Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own Riddick or anything associated with said series.

"Did you hear, Lyra's picked herself a new bounty?"

"You mean she chose to go after him?"

"You've got to be some kind of stupid to take on that job willingly."

"Well she always has been drawn to the dangerous ones."

"But Riddick? Isn't that a bit extreme even for her?"

"And she's going after him alone!"

"That girl doesn't stand a chance."

"It'll be nice to have a chance to go after the high-priced bounties again though. I'm getting tired of her snagging all the good ones."

"Yeah, she never was one to share. I'll bet she wishes she asked for help when Riddick guts her."

Ignoring the laughter that comment brought on, the subject of the conversation continued eating her crunchy mashed potatoes and stale bread in silence. She'd heard a hell of a lot worse before, and besides, it wasn't in her nature to pick fights with those weaker than her. Forcing the disgusting meal down her throat, she made a mental note to stop off at an actual city when she reached her next destination instead of another crappy merc outpost. Sure it was nice to have her supplies and information all under the same roof, but the food sucked and the company was even worse.

Three bites later she'd had all she could stomach and she stood up, grabbed her plate off the table, and walked right past the table that had been talking about her minutes ago on her way out. Catching the eye of two of the occupants, a couple of young men who looked like they didn't know their heads from a hole in the ground, she blew them a kiss and then flipped them off with a dangerous smirk.

It was her turn to laugh when as she was walking away she heard mutterings of "Holy hell, was that her!", and "Oh god, we're so dead!" Sure they badmouthed her behind her back, but there wasn't a merc alive who didn't know her name and reputation.

Yes, she was that good.

Dumping her plate in the trash by the exit, she shoved the heavy metal door open with her foot while pulling her video screen out of one of the many side pockets of her black cargo pants. A few seconds of searching later and she had what she was looking for, all records for one Richard B. Riddick. She hadn't actually been planning on going after this particular convict, there was something about him that made her uneasy and she tended to trust her instincts, but the bounty had reached a record high and one of the few people she called a friend was in desperate need of funds at the moment. If the idiot hadn't gone and gotten himself shot she would've passed Riddick over like every other time before, but Skinner had bills to pay and a baby on the way . . . and it was sort of her fault that he'd gotten hurt in the first place.

A few weeks ago he'd asked her to help him move cargo to some backwoods planet in the middle of nowhere. A shady deal to be sure, but it was a simple transport gig that paid well so he'd taken it. Things had gone smoothly until it came time for payment. While renegotiating the terms, something which happened far too often for her liking, one of the thugs had tried to feel her up. It didn't end well.

They'd lost their payment, been banned from going anywhere near that god awful place again, and her blonde haired friend had wound up shot in the stomach. By the time he was all fixed up he was buried under a mountain of debt and forced to stay on bed rest for two months so he could heal properly. Feeling guilty, Lyra decided to take on the one bounty she knew could fix all his problems.

Her ship was tucked in a garage not too far from the central outpost, close enough to be within easy reach, but far enough away to avoid the crowds which was exactly how she liked it. There were two things she truly cared about, the first being her select group of friends, and the second her ship. She'd retrofitted an old transporter she'd found in a scrap yard with all the latest toys. It was fast, could handle month long journeys with ease, was outfitted with the latest in high powered weaponry, and even had a full functioning bathroom. Though that last one had cost her three bounties and a year's supply of fine wine from a place she'd never heard of.

Less than five minutes after leaving the mess hall she was once again sitting in the pilot's seat, tapping through the ignition sequence and running her standard equipment checks. A few minutes later she was breaking atmo and found herself surrounded by a never-ending sea of stars. This was one of the reasons she'd become a merc, the freedom. Well, that and the pay wasn't half bad either.

If she was being honest though, the real reason was because it was all she knew. Her father had died shortly after her birth and her mother had found them safe passage on a merc ship. Born from a race of fighters, Selena had no problem paying their way by helping bring in bounties and the captain of the Tanker, Markum Tenner, and his crew soon took it upon themselves to help raise the young Lyra.

