I do not own any film in the Alien franchise. This is my first Alien fanfic, although I have written a Predator one. There may be human/xenomorph interactions, so if you are offended by that, please don't read. To me, the Xenos are more intelligent creatures that are hive-based, than just animals. Comments much appreciated. If it's not received well, I'll delete it since I have other stories to work on instead.

The Guardian

Chapter 1

Running down the dark corridor, Annalise fell hard to the ground, tripping over something she hadn't noticed. Lifting herself up, she looked back to see a body, one obviously of no use to the aliens because it appeared to have been dead for some time. As far as she knew, she was the last person alive, in this colony anyway. She had to find a way to get to one of the neighboring colonies if she was to live. She prayed that they had been able to fight off the intruding army of xenomorphs. Maybe they hadn't been found at all. She would need to warn them in that case.

Freeing herself from the body she had become entangled with, Annalise took a few moments to catch her breath before continuing down the corridor. She couldn't believe the nightmare she had found herself in. This was supposed to have been a simple terra-forming expedition. Now it was a matter of life and death...hers.

Annalise stopped. The corridor she had been running down now split off into a fork. She didn't know which one to take. Which way, which way. Then she held her breath. From deep down the right-hand corridor, she heard sounds of hissing and the clicking of claws on the metal bulkhead. "Shit," she whispered. She took the left-hand corridor instead, running quietly, her ears listening for any sounds of movement. She wiped away the perspiration that was dripping into her eyes and causing them to sting. Her heart was pounding in her chest, from the exertion of running or fear, she wasn't sure. Annalise kept looking behind her, making sure she wasn't being followed. What she didn't see ahead was a ripped out section of wall that lay across the floor. She tried to catch herself, but instead, her feet tangled in some wiring which, when pulled by her efforts to escape, brought down a portion of the ceiling on top of her. Annalise passed out, her last thought being a hope she wasn't found by any of the xenomorphs.

OoOoOoOoOo

Sul'ss wandered the corridors on his own. He had enough seniority in the hive, that a companion warrior was not required. Searching for the life forms here had been top priority, since there had been no visitors to this planet for a very long time. At the arrival of the human colonists, the Mother took a prudent approach, preferring to silently observe the humans for awhile. Later, she gave her children the order to take as many alive as possible. Cocooning began immediately. Soon, the hive grew from 5 to 238. Sul'ss was one of the original of the Mother's children who tended to her needs while they waited for something to happen that would help increase their numbers. The humans arrival gave them that opportunity.

Sul'ss came to the split in the corridor. He raised his elongated head into the air, sniffing through his mouth. There was something...different. The smell of life. He headed down that direction, straight for the scent which was growing stronger. The xenomorph came to a pile of wreckage. He sniffed the air again, before noticing a foot sticking out from the mess of wiring and plasticrete. He pulled on the foot with a clawed hand, dragging the body from beneath the debris. To his surprise, it was another of the humans and very much alive. He bent low, tasting the air over the still form. Peering closely, Sul'ss tugged at the clothing, but the human did not stir. He pushed at it with the front of his massive head several times, getting no response. Sul'ss turned the human over. From the scent he had picked up, and the appearance of the human, this one was female.

Curiosity compelled the xenomorph to listen to the air. None of his siblings were anywhere close. Grabbing the human by the foot, Sul'ss dragged her into a nearby room, the door having been blown away during some earlier battle. He stood over the still human, bending low to sniff her again. He repeatedly nudged her arm with his head until she started to come round.

Annalise felt something pushing at her, so she opened her eyes, sensing she wasn't alone. When her vision had cleared, she found herself looking up into the black form of a xenomorph. She started to scream, but the creature hissed at her so intensely, Annalise found herself swallowing the sound. Startled, she lay still, daring not to move. The xenomorph made no move to attack her. Annalise started to inch backwards. Being cocooned was a fate she didn't want to contemplate. Feeling pain at her brow, she reached up slowly to touch her head. There was a small bump, probably from the falling plasticrete. Passing out with this monster hovering over her was the worst thing that could happen.

