Predator: SVU

Title: Predator: SVU

Author: Prairiefire

Chapter: Seven: Sacrifice

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: 4633

Cass paced the halls of the emergency room. The sterile white walls of the critical care waiting room had long since forced her to leave. Heather, Gerold’s wife, was still there, holding her daughters, Stephanie and Michelle, and praying for a miracle. Cass had been there when the captain had brought her in. She was a mess and the girls were frightened. Cass stayed to comfort them as long as she could. Finally, she had to leave her partner’s wife and the captain to get some air.

Doctors, nurses, and orderlies ran every which way in a chaotic ballet. A desperate attempt was being made to save Gerold’s life. Cass knew that Gerold’s survival would be a miracle in a long line of miracles this day. She had listened to the paramedics in the ambulance. Even they admitted that there was no reason for him to still be alive, much less reach the hospital that way.

Having already had her fill of the ambulance bay she made her way back inside. Walking past an exam room she saw Kristen through the window. Her parents had not yet arrived so she was being watched over by an elderly candy striper and a brace of officers as a doctor examined her small body for any injuries, or other evidence. The little girl cringed at every touch from the young doctor and gripped the candy striper’s hand harder. Her frightened eyes flicked over to the window and spotted Cass. Cass gave her a reassuring smile and a small wave before moving on.

Completing her nervous circuit of the halls she turned the corner to the one that led to the waiting room. Standing by the door were the three people she really didn’t want to see together. The doctor that had been treating Gerold had shed his white overcoat and stood before Heather and the captain in his green scrubs.

Cass stopped where she was and waited. The balding doctor stood before Heather speaking in a tone too soft for Cass to hear. Heather was nodding at whatever the doctor was saying when her face contorted into a painful grimace. She turned into the captain and buried her face in his shoulder. The anguished cry was only slightly muffled. As her knees buckled, Adams wrapped an arm around her and steadied her as she sunk to the floor. Gerold’s two daughters came out of the waiting room when they heard their mother. The small family sat huddled on the floor of the emergency room hallway as their grief poured out.

Cass did not have to talk to anyone to know what happened. She had already shared the same loss before. Her partner was dead. She turned away before the captain saw her watching them. He would order her home and she had a case to work. Retracing her steps, she made her way back to Kristen’s room.

Drawing closer to the right door Cass spotted the attending doctor just leaving. Breaking into a jog she caught up before the doctor could disappear to see another patient.

“Doctor,” Cass called ahead of her, “I need to talk to you about her.” Cass indicated the room where Kristen was resting.

The doctor’s eyes narrowed in suspicion. “She’s not taking any visitors,” was the cold, guarded reply.

“Please, doc,” Cass pleaded. “I’m the one who found her. I just have a couple of questions for her.”

The doctor looked Cass up and down. The badge was in plain view clipped to her belt. Her shirt was bloody, as were her pants. Sighing heavily the doctor spoke up.

“I suppose if I tell you no, you’ll go in anyway when my back is turned,” she took Cass’s silence as an affirmative. “Well, I can’t let you go in looking like that. Come with me.”

Cass looked down at her clothing. It was the first time she had taken note of her appearance. Blood soaked her dark pants, but didn’t cause nearly the contrast that it did on her light colored shirt. She nodded at the doctor as she followed obediently to a change room and was handed a pair of scrubs. She quickly made her way back to Kristen’s room and quietly entered.

The tiny girl sat on her bed and looked at Cass as she came in. When she saw the detective her grasp on the candy striper loosened slightly.

“Hi, Kristen,” Cass began. “Do you remember me?”

Kristen nodded her head, “You’re from the building.”

“Yes, hon,” Cass said. “Can I ask you some questions?”

“About the monster?” Kirsten asked.

Cass was used to the way children referred to those who hurt them, scared them, like Gregory Burns had done. Without skipping a beat she affirmed, “Yes Kristen, the monster.”

