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The Fighting Irish: To Hell and Back, With Love	By : girlyhero Category: M through R > Predator Views: 3343 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own nor profit from Predator, Alien Vs. Predator, Alien franchises.

Chapter List
- 8
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Naranarti awoke from cryo-sleep just as the pod opened. He hated cryo-sleep, dreamless, comatose, and like he'd been beaten unconscious and then beaten awake. He could hear Mhrende's complaints across the room as he crawled out of the pod. Though Jesse's had opened up, she was still asleep. The pods were designed to keep them in a drowsy state for at least ten minutes, time enough for the hunters to toss them into a chute and off the ship. Naranarti arched his back and popped a few vertebrae into place, then started to walk over to Jesse to try and nudge her awake. Mhrende leaned forward to touch his toes, but he fell off balance and caught himself palms flat on the floor.

Mhrende squeaked and chirped. "Um, help?"

Naranarti glanced at him and shook his head. He turned about, reached out and jabbed Mhrende in the side for his palm. Mhrende yelped and fell crashing into the pod's side.

"WAHHH!" Jesse screamed and sat up in her pod. The noise from Mhrende and his crash had awoke her. Cryo sleep wasn't a normal sleep for her. The only reason she didn't wake up the first time was because Seliklei had been quiet and gentle unsure of how to handle her. She bashed her head on the pod's lid when she shifted about. "Ah, fuck my life!"

Naranarti ignored Mhrende and ran straight to Jesse's side. She was clutching her head and squinting her eyes. He was ashamed of his thoughts, but he almost hoped she had a concussion so he could keep her a bit longer. He pressed his hand against the back of her neck gently. "I will take you to the medical bay," he told her.

"Huh? You don't hav-- oh!" Before she could protest, he scooped her out of the cryopod and headed out the door. "Okay." As they continued down the hall, she started to notice she was dizzy and had a headache. "I feel like shit. It wasn't like this last time."

"You may not have noticed any pains due to your predicament. A quick scan will confirm you are in good health. It is extremely rare for anything to go wrong in cryo-stasis." He assured her. "Aches and minor illnesses are common after effects."

She was believing this-- the rise and quake of her stomach told her this. "I'm going to throw-up. Put me down--down-- down-- DOWN!"

Naranarti nearly dropped her when she buckled and started dry-heaving. He set her on her knees near a grate in the floor. As she was gagging, her hands were busy with her mess of hair. It wasn't until she finally vomited a glassy yellow that he realized she was trying to hold her hair back. He reached down and pulled back the red hair away from her face gingerly. He almost dropped it though, when he caught the smell of her vomit. It was rank and unlike anything he had smelled, and he had dealt with Oomans for a very long time.

"What did you eat on the planet?"

"Nothing," she gasped. She was annoyed he even asked, but she couldn't express it. "There was nothing to eat on the damn planet. I had a single ration from Rick and that was it."

Naranarti felt slightly embarrassed. He never intended on feeding the prey-- they rarely lived long enough for it to matter. He couldn't tell her, though. Realizing she had not eaten in-- though it felt like two days-- what was really eight months, he became deeply concerned. "Th-- this is not good," he said.

"Sorry for the mess," she replied spitting into the grate.

"That is not what I meant."

Jesse started to stand up. She felt dizzy and weak. As she thought about her empty stomach and calculated the amount of passed time, she had the same concerns Naranarti had. "I'm not in great shape-- I'm..." She fainted and Naranarti caught her just before she could hit the floor.
***************************************************************************************

Jesse's eyes fluttered. She looked about and saw the walls from her bunk, a few sheets and a fur pelt covering her. Behind her, she could hear a soft purring and the chittering of whispers between the other two. It sounded like Mhrende was the one closest to her and was the one purring.

"[Why does she want to leave?]" Mhrende asked. Jesse didn't have a translating device nearby, but she listened carefully to their tones. He sounded as though he were sad, as far as she could deduce from his normal chirpings. "[I thought you said she didn't have anywhere to go.]"

"[I did say that. She wants to go back, then she will go back.]" Naranarti was stern with him, she'd heard the tone before.

