Zero

Chapter 4

Danyl sits against his mother using her as a pillow, and the two of them are sleeping sitting on the floor while Rippley and Newt are taking a nap in the Med Lab on the bed; locked inside so nothing can come in. Zero sitting up, Danyl laying on the floor with his head in her lap. Her tail is curled around him on the floor, and a hand resting on his head. Her hand had been stroking his hair, pulling the long curls out of his face, and then she stopped when she fell asleep.

"So they do sleep." Hudson says.

"Everything needs sleep Huds." Vasquez says. "Actually, a nap does sound good now we've got some time to kill."

The sound of the door wakes Zero. Her head coming up off the wall, and her eyes open. Hicks smiles.

"It's just the door." He tells her, and Danyl rolls over onto his other side, and she lays her head back against the wall. "How you doin'?"

"Do you care or are you just asking?"

Hicks smiles a little. "I don't hate you. It's just...You're really more one of a kind. It's not everyday we run across xenomorphs, let alone a mix-breed."

"Accident."

His brows bend a little, but he can't argue with her there. "What did they do?...At the facility I mean."

"Raised me as a military brat. DNA testing, probably even made clones." She shrugs, "If I wasn't in a cell or a class room I was in training so I really would'nt know what else they've cooked up."

"If they raised you, why didn't you ever let them know you can talk?"

"Because I knew I didn't belong there. I've seen other kids, children of the scientists that lived within the facility, they came and went as they pleased. They've measured my hearing and eye sight, but I've never let on just how well I can hear them when they're talking and they think I can't hear them or I'm not listening. I learned young that to them I was nothing but a guini pig. I was alright with that when it was just me. They kept me from the harshness of what outside life would be like, but when Danyl came along...I wasn't going to let them take him away from me too, and raise him like they had me. Not a chance in hell."

Hicks smiles a little. "I'm sure it's not that harsh. There are other mutants around."

"Yeah, mutants that run and hide and live in underground cities away from people who can't look past what they see. I've never understood how you people can believe you've evolved from apes, and yet you still put them in cages, and are more animal than they are." 

"Are you calling me an animal?"

"Humans in general, and don't say humans arn't animals when I've had years of watching people. They kill eachother over little things, money, spouses, or just to see if they can get away with it. They're always looking for something bigger & better, and then when they've got it and can't handle it, they kill it, just like they do everything else they don't understand or anything that poses a threat. The threat outside, that I can understand extermination. It's them or you, but you look at them as monsters when really they're only doing what is in their nature."

"Nature or not, but you're right; I agree with you." His brows rise, "Hell, you've got the human race narrowed down to a T."

A small smile from her. "When you're on the outside looking in, you get a whole nother point of view." Her eyes so dark he barely catches her blink. "Why don't you try sitting down a while. You're no good when you're ready to pass out." 

Hicks sighs. "We're out in the open."

"We're behind enemy lines if you want to get technical. We're fine inside, and I'm like their boogyman." She says and a small smile breaks on both their lips. "If they get in, I'll hear them before they get here. Don't you trust me?"

He gives a small tilt of his head, and a deep exhale as he sits on the floor next to her laying his head back against the wall. "If Newt can trust you, I'm pretty sure I can too." He tells her, "Why wouldn't you stay with her?"

"Have you not looked at me?"

Hicks smiles a little. "You're not one of them. You said so yourself."

"No, but I'm not exactly a comforting sight to see when my cousins are running around using your friends and family as incibators." 

Hicks smirks, "No, but it's better than being alone. You've kept her safe all this time. What would've been the harm?"

"Because if they're more interested in me they won't be looking for either of them."

"And what if something happened to you? Then they'd both be alone."

"Rather me than them, and Danyl might be young but he's really all grown up by now. He knows how to take care of himself, and he wouldn't leave Newt alone." 

Hicks smiles an impish smile. "I noticed. He likes her dosn't he?"

A small smirk, "I suppose, but when you're on a rock with your mother and one other," She gives a movement of her head, "She's a cute kid though, and tough my hyde." 

Hicks smiles, "Hows your hand?"

She opens her left hand showing her palm that has the shallow cut across it, only it has scabbed over. "Another plus, however long it takes a human to heal, cut it in half and that's how fast I heal. Course having currosive acid for blood, we can't really be bleeding all over the place, can we?"

"So you're immune to it?"

She nods and smirks, "I used to tease the scientists with it." She says and he smiles, "Prick my index finger and," She flicks, "It annoyed the hell out of them. 'Course that was before they figured out a liquid that nutralizes the acid. That just took all the fun out of it." 

"Shut up and go back to sleep."

Zero smirks, "Yes dad." And Danyl gives a grunt in responce; she lays her head back against the wall, the two of them becoming silent and in seconds they're both out.

Nearly 40 minutes later they wake again. During his sleep he had leaned over on her, and when she notices Danyl is gone she moves waking him.

"What?"

"Danyls gone." She replies and stands leaving him sitting confused rubbing his eyes.

"Zero!" Vasquez yells, "Hicks!" At that sound he gets up and goes running for the med lab, and she was faster than he believed she was.

Hicks could feel the adrenaline rush into his blood. Hudson over by Rippley & Newt, the blond girl has her face buried against Rippley's middle looking away from everyone. Vasquez looking at the boy. Danyl, on the floor in the med lab with a face hugger attatched to him. He saw her chest rising and falling fast and at the rate she was breathing he thought she was going to faint.

"Don't you touch him, comprende?" She questions Vasquez.

The Latina was actually looking at her with sympathy. "He's done for. It's over."

Zero's eyes harden at her, "Let me put it this way, one of you touches him, I'll kill you. Does that clear things up?" She closes the door, slaping the panel.

"What are you going to do?" Rippley says, and watches her rip her arm from Hicks as he tried to grab ahold of her. "Burke." She sighs, "O-well." She says sadly.

"Burke did this?" Hicks looks around at them, "Why would he?"

"It'd be the only way to get one smuggled back. They'd never allow it through check." Rippley tells him, "If one of us were, I dunno, impregnated, he'd be able to sneak it through."

"Noo!" Burke screaming, "Bishop! Bishop!" Screaming and squirming in his grasp.

"Hudson, get out here and put the safety on those guns."

"What? Are you insaine?" Hudson asks her.

"Either you do it, or I will. All I need is two minutes."

"No! Don't do it Hudson! She's going to leave me out there!"

Viciously she shakes his collar giving a 'ssh', and looks at Hudson; that tail going side to side. "Today would be nice."

Hudson looks at Hicks, he nods and so Hudson goes over to the computer while Burke continues crying and yelling at him not to. Looking at his leg, they can see it's obviously broken, and the words come back to Hicks. What she had said outside when they were waiting for their pick up, and she said : "Damn right don't mess with mama." Well, he messed with Rippley, Newt, but most of all, her son got caught in the cross fire when he was aiming at the two human females, and now he's going to pay the price.

"Alright, go." Hudson tells her, and Burke, in his last desperate attempts, grabs ahold of the doorway only to have his efforts look incredibly futile. "Don't mess with mama."

"Shut your fucking trap! Be lucky I don't make you drink acid! Son of a bitch!" They can hear echo down the tunnel.

A minute, not even a minute later she's back and closing the door locking it again. Wordlessly, not a word said or breathed from any of them as she passes them and goes back to the lab where Bishop is.

"You droid, how are your surgical skills?"