Kristen sniffled a little as Cass looked over at the older woman whose hand Kristen was holding. Cass motioned for her to leave. The woman rose to leave but Kristen gripped her hand tighter. Fear flashed through her eyes as they darted from her hand-holder to Cass.

“Would you like me to hold her hand for a little while, while we talk,” Cass asked sympathetically.

Cass offered her hand and Kristen grabbed it before letting the candy striper go. Her hands were shaking though she was not visually trembling. She obviously didn’t want to be left alone again, fearing her monster would come back.

“Kristen, I know this is hard, but can you tell me what happened?” Cass coaxed.

“He said that we would get me an ice cream,” Kristen said looking away guiltily.

Cass reached over and lifted Kristen’s head up to look in her eyes, “It’s not your fault. He was a bad man. Why did you go with him? Did you know him?”

“No,” Kristen replied as she shook her head. “He knew the safety word.”

“Safety word?” Cass inquired.

“Yeah, mommy told me the safety word. And he knew it. Mommy says if someone knows the safety word it is because she told them and it is safe to go with them,” Kristen said starting to sob.

“Oh, hon. It’s not your fault,” Cass reassured gently. “Can you tell me what he did with you?”

“He tied me up and took a picture. Then he wanted me to play with him so he untied me, but I didn’t want to play with him. I wanted to go home. Then he tried to get me to eat but I didn’t want to eat. He got mad then and he hit me and tied me back up.” The words poured out of her as if she stopped she feared she wouldn’t find them again. Her grip tightened even more when she looked at Cass. “The monster, did he get away?”

Cass didn’t want to tell her the truth. She didn’t want to feel like a failure, like Gerold had died for nothing. She didn’t want Kristen to be scared anymore, but she couldn’t lie to the child.

“Yes, sweetie,” Cass solemnly admitted. Cass felt a shiver run through Kristen’s body to her. “He got away. But don’t worry. I’m going to catch him.”

Kristen sighed and leaned back closing her eyes.

“Honey, just one more question please,” Cass asked.

Kristen opened her eyes and looked at Cass.

“Who cut those handcuffs for you,” Cass wanted to know.

“The invisdible man, he,” Kristen began as her parents burst into the room with Captain Adams. “MOMMY!”

Mrs. Reca rushed into the room followed closely by her husband. She immediately enveloped her daughter in a bone-crushing hug and cried into her hair. The new emotion was too much for Kristen as she too burst into tears as she released Cass’s hand and clung to her mother. Cass watched the scene for a moment before she turned to face her captain.

Adams motioned for Cass to follow him out of the room as he left the family to their reunion. Cass took one last look at the weeping family, by now even Mr. Reca had joined his wife and daughter on the gurney and had both in a bear hug sobbing with them, and followed her superior out.

Adams turned on Cass once they were out of ear shot of the room. His face was white and serious.

“Cass, go home,” he started. “You can’t do anything here.”

“I can’t go home, I’m working case,” Cass stubbornly interjected.

Adams sighed. Cass was in on of her moods, and this time he could not give in to her. He hardened his tone when he addressed her again. His blue eyes were ice cold.

“Go home Cass, see your niece,” he said firmly.

“Is that a order,” Cass sneered at him.

The captain surprised her when he grabbed her by the arm and turned her to face the door. Still holding her arm he forced her to walk. “Yes. And I’m going to make sure you actually obey this one.” Adams led her over to his car and pushed her into the passenger seat. Before letting her go he gave her a look that said if you move you are fired. Cass fumed at her boss as he got in the driver’s side and proceeded to drive her home.

When they were about half-way to Cass’s home Adams spoke up for the first time.

“Cass, I’m only trying to look out for you.”

Cass continued to stare out the window at the vistas of the city passing by. She glared at Adams’ reflection in the window. It was not until they were a block from her home that Adams tried again.

“Cass, I was your dad’s partner, and I promised him I would take care of you,” Adams started as he pulled up to the curb.

