Seasons

Jones smiled from his position behind the crowd as he watched the larger man in the suit on the podium surrounded by press, microphones jutting toward him to capture his every word and consequently hold him to it.

"So, you're saying that this killing was definitely random?"

"Why weren't the residents informed of its escape?"

"Are you certain it was the same creature?"

The large man shook his head, waving away their frantic inquiries.

"I've said it before and I'm saying it again. I'm just going by the facts. For now we can only advise everyone to stay indoors until its been captured."

"But where exactly did it come from? How did it get here?"

Gary coughed, glancing briefly at Jones who was half in half out of the afternoon cast shadows. He knew damn well that they'd scooped something up out of Ms. Sharon Weyland's little house out in the woods and was positively itching to know exactly what it was. He had been feigning knowledge for the last half an hour, the pile of bullshit he'd thrown at them beginning to reek.

It was time to go before he soiled his reputation with a contradictory answer.

He was no fool. He knew when to quit.

Jones was a completely different story.

"That's complicated and best answered at tomorrow's conference," he smirked. "Thankyou for your time and I'll see you all tomorrow. Good night..." with that he stepped down, the crowd pressing in, guards using force to keep the reporters at bay.

"But, Chief!" there was a cry from the crowd and he pressed his mouth into a thin line of agitation as he ignored him, making his way over to Jones.

Upon exchanging friendly glances, Jones motioned him over toward the waiting unmarked car, smiling as he took a seat inside beside him.

________


He didn't quite know just what it was about this species that was so intriguing, but it seemed to be getting more interesting as the days went by. He'd had only one day left to get a signal out, hampered by the strange thick gloves they'd secured to each hand that night of the interrogation. It was Jone's idea, he knew. The man was taking even more caution after noting his intelligence. He didn't want him fiddling with any of the devices on his arm until he knew exactly what they were for.

His only hope now would be that sensitive female.

This would require being nicer than usual.

He was extra cautious when Sharon returned the 8th night, this time followed by one guard. His head was finally starting to hurt. He'd put himself into a resting mode to conserve energy seeing as the fools never thought to give him sustenance. Or perhaps just didn't want to.

That would change soon enough.

He was becoming accustomed to Sharon's nightly visits, noting they only allowed her in after they'd finished prodding him all day.

The 8th night she seemed better. She was a little agitated for some reason, sporting a black uniform consisting of a t-shirt, shorts and small boots. It was kind of interesting to see her in something else. The guard followed her inside, standing at attention in front of the door as she left his side to approach.

He couldn't reserve much more energy and he needed to feed. He looked up to her slowly from his position huddled in the corner as she walked up to him, stopping just a foot away before kneeling.

"You look a little odd... You sure you're alright?" she cocked her head as she sat before him. To her surprise, he shook his head. Her eyes widened briefly. "Oh? Well what could possibly be bothering you?"

He extended his left hand a little, palm up, his right hand clenching over it before bringing it up to his face several times in a motion of consumption.

She frowned and he repeated the action.

"You... you're hungry?" she asked, believing that surely she must be wrong. She'd told Jones of what she'd watched him feed on. Surely they hadn't been starving him all week.

K'tch nodded and her brows drew down.

"You mean to tell me they haven't even given you anything to eat for the entire week!"

He nodded again, watching her reaction. Why was she so damn concerned. She needed to just get him some food and then leave him alone.

She shook her head, clearly disappointed...

That darn fool...

"Kuh-cha... just... Y'know.. I'll be right back..."

He had been clearly anticipating her return after their exchange, looking towards the door several times before she returned after little more than half an hour. She was holding two large familiar bags and he purred anxiously as she sat before him once again and opened them. He could smell the meat before she unwrapped it. Carefully, she peeled the bun off of four meat patties and pushed them on the paper toward him. He reached for them gratefully, frustrated when he realized that the secured gloves were hampering his efforts at retrieving it.

Ohhh... this torture would be worse than what they'd done to his friendly electric current...

Fuck...

He didn't have to brood for long as Sharon immediately scooted over to help, picking up one patty and folding it a little before bringing it up to his mouth.

"You owe me..." she stated. "Now open up," she watched him cautiously, briefly worrying about keeping her fingers clear from the sharp teeth.

His mandibles spread and his mouth opened as he awaited his much anticipated meal. She tried not to gawk at the strange interior of his physiognomy, but that so did not look like a mouth...

She helped him with the other four patties before he turned away at the 6th, pointing toward the water.

Despite the fact that being fed was actually helping him to conserve his own energy, he still found the experience odd to say the least. At one point she poured the liquid a bit too fast, some of it dribbling down his neck. She was ready with a napkin almost instantly, dabbing it away gently and he frowned.

She'd just been arguing with him the night before and now she was doing things for him, helping him.

What funny creatures... and what funny gender. He'd seen this before. A female engaged in what appeared to a particularly loud and violent argument with her partner. At one point, the male had even slept in a separate room, which did not seem typical of their arrangement. But in the morning after much wooing, he had fallen back into her graces and by the end of the day he was actually courting her.

She offered him the last piece of meat once more and he shook his head.