Sul'ss could tell from his past experience that the human was afraid of him. She had no weapon that he recognized, so only stood near her, holding her attention. Hearing a sound, Sul'ss swung his great head to look at the broken entry. His brothers were approaching. Grabbing the human by her foot, he began to drag her across the room as she started struggling. Moving near her face, he hissed a warning. If she knew what was on its way here, and what he was trying to do, she would not be fighting him. Hissing again, he felt satisfied when she stopped wriggling about. He dragged her to a corner of the room, pushing her beneath some furniture that had been thrown there. Sul'ss exuded some of his own musk to hide the human's scent. Then he acted as if he were checking the room while he awaited his brothers' approach.

Being shoved rather roughly under the disorganized and broken furniture, Annalise was confused. Was this creature, this monster that had wiped out her entire colony, trying to protect her? Her head jerked up, also hearing noises coming from the corridor. She scrabbled underneath a large chair, curling up as tightly as she could, and waited. She heard the clattering of multiple sets of claws on the floor, the sound indicating there was more than one of the beasts. She heard hissing, and held her breath. She had to be sure of making no sound whatsoever, lest even one of those things notice her.

Sul'ss let his brothers see that there was nothing in the room but debris from a previous fight. Since no xenomorph knew what a lie was, they had no reason to doubt his assessment, and left.

After what felt like an eternity had passed, Annalise heard the xenomorphs leave the room. Still, she didn't move, wanting to be sure that none of them came back. Finally, Annalise inhaled much-needed air, and peeked out from her hiding place. She found herself staring into a black maw. It didn't move at all, but only seemed to be waiting for her. It was her savior, it had to be, but how could she tell them apart. They all looked alike to her. She climbed out from under the overturned chair, and brushed the dust from her clothing. Annalise noticed the creature observing her but making no effort to come closer. She pulled a knife from a pocket, and extended the blade. Hiding it within her palm, she pressed the blade flat against her thigh. Annalise worried that, should she need to use the knife, the creature's acid blood would cause more damage than she'd intended while protecting herself. As she started backing toward the open doorway, she noticed it was making no move towards her. It only hissed low in a non-threatening way. In fact, it still seemed to be waiting.

As Annalise was almost at the door, the creature started moving toward her. She didn't know if their kind had eyes, but it obviously could sense her presence and movements. She watched it carefully as she continued backing out of the door, hearing the creature's low hiss.

"Thank you, but I really have to go now," she said, not sure if it would even understand her. She felt silly talking to one as if it could fathom human speech, but what if it could. Not all animals could speak, yet they could understand. Her German Shepherd, Max, was just a dog, but he seemed smart, even seemed savvy about some things. What if this thing understood her?

Sul'ss heard strange sounds coming from the human. He was aware that was the way the humans communicated. He'd been around long enough to have learned much from the humans, but this was the first time he'd had any interaction with one. He hissed back at her, not wanting her to be afraid of him. He had driven the others away from this place, ordering them to search further down the corridor and into the next section.

Why he had even bothered to save her confused Sul'ss. Humans were necessary for his species to continue. The only way for his kind to breed was to use humans, and other species, as incubators for their young. This colony was already used up, the humans here having been cocooned long ago. Only this human remained, alive by somehow eluding their hunters. Since his birth, Sul'ss had only served the hive Queen, Mother to all of his brothers and sisters. Now he felt he wanted to know more than the world he had existed in. Perhaps he would bring this female before the Mother later. For now, he only felt compelled to help her.

Sul'ss observed her as the human was saying something. He saw her touch her upper body as she spoke. He tried to imitate the sound she was making. "Ahhhhnnleeessss," he hissed softly. He noted her smile as he hissed her name, then gave the human his own name, hoping she would understand.

