Obligatory Author's Note: I don't own, please don't sue. Though I did make up the mottley crew of characters that will be tortu-used in this little farce, the universe setting and creatures are not mine. Also this story is gonna be looooooooong and I have slow buildups to action. I'm sorry, that's just how I write. I like to firmly establish characters before I start putting them through a gambit of bad events.

Only Movement

Razors pain you; rivers are damp;

Acids stain you; and drugs cause cramp.

Guns aren't lawful; nooses give;

Gas smells awful; you might as well live.

Dorothy Parker

Chapter One

Waking up was a problem. It was always a problem, everyday. While consciousness gnawed hungrily at Lee's mind, she tried to stay in that vague fog between the waking world and dreamland. But reality was insistent. She was going to have to get up and face the day no matter how tired she was. Gray eyes opened widely, alert and ready to survey the room. No guards and no expected guests. The day might not be so bad.

She searched the room with little feeling. Same padded walls, same nondescript door with no latch on her side of course. That would have made things too easy for her. She was surrounded by that awful off white color, even her attire. It was like the clothing was so depressed that they couldn't stay a pure white. The material was scratchy anyway and just added to the overall misery. Also the sleeves were too long. She hated that. She'd been there for months; someone could have at least gotten her size right by now.

She lay in the corner of the room with her back to the door. If she squinted hard enough, she could almost pretend this was a mental institute in some crowded city in the U.S. The padded room helped in that delusion. Almost. If the room wasn't so well designed she could settle comfortably into that lie. There was no visible light source; instead the luminance came from the very walls. The door was programmed to open upon voice recognition, card reader and (as if that wasn't obsessive enough) retinal scan. There was a camera monitoring her somewhere but it was hidden so well that she hadn't been able to find the damn thing yet. And she'd tried for months. If anything, it was a daily exercise. That and walking the seven steps from one wall to the other, back and forth like a caged tiger. Only she had never been vicious and wild, just free.

Behind her the door's locks (and there was always more than one) disengaged in a muffled snickt of steel sliding over steel. Lee didn't have to turn around to know she was no longer alone in her musings. The hair on the back of her neck prickled uncomfortably, a sure sign that someone was standing over her. That was another thing about the room she detested. The floor was padded like the walls but didn't dip and sway like a cushioned surface should. A rampaging elephant could sneak up behind her with the quiet grace of a feline.

"My dear Leah, how are we doing today?"

She winced. It was an automatic response when she heard his voice. And he never called her by her actual name. It was always Leah; her real name was too masculine for her, or so he'd told her. Denying her family given name was just one of the many torments the doctor delighted in. There was something so disturbing in the way he breathed the last syllable of that name, like a sigh.

Not bothering to face him, she stayed facing the corner since it was a hell of a lot more interesting than he was. The corner wasn't certifiably insane. "It's early." For a fact, she didn't know what time it was. There were no clocks or even a window (not that a window was even possible) in the room. But he usually visited her early, before half the compound was awake. It was like he couldn't wait a few hours of sleep to talk to her again which scared her for so many reasons she didn't want to face.

"I've got something marvelous to show you. Come, come you must get up now." His voice practically glowed with an eagerness that she hated more than the room, more than her scratchy clothes. He was always so chipper but never had any real mirth.

Although she would rather have stayed in that corner for the remainder of the day than look at him, she climbed unsteadily to her feet with a grimace. The human body was not designed to squeeze into a triangular corner. Thankfully he was already out of the room and waiting for her; two guards poised and ready to pounce. If she made one offensive move they'd be on her with a swift violence. All three had been through those motions too many times to count. Even though she'd given up a month ago they still anticipated her surliness with an apparent relish. The doctor wasn't the only one who was nuts.

She crossed the room and stood before the men without looking any of them in the eyes. Obedience was easier for her than it had been the first few times. Odd that the three seemed to miss the caged anger in her, which she found stupid since they'd gone to great lengths to drive it out of her. Lost in her thoughts, she almost shrugged. That was another quirk she had developed. Getting lost inside her meandering daydreams was becoming a more frequent occurrence. Often it felt like she was walking through a dense fog.

