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This planet’s moon has completed its light cycle more than once since he began watching her… And the days seem to stretch on and on.
Upon tracking the human known as Lex Woods to her current location, the first thing that he noticed is that she’s established her home base somewhere considerably less cold then the place where he’d been forced to abandon her last… It’s nowhere near the planes of grainy soil and unrelenting sunlight that he knows exist here on Earth, but it’s an improvement that pleases him all the same.
From the cloaking of his small ship in the atmosphere high above, he’s been able to discreetly monitor her movements.
Lex doesn’t leave her shelter very often—every several days, she takes her vehicle into the nearby settlement, seemingly to stock up on supplies. On occasion, if the hunter is lucky, his scope will catch her seated on the front porch of her home at night, staring up at the stars as if searching for something.
He knows she doesn’t see his ship. She couldn’t.
Yet her gaze stirs something within him all the same.
As he settles into the cockpit for another long night of indecision, a sigh escapes him with a rattling trill.
It caused quite a stir amongst his people when the hunter had told his Elders that he’d be going back for the blooded human that saved his life. Even now, Scar’s not sure what social consequences he might face should he choose to return to his clan—with or without said human in tow.
It hadn’t taken him long after his recovery to find Lex…
So why has he taken no action? Why is he trying to content himself simply with watching her from afar?
Lex Woods proved herself a brave and capable huntress when last they met. Should she wish to continue on such a path, the two of them could prove themselves to be quite the formidable party…
But that’s not all he seeks, is it?
The sun is setting on Earth’s surface, casting the trees surrounding Lex’s home in brilliant shades of crimson and copper. Regrettably, the atmosphere has grown chillier in recent days.
He has no reason to expect a break in routine tonight—but when Lex suddenly steps onto her front porch, clutching some small device in hand, that’s exactly what he sees.
The footage from the high-zoom periscope of his ship is clear enough for the yautja to curiously observe the finer details of her task: Lex crouches down to the couple carved gourds positioned on her steps, and places something inside each one. With the contraption in her hand, she reaches in and sets small flames inside the organic lanterns, bringing them to life in the rapidly dimming glow of evening.
For a moment, Lex simply pauses to look down at her work, baring her pale teeth in what might be pleasure.
The sight stills the breath in his chest—and he only finds it in him to exhale once she’s returned indoors and out of sight.
The flickering vegetables stare blankly at the hunter’s scope with indecipherable expressions. Heavy brow furrowing in confusion, he redirects the focus of his scanners… And the information they provide only perplexes him further.
In the more densely populated settlements near Lex’s home, humans are beginning to roam the streets in the most peculiar outfits: some are merely dressed in unusually garish colors and symbols, but still others are covering their entire heads with such elaborate ornamentation that a lesser yautja might not have even recognized the species.
Tonight must be some sort of festival, of that much he is now certain… Though what connection may lie between the illuminated vegetation on Lex’s porch and the alarming garb sported by her fellow humans, he’d be at a loss to identify.
Will Lex herself reemerge dressed in something similarly outlandish? The thought sends an unseemly thrill of curiosity through his veins…
…And all at once, an idea comes to him.
With narrowed eyes, the hunter glances back to the threshold of the cockpit, where his bio-mask hangs ready in anticipation.
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A blood-curdling scream rattles from Lex’s television as a woman faces the black-and-white monster lurking in the darkness.
Through a shaky sigh, she hits “pause” on the remote when her doorbell rings.
October has come and gone with all the mild pleasantries of a last-minute house guest, barely giving Lex time to register the chill of the air. Now, it’s Halloween night, and she is determined to perform her sacred duty, despite—well, everything .
Scooping up the plastic cauldron from her kitchen island, she heads toward the door.
Once upon a time, Halloween was Lex’s favorite holiday—one of the few days a year she wouldn’t mind being caught taking downtime at home rather than out on a job. As a kid, she loved dressing up, fretting over her costume that had to be just right… It was a chance to pretend to be something bigger than herself.
She always was a dreamer.
When Lex opens the door, the frigid forest air rushes in to kiss her skin.
A mother around Lex’s own age smiles politely, one hand on each shoulder of the two children she’s accompanying: a little boy dressed as a fearsome green dragon, and a toddler in all the royal trappings of a princess.
“Trick or treat!” The little boy flashes Lex a toothy grin as he and his little sister raise their candy pails in delight.
