"You used to call me a hero

Now I am standing alone

Am I almighty

Living in a danger zone

It is a countdown to zero

You call me misunderstood

I'm high on fire

Living in the danger zone."

~ 'Danger Zone' - Amaranthe

XXXX

"What the fuck is going on in here?!"

Unmistakably, the voice came from none other than the psychiatrist who's office they had just fucked in. That's right. Layla Susannah Thomas had just fucked an extraterrestrial on a tile floor in a space ship. It didn't get much crazier than that.

Apparently the doctor was thinking the same thing, judging by the expression on his face.

"Hi," she groaned, stretching underneath her alien 'friend'. He barely budged; he had to have heard that someone was there observing them, but he obviously didn't care, nor did he perceive the doctor as a threat. He did finally remove himself from her, and she got a glimpse of the Big D for the first time. It was kind of revolting, to be honest, but that also could have been because it was logged with fluids, and it was shiny black just like his body. It disappeared into a sheath between his own legs, retreating back into his body. Revolting, but strangely arousing in the same light. What was the matter with her? Now she was hot for ET. Great.

"What have you done?!" The doctor looked legitimately freaked out, his face ghostly pale.

"Um, what does it look like?" Layla sat up on the tile surface, pulling the torn front of her dirty hospital gown over her body to try and at least cover some of herself ."I'm not getting any answers around here, and I'm probably gonna die anyways, so, I figured I'd at least get somethin'."

The doctor shook his head like he didn't understand, looking back and forth between her and the creature, who had assumed a protective crouch position next to Layla, barbed tail curled around his legs. Layla attempted not to flash the other human her goodies (but he'd probably already seen it, standing there, watching them like a creeper) while she pulled her underwear up her legs, keeping her knees bent to try and shield her coochie from him... And what would eventually gush out of her coochie when she stood. What was dripping out of it right now, though, she tried to clench as much as she could to keep the cooling liquid inside of her. Just for the purpose of modesty - this guy in the doorway didn't need to see anymore than he already had. Pervie old bastard.

"What- What were you thinking?!"

Layla rolled her eyes. She wanted to rise up off the floor so he wouldn't be looking down at her so much but she honestly didn't think her legs would support her at the moment. "I was thinking that I'm probably not gonna be alive much longer. I decided to live it up while I'm still breathing. Funny seeing you standing there so high and mighty when it's your fault I'm in this situation."

The man looked down at his feet. He was damn easy to shame.

"Are ya finding any answers down there by your expensive shoes? Any redemption?"

"What do you want from me." The doctor actually had the nerve to look annoyed, eyes blazing as he looked back up at her. Layla bit - she was no way in hell going to let that fly. Not when it was her life on the line.

"I know you didn't just take a tone with me. You'd better be feeling like a worthless piece of shit for what you've gotten yourself involved in - and you damn well should. And I know Goddamn well that you are in no way shape or form in any position to treat me like I'm the fucking crazy one here! Whatever this is-" She gestured to her chest, to the torn open part of her gown "-you did it, and you are the reason I'm in this position. So, kindly, fuck you, that's what I want you to hear. Somehow, when I thought I was going to rehab to get clean, to recover from my addiction to heroin, I actually walked right the fuck through death's door, yet again! 'Cept this time it wasn't at my own hand - this time it's at the hand of a corporate company!"

Now he looked scared again, all of his supposed bravado slipping away; it looked like the doorway to his office was about to swallow him whole. "What are you talking about?"

Patta. She remembered that was his name. Dr. Richard Patta. Dick Patta. OMG stop it Layla.

She smiled at him, only it wasn't a nice smile, "Oh, yeah, I know." She was kind of bluffing here, admittedly. She didn't know for certain that it was Weyland-Yutani that was responsible. They were a worldwide (and outer space wide) organization that had their hands in pretty much everything remotely scientifically related in the world. It would be hard to convict them even with evidence. Evidence like a woman pregnant with an alien baby. She had to be one hundred percent sure they were involved - it would just be one big honkin' coincidence if they weren't. The way the guard had spoken when he'd been about to shoot her, the look of utter shame as he'd raised the gun... That meant there was something fishy. And she had to get to the bottom of it. She had to expose this for what it really was.

