blindly, unable to get a clear hit.

Stepping out of range of his swings, Rae took her position and gripped the combi-stick hard, holding almost like it was a baseball bat. Then with one swing she gave the guy a good thwack straight to the head, sending him down hard.

If he hadn't tried to harm Tomak, she would have felt bad, but at least he was still alive. He'd have one heck of a bruise and a headache though.

She had been so proud of her achievement, she screamed when a force grabbed her and spun her around, simultaneously turning off the cloak.

She let out a breath when she met Tomak's angry lenses, having appeared to have taken care of the last couple guards on his end. Oh and she knew he was angry, the drastic rise and descent of his shoulders told her so. Then again he could be tired.

"I thought I told you to run!" he snarled. Nope, he was definitely angry.

Not backing down to his tone, she closed the space between them, taking a step forward. "And I told you I'm not a coward!"

He chuffed loudly at that, but the anger he tried so hard to hold onto seemed to dissipate, the longer he stood there staring at her, his hand lifting to cradle her cheek. He really liked doing that lately. Then before she knew it, he was holding her face in both his large hands, rumbling in the most gentle voice. "I could have lost you a second time."

Her heart fluttered in her chest, hearing him voice his concern. And her smile grew as she lifted her hand to overlap one of his while leaning into his touch, accepting his affection, and in a small way, returning it. "I'm not completely made of glass, you know," her eyes glimmered in a teasing way.

One of his thumbs swiped over her cheek, "Still, it pains me to see you in danger."

She grinned bigger at that. "Then let's get out of it."

Purring in agreement, he stepped back, turning toward the humongous black ship that felt a lot bigger up close. But as she watched Tomak ascend the ramp, she figured it probably didn't feel that way for him, he was the perfect size for it. Quickly following him, her brow wrinkled in worry as he slammed his fist in the door.

"What's wrong?"

"The doors are not opening to my presence, the energy core must be depleted."

So that must have been why the scientists could never get inside, she mused. Tomak sounded really defeated though, and she could understand why. They needed this to go right for them. "Is there anything we can do? Charge it somehow?" she supplied, trying to stay positive.

Tomak, shook his head helplessly, "It would take a large electrical surge to start up its emergency power reserves."

A surge of electricity, she thought, her eyes bouncing about the room for an answer. Then suddenly she got a crazy idea. "Like, how much energy are we talking?"

He shook his head, not having a specific answer. "A large amount." He turned and looked at her, now becoming suspicious, "Why?"

"Let's just say, I might have a solution, but you're not gonna like it," she cringed, looking at him apprehensively.

He merely stared at her, trying to read her thoughts.

"The bomb, Tomak," she answered his question, "where did you put it?"

All at once he stiffened, a rattling sound of reprimand coming directly from his chest, "Rae–"

"Hey," she soothed, "I've done it before, remember?" she smoothed her hand over his bare arm in a calming gesture, hoping to win him over. "I've got a plan, just try and get those doors open." Pulling away, she went to run only for him to catch her wrist in his clawed hand.

"Rae," she turned to look up at him and he growled softly, "you cannot simply remove it. I am under obligation to restore that yautja's honor."

So it was in the room with the yautja and the blood canister. It was convenient, being that it was close by, but it did dawn on her what he was saying. He wanted to right the wrong by wiping all evidence of their existence.

Allowing a small smile, she nodded assuringly, throwing his earlier question back at him. "You trust me, right?"

He paused, grunting softly.

"Then let me do what I'm good at," she tugged for her arm back.

Much to her relief, she felt him loosen his grip on her, but not before he wrapped his arm around her waist, hauling her into him. "If you take too long, I will be coming after you," he whispered in her ear.

She wasn't sure whether to feel threatened or comforted by his words, since his voice was very rough, and not at all gentle as it had been a minute ago. Patting his chest, she pulled back, and looked up at him with a smile, "I'm holding you to it."

Before he could hold her back any longer, she ran back to the stairs, cursing her low stamina as her lungs wheezed, and her legs ached. She always did hate fighting uphill battles.

Upon reaching the top, she paused to catch her breath, managing to see Tomak with bulging arms, slowly peeling the doors open with the tips of his claws.

Damn, he looked good doing that.

Come on Rae, she admonished. Tomak's doing his part, now you gotta do yours.

Reaching the heavy duty door, she was surprised to find it pushed open slightly, then again, the power going out could have disrupted it, but she still was cautious as she pulled it open the rest of the way.

Unlike before, there was no sign of Price, but both tanks were still there, and thankfully so was the ticking time bomb.

Kneeling down before it, Rae held the object carefully in her lap. Remembering what she had seen before, the explosive was nearing its final stages, the sound of the timer only increasing her sense of urgency.

Taking a few breaths to prepare herself, she began the exchange, once again allowing her cells to soak in the energy from the device. Immediately she felt like a defibrillator had jumpstarted her heart, the power from the bomb rejuvenating the power she had lost when she had fought that alien. But eventually, that jump-start began to hurt, her arms shaking from the raw sensation of what felt like fire moving up her arms and body.