“Love the costumes,” Lex smiles as she heaps generous handfuls into the kids’ stashes—not that many trick-or-treaters have ventured off the main road to her cabin, after all. With a playful wink, she nods at the little princess. “Watch out for that dragon.”
The shy young girl doesn’t laugh, but her brilliant smile expresses amusement all the same.
At the encouragement by their mother, the kids deliver their thanks before turning around in search of the next house. Lex watches them a moment before heading back inside, closing the door behind her.
She moves to return her attention to the TV—where a woman’s face is frozen in fear, the eerie silhouette of a monster casting shadow upon her features.
Something churns uneasily through Lex.
It’s been eight months since Bouvetøya… But it might as well have been yesterday. As soon as she had bid farewell to her alien comrade, even the very moment she had found her way to rescue, she knew she had been irrevocably changed.
She’d spent some of Weyland Industries' hush money on this very cabin—a quaint little thing in the middle of the woods of Washington, someplace she’d been hoping to find peace for a while. But she can’t escape the monsters that still live in her own head, especially when they visit her every time she tries to catch some shuteye.
Visions of corpses, bearing faces twisted in anguish…
Glossy black serpents barely perceptible in the shadows.
A monstrous, spiked tail, piercing right through—
Snatching up the TV remote, Lex hastily changes the channel. As a colorful cartoon illuminates tales of the “great pumpkin” into her living room, she reaches for the kitchen cabinet where she keeps her prescriptions.
The memories, like they so often do, have sent her hyperventilating; Lex gratefully reaches for her bottle of benzos.
Filling a glass with water, she watches in a detached state as her own hand trembles over the glass. Inevitably, this train of thought always leads her to the same place—
Scar .
Accepting that life exists beyond the stars was, surprisingly, not nearly as difficult as the knowledge that she failed her extraterrestrial partner so soon after their acquaintance. Alien or no—for a time, Lex knew the towering being as an equal, and was accepted as such herself.
The green glow of his blood on her hands illuminates her darkest musings.
Scar wasn’t the mindless killing machine she had initially thought—he had a sense of humor, a purpose, a desire to fight alongside her. For all she knew, he had somebody waiting for him back home, wherever home was.
He had a life, snuffed out before her eyes as it was.
He was her friend .
Tears well in her eyes as she swallows the medication with practiced ease. Settling back onto her sofa, her brain tunes out the welcome white noise of the television as her fingers drift up to the scar that marrs her left cheek. Scar’s roar still echoes in her mind, bringing a not-altogether-unpleasant shiver down her spine.
Friends .
The word is suspended buoyant in her thoughts as wind picks up into a howl beyond her windows.
But not long after Scar had marked her as his equal, she was left alone once more—and nobody on this planet could ever understand the ache that sits beneath her ribs.
If connecting with other people was difficult for Lex before Bouvetøya, it’s nigh impossible now.
Who would believe what she’s seen?
What she’s done?
What human being could possibly understand the hole left in her heart by the death of a towering, reptilian killing machine?
Lex is, somewhat gratefully, shaken from the morbid trajectory of her thoughts as a rustling thud hits the roof somewhere above her. A strong breeze rattles the window panes; her brow furrows…
Surely it’s just one of the branches of that old tree above her house, shaken loose by the feisty weather. She’ll have to get out the ladder in the morning to reach and discard the fallen limb.
When the noise turns into a sickening scrape down the slope of her rooftop, though, Lex’s blood ices over in her veins.
Rationally, she knows she’s escaped those… Things . That the chances of her encountering another shiny black abomination are, ideally, astronomical.
But in recent months, the animal part of her brain has had trouble accepting that.
With trembling fingers, Lex mutes the TV. Silence reigns once more as her heartbeat picks up its pace, sending blood pounding through her ears as she gazes at the ceiling with eyes as wide as moons.
Just the trees.
Just the wind.
Maybe it’s Halloween that has her more wound up than usual—
A single, steady knock sounds at her front door, and Lex has to slam her hand over her mouth to quiet the yelp that chokes out of her. Her eyes dart to the still-plentifully-stocked cauldron of candy on her counter.
Right. Yeah . Halloween.
Picking the cauldron up by its plastic handle, she makes a concerted effort to compose herself as she shuffles to the door.
Maybe some teenagers TP’d my house , she reasons with an internal sigh.
Another knock.
“Be right—”
But when Lex opens the door, the breath is stolen from her lungs. She drops the handle of the cauldron, letting it thump to the ground beside her.