Annalise heard the xenomorph as he attempted to say her name. Was he merely imitating her, or did he know? He also seemed to be indicating his own name which again sounded like nothing more than hissing. She repeated it as best she could. "Suliss." It must have been close enough, for he was butting her arm with his head. She chuckled lightly until she felt tears flowing down her cheeks. Feeling sudden relief, Annalise slid down a wall to the floor, wrapping her legs in her arms, rocking slightly, wondering what she was going to do now that she had determined the alien wasn't planning on killing her...yet. She wiped her face with her hands hating to reveal any weakness in front of the xenomorph that was watching her.

Sul'ss looked down at the human. What was she doing? Perhaps..., he thought, as he glanced around the room. Raising his head into the air, he sniffed around, until he detected something the human could use. Digging through some rubble, his clawed fingers curled around the handle, and pulling it open, found what he was looking for. He bounded over to the female on clawed feet. Reaching out, he gave her the container he'd found.

Annalise looked up, and saw the xenomorph extending its hand. She took the container carefully, and read the package. 'Dehydrated fruit' She grinned. The creature had found food for her. "Thank you," she said, looking up at it. She tore the package open, and ate the contents. It wasn't a full meal, but it was better than nothing. She wondered if there was anything else she could use here. Looking up at the xenomorph, Annalise reminded herself that this was a killer, just one of many who had killed everyone she knew. She didn't want to turn her back on it, and she never should, even if it was helping her. She had no idea why it would help her, but accepting it as something it wasn't could get her killed. This creature was not her ally.

Sul'ss eyed the human female, careful not to frighten her. She had wanted to leave, but he couldn't allow that since the likelihood of her being found by his brethren was greater than not. She could hide for only so long. So what was he to do with her? He could leave her to her fate. That was what he should do. But as he watched her eat the food he offered her, he decided he would not leave her unguarded. Perhaps if he found a place for her to hide, he could bring the human more food. She lowered her head, wiping her fingers of the stickiness of fruit. Sul'ss reached out toward her hair, caressing it with skeletal fingers. Human hair fascinated him. And her's was thick and dark. He pulled back when she looked up at him.

"I have to go. I really need to get to..." She stopped, not wanting to reveal the other colonists in case his kind had not found them yet. "I need to find a place to hide, away from here," she said as she waved her hands in the air, trying to indicate her going away.

Sul'ss understood what the human was indicating, but he was loathe to let her run around the complex alone. He knew his kind were keeping a constant surveilance at the bidding of the Mother. He reached out with a bony hand to pull her back away from the door, trying to get through to her that running around the complex wouldn't be the safest thing to do. He poked his head out into the hallway and then pulled back, hissing at her sharply.

"I know what's out there, but I have to see if there are any humans left. Can you understand that? I have to know if I'm the only one left." Annalise turned to leave, but then she heard a harsh hiss behind her. The xenomorph was at her back, its intent was to follow her, or so it seemed. She turned around, and staring into the elongated head without eyes, she reached out with a trembling hand, and lightly pushed Sul'ss away from her. "You can't come with me."

So the human didn't want him to accompany her. Did she realize how foolish this was? He butted her arm with his head and hissed a warning. Acting on a whim, Sul'ss picked up the human and tossed her over his shoulder.

"Hey, what the...?" Struggling against the strong hold of the Xenomorph, Annalise realized the bony exoskeleton of the creature hurt as she lay across its shoulder. "Put me down, dammit!"

Checking outside the room for any signs that his brethren were near and seeing none, Sul'ss loped down the hall, keeping his sensories open just in case. Many would no doubt be resting in these morning hours. The Mother would need tending too, but with so many new members of the nest, his absence would not be an issue. He would see to the safety of the human, and return to the nest later.

The human continued struggling in his clutches, so as a warning, he pierced her soft flesh with a claw. Hearing her yelp gave him no satisfaction, but the fact she stopped struggling did. Sul'ss carried his human cargo to what he hoped would be a safe haven. Then he would study her, if they had the time.