As the car stopped Cass whirled on her boss as she opened the door, “Don’t give me any of that shit about looking after me. Where were you when dad was shot, you sure as hell weren’t looking after him then. You didn’t even see us after the funeral. And I looked after myself just fine when mom did this,” she said pulling back her hair to reveal a 6 inch long scar running from her temple to her jaw. “Did you even know she was in jail? I never saw you until I got assigned to the SVU.”

Adams sat there stymied. He couldn’t interrupt the outpouring of rage directed at him. “Even after this,” she indicated the scar again, “even after this, I took care of myself, and I did just fine. So did Faith. You didn’t even come to her and Chad’s funeral.”

Finally finished saying everything she wanted to say she got out of the car and slammed the door. Adams had no time to say anything. As Cass stormed across the front lawn, Adams tried to think of something to say to her. He came up with nothing as he watched her throw open the front door and slam it shut as well. Defeated, he drove back to his precinct.

Once inside and out of the sight of Adams, Cass slid down the door and sat there. Tears welled in her eyes as all the anger and pain that she had held at bay for the last several hours began to erode her defenses. The first tears fell as Sonya reached the top of the stairs to see her aunt home early from work. She bounded down the stairs and ran up to her aunt.

“Auntie Cass, what’s wrong,” the 8-year-old asked stopping short of jumping on Cass.

Cass looked up at Sonya’s innocent face through her tears.

“I had a really bad night at work, hon,” Cass eventually said.

Sonya walked over to Cass’s side and sat down. “Would you like a hug?”

Cass looked down at her niece. “A hug would be great,” she said as she folded her arms around Sonya. Cass sat with Sonya sobbing for a long while, while Sonya hugged her aunt back.

When Cass had finally cried as much as she could she turned to Sonya, “Sonnie, there’s something we have to talk about. Something happened to Stephanie and Michelle’s dad today.”

XXXXX

Al’brk’vix had successfully tracked the Arbitrator, Vek’rin’ka, to the ooman healing building. Vek’rin’ka was so distracted with his female and her hunting companion that all Al’brk’vix had to do was wait. His surprise for Vek’rin’ka should not take too much longer.

Vek’rin’ka was sure that the male would die. No ooman could loose that much thwei and survive the wounds. Regardless, the oomans summoned one of their screaming vehicles to come and take him away. The female jumped in with him and forced Vek’rin’ka to follow quickly. He noted that the vehicle had to have some kind of special authorization as all the other transportation vehicles moved out of its way and it did not stop at any intersection as other vehicles did. He would have lost it had it gone much further. He lost sight of the vehicle around a corner but the sound it screeched allowed him to follow its progress to its destination not too far away.

Vek’rin’ka slowed his breathing after the run over rooftops as he waited for the female to emerge from the healers’ building. He surmised that she would not be too long, her companion was almost dead back in the alley way. It would not take him long to die. What he could not understand was why they were trying to save him. His death in the line of his duties would have been honorable. ‘But,’ he thought to himself, ‘oomans don’t know what honor is.’ Then he thought of the female he was studying and added, ‘usually.’

Vek’rin’ka was surveying the area around the hospital when his wrist-mounted computer beeped at him a short time later. The female still had not come out of the building, though he had seen the small child he had cut free taken in. He looked at the computer and opened the display. He tried to raise the automated systems check on his ship but could not get a connection. Growling in annoyance he closed the display and got ready to leave. He would have to check on his ship himself.

A trilled laugh from behind him caused Vek’rin’ka to spin around to see nothing. He drew his spear and moved into a general purpose combat stance. He knew his prey, Al’brk’vix, was here. He just could not see him.

“Ship broken, Vek’rin’ka,” teased a disembodied voice.

“Show yourself, coward,” demanded Vek’rin’ka.

“I don’t think so. Not just yet,” the voice came again.