“... You? ” The monosyllable is strangled as it leaves her lips. Fresh tears sting her eyes as her mind struggles to catch up with what she’s seeing.
Scar’s solid presence feels so familiar, it’s like he never left her.
The towering alien standing before her is a picture of strength, armored like he was in the pyramid. Staring up at his masked face, her mind automatically fills in what lies beneath: expressive eyes, an intimidating mouth.
“How are you here?” Unbidden, Lex’s voice has grown watery and uncertain. Scar tilts his massive head as he appraises her, moving his dreads in the process.
It can’t be him.
He died .
With a low trill that sends pleasant vibrations shuddering down her body, Scar places one massive, clawed hand over her own… Which has somehow found its way to his chest. In dazed disbelief, her shaky fingers lifted of their own accord to reach out and touch —to reassure her brain that he is, in fact, solid.
Scar is wearing fewer plates of armor than he was when last they met, she realizes. It makes sense, considering the (hopefully) safe surroundings of her home. His state of dress allows her a less obscured view of his torso, though, and she swallows hard as her eyes trace the brutal scar tissue she finds there. Her touch is featherlight, tracing the cold, scaly skin that peeks out between the diamond-mesh suit that covers his entire body.
Though Scar himself seems wholly at ease, Lex’s brain soon catches up enough to realize that she’s caressing him—and she snatches her hand back, returning her gaze to the inscrutable planes of his mask. His own paw-like grip falls away.
Scar hesitates only a moment before raising his arms; with steady movements, he attempts to sign something to Lex… She watches with rapt attention.
The scars on his chest.
Bursting outward —
Lex blanches.
“...Are you okay now?” Her voice is little more than a whisper as she fruitlessly searches his mask.
Scar nods, but seemingly senses her remaining unease. In the cool evening air, his hands raise once more—and release his mask.
When the obfuscation of metal falls away, Lex’s voice strangles on something close to a sob.
Wide eyes peer back at her, shamelessly searching her face. His… Mandibles are folded inward to hide his teeth; Scar’s entire expression is tentative, entirely unlike when last he removed his helmet and roared at her in the Antarctic.
Her hands move with purpose, this time: giving him plenty of time to swat her away, Lex slowly raises her fingers—and traces along the scar of his forehead, nearly identical to that which adorns her own cheek.
“Scar,” she breathes—and though crying in full force now, a genuine smile warms her face for what feels like the first time since Bouvetøya.
Something in her partner’s posture visibly relaxes in response, and the flood of emotions is all too much.
Lex surges forward to wrap her arms around Scar’s narrow waist, pulling him into a hug.
“You have no idea how glad I am to see you,” she sighs, sniffling through her words like the mess that she is.
To her surprise, Scar readily moves to pull her close, one clawed hand on her upper back, the other cradling the back of her head. She had been ready for the alien being to stiffen in response to her awkward show of affection—she wasn’t ready for this . Pulling back just enough to peer up at his face, she searches his eyes for some sign of the feelings that are so difficult to express between the two of them.
Somehow, Scar’s expression has warmed into something almost like fondness —eyes narrowed softly, mandibles clicking together in amusement.
To see such emotion in the face of a being so alien to her—and for her to be its recipient , no less—it renders Lex speechless as she works to even out her breathing.
She murmurs his name—the name she gave him, at least—and he seems to trill in question…
But when leaves crunch somewhere behind him, Scar is suddenly scrambling to don his mask once more. Lex’s blood runs cold as she pulls away, leaning to one side to peer around her massive visitor.
A few teenagers dressed as superheroes just turned down the road to Lex’s cabin. One boy is not-so-subtly pointing to Scar’s back as he speaks in curious tones to his companions. Lex’s hand darts up to grip her companion’s arm.
How the Hell am I going to…?
“Hey, killer costume, man!”
Slowly, Scar turns around to assess the teens; Lex holds her breath.
At length, the alien nods, earning pleased laughter from the trick-or-treaters. A slightly delirious grin blossoms on Lex’s face, and she peers into the visor of Scar’s mask once more.
“I’ll meet you inside?” She nods back over her shoulder to the doorway of her house. A gentle clicking emits from Scar’s helmet.
Lex bends down to pick up the displaced cauldron of candy, steeling herself to dole out treats to the kids… To keep it cool, like she’s not fit to burst with nervous excitement. Scar hesitates only briefly before stepping around her; she thinks she sees his gaze linger upon the brightly lit jack-o-lanterns on her porch steps.
It’s going to be an interesting night.