"[You're evading the question.]"

"[You're pissing me off.]"

"[Have you asked her to stay? You should ask her to stay-- if she has nothing to go back to, then all she might need is a reas--]"

"[Enough, Mhrende!]" Naranarti hissed at him.

The hissing made Jesse roll over and look at them, a concerned look with widened eyes. Mhrende was sitting on the floor next to her bunk while Naranarti was leaning against the opposite wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He approached the bedside when he saw her awake. "What's going on?" she asked him.

"You fainted from malnutrition," he replied. "Are you feeling any better?"

Her stomach felt empty as though she hadn't eaten, but strangely she did not feel weak like she had before. The inside of her arms were sore, however, and upon inspection she saw why-- track marks ran up both her arms. Whatever they gave her, they fed directly into her bloodstream. "Whatever you did worked. Physically, I'm hungry, but I'm not sick and dizzy like earlier...how long have I been out, actually?"

"Not long. Are you ready to go back? We have arrived to your home world."

She sat up straight. "Well, yes, I guess so."

"You 'guess'?" He didn't actually understand what she meant.

"Figure of speech, in a way," she replied. Her voice was quiet and weak as though she were still sick. She was just unsure of herself. "Yes, I'm ready."

"Then I will take you to a destination of your choosing. There is was currently in several areas. I will point them out to you." He held his hand out to help her from the bed.

She didn't need help, but she took it anyway. Her chest felt like a rock was sitting on it, crushing her ribs and organs underneath like they were cotton-candy. She half expected him to pick her up and carry her as often as he had since they'd met, but he didn't and she felt a tinge of sadness for the change.

"[Mhrende, ready a shuttle, and we will meet you shortly.]" He spoke to Jesse, "I have already checked the region in which I had --taken-- you from." He stumbled over his words, thinking he should have said 'rescued' as the better if not more accurate term. "It is uninhabitable, but the regions east, north, and south are fine. A small area to the west is hospitable, but it would put you to a disadvantage if you needed to head east." She only nodded in response.

"[Hey, Naranarti,]" Mhrende called to him as they started in opposite directions down the hall, "[Ask her to stay-- it would be stupid of you not to!]" With that said, he took off running down the hall knowing well Naranarti would not like the last comment, but his intention were to get under his skin with the issue.

Naranarti growled low but said nothing. He'd smack him later. They continued to the cockpit where he showed Jesse the holographic map he'd uploaded. There were highlighted areas of hostility, but she paid no mind to them; none of the battles were taking place in her continent. She picked a region and he zoomed in for her. The more times she chose, the more the map zoomed closer.

Jesse traced her finger over the map until she could zoom into Virginia. She was curious if the place was still there, the house her friend inherited where her entire group of friends would spend their summers. The house was still there on 69th Street. It backed up into the woods and had a straight way shot to the beach. She remembered they would go bike riding everyday there. "Nice how this is like Google-Maps. There," she pointed to the beach in front of 69th Street. "Drop me off there at night. It's a sleepy neighborhood and no one is ever out there."

Naranarti bowed his head in agreement. He saved the information for him to access later in their shuttle. It was currently the peak of their nightfall, so now would be the best time to leave. "We must go now if that is what you wish," he said, reluctance in his voice.

Jesse bobbed her head up and down slightly. It is not what I 'wish'...
*****************************************************************

The shuttle was designed for a single occupant, but it was also designed to carry the weight and size of an over-sized female plus hunting equipment. It was not bothered by Jesse joining him. She was surprised he did not use the beam like he had before, but he explained the dangers that though he was willing to take the risk in order to rescue her from the missile's destruction-- he used "rescue" this time-- it was not worth it now when a shuttle would do. At first release from the ship, the shuttle orbited the planet for a moment. It was a long, pod-like structure fashioned to drop like a dart from the sky. He would come in cloaked and slower to save Jesse illness from the gravitational force. She had luckily informed him that she'd pass out at a g-force of nine, so he slowed entry into the atmosphere to about seven. Generally, he liked taking the shuttle in at fifteen to twenty to a surface, fast and fun, but he would hold the extra moment he got with Jesse. The top of the shuttle was looking more like the capsule of a beech seed with the three wings opening out with anti-gravity dampeners putting the breaks on their fall.