Vek’rin’ka twisted to the right as he felt something pass his shoulder and brought his ki’its-pa to bear. He could see nothing behind him. He could smell nothing on the wind. Whatever Al’brk’vix had done to the shift suit must have prevented any scent from escaping.

“You don’t wish to fight, so why are you here?” Vek’rin’ka pushed.

With a soft hiss and crackle Al’brk’vix materialized fifteen feet in front of Vek’rin’ka.

“Why, to take pride in my accomplishments,” Al’brk’vix admitted patting his wrist computer indicating his shift suit’s capabilities. “And to see the face of the Arbitrator without a ship.” Al’brk’vix stopped to see if Vek’rin’ka would pick up on the meaning of his words.

“So, you destroyed my ship,” Vek’rin’ka replied calmly. “Good fortune smiles upon me, as none of my favorite trophies were in there, and I have all the weapons I need to defeat the likes of you right here.”

Al’brk’vix was unnerved by Vek’rin’ka’s calmness. He should be enraged that he had no way to get off this cold backwater dirt ball. Al’brk’vix continued to try to dissolve Vek’rin’ka’s confidence.

“You know, I was going to use that female you’ve been tracking to bait you into a trap. Your sight is so clouded by her it would have been simple. Tell me,” Al’brk’vix said as he took the hiju position and pulled out his pilfered ki’its-pa. “Are you intending to take a mate this trip?”

The barb struck close. Vek’rin’ka’s glare hardened as it iced over. A low rumbling filled the air. He matched Al’brk’vix’s position and brought his own ki’its-pa around.

“Do you care to repeat that, Bad Blood,” Vek’rin’ka said in little more than a snarl.

“Sure,” Al’brk’vix shot back defiantly. “You are infatuated with that ooman. You are a disgrace.”

With a bestial roar Vek’rin’ka charged the Bad Blood in front of him. His massive weight flew across the roof as Al’brk’vix began his own charge. With spears at the ready both warriors prepared to attack. Just as he entered Vek’rin’ka’s strike range Al’brk’vix dodged to the right and brought his ki’its-pa around to the back of Vek’rin’ka’s knees.

Anticipating the move, Vek’rin’ka moved his own ki’its-pa to block the strike. Spinning to face his opponent, he unleashed a right hook to Al’brk’vix’s head.

“You have come to the appropriate place Bad Blood. A place of healers. Too bad they will be of no use to you,” Vek’rin’ka taunted as he prepared to strike Al’brk’vix again.

Vek’rin’ka’s spear swung at the abdomen of the Bad Blood. With lightning fast reflexes Al’brk’vix jumped over it and managed to land too close to Vek’rin’ka for him to employ that weapon again. Quickly, Al’brk’vix sent his left fist into Vek’rin’ka’s stomach. Then he sent his left elbow into Vek’rin’ka’s mask jarring it slightly out of position.

Vek’rin’ka was not about to allow the Bad Blood to get any more hits in. Letting go of his ki’its-pa with his right hand he extended his ki’cti-pa. The twin 18 inch long blades shot out of their housing on his wrist with a well oiled snick. Swinging in a wide arch around him Vek’rin’ka tried to connect with Al’brk’vix as he passed by.

Al’brk’vix had moved to the right of Vek’rin’ka after hitting him with his elbow. He was about to move in for another attack when he heard the sound of Vek’rin’ka extending his wrist blades. He leapt to the side further away from Vek’rin’ka a second to late as the blades sliced his upper arm. He pulled back farther to assess the situation giving Vek’rin’ka enough time to readjust his mask.

With his vision no longer impaired Vek’rin ’ka spotted Al’brk’ vix 20 feet ahead of him. Al’brk’vix was facing him, but Vek’rin’ka could see from his stance that he was no longer committed to this fight. One scratch and the coward runs, Vek’rin’ka thought to himself.

