Work Text:
The alien burst through the thin layer of skin restricting it, screeching at the new light.
Through the chaos, the beast caught Theodore's eyes and stopped moving entirely.
"Willis?"
Theodore tilted his head. "Odd." He said, placing down his cigarette.
The alien tilted its head as well, almost mirroring him, and Ash stepped forwards.
"Ash?" Theo asked, keeping eye contact with the creature. "Something...to say?"
"Don't touch it."
"Why not?"
"This isn't right, this isn't how they behave-"
"So you...know. How they behave."
"Unnatural, of any animal-"
"How odd. Wasn't this supposed to be a...crew of...seven?"
The chestburster began to slither out of Kane's body but Theo did nothing except shoot a look at the thing and it cowered.
"Oh Kane is most certainly dead." Theo said, reaching his hand out the the alien. "The moment it entered into his body he died. Nothing but a husk. A shell. An egg."
The chestburster opened its jaws and screeched something. Theodore looked down at the thing before slowly blinking and petting it on the head. The crew watched on in horror.
"Anything scientific you notice, Ash? Anything at all you'd like to say?"
"You shouldn't be touching it-"
"It's not supposed to ignore me. Is it." Theodore slowly drew his gun, keeping one hand on the alien.
"Willis."
"You didn't really think. You were the only one? Who knew?"
Ripley spoke up. "What are you two talking about? What is that thing?"
"As...well, as Ash could have told you, this...beautiful creature..." Theodore moved his hand under the creature's arms, picking it up and placing it on his shoulder. "A baby xenomorph."
Ash looked bewildered.
"I've...told him," Theo stated, raising the gun to Ash's chest and gesturing towards the fleshy thing on his shoulder, "none of you are a threat."
He pulled the trigger and somehow it was silent.
The baby xenomorph crawled across Theodore's shoulders, now having developed legs and arms, still trailing remnants of Kane's organs behind it.
Lambert was the first to scream. It, too, was silenced.
"He doesn't like loud noise." Theo said, letting the xenomorph position itself around his neck like a deadly scarf. "So keep it down."
"Wh- you, you just-"
"Look at his blood."
He looked.
It was white.
"Your companion was an android."
"How did you know that for certain? You could've killed a person."
"I just do." Theo placed the gun on the table. "I know many things."
"Like-" Ripley interjected.
"How Ash was sent to retrieve the specimen. How he was told any deaths-" he gestured towards Kane's body, "are a necessary sacrifice."
The xenomorph had been darkening in color, and now it was about the size of a teenager. Theo lowered his head, letting it crawl back onto Kane's body. "Eat." Theodore ordered.
Dallas looked like he was about to speak up but Theo turned to him. "Would you rather it eat you, captain?"
"No."
"I thought so."
The room was filled with nothing but the sound of ripping flesh as the xenomorph feasted.
Realization seemed to set in.
"How did it make me quiet?" Lambert asked.
"It didn't."
He gulped.
The xenomorph had grown to its full size by now. It clicked at the humans surrounding it but didn't move from where it stood.
"We'll reach Earth in about sixty years. You'll all go into cryostasis. I will stay here. With it. Keeping it occupied. Your company wanted a living sample? They can have it. But I won't let them take human lives in order to just get another weapon."
"They didn't care if we died?"
"Not one bit."
Ripley bit her nails. "You won't be going into cryo with us? You would die before you reach Earth if you stay active like that. Any person would, no matter how much they know about the company."
"There's you answer then."
"Are you an android as well then?"
"No."
"Is that why that thing likes you so much? Are you an alien?"
"Not that, either. And it doesn't like me." He stepped forward suddenly towards the creature. It flinched and drew back. "It is terrified of me."
Theodore turned to the expectant crew. "You may think of me as an android, if you wish. If that comforts you. You should get to your pods. I will let them know we have the specimen. I will make sure it does not injure any of you or itself in transit. While it is quite resilient, it does not have a Queen and needs a certain level of care."
He clicked his tongue at the xenomorph and it looked up. "I've instructed it to follow me. If any of you retain your appetites, feel free to finish eating before entering the cryo chamber. If you would excuse me now, I have a corrupt company to call." Theo turned, certain that the alien would follow, and left the room.
The xenomorph turned to the crew before following its master and bobbed its head in an almost pathetic way.
As if it was asking for help.