Seasons

The young man perched at the controls raised a brow at the man leaning over him. Agent Corriano had been staring at the monitor for the last two hours, watching, waiting as the sun set and the visuals gradually switched. Night vision as well as all other methods had been activated and still there was nothing.

"Are you sure he's coming back?" the young man asked curiously as he turned in the swivel chair.

"He'll be back... He's got to... Its part of a pattern."

The young man nodded, chewing on the end of the pen in his right hand.

"What's the procedure following capture?"

Corriano glanced down at the young tech. "We've got a special van half a mile from us down the road. The research and medical team are standing by to make sure we keep it alive."

"It? You mean its not a he?"

The older man chuckled. "We're not quite sure what it is and we wont know for sure until we get it. I think its a he."

The young man shook his head. "Is that instinct talkin'?"

"You betcha..."

Garber stood stunned as he and Jones walked up to the special case containing the remains of the thing he had seen in the photograph.

They had gotten the call just a little while ago and he had been anxious to see if it was for real.

He swallowed.

If Keyes were around... he'd be just ecstatic at this point.

He turned to the man standing next to him.

"Jones... what the hell is this thing?"

The older man smirked.

"Well according to sources, it was quarantined up at Weyland research facilities as part of some experimental project and escaped."

"And?"

"And the thing we're lookin' for probably killed it."

"Impressive..."

"Within the past hour we've already linked the thing on the loose to at least 2 murders. The first murder, some guy upstate was hunting and apparently ran into it the night before. A ranger scouting for tracks when he didn't return stumbled upon the body. His head and spine had been taken... About two hours ago we got a call from a restaurant close to the house where we found this thing. Some burger boy found his co-worker's body in the woods after he went to pursue a woman who'd forgotten her change... We think it was Sharon.."

Garber looked to the man seriously.

"It's happening all over again..."

"Naturally..." Jones smiled. "What's got me is why she's still alive."

"Does she know somethin' we don't?" the former agent suggested.

"Maybe..."

Garber turned away from the carcass in the case, shaking his head. "Damn-it... if we'd only had another shot at him. We almost had it back then..."

"Heh..." Jones smirked. "Almost... But we've got better weapons now..." he declared.

The other man shook his head.

A familiar continental ringtone sounded and Jones turned for a moment, reaching into his pocket before pulling out his cell and flipping it open.

"Yes, Any changes?"

The familiar voice on the other end was just dripping with amusement.
"Get down here quickly. We've got figures approaching the house on the monitor."

"Sure thing. Nobody acts without my consent, got it? Call me if anything happens..." he flipped the device shut, turning back to his guest. "You might just get your shot afterall... Now, let's go bag this thing..."
By the time night had fallen, the young woman realized that she had to depend on the creature quickly sifting through the foliage to lead the way. Once she had been startled by losing him, but seeing as he was able to find her in the pitch darkness, it was a slight consolation.

He was almost silent as they crept closer to her house, so silent that it was pretty much unnerving.

K'tch moved like a hunter; cautious and observant. There was an heir of authority around him as he lead them safely to their destination, creeping around with a strangely superior animal instinct.

Like he was born to hunt.

Reaching the porch-lights she was somewhat relieved, finding something her eyes could actually rest upon instead of holding on blindly to K'tch in the dark, fearing something would jump out at them every second of the way.

Before her eyes landed on the front door, she found herself yanked in front of it, the predator waiting for her to act. She swallowed as she knelt finding the key under the doormat. She looked back at the silent figure with a new-found fear as she put the key in the lock and let them in.

Once inside, she immediately flicked on the light in the livingroom before collapsing into one of the plush beige couches to the right. K'tch climbed onto the nearest one and stood, surveying the space.

Sharon raised a brow as her eyes travelled down to the marks his claw-like feet made into her nice upholstery. She suppressed the urge to yell at him to sit and stop soiling her furniture, eyes glancing back at the skull on his back before deciding against it.

She turned onto her side, hugging the soft furniture in appreciation before slowly pulling herself away from it.

It was about time for that shower now...

She said nothing to him as he jumped off the furniture, instead, turning to go back upstairs. She briefly glanced in the direction of the dark kitchen before deciding showering was the first priority.