An odd family to be sure, but those were some of the best years of her life.

Shortly before her thirteenth birthday one of their own betrayed them and her mother was slaughtered before her eyes. She hadn't been allowed to join in the chase, but once he was in custody Markum had handed her a knife and walked away without a word. Killing wasn't her thing, but she'd relished every scream she'd pulled from that bastard's throat.

When she turned eighteen she scraped together enough money to get herself a ship and headed out on her own, picking up work whenever it became available and building herself a reputation of being one of the best bounty hunters in the business. When she set her sights on someone, she always delivered. Always. And Riddick would be no different.

There was a beep on the console that snapped her out of her musing and she clicked on the latest news broadcast. Apparently her target had popped his head out of whatever hole he'd been hiding in. Now it was time to do what she did best. He wouldn't know what hit him.

Plotting a course, she leaned back in her chair and closed her eyes. It would take half a week to get there so she may as well relax while she had the chance seeing as she wouldn't get much sleep once she caught up with her target.

ooooo

By the time she arrived just outside of the planet's gravity pull she was more than ready for a little action. There wasn't any cryo gear on her ship since she never went under with it anyway, which unfortunately left her with quite a bit of free time while traveling. One can start to go a tad stir crazy stuck all alone on a ship for days on end, and even with her seemingly limitless patience she was itching for a fight.

Never one to jump into anything without first doing the proper research, she surveyed the planet for other signals and deduced that there were two other ships already ahead of her. Not that she was worried, Riddick had a habit of slipping free of nearly everything. Once she'd made a log of the people and equipment on the ground it was easy to figure out what his plan would be.

If she was correct, and she always was, he'd be space bound within a day. All she'd need to do then is tag his ship, track him to his next destination, and then outwit the cleverest criminal on record. Should be fun, she thought, a smirk making its way onto her face. She did love a good chase.

Moments after she began tapping her fingers in boredom the ship's video screen came to life. Static slowly gave way to an image and she found herself looking at the official database of bounties. To keep most of the mercs out of her way she'd sent out a notice claiming Riddick as her target. While you technically couldn't claim a bounty until they were in custody, you were allowed to announce your plans to go after them. Doing so helped to keep fighting over the same bounty to a minimum.

Scrolling through the list of names, she clicked on Riddick's to make sure her intentions had been logged in. Under his name there was a long list of mercs that had either attempted to catch him and failed, or had been killed in the process, and it took some time before she reached the bottom to find her name listed among them.

Frowning as she read it, Lyra clicked on her name and logged in so she could edit the information listed. "I've told them a thousand times to change my name, and yet here I am listed as Lyriana," she grumbled under her breath. "How hard is it for them to erase a few letters?" It wasn't that she hated her name or anything, but she'd worked hard to build up her reputation and Lyra sounded a lot more threatening than Lyriana. Manually altering it, she made a mental note to submit her paperwork . . . again.

Her scanners began beeping, picking up two ships leaving the planet, and she pushed the name dilemma to the back of her mind as her fingers danced over the console. None of her calculations had included another ship leaving with him, she always figured he'd leave on his own, so now she was having to rework her strategy on the fly.

A quick check showed her that Riddick was alone on one of the ships, which meant the other was likely filled with mercs. Why they were letting him go she had no idea, but that wasn't her problem. They were heading in the opposite direction, a good thing for her as it meant she wouldn't have to deal with the others while trying to take the convict in, but there was no way she'd be able to tag his ship now. Not without giving away her position to the other ship, which was out of the question.

Unfortunately that left her with only one option, tailing him. Easier said than done when there was another ship nearby, but she'd long ago learned the art of stealth and had made sure her ship was able to fly without leaving hardly any signs of its presence. As soon as the other ship was out of sight, she'd be on her way.

Erring on the side of caution, she remained hidden behind the small asteroid she'd found upon her arrival for an additional ten minutes after the merc ship's signal disappeared. Yes it gave Riddick a bigger head start, but she was confident in her ability to predict his movements and was fairly certain she'd have him back in her sights within a few hours.

