Predator: SVU

Title: Predator: SVU

Author: Prairiefire

Chapter: Twelve: Comfort in the Arms of a New Ally

Fandom: Predator AU

Rating: M/R

Warnings: Adult Situations, Controversial Subject Material, Graphic Violence/Gore, Rape, Sexual Situations

Orientation: Het

Pairings: Human Female/Male Predator, Female Predator/Male Predator

Summary: Two hunters separated by species and lightyears are about to team up.

Disclaimer: I do not own Predator, nor do I make earn any monetary compensation for the stories I write that feature such characters. However, all my original characters are just that, original. That makes them mine, and they cannot be used without my express written permission.

Feedback: Please. I will respond to all signed reviews on ffn, aff

Word Count: 5135

Cass stared at the invisible being crouched in the doorway. Her heart beat raced as she realized that it was blocking her only escape. This can not be real she reasoned with herself. There is no way you could make a person invisible. It was not possible. She gaped wide-mouthed as the form drew closer to her.

Cass had no weapons, no means to defend herself and no where to run. She had to admit to herself that she was scared beyond words. How did he get in here? The two cops at the door would not let anyone in. Had he killed them? Would he kill her too? Sure, he had saved Kristen, but what did he do to Burns to spook him that night?

XXXXX

Vek’rin’ka watched the ooman stare at him. His skin prickled at the scrutiny. The rudeness was almost more than he could stand. If she was another yautja, and his mission was a hunting trip instead of Bad Blood Hunt he would have challenged her right then. Tempering his rising aggression and struggling to suppress the growl forming deep in his chest he slowly moved closer.

In the close confines of the room Vek’rin’ka could hear the racing of Cass’s heart without the amplification of the mask. The rapid double beat nearly echoed off the acoustic surroundings. Vek’rin’ka had expected such as reaction, but she was not calming at all and her eyes kept darting around the room. It took him a minute to realize his mistake. He had her cornered and she was defenseless. Her training as a warrior had taken over and she was looking for a way to escape or fight. Vek’rin’ka had an idea then. Males purred to agitated females to calm them. It just may work on the ooman as well.

Starting with the throaty soothing Vek’rin’ka did not notice any appreciable decline in Cass’s anxiety. She continued to cast her gaze about until Vek’rin’ka realized the problem remained. She was still trapped and still defenseless.

The remedy was obvious to Vek’rin’ka then. He needed to give her a way to escape if she wanted to. He stepped across the threshold and moved to the side. There was a clear path for the ooman to run now but she still knelt beside the lav. The deafening heart beat slowed somewhat and Cass’s eyes no longer searched the entire room frantically. Vek’rin’ka could tell she was still tense, but he expected that. After all, at no time in his Clan’s history had any ooman been this close to a Hunter without being hunted.

“You’re Kristen’s invisible man, aren’t you?” The question was unexpected and Vek’rin’ka didn’t understand some of the words, but he got enough of it to know her meaning. She was asking if he was the one the little female pups had been talking about. The question had interrupted his purr and he found himself absently clicking an affirmative. Cass just stared back at the spot he crouched. Vek’rin’ka shook his head and huffed when he caught on that she would not be able to understand him. The sudden abrupt noise startled the female and Vek’rin’ka saw her jump and press herself back against the wall.

Cass’s persistent fear was beginning to annoy Vek’rin’ka. If she would just calm down and act rationally he would be able to properly ask her to grant him permission to help hunt her Bad Blood. She was an Arbitrator, she should start acting like one. She should meet him with no fear like a warrior, not flinch at every move and cower away.

Growling in irritation Vek’rin’ka’s patience became strained. She would not stand and greet him, but she would challenge him with her eyes. Despite the cloak he spoke, “No stare. Rude.” The English was barely understandable, but that is the language that the creature spoke in.