"One of your guards tried to blow my head off earlier today - at least I think it was today; I've been passing out so damn much today I don't even know if it's still today. Anyhow, he felt pretty guilty, was saying some guilty as hell shit as he was trying to murder me. Then my pal here-" She gestured to her alien friend crouched next to her, who was now regarding the doctor with what appeared to be disdain, judging by the way he was growling lowly, continuously "-took his head off. I guess he likes me. I'm just connecting the dots; big slimy egg thing in my room, after Karen freaks out during one of your bullshit sessions, screaming about eggs and how we're all going to die. Giant flying spider with a tail stuck on some guys face, then another one comes down the hall and jumps on my face. Then I wake up in a med bay room and see this guy here-" She gestured to the alien again "-slay two people right before my eyes, one of which tried to shoot me in the head. I smell a conspiracy, and it smells like fucking shit." Finally, she stopped, waiting for what he would have to say to that. Only then did she notice that there was a sound in the room, besides the creatures growl - though he himself had fallen silent as well, waiting on what the doctor would say. A low hum that she was assuming came from the lights, or maybe the desktop computer. It was so low that she hadn't realized it was there until she'd been waiting in her own silence for the doctor to speak. After what seemed like an eternity, Dr. Patta swallowed nervously, thin throat bobbing, and held out a hand to gesture for her to follow.

"Come with me."

The doctor was tall and thin, much like her drooly partner in crime, but not quite as tall nor covered in black, armor-like skin. And he didn't have a tail, obviously. Layla had never paid much attention to his looks or features, but now that she was having trouble keeping up with his long strides, she noticed how long his legs were. She didn't dare tell him to slow, though. Whatever he wanted to show her, it was clear that he wanted to get there quickly. She wouldn't complain, not even as she practically jogged along behind him. She tried to ignore both the soreness between her legs and the squelchy, disgusting feeling of warm liquid coating her inner thighs.

"By the way, any chance any of the showers still work around?" she grumbled. Her alien buddy was currently nowhere to be seen, but she knew he probably would not go far. He'd made it quite clear that he was the Keeper of the Layla, and she trusted that he wouldn't let anything happen to her. From another human, at least. She wondered if he'd get offended if she tried to clean herself. If he'd actually been trying to get his scent onto her, he'd succeeded. But she still had to wash everything off. She felt like she'd just spent the night in a cesspool.

"You'll want to wait until after you see this," Dr. Patta urged, continuing on down the hall. It was just like every other hallway in this place, it seemed, but without any doors that she could see on either side of them. Dim lights (which were now flickering like they were in some sort of horror movie), and a bare stretch of space with nothing crowding along the walls. If they'd been in the med bay, there would have been extra gurneys scattered neatly along the walls, medicine cabinets (locked, of course) , and a few emergency defibrillators attached to the walls. She'd been in there so many times when she'd been detoxing, she could probably sketch a layout of the entire medical area just from memory. Ugh. She was glad she wasn't back there. That place had been no joke.

"Where are we?" she asked, stumbling over her own feet. Shoes. That was something else she needed. At least a pair of flip flops.

"We've just passed by the administration offices," Dr. Patta answered. They were finally coming up to a door, the stretch of hall ending a few feet in front of them. The doctor reached into a pocket on his suit jacket (which was the most disgusting brown pattern of plaid she had ever seen, while she was noticing things about him) and produced a keycard with his photo on it.

"I didn't see any doors," Layla stated, finally slowing down as the doctor came to a stop in front of a sliding partition that passed for 'doors' on most of the ship. The office doors were the only exceptions - doors that were actually doors.