It was almost too much for her.

"Don't!" she told herself, trying to keep the channel open. She knew she was close to the end, she could feel it. She was almost there, Just a little longer.

When the pain came to a peak, she cried out as the last bit of juice was sucked out of it and she fell to her side, groaning at the burning torment trapped in her chest.

Trying to remember to breathe, she fumbled to her feet, hardly able to stand. That was when she heard the cock of a gun.

"I knew you'd come back."

Breathing shallowly, she turned to see Price aiming a gun directly at her.

"You're so predictable," he chuckled, positioning his finger over the trigger, as he aimed his weapon at her.

Her adrenaline was finally kicking in, the pain in her chest not flaring as bad. But even so, the sight of Price filled her with dangerous emotions. Emotions that risked her losing her hold on the energy due to a lack of concentration. She had to suppress them.

Still, despite stifling her anger, she lifted a glowing hand in his direction, gritting her teeth. "Then you should have ran."

Before she let herself go too far, she shifted her hand and released a small percent of the bomb's destructive capabilities, at the same time he pulled the trigger.

Hissing in pain, Rae fell backwards, clutching her side.

Price on the other hand, was shakily standing, checking his own body for damage. Upon finding nothing was askew, he began to laugh, clearly amused with her seemingly poor aim. "All that and you missed?!" he sneered.

She allowed her own small smile, replying, "No I didn't."

Confusion was the first thing to be recognized in Price's eyes, but then he froze. Turning dreadfully slow, the Director looked up to see that the yautja's tank no longer existed, now simply a burnt hole in the wall, and the tank next to it had sustained heavy damage. What was left of the 'blood bank' was draining onto the floor and into the nearby drains.

"NO!" he was suddenly moving, dropping to his knees. His hands spread out over the ground, covering them in the yautja's blood, as if he could somehow save it.

But his distraction was all Rae needed.

Lunging for him, she tackled the weaker man onto his back, where she pinned him beneath her.

"You have no idea what you've done!" He struggled, but was ultimately no match for her strength. "If you think you can protect that Predator of yours, you're wrong. I will get my hands on his blood!"

Clutching his collar in a rage, Rae let her other hand glow until it was almost yellow. Fisting it, she raised her hand with every intention to burn a hole right through his face, "You will never touch Tomak."

Undeterred by her display, the man chuckled, "You named it? It's a monster!" Then he paused, "I suppose that's right up your alley isn't it? So is that why you let it live? Monsters stick together?" he taunted further.

Yelling angrily, Rae lifted and slammed Price's head into the floor, hot angry tears falling from her eyes. Her arm shook as she held it in position, wanting with every fiber of her being to kill him, get it over with, get her revenge. But then she caught her reflection on one of the leftover tanks, stored in the corner of the room.

She stared at herself poised over Price, her glowing fist raised high.

You fear humans when you are powerful enough to destroy them. What is there to fear? Tomak's voice filled her head, and she remembered her response to his question.

That's not me, Tomak. I was taught to value life, not take it. …If I was the monster they painted me to be, I wouldn't have hesitated in killing you, but I did.

Now look at her. Liar! her mind screamed. Her father had ensured that she valued life at a young age, starting with saving spiders, something she absolutely hated doing, but in the end she always felt good when they were finally released outside.

But those were spiders, this was a human, a murderer, no less, but still a human being.

"You can't do it," Price laughed, blood oozing from his nose, "can you?"

Gritting her teeth, her hand fisted tighter, trying to block him out.

If she did this, gave in, she would lose a part of herself. She would lose the part her father had built up. She didn't want to tear down those walls, she didn't want to lose herself to the anger, to the pain.

All of this was what Price wanted, for her to be the monster he painted her to be. But she wanted to be different. She was different.

At that moment, she realized something.

It didn't matter how much Price deserved to die, deserved to suffer. Rae couldn't be the one to kill him. She wouldn't kill him. Her conscience wouldn't allow her to.

Suddenly, she felt the rage dim within her and her hand relaxed at her side. "No," she finally admitted, "I can't." Shakily, she got to her feet, staring at Price hollowly. Taking a step back, she added, "But he can."

That was when the wall of muscle that had been silently standing behind her, moved to take her place in front of Price.

Rae felt the ripple in Tomak's frame as he brushed past her. She thought he was too focused on Price to take further notice of her, but he surprised her, speaking over his shoulder. "Leave, Rae," his voice deepened further, edged with a darkness she had not heard before. "I do not want you to see this."

Shakily, she nodded, hobbling out of the room. Even with the buzz of energy, pushing her forward, she felt drained emotionally, unsure how to feel.

Taking one step at a time, she made her way towards the ship, wondering if she had made the right call or not.

—

Tomak's lenses gleamed as he stared down at the pitiful human male.

Unlike with Rae, the male didn't dare speak in his presence, a wise choice. But he had heard enough to know the truth of who he was.