Running is exactly what Al’brk’vix did. The element of surprise was gone. He had no chance of beating Vek’rin’ka now. After the night’s hunt his plasma cannon’s power was drained, and he had not had the chance to recharge its power cells before he had taken off after Vek’rin’ka. Additionally, compared to Vek’rin’ka, his hand to hand skills were severely lacking. This was a lost fight so he did the one thing he excelled at. He ran.

Vek’rin’ka saw the cowardly Bad Blood pivot and start to run. There was no way that he was going to allow him to get away. Vek’rin’ka knew that Al’brk’vix would not head straight to his ship. Knowing the speed that Al’brk’vix could run, Vek’rin’ka knew that he would never be able to catch up with the yautja if he just followed. Instead of pursuing Al’brk’vix on whatever chase he had planned, Vek’rin’ka quickly headed back to the grouping of storage buildings.

Control of the ship was foremost in Vek’rin’ka’s mind as he searched for the place it was hidden. If Al’brk’vix got back to the ship, undoubtedly he would strand Vek’rin’ka on this planet. Vek’rin’ka would not stand for that dishonor. He quickly traversed the warehouse rooftops searching for the one that had a hole large enough to admit one of his people’s ships. With the added urgency not present the night before Vek’rin’ka found a warehouse with a gaping hole in roof. A quick scan of the building revealed the cloaked ship directly beneath the hole.

Vek’rin’ka swiftly jumped down into the building and began scanning for the access panel. The code breaking program he brought with him would easily crack the seal and reset all the command codes to his default settings. This was programming only a select few yautja knew about. Only Arbitrators and Elders knew it existed.

Feeling along the hull for the port, Vek’rin’ka had just found the hatch when he heard a soft thud and panting from the other side of the ship. Carefully pulling his spear from his back he checked to make sure his camouflage was active. Without extending the deadly ki’its-pa he waited for Al’brk’vix to approach the hatch.

Al’brk’vix had been running for a while. He didn’t look back to see if Vek’rin’ka had followed. If he had, Al’brk’vix intended to lead him well away from the ship. Last night the Arbitrator just got too close to the ship. When he got back to the ship he would leave. This Arbitrator was getting too annoying, and with only one ship left on the planet he did not want to risk it being commandeered by Vek’rin’ka. Besides, there were plenty of planets to hunt on.

With his advanced shift suit now inoperable Al’brk’vix approached the warehouse cautiously. He checked back repeatedly to make sure Vek’rin’ka had not followed him. Not seeing the tenacious warrior Al’brk’vix thought to himself that he must have turned back to check on his new pet.

Unknowingly Al’brk’vix followed Vek’rin’ka’s path down to the ship. He quickly rounded the prow of the cloaked ship and walked right into Vek’rin’ka’s fist. The blow knocked Al’brk’vix back a step. He barely parried the follow up strike of the spear with his instinctively extended ki’cti-pa. The metal sang as the two weapons met between the two warriors.

Holding the long weapon steady with one hand, Vek’rin’ka let go with his other hand and threw another punch into Al’brk’vix’s head. The solid connection staggered the younger warrior again. While he was recovering from the blow Vek’rin’ka put his ki’its-pa away. He stood before Al’brk’vix flexing his fingers waiting for the Bad Blood to try and strike back.

Shaking off the strike, Al’brk’vix glared at Vek’rin’ka. The Arbitrator stood arrogantly waiting a few steps away. The challenging stare enraged Al’brk’vix. Acting on his anger, Al’brk’vix charged at Vek’rin’ka. He pulled his right hand back with his ki’cti-pa extended. He charged at his opponent with the intention of slicing the jugular.

Vek’rin’ka easily saw the telegraphed signs that Al’brk’vix would lunge at him. Vek’rin’ka waited for the right moment. He allowed Al’brk’vix to lunge and just as the swipe was made Vek’rin’ka backed and turned to the side. Grabbing the offending arm just below the gauntlet he wasted no time in bringing his own punch into the over extended elbow while pulling the wrist back towards him. The joint bent unnaturally with a sickeningly wet crack.