"We're in a back hallway," Dr. Patta replied distractedly, waving the keycard in front of the access panel. It turned green; access granted, and the door slid open.

Another question came to Layla's mind as she stared down the even darker hallway before them, "Aren't you worried that we're gonna run into something that's, I don't know, not human?"

"Quite," He agreed, speaking very quietly now, like he was afraid that they would be heard. "I'm hoping that your friend didn't go too far," he admitted.

Layla looked up at him, making a doubtful face, "Well he ain't gonna be protecting you even if he didn't. The only pro to my forced pregnancy is an alien bodyguard." Realizing this, the doctor gulped hard, his face turning that same shade of sheet white again. Sighing with exasperation, Layla stepped first into the dark corridor, "C'mon. Where are we going?"

"The lab is a couple of doors down to the left," Dr. Patta walked so close behind her she thought he was going to grab onto her shoulders in fear. It made her wonder how much he really knew about what was going on. He knew enough to be terrified of walking into a dimly lit hall - he knew something that lurked there that she didn't, she was certain. She would play along, for now. At least until she got this baby out of her.

Her bare feet padded through something cold and sticky on the floor, and she was about to cuss out a string of colorful language about fucking alien jizz when a sharp, metallic smell hit her senses hard. "Holy fuck," Fear crept up her spine now, the hair on the back of her neck raising - she knew blood when she smelled it.

"Shh," The doctor did put a hand on her shoulder now, steering her forwards more quickly, "I think most of them are in the hive right now but I'm not certain - there could still be a few scurrying around somewhere,"

"A few what?!" Layla hissed back, picking up her pace, "Women who are in desperate need of some tampons?!"

"You are the most vulgar person I have ever met!" the doctor whisper-shouted in her ear.

"Yeah, well, I'd say get used to it but I don't think either one of us are gonna last much longer. Which door?!"

"Here," He pushed her towards the closest door and she dove at it to try and shove it open.

"Locked," she grunted, and the doctor quickly waved his keycard in front of the keypad rapidly until the three lights by the door handle turned green. They both practically broke the door down to get inside, and once they were in Dr. Patta closed the door quickly and quietly behind them, leaning back against it with a deep breath of relief.

Layla clutched at her chest, feeling that same familiar burning starting up again, "Did you say hive back there? Who the hell are they and what exactly do you mean by hive?"

Breathing raggedly with relief, Dr. Patta pointed at her, putting his other hand on his knee as he bent forward, "Like your friend - there's others," He took a few more breaths - she wondered if he was an asthmatic or if he'd genuinely been that terrified, "And when they decide where they are going to make their 'home base', so to speak, they build a hive."

Layla processed this information, wondering for the millionth time how the hell she'd managed to walk into this situation. "So, like... insects?"

"Quite."

Layla nodded, pondering, trying to imagine her 'friend' building a hive. What did they build it out of? What did it look like?

The room they were in was dark, like the hallway. They were in the darkest spot by the door; Layla saw more light coming from the back of what she assumed was this... this... "Is this a supply closet?" There were shelves full of buckets, syringes, beakers, goggles, anything even remotely science-y looking. She guessed there was another door or window near the back, and that was where the light was coming from.

Dr. Patta gave a half-hearted shrug in answer to her question. "More or less - it's also another entryway to the lab. This way we didn't have to go to the main entrance, which would be in the med bay." Oh yeah, Layla thought, Good call, doc. After another moment of catching his breath, the doctor stood straight and began walking towards the back of the room, "This way, we can get in through here."

Layla followed behind him, glancing around the room. If she'd still been a junkie, she would've snatched all those fucking needles. If she was still a junkie, she would not have been mouth raped by a flying spider with a tail. But, she might've also OD'd by now, so, death had its eyes on her either way, "What's in the lab?"

"Pardon?" Dr. Patta said distractedly, tripping over a bucket on the floor with a scoff.