As she said, the beach area was empty of people. The shuttle landed hard but silent in the sand, the dart-like point below them stuck into the ground deep. The shuttle shifted from the sand backwards and startled Jesse, but Naranarti waited for it to settle completely before pushing out the hatch-door. Jesse stumbled out and splayed herself over the sand. The grains stuck to the sweat on her skin. She listened to the waves crash into each other bringing the tide in for the last time in the darkness. Sea breeze like salt and crustaceans filled her nose. It smelled like her summers.

Naranarti stepped out with ease and watched her scratch her hands through the sand. He knew he should feel glad for her, but it was paining him. He stood over her unsure if he should just leave her where she was without a word. Would that be easiest? It would be simpler, but it would also be foolish. Mhrende was right, he realized.

Jesse sat up and looked up at him. She couldn't read anything from him, but she knew he wanted to say something.

"Come back with me," he said. He couldn't put it more plainly in her language. "Stay with me, Jess'si'deinz."

Jesse slowly stood. She had wanted him to ask her to stay since he first brought her to the caves. With time to think on her own, to keep her heart from peeling like an onion in sadness, she'd rationalized herself into destroying what she wanted most. Stupidly, she hadn't rethought her arguable logic. She shook her head. "It wouldn't be right for either of us." A tear started to well in her right eye, and she held her breath to keep it where it was.

Naranarti nodded. He began to turn around when he stopped himself. He pulled out the micro-communicator from before and began setting permanent formats to it. It read completely in her language and would remain that way. She had told them she had no one to turn to for anything. This was his way of saying that was untrue. He handed her the device. "If you ever need me for anything, then send a message to me. Anything, it does not matter." He pushed the buttons to show her how and how to open and close it.

Jesse clutched the little device, smaller than an ink pen. It seemed so delicate, but it was indestructible save a chainsaw grinding it to dust. Ways of hiding it ran through her mind, so many. Having this one way of reaching him, it made her feel safe still. "Thank you," she said as the tear finally rolled down her cheek. "And I mean that for everything."

Naranarti placed his hand on her shoulder, gently brushing some of the sand away with his thumb. He felt better about leaving her alone now. Jesse moved forward and embraced him, his hand moving to stroke the back of her neck. He stared out to the ocean, admiring her choice of destination. She will be fine here. She will be happy here.

Jesse planted a kiss on his solarplexus and let go of his waist. She took a step backwards and clasped her hands together in front with the gifted device snug in her fingers. She would wait for him to leave her. She knew why he was distancing himself in their goodbye and did not blame him. This would be best, easier on their lives. Naranarti nodded to her awkwardly and turned back to his shuttle. He stepped in and reached out to shut the hatch. Before he closed it, he took a final look at her. Her face was tear streaked with a small, gentle smile over her lips, red hair matted and wrapping around her neck from the tide winds. The hatch shut, and he ran his hand over the controls to start the thrusters. She watched the shuttle raise into the sky, blue heat and air waves surrounding the three wings at the top. Very quickly, the shuttle was gone from sight, either cloaked or hidden in the clouds.

Jesse laughed to herself. "We'll always have Paris." She began the walk to the summer house. Her hope was that in the year and a half or so she had been gone, the house had not been sold. It had appeared to be empty from the satellite read, but that didn't mean it wasn't legally occupied. When she arrived, she looked through all the windows. The yard was strangely kept, but her friend was registered with a lawn-care company that directly took from her account; the accounts themselves must not have been frozen yet. It was uncertain if the government even believed she was dead if there was activity with them. The water and electricity were only turned on for the summers, again pulled directly from the accounts. The woman had a near unlimited amount of money stashed in banks in the US and Switzerland. Now, what the fiscal year would do about them, she wasn't certain; that could be how they find out she is dead. She found the spare key under the neck of a satyr statue. She ran to the door and opened it.