Cass’s eyes went from being wide with fear to narrowing in annoyance. “So’s trespassing,” she hissed back at him. The rallying of her sarcasm was momentary, the result of the adrenaline rush from where he first announced himself. That moment of brashness disappeared almost as soon as it appeared, leaving Cass dreading what was going to happen next. The growling stopped abruptly and there was silence again. Then there came a clattering trill from the distorted space.

“Brave ooman,” the creature said. “No stare again.”

“Who are you anyway,” Cass asked with more caution.

Once again purring, Vek’rin’ka turned so that his right side faced Cass. He also bowed his head before reaching to turn off the shift suit. His position was meant to be as non-threatening as possible. It was non-challenging and almost submissive. He could not initiate an attack on her if he was not facing her and his bowed head showed his submission to her as he requested to join the hunt for the ooman Bad Blood. He would hunt Al’brk’vix at the same time, but he wanted to make sure this ooman was dealt with properly.

The suit started to crackle as the power was cut to the netting around Vek’rin’ka’s body. The blue sparking flashed through the lenses of his mask set as it was on the visible light spectrum. He turned his head slightly and watched Cass through his peripheral vision when he heard her gasp.

XXXXX

Cass could not believe her eyes. Crouching in the same room as her was…something. Whatever it was it had the familiar shape of a human, but definitely was not. It was huge. The scale was hard to judge but Cass guessed it to be over eight feet tall. It had two arms and two legs coming off a torso with a head crowned with what looked like slick, rubbery “hair.” This feature gave off more of an impression of dreadlocks than free flowing hair. Each black lock was held or decorated with silver rings that were etched with a darker design.

The creature had a very defined muscular appearance that gave it a masculine look. Laid over top of that muscle was a skin that looked pebbled, not scales but not smooth skin either. His hide was dark green in color lightening towards the ventral points. Dark, brownish-black marks, like freckles, covered the green skin of the arm and leg visible to Cass before they too diminished at the same points as the green. All of the exposed skin was covered by black netting that clung to the skin allowing the creature to flex and relax his muscles without appearing to constrict tightly or hang loose at any point.

Cass could see crossing the thing’s right arm above the elbow were three massive parallel jagged scars. The scars themselves were a bright limey green, contrasting with the dark green background. They disappeared under a massive metal shoulder guard.

Leather bracers inlayed with the same pewter colored metal adorned each forearm. The right one looked like a simple padded gauntlet. The left had some type of key pad attached to the top of it. Both shoulders were covered by heavy looking guards and were attached across the chest and back. The left shoulder, farther away from Cass, held something that distinctly reminded her of the barrel of a gun. A leather belt around the mid-section held several pouches and a scaled metal cloth in front of and behind the junction of the legs. Further down were shin guards similar to the wrist guards. Both were predominately some kind of leather product reinforced with the pewter colored metal. The top edges of the shin guards went well past the knees and were flexed back as whatever it was crouched near the bathtub.

Cass’s attention was drawn to his face. The same metal covered his face, shielding his natural features. It managed to be ominous and powerful while still flowing in smooth but strong lines. Cass could only see half of it but could tell that the thing must have had eyes. The area that would correspond to the eyes on a human was actually one lense, an impassive black in color that did not reflect any light. There was a slight muzzle-like protrusion on the lower half of the mask. There was a mark that looked like it had been scratched into the mask’s forehead that looked like a crescent moon that had been struck through on a slight diagonal. In addition, there was also some etching down the side of the mask, short interconnecting lines that did not mean anything to Cass. The whole mask was framed by the dreadlocks that fell around his head.

The creature moved slowly and extended its hand towards Cass. She was startled out of her awe as her gaze shifted from the creature’s face to its taloned hand. Was it going to make a grab for her? Drag her off someplace? He was already giving her orders like he was her captain. She could feel herself loosing control again and she fought hard to keep it in front of the newly revealed creature. The fight was a lost cause. Her mind was getting fuzzy again and she could not will her arms or legs to move. She could only sit hope she did not embarrass herself too badly.

Her head began to spin in that all too familiar way. She could feel her stomach restarting its protest. The situation was beginning to overwhelm her mind and it was trying its hardest to compensate for the overload.