She found his trail in less than one.

Over the course of the next few days the convict used every trick in the book, and some new ones for good measure, to cover his tracks. It was impressive really, how well he was able to make himself disappear. It would've taken weeks to find him if she hadn't managed to catch up with him to start with.

By the time he landed on a small mining planet a week later Lyra was more than ready to haul his ass in. She'd been awake for two days straight, having gotten mere hours of sleep before that, and was in desperate need of a shower. With as tricky as he was, she'd barely left the cockpit during the trip, worried he might somehow slip from her grasp if she so much as took a bathroom break.

Landing in the ship yard outside the city, she splashed some cold water on her face, double-checked to make sure her weapons were where they were supposed to be, slipped her vid screen into the side pocket of her pants, pulled a leather jacket on over her black tank-top to cover up the blades on her back, and made her way out into the slowly fading light of day.

Never having been to the place before, she'd dug up all the information she could find about the layout of the town and its inhabitants before she'd landed so she had a pretty good idea where she could find Riddick. Stepping around a drunken man who'd passed out against the side of a small housing complex, she wrinkled her nose at the smell.

There weren't many things she disliked about her job, but having to trudge through filthy places like this in search of a rapist, murderer or thief, always made her wonder why she never found a nice rich man to settle down with. Of course then she'd remember how utterly boring it was being a proper lady, she'd been forced to do so while tracking down a bounty a few years back, and suddenly things didn't seem so bad anymore.

"Hey there sexy," a man purred into her ear. "How about we find ourselves a room?"

"How about I remove your hand instead?" Lyra asked back, a quick movement bringing her katana around to rest against his left wrist.

The man's eyes widened as he stared at the small trail of blood sliding down his arm and then he stumbled backwards as fast as he could. "N-n-never mind, I can see you're very busy right now."

Slipping the blade back under her jacket as he ran off down the street, she continued on her way as if nothing had happened.

It took another five minutes to reach her destination. The bar was just as crappy as the rest of the town, but from its location and size she figured it was where most business in this place was conducted. Exactly the sort of place a criminal looking to find supplies and a new ride would want to go.

Crowded and dimly lit, it looked like every other bar she'd ever been in. There were men everywhere, drinking, laughing and flirting with every woman that passed by, but if one looked closely you'd see the shifty eyes, packages changing hands, and the obvious outlines of weapons on every single person in the building.

Signaling the man behind the counter, she grabbed whatever drink he'd poured for her and made her way to a table in the back corner. It was near the back exit, had a view of the whole bar, and was conveniently empty. Well, it was once she threatened the men sitting at it anyway.

Leaning back, she gave off the air of someone just looking to relax as her eyes scanned the room. To keep up appearances she brought the glass to her lips every few minutes, but refused to take so much as a sip because she didn't want her senses to be dulled by cheap liquor.

A few of the patrons kept sending curious glances her way, but she was used to getting strange looks from people. She was wearing her favorite black cargo pants that had so many pockets lining the sides it was a wonder they stayed up at all with as much stuff as she piled in them, and the leather jacket she'd received from the man who'd raised her after her mother died. Not exactly a feminine outfit, but it got the job done and that was all she cared about. Her shoulder length black hair had been pulled into a tight braid leaving her bangs hanging loose around her face to cover a scar that ran from below her right eye to her chin, a souvenir from her first solo mission, and combined with her tanned skin and dark eyes she didn't exactly look like a native.

When one of the men at the counter looked her way again she nudged the jacket aside enough so he'd be able to see the symbol stitched to the inside. It was similar to the badge a cop would wear, but the points were turned inward as a way to show the wearer was a bounty hunter. There wasn't an official sign to show you were a merc, but unofficially it was the same as having a neon sign flashing above her head. She didn't usually announce what she was, but wasn't in the mood to deal with the locals so you could say it was her way of telling them to back the hell off and not cause any problems.