Lee hadn't even realized they were walking down the hallway past other rooms exactly like hers. All numbered in seemingly random order, her room was D-05. From what she'd gathered the code stood for Detainee number five. Other rooms were numbered T-01 through T-10. What she couldn't figure out was what the T stood for. Either it was Trial, Treatment, Test or Torture. From what she new about the good doctor, she felt it had to be the last choice. There were other letters too, but she didn't exactly care right now. Her eyes kept drifting to the doors numbered D-04, D-03, D-02, and D-01. They were empty now, this she knew with painful clarity.

One of the guards grabbed her shoulder to stop her from walking into the doctor. When had he stopped? With a non-too gentle push she found herself in a restroom. Same old routine again, they would give her ten minutes to take care of her business, brush her teeth and change into a new set of clothing that one of the guards had shoved into her hands when she hadn't been paying attention. She could cry with the sameness of it all if she had the energy too. That was another trait they'd driven out of her. Tears were simply wasted here. Maybe she should try to pick a fight with them just to break the monotony of it all.

Sighing, Lee slipped out of the scratchy pants and shirt. Nude, she contemplated the shower. She could wash-up but she would have to be quick about it. Usually she only got her hair scrubbed quickly, and body rinsed in time to jump out and jam her clothing over her still wet skin before the guards bounded into the room. They'd haul her out of the room naked and full of soap if they felt the need to. The doctor was always so impatient.

The water was lukewarm like always. The soap had no scent whatsoever and felt harsh on her skin, but it was clean. And the systematic routine of showering with clean hand made soap helped remind her that there was a former life out there from all this off white lunacy. There were other people out there waiting for her. Staring at the soap, she didn't know if she liked this thought or not. Hearing a warning knock on the door, she dropped the soap and quickly rinsed her hair. Now was not the time to be lost in thoughts. Sliding into her clean clothing, and finding no socks to protect her bare feet from the harsh concrete floor, she hastily combed her fingers through her dripping hair. The material clung uncomfortably to her wet skin.

Before the completely shatterproof mirror (she would know), she brushed her teeth and tried not to meet her own eyes in the reflection. Easier said than done. Before she could help herself she looked, actually looked hard at her image, something she hadn't done in months. Now she knew why.

The person reflected in the flat surface wasn't her. This was a complete stranger meeting her eyes with a wounded pride. What the hell had happened? From the bruises under her eyes, to the tired face, to the shorn uneven hair that brushed her jaw-this was a vague distortion of her former self. Her hair had once been a platinum blond, luminescent in it's health. Now it had the sheen of dirty gray ice. Sick, she spat out the tasteless toothpaste and rinsed her mouth out. When the guards threw open the door, they found her gulping down water greedily from the sink.

In the hallway the doctor pulled a crisp, white handkerchief and wiped the water from her chin like a father would favor a daughter. Lee wanted to make him eat the square of starched cloth. As if sensing the menace, one of the guards, a tall, dark and utterly serious individual named Maynard, grabbed her shoulder and squeezed meaningfully. As if she didn't know.

Fatherly ministrations aside, the doctor led the group away from the room and further into the compound. At the end of this hallway there was a set of double doors with the same security as her detainment cell. Once the doctor disengaged the locks and they opened with a small swish of air, the guards pushed her through into an identical hallway, which led them to another set of locked doors.

Again Lee's mind had slipped and she was lost in her thoughts. She paid no attention to the bland halls or the bored guards. Even the doctor seemed to be settled into his own fanatical mind. They were nearing the center of the compound, which housed the computers and a few labs. Despite the two guards behind her, she paused momentarily when they passed by the main computer terminal. A memory flashed before her mind making her stumble into the somber guard behind her.

How are we going to get in there?

Who cares? We got this far, I say we set the charges and run like hell.

We can't do that! What if someone was killed?

They're killing people as we speak.

Someone's coming; we'll get in there later. Go!