As a cop Cass had had much training in proper threat assessment. Despite her spinning head she began to quickly piece together a determination of this thing. Body language was the big indicator right now aside from what the creature had already said to her. While he was certainly demanding and he did seem to think he had some kind of superiority over her, she could not detect any underlying threat. Impatience yes, annoyance yes, but he did not seem intent on harming her. He was turned away from her. The gun looking device on the left shoulder was not pointed at her. That was always a good sign.

Was he really going to try to grab her though? Cass thought about that question for a moment before deciding cautiously no. If that had been his plan he could have done it while she was being sick and was completely unaware of him before he even said anything. Further, the hand he was extending was palm up and open. He was asking for something. Though Cass had deemed the creature not overtly hostile she remained on her guard. She did not know if she should be applying human behavioral patterns to him, but it was the only thing she had to fall back on.

The hard thinking caused Cass’s head to turn faster and her sight to become blurred. She finally broke eye contact with the creature as she squeezed her own shut. It did not help squelch the sour feeling in her stomach or the pounding in her head.

A click from the creature brought Cass’s attention back to it momentarily. She opened her eyes a slit to see he had moved closer. It was only by about six inches, but it was still closer. The hand was still extended but Cass still did not trust it. What could he want with her? He had turned his head fully to the side to look at her now and Cass could see the full mask now. She only had time to note the long, deep scratch mark over and under his left eye, before her eyes when wide again.

Cass turned abruptly away from the creature and leaned back over the toilet. Foamy, yellow bile once again forced its way out as Cass gripped the seat with what little strength she had left. When the bile had stopped coming Cass continued to dry heave. Her body continued its involuntary shaking as she tried to stop herself without success. She could only wait until her stomach calmed itself as she knelt in front of the bowl. It seemed to take forever before her head started to clear, though it still pounded at her temples, but it was relieved enough to notice a couple very important facts.

The first was that the creature had moved over and was squatting next to Cass. She could see his five toed foot complete with black talons next to her when she looked over the seat. She could even see the dewclaw farther back, closer to the ankle. The second was the large, heavy hand on her back. It could only be his but it was not doing anything. It was not trying to drag her anywhere, it was not using the vicious looking claws to mangle her. It was just sitting there.

The purring continued and Cass could feel it through the hand. It was strangely soothing. She finally looked up into the creature’s face. There was no reflection in the lenses as he in turn watched her. What was he here for?

XXXXX

Vek’rin’ka watched the ooman study him. He hated being stared at like that, but he had to remain calm. He could not afford to make an enemy of her if he hoped to hunt the ooman Bad Blood with her. She would never consent to his help if she was scared of him. In an attempt to convey his non-challenging intentions he extended his hand to her. It would be up to her to accept or reject him. Rejection would disappoint him as he was anxious to help deal with the Bad Blood. He would have to abide by her decision seeing as it was her hunt after all. Besides, how could she refuse him? Right now she was so weak she could not stop her own regurgitation. She had no hope of catching the ooman Bad Blood without his help.

In turn, with the ooman studying him, Vek’rin’ka studied her. She was over two noks shorter than him and looked rather gaunt like most oomans. They were a physically weak species but they made up for it with their minds. This female did not possess the huge mammary glands that were present on many other females. The fur on her head was a dull black and bound in a knot behind her head, though some of it had worked its way out and hung down around her face.

Her face was small and flat. There was a small projection for the nostrils in the center of the visage, but everything else was fairly flat. No wonder many hunters referred to them as ‘flat-heads.’ Below the projection was a small mouth that had previously been disgorging her food. Now it hung slack with shock. Her eyes were set on either side of the projection’s vertical ridge. As wide as they were now, Vek’rin’ka was able to see how distinctly blue they were. The color reminded him of a blue giant star near his home world.