Watching as he elbowed the man next to him and they exchanged a few words with the barkeep, she gave him a nod when he raised his glass in her direction and covered a grin behind her drink as their eyes started wandering around the bar. It wasn't that uncommon for a woman to be a merc, she'd met quite a few during her travels, but traveling alone was unheard of and she could tell they were looking around for the rest of her crew.

Let them look, it would keep their eyes away from her for awhile and hopefully prevent anymore unwanted attention coming her way.

When an hour passed and she still hadn't spotted her target she began to wonder if perhaps she'd miscalculated things. She knew he was planet-side, had followed him down at a safe distance, and she'd been certain that he'd eventually come here as it was the best option for tracking down what he needed, but if he was planning on dropping by he should've been there by now.

Releasing a frustrated growl at the thought of all the time she'd wasted, and hoping he hadn't already skipped out, she was ready to storm out when a hush fell over the room. Following the heads of the people around her she froze at the sight that greeted her. She hadn't been wrong after all.

Dressed in a dark tank top and snug fitting black pants, he was tall and had enough muscle to take on several men without breaking a sweat. His lack of hair and the goggles he wore over his eyes gave him a dangerous look and she swore she heard several of the women sigh as he made his way to the counter.

Sinking back into her seat, she watched him out of the corner of her eye as she continued her charade of an average worker looking to relax. She'd thought she'd done a pretty good job of blending in, but partway through his conversation with one of the men who'd been eyeing her earlier he lifted his nose to sniff the air and then turned to look straight at her. The smirk he sent her way was positively feral and she couldn't resist the urge to return one in kind.

He seemed to find that amusing, the corner of his lip twitching up before he turned his attention back to the man next to him.

Pushing her glass aside she stood up and slipped out through the back door and into a dark alley lined with trash, knowing he'd follow her shortly. As a general rule she caught her bounties by stealth, it was safer and she was very good at it, but seeing as he'd already spotted her she may as well have some fun with him. She hadn't had a decent fight in months and he would definitely be a challenge.

"Been awhile since I've smelled beautiful," a deep voice said near her ear and she rolled her eyes with a snort.

"You need to get your nose checked there buddy; I haven't showered in days."

Laughing, he moved in to sniff her hair but was forced to pause when he felt a blade prick his skin. Backing away, he raised an eyebrow at the woman who'd somehow managed to slip a small sword into her hand without him noticing. "Hey now, I didn't come here to fight," he said, holding his hands up to show he was unarmed. "Just thought we might want to get to know each other better."

Twirling the katana in her hand, Lyra shook her head in disappointment. "And here I thought Riddick was some kind of badass, what with your criminal history and all, but you're just like every other man out there. Horny and stupid."

Dropping his hands to his sides, he slowly slipped a shiv out of the back of his pants as if suddenly realizing she was a threat. "So, you a merc then? Where's the rest of your crew? Waiting around to jump me once my defenses are down?"

His tone had darkened and she could see his muscles tensing for a fight. "If that was the case, wouldn't it have been smarter for me to play along with your little game?" she questioned back.

Flicking his eyes around every time he heard a noise, Riddick kept the majority of his focus on the woman in front of him. "You planning on going a few rounds with me before calling in backup? Give yourself some points by going up against me all by your lonesome? Cause if that's the case you should probably quit while you're ahead. I won't go easy on you."

"And here I was about to say the same to you." She was used to being underestimated, but she was quite a bit stronger than she looked, and extremely fast. He had no idea what he was getting himself into. There was a reason she was one of the top bounty hunters in the 'verse, and her record proved it. One hundred and twelve bounties in less than ten years, and that was only after she went solo. The total didn't include the ones she helped bring in while working on the Tanker.

The girl had balls to go head to head with him without any backup, but he wasn't about to go back to the slam so she was going to have to learn the hard way that Richard B. Riddick was not a man to mess with.

Noting the weapon in his hand, a small curved blade no more than six inches long, she slipped the jacket off her shoulders and set it down on a box that sat next to the wall of the bar. Her twin katanas went next, followed by her vid screen since she really didn't want to have to replace the thing again.