It smelled as though the house had not been occupied since last year. Dust and sea salt had settled about the place. She flipped on a lightswitch in what was deemed her bedroom. It turned on; this meant it was at least mid-May. She kept a few clothes there and was happy to see them there. No one must have claimed the place. Of course, she was estranged from her living relatives, and they probably did not even know she was dead. Anyone she did know was most likely killed in Wyoming...

Jesse shook herself. She wasn't going to cry about that yet. She needed to devise a plan of action for her presence on Earth again. She had to make a story and stick with it. Amnesia and ignorance of Wyoming's demise seemed to be the best beginning. She changed into a different shirt and realized she wanted to tell Naranarti something before she started her life over.

Running through the house, she flew out the door and stumbled into the yard. She opened the messenger-device and started typing.
*************************************************************************

Naranarti jumped out of the shuttle and started towards the main corridor. Mhrende was waiting near the entry. He was leaning against the wall his head low and eyes shut. Naranarti remembered he'd promised himself to hit him for his offensive words, but he did not feel he should. He was right, Mhrende was. Naranarti had been an idiot for not asking. If he had asked from the beginning, she might have been more willing to stay with him. Instead, he played it safe, nipping the edges of the issue like a frightened child. And he paid dearly for it.

"She still did not wish to stay," he said as he walked by him. He paused and waited for Mhrende's accompaniment.

Mhrended opened his eyes and pushed himself off the wall. They both headed to the cockpit. He inquired mainly about his training to becoming an Elite, this mainly to keep himself from speaking about Jess'si'deinz. At the controls, Naranarti instructed him on using Ooman technology with their own. For other hunts, he would start surveying candidates for prey. Naranarti always felt it was mundane and tiring, but Mhrende seemed excited to do it. Whether he purposely did it or not, Mhrende zoomed in the surveillance satellite to the beach Naranarti had came from. The little crater the shuttle made was still there, the ocean water creeping up on it. Mhrende saw the change in expression on Naranarti. "Um, oops," he said feeling like a jerk. He started to pulled the camera away, but Naranarti stopped him.

"Wait," he said tracing his finger over the image, small holes, footprints, in the sand leading to an asphalt road. "She is not there. Try to find her for me... like if you lost your mark, try to trace their tracks." He tried to make it seem like a training exercise.

Mhrende knew he was concerned for Jess'si'deinz. He had to admit, she was a fun little being to be around and had a nice scent for an Ooman. He liked her too and worried he would miss her if not as much as his Arbitrator would. He pulled the camera out and rerouted of the image to access infrared from their systems. They were cooling, but Jesse left footprints on the road.

"There is another way," Naranarti said, brushing a talon over the controls, "Here! It can trace vibrations."

Mhrende chirped and trilled. He had not used this technology before and was giddy to start learning how. "Let's find Jess'si'deinz! She's walking in...this direction..." he moved the camera, following the disturbances in the asphalt. It wasn't much, but it was the only movement subtle enough to be Ooman movement. He saw the heat signature glow like a flame in an abyss. "There she is!"

Both of them leaned in to inspect the image, even though it would only help if Mhrende zoomed in, which he finally did. She was walking towards a forest-- no, to a living structure near a forest. "Take it off infrared," Naranarti directed. They watched as she circled the structure, peering into the windows and rummaging through shrubs and decorative statuettes. She pulled out a small trinket and ran to the door. She must have found a key. "Okay, now, I'll show you a different infrared. This works along with x-ray and can see through wood and weak metals."

They watched her wonder around the house, then pause in a room. Her sudden and fast movements to the outside of the house startled them. Before he could say anything, the console next to Naranarti blinked signifying an incoming message. "I think something is wrong," Mhrende said quickly moving over the controls. He changed the visual several times until he got a clear picture of her. She was looking up at the sky, a gentle smile under sad eyes. She held a small device in her hands. "Um, is she okay, do you think?"

Naranarti opened the message on another holographic screen. It was from the micro communicator. He sighed as mild relief softened his heartache. "She's fine, Mhrende," he replied.

Mhrende looked over his shoulder and read the screen: Stay safe, Nara.

"She will be fine."
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The Fighting Irish: To Hell and Back, With Love