She struggled with the chains on her ankles, her wrist cuffs having been broken free when half of her *cryo tube was ripped off. The crash had given her a few cuts and bruises; nothing she couldn't handle. Her eyes glanced out among the wreckage as she helplessly tried to jimmy the lock that connected her ankle cuffs to the tube with one of the many bobby pins she had tucked away in her hair. She could see at least three dead bodies on the ground, ripped open from the impact and then blown out of the tubes.
The last time she had been awake the ship was in one piece; the captain and his crew had all been standing around with ten guards to monitor them. The last thing she remembered seeing was his smile as he chuckled at her from outside the tube. Blue-eyed devil.
Her eyes scanned where there had been a wall when they first arrived, finding only a broken down structure and the remnants of the docking pilots station just beyond. The support bars of the ship had not been ripped down, and much to her surprise she saw the only other "Do Not Open" cryo tube leaned against one, in fine condition save for the broken glass.
She could hear voices in the distance, cries for help.
Her eyes returned to the locks around her ankles, crying out with frustration.
"Come on Fiona, I wouldn't lock you up with something you could pick through, have more faith in me then that." His thick southern accent was unmatched, and she knew it came with a lopsided grin. Johns leaned against a support beam, watching her with that smile on his face. Fiona gave up on the locks, leaning back against what was left of her tube.
"Riddick?" Her voice was rough from not speaking for days, weeks, months...
"Chained up. He left you here to rot, not much of a savior now is he?" Johns pulled a set of handcuffs from his back pocket, stepping towards her cautiously. She could fight, struggle with him, and see where it put her, but without the use of her feet he was more likely to knock her out before she got more than a few blows in. So she showed no signs of struggle, holding out her wrists for him and waiting patiently as he bent down and unhooked the foot shackles from the tube.
She didn't know what Riddick was but savior was not the title. He had saved her in a way, but he had his own motives and she didn't question them. His continuous ability to give her strength was unspoken, and they both liked it that way.
"You're rather quiet Fiona, so unlike you." Johns chuckled, that smile still plastered on his lips as he dragged her through the remains of the ship. He had injected her with a sleeping agent right after putting her in that tube, knowing she'd put up a struggle when given the chance. The drugs were still in her system, she could feel the lazy heavy feeling on her bones.
She stumbled through the rubble as he yanked on her like a toy, giving her more bruises to show. The blinding light came out of nowhere, Johns giving her a second to shield her eyes and take in the landscape.
"We crashed; pretty bad too. Only a handful of us alive." He grabbed hold of her wrist, pulling her down a small dune of sand. They moved across the terrain around the broken ship, the fog in Fiona's mind slowly dissipating. The heat felt like it was sucking up her body, forcing her system to kick into over drive and burn burn burn as it tried to keep her cool. The shit Johns had shot her with would be out of her system in no time.
"Shouldn't have picked a ghost lane Johns, bad move on your part." She tried to pull away from him; already knowing it wouldn't do her much good. He kept his grip firm on her wrist as they rounded the ship. Fiona took in the sight of the survivors, a mismatched set of people that on any regular day wouldn't function.
"You're not here to think Fiona, shut the fuck up."
"Smooth, officer." She winced, and he held on tighter, pulling her forward towards the group. Her relationship with Johns was even more complicated then the one she shared with Riddick. The merc's struggle with wanting to trade her in for cash over wanting to fuck her brains out was written all over his face. He had tried both in their extent of knowing one another; all failed attempts. Another thanks to Riddick she would never verbally give him.
Everyone was watching them approach, Fiona kicking up sand, her feet heavier than she remembered. She lifted her eyes from the bright ground to watch a tall slender woman advance, blonde hair catching fire in the sun. Her face was set in contemplation as she met them half way.
The woman looked her over, not fully recognizing who Fiona was. The truth was Fiona's role in life was hardly ever spoken of. She only had the recognition she did because of Riddick; and usually that was never pleasant. Mostly she was called a whore, piece of pussy he kept with him when he got bored.
She didn't feel the need to tell them they were wrong; it wouldn't amount to any good.
"I'm surprised they both survived, that compartment you were all in was ripped completely out." Carolyn Fry's eyes never left Fiona's face as she spoke to Johns.
"She's not as weak as she looks. I am going to lock her up with the other one." Johns gave Carolyn a dry smile before pulling Fiona along with him, trying desperately to make it look consensual. Rustling any kind of fear in the group in his direction would be futile to any plan he had.
Just like that they were back inside the ship, the tubes and metal moved out of the way in this part. They had already started scavenging. Johns weaved them through the ship, heading back further into the darker area's where the sun only hit the ground because of puncture holes. She saw his form just up ahead of them, hunched over slightly, the bit still in his mouth.
A cloth had been tied around his eyes, his hands secured behind him, arms wrapped around a support beam. His feet were locked together to prevent any movement at all. Fiona looked at her savior as Johns secured a place to hook her up as well.