When his eyebrow raised in question she gave him a half shrug and pulled a knife from the sheath strapped to her ankle. "Figured I'd make things a little more fair," she answered his unasked question, tossing the smaller blade back and forth a couple times to reacquaint herself with the weight and feel of it.

"Your funeral girl."

Stalking forward, Lyra attacked without another word. Wanting to see how he moved, she slashed forward and then spun her leg around to aim a kick at his knee. He dodged both with ease and she was pleased to see that he would definitely be able to hold his own. Not giving him a chance to retaliate, she continued bringing her leg around and used the momentum to bring the knife in an arc that barely managed to slice his shirt at the navel.

Riddick jumped back and fingered the tiny hole with appreciation. She was decent enough with a knife, and light on her feet, which would make the fight more entertaining, but so far he hadn't seen anything special. "Is that all you got, 'cause I've fought a kid with more skill than you."

"That so? Well I guess I'll have to step things up a bit for ya."

Dropping under the shiv as he brought it towards her side, she braced herself on the ground with her hands, pushed backwards, and flipped over his head before his arm finished it's swing. He was faster than she'd thought he'd be and managed to nick her arm when he spun around to catch her. Seeing the thin trail of blood she shook her head. "That could've been my lucky jacket," she frowned, raising her knife so it was pointed at his face. "If you trash my clothes I turn you into the nearest slam buck ass naked."

Not sure what to make of her, she was clearly outmatched and yet seemed completely calm, he wondered if perhaps she was mentally unstable. Why else would she be talking about her clothes in the middle of their fight? Shaking his head, he pushed the thought aside. He could think about it after he'd knocked the crazy woman out.

Having gotten a feel for his movements now, she sprinted forward and the two began a dance of blades. Each strike was dodged and followed up with one of their own as they moved around each other with practiced ease. To an observer it probably appeared as though they were on equal ground, but Lyra was forcing her way in closer each time she moved, making his attacks weaker by the second.

Riddick knew exactly what she was doing, but no matter how he moved, or how much power he put behind an attack, he couldn't seem to force her aside and it was starting to aggravate him. She was putting up one hell of a fight that was for sure.

Deciding his shiv was practically useless at this point, he tossed it aside and brought his arms out in an attempt to grab her, but she slipped out of his grasp and he earned a nice slice to his bicep for the trouble. With his hands free, he was able to slap her arms aside easier, but he was never fast enough to catch her and she somehow managed to twist away from every punch he made.

Lyra hadn't had this much of a workout for awhile and she could feel sweat beginning to drip down the back of her neck as the fight dragged on. Knowing it wouldn't be long before his strength would begin to overpower her speed, she figured it was time to get serious and end things.

Flipping the blade around in her hand so the tip was pointed towards her, she feinted a kick between his legs, smashing the hilt of her knife down on the back of his neck when he, as predicted, hunched over slightly to protect his assets. She shook her head when he sank to the ground with a groan of pain. "Like I said, the same as every other guy out there," she said, kicking him hard enough to ensure that he was well and truly out of it.

Rolling her shoulders as she walked back over to her stuff, she winced when her muscles protested the movement. She hadn't been training as hard lately since most of the bounties out there had been, for lack of a better term, pathetic, and she was starting to regret her laziness. If she wasn't so good at picking up on every muscle twitch of her opponent the fight likely would've ended very differently.

Sending a silent thank you to her deceased mother for helping her hone her enhanced instincts, she grabbed her vid screen and tapped her location into the auto-pilot on her ship. There wasn't a whole lot of space in the street that led to the alley, but there was no way she was going to haul his heavy ass all the way back so one way or another her ship was coming to pick them up.

With transportation dealt with, she reached into the lower left pocket on her pants and pulled out a set of heavy duty cuffs. Top of the line, they were supposedly escape proof. If he did somehow manage to break free, she was so getting her money back.

By the time her ship arrived a few minutes later she'd locked Riddick up, put her weapons and jacket back on, and was in the process of dragging him the thirty or so feet to the street. It took ten minutes to get him onboard and properly locked in, and then she was headed back to space once again.