K'tch paid her no mind as she went upstairs to get what he translated as happy, wet, and possibly clean.

Humans must love water if they subjected themselves to it so frequently. He on the other hand, had no preference.

The sound of water draining echoed through the ceiling and his gaze slowly shot upward as he scanned it, noting the liquid flowing through the pipes. She was apparently draining a large curved mass up there.

Nothing he needed to worry about.

In only a few moments time, the sound of water running through the pipes became prominent. He found himself creeping through the rest of the house, around the stairs and into the other rooms he hadn't been in the mood to search through the last time he was here. A lot of them were storage it would appear.

One seemed to be a lot of cloth, the length of the kind he'd seen on the pliable flat surfaces this species slept on. There were many different ones stacked.

Nothing he wanted.

He'd spent nearly half an hour investigating each one, unrolling it and testing their texture and quality.

The smoothest ones were an anomaly. They had to be purely decoration for he saw no purpose they could serve. They ripped too easily as well. After finding nothing else interesting there, he peered into another cabinet.
Sharon sighed in utter bliss as the shower steamed. God that felt good. She revelled in the smell of clean sudsing soap and herbal shampoo, rubbing some more into her dark shoulder-length locks.

She refused to the look at the time after she emerged, knowing she'd spent longer than the usual twenty.

Last night and the day had gone by way too fast. If she closed her eyes as she wrapped her bathrobe about her, she could imagine it was just a dream.

Or rather a nightmare.

She'd never run into the thing that was downstairs doing God-knows-what.
She'd never stepped foot outside her house after doing the dishes.

Oh no.

And she sure as hell hadn't witnessed a murder. Nope. There was no way. That was something she'd seen in a movie for sure.

She shook her head as she stepped into her room, flipping on the television perched upon her dresser as she opened one of the drawers to find something nice and clean to wear. Just in time for the 10 o'clock news.

She was in no mood to be picky this time, grabbing the first set of underclothes and slipping into them quickly, feeling quite vulnerable. She paused as she grabbed a dark pair of old camouflauge pants from another drawer, eyes glued to the reporter, listening.

The police had recovered a body nearly two miles away. She swallowed, recognizing the area.

It was that poor cashier.

She shook her head as she grabbed the pass-card she'd found in her jeans from the dresser and slid it into her side pocket.

...County police are almost certain that the same culprit is responsible for the death of a man from the area just several miles from here who had been out hunting. He too was found stabbed and mutilated...

Oh my god... He'd killed someone else...

The young woman's eyes widened as she slowly slipped a dark wife-beater on. She walked back slowly, grasping the bed-post for support as she grabbed some short dark boots from near the end. She would be prepared to trudge through woods again this time if need be.

She looked at the open door to her bedroom, trying her best to calm her nerves as she looked at the thing already standing in the doorway watching. Her gaze flicked between both the television and the predator twice before stopping back at him.

"Did you... did you kill that man as well?" she questioned, pointing to the screen.

He grunted.

What did she want him to say? Oh no, it was an accident?

Ha...

He nodded, expression masked.

"Then where the hell is his skull? You didn't want it or something?"

He shook his head, remembering how damaged it was.

The woman shook her head, fighting back tears.

"So you killed him... for no reason eh? Was he a bad person?"

He made an unintelligible sound, pausing a moment further before walking away. Sharon jumped to her feet, following him back downstairs.

"Answer me, damn-it! Why did you kill him!" she yelled, racing around to confront him at the bottom of the stairs.

He paused, looking down at the emotional creature. Why did she give a shit... he wasn't of any relation to her.

"Why are you here? Are you just here to kill people?" she frowned. He shook his head, to her relief.

That wasn't his mission. No, not this time. He came for the thing that was probably still lying in the kitchen, to destroy the place that had been experimenting with it. Trophies were a side-quest all his own, souvenirs he'd promised to a young member of his clan.

"If you're not here to kill people... then what are you here for?" He pointed in the direction of the kitchen. "You were here for that creature?"

He nodded.

She paused for a moment before looking back up at him. "If you were here for that thing, then why did you kill two people?"

He turned away from her, looking around the room for a moment. "Hey, I'm talking to you!" she shouted angrily, following him as he walked over to the cabinet opposite the living room. "Don't act like you can't hear me..." she persisted as he sifted through the contents, reaching in and picking up a silver figure mounted on polished wood.