"Leah?" His inquiry jarred her out of the memory with a start. She could still remember Cara and Wyatt's whispered words. Had that really happened five months ago? "Leah!" Lee jerked her eyes away from the door and met the doctor's gaze. He glanced briefly at the door than turned his umber eyes back to her. "Ah. Reliving some fond memories, my dear?"

She felt the dormant anger in her simmer briefly at his taunt. But she didn't let it out, just pushed it down to wherever it usually dwelled. Being angry, no matter how good it felt, would get her nowhere. The people in this place fed off of the negative emotion. With calm indifference, she shrugged and lowered her gaze passively from his face. From her peripheral vision, she caught the doctor's emotion momentarily. He had seemed disappointed. What did he want from her?

The door forgotten for the moment, they strove on past the compound toward the labs. Disquiet was building in Lee. She had been dragged to five similar labs like this one and each time had been a nightmare. What was she doing back here now? What could he possibly believe she would want to see?

The doors here were heavily secured. Two armed guards stood beside each door. If one could get past these two, then they would have to get the door open. To get in the lab one had to do all the other motions to open doors in this place, then enter a numeric code into a small computer in the center of the door. Even if one could figure out the code, it would only be good for that day, as the researchers here changed the pass code every day.

The fear curled in her belly like a serpent, but outwardly she remained calm. There was no point in freaking out. If she turned and ran, the guards would be on her like a pack of dogs. She had first hand experience with their tactics. Better to grit her teeth and follow along blindly with the mad doctor.

Grabbing her hand in his excitement, he tugged her through the doors like an expectant child. While they walked briskly past two, three, four labs, he chattered nonstop. "It is an unbelievable find!" Lee barely listened; she was too busy trying not to slip on the smooth floor as water dripped from her damp hair down her body. She was suddenly cold as she caught some of his words. "This creature, it is an amazing find. Completely violent, went through twelve of our best men before it was subdued." He chuckled, a sound that had Lee's teeth grinding together painfully. He thought so little of his own men! It wasn't surprising; she knew what madness he was fully capable of. But seeing the excitement shine in his eyes, hearing his voice dance with glee; she was reminded all over what kind of man he was.

They stopped abruptly before a lab marked with a simple "danger" sign. This small warning seemed ominous and somehow understated. Lee didn't want to go through that door. The doctor's excitement was palpable now; he squeezed her hand with enough force, her knuckles popped. This time one of the guards, the smaller blonde, disengaged the lock and pulled the door open. Before she could think of escaping, Maynard had a strong hand on her shoulder as the doctor all but ran down the dark hallway.

Why was it so dark? It was like an unused hospital wing, sterile and silent as a tomb. Spaced evenly down the ceiling were three lights that added little brightness to the hall. There was an observation room at the end of the short hall on their right, with a thick wall of unbreakable glass looking into a shadowed room. Here is where the doctor waited for her. The guard had graciously pushed her down the hall to stand in front of the glass, there he held her. She didn't bother looking at her companions; instead she peered uneasily into the room.

It was almost completely black, except for the scant light shining from the hallway. What was so wonderful in this room? Despite herself, she leaned closer to the glass. All she saw was a shadowy darkness, so black it was flowing across the floor from the back wall. Wait…a moving shadow? Lee gasped when something shining like liquid satin crawled across the floor and settled before the window. As she jumped, she felt Maynard let go of her and take a step back as well. Only the doctor stayed put and stared longingly through the window at the malevolent creature.

Although the glass was shatter proof, it wasn't sound proof. They could hear the creatures muffled hissing as it stared at them with no visible eyes. The thin pane of glass didn't seem thick enough to contain such a monster. Lee backed up even further into the guard behind her. The creature watched her movement with a smooth twist of its elongated head.

"They call it a Xenomorph. This creature was discovered some years back by an Ellen Ripley. Its remarkable, never have we seen anything like this species. I haven't been able to study the creature closely, as it's far too violent. But very soon I'll find a way to subdue it and then I can learn more." The doctor caressed the glass almost lovingly; the creature reared back and regarded him with open hostility.