Al’brk’vix stumbled away in pain as he held his mangled arm. He looked at his useless arm and farther down it to the self-destruct device. Unable to fight any longer his only choice was to get away. He would kill the Arbitrator however.

Vek’rin’ka watched as Al’brk’vix looked down at the self-destruct device inset into the gauntlet on his forearm. Vek’rin’ka knew that Al’brk’vix was going to try to kill him, he just didn’t expect Al’brk’vix to sacrifice himself to do it. Whatever Al’brk’vix’s intentions, Vek’rin’ka had no intention of being killed by the same Bad Blood that had killed his sire.

While Al’brk’vix was inputting the activation code for the device, Vek’rin’ka closed the distance between them. Slashing the underside of the gauntlet, Vek’rin’ka’s wrist blades severed the leather bindings and the mounted computer fell to the floor. Al’brk’vix made a desperate grab for the bomb as Vek’rin’ka kicked him in the chest. Ribs broke as Al’brk’vix was thrown away. Glancing down at the self-destruct Vek’rin’ka returned his gaze to Al’brk’vix struggling to stand. Lifting his sandaled foot, Vek’rin’ka brought it back down on the computer, safety disabling the small nuclear bomb contained within it.

Al’brk’vix watched as his last means of killing the Arbitrator in his current condition was destroyed. Al’brk’vix pulled up his targeting reticule for his plasma cannon. While the charge left in it was not going to stop Vek’rin’ka, it might just provide Al’brk’vix enough time to retreat and fix his injuries. Then he could get Vek’rin’ka. Squaring on the chest of his adversary Al’brk’vix fired the last bit of plasma from the shoulder cannon.

The charge hit Vek’rin’ka in his armored shoulder. Barely charring the plating Vek’rin’ka snarled at Al’brk’vix and began to approach him. Al’brk’vix saw his plan fall apart and ran for the ground level door that was on the ocean-side of the building. Jumping down and swinging himself around into a storm drain he quickly crouch-ran into the blackness. He was counting on Vek’rin’ka staying with the ship as he made his get away. That was no matter. He would just kill the Arbitrator later and change the command codes back to respond to him.

Vek’rin’ka let the injured Bad Blood run. Securing the ship was crucial. The disabled yautja would not be a problem for at least a day. He would be attending to his injuries and nursing his broken pride. After cleaning up the broken pieces of the computer that littered the floor Vek’rin’ka again approached the hatch of the ship to finish his decoding.

The program stored in Vek’rin’ka’s own computer easily overrode the encryption on the ship and opened the hatch for the Arbitrator. Boarding the small ship, Vek’rin’ka made his way to the cockpit. The first order of business would be to reprogram the ship and then he would have to move it. They were in the area that the ooman law enforcer was shot the previous night, on his search for this ship Vek’rin’ka had spotted others dangerously close to this building. He would have to find a place to conceal the ship then come back and track Al’brk’vix down.

Lifting off the ground, the engines barely hummed with the cloaking shield on. Carefully maneuvering out through the hole in the roof Vek’rin’ka had to wonder how the Bad Bloods had managed to squeeze the ship through such a tight place. Flying it over the city Vek’rin’ka made his way north west. Once he had dealt with that Bad Blood the ship would be within easy distance of the female ooman’s dwelling.

Once landed and secured, Vek’rin’ka made his way back to the only private quarters on the ship. Gathering everything that belonged to Al’brk’vix (known only from his scent saturating everything in the room) Vek’rin’ka tossed it all in a storage compartment. To destroy it now, while the owner was still alive, would be dishonorable. He would wait until Al’brk’vix skull was hanging in his trophy case and then all that was his would be incinerated. Lying on the padded bedding area, Vek’rin’ka rested for the rest of the day. He would check on the female in the evening. He wondered how she would deal with the death of her companion.