Before he got any ideas, Tomak lunged forward with inhuman speed, grabbing the male by the throat, lifting his body high in the air. He enjoyed the feeling of his weak, fleshy throat under his tightening fingers. Giving the man a very good idea of what he was capable of doing.

"Is that fear I scent on you human?" he growled mockingly.

Unable to do much else, the man cried out, his hands circling his wrist in an attempt to relieve the crushing pressure around his windpipe.

It was a futile attempt.

The very wind was knocked from Price's lungs as he slammed him into the nearby wall and held him there. His masked face loomed over him then, making him whimper pathetically.

"You took my female from me," his hold tightened and immediately the male thrashed his legs. He held him this way for a solid minute before loosening his fingers, allowing the pathetic thing to gasp and pant. "How do you plead?" he titled his head, waiting.

Price couldn't hardly form words, then he was throttled.

"I will not ask again," Tomak snarled directly in his face. "Speak!"

Price wheezed, clawing helplessly at his hand. "I… I don't–" his response was cut off along with his oxygen as Tomak began to squeeze again. He enjoyed seeing his desperation.

He released a deep rolling staccato from within his syrinx, knowing how it made his prey react. The smell of fear became more rancid than before, feeding his desire to kill and conquer.

This was supposedly the unforgiving, honorless bug that had tormented a young female, not even in her prime, but with him he could hardly find the courage to even speak.

It enraged him.

"Pathetic!" he threw him across the room, the male's body crashed against the wall before crumpling to the floor.

Stalking over him, Tomak forced him down on the ground and swiped his claws down his front, drawing out an agony filled cry. Taking his compact spear next, he extended it with a metallic ring and rammed it into his shoulder, pinning him to the floor.

Price elicited a blood curdling scream, his hand clawing at the alien weapon, tugging at it uselessly.

"You do not deserve the honor of dying by my hand, but for what you have done to my female and an honored warrior, justice must be dealt."

Stepping back, Tomak watched him struggle before grabbing a vial from his hidden pouch. He flashed the man a quick sight of the glowing blue contents before he popped the cap off and proceeded to pour it on his feet.

As soon as the foreign substance made contact with his flesh, Price howled, his body unable to move due to being pinned.

Tomak watched in silence, as he dribbled it up both his legs and onto his arms, unaffected by the man's pathetic whimpering and sobbing.

Wrenching his spear free from the male's body, he turned for the door, leaving what was left of the male to rot there on the floor. He was the gods' problem now.

Shouts of warning from multiple voices rang out in the hangar as he exited the room.

His pupils constricted as those voices transformed into gunshots.

No. His eyes witnessed as Rae released the last bit of energy she had into the ship before dropping still to the ground. She had fallen as if her spirit had left her body which filled him with a cold chill. The soldiers that had been yelling, stood with guns raised, filling in what happened.

He let out a savage roar, hauling himself off the top deck to land amidst the group of men and women, effectively knocking them back away from Rae. Those with a brain scrambled away from him, but others began unloading their mags.

Picking Rae's limp body up, he shielded her from the bullets as he rushed them inside the open ship, slamming his hand on the emergency panel that manually closed the door behind them.

Turning with her in his arms, he hurried to where the bedchamber would have been located and placed her on the soft pelts.

There was blood everywhere and it was not his.

He scanned her body, finding a weak pulse. Her body had withstood multiple shots to the abdomen, and one to her shoulder. They could be easily treated, but with the sounds of ricocheting rounds hitting the exterior hull, he growled knowing what he had to do first.

Walking thunderously to the flightdeck, he sat heavily in the pilot seat, and pulled up the read-outs of the ship's condition. For being an older model, and sustaining damage from its initial crash, it was in good condition, and the power from the energy core was now at four-hundred percent capacity thanks to Rae.

Not wasting a moment longer, Tomak activated the ship's shield then swiftly input the commands that would start up the thrusters. Without much hesitation, his black claws clicked along the surface of the control panel taking manual control of the ship and its weapon system.

He eyed the closed hangar doors ahead of them, scanning its structure, determining that a simple plasma shot at the center should suffice. Aiming accordingly, he punched it, watching as the human structure collapsed spectacularly under the powerful explosive.

With just enough room to squeeze through, Tomak slowly pushed both hands forward, adjusting as the ship was propelled forward. As he shot them out of there, he clenched his teeth at the sound of metal scraping on metal. He must have barely skimmed the top of the hull.

Familiarizing himself with the movements of the craft, he rose the ship until it was well above the treeline, circling the facility, as he banked around.

A dark growl left his maw as he stared at the source of Rae's fears.

The weapons system warmed up once again as he took aim, this time centering on the building itself. Now that he had what he came for, it was time he finished the job and ended this once and for all.

---

Author's Note

Everyone has been so kind! Thank you so much for your reviews! I apologize for not getting this chapter out sooner. To make up for that, I made this one extra long, and I also intend to have another chapter published by the end of the month.

As for Price, I hope I did his suffering justice. Everyone has been wishing for his death, so I had to think hard on it because he really did have it coming. I hope I met your expectations. Let me know!