"Why are we going to the lab? What's in there that's gonna help me?" Layla had to admit, her good patience was running very thin - if you could call the patience she'd had so far good.

The doctor still didn't answer - now he had reached the door and was trying to open it. With another scoff about 'damn locks' he fished his ID badge out of his pocket once more, holding it in front of the keypad. Managing not to stub her bare toes on anything strewn across the floor, Layla crept over to where he was standing by the door. Judging by his noises of frustration and dismay, she guessed he wasn't having any luck opening the door. "Problem?" she asked, trying to peer past him through the small window in front of them. From what she could see, a brightly lit area with lots of tables and crap piled everywhere lay before them.

"It's not reading my - oh, damn it all!" With a ferocity she didn't expect, he attacked the doorknob, like he was going to be able to force it open. He was so thin and reedy, she couldn't imagine him carrying heavy grocery bags, let alone break through that door. He seemed to realize this too, for he stopped rattling the door handle and took a step back, breathing heavy once again. He pointed a shaking finger through the window at their destination, "There. In there. That's the lab."

"Yeah, I, uh, thought we'd established that already," Layla crossed her arms across her chest, settling her weight onto her left leg (assuming the pose of attitude), looking down at the floor. "What is so important about getting in there?"

"..." Dr. Patta let out a sob, and Layla had to roll her eyes. Seriously, he's not the one who about to die, that'd be me.

"Dude, really? Pull it together," she sighed under her breath.

"I can help you," he choked out, turning his head towards her and nodding like he was trying to convince both her and himself of this. "In there, I can."

"Help me what? You gon' get this baby outta my chest?"

"Yes."

Layla breathed a sigh of relief - it didn't even occur to her at this moment exactly what the locked door meant.

Then the momentary bubble of relief burst: "Wait, but the door..."

Dr. Patta nodded with a gulp, "There's another way in,"

Through the med bay. "Oh shit." she said aloud.

"Exactly. They shouldn't harm you - you're carrying one of them, after all. If you should come across any of them they will be more likely to protect you than harm you."

A million thoughts ran through her head at once - was this why her 'friend' was acting the way he was? Why he'd saved her on multiple occasions already? It made sense now. And one of them... Well, at least if he was talking about tall, dark and drooly she would know what her 'baby' was going to look like. This is some fucked up shit. "Well, what about you? Am I gonna piggyback you over there?"

Looking down at the floor, he shook his head, looking more than a bit shameful, "I'm not going."

Layla uncrossed her arms, hands balled into fists, ready to give him an earful. He didn't give her a chance; he continued, "I won't be safe from them - you only are because you're carrying their future within you. I am not with that advantage. If I am killed, I will not be able to help you."

His words sent a chill up her spine, and with a hard swallow, Layla inquired, "What if I just let it come out on its own?" She was afraid of the answer.

Dr. Patta lifted his head to make eye contact with her, his own gaze somber, "You will die."

While Layla had expected the outcome to be bad, actually hearing it was a different thing entirely. She took a deep breath, turning her head so she could see into the lab. She knew she probably didn't have much time. Every second she wasted was a second off of her life. "Okay, so Plan A. What do I do?"

The doctor held out his badge to her, "Take this. The door is controlled access like most of them in the med bay. Just follow around until you come to the door directly across from where we are - you can see it from here, if you look through the window."

"Yep, got it," Layla took the keycard from him. She eyed his face with suspicion, "And what are you gonna do while I'm gone?"

"I will remain here - it won't take you long to get there, just let me in once you get in yourself."

"And how do I know you're gonna even be here when I get inside?" She couldn't tell whether or not trusting him was a good idea. He was hard to get a read on.

"I won't get far without my badge," he reassured, "I probably wouldn't get far if I were to run into one of those creatures, either." He looked grim, but nodded at her, "You get to that room, and I will get that thing out of you. You have my word."

XXX

Notes:

Moving right along this week! 3 I hope everyone is enjoying the story! I'm enjoying writing it~