Author's note: This is set post-Riddick and will contain spoilers for all previous movies in the franchise. It's an idea that's been going around in my head since the Kira thing in Chronicles and I've finally decided to write it :)

Colonel Robert "Boss" Johns sat in the pilot seat of his ship and stared out at the universe, mulling over the information he had finally garnered about his son. Several months had passed since the encounter with Riddick on that god-forsaken planet, and yet he still hadn't managed to put the ghost of his son to rest. He wasn't sure if it was that he didn't trust the information Riddick had given him, or that he did. He knew that his son had had some issues with drugs in the past, he'd even helped him through rehab at one point. But the thought that he would have been willing to sacrifice a child to save his own ass was something that the older man couldn't wrap his head around.

The sound of a new job being received onto their system pulled him from his reverie and he shook his head, knowing that the questions would remain unanswered. Pushing the thoughts of the past from his mind, he turned to his screen and brought up the details of the new job. His eyebrows rose as he read the information supplied, and the amount of bounty being offered. As he re-read the details of the job, he heard movement behind him and smiled as Dahl slid into the co-pilot seat.

"So, new job then?" she stated, the question in her voice asking for details.

"Yeah, so it would seem," he replied, turning the screen so she could read the details. The non-committal noise she made told him that he wasn't the only one confused by the job.

"Am I reading this right?" she wanted to know, surprise in her voice.

"If you're reading it as "go find and bring back some slip of a girl that some merc consortium have lost" then yeah, you are reading it right," he confirmed with a sigh. While it wasn't their normal work, they had been specifically requested for the job and they could use the unusually high sum being offered.

"Set course for the Jeneager system?" she queried, knowing better than to argue with her captain.

"Yes, Dahl, set the course. We'll check her last known location and see what we find," he sighed again, settling back in his seat and letting his very capable second-in-command take the helm. Dark thoughts intruded again and he lost himself in the memories of the past as his ship sped towards the future.

###

In the shadows a slender figure moved silently, keeping herself hidden from prying eyes. Loose clothes hid the curves of hip and breast, and a shaved head helped with the disguise of being a young man. A scarf wrapped around her throat and lower face hid her full lips and delicate chin, further adding to the disguise. A shiver ran through her as the cold air of night bit through the thin garments she wore but she struggled on, having no money to buy warmer items. She had been running for weeks, ever since she had escaped her prison, and she was too afraid of capture to stop and rest. Hunger was making her weak and the scars of her captivity were making her paranoid. She was convinced that monsters hid around every corner, ready to pounce and destroy her.

The tantalising smells of cooked meats made her stomach rumble in protest at being empty and she moved towards the smell before she knew what she was doing. Several large pieces of meat were sizzling away on a make shift grill, that hung over a fire roaring away in an old oil drum. Standing in a doorway a few feet away, she watched and waited to see who was cooking the meat. Her instincts told her this was a trap, her brain screaming at her to run away as fast as she could. But her body, starved and weak from running, had other ideas and she darted from her hiding place, snagging a piece of hot meat from the grill. Ignoring the pain in her hands as the meat burned her skin, she ran back down the alley and into the safety of the shadows.

She slipped into the dark opening of an abandoned house, one she had been staying in for several days, and crouched on the floor. She held her breath, straining to hear any signs that she had been followed. She waited for several minutes, breathing shallowly, convinced that her pursuers would step through the door at any moment and take her back to Hell. The sounds of the night were all she could hear and she relaxed, bringing her misbegotten bounty to her lips and tearing at it hungrily with her teeth.

The meat, which her tired brain refused to even contemplate trying to identify, tasted divine. With little seasoning, the rich smoky flavour of the meat filled her senses and she had to remind herself to chew rather than just swallow the pieces she tore off. She had a small stash of water hidden in the building and she reached for one such container as she continued to hungrily devour her prize. Taking two large gulps to wash down the mouthfuls, she was surprised to find that she had eaten the entire piece of meat she had stolen. Her hunger finally sated, the exhaustion she had been vainly trying to keep at bay finally overcame her and she slipped into a deep sleep.

###

Johns stepped through the doorway of the run down house, his eyes already adjusting to the darkness within. He stopped when he saw the body on the floor, cursing that their trap had been sprung by the wrong person. Something about the unconscious figure on the floor made him pause and he knelt down, deftly turning over the scrawny waif. A grunt of surprise escaped his lips as he saw that the starving, half dead kid at his feet was in fact their quarry and that the plan had worked. A strange jolt of something akin to recognition ran through him as he gently scooped the girl into his arms and carried her out of the hovel she called home this week.

"This is her?" Dahl asked sceptically, emerging from the shadows ahead of him and looking at the girl he cradled against his chest.

"So it would seem," Johns replied, a strange catch to his voice making Dahl look at his sharply. "We're not reporting success just yet though, Dahl. Something about this feels off and I'm not handing this kid over until I know what makes her so goddamn valuable." His tone brooked no argument and, though she would never admit it openly, she too felt something was terribly wrong with this assignment. She silently nodded her agreement and was surprised to see her friend sigh in relief, tightening his grip on the girl he carried. Sure that they were probably walking into a world of hurt, as they had when they had tried to apprehend Riddick, she followed his lead anyway, knowing where she belonged and that she would defend her crew mates or die trying.