Riddick sensed their arrival almost instantly, his head tilting in her direction. He could probably see faintly through the cloth around his eyes, his shine job not helping however. She nodded her greeting, turning her eyes to Johns as he fiddled with a blowtorch on the ground. She watched him melt the buckling of an ankle cuff to the flooring of the ship, creating a sturdy loop.
When he stood up completely he threw the blowtorch up high over a beam in the ceiling, taking a hold of her and forcing her arms up above her head. Her cuffs were then connected to a parallel beam up top, forcing her hands high in the sky. A grin formed on his face as his hands began to scale down her body, working their way precariously down to her ankles.
Her mind flooded with voices, whispers, grunts, groans. Memories tried to break through her mental wall but she wouldn't let them.
When his fingers brushed skin on her waist she stared down at him, watching him pointedly. His attention was far too focused on her tiny waist to notice anything else going on; foolish. She quickly brought a knee up slamming it as hard as she could into his abdomen. He doubled over in pain, taking a step back from her and successfully removing his hands from her skin.
"Little bitch, should have doubled that dosage when I had the chance." Johns winced, standing up slowly as he watched her. He was far enough away from her to prevent being kicked; something she was personally sad about.
"I suppose you'll remember next time not to touch me."
Johns thought about it for a second, his eyes bouncing between her and the loop in the ground. He meant to hook her feet down, hoping she would still be doped out from earlier. The struggle must have not seemed worth it as he shook his head, keeping a wide berth before departing the ship completely. She watched him go as much as she could. When silence was all that was around him she closed her eyes tight.
So much had happened so quickly. It felt like yesterday that she had arrived on the ship, only yesterday that they had been confirmed for drop off on Crematoria. Johns had been ecstatic. The trip was going to be long and hard, but Johns would cut corners as best he could; so he came up with the only option he could find at such short notice.
Fiona parted her eyes to look at Riddick, his head lolling, eyes assumed shut. She figured he kept her around because she kept out of his way. She was quiet, strong for her build, good with computers, and one hell of a pilot. She could make anything edible, and she kept to herself as much as possible. Plus she could keep up with him. The idea of him leaving her behind never came up because she made sure she was always with him. The truth was she didn't know if he would come back because she hadn't put him in that situation; something she was proud of.
Deep inside she reminded herself constantly that her life was not important to him; and that's how it needed to be. She couldn't rely on him because that would be when she would lose her own strength. She had to be there for herself.
He had found her on the road, naked, bloody. He had carried her where she told him to, took her bed, and called it a night. Her fear had been all she could think about that first night, sleep only coming after she cried every last tear from her eyes. There was no more crying after that. She decided that following morning, when she watched him carefully, that she couldn't continue being used.
She decided then that maybe this man was an angel in disguise to help her. Of course that thought went out the window when she asked him to teach her to be strong. He only laughed and told her to continue getting fucked; it was what she was good at. But she was persistent; and he became annoyed. When he saw her run was when he decided she would be partially worthy.
She closed her eyes up tight once again, listening to the world around them. Her mind wasn't blurry anymore, her focus returning faster than she had anticipated. She stretched from time to time, wiggling her fingers making sure blood was still in them. Just as she was about to open her mouth and ask what he had planned he moved.
First he stood up straight, his back popping from the hunched position he had been in. He didn't look in her direction but rather straight up. Her eyes followed his sight and she noted the blowtorch that Johns had left in his haste. Before she could formulate a plan that involved using her feet he was popping his shoulders out. She scrunched up her face in disgust; readily aware of the ease in which he popped them back in. That kind of action would make her vomit.
He grabbed the torch in his descent to the floor, unhooking his hands instantly. The blindfold had slipped down to his neck. He went to work on his feet, standing up and stretching as the anklets fell around him. He snatched up the goggles that Johns had stupidly hung nearby and turned to her. Riddick's eyes traveled over her body, dipping down her torso to her ankles and then back up. She looked down at herself hoping to find what was so appealing but only noted that her clothes were covered in dirt and... blood.
Fiona furrowed her brows wiggling around a bit trying to find the source of the red liquid on her waist. The fabric of her shirt brushed over the cut and that's when she felt it. A whimper was trapped in the back of her throat but she suppressed it, only screwing up her face in pain. Apparently the drugs also had the ability to make the rest of her numb too; surely she would have felt that earlier.
Riddick stepped forward, his eyes on her waist. His warm fingers felt like fire on her skin as he pushed her shirt up enough to inspect the wound. She watched him, his closeness nothing of shock to her. When she was injured he helped clean her up; nothing too serious though. She figured if it was life or death he would let her die as he ran as far as he could to get away. She wouldn't blame him.
He ran his thumb over the tender flesh and watched as she scrunched up her nose at him, giving him a nasty glare. It only brought out a smirk on his face.
He used the torch on her wrist cuffs, watching as she pulled down her shirt the second she was on the ground. They stood for a second before his hand enclosed around her arm, pulling her carefully out of the ship. They avoided the group as best they could as they rounded the ship.
"You know what to do." And that she did. She nodded her understanding and started off in the opposite direction of him. She didn't look back, knowing that she would only see the wasteland that was this planet. Her feet fell silent on the sand as she charged across the desert.