He'd seen things like this given to others after strenuous activity. A trophy he had concluded after much observation. He then unhooked the skull from his back, holding one in each hand.

"What are you doing?" she asked quickly.

He growled. Someone needed to tell this female to fall back before he snapped.

He motioned to the figures in each hand.

She frowned. "What?"

He motioned toward one and then the other.

"Just say it. I know you speak English"
He set the skull back on his back, dropping the trophy as he walked up to her slowly, stopping just several inches from her. She looked straight up into the masked face, heart racing.

"Killed... for trophy..." he ground out.

She scoffed, refusing to believe her ears.

What?

"Are you... Are you telling me you killed them for sport?" she raised a brow, voice trembling in anger.

He nodded slowly.

She shook her head.

"You killed those innocent people... just for sport..." her bottom lip trembled. It was too much. How could anyone be so cruel...so violent... so... evil... "What are you... the DEVIL..." she sneered up at him.

He would humor himself.

He leaned forward a bit, bending down to her level for just a brief moment.

"Yes..." he purred.

Her reaction was amusing; the raise in temperature, the way her breath hitched. Scaring her was actually kind of fun.

___________


Agent Corriano could barely keep the smile from his face as he quickly ushered the two men into the monitoring room.

Jones spoke first, introducing Garber even as Corriano checked the weapon at his hip. "What's happening?"

Corriano raced over to the screen.

"They've been in the house for about an hour and a half. The woman took a shower before going back downstairs with the target."

"Everyone in place?"

"Yep."

"Medical team standing by?"

"Yep."

"Weapons ready?"

"Yep."

Jones turned to the door. "What are we waitin' for? Let's go." Corriano motioned for him to wait before reaching into a small trunk in the van and handing each of them a tranquilizer gun. "..Just in case..." he explained, gloved hand adjusting his cap.
Sharon shook her head as she sat back down upon the couch, K'tch checking out the kitchen.

__________

She was startled by the sudden threatening growl he'd made and she walked around the wall separating the two rooms, flicking on the bright light.

Her eyes immediately went to the spot where the creature he'd killed had been lying, but there was nothing there.

Oh no...

K'tch was already standing hunched, legs parted and arms spread as he crept around, ready to do battle. He looked around the area, switching vision modes and finding nothing. Something was wrong. Who had been here? Who had time to be here?

He growled softly, analyzing every surface to no avail. He knew he had killed that alien; had watched it drop dead from a fatal shot. It couldn't still be roaming around, could it?

Well, the humans had been toiling with it. Perhaps it wasn't so easily beaten.

He crept back to the living room, Sharon hurrying behind him. It wasn't safe. They needed to go.

He grabbed her by the arm roughly, crouching low as they made for the exit.

____________


"The target's moving... Quick. Activate the defense weapons." Corriano spoke through headphones.

They were getting closer, speeding down the road before the vehicle slowed dramatically and they filed out of the van.

Corriano was the first one on the scene, putting the night-vision helmet down over his eyes and activating all other elements as they crouched over the hill looking down in the distance at the house.

The door flung open and two figures in the distance crept outside.

The predator activated his camoflauge, mystifying the other men who were keeping watch through binoculars from 3 corners.

"Now... hurry, activate weapon one," Corriano spoke softly.

The predator was wary as he held the woman who was stumbling behind him. He heard a noise from behind him adjacent and he quickly thrust the woman onto the ground in front of him. He threw himself over her as a shield just in time to hear something wiz through the air. She was shaking beneath him and he steadied himself to keep from resting his weight over her completely.

He turned back a little, the gun on his shoulder mirroring the movement and firing in the direction of the sound, hitting a device that had been hidden all-too-well...

Corriano shot once more before he ducked at the light of the blast from below. "Hurry... activate the other two before he escapes with her!"

The predator could faintly hear the sound of three other small devices rising from out of the grass and positioning and he cursed as he saw his form emerge. He'd just fixed this damn camoflauge.

Who the hell had set a damn trap?

He growled in annoyance, rising off of the woman and then yanking her to her feet once more, watching as she looked around disoriented in the dark. "Kuh-cha?" she questioned quickly.