"You don't want it?" she inquired. He nodded.

"Why?"

"You... eat..."

Her eyes widened with his allusion to her well-being. "M-me? Oh... ... Oh I've eaten already, but thanks. This belongs to you. Here..." she folded it and brought it to his face. His mandibles opened slowly as he watched her the entire time.

She was proving to be way more useful than initially assumed.

She was about to leave when he made a strange noise that demanded her attention.

"Huh?"

He motioned for her to come back toward him and she did curiously. "Somethin' wrong?" she searched him for clues.

He nodded.

"What?"

He gestured toward his hands.

She hesitated.

"I don't know if I should be taking those off of you..."

He sighed.

"What!" she exclaimed stepping toward him. "What are you trying to do? I can't take these off unless I know... I will on the other hand, take it off if you don't do anything to get us both shot at..."

He sniffed, trying to motion, but unable to convey a meaning.

"Just say it... " she encouraged.

A crease formed between his eyes in agitation.

"Kuh-cha..." she sighed. "I'm really not in the mood to play charades... Just tell me and I promise to see what I can do.."

His gaze travelled back over to his arms. "Sig..nal," he declared. She frowned. "Signal what?"

"Home..."

She raised a brow. What was he going to do, call his buddies?

"Don't call anymore here!" she spoke quickly and he shook his head.

That wasn't his intention.

"They come... when there's no signal"
She swallowed.

"I see... So, if you don't tell them you're alright, they'll send someone to check?"

He nodded. Well, she didn't need Jones or Garber trying to add anymore specimens to their collection, not after the shit Jones had pulled. She shuddered at the thought of them putting her in a tank with them.

She looked back at the guard who was standing at attention at the door, eyes glued to her.

"Hmmm..." she lifted one arm, fiddling with the contraption for all of ten minutes before it finally unhooked and fell to the ground. He opened the device on his left arm and quickly typed in a few codes. It beeped several times before stopping. That would keep the party off of his back for at least a little while. He typed in a few more codes with a grunt.

That would take care of his missing items...

In the meantime, he could finish plotting his great escape and blow this place to bits once he was out.

He poked at another device and a strange computer map flashed up, making a small projection. She watched it with a certain amount of fascination. It appeared to be the map of a building.

"Kuh-cha... is that... this place?" she lowered her voice and he nodded, gaze zooming in on a small target on one of the levels. Sharon frowned. "I hope that's not a person..." she declared. The guard in the corner narrowed his eyes, speaking softly into his walkie talkie.

K'tch shook his head. It was the last of those strange alien creatures that he needed to get rid of.

Still, the fact that it was being housed in the same building was dangerous. Were these humans really keeping it under control? If they had been in the first place, he wouldn't be there..

He'd get it... he'd get everything all in one shot, then he'd finally be able to go home. He closed the device before looking up at the woman. He was making that strange purring noise as his ungloved right hand reached up, index finger curling towards himself in a 'come hither' motion. She swallowed as she looked up at his slumped figure in the corner.

Closer? How much closer could she get before she was practically in his lap. She frowned and he made the motion again, quicker this time. She crawled toward him another two inches and leaned forward.

To her surprise, he motioned again.

Closer...

She raised a brow.

"Man... what do you want me to do? Diffuse right through you?"

He watched her for a moment longer, becoming impatient and reaching forward, pulling her up against him and invading her personal space. She froze for a moment as he handled her, right hand coming up to hold her head, mouth close to her ear. The guard in the corner shifted and she held a hand up to wave him off.

She swallowed, feeling extremely uncomfortable and unsure of what to do before the predator spoke quietly in her ear.

"Tonight... gtd-jya."

She blinked.

"What?" she whispered.

"Gtd-jya.."

She frowned. "I don't understand... what is that..." she whispered. "What is Gtd-jya?" she repeated.

He released her suddenly, making a motion with his one freed hand and she nodded.

"Oh... I see..." her eyes widened as she kept her voice a whisper.

He nodded and she nearly forgot to breathe. In only a few hours there would be an explosion.

"Are you really going to?" her voice was barely above a whisper.

The predator nodded.

"My God... " Sharon sighed. "Isn't there any other way?" she asked quietly.

To her disappointment he shook his head.

Oh of course there wasn't.

"Why? Because you have to be a secret? You can't bear the thought of someone having a file with your name on it?"

Bingo..

She was beginning to impress him more each passing moment.

She suddenly scooted back to leave and extricate herself from him when he halted her with that strange purring noise, slightly more aggressive as his free hand closed around her wrist.

He shook his head and she frowned.

"What is it now? I can't leave the room?"

Of course. He nodded.

"Okay..." she bit back her nerves, becoming impatient. "Just why not..."

He yanked her back, closer to him.

"Here's... safer..."

She coughed.

"You don't expect me to just lay on the hard floor next to you, do you?"

He was silent and she clenched her teeth. He better not...

"I'm not laying on the floor next to you..." she concluded.

He turned away from her, laying back down onto his side. He would take a nap and reserve some energy before everything went down. He didn't really care what she did at this point, long as she took his advice and didn't leave the room..