If I was handling this, this is how I would handle it. Adding from some thoughts I had in a previous thread.
I'd imagine they'd be picked up, and they go about each other perhaps keeping in contact, but overall avoiding each other and dealing with hellish amounts of post traumatic stress they'd deal with in different ways, which would be an interesting way to advance the plot.
I'd imagine, Newt as she grew up would be terribly emotionally scarred, messed up. But strong, she would want to just move on eventually and separate the memories and dwelling of the past in two different times in her life, and grow up with an almost refusal to believe it happened.
Hicks, saw his friends wiped out, and knew that Weyland Yutani and perhaps even Colonial Upstairs Government were in association at the time with Weyland Yutani, but at most. Enough to allow Burke to choose what and how many people were to travel to LV-426 to make them as unprepared as possible. Knowing what is on the line, we don't have much background on the Alien universe, but I'd imagine for multiple reasons, he would be the smarter "Let's not get hasty and open up about this, people are involved, and allegations like these could get us in serious trouble, legal..or otherwise."
Ripley, wouldn't want to shut up about it. Knowing her character, she is demanding, and not one to give up a fight. Her entire character at this point is the total need for closure. I'd imagine she'd be obsessed because at one moment she was a simple employee in a ship towing a refinery, a normal person, the next an Alien organism bursts out of a co-workers chest and kills everyone, and The Company is involved. She blows up the ship and almost dies evacuating the alien out of the the life boat and goes to hypersleep, she wakes up some 50 odd years later, and gets a minimum wage job moving around freight on a space station, with some traumatic stress. Her daughter grew up without her, and died. She would probably be in denial all of this just happened. Just wanting to move on. But she doesn't move on. She gets contacted by Burke, and a whole colony got wiped out, the marines get wiped out, and the company wanted to do use this terrible creature, despite knowing how unsafe it was.
I'm assuming Ripley would come out, and demand someone be responsible for everything she went through. She could not exist, knowing that not only these monsters existed, but somebody pulled off the same "Crew Expendable" joke twice and the lives of hundreds died, and her life was ruined. It would be tremendously unfair. She would probably come out with her story publicly, maybe some conspiracy theorists would believe her, but ultimately she would be laughed out of existence and remain barely a foot note in the public eye. Nobody would listen to her, hardly the media. That would be embarrassing. Frustrating. She would naturally go to Hicks and Newt, but they want nothing to do with this either, and by extension by speaking out, they would want nothing to do with her. That would infuriating, and heart wrenching.
They would go their separate ways for a few decades, growing older. Life moves on. Ripley can't move on. Her life was changed. Twice. I'd imagine, from this, the film will revolve around Ripley finding something out through her obsession with this case, like Ahab, and Hicks learning about this, reluctantly joining her out of knowing how unsafe these monsters were. Just wanting to be sure.
They obviously get involved in a crisis situation, involving the Aliens, and they grow a solid bond years later, that develops romantically. They remember the old times, just as the audience is, and they compliment each other.
This of course, with a backdrop of the aesthetic, of Michael Mann-ish cinematography I was speaking of.
I can't say I would think the plot matters much, aside from progressing those two characters to a point of closure, even if bitter sweet.
It would honestly be sappy. It would be preying on that soft spot for fighting, and the idea of seeing the Aliens themselves as almost a Parental Figure. Something that's saying, "No, these two cannot be together, they have to die".. From there, you can prey on the audience's emotions by having Ripley and Hicks having the strong relationship and emotions, both Ripley and Hicks were denied from having.
If this is about closure, you make Alien a horror film, you make Aliens action and tactical, you go the route of retrospective in Alien 5 as an Action Romance. A post modern exploration of what Aliens, Alien inspired, with the aspects of that time that audiences will instantly synch and fall for.
An Aliens sequel, if I was "In Charge", would end with credits with CHVRCHES playing (*
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdhwyIQyVDo*). An ideal Aliens , just something that's honest about what it is, what it means, what it tried to do. Because I don't think honesty and self awareness is something that the Alien series went with, aside from Alien, Aliens, and Prometheus. Almost, as if a large f**k you to the hopless atmosphere the Alien series has settled itself in, just as Aliens was with how it ended. Bitter sweet, but not hopelessly cynical.