He heard the same click in the distance and trusted his instincts, yanking the woman out of the way.

God, how many were there?

Corriano grasped his gun protectively, shouting into the microphone. "He's escaping with her... move in! Move in with the S2 prototype tranquilizers! Now!"

The predator could hear footsteps in the distance closing around. He would just have to try to plow his way through them. The gun on his shoulder took aim in every direction in an attempt to keep them at bay. It was no use, he couldn't see anything. They were still far off, but somehow informed of his position.

Cowards... afraid of hand-to-hand combat... He'd rip them to shreds if they came within yards of him.

The woman at his side suddenly cried out, as something sharp grazed her leg and she stumbled before falling to her knees, eyes wide in terror. K'tch's eyes narrowed from behind his mask. Something was really shooting at them.

What the hell was going on?

It didn't matter. She belonged to him until he finished his mission. He picked her up and hoisted her over his other shoulder as she clung to him for balance. He grunted, racing towards the woods.

The sounds of tracks following him became louder.

Something pierced his right thigh and he let forth an animalistic shriek half-growl, falling to one knee and pulling the dart from the flesh. He caught his breath for a moment and turned to face his attacker.

How the hell had they gotten so close to him?

He was vaguely surprised to see the outline of a human coming toward him several yards away, weapon drawn. He kept a hand over the woman on his shoulder as he extended his wrist blade, lunging forward to take this fool's life when he staggered, his vision swimming. His mind wasted no time in connecting the situation to the thing he'd pulled from his leg.

He swung at the figure he could barely see and to his surprise...

...missed.

His eyes widened and he backed up, the man taking the action as fear and moving in closer.

"Put her down..." the man spoke, weapon drawn.

"Kuh-cha!" Sharon shouted from over his shoulder. "He's going to kill you if you don't! Just listen!"

He sneered. Listen? To a human?

Oh, they would see about that.

His head was getting heavy, vision starting to darken in increments even as he lunged forward again, striking and separating flesh from bone this time, the man screaming and falling back defeated, holding his hand over the deep gash in his wrist.

K'tch continued to run, knowing that whatever they had hit him with was starting to take its toll. He went strong for another couple of minutes before collapsing to his knees, Sharon rolling off of him and turning to kneel before him.

"Kuh-cha?" she questioned putting her hands on his shoulders to keep him from falling forward. He reached up quickly, removing the mask that was suddenly smothering him. His breathing was labored in panic and effort as he tried to stand.

Sharon helped the creature to his feet, eyes darting around nervously as she could see nothing in the dark. Despite the fact that his logic was screwed in killing humans for trophies, for some reason she didn't think it wise for anyone to be trying to capture him either, nor did she want them to.

She heard a voice behind her, startling her.

"Okay, Ma'am. Step away from it slowly..." the man warned, gun aimed. She looked back, holding onto the creature illuminated by the searchlights. K'tch was probably biting back raw fury at this moment, for a creature so prideful to actually be cornered.

"Kuh-cha?" she whispered, unsure of who was more threatening at this point.

K'tch pushed her aside slowly as he looked up to face the man.

He arched his back, standing legs parted and arms wide in a gesture of welcome combat as he let forth a viscious growl. The man swallowed, pulling the trigger once.

K'tch growled angrily, pulling the dart from his stomach and throwing it aside. He reached back bitterly before backhanding the man sharply, the blow knocking him several yards back. He didn't get back up.

Sharon wasn't quite sure what to think when the lights from the helicopters shone down over them. K'tch didn't really care as his legs gave out and he found himself on his back, eyes heavily lidded. He couldn't lift his arm to activate his self-destruct no matter how hard he tried.

Damn-it...

His head fell back against the earth as the chemicals began to overpower him.

If he got himself out of this one... there would be hell to pay.

Sharon was kneeling beside him, unsure of what to do as his eyes slowly closed as he fell unconscious.

More footsteps were heard and she turned to see the rest of the unit creeping in around her, a man in a crisp shirt and tie, dark slacks and shiny black shoes among them. He walked straight up to her, extending his hand.

"Hello, Sharon. I'm Jones..." She shook his hand numbly before he walked around her to peer down at the predator.

"So, we finally meet face to face..."