The visual exchange lasted only moments before the female suddenly pulled herself back over the lav and again began to purge herself. Vek’rin’ka knew she was hurting, though not physically. The agony ate at her spirit, slowly consuming the will to fight, to live. Right at this moment she did not need her hunt, she needed her family. Vek’rin’ka was beginning to doubt, however, that she had any that would come to her.

Still, Vek’rin’ka grew increasingly agitated with the oomans and their ways of dealing with death. First there was that horrid noise at the ceremonial burial, now this female could not even seek proper justice for her pup. She was taking too long with the grief part of her loss. Any yautja female would already be seeking her vengeance. Still, this was an ooman so he would, grudgingly, have to make allowances. He would just have to be patient, as much as it annoyed him. All good hunts had challenges; this was just one of them.

Pondering how to help, Vek’rin’ka thought back to all the things that he had learned of the ooman. There was one thing that he had observed that seemed to give her comfort. That was the embrace with the pup.

Vek’rin’ka hesitated. He did not want to touch Cass, especially to fully embrace her. The taboo on physical contact was too deeply ingrained for him to be completely comfortable with the idea. Allowing another to get so close invited an attack. And oomans, even unarmed, were astonishingly tricky. Another point of fact was that, although a warrior, she was still of a prey species. To allow such contact with prey would leave him open to much ridicule and many challenges because of the perceived weakness. The challenges he would not mind, but no yautja enjoyed being laughed at. Still, there must have been something he could do.

Tentatively drawing closer to Cass as she was preoccupied leaning over the toilet Vek’rin’ka approached trying to think of what to do. He tilted his head to the side as he tried to think of a way to help. Cass’s body was violently shuddering and was growing weaker. Vek’rin’ka softly placed his hand on the arched back feeling the tension instead of just seeing it for once. If this gesture did not help calm her it would at least help steady her and stop her from completely collapsing. She finally stopped her regurgitation after some time. She had given no indication of having noticed Vek’rin’ka.

It was then that Vek’rin’ka realized how truly vulnerable Cass was, how alone she was. Her grief was so all-consuming that she could not even keep track of something she viewed as a possible threat when she could see it. There would be not way she would be able to defend herself from one she could not identify.

When Cass turned her head to look at him again Vek’rin’ka gazed back. In her eyes he saw nothing. There was no flame of the warrior’s spirit, no lust for revenge. The only things he saw in her face were hopelessness and helplessness. Her eyes were dead and dull.

Vek’rin’ka felt the hatred stir within him. He tried to quash the inappropriate emotion. He knew it was hatred for the prey, but he should not have felt it. It was pointless to hate prey. Prey was to be respected for the honor it bestowed on the hunter. The look in the ooman’s eyes, however, would not allow him to ignore the feeling. He hated what the Bad Blood did to the pup. He hated what the Bad Blood did to Cass. In truth, he had claimed two spirits that day, but only taking one life, leaving the other to suffer unbelievably. Maybe even a part of that stirring emotion was the lingering impatience with Cass. She was a warrior who should want revenge even more than himself, but here she sat, plainly showing her weakness to another warrior. It was pitiful.

XXXXX

Cass looked at the creature before her. Her mind registered the hand on her back. She knew she should try to get away from it. She just could not focus now though. There was just too much for her to deal with.

It took only a moment and Cass had decided that the creature was not a threat. Whatever he wanted, it was not to kill her. He could have done that by now. Her mind then shut down with a figurative sigh the part of itself that had been trying to deal with the creature. It turned inward on itself and began trying to deal with what her mind had been working on since the call from dispatch, grieving for Sonya.

The small bathroom had begun to feel cramped. Cass had no energy to move but she did not want to stay by the toilet all night. Slowly, she pushed herself up and stumbled to the sink. She washed her face and hands but did not feel any refreshed. The guilt of failing her sister and niece still weighed heavily on her shoulders.

Choking down the urge to collapse right there again she gripped the vanity noting how the creature had moved away. He was no longer touching her but he was still within arms’ reach. Cass felt conflicting emotions in herself when she noticed that. She was relieved that he was no longer hovering over her, but a small part of her missed the contact. She was only reminded of how completely alone she was now.

Cass cast a side-long glance at the creature through the mirror. He was standing now and he towered over her. He would have to stoop just to make it through the door. She could also see that he had moved around her and now she was between him and the door.

Slowly, with a still pounding head, Cass tried to walk to the door. She used the counter to stabilize herself as long as she could. When she reached the end of the vanity she let go and took two shaky steps away.

With nothing to ground herself to Cass immediately lost her balance. She felt herself falling to the floor and prepared for the jolt. She never hit it as she felt two hands catch her arms and steady her on her feet. The gentle strength begged Cass to just let go, to give up holding in her anguish. She stubbornly refused as the creature helped her walk towards the bed.

Once there Cass collapsed on the ugly purple bedspread. She laid there with her feet hanging over the edge and quickly pulled a pillow to her face. Hiding her features she scrambled for more control. She was ashamed of herself for being seen so weak. What must that creature think of her?

XXXXX

Vek’rin’ka saw Cass start to fall and quickly stepped up to grab her. She was undoubtedly being affected by the same thing that caused her instability on the balcony. Vek’rin’ka let her lead as she took slow, unsteady steps toward the raised bed.

It startled Vek’rin’ka when Cass suddenly simply fell on the bed. She did not bother to pull her legs up onto the platform but grabbed one of the head cushions and buried her face in it. He maneuvered her legs up so she would not harm her back having it twisted unnaturally. Vek’rin’ka could only wonder if the entire species reacted like this to death.

Moving back up to Cass’s face, her new shyness perplexed him. Why would she hide her face when before she so openly stared at him? Was she embarrassed? Any warrior would be if seen like this, and any other warrior would be required to dispatch him. But she was not a warrior right now. She was a mother grieving for her pup. Such actions were to be completely expected. She should not be finding fault in that other than the amount of time she was taking wallowing in despair. She must have known that the longer she stayed like this meant that the Bad Blood had that much longer to get away and cover his trail.

With care, Vek’rin’ka rolled Cass over onto her side and gently pried away her shield. Her eyes met his briefly, letting him see the anger at his boldness but mostly the pain she was holding within her. For the briefest of moments she looked at him before her eyes darted away to stare at the blanket she was lying on. That slight glint of anger eased Vek’rin’ka’s impatience though. Now he knew for sure that she was not completely giving up. She would recover, it was just a matter of time before the hunt would recommence.

Vek’rin’ka reached forward and turned her head to look at him. There was moisture collecting in the corners of her eyes that Vek’rin’ka took as a good sign. He had never witnessed anyone vomit as part of their grieving process, but he had seen many oomans leak such moisture when in pain. Now she would just need the right encouragement and support, maybe even a little training. He placed his other hand over her heart pressing it in place and spoke.

“Hurt,” Vek’rin’ka said in a gravelly and harsh voice. Speaking the ooman word had scratched his throat though he had tried not to sound too intimidating. He believed that Cass had accepted him, but there was no telling how far she trusted him.

Cass raised her head in surprise and looked at him astonished. Because of his appearance she had assumed that he did not know English. While he had demonstrated that he knew some English she did not think he knew a lot of it. It did not even seem like he spoke naturally. She had in fact, started to believe that he was not from this planet.

“You…you speak English,” she asked the creature. Vek’rin’ka could see the confused tension on her face and shook his head, sending a handful of his dreadlocks forward to hang in front of his shoulder. Instead he held up his hand and parted his thumb and index finger by an inch.

“A little,” Cass said comprehending what the gesture meant. Vek’rin’ka nodded his head slightly as Cass asked another question.

“But you understand me?” Again Vek’rin’ka nodded an affirmative to the question. “Why are you here?”

Vek’rin’ka cocked his head to the side and put his hand on Cass’s chest again.

“Hurt,” he trilled at her. “Hurt much.” He put his other hand on his own chest and said, “Help.”

Cass’s grief had numbed as she had been talking to the creature, overcome by astonishment once again. Tears threatened to spill no matter how hard she blinked them back as she bit her lip.

Vek’rin’ka fingered the keypad on his forearm and a pre-recorded voice played back, “Sonya.”

Vek’rin’ka continued after the recording, “Help find Bad Thwei. Help fix justice.”

Cass could not believe her ears. It was her voice calling to Sonya. Finally her resolve broke. The call for the small girl caused Cass to give in to the gnawing anguish that had been trying to consume her.

Tears fell in a cascade down Cass’s face. She would have rolled over onto her stomach if the hand had not been there. As it was her face was turned to Vek’rin’ka and he could see it twisted with the painful emotions she could no longer hold back.

The cries were painful for Vek’rin’ka to listen to. It was not the volume or the proximity. It was something in his chest that contorted with each mulling. If he was not so sure that there were no kainde amedha on the planet he would have believed he had been infected with the parasite.

“I failed,” Cass choked out between wails. “I failed them. I didn’t protect them.”

Vek’rin’ka did not understand at first. It was at the last statement that what she said made some sense. She was blaming herself for the youngling’s death. She felt responsible for it. Suddenly the constriction in his chest made sense. He had vowed to protect the family, but he too had failed the little one. He had been subconsciously blaming himself as well. Even though he had promised to protect the females from Al’brk’vix and another had killed the child it easily could have been the Bad Blood.

Vek’rin’ka did not know who else’s death she could blame on herself, but he had confidence that after she had finished weeping and had rested that he could ask. It could not have been her other hunting partner’s death. He was male and a warrior who hunted Bad Bloods. Reality was that death could have claimed him at any time, as it could her while she was hunting. The other death was just an eta, not something to get upset over. Vek’rin’ka was sure Cass could find another if she needed one.

Cass had turned her head and moved it off Vek’rin’ka’s palm to bury it into the mattress after she spoke. Though her eyes were squeezed shut it did little to slow the fall of her tears that now soaked the bedspread. She pulled her legs up her chest and wrapped her arms around them.

Vek’rin’ka moved his hand out of the way of her legs and knelt on the itchy flooring. He knew she was retreating into herself, closing off exterior distractions while she dealt internally with her struggling spirit. He could smell the residual scents of many oomans mating on the coverings. There was no way that he was going to leave Cass to bury her face in such filth.

Vek’rin’ka removed his plasma cannon from his left shoulder before moving himself onto the bed and easing Cass up. She either did not notice or care that she was being supported by Vek’rin’ka. He leaned against the wall and moved Cass against him with one hand behind her back. She continued to cry though Vek’rin’ka could feel that she was loosing strength and was succumbing to her exhaustion. Her tears left warm, wet trails down his chest. He moved his shoulder more so she would not hit her head on his armor plating. Once he was comfortable and was sure she was as well Vek’rin’ka began to purr again.

The response took a few minutes to notice, but Cass slowly stopped wailing. The cries slowed and turned to soft whimpering as she finally drifted off to sleep. Vek’rin’ka watched her as she slept on his chest. Even in her sleep he noticed that she did no stop crying completely until the sun started to rise again. Hiccupped sobs perforated her sleep continuously, occasionally waking her and starting a new round of crying.

Vek’rin’ka stayed with Cass through the night. He still did not understand why her family was not here to help her through her grief. Still, neither moved from their position, accepting what the other was giving. Vek’rin’ka held her now that he felt responsible for her. When she had not rejected him outright he had taken it as an acceptance of partnership. Allowing Cass to sleep and cry on him was a small measure of punishment for his own inability to protect the pup. He surmised that Cass was feeling a disproportionate share of that responsibility though.

Cass did not know why she had accepted the strange creature so readily. It may have been because she had no one else to turn to when he offered comfort. All she knew was that he was there when she needed him and she felt oddly safe in his arms. Maybe it was true what they say: It’s easier to cry